Author's Notes: My congratulations to everyone who noticed the similarities between this chapter's title and the title of chapter 117 of the Hikaru no Go manga! :D Kudos to you! It's one of the many subtle similarities between Hikaru and Midou's relationships with their mentors. The careful reader will pick up on many, many more than Hikaru does at the end of this chapter. Like the author "Formerly Avarice" so often points out, everything is significant. No matter how small it seems, it was meant to be there. If you think you're reading too deep into it, you probably aren't. :P
Midou-kun glanced down at the hastily-drawn map that was etched into a piece of crumpled-up paper. Lines crossed and intersected in a maze of streets, forming the complex cityscape that was Tokyo city. He quickly identified his location on one of the side streets, and compared it to where he needed to be. With a gasp of alarm, he realized that his destination should be right behind him.
He turned around, not really knowing what to expect. He had never been to a Go Salon before, although the math teacher that had given him these directions had seemed absolutely elated about it.
For all the hype he had been getting, Midou-kun had to admit to himself that the building itself was rather disappointing. It was wedged in between a Ramen restaurant and a small electronics store, barely wedging itself in between them. The establishment itself seemed to be bursting at the seams, with many cracked bricks and decaying mortar. The only point of pride on the outside of the salon seemed to be the bright backlit sign at the top of the signpost in front of the plaza. It contained a corner of the board featuring some complicated pattern of stones that was far beyond Midou's limited comprehension. Around it, characters that slightly resembled Japanese Kanji spelled out some foreign title, but Midou could not interpret these either.
Hesitantly, Midou crossed the abandoned street to the forlorn building. He walked up to the door, knocked. When no response came, he clutched the knob and slowly opened the door, sticking his head in through the opening. It was dark inside, and the only thing on the other side of the door was a narrow corridor ending in a winding staircase. He shut the door behind him and proceeded through the hall, and turned into the stairs. Midou walked up slowly, his apprehension growing with every step.
After three long, consecutive flights, the stairway ended in a small windowless door. A thin ray of light illuminated the hall from underneath the door, and for the first time, the enveloping silence of the building was lifted by sounds from the other side of the door.
Midou approached it, putting his ear up to the wood. Familiar sounds came from inside- a man's voice raised in an unknown language. A soft coughing. And, most dominantly of all, the soft sound of go stones hitting wooden gobans.
He opened the door and walked in, realizing that his eyes had become accustomed to darkness and were not at all ready for the bright glare of the ceiling lamps. A man at the desk turned to look at the new arrival, and his face registered surprise. It did not take Midou long to find out why-he was by far the visible minority as a Japanese. The heads turned to him from every corner of the room were all of obvious Korean descent, and Midou felt himself shrinking back towards the door.
"Konnichiwa," the man behind the desk said in thickly accented Japanese. "It's 700-en for children."
"Huh, what?" Midou was caught off guard at first, until the man's words registered in his mind. "Oh, right. To play."
"That is why you're here, right?" The man grunted.
He nodded slowly, and walked up to the counter. Fumbling with a 500-en bill and two hundred-en coins, he placed them on the counter, where a hairy hand quickly pulled them away and into the register.
Midou turned to face the rows of tables, all filled with gobans that had half-finished games playing across them. He slowly walked up and down the aisles, looking down at the complex patterns. He didn't recognize any of them, and his mind could not present solutions for any of the problems posed. He turned to survey the whole room, taking in all it's occupants. By the looks of it, not one of them was Japanese, and not one was below 30 years of age.
With a resigned sigh, Midou plopped himself into an empty chair, facing a blank Goban. With any luck, someone would take pity on the Japanese kid and give him a game of shidougo. Then, at least, his crossing the entire city to get here wouldn't have been a complete waste.
His attention was drawn to the game beside him. Although he was still a beginner, even Midou-kun could make out the fact that white was in trouble, even if only for the fact that the white player was sweating profusely, a look of utmost concentration on his face.
The stones portrayed their meaning well enough. The wall of black on Midou's left side was foreboding for the meaningful cluster of white on the edge of the board. Failure to survive in the harsh conditions would spell instant defeat for white. Unwillingly, knowing that he wouldn't be able to solve anything, his brain began to read ahead into the position, drawing upon the knowledge presented to him in the tsumego books Shindou had given him. At first, Midou doubted whether there was any way out at all for white. The trap black had lain certainly seemed secure enough. Squeezed into a corner, the white stones would be hard-pressed to find room for the two eyes necessary for life. However, as Midou-kun stared at it, along with the two Korean players engaged in the game, the position unfolded it's secrets to him. Move by move, like a puzzle, he could see the stones fighting their way across the board, playing out an inescapable path. In a few minutes, after trying every possibility in his mind, Midou-kun was certain of his solution. It was a surefire, beautiful path to victory.
The Korean man controlling black looked down at Midou's concentrated face, a confident sneer on his own. "Hey, kid."
Midou's head shot up. "Yes, sir?"
The man nodded his head towards the board. "You think you can figure this one out?"
Midou looked down and, reluctantly, nodded slowly. The man burst out laughing, sending the white player into even more alarm. "If you think you can do it, give it a try! C'mon, I'll let you help this guy out!"
The boy's eyes widened, and the white player's mouth dropped in surprise. "But—are you sure that's OK? Am I allowed to receive help?"
The man was doubled over in fits of hilarity. "What help could this boy be? He's not a day above 10! And most importantly, he's just a Japanese!"
The white player looked up, a trace of fear in his eyes. "Japanese children are strong. Do you remember that boy from three years ago?"
"The Insei… yes, I remember. There are exceptions to every rule, Kim." Nevertheless, he turned a wary eye towards Midou and asked, "Are you Insei?"
Almost smiling at the ridiculous question, Midou shook his head, afraid to speak.
"See, then? Let the boy have some fun! C'mon kid, try to help white out of this case!" He chuckled merrily at his own joke, and winked slyly at the white player, who was in complete submission. Black motioned with his hand for Midou to give the position a try.
He shifted his chair so that he faced the board, and taking a deep breath, fulfilled the solution he had played out in his mind. The black player watched at first with skeptical amusement that slowly melted into shocked disbelief. The white player had relief and joy creep slowly onto his countenance. He was saved.
After Midou placed the last stone unnecessarily, granting the group it's second eye, he looked up eagerly into the face of the black player, hoping for praise. He immediately confused the disbelief and fear in the man's face to mean disapproval. "It's wrong?" He said, discouraged.
Slowly, as if it took all his strength, the man shook his head, and a smile lit Midou's face. He quickly turned his head towards the white player, who was beaming at the solution. "So it's right?"
"Yes!" The white player spoke this time. "It's perfect!"
"You!" A voice spoke from behind him, startling Midou out of his seat. He quickly got up and turned to face the new arrival. To his shock, it was not another old man like everyone else in the thriving salon.
Although he was evidently Korean, the boy seemed to be his age, if not a bit older. He wore a red sweater, loose and baggy, with a bright red cap resting on his round head. Raven black hair spilled across his face, almost masking two eyes that shone with intensity. Midou took a cautious step back. "Yes, me."
The boy pointed to the chair Midou had been sitting in a few seconds ago. "I am Hong Su-Young."
Midou blinked. "Erm, I'm Midou Ashitaka. Pleased… to meet you."
"Sit down."
Not daring to resist the boy, Midou took a step and sat in the chair the boy had pointed to. Questions raced through his mind. Had this boy seen his solution? Was that why he took this sudden interest in him? What did he have in mind?
The Korean boy walked across the row of tables to the other side and sat across from him. He took a bowl of stone, and opened it. It suddenly dawned on Midou what this boy was planning. "Huh? Wait, erm… Hong? You want to play a game?"
He raised his eyes. "Yes, of course."
"Oh… well, what strength are you?"
"Five-dan pro. This is my second visit to Japan. I became Pro just after the first one. I'm here looking for someone."
Midou nearly fell off his chair. "W-what? Pro?"
He nodded shortly. "That's right. What about you?"
"Um…" Midou tried to think. Hikaru had never given him an exact rank, but he could get a fair estimation of himself through the graded tsumego books at his disposal. "I… suppose around 20k…"
Hong's hand froze in it's task of drawing stones. "Stop playing around," he said strictly. "There is no way an amateur could have solved that situation."
"You were watching that?"
"Naturally. It was skillful, precise… something I'd expect of only one other person I know."
"I see... well, then, it must be coincidence or something. Because I'm not really that strong at all. I just use some books that Hikaru gave me, and he's always saying how—"
"What did you say!?"
Midou was taken aback. Had he done something wrong? "Um, I was going to say that Hikaru is always saying how I never keep the whole board in mind and—"
"Hikaru? Shindou Hikaru?"
Midou blinked. Was his teacher that well known? He broke into a smile. "Yes, that's the one. You know him?"
"Y-you're a student… of Shindou Hikaru?"
Midou nodded slowly, with growing apprehension. "Is that bad?"
Hong Su-Young did not answer the question, but rather, resolutely drew a fistful of white stones from the bowl, and placed them on the Goban, cupping them with his hand. "Now, nigiri. I must see your strength."
"Oh… shouldn't we lay the handicap first? Tutoring go is usually played with a handicap…"
"A handicap? Against a student of Shindou Hikaru? Please be serious. Nigiri."
Shaking his head, Midou absently drew a black stone from his own bowl and placed it on the Goban, his head spinning. This boy apparently held a very high opinion of Shindou's skills, even though he had a higher rank that Midou's teacher.
"Who are you… Hikaru?" Midou whispered under his breath as Hong gave him the bowl of white stones. He took it, placed it to the right of the Goban as was custom, and lifted the lid.
"I was still a Kyakkusei in Korea when I first came to Japan," Hong said in his accented Japanese as he played the first stone. "I had just dropped three consecutive classes. I was in the largest slump of my life. I was convinced that Go was not my way. My parents thought I needed a break, so I came to Japan."
Midou did not know why he was being told this, but he listened attentively nonetheless as he played.
"I was here in the salon when Shindou Hikaru came with a couple of his insei friends. They came here to practice for the Pro Exam. Can you believe that? They came here to practice!"
Midou couldn't imagine what was wrong with that, but didn't say so. He simply placed his next stone, already consumed by a feeling that the game was lost already, despite it being only the eleventh move.
"The idiot didn't even know about Korea. He started asking if we were any good. That's rich. Just that year, Japan didn't even qualify for a China x Japan x Korea tournament. We knocked them out in the preliminary. Not a single player made it."
This was definitely news to Midou-kun. He had never considered the talents of other countries outside of Japan, although he thought it wouldn't be a good idea to mention this to the fiercely proud boy.
"He was totally clueless. It made me really angry. And maybe a part of me wanted to vent all my frustrations from back home." He placed a stone, killing a large group of Midou's. "I offered to shidougo him. That only made him even angrier. He really doesn't like to be underestimated."
Midou flashed back to his first meeting with the boy. He remembered Hikaru's red-blooded anger at his suggestion that he wasn't really a professional go player. But he had returned the next day, eager to judge his full skills. Whatever Hikaru's faults may be, he had true intentions in the end. Even his personal anger could be put behind him in order to help him. Midou felt his appreciation of the boy double.
"We played an even game. I was so incited that I gave it 110%. Even I had to admit that the end result was due to a difference in skill, not a lapse of attention on my part."
"So he won then?" Despite himself, Midou was quite fascinated by the story being told. His attention didn't really need to be on the game anymore anyway. It was lost already. It was just an excuse for the two children to talk.
"By 1.5 moku. He was white like you are now. It was the most amazing game I've ever played, even to this day. Among all the Korean pros, I have never found a game that has satisfied me like that one did. Ultimately, I did lose. But I shall never forget that game. I went back to Korea a new person. I continued my ascent through the classes. And I passed the next Pro Exam. The same summer that Shindou Hikaru passed his. I have played and replayed that game thousands of times. Always looking for some key, some way to have turned it around. But there isn't, not really. Every opening I find, I know he can find the solution to."
"He's really amazing, ne?"
"He is. Which is why…" Hong sighed, "I was expecting a lot better from you. Please resign right now."
Midou was taken aback. "Resign? Already? Are you kidding?"
"There is no way for you to come back from this."
"Darn right there isn't. I told you there wouldn't be from the beginning, but you didn't believe me. Now you're going to sit here and play this out so I can learn something. Unless you want to resign?"
Hong glared. "This game is a waste of time."
"Not for me it isn't."
"It is a waste of my time."
"Then you shouldn't have started this game." Midou placed a white stone. "Your move."
Hong Su-Young shot him a dirty look, picked up his own stone and slammed it down into the correct spot.
Now that the conversation was over, Midou's full concentration was on the game. All his resources were focused on the one-sided battle on the board. His mind entered the familiar stream of variations and solutions, analyzing a thousand possible outcomes. He could envision countless minor victories all over the board, but no crushing move that would turn the tables, however slightly, towards his advantage.
Of course, he did not really expect one. Hong was, after all, a pro of even higher caliber than Shindou-kun, at least in terms of rank. The chances of pulling off anything impressive this game were slim.
Midou watched Hong place the next stone. It was an interesting move, but one Midou had prepared for. He made his next move confidently, making atari on a vital stone.
Hong predictably defended, which opened up the door for Midou's tactic. Sacrificing a small group, he played a tesuji that gained him some small influence in the top side.
He heard Hong gasp. His eyes shot up. The Korean boy seemed somewhat shocked and impressed by the turn of events, but Midou knew it was a small victory, not nearly enough to even put him back in the running. And mistakes would be large and plenty for him. Although Midou-kun adamantly refused to resign, he knew in his heart that he should. Small firefighting in tiny cuts across black's shape would net him some points, but it would never win the game. What white needed was a large, overall strategy. One that would take into account the whole board, like Hikaru so constantly insisted was vital, that would catch black off guard, and secure a crushing blow.
The next move by black ignored the small casualty he would incur by playing tenuki, but rather brought about a much larger threat to white, one that forced his attention to the bottom edge of the board, away from the top side that was the hot spot for black.
Midou reached for a stone, and was about to place it in the standard spot, defending the obvious cut at the bottom. However, his hand stopped an inch from the wood.
Hong gasped. Midou grinned.
It was the standard move, the expected one. But in this game, Midou couldn't afford to play by a conformed style. He had to take unreasonable risks. Taking Hikaru's words into mind, Midou analyzed each and every part of the board. He let go of his tendency to isolate the board into sections of go problems. He couldn't afford to do that. Not this game.
As he concentrated, the whole board began to make sense. It all fell into place, similar to the sensation he got when solving a local fight, and yet remarkably different. He wasn't just reading ahead a small isolated corner—he was seeing the future and possibilities of the whole board. For the first time, Midou truly appreciated that Go was a war, not a battle. He could see in his mind, the black and white armies clashing all over the wood, entwining themselves over the board. Now the danger was here, a second later it was there. The focus always changing, shifting from one side to the other, and yet every outcome was vitally important to all other parts of the game.
Taking a deep breath, he placed the stone far away from the obvious response. It was towards the center. Although Midou wasn't exactly sure why he had made that move, he felt instinctively that it was correct. In his mind's eye, he could see it being perfectly positioned for the large center-oriented conflict he knew would come. Although this move would not win him the game, it was a step in the right direction.
Midou looked up at Hong's face, expecting a look of mild approval. However, the Korean boy wore a mask of shock and amazement. He looked up and down at the stone and at Midou, as if doubting whether he had really made the move.
"…Sh-shindou!"
Midou looked concerned. "No, I'm Midou, remember?"
"That move… it radiates Shindou. I should know. I've replayed his games thousands of times."
Midou looked incuriously at Hong. Had he just been compared to Shindou? The Shindou Hikaru that Hong looked up to?
The boy smiled, beamingly. He had a feeling he had just received the biggest compliment possible.
The bells at the top of the door to the bakery rung as a familiar visitor stepped through. This time, Midou's mother was at the counter instead of in the kitchen. Upon seeing the familiar face, she beamed.
"Ah, hello Shindou-kun!"
He bowed in return. "Hello, Ashitaka-san!"
"Is Midou-kun up in his room?"
His mother looked up at the ceiling as if she could visually confirm his presence through the wood. "Yes. That's the only place he ever is since he's learned Go, except the occasional Salon." However, her voice contained fierce pride, and not disapproval.
"I see. Thank you!" Hikaru tossed her a wave and bounded up the steps. As he neared Midou's door, he could hear the familiar sound of stone hitting Goban, meaning that once again, Midou was hard at work.
He opened the door and looked in. The first thing he saw was the rose-colored Goban.
His second dream with Sai. The Goban that contained the solution to the Tsumego. Had Sai been trying to tell him something?
Midou did not raise his head. He had not even heard Hikaru entering the room.
Sai had always commented on Hikaru's powers of concentration. How he couldn't hear Sai when he was in the middle of a particularly engrossing game. Sai had always said it was one of his greatest strengths.
"Midou!" Hikaru said, trying to clear his throat and attract his student's attention. The boy looked up from the board. The delight from playing Go that had been in his eyes amplified at the sight of his teacher. "Hikaru-kun!"
The unbridled joy and enthusiasm of his early days with Sai, when he had been a member of the Haze Jr. High Go Club. The eagerness with which he attacked each new position, with Sai always at his side. Had he taken his master for granted back then, just as he had taken his membership?
Hikaru lowered the backpack from his back and put it on the ground. He sat down in Seiza across from Midou, who was looking expectantly into Hikaru's face.
The thousands of games played against Sai each night. The endless struggles, always ending in a loss, yet always giving him some new insight into the game.
Shindou looked at the game on the board. White was receiving a sound beating, and for a second, Hikaru thought it was a game played by him, but the playing style was completely different.
"Even though you have been playing for a month now, Hikaru, it is still quite an achievement to be able to memorize a whole game already! Your progress is excellent!"
"Hikaru-sempai! Watch this next move!" Midou said brightly. He took a stone and placed it. Normally, Midou-kun with his limited vision would have defended on the lower edge. That was the obvious move for someone of Midou-kun's level. However, this move was a far dive in the very center of the board, far detached from the major conflict.
The Wakajishisen. Sai had been very impressed with one of the moves he had made. It had seemed like a mistake at the time, even to Sai. But Hikaru had turned it around into a very useful situation. It hadn't been enough to win him the game, but it had impressed everyone there, most importantly of all, Touya Akira.
Hikaru's eyes widened.
"Eh, do you like it, Hikaru?" Midou asked, fishing for a compliment yet again. "Guess who I played it against?"
Hikaru couldn't guess
"Hong Su-Young!"
Hikaru gasped.
"If you beat me, I'll remember your name! I'll remember the name Shindou Hikaru!"
"He said he knew you. That you played a really good game!"
"Hong… he's here? In Japan?"
"Yes! And guess what? That move I just showed you… he said it was as good as one of yours!"
Yun-sensei had said he was as good as the first game Sai had played after watching his match with Korean Kakyuusei Hong Su-Young. It had been the most treasured compliment Hikaru had ever received.
"I couldn't think of a good enough move, Sensei," Midou went on. "I kept slipping into my old habit of being to localized. So… I went into your mind. I tried to think what you would have done!"
The second-last game of the Pro Exam, against Waya. Hikaru had needed a way to save the black stones. "Sai, I thought of what you would have done in that situation! It worked! I passed!"
"Even though I lost the game, he was apparently very impressed by some of my moves! He said he'd come by to the Salon more often, to play me! Now I've got two professional teachers! Isn't that great, Hikaru?"
"Sai…the thousands of games played at Touya's Go Salon after the game Hikaru lost to him in the Honinbou League, the night before he had first dreamt of Sai. The thousands of arguments over complex ideas and strategies. And most importantly of all, the stunning growth both he and his rival had undergone.
"Hikaru! I've decided! I want to apply for the Nihon-Kiin! I think I'd like to become an pro!"
The Goban in his grandfather's attic. The thousand-year old ghost contained within. The path following to Touya Akira.
Why did you leave Sai? You haven't attained the Hand of God!
Or maybe…
That's not why you came. You left once I became a pro. Did you realize something, Sai? Did you finally understand why God had given you 1000 years of time? Wasn't it to attain the Hand of God?
Or was it… to pass along that mission to me? So that I may pass it along to someone else? Generation by generation, thousands of new talents and ideas added to the goal, the final ideal of attaining the Hand of God. It required so many insights and points of view…
Then what was Hikaru's mission? Not to achieve the Hand of God, but rather…
To pass it on.
As Sai had done.
Midou looked at Hikaru in confusion. For a statement of such magnitude, Midou had gotten almost no reaction from Hikaru. Did he not think he was worthy of being a pro?
He looked again. For the second time, Midou could see another figure standing next to the boy, who seemed to be in shock. Unlike last time, it was more than an outline. It was a vivid image of a man with long, flowing hair, and a tall hat from the Heian era. White and purple flowing robes gave him a sense magnificence.
Who was he?
The man did not seem to be paying any attention to Midou. He was looking at Hikaru with sad eyes. Sad, and yet somehow hopeful. A melancholic sadness. His fan was covering his mouth, but his lips, curled into a smile, could be faintly detected behind them.
Suddenly, the man turned his head to look at Midou, and a youthful happiness and excitement filled the previously sad eyes. He reached his arm out and held the fan he had been clutching in front of Midou's chest.
Midou looked from the offered fan to Hikaru. The boy was staring straight at the ghost. He was not the only one who could see it. Shindou could too. The blond-banged boy almost had tears in his eyes. His lower lips were trembling dangerously.
"Sai… I finally understand."
Midou, alarmed, looked back at where the ghost had been. But he was gone now. And somehow, instinctively, both new they would never see him again, neither in the waking or sleeping realm.
"Midou," Hikaru's voice said, and the boy turned his head to face him. Shindou had wiped the threat of tears away with his sleeve, although nothing could be done about the bright redness of his face. "I think… that's a great idea!"
Midou's shocked face turned into a wide grin. "Really?"
Hikaru smiled. "Really."
