Disclaimer : I don't own Hikaru no Go.
Chapter 7 : He who laughs last laughs longest
Next week,
" Sai, Look!" Holding the insei listing in her hands, Hikaru beamed with gladness," My ranking raises up! I'm on the 18th!"
" That's great! Hikaru," Sai highly praised.
" Well, well, what's with that smile?" Moving toward her friend, Nase said with a sweet smile.
" Oh! Hi! Nase-chan, Look!" the younger girl gloriously showed her the record, " See? From rank 21st to 18th!"
" Hey, that's nice," Kneeling next to the blonde, the brunette-haired girl softly poked Hikaru with her elbow, " See? Things start to get better now,"
" She's right! Hikaru," the blue-eyed ghost certainly had the same opinion, " You'll get in the 1st class soon,"
" So what do you do for your daily studying?" Nase brought it up.
" Eh?"
" Well, we're only here on Sundays and the 2nd Saturday, right? Isumi-san and I study at the nine star club, the level there is pretty high," she put in the picture.
" Is that so?"
" Waya goes to his master's house everyday after school for lessons," she notified, " What about you? You don't have a master, right?"
" Err..," In this case, Sai is my master but I can't tell her that my master is a 1000-year-old grouchy ghost. " I go to a weekly Go class that taught by a 7-Dans but I don't consider him as my master, Umm…m," Hikaru thought indecisively, what Shirakawa was to her anyway? " My teacher perhaps but not my master," Talking quietly to herself, she babbled.
" I see, so, what do you do each day to study Go?" Nase kept on asking.
Tilting her head to the side, the 18th rank insei replied, " Well, I study at home,"
With his hands on his waists, Sai took a deep breath in, straightened his shoulders and declared proudly, " Under my supervision, of course,"
" I think you shout join a study group," the older girl suggested.
" Actually, I…"
" If you wanna make it to the top, the most important thing is to play against as many games as possible against strong opponents," she advised with care.
" Haha," Hikaru chuckled with embarrassment, " I play with Sai all days all nights,"
" If you look that way, you make a very slow improvement," the fun-loving mentor tittered quietly.
" Excuse-me, What did you just say?"
" You can join my Sensei's study group!" Out of no where, Waya abruptly shouted at full volume, " Err.."
" Waya, it's kinda rude to eavesdrop what other people are talking about," Nase lectured, " Still, I understand," she sniggered naughtily .
Flushing into deep red, the poor boy decided to ignore his uncooperative friend and turned to talk to his crush, " If…if you want to join it, I canask my Sensei, I'm sure he won't mind," For his safety, he'd better not mind.
" Hikaru! Let's go!" Shaking Hikaru's shoulder, Sai shouted enthusiastically.
" Many of his students are also there, they are all pro," Waya tried his best to persuade the girl, " It's every Tuesdays in the room we store our staff,"
" They are all pro?" With dreamystars sparkled in his eyes, the hyper ghost cried contentedly, " What a great opportunity! Let's go! Hikaru!"
" Thank you, Waya-kun, but.." Hikaru smiled uneasily, " But I'm not free on Tuesday,"
" EH?" Waya and Sai exclaimed loudly.
" Why not? Hikaru!" the immature teacher wailed crazily, " I wanna go! I wanna go! We will go! We will go!"
" Sai! Stop it! Are you trying to make me deaf?"
" But! But!" With tears in his blueeyes, Sai protested, " Why? Hikaru! Why?"
Smiling softly, the blonde told the reason to both disappointed guys, " You see, my teacher is going to take me to his master's study group on Tuesday too,"
" Ah! I completely forgot that!" the forgetful ghost had just remembered, " Shirakawa-Sensei just invited us yesterday,"
……………
" Oh, I see," Looking down at the tatami floor in defeat, Waya couldn't hide his sore disappointment. He tried to get closer to Hikaru but it was harder than he had ever imagined. They only met once a week, they studied in different group, most importantly, the girl was an extremely dense individual. When he finally had a chance to be with her, she simply rejected him. It was like every time he took one step closer to her, she simply took a step away to keep the distance between themas if she preserved that space for someone else.
" What's wrong with him?" Seeing the boy plodding wearily away with his head hung down, Hikaru wondered, " Did I say something wrong?"
Nase and Sai laughed up their sleeves. I can't believe it! She doesn't notice it a bit! It can't be any clearer!
Poor Waya-kun Sai gazed at the boy. You're getting on no where. You know, I can be quite an ally. I can talk about you in a good way to her. With my little help, I'm positive that she will…But I won't do that. You are a good young man but my little Hikaru is only 14, she's too young, Sorry, Waya-kun.
" Sai, what are you doing?" his little Hikaru called, " Let's go, the class is over,"
Tuesday,
" You don't have to be that nervous, Shindou-kun," Shirakawa, Hikaru's teacher, said with a tender smile, " There is another insei in the class, you won't be the only teenager among the old people,"
" Shirakawa-Sensei, what do they do in the study group?" Hikaru wondered, she absolutely had no idea. What was the study group anyway?
" Umm, mostly we discuss about the game but sometime we play against each other," A wavy-hair 7-Dans pro gave her details.
" I'm so excited!" Sai sang happily, " This is going to be fun!" This is great, the more Hikaru steps closer to the pro world, the more we get closer to him.
Morishita's study group,
" Okay, what is it? Waya," Morishita threateningly demanded, he couldn't take it anymore. " Spill it out,"
" Huh? No, Sensei," Shifting uncomfortably, Waya denied, " It's nothing,"
" That's why you sigh every 3 minutes?" The Sensei snapped back sharply, " You're driving me nuts here! So Spill it out!"
" I told you, Sensei, there's nothing,"
Morishita 9-Dans was the master of this group, this extrovert boy had been his student for 4 years now, he knew him well...very well. Narrowing his eyes, he studied his troubled student, he knew this discomforted look, his worldly wise experience told him what was wrong with his youngest student, " A girl, huh?"
" What..What're you talking about?" Blushing into crimson-red, the quick-tempered boy spoke feverishly.
" Bingo!" Hitting his lab with his fan,the Master uttered triumphantly, " I knew it!"
" No! It's not! Sensei!"
" Look, Waya, you can't hide it from him," Saeki tittered, " He was young…once," Saeki Kouji was a fine young man with silver hair, he was also a member of Morishita group. His Sensei personally assigned him as a rival of Ashiwara 4-Dans from Touya group.
" Hey! Saeki! What is that supposed to mean?"
" Hahaha," he laughed pleasantly and leaked the secret, " I ran into Isumi-kun the other day, he told me that the new insei is a cute little girl,"
" Ah-hah," Nodding gradually, the Sensei smirked sneakily, " I see,"
" What..What..It's not like that!" Yelling noisily, Waya got defensive, " We're just friends!"
" Right..t," Saeki and Morishita said in unison.
" Sensei! Saeki-san!"
" Hello, everybody," Shirakawa eventually arrived, he bowed to his Sensei, " Sensei,"
" Shirakawa-Sensei," Lowering their heads, Waya and Saeki greeted his Sempai.
" Where's your student anyway?" Morishita asked his 7-Dans student.
" She's here," the man with glasses stepped aside, giving the way to the pretty girl behind him. The moment both insei saw each other, they cried in surprise.
" Waya-kun!" Hikaru and her big brother exclaimed.
" Shindou-san!" Waya shouted at the top of his voice.
" Oh, you two know each other?" Shirakawa asked his student.
" Of course, Sensei," the lovely girl answered with her charming smile, " In fact, Waya-kun invited me to join his Sensei's study group but I turned down the invitation since I've already accepted yours," she narrated the whole story, " I didn't know it's the same study group," " What a coincidence, Ne?"
" Right, What a coincidence," Well, Waya-kun, it seems that someone up there really likes you.
In the mean time, Waya was thanking that one in silence.Thank God! Thank you!
" Really? Waya, you invited her?" Glancing at the smiling boy, Morishita asked in suspicious tones.
" It seems that Isumi-kun didn't exaggerate at all," Giving the boy a very strange smirk, Saeki teased cunningly. .
" Saeki-san!"
" ?" Confused, the three new comers blinked naively.
" Hikaru, Introduce yourself," Sai instructed.
Right! " Ano, it's a pleasure to meet you all," Hikaru bowed respectfully, " Shindou Hikaru,"
" This is my Sensei, Morishita 9-Dans," Shirakawa presented, " Tsuzuki-san, a 7-Dans the same as me, Saeki-kun is a 4-Dans, and Waya-kun, you've already known him,"
" Hai, Shindou Hikaru, please give me your guidance," the newbie bended over again.
What a polite girl! Drying the tears of joy with his sleeve, the silly brother wept quietly. The 12-year-old Hikaru would never be this polite, his little girl had grown up. One more step to a real lady!
" Haha! What a sweet girl!" Fanning himself with his paper fan, Morishita guffawed loudly, " So, tell me little girl, how long have you been playing?"
" I've played for a year now, Sensei," Hikaru replied shyly.
" Only a year?" Everyone except Shirakawa, Sai and Hikaru cried out in harmony.
" Hahahaha! You've played for a year but you can be an insei?" the 9-Dans laughed thunderously, " Good! Good! You're very talented!"
Smiling, Shirakawa straightened his suit and stated in a showy way, " And I'm the one who taught her how to hold the stone!"
" What? I'm the one who taught her that!" Moving close to him, Sai brought his face close to the 7-Dans and glared wrathfully at him , their faces were only few inches apart, " I teach her everything!"
" Haha," the young girl only laughed nervously in her thought, " I know it, Sai, I know,"
" Please, Sensei," Hikaru's cheeks went pink a little, " I'm still in the 2nd class,"
" Haha, so what?" Morishita roared with laughter, " Everybody starts at the 2nd group!"
" You look very pleased, Sensei," Tsuzuki, the most quiet pro in this group, spoke for the very first time.
" Of course, I'm pleased! Look at my disciples!" the Master poked Waya with his fan, " A red-headed punk! A geek with thick glasses! " he pointed at Shirakawa before he turned to Tsuzuki and Saeki, " A middle-aged man and a young man who has gray hair like a middle-aged man!"
" Ouch! That's mean, Sensei," Saeki said, he was positive that he was the most normal and stylish guy in this room. And it's silver! Not gray!
" Come, come," Tapping at the seat closest to him, Morishita smiled, " Sit next to me,"
" Err…," Hikaru hesitated. Should she sit next to the Master? Was it appropriate?
" No! Shindou-san!" All of a sudden,Waya yelled, " Why don't you sit here?" he offered her a seat by him, " It's a lot safer here,"
" Hey! Waya! What do you mean by that, huh?" The 9-Dans demanded angrily. A lot safer?
" No offence, Sensei," the boy uttered calmly, " But you're acting like Ogata-Sensei,"
" What?" To Morishita, it was definitely an offence, a very grave one. Me? Like that pedophile?
" That's enough, both of you," Shirakawa interrupted, " Shindou-kun will sit with me because I'm her teacher," he declared victoriously.
" What? That's not fair," the noisy duet complained.
" This way, Shindou-kun," the 7-Dans invited.
"………….." Instead of taking a seat by Morishita, Waya or Shirakawa, Hikaru drew closer to Saeki and sat between him and Tsuzuki.
Laughing quietly, Saeki and Tsuzuki exchanged a look.
" Sorry, guys," Saeki grinned widely, " He who laughs last laughs longest,"
A/N: Mayby you wonder why Morishita, Shirakawa and Tzusuki are the 9-Dans and the 7-Dans already, while Saeki is a 4 Dans. Well, I think that the higher-Dan gains a Dan harder than the lower-Dans. This scene is in 2000, when the story reaches year 2001, Saeki and Ashiwara will become the 5-Dans while Akira will be a 3-Dans. But, Morishita, Shirakawa and Tzusuki will still be the same.
GiftFromBelow : Hee,hee, I too don't know how the boy's mind work but I do how the girl's does, at least we're less aggressive, less competitive, right?
T-shirt : Waya is still Waya. No matter Hikaru is a girl or a boy, he still hates Akira. Poor Akira
storywriter10791 and Aya-Mikage2002 : Here as your command, I update everyday, just wait for another 24 hours, okay?
Therhoda : Poor Waya! Everyone thinks that he's a toy only!
dragon shadows : Glad to be back and see you in the list too :D
Kinlin Child of Youma : Thank for the picture! It's the first time that someone ever draws a pic for my fic! Thank you 1000 times.
Ady : " It seems that you're following the anime quite closely" Yup, you're right, and this fic is gonna be long.
Nina-b : How can I forget you? You read my fic for a long time since my early fic! Nice to hear from you again :
Thuyhy-thuyhy : Yeah! I feel really great to be back :D
Ookami Fuu : So we have 2 parties here, the first group feels sorry for Waya while another one enjoy provoking him ( evil grin)
BlackWingedGabriel : I gonna follow the anime, sothis ficwill be long..very long.