詰碁 Tsumego "Exercises in Life and Death"
Notes: This story began life as a persistent plot bunny that I really needed to jot down and get out of my head. Ironically, I started work on chapter 1 after I began work on chapter 5. (At this time of writing, chapters 1-4 are complete.) Aside from my friend WanderingMavka getting a chance to read the story first, the work has not been beta-read. Although there will be violent themes which I describe in a straightforward manner some may find gruesome, this story will never become NSFW.
Hikaru no Go story and characters are the wonderful creation of Hotta Yumi and Obata Takeshi. The writing is my own.
Oct 19: Made minor honorific correction.
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Chapter 1: 切 Kiri "Cut"
"What do you think, Sai?" boasted Hikaru as he emerged from the Go Institute, pumped with excitement from his victorious match. "For a moment there I thought the guy had me, but then I sprung that trap and made a comeback so incredible that he resigned!"
"It was a beautiful game," said Sai, "You have become quite a strong player, Hikaru. I'm sure you'll be promoted to 2dan in no time."
"Only thanks to you, Sai! You are the best teacher anyone could ever have." Then he added, "No offense to Morishita ojiisan of course."
"Hikaru, you really shouldn't call him that…" Sai politely pointed out, but Hikaru wasn't paying attention.
"More importantly, look what Waya gave me!" said Hikaru as he flashed the couple pieces of paper that the fellow shodan had unceremoniously discarded in Hikaru's hands last study session. "Coupons to this really nice ramen shop in town. We should go and celebrate!"
Sai leaned in to read the coupons. "'Buy two bowls of any size, get one free?' 'Buy three medium bowls for the price of one large?' Hikaru, if you eat this much ramen, you're going to get fat!"
"Sai, you worry too much. That Waya has no idea how much of a great deal he just missed out on."
"I'm serious, if you keep eating like that you'll look like Kurata-san. Do you want to be as fat as Kurata-san, Hikaru?"
Hikaru cringed at the image. "That will never happen! Honestly, Sai, you're starting to sound like my mother."
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"6 bowls of ramen total for the price of three, eh?" said the chef. "Are you expecting company?"
"Nope, it's just me!" said Hikaru, kicking his legs at the bar and grinning.
"… Okay, you're the boss," the chef said with one eyebrow raised in worry, as he recorded Hikaru's complex order of many condiments. "What's the occasion?"
"I beat my first 3dan today!"
"That sounds great! Karate?"
"Nope! Go! I'm Shindou Hikaru, a 1dan go pro."
"I didn't know there were professional go players this young," the chef mused as he tossed an enormous tangle of noodles in a strainer. "You must be some kind of a child prodigy."
"Haha, not really," said Hikaru. Him, a child prodigy? He'd never touched a go stone until a couple years ago. Touya was the prodigy, not him. "I'm not really a prodigy, but there's one guy, the Meijin's son, who definitely is. He's a 2dan and rising fast, and I hope to catch up to him as fast as I can." Could he be promoted to 2dan within the year? With that victory under his belt, it felt like a real possibility. To finally meet Touya face to face and play an even game as fellow 2dans or 3dans… he couldn't wait!
"Hehe, you're blushing a little, Shindou-kun. That Meijin's son must be really important to you. I wish you good luck!"
Blushing!? Hikaru covered his face in embarrassment. He realized he was kicking his legs vigorously and stopped that as well. "Don't take it that way!" he insisted, "Touya's just a really strong player and I aspire to be that good, that's all."
The first of Hikaru's bowls was finally ready, and for the next half hour or so, Sai watched with a mixture of escalating horror and disgust as the small middle-schooler proceeded to gorge himself on three large bowls and three medium ones in a row.
"Phew, I'm stuffed!" said Hikaru as he finished drinking the broth out of his last bowl, and collapsed with exhaustion onto the bar.
"Will that be all, Shindou-kun?" asked the chef cautiously, his brow heavily furrowed with concern for the boy's health.
"Yes, that'll be all!" said Hikaru, as he counted out his bill and handed it to the chef. "Thanks for the food!"
"You're welcome anytime, and good luck catching up with your Touya-kun!"
Hikaru blushed with embarrassment again. Why did he have to phrase it in that way!? The two had spoken, what, five times in the past couple of years? They were absolutely, definitely, in no way close.
"I'm so glad I got to eat there, it was so good!" Hikaru said to Sai as they headed out the door, "Spending those coupons today was a great idea!"
"There is no stretch of the imagination by which eating by yourself in one sitting enough ramen to feed a family for a day is a good idea," Sai preached, "I'm surprised that didn't outright kill you."
"Sai, you're exaggerating! It's not like I get to eat like that every day!"
"It's a good thing that you don't get to eat like that every day," said Sai, "Or you really would look like Kurata-san."
"For the last time, I will never look like Kurata-san!" Hikaru shouted at Sai, turning the heads of concerned passersby. "It's rude to stare," said a mother as she tugged on the hand of her curious son to get away from the screaming teen as quickly as possible.
"Anyway, Hikaru, watching you eat all that ramen by yourself was boring and kind of gross, so I just happened to notice a building over there." Sai pointed in the direction of what appeared to be a net café. "It looks like there are people sitting at those boxes at which you can play go. Nee, Hikaru, can we go play?"
Hikaru gave the idea careful consideration. After that scare with Ogata in the hospital, he really didn't want to draw attention to Sai and himself again.
But on the other hand, Sai never got to play anyone other than Hikaru since the match against Touya-sensei, and he still had some time to kill. Would one evening be so bad?
"Sure, why not," he finally decided, "Let's go check it out."
"Yay, Hikaru!" Sai exclaimed, dancing with delight, "You're the best!"
Without the help of Mitani's sister, the struggle to access the go server and log in took longer than he would have liked, but after several minutes of crude swearing and confusion he managed to get settled in on his own.
After Sai played his first couple of games, the requests came flooding in, and Hikaru accepted mostly the ones from the highest ranked players. Sai sure was popular! Hikaru allowed himself to be absorbed in the flow of Sai's go, and the hours passed by in bliss.
Several games later, Hikaru looked up and saw that the sky outside was dim! "Wow, I lost track of the time! It's starting to get dark! Come on Sai, let's finish up this last game and go home."
There was no need to finish up, as the other player shortly resigned and went offline without a word. According to the rank by his name he was a 2dan from Germany, but Hikaru seriously doubted it because so many of his moves were counterproductive and he clearly had no idea what he was doing. Sai tried to steer him in the right direction by playing it like a teaching game but the false 2dan didn't seem to get it. He really could only be 20kyu at best.
"Man, I feel bad for that poor German guy," said Hikaru as the two exited the net café, "He was so out of his league! I wonder if he chose the wrong rank just to have a chance of playing you?"
"Don't forget that you were as helpless as he was not so long ago," Sai pointed out, "So that player still has great potential to become strong. A shame he didn't understand my shidougo, though."
"Yeah, let's just get home as fast as we can before my mom freaks out. I think the station was this way."
"And not so long ago, you yourself said you had no intention of playing go!" Sai continued, "Do you remember that? All you cared about back then were sports, the box with the moving person game and your picture-books!"
"They're called manga, and the 'moving person games' are videogames," Hikaru corrected him, but Sai didn't pay attention.
"And look at you now! All you do is play go. That's great, but maybe you should bring a little sports back into your life."
"What do you mean?" Hikaru asked idly. He realized he was on the wrong side of this wide street to reach the station and began to cross immediately.
"Well, look at you! It has to be sitting in front of a goban all day combined with the way you eat. You've gotten a little chubby since I first met you, especially here," he said, grinning, jabbing Hikaru in the stomach with the end of his fan.
"Goddamnit, Sai, I have NOT gained weight!" Hikaru turned around and yelled at him on the spot.
Sai hid his face behind his fan. "But it's true! I was just saying you need a little exercise, that's all."
"I swear to god, Sai, if you keep picking on me, I will go straight to a shrine and have them perform an exorcism on—"
"HIKARU! WATCH OUT!"
"Huh?" Hikaru turned to see what Sai was shouting about and froze up.
A car! Bright headlights blazing, horn shrieking, flying right at him with an ugly lurch, and almost no sign of slowing down!
There was no escape.
Hikaru's body crumpled over the hood of the car, his legs were shoved out from under him, and his head smashed into the windshield.
The car screeched to a halt and he found himself flying far through the air, tumbling like a ragdoll over the rough asphalt, before finally coming to rest.
Bruised, scratched, and hyperventilating, Hikaru slowly opened his eyes. His vision was blurred and he had trouble making out anything especially in the low light. Several meters away shone the headlights.
"Hikaru, hang in there…" said Sai, who knelt by his side. Pained, Hikaru slowly turned his head to look at him, gritting his teeth and squinting. He could only just make out Sai's face. "Sai.. why, what.." he breathed.
He tried to move, and gasped in agony as sharp pain seared through his legs. They were broken. "Ahh! It hurts!" he cried.
"Don't try to move," said Sai.
A car door slammed and the tap of dress shoes on asphalt approached. Hikaru squinted but could not make out the identity of the person approaching. He felt faint as the pain pounded through his body. His eyelids grew heavy.
"Sai… will I wake up?" Saying this brought tears to his eyes. He had to wake up, he had to.
"I.. I don't know," said Sai in a wavering voice.
He saw the shape of a tall figure kneel over him on one knee. He was not Sai, but he was familiar. It was becoming hard to think and he could not place him.
Hikaru closed his eyes and images swam through his tired mind, punctuated by the patterns of the flow of go that dominated his subconscious. He thought of his family, and of Sai.
And his face came into his thoughts. "Touya…" Hikaru breathed his name in a tired near-whisper. He had to stay. His muscles began to relax, and tranquility enveloped him.
"Be at peace, Hikaru."