Original subtitles

White Storm (Part Two)

I wonder why?

I suddenly remembered.

Souya?

So, let's see...

When I was a kid,

there was once a white bird with huge wings that had wandered

into our yard.

He reminds me of a bird.

Meijin Souya is wearing traditional Japanese garb!

I thought it was normal for both players to wear suits for commemorative matches.

You're a lifesaver, Meiyo Tohno 9th-Dan!

Not at all. I'm glad the match is in my town.

My kimono hobby was finally of use to someone.

I'm honored that Meijin Souya is wearing one of them.

That'll be a family heirloom now.

It's strange.

He's supposed to be like a character who's always been in a book.

But now, he's sitting before me.

He's breathing and moving.

And he's going to play against me.

Get it together.

Didn't you say it yourself last night?

I want to concentrate as I play so the match isn't over as soon as it's begun.

Right now, I have to cross paths with this person.

I'm well aware of the gap in our abilities.

But if I jump into this with anything other than the intention of winning,

my head will get blown off in an instant.

Let's have a good game.

Double Fortress, huh?

It's their first game together, after all.

Well, I suppose they both want to get to know each other.

Maybe it just happened naturally during the course of play.

Souya moved Silver to 2-8.

Silver to 2-8?

It's a question.

Souya is asking, "Hello. Who are you?"

Silver to 2-8.

I haven't seen that move before. Is he testing me?

That means...

Rook to 3-8.

Silver to 1-9, promoted.

Right Silver to 5-7.

And Lance to 8-3.

Certainly it's a threat, but it's too straightforward.

It's no problem as long as I avoid a direct attack.

In fact, I should be moving my pieces into a close formation.

That...

Head of the Bishop.

Still, Kiriyama is putting up a good fight.

As expected from the next professional from middle school after Souya.

Actually, at this stage, it looks like Kiriyama has the upper hand.

But if a newcomer 5th-Dan has the upper hand from the current Meijin,

during the middle stage of the game,

then, if it were a drama, that's the signal the newbie's going to lose.

Getting a discussion going shows how well he's doing.

That alone shows the child has something going.

That's right.

Pawn to 5-5.

Left Silver, same.

Pawn to 7-5.

And then I aim for his head Bishop...

Pawn to 7-4.

Why did I feel a faint shooting pain in my fingertips when I let go of the piece?

Pawn to 7-4.

No... What the hell am I doing?

Why didn't I realize? There was Pawn to 8-6!

If he gets me for Pawn to 8-6, it's all over!

Pawn to 8-6.

Pawn, same.

Bishop to 9-5.

Closer Gold to 7-7.

Souya, Pawn to 8-5.

Kiriyama, this is a tough one.

- What will you do? - Go with Pawn, same?

Pawn to 9-6! Not Pawn, same!

I see! If he took the 8-5 Pawn with Pawn, same, he would've been hit with the 9-3 Knight

and then he can't support his King.

It makes sense.

But this might be it.

That last Pawn to 7-4 hurt.

Yeah, but still, he dodged Souya's 8-5 Pawn.

Well, well, Silver to 6-8, promoted.

Now Souya's making interesting moves.

So Kiriyama 5th-Dan, would you take this promoted Lance with the Rook or not?

The correct answer is...

He didn't take the bait, but went with promoted Pawn to 7-3.

He's making the best moves in a matter-of-fact way.

Sheesh. That's what makes him interesting.

After that, I was absorbed in the game.

The sound of each piece on the board was accompanied by a flash of light in my head.

I realized that something in my head was connecting all of the moves.

It was like...

...silvery, dazzling water, flowing into every nook and cranny.

White Storm (Part Two)

White Storm (Part Three)

When I let go of my 7-4 Pawn,

it felt like the surface of my fingers was being ripped off.

The moment I took my hand away,

I realized it was the move that would cost me the game.

I knew it was over.

But at the same time, it crossed my mind.

If I only played the best moves from this point on,

how far could I go in that match?

The wind is strong.

I thought the typhoon was just going to pass through the Pacific.

MORIOKA -> TOKYO

I hope the trains keep running.

I want to go to my afternoon classes, so they only treat it as a half-day absence.

There's Mr. Souya.

I see. We're on the same bullet train, huh?

He's going back on the early train, too.

I figured he was the type who didn't hang around a long time, but...

I've never really seen him interacting with other people.

I haven't seen him laughing and talking with people either.

I've been watching him ever since I was a kid, but in my memories, this person...

That's right. He's always alone.

That's right. It's strange.

I fought with this person yesterday.

I fought him and lost.

What is this?

I've never felt this way before.

Even though I lost, I'm not tired at all.

I don't feel depressed at all.

I knew I had no chance of winning going into it, but I had no intention of just giving up.

But I strongly understood

that in both experience and studying, he was years ahead of me and I wasn't catching up.

I still had no idea how I could close that gap.

I can't express it well,

but I've always thought that after a loss, feeling refreshed or having enjoyed the game

is actually a major insult to your opponent.

It's like putting your opponent on a pedestal,

showing reverence and feeling refreshed, without telling the person.

It was like not thinking of your opponent as a person...

That's what I've always thought,

but how does that account for yesterday's match?

When I'm up against other professionals, no matter how big the skill gap is between us,

I can always trace their line of thinking to some extent.

He's the only one...

...where I drew a blank.

While we were playing, it felt like the two of us were alone in a pure white space.

And it was very comfortable.

I wonder what that was yesterday.

The review session with Meijin Souya and Kiriyama 5th-Dan.

I've never seen anything like it.

Neither one said a word, and just kept going.

After the game was over and the review session began,

Kiriyama suddenly lined up all the pieces, silently and with determination.

And when they got up to the 63rd move,

he played Silver to 6-6, which wasn't in the game record.

Then Meijin Souya gave a little nod in response, right?

He was confirming that Kiriyama's Pawn to 7-4 was the move that lost the game,

and that Silver to 6-6, from the review session, was a more promising move.

But the amazing thing was what happened after.

After the review session was over,

Kiriyama glanced at his own fingers for a moment.

That was all, and yet...

That's what it's like.

What did he mean by that?

I'm positive that's what the Meijin said. "That's what it's like."

When Kiriyama hadn't even said a word...

I was startled then.

I thought maybe I'd blurted out what I was thinking.

But it got through to him without words.

I thought, "This kind of world exists?"

It was a quiet, bright place where there was nothing to be afraid of.

The bullet train arrived at Sendai Station past noon and then stopped running.

Due to the rising water level of the Abukuma River, service is being suspended.

It is not yet determined when service will resume.

I repeat, will the passengers...

All the office workers stand up the moment they hear the message as they're accustomed to it.

Whoa, fast!

FAST

Service has been suspended due to Typhoon Number Two.

I repeat, service has been suspended due to Typhoon Number Two.

We apologize for the inconvenience.

Service has been suspended due to Typhoon Number Two.

He's sleeping.

Mr. Souya.

Um...

Excuse me, Mr. Souya.

What should I do?

Excuse me...

Sorry, but, um...

Apparently, the train has stopped running, so...

Mr. Souya?

I guess train service is suspended for today. That's what they announced.

So we'll need to get a refund for our tickets and...

It looked like I wasn't getting through to him.

My heart started pounding like a jackhammer.

We'd better get a room for the night.

All of the pieces fell into place.

I didn't think I could leave him on his own, so I reached out my hand.

It wasn't that sound seemed to fade out around him.

It was that...

sound didn't exist for him.

Why? Since when?

I don't know.

But nothing reaches his ears anymore.

White Storm (Part Three)

White Storm (Part Four)

The announcements continued non-stop at the station.

Amid the oppressive humidity from the rain, the premises were jammed with people.

MORIOKA -> TOKYO

It's not going to run until tomorrow.

Then we should get a refund for our special express tickets.

The ticket line is probably really long.

I was a little slow getting off the train.

Um, let's go through the ticket gate.

I'll stand in line and take care of the adjustment for the train tickets.

Mr. Souya?

ADJUSTMENT WINDOW

Thank you.

I see. We're getting a refund, so we can do it here too. Makes sense.

Now we got our refunds and took care of the tickets for tomorrow.

Um, next... That's right. A place to stay. We'd better make reservations.

This is a big station, so there must be an information counter or...

Oh, there it is.

SENDAI STATION

Um, which one would be good?

It's really coming down, so as close to the station as possible,

like a place that's connected to the underground tunnel.

Really? You're booked?

I understand. Thank you. Okay.

No vacancies at any of the hotels near the station.

Well, then otherwise, which hotel?

If it were just me, any would be fine, but...

Seisen Inn?

Oh, there are a lot of them in Tokyo too.

We can even walk there. It's not too far.

Yes, do you have any vacancies?

Yes. Two single rooms.

Yes, we'll head there right now. Uh-huh.

SEISEN INN

All right, we got rooms. Thank goodness.

So let's go.

This gray part must be the underground, so let's go as far as we can, then go up to the sidewalk.

That's right, umbrellas.

We'd better buy umbrellas.

EMPTY

SOLD OUT

There aren't any!

Sold out in the blink of an eye

Thankfully, that store still had umbrellas.

They sell out just like that. It was a close one.

Okay, let's get going.

It didn't feel real.

But there was a weird sense of euphoria.

It must have all been due to the typhoon.

Look at that line for taxis!

What a downpour!

Huh? Um...

It seems this path leads to some stores.

Can we get to the sidewalk from here?

Huh? Um... This is...

A truck?!

The service entrance?

Is it okay to exit this way?

Suddenly?!

For now, tonight, and I suppose morning...

Um, also...

A sandwich, rice ball, cup noodles...

Okay, that'll do it.

I may be buying too much,

but I don't want to have to go back out in this rain.

BISCUIT

Your total is 1,540 yen.

That's all?

It's like a lineup of emergency rations.

PACKED EGG SANDWICH KATSU SANDWICH INARI SUSHI MILK CHOUX CREAM BREAD FLUFFY MELON BREAD

Your total is 2,980 yen.

HEAP

Huh? That much?

BOUGHT TOO MUCH

Apparently carried away by the typhoon situation

Thank you!

I see it.

I think that's it.

When I start walking, he starts walking.

When I stop, he stops.

It's like a god...

is quietly following me.

White Storm (Part Four)

Next Episode Preview

Episode 38

Hey, it's me.

Are you okay?

It didn't feel real at all.

All this time, it's like his hearing comes and goes.

Even though we definitely walked in that rain together.

ILLUSTRATION: ATSUSHI KAMIJYOU

That open-air hot spring was awesome!

You should have gone in, too, Kiriyama.