Wow, it's been a while hasn't it, I really meant to update this sooner but uni started up again, and I seemed to be at work for quite a lot of the time as well. Anyway I'm back and so is my story. Again thanks to everybody who reviewed you've all been great. And of course I own none of this, is that everything, good.

"Look, how about we take this to a table." Hikaru suggested after Akira's drink had arrived.

"Can you see one available?"

"Yea, that one in the far corner just opened up."

They grabbed the glasses and headed for the table, it was big enough for four people but seeing as it was a weeknight and the place wasn't that busy Hikaru doubted anyone would mind two people taking a table with space for four.

They sat down, Akira with his back the bar, Hikaru facing Akira, his back directly to the wall under a plaque witch read:

'In 1873 on this spot, nothing happened'. Akira noticed it and couldn't help chuckling slightly.

"What, you laughing at me?" Irritation creeping into Hikaru's voice now

"No, it's, um, it's over your head anyway." More laughter

"Yeah, because I never could understand any of the great Akira's witticisms."

"No, it's literally over your head, on the wall behind you."

Hikaru swiveled in his chair, read the notice and turned round, he looked at his friend across the table, seeing the funny side. He grinned and shook his head slowly.

"Yeah I guess that's pretty funny actually." Hikaru was laughing himself now.

"So," Akira fixed Hikaru with a stare, "what is it all about."

"What is what all about?"

"Everything, it's like your trying to do everything you can to avoid thinking about this game, watching television in your room, your search for the right bar, your need for strong drink, all of it, what's wrong."

'Well, here it is,' Hikaru thought to himself, 'and I didn't even get to choose when to do it. Why now, why here, is this really what he wants, why does he want me to do this on the eve of the game of both of our lives.' And once more he looked around, people, just ordinary people none of whom could grasp the concept of what had been rammed down Hikaru's throat all those years ago. And he looked at his friend, just another ordinary man, some may say that is massive Go aptitude had set him far apart from the 'ordinary' people but Hikaru knew that Akira would be the first to say that there are many things other ordinary people could do that he couldn't. Hikaru also knew that Akira's mind, while formidable in its Go abilities would never change the world in the way that the great geniuses of history had. Hikaru tried to think of what to say, he felt the presence of his mentor, but knew he wasn't there.

"Umm." He realised that this was not a good start and tried again.

"Well." He realised that this was no better.

'Fuck it.' he thought and decided to launch right into it.

"Well, remember when you first met me?"

"Yea, you were a prat back then, you're a prat now for that matter."

"You went into a major sulk back then because I couldn't hold my stones properly and your calling me a prat, anyway, it doesn't matter, usually I relish nothing more then your witty badinage but honestly now isn't the time."

Akira's face changed, as Hikaru well knew, when the going got serious, Akira let you have your say, Hikaru even thought he noticed a flicker of concern in Akira's face.

"It was just before you and I met, I was rummaging in my grandfathers attic and I found this old Go board."

"O…K…."

"No I am going somewhere with this. Anyway this Go board was home to the spirit of an ancient Go master known as Fujiwara-no-Sai, he claimed to have been a Go instructor to the emperor in the Heian Period. Well, it wasn't possession exactly, he basically just lived in my brain."

"He lived in your brain?"

"Yes, for a couple of years."

"And this spirit taught you how to play go?"

Hikaru felt so relieved to finally be telling someone this he decided for the moment not to acknowledge the edge of sarcasm in Akira's voice.

"He both taught me how to play go and played through me, the first couple of times I beat you, he was pulling the strings. The time you played against 'Sai' online, that was him, we thought if I kept winning it might get noticeable so he played online, didn't really help though. Anyway, you know it was said that to learn at the speed I did I would have needed a full time pro instructor, well, I had one, sort of." Hikaru sighed, a sigh year's in the making.

"And what became of this, instructor." The word had such a weighted emphasis on it that Hikaru thought it might be heavy enough, if they were tied to it, to drown someone. He plunged on regardless, aware what he was saying sounded ridiculous, just happy to be saying it to someone.

"He disappeared, crossed over, evaporated, hell I don't know. He reckoned he'd done all he could for me, that his part in the quest for the divine move was over, that was his ambition, to play the divine move, to take part in the game of the divine move, I think he was disappointed not to be the one to play it but I think he thought that he played a large part in it."

And it was here that Akira, never a man to take giant leaps of faith, surprised Hikaru. He didn't meaty throw the whole story out as a load of rubbish. He seemed, well almost receptive of the idea, this was the last thing Hikaru had expected to happen, especially considering how skeptical he'd seemed at the start, but now something had changed in his face. Hikaru had thought he'd have to do a lot of convincing and wasn't sure where he could start.

Akira looked at Hikaru, "You know, the night before we left to come here, I had a very strange dream. In it you were playing a game of Go with someone, well I couldn't quite see there face but I could tell they were wearing period dress from long ago, centuries it looked like. What made it weird were a couple of things, firstly you were younger, about the age you were when you first met me, and what's more you were playing that game. The game which I now recognise was a teaching game, the first game you and I played, you were playing my moves, he was playing yours."

Hikaru looked at him wide eyed. "Are you sure?"

"Trust me, of all the games I've played, and all the games I've managed to remember from that long ago, that is the one which I'll never forget."

Hikaru was skeptical, the man he knew would never choose to believe something so ridiculous on the basis of a mere dream, no matter how strange. He decided to call him on it. "Ok, so that's pretty strange, but I don't believe you've told me everything yet."

"Oh how well you know me." Akira released the sentence as one long sigh. "When I woke up I decided to think nothing more of it. A bit strange certainly, but nothing major, we've all had strange dreams, then, the thing that really surprised me, I saw that the Go board in my room had been re-arranged into the final position form our game all those years ago."

Hikaru was stunned. "Are you sure you didn't leave it like that before you went to bed or something."

"Positive, I'm using that board to play a game of E-Mail Go with a pro in China, and were barely into the mid-game so there's no way it should have looked like that."

Hikaru couldn't do much, so he slowly drew in his breath, then marveled at how calm Akira had managed to remain, all this time and Hikaru hadn't managed to clock that there was anything wrong. For a second Hikaru was amazed at his friends self control, then, thinking better of it decided that it was just a by-product of his being so uptight the entire time.

"So, you believe me."

"Well, do I really have a choice, after all the seeming possibilities, that you were a split personality, that you had a Go pro on the pay-roll full time, that you were one of those genius autistic guys, and yes I know how stupid that sounds considering the fact that you have no problem with human relationships but trust me, I was willing to believe anything no matter how far fetched it was. I just had to know."

"Well, now you do, do you feel any better, all of your theories and the truth beats them all for sheer unlikeness, but it's the truth and he didn't even allow me to get worked up trying to convince you of it, even now he has to lend a helping hand." Hikaru started softly chuckling to himself. "But then, that's the kind of guy he always was." He raised his glass, brought it back down to his lips and finished what was left of the contents. Letting out a breath he physically seemed to deflate, then he straitened his back and looked across the table at his friend.

"Well, do you want to head back?."

Akira smiled, "I think we have time for one more."

Hikaru ginned as well. "This rounds on me."

An hour and one more drink later Hikaru and Akira strolled through the hotel doors, both were laughing and looked relaxed.

"So, how long until we have to get up for tomorrows game?" Hikaru remembered that he never had a head for precise details.

"Umm." Akira looked at his watch. "About 7 and a half hours."

They stepped into the lift and started heading up.

"Shit, I always try and make a point of getting at least eight."

"Well I've heard it said that you should sleep in multiples of three. Six, nine, twelve hours although I personally have never done that."

"Not even back in the long lost days of your youth, come on man sleeping for ridiculous lengths of time is part of that."

"Maybe for most people, but it's not for me."

"Well, so long as we aren't sleeping three hours I should be fine.

At that point the lift opened its doors and they stepped out into the corridor.

"Well, I'm down that way." Hikaru said pointing.

"And I'm up that way." Akira pointed the other way

"Well, see you tomorrow." Hikaru offered his hand.

"Yeah, see you tomorrow." Akira grasped it and shook, a simple friendly gesture but an important one, for both knew that the next day they would be meeting as rivals and friendship would have to take the back seat, if only for a day.

Big Bad John

And that's chapter 3, things mover inexorably toward the game and the next chapter will be the last. Like many fan writers I like feedback, so please, if you read this, leave some, cheers.