If I Become a Meijin, Will you Marry me, Master? - Chapter 9

“Good morning, Master! Huh? It’s rare to see you still in your pajamas!”

“Ah… Good morning, Momoka. Well, I’m just a bit exhausted from handling all the interviews.”

I rubbed my sleepy eyes as I stood in the kitchen.

Yesterday had been tough.

Afterward, both I and Makabe 8-dan were bombarded with questions from the press.

We ended up talking to them all the way up to the last minute before boarding the bullet train back to Nagoya, which left me sleep-deprived.

Meanwhile, Momoka was happily sleeping soundly in the seat next to mine on the train ride home.

The press asked all sorts of questions about the usual habits of our disciples, how it felt to be a master now that my disciple had turned pro, and other things. However, since Makabe 8-dan was bawling his eyes out next to me and couldn’t be of much help, I had to act as a translator and answer all the questions.

President Kitano was sticking closely to Momoka and Tanahashi-kun, and well… they’re adults, so they should have been able to handle that themselves. Honestly, it was tough for me since I wasn’t used to it.

The questions I received were mostly about being a younger master and whether I liked cooking.

“Well, let’s see how the news is doing…”

Momoka turned on the TV remote and started flipping through the morning news channels.

Since I got home late last night, took a quick shower, and immediately went to bed, I was really curious about what the news would be like.

“Oh, what’s this…?”

The moment she changed the channel, a news program showed the scene of Makabe 8-dan crying, and I was taken aback.

Seeing it on screen like this, it was quite a sight to see a middle-aged man with a bit of gray hair openly crying in front of everyone.

“What is this? Master, you’re not even in the shot!”

Momoka kept flipping through the channels, but in the end, the only time I appeared was when my face was barely visible next to Makabe 8-dan, who was crying like a waterfall.

“I guess that’s just the way it is. That scene was just too powerful visually.”

Makabe 8-dan, who had been through so much, was overjoyed to see his disciple rise to the rank of 4-dan, and his tears in front of everyone surely touched many hearts.

“Wow, Makabe 8-dan is trending on social media. He’s getting more attention than Tanahashi, who actually got promoted.”

“Let me see.”

Momoka showed me the screen of her smartphone.

There were several meme videos with Makabe 8-dan’s crying footage, some even adding other backgrounds to make it more dramatic.

But poor Tanahashi-kun, he was just out of luck.

His promotion was overshadowed by the debut of Japan’s first female middle school shogi player, and even at the ceremony for his promotion, his master stole the spotlight.

He must have been born under a star that doesn’t bring him much luck, but I personally like people like that.

“Ugh, Master, you had your chance to shine too. Honestly, you should’ve just cried along with Makabe 8-dan!”

Momoka looked disappointed as she closed the video on her phone.

“I’m not an actor, I can’t just summon tears on command.”

“Really? Didn’t you cry because you were happy about my promotion? How mean! Waaahhh!”

I couldn’t help but smile as Momoka exaggeratedly put her hands to her face and pretended to cry.

I quickly put some cereal in a bowl and poured milk to finish my breakfast.

“Well, adults are supposed to be able to control their emotions. Hurry up and eat, or you’ll be late for school.”

“Muu!”

Momoka pouted, sitting down at the dining table and expressing her frustration without saying a word.

“Anyway, the star of yesterday was you, Momoka. You’re on the front page of the newspaper today.”

In this morning’s paper, there was a picture of Momoka holding a bouquet and flashing a V-sign, with the headline: “History’s First! A Shock Victory in the 3rd Dan League!”

“This is the photo you took when you gave me the V-sign at the press conference, huh?”

“Yeah, you look great with that smile.”

That smile will definitely gain Momoka more fans.

“By the way, have you contacted your parents yet?”

“Yes, I called them briefly yesterday at the hall. They also sent me a direct message, but there were so many others that came in, it got buried, so I didn’t see it.”

She had received even more congratulatory messages this time than the last promotion.

“Sounds like a lot of work.”

“Well, I managed to thank my close friends in the chat, so that’s fine for now.”

As expected from someone who grew up in the age of smartphones and social media—she knows how to use it all so well.

“Huh? I’ve got a few notifications too.”

I absentmindedly looked at my smartphone and saw that there were new message notifications at the top.

“Maybe it’s because I was on TV for a second, and now there’s some feedback?”

What could it be?

Thinking it might be some playful teasing from my fellow shogi players, I opened the messaging app. But then, I froze, staring at the screen.

“What’s wrong, Master?”

Having finished her cereal, Momoka, who was now making toast, asked when she noticed me standing still.

“Momoka… just listen to me carefully.”

“Yes?”

“I’ve been invited to appear on today’s lunchtime TV show.”

“Oh wow. Looks like you’re finally going to make your TV debut, Master.”

Momoka wasn’t as shocked as I expected. She seemed more focused on whether to spread strawberry jam or marmalade on her toast.

How is she so calm about this huge moment for her master?!

“I was contacted this morning, and now I’m supposed to be on TV this afternoon!? What kind of messed-up schedule is this?!”

“Well, it’s hot news, so they probably want it to be as fast as possible. Look, there are also evening news interviews scheduled and some other interviews too.”

While I was in a panic, Momoka calmly opened up the messages on my smartphone. It looked like there were more media appearances and interview requests waiting.

“Why isn’t this happening to you, Momoka?!”

“Well, I guess since I’m still a middle schooler, anything unrelated to shogi is off-limits for me for now. The Shogi Association probably blocked those requests and gave them to you instead. It says in the TV station’s message that they were introduced to you by President Kitano.”

“Then he should’ve told me about it first, that old bald man!”

That damn president! He probably thought I’d turn down the opportunity, so he kept quiet about it!

Before I could continue my rant, my phone suddenly rang.

It was an unknown number.

It was probably a call from the TV station about today’s appearance.

“I don’t want to do this…”

I could already tell that things were about to get out of hand, but since the Shogi Association had approved it, I had no choice.

And so, already feeling like I was about to be sacrificed, I tapped the answer button on my phone.