Hikaru No Go Fan Fiction ❯ Journey of Illumination ❯ The Urge to Succeed ( Chapter 4 )

Disclaimer: Hikaru no Go was created by Hotta and Obata. All characters and plots belong to them, including any I create. This is a piece of fanfiction written by fans for the enjoyment of other fans. No money was made by the creation of this work.

 

Journey of Illumination

By Lady Lark

 

Chapter Four - The Urge to Succeed

 

oOo

 

Akari opened the door, to find Mitani sitting across from tall lanky boy with deep red hair and an arrogant expression on his face. The older boy kept opening and closing a fan as he played the younger teen. Watching the two play, Akari had a niggling feeling in the back of her head; the upperclassman looked familiar.

 

As if feeling her eyes on him, he looked up to find her staring at him. “Are you here for Shogi, the game of kings? Or are you another one of these stupid Go players?”

 

His words, coupled by his arrogance made something click in her mind. She did know him. “Sorry to disappoint you, Kaga-senpai, but I'm here to play Go.”

 

He didn't act surprised that she had recognized him or known who he was. He just placed another stone on the board and sat back to watch Mitani's reaction. “So what's your name?”

 

“Fujisaki Akari,” she replied quickly with a bow.

 

“Well, stow your bag and pull up a chair. I'll play you next,” he said placing a stone on the board disdainfully. “It won't take me long to beat this loser here.” Kaga flicked his fan negligently at the boy sitting across from him.

 

Akari winced and watched Mitani bristle under Kaga's derision. The younger boy's hands clenching and unclenching the material of his slacks in anger and frustration

 

Glaring at Kaga, Mitani ground out, “Don't count me out, senpai. I still have a few tricks up my sleeves.”

 

“Oh yeah?” the older boy challenged. “Well, you had better pull them out, because in six moves you will have lost both of the top corners and whole top part of the board.”

 

Akari glanced at the goban, trying to see the vulnerability that Kaga mentioned. Kaga was playing white and Mitani was playing black, she noted absently. She couldn't see anything indicating who was winning either way other than a few black stones that appeared dead. Setting her bag down under the table, she positioned one of the free chairs so that she could watch the game.

 

As she watched, she began to piece together what had occurred up until that point in the game. One stone laid by Kaga began to extend his territory to threaten the upper right corner. Mitani noted the threat and strengthened his wall along that side. The second stone woke up the sleeping soldiers in Mitani's territory, making them a threat again. The young man groaned and closed yet another chink in his wall.

 

Kaga chuckled and laid his third stone, this one placing a cluster of three stones into atari. Akari's eyes widened and she could see what Kaga had been referring to earlier. Mitani's position was vulnerable because he didn't take the time earlier to eliminate one of Kaga's stones sitting outside of his wall, which appeared to be unconnected to any other stones. The stone was placed so innocently that it didn't appear to be a threat. However, that one stone made it possible for Kaga to take the three stones which were the key to Mitani's control of the top part of the board.

 

Akari now tried to put herself into Mitani's shoes and see if there was a way to salvage any of his territory. She immediately decided that there was no way that she could save the three stones. The only opening she could see would lead her right into a ladder situation, and that was something that needed to be avoided at all costs.

 

Kaga was going to take those stones, she decided. He just didn't need to be given any more. The only solution she could see was to focus on each corner separately, making an eye on the left and closing one wall on the right. That way she could save the corners even if it meant sacrificing the side. It would give Kaga less territory in the end.

 

She looked at Mitani to see that his brow was furrowed in deep concentration. Slowly, he fished out a stone and held it between his fingers. He glanced at the stones in atari but instead played just beneath them, placing one of the white stones into atari.

 

Snapping shut his fan Kaga surrounded the black stones and took his prisoners. Mitani sighed and placed a stone, but the damage was done. The center was opened and his corners were once again vulnerable.

 

Five moves later and Mitani conceded. Knowing that he no longer had enough territory to make a win possible.

 

“You haven't gotten any stronger since the last time I saw you play,” Kaga said derisively.

 

Mitani looked up at the older boy, his eyes narrowing dangerously. “What was that?”

 

“Against Shindou in the three-way game that I forced him to play to determine if he was ready to be an insei,” Kaga elaborated. “You haven't gotten any better at Go since then.”

 

“How can you say that?” Mitani protested. “I've been playing for two years since then.”

 

Kaga just shrugged diffidently. “It's not my fault that you haven't learned anything since then.”

 

Mitani glared at him, his mouth opening and closing as the boy tried to find something to say. “I don't need this!” he declared finally, grabbing his bag from the back of his chair. “And I don't need this Go Club!”

 

“That's fine with me! We don't need players who don't have the wit to become better after two years,” Kaga retorted, then to insult Mitani further he added, “Shogi is by far the better game, anyway.”

 

The slam of the door sliding shut was Mitani's only response.

 

Akari was torn. Half of her wanted to chase after her friend and encourage him to come back, the other half wanted to stay and give Kaga a piece of her mind.

 

“Don't worry about him, he'll be back,” Kaga said quietly from behind her.

 

“What?” she asked, startled.

 

“You are planning on going after him aren't you?” he asked shrewdly.

 

She nodded and looked back at the closed door. “I was considering it.”

 

“You don't need to, if he is any kind of Go player, he'll be back to challenge me,” Kaga said confidently. “He won't let that sort of insult go and the only way for him to get satisfaction is to beat me.”

 

Akari shook her head. “I don't know.” Kaga raised his eyebrow in askance and she felt the need to explain further. “It's just that Mitani-kun is very hot-headed. He stopped playing Go after Hikaru left and it took me a long time to get him to start playing again.”

 

Kaga looked at her assessingly. “I thought you looked familiar. You were that girl who followed Shindou around all the time.”

 

She nodded, still trying to decide if she were going after Mitani or not.

 

“So you play now,” Kaga continued. “How good are you?”

 

She sighed there was no way she was going to catch up to Mitani now. “Not very. Mitani is a better player than I am,” she answered self-deprecatingly. “You wouldn't get much of a challenge out of me.”

 

“Maybe not at an equal game” Kaga agreed with a nod. “But you are still going to play me. All new players have to play me in order to be ranked. That way we know who is the strongest and so on. The rest of the team trusts my judgment on that matter.”

 

“So I guess you are the team captain.”

 

“Of both the Shogi and Go teams,” Kaga answered her unasked question.

 

Akari nodded. It seemed like a fair system. “All right, I'll play you. How much of a handicap do you think I should take?”

 

The dark red haired boy gestured to the goban containing his and Mitani's game. “Figure it out for yourself.”

 

She looked at the board again, trying to determine Kaga's strength. He was strong, but the question was how strong. She thought it over carefully before coming up with her answer. “I think maybe a five or six stone handicap would be good,” she concluded.

 

“Why do you say that?” Kaga pressed.

 

Akari fidgeted uncomfortably under his gaze. “Ummm, well, against Mitani-kun I normally have a three-stone handicap. And you seem a bit better than him. You're able to read deeper and respond better to threats.”

 

He nodded and motioned for her to continue with her explanation.

 

“But you're arrogant, and that is a weakness,” she said starting to feel braver and more sure of herself. She motioned to a cluster of stones with one hand to prove her point. “If Mitani-kun had played here, instead of trying to stop you from taking the center, he would have kept all of this corner and made it so that what you got in the center was only a few moku. Your entire thrust was based on the assumption that Mitani-kun wouldn't try to protect these stones. If he had played here from the beginning,” she motioned to another spot on the board. “All you would have gotten were those three stones and nothing else.”

 

Amber eyes narrowed slightly, as he surveyed the board. “You're right on most counts except for one thing.” He paused dramatically flicking his fan open with one smooth motion. “I left those stones open so that he could potentially save the corner.”

 

Akari gasped at the implication. “You were tutoring him!”

 

“One of my jobs as captain is to make sure my players improve,” he stated pompously.

 

“Still, Mitani-kun didn't know that!” Akari protested.

Kaga snorted, fanning himself languidly. “Feh! He's gotten soft. I wasn't baiting him when I said that he hadn't improved. He hasn't, but I am not blaming him entirely.”

 

“Why not.”

 

“Because some of it is your fault,” he said pointing his fan at her.

 

Akari stepped back in shock. “Why do you say that?”

 

“Because you aren't a challenge for him,” Kaga answered, returning to fanning himself. “Your club is made up of all inferior players. You can't get better if the only people you play against don't challenge you. Without a challenge, you have no reason to get better. It's human nature,” he explained. Then he gave her a pointed look. “As the head of the Go Club, it was your responsibility to make sure he got the challenge he needed.”

 

“Oh. I guess I didn't think about it that way. I haven't been fair to Mitani-kun, have I?” She looked down at her hands trying not to feel too depressed over her failure as leader of the Haze Junior High Go Club.

 

“No, but it isn't all your fault either,” Kaga said reassuringly. “Mitani could have chosen to seek out better players, but he didn't.”

 

She kept her gaze downcast. “Still . . .”

 

“Don't blame yourself,” he said brusquely. “Now, the way I see it, you have three choices.” He held up one finger. “One, you can run out of here and after that loser. Which if you do that, means that you doubt my word and will not be allowed to join the club.”

 

She nodded. It would be pointless anyway; Mitani was long gone.

 

He held up a second finger. “Two, you can play me in a game of Go with a six stone handicap. “ He held up one final finger. “Or three, you can have half a brain and realize that Go is for wusses and that the real game is Shogi. In which case, I would be happy to show you how to play.” He paused and looked at her expectantly. “So what is it going to be?”

 

Giving Kaga a stern look, Akari sat down across from him and started clearing off the stones from the previous game. “I am a Go player. I may not be very good, but I will not turn my back on the game like some people I know.”

 

He laughed at her insult. “You have spunk! Good. Okay, place your stones.”

 

Laying out one black stone on each of the top and bottom stars, Akari prepared herself to face Kaga.

 

“Onegaishimasu,” she said with a slight bow.

 

“Onegaishimasu,” he returned and then placed his first stone.

 

They played for several minutes in silence. Akari concentrating on holding most of the corners and at least two of the sides. They'd had two fierce battles which had cut into her handicap a bit, but in general she was holding her own. The bottom of the board was hers, and she had made sure that she didn't fall for the same trick that Mitani had. This earned her a small nod of approval from Kaga.

 

“How long have you been playing?” he asked, breaking the silence.

 

Akari considered the board. “Hmmm . . . are you trying to distract me?”

 

“Maybe. Is it working?” he asked with a grin.

 

She laid a stone which put him into atari. “Not really.”

 

“Good,” he responded, saving the threatened stone. “So answer my question.”

 

She shrugged and continued her attack. “I first learned how to play towards the end of sixth grade. Around the same time Hikaru learned, I guess.”

 

Kaga grunted, encouraging her to continue, while fending off her strikes at his territory.

 

“But I really didn't start playing seriously until seventh grade when Tsutsui-san showed me how to really play the game.” She captured one of his stones and dropped it into the go ke. “Before that, I really just watched Hikaru.”

 

“Who were your teachers?” he asked shoring up one of the chinks in his defense.

 

She thought about his question for a second, while studying the board, trying to figure out her next move. “Tsutsui-san was my first real teacher. Then there is Shirakawa-sensei who teaches the community Go class. Hikaru taught me a little, when he was around, but most of the time he concentrated on what he wanted to do. Then there was Mitani-kun and Kaneko-chan who tutored me after Tsutsui-san graduated.” She decided that she had done enough damage with her last attack and moved to set up an attempt to control the middle.

 

“So you haven't had a real teacher,” he said shrewdly.

 

She bristled under the insult, but she understood his point. Aside from Shirakawa-sensei, all of her teachers had been amateurs. And while the Go Class teacher was a professional, he didn't do one on one tutoring very often. “Everyone has taught me so much, but I want to learn more,” she said, defending her teachers.

 

“Good, because you aren't bad,” he said laying a stone to counter her in the center of the board.

 

She blinked and looked up at him in shock. “Huh? What did you say?” She was certain that she hadn't heard him correctly.

 

Kaga surveyed the board intently. “You aren't that bad of a player. You aren't good, but like Mitani, you haven't been playing against good players. Which has made it more difficult for you to improve.”

 

“But I'm not as good as Mitani-kun or Kaneko-chan,” Akari protested.

 

Kaga frowned. “I don't know this Kaneko. But if you got a little tutoring, you would overtake Mitani quickly.”

 

She nodded acknowledging his words, but she didn't say anything. Instead she placed a stone on the board that threatened another cluster of Kaga's stones. She didn't really intend on taking that territory, but she wanted the distraction from her weak left side.

 

Kaga responded like she hoped and she filled in one hole in her defense. He placed a second stone in response to the threatened cluster. Akari smiled and placed a stone blocking his attempt to connect to one of his walls. Scowling, he placed another stone. Relieved that he didn't attack her weak stones, Akari placed the final stone strengthening her group. The left side was now firmly hers.

 

When she looked up, she saw Kaga nodding in approval. “Good play there. If you hadn't threatened me when you did, I would have taken those stones.”

 

“I guessed,” she admitted. “I knew I had to do something. My shape was very weak and if I lost it, I was going to have to scramble to hold on to my lead.”

 

“It was a good gambit.”

 

She felt a warm feeling of accomplishment at the compliment. “You knew what I was doing, though, didn't you?” she asked with a smile.

 

“Not initially,” he answered. “But your smile earlier gave it away. You need to work on your game face.”

 

She lifted her hands and covered her mouth in embarrassment.

 

“Don't worry about that now,” he advised her. “Worry about this.” He placed a stone on the tengen, the very center star.

 

She acknowledged his challenge with one of her own. She was not going to lose this game. Not if she had any say about it!

 

They moved into the endgame, filling in dame points and filling out walls. All of the battles had already been fought; this was mostly solidification of territory. Although Akari knew from playing Tsutsui that some players excelled at yose and that she couldn't let up the fight. She'd even read of some pros who won their games in this stage of the game.

 

Finally, they both decided that there was no more territory to be gained. Moving the territory into squares, to make it easier to count, they added their prisoners, the stones captured during play, into the other's territory, diminishing the amount of land actually taken.

 

“I have 47,” Kaga announced.

 

Akari double-checked her count once more, before she looked up at the upperclassman. “I have 47,” she said with a grin. “It's a tie.”

 

“Ugh! I hate ties,” Kaga complained rubbing his head in exasperation. Then, he looked over the board once more as if recounting the territory. “Good job, Fujisaki. It looks like you gauged your difficulty correctly,” he said after a few moments.

 

“Thank you, Kaga-senpai.” Moving to clean up the game.

 

He stopped her. “Do you realize how difficult that is?”

 

“Not really,” she said trying to figure out what he was getting at. “I just watched you play Mitani-kun and saw how much better you were than him. And I know how strong I am against him, so it just clicked,” she explained.

 

“Still, that means that you really know your own strength, even against someone you have never played before,” Kaga explained. “That's something that most amateurs take a long time to learn. And you've mastered it.”

 

She blinked. “I hadn't thought about it that way.”

 

“You're not a prodigy like Shindou was, so don't let it go to your head,” he qualified quickly. “But you aren't stupid or unwilling to learn, which can mean a lot.”

 

“Thank you, Kaga-senpai,” she said with a bow. Then she looked up at him with a mischievous smile on her lips. “You realize that my main teachers were Mitani-kun and Tsutsui-san.”

 

The older boy thought about it, then winked at her. “You may be better than you think then,” he said with a laugh. “Those two are barely good enough to teach the basics. If you got a decent teacher, well you might actually have some potential.” He paused and looked her over appraisingly. “Have you ever considered getting professional training?”

 

Akari blushed. “I have been thinking about it, but I am still debating the merit of such a step.”

 

He snorted. “Then you really aren't as stupid as you look.”

 

Ignoring the insult, she blushed even more. “I'm not certain how to go about it. I thought I would talk to my Go Class sensei and ask him.”

 

“That sounds like a good plan,” the red headed teen said approvingly.

 

“Kaga-senpai, would you tutor me as well?” she asked suddenly, gathering her courage.

 

He looked stunned for a moment, then laughed in delight. “Me? Be your tutor? No offense, but hell no! Shogi is my game. I gave up Go years ago, and I am not going back.”

 

“But you are the captain of this club,” she pointed out.

 

“That was because there was no one else willing to do it who had any experience,” he countered. “If someone competent was available, I would saddle them with the headache in a heartbeat.”

 

“But you do play, though,” she pressed.

 

His eyes narrowed. “Only to test out new members.”

 

“What about in tournaments?” she continued.

 

“I only play there if we are short by one player. I prefer Shogi,” he said stubbornly.

 

She debated if she should push him further, but wasn't sure if would be a good idea. “I see.”

 

“Speaking of tournaments,” Kaga said quickly, changing the subject. “There are currently four women on the team, not counting you. If you want to participate, you'll have to beat two of them for a place on the team.”

 

“How good are they?” she asked, letting him take the out.

 

He grinned at her. “You'll have to play them and find out.”

 

“So you aren't going to give me any hints,” she said dryly.

 

“If you need a hint, think about what I said.”

 

She replayed his words in her mind several times. After the fourth time, she realized something. “You brought up the tournaments to me. Telling me what I need to do to get on the team. That implies that you think I am good enough to make it on.”

 

“Bingo!” He snapped his fan closed to accentuate his exclamation.

 

She bowed at him. “Thank you very much for the game and the encouragement, Kaga-senpai. I hope I don't let you down.”

 

“I don't think you will, Fujisaki. But you'd better look into that training,” he said poking her on the forehead once with his fan. “I want to play you in an even game before I graduate!”

 

oOo

 

Author's Note:

 

Here is the second part of the original chapter two. For those of you just joining the story at this chapter, go back and read the first three parts. Like I mentioned in my earlier chapters, this was too long the first time around. So I am breaking it up and fleshing things out that I didn't bother to do the first time around.

 

Betareaders, Editors, and Contributors: Panasonic Princess, Troy Thomas, Broken Visage and My Mom.

 

Vocabulary/Terminology:

Shogi - The Japanese equivalent of Chess.

Yose - The end part of a Go Game

Dame Point - Contested points. It's where there are holes in walls and the like

 

FAQ:

Q: Are Go and Shoji Clubs usually combined?

A: When I was doing the research for this story, they were. That may have changed, but I am not sure.

 

Q: Are you having Akari hook up with Mitani?

A: No. This story is primarily Gen. If any parings happen it won't be until much, much later in the story.

 

Q: But I need to know the pairings so I know if I want to read it or not!

A: Tough. I don't publicize my pairings and I've been pretty much open that this is a Gen Fic. That means that any romance will take a back burner to the main story. If you can't deal with that, well that is your problem, not mine.

 

Q: Where did you learn how to play Go?

A: I learned at the Orlando Go Club from a mean old man. No really. From there other members taught me and I've read a couple of books on the subject. I am a horrid player - worse than Akari by a long shot. I also solve problems on a website called goproblems. com (Just remove the space between the period and the com)

 

Q: What is the word count of this chapter?

A: Not counting Author's notes - 3,630 words.

 

Q: What was the original chapter two word count?

A: Not counting Author's notes - 4,664 words

 

Q: What is the total word count for chapters three and four after the changes you made?

A: Not counting Author's notes - 6,450 words

 

 

Any other questions? Feel free to ask.

 

Reviews and concrit are welcomed and encouraged.