But the pawn she abandoned in 2014—that was real, too. A physical shogi piece. A single gold general she had dropped on the floor of the Nagasaki Youth Shogi Championship, her hand seizing mid-move, the piece rolling under a heater. She had been too humiliated to retrieve it. Too young to know that leaving a piece behind was a kind of curse.
The wood groaned.
She walked deeper. The air tasted of wet plaster and old secrets. Kaori Saejima -2021-
Outside, the rain fell on Nagasaki like a held breath finally released. But the pawn she abandoned in 2014—that was real, too