One Liberty Left

Chapter 2: Black on White, White on Black

"That play of black upon white, white upon black, has the intent and takes the form of creative art. It has in it a flow of the spirit and a harmony of music. Everything is lost when suddenly a false note is struck, or one party in a duet suddenly launches forth on an eccentric flight of his own. A masterpiece of a game can be ruined by insensitivity to the feelings of an adversary" (Yasunari Kawabata)

There was a sensation deep within his chest that burned for hours afterwards. Almost brought to tears, he voiced his pain aloud in a quiet room where no one heard his screams. The burn hurt more than loss and disappointment, both familiar emotions. His body shook not from anxiety or anger as it normally did, but from something else that he could not identify. The natural movement that came with the stones was gone.

That night, until the first stray gleams of dawn struck the land, he created a beautiful picture that haunted his dreams for as long as he could remember. Black and white danced across the floor and clashed with terror and finesse until they reached step one hundred and twenty-seven. Their paths diverged and the tremor in his hands ceased. The decisive step changed the music upon its own accord entirely.

With a scream of emotions he did not know he possessed, he swept the stones off the board and collapsed. Then the cycle started once more and the tremors returned. Outside, everyone slept peacefully as if the world had not wronged them in the slightest. They might be right, he conceded, and I must simply be insane.

Reid didn't have many words he could or wanted to speak in the aftermath of the explanation that Shui provided. Morgan was equally willing to walk the rest of the distance in silence. There was no doubt in his mind that what Shui said and even to an extent, what Shiro said, was vital to the investigation. There was no better person to understand another go player than these boys, even Reid admitted that. He wasn't a part of their world even though he knew so much about it, which was blaringly obvious to them.

When they arrived at the two apartment rooms that the Association provided them, they found that the rest of the team was already there and waiting. Computers and numerous files were in place along the coffee table and already the clutter was as horrible as it ever was. Without any sort of preamble, Reid and Morgan entered while Hotch started the discussion in his usual manner. That left Shui in an awkward stance in the doorway, but he had enough sense to close the door before they started. Reid offered him a smile and waved for him to take a seat. The boy refused, but Reid wasn't too concerned with him at the moment.

"The people who organize the event are mostly made up of volunteers. They aren't likely to have any reason to commit these murders and they are rather worried about another victim surfacing. When JJ and I talked to the families, they seemed to have no idea as to who could have done this. They said that the men had no true enemies, just rivals," Hotch explained. Reid could tell that the time limit on the case affected him judging by the deep sigh that he exhaled. "The victims were explained as nice people outside of the tournaments. They both preferred to stay to themselves while here, so they retired to their rooms early."

"They were average men with average jobs and shared a hobby in common," Prentiss said, bringing up the windows of their files on the laptop. "That's about all they have in common, as far as Garcia's been able to kind, so it's safe to assume that their participation in the tournament is what got them killed. We got their rankings, although we're still not so sure what the numbers mean, and apparently they were both good players. It's also safe to say that the unsub targeted them based on this. He sees them as threats to him and wants them eliminated."

"Wen Mah's body was taken by the forensics team already, but if the pictures and Ken Hamasaki's body is anything to go by, the unsub made them kill themselves," Morgan said, grim-faced and disgusted. Since he had been occupied with Shiro at the time, Reid was as shocked to hear the news as everyone else. "The single slash across the abdomen was jagged and hesitant. It took a long time for them to finish the cut. Forensics would tell more, but we don't have time for that…What's more, Shui Liu here thinks that it was more than just a forced-suicide."

When the twenty-one year old was placed on the spotlight, Reid was surprised to find that he wasn't uncomfortable with the stares. He figured that Shui was used to the attention from the tournaments. Only when he had to explain Morgan's words further did he start to lose his composure. "Well, when I thought about it, it kind of would make sense if the guy- the criminal- was Japanese. What I mean is that- the whole suicide thing- it's a Japanese thing. It's ritual suicide. Samurai used to do it all the time, when they dishonored themselves. I just thought that it looked like that- like it was from a movie. Uh, I don't mean to sound morbid."

"The whole case is morbid, kid," Rossi said in that cynical tone of his. Shui flushed and shut up, seeming to melt into the background as the gears started to work in the agents' minds. The point was more than valid, if ritual suicide had any relation to the case at all. It wouldn't be unheard of, though, definitely not. They had certainly seen stranger things in their career with fewer motives behind it. "That does make some sense. Reid, you know anything else about it?"

"Oh, yeah, I do. Translated literally, seppuku means 'stomach cutting', but we also know it as hara-kiri. It's ritual suicide by disembowelment, typically preformed by samurai so that they could die with honor on the battlefield, but it was also used as a form of death sentence for samurai that broke a major offense. Part of the suicide involves decapitation, which is why I didn't think to consider it. A second person involved carried out the decapitation and made it so that the head…" Reid trailed off when everyone gave him that look that said to shut up already. He supposed that they really didn't need to know that the head was supposed to be left hanging by a piece of skin.

"If it was a Japanese person, they would not have left before they cut the head off," Shiro said quietly from the open doorway, as if he'd been there the entire time. Hotch and Rossi didn't seem startled by his appearance, so Reid guessed that he'd been there the entire time and they were too distracted to notice. "Please forgive my rude behavior earlier," he mumbled while he bowed deeply at the waist, quick to straighten to his normal posture after a moment. Someone must have scolded him, because his apology was polite, yet forced, and he didn't sound genuinely sorry. They were ready to forgive him as long as they got back to the matter at hand.

"Right, well the rest of the room was set up to have some meaning or message," Morgan continued quickly, eager to break past the awkward presence that surrounded them. "Shui and I looked at it for awhile and he thought that there was something up with the blood patterns on the floor. At first I thought that it was coincidence, but looking at the other crime scene, they're exactly the same. It's definitely a set up, looking to tell someone something. That someone's probably another player. Practically no one else would have gotten the message. Well, except for Reid. He gets everything."

"I do not," Reid mumbled in defiance, partially in good humor. "There seems to be a message the unsub wants to convey through the papers that were scattered around the room- they're records of games of go. According to Shiro, there doesn't seem to be a real pattern to them. Some are of games that professionals played, some by amateurs. Another thing to note is that the go board in the corner of the room was completely untouched and clean. The stones were arranged around the middle, which is an important position."

"Some of the games were played a long time ago," Shiro said. He seemed rather comfortable with his input now that he was forgiven for the moment. "They are records of games from over a hundred years ago. All of them are well known in the world of go for one reason or another, but some are recent. The stones were arranged on the tengen, but the tengen is not only a position, but a title also in go. The Chinese and Japanese have it."

"Oh, titles are earned by professionals and are competed for the duration of a year. Annually, a match is held to decide whether the challenger defeats the current holder or if the title is defended. Titles are coveted and it's a big achievement to obtain one," Reid explained when he realized that only three people in the room knew what it was. The looks on his teammate's faces told him that he didn't need to be so descriptive, but they were used to it and brushed the matter off easily. Shui and Shiro were just as surprised as Reid normally found people he met to be.

"We can definitely class this unsub as an organized killer with a high intelligence," Hotch said, nodding firmly. It was his intent to start the profile now, which surprised Reid. So they weren't going to involve the officials of the event after all. That meant that they were also involving Shui and Shiro more than they had intended. "He's chosen these victims for a reason and planned everything out beforehand. Some of the requirements may be lacking, but he plays this game so he's obviously intelligent. There is no formal investigation, but he should be trying to find out about it. He takes joy in seeing his game being played out, because that is all that this is to him: a game."

"Judging by what Shui told me before I think that he has an overlap of a visionary killer, but mainly a missionary killer, actually…" Reid said, relaying what the twenty-one year old had told them about the man and his motives. Shui was genuinely shocked that what he had said was so important. The reaction was so astonished that Reid figured that Shui had merely told them his opinion and thought that they would forget it soon. "The unsub might be aiming for the 'move of god' or the perfect move in a game of go, but in doing so he believes that he has to eliminate his opponents. They're standing in his way."

"So you're saying that he's trying to stray from the path of tradition by making his own?" Prentiss addressed Reid. He nodded; it was the best explanation that he could think of that made sense. None of the other profiles quite fit the situation. "And in other words, since he's a missionary killer, he won't stop until he's gotten rid of the threat. Since his mission is self-imposed, he isn't likely to listen to reason. And he's got an entire pool of possible victims to choose from here."

"We might not be able to reason with him at all," Rossi pointed out. "That should reflect in his daily life. He'll be the type of person who's a normal guy until he's set off. If things don't work his way, he's likely to react badly and possibly violently. He thinks that he's alone in the world, and that no one can understand his motives, but despite this, he'll be socially adequate. As a child, he might have received harsh discipline. One or both parents might not have been present. As for what got him to start thinking like this, he probably had a loss of faith recently. Some sort of revelation happened for him."

"He also doesn't see his victims as human beings anymore. To him, they're just objects that are either in his way or only useful for his own purpose," Hotch said. In the process of the explanation, the team's eyes gradually turned towards the two younger boys in the room. Shui blinked and figured out quickly that the speeches were meant for his and Shiro's ears. The idea didn't make him very comfortable, but he handled it considerably better than it could have gone.

"Ah, well, um…You see, I don't really know many of the players on a personal level. I'm actually an amateur, a high dan amateur, but one nonetheless. We amateurs play for fun; go is a pastime, a hobby. It's more to the pros; it's their life. That's why I think you should be asking Shiro that," Shui babbled, stopping only to present the Japanese boy before him. Shiro sputtered indignantly and looked as if he wished to be anywhere but there. "He turned pro last year with a rather good record. And only four or five people become pros each year. I'll leave you to it, bye!"

That left Shiro in an awkward stance at the center of attention. Without a go board to focus on, he was quite uncomfortable with the attention. "I-I do not know anyone who could be a murderer. Some of us get too emotional sometimes, but not like that…None of us disrespect each other enough to do that." The fierce boy that Reid had talked to before wasn't there anymore and it was scary watching this version of him speak in compliant tones. Everyone noticed that something was wrong, but they would probably scare him away if they all questioned him now.

"Alright, you can go. We'll keep in contact. You're in room two hundred twenty-seven, right?" JJ said in that soothing voice of hers. Shiro's eyes flickered upwards for a moment before they lowered and he nodded. With a short bow that was executed more from instinct than anything else, he was out the door. Even with the barrier, Reid could hear his footsteps' rapid retreat down the hallway. The subject wasn't about to be dropped anytime soon and Reid expected that he would have to pay a visit to the boy later and talk something out of him.

"He knows something," Hotch muttered as he turned to their blonde-haired liaison. "JJ, inform the staff about the profile. It might not be much help, but there's always the chance that they've seen someone who fits it. In the meantime, I believe that we have something to discuss here- Shiro Minami. From what little that we've seen of him, it seems that even under pressure and attention he doesn't seem too bad off. He doesn't ramble, he doesn't stutter, he doesn't lie; he just states the facts. What changed just now?"

"Actually, now that I think about it, earlier he said 'the Chinese and Japanese have it' when we were discussing the stones on the go board," Reid said hurriedly, excited at the sudden prospect if his hand movements were anything to judge by. "Except Shiro is Japanese, so why would he refer to the Chinese first? The two countries aren't known to have the best relations among its people, especially in the ones involved in War World Two. From what I saw and heard before, he seems to be an assertive kid. He's not meek or anything- he just became like this now."

"He even gave Reid a scolding," Morgan chuckled to which Reid shot him a glare. He admitted that it wasn't a very intimidating glare- he never could pull those off easily. "But Reid's right. He stormed out in a huff afterwards and he seemed more angry than upset. Maybe someone talked to him between then. He's just a kid. He can be swayed easily."

"Also, he did make a comment about that ritual suicide…That a Japanese person would have done it differently," Prentiss said. Whatever secrets Shiro was hiding were either a waste of their precious time or the key to finding the unsub in the sea of players across the campus. There wasn't a doubt that Shui was telling the truth when he said that he didn't know everybody. He came from a town where go was unknown and could hardly be called prevalent. "Then again, I have a feeling that it's common knowledge."

"Either way, we can't waste time thinking about this. Reid, you know the kid a little more than us and you know his game, so try to talk something out of him. The rest of us will talk with the officials and try to narrow the list down," Hotch said. Immediately the team started to leave, readily following orders. "Keep an eye out for suspicious activity. We might attract attention, which might attract the unsub. We might not be able to keep this quiet much longer. Time's running out; soon it'll be dark."

Reid snatched up his messenger bag and departed down the hallway opposite of the others. Both boys had been asked to remain in the vicinity of their rooms so that they would be easy to contact. There was no doubt in his mind that finding someone on campus would be treacherous at best. There were over three hundred attendees, after all, and most of them were gathered in specific spots during the day.

The first three knocks on door number three hundred twenty-seven went unnoticed by its occupant. Shiro was definitely in there; Reid heard the soft clack of stones against wood beyond the door, so he was just ignoring him. "Shiro, this is Spencer Reid. I need to talk to you about the investigation. Do you have a minute?" Sure, the interview would take far more than a minute, but lying came hand in hand with the job. For a moment, Reid feared that he would have to think of some other plan before he heard the stones stop. The soft footsteps were a relief to him. Shiro would be much easier to talk to without getting off on the wrong foot.

"Have time for a quick game?" the boy muttered. He allowed Red entrance and sharply reminded him to remove his shoes before he stepped any further than three feet into the room. There was simply no other route to talking to the boy, so Reid accepted and made no excuses to himself; he really did want to play. Maybe, when this was over, he would have some more time for it where he would actually be able to put his all into the game. Right now he had to focus on profiling and it seemed that Shiro realized it too. "We play speed go?"

"Yeah, we're playing speed go," Reid nodded as he settled down on a cushion placed before the heavy wooden go board that was easily over a thousand dollars. He ran a gentle hand over the smooth surface as Shiro passed him the black stones. A stone plucked from the container showed that it was made of slate and felt cool to the touch. Usually Reid played with the more economical types of boards and stones since he played chess more than go. "This is quality wood called kaya, right? They're very expensive; you play every day?"

"Oh, no, that is just shin-kaya, even if it is a good imitation. The real one is too expensive. Place your stone and you will see the difference," Shiro said softly, amused with the board and not with Reid's assumption. He nodded and the black stone made a lovely resonating sound on the board, yet not quite at the right frequency for it to be made of the highest quality wood. "Before you ask your questions, may I ask one of mine? I have been curious of it for quite some time."

"Oh, sure, that'll be fine," Reid said, regretful that he wouldn't be able to devote his full attention on the game. The rapid click-clack of the stones left barely any room for thinking. Fast games of go relied on instinct more than extreme thinking and careful planning- and even as he made his quick decisions, his mind analyzed the positions that Shiro played on the board. The moves themselves could be just as revealing as the person's body. Reid preferred a more conservative play that concentrated on territory as opposed to this somewhat artistic style that Shiro seemed to like.

"Have you ever met Touya Akira?" Shiro paused in his play and actually glanced upwards when he spoke. Reid drew a blank for a moment before he remembered little Akira, the genius boy he once played on a whim. That must have been nearly a year ago, though he didn't see why it mattered to Shiro. It was very possible that Shiro knew the prodigy. It was almost impossible to be one and remain unnoticed in such a small world. The little boy must be eleven or twelve by now, Reid figured. "He said that he played a strong foreigner when some pro players from the Nihon Ki-in came to America."

"He was speaking about me?" Reid said in surprise, almost ready to drop the game. Shiro wasn't so willing and tapped the board with a finger. They exchanged a few middle game fights across the board that Reid found to flow in patterns he wasn't accustomed towards. The boy's style was very flexible, but he wasn't passively following Reid's advances in the least. Instead, he grabbed any open opportunities he could manage and readily reacted when attacked.

"I believe so. Touya said that there was a strong player in America who said that he did not play often. His play was solid and he used few unnatural moves. Reading ahead also seemed to be his strong point. But despite all of this, Touya said that he did not seem to have the same passion for the game that we, who work our entire lives for that strength, have." Shiro voiced his opinion in a calm, undisturbed manner that was more reminiscent of the boy Reid first met. The little speech he made proved further that something had happened before he rejoined them in their rooms.

"After that, he dropped it like everything else. Touya is different than we are. He was never a student at the Nihon Ki-in; he does not participate in competitions. He is a prodigy and he can beat pros even though he is only twelve. People have been urging him to become a pro for a year now. His father is Touya Meijin," Shiro said bitterly. The stone he placed next resounded with a slightly louder sound than the rest of them. If Reid hadn't looked up from the board at that moment he would have missed the softened features on the boy's face that told that he held no true animosity towards Akira.

The other information that Shiro provided was expected, yet at the same time still a shock and amazement. Reid knew that Akira was strong, but not strong enough to beat pros when he was only twelve. It was not unheard of in the world of go; some children became pros when they were only eleven, but the phenomenon was still uncommon. A year ago Reid had his suspicions that a relative of Akira's played the game, but he hadn't a clue that his father was the Meijin- one of the titles that the strongest players held in Japan. Even then, it wouldn't have been much of a shock if he was a student at the Japanese Go Institute- they often produced good pro players.

"You don't hate him as much as you would like to believe. You just envy that everything comes easier for him than anyone else," Reid observed. Shiro paused, but nodded after he considered the words. Still, Reid didn't sense any sort of rivalry between the two boys, which was a slight disappointment. That meant that Akira only ever played people older than he was and it made the world very lonely for a child. Reid could sympathize.

"He still refuses to become a pro, but he works just as hard as everyone else. It is like he has some unfinished business, but I cannot imagine what. I hoped that you were reason, the but that is not the case. Your play is nothing so remarkable that Touya would care too much," Shiro said, starting Reid with his blunt words. The hitch in the placement in his stone must have alerted the boy, because he glanced upwards and muttered an apology. "Never mind- Touya is in his own world; I do not have a right to meddle. What do you want to ask?"

"Earlier, when we were discussing the stones arranged around the tengen- the mark of heaven- you said, 'the Chinese and Japanese have it' and you meant the title of tengen. But you're Japanese, aren't you?" Reid didn't even need to finish his thoughts for Shiro to understand what he was talking about. The boy froze as his hand hovered over the board and he refused to show his face, instead choosing to hide himself behind a curtain of floppy dark brown hair. "Why do you put the Chinese before yourself? It wasn't a conscious choice and I don't think that it's out of manners. You seem to have a lot of pride."

"I…I do not know. Do we know why we do what we do?" Shiro mumbled, fumbling with the sleeves on his shirt. Reid recognized the movements as nervous habits, which further supported his idea that the boy was hiding something important. Children were generally a little easier to grapple the truth from than adults, although they could be tough in their own rights. "Chinese and Korean players are strong. They are stronger than Japanese players, in recent times. Is it so wrong that I hold them in high regard?"

"You're lying; you know exactly why you refer to them before yourself. You nibble on your bottom lip and fumble with your clothes. You refuse to meet my eyes when you did before. Instead of being confident, your voices changes to become less noticeable." Reid would have continued a little further for good effect if his phone hadn't rung at that moment. Shiro seemed to have paled slightly and grew more nervous. He stared intently at the stones without seeming to be developing any ideas. His hands now moved to clench into fists on his knees.

Reid glanced at his phone and excused himself from the room. Garcia was on the other line and it wouldn't do for just anyone to hear their conversation. "Garcia, you found something?" he asked with his back against the door.

"Oh, you know I did," she responded in her light and teasing voice. "I doubt it's nothing. Things like this aren't just coincidences. Alright, I'm going to fire away here- tell me if I lose you, even though I know you're too smart for that. Shui Liu is still clean, even when I dug a little more into him. Shiro Minami is a little strange though and strange in the 'this-is-messed-up' sort of way. At first glance, he lives with his parents in Tokyo in a small house in the suburbs- nothing special.

"Then it got weird when I dug. Apparently he has an older brother- one Hideki Minami who was completely disconnected from the family about two years ago. He just disappeared for awhile- but he was really living up north in some small town with friends. And it turns out that he wasn't supposed to be there. He was supposed to be in a mental hospital slash juvenile prison until he was killed six months ago. So obviously he's not going anymore.

"Then some more digging later and I eventually found that he was dropped from the professional go program for a major misdemeanor. This is where things get messy- partially because these records are in Japanese…But Hideki wasn't of the nicest mental state for his whole childhood it seems, judging by all these doctors bills…The misconduct was beating another player an inch to his death. The family disregarded him after that. This isn't the end either. So the player he beat up was Chao Zhang, a then Japanese citizen who came from China to study when he was ten. He's since moved to America.

"Chao Zhang isn't at the convention though. His younger brother Lin, who is two years older than Shiro, is however. He's been reported to have some problems at school; nothing major, though." The information was a lot to process through the brain. After Garcia had stopped talking for a few moments, Reid finally gathered his thoughts into a collective ball that made sense. There really was too much evidence for the matter to be considered coincidence. "And never fear: I have already called the others and they are on their way to questioning Lin."

"Thanks Garcia, I think I'm getting this all now…" Reid said as he flipped his phone closed. With a deep breath he returned inside to find that Shiro had relaxed considerably and had returned to his pensive mood in front of the go board. "Shiro, I have to talk to you. You know something, something important. And I know that you don't want to tell me. You're afraid of the consequences." Reid took his seat across the playing field and spoke in gentle tones. He wanted to make it clear that it wasn't Shiro's fault. In what was normally not protocol in a game, he reached over and offered the boy a friendly hand. "You can tell me."

"I will tell you if you can beat me," Shiro whispered, scooping up a smooth white stone. Bypassing Reid's outstretched arm, he very softly slid the piece into place at an intersection. The move took Reid by surprise and he consented. Children, he found, were often stubborn with their games.

Notes/References:

• First of all, I apologize if the explanations were sparse or confusing in the last chapter. I wanted to explain it further without detracting from the storyline and getting side tracked. I hope that I did better this time around.

• I do not own the quotes, the Criminal Minds characters, or Touya Akira, who comes from Hikaru no Go. A bit about Touya: He doesn't really take notice of people who challenge him who are weaker than he is and he finds Reid's style as nothing special because Reid seems like a to-the-book person. So he hasn't deviated (thinking outside of the box) from the standards of play. For example, Shiro is an experimentalist. He doesn't always play the moves that are expected from that situation, but Reid does.

• Again, the italics are Japanese words. The bold and italics are Garcia talking over the phone. Mini dictionary: seppuku/hara-kiri='stomach cutting' ritual suicide by disembowelment, finishes with an assistant beheading the samurai; tengen='origin of heaven', the 10-10 point on the board, and a title; kaya=Japanese nutmeg-yew, expensive wood used to make go boards, can cost from $1,000-$20,000; shin-kaya='new kaya', imitation kaya, usually spruce and cheaper; Nihon Ki-in=Japanese Go Institute; Meijin=another title

• Thanks to USPP Criminal Psychology Study Group Index for being able to form that profile and to Sensei's Library for information on everything about go.

• Shiro's playing style was heavily influenced by the pros' styles observed on SL: Yu Ch'ang-hyeok, Shao Zhenzhong, and Ma Xiaochun.

• The last sentence is a reference to Kuroshitsuji/Black Butler.

• Nothing is meant to be offensive here.

• 'A hundred and twenty-seven' in the opening paragraphs references the famous Ear Reddening Move played by Honinbo Shusaku- it was move 127.