To Budapest in style

Eventually, the day of departure to Budapest arrived. 

Okisato glared as he sat with the other members of the men's team in the boarding area.

"Iyah, no need to glare so much, Oki-chwan," Ginji sneered.

Okisato remained silent, not wanting to give into Ginji's provocations, but that didn't stop Ginji from keeping up the attack.

"Seriously, do you have no shame? You're representing our entire country, show some more class," Daria glared as she and the other members of the women's team arrived.

Everyone stared in awe at their outfits. While Daria's looked nearly identical to her main maestro outfit, it had been given some slight modifications, but that wasn't all. She had now ditched her wig and instead dyed her hair red and orange, giving the overall look a whole new vibe.

As for the others, Mimoko now sported a bra top and dress adorned with pink flames and scattering sakura petals, along with her favorite pair of Mizuse Niimi brand white sneakers. Iori was sporting a bra top and miniskirt adorned with crimson flames and scattering sakura petals along with some mismatched red and black socks and her trademark glittery white sneakers. Tenju had been given an outfit similar to her default attire, that featured a mix of white and black, along with scattering sakura petals and mismatched black and white sneakers. Utami stood out the most though, as she rocked punk attire with flaming sakura petals, complete with a white beanie with a red circle on it, invoking imagery of Japan's flag.

"Wow, not bad. Who designed them?" Okisato asked.

"Yours truly," Mizuse smiled as she strolled up.

She then quickly gave him the rundown, revealing that there were even some outfits for the guys, though they weren't quite as flashy. This was understandable as Mizuse's company specialized in women's fashion and beauty. However, she wanted to design something for the men's team, that could at least be used for the opening ceremony.

"Oi, oi, why's my outfit orange? That makes it look like an oversized prison suit!" Ginji snarled as he gazed at a mock-up of his outfit on Mizuse's phone.

"Ah, that was a stylistic choice," Mizuse snickered.

"With outfits like that, I imagine it will relate to our performance in the opening ceremony, yes?" Okisato asked.

Before the Chess Olympics began, there first came the opening ceremony. There, all the participating nations had the chance to showcase a performance of sorts, meant to represent the culture of their nation. Okisato hadn't been briefed on anything, but after seeing the designs for the men's outfits, he knew exactly what the teams would be doing for their performance.

"So is everyone ready to board?" Daria smiled.

Everyone nodded.

"Then onward to Budapest!"

...

Yuusuke sighed as he sat in class. Since he didn't make the men's team, he wasn't excused from school. While tournaments would still be held even while the Chess Olympics were going on, Yuusuke was in an even more dejected mood, especially after learning of Hannelore Schroeder. If Hannelore truly was his mother, he wanted to confront her, but since he didn't make the national team, he was stuck in school.

"Shousen-kun, I'd advise you get out of your daze and focus if you don't want this piece of chalk hurled at you," Maida glared.

"Huh! Uh, e4?"

"Wrong, we're discussing alkaline metals."

"Oh, Alakhine..."

"Not the chess player, metals."

The mention of a great chess player like Alexander Alakhine only further depressed Yuusuke. Since he shared his birthday with Howard Steinitz, the 1st official world chess champion and father of modern chess, many had high hopes he would be just as skilled as him, especially since he was also the son of one of the top female chess players in the world, Hagemi Shousen.

However, he never showed any extraordinary talent. While he was decent at the sport, he was a far cry from the prodigy many hoped he'd be. Despite that, his mother never really berated him too much for it. When asked why, she'd usually respond with something like, "I ain't looking to build a dynasty, so who cares if you're shit. I'm good, and that's all that matters."

While Yuusuke was thankful his mother was supposedly supportive of hi in that regard, he still felt frustration at his lack of extraordinary talent, which only intensified after he met Okisato.

Okisato was his antithesis, and constantly got under his skin. While he had achieved the victory of becoming vice-president of the chess club, Okisato's constant humiliation of him only made him feel worse and that deep down, he was underserving of the position. Even though he never showed it publicly, privately, he was reduced to tears at how massive the skill difference was between him and Okisato. Okisato was not only a grandmaster, but one of Japan's top players. Not just that, but he was the same age as Yuusuke and was competing for the national team at the chess Olympics.

Mimoko's growth also hurt Yuusuke as he had known her for years thanks to Hagemi and Daria being close. But what truly sunk him to despair was Iori. When she joined the chess club, she was only rated 500, but now she had a rating over 2400 and the International master title. Yuusuke didn't even have a single title and had never surpassed 2000. He had managed to get a rating of 1909, but it was a far cry from everyone else's growth. Even Utami had managed to beat him in reaching a rating of over 2000.

"Damn it, everyone's making waves, and I'm stuck here becoming a chalk board. This vice-president title's nothing but a mockery at this point. I'm shit."

...

As school got out, Yuusuke dejectedly headed out without even bothering to head to club.

"And just where do you think you're going?" Maida glared as she clamped her hand down on Yuusuke's shoulder.

"Home, I'm depressed."

"Not a good enough excuse," Maida snarled as she began dragging Yuusuke back towards the school gates.

"Um, sure it is. Mental health is a big thing... right?"

"Even struggling to articulate your excuses. All the more reason you remain at school."

"But it's out and I really am depressed."

"All the more reason we, your teachers, help you."

Yuusuke went silent and stopped resisting, allowing Maida to drag him back. But as soon as they crossed through the school gates...

"Mayana? Wow, you really became a sexy hot brooding teacher."

Standing in the courtyard was none other than Professor Skaberghast, jostling a DESPER in hand.