Fifthmus Fic: Territories (For trixie_chick, From therhoda)
TITLE: Territories
AUTHOR: therhoda
RECIPIENT: trixie_chick, requests
PAIRING: Isumi/Waya
SUMMARY: Isumi and Waya - "capturing territory."
It all started with one of Waya's ideas. He pitched it during their weekly practice game on sunday, something like this, “Isumi, I want you to play a three stone handicap game against me?”
“Waya is that a good idea?” Isumi asked, looking up from his copy of weekly go.
“Sure! This is perfect. I need to up my game.”
“Waya, we're pretty even, skill-wise. Why am I getting the handicap?” laying the paper to the side.
“Of course we are even Isumi, but with this kind of advantage you are bound to win, unless I bring my game to a new level. Isumi, I am so tired of losing to people like Touya,” he growls, “I am going to get to that level, I am!”
“Waya, we will get there,” gesturing with his hands in a forward motion. “You can't force it.”
“Are we both going to get there Isumi?” Waya questions as he moves to sit across the goban from Isumi. “I just don't know anymore.”
“Waya,” Looking at the slumped shoulders across from him, Isumi sighs, “All right I will do it.”
“Thanks Isumi.”
The game starts with a basic moves, Waya becoming aggressive right away. Isumi just shores up the advantage his handicap has given him. Waya's offensive is fast and furious.
As the game goes on, Isumi notices Waya slowing down his play and concentrating on capturing territory. Traps are common from Waya, though he isn't hiding them too well in his haste. The game comes to almost the end game when Waya concedes.
“Awe man, I got behind!” Waya wails as he falls to the side.
“A three stones handicap was a bit much Waya.”
“No, I don't think it was, really.” he sighs, “I feel the same kind of panic in some of the games in the leagues when I face strong opponents,” Waya confesses quietly.
“You panic?” Isumi asks.
“Sometimes.” Waya looks towards the window at the side of his apartment. “I don't mean to,” he pauses again, “I just can't seem to help it.”
“Waya, you have been a pro for years now.”
“In some ways it's worse now than when I started.” He pauses, lost in thought. “ I know now just how good the other pros are.”
“You mean you were less troubled before you were on an even field with them?” Isumi is slowly clearing the board.
“In some ways.” Waya face slides into a blank look, until only his eyes seem to have light. “It's like the time I saw Hikaru play for the Hon'inbo league. He was facing Morishita Sensei with that stupid fan of his clutched in his fist. The tension in the air was thick enough to choke on, for just a league match. I want to play matches like that.”
“You will. You keep getting better, Waya. Just like the rest of us.” Isumi tries to reassure Waya.
Waya's eyes swing from the window to focus back on Isumi. “Don't you want to be better Isumi?”
“I do. I just know, I am getting better.” Isumi finishes gathering up the stones, shifting the bowls to either side of the goban before looking up and meeting Waya's eyes. “If you were to compare the insei me to the me in china then that one to the me of the pro exam, and finish up with now. I am not only better now, but I have gotten progressively better.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes, I am sure, Waya. None of us have stayed the same. Didn't you beat Shindo last month.”
Ways looks happy for a minute then his face falls again, “He was sick.”
“A win is a win.”
“Yes, but I don't want my wins to be when the opponent is just too bloody minded to stay home sick when he should have. Besides, he gave me that cold. Stupid idiot was slimy and dripping every where but refused to just forfeit. I swear he has a complex about that- no one would have said anything. It's been years since he was such a spaz.”
“I have heard some of the higher dans use it against him still.” Isumi muses a little. “ Ogata, I know, never fails to bring it up when he's around Shindo.”
“Ogata will use anything, even rumors, if he thinks it will rattle you before a match.”
“The higher dans seem to think that is the way to keep ahead of the rest of the pack.”
“I don't think that will work for us though.” Waya's unusually serious face settles into a frown. “ I don't want to have to play games outside of the board with kids; it's demeaning.”
“The domination of your opponent mentally is part of the game, Waya. It's why any game between you and Touya is going to be a forgone conclusion. You're just not ready to take him on- he and you know this- but a game between you and Fuko is going to be interesting. Neither of you know who's going to win so either of you could do so.”
“I can to beat Fuko!”
A wave of a hand is the only answer to this declaration. Isumi eyes go back to the goban. “You know, if we started giving each other a single stone handicap we could make it harder for each other.” Isumi glances over at the still frowning Waya. “ But we would have to switch who plays handicapped. I am not going to find myself losing because I have gotten lazy and used to a free stone.”
“Really, Isumi? You'll do it again?”
“Sometimes, I think that it could be a good way to learn how to expand your territories from behind a handicap.”
“So it's a strategy huh.”
Isumi stares ruefully at his friend. “Waya the whole game is strategy.”
“I know that.”
A slightly raised eyebrow and an amused smile seem to hover on Isumi's face at this.
Waya can't help to try again. “I know that the games is all about strategy, but the difference is I think we shouldn't play with each other outside the actual game.”
Isumi's head just shakes as he looks over at Waya.
Waya looks back, “I mean it. Just because I know how to mess with people our age doesn't mean I should you know.”
Isumi just keeps eye contact.
“What I know things.” Waya blusters.
“Like what?”
“Well to upset Ochi you just have to mention Touya and Shindo and anything they might have been doing or done. To upset you I would mention your sister. To upset Shindo it's another Sai rumor. Touya, it's anything untoward about Shindo. There's more. I bet I know something to upset just about every pro under thirty. Why would I want to though? Winning that way wouldn't be really winning. It would also cost me friendships that do help me improve and get better, which doesn't seem to be a good idea.”
“You know, you're the one complaining you can't advance.”
“It shouldn't take doing things like that to advance.”
Isumi takes a drink of his canned tea. “That is how the top dans have got there Waya. They have used everything they have to climb to the top. The only ones I can think of that are upper dans that haven't are Shindo and Touya.” He takes another sip of tea, “They are so particular that I don't know if they even notice most of the crap thrown at them by anyone but Ogata.”
“Ogata sure had Shindo's number. I swear the easiest way to make him turn white is to say, 'Hi Ogata-sensei,' in his hearing.” Waya chuckles quietly.
“Anyway in hopes of capturing something, it's my turn to give you a handicap do you want three or one?”
Waya looking offended sniffs, “One, of course. Not like you're going to win with just that much territory as a give away.” he says, placing two black stones.
“Don't count your territory before you win it. Waya.” Isumi warns as he leans over to place his first white stone. “Nothing in go is for sure at the beginning but that one player is white and the other black.”
AUTHOR: therhoda
RECIPIENT: trixie_chick, requests
PAIRING: Isumi/Waya
SUMMARY: Isumi and Waya - "capturing territory."
It all started with one of Waya's ideas. He pitched it during their weekly practice game on sunday, something like this, “Isumi, I want you to play a three stone handicap game against me?”
“Waya is that a good idea?” Isumi asked, looking up from his copy of weekly go.
“Sure! This is perfect. I need to up my game.”
“Waya, we're pretty even, skill-wise. Why am I getting the handicap?” laying the paper to the side.
“Of course we are even Isumi, but with this kind of advantage you are bound to win, unless I bring my game to a new level. Isumi, I am so tired of losing to people like Touya,” he growls, “I am going to get to that level, I am!”
“Waya, we will get there,” gesturing with his hands in a forward motion. “You can't force it.”
“Are we both going to get there Isumi?” Waya questions as he moves to sit across the goban from Isumi. “I just don't know anymore.”
“Waya,” Looking at the slumped shoulders across from him, Isumi sighs, “All right I will do it.”
“Thanks Isumi.”
The game starts with a basic moves, Waya becoming aggressive right away. Isumi just shores up the advantage his handicap has given him. Waya's offensive is fast and furious.
As the game goes on, Isumi notices Waya slowing down his play and concentrating on capturing territory. Traps are common from Waya, though he isn't hiding them too well in his haste. The game comes to almost the end game when Waya concedes.
“Awe man, I got behind!” Waya wails as he falls to the side.
“A three stones handicap was a bit much Waya.”
“No, I don't think it was, really.” he sighs, “I feel the same kind of panic in some of the games in the leagues when I face strong opponents,” Waya confesses quietly.
“You panic?” Isumi asks.
“Sometimes.” Waya looks towards the window at the side of his apartment. “I don't mean to,” he pauses again, “I just can't seem to help it.”
“Waya, you have been a pro for years now.”
“In some ways it's worse now than when I started.” He pauses, lost in thought. “ I know now just how good the other pros are.”
“You mean you were less troubled before you were on an even field with them?” Isumi is slowly clearing the board.
“In some ways.” Waya face slides into a blank look, until only his eyes seem to have light. “It's like the time I saw Hikaru play for the Hon'inbo league. He was facing Morishita Sensei with that stupid fan of his clutched in his fist. The tension in the air was thick enough to choke on, for just a league match. I want to play matches like that.”
“You will. You keep getting better, Waya. Just like the rest of us.” Isumi tries to reassure Waya.
Waya's eyes swing from the window to focus back on Isumi. “Don't you want to be better Isumi?”
“I do. I just know, I am getting better.” Isumi finishes gathering up the stones, shifting the bowls to either side of the goban before looking up and meeting Waya's eyes. “If you were to compare the insei me to the me in china then that one to the me of the pro exam, and finish up with now. I am not only better now, but I have gotten progressively better.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes, I am sure, Waya. None of us have stayed the same. Didn't you beat Shindo last month.”
Ways looks happy for a minute then his face falls again, “He was sick.”
“A win is a win.”
“Yes, but I don't want my wins to be when the opponent is just too bloody minded to stay home sick when he should have. Besides, he gave me that cold. Stupid idiot was slimy and dripping every where but refused to just forfeit. I swear he has a complex about that- no one would have said anything. It's been years since he was such a spaz.”
“I have heard some of the higher dans use it against him still.” Isumi muses a little. “ Ogata, I know, never fails to bring it up when he's around Shindo.”
“Ogata will use anything, even rumors, if he thinks it will rattle you before a match.”
“The higher dans seem to think that is the way to keep ahead of the rest of the pack.”
“I don't think that will work for us though.” Waya's unusually serious face settles into a frown. “ I don't want to have to play games outside of the board with kids; it's demeaning.”
“The domination of your opponent mentally is part of the game, Waya. It's why any game between you and Touya is going to be a forgone conclusion. You're just not ready to take him on- he and you know this- but a game between you and Fuko is going to be interesting. Neither of you know who's going to win so either of you could do so.”
“I can to beat Fuko!”
A wave of a hand is the only answer to this declaration. Isumi eyes go back to the goban. “You know, if we started giving each other a single stone handicap we could make it harder for each other.” Isumi glances over at the still frowning Waya. “ But we would have to switch who plays handicapped. I am not going to find myself losing because I have gotten lazy and used to a free stone.”
“Really, Isumi? You'll do it again?”
“Sometimes, I think that it could be a good way to learn how to expand your territories from behind a handicap.”
“So it's a strategy huh.”
Isumi stares ruefully at his friend. “Waya the whole game is strategy.”
“I know that.”
A slightly raised eyebrow and an amused smile seem to hover on Isumi's face at this.
Waya can't help to try again. “I know that the games is all about strategy, but the difference is I think we shouldn't play with each other outside the actual game.”
Isumi's head just shakes as he looks over at Waya.
Waya looks back, “I mean it. Just because I know how to mess with people our age doesn't mean I should you know.”
Isumi just keeps eye contact.
“What I know things.” Waya blusters.
“Like what?”
“Well to upset Ochi you just have to mention Touya and Shindo and anything they might have been doing or done. To upset you I would mention your sister. To upset Shindo it's another Sai rumor. Touya, it's anything untoward about Shindo. There's more. I bet I know something to upset just about every pro under thirty. Why would I want to though? Winning that way wouldn't be really winning. It would also cost me friendships that do help me improve and get better, which doesn't seem to be a good idea.”
“You know, you're the one complaining you can't advance.”
“It shouldn't take doing things like that to advance.”
Isumi takes a drink of his canned tea. “That is how the top dans have got there Waya. They have used everything they have to climb to the top. The only ones I can think of that are upper dans that haven't are Shindo and Touya.” He takes another sip of tea, “They are so particular that I don't know if they even notice most of the crap thrown at them by anyone but Ogata.”
“Ogata sure had Shindo's number. I swear the easiest way to make him turn white is to say, 'Hi Ogata-sensei,' in his hearing.” Waya chuckles quietly.
“Anyway in hopes of capturing something, it's my turn to give you a handicap do you want three or one?”
Waya looking offended sniffs, “One, of course. Not like you're going to win with just that much territory as a give away.” he says, placing two black stones.
“Don't count your territory before you win it. Waya.” Isumi warns as he leans over to place his first white stone. “Nothing in go is for sure at the beginning but that one player is white and the other black.”