Disclaimer : I don't own Hikaru no Go.

Chapter 4: Getting a new heart

Two days later, at Tatekawa Hospital,

After a long operation, at last Koto and Hara came out from an operating room tiredly.

" Is everything alright?" It was first word from Mitsuko when she saw the doctors.

" Hikaru? How is he?" Masao demanded the answer.

The doctors exchanged a look, they gradually took off their surgical mask and smiled tenderly at the troubled Shindous. " The transplant went well, Shindou-san," said Koto, " We did our best," he confirmed.

Mitsuko, Masao, Heihachi and Masako, Hikaru's grandmother sighed in relief.

" That means it's over, isn't it?" Masako spoke up, " From now on, Hikaru will have a normal life, right?" For 12 years, she had been watching her grandson, living in fear that one day death would take him away from her but it was over now…right?

" I'm afraid to tell you that it's just the beginning, Shindou-san," Hara decided to be honest with the old lady, Hikaru's new life was about to begin and he wanted them to be prepared because it wouldn't be an easy one.

" What? What do you mean?" Seeing the uneasy look on Hara's face, Heihachi felt apprehensive.

" We still have to fight with ' Graft Rejection'," Hara informed frankly.

" What the hell is it?" Getting angry, the grandpa exclaimed, he wasn't a doctor, for God's sake, How could he know what the Graft Rejection was? Doctors? They're all the same! Is it that hard for them to speak in Japanese?

" See, Shindou-san, Actually it's against the nature to put one's organ into another's body," Koto educated Heihachi calmly, " Shindou-kun's body will consider the new heart as an infection…an alien, his body will automatically fight against it," he gave the old man an uncomplicated lecture.

" Ah-huh, then what?"

" Well, we don't know about that since each patient is different," he pointed out the fact and illustrated, " Some don't even have the rejection, some have a liver problem instead, somestill sufferfrom astroke,"

" What? You're telling me that it doesn't change anything? Then why do we have to put him through this, if he's going to die anyway?" Heihachi exploded. The operation had tasken nearly 6 hours, if Hikaru had to…be gone, at least he wanted him to go in peace not suffering from a long useless painful surgery like this, " Masao! Say something!" he urged his son to back him up.

" ……" But neither his son nor his daughter-in-law said a word.

" Masao?"

"……" The young couple had already known about it, they knew all about heart transplant; the process, the test, the surgical treatment, its cost, the risk, and of course, life after the transplant, " It's a normal reaction, it's inevitable,"

" What? You know about this too?" Masako asked her son.

" Of course, Mom…still, we're willing to take a chance," Masao affirmed clearly, " You said it yourself, Dad, that I had to do something, that I couldn't just let him die," he quoted his father.

" But…"

" If the rejection can be controlled, he'll alright," Koto cut in.

" If not?" Mitsuko asked, she didn't really want to hear it but she couldn't help it.

……………..

……………...

"…80 percent is alive 2 years after the surgery," the boy's doctor reported uncomfortably, " After that, they..."

" 2 Years!" the old couple cried out in terror, " 2 Years!"

" I know how you feel, Shindou-san but.." Knowing what the old couple was thinking, Hara spoke up, " We've just given a new life for a person who otherwise would die,"

"……" It was true anyway, Hikaru wasn't running out of time, in fact, he had no time left. They had just given him a second chance.

" As I told you, it's just the beginning. From this day on, Shindou-kun must take really good care of himself but I don't want him to get through this alone," he continued, " I want you all to be there for him," he stated.

" Tell me what we can do," Masao said. Like the others, he would do anything for his Hikaru.

" Make sure that he takes his medicines, they must be taken daily to prevent the rejection but it will weaken his natural body's defense," he indicated the side-effect, " It means he'll get sick easier," he put it in plain words.

" What? He'll be weaker?" Masako exclaimed. Die or get weak, it seemed that her grandson didn't have any good choice.

" I know but it's the only way," Koto smiled considerately, " Therefore, you have to look after him, even a cold can be a danger to him," he uttered acutely, " Most importantly, any physical activities should be avoid," he remembered he had told them this thousands times but they failed him by not taking it seriously, he did mean it this time, " Shindou-kun has a new life now and a man dies for it. I don't want him to waste it, he should live for both of them,"

" Don't worry, Dr. Koto. We want him to live more than anything," Said Masao.

It was a boring month for Hikaru since his doctor ordered him to stay at the hospital to make sure that he would be alright. Everyday Koto ran many tests on him; blood test, breathing test, blood pressure test, rejection test…etc.

When he asked Koto about it, his doctor simply said, " It's a normal process," then he asked him again if it was normal for a doctor to take a boy's blood everyday, the doctor didn't answer but laughed. Well, at least it brightened up his day knowing he could make someone laugh.

Thanked to God that his test results were good…very good, there was no sign of the rejection that they had been feared of. Finally, after 6 boring-to-dead weeks of tests and examinations by several specialists, Hikaru was allowed to go home so he returned home with a second-hand but healthy heart…but it wasn't just a heart…it happened to be Fujiwara no Sai's heart.

A/N : All medical knowledge in this chapter is real. Ahh, I know this chapter is quite short, it's the shortest chapter.

xiar : I alway did a littleresearh, there're only 4 fic that don't require a research, they're Like father like son, I'll take you to the candy shop, Turn back time and He is back.

Coiling Death : Good point! "Sai's heart wouldn't 'grow' normally, wouldn't it be the same when it's gonna be with Hikaru?" Well, you have to wait til the last chapter in order to know that:)"how this fits with the pro world," Luckily, the answer is in chapter..err...6.

Firehedgehog and d.a.r.s.h: As your command :)

gravitation gig : Hey,Hey.