Chapter 21:

Mizuse Kinjou

En Passant Grandmaster Volume 2

Daria and Michiko sat in dougeza as Himitsudono sternly glared them down. "Michiko, care to explain who this woman is?"

"What's the big deal?" Michiko scowled.

"She's not a WWCF member. You know the rules, no non-WWCF members allowed in the secret puzzle cafe."

"There's an exception for non-WWCF members with official ratings."

"Which she does not have. As for the rest of you, were you aware of this?" Himitsudono asked as he turned to the other SPCMs.

"I didn't know nothing," Safumi stammered as she clearly showed signs of lying.

"No use lying. I bear some of the responsibility myself, you see," Mizuse sighed as she stepped in. "It's true her and Michiko are childhood friends, but it's thanks to my encounter with her that I'm not rotting on the streets in misery."

Mimoko was taken aback. "Okaa-chan, you know Mizuse-sama!?"

"Michiko too. Ah, intros, intros. Me n' Michiko go way back, like, we grew up same neighborhood, but I was much older than her. She really was cute back then. It was like having a little sister."

"And she was an annoying older sister I never asked for. You always cause trouble for me!"

"Calm down. Himitsudono, allow me to take the brunt of it for this violation," Mizuse bowed.

"What's all this about punishments? Can't ya just let us off with a warning? Mizuse here was just so ecstatic to see me after so long that she rushed me in here to chat. I didn't know it was some secret club," Daria frowned.

"Yes, my emotions always get the better of me when it comes to her. I was just so excited to see her, I was dragging her in here before I knew it."

"What do you mean?" Mimoko asked.

Mizuse smiled and sat down on the couch, crossing her legs. "It began back when I first inherited my father's company..."

...

Okinawa City, September 9th, 2018...

A young Mizuse scowled as she flicked her long magenta hair and slammed her sneakers down on the fancy desk before her.

"MADAM KINJOU! Y- You can't just prop your feet up on the desk!" a nervous servant stuttered.

"And why not? I'm the CEO of Kinjou enterprises now, so what I say goes," Mizuse snarled.

"B- But the company's image-"

"Kugisaki, are you saying I'm ugly?"

"N- NO! I'm not referring to your looks, I'm referring to the public image of the company-"

"Which is now me."

"Ah, why did the master only bear a single daughter!? The Kinjou legacy is doomed!"

At 19 years old, Mizuse Kinjou inherited her father's company after his passing. However, many in the Kinjou family opposed her succeeding her father for various reasons. Even her father himself didn't want her to succeed him, but he passed before he could amend the will that stated his child would inherit his company and assets, instead of his desired son-in-law.

Mizuse herself didn't have the warmest relationship with her father, due to him trying to marry her off, and refusing to allow her to have an executive position in the company due to her being a woman. But now, she held the reigns of power and was hellbent on running the company to the ground.

She didn't care about keeping the company afloat, didn't care about making more money, didn't care about the employees, she just wanted to run her father's legacy into the ground to stick it to him for all the hell he put her through.

"Young madam, please consider relinquishing-"

"Out of the question."

"Then at least reconsider halting all production. We are one of the largest manufacturing companies in the world, and many-"

"I could care less."

"DID YOU NOT WANT TO BE CEO SO YOU COULD HAVE THE COMPANY MAKE A PRODUCT LINE OF YOUR CHOOSING!?"

"Maybe, but that bastard rejected it and treated me as nothing but a pawn to auction off as a wife. I consider this company an extension of him, so I'll run it to the ground."

Kugisaki and the others all trembled in despair. There was no swaying Mizuse, meaning the company was finished, and thanks to Mizuse inheriting all of her father's assets as well, she could live the rest of days without working a minute or worrying about running out of funds, even if the company went under. But everyone else would suffer because of her wrath.

...

As the lunch hour arrived, Mizuse decided to go out. As she arrived at a food court, she noticed a crowd of people gathered around a flamboyant woman seated out a chess board. The woman was garbed in a black kimono and had her face painted white, but what truly stood out about her was her red and orange hair styled in a shimada.

"And what's this about?" Mizuse grumbled as she parted through the crowd.

"Ah, care to challenge me to a game of chess?" the woman smiled.

Having never played the game, Mizuse decided to try her luck and opened by moving her pawn to d4.

The woman responded by moving her knight to f6, while Mizuse decided to push the pawn to d5.

"Hmm, a pawn push," the woman muttered as she moved her pawn to e6.

Mizuse immediately captured said pawn with her d-pawn, causing the woman to sigh as she captured said pawn with her f-pawn.

"And why are you sighing?" Mizuse snarled as she moved her bishop to g5.

The woman remained silent and simply moved her pawn to h6.

"Excuse me, but I do believe you should answer my question!" Mizuse snarled as she captures the knight at f6 with her bishop.

"Your play-style disappoints me," the woman replied as she captured the bishop at f6 with her queen.

"Well excuse me, but this IS my first time playing!" Mizuse glared as she captured the pawn at d7 with her queen.

"Clearly," the woman groaned as she captured the queen at d7 with her bishop.

Mizuse gritted her teeth and moved her pawn to e4, however her frustration only grew as the woman captured the pawn at b2 with her queen. This caused her to move her knight out to d2, which led to the woman capturing her rook at a1 with her queen. Mizuse frantically moved her knight back to d2, but the woman simply captured it with her queen, prompting Mizuse to move her king to d2.

"Check. Why are you just throwing away pieces?" the woman asked as she moved her bishop to b4.

"What? They're unimportant yes? Then they should be disposed of. All that matters is protecting the king, yes?" Mizuse snarled as she moved her king to e3.

"But if you have nothing left, you'll get mated," the woman sighed as she moved her queen to c1.

"Do you not see the right hand corner of the board? I still have bank," Mizuse glared as she moved her king to d4.

"And none of it matters, because they can't stop you from being mated, nor help you mate," the woman proclaimed as she moved her knight to c6.

"Tch, damn that horse," Mizuse snarled as she moved her king to d3.

"'Damn the horse' huh? You'll regret those words," the woman sighed as she moved her queen to d2.

"And why's that?" Mizuse glared as she moved her king to c4.

"Because that "damn horse" just checkmated you," the woman stated as she moved her knight to a5, winning the game.

Mizuse stared at the board dumbfounded as the woman urged her to move aside.

"A- Are you saying I can't be here!? Do you know who I am!? I'm Mizuse Kin- Kin- ..."

"Mizuse who?"

As hard as she tried, Mizuse couldn't bare to declare her surname. With a tearful huff, she stormed away in fury.

...

"It turned out, that woman I played was actually maestro Himitsu herself. I really was arrogant back then, but after that humbling loss, I began to change ever slightly. I began focusing on chess in hopes of one day being able to best the maestro, but she had long since left Okinawa. Thus, I began registering for chess tournaments, desperate for status in hopes that it could grant me an audience with her again, but during that time, the Kinjou family butler, Kugisaki, managed to usurp my power and leave me broke and homeless," Mizuse frowned.

"How did he do that?" Mimoko asked.

"By divulging some of the unsavory and illegal acts my father committed in his time, leading to my own assets being frozen. Using those grounds, Kugisaki managed to kick me out of the company and estate, leaving me with just the clothes on my back and whatever I had in my pockets. At that point I was crushed, and wearily wandered the streets, slowly starving and falling to despair. But one day, a hand reached out to save me..."

...

"You alright?" Daria smiled as she extended her hand to the tattered and trembling Mizuse.

The full game:

White: Mizuse Kinjou Black: Maestro Himitsu (3200)

1. d4 Nf6

2. d5 e6

3. dxe6 fxe6

4. Bg5 h6

5. Bxf6 Qxf6

6. Qxd7+ Bxd7

7. e4 Qxb2

8. Nd2 Qxa1+