Of course, Hikaru no Go does not belong to me. Silly people.

On another note, I can't guarantee the time between chapters, and even though this is really soon after I posted chapter 2, it might be a while before 4 comes along.

Thanks for your confidence!

Enjoy!

Hikaru came back every day, and after helping the owner's wife with chores, the men sat down to teach him all they knew about go. Sai learned as well, how the game had changed in the last 150 years.

"Komi?" Hikaru asked one day. "What's komi?"

"You don't know what komi is?" the men asked gaping. "You play so well, I keep forgetting you know you know next to nothing about go. You're 100 years out of date."

Sai became agitated at this. 'Well forgive me for being trapped in a goban for 150 years. I can still beat you all to a pulp, and so can Hikaru!'

"Calm down, Sai. You know they meant no offense."

'I know,' Sai pouted. 'But you really are better than them.' Hikaru brushed this off as Sai trying to mollify him.

"But you've gotta admit we have learned a lot here." Sai smiled, and Hikaru returned his attention to the lecturing man.

"Since black has the advantage of going first, white gets 5 ½ extra points. It also prevents ties."

"They didn't have this back in Shusaku's day?" Hikaru asked Sai.

'No. All I know is that I've never lost while playing black'

"And you never thought that was unfair?"

Hikaru became an attraction. Whenever he was there, people would flock to the salon to play the little boy who could beat the pants off of all the adults.

Sai knew it would be bad for Hikaru to get a big head, so he made sure to crush him every night. Then he would go through the game and point out all the mistakes Hikaru had made. He would tell Hikaru stories of all the famous go masters, and remind him that there were many out there that were much better than him. This worked to some extent, but a side effect was that Hikaru developed a very warped view of his skills.

So many people came because of Hikaru that the owner started paying him for the chores, instead of using it as the entrance fee. Finally, Sai could no longer hold back his instinct to teach, and through Hikaru, he gave pointers and lessons to the customers. Hikaru picked up on the teaching as quickly as he picked up the game.

"You know, kid," Kawai said one day. "If you're going to do teaching games, you might as well charge for them. I know you could use the money. Heck," he continued. "Anyone could use the extra money."

Hikaru looked at him in surprise. "Do you really think people would pay for me to teach them?"

"Sure!" said Kawai. "Not only are you a great player, you're a great teacher." Kawai saved Hikaru from the awkwardness of asking his students to pay by suggesting in a boisterous but convincing manner that they shouldn't be taking advantage of the kid. Most of the men were happy to support their little friend, and gladly paid for the teaching games.

Hikaru used some of the money to visit other salons in the city.

The first time they went, Hikaru said "Sai, what do you say to playing today?"

'You mean with other people?'

"Well I'm no Shusaku, and this certainly isn't the Castle Games, but I thought you might like it. And since we're not at Heart of Stone, you can play without it being suspicious."

'You really mean it? Thank you, Hikaru. Thank you thank you thank you!'

Smiling, Hikaru went inside. "Hi," Hikaru said to the person at the counter. "What's your children's rate?" The man told him, and grimacing, Hikaru fished the money out of his pocket.

"So," Hikaru said casually. "How do I challenge your strongest player?"

The man frowned. "Cocky, aren't you."

"Just confident," Hikaru replied. "I mean, you could probably crush any of these guys."

'Most likely', Sai said.

"What," Hikaru said, trying to goad the man. "Afraid you'll be beaten by a kid?"

"Hey, listen up guys," the man called. "This brat needs to be taught a lesson."

Sai and Hikaru took on all comers, and predictably beat them all. Once they were done, the docile Hikaru was back.

"Sorry about being rude before," he said. "I just thought the games would be more interesting if you were all fired up and taking me seriously." 'Because they better take us seriously.'

He swung his bag on his back and bowed. "Thanks for the games." And he left.

"Wow," one of the men said. "That was some kid. How old do you think he is? 9, 10?"

"I don't know," said another. "But he sure as hell doesn't play like it."

'Man, that was fun.' Sai nodded happily. 'Now let's go home and play a game together.'

The day Hikaru bought his own set of go stones was a happy day indeed.

'They aren't very expensive, but they're all ours.' Hikaru said to Sai, when they brought them home that night. 'Right then,' Hikaru said decisively. 'Let's play.'

The next day, Hikaru took the board and stones to the park. They sat at a table and set up, then he and Sai recreated games and discussed them.

Just as Hikaru had hoped, an older gentleman approached and asked what a boy like him was doing with a goban. "Playing," Hikaru said cheerfully. "Care to join me?"

"I think I will. Do you play much?"

"As often as I can," Hikaru responded truthfully. He cleared the board and offered one of the go bowls to the man. "Nigiri." As the game began, the man quickly realized that he was out-classed, and after a valiant effort, he resigned.

"You play very well, young man."

"I've had the best teacher." Sai blushed.

"Hey, kid," Kawai shouted one day as Hikaru entered the salon. "D'ya know what they're calling you now?"

"Who?" Hikaru asked looking completely bemused.

"Everyone! They're calling you the Go-Boy."

"What!" Hikaru shouted.

"It fits you," the owner said. "You're always carrying that board and stones around, and you play teaching games in most of the salons, not to mention the park."

Hikaru blushed. "That's dumb."

"Everyone wants to know more about you, too," another man said.

"Look," Hikaru said, uncomfortable with the direction the conversation was going. "Do any of you want a game, or should I head to the park?"

"Calm down kid. If you don't want to talk, we won't force you," Kawai said. "Instead of a game, how about we try something else," Kawai said with a devious smile.

"What are you scheming, old man," Hikaru said warily, and Kawai grabbed him in a headlock.

"I told you not to call me that, squirt. Now here comes your punishment!" He shoved Hikaru towards a table with 3 gobans on it. "You're going to play 3 people at once."

"3!" Hikaru squeaked.

"Don't worry, boy. With the way you play, 3 will be a cinch. We'll try 4 next."

"4!" Hikaru exclaimed, but allowed himself to be guided to the seat on one side of the table. Despite his alarm, he was intrigued by the idea.

'Hikaru, Hikaru'! Sai squealed, bouncing up and down. ' Do it, it looks fun'!

"Whatever." And he sat down to play. Even the salon people were surprised at how well he did, and they eagerly set up 4. He had a bit more trouble with 4, but in the end, he came out on top.

As he was getting ready to leave, Kawai said "We've got more for you tomorrow!"

"Are you going to make me play 5 people?"

Kawai grinned. "Maybe another time. We've got something else planned."

"I may not come tomorrow," Hikaru muttered.

"Don't even think about skipping, squirt!"

As they walked home, Hikaru grinned in spite of himself. "Those crazy old men. Making me play 4 people at once." 'But you did fine,' Sai said. "Yeah," Hikaru said aloud. "And it was fun."

Curious to see what the new torture would be, Hikaru went to The Heart of Stone. "The kid's here!" Kawai shouted the moment Hikaru walked through the doors. They dragged him to the table from the day before, but mercifully, there was only 1 board today.

"Now squirt," Kawai said. "We all know you play an incredible game, but hardly anyone takes you all the way to the end, so your counting is a little weak." Hikaru frowned.

'He's right, you know,' Sai said. 'Hardly anyone here is good enough to take you to the endgame, and I'm a bit too hard for you to take me into the endgame on a regular basis.'

"Snob," Hikaru said, but he recognized the truth in the words, so he settled into the chair. "So how will you solve this counting problem of mine," he asked.

"We want you to force a tie," Kawai said.

"A tie?"

"When you play without komi, there is a chance for a tie, and we want you to learn to force it. But you have to do it without any noticeable change in your playing. Think you can do it?"

"You crazy old coots," Hikaru said. "Bring it on."

Sai looked on with pride, as he watched his pupil and friend grow. Hikaru was clearly enjoying himself, and when he managed to tie 1 game, they started him on 2. By the end of the week he could tie 4 simultaneous games. They had him try blind go, which proved to be very useful for playing Sai when there was no board around. Hikaru had never been happier than the time he spent playing go with Sai and his friends from the salon.