COTE: The Quiet One Can Be Dangerous

Vol. 11 Chp. 6: Ayanokouji vs Sakayanagi

"Alright then, we will now begin the seventh event, chess. Please take your seats."

Following the teacher's instructions, I sat down. Hashimoto's smile remained, but his eyes didn't reflect any joy. 

The outcome of this match could determine the fate of both classes, and it seems that Hashimoto has also realized the seriousness of the situation.

"Welp, let's get started."

With that, Hashimoto-kun picked up two black and white pawns.

"You know how to decide who goes first, yeah?"

"Yes."

At my confirmation, Hashimoto hid the two pieces in each hand and held them out to me, prompting me to choose.

"Left."

Hashimoto opened his left palm, revealing the white pawn.

In other words, I had the first-move advantage.

"I'm excited to see what your first move will be."

"I'm not sure if it'll meet your expectations."

I felt the excellent texture of a pawn as I made my first move in the seventh match against Hashimoto. 

I played my go-to strategy of quickly moving my knight to capture his black pawn, allowing me to control the game. 

This was the same method I used in all my matches against Ayanokouji.

"I've learned a lot from Sakayanagi myself. Did you think I would just let you put black at a disadvantage right from the start?"

We both began making our moves right from the start without putting too much thought into them. I only had an hour to finish the game, but since Ayanokouji would use up half an hour, I only had 30 minutes to spare. I couldn't afford to waste time overanalyzing the opening moves.

As we played, I noticed he wasn't playing defensively. He seemed to be making offensive moves one after the other, which was quite surprising. I couldn't figure out who had taught him to play like this because his moves didn't follow standard strategies.

"I've got quite the twisted playstyle, don't I?"

"Indeed. Did you perhaps learn it from your teacher?"

"Yeah, Sakayanagi also plays just like I do. I guess you could say it just clicked for me the most when she was teaching me. Your style seems kind of steady compared to mine. Are you self-taught?"

He's probing me for something. What exactly was he looking to get from my response?

"I've been whole-heartedly devoted to chess for the past week; everything else was pushed aside."

"Oh really now...? Sounds like you were pretty confident that chess would get chosen, huh?"

"You're free to think whatever you like."

Throughout the game, the pieces on the board changed with each move. 

Though it may have appeared that my opponent was driving me into a corner by frequently surrounding my pieces, in reality, every move I made was a strategic effort to encroach upon them slowly.

"Have you only played one week?"

"You sure love to talk."

"I think talking is one of my strong points."

He is free to say whatever he wants as long as it's appropriate. I cannot stop him.

"That's right, just one week. But, I can't deny I may be lying."