Disclaimer: I do not own Hikaru no Go
Chapter 3: Fujiwarano
Shoyo High School.
"I wonder what it feels like to be still in school." a sense of nostalgia swept over Hikaru as he stepped through the school gate "If I hadn't become a pro, I'll be a freshman in high school, just like Akari and many of the students here."
His thoughts were interrupted by an excited female voice "Hikaru! We've been waiting for you!". Hikaru turned around to face Akari, "I'm not late, I hope."
"No, you're not. Come on."
Hikaru followed Akari past the school grounds to a classroom on the third floor. The instant he stepped into the room, he was immediately mobbed by a group of freshman girls.
"Come on everybody. Settle down. Let Shindou-kun come in." Hikaru turned around to see a familiar face.
"Yun-sensei! What a surprise to see you here!"
"I teach at the Go club here as well. As you can see, I have been pretty busy... But the star of today is you. They are all eager to play with you."
Hikaru glanced at the crowd. There are at least 40 people present. "Wow, this is a big club. It'll take a few days to play with everyone."
"Don't worry. I'll select 10 of them to play with you. The rest, just be good spectators, OK?" Yun-sensei proceeded to pick out 10 from the crowd. Hikaru was pleased to see that Akari was one of them.
"Alright, how much handicap do you guys want? How about each of you place 9 stones, and I'll play all 10 boards simultaneously..."
"This move is too weak. Once I counter-attack from the left, black has no more chance. The game is lost from this point." concluded Hikaru as he finished his discussion of the third game.
"Alright, everyone, it is getting late. Shall we call it a day? The rest of you can record down your games... we'll discuss another day. Shindou-kun, you'll be back again, right?"
"It'll be my pleasure, Yun-sensei"
"Goodbye, Hikaru. It has been awesome having you around today." said Akari, as they stood in front of the Shindou residence.
"You're welcomed" Hikaru stole a glance at his watch "Hey, it's still early. How about we go up to my room to review your game? I didn't manage to get to it just now."
"Sure! How can I miss the opportunity of a one-to-one session with Shindou-sensei."
"Ha ha. Stop making fun of me."
Akari followed Hikaru up the flight of stairs. "I know these stairs so well now... how many times have I ran up them as a kid? But somehow, they feel different now..."
"Wow Hikaru, you have a new computer!" that was the first thing Akari noticed as she entered his room.
"That was a gift from Grandpa. He said it was to celebrate my promotion to 3-dan. Well, shall we begin?" Hikaru started laying stones on his goban.
"I see, that was why I lost the game" said Akari, 20 minutes later.
"Alright, that's all for today. It's time to... Oh my god! I almost forgot! I have a match against Murong in 5 minutes!" exclaimed Hikaru.
"Who's Murong? Oh dear, are you going to be late?"
"He's a Taiwan Go player that I met online. I think he's younger than me, but very strong. He's one of the strongest players I've played online so far."
"I never knew you play online Go! Well you better log in now, or you'll be late."
Hikaru turned on his computer. Soon, he came to the familiar log in screen.
"Fujiwarano... that's an interesting nickname. Is there any particular significance?" asked Akari, curious.
"Well... it reminds me of an old friend..." Hikaru became sentimental all of a sudden "There he is! Murong! Let me invite him to a game!"
End of chapter 3.
