As you probably know, I don't own Hikaru no Go and appreciate the owners letting me play in their universe. I definitely make NO money from this fic.
Strong Amateurs was cleaned up to practice writing again. I plan to enter blind go this month.
It started out at 335 words and was going to be a short-short piece. It is not lengthy at 1300 words, but is definitely off the 'short-short' list.
If you haven't read the last chapter in Outplayed you should do so, as this piece follows immediately afterwards and is not really a "stand alone."
From here Outplayed will move to the second annual Hokuto Cup. Large amounts of the next two chapters are already written (and have been for some time) but they need some expanding and lots of proof reading.
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When Touya Akiko got up the next morning she was mildly surprised but not shocked to find Akira already awake and at the goban. Although she typically rose first and started breakfast and some tea, it was not uncommon for either her son or her husband to be found awake and studying go. She knew her husband occasionally got up in the middle of the night when his mind prodded him to do so. Akiko noticed a kifu in Akira's hand which he seemed to be replaying the game on the goban. Another kifu lay beside him on the floor.
"Good morning, Akira. You're up early," she said.
"Yes, mother. I woke up early and decided to create a kifu of a game I observed." Akira glanced at his mother briefly and gave her a small smile before returning his eyes to the board.
"Shall I bring you a cup of tea?"
"That would be very thoughtful, mother. Thank you." His eyes never left the board. After a while Akira picked up the kifu of the game between Hikaru and Ko Yeung-Ha from the Hokuto Cup. He examined it carefully. He continued to study the shapes and patterns of both black and white until he heard his father. Akira knew he would be joining him at the goban soon for their morning game as they still started the day with a game whenever Kouyo was in town. He quickly began sorting the stones back into the goke.
"Good morning, Akira."
"Good morning, father."
"What are you studying?"
"A game I observed. I am trying to analyze it."
"Would you care to show it to me?"
"Forgive me father, but I would like to study it and try to analyze it myself before showing you the game."
"As you wish, son. Shall we begin our game?" Touya Kouyo was very curious about what game Akira could have watched he would be reluctant to share with his father, but he respected Akira's privacy. He noticed Akira seemed preoccupied during their game and didn't play as well as he usually did.
"I resign," Akira said with a short bow.
"You are not concentrating on this game, Akira," his father immediately told him. "Your mind is elsewhere. You should not have lost to me as badly as you did."
"I know father. I apologize."
"Do not apologize to me. Apologize to your go," Kouyo responded.
Both Touyas went their separate ways after breakfast. Akira had a game that morning. Fortunately, it was just one of the Oteai games against an ordinary 3-dan, and he won it handily despite his distraction. He saw Hikaru across the room but Hikaru was finished with his game before Akira and left immediately afterwards. Akira didn't see him around by the time the 3-dan resigned and Akira had registered his win.
'Unfortunately,' Akira thought, 'Shindou isn't coming to the salon today. This is his day to go to the study group with Moreshita sensei for a short session. Nevertheless Akira went to the salon and replayed the game from his dream, staring at it and comparing it to the game from the Hokuto Cup.
Later that evening both of his parents noticed Akira was still preoccupied during dinner. He was eating the lovely dinner Akiko had fixed but he didn't seem to really notice it. This evening they were having rice, grilled fish, stir fried vegetables and pickles.
"Akira, is something wrong?" Kouyo suspected Akira's mind was still focused on the game he had been analyzing this morning.
"Father, I think you should consider ending your retirement."
"Why, my son?" Kouya's eyes widened in some surprise.
Akira just looked at him. "There is no supremely strong amateur waiting somewhere in the world to be discovered."
Kouyo stared at his son for a long moment. Akiko could tell some significant communication was going between them but she had no idea what it was about.
"I see." Kouyo did see. Clearly Akira had learned the story behind Sai and Hikaru and knew Sai was permanently gone. In a flash of insight he wondered if it had anything to do with the string of forfeits in Hikaru's first professional year.
"I am disappointed to hear that, Akira, but there are many strong amateurs and professionals in other countries against whom to test my strength. I do not need to come out of retirement yet. Our house is full of professionals who come to play and the other countries are full of interesting professionals and strong amateurs to play."
"Perhaps you might want to play Shindou in a friendly game sometime," Akira suggested. "I know he would enjoy that. He has wanted the opportunity to meet you over the goban."
"I would enjoy that also. I suspect the game Shindou pro will play with me now will be much changed from his Shinshodan match."
"Yes. You will find the game Shindou plays to be significantly different from his Shinshodan match," Akira agreed.
"I see." Kouyo understood what his son was telling him. The Shindou who would play him now would not be the same as the Shindou who played the Shinshodan match. 'This did not come as such a surprise as Akira clearly thinks it does', the former Meijin thought with some amusement. He had long since considered all the known facts and suspicions concerning Sai. 'When the impossible has been weeded out, what is left, no matter how improbable, is the truth.'
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Fact: Shindou beat Akira when they were 12 years old and Shindou told Ichiwara san he hadn't played before that day. Kouya thinks he will never forget look of shock on Akira's face. It lasted for several days, and his obsession with Shindou began at that moment.
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Fact: Akira studied hard to try to beat Shindou and then was horribly upset and angry at the very weak game he played against Akira in middle school.
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Fact: Shindou then began learning at a phenomenal rate and passed the pro exam the year after Akira passed the exam. As best as anyone knew, he had been playing for no more than two years.
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Fact: Shindo has no known teacher. Kouyo knows Moreshita's insei student had invited Shindou to join their study group, but that was a casual once a week type of relationship. He is not Moreshita's student.
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Fact: Although the game Shindou played in the Shinshodan game seemed weak and bizarre to less experienced players, Kouyo knows the hands had deep meaning. He felt the pressure of age and experience that no child should have been able to accomplish no matter how talented they were. He had replayed that game many times and followed the paths of the traps and trails his experience had helped him to elude. He had dissected them and re drawn the lines time and again.
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Fact: Shindou and Sai have a connection. Shindou set up the game between Kouyo and Sai.
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Fact: The game between Kouyo and Sai had the same pressure of age and experience as Kouyo felt from Shindou during the Shinshodan match.
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Fact: Shindou is obsessively fixated on keeping his connection to Sai a secret. If he was merely disabled or even a quadriplegic, there would be no need for obsessive secrecy. There would be no reason to deny knowing Sai.
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Fact: Kouyo has studied what few kifu exist for Shindou and what games his son has replayed for him. He has used the computer sufficiently to study the kifu of Sai's games with the known professionals on the web and a couple of strong amateurs. Kouyo knows go. Shindou is not Sai, although his go is related. It is obvious to Kouyo that Shindou is or was Sai's student.
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Fact: Yan Hai is an intelligent and perceptive man. He was the first to point out that a spirit would only be able to play go on the internet.
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Fact: Stories about Shindou from the Hokuto Cup and from Kurata show that Shindou is obsessively defensive of any slight to the name of Shusaku.
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Opinion: For a teenager, Shindou seems obsessive, period. Then again, Kouyo knows it takes a little obsessive behavior to make a good go professional.
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Conclusion: It is highly likely Sai is a ghost or spirit who used Shindou to play.
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Secondary conclusion: Sai was possibly the ghost of Shusaku.
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Kouyo shook his conclusions about Sai and Shindou out of his head and turned to focus on what his wife was saying.
"Well, of course the game will be different from his Shinshodan match, Akira-kun," Akiko said with a smile. "Even I know how much a professional player typically improves during his first couple of years and I can't help but realize your friend is better than most professionals." She was just happy to have something to contribute to the conversation. Kouyo and Akira looked at her briefly and then at each other again.
"Akira, if Shindou-kun knows of any strong amateurs he would be willing to tell me about, I would be pleased to keep his confidence, even if those players are no longer able to play a game with me."
"Thank you, father. I will discuss the matter with Shindou." Akira bit his lip and considered his next move carefully. "If you have time after dinner, father, I would appreciate your opinion of a game I recently observed."
Kouyo smiled at Akira. "I would be very pleased to offer whatever insight I might have into the game." As he finished his dinner, Kouya reflected that it felt very good to be trusted by his son.
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