The Never-ending Road: Chapter 10 – Go Class Reminiscence

By Leitbur

Hikaru yawned as he approached the Community Center building. It seemed as if it had been an eternity since he had been here last, but in reality it had been little more than two years ago. Akari had mentioned back then that Shirakawa had been inquiring about him, and he had gone to visit, much like he was again today. The difference now was that he was visiting not as an enthusiastic Go player, but as a pro, as Shirakawa's equal.

Stepping through the doorway into the building lobby, Hikaru glanced over at the vending machines on the wall and memories flooded back into his mind. Sai had been so fascinated by those machines that everyone else took for granted. In fact, Sai had found so many of the modern conveniences that everyone enjoyed so amazing; looking at the world with eyes open. It was one of the many things that Hikaru missed.

"Hikaru, what are you doing here?"

Glancing over to where the voice had come from, Hikaru spotted the elderly lady who had once suggested that they were rivals since they had both just started recently. Come to think of it, he had never asked for her name. "Hello. I was asked by Shirakawa-sensei to come today."

Her hand moving to her lips, the lady then smiled and replied, "Oh, I see. My, I'm sure Akari will be so happy to see you. She's been keeping us informed on your pro advancement. And to think you started learning a month after I did."

Just then the door to the Community Center opened, and Hikaru turned to see who had arrived and froze. Standing in the doorway, frozen in surprise herself, was Akari. Recovering first, Hikaru smiled warmly. "Hi Akari, it's been-"

"HIKARU!" Akari's face lit up as she ran over, stopping just short lest she tackle him in a hug. "I can't believe you're here. It's been so long since the last time we were together. I've been wondering how you were doing and all, but you've just been so busy it seems studying Go, and I just didn't want to bother you. Oh, but now you've come here. Did Shirakawa-sensei ask you to come?"

Taken slightly aback by the onslaught of commentary and questions, Hikaru scratched the back of his head for a moment and laughed. She was still full of energy. "Yeah, Shirakawa-sensei asked me to come today, said I could help out with the class. You're right though, it has been awhile, since graduation right?"

Akari nodded, a bright smile plastered across her face. "Oh, I heard you got to play against Akira Toya again. Sorry to hear you lost, I know you really wanted to beat him."

Hikaru nodded, his smile declining only slightly at the mention of his rival. "Yeah, but there will be other games. I'll beat him sooner or later."

"Beat Toya 3 – Dan, that sounds like a tall order, even for you Shindo."

Both Hikaru and Akari turned to see Akota walking into the building, the backward baseball hat still acting as a replacement for his wig. Smiling at him, Hikaru replied, "I only lost by half a point last time. Defeating him isn't a dream."

Akota just nodded with a smirk. "Well, good luck either way. It won't be easy." He then walked off towards the Go classroom.

Turning back to look at Hikaru, Akari said, "Well we should get going too. The class will be starting soon."

Hikaru nodded, then glanced up at the television sitting on a shelf in the upper corner of the room. It was showing the 6th game of the Honinbo Finals between Kuwabara Honinbo and Ogata Judan. It was only the first day of the two-day match of course, so the game wouldn't be decided until tomorrow. Still, with Kuwabara leading the best of seven series three games to two, it could be the last game of the series. It was a game that Hikaru would have normally preferred to watch, but today he was here to see Akari. Pulling his eyes away, he smiled again at Akari and the pair made their way towards the Go classroom.

Taking a seat at one of the tables across from one another, Hikaru and Akari turned to look up to the front of the room where Shirakawa was standing as usual next to the large upright Go board diagram he used for discussing Go problems. By now such things were commonplace to Hikaru, who had seen them used by several pros at Youth Go competitions and such for their lectures on the games. Though he hadn't actually done it himself yet, he was fairly certain that sometime in the future he too would be up at a diagram like that discussing Go problems.

Shirakawa's lecture began and several minutes into it Hikaru began to yawn. While the fundamental fuseki that Shirakawa was discussing was probably quite interesting and helpful for many of the players here, it was boring for someone of Hikaru's level. He didn't mean to seem disinterested, he just knew all of this already to a point where such moves were second nature, not to mention many variations on it.

Trying to find something to keep his interest, not to mention to keep him from falling asleep, Hikaru glanced over at Akari. She was listening to Shirakawa rather intently as he went into a discussion on the nadare. Smiling, Hikaru sighed deeply. It certainly was nice to see Akari again. It was weird really, even though he hadn't spent time in the Haze Go Club for a long time, he had still seen her in the hallways at school on non-game days. Now though he was done with school, and while she was off at high school, he had his job to focus on, his Go.

Realizing that he was staring, Hikaru jerked his head away with a slight tinge of red in his cheeks. Still, the truth did remain that he and Akari were now in separate worlds, and how that would effect their friendship, the relationship they had with one another, was certainly in question. How did other pro players handle it? Did friends not in the Go Pro world drift away, lost to the devotion to the game? He certainly hoped not, but then he wasn't about to give up his study of Go either. It was a vexing issue that he'd have to address one of these days. Maybe he could ask Waya about it, or Akira.

Akira, that brought back memories. Glancing back up at the board to see Shirakawa in a detailed discussion of the large nadare joseki, Hikaru remembered his first few times coming here, and finding himself just as bored watching as he was today. He had no idea what was being said back then, not even knowing how to capture stones at that point. That was when he'd dumped the bowl of Go stones on Akota's head, pulling his wig off in the process. Shirakawa had scolded him that day, although everyone else had found it quite amusing.

Then the next Sunday came when he only made things with Akota worse, spitting his soft drink at him after an unexpected wig change. This had prompted Shirakawa to kick him out for the day, and after much pleading from Sai, he had gone to the Akira's family Go Salon to play. That had been where it all began, Sai's games against Akira, the passion of Akira's play, Hikaru finding his own passion through seeing Akira's in action…

Now that he thought about it, it was almost as if fate itself had led him to that Go Salon, and there his destiny had begun.

"Hikaru, would you come up here and help me discuss this please."

Hikaru snapped back into reality and looked up to the front to find everyone in the room staring back at him, including Akari. Flushing at the sudden attention, Hikaru let out a sigh and stood up from his seat. Fine, he'd help with the discussion. Maybe it'd help keep him from being bored.

Looking up at the diagram as he made his way forward, Hikaru saw that Shirakawa had finished with the large nadare and had begun to discuss what appeared to be the beginning of the double hane nadare. Well it was easy enough to explain. As he reached the front, Hikaru waited as Shirakawa returned to the lecture.

"Now, as we saw before, Black would normally play here at 4-6 in a typical nadare, but another variation of it called the double hane nadare responds to White's last move by forming a double hane at 5-2 here. Now Hikaru, would you like to explain White's next move?"

Taking a deep breath, Hikaru took one of the magnetic white stones and turned towards the diagram. "Ok, well normally White would respond with an atari at 4-2, although I have played games where my opponent has chosen to simply counter the potential atari that the hane creates by playing at 6-3 like this. This however allows Black to play away at this point, and takes some of the tension out of both sides. Playing 4-2 here is more common."

Smiling, Shirakawa nodded his head and then added, "Yes, thank you Hikaru. Black of course responds to block the capture here at 3-3, and White then has a second atari to play here at the 6-2 point. Black's stone at 5-2 is now dead. Since the stone is dead, black has the option of either playing a tenuki, or he can move to enclose at 4-6 here."

Hikaru watched as Shirakawa placed the magnetic stones. Nope, this wasn't much better than when he was sitting down across the room. Shirakawa continued, "Now, with White moving to prevent further atari and to strengthen himself at 6-4, where should Black play from here?"

A voice shouted out from the listeners, "3-2."

Hikaru chuckled lightly to himself. That wasn't-

"Correct. 3-2 is a big move for Black, and will help to secure the corner immensely."

Hikaru's turned in a flash towards Shirakawa. Correct? That wouldn't have been my move at all, at least not yet. Seeing that Shirakawa was about to continue, Hikaru quickly interjected, "Umm Sensei, sorry but actually I don't like the move at 3-2 just then."

Now it was Shirakawa's turn to direct his eyes towards Hikaru, followed by the rest of the class. He had obviously not expected this. A curious smile creeping across his lips, Shirakawa replied, "Is that so Hikaru? Well then, where would you have played?"

Turning to the diagram and taking off the black stone at 3-2, Hikaru answered, "I'd have attached here at 6-5 instead. It's far more influential."

As the stone stuck to the diagram board, Hikaru heard several intakes of breath from the class, but otherwise silence. Glancing up to Shirakawa, Hikaru saw the instructor's face go from surprise to a wide grin. This caused Hikaru to grin as well as Shirakawa responded. "Well, that is certainly a fine move as well. And you're right, it does allow Black to have more influence. It's a somewhat forceful move, but it certainly has strength since White has to respond. I assume then that you'd have White respond with a hane at 7-5 then?"

Hikaru nodded. "Yeah, White needs a forceful response, and then I'd respond with a hane of my own at 7-6 to keep White from trying an atari, since the block would only help me capture these stones here."

Shirakawa nodded, his respect for Hikaru showing in the way he looked at him and spoke. He had encountered this variation once before, but in the game record where he had seen it appear Black had not played it very masterfully, and he had come away feeling that the 3-2 was a better move. Still, watching Hikaru explain his reasoning for liking the variation, it certainly was looking better in this new light. Hikaru continued meanwhile undeterred. "So with White blocking at 8-5, Black can secure with a move to 5-6, and then White will probably hane at 8-6 at which point Black can move to 3-7 to further support, or he can finally make the move at 3-2 securing the corner."

Nodding his head pleasantly at the diagram board, a large grin plastered across his face at seeing the young prodigy at work, Shirakawa thanked Hikaru then turned to the class and said, "Ok everyone, let's play some games."

Turning to leave the front of the room, Hikaru began to make his way back to his seat. This had been the real reason had agreed to come, a chance to play against Akari, to see how strong she had become since their last game almost a year before. The day before he finally played Akira equally as a pro.

As he made his way back however he was intercepted by several members of the class, all of who wanted to ask for a teaching game. Smiling weakly as he attempted to politely decline their requests, Hikaru glanced back over them and his hopes faded. Akota had joined Akari, and the pair were now setting up to play a game of their own. This meant that for the moment, Hikaru would be unable to play her. Resigning himself to this fact, Hikaru let out a soft sigh and returning his attention to the anxious class members reluctantly agreed to play them in a teaching game. "Bring three boards together, we can play all three at once."

One of the class members replied, "All of us at once? Are you sure about that?"

Hikaru nodded with a smirk. It wasn't like he hadn't done it numerous times in the past. "Yes, I'm sure. I'll be white, so just tell me how much of a handicap each of you want, and we can get started." As they finished moving the tables together, Hikaru glanced towards Akari and let out another sigh before sitting down between the three tables. He'd just have to finish this before Akari finished her game lest she start to play another game in his absence.

The sun had already begun to set as Hikaru and Akari began making their way home. It had taken several hours, but Hikaru had finally gotten to play against Akari. He had to admit, she had improved from a year ago, but then some improvement was to be expected. Of course the eight-stone handicap she had taken had not been enough against him, but it had been how many she'd put down the previous times they had played, although the first time it had been against Sai.

"You've gotten stronger Akari. I'm impressed."

Looking over at him, Akari beamed a smile his way and replied, "You really think so? Even Mr. Akota has trouble against me now."

Hikaru nodded. "Yeah, I'd say you're somewhere just below Mitani's strength right now. You'd need a two-stone handicap against him I'd guess."

Akari's face continued to stay brightly lit. "You think so? I'm that close to Yuki?"

"Maybe. I haven't played Mitani in awhile after all, so I'm estimating from back when I was in the Go club."

Akari nodded. Yuki had gotten better since then, and while he was nowhere near Hikaru's level, she found it hard to believe that she was that strong now. Still, Hikaru could tell far better than she could how strong a player someone was. After all, he was a pro. "That was a fun class today. You were so good up there explaining that problem."

"Hikaru chuckled. "Was I? I didn't think it was all that good personally."

Akari shook her head. "Oh no you were great. It was very interesting. Shirakawa-sensei certainly thought so since he asked you to cover for him in a couple weeks."

Hikaru smiled and nodded. That was true. He had been quite surprised when Shirakawa had asked him to teach the class two weeks from now in his stead since he would be out of town for a tournament qualifier. So it was either someone took his place, or the class would have to be cancelled for the week. How could he refuse?

"There's only a little over a month left of summer break for you isn't there Akari?" Akari merely nodded. "Once school starts up again, I'll see about stopping by and giving your Go club some lessons just like I promised before. It should be fun huh?"

Akari's smile had faded to be replaced by a rather nervous, worried expression. Noticing this, Hikaru inquired, "Is something wrong? Should I not come after all?"

Shaking her head, Akari answered, "No, you can come. It's just that… nothing, it'll be fine."

"You sure?"

"I'm sure."

Looking up at the stars that were just now beginning to appear in the darkening sky, Akari exhaled and smiled. It was such a beautiful evening. "You know Hikaru, when I think about how long we've known each other, it just seems strange, because it feels like we've known each other forever, yet at the same time I can still clearly remember the first time we met like it was just yesterday."

Hikaru smiled, drifting slightly closer to his childhood friend as he did so. "Yeah. Now that I think about it too, it does seem that way."

Turning her head away from the stars to look up at his smiling face, one she so enjoyed looking at, even yearned to look at some nights, Akari added, "I think about you a lot Hikaru. Some nights as I'm walking by your house on my way home I stop and just stare up at your window. I know you're up studying Go when the light's on and I'm tempted to come visit, but then I don't want to disturb you either."

Turning to look down at her, Hikaru replied, "That's stupid. If from time to time you want to stop by I won't mind it."

Akari's face, which had begun to react to his 'stupid' remark, froze and then shifted to a bright smile. So he didn't mind her coming by every so often. "Thanks." Returning her gaze to the night sky, Akari added, "You know, sometimes I miss the old times, when we got to spend all that time together, having fun together… being together."

Hikaru nodded. "Yeah, I miss the old times too. Playing Go in the science room with Tsutsui and Mitani, going to the tournaments together, it was so much fun. Those were really good times."

Closing her eyes, Akari sighed. Yep, all he thought about was Go. Playing and studying Go; that was his passion, what filled his thoughts these days. Why couldn't he see the other things around him that weren't tied to that game? It wasn't that she hated the game, in fact she enjoyed it quite a lot. Still, there was a certain resentment for Go as it had stolen Hikaru away from her. Opening her eyes and looking over to his face again, admiring that wonderful smile he had, Akari took a deep breath and exhaled. Go was his great love, something that nothing and no one could replace within his heart. All that remained was whether his heart had room for anything, or anyone, else. "Hikaru?"

Looking down at her again, Hikaru broadened his smile and replied, "Yes Akari?"

Staring into his bright almond-colored eyes, Akari smiled. There was room, she could see it. Those eyes told it all, held the answer to all her doubts. His heart and soul might well have infinite room within them for another, and were capable of such love and compassion. That was why he could wear that smile as freely as he did. Smiling up at him, a slight glaze in her eyes, Akari answered, "Nothing."

Looking down at her for a moment longer with a rather confused expression that Akari struggled to not laugh at, Hikaru eventually shrugged and said, "You know, if it's not too late, we could head back to my house and play another game right now."

"I'd like that." Akari then reached out and slid her arm around Hikaru's so that they were walking arm in arm. Hikaru, at first rather taken aback and unsure of what was going on, eventually relaxed and returned to his usual self. Akari could be so funny sometimes.

As they walked Akari just watched Hikaru, smiling at him as they went. While Go may have taken him away from her, it had instilled something else in him, something that made him so much more mature, as if he resonated with an aura or glow that was quite attractive, and maybe even sexy in its own way. At least, that's what she felt. Yes, she really did…

Finding a sudden boldness rising within her, Akari spoke out, "Hikaru, I just want to say that I-"

Akari's words were cut short by a sudden ring tone. Hikaru apologized and turned away from her as he reached for his cell phone. Flipping it open he put the phone to his ear and said, "Hello?"

Moments later his face lit up as he said, "Nase! Yeah, nice of you to call. I was wondering how your day had gone."

Akari just watched, her eyes beginning to widen as she continued to listen. "Oh, you played three games at once and were able to force ties with all three? That's great! Yeah, I did that too back during my training. It really helps you learn to calculate points in a game. Yeah, that's great to hear… I'm really happy to hear that. Yeah, that sounds great, I'll see you tomorrow then at our usual time and place. Have a safe trip home now. Ok, me too, bye."

As he hung up the phone and returned it to his pocket, Hikaru turned back to Akari and said, "I'm sorry about that, what were you saying Akari?"

Having frozen in place now, Akari struggled to snap herself out of it. Finally she answered, "Um… Hikaru… who was that just now?"

His brow contorting, Hikaru replied, "Huh? Oh, that was Nase, a friend of mine from back when I was an insei. We've been spending a lot of time together lately since I'm sort of training her for when she takes the Pro Exam in late August. She's over on most non-game nights. Why?"

Akari's features tinged with a slight nervousness, dread beginning to permeate as she looked up at him. She had not seen this at all, not expected it. The way his face had lit up when she had called. Could he…

"No… reason."

As they began to walk again Hikaru now looked down at Akari, concern on his face. "Akari, is everything all right?"

Akari nodded, although her facial features were giving off another answer. Panic, fear, maybe even a dab of envy mixed together with anger and covered her face. It was not aimed at Hikaru however, but at herself. How could she have not foreseen it? She had always just assumed…

Unconvinced as he continued to observe her rolling emotions, Hikaru inquired, "Are you sure nothing's wrong?"

Looking up at him yet averting her gaze slightly, she replied, "I'm sure."

Author's Notes:

And that should just about wrap up the little break I've been giving everyone. Next chapter we'll begin to focus more on the upcoming Final Kisei Preliminary match for Hikaru and what it might mean for him. This chapter was a bit technical with the Go moves and explanations, and if any of you are confused or annoyed at it, I apologize. These are real moves, and can be played out if you understand what the initial nadare looks like. I felt that given the nature of the chapter as being at a Go class where Shirakawa would be explaining the game with Hikaru's help that adding a little technical terminology would seem appropriate. If the numbers were confusing, I suggest rereading the chapter and just ignoring the numbers. Since Hikaru has been asked to come back and teach though, if any of you would prefer I not put actual move listings into any future lessons, let me know or if you want more, let me know too. It's certainly not a major issue for me either way. If any of you are trying to learn how to play Go though, I hope this was an informative lesson, though I doubt I'm that good of a teacher.

A point I'd like to make to those of you who may be scratching your heads at the order of events Hikaru mentions in his recollection. The manga and the anime differed on the order of how Hikaru met Akira and taking the Go class. In the anime Hikaru takes Sai to the Go Salon in the first episode and plays Akira, then in the 2nd episode decides to take the Go class. In the manga these events are reversed. After trying to play his grandfather and taking too long, Hikaru decides to take the Go class, and due to his dealings with Akota was kicked out of the class for the day on his second class. He then decided to go to the Go Salon and there met and played Akira. This is just one of the differences in story order between the manga and the anime. I have decided to take the manga order since it was the original, as it is the one I am the most familiar with.

Terms:

Nadare: Known in English as an Avalanche, it is a fairly popular and common pattern of playing Go stones, running many variations. It is called an avalanche due to the way it looks when seen going down. Some variations such as the large nadare can grow pretty complex. The double hane mentioned was a variation on the small nadare.

Joseki: It is a standard set of moves. Basically it is the normal path of moves associated with certain shapes and positions that occur during a game.

Hane: I described this before, but apparently I was a little vague, although it is difficult to describe without a diagram. Basically imagine a black stone on the board. Next place a white stone next to it, and another white stone above it. The second white stone, which is diagonal from the first and is hooking around the black stone, is the hane. The black stone is one move away from atari at this point. If you need further explanation, I'm sure you can find a diagram of a hane online.

Double Hane Nadare: This is one of the variations on the Nadare joseki. Without a diagram or a Go board I'm not sure if I can describe it, other than by giving the points on the board. Again, I'm sure there's an example online somewhere.

Tenuki: Basically, it means to play somewhere else not associated with the local area currently being fought over. This is used to help control the larger game, and is something many beginners struggle with.

I will point out that I have not been able to find any references to what Hikaru's actual eye color is, so I have gone to look at the various color pictures from the manga. From this, I have seen that he appears to have brown, auburn, and even a greenish eye color at times, so I opted for the one in between. This is how I came to refer to his eye color as auburn. If anyone has a more official eye color, feel free to let me know.

For those of you who may be having trouble finding the manga, I recommend going to Barnes & Nobles as they often have a good selection of manga, at least the ones near me do. Borders is also good. I was there recently and they had the entire set. You can also order them online from amazon or the B&N website, or if you don't mind the fan scanlations then I'm sure you can find it online.

I hope to receive more reviews from all of you. I've been struggling as of late due to a lack of motivation most likely caused by my boss knocking up my hours at work for the summer and it sort of drains the creative juices, so hopefully I can draw some inspiration from all of your thoughts. R&R.

If there's something really important you need to say, feel free to email and make sure that the Subject is clear so I don't think its spam. This does include stuff you might not want others to read posted on the review list, but if you ask a plot question, you may not necessarily get an answer, as that's really no fun.