Dawn of the second rest day

"Good morning ladies and gentlemen! I'm Kisha Shinbun, and I'm back again to keep you entertained throughout this rest day! We've got a packed show, so glue your eyes to the screen, er, not literally, but you get the point!" Kisha declared.

With the second rest day came Kisha's show, though this time, no members of either Japanese team would be getting interviewed.

"Not gonna get interviewed personally?" Daria asked Mimoko as they ate breakfast together in the dining hall.

"No, I've already been interviewed by her. Besides, she apparently had a full schedule and reduced runtime, so priority was given elsewhere, I guess."

"Well, things did go a bit off the rails last time, so I could understand why the higher-ups would cut the runtime down. They've even posted the standings unlike last time, though the pairings still aren't up yet."

"Yeah, Shinbun-san needs to be a bit more careful with who she brings on and how she asks questions," Okisato grumbled as he sat down at the table.

"Ugh, is that why my request for an interview was denied? I was hoping to give her a worse repeat of what Onee-chan did to her," Iori snickered as she slammed her tray down on the table.

Mimoko shot Iori an unamused glare.

"While I get Kisha can be... pushy, to put it nicely, I think she got her dues in full so there's no need to pile on more humiliation," Daria smiled.

"Lame," Iori scowled as she pulled up Kisha's show on her phone and watched it as she ate.

"Now onto our first major headline! Maestro Himitsu challenged the world, and won! And not just that, we finally know who she really is! Ever hear of Daria Inashiki?" Kisha grinned as Daria spat out her drink.

"Little shit. Change of plans; I'm going to make her the laughingstock of the world!" Daria fumed as she shot up out of her seat.

"Okaa-chan, I get you're mad, but punishing Shinbun-chan with THAT is a little too far. I get you're upset about your past leaking, but given what happened two days ago, someone was bound to dig into it. Plus you said that IT should only be used as a form of execution for those that have desecrated the game and are horrible people," Mimoko protested as she held on to Daria's arm.

"Huh? What's this about an "execution"?" Iori grinned.

"It's a chess technique. Okaa-chan taught it to me last night. She was apparently going to use it against the Chinese maestro, but wasn't able to due to the maestro resigning."

"Oh yeah, maestro Jobber. Heard she's got Oki-kun's winning game inked on her head. Sucks all the Chinese SPCMs are playing, cuz I'd love to wreck the other 6 before shitting on their joke of a maestro."

"AND I TOOK THAT PERSONALLY!" Xiao Lin fumed as she stormed over.

"Wah? When did you get an instant summon?"

"I always feast upon breakfast at this hour! The insult you levied against me is pure slander! I'm am NOT what you call a "jobber"!"

"Then why'd ya lose to Noa-chan in round 7? Oh wait! I heard ya lost to Zsa Zsa-chan last round too! She was that bitch that would throw on purpose if she didn't feel like playing, but even she decided to fodderize you for pleasure!"

"CEASE THE SLANDER! I... It's cheating! It must be cheating! No way that Noa girl or that lout, Zsa Zsa, could legitimately best a maestro like me! I'll call Prokrutka, he'll agree-"

"Maestro, do not be petty. I personally witnessed both games, and you completely lost. Perhaps you are off your game. All the more reason for you to take this rest day seriously," Raymond glared as he suddenly appeared.

Xiao Lin gritted her teeth and clenched her fist, but even she knew deep down Raymond was right. She had lost purely due to her own declining skill, or perhaps lack of talent in general.

"It's a shame you've been in poor form ever since your bot with Maestro Himitsu. Looking at your match history, you tend to suffer continuous losses following a particularly stinging defeat. I'd advise making use of meditation and calming your mental state as an agitated mind will often fail to convert the win no matter how desperate they are to do so."

And with that, Raymond vanished just as quickly as he had appeared.

"Yeesh, everyone's just popping up out of thin air," Iori grumbled.

"You! Don't think I've forgotten! The day you challenge me, I'll have your mouth welded shut, and your entire head shaved and tattooed with the most humiliating checkmate possible, which you WILL be subjected to when I beat you!" Xiao Lin huffed as she stormed away.

As she did, her cane accidentally got caught on the table Amelia and the other Norwegian women were eating at, causing her to trip and fall, sending her wig flying off.

"LOL! THERE'S OKI-KUN'S WINNING GAME!" Iori laughed as she rushed over and snapped some pictures of Xiao Lin's head.

Trembling with even more fury than before, Xiao Lin grabbed her wig and got up, hobbling away while cursing in Chinese.

"I may not be your mother, but as a woman older than you, I must admonish you for that behavior just now," Janna frowned as she slowly rose.

"Ugh, leave it, mom! Xiao Lin's a joke, anyway. No need to die on a hill for her," Inga snarled.

"It's decorum. Now young lady, we do not delight in the suffering of others. Xiao Lin is not able to move around like she used to, and while that may be by her own undoing, it's still cruel to mock her and the fact that she must now bear a humiliating tattoo for the rest of her days."

"Everyone else's mom just can't help but lecture me on shit. Well I got no sympathy for her. She's a bitch that got what was coming to her, and will continue to get what's coming to her."

As Jaana looked ready to slap Iori across the face, Daria intervened. "My apologies, Jaana, but I am in complete agreement with Iori, in fact, I think she deserves to suffer more than she already is for what she did to me."

Jaana paused as a troubled expression overtook her face. "Maestro? Y- You're advocating for such delinquency?"

"Under normal circumstances, no, but Xiao Lin... Jaana, do you truly not remember how vain she was and still is? She hated me to the point that she aided in a conspiracy which killed my son and nearly rendered me comatose for life. Not to mention Mimoko suffered the most all thanks to her collusion. I hope she never wins a game ever again and sees her elo fall below 100."

"That, is impossible. I understand your rage, but Xiao Lin is a maestro. She will win games in the future, and due to her very status as maestro, will never lose her rating," Amelia stated as she wiped her mouth with her napkin.

"But what about Chihuahua-chan, then? She's got a rating over 3000, but isn't a maestro, or at least, her card wasn't black like all the other maestro's," Mimoko interjected.

Still in earshot, Xiao Lin froze. Sweat began to drip down her face as nightmare scenarios poured into her brain.

"No... NO! I'm a maestro. A maestro for life! They wouldn't dare replace me! Of course! Only maestros are legitimately rated over 3000! That bitch must be bumbling about some scammer!" she thought.

"Chihuahua Bibliotecario... She's the one you told me about the other night," Daria frowned.

"Yeah, and not just her, the other Mexicans had blue cards too, blue eyes too, except Urraca-chan the wacko," Iori stated.

Unlike before, neither Urraca or the Chilean Urraca appeared.

"Huh, guess the summoning wore off."

But Iori's remark had resonated with Okisato. "Iori-chan, you said their eyes were blue, what do you mean by that?"

"Hmm, like the whites of their eyes were blue and their irises were a lighter blue and had rings. It was like they were robot eyes or something."

That was all Okisato needed to connect the dots. Without a word, he got up and hurried off, his target, Chihuahua, Fernanda, and/or Tristin, but of the three, he figured Chihuahua would be the most likely to get information from.

"Deep blue eyes... Just like Kaa-san back then..."