Note: if you've been following my other recently updated fics you know all about my computer's fighting with Word (namely that it won't work). Well, it still isn't working so... Mr. Computer is going to the computer hospital (again) and I am going to look into getting another, newer, and persumably better computer. lol Therefore, updates may slow down a bit.

The Future of Go: Chapter Seven

by Ami-chan

When the news came I was somehow not surprised. 'Kasan, assuming there were no other complications, would be having a boy. I figured if I had said I wanted to have a brother it would have been a girl. They were already discussing names and I had no problems with being ignored. In fact, my happiest moments were when 'kasan forgot I was there at all, but she didn't do that very often. Not yet.

I had offically started my first year in school and my first year as a professional Go player; I was taking both one day at a time, though I found Go infinitely easier than dealing with the other children. Some of the children made an attempt to make my life very miserable, not the least of which was Akito, who had unfortunately ended up at the same elementary school that Souko, Mai, Kita, and I were attending. After meeting his parents I began to understand his behavior and I began to assume that each child that insulted or teased me was in the same boat. Akito's parents, it seemed, were holding me up as a standard, the 'ideal child' as it were. When I became this standard, I have no idea, but they saw me as well mannered, quiet, intelligent, and somehow perfect. I wasn't perfect, of course, but try telling them that. Really, they should have talked to 'kasan and she would have set them straight immediately.

"This must be Shin-chan."

I had nearly cringed at familiar usage of my name from a complete stranger's mouth. "Rude" was the first thought that popped into my head and it was only sheer politeness that kept me from snapping, "It's Yamamoto-san to you!" Instead, I turned to the direction of the speaker and found a couple staring down at me like I was a cute little puppy in a pet shop window. I nearly barked.

"We've heard so much about you and now we finally get to meet you!" the woman had gushed, making me take an involuntarily step backwards in fright. She was making way too big a deal out of me and she sounded rather... fake. Then I spotted Akito, half hiding behind her and what I assumed was her husband.

They had gone on to say it was amazing that I hadn't lost a match yet and was it true that I was as excellent a student as the magazines said? I hadn't read the magazines, actually, but I told them I wasn't a bad student. For some reason I knew that if I told them I had yet to get less than a perfect score on anything that it would only make it worse for Akito. I found myself feeling sorry for him and I was thankful that 'kasan only disliked me for being too good instead of having to hear that I was not good enough. For that was what they said, basically, and to me, a stranger. That "Akito should do better" and that "he needs to work harder" and the harshest of all, "Akito really needs to be more like you." No wonder he hated me. I would have hated me too if I had been in his place.

Being picked on wasn't a big deal to me. What amazed the bullies most, I think, was that I wasn't a "tattletale" - I had to have Souko-chan explain the meaning of the term to me - and moreover that I wasn't sucked into their meaningless taunts.

It was all a very bad influence on Souko, though, for she was so defensive of me that she inevitably stepped in. That made them accuse me of allowing a girl to protect me, but really she did a very good job of it and after she gave a second boy a black eye the teasing crawled to a more reasonable level. One look from Souko sent would-be tormentors scattering. It was lucky Souko was a girl. None of the boys she had beaten up dared breathe a word of it to anyone at the cost of being forever tormented by not only beinga tattletale, but for being defeated by a 'mere' girl.

Still I was content, even with the juvenile atmosphere because I still had my friends with me. I was even fine with the easy assignments though I did them so much faster than anyone else - getting them done first gave me the opportunity to help anyone else who neededand, more importantly, wanted my help. If not, I had free time in which to read through yet another Go book. There was so much that I still didn't know and I was learning more than I had ever hoped to learn. I had been strong before, there was no doubting it, but now I was even stronger. I found myself often times toying with the lesser pros that I was matched against, judging how they would react to different moves, making predictions, but always winning.

Not that I defeated anyone by the margin that I had poor Ochi, nor was I even close to as cruel. Still, the games I played weren't challenging to me, so to make them interesting I invented games, I handicapped myself, I tried out new moves, I invented things. Boredom, I found, was an affective motivator in trying new things. I found myself being more daring and creative than I would have dreamed possible. In doing so I was attracting the attention of higher up pros, who were studying my games with some awe and I was only showing them less than a tenth of my true strength. Some of the pros actually seemed to understand what I was doing, while others were completely clueless. I thought perhaps Hikaru would know, but there were no interviews that I could find where he stated anything more than that my current record was "impressive". It wasn't much to go on and I had yet to have the chance to talk to him in person.

Due to my success, the magazines continued to hound me; I made a good poster child for Go and according to all the statistics that I read about, the interest in Go had increased significantly. That was a good thing and I didn't mind smiling for pictures and giving interviews if it served a purpose like that. I found myself spendingincreasing amounts of time in my publicist, Hara-sans's, company rather than my 'kasan's and admittedly it was easier that way.

When I broke the record of consecutive number of wins in Go people were delighted, but when I kept winning they were shocked. Or, should I say that those that didn't understand Go were shocked - the pros themselves seemed resigned to the fact that I was good. Perhaps better than good. The headlines said things like "Youngest Go Pro is no Fluke!" and "How many more can he win?" while the pros shook their heads and wondered if I was at all stoppable. It was something I was looking for an answer to, as well.

In the midst of the thrill of my victories and the joy of being surrounded by my friends, I somehow realized that it couldn't last and that something had to happen to upset the balance. I was not happy to find that I was right. About five months into the school year my sensei decided to take the time to call my 'kasan. I was unaware of it at first, sitting quietly as I was and watching the latest Go news on TV, when I began to notice the conversation happening in the kitchen. It was rather quiet at first, but it was the excited tones that caught my attention.

"Can you believe it?"

"It is amazing, but we should really talk to Shin about it first before - "

'Tousan was interrupted by, "It would be perfect! We can do it immediately. Do you know what this means?"

"I really think we should ask Shin what he thinks." Having tuned into their conversation fully, I found myself inclined to agree. Shin might not think it would be so perfect, whatever it was.

"Why would we do that? Of course he'll agree."

My eyebrows rose in surprise. Of course I will? So nice of her to speak for me.

"Shinji, come here for a minute." I stood at the call and trotted into the kitchen where 'tousan was seated, watching 'kasan who had apparently been pacing in her excitement. Now she was watching me with glowing eyes and I wondered if this was how small prey felt when being eyed by a large predator.

"Hai, 'tousan? 'Kasan?" My feet took me to 'tousan and I leaned against him, his arm curling automatically around me. I wondered if he sensed that I wanted him to act as my champion in case I happened to disagree - heaven forefend - with 'kasan.

'Kasan was smiling widely as she explain, "Your sensei just called and she says that you've done so wonderfully that we should consider having you skip a grade. Or two."

My body went limp and if not for 'tousan's support I would have ended up on the floor. Skip a grade? Perhaps I had been doing too well. Yet, I hesitated to crush 'kasan's excitement, her obvious hopes, but on the other hand... "I don't want to skip any grades. I want to stay right where I am."

Her smile faded instantly. Cold water would have done the exact same thing and probably wouldn't have made her look nearly as unfriendly. "Why not? You'll be able to do more advanced work, get to high school sooner and - "

"Be with people that are a lot older and bigger than I am! Rarely see Souko or Kita, or Mai!" I screamed. I hadn't meant to, but I had wanted her to shut up and I was feeling, if possible, more frustrated than she was. She wasn't even trying to understand my point of view; I already knew hers. She wanted the genius child, so long as it had nothing to do with Go. For once, for just one moment I wanted to be completelyselfish, to do something for me instead of for her. Did she even know how much I had tried to please her? Did she know how hard that was to do?

She stared at me in disbelief. Her quiet, obedient, passive to the point of being nearly catatonic son and said very softly, "Wouldn't you rather not be bored in class anymore?"

I barely noted the softer tones in my annoyance and demanded, rather angrily, "Do you even realize how much they already pick on me and you want to throw me in with kids that aren't even remotely my size? Do you have any idea how detrimental that would be? I have a hard enough time relating already and you want me to leave the only friends I have? NO!"

Later I would reflect upon the fact that she went silent for a long time and simply looked at me as if seeing me for the first time. Was this how a child was supposed to act? Loud? Demanding? Is that what she wanted from me? I thought not. Maybe she didn't know what she wanted, but I certainly did and this was not something I was willing to compromise on.

'Tousan defused the situation and suggested we both take some time to think about it and that a decision didn't have to be made immediately. The look I gave him clearly told him that my final decision had already been made. I was a bit slower in reading 'tousan than I normally would be, having had to force myself back into a relative state of calm, to see that he was only attempting to separate us for a while so that he could talk sense into 'kasan. Clearly he had had his doubts about the entire thing and hearing my response had only cemented it. Iexited the room quickly and left them to debate.

The next day I was in class, which was actually two days after the phone call came because of yet another pro match I had to attend, I waited until all my other classmates had left for lunch to approach my sensei. She was a nice person and a good sensei and I was trying very hard to remember that as I approached her. Still, she was the one that had put that awful idea into 'kasan's head.

"Is there something I can do for you Shin-kun?" Her voice was pleasant, which helped to calm me without sidetracking me.

"Yes, there is. You can forget about trying to get me to skip any grades immediately."

She was puzzled for a moment and her reply showed it, "Is there something you don't like about that idea? I've noticed you always have lots of free time and that this work isn't at all challenging for you. Having noticed how you interact with your classmates I think you would be able to handle being with older students."

Mature. She was telling me I was mature. Great. "I can give you three very good reasons and I doubt any of them will be skipping any grades. And no, don't tell me I'll make new friends, I don't want to hear that. You don't understand, so I will explain it - I am happy right where I am. I don't want to advance, I don't care if I'm bored, I want to stay here."

"It would allow you to get a better start, though. You'll be able to get into high school earlier and than college."

I only just managed not to interrupt her. When she finished I said calmly and evenly, "I don't care about school. I am only going because I have to. Okay? My career, my goals are all centered on Go. Maybe I'll go to high school, but maybe not. College? I will have to see when I get there." Then, before she could overcome her shock I added, "If you press this issue I have no problem with failing everything you try to get me to do, or at least doing badly enough so that I'll be barely getting by. I will be your worst student if I have to be, but I am staying right where I am. Why complicate things needlessly? Just let it go."

"You feel very strongly about this."

I nodded.

"I was only offering a suggestion to your parents on what they could do. If it's not what you want, then you certainly shouldn't be forced into it. Perhaps you aren't ready yet for such a change."

I went to lunch feeling accomplished. I didn't even mind the fact that she was beginning to think I wasn't nearly as mature and stable as she had originally thought. After that things went fairly smoothly with no more mentions of trying to get me into a different grade level.

It wasn't exactly unexpected when 'kasan went into labor when I was playing a match, as at that point she was only days away from her "official" due date. Hana-san had taken me to the match, as had become our custom and I didn't mind her company at all. That and she protected me from the reporters. Afterwards, instead of answering questions for the press, Hana-san took me directly to her awaiting car and there, away from the reporters she told me that we were going to the hospital to see my new baby brother, Kisho.

I was relieved. 'Kasan would be so busy with the new baby now and I could stand being ignored.

I wished Kisho a tolerant nature on the drive to the hospital because I had a feeling that no matter what 'kasan would fuss over him as much, if not more, than she had done for me. If not, perhaps 'kasan could get a dog or something else to occupy her.

-To be continued-

I'm a bit of a twit, I'll admit it. When I started this fic I just knew that Sai's reincarnated name had to be Shin, from there it became Shinji. Why? I had no idea. It just fit. Then, when I was looking over my outlines it suddenly clicked. Any RW/YST (aka Ronin Warriors/Y. Samurai Troopers) fans out there? Yes? What was Shin's wussy (American) dub name? Yes, Sai (or the anti-masculine spelling of Cye?). So, in RW Sai was actually (or originally) Shin. In this fic Shin is actually (or originally) Sai. Somehow I made this connection ages ago and my brain has only now realized it. Maybe because it has been ages since I've even thought of RW/YST. lol