Chapter 20: Chess Competition

(Ah! How exciting my first outing with Master!)

(You do know we're just going to the competition and my brother is coming along, right?)

(Details, Details... Though it is regrettable I am currently invisible, I still get to snuggle with you!)

(Ahaha, well I'm always happy whenever you are with me, Jibril.)

(...)

(...Jibril?) Uhm she wasn't responding so when I turned to look at her, I was presented with a flustered-looking flugel. What a sight it was.

Her cheeks were flushed, she was taking peeks at me from the corner of her eyes but would quickly look away and the halo on her head was rotating rapidly.

"Cute…" I unconsciously mutter under my breath as I continue staring at Jibril. Thanks to her specs as a flugel, she was able to hear my quiet voice complimenting her so she ended up looking from left to right before diving into my back and making me look away.

It seems she's going to stay there for a while. "Ow! My ahoge!" She pulled it!

"Aniki! I'm ready! By the way, who were you talking to?" As I was trying to control my ahoge, I heard the voice of my brother behind me and what he said made me freeze up for a split second before I recovered and turned towards him.

"Ah, no one Raku. Let's go! I wouldn't want to be late after all," I blatantly change the subject as I strut forward. Out of the corner of my eye, Raku shrugs and follows after me. I inwardly breathe out a sigh of relief and redirect my attention to the front, once again being impressed by the grand front entrance gate.

After a while, we found where the competition was being held. I had asked beforehand but apparently, this is owned partly by my mom, Miyu, while an acquaintance of hers owned the other part. 

We were confused at first since it looked like a grand hotel. Can you blame us? How the heck was it supposed to be a chess venue, when we turned our attention to the side and saw the signboard and the huge sign at the top of the entrance, we didn't question it further. 

At that point we were used to surprises, so Raku and I looked at each other, shrugged, and made our way inside. Not even minding the countless bodyguards that followed us inside and 'blended' in with the audience and participants.

Honestly, I couldn't help but draw parallels on how it was just like our Japanese mansion, but the rooms were a lot bigger with some tables and chairs set up for the games. Makes sense though, it's not like it's rare or anything. 

"Excuse me, I am here to check in for the Tsuoh Town Annual Chess Competition," I said to the receptionist.

"Ah, who are yo- Young master Ryu! Young Master Raku! I apologize, I'll take care of everything. Why don't you head on inside," she spoke with disinterest before but as soon as she saw us her tone changed to respect and admiration. Uhm, it looks like the VIP treatment is still the same.

"Thank you Miss…" I nodded my head as I said my thanks and along with Raku went inside one of the rooms. 

Chess in this town isn't really popular, so it's mostly just the players, their family, and their friends who are here. So most of the space is left for refreshments while the other half is where the competition takes place. 

Since it's not really a tournament, there will only be a few rounds which only take up the rest of the morning just in time for lunch. There are around 50 people in this competition, so in the first round, only 25 will make it to the second round while 12 will make it to the third and so forth. 

By the end there will be three people, so two players will go against each other and whoever wins goes against the other. Who goes against who will be done randomly, I believe. The random calls will be implemented whenever there is an odd number. 

The top three will of course get prizes but the value of it will depend on the placement. The rules will be the standard chess competition ones, found on the Chess Association website. 

And I am now facing off against a middle-aged woman with light green hair and hazel-colored eyes. She's no slouch at this, watch I bet she's gonna say, 'You're pretty good for a kid,' or something along those lines. 

"You brat, you're pretty good aren't ya," she said while smirking slightly, or is she trying to smile normally? I think she is since her husband is sighing while shaking his head. Don't worry, sir, my bodyguards back there are far more terrifying. 

I called it though!

"Thanks, ma'am. You're pretty good yourself… except… It's the end. Checkmate," I said while smiling and extending my hand outwards. 

She was flabbergasted but soon she just sighed and accepted my handshake. "You sure got me, well it was fun. Good luck, brat!"

"You're the famous chess player I've been hearing so much about. I must say you play rather wonderfully. But you're holding back, aren't you?" asked the young girl in front of me, who took the spot of the middle-aged woman. She was around my age, perhaps Rias' age with glasses over her violet eyes and a bob-cut hairstyle. 

I mentioned Rias for one reason only… You guessed it, she's the heiress of the Sitri Devil Clan, Sona Sitri. And behind her, I could see someone familiar, yup that's Tsubaki Shinra. She is someone from the 5 Principal Clans huh, just like Akeno. I suppose Sona extended an invitation to her and is most likely waiting until she gets her Evil Pieces.

Wait, is that Serafall Leviathan too!? I ain't surprised she's here though since her dear little sister is playing and she has to have someone guard her.

But still, what a coincidence it is to have met them here. Ahh the machinations of fate or is it because of one of my titles? 

"I could say the same to you. You were making a fool of that old geezer over there. You haven't even gotten serious, right?" I asked with a slight smile as I stared straight into her eyes.

"Ahem… Don't mind that. Well, let's take it up a notch, Ichijou-san," she said as a slight reddish tint covered her cheeks. Looks like she's trembling in anticipation. I smirked. She was taking sneaking glances at my rambunctious ahoge too. Cute. 

"Couldn't agree with you more, Shitori-san," I responded back with some competitiveness. She seems to have signed up for this using her alias… she's pretty cautious huh? 

It's been a long while since then… maybe hours have passed since the beginning of our game. I couldn't tell, mostly because we drowned out any distractions from our surroundings. The only thing in mind for the both of us was being one or two steps ahead of each other. Focusing all our attention on one another and the board in front of us. 

It seems this game can go either way. But I don't plan to lose. And it seems Sona is thinking the same.

"It's my loss huh," she muttered but just loud enough for me to hear.

"You're not upset?" I asked in confusion.

"Of course I am, it's incredibly frustrating. But mark my words, I will win next time Ichijou-san," she said firmly with a spark of determination in her twinkling violet eyes. 

"I will eagerly await your challenge, but I will keep on trying to win every time. There is no need to call me by my family name, Ryu is fine with me," I said in a serious tone so as to accept her drive to win.

"Then Sona is fine for me, Ryu-san," she said with a small smile forming on her lips.

After that, the rewards were given out, but before I could go and meet up with Raku who went to go wait with the bodyguards they sent with us, Sona, Tsubaki, and Serfall approached me. I hesitated a bit but ultimately decided to meet them. Serafall is currently wearing a magical girl costume so it's not really intimidating considering she's a Satan class being. Plus Jibril is with me, though she's sulking right now. 

(...I'll add more time to the massage…)

(You will Master?!)

(Yes…)

(Alone time with Master… hehehe…)

After the short conversation with Jibril, I turned my attention back to the ones now standing in front of me. 

"I apologize, Ryu-san. Onee-sama insisted that I introduce her to you," Sona said with a troubled sigh. 

"Aha, you don't need to worry. I was quite curious about the pretty onee-san who was cheering loudly for her, 'Sona-tan'… Ah, and this is…?" I said with a slight smile, that earns a blush from Sona, most likely from my words. Perhaps she still hasn't gotten over the embarrassment of her own sister wearing that in public, especially if said sister is cheering loudly and saying her pet name. 

"It's nice to meet you, Ichijou-san. I am Sona-sama's future queen, Tsubaki Shinra. I am quite surprised how you were able to beat her," the young girl answers in place of Sona. She is a bespectacled girl with long black hair that extends down to her back split bangs and heterochromatic eyes, the left eye being violet and the right being light brown.

"Hi Hi!! ♥ You're pretty amazing aren't you, you actually beat my little sister! Ah, now that I could see you up close, you're such a cute boy, the little ahoge in your hair is twitching! ♡ Oops, right, I am the Devil King Serafall Leviathan, but you can call me Levia-tan or Sera-tan ★. I'm sure you've heard of me from your mom!" Serafall was jumping up and down from the excitement, but she eventually made her way over to me and hugged me, squeezing me into her large breasts and poking my sensitive ahoge… ahhh... Bliss- wait, now's not the time! I tap on her and when she loosens her grip, I take a peek and the two younger girls are sighing. Well, at least I can talk now…

"Mmmf... It's nice to meet you, Shinra-san. But please do not worry about formalities, Ryu is fine with me." My eyes then fall on Serafall. "You can call me however you like Sera-tan! Oops, your cheerfulness really is contagious. It's nice to meet you. Aha, though I'm surprised my mom mentioned it in passing, she was right about how you really will make a lasting impression on me whenever I do end up meeting you," I said while looking up at her face from in between her breasts, most likely tickling her if her red face and small snickers are any indication. She truly is beautiful with her long black hair tied up into twin tails that make her look like a young teenage girl, though she really does look like one, except that her chest is pretty voluptuous. 

Her pure deep blue eyes peer into mine as if sucking me in until they start to twinkle when she suddenly smiles broadly as if something I said struck a chord within her, "Kyaaa~!! You really are adorable, Ryu-tan! Sirzechs-chan told me how mature you were, but you called me how I wanted you to!" 

"Onee-sama! Let go of him! We're still in public…!" Sona comes up to us when she finally has enough of her sister's antics and tries to separate us with a blush on her face.

"Oh~ My Sona-tan is being rather forceful~ Don't tell me…?! You want to hug Ryu-tan instead?! Noooo!" Though Sona wanted to separate us, Serafalls remarks made her even more flustered which made Serafall dodge all her grapples while she hugged me even tighter as if separating us would be the end of the world for her. 

"Wha…?! T-that's not it, Onee-sama! I'm sure Ryu-san has to go already!" Sona shouts towards her sister, but because she was mindful of everyone around her she dialed down the loudness of her voice. 

I mean, I have no complaints. I'm sure Raku is busy trying to rein in the bodyguards who are most likely making a mess of the place. Plus I'm currently enjoying Serafalls breasts and Sona's and Tsubaki's expressions. Perks of being a child I suppose. 

They're soft okay!?

"Hmph, it's like you were afraid I was going to steal him from you Sona-tan…" muttered a pouting Serafall who was eventually made to let go of me when Tsuabki joined in.

"I'm sorry for the trouble, Ryu-san. We won't keep you any longer, we must head out as well. I hope we meet again soon," Sona said with an apologetic smile but regained her vigor when she mentioned meeting again. Cute!

"Don't worry, Sona-san. I hope we meet once again as well."

"It was nice meeting you, Ichijou-san. It was rather amus- amazing how you and Serafall-sama were able to make Sona-samas stoic expression fall quickly. I hope we can speak more in the future," Tsubaki said with a light smile, but her mouth started twitching so she ended up covering it to hide her laugh from Sona.

"Ah, you can just call me Ryu. I hope you don't mind me calling you by your first name as well?"

"I don't mind, Ryu-san."

"Then Tsubaki-san, until next time!"

"Ryu-tan! I'll be sure to visit! Ah, I'll be bringing Sona-tan and Tsu-chan with me! I'll be able to catch up with your mom and spend time with you! Hehe, Grayfia-chan informed me of a particular plan, look forward to it!" Serafall sprinted her ways towards me and gave me a big hug before letting go and holding my shoulders and making that promise. 

"I'll be waiting for you all," I said with a cheerful smile. 

They were stunned but smiled at me as well as they said bye. Hahh, seems like Serafall told Sona about me knowing of the supernatural. Well, not like there's any harm in that now.

(Would it please you if I wore one of those outfits as well Master?)

(.....Is it possible?)

(Yes~)

(Then…. please.)

(Yes, Master!)

I'll hold you to that Jibril! Once I finished my short talk with Jibril, I made my way over towards Raku and the others. And then started heading home. I may or may not have had a spring in my step...