Chapter 5: The Fifth of May

Hikaru slipped the train ticket into his jacket and leaned back against a pillar. The morning was still young, and the crowd here in Tokyo Station was not yet heavy. On the far end, a couple of young children were squealing excitedly as they chased each other around in an energetic game of tag. Hikaru chuckled lightly to himself; so much of the day left, and the parents were already looking frazzled. There was a family with children in their mid to late teens as well, but their grumpy expressions clearly indicated that they were less than ecstatic about their current situation. Probably visiting family outside Tokyo, he conjectured.

He was so absorbed in his examination of the people in front of him that he did not hear a crisp tap-tapping of hard-soled shoes coming up behind him.

"Shindou," hailed a familiar voice.

Hikaru turned his head in surprise. "T-Touya?"

"Didn't expect to see you taking this early a train," the boy continued without any preamble as he came to a halt next to Hikaru. Despite his words, he acted like running into Hikaru here at this hour seemed like a most natural occurrence. He stood there comfortably, facing away from Hikaru and toward the train tracks, checking the time on his wristwatch. "Five more minutes," he muttered to himself softly.

Hikaru only gaped at him. "But where are you headed so early?" The other boy was dressed smartly in a matching blue suit and tie – but then again, he was always dressed smartly. He wouldn't be visiting family by himself, would he? Some sort of engagement, then?

"What do you mean, where am I headed?" Akira tugged his sleeve cuff over his wristwatch and looked up in mild astonishment. "I'm heading the same way you are. Did you think I wouldn't get an invitation?"

"Invitation? What on earth?" Hikaru jerked back in utter shock. "I didn't invite you to come to Innoshima with me!"

Akira stared at him blankly. "Innoshima? Are you out of your mind?" His voice rose an octave higher. "The children's Go festival is being held in Hiroshima City ... why would I want your invitation to go to Innoshima?"

"The children's Go festival??" Oh shit. That's right ... He suddenly recalled the neatly engraved letter that had arrived in a plain white envelope a week before the North Star Cup. It had invited him to attend the Hiroshima City Children's Go Festival on the fifth of May and play shidou-go with the youngsters there. And then he had –

Akira's eyes narrowed. "Have you been paying attention at all?" Pause. "You received the invitation as well, didn't you?" To his knowledge, Shindou had never missed or been tardy to any matches or functions outside those few months of forfeited games the previous year. Taking a moment to track the dates down inside his head, he noted absently that it had been one year since then – one year down to almost the exact day.

"Eh?" Hikaru had frozen on the spot, his mind flailing about wildly as it tried to grasp for a shred of coherent thought. What was I thinking? Of course he's headed for the festival! Now he's going to start asking more questions again.... Damn, I should have left even earlier ...

"Well?" Akira asked again, trying to mask the faint note of urgency in his voice with the bossy tone he usually reserved for their squabbles. A sense of foreboding settled heavily in the pit of his stomach. He's not skipping this event, is he? This has nothing to do with the reason he almost quit Go last year, does it?

"Umm ... ahh, yeah, I got it.... well, I guess I forgot it was today ... ?" Hikaru scratched the back of his head nervously. He's not going to let me get away with this.

"You forgot??" The tense knot in his stomach unwound rapidly. "Are you taking your responsibilities as a pro seriously? How can you forget about an engagement?" Relieved, Akira fell back into one of his most common (as of late) non-Go pastimes – yelling at Hikaru. "Really! It's lucky you ran into me."

"Lucky? Running into you has never been lucky for me!" Hikaru shouted back.

Akira glared daggers at him, before subsiding a bit and retorting, "Hmph, you wouldn't be where you are today if you didn't run into me."

"Neither would you," Hikaru shot back.

Akira turned away, his eyes distant. His expression softened, and he smiled. "I suppose that is true." I wonder where I would be now, if not for you. Would I have had the intense drive to make it to the Honinbou League so early in my pro career, were you not snapping at my heels? He looked back at Hikaru, whose wide jade-green eyes had always seemed to offer an enticing mix of resolute challenge, grudging admiration and what he hoped was friendship. Would I be standing here, arguing about something totally inconsequential like an ordinary fifteen year old? "Anyway," Akira finally continued, "We'll get there in good time. You'll be coming, right? I know you have plans for Innoshima, but you can't just not show up, can you?"

Hikaru paused briefly, debating whether or not to speak. Well, he would have to say it eventually, but if he said it now, Touya would be nagging and bugging him for the duration of the train ride.

"Shindou?"

"Umm ... actually, yes, I can." Hikaru inhaled deeply before plowing onwards in a rush. "I forgot that the festival was today because I'd already contacted the festival organizers and let them know I won't be able to make it."

"What? But why?" Akira asked, startled.

"Why? Because I have a more pressing appointment at Innoshima, obviously."

"What pressing appointment – " The rest of Akira's question was cut off by the fortunate arrival of the Hiroshima-bound bullet train as it swooshed down the length of the platform. When it came to a complete stop, sliding doors hissed open and the boys boarded the train together in silence.

They found comfortable seats in a nearly empty car. Hikaru threw himself down on his seat, kicked off his shoes, and propped his feet up against the facing seat with a loud sigh. Akira sat down beside him with a noticeably greater dignity and proceeded to gaze out of the window, as if in deep thought. For a long while, they did not speak, and the only sounds in the car were the rustling of newspapers and the surly whines of the teenagers Hikaru had seen on the platform.

"So, how did the match with Hong Su-Yeong go?" Akira tried renewing the conversation on a different tack.

"I won," Hikaru replied simply.

Akira nodded, as if he had merely been waiting for confirmation of a predetermined result. "And ..." he glanced sideways at Hikaru, "did you come up with an answer for him?"

"I told Su-Yeong that I would defeat Ko Yeong-Ha the next time we played."

Akira observed Hikaru's reflection in the window carefully. Although he lounged in his seat, his lanky legs stretched out indolently in front of him, there was a quiet sort of resolve in his eyes. Reassured by the other boy's matter-of-fact tone and unruffled composure, he felt it would be safe to probe a little further. "And for what reason must you defeat Ko Yeong-Ha?"

Hikaru shrugged. "I just need to show him that a weakling who can be defeated by the likes of me couldn't hold a candle to Shuusaku."

"Oh? And what does that make you?" Akira's tone was light, even playful, but the eyes reflected in the window pane were profoundly serious.

"Huh, I couldn't either. But ..." Hikaru's careless tone grew firmer, "I'll burn brighter than Shuusaku one day. And that's a promise." A promise to you, Sai. With your Go, I will walk the path to the Hand of God. And if I do not make it to the end, your Go will live into the next generation of Go players, and the next, passed onwards into the future until it is finally in our grasp.

"A promise, huh?" Akira wasn't exactly sure why Shindou felt the need to make such a promise, and the way it was spoken seemed to suggest that the promise was not being made to him. He felt a little lost. Like I'm missing half of the conversation. He pursed his lips speculatively. "I'd like to think I've figured out some part of the connection between Shindou and Sai," he finally said out loud after some deliberation, "but the connection between Shindou and Shuusaku is still very confusing. Aside from Sai's use of classical joseki and Shuusaku-style play ..." his voice trailed off into the stillness that had settled around them. Beside him, Hikaru had stiffened in his seat, but offered no words.

Shuusaku ... and Innoshima? Akira shook his head. No, he was merely making logic-defying leaps of intuition, just trying to force together pieces of a puzzle he wanted to fit. Then again, nothing about Shindou was logical. His half-blind leap of faith in confiding with Shindou the fantastical and absurd conclusion he had arrived at was not mocked. That day, the boy had listened to him solemnly, and answered him in the same solemn manner.

"The day of our first match, when you said you might tell me all about this one day ... I don't suppose that was a promise?"

"I can't believe you're still obsessing over that, Touya!" Hikaru growled in mock annoyance. "I said I might ... might. How does that make it a promise?" He threw his hands behind his head, fingers laced together, and sank even further into his seat. That most certainly was not a promise!

"Those two games in the Go salon and the tournament match at Kaio ... do you realise how different a path I am walking now because of that? Do you realise how greatly my life changed," Akira swung around to face him, his voice fierce yet oddly muted, "because you walked into it? Were those just careless words you threw out to appease me? Am I never to know exactly what has brought me here to this day?"

If Shindou and Sai are truly connected the way I think they are, then perhaps ... perhaps I can understand why he is so reluctant to say anything. He leaned back into his own seat with a resigned sigh. "Can you at least ... tell me when?"

"I don't know, Touya. I just don't know. Just ... someday."

"Is that ..." Akira paused, uncertain if he wanted to finish the thought, afraid of hearing the answer; "a promise?" The only response he got was a low grunt that could have been an agreement, or could have been a dismissal. The two boys fell into silence then, each mired in a maze of their own thoughts.

Minutes ticked by – or perhaps it was only a few seconds. Hikaru shifted in his seat and broke the tense atmosphere with a broad grin. "Shall we play, Touya?"

"Play? Now?"

"I have a magnetic Go board." Hikaru rummaged swiftly through his backpack and pulled out a compact Go board, folded in half, with a triumphant flourish.

"Ah, that's a handy thing to have." Akira's face lighted up with anticipation. "It never occurred to me to get one ... I usually just study some kifu during long trips." I guess I should just let things lie for now.

Hikaru traced his fingers fondly along the board's black lines. Sai, this is the first time I've played on this board with someone other than you. He smiled inwardly. I'm sure you'd be delighted if you knew it was Touya. Carefully, he flipped it over, unfolded the board and sorted through the magnetic playing pieces. Akira leaned over wordlessly and, taking a handful of pieces, helped him separate the black 'stones' from the white. The monotonous clicking of magnet against magnet was hypnotic, and Hikaru was pleasantly surprised at how such a simple exercise could be so relaxing. He's not a replacement for you, but ... I guess you didn't leave me all alone after all. Thank you, Sai, for giving me a rival – and a friend.

"Nigiri."

The interminable miles became a mere blur as the two immersed themselves in the universe on the goban.

Tap. Tap. Tap ... CLICK!

"Oh damn it! Sorry about that ... these darned things keep sticking to each other. Erm, okay, that white stone was there ... and this black one was here ... and ... and, okay, let's go on."

More tapping, then an aggravated silence.

"ARGH! Not again! Stop repelling, you silly magnets!"

"Shindou! You have to place them down carefully – don't let them touch each other!" Akira made an exaggerated show of demonstrating the procedure. "See? It's really simple!"

"That's more easily said than done. We're playing in a moving train, you know! Let's see you try it!"

"Uh, I just did it? And if you haven't noticed, you're the only one having problems with these magnetic stones." Hikaru looked up from the board to glare at Akira, and noticed the irritated glower of the teenaged kids a few seats up. Oops. Their bickering had practically become second-nature to them, and whenever they interacted outside official games, they slipped into the habit as easily as easing into a pair of well-worn shoes. They had never thought twice about causing a ruckus back at Touya's Go salon, but doing so on the Tokaido Shinkansen was probably not very appropriate.

"Hmph!" Hikaru lowered his head – and his voice, and quickly placed a white magnet on a relatively uncontested area of the board. "Man, yose is going to be a nightmare," he groaned. And so the game continued, and another game as well, punctuated only by an occasional mild curse or two from Hikaru. The crackling of candy bars being unwrapped and the slurping of drinks rippled through the car in a wave as the food and drink trolley passed through, but the boys were so caught up in their game that they did not notice how their own stomachs rumbled in response.

A hiss of static abruptly cut through the low hum of the car. "Shin-Onomichi station coming up. Shin-Onomichi station."

Hikaru raised his head and looked at Akira, who was bent over the board contemplating his next move. He examined the game again. It had progressed into a heated battle across the board, although the lower left territory was now the key to victory. The advantage was currently his, by a very small margin – about one and a half moku – but he anticipated losing that to black's assault in the upper left if he wished to concentrate on this critical position. Various scenarios flashed rapidly through his mind – and he shook his head quickly. What am I doing? It's not the time to get lost in the game again.

"Touya, I'm getting off at this station," he announced.

Akira's head snapped up as he was surprised out of his thoughts. "Eh? Oh ..." He was silent for a moment, and then there was a soft click of magnets as the stone in his right hand reluctantly joined the others he held clenched in his left. His eyes swept slowly over the unfinished game with a longing gaze. "Umm ..."

"We'll continue this game at the salon," Hikaru interrupted with a cheerful, lopsided grin. "I plan to win, so you'd better be there this week, Touya!"

Akira nodded. After taking one last look at the game, they hurriedly cleared the board. Hikaru lined the magnets inside with a swift, experienced hand and stuffed the folded board back into his bag. Swinging the backpack over his shoulder, he gave Akira a casual wave. "Have fun at the festival. I'll see you at the salon!" With that, he walked down the row of seats and exited the train as it came to a halt at Onomichi.

Again, thank you for the reviews and encouragement. I hope this chapter wasn't a disappointment.

About Sai ... believe me, I'd really like to see him back too. However, I also understand why he had to be written out of the original story, and since this one is an attempt to continue where the manga left off in as canon a fashion as possible, he will not be making a reappearance here, sadly. If I come up with a fresh idea on how to do it, I may try to do so in a sequel.

I also apologise for the length of each chapter. If you noticed, none of my other stories are finished. The moment I stop writing and turn to something else will probably be the death knell for this story as well. I'd hate to see that, so I am trying to keep to the meat and finish the story before I start watching any new anime or read any new books. I realise that the beginning and ending of each chapter seems a bit choppy (I've tried to make this chapter flow a bit better), but I'll have to ask you to bear with it for now. Perhaps, at some much later date, I'll come back and fill in the gaps.