In late July, in a seaside town in Aomori Prefecture, the afternoon sun carried the salty tang of seawater as it spilled lazily over the old streets.
The cicadas screamed themselves hoarse, and the air seemed almost frozen in place.
A few little boys in shorts, their skin tanned dark by the sun, were chasing and wrestling on an open patch of ground, sweat plastering their hair to their heads.
One of them was six-year-old Daigo Umehara.
His attention was caught by the voices drifting from the only decent electrical appliance store on the corner. The owner was talking with several young men who had come back from Tokyo, spitting as he spoke, gesturing wildly with his hands and feet.
"...Tokyo's gone completely crazy!"
"What was that Sega tournament called again? Fatal Fury?"
"Yeah, yeah! The prize money's huge. The champion gets five million yen!"
"Seriously? You can make big money just by being good at games?"
The indistinct words drifted into Daigo's ears, carrying a kind of unbelievable wonder.
Tokyo. So far away. He had never even been there.
A game tournament?
He did not really understand those complicated words, nor could he imagine the scene itself. He had even less of a concept of what five million yen meant. He only knew it could maybe buy an awful lot of snacks and toys.
But the excitement in the adults' voices, that unusual heat and fervor, crashed into his quiet heart and sent ripples of curiosity spreading outward.
What kind of thing could make grown-ups this excited? Even the electrical store owner had forgotten to greet customers.
"Hey, Daigo, what are you staring into space for? Why are you just standing there like an idiot?"
One of his friends shoved him hard, almost knocking him off balance.
"Should we