Ok…. so its been like 2 and a half years instead of the usual 2 years it takes to update this story… I think I have a reasonable excuse this time… a lot has happened in my life since the last update…. I joined the United States Marine Corps and got married to my high school sweetheart…. Being constantly on the road as part of the recruiting effort, and married to a wife that nags, one tends to forget about his HNG fanfic… it actually became a thing of humor for me to check my email and every now and then find a review for this thing, always shrugging it off…. But I guess my writing spirit has been rekindled so Im gonna take some more stabs at this….. but be warned: ive been out of school for over 2 years and have matured quite a bit…. I have no doubts that my writing style has changed, be it for better or for worse, but I'll try to preserve the integrity of this story as I had originally planned it….

Chapter 3: Trials and Tribulations

Hikaru quickly changed out of his school uniform into his gym clothes, seeming a little bit more eager than usual today. Usually he was in no hurry, being the lazy kid that he is, but for some reason today had granted him some extra motivation…

Sai was being reasonable quiet, almost able to disappear completely from Hikaru's mind, yet it was this absence of noise that ironically made Hikaru aware of Sai's presence altogether.

I'll bet he's up to no good. Hikaru tried to privately think. Probably thinking of a way to embarrass me.

"Oh come, come now Hikaru, why would I do such a thing?" Sai asked innocently.

Well let's see Sai… Hikaru began, annoyed once again as he remembered that his thoughts were always available to the omnipresent Sai, Every time you try to help with anything other than Go, it ends in disaster.

"That's not true…" Sai started, then realizing all the incidents he caused, "…well it's never had to do with love before"

Ugh… there you go using words like love. All I said is that I would talk to her… we used to talk all the time.

Sai withheld his argument. He could have peeved Hikaru for hours on why he thought Hikaru really wanted to talk to Akari, but decided to just let the day play out.

Gym class started out being its regular tedious self, aside from the usual rowdiness that developed with this particular group of students. Everybody lined up in roll call order with the boys and girls separated, immediately followed by warm up stretches, led by one of the students. Akari couldn't help but glance over at Hikaru during this time, noticing just how handsome he's become since she forced herself to stop liking him. Back when she accepted the fact that she liked Hikaru, she would catch herself always staring at him, content with the fact that she had the privilege of walking home with him after school. But now she was reluctant with wanting him. She remembered the pain, the agony, of always being brushed aside, and she certainly didn't want to feel that again. She maintained her not-getting-her-hopes-up approach to the situation.

After about fifteen minutes of stretching, Mr. Nishiyama came in and relieved the student that was leading the stretches.

"Listen up!" He bolstered. "Today we will be playing volleyball, I repeat voll-ee-ball"

After the audible reaction from some of the students died down, he continued, "Today things will be a little different. Due to the dwindling number of students in this class, the boys and the girls are no longer separated. Everything will be coed from now on"

Immediately following this announcement, some of the rowdier boys began to antagonize the girls with sexist comments. Naturally, the girls had their own snappy comebacks, and before the class erupted in a civil war, Mr. Nishiyama blew his whistle, effectively restoring order.

"May I continue!" He glared at anyone who dared speak, forcing them into submission, which was one of Mr. Nishiyama's famous talents. You will all divide into three groups, in which two captains will be designated for each group. I'm sure you dunderheads can figure out the rest from there…. And yes I will be picking the captains, so don't even ask" Whether Mr. Nishiyama's disgruntled attitude was born to him, or brought about by this class was forever a mystery.

Hikaru naturally went to the group that contained his friends. After exchanging pleasantries he looked at the rest of the group, and, surprise surprise, there was Akari, trying to look as if she wound up in that group by pure coincidence.

Blah… Hikaru thought, while reluctantly noticing for the first time how attractive Akari really was, since the gym uniform was somewhat more revealing than the school one. Sai just smirked as he read Hikaru's every thought.

"Listen up group three!" Mr. Nishiyama eventually made his way over. "The captains shall be…. mmm… Yamanoha…. and…. Shindo"

Ah great…

Yamanoha and Shindo Hikaru took turns picking players for their respective teams. They naturally picked their friends first, followed by the individuals they felt would improve their chances of winning the sport. It finally came down to the last two students: Akari Fujisaki, and Miino Chau. It was Hikaru's turn to pick…

Oh no… He thought. If I pick stupid Akari, then everyone will think I like her… on the other hand... Chau-kun is that weird Chinese exchange student that no one talks to… It was quite the dilemma.

"Come on Shindo, if you don't pick then I will…" Yamanoha beckoned.

"Um…" Hikaru looked at Chau, and then Akari. Both with an inquisitive expression on their face, yet Akari's demeanor was slightly more pleading. An eternity seemed to go by as Hikaru made his decision. "We'll get Chau-kun…"

Chau actually looked quite relieved; no doubt it was due to the fact that he wasn't the last to be picked for once. Akari, on the other hand, looked almost offended at first, but regained her composure, and coolly walked to Yamanoha's side.

Stupid Hikaru…

The volleyball game began just like any other game of volleyball. Both sides vied for dominance as they took turns serving the rally back and forth, rotating the players' positions, and points being scored occasionally. Volleyball just so happened to be a game that Hikaru excelled at; besides Go of course. Sai was keeping quiet, merely observing this futuristic sport, while still keeping in mind the fact that Hikaru and Akari were playing against each other. The two rotated positions around their respective teams naturally, until they both just happened to end up front and center. Their eyes met. Hikaru half expected Akari to look away and blush or some nonsense like that, but instead she just smiled. It was such a beautiful smile. So beautiful in fact that it awakened a feeling in Hikaru that he had never felt before. Before he had time to dwell on this new feeling, Team Yamanoha served the ball. It came in low over the net and was deflected straight up by one of Hikaru's teammates, followed up by a return back to Yamanoha's side by another. A similar sequence played out on the Yamanoha side, only the ball barely cleared the net, falling straight down a few feet from Hikaru. The player to the right of Hikaru made a diving punt, barely saving them from losing the rally, putting the ball straight up over the net in front of Hikaru, as well as Akari. The ball seemed to hover there indefinitely as both childhood friends jumped up to meet it. Time seemed to stop as Hikaru compared his options. He could certainly spike it down and win the rally, but for some reason he was reconsidering. It was the feeling he felt earlier. The feeling he had never felt before. He was actually considering letting Akari get the ball first, and most likely winning the rally for Team Yamanoha. Thoughts raced through his head during this eternity that was really only a second and a half. To spike, or not to spike; that was certainly the question. This IS Shindo Hikaru after all, so naturally he brought his hand up over the ball and slammed it down with undue fury. This was immediately followed by the slapping sound of volleyball hitting skin. The players from both sides erupted in laughter as Hikaru's jaw dropped, realizing what he had just done. Sitting on her fanny right before him, was a very stunned Akari, with the signature volleyball lines imprinted on her forehead. She was speechless. In this kind of situation in the past, she would have probably cried and ran out of the room. This time however, she merely stood up and stared at Hikaru for a second, then picked up the ball and handed it to him.

"I believe it's your serve" She said without even blinking.

This time it was Hikaru's turn to smile, as he gave the ball to the next server on his team.

"She really has matured quite a bit, eh Hikaru?" Sai implied.

Shut up Sai… He thought, still vaguely smiling.

The rest of the game played itself without incident. Team Yamanoha eventually emerged victorious thanks to Chau hitting the ball out of bounds a number of times. The class period eventually ended and the students resigned back to the locker rooms. Hikaru quickly got dressed and left the locker room. He started to walk down the hall to his next class when Sai glanced behind them.

"Hikaru…"

Not now Sai, I'm gonna be late again. Hikaru turned around to see what the big deal was, and there leaning against the wall was Akari, obviously trying to look nonchalant. Hikaru stood there a minute, not sure what to do.

"Well go on" Sai tried to nudge Hikaru forward but obviously couldn't because he's a spirit.

Once again Hikaru held himself back from scolding Sai, as he was not totally opposed to the idea of talking to her. Besides that, he would never hear the end of it if he didn't.

Really Sai, its not like I'm proposing to her…

Hikaru slowly approached Akari, who obviously knew he was there but still acted like her attention was somewhere else. She finally looked at him and tried her best to look surprised.

"H-Hikaru…?" She started. "You played well…" She looked down at the ground.

"Oh… yea… so did you" He replied. "Hey…I really didn't mean to hit you in the face-"

"It didn't hurt much…" She looked at him.

"That's good…. I guess….um yea…" Now it was Hikaru's turn to look down at the ground. "So um… its been a while…."

"Hmm?"

"Since we last talked that is…"

"Yea…" She timidly replied.

"So um… I guess we could talk more again… sometime… whenever…if you want I mean…" Hikaru nervously scratched his head.

Akari just looked at him and smiled. It was that same beautiful smile that once again, gave Hikaru that strange, but nice feeling. She was trying to fight back a deep blush but wasn't succeeding. She didn't even need to answer. But before she could, the bell rang signifying that fourth period has started. A look of dread came over her face.

"Ooh! I'm late! Bye Hikaru!" She yelled as she ran off to class.

Hikaru wasn't worried. This certainly wasn't the first time he was late, nor the last.

Well I'll probably just get yelled at again. He sighed. Stupid Akari…

Sai just smiled.

To be continued…

Ok there it is at long last…my big worry here is that im totally making them OOC compared to the anime and even my first 2 chapters. Another worry I have is that its been sooo long since I watched HGN that I've almost forgotten a lot of whats happening In the main storyline. I know I said it was sometime during Hikaru's insei studies, so ill just leave it at that. I also think I might be making them way to mature, seeing as how theyre only in the eight grade at this point right? RR and tell me what you think….