Summary : After the Hokuto Cup, Hikaru found himself missing Sai more than ever. One day, he saw a portrait of Sai! How could anyone other than him know how Sai looks like? This is his chance, his only chance to find back Sai!

Disclaimer: I do not own Hikaru no Go, although I would love to own it. I also don't own the idea of Nongshim Cup.

Searching for the Light

Chapter 5 --- The Girl who Made the Painting

That morning, Hikaru was rushing out of his house. The sun was covered by grayish clouds and the morning's breeze was cold. It was not the perfect weather to go out of the house but Hikaru didn't mind. His mother had told him to carry an umbrella on his way out. And to her amazement, he answered that he had already brought one. His mother wondered what made him to be this prepared. Normally, he just went out without paying the slightness attention to the weather. Then, when she asked him why he was going out, he simply smiled and answered,

"To get some answer."

Unlike his usual hasty self, he was walking rather slowly. Today was the day that that annoying girl promised him to bring him see the girl who made the painting. Yet, he felt hesitant in going there. True, that he would get the answers he wanted, but it still didn't feel right. What if all he will get was disappointment? What if that dream was too far to reach? What if all he would hear was that Sai will never come back? Before, he had only been concentrating on how good it would be if Sai was still here and on the fact that Sai was probably here still on Earth. And now, the fear of losing this hope had stopped Hikaru from advancing any further.

Why had he only started hesitating when he was so near his goal and dream? Since when was he this fearful? This didn't take any courage! This just required him to walk-- walk toward the place they agreed to meet. Why did it feel like there was a humongous rock weighting down on him? Never mind all that, why was he worrying so much?

Like a baby learning how to walk, he stepped forward using his trembling legs, leaning partially against the wall for support. It wasn't at turtle's speed, but it was comparable. Gradually, he walked faster and faster until he realized that he was running. The hope of finding Sai was greater than the one of losing this dream. He knew that this was what he had to face, and this was what he had to go through in order to find Sai.

Arriving to the subway, Hikaru noticed someone- a girl- tapping her foot loudly. She seemed furious, looking at her watch from time to time as though she was waintingg for someone. When their eyes made contact, she rushed over to him. It was no other than Daphne.

"You're late." She angrily said. "I just was about to leave without you."

"Sorry, I missed my bus."

"We just missed the train. That's why I told you to come here on time. We have to wait for another hour before the next one comes."

"So what are we going to do now?"

"I think that I'll go grab myself a breakfast."

"I was in such a rush that I've forgotten to eat too."

"Let's go, then."

On the other side of the station, three pairs of eyes were staring at Hikaru and Daphne.

"Waya… Are you seeing what I am seeing?" A tall black haired boy asked with hesitation.

"WAH! Shindo has a girlfriend!"

"Shh-- Waya! Shindo might hear us."

"But I can't believe that he didn't even tell us! AND I can't believe that SHINDO got a girlfriend before us!"

"I know I know. Calm down… But I think that I have seen that girl before. Where have I seen her before?"

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! That stupid Shindo!"

Waya's piercing scream caught a lot of people's attention forcing Isumi to try to calm his over-excited friend, who refused otherwise to listen to him.

From afar, the owner of the third pair of eyes was more than shocked. He seemed to be paralyzed. He was no other than Toya Akira. Did Shindo truly have a girlfriend? Was that why he was acting so weirdly lately? He knew that something had changed Shindo during the past month but who would have guessed that he had gotten himself a girlfriend?

--------

After ordering a Big Mac and some fries, Hikaru sat at the table facing the window, where Daphne was sitting. If they looked at the window, they would have had noticed two heads- brown and black- sticking out of the brushes. Their hiding spots were not very clever, but Hikaru wasn't paying attention whereas Daphne was too focused on her meal to even acknowledge Hikaru's presence. Akira didn't follow them. Spying and stalking were not Akira's strong point. He decided to directly ask Shindo the next time that they meet each other, which would be in two days. He only had to endure this for two days… Only two days…

With Waya and Isumi following them, Hikaru and Daphne took the next train. During the whole time they were in the train, neither one nor the other talked. Daphne seemed to be looking at the ceiling, occasionally smiled or showing an angry face. At first, he thought that she was looking at someone, but it wasn't long before he concluded that she was simply weird.

Daphne didn't tell Hikaru when to get off or which stop to go. So when they reached the stop, she just walked out of the train. Hikaru felt the urge to shout at her but since he needed her to guide him to see that artist, he held back his anger and ran after her She led him to a temple and went in as if it was her own house. She waved to the girl sitting at the stairs and went to her.

"Rika, I brought that crybaby over." She then faced Hikaru. "This is Machida Rika, the artist of that painting. And this is Shindo Hikaru, the person that I told you about."

"Nice to meet you." Rika smiled.

"Hum, huh? Nice to meet you too."

"I will leave you two alone. Unless… You want me to listen to everything."

Without waiting for Hikaru's answer, Daphne went out of the room. After she was gone, there was an awkward silence. Neither one nor the other wished to start to talk. When Hikaru finally summoned his courage to ask, she said,

"What do you want to know about the painting?"

"When did you see the person that you painted? Where did you see him? How were you able to see him? Is he alright? How was he?" Hikaru rushed out the questions he had been waiting to ask.

"Relax, I am not going anywhere."

"I am just… When did you see him?"

"It was quite some time before. Around a year and a half ago."

It was the time when I was still with Sai. So she saw Sai when he was with me…? So does this mean that Sai is not here? He is gone, just as I've known before, but I don't want to accept that. Sai…

Hikaru's expression had darkened. The small glimpse of hope in his eyes seemed to vanish in the thin air. It seemed that she had crushed that boy's hope within few seconds. Knowing that he might want to continue to listen, Rika continued,

"I saw that ghost with a young boy. I failed to notice how that boy looked because of the crowd. But judging from the fact that you came, are you the one who was with him?"

"Yes I am."

"Did he possess you?" Rika said with passionate eyes as if she wanted to know everything about ghosts.

"No, he didn't! He was my friend! I chose to be with him! He didn't possess me!"

"Oh, sorry. I didn't know. I get quite excited when I hear about ghosts."

"Sai is not any ghost. He's my friend!"

"Your feelings are strong with that ghost. Sai is his name, right? Maybe there is a way for you to meet him. If he is really a ghost, maybe there is someone who can help you find him. I will look for that ghost for you. If I find him, I will tell you. After all, I am someone who can see spirits."

"You can see spirits?"

"Yes. How else will I know about this Sai? There are cases that spirits return back to the world because they worry about the people they care about."

"Sai may come back?"

"Yes, he may. But you might want to try to find someone who can actually summon spirits. Too bad, that Daphne's mother is away. She might have been able to help you."

"That weird girl's mother?"

"Didn't you know? Her mother is the priestess of this temple. I am only working here."

After Hikaru was gone, Daphne reentered the room. As if she knew exactly what happened, she grinned like her plan was a full success. On the other hand, Rika wasn't in her best mood.

"Daphne, you're not being nice. You left me here to answer all of his questions!"

"I though that I've already told you what to answer."

"And you also didn't tell him the truth! I am sure that what you told me to tell him is a lie, or at least partially is. This is really not kind."

"I brought him to you and I gave him some hope that the thing he is searching for is still somewhere in the world. Isn't that already kind enough?"

"You should have at least told him that you are the one who can see spirits and not me."

"If I told him, then what fun will it be?"

"But isn't it a little bit too cruel?"

"I am cruel. It's not the first day you know me. Besides, you should be glad that I didn't completely crush his hope. After all, I am mean and evil."

"You are neither mean nor evil. You are just pretending to be the bad guy here. I know that there has to be a reason behind all this nonsense. I just can't figure out what it is. I only painted that because you told me to. That person that I painted is based on what you've seen and not what I've seen. I did what you asked so can't you just give me some clues on what you really want to do? What are you truly planning?"

"Hehe, it's a secret. It wouldn't be a dream if I lead him directly to it, right? If a dream is to be reached so easily, then it won't be a dream. If he thinks that he can get what he wants without suffering, then he is nothing but a brat. Furthermore, he needs this. This is the only way that he will find what he wants."

"Everything is a secret to you! What did you really see?"

"Only time will tell."

Next Chapter: The Preliminary Match Part II

Author's Notes:

About Daphne, she is weird. Although she always says that she is mean and evil, she really is not. You will see why she acts like this later on in the story. She isn't a character that people will love to death. Personally, I think that she thinks and plans too much. I made her so that she will be able to keep things in secret. I don't want the story to end so abruptly and with no secrets.

This Week's Go Extra: The Nihon Ki-In New Promotion System (promotions of dan)

The old system of ranking is called "Oteai". It is a tournament where people earn their ranking. However, as of April 1sth, 2003 (yes, they changed their system on April Fool), the new promotion system is applied: the Nihon Ki-In.

The promotion to 2nd to 6th dan has two different ways:

1. win the most or second most prize money in their respective rank.

2. win a certain amount of games during their current rank. A promotion to second dan needs 30 games. To the third dan, it needs 40. 4th dan, 50 games. 5th dan, 70 games. 5th dan, 90 games.

Starting from 7th dan, the rules change. There are five ways to get promoted.

1. Challenge for the titles Judan, Tengen, Oza or Gosei.

2. Win the Agon Kiriyama Cup or Ryusei.

3. Enter the Kisei, Meijin, Honinbo leagues.

4. win 120 games as a 6th dan.

5. win the most prize money amongst the 6th dan

A promotion to the 8th dan is harder than the 7th dan. Only three ways to get it.

1. Win the Judan, Tengen, Oza, or Gosei title.

2. Challenge for Kisei, Meijin, Honinbo titles or a 2nd place in an international title

3. Win 150 games as a 7th dan.

The last rank is 9th dan. The 10th dan, Judan, is a title and not a rank.

1. Win Kisei, Meijin, Honinbo or international title.

2. Win Judan, Tengen, Oza, or Gosei twice.

3. Win 200 games as a 8th dan.

So according to this new system, since Toya Akira entered to the Honinbo league, he is supposed to be 7th dan. Of course, when the series started, there is no such rule. Probably the author doesn't want to confuse us all, so just left it out of the manga and the anime. To not create more confusion, the ranking system in this fanfic will still be Oteai and not the Nihon Ki-In system.