Serious Business
Makoto Hyuga squinted at the computer screen. There was a clear problem, but he was uncertain how to solve it. He put his chin in his hands and let his eyes wander over the entire screen. Maybe there was something he had missed. There had to be something.
Several seats away, Shigeru Aoba also intently watched the computer screen. Makoto was right, there was definitely something wrong. Shigeru tapped a finger against the edge of the keyboard as he decided what to do next. Makoto had said he could make the next move. He selected a cell on the screen and the computer hummed softly as it processed the input.
Shigeru tapped harder against the keyboard when the information he entered seemed have little reaction. He swiveled his chair towards Makoto and shrugged. Makoto grimaced and turned back to the computer screen. There was still too little information to make a bold move. Makoto thought for several minutes before putting the information into the computer. His input seemed to make as little impact as Shigeru's.
"We could ask Maya." Makoto suggested.
Shigeru shrugged again. "She won't be happy if she sees this, and anyway I think she was going home."
"But she might know how to solve this."
Before Shigeru could reply, Maya happened to walk past the door laden down with a pile of paperwork. Makoto called out to her and she walked through doorway to see what they wanted.
As she set her pile of papers down, she said "I thought we had finished everything for today, did you two find something else?" She walked closer to Makoto's computer. Shigeru edged carefully away as she came closer.
"Aaahh!" she exclaimed as she saw the computer screen. Shigeru ducked under his desk. "Chess!" she shouted as she pointed at the screen. "Every time you two have so much as a free moment this is all you do; I can't believe that you're still at it! Was your three hour lunch break not enough?" She crossed her arms and glared at them. Shigeru gave her a winning smile from under the desk and Makoto also smiled brightly.
After her glare seemed to have no effect, she sighed and went to pick up her papers again. "You know, the Magi have better things to do than to play chess with you two, and anyway Dr .Akagi doesn't like it."
Shigeru called out from under his desk, "Hey, chess is serious business!"
Maya rolled her eyes and walked out of the door.
"See" Shigeru said, "I told you she was not going to help."
Makoto shook his head, "She might have helped us; you just didn't want her to dump a box of paper clips on you again."
Shigeru got back into his chair with as much dignity as he could muster. "I have no clue what you're talking about."