Half a chapter, again. This one was easy to divide into two, and this way I can buy myself a bit time...

This has been one insane summer. I hope everyone's safe, what with all the crazy heat waves and flooding, not to mention that certain thing I'm not naming here now.

Chapter 13

When the games started next day, Sai shot sideward glances toward where Touya and Waya were playing, wishing he was sitting a little closer. He noted the two were playing relatively fast, Touya with his usual, impassive expression – apart for the eyes – and Waya-kun… his expression was quite blank too, but there was something in the line of his mouth that spoke of strong determination.

Only when Sai almost made a stupid mistake in his own game he realized he'd better concentrate on it more. A slight blush crept on his cheeks when he wondered if his opponent had noticed how divided his attention had been. That kind of neglect, he told himself, was impolite, bordering on rude. He'd better put all his focus on his game now, to show he was taking it seriously.

He did so, with somewhat overwhelming effects. A few minutes before the break his opponent, pearls of sweat on his temples, bowed his head and muttered a quiet, "I have lost."

Sai bowed too, thanking him for the game, trying to hide his surprise. He hadn't really been thinking he'd win the game that easily – and in his mind, the man had been too quick to give up. You could have still tried, Sai wanted to tell him, but bit his lip. His opponent could have tried, true, but most likely that would have been completely pointless.

Feeling a little self-conscious Sai headed to record the win. He could feel the eyes on his back, everyone probably wondering what kind of slaughter it must have been, to end the game so quickly. He glanced back and saw them lower their eyes. Sai stopped by Touya's board on his way out – neither Touya or Waya had so much as glanced at him – and he saw that Waya was in trouble. Not yet in desperate trouble, but he needed to come up with something soon to save the situation.

Sai waited in the corridor, and soon the break started.

"That was quick," Touya said, coming to him.

Sai gave an uncomfortable shrug. "I don't know, it just happened. I think he resigned too soon, I don't know why."

"You can be a little intimidating sometimes," Touya said.

Sai just blinked at him. Then he noticed Waya leaving the room in company of other insei, and nodded a bright "hello!" to them, but Waya just gave him a look and marched quickly by. Nase, following him, shrugged a little shaking her head as if to say, 'don't mind him, he's stressed'.

"You're winning, right?" Sai asked quietly. Touya nodded.

"Yes. Though Waya-kun is a good player. I think he's up to something, so I'd better watch for myself when we continue the game."

"I guess I can't come to watch," Sai said mournfully. "I wouldn't bother you, but… it might still be a distraction. I'd just love to see how that game ends, it looked fun!"

"I'll show you once it's over," Touya promised.

When the break ended Sai went to the cafe to wait. Luckily he had a book in his bag, so he had something to do while waiting. His concentration was a little lacking, though, as his mind kept on wandering back to the games he had played during the test (and especially on the one he just finished – had he really been so frightening he had scared his opponent to resign?) He was just thinking of the various strategies his opponent could have tried, when someone stopped by his table. Two someones, and recognizing them he stood up quickly.

"Good afternoon, Ogata-sensei," he said. Then he bowed. "Kuwabara Honinbou."

The old man was smiling at him. At least Sai expected the expression was supposed to be a smile – it was slightly disturbing.

"So, this is that miracle child you and Touya Meijin have been coddling?" he asked with a cackle. "Are boys so pretty nowadays?"

Sai's face flashed hot red. "This is Fujiwara Sai," Ogata said, his tone quite colorless. "We're fully expecting him to turn pro this year, alongside with Touya-kun. But how are you here, Fujiwara-kun? Aren't the games still on?"

"My opponent resigned before the break," Sai muttered, and Kuwabara cackled even harder.

"Did he now? A promising lad you have here, Ogata-kun." He watched Sai through a half closed eye. "I might wish to play the shin shoudan game with this one."

Sai bowed. "I would be honored," he said. Which was true. The old man might be somewhat disturbing, but still – getting to play his first game against the Honinbou… that would be something.

Ogata and Kuwabara went their way. Sai watched after them a while and sat then down again. Glancing at his watch he saw he had at least an hour and a half left to wait, possibly more, and he gave a deep sigh. This was one of those occasions when time simply didn't move. Compared to how fast the first half of the game had flown by it was just impossible.

Touya appeared in the cafe right when he had stopped glancing at the watch and was again reading – now actually getting into the story. "Oh!" Sai dropped the book on the table as Touya sat down next to him. "Did you win?"

Touya nodded. "Yes."

"Great!" Sai grinned but grew then more serious. "So, Waya-kun has one loss now too… What's the overall standing?"

They went to check. In addition to them, there were Ochi, Isumi and Komiya who had no losses. Isumi and Komiya would play on the next day, so that would change soon.

"Now!" Sai exclaimed, turning away from the board. "The game!"

They went to the side room, and Touya started replaying the game. Sai watched in silence, completely immersed into it, until it reached its end. He nodded slowly. "Yes," he said. "Waya-kun is a really good player."

"Still he made some mistakes," Touya said and pointed at the board. "Like this move here…"

"I don't think it was a mistake," Sai said. "Okay, it would have been better if he had gone here, but that was still a solid move. It's just the way the game developed later that made it useless." He nodded again, watching the board. "It's really going to be fun playing against him!"

"I wonder if he's as excited to play against you," Touya said. "He really won't want to get any more losses. Especially not against us."

"What?" Sai gave him a surprised look. "Why?"

"It's a bit silly, really." Touya muttered. "You know Morishita-sensei?" Sai nodded. Of course he recognized most pros by name. "Well, Waya-kun is his student. And… I think Morishita's study group has this somewhat one-sided rivalry toward our study group. I think he wouldn't want to lose to both of the Meijin's students…"

"You're right," Sai said. "That is a bit silly. Where does that rivalry come from, anyway?"

Touya shrugged. "Morishita-sensei and my father turned pro at the same time. Maybe he used to consider my father as his rival, and still does. And this echoes to the study group…"

Sai laughed. "Hey, we'll be turning pro at the same time too! How about we'll be rivals with study groups as well?"

Touya smiled slightly. "That would be kind of fun," he said.

"So, Waya-kun is our enemy, huh?" Sai said, and Touya sighed at the gleam in his eyes.

"Hey, don't take this seriously."

"I don't!" Sai exclaimed. "But it's fun, you know? To have rivals!"

"Especially when the rival is on your level," Touya said, and Sai grinned at him.

The next two games passed somewhat eventlessly for Sai and Touya. Isumi won against Komiya, and surprising everyone, Nase defeated Honda, giving him his second loss. In addition to that, nothing much happened that would concern the leading players.

"Good morning!" Sai greeted Waya the moment he saw him in the yard on the morning of their game. Waya nodded to him and returned his greeting quietly.

"Let's do our best today, and play a great game, right?" Sai said, a smile still on his face. Waya gave him a look and a little crooked half-smile in return.

"That's the plan," he said.

"I heard from Touya that there's a bit of rivalry between our study groups?" Sai said, leaving out the one-sided part.

Waya grimaced. "Please don't remind me of that," he muttered.

"Why not? I think it's fun!"

Waya gave him a long look. "You think everything is fun, don't you?"

"…yes, everything go-related," Sai admitted. "Don't you?"

"You're not the one who had to deal with Morishita-sensei after losing to Touya," Waya said a little dryly as they started walking inside.

Sai became more serious. "But you played such a good game," he said earnestly. "You really did your best, didn't you? What else could he ask?"

"I know," Waya said with a sigh. "It's just that…" He shook his head. "Nothing." he grinned at Sai. "Yeah, you're right. Let's play a great game. You'll get to fight for the win, I can promise you that!"

"Great! I've really been looking forward to this!"

Touya had also arrived to the place, but seeing Sai in Waya's company just raised his hand in greeting and left them alone. Sai saw that he was apparently going to play against Fuku this time.

"What's Fuku's game like?" he asked Waya as they settled down by their board.

Waya glanced at Fuku and frowned a little. "He plays really fast," he said. "He should sometimes think a bit more. I don't think he really has a chance against Touya."

"Why don't you like him?" Sai asked. Waya gave him a confused look.

"I do like Fuku…"

Sai was shaking his head. "No, no, I meant Touya. You always start frowning when someone mentions him."

"Oh…" Waya dropped his gaze to the go board. "I just, I guess he gets a bit on my nerves, that's all. He's so… perfect in everything."

"Is he?" Sai said, genuinely surprised. "I've never thought of that."

"Probably cause you're so much like him," Waya said with a laugh.

"Wouldn't that mean I annoy you too?" Sai said with a small smile. "Though I don't really think that I and Touya are anything alike. Besides…" his smile turned a little bitter, "I wouldn't exactly call myself perfect."

Waya looked at him, clearly not understanding what he meant, but then they were given the permission to start, and having black, he made the first move.

This was the first game during the whole pro exam where Sai was so completely swept away that it took him a while to realize where they were and what was happening when the break started. He looked across the board at Waya who returned his gaze steadily, and nodded a little. They spoke nothing, but both joined their own friends for the break.

"You seem to have gotten the game you were wishing for," Touya remarked, seeing the somewhat hazy look on Sai's face.

"Huh?" Sai blinked at him, his mind still dwelling on the twists of the game. "Oh, yes! It's a great game. I think Waya-kun's playing incredibly well right now. Who knows, he might even win yet. Unless I…" He paused as his mind again began to work on a new strategy.

"Did you want to eat something?" Touya asked after a long silence, and again Sai blinked.

"Oh, I did order something for the break, you're right."

This time Sai could understand why Touya never ate anything. His body was almost confused when he started eating – weren't we playing go now, what's this with food? He managed to eat half of his lunch, and left the rest. Touya watched him with slight amusement as he sat on his bench, staring into nothing.

"I don't really know if I should try to make you snap out of it or not," he stated. "I think my game will be over before yours as my opponent is playing too fast for his own good, but I'll wait for you, okay? This time you can show me your game."

Sai nodded, but Touya wasn't quite sure if he had heard him or not.

Sai and Waya's game was one of the longest ones on that day. When it ended, Sai was surprised to see the crowd that had gathered around them to watch it. "Thank you for the game," he managed to find his wits to say, and Waya replied quietly. He moved to clear the board, but someone asked him not to do that yet. "We'll clean it for you, let us study it a bit longer."

"I'll go to record the game, then," Sai said and stood up.

He noticed Isumi placing a hand on Waya's shoulder as he left. "You played a great game there," the older boy said, but he couldn't hear if Waya replied anything.

Having recorded his win Sai walked out of the room, leaving a crowd around the go board. Touya followed him. "Quite a game."

Sai glanced at him, and a smile crept on his face. "Yeah. Come, I'll show you from the beginning!"

...

Next day, seeing Waya among his insei friends as he arrived once again to the go study center, Sai shot a nervous glance at the boy, wondering if he had taken the loss heavily. Seeing him, Waya raised his hand in a wave, though. Sai waved back, relieved.

"Morning!" they greeted each other, and the others nodded as well. "Who are you playing today?" Sai asked.

"An outsider, Sasaki-san," Waya replied. "That's a game I should win."

"If you play half as good as yesterday, you can't lose," Sai said. Sasaki, unfortunately for her, was among the worst players of the pro exam.

Waya nodded. "That was a great game. Of course I'm a bit pissed off about losing it, but still. I'm happy I got to play it. Even Morishita-sensei was impressed."

"With game like, you really should be able to turn pro," Sai said, nodding. Waya grimaced a little.

"There's just a couple of obstacles on the way," he said, but grinned then. "Then again, I bet everyone else is going to stumble on you two too, so the game's not over yet. I've only two losses, if I keep it at that I do have a chance!"

"That's the spirit!" Sai said, returning the grin. Right then he practically felt something tingling at his back, and turned to glance behind. Ochi was watching them at the doorway. Sai nodded at him, but the boy just turned on his heels and walked away.

"What's his problem?" Nase said. "Sometimes that guy's just so rude he makes me boil! I can't help wishing that you will beat him, Sai-kun."

"I'm sure it's going to be quite a game," Sai said diplomatically. He saw Akira enter the building and nodded at the others. "Good luck to you all," he said, and headed to meet him.

"Since when has he been Sai-kun to you," he heard an annoyed voice behind his back, and glancing over his shoulder saw Nase rolling her eyes at one of the insei, Iijima, if he remembered right.

"Since he asked me to call him that," she replied. Iijima looked after him, glowering, and seeing him watching turned quickly away. Sai continued his way to Akira wondering if there actually was something happening between those two.

...

After the game with Waya, the game he played that day was almost boring. He won it by resignation, and again had to be the one waiting for Akira. Akira's game apparently had been a bit tougher, against an insei who was now dropped to four losses, but he had still taken a clear victory.

"The next game!" Sai said when they walked out of the go study center.

Akira nodded. "Yes."

"It's going to be…"

"Let me guess," Akira cut him off, smile tugging a corner of his mouth. "Fun?"

"Yeah!" Sai exclaimed, grinning. "Don't you think so?"

"Definitely. But after it, one of us will have a loss."

"One loss doesn't matter much," Sai said lightly.

"True. So, are you coming to the study group this week? I'm sure everyone would love to see your game with Waya-kun."

"Yeah, I guess I'm coming. It's a bit funny, though, isn't it? Us being at the same study group just the day before we'll have our game."

"Well, from the point of view of the study group, no matter what happens it's a win, right?"

The atmosphere at the study group was quite in accordance with that sentiment. In fact, Touya Meijin had to tell his students to stop congratulating the two so much. "They haven't passed yet, you know," he said.

"But sensei!" Ashiwara exclaimed. "What else could they do but pass? It's already over half way through, and they don't have a single loss! They haven't even been close to losing, have you?"

"Actually, there is one game I would like to show you," Sai put in, and getting the permission started replaying his game with Waya on the board.

"You're black, right?" Ogata asked. "Who were you playing with?"

"An insei, Waya-kun," Sai replied, playing on.

The Meijin nodded. "Morishita's student, right?" he asked. "No wonder he's counting on that boy to pass. What's his standing now?"

"Three losses," Akira said. "But there are some top players he hasn't played against yet."

"A good game, definitely," Ogata said when it was over. "But still, you weren't really in danger there."

"Maybe not," Sai admitted. "But the midgame was tough. Still, it was a fun game, wasn't it? One of the most fun games – no, the most fun game I have played against anyone else but you," he nodded at Akira, "or Shindou."

"The boy with bleached bangs who's sometimes at the go salon?" Ashiwara asked. "How's his game developing?"

"Greatly!" Sai exclaimed happily. "He will take the insei test in December."

"Really?" Ashiwara's eyes widened a little. "Wow! He's grown a lot since I played with him, in that case."

"And keeps on growing," Sai said happily. "I hope he can take the pro exam next year!"

"Does he study under anyone?" the Meijin asked. A little surprised Sai shook his head.

"No… I guess I don't count," he added, and everyone laughed.

"One could have a worse teacher than you, Sai-kun," Ashiwara said, patting his back.

Sai just smiled nervously, and hoped that the Meijin would not suggest that Hikaru would join their study group. It would be an honor of course, and he didn't really know how to say no, but… the idea of Hikaru and Akira in the same study group was somewhat frightening.

Luckily the Meijin said nothing, but Sai kept on thinking about it on his way home. True, it would be good for Hikaru to have a real teacher. A pro. Someone with a study group, so that he could get into high-level discussions and play many strong opponents who were already pro.

When he came home he suddenly had a brilliant idea. He would have to consider how to proceed carefully, though. He couldn't just go proposing things like that to people he didn't really know. During the night a plan began to form in his head. It would take a long while to follow it through, but yes, it was worth trying.

First, though, he'd better concentrate on his game with Akira. Not that he minded losing to his friend, but he wasn't going to give the boy an easy win.

...

There was also another top class game on that day too – Isumi versus Ochi. That meant that the number of players without losses would be cut by half on that day. Sai glanced at the two boys and wondered how the game would go. He hadn't been going to choose any favorites, but he had to admit that Isumi's quiet and polite manner appealed to him quite a lot more than the little he had seen of Ochi. If, he thought to himself, if Waya-kun wouldn't be the third to pass, he hoped it would rather be Isumi than Ochi.

That wasn't something he should be thinking right now, though. He and Akira exchanged a quiet "onegaishimasu," their voices almost drowning among the many, and soon the quiet clicks of stone against wood filled the room.

Playing against Akira in the pro exam was hugely different from all the other games. This was the player whose game Sai knew the best, and vice versa. He knew how much it would take to win here – and he also knew that he had won so many times before. Their game started quite fast, both of them having eagerly waited for it. Sai reminded himself to take it still easy, despite the excitement that had been bubbling within him since last night, barely letting him sleep. He might know Akira's game as well as anyone could know it, but that also meant he knew Akira's skill. He couldn't let the familiarity make him lower his guard. Akira was undoubtedly the strongest opponent he would face within this test, and he had better to keep that in mind.

The game remained quite even without any big surprises or clashes to the start of the break. As the people slowly gathered themselves up from the floor, stretching to revive their numb legs, and started making their way out of the room, Sai noted that pretty much everyone chose their way so that they happened to walk by their board, no matter where in the room they had been sitting. He wondered if they were disappointed in what they saw – though the game had definitely been high class since the beginning, there wasn't really anything overly spectacular about it.

Yet, Sai thought to himself, his mind returning to the plan that had been forming in his mind.

They didn't speak much together during that break. It felt a bit weird, to converse with your opponent as if they weren't just in the middle of an important game. Sai ended up sitting among the insei, while he saw Akira wander somewhere outside. He thought about making his suggestion now – he couldn't be sure if he'd catch Waya after the games, if the boy's game ended before his. Still, there didn't seem to be a good opportunity to change the subject, and so he spent the break listening to the insei group analyzing Isumi and Ochi's game so far (they clearly were more interested in that than in his game with Akira, but that was only natural, Sai thought, as the other two were their fellow students.) At least this was a good distraction to keep him from over-analyzing his game through the entire break.

Both Isumi and Ochi were somewhere elsewhere too, just like Akira. He had seen Isumi shortly, but the boy had just glanced to where they were sitting and headed out. Sai realized he was the only one of the top four who seemed to be looking for company during the break. He wondered how the others were doing – if they were nervous, or preferred being alone for some other reason. Ochi, of course, seemed to be something of a loner, but Isumi had never before been avoiding others' company as much as now. Sai hoped this wasn't a bad sign. Of course, it might have just been that he knew that others wanted to talk about his game and decided to leave them alone to do that.

The break ended and they returned to their games. It was Sai's turn, and he had his strategy ready in his mind. The first half of the game they had both been careful, building up their strategies – now it was time to start attacking.

Akira seemed to share his sentiments, and it didn't take long before they had a full battle going on, and the game started picking up speed again. Sai could see that Akira too had a plan in his mind – of course he had – but this time he was sure he was one step ahead. Akira might yet gain upper hand in the lower left corner, but that didn't matter. He had decided he could sacrifice those stones for it was elsewhere on the board he was planning to make his coup. He was pretty sure Akira had to be catching up soon with his plans, but so far, so good.

It took a few more stones, but then Akira paused. Sai waited, patiently, and from the move the boy made he saw he had figured out his plan, at least partly. A bit too early, Sai mused to himself, biting his lip, but perhaps not. It just took tweaking his plan a little, to make it still work.

The fight carried on all the way to the endgame. Sai hung onto his slight lead with all he got, but Akira was hammering at him, not letting him relax for one moment. A moment he thought he might yet lose, but then the final stone snapped against the board and, counting and recounting in his head, he realized that he did in the end pull a one and half a moku win.

Akira bowed his head. "Thanks for the game," he said.

"Thank you too," Sai replied.

There was more they would have wanted to say, but they had a bit of an audience again. They cleared the board in silence, and Sai went to record the game. From the chart he saw that Isumi had lost to Ochi. He glanced at the place where those two had been playing; nothing but an empty go board left. He wondered what the game had been like.

So. It was him and Ochi now, the only ones without a loss. He watched the chart a while. Besides himself and Akira, Ochi had yet to play against Waya and one of the strongest outsiders. He couldn't quite believe the boy would make it through the exam without a single loss, no matter how confident he would be. Though he didn't really know anything about Ochi's game. Perhaps that surly boy really was the strongest player of the lot.

Be that how it may, Sai thought as he and Akira walked out of the room, even the strongest player can have a bad day. Which, he reminded himself, applied to him too, as he too well knew. It was best to remain on guard in every single game and not to get overconfident.

"That wasn't my best," Akira said when they were out of the room. He sounded a little disappointed. "I should have been able to do better there."

Sai was about to object to that, but… "I know," he said quietly. "But it was still a good game."

They said a goodbye and Akira left, but Sai remained still at the go study center. He had to wait a while, but finally Waya came out of the game room.

Sai nodded to him, trying to look like he had not been waiting for him.

"Still here?" Waya asked.

"Yeah… How was your game?"

"Long and tricky," Waya grumbled. "But I won it."

"Congrats," Sai smiled.

"To you too. I wish I'd seen at least the end of your game, but of course I had to get a long one just today."

"Maybe I could show it to you, some day?" Sai suggested. "I don't have time today, but… hey, how about this Sunday? Actually, I heard you and Isumi-san once talking about some go salon you'd visited that had really good players, and I've been meaning to ask you about it. So… could we go there then?"

Waya stared at him, obviously taken by surprise by his sudden suggestion. "Well, it's… I was going to practice with Isumi-san…"

"Why wouldn't he come too! And I could ask Shindou to join us as well, do you remember, that guy with blond bangs, maybe you could give him some hints about becoming insei!"

Waya looked still a little doubtful, and Sai let his face fall a little. "No…?"

One look at his large, sad eyes was enough for Waya. "Okay, why not, I guess…"

"Great!" Sai's face was again bright as the sun. They agreed on the time and place, and Waya left, still looking a little baffled.

Sai nodded to himself. First step of his plan was proceeding: make Hikaru and Waya friends.

A/N: thank you for reading! As usual, all comments are warmly appreciated, (constructive) criticism too!