Underdogs

Hagemi groggily opened her eyes to find herself tied to a chair in a hotel room. Her mouth had also been covered by a piece of tape to prevent her from screaming.

"Well, you certainly woke up quickly. I haven't even finished packing," Xiao Lin scowled as she stomped her foot down on Hagemi's left thigh.

Hagemi let out a muffled grunt as she shot Xiao Lin a death glare.

"Oh, are you upset you're being treated as the loser despite besting me? Well, I'll have you know your conditions did take effect, however..."

"You were on board with this plan from the start," Hagemi glared as Xiao Lin ripped the tape off her mouth.

"Precisely. Just a little over a week ago, I was tempted with an offer I couldn't refuse. At first, I was doubtful, but after witnessing Ai's skill firsthand, I quickly got on board with the plan."

"And you even allowed yourself to become a proxy for that bitch!?"

"No, I was given far more freedom compared to the-"

"So you did sell your soul. To think you'd fall so far just to get back at Maestro Himitsu."

Xiao Lin scowled before kicking Hagemi in the face, sending her crashing to the ground. "Don't mention that woman. I hate her. She deprived me of the title of "woman with the strongest mind and body" by besting me in chess."

"Oh, guess I deprived ya of that title too since I just beat ya. In fact, I think I might now be the only other woman that's beaten ya considering how bullshit your maestro trial is."

"Don't-"

"Huh? Don't call you out on it? No fucking way! You only decided to tact on the physical trials so that you could boast that you're just as unbeatable as Himitsu. Of course, Himitsu ends up beating all her opponents fairly at the chessboard, while you settle all your matters physically."

"I have beaten some-"

"Like you even give anyone a fair chance to-"

"SHUT UP!"

"My, you two sure are noisy," a voice sneered.

Hagemi immediately recognized the voice, but was unable to properly see where it was coming from.

"Kuon, why are you here?" Xiao Lin glared as Kuon entered the room and stood Hagemi's chair back up.

"I noticed you taking away Hagemi. I'm sure you know, but only I can beat her," Kuon sneered as she stroked Hagemi's face.

"Thanks for the save, girlfriend. Now mind untyin' me so we can- Mmph!?"

Hagemi's eyes widened in shock as Kuon pressed a rag into her face. She quickly lost consciousness before she could process what happened.

"Now, I'll be taking her with me. Xiao Lin, I'd recommend heading back to China. Mimoko Inoue has just finished besting the last SPCM. That means she'll be challenging Ai soon," Kuon growled.

"As I feared. Very well. I shall make my escape. Now that my DESPER is out, I'd feel better retreating to home turf before the president decides to step in," Xiao Lin glared.

...

Doraaki clenched her fist in frustration as Michiko returned. "I take it you lost badly," Michiko sneered.

Ai then turned to face Mimoko. "My, seems you have beaten all the SPCMs, even the old man we let go."

"So then-"

"Of course, first we must continue until one of our teams is eliminated. But it seems that will only be in two short matches."

"Why two?" Mimoko glared.

"Because there's no way any of your remaining teammates will be able to beat Michiko."

Ai had reason to feel confident. Of the chess club's remaining members that had yet to play, the highest rated was Yuusuke, and even then, he was the only remaining player with a rating of over 1000. While Doraaki only had a rating of 700, the fact that a 2144 rated player like Michiko was her teammate more than made up for it. Not to mention, the next highest-rated player from the chess club after Yuusuke was Numakawa. Considering how much of an idiot Numakawa was, Yuusuke did not want to pick him. However, that meant he would have to choose someone rated 500 or under to be his teammate. Of the 4 potential teammates Yuusuke could choose, Rodeo was rated the lowest at 250, Yuzuha was 350, and Zago and Azenira were both rated 500.

While Zago and Azenira were showing potential, Yuusuke didn't know either of them well enough to want to be teammates with them, in fact the only one of the four he knew somewhat well was Rodeo.

"Guess it's you and me," Yuusuke nodded as he approached Rodeo.

"Oh what a joke. Two of the dumbest boys on the team. Well, I guess there is merit in discarding unnecessary components," Ai sneered as the players headed for the table.

"Oi, I'm vice-president of the club!"

"But not the second best. I imagine you got the position on popularity alone," Michiko sneered.

"So what should losin' conditions be?" Doraaki asked as she pulled out her DESPER.

"For us, simply what we agreed to do with Ai, so for me that would be giving her beauty treatment and for you-"

"I know... So I guess for the boys, they die via a sawmill blade."

"Why that?" Yuusuke nervously trembled.

"Cuz my family runs a lumber mill up in Hokkaido. That's the only thing I could think of," Doraaki shrugged as she activated her DESPER.

The teams then sat down at the board. Yuusuke was playing as red, Michiko as blue, Rodeo as yellow, and Doraaki as green.

"Just follow my lead, man," Yuusuke grinned at Rodeo as he moved his pawn to h4.

"The thing about 4-player chess, is that knights are drastically nerfed in terms of power. Not to mention, the opening move theories from normal chess go out the window," Michiko mused as she moved her pawn to c6.

Rodeo moved his pawn to g11 without saying a word while Doraaki silently moved her pawn to k8. Yuusuke then moved his pawn to f3, but as soon as Michiko moved her pawn to c5, he began to grin. Rodeo gazed at him for a few seconds before nodding and capturing the pawn at b8 with his queen.

"Well you're jumpin' the gun," Doraaki sneered as she moved her queen out to m8.

"Nah, we're winnin' this," Yuusuke grinned as he captured the pawn at c5 with his queen.

"More like hanging pieces," Michiko scoffed as she captured the queen at b8 with her queen.

Rodeo then moved his bishop out to g13 while Doraaki moved her queen to i4.

The next turn saw a chain reaction occur at b8. First, Yuusuke captured the queen with his bishop, then, Michiko captured said bishop with her own bishop, and finally, Rodeo captured Michiko's bishop with his bishop.

"You really are focusing everything on Michiko. Check," Doraaki glared as she captured the pawn at h4 with her queen,prompting Yuusuke to move his knight to h2.

This allowed Michiko to capture the bishop at b8 with her knight, prompting Rodeo to move his pawn to d11.

"My, and you boys were so confident, but unfortunately that check threw a wrench in your plans," Michiko sneered as Doraaki moved her queen to c4.

"What do you mean? I'm the hero and the hero always wins!" Yuusuke grinned as he moved his queen to b6.

"Then you'll be the one that gets mated, just like your mother," Michiko sneered as she moved her knight to d7.

"Okaa won't lose," Yuusuke scowled as Rodeo moved his pawn to d10.

"Xiao Lin is a maestro," Michiko chuckled as Doraaki moved her queen to b5.

"But Okaa's really good," Yuusuke growled as he moved his queen to d8.

"Hmm... Perhaps we'll call it a draw then," Ai sighed as Michiko moved her knight to b8.

"What do you mean!?" Yuusuke asked as Rodeo moved his pawn to d9.

"Xiao Lin lost her DESPER match and has fled," Ai pouted as Doraaki moved her bishop to h3.

"That sounds more like a victory for us," Yuusuke grinned as he moved his pawn to e4.

"No, you're both going to lose," Michiko sneered as she castled on the king's side.

Rodeo's eyes widened as he paused for a bit before moving his rook to d10.

Doraaki immediately began to scowl. "Oi Michiko, the hell are you doing!?" she fumed as she captured the bishop on f1 with her queen.

"It's a strategy. Now back me up, boyfriend," Michiko sneered as Yuusuke captured the queen at f1 with his knight.

Doraaki's whole demeanor seemed to shift as immense rage and resentment overtook her face. "Michiko... YOU BITCH! YOU KNOW DAMN WELL I HATE BEIN' CALLED A BOY! I DON'T CARE IF MY FAMILY TRIED TO RAISE ME LIKE ONE, I'M A GIRL, DAMMIT!"

Ever since she was born, Doraaki had been raised as a boy by her father. The reason being that her father wanted a son, but ended up with a daughter instead. At first, Doraaki didn't seem to mind, and happily helped out at her family's lumber company. However, once she started school, she began to get teased. At first, she brushed it off, and didn't care about what others said. However, that all changed when she hit puberty.

Before she knew it, Doraaki suddenly had a mature feminine body, which not only led to her being treated differently by her peers, but also her family. Now, her father was telling her to focus more on making herself more womanly instead of helping out at the company. Her male peers also began more openly flirting with her, while some of her female peers, jealous of how beautiful she became and how all the boys were starting to flirt with her, began to harass her. The most stinging insult that was hurled at her was being called a boy.

Doraaki tried her best to ignore them, but one day, she couldn't take much more and ended up slugging one of the bullies in the face. To make matters worse, the girl she hit was the daughter of an influential man. Rather than seeking to just punish Doraaki though, the man opted to go after not just her, but her entire family and their company, and before anyone knew it, the company Doraaki's family ran had gone out of business. Things didn't end there though as the man continued to harass Doraaki and her family which eventually resulted in them being thrown in prison on beefed up charges.

However, since she ended up being cellmates with Tenju Kuroshiro, Maestro Himitsu ended up learning about her and her circumstances. It was thanks to her that she ended up getting a second chance at life and was introduced to the world of chess.

"Calm down, I'm just teasing," Michiko sneered as she moved her pawn to c9 while Rodeo moved his knight to d12.

Doraaki suddenly calmed down and returned to how she was before. "Yeah, I get it. And hey, you want me to wear the suit, I'll wear it, honey," she grinned as she moved her bishop to b9.

Okisato began to scowl as Yuusuke captured the pawn at c9 with his queen. "Something feels off about all this. That outburst was clearly Himitsukun's true personality breaking through, but why did it happen?" he thought as Michiko moved her king to a11.

Once again, Doraaki's personality changed as Rodeo captured the pawn at b10 with his rook. "Michiko... Are you- Heh, no worries," she chuckled as she moved her bishop to a10.

Yuusuke meanwhile didn't seem to care about Doraaki as he gazed at the board then back up at Rodeo. "We got this man, let's do it!" he grinned as he captured the rook at a9 with his queen.

Doraaki immediately began to go pale as Michiko moved her pawn to c11. "And why are you panicking? We're trapping them," Michiko snickered as Rodeo captured the bishop at a1 with his rook.

"YOU IDIOT! NOW WE'RE SCREWED!" Doraaki cried as she dejectedly slammed her pawn down on j8.

"What do you-"

"Checkmate! Guess it was complete victory for our team," Yuusuke grinned as he moved his queen to b10, winning the game.

Michiko's eyes widened a bit before she let out a sigh. "And here I thought my defeat would bring about our liberation, but it seems, Ai is a cruel woman."

Immediately, Michiko and Doraaki rose and began walking away. Michiko approached Ai and bowed, while Doraaki silently headed out.

"Guess NOW you can challenge me. But only you can be present. the others are to stay here," Ai sneered as she motioned for Mimoko to follow her and Michiko out.

The three ended up walking until they reached an outdoor stage bordering the back woods.

"Don't mind the rain, now Michiko, once everything is prepared, you may activate your DESPER," Ai sneered.

"What do you mean, I already paid you!" Mimoko glared.

Thud!

Mimoko turned to notice a bound and gagged Kotora laying in the mud behind her.

"Nyahaha! Looks like your brother WAS kidnapped after all!" Nyoan laughed as she picked up Kotora with her tail and hurled him towards Michiko.

"Perfect, give my regards to Kuon, and tell her to come to the salon asap for a shave," Ai sneered as Nyoan nodded and scampered away. Once she was gone, Michiko activated her DESPER. "Now, if you lose, YOU JOIN MY BALD HAREM!"

"And if I win, my mother, Daria Inoue gets healed and has everything you did to her negated. You'll also free alnd heal all the SPCMs you hurt and turn yourself in to the police," Mimoko glared.

"Perfect, then hurry up and sit down. Oh, and your brother will be imprisoned in your a-pawn. If the piece gets removed from play, he dies."

A life-size chessboard quickly appeared along with a dome that covered the playing field. Ai then dismissed Michiko and headed towards the black end of the board.

As Mimoko headed for the board, she decided to pull out her WWCF card in order to see what Ai's rating truly was. Immediately, her eyes widened in shock as she stared at Ai's data. "Her rating... She doesn't have one, nor does it say that she's even a WWCF member!"

"Yes, that's right. From the very start, I've never been a WWCF member," Ai sneered.

The full game:

Red: Yuusuke Shousen (1512) Blue: SPCM Himitsuchan (Michiko Azami) (2144) Yellow: Rodeo Gorou (250) Green: SPCM Himitsukun (Doraaki Soten) (700)

1. h4 c6 g11 k8

2. f3 c5 Qxb8 Qm8

3. Qxc5 Qxb8 Bg13 Qi4

4. Bxb8 Bxb8 Bxb8 Qxh4+

5. Nh2 Nxb8 d11 Qc4

6. Qb6 Nd7 d10 Qb5

7. Qd8 Nb8 d9 Bh3

8. e4 O-O Rd10 Qxf1+

9. Nxf1 c9 Nd12 Bb9

10. Qxc9 Ka11 Rxb10 Ba10

11. Qxa9 c11 Rxa10 j8

12. Qb10#