Disclaimer : I don't own Hikaru no Go or Bleach.

Chapter 8 : Overcome the weakness

February 2000, Hikaru's room

Hikaru angrily flung her corduroy bag away and swiftly threw herself onto the bed. Lying on her front, she buried her face into her big fluffy pillow.

" Hikaru," Sai called caringly.

" I just don't get it, Sai," the frustrated girl said in despair, " I lost again! My ranking is dropping too! If things continue being this way, I'll never make it to the 1st class!"

" Hikaru,"

" I'm stronger, I can tell you, I feel it," she stated confidently, " Yet, I lost! Why? Sai, Why?"

" Because you play against me," Narrowing his eyes, Sai spoke in a collected voice.

" What?" Getting up, Hikaru uttered in surprise. She got better because she played with Sai everyday, didn't she?

" You're afraid, Hikaru," Looking straight into those confused green eyes, the brilliant teacher declared unwaveringly, " You're afraid of me, of my hands that slice you at the top of the board,"

" !"

" You used to jump into the darkness," he enlightened her, " Now you can see the tip of my blade and you fear it,"

" !" the statement stabbed the blonde painfully in the chest.

" This makes you hold back," Sai clearly simplified, " Look back at you recent game, am I not right?" he questioned threateningly.

" I…"

" Why were you afraid? Hikaru," he inquired seriously, " The only thing that overwhelmed you is your worthless fear, Your opponent is alone but you have me by your side ? What are you afraid of? "

" Sai,"

" Cowardice only causes death!" the mentor resolutely stated as if he officially declared a war, " Overcome your fear and walk forth! Like Touya-kun!"

" Like Touya-kun?" Out of the blue, the game between Akira and the Ouza flashed into Hikaru's memory, how brave and how fearless he had played…. " Right! If he can do it, so can I!"

" Good! Let's play now!" Closing his fan, Sai instructed keenly.

Hikaru quickly rose and brought out her beautiful Kaya Goban that her grandpa had brought it for her. When Heihachi had heard that she started to attend Shirakawa's Go Weekly class, he gave her this expensive first-class Goban as a gift. Hikaru's parents got really uncomfortable about this. Didn't they spoil their only daughter much enough? They were positive that they did a great job on that, surely that they didn't need another help! What Heihachi had been thinking back then? To give his granddaughter a 300,000 Yen Goban as a gift!

" If it increases Hikaru's interest in Go then it's cheap," the old man had airily told his son and his daughter-in-law, " Besides, I want the best for my granddaughter,"

Of course, Hikaru was thankful for that but…honestly she preferred that dirty old Goban which Sai had haunted for 1000 years. But, hey, if the grandpa had already bought it, it would be rude if she didn't take it, right?

/Pachi/ Hikaru put down her first stone.

One day, at Shirakawa's class

/Pachi/

/Pachi/

Shirakawa and Sai observed Hikaru attentively. The insei was playing against Suzuki, another student in the class. Suzuki was a tall old thin man, he had been in this class for years now, he might not be that good but he wasn't a weak player either.

" 60..64…67," Hikaru sighed, " I lost by 3 moku,"

" Still, it's a good game, Hikaru," Sai nicely encouraged her.

" Umm, it seems that you've trouble with calculating the territory," Shirakawa noted reasonably , " How about this? Try to turn next game to a tie,"

" Eh? A tie?" the blonde and her ghost echoed.

" Yes, a tie can happened when there's no komi," the 7-Dans explained, " During the game, create the shape. During Yose, calculate correctly territory to even it up to create a tie," he gave her some easy but useful advice.

" Oh! Sounds like fun!" the overexcited ghost cried dynamically, " Hikaru! Let's create a tie!"

" You can't just play by poor hand," Shirakawa added, " The point is to create it without your opponent noticing your goal, so you have to play at your regular speed,"

" Umm,"

" A pro can create a tie 100 out of 100 games," Winking his eyes playfully, he smiled.

" Is that so? My little Hikaru can do it too!"Confronting the other man, the possessive big brother boasted arrogantly.

" Who is Little Hikaru, may I ask?" Hikaru hated when Sai called her like that. She would be 14 this coming September, she was an adult now, she wasn't little anymore. However, compared to Sai, who was over 1000 years old, everyone was little.

" If you can master it, Try on 2 boards," the wavy-haired pro ordered her.

" Eh?"

" Sensei, isn't it too hard?" Suzuki said.

" It's a good practice," Shirakawa informed him, " When you can master 2 boards, try on 3 boards,"

" 3 boards?"the bleached bangs girl uttered. 3 boards?

" You can do it! Hikaru!" Sai was sure of that, he knew his student's ability better than anyone, " 5,6,7,8,9,10! You can do it!"

" 10 boards? Are you out of your mind?" the girl didn't know what to do this hyper noisy ghost, it was easy for him to say since he wasn't the one who played it!

" Okay, let's get started," Clapping, the pro urged, he couldn't wait to witness his favorite student's improvement, " Suzuki-san, you play the way you usually play, concentrate on your shape only,"

" Go! GO! Hikaru!" the animated ghost cheered loudly, " Fight! Fight! Hikaru!"

Okay, Here we go. " Suzuki-san, please give me your guidance," Hikaru bowed.

" Please give me your guidance," the old thin man lowered his head in reply.

A/N : Shirakawa is one of the main turning point here, since he's pro, he can see Hikaru's weakness and point it out quickly, this is why this Hikaru is better than Hikaru-boy. And since she didn't be kicked out from Shirakawa's class, she gets used to playing with old people, therefore, she isn't nervous over adult players. Sorry for the Dougensaza's fans, there is no Kawai and his gang in this fic :(

Thuyhy-thuyhy : Ah, I know this day will come sooner or later when you ask about Yongha. The fact is this fic ends before the HOkuto cup begins.After this fic ends, I'll take another break before writing the continuation about Hokuto Cup.

Aya : Yes, I update my fic everyday, you can ask the others, it's true. I like Saeki too :) I think he's the coolest guy in Morishita group :D

Ady : " have you actually finished writing this fic, or is it still being written" Actually, the last 2 chapter is still being written.

Kathy : Akira meets Hikaru? Yes, in the near future ( grinning evilly)

Kinlin Child of Youma: For some reason, Hikaru-boy and Hikaru-girl are always so slow, right?

Chibura : "can you make the storyline goes faster?" Haha, do you start getting bored of it now? Be patient, Ne :)

GiftFromBelow : "I really don't understand why everyone is so mean to Ogata-san. He's not a pedophile, just a man in a white suit who really likes fish" Haha, That's right, that's exactly why I wrote " Finding Seiji" I just want people to understand him more. "Anyways, I'm posting my new chapter today. Hope you can read and review" Really? Great! I gonna read it write now !