The controversy's conclusion [Season 9 End]

Mimoko slowly opened up her eyes to be greeted with a crying Daria. "Okaa-chan-"

"MIMOKO! It's been days! I'm so glad you woke up again!" Daria cried as she hugged Mimoko.

"Seriously, my hair's grown back to buzz-length even without that growth stuff. You really had us worried, Mimo-chan," Iori huffed as she tried her best to hide her tears.

"What happened?"

"You don't remember? We couldn't get a good look at what was going on. All we saw was that you vanished before suddenly reappearing 15 minutes later. The president says you drew your game, but when I try to access the logs, I get a glitched out screen," Daria frowned.

"It was a draw... Hold on, you said DAYS!? What happened!?" Mimoko cried as she bolted up.

"To put it bluntly, you were resting due to the effect of the blue space," Raymond stated as he suddenly appeared.

"Huh? Why are you here?"

"This is the WWCF's medical facility. We've been monitoring your status since you reappeared."

"You said blue space... like with Deep Blue?"

"Yes, according to Ilmi, blue space has the effect of fatiguing those that aren't immune to the blue static that comprises it," Daria stated.

"But didn't we all get warped to it during the 9th round of the Chess Olympics?"

"Yes, but your teams won those games, and as such, you suffered no side effects as a result," Raymond clarified.

"But I wasn't playing at the time."

"You were part of the winning team, which was all that mattered. However, since you drew your match, you were subjected to the standard side effects of blue space. Rest assured, they are not lethal nor cause permanent damage, though as you've just experienced, it can render you asleep for days."

"What day is it?"

"October 20th, 2024."

"5 days... I must have worried you all. Ah! What happened with the tournament!?"

"You won, although the awards ceremony..."

"Ya know that American movie where two guys try and trick people into thinking a dead guy's alive by puppeteering his body? Well, we basically plopped you in a wheelchair and threw some shades on ya," Iori grinned as she showed Mimoko the photos.

"Lovely, more scandals for me," Mimoko groaned.

"Now that you're awake, we need to ask you clearly; what happened with Rize?" Daria asked.

Mimoko recounted all that happened in the blue space before she lost consciousness.

"She said I'd play you in a game "tomorrow"?" Daria asked.

"Yes, but she also claimed that was in her timeline at that things have been altered from it. I don't know anymore now that I've seen her in the flesh."

"So it's really a future Mimo-chan? Dang, what's gonna make you shave and ink your head?" Iori whistled.

"I don't want to know, but I think it is a possibility given my affinity for Mizuse-chan and my... bald fetish," Mimoko trembled as her cheeks went red.

"Ah, my little girl's admitting to her bald fetish. Alright, well shave our heads together to celebrate your reawakening!" Daria smiled.

"No, don't. Just because I have the fetish, doesn't mean I'm happy about it. Besides, I still have a school life, so I'd prefer not to have a repeat of the punk maiden incident."

"We could always get it done elsewhere so that the regrowth stuff works."

"Okaa-chan, I'm not in the mood to shave my head now."

"Fine, fine... How about for Halloween?"

"Second! We could get a sick erotic costume for ya!" Iori grinned.

"Have you two forgotten I'm already engrossed in scandal-"

"Ah, the incident in the last round ended up clearing you of suspicion, at least in the opinion of the majority. That being said, the experience was still miserable. I'm in desperate need of a SPA day to restore my youth," Daria pouted.

"Then how about we have one together."

Daria smiled and hugged Mimoko. "Then get changed and we'll head to Tokyo together."

...

Hagemi let out a relieved sigh as she received word on Mimoko's status. "Oi, Yuusuke... Mimoko's been discharged."

"She's awake!? That's good."

"Her rating's also notched up some more to 2870. Okistato's also climbed some to pass mine at 2810, while mine's down to 2806. Didn't even lose a game, but those dang draws dragged it down. Heard Iori also increased her rating to 2504 and got another norm, meaning it's just one more and she's a GM. That Noa girl's also on the verge of it, while that prodigy baby's older sister managed to snag the title despite her round 1 loss. Your friend, Utami's also making progress in the ratings, up to 2233 now. And you, you're down to 1899."

Yuusuke's expression darkened.

"Chess is a mental game. Even though all the scandals were a toll on the mind, if you want to be the best, you can't let them control you. You finished this mess with a 3.5/7 score, dead even. You're still lagging behind."

"Will you shut up?"

"Say that again, and I'll kick your teeth in. You not breaking 2000 has one benefit, which Okisato highlighted to me."

"Him again?"

"You hear of the global league? It's a 6v6 team event. Rules require one player to be in the top 100 best in the world, one to be a grandmaster rated 2600 or higher, one to be under the age of 20, then there's the two spots that can count for anyone so long as they leave the team with a final composition of at least 4 guys, 2 girls, or vise versa, at the minimum, and finally, the under 2000 spot. Yuusuke, you have one more chance."

Yuusuke was unsure how to process all this, slowly retreating to his room without another word.

"Not like participating in this would likely raise you past 2000, but at the very least, it could get you close. It's also a ways away, so you could try to grind up some rating points to try and make cracking 2000 a possibility," Hagemi hollered.

For now, no immediate decisions would be made, but the prospect would resonate with Yuusuke. "So that's what he meant back then... Damn him, I really hate him."

[Season 9 End]