The Fun of Playing Go (part 2)
(Disclaimers and warnings : see part 1)
The players in the room were as focused on their games as the ones in Meijin's club could be, but the duo's entrance didn't go unnoticed.
As soon as she heard Hikaru call out a merry "konnichiha !", the fat lady behind the counter barked.
"Shhh, noisy brat ! Where do you think you are ?"
Then she looked more carefully at the noisy person facing her : "You !"
The owner, who was reading Weekly Go at a nearby table, jumped on his feet and went to meet the boys, beaming.
"If it is not Shindo-kun ! What a nice surprise !"
Some exclamations came from the customers too, and soon nobody cared about the silence any more.
"Wow, it's been a while ! How are you, kid ?"
"Shindo-kun, so long !"
And so much for the "I usually play there" Akira thought.
He was standing a little behind Hikaru, who was lapping up everyone's cheer.
"I'm fine, thanks ! Yeah, I've been busy with the pro games and all, I couldn't come earlier. Whassup, Soga-san ?"
And so on for a moment, as the regulars were gathering around the young pro, flooding him with questions about his recent games. Eventually, the owner noticed Akira.
"I see you've brought along a partner. A friend, I guess ?"
"My rival ! He's come to play against me !" proclaimed Hikaru with a pat on his partner's back. Akira winced, not only under the condescending gesture, but also because Hikaru's words sounded like they excluded any kind of friendship between them. He would not admit that it bothered him, but actually it did.
"Oh, who dare challenge our beloved champion ?" a smoking bald man asked with an amused glance at Akira.
The daring challenger was not feeling too comfortable, but he presented himself with a quick bow nonetheless.
"Touya Akira, nice to meet you."
Everybody froze around them and so did Akira as he was feeling scrutinized by incredulous eyes. The owner broke the sudden silence :
"Touya ? You mean the Touya Akira, Meijin's son ?"
Akira was about to confirm when another customer with a cigarette did it in his stead :
"Yes he is, this is Touya 3-dan, I recognize him !"
"Really, Doumoto-san ?" the bald man asked in awe.
The other had gone enthusiastic.
"Yeah ! He's the one who's just ejected old Ichiryu from the Honinbo league ! You wouldn't expect this from such a young lad, would you ?"
"You can see where he gets it from the father isn't too weak either, you know ?"
"Oh yes, I know ! Too bad he's left Japan and the national championship." The man turned to Hikaru. "You say Touya 3-dan is the one challenging you ? Are you sure it's not the other way around ?"
That was enough to ignite the beginner dan, already nagged by all the fuss they were making about Touya, father and son :
"No way ! I've brought him here for you all to watch me crush him ! Let us sit at this table and I'll show you, Doumoto-san."
There was a short and startled silence, then Doumoto gave the proud boy a friendly slap on the back.
"Haha ! Those are big words. But since you've already surprised me in the past, I may bet on you. What d'you think, Soga-san ?"
The bald man smiled.
"I see Shindo-kun hasn't changed, always getting ahead of himself. If you bet on him, I have no choice but put my money on Touya-kun. Not that I think it's a bad choice either..."
Akira was even less comfortable with all the gambling on their heads.
Why did I insist so much that we go here ? What was I thinking ?
Akira was not exactly afraid. From his earliest childhood, he was used to live among grown-ups as a pro, and even before, he had played many times shidougo with people from varied backgrounds. But his natural reserve made him feel out of place among these men, who were quite different from the regulars of his father's salon : loud, heavy smokers, not too deferential, eager to bet money on anything.
Yet Akira felt no hostility toward his person, but a growing interest instead. These were not bad people, nor retired yakuza. They loved Igo, they certainly had respect for talented players and if they needed to tease someone, Shindo would be their most likely target, so there was really nothing to worry about.
Hikaru had already sat down.
"Come on, Touya ! Time for your lesson !"
Akira hesitated.
"Shall we not pay our fee first ?" he said, glancing at the owner. But the man put him at ease :
"Never mind that, just seeing you two here is worth the money." (The lady at the counter snorted indignantly) "You should have told us you were coming though, we would have brought people and put posters everywhere."
Everybody laughed including a slightly blushing Akira. He bowed again with a "thank you very much" then he sat in front of a visibly impatient Hikaru. They did nigiri, and Akira got black.
"Ok, I take whites, no komi, please begin." Hikaru said in one breath.
Akira - and everybody in the salon - stared at him.
"No komi ? Are you kidding ?"
"Nope !" Hikaru looked fiercely at his opponent. "You said that I had no merit in winning against Hong Su Yeong with the komi, so I'm gonna beat you without this advantage."
Akira was about to retort that Shindo hadn't succeeded in beating him the normal
way so far, but he remembered just in time their very first and second games,
so he bit his lip instead.
Doumoto was looking skeptically at Hikaru.
"You know I believe in you, kid, but I think you're a bit too offhand with my money."
"Then put it on Touya, Doumoto-san. I won't make it an easy jackpot, though." he said tauntingly.
The man smiled. "To tell the truth, I'd like to see this little devil overcome a son of Meijin and probable future Meijin. Well, no offense intended, Touya-kun...".
Akira was gradually getting in the mood.
"It's all right, sir. I'm curious to see that, too."
Everyone burst into laugh again, which enraged Hikaru.
"Then you shall see ! Onegaishimasu !" he shouted without even bowing.
"Please." said Akira and he placed his first stone on the upper left star, hoshi.
As soon as his finger came off the smooth curve of the stone, all the chattering in the room died. There were only a few chairs scraping around the players as the closest watchers sat down to let those standing up behind have a clear sight on the board. Soon all eyes were turned toward the goban where an agressive duel had begun.
Just like our first game as pros, though I was first to strike and engage the battle at the time. I guess Shindo has no real choice, without the komi to rely on. So stupid ! Unless he is planning one of the come-from-behind trick he has practically made a trademark of his own...
Hikaru surely had quite a record on snatched victories, but putting himself under pressure had come to mixed results in the past. Akira still remembered the unexpected tactic his current opponent had used against his father in the Room of Profound Darkness, with such a disastrous outcome. He wondered again whether the self-imposed handicap - that Kuwabara-sensei had made out afterwards - had been just another foolish extravagance from Hikaru or... or what exactly ?
He seems pretty determined... Is he going to surpass himself this time ? I wouldn't mind all his bragging if it were to become reality... just once.
Each hand quickly followed the opposing one as both players didn't spend too much time thinking. Hikaru had visibly opted for a fast pace to fit his current mood, alternating methodical hands from proven joseki with a few bold ones that disrupted the emerging schemes. Akira also found the usual trap, a seemingly poor hand that was just waiting the right moment to develop into a powerful connection. Certainly an interesting game, but not really ahead of what Hikaru had been accustoming Akira these past months. At least not the kind of game the young Honinbo contestant would have a hard time dealing with, even though he knew some of his opponents in the league who would stumble on it.
Not today, Akira sighed. He gave a quick look at the people watching them. Unlike him, they were fascinated by the flow of the stones on the goban. Some of them were exchanging some appreciative comments in a low voice, mostly on how much Shindo had been improving since his last visit. Akira was usually deaf to any word from surrounding people when playing a game, but this time he caught himself half-listening. He was struck to hear them talk about Shindo as a child prodigy they had been nurturing until he became a pro.
They have for him the same kind of feelings people like Hirose-san or Kitajima-san show for me. Growing and playing among them since I was three, I never had any complex about the age of my opponent, and now that I think of it, I should be grateful for that. Shindo said that playing here helped him a lot in gaining self-confidence against much older persons, so I guess he needed such an environment too.
Akira let his eyes wandering pensively over his opponent, who had just set down a white stone in a resolute move. The approving murmurs and a triumphant look on Hikaru's face warned him that something was going wrong, which a glance at the goban confirmed. He had neglected the quiet stranglehold on his lower left group a bit too long, and now it was as good as dead.
"Now you see, Touya ?" Hikaru smirked.
Akira gave him a withering glare, but he'd rather have slapped himself to death. If only he had remained focused on the game instead of musing about Shindo's past, he would not have missed the coming danger. Even though he was the main subject of the chattering, his opponent had not let his mind wander out of the game. What would he think of him now ? Touya Akira, losing a game by distraction !
"Keep quiet, the game's not finished." the boy answered sharply.
Hikaru sniggered.
"Yeah, yeah. Now I am curious to see how you're gonna make up on that !"
Akira clenched his fists. He wished he had been the victim of some Sai-like brilliance, but no, it was just an ordinary tactic from Shindo and his own folly made him run into it ! He was entirely responsible of his own situation. Knowing that, he was able to regain his composure.
"Let's say I've given you back the komi you've refused earlier. Now we can play an equal game." he said, half hoping Shindo would be naive enough to fall for that. Which was not the case at all.
"Whatever ! Touya, be honest with yourself and admit that I've just caught you like a beginner. And you'd better stop with the superior attitude cos I'll be only too pleased to make an ass of you !"
"You disrespectful little brat ! You haven't changed at all !"
The one to shout that was not Akira but a short man with a goatee, wearing sunglasses and what looked like a taxi driver uniform. Hikaru had hardly begun to turn his head in his direction that a rough hand was already shaking it, making a mess of his bleached front hair.
"Augh ! Stop it, Kawai-san ! I'm no longer a kid for you to do that !"
"You ? You're still a child who speaks childishly ! Who's your opponent to deserve such a jeering ?"
He looked more closely at Akira who was still red from Hikaru's taunt.
"You... You..." he mumbled, pointing at him.
"Yeaaah, it's Touya Akira." Hikaru cut off in an exasperated moan. "The Touya 3-dan, Meijin's heir, Honinbo challenger and Ichiryu slayer. Actually he was busy losing to me when you arrived, Kawai-san !"
"You, beating Meijin Junior ? After all the games you ditched ?"
"So what ?" Hikaru mouthed.
"The fact is Shindo-kun's level has truly risen to new heights, and the battle on this goban is simply astonishing." the owner acknowledged. "Touya-pro must have made a mistake earlier, so Shindo-kun is currently leading."
"But I guess Touya-kun have more than one trick up his sleeve." Soga hastened to say. "We should not take Shindo's victory for granted now."
Doumoto laughed.
"You say that because your money is at stake ! But you're right, the end of the game should be interesting."
"Haha ! I want to see that too !" Kawai added gleefully.
He grabbed again Hikaru's bangs.
"And next time, give us a call before you come ! If I had known, I'd
have left the car for the afternoon and not missed the beginning !"
"We've already told them, Kawai-san, so sit down and keep quiet." the owner said. Kawai complied grumpily.
"Yeah, leave my hair alone and let me finish Touya off." Hikaru whined, using his left hand as a rough comb to free his sight.
Akira was boiling.
Finish-me-off ?
"I WON'T LOSE TO THAT SHINDO !" he yelled all of a sudden, drowning out every other voice. His jade-green irides were blazing.
Everybody looked at the young pro, thunderstruck.
As for Hikaru, it was just as if Akira had punched him on the nose. He felt
hurt and his hands were trembling. Akira's right one was not and it dropped
swiftly, slamming a black stone onto the board.
"Take that first." he made coldly.
(to be continued)
[NOTES :]
Many thanks to all the reviewers who gave such a warm welcome to the first chapter of my very first fanfiction ! Sorry for making you wait for this second part, but after your comments, I felt I had to read my draft over again several times - with some edition - to try and come up to your expectations... Just tell me !
To Jiro : here's what you longed for ^^. You'll have to wait a bit again for some actual Akira/Kawai interaction, hope you won't be disappointed ;)
To Aishuu : as you've guessed, English is not my native language (another good reason for the aforementioned rereading). I didn't tell it in the warning so as not to discourage some potential readers ^^. I won't dwell on why I chose to write my first fanfic in a foreign language, I'll just say it's good practice, although I had an awful time with the past tense... Hopefully it seems I haven't left too many horrors behind, but please tell me whenever it happens !
To Chaos : it's right you need to be familiar with the manga (did I mention how enthralling it is ? ^^) to appreciate the story, with all its references. But in my mind, fanfiction means a fiction written by a fan for other fans, so...
To everyone : thanks again !!!
Valerien
