Again, sorry about the wait! And the short chapter... the shortest in this fic, I think. This just was a good place to cut it off.

Hikaru-centric, for a change. ^^

Chapter 19

Hikaru stood in the lobby of the Go Association, concentrating on his breathing. It was finally time for his insei exam. His mother was talking with the staff, once more going through what all this was about. She was still having her misgivings, but that didn't worry Hikaru. He knew that as she had come this far, she wouldn't be backing out anymore. He wasn't paying them much attention – she would tell him if he was needed for something. He knew he shouldn't worry too much about it. Sai wasn't worried, or at least it seemed he wasn't, and given how bad he was at pretending, his confidence probably was real. Don't worry about it, he had said. You'd have to fail quite spectacularly not to make it in.

Hikaru glared in his mind at his friend. Was that supposed to make him feel better? Fail like you did on your first day of prelims you mean, he had almost said, but for once managed to stop himself in time.

Ever since he had passed the pro exam Sai had been slightly… peculiar. Detached, quiet, easily irritated and depressed. A few weeks ago he had quietly told Hikaru he had stopped taking his new medicine, 'for reasons', without specifying what those reasons might be. Hikaru had said nothing, for as usual he didn't know what to say. He had thought that the medicine was a good thing, but apparently not. Afterwards things had got somewhat better – at least Sai no longer was on those astonishing levels of delicacy he had reached, and was just back to, well, the normal Sai-levels. Still, he hadn't been talking about things for a long while, and Hikaru was hesitant to ask. Touya had given him enough lectures on not being so pushy to last for a lifetime, but still he wasn't quite sure where the fine line between 'too pushy' and 'concerned' was drawn.

He shook his head, annoyed. This wasn't the time to think of all this. Now, he needed to focus on go. Sai had been teaching him whenever he had time, and he had trained on his own as much as he could. Hikaru himself knew that he had made tremendous progress during this short time. Most likely Sai was correct and he had nothing to worry about. Still, he had only this one chance. One game. If he messed up, like Sai had in that first prelim game, he didn't have four other games waiting to save the situation.

Even if you for some reason do not make it, Sai had told him, it's not that dangerous. Maybe I won't be having as much time to teach you as before, what with with the finals and high school entrance exams and all, but I know next year you will be good enough to pass the pro exam, whether you become an insei now or not.

He breathed out, softly. Perhaps. But… he wanted to become one of the insei. Not only because it seemed like a fun place to study go, but because it was something he could do himself, without being supported (and shadowed) by Sai, and these days Touya too. He grimaced a little at his thoughts, but they were true. This… could be a place of his own. He had the Heart of Stone, of course, but even that place had a connection to Sai, it wasn't just his. They still kept on asking after him, 'Fujiwara-pro', practically begging Hikaru to take Sai there some day for 'a game or two' as they put it.

Besides, they were all old geezers. Here, he could make some friends of his own age, go-playing friends of his own age, like…

He blinked.

"Waya-kun!" he exclaimed, spotting a familiar brown-haired boy.

The boy stopped, turned to look at him with a surprised expression, a water bottle in his hand. "Shindou? What are you doing… oh yes, of course. You're here for the insei exam?"

Hikaru nodded. "Yeah. Mom's still there talking with Shinoda-san. I hope they're done soon." He shot them a look. "I'm getting sick of waiting."

"How do you feel about it? The exam?"

Hikaru shrugged. He had been looking forward to meeting Waya again, but now that they were talking, it felt a little awkward. The other's expression was guarded, and Hikaru wasn't quite sure if Waya was happy to see him there or not. Even after they'd spent time together that day they happened to meet, he wasn't completely sure what the other boy thought of him. Perhaps he just didn't want more competition? Having followed Sai and Touya through the pro exam Hikaru had come to realize what an exhaustive ordeal it was. And if his friends hadn't been there, Waya would have been sure to pass. Maybe he just truly did not want Hikaru there, to take one of the three places next year…

…which he was sure to do, Hikaru thought to himself. The insei exam was one thing, but the pro exam he would not fail.

With a blink he realized Waya had asked him something and was still waiting for a reply. He gave a little laugh, ran his fingers through his hair. "Uh, sorry. I'm… a bit nervous. I hope I'll pass, but… we'll see. Umm, what are you doing here, Waya-kun?"

"We've got a class on Saturdays. Having a break now, but…" he glanced at the clock on the wall. "It's almost over. I think I'd better be going."

Hikaru nodded. "Okay. See you… hopefully next Saturday."

Waya was already heading away, but looked behind, and for the first time a real smile touched his lips. "I bet we will. Good luck!"

"Thanks."

"Hikaru?" he heard his mother's voice from behind his back. "Who was that?"

"Oh, just, one of the insei."

"So you know Waya-kun?" Shinoda asked him.

"Yeah… kind of. I met him when my friends were taking the pro exam."

"Well." The man paused to look at him. "I thought there was something familiar about you. I believe I saw you in Fujiwara-kun's company."

"Yeah." Hikaru shifted on his feet. He didn't want to these people to start thinking about him as 'that guy who's friends with the prodigy'. "I know him. So, can we finally get started?"

His mother scuffed at his impatient tone, but Shinoda just smiled. "Eager, huh? I understand that. Let us go then." He gestured with his hand but paused yet. "You can either come to follow the game, Shindou-san," he said to Hikaru's mother, "or then you can go to the cafe to wait. The game will last at least an hour."

"Oh!" His mother seemed surprised. "I… think I will go to the cafe, then." She smiled at Hikaru, a little hesitantly. "Good luck then, I guess…?"

"Thanks mom," Hikaru said, but he wasn't anymore paying any attention to her as he followed Shinoda to a little side room.

...

Akira and Sai were playing a game at the go salon as Hikaru's insei exam started. Akira had, in truth, forgotten about it when he had asked if Sai could come over then, but the way Sai had paused to stare at the clock suddenly made him realize the date's meaning.

"Is he having the game now?" he asked as he made his move, and Sai blinked, his eyes shifting from the clock to Akira's face.

"Yes," he said with a little smile. "It shouldn't be too difficult for him."

"True. I got to admit that Shindou's really surprised me. I never thought he would be serious about learning a game like go – let alone be good in it."

"I knew it," Sai said with a very smug smile. "That is, I knew he was serious, that he'd be good, and that he would surprise you. And I don't think he's done with that yet! He'll be more than good, just you wait. He'll yet catch up with us if we're not careful."

"Well, there's certainly incentive for us to move forward, if we lacked it," Akira muttered. He glanced up at Sai from the game. His friend had that bright look on his face that he always got when they were talking about Shindou.

"So…" Akira was wondering if he wanted to ask about this or not. "Not that it's any of my business… but I've just been wondering… are you and Shindou, I mean, the way you… you're really close…"

"Yes?" Sai gave him a curious look, and he groaned.

"It's nothing," he muttered, eyes on board. That look had been so clueless he must have been mistaken.

"If you say so." Sai sounded hesitant, but he didn't look up from board. Anyway, just as he had said, it was none of his business. If those two ever had anything to tell, he was sure they would do it. And he counted on them telling him before anyone else.

...

Overall, playing the long awaited insei exam game was nearly boring. Hikaru blinked at the board. So far he had played solidly, he knew it, without any mistakes if also without any great strokes of genius. Sai had told him to take it easy in the exam – It is mainly to evaluate your level. You don't need to be some kind of a prodigy to make it there – no, you don't need to win that game either, what on earth are you thinking? You're playing against a pro! Just play a good game on your own level, and that's it.

It was just that 'playing a good game on your own level' and not even trying to win was unbearably boring. Hikaru watched the board as his opponent made his move. The man wasn't trying to win either; that wasn't the point of his game. This was more of a teaching game, really, than any real match. Like this move. Its only purpose was to see how Hikaru would respond to it.

Tsuke would be fine, most likely. Hane was a bit more daring. Hikaru fingered his stone. Those were the two obvious choices. What else could he do? He paused to think, clutching the stone in his hand. He would not give just the textbook answers here. Maybe that was what was expected, and maybe it would be enough, but it was… boring. There had to be some third path he could take. He sat back with the stone in his hand and thought.

.

"…and this move," Shinoda said, when they were discussing the game later. "This was an… interesting decision after you spent so long thinking."

"Yeah, I know, I know." Hikaru bit back a sigh. Interesting. That word could mean many things. "I guess I should have gone with hane. It just was so boring."

"Boring?" the man's eyebrows rose.

"Well, yeah. Just to do what's expected and no more." Hikaru glared at the board. "And it's not like it was a bad move! It just didn't… in the end lead to anything," he concluded a little weakly. Which kind of makes it a bad move, he added glumly in his head.

The man was already eyeing his game records, humming while nodding softly, at times asking questions about his opponents.

"Well, I think that settles it, Shindou-kun," he finally said, lowering the papers on the world. "You can start coming here from the start of the next month."

"So I did pass?" Not that he was really surprised about it – it wasn't like he had played badly – but still the whole thing felt a bit anticlimactic.

"Certainly. You can go get your mother now."

"Yes." Hikaru jumped to his feet.

His mother seemed strangely surprised when Hikaru told her the news. She came to meet Shinoda, and they started talking of all practical matters, the schedule, the payments and such. Hikaru wasn't really paying attention.

He waited a moment impatiently, but as the adults just kept on talking, finally decided to cut them off. "Hey, I heard the insei session is going on now. When will they finish?"

"Oh, in about…" Shinoda glanced at his watch. "Twenty minutes. But I was thinking I could next show you the place, if you'd like."

"Yes!"

When they entered the hall where the insei were playing, most games were already over, and everyone was discussing them. Waya had apparently been playing with… Honda, if Hikaru remembered the name right. He paused, hesitating. He didn't remember the rankings of others in the pro test, just that Waya was the first one left out. He had a feeling Honda had done pretty well, too, though. It wasn't just Waya who was getting extra competition with his appearance. And these were the kids he'd be spending time weekly from now on? Suddenly he couldn't help wondering how things would go.

"Hey?" someone said. "Shindou… was it?"

He saw the brown-haired girl he'd seen at the pro test looking at him, and waved awkwardly. Her call made Waya look up.

"Oh, hey!" He gestured with his hand. "Come here! You passed?" he asked, as Hikaru sat down by their board.

"Yeah."

"I knew you would," Waya said simply.

"What, did you pass the insei test?" That was the girl, who joined them, followed by the boy she'd been playing with. "Congrats!"

"Thanks…"

"Waya, you know him?" one of the boys asked.

"Yeah," Waya said. "We met at the pro test. He wasn't taking part though, just friends with the top two."

"I'm taking the pro test next year," Hikaru put in hurriedly, not wanting to give the impression he'd just been there as a tourist.

"More competition for us!" the girl said, but with a friendly smile, and Hikaru laughed a little. "So how good are you?"

"Umm… good enough to be here?"

"I think he'll make it pretty quickly to the A-league," Waya said. "You better watch out, Kawada, you'll yet drop out of it."

The boy he addressed laughed, but it was a bit forced. "Yeah, I really need to step up my game…"

"Hikaru, are you ready to go?"

Hikaru glanced up at his mother. He had been thinking he'd ask Waya if they could do something once the class would finish, but he was beginning to feel more and more awkward. Perhaps it was better to go now, and… nah. What was he afraid of?

"I was thinking… you have time to hang out after the class?" he asked Waya, who thought a moment and shrugged then.

"I guess, at least a small while."

His mother looked a little worried. "Are you sure you can come home on your own?"

"Of course! What, I'll be coming here every week starting next month! Were you planning to take me here and back every time then too?"

She gave a sigh. "Well, fine then." She said goodbye to Shinoda and left.

"Perhaps you could wait outside, Shindou-kun. The class will end soon."

"Sure."

He found a chair to sit on outside of the classroom and grasped his phone to call Sai, who answered immediately.

"Well?"

"I did it," he said, grinning. "You were right, it was so simple it's almost boring."

"That's great!" He could hear from Sai's voice how the other was bubbling with happiness. "Touya sends congratulations too."

"Thanks.

They ended the phone call, and Hikaru leaned back in his chair. So, he was an insei now. It had been relatively easy to become one. How easy it would be to become one of the top insei he wasn't sure. He had played so far only Waya, and he had to admit the other boy was better than him. And the finished game ha had seen on Waya and Honda's board had definitely been high class…

Then again, those two were among the very best, weren't they? To take part in the Young Lion's Tournament, he'd only have to make it into the top 16… and as the tournament took place some time in May, he'd have nearly six months to do that. It should be simple enough. And that gave a great intermediate goal, to check his level a couple of months before the pro exam prelims - into which he hopefully wouldn't have to take place.

It was all quite simple in his mind. Hopefully it'd be just as simple in reality.

He heard voices approaching, and saw Waya together with some other insei coming into his direction. He stood up, waved and smiled, and strictly told himself that he wasn't worried about anything.

...

December became a busy month. Hikaru wanted, naturally, to play go as much as he possibly could, but both his mother and Sai were quite strict, stating that right now, the upcoming finals would take the priority. At least he found a kindred spirit in Waya, both of them dreaming of becoming go pros so they wouldn't have to study.

"Of course you have to study go, too!" Sai said to his complains. "You simply need to plan your days. There's first the finals, then the entrance exams to high school. If you want to get into a good high school…"

"I honestly don't give a damn!" Hikaru put in. He knew very well he'd not get into the one Sai was aiming for, anyway.

"…you have to do well in both," Sai finished unperturbed. "Actually, I'll help you make that schedule, I know pretty well which subjects you should focus on more."

Hikaru gave a long-suffering sigh and watched dejectedly as Sai started creating his study plan.

...

Despite all his whining, Hikaru did more or less follow that plan, and it paid off. His mother was humming contentedly, watching his grades. "Look, Hikaru, if you just try, you can get descent grades! We should have hired Sai-kun as your tutor long ago…"

"Hm. He's my friend, not my teacher," Hikaru mumbled – though he had to admit to himself that Sai had been also the latter, both for go and school. The other insei had noted that too – and they spoke of Touya too in the same vein, which was highly annoying.

Besides, he really hadn't been playing that much go with Sai recently. He'd said the same to Waya and others when they, once again, were talking of Hikaru's pro friends (ignoring his muttering of having just one pro friend, the other being just an acquaintance that Sai for some weird reason was fond of.)

"Are you jealous?" Nase asked. It took Hikaru a moment to realize she meant jealous of Touya because of Sai, and when he did, he could only splutter. Waya came to his help there, gave Nase a whack on the head and changed the subject. Now, though, Hikaru couldn't help thinking he should have said something. Maybe they were now imagining something weird…

"…deserve a reward," he suddenly became aware of something his mother was saying.

"Huh?" He looked up with a start, and she rolled her eyes.

"I said that you'd deserve a reward for these grades. What do you want?"

Hikaru paused to consider. It was so long since he'd last time received any rewards for his grades he couldn't even think what exactly he could ask for. And this was more than just having got a relative good grade in some random exam… these were the last year finals.

…perhaps even a break of tradition could be possible?

"Could I go to the New Year's party at Touya's go salon? And stay for the countdown? Sai's going to be there too. I could maybe… eat dinner home with you and then go there?"

He knew Sai had two parties he wanted to attend, though he wasn't sure if Sai's parents were aware of that: the one at Touya's, and the other at Shizuku no kai. Sai would go first to the latter, so there was no point for Hikaru either to be in a hurry.

"Oh, that… they have a party at the go salon?" She seemed rather confused about the idea.

"Yeah, I think it's about some people wanting to celebrate the start of the year when Touya's starting his pro career. I don't know, he's already got a real fanclub though he's not played a single pro game yet."

His mother smiled a little at his grumpy tone. "Well, I think we'll have to talk with your father about that."

...

On New Year's eve Hikaru arrived at the go salon before Sai. He nodded at Touya who was – how else – playing a teaching game with someone. He spotted also Ashiwara, but he too was in the middle of a game. Touya's parents, he had heard, had somewhere else to be, not that they'd have been at the top of his list of people to talk to, anyway.

Seeing only (old) people he didn't really know, Hikaru took a soda and sat down by a free board, starting to replay a game he had played last Saturday. He smiled a little to himself. Just as he had hoped, he'd start the new year in the A-league. He couldn't wait to tell Sai that piece of news.

Sai was taking his time, though. He considered sending him a message asking what was taking so long, but didn't. That'd be just like his mom, if he wasn't somewhere exactly at the moment he was supposed to. Sai'd come when he'd come.

At least… unless something unexpected had happened, and he wouldn't come at all. Maybe his parents had found out about the first party and he was grounded again? Or maybe he ended up liking that party better? He had seemed excited about it. He'd even asked if Hikaru wanted to come there too, to meet his intersex friends, and Hikaru… had declined with the excuse of having to eat dinner with his family. He hadn't been to that place since their first visit there, and somehow… he just didn't feel comfortable about going there. Maybe Sai had realized that, and it had hurt his feelings… Hikaru hadn't noticed anything, though, but sometimes even Sai managed to hide his feelings (and, if his friends were to be trusted, Hikaru wasn't always the best in reading people.)

He fingered a white stone in his hand, the game forgotten, wondering if he still should send a message. Should he apologize? What if Sai's depression had come back and he was at home crying, instead of going to any parties? What if that was his fault? What if…

Maybe he should ask Touya. Just, if he knew when Sai was coming. Surely Sai would have informed at least him, if something had happened.

His eyes scanned the crowd, looking for Touya, who had apparently finished his game. He finally spotted the other boy at the front of the salon, talking with someone. He was just getting up when Touya moved, and Sai's face came into view. Hikaru sank back on the chair, staring at his friend.

Sai certainly hadn't been crying. He was just excitedly telling something to Touya, gesturing with his hands as he talked, his whole countenance animated and joyful, his eyes shining at whatever it was they were talking about. Hikaru could almost hear his voice in his mind, not the words, but the tone, the lilting intonation as his voice got higher the more excited he got, the laughter behind the words that was trying to force its way out.

Then Sai happened to glance in his direction, saw him looking and smiled. That smile made his face positively glow, and Hikaru's heart thumped. He saw Sai saying something to Touya and starting to make his way toward him, and, suddenly nervous, he dropped his eyes to the board and started clearing it, just to give his hands something to do.

"Hi, Hikaru," Sai said and sat down opposite to him. "Sorry I'm late! Would you like a game?"

Hikaru looked up slowly, his heart beating fast and so strong he could feel it. For a moment his eyes stopped on Sai's lips – was that purple lipstick Sai was wearing?! – but ultimately, that was irrelevant. "Sure," he said, his own lips suddenly dry, and they started their game.

A/N: Hikaru is clearly stronger here when he becomes insei than in canon, cause he has been playing longer. On the other hand, even though Sai's pretty much a prodigy, he's not on the same level ghost Sai was (just, Touya-level, approximately), which ultimately might be a good thing for Hikaru. Sai's far, but not so insanely far as in canon. Also, as he's real and been dragging Hikaru around with him, Hikaru's had much more varied opponents than in the manga.

The next updates might be quite slow, too. I was hoping I'd write more new stuff during the summer, but I mainly just edited what I had already written, and so we're reaching that point where I haven't written ahead much at all. And as the autumn's going to be busy, I don't think I'll be able to update weekly, at least not all the time. I'll try to get something out at least every other week, though. There isn't that much of the story left, anyway. (At least compared to how long it is now. xD)

Stupid typos: bro test. I did that twice in this chapter. What is that, even?

Thank you for reading!