A/N: Tried something a bit more dramatic this chapter.

Chapter 3: Otori Kaede, Kato Mikuni

My name is Kato Mikuni, and I aim to be the first female professional Shogi player. Not merely an apprentice, but someone who could stand in that arena where my grandfather fought. I've dedicated my life to this path of Shogi.

No wait, that's really heavy for an introduction! Especially when everyone's a stranger! Come on, Kato, Shogi is Life and all that, but you can't just destroy your social life like this. Don't even tell anyone you came to school carrying books of shogi puzzles.

Why think this hard? A goddess had just wrote down her name on the board. Nobody will care about you. Just say 'I'm Kato Mikuni. I like to play shogi' and the class will move on.

Say it!

SAY IT

"I'm Shogi and my hobby is Kato Mikuni."

See? Nobody cares.

Next day.

"Kato, what's your favourite snacks?"

Rice crackers, of course. Wait, wait, Kato. Don't just go ahead and blab. Think ahead. Crackers is a boring snack, it could imply that I'm too focused on shogi to care about snacks. I need to show I'm fully-rounded, and that means showing I too have snacks I really love. But what are those? I keep returning to rice crackers. Maybe I can show my depth by giving a brand of the rice crackers, but hmm, never really paid much attention to those, I'd just eat any rice crackers. No, hang on, maybe I should make fun of myself a little, saying 'oh I just play shogi all day, my fav snack is the one next to the board'? Yeah, yeah, that's good, clearly hyperbole, showed I have a sense of humo-

They left.

Next day.

"Kato."

I turned around. It was the green-haired girl behind me: Otori Kaede. Alright! First day was awkward, but second day's the chance for a turnaround. Alright, what's going to happen? I've devised some beginner-level shogi puzzles that are perfect ice breakers.

Huh, she didn't actually say anything. She just continued smiling.

"Otori? Can I help you with anything?"

Just smiling. Cute smile, but still.

"Did you call me, Otori?"

"You're just like me."

"How so?

"Oh, I'm fine."

"Er…"

"We take some time before saying anything. Would you be my friend?"

"Hang on. I'm not slow. I'm just thinking several steps ahead."

She turned her head in confusion.

"Well, yeah, you have to. Every good shogi player must be able to predict the future," I said.

"What do you mean thinking 'several steps' ahead?"

"It means I have to think of not just how to move my pieces, but also how I would move if my opponent moves this way, and how my opponent would respond to my response."

"Because of all the pieces."

I nodded. She got me.

Next day.

"So you're using your brain to think about all these things? Amazing."

"Why so sudden, Otori? Oh wait, is this yesterday's topic?"

She nodded.

"Uh, yeah, I have to do that."

"It's just like daydreaming."

"What?" She didn't get me. "No, it's not. It's a focused diffuse thinking. There are chains of logic connecting from one state to the next. It's not some random walk in the garden of your brain."

"Isn't everything in the brain connected?"

...Huh.

"It's fun thinking a few steps ahead, isn't it? A stroll through the garden of the brain?"

"It is fun, yeah."

"And when you're having fun, time passes away."

"...Yeah."

I looked at her. The way she behaved, it seemed like she could handle everything.

"Otori."

"Yes?"

"My dream is to be the first professional female player."

I waited for her reply.

"There aren't any?"

"True professionals, or the 'Kishi' are officially only for males. I intend to be the first to break it, to face other male professionals. I want to stand in that field where my grandfather fought, and carve my name in history."

Otori took some time to think, a bit longer than before. The break ended and the class resumed, then the school day finished before she looked again at me. "I think you're ready for that long journey."

I nodded. Otori could handle it after all.

[break]

"Kato said after that meeting she started doing the shogi puzzles in the open."

Tadano laughed. "Otori really is an amazing person. I genuinely believed that even if we hadn't met, you would find your first friend in this class. If not Otori, then Onemine."

"If that happened, I'd come to you and ask to be your friend."

"Eh, I don't really offer mu-"

"You are important to me," Komi said. She blushed. "I mean, your friendship is important to me!" After a while, she continued. "No, you are important to me as well."

The two blushed in silence. Tadano broke the silence finally when he said, "If not Onemine, I think Sato would eventually be your friend as well. Actually, I have a story about Sato and Kicho..."