"My Goodness Hikaru, it's unusual to see you here on a Thursday when you don't have a match."
His face taut with focus, Hikaru turned his head slightly to look up at Shirakawa and replied, "Yes well… this is an important game, and I really wanted to see it."
Nodding with a smile, Shirakawa answered back, "Yes, the Toya – Ogata match right? If I didn't have my 2nd Round match for the Oza 3rd Prelim today, I might have stopped in to take a look at that myself. Ought to be good huh?"
Returning his gaze forward to stare over the counter at the posted schedule on the wall, Hikaru shrugged. "That's what I came to find out."
A moment later the elevator doors opened and Akira stepped out. Pausing for a moment, Akira's eyes scanned the lobby area until they landed on Hikaru. Eyes met across the room and both briefly smiled. The moment gone, Akira pulled his eyes away and made his way toward the hallway to the game rooms, a coy grin sliding across his lips as he did so. So, you made it Hikaru.
As Akira passed by, Hikaru followed him with his eyes for a moment, and then chuckling softly to himself, turned to follow. Making his way over to Akira who had stopped to remove his shoes, Hikaru began to do the same as he said idly, "Nice day huh?"
"Yes, a nice day." Akira replied in a cold, nonchalant tone.
A little surprised by the tone, Hikaru continued, "I won my second Kisei League match."
"Why are you telling me this?"
Shrugging his shoulders as he put his shoes away, Hikaru replied with a coy grin, "Just saying, I won my second match. I'm looking forward to seeing your match today."
Eyes widening as those words, Akira felt the blood in his veins begin to boil. Was he trying to show off? As he watched Hikaru move off, he suddenly froze as Hikaru softly added, almost murmuring "It's not like I'm trying to tell you that you need to keep up, or motivate you or anything. I don't care whether you or Ogata wins. Besides, if I wanted to help you I'd probably have said something like 'guard the left flank, Ogata likes to take that space' but since I don't care, I wouldn't say that now would I?"
Remaining speechless as Hikaru turned his head back and grinned, Akira returned the smile. Well, it looked like Hikaru had been preparing for Ogata already. Snorting as he turned his head away with a grin, Akira just shot back, "Whatever. It's not like I'd say 'thanks' even if you were helping me."
His grin widening, Hikaru shot back, "Well, see you in the game room." With that he turned and made his way off down the hallway, leaving Akira.
###
Sitting next to the recorder's table tensely, Hikaru waited for ten o'clock to arrive. More importantly though, he was waiting for Ogata to arrive.
Motion at the entrance brought everyone's eyes to the door, but instead of Ogata everyone stared rather shocked as Koyo Toya entered the room. All eyes followed him as he quietly and casually made his way across the room and took a seat next to Nogi. As he folded his arms in his kimono, Hikaru watched on in surprise. This was the first time he'd heard of Koyo coming to watch Akira play, although he'd heard a rumor that he'd appeared at the Hokuto Cup. Still, Hikaru hadn't seen him there, and while he didn't doubt it, he still preferred true confirmation first.
He seemed a different Koyo Toya from the one Hikaru had seen in the hospital though, lighter, as if he had been rejuvenated by something. Perhaps this was a result of his match against Sai, the game that had seemed to light a spark within the master Go player. He'd seemed so enthusiastic, eager even, for the chance for a rematch, one that Hikaru sadly knew would never come. Sai was no longer here to face him, and how he could ever explain that to Koyo Toya, Hikaru didn't know.
His thoughts however were dissipated by more motion at the door. Turning to look, Hikaru's eyes focused on the white suit worn by Ogata Juudan. The powerful titleholder made his way casually over to his seat, pressing his glasses back up his nose with one finger as he took his seat. The whole dynamic of the room had shifted with his arrival, and Hikaru glanced at his way noting that he'd made it by about thirty seconds. Watching Ogata exhale, Hikaru swore he saw a slight bit of smoke exit his lips before the buzzer sounded, announcing the beginning of the battle.
"Onegaishimasu."
Mere moments later Akira's hand dashed to the Go bowl as he pulled out a black stone and placed it steadily on the 3-4 point in the upper right corner.
Ka-Chi.
Resting back in his seat now as he waited for Ogata to respond, Akira took a glance up at his opponent. The 4-16 star point was the likely next target, unless he felt like throwing his weight around early on, in which case he would…
Ka-Chi.
Staring down at the board, Akira held off a smile. So he was opting to skip the lower left corner and go straight to a knight's move in the upper right. It was likely just a probe, an intention to see how he'd respond.
Ka-Chi.
Attaching at 16-3, Akira returned his hand to his thigh and waited, scanning the board for options. He had begun to stir the pot, sent ripples across the calm lake that was the Go board. Whether it was this move, the next, or the one after that, the battle in the corner was about to heat up early in this game. That was fine of course, Akira was ready. All that remained was to see how his sempai would choose to deal with the position he had shown him.
The game progressed rather slow and tedious. This was likely due to the amount of time being taken by both sides in thinking out their moves. It was almost time for lunch now and the game was barely farther along than his match against Kuwabara had been by this point. Hikaru was aware of course that a majority of matches of this nature played out at this pace; he'd even played through a few of those himself before, but it wasn't something he particularly liked.
Frowning as Ogata's stone hit the board, Hikaru sighed. It allowed Ogata to respond by playing his own knight's move to the other side, helping him to set up his position on the left side of the board. Had that been Akira's move it would have placed a major obstacle in Ogata's ability to connect there. Granted it would be more difficult to create a live group from that side, but if he did then Ogata's control of the left side would be dashed.
There, Ogata had played the one space jump at 18-4, helping to establish the corner shape. Akira would respond of course, but Hikaru would have preferred Akira to have chosen to take the initiative over there. He was being overly cautious, as if he expected something to jump out at him unexpectedly. It was puzzling, especially given the aggressiveness and force Akira had demonstrated in many of his matches against top pros, from Zama Oza to Ichiryu. There was no pro player whose games Hikaru had studied more than Akira's, with his father, Koyo Toya being the second given all the games he had reviewed with Sai before. Akira certainly didn't shy away from complexity and challenges, in fact he excelled in those situations. Yet now he was playing cautiously, securing the sure territory over attacking the weak points in Ogata's position.
Turning to scan over the room, Hikaru's eyes came to rest on Koyo Toya. He wore the same stoic expression as Ogata, although his seemed to carry less force and attitude, instead it seemed to radiate… serenity? While Akira shared this trait with his father, it was not nearly as developed in the son as it was in the father. Sometimes Hikaru had pictured Koyo Toya as if he were some sort of superhuman; beams of light shooting from his eyes turning transparent all that they hit, allowing him to see through to what lay beyond.
Ka-Chi.
Returning his eyes back to the game, Hikaru took in Akira's response. An attachment, so that was his strategy. Well if he could get around the edge of Ogata's stones then that play would be quite effective, but Hikaru very much doubted it would occur. Ogata might have several more wrinkles under his eyes than usual, but he was not that weak, unless the tea he was taking a sip from was actually sake.
If that was the case though and Ogata would not allow it, then Akira must know it as well. Hikaru was confident that Akira knew what he was doing since he had played Ogata so many times in the past. It was the same for Hikaru in regard to Sai. While others might have struggled to comprehend Sai's thinking, Hikaru was quite familiar with Sai's tendencies and frame of mind. He would know how Sai liked to respond to a certain play or how he would attack a position, thus letting him take that into consideration when planning out his next move. Knowing what would work and what would not, a true advantage in facing an opponent.
Suddenly Hikaru froze. No, it couldn't be that. Not Akira, he was too poised, too emotionless in his reasoning to allow something like that to interfere with his game, not after all of the high level games he had played in the past. Could it really be that Akira was afraid of Ogata? No, it couldn't be true. Akira always pushed his fear aside and drove in hard and strong, moving ahead despite the reservations he held. Yet as he watched Akira make another move to defend an approach on his stones, Hikaru began to wonder. Unless this was a ploy similar to what Hikaru had pulled on Ichiryu, then Akira would need to pick up his game soon or face defeat. It was still early and the game could still go either way, but as it stood, Akira's heart did not match Ogata's in this match.
As Ogata placed his stone down in the lower left corner Hikaru heard the buzzer sound for lunch. Waiting a moment as Akira and Ogata observed the board, Hikaru began to rise to his feet as Akira did so as well. The expression on Akira's face said it all, he knew that he was in trouble, and had to know what was necessary to rectify it. Sadly Hikaru could do nothing more than watch as his rival exited the room.
###
Taking his seat in the lunch area, Hikaru scanned the room for Shirakawa. Then he spotted him, entering through the door and looking about until he spotted Hikaru. As he was about to move toward him though Shirakawa's gaze moved slightly and he froze. Contorting his brow at Shirakawa's sudden action, Hikaru turned to look behind himself to see what it was that Shirakawa had spotted. As he did however he found that he too had frozen.
Staring down at him from where he stood, Koyo Touya gave a slight smile and said, "Excuse me, but would you mind if I joined you for lunch?"
