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More than one person did a double-take when they saw him, and Touya could hear curious whispers as he looked for a seat at the sides. He kept his expression neutral despite his discomfort. Touya Meijin, it seemed, simply did not watch a game in person, especially a game that was not even a title game--only between potential title challengers.

"Over here," he heard a soft voice, and looked up to see Waya Yoshitaka motioning to the space beside him. He had not seen the seven-dan player for a long time, but it stood to reason that he could come and see Shindou's game, too. He settled down beside Waya with a murmured 'thank you,' before turning his attention to the game.

He had arrived later than he liked; Shindou and his opponent Watanabe were deep into mid-game, and the atmosphere in the room was hushed. Shindou was in fine form, though. From the luminous look of concentration in Shindou's eyes, Touya knew that Shindou was in full control of the game. When that happened, the stones invariably went "pachi, pachi"--a curious two-step tapping that had become a signature of Shindou's quick games. There was a pause, then it started again: "pachi, pachi".

Touya could hear a few of the younger watchers muttering angrily about Shindou's way of playing, and truth to say it had seemed almost insulting the first time Touya encountered it. Few people could remain calm when faced with a near-instantaneous reply to one's hand, constantly--Watanabe had barely placed a stone before Shindou's white stone was there, smartly checking his advance into the upper half. Watanabe glanced up, and scowled slightly. There was a speculative look in his eyes, as he reached into his go-ke for a stone and placed his black stone in a spot that was almost certainly randomly chosen.

Even before the black stone stopped wobbling, Shindou had already replied to neutralize any remote threat that could be caused by Watanabe's hand.

A few minutes more, and Watanabe bowed. "I have nothing," he said.

Shindou paused, as though he was surprised, before he dropped his hand to his lap, where he closed his fingers around his fan, and bowed as well. "Thank you for the game," he said, sounding breathless.

Beside him, Waya shook his head. "That's Shindou for you," he muttered, either to himself or to Touya. "Blows into town, and decimates the competition--just like that!"

Ignoring him, Touya watched intently as Shindou and Watanabe launched into a discussion of their game. He had yet to play Shindou officially, and it was always interesting to compare Shindou's game with other players with their casual ones.

Watanabe had turned pro in Shindou's absence, and like many of the younger players, he regarded stories about Shindou's strange flashes of brilliance as mere stories. Touya hoped for his sake that he had realized how wrong he was. Shindou did not set out to intimidate his opponents with his style. When Shindou was in control, he not only read his opponents' hands instantly, he read every possible move on the Go board. It was more than an hour later that the discussion ended, and the game officials informed Shindou that he would be the final challenger for the Tengen title.

Waya stood up as the room emptied, and walked towards Shindou. "Hey, Shindou. Good game," he said by way of greeting, certain that Shindou had yet to notice him, "but did you have to go and scare the children like that?"

"Waya!" Shindou said, putting his stones into the go-ke, "I thought you'd still be in Kyoto."

"Nah. I had to come and see if you're going to win the Tengen title this year," Waya said.

Shindou shrugged. "Well, I have a shot at it, at any rate," he said, before bowing to Watanabe, who returned the gesture. Touya stood up as well as Watanabe walked out, his head bowed. He waited by the doorway, not wanting to interrupt their conversation.

"Wait," Shindou said, frowning, "didn't I hear that you had got into the Tengen finals as well? Why didn't I get to play you?"

Waya shrugged. "I dropped out. Something came up, Shindou. That's all."

"What do you mean?" Shindou demanded, searching Waya's face. "It can't be that you're afraid to play with me, Waya!"

"Don't be ridiculous, Shindou."

"I'm not being ridiculous." Shindou's frown deepened. "That's... that's... but Waya, you've been doing well since I left Japan. The NEC Cup, the NHK Cup... Why..."

"Because you weren't in Japan, all right!" Waya burst out, his voice tight.

Shindou's jaw fell. "What?" he said.

Waya hunched his shoulders, and crossed his arms in a gesture of protectiveness. "You're my good friend, Shindou. But you just steamroll over everyone. Like Watanabe. I lost a game to Watanabe just last month, but you beat him just now, like it was nothing. I don't... I really don't want to play with you."

"Waya..."

The other pro held up a hand. "I'm sorry, Shindou. I just can't play with you. I don't want you to show me how... far behind I am, compared to you." He looked down at the tatami floor for a moment. "Congratulations, anyway. I've got something else on. We'll meet some other time for dinner, okay?"

"But Waya..."

"Goodbye, Shindou."

At the doorway, he met Touya's eyes for a second, then looked away.

Touya approached to see Shindou still frowning, his hand outstretched as though to pull his friend back. "Shindou," he said.

Shindou looked at him. "But he was fine when I visited!" he said, his voice plaintive as a boy's.

"You know that he's right, though."

Shindou shook his head in bewilderment. "Maybe my Go is better than his, now," he said softly. "But this thing about not wanting to play with me because he'd get defeated, it's not... it's not..." He stopped, at a loss for words.

"Waya-san carved out a comfortable career in your absence, Shindou," Touya said. With his own achievements, Waya had even stopped actively disliking him in those years. "Without you, he had a good chance of getting a title, sooner or later--most people know I'm not trying to get any more titles--but with your return, his chances turned to nothing. He knows how good you are."

"He..." Shindou clenched his fists. "He's let himself be trapped by his own territory?" he asked.

For a moment, Touya thought Shindou would revert to a childish tantrum, but long seconds passed, and Shindou managed to control himself. He straightened. "Touya, you came to see my game?" he asked with belated realization.

"I was a little late. You'll have to replay the game for me next time," Touya said apologetically. "We had a new specialist come in to look at Father this morning, and the examination took longer than we expected."

"I know that!" Shindou said. "I called your mother when I couldn't reach you this morning, and she told me. That was why-"

"That was why you played so quickly," Touya deduced.

Shindou nodded. "Yeah."

Touya didn't know whether to feel exasperated or touched.

"How was it?" Shindou asked, breaking the silence. "The examination by your new doctor. What did he say?"

Touya could feel a pained smile appear on his lips, remembering the strange sense of betrayal he had felt at Dr. Kajima's diagnosis. "Nothing we didn't already know, Shindou," he said.

"I'm sorry."

The short declaration was sincere, at any rate. Shindou was not adept at courtesy for courtesy's sake. Touya shook his head. "If you want to see Father, you'd better come with me today. He was looking more energetic when I left just now."

"Of course. That was my intention all along," Shindou declared, a shadow of his usual brash manner returning.

They exchanged resigned smiles and began to walk out of the room.