Silent Rivalry
Mr. Ochi means Ochi's grandfather although Ochi is the surname.
So when I refer to Ochi, I means Ochi Kousuke because throughout the series, he was mostly referred as Ochi. This was to prevent confusion.
Note: As you all know, Hikaru no go belongs to Hotta Yumi and Obata Takeshi. This fanfic is just based on my thoughts and if there is any similarity to other fanfics of hng, it is purely coincidental.
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Ochi stared at the board indifferently. "What a boring game. The opponent is so weak," he thought silently.
"I lost," The guy bowed in defeat. Ochi returned the bow out of manner.
"Thanks for your guidance," he said politely, out of courtesy but not meaning it .
He stood up, walking out of the room to record the result, not even glance once at his opponent. Instead, he turned his head slightly to the right.
At the guy with green hair.
Touya Akira.
The only one who he regarded as his rival, his opponent.
However, Touya did not see it as the same way as him. There was only one person he seen as his rival and till now, that did not change. He stared hatefully at the person sitting opposite Touya.
Shindo Hikaru.
He was extremely jealous of him because he was the only person Touya regarded as a rival and that fact did not change despite so many years. As for when Touya see Shindo as a rival, he did not know but for sure, it was earlier, before he even knew about it. Maybe about the time when the rumour about Touya seeing Shindo as his rival spreaded.
Why him? Why Shindo?
He hated it.
"How's your game? Did you win?" Ochi's rich grandfather asked. Then, he hit his forehead stupidly. "What a dumb question, you definitely win."
"Yea. I won," Ochi replied coolly.
"That means you'll rise to 3-dan?" His tone full of delight.
"That has been decided weeks ago," Ochi answered arrogantly.
Ochi's grandfather laughed. "True." Kousuke was his favourite grandson and also the grandson he was most proud of. He is the only member in the family that became a Go professional and came top in the Pro exam and now, rising to 3-dan. He was glad that his decision to send Kousuke to the Insei school and invited Go Pros to tutor him were not wrong.
"Want to have a party to celebrate that happy occasion? I'll invite those Go professionals and my business associates," Mr. Ochi started ranting excitedly about the preparations he had to do.
"Anything. I'm going back to my room," Ochi informed and without waiting for a word, he went up the stairs.
Plasma TV, a Go board made of the most expensive and best quality wood, shelves of Go-related books, a king-size bed, a study table made up of redwood and a big leather chair. Everyone envied him for having such a richly furnished room but not him. He did not think of it as a big deal at all. Since young, whatever he wants, he would get. So, it was perfectly understandable why he was immune to all these luxuries, taking it for granted. Due to his rich family background and family pampering, he soon turned into an arrogant boy. He never bothered about the people around him and whatever they said about him. To him, they were insignificant. The only thing that mattered was his Go skills and to be the top.
Until the day his grandfather invited him over to tutor Go.
Touya skill in Go amazed him greatly. It was then he understood why people wanted to compete with him and why everyone in the Go world thought so highly of him. For the first time, he properly looked at someone. He regarded Touya as his rival but all he cares and sees is Shindo. Shindo. Shindo.
When Touya first came, the way he was so concerned about Shindo, thinking so highly of him angered him somehow and his pride did not allow him to accept that. So, he chased Touya out, after telling him that he would win Shindo by his own strength, without his help and by then, he would notice him, Ochi Kousuke, as his rival. However, Shindo speed improvement worried him, shaking his firm stand and without much choice, he accepted Touya as his tutor.
During his tutorage, Touya came often and thought him a lot but one thing never changed. He was just a substitute to measure Shindo's ability. During the Pro exams, towards his results, Touya said he was glad for him but he knew that Touya did not care. When asked about Shindo's result, Touya had a totally different expression. He the top passer could not even be competed against Shindo, who had three losses. His tolerance burst when Touya said, "If you underestimate him, you'll lose." Unable to stand being unacknowledged anymore, Ochi asked him to recognize him as his rival and let him joined the Touya Meijin study group if he won Shindo. Touya agreed and the match began.
He played seriously but Shindo managed to overturn the game and compensated for the serious mistake he made. As expected, Touya came to his house at the night but he refused to see him, refused to show him the game. Called him selfish or petty but he did not want Touya to see Shindo's brilliance.
Then, he thought he finally had a chance to be on the same stand as Touya by being a Japan representative in the Hokuto Cup but then there was Yashiro from the Kansai Institute, who was stronger than him.
However, that does not mean he is weak. He is never weak. He would make Touya seen him as his rival, one day.
At the Tokyo Go Institute, outside the lift,
"Hi," Touya greeted politely.
"Hi," he greeted back with the same politeness.
"Got a match today?" Touya asked.
He nodded.
The lift arrived and both of them entered. Silence filled the atmosphere of the lift.
"Congratulations on your win of your match a few days ago," Touya suddenly spoke.
"Thank you. I've risen to 3-dan," he informed coolly.
"That's great. With your ability, I'm not surprised."
"And you've risen to 4-dan," Ochi added.
Touya smiled faintly.
The lift stopped. They had reached.
Outside, they saw small group of people everywhere, chattering together. Shindo, Isumi and Waya were at the counter near the lift, Waya leaning against it while Shindo and Isumi stood around him, forming a small circle.
"Hi Touya!" Shindo greeted casually upon noticing his arrival. Waya just gave him a slight nod while Isumi greeted politely.
"Hi Ochi," This time, Shindo voice was more polite, more formal.
Ochi stared at them and then entered the room, his head rose high. Shindo, Isumi and Waya were not offended, getting used to his arrogance.
"Next year and we are unable to see each other often as you rise to 5-dan while I'll just be a 3-dan," Shindo sighed. "It's expected but still hard to accept it."
"We still have the preliminaries of various title tournaments that we can meet".
"True. Touya, I'll catch up to you soon. Be prepared," Hikaru swored smugly.
"Come if you can," Touya answered back, believing that Shindo could do so and it would be soon. After the Hokuto cup, Hikaru improved tremendously and developed some new tactics which he experienced it in the match a few days back. Touya tried to contain his smile as he thought of it. A very satisfying game.
The sound of the bell signaled the beginning of the match.
Everyone soon was in their designed place.
Touya gazed intensely at the top left corner, where Shindo was sitting, his eyes not hiding his seriousness and showing the high respect he have for Hikaru, his destined rival.
This did not go unnoticed. Ochi saw it. He sulked, displeased. As expected, he could only see Shindo, no other person. However, he would not give up. He would continue improving his Go skills until Touya see him as a worthy rival.
How does you all feel about this story? Hehe, got inspired quite some time ago but just lazy totype it out.Ochi is quite admirable, in a sense of the Hokuto cup, he challenged Yashiro, wanting to make sure who is more worthy of being selected. Like my other stories, it is only 1 chapter. Does anyone know, at which dan then are you considered as the upper dan? Is it from 5 onwards? And I'm at a hard end of choosing the title, silent/unrecognized rivalry was more suitable for this story? Comments anyone?
Crazeblue27