"Checkmate~!"
The girl who spoke those words in a sweet, graceful voice pressed the chess piece in her hand onto the corresponding square of the board. Then she raised her icy-blue eyes with a smile and looked at the astonished mother and daughter before her. No, the one most astonished was probably the mother.
"Hiss—"
Ei stared at her position, which had been checkmated by the Shogun, and instinctively drew in a breath. She lightly pressed her knuckles against her lips, her expression turning solemn as she sank into thought and... confusion.
"..."
Ayaka said nothing either. She withdrew her fingertips from the chess piece and straightened the upper half of her body after leaning forward to make her move, sitting properly before her opponent as she patiently waited for the woman across from her to finish thinking.
Several seconds passed like this—then Ei spoke.
"...How could this be?"
In the end, she still could not figure it out and murmured the question in puzzlement. Then she instinctively looked toward the Shogun beside her.
"See? I told you that you couldn't beat her... but you wouldn't believe me."
The Shogun naturally shrugged, looking as though the outcome had been decided from the very beginning.
"No, um... Lady Ei's skill at chess is also exceptional. I only won by a narrow margin today, you know? I was still nervous just now."
Seeing this, Ayaka immediately offered Ei a diplomatic smile and tactfully mentioned that she had "almost" lost, lest her future "mother-in-law" take offense and make things difficult for her later.
...Almost?
The Shogun gave her a speechless look. From beginning to end, Ayaka had seemed completely composed and in control. There had been nothing "almost" about it, much less any sign of nervousness.
"Haa, truly impressive, Ayaka... Your skill at chess is remarkably refined. I sincerely admire it."
Ei exhaled. She did not care about something as minor as losing and even gave the girl a gentle, modest smile as she praised her.
Of course, from Ei's perspective, her daughter's "girlfriend" was even a future partner... one of them? Whatever... Regardless of whether she was "one of them" or not, the more outstanding her daughter's partner was, the better. In Ei's mind, anyone who became her daughter's partner had to be exceptional. She was very satisfied.
"Ah... You flatter me. I don't deserve such praise."
Ayaka hurriedly raised a hand and instinctively tried to decline the compliment.
"No. In my eyes, excellence is excellence. Deliberately rejecting praise would only make you seem insincere. You deserve those words, so there is no need to be modest."
Ei shook her head and gently admonished her.
"...Yes. Ayaka understands."
Hearing that, Ayaka no longer argued and obediently nodded.
"..."
Watching the scene, the Shogun instinctively revealed a small smile. Ayaka had come to her home today—the Tenshukaku—and, as usual, spent some time chatting with them. During their conversation, the topic of the Shogun's previous chess match with Ayaka came up, and on a sudden impulse, she suggested that her mother test her skill against Ayaka.
Ayaka naturally accepted the proposal. Ei also happened to have no official business to handle at the time, and thus this match came about.
As for the result, Ayaka still won. Mother and daughter were defeated one after the other.
The Shogun had always wondered who might actually have a chance of beating her. Makoto? Perhaps Makoto could. Or... Kokomi? Those two might be able to match this girl at chess.
"..."
Lost in thought, she unconsciously stared at Ayaka's beautiful face without moving.
"...? Shogun-sama, is something wrong?"
Ayaka keenly noticed the Shogun's gaze. She was most sensitive to the attention of the one she loved, so she turned toward the Shogun and asked indulgently.
"...Eh?"
The Shogun came back to herself and let out an adorable little sound of surprise.
"Hehe~ Shogun-sama, what do you think of my makeup today?"
Ayaka deliberately brought it up, habitually hiding part of her face behind her folding fan as she asked with affection.
In truth, she had barely put on any makeup at all. It was so light and simple that it could practically be ignored, leaving her almost bare-faced. But the reason she asked was because she wanted to hear a certain answer from the Shogun.
"You... actually put on makeup?"
The Shogun froze for a moment.
"So... what do you think~?"
Ayaka asked.
"Mm... It looks very pretty///"
She instinctively glanced at Ei beside her, who looked as though she were watching the whole thing for amusement. Her face reddened as she answered quietly, like a shy young wife.
"Mm~ I see. So Shogun-sama really does prefer the way I look without makeup."
Ayaka smiled in satisfaction.
"—! You tricked me again///!"
The Shogun instantly realized that Ayaka had manipulated her into saying exactly what she wanted. Her face flushed red as she complained.
"Haa..."
Ei, however, gave a small sigh.
"...?" ×2
The two of them turned toward her in perfect unison.
"It's nothing. I was simply thinking... how nice it is to be young."
Ei rose slightly from her proper seated posture and casually began putting away the chessboard.
"Ah, let me help too, Lady Ei."
Quick-eyed and quick-handed, Ayaka immediately moved over to assist her.
"Mm... Thank you."
Ei paused for a moment and gave the girl a satisfied glance.
"..."
The Shogun simply sat there, unable to find any opening where she could help, so she gave up trying.
"Lady Ei."
While putting away the chess pieces, Ayaka softly called to Ei.
"...?"
Ei raised her head and looked at her.
"You're still very young too..."
Ayaka said.
"Me? Haa... I'm already more than a thousand years old. Compared to children like you who are only seventeen or eighteen, how could I possibly call myself young?"
Ei asked with a relieved smile.
"Lady Ei—"
"I know you're trying to comfort me, but... there's no need. If you put all that thoughtfulness toward the Shogun instead, I'll be satisfied. All right?"
Ei gently covered the back of Ayaka's hand and asked warmly.
"...Ayaka obe—Ayaka understands."
She had almost said "Ayaka obeys," but changed it midway to "Ayaka understands," because she knew this was not an order. It was the hope of a mother for her child—the Shogun. It was a mother's "soft" wish, not a "hard and rigid" command.
"Good... I'll go put the chessboard away. You two can talk."
Ei nodded in satisfaction. Her beautiful feet, wrapped in dark violet thigh-high stockings, stepped silently across the tatami. She then climbed the steps onto the platform, slid open the folding screen leading to their private living area, and walked inside.
"What did she say to you?"
The Shogun asked curiously.
"Nothing much. Just some ordinary family talk."
Ayaka sat down beside the Shogun again.
"...Why does that sound so suspicious?"
The Shogun narrowed her eyes and asked adorably.
"Eh? Suspicious?"
Ayaka feigned surprise, her beautiful icy-blue eyes brimming with amused indulgence.
"You always manage to talk so naturally with Ei... Somehow I feel like I can never join in, like I'm just a little child."
She gloomily looked down at her white-stockinged thighs as she knelt there, her fingertips repeatedly fiddling with the top edge of the thigh-high stocking wrapped around the base of her leg.
"How could that be? I'm a child too, aren't I?"
Ayaka said.
"You're definitely not. You're far more mature than I am. Haa... Everyone says the White Heron Princess is practically flawless in the way she conducts herself with others. Looking at you now, that really does seem to be true."
She looked at the girl beside her and teased her.
"...But Shogun-sama, have you ever thought about something...?"
Ayaka lightly shifted her kneeling legs closer to the Shogun. Resting her folding fan beneath her chin, she leaned in and met her gaze.
"...Thought about... what?"
The Shogun looked into her eyes as well. That icy blue seemed filled with a warmth that could melt snow.
"The White Heron Princess you speak of... lost both her parents when she was still young. She had only her elder brother by her side. Yet... her brother was also constantly occupied with official affairs and could rarely accompany her. The White Heron Princess should have lost her childhood forever, but..."
At this point, Ayaka's eyes flickered as she sank into memories filled with longing.
"...Winter passed, and flowers bloomed. She met a woman. From then on, that woman often stayed by her side, giving her a childhood in her own way and freeing the young white heron from its cage so that it could soar freely through the sky."
"Having found someone she could rely upon, the White Heron Princess resolved to become independent. Together with her elder brother, she once again shouldered the great responsibilities of their clan, refusing to let its name be disgraced."
As Ayaka reached this point, her lips trembled slightly. She pressed them together, then relaxed them again before gently placing a hand upon the hilt of the sword at her waist.
"Without that person, I, Kamisato Ayaka, would never have become the 'White Heron Princess.' Nor would the Kamisato Clan exist as it does today. Our clan would have been suppressed by the other two Commissions until we were ultimately destroyed. She showed kindness to me and to the Kamisato Clan. And that person is you, Raiden Shogun-sama."
"..."
The Shogun stared blankly at Ayaka's exquisitely beautiful profile. There was now an added trace of steadfast heroism in her expression.
"For the great kindness you have shown me, I, Kamisato Ayaka, am willing to spend my entire life repaying you."
Looking into those extraordinarily resolute eyes, the Shogun sighed softly.
"Haa, don't say things like 'my entire life.' I don't like hearing that. It always feels as though an entire lifetime could pass in the blink of an eye. It's better to enjoy the present instead. This is our 'eternity.'"
She took Ayaka's hands in hers, her delicate lips curling into a smile.
"Hehe~ That was careless of me. You're right... Walking forward together with you, one step at a time, is our 'eternity.'"
Ayaka smiled and clasped the Shogun's hands in return as she answered.