Author's note: Sorry for the long delay, I have just recently returned from my holiday in America, went to San Francisco and Lake Tahoe to ski. I think America is a fine country but I don't think I will ever return. Why? Because the bloody flight was 17 hours long. 17 damn hours on a plane, that's too long and too far for me. And to add on to the delay, my internet modem short circuited so I was internet deprived for quite awhile. AND to add on to that, school started which left me with no time to type my chapter. School starts in January here.
Disclaimer: I don't own Hikaru no Go. (Must I really do this for every chapter? It's getting tiring.)
"Blah" represents speech
'Blah' represents thoughts
Blah represents everything Sai says/ thinks
Chapter 7: It's just coincidence
Hikaru! We're going to meet the Meijin!
'I know Sai.'
Hikaru! The Meijin is the best Go player currently!
'Aside from you, yes I know already.'
Hikaru! The Meijin-
"Oh for heaven's sake Sai, would you please just SHUT UP about the Meijin! Yes, I know we are going to meet the Meijin. Yes, I am aware that he is currently the best. Yes, I know he is said to be the person closest to attaining the Hand of God. But heavens! I read the book too Sai. I know all that; so can you please just stop and control yourself! " Hikaru was fed up with having to endure Sai bouncing up and down around her going on and on about the great Touya Meijin. For the past day Sai had done nothing but daydream about meeting the Meijin and it was beginning to annoy Hikaru who was used to silent isolation when in her room. See, Hikaru was an only child and being an only child meant that she had no siblings to disturb her. This resulted in Hikaru growing up to be an independent person who enjoyed the quiet calmness of her room. Sai was disrupting that calmness and Hikaru was not happy about it.
Downstairs, her mom was getting worried at the sound of her daughter telling off someone in her room. "Hikaru; who are you talking to up there? Are you ready to go for dinner?"
Still panting slightly from her long winded rant, Hikaru stuck her head out her door and hastily replied saying that nothing was going on and she would be ready to leave soon. Then, closing the door, she turned around to face Sai again. 'I'm sorry about that. I don't know what came over me.'
Sai looked down at his companion and smiled at her. He knew that she had every right to tell him off. Sai knew that sometimes he was a little over the top when in came to Go. He had been this way a thousand years ago and things were still the same now. Reaching out to place his hand above Hikaru's head in a gesture of affection, Sai reassured his young friend that things were fine between them.
After a moment of meaningful silence between the two, Hikaru ushered Sai out of her room to change and get ready to leave for dinner at the dreaded house of Touyas.
Touya's Residence
"Mitsuko-san! Welcome, it's so wonderful that you could come. Come in come in." The Shindo's were greeted at the door by Akiko and ushered into the living room. "You're just in time for dinner."
With that they were moved to seat at a large low table with six cushions, three along each length of the table. The seating arrangement was such that the two family heads were seated opposite each other on the left side while the mother's were seated in the middle so as to make it easier for them to serve both their husbands and their children. That left Hikaru and Akira to sit at the right edge of the table facing each other. In essence, it was a layout for disaster.
At the table, Akira was not doing very well. Since the Shindos first walked through the door of his home, he had been subjected to the heated glare of Shindo Hikaru. Like Cyclops from the X-men, it was as though Shindo Hikaru had a set of laser eyes that were boring holes into the side of his head and though his brain. Up till now, Touya Akira had never had the misfortune to be on the receiving end of a woman's wraith. Sadly for him, his luck had ended and he was now subjected to the mighty fury of Shindo Hikaru, who by the way was not feeling particularly charitable to the boy sitting opposite her. No, seeing as the boy opposite her was the idiot who was solely responsible for making her twist her ankle, for making her get sorely embarrassed in front of a over a thousand people, for making her miss the Annual Dance Grading Examinations because of her injury and lastly for making her have to suffer weeks of walking around in crutches, Hikaru did not see any rational reason why she should be nice to Touya Akira at all. Never mind the fact that Akira had already apologized to Hikaru and she had accepted to apology. Nope, there was absolutely no possible reasonable reason why Hikaru should play nice.
Oblivious to the tension at the table between the two children who were playing their own silent game of predator and prey was Fujiwara no Sai who was enjoying himself in the house of the Meijin. The Meijin's house was practically a Go shine and Sai felt as though he had re-died and gone to heaven. Sai had wandered into the room that had an intense residue of electricity and at the same time, contemplative calmness. Immediately Sai could deduce that this was the room where many a Go game had been played. Sai could sense the lingering essence of the games that had been played in the room. Early morning reflections and late afternoon battles, Sai could almost feel each and every game. Now that he had gotten a taste of the excitement, Sai wanted more. He wanted to sit on that cushion, at that Goban, facing the Meijin in an even game for the ultimate battle of Go. He wanted to face the man closest to achieving the Hand of God.
Outside the Go room, the tense dinner had passed and it was time for desert. Collecting the dishes, the two mothers enlisted the help of their respective children to bring them in while they served dessert.
Taking the dishes from her mother, Hikaru followed Akira into the kitchen. As she placed the dishes into the sink, Hikaru casually turned to face Akira who was standing right beside her.
"Just so you know; I hate you."
And with that, she stepped on his foot, turned and left.
"Ow." Thankfully, Akira had already put down the cups into the sink when Hikaru stepped on his foot. If not, it would have been dish carnage. Hopping on one foot and rubbing the injured one, Akira stared out after the petite girl. 'What did she do that for? That hurt! Ow. I already apologized. This is not fair!'
Akira simply could not comprehend why Hikaru would do such a thing, having never interacted with any girls as rude as Hikaru. But he was interrupted from his thoughts by the sounds of his mother calling him and so exited the kitchen, limping slightly.
Touyas' residence, Living room
As a conversation starter and just like a typical mother, Shindo Mitsuko inquired about Akira and Go.
"So, I can see that Akira-kun is quite the Go player," she said, gesturing to the numerous Go awards that decorated the walls of the house.
'Uh oh. We're in trouble.' Hikaru could sense danger coming the moment her mother started the topic. By now, Sai and returned and was standing behind her so he had heard her remark.
What's wrong Hikaru.
'Huston, we have a problem.'
Huston?Hikaru, what are you talking about? Sai didn't understand why Hikaru was panicking.
Meanwhile outside her head, the conversation was still continuing.
"Wow, Akira-kun! That's incredible. Actually, Hikaru just started learning go too!"
'Ohhh shit. Ohhh shit…'
Hikaru, a lady never curses. What's wrong?
What's wrong was that her mother had just revealed to the Toyuas that she had only just started learning about Go. Now normally, telling the truth would not be the problem; but this was a special case. The problem was, Hikaru… well Sai had defeated Akira- Go wonder-boy, using Hikaru's body. That put Hikaru in a very tight situation and sad thing was, she was not the only one who noticed it.
"Wait! Excuse me Shindo-san but did you just say that your daughter only just started learning to play Go?" Akira could not believe his ears. He absolutely refused to believe that the girl who defeated him, his self-proclaimed rival, Shindo Hikaru, had only just started learning Go. It was impossible. Unthinkable. And he had voiced as much. "But that's impossible. She can't have just started learning recently!"
"What are you saying Akira." He was immediately chastised by his mother for his outburst; but Akira would not be stopped. Not till he got a good understanding of just what was happening here.
"She cannot have just started learning Go!-"
'Ohhh shit. Ohhh shit. Ohhh shit'
"I could not have lost to a beginner."
'Ohhh shit... A tad bit over confident isn't he?'
"Akira, what is this about?"
The great Touya-Meijin has spoken and the whole living room had fallen silent, Hikaru's thoughts included. Glancing at his father, Akira retold the story of how he was defeated by Hikaru in the Go salon a few weeks back. The instant he was done, all eyes had turned on Hikaru, her mother being the first to speak.
"Did you really do that Hikaru dear?"
Refusing to meet her mother's eyes, Hikaru examined her shoes as though they were some sort of newly discovered specimen. Mumbling something incoherent for the sake of answering her mother, Hikaru wracked her brain to come up with some sort of excuse.
Yet before she could cough up some ridiculous story, the Meijin had invited her to play a game with him. A game with the Meijin; this was what Sai had been dreaming of since forever… or for as long as he had known that the Touya Meijin existed. And yet…Sai might just be denied his dreams once again. Denied; not by an ambitious cheater in the imperial courts but instead by a cautious little girl whom he had now grown to love.
In the Go Room
Hikaru looked across the board at the Meijin in horror. 'This cannot be happening. Sai, I can't do this. I…I can't!'
What do you mean Hikaru? Sai didn't understand why Hikaru would not help him play Go with the man who was closest to achieving the hand of God.
'Sai, if he is as good as they say he is. Everyone that knows anything about him and Go will be expecting him to win. Even if he has granted us the four stone handicap, people are still expecting us to lose. Badly at that. I mean if someone like Touya Akira still loses to the Meijin when he is granted a three stone handicap, can you imagine how skilled he must be? Have you any idea what an uproar it would make if some no name player like me… you… me whatever, comes in and defeats the Meijin just like that?! I'll be thrown under a spotlight, stuffed under a microscope. No Sai. We can't do this.'
Even though Sai didn't know was a microscope was, he could still understand what Hikaru was trying to tell him. Sai's eyes became downcast. So close. He was so close to playing the man who was closest to the hand of god and yet. He was still so far away, held back by reasoning personified as Shindo Hikaru.
Sai, Hikaru was still caught in the web. Her parents and Touya-kun were both watching. They all expected her to play because they all saw no reason why she should not play the Touya-Meijin. Hikaru really didn't know what to do. 'Sai, I don't know what to do. I can't play him but I can't not play him without looking weird either. Sai, what am I going to do?'
Author's note: I'm sorry for such a short chapter but I felt that that was a good place to stop. Also I apologize for the slow pace of the story and for the lack of Akira/Hikaru interaction. The theory is that Hikaru still has a grudge and thus doesn't want ANYTHING to do with Akira so she pretty much doesn't say much to him.
