Ayanokoji X Himeno

Maybe it's not that bad end

I'll be honest, I wanted to write this on April Fool's Day, but I got a little carried away. Please enjoy. I guess this is really the end.

POV Hidoishi

– T-this...

– That's it? Don't you think you can make another move?

– Sensei, this is... Well, then the rook is on B1!

– You just lost a rook.

Of course, in fact, this was not the case, because I had just managed to neutralize an enemy knight on my own, who was not allowing my king to retreat from the battlefield. Although, knowing my mentor, he probably said these words for a reason. That's why I cast a thoughtful glance at the chessboard, looking for a reason why he said something like that to me. I didn't manage to find the answer fast enough before I noticed that the queen, hidden behind a lot of black and white pawns, made her move across the entire field in a second and knocked down my rook.

Oh, shit. Now my king is under siege..! Along with this indignation, I had to use only one central figure, whose moves were extremely limited. I managed to get the king out of the line of fire of the enemy pieces in one move, but almost immediately everything came back to this moment again. My main figure was taken into the environment.

– Checkmate.

When Sensei said that, I finally accepted my defeat. Not much time has passed, only 11 moves have been made on the chess field, and I have already lost. My mentor's face, as always, was apathetic, but at the same time his eyes were very attentive.

– I'm impressed. You lasted two moves longer than last time.

– You're kidding me, aren't you?

– No way.

He tilted his head slightly in incomprehension, and I was finally convinced that Sensei was serious. Well, this is really his feature. I am ready to say that he is a pretty smart person who helps me in many areas. Chess is just a way for us to relax, and so he teaches me many other things.

In general, we met quite by chance a little over a month ago. Then I accidentally got into trouble, and he helped me. Seeing his strength and capabilities, I asked him to teach me this. Honestly, at that time I didn't even realize how stupid it sounded, but for some reason Sensei agreed without hesitation. My sincere request was met positively on his part, after which he began to help me in many aspects.

Hell, sometimes I get the feeling that he knows everything in the world. Sensei has a good understanding of the various disciplines taught at school. For sure, at one time he always took the first place in the ranking in the semester exams. Moreover, Sensei is also well versed in various martial arts, which have been trained for years. His body is clearly more trained than most people his age. And judging by his clothes, appearance and the way he lives, it doesn't look like he has any financial difficulties in life. At the same time, sensei has a lot of free time, which he devotes either to me or to himself.

Wow, I really envy him, to be honest. I mean, that's so many advantages for him at his age, when he's not old at all. I just recently entered high school, but still my life is not so great. Surely he has a great life as it was, and still is. It seems as if he is good in all spheres of life in this world. He even found us this place to play chess. This is a quiet, spacious bookstore, where there are not so many visitors. Moreover, most of the people who come here appear here regularly, so I even more or less know some of them. They are all quite friendly people.

Suddenly, two small saucers with cups of tea were placed in front of us on a table next to the chessboard. Immediately, a familiar smell got into my nose, which I like. To be honest, I received such service only in this place, and completely free of charge, which even made me uncomfortable before. But now I understand that I can't escape from the kindness of the owner of this bookstore.

– Here's your tea, please enjoy it. Everything as you both like.

– Thanks.

– Thank you, Shiina-san.

The owner of this bookstore is quite a beautiful woman, if you ask my opinion. Moreover, she accepts me and sensei when we need a place to play chess. Honestly, I don't know what kind of relationship these two have, but it looks like they've known each other for a long time. However, when I asked if they were dating or something like that, they told me that these two are just good friends.

I don't know, maybe this is the weakness that my master has. He probably doesn't understand anything at all about how to win the heart of a beautiful woman he loves, which is why they still don't date. If so, should I bring them together? Or is it better to leave everything as it is? After all, sensei is quite smart even in such things, so maybe one day he will want to go ahead in this regard.

Mmm, well, I could help him, because after all, I would not want sensei to experience loneliness until his old age. I'm not worried about Shiina-san, she's really amazing both externally and internally, so it will probably be very easy for her to find a partner for the rest of her life. The only reason she hasn't done it so far is because she definitely has to like my sensei.

This is most likely true, because these two even call each other by their first names. Damn, I feel so smart at times like this. It seems to me that this is the only area where I can be smarter than my own mentor.

– Mm?

While I was drinking warm tea with milk, which the owner of the bookstore brought me, a message from my mother came to my phone. She wrote that she would be staying at Aunt Kamuro's for some reason today. She also wrote that there is food in the refrigerator, I just need to reheat it. Well, I texted her back that everything was fine.

Well, since Mom's going to be late, then I'll have more time to play chess. Sensei probably won't mind another round, I guess?

– Sensei, I would like to practice again. What do you say?

– Sure.

***

POV Hiyori

– Goodbye, Shiina-san, I will definitely come back.

– Good luck to you, Hidoishi-kun.

– See you the day after tomorrow, sensei.

– Sure.

Hidoishi-kun waved to us before leaving my bookstore. He is a good boy who is now in high school, an ordinary child without any obvious problems. However, I noticed something strange from the first day he appeared here. Of course, this was mainly related to the appearance of these two. He really looked like the one he called his mentor.

– Kiyotaka-kun...

– Please don't talk about it again.

I almost bit my tongue when he told me that. Well, I guess it's really better for me not to bring up this topic of conversation, since I've done it more than once or twice. Moreover, I do not know all the circumstances behind the whole situation, so I hardly have to say anything about it, but still...

– ... Do you know what he once said to me when the course of the conversation at least a little spread to his family?

– Mm?

Although suddenly Kiyotaka-kun decided to share something with me that I hadn't heard before. However, I have a feeling that this will not be good.

– He said that his father abandoned his family, betrayed them, left his mother practically alone.

– But it's not like that, you know that.

Kiyotaka-kun told me that he anonymously sent and still sends money to their family, more than once looked after them from afar and even helped as much as he could in certain situations. I do not know all the circumstances of what happened between him and Himeno-san, but still, did he really want to stay away from his own family so much? I can't imagine such a thing, because I am madly in love with my mother, my father and my younger brother. I wouldn't have the heart to turn away from them even partially.

– In a way, it is... Anyway, I'm going. Thank you for today, Hiyori.

– Yeah...

Kiyotaka-kun got up from his seat, put on his coat, packed his things and left, saying goodbye to me. I really feel sorry for him, Himeno-san, and Hidoishi-kun. But I'm just someone else in this situation. It's hardly in my power to do anything other than just talk and support them....