Chess was really just one breed of a universal game. It could be applied to nearly every social or political aspect of the world. Conversely, everything in the world could ultimately be summed into a game of chess. Each person could be assigned a role as a chess piece. Humans created an immortal game; even if the name died out, it would only be carried on by something else. Chess, at its core, could never really die. Or at least, that's what every self-respecting chess fanatic tells themselves.
As it happened, a knight was sitting in a public park, playing a game by rotating the board 180 degrees after every move. Pairs of old men took up all the other tables. They played and chuckled, stroking beards and scratching balding heads. The woman at the third-to-last table turned the board around again to play the black. She'd already lost both knights on that side, one bishop, and four pawns. She chewed on her lip, hand hovering over her remaining bishop, before carefully moving it into place.
"Uh, that's a bad move." A voice muttered, a finger suddenly jabbing right over the board.
"Hey!" The woman jerked back, startled by the man's sudden appearance. "What?"
He stared. "No, that's not a good move at all. See, the white queen will just take it and you'll be down your last bishop." He picked up the black piece and promptly moved it back. He castled the king instead. "There."
"Uh…" The first player leaned away, looking him up and down. How long had he been there? "Sorry, who are you?"
The man looked over the board again; he didn't appear to have heard her. After a few seconds without reply, the woman started getting antsy, but eventually: "Hideki Ryuga. Your play style's really sloppy, by the way."
The woman raised an eyebrow. "Like the pop star? You don't look much like him."
"Yeah, we have the same name, weird right." He said, not sounding like he found it very weird at all. Everything he said came out monotone, spoken quickly. "Would you…mind if I played you?"
"Um, no, go ahead. I'm Shika."
Hideki sat across from her, crouched on the seat, hands on knees and butt off the seat a few inches. He waited as she set the pieces. "Shika, huh."
"Yep. You first." She spun the board around.
"All right." He moved the pawn to E4. Shika responded by moving her knight to F6. Hideki chewed on his thumbnail, looked around listlessly as he made his next move. He seemed bored already.
"You know your way around a chess board." Shika appraised after a minute or two. "You're good."
"Thank you." He mumbled, castling.
A few moves went on in silence. It was clear Shika was trying to figure out his play style, without much outward effort on the other player's part. Hideki made his moves almost instantly, with hardly any consideration. However, over the course of the game, he seemed to become less and less distracted by his surroundings and more and more focused on the game. Shika sized him up as they played, brows together and mouth pursed to the side. A Bishop for sure, she was thinking. If not, then a Queen. I think he's smarter than he looks.
"Check." Hideki said it blandly, interrupting her train of thought.
"What?" Shika looked over the board. "Oh. Right."
A cell phone rang before she could move. "Excuse me." Hideki picked it up and held it to his ear in a peculiar fashion, by the fingertips. "Yeah. Nooo…Yes. Yes. No no, just wait. Thank you. Okay." He hung up. "Sorry."
"It's fine." Shika said. She pondered the board before moving. "Something the matter?"
"Mm, I don't know yet." He said. "You know I think you are a bit too good for just a casual player…"
"Huh? Oh," She smiled modestly. "I used to be the regional champion but I quit. I'm trying to get back into the game but I'm rusty."
"I understand."
"You know, even now when I have problems I think about them like a chess game. Things are easier to work out when you think a few steps ahead. You can usually predict behavior pretty accurately if you have a decent handle on human psychology and a few bits of info. That's how I think, anyway."
"Mmm." Hideki hummed. It was hard to tell, but it seemed as though he had actually heard her and was giving it some thought. But, then: "Mate."
Shika blinked a few times at the board she had been staring at and realizing that, yes, she had quite definitely lost. She laughed and stretched. "I guess I really am rusty. Thanks. That was a good game. We should play again some time, 'Hideki'." Her fingers crooked air quotes around his name.
After the loss, he pondered her reaction. "Possibly. If I have the time, although I can't really guarantee anything at this point." He clambered out of his chair.
"Well, I come here most afternoons if you ever want a rematch."
"I'm pretty sure you're the one who wants a rematch. Buuut I do like chess. I'll think about it." Hideki started walking off.
The bishop gave the knight in the park little thought beyond their match. He walked back to the hotel in which he stayed, thoughts on other things, like the Kira case. But he did think about what the chess player had said, about looking a few steps ahead. It was a familiar phrase to him, but after turning it over, it gave him an idea. Digging in his pocket, he took out one of his cells and dialed a number.
"Watari? Yes, I need to know if there are any convicted criminals on death row that would be willing to do something for me. Thank you. While you're on it, get the local news station on the line. I have an idea."
-o-
A/N: Remember to tell me what you think; this is only a prologue after all. I purposely didn't describe what either of them really looked like, but that'll come in later. Thanks for reading the test run!