“Can I help you?”

He was even larger up close. The power emanating off him was suffocating.

“I’m sorry, I was just looking for the tea stores.” Saika turned back; nobody was there. Sou gave her the once over.

“You won’t find those in here. Have we met somewhere before?”

“I usually work in the kitchen, my lord.”

“I visit the kitchen a lot.”

“Down the back.”

“I see.”

He didn’t believe her, that was evident all over his face. The doors behind him to the main room were open. A Go board sat on the table.

“Why are you here? It’s clearly not for tea, which is an awful lie, by the way.”

Saika gave a weak smile. “I’m so sorry my lord, I just… I heard that you played Go, and I’m a fan myself and I just wanted to see what type of board a lord would have, and…”

“You play Go?” His eyebrows raised.

“Yes, my lord.” It was not the most common way for a servant to spend their time, but she was willing to take the chance that his intrigue would win out over his disbelief.

“Are you any good?”

“Well I’ll never be a champion but I like to think I can give people a run for their money.”

Sou smiled. “Come. Let’s play a game.”

He gestured for her to sit at the table.

“This is a gorgeous board, my lord,” she complemented him.

“Thank you. It’s made of 300 year old Kaya tree. It was a gift from my father at my coming of age ceremony.”

“Kaya tree? I thought they stopped making boards from those because they exhausted all the Kaya forests?”

Sou’s eyebrows raised in surprise again. “You’re very knowledgeable.”

Saika pretended to blush and looked down at the table. “Not at all, my lord, I just really like Go, so whenever I get the chance to read about it-”

“You can read, too?”

This had the potential to get messy.

“A little, my lord. My mother taught me women’s characters when I was younger so I could better serve…” She let the sentence trail off, hoping that would be a good enough answer for him.

“I see. And if you are such a Go fanatic, do you keep up with the test problems the scholars put out?”

“I… no, my lord.” No point lying about it. It seemed to be the correct answer anyway as his smile widened.

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“Excellent. This will give me the chance to test out my answer against a real opponent, then.”

He set black and white pieces on the board in a pattern he had memorised well.

“I hope you don’t mind if we start from here?”

“Of course not, my lord.”

“While we’re playing, call me Sou. We’re all equals at this board.”

“Yes my lo-” Saika smiled. “Sorry. Yes, Sou.”

“Good.”

Saika’s Go skills were extremely rusty. The game had been around for hundreds of years, and she had dabbled in it every now and then, but she was by no means a pro. Sou handed her a bowl of white stones and took a black one from his own. He placed it on the board with a soft ‘clack.’

“So, what is your name?” he asked as Saika took out a white stone and observed the board.

“Natsumi.” It was the first name that came to mind.

“And how long have you been playing Go, Natsumi?”

“Since I was a child. My father taught me.”

“Me too.”

He fell quiet. The ninja Saika hired to deliver Mitsuhide’s ‘gift’ to Yashiro Yuki had botched the job and killed their father, Ryobe, instead. Saika didn’t feel epsecially sad with how events played out—given a choice she would have rathered the old man died instead of his innocent daughter—but she was still responsible for his father’s death. Responsible for his current position. But the longer she spent with Sou the less bad she felt about his father’s death; he was already a far more pleasant man to be around.

Sou captured one of her chains. “Impressive,” she smiled. He grinned in return.

“Not gonna lie, I’ve been practicing.”

“Well, it’s paid off.”

Every time she tried to force his hand, he would return with capture or a threat of his own. Either Saika had grown incredibly rusty, or she had greatly underestimated his intelligence. Perhaps a little of both.

“Let me ask you something,” Sou began, placing another black stone on the board with a soft ‘clank.’

“Of course.” Saika picked up a white stone; the clamshell it was made of felt cool to touch. She surveyed the available spaces on the board, looking for any type of advantage.

“If someone took something from you, something important, would you try to get it back?”

There. She placed the stone on the board. It would provide no advantage now, but played correctly it could lead to capture several moves down the track.

“Of course. It’s only natural.”

Her orb. She would see it returned soon.

“But what if taking back what was yours caused even more damage in the process?”

“It is up to each person to decide for themselves what they are willing to risk in the defense of their own. Perhaps it is better to wait and fully understand the situation and risks before committing to action. Perhaps it is better to strike when the strike is unexpected or unprepared for.”

Sou placed a black stone on the board, cutting off Saika’s play before it could even begin. His ability to read the game was tremendous.

“That’s terribly insightful for a serving girl.”

Saika opened her mouth to refute him but he was grinning. She said nothing and picked up another stone.

“So, let’s say someone took something very important to me. Important to my reputation,” he continued. He’d cut off nearly all avenues of attack on the board. She was boxed in. “I can either sit back and just let it settle, losing my reputation at a time when I need it most. There’s also a very good chance that those closest to me would be unhappy with the decision, losing me favour in their eyes.”

“You’re a daimyo, what does that matter to you? Uh… my lord.” Perhaps best not to challenge him, even if he asked her to drop the formal speech.

“What does it matter, whether I’m a daimyo or a peasant? Nobody likes to hurt those closest to them, not when it can be avoided.”

“So, why don’t you avoid it?”

“Because avoiding it could bring about further pain and humiliation, worse than if nothing had been done.”

“Only you can decide what is worth more to you. Whether it’s the right or wrong choice is meaningless. There is no right or wrong. In the end, we all turn to dust, regardless of our choices. But you need to live with those choices until that time, and that’s what defines a man.”

Saika had nowhere to put her stone. Sou knew he’d won, he was just giving her the time to realise it herself. He played her into a corner without her even noticing it.

“Good game, my lord,” she said, putting the white stone back in its bowl. He smiled.

“I’d like you to join me for another game soon. I’m going to be out on some business for a while, but when I return.”

“Of course, my lord. I would love to.” He’d already said all she needed to know.

“Excellent. Natsumi, was it?”

“Yes, my lord.”

“The tea is in the storehouses.”

“Of course. Thank you, my lord.”

“Natsumi?”

“Yes?”

“The other way.”