^^ I'm so happy that people like this story - I really enjoy reading your
comments. And so, I'll try to update frequently (because I have a school
break and I can, hehe) Only two new chapters this time (it's a holiday!)
but Akira gets some Heian poetry this time. Thank you very much for
reviewing; I think you'll be happy to see things finally beginning to
happen...
Chapter 8: Maboroshi - Phantom
"He what?!"
"That late entry - Murasaki or whatever they said his name was - just crushed his opponent in the semifinals." Tsubaki punctuated this by slamming his alarmingly large hand into his equally large palm. Perhaps the former mechanic wasn't the perfect image of a Go player - tall, hairy and wearing a Harley-Davidson T-shirt with grease spots on the hem - but he made a fine supervisor. No one dared to cheat while a man who looked like he ate babies and axel grease for breakfast was overseeing the floor.
"Impossible." Ogata's eyes narrowed behind his glasses. As an older pro, he was sometimes called in to watch over high-level amateur matches from the rule judges' table. But for a player to have risen so high in amateur ability without ever having been heard of before was just insane.
Insane. Yamahana, his old college roommate, did work at a mental hospital... Had Yamada discovered some Go prodigy inside the walls of the institution? He had given Ogata no details over the phone except that his new Go player was very strong. This "Murasaki" seemed outwardly cheerful, and had thanked Ogata profusely for allowing him to play. But the expression while he played; of almost fevered intensity... From his seat at the judges' table, Ogata carefully watched the long-haired man begin his final game.
Within minutes, his opponent, a young man who according to records was an amateur 4-dan, had begun to gnaw his fingertips in consternation. In an attempt to shift the balance away from Murasaki, the opponent had begun a game of very heated speed go. As far as Ogata could tell, Murasaki excelled at speed games as well. In another three quarters of an hour, it was all over. Murasaki stood up, allowing a white trenchcoat just slightly too large to billow out behind him.
Tsubaki appeared next to Ogata and handed him a few sheets of paper. "The layouts of Murasaki's boards, from the first few games. Sorry they're kind of rough, but I kept breaking the pencil lead. And I couldn't get the order of moves, you know."
"No, no, it's fine. I just wanted to see..." Ogata frowned at the first badly scrawled picture, and then shuffled through the rest. He touched certain arrangements of penciled dots with reverence. "These forms... are classic Shuusaku. I can almost feel how the game progressed - I studied games like this, when I was an insei. But there's something else, too..." Ogata dropped the papers on the judges' table and left Tsubaki looking very confused. He pushed through the end-of-the-match crowds towards one man in a long coat who seemed to have no interest in prizes or reporters.
"Are you Sai?" he blurted, touching Murasaki on the shoulder. The elegant-looking man turned slowly to face Ogata, an odd expression on his face.
"I don't know... do I look like him?"
"Sai is an anonymous internet player. I don't know what he looks like, but from your game records there is no doubt in my heart. You are Sai." Ogata was breathless, but the look in his eyes was almost predatory. "You owe me a game." Murasaki smiled.
"Well that's good! Sai, ne?" He called to a plain-looking middle- aged woman standing some distance away. "Nurse Kurumae! He knows who I am!" The woman rushed closer. Ogata was beginning to feel very left out of whatever was going on. Someone who had to be Sai, the player who exceeded even the pros, wasting time at a trivial amateur tournament. On top of that, he acted as if he didn't even know a "Sai."
"Allow me to explain, sensei," began the woman. "We may have done you some disservice... in reality, this player is a patient of a Kyoto mental institution. But I assure you he is no danger - his only affliction seems to be a sort of total amnesia, which has improved little in the few months he has been in our care. Do you really believe him to be this 'Sai'? Could you put us in contact with Sai's family, or someone else who might know him?"
Shindou, thought Ogata. Shindou was the only one with a true link to Sai. Ogata's mind worked, piecing together information. This Murasaki had been hospitalized for months... Shindou had been absent from the Go world for the same amount of time. It had to be Sai. But Ogata had to be sure.
"There is... someone who might know Sai," began Ogata. "A young boy, a professional."
"Is that so?!" Murasaki could scarcely contain his own excitement, covering his mouth with long fingers.
"Yes, he's in Kyoto now for a professional series, as am I. I'm certain that he would recognize Sai... our hotel is across town, but I'd be willing to drive. You've won a good sum of prize money, but if hotel accommodations are a problem, you don't have to worry about that." Ogata frowned. "That is, if it's allowable to remove a mental patient..." Nurse Kurumae waved her hands in embarrassment.
"No, no, Murasaki isn't properly a patient... he was given his clearance today. I'm only acting as his guardian for this tournament. If he wishes to go..."
"Yes! I want to go!" Murasaki clasped his hands in delight. "A car ride, a car ride! Nurse Kurumae, thank you so much for bringing me here and showing me how to use the train and letting me borrow your son's clothes... what is the boy's name, who might know me?"
"Touya... Touya Akira."
Useful (?) Japanese Section:
Maboroshi - Chapter 41 of "Genji", meaning illusion or dream. Tsubaki - For some reason I find it hilarious that a big hairy guy like Tsubaki has the name of a pretty flower (tsubaki means camellia). Actually, camellias are a bad omen in Japan because of the way their heads fall off when they wilt. (thank you, sensei, for the random information) Amateur 4-dan - Pro & amateur players are ranked by dan level, in which higher is better. Amateur players use two kinds of rankings, dan (1-6) and kyu, with dan being advanced. There are lots of levels of kyu; lower numbers are better. A new player is usually around 40 kyu but you can rise pretty quickly to 11 or so. Uhh, this is only interesting because you can use it to determine handicap. (I suck at Go, one million kyu. ^^;;)
Chapter 8: Maboroshi - Phantom
"He what?!"
"That late entry - Murasaki or whatever they said his name was - just crushed his opponent in the semifinals." Tsubaki punctuated this by slamming his alarmingly large hand into his equally large palm. Perhaps the former mechanic wasn't the perfect image of a Go player - tall, hairy and wearing a Harley-Davidson T-shirt with grease spots on the hem - but he made a fine supervisor. No one dared to cheat while a man who looked like he ate babies and axel grease for breakfast was overseeing the floor.
"Impossible." Ogata's eyes narrowed behind his glasses. As an older pro, he was sometimes called in to watch over high-level amateur matches from the rule judges' table. But for a player to have risen so high in amateur ability without ever having been heard of before was just insane.
Insane. Yamahana, his old college roommate, did work at a mental hospital... Had Yamada discovered some Go prodigy inside the walls of the institution? He had given Ogata no details over the phone except that his new Go player was very strong. This "Murasaki" seemed outwardly cheerful, and had thanked Ogata profusely for allowing him to play. But the expression while he played; of almost fevered intensity... From his seat at the judges' table, Ogata carefully watched the long-haired man begin his final game.
Within minutes, his opponent, a young man who according to records was an amateur 4-dan, had begun to gnaw his fingertips in consternation. In an attempt to shift the balance away from Murasaki, the opponent had begun a game of very heated speed go. As far as Ogata could tell, Murasaki excelled at speed games as well. In another three quarters of an hour, it was all over. Murasaki stood up, allowing a white trenchcoat just slightly too large to billow out behind him.
Tsubaki appeared next to Ogata and handed him a few sheets of paper. "The layouts of Murasaki's boards, from the first few games. Sorry they're kind of rough, but I kept breaking the pencil lead. And I couldn't get the order of moves, you know."
"No, no, it's fine. I just wanted to see..." Ogata frowned at the first badly scrawled picture, and then shuffled through the rest. He touched certain arrangements of penciled dots with reverence. "These forms... are classic Shuusaku. I can almost feel how the game progressed - I studied games like this, when I was an insei. But there's something else, too..." Ogata dropped the papers on the judges' table and left Tsubaki looking very confused. He pushed through the end-of-the-match crowds towards one man in a long coat who seemed to have no interest in prizes or reporters.
"Are you Sai?" he blurted, touching Murasaki on the shoulder. The elegant-looking man turned slowly to face Ogata, an odd expression on his face.
"I don't know... do I look like him?"
"Sai is an anonymous internet player. I don't know what he looks like, but from your game records there is no doubt in my heart. You are Sai." Ogata was breathless, but the look in his eyes was almost predatory. "You owe me a game." Murasaki smiled.
"Well that's good! Sai, ne?" He called to a plain-looking middle- aged woman standing some distance away. "Nurse Kurumae! He knows who I am!" The woman rushed closer. Ogata was beginning to feel very left out of whatever was going on. Someone who had to be Sai, the player who exceeded even the pros, wasting time at a trivial amateur tournament. On top of that, he acted as if he didn't even know a "Sai."
"Allow me to explain, sensei," began the woman. "We may have done you some disservice... in reality, this player is a patient of a Kyoto mental institution. But I assure you he is no danger - his only affliction seems to be a sort of total amnesia, which has improved little in the few months he has been in our care. Do you really believe him to be this 'Sai'? Could you put us in contact with Sai's family, or someone else who might know him?"
Shindou, thought Ogata. Shindou was the only one with a true link to Sai. Ogata's mind worked, piecing together information. This Murasaki had been hospitalized for months... Shindou had been absent from the Go world for the same amount of time. It had to be Sai. But Ogata had to be sure.
"There is... someone who might know Sai," began Ogata. "A young boy, a professional."
"Is that so?!" Murasaki could scarcely contain his own excitement, covering his mouth with long fingers.
"Yes, he's in Kyoto now for a professional series, as am I. I'm certain that he would recognize Sai... our hotel is across town, but I'd be willing to drive. You've won a good sum of prize money, but if hotel accommodations are a problem, you don't have to worry about that." Ogata frowned. "That is, if it's allowable to remove a mental patient..." Nurse Kurumae waved her hands in embarrassment.
"No, no, Murasaki isn't properly a patient... he was given his clearance today. I'm only acting as his guardian for this tournament. If he wishes to go..."
"Yes! I want to go!" Murasaki clasped his hands in delight. "A car ride, a car ride! Nurse Kurumae, thank you so much for bringing me here and showing me how to use the train and letting me borrow your son's clothes... what is the boy's name, who might know me?"
"Touya... Touya Akira."
Useful (?) Japanese Section:
Maboroshi - Chapter 41 of "Genji", meaning illusion or dream. Tsubaki - For some reason I find it hilarious that a big hairy guy like Tsubaki has the name of a pretty flower (tsubaki means camellia). Actually, camellias are a bad omen in Japan because of the way their heads fall off when they wilt. (thank you, sensei, for the random information) Amateur 4-dan - Pro & amateur players are ranked by dan level, in which higher is better. Amateur players use two kinds of rankings, dan (1-6) and kyu, with dan being advanced. There are lots of levels of kyu; lower numbers are better. A new player is usually around 40 kyu but you can rise pretty quickly to 11 or so. Uhh, this is only interesting because you can use it to determine handicap. (I suck at Go, one million kyu. ^^;;)