HALCYON [Minamoto Teru]

Act II : 11

YEAR TWO

Even the chessboard was a status symbol. It was fashioned from granite and polished to perfection. The darker squares were artistically arranged, each was a different but complementary hue of brown, grey or black. The white squares were everything from snowy to creamy with streaks and dots of color.

The pieces were just as ornate, expertly carved from the same range of stones. The bottom of each piece bore a velvet cushion so that it was almost soundless when placed on the board. This wasn't a game in progress, this was an aesthetic arrangement by someone who hadn't a clue how to play. A set like this and it was wasted on someone without even a rudimentary knowledge of the game.

At this rate, their basically was no game at all.

Sitting on either sides of the board was a first year student and in front of him was the raven haired beauty of the second years as she took a sip of her tea. Her calming persona only frayed the mental state of Aoi Akane, the current student council vice president who tousled his hair repeatedly, the stress of being under her scarlet eyes had begun to get to him.

"Who's winning, kaichou?" their secretary had whispered quite loudly to their blonde haired president who sat in the middle of the room, watching the game with pure amusement. "I wonder.." He mused aloud, placing down the papers in his hand as everyone directed their attention to the chess game going on between the two members of the council.

"Don't bully Aoi too much, Nora." He chuckled as she waved her hand dismissively. The comment only caused the boy to let out a grunt on frustration. "Oh? But I'm not doing anything." She said in a teasing tone.

Akane bore holes into Nora's white chess pieces. Nora was in a good position undoubtedly, however she needed to act fast. If she didn't get to the black king, she was going to be checkmated herself by his black queen. She moved her queen to H6 with a happy hum.

Akane's eyes were spinning like stars as he tried to figure out her trick, but her poker face was flawless. But he studied the board and realized something. "That's check!" He roared happily, shooting up straight from his chair although Nora still held a mischievous smile, staying seated calmly.

He took his king that stood in front of Nora's white queen as he kicked it off of the board, replacing it's spot. "And there goes your queen, Senpai." He spoke the honorific with mock as his maroon eyes glanced over at her in triumph.

"Oho? Don't get cocky, Aoi." She let out a muse, her fingers wrapping around her rook that sat on C8. The boy's eyes watched carefully as she moved her rook to H8, only a tile away from his king that sat on H6. "And I win." She grinned. He had no more legal moves for his king, he was cornered and lost as he let out a wail.

"Six for Natsuki and zero for Akane." Their Historian muttered, shaking his head in pity for their vice president who rolled on the ground in agony.