Monochrome Checkmate - Prologue

[shivalries]

Season: Spring

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Location: Garden Terrace



Eichi: Checkmate.

Izumi: What? Is this some kind of joke?

If it is, it's not very funny. We literally just started, and you're already thinking you won?

You're the one who suggested playing chess to keep our hands busy, since you felt just sitting around chatting would be boring.

And now you're ending it just like that. Gimme a break. What're you trying to pull?

Eichi: Heh, I'd prefer not to "pull" anything, if I can help it. Breathing's enough of a struggle as it is.

In any case, I had no intention to upset you. I'd rather not have you misunderstand.

In chess, the first turn dictates largely how the rest of the match will unfold. Each move of every piece further narrows down the possible outcomes.

It's much like a mathematical equation—the more numbers and symbols you write, the more apparent the solution becomes.

Your approach was flawed from the beginning. This match's outcome has been decided; short of a miracle, there's no hope for you to turn it around.

Why go through the trouble of moving our pieces just to confirm what we already know?

I'd rather not waste energy without purpose, if I'm to be honest.

Izumi: Hm... I don't feel like I'm losing at all, though. Let me keep going a little longer... I can't let it just end like this. Fine with you, Tenshouin?

Eichi: I don't particularly mind, though I fear it's a fruitless endeavor, Sena-kun.

I'm rather good at chess, you see. As you know, I've been sickly since childhood, and my only entertainment was whatever I could do indoors.

I had no other way of killing time than engrossing myself in more introverted activities...

So, when it comes to board games and that ilk, I know enough to be able to win against most beginners.

I haven't touched chess in a while, though, as it brings back some unpleasant memories.

Chess, mathematics, music, even the ballet you're so good at... most of it boils down to innate talent.

We have no choice but to play out our whole lives with the cards God dealt us at birth.

Neither effort nor luck can make up for that. And, it seems that one of my gifts is a fair affinity for chess.

Before I turned ten years old, I was already defeating every adult I played against.

The only one who could force me into a draw—or, perhaps, no conclusion at all—was Tsukinaga-kun.

Izumi: If that blockhead could tie with you, then I shouldn't have any problem winning. That guy's basically got no talent if it's not related to composing.

Eichi: I wonder... Perhaps that's only what you'd like to think?

Izumi: Hmph... If you'd stalemate with someone like him, then all that stuff about you having talent is a load of crap.

I mean, who's to say all those grown-ups you played with as a kid weren't just letting you win, considering your status as the son of the noble Tenshouin family?

Eichi: That's a very real possibility. But, see... the essential takeaway here is that I'm the sort of person who will use even those external factors to achieve victory.

Chess is supposedly all about talent, and I claim to be undefeated... Do you see what I'm getting at, Sena-kun?

All the cards are in place—talent, environment, connections, information...

So, upon comparing my cards with yours, I became certain of my victory, and declared checkmate.

Chess is a gentleman's game... and it would be rather ungentlemanly of me to go out of my way to bloody my hands more than necessary. I'd prefer you surrender.

It would suit me better to have you back down now while my blade is pressed against your throat.

I'd rather not have to run you through to finish the job—it would not be very elegant, you see. Though, if you refuse to admit your loss, I suppose I'll have no choice.



Izumi: ......

Eichi: Sena-kun? Won't you at least answer me? It's a tad lonely to talk to the air... Ah, you're grumbling to yourself—but why? Looking for a strategy to escape your predicament, perhaps?

It isn't worth the effort. We came here to talk, didn't we? Chess was only something to keep our hands busy with.

Getting absorbed in our idle pastime would defeat the purpose of our meeting.

Izumi: Mrm... But it's bugging me. I just can't see how I'm losing.

Eichi: You're a stubborn one. Well, I don't mind. Think all you like...

With you so preoccupied over chess, it'll be all the easier for me to turn negotiations to my advantage. Everything works out for me.

Izumi: "Negotiations"? Don't kid yourself. I don't have any choice but to swallow your conditions.

But you know, the thought of that pisses me off, so I wanna at least see you cry 'cause I kicked your ass in chess.

I'll go with moving my knight next ...Think you can kill him? Just like you did in the past?

Eichi: I believe you're well-aware that I'm the sort who can kill anyone if need be.

If you're plotting to cripple my offense by playing off my guilt, then, my condolences.

I am the emperor. The moment I sat upon my throne, I forfeited my humanity.

Politicians who use love alone as motivation for their decisions will see their nations crumble before long.

Izumi: You're all talk, but I don't see your hands moving.

Eichi: ...My apologies. I was only feeling a tad nostalgic. I played many matches with Tsukinaga-kun, and he always moved his knight pieces with brazen confidence.

Izumi: And here I'm still wondering: could he actually play chess? Like, he understood all the rules and everything?

He's the kinda guy who doesn't even bother remembering anything that doesn't catch his interest, you know?

Eichi: That did cause me some trouble, too. He would keep adding new rules as he pleased—for instance, making his knight pieces shoot laser beams...

I couldn't keep up with him, to be quite honest.

That's why our matches never came to a conclusion—no, they were hardly even matches at all.

Perhaps Tsukinaga-kun never intended to compete with me in the first place.



Say, Sena-kun... I really don't understand. Everyone says it's my fault, and I do believe there's some truth to it...

...but I truly did not intend for all that to happen.

I liked Tsukinaga-kun. I had fun with him and was always glad to play games together.

That was all, and yet... Sena-kun, tell me: what was it that broke Tsukinaga-kun, in the end?

Who killed Cock Robin?

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T/N: Foreshadowed in Starlight Festival, Who Killed Cock Robin? is a macabre nursery rhyme about the murder of a bird among its fellow birds. The poem has been attributed to everything from whodunit mysteries to the death of mythical gods.

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