Prologue

 I had always won my games. Every time I beat my opponents, I always looked down on them. It was hilarious, to see their faces in despair. Sometimes, I even laughed at them. It was a pleasurable experience. But that all changed on that day. At the semifinals of the national chess cup, I was sitting in front of him. I was shocked by his last move. I was...finished.

"And the winner is Takashi, Akira!!!"

As the commentator announced those words, my mind went blank. I was in disbelief. I pointed my head down while thinking, "How? How?!! How did I lose?! That's Impossible." I was ranting inside of my head. I wanted to flip the table. I wanted to let out my frustration on him. No, I wanted to let it out on everyone in the room. I managed to control it and kept it to myself. I continued ranting in my head.

"Why? Why did I lose?!! Why to HIM?!! Why now?!" As I continued flipping off in my mind, he suddenly stood up and went to go to the bathroom, but before he went he stopped on my side and said,

"Don't be so prideful next time. Learn your lesson. If you can't even do that, you don't deserve to play the game."

He left after saying that statement. I was furious. I clenched my fist. I wanted to punch him. "How dare he look down on me!" I thought. But even so...I was shocked by his words. I...started crying. Tears flowed down my face. I gritted my teeth. As I did so, I can hear some people in the crowd whispering about me. I happened to hear some of them.

"He deserved it." A girl said to the person beside her.

"He should've never looked down on us." A boy said to his friends sitting beside him

"Heh. You deserved to lose. You ****." A senior said to himself

They weren't afraid to say what was on their minds. They were vulgar. Even my classmates were mocking me. I never cared about comments about me. Why would I? I was on the top. They could never beat me. But now, I was being bombarded by criticism. I was alone again. I couldn't take it anymore. I grabbed my pieces, threw them in my case, and quickly ran outside the stadium. I carried the case while tears came down my suffering eyes.

"I...don't care anymore." I let out my stress as I was sprinting out. I didn't care about anyone or anything in front of me. Then, I made my decision.

"I'm...quitting chess. I don't care about it anymore. I'll focus my mind on something else." As I declared my decision, I looked up at the setting sun, then, I threw my case to the ground. The pieces inside burst out as the case broke from the impact. I ran to the opposite side of the case.

"I will never care about chess anymore. I'll never play it again. Nothing will change my mind." I thought to myself.

But little did I know, something, or should I say someone, will come to change my mind...