"If I can beat you in a game of chess, will you let me have my way?" (Pink Trigger)

"If I can beat you in a game of chess, Doctor Nanjo, will you let me have my way?"

"Well... Mister Player... when you say your way... it is important that we clarify what you mean by that phrase."

Crap! No. I started the wrong route. I clarified what I meant as quickly as I could manage to.

"Oh... yes. Hm. I suppose that would be fair."

Ha! It worked. To think that the old man would be swayed so easily. Ha ha ha... He may be a high-level chess player, but with the Pink Trigger on my side, manipulating him will be as easy as cheesecake with rose petal accompaniment. I can dictate his moves and change any problematic actions. This will be simple.

"Mister Player... are you very good at chess?" my employer questioned, with a look on her face that showed she really didn't trust me at all. Ah! You wound me, Eva.

I told her as much, reassuring her that, yes, of course, I am both a fantastic chess player and a doctor. I'm really piling on the roles in this one. The three of us moved from Eva's room to the sitting room, where Nanjo, with painful slowness, revealed his prized chess board and pieces. We began to play. You may doubt me at this point- I don't blame you for thinking that chess is unlikely to be my strong point- but I tell you, Nanjo and I had a match for the ages. Wit against wit. Piece for piece. Move for move. I took his, he took mine, back and forth in a dance of ****. It was as though the Rokkenjima Incident played out on the board before us. I will admit, I made use of my handicap. A suggestion here and there... a question, "won't you take back that move?" Just to give myself a sporting chance, you understand.

At the end of a hard-fought game, fraught with both peril and an uncomfortable amount of sexual tension with Doctor Nanjo, I managed to claim victory.

I looked around myself as the weary gentleman congratulated me on a fine game. There was no sign of Eva! She'd gotten so bored, she'd simply left. There was a grandfather clock in one corner... it said 11:58 pm.

In the next moment, as I pondered the significance of that time, I heard Nanjo shout something about a gun. In the next instance, my useless brain shot out far enough to decorate that clock.

Although this route did contain a victory, of a kind, I don't consider it much of a win. Please, let's try to keep my brotherly affection for Doctor Nanjo, as well as the great mental athletics of chess, to one side, as we return to the pursuit of satisfying my deep love.