vii
If there was one thing that Shirakawa felt each time that he played against Hikaru Shindo, it was astonishment and awe. This game was no different. Placing a stone down calmly, Shirakawa waited as Hikaru took his time. He never rushed the game when he unless needed, and he gave such good thought to critical areas too. It was hard to believe the amount of strength Hikaru had gained in three short years. This was the kid to whom not too long ago he had shown how capture stones, and now here he was playing that same boy in the 3rd round of the Kisei Tournament's Final Preliminary.
The buzzer sounded indicating that it was now lunchtime. Shirakawa rose to his feet, noticing that Hikaru studied the board for a moment or two longer before he too rose to his feet.
###
Entering the lunch area, Hikaru made his way to the refrigerator in the corner. Opening it up, he took out the bag lunch his mother had made for him along with his bottle of Hawaiian Splash. Opening it and taking a quick drink, Hikaru turned and scanned the room, looking for somewhere to sit. As he did so his eye caught Akira moving off toward the exit. Akira, his game couldn't be over already could it? Taking another look around, Hikaru took off after his rival.
Walking out of the lunch area, Hikaru looked about and found Akira sitting by himself in the lobby on a bench, leaning back against the wall with eyes closed. His long eyelashes rest on his cheeks. His head tilted lightly on the back. Hikaru couldn't help notice what a long dainty neck Akira had. He must have been trying to clear his head, focus on his game. It had to be an intense battle if Akira needed to act like this during the break. He had no lunch with him, but that wasn't surprising, Akira never ate during the lunch break.
Hesitating for a moment, Hikaru walked over and sat down next to his rival, pulling out a sandwich from his bag and taking a bite into it. As he finished chewing and swallowed, without even glancing over, he said, "Nice day today."
Eyes still closed, Akira answered, "Yes, it's nice out today."
Finishing off another bite Hikaru replied, "So, you're playing your 2nd Round match in the Honinbo Final Preliminary today against Kujirai 8 – Dan right?"
Inhaling and exhaling softly, Akira replied, "Yes, and you have your 3rd Round match in the Kisei Final Preliminary today against Shirakawa 7 – Dan."
Taking a sip from his drink, Hikaru nodded. "Yeah, Shirakawa is a strong opponent. He won't be easily defeated. The same for Kujirai 8 – Dan?"
Still without opening his eyes, Akira nodded. "Yes, he wouldn't have gotten this far if he wasn't a strong opponent."
Hikaru chuckled. "Must be nice, getting to skip the 1st and 2nd preliminary rounds and all."
A slight annoyance appearing across Akira's voice at those words, he responded, "That's what making the Honinbo League means."
"No," Hikaru retorted, "that's what falling out of the Honinbo League means."
Frowning, but still not opening his eyes, Akira answered back, "I don't need to hear that from someone who couldn't even make it out of the Honinbo 2nd Preliminary."
"Yeah well if you don't get back into the Honinbo League this year then it might be lonely for you back in the 1st Preliminary while I'm playing to get into the League."
This elicited a chuckle from Akira. "That's a pretty bold statement. Hope you can back it up."
Smirking, Hikaru chided back, "Don't worry, I won't lose. You better worry more about yourself."
Akira once again chuckled. "You always were brash, hope your play matches up. After all, I've already advanced to the Final Round of the Kisei Final Preliminary." He paused for a long moment, then in a more somber tone added, "It's been a few weeks since you last came to the Go Salon. I go there almost everyday, but you didn't come…"
Hikaru nodded as he swallowed another bite of sandwich, still not looking over at Akira. "Yeah, I've been pretty busy. Lots of things going on and all. Sandwich?"
Hikaru offered half of his sandwich to Akira. Akira shook his head. "No thanks. Shindou…?"
Pulling his sandwich away and taking a bite out of it, Hikaru answered, "Yes Touya?"
"Why don't you stop by the salon after your game today. We can go over today's games."
This caused Hikaru's eyes to glance over towards Akira – Akira sounded almost pleading to him. Could it really be?
"Ok, it sounds like fun." Finishing off his sandwich, Hikaru took one more sip of his drink and stood up. Taking a step away he paused and looking over his shoulder at Akira said, "We can review my win today, so I hope we won't be reviewing your loss." With that he took off towards the game room.
At Hikaru's words Akira's eyes had shot open. His loss? Hikaru planned to win today; said he would, and meanwhile Akira might lose himself? No, that would not happen. A fire suddenly blazed in Akira's eyes, stirred by the words of his rival. I will not lose today Hikaru. Watch, I will continue to rise, I will not let you pass by me. Come after me, I will be waiting for you, but I will not lose before then. Watch me.
###
They were almost entering the endgame now.
It really was a sight to witness, Hikaru at age 15, just a 2 – Dan and already pushing at the gates of the Kisei League. Adding in the short amount of time that he had been playing the game only made it more amazing. Yet from the look of things on the board Shirakawa would win this game, unless Hikaru could turn the game around in the endgame. Sadly, that would require Hikaru to play a flawless endgame and for Shirakawa to play a poor one, and he was not green enough to do that.
Klak.
Klak.
Still, Hikaru's existence in the Go world, it was almost unbelievable. Sure Kurata had risen just as fast as Hikaru had, but Kurata had a mentor for nearly that entire time. Hikaru, with only a school Go club and a passion for the game had risen this quickly. Genius.
Lowering his head, Shirakawa resigned.
"Thank you." Hikaru stated nonchalantly, then let out an inner sigh of relief. One more win and he was in the Kisei League.
"Would you like to discuss the game Shirakawa-sensei?"
Grinning, Shirakawa shook his head. "That's all right, I know what went wrong." I also know just how special a player you are Hikaru. You really are Akira Toya's rival, and one day, you may even surpass both him, and Koyo Toya.
As they finished cleaning off the boards and rising to their feet, Shirakawa said, "By the way Hikaru, Akari has been asking about you at the go class recently."
Hikaru's eyes widened as he looked over to Shirakawa. "Akari has?"
Shirakawa nodded. "Yes, she said that she had not been able to see you recently, and had wanted to know how you were doing. I told her about today's game, as well as your match against Akira Toya in the Young Lions Tournament. She seemed very excited."
Hikaru smiled broadly. "Yeah, Akari would be excited."
Watching Hikaru's facial expressions, Shirakawa smiled and said, "Why don't you come to the Go class this Sunday and see everyone. You can give me a hand with Go problems, and help teach some of the students there. I'm sure Akari would love to see you."
Hikaru kind of wanted to see how much Akari had improved. "Ok, I'll come then."
Shirakawa nodded. "Good, I'll be looking forward to seeing you there, and I'm sure everyone else will be happy to see you as well."
