Upon returning to Shiro Akodo to report the safe delivery of the Lion's taxes, Akodo Inejiro was pleasantly surprised to find an invitation waiting for him bearing the symbol of the Crane clan. Opening it, he found that in an effort to improve relations between their clans, O-Doji Koneko had invited the young Lion to a salon/Go tournament in preparation for the upcoming Bon Festival. Young Inejiro presented this invitation to his Daimyo who gave his blessing to attend the event. His lord did remind the young samurai that in the salons of the Crane his every action would be closely scrutinized. One false action would lead to dishonor for both his clan and himself. Armed with this warning, Inejiro gathered his meager belongings and prepared for his journey to Kyuden Doji.
The trip through Lion lands and into the heart of the Crane territories was quiet. As Inejiro approached Kyuden Doji, he was held up by a patrol who demanded to see his travel papers. He presented the papers along with the invitation from O-Doji Koneko. The Gunso leading the patrol eyed the travel papers suspiciously until he saw the invitation. With barely a glance at the Crane document, the Gunso handed the papers back and formed the patrol into an escort into the castle.
Once inside the home of the Doji family, Inejiro was greeted warmly. Servants rushed to show him to his rooms and allow him to refresh himself before greeting the matron of the clan herself. Inejiro hastily bathed the road-dust off his body and dressed himself in his finest kimono.
Walking to the main hall, Inejiro forced himself to keep his head held high as he marveled in the splendor of the Crane. Even his finest kimono was barely above the level of opulance that the servants displayed. Finally, he was led before the lord of this great castle, the Crane Champion Doji Sarutomo and his mother, O-Doji Koneko. Near the throne stood the slim form of Kitsuki Akane, Sarutomo's betrothed, along with a slender bushi wearing the Mirumoto mon and a frowning man wearing the Daidoji mon.
Inejiro approached the dais and bowed low. "I am Akodo Inejiro. It is my honor to be invited into your home. May our clans always be able to extend each other this honor."
A slight smile crossed the face of Doji Sarutomo. "Yes Mother, I see why you insisted on inviting this young Lion. I can see the ferocity of his clan in his eyes, yet he is well spoken and sincere. Akodo-san, you are welcome within my home. I look forward to seeing your Go game."
Inejiro stood to face a smirk from O-Doji Koneko. "Yes, he is somewhat well behaved, for a Lion," she replied. "Though his Go game needs to have improved if he hopes to give a good showing within your court."
Inejiro reached into the hem of his Kimono to produce a small box. "O-Doji-sama, I have brought you this gift in thanks for your invitation." He opened the box to show two Go pieces, one of pearl and another of onyx. "I hope you find them to your liking."
"Akodo-san. I have my own Go set. You should keep them for your own board."
Following the game of refusals, Inejiro replied, "Nonetheless, I would give them to you with honor."
"But Akodo-san, the pearl alone is worth more than your kimono. Surely you could use the pieces to improve your wardrobe."
Not flinching as a snicker arose from the Daidoji, Inejiro replied,"The kimono given to me by my lord fits me well. I would give you this token of a Lion's gratitude."
Koneko smirked a bit as she accepted. "You should not be so quick to be gracious, Akodo-san. There are those who wish to see you fail. You will find your time within these halls trying. I wish you the good will of the Fortunes as I accept your gift." A servant girl stepped forward to take the box from the young Lion. "Now, if you will join us for dinner?"
The hall stood as the Champion rose and made his way to the dining hall along with his mother, fiancée, and the smirking Daidoji. "What interesting times indeed," Inejiro thought.
Dinner was like eating amidst rabid wolves; polite rabid wolves but dangerous
none the less. Young Inejiro did his best to keep above the whispers of the
courtiers. He only spoke when directly addressed and then only to give the most
sterile and non-debatable answer possible. He was probed on nearly every subject
from the strength of the Lion armies to their feelings about the peace provided
by Miya Shikan. Each time he rebuffed their questions by simply stating that he
was of fairly low station, and such things were the decisions of his superiors.
He would simply follow their orders and do his duty. Throughout the meal, the
sneering Daidoji made inflammatory comments about the Lion, but Inejiro remained
above his jabs and refused to engage in the sort of bickering the Daidoji was
looking to draw him into.
In order to keep his mind off the Daidoji, Inejiro found his eyes drawn to a
young maiden seated near O-Doji Koneko. Though wearing Crane colors, she did not
have the look of a Crane, and there were no mons on her Kimono. She also
appeared to be a stranger standing against the wave of Crane interests. For a
brief moment their eyes met, and Inejiro believed he could see a spark of
interest or at least a hint of a question before she looked away. He was so
entranced that he almost missed the Daidoji firing his next verbal shot.
"Akodo-san, I am Daidoji Reyoku. I was wondering if you had ever spent time in the Kintani Valley? I understand it was once a very beautiful place. I was wondering if the flowers grew as well in Crane blood as they did in water?"
Inejiro realized that this was the Daidoji's main attack. If he could defeat him here then he would be free of his taunts at least for the night. "I fear I am not able to help you Reyoku-san. I have never traveled to the lands you speak of. I understand however that the rice produced there feeds many samurai, so I must believe it to still be fertile. As for flowers, I have little knowledge of their growing requirements. It seems to me that with so much beauty displayed around you as your host has graciously provided, one would have little time to worry over the flowers of a far away valley." Inejiro stood with this last statement, raising a cup of sake. "A toast to our gracious host and the honor he brings us by sharing his household. KAMPAI!"
The chorus of courtiers toasting their Daimyo easily drowned out any reply the Daidoji might have uttered, forcing him to join in the young Lion's toast. Reyoku returned to his seat looking as if he had swallowed bad piece of sushi and was for the first time during the meal… silent.
Inejiro looked back towards the mysterious woman to catch her eyes for the flutter of an eyelash and see what he hoped was approval within them.
The next couple of days were a whirlwind of activity as game after game of Go was played amongst the courtiers in the Doji palace. Ever-present were the acknowledged masters of the game, aswell as un-involved courtiers. Their comments could cut deeper than a Kaiu blade and seemed more often than not to be directed at young Inejiro with no mind as to whether he was winning or losing. Inejiro managed to banish their comments from his mind by thinking of the young maiden he had seen the night before. With her look of approval in his mind he found he could block out the comments around him and focus on the Go board before him.
Inejiro lost a few games, and was always generous in defeat. He complimented those who defeated him and wished them well as they progressed through the tournament. For every defeat, however, Inejiro won several games. He defeated several of the Crane favorites including one match with a promising courtier where Inejiro's play actually brought words of compliment from several within the gallery.
When the final pairings were announced, Inejiro had amassed enough points to play for the championship. He was called forward to face the undefeated Reyoku. Each man was given the evening to prepare himself for the game which would begin at dawn the following day.
Inejiro retired to a quiet spot he had found earlier in the week upon a small hill, where he could watch the darkness of night creep across the ocean like a blanket being pulled over the world. As Lady Hitomi came into view, the young Lion began to think about what he knew of the Daidoji. As he contemplated what tactics the other might use and planned his strategy upon his board, a quiet voice spoke over his shoulder.
"May I intrude upon your thoughts Akodo-san?" spoke the feminine voice.
Inejiro couldn't believe his eyes when he looked over his shoulder. It was the beautiful young maiden from dinner. "Hai, you are most welcome to join me." With his heart in his throat it was all the young Lion could do to say that much as the young woman sat across the board from him without ceremony. She seemed to have no escort, and Inejiro worried that her presence might raise questions of propriety, but he was so delighted by her presence he could not bring himself to suggest it aloud.
"You may call me Maihime, but do not speak unless you do not understand something I have said, for we have little time. Tomorrow, Reyoku will try to make an example of you and will begin very aggressively, probably with the Hiruma stance as he wants to quickly defeat you and show that you do not belong within these halls."
"So I had surmised." Inejiro replied.
"You must play into his hand if you wish to defeat him," she continued. "Play the Bayushi defense."
"But that is the weakest defense against the Hiruma stance." Inejiro retorted.
"I understand that, but it will feed his ego. Reyoku is a puny man who gets
enjoyment from belittling others. Instead of watching for a trap he should
transition straight into the Utaku Charge."
"Another stance that will destroy the Bayushi defense," Inejiro replied.
Maihime sighed. "Yes, but one which is vulnerable to the counter offensive of
the Matsu's Claw." She paused for a moment, "I know, you are going to say that
there is no way to switch smoothly to the Matsu's Claw and you should use the
Daidoji trap, but you are wrong. Play briefly in the Rich Fog cover and you can
switch with no confusion. Have you never wondered why the Bayushi defense was so
weak? It is a trap and can be quickly transitioned into any strategy yet
developed for Go. I have found documents where Toturi III defeated his brother
the Shogun using this very same maneuver and the Shogun was recorded as one of
the best players of his day." She paused to look deeply into the young Lion's
eyes. "Do you understand what I have told you?"
"Hai Maihime-sama. I am in your debt for this instruction."
She shook her head. "No, if you win we are even. I wish to that gnat of a man crushed as badly as you do, and if you lose then I obviously wasn't much help. Just remember what I said and you will do me all the honor I need." As she spoke, Maihime reached out and brushed a stray lock of Lion gold hair from Inejiro's face before standing and disappearing into the night as if she was never there.
Inejiro had to blink a couple times to make sure he was still awake after her visit, but his board was clearly set in the Bayushi defense, a solid reminder of what the next day would bring.
As a good portion of the Crane clan filed into the great hall to give support to
their champion, Inejiro for the first time felt truly alone. He cautiously
looked around for the young Maihime, but was unable to find her in the blue
press of bodies. He began to wonder if he truly had been dreaming. Inejiro
closed his eyes and reached down inside himself to find the stillness within. It
was like a great pool of black water that lay as still as the grave. He borrowed
from the stillness to center himself and focus once more on the task at hand,
and defeating the smirking Daidoji Reyoku.
They sat down to play and Reyoku won the right to go first. With his first moves
he fell into the classic Hiruma Stance just as Maihime had predicted. Inejiro
swallowed and fell into the Bayushi defense. Courtiers around the room gasped
and a smile broke out across Reyoku's face as realized what Inejiro was doing.
Reyoku quickly took control of as much as the board as possible while Inejiro
fought to keep him away from the corners. Reyoku then switched to the Utaku
Charge and attacked full on. A surprised look crossed his face just before he
broke into a triumphant grin. The Rich Fog cover was a weak strategy at best,
and he controlled too much board for it to be effective, he was going to
dominate the little Lion!
And Inejiro sprang his trap with a smooth transition into the Matsu's Claw. In five turns the young Lion controlled two thirds of the board and had Reyoku reeling. Four turns later it was over, and Inejiro was the champion. In his frustration, Reyoku seized the board and flung it across the room. "You TRICKED me little Lion!" he screamed at the Akodo.
Inejiro slowly looked him in the eye before calmly replying," No Reyoku-san. I merely allowed you to trick yourself. You played a good game. May the fortunes smile upon you." It took all his will to keep the smile he felt creeping onto his face from appearing on his lips as the Daidoji stalked from the hall, shamed by his terrible loss of face.
"Akodo Inejiro, your have proven yourself both honorable in defeat, and gracious in victory. You have carried the day and proven that you are a young man to watch. Remember your time within my house and if we should ever meet on the field of battle, may there be glory enough for both our names. As the victor I award you this finely crafted Go board. May it serve you well." Doji Sarutomo's voice trailed off amongst the surrounding courtiers. "He played well did he not mother?" he asked as he turned to O-Doji Koneko.
"I suppose he did, my son. He played well... for a Lion."