All the Heroines are my Ex-girlfriends

The building of the Tokyo Shogi Association.

Located in Edogawa Ward, the Tokyo Shogi Association occupies an entire standalone building.

Centered around the association, an entire street is lined with stores selling shogi-related products.

Forming a unique cultural district.

The Tokyo Shogi Association building is not only responsible for organizing the opening ceremonies of official matches but also plays a role in training.

From the first to the third floor belongs to the research club.

(Note: Yesterday, I searched the Chinese-Japanese term on Google and found that "workshop" was correct, but today, after checking the Ryuuou no Oshigoto wiki for Kuruno Yoshitsune, I saw it listed as "research club." Goddamn.)

It is considered the starting point of a shogi career.

Meanwhile, the fourth to seventh floors are used to host various shogi matches.

Here, there are open spaces for the public as well as private match rooms.

As soon as she stepped into the association building, Hinatsuru Ai was captivated by the surrounding displays.

"There are so many shogi products here! Even folding fans are being sold!"

The displayed items included shogi sets and seven-sun boards, which went without saying.

Additionally, there were decorations and stationery inspired by shogi pieces.

Among the shogi-themed souvenirs, the most prominently displayed items were folding fans.

Most professional players owned a folding fan that suited them.

Words were usually written on the surface of these fans.

Some were handwritten by the players themselves, while others were gifts from their mentors.

Sora Ginko also had such a folding fan.

The fan bore the characters: "Never Yield Despite a Hundred Setbacks".

This phrase embodied Sora Ginko's spirit.

It also featured her autograph.

As "The Snow White of Naniwa," a beloved idol among female shogi players,

if an autographed fan of hers were to be sold, it would undoubtedly fetch an enormous sum.

Right beside it was a fan of the same design as Sora Ginko's.

Of course, the fans of famous shogi players sold here did not have their actual handwritten inscriptions.

They were merely machine-printed versions.

These were produced in collaboration with the players, with profits shared from the sales.

"Ah, that's Oba-san's fan."

Hinatsuru Ai spotted the fan identical to Sora Ginko's.

Sora Ginko pouted.

( ｡ •̀ ᴖ •́ ｡)

She couldn't be bothered to deal with this brat.

That being said, Sora Ginko wasn't much older than Hinatsuru Ai.

But hierarchy was hierarchy.

"Shishou, do you have a folding fan with your own handwriting?"

Hinatsuru Ai searched around and then curiously asked Yukima Azuma.

Yukima Azuma shook his head.

He really didn't have one.

Back when he was in the shogi world—

Before becoming a professional player, Yukima Azuma had only focused on grinding for rank points.

After quickly reaching professional status, he played a match against the Meijin and then temporarily withdrew from the shogi scene.

He had no time to bother with souvenirs like this.

By the time he returned, Yukima Azuma's time had become even more precious.

He single-handedly conquered the Ryuuou title, making many eager to collaborate on merchandise related to him.

But Yukima Azuma truly had no time to concern himself with such trivial profits.

As a result, even though Yukima Azuma was now one of the most famous Ryuuou,

the associations still had no commemorative merchandise related to him to sell.

The association staff were on the verge of losing their minds over this.

Since contacting Yukima Azuma yielded no results, some even approached Tsukimitsu.

But Tsukimitsu simply sent them away without hesitation.

Yukima Azuma had already helped promote shogi by starring in a television drama.

Matters of minor profit like these, Tsukimitsu didn't want to bother him with.

Seeing Yukima Azuma shake his head, Hinatsuru Ai blinked a few times.

In other words, no one had a folding fan from Shishou!

The ahoge on her head wiggled.

"Uwaa, isn't that Ryuuou~?"

( •͈૦•͈ )

A childish voice suddenly rang out nearby.

Everyone turned to look and saw a group of kids gathered together, their eyes sparkling as they gazed this way.

"It's really Ryuuou-sama!"

"It's the real one! Amazing!"

"Hello, can I have your autograph?"

"Please shake hands with me!"

Before long, a crowd of children had gathered around.

The bottom three floors belonged to the research club.

And in the research club, the most numerous members were children around Hinatsuru Ai's age.

The chattering of the kids quickly attracted even more attention.

In just a short while, the first floor of the association was nearly blocked off.

"Uwaa, Shishou is so famous! Saguga Shishou, saikou!"

ദ്ദി ˉ͈̀꒳ˉ͈́ )✧

Hinatsuru Ai exclaimed in admiration.

Seeing her master being so well-received, she also felt happy.

"Well, he is the youngest Ryuuou ever."

Sora Ginko commented nonchalantly, not particularly invested.

She had already expected this to happen.

Right now, Yukima Azuma could be considered the idol of children in the shogi world.

Not just because of his handsome appearance, which the association had deliberately used to build his image,

but more importantly—

Ryuuou.

Everyone admires the strong—this mindset is deeply ingrained in human nature.

"Excuse me, are you Snow White-sama?"

A little girl, who had just received Yukima Azuma's autograph, turned her gaze toward Sora Ginko.

Sora Ginko, who had been standing with her arms crossed, watching the scene unfold, immediately tensed up.

( ˶°ㅁ°) !!

"Uwaa, it really is Snow White!"

"So cool!"

"I have a folding fan of Snow White-sama! Can you sign it for me?"

The group of children began to split into two factions.

Sora Ginko was completely terrible at interacting with others.

Even though they were just elementary school kids, she found them somewhat difficult to handle.

The smile on her beautiful face instantly disappeared, replaced by an icy expression.

"Alright, everyone quiet down. If this keeps up, it'll cause trouble for the association."

Amidst the noisy commotion, Yukima Azuma's voice rang out clearly, reaching everyone's ears.

The chattering children suddenly fell silent.

"If you want an autograph, line up properly. Don't block the entrance or the stairs."

The moment Yukima Azuma said this, the children obediently formed a neat line.

Seeing this, Sora Ginko let out a quiet sigh of relief.

Signing autographs was something she could still handle.

After all, as an idol in the shogi world, she had done promotional events like this before.

"Shishou, that was so cool." Hinatsuru Ai marveled.

(｡✪ω✪｡)

Kiyotaki Keika, who had been accompanying them, also nodded slightly. "Azuma-kun has an aura that naturally makes others listen to him."

...

The autograph session ended quickly.

There weren't actually that many children in the association.

Once they were done, the group didn't linger in the first-floor lobby any longer and instead headed up the stairs.

When they reached the entrance of the research club on the second floor—

A middle-aged man waved toward Yukima Azuma.

"Yo, Ryuuou."

Yukima Azuma nodded.

"Kuruno 7-dan, hello."

This man, Kuruno Yoshitsune 7-dan, was the head of the Tokyo research club.

Before coming here, Yukima Azuma had already contacted him.

After all, today he had brought Hinatsuru Ai to take the admission test for the association and register as a member of the research club.

"This is your disciple, huh?"

Kuruno looked at Hinatsuru Ai.

During the post-match interview after the Ryuuou finals, Yukima Azuma had officially announced that he was taking Hinatsuru Ai as his disciple.

So, even though she hadn't officially entered the shogi world yet—

Many people were already keeping an eye on her.

"That's right. I brought her here today for the admission test."

"I've been waiting a whole month for this. You sure took your time."

"This girl is different from the others."

"You mean she's like you."

Kuruno chuckled teasingly.

Back when Yukima Azuma joined the research club—

Kuruno had already been in charge.

The boy had left an incredibly strong impression on him.

Because Yukima Azuma barely stayed in the research club at all.

The moment he joined, he began sweeping through opponents, rising in rank day by day.

In less than half a year, he had advanced straight to the Shoureikai.

Even though he was joking, Kuruno didn't actually believe that Hinatsuru Ai could be like Yukima Azuma.

The shogi world was filled with countless geniuses.

But an undefeated genius—one who became Ryuuou at 16—there was only one.

However, what surprised Kuruno—

Was that Yukima Azuma actually nodded in agreement.

For a moment, he didn't know what to say.

Under Kuruno's guidance, everyone stepped into the research club's room.

Inside, several children were already seated properly in front of shogi boards.

"Hinatsuru Ai, you can sit over there."

Kuruno pointed to an empty seat.

Hinatsuru Ai glanced at Yukima Azuma.

Yukima Azuma gently patted her head in reassurance.

Encouraged by her master, Hinatsuru Ai took a deep breath.

Then, she walked to the empty seat and sat down neatly.

The children around her all curiously eyed her.

Kuruno stepped further into the research room.

"Good morning, everyone. Today, we have a new participant taking the entrance test."

"Make sure to show the difference between the research club and regular dojo classes."

Hearing Kuruno's words, the young research club members all responded in unison, their expressions serious.

"Yes, sir!"

Watching this scene—

Kiyotaki Keika could only sigh inwardly.

She was supposed to be sitting among these children right now.

Just imagining it was already too conspicuous.

But she had no other choice—she still hadn't reached the level of a female professional shogi player.

In other words, just like these kids, she was still in the process of learning at the research club.

"This time, I have to give it my all."

She whispered to herself.

Kuruno turned his attention to Hinatsuru Ai.

The research club's test consisted of three matches.

Winning all three wasn't necessary.

More importantly, the matches were meant to assess the candidate's actual skill level.

As long as they met the required standard, even losing all three games was acceptable.

Normally, the opponent for the first match would be someone with a weaker record in the research club.

But—Yukima Azuma had said Hinatsuru Ai was different from the others.

Kuruno thought for a moment, then said:

"Hinatsuru Ai, for your first match, you'll play against Sadatou Ayano."

Hearing this, a cute girl with glasses stood up.

Sadatou Ayano, an elementary schooler one year older than Hinatsuru Ai, carried the air of a refined oujou-sama.

She was one of the stronger young players in the research club.

And so, the two girls sat at the board and began their match.

"Please take care of me." x2