Disclaimer: Same as before.
Chapter Eight: When the Lions Come Marching In
Hikaru ran breathlessly up the stairs two steps at a time as he tried to catch the subway that had just arrived at the platform.
Just a little more, Hikaru thought as his steps took him within viewing distance of the subway. Hikaru quickly removed his backpack and in a swift motion, turned sideways which allowed him to slip neatly into the passenger compartment just as the doors were closing.
Whew! Made it! Hikaru thought as he wiped the sweat off his brow and without a second thought, he slung the straps of his bright yellow and black backpack over his right shoulder. Hikaru made a hasty grab for the bars as the subway lurched forward, steadily accelerating toward its next destination. Hikaru took a quick survey of the passenger compartment and found that it was barely half filled. It was a typical Saturday morning.
Hikaru decided to stand where he was; he was feeling far too antsy, or perhaps a bit nervous, judging from the slight trembling in his hands, for him to sit still. This was just as well since his breathing was still uneven and his heart was marching double time in his chest.
Hikaru shook his head and laughed silently to himself. Am I really that out of shape? I don't remember running to be this painful when I was in elementary school.
Hikaru carelessly ran his fingers to comb his hair that had been blown by the wind as he was running to catch the train. As the subway traveled, rays from the morning sun bounced cheerfully on his bleached blond bangs. Hikaru was blissfully unaware of how his boyish good looks were being shown to maximum advantage as he stood facing the doors.
The Young Lion's Tournament is today - finally! Hikaru thought happily as he looked out the window, his gray-green eyes bright with childish delight. The last time that he felt this excited over a match was his first professional match with Touya many months ago.
I'm sure that Touya would know exactly how many months and days if I asked him, Hikaru grinned at the thought.
Hikaru hummed tunelessly to himself as he looked over the roofs of densely packed residential houses and the occasional tall building that stuck out as the train sped by. The clock face on a nearby commercial building announced that the present time was 8:28. The dull sceneries faded away as his thoughts strayed to his phone conversation with Kosemura earlier this week on Monday.
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"Hmmm... yeah. I mean, yes. I'm really excited to be selected as a member of Team Japan for the Kawasaki," I replied haltingly, with mixed emotions.
"You don't sound very excited," Kosemura noted perceptively over the phone.
"Well, that's because..." My voice trailed off and I allowed myself a small embarrassed laugh.
In my mind, I can clearly imagine Touya's acid look as he mercilessly fired his scathing remarks in response to my decision to reject the invitation. Yeah, I admit, it was made in the heat of the moment. My mouth definitely moved faster than my brain that time, but I'm not sorry. I have my pride and Sai's as well. Who has the time to worry about what the rest of the world was thinking of anyway? Kosemura-san was a reasonable man so I was sure that he would understand.
"WHAT! NO! You can't do that!" Kosemura exclaimed immediately when I politely declined. His voice unconsciously rose a pitch, obviously, this was not the answer that he was expecting. "We were all looking forward to a possible rematch between you and Ko Yongha!"
"But..."
"No buts, ifs or ands!" Kosemura continued firmly, his torrent of words effectively drowned out my voice. "Kawasaki has put this project on a fast-track. They have already prepared the advertisements and flyers with all the names of the players that they're intending to invite and they're not going to take no for an answer."
"Then...," I was trying to say, then, this was not really an invitation, but Kosemura-san rampaged on without really listening to me.
"Then, what're you thinking? Shindou-kun! This is going to be a highly anticipated international professional tournament. Who in their right minds would refuse?" Kosemura-san said crossly, his tone reminded me acutely of Touya's.
"It's going to be a great opportunity to advance your career and get your name out in the street, and in this case, it's the world."
"But..." But, I wasn't trying to advance my career. I just wanted to show the world that I can make it on my own.
"I said no buts!"
Kosemura-san took a deep breath before continuing.
"Look, Shindou-kun. I think you're one of the best young pros that we're had in a long while. But, don't let the fact that you had a really spectacular match with Ko Yongha get to your head, ok? I've seen cases where careers went down the tubes because of that. Shindou-kun, the professional go world is not an easy place to thrive in and some players struggle just to survive. Skill is important, but so is luck. You should take all the breaks that you get along the way, because you can be sure that your luck won't last forever."
"Uh...," I couldn't come up with an adequate response. Kosemura-san sounded far too persuasive. I guess I underestimated how big of a deal this was. I was completely bulldozed by the force of Kosemura-san's personality.
"So, can we count on you at the Kawasaki?" I was a little taken aback to hear the I-won't-take-no-for-an-answer tone in place of Kosemura-san's usual friendly voice. I just realized that the Week Go reporter can be really pushy when he chose to be. Maybe it's because that I've been told time and again that I have to respect the authority of adults, but whatever it is, I just can't argue with Kosemura-san the way that I argued with Touya.
"Yeah...um... I mean yes!"
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Hikaru sighed heavily as he leaned his forehead against the glass window of the subway door. I'm sure that Waya won't hesitate to remind me of what I said at McDonald's and I'm never going to hear the end of it! Hikaru scrunched up his face into an exaggerated painful expression at the thought. Hikaru looked to the empty space by his right. You think so too, don't you, Sai? Hikaru smiled.
Hikaru knew perfectly well that Sai was not likely to reappear again, but out of habit and out of remembrance of his friend, he would sometimes talked to the thin air. Waya caught Hikaru doing that on several occasions and told him point-blank that people already thought that he was weird. Therefore, Hikaru should not push his luck.
Hikaru shrugged. Che! Whatever! Like I cared.
Sai.
The mysterious black stone on the recreated game.
Is there a connection between the two?
Hikaru did not have an answer.
Urgh! This is driving me absolutely crazy! Hikaru grimaced as he lightly banged his forehead against the glass window, prompting several passengers to inch away from him.
Hikaru heaved a heavy sigh and plopped himself onto an empty seat while rubbing his forehead.
This must be nerves, Hikaru thought sheepishly as he glanced out at the dull city scenery. Yeah, it must be.
Young Lions, here I come!
--0--0--0--
"Hey Oka, you're looking a little green. If you wanna throw up, the restroom is that-a-way," a boy with bright unruly orange hair teased his companion as he playfully turned his thumb toward the direction of the door.
"Look who's talking. You've had to use the little boys' room TWICE since we got here," Oka answered with a slight toss of his head. His earlier discomfort, generated by his anxiety of playing against Hikaru in the first round, was momentarily forgotten. Oka found it extremely gratifying when he saw Shouji's face flamed up.
"Hey, that's low! That's not the reason I had to go," Shouji answered defensively and in a rather loud voice. Several pros turned to look inquiringly toward their direction.
"Oh. Shut up, Shouji! Is it your goal in life to make everyone stare at us?" Oka retorted, annoyed with Shouji's inability to behave himself in public. "And, oh yeah, Mr. Group One, number sixteen on the rankings. You barely made it here today. If you asked me, you shouldn't even be here today!"
Shouji always managed to get on Oka's nerves and today was no exception. Shouji was not perturbed by the barbs in Oka's words. He merely made a face and stuck his tongue out at his dark-haired friend.
"Well, no one asked you. You're about as significant as I am in this tournament. Mr. Group One, number fourteen on the rankings," Shouji replied with a wide grin, imitating Oka's tone. He knew that would undoubtedly gall Oka into making a scene.
As predicted, Oka took the bait and his face immediately changed color. Oka hated it whenever Shouji implied that he was just as good as Oka, and heaven forbid, that he may even be better than Oka.
No, I will never never NEVER let Shouji get ahead of me! NEVER EVER! Oka thought vehemently as he continued to fume silently over Shouji's taunt.
Both Shouji and Oka were ten years old and were in the fifth grade. By nature, Oka was a quiet boy and he was rather shy. He was often mistaken for a girl because of his cute features. The fact that his dark blue hair was slightly longer than most boys' added to the wrong impression. In contrast, Shouji was a loudmouth. He was always energetic and never hesitated to speak his mind, often, to the point of being rude. At first glance, these two insei's might seem like fire and ice, but they shared one important trait - they both hated to lose, especially to each other. Since day one, Shouji and Oka were nothing but a constant headache for Shinoda, their instructor at the institute.
"Don't be so uptight ok? Just relax and goooo... with the flow," Shouji made a gesture of a river with his hands as he mentioned the word "go" and unexpectedly gave Oka a hearty slap on the back.
"Ooowwww! That hurts!" Oka yelped in surprise. Shinoda, one of the pros responsible for supervising the insei's, sent a stern look of warning at Oka and Shouji's direction, which effectively forced both insei's to lower their heads in embarrassment.
"Look at what you've done again," Oka hissed in a low voice and glared at Shouji through narrowed eyes. "You're always getting me into trouble."
"You're the one who yelled out," Shouji retorted gleefully. He had already forgotten the warning look that Shinoda sent just moments ago.
"And guess whose fault that..." Oka's volume unconsciously rose an octave. His sentence was cut off by a light jab from Shouji's elbow.
"Now what?" Oka grumbled loudly in annoyance. Oka's voice was back to its normal level. It appears that he, too, had forgotten Shinoda's warning.
"It's Shinoda sensei and a short little man with protruding front teeth," Shouji giggled. Kosemura reminded him of an over-eager rabbit.
Oka glared at Shouji since he felt it beneath him to join in Shouji's silliness. Besides, he was within earshot of Shinoda sensei and the last thing that he need in the world was a reprimand from Shinoda sensei in front of all his peers and all the other pros. Shouji might be too stupid to realize this, but he certainly was not. Oka nodded to himself and huffed self-righteously.
Shouji cast a sidelong glance at Oka and merely shrugged, a mischievous smile hung on his face when his friend refused to acknowledge him. From where they were standing, they could clearly hear the conversation between Shinoda and Kosemura.
"Che! This is such a boring line-up!" Kosemura complained with a frown, his dissatisfaction was evident on his features.
Shinoda looked questioningly at Kosemura.
"Well, you see here," Kosemura explained as he pointed to the relevant portion of the schedule for the day. "Touya-kun and Shindou-kun will meet in the second round, but realistically, that might just as well be the finals."
"Well, I wouldn't make such a hasty judgment," Shinoda said kindly, not at all offended by Kosemura's comment. "Although I agree that Touya-kun and Shindou-kun are both excellent players, Kosemura-san should also take into account that there are other talented kids here who did not participate in the Hokuto Cup. There is Isumi-kun, just to name an example." Shinoda smiled.
"I see," Kosemura answered politely, but deep inside, he remained convinced that the victor of this tournament will ultimately be either Touya-kun or Shindou-kun.
Shouji and Oka exchanged looks with each other. The conversation was not particularly interesting since they already knew everything Kosemura mentioned. However, it did wound Oka's pride a tad to hear first hand that the Week Go reporter believed that Oka would lose for sure.
"Ah. It's Shindou-kun," Kosemura said brightly. The pushy and argumentative Kosemura from the phone conversation was completely nonexistent.
Both Shouji and Oka's ears perked up at this announcement. Their heads involuntarily drawn toward Kosemura's direction. A handsome young man with bleached blond bangs, casually dressed in a green and white checkered shirt and blue jeans, cheerfully greeted Kosemura and the others around him.
"Yo, Oka," Shouji whispered in a conspiratorial tone. "Your opponent for the first round has just arrived."
Oka swallowed hard. He was too nervous to reply. Shindou's appearance just made him realized how scared that he really was to play against someone of Shindou's caliber, regardless of his earlier comment that "Shindou was merely someone who had lost two games at the Hokuto Cup."
Had Oka the wits to look at Shouji, he would have instantly noticed that Shouji was just as nervous and star-struck as he was by Hikaru's appearance.
"Maybe I should head over there and tell Shindou how you dissed him during the insei discussion last week," Shouji teased with a wicked evil smile as he pretended to walk over to Hikaru.
"Do...n't yo...u dare. Wh...y, I never...!" Oka whispered loudly, his scarlet face and his trembling voice betrayed his distress.
Shouji silently congratulated himself on how he had just made Oka royally shake in his boots. Teasing Oka was his favorite pastime next to go. Oka was far too gullible.
"Oh, lookie there. Komiya-san is pointing at you. Hmm... I guess he beat me to it," Shouji said cheerfully. He was enjoying the look of shock and dismay on Oka's face.
Finally, Oka realized that Shouji was laughing at him. It infuriated him that he was constantly falling for Shouji's pranks. Oka shot his friend a dirty look before turning his head away, determined to ignore Shouji before the start of round one.
Upon turning his head, Oka saw his idol Touya Akira walking over to join Hikaru's group. Akira was wearing a well-tailored white summer suit, coordinated with a blue and white striped shirt.
It's payback time, Oka thought with a little smirk. Shouji had also noticed the arrival of his opponent.
"Well, well, well, should I head over there and tell Touya all the insults that you've saying about him behind his back?" Oka taunted gleefully as he took a step toward Akira's direction.
"Oka, yo...u dumbass! A...ll I said was...," Shouji stuttered in his panic and grabbed Oka's arm, refusing to let go.
"Let go! YOU dumbass!" Oka muttered loudly as he tried to pry Shouji's hands from off of his arm. "People are watching us!"
"Hell no! I'm not letting go until the match starts!"
"Why you...!"
Shinoda shot a sharp glance which spoke volumes at the duo. Both took the hint and were wise enough to behave lest they be kicked out of the room even before the tournament starts.
--0--0--0--
"Ara, ara! Those two little rascals are getting into trouble with Shinoda sensei again," Nase gave a little shake of her head followed by a small sigh of resignation as she watched the little spectacle. "I wish they would just get along with each other."
"Those little rascals?" Honda asked with a puzzled look. "Oh, you mean those kids. Are they really insei's?" He asked doubtfully.
"It's hard to believe isn't it? We were all young and cute like them at one point," Nase said while flashing a winning smile at Honda. "Ne, Honda-san, go easy on me today, OK?"
Honda stared at Nase for a moment and shortly dismissed her with a low grunt. Nase was a rather inconsistent player, but she could be dangerous if he got careless.
"Ah, shucks!" Nase replied with a cute pout and shrugged. With a small laugh, she added, "I guess I have no choice but to go all out on you. Don't say that I didn't warned you!"
"I expect no less," Honda replied calmly with a straight face. "I'm going to get something to drink. Want anything?"
"No thanks," Nase answered. "Don't let me scare you off now."
Honda wisely ignored Nase's last comment. Nase tended to get chatty when she was nervous.
She's probably not even aware of it. How long has she been an insei now? Three or is it four years? It must be hard to watch as your fellow insei's, one by one, marched into the ranks of the pros - Mashiba; Shindou; Waya; Ochi; Isumi-san and finally myself. It must be so depressing to see the group marching ahead and you're merely lagging farther and farther behind. I should know. I was there last year, Honda thought.
As Honda headed for the door, his gaze was automatically drawn to Hikaru and Akira's group.
Even if you are part of the group, it's depressing if you're faltering in your march, Honda thought with a touch of melancholy.
Honda shook his head as if to clear it. No... No! I can't think that way. I'm a pro too! Honda told himself sternly. As sensei says, the road of a pro is long and endless. But, I will march with them. I will. I will. I must!
As Honda approached the refreshment table, he felt someone was watching him. Instinctively, he turned around. He saw the retreating back of a medium-built man with spiky silver-gray hair.
Yashiro! Honda thought in surprise. What is he doing here? I thought his group left for Osaka last night.
Honda stroked his chin thoughtfully as he watched Yashiro disappeared around the corner.
Sensei mentioned something about Yashiro having a big fight with his parents after the Hokuto Cup, but that did not seem to affect his performance one bit. If anything, Yashiro has been absolutely unstoppable. He's been winning every official and unofficial matches these past two weeks.
Yashiro. He's also marching forward on. Trust me, I won't be far behind.
--0--0--0--
"The eleventh annual Young Lions Tournament is about to begin. Participants, please take your seats accordingly...," the master of ceremony's voice boomed authoritatively over the loud speaker. "All first round matches will be an even game between pros and insei's where all insei's will play black..." The master of ceremony continued to announce the rules as the players briskly moved toward their pre-assigned seats. Finally, the room was quiet and after a slight pause, the master of ceremony gave the command.
"Please begin."
It's Touya, Shouji thought with apprehension as he stole a glace at his unsmiling opponent. It's really Touya Akira sitting across from me!
"Please," Akira said formally with a slight bow over the table. In that split second, the world seemed to have stood still for Shouji. His heart was beating. It was beating very fast. This is it. This is it!
I'll show you. I'll show you what I'm capable of! Shouji thought fiercely, a sudden surge of determination shot up from somewhere deep within, surprising even Shouji himself. "Please!" Shouji said with more force than he intended to.
Elsewhere in the room...
It's really Shindou Hikaru, Oka thought in mild panic as he looked at the relaxed features of his opponent.
"Ple..ase!" Oka said, a light tremor evident in his voice.
"Please," Hikaru said calmly. He did not seem to be aware of Oka's nervousness.
Oka tightly clutched his fists under the table and with a determined nod, he placed his first stone.
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A/N: Yes, it's been a very long time since the last update. I hope you all enjoy this new chapter!