Disclaimer: "I don't own any of the Hikaru no Go characters or anything related to them. I'm just using them in my story."
Hikaru grabbed his lunch box from the fridge and walked towards Isumi and Waya.
"So, did you guys won?" He asked them.
"Sure did and by the big smile on the face, you did too." Waya replied.
"Congratulations, Shindo. But then, you never actually lost to Fuku, didn't you?" Isumi said.
"I did once, you know. It was during the Pro Exam, right after I be…" Hikaru began, but he stopped when he realised that it might be hard on Isumi.
"Don't worry, I'm over it." He said. "Just to ask, but do you know who you'll play you next?"
"Yeah, the guy I lost to last year."
When Hikaru said that, the look in his eyes changed. They looked like they were on fire, with sparks in the middle. Waya and Isumi saw it and flinched.
Then, the moment passed by and the smile came once again on Hikaru's face. Waya gave Isumi a funny look, which brought a smile on his face.
"Where are you waiting for? Eat!" Shindo yelled to them. When they came closer, Hikaru asked Waya who he would play next.
"Couldn't be worse: Toya," Waya answered.
"I'm playing Nase next, so that could be hard." Isumi said. "But then, according to the other insei, she's been on a winning streak lately so I better watch out. Besides, don't you play each other if you both win this round?" He asked.
"Yeah, that could be fun." Waya said. "What're you smiling at, Shindo?"
"You gotta play Toya first. Good luck with that."
"You're enjoying this, aren't you?"
"Sure am!"
With that last being said, the bell announcing the end of the lunch break rang. They made their way to the match room and sat down before the go board.
Hikaru sat down before the board and saw his opponent coming into the room. He remembered the match he'd played against Murakami 2-dan last year and couldn't help smiling. He was so inexperienced back then. As his opponent sat down Hikaru's expression changed. His opponent didn't yet notice but Fuku, who was watching the match, did. After a few moments passed, the beginning of the match was announced. Hikaru and his opponent began to nigiri. It turned out that Hikaru was white. They exchanged the bowls.
"Onegaishimasu."
"Onegaishimasu."
Murakami placed his first stone on the upper-left star point and tapped his game clock. Hikaru answered by playing the komoku under the lower-right start point.
Pachi.
Pachi.
Pachi. Pachi.
The game was progressing slowly, mostly because Hikaru's opponent was taking his time. Hikaru couldn't blame him, after all he had played a good game in the previous year. As he placed some more moves on the upper-right to extend his territory there, Murakami played a few in an attempt to control the center.
Pachi. Pachi.
Pachi.
With that last move, the opening game had ended and the middle game was about to begin. The game was moving on quite evenly but Hikaru had managed to take sente. With his good shape on the upper right and the last extension to the right side of the board, Hikaru found himself ahead by about 4 points. He saw Murakami struggling in his attempt to make the game closer and waited for his opponent's next move.
Pachi.
Hikaru saw the last move and decided he didn't have to respond directly to Murakami's attack on the lower right. Instead of responding he played a large knight's move on the edge of the board. The moment he played it, he knew it was a great move and tough to respond to. He looked his opponent in the eye and saw fear in his eyes.
Pachi. Pachi.
Pachi. Pachi.
Pachi.
The game was going towards the endgame now and Hikaru was winning by 10 or more points. He thought it was a good time to use a little mind game he seemed to pull of pretty often lately. He grabbed his fan and slid it open and closed it right again. Murakami was sweating and by hearing the sound of the fan, he flinched. He searched for a move that could turn this game around but didn't find any. He bowed to his opponent and said:
"I resign."
Hikaru thanked his opponent for the game and cleaned up the board. After that, he walked away the table where Waya and Toya were playing. As he made his way to the table he noticed the large crowd on another table. Isumi was there playing Nase and a lot of insei were watching. This was of course right, because of what Hikaru had heard, Nase was quite the player now. Of course she had been in the A league for several years now, but somehow she hadn't been able to play this well in the Pro Exam. It was like the thought of becoming a professional players was making her feel nervous. The winner of the Isumi vs. Nase match had to play against either Honda or Ochi in the quarterfinals, depending on who won from those two. Hikaru was now standing next to Waya and saw he was playing a nice game, but somehow Toya didn't seem to go all out against him. It was in fact a very close game and that was something Hikaru had not been expecting.
Pachi.
But with that last move Toya made, everything changed. It was a beautifully placed move and was at the same time threatening to Waya's lower left as it did fortify Toya's lower right side. This made the game from a close one to one where Waya had to chase Toya with all he'd got. Hikaru didn't underestimate Waya, but he knew Toya was better and from the look on Waya's face, so did he.
Pachi. Pachi.
Pachi.
Pach.
Pachi. Pachi.
There, with that last reckless move, with the hope of Toya falling for the trap, Waya had lost. That was if Toya actually saw the trap behind it.
Pachi.
Yup, he had seen it. Hikaru knew the game was over know, otherwise Waya would have to take a terrible loss by over 20 points. Waya was a good player and he knew when it was finished so he resigned and thanked Toya for the game. They both cleaned up their stones and Waya quickly left. Toya however, stood in front of Hikaru and asked if he made it to the next round.
"Yes, I did." Hikaru answered.
"Good, then we'll play each other within two weeks in the quarter finals. I hope you'll be at your best."
With that, Toya made his way to the exit. Hikaru waited a few moments before answering silently: "Yes, I will."
As Nase quickly made her way to the exit, Hikaru saw Isumi coming towards him and he asked how the game went.
"She's improved. By a great deal." Isumi said.
"How much?"
"She's at Ochi's level from when he was in the Pro Exam. She might as well make it this year."
"But did you win?" Hikaru asked.
"Yeah, but by a small margin. The game processed evenly, but I was all the time a little ahead. By the endgame, I managed to keep my lead and won by 3.5 points. How did your game go?"
"It went well, I played good and forced a resign, but did you know Waya lost?"
"No, but I was expecting it. I mean, it's Toya he was up against. He's won of the strongest players we know."
"Yeah," Hikaru replied, in deep thoughts. "He sure is."
Hikaru grabbed his backpack and made his way to the exit. He took a quick glance in the pairings and saw that Ochi had won from Honda, so he would be facing Isumi. He put his fan tightly in his left hand and began to walk to the bus stop. When he stepped in the bus, he heard a familiar voice calling: "Hikaru!"
Hikaru turned around to see who was calling but he'd already heard it was Akari.
"What're you doing here?" He asked.
"I just went to the go class Shirakawa-sensei gives. Anyway, how did your match go?" She asked.
Hikaru frowned when he heard the question.
"How do you know I had matches?"
"Shirakawa-sensei said it to me. You had the Old Lions Tournament or somethi…"
"Young Lions Tournament!"
"Whatever, just tell me if you won."
"Yes, I did, I won both my matches."
"Great! On the way to win the tournament, aren't you?"
"Actually, no. I have to play Toya in the next round first. But hey, who knows."
"Wasn't Toya the guy you were chasing? Did you catch up to him yet?" She asked.
"Yes I was chasing him and no I haven't caught up yet. But it's… I have to get stronger than Toya. I have a different goal now."
"Can you tell me what it is?"
"No!"
"Please?"
"No."
"Pretty please?"
"Still now"
"Aww, come on, just tell me, okay?"
The bus arrived at the stop near Hikaru's house and he stepped out of the bus. Akari asked one more time, but again Hikaru answered with a firm "No!".
Hikaru opened the fence near his house and went to the front door.
"Hikaru, when is the next round?" Akari asked.
"In two weeks, now get lost."
"Maybe I'll come watch." She teased him.
"You won't. Bye Akari."
"Bye Hikaru."
I guess you should've guessed Hikaru would win his second round match, but did you guess he would have to play Akira in the next? If you did, you certainly have good guessing skills.
In the next chapter we'll see Hikaru, his grandfather and of course his big match against Akira. Is he up for the task?