(It was mentioned to me that Isumi is beyond the age limit for the North Star cup which is totally true and I apologize since I kinda forgot but whatever just think this as BlackWingedGabriel's alternate universe where Isumi is seventeen and Akira is jealous of Rei without this being a Shonen-ai)

Sekai High was located all across the city from where Hikaru lived. He was forced to play hooky at school in order to be there in time. He also had to ditch the practice with Kurata and the others, they would understand.

Who was this 'Rei' anyway? With Sai's face and the Go ability of any ten-dan player? He wasn't Sai; his game was nothing like Shuusaku's. Akira had refused point blank to discuss the game with them, leaving for home in a rush, probably wanting to sulk in silence. Hikaru frowned; Akira had gotten his stiff-little butt royally kicked by a total stranger who wasn't even a pro that could be a total ego shredder.

'He might go into a slump,' Hikaru thought aggravated. It would be his job to drag Akira out of any sudden fall of grace. That's what rivals did for one another after all, or at least that's what he thought they were supposed to do. Two years gone by and he still wasn't clear of the friend-rival thing they had going on. It was a brain teaser and he didn't have the guts to ask Akira about it himself. He imagined the conversation would go something like this:

Him: Akira, are you my friend and my rival? What am I to you?

Akira: (staring at him as if he had grown a second head) Uh…why do you ask this Shindou?

Him: Never mind I'll go bury myself under a rock or something.

Akira: Okay…you do that.

That would be highly embarrassing so he usually tried to act by instinct when it came to Akira Touya. This usually meant 'Him' loosing his temper at Akira's mannerism and 'Akira' yelling himself hoarse at Hikaru's natural idiotism like he liked to call it.

He sighed, whatever happened he knew that he would be there for Touya; they were lifelong rivals no matter how absurdly corny that sounded. He watched the scenery go by and tried to empty his head of everything. Rei would be waiting for him with a wide sneer that contorted Sai's face, disturbing Hikaru's memories of his long gone best friend. That would affect his game if he let it. He had to be prepared to sit across from Sai one more time knowing that in a way he had so much more at stake than just a bruised ego.

"Go club? I think it's held in the theater arts classroom," a blonde-haired girl said to him in one of the long corridors of Sekai High he had gotten himself lost for the fifth time in.

"Yeah, I know, two people have told me already," Hikaru said rather sheepishly, "I don't know where the classroom is."

With new directions to his destination, Hikaru set out, every step taking him closer to something completely new and scary it made him want to run back home and not turn back. Maybe if he tapped his shoes and said, "There's no place like home," he would wake up in his cozy bed out of a hazy horrible dream in which a guy that looked like Sai had beat Touya and acted like Sai's evil twin. But that was wishful thinking, was it not?

"I told you no!"

"And I told you I could care less."

"But you're not even part of the club!"

Hikaru hurried to the voices, one of them had been that guy's, Rei's.

He stood by the door frame looking into a classroom with a small stage off to the side and a teacher's desk in the far left. There were desks spread about with no particular order and costume racks in the right. In the middle of all the clutter was Rei looking very bored and a short boy with brown locks and a look of deep anger. On some of the desks were four or five Go boards, there were two games going on by four members that were pretending yelling wasn't taking place right next to them. Some other six members were slacking about looking at the argument with mild interest as if they were used to it.

"I said no Verona, and that's a no! I won't let you play in this club if you are not part of it," the brown haired boy growled.

"But I don't want to play your precious club members, I just need a Go board to play someone else, I don't have one at home," Rei said tediously. While he was rolling his eyes he noticed Hikaru and his face split into a cunning grin. "There you are I thought you wouldn't show."

Before Hikaru could help it he asked the question his mind kept echoing, "Who are you?"

"I'm Rei Verona senior at this school and your next rival, now take a seat."

Hikaru did as told going to an empty desk with a Go board feeling disappointed, that answered nothing.

"You be black and I'll—,"

"Who taught you how to play Go?" Hikaru interrupted placing a stone on the board.

Rei blinked looking abashed for the first time, "My dad when I was like four."

"W-wait a minute," the brown-haired boy stammered staring at Hikaru eyes popping out.

"Yeah, yeah this is Hikaru Shindou four-dan Kuragi now leave us alone you breathe too loud."

Excited whispers and gasps erupted, chairs scrapped as people crowded around them.

"Is he really?"

"Wow, will it be an even game?"

"Sign my notebook Shindou senpai."

Hikaru took a deep breath and ignored like he always did, Sai's face was right across from him, he had to concentrate.

"Akira Touya really lost yesterday, I thought he was better than that," Rei said conversationally, "He thought he could beat me with that weak game he plays, it was pathetic."

Hikaru gritted his teeth, no matter how much he wanted to stand up for Touya; Rei's game backed his trash talk up. He was that good…

In the middle of the game Hikaru sighed, they were even, he had given it his all but when he read ahead all he saw was himself loosing by three moku without any hope or loophole.

'This is it' he thought gripping his fan under the desk so tight he could feel the dry wood crack slightly. 'This game is who he really is…he is not Sai…never was. And yet I lost, and Touya lost, but Sai wouldn't have.'

That thought more than anything held him steady as he stared ahead at his opponent, "I have lost."

Rei, deep in the game looked up in surprise. He obviously hadn't read that far yet.

"Why aren't you a pro?" Hikaru asked while putting away the stones, the crowd had begun to disperse. To them the great Hikaru Shindou had lost, but he didn't care there were more pressing matters on hand.

Rei shrugged his expression quizzical. Hikaru cringed and looked away; Sai had looked like that whenever he would spot a new technological gadget.

"It never interested me enough but I saw your kifus in Weekly Go and wanted to play you. Your game is okay but you resigned in the middle game so I can tell you're intimidate easily," he said getting his bag from the floor and standing up, "I might take the pro test this year, I don't want to go to college, it's way boring."

Hikaru's eyes saw red he stood up, the desk scooting away from him with a screech.

"You beat me and Touya but that doesn't mean you're worth of being accepted to the Go world," he raged, "It takes conviction and hard work, you have to love the game! You—you sitting there with the face of—you insult his very memory!"

"He ditched," Akira said softly to the newly arrived Isumi before he could question the grim expressions on Kurata and him.

"Well, we all knew he would go," Isumi said bracingly, "He never actually said he would think about it, did he?"

Akira nodded but didn't reply.

"There, there, I'm sure Shindou is doing great beating that conceited boy," Kurata said getting up in a flash, "I'll go order us something to eat we'll be practicing until very late."

Both boys watched Kurata go up to the main desk to use the phone.

"Why are you worried, shouldn't you be obsessing over your loss of yesterday?" Isumi asked taking a seat to be on eye level with the sad green eyes. "That is kind of healthy on it's own way, you know."

Akira shook his head, "I am angry I lost, especially against him but what's done is done."

"You are angry? Then why do you look so worried?"

Akira frowned; a veil was thrown over his eyes making them cloudy to define.

"I think—no, I know Hikaru is going to chase after him now."

Isumi blinked, "You don't know that, Hikaru just wants to play him, I want to play him. His game is amazing."

"No you don't understand," Akira said stubbornly his upper lip curling, "You don't know Shindou like I know him. We are more alike than you think.

"He has found something in Rei that will keep him attached."

"Something like what you found in Hikaru that kept you attached to him?" Isumi asked softly.

Akira nodded beginning to look anxious, "He told me since the beginning that I was only chasing a shadow of the real him, it took me more than a year to figure out what he meant."

"Do you think Hikaru found a shadow like you?"

Akira looked of into space.

I can't believe I ever thought you were Sai

"Maybe…maybe not but I don't think he would tell me even if I asked him."

Kurata came back talking about chicken and beef selections, he then made Isumi play him while Akira went of on his own to recreate games.

'Whatever you're chasing Shindou, it's a lie. If there is one thing I learned from chasing you is that the shadow is not real only the game… but I'm sure you know that too.'

Be it Sai, Rei or the God of Go himself, Touya would defeat them if he had to.

If he had to prove himself to Hikaru, then he would.