Nishida was nervous, not knowing what was in Sora's power, but he would not miss a round of Go with Chiruha.

He hoped that he could somehow manage to get a match with her, get her off this planet and get her as far away as possible from Sora and his 'friends'.

He sat in the lobby, in front of him a decent Go board. He had acquired it yesterday to celebrate his first match against someone other than Akechi.

Speaking of wich, Ackechi was standing in a corner, his weapon on the side. Maybe Nishida was a bit paranoid.

The lobby front doors would slide open at first to reveal a stern Shiba woman equipped with her sidearm. She would give a quick survey of the lobby before stepping aside to allow the other woman through.

Chiruha stepped through afterwards, dressed in something more formal than functional, a pink blouse and slacks. She seemingly had no plans to do any of her duties today after yesterday's misadventure. Suddenly, the city looked far more comfortable and welcoming.

She made her way over to Nishida, bowing politely with a small smile. Her general good mirth was perhaps a bit missing on the matter. "Good morning, Nishida-san. Thank you for meeting with me again."

Akechi eyed the Shiba samurai from his corner, but didn't make any move.
When Chiruha entered the Lobby he stood up. "Hello Chiruha-san" he said to her friendly, but with a worried expression. "You look good today, i hope the day has greeted you warmly?"

"My morning has been pleasant, if busy, thank you," she bobbed her head once at the question. Her day was spent with her father and the magistrates, certainly getting her share of questions from both figures and as well as a great discussion of how the near future would be managed when it comes to her well-being. It seemed she won't be travelling alone anytime in the near future.

"I hope the same could be said about your morning, Nishida-sama?" she asked before looking down to notice the Go board. That brightened up her spirits at least. "Oh! I see that you've also managed to find a go board!"

"Did you go out and get one for the occasion, I hope not..." she said with a small smile.

"My morning has been pleasant too, thank you." he said gesturing her to sit down. "I acquired it for several reasons, on the one hand to celebrate your and our first game, on the other hand it will be a nice souvenir for Asakaze, because, unfortunately, I can't take Lucky with me."

The board in question had been made from local materials, so in a way, it really was a representation of the planet.

"Who's you lovely company?" he asked, looking at the samurai in question.

"That might be a more appropriate persona gift from Asakaze, I agree," she chuckled softly and sat down to join him at the rather well-furnished lobby of the hotel.

She turned to glance at the Shiba beside her, her good spirits dampening slightly at the question. "Oh, sorry about that. I should have mentioned this earlier. This would be Shiba Rena, member of the security forces here. My father was kind enough to assign me her as my escort."



Rena was quiet as she didn't want to be intrusive but did bow at her introduction. "Good morning, Yasuki-sama."

"Good morning, Shiba-san, it's a honor to meet you" he greeted her, then shifting his focus back to Chiruha.
"I see. I have heard of robberies from the Heimin, so it is very commendable of your father to provide security for you. Akechi here has been with me since an unfortunate incident eleven years ago." he gestures towards his trusty bodyguard.

He then sat down, fixed his glasses and pointed towards the board. "I plan to remember Asakze fondly each time i play in the future. Also do you know the basics? Or do wish an introduction?"

"Just a temporary measure for now," she said with a sheepish smile. While she was glad to have the Shiba around, it was her hope that this wasn't a permanent measure. She had been rather capable here and in the wild. However, the recent incident had shaken her at the very least.

She took a breath in and sighed with a nod. "Yes...I heard from the yoriki that there were no less than three separate truck robberies. When we're approaching a festival, robberies are not unheard of in the heimen districts. It was day of many brazen acts..." she said before biting her lower lip.

Focusing on the game, she nodded, "Uhm...yes, please! Tell me everything you can about this game, I'm very interested!"

He noticed her lower lip up, but was sure that this was neither the place nor the time to talk about whatever had happened.

He looked at her with some concern, closed his eyes briefly, nodded and gave her a warm smile. "Then I' ll tell you everything I know."

He took two stones in his hand. "These orange stones represent the normally black stones in Go. They are probably made of a mineral here, but I like the roughness. Black starts the game. The one made from porcellain are the white ones. We play on a 19 x 19 board, which means that there are 361 intersections. We alternately place stones on the board. Your stones can form so-called chains. A chain can only be horizontal or vertical, never diagonal. A clearance of a chain is an empty intersection point that is adjacent to a stone of the chain. For example, if a chain consists of only a single stone, it can have up to four clearances, because in the center of the board, each intersection has four neighboring points, while a point on the edge has three neighboring points and one in the corner has only two neighboring points."

As he explained the rules he put stones around the board to visualize what he explains.

"If after placing a stone there are opposing stones without clearing, they are removed from the board. It is said: they are captured. This removal is part of the move. If there are also own stones without clearance, they are not removed. If after placing a stone there are opposing stones without clearing, they are removed from the board. It is said: they are captured. This removal is part of the move. If there are also own stones without clearance, they are not removed. In practice, it means that players continue to bear off until all the opposing chains are captured where this can be achieved. Each player's score is the number of his stones on the board and the number of empty intersections surrounded only by his stones."

He finished his explanation, clearing the board from the stones he used.

He looked at Chiruha again: "So any questions?"

Chiruha nodded thoughtfully as she good in the intricacies and rules of the game in, using it to take her mind off of things. These were just stones they were talking about, right? She did do her best in brushing up with the rules of the game with a few videos from the local intranet prior to coming here.

"...I get the feeling this will become more apparent as the game goes. I do have a few questions, not so much on the rules but the strategy. What is the aim early game and late game?"

"An important principle to follow in early play is 'corner, side, center.' In other words, the corners are the easiest places to take territory, because two sides of the board can be used as boundaries. Once the corners are occupied, the next most valuable points are along the side, aiming to use the edge as a territorial boundary. Capturing territory in the middle, where it must be surrounded on all four sides, is extremely difficult. Also, a good strategy is to keep your stones in a group and chain, together they are stronger and not so easy to capture." He explained.

She placed her hands together and nodded soundly at the strategy, "That's interesting...a few more questions then, does one start opposed to each other or do we build up our own spaces until we meet in the bottom, or there's no set real way to play? And if I may ask, how does Akechi usually play?"

"There is actually no predetermined way to play, but the goal is to conquer as much territory as possible, and sooner or later conflicts will arise, so it is wise to place a few stumbling stones in each other's territory from time to time."

he looked towards his old companion, then smiled. "The old man usually starts in the bottom left cornor or on the right side, trying to get territory quickly and witch much conflict, hence why he mostly looses the middle of the board, cause he is to caught up with conquering and less with planning."

A cough could be heard from the old man in his corner.

"Any more questions? If not, as i play with handicap, you start with 3 black stones you can put anywhere on the board, before i make my first move. There are some bigger point in the intersection, these are called Hoshis, they are a good starting points, as they are on the sides or in the corners."

"Oh, sure," she nodded twice and leaned closer to the board, as it to get some idea of the scope of the 'battlefield' and where she could possibly put her pieces, "Would these three pieces be like getting three turns early or would they actually act as foundations for future plays? I guess I'm wondering how large this advantage is supposed to be and whether or not I could afford to squander them. I suppose in designing my own game, I also wonder the purpose of these pieces. I also wonder what these pieces are supposed to represent conceptually."

Chiruha curiously placed her pieces one in the middle of the board and the other two on the far sides so that it looked it could create a dividing line between her side and Nishida. "Let's go with that! That should be a good neutral set up, right?"

"The three stones are like you would take three turns, yes." he observed her putting the stones onto the board with a thoughtful expression.

"Intersting.... Uhm the stones represent influnce or soliders if you like, as you can 'capture' the other players stones. But the goal of Go is not to think overly martial about it. Although strategy is an important aspect of the game, it is not the only one: Go is intended to stimulate meditation and challenge the mind and to offer a mirror of their own personality."

He looked at her setup. "You outlined a pretty big teritory, we'll see if it will be a advantage for you."

He put his stone near his left handed corner and looked towards Chiruha. "Your turn" he smiled towards her.

"Stimulate mediation and challenge the mind? I think that's a pretty novel concept when it comes to Go. The traditional game is thought to be something that the Lion greatly enjoy, although played everywhere in the Empire of old. I guess many would make the mistake that it would be a game of black and white army people going at it, including myself! So perhaps like Yin and Yang, as the traditional colours suggest?" she mused curiously.

"But in the end...it seems that balance can never be achieved," she said as she placed her stone next to the one she placed in the middle.

"Balance is an eternal back and forth. Just as we lay the stones one after the other, we have to strengthen our side of the scale or weaken the other side here, just like in real life. What makes it more difficult is that there is so much to balance. Nature and civilization. War and peace. Law and justice. Progress and tradition. Duty and,... one' s own wishes."

At the last word he looked briefly into her face. Then he looked back at the board, put a stone next to the one he had just placed.

"Your turn."

"Oh, wow, I didn't know you were also a philosopher. Also, one of your many readings while you're travelling?"

Chiruha couldn't help but chuckled before her gaze looked down at the board thoughtfully. She did notice his move and got the idea that reinforcement was better than going for the attack. That didn't seem like the typical move in the game. She put down another stone in the middle. "Hm, I suppose going for the attack turn one is something that never ends well in the game?"

He chukled. "To cite a famous philosspher: All I know is that I know nothing."

"It depends, like what ones goal is" he said and put a stone opposing one of her stones in the middle. "Reinforce, defend, attack you need to," he chukled, "balance it."

"Oh..." she murmured thoughtfully when she saw that Nishida was going for the attack, narrowing her eyes now she had to really consider her next move. She was almost content to just build all day.

"I suppose I was wondering if the game had a natural progression or there were some outliers to consider, maybe even more dynamic tactics," she said as she placed down a stone around his to oppose back.