AN:
Sorry for the long wait. Exams are finally over and I have time to write! But I admit to buying a mountain of light-novels and completely forgetting about this story. Sorry! I think i can't make proper english sentences anymore…

I also had to secretly rewrite the end of the 4th chapter as I had no idea where I was going with it. Nothing much changed but yeah…yeah…

formatting like bold, italics and spacing isnt working for me at the moment so...sorry about that too

Chapter 05

Somewhat early on a Sunday morning, both Hikaru and his grandfather were on their respective devices tapping away at their own games.
While Heihachi was on one side of the kotatsu scrolling through the Go Association webpage, Hikaru was sprawled on the ground on the other side of the Kotatsu fiddling with his phone.

The Shindou residence had no source of heating other than the Kotatsu, and on cold windy winter days, the entire family would huddle together in the living room. Drinking hot drinks was also common on these days.
Shindou Heihachi too, liked drinking his hot tea while he surfed the net. So when he reached to take a sip, only to realize the cup was empty, he called for his grandson.

"Oi Hikaru, can you go get me some tea?"

Not looking up from his phone, Hikaru replied simply.

"The batch you just had was the last"

"Then can you get me some sake?"

"We don't have any"

"Can you go buy some?"

"I'm underage"

"Then go buy some more tea leaves"

Hikaru pushed himself off the floor and looked up towards the tabletop. His own teacup was as empty as his grandfather's, but he didn't remember taking a sip at all. His grandfather must have drank it while he wasn't looking.

"…after I finish this game"

The game lasted another thirty minutes, and after getting changed into warmer clothes his grandfather handed him his bag at the door. His grandfather who wouldn't even abandon the kotatsu for a good quality go board, handed him his bag.
At. The. Door….

In the first place, why did he need his bag if he was only going to the convenience store? and to buy tea leaves…

Slightly suspicious, Hikaru slowly took his bag and headed out the door, eying his grandfather with narrowed eyes.

He won't do something ridiculous like locking me out in the middle of winter. Would he?

Turns out his grandfather was more than happy to play the devil's incarnate because when he arrived home with five packs of tea leaves, the doors were locked, the lights were turned off, and his keys were taken out of his bag without his knowledge.

Good thing I got changed. Does he want me to get hypothermia or something…Hikaru though with some annoyance. This wasn't the first time he had been locked out of the house, but all the previous times it had been spring or autumn, and there were no immediate threats to his health.

"In times like this…"
Hikaru reached into his bag and took out his phone.

From: shindouHH(ad) .jp
To: sdkou(ad) .jp

Hikaru,

I left the house for the go-salon so you can either come find me here, or go meet your FRIENDS. I'll probably be back around 9 because I'm eating out.

Grandpa.

PS. I turned off the wifi

True to his grandfather's words, the wifi symbol on his phone was completely greyed out so he couldn't even access NetGo unless he went somewhere with slightly more reception than his front yard. Hikaru inwardly sighed as he placed his hands in his pockets.
"Okay I get it, i get it…I'll go somewhere."

Quickly glancing into his bag, he confirmed all his kifu an study materials were in his bag before dialing a familiar number. The phone buzzed a few times before it connected.

"Hey Akari, where are you at the moment?"

"Hikaru? I'm with my friends but, do you need something?"

"I got locked out"

Sounds of muted snickering could be heard from the other side before Akari voiced her amusement.

"This is what, the fourty-something-eth time? Anyways, good luck with that, gotta go. See ya~"

And Hikaru was left with the beeping of an ended call. Was his misfortune really that amusing? he wondered as he stared at his phone.

"I guess I'll just go somewhere alone then"

Just like every other student his age, who didn't know that there was a Starbucks in town, would do, Hikaru found himself seated on a swing at a nearby park. Sometime between when he left his house and when he arrived at the park, it had started snowing. The white flakes floated down from the blinding white skies and coated everything in a blanket of white cotton. Hikaru's navy colored coat and hair too was no exception, so he refrained from taking out his kifu and opted with sitting on the swing and blankly watching the snow transform from tiny dots, into intricate snowflake designs. In some slightly more open areas that were free from the coverage of trees and shrubs, rocks transformed from grey to white as if it were a giant go stone.

Thats right…When I play Sai-nii…I've always played white haven't i?

Hikaru watched the smaller pebbles near the swing slowly lose its color as specks of snow coated it. A black stone that gradually loses its place on the board as it transformed to a white stone. A black stone that looses its significance in its offense and is given meaning on the white canvas.

When Hikaru as small he always thought that playing go was like making your own night sky; your own universe. The emptiness of the board created the canvas, while the opponent's black stones created the space that allowed his own white stone stars to shine in the night sky. But looking at it now, laying traps was no different from laying his own blanket of snow on a snowy night. The snow falls freely, melting and merging with the old blanket. When other's melt, new snow falls and takes its place. When a pebble blocks its path, it merely piles ontop until it gradually achieves its goal.

Hopping off the swing, Hikaru grabbed a small stick and crouched to ground level.

Using the snow coated asphalt as a canvas Hikaru lightly etched fourteen stones from memory and paused.

If that time with Sai, what I was making was not a universe but a world of white…

He gripped the stick as a smile gradually spread across his face.

wouldn't it have been so much more interesting?

A spec of snow here,

another there,

here,

and here,

and yet another blanket has been formed.

Blanket after blanket,

merging and melting…a chain effect.

Somewhere along the way Hikaru stopped drawing Sai's moves and merely played them in his mind while his stick moved slowly. Shape after shape was formed, and yet what was drawn onto the snow was not a kifu for one-colored go. It was a trap in its full glory, a blanket on snow that has completely coated the ground; as if a blizzard or an avalanche had just passed. It was a go game where white had completely and utterly obliterated its opponent.

"Makemashita"

A voice as soft as falling snow sounded from above him, and for the first time he noticed the shadow that hovered over his canvas.

"…Sai?"

Hikaru paused, the stick still in hand, as he looked up, still in a hunched position.

Sai, knees slightly crouched held his umbrella over Hikaru and smiled.

"Hehe"

—

"So…how come you were at the park? I didn't know Sai-nii lived nearby"

Hikaru asked as he dried his hair with a towel. Currently he was a few streets away from the park in Sai's apartment.
He had been pretty surprised when someone had voiced out to him at the park in such a snowing morning and even more surprised when he found that he recognized the voice.

"I was actually looking for you,"

Hikaru inclined his head. He didn't recall receiving any messages from Sai, but he HAD been immersed in his game in the snow

"I hope you're fine with hot cocoa"

Sai said as he placed a two steaming hot cups of cocoa on the coffee table infront of the sofa. Beside it, he placed a plate of cookies to compliment the drinks. Hikaru nodded.

"You weren't on NetGo for most of the day, and I didn't have a match today so I thought I could come find you at your house. But when I arrived, the lights were off and there didn't seem to be anyone home"

That was because I was locked out as soon as I came home from buying tea, Hikaru voiced his complaints in his mind. If he hadn't been without a key, he would undoubtedly be warm at home happily playing NetGo or studying kifu. But no, he couldn't even get in the house even if he wanted to.

"So when I walked around the neighborhood and saw a kid without an umbrella alone at the park, i walked over to make sure they wouldn't catch a cold. But to think that Kou-chan was that kid. I was so surprised hahah"

"Well i'm sorry for being a kid"

To think that Sai would go up to strangers playing in the snow to prevent them from catching colds. Hikaru's evaluation of Sai rose slightly. So he isn't completely a Go nut.

"But it's better this way! If Karu-chan wasn't a kid then I wouldn't be able to have a younger brother!"

Karu…Kou…?
Hikaru had felt something was weird when Sai and Ogata came over the other day, but he didn't grasp it until now. Sai called him 'Kou' when he was talking to him and switched to 'Karu' or 'Hikaru' when he was talking to his grandparents. But his grandparents knew his handle so there was no real need to keep switching around.

"Kou or Hikaru, choose one. It's hard to respond when my name keeps changing with each sentence"

Sai picked up his cup and blew on it slightly before taking a sip.

"Hmm…then I'll stick with 'Kou-chan'"

Hikaru hummed in acceptance and rummaged through his bag before taking out two shrink compressed packets of tea leaves. He had bought five because the Shindou residence were large fans of green tea, but since his grandfather decided it would be funny to lock him out, he could do without his portion.

"You can have this"

"Ah thank you! But to think Kou-chan carries tea packs with him all day"

No I don't! What sort of strange image do you have of me!?

"…"

Wait this is the first time I've been to anyone but Akari's house! What am I supposed to do after greeting them? Wait, am I even supposed to say something?

Hikaru looked up at Sai who was standing up with his own cup of Hot Cocoa in hand. Sai met his gaze and smiled.

"So…let's play a game!~"

"Huh? Ah…okay?"

Something tells me this isn't the normal procedure…but meh. If it's not cold, and I can play go then anywhere is fine. As long as it's not a go salon, Hikaru thought offhandedly as he followed Sai to the goban.

Pachi

Pachi

Pachi

.

"Makemashita"

Hikaru bowed his head an announced his defeat. The style he was developing was starting to take shape but getting the layers of his traps to connect while he defended himself from Sai's offenses was alot of difficult than he had officially planned. Sometimes he would be able to read ahead enough for him to create a few layers of traps, but then Sai's offense would cut it off before he could strengthen it. This caused him to abandon many of his traps midway and make new ones. If he could somehow train himself to picture more situations and read further ahead, even his failures could work to his advantage. If he could use his opponents offenses as within his own traps…Yes, just like that game. That fresh snowfield he had created that day. It was like solving a tsumego with a trap within a game. Instead of searching for a winning move or getting out of a sticky situation, he needed to be able to think of layered traps for every situation. That was the only way to coat the entire board with the snow he adored so much.

Suddenly he felt a strong grip on his shoulder and swung his head around by instinct.
With one hand on his shoulder and the other on the bridge of his glasses, one glared at him with an evil glint.

"Uwah!"

So scary! Ogata…Seiji right? What does this guy want…when did he get here…

He must have had made a weird face because Sai suddenly started laughing.

"Haha. Your match ended already?"

"Fujiwara, if Shindou Hikaru does not sign up for this year's pro exam, lets bring in Akira." Ogata announced while standing up.

Ogata had the key to Fujiwara's apartment due to the many times where Fujiwara would not answer the door when in the middle of a NetGo game or for some reason or another. That's why when there was no reaction after ringing the doorbell three times, he decided to let himself in. But instead of there being a single pair of shoes at the entrance, he was surprised to find another much smaller pair beside Fujiwara's own.

It's Kou's. No doubt about it. He quickened his pace and peered into the living room. Unless Fujiwara had adopted a son or miraculously maintained a student with his quirky personality he needed to find out who ASAP. Before the kid was scarred for life. But as soon as he spotted Kou's unique blonde and brunette hair, he knew it could be no-one else.

As he got closer he knew why nobody answered the doorbell. Both Kou and Fujiwara were in the middle of a game. If he didn't know any better he would have concluded that Fujiwara was in the lead, but knowing Kou's weird style, he didn't make any assumptions. There was no telling what was around the corner. Ogata silently took a seat on the side and watched the shapes take place slowly.

Ogata has seen a few of Kou's completed games and a few of his kifu, but the style was quite unpredictable. Just watching the game between the two, he could see traps being deactivated but he couldn't see them being placed. It was only after a few moves that he would see a trap take place or realize when one of fujiwara's moves had worked to his disadvantage. But Kou had a style that got you paranoid. Was what he was seeing all there was to his plan? These sort of questions filled his mind, and made his blood boil in excitement. If this sort of player was to appear in the pro circuit, just what sort of impact would it have on those traditional plays?

With such thoughts running through his mind, Ogata wasted no time as Hikaru announced his defeat.

"Fujiwara, if Shindou Hikaru does not sign up for this year's pro exam, lets bring in Touya Akira."

As a member of Touya Meijin's study group he was more than aware how much of a talent the Meijin's son Touya Akira was in the go world. He was straight forward and not that different from Fujiwara in terms of being a go-addict. He didn't know if Hikaru was as obsessed as Akira was, but he was sure that if Touya Akira was introduced to someone his own age with abilities far above his own, he would chase them across town just to face them across the goban. With that sort of enthusiasm even Hikaru wouldn't be able to deny him. Hopefully.

"Ah that's right, Akira was going to take the pro exam this year too. Kou-chan should sign up too!" Sai suggested with gleaming eyes.

But before Hikaru could deal with the pro exam problem, he had one thing he needed to know.

"Who is this Touya Akira anyways?"

In the end, Ogata and Sai dragged Hikaru off for dinner after hearing (and laughing) about him not being able to go home until past nine. Taking it as an opportunity, they also gave him an hour lecture about the go world and all its 'important people' (and their family). But after ten minutes, Hikaru concluded that he couldn't care less and he should save his brain space thinking of better traps rather that remembering the names of some foreign go players whose names he couldn't even pronounce. If Sai introduces him to this Touya Akira guy, it better be on NetGo, because he doesn't want some guy he doesn't know the face of, chasing him around town. If it was NetGo, he didn't care who it was, he would play them without discrimination.

Speaking of which,
"If it's the pro exam, then I'm already registered"

Well technically it was Jii-chan, but same difference.

In response, Sai let out a surprised "Eh?" and Ogata almost spat out his soup.

"Eh eh!? What? When? Where? How!?"
If Sai was an anime character, he'd probably have swirls in his eyes.

"I was also registered for last years, and the year before that" Hikaru announced as if it was the most normal thing in the world.

"You have to have a pro's recommendation in order to register. How did you, who didn't even take the insei exam, get registered?" Ogata eyes him. Ogata had no doubt that if what Hikaru said was true, he didn't attend a single of those three pro exams.

"I wasn't the one who filled the form. Ask Jii-chan" Hikaru answered uncaringly as he slurped his grabbed his ramen with his chopsticks. True to Ogata's thoughts, Hikaru's grandfather has registered him or the pro exam and the insei exams many times but he somehow managed to find excuses to not attend each time. Hikaru had no intention of going pro so he was going to be as stubborn as he could in regards this matter.

The next morning Ogata Seiji made his way to the Go Association receptionist with one goal in mind. Hikaru had made the shocking announcement that he HAD been registered for the pro exam. Only he had absolutely no intention of attending. Thats where Akira comes in. If Hikaru really has been registered, all he had to do was perk Akira's interest and everything was fall in place.

"Ah Ogata-sensei! Good Morning, how can I help you?" the receptionist greeting with her business smile.

"Ah regarding the go-exam, I would like to recommend someone" Ogata replied while glancing at the entrance. It was still eight in the morning, and there wasn't many people around aside from some pros and inseis who wanted to do some early morning kifu study.

"It's strange to see Ogata-sensei interested in an insei when everyone else has got their eyes on Touya Akira"

"Not an insei, an ordinary civilan"

"Not an insei you say? Can I have a name?" The reception asked with her hands ready on the keyboard, ready to search the database.

"Shindou Hikaru, an high-schooler around the same age as Akira"

"If it's Shindou Hikaru, as in Shindou Heihachi's grandson then he's already registered. His name has been registered in the system every year but he's never showed up in the exam. Some examiners wonder if he even exists but the other receptionist apparently saw him with Shirakawa-sensei" the receptionist answered with a curious expression. Judging from how she didn't even need to type in Hikaru's name, Ogata confirmed the validity of Hikaru's claim.

"Tch that kid…" Ogata muttered under his breath as he took out his phone.
He had taken a picture of the completed game between Fujiwara and Hikaru and remembered the games Fujiwara had replayed. It should be more than enough to reel Akira in.

Quickly opening his email, Ogata attached the photos he took yesterday and sent them to Akira's email. It was just past eight so there was no doubt that Akira was awake.

The response came no more than a few minutes later.

"What is this game!?"

Hook.

"Fujiwara and a friend of his"

"Who played white?"

Line.

"A player named Kou, he's not pro"

The next thing he knew, his phone was showing the 'incoming call' screen.

Ogata slid his finger across the 'answer call' key.

"Hello?"

"Did you see the game!? How was it played!? I can't figure out how it was played at all!"

And sinker.

The go world is going to get a whole lot more interesting.