Shoko Komi's Ultimate Challenge

by Ulquiorra9000

Communication 33: make your move

"Aw man, I lost again! Darn it!"

The new school year had just started, and for a certain student, the semester was off to a rough start. Hitohito Tadano sighed and pocketed his phone during lunch, and right away, Shoko Komi was dying to know what he could have lost on his phone. So, she passed him a note from across the table in the cafeteria to inquire.

"Oh, don't mind me," Hitohito said with a wave of his hand. "I just downloaded this chess app, but everyone kicks my butt. I might just uninstall it."

Chess? Shoko had played shogi before, yes, but she had always been curious about the classy board game of bishops, knights, and checkmate. She always pictured elderly European men in newsboy hats playing that game, but maybe it was popular with younger people, too! When asked, Hitohito got his phone back out and booted up the chess app.

"Okay, I just got matched against someone," Hitohito explained, holding the phone so they could both see. He tapped his finger on the screen so one of his white pawns moved up two squares. Then the opponent moved their own black pawn, and Hitohito moved another pawn, then a horsie (a knight) jumped over some pawns, then... other stuff. Shoko only vaguely knew the rules of chess, but in five minutes time, the sparkly letters YOU LOSE! appeared on the screen. Shoko certainly knew what that meant.

"Yeah, I'm no good at this," Hitohito admitted. "My mom said she used to play in high school and college, and my neighbor down the street plays, too. But I guess it doesn't run in the family! Haha."

Shoko pumped her fists and imagined her cat ears perking up. Time for a new challenge! Get good at chess! Or at least have a really good game worth remembering! Well okay, she should win at least one game, or the challenge is too vague. She told her friend as much on her paper.

Hitohito went pink. "You... you want to practice chess with me? With a real board?"

Shoko bashfully nodded. Suddenly this sounded so intimate!

"O... okay, sure. Let's ask the chess club if we can borrow their stuff," Hitohito said, fanning himself. "In the meantime, let's finish lunch. Not much time left." He dug into his curry.

Shoko agreed and resumed eating, her mind already stuck on chess. What fun! Playing shogi with her grandmother and uncle was kind of cool, but chess felt more exotic! She couldn't wait.

*o*o*o*o*

Luckily for both Shoko and Hitohito, the unpopular chess club barely had any members, so there was a spare table and chess set for them to play that afternoon after school.

"I'll play black, so you can go first," Hitohito offered graciously once they get everything set up. He bowed his head. "Let's have a good match."

Shoko bowed her head right back, pretended to crack her knuckles, then moved a pawn forward two squares. She didn't mind learning this as she went; for now, she just wanted to get the ball rolling.

"This is the French opening," Hitohito explained. He moved a black pawn foward one space, the pawn right in front of his king thingy. Now his pawn was on a collision course with Shoko's own. "It's a solid and popular move, but it's also pretty passive. I think it suits me. Or at least, Najimi thinks so!" He laughed.

Shoko made a tiny smile and moved another pawn, then Hitohito moved another pawn, and back and forth. Once or twice, Shoko had to ask how a certain piece moved, such as how the rooks can only move in straight lines and knights always has a 2-1 pattern, and so on. Then Shoko made her first blunder, moving a knight forward, only for Hitohito's bishop to race across the board and capture it!

"Whoops! I guess you forgot about my bishop," Hitohito teased her gently. "Watch out for them. New players underestimate how they can move on a cluttered board state."

Goodness, no kidding. Shoko narrowed her eyes and studied the board, pretending she was like Yoshiharu Habu, the super-duper skilled Japanese chess player and shogi player. Honestly, Shoko preferred shogi, as did most Japanese, but it was fun to take a break and play around with something new. Especially when the pieces are tall and cool-looking like these! Shogi sure didn't have any jumping horses.

"Ah ha! Got him!" Hitohito cried. His knight pounced and claimed Shoko's rook, and Shoko gasped in alarm. By now, Shoko had captured two of her opponent's pawns, but Hitohito had captured four pawns, both knights, and a rook, and Shoko was running out of options. Not that she really knew what she was doing, anyway.

"Whoa. This is pretty one-sided," the chess club president said, pushing his glasses up his nose. "I see black forcing a checkmate in six moves, tops!"

"Hey, she's new," Hitohito spoke up. "I just gotta show her the ropes first."

"I... see," the president said, and he wandered off. Sheesh!

But seriously, Shoko was in trouble, and she didn't even have any horsies to protect her king guy. She did what she could, but without a solid overall strategy, Shoko's doom was inevitable, and in 13 moves, Hitohito forced a checkmate.

"Whew. Not bad for your first time," Hitohito said warmly. "Want to go again?"

Shoko eagerly nodded, and they set up the board for round two. They kept their colors, meaning Shoko went first as white again. She took a moment, then chose the pawn in front of her queen and moved it forward two spaces. Hitohito moved forward his own version of that pawn, so then Shoko moved the pawn to the left of her first one, putting it in a position to attack Hitohito's own pawn.

"Whoa! That's the queen's gambit," Hitohito remarked. "That's really cool, Komi."

"It is?" Shoko asked quietly.

"Yeah, it's a centuries-old staple. Pros use it all the time," Hitohito remarked. "So now that you've done the queen's gambit, I can do this..."

Back and forth they went, and this time, Shoko was getting a feel for things. The black bishops and knights kept taking her by surprise with their ambushes, but Shoko sound found ways to save her pieces and at least prevent some wasteful losses. She even captured an enemy rook and two pawns, though she lost three pawns, a knight, and a bishop along the way. Hmmmmm... what to do?

Shoko moved her remaining bishop to a gutsy location on the board, only for Hitohito to blurt something out.

"Hang on, that's risky," he said. "You should move it here... uh..."

Hitohito impulsively reached over and took hold of Shoko's bishop while Shoko was also holding it, meaning they were suddenly holding hands!

Shoko gasped as she felt her friend's warm, soft hand wrap itself around hers, and she nearly jumped out of her seat, her heart suddenly racing. Whew, was it warm in here?

"Oh! I-I'm sorry!" Hitohito withdrew his hand at once, going red in the face. "I shouldn't try to control your moves, Komi. You gotta learn on your own! Haha!" He fanned himself, just like at lunch.

Who cares about bishops? Shoko put a hand to her thudding heart and took a deep breath, then released it. She had to stay cool! And not just for the game's sake! What if one of her friends saw this?

"Yoo-hoo! Tadanoooooo...!"

Najimi Osana burst into the room, arms spread wide, with an even wider smile on their face. The chess club members all dove for cover under their desks, with one saying "Not again!"

"Oh. Hey, what's up?" Hitohito asked, before Najimi gently bopped him in the face with a yo-yo.

"Come to the park with us! We're gonna have a talent show," Najimi said cheerfully. "Come on! Time's wasting!"

Hitohito rolled his eyes. "Okay, who's we?"

"Who isn't?"

"Look, can I finish this game first? Komi wants to practice."

"Oh, right. Rook to B6. Do it, Komi." Najimi pointed at the board.

Feeling inspired, Shoko made the move that Najimi recommended, only for Hitohito's queen to immediately capture it.

Shoko gave Najimi a look of disbelief.

"Oops! I guess I suck at chess!" Najimi shrugged widely and laughed. "Sorry, Komi. Now hurry up, Tadano! You don't want to miss the juggling or the yodeling! I've got some pretty talented friends, y'know."

"Yeah, you sure do. Go on ahead without me," Hitohito said, already focusing on the board again. Finally getting the hint, Najimi gave Shoko a wink and skipped right out of the room.

The chess club members emerged from cover, with the president saying, "If Osana comes in here one more time, I'm writing a strongly-worded letter to the principal!" Everyone clapped.

Meanwhile, Shoko got her mind back on the game, and she managed to capture two more pieces before Hitohito's queen, bishop, and knight cornered her black king for checkmate. Oh, no! Well, there was always next time, and Hitohito said as much.

"Let's play some more tomorrow, Komi," Hitohito said brightly. "I can't wait to see what kind of strategies you'll use!"

"As long as Osana doesn't follow you in here," one of the club girls added with a scowl.

"I'll see what I can do. And have a good evening, Komi." Hitohito beamed, waved, and exited the room.

The same girl leaned over and whispered something into her friend's ear, and both girls burst out gigging, their eyes fixed on Shoko.

With a nervous gasp, Shoko seized her school bag and raced out of the room to go home. That was enough gaming for one school day!

*o*o*o*o*

At home, Shuko volunteered to help Shoko practice with an old chess set she found in the upstairs closet, but neither of them really knew what they were doing, and more than once, Shoko caught herself mixing up the moves of her pieces. She tried to move a rook diagonally, then somehow got her white square bishop onto a black square! That's not possible when you move diagonally all the time, right? And Shoko also forgot to turn her pawn into a better piece when it reaches the other end of the board.

"Sorry, Shoko honey," Shuko said with an embarrassed smile while mother and daughter tried in vain to somehow checkmate each other. "I'm good at card games and trivia night, but chess and shogi... well, they're not for me!" She stuck out her tongue and knocked on her own head while winking.

After that, Shosuke politely declined to play chess with his sister, and Masayoshi had gone out for the evening, so Shoko retreated upstairs and looked up some chess strategy guides online. She soon read accounts of brilliant plays from Bobby Fischer, Magnus Carlsen, and the super-duper chess wizard Garry Kasparov, but none of that helped. Shoko just wanted to exercise her creative mind and defeat Hitohito fair and square! And deep down, Shoko wondered if Hitohito also wanted her to defeat him! That was so nice of him. But Shoko had to win fair and square, or it didn't mean much.

Hmmmmmmm... there was the queen's gambit again, some gutsy pawn-based moves, tricky bishop strategies to control the board's center, defensive moves and ploys with the knights, how to use the queen without risking its capture too easily...

Shoko jolted with alarm when Shosuke knocked on the door and opened it to invite his sister to his room for guitar practice. Oh shoot, Shoko had totally forgotten! Well, Bobby Fischer's winning strategies can wait. Shoko was eager to practice her rendition of Dead End's Song "Serafine." That is, a simplified, easier version of it! Shoko and her brother were total rock star rookies, after all, but it was still fun, and wonderfully relaxing, to play.

Shoko went to bed in high spirits that night, feeling more creative than ever.

*o*o*o*o*

"Hey, I won this time," Hitohito Tadano remarked brightly in homeroom the next day, staring intently at his phone. "Took me 46 moves and cost me my queen, but I did it. See, Komi?"

He showed Shoko his phone screen, where YOU WIN! appeared in curly gold characters. Very nice! Shoko gave him two thumbs up.

"Anyway..." Hitohito grinned and pocketed his phone. "Would you like to meet up at the chess club after school today, Komi? I'm sure they'll be OK with it."

Shoko nodded, and for the rest of the day, it was all she could think about! She squirmed in her seat in history, barely listening to the lecture about the Heian Period, instead trying to decide what her personal signature chess moves would be. Maybe the queen's gambit could be followed by aggressive knights and a rook to flank from the left side? Or maybe the right bishop to cut off enemy reinforcements? So many options to choose from!

None of them helped her beat Hitohito when they played, though.

"That's checkmate," Hitohito declared when his queen, bishop, and two pawns cornered Shoko's helpless king in their first game. He rolled his neck. "I think you're getting better though, Komi. You didn't fall for any of the obvious traps I set for you."

Shoko merely nodded, but she still felt a bit... disappointed? Frustrated? Well, maybe nothing so unpleasant. But she really wanted to win...!

They played three more games, and Shoko ended up 0-4. Well, there was always next time!

*o*o*o*o*

Shoko didn't have any luck the next day either, though she did capture Hitohito's queen in one tense game, and she almost had that king cornered until Hitohito improvised a sharp counterattack that ended in Shoko's defeat. Oh, so close! But on the next day...

"Okay. I have a good feeling about this one," Hitohito said when he and Shoko sat down for their first game of the day in the chess club's room. "Are you ready, Komi?"

Shoko nodded, and it was game time! Once again, Shoko opened with the queen's gambit, her trademark move, and Hitohito responded with a knight-heavy attack that threatened to pincer Shoko's position in the board's center and crush her. Shoko suffered some losses, but she successfully fought off the pincer attack, and then she and her opponent both shifted strategies in the midgame. Whew, this was their tenses game yet, and both queens were on the prowl! Shoko tried every trick she knew (which wasn't many), and she gained a slight advantage. But one bad move would spell her doom. Careful...

Meanwhile, Hitohito was deep in thought, looking like one of those pros as he hunched over, eyes scrutinizing every piece and square. Then he slowly reached down and took hold of his queen, moving it diagonally three squares -

"Um...!" Shoko's hand seemed to move all on its own, reaching out to take hold of Hitohito's queen. "That would get your queen captured for nothing," Shoko whispered to him. "See?" She gestured at the board.

"Oh, shoot! You're right. That would have been a blunder," Hitohito admitted with a small laugh. "Good catch."

Then they both stared down at Shoko's hand holding Hitohito's own. Just how long had they been holding hands like that?

Shoko gasped, went bright red, and withdrew her hand at once. She held it with her other hand, her heart thudding in her chest. Wh-what the...?

"O-okay! So, um..." Hitohito fanned his red face for a few seconds before he put his queen back and tried a different move with his surviving knight. Back and forth they went, but this time, both players were too flustered and distracted to try any wannabe Garry Kasparov moves, so they both stumbled around the board until Shoko finally got her chance.

"Ch... check," she said quietly, putting her rook into position.

Hitohito got his king out of the way and soon captured one of Shoko's three remaining pawns, but it was too late. Shoko brought over her queen, another pawn, and her knight, and Hitohito's bishop wasn't enough to protect his king. Hitohito laid his king down to admit defeat.

"That's checkmate. Congrats, Komi. Your first win!" Hitohito bowed deeply, and Shoko offered a short bow in return. Amazing! She was such a chess whiz! She marked the challenge complete and offered to put away all the chess stuff.

"I... I'll see you tomorrow," Shoko said as quietly as ever, and Hitohito bowed again before taking his leave.

Then, at home, Shoko was in for another surprise. Her mother sat at the dining room table, the chess set already set up, with Shuko making a dramatic pose.

"I challenge you, dear daughter! If you win, you get double dessert with dinner tonight!" Shuko declared. "I think I caught the chess bug from you, haha!"

Shoko hurried over and sat opposite her mother for a good game, only to be totally scatterbrained and lose rather badly. She couldn't stop thinking about the feeling of Hitohito's hand in hers...

"Woo hoo! I checkmated!" Shuko cheered, clapping her hands. "Maybe next time, Shoko! Oh ho ho ho!"

This game sure was an emotional roller coaster!