Cutthroat philosophy

At the Japanese chess federation's HQ, a man scowled as he sat behind his desk and listened to his subordinate ramble on and on.

"Sir, I understand this tournament was approved by the WWCF, but why did that final match-up have to occur? Kuon Nanya is currently the top female player in the country not counting the maestro, so why did you sacrifice her to Mimoko Inoue!?"

"It's Kuon's fault she didn't perform up to standard."

"It was just one bad tournament!"

"Listen, we currently have top talent brewing on the women's side. The Ryono girls that are not even 5 years of age, the streamer Ishikiridokoro, even that SPCM who we thought would never surpass intermediate level has shown talent. If Kuon can't keep up, then it's on her. She still hasn't even beaten Hagemi and they've played each other how many times?"

The other man sighed and dejectedly headed out. "You sacrifice too many good players."

"No I don't. They simply get surpassed by the youth, as in accordance with the only constant in life; change itself."

The man was Sodeshirou Azami, the head of the Japanese chess federation as well as Michiko Azami's father. He was an International master with a rating of 2450 and like Redfield, prioritized finding chess talent. Unlike Redfield though, he cared not for aging relics, no matter how acclaimed their storied careers might have been, or still continue to be. If new talent arose, he wouldn't hesitate to cast the old aside in favor of the new. It was his philosophy that if the old couldn't prove their worth, they were to be replaced with the young.

Many protested to his way of thinking as it had led to many talented chess players falling to ruin at the hands of more talented younger prospects. None of said players were bad by any means, but the ruthless system had led to their efforts being overshadowed by those of the younger ones that had surpassed them.

While the men's side of the Japanese chess world wasn't as affected simply due to lack of prosperous talent, the women's side was a different story. Hagemi Shousen, Kuon Nanya, Mimoko Inoue, Mizuse Niimi, Safumi Bouzi, Taira Kuroshiro, and a woman by the name of Daria Ogino had all been minted as grandmasters compared to just Ginji Inohara and Okisato Tanabe on the men's side.

Perhaps there would have been more female grandmasters had it not been for Sodeshirou's ruthless philosophy, but due to the results it had achieved, there was little anyone could do to effectively dethrone him from his spot as head of the Japanese chess federation.

It was worth noting that while Sodeshirou generally did favor replacing the old with the new, if the old could weather every challenge they faced, then they clearly had worth. And one such individual was Daria Ogino, who now went by Daria Inoue post-marriage. Sodeshirou was aware of her status as Maestro Himitsu, but cursed the fact that it meant she was unable to properly play in tournaments, until today.

"Finally, Daria, our nation's pride and joy, you can cement our nation's status as a chess powerhouse and ignite a greater chess boom her than Viswanathan Anand did in India! Best of all, your daughter is just as good too! Yes, YES! Oh if only I had a son instead of that useless daughter. Then you would have been my daughter in-law, Daria! Though, I suppose it might not have guaranteed Mimoko's birth. But sadly, I can't even marry off my grandson to Mimoko thanks to my useless daughter not even bearing an heir. Useless! Useless, useless, USELESS! And she even had the gall to try and extinguish the Inoue's talent! Disgrace!"

As Sodeshirou began going on a tirade about Michiko, his subordinate let out a heavy sigh and took his leave. The thought on his mind was that if Sodeshirou had simply paid more attention to Michiko, she wouldn't have ended up so messed up. However, Michiko's envy ran much deeper than that, though he had no way of knowing that. What he was able to surmise though is that Sodeshirou's philosophy would likely claim another victim, Kuon Nanya.

Like Michiko, Kuon had exhibited signs of jealousy towards her respective rival, but unlike Michiko, was at least able to match her rival in overall skill despite never notching a win off of said rival. Now that Kuon had been kicked off the national team, the man feared this would have immeasurable repercussions on Japanese chess as a whole. And he was right. For at this very moment, Kuon was in the middle of a vicious tantrum.

...

Nyoan cowered behind the sofa as Kuon violent trashed everything in the living room. "TO HELL WITH THEM! I NEEDED TO BE ON THE TEAM! IF I'M NOT.. IF I'M NOT... HOW THE HELL AM I SUPPOSED TO FACE HER!?"

Nyoan attempted to peek her head out, only to duck back under again as a vase came hurdling at the wall. She wanted to try and ease Kuon's pain, but there was simply no words she could think of that would calm things down.

But then, the house phone rang, giving Nyoan goosebumps as she heard the voice on the other end of the line as Kuon angrily answered it.

"Hey Kuon, heard ya botched it," Skaberghast sneered.

As Kuon prepared to destroy the phone, Skaberghast said something that caused her to halt. Nyoan was unable to pick up what it was due to covering her ears, but she did notice that whatever it was, it seemed to calm Kuon down a bit.

"And how would I even go about doing that on such short notice!? At best I could get on a minor team, but they'd have no chance of facing her team!"

"Then how about one of the bigger ones?"

"You think I could just get a spot?"

Skaberghast let out a malicious chuckle. "Meet up with me tomorrow, I'll be meeting with some folks that can certainly pull the strings necessary to get you on a major team, but of course, you'll need to dress to impress."