red light blues | haikyū! captains

the king

"Again?!"

Ukai's mouth twitched into a smile as he gathered the rest of the pieces left on the board. "I did not lose to my grandfather for years just to let you have an easy win, Taiyou-sama."

You puffed out your cheeks and crossed your arms over your chest, watching as Ukai set up the shogi board for another round. Although you were still fueled by the spirit of competitiveness to take him on one more time, the psychological warfare he'd been waging against you weathered down your determination. How long had the two of you been playing in his office anyway?

"I don't understand why you're teaching me this," you grumbled. "I bet Mother has never even seen a shogi piece before."

"Didn't you say you wished for Karasuno's oirans to offer a broader range of entertainment?" Ukai chuckled, lacing his fingers together before resting his chin atop. "Though I don't mean to boast, Karasuno is a cut above the rest. We can afford to humor our patrons with a game of shogi before...that."

You rolled your eyes. "Owner of the most sought-out brothel in Yoshiwara and all, yet you still can't say copulation with a straight face."

Ukai offered you a sleazy grin, but you didn't miss the way his cheeks warmed from where he sat across from you. He beheld the freshly assembled board using a few odd hand gestures before saying, "Care to settle our disputes through another round, Taiyou-sama?"

A groan fell from your lips, but you relented to his offer nonetheless—pushing your first pawn forward without much thought.

"Do your worst."

...

The last two weeks were more eventful than you could ever hope to expect. If you were to tick every box in your checklist of 'Things You Never Could've Fathomed Would Happen', you'd probably be laughing at how ridiculous it would look like. Three lords intruding on your session? Check. Nearly getting killed by an unidentified stranger? Check. Being able to go out of Yoshiwara for the first time, only to be held captive? Check!

Of course, the strange domino effect of oddities only persisted from there, because hey—not everyone could be invited into a shogi match with Bokuto Koutarou, right?

"Whoa, you're pretty good at this!"

The Owl's golden eyes sparkled as he watched you capture his rook inside a promotion zone, placing it on your side of the board to control. You felt a sense of pride swell in your chest at his praise. Admittedly, you couldn't thank the gods enough that Ukai hammered the basics into your head until you finally defeated him.

You were so psyched in on the game that it was hard to believe that Bokuto merely waltzed into the compound like he owned the place an hour earlier. Despite his initial adamance, Yaku eventually relented and granted the Owl Commander entry since he was affiliated to the Shinsengumi, anyway. After cornering you in the meeting hall, where you were foolish enough to think you could retreat back into the dungeons, Bokuto gave you a proposition.

"Aren't you bored, Taiyou-sama? I know a good game we can play to kill the time!"

And now here you were, sitting right across from him on a small table situated in one of the gathering halls.

"We oirans don't just sit around like ducks, Lord Bokuto," you giggled, but your smile fell when you realized the lance you'd used to capture his rook was in a tight spot.

So far, Bokuto hadn't been making any game-changing plays. Contrary to your expectations he stuck with the safe choices—patiently taking out your pawns one by one instead of swooping in to target your higher valued pieces. In hindsight, you never even thought that the most carefree of the lords in charge of the Yoshiwara case even knew how to set up a shogi board. You were definitely not trying to discredit him but Bokuto seemed a bit too...whimsical to care about a mind game such as this one.