Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Hikaru no Go characters…

Chapter 26: In the dark

Sunlight streamed through the window and shone on the small head of a figure that had fallen sleep on her desk. Books and notebooks were piled up in one corner. And in front of her, a laptop was open.

She had been having trouble sleeping and had finally given up and got up before the sun made an appearance. She had logged on to the site just to check out any games that might have been going on in any part of the world. However, as soon as she had signed in, invites kept popping up. At first, she had refused all of them but had eventually given up and accepted a game. One game turned into two and then before a third one, she had fallen sleep.

A slight noise outside her window caused green eyes to blink open. Squinting to make out the time on her clock, 9:30am she yawned and stretched. She felt aching all over; it had not been an ideal place to fall sleep.

As she got up, something thumped to the floor at the same time. She bent down and picked up the stuffed doll that looked eerily like her brother. She brushed non-existent dust off it and set it on her bed. Figuring it was a good time to officially start her day, she washed her face, brushed her teeth and grabbed the first thing she saw out of her closet, a pair of dark blue jeans and a peasant blouse.

"Morning, aunt Akiko".

"Morning honey. You are just in time," she said as she set some pancakes in front of her.

"They look delicious. I am going to grab some milk, do you want some too?"

"No, I have already eaten but will drink my tea here with you."

As Hikaru drenched her pancakes in butter and syrup, Akiko let her know that her husband and son had woken earlier and had left to visit the Go Salon.

"Do you have any plans for the day?", she asked as she tucked a lock of hair behind Hikaru's ear. The girl was too busy concentrating on her pancakes to notice the lock of hair that had been precariously close to her plate.

After swallowing a mouthful, "Nope, nothing much to do. I already got all my schoolwork done for tomorrow. I guess I could always read ahead and work on some Go problems."

"Then since it's a Sunday, how about you take a break and do something different? Since the boys are already gone for the day, I was thinking maybe us girls can have a day out. Want to head over to the salon for a day of pampering?"

"Akiko-san, no matter how many times you have talked about your children, never in a million years would I had guessed that you were the mother of a teenager, until I saw it with my very own eyes. You did mention that your son Akira was the same age right? And such a pretty child you have too. Does she take after her mother's or father's side? Did you mention that she was your sister's or was that your husband's sister's daughter?"

Normally, she would not had asked it, but since Toya Akiko was a familiar client, she continued on, "And those gorgeous green eyes of hers! Are they real or are they contacts?"

Akiko just laughed as Chiori kept up the barrage of questions and compliments while continuing trimming her hair. Everytime Akiko needed a trim, she requested for Chiori since not only did the woman do a good job, but she was also a friendly person who chatted with her about everything and anything under the sun.

"Chiori-san, slow down, take a deep breath. Hikaru takes after both side of the family and yes, those green eyes are real, no contacts."

"So lucky! And that pretty long hair. Do you think she would let me give it just a trim? And we can add more highlights and…"

Akiko let her gaze wander across the room to where Hikaru was busy entertaining a younger boy. The boy was the child of another of the salon's client; the mother had come for a haircut for herself and her child, but the boy had started bawling at the top of his lungs as soon as he left his mother's arms. No matter what anyone did, the four year old just kept on crying, that is, until Hikaru had approached them; the child had found a new friend and was temporary too busy playing with her to care about anyone else.

"She is such a sweet child, yet I worried about her."

"Why do you worry so much? I know that all mother's worry about their children no matter how old they are, yet your children seem very well adjusted and well-behaved. I have never heard you complain about either child getting in trouble at school or with the law. Both of them are very healthy, do very well in school and are already working as professional Go players. And since they are both very talented in their chosen profession, they are pretty much set for life. And your other nephew is no longer a child; and you said he also has a successful career?" With a pat on her shoulder, Chiori-san added, "Toya-san, you shouldn't worry so much or it will give you grey hair. And you have such lovely hair and..."

Choosing to thank Chiori-san for her help instead of going into detail about what worried her, Akiko and Hikaru left the salon half an hour later.

Akiko took a peek at Hikaru while she was examining the menu. They were currently at a restaurant, ordering a late lunch. Throughout the morning, Hikaru seemed happy and cheerful, at least on the outside. For some reason, Akiko just felt that things weren't as they seemed; she wondered whether Chiori-san was right and she was just worrying too much?

"Hikaru, how is school?"

"Good."

"Problems with any of your classes? Classmates? Teachers?"

"Nope, classes are okay. And everyone is nice to me."

"Then how about Go?"

"They are good too; I won all my games so far and am on a streak just like Akira."

"That's good. How about boys?"

"Boys? My guy friends are nice to me too. Don't worried aunt Akiko, no one is bullying me."

Akiko bit her lip and wondered if she should clarify the question. Hm…well, if that was Hikaru's response, than it surely wasn't the topic of boys that was bothering her. Having exhausted most of what could be bothering a teenager, Akiko asked the one topic that she had been sort of avoiding. There was just one last thing that could preoccupied Hikari so much; her brother.

"Have you talked to Sai?"

At the last question, Hikaru blinked and looked at her, "He said he is good too, very busy."

"Uhm…Hik…"

"Aunt Akiko, have you been to this place often? What do you think I should get with my fried rice? Chicken? Fish? Beef? But then the vegetarian fried rice sounds very good too. And I was thinking of going for the strawberry and kiwi shake or do you think I should for the mango and lychee shake? And…"

With the barrage of questions that assaulted her, it didn't take a genius to know that she had finally found the reason behind Hikaru's discontent. Well, she wondered if "discontent" was the right word. Hikaru didn't seem sad or angry; in fact, she almost seemed like her old cheerful self. But underneath it all, Akiko sensed a sort of uneasiness? Sadness? Worries?

As the day went on, Hikaru kept dodging questions about her brother. In truth, she hadn't spoken much with Sai. He had finally called her the day after she finished that disastrous game against Honinbo Kuwabara. They had discussed her game and from what she heard, her brother was truly proud of her. He had praised her for not giving up during the middle of her game and that if there had been more moves available, she would definitely have found a way to win. His undying belief in her had soothed some of her worries away, but she had still been worried about him.

Sai had not called her ever since that day, but he had already warned her that the upcoming weeks were going to be insanely busy for him. He had told her not to worry about him and that things would soon settled down; he was also on track to finish all projects before the end of the year when he would be finally able to move to Japan.

She had told him not to work so hard and that it would be okay for him to take things slowly, even if he wouldn't be able to move to Japan until next year. At that point, her brother silliness had shown up; he had whined and asked her if she was trying to get rid of him. She had assured him that it wasn't so and that she was just worried about his health. When she had suggested flying over the weekend to see him, he had soundly refused.

"No. I don't want you to fly by yourself. And even if you are here, I won't be able to take time out to just hang out with you."

"I could ask Akira to come with me, and even if he can't, I can ask some of my other friends. And you don't have to worry about needing to take time out of work to hang out with me. I could entertain myself and whoever I bring with me just fine. I could show them a bit of the city. And…"

"Hikaru, no."

"But…"

"Promise me you won't come and that you would stay in Japan."

"But…"

"Hikaru!"

At the end, she had given up and promised that she would be in Japan and won't be flying anywhere no matter what. Hikaru just hoped she wouldn't regret her decision later. She rubbed over her heart and wished that her feelings of inquietude will go away.

A/N: Hi all, sorry for the long delay. There had been some problems that made it impossible for me to work on this chapter.

On the plus side, I do have next chapter halfway done and will post it soon.

Also, what does everyone think is going on with Sai? Want to make a guess?