Sometimes, things just happen in life.
Like sending the wrong photo by mistake in a messenger app and creating an awkward situation... or showing someone your phone's gallery and accidentally swiping to an unwanted picture.
The feeling of being forced into public humiliation...
But I never imagined a day would come when I'd learn that ending with mere humiliation might be considered lucky.
"...Mika-ssi, what is this photo?"
"Whoa... Um. Ummm..."
"You'd stopped for a while, but you're using bad words again. You'll need a proper scolding today."
It all started when I showed Nagisa one of the pictures I took in Shanhaijing. I was telling her how well they took care of me, how incredible the reception was, and showed her a photo of the dishes from Hyunryumon...
But when I swiped the screen, a photo I was sure I had moved to a different album just popped up.
Forgetting all about her threat to scold me, Nagisa arranged the white chess pieces on her side and made the first move, pawn to c4.
"So, what on earth happened to make you cry...? No, putting that aside, why did you take a picture of yourself crying?"
"I saw myself crying and I was so pretty that I just had to...?"
"That... I admit— no, is that a reason to take a picture of yourself crying? Really, I don't understand how a person like you can... haaah."
As Nagisa sighed and muttered in disbelief, a mischievous urge rose within me. I can never resist these moments. I responded with e5 and opened my mouth.
"...Should I send it to you?"
"What? Yes. I mean, no! Don't send it. Why would you ask something like that to someone in the middle of a lecture?"
Watching Nagisa lose her composure over a single casual remark was incredibly amusing. So Nagisa couldn't resist this crying face either.
"Ahaha. I'll send it specially just to you, Nagi-chan. You have to treasure it, okay?"
"...F-Fine. But don't show it to anyone else. Not even Hina-ssi."
With an expression that seemed to waver between happiness and uncertainty at receiving such a photo, Nagisa nodded. The way she subtly revealed her possessiveness was just so cute.
We both developed our knights uneventfully. In response to Nagisa's g3, I played Bb4.
"So, who did what to make you cry, Mika-ssi? Besides, if something that significant happened, you should have told me."
Feeling a pang of doubt at Nagisa's choice to suddenly play Nd5 and seek a knight trade, I decided to go along with it for now.
"It, it was really nothing. You know I'm working on a business venture with the president of the Hyeonmu Sanghoe, right? In the process of testing the *mala* sauce recipe... hmm?"
But the situation was starting to turn strange. With Nagisa's pawn on d5 threatening my knight, I was faced with a choice: save it, or go for another knight trade.
"In the process of...?"
"Uh... well, we're planning to sell the *mala* sauce tteokbokki with four different spice levels. I was testing level 4, and it was so unimaginably spicy that I teared up a little. Yes, I really thought I was going to die."
In the end, I chose the knight trade. I was still far too lacking to keep up with Nagisa's knight maneuvers, so trading them like this made the game easier for me.
"No matter how I think about it, I believe 'teared up a little' is quite an understatement..."
After accepting the knight trade without hesitation, Nagisa now played Qb3, threatening my bishop. I had a strong feeling I'd been lured into something. I protected my bishop with Qe7, but when Nagisa moved her pawn to a3, I realized my mistake.
"...This is a trap, isn't it?"
"Fufu. Well? What do you think?"
How cheap. Nagisa sometimes tests my ability to read the board like this. Maybe it's because I've fallen for all the common traps at least once, but whenever things feel a little off, I immediately suspect a trap.
I moved my pawn from f3 to capture on e2, hoping to buy some time to think, but as if to say 'nice try,' Nagisa immediately played Bxe2 and started the timer.
We were playing with a one-minute time limit between moves, based on Nagisa's claim that it would speed up my thinking, but no matter how I looked at it, this was just a ploy to torment me. The one-minute limit just made me anxious, causing me to make nothing but bad moves.
"The Student Council President of Shanhaijing expressed a desire to be on friendly terms with us. What do you think?"
Thinking that I couldn't be the only one suffering, I retreated my endangered bishop one square and, as a last resort, threw Nagisa something to think about. If she made her next move without hesitation, it was a trap. If she took her time, it might not be.
The "might not" part was assuming Nagisa was thinking several moves ahead.
"Hmm... Mika-ssi, are you perhaps planning to conquer Kivotos?"
As if mocking my shallow trick, Nagisa replied with a relaxed smile and took a sip of her tea. Her meaning was clear: I should figure it out myself instead of trying to get the answer out of her.
"I'm joking, of course. You're not that kind of person, Mika-ssi. I think it's a welcome development that Shanhaijing expressed such an intention. It helps with your dream, doesn't it?"
"That's true... ah."
The moment Nagisa moved her pawn on c6 to capture the pawn on b7, I realized I had fallen into a move that forced a one-sided loss.
If I didn't capture that pawn with my bishop on c8, it would take my rook, promote to a queen, and threaten me. If I did capture it, Nagisa would take my bishop with her queen on b3.
It wasn't a trap; I had simply made a bad move. What I thought were just trades of pieces had actually resulted in me being the only one to lose a piece.
"That's so mean, Nagi-chan. Can't we get rid of the time limit rule?"
"Mika-ssi. You need to become a little more special."
"...What does that have to do with a time limit?"
"A greedy person who lacks the ability to back it up is bound to be crushed by that greed. It may not apply to you right now, Mika-ssi, but will that always be the case? Your story won't simply end with graduation. The future is uncertain, but even as you move beyond it, you will continue to dream."
"Well... I'm not sure about a future that far away, but do I really need to become special?"
"...Pardon?"
"Nagi-chan. I'm not a superhuman like the General Student Council President, nor do I need to be. I don't want to volunteer to carry all that weight by myself. Or are you planning to ignore me if I ask for your help?"
"That's not it, but..."
Nagisa wanted me to become special, to be greater than my current capacity. It wasn't because she expected something from me, but a wish born from a desire for me not to trip over my own feet.
I wasn't unable to understand that sentiment, but...
"Still, when you say things like that while tormenting someone who's playing a game you're good at just to humor you, it feels more like you're just teasing me."
"Th-That's not it! You have no idea how grateful I am to you, Mika-ssi."
"Ahaha. I know... It's just that I'm about to lose because of my own foolishness, and, well. I'm just a little peeved."
Because I was down a piece, all we had left were our queens and two rooks each. Nagisa had a bishop advantage, while I had one more pawn.
Against any other opponent, maybe, but against a player of Nagisa's caliber, my chances of winning were extremely slim.
There was no way I could make the best move every time from now on, and unless Nagisa made a major blunder, the game was already over.
Still, I stubbornly pushed on, starting with castling, then trading queens, and then rooks. But eventually, I was crushed by her bishop advantage and found myself in a position where it was difficult to find a move.
"Your skills have really improved. In the past, even if we started similarly, you would have been checkmated about thirty moves ago."
"Hey, if my skills had really improved, I wouldn't have made the move that led to this situation in the first place, Nagi-chan."
"Fufu. They really have improved... You'll see if you play against someone other than me later. Check."
"Ugh."
Cornered by her two bishops, I managed to survive a turn by using my bishop as a shield and clearing out some more pawns with it, but my defeat was inevitable. The result of stubbornly continuing a game I knew was lost was a confirmed checkmate following Nagisa's queening.
It might have looked like a fierce battle, but in reality, it was a poor game where I was just flailing around, screaming "I have to win!" in my head. The problem was that I had been burned by Nagisa's knight play so many times that I accepted the knight trade far too readily.
"Mika-ssi, I am not one to offer empty compliments. Truly. To have come this far with a time limit... hmm, as they say, seeing is believing. It will be faster for you to experience it once than for me to tell you a hundred times."
"But, you know, I only learned chess because you like it, Nagi-chan. I'm not really interested in playing against anyone else."
"...Ahem. Y-Yes, that's right."
I have a fairly strong competitive streak to begin with. The main reason I keep playing chess with Nagisa, even though I lose every single time, is because I get to see her having fun.
If Nagisa's having fun, then I am too.
But to compete against someone else in chess? I might just die of frustration every time I lose like this.
"Th-The tea leaves from Shanhaijing are certainly special. This Pu'er tea is quite..."
Her face flushing with embarrassment, Nagisa avoided my gaze and changed the subject. But unfortunately for her, I had a trap waiting in that direction.
"Ahaha, I know I'm only saying this now, but that's not actually Pu'er tea."
"...What?"
"What was it called... *Jangcha*, was it? So, you see, Nagi-chan, I tricked you☆"
Figuring I would lose at chess again, I had planned a small revenge one step ahead. Nagisa may have been moves ahead of me on the chessboard, but off the board, that wasn't the case.
"..."
"Besides, they barely sell Pu'er tea in loose-leaf form. They call that *sancha* or something... Anyway, at Dowonhyang, they recommended the disk-shaped *bingcha* for gifts, so I picked that out separately. Yes, I put it in the cabinet, so we can drink it together later—"
"Shh. Mika-ssi. As it happens, I have a roll cake I bought yesterday at home."
"Whoa...?"
No, please don't buy things like that for the house. You're scaring me, Nagi-chan.
"For some reason, today I feel like personally feeding you some roll cake, Mika-ssi. Is that alright with you?"
"...You're going to slice it, right?"
"Fufu."
"You are going to slice it... right?"
Thankfully, Nagisa sliced the roll cake with great care.
...But from now on, roll cakes are banned in this house.
***