Chapter 8:

Sick day

En Passant Grandmaster Volume 2

The next day, it rained heavily.

Dawning a black raincoat, Mimoko cautiously set out for school. With the stairs to the walking path being soaked, she decided to trek a bit further down to the ramp leading up to the walking path. However, someone just so happened to be lying in wait for her.

"That's as far as you go, nya!"

Mimoko froze and turned to see a girl with a fleshy cat tail clad in a cat-ear red raincoat, boots, and school uniform emerge from behind a nearby house. "Who are you!?"

"Nyoan Nyakuoji, nya," the girl smiled as she suddenly slapped a piece of tape over Mimoko's mouth with her tail.

"MMPH!?"

"That's to keep you from screaming. The rain might be heavy, but better safe than sorry, nya," Nyoan snickered as she put a black face mask on Mimoko to conceal the gag, along with some dark shades that preventing her from seeing.

She then wrapped her tail around her wrist and began dragging her along with her. Mimoko wasn't able to see where she was going, with the heavy rain also throwing off her senses as she was unable to keep track of how far she was walking, or notice any familiar sounds that could hint at where she was going.

...

"Welcome home, nya," Nyoan cheered as she removed the shades from Mimoko's eyes.

Mimoko gazed at her surroundings. She was in a run down place with debris scattered about the floor and a single round dining table. There were no visible windows and only a few doors aside from the entrance.

"The bathroom's over there, and your room's right next to it, nya. Feel free to keep your shoes on since there's a bunch of broken glass on the ground, nya," Nyoan.

Mimoko immediately pulled back her hood and removed the face mask and tape covering her mouth. "This place looks like a hangout spot for a gang."

"Well, it was where Gyro used to hang out with his friends, nya."

"Mr. Gunnerson?"

"Right. There's even a chess set you can play around with and some beer in the fridge, nya."

"You think I'd drink that?"

"..."

"Now I think it's about time you told me why you kidnapped me."

Nyoan smirked and pulled out her DESPER with her tail.

"You're a Desperado!?"

"That's right, nya. Orders were to kidnap you and keep you here for a week, nya."

"Why is that?"

"Um... Not allowed to say, nya. Just stay here and don't escape, nya," Nyoan stuttered before leaving and locking the door after her.

"Just great. I've been kidnapped, and by a weirdo like her. Hmm, Nyoan Nyakuoji..."

"OH, and Nyo messing with your WWCF card, nya!" Nyoan cried as she briefly reentered before slamming and locking the door once more."

Mimoko instantly reached for her phone, but found there was no signal. Thus, she decided to search for a window, but upon heading to the bathroom, she immediately began gagging in disgust as she opened the door. The room smelled like death and even had some skeletal human arms hanging out of the bathtub.

"What the hell is wrong with these people!?" Mimoko thought as she nearly vomited while slamming the door shut.

The next room wasn't much better. Dead birds and feathers littered the place along with toy gyroscopes.

"This room's a health hazard, heck this whole place is! Are they trying to kill me by keeping me here!?" Mimoko thought as she slammed the door to the room shut.

The next room was adorned with skeleton arms dangling everywhere.

Slam!

"I'm busting out. No way in hell I'm staying here for a week," Mimoko scowled as she approached the front door.

Blip, blip, blip!

Mimoko froze as she heard a sound. "What was that!? It sounded like it was coming from me? Did that girl put something on me?" she thought as she began unbuttoning the rain coat.

Inside, she noticed a turquoise square blinking. After tapping on it, the square expanded to a tiny screen, and on the screen was Okisato.

"Ta- TANABE-KUN!?"

"Inoue-senpai. You alright?"

"No, actually. How are you even contacting me!?"

"Through the WWCF card's challenge feature. I'm sending a request to challenge you to a chess match. You didn't show up at school, are you unwell?"

"If I stay here any longer I sure as hell might be."

"What do you mean?"

"I got kidnapped."

"Where are you?"

"Some abandoned apartment by the looks of it. It's disgusting! There's skeleton arms everywhere and one room's filled with dead birds!"

"Based on your description, you're likely in Gyro's old haunt. The skeleton arms are probably from his buddy, Dr. Zanni. Though I'm pretty sure Shouben-san took care of him, so who brought you there?"

"Some girl called Nyoan Nyakuoji."

"Huh? Inoue-senpai, why would you let someone like her kidnap you?"

"She just got the jump on me and dragged me here."

"And you didn't try to challenge her to a chess match before she dragged you away?"

"... No..."

"Then try summoning her. If she kidnapped you, she should be nearby. Then, challenge her to a DESPER match and have your prize for winning be your persons and stuff on you being cleansed of any health hazards you were exposed to."

"I don't know how to call her though. She left through the door and locked it-"

"Then just unlock it."

"That would be- ...I feel so stupid," Mimoko groaned as she unlocked the door from the inside and peeked outside.

She found herself staring into a narrow alleyway. The rain was still coming down, but Mimoko didn't care and made a break for it.

"Nya, nya, nya. It's too early to escape," Nyoan's voice rang out.

Mimoko turned as Nyoan splashed down behind her.

"You left the door open. Now, how about we have a match. I'm willing to play against you, so activate your DESPER."

"You're offering yourself up!? In that case, Queen, pawn, and move odds, nya."

"Fine by me. And when I win, any of the diseases and other health hazards I was exposed to in that apartment will be cleansed from my body and belongings... and yours as well."

"Well aren't you nice, but I'm immune to that stuff, nya. In fact I snack on some of those birds from time to time, nya," Nyoan giggled.

"Disgusting."

"And if you lose, you die on the spot, nya."

"Well your attitude sure took a drastic turn. Very well, I accept the terms."

"Then let the match begin, nya!" Nyoan cackled as she activated her DESPER.

Mimoko watched as a clear dome appeared shielding her and Nyoan from the rain as a giant chess board emerged from the puddles below.

"So your rating is 999, I guess that is fitting for your cat affinity," Mimoko scowled as the match data appeared on her WWCF card.

"Nyess, which is why the DESPER lets me implement odds, nya," Nyoan smirked as Mimoko's queen and f-pawn vanished.

Even with her skill, this was a notable disadvantage. Nyoan meanwhile was annoyed for a different reason. Due to the odds rule, the DESPER had notified her that killing Mimoko was not possible due to the overwhelming odds against her, thus her punishment for losing had been reduced to merely getting sick with a cold.

"Nya, I wouldn't have even bothered if I knew this would be it. Why did Kuon-sama insist on having me do all this, nya?" Nyoan muttered under her breath as she moved her pawn to e4.

Rather than making a move instantly, Mimoko carefully ran simulations in her head. Without her queen and f-pawn, the wrong move could lead to imminent mate so long as Nyoan didn't blunder. Naturally, Mimoko did not want to rely on her opponent blundering but instead find the best possible move.

Nyoan began to hope that Mimoko would run out of time, but her hopes were dashed when Mimoko moved her knight to c6, at least for the moment.

"Nyahaha! Check, nya!" Nyoan laughed as she moved her queen to h5.

Already anticipating the move, Mimoko rolled her eyes and slid her pawn to g6, forcing Nyoan to move her queen away to f3.

"That wasn't the best place for her to move her queen, still I shouldn't rely on her making blunders, now the best course of action would be, knight f6," Mimoko thought as she moved her knight to f6.

Nyoan immediately moved her bishop out to c4, forcing Mimoko to contemplate for a bit before moving her bishop to g7.

After Nyoan moved her knight to h3, Mioko sensed an opportunity and moved her pawn to d5.

"Nyahaha! Free pawn, nya!" Nyoan gloated as she captured the pawn at d5 with her e-pawn. However, her laughter ceased immediately as soon as Mimoko moved her knight to e5. "NYO! I'm not losing my queen, nya!" she cried as she moved her queen to f4.

Instead of capturing the bishop like Nyoan feared, Mimoko instead continued to threaten the queen by moving her knight to h5.

"NYO! Wait, I can get out of this! You lose, dumbass, nya!" Nyoan laughed as she moved her bishop to b5.

Mimoko quickly rained on her parade though by moving her pawn to c6, putting Nyoan right back to where she was before. Nyoan quickly began racking her brain, and arrived at the idea that capturing the pawn at c6 with her d-pawn was her best course of action.

As soon as Mimoko captured the pawn at c6 with her b-pawn, Nyoan had a lapse in judgment and captured said pawn with her bishop, leading to Mimoko promptly capturing said bishop with her knight.

"NYOOOOO... Fooled ya, nya!" Nyoan smirked as she moved her queen to c7.

Even though she had blundered, Nyoan still had an overwhelming advantage, leading Mimoko to think carefully before moving her bishop to d7.

Nyoan then decided to castle on the king's side, prompting Mimoko to move her rook to c8, and send Nyoan's queen to b7. This prompted Mimoko to capture the knight at h3 with her bishop, but Nyoan simply laughed the move off and captured said bishop with her g-pawn.

"Laugh all you want, I'm turning things around," Mimoko glared as she castled on the king's side.

Nyoan didn't seem concerned in the slightest as she moved her rook to e6. Mimoko countered by bringing her knight out to d4, but the move appeared to backfire as Nyoan simply captured the pawn at e7 with her rook.

"Nyahaha! It's mate in two, nya!" Nyoan gloated.

"Really now," Mimoko glared as she captured the pawn at c2 with her knight.

"Nyess I- NYO! Ugh, mate's still happening, nya," Nyoan mumbled as she moved her knight out to c3.

Mimoko wasted no time in capturing the rook at a1 with her knight, though Nyoan didn't seem to care as she advanced her knight to d5.

"Finally, the tide has turned, check," Mimoko glared as she captured the bishop at c1 with her rook.

"NYO! I'm gonna win, nya!" Nyoan cried as she moved her king to g2. As soon as Mimoko moved her knight to c2, though, Nyoan burst into maniacal laughter. "NYAHAHA! YOU LOSE, NYA! NOW IT'S MATE IN 3, NYA!" she cackled as she moved her knight to f4, and became completely dumbstruck when Mimoko not only captured it with her knight, but also put her in check.

"Huh... NYO! I'M NOT GONNA LOSE, NYA!" Nyoan cried as she moved her king to g3.

"No, you're losing. It's mate in 4, check," Mimoko stated as she moved her rook to g1.

Tears began pouring out of Nyoan's eyes as she frantically moved her king to f3.

"Seems you hastened your demise, mate in 2," Mimoko glared as she moved her knight to d4.

"NYO! KUON-SAMA WILL BE MAD IF I BOTCH THIS, NYA!" Nyoan cried as she moved her king to e4.

"Kuon-sama? Is she the one that ordered you to kidnap me?"

Sweat ran down Nyoan's face as she shifted her eyes to the side. "Nyo..."

"Well, you'll tell me all anyway. Checkmate," Mimoko glared as she moved her rook to e1.

Nyoan immediately threw a tantrum as the DESPER deactivated, but quickly stopped as she found herself being stared down by Mimoko.

"Now why was I kidnapped?"

Nyoan dejectedly folded her tail between her legs. "Kuon-sama didn't want you to compete in the upcoming tournament, nya."

"The Blitz and Rapid at Triple cedar? Why?"

"Kuon-sama just said, 'I don't want to see her at the tournament', so I figured I'd kidnap you, nya."

"Hold on, did she actually order you to kidnap me or did you just assume that's what she meant!?"

"Assumed, nya."

Mimoko let out a groan and facepalmed. "It was probably just frustration. Nyoan-chan, do try to use your brain better in the future."

"Nyes, ma'am, nya."

"And no more kidnapping."

"Nyes, nya," Nyoan sighed before scampering off through the rain.

Now outside, Mimoko decided to try again with cell service roulette, and this time managed to get a signal. "Let's see... SAITAMA!? Ugh, I won't be able to make it to school on time... I'll just have okaa-chan call in sick for me."

...

Kuon scowled as Nyoan trembled before her. "I just saw the match data... You failed to beat her."

"Sorry, nya!"

"Well, not like Hagemi's competing anyway, but it would have been nice not to have her as a threat for the rapid. But bad kitties must be punished, so... no hood and knit hat," Kuon swooned as she yanked off Nyoan's hood and wool-knit hat, exposing her bald head and ears.

"NYO! MY EARS, NYA! I'LL HAVE TO GO INTO HIDING IF ANYONE SEES ME LIKE THIS, NYA!"

"Then into my warm bosom."

"Nyes, nya..."

As Kuon stroked Nyoan's smooth scalp and ears, she began to chuckle. "How unfortunate, Mimoko. My plan would have been so much more merciful to you than what that sex offender Kamoshida will now get the green light to implement," she thought.

The full game:

White: Nyoan Nyakuoji (999) Black: Mimoko Inoue (2700)

1. e4 Nc6

2. Qh5+ g6

3. Qf3 Nf6

4. Bc4 Bg7

5. Nh3 d5

6. exd5 Ne5

7. Qf4 Nh5

8. Bb5+ c6

9. dxc6 bxc6

10. Bxc6+ Nxc6