Seeing the incoming call displayed as 'Gin-ko'.
Yukiya immediately answered the phone.
"Gin-ko..."
"Saturday, come to Chiba Chess Society for practice."
The girl's words sounded like there was no room for objection.
"Alright, it's starting at nine in the morning, right?"
"..."
"..."
The other end of the phone fell silent for a while, before a voice came out:
"Eh?"
The voice was very soft, sounding quite gentle, and one could imagine the girl's puzzled expression.
Then, as if to confirm.
"Saturday, come to Chiba Chess Society for practice."
The other end of the phone repeated what she had said before, only this time her tone was slightly excited.
"I heard you, I'll be there on time, Gin-ko."
Yukiya didn't show any impatience and responded properly.
"Hmm!"
Then the phone was hung up.
Although it was only a short word.
But one could tell that the person on the other end of the phone seemed to be in a good mood.
Gin-ko, or Sora Gin-ko.
A fourteen-year-old genius female shogi player, known as the 'White Snow Princess of Naniwa', a shogi idol, holder of the two female titles, 'Queen' and 'Female Yu-za'.
A Reward Association 2-dan, a true genius with both talent and fame.
She was Yukiya's senior sister.
In his childhood, before his memories were fully awakened, Yukiya chose shogi among the options of music, chess, calligraphy, and painting.
The Yukiya family was still around at that time.
Therefore, Yukiya was able to become a disciple of the professional shogi player, Kiyotaki Kosuke, becoming Sora Gin-ko's junior brother.
Incidentally, due to his high intelligence score.
Yukiya was once also a famous prodigy in the shogi world.
The youngest professional shogi player, a 5-dan professional, a true shogi genius.
These were once labels that were attached to Yukiya.
However, after the Yukiya family disappeared, Yukiya didn't continue to climb the ladder of the shogi world.
The complete awakening of his memories, coupled with the family's misfortune.
Led to a significant change in Yukiya's goals and principles three years ago.
For the past three years, Yukiya's primary goal was to 'make money'.
First, he needed money.
Then he would climb the social ladder.
Therefore, Yukiya had to put shogi aside temporarily.
Although shogi, as a popular board game in Sakura Nation, has considerable prize money for its tournaments.
But...
It was a very bad coincidence.
Three years ago, a certain 'Meijin' title holder was wreaking havoc in the shogi world, slaying everything and everyone in his path!
Yukiya had crossed paths with this 'Meijin' back then.
He was easily crushed.
Judging by the skill level of the panels.
That strongest ever 'Meijin' probably had a shogi level of around 9.
To consistently win against him, Yukiya would probably have to max out his shogi skill, reaching the peak of mastery.
Back then, Yukiya, who had not yet awakened the system, decisively abandoned shogi and chose other ways to make money.
Yukiya hadn't played in a formal shogi tournament in three years.
He only occasionally played with Sora Gin-ko privately when she came by.
And in those three years, Sora Gin-ko had consistently invited Yukiya to the chess society for practice every week.
Yukiya refused, and Sora Gin-ko didn't ask why.
Perhaps it was because of this that Sora Gin-ko was stunned when she heard Yukiya agreeing to go to the chess society, and couldn't help but get excited.
As for why Yukiya suddenly agreed to go to the chess society.
The reason was simple.
He had made some money, so he had more resources.
More importantly, that 'Meijin' who had wreaked havoc in the shogi world.
He had now obtained the 'Eisei' title for all titles except 'Ryuo'.
According to the rules, he could not participate in the 'Ryuo' match, which was the next one.
He also seemed to have skipped the recent major tournaments, probably preparing to sit out for a while and then go for the Grand Slam in the next 'Ryuo' match.
Achieving the Seven Crowns Eisei, a legendary feat of conquering all titles.
Without that 'Meijin'.
The rest of the shogi world...
How to say it.
Hmm...
They were just chickens and dogs.
Thinking about shogi, Yukiya quickly finished his morning run for the day.
After the words '体力略微提升' (Physical strength slightly increased) appeared in his field of vision, Yukiya stopped slowly.
He had run about 10 kilometers.
He had run away from Shibuya Station and reached the area near Gakushuin-shimo Station.
Remembering that the refrigerator at home was empty.
Yukiya checked the direction and decided to go to the nearby supermarket to buy some food.
From now on, Yukiya wouldn't be the only one living in the apartment, there would be Kasumi-gaoka Shizuka as well.
It was predictable that the food consumption would increase.
Although Kasumi-gaoka Shizuka didn't say she would be eating there.
But planning for contingencies was something that Yukiya had to do.
Although it was Gakuen Street, because it was spring break, the streets were actually quite deserted.
He turned a corner.
Just then, a gust of spring wind blew in his face, carrying the last bit of coolness of the season and a rain of pink cherry blossoms.
Yukiya, who had just finished exercising, squinted his eyes, enjoying the gift of nature.
As the saying goes, 'If you don't know what to do, ask the spring breeze'.
This comfortable spring breeze probably had the special power to dispel worries and enlighten the heart.
However, the power of the spring breeze seemed to go beyond that.
A white object fluttered in the wind in his field of vision.
Yukiya reopened his eyes and reached out to catch the object that was flying towards him.
Holding it in his hand, the soft touch and a faint fragrance came to his mind.
It was a white beret.
After seeing the true identity of the object in his hand, Yukiya felt a strange sense of déjà vu.
It was as if that gust of spring breeze and this beret were both written with two words:
'Encounter'.
He looked up towards the upper right.
On the other side of the corner, there was a long, upward sloping path.
Yukiya vaguely remembered the name of this slope from his time in this area.
He seemed to remember it was called...
'Detective Slope', wasn't it.
In the middle of the rain of cherry blossoms, Yukiya saw a girl bathed in the golden sunlight at the top of Detective Slope, raising her hand to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear.