Hikaru could feel the sun shining behind his closed eyes, but he did not feel like waking up yet. "Only five more minutes," he mumbled from habit, rolling on his side so his back was to the window.

He nearly screamed from the pain and opened his eyes. He was lying in a hospital bed. Akira was sleeping nearby, his head on the bed and his hand still holding Hikaru's. For a moment Hikaru did not know what was going on, but then he remembered. All of it.

Rolling back onto his back he stared at the white ceiling with tears forming in his eyes. He had tried to push it out of his mind, but it came flooding back now.

Jamison and the newspaper.

His parents.

Hikaru tried to remember the fun they had had together when he was still young and his father wasn't working all the time. They would go out on Sunday's to eat a boxed lunch in the park and he would play with his father. He tried hard to remember all those things, but he felt them slipping away. Instead…

A dark house.

His parents sleeping blissfully unaware of the robbers until his father heard a sound downstairs and woke up. Hikaru could imagine his father trying to scare them away.

Blood.

What did they think of before they died?

Did they think about him?

What were their last words?

Had it hurt?

He couldn't help but ask himself all these questions. And then it hit him. They were gone. Hikaru would not be able to share his life with them anymore. They would not be there to listen to his stories anymore or watch his games.

He had always taken them for granted, thought that they would always be there for him whenever he needed them. There was so much that he wanted to tell them. Did he ever tell them how much he loved them? How much he appreciated what they had done for him? How he was sorry that he had made them worry about him?

The pools of tears in his eyes were overflowing now. Despite the pain he rolled to his side, curling himself into a small ball, dragging Akira's hand with him, clinging to it like an anchor.

His heart wrenching sobs must have sounded like cries for help. Hikaru could feel Akira's warm arms embracing him. Pulling himself up to his friend's chest, he cried freely.

****

Ogata watched the two boys for moment and then closed the door. It seemed that Shindou-kun would be able to deal with what had happened since he was accepting help.

Ogata had been shocked himself when he heard about the robbery.

They had tried to contact Shindou's parents right after the boy's abduction, by phone but there had been no answer. Finally the publication editor of Nihon Kiin contacted them and told them about what had happened.

The police were still investigating, but from all appearances it seemed to be a normal robbery and not Jamison's handiwork.

Ogata rolled his wheelchair down the corridor stopping in front of Waya-kun's room. The boy had been transferred from intensive care and was recovering rapidly. This time Ogata knocked to be sure that he was not to disturb anyone. He waited a few moments and opened the door after receiving a muffled "Come in."

He was not surprised to find Isumi-kun here as well. The two of them seemed to be in the middle of an innocent game of Go. Their red faces and embarrassed looks indicated something else though.

"Ah, Isumi-kun, just the person I was looking for. I heard that you have a never-ending supply of magnetic Gobans. Could I maybe borrow one?"

Ogata couldn't suppress a chuckle when he saw Isumi-kun shoot a look at the other boy, who defensively raised his arms to indicate that he had not been the one to spread that particular rumour.

"I think we are done with our game. You can have this one," Isumi-kun replied and started to put the stones back into small plastic bags. When he was done he stood up and went to Ogata to pass him the Goban. He stopped though before handing the game to the older man and looked down at the floor. "Ogata-sensei, how is Shindou-kun?" he asked quietly.

"I think he will be all right. Akira-kun is with him after all."

Isumi nodded. "You are right. Shindou-kun is not the type to give up easily." He gave Ogata the magnetic goban and returned to his seat next to Waya's bed.

Ogata nodded acknowledgment and left. The goban on his lap, he made his way through the hospital till he reached a room with a sign that simply said "Kurata". This time without knocking he entered.

"Ah, Ogata-san. I hope you finally found a goban for us!" Kurata cheerfully called out. His eyes were on Ogata, and the pro in the wheelchair could read the emptiness in them.

"Of course, I promised I would, didn't I?" he replied while moving his wheelchair next to Kurata's bed.

"You've been smoking! How have you managed that?" Kurata said teasingly. "I knew it was you the moment you entered. You know, your brand smells terribly."

"That's a secret." Ogata answered. He was already working on getting the tiny go stones out of their bags, while Kurata was listening intently to what he was doing.

"Ah, that doesn't sound like a real goban. Don't tell me you brought a magnetic one. I hate those. The stones are too small and the just don't make the right sound!"

Ogata sighed. "This is a hospital not the Nihon Kiin, you have to be content with what I found. Now do you want to play or not?"

Kurata nodded earnestly. "I want to know if I can still play like this." His blind eyes turned towards Ogata. "I have to know."

Ogata nodded in return. Remembering that his partner could not see the gesture he spoke: "Yes, I understand. Let's play."

They made nigiri and Kurata got black.

"Upper right corner, hoshi," Kurata said. Ogata placed the stone