Make it up to me

Daria began clapping as she stood up. "Marvelous, you've truly bested me. Savor the achievement with pride, for you are only the 3rd person to ever truly best me."

"The 3rd?" Okisato asked as his normal persona returned.

"Yes, only three people in the world have ever beaten me. Funnily enough, the second person to ever beat me also decided to show up," Daria smiled as she glanced towards Peter. "Now, pull out your WWCF card."

Okisato did as instructed while Daria pulled out her own WWCF card. "By my authority as one of the 7 secret chess maestros, I hereby certify that you, Okisato Tanabe have truly and legally bested me in a game of chess, and cleared all the trials I set forth," Daria stated as a badge appeared on Okisato's WWCF card.

"It seems you are the only one left out now, Mimoko Inoue. Do catch up quickly," Peter snickered as he displayed his own WWCF card.

"Wow, so those are the other maestro's badges. Oh, and my rating bumped up to 2600." Okisato nodded.

"Yes, beating a maestro will increase your rating. Though I'm afraid if you want any hints to their locations, with the exception of that one woman, you'll have to beat me in a game of chess. I'll even accept a victory via an odds rule as fulfilling the condition."

"Honestly, my mind's ready to burst. I'd get demolished if I played you now."

"Well, you did impress me today, so I'll be satisfied with that. Now, the daily puzzles if you please," Peter nodded as he walked up to Himitsudono.

"I still have a few more things to tell ya," Daria nodded. "First, since you beat me, you can rematch me at any time for just 10 points. Plus, you can choose whether or not to implement the challenge I placed on you. This means, you'll be able to play me as white now too, but don't think it will be any easier. Second, you get a nice 10,000 points for beating me. And finally, in honor of our agreement, I'll sit down with Mimoko and talk with her."

"That's good, though I actually have one final question, what should we do about Xiao Lin?"

Daria began to scowl as she pressed her fan to her lips. "Unfortunately, I'm unable to intervene, in fact, I am a poor match for her."

"Why's that?"

"While maestros can challenge each other, they can also decline a challenge or only agree to have one if there are certain conditions, though the bigger flaw is that we are both maestros, thus the event would be shrouded in secrecy from the get-go. Not to mention she now has a DESPER, so she'd hold all the power in dictating the nature of the game. A challenger, however, would create more of a stir, though would still have to deal with her DESPER. I will try to do everything I can on my end to make sure Xiao Lin is reprimanded for her actions, though I doubt the WWCF president will so much as care no matter how many invoices I send him."

"As I told you before, that woman's challenge is essentially a kung-fu variant of chess boxing, though she'll do everything in her power to sway things in her favor," Peter stated as he finished the puzzles.

"So then I'm the only one that can beat her," Okisato glared.

"Huh? What about me?" Mimoko glared.

"No, you'd lose instantly. If it was simply just chess, you'd be fine, but with the kung-fu, you'd likely be killed before you could even touch a piece. Anyway, I should let you and your mother talk things out," Okisato nodded as he headed out.

"Tanabe-kun... Thanks. I feel much better thanks to you."

"Huh? What did I do?"

"We'll just say your stupid and reckless playstyle cleared my mind of it's depression and shock."

"Got it."

"We'll chat in the back, Mimoko," Daria nodded as she ushered Mimoko to a back room. Once inside, the two sat down, and Daria began explaining things. "I know what you're thinking. If I was so good at chess, why did I never play you? Well, the truth to that lies in the maestro project."

"The maestro project?"

"Yes, us maestros are secretly the true top chess players in the world."

"Then why is it-"

"A secret? For the fun of it. Though I actually can't tell you or anyone anything about the project until you beat all 7 secret maestros. Think of that info as a part of the prize for beating all 7 of us."

"I see. I'm still upset with you though."

"Sorry, that was all on me. I wanted to surprise you with the grand reveal that I was a secret maestro, but sadly the circumstances weren't quite as I hoped."

"Kotora's dead."

"I know, and I'm in more pain over that than I may seem," Daria said as tears began trickling down her face. "He was killed mainly to get back at me. I was a fool. Just like how I couldn't see past the insane Důras gambit just now, I failed to see Michiko's greed, and as a result, I was betrayed by her and put in a coma while her partner stole my identity for nefarious purposes. Worse, my negligence caused you unfathomable suffering."

"Then make it up to me. MAKE IT UP DAMMIT! I was crying for days by your bedside when the incident occurred, I practically shut down after that match where Kotora died. Then you were just acting like everything was normal after all the hell I went through!" Mimoko cried as she slapped Daria in the face. "Make it up to me, dammit..."

Daria smiled and rubbed her sore cheek before embracing Mimoko in a hug. "I will. How do you want me to?"

"I want to play chess with you, everyday. I want to be able to discuss my passion with you, and have a good mother and daughter relationship with you."

"I will honor the latter part of your request, but if you want to play me, you'll first need to beat me here as a maestro. I don't bend the rules even for my own children."

"Very well, I'll beat you tomorrow."

"Well, I imagine you'll have enough points to do just that as well."

"Though I'm curious about one thing. You said only three people have ever beaten you, what about the maestros?"

"Nope, none of the maestros, except for one have beaten me."

"So then the first person to beat you-"

"Is the strongest of all the maestros. Amongst all the maestros I'm second only to one," Daria smiled as she began to blush.

"I see. Then I shall return here tomorrow to beat you," Mimoko declared as she headed out.

"I'm glad your head's back in the game," Daria smiled.