SUMMARY: Touya Akira is the prodigious child of Touya Meijin aka. Touya Koyo. This child loves Go more than anything else. Shindo Hikaru is the spiritual vessel of Fujiwara no Sai, and has been since he was 10. This orphan child enters the Go world, determined to take care of his younger brother, and meets Akira on the way. But, the Touya family has been hiding something for all these years…

DISCLAIMER:I don't own Hikaru no Go.

CHAPTER ONE – SHINDO HIKARU

He breathed in the crisp, fresh morning air. His eyes grazed his surroundings as he stared at the little town with a fond expression.

So this is the last time I'll look at these houses.

It was somewhat sad in a certain retrospect. He was leaving this small, homely place he grew up in. This was where he would play with the neighborhood kids, where he would talk with his grandfather, where he would discuss Go with some of the more elderly residents. But it was also, at least he thought, where the most important event in his life had occurred.

Sai appeared to him. Even though he was taken in by the neighbors, close friends of his grandfather, it was Sai who acted as a guardian. He would remind Hikaru when he had homework due the next day. He would navigate the sleep-deprived child through the day when he had stayed up all night studying Go. It was Sai who comforted him when his grandfather died, and it was the same Sai who forced Hikaru to face reality when his parents had perished in a plane crash, leaving the young Takagi in the care of the older brother whom he had never known.

Hikaruuuu! I want to play Go!

Of course, it was also Sai who annoyed Hikaru to no end when he wanted to play Go.

"I don't want to! I'm going to try and be normal for once!" Sai started sobbing as he thought of the prospect of not playing Go. And of course, his despair seeped through the emotional link they shared and caused Hikaru to feel ill. "Fine, fine, I'll take you to a Go salon over there once we're settled! But I'm not playing!"

Immediately, he started regretting his decision. Even if he didn't want to, the spirit would beg and plead until Hikaru agreed to let him play. And of course, after one game, Sai would continue to bother the young boy for another game…and another and another until Hikaru was too tired to even pick up the stones.

Despite the obvious futility of the prospect, Hikaru was determined to be a normal 12 year old kid. To Hikaru, that meant not playing Go, and keeping the fact that he even knew how to play Go secret. But Sai knew better. He knew how hard the real world could and would be. Hikaru had to take care of Takagi. They didn't know who their guardian would be, but it was supposed to be an old acquaintance of their father. It was likely it would be hard for him to support them.

And so the job of taking care of Takagi and himself fell to Hikaru. But it was only Sai who knew this. Hikaru was still blissfully oblivious of this fact. Sai knew he would have to face the truth sooner or later, but he wanted Hikaru to at least enjoy the blessing and ignorance that only exists in childhood. At the least, he could have a family…of sorts.

"Hikaru! The car is here!" Akagi-san, the one who had taken Hikaru in along with her other two children, called from inside the house.

"Coming!" He took one last look at the grave of his grandfather before heading toward the place where he would be taken away from his memories.

Goodbye…Ojii-san…

"Are you Shindo Hikaru?" A man who Hikaru assumed was the driver, bowed slightly to him. Hikaru reciprocated. "Unfortunately, your planned guardian has passed away from a heart attack. We found this letter addressed to you with him." The driver handed him the letter. On the envelope was his name in neat, crisp handwriting.

To Shindo Hikaru,

I suspect my time in this world is coming to an end. If you have received this letter, it means I didn't have a chance to get to know you. I am sad to say I cannot do much for you now, but know that I truly cared for you. I remember when you were just a baby, at a time I'm sure you don't remember. I may not have fulfilled my role as your godfather, but I hope someone else does. The man who will be you and your brother's guardian may not be able to take care of you 24/7, so I hope you will do your best to lessen the burden. I wish you well.

Farewell,

Nishijima Shishio

Hikaru was dumbfounded. This man, whom he had never known, whose name he had just discovered, had cared for him so much? And yet now he was gone, just like everyone else in Hikaru's life.

"Excuse me, who is my new guardian?" Hikaru politely inquired of the driver.

"I do not know of the details, just that he was a kouhai of Nishijima-san in high school," he replied as he opened the car door, motioning for Hikaru to get in. After a quick farewell and a few tears from the young Akagi children, Hikaru, along with Sai, sped off, away from his hometown, away from his grandfather…away from his past.

But the farther away he was from all that, the closer he was to a new life, a new environment, a new family, and, though he had yet to know, a new friend.

Takagi…I'm finally meeting him…my brother…

A/N: I know, I'm supposed to be working on my other stories, but I've recently reread most of them, and my decision is...to remove/rewrite all of them. I realized how childish my writing sounded, and I tried to fix it here, but I don't know if I'm successful or not. I can tell you for sure that my Bleach story, False Reality (if any of you are fans of it), will definitely be rewritten. Though, I don't think it'll be soon, as my muses for the Bleach fandom have banged their heads on a table and have lost most of their originality. Maybe in a few months it'll happen. I think that otherwise, the other stories aren't worth keeping. Illya and Gathering of the Times might be rewritten, but they're definitely coming down if not. Everything else goes.

I don't put my stories up for adoption, nor do I keep them up if they're abandoned.

I hope you enjoy "Born For This"!