Disclaimer: Hikaru no Go was written by Yumi Hotta and illustrated by Takeshi Obata. I do not, in any way, profit from this story.

Go, Soccer Player, Go!

Chapter 7: Children's Go Tournament III.

...

Hikaru stared up at the imposing figure he had stupidly run into. Dressed in a strictly-formal kimono with eyes sharp enough to cut him in half, Hikaru felt physically unable to do anything. Anything other than gape at quite possibly the most intimidating man he had ever seen in his life.

Hikaru was beginning to think that Coach Takahashi had actually been really open and approachable. In fact, Hikaru was pretty sure that after a few more practices, when Coach ran them into the ground by ordering them to run and keep running until their feet bled, Hikaru would have just laughed and said "That's Coach!" or something equally stupid like that.

Alright, so Hikaru was actually aware of how stupid he was right now. That didn't happen often. But when it did, he knew that he had to shake himself out of it if he didn't want to end up looking like a complete idiot.

"Sai! What do I do?" Hikaru thought in a panic.

"Remember your manners." Sai replied immediately, repeatedly gesturing upwards to get Hikaru to stand up quickly and just stop gawking at the man.

Hikaru mechanically clamored to his feet. It felt as if it were his muscles doing the thinking and his muscles were only remembering that his body wasn't much often in that position.

But he was still being glared at by the intimidating man. That was making his thoughts go haywire. And somewhere in Hikaru's mind, it had decided that the best way to cope with all of these chaotic thoughts was to shut it down.

"We are truly apologetic and humbly beg for your forgiveness." Sai said, unheard, from Hikaru's side.

Sai nudged Hikaru.

Hikaru felt his mouth open and close automatically. He thought that he was saying words, but couldn't be sure. He was pretty sure it was an apology. And he guessed that he was parroting something similar to what Sai had said.

With a blink, Hikaru finished rebooting. Immediately, he concentrated on the situation at hand. He glanced over at Sai, who was nodding satisfactorily. Hikaru guessed that he had just said the right thing and apologized for running into that man.

Hikaru looked over at the other two people there. One was giving him a surprised look. The other looked completely baffled.

Hikaru sent a confused look Akira's way. Why did Akira look so shocked? Was it something he said?

"Akira," Touya Meijin addressed his son with some surprise. "Is this boy a friend of yours?"

Rather than answer the question, Akira was physically distraught. He didn't know how to answer his father. Was Hikaru his friend? They had only just met and only spoken to each other for a few minutes. But his father had merely asked him a simple question. There just wasn't a simple answer.

Akira opened his mouth to respond, but couldn't force any words out.

"We just met right now." Hikaru responded for him.

Akira immediately closed his mouth.

And he knew he was just being foolish, but Akira actually felt a little disappointed by that answer.

"So, he's my newest friend!" Hikaru continued brightly, casually throwing an arm over Akira's shoulders.

Hikaru smiled up at the Meijin, oblivious to the reactions of both Touyas.

Akira felt warmth spread over his chest. He allowed himself a small smile at the thought of having a friend to introduce to his father.

"Father, this is Shindo Hikaru." Akira was feeling bold. "Shindo-san, this is my father."

"Touya Koyo, Meijin." Touya Meijin introduced himself succinctly.

"Err..."

Sai's fan snapped the top of his head.

"Hikaru! I just told you to remember your manners." Sai admonished with a surprisingly-intimidating glare.

Hikaru winced at the phantom pain on his head, but knew better than to make a move to rub it. That would only make him look weirder.

Instead, he straightened his posture, made sure his arms were properly at his sides, and inclined his head forward the way he knew Sai wanted him to. He didn't need any more phantom pains.

"Shindo Hikaru." Hikaru formally introduced himself. "I'm glad to make your acquaintance."

Once again, Touya Akira was entirely baffled by Hikaru's sudden formality. He would never admit it aloud, but he had thought the earlier occurrence had been a fluke.

Touya Meijin looked down at Hikaru with approval.

And of course, Hikaru would still be oblivious to anything and everything outside of himself.

"Happy, Sai?" Hikaru glared over towards the Heian nobleman.

Sai smiled cheerfully, nodding indulgently and once again with great satisfaction. His pupil was so successfully implementing the lessons he had taught him.

"And I am Fujiwara no Sai." Sai introduced himself as well. "A pleasure to make your acquaintance."

Hikaru resisted the urge to roll his eyes as he returned to standing position. Hikaru thought Sai was very strange to keep doing these kinds of things when no one else could see or hear him. Hikaru didn't even want to do it, and everyone could see and hear him.

"We apologize again for the disturbance." said Sai, looking pointedly at Hikaru.

"I apologize again for running into you." Hikaru bowed again in apology even though all he wanted to do was point out that he had already apologized.

But if he did, he wouldn't hear the end of it from Sai. And Hikaru did not want to be lectured at for his lack of decorum and ill-manners until he went to bed...again.

"Be more careful next time, Shindo Hikaru." Touya Meijin admonished lightly, feeling more lenient towards Hikaru than he would for any other child who had just run into him.

"Of course." Hikaru replied immediately.

Touya Meijin directed a look of approval towards the boy in front of him. He would never have expected that any boy looking like Shindo Hikaru would possess such proper manners. His son had very good manners as well, but Akira was naturally polite and courteous. It was refreshing to encounter a child who was truly respectful of his elders.

"As if I wouldn't." Hikaru huffed irritably to Sai.

Sai frowned disapprovingly at him.

"Well, it looks like you and your dad were heading somewhere." Hikaru turned to Akira lightheartedly. "Don't worry about me. I was just about to leave anyway."

"Oh," Akira forced down his disappointment. "Is that so?"

"Yeah." Hikaru nodded. "I better get home. I told my mom I would be coming back right after my tryout."

Hikaru grinned extra brightly at his new friend, casually waving goodbye to Akira right there in the middle of the hallway.

Then he turned to Touya Meijin, spine straight, arms straight, and bowed dutifully.

"Have a good afternoon, Touya-san." Hikaru bade his respectful farewell.

"We have been honored to make your acquaintance today." Sai added alongside Hikaru.

"This has been a pleasant meeting, Shindo Hikaru." Touya Meijin addressed the youth before him fondly. "I hope we meet again in the future."

"Thank you, Touya-san." Hikaru respectfully bowed yet again.

"Goodbye, Shindo-san." Akira forced a polite smile to his face.

"I'll see you around, Touya." Hikaru grinned one more time before turning to leave.

Touya Meijin nodded to his son to indicate that he would be continuing on to their original destination. He expected Akira to follow him to sort out whatever the tournament official had asked for his help with, but would allow Akira a moment to himself.

And Touya Akira did follow behind his father, but paused to cast one last look over his shoulder before he did.

Hikaru was already a ways ahead in the opposite direction, hands clasped casually behind his head, strolling at a leisurely pace.

Akira had never encountered anyone like Shindo Hikaru before. Some of the other children at the tournament had worn casual clothing similar to Hikaru's, but Hikaru was actually carrying around sports equipment with him. Akira had never seen someone so obviously dedicated to a physical sport attend a go event before.

Not only that, but looking at Shindo Hikaru now, it was hard to believe that such a formal and proper introduction had been made by this seemingly carefree boy.

But for all of the eccentricities and peculiarities of the boy he had just met, Hikaru had declared himself Akira's friend. And so, Akira was glad that he had agreed to come to this tournament with his father today rather than stay at the go salon like he usually did.

He was startled out of his thoughts by the sudden crash of a door slamming into the wall. However, it wasn't so much the noise echoing down the hall, but the person coming out from the room that surprised him the most.

"Ogata-san!" Akira exclaimed.

Even Touya Meijin looked surprised as he stared at his student looking frantically up and down the hallway.

"Touya-sensei!" Ogata Seiji addressed upon seeing them. "And Akira-kun too. Have either of you seen—"

Ogata stepped away from them, his gaze focused further down the hall.

"Hey, you! Kid! Stop!"

Ogata began to nearly run down the length of the hallway, briskly catching up to the person he was addressing.

"You in the soccer jersey!"

...

Author's Notes:

Inspiration for Hikaru meeting both Touyas came from the page in the artbook where Touya is standing behind his father, but looks back over his shoulder. Did anyone else think of that while reading this?