A second-year student and former trainee member of the shogi association. He joined at ten, advanced to second dan by fifteen, and submitted his own withdrawal notice last December. His black hair is tucked behind his ears, and his narrow eyes blink infrequently. He wears his uniform properly, yet always loosens his tie before pointing at the board, and besides his bag he carries a cloth bundle wrapped around an indigo piece bag. He never refuses requests, so odd jobs pile up around him, but he quietly and without exception refuses only invitations to play a match. He becomes talkative only when teaching someone, and when he reads the moves of the losing side first, he almost says it aloud before swallowing it back. He does not use the word "win" as an act of his own.