Motivated to be lazy

Chapter 25

The chess matches were underwhelming. If I can be frank, aside from the rules, Honami can't tell her ass from a hole in the ground when it comes to chess strategy. It didn't really say anything about her as a person, some people just aren't into the game and I could see that Honami was one of those people. The kind of person that didn't take this kind of thing too seriously and played the game as it unfolded and just decided in the moment.

To be fair, I could tell she was barely paying any attention to the match. It was a little unnerving but her focus was almost solely on me. She would barely glance at the board before making a move before looking at me curiously with every move. On more than one occasion she would glance at the board, decide on a move and move the piece while staring directly into my face. As though she were making certain moves to see how I would react and trying to get a read on me.

Koenji clued in on what Honami wanted immediately, he didn't even bother coming back after going to get his supposed drink. Instead he was lazing on the hammock, staring up at the sky with complete boredom. He was bored, just like the rest of us. Unlike myself who had been given a bit of an energy boost with being able to eat a meal set just a couple of hours ago, the rest of them were no doubt begging to get off this stupid island.

The novelty of this special test had worn off for me long ago. I had originally been excited to camp for the first time but once the excitement of doing something different for a change wore off I just wanted to go back to civilization. This kind of thing just wasn't for me, I learned I don't particularly enjoy roughing it as they call it.

By the time we got to the fourth game I was a little surprised. The first three games were so bad that I thought she was just moving and looking at me out of fondness. I find myself looking at Honami a lot, it was part of having feelings for someone. Sometimes you just want to see them. This time it was a little different though, she was still losing but it was as though she knew my moves to some degree. Like she had a read on me and didn't know what she was doing but still reacting with some foresight.

"You're going to move your queen to D5," Honami said as I was about to reach for a piece.

I stared blankly at her. My hand was midway to reaching for the aforementioned queen before I suddenly stopped in surprise. How the hell did she know?

"Surprised?" Honami asked with an amused smirk.

"A little bit," I admitted wearily. "How did you know?"

Honami smiled a little triumphantly, joy and pride oozing from her. I think with everything that was going on with her in her life at the moment, Honami didn't really have a lot of moments like this where she got to experience small victories like this.

"I noticed you make a decision on a move almost straight away. Then you analyze the board to double check your decision. Afterward, you always frown as though you wasted time with the analysis. It's cute." Honami gloated, putting her chin on her hand with her elbow resting on her knee.

"It's a lot more difficult playing against a novice," I said with a frown.

I was a little surprised and quite frankly a little nervous at the observation. I couldn't tell whether I was getting soft and easier to read or if Honami really cared about me to the point that she analyzed me to such a degree. It was likely a combination of both, I let my guard down a lot around her.

It was a bit of a frightening thought, I don't think that there are many people who could have made that observation. Eiichiro definitely couldn't have, if Arisu had ever made that connection she never said anything. Arisu wasn't one to give up tactical advantages so if this was a habit of mine she would just file it away for future use.