Disclaimer: I do not own Hikaru no Go

Chapter 7: Sai vs Toya Koyo

In the room

"Akira, you're early" Hikaru led Akira upstairs to his room "Are you really for the game?"

"Yes, I'm ready."

"Confident of winning?"

"Of course... Hikaru, why the serious expression. You look like a kamikaze pilot making your toast to the emperor, before embarking on your last flight."

"Akira, you may be joking, but I can sense that you're dead serious as well." Hikaru replied grimly.

"Alright, let's get started."

Hikaru proceeded to the login screen, and entered a name that the world has not seen for a while: 'Sai'.

"Sai lives again..." the 2 rivals whispered to each other, almost simultaneously.

Hikaru held out his hand. Akira squeezed it firmly. Go is not normally a team game, but this is as close as it gets to one.


In the hospital

"Sai... I have waited so long for this..." a mixture of emotions ran through the former Meijin "Have you been looking forward to this match, as I have been? All my travels, all my preparations, have been made for this moment. It may have come sooner than I plan, but I can say that I am ready."

An invitation to a match appeared. Touya Kouyo accepted it gladly.

Sai (white) vs Toya Koyo (black). Time: 3 hours. Komi: 5.5 moku.

"It has begun..."


In the room

By silent consent, Hikaru controlled the mouse. The first few moves were standard Joseki. Hikaru would move the mouse pointer over a spot on the board. Akira would nod his head, and Hikaru would place the move.

"Planning an attack?" Akira broke the silence as Hikaru moved the pointer into black territory.

"It is time." Hikaru's reply was short. Akira simply nodded and observed Hikaru's next few moves.

"Hikaru's Go has come of age. Previously he would surprise me with a few brilliant, Sai-like moves, but they tend to be isolated and disconnected with each other. These few moves, however, all had Sai's signature in them. He is finally able to string together an effective sequence of moves, each one more aggressive than the last...how would father respond now?" Akira wondered.


In the hospital

"Sai, you have grown more aggressive. These last 6 moves are a serious threat to my territory. If I continued to defend like this it would put me at a serious disadvantage."

Touya Kouyo paused, and pondered his next move for 15 minutes.

"It is time to show you my Go. Touya Kouyo's Go..."


In the room

"Touya sensei is disregarding my last move!" exclaimed Hikaru "Well, let me press on then! The entire black formation at the top can be destroyed!"

"Hang on... father must have a good reason for making this move." Akira disagreed "Look, black is now in a good position to threaten white's territory on both sides of the board. The situation on top is also not so clear. Depending on subsequent developments... this move may be just right for black to become alive on top. At this point, we should proceed carefully."

"You're right. We should strengthen our position on the left." Hikaru responded with an appropriate move.


Rest of world

Toya Koyo's return to online Go had not gone unnoticed. Since his first game with Fujiwarano, internet Go players have been tracking his games. It did not take long for people to see this new game with Sai. Soon, calls were being made, and people from halfway across the world were being waken up from their sleep.

Among the pros, Waya was the first to notice the game. He called Isumi, Honda, Nase, and several others, fulfilling an earlier promise he made to them. At Weekly Go, Amano, Kosemura, and others gathered in front of the office computer, abandoning their work all of a sudden. The Japanese, Korean, Chinese, and Taiwanese Go Institutes all got to know about it, and pros rushed to find the nearest available screen. Kuwabara Honinbou, Ogata Jyudan, Kurata Kisei and others watched the match from their own computers.

Nobody wanted to miss another match of a lifetime.


In the room

"Oh my god, look at the number of spectators. There must be at least 500 of them." Hikaru gasped "The weight of the entire Go world is on our shoulders, Akira."

"Come on, let's not get distracted. Concentrate on the game." Akira tried his best to stay calm. The young pro, normally unwavering under even the most difficult situations, was starting to feel the pressure tightening around them.

"Well, let's just pretend they don't exist..." Hikaru forced himself back into the game.

"Hmmm, you're not planning to defend anymore? Wouldn't this move greatly expose the weakness in our formation?"

"That's the idea... I welcome Touya-sensei to attack us here."


Waya's room

"I just don't get it. White is exposing himself blatantly? And most baffling of all, black does not try to take advantage?" Waya confessed that he was hopelessly lost.

"I'm sure Touya-sensei must have a plan." replied Isumi, who came over to watch the match with Waya. "Let's wait and see."


In the hospital

To win by more than 15 moku...

I'll have to start a fight where one of us gets wiped out...

"I've observed something similar before..." Touya Kouyo recalled a game he played in the room of Yuugen, against a young pro by the name of Shindou Hikaru "White is inviting me, begging me to invade here. However, I sense immense danger lurking in the background. The result will be an intense battle whose outcome is unclear at the moment. I can already see at least 5 different ways the game can go, none of which seems very favorable to me. Well, Sai, I was able to withstand the temptation to attack those weak stones then. Do you think I cannot do the same now?"

Once again, Touya Kouyo paused before making his next move.


In the room

"He didn't fall for it..." Hikaru seemed disappointed.

"Did you expect him to?" Akira was not surprised.

"Look, he just revealed a weak point in his formation."

"This is obviously a trap. Hikaru, do you think you are the only person capable of laying one? Now is not the time to attack, but for consolidation. Here, I believe this is the most effective move we can make. We may be slightly behind, but we still have a chance."

"This is excellent, Akira. Sai would have been proud of this move too."


Taiwan Go Institute

"Sensei! I'm totally lost. What is the 2 of them doing?" Murong Feng was totally exasperated.

"To be honest, I'm not too certain either." replied Song Chen "This game will take a long time to be analyzed completely... Generations of future Go players will be talking about it, long after it is over..."


In the hospital

"A very calm and calculated move... Sai, you have responded well so far, and I am very happy to have been able to meet all your challenges up to now. However, we have come to the decisive part of the game, and it is time for me to put in everything I know about Go. It is not good enough to play like the last game. I have to surpass it. Sai, are you ready to bring our Go to a new level?"

With that, Touya Kouyo placed his move.


In the room

"So, this is the result of father's research into the game. Now we finally begin to see the fruits of father's preparations for this game." began Akira, in awe of what just happened.

"Indeed. This is the best move of the game so far. It is simply a great work of art..." time seemed to have stopped for Hikaru as he admired the last move.

"Well, get back to reality and start thinking how to counter that!" Akira was the first to snap out of their trance.

"Yeah, we should. But this move is too perfect... is there really a good way to respond to it?"


Kuwabara Honinbou's residence

A wizened old man puffs on his cigarette, his eyes on the screen. He smiled at the last move.

"Sai's game suddenly seemed to have weaken." observed Kuwabara "Perhaps he did not expect this onslaught? Touya Kouyo certainly still have something in him! Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha..."


In the hospital

"This last move... I feel quite certain it is one of Akira's. Before that, the previous move felt like one of Hikaru's. They are very well-thought-out moves, but still insufficient in the present context. What is going on?"

Suddenly, realization struck Touya Kouyo like a thunder-bolt.

"Those silly kids! Do they have to go to such lengths to satisfy an old man like me... Hikaru, he could have just told me the truth... In any case, they have played an excellent game up to now. It's a pity that they could not carry it through. Certainly, they lack the experience of Sai to respond to my last few moves. What will Akira or Hikaru do now?"


In the room

"It is useless... there's nothing we can do. The best outcome we can hope for now is a 5.5 moku loss. And that is only if we do not make any mistakes from now on." Hikaru appeared to be giving up.

"Don't lose hope, Hikaru. Keep thinking..." Akira replied bravely.


Waya's room

"Sai has been thinking for half an hour for the last move! Look, he has only 5 minutes left on his main time... he is going into Byo-Yomi soon." Waya appeared greatly concerned. He was a great fan of Sai after all.

"The situation looks bleak for Sai" Isumi concurred "Can he still make a comeback?"

End of chapter 7


Author's note: Sorry, I didn't mean to leave you guys hanging. I wanted to finish the game, but this chapter took longer than expected. It was also the most difficult one to write in the whole story. Hope you like it. By the way, 'Byo-Yomi' refers to the situation where the main time has been totally used up, and the player is forced to make each subsequent move within a short period of time.

KagomeGirl: This chapter is longest one so far :-)

kathy: Sai has returned, sort of. In any case, there are many excellent fan fics written so far that talks about Sai returning, so you are spoilt for choice. I told you that you would do better than you thought ;)

:) : Yup, Touya Kouyo can't possibly be disappointed, not with a game like that.