Cherish the time

Zuowei's departure did not bring much change to Shindo Hikaru's life.

——Except that every game of chess now has to be played by him.

Although this can't be called a kind of trouble, it makes people very...unaccustomed.

Every two days, he always subconsciously waits in front of the chessboard for the clear and pleasant voice of the purple-haired man in his memory to ring in his ears, and he always reacts after a moment—that voice and the owner of the voice are... gone up.

Of course, there are many other habits like this.

For example, the subconscious "good morning" when waking up in the morning, or a small desk lamp and chess books spread out unconsciously before going to bed...

Whenever these habitual actions appear, Shinto will always be a little bit at a loss for a while, and then continue to do what he should do.

…no problem.

Shinto Hikaru told himself this.

He just needs a little time...to form new habits.

Just as Shindo gradually got used to Zuowei's departure and formed new habits, the Japanese Go world also swept away the silence of the past, and ushered in a thriving new atmosphere.

This is a year of big reshuffle.

One month after Taya Yukihiro announced his decision to retire due to illness, the Fanqi decisive battles for the three titles of tenth dan, chess master, and throne originally held under his name were all declared over, and the three newly created title holders They are Ogata Shidan, Zama Throne and Yamashita Chess Master.

Adding the original Ichiryu Gosei and Shindo Hikaru, the holders of the seven titles suddenly changed from three to five.

All of a sudden, all kinds of Go comments spread all over the sky, and predictions and discussions about the future of Japanese Go became the mainstream topic of interest in major Go newspapers and periodicals.

Time jumps to the Saturday after Ogata won the [-]th dan title by defeating Kobayashi's [-]th dan.

Shinto, who had a game that day, came to the chess academy early.

It was very coincidental to run into Taya who also came early.

"Good morning, Xiaoliang." Shinto greeted him a little strangely, "Why so early?" He remembered that Taya should have no match today.

"Good morning." Taya nodded and replied, "I'm invited to participate in today's event."

"Ah...is this it?" Shinto pointed to an extra signboard in the hall, which read: The Ministry of Culture and Culture Chess Exchange Meeting will end here, "...Thank you for your hard work."

"...The Chess Institute originally planned to invite you." Ta Yaliang sighed, and said with a very flat expression, "But considering that you really can't make time in your itinerary, so I gave up."

However, Shinto could see from his flat expression that his current mood was slightly depressed.

——Is it because... I wasted the time playing chess... Is it...

The corners of Jinteng's mouth hooked slightly.

...This is...Taya Ryo.

Thinking of this, a faint sense of pride welled up in his heart.

——This is...Taya Ryo!

Ta Yaliang didn't know what was going on in his mind, just chatted with him casually, and then planned to go over.

Shinto patted him on the shoulder, "It's good to relax once in a while." It was his last relief.

Ta Yaliang nodded to him without any response, and was about to leave.

"Wait a minute." Shinto suddenly remembered something, and stopped him again, "—I forgot to bring my bag to go out today, please help me carry it first." The one that was taken out of the tight pocket, It was his tan flip phone.

Ta Yaliang took it without any nonsense, and put it in his pocket after changing hands - he doesn't need to kneel and sit in the game, but it will be much more comfortable than Shinto.

"Have fun—remember to wait for me to eat together." Shinto made a cheering gesture to him.

"...You too." Ta Ya Ryo paused for a moment, and then said softly.

……

"...So you played one-on-three guiding chess for the last time?" Shinto walked out of the chess academy with Taya while drinking water, "How do you feel?"

"It's still manageable." Ta Yaliang walked beside him unhurriedly, with an off-white coat on his arm.

"Next time I have a chance, I would also like to try one-on-two with you and Kazuya." Shinto smiled, "It's been a long time since I tried one-on-many chess... Huh? Mr. Ogata?"

The silver-white sports car stopped slowly in front of the two, and Ogata, who was sitting in the driver's seat, waved to them.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Ogata, congratulations on getting the tenth-dan title." Taya bowed his head slightly.

"Good afternoon, Ogata Judan, congratulations on the success of the challenge." Shinto also bowed his head in salute, but his words seemed much more casual than Taya.

"Good afternoon, Xiaoguang, Xiaoliang." Ogata nodded in response, then tilted his head to signal the two to get into the car.

The two hesitated for a moment, but did not move.

"Come with me to have a meal, it's a celebration for me." Ogata explained casually, and leaned over to open the rear door for the two of them.

Shinto and Taya looked at each other, then sat in the back seat of the sports car.

A faint smell of smoke immediately rushed into Shinto's nostrils, making him frown a little uncomfortable.

——It's been a long time since I saw Ogata smoking, he almost forgot that this guy had a mid-term lung cancer on his back in his previous life.

"Sorry, does it smell like smoke?" Ogata turned on the ventilation function in the car, and lightly opened the brake and clutch, and the sports car started slowly.

"Xiao Liang, how is the teacher's health?" Not long after the car was on the road, Ogata asked about Taya Yukihiro's situation.

"Now the physical index is very stable, but because the doctor told him that he can play chess for up to two hours a day, he showed some dissatisfaction." Taya spoke out his father's petty temper without any concealment. .

...If it was Zuo, it would definitely be the same.

Shindo couldn't help but smile slightly when he thought of this.

Ogata, who also heard Xiaoliang's description to his father, also gave a low smile, but after a while, the low smile turned into a wry smile, "...speaking of it... I got the title without fighting with the teacher, I always feel opportunistic suspicion."

"Please don't say that," Taya shook his head, "Mr. Ogata's strength, my father has always recognized it."

Hearing this, Ogata shook his head and smiled, but didn't continue to say anything.

"Speaking of which, how is Mr. Ogata's game today?" Shinto intervened quite appropriately, and gave another topic that can be continued, "Yamashita Chess Master is not an easy opponent to defeat."

"It's really not easy." Ogata raised the corners of his lips slightly, and his silver-gray pupils showed a little pride, "But in the end, he was lucky enough to win half of the eyes." That look was clearly saying that he didn't feel this victory. It was a "fluke".

"It's really proud." Shinto teased him, "I'm just looking forward to seeing you in the final."

"It's better to expect me to beat you in the final." Ogata replied casually, the self-confidence revealed in his words made him seem to be covered with a layer of brilliance.

The three of them have known each other for a long time, and although they came to congratulate Ogata, they would not blindly flatter and praise them, and they enjoyed a mediocre meal.

After dinner, Ogata drove the two of them home.

Along the way, he seemed silent, not knowing what he was thinking.

Shinto and Taya spoke a few words to him casually, seeing that he was a little absent-minded, they stopped looking for topics.

The silver-white sports car drove to the vicinity of Taya's house, and then stopped on the side of the street less than 200 meters away from Taya's house.

"It's a one-way street inside. If you have to go around for too long, I won't let you in." Ogata explained casually, and unlocked the car door, "Send me an email when you get home."

Ta Yaliang agreed and got out of the car.

Shinto followed Taya and got out of the car from the back seat, intending to switch to the passenger seat.

Then Taya said goodbye to the two of them, and walked towards home.

Seeing Xiaoliang's figure disappear at the intersection, Shinto turned his head to look at Ogata who was standing in his pocket, and asked with a smile, "Do you have anything to say to me?"

"Did you see it?" Ogata chuckled, reaching out to adjust his glasses.

"If you come back from the restaurant, it's obviously closer to my house, but you sent Xiaoliang home first..." Jinteng explained casually, "So I think you probably have something to tell me."

When the two started this conversation, Taya, who had already turned the second intersection, suddenly remembered that Xiaoguang's cell phone seemed to be still in his hand.

Then he took out his pocket, and sure enough, he took out the golden-brown mobile phone that Shinto had.

So Ta Yaliang had no choice but to turn around, praying in his heart that the two hadn't gotten into the car and left.

"Since you guessed that I have something to say, why don't you continue to guess what I want to tell you?" Oo took a step closer to Shinto's position, and the faint smell of tobacco floated into Shinto's nasal cavity softly and domineeringly .

Shinto frowned subconsciously, resisting the desire to wipe away the smell of smoke from his nose with his hand, "I can't guess."

"Can't you guess..." Ogata smiled, but there was no surprise, "...I guessed that it would probably be like this."

Shinto looked at him quietly, and what was reflected in those clear brown eyes was Ogata's appearance.

Taya Ryo turned around the first street corner, and saw Shinto and Ogata still standing there.

He breathed a sigh of relief, and the pace on his feet slowed down.

At this time, he was still more than 300 meters away from the two, and he could only see that the two were confronting each other, but he didn't know what happened.

But he knew that the two had a good relationship, subconsciously he didn't think there would be any serious disputes, so he continued to walk forward without thinking too much.

Shinto looked at Ogata, and Ogata also looked at Shinto.

The eyes of the two were entangled in the air for a long time.

Then Ogata smiled, squatted down slightly, and naturally put his right hand on Shinto's shoulder.

"…I love you."

Before he finished speaking, his forehead was lightly pressed against Shinto's.

"Would you like to try?"

Taya Ryo stopped involuntarily.

Although he couldn't hear Ogata's words of love, the scene he saw was really beyond what he expected.

Something that he didn't understand, and never thought he would understand, just appeared in front of his eyes abruptly.

——Mr. Ogata and Xiaoguang have a good relationship.

He knows.

But...is it really just a relationship?

He only felt that the whole person was stunned by the scene in front of him, and his mind, which can be called a "genius" in Go, suddenly fell into a state of confusion, and he didn't know how to react to it.

How did it become... like this?