Author's note:

( My notes this chapter are split up into two parts... please bear with me. If you don't want to read, feel free to skip this)

Part I- About Edits

Sorry it's taken such a long time for me to update. Yet again. And I haven't made any edits to the previous chapters yet... actually, I know what needs to be edited, but haven't gotten to actually doing it. Throughout the story, I'll be cutting out the parts about Hikaru and Akari's thing about the possibility of sleeping together... except for in one or two scenes maybe. In chapter two, Hikaru will instead go to Waya's apartment and watch Waya and Isumi's game, as I found out that Waya and Akira aren't really friends... probably just acquaintances. Also with Akari's sister, I'm getting rid of the idea I had of her going after Hikaru. I had done it originally because I thought it would have put some angsty stuff in the plot, but I decided it wasn't working out. And the Dan levels...I've placed them as follows: Hikaru- 3-Dan, Akira- 5-Dan, Waya- 4 Dan, Isumi- 3-Dan, Nase- 2-Dan, Fuku- 2-Dan. Hopefully, I won't have to change those anymore! I'm not really clear as to how many chances each year a pro has to move up to the next Dan. I'm assuming that they have one chance a year. And another change... the time which this story is placed... now it's about two years after the end of the manga. Although I'm not sure when exactly the Hokuto Cup was, I can tell you this is right before Akari goes into her third year of high school.

I hope I didn't forget anything... you all have the misfortune of reading a fanfic from a person who makes a lots of edits in all her stories, fanfiction or not.

Part 2- This chapter

I'll have to admit that as I read this chapter, it feels weird, like it's different from the previous chapters. Maybe it's too passive... or my writing style's changing... I haven't quite nailed what's wrong with it. It's a lot better than what it was before... I cut out a lot of useless information, so I hope it's somewhat okay. Some scenes may leave you wondering why the heck I put them in, but they're there for a reason.

If anyone wants to get in contact with me (likely to complain that I take too long to update), my e-mail's on my profile page and I have two online journals, so if anyone wants to, drop a comment there on either one of them....keeping in touch is fun! Right Sakuya? My Xanga/ Livejournal buddy!!! Yayyy! Lol...guys, feel free to subscribe to my journals... I'll be likely to subscribe right

Okay, well... enjoy this chapter and please review!

Disclaimer: Hikago doesn't belong to me, but I'm sure all of you know who it belongs to!!!

Chapter 6- Can't Concentrate...

Time flew by and Akari and Hikaru's one-month anniversary was quickly approaching. Ever since the day Hikaru had pursued Akari through most of Tokyo and found her at her high school, their relationship had been going very smoothly. Isumi had qualified to

represent Japan along with two other professional Go players his age and Hikaru frequently helped Isumi prepare for the competition and every so often, Hikaru

had to go out of town to help with demonstrations and such. But even in his time away from Tokyo, Hikaru made the effort to call Akari from his hotel room every night to check on how she was doing and tell her stories about what was going on in the world of

professional Go.

They had played a couple of games together recently and Hikaru could see that her skill for the game had increased. Hikaru was very proud of Akari's accomplishments, but had to do his best to not appear as a teacher, which he had been very close to doing at times. Akari had gotten unexpected kisses from him every time that happened, but heck, she wasn't complaining. She was cherishing every affectionate moment, as school would be starting in two weeks, meaning she would be unable to spend as much time with

him. Akari was attending one of the most prestigious high schools in the area and would need excellent grades in order to keep the full scholarship the school had given her.

While shopping for school supplies one afternoon, she saw her sister Miyuki emerge from the local newspaper building looking extremely pleased with herself. Actually, Akari noted, Miyuki had been like that ever since her engagement...perhaps she had just gone to the newspaper building to hand in the engagement announcement. Before Akari could catch up to greet her sister, Miyuki crossed the busy street and stepped into a dress store.

Suddenly remembering, Akari made a mental note to remind Hikaru that Miyuki's engagement party would be Friday evening. She looked up at one of the many clocks looming above her. Good, she thought, as she made her way back home. Hikaru had called her last night and said he wanted to show her something and that she meet him at his house at 2:30 pm. The time at the moment was 1:45 and she had a bit of walking to do to get home.

Hikaru's hand trembled as he went over his last game with Akira on his goban. But it wasn't the game review that was bothering him; what bothered him was what he was going to show Akari later on that afternoon. She'd either be thrilled or a bit on the furious side. He wasn't quite sure; what he was planning to show her would be completely out of the blue. But it would make life very different... perhaps for the both of them in a few years. But he wouldn't say anything on THAT matter just yet.

Sometime later, as Hikaru was cleaning away his Go stones, he heard a soft knock on his bedroom door. Turning around, he saw Akari enter and close the door behind her. Hikaru grinned and got up to give Akari a kiss on the cheek. "You're early," Hikaru stated, grinning.

"So... where are you taking me?"

"Just wait and see."

About half an hour into the walk to their destination, he saw two kids leaving one of a close by apartments. One of them spotted Hikaru and began waving his hand wildly in the air. Akari took note of the children and turned to Hikaru, who looked rather amused. "Do you know those two?" she asked with a tint of curiosity in her voice.

Hikaru let out a chuckle. "They're insei. I played with one of them at a Young Lions Tournament quite a while ago."

As they got closer, the two insei came running over to meet Hikaru and Akari. Upon reaching the two, Akari took note that one of them was a girl. Akari beamed at her, knowing that there weren't a lot of females that were insei or in professional Go. The girl smiled back at her, then turned to Hikaru who was greeting the boy in front of him. "... Third in first class! Isn't that great?" the boy said to Hikaru enthusiastically.

The girl looked furious, as if wanting to kick him off his high horse. " Yeah, well, I'm second!" she announced proudly. The boy wasted no time in sticking his tongue out at the girl.

Akari smiled. "What are your names?"

The girl introduced herself as Oka and the boy's name was Shouji.

"Anyway, Oka and I are meeting some other insei at a Go salon to practice for the Go Examination. Neither of us passed last year, but I know I'll pass this year!"

"Hey!" Oka glared at Shouji furiously.

"Um... I meant both of us will pass this year!"

"Good luck, then. I'll keep a look out for you two during the examinations later on this year," Hikaru said.

Oka bowed slightly towards the couple. "I'm sorry to cut this short, but we're meeting at a Go Salon in the city in fifteen minutes and we'll be late

Once Shouji felt that they were far away from the couple, he grabbed Oka by the arm and pulled her off onto a side street. "Do you think that was Akari?"

Oka glared at Shouji. "Of course that was Akari! The descriptions that some of the pros gave fit her perfectly. That's Hikaru's girlfriend. Now come on, you nutcase, we have to be at the Salon in five minutes!"

After walking down a couple more blocks, Hikaru stopped. "Here we are!" he announced, gesturing to a building to their left. Akari's brown eyes widened in surprise. "Oh! Hikaru!" she exclaimed, her eyes falling upon newly constructed apartments. They were rather nice, mostly white with the occasional horizontal blue stripe over and under each window and balcony.

"Construction's not done yet, but it should be in about four months." Hikaru said.

Akari couldn't help but dumbly stare at the eight-story building in front of her. "You're thinking about moving here?"

"Actually, I am moving here. Soon after construction, I'll be moving into room 307, my new residence. My parents saw it already and they're fine with it... what do you think?"

Akari thought for a moment. "I find it hard to believe that you won't have anyone cooking for you. Honestly, I don't see you living on your own just yet. But... then again, the apartment building is nice..." she said, still looking the building over.

Hikaru laughed. "Then you don't know me as well as you thought, Akari. You'll pay me a visit every so often, won't you? And you can cook for me, if you'd like..." Hikaru said teasingly, taking hold of Akari by the waist. Akari laughed and allowed herself to lean back onto Hikaru, taking comfort in his warmth.

"I'll warn you right now that cooking is not my strong point, but I'll certainly pay you a visit."

Akari let out a soft sigh of content as Hikaru held her in his arms. At the moment, Akari felt so happy, so blessed to have a boyfriend like Hikaru. And... god... whenever they kissed, it was like there was no tomorrow, yet so sweet...

Friday afternoon, Akari and her family checked into the hotel where Miyuki's engagement party would be held. Akari's mother handed Akari her hotel room key. "You're getting a room to yourself," Mrs. Fujisaki said, smiling at her daughter. Akari, however, was confused. "But... Miyuki and I have always shared hotel rooms," she remarked. Mrs. Fujisaki smiled sympathetically. "Miyuki and Kagami have some things to settle tonight, so Miyuki thought it would be best if you just had your own room."

Around five in the afternoon, Hikaru walked through the doors of the hotel. He had had a teaching game earlier in the morning and it had taken him longer than he thought. It wasn't that the person he was teaching was bad. He was quite good actually, but just wouldn't stop asking questions or making comments about the game. Shrugging off his blazer, Hikaru walked through the stately hotel's lobby in search of the rooms the Fujisaki family had reserved for those who would be participating in the wedding. And he had to do it fast; the party would be starting in an hour's time. After making an inquiry at the front desk, Hikaru made his way up to the ninth floor, where he had been informed the reserved rooms were. As the elevator door opened to the ninth floor, Hikaru caught notice of Mrs. Fujisaki, who was looking quite worried. She relaxed though, once she saw Hikaru walking towards her.

"Hikaru! You're a lifesaver!" Mrs. Fujisaki greeted the young man approaching her.

"Do you need help with something?" Hikaru asked.

Mrs. Fujisaki reached through her purse and pulled out a key. "The front desk had given me a master key in case anybody happens to lose theirs tonight. Could you check Room 963? That's where Akari is. She's either sleeping or getting ready for the party... I hope it's the latter. I would do it myself, but I need to go back down to the main floor to check on Miyuki and Kagami and I can't find anyone else," she said hurriedly, placing the key in Hikaru's hand.

Hikaru frowned. The only thing that he really understood in the rapid Japanese that Mrs. Fujisaki had spoken was that Akari was in Room 963. Without hesitation, he went in search of Akari's hotel room.

Akari was still fast asleep when Hikaru entered the room. Closing the door behind him, Hikaru gazed at his girlfriend, feeling a sense of peace come over him. Fighting the urge to stay there where he was and just watch her, he walked over to the canopy bed and ran a finger lightly up and down Akari's left arm, which was lying on top of the blankets. However, he soon couldn't resist and stroked her arm with his hand rather than just one finger. Her skin was incredibly soft to the touch and he was savoring the feeling.

"Mmm...Hikaru..." Akari murmured sleepily as she opened her eyes to see who had been touching her like that.

"Get dressed; the party's starting in less than an hour," said Hikaru.

Akari let out a soft chuckle. "This is Miyuki's night. Mother and father will hardly pay me attention. Like they'll notice me missing."

Hikaru snorted and placed his blazer on a nearby chair. "So you got me dressed up for nothing!" he complained.

Akari opened her eyes sharply. "You stopped doing that thing," she noted, "It was very nice... why'd you have to stop?"

Hikaru couldn't help but grin. "So you can get out of bed."

Akari let out a sigh of resignation and reluctantly kicked off her blankets. Hikaru had to mentally kick himself to stop staring at Akari as she picked her luggage up from the floor and went into the bathroom.

Why...

Isumi and Waya emerged from the elevator and entered the Go Institute's Salon. It wasn't a place they would have preferred to go, but a bunch of the Go Salons they usually went to were getting unusually crowded. There was also Waya's apartment, but the summer heat had been unbearable for the past few days. At least the Institute had a central air conditioning system. And the Salon at the Institute was only for pros, so there was always just a decent amount of people there.

"Why isn't Hikaru here again?" asked Waya as he and Isumi took seats in a well shaded area of the Salon.

"Hikaru's out with Akari tonight. Nigiri," Isumi said, taking told of white Go stones in his hand.

Waya thought for a moment, and then placed two black stones on the goban. Isumi then counted his white stones. "Fourteen," he announced. He would be playing as white and Waya would be black.

"Onegaishimasu."

As they played, some chatty 1 and 2-Dans entered the room and took tables behind Isumi. Waya's eyes darted up from the game to see who they were. He let out a quiet groan as he turned his eyes back to the game. "It's the biggest blabbermouths in the Institute. How did they ever pass the pro examinations with all the talking they do?" he muttered to Isumi, who was patiently waiting for Waya to make his move.

Their concentration on the game greatly diminished however as the whisperings of the talkative teens rose.

"But why wouldn't the media take it?"

"Shindou may be one of the best players that Japan has to offer, but apparently nobody wants to do a story on the love life of a Go player."

"I agree," argued one of the guys. "why cover a story on him?"

Waya and Isumi heard a girl let out a sigh.

"He's so handsome... I wish I was able to have a chance with him."

"Keep on dreaming. Looking at the pictures that my sister took, Shindou and his girlfriend will be together for a long time."

Isumi and Waya looked at each other nervously as the threesome continued talking. Pictures of Hikaru and his girlfriend?

"Anyway, my sister's going to continue following up on Shindou and his girlfriend for a while... she feels it could be a really good story and she needs the money."

"I'll buy the pictures if the media doesn't," Hikaru's fan girl whispered excitedly, even letting out a giggle.

"Girls," one of the boys muttered.

Then there was silence as the 2-Dans began their game. Knowing that their game couldn't go on, Isumi cleared the Go stones off the goban.

Isumi and Waya didn't talk again until they got into the elevator. "So there's a woman following Hikaru and his girlfriend... her name's Akari, right?" Waya said, trying to reconfirm what had just happened in the Salon.

Isumi nodded. "That's just wrong to do something like that. Hikaru should know as soon as possible, I think. But he's with Akari right now, and we wouldn't want to interrupt them."