A/N: Thanks to Amarthame for her incredible help!

Edit 09/10/09: Touya's Insightful Insight is a bit less insightful and tacky. No real change though.


Chapter 8

It was getting late, and Igo Ramen was slowly emptying. Finally. It meant that Hikaru's workload was getting lighter and that he could spare a few minutes every now and then to concentrate on the small TV he had installed in the corner, both to allow his customers to watch and to watch it himself. At the moment, GoTV was showing brief recaps of every single one of today's matches at the World Amateur Go Championship. This year, 76 nations had participated, and it had gone on in its usual 8-round Swiss style (1).

Swiss Pairing was a tournament system that had been invented to address the problems of round-robin and single-knockout. Round-robin required too many rounds, and single-knockout left too many players idle after the first few rounds. Swiss Pairing on the other hand worked by awarding players points after each round, one for winning and none for losing. Then, in the next round, players with equal point scores had to play each other. The person with the highest score after all 8 rounds was the winner.

The eight rounds of the WAGC were distributed over four consecutive days, with one round in the morning and one in the afternoon. That meant that, with 76 participating nations, there were 76 games a day for GoTV to comment upon. During the actual rounds, GoTV focused heavily on the main contestants, but in the evening, after the rounds were over, GoTV gave a brief summary of that day's games.

This year, there were a few very strong European players, predominately from Eastern Europe. And there was one guy from South America who also had a chance of making it into the top five. But, as usual, Asian players dominated the field with China, Korea, and Japan fighting for the title. Although, surprisingly, the guy from Czech Republic was keeping up right with them, better than Hong Kong and Taiwan.

Now that the sixth round was over, the main contest had been reduced to Arawaki Hideo, Zhang Suyang, Choi Han-Seam, and Ondrej Kulkov. All four of them had either five or six points, with the rest of the contestants scoring four or lower. The next day was going to decide which one of them was going to get the title.

Of course, Hikaru was hoping that Arawaki-san would get it, but he didn't think Arawaki's second confrontation with Choi Han-Seam in Round 7 was going to end any better than his first. In the fifth round, Arawaki had already faced the Korean, and he had lost by quite a margin. On the other hand, Choi had lost against Kulkov, who in turn had been defeated by the South American. Zhang was the only one to remain undefeated so far; on the other hand, Zhang hadn't had an encounter yet with any of the other top four. He'd have to survive first Kulkov, and then the winner of Arawaki vs. Choi.

This was going to be interesting.

The jingling of the door bell made him look up from the game of Greece vs. Panama. Compared to Japan or Korea, both Greece and Panama were barely at insei level, and it showed in their scores. Both of them had one point each, and they'd probably score in the high fifties or low sixties in the overall ranking. Watching their game was far less interesting than seeing that Touya Kisei had just entered Igo Ramen.

It had been about a month since Touya's last visit, on the evening he had gained the Kisei title. So, Hikaru supposed, it was just about time Touya came by once again.

"Hello, Touya-sensei! How is the Juudan tournament going?"

The pro smiled. "I will have to play Ogata-Tengen next week for the right to challenge Isumi-Juudan. You are watching the World Amateur Go Championship?"

"Yes. Waya 7-dan and Kurata 9-dan are overseeing it, aren't they? The camera caught them a few times."

"I think there also is a pro from the Kansei Ki-in, but I can't remember his name. And since Arawaki-san announced that he was going to take the pro-exam this year, there is a group of insei there, too. To scout out the competition, I think."

Hikaru laughed. "That's quite sensible, isn't it? After all, Arawaki-san easily is as good as any insei. I think he even has been able to hold his own against a few low-ranked professionals. Oh, but I've completely forgotten that you must be hungry. Your usual?"

"No problem. And I've been told I need to try the Go special."

Hikaru froze in his tracks. Touya Kisei didn't just ask for a Go special, did he? "… Eh, you do know that the Go special isn't intended to challenge a title-holder, don't you?"

"Yes, I do."

For a while, Hikaru waited whether the pro would elaborate, but apparently Touya had exhausted his conversational capabilities. That was a bit surprising, since the man always was very polite and watchful of the rules of small-talk, and going by those rules, one couldn't just let such a statement hang in the air.

Finally, Hikaru sighed. "Alright, alright. One Go special. You know, it would be easier if I gave you the popsicle right now."

The pro smiled slightly. "But that would defeat the purpose of demanding your Go special, wouldn't it?"

Hikaru rolled his eyes. "I stand corrected."

He got out all the problems he had for pro-level, the same ones he had handed Ogata a week ago plus an additional one he had made in the meantime. "Since you obviously came here to get ice cream, do you care which kind of ramen you get with the Go special? Should I make your usual, or do you want to try something else?"

"The usual, please."

Nodding, Hikaru handed over the six professional-level tsumego pages and a pen. "Knock yourself out. Well, at least it might keep you busy until you get your ramen."

"Thank you very much." Touya's bowl-cut bobbed politely as he took a seat at the counter and begun studying the pages.

Hikaru shook his head and went off to prepare the food. First Ogata's visit last week, and now Touya. There was no way that that was coincidence. Had Waya 7-dan's big mouth reached even more people than he thought (Ogata apparently had overheard Waya 7-dan and Isumi Juudan discussing Igo Ramen and its owner), or was that Ogata's fault?

With half an ear, he listened to the GoTV commentator who was now giving the highlights of Hong Kong vs. Bulgaria. The other half was tuned in to his customers and the regular noise of Igo Ramen.

A couple was holding hands at the table right below the TV, caring only about themselves and the low conversation between them. Even their ramen seemed to take a secondary role. An older man seated near the register was slurping occasionally, never looking up from his mechanical intake of food. A group of high school boys seated at a table next to the only window was growing louder, joking with each other. And a middle-aged woman on the other end of the counter seemed to be unable to take her eyes off Touya.

If she were a school girl, all the looking up and looking away again and blushing would have been cute. In a 40 year old businesswoman – not so much.

While he was waiting for the noodle timer, Hikaru tried to decide whether he should say something. He wasn't sure where that infatuation came from – whether the woman recognized Touya as a pro, or whether she simply liked his looks. If she was merely looking, that was no problem, but if she started to make a move, Hikaru would have to find a tactful way of telling her of Igo Ramen's policy regarding pros. But he'd cross that bridge when he came to it.

Then the noodle timer beeped and Hikaru quickly prepared Touya's ramen bowl. "Here you go."

He set it in front of the distracted pro, who just nodded absentmindedly. Touya had all six pages spread around him, frowning at them. He looked from one to the other and back again, frowning even more.

Hikaru raised an eyebrow. He didn't know what was so frown-worthy, but he guessed Touya would eventually tell him. In the meantime, he focused back on the television, catching the deciding hand of Israel vs. Brazil. And from the corner of his eye, he saw that the middle-aged woman was still sneaking glances at Touya.

But just when he decided to talk to the woman, she shook herself and turned towards Hikaru. "Check, please."

Hikaru quickly rang her up. "630 Yen, please."

She gave him 700, and he returned her change. "Thank you very much for visiting Igo Ramen. Have a nice evening!"

She nodded and briskly walked out of the diner, back to the cool businesswoman she had been.

Meanwhile, it was Norway vs. Russia, and Russia clearly was the better player. Norway had to resign before reaching end game. A quick glance around the room to see whether his customers needed anything revealed Touya chewing absentmindedly on his ramen while he studied the tsumego intently. Everyone else though seemed content.

Italy lost against England, and Mozambique against Georgia. The old man paid for his ramen, and a mother with two sons entered. She was carrying two gym-bags, probably the boys' for some kind of extracurricular sport. The younger of the sons (barely 10) demanded a Go special, whereas the older (early teens) was too cool for that.

Their mother glanced around the restaurant, saw Touya's very recognizable bluish-green bowl-cut and did a double-take. With wide eyes, she looked at Hikaru. Hikaru smiled at her and placed his index finger in front of his lips, in the universal gesture of keeping silent.

Nodding slightly wide-eyed, she turned out a nice smile and placed her order – one Go special shouyu, one regular miso, and one regular shouyu. All three with pork and seasonal vegetables, and eggdropps for the miso. She took her children to the table the businesswoman had just left, watching indulgently over her youngest while he was trying to solve some 15-kyu tsumego. And although she couldn't help one or two glances at Touya, she neither called her children's attention to him nor bothered him for an autograph or conversation or anything else fans were so fond of.

One more success for Igo Ramen's pro-policy.

Once everyone had their own ramen bowl, Hikaru went back to watching TV. Touya Kisei certainly was taking his time – he was still busy studying the six tsumego in front of him. Surely they weren't that interesting?

Meanwhile, GoTV had started covering the afternoon matches, showing that Panama didn't have a chance against Venezuela, and that France had lost to Taiwan. Georgia had once again been victorious, Argentina too.

"Hey, Mister!"

Hikaru looked away from the TV to see the younger boy standing next to Touya, tugging on his suit jacket. The older was too preoccupied with his ramen to take notice of what his brother was doing, and their mother was nowhere in sight, probably on a bathroom break. Obviously the boy had taken advantage of that.

With amusement, Hikaru watched the pro startle and turn around. "Hm?"

The boy thrust his papers at Touya and asked in a conspiratorial voice, "Hey, Mister, you look like you know lots of Go, so can you tell me if I got it right? I need to get the ice cream, you know?"

Hikaru had to keep himself from laughing out loud. He'd bet nobody had ever approached Touya Kisei not because he was Kisei but because he 'looked like he knew lots of Go'.

Touya seemed similarly amused and raised an eyebrow. "You do know that the Go special demands that you solve it on your own."

The boy nodded enthusiastically. "Yep! I don't want you to help me, just tell me if I got it right."

Helplessly, Touya looked up at Hikaru, silently asking what he should do. Hikaru wasn't sure whether that was because the pro had no clue how to react to the boy, or whether he was trying to ask if he was allowed to help at all.

Shrugging slightly, Hikaru mouthed back that it was Touya's call; that way, Touya could claim that the boy had to do everything on his own if he was bothered by the child. Hikaru didn't think he was, but he didn't want to be presumptuous.

Nodding and smiling almost imperceptibly, Touya turned back to the boy who hadn't noticed their brief exchange. It seemed that Hikaru was a nonentity as far as the boy was concerned.

"Well then, let's have a look." Taking the boy's tsumego, the pro skimmed through them. "Hm. That already looks very good. But you should think again about those two problems. What would you do if I moved here?"

The boy clambered up onto the stool next to Touya, having to kneel on it to see over the counter. Chewing on his lip, he thought for a bit and pointed to an intersection with slightly pudgy fingers. "Then I go there."

The Kisei nodded, looking around searchingly. Finally, the pro tore a small piece off his napkin and used the pencil to color it black. Then he placed the make-shift Go stone on the spot the boy had pointed to. "I see." He tore off a second piece, this time not coloring it. "But then I would move here, and then all these stones are in Atari."

"Oh, that's right. Hmmm…" The boy frowned intently in concentration, trying to divine the answer. He was bent so far across the paper that his every breath made the improvised Go stones flutter in the wind. Touya merely kept watching patiently, some amusement still playing around the corners of his mouth.

In the meantime, the mother had reappeared from her bathroom break and looked worried that her youngest wasn't where she had left him. When she discovered him right next to the pro, she nearly had a heart-attack and looked mortally embarrassed to see her son bothering another customer.

Hikaru decided he should step in before a drama of epic proportions ensued. Touya didn't seem to mind, and the mother snatching her son away would cause a lot more commotion than simply letting everything play out.

He caught her eyes and motioned for her to come closer to the register where they might talk without disturbing either of the two discussing tsumego. "Its alright, your son isn't a bother. He hasn't recognized who he is talking to, so he isn't pestering Touya-sensei for an autograph or something. Your son merely is inquisitive, and he isn't doing any harm. They are merely talking about Go."

She was still hesitant. "Are you sure? Normally, Matsuo is such a shy boy, so I really don't know why he has approached Touya-pro all of a sudden."

Hikaru shrugged. "It seems that the ice cream is very important to your son. He thought Touya-sensei could help, so he asked him to check his answers. Don't worry, if Touya-sensei had minded, he would have told your son he wasn't allowed to help."

She threw an anxious glance at the two heads bent over the paper. "Well, if you think so…"

Smiling, Hikaru calmed her worries. "Yes, I do. And I will also keep an eye on him and send him back when he becomes a nuisance. Alright?"

Finally, the mother relented and bowed deeply. "Thank you very much. I am terribly sorry for causing so much trouble."

Hikaru waved her of. "As I said, don't worry. Just go back and enjoy your ramen before it gets cold."

Reluctantly, she returned to her older son, who was very bored. He had already finished off his ramen and was now letting his gaze wander idly from the TV (Italy vs. Spain) to the group of high school boys, to the couple who were leaning far enough across the table to bump heads, and back again. Apparently, he was quite disinterested in Go. His mother talked to him for a bit, but she continued throwing worried glances at her youngest.

Heading back to his cooking pots, Hikaru kept half an ear on the boy as he had promised, and so he caught the boy's remark about 'Mister' explaining everything just as good as the boy's teacher.

The pro took on an amused expression. "Really? Who is your teacher?"

"That's Umekawa-sensei! He's so good that playing Go is his job, and his classes are really fun!"

"Umekawa 4-dan?" Touya sounded about as incredulous as Hikaru felt, but the boy didn't seem to catch their surprise.

It was lucky that the boy's head was securely attached to his neck because he nodded so enthusiastically. "Wow, you know him? He's really good, isn't he?"

Hikaru almost raised an eyebrow. Was this the same Umekawa who had come in four years ago and thought, just because he was a pro, that the Go special would be too easy for him? If that was the case, then his teaching personality had to be a 180° turnaround from his behavior as a 2-dan.

Touya Kisei looked equally surprised for a moment but turned it into a smile. "I am sure you like him very much. Now, you've still got two wrong answers there, so I think you should work on them. And your mother is waiting for you, too."

Paling, the boy looked at his table and hurriedly got off the stool he was kneeling on. "You're right. Thanks, mister, I really need to go back. Thank you for all your help! Bye, mister!"

And off the boy went. Halfway to the table, he stopped dead in his tracks and went back to get his Go problems, which he had forgotten on the counter. "Hello! Bye again, mister!"

Once the boy was out of hearing range, Hikaru let out the chuckle he had been holding in. "Does that happen to you very often? Someone not recognizing you, but nonetheless asking you about Go?"

The pro shook his head. "Not here in Japan. But while I was traveling abroad, I had some very strange encounters. Originally, I had intended to distance myself from Go, but the more I ran away, the more often something Go-related crossed my way. And since nobody knew where I was and Westerners are very bad at recognizing Asian features, they didn't recognize me."

"I thought Go wasn't that big outside Asian countries? Then how did you run across it so often?"

"I don't know. While I was in Vienna, there was a Go convention. In Brussels, there was an EGF (2) tournament. In New York, the American Go Association had financed an exhibit of Origins of Go. And every second person I met seemed to be interested in Go."

Hikaru laughed at Touya's comically disgruntled expression. "But I bet that for every Go fanatic you ran across, there were at least five who didn't even know what Go was."

"That, too," the pro admitted. "After a while, it became quite tedious having to explain that, yes, it is indeed possible to make money playing a board game and that, no, Go is not Asian chess."

Ah. Hikaru could see how that would get annoying very soon. "How did you fare with the foreign languages? That must have been quite hard."

Touya shrugged. "In the bigger cities, I always found someone who could understand English. After a while, I didn't have much trouble anymore communicating in English. And Go is a universal language."

"I thought you wanted to get away from Go?"

"'Wanted' being the key word. I think I already told you how well that worked out. But then again, that made me realize I could actually play just for fun."

Hikaru was a bit taken aback by that. "You never had fun playing Go?"

Startled for a moment, the pro shook his head. "Sorry, that came out wrong. I like playing Go very much, but for my whole life, I've had to take every game very seriously. First because I had to learn, then because I had to prove myself, and then because a pro can't afford to give anything less than his best. It was a novel experience to play Go just for Go's sake."

"… you know, that's not a very good sales pitch for Professional Go," Hikaru mumbled.

Touya merely shrugged. "Hm. Personally, I think being a pro is a job like every other. There always will be times when you regret your choice, but you have chosen it in the first place because there was something that drew you to that profession. You just have to find again what it was you liked about it."

Slowly, Hikaru nodded. That actually sounded very reasonable. "You know," he quipped, "when I was younger, I wanted to become a soccer pro."

"But you became a ramen cook instead."

This stopped Hikaru dead in his tracks. Yes, somewhere down the line, he had given up his dream of becoming a soccer pro and instead gone for ramen. Why? Was that just because his parents hadn't believed he could make it? If he had really wanted to, he supposed he could have gone to a sports high school – he'd had enough talent for that, and even his coach had approached him.

But instead, he had thought nothing of following Sai's suggestion and asked Old Man Mizuhara for an apprenticeship. And he hadn't minded his choice because he loved ramen, and because…

"Because I could play Go." Hikaru mumbled.

"You became a ramen cook because you could play Go?" The surprise was clear in Touya's face.

That sounded a bit idiotic, indeed. "Eh, what I meant was that studying for ramen cook allowed me enough time to play Go. And, I guess I have also found a way of combining both my Go and ramen obsessions. And, voila, Igo Ramen."

He motioned around, since there were Go-related items virtually everywhere.

Touya smiled. "But you still like ramen enough that you don't want to give it up in favor of Go."

Well, that more or less hit the nail on the head. Hikaru had been trying to find arguments against turning pro for nearly a month. But in the end, what everything boiled down to was that one simple truth: he didn't want to give up Igo Ramen. But how had Touya seen to the heart of the matter so easily, when Hikaru had been dithering back and forth for weeks?

Touya didn't seem to mind or notice his momentary speechlessness and continued unhindered. "I told Ogata-san that anyone being at pro-level, but not having chosen to become a pro, had a reason. You know, he refused to believe me. He told me that anyone with a talent like yours had the duty to explore it to its fullest extent. He even showed me the last four games you played with him on the internet. He thinks you could become so much better in a proper environment. Do you know what I saw in those games?"

It was all Hikaru could do to shake his head.

"No? I saw someone who has enough talent that he is still growing, no matter where and how he plays. Contrary to most other amateurs, you haven't yet reached the full potential you can gain as an amateur. And you will continue improving until then. It will be very slow, a lot slower than your growth would be as a pro, but you will improve if you work on it. You don't need to become a pro right now. The only thing Ogata-san and I agree on is that we don't understand why you hide yourself away on the internet. But I guess there must be a reason for that as well."

Hikaru had to remind himself that, although flies were quite nutritious, he didn't really want to catch them with his mouth. It took quite a while for him to find his speech again. "I… I had a reason, but… I'm not sure it is valid anymore…"

Once again, everything began and ended with Sai. After getting the ghost, he hadn't wanted to be associated with Go. Then, he hadn't wanted to be confused with Sai. And after Sai had left, the incessant need to hide both his and Sai's skills in public had become ingrained so deeply that Hikaru had just continued the way he had always played. Alone, on the internet, and a few teaching games at Heart of Stone.

Was that really how he wanted to continue? Did he really want to hide forever?

Touya Kisei nodded and got up. Without hesitation, he left the exact amount of money for his meal. Their eyes met, and Hikaru almost shuddered at Touya's intense focus. This was the Kisei's expression, not the slightly awkward, socially inept Go-player.

"Should we ever meet across a goban, I will be looking forward to our game."

With those words, Touya Kisei left Igo Ramen. Hikaru almost didn't hear the bells jingle as the door slowly swung shut again. He was still far too frozen both by Touya's unexpected praise, the implications of everything Touya had revealed, and by his sudden glimpse of the Kisei.

Less than an hour later, he closed Igo Ramen early because he just couldn't concentrate.


"Congratulations, Shindou-kun! From now on, you can call yourself a full-fledged Ramen Chef!"

Hikaru smiled at Mizuhara-san. The man was slapping his shoulder with one of his huge, meaty hands, all the while shooting envious looks at his high school diploma.

Hikaru had just survived his graduation ceremony, where Hikaru had finally obtained the proof that those three long years of being a student at the same time as working nearly a full-time job had paid off. After the very stiff and formal event with lots of bowing and boring speeches (he had even fallen asleep once), Hikaru had made a last tour through Okinawa High and said good bye to his teachers and classmates. His mother, who had also attended the ceremony, had waited for him in front of the school gates. Apparently Mizuhara-san had showed up somewhere in the meantime, because they had been chatting happily when Hikaru had come to meet them. Very nice of the old man to come to his graduation.

Excitedly, Hikaru showed them both his new diploma. Hikaru was the proud owner of a certificate attesting him a slew of skills, of which the actual ramen cooking was only a small part. He had a healthy understanding of accounting, business management, advertising, health regulations and, to his horror, English.

Originally, he had thought he could get rid of English once and for all, but both Okinawa High and Mizuhara hadn't allowed him to quit. It was mandatory for all high school students to take English to their senior level, but at least Okinawa High offered special Business English classes. They had been a lot less brain-dead than middle school's texts about Sally and her dog Mandy.

Also, Mizuhara had insisted he take English because, since they were situated very close to central Tokyo, they got a lot of foreign business. And if he wanted to sell anything to foreigners, he'd have to be capable of communicating with them.

So Hikaru had been forced to suffer through another three years of English. At least now he had enough of a working knowledge to hold very basic conversations with non-Japanese people on NetGo. Not enough to really discuss games, but if he really wanted to, he could make himself understood at least. And many Go-related terms didn't need to be translated at all.

To his surprise, Sai had also learned quite a bit of English, more by osmosis than actual effort. Hikaru had used the ghost quite extensively to train his vocabulary – he had compiled vocabulary lists, placed them where only the ghost could read them, and then told Sai to quiz him. As soon as Sai had gotten a hang of the Latin alphabet, it had been quite an effective method of studying.

Well, but now, he'd never have to suffer through a boring English lesson ever again. No more Math, either! No more school!

In the background, he could see Sai sniffing and dabbing his eyes with a tissue he had somehow found in the depths of his wide sleeves. He couldn't hear the ghost over the din of over-excited students and their relatives, but Sai had made it more than clear that he was so very proud of Hikaru being the best cook in his year. Of course, there were only three other students who chose a chef career, but still…

"Congratulations, Hikaru. I'm very proud of you, and your father is, too."

His mother smiled up at him, showing Hikaru just how happy she was. Her traditional upbringing kept her from giving him any more physically oriented affection, and Hikaru was very relieved about that. More than a few of his classmates were being suffocated by their parents at the moment, and he had no intention of joining their ranks.

"Thanks, mom. It's really good to see that all your nagging has paid off." He grinned a lop-sided smile to take the sting out of his words. "When's dad going to be home? He said he'd take us out for dinner if I got a B average."

As usual, his father was out on a business trip, and Hikaru had forgotten how long it was supposed to last this time.

His mother's smile turned apologetic. "He called last night to say it will be at least one more week before he can come. There was an emergency in the plant in Nanjing, and they need him there until it is fixed. Oh, Hikaru, there is someone else who wants to see you!"

He turned around and followed his mother's gaze, landing on two familiar faces. He exclaimed in surprise, "Grandpa! Akari! What are you doing here? Akari, I though you still had some exams to sit?"

Akari's visit surprised him the most because he hadn't seen her at all the last few months. She was trying to get into Tokyo University to study economics, and so she'd been completely swamped with cram school, studies, and exam preparations. Additionally, she had decided to go to a different high school, one that fed directly into a lesser university, in case she didn't make Tokyo U. Although they were next-door neighbors, they had hardly seen each other during the last few years between Hikaru's work and her studies.

Her attendance of his graduation ceremony was a welcome surprise, although not in the way his mother (and hers probably, too) hoped. She was a good friend, but there were absolutely no amorous feelings between them. Remembering how she used to throw sand in his face on the playground when they were little could do that. And being forced to attend her tea ceremonies where he was supposed to play-act with some dolls – he still shuddered at those memories. No thanks.

At least their feelings were mutual – she had once told him that he still reminded her of that soccer-obsessed, money hungry video game maniac.

She was clad in her school uniform, and scowled at him fiercely. "Moron! Yesterday was my last entrance exam, and my graduation will be the day after tomorrow (3)! Now that you don't have the excuse of school anymore, you better show up, you hear?"

"But I've still got work!" Hikaru whined.

"Nonsense," Mizuhara-san interjected. "If you have enough time to play at Heart of Stone, you have enough time to go to a pretty girl's graduation."

"Heart of Stone?" Three people asked almost simultaneously with different levels of confusion.

Especially his grandfather, who hadn't gotten a word in yet, was put out. "Hikaru! That is a Go salon! What are you doing there? You never told me you could play Go!"

Oh, yeah, he had never gotten around to telling his grandfather. To think of it – he hadn't told anyone but Mizuhara-san and those old geezers at the salon that he played Go. Everyone looked quite surprised. Well, it seemed that now it was time to own up.

He shrugged deliberately nonchalantly. "Yeah, I've been playing for a bit. How do you know of Heart of Stone?"

"You? Play Go?" Akari apparently couldn't hold in her skepticism anymore. "What brought that on? Didn't you tell me that Go was only something for nerds and old geezers when I joined Haze Middle School's Go club?"

"Hikaru!" Both his mother and his grandfather exclaimed in scandal.

Mizuhara-san merely laughed. "Boys will be boys. What I hear from Kawai-kun, he's actually quite good."

That only made his grandpa madder. He gave Hikaru the evil eye. "You and I, my dear grandson, are going to have a game in the very close future! That will teach you to hide your skills from me!"

Suddenly, Sai popped up right next to him, tissue and tears exchanged for manic excitement. "Hikaru, Hikaru, you didn't tell me your grandfather could play Go!"

Of course, he should have known that any mention of the word Go would attract the ghost's attention. Where do you think I got you from? Your goban was in grandpa's shed.

At the same time, he tried to keep up with the conversation around him. Only long years of practice allowed him to be somewhat coherent with his focus split that much. "You're on! Prepare to get thrashed, old man!"

"Hikaru!" That was his mother, echoed by Sai. "Mind your manners, young man!"

"Sorry, sorry…" He couldn't help the grin that split his face though. It had been a long time since he had seen his grandfather, and an even longer one since the old man had shown so much enthusiasm. When he had been little, he had visited Heihachi quite often, but that had nearly stopped after middle school.

"Oh, and before I forget – grandfather, Akari, this is Mizuhara-san, the man who's tried to beat how to make ramen into my head for the past three years. Mizuhara-san, my grandfather Shindou Heihachi, and my neighbor and childhood-friend Fujisaki Akari. You all know my mom, so there's no need to introduce her."

That earned him a dirty glare from several parties before they exchanged greetings, and Mizuhara-san and grandpa immediately turned to each other to talk about Hikaru, Go, and ramen. Sai seemed torn between listening in on their conversation and hovering over Hikaru.

Hikaru and Akari looked at each other, not quite knowing what to say. It had been more than half a year since they had talked to each other beyond a hurried greeting when they saw each other on the street. Hikaru had grown so much that Akari's head barely cleared his shoulder, whereas before, they had been the same height.

"So," he cleared his throat, "you graduate on Friday. You already know where you're going afterwards?"

He tried not to mind his mother who had that chaperoning kind of look on her face that said that she was hoping there was a reason for her to be chaperoning them. Akari seemed equally uncomfortable now that it was only the two of them talking.

"Well, I already know that I passed the first two exams for Tokyo U, but the one yesterday was the deciding one. I hope that I did well enough… What about you?"

"Me? I'm definitely not going to any university, thank you very much. I'm going to stay with Mizuhara-san for a while longer as a full-time employee, and then I'm probably going to open my own ramen bar. Got to be sure I make enough profit though; rents here in Tokyo are astronomical."

She laughed. "You tell me! I have looked into getting a dorm room, and that's impossible to afford. The cheapest one I found is about 35,000 yen a month, and that's an hour from the economics building. It's good I can live at home, even if it's going to take two hours to get to university."

"TWO HOURS? Man, that's harsh. I'm really glad that Mizuhara's is only twenty minutes away – on foot. But I guess that when I've got my own shop, I'll try and get a room close by. For now, I'm still saving…"

"Mhm. I guess it takes a lot of capital to start up a business like that. But aren't you kind of young for that?"

Hikaru shrugged his shoulders. "Yeah. That's why I'm going to stay with Mizuhara-san for a while. And he's going to help me, especially in the beginning. What I need is a good business idea that makes me stand out from other ramen restaurants, so that I can get customers. Something more than simple ramen that you can get at every street corner stall."

"Hm. Maybe something like an internet or manga café (4), only with ramen instead of coffee?"

"Internet Ramen? Manga Ramen? Don't know about that. What about Arcade Ramen? Play as many arcade games as you can before your ramen turns cold?"

"Sounds like Super Mario Ramen: if you beat the level before your ramen gets here, you get it for half the price. The ramen, not the game."

"I know," Hikaru crowed, "Pacman Ramen! Eat the ramen before it eats you! Tetris Ramen! Stack as many ramen bowls as possible! Alien Space Invader Ramen!"

Akari snorted. "That's just like you. Shoot the vegetables before they harm the noodles."

They looked at each other and burst into laughter. Hikaru's mother, who was watching them, seemed a bit lost. It took a while until they calmed down enough to talk again like normal people.

By then, they had drawn the combined attention of Mizuhara-san and Hikaru's grandfather. "What's so funny, you two?"

"Alien Space Invader Ramen." Both Hikaru and Akari burst into laughter again. Hikaru had an especially hard time because Sai was questioning him about Alien Space Invader Ramen in his usual insistent manner.

A joke, he finally managed to think at the ghost, who didn't look as if he understood the whole thing any better with that explanation.

The two older men – Mizuhara-san was only about ten years younger than Hikaru's grandfather – exchanged glances, and then shook their heads simultaneously.

"I don't think that is something we need to understand," the old ramen chef commented. "Hey, Shindou-kun!"

Breathing in deeply, Hikaru tried to suppress his residual snickers. Akari's giggles though made that an exercise in self-control. "What?"

"We have to celebrate your diploma! I'm going to treat all of you to as much ramen as you can eat today!"

"Really?" Hikaru perked up. Even after working at the place for three years, he hadn't gotten tired of Mizuhara's ramen yet. "Awesome! Everyone, come on, you're going to get the best ramen in all of Tokyo!"

"Hikaru! It is four in the afternoon," his mother interrupted.

Hikaru was confused. "So what?"

"It is too early for dinner."

"It's not! It's going to take us at least half an hour to get there, and besides, I skipped lunch today! I'm hungry!"

Mizuhara snorted. "You're always hungry. It's a wonder you haven't turned as round as a ball yet."

"Hey, I'm a growing boy."

"The question is which way you are growing – height or width?"

Hikaru threw his audience, which was quite amused by their banter, a pleading glance. "Help?"

Heihachi sighed. "Well, Mitsuko, I think we can make an exception for today. It's the boy's graduation after all."

Hikaru nodded enthusiastically. "That's right! Now, let's go!"


(1): WAGC: In 2009, 66 nations participated. I assumed that it's not too unbelievable to have that number climb to 76 by 2012.

(2): EGF: European Go Federation

(3): I'm not sure if there's a nation-wide graduation day in Japan – I simply assumed there isn't and that the schools can choose either individually or by prefecture.

(4) manga café: just like internet café; only that you pay for reading manga instead of surfing on the internet.


A/N:

Several people asked about Hikaru's fluctuating strength, and the disparity in his feats of barely beating Arawaki, yet going almost toe-to-toe with Ogata. But, like in so many cases, there are mitigating factors that help keep everything in proportion.

Generally, Hikaru is a tad better than Arawaki Hideo, that year's representative in the WAGC, but he has to struggle against him. Arawaki Hikeo is approximately as strong as the top 3 insei, meaning that Hikaru would probably struggle against them, too. And since there are some insei that have the strength of 3-4p, I'd say Hikaru is at that level approximately in the present.

Someone commented that it's ridiculous to have shodans that have the strength of 3-4p, but a disparity of ranking and actual strength is not too unusual. Since ranks are determined by the number of wins (you need to win 30 games as a 1p to advance to 2p) and not a win/loss ratio (even if you lose 200 games before winning the 30th, you will be promoted to 2p just like the guy who won 30 games in a row), it is not a very accurate measure of strength in the lower ranks.

Now, deshi coming within 3.5 moku of seiji: I don't think this goes counter to Hikaru being at 3-4p level.

First off, amongst professional ranks, there's only 1/3 – ½ stones difference between ranks. That means that Hikaru's about 2 stones weaker than Ogata. Now, in the internet ranking system, a difference of 1 stone means that the stronger player will win 80-90 percent of all games. I'm not sure whether that extends to pro ranks as well, but for the sake of simplicity I assumed so.

Secondly, seiji has more or less said it himself: can he give it his all at 3 am in front of a computer with only an hour thinking time each? Ogata is used to having at least 90 min of thinking time, and he used his game against deshi as a rebound from losing Kisei to Touya. I think it's excusable that Ogata didn't play at his full strength, giving Hikaru a larger chance of winning. And remember – although Hikaru is coming closer, he hasn't managed to beat Ogata yet.

Another important point though is that I deliberately left Hikaru's strength vague and open to interpretation. He definitely is at the top of the world's amateurs, but it always is hard making a comparison between amateur strength and pro strength. While amateurs can have brilliant games that can rival those of any pro, the pros have more of a continuative strength. After all, they need to play on a very high level every day instead of having a few tournament highlights a year. Go to Sensei's Library to the discussion about amateurs if you want to know more about this.

Well, I hope I cleared up some of the confusion about Hikaru's strength. Thank you very much for all your great reviews, I appreciate them very much. Oh, and the next chapter is going to take a while because it's very closely connected to chapter 10, and I haven't finished ch.10 yet (chapter 11, the last one, is complete though).

Sakiku