accurately | empatheias ic contact

Shogi is a normal game.

[ Midorima doesn't look like he's doing anything really substantial, but he is taking his time making moves and mostly paying attention to what she does to decide what she thinks she's doing, then counter and end that. No advice or anything this first time, it's just an anticipation exam. ]

I've a talent for crane games, but there are many games I've played to ensure I've done everything within my power to succeed. A number of lucky items are special editions, out of print, or difficult to obtain. I have to be open to any means to get the ones I need.

I. [Pause.] ...I really wasn't expecting crane games.

[Inexperienced as she is, she's only really thinking of her own movements here, only thinking about the immediate next possible moves and not the long game.]

But your dedication to those lucky items is pretty impressive. Admirable, almost. Doesn't it get expensive?

That's what it means to do everything in your power, Hinasaki.

[ No matter the price.

He's also getting really annoyed when he realizes she's just making moves with no plan. But he said he wouldn't say anything until they get through the first one to see how she does. It's important to see the full game. ]

[She's still doing her best, Midorima, let her live!! Despite not planning long-term for this game, she's definitely putting effort into it, brow furrowing in mild frustration since Midorima keeps coming out ahead.]

I think I look up to you a little now, Midorima-san. Figuratively and literally. [Since, you know, he's so much taller than her anyhow...]

Hmph.

[ He doesn't really respond to her words, simply hmphing them away. ]

Hinasaki, you lost by the first move. [ He won't tell her why or how, but it's something to think about!! ]

What? [She looks surprised, then confused and a bit irritated] But I haven't even lost right now.

[Except, looking at the board, it dawns on her that he's going to win by the next move. There's no where she can go to save herself. She pauses, opening and closing her mouth a couple of times, noises of half-formed responses she cuts off being they can begin, and in the end she slumps back in her chair in defeat.

While she doesn't look pleased, she just takes a breath instead of childishly flipping the board like she kinda wants to right now.]

...Okay. Besides apparently 'everything,' what did I do wrong?

Reset the board.

[ Do you think he's just going to tell her easily!! No!! Get to work! ]

Brat.

[She resets the board as instructed, looking vaguely grumpy. He's the worst teacher ever!!! Was he going to go first now?]

Traditionally, we would alternate, but I want you to go first again.

[ Wow, he's getting there. But you have to learn to use your brain for shogi, otherwise you aren't going to get anywhere!! ]

[She squints suspiciously at him, but she doesn't jump the gun this time on moving her first piece. She draws one knee up to rest her arm on it, cheek in hand as she carefully considers the board and how the last game went.

Midorima is clearly taking this as Very Serious Business, and Miu isn't inclined to piss him off by not doing the same. So it definitely takes her a minute longer to start playing, chewing absently on hr lower lip in thought.]

Why did you take so long to play this time compared to last?

[ He's just going to ask her questions to get her to think about what she's doing, then try to get her to think about what he's doing. ]

You said I'd lost from the first move, so I figured I should take my time trying to figure out why.

[She tilts her head, brow still furrowed in concentration.] I wanted to see how your strategy would change too... A lot of times with games--most ones that you play against someone in-- someone who's pretty good or wins a lot will stick to a pattern or strategy that works for them. That's a lot easier than thinking of something new every time, especially if it works.

[She's still not quite trying to think 5 steps ahead, but she is trying to suss out how he's playing in relation to her playing.]

What did you do the first time we played?

[ He won't remind her that he's used to losing against Akashi, so it's less common that he would try the same techniques over and over, but since she brought it up, it might be a good idea to intentionally do it to see if she susses out the pattern or if he's wasting his time. ]

[Hey, everyone loses against Akashi. She just figured he played against other people too and kicked all their asses.

If he does start reusing the same sorts of moves, it'll take her a few moments to realize it, but it only makes her suspicious... Like when you keep getting the same letter on a multiple choice quiz.]

I wasn't thinking too much then... Just things like, 'if I go here, maybe he'll do this.' Thinking one or two steps ahead. But that's too short-range for someone like you, huh. [Siiiigh. She should've started playing against amateurs first. God damn it.]

[ He has, but he's always got his eyes on the prize. Unfortunately. He might stop looking as dour all the time if his goals didn't involve beating Akashi at literally anything. ]

No move should be a primarily a reaction to what I do, but a prediction of what I'm going to do and a goal to both stop and defeat me. You win by predicting what your opponent's strategy is, undermining it, and taking control of the board. At the same time, if I can tell what your plan is, I can win easily.

Ah, shogi is complicated... [But she doesn't seem put off by it or anything. There's just a sort of sigh in resignation before she sits up with renewed sense of determination.]

Ugh, I hate losing. This is the kind of game where reading minds would definitely be helpful, huh? [She pauses just long enough to let that sink in and then smiles] I won't, don't worry. Winning by cheating isn't nearly as satisfying.

[ Is this what he looks like to Akashi after every game they play? The sigh sounds simultaneously familiar and foreign- he's used to hearing it from himself, not someone else.

Except for the cheating joke, but Midorima is way too serious to even think about joking like that. ]

Cheating is admitting you're too incompetent to win on your own.

I guess it's a little hard to cheat in something like basketball, isn't it?

[She can't imagine there's much room for it, unless some kind of performance enhancers are used...]

It's difficult, but it's not impossible. There is a team that specializes in causing player injuries out of sight-line of referees, for example.

[ He's playing a similar strategy to before, to help Miu get used to some common strategies for shogi. If she can start to recognize and prevent the basic ones, they can move onto more complex ones. Foundations first. ]

[Miu immediately makes a disapproving face, her tone thick with disgust] What kind of team specializes in injuring people? How low.

[She sits up a little straighter when she realizes she recognizes the patterns here, looking a little pleased with herself. Progress! She's learning! She's aware he must be doing it in purpose, but she's fine with it. She's enjoying herself, so it's fine.]

[ It's a teaching game, it's fine to do it on purpose. He'll start playing her seriously once she can overcome the teaching "levels." But if he starts off with impossible challenges, she's not going to learn and she's not going to become a good opponent for either himself or Akashi. It'd be like asking her to shoot a 3-pointer from the end line her first day on the court. ]

They threw their match against Shutoku by only putting in second string because they thought it would be easier to take Seirin down than us in the preliminaries and lost to both of us because of that reprehensible behavior. Even without the referees taking notice, they paid the price.

[ And that's basketball justice. ]

[Does this mean she might actually win a round?]

Ha! Serves them right!

[Miu chuckles to herself, looking pleased] I think I would've liked to see them being taken down a notch like that.

I don't have any stories that are quite that...cheery. [For a given value of cheery.]

[ What level of Kirisaki Daichi is cheery. He's concerned for you Miu. It may not show on his face, but he is. ]

Not even here?

[ This place is enough of a disruption he'd imagine it'd be hard to go through whatever she'd been through in life here.

That said, he's not actually going to let her win. He'll change his strategy at the last minute to an alternate but similar one he knows. In the end, he's not so soft as to let her win even if he's willing to help her see the patterns. ]

[A big justice boner like that is definitely cheery.

...Did she have good memories here? She never really thought of it before] I suppose, compared to home...

[She trails off, making a small noise as she loses again, but she doesn't look disappointed by the loss. She learned from it, after all, and it certainly didn't feel like Midorima's was beating her to be an ass so. This was fine.]

There isn't really anything specific I can think of. Just in general it's nice here--I like it. I don't think I'd like to return home if I have the choice.

[ He doesn't feel comfortable enough with her to really ask about home, especially if it's all bad memories. Though she might not mind talking about it since she brought it up, he figures it's better left untouched for now.

He doesn't know about not going home. Akashi and Kuroko are here, and that's important to him, but his team isn't. His family isn't. It's dangerous, the basketball leaves a lot to be desired, while she helped him find a fortune teller, it's not the same as Oha Asa (though that might be attributed to being in another world) and there are a lot of things that make no sense to him. He doesn't want to leave Akashi and Kuroko here on their own, but he doesn't know that he understands not wanting to go home. Rather, he'd want them all to go home.

Which he supposes would leave Hinasaki in a pitiful spot, considering the reason they're having this meeting right now, so he simply stays quiet for now. It may seem like he's being an asshole, ignoring her, whatever, but it's a kindness to keep it in instead of speak his usual selfish thoughts. ]

No one has the choice, it's irrelevant. Set the board up again.

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