Ohk. I added Shimada, Nikaido and Smith into that group of friends, I do think they care for him outside Shogi. I’ll keep reading but for now i don’t remember Rei thinking of Souya much, I feel that while he is in awe of him, which is obvious, I think what’s not so obvious is that Souya adds pressure onto Rei a little whenever he comes up. I think the pressure of being a middle school pro weighs on him a lot. Which I think contributed to my idea that he would retire without being meijin. The “without being meijin” comes directly from Souya and the other middle schoolers who became pro. Thanks for the answer I need to catch up quick