You Can't Lose Me || Shinso x Reader

Chapter 7: This Chapter Is A Metaphor

Warnings: none, 

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(y/n)'s POV

I stare at the board in concentration. Black's bishop is threatening my queen's positioning, but if I can get that out of the way, then I can gain a huge tactical advantage and turn this game around. My opponent watches me carefully as I survey my options and my finger traces the circle head of my rook. I don't want to lose my option of a defensive castle move, so I won't use this. Then my eye catches my own bishop's positioning, so I use it to capture a pawn diagonal to the black's bishop by one space.

Kanata Rikitake, my opponent for this game of chess, sits across from me fiddling with the white knight he took from me earlier. It spins in the air between his fingers as he uses his telekinetic quirk absentmindedly. His best bet would be to move his other bishop to threaten my queen, but it would waste time for both of us and give me a material advantage. His silver eyes glance over the board once more before he takes the bishop I just moved to gain the material advantage instead of giving it to me.

"What are we doing for dinner tonight?" he asks needing a quick brain break.

Kanata brushes a hand through his turquois-green hair and leans back in his chair.

"You were fawning over that new restaurant yesterday, so I thought we might send Mantani over to get katsu curry, or something like that," I respond rolling my eyes.

"I was 'fawning' with good reason, and you don't get a say in what is and isn't good food. You were responsible for picking that one restaurant two weeks ago that almost ruined noodles for me," he defends before I return to the board in front of me.

With his bishop out of the way, I move my queen diagonal to his black king where it is protected by one of my pawns. This cuts off six of eight possible directions for his king to move, and with one of his own pieces directly above, Kanata is forced to move one space to the right and against the edge of the board. With another of his pawns now below the king, I respond by moving my pawn from its home space to reveal a 'discovered check' from my second bishop.

"Speaking of yesterday, don't think I didn't notice you leaving that purple hero untouched. Care to explain, (y/n)?" he presses, clenching his jaw. 

I hesitate before answering.

"I do my research," I begin, keeping my voice casual. "He's got a brainwashing quirk, which was proven yesterday to be ineffective against one of my Revived. His partner was the only real threat to take care of."

He lowers his gaze back to our black-and-white battlefield – thankfully accepting my excuse – and moving the pawn previously above his king down two spaces to protect it from my bishop. Kanata removes his jacket, finally finding it to be too much in a warm room and leaving him in a tank top that shows off the scar on his right shoulder. He doesn't like seeing it because it brings back bad memories, which is why he was stubbornly refusing to remove his jacket despite my pestering.

"How has your shoulder been doing?" I ask out of instinct. 

I move my queen up two spaces blocking off any of his king's remaining escape routes without directly putting him in check.

"The rifle bothered it a bit yesterday, so it's just a little sore. I'll be fine. Thanks for the concern," he finishes sarcastically, but then adds a small smile. 

I snort at his frustration.

"That's good to hear, and though I know you want to just muscle through it, remember to give it rest."

Relaxing into a smile of my own, I freeze at Kanata's next move.

His queen now sits to the left of mine. Any piece of his that I could take is protected, and if I trade off my queen, my attack would be over. On the other hand, if my queen retreats, his queen can take the pawn a few spaces in front of my king and put me in check. Kanata smirks at my realization.

"Here we are yet again. You fight so well against me, but I always win in the end."

He's been studying strategy since we first met ten years ago, so I have yet to beat him at chess. With his skillset, Kanata is accordingly the coordinator and mastermind behind our whole operation. I may be in the spotlight, but he handles everything in the darkness, and he does so masterfully; however, that does not mean it doesn't stress him out. Because of this, he snaps easily at other people, including me, but he has promised to work on it.

Then, I notice something that will keep my attack moving forward: a white pawn that stands in front of the black king's shielding pawn. With this third pawn diagonal to mine, I capture it to put his king in check a second time. The black king is still unable to legally move, and an interposition is impossible, so his only option is to capture my pawn with his queen. I look up to Kanata with knowing eyes as his own start to twitch. I capture his king's shielding pawn with my home rook. No escape, no shield, and no counterattack – checkmate!

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A/N: I know it's been a hot second, but I have returned! Just a quick vacation to the mental hospital and we're all good now!

I tried to make the chess bit as not confusing as possible, but I found it necessary in order to best introduce this new character. I hope you can forgive me for the pieces of exposition littered throughout this chapter, and for my absence. I will, however, be posting the next chapter immediately after this, so you get two for the price of one!

Word Count: 994