Disclaimer: Same as before. In addition, I am not affiliated with Kawasaki Motor Corp. and Kawasaki Motor Corp. has nothing to do with Hikaru no Go or with this fan fic. I just liked the name that's all. Don't sue me!
Now, on with the story...
Chapter Four: The Dawn of a New Stage
About a quarter to ten, Nase and Fuku appeared together. They explained that they ran into each other at the entrance of the institute as they sat at the table next to Isumi and Waya. Honda arrived about five minutes later.
"Are we all here?" Nase asked brightly as she looked at the faces around her.
"We're still waiting for Shindou," Isumi answered as he cleared his stones off the go board from his last game with Waya.
"Shindou-kun is showing up? That's great! I haven't spoken to him in ages," Fuku said happily.
"Don't hold your breath. We'll be lucky if he gets here before lunchtime," Waya muttered under his breath as he dropped his stones into the plastic container.
"Now, now. Be nice Waya," Nase chided Waya mildly as she lifted a finely arched eyebrow at him.
"I haven't seen Shindou since the Hokuto Cup. Is he doing alright?" Honda asked Isumi.
"I know that he has been moody lately, but other than that, I have no idea," Isumi shrugged helplessly.
"Heh! I spoke to him on the phone this morning and he sounded fine to me!" Waya said in a huff. He was still somewhat peeved at Hikaru's attitude earlier.
"You never know, Waya," Nase said with a tinge of concern in her voice. "I ran into him the other day and he looked kind of depressed. Well, let's say, very un-Shindou like."
"Shindou-kun is not going to quit again is he?" Fuku asked with a frown, obviously distressed at the idea.
"I highly doubt it, after what he said to Ko Yongha at the end of their match," Honda said as a matter-of-factly as he swept his gaze over the group.
Waya and Isumi nodded in agreement while Fuku and Nase looked puzzled.
Isumi, noting the confusion, briefly recounted to Fuku and Nase of the post-game conversation between Hikaru and Yongha.
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It was last Saturday, at the end of the day ...
Waya, Ochi, Honda and I were about to leave the hotel with the intention of holding a post-game discussion of the Hokuto Cup games at Waya's apartment.
At the lobby of the hotel, we saw the Chinese team talking animatedly with each other while walking towards us from the opposite direction. They had apparently just left the gaming area and had also decided to skip out of the closing ceremonies.
"Yang Hai-san!" I greeted Yang Hai politely with a slight bow.
"Hey Isumi! Did you see that game, it was pretty spectacular wasn't it?" Yang Hai asked as he flashed me a big smile.
"Yes, it was," I answered quickly. As much as I liked chatting with Yang Hai, I really wanted to get that post-game discussion started while the impact of the images and emotions were still fresh in my mind. I can tell that Waya and the others were waiting impatiently for me to finish with this nicety.
Yang Hai did not seem to notice my wish to hurry and continued to speak animatedly. Apparently, he was all pumped up from watching Shindou's game.
"I got to hand it to that kid, when Ko Yongha asked him why he wanted to played go, I didn't expect him to answer it that way. It must be the cheesiest thing that I have ever heard," Yang Hai said with feign indifference and a careless shrug.
That got my attention.
After spending those months with Yang Hai in China, I can read his mannerisms well enough to know that Shindou probably said something totally unexpected. As I stole a peek at Waya and the others, it appeared that Yang Hai's farce was obvious enough that even they had picked up on it and were now equally curious.
"So, what did Shindou say?" I asked the question that was expected of me.
Yang Hai gave us a conspiratory wink. With a slight curl on his thin lips and a semi-serious look in his dark eyes, he answered...
Why do I play go?
The answer is clear inside of me.
That is - to forge a link between the distant past and the distant future.
That's the reason I am here.
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"So, that's what happened," Isumi said as he concluded his narrative.
"Wow! That's pretty deep coming from Shindou," Nase commented with her head cocked to the side in thought, a slender hand under her chin. Her shoulder-length brown fair falling prettily to one shoulder.
"Hell yeah!" Waya agreed wholeheartedly. "My head hurts whenever I tried to make sense of him and his actions. Even Ochi - OCHI of all people - for crying out loud, feels the same way! I don't know whether to call Shindou a genius or an idiot. Sometimes, he makes you wonder how in the world he became a pro anyway, and then, all of a sudden, from totally out of nowhere - whoa! He would say something so deep that it makes you feel like that you gotta sit down and meditate on the statement for the next couple hundred years or so," Waya complained and rubbed his temples with a loud sigh.
"Uh-huh," Fuku nodded vigorously. "I think Shindou-kun is a genius."
Waya looked incredulously at Fuku and thought, well, I did ask for that one.
--0--0--0--
At about ten past ten, the group, not wanting to waste any more time, was about to give up waiting for Hikaru. Hikaru, as if on cue, chose that precise moment to stroll into the room. He immediately spotted the group and waved his hands above his head in greeting.
"Sorry! Sorry! I'm late!" Hikaru gave the group a bright smile as he held his right hand behind his head as a gesture of embarrassment. He dropped his backpack with a soft thump onto the floor and pulled a chair out to sit next to Isumi and across the board from Honda.
"Che! So what else is new?" Waya said crossly as he shot an accusatory glare at Hikaru. The impact of Waya's glare was substantially diminished by a barely suppressed grin on his face.
Waya, Hikaru, Nase and Fuku naturally fell into a lively conversation to catch up on recent events, with Honda getting a word in every now and then. Isumi sat quietly with a smile on his face while listening attentively to their banter and trying to avoid bumping into Hikaru's head whenever Hikaru leaned his upper body across Isumi's table to talk to Fuku.
Isumi quietly observed Hikaru's interaction with the group. His keen eyes noted that Hikaru's cheerful demeanor was genuine, not forced. Isumi's smile broadened. Honda watched Hikaru and then gave an almost imperceptible nod to Isumi. Apparently, Honda agreed with his observation as well. As Waya said earlier, it's good to have Shindou back.
Now that everyone has gathered, it's time to get down to business, Isumi thought.
--0--0--0--
Around one o'clock, the group was mentally exhausted from the intense study session. Nase and Fuku excused themselves since they promised the other insei's ahead of time that they were going to meet with them for lunch. After that, they planned to undergo additional study sessions with the insei's in anticipation of the Young Lions Tournament. Honda left shortly after Nase and Fuku because he had to help out at his sensei's seminar, which left Hikaru, Waya and Isumi. Hikaru's stomach decided to fill the moment of silence with a loud protest.
"Ramen! Ramen!" Hikaru said with a big grin on his face.
"Sushi! Sushi!" Waya demanded.
"Ramen I say! I didn't get a chance to play against you today since Honda-san and Isumi-san took up all of my time this morning," Hikaru insisted with a cute pout.
"No fair! How come it's ramen just because I didn't get to play you? It should be sushi!" Waya challenged.
"We didn't get to play because you were too busy trying to beat Fuku!" Hikaru taunted gleefully.
"Look who's talking! I finished my game with Isumi-san ages ago! If you hadn't wasted all that time trying to figure out Honda-san's strategy, I wouldn't have been playing Fuku!" Waya retorted, his face was slightly flushed at Hikaru's implied insult that he was still weak in a game against Fuku.
"Hah! I won against Honda-san, didn't I?" Hikaru shot Waya a sidelong glance showing off his white teeth while wiggling his eyebrows up and down in a comical fashion.
Waya was seething with frustration by this point. He knew that Honda had been working extremely hard since his loss to Yashiro several months ago. Honda, although overshadowed by some of his more well-known peers, lurked quietly like a predator in the shadows. Waya had no doubt that Honda will be a formidable obstacle at the next major tournament.
"Ra-men!" Hikaru said enthusiastically, taking advantage of Waya's moment of silence.
"You wish! We're going for sushi! You could have waited for me to finish with Fuku. You knew that games with him are always quick."
"Why should I wait? How did I know that you weren't going to go for a rematch if you lost? Anyway, Isumi-san was available."
"I didn't lose to Fuku! I won both games!"
"See! You did play another game!" Hikaru said while sticking his tongue at Waya.
Waya was now having a hard time resisting the urge to throttle his numb-skull friend.
"Ra-men!" Hikaru said loudly to Waya's face.
"Su-shi!" Waya responded equally loudly to Hikaru's face.
"RA-MEN!" Hikaru shouted while standing his ground.
"SU-SHI!" Waya shouted, refusing to budge from his position.
"Oi, oi! Enough is enough!" Isumi said as he held his hands up between them, playing the familiar role of referee. "Waya, I won against both you and Shindou today so I get to pick the place," Isumi said while carefully emphasizing the word "I."
Hikaru and Waya glowered at each other. Finally, both nodded reluctantly.
"McDonald's," Isumi said with finality. The people who had been sitting near them shook their heads and returned to their respective games. Isumi felt himself burn alternatively with embarrassment and amusement as he overheard one older man muttering something about teenage boys and their disrespect for go.
Apparently, not everyone recognized Shindou, Isumi thought.
Inwardly, Isumi thanked god that he was the winner today, because he did not feel like being stared at anymore than he had to or having to spend an exorbitant amount of money on lunch. On a different note, yes, it is still possible to win against Shindou, Isumi thought, satisfied with his performance today. Although, the odds of that happening seems to be getting smaller and smaller.
"Isumi-san, you still could have said sushi," Waya said with exaggerated disappointment.
Not a chance, Isumi thought as he smiled to himself.
--0--0--0--
"Shindou-kun! Isn't it Shindou-kun over there?" a familiar voice called out as Hikaru, Waya and Isumi stepped out of the elevator and into the lobby. Hikaru instinctively turned to the direction of the voice. A man wearing a wrinkly gray business suit that looked a size too big for his short frame and a drab brown tie was walking energetically towards them. Hikaru immediately recognized the man's protruding front teeth. This was the reporter who had been covering the news on the Hokuto Cup for the Weekly Go.
"Um...good afternoon," Shindou answered awkwardly with a slight bow, trying to remember the reporter's name without making his lapse of memory too obvious.
"Shindou-kun. We've met a couple of times before. I'm Kosemura from the Weekly Go. I was hoping that I would run into you today. This saves me the trouble of trying to find you," Kosemura said as he beamed at Hikaru.
Kosemura. Yes, that's it, Hikaru made a mental note of the reporter's name.
"Eh... Kosemura-san, you were looking for me?" Shindou questioned, slightly bewildered. It was not every day that he had a reporter specifically tracking him down especially when there was nothing noteworthy in his schedule of games. Kosemura continued to beam broadly and nodded enthusiastically. Kosemura's short unkempt hair flopped erratically.
The press sure is taking an interest in the exploits of Shindou, Waya thought enviously and he shot a glance at Isumi-san that spoke his thoughts. Isumi returned an understanding smile in response.
Kosemura unzipped the black folder under his left arm and handed Shindou a sheet of paper that looked like some sort of flyer.
Hikaru's gray-green eyes grew as wide as saucers and his jaws fell open as he read the contents of the flyer. He seemed to be stunned speechless. Waya, puzzled at Hikaru's reaction, walked behind him and looked curiously over his shoulder.
The flyer screamed out in large bold letters "The Kawasaki Championship." Under the title, in a smaller but equally loud font, the flyer blared "Japan-China-Korea Young Stars Team Battle sponsored by the Kawasaki Motor Corporation" Waya's eyes popped open. They were now as large as Hikaru's. Waya continued to scan eagerly down the page, squinting to make out some of the smaller print that was blurred during the fax transmission process. According to the flyer, the tournament will be a two-day affair, taking place at a classy hotel in Tokyo on September 19-20.
In four months! Waya thought as the information slowly sank into his brain. He felt light-headed and slightly out of focus. The tingling sensation of goose bumps spreading on his arms as he shook with excitement.
"Shindou? Waya?" Isumi asked with concern, now thoroughly baffled by the stunned expressions on both Hikaru and Waya's faces. Kosemura looked extremely pleased with the reaction that he was getting from the flyer. Wordlessly, Kosemura handed Isumi another flyer from his folder.
A trickle of sweat dropped down Hikaru's temple. His hands trembled as he stared in disbelief at the bold letters on the flyer.
Is this possible? Is this for real? Hikaru thought as emotions whirled crazily within him.
Hikaru stood rooted in the lobby, dumbstruck, and was compulsively reading and rereading the flyer to make sure that he was not missing any crucial details.
"He's ... he's going to be there too, isn't he?" Hikaru stuttered, the speed of his thoughts far exceeded his ability to voice them.
Kosemura nodded eagerly. He knew precisely who "he" was.
"Where do I sign up?" Hikaru demanded harshly, his manners flying out the window in his urgency. His heart was pounding as if he had been running for dear life and his face was completely flushed. There was a desperate look in his eyes and in his stance as he waited impatiently for Kosemura's response.
"That's why I was looking for you," Kosemura said simply. "I heard via the grapevine that the sponsors were considering issuing you and Touya-kun invitations to the Kawasaki Championship."
Hikaru blinked and stared at Kosemura blankly.
"What he means, Shindou, is that if you get an invitation, you are automatically in the tournament without having to go through the preliminary rounds," Isumi explained patiently.
"Geez, Shindou! Haven't you learned anything yet? I can't believe how ignorant you still are," Waya cried in disbelief. He felt like shaking Hikaru and smacking some sense into him right then and there in front of the reporter. Some genius that Hikaru was turning out to be!
Hikaru's face turned a shade redder as he shot a dirty look at Waya. He was about to fire back an acid-loaded retort, but thought better of it. There will be time for that later, Hikaru thought. The most important thing right now was to get as much information as possible about this Kawasaki Championship.
"How does the invitation system work?" Shindou asked Kosemura with genuine interest while pointedly ignoring Waya.
"For privately sponsored tournaments, the sponsor can, and often does, set different rules of eligibility. Most sponsors, like Hokuto Communications, just wanted the best players available for their type of tournament and would not directly involved themselves in the team selection process. However, there are some sponsors who would specifically invite certain players because they think that the presence of those players would give their event a boost in the advertising department. Since it is expensive to host a tournament, it would be to the sponsors' advantage to do anything in their power to maximize the potential number of their audience," Kosemura paused to take a breath. His eyes lighted up at having claimed a rapt audience.
Hikaru was not interested in the economics of the tournament. He just wanted to know how he can get on the team.
"In the case of Kawasaki Motor Corp., it wants to take advantage of the extensive media coverage and the residual enthusiasm left in the wake of the Hokuto Cup. I've also heard rumors that Kawasaki has been thinking about such an event even before Hokuto came about, but Hokuto beat them to it. Now that Hokuto was so successful, Kawasaki's management is extremely eager to take the same path and to satisfy the sharp increase in demand for similar types of competitions. I have it on pretty reliable sources that Kawasaki plans to invite many of the same players to their tournament. However, the composition of the teams will not be exactly the same just to keep things fresh and interesting. In any case, it's going to feel a lot like a Hokuto Cup rematch," Kosemura gushed on excitedly.
Hokuto Cup rematch? The three young men stared at each other. Although each was undoubtedly thinking of the same thing, the impact of the realization seemed all that much stronger when it was voiced out loud.
But, I'm probably going to be a mere observer again because of the age restriction, Isumi thought. His shoulders drooped a little at the depressing thought.
"Ne, Isumi-san," Waya said with a mischievous twinkle in his eyes.
"Hm?" Isumi answered guardedly, he did not miss the glint in Waya's eyes. He wondered why the redhead looked so smug all of a sudden.
"It says here in fine print that the maximum age limit for the Kawasaki Championship is twenty..." Waya let his voice trailed off as he waited gleefully for Isumi's reaction.
Isumi sighed. Yes, that means ... twenty?! Isumi stared closely at the blurred print on his own flyer and sure enough, the age limit was twenty.
"That means I am eligible for this tournament!" Isumi exclaimed, his usual mask of calm shattered. He felt like giving Waya a big kiss, a crushing bear hug, and holding Waya's hands while jumping up and down and shouting out for joy all at the same time.
Okay, Isumi didn't exactly wanted to do all of that, but he was extremely happy.
"Geez, Isumi-san, it sure took you long enough. You're almost as slow as Shindou on the uptake today," Waya teased.
"Hey! Watch what you're saying Waya! I can cream you at go any day!" Shindou said, pretending to sound hurt.
"Oh yeah?"
"Yeah!"
Waya and Shindou looked like they were about to start another scene at the lobby of the Japanese Go institute. Isumi waved his hands helplessly between them as he tried to prevent Waya and Hikaru from further embarrassing themselves in front of the reporter.
Just as Waya was about to say something insulting to Hikaru, Kosemura coughed politely. Three pairs of eyes turned to look at him. Waya and Shindou looking a little flushed in their faces. Clearly, they had completely forgotten that the reporter was still standing there and was now looking at them with an odd expression on his face.
If I haven't seen them play with my own eyes before, I would never believe, in a million years, that these kids are professional go players, Kosemura thought and sweatdropped.
"The promotional flyer was faxed to our office late yesterday. Since today is a Saturday, we'll have to wait until Monday morning to confirm with Kawasaki as to the status of the invitations," Kosemura said while falling into in his business-like tone and tactfully ignoring the flushed faces before him.
"So there's no guarantee that I'm automatically in?" Hikaru asked intently as he absently stuffed the flyer into his backpack.
"Nothing is guaranteed," Kosemura agreed. "Especially since Kawasaki's management made it clear that they preferred not to have the same exact players in its tournament. However, they do understand that circumstances may be beyond their control."
"I would say that the chances of you getting an invitation may even be better than that of Touya-kun's because Kawasaki was really impressed by the ratings that Hokuto got from the match between you and Ko Yongha," Kosemura said as he stared up at the ceiling while scratching his chin thoughtfully.
Hikaru's eyes harden at the mention of the Korean pro. Whether Ko Yongha's insult of Shuusaku was intentional or not, the fact remained that Ko Yongha went out of his way to smear Shuusaku and Sai's good name. He was going to take full advantage of this opportunity to get even with Ko Yongha at this coming battle.
"It doesn't matter whether I get an invitation or not, one way or the other, I am going to be in the tournament and I will win for sure this time," Hikaru said evenly. His gray-green eyes burned with intense determination.
Kosemura was taken aback at the abrupt change in Hikaru's tone and demeanor.
He may be a kid in everything else, but he certainly is not when it comes to go - and Honinbou Shuusaku, Kosemura mused.
"Yes, that's the spirit," Kosemura beamed with approval. "There will be at least one or two spots available for grabs at the qualifying rounds even if you don't get picked with an invitation."
Hikaru grinned broadly at the statement.
"It's probably going to take at least a week or so before you receive the official notification through the mail. If you like, you can call me at my office Monday morning and I'll let you know whether you are on the list for an invitation. The Weekly Go usually gets notified first since we need to prepare the article in advance," Kosemura explained.
Hikaru was surprised that Kosemura would go out of his way to help him. He bowed deeply to Kosemura and said formally, "Thank you very much. I would really appreciate that and I will definitely call you Monday morning."
Kosemura caught Hikaru's astonished expression and with clenched fists in front of his chest, he said dramatically, "I can't stand Ko Yongha. I want you to cream him at the Kawasaki Championship!" Three pairs of eyes blinked at the reporter's unexpected outburst. Kosemura smiled nervously and raised his right hand to scratch his head in embarrassment.
Hikaru broke into a big grin, "Don't worry. I plan to do exactly that."
Kosemura nodded happily, "By the way, good luck on the Young Lions Tournament next week. Touya-kun has clinched the win for the last three consecutive years, how confident do you feel?"
"I plan to cream him too," Hikaru said with a smirk.
Waya shot a look at Hikaru that read 'Yeah right!'
After Kosemura bid his farewells, Hikaru and Waya spoke nonstop about how well they were going to do at the Kawasaki Championship while Isumi lagged slightly behind them with a subdued expression on his face as they set off for the McDonald's nearby.
A/N: Ah... yes, the obligatory ramen/sushi fight. I just can't resist! They're so cute! I sneaked in a little isumiya fluff in there, I hope it's ok. --;
Again, I'm not a go expert (as much as I wish I am). I know that there are a good number of invitational tournaments, but the players are usually invited according to their overall record, just like what happened to Akira at the Hokuto Cup. I figure since the sponsor paid good money for advertising, they should be able to pick out, within reason, a player that they really wanted for their competition, ne?
Chibi hikaru-chan just asked me: Akira? Where's Akira?
Er hmm... good question. Well, he's still kind of tied up right now. You know, him being anti-social and all. But, I will definitely pick his brains regarding the Hokuto Cup and the Kawasaki once we get there!
This chapter came pretty quickly, because it has been swimming in my mind for awhile now and it's good to let it all out in print. Urgh! It took me four chapters to get to this point and now it's finally starting to get interesting. So, who will make it on Team Japan at the Kawasaki Championship?? Who will get an invitation? How will the Young Lions Tournament turn out?
Stay tuned...
Any comments on the direction that this story is going? I'll like to hear what you think! Thanks!
Special thanks to Lyeza (especially you Lyeza!), z3nith, Precognition74 and Lucathia for giving multiple reviews!!! hugs I know it sounds cheesy, but your reviews really keep me going!