****
"...And that's the reason."
I've just told Megumi-san the story of my life. It took a lot out of me to just tell it to her but I felt that she needed to understand the reason behind my choice.
"I...see." She paused before finishing her sentence. It looked like the tale had affected her in some way.
"I'm sorry for that, Naoto-san." She felt sorry about my life experiences.
"It's okay..." I assured her that there was no reason for her to feel sorry.What I had done was all because of me. It had nothing to do with her.
"So that's why I can't be your partner." I'd refused her offer once and I just did it again.
"I understand..." She sounded defeated. It looked like this was an important deal to her. But I already made a choice. I decided not to do it again. I only played her just because o thought it would be shameful of me to refuse after everything that recently happened. I looked at the time. 10 o'clock. It was getting late.
"Sorry. But it's getting late and I gotta rest." Even though it'll be Sunday tomorrow, I needed to rest early. A lot has happened today. But...
"How about you?" I asked the spirit what was her plan for the night.
"...I guess I'll just leave..." She looked broken. But it was late. Plus it's freezing outside. I can't just let someone go outside at this time. Even if they were a magical person.
"...You can stay here for the night." I invited her to sleep here for the night. I felt shame that I had rejected her earlier, but I would feel even more shame if I just left her outside in the cold.
"A-are you sure?"
"Yeah. You can sleep in my bed if you want." I assured her and even offered her my bed.
"N-no, I can't do that." She hesitantly refused. But I still persuaded her.
" Please. It's the least I can do."
"A-alright..." She eventually agreed. There was a spare futon so I planned to sleep on that. I would rather sleep there rather than have a guest sleep on a futon on the floor.I got the futon set up. She got on the mattress. I tucked myself into the futon and she did the same on the blanket.
"Goodnight," I said to her. She said nothing with her closed eyes and mouth. She looked like she was already asleep.
"So spirits also need to rest, huh?" As I thought of that, I closed my eyes and fell asleep on the futon.
****
I closed my eyes and began to think. Now I understand why he refused. His life was full of regret and he didn't ever want to feel that ever again.
But in all of the people I fought against, no one was able to defeat me in just 10 moves. They would take a minimum of 20 moves just to get an advantage and another 20 before checkmating me. Maybe that was why they didn't think that those players were 'the chosen ones' for me.
But this young man just defeated me in just a few moves. I can't just let that slide.
"I've decided." As I thought of something, I fell asleep. Maybe it was because of my tiredness and from staying outside in the cold for a long time. But before I did, I did something to someone close to me. I made sure he was asleep first, then I leaned over to him and did it...
****
Sunday morning came. The sunlight pierced through the curtains and shined on my closed eyes. I slowly open my eyes and saw the white ceiling.
I rose and looked around me. There was nothing new. I looked at the bed, remembering what happened last night. But there was no trace of it to be found. The bed was neatly organized as if nobody had slept there. It was like the events of last night didn't even happen.
Yesterday was an eventful day. Fumiko-san just gave me food, which never happened, I met a "spirit" of chess, I played with her, then I proceeded to tell her my life story. But from what I was seeing right now, it was like these events didn't take place.
I picked myself up and went to the bathroom to wash my face. I looked at myself in the mirror, thinking about everything that happened to me. Just remembering those events made it difficult for me to tell her the story. But still, I pushed through. I washed my face and went to the kitchen. I turned on the stove and cooked breakfast.
This is my usual life, except today was Sunday, so I have some free time. I ate and go to do the laundry. I grabbed the hamper full of clothes and dumped them into the washer. While I was waiting, I cleaned up the futon and put it back. I dusted the place and mopped the floor. Afterward, I added soap to the washer and put them into the dryer once they were finished.
I opened the balcony door. The sunlight stared at me while I was hanging up my clothes. I looked at the time, 11 o'clock. I didn't notice that I woke up late. So that's why it was so bright.
I decided to make lunch, using whatever was left in the fridge. I was running out of food, so I think I'm going to go shopping later. I ate my food and rested for a bit on the couch. I closed my eyes and remembered everything that happened yesterday. Before I knew it, I fell asleep.
A few hours later, I woke up. I looked at the time, 4 o'clock. I still had time to go shopping. I took off the dried clothes and organized them before I dressed up. I grabbed my coat and went outside. When I got out, no one was in sight. I made my way down the stairs and walked in the direction of the store.
The store was a 10-minute walk away from the apartment, so it wouldn't be too far. On my way, I recognized a girl who was at a shop. It was Shiro Junichiro and the store she was in was one for chess pieces. I didn't know why she was there and I had no intention of asking. I continued walking towards the supermarket. Thankfully, she didn't seem to notice me. 10 minutes later, I got to the supermarket.
I bought all the things I needed for this week's meals. I grabbed the bags and headed home.
On the way, I stumbled across a public park with some boys playing soccer. I decided to take a seat on the bench and watch them play.
I always came to this park and sat down whenever I needed to clear my mind. Just staring at the sunset was enough to make the things that I was going through less painful. As I was clearing my mind, the kids continued playing and they accidentally sent the ball in my direction. The ball rolled over to my foot.
"Hey, Onii-chan, can you pass that ball to us?" One of the kids asked. I stood up and kicked the ball, passing it to them.
"Thanks, Onii-chan." They thanked me. I simply nodded and they went back to playing soccer.
Looking at them reminded me of my childhood before it fell apart. The feeling of playing with others was a fun experience. It hurts even more when you're the reason why that connection between them and you broke.
The sun was setting, so I decided to head home. When I was leaving, some older people walked by me and ran toward the kids. They were calling them to go home.
Looks like they're their kids. Whilst I was looking at them, an old man with a brown beard looked at me. I looked back and he smiled at me. I don't know what it means but I felt kindness in it. I gave one back before leaving the park.
By the time I got to the entrance of the complex, the sun had completely set. The only thing that lit up the streets were the light posts on each street. Staring at the one in front of the apartment, I remembered that she was sitting there just yesterday. But when I looked at it again, there was nothing there for the light to shine on. It was just..."
A chess piece?"
A chess piece was just there. It had no business being there, so why was it there? I took a closer look at it.
"A queen?"
A queen piece was just sitting there when it had no business being there. This was strange. Did someone drop it? I carefully dropped my bags and picked up the piece to examine them. A soft gasp came out of my mouth.
"This is...my queen?"
The piece I held in my hand closely resembled the queen piece I had when I played chess. What was it doing here? No, wait, why is it even here? I remembered that I threw all the pieces after I lost. It's been over a month so it must've been cleaned up by now and sent to the landfill.
"Hold on, this can't be it." I had my doubts so I took a closer look at it. And it truly resembled mine. The reason was I found a little scratch on its crown. My queen had one because I had dropped it in my childhood, so I remember it vividly. No one else in this country had that scratch other than mine. But besides that, there was no other damage to it. I was sure it was mine.
But what do I do with it? Do I just leave it here and pretend I didn't see it? But if I did, it might be taken or further damaged. Wait, why am I concerned about this thing? I had decided to not care about anything chess related ever again, so why was I concerned about a single chess piece?
Looking at the piece reminded me of the things I did to it. I gripped it tightly and placed it in my pocket. I grabbed the shopping bags I had dropped and went to my room.
I went inside, put the bags down on the table, and picked out the things I was going to cook for today, dashi, miso, and tofu. The rest I put inside the fridge and I proceeded with cooking.
A few minutes later, I had a bath and turned off the gas. I put the gas on low before I took a bath so the water wouldn't evaporate quickly. I scooped up a portion and sat down.Miso soup was today's dinner. While eating, I took out the chess piece I picked up earlier outside and looked at it. I wondered what was it doing here. Did someone bring it here? No that's not possible. Even if they were to bring it here, how were they even able to find it?
I decided not to think about it too much and just hit the hay for tonight. I have to prepare myself for another day of suffering. Little did I know that I was being followed by someone the whole day.
To be continued...