-----------(16)----------

Despite the circumstances, Touya had been at first secretly thrilled to delve into the intricacies of a playing style that had once mesmerized and awed Go communities around the world. Sai's Go was endlessly intriguing; it was bold and aggressive at the beginning, which lured the opponent into making mistakes, and when a game reached yose, it was as delicate as a spider's web, surrounding the helpless opponent with deadly finality.

What was most unsettling, Touya thought, was that he was losing the ability to differentiate Sai's Go from his own. He and Shindou had worked out a schedule, but Touya was playing the bulk of the online games, while resuming his own schedule of official games--admittedly not as heavy as Shindou's--and teaching sessions.

"Sensei, did you hear the news? Sai is back!"

Touya gave a start, and the Go stone fell from his fingers. "Excuse me?" he asked, looking up. The meeting room that he used for teaching sessions was only half-filled today, and his students, who were huddled around the Go board watching the game, all looked up.

Fujino Rika, his youngest student and current opponent, was beaming at him. "Sai, the online player? I watched a game by him the other day."

"Are you sure it's him and not an impostor?" Matsuba Hiro, still an insei, asked doubtfully. "There are always Sai imposters online."

"It's him," Fujino nodded. "He played a game with CKT from China, and won. CKT's a real pro, eight-dan, too. Sai also defeated Takabe seven-dan last week. I think it's the real Sai. All those impostors have never won games against pros. At least, not high-ranking pros."

Matsuba frowned. "Really? It's him?"

"Go online and see for yourself," Fujino said. She nodded at Touya. "Sensei, isn't that exciting? You played with Sai before, right? The real Sai?"

He managed a smile for her enthusiasm. "It was a long time ago. When I was even younger than you, in fact." Fujino, who had turned pro last year, was only fifteen, belying the fact that she was climbing the ranks with the verve of someone much older.

Fujino's eyes grew envious. "What wouldn't I give to play with Sai!" she exclaimed. "My friends and I have tried to invite him, but there are so many other people clamoring for his attention."

"What do your friends say? Do they also think that it's really Sai?" he asked, curious to see how quickly news about Sai's 'return' was spreading. Morita, who monitored online activity during and after the games, had assured him and Shindou that discussion groups were buzzing with talk, as well as analysis of Sai's games, but he wanted to know what Fujino thought.

She nodded. "Yeah!" she exclaimed, then thought about it. "Well, they are still a bit doubtful, but we're comparing the recent games with the old Sai games we have on record, and they follow the same style."

Touya felt an unexpected jolt of relief at that.

"But Sensei, I think your game is getting a bit like Sai's, too," she said, looking down at the Go board between them. "Are you studying Sai's games?"

Only the iron control he had honed in his career allowed him to nod, without a trace of irony, and say, "I've always enjoyed studying Sai's style."

-----

"Touya-san, it's you."

He looked up to see Noguchi, warmly wrapped in a dark brown coat against the chilly air.

"Noguchi-san," he said.

"You're on your way to the Go Institute, aren't you?" she asked.

He nodded. He had, in fact, just finished a game as Sai, and had decided, on the spur of the moment, to catch the last part of Shindou's game with Takaba eight-dan. "Yes. Noguchi-san, how about you?"

"I was hoping to catch Hikaru for dinner," she began, before her expression turned frustrated. "It's going to be Kenji's birthday soon, you know that? I just couldn't stay in that house for another minute, seeing the boys' stuff around the place, and them not around... Sorry." She calmed herself, and attempted a smile. "Why don't we find a place to get something to drink, while we wait for Hikaru to finish his game?" she asked. "I'll send him a message to let him know where we are."

He hesitated; despite his long friendship with Shindou, he and Noguchi had never spent much time together. "Of course," he said, out of politeness, if nothing else. "There's a cafe just ahead."

"Yeah, I know it. Just about every Go player in Tokyo has frequented it, at some point in their lives," she said. "Hikaru brought me there a few times when we were dating. We would run into pros, insei, and reporters... I was so annoyed at him for that," she revealed as she led the way into the plainly-furnished cafe, taking a table at a corner without hesitation.

Noguchi Asako, Touya recalled from Shindou, did not play Go--if he had to guess, it was the main reason for her breakup with Shindou.

They were seated with cups of coffee when Noguchi spoke again. "I'm sorry for being so pushy. If I don't talk to anyone, I'll burst, I think."

He didn't know what to say. "It's been hard on you," he finally murmured.

Noguchi gave a bitter laugh. "Hard on me, hard on Hikaru, hard on his parents, and even on that housekeeper." She drew a deep breath. "Hard doesn't even describe it."

"I'm sorry-"

"Don't apologize," Noguchi said, a little too loudly. Then, more softly, apologetically, "I have enough of people telling me they're sorry. As though they're already dead. At least you're doing something, even if it sounds harebrained to me."

Touya remained quiet.

"All I know is that Hikaru believes that doing all of this... will help to find Kenichi and Kenji." She narrowed her eyes. "He's never told me the truth about Sai, but I know he told you."

He gave a start. "Shindou-" he began, trying for a denial.

She started shaking her head. "It doesn't matter. I know that it's Hikaru's secret to tell. It's got something to do with the way he started to learn Go when he was young, isn't it? And that fan he carries around, there's a connection to Sai as well, right? He acts like Sai gave it to him, sometimes."

Touya choked. "Noguchi-san, I-"

"Never mind." She gave a bitter laugh, looking down into her coffee in lieu of the frantic apologizing that usually accompanied any faux pas in Japan. "I don't understand Go. I don't really like it, either," she confessed. "It always seemed so pointless, moving pieces of stone around on a piece of wood. That was the reason he married me, you know," she said.

Hearing that sudden, mystifying revelation, Touya blinked. "What?" he asked.

She smiled, though it looked more like a grimace. "We never talked about it, but I know Hikaru. I've always thought that after his break-up with Fujisaki-san, Hikaru went and found someone who was the total opposite of her." She bit her lower lip. "Someone like me. I didn't like Go, and I hated the idea of becoming a housewife, especially not for a man who was totally dedicated to his career. There was chemistry between us, though, so when Hikaru proposed, I accepted."

Touya was starting to feel embarrassed at the flood of confidence. Being intensely private, he had never been the type to talk about personal matters with just anyone.

"...when Kenichi was born, it was the best time in our marriage," she went on. "We were starting to get used to living in Amsterdam. Hikaru was still finding his feet in Europe, and he had plenty of time for us." She took a sip of her coffee--she took it black, Touya noticed--and smiled, a little grimly. "It sounds awful to say it, but the fact that he was considered a failure at that time probably allowed us to remain married for a few more years. Later, when he became more successful, we spent less and less time together.

"By the time Kenji was five, we were already separated. Then Hikaru decided to come back to Japan, and that was the last straw for me. I couldn't stand being known as the wife of Shindou Hikaru, Go pro." She drank more coffee. "I thought it was enough to know that Kenichi and Kenji were fine with him. And now..." Her hand on the table curled into a fist, the sign of someone trying to control her emotions.

"We'll find them soon," he couldn't help saying, and reached out on impulse to take her hand. "Noguchi-san, Kenichi and Kenji will be fine."

She snatched away her hand as though she had been burnt. "No!"

"I'm sorry," Touya said, not knowing what else to say.

She rubbed the side of her palm, where his fingers had been. "No, I should be the one saying that. It's not you, Touya-san. It's just that I can't accept comforting words now. They make me feel as though I'm giving up hope." She was silent, and pushed her coffee to one side. "You're a kind man, Touya-san. We... Hikaru is lucky to have a friend like you."

"No," he said, "I'm lucky to have Shindou as a friend. I can't imagine what my life would have been if I never knew him."

"Because you're rivals," she said, surprising him with her insight. "You can't play a game with just one person, right? You need an opponent."

He nodded. Noguchi might not play Go, but she had already grasped the meaning of the game.

They sat in silence until Shindou came.

-----

"I came to find Shindou," Waya announced.

Touya looked up to see the other pro standing at the counter, looking at Inoue Kaori.

"I'm sorry, Shindou-sensei is at home today," she said, sounding a little bored. As the receptionist, she had already repeated the same line more than a dozen times that day.

"Sensei is preparing for a game tomorrow," Kuroda said, approaching them. "Waya-sensei," he greeted, his face a little wary, probably remembering the way Waya had accused Shindou of making use of Sai's name for his own ends.

Waya frowned. "Kuroda-kun, right?" he asked, and caught sight of Touya, and walked towards him. "Touya, you're here as well?"

"Shindou asked me to help Kuroda-kun to practise for the Wakajishishen, since it's this weekend," Touya said, standing up in greeting. "What happened, Waya?"

"'What happened?'" Waya repeated. "Don't tell me you don't know." He approached Touya, his face darkening in a scowl.

"Don't know what?" Touya asked.

Kuroda, glancing between them, took a few steps as though to intervene, but retreated when Touya gave him a quick, surreptitious shake of the head.

"Sai!" The name burst from Waya's lips like an epithet.

"What about Sai?" Touya asked.

Waya narrowed his eyes. "Don't pretend you don't know! Sai. He's appeared, and he's playing NetGo. I played with him last night."

Touya had to quench a sudden impulse to murmur, yes, I know, Zelda. Waya was much more aggressive when he played NetGo, but his style was still recognizable. Besides, he had been using the same username all these years.

"And I know for a fact that Shindou was still playing with Takaba eight-dan when I ended the game, so it couldn't be him."

Touya remained silent, but he pulled up a chair at the nearest table, and sat down.

Waya responded to the unspoken invitation, sitting down opposite him. "You know, I've always thought that Shindou was Sai," he said.

There was a clutter. Both of them glanced up to see Kuroda scrambling to pick up the Go stones which had spilled from the go-ke in his hands, muttering apologies.

Waya ignored him, his eyes on Touya. "When Sai first appeared, I played a game with him, and when we finished, he taunted me. It made me think that Sai was a kid just like me."

This was not new to Touya, but he nodded, waiting for him to continue.

"When I got to know Shindou, I suspected him because he mentioned a couple of things that only Sai would know."

"But Shindou has said that he isn't Sai," Touya pointed out.

"I know!" Waya burst out, frustrated enough that he was running through a hand through his hair like the boy he was twenty years ago. "I know I accused Shindou of using Sai for his own career, but that was because I kept suspecting that he was Sai. And last night I realized that I was wrong. The Sai that I played with... isn't a fake. It's really Sai. So..." he looked away. "I wanted to apologize."

That came as a surprise. "I... see," Touya said.

Waya scowled. "I don't know why I'm telling you this. You didn't even know that Sai was back!" His eyes narrowed suddenly. "Or are you just pretending? You're hiding something, aren't you? Touya, if you're keeping anything..."

"Touya-sensei doesn't know anything!" Kuroda burst out. He was suddenly standing before the two of them, the go-ke still clenched in his hands.

"Wait..." Touya tried to calm him down, but the younger player was glaring at Waya.

"You shouldn't threaten Touya-sensei," Kuroda went on. "He doesn't know anything about Sai."

"Kuroda-kun, it's all right," Touya said.

"In fact, Touya has been trying to play with Sai, too!" He turned to Touya. "Right, Touya-sensei?"

"God, I hope not."

Both Touya and Kuroda turned to Waya, who had spoken.

"What do you mean?" Touya asked.

"Think about it," Waya met Touya's eyes with grim humour. "When Sai first appeared, you played a game with him, and he disappeared for nearly two years. Sai appeared again to play with your father, before he disappeared once more. Do you begin to see a pattern here?"

"You mean..." Kuroda began, hesitant, his show of temper forgotten.

Waya nodded.

Touya allowed himself to smile. "What you're saying is, I shouldn't try to invite Sai to a game?" he asked.

Waya looked alarmed. "You're not going to do so, are you?" he asked.

Even as his thoughts raced, Touya could find the humour in the situation. I need to talk to Shindou about this, he suddenly thought, and remained silent.

"You're not going to invite Sai to play, right?" Waya asked, sounding worried now. "Oi, Touya!"

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