A/N: As for how long this has been put off, I'm sorry. My co-author bailed
on me and I just haven't gotten around to filling in the holes to her
parts. Sorry again, but here's what you've been patiently waiting for. The
REAL chapter 1. To warn you. There are going to be a lot of spoilers for
the end of the manga. However, after the Honnibo tournament, where the
manga ends, I'm going to have to drift off and create more of the story. I
hope to develop Hikaru's character more and hopefully get to the Hand of
God stuff too. So never fear your favorite characters are still here, I'm
just adding in a few to help build the personalities a little more. Oh and
this starts in the 15th volume of Hikaru no Go, after Sai is gone and
Hikaru has decided to stop playing Go.
~~Chapter 1: Meeting the Go World~~
Eriza, dressed in a plain black skirt and shirt, hummed to herself as she started pinning two small butterfly clips into her ponytail. She next pulled on a pair of black tights with butterflies embroidered into the fabric, matching the clips in her hair. She pushed her slippers back onto her feet, taking one last look into the mirror, before running out of her room.
Today was the Annual Young Lion's Tournament, and she wasn't going to miss it for the world. She couldn't wait to test her skills against the young pros. She was going to loose, of course, but she still couldn't wait to see what they could teach her about the game. The only downside of this tournament, though, was the fact that she had to allow her two host siblings to come with her. She had no choice since both her parents were going out with friends for the day.
Not that Eriza didn't like her siblings, she really did like them. The problem was that they tended to get too excited and loud at Go matches. Not a very comforting thought, seeing as Eriza tended to get really nervous around loud noises and crowds. And Berdine and Axelle were anything but quiet when she played Go.
Eriza sighed. If she ignored them enough, maybe she would continue to do well. That was hoping a lot, but still she liked to dream. She slide down the banister to the first story of the building before calling out loudly, "Beru-chan! Eze-kun! Let's go! I'm going to be late!"
Then again, she really did enjoy spending time with them, outside of the game. Before them, she spent all her time in Go salons and in the Tatami room. She lived and breathed Go. Now, she lived and breathed her siblings. They took her everywhere, kicking and screaming at times. The Ueno Zoo, a place she had never gone to, was even more exciting than she thought it would be. They spent hours just playing with a monkey and tiger statue.
And the department stores... She had never imagined spending five hours in one. Sure they were typically seven stories tall, but she usually spent no more than and hour tops there. No, her life had certainly looked a little brighter now, than it had a year ago.
She glanced at her watch. Time to go. "Bye!" she yelled and ran out the door, knowing her host siblings would be right behind her in another minutes.
*** ***
Berdine was just finishing up with in the bathroom, with Axelle continuously complaining outside the door that she takes too long, when she heard Eriza's call. She was highly amused by her Japanese little sister when she tried to speak her's and Axelle's name. For one, Berdine's name was just to hard for her to pronounce, and two, well since x's and l's aren't part of the Japanese language they had to be inventive. In exchange, though, they got to call Eriza, Eri-chan- much to her dislike.
She frowned slightly, thinking about the upcoming June. This would make almost one year since Axelle and herself have been with the Itoko family. In that time, though, Berdine still thought there was very little she accomplished. She wanted to be a singer, but so far all she did was do homework and watch Eriza play Go. Frankly, the school work wasn't bad, but Go just wasn't her thing. Axelle enjoyed it a lot, but really couldn't play worth a dime. She, on the other hand, finally understood most of the rules and strategies, thanks to Eriza's major habit of reading a whole ton of kifu day in, day out.
That Eriza certainly knew her Go, but other than that, she was hard to decipher. She rarely spoke about herself. After a year, Berdine still knew as little about her as when she first arrived. The only real thing she could decipher was the fact that Eriza was prone to forgetting everything, except Go. She can never recall where any of her classes are, or the name of her school. She forgot all of their birthdays, including her very own, and every single holiday, including Christmas. It was almost like Go was the only thing going for her. It made Berdine really sad at times. She adored Eriza and was now quite attached to her. Therefore, it was very difficult to watch her struggle through the unspoken problems.
She sighed. Well, she had problems too, but she always told Eriza all about them. She seemed to understand and always have a good word of advice. Oh, and Eriza always surprised her one or two times a week by taking her to Karaoke bar, so that she could wow them all with her song. And the fact that Eriza continued to play checkers with her brother, even though he always won, was some backbone. Axelle was such a whiner during their games, but she took it all.
Berdine opened the door, her dark green summer dress swishing slightly. Her red hair, pulled back in a French twist, exposed her neck wear she wore a silver pendant. Yellow socks and pink slippers adorned her feet, throwing off the whole 'picturesque' matching outfit. She had pushed over Axelle, whom had been in front of the door, looking down the hall to see where he fell. "That's what you get for standing in front of the door."
Axelle grumbled as he got up from the ground. His blonde hair, highly untidy, was adorned with a pair of sunglasses. He wore a yellow t-shirt with 'Baka Desu' on it in blue and a pair of sagging pants. "Moron, Eriza just left! Come on, she's a fast runner!"
Together they sprinted towards the door, tossed on sandals (Author keels over in horror. Socks with sandals? My parents would kill me if I did such a thing!) and with two "Itakimasu!" they were gone out the door chasing their hyperactive Go player.
*** ***
"It's been seven days... seven days since..." Hikaru Shindo paused in mid- thought. He couldn't say it. Couldn't bare it. Was it all just some cruel, sick joke? He would come back, right? He would be able to play Go all the time, no strings attached. Would he even want to? "I'll let you play," Hikaru said, his voice weak and barely above a whisper. He was dying inside.
Other thoughts also plagued him. Did he ever even exist? Was it all just a dream? Was there ever such a person with his name? Was his mind just playing tricks on him? "No," Hikaru mumbled out. "He was real. Sai..." The sentence trailed off with the wind. Fujiwara no Sai was real. He had to be! There were just too many things that could not be explained away. The kifu in the storage room at the Go Institute had shown him the answer. It may have said Shuusaku Honinbou, but it was clearly Sai's handy work. His move... "Up, down, left, right, diagonal... the move that blew away an opponent's will to play," he muttered. He had been so stupid! So ignorant! He should have let Sai play, but he had to be selfish!
He balled his hands into fists, his eyes squeezed shut, ignoring all that occurred around him. That turned out to be folly for a minute later a girl collided into him. He cursed colorfully, picking himself off the ground. His green eyes surveyed for injury, while his hands dusted off his yellow and black shirt. A black number five was written in the middle of the shirt and he wore matching black pants. Yellow and black sneakers completed the outfit, and his mix and matched hair completed the whole imposing figure.
He glared towards the girl on the ground who appeared to be saying "Koishi" over and over again. "Pebble?" He asked aloud.
In a flash, the girl was back on her feet, bowing incessantly. "I'm sorry! I wasn't paying attention. Sorry, sorry, sorry!"
Hikaru, unsure what to do, just shrugged. "It's okay. No harm done, but you should pay more attention to where you are going." He mentally hit his head at that comment. He hadn't been paying attention either. He was so self- absorbed into his thoughts that he hadn't noticed anything around him until reality hit him like a ton of bricks, literally. Though, he had to admit that this distraction eliminated part of his earlier depression, at least for the moment.
He made a quick glance over the bowed girl, noting her very dark purple hair in a ponytail that currently hung beside her face. From the clips in her hair to her shoes, she looked like someone who always had every outfit planned to the last detail. She seemed like some sort of snob rich girl, but the way she was apologizing so politely, he dismissed the idea. After all, he if could barely understand his neighbor Akari Fujisaki, then he certainly had no right to judge her.
He didn't have long to study the girl, however, as two other people caught up with the girl. They seemed slightly out of breath, as if they had been chasing after the girl for a while. He shrugged again, shoving his hands into his pockets. "I better be going. Be more careful, girl."
The girl looked up, her lavender eyes looking slightly defiant, before she answered, "I will. Next time you should warn people before they run into you." Before he could respond she was off again. Her two friends groaned and chased after her.
*** ***
"Shindo didn't come to this week's Dan game either," Yoshitaka Waya stated. He stood surrounded by fellow friends. He wore a gray button up shirt and blue jeans. His messy brown hair, appeared more untidy from the continuous motion his hand had caused.
"Huh? Really?" asked Toshinori Honda, his blonde hair amplified the dumb- disbelieving look.
"Is he sick?" asked Asumi Nase. She wore a blue and white stripped shirt that accented her red-brown hair slightly.
"According to the Institute, he hasn't reported any health problems," continued Waya. "He also hasn't come to the study group either. I wonder what's wrong."
Nearby Akira Touya slammed his fist into a nearby wall. He wore a striped black and gray tie with a gray suit and white button up shirt. His blue eyes were narrowed in anger and his expression was one that could kill. His only thought was "Shindo." Someone might think that he obsessed over the poor boy, but in reality he was frustrated. Something in his gut told him that he needed Hikaru in order to play Go the way he always wanted. A true rival... if he ever got to play the ditching brat.
Waya turned with slight surprise towards the noise, before he returned to his friends. "Though this should still be a good tournament. How do the rest of the Insei look?" The group of Insei shifted nervously, avoiding Waya's gaze indirectly.
"Well, there is one that reminds my of Ochi," responded Yuta Fukui, his short black hair and pudgy appearance always brought a smile.
"Yeah. I think she's a Shindo Prodigy, starting at the bottom less than a year ago. She's much better than he was, though," replied Asumi, tossing her hair slightly.
"No kidding! She hasn't even lost a point game since she became an Insei last fall!" ranted Toshinori. "She's currently ranked seventh, but the new rankings come out next week. She'll be first on the list for sure."
Waya looked at them with wide eyes. An Insei to never loose a game was extremely rare, though, he suspected that if Touya had become an Insei he would have been the same.
"Oh and her two friends that come to watch are so annoying," complained Asumi. "They've even caused Itoko to loose several non-point games. And the boy doesn't even know how to play Go properly! Sensei gets really angry at them."
"Sensei Shinoda, Shihan allows outsiders to observe the class?" asked an even more surprised Waya.
"Not really, but Itoko-chan has to keep them around sometimes. They are foreigners staying with her family."
"Itoko-san is the daughter of Itoko, Sasaki Four-Dan," came a decidingly older male voice. The group turned to see Seiji Ogata, recently made Ten- Dan. He wore a snow white suite, with a blue shirt beneath and a matching white tie. His aviator glasses glinted slightly with the sun light streaming in from the open door to the right. He wore a slight frown on his face, for he had just learned a few minutes ago that Shindo would not be attending today. It had proved pointless to come to this tournament, after all, but since he was here he might as well make the most of it.
"Itoko..." mumbled a new voice. Akira had turned around from his sulking session to catch the end of the group's conversation.
"She's just an Insei," muttered Waya. "We pros can beat her any day, right Touya?"
Touya couldn't care less. He was frustrated that Shindo was avoiding the games and he couldn't figure out why. Some insignificant Insei meant nothing to him. He turned around without saying anything, but before he took a step a person sprinted across his path. His eyes widened as he turned his head to follow the being. He didn't get to see much as two more people ran around him after the figure.
"Eri-chan!" called the two figures before they disappeared into the crowd.
A loud sigh resounded behind him. "She's here," chorused a few, while others said less than polite comments about the girl.
Waya looked towards the direction where the small stampede had disappeared. He shook his head. "Yeah, she must be a lot like Shindo to run around like that," he muttered.
Ogata-sensei smiled slightly. A new wave was coming, he was positive of that. Touya and Shindo were leading the way, but apparently the wave was still growing. He made a mental note to watch the young girl's games. Since he came all this way, he might as well take a good look at any new potential players that will help overthrow the Go world. He moved off from the group and headed towards the room where the tournament would be held.
*** ***
Touya sighed inwardly. He was currently going over the game with the Insei who had just lost spectacularly. If this was the number one Insei, there was no hope for any good pros coming in this year. A loud noise, stopped him in his instruction.
He and his partner turned to see a small crowd at table seven. He could barely see, but he noticed right off, that the pro seated there had lost. The strangest thing, though was that the Insei, whom he couldn't see, was actually instructing her pro what he did wrong!
Waya left the crowd and whistled. He glanced over at Touya, answering his unspoken question. "Itoko-san won by ten and a half moku. Ochi didn't have a chance."
As the crowd dispersed, he saw a girl about his age, sitting there putting all the stones away. Ochi, no less, had gone off to cry in the restroom. Her unusual hair color reminded him a lot of Shindo's multicolored hair. It was kind of disturbing to see a female Shindo, so Touya quickly turned away and continued on his instruction.
When he finished a moment later, and all his Go stones had been put away, he chanced another glance her way. This time he saw two other people with her. A girl with dark red hair sat in front of the Go board, as Itoko recounted the plays of the game. A boy with unkept blonde hair, held by sunglasses, stood watching in complete fascination of the board.
"Now, here was where he made his fatal mistake, can you see why?" The purple haired girl asked her audience.
"He should have played off his white here," said the redhead, her foreign accent strong in her Japanese.
"No, here!" the boy said.
Itoko and the other girl rolled their eyes. "No, moron," said the red head. "This isn't a chekka game! This is Go."
"I know that, but this move would have at least given him time to correct his other mistakes."
The Insei leaned forward and examined the spot. "I would have used that spot later. You see this one would have help save three moku points, while this point here," she motioned as she moved her hand, "would only hold him without any points. This would be a good comeback move after he gained the points he already lost."
The redhead laughed. "Poor you, Axelle!"
The blonde grumbled. "Shut up, Berdine."
"So, can we watch your next game, Eri-chan? We promise to be quiet," asked the girl called Berdine.
The other girl looked up from the Go board, slightly off guard. "Umm. sure."
Touya understood that look. Apparently, the girl had just forfeited her next match. He sighed and rose from his seat. He would never freely give up a game. That was where this player was weak. She didn't understand that to be the best, you have to do everything you can to be the best. Letting her friends watch her games, allowed her weak points to show. She wouldn't make it in the pros. But... He glanced at the board, his eyes widening slightly as the configuration. She would make it, if she kept her friends out of it.
*** ***
Berdine stood next to a gloomy looking Eriza. "I'm sorry! I thought you weren't going to be that nervous with us watching! I should have known!" She paced nervously in front of her 'little sister.' "This always seems to happen!"
Eriza was currently tying her shoes in the entrance hall. All the Insei were eliminated in round two, so there was really no point to stay and watch. She looked up into the stricken face of her 'older sister' and smiled. "It's fine. I need to do some of my homework for classes on Monday anyway."
Berdine moved forward quickly, placing her hand to her forehead. "Are you feeling well? I think I just heard you talk about homework."
Eriza smiled slightly. "I'm fine. Besides, I've been falling behind. Mom and Dad are getting annoyed with me. I should do it. Hey, why don't we go for some karaoke tonight? Your treat."
"Sounds like a plan!" Berdine said, her voice now full of excitement. She did deserve to pay for it this time.
"Hey, I'm going to stay here and watch the other matches," said another voice. Axelle had slipped out there for a moment.
"Even better! A day without Axelle! Let's go shopping!"
Eriza groaned inwardly, but smiled nonetheless. She really hated shopping, but it always did cheer up her sister. "That's fine, Axelle. We'll come by around five then?"
Axelle grinned and jumped around. For an eighteen year old, he certainly acted like a kid a lot. "Thanks! I'll see you guys later!" And with that he ran off back into the Go rooms.
Berdine grabbed Eriza arm as soon as she was ready. "Come on! I want to see if some of my favorite groups have their new singles out! Oh and maybe a few manga too! Oh and definitely some more clothes! I am not letting your mother make me matching clothes!"
They both laughed and exited the building heading off for more adventures in department stores.
~~Chapter 1: Meeting the Go World~~
Eriza, dressed in a plain black skirt and shirt, hummed to herself as she started pinning two small butterfly clips into her ponytail. She next pulled on a pair of black tights with butterflies embroidered into the fabric, matching the clips in her hair. She pushed her slippers back onto her feet, taking one last look into the mirror, before running out of her room.
Today was the Annual Young Lion's Tournament, and she wasn't going to miss it for the world. She couldn't wait to test her skills against the young pros. She was going to loose, of course, but she still couldn't wait to see what they could teach her about the game. The only downside of this tournament, though, was the fact that she had to allow her two host siblings to come with her. She had no choice since both her parents were going out with friends for the day.
Not that Eriza didn't like her siblings, she really did like them. The problem was that they tended to get too excited and loud at Go matches. Not a very comforting thought, seeing as Eriza tended to get really nervous around loud noises and crowds. And Berdine and Axelle were anything but quiet when she played Go.
Eriza sighed. If she ignored them enough, maybe she would continue to do well. That was hoping a lot, but still she liked to dream. She slide down the banister to the first story of the building before calling out loudly, "Beru-chan! Eze-kun! Let's go! I'm going to be late!"
Then again, she really did enjoy spending time with them, outside of the game. Before them, she spent all her time in Go salons and in the Tatami room. She lived and breathed Go. Now, she lived and breathed her siblings. They took her everywhere, kicking and screaming at times. The Ueno Zoo, a place she had never gone to, was even more exciting than she thought it would be. They spent hours just playing with a monkey and tiger statue.
And the department stores... She had never imagined spending five hours in one. Sure they were typically seven stories tall, but she usually spent no more than and hour tops there. No, her life had certainly looked a little brighter now, than it had a year ago.
She glanced at her watch. Time to go. "Bye!" she yelled and ran out the door, knowing her host siblings would be right behind her in another minutes.
*** ***
Berdine was just finishing up with in the bathroom, with Axelle continuously complaining outside the door that she takes too long, when she heard Eriza's call. She was highly amused by her Japanese little sister when she tried to speak her's and Axelle's name. For one, Berdine's name was just to hard for her to pronounce, and two, well since x's and l's aren't part of the Japanese language they had to be inventive. In exchange, though, they got to call Eriza, Eri-chan- much to her dislike.
She frowned slightly, thinking about the upcoming June. This would make almost one year since Axelle and herself have been with the Itoko family. In that time, though, Berdine still thought there was very little she accomplished. She wanted to be a singer, but so far all she did was do homework and watch Eriza play Go. Frankly, the school work wasn't bad, but Go just wasn't her thing. Axelle enjoyed it a lot, but really couldn't play worth a dime. She, on the other hand, finally understood most of the rules and strategies, thanks to Eriza's major habit of reading a whole ton of kifu day in, day out.
That Eriza certainly knew her Go, but other than that, she was hard to decipher. She rarely spoke about herself. After a year, Berdine still knew as little about her as when she first arrived. The only real thing she could decipher was the fact that Eriza was prone to forgetting everything, except Go. She can never recall where any of her classes are, or the name of her school. She forgot all of their birthdays, including her very own, and every single holiday, including Christmas. It was almost like Go was the only thing going for her. It made Berdine really sad at times. She adored Eriza and was now quite attached to her. Therefore, it was very difficult to watch her struggle through the unspoken problems.
She sighed. Well, she had problems too, but she always told Eriza all about them. She seemed to understand and always have a good word of advice. Oh, and Eriza always surprised her one or two times a week by taking her to Karaoke bar, so that she could wow them all with her song. And the fact that Eriza continued to play checkers with her brother, even though he always won, was some backbone. Axelle was such a whiner during their games, but she took it all.
Berdine opened the door, her dark green summer dress swishing slightly. Her red hair, pulled back in a French twist, exposed her neck wear she wore a silver pendant. Yellow socks and pink slippers adorned her feet, throwing off the whole 'picturesque' matching outfit. She had pushed over Axelle, whom had been in front of the door, looking down the hall to see where he fell. "That's what you get for standing in front of the door."
Axelle grumbled as he got up from the ground. His blonde hair, highly untidy, was adorned with a pair of sunglasses. He wore a yellow t-shirt with 'Baka Desu' on it in blue and a pair of sagging pants. "Moron, Eriza just left! Come on, she's a fast runner!"
Together they sprinted towards the door, tossed on sandals (Author keels over in horror. Socks with sandals? My parents would kill me if I did such a thing!) and with two "Itakimasu!" they were gone out the door chasing their hyperactive Go player.
*** ***
"It's been seven days... seven days since..." Hikaru Shindo paused in mid- thought. He couldn't say it. Couldn't bare it. Was it all just some cruel, sick joke? He would come back, right? He would be able to play Go all the time, no strings attached. Would he even want to? "I'll let you play," Hikaru said, his voice weak and barely above a whisper. He was dying inside.
Other thoughts also plagued him. Did he ever even exist? Was it all just a dream? Was there ever such a person with his name? Was his mind just playing tricks on him? "No," Hikaru mumbled out. "He was real. Sai..." The sentence trailed off with the wind. Fujiwara no Sai was real. He had to be! There were just too many things that could not be explained away. The kifu in the storage room at the Go Institute had shown him the answer. It may have said Shuusaku Honinbou, but it was clearly Sai's handy work. His move... "Up, down, left, right, diagonal... the move that blew away an opponent's will to play," he muttered. He had been so stupid! So ignorant! He should have let Sai play, but he had to be selfish!
He balled his hands into fists, his eyes squeezed shut, ignoring all that occurred around him. That turned out to be folly for a minute later a girl collided into him. He cursed colorfully, picking himself off the ground. His green eyes surveyed for injury, while his hands dusted off his yellow and black shirt. A black number five was written in the middle of the shirt and he wore matching black pants. Yellow and black sneakers completed the outfit, and his mix and matched hair completed the whole imposing figure.
He glared towards the girl on the ground who appeared to be saying "Koishi" over and over again. "Pebble?" He asked aloud.
In a flash, the girl was back on her feet, bowing incessantly. "I'm sorry! I wasn't paying attention. Sorry, sorry, sorry!"
Hikaru, unsure what to do, just shrugged. "It's okay. No harm done, but you should pay more attention to where you are going." He mentally hit his head at that comment. He hadn't been paying attention either. He was so self- absorbed into his thoughts that he hadn't noticed anything around him until reality hit him like a ton of bricks, literally. Though, he had to admit that this distraction eliminated part of his earlier depression, at least for the moment.
He made a quick glance over the bowed girl, noting her very dark purple hair in a ponytail that currently hung beside her face. From the clips in her hair to her shoes, she looked like someone who always had every outfit planned to the last detail. She seemed like some sort of snob rich girl, but the way she was apologizing so politely, he dismissed the idea. After all, he if could barely understand his neighbor Akari Fujisaki, then he certainly had no right to judge her.
He didn't have long to study the girl, however, as two other people caught up with the girl. They seemed slightly out of breath, as if they had been chasing after the girl for a while. He shrugged again, shoving his hands into his pockets. "I better be going. Be more careful, girl."
The girl looked up, her lavender eyes looking slightly defiant, before she answered, "I will. Next time you should warn people before they run into you." Before he could respond she was off again. Her two friends groaned and chased after her.
*** ***
"Shindo didn't come to this week's Dan game either," Yoshitaka Waya stated. He stood surrounded by fellow friends. He wore a gray button up shirt and blue jeans. His messy brown hair, appeared more untidy from the continuous motion his hand had caused.
"Huh? Really?" asked Toshinori Honda, his blonde hair amplified the dumb- disbelieving look.
"Is he sick?" asked Asumi Nase. She wore a blue and white stripped shirt that accented her red-brown hair slightly.
"According to the Institute, he hasn't reported any health problems," continued Waya. "He also hasn't come to the study group either. I wonder what's wrong."
Nearby Akira Touya slammed his fist into a nearby wall. He wore a striped black and gray tie with a gray suit and white button up shirt. His blue eyes were narrowed in anger and his expression was one that could kill. His only thought was "Shindo." Someone might think that he obsessed over the poor boy, but in reality he was frustrated. Something in his gut told him that he needed Hikaru in order to play Go the way he always wanted. A true rival... if he ever got to play the ditching brat.
Waya turned with slight surprise towards the noise, before he returned to his friends. "Though this should still be a good tournament. How do the rest of the Insei look?" The group of Insei shifted nervously, avoiding Waya's gaze indirectly.
"Well, there is one that reminds my of Ochi," responded Yuta Fukui, his short black hair and pudgy appearance always brought a smile.
"Yeah. I think she's a Shindo Prodigy, starting at the bottom less than a year ago. She's much better than he was, though," replied Asumi, tossing her hair slightly.
"No kidding! She hasn't even lost a point game since she became an Insei last fall!" ranted Toshinori. "She's currently ranked seventh, but the new rankings come out next week. She'll be first on the list for sure."
Waya looked at them with wide eyes. An Insei to never loose a game was extremely rare, though, he suspected that if Touya had become an Insei he would have been the same.
"Oh and her two friends that come to watch are so annoying," complained Asumi. "They've even caused Itoko to loose several non-point games. And the boy doesn't even know how to play Go properly! Sensei gets really angry at them."
"Sensei Shinoda, Shihan allows outsiders to observe the class?" asked an even more surprised Waya.
"Not really, but Itoko-chan has to keep them around sometimes. They are foreigners staying with her family."
"Itoko-san is the daughter of Itoko, Sasaki Four-Dan," came a decidingly older male voice. The group turned to see Seiji Ogata, recently made Ten- Dan. He wore a snow white suite, with a blue shirt beneath and a matching white tie. His aviator glasses glinted slightly with the sun light streaming in from the open door to the right. He wore a slight frown on his face, for he had just learned a few minutes ago that Shindo would not be attending today. It had proved pointless to come to this tournament, after all, but since he was here he might as well make the most of it.
"Itoko..." mumbled a new voice. Akira had turned around from his sulking session to catch the end of the group's conversation.
"She's just an Insei," muttered Waya. "We pros can beat her any day, right Touya?"
Touya couldn't care less. He was frustrated that Shindo was avoiding the games and he couldn't figure out why. Some insignificant Insei meant nothing to him. He turned around without saying anything, but before he took a step a person sprinted across his path. His eyes widened as he turned his head to follow the being. He didn't get to see much as two more people ran around him after the figure.
"Eri-chan!" called the two figures before they disappeared into the crowd.
A loud sigh resounded behind him. "She's here," chorused a few, while others said less than polite comments about the girl.
Waya looked towards the direction where the small stampede had disappeared. He shook his head. "Yeah, she must be a lot like Shindo to run around like that," he muttered.
Ogata-sensei smiled slightly. A new wave was coming, he was positive of that. Touya and Shindo were leading the way, but apparently the wave was still growing. He made a mental note to watch the young girl's games. Since he came all this way, he might as well take a good look at any new potential players that will help overthrow the Go world. He moved off from the group and headed towards the room where the tournament would be held.
*** ***
Touya sighed inwardly. He was currently going over the game with the Insei who had just lost spectacularly. If this was the number one Insei, there was no hope for any good pros coming in this year. A loud noise, stopped him in his instruction.
He and his partner turned to see a small crowd at table seven. He could barely see, but he noticed right off, that the pro seated there had lost. The strangest thing, though was that the Insei, whom he couldn't see, was actually instructing her pro what he did wrong!
Waya left the crowd and whistled. He glanced over at Touya, answering his unspoken question. "Itoko-san won by ten and a half moku. Ochi didn't have a chance."
As the crowd dispersed, he saw a girl about his age, sitting there putting all the stones away. Ochi, no less, had gone off to cry in the restroom. Her unusual hair color reminded him a lot of Shindo's multicolored hair. It was kind of disturbing to see a female Shindo, so Touya quickly turned away and continued on his instruction.
When he finished a moment later, and all his Go stones had been put away, he chanced another glance her way. This time he saw two other people with her. A girl with dark red hair sat in front of the Go board, as Itoko recounted the plays of the game. A boy with unkept blonde hair, held by sunglasses, stood watching in complete fascination of the board.
"Now, here was where he made his fatal mistake, can you see why?" The purple haired girl asked her audience.
"He should have played off his white here," said the redhead, her foreign accent strong in her Japanese.
"No, here!" the boy said.
Itoko and the other girl rolled their eyes. "No, moron," said the red head. "This isn't a chekka game! This is Go."
"I know that, but this move would have at least given him time to correct his other mistakes."
The Insei leaned forward and examined the spot. "I would have used that spot later. You see this one would have help save three moku points, while this point here," she motioned as she moved her hand, "would only hold him without any points. This would be a good comeback move after he gained the points he already lost."
The redhead laughed. "Poor you, Axelle!"
The blonde grumbled. "Shut up, Berdine."
"So, can we watch your next game, Eri-chan? We promise to be quiet," asked the girl called Berdine.
The other girl looked up from the Go board, slightly off guard. "Umm. sure."
Touya understood that look. Apparently, the girl had just forfeited her next match. He sighed and rose from his seat. He would never freely give up a game. That was where this player was weak. She didn't understand that to be the best, you have to do everything you can to be the best. Letting her friends watch her games, allowed her weak points to show. She wouldn't make it in the pros. But... He glanced at the board, his eyes widening slightly as the configuration. She would make it, if she kept her friends out of it.
*** ***
Berdine stood next to a gloomy looking Eriza. "I'm sorry! I thought you weren't going to be that nervous with us watching! I should have known!" She paced nervously in front of her 'little sister.' "This always seems to happen!"
Eriza was currently tying her shoes in the entrance hall. All the Insei were eliminated in round two, so there was really no point to stay and watch. She looked up into the stricken face of her 'older sister' and smiled. "It's fine. I need to do some of my homework for classes on Monday anyway."
Berdine moved forward quickly, placing her hand to her forehead. "Are you feeling well? I think I just heard you talk about homework."
Eriza smiled slightly. "I'm fine. Besides, I've been falling behind. Mom and Dad are getting annoyed with me. I should do it. Hey, why don't we go for some karaoke tonight? Your treat."
"Sounds like a plan!" Berdine said, her voice now full of excitement. She did deserve to pay for it this time.
"Hey, I'm going to stay here and watch the other matches," said another voice. Axelle had slipped out there for a moment.
"Even better! A day without Axelle! Let's go shopping!"
Eriza groaned inwardly, but smiled nonetheless. She really hated shopping, but it always did cheer up her sister. "That's fine, Axelle. We'll come by around five then?"
Axelle grinned and jumped around. For an eighteen year old, he certainly acted like a kid a lot. "Thanks! I'll see you guys later!" And with that he ran off back into the Go rooms.
Berdine grabbed Eriza arm as soon as she was ready. "Come on! I want to see if some of my favorite groups have their new singles out! Oh and maybe a few manga too! Oh and definitely some more clothes! I am not letting your mother make me matching clothes!"
They both laughed and exited the building heading off for more adventures in department stores.