Edit 1:
Thanks to Troy Thomas for pointing out my grammatical mistakes m-_-m
"Wow Shindou-san, you sure know a lot...."
"You can learn it too. Just keep practicing at it." Hikaru gave a warm smile while he helped put the goban and goishi away. "You've all gotten better since last week."
The group of girls giggled and blushed. "It's because you came to teach us."
"But, we teach you too!" one of the guys protested.
"But you're not a pro." countered one of the girls.
"And you're not as patient." Another round of giggles circled around.
"Oh, Hikaru, the new set goes over here." Akari opened a nearby cupboard and helped Hikaru put the goban inside while one of the boys placed the caskets of goishi on a shelf.
"Thanks, Akari."
"You're sure this is okay? I know how busy you must be."
"No problems, I'm free on Fridays. And if it helps get the Go club going, I don't mind at all." He took a drink of water and sighed.
Shidougo was a tad boring sometimes but it was good practice all the same. Some of the moves beginners made were actually really good, if only they could follow it through. Also, beginners tended to jump into the dark a lot more because they didn't know what they were doing. That style of playing was something Hikaru just couldn't do anymore. Once you saw the danger, it was hard to take that step without hesitation. In competitions, it was essential that one played with confidence in their Go.
"The Go club... It brings back memories doesn't it?" Akari nudged the chairs back into their places. "Even the club in this school was falling into tatters when I came."
"But look at it now. Five sets of goban and fifteen members. You're like, the miracle worker of Go clubs."
"Hikaru!"
He laughed and put his drink bottle away. It was good to keep in touch with someone not connected to the Go world. Well, not as connected as his other friends.
"Thank you, Shindou-san!" The girls waved a goodbye. One of them came up to him, bright red and jittery. "T-This is a... thank you gift! Please take it!" She handed the little present over, bowed and ran out after her friends.
"Whoa! Shindou-kun!" The guys laughed and thumped Hikaru on the back as they filed out the door.
"I always knew there was another reason why there were more girls than boys in this club." Akari rolled her eyes. "Well? Open it!"
"Uh, sorry I have to go... meet Touya... somewhere..." Clutching the gift, he grabbed his bag and headed for the door.
"Shindou-kun, you're going to come teach us in the summer holidays, right?"
Keeping his gaze on the floor, he hid his blush as he passed the first and second years. "Yeah, sure."
Hikaru shoved his hands into his pockets and sighed. He had never told Akira, of course, that he used him as an excuse whenever he wanted to leave a place. Everyone knew that they spent a lot of their spare time together so it didn't sound out of place.
Still... Now what was he going to do? It was too early to head home and he wasn't exactly hungry enough for ramen. Maybe he could play a few games at the Go salon. And pray that Kawai-san wasn't there. He got more than a few stares from people when he walked around after Kawai-san was done with his hair.
Heading towards the train station, Hikaru spotted a familiar face in the crowd.
"Touya?"
The traffic light changed and the crowd shifted, ready to cross the road.
"Touya! Ichikawa-san?"
The two figures paused and looked around, trying to avoid being shoved around by people in a hurry. Hikaru ran up to them. On closer inspection, he realized that they'd been shopping.
"Hello Shindou-kun!" Ichikawa gave him a big grin as both her hands were tied up with holding the groceries.
"Shindou. What are you doing here?"
"Oh, I was on my way to a Go salon. Been going shopping?"
Akira quickly averted his gaze to the ground.
"I was going to cook some dinner for him but he told me there was no food at home! The cupboards and fridge are all empty." Ichikawa sighed and rolled her eyes. "There really is nothing but Go in his head." But she smiled affectionately at the young Pro at her side. "I just don't understand how his parents can go traipsing off to Taiwan and leaving him behind. You need to take better care of yourself, Akira-kun!"
"Ah... un..."
Hikaru fought the urge to burst out laughing at Akira's lack of domestic care. "How are your parents anyway? It's been about a month already."
"Mother rings up every week to check up on me and tell me what's going on. Father's having a great time in Taiwan. He found that new talent he was looking for too but he won't tell me who it is. People have also been lining up to play him again."
"Man, that sounds great... Pros queuing to play you."
"I just hope he isn't pushing himself too much." Memories of last year's incident surfaced in Akira's head. He didn't want to go through that again, especially if it happened in Taiwan. "Anyway, we have to go. See you later Shindou."
"Later."
They waved and parted.
Ichikawa stared at the departing Shindou. "I thought you were going to ask him for a game for sure."
"Hm, not tonight." Without explaining, Akira walked off.
"Hikaru! Your friend Touya-kun is here!"
"Ah! Hang on a minute!!"
Loud thumpings from the ceiling ensued before a rather apologetic Hikaru ran down the stairs. Checking his pockets for cash and his mobile, he negotiated his feet into his shoes.
"Sorry, sorry. Okay, I'm off mom!"
He ushered Akira off the doorstep and onto the footpath.
"What excuse do you have this time?" Akira asked with a tinge of annoyance.
"I was studying some kifu." After a little grilling under his rivals eyes, Hikaru relented. "Fine, I slept in. Is it a crime?"
"Have you never heard of an alarm clock?"
"Those things don't work..."
As usual, the two boys were on their way to a Go salon. Today, they were going to the Go salon Waya and Isumi frequented to play in a league tournament organized by Waya.
"Sorry we're late..."
"Actually Shindo, you're on time for once." Waya sighed as he watched the two make their way towards him. In all honesty, if Hikaru hadn't kept bugging him all the time, he would have never let Touya Akira come. That guy annoyed him in everyway and Isumi had told him that the very mention of the name put him in a foul mood. "I gave you the time half an hour earlier than it was supposed to be."
"Huh?"
Everyone laughed at the young Pro's response.
"Okay, okay, let's start." Waya got out a pad of paper and called out everyone's match-ups. "... Shindou and Kadowaki, Touya and Saeki..."
A bit peeved off over the jibe, Hikaru seated himself across from Kadowaki.
"So we meet again, huh, Shindou-kun?"
"It's been a while, I guess. Made any improvements?"
"Hah! You just wait and see. It won't be an easy win."
"I'll just make sure it is, then."
He grinned while Kadowaki started fuming. "I am this close to calling you a brat."
Frowning, Kadowaki wondered. What kind of Go was Hikaru going to play today? Would it be the mind-blowing game that crushed him when they first played? Or was it going to be the strong but inexperienced Go that he encountered at the beginning of the year? Whichever it was, he was going to give it his all. Even though this was an unofficial tournament, winning was still the main goal. This was a good chance to see how he measured up against these kids.
"Onegaishimasu."
"I... I resign." Kadowaki sat, head bowed, with mixed feelings of disbelief and wonder. How could someone improve so much in such a short amount of time? Or did he not play seriously before?
"Thank you for the game..." Hikaru looked up at his opponent. It was a good game. He was right, he had improved. Then he himself must have... "Shindou... If you don't mind me asking, how did you get so strong at Go?"
Hikaru was stumped. No one had asked him that before, strangely enough. "I play good opponents, I guess, study a lot..." Absentmindedly, he turned and headed for Waya to give him the results.
Kadowaki's gaze followed the blonde-fringed boy. "Good opponents, eh?" A loud exclaimation jerked him out of his thoughts.
"You're what?" Saeki was staring at Waya and Isumi with his mouth wide open.
"Isumi and I are going to China for four months. But we'll come back before the Hokuto Cup preliminaries."
Speechless, Hikaru could only gape at his long-time friend.
"How are you going to pay for the trip? Where are you going to stay?"
"Oh, the Go Association's sponsoring the trip."
Isumi sighed at Waya's inexact answer. "Actually, it's split between the Japanese Go Association and the Chinese Go Association. The Chinese Go Association is going to give us rooms to stay in too. They're even thinking of a kind of 'exchange student' thing across the two Associations. You know, encourage a bit of interaction and comradry between the two countries."
"But, why? What about the title tournaments here?" This wasn't making much sense to Hikaru. He wasn't even sure he heard correctly. Waya and Isumi suddenly going to China for four months? It wasn't just the shock, something inside of him was trying to say something but he couldn't make it out through his current thoughts.
"Well, it's a good chance to get some experience, right Isumi? There'll be some tournaments going on there too that we can take part in."
Akira walked over from his game and joined in the conversation. "The chinese players are very strong, you'll learn a lot from them."
Opening his mouth to say, "Who asked you." Waya stopped short as he saw Hikaru's expressionless face.
"I'm... going to my calligraphy class now." Without another word, Hikaru left.
No one moved until Waya finally asked, "He takes calligraphy classes?"
"Shindou forgot his bag too." Akira picked it up. "I'll return it on the next study session."
Grunting under the unexpected weight of his rival's bag, Akira made for the door.
"What's up with Shindou? Going to China to study Go, I'm actually envious." Ochi pushed his glasses up and got ready to go. "The next game is the coming Saturday right? I'll look forward to crushing whoever my opponent is."
Waya bit his tongue as Ochi left. The short mushroom-head still got on his nerves but whatever his attitude, his Go was really strong. As much as he hated to admit, Ochi was a good match for him. Damn his luck. Maybe he could find a better opponent in China.
Speaking of opponents... What was up with Shindou?
Notes and Message:
I know I said this is a oneshot but don't worry, there will be a continuation. I won't leave Waya and Isumi hanging, ready to go to China but never quite getting there.
And um, apologies to those who want a solid storyline. I just kind of realized that I don't get to the point of things very quickly (or not at all...).
Also, how should I say this... I'm writing this story in bits and pieces in a higgledy piggledy order, just whenever I get a new idea. At the moment, the next piece will either be about Hikaru before the China trip or the introduction of Hideki (you see... I haven't actually planned what is going to happen during the China thing).
Also please R&R! I don't play Go, never been near a goban or anything so if there's something strange with what I wrote (lol there must be ne?), please tell me. And, what do you thinking of the idea so far? Too standard? I've read many fics where Isumi and Waya go off to China too so I've been thinking that this was kind of unoriginal... (waah, trust me to follow everyone else...).
** Not much thanks this time since I didn't really use anything...
** Oh wait, I should thank hng0.net for their scanlations on the later chapters.
** And of course all my previous reviewers. Getting reviews for stories I wrote several months ago is great ^____^
** Thank the heavens for my mp3 collection, how else could I have sat at the computer for hours on end thinking about what I should type next (by the way, you really must listen to Akari sing, her image song is just a little bit better than Waya's ^_~).
** I've never done this one before but thank you Hikago characters for running around in my head just before I go to sleep and creating weird scenes to inspire me (amongst other things... which will remain unmentioned).
Replies:
Shimizu Hitomi: *gasp* That's right! Since it's an exchange, some people in China have to come over! Thanks for reminding me!
And to everyone else: Thanks so much for your comments! I'll try my best to fill in the holes I've left wide open ^_____^