Hey guys, here's a new chapter!
Chapter 5:
"So, Kaede, what have you got?" Ascion asked.
Right after school had ended, Ascion and Kaede had visited Athena, both to let her know that they were fine and to collect their payment. Athena had joked about how their pay should have been deducted for making her worry, but she still paid them in full at the end.
That was about an hour ago. Ascion and Kaede were now relaxing atop a tree in Henesys. That was when Ascion sprung the question.
"Quite a bit." Kaede had an amused quirk to her lips. "You'll be surprised at how much girls these days like to gossip. They can literally talk about anything, and their spatial awareness is terrible. They didn't even realize I was there the whole time."
"So, no change from last year, I presume?"
"Absolutely none."
The two friends shared a chuckle.
"Anyway, back to the topic. Full name Shinohara Akio, no living relatives. He lives with the Warrior Instructor, Dances with Balrog. He was a thief and a hunter before he was taken in by the chieftain at the age of eight. He was homeschooled until halfway through last year, before he was transferred into Maple Middle.
"He seems to be blunt and cold, and rumour has it that he hasn't spoken a sentence that's longer than five words. As a result of that, and how he apparently "looks very cool", he is quite popular among the girls. He even has a fan club of his own. And it seems like he's holding a challenge of sorts. Every lunch break, he would find an area to set up a chess set. He would consider granting a request to the first person that beats him."
Ascion winced. "That's brutal. He's a Master level player. Not many people in our school can win against him."
"Why do you think he would set up such a challenge?" Kaede asked.
Ascion furrowed his brows as he thought about it carefully. "Based on what I think, there could be two possible reasons. One, he could be trying to motivate the players to work harder. Two, it could be a long term strategy to get people to leave him alone.
Take a look at it this way. Though many would flock to him with high hopes of winning, with every game played, he brutally crushes each and every one of them. This could wind up in one of two ways. First, well aware of how good Akio is at chess, the players might be motivated to work harder in hopes of beating him in the future. So he's setting a such a challenge to motivate the players.
Alternatively, some people might get disheartened instead, causing them to start to harbour spiteful feelings towards Akio because of their continued losses. Gradually, he gets left alone because people would think "I can't win against him", and all the negativity directed at him would kill any popularity he has. It's either one of the two reasons, or both."
Kaede blinked. "The second reason sounds like something only we would think of. So, he's an apathetic guy that's either really bored or good at scheming?"
"When you put it that way, it sounds so negative." Ascion commented. "And besides, that's just own my hypothesis. I could be wrong."
Kaede sighed. "Well, that's true. Another important bit; apparently, a lot of his challengers, be they fan girls or someone who's jealous of his popularity, have tried to hold a conversation with him, but he never answers their taunts or questions. However, it should be safe to assume that he knows about our reputation. That's all I have."
"Let's see… Akio is an orphan, doesn't like to talk, used to steal and hunt for food. He also has a fan club, but we don't know what his views are on it. So the only thing left to do is for us to get to know him better."
"Do you have a plan?"
Ascion grinned. "Well, I'm probably the only other chessmaster in the school, so I might as well give this challenge a shot."
"Whoo." Ascion whistled in relief. "I won! That took a while."
After their talk, Ascion had decided to brush up on his chess skills online before challenging Akio the next day, so the duo had retreated back to Ascion's home in a secluded corner of Ellinia.
Currently, the magician was practicing against a Master level computer program. He had currently won three times in a row.
"You took half an hour for the third game." Kaede commented. "Even though you won the first two games in ten minutes. Any reason why?"
"For the last round, I made as many stupid mistakes as I could." Ascion explained. "I wanted to see how far off the deep end I can go and still manage to pull myself back up."
"Good for you." Kaede muttered, still working at her worksheet. "Now, if only you could give me the solution to all math problems in the world."
"I do have a solution." Ascion offered.
"What?" Kaede asked, not even looking up.
"Kill all the mathematicians in the world."
"That is the most morally unsound method of tackling math that I have ever heard. And also utterly stupid cause somebody is just going to invent math again."
"Just a thought."
"A crazy one."
"I'm a very crazy person."
"That's something I think we can both agree on. Now, how do I do question 6?"
Ascion sighed. "Just have look at my worksheet, but try not to copy. The teacher will know, I will know, and you will be in trouble."
"I'm not dumb, Ascion." Kaede rolled her eyes.
"Could've fooled me." Ascion joked. "You're struggling with math."
Kaede reached into her bag, withdrew a small rock and chucked it at the back of Ascion's head. It connected with a solid thud and an "ow".
"Not everyone is as smart as you, Ascion." Kaede countered blandly.
"I still don't get why you stuff rocks into your bag." Ascion complained.
"They come in handy whenever you say something stupid."
"I know, but can't you use something softer? Like… plush toys or something?"
"Well, you know what they say: no pain, no gain."
Ascion winced. "Harsh."
After finishing up her work, Kaede decided to head home while the sun was still up. Ascion wanted to walk her home, but she had declined. The last thing she saw after bidding Ascion goodbye was the mage returning to his computer and resuming his training.
"I wonder how long it'll take to wake him up this time." Kaede mused to herself as she left. "He's not gonna sleep for a while, that's for sure. How should I wake him tomorrow?"
A pause.
"Now I'm starting to feel more and more like his mother."
After an entire night of chess games, Ascion had collapsed on his bed. It seemed like he had barely closed his eyes before he was awoken once again by Kaede shouting outside his house.
Ascion blinked at the ceiling blearily. What time was it, anyway?
"Ascion Wolf! If you don't get up right now I'm going to march in there and drag you to school in your pyjamas!"
… Apparently late enough.
Ascion quickly rolled out of bed, groggily making his way into his bathroom for a cold shower.
The icy water immediately blew away any sleepiness left, leaving him more alert. He quickly gave himself a quick scrub, then hastily dried himself off with his towel. Wrapping the cloth around his waist, Ascion stepped out of the bathroom.
Right in front of Kaede.
The archer's jaw dropped, her face lighting up like someone had just set it aflame. Ascion just stared and blinked. There was a moment of silence between then, before-
"Well." Ascion mused aloud. "This is odd. I swear that in popular culture, our positions are supposed to be reversed."
That knocked Kaede out of her stupor. With a loud scream of apology, Kaede ran out his house so quickly that it was as if she teleported.
Ascion raised an eyebrow as his front door slammed shut.
"Well, that was something."
After a change of clothes and throwing together a sandwich, Ascion exited his house to see Kaede bashing her head against the wall of his house.
"Hey, Kaede, what are you doing?" He asked, although he already knew the answer. Revenge was sweet, after all.
"Ascion!" Kaede jolted suddenly before spinning around to face him. "I'm so sorry-"
"Don't worry about it." Ascion assured her blandly. "Enjoyed the view?"
Kaede promptly spun back to the wall and slammed her head against it.
Ascion laughed. "Morals." Ascion grinned at the furiously blushing archer. "So glad I don't have much in the way of that."
"Shut up, Ascion." Kaede glared at him before grabbing his wrist. "We're going to be late."
"W-Wait, hold up, it's only 7.40!"
Kaede leaned in a little, an angry grin stretching across her face. "Exactly."
And without another word, Kaede was off, dragging Ascion like a banner behind her. With the boy screaming his head off. Again.
Maybe revenge wasn't so sweet, after all.
Lunchtime.
Ascion woke up to Kaede's light shaking, yawning as he lifted his head up blearily.
"Come on, Ascion, he's leaving!"
That one sentence caught his attention. Taking a deep breath, Ascion slapped himself in the face. The sudden jolt of pain woke him up rather quickly.
"Let's go, then." Ascion muttered, shaking his head roughly. Kaede, long since used to Ascion's emergency wake up routine, simply led the way pass their shocked classmates.
After a few minutes, Kaede came to a halt. "There, right there."
Ascion looked at where Kaede was pointing to see a small crowd gathered around a table under a tree. "Wow, these people are fast."
As the duo approached the table, people began to shy away from them once they noticed their presence. Ascion ignored their actions as he continued forward.
"Checkmate." Akio announced in his usual deadpan tone. Ascion looked at the board and had to resist the urge to face palm.
"By the Goddess." Ascion muttered. "How can these challengers make such stupid mistakes? Akio actually managed to win with a Fool's Mate."
Kaede looked at the board. Only three pieces had been moved, while the rest remained in their initial positions. "That's bad, I take it?"
"It's an amateurish mistake on the challenger's part. The game was won in two turns."
Kaede winced as the challenger dejectedly got up from her seat. "That must have stung."
Ascion strode forward confidently, Kaede right beside him. Akio was gazing straight ahead, having already reset the board. His expression was still blank as he waited for his next challenger to take a seat.
"May I?" Ascion asked Akio politely. Whoever was supposed to be the next challenger apparently decided to back off and let Ascion take his or her place, if the lack of a response from the crowd was any indication.
Akio glanced up, just the barest hint of curiously in his gaze, before he extended his hand out, palm up, indicating the seat opposite of him. Ascion gave him a small, formal bow, before he seated himself, Kaede still standing beside him.
"So, may I start first?" Ascion asked. Once again, Akio merely extended his open palm as an indication of acceptance.
"Let us begin, then." Ascion smiled as he reached out to make the first move.
And that's it! See you next chapter!
Please review!