Yuu sighed in annoyance as he went into the Seki District, which was known in a residential area for influential clans and rich residents. However, his annoyance wasn't because of fearing some spoiled brats living in these estates, but because of his headaches lately, as they are becoming frequent enough to drive him crazy. Even the headache he had right now disappeared, it was still annoying for him as it might come back soon.
"Oh man, that's a 9th headache I had this week! And even worst, it's now 4 times a day right now, which is enough to let me skip my training. AGAIN. Maybe I should go to the hospital to see what's wrong with my head lately." But as he continued walking and groaning, he noticed a small crowd gathering near someone's house. Curious and hopefully distract himself from the pain, he joined the crowd to see what they are watching.
When he did, he was surprised to see a man screamed out of frustration before he shouted, "I can't take this anymore! This game is driving me nuts!" Just like that, he quickly left the table as an older man stared at him indifferently. Just as Yuu wondered what happened, the residents in this district started to whisper each other about the "Cranky Dragon" has strike again, which caused him to ask when he heard those words. "Cranky Dragon? Is he famous around here?"
"Hardly," the woman snorted out of annoyance when she heard those words again from Yuu. "That old man always disturb the rest of our neighbors with his shogi challenges whenever he's in a bad mood. Even if we tried to play them, we ended up more frustrated because we couldn't able to beat him completely." As he heard her explanation, Yuu realized why they called him the "Cranky Dragon". Now that he thought about it, someone needs to reason to that old man or else, there will be consequences for him. "Maybe I can help. I don't look like it, but I'm a shinobi who is just passing by." "Who just trying to recover from my 9th headache, though..." "I should try to reason with him that his puzzles are starting to become a nuisance."
"Good luck. If you try to approach or talk to him, however, he will pull you in his crazy shogi game even if you refuse." Although a paranoid warning from the woman, Yuu knew he would take that chance as he then pushed through the crowd to approach the "Cranky Dragon", much to the woman and the others' shock to this. As soon he faced him after he successfully made it through the crowd, the old man noticed him with his eyes mixed with indifferent and frustration. "What's this? A young boy wanting to beat me! Hahahaha!!! This is interesting!"
As the man laughed at the Genin's appearance, he knew he needed to keep a straight face because he can't back out now that he got his attention. "Before I can play shogi with you, I would like to warn you about your behavior. If you don't leave your neighbors alone, you will have to face expulsion from your house from the officials." But the man kept laughing when he heard his warnings, much to Yuu's dismay as he was expecting this due to his age. "Well if you beat me in a shogi, I will leave them alone. IF you can win, which I have my doubts."
Feeling like he was offended by the old man's remark, he quickly sat down on the opposing side of the table and glared at the man as he prepared himself. Yet as he did, he realized one thing. "Great, I accepted his challenge, but I have no clue how to play shogi!" While he did manage to keep a straight face in front of the old man, he wasn't able to calm himself, which he quickly noticed the sweat from his forehead. "Well, what's the matter? You don't know how to play, huh?" He wanted to say yes, but that would be embarrassing for him as he wanted to reason with him, not playing against him. Yet as the man started to explain the rules of shogi, Yuu started to feel not another headache, but a strange urge to listen to him closely as if he wanted to really learn how to play it. But for some reason, he was completely entranced by the old man's explanation, that he can't even hear what the crowd just muttered or said. It wasn't until the old man shakes him off literally and said, "Hey! Are you listening to me? Let's start the game already!"
Realizing he was in a daze for some reason, Yuu snapped out of it and said, "Y-Yeah, sorry about that. So since I'm playing the Black pieces, I'll go first, right?" The old man's eyes widened in shock. Every person he challenged tended to doze off during his explanations and yet, this young boy managed to listen to the end. "Y-Yes... Go ahead." Just like that, Yuu moved the pawn piece first, starting the game against the "Cranky Dragon". As they played, the crowd grew worried that the young Genin might not able to win like them. But as Yuu moved some pieces in his turns, the old man became shocked at how he managed to adapt the game so quickly. While he managed to grab most of his pieces, the young Genin countered by some tricky moves and captures of his own, surprising the old man even more.
Unknown to the old man, Yuu was also surprised at his progress in the shogi game as in his perspective, he suddenly managed to think up several solutions to win the game in his head, but he also created several counter moves in just a minutes, as if he managed to think up all of these before two moves in each turn he took.
As few minutes passed by, the crowd's eyes completely glued to the match as Yuu and the old man continued moving their pieces and capturing them in every turn until the young Genin spoke up, "Check." The old man's eyes widened as soon he said this as he knew nobody could ever declare a check against him. But not wanted to lose to a young boy like Yuu, he tried to defend his king piece with his remaining pieces. But even he managed to counter his moves after few more turns, Yuu then said, "Checkmate."
The whole crowd gasped in shock and awe at the fact Yuu managed to defeat the "Cranky Dragon" at last as even the old man was even speechless at this feat. As soon he heard cheers from the crowd, Yuu somehow became shocked at this same fact as he looked at the board, who started to wonder how did he done all of this. "You really have a sharp mind, kiddo." The young Genin was quickly startled when the old man approached him, who was somehow impressed at his win. "I never seen anyone who can able to counter my moves two moves ahead of me. You must be a natural on all of this."
Yuu blushed at this as he was not only complimented at his skills but the fact he has no idea how he was able to do so. "I-I do? B-But I don't have a sharp mind. Heck, my parents said I have one track mind!" But the old man chuckled at his remarks and said, "I don't think so. In fact, I never met a Quick Learner so very young like you."
"Quick Learner?" The young boy repeated out of confusion, wondering what it was. "Yes, I heard that shinobi with a sharp mind like you will take advantage of it in their battles." As soon he explained it, Yuu became awed at his new skill, but also confused at how he managed to have one in the first place. "What is your name again, kiddo?"
"U-Um, Yuu. Kashino Yuu. I'm actually a Genin." The old man then chuckled once more as he heard his name and said, "Yuu, huh? Well, if you had some time, maybe we can play shogi some time." Although he was surprised at the formerly cranky old man's request, Yuu realized he managed to make a friend out of him. "Sure. But please make sure you don't challenge these neighbors whenever you're cranky again, okay?"
Just as he said this, another pain came out of his head once more, causing Yuu to clutched his head out of this until the old man catch him as he fell to the ground. "I promise, but maybe I should take you home for now. Maybe you should take a rest for the rest of the day."
"Y-Yeah, good idea. That shogi game really took a lot out of me." Yuu said as the old man escorted him out of the district so he can go home. But as he did, Yuu started to wonder if his headaches have anything to do with his win earlier. Regardless, it was a long day and maybe tomorrow, he can able to learn more about being a Quick Learner and hopefully figure out what happened back in the forest a few weeks ago.
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[CA/WC: 1557]
"Oh man, that's a 9th headache I had this week! And even worst, it's now 4 times a day right now, which is enough to let me skip my training. AGAIN. Maybe I should go to the hospital to see what's wrong with my head lately." But as he continued walking and groaning, he noticed a small crowd gathering near someone's house. Curious and hopefully distract himself from the pain, he joined the crowd to see what they are watching.
When he did, he was surprised to see a man screamed out of frustration before he shouted, "I can't take this anymore! This game is driving me nuts!" Just like that, he quickly left the table as an older man stared at him indifferently. Just as Yuu wondered what happened, the residents in this district started to whisper each other about the "Cranky Dragon" has strike again, which caused him to ask when he heard those words. "Cranky Dragon? Is he famous around here?"
"Hardly," the woman snorted out of annoyance when she heard those words again from Yuu. "That old man always disturb the rest of our neighbors with his shogi challenges whenever he's in a bad mood. Even if we tried to play them, we ended up more frustrated because we couldn't able to beat him completely." As he heard her explanation, Yuu realized why they called him the "Cranky Dragon". Now that he thought about it, someone needs to reason to that old man or else, there will be consequences for him. "Maybe I can help. I don't look like it, but I'm a shinobi who is just passing by." "Who just trying to recover from my 9th headache, though..." "I should try to reason with him that his puzzles are starting to become a nuisance."
"Good luck. If you try to approach or talk to him, however, he will pull you in his crazy shogi game even if you refuse." Although a paranoid warning from the woman, Yuu knew he would take that chance as he then pushed through the crowd to approach the "Cranky Dragon", much to the woman and the others' shock to this. As soon he faced him after he successfully made it through the crowd, the old man noticed him with his eyes mixed with indifferent and frustration. "What's this? A young boy wanting to beat me! Hahahaha!!! This is interesting!"
As the man laughed at the Genin's appearance, he knew he needed to keep a straight face because he can't back out now that he got his attention. "Before I can play shogi with you, I would like to warn you about your behavior. If you don't leave your neighbors alone, you will have to face expulsion from your house from the officials." But the man kept laughing when he heard his warnings, much to Yuu's dismay as he was expecting this due to his age. "Well if you beat me in a shogi, I will leave them alone. IF you can win, which I have my doubts."
Feeling like he was offended by the old man's remark, he quickly sat down on the opposing side of the table and glared at the man as he prepared himself. Yet as he did, he realized one thing. "Great, I accepted his challenge, but I have no clue how to play shogi!" While he did manage to keep a straight face in front of the old man, he wasn't able to calm himself, which he quickly noticed the sweat from his forehead. "Well, what's the matter? You don't know how to play, huh?" He wanted to say yes, but that would be embarrassing for him as he wanted to reason with him, not playing against him. Yet as the man started to explain the rules of shogi, Yuu started to feel not another headache, but a strange urge to listen to him closely as if he wanted to really learn how to play it. But for some reason, he was completely entranced by the old man's explanation, that he can't even hear what the crowd just muttered or said. It wasn't until the old man shakes him off literally and said, "Hey! Are you listening to me? Let's start the game already!"
Realizing he was in a daze for some reason, Yuu snapped out of it and said, "Y-Yeah, sorry about that. So since I'm playing the Black pieces, I'll go first, right?" The old man's eyes widened in shock. Every person he challenged tended to doze off during his explanations and yet, this young boy managed to listen to the end. "Y-Yes... Go ahead." Just like that, Yuu moved the pawn piece first, starting the game against the "Cranky Dragon". As they played, the crowd grew worried that the young Genin might not able to win like them. But as Yuu moved some pieces in his turns, the old man became shocked at how he managed to adapt the game so quickly. While he managed to grab most of his pieces, the young Genin countered by some tricky moves and captures of his own, surprising the old man even more.
Unknown to the old man, Yuu was also surprised at his progress in the shogi game as in his perspective, he suddenly managed to think up several solutions to win the game in his head, but he also created several counter moves in just a minutes, as if he managed to think up all of these before two moves in each turn he took.
As few minutes passed by, the crowd's eyes completely glued to the match as Yuu and the old man continued moving their pieces and capturing them in every turn until the young Genin spoke up, "Check." The old man's eyes widened as soon he said this as he knew nobody could ever declare a check against him. But not wanted to lose to a young boy like Yuu, he tried to defend his king piece with his remaining pieces. But even he managed to counter his moves after few more turns, Yuu then said, "Checkmate."
The whole crowd gasped in shock and awe at the fact Yuu managed to defeat the "Cranky Dragon" at last as even the old man was even speechless at this feat. As soon he heard cheers from the crowd, Yuu somehow became shocked at this same fact as he looked at the board, who started to wonder how did he done all of this. "You really have a sharp mind, kiddo." The young Genin was quickly startled when the old man approached him, who was somehow impressed at his win. "I never seen anyone who can able to counter my moves two moves ahead of me. You must be a natural on all of this."
Yuu blushed at this as he was not only complimented at his skills but the fact he has no idea how he was able to do so. "I-I do? B-But I don't have a sharp mind. Heck, my parents said I have one track mind!" But the old man chuckled at his remarks and said, "I don't think so. In fact, I never met a Quick Learner so very young like you."
"Quick Learner?" The young boy repeated out of confusion, wondering what it was. "Yes, I heard that shinobi with a sharp mind like you will take advantage of it in their battles." As soon he explained it, Yuu became awed at his new skill, but also confused at how he managed to have one in the first place. "What is your name again, kiddo?"
"U-Um, Yuu. Kashino Yuu. I'm actually a Genin." The old man then chuckled once more as he heard his name and said, "Yuu, huh? Well, if you had some time, maybe we can play shogi some time." Although he was surprised at the formerly cranky old man's request, Yuu realized he managed to make a friend out of him. "Sure. But please make sure you don't challenge these neighbors whenever you're cranky again, okay?"
Just as he said this, another pain came out of his head once more, causing Yuu to clutched his head out of this until the old man catch him as he fell to the ground. "I promise, but maybe I should take you home for now. Maybe you should take a rest for the rest of the day."
"Y-Yeah, good idea. That shogi game really took a lot out of me." Yuu said as the old man escorted him out of the district so he can go home. But as he did, Yuu started to wonder if his headaches have anything to do with his win earlier. Regardless, it was a long day and maybe tomorrow, he can able to learn more about being a Quick Learner and hopefully figure out what happened back in the forest a few weeks ago.
[Topic entered/left]
[CA/WC: 1557]