-------(9)---------

Shindou's jaw fell. "What?"

Touya gathered his thoughts. "You said it yourself, to Sakurai-san. In this day and age, who believes in ghosts any more? It's not just a random wild story. This particular rumour seems to be rather prominent compared to a few others I could name..."

"Like the one where I deceived everyone about my Go skills at the age of twelve?" Shindou agreed. "Or that I was paying a mysterious Go pro to be Sai?" he went on. "At least it's not the rumour where Sai is a woman and I went to Holland to have an affair with her."

Touya wrinkled his nose in reaction to that.

Shindou gave an unconscious nod of agreement. He rested his elbows on the table, nudging his empty ramen bowl out of the way. "What you're saying is: you think there might be someone who knows the truth."

Touya considered what he had said, and nodded.

"Impossible." Shindou slammed a palm on the table, earning a dirty look from the patrons in the next table. "I haven't told anyone else at all," he said. "Those irresponsible bastards just stumbled on this by chance. It has to be chance. I won't..." he shook his head. "I won't let those bastards sully Sai's memory."

Touya looked down at the table, where Shindou's fisted hand rested. "I hope so too, Shindou." He had learnt to take Shindou's protectiveness towards Sai's memory in his stride years ago.

"No one else knows about Sai. Only you," Shindou said a second later. He was about to say more, before he gave Touya an embarrassed look, and sat back. "And your father. But he's... well..."

"He's dead, Shindou," Touya said. He had meant to sound severe, but to his own ears he sounded weak and lifeless instead.

Shindou met his eyes once, before he looked down onto the surface of the table. "Yeah."

Touya thought of his father, who had played with Sai and thought him a worthy opponent, and had in fact retired as he promised when he lost. Shindou had been perplexed by his father's decision--stubbornness, he called it--but Touya thought it was fitting. The commitment of playing seriously with a thousand-year-old spirit should have required nothing less than the weight of one's career. He was just lucky that he had been too naïve to challenge Sai on the same grounds.

"It was after his game with your father that Sai started acting weird."

It took Touya a few seconds to realize that Shindou was talking again. He looked across the table at Shindou, who was still staring at the table as though his life depended on it. "Weird?" he asked.

"Now that I think about it, I think it's because he sensed that he would be leaving soon. He even told me. I didn't believe him. I told him he was being unreasonable."

The voice, so soft and broken now, made Touya want to stretch out an arm to touch Shindou, but he had no idea how to comfort him. He had no words to act as a balm for Shindou's loss, anymore than he could numb his own grief. "Shindou," he settled for saying, hoping Shindou would understand.

At the sound of his name, Shindou looked up. His eyes were reddened, but he forced a smile. "Rather different from the rumour where I disguised Sai as me, and made him play my title games, huh?"

It took Touya a second to recall that this rumour had also been prominent soon after Shindou won his titles. He replied, matching his tone to Shindou's, "I don't see how that could have happened. If Sai had been playing, he would have never made all those mistakes you made in that final Meijin game with Kurata-san."

A second passed, before Shindou retorted, "Hey, I won!"

He had had argued over that game with Shindou for a full three hours, until Ichikawa threw them out of the Go salon, saying that an argument was no way to celebrate Shindou's first title.

"Mistakes are mistakes, Shindou," Touya said.

"Ha ha. I bet you are just pissed I didn't stay on the next year for you to take the title off me," Shindou said, a grin returning to his face. "Come on, let's go to my place. I've got some kifu from Yongha's latest games that I bet you haven't seen." He called for the bill, and settled it quickly, before standing up to leave.

Touya remained seated.

"Touya?" Shindou called, turning back.

Touya gave a start, before he looked up. "I was pissed, you know."

"Huh?" Shindou asked. "Oh." He gave Touya a sheepish smile that would not have been out of place on his younger son's face. "I was stupid. I should have stayed, you know. I really wanted to defend the Meijin title from you personally. I wouldn't have made it easy for you."

"Is that so?" Touya replied as he stood up, very much on his dignity as the defending Meijin.

---

"Waya!" Shindou exclaimed when he entered the Go salon. "When did you come back?"

Waya looked up from where he was seated before a Go board in a corner of the Go salon. "Last night," he said. "Shindou, I thought about what you said when I was in Taiwan, and... Oh. Touya-san, you're here."

"Good evening, Waya-san," Touya said.

"I'm so glad to see you!" Shindou said to Waya.

Touya stifled a spike of jealousy at the pleasure in his voice. Waya and Shindou had been firm friends since their insei days, and despite the former's discomfort with Shindou's meteoric success in the Go world, he had always supported his friend without fail. Touya had never been able to find that kind of ally in his own life.

"You've been in the news lately," Waya said.

Warning bells went off in Touya's head at the lack of inflection in Waya's tone. He would have expected joy, pride or even envy for Shindou's recent games, but instead it sounded as though Waya was trying to restrain himself from another emotion altogether.

"Shindou's the final challenger for the Kisei title this year," he said, as though making a general announcement. Some of the customers heard, and for a while the Go salon erupted in shouts of congratulations and offers of continued support. Touya watched as Waya's face darkened at the noise they made.

Shindou was beaming, and his face looked young again as he thanked the well wishers.

"Yes, Shindou," Waya said. "Congratulations."

"Waya?" Shindou had picked up on his tone by now. "What's wrong?"

Waya's eyes narrowed in a frown, before his expression smoothed out again. "Nothing. Will you play a game with me, Shindou?"

Touya could tell that Shindou was taken aback by the request. He remembered their previous encounter where Shindou had accused Waya of being afraid to play with him.

After a second, though, it seemed as though Shindou had decided to concentrate on the fact that Waya was interested in playing Go with him, for he nodded. "Of course! Over here?" he indicated a table near the back, which was quieter and further away from the customers.

Waya nodded and sat down at the indicated spot. A few customers muttered about wanting to see how pros played, and walked over so they could view the game. Cautious, curious, and not a little worried, Touya went over to watch them nigiri. Shindou got black, and started off on a fairly standard hand on the upper right star-point.

At first everything seemed normal, but on the fifteenth hand Waya said, with studied casualness, "I saw in the news the rumours about you, Shindou."

Shindou snorted, his gaze fixed on the Go board with his usual concentration. He held his fan loosely in his right hand. "Those reporters exaggerate everything," he grumbled.

"It seems like a lot of people remember Sai," Waya said.

"Aah." Shindou's actions stilled at the mention of Sai, and his fingers froze around the fan. He glanced up, and turned his attention to the Go board again. "He was unbeatable during the time he played NetGo. There are a lot of people who study his games," he said.

"But don't you think it's interesting that suddenly, there are all kinds of the sensational news about him, and your relation to him?" Waya asked.

Shindou made a face. "No," he said in the repressive voice Touya had come to associate with Shindou discouraging nosy reporters. "Reporters who write those stories are people who have nothing better to do."

"That's true," Waya said. "But the timing is strange. It's funny that reporters chose a time like this to spread rumours again. After all, they did it once before."

Shindou looked up from the Go board again, and this time his eyes were narrowed. "Let's concentrate on the game, Waya, and forget about the rumours, Waya. I don't decide on what the reporters say, after all."

"Are you sure?"

"What?"

Waya's shoulders rose and fell in a shrug. "Nothing. Let's play, then."

Touya had a bad feeling about the game as it proceeded.

Shindou frowned once when a two-stage ko formed right in the centre. The shape which was initially drawn by Shindou's joseki, became twisted and sprawled in an ungainly fashion over the Go board. Shindou retaliated, and the struggle at the top turned ugly.

"You were right," Waya said as he played a stone.

"What?" Shindou asked, his attention on the Go board. He was still holding his fan, and was loosening and tightening his grip by turns on it. Touya wondered if it was because Shindou was still deciding on a strategy, or that he couldn't make up his mind whether to let Waya down gently. The next hand he played was cautious and conservative.

"I was afraid to play with you."

Shindou's grip on the fan tightened, and he looked up. Waya, I..."

"No, you were right," Waya said, glaring fiercely enough, it seemed, to bore a hole into the Go board. "I thought about it when I was alone in Taiwan. I've been behaving like a coward."

Shindou shook his head once. "No, Waya, that's not what I meant..." he started to say, but his words were cut off by Waya's firm reply on the lower corner, accompanied by a "pachi!" which echoed in the salon.

Waya leant forward slightly, his smile tight with thought. "I've thought about it," he said again. "I was wrong to give up without even fighting, Shindou. I was afraid merely because I thought you were too good. But when I heard about the ridiculous rumours, I realized that even someone like you needed publicity, and however pathetic it was to make use of Sai's name..."

"Wait a minute," Shindou interrupted, his face growing red. "You thought I made use of Sai's name? To get publicity?"

"Didn't you?" Waya asked.

"No!" Shindou said. "What makes you think that?"

"I remember when we were in Morishita's study group, Shindou," Waya said. "You knew about Sai then, and whenever we discussed his games in the study sessions, you were always the one who seemed to know more about Sai than anyone."

"But that's because..." Shindou stuttered to a stop, and swallowed, before glancing at Touya with bewilderment.

"And I remember you as Shuusaku's supporter," Waya went on. "We all knew Sai used Shuusaku's Go, but you were the only one who got so fervent about Shuusaku. A lot of people connected you and Sai because of that."

"But..." Shindou stopped again. His grip on the fan tightened so much that his knuckles nearly turned white.

"Waya-san," Touya interrupted. "Shindou would never make use of Sai's name for his own advantage."

A hint of uncertainty entered Waya's eyes, but he retorted, "What about the year he won his three titles?" His jaw was set. "Do you remember how many players were distracted by the rumours? They all happened to be your opponents, Shindou."

"I was playing in nearly every tournament, Waya!" Shindou exclaimed. "Everyone I played knew about the rumours!"

"And now it's the same thing," Waya said. "You're playing in most of the tournaments again, and the rumours appeared again. Especially the ones that say you're Sai."

"It's not because of that!" Shindou shouted, his temper flying out. Waya, why are you doing this?" he asked. "You know I'm not Sai."

"Yes, but you're not above using him to intimidate your opponents, are you?" Waya said. "My students told me that attendance at your games have more than doubled since the rumours came out, and even business here is picking up."

Shindou slapped down a stone. "Those rumours... they are not something I can control!" he shouted.

"Then why haven't you refuted them?" Waya asked. "I can see you using the rumours for your advantage, Shindou. You're that skilful. I hear that you intimidate the younger players half the time. I heard about what you said to Akashi. You told him that you were going to win the Meijin title. If you wanted to scare him, the rumours would work in your favour. A lot of people still think highly of Sai." He placed a stone.

Shindou replied, his fingers trembling with furious energy. "Waya, I don't believe you. Are you out of your mind?"

Waya shook his head. "No, Shindou. It's you who is out of your mind. I didn't think you would do this. Once was enough: you were young and ambitious, it was understandable. But this time... you're acting like Kuwabara-sensei, using the reporters to further your own ends."You still haven't changed from the person you were at twenty-five."

Touya tried to intervene. "Waya-san, you are mistaken. Shindou has nothing to do with the rumours."

Waya gave him a look. "And I suppose the fact that those rumours come from your side has nothing to do with you, either?"

"What?" Both Touya and Shindou exclaimed.

"See the news for yourself later," Waya said. His eyes flashed, his anger all but visible. "I may not be able to beat you, Shindou, but I'm going to try." He slapped down another stone, a direct challenge to Shindou's main territory.

Drawn by the challenge, Shindou ignored rumors for Go, and his concentration intensified.

Touya could tell that this game was not going to be simple, though. Waya seemed determined to be hostile. He had no qualms about making vicious attacks into Shindou's territory that paralyzed Shindou's ability to respond, even at the expense of his own territory. Touya could see that Shindou was finding it difficult to turn the game to his advantage.

Eventually, the game stumbled to a conclusion, and Touya's fears came to light.

"This is..." Touya frowned. He had never been superstitious, but a triple ko had always been considered to be a premonition of disaster. Murmurs of concern came from the watching players as well.

"Triple ko," Shindou said, his tone unaffected.

Waya glared at him. "Don't you know what a triple ko means?" he asked, not referring to the rumours for once.

Shindou frowned. "I've heard that it's a bad omen. But that's just a stupid saying, Waya," he said in his blunt way.

Waya's face grew red with anger. "A triple ko is unlucky! Don't you even care?" he demanded.

Shindou shook his head. "No," he said. He looked up, and saw Touya's expression. "Touya, surely you don't believe in this?" he demanded.

Staring at the triple ko game, Touya tried to answer, but could find no words.

-------to be continued---------