Go? But I'm a Soccer Player!
Summary: Hikaru was a MVP regional soccer player when he met Sai. He took up go on the net to appease the hopeful ghost. Three years later, Sai left and Hikaru got an offer to the B-leagues. Now, a year a half later, Hikaru one again encounters the go world by chance.
Disclaimer: I don't own Hikaru no Go and never will no matter how much I want to own it.
"Speech"
'Thoughts'
Standing in front of Shindo Hikaru's house, Toya Koyo was quite surprised. He hadn't expected a soccer star like Shindo to live in such an old fashioned house. He rang the doorbell and waited. Sure Koyo wasn't sure what he expected when he decided to visit Shindo, but he most certainly did not expect an old man to answer the door. After all, Hikaru Shindo didn't seem like the type who lives with his grand parents.
Before the former Meijin could introduce himself to the old man, the said old man looked at him with wide surprised eyes and exclaimed in glee, "Toya-sensei! What are you doing here?" It would seem that the old man is a go fan. The elder Toya couldn't help but to wonder if the Go Association had given him the wrong address.
He bowed to the excited old man and said, "I'm actually looking for Hikaru Shindo, but it seems that I have gotten the wrong address."
"Ahh!" the old man exclaimed with hastily bowing back with a look of understanding, "I'm Hikaru's grandfather, my name Heihachi Shindo. Please come in Toya-sensei. I'll call Hikaru and ask him to come over immediately." The former five title holder heard the elderly Shindo murmur under his breath, "He didn't tell me that he left my contact info at the Go Association too!"
Turns out, since an incident a couple of months ago just before the world cups when his address was accidentally leaked, Hikaru had started to leave his grandfather's address and phone number instead of his own. That way, he can avoid the possibility of leaked information while remain in contact through his grandfather if there is an emergency situation. After all, Heihachi is a good secret keeper and few reporters are interested in an old man who barely knows the rules to soccer and only has minimal interesting his grandson's career.
So, when the Go Association asked for his contact info, he had left his grandfather's with out thinking. If Hikaru had known that the former Meijin would pay him a visit, he would never have done so. Because, no matter how good his grandfather is at keeping secrets, the elderly man probably start to babble everything he knows in font of his idol.
Heihachi quickly sat down sat down the former Meijin, brought out his best tea and hurried to the phone. However, before he could make the call, he was interrupted by his guest, "If it's possible, Shindo-san, please do not mention my presence." Giving his idol a confused look, Heihachi did as he was told.
He quickly thought of an excuse while dialling Hikaru's number. "Hello?" his grandson's tired voice rand through.
"Hello Hikaru," Heihachi replied, "I just got a call from your school informing me of your week off. I was wondering if you'd like to come to my place. You, young man, are going to play a game of go with me in return for keeping me in the dark about your go skills for so long." Before Hikaru could reply, Heihachi cut him off, "All the reporters are gone, so I'm not taking no as an answer. See you in a bit. You better not let and old man down." He then hung up, not giving Hikaru a chance to speak.
It seemed that Heihachi was a much better secret keeper than many gave him credit for. Although the former Meijin didn't talk much, Heihachi managed to stop himself form babbleing all about Hikaru to the silent former five title holder. So the two of them sat in awkwark silence waiting for Hikaru's arrival.
An hour later
The door bell of the Shindo household rang rapidly breaking the awkward silence of the said household. Koyo Toya snapped out of his thought and looked towards the door. Heihachi quickly went to get it.
"Hikaru," the former Meijin heard the old man say, "How many time do I have to tell you that ringing the door bell once or twice is enough for me to hear! Why do you insist on…"
Before the old man could finish his would be rant, the former Meijin heard some shuffling and a loud voice, "Just let me in gramps, do you want to risk a reporter seeing me or something?" The complaint was followed by loud footsteps.
Koyo Toya waited with anticipation as he heard the voice of the old man coming closer, "Hikaru, I have a surprise for…" The living room door opened.
Although the former Meijin had looked up pictures of the soccer star before his visit, he was shocked by the person he saw. "Fujiwara-san?" He stared at the boy in loose clothing wearing a baseball cap and big sunglasses covering most of his face. The former Meijin will never forget the boy who "introduced" him to his "rival".
When Hikaru reluctantly took up his grandfather's request, more like demand, to play a game with him, he expected his exited grandfather, not the person who is commonly referred to as the strongest go player in the world, and certainly not the discovery of his connection with Sai. Looking at the shocked former five title holder, he laughed awkwardly and said, "Hi?" while cursing his bad luck.
Heihachi sensed the tension in the room and wisely chose to leave quietly.
"Shindo-san," the former Meijin asked, "or should I call you Fujiwara-san?"
Flashback
Toya Meijin sat in the hospital bed thinking of strategies that could work against his student Ogata in the fifth and last game of the Jyuudan final when he heard a knock on the door. "Come in" he said, assuming it was a doctor or a nurse. However, it was a young boy around Akira's age who walked in. Looking at the boy with a cap covering most of his face, he asked, "Did you come into the wrong room?"
"Err," the boy stuttered, "I was actually looking for you Toya-sensei."
"Oh?" the Meijin questioned, "Are you an insei or an amateur? I don't think that I have seen you before." He couldn't think of any children other than a go player would ever want to see him.
"Ano… I'm not either… at least I don't think so." The boy replied, "I heard from some people that you are playing go on the internet. I'm not a big go player but I have a friend who plays on the net, he would really like to play a game with you. His nick is Sai, you might have heard of him. He can only play on the net so…"
'Sai?' Toya Meijin thought, 'Wasn't that the person who Ogata said that everyone's talking about during an amateur tournament, the so called "Saint of Netgo"? The one who defeated even some pros? This boy says that Sai is his friend, interesting.' Looking at the boy he said, "Then why does he hide his identity? What is his real name? He's not a pro isn't he?"
"Well…" the boy stuttered. "His real name…"
"I understand that some strong amateurs would like some chances to play with pros, but I'm not comfortable with him hiding his identity like this."
"I'm sorry," the boy mumbled, unable to hide his disappointment, "It's just that Sai can only play on the internet so I thought…. Forget it. I'm just a complete stranger and you are the so called best go player in the world."
"So called best player?" The Meijin could help but to question the boy's usage of the words, "So called best player. Are you saying that this friend of yours, Sai, is stronger than I am?"
"Well," the boy retorted, "He has never lost before, he forced all of his opponents to resign."
"Alright," the Meijin replied, "The final Jyuudan match is coming up anyways, if your friend is as good as you claim, he would provide a good warm up."
"Warm up?" The boy sounded sceptical, "You should play seriously, I don't want to hear you say that you underestimated your opponent if you loose."
'Is that so?' The five title holder thought. It wasn't rare that a particular cocky player will claim to be better then him, but this boy's words actually sounded genuine. Either this Sai is really a great player, or he's got an overblown ego. Looking at the boy he promised, "If I loose, I'll retire from the go world."
"That's not what I meant!" The boy cried looking worried.
"You actually believe that I'll loose?" Toya Meijin questioned, getting more interested in this Sai character. Cutting off what the boy wanted to say he continued, "The game will be at 10am on Sunday, three hours of thinking time for each person, I'll turn away all visitors. I have agreed to the game and now I'd like some peace, please leave."
The boy was shuffling to the door when Toya Meijin called out, "What's your name boy?"
The boy paused and replied, "You can call me Fujiwara," before walking out the door.
End Flashback
Figuring out Hikaru's other identity, much of his confusing wording during the interview started to make sense to the former Meijin. 'Sai,' he thought, 'that mysterious mentor of Shindo, it's Sai. No wonder Shindo always tries to avoid him during the interview. So, the student of Sai shows his face once again. I have a feeling that the world of go is facing another storm.' as and after thought Koyo realized, 'That would also explain all the Sai's kifu that he said he has.'
"Toya-sensei," Hikaru said snapping the elder Toya out of his thoughts, "Can you keep my connection with Sai as a secret? If one move could cause that big of a deal in the go world, I don't want to imagine what would happen if others discover that I know who Sai is."
The former Meijin knew that Hikaru was right, if one move by him could cause so much chaos in the go world, a connection with Sai could throw him into the center of the storm of change that's currently hitting the go world. However...
"Shindo-san, Sai, he's your mentor right?" Hikaru looked up in alarm. Answering the former Meijin with his action.
"Don't worry," the Koyo comforted him, "I will not say anything about the meeting in the hospital. However, let me play Sai again, just one more time, please, even if the game is online!"
Hikaru tembled and looked at the ground, "I'm sorry Toya-sensei.That not possible" tears leaked out of his eyes, "Sai's gone, he left a month after playing you. I'm sorry." He continued before Koyo could ask why.
The former Meijin looked up in shock. It wasn't that he had never thought of the possibility that Sai might have died. He had thought that Sai might have been gravely sick when Hikaru informed him that Sai can only play on the internet, and when he disappeared after the game, the former pro considered the possibility that he died. Nevertheless, he always swatted that thought away. Sai was his only rival and he just did not bear to even think that he might never be able to play with him again.
"Toya-sensei," Hikaru mumbled in a desperate try to sway the topic of the conversation, "Why did you come to my house in the first place?"
Understanding was Hikaru was trying to do the former Meiji did not mention that he wanted answers on the identity of Shindo's master, instead he said, "Well, I heard from Akira about your collection of Sai's Kifu and your promise to lend them out, so I came to check it out."
"Oh," Hikaru was replied, that made sense, he forgot to leave his e-mail address with that Waya 3-dan and Toya Akira when he ran form the interview. "Toya-sensei," Hikaru bit his lip and continued, "I was wondering if you can play a game with me. I just picked go up after quite a while and I can't exactly just go to go salons to find opponents in my position. Also, you are the person closest to Sai; I want to know where I am. I owe that to Sai."
The former Meijin nodded, "I suppose I owe you for setting up my game with Sai."
Sitting in front of the goban, Hikaru was seriously starting to doubt whether he made the right decision. Although everyone seems to be amazed by the point he pointed out in the Sai vs. Toya Koyo game, he wasn't sure if he counted as a good go player at all. After all, he was thoroughly slaughtered every time he played with Sai and the former Meijin is definitely at Sai's level. He wanted to play again to continue Sai's memory, but if he loose too badly, he might make Sai look bad.
He got black after the nigiri.
Pachi! Upper left star.
The game started.
Pachi! Lower right star.
Pachi! Lower left star.
Pachi! Upper Right star.
All four stars are taken as fuseki began.
Pachi! Pachi!
Pachi! Pachi! Pachi!
Pachi!
Pachi!
Hikaru shivered as he played. The pressure felt so much like what he felt during all of his games with Sai. He shook his head and focused on the game. Now is not the time to get scared, he must play the best game he can. Sai's memory is at stake here. Taking a deep breath he focused on the board.
Pachi!
Pachi! Pachi! Pachi!
Pachi!
Toya Koyo looked at the board. So far Shindo's play has been solid, around the level of a 3-dan. Consider the fact that he just picked up go again after a break and his soccer career his level is quite startling. However, Toya Koyo was a little disappointed. So far Shindo has not shown the brilliance he displayed when pointing out the point that could have turned the tides for him in his game with Sai.
Pachi! Pachi!
Pachi!
Hikaru bit his lip. He was too nervous in the beginning, making too many shallow readings; he had already lost the advantage of starting first three hands ago. Focusing on the game Hikaru started to get over his nervousness and played at his usual level.
Pachi! Pachi! Pachi!
Pachi! Pachi!
Pachi! Pachi! Pachi! Pachi!
Pachi!
The former Meijin smiled. As the game proceeded, Shindo's moves started to get more stable and better thought out. Now he is playing around the level of a 5-dan or a 6-dan. This was what he expected when he agreed to the game. It was quite amazing to see his improvement.
Pachi!
Pachi! Pachi! Pachi!
'There!' Hikaru thought.
Pachi!
The elder Toya frowned. Shindo just played 8-12, that was not a good move at all. Was that the real level he's at? The former Meijin couldn't help to be quite disappointed. Just before that move, he had seen a shadow of his rival in his rival's student. 'If Shindo is still at the level of making such juvenile amateur mistakes…' Koyo couldn't help but to wonder if he had overestimated Shindo.
Pachi!
Pachi! Pachi! Pachi!
Pachi! Pachi!
Pachi!
'Good,' Hikaru thought, 'He didn't see that. Now…'
Pachi!
Amy other player would have been shocked by the move, but Koyo smiled. 'So that's what he was planning. That terrible move a few hands ago have suddenly turned in to the ideal position. Maybe Akira might not be so unreachable for children his age after all. Shindo, you are definitely worthy of being my rival's student, but that's not good enough to defeat me.'
Pachi! Pachi!
Pachi! Pachi! Pachi!
Pachi! Pachi!
Pachi! Pachi! Pachi! Pachi!
Pachi! Pachi!
Hikaru sucked in a cold breath. As the game entered yose he saw that it's impossible for him to turn it around. He bowed his head, "I resign." Reviewing the game quickly in his head, Hikaru's eyes glazed over. "Sai!" He whispered.
Looking at the bowed boy in front of him, Toya Koyo laid a comforting hand on his shoulder. "That was a great game. I'd say you are around the level of a 6, maybe 7-dan. You are not quite at Akira's level, but you are definitely at the level of a higher dan. Your moves are solid and pretty interesting, especially that hand at 8-12, that was definitely a move worthy of a top player."
However, his words were lost on Hikaru. 'Sai,' he thought staring at the game, 'Sai, you are here, in the game, in front of me silently on the goban. I looked for you everywhere and couldn't find you. In the end were at the most obvious place: on top of a goba where we played almost everyday. I finally found a way to see you again: to play. But how can I keep on playing, I have other obligations now. What will I do with soccer? What would you do if you were in my position' Tears leaked out of his eyes he said in a hoarse voice, "Sai, tell me what to do…"
Koyo didn't know what to do with the weeping boy across the goban. Hearing him quiet murmurings that seems has do with Sai Koyo tried to console him. "Hikaru," he said, "It was a great game. Sai would have been proud."
Looking at the former Meijin with teary eyes, Hikaru sobbed, "I found him… he was here all along. Right here. I found him, or at least what's left of him."
To be continued
So, Hikaru finally lost.
That was by far the most difficult chapter to write. Toya Koyo is a pain to write and I have no idea how to play go so hopefully that game made sense. As for Hikaru, I feel that he was a little, ok, very OOC form the middle on. Please feel free to give me suggestions on that.
As of right now, I am freshly out of ideas for this story and am in desperate need for help. So could someone be very nice and offer some ideas?
Thank you for all of those who reviewed! However, I really have no idea how long it'll take me to load the next chapter, hence the lack of a cliff hanger in this one. I just can't bring myself to be so mean. Please! If someone even has the foggiest idea about how this story can go, please tell me. I'm really stuck. I do have an idea, but that can't be put in play for at least another one or two chapter, so I don't know how to continue with the story at this point at all.
So please tell me what do you think and provide some ideas if you can.