Disclaimer : I don't own Hikaru no Go.

Chapter 8 : Taking over

The same day, at night

" Thank you, Mom," Smiling sweetly, Hikaru thanked Mitsuko for her delicious dinner, " You're the best," he flattered her.

" Hmm?" Mrs. Shindou gave her son a disbelieving look, " It'll be great if you're in a good mood like this everyday," she chuckled softly.

" I'm always in a good mood, Mom," Rising on his feet, the jolly boy grabbed his back bag and skipped merrily to his room on the 2nd floor.

Closing the door quietly, he leaned against it and wrathfully flung his black-yellow back bag with all his force onto his bed. He hastily brought out his Go board, the one that given by his grandfather, and speedily recreated the game that he had played with Akira this evening…the game that he had lost...Yes, he lost again.

You shouldn't have played this move, you should have attacked me at the center instead. It would be more… effective. His rival had lectured him…again, for the 100th time.

" Again," Hikaru wondered how many times he cursed himself because of his inadequate skill.

"………"

" Did you hear what Kitajima said? He asked crossly.

Ha! Lost again? You will never ever reach Little-Sensei's level! Not in this life! You should be grateful for Little-Sensei's generosity, he shouldn't waste his precious time with you, you know. He remembered well every words that man had mocked and insulted him.

" Forget about that old geezer, he's always be like this," Sai tried to comfort his disappointed student.

"………"

" Tell me one thing, Is it because of him or there's something else?" he put a little pressure on Hikaru to confess the truth.

"…I lost the game," the irate blond stated bitterly " What do you expect?" he questioned dryly.

"It's not that you're never lost before," Sai noted heartlessly. It was a bit cold but it was true anyway, " Why this time is different than the other? Why do you have to treat it such a big deal?" he marked.

Sitting on the floor cross-legged, Hikaru leaned on his bed resting his head on it jadedly, " …I just…I start wondering,"

" Wondering? About what?"

" Since the day you slept, until today," Shutting his weary eyes, he let out a despairing sigh, " I've never beaten him," he uttered sorrowfully.

" Never?" the teacher exclaimed in surprise.

" Never," the young pupil confirmed, "…and I lost to that arrogant Korean," he sighed resignedly again.

"………"

" I start wondering if Touya still considers me as his rival," Hikaru uttered with a broken heart, he had never felt so pathetic before.

" Well, we play the game, there is only one winner," Sai said, " You'll beat him next time,"

" It's easy for you to say," the upset boy countered back, " Imagine losing to Touya-Sensei,"

"……"

" See?"

"…Don't listen to him, attack at the lower-left corner," Sai taught his only student, " You'll win by 2.5 moku,"

Studying the board, Hikaru said, " Right…thanks,"

Few days later, At Young Lion Tournament,

" Sorry, sorry" Said Oka and Shouji as they pushed themselves through the crowd. Fortunately, they were quite small and skinny, they were able to be in the front, just few feet away from the Go board.

I want to play like this. thought Oka, the insei who had played with Shindo-1 Dan in the first round.

I want to play on their level. thought Shouji, Oka's rival who had played with Touya Akira, the legendary in the first round.

/Pachi/

/Pachi/

Why did Shindou play that move? What he's planning? Staring at the board, Akira absorbed in deep thought. Ah! I can see it! Very clever but I know you too well…then I have to…

/Pachi/ he placed his white stone at the left corner, he didn't fall into the blond's trap.

Shit! He knew. cursed in silence Hikaru.

/Pachi/

/Pachi/

Like every games they played together, they quickly entered to Yose in no time. Akira was in the lead now, if his rival couldn't come up with something brilliant, he would win by 2 moku.

There must be the way, there must be the way. I know I can will this game. Clenching his fist tightly,the loud-mouth tried to calm down himself. Where is it? Where is it?

/Pachi/

" Eh?" With no self-control, Hikaru had just realized that he had just placed his black stone in the middle of the board. A single sweat-drop rolled down Akira's stunned face, he slowly covered his shaking mouth with his trembling hands. The crowd let out a loud " OH!" before stayed silent again waiting for Akira's next move. The move that Shindou, the infamous 1 Dan, had just played was…very amazing, just a masterful single move that turned the tide of the game. Hikaru completely cut Akira's force, if the 3-Dans didn't do something wisely, he would lose by 3 moku..at least.

Placing a few stone on the Go board, Akira bowed in defeat, " Thank you for the game,"

" Ohhhhhh," the crowd murmured, knowing that who would be the winner of the 11th Young Lion Tournament because they all knew that there were only two true challengers this year, it was a worldwide undeclared secret.

"…Thank you," Hikaru said faintly almost impossible to hear, his face turned as white as sheet. He couldn't hear his friends cheering him and laughing in delight for his success. At long last, Shindou Hikaru won over Touya Akira, the celebrated whiz kid.

" Excuse-me!" he abruptly rose. Looking down to the floor, he didn't make an eye-contact to anyone, " I…I must excuse myself!" then he quickly stormed out the room. What's that? What had just happened? What happens to my body?

" Shindou," Akira uttered quietly. That move, it's just like…

In the men's room,

Stomping into the rest room, Hikaru burst out crazily, " Sai! What have you done! What have you done to me?"

" I help you to win the game, of course," Sai replied unresponsively.

" How dare you! How dare you? I didn't ask you to! I didn't want you to!" the young boy exploded, he did boil with rage now, "…Wait a damn minute..How could you do that? How could you control my body? He went off furiously, he could feel his blood running through his body. He knew he shouldn't get mad like this, he knew he could…but it was too late now. Shindou Hikaru got his first stroke in the past 3 years after the transplant and passed out.

Tokyo University Hospital, room 715

Mitsuko in her casual dress and Masao in his black suit slammed the door and rushed into the patient room.

" Hikaru! My poor boy!" Mitsuko cried out when she saw her little boy lying on a white bed.

" Doctor, How is Hikaru?" Masao demanded in serious tone, he couldn't believe this happened for real. His son hadn't had a stroke for years now. Was it because the rejection? That couldn't be, there had been no sign of it. This shouldn't have happened, Hikaru didn't play football anymore, how could a person have a heart attack because of playing Go?

" He's safe now, Shindou-san," Dr. Miyasaki informed the worried father, " If this young boy didn't find him in time, your son would have…err…by now," he tilted his head toward Akira.

" Thank you..err…," With her shaking voice, Mitsuko thanked thehero who saved her son's life.

" Touya," Akira introduced himself to the Shindous, " Touya Akira, Nice to meet you, Shindou-san," he stood up and bowed politely.

" Thank you, Touya-kun," Masao said, " Thank you," Knowing nothing else to say, he repeated, " Thank you very much," he bowed a little.

Alarmed by the older man's bow, Akira said in excite, " Please! Shindou-san! You don't need to do this! There's no need to thank me! I just ran into him and…"

It was a lie, Akira hadn't found Hikaru by chance. He had spent few seconds to accept his loss, when he looked up from the board, his fated rival hadn't been there where he was supposed to be. Some of his fans had told him that Hikaru had suddenly excused himself and might be in the men's room so he had hurriedly run after the 1 Dan to the men's room. To be honest, he had expected Hikaru to grin annoyingly at him and say, " Beat you this time, Beat you next time,". Seeing Shindou-pro lying unconsciously with his pale face on a cold floor in the rest room after beating him wasn't quite what he had expected.

" Doctor, Will he be alright?" Waya asked nervously.

" He got a stroke because he's…overexcited," Miyasaki stated, " It's not that he has the rejection or anything, he'll be fine," he comforted the red hair boy.

" When he will wake up?" Isumi wondered.

" Umm…," Checking his watch, the doctor predicted, " In an hour, I think,"

Shindou… Akira called his rival in silence.

gravitation gig : Prince of Conspiracy...Isn't it cute?

d.a.r.s.h. : Glad to know you wanna help me. Umm, for 3 Japanese names for girls..I want the name that when people hear, they gonna say " oh! That's a nice name, I bet she's really pretty", yeah, I want that kind of name. About 3 Korean names, Umm...I want one name for an old tranquil smart man, onefor cheerful boy andone fornormalshy girl.

Coiling death : As I told you, Sai couldforce Hikaruto let him play on Thu but he didn't. It's for Hikaru's dedication for Go. The game with Meijin? Umm, it's like the original story, Sai didn't like playing with Meijin with handicap so he handicapped himself.

kathy : Good guess! Man, you really know me :) You're the only one who notice! Good job!

kari : Well, I know that most of reader want to read about that but I want to try something new in this fic :)