Author's notes: So I should probably be focusing on my other uncompleted stories but my brain decided that nope, you will become enchanted with Diamond no Ace and obsess over its characters. So here this story is. I find it sad that DoA isn't as popular as Kuroko no Basuke, because I think it's an amazing sports anime in its own right too (so many feels ahrjfbajsbdj why can't there be a third season ;-;).
Honestly, Yuuki Tetsuya is one of my favourite characters in the entire series. He's an inspirational hard-worker and I find him amazing. He reminds me a lot of Kasamatsu from KnB despite their differing personalities, or maybe I'm just biased towards diligent and spiky-haired captains who only cry when their teammates aren't really looking ;-;. Note that the story takes place around the start of the series, and that my knowledge of how japanese schools work is fairly limited, so I apologise in advance for any inconsistencies! Do leave a review and thank you!
Amaya runs her fingers across the edge of the shogi board. She rather misses playing shogi. But as a third year who is the Captain of the female Karate Team, it is no longer a luxury she has the time to afford. Additionally, there is no one quite willing to play with her, especially when she has the tendency to take extremely long to make a single move.
"Inoue?" Amaya turns around when she hears her last name being called. The classroom was empty when she walked in, and lunch break isn't due to end for at least another twenty five minutes. Who can it be?
"Y– Yuuki-san?" Upon coming face to face with Yuuki Tetsuya, Amaya can't help stammering in surprise. Did the shogi board belong to him? She'd only entered the classroom upon seeing it set on a table. Amaya didn't expect it to be the classroom of Seidou's Baseball Team Captain. In fact, she wasn't even aware that he played shogi. "Ah, that is... How do you know my name?"
"Why wouldn't I?" Tetsu face is a stoic mask as usual, but surprisingly, there is nothing hostile about his demeanor. In fact, he merely seems puzzled by her presence. "You're the Captain of the Karate Team."
"Fair point." But being Captain of the female Karate Team feels tantamount to nothing in Seidou. The position seemed to come with little recognition and a mountain of paperwork and responsibilities. They have only won a handful of competitions so far, and Seidou's excellence in baseball only seems to diminish its presence even more.
"What are you doing here?" Amaya is amazed that Yuuki isn't showing signs of impatience. Yet.
"I- I saw the shogi board and got drawn in. Sorry," Amaya offers an embarrassed smile, preparing to back away. She's not good at dealing with people - much less when it is a stranger whose expression is as unchanging as the amount of responsibilities and tasks she is assigned on a daily basis. "I didn't mean to bother."
"Play a game with me." With that, Yuuki seats himself behind the desk. When Amaya stares at him speechlessly, the look in his eyes indicates that he's expecting her to take sit the desk in front ot him.
"You start." Well, it's not like she can contest that when he's said it so seriously. Still, Amaya's heart thrums with the excitement of being able to play a shogi again, despite the rather bizarre circumstances that led to the chance.
She runs through some possible strategies before edging one of her pawns forward. Arms crossed, Yuuki glares at the shogi board for a few minutes before moving it. Amaya counters quickly, not wanting yet another person to complain about the time she takes to make a move. Yet as the game progresses (albeit at a slow pace, as Yuuki takes increasingly long pauses to plan what to do next), Amaya realises she might actually be having fun.
When Yuuki finally lifts his shogi piece in the air to make a move, the bell rings, signaling the end of their break. Amaya blinks in surprise. How did the time pass so quickly? What a pity, she couldn't enjoy a full game of shogi after all. But she'd been able to get the feel of a match again. Amaya supposes that will do.
"Thank you for entertaining me, Yuuki-san." Even though he took a painstaking amount of time to make a single move (something she realised she has been forcing her companions to experience back when she used to play shogi frequently), it was nice of him to offer to play.
"No, thank you." His expression has yet to change, but the way the corners of his mouth have lifted up just the slightest seems to imply that he is pleased. "We will pick up from where we left off tomorrow."
Tomorrow? Is he expecting her to return again? Amaya mentally consults her schedule. Ah, she was planning on settling some paperwork during the break tomorrow.
But when Amaya looks at Yuuki's steely eyes and calm face, she hesitates. Instead of giving him a polite refusal, the words - "I'll be here again tomorrow" - leave her mouth before she even has time to think.