Aishuu Offers:
Brightly Burning
mbsilvana@yahoo.com
~ A Hikaru no Go Alternate Universe ~
Disclaimers: Hotta and Obata. Shonen Jump. Not Mine.
Note:  Thanks to Hissori for answering weird, obscure
questions and beta-ing in a pinch! I'm indebted to
Toriyama's scripts for dialogue help.


Chapter 2: Something More Than This
						
Shindou Hikaru had taken over the top slot in the
class by the time of the Young Lion's Tournament and
held onto it for three months. No one had defeated him
yet, and that achievement had definitely turned some
heads. 
			
Waya and Honda knew they should envy him as a rival,
but for some reason, it never happened. There was just
something about watching Shindou that made their hands
tremble nervously whenever they were matched against
him, feeling they were playing shidou-go, instead of
vying for ranking. No matter what moves they made,
Shindou would counter with clever hands that cut them
off at every turn, and do it with an ease that was
almost insulting.

And Shindou seemed bored with it all. He would come to
the classes and study groups regularly, but
contributed nothing to discussions unless prodded,
seeming to have his attention on something else half
the time. He wasn't indifferent - hardly that. He was
merely...

Waya didn't know what the right word was. Shindou was
one of the most complex people he had ever met.
Something about the other boy made Waya feel almost
sorry for him, since Shindou seemed directionless,
seeking something he wasn't quiet sure of.

Waya knew that one of the three pro positions would be
taken by Shindou without any effort when the pro exam
rolled around. He knew he should worry about that, but
there was nothing he could do. Shindou was a force of
nature, and Waya knew enough to admit that he was
better than he was.

What made it worse, though, was the fact it was
impossible to hate Shindou. Shindou was so blasted
nice that Waya couldn't dislike him. It would have
been so much easier if he could hate him, but Shindou
was good company, whenever he wasn�t acting... off.
And the times when he acted weird were usually only
when he sat at the goban.

He would be cold and distant on certain subjects, and
obscenely naive about the Go World, but usually he was
a normal teenage boy who liked to hang out, complain
about school and mess around with his computer. The
top insei liked to tease the others, but underneath
his naive face was a core of strength that was
marvelous. 

Waya liked spending time with him. He was surprised at
that; he and Shindou had even gone to some of the go
parlors together and played against some of the
players there. To his surprise, Shindou hadn't been
kidding when he said he had never been in one before.

"Why would I bother going?" Shindou had wanted to know
when Waya had invited him on one of his irregular
pilgrimages. "Don�t you have to pay? I could play all
the Go I wanted to on the net for free."

/Thwap! /

Waya had taken a copy of the Weekly Go and hit Shindou
upside the head with it, just hard enough to make the
younger boy�s teeth shake. "Stupid! You need to learn
how to play living people! You need to see what is in
their faces!" he said. "Besides, you can only play one
game on a computer - have you ever played multiple
games?"

Shindou had stopped rubbing his head. "No..."

"This Saturday, I'm taking you around! How do you
expect to be able to tutor at Go festivals if you can
only play on one board?"				

"Why would I want to tutor?" he asked.

"Shindou... do you know what pros do?" Waya asked
after a moment. Just when he thought Shindou was
starting to catch on, his ignorance would once again
rear its ugly and sometimes amusing head...

"They play Go?"

"Who do you think they play Go /with?"/ Waya asked.
"Shindou, pros make money by tutoring and giving
lectures! There's only eight titles, and there's
hundreds of pros! Use your head!"

Shindou seemed thoughtful. "So I have to get used to
playing a bunch of really bad players and not
slaughtering them..."

"That's the general idea, yes. As insei, we try to get
strong enough to become pros. Once we're there, we
teach. Or go to tournaments and give demonstrations.
Or the really strong pros win titles, but that will be
years off."

Shindou looked a bit bemused. "Okay... but I'll win a
title soon so I won't have to teach long."

/Thwap!/

Waya hit him over the head again for good measure.
"You're such an idiot!"

Shindou did show up the next Saturday afternoon,
though. He was wearing a bright yellow shirt that
brought out his bleached hair, and Waya stared at him
for a moment. The old men in the parlors were going to
try to eat him alive - only to find the kitten was a
lion. 

Waya couldn't wait to see what happened.

"Where are we going?" Shindou asked curiously,
shuffling along with his hands in his pockets.

"There's a Go salon I've been meaning to check out
called Dougenzaka. It's pretty well established and
has some strong players. Um, I should tell you that
most of these places are pretty full of cigarette
smoke, and the clients can be rough."

"You can explain to my mother why I smell like an
ashtray," Shindou said, a mocking smile on his lips.
"She already thinks I'm nuts, and now she'll think I'm
falling in with a bad crowd."

Waya laughed a bit bitterly. "My mother is annoying,
too. She made me take entrance exams... I told her I
was going to be a pro, but she won't let me drop out
unless I pass the pro exams."

"You came in fourth..." Shindou said. "That's a good
sign that you will pass eventually."

"Eventually's not good enough! I needed to pass last
year!" Waya flared. "Fourth place in the pro exam is
the first loser!" He took a deep breath, forcing
himself to relax. He clenched and unclenched his fist,
reminding himself to find his calm. "I'm sorry. I
shouldn't yell, but..."

"It's okay," Shindou said. "I don't understand a lot
and I'm really good at putting my foot in my mouth."
He gave a cheerful smile. "I'll buy you some ramen
after we're done as an apology."
						
"I prefer sushi. There's a good sushi bar around
here."

"Ramen! Nothing's better than ramen!" Shindou said.
"Any flavor, any time of day...." 

Waya could have sworn he saw stars sparkling in
Shindou's eyes, but decided to be stubborn. "Sushi!"
Waya returned. "The place makes maguro to die for!"

The two continued to debate the merits of cuisine on
their way to the go parlor. On the way up the steps,
Shindou stuck his tongue out at Waya, dashed in front,
then held the door open. "After you," he said gravely.

"Thanks."

The place was like most established go parlors,
comfortable but lived in. The scent of smoke met them,
and Waya was amused that Shindou immediately sneezed.
With a grin for his peer, he walked over to the old
lady behind the counter. "If we each beat two of your
customers in multiple matches, will you waive the
fee?" he asked. Last summer he and Isumi had toured
salons and had made similar deals with most parlors.
Customers were always eager to play insei.

The woman stiffened. "Waive the fee?" she echoed,
sounding offended. "Now, don't get cocky..."

A man who was nearby looked up in interest. "Now, now,
Meroko... it sounds interesting. I'll play, knock the
kids down to size. Doumoto, Saga??"

Two other men looked up from there seats and nodded in
agreement, smirking at the two young men.

"Me as well," a white haired man said, coming up to
join the others.

"Master!" the customers said in delight, looking over
at the man who obviously owned the salon.

The woman rolled her eyes. "Fine!" Swinging around,
she leveled a pudgy finger in Waya's face. "If either
of you lose, you two are washing all the stones in the
place!"

"Sure, sure..." he agreed, feeling a bit nervous.
Hopefully Shindou wouldn't fall apart under the strain
of having to balance multiple games for the first
time.

The boards were quickly set up, and the men cheerfully
argued, trying to decide how to split themselves up.
Shindou merely watched it all with a slightly bemused
expression before taking his seat. "We'll take white
on both boards," Waya said.

"Cocky, aren't you?" the man across from him said.

"Confident," Shindou replied softly. "Please," he
said, bowing to his opponents.

The games began, and Waya turned his attention to the
two boards in front of him. He wasn't fond of multiple
games, and after about ten moves, he knew the player
on his left was a strong opponent. The one on his
right would be dealt with easily enough, but he would
have to be careful...

"I resign..." he heard from one of the player's on
Shindou's boards, but Waya didn't bother to spare a
glance. 

"I'm losing..." came moments later.

Waya looked over then, taking a deep breath as he
realized what had happened. Shindou's games had barely
advanced into chuban, and he had completely dominated.
The older men had been wise enough to see how
outclassed they were, and resigned gracefully.

/Another Shindou miracle,/ he thought with a bit of
amusement. /He really is a genius, to win two
simultaneous games so easily his first try.../ Shaking
his head a bit, he turned his focus back to the boards
in front of him, determined not to lose now. 

Apparently Shindou's easy victory had shaken Waya's
opponents, for they lost their concentration and fell
apart. It was with a bit of disappointment that he
accepted both resignations - they hadn't played well,
probably too startled by what Shindou had pulled off.

Shindou had watched his game with a thoughtful look,
and he knew that Shindou had dissected it. "Well?" he
asked.

"You're getting stronger," Shindou said. "A bit
reckless, but that can be a strength." He looked at
the board thoughtfully. "You should have connected
here."

"That's weak!" Waya protested. "It's..."

"It lures your opponent in. Three moves later, you
would have been able to kill the stones on the upper
left... you would have won much more quickly." Shindou
gave him a smile. "Not saying they weren't good
games..."

Waya gave him a glare. No matter how well he played,
Shindou was always able to suggest something that
would have raised his game to a higher level - the
level that was the difference between an insei and a
pro. 

"Who are you?" one of the men who'd been playing
Shindou asked quietly. "You're not a pro...."

"We're insei," Waya said. "We need practice on our
multiple games, so we decided to come to a salon," he
answered, a bit afraid of how Shindou would answer. 

"Don't pros usually offer handicaps while doing this?"
he asked Waya.

"Yes, usually. I just wanted to make sure you -"

"I can handle more boards, and the games can be
handicapped," Shindou said quickly.

Waya sighed and shifted out of his seat. "Be my
guest," he said after a moment. He enjoyed watching
Shindou play - when he wasn�t too busy being scared
out of his wits at Shindou�s prodigious skills.

"Thanks."

Shindou gave Waya a brief smile before arranging
himself in the middle of the boards. His eyes narrowed
in the way that Waya knew meant trouble for his
opponents as he quickly replied to each of their
moves. Around them, all of the customers in the parlor
gathered to watch the games, obviously wondering if
Shindou would be able to handle the handicap games.

The woman came out from behind the counter and over to
Waya, her expression losing some of her crankiness.
"Who is he?" she asked.

"Shindou Hikaru," Waya answered. "He's the top insei
right now, but he's missing a lot of practical
experience."

She studied his face, and something in her old
features softened. "Poor boy," she murmured. "I hope
he starts feeling better."

"Huh?" Waya's eyes jerked to her face.

"Look at his eyes. Can't you see he's in a lot of
pain?" she said softly. "I wonder what he's lost."

Waya almost replied that he knew Shindou caused a lot
of other people pain by making them lose, but the old
woman's gravity made him bite his tongue and really
LOOK.
						
Shindou's stones were quickly gaining back the
handicaps he was playing under, but Waya ignored the
boards to examine his friend's face. At first he saw
only the look at frightened his opponents, the
intensity that seemed ready to devour anything in its
path, but then he looked deeper...

...and there was a horrible loneliness in their
depths. 

He wondered how he could have missed it.

/Shindou,/ he thought, /what's your secret? What makes
you who you are?/

The door behind him opened and a man in his late
forties entered, chewing on a toothpick. "Yo,
Meroko-san! What's up?" he asked, noticing the group.

"An insei is playing multiple board games. This is his
friend..." she said, nodding at Waya.

"Waya Yoshitaka," he said, bowing to introduce
himself. 

"I'm Kawai,"he said, staring at the scene in front of
him. "Wish I'd been here sooner, I would've liked to
play."

"Kawai-san is the best player here," the old woman
said. "I think he would have made it significantly
more difficult for your friend..."

"I resign," said one of the players, pushing himself
back from the board.

"Doubt it. Shindou's a genius." Waya looked over at
the three continuing games, seeing how Shindou was
doing, and wasn't surprised that he had just about
caught up.

Shindou won all his games, though the master managed
to bring his into yose. "That's tiring! My head
hurts," he said, looking at Waya.

"It's hard work, isn't it?" he asked.

"Not really that. I was just up playing on the net
really late last night and didn't get enough sleep,"
Shindou said with a bit of embarrassment.

"Why you!" Kawai said, storming up from behind him. To
Waya's shock, the man gave Shindou's bleached bangs a
thorough noogie, ignoring his indignant yelps. "I'll
teach you to be disrespectful to your elders!"

"OW!" Shindou whined, finally jerking away. "Whaddya
do that for?"

"Because you're a rude brat!" Kawai retorted.

Shindou's mouth moved a few times, obviously at a loss
for words. "I-I-" 

"Let's play!" Kawai said, grabbing a seat across from
Shindou. "I'll crush you!"

The other customers were quiet. "Kawai-san... he's
really good," Saga said.

"Yes, but I bet he can't tie me when I'm trying to
beat him, can he?" Kawai asked, slapping down three
stones and smiling.

"Huh?" Shindou said in confusion.

Waya noticed a copy of Weekly Go laying conveniently
on the counter, rolled it up, and walked over to
Shindou.

/Thwap!/

�OW!� Shindou whined, turning to glare at Waya.
�Whaddya do that for?�

"Because pain seems to be the only way to get anything
into your thick skull. You're going to force a tie.
Pros can force a tie every time against a lesser
player," Waya explained. "Kawai-san is going to try to
beat you."

"Why would I want to force a tie?" Shindou wondered. 

"Because without komi, a tie can happen. It shows a
pro's skill, and is a good test to show how good you
are at estimating territory," the master explained to
the clueless insei."Usually you do it without the
other person being aware of what you're doing, but
Kawai has challenged you."

"You beat Saga-san at three stone, so I'll play you at
that," Kawai said. He gave Shindou a smile which made
Waya swallow. "And when I win, you're going to buy
everyone here coffee as an apology!"

Shindou was still smoothing his hair down. "When I tie
you, you're taking me and my friend out for ramen!"
Shindou shot back.

"Done! But I think you'll be buying sixty cups of
coffee!"

 Shindou's hand dug into the go ke, and he pulled out
a clamshell stone before slamming it down with a
resounding /Pa-chi!/ 

His eyes were sharp and focus, but for the first time
since Waya had met him, he seemed to be having fun as
he played Go. "I eat a lot!" he warned.

*****

The Young Lion's Tournament finally came in May.  It
was one of Amano's favorite tournaments to cover, but
this year it presented a difficulty. Part of a
reporter's job was to come up with a fresh angle to
tell a story, but all he could think about was the
inevitable outcome.

"I suppose Touya Akira is going to win again," Amano
said to himself softly. Throwing Touya 3-dan in with
the lower dans and insei was like putting a piranha in
a fish tank full of goldfish. The result was a
foregone conclusion.

His wracked his brain, trying to think of a good angle
aside from "Touya Akira Creams Opponents" before
speaking to his photographer with a bit of
resignation. "Make sure you get some good shots of his
opening hands this time. We need pictures for that
father/son series."

"I think your story might be somewhere else," Shinoda
said, coming up from Amano's side.

Amano jumped a bit before smiling at Shinoda. The
insei master had the knack for appearing out of
nowhere and moving as quietly as a cat, two things
that thoroughly disconcerted other people. Still, he
radiated such serenity that made it so others couldn't
hold the surprises he caused them against him. There
wasn't a malicious bone in his body.  

"What do you mean?" Amano said, curious to hear the
man's insights. Shinoda had been watching the insei
for years, and what he didn't know about the Go world
wasn't worth knowing.

Shinoda looked over at where the insei were. "I
think... your story is over there."

Amano blinked a bit. "About the ones who'll make it to
the third round? I suppose I can take that angle, do
kind of a preview for the pro exams..." he mused. 

"Maybe," Shinoda said. "We've got some promising young
insei," he said.

"Care to give any names?" Amano asked curiously. It
was rare for Shinoda to say anything about the insei
until the pro exams - if one had caught his eyes
already....
					
Shinoda just gave him a zen-like smile. "I'm sure
you'll just need to watch," he answered, before
wandering back to his group. 

Amano watched him go, his curiosity peeked. /So
there's a special insei this year... one that is
probably better than Ochi-kun and Isumi-kun, if
Shinoda is already talking about them..../

Ochi and Isumi were both good players, bright hopes
for the Go world, but Amano knew that they weren�t
going to blossom for a while yet. While both had
turned in respectable records for their first years as
pros, they just didn�t have the flare that...

/Think of the devil, and he appeared,/ Amano thought
in amusement. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed
a figure moving through the pros, and he pulled out
his notebook. 

Touya Akira had arrived.

Touya Akira was dressed in khakis and a blue polo
shirt, clothes that were extremely casual for him. The
teenager finally found a place to lean against one of
the walls in the corner, his eyes slightly downcast as
he appeared to be lost in thought. While the other
pros were talking and laughing, around Touya they had
formed an isolating space. Amano had noticed it in the
past, but he wondered about it now. Many of the pros
cast wary glances at the 15 year old, and Amano
wondered how Touya was able to just stand there,
completely oblivious to the waves of dislike that were
rolling at him.

And he was about to make it worse, by singling him
out, but he had to do his job. "Touya-kun! Can I talk
to you quickly?" he asked.

Touya smoothly raised his head, and Amano was stunned
- not for the first time - by the power of the
teenager's eyes. He knew that Touya Kouyo had the same
kind of eyes, but it was intimidating to see them on
someone young enough to be his own son. The intensity
that vibrated around Touya Akira was almost tangible.
							
Then he smiled, and all thoughts of intimidation
vanished. Touya's smile was sweet and shy, and Amano
knew several of the women who worked for the Institute
had crushes on Touya. "Sure thing, Amano-san," Touya
said, his soft-spoken voice managing to pierce through
the conversations around them as he made his way over.

Amano had interviewed Touya countless times, and was
always struck by how shy he was when not around a
goban. He dodged questions about his personal life,
and the one time Amano had asked if he had any
girlfriends, Touya had turned the shade of a tomato.
"I just need to ask you your predictions for the
tournament, since you won last year."

Touya didn't answer immediately, but instead was
quiet. It was another sign of how well-schooled he
was; he always thought before replying to even the
simplest questions. "You can never predict a
tournament. Someone may be having a really good or
really bad day, or there may just happen to be a
pairing against a player whom someone is weak
against."

Diplomatic as always, Amano thought. "Do you have
anyone you think is a strong rival?"

"Everyone is a rival, Amano-san," Touya said.
"Everyone has different strengths and weaknesses, but
that's the challenge of it."

"You haven't lost since Kurata-san defeated you.
You're on the verge of entering the Honinbou League
now, and none of the other contestants are - what's
the challenge here?"

"Every game starts with the first stone. Record means
nothing, ranking means nothing," Touya said, and his
smile tightened a bit. "If you'll excuse me,
Ashiwara-san just arrived, and I needed to talk to
him." He bowed slightly and took off.

Amano had great skill at reading people, and though
Touya Akira was mysterious, he had a good idea what
was bothering him. There really wouldn't be a
challenge at this tournament, and winning constantly
without any competition was tiring in its own way.
Being a genius was a lonely road, and the hatred the
other pros had for him would burden even the most
insensitive souls.


****

It was ten minutes until the tournament began, and
Shindou Hikaru still hadn't shown up.

"No one knows where he is?" Shinoda asked the other
insei.

Waya looked at Honda and shrugged. "He's always late,
and has the sense of direction of a wombat," Waya
said. "He's probably-"

"WHAT did you just say?" an indignant voice roared in
Waya's right ear, and he flinched away, not surprised
that Shindou had crept up on him.

"I said you could get lost trying to get into a paper
bag!" Waya said, turning to his friend. "Geez, you cut
it a bit close, didn't you?"

Shindou looked down at his feet. "I got off a station
too early and had a long walk," he muttered. 

Waya and Fuku started to laugh, and Honda hid a smile
behind his face. Nase, though, gave him a concerned
look. "Are you too tired to play?" she wanted to know.

"I'm always ready to play," he said seriously,
straightening his shirt. 

"Good, because you'll be playing Mashiba in the first
round," Waya said. The others made faces at the name.
"You have to beat him."

"You don't like him?" Shindou asked curiously.

"He's rude," Nase sniffed. "I'm playing Isumi, and if
I win, I'll see you next round!" she said, making a
"V" with her fingers. 

"Good luck!" Shindou said. 

"If you had been here earlier, I would have introduced
you, but now Isumi's over with the pros," Waya said
irritably. "He was an insei last year."

"I know that! You talk about him all the time!"
Shindou said. He scanned the crowd of pros. "Which one
is Mashiba?"

"The one with orange hair," Waya said, "and bad taste
in clothing."

"Short or tall?"

Waya blinked as he regarded the pros. Two of them fit
the rough description he had given: Ochi and Mashiba.
"It's the tall one. The shorter one is Ochi, and he's
even more irritating."

Honda rolled his eyes. "You won't see him until the
third round, providing you both win your way there.
But it's rare for an insei to get past the second
round. I bet Ochi will, since he did last year."

"Did you guys memorize the schedule?"

The other two exchanged looks, not wanting to admit
they had tracked down what Shindou's path would be.
"We memorize our friends'," Waya said. "Since you have
no clue who you'll be playing..."

"I do, too! I play Mashiba the first round, Isumi the
second round, Ochi the third..." Shindou faltered.

"That's not right. It depends who wins. We were making
bets - wanting to see when each of us would go up
against Touya Akira."

Honda shivered at the name. "I don't see him till
third round this year, if I win that far."

"I have him first round," Fuku said gloomily. "I've
played him before," he said, "and I don't think this
is going to go any better."

Shindou looked at them curiously. "Well, it's not
determined he'll get that far, right?"

All of the insei just stared at him. "Shindou... we're
talking about TOUYA AKIRA," Honda said, stressing his
name.

"No one wins all the time," Shindou replied softly.
"Anyway-"

"Quiet, please. We will now commence the tenth annual
Young Lion's Tournament," a voice said, coming over
the speakers. "If you will please take your seats.�

The insei looked at each other, exchanging nervous
grins, and Waya watched as Shindou moved toward where
Mashiba was sitting. He turned to give Shindou a final
thumbs up, but it was too late. Shindou had turned his
back to him.

Waya wondered why a chill went down his spine.

END PART TWO

=====
Down, down, down, would the fall never come to an end?
Wonder how many miles I've fallen?

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