Today’s Episode is: The Fated Encounter.
Today we get another side story, this time Akira’s life before he met Hikaru. Akira was a Go prodigy, no question about it. He didn’t compete with other children, he wasn’t an Insei. He was strong enough in sixth grade to go pro. Everyone he played Go with was substantially older than he was and he had no real friends his own age. Maybe that was why Akira was dissatisfied with himself. Along comes this other boy – the child Meijin. He has beaten all opponents. He even plays with the owner of a company his father does business with once a week. He is very arrogant. He is also upset when he hears Akira’s reputation – he knows no one will pay attention to him unless he beats Akira. He finds out where the Go salon is that Akira goes to, and he challenges Akira. Too bad for him. Akira really is a nice guy, fairly easygoing – except when it comes to Go. When he starts playing, Akira almost becomes a different person. The boy looses. Shortly after, Akira plays his best game for a while against his father and the Meijn praises him. This lifts Akira’s spirits and he thinks maybe it is about time for him to go pro. Of course that is the afternoon that Hikaru wanders into that same Go salon . . .
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