Chapter 10: And Then There Were Two

The Weekly Go had dedicated the entire front page to coverage of just the first day of the Young Lions' Tournament. A big bold headline dominated the page:

Touya Akira's Rival Appears

A faint smile crinkled the man's worn face.

"This year's Young Lions' Tournament heralded the arrival of a new wave in the Go world. Even within the first two rounds, the games played this year were passionate and powerful as the newest pros demonstrated their overwhelming strength, and none more so than the Round 2 game between Touya Akira-3 dan and Shindou Hikaru-beginner dan."

Next to the paragraph was a photo of the two boys locked in battle over the goban. The same intense concentration was mirrored in both faces – eyes fixed on the pattern of stones before them, frows burrowed in deep thought, and lips tight in the tension of the moment. The man nodded approvingly. His son had always loved Go with a deep respect for the game that made him such an implacable presence in front of the board, but it was only with the arrival of Shindou into the equation that Akira's passion had surfaced. Indeed, a good rival was a relentless driving force – one could never stand still in their presence. Even for me, as old as I am. The appearance of a worthy rival has reinvigorated Touya Kouyo's game. He continued to read:

"Knowledgeable insiders in the Go community have had their eye on this match up from the start, billing it as the game to watch. Indeed, many prominent Go masters were present to observe this long-awaited public match between the two rising young stars, most notably Kuwabara Honinbo and Ogata 10 dan, Gosei."

He rubbed his chin thoughtfully upon reading the names. Kuwabara-sensei had been present at Shindou-kun's New Beginner Dan series game, he had heard afterwards. Ogata-kun had seemed a bit nonplussed by the old man's confidence in his so-called sixth sense, but he himself knew well that one's intuition built up from experience after experience. Not in a conscious way like learning, but in ways woven into one's very being, delicate threads resonating to subconscious cues. The intuition of someone as deeply entrenched in the world of Go as Kuwabara-sensei was not something to be lightly dismissed. Nor could he dismiss his own, for that matter.

He closed his eyes. It had been over a year, but he could still remember the oppressive aura of the New Beginner Dan series game and the Net Go match against Sai. And even as time threatened to dull his memory, he could still recall the sensation with startling clarity. There was no use thinking logically about it, and in times like these, he knew that he had to fall back on his instincts. And those instincts had told him that those auras were one and the same – and with that, two pieces of the puzzle had fallen into place: the handicap that Shindou Hikaru had placed on himself in that New Beginner Dan series game made sense in light of the profound brilliance of Sai's play. Shindou Hikaru …

"… aged 15, first burst into prominence a little over a week ago, when he challenged Korea's top youth player Ko Yeong-Ha at the first board game at the North Star Cup. Fresh from his near victory and an international début that turned many heads, he now had the chance to lay down the gauntlet before his North Star Cup team mate Touya Akira."

The girl smiled fondly. It was hard to imagine that the cheeky, irresponsibly lazy boy she knew in elementary school had transformed into such an intense, driven professional Go player in the space of the three years of junior high school. It was even harder to wrap her mind around the idea that he was now considered one of the top young pros in the country, and practically on par with young pros on an international level. And that bleached hair doesn't help things either, she thought in fond exasperation. Smiling to herself, she turned her attention back to the Weekly Go.

"In a battle many considered worthy of the final round, the two played a dangerous game with a depth unapparent to much of the seasoned crowd. Shindou-beginner dan, playing black, started the game with a classical opening, but it was not long before Touya-3 dan broke out of the jouseki in a daring attack unusually early in the game. Observers familiar with Touya-3 dan's style were perplexed with this unexpectedly unconventional play, and were further astonished to see Shindou-beginner dan respond to the assault by challenging his opponent deep into his territory.

"Fujisaki-san?"

Akari looked up to see another girl looming over her. "Oh! Good afternoon, Miyama-senpai." The other girl was an upperclassman member of the Go club here at Teizan High. Unlike Haze Junior High, this school had a well-established Go club with about twenty-some members and the faculty sponsor was a strong enough player to act as a mentor for the club members.

"Something interesting in the Weekly Go? You've been so absorbed you didn't even hear me call you the first time."

"Oh," Akari blushed lightly. "I was just reading about the first day of the Young Lions' Tournament." She held up the newspaper in front of the other girl to show the dedicated front page.

"Ah, hmm.…" Miyama Rina nodded slowly as her eyes scanned the article. "It's not really a big event for the Go professional world, but it is one of the few dedicated to non-professional Go players our age." She grinned widely. "It's one of those things that inspire us, isn't it? Watching how far people our age can go. Who knows, maybe it'll inspire one of us here to become an insei."

Akari merely nodded with a polite smile. I know someone who did that already – and more!

"So, the great Touya Akira has found a rival, huh?" said a new voice from behind them.

"Hello, Haraya-kun," Miyama greeted the boy as he peered more closely at the article. "You've read the article already?"

"No, but it's impossible to miss such a boastful headline right there. Shindou Hikaru, is it? Hmph, I've heard about him. Didn't he lose both his matches in the North Star Cup? How can someone like Touya Akira see him as a rival?" The boy shrugged dismissively.

Akari leapt up from her seat indignantly. "It's true too! Touya-kun would come around to our school to look for Hikaru back then! And if you'd actually read the article properly, Touya-kun states it outright as well!"

A boyish voice chuckled softly near the small group. "Incredible, isn't it?"

"Tsutsui-senpai!" Akari started in surprise before smiling in welcome at the former president of the Haze Junior High Go club. "Have you seen the Weekly Go? There's a whole article about Hikaru's latest game – on the front page!"

Tsutsui Kimiharo nodded enthusiastically in response. "I did; it's amazing isn't it? Ahh, I'm so jealous!"

Haraya looked at them with a raised eyebrow. "You two know this Shindou Hikaru?"

Akari nodded awkwardly and looked away. "Well, our houses are nearby, so we've been friends since we were young." She picked at the hem of her skirt, finding herself inexplicably self-conscious all of a sudden. "He suddenly picked up Go just a bit before we entered junior high, and I kind of tagged along …." Her voice trailed off as her cheeks started to heat up.

"He joined our school's Go club; we were so small we had to drag random people in to have the numbers to field a team at the annual tournament." Tsutsui smiled fondly at the memory. "In no time at all, he was already stronger than me, and then sure enough, he was soon speeding past Mitani too." His eyes held a faraway look as he seemed to forget about his audience. "Then he decided to take the insei exam. And now he's so far beyond us, playing with the pros …. How strange life is, sometimes …."

"Wow," Miyama breathed, "And he's among the top new pros already? That's amazing." She eyed Akari calculatingly and continued, "I say, I don't suppose he attends high school?"

Akari shook her head with a trace of disappointment. "No, he didn't bother to take any entrance exams. He's devoting all his time to Go now." I hardly see him these days either, she thought to herself ruefully.

"He has to play every day?" Haraya asked.

"No, it seems like there are specific match days that he has to keep free, and he has some study sessions he attends regularly."

"Hmmmm …" Miyama pursed her lips speculatively. "So some people in our club have strong ties to an up-and-coming young pro … you don't suppose.…" She left her words hanging in the air as she looked alternately between Akari and Tsutsui.

"If you're wondering whether Hikaru could come by, I've already asked him before we graduated and he said he'd be happy to visit the Go club I'm in and tutor us," Akari responded eagerly with a bright smile.

"Oh? That sounds interesting," came a solemn, quiet voice.

"Ah, Gendai-sempai!" the three bowed hastily. "I-I didn't mean to do something like this without your permission," Akari stammered nervously.

The new arrival raised a hand and smiled reassuringly. "Don't worry, I think it's a great idea too." The long-haired, dignified third year was the captain of the girls' Go team, as well as the club president. A wily and calculating player, she had long bemoaned the quality of Go within the female circuit and was well-known for her strident declarations that there was no good reason for females to be weaker players than males. Ever since she became president, she had vigorously lain out training programmes for the club as a whole, and Akari's own skill had grown significantly ever since she joined.

"I'd be grateful if you could make a request to Shindou Hikaru for us," the club president continued. "We've never tried hiring a pro for a tutoring session, but I think it would be a good learning experience for everyone. I'm pretty sure our club funds are sufficient to cover the expenses."

"Ah, don't worry about that. Hikaru says he'd do it for free. I think he's missed being in a school Go club," Akari laughed happily. "How about some time next week? I'll see if he's free."

Gendai nodded. "Please ask him then." She looked around the room, noting the students starting to trickle in. Clapping her hands briskly, she called the members to order and directed them to begin setting up for the day's session.

A light breeze rustled the pages of the Weekly Go as windows were vigorously opened to let in the warming coolness of May. The bustling sound of activity filled the club room as Go sets were retrieved and arranged with careful tenderness. Only the tendrils of air brushing against the newspaper touched the next few lines ….

"Despite being backed into a complex trap, Shindou-beginner dan was able to maintain his momentum, laying down the foundations for his own traps as he broke free from Touya-3 dan's seeming stranglehold on his formation. Observers were shocked when Touya-3 dan took bait that was obviously a trap, but it soon became apparent that the two opponents had read the game to an unparalleled depth."

"That's my boy!" a red-haired man boomed noisily to no one in particular. "You show 'em how it's done!" His fingers itched to sink themselves into a certain fluffy head of hair, but in its absence, he made do with scrunching up the Weekly Go in a spasm of delight.

"Kawai-san! Not the Weekly Go again! I still haven't read it!" moaned a thin, scraggly man from the far corner as he glanced up from the game he was playing. Setting down his cigarette, he strode hastily over and snatched the newspaper from the man's hand.

"Doumoto-san!" the man yelled again in annoyance, "I'm not done reading it yet! Give it back!" With exaggerated motions, he grabbed the Weekly Go back and hugged it possessively. The other patrons in the Go salon looked up from their games and chuckled at their antics.

"So, what's the kid up to?" Soga, a bald, tiny man, huffed on his cigarette and asked curiously.

"Hah! Listen to this!" Kawai waved around the newspaper to gather the attention of everyone in the salon (not that he hadn't already succeeded with his rowdiness) before snapping it open again smartly. "Even the great Touya Akira recognises our Shindou's skill!"

Chairs creaked as the salon patrons leaned back to listen to the man read the Weekly Go out loud. And behind the counter, a woman sighed resignedly. They never grow up.

"Commenting on the game, Ogata Seiji 10 dan, Gosei noted that both players' ability to anticipate the other's moves contributed to the unconventional flow of the match. Indeed, the pair had become well-acquainted with each other's play style through their frequent practice games in the week leading up to the North Star Cup."

Sluuurp.

Kurata Atsushi gulped down the last of the delicious ramen soup and plunked the bowl back down on the table with a satisfied smack of his lips. "One more ramen, please!" he waved a hand and shouted to the proprietor before turning his attention back to the Weekly Go spread out in front of him. His gaze brushed over the startling headline one more time. So, rivals, are they? His thoughts flew back to the one-colour Go game against Shindou – that day when he had finally felt in his bones the creeping sensation that, if he slowed down at all, he would be completely run over and left in the dust. He also recalled how, after his visit to the newly-retired Touya-sensei, he had warned the eager Touya Akira that he had to look out behind him as well.

Kurata guffawed loudly, ignoring the brief startled glances that the other patrons shot at him. To think that the boy knew that already! And there he thought he was doing the overly-ambitious boy a favour, warning him before he got completely blindsided by an unexpected foe. To have already anticipated the power of a new pro – he's a Touya, indeed!

The delightful scent of newly-prepared ramen wafted across his nostrils. "Here you go, Kurata-sensei," the server smiled warmly as he plunked down another bowl.

"Thanks!" he replied with a happy grin and dove back into eating and the Weekly Go.

"Ever since the former Meiji Touya Kouyo personally requested a match with Shindou Hikaru in the New Beginner Dan series, a rumour had been circulating about how Touya Akira and Shindou Hikaru considered each other rivals. Although most considered the rumour to be of little substance, Touya Akira confirmed the truth of this after winning the match, acknowledging that the two were rivals. He revealed that this rivalry, rather than being a recent development on the pro circuit as most would expect, has its roots reaching back to the days before he had even become a pro."

Handfuls of noodles were carefully strained and lowered into a steaming pot. A plethora of condiments followed, and upon replacing the cover, the pot boiled merrily away on a well-kept stove top. The pungent aroma of chopped scallions lingered in the air, mixed with the refreshing scent of detergent. Setting herself down comfortably at a nearby table, Shindou Mitsuko dried her hands on her spotless apron and continued to peruse the first page of the Weekly Go. Her eyes flew over the length of the article, as if willing it to yield answers about the little boy she had raised for fifteen years.

"This long personal rivalry has apparently been a strong driving force in the development of their Go. Shindou Hikaru revealed that it was his pursuit of Touya Akira that lead him to join the insei and eventually on to the path of the professional Go player."

Mitsuko sighed. It saddened her that, in two sentences, this article contained more information about Hikaru's motivations for playing the game than he had ever told her. And there was so much he never told her – she could feel it. One might call it a mother's instinct, but the unspoken truths were too blatant for that. She grimaced as her line of thought led her to recall Hikaru's unexpected descent into an apathetic sort of depression for several months. It had frightened her terribly that she had no idea what was going on in her son's life, that he had only brushed off her concerns and reassured her that he was 'alright'.

Her observations had led her to conclude that Hikaru's problems had something to do with Go (how could it not have been obvious?). Upon his return to the Go world, she had taken out a subscription to the Weekly Go, as if it could give insight into this son that was almost a stranger to her. She only read it when Hikaru wasn't around to see, however, since he'd always get annoyed at how she maintained her own subscription with the Weekly Go and was reading the articles even though she didn't understand a first thing about the game. But he was her only child, she had insisted, and what parent didn't care about what her child got into?

The shrill ring of the kitchen timer reminded her that the noodles were ready, and Hikaru would soon come clamouring down the stairs for his favourite ramen. Listening intently for any sign of Hikaru leaving his room, she hurriedly picked up a pair of scissors from one of the kitchen drawers and lovingly clipped out the front page as well as the results page containing the past week's 'oteai matches' – whatever they were. Her son had won his game again, of course.

The doorbell suddenly rang. "Coming!" she called out as she looked up from her handiwork. She fondly brushed her fingers over the paper before slipping them inside a cardboard box containing older clippings, and then tucked the box back into its snug little spot next to her favourite recipe books. Then, tucking the Weekly Go away in a newspaper hamper, she walked into the hallway and answered the door.

"Akari-chan!" she exclaimed, pleased, when she saw the young girl standing in front of the entrance. "It's been a while. How are you?"

"I'm fine, thank you," Akari replied with a polite bow. "And you, obasan?"

"As good as ever. I'm getting used to how quiet this house has become, I suppose." Hikaru's mother sighed dramatically as she laid out a pair of slippers for the girl and ushered her over the threshold.

Akari smiled in commiseration. Even though it had been a while, this new quiet, focused and surprisingly mature Hikaru was still rather difficult for her to come to terms with. "Is Hikaru in?"

"Hikaru is in his room; why don't you go on up?" She gestured to the stairs as she moved towards the kitchen. "I'll bring you snacks and some tea in a moment."

"Thank you very much, obasan." Akari's slippers scuffed lightly on the stairs as she made her way to Hikaru's room. Knocking on a familiar door, she called out, "Hikaru?"

There was a swooshing sound, like someone bouncing off a soft mattress, and the door opened to reveal the angular lines of a face that was once so familiar to her. Her breath hitched briefly when it struck her how much her dear friend had grown and matured in the last year.

"Akari!" came the surprised yelp. His boyish voice seemed to waver between child and adult in the single word. "What are you doing here?"

He still needs to learn some manners, Akari thought; it was somehow reassuring that there were some things that would never change.

"Can't I come by to visit?" she demanded in a mock-aggressive voice.

"Umm, yes, I guess …." Hikaru replied, scratching his head and moving away from the entrance to let her in.

As she moved to walk in she hesitated a bit and asked self-consciously, "Are you in the middle of something? Am I disturbing you?"

"Just looking through some kifu," the boy responded, "It never ends anyway; I can take a break." He tossed the book he was holding back onto the bed, and dropped onto the floor with a loud plop.

Akari looked around the room curiously as she walked in. It had been a long time since she was last in Hikaru's room. Little seemed to have changed, except for large stacks of the Weekly Go and a much fuller bookshelf. Seating herself down neatly on the floor opposite the boy, she smiled at the boy in front of her.

"I read that article about you in the Weekly Go," she began warmly. "You're really something, Hikaru!"

"Che; I lost. Nothing grand about that." Hikaru wove his fingers behind his head and leaned back against his bed. "I'll win eventually though."

Akari nodded encouragingly. "I won't be surprised when you do. You've improved so much in such a short time."

She was rewarded with a brief glimmer in Hikaru's eyes. "So, what brings you here?" he asked her, not unkindly.

"Oh, I remember you saying that you'd be willing to help out at the Go club on occasion," she started shyly. "So, umm … I was wondering whether you would mind coming over to visit my school's Go club sometime and playing shidou-go with us? Maybe next week or something?"

"The Go club, huh" Hikaru grinned broadly. "It's been so long since I've heard that." His brow furrowed in thought for a moment. "Well, let's see," he muttered to himself, "There's the kifu study session on Monday, Morishita's on Tuesday afternoons, lower dan games on Wednesdays, games against upper dan on Thursdays, Touya's Go salon on Thursday evenings, and then Waya's study group on Saturdays …." Hikaru scratched his head apologetically. "It seems like my only guaranteed free day is on Fridays."

Akari's smile was tinged with a bit of melancholy when she replied, "You're so busy these days, aren't you? I'm sorry for bothering you about this."

"Ah, it's not like that," he hurriedly corrected her. "Even though I set aside Wednesdays and Thursdays for Institute games, I don't necessarily have a game scheduled every week. Actually," Hikaru stood up and reached over to his desk to flick through his calendar, "I won't have any games next week either. Hmm, but since Touya doesn't have a game next Thursday as well, we planned to spend the whole afternoon at Touya's Go salon. So Wednesday works, if you want to go with that."

Akari nodded hurriedly. "I'll ask the club president tomorrow, and I'll call and let you know?"

"Ah, wait, Akari. How many people are in the Go club?"

"About twenty. A far cry from Haze, isn't it?" she replied enthusiastically.

"About twenty, huh?" Hikaru chewed his lower lip thoughtfully. "That is a lot." Suddenly, he bolted upright, startling Akari into spilling a spot of tea onto her skirt.

"Hikaru!"

The boy chortled ominously as he grabbed his phonebook and dashed to the door. "I need a little helper!" Punctuated thumps on the stairs accompanied his yell as he sped to the phone on the first floor.

"Hikaru!" came a long-suffering reprimand from the kitchen. "Don't run down the stairs like that!"

"Yes mom!" he chanted absently as he picked up the phone and dialled a number.

ooo

The ringing tones of the phone echoed through a still hallway.

"Hello, Touya residence." A feminine voice greeted him in dignified, measured tones.

Must be Touya's mother, Hikaru thought with a start. "Good evening," he responded with unusual decorum. "Is Touya Akira home?"

"Yes, he is," she responded, her voice not revealing her surprise. Although her son received many phone calls from the Go Institute, it was extremely rare to hear such a young voice ask to speak to him on the phone. The realisation saddened her, and with more than just a touch of curiosity, she asked, "May I ask who is calling?"

"This is Shindou Hikaru."

"Ah." The woman smiled gently. That name was not entirely new to her. It was the boy both her husband and son seemed to be greatly interested in. No wonder the voice sounded somewhat familiar; she recalled that he had visited her husband during his stay at the hospital. Pleased, she added, "Of course, Shindou-san, I'll go call him."

Placing the phone down carefully next to the cradle, she walked towards her son's room near the rear of the house. "Akira-san?" she called out softly, so as not to disturb her husband in his study. "Akira-san? Shindou Hikaru is on the phone for you."

A door slid open, and a mildly surprised face poked out. "Shindou?" Akira thanked his mother with a quick nod and headed towards the phone. I wonder what he wants, he mused idly. Although the two met every week at his father's Go salon and at the Go Institute when their schedules coincided, neither felt the need to extend their acquaintance to tedious phone conversations. It wasn't like they could play Go on the phone, and game discussions were just meant to be done face-to-face.

"Hello, Shindou?"

"Hey, Touya," a familiar voice replied with thinly-veiled excitement.

"What can I do for you?" Akira asked politely, despite how warning bells were starting to clamour in the back of his mind.

"Care to be my assistant for a day?" came the gleefully cheeky reply.

"Assistant? To you?" the boy raised both his fine eyebrows and voice in mild incredulity. "And tell me, why would I want to do that?" He remembered just in time to keep his voice low, so as not to disturb his father who was studying in a room nearby.

"Well, actually," Hikaru switched back to a more serious mode, "Akari came over and asked me if I'd visit her Go club at school and play shidou-go. It's a fairly large club, and I figured it would be more fun with two people."

"Oh."

Akira found himself a bit speechless. Why is he inviting me instead of those friends from his insei days? Akira couldn't help but wonder. Or did he try them already and couldn't get them to agree? The question hung on the tip of his tongue, yet he was strangely reluctant to ask.

As if sensing his hesitation, the other boy continued, "Isumi-san and Waya are too normal. It'll be a perfectly bland shidou-go session." Akira could have sworn he heard a low chuckle before Shindou apparently caught himself. A vein threatened to pop on Akira's forehead as he imagined the impudent grin that would most certainly be adorning the boy's face at the moment.

"Shindou .…" he growled impatiently.

"Alright, alright! Well, there's also the fact that I probably should invite both of them if I invite one or the other. Three pros would be a bit overwhelming for a school club, don't you think?"

And the two of us won't be? Akira thought dryly, but did not voice his disagreement. If he were to ignore his discomfort for the topic, he knew his fame rivalled those of title-holders, especially among the younger players. While he could handle fame and recognition just fine, and of course it made sure skilled upper dans played against him with everything they had, he would have been happy with a little less attention. He was of half a mind to warn Shindou to enjoy his relative anonymity while it lasted, because the way the other boy seemed headed, that anonymity was sure to run out before the year was over. Or the next week, depending on the reaction to the Weekly Go article.

"Come on, what do you say?" Hikaru pressed on happily when no response was forthcoming. "It'll be fun to do something different once in a while! I'm free Fridays, so if you don't have anything next week, we should go then. Or if you have something scheduled, we can meet up at Akari's school instead of your dad's Go salon next Thursday. Or we could do Wednesday, if you don't have a game scheduled."

Akira exhaled silently. The boy just wasn't going to listen to any objections, that much was obvious. He didn't particularly enjoy playing shidou-go; it was just something he did as a pro, and there were others out there who were more inclined towards teaching. Or bootlicking, he reminded himself cynically. Nor did he have particularly fond associations with the phrase "school Go club".

"Touya?" The inquiring voice broke him out of his thoughts.

"Well … umm …." Akira tried to stall for a bit more time. Did he really want to go? Or perhaps the question should be, did he really not want to go? He could not deny that Shindou's unexpected invitation had warmed him, stirred up a part of him that insisted that he did rather crave the company of those his age.

"Alright, I'll go," Akira conceded, to loud cheering from Shindou's end of the line. Holding the earpiece slightly away from his battered eardrums, he continued, "I don't have anything scheduled for next week, but Wednesday is probably best."

"Wednesday, right," Shindou muttered slowly, and Akira could hear the light scratching of pencil against paper. "I'll let Akari know, and I'll tell you the final decision on Saturday."

"You'll be coming to watch the next round?" Akira asked, slightly surprised, although he realised belatedly that he shouldn't really have been.

"Well, yes, of course. You're still in it, and so are Waya and Isumi-san and Honda-san and Ochi and …. " the boy's voice trailed off as he tried to recall which of his friends had made it to the third round of the Young Lions' Tournament.

"Hmm," Akira hummed contemplatively, "I think Honda-san is my opponent for the next round."

"Really? I'll have to watch your game then – I think you'll enjoy it too. He played against Yashiro once, you know? Yashiro played a first-hand tengen against him, and he later tried it on me during one of the qualifying rounds for the North Star Cup."

Akira nodded, his interest piqued. While Yashiro still lacked the strength to carry through with his defiantly unorthodox openings, he still thought it an exhilarating break from routine to see fresh opening hands. "And you think Honda-san will try something like that against me?" he asked curiously.

"Nah," Shindou responded, "Well, not a first-hand tengen anyway. But I think Yashiro inspired him to play less conservatively. And given that the results don't affect our records, I can practically promise you a refreshing change from your oteai games."

Akira smiled inwardly, remembering the brilliant game Shindou had played against Yashiro to win a place on Team Japan months earlier. He would have liked to play such a game. To his regret, the training for the North Star Cup had focused on solidifying Yashiro's midgame, and there had been neither time nor opportunity for such adventurous play. "I'll be looking forward to it then," he replied sincerely.

Touya Kouyo looked up briefly as he heard Akira's light footfalls pass by the study back towards his room. Although the boy's conversation had been hushed for the most part, sound travelled well in this traditional home, and he knew it was his son's declared rival on the other end of the line. It lightened his heart to know that his son had found his own path, and an equal to walk it with. The dawn of the next generation has truly arrived.

Even so, his own days were now filled with new, fresh challenges and he felt rejuvenated, with a renewed sense of purpose and direction. Yet on deep, deep nights like these, when he sat alone in the study of his home, listening to the calming tapping of the souzu and waiting in silence in front of a Go board with only darkness sitting across him, he felt a crushingly intense sense of emptiness. The bare Go board reminded him starkly of unanswered possibilities. He sighed as a ghostly whisper seemed to read out the last words of the Weekly Go's front page article in the silence of his mind:

"Kuwabara Honinbou has been known to say, 'A masterful game of Go requires two equals.'"

December 28, 2007

Thank you very much for all the reviews and encouraging comments. The slew of story alert requests and reviews really helped me push this chapter out, finally. Thanks also to JMJV and harukohaha for their correction of 'obaasan' to 'obasan'.

A few points:

1. A 'souzu' is the term for the bamboo decoration for garden ponds that fill up with water and make clacking sounds. If anyone knows of a proper English term for it (that doesn't sound unwieldy), I would be very happy to hear it.

2. I don't know the names of the owner and the woman in the Go salon that Hikaru likes to visit. I'd appreciate it if someone knows and can fill me in.

3. I introduced a few original characters here, but have no worries. They have no real bearing on the story, and are named simply because they need names. And there's a female club president just because the Go scene is just so dominated by males – and do women really need an easier bracket?

4. I'm not a journalist, and I don't really know if the article excerpts (yes, they're just excerpts; I originally planned to write out the entire article, but changed my mind) sound like something from a proper news bulletin or not.

5. An extra point, since a reviewer brought it up: Akira's mother does use the honorific 'san' to address her son. Odd, I know, but it's a very traditional sort of household, I guess. Or maybe she's a stepmother ...