App for Accio

[destined_to_go]

PLAYER
Name: Steph
Journal: magenta16fl
Contact: aim: AngelKittieGirl, email: magentacora@gmail.com, PM: magenta16fl or destined_to_go
Current Characters: None

CHARACTER
Name: Akira Touya (western order)
Canon: Hikaru no Go
OU/AU: OU
Gender: Male
Age: 15
Birthday: December 14

History:

Most of Akira’s life has been spent playing and studying Go. He started when he was two years old and has been continuing to play and study the game ever since. His father was a pro and had other pros over as well as other players for tutorial sessions. He also played his father every day since he learned that by the time he was 11, he only needed a 3 stone handicap against the Meijin and was already at a pro level.

His father owns a Go salon, which Akira goes to a lot. People there know him, and he’s able to teach the adults there. It is there that he meets Hikaru. Akira becomes obsessed with Hikaru's seemingly natural ability, not knowing that the game he lost to this boy was actually played by a ghost, Sai, that only Hikaru can see and hear. Hikaru doesn't show up again on his own and Akira only knows his name so when he hears even a possibility of where Hikaru is, he gets up and runs after him. Hikaru has such a nonchalant attitude about the game Akira spent his whole life studying that Akira feels it must have been his mistake for underestimating him and they end up playing again. This time, Sai completely ‘kills’ him in the game. After this, Akira felt like he wasn't ready to take the pro exam until he could surpass Hikaru.

Hikaru tells Akira that he won’t play him again and he is going to be in a junior high tournament. Akira, obsessed with playing Hikaru, joins the Go club at his school in order to compete against him. He had to fight for his position as third captain rather than first and endured jealousy-driven bullying by his peers. During the tournament, Akira became disappointed when halfway through, Hikaru played an odd but interesting move and did not follow up on it, which changed the style and flow of the game. Because of this, Akira decided to finally take the pro exam.

Right before taking it, he attends an amateur tournament to help support one of his father’s students. It’s there that he finds out about a ‘strong player named sai’ on the internet that might be a kid. Akira thinks it might be Hikaru, but figures that it can’t be because of his last game with him. He goes to watch one of sai's games and ends up being asked to play. Sai then starts the game the same way as the second game he played with Akira. Akira follows through, thinking ‘no way’ but Hikaru asks Sai to play differently and Akira resigns after the first changed move. He says that it will distract him from the tournament (as he had a lot of people watching) but asks to play again. Hikaru agrees, though their next game is on the first day of the pro exam.

Akira misses the first day of the exams in order to play Sai, which results in one loss. He becomes conflicted after he resigns to Sai again; feeling as though he played someone else and yet he played Hikaru as well. The memory of the game with Hikaru in the junior high tournament throws him off. Before he can ask who the other boy is, Hikaru signs off. The next day he hears about Hikaru in a computer café. Still conflicted, he runs after him and confronts him. Hikaru denies even knowing Sai, and Akira says it can’t be him and he won’t face him again. At that time, Hikaru says that if Akira kept chasing his shadow, the real him will catch up. Akira attempts to convince Hikaru to play immediately, but he doesn’t answer and Akira walks away. Hikaru doesn’t play on the internet anymore, and Akira continues to take his pro exam. He succeeds, winning every game after that first exam day, and ends up a pro officially at the age of 13.

Hikaru becomes an Insei. A professional peer asks Akira to come during one of the days that the Insei are training, and Akira sees Hikaru. He pretends that he doesn’t care, but he does mention that he’d just go to the place that Hikaru can never reach. This improves his own Go playing drive. Hikaru rises up in the ranks of the Insei and is able to participate in the 9th annual Young Lions Tournament. If Hikaru had won his first round, then he and Akira would have played, however, he loses the first round. Akira missed seeing that game but he did notice an odd shape in the results and asked an observer how it formed, but was told 'you would have had to see it'. This was the first time he outwardly showed that he was still interested in Hikaru since that time he walked away.

Hikaru makes it to the pro exams. Akira watches the results on the computer and after Hikaru wins his first six games, he becomes very interested. This interest drives Akira to train the top rated player taking the pro exam for his own game against Hikaru in order to test Hikaru. Being able to see if he won or not wasn't enough, because Akira wasn't Hikaru's opponent. Training another was the best he could do. Hikaru ended up winning and as such Akira -who had won all his pro games to this point- waits for Hikaru, as if pulling him along.

Akira sees the first game Hikaru has as a pro with none other than Akira's father. This is not an official game, but rather a ‘welcome to the pros, be good and you could play in this room again’ game. Hikaru, however, let Sai play through him with a handicap. So even though Akira saw Hikaru’s game, it was actually Sai’s. He wonders why Hikaru would place a handicap on himself, though yet again it's unanswered.

Hikaru's first official game as a pro is against Akira. Though Akira has been looking forward to the game, his father had collapsed and was sent to the hospital, so Akira did not attend.

Hikaru visits Akira's dad at the hospital by insistence of Sai and finds out that Akira’s dad is playing internet Go, but only while he’s in the hospital. Hikaru says he knows Sai and asks for them to play, but not to let anyone know that he knows him. Akira’s dad agrees and even goes so far as to say that he’ll retire if he loses. The game happens and many people on the internet see, Akira including. He recognizes ‘sai’ on the internet to be the real one, and once again has the conflicting thoughts about Sai and Hikaru. He finally comes to an answer that ‘isn’t an answer’ when he finally just thinks that “It’s the old [Hikaru] that Sai resembles”. Akira’s dad loses.

Hikaru goes to see Akira’s dad again to see if he really meant the retiring thing when Ogata (someone both Akira and his dad know) goes to see him and overhears Hikaru talking about Sai. Being one of the people interested in Sai as well, he confronts Hikaru but gets no answer before Akira shows up and Hikaru gets away. Ogata says that there is no doubt Hikaru and Sai know each other but Akira doesn’t believe it’s as simple as knowing each other due to his previous games with ‘Hikaru’. When they go to ask Akira’s dad, he keeps his promise and says it wasn’t Hikaru that set up the game.

Sai ends up disappearing and Hikaru searches for him, not able to find him and decides to give up Go. Over the next week or so, he doesn’t play any games, so Akira goes to his school to find him and confront him about it. Hikaru says he’s not going to play anymore and Akira demands to know why when Hikaru had become pro to play him. He doesn’t get any answer and Hikaru runs off.

Months pass and Akira improves himself and his game, constantly trying to goad Hikaru into playing again. He makes it to 3 dan and plays in a title third preliminary game against a 9 dan, which he wins. During the game, Hikaru ends up playing one game for the sake of a friend and realizes his own moves are a reflection of Sai's, so he chases after Akira to tell him that he won’t quit Go and then starts showing up to games again. After only a few weeks, Akira and Hikaru have a game against each other, their first game in two years and four months. Akira has been counting. It is during this game that Akira, in his mind, calls Hikaru his eternal rival.

During this game, Akira see's Sai's shadow in Hikaru's playing. He knows that the ‘old Hikaru’ is Sai and the first two games he played against him was the same sai that was on the internet. He says that there’s another person inside of Hikaru, then he covers his mouth and says he’s saying strange things. Hikaru responds that for Akira, he might tell him one day. Akira, shocked that there is a mystery, demands that Hikaru tell him and they get into a yelling fight. Though Hikaru did not tell him, at the end of the game, Hikaru agrees to Akira’s request for them to play now and then at his father’s Go salon. Following this, they regularly play games together at the salon, though most of the time, after game discussion turns into yelling. Still, they would readily stand up for the other, implying an affectionate friendship that is never outright stated.

In December of that year, a new tournament opens up for teams from Japan, China and Korea to play that allows only ages 18 and under. Being in the Honinbo league, Akira already has a seat in the tournament while everyone else would have to compete to decide on the other spots in April. Hikaru says he won’t be coming back to the go salon until he has a spot as well. Akira ends up taking classes to learn Chinese and Korean in the mean time.

Hikaru and Yashiro (a newly introduced character) win the last two spots for Japan. Three days before the Hokuto cup, Akira invites Hikaru and Yashiro to stay at his house while his parents are out of the country so that they can prepare for the tournament.

Akira is the only one from Japan that wins during the Hokuto Cup. Hikaru feels like he failed but Akira tells him “This isn’t the end. There is no end.”

This would be the end of the series, but there are still two more chapters. Not much happens in these chapters however. They just talk about the 11th annual Young Lions Tournament and two Insei that are fans of Akira and Hikaru. Both win against the kids, though, and the manga ends during the middle of the game where Akira is playing against Hikaru. Even though it’s not much, it’s still important because this is where I will be taking Akira.


Personality:
Akira can be very mature. He started playing and studying Go since the age of 2, so from a very young age, he has had to deal with the thinking and problem solving skills needed for the game. He has also spent a lot of time training under and listening to other Go players and pros, most of whom were all adults, as his father had been a pro for a long time as well. His family is also more traditional. You can tell this because of the style of the house and (in canon) Akira wakes up one night on a futon and finds his father up late in what looks to be a yukata. You can also tell by the way Akira and his parents talk. Akira calls them “mother” and “father”. This more traditional background along with being around the older players and immersing himself in Go has given him the maturity he has now.

Unfortunately due to the people he has been around as he grew up and the way the other kids react to him as will be mentioned later, he has some social problems with other kids his age. While staying overall nice and polite, he will also say things exactly as he sees them. Practicing so much in Go strengthened his logical side, which also aids in Akira not knowing that something could in fact be offending.

Though there is one person that can break his maturity. That person is Hikaru. Often their game discussions end in yelling (even though he would still stick up for Hikaru) and it’s probably one of the only things that make him look like the teen he is. When it comes to Hikaru, his passion just comes out. It’s not always to Hikaru. He can be seen talking passionately to others too as long as Hikaru is involved, like with Ochi and the man from the go salon who underestimated Hikaru. Not only can Akira be seen yelling when it comes to Hikaru but also running after and grabbing or dragging the other boy. Certainly not something he would do normally or with anyone else.

Normally Akira is calm and polite and will show this outwardly. The respect the others in his father’s Go salon show towards him as a teacher and the care as if he was a grandson, son or even just because they are fans of him is reflected in his returning respectfulness towards them as well. The first time Hikaru shows up at his father’s Go salon, Akira very nicely allows him in for free and for Hikaru to play against him. Soon after, however, during his defeat, his obsession with Hikaru begins. He was unaware that the actual person he played was Sai, a ghost that only Hikaru could hear and see. All he saw was a boy his own age able to defeat him. Inside he must have wished for a rival his own age that also treated him as just another boy as up until that point he had only been playing older men that treated him as a Go prodigy or the gifted Meijin’s son. Also since he was not allowed to play in amateur tournaments due to not wanting other potential go players to give up, he may have also grown up very lonely since he had been unable to make friends his own age. Either kids his age thought of Go as boring or something that only older men played or they were jealous of his abilities even to the point of hating him. So it definitely caught his attention for Hikaru to not only come in as a boy his own age, play well beyond his apparent ability as a ‘beginner’, but to also not think of Akira any differently.

The mystery from the game caused him to replay the game over and over. This unusual playing by someone thought of as a beginner seemed to have snapped his careful control and sense of calm, leading him to jump up and run after Hikaru as soon as he found out where the other boy was.

He becomes obsessed with chasing Hikaru, or in the words of Hikaru his “shadow”. However, after being disappointed over the win at the Jr. High Go Club Tournament, he moves on to becoming a pro. One may think that he had forgotten about Hikaru, but it becomes evident that he still cares with the same amount of passion when he helps Ochi become stronger so that he can test Hikaru’s strength through the younger boy at the pro exams.

Over some time he comes to the conclusion that Sai (a name from the internet whose Go games closely resemble those of the “old [Hikaru]”) and Hikaru are separate people but connected somehow as he can see Sai in Hikaru’s shadow, that Sai was the “old [Hikaru]” but not sure how. He continues to pursue finding out who Sai is but this never ends the passion he shows about Hikaru and even considers the other boy his eternal rival as thought of during that first game after the 2 years and 4 months (yes, he remembered; yet another sign of Akira’s awareness of Hikaru over the years) since the Jr. High Tournament.

This is a lot of history but it explains just why Akira behaves the way he does around or about Hikaru and how it happened in the first place and explains his feelings during this time.

Akira is also very determined which is shown in his Go. He turns his fear into courage, as Sai had mentioned to Hikaru. Even as he shook with fear facing Hikaru at the Jr. High Go Club Tournament, he collected his emotions and headed straight into the game. He fights to the end while still knowing exactly when to accept defeat.

His whole life was spent loving Go and always wanting to get stronger at the game. In canon there was a scene with a younger Akira and his father. His father mentions he doesn’t know if Akira has a talent for Go or not but he does have the talent to work harder than anyone else and has an unending love of Go. These characteristics never fade. He never gives up Go, and has said that “[Go] never ends.” This also shows that he has perseverance and will stick to the things he loves.


Abilities:
He is quite gifted in playing a board game called Go. Just after becoming pro, he ended up being one of the very few people with a 26 game winning streak before it was broken. Not many others had winning streaks longer than that. This game gives him the ability to think logically, look ahead, strategize, keep a good memory, and visualize. He also made it into one of the top Junior High schools, so he’s very smart academically as well. As mentioned earlier, he has the ability to turn fear into courage.

He does not have any magical abilities in canon, so the only magical abilities he’d have will be what being brought to this universe gives him.

Best/Worst Subject:
He’d probably be very good at Arithmancy, if he can ever end up taking the class (if he stays long enough to be able to eventually take the electives) because logical things make the most sense to him, and as such, so would math and numbers. As far as core subjects go, it would probably be astronomy since the stars are a constant with only some differences per night/season and location.

Worst subject, not including the electives because he just wouldn’t take them (for example, divination), is a much harder one to think of because he’d try his best in all the subjects. But it would be one of the least logical subjects like charms or transfiguration. This would be because while trying to do the spells, his mind would instinctively be thinking that it’s impossible, even if only on a subconscious level.

Requested House: Probably Ravenclaw…
Anything Else?


SAMPLES
Pick two of the following four options.

3. Prose sample
He could see it clearly everytime he played Shindou now. Each game served as a reminder of something he wondered if he'd ever know the truth to. Yet even through the similarities, his opponent's moves were unique. His own. He still wasn't as good as the old Shindou, as... 'sai', but he had gotten a lot better in such a short time. It was a constant, steady improvement. Akira wouldn't let Shindou pass him. If he stopped moving forward, if he stopped improving his game, surely the other boy would...

His eyes narrowed, his hand moved to place a stone, attacking Shindou's formation. The stone was placed with confidence, with determination. His eyes never left the board, his hand returned to the goke and waited just above it. He waited to see where Shindou would play, continued to calculate moves should Shindou play there or there. He wouldn't allow Shindou to catch up to him, to pass him. He would continue to show the other boy his strength, continue to challenge him. It was the only way.

Disappointment shot through him when Shindou placed his stone. It was a poor move. His eyes narrowed, his lips pressed together and free hand curled into a loose fist over his thigh. He refrained himself from saying anything, his mind worked quickly to see the outcomes of what such a move could do. He had seen before what a poor move from this opponent could do. He wouldn't underestimate that anymore. The question was if Shindou could pull it off.

But he couldn't see what Shindou saw yet. He was different than him, and Shindou could be rather unusual in why he placed some stones. Akira would have to wait and see if this really was a poor move or if it actually opened the door to a great hand.

After a few more moves, Akira was able to see what Shindou was trying. While he did okay in following up on the move, he could have done much better and it was something Akira would bring up in their discussion. It angered him a little. What was the point in making such a risky move without the ability to back it up and gain the lead?

The game moved pretty quickly after that and after Shindou's loss, Akira didn't hesitate to bring it up. "You could have made this move better if you placed here or here instead." It started off calmly, as it always did. But no doubt to the other patrons surrounding their table at his father's Go salon, it would progress into an argument about risky moves, whether shapes could look cool or not, and how stupid could it be to play a hand for that purpose.

4. Thread Link
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