Sealed Move: Comrades
Walking home under the setting sun, Hayato followed behind Kaito, looking exhausted.
"Man, I'm beat!"
"Good work. Want to grab something on the way back?"
"You better be the one paying, Brother. I did all the talking."
"My bad, my bad. I'm just not good with that guy."
"Oh yeah, you used to get your ass kicked by him back in the training group days, didn't you?"
Hayato chuckled, suppressing a laugh. Kaito looked at his younger brother, surprised by his recent behavior.
"I have to say, it was unexpected, Hayato—you helping Watanabe. I thought you hated his guts."
"...Huh?"
Hayato swerved around a telephone pole and spoke without looking back.
"Of course I hate him. He’s an annoying prick. He joins the club out of nowhere and beats Tojo like it's nothing. He looks like he’s never touched a piece in his life, but he’s stronger than us. And that fake-humble attitude of his... it pisses me off every single time."
Hayato clenched his fist tight, his words dripping with venom.
But then, he slowly opened his hand.
"But he joined this club. He’s a comrade who fights alongside us in team matches. ...What's the point of tearing down your own comrade?"
As if reacting against Aoia’s schemes, Hayato had established his own moral compass.
Enough to move mountains to overturn the incident Aoi had started—
◇
On the day of Aoi’s "incident," during a classroom move for an afternoon lesson, Hayato had made a rare point of contacting Mikado.
"Hey, Watanabe. This afternoon, after school... Aoi Rena is gonna set you up."
Mikado’s eyes went wide at the sudden warning. He wasn't surprised by the idea of Aoi doing something—he was shocked that Hayato was the one telling him.
"She’s got something planned, but I'm staying out of it. You better get ahead of it and settle it yourself. You're the 'Captain' of this team, aren't you? Surely you can handle that much."
"...Why are you telling me this?"
"Tsk. Do I really have to spell it out? If you get kicked out, who’s gonna be our Captain? ...I hate to admit it, but you were the one who brought in the most points during the Yellow Dragon Tournament qualifiers. If you're gone, our win rate for the Prefecturals drops through the floor."
His voice trailed off at the end, but he said it clearly.
Shocked by the unexpected advice, Mikado eventually let out a small laugh.
"Hahaha..."
"What’s so funny?"
"No, nothing. I just thought you hated me, so this was a bit of a surprise..."
"Shut up. It’s not like I like you. Just go figure out a counter-strategy already."
"...Alright. Thanks for the heads-up."
And with that, the brief exchange ended.
The reason Mikado had been prepared for Aoi’s threats was that Hayato had warned him in advance.
◇
"Our goal is to win the National Championship, right? We finally got a strong ally—throwing that away for personal grudges is what idiots do."
Hayato might hate Mikado, but he never tried to destroy him.
And Kaito, having seen Mikado’s skill firsthand during the district tournament, had relayed that info to Hayato.
From that point on, the "Aoi kicking Mikado out" route was out of the question for Hayato.
"This cheating scandal is the same thing. 'Cheating'? Can you beat Tenryu Kazuki with 'cheating'? I took over from that hopeless position and fought the strongest AI, and I lost. If I couldn't win, there’s no way Tenryu would have lost. At that point, even an AI had zero chance of winning. But Watanabe won. That wasn't the power of an AI. It was human power—a mix of psychology, strategy, and reading. People who think AI is always 'strongest' don't know shit."
Hayato stomped the ground in frustration.
To begin with, even if Mikado had used software from the moment he sacrificed his Bishop, Tenryu should have won. The gap in the evaluation was that large.
Reversing the game with only "best moves" was impossible. Hayato himself had proven that by playing against the AI from that same position.
The fact that Mikado won showed a fundamentally human strength, yet the world only looked at the results and the evaluation bars.
At the very least, Hayato had confirmed it for himself—Watanabe was a man he could trust.
"You saw it too, didn't you, Brother?"
"Yeah. He wasn't cheating. You don't get a nosebleed from cheating."
"Wait, he had a nosebleed?"
"It was after the match. He asked me for a tissue. When I asked why, he said his capillaries burst. It was in the restroom, so I guess nobody else knew."
"Man, that’s insane... Can people actually get a nosebleed just from concentrating?"
Hayato muttered, half-exasperated and half-impressed. Kaito gave a small shrug.
"Well, after seeing that, I certainly can't call him a fake."
"Yeah."
Illuminated by the streetlights, the two brothers continued their walk into the night.
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