If I Become a Meijin, Will you Marry me, Master? - Chapter 1

“Please marry me if I become a Meijin, Sensei!”

A young girl, still new to being my disciple, blushing furiously, clutched the hem of her skirt and blurted out a confession.

Watching her, I couldn’t help but feel a warm, fuzzy amusement. “What a precocious little girl.”

“Alright, sure. If you become a Meijin,” I replied casually, patting her head.

“Can’t believe it’s come to this…”

I muttered to myself while observing the bustle of the Kansai Shogi Federation building.

Kansai Shogi Hall

The press room, still exuding that brand-new smell from its recent relocation and construction, was packed with news crews, journalists, and photographers wielding large TV cameras.

One reporter, smartphone in hand, was discussing headline drafts with their editor. Another was furiously refreshing a sterile black-and-white data table on their laptop, hammering the F5 key repeatedly.

“This is wild… Even title matches don’t attract this kind of chaos.”

The unusual, charged atmosphere of the Shogi Hall was overwhelming.

“Ah! Inada Makoto 6-dan! Could we get a comment?”

“Crap! They found m—oh, it’s just Kyo-chan.”

I hastily reached for the oversized sunglasses I’d brought just in case but sighed in relief when I realized it was Kyomoto Masatsugu, a longtime acquaintance and newspaper reporter.

His formal greeting, calling me ‘6-dan Inada’, was just his playful jab.

“Haha! What’s with the sunglasses? Trying to go undercover?”

“Just being cautious… Just in case.”

“No one except the shogi press knows your face that well anyway.”

“Fair point…”

I had gone out of my way to buy some celebrity-style sunglasses just for today, only to find myself walking around the hall with zero recognition. I felt embarrassed for being so self-conscious and tucked the glasses back into my pocket.

“Well, it’s no surprise you’re nervous, Ina-chan. After all, today might be the day we get a once-in-a-decade middle school pro.”

Kyo-chan said this, looking up the stairs toward the Room of Flight on the third floor.

Currently, only authorized officials could enter that room—no reporters, not even non-staff pro players.

Not that I’d want to go near such a tense room anyway.

What’s happening there is the latter half of this year’s 3-dan League.

“Got any memories from your own 3-dan League days?”

“Still have nightmares about it… Rather not remember.”

“Haha! The final gate to becoming a pro. They call it ‘hell’ for a reason.”

“It’s no joke, Kyo-chan. It really was hell.”

We were fighting for our futures, against people we’d grown up with. It was brutal.

Losing was devastating, but even winning left a guilty aftertaste from having trampled over someone you knew. The longer you lingered in that league, the more those emotional burdens piled up.

“Well, as someone who gave up before reaching that point, I’m kind of envious of that kind of suffering.”

“Kyo-chan…”

I couldn’t find the words to respond to the solemn expression of my old Shogi School peer.

“But never mind me. Tell me, Inada-sensei—what are your thoughts?”

“…I’ve hardly ever been called ‘Sensei’ by anyone outside official circles.”

“Better get used to it. You’re going to hear it a lot from now on.”

Hearing it from an old friend felt… strange.

“She hasn’t technically qualified for 4-dan yet.”

“She’s undefeated in her first season in the league, and she already won her morning match today. If she wins the one underway now, she’ll be promoted without needing to play the final March games.”

“Yeah…”

I’d already checked the league standings and results on the official site.

If she wins this match, her promotion will be mathematically sealed.

“A 14-year-old middle school girl, and a stunning beauty at that—it’s no surprise the media is going nuts. Hiryu Touka, the next 4-dan, is going to be the savior of the shogi world.”

Kyo-chan was clearly hyped.

Yes. Today could mark the emergence of only the sixth-ever middle school student to turn pro in the long history of shogi.

And the first-ever female to do so.

“Why on earth did such a prodigy end up apprenticing under someone like me…”

As someone with no notable achievements as a player, I looked up at the ceiling with a self-deprecating sigh.

Upstairs, in the Room of Flight, my disciple Touka was probably in the middle of a life-defining match.

“Even though you don’t have a game today, you still came. You’re such a dedicated sensei.”

“Don’t tease. She’s still a kid—can she even handle the media interviews? I’m worried.”

“I’ve met her many times through you. She seems way more mature than you give her credit for. Oh—!”

A news jingle rang out from the TV in the hall.

‘Breaking News: Hiryu Touka 3-dan Confirmed for Promotion to 4-dan — First Female Middle School Professional Player’

“TV folks are fast!”

“So it’s official…”

“Hey, why so calm? Your disciple just became a pro! You should be ecstatic!”

“I knew this day would come.”

Her talent made it inevitable.

I’d watched her grow since she was a little girl—I knew better than anyone just how far above the rest she was.

“What are you going to say to her, Sensei?”

“Congratulations, obviously.”

“Not very creative… Oh, looks like the press is being let in. Catch you later!”

With that, Kyo-chan dashed up the stairs with his cameraman.

After the crowd moved on, I slowly ascended the stairs toward the Room of Flight.

“Eyes this way, please!”

“Could you lean toward the Ryu-oh piece a bit more?”

Flashes burst from the cameras, and as I squinted through the crowd, I caught a glimpse of my disciple.

She was wearing her usual school uniform: a white-collared sailor outfit with a sky-blue ribbon.

Her long black hair flowed as she turned toward the cameras.

“Who do you want to share your joy with first?”

“My parents, friends… everyone who’s supported me.”

So far, her answers were polished and composed. My worries seemed unfounded.

“This is Kyomoto from the Chuumei newspaper. What would you like to say to your mentor, Inada 6-dan?”

Damn it, Kyo-chan… You just had to ask that.

“Hmm, let me think…”

Touka paused briefly, then answered confidently.

“Sensei, I did it. I’m a pro now. So you better keep your promise!”

Smiling and waving at the cameras, she looked like a cheerful, innocent girl, warming the hearts of the press.

“What promise is that?”

“It’s a secret ♪”

With a mischievous grin, she brushed off the reporter’s question. Yet in her eyes, there was both childish innocence and a strangely alluring determination.

Only the two of us know what that promise is.

Not even Kyo-chan can be told.

“Please marry me if I become a Meijin, Sensei!”

Back then, I thought she had confused admiration or respect for me, her mentor, with love.

Just like a child saying “I love you, Daddy!” or “Big Brother, you’re the best!”—I figured she’d grow out of it eventually.

But…

When she beat me in a study match:

“I finally beat you in a flat match! When I become Meijin, I’m marrying you, okay, Sensei!”

“Haha! I’ll look forward to it.”

When she got promoted:

“I made it to Class B2 in the training group! I won’t register as a women’s pro—I can’t afford distractions if I’m going to marry you as Meijin!”

“Oh… R-Right. Keep at it.”

After a league match:

“I’m entering 3-dan next term. You remember our promise, right, Sensei?”

“Y-Yeah… sure…”

Even just yesterday, before her decisive promotion match:

“Once I become Meijin, let’s get married, okay, Sensei?”

Yes. Touka is dead serious.

She’s never wavered.

She’s trying to become the first female Meijin—just so she can marry me.

Now, as I watch her bask in the literal spotlight, I don’t know whether I should feel proud of my disciple’s first step toward her dream…

…or tremble in fear as my determined hunter closes in.

Incidentally, all five previous middle school shogi prodigies have gone on to become Meijin.

There’s not a single exception.