Mother-daughter heart-to-heart

Now out and about in Budapest, Daria and Mimoko had the first chance in a while to spend time as mother and daughter off the chessboard. To mark the occasion, Daria naturally had a massive itinerary lined up, though her mission to save Ina was still in the back of her mind.

"Isn't this fun?" Daria smiled as she gazed down at the city from the balcony of a castle.

"It certainly has been a while since we've done something like this together," Mimoko smiled back.

"Yeah, reminds me of the last time we all had a family outing. You, me, Ichimitsu... and Kotora..."

While Daria's smile remained, her eyes began to narrow in sadness as she rubbed her stomach. "Perhaps in a year or two, we can all have another family outing with our new family member."

Mimoko still could not come to terms with the fact that Daria was now pregnant once more. She always knew her mother had somewhat of a perverted personality, but she always assumed it was in jest most of the time. Yet a few weeks ago, Daria truly had Ichimitsu impregnate her in hopes of bearing another child. While Kotora's death was likely the cause of it, Mimoko had never once asked her mother directly about it, even though it weighed on her mind.

With preparation for the Chess Olympics dominating Mimoko's life, talking to her mother about other topics had largely been set on the backburner, but now, Mimoko finally had a moment to ask about this question.

"Okaa-chan, why did you suddenly decide to have another kid? Was it because you were always planning on having more, or is it just because you're desperate to fill the void Kotora left behind?"

This time, Daria's smile vanished, but after taking a deep breath, she answered Mimoko truthfully and earnestly. "When I first awoke after the boy beat Michiko, I was informed of everything that had happened while I was out. Hearing that Kotora had died was too much though, and I descended into tears, barely managing to stop by the time you arrived to see me. Later that day when I revealed myself as a maestro, I was fighting back my emotions the whole time. But when you began to break down emotionally, I became frustrated. More than you, I wanted you to win, or at the very least fail to beat me while playing at your best. Not because I wanted you to surpass me, but because playing a good chess game was my coping mechanism to deal with Kotora's death. Yet when you began to cry, I took out my frustrations upon you unjustly. I've never been more thankful though that the boy stepped up and beat me in such unorthodox fashion. Nit only did it open my eyes to a weakness I've long had as a player, but it allowed me an out to reconcile with you for unjustly taking out my frustrations on you. I really was looking forward to the day, ever since you were born, that I'd reveal I was a maestro and beat you silly, but thanks to Michiko, that all was ruined. I'm sorry, Mimoko. I know you might find it odd that I'm trying to give birth to more kids even though you're now an adult, but despite how I appear, I really can't stand the fact that our family was unjustly reduced by one, thus I feel the only way for me to move on is to have more kids, and this time raise them with them fully aware of who I am. I feel if I had just done that with Kotora, then maybe he wouldn't have met such a cruel fate, nor would you be cursed to bear such a heavy burden."

Tears began to pour out of Mimoko's eyes as she hugged Daria. "Okaa-chan, if that's how you've been feeling this whole time, then give me as many more younger siblings as you please. Sometimes your antics do annoy me, but at the end of the day, I've always loved the quirky family I've had."

Daria in turn hugged her back tightly, and allowed the tears she had been holding back for so long to flow once more. From a distance, the masked man watched the two, noting to himself that he should remain out of sight, though continue to keep an ever watchful eye to ensure none would disrupt Mimoko and Daria's moment together.

"Daria's finally laid her feelings bare before Mimoko. Now the two can truly understand one another and better move on in life from the scars Michiko dealt them. As for me, I'll keep watch as always, and be there in case you need me. That being said, I do hope you're both capable of standing on your own, for there may come a scenario where I'll be unable to properly help you, especially if my theory for the true purpose of the tournament's second rest day rings true," the masked man thought.

...

After letting their tears flow until they could smile once more, Mimoko and Daria continued their sightseeing tour. As they arrived at their next stop, they noticed a familiar face. There huddled up on bench and crying, was Carla Sanmarino.

Ever since Italy's round 3 loss to Japan and subsequent suspension of Isabella, things had been rough for the Italian team, mainly Carla who now had to step in for Isabella resulting in her often facing opponents well beyond her skill level, and losing badly to them, only contributing to the team's ires.

"Why? I only accepted this job because I thought it would be fun. I didn't know things would be so devastating," Carla trembled.

"Are you alright?" Mimoko asked as she walked up to Carla.

Upon noticing Mimoko, Carla let out a shriek and nearly toppled off the bench to the ground. "Y- You... What do you want?"

"I saw you crying and wanted to see if you're alright. You're Carla-chan, right?"

"Yeah... You want to commission something from me too?"

"'Commission'?"

"You don't know? I'm actually an Eighterr artist, mainly a low-grade actress. But I guess I'm still under contract for the Italian team, so commissions are closed until the tournament's over."

The revelation came as a surprise to both Mimoko and Daria, but nonetheless, Mimoko still desired to help Carla. "Are you having a hard time because you're getting overwhelmed in the tournament? If that's the case, I could give you a lesson."

"You're busy though. This is my own problem."

"Not at all. We've got plenty of time to do our itinerary. In fact, I actually wanted to do something by myself anyway. That OK with you, Mimoko?" Daria asked.

"Not at all. We already had a wonderful time already, so feel free to do some sightseeing on your own while I tutor Carla-chan," Mimoko smiled.

"I- I didn't ask-"

"Not out load, but deep down, you don't want to be a burden to your team."

"They're just my current client. Heck, I'm actually from San Marino, not even Italian, so no need to-"

"Don't worry, I'll train you proper. Now let's start with a practice match. Don't worry, I'll give you mating opportunities and explain certain moves as we go."

As Carla received the challenge request to a practice match on her WWCF card, she paused, but quickly found her hand moving on it's own to accept the request. Deep down, she really wanted to improve her game. Chess had always been a fascination for her, but her getting walloped in the tournament and bogging down her team had begun to tarnish her favorability towards it. Nonetheless, she wanted to be good at the game, or at least good enough to get through the tournament without being a burden.

"Great, now why don't I start off with an English opening," Mimoko smiled as she began the lesson.

Daria smiled as she watched Mimoko tutor Carla. "You'll be fine, Mimoko. Unlike me, you've always been pure and willing to help others improve their game. Makes me wonder if things might have gone differently if it was you in my place back when me and Michiko were kids. Would she have accepted the helping hand you likely would have extended to her? Probably not, but you'd at least try, which was more than I ever did. I'm proud of you Mimoko. Now let's see if I can fulfill my objective before your tutoring lesson is over," she thought as she headed off.