Gifted Academy: The Perfect Student

Many years ago.

"H-how..." The boy was speechless as he was easily defeated by a young 9-year-old girl.

"Good game. I hope we can be friends~"

"No! How can I lose to you? You're just a stupid girl!"

Suddenly, Kanako's heart dropped. Those words stabbed her like a silver blade. The boy got off of his seat and stormed off. Everyone turned around as the boy stomped through the room.

In the corners of her eyes, Kanako was starting to cry.

I-I just wanted to be friends... does he hate me now?

She stared silently at the chessboard. The white king was checkmated in a very elegant setup, leaving it in a completely undefendable position. As she looked at the board, she felt a cold, sad feeling in her stomach.

After a little while, one of the adult organisers walked over to her.

"It's okay, Kanako. The boy's just angry because you beat him."

"S-should I not have...?"

"This isn't your fault. Come on, let's go and find your next opponent."

Kanako walked quietly to her next opponent.

The organiser helped her up onto the chair as she looked at the next person she was going it play. It was another young girl of similar age to herself, with long flowing hair.

"Kanako, meet Tachibana. She'll be your next opponent."

Tachibana lifted her hand for a handshake. Kanako grabbed onto her hand and swung it. The two girls laughed a little before they got back down and prepared for the game.

"I hope you're good at this, Kanako~"

She didn't respond.

The organiser set up the board and the clock before taking a seat beside them.

"Alright, you two may begin."

Kanako began as white, playing Pawn to B3, beginning the hypermodern Larson's Opening.

Tachibana responded with Pawn to E5, a standard move.

Kanako then played Bishop to B2, a fianchetto on the queen's side.

The two girls continued to play moved, one after another, until finally, Tachibana was only a few moves from checkmating Kanako.

All of a sudden, Tachibana appeared to be very angry.

"I resign," Tachibana exclaimed.

The organiser was shocked at her announcement.

"B-but, Tachibana, you're so close to winning."

"She's not playing seriously!" She pointed at Kanako.

Kanako looked up timidly.

"Why are you going easy on me?" Tachibana asked angrily.

"I-I... didn't want you to get mad at me..."

The organiser and Tachibana's expressions suddenly changed.

"I hate it when people go easy on me. You're just like that one boy," Tachibana said. Sensing the unease, the organise nudged Kanako.

"Um... well, Kanako, you get the win. It's time to move on,"

"B-but..."

Before Kanako could talk to her again, Tachibana got up from her seat and left the table.

[End]

****

~~~

Ah, a Chess Special Exam? This is perfect.

My academic ability has always been poor. Everyone knows that. My father, my mother, and my tutors, they all saw that as my biggest weakness. The only person who ever saw something else in me was Mizuhara Ayato.

Mizuhara, I still want to be with you.

In a meritocratic school where grades were incredibly important. I thought I was completely lost.

However, my desire to be with you has driven me.

Chess is my strongest weapon.

This special exam is right in my alley.

I'll show everyone that I'm someone who can eventually stand side by side with you.

***

It was a lukewarm morning. The Chess Tournament Special Exam is scheduled to be tomorrow, meaning I had a full day to practice if I wanted—not that I was going to. Making my way down the clean, comforting yet tense schoolyard, I looked through my phone. The school had begun publishing some of the teams that had formed.

-

Chess Tournament Special Exam Teams

1. Mizuhara Ayato and Tachibana Emi

2. Fujiharu Sara and Murakami Akio

...

11. Kimura Haruto and Ichikawa Mana

...

14. Kaoru Hiroto and Kobyashi Lucy

-

Many people had already chosen their teammates.

Gaa... it was annoying to see that Mizuhara was already taken. I knew that he'd probably not want to be my partner, but still... he could've waited for a little, at least.

"Hey, you're Kanako, aren't you?"

I heard the voice of a girl behind me. Fukuda positioned himself between us, but she brushed him aside.

"Yes, what do you want from me?"

It was Fujiharu Sara, a class A girl who was both smart and popular.

"I've heard your name before. You're the chess prodigy, right?"

She's heard of me?

We've talked before. How condescending can she get?

"Yes, I guess I am."

"Haa, so this current special exam was made perfectly for you then."

For some reason, she was beginning to get on my nerves.

"Just get to the point. What do you want?"

"Eh? No need to be so bitter~. Well, I guess it's true that I came here to tell you something."

Fujiharu took a few steps back before stretching her arms over her head. It was clear that she had some ulterior motives when she came to talk to me. This supposedly 'perfect' girl... for some reason, something didn't sit right with me.

"You like Mizuhara, don't you~?"

What?

How... does she know?

No way.

"W-what do you mean?"

"There's no use hiding it. I've got perfect intuition when it comes to this."

There didn't seem to be a way for me to avoid this.

"So you came just to embarrass me?"

"Ah, well, I've come with a challenge."

"What do you mean?"

"Basically, I've decided that I'm going to beat you, the chess prodigy, at your own game."

Suddenly, a cold breeze brushed over me. Like a sign from the sky, I felt that this was bad news. It was like a little stinging sensation as the sudden icy wind slashed me from the sides. Fujihara Sara, a girl who I had hardly talked to, was now challenging me at my greatest strength.

What was her intention?

"I don't know what you're thinking, but you can do whatever you want."

"Ah, it seems that you're looking down on me~"

"Are you implying that you have the ability to beat me?"

"Kanako, I've already surpassed you."

What was this feeling? Was it fear? Why... there's no way she could have surpassed my ability. But why, why do I feel uneasy?

She took a step forward.

"Let's play a match right now."

"Huh?"

What was this now?

*

Sitting on one of the scarce empty tables in the library, I set up the chess board as Fujiharu wrote some notes down on a little notepad. Before the game began, I checked her attributes in the Preseqta system.

-

Fujiharu Sara - Second-Year Student

Overall Intelligence: **Unreleased**

Athletic Ability: **Unreleased**

Interpersonal Skills: **Unreleased**

Spatial Awareness: **Unreleased**

Lateral Thinking Capacity: A+ (Ranked #12 out of 417 in school)

_

Appearance: **Unreleased**

Cooperative Reliability: A+ (Ranked #2 out of 417 in school)

Creative Ability: **Unreleased**

~~~

Overall Score: A+

Consistency: **Unreleased**

-

They weren't something to be scoffed at.

"Since I'm the weaker one here, I'll play with white, if that's okay," she said.

"That's fine with me."