Title: Stalemate
Pairings: SanadaOC friendship!
A/N: On a pure whim while cracking my brain inside out for my other fanfic The Zero Blindness that Burns. This is BAD.
Stalemate
He has never appreciated the art of chess. Why spend time on a make-believe battle when you can enjoy a physical one on the courts?
But when his grandfather asks him to play, he does not refuse. Because one simply does not reject Sanada Gen'emon.
When they arrive at the chess centre, the receptionists leads them to an empty table and they play. The game is called Go. It is more enjoyable than shougi, yet still not as stimulating as tennis. Genichirou picks up the game quickly.
They finish the game and his grandfather leaves him to play another opponent. He is left alone, awkward. The chattering in the room makes him feel vulnerable. He is uncomfortable with strange places.
He notices a long haired girl at a corner, playing by herself. She looks his age. Her long black hair is tied in a high ponytail, drooping over her shoulders like a thin curtain. She is immersed with her game. He is not sure how one can play on her own.
He moves over to sit with her. "Good morning. Would you like a game with me?" he asks. The girl is surprised, but she smiles.
"Sure."
He stares at the board. There is not a single piece of his territory on the board. He has lost utterly. Even as a beginner, he plays well. His grandfather had commended his skills.
The girl looks at his frustrated face and smiles. "Shall we go over the game?"
He nods, and the girl tidies up the chess pieces quickly. Then, she replays the game and explains his mistakes. When she is done, he asks, "How do you remember the game so clearly?"
She looks at the chess pieces. "When you play, you must think deep into the moves. The more you think, the more it is engraved into your brain. And you begin to play with your heart."
Genichirou finds himself agreeing with her words.
His grandfather is surprised to find Genichirou playing against the long haired girl. "Genichirou, you are playing this girl?" The girl is also surprised to see the old man. "Gen'emon-san? You know each other?"
"Yes, he is my grandson. Genichirou, this is my Go teacher. Sensei, this is my grandson, Genichirou."
Genichirou returns to the chess centre the next day, this time without his grandfather. He finds the long haired girl again at the same corner, playing by herself.
The girl looks up and smiles as he approaches her and they play another game.
"You've gotten better." The girl licks her lips and places a chess piece on the board. It is an excellent move. Genichirou dwells upon it for a moment, and places another piece next to it. She nods in appreciation. "You should attend classes. You have good potential."
"I have tennis training. I do not have time." Plak!
"You play tennis?" Plak!
"Yes. I enjoy it very much." Plak!
"I see. I love playing chess as well." Plak! "I do not have a strong body, and chess is the only way I can truly battle."
Genichirou stares at the board. Without his notice, his territory has been attacked and is now rendered useless. He looks up at the girl. Her face is contorted, her eyebrows furrowed. Her style reminds him of Yukimura. The more you struggle, the more you fall into the trap. And there is no escape.
They go out for a drink. She orders a milk latte. He orders a cup of chilling lemon tea. His head throbs from all the concentrating when playing. He feels more worn out than after a tennis match.
Suddenly, something cool touches his warm forehead. She has placed his cold lemon tea against his skin. She grins.
"After an intense game and a lot of thinking, you usually get pretty heated up. Looks like you're not an exception." She brushes her fingers against his forehead. And frowns. "You're really hot." This time, she touches her whole forehead against his. His cheeks grow even warmer. Her frown remains on her face. "I think you have a fever, Sanada-kun."
A fever? Now that he thinks of it, he has felt a bit light-headed after the game. His surroundings grow fuzzy and suddenly colors dances across his eyelids. It gives him a headache.
They dance for a long time, and when they finally stop, he finds himself lying down on a bed. He feels something tickling his neck. It is a lock of dark, black hair. He twists his head and finds the girl fast asleep beside his head and his ears turn pink.
A man enters the room. He sits up immediately.
"Sanada-kun? You're up already? How are you feeling?" The man asks.
Genichirou nods. "Yes. I am feeling fine, thank you. May I ask where I am?"
"My daughter brought you here. This is a chess centre I own. You may feel free to stay here for as long as you like. I will contact you grandfather and let him know you are okay. He is extremely worried about you." The man smiles and leaves the room.
She stirs in her sleep. He brushes a strand of hair on her face. When she plays her chess, she is deadly. But now, she looks...vulnerable, finally like a person should look like.
Normally, her expression is guarded. When she smiles, there is a hint of emptiness in her face. As if she has pretended for too long.
He prefers this side of her much better. He lies down and closes his eyes again.
This time, when he wakes up, there is no one beside him. He cannot help but feel a bit disappointed. He swings his legs to the ground and stands up. The room is small. The bed is also a makeshift one. He is not meant to be here.
He steps out of the room and glances at his watch. It is nine o'clock, way past his curfew. His family will be worried. The chess centre is quiet, with only the sounds of chess stones hitting the board. He searches for her, and he finds her, playing against an opponent at least twice her age. Curious, he walks towards their game. She notices him and gives him a smile. And she turns back to her game, her smile fading.
She, the white side, is at an overwhelming advantage. All the black territory is surrounded and immobile. Her opponent mops his forehead and grimaces.
"As expected of Sensei, you don't go easy on anyone." Her opponent sighs.
"If I did, you will never learn, right, Yamamoto-san?" She smiles. "Let's stop here. We can play each other again sometime."
Yamamoto-san chuckles, "I hope not." And they tidy the chess stones. She turns to him. "Sanada-san, are you feeling better now?"
Genichirou nods curtly. "Yes, I am. I cannot thank you enough for your hospitality. But I must leave now. My family will be worried."
She smiles. "Sure. I'll tell Daddy you left. I'll see you again, Sanada-san." This time, her smile is more real.
She comes to one of his tennis games. He sees her and waves. He ignores the murmuring of his teammates as she walks over to him.
"Good morning, Sanada-san." She greets. "I wish you a good game."
"I do not need anyone's good wishes. I'll win of my own accord."
She smiles. "Ah, but it's good manners, no?"
And Genichirou could not find anything to say against that. She continues speaking. "Tennis must be pretty fun if you prefer it over Go. I'd love to try one day." Her tone is wistful.
Genichirou wanted to reply that Go was nowhere as stimulating as tennis was, but to her, it was probably the most important thing in her life, almost as important as tennis is to him. "In a way, it is like chess. You plan strategy, and you face your opponent head-on." He explains.
She raises an eyebrow. "Correction. You plan strategy, yes, but you do not face your opponent head-on. That gives holes in your play. Strategy is the key. You plan far ahead, and you only attack at the right time. Sometimes it's more advantageous to swallow your pride and hide in the shadows for a while. That does not mean you are weak. It means you are strong in your mind."
Genichirou was surprised to see her on his doorstep on a Sunday morning.
"What are you doing here?" He asks, incredulous.
"I'm here for your grandfather's chess lessons. His knees have been aching up lately and I offered to go to his home to teach instead." She smiles. "You're free to join us. I can afford one more student."
Her lessons are informative and precise. Today, she is teaching how to attack more deadly. "You think more ahead. You don't restrict yourself to one or a few moves further. The more you predict, the more of an advantage you have." She says, and places a few stones on the board. "Do not be rash. Think your plan through before you carry it out, or you may find that you lose more than you gain. See, you should look for flaws or holes, and attack them with precision. Against strong players, there is a gap in skill because the stronger have more experience, and they do not need to calculate as much. That gives them more space to think of other things. That is why you must attack precisely. You do not get much opportunities in a game. So when you get one, you use it wisely."
She puts a few more stones on the board. "Look, there is a gap here in this wall. If you can think of a way to sneak into the black territory with this gap, then you will immediately be at an advantage."
Genichirou frowns. The board is extraordinarily like a tennis court. The lines, the dimensions. He could see the ball flying across the board. Perhaps chess and tennis were not so different. If the piece of chess was the ball, then… "Couldn't we just put the stone in between the gap?"
She frowns. "You'd be blocked immediately. Didn't I tell you to think ahead?"
Genichiou furrows his brows. Chess and tennis did not go together after all.
They played a game after the lesson. She played them both at the same time. Her moves are so accurate they are deadly. It is as if she can see through every move in a blink of an eye. All traps laid out for her are easily evaded.
It makes Genichirou wonder, who exactly is this girl.
He types her name on the search bar. Dozens of websites pop out on the screen. His eyes pop out. There is actually a Wikipedia section just for her.
Hoshizaki Miura - 14 years old - female
She has been playing Go since a young age, and has showed great talent in that area. She was the 1st runner-up in the World Go Championships. She is the only female 14-year old in Japan to have achieved the professional 5 dan level. She is a member of the Japan Go Association, and one of its prided students. She has attempted the (1) Kisei Competition last year, and got into the semi-finals. She announced that she would attempt again next year and aim for the top three after she was dropped from the Kisei Competition.
(1) Kisei Competition: The most high leveled Go competition in Japan, where only the best of the professionals compete.
Genichirou switches off his computer. There is yet so much undiscovered to her.
They meet in a cafe. She is surprised. "Hey," she grins. He nods in reply. He still remembers the website he saw that day.
They sit down together at a table. He does not know what to say. His heart yearns to ask more about her. At first glance, she is just like any teenager. Her face does not give away any secrets. He realizes apart from her Go, he knows little to nothing about her.
So he decides to start with something he does know. A bit.
"You father...he is a good man. Please thank him for me." He tipped his head and adjusted his cap.
She gives a small smile. "Yeah, I'll do that. He is the best dad anyone could ask for. I can't live without him. Oh, don't be jealous. Your grandfather's a sweetheart too." She teases.
Genichirou blinks. Sanada Gen'emon and the word 'sweetheart' were not two words you used in a sentence.
She makes sense of his confused face and laughs. "You look just like him, you know? Especially when you make that cute face like you don't know what's going on."
He immediately scowls. She just laughs even harder. "You know what? You look even more like him when you do that. He looks exactly like that whenever I beat him. You two are so alike. That stupid 'Sanada' pride. I bet the rest of your family is like that too. Must be tough dealing with sixty more egos like yours." Then, she laughs again.
"I-I do not have an ego."
"Oh please, Sanada-kun. I probably know you better than you do. Chess doesn't lie. When you play, you're telling me everything about you."
And he knows. Because that's how tennis is as well.
END
A/N: Review. I mean it. Seriously, review, guys. I'm dying. This is bad, but I want to know what you think.