Chapter 14

It was the last week of summer vacation, and Hikaru was lying on his bed, completely lethargic. The last year of middle school would be a pain, that much was clear, and he was going to take everything he could out of the break. He knew the teachers were planning to whip them all into shape before the high school entrance exams, and as he wasn't one of the best students, he feared he might yet get some extra attention. He wondered if he should just tell them that it didn't matter whether he got into a good high school or not. He had other plans for his life, and those didn't in fact involve high school at all, good or bad.

Thinking about go and the pro exam naturally led him to think about Sai. If he didn't remember wrong, this was the day when Sai and Touya played their game. He wondered if it was over already, and if so what kind of a game it had been. He had been thinking about going to the go study center to see them after school, but in the end . Had barely left his room during the entire day. He could see Sai some other day, and anyway, Sai would probably call him about the game.

Sai.

Once again he wondered just what the hell had been going on in Akari's head when she said what she said. Did she really think something like that was possible? It was just ridiculous, the whole idea… he wasn't interested in boys. (Ultimately, he'd never been paying that much attention to girls either, but… that was beyond the point.)

And Sai did still count as a boy, didn't he? Sure, he didn't want to start that medication thing, but even so…

Hikaru rolled over, an uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach. What had he once blurted at Sai, back when all these strange things were still new… I want to know if I suddenly have a girl for best friend! Or something like that. What if Sai would be a girl? What if he did that… sex change thing, or something? What then?

He wanted to say it wouldn't change anything. Why would it? But it would be a bit weird to hang around so much with a girl. People would totally think they were dating. Anyway, people already thought that, seeing them together!

He sat up and, after short consideration, jogged downstairs.

"Hikaru?" his mother asked, noticing him putting his shoes on. "Where are you going?"

"Out," Hikaru said shortly. "I thought I'd run a bit before homework. I've been inside the whole day."

"Oh," she said, clearly swallowing the words that had almost been on her lips. "Well, that's fine, fresh air's good for you. Don't stay too long!"

"Sure," Hikaru said and ran out.

It really had been a long while since he'd gone running last time. In the end, he had been in the soccer club way before he was in the go club, and he had used to exercise then a lot more. Go, though fun, wasn't nearly as physically demanding as soccer, and he probably was beginning to get out of shape, after spending his days sitting beside a go board.

He didn't really like running on the streets, but didn't feel like going anywhere farther away right now. There was the little park, of course, where he had often been jogging, but… maybe the streets were okay, for now. He wasn't going to run for long, anyway. Just to get a bit of fresh air.

Running was something he had always liked, he remembered that now after such a long while that he had almost forgotten what it was like. The even rhythm of the steps, of his breathing, in and out, in and out. It was so easy to fall in that rhythm and just listen to it, thinking nothing.

Or… it had used to be. Now, his mind refused to leave the track it had been on, and the image of Sai kept on following him.

He grinned a little, despite himself. Sai, fast enough to keep up with him? Not likely. If he hadn't been exercising much lately, Sai had to be even more worse shape. He didn't even take part into the P.E. classes anymore! Hikaru thought of all those times they had spent playing soccer in the park. Sai, he thought to himself, had to be the most useless soccer player he had ever seen, no matter how much he tried. But even so, it had been fun.

Hikaru's steps slowed. Thinking back at those days, he was surprised at how clearly he remembered Sai and his desperate attempts to reach the ball, to aim his kicks in the approximately right direction… Sai running, out of breath, collapsing on the ground, sitting in seiza teaching go to Akari… He suddenly realized that practically all memories he had of Akari from those days were also connected to Fujiwara Sai.

Did that mean something? Why would it? Sai was his best friend, why would it be weird if he remembered him better? Akari… was fun to have around (most of the time), yes… he could admit that at least to himself. But Sai was his best friend. That was all. And that did make a difference.

He had slowed down to walk without realizing it. Sai was his best friend, he repeated to himself with conviction. No matter what. Even if he was a she. Or something else. He took a deep breath. Sai would figure things out. He would figure things out. With time. And until then, Akari had better keep her mouth shut.

He grimaced, remembering again what Sai had said about her liking him. Well, it wasn't like that was his fault or something! Stupid girl, couldn't she pick someone else?

He stopped completely, thinking about Akari. She was relatively fun, somewhat pretty, and a lousy go player (but still, mind you, a go player, which was rare among girls.) Technically that made her a pretty good girlfriend candidate. Besides, his mom liked her, too… though whether or not that was a point in her favor he wasn't sure. Even so, thinking about her… he just didn't feel anything toward her. Anything like that, at least.

Thinking about Sai, on the other hand…

He started running again. Hadn't he just decided that they'd figure everything out with time? He wasn't going to think about it now.

When he came home, quite sweaty, his mother peeked out of the kitchen. "Hikaru, Sai called while you were out."

"Oh." He kicked his shoes off. "Probably about the pro exam. I'll take a shower first and call him then."

He didn't hurry with his shower but took his time. Looking in the mirror he saw that the roots were beginning to show – time to re-bleach his bangs soon. His mother didn't like it and was still expecting him to grow out of this "phase", but he couldn't imagine himself without blond bangs anymore. "Maybe when I'm old and grow bald," he told his mother, who just sighed.

Sai must have been waiting for his call, for he answered practically on the first ring.

"Hi, Hikaru! How would you like meeting on Sunday? I've heard of a new go salon!"

Hikaru blinked. "I thought you were calling about your game," he said.

"Oh! Oh, yes, of course, the game with Akira. I could show it to you then, right?"

"Yes, I guess you could. But tell me already! Who won?"

"I did," Sai replied. "Though it was a close call, just one and a half moku."

"Oh. Congrats. But… about Sunday…" Hikaru ran his fingers through his hair, "I'm not sure about that, I should be preparing for the start of the next term, I guess…"

Of course his mother happened to be passing by right then, and of course she was in a lenient mood. "You can go out on Sunday if you study tomorrow," she said. "Actually, it wouldn't have hurt though," she just had to add, "to do something for your studies before the last day of the vacation. You could start today. "

"Was that your mother?" Sai asked, obviously having overheard her. "Great! Then you'll come, right?"

"Alright," Hikaru agreed. "See you there. When?"

"Afternoon? At three?"

"Fine." They ended the call and Hikaru returned to his room, annoyed at himself. Why would have be anxious about meeting Sai?

"Do study diligently!" his mother called from downstairs, but he didn't reply.

...

Sunday afternoon Sai had been the first to arrive at their meeting place, a little early as usual when he was impatient and eager about something. A couple of minutes after three he saw Waya approaching, and wished fervently Hikaru wouldn't be too late. Maybe he should have told Hikaru to meet there half past two or something, to make sure the boy would be on time.

Right then blond bangs appeared rising up from the subway, and he gave a relieved breath.

"Hi!" He waved his hand at them both. Hikaru looked a little startled seeing the other boy coming, and gave Sai a questioning look.

Sai just smiled brightly. "Hi!" he repeated. "Good to see you both! Shindou Hikaru – Waya Yoshitaka. Waya-kun's one of the insei taking the pro exam, and Shindou's my classmate. He's going to take the insei exam in December."

The two boys nodded at each other.

"So, what about Isumi-san?" Sai asked. "Is he coming?"

Waya shook his head. "He got busy with something," he just said.

"Oh." Sai looked a bit disappointed. "Too bad. But, where is that go salon? What is it like?"

"Just a short walk from here," Waya said, nodding at the direction. "And it's definitely a high class place. Korean."

"Really?" Sai's face brightened. "That's going to be fun!"

"Korean?" Hikaru asked, looking surprised. "Do Koreans play go too?"

Sai winced, both at Hikaru's words and the look Waya gave the boy. "Shindou, please," he muttered. "Don't blurt out things like that when we get there."

"What? I just asked! How could I know what they do in Korea and what not!"

Waya snorted. Sai gave a great sigh. "You know… I really think I need to start educating you about go in general, not just the game. Your ignorance is simply astounding!"

"Well thanks for that," Hikaru said grumpily. "Are the Koreans so good, then?"

"On international level," Sai replied, "they're the best."

"I thought Touya Meijin's the best!"

"He's the exception that proves the rule," Waya said. "Talking about good, there's one kid who's really something there. I played a game against him when we first visited the place. And I lost. It might be an interesting game if you played with him, Fujiwara."

Sai opened his mouth to tell him to just call him Sai, but reconsidered and closed it again. "Really?" he said instead. "Sounds intriguing!"

"I hope he is there," Waya said. "He's the owner's nephew. Younger than us, I think, but real good. He's a ye… yeong… I forgot that word. Korean insei."

Something lit in Sai's eyes. "I too hope he is there! And if he isn't, I need to go there again!"

"There's the place," Waya said, pointing at a sign that had Korean signs on it. "Yanagi."

"Let's go in!" Sai exclaimed and hurried toward the door.

"He seems easily excited," Waya noted to Hikaru.

"You've no idea," Hikaru stated a little dryly.

Sai led them up to third floor where the go salon was located, basically jumping two steps at once. He bounced into the room, letting his gaze sweep across the place. Approvingly he noted how tidy the place was, and how many people there were. A man by the counter turned to them and nodded, recognizing Waya.

"Waya-kun, right?" he said. "It's been a while!"

"Yeah." Waya nodded back to him. "Is your nephew still here? There's someone who'd like to play with him."

"Oh?" The man looked at Sai with a smile. "So, are you good?"

"He's taking the pro exam too, and he's one of the two who's undefeated so far," Waya replied for Sai. "He even beat Touya Akira."

"I've played with Touya many times," Sai put in, "and he's beaten me as often as I him."

"Really? Well, you have a good timing, my nephew's going back to Korea tomorrow. Follow me, then." The man started walking toward a corner of the room, where Sai saw a lone boy sitting by a go board, replaying some old game. The man said something in Korean, and the boy looked up. He didn't look too happy to see the three boys.

The man spoke more, and the boy made a gesture with his head, half a shake. He said something that sounded dismissive. The man spoke more, and now the boy shook his head properly and turned back to his game.

The man gave them an apologetic look. "He says he doesn't want to play right now."

"Oh." Sai's look was quite crushed. "Could you ask him one more time, please? I wouldn't want to be so pushy, but if he's really leaving tomorrow… I'd really like to play with a Korean yeongusaeng, now that there's a chance!"

The man spoke some more. The boy's reply was sharp, and he didn't even look up.

"Suyoung!" the man said, his tone chiding. A man sitting at the next table laughed.

"He says there's no point to play against Japanese kids as they're obviously no good," he said in heavily accented Japanese.

Waya gave an exasperated sigh, Sai's lower lip pouted; Hikaru bristled.

"What?! What kind of talk is that?" He slammed his palm against the table so that the stones on the board jumped, and the boy looked up, startled. "You're just scared, aren't you?! Sai would wipe the floor with a little runt like you!"

"Shindou!" Sai exclaimed, horrified. "Don't say such things." He placed a hand on Hikaru's shoulder and pulled him back. "I'm sorry… for my friend," he said, hesitantly finding his words in Korean. "I would like to play with you. Please."

Both Hikaru and Waya stared at him. "When did you learn Korean?" Hikaru asked.

"I started studying a little while ago," Sai said. "I thought that if I become pro and some day play with foreigners, I should try to learn how to speak with them, too."

"That's pretty far-sighted," Waya said. "I mean, you're not even a pro yet… It's going to take years before you go to international matches."

"It's going to take years to learn these languages too," Sai pointed out.

"Languages…?" Hikaru asked, voice hesitant.

"Yeah, Chinese and Korean." Sai didn't even notice the look the boy gave him. He turned back to the Korean boy. "Please?" he said again, in Korean.

Suyoung stared at him a while with a cold expression, glanced then at Hikaru. Then he shrugged.

"Fine," he said. "One game."

"Kamsahamnida!" Sai exclaimed, and sat down by the table.

They chose quietly for color, and Sai got black. He started the game, doing his best to ignore Hikaru who was looming behind his back. He hoped that the boy would keep his mouth shut during the game, and also that his glares wouldn't bother Suyoung. The boy didn't seem to even notice Hikaru, though – something Sai was sure made Hikaru even madder.

"Shindou," he said quietly under his breath. "Stop that glowering."

"What? You don't even see…"

He shot a glare at the boy over his shoulder, and Hikaru quieted. He turned back to the game and heard Hikaru mumbling something quietly and Waya snickering. Best just to ignore them.

As the game proceeded, Sai couldn't help noticing that there was something angry about his opponent. The way the boy played, he seemed to be determined to win, to crush whoever it was on the other side of the board. He wondered about that… what would have made such a young kid so angered? It was a double-edged sword, that anger – on one hand, it might spur the boy on, give him motivation, but on the other, playing in anger he might make mistakes, be too aggressive.

Very soon Sai saw he had been right. The boy had played solidly so far, an impressively strong game (Sai was sure that in Japan the boy would have no trouble becoming a pro. He wondered if it was much harder in Korea) but Sai saw an opening, the result of a little too hasty reading of the situation, and didn't hesitate to use it. Two moves later Suyoung must have realized what had happened, as he hold his hand that had already been about to play a stone. The boy paused, lowering his hand back on the table, and spent a long while thinking. When he finally made his move, Sai couldn't help nodding a little. Good. Perhaps from now on he would think more calmly and coolly of his strategies.

Sai had gained a slight lead with his move, though, and he wasn't about to give it up. The game that had started quite fast-spaced slowed down as both players were carefully considering each and every move, trying to read the game as far as they possibly could. Once again Sai was completely swept away by the game, and he stopped paying attention to his opponent. There was nothing else in his mind but the constantly evolving picture of the stones on the board, all the possible variations he could imagine. He heard nothing but the clicks of the stones, although there was a bit of buzzing going on round their table, as more and more people came to follow the game, whispering to each other.

Only when the last stone snapped against the board Sai raised his gaze up. He was startled to see the look on his opponent's face as the boy kept on staring at the board, as if not wanting to believe the game had ended the way it had. Suddenly tears started rolling down on Suyoung's face, and Sai gave a shocked gasp, not even noticing the whoops of Hikaru who had just finished counting the territories.

Suyoung looked up, meeting Sai's gaze, eyes sharp despite the tears. "What's your name?" he managed to say between gasps.

"Fujiwara Sai," Sai replied quietly. "Are you… okay?" he asked, but the boy just rose up and walked away. At least some men followed him, one of them holding a hand on his shoulder, though they were talking excitedly about the game. Suyoung glanced yet once behind at him, tears still on his face and a strange look in his eyes.

"Kamsahamnida," Sai said after him, thanking for the game, but he wasn't sure if the boy heard him anymore.

"That was an amazing game, Sai!" Hikaru cried out. "You totally did…." Sai gave him a look, and he cut off the sentence in the middle. "An amazing game," the boy repeated more quietly. "Really! I can't wait until I can play like that!"

Waya gave him a curious look. "You think you're going to be that good some day? So how good are you now?"

"Not bad," Shindou said.

"Good enough to become an insei, at least soon," Sai put in. "But he's been improving incredibly fast! Why don't you play a game with him, Waya-kun, and see for yourself."

Hikaru and Waya looked at each other and shrugged, as if each other's mirror images. "Why not."

Those two started a game. Sai watched them a moment and turned then back to the man he suspected to be the owner of the place, Suyoung's uncle.

"Is he going to be okay?" he asked quietly.

The man nodded. "Don't worry. Suyoung's been in a slump back at home, so he's a bit over the edge with his game. I think this was good for him, in the end. It's been long since I've seen him getting that invested in a game."

"If you say so." Sai was still a little worried, but decided there was nothing he could do. He took another look at the game Shindou and Waya had started, but soon he found himself with quite many willing opponents as well, so he left them to it. Once his game against a graying man who either didn't speak Japanese at all or was just very quiet ended (to his victory) he found the two boys engrossed in discussing their game.

"How did it go?" he asked, sitting by the table.

"I lost," Hikaru said, but without any grumpiness. "Did you win against that old geezer?"

"Yes," Sai said but frowned at Hikaru's choice of words. "What do you think?" he asked Waya.

"He's pretty good," Waya said. "About on the level to be an insei. Still a long way until he'd be ready for the pro exam, though."

"I know that," Sai said happily. "He's got time, he will be ready next year. Do you think he's…"

"Hello, I'm right here, you know?" Hikaru said with a wave of his hand. "Seriously. Why don't you ask me what I think?"

"Sorry," Sai said with a little laugh. "What do you think?"

"That that was a fun game," Hikaru said with a grin. "If insei play like that, I wanna join!"

"You need to make it to the A class to play the best insei, though," Waya said, and Hikaru shrugged.

"So? Then I'll do that. I mean, if I'm going to pass the pro exam, I'll need to do that, you know. And anyways, I want to play in that lion tournament thing."

"You people don't lack confidence," Waya muttered.

"You should have confidence too!" Sai exclaimed. "You played a great game against me in the exam."

"One great game isn't enough," Waya stated. He glanced at Hikaru. "I bet it'd be fun to see how your game develops during the next year, but I hope I won't be there to see it."

"Well, even if you won't be insei together, you could still play together sometimes, right?" Sai smiled hopefully at Waya who shrugged lightly.

"I guess. That was a fun game."

"Great!" Sai grinned at them. So far everything was going fine. "Do you want to play more here?"

"Why not, now that we are here," Hikaru said, and Waya agreed. "How about going to eat afterward?"

Waya nodded. "Sushi!"

"No, I want ramen!" Hikaru exclaimed, and Sai rolled his eyes.

"What else?" he said. "Hold it!" He raised his hand cutting off the two who had almost started an argument. "How about I'll treat you to this Korean place I know?"

Hikaru looked skeptical. "Is it good?"

"Yes," Sai said levelly, and the boy chose not to argue about it.

After they had played (and eaten) their fill, they headed to the metro station where each would take their own train home. They agreed to do this all again some day. Sai watched in satisfaction as Hikaru and Waya exchanged phone numbers – the two seemed to be hitting off well.

"Maybe Isumi-san will join us then too," Sai said happily as Hikaru ran to catch his train.

"Yeah… maybe." Waya put his phone in his pocket, giving Sai a hesitant glance. "Say…" he said. "Did something happen between you?"

"What?" Sai blinked at him. "Me and Isumi-san? No, I don't think so. Why?"

"It's nothing, just wondered," Waya said with a bit uncomfortable shrug. "See you, then!" He rushed to his train as well, leaving Sai watching after him wonderingly.

...

The games rolled on with their own rhythm. Sai and Akira continued winning their games, but so did Ochi as well. Sai played against Fuku one day – an easy win but still a fun game, and Akira defeated both Isumi and Komiya.

The twentieth game was one Sai had been waiting with cold determination. He was ready in the room, waiting by his board, when his opponent came in and sat down too. Sai nodded his head a little. The man looked at him with a lopsided smile.

"You're doing surprisingly well, pretty not-a-girl," he said. "Who would have thought?"

"I wish I could return the compliment," Sai said. It was already impossible for this man to pass.

"Hmm." The man snorted. "Well, one more win for me today, right? At least I can say I've defeated someone who beat Touya Akira!" He snorted again. "How did that happen, anyway? You're friends, right? Did he let you win?"

"You will soon see how it happened," Sai replied levelly, and proceeded to show him. For the second time he went to record his win by resignation before the break started, leaving the man to stare at the board in numb shock.

"You didn't waste time on that one," Waya remarked during the break.

"No," Sai just said. "How are your games going?" he changed the subject.

"Okay," Waya said. "I'm not playing at my best today, but I'll win."

"I'm doing okay, too," Nase said. "Not that it helps much, at this stage. I've already eight losses, there's no way I'll rise up from here. But it sure feels nice to be winning for a change! Three losses in a row…" She let her head fall against the table.

"I guess it's pretty much over for most of us," Iijima said. He had pushed himself to sit between Nase and Sai when they came to the table, confirming to Sai that even though there might have been nothing between the two, he wanted to change that. Take it easy, Sai wanted to tell him, I'm just interested in her go… but that would have been a little awkward.

"Fujiwara-kun and Touya-kun will pass," Fuku said, nodding. "And Ochi's got no losses yet, but he's not played against those two yet," he added more quietly, glancing at the boy who was sitting close by.

"Isumi-san's got only two losses, too," Waya put in, without bothering to moderate his voice. "And I have three. But it looks bad for Kadowaki-san. I think he's going to lose to Ochi today."

"There are still many games left," Sai said. "Anything can yet happen. Me and Touya need only to lose two games, and the situation is completely different."

"And just how likely is that to happen?" Waya said, eyeing darkly Touya who sitting quietly next to Sai.

"Waya's got a point," Isumi said with a sigh. "Much will be settled next day." He gave Sai a quiet look that was difficult to read, and Sai smiled a little awkwardly.

"Yes. I'm looking forward to our game, Isumi-san," he said.

The older boy nodded. "I'll go out for a moment," he mumbled and stood up.

The insei looked after him. "He seems a bit on the edge these days," Iijima marked.

"We're all on the edge, aren't we?" Nase snorted, and the others gave affirming sighs.

"Everyone just needs to fight on," Sai said, but as he was talking his eyes fell on his opponent of the day.

The man paused, seeing him, and something of a scowl passed on his face. "The pretty boy," he mumbled. "Freakily pretty. There's got to be something wrong about you, right?"

Sai looked away, saying nothing. He felt the heat creeping on his cheeks, wondering if he really had imagined no one would ever notice anything.

Waya was frowning. "There's nothing freaky about him except maybe his skill with go, so why don't you leave him in peace. Loser."

"Why don't you ask him for a date if you admire him so," the man snorted.

"You…!" Waya started jumping to his feet, but a voice cut him off.

"Why are you arguing with someone like that, Waya-kun?" Ochi said, watching them across the table. "He's nothing but a sore loser, and a bad player, too. I know, I've played against him. It's not worth it. Besides," he added, "I don't want to listen to your yelling. It hurts my ears."

Waya gave a hissing breath but sat back down again. The man was glaring daggers at Ochi.

"You're one rude and arrogant brat, aren't you?" he said.

"I'm not interested in your opinion," Ochi said, turning back to his food. "And I bet no one else here is, either. You might as well go."

"Yeah," Nase exclaimed. "A real go player should have some manners!"

"Like Ochi," Waya muttered under his breath, but no one probably heard him.

The man shot them yet a glare but turned on his heels and marched away. Sai released a breath, feeling somewhat embarrassed at the episode.

"Don't mind him, Sai-kun," Nase said to him with a smile. "They're right, he's just a sore loser."

"I guess." Sai returned her smile a bit weakly, wondering what the lot around him would think if he told them everything.

The break ended and all the others returned to their games. This time Sai decided that he probably could stay watching Ochi's and Kadowaki's game. After all, so many people had been there to watch his games… basically every day when the game ended there was someone following it. It was his turn! He asked still Shinoda-san who gave him a permission, and he settled down to follow the game.

He saw soon that Waya had been right, Kadowaki was in trouble with Ochi. He was playing a good game, too, but somehow nothing he did was enough. Sai watched the game to its end, though he could soon see what that end would be.

Kadowaki left without word when the game was over. Sai was about to go too, but Ochi turned to look at him.

"Impressed?" the boy asked.

"It was a very good game," Sai said quietly. "It's just five games left until our game. I'm really looking forward to it."

Ochi looked at him long and hard, the glass of his glasses gleaming. "I'm going to win that game," he stated then shortly.

"Well," Sai said, a little hesitant. "Everything's possible. But no matter what happens, I'm sure it's going to be a great game, so… let's just do our best, right?"

Ochi was frowning. "How else? As I've said before, I'm planning to pass with a single loss. If you find losing games great, good for you, I guess." He headed to record the game, and Sai watched after him, frowning too.

When he and his mother were having their dinner that night, he was still pondering on Ochi. "I don't get this insei boy," he said. "He's been doing really well in the exam. He's the only one, in addition to me, who doesn't have any losses yet. But… I don't know if he really enjoys go that much at all – he just wants to win! All the games!"

"Some people are strongly competitive, you know, darling," his mother said. "And it's not just bad. They can achieve a lot in life."

"I can achieve a lot in life, and I'm not like that," Sai said, crossing his arms on his chest as he leaned back. "I mean, of course I like winning too, and I guess I would like to be the best… but, you know, it's kind of like he couldn't even appreciate a good game unless he wins it! Actually, I'm not sure if he does that even when he wins, he just appreciates himself for winning! I find that… annoying. He doesn't want to explore go for go's sake, but just for his own sake."

His mother gave a little laugh. "I'm not sure I completely understand what you mean," she said. "But… you won again today? How many games do you have left?"

"Seven," Sai said. "Tomorrow I'm playing against Isumi-san. I hope it'll be a great game. I think he's been a bit nervous lately. Of course, this is the third time he's trying to become pro, and I think he really has the skills to make it, but… it's beginning to look he won't. Once again. That must be pretty awful."

"But it's really looking like you will make it, isn't it?" His mother shook her head a little. "I admit I wasn't quite convinced when we agreed to this that you would be able to do it. And I must say that the idea of you suddenly turning pro is a little worrisome."

"You shouldn't worry, mother," Sai said quietly. "I'll do fine in the pro world, I know that. And besides, I am going to study as well, as hard as I can, so you don't need to worry about my education either."

"It is difficult for me not to worry," she said, sighing. "And your father's not happy either. But what we promised, we'll keep. At least I'm glad to see you're coping with this better, now. During the preliminaries I was afraid this would be too big an ordeal for you. I just hope that this will turn out to be the right decision in the long run."

"It will, mother. Definitely," Sai said as firmly as he could. They finished the dinner talking of other things.

A/N: thank you for reading, again!