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 37: Insei Application I.

...

Shindo Hikaru, regular on the Tokyo Team of the Japan Youth Soccer League, hurriedly shoved his practice gear into his bag before bolting for the door, still dressed in his practice uniform.

"Shindo!"

At the sudden shout, Hikaru immediately stepped on the brakes, barely missing colliding into the frame of the large metal door of the locker room. He looked behind him and towards the person he thought had called him, still jogging in place right beside the large industrial trash bin.

"Yo," Hikaru waved. "Kaito."

"Where are you going?" Kaito asked in near exasperation. "Did you forget that we were going to practice together today?"

Though it was obvious that Hikaru had actually forgotten from the shocked look on his face, he had the decency to look ashamed that he had forgotten at the very least.

"Sorry!" Hikaru shouted, putting himself at the mercy of his friend.

"I have an errand to run today. It's really important. Like, super, super, super important. And I have to do it before 5 today. And it's…err…" Hikaru glanced over at the clock. "4:30 right now cuz the regular practice ran late. And I still have to run all the way over there. And I'm really, really sorry, Kaito. I know I haven't been able to make it the last two days. But could we skip extra practice today? Please, I really need to go."

Kaito frowned down at Hikaru. He wasn't happy, but neither could he stop Hikaru. Hikaru already looked ready to fly out of the window if Kaito told him he couldn't run out that door.

Kaito sighed, rubbing at his face in defeat.

"Fine." Kaito told him, tiredly waving Hikaru to go.

"Thanks, Kaito!" Hikaru shouted, bolting out the door.

Hikaru's loud steps were heard pounding down the hall by the entire locker room.

"You're the best, Kaito!" Hikaru's far-off voice called back before disappearing altogether.

Kaito turned around only to face a very amused Shinji grinning at him.

Kaito glared at him.

"You're really too nice for your own good, Kaito." Shinji laughed, patting his friend on the back in condolence. "Shindo kind of deserves to be yelled at for ditching you all of the time."

Kaito grunted. "Only lately. He doesn't mean it. The practices for the regular team are longer than the one for the reserves. And the season is coming up."

"It's fine to be mad at him, man." Shinji shook his head at him before shutting his locker and trotting out to meet his uncle.

Kaito tried to do the same, opening his own locker and staring into the little mirror attached to the door. He had waited for Hikaru to end his practice with the regular team. He hadn't taken a shower or changed, thinking he would be out on the field again only later. Besides Shinji, who had to wait for his uncle after practice, the rest of the reserves had already left.

Kaito just sighed again, giving in to his own frustration and dropping onto the long wooden benches in front of the rows of lockers. He really didn't want to feel this way about a friend, especially when that friend was Hikaru.

Hikaru crashed into the building and straight into the front counter, where he very much startled the person working behind it. The poor volunteer looked on worriedly at the young youth grasping onto the countertop with both hands, like a man clinging to a lifeline.

Meanwhile, Hikaru was pretty sure he had never run that hard and that fast in his entire life. Was that what a horse felt like when their riders hit them with that stick to go faster? Those people didn't know anything about horses! Horses weren't supposed to run that fast!

"You're lucky that someone else was coming in, Hikaru." Sai clucked from somewhere over Hikaru's shoulder. "You could have run right into that glass door!"

Hikaru decided to ignore him, focusing instead on catching his breath.

"Um…" The person behind the counter began to worry even more. "Are you alright, young man?"

Hikaru dragged himself upwards, the top of his bi-colored head just barely reaching the top of the countertop as he looked up at the adult on the other side.

"Is this…" Hikaru panted, wheezing as he labored to speak. "…the…Go Association?"

The person blinked.

"Oh… Oh! Um, yes! Yes, this is the Japan Go Association."

"Good." Hikaru wheezed, relaxing just a little as he nearly melted onto the counter. "I…got the…right place."

The person behind the Go Association's reception counter hurriedly got Hikaru a cup of water. The entire cup disappeared in under two seconds, much to the receptionist's astonishment, after which Hikaru just snatched the pitcher from the counter and finished the whole thing.

Behind him, Sai resisted the urge to express his exasperation at Hikaru's lack of manners. He was quite glad no one could see him then, because his noble demeanor was lacking as he rolled his eyes.

"Thanks, mister." Hikaru sighed with relief, wiping his mouth with his sleeve and handing the empty pitcher back to the waiting adult.

"Um…you're welcome." He replied, looking down at the empty pitcher as if he didn't quite know what to do with it now.

"I'm here about the insei application." Hikaru announced brightly, flashing a happy smile at not having gotten lost even once on his way here. Maybe he should go everywhere running.

"I'm sorry, but the insei application deadline has already passed." The receptionist looked down at Hikaru in genuine apology. "You're welcome to apply for the next round in the winter though."

"What?" Hikaru looked confused for a moment. "But I just got here! And it's not 5 o'clock yet!"

The man behind the counter just looked at Hikaru with astonishment. He was pretty sure that he had never before been so astonished by one person in the entire time he had manned this desk.

"Shindo-san?" Someone exclaimed in disbelief.

Hikaru whirled around towards the voice. It came from just behind the reception counter, from a short hallway that led to the elevator.

"Touya?" Hikaru questioned, looking confused.

Touya Akira just stared back at the colorful, jersey-wearing, sports-bag-carrying youth in confusion as well. His mind hadn't quite caught up to the fact that Hikaru was standing in the lobby of the Go Association right in front of him.

"Hey, Touya!" Hikaru called out brightly, cheerfully waving his arm to greet his friend.

"What are you doing here? That's so weird, running into you here! Wait…maybe not. My grandpa said that you passed the Pro Exam. He read about it in Go Weekly. I kept the article, just in case you lost yours or something. Hey, maybe I should get Go Weekly now that you're a pro! Then I can read about what you're up to."

Akira just continued staring at Hikaru, his brain not quite catching all of the words Hikaru was saying.

"Congratulations, Touya!" Hikaru shouted, thumping his friend in friendly acknowledgement on his back.

Akira jolted forwards, just managing to catch himself before he fell. He felt as if all of the wind had been knocked out from his lungs, leaving his chest hollow and confused.

"Err…thank you, Shindo-san." Touya replied politely, rubbing at his chest and trying not to burst into a coughing fit. His voice sounded scratchy.

"Hehe, you can congratulate me too." Hikaru boosted, pointing his thumb back at himself in a cheery manner. "I made the regular team this season. I'm one step closer to pro too! I think being a regular should count as being elite semi-pro at least. Don't you think so, Touya?"

"Um…yes?" Akira replied uncertainly, tilting his head just so in slight confusion. He assumed that Hikaru was talking about soccer, since Hikaru was always talking about soccer. But what 'regular' had to do with anything, Akira was clueless.

"Your dad must be real proud of you, Touya!" Hikaru continued casually, locking his arms behind his head and rocking back and forth on his heel. "He really likes go too, right?"

Akira just blinked, torn between shock that Hikaru didn't know who his father was, and feeling guilty that Akira hadn't explained to Hikaru yet who his father was.

"I remember that much at least." Hikaru grinned, before pausing to think about something. "Wait. Isn't your dad a go pro too? He was really important and stuff with those tournament officials that time."

"Y-Yes," Akira nodded quickly, abruptly ceasing the motion when he began to get dizzy. "My father is also a professional go player."

"Cool! My dad's just a salary man. He loves soccer too, but he doesn't know anything about going pro." Hikaru nodded to himself, as if that explained everything.

"Man, I can't wait until I'm a pro too." Hikaru trailed off, already lost in his own fantasies of the magical world of professional soccer players.

"I won't officially be a pro until the spring…" Akira tried to explain clearly, but trailed off when he noticed that Hikaru wasn't listening.

"Huh?" Hikaru asked. "Did you say something?"

Akira didn't bother to say anything more as he watched Hikaru turn around and rifle through his gear bag, digging in the main compartment and looking as if he were contemplating between two different choices.

"Aha!" Hikaru exclaimed, making his decision. Unknown to Akira, Hikaru and Sai had discussed the choice quite seriously together during Akira and Hikaru's pause in conversation.

"Here you go, Touya!" Hikaru held out his choice in his hands. "Your congratulations on going pro gift."

Akira looked at the object in Hikaru's hands. It was a soccer ball.

"Make sure to hang onto this." Hikaru grinned widely before he pulled out a pen from one of the side compartments. "It'll be worth a lot of money when I become the most famous soccer player in Japan!"

Akira stood and watched as Hikaru sat down right there in the middle of the Japan Go Association, placing the ball in his lap as he concentrated fully on writing something on the sports equipment.

Numbly, Akira accepted the gift as Hikaru stood up and handed it to him. The white surface of the ball was covered in blue and yellow stars, and now also Shindo Hikaru's autograph in nearly-illegible scrawl.

"To Touya," Hikaru read aloud, pointing to the short message above his own name. "Go Pro!"

Akira looked down at the blocky, crooked writing and felt a torrent of emotions sweeping him aside.

"Haha! Get it?" Hikaru laughed, capping the pen and throwing it back into his bag.

Hikaru naturally didn't notice just how overwhelmed with gratitude Akira was, and so was undeterred by Akira's silence in response.

"That's an official ball from the Japan Youth Soccer League." Hikaru pointed out importantly. "I haven't even used it all that much, so it's still pretty clean."

Akira just nodded, holding the soccer ball in his hands as if it were a very precious thing.

"Thank you."

Hikaru just grinned back at his friend, opening his mouth to say something else when...

"Shindo Hikaru."

Hikaru turned around, surprised by having been addressed by name. It was then that he realized that Akira had been walking with someone right before Hikaru had started talking to him.

…

Author's Note:

Hikaru's such a cheapskate, giving Touya his autograph for a congratulatory gift. He's lucky Akira is such a good kid.