A/N: About this story. I want to stay fateful to the original story, but I have to do that to my own style as well. I think if the original would have continuation, Sai would not be coming back. And it always bothered me that no one was able to reach the Hand of God. I want to see the story till the end, and hopefully you can do the same through my story. Enjoy.

Hikaru no Go – the Hand of God

Chapter 1: Could it be you, Sai?

Hikaru felt the cool wind tossing his hair as he inhaled deeply. Somehow the bright red leafs that were hanging from the trees ready to fall on the ground, made him feel nostalgic. It´s not like the leafs itself or the autumn held any specific memories, but somehow they seemed kind of noble and had an aura of eternity… like Sai. It had been almost a half a year that Sai had gone missing for good. Hikaru felt like he had gotten over the worst of longing for his friend, but sometimes the inner wounds felt still sore.

"Hey!" Hikaru was brought back from his inner world by fingers snapping in front of his face. When turning his head Waya was looking irritated and waiting for something. When Hikaru could only stare questionably, Waya slapped his hand over his face: "Aah! Man! What is wrong with you!? You´ve been like this for almost a whole month already! Look, I know you are inpatient to rise up with your current rating, but would it kill you to try to concentrate when people are speaking to you?"

Hikaru let a little lopsided smirk come out: "But I do listen …when I know it´s not boring." "Yeah right, like you… hey!" "Okay Waya, close your mouth before you swallow a fly. We´re here." They had arrived before a new café, that was only half a block from the Go center. They had planned on meeting with Isumi and Fukui there to hang out now that they had some free time, even if it was getting late. When entering, the place was nothing out of the ordinary …so why Hikaru had felt little nervous… or maybe anxious?

Both Fukui and Isumi were already there, sitting on a table-booth next to a window. Hikaru made his way to the table and Waya waved his hand as a sign to a waitress to come and get their order. It was nice just sit and relax. The coffee started soothing Hikarus mind and he soon found himself lost in an interesting conversation about Wayas last game. Well, it was more of a funny story than interesting one. Fukui made and impression of Waya when an old man had sneezed on top of the go-board just when Waya had been placing his stone on it. "And then Waya started screaming like a girl…" "That is NOT true! And it´s easy for you to make fun of me, but if you had your hand suddenly covered by someone's brains...!" Hikaru was laughing with Isumi so hard he almost missed a conversation on the next table behind him.

"Hey, weren´t you supposed to meet your dad at eight? It´s almost 7:50." "What?! Aaa, sorry, would you lift that?! Bye!" The conversation or even the sound of fallen chair was not anything that would have made Hikaru move his attention from the humiliation of Waya, but he turned his head just slightly when someone passed him and all he saw was a lean figure with a long violet hair. Hikarus world stopped. And as soon as the time had stilled, it started running again – with much too quick pace. "Wait!" Hikaru stumbled over his chair and flexed all his muscles to reach for that hair that had slipped out of the cafés door. "Wait!"

Waya was first of the other three to realize that Hikaru had bolted from his seat: "Oi! Hikaru! Wha..?" And then the door closed with both of the figures gone. "What just happened?" Both Isumi and Fukui were as clueless, but Isumi tried some kind of realistic possibility: "Maybe the person just now dropped something?" "Maybe... But was it just me, or was Hikaru almost in panic?"

Hikaru was running based on his instings – he was not sure which way the figure had gone. It had been about less than a minute, but he felt desperation starting to pump adrenaline into his system. He was running faster and almost felt like crying, but then he saw a glimpse of that blessed violet hair! "Wait!.. hey, WAIT!" The figure stopped running to turn towards the sound. Hikaru felt like losing his mind – it was Sai! It WAS Sai! He felt his legs push even harder against the ground. But Sais face didn´t show the expected foolish smile, but confusion and when Hikaru was almost there Sai turned quickly and started running away from him. No! "Sai!"

Sai turned to look over his shoulder: "Get away from me! I don´t have any money!" What..? "Sai! Stop!" "You got the wrong person!" "Sai!" Hikaru couldn´t think. "SAI!" Sai seemed to stiffen a little, but turned his head little bit again: "I´m NOT Sai! Get away from me!" Hikaru felt his eyes starting to sting. Was he going to lose Sai again? What..? Why was Sai running? He had missed Sai… he had missed Sai so much he hadn´t realized it… "PLEASE!" Hikarus voice cracked when he shouted. At that moment he lost his footing and fell. "..please.. Sai.."

Hikaru didn´t realize at first that the sound of Sais steps had stopped also, but then careful voice came right in front of him: "Are you okay..?" Hikarus eyes snapped open and he lifted his head to see sharp face with blue eyes and violet hair so very near. Hikaru tried reaching for Sai, but he backed away at the same second. "Don´t try anything funny!" Hikaru couldn´t keep his emotions in check anymore: "Sai! Sai! Don´t go!" "How many times I have to tell you I´m not.." "I don't want to lose you again!" Hikarus shoulders collapsed as tears started falling from his eyes.

After a silent moment Hikaru felt someone putting their hand on his shoulder. And suddenly Hikaru felt that hand circle him in an awkward hug. From his surprise he could hear a small mumble next to his ear. "I must be out of my mind… Listen. I don´t think I´m the one you are thinking, but I can´t leave you here crying. It´s going to be okay." Hikaru pulled the figure as close to him as he could. "Sai…"

When Hikaru started calming down he became more aware of his surroundings. Still he wasn't weary enough to care about the fact that he was crying on the street, sitting on his knees with person in his arms, even if there weren´t really any people passing by. But the first real thing he took notice was the familiar violet hair in front of his eyes. The next notice was a bit surprising. "Was Sai always this small..?" ´Sai´ sensed Hikaru calming down so he backed up to look at him. And for the first time Hikaru really looked at him. And froze. "This is not how you try to pick up girls, is it?" The figure asked smiling lightly with corner of her mouth. Hikaru licked his suddenly very dry lips: "You are a girl..?" The person in front lifted her right eyebrow: "Do I look like a man to you?" No, SHE definitely did not look like a man. Actually now that Hikaru was eyeing her he wondered how he could make the mistake. The figure was definitely a girl. But when he lifted his eyes to her face, he felt his chest swell with feeling of contentment, like having his family back.

Everything in her face said Sai. She had the same forehead, the same cheeks, the same nose, the same lips, the same hair and the same eyes. Sai had always been as beautiful as any gorgeous woman, but when looking carefully there were some differences: maybe she had darker lashes and looked back with much more bolder expression than Sai had ever looked. In a way she did seem little bit more manly than Sai, but that didn´t come from her outer looks.

"Okay, if you have had good enough look and stopped with the tears, I´m going to go. Sorry about the disappointment. I hope you find your friend next time." While getting up the girl grabbed Hikarus arm to lift him up. "Are you going to be okay?" Hikaru nodded slightly. "Yes…" "In that case, I´m taking my leave now. And just as a tip: don´t go freaking people like that. I thought you were going to attack me… okay, take care.." "Wait!" Hikaru stopped her with taking a hold of her arm in turn. "Are you…" "Hikaru!" Hikaru turned towards the sound of someone yelling his name. The three friends he left behind in the café were running towards him. Hikaru waved his hand as a sign he had seen them, but then remembered, he wasn´t finished with more important issue. He turned back towards the Sai-copy, but saw no one. He made his eyes run on his surroundings, but the violet hair vas nowhere to be seen. He almost bolted into running again, but Isumi beat him to it and grabbed his collar: "What are you doing? I need to…" "What are YOU doing?" Isumis voice didn´t held much anger but it was clear Hikaru wouldn´t be running anywhere for a while.

The other boys were present just after and Fukui had to lean on his legs to calm down his breathing. Waya was not as calm as Isumi: "What the hell? You didn´t only make us run around for a way too long time, but also made us pay for your drink!" Hikaru hadn´t thought about the bill… "I´m sorry Waya, guys, but I…" What was he going to say? There was nothing he could say. The truth was too absurd and lying was not a merit of his. So he chose to say nothing. Waya crossed his hands in front of his chest and started tapping his leg impatiently to the ground.

Fukui was able to breathe normally again, so he took over the conversation: "What were you running for anyway? If someone dropped their walled you could have just given it to the counter. They would contact the owner." "I… I thought I saw someone I know. Sorry." The trio all sighted. "Well, I guess if everything is okay, I think we can leave this behind." Isumi said while tapping his hand lightly on Hikarus back, before dropping it. Waya stomped in front of Hikaru and messed over his hair with slightly too much force: "Aaaa! Fine! But you are going to pay for ALL of us the next time we go anywhere with food included!" "Okay, okay! I´m sorry! Aaa! Don´t.. Waya! I said sorry!.. Hey..!" Fukui and Isumi let out a little laugh and when Fukui pried Waya away from Hikaru, Isumi decided to call it a day: "Okay, we all have games tomorrow, so let´s go home." They turned and started walking with Isumi and Fukui teasing Waya calling him ´hot head´. Hikaru turned to look the scenery one more time and couldn´t help but wanting to know if that person had any other connection with Sai besides the undeniable outer resembles. When he signed and was about to go after his friends he saw something familiar on the ground. Hikaru reached for it and surely it was a black go-stone. He knew it wasn´t his, because he didn´t have any with him. The other three always carried theirs on their back or didn´t carry them around at all. There was a possibility it was just randomly there, but Hikaru could hear a tiny voice speaking in the back of his head: "What are the chances of that? It has to be hers, which means…" "I can find her." "Find who?" "Aaaa! Fukui! Don´t do that! Do you want my heart to fail?" Hikaru walked past Fukui towards the other two who had stopped to wait for them. Fukui raised his shoulders and started following Hikaru.