! Important: Please read my Disclaimer (Chapter 1)

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Chapter 18

"WHAT KIND OF A MOVE DO YOU CALL THAT TOUYA?"

"I was lulling him, keeping him off balance!"

"Lulling him? Is that the new way to say you were losing? And you actually came back to win this?"

Frowning, Akira glared across the table at Hikaru and shot back, "Hey, after all the crappy games of yours that you brought here to show me do you really think you have the nerve to tell me my comeback game is terrible?"

Raising his arms up as if to shrug, Hikaru snorted mockingly and replied, "Well if the truth hurts then fine, call that move what you want, but it was still a terrible move."

"IT WAS NOT TERRIBLE! It was to throw Ichiryu off-guard!"

"Well you say tomato…"

Jumping up to his feet at that remark, Akira leaned over the board and retorted, "I dare you to say that again!"

"Fine, it was T-E-R-R-I-B-L-E."

"It was not! It was an off-guard move!"

"Terrible!"

"Off-guard!"

"Terrible!"

"Off-guard!"

"Terrible!"

By this point the Go Salon patrons, who had fled the scene not too long before were watching on with dismay. It was hard really to see their favorite young pro who had taught all of them so much over the years to be acting so… childlike. Hikaru was the cause of it, that much was obvious. Only when Hikaru came did this sort of thing ever happen. However though his presence may have caused it, Hikaru was not the sole source of these tantrums, and that only complicated the problem. Just as often Akira would be the one to engage, even instigate the quarrels, and the fact that Akira and Hikaru, despite their words, seemed to find some enjoyment out of these fights made it even more complicated.

One thing was fairly certain though, both players knew more about this game than the rest of the Go salon patrons combined. That, along with the rivalry that had only now been noticed by the Go world in general but had been known about here at the Go salon for far longer created truly awesome spectacles of matches when they weren't at each others' throats, like now.

"Oh yeah, well then what about this move here? Are you telling me that this was also an 'off-guard' play?"

This was it. They'd hit critical mass, and depending on Akira's response they would now either cool down and return to their discussion or the argument would overload and one of them, likely Hikaru, would storm out the door. The only question was which would it be?

Glancing down at the board to where Hikaru had pointed, Akira replied, "That move well… yeah umm, that was a rather bad move wasn't it."

Nodding triumphantly, Hikaru now leaned over the board slightly and continued, "HA! It sure is. You'd have been better off going for a diagonal here."

Frowning, Akira added, "But that shape… it seems too flimsy. Wouldn't here be more stable?"

Shaking his head, replied as he returned to his chair, "No, playing there might be more stable, but it's too static. Your opponent will outflank you on your right side here and you'll be cut off."

"Hmmm, I still don't know, if they did go there then I could play here."

Chuckling to himself as Akira too now returned to his seat, Hikaru responded, "Ideas like that are what will get you knocked out of the Kisei League just like you got knocked out of the Honinbo League. You might have beaten the slumping Ichiryu playing Go like this, but this kind of Go won't be enough against Ogata."

Nodding, Akira then added, "True, Ogata-sensei is far more formidable at the moment, but what if the opponent responds to your move by going here? Then it doesn't go as you planned."

"No, I'd switch to playing here then."

"But then they can attach to here and you're in gote."

Frowning, Hikaru shot back, "Hey, I'm not saying it's perfect, and it is your game after all. I wouldn't have been in this situation to begin with."

Leaning back in his chair, Hikaru sighed as Akira sat back in his chair and observed the board. He'd come to take a look at Akira's game against Ichiryu since he had to play Ichiryu himself in three days time. He'd had to skip going to Akari's Go club, and she'd seemed disappointed by it too, a major turnaround from last time. Still, his recent popularity in the Go world made it hard to fit everyone into his schedule, and honestly Hikaru had begun to wonder how Akira had managed it. While it was true that Akira had gotten into Kaio, managing this much was difficult.

As he glanced from his seat over to Akira his rival's voice spoke up, "By the way Shindou, I looked on the Go Association site the other night and noticed that Nase had won her first eleven games."

"Twelve, she won yesterday too. She called last night to tell me."

"Twelve wins straight huh? Seems she's doing even better than you did. You only lasted what, nine straight before losing to some nobody?"

Frowning as he moved forward, bringing all four legs of his chair back to the floor, Hikaru countered, "Hey, I had a stomach ache that day!"

Chuckling at that, Akira shot back, "Heh, go ahead and make an excuse like that if you want. That way if Ichiryu beats you then you can just say you had a stomach ache right?"

"Hey, I don't need to hear that from the guy who took a loss on his very first day of the Pro Exam!"

Eyes widening at that remark, Akira moved forward himself now and replied passionately, "Only because I didn't go that day! I won all my other games, and had I gone I would have won the first one too!"

Placing both hands behind his head Hikaru answered back, "Yeah, suuuuure, just make excuses. Missing the first day of the Pro Exam just so you could sit at home and play Go with… Sai." Exhaling silently as Akira eyed him suspiciously, Hikaru gave an inward sigh of relief. Whew, that was close, I almost said that it was so he could play me. Good thing my mouth didn't go on auto-pilot there. Not like I lied, it was Sai's game after all.

"How did you know I was playing Sai that day?"

Suppressing his shock at the question, Hikaru just let out a light laugh while hoping it didn't sound nervous and answered, "Touya….I just know it….but could we please not talk about it now? I told you I'll tell you one day rememeber? I promise I will."

The light in Akira's eyes dimming slightly, he placed his fingers to his chin and then said, "I see…" He murmured, as if he was speaking with himself."Shindou…I can wait...So, what do you think? Will Nase pass the exam?"

"Hmmm." Giving the question a moment or two of thought while being grateful that Akira had returned to the previous subject, Hikaru then continued, "I don't know. Twelve wins is pretty good, and the games she's showed me in the three times we've met up since looked fairly impressive. Still, there's three other players besides Nase that are undefeated still and two with one loss each and all the games between them seem to happen in the second half."

Nodding, Akira added, "That's true. Anything could happen in the second half. It all depends on how mentally strong she is I guess."

Nodding, Hikaru then took a look up at the ceiling and replied, "Yeah…but I think she really has a chance. She's focused, sharp, like something is just driving her on. "

Leveling his vision back down to the board between them, Hikaru then glanced down at his watch. Eyes widening, Hikaru stood up and said "Whoa, it's this late already! I have to go, I have a teaching game tonight!"

Having lowered his own gaze down to Hikaru as his rival had stood to his feet, Akira then glanced at the wall clock and added, "Yes, it is rather late. I suppose I should be leaving as well." Rising calmly to his own feet now, Akira followed Hikaru off towards the exit. As the two made their way to the door, many of the patrons turned from their own games to watch. It was quite the rare sight, seeing both Hikaru and Akira leaving together. No war today, huh? In fact, it had never happened before.

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Passing the front counter, Hikaru gave a short bow to Hirumi and thanked her before heading to the door. Stopping as he reached the door, Hikaru then turned around and waited as Akira made his way to the front counter as well, having stopped to grab his bag that carried his Korean and Chinese study materials. International tournaments would soon be upon him in his career, and Akira was determined to be as prepared as he could be. As he reached Hirumi, Akira stopped and smiling warmly said, "I'm sorry that we both have to leave so soon. I'll be back here tomorrow. Thank you for the tea."

Blushing deeply as Akira turned and moved towards the door to join Hikaru, Hirumi smiled back slightly dreamy-eyed at the young boy she'd watched grow up here over the years. And now here with his friend, playing games with a passion she had rarely seen from Akira. Everyone else at the salon seemed to think of Akira and Hikaru as opposites, completely different in personality and demeanor, yet Hirumi saw something else. Their exteriors might have been different, fundamentally opposing even, but down at the very core of who they were, both of those boys were exactly the same. Their hearts and souls resonated with the same passion and desires, and when looked at from that perspective, it was easy to see those two as true kindred spirits.

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As they exited the building and turned to head off towards the train station Akira hesitated, then said, "Shindou… why did you take Nase on as your student?"

Shrugging slightly and keeping his gaze forward, Hikaru replied, "I don't know."

Akira's eyes flashed over to watch Hikaru out of the corner of his eye once more, sharp and focused. "What do you mean 'I don't know'? Surely you had a reason for taking her on."

"Not really, it just sort of happened. She came over to talk about her worries and she looked so sad and helpless. I wanted to help her. Nase… I really felt that she had the talent to go pro and I wanted her to. I remember she used to give me advice during the exam prelims, and it just seemed like now it was my turn to help her back. I guess I never really meant for her to become my student, I'm not even sure if that's what we are now really, but it just sort of happened."

Continuing to walk on in silence now, Akira contemplated this new revelation. While it had certainly been true that Nase had shown real strength in her game when he had played her, he also had to admit that she was not Hikaru. Having played many pick up games with his rival, Akira knew Hikaru's creative skill at finding new and unseen moves that seemed crazy until he actually played them. Nase hadn't shown that capacity to him, and while she could certainly learn to play that way she lacked the ability to do it naturally as Hikaru could.

Still, he had always assumed that Hikaru had seen some hidden talent, a strength that was not immediately apparent. Yet here he was now saying that even he didn't know the reason why. Pity, a desire to remove her sadness, these were both admirable traits, but a reason to take on a student? There was something else, something that had been nagging at the back of his brain the last minute or two.

Akira felt that he knew what it was, but he just refused to accept it. After all, Hikaru and Nase had been friends before they were teacher and student, and that had to be what he'd picked up on. There was that thought though, the nagging suspicion in the back of his mind that Akira actually found himself dreading. Could it be that his friend and rival actually… had feelings for his would-be student? Akira's heart sank at the thought.

It seemed unlikely, Hikaru had certainly never indicated even the slightest interest in such things. It was just as likely that subconsciously Hikaru had sensed something about Nase and acted upon it, for the love of the game. That was the true joy and ecstasy after all, acts done for the love of the game, for the mere sake of doing them. Hikaru and Akira were alike in that regard, they had one great love that surpassed all other things, the love for the game of Go.

Came back from his stream of thought, Akira looked up. "Will you come here tomorrow, too? Both of us could train more for the coming matches with Ogata, you know."

"Ohh…actually I'm overbooked for the next days. Lots of stuff, you know. Can't come, sorry Touya. See ya at the Institute some time then!"

"Oh, okay. Nevermind then. Bye, Shindou."

Stuff? What stuff? What is more important than Go, Hikaru? What is more important than playing me, Hikaru?

Akira sighed.