Chapter 41: The Silence before the Storm
Kneeling down next to the timekeeper, Akira watched on as the match continued to play out. Off to his left Amano sat taking notes, but that wasn't a concern of Akira's, it was the match before him.
Kurata had come out strong from what he could tell from the game record, but Kuwabara had pushed back along the left side to make it a game, and now the pair were entering the endgame. Soon it would become apparent just how important his match against Hikaru would become, not that the pair had ever needed a reason to go for the jugular off the bat before. Still, Akira needed to win in order for him to remain in the Kisei League, well unless Ichiryu and Kuwabara both lost, which was possible. Hikaru though, unless Kuwabara won he had no real reason to play except for the desire to defeat Akira, and while the idea of defeating Akira might very well have been more desirable to Hikaru than winning the Kisei title, extra motivation rarely hurt. Still, the idea of playing Hikaru with the advancement to the Kisei League Challenger on the line for Hikaru… it was quite exhilarating.
Motion at the door pulled Akira's eyes from the game as he watched his rival quietly enter the room and take a seat off by Akira's right. As he did so Hikaru stole a glance over at Akira and their eyes met causing both to smile. So Hikaru had won his match, he'd made it into the Tengen Main Tournament.
So Akira had defeated Mizuguchi 9 – Dan and made it into the Tengen Main Tournament. Suppressing a chuckle as he moved his eyes over to the board, Hikaru just grinned. The look in Akira's eyes, it had told him everything, so once more the pair would both appear in a main tournament. First the Hokuto Cup, then the Kisei League, and now the Tengen Main Tournament, it was going to be great; it was a shame Waya couldn't have made it as well.
Calculating quickly, Hikaru blinked at the complexity of the match. Granted it was the endgame, but the position was complicated, hard enough to calculate even if he'd been watching the whole time. From the look of it though the match might be ending before he could finish figuring that out, the endgame nearly over now and both players making their last few moves quicker now.
A Kurata's lost would remove him from competition in the league, leaving only the challenge of facing Akira once more. That was the way it was, the cost of losing just one match. Some might say it was unfair, but then in the Go world one didn't ask for charity or sympathy, a player was only as good as the Go they played. If Kurata won then it just meant that Hikaru had not been good enough, nothing more. Still, the idea of playing Akira with the chance to advance to the Kisei League Challenger on the line… it was quite the rush.
Kuwabara's stone hit the board and that was it, the game had ended. The room seemed to shrink as observers leaned in to try and see who had come out victorious, but Hikaru had already caught up with the calculation, a one and a half point margin of victory. Exhaling, Hikaru lowered his head somberly, eyes closed.
Meanwhile Amano had begun to crawl up a little bit as the players continued shifting stones to determine the victor. As they finished Amano began counting, Black 60 points, White 56 points. With komi White had won by a point and a half. So that meant…
A strong tension suddenly seemed to grasp Amano from behind, filling the air like a storm cloud. The others in the room seemed to be feeling it too as heads began to shift to look back by the scorer's table. As Amano joined them he felt the hair on the back of his neck stand up as Hikaru's head lifted, a taut, sober expression covering his face and turning with an electric inferno raging in his eyes toward his rival. Akira's face was equally calm and taut, but the icy glare with a charge of lightning behind it met Hikaru's gaze and the room almost seemed to be engulfed in a feeling of spine-tingling anticipation.
Struggling to grip his pencil through the sweat forming in his palms Amano couldn't help but grin. These two, they'd decide it all right here and now if allowed. What passion, it surely was going to be a showdown to remember, even more now that the decision of who would advance to the Kisei Challenger now rested with these two sixteen year olds. And like these boys, Amano couldn't wait.
###
"Shindo-sensei, could I please have your autograph?"
A sudden commotion occurred around him at those words as several others suddenly began to make their way over toward him saying things like, "What, Shindo-sensei is signing autographs?" or "Oh, I want an autograph too!" or "Shindo-sensei, sign this one for me and this one for my son, he wants to be just like you!" Then there was the one that sent a cringe through Hikaru's body. "Hey everyone, Shindo-sensei is signing autographs!"
A twisting sensation plunged deep into Hikaru's gut as those words echoed up the stairs to the 2nd Floor. Glancing over toward Honda expecting the annoyed glare that accompanied Waya at times like this, Hikaru instead just saw a somber, passive expression across Honda's face. Honda then added, "I'll let you go, see you on Saturday."
Panicking even more now as Honda began moving away, abandoning him to these wolves, Hikaru called out, "Honda wait!"
Turning to look back Honda just stared at him as more people moved passed him toward Hikaru. Fearing the prospect of being overwhelmed before he could reply, Hikaru shouted out, "Wait for me across the street at that restaurant we all eat at! I'll be there in a minute…" Glancing around he amended, "Make that a few minutes!"
From beyond the crowd Hikaru heard Honda's acknowledgement, and with that he sighed in relief. Sadly that relief was quite short-lived as his surroundings became all the more crowded, paper and pens shoved toward him eagerly. "Ok already, stop it! Let me get to somewhere that I can actually write!" The crowd parting as Hikaru began to make his way over to a counter, the Go prodigy sighed, his resignation given. He'd just have to surrender and accept his fate. Damn it, at this rate he'd become just like Kurata.
###
"Goodbye Mr. Kitajima, please come again."
Turning back to look over the Go Salon in front of her, Hirumi Ichikawa sighed as her eyes found their way to the back of the Salon. Sitting there with the same focused expression on his face as he'd shown every day for the last two weeks, was Akira. Staring down at that Go board hour after hour, day after day, occasionally placing a stone here or there as he looked into its depths. Words of Hikaru at the Waya's party kept swirling in his mind, but he fought to keep them down. He said he'd play thousands of games with me, until we're sixty and beyond. What did he mean by that? Could it really be all about Go? No! I can't be distracted now. To be Hikaru's worthy rival in this whole life time, I have to show him in every match that worthy I am.
Heading over to grab the teapot, Hirumi sighed once more. Hirumi had watched Akira grow up, seen his development as a player and a person for so long, and yet never once had she seen Akira show that sort of passion or determination for anyone else. It was Hikaru Shindo and Hikaru Shindo alone that spurred him on, woke the passion in his soul and drove him to attain mastery over that board and its corresponding stones. And here he was, calmly prepare for the storm to come. A storm he had always been longing for.
