Summary: The journey of Sai and Hikaru continues when Sai returns. Encompasses the point from when Sai disappears to the Hokuto Cup.
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters, settings, etc. pertaining to the manga series, Hikaru no Go, by Yumi Hotta, and illustrated by Takeshi Obata.
Chapter Ten: Influence
Time passed by smoothly for a week or so as everyone readied for the Hokuto Cup that would be taking place in a few more weeks until Kosemura came back from his interview with the Korea Team in a huff. Shindou had been leaving the Tokyo Go Institute, getting ready to go to Touya's house to practise their games before the tournament when he heard his name being called.
He turned around and blinked, head whirring through a list of possible faces to match to this person's identity. Before he got too far though, Sai piped up helpfully. He's Kosemura-san, a reporter from Weekly Go.
Thanks Sai, Shindou thought back mentally before addressing Kosemura. "Um, hello. Did you need something?"
Kosemura was so agitated. He couldn't get over the fact that the Koreans had the nerve to mock the best Go player ever. He held Shindou by the shoulders firmly. He wouldn't let them get away with it. "Shindou, you have to do your very best in the Hokuto Cup. You can't lose to those Koreans!"
Suddenly, his companion was pulling him back and he released Shindou. "Don't say anything," the other man hissed. He turned to apologize to Shindou, but was stopped by Kosemura again. "You understand, Shindou? You, Touya and Yashirou; you have to beat Korea at all costs!"
Shindou blinked. "Well, I don't think any of us plan on losing; not against Korea and not against China either."
"That's not what I mean!" Kosemura yelled, as his companion tried to pull him away. "You have to crush them completely! Show your superiority! Show them that they can't-mph," he was cut off as his companion covered his mouth.
Shindou stood dumbfounded along with Sai who was looking on in bemusement. "Is something wrong?" he asked. He couldn't understand why the reporter felt such an intense hatred against the Koreans. He planned to win, yes, but that didn't mean he had to wipe the floor with his opponent. That would be unsportly. He and Sai only did that to opponents they wanted to teach a lesson to.
Kosemura suddenly wrenched free and shouted once more. "I can't stand this outrage! How could anybody? They insulted Honinbo Shusaku! They said he was nothing!"
That caught both Shindou and Sai's attention immediately. What?! They both thought. "What did you just say?" Shindou cut in sharply.
"That Ko Yongha said that Honinbo Shusaku was nothing!" Kosemura was in a frenzy now, pushing his companion away so he could speak. "He even said that there was nothing you could learn from him anymore because he was outdated. They're not taking Japan seriously at all. That's why you have to show them what's what! We can't just let them get away with that. You have to-!"
His companion finally ended up just jumping Kosemura and bodily dragging him away as fast as he could. He shouted back to Shindou. "Don't listen to anything he just said! It was just a misunderstanding. Sorry."
Shindou couldn't get the reporter's words out of his mind though. He could also feel Sai clenching his fan beside him. Sai? What do you think?
I don't believe Kosemura-san was lying. He seemed too passionate about his words for that. On the other hand, his companion was extremely flustered by the situation, as if he were trying to cover something up. Sai was not happy. To think someone would dare to insult Torajiro and me in such a manner. I don't understand how Korea's players could demean the World of Go like that by insulting Japan as well.
Hikaru could tell that Sai was hurt. Go was his life and happiness. He had always been praised on his playing and to hear someone degrade something that made up nearly his whole existence was horrible, especially since they weren't actually degrading Sai himself, but Torajiro, whom Sai had played through. To think that Torajiro had given up his existence for Sai to be able to play Go and now that was ruining his name. It must hurt Sai to think that he was ruining Torajiro's name after he was dead like this.
Hikaru wouldn't stand for it. Everybody knew that Sai was a brilliant player and there was no way that Honinbo Shusaku was outdated. Sai still hadn't lost a single game and he hadn't even while he had been using old joseki before learning the modern way to play. Everyone also told Hikaru how much talent he had and that was because he learned from Sai and Shusaku. He would show Korea, but most especially, Ko Yongha that he had made a big mistake in hurting Sai like this.
Don't worry Sai. There's no way we're just going to let this go. We'll show Korea Japan's strength and I'll show them that Shusaku is just as good as he was one hundred and forty years ago. I promise you that no matter what, I won't lose to Korea.
Sai smiled at Hikaru, hearing the conviction behind his charge's words. That makes me very happy Hikaru, but most of all, I want you to have fun. You've worked hard to be able to enter this tournament. I don't want to ruin it for you. Now, you should get going before you're late.
Shindou looked at the time. "Omigod!" he dashed down the stairs and outside. "I'm going to be late!" He still hadn't forgotten about what he planned to do though. For hurting Sai, he was going to get Ko Yongha to apologize no matter what.
It was almost time for the Hokuto Cup. Shindou hadn't spoken about what he was planning to do about the situation with Ko Yongha, but his demeanour had been very serious and Sai was worried. He didn't want Shindou to get so worked up about the situation that it would affect his playing. He knew that this would be Shindou's first international tournament and the pressure and stress was enormous. It wasn't like normal tournaments. All the players would be under great scrutiny and with Hikaru's already frayed nerves, Sai was afraid he would collapse before or during the tournament.
Even Touya had noticed Shindou's sudden change, but he didn't pry. The two friends continued as normal, but Shindou wasn't his usual happy, hyper self. Touya would have assumed he wanted to focus on practising for the Hokuto Cup, but this Shindou was a little disconcerting. He would have asked Sai if he could since the two were so close, but there was no way for him to do that if not through Shindou, so it was useless.
He would just have to wait and see if Shindou would talk to him on his own. He probably wouldn't though. No matter how close they had gotten or how many secrets they now shared, they didn't come to each other with their problems. Touya wasn't that great at helping with that sort of thing anyways, another reason why Shindou wouldn't turn to him. He wasn't like Sai, whom Shindou had described to him, who was always patient, always caring, always willing to listen and help Shindou as much as he could. Touya just wasn't used to relating to other people, though he was glad that Shindou didn't seem to mind and stuck by him anyways.
It was now three days before the Hokuto Cup and Touya had gained permission from his parents to have Shindou and Yashirou over to study Go until the tournament. Kurata would also be coming, seeing as he was the manager. For now, though, Yashiro, Shindou and Touya played Speed Go against each other in order to stimulate their brains and help them play better when under pressure. It wasn't the same as in a tournament since they were alone, but it would have to do. Touya knew that neither Yashiro nor Shindou had played under such conditions before, so they may not be used to it. He wanted to prepare them as much as he could and hope that they adapted quickly enough during the tournament. He didn't like it, but remembering his conversation with Shindou about it months ago, there weren't any other options to go with. It would have to do.
After Kurata did arrive though, they decided to start playing tournament games of 1.5 hours. Touya and Shindou would play against each other and Kurata and Yashiro would play. After that, they discussed the games and switched partners. It was tiring, but no one wanted to be the first to quit. It wasn't until Touya's mother knocked on the door that any of them noticed it was dinner time. If they hadn't needed sleep, they probably would have played through the night. Unfortunately, they needed their rest, so they couldn't.
Shindou was agitated. He needed to get stronger faster or he wouldn't stand a chance against Ko Yongha. He had studied his kifu and knew the teen was strong, on par with Touya, though he was a year older. Shindou still hadn't managed to win against Touya yet, so how could he expect to beat Ko Yongha like this? He had to get stronger. If he remembered what Kaga had told him years ago about tournament placings correctly, boards were usually placed in order of skill. That would mean that Touya would be playing Ko Yongha instead of him. Normally, that would be fine with Shindou, but how would he get Ko Yongha to apologize if he didn't show him that Shusaku's Go was just fine to learn from?
The next day, the group studied kifu from past games played by their Chinese and Korean opponents. For the last day, they played matches again, switching players back and forth and discussing the games afterward. Finally, after a game, Kurata gathered them to tell them their placings.
"Well, you're all great players, really, but China and Korea are really strong," Kurata began. "They put a lot more emphasis on Go than we do in Japan. I've ranked you according to your current strength, just as China and Korea are going to do. Therefore, the placings are as follows: Third board is Yashiro, Second board is Shindou and First board is Touya. Any objections?"
Yashiro shook his head, knowing that would probably be the placing from the start and Touya was already resigned to it, but Shindou couldn't take it anymore. "Yes!" he blurted out and flushed when everyone turned to look at him in shock. He couldn't back down now though. He took a deep breath. "C-Can't I be First board?"
Shindou almost wanted to sink into the floor when he said that aloud, but he stood firm. This was for Sai, after all. Still, in his head, his thoughts rushed a mile a minute. What was he doing?! The thought rebounded over and over in his head like a gong.
Touya stared at him. Shindou had been acting strangely for a while now, but this was certainly his most out-of-character statement yet. Normally, Shindou wouldn't object in such a fashion, especially since this tournament was really important and he certainly wasn't doing this just to argue with Touya, so what was going on?
"You want to be First board?" he asked simply, staring at Shindou's face to discern any clues. He hadn't thought it really mattered to Shindou which board he played, but perhaps this had something to do with Shindou's strange behaviour over the last few weeks.
"I just want to play First board for Korea," Shindou explained, rushing his words before he completely lost his nerve. "I don't care about China – I mean, I care about China, but I don't care about whom I play from there, but I care about who I play against Korea."
Touya continued staring as he deciphered Shindou words. "You want to play against Ko Yongha? Why him?"
Shindou opened his mouth to answer when he remembered that Kurata and Yashiro were also in the room. He shut his mouth again and shook his head as he remembered what he was doing. He couldn't just ask to be First board when he didn't have the strength to beat Ko Yongha yet. It was true that Touya was stronger than him, after all.
"Nothing, it's nothing," he muttered, exiting the room as it rang with silence. What had he been thinking? He walked quickly down the hall, hiding in a spare room. He leaned against the wall and slid to the floor, wrapping his arms around his knees, his head bowed. He wouldn't look at Sai who knelt in front of him. Sai, I'm sorry. I just don't think I'm strong enough to beat him yet. I'm sorry.
It's okay, Hikaru, Sai assured him. He had repeated it so much over the last few weeks. He could see that Hikaru was pushing himself too far, trying to get ahead too fast; it was near self-destruction. He was about to continue when Hikaru seemed to suddenly stiffen and finally looked up at him. Hikaru? Sai was puzzled.
Play for me, Sai, Hikaru requested, his eyes dark and serious. Sai didn't like it at all. You can play against Ko Yongha and beat him. It just came to me now. I can't beat him, but you can. If you play for me, we can definitely show Ko Yongha that there's still tons people can learn from Shusaku. He'll definitely have to apologize then. I'm sorry I can't do it myself for you, Sai.
Hikaru, do you know what you are saying? Sai was dumbfounded and regretful. How could he have not noticed how worked up Hikaru was getting over all this? To allow Sai to play for him on international television would end up putting him in the spotlight for years to come. It would not only be Japan any longer that he would be under scrutiny from, but China and Korea as well.
All the work Hikaru had done to get away from Sai's shadow would be ruined and his shadow would be a hundred times harder to get away from again. There would be no way Hikaru would be able to hide this again. His peaceful life would be shattered again and more people like Ogata would hound him for his secrets. There was no way Sai would let something like that happen to Hikaru.
Hikaru, you've worked so hard to be able to participate in this tournament. Sai placed his hands on his charge's shoulders comfortingly, speaking in soft tones. I can't play for you when you've already done so much. You deserve to play against whoever you're set up against. Second board is already a very good position. With you there, Touya-kun at First board and Yashiro-kun, who is also very strong, at Third, you will make a formidable trio.
That's not the point, Sai, Hikaru shook his head firmly. The point is that you have to beat Ko Yongha. He insulted you and Shusaku. We can't just let it go. He has to apologize.
I admit that I am somewhat indignant as to how a fine Go player as such that we studied could possibly be so shallow, but I will not take away this chance that you have gained. Sai was determined to be just as stubborn as Hikaru in this case. He wouldn't let Hikaru go down this path. There may be other ways to settle this issue. Perhaps Japan winning will be enough to show Ko Yongha that Japan itself, Shusaku's birthplace, is still very strong in Go. We do not need to meet him head-on. Do not forget that this is a team tournament.
Hikaru sputtered, "But Sai-"
Hikaru, Sai interrupted him, remember that Go should be played for enjoyment and fulfillment, not petty things like revenge. It is good to teach lesser beings a lesson sometimes, but you do not always have to do it alone. I've watched you get more agitated as the weeks passed on and I've been worried. You are focusing too much on a player that shouldn't be worth your regard if he is so ignorant of the world. Play your best and show him your abilities by beating the opponent you should be beating, not the one you think you should for lousy reasons.
Hikaru didn't know how Sai always managed to sound so wise in these situations when he acted so much like a child the rest of the time. He guessed living for a thousand years would do that to a person. He knew he was beat though. He just couldn't win against Sai. He deflated and nodded. I still promised you that Ko Yongha would apologize though. I'll definitely keep that promise.
Sai smiled glad to see that Hikaru had finally seen reason and his eyes no longer seemed so hard. He couldn't have happily watched Hikaru play under the already stressed conditions without knowing that Hikaru was playing for the right reasons, not selfish ones. However, he didn't want Hikaru to get carried away with this still.
You need only do that if there isn't a misunderstanding though, he reminded Hikaru, who just waved a hand in acceptance. Sai may be optimistic, but Shindou wanted to verify for himself first what was going on.
Let's go back now, Sai. Suddenly, Hikaru groaned. I can't believe I blurted that out in front of everyone. What's Touya going to think? Why didn't I keep my mouth shut?
Sai giggled at his predicament and patted his shoulder. There, there, Hikaru. I'm sure it won't be that bad. Just pretend that everything's fine. The day is almost over anyways. The tournament is tomorrow, so you should all go to bed early so you are well rested.
"I guess so," Shindou muttered, still embarrassed. He stood up and walked back over to the door to slide it open but it was opened for him before he could touch it. He stepped back in surprise when he came face to face with Touya. "Eh? Touya, what are you doing here?"
"Why'd you run out of the room?" Touya ignored the question, instead asking his own. "Why do you want to play Ko Yongha?" Touya already had a suspicion that it had to do with Sai. All of Shindou's mysteries had a connection to the ghost in one way or another.
"Oh, that?" Shindou rubbed the back of his head, sheepishly. "Don't worry. I don't want to play First board anymore. Sai talked to me about it and I'm fine with Second board. It was just something I was angry about for a while. It's okay now."
That hadn't answered either of Touya's questions. He only knew that the something that had been bothering Shindou all this time had been solved, yet he had no idea what that something was. Of course Sai would have helped him solve it. Shindou always went to Sai for help. Touya couldn't accept it this time. No matter whether he showed it or not, he had been worried. He wanted to know what could have possibly gotten Shindou so worked up that he was willing to gamble the Hokuto Cup on it.
Touya shut the sliding door as he stepped inside, making Shindou back up more so they didn't bump into each other. "Touya? Is something wrong?" Shindou asked confused. Shouldn't they be getting back to the others now?
"I've noticed that you've been acting really weird for a few weeks now, Shindou," Touya started resolutely, "and I think wanting to play First board has something to do with that issue. You say now that the issue's been resolved, but I have to know for sure with the Hokuto Cup tomorrow. What made you angry and what does Ko Yongha have to do with it?"
Touya knew he sounded too demanding and cold, but he couldn't help it. He just didn't know how to express his worry and frustration that no matter if he and Shindou were friends or not, Touya didn't know how to handle him. Even when they had been rivals, Shindou made him lose his temper so quickly when he usually had such a strong hold on it. Touya liked being friends with Shindou and spending time with him, but he didn't know how to act that way. He had never really been around kids his own age before.
Sai smiled behind his fan. He's worried about you, Hikaru.
Hikaru whipped around to face Sai, turning his back on Touya. He spoke in his head, not wanting Touya to hear the conversation, especially since they were talking about him. Worried? How did that sound worried? He sounded like a bastard, is what he sounded like to me! Well, I don't have to tell him anything. Hikaru crossed his arms obstinately.
Sai laughed at his antics, amused at both their obliviousness. Although he didn't want to push them forward in their feelings before either of them realised anything, it couldn't hurt to help Hikaru understand his friend better.
Touya-kun is someone who has been around adults most of his childhood, Hikaru. You are probably the first person his own age to actively approach him like this and whom he can talk to at times. He is much like this father: kind, but reserved. He doesn't speak his mind much, so when he does, he may come off sounding harsher than most, but you can tell he cares. He was able to tell you have been acting out of character, after all, so he must know you well. As for how I knew he was worried, you could tell that just from the fact that he came here looking for you and that he wanted to know how you were doing before you returned. He may not have phrased it that way, but you can certainly tell if you look.
Hikaru looked dubious, but he trusted Sai's judgement. If you say so, Sai. Well, I guess it doesn't matter if I tell him then, since you want to. It directly concerns you after all. He turned back to Touya who had been patiently waiting for an answer from Hikaru after he finished his consultation with Sai. That fact only reaffirmed his suspicions that Hikaru's behaviour had to do something with Sai.
"You remember that day a few weeks ago when I was late to arrive at your house to practise?" Shindou asked him. Touya nodded. He remembered that Shindou had definitely started acting strangely around that time. He hadn't pried though, just started playing as they always did. He wondered now if he should have said something at the time, if it would have helped solve Shindou's problem sooner. Well, there was no use in contemplating now.
"I was late because Kosemura-san from Weekly Go stopped me. He had come back from interviewing Ko Yongha from Korea and he told me that Ko Yongha said Shusaku was nothing, that he was outdated and that we couldn't learn from him anymore." Shindou eyes burned with renewed outrage at the memory, but Sai's hand helped calm him down.
Touya was shocked at what Shindou said. It couldn't be true, could it? However, he didn't think Kosemura-san was a liar, nor was it something people would use as a bad joke. Shindou continued his story before he could ask anything though. "I wanted to play him and show him that Shusaku is just as great now as he was then; even better, actually."
Touya nodded. He could understand that. It was no wonder Shindou had been so angry. He himself was indignant at the slander. Sai was a brilliant player; anyone who had ever played him would say that. He couldn't believe a serious Go player would degrade one of the great players of the past. It was hard to imagine. Not only that, but it was also an insult to Japan, not to mention at a time when the countries were trying to build better relations with each other.
"They say he's on the same level as you though and I haven't reached that point yet, so I suggested Sai should play instead. If he played, if Shusaku played, Ko Yongha would definitely eat his words, but Sai wouldn't play. He said that this is supposed to be a team tournament and I shouldn't be trying to play for selfish reasons. That's why you had better not lose, Touya. We're going to show him that Japan is just as strong as it was in the past."
Touya agreed. "Of course. That means you better not lose either, you know, Shindou."
Shindou snorted. "Against Korea? No way. I'm going to show all three of them that there are still tons they have to learn from the old masters."
Touya smiled faintly. It seemed Shindou was back to his regular self again. He was glad Shindou had told him what was going on, even if it was after the problem had already been solved and Touya had had to ask first. As long as everything was still okay between them, he guessed that was all he could ask for. They had a tournament to participate in after all.