TRiViA || ALiVE Sidebook

50. Chess

"Uhm, you-- the girl over there! You with the blue ribbon!"

Sui turned around curiously.

The crowd was difficult to maneuver through, but Sui's small stature was beneficial for something. Her bag at her back, she was making her way to her next round.

"Me?" she asked.

The red-haired boy was disheveled, probably from running and trying to catch up with her through the mess of humanity. His geeky green glasses were lopsided, and his hair was a very fluffy form of disheveled.

He took a moment to catch his breath, then showed her something in his hand. 

"This... your keychain, you dropped it over there," he managed to convey, "it's yours... right?"

Sui looked down and notice he held her beloved purple keychain-- a pristine, smooth shell in an odd shade of purple.

Sending a gaze at her bag, she realized that indeed-- it was hers, and it had fallen without her notice.

"Yes-- yes, it is," she took it gratefully, bowing lowly, "I'm so sorry to have troubled you."

Her voice was soft, so she hoped he heard her.

"...It's alright," the boy scratched his cheek bashfully, "it's nothing, really. I saw it by the garden and remembered you had it on your bag, so I'm glad I found you."

From the look of it, the boy wasn't too much older than Sui herself. That meant they were both in the younger group of the chess players in the competition. 

He remembered that Sui had it on her bag? That meant this boy was taking notice of Sui.

As odd as that was, Sui attracted quite a bit of attention, being the youngest in the hall. She even got a special mention at the opening address. She guess it made sense a boy knew it was hers.

"This is... very important to me," Sui admitted, bowing lowly in gratitude, "so thank you very much."

"You're welcome, but really, no need to thank me!" he panicked, "please, lift your head!"

"Would you rather I get on my knees?" Sui tilted her head to the side, genuinely confused. She knew no other way to express heartfelt gratitude, after all.

"No!"

"Irie Shouichi-kun and Ninomiya Sui-san, please make your way to Table Number Two," the late call announcement boomed.

The two of them jumped.

"Ahhh, I'm late!!" they screamed at the same time.

They snapped their heads in each other's directions. 

"Iie?" Sui asked.

"Irie," he corrected.

"Iiii--?" 

"Shouichi's fine," he chuckled.

"Shouchi-san?"

"It's Shouichi."

"It's nice to meet you, Shou-san," Sui smiled, "I hope we have a great match."

"So you're just gonna give up on pronouncing my name?" Irie sighed.

"Sorry," Sui played with her fingers, "I'm bad at names."

Irie chuckled, "It's fine. I hope we have a great match too.." Irie noticed Sui sent him a gaze of anticipation-- and he knew instantly what the girl wanted from him. "Sui-- Sui-san," he blushed.

"Uhn," Sui blushed too.

"Irie Shouichi-kun and Ninomiya Sui-san, PLEASE make your way to Table Number Two."  

"UAAAhhh, we're late!!"