Author's note: Hello everyone! I regret to inform that I already fired my beta-reader. Actually, I had finished writing this chapter a very long time ago but my beta-reader didn't reply back to me for more than a month! So in the end, I had no choice but to fire him and made this story beta-readerless again. So I am sorry in advance if there are any mistakes in my writing.

I hope you will enjoy the chapter, and please don't forget to leave a review. Reviews are what make my motivation goes up. It can even be said that how fast an update I can make to this story is depended on how many good reviews (creative reviews) I receive.

This story will have a total of 39 chapters. I am quite sure since I has already finished writing the plot of chapter 38

Now, time for a good read. Let's see the new information on the Afterlife side. Will it be Haruka's? Yuzuru's? The god's? Or someone else's?

Enjoys!

Qwqs

Chess, love, and obsession

*sigh*

Yuzuru can't help but let out a sigh of feeding up.

Recently, the atmosphere between Yuzuru and Haruka is becoming more and more stressful. Haruka still helps him make other souls move on as usual, but there is no more mention about the canceled collaboration.

'We do talk normally but all of our talks are superficial at best.'

Yuszuru sighs again as he is drowned in his anxiety for the future.

Can they still work together in the same way as before? Although they still do now, it feels like this situation is not going to last.

He really appreciates her help but will he soon lose it?

'If it became like this, would it be better if she never offered me her help about the ring in the first place?' Yuzuru thinks so.

If she just helps him in making the other souls move on, that would be fine, but because she had offered her further help, the situation is so awkward now when she suddenly canceled it.

At this time of his grieving, however, Haruka comes to see him.

"Otonashi-san, a new soul has arrived."

When Yuzuru has heard so, he stands up, concealing all his anxiety and goes to see the soul together with Haruka.

'Well, we have to do our duty after all.'

…

…

…

-o-O-o-

"Hello Otonashi-san, I'm Sakamoto Hiroshi. I have already heard the situation from Saigusa-san. It seems like I died, didn't I?" the boy says with his head down, a little dejected.

"Unfortunately, yes. Now we have to solve your regrets to make you move on to the next life. You don't have to be afraid of the next life and try to live your life to the fullest then," Yuzuru comforts kindly.

"Thank you, Otonashi-san," the boy expresses his gratitude.

"Do you have any idea what your regrets are? We will try our best to help you get rid of them," Haruka inquires.

"That's a very good question. Let me think for a sec…Hmm…Oh, I know it!" The boy contemplates it for a while before suddenly shouting out.

"What is it? We will help you," Yuzuru says.

The boy looks at both of them before saying, "Do any of you play chess?"

…

…

…

-o-O-o-

To sum it up, the boy is a chess enthusiast who lived in the countryside, and while he very much loves chess, he has only ever played with people online. His only regret is not being able to play chess with other people face-to-face.

"In my hometown, people only play Shogi. But I don't like Shogi, I like chess!" The boy explains.

"Okay, then, I will play with you," Haruka says indifferently.

"You know how to play chess, Saigusa-san?" Yuzuru asks.

"Yes, I know. Chess and psychology are somewhat related after all. I have dabbled in it before; I am just an amateur though."

"That's great! Then let's play!" The exited boy exclaims so.

It is his first live chess match after all.

…

…

…

-o-O-o-

"Checkmate."

"Damn, I lost!"

Surprisingly, Hiroshi lost the match.

He got completely crushed by the amateur Haruka, who is just a casual chess player, which should speak volumes of his chess skill.

'This guy is really weak, I just used intermediate chess tactics to win materials and grind him down to win the game.' The calm Haruka secretly thinks so.

"Can we play again?" The boy asks.

"Sure,' Haruka agrees.

…

…

…

-o-O-o-

"Checkmate."

"Damn, I lost again!"

They played each other for a few more times but Hiroshi wasn't able to win even a single game from Haruka.

He kept getting into disadvantage exchanges of materials and was eventually ground down every game.

Of course, he may win if Haruka decided to go easy on him, but to pay respect to his devotion to chess, Haruka went all out every game.

As a result, Hiroshi wasn't able to gain a single win.

"…Do you want to play again?" Haruka says while feeling a little tired. She has been playing with him for ten consecutive games after all.

"No, it is alright. I am already immensely satisfied; I guess I will just move on then," Hiroshi closes his eyes in satisfaction as he declares so.

And at the moment he is about to move on…

"Wait for a second!" Yuzuru calls him back.

…

…

…

-o-O-o-

"What is it, Otonashi-san? I thought you want me to move on," the boy opens his eyes in annoyance and responds.

Caring not of his annoyance, Yururu asks for the answer he wants to know, "How can you be satisfied?! You lost! You lost all the games! I thought you love chess so much, how can you accept this result?! What do you mean by my regret is already fulfilled?!"

On hearing that, the boy closes his eyes to contemplate for a moment before carefully replies to the question he was asked, "…I think you are misunderstanding something, Otonashi-san."

"What is it that I misunderstand?"

"Although it is surely frustrating that I was unable to win a single game, that is not why I play chess! I play chess because I love it! I am already satisfied just by being or having memories associated with chess! It doesn't matter that I don't possess a skill or talent for it!"

The boy pauses for effect.

"…For me, as long as I am able to spend time thinking about chess, I am satisfied."

After have finished saying so, he vanishes.

No one in the Afterlife will ever hear from Sakamoto Hiroshi again. He has already moved on to the next life.

…

…

…

-o-O-o-

Later on, by himself, Yuzuru contemplates the boy's words.

"I play chess because I love it! I am already satisfied just by being or having memories associated with chess! It doesn't matter that I don't possess a skill or talent for it!"

Hiroshi's words full of conviction resound themselves in Yuzuru's mind again.

He thinks he found some clues from it - clues to deal with his problem.

'Hiroshi loves chess even if he sucks at it. He is happy even if he loses. He is happy even if he does not possess the talent for chess.'

Yuzuru contemplates this information.

'For Kanade, I…'

Is it really necessary to be with her if he just wants to love her?

That is his new question.

After contemplating it for a while, Yuzuru finally finds an answer he can be satisfied with.

"I will still love her because I love her but I won't force things just to be together with her. I won't bind her down and burden her from finding new love with my love. I am happy enough just to have memories of her and reminisce about her from time to time."

That will be his new conviction.

A conviction that can never be bent, only broken.

And also, a solution to the question that Buddhist freak has left behind for him.

But of course, whether the person herself will accept his conviction is another story.

…

…

…

-o-O-o-

On Haruka's side, she also contemplates the event on her own.

'I truly hate it.'

She thinks so.

The boy's way is truly similar to the Buddhist way – the way she has a loathing for.

What would that way be called then?

It is called acceptance.

The boy accepted the fact that he sucked at chess but he did not struggle any further on an extreme degree to change it.

It is possible to improve if you bet everything on it but "possible" is the keyword here. If you still persevere in the thing that you are not good at, you may waste your entire life without any result to show for it.

Hiroshi cleverly chose this way whether consciously or unconsciously and as a result, he was not hurt by his talentless self more than necessary.

That is the way of Buddhism, acceptance of reality.

This even makes her think of her past.

She was the daughter of a politician who was framed by his colleagues and went to jail. As a result, her entire family broke apart. All of the people she once called friends betrayed her.

Of course, her hatred for those who made her father and family suffer is undeniable.

'The only reason I began studying psychology is to get revenge…'

It was her highest goal to one day getting back at those people in her father's stead.

She planned to eventually use her psychological knowledge to become a great politician and take revenge on those people one way or another.

However, that goal is gone now. She died.

She can't do anything to those people anymore because she has already died.

That was the reason behind her miserable state when she had just arrived here. She couldn't control herself and cried tears of bitterness and frustration. (Chapter 5).

However, if there is one thing that she wants and still can do in her current state...It is to prove that her choice was not wrong. The path she was walking towards is not a mistake.

During her study of psychology, she learned about Buddhism and its notion of acceptance.

To stop struggling and accept things in reality as they truly are.

'It is quite logical but I can't accept it.'

She can't accept the notion. If she accepted them, it would mean the path she was walking so far is meaningless.

She denied it immediately after she knew about the concept back when she was alive.

She thought she would not have the time to worry about it since she would have her hands full with just completing her highest goal alone.

But now she died and that goal became impossible and so this became her highest goal instead.

'That is why I will prove that Buddha was wrong about that with the path I will create on my own.'

That is the true reason why she decided to stay here in the Afterlife where she will have all the time in the world.

'However…'

There are still some pieces missing - those of which makes her unable to achieve her goal.

"The first thing I have to do is… Making Otonashi-san move on and I will do whatever it takes to achieve that."

It is the first and foremost important step to reach her real goal after all.

This goal is her obsession.

…

…

…

-o-O-o-

'Nothing interesting happens at all,' the divine being contemplates so.

The sacred one has been watching the Afterlife for a while after the two people breaking off, but nothing has caught his attention so far.

'However, I have a feeling that an interesting thing will happen soon.'

He is a divine one and his intuition is rarely wrong.

'I look forward to it.'

Done!

Believe it or not, thinking up the plot in this chapter is much more difficult than just writing it!

Now you guys understand Haruka's backstory, congratulations for reading this far.

Next chapter will finally be about the meditation thingy (I hope I can write it well enough as I had a difficulty writing about it in chapter 29)

Let us enjoy the ride together until it ends!

Please read and review!