Under the silver glow of the moonlight filtering through the library windows, Sakayanagi Arisu slept soundly, nestled against Uesugi Gen.
Her long lashes trembled slightly with each steady breath. Her chest rose and fell in a gentle rhythm, her lips curving faintly as if she were having a pleasant dream. In her small hand, she still clutched her captured white knight piece, unwilling to let go.
Uesugi silently observed her peaceful sleeping face.
What a contradictory girl.
Awake, she was all sharp edges—calculating, ruthless, and unrelenting. Yet asleep, she was… adorable.
Leaving her safety to mere chance wasn’t Uesugi’s style.
So he had gently lulled her into sleep using a little trick of his own.
The chessboard had been nearly cleared. Eight more moves, and she would have checkmated him. But…
Uesugi turned his head.
The girl remained leaning against his shoulder, unmoving.
He sighed, then carefully adjusted her position, laying her flat on the bench.
“You got lucky,” he muttered. “This is a pain in the ass, you know.”
—
It was past ten at night.
The school pathways were mostly deserted, save for a lone figure making his way toward the dorms.
His long shadow stretched under the dim glow of the streetlights.
And upon his back—
A much smaller shadow overlapped his own.
“Mmnh…”
A faint murmur escaped Sakayanagi’s lips as her consciousness stirred.
She was being carried.
The person walking was steady, his stride unhurried.
He was holding onto her cane.
Her beret had been clumsily placed onto her head by this person…
“…I see.”
Sakayanagi did not open her eyes.
Instead, she pressed her cheek against Uesugi’s back and smiled.
“I lost, didn’t I, Uesugi-kun?”
“No. You won.”
He immediately countered.
“I was the one who ended the game.”
“Liar…”
Sakayanagi weakly reached out and pinched his back.
Her grip was so light, Uesugi barely felt it.
“The latter half of the game, too—you never actually changed your strategy.”
“You kept playing in a way that was easy for me to follow.”
“So I wouldn’t overexert myself.”
“…What a shame.”
Her warm breath seeped through the fabric of his shirt, lightly tickling his skin.
“I wanted to see it, you know—your ‘legendary’ playstyle.”
Uesugi’s steps faltered.
“…You know about that?”
“I first heard about it when I had just begun learning chess.”
She spoke in a drowsy, dreamlike tone.
“There was a boy, about my age, who once defeated a famous chess grandmaster.”
“His playstyle was… erratic, unpredictable—completely unorthodox.”
“At the time, the entire chess world was calling him a ‘once-in-a-century genius.’”
“I wanted to challenge him.”
“But before I could, he disappeared.”
She chuckled softly.
“The only video footage of his game was a single match. His face was never shown.”
“So, in the end, I gave up.”
Sakayanagi shifted slightly.
“And then—”
She reached downward, fingers brushing against Uesugi’s right hand before gripping it lightly.
“When I saw your hand that day in the dormitory… I knew.”
“…So you challenged me despite knowing you couldn’t win?”
Sakayanagi smiled.
“If I feared failure, I wouldn’t have been born in the first place.”
“My mother—despite knowing the risks—chose to give birth to me anyway.”
“As her daughter, I can’t afford to bring her shame.”
Uesugi looked up at the moon, now emerging from behind the clouds.
Then, in a voice barely above a whisper, he said—
“Sakayanagi-san… you’ll probably be a great mother someday.”
“…Is that so?”
Her expression softened.
“That might just be… the greatest compliment you could give me.”
—
Uesugi scratched his head in frustration as he looked at the girl sleeping soundly on his bed.
Sakayanagi-san… you sure trust me a lot, huh?
She had woken up once.
And then promptly fallen asleep again.
After 10 PM, male students were strictly prohibited from entering the girls’ dormitory.
Which meant—
He had no choice but to keep her here.
She needed rest, that much was clear.
Even though he had already taken certain measures to stabilize her condition, forcing her to walk back alone wasn’t an option.
So—
The solution was obvious.
He just had to get Phantom Thief-san to come pick her up.
Taking out his phone, he dialed a number.
The call connected instantly.
“Hello—”
“SCREW OFF! I’M SLEEPING! IF YOU WANNA HARASS ME, DO IT TOMORROW!”
The enraged voice of Kamuro Masumi roared through the speaker.
Click!
Beep— Beep— Beep—
Uesugi: “…”
Fine.
If a call wouldn’t work, he’d just send a message.
Uesugi: 【Kamuro-san, come to my dorm room.】
Kamuro Masumi: 【Unread】
…She wasn’t responding.
Normally, if she saw a text like this, she’d reply with at least an insult.
She must’ve actually fallen asleep.
Uesugi smirked.
No problem.
She wasn’t his only option.
Her father was the school’s board chairman, after all.
With zero hesitation, he scrolled through his contacts and dialed Chairman Sakayanagi number.
The phone rang.
Once.
Twice.
Thrice.
And then—
Click!
Call ended.
Uesugi: “…”
He hung up on me?
A dark expression flickered across his face.
Did he just—did this old man just refuse to answer a call about his daughter?
Alright, fine.
Time for Plan C.
Uesugi: 【Old man, your daughter is in my hands.】
A few minutes passed.
Then—
Sakayanagi Narumori: 【Young man, don’t stay up playing games too late. I’m too old to pull all-nighters. Whatever it is, tell me tomorrow.】
Uesugi: 【No, seriously. I have your daughter. She’s right here.】
Sakayanagi Narumori: 【Unread】
Uesugi: 【Hey!】
Sakayanagi Narumori: 【Unread】
“…Tch.”
Uesugi tightened his grip on his phone, a cold smirk curling his lips.
Too old to stay up late?
Telling me to wait until tomorrow?
Alright then, old man. I’ll show you what a real surprise looks like.
Without hesitation, he turned toward Sakayanagi’s sleeping figure.
With a single press of a button—
Snap.
A photo was taken.
And then—
Sent.
Sakayanagi-san may have a heart condition, but you don’t, right?
Time to give you a wake-up call.
Still, Uesugi sighed as he glanced at the girl beside him.
He really didn’t want to wake her up.
But there was no choice.
She needed to find someone trustworthy to watch over her.
Sitting beside the bed, he reached out and gently shook her shoulder.
“…Sakayanagi-san. Wake up. You should sleep in your own room.”
Sakayanagi groggily sat up, blinking blearily.
Then, without a word—
She removed her red outer coat.
Slipped off her white stockings.
Handed them to Uesugi.
And promptly crawled back under his covers.
A muffled voice emerged from beneath the blankets.
“…Since I won the chess match, as the victor, I claim the right to sleep in the loser’s room.”
“…Similarly, Uesugi-kun, as the loser, you may make one request of me.”
Uesugi stared at the clothes in his hands.
Then at the lump in his bed.
He fell into deep thought.
Wait—
Since when was there a bet in this game?!
More importantly—
Where the hell am I supposed to sleep tonight?!
—
This is a fan translation of 人在实教，一之濑你会后悔的 by 作者：白良. All rights to the original work belong to the creator. Please support them by exploring their original work or sharing it with others if you can. Thank you for reading and supporting my efforts to bring this story to a wider audience!
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