Hikaru No Go Fan Fiction ❯ Outplayed ❯ A Game Analysis ( Chapter 4 )

As you probably know, I don't own Hikaru no Go and appreciate the owners letting me play in their universe. I definitely don't make any money from this fic.

 

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Akira and Hikaru were at Hikaru's house replaying an old game Hikaru and Sai had played. Since Akira started coming over Hikaru had invested in two nice cushions for the floor. That was the only significant change in his room. They found it usually only made sense to replay the games played after Hikaru became an insei. With the ones prior to that Hikaru really couldn't play up to a high enough level to keep up with Sai even a little bit and they were not as helpful to them. Both of them were frustrated when they tried to review the younger Hikaru's level of game. Akira would occasionally make references to that old middle school tournament match.

 

“Hey, give me a break, Touya. I'd been playing for something like 6 months when I'd played in that middle school game. Of course I was still lousy,” Hikaru told him with a grin on his face.

 

“I wanted to play Sai, not you. I just didn't realize it,” Akira responded. Hikaru laughed.

 

“Yeah, and I wanted to play you so I hijacked the game part way through. You were real angry about that, weren't you? That's exactly why I said if you fixated on my ghost, I'd catch up to you.”

 

“I worked so hard to get ready for that game so I was very angry and also really confused when we actually played it. It certainly explains why the first part of the game seemed so good and then it totally fell apart. It fell apart when you took over and stopped letting Sai play. You know, it seems to me the only time I've ever gotten really mad was when you were involved. Hmm, it says something, doesn't it?” Akira pointed out.

 

“Akari says I'm good at getting people to lose their temper. It must be a talent of mine. I remember some of the things I said to her when I was twelve and it's a wonder she even speaks to me today. Frankly, it's a wonder she didn't kill me. I was a horror to her.” The two boys laughed and continued reviewing the game they were studying.

 

At first Hikaru would recreate the entire game between him and Sai on the goban and then Hikaru and Akira got in the habit of playing it forward from about the mid game point. They tried to figure out ways Hikaru could have won. It was difficult especially since Hikaru knew Sai would have changed his hands to match their attempts. Part of what they did was to create a lot of kifu of the more recent games and then study Sai's ways. Hikaru had purchased a computer with some of his earnings and got an electronic kifu system program to use with it. Akira was astonished at the level of game Sai played as he got used to modern joseki.

 

“He truly was brilliant. I can see why he is considered the best player ever. His methods from the end of the internet matches were better than the beginning ones and that was only during the two month period of summer vacation. In that short amount of time he seems to have picked up and incorporated modern techniques and become even more powerful than before.”

 

“He certainly was, and every bit of that power was directed against me every single game.”

 

“Didn't he play teaching games against you?”

 

“Not really. He played teaching games with anyone and everyone including you and Akari, but no, Hikaru never got any teaching game, at least not after I'd really started to learn the game. He always seemed to go full force against me. Actually, that's why I kept losing when I first became an insei. Subconsciously, I expected everyone to attack with the same force Sai used and so I developed a habit of attacking tentatively myself.” Hikaru grimaced.

 

“In other words, you didn't stick your head out very far because you expected it to get lopped off,” Akira said.

 

“Exactly. I didn't realize it of course, but Sai figured it out. Every time I went out to attack on the goban a part of me expected to get sliced and diced with the power of Shuusaku's sword. Even after he figured out the problem he still went at me full force. He just kept doing it until I finally managed to ignore the fear and attack back using full force. It was actually pretty cool the first time I did it. It felt good.”

 

“Did it work?”

 

“No,” Hikaru sighed. “Sai just did something else brilliant and unexpected and sliced me in two.”

 

“Well that certainly explains why you are fearless now on the goban. I was crushed after losing to him twice. That second game was especially shocking. I can't imagine getting defeated like that every night.”

 

“It certainly taught me to accept defeat.”

 

“Oh, yes, you accept defeat SO well,” Akira said sarcastically.

 

“I hate losing,” Hikaru agreed. “But so do you. You were really upset when you lost that second game against Sai all those years ago.”

 

“I certainly was. He crushed me. No one but my father had ever been able to do such a thing,” Akira said.

 

“Sai told me he was going to try to make that second game a teaching game but you were too good and attacking too fiercely. `Baring his fangs at me' was the way he put it. He had underestimated you early in the game. Sai said if he hadn't attacked full force and crushed you he might have lost the battle. So he pulled out his sword and sliced you in two.”

 

“He certainly did that. I was stunned this kid who couldn't even hold the go stones could do that to me. It just blew me away.” Akira could easily remember the shock and dismay three years later.

 

“Well, now you know it was Sai. Does it make you feel better he had 1,000 years of experience?” Hikaru said with a smile.

 

“He truly was a genius. He did that without even knowing the modern techniques at the time.” Akira was still somewhat amazed at how easily Sai had crushed him.

 

“You're right about that. He kept saying he learned from everyone he played. We tried to find competent players on the internet, but he learned from everyone. He was amazing, absolutely amazing. That's why I was so angry at Ko Yeung-ha. I wanted to crush him. He insulted Sai.”

 

“It was a translator problem.” Akira reminded him.

 

“No, the original comment causing the confusion was a translator problem. After that he did it deliberately to insult Shuusaku and make me angry.” Hikaru was getting worked up again.

 

“He succeeded brilliantly. This all explains why you took it so badly when you lost. The insults were not about a famous player who was long dead. They were about your sensei and friend.”

 

“Damn it,” Hikaru said and smacked the wall. He was still not over that loss completely. “I couldn't defend him. My go wasn't strong enough. If Ko Yeung-Ha had been facing Sai he would have been destroyed. I wanted him crushed into shards of bone and dust in front of the goban and I COULDN'T do it. Damn it. I failed. I wasn't strong enough.”

 

Akira just eyed his friend and said nothing. There really wasn't much to say. He could tell Hikaru was starting to get himself worked up about the loss and Akira knew from long experience the best way to handle it was to say nothing and wait a few minutes for Hikaru to finish his thought and then divert him back to the game or whatever else they had been doing at the time Hikaru thought of `the infamous loss.”

 

Akira knew Hikaru still wasn't ready to hear the truth, which was that it was an amazing game anyone would have been proud to play; that he came within a half moku of winning against a superior player with nerves honed by years of experience in the media spotlight; and finally, that for all his ability at go, Ko Yeung-ha was an immature child who should have been spanked and made to stand in the corner instead of allowed to represent his country.