Too tired to think

Going back in time to the start of round 6, Yuusuke dejectedly stared at his smiling opponent, Suzuna. Proudly maintaining the bald look she got back in Budapest, she smugly propped her feet on the table as she waited for Yuusuke's move.

"I don't wanna see your sneakers in my face, ya bald bimbo. That ass, he stood her up," Yuusuke thought as he stared at the board.

Suzuna had taken the liberty of moving her knight to f3, however, Yuusuke's mind was in no shape to properly fight her, hence his hesitation. "I'd love to just draw and go home. I feel lousy," he thought as he moved his knight to c6.

Suzuna then moved her knight to c3, prompting Yuusuke to move his knight to f6, but then something unexpected happened; Suzuna moved her knight back to g1.

"What? Why'd she do that? I can... No, I don't wanna think... Maybe this is my way out," he thought as he moved his knight back to b8.

Sure enough, Suzuna moved her knight back to b1, prompting Yuusuke to mirror her and move his knight to g8. Now with a blank slate again, the two once again played knight f3, knight c6, knight c3, and knight f6 before repeating the knight g1, knight b8, and knight b1 sequence. However, Yuusuke hesitated as he reached for his knight. "Do I really wanna draw? I should try to fight," he thought as he decided to bring his knight back out to c6.

"Really? I'm offering ya a draw via the Dandy Dan Opening. Jokes on you cuz if you wanted to continue the game... shoulda moved a pawn," Suzuna smirked as she moved her knight to c3, triggering a threefold repetition rule, drawing the game.

"Well, guess she is higher rated so I get some points. Points... I'm not gonna break 2000. Ugh."

...

Daria shook her head as she finished hearing the details of Okisato's misadventures. "There's no doubt about it. You were taken to the secret board room of the WWCF's executive board."

"Meaning my assailant must be a member of it," Okisato scowled.

"Precisely. There was a total of 16 spots, but of those spots, Pewler and Melisha have perished and not been replaced yet, Melania and Bashame are awol, leaving us with 10 possible suspects assuming my logic is true. 10 members were present when the details were spilled on Mimoko Tanabe, and of those 10, I know 4 by name; Gudit Haile, Orit Sharir, Fidelma Ferriter, and Sir Kit Ziegler. Ziegler was put under lie detector and proven to have no involvement with the mysterious happenings, so I doubt he's suddenly had a change of heart. That leaves the named three as well as the 6 whose faces and names I don't know."

"I did just beat Noa last round, but Orit didn't strike me as the kind of woman that would enact petty vengeance over a mere match victory. Nonetheless, the assailant's efficient method and nimble movements do make her a prime suspect on those facts alone. That being said, there are 6 faces we don't know."

"And I get the feeling one of them might be our culprit. When we were leaving, there was a member who just stood before me, seemingly wishing for me to take notice of the black mist covering their face. That mist was the same kind that enshrined the playing hall during round 2. It's possible that figure was taunting me, but they also could have been offering up a hint. I don't know."

"You remember anything about the perp's features, like their grip strength, hand size?" Iori asked.

"Why are you bald?" Yuusuke grumbled.

"Lost a bet and got shaved nude my Mimo-chan."

"That... That should have been me," Utami mumbled.

"It happened a bit too fast for me to completely process it, but the hand did feel like it belonged to a man. The figure also was a bit large, further suggesting it was a man. Of course, it all happened so fast, and I was more occupied with the state of my surroundings," Okisato stated.

"Nothing to go off of. The good news is that the nude stunt managed to divert some of the attention from the scandal, but with today's incident, things will likely heat back up," Daria frowned.

"Perhaps, but this could also be used to turn the tide. Me being forcefully warped to a room within the WWCF that only executive board members and the president himself can access would take suspicion away from you and Inoue-senpai as you both don't have contacts on the executive board."

"That we know of. The last thing we need is for one of Mimoko's friends or even the head of the Japanese chess federation himself to be a board member."

"Do not lump me in with the child I disowned," a voice snarled.

Turning, everyone came face-to-face with Shodeshiro Azami, the head of the Japanese chess federation.

"I'm a federation head, which already puts me in a separate class than everyone else, even though it may not be reflected in my card's color. But as federation head, I'm privy to the positions within the WWCF that members of my federation hold. Aside from ambassadors, standard employees and representatives, there's no other high-ranking position lower than yours, maestro, that you'd be unaware of. Meaning that there are no Japanese players, or at least ones registered with the Japanese chess federation, on the executive board."

"Hmm, I wonder... Pewler was from America, Melisha, aka, Kaylee, was from Belgium, Fidelma's from Ireland, while Orit and Gudit are both from the Judean Empire of Simien, albeit from the Israeli and Ethiopian kingdoms within it, respectively. That just leaves Sir Kit from South Africa along with Melania from Croatia, and Bashame..."

"Ah yes. That girl's an anomaly. Technically speaking, she was initially given appointment to the board, but then she messed around and tried to transfer her chip to Mari Suuo. As such, the two are deemed wanted and the spot they claim to hold, vacant like those of Pewler, Melisha, and Melania who's been proclaimed missing."

"That's beneficial to us, actually. It sounds like it's only one executive board member per country, with the only exceptions being for nations that house multiple countries within them like the UK and Simien. If that rule remains true, the chances of someone we know secretly being a member of the board are low, or at the very least, the chances of someone we know that we're on good terms with being on the board is low."

"At least that can hopefully get the press off our back. I'm not going to let this tournament and all the budding talent we've got here be tainted by match fixing accusations."

"If you don't mind me asking one thing, do you happen to know the identities of any other executive board members?"

"If I did, I'm under NDA. Anyway, let's prepare ourselves for the presser."

...

The next day, everyone made their way to the playing hall without incident.

"So I'm up against Rize-chan today... I guess this will be it then," Mimoko sighed as she sat down.

Daria frowned as she watched her from afar. "There was no game in the log today. There's games after, but none today. Could this be the moment this conspiracy finally unravels?" she anxiously thought.

"Ah, I'm never doing this again. In fact, I'm just gonna skip this round out and return to arbiting," Miga groaned.

"Your mood seems worse than mine."

"Ina's gonna break 2100. That means I gotta ask you if I can fill the Okinawa SPCM spot."

Daria somberly shook her head. "Miga, I know you're more than skilled enough for the position, but I'm sorry, having you be the one to fill it... Sorry, I believe it should be someone else."

"Well that's one good point. Now to compensate for the pain in my heart I'm suffering from due to your rejection, please convince Ina not to force me into a life of baldness."

A playful grin lit up on Daria's face. "Ara, you'd look good shaved bald n' browless. Would really bring out your cute face."

"Why the mood swing now? I thought you'd be serious."

"If you're forfeiting this round, I take it you've been informed on what's been happening?"

"Just got it all crammed in. So is the game for Rize there?"

"No, there's no game present."

"No game... Oh, could it be Rize's gonna bounce too?"

"Huh?"

"Think there's some huge culinary thing going on, let me check... Yeah, she had a bye down for this round... Mimoko's gonna win by default," Miga confirmed as she pulled up the tournament info on her WWCF card.

"So are you saying... No, I refuse to believe this. If she put in the bye ahead of time, there's no way she'd be paired up against Mimoko."

"That's on the staffers then. But I guess this makes her undisputed champion."

However, Rize suddenly appeared and walked right past the two, heading straight for Mimoko.

"Hoh? Seems things won't be going according to script. Finally, I've been in such a sour mood for this whole tournament, but now, I'll finally be able to put some spirit into it," Daria smiled as she began to head back to the commentator's booth.

Miga didn't share her sentiment though. "I know Rize's a bona fide eccentric, but when I played her yesterday, she lamented the fact she'd be unable to play today due to a prior arrangement. One that wouldn't end within the 15 minute time limit for players to arrive at the board after the round begins. Maybe she skipped out, but still..."

As she attempted to scan Rize with her WWCF card, the sound of Raymond slamming his cane down quickly drew her eyes in his direction.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the final round of this tournament is here. Though I doubt there are many present, DESPERs and talking are permitted use this round only. That is all. You may all begin."

"Oh hey, real quick! Ayane wants to know if it's OK if we use power SIMILAR to DESPERs," Ayane waved.

"Yes... Deep Blue power... is also permitted."

Yuusuke raised an eyebrow as Ayane turned back to face him. However, she never did trigger any power, nor was she even his opponent. The one with that honor was none other than Bibi Biwaki.

"So you're the acquaintance of the fowl Utami. I'll present you on a pike to her," Bibi scoffed.

"She'd probably enjoy that," Yuusuke trembled.

As the round began, Rize suddenly extended her hand to the clock.

"What are you doing?" Mimoko asked.

Rize simply smiled as a flash of blue light suddenly engulfed her and Mimoko. Mimoko shielded her eyes, but quickly found the light wasn't blinding, slowly uncovering her eyes to find herself in a dimly lit dimension of dark blue.

"Ah, the days that I was innocent, my final year of high school," Rize chuckled, her voice sounding off.

Then to Mimoko's horror, "Rize" morphed into a bald tattooed version of herself, clad in her favorite outfit. It was Mimoko Tanabe in the flesh.

"N- No... The outfit, the face... the voice..."

"Yes, I am you, 20 years older. I've come from the future in hopes... of setting the world on a better path than what it's currently on."

The full game:

White: Phạm Thị Suzuna (2225) Black: Yuusuke Shousen (1909)

1. Nf3 Nc6

2. Nc3 Nf6

3. Ng1 Nb8

4. Nb1 Ng8

5. Nf3 Nc6

6. Nc3 Nf6

7. Ng1 Nb8

8. Nb1 Nc6

9. Nc3 (Draw due to threefold repetition)