The Future of Go: Chapter Six

by Ami-chan

When the call finally came, I was delighted. I was delighted, of course, because it would be my first match with a professional Go player. I expected to know the name of the person I was going to play against, after all the time I spent pouring over Go magazines and watching everything Go related on TV that I could find. Even though I had expressed to Inoue-san that I wanted to play either Hikaru or Akira I never really had held out the hope that I would even bepersonally familiarwith the person I was going to end up playing. I was, however, directly familiar with the name that I was given.Ochi Kosuke.

I remembered him a bit too well. I wondered brieflyif he hadchanged any or if he's still the same annoying person that thought he was so much better than Hikaru, when of course he wasn't. I won't say Hikaru was better because he had me for a teacher, but Hikaru was just more dedicated and he wanted it a lot more.

"Shin, who was that?"

"Just the Go Institute, 'kasan. They say I'll be playing Ochi Kosuke for my first match." I smiled pleasantly up at her. I was going to have fun no matter what. Maybe it was better that I wouldn't be playing Hikaruafter all, though I still desperately wanted to see him. He looked fine on TV, but I still wanted to see him for myself, just to see that he really was doing all right.

Pre-school was drawing to an end and I had already been enrolled in the elementary school of my choice. Kita and Mai would be attending the same school, along with Souko and I. Suka, however, was fairly sure her parents were going to make her go to another school, which we were all disappointed to hear. There wasn't a lot we could do other than accept that she might not be at our new school with us and move on.

The media, predictably enough, had jumped on the story of a pre-school professional Go player and had all called a dozen or so times to set up interviews with me. When 'tousan realized how much money we could make from that alone I suddenly found myself with a publicist who would set up all the interviews in the best way possible. Meaning, in a way that wouldn't be overly taxingfor a vulnerable little child such as myself.

My publicist,Hara-san, was very nice and I began to like her even better after she realized she didn't have to "talk down" to me or treat me like a child. She had every intention of making me the poster-child for pro Go. I told her that was a noble goal, but to not get her hopes up too high – eventually I would grow up and it was doubtful that I would hold anynon-Go fan's attention after that. For now, everyone enjoyed the story of the child prodigy and information on me was printed in places other than just Go magazines. She, however, told me that if I could get people hooked on my story that whether they were Go fans or not wouldn't matter because they would still want to hear all about me. I liked the way she saw things.

It did seem that a lot of people were interested in me, though, and were rooting me.Well, mostly everyone. 'Kasan still had her reservations. All of my money was going into my account, which 'kasan closely monitored. It amazed her that I would be getting paid so much for my picture to be taken and for me to be interviewed. And that was just the start. I was dreading what she would think when I began receiving money for playing Go!

My pictures and stories began appearing in magazines. The writers seemed astonished that I had yet to lose a game of Go – they were speculating that I would be devastated when I finally did lose, now that I was going to be going up against pros. It amused me somewhat. If there was a pro out there that could beat me, I would be thrilled. I would enjoy a challenge and so far I had not faced anyone remotely worthy of challenging me. I secretly hoped that there was someone who was that good out there. The thought made me want to hunt down Touya Meijin and demand he play Go with me.

The day of my first match came around and I noticed there were a lot more people from the media there than there had been when Hikaru had played. I met Ochi for the first time in a corporeal body and I found I disliked him every bit as much as I had before. He not only talked down to me, presumably because of my age, but he didn't even have the decency to be polite, as if I were a nonentity or that I was too stupid to notice the slight. He made the comment to someone that it would be a short game and not at all challenging. That it was really a waste of his time to be here in the first place and however did I manage to make pro anyway? The standard of would-be Go players, he said, had to have gone down in recent years.

I suppose he thought that I wouldn't notice or hear what he was saying. But he was saying it openly, to the press, and I did notice and knew I would feel no guilt taking him down a notch or two.

It was a brutal game. All the more brutal because Ochi refused to resign when he rightfully should have. We played to the end and the margin at which I won was enough to make a grown man faint in pity. I smiled politely at him after it was over, but he didn't even seem to notice. He was in a deep state of shock and I was beaming as if it were Christmas. I answered all the questions I was asked from the media, but a few were more probing than others.

"I noticed that this game is considerably different than others you have played in the past. Can you explain that?" Obviously someone had been paying attention to theplaying style I had been carefully cultivating for myself as Shin. I silently congratulated them on their insight.

I looked the reporter right in the eye, a pleased rush of adrenaline still runningthrough me from the excitement of the match. For a moment I thought I should feel bad, then decided I shouldn't after all. He had deserved it. "I can. I really had no intention of winning by such a large amount. It usually isn't polite when involved in game in which you are facing aninferior opponent. However, I thought it was justified in this case because Ochi-san wasn't at all nice to me and I figured it might be a good idea to demonstrate how karma works."

They stared at me for a moment. I had momentarily dropped the child presence and didn't care. "So, you're saying that Ochi-san was an inferior opponent?"

"Oh, he's a very good player as far as that's concerned. He is a pro, after all. It's just that he's nowhere near as strong a player as I am. I don't mean to brag or sound full of myself," I added, "And it's commendable that he did as well as he did, but really the key here is that you should never underestimate or disregard an opponent because it can lead to a very big downfall."

"How strong of a player are you then?" another reporter demanded.

I was tempted to say that I was as good as Shusaku, but I was fairly sure no one would believe that. Plus, it would sound arrogant and I didn't want that. Even if I had played every one of Shusaku's games for him. So instead I simply said, "Well, we'll just have to see, won't we?"

The story was a hit. I was on the cover of every Go magazine and everyone wanted to see the game that I had played. I hadn't the heart to admit to anyone that I had been holding back because of how badly I had beaten Ochi. That was the only part I spared Ochifrom, as I had no desire to break him completely, just crack him a bit. No one should be so cocky that they overlooked common decency and politeness. The press very much enjoyed the irony of it all, noting whatOchi's quotes beforehand had been and that he had absolutely nothing to say to themafterwards. Preschooler recently turned Pro Go player defeats long-time Go Pro by a landslide. I think the only one who didn't think it was funny was Ochi himself.

After the excitement had passed for the most part and preschool had officially ended, I began a relaxing break. I enjoyed Go and the Go world enjoyed me, but it was nice to have nothing to do for a while. One evening as I was idly curled in front of the TV okasan approached me almost timidly. She and 'tousan had been whispering to each other quite a lot recently, but I had more or less ignored it. If they wanted to talk to me, they would. Apparently she wanted to talk to me now.

"Shin?" She sat down beside me on the couch then pulled me into her lap. "There's something I need to tell you, all right?" I nodded, relaxing back in her arms. "I'm… well, you're going to get baby brother or sister soon."

I tilted my head a bit to get a better look at her. "You don't know if it's a boy or girl yet?" She shook her head no. "I hope it's a girl."

'Kasan gave me a strange look and I wondered if I had only said that just because she would assume that that would be the last thing I wanted. Still, a little sister would be interesting. I liked the way their minds worked and as long as she never tried to dress me up as a doll I think we would get along rather well. "You want a little sister? Why?"

"Girls are nicer," I responded, as if that explained everything.

She seemed to be relieved that I accepted the news so well. Honestly I had my own selfish reasons for being pleased – another child meant her attention would be divided and she would have more on her mind than just me all the time. Then maybe she wouldn't insist on staying while I played matches and she would forget to see how much money I was making. No, I definitely did not mind the news one bit. Another child might just make her happy where I couldn't.

Before too long I was mingling with the pros on the day that I would be given my professional player certificate, but I did not have the freedom to explore as 'kasan was keeping me close. It was aggravating, really. Still, I stayed near enoughto her and was very well behaved. That is, until I saw him. I looked for an opening and escaped as soon as I could. It was easy to hide in the crowd because I was so small, though it was only a matter of time before 'kasanfound me so I only had a few minutes of peace.

He didn't notice me and I couldn't blame him. I wasn't exactly on eye level. So I reached up and tugged lightly on his sleeve. He blinked then looked down at me, smiling a little hesitantly. I never imagined him to be good with children so his reaction to seeing me wasn't surprising.However I'm not exactly a typical child, he just doesn't know that yet. "You're Touya Akira-san, ne?"

"Yes I am," he responded. What else could he say?

"And you're Shindou Hikaru-san's boyfriend, too, right?" Being a child can be fun. After all, how else could I have asked that so bluntly and make Akira blush so bright red if I hadn't been a child?

"Yes." Akira's voice was softer this time and sounded slightly strained.

I smiled up at him happily. "Good! I like Shindou-san." I would have gone on, but suddenly my arm was captured and I glanced back woefully into my 'kasan's eyes. That didn't take her long.

"Shin! You shouldn't run off like that." She looked as furious as I felt. She couldn't have waited to find me a moment or two more?

"I wanted to see Touya Akira-san," I explained, taking refuge in the childish explanation rather than a more truthful "I wanted to get rid of you for a bit so I could have an actual conversation with someone!"

'Kasan, naturally, had no idea who Akira was and so she merely smiled at him politely and introduced herself and me. As if I didn't know my own name.

"You're the young new pro I've been reading about," Akira said, turning a friendlier look upon me. I wondered if he disliked Ochi, too. "That was a very impressive game you played."

"It was fun, probably more fun that it should have been." Then I was forced to say goodbye because 'kasan dragged me away. The ability to be blunt, I decided, could not make up for the lack of freedom. I received my certificate and the schedule for of whoI would be playing and when. The schedule didn't interest me all that much. I wouldn't be playing anyone really challenging for a while, but at least I would be playing Go. Some of them might be just a bit tougher than the Insei I had played against had been, though not by a whole lot.

I had to make an effort of reminding myself that I was still extremely young no matter how old my soul was and that I had plenty of time to experience more of the pro world. I couldn't wait for school to start again, too. Souko, Kita, and Mai would take my mind off my impatience and help to ground me again.

-To be continued-

I know updates have slowed down on this fic. It does seem a bit odd (to me) to be changing tracks so often in fic writing. One week it's elves, then demons, then more elves, then the Mag7 boys… this really is my "slow" fic. Maybe it's because it's in first person? One moment I'm a storyteller and the next I'm Sai! I should be finishing up two, maybe three of my other fics soon, though so that will help me get chapters in faster. Of course, then I plan on starting more fics… ye gods! What's a person to do? It's a good thing I enjoy writing. lol