Hikaru's Life Lessons Number Six: There's a Good Reason No One Learns How To Play Go From Books on Tape, and It's Because Some Things In Life Should Not Be Multi-Tasked
Saturday, 5:45 AM, Japan Standard Time:
The other problem with the early morning time was that Hikaru's usual net café wasn't open. Luckily he had remembered to scope out an alternative in advance. He'd ended up in a small cubicle surrounded by guys in blankets, some asleep and some clicking fixedly, who looked like they'd been there all night. He resolved to save the receipt so he could present it to Ogata.
Sai was fluttering around the computer in rapid agitation. Hikaru hissed, "Stop that, you're distracting me."
Sai resumed place behind Hikaru's shoulder. "Sorry, I can't help myself. I just know something is going to go wrong. He's going to see through your disguise-"
"There is no disguise, this is the internet."
"We'll lose our internet part way through-"
"This is a 24 hour net café, if they let their internet go down they'd have to deal with hordes of crazy otaku and homeless people. Nothing short of an earthquake is going to make them lose power."
"An earthquake is going to hit Tokyo."
"Don't jinx us." Hikaru typed in the username and password.
"He's not there yet!"
"Stop panicking, Sai, we're fifteen minutes early." Hikaru glanced at his watch again, to make sure. "Do you want to watch something in the meantime? Or are you too keyed up?"
Sai began twisting his fingers into a knot around his fan. Hikaru took that as a response. He stifled a long yawn. "If I start to drift off to sleep, shout at me until I wake up."
"Hikaru, I don't think I have to tell you this, but please no wrong moves. Not for this game."
"I wouldn't do that to you, Sai. Look, I brought coffee and lots of candy bars to fortify myself with. It's a lucky thing I can sleep on the train."
"The train home? That's usually standing room only."
Hikaru started guiltily. "Never mind."
He took a look down to make sure he had his cellphone positioned on his knee. He already had written the message to Akira apologizing for canceling—all he would have to do was go to drafts and press send. He knew he might not have time to type in the heat of the game. He'd calculated exactly when Akira would have to leave his house to catch the train, and set an alarm on his watch. Unfortunately he was farther away from Shinjuku than Akira was, but at least that meant he had a longer window of time to alert Akira.
Now he just had to pray he wouldn't have to send the message.
Wishing for a distraction, Hikaru turned back to the screen. He fiddled around with Amazon Japan, his hands shaking with nervousness, or maybe that was the caffeine.
Sai was eerily silent. When Hikaru looked over his shoulder, he found the ghost standing upright, fan straight, his eyes fixed on nothing—his mind was already on the game.
Saturday, 6:00 AM, Japan Standard Time:
Ogata said, "I apologize for the early hours. Foreign time changes can be quite irritating." Inwardly, he really was sorry that his pettiness with Shindo might have inconvenienced other people as well.
Koyo said, "It is not a problem at all. I often rise this early. We should try not to disturb my son and wife, of course. I do not see Mr. Van Housen's name here?"
Ogata said, "I just got a text message from him saying he had to cancel. But there's someone else here who's been asking to play you as well." Ogata was capable of better lies, but at the moment he was feeling a little guilty. Koyo was so straight-forward that it was hard to justify lying to him, even if it was for the sake of Go. He'd been planning to pretend Sai was Mr. Van Housen and was now back-tracking. Ogata hit invitation quickly to derail further conversation.
When the game was accepted, a little tension went out of Ogata's shoulders. But when he handed Koyo back the mouse, his heart rate accelerated.
Hikaru had been afraid that Ogata would lie about setting up the game, to take revenge for past insults or because he could. But that thought had genuinely never crossed Ogata's mind. He wanted to see this game almost as badly as he'd wanted to play Sai himself.
And now he had front-row tickets. For once, Ogata wasn't being left out.
Not even the bribe of Sai's real identity could persuaded him to interfere with this game.
Sai said, "Play on 12-15."
Hikaru wanted to say, "That's an odd move. Why there?" But he couldn't possibly speak, couldn't break Sai's concentration. He'd learned basic Go manners by now, senior professionals (including Ogata) having drilled "silence during games" into his head.
There was no chance of Hikaru falling asleep. His veins were full of adrenaline, and his eyes were glued open.
His cell phone slipped off his knee, forgotten.
Koyo sat erect at the computer, precious seconds on his timer slipping away as he remained motionless. Finally, he spoke. "Who am I playing?"
Ogata smirked. "No one knows. They call him the Saint of Net Go. Some say that he is a ghost born up from among the wires. An unconscious manifestation of humanity's drive to find the Hand of God. I don't believe in melodrama, but I do believe that he is no one who has ever played a professional game. We would have noticed him. And yet what could keep such a great player from the highest games in the world? He must feel the pull, the drive fight the strongest, and yet still he avoids the spotlight. Perhaps he is unable to play in person. Perhaps he really is a ghost."
Koyo turned to the screen. "I will find the answer through the game, as I always have."
"2-17."
Hikaru clicked.
Koyo took a long sip of water. Ogata silently refilled his glass, without taking his eyes off the screen. His hands moved rapidly across a pad of paper as he recorded each move for later study.
Koyo was sweating a bit more than normal. Not that Ogata could blame him, with such an intense game.
A long wait trickled by after the last move. Hikaru played possible scenarios out in his mind. But no matter how he played the game, it always seemed to end in Sai's victory by half a point.
And if even he could see this, then the great Touya Meijin must realize too.
Sure enough, a message popped up on the screen. Touya Meijin had resigned.
When the game ended, a moment of silence reigned. But Hikaru had made one observation, one that he couldn't resist pointing out. "Sai, don't you think that Touya-sensei could have won if he'd just played differently here? See?"
Sai gaped in astonishment. Somehow, both he and Touya Meijin had missed this. Hikaru was growing at an incredible rate.
It's almost as if it was my purpose on Earth to show Hikaru this game, Sai thought.
Hikaru screamed, "Oh god my cellphone it's under my chair! I'm late! We've got to run!"
If it had been Sai's role on Earth to show Hikaru this game, maybe it had been Touya Meijin's role to play this game, too.
"Touya-sensei?" Ogata asked with concern as Koyo Touya leaned over, gasping, clutching at his chest.
"We get to the station in fifteen minutes I can still make the train!"
"Train? Hikaru, your date was today! I forgot!"
"Don't worry about it, Sai! Just run!"
Sai, obviously, did not need to run, but he moved his legs as if he was running to show his moral support.
Akira appeared at the door, still in his sleeping clothes but with his toothbrush in his mouth. "Is something wrong? I thought I heard you shout."
Ogata lunged forward to catch Koyo as he fell. "Akira, call an ambulance!"
Hikaru leapt for the train doors as they began to close. With a mighty spring, he slid between the doors and crashed into the other end of the train.
Japanese people politely averted their eyes and moved a little away.
Hikaru rubbed the back of his head. "Ow. Is that train attendant who was chasing me gone yet?"
Sai scolded, "Hikaru, if you'd put more money on your card this wouldn't have happened."
Hikaru said, "I would have put the money on, I just didn't have time right now. And what were the odds that the train attendant would notice me hopping the gate? Normally they never pay attention."
People began to move further away from Hikaru as he continued to address thin air.
"But since I made this train, I'm going to make it to Shinjuku in time to catch the big train. Worth it." With great pleasure, Hikaru deleted his message to Akira from his cell phone. He thought for a moment, then added a quick message that he might be running late so Akira should just get on without him and save their seats.
Hikaru began to bend and stretch his legs. "We're going to have to run for the next train. You ready, Sai?"
People backed further away from the crazy person.
Koyo Touya stilled. Ogata put a finger under his nose and realized he had stopped breathing.
Ogata felt his own lungs stop. He wracked his brains for memories of a very long ago class on CPR. That had been back in high school. But he'd been at the top of every class. He could do this.
He put his hands to Koyo's chest and began to press.
The ambulance sounded in the distance. Not close enough.
Akira stood by and watched. He'd never felt so helpless in his life.
Hikaru bowled over a small child in his flight, shouting "Sorry!" but not stopping. Sai hovered in the train doors as if he could stop them with his insubstantial body.
Hikaru tumbled straight through Sai on to the train. "S-s-see? I told you they always held for another five minutes after the so-called last call."
The train began to lurch forward. Sai observed, "Not any longer than five minutes."
Hikaru sagged against the wall. "I'm too sleepy to go look for Akira. Sai, go see if you can find him and tell him to come and get me. This seat here is nice and empty."
Sai opened his mouth to express that after all that running surely Hikaru could stay awake a little longer. But Hikaru was asleep before he got a syllable out. Feeling sympathy, the ghost supposed that he could go look for Akira, who was probably worried stiff.
Akira sat in the emergency waiting area, a coat thrown over his pajamas. It was cold and he couldn't stop shivering. He looked up as his mother returned.
Akiko Touya's face was white with fear. "They have your father in surgery right now. He had the heart attack while he was at the computer. He'd just finished a game with a net player called 'Sai.' The doctors asked if he was under stress, but it was just an online game, not even a real one, right? Why would a game with an amateur cause your father stress? The nurses, they won't meet my eyes when they talk to me. I know what that means, Akira!"
Akira could only slump in his seat, head down.
In his hand, his cell phone beeped. A messaged appeared on the screen. "I've been sitting here an hour and a half, after a two hour train ride. All that fuss and you stood me up? You could have at least told me you were going to cancel. I hope you know I can't afford to buy tickets again, and yes that's because I spend my money too fast, but for all you accuse me of being selfish, you're a bit of a spoiled brat yourself. If you don't call me in the next ten minutes we're never going on another stupid date again."
Akira pressed his thumb over the off button and held until his phone went dark.