A/N: I sometimes still have trouble grasping the fact that there are actually people out there waiting for me to update this story. I can't believe how popular A Second Chance has gotten… and I feel so guilty that I took so long to update. :( At first I had a case of writer's block (don't you just hate when that happens?) but when I finally had ideas for this chapter, I just couldn't find the time to write it. School's started for me now, and I'm in the marching band at school… and for those who've never been in a marching band, let me tell you, marching band is really time consuming. Basically any and all of my free time is taken up by that. Fall just so happens to be the busiest time for me too… Plus on top of that I've been working on writing some original stuff, and don't get me started on homework, essays, tests, and projects. I swear, sometimes I think my school is conspiring to kill all of its students with excessive workloads.
Usually today I have band, but our director gave us off today. (Hooray!) So I sat my butt down in the front of the computer, and didn't get up until I finished typing this up. And the result was a new chapter (at last). So I hope you enjoy. And no, I can't promise that I'll start updating regularly again. But I'm going to do my best not to take as long as I did to put up this chapter ever again.
Chapter 12: Internet Go
"Giving frees us from the familiar territory of our own needs by opening our mind to the unexplained worlds occupied by the needs of others"
-Barbara Bush
While Touya Akira practiced Go with a certain blacked haired boy with bleached blonde bangs in mind, Shindo Hikaru on the other hand, had all but forgotten about the boy he had played in the Go salon. Instead, he focused on the life that had become "normal" to him: a balance of going to school, spending time at the hospital, and playing Go with Sai, Tetsuo, Kimihiro, or his grandfather.
Time for Akira seemed to pass slowly, but Hikaru was so busy and having such a blast that time seemed to wiz by, and before he knew it, he had "graduated" from Elementary school. At long last he had entered Middle School, where he could finally fulfill his dream of playing Go with the two boys who had become his best friends.
"Welcome to the big boy's school kid." Tetsuo told him with a smirk, "It's good to have you."
"We'll have our Go club at last!" Kimihiro exclaimed excitedly, his eyes shining brightly from behind his glasses, "We'll be unstoppable! We'll go to competitions, and win trophies, and we might even—mmph!"
"That's enough." Tetsuo reprimanded playfully, putting an end to his friend's babbling by covering his mouth, "We get the picture; we play Go, and we get to rub our victories in everyone's faces, and—"
"We get to do it together!" Hikaru interrupted excitedly, "It'll be… the best time of our lives." Tetsuo's lips quirked upward ever so slightly into a vaguely fond expression as he nodded in agreement—but upon realizing what he was doing, he scowled once more.
"It'll only be a year," Kimihiro pointed out, "But we'll make it a great year; the best year. We'll make this year something that we'll never forget."
Tetsuo nodded solemnly, and Hikaru bobbled his head enthusiastically in reply.
It was the beginning of what would be one of the greatest times in his life…
…But while Hikaru spent more and more time with Tetsuo and Kimihiro due to their Go club, he spent less and less time with Sai. And while Hikaru could be naïve and oblivious to some things, it didn't take a genius to see that Sai wanted to play Go more, and was beginning to feel lonely without Hikaru's constant presences in his life. With middle school, came a heavier workload then he had ever had before, which meant less free time to go to the hospital. He spent even less time with Sai too, because of the Go club—so whenever Hikaru did have time to visit his friend and mentor, Sai tried to squeeze in as many games as he could during their visits, to the point that Sai's play seemed sometimes frantic, and desperate. And it was the desperateness on the board that Hikaru saw; Sai never said a word—not once—but he didn't need to. All that he needed, and never wanted to say was on the board just waiting to be read. And when Hikaru did see it, and did read it, he wanted nothing more then to find a way for Sai to be able to do what he loved—even if he wasn't around to play his mentor…but how could it be possible? For the answer, Hikaru turned to the only other Go-guru he knew…
"I've always found that the easiest way to play Go whenever I want, without having an available opponent around, is through Internet Go."
"…Internet Go?" Hikaru questioned, looking up at Kimihiro curiously as he stuffed more rice from his bento box into his mouth, "What's that?"
Kimihiro eyed the door to the school curiously (obviously confused as to why Tetsuo hadn't come out to eat his lunch with them yet) before answering. "You've seriously never heard of it?" Hikaru shook his head. "Well, I figured you would have known already, considering how often you're online looking at that Shonen Jump website and Naruto stuff…" Hikaru flushed at the mention of this, but Kimihiro continued talking and took no notice. "Well, their are sites all over the place that you can join where there's always an opponent waiting to play. If you get an account on a Go site, you can keep track of games, watch other people from around the world play, or even play international players yourself. It's a great thing, and a great resource for Go players… if you come to the computer lab after school I can show you a good site, how to set up an account if you like."
Hikaru smiled and nodded in agreement. "Thanks Kimihiro; that'd be loads of help." Just then, Tetsuo finally burst through the school doors and smirked at his friends before taking a seat besides Kimihiro with his own box lunch. Kimihiro visibly relaxed, and let out a sigh before smiling, and finishing his own lunch. Hikaru merely smiled, and let his mind wander to thoughts of Sai, and if his mentor would like the surprise Hikaru was preparing for him; if he could get everything to fall into place, Sai would finally get to play Go as much as he liked once more; and Hikaru just couldn't wait to see the look on his sensei's face…
"Dr. Takahashi?"
"Ah, Hikaru!" the young doctor exclaimed, observing Hikaru over his glasses, "How pleasant to see you! You haven't been around lately asking for Pocky, so I've had to eat it all myself!" the doctor joked, but then added on a more serious note, "You haven't been having trouble with school have you? Ms. Nakamura has been asking about you; we—she's been worried."
"No need to worry," Hikaru assured him with one of his signature smiles, "I've just been busy is all. But… I do need your help…"
"My help? Whatever for? To get your hands on more Pocky?" the Doctor joked, but Hikaru's face remained straight and uncharacteristically serious.
"I was talking to mom, and she told me that the hospital has some laptop computers that are available for use by the patients here, and... well…" Hikaru fidgeted nervously, "I was wondering if there was a way Sai could use one of them."
Dr. Takahashi stared at Hikaru, obviously surprised by Hikaru's question, "…Why the sudden request Hikaru?" he asked, "Sai hasn't said anything to the staff about needing a computer before."
"No, I'm making the request; it's a surprise you see," Hikaru explained, "I haven't been visiting a lot recently and I've found a way for Sai to play more players then just me through the internet… so I was thinking maybe if we could have one of the nurses operate the computer for him, he can play go whenever he wants."
After Hikaru finished talking, the young doctor looked thoughtful for a time, but finally, his lips curved into a smile. "That's a wonderful idea Hikaru, and it's very considerate of you to have thought this up for Sai. We can most certainly make arrangements to do all that… except for the bit with having a nurse to operate the thing."
Hikaru looked shocked, dismayed, and then finally angry. "But Dr. Takahashi, Sai can't operate the computer on his own!"
"Oh, but he can." Dr. Takahashi told him with a mysterious smile, "Run along to see your mother, won't you? I need to make a few phone calls."
A week and a half later, Hikaru found himself nervously opening the door to his Sensei's room with a large package in hand. He bit his lip as Sai looked at him in surprise, and then joy upon seeing him. Hikaru prayed to whatever Gods there were that Sai would like his gift.
"Hikaru! How wonderful to see you; do you want to play a game?"
"Eh… Yes Sensei, but first… I have a present for you."
"A present?" Sai's features squashed together, making him look adorably confused, "For me? But why?"
"I-er…" Hikaru shifted from foot to foot anxiously. "It's… a computer."
Sai stared at him. "A computer? I'm rather behind the times Hikaru; I've even been called old fashioned, so I don't know very much about computers…"
"Er, well…." Hikaru stammered setting the computer down on the table besides his teacher, "Dr. Takahashi got this voice activation software stuff for it that lets you operate it just with you voice, and… I… I found out about this site where you can play Go online with people from all over the world, and I thought…"
"Oh Hikaru." Sai interrupted, his voice unusually soft "If I could, I would hug your right now. To think you'd do this for me…"
"It wasn't that hard to put together…" Hikaru muttered, "And it's because I'm never here that you can't play go, so…"
"Hikaru, don't worry about me." Sai told Hikaru firmly, cutting off the boy yet again, "When I got into that accident… I felt as if my life had ended. I thought everything was over; as if my entire existence had died with my mobility. I was bitter for a long, long time, but then… you came into my life, and I felt as though I was reborn. Don't you get it Hikaru?" Sai asked laughing, "You're my second chance; my second chance at life, and at Go. Through you I've entered the world of Go once more. I want nothing more then to see you become stronger Hikaru, and goodness knows you've become stronger; a stronger player, and a stronger person. You're a good kid Hikaru, and you're a good Go player with the potential to be the best. So don't worry about me; just seeing you grow is enough for me…eep!"
Sai's eyes widened as Hikaru threw his arms around his sensei's shoulders, and hugged the older man's neck tightly. "Thank you sensei." Hikaru whispered, "For giving me so much; for giving me this game, but… I want you to grow too. I want you to play too so… so… please, will you accept this gift? Will you?"
Sai smiled fondly. "But of course Hikaru. Just show me what to do."
"Yeah!" Hikaru exclaimed, (ruining the moment the two had been having) as he bounced over to the computer, "Well first, we need to get you a username…"
"A user…name?"
"It's a name you go by on the Internet." Hikaru exclaimed, "So what do you want it to be? The Go Master? Cool guy? Go-Man?"
"I want it to be…" Sai paused dramatically, "…Sai."
"WHAT?" Hikaru exclaimed, scandalized, "You can't just use your real name!"
"Why not? It's easier that way."
"But not nearly as cool! Come on, at least do something like your initials or something…" Hikaru pleaded, but his sensei wouldn't be moved.
"I want it to be Sai."
"Hmmph! Fine. Your loss…" Hikaru grumbled, as he typed in the name, "THERE. Your username is Sai. I hope you're happy."
"Oh, immensely." Sai chuckled, "And… Thank you Hikaru. I really do appreciate this. So… shall we see what sort of challenges are to be found?"
"Yes, let's!" Hikaru exclaimed, surfing the Go site with his Sensei, unaware that things were to get complicated, and unaware that the man behind the username "Sai" was about to cause a stir that would shake the world.
A/N: So yeah, a lot of you have been waiting for more Sai, so here he is! Hehe, and Hikaru's a Narutard like me. XD (correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm fairly certain that in the manga Hikaru's looking at the Shonen Jump website on the computer when Akira bursts in to try and catch Hikaru playing Go as Sai…which would make Hikaru a fan of at least one series from the magazine. So I made it Naruto, since they both love ramen. If I'm wrong about that… I actually really don't care. XD)
Random useless fact: my use of Pocky in the past as a favorite of Hikaru was simply on the whim that Pocky seems to be a really popular snack among anime fans… but now that I've actually had the stuff, I'm actually as addicted to it as I made Hikaru out to be. Ironic, huh?
I wish this chapter had been longer, (especially how long it took me to update) but hopefully you enjoyed it anyway. :) But now I have a more coherent sense of what ideas/plot I want to follow next, so I'll try and make future chapters longer.
Things to look forward to: Mitani. A reviewer brought him up, and my sister helped give me an idea for briging him into the story... so he'll be showing up sometime soon. :D
Review! I always love getting feedback from my readers. :D
-pyrofreeze