"Hm..." Yuuji let out as he stared at the chess board in front of him. On one side there were a few black pieces left, with white pieces surrounding the king.
"Your move sir Yuuji." Sakura said as she rested her chin on her palm.
Yuuji sighed as he moved one piece. Quickly afterwards, Sakura ended the match in one move.
"Checkmate." Sakura said as she knocked over the king piece. "Now as per our agreement..."
"What's your question?" Yuuji asked after sighing.
"What's your goal here in Suijin?" Sakura asked as she began to set the chess board up again.
"What do you mean?" Yuuji responded with raised eyebrows. He could feel his heartbeat raise.
"What is your goal? Why are you here in Suijin?" Sakura explained while moving a pawn up.
"Well..." Yuuji looked to Amilia that was on his right, before looking back at the board. "We're here to stop a catastrophe that's gonna happen..." Yuuji explained, then he mirrored Sakura's move.
"I see." Sakura mumbled. She immediately put a piece up that would threaten the pawn.
Quickly, the match went south as Yuuji lost a few pieces, meanwhile Sakura had lost one. 'It's like she knows what I'm gonna do...' Yuuji complained inside his mind.
Yuuji's eye twitched as he lost another piece. Noticing a piece was about to be taken for free, he put a piece to defend it.
"Not bad, or was that just luck?" Athena questioned as she set another threat to that piece.
"..." Yuuji did not respond. 'She has an overwhelming offense and defense... I literally can't do anything!' He complained yet again to himself. Thinking to himself for a bit, he decided to go all out on offense.
After a minute of back and forth, Yuuji was checkmated. However he was able to take another piece from Sakura in the end.
'He was able to take two pieces this time... not bad.' Sakura noted to herself. "Are you ready for the next question, Sir Yuuji?" Sakura asked.
"Ask away." Yuuji said while shrugging.
"How long have you known your party?"
"Hm..." Yuuji put his hand on his chin like he was thinking. "6 months or so?" He looked towards Amilia for confirmation. She nodded in response.
"Ah, not that long then?" Sakura said while making the first move.
"I guess?" Yuuji responded whilst mirroring Sakura's move.
The match went on quicker, however Yuuji was able to capture one more piece than the last one.
"A third piece? I guess you're better on offense rather than defense, Sir Yuuji." Sakura said in a bit of shock.
"I guess so." Yuuji said while scratching the back of his head. "Anyway, what's your question this time?"
"It's a bit of a personal one, do you mind?"
"I don't mind."
"You two seem pretty close." Sakura leaned in. "Are you two in a relationship?" She asked.
Amilia's face went beet red when she heard the question. "No, we are not!" Amilia and Yuuji exclaimed at the same time. In the background snickering could be heard and someone saying "Soon."
After taking a moment to calm down, the fourth match started. It lasted longer than the previous one. Yuuji went on pure offense, however that did not win him the match, at the end he was only able to snag 3 pieces, and he only had the king at the end.
'3 again?' Sakura noted. She looked at Yuuji, who had his face being covered by his hands.
"Yuuji, you need to defend your pieces better." Amilia whispered to him.
Yuuji looked at her. "I know, It's just hard to do it when she is able to overwhelm my defense." Yuuji whispered back.
"You two can work together if you need." Sakura said a moment later.
"Are you sure?" Yuuji asked to confirm.
"Yes, I don't mind. But before we do our next match, you gotta my next question, remember?" Sakura reminded.
"Oh right..."
"Why are you investigating the kidnappings?"
"We suspect it might be related to the catastrophe we're trying to stop." Yuuji answered immediately.
"Interesting..." Sakura said while putting her fingers on her chin. 'I wouldn't put it past them if they were the ones behind it...' she thought
Then, the 5th match began. Combined, Amilia and Yuuji were able to take double the amount of pieces then the last, but ultimately they were fated to lose as Sakura checkmated them.
'These two...' Sakura looked towards Yuuji and Amilia with a fair bit of shock. Yuuji and Amilia were celebrating a little with the achievement of 6 pieces. 'Are going to spell trouble...' She thought
"Are you two ready for the next question?" She asked a moment later.
"Yes." Yuuji responded.
"What is this catastrophe you speak of?"
Yuuji took a bit to respond, unsure of saying the truth or not. "Someone might steal the key to this nation." He said in a serious tone.
"..." Sakura froze for a second before responding. "Oh, why would someone do that?"
"I have no idea." Yuuji shrugged.
'Allen's suspicion was correct... Sakura is Athena.' Amilia thought after noticing Sakura freezing up.
After a moment of silence, the 6th match began. With Yuuji on offense, and Amilia on defense they were successfully able to snag 8 pieces. Fate decided to play nice and they finally beat Sakura.
Written by: shehablasheen
Published at: 09-02-2024
