Banter and mission

Everyone scowled as they sat at the Kawaguchi chess center.

"This makes no sense. How could there be someone out there resembling Mimoko, but with a 3700 rating? That screams manipulation," Daria scowled.

"I thought you couldn't manipulate ratings," Mimoko frowned.

"There is farming, such as with that tiki fellow, but this seems different. That guy was fully searchable, but this mysterious Mimoko, not a trace."

"Could it be Deep Blue?" Okisato theorized.

"No, they can inflate their ratings, but even they can show up on searches. This woman is completely unsearchable."

"Like those executive boardies?" Iori asked.

"And maestros, but after the Chess Olympics, executive board members became searchable, just like maestros, but only for those that were in attendance."

"How many of those guys are there?" Yuusuke asked.

"Just 16. The president is technically the overseer, but refuses to intervene in tied votes," Hagemi stated.

"How do you know so much about it?"

"Once I was scouted by a member asking if I wanted to be on the board, but after hearing the requirements, I refused. I'm not gonna taint my career by implanting a chip into my head just to get a rating boost."

"16... Assuming Pewler and Melisha haven't been replaced yet, that leaves 14 spots. Of them, we know Orit Sharir, Gudit Haille, Fidelma Feritter, Sir Kit Ziegler, and then there's also Mari Suuo, but she's believed to have fabricated her position, with her accomplice, Bashame, believed to have been the original executive board member. That still leaves 9 unaccounted for."

"8, actually. The one that tried to recruit me was the president's secretary, Melania."

"She was a board member? She's been missing ever since Red Reaper killed Scharlachrot of the Fairy league, though that might be more so due to her seemingly giving a DESPER key to the kaiser, who then passed it on to Skaberghast to mass produce."

"But hold on, when we looked at that student's match data, it didn't seem to indicate Mimoko Tanabe was an executive board member," Okisato interjected.

"Want me to show everyone again?" Student A asked.

Upon receiving the confirmation, the student pulled up his match data once more. This time, Daria pulled out her own WWCF card and managed to get a lock on Mimoko Tanabe's data. However, things only got more unsettling from there.

"What in the... Mimoko, what day did you register with the WWCF?" Daria asked.

"July 30th of this year. Why are you asking?"

Daria shook her head and showed everyone Mimoko Tanabe's data. In addition to registering on the same day as Mimoko, she shared her birthday, and most frighteningly, every game she had played before October 3rd, 2024. What was even more startling was the fact that there were games from future dates listed, but when Daria attempted to pull them up, she was met with an error message.

"Guess we need to tell the president about this. Well, figure I can give Kuon another tongue lashing while I'm there," Hagemi grumbled.

"If he is aware of it, I doubt he'd tell us a thing."

"Sadly true. Well, guess I'd better get going. I got a hair appointment."

"Huh? When do you care about your hair?" Yuusuke grumbled.

"You'll be coming with me to get a complete head shave if you keep that up! I may be a tomboy, but I'm still a girl. I want to try doing something new with my hair, like try straightening it out, making it more milf-like."

"'Milf-like'? You want my friends to get the hots for you?"

"What friends? Rodeo's got his eyes on a girl, and he's your only friend."

"OO! Shouben-kun got smoked!" Iori snickered.

"When I beat you in All-Japan, I'll make you piss yourself on stream."

"Well someone's getting snappy. And if I beat you, head shaved, diapers for days, maybe just go full goo goo gaa gaa baby."

"That's IF you two even play each other and one of you wins. With the rating difference, Iori-chan will likely be facing higher-level opponents."

"She's the type hat would lose on purpose just to play me," Yuusuke scoffed.

"Maybe back when my rating was low, but not anymore. I'm in it to win it, so unless you get lucky early, your only chance of playing me is to get good," Iori snickered.

"All-Japan is still a ways off, but thus far, Tanabe-kun, Shousen-chan, Safumi-chan, Rize-chan, Yumi-chan, and myself are the only grandmasters registered for the event. Noa-chan is competing, but she's only 2402 and a WWCF master, putting her in a similar boat as you in terms of norms. The tournament is 7 rounds, so you'll not only need to play at least 3 grandmasters, but also have a tournament rating of 2600," Mimoko stated.

"Then all I gotta do is sweep 7-0. Easy."

"What's making you think you'll be sweeping? I'm not going to let you trample all over me," Hagemi glared.

"If I get that baby, it'll be easy."

Everyone stared skeptically at her. Ever since she first began playing chess just a little over a month ago, Yumi Ryono had broken the record for becoming the youngest grandmaster ever just before her 1st birthday. If Mimoko was the second coming of Caïssa, Yumi was said to be Caïssa herself reborn.

"Though I routed her just fine at the team qualifiers, she's got enormous potential and has already beaten swaths of grandmasters, hence her rise. Of course, she's only a toddler and only plays at tournaments at Ryokoma. That being said, once she gets older, I imagine she'll eventually be able to beat me. Chess is the one sport where the young can truly outshine the old," Daria noted.

"But some old dogs hang in there. Just look at Levi, Hikaru, even Magnus is getting up there in chess years," Hagemi smirked.

"Me and you included, and I guess the other maestros too."

Just then, Miga arrived with a scowl on her face.

"Miga, did they look into it?" Daria asked.

"The president's aware, and indifferent about it," Miga sighed.

"Figured."

"And I've also been ordered to play in the tournament. Ina too."

"That's a good thing."

"I wanted to ref it though. Ugh, I don't want my rating to drop."

"Just get good, scrub," Iori snickered.

"I'm already good," Miga scowled as she flashed her WWCF card, revealing her rating of 2703 and grandmaster title.

A malicious grin formed on Iori's face. "Nom, nom, norms, wish I had one more so I could get the GM title at All-Japans."

"You'll be eating those words, I hope. Though there are tournaments before All-Japan, but whether you'll be able to get norms there is not set in stone."

"Peter ain't gonna show?"

"Trust me, there are some that would love to have him compete in All-Japan, but majority ruled we wanted only those from the Japanese chess federation, and those with mixed Japanese heritage from different federations as special guests. Besides, I hear he's in Norway trying to hunt down all Amelia's SPCMs in order to challenge her."

"And how about me? Do I get the go-ahead?" Daria asked.

"No, the board voted to bar maestros from the event, but you'll be drafted as a commentator."

"Oh, well that's exciting."

"We'll have a co-host for you, along with rotating guest commentators."

"Guess I'll be practicing too, just like you," Daria winked at Mimoko.

"Hmm?"

"Oh, she's doing a play soon."

"I told you before, they're probably not going to give me the role," Mimoko groaned.

However, just as she said that, Mimoko received a message from the theater company, informing her she had gotten a role.

Managing to catch a glance at the message, Miga shook her head. "What a troublesome mission. Why am I being sent to the front lines to observe the mysterious Mimoko Tanabe instead of the maestro?" she thought.