Disclaimer : I don't own Hikaru no Go.
Chapter 9 : Little talk with Fuku
March 2000,
Hikaru never noticed how fast times passed by, when she realized again, it was March now. Snow had already melted, trees were just coming into leaf, yellow crocuses were also coming into flower. Spring had come, winter had gone, so had Tsusui. He graduated from Haze Junoir High school today.
" Rank 14th among the 1st group?" Tsusui exclaimed with admiration, " That's great!"
" The same to you, the would-be-Meiryo student," Hikaru flattered back.
" Haha," the humble boy tittered lightly. Meiryo High school was very well-known, only those who were really really clever could get in there.
" I heard they nearly begged you to enter their school," Akari spoke eagerly, " You deserve it since you graduated with the highest scores,"
" Congratulations, Tsutsui-kun!" Sai cheered.
" So, do they have a Go club there?" the insei wondered.
" It doesn't matter," Tsutsui smiled confidently, " If they don't have, I'll form one," he winked playfully, " I did it once, I can do it again, right?"
" That's the spirits! Tsusui-san!" Akari laughed gladly.
/ Sniff Sniff/ Kumiko whimpered quietly in a low voice.
" Kumiko, why are you crying?" Hikaru asked innocently.
God! Hikaru, isn't it obvious? She likes him! The ghost wanted to spill it out but he didn't, he had to respect the poor girl's privacy.
" Tsu…Tsutsui-san wil..will be...Meiryo ..stu…student," Kumiko said in tears, " He..he's…not with.. us anymore," she stammered, "N…not in Haze…wo..won't be here anymore," then she lose the control, " Ho..oHo..oHo..o Ho..o,"
" Kumiko, Don't," Eyes filled with tears, Akari said in a shaking voice, " Don't…cry, Ho..o Ho..o," Though she told her friend to stop, she wept.
" Baka," Hikaru uttered, " Why are you two crying?" Seeing her friends weeping uncontrollably like this , she wanted to cry too, " Stop it, you two gonna make me cry," Trying to fight back the tears, she said with her trembling voice.
" Oh! Hikaru! Don't cry!" Sai exclaimed once he saw his little sister was on the verge of tears. He didn't want to see his beloved sister cry, never ever.
" Girls! Please!" Tsutsui spoke in panic, " Now you make me look like a bad guy!" Looking around, he saw people gossiping. Although he didn't hear them, he knew exactly what they were talking about. A boy surrounded by three crying girls didn't give him a good image at all.
" But…hoho," Once girls cried, they didn't stop easily, it wasn't that they didn't want to, they just couldn't. Once a dam broke, nothing could be done.
Finally, it was time for a real goodbye, Tsusui was leaving. He was at the entrance now and was about to step out the school.
" When I become a pro, I'll drop by your Go clubb..b," Waving her hand in the air, Hikaru shouted.
" Will you charge mee..e?" Tsusui yelled back.
" For my Sampai, it's free..e," Smiling, she vociferated.
" Then you're welcome!" the Sampai waved the girls a goodbye and set out Haze Junoir High school.
…………..
…………..
" Ne, Hikaru, Let's go home together," Akari suggested quietly.
" Umm,"
On the way home,
" Ne, Hikaru," Breaking the silence, Akari spoke up.
" Hmm?"
" Why don't you drop into the club sometimes?" she proposed amiably.
" How is everybody?" Not looking at her childhood friend, Hikaru asked timidly. It had been months now since she quitted the Go club, still, the guilt didn't fade away, not a bit.
" Well, since now Tsutsui-san graduated, both boy and girl team don't have enough player," the brunette-haired girl uneasily reported.
" How is he?" Looking down to the ground, the insei wondered, " I mean, Mitani-kun,"
" He…he seems…quieter," Stammering, Akari awkwardly told the truth, " He doesn't smile like he used to,"
"…….I see," Heaving a sigh of shame, Hikaru said sadly, " Then I won't go back…at least not now,"
" But why? Hikaru," Akari had another thought, " If you visit us from time to time, maybe he will…"
" Don't you think it's kinda awkward? " the blonde immediately cut in.
" Well, "
" Hikaru,"
" I won't go back, Akari," she insisted, " Not until he's back on his feet again,"
" ….Alright," Sighing, Akari knew she had no other chioce but to accepther best friend's decision. Besides, Hikaru was right, it was very awkward.
" Take care of him, no, take care of everyone for me, okay?" the blonde begged since she couldn't do it herself.
" Don't worry, I will," Akari nodded in assurance.
" Thanks,"
Sunday, the Association, on the 1st floor
" Hikaru-chan…n," A little boy running towards her called cheerfully.
" Hi, there, Fuku-kun," Hikaru and Sai greeted him with a bright smile. Fuku was also an insei. Though he was only 12, he was able to be in the 1st class. He liked playing a speed Go which Waya hated, that was the reason why he became Waya's greatest opponent. Plus, the blonde thought of him as her little brother so he was the only boy in the class who had the privilege to call her as " Hikaru-chan," Oh, Waya was so jealous, the boy was truly meant to be Waya Yoshitaka's opponent, it was absolutely unquestionable. " So, how're you doing?"
" Bad," Pressing the elevator's up button, the short boy grumbled in boredom, " I have a science test tomorrow,"
" Are you prepared?" the bleached bangs girl in a light blue short-sleeved slim T-shirt asked in a sisterly way.
/ Ding/ The elevator arrived.
" Are you kidding?" Fuku exclaimed, " This is me we're talking about! I don't even know where to start!" he uttered with no hope as they stepped into the elevator.
" Haha, Sorry, Science is not my thing," Smiling softly, Hikaru shrugged her shoulders.
" Well, at least you can help me with Go. You're on rank 12th now, right?" Letting out a sigh of incompetence, the younger boy complained with a slight jealousy, " Your ranking is raising up, unlike me, I'm stuck at rank 15th for months now,"
" Look at the bright side, you are still in the 1st class," the friendly girl said optimistically.
" That's right! Fuku-kun, don't be so sad!" the nosy but breathtaking ghost heartened him up.
" Yeah!" Fuku said self-assuredly, " At least, I can join the Young Lion Tournament!"
" The Young what?" the dead teacher and his living student uttered in harmony.
" No one told you about it?" the positive boy questioned with surprise, he thought that Nase or Waya had already told her about it. As Hikaru and Sai shook their heads implying they didn't know a thing, he explained, " It's a tournament between 16 top insei and 16 young pros,"
" Really? That's great!" Sai cried excitedly, " Hikaru it means…,"
" I can enter the tournament too!" Hikaru uttered loudly, " Great!"
" Yeah, it's held in May, it's very fun, I like it a lot!" Fuku grinned pleasingly, " By the way, who's your opponent today?"
" Honda-san, and you?"
" Waya, okay then," the bouncy boy punched the air in triumph, " Let's kick their butts!"
" Okay!" Hikaru spoke firmly but…
" Hikaru, a lady doesn't kick someone's butt," Looking disapprovingly at his little sister, the strict Sai gave her another manner lesson, " It's good that you're in high spirits but do you have to use such a phrase to explain how you feel? You can…blahblahblah,"
" Here, we go again," Shaking her head, the girl let out a long and heavy sigh.
/ Ding/ The elevator reached the 6th floor.
" Ah! Waya-kun, Good morning," Hikaru smiled cheerily in greeting.
" Good…Good morning! Shindou-san," Greeting back loudly, Waya stood with his straight shoulders, itmade the dense girl wondered if he mistook her as a general of the army or what.
" Ah! Nase-chan, Wait…t," As soon as she saw her best friend,the two-tone haired girl ran towards the said girl leaving the boys alone.
" Fuku, how come you came here with her?" Narrowing his eyes, the older boy strongly demanded, " What did you two talk about?" However, his greatest opponent didn't answer his question, Fuku looked up to the ceiling and whistled a song instead, " Fuku, Answer me if not I'll kill you," he threatened.
" Are you sure?" the little boy sniggered slyly.
" Excuse-me?"
" Someone must be very sad if the one she considers as her little brother is murdered," he noted.
" You!"
" This is so fun!" he grinned widely from ear to ear. It seemed that Isumi didn't the only one who had a new hobby, so did Fuku…and the others. " If you beat me, I'll tell you, See ya on the board!" then he ran into the room.
" Arrz!" Waya gritted his teeth irritably before following his opponent into the room.
/Pachi/
/Pachi/
Umm, she's stronger than I thought. Still, since she enters the 1st class, her ranking is raising non-stop. Observing the board watchfully, Honda studied the shape of the stones cautiously. He was 2 years older than Hikaru and he had joined the insei class for 3 years now. He was pretty good, as good as Waya. But she isn't good enough to win over me!
/Pachi/ He attacked.
/Pachi/ Hikaru placed her stone at the upper-left corner, she didn't defense where she was hit.
? Why did she play it there? A mistake? If it is, then it's a shame. Shindou, you've been playing well but you've just killed yourself!
/Pachi/ Slamming his blacks tone, he attacked her at the corner. Sorry, the winner must be me!
/Pachi/ Hikaru still elegantly placed the stone on the board as ifnothing wrong had happened.
An hour and a half later,
" Thank you for the game," Both players bowed to each other. The winner went to stamp the " white stamp" while the lose...er…well, the one who didn't win just sat there trying to figure out what the hell had just happened.
What? How? How could she? That bad move in Chuban… Can she read the game that far?
A/N : I'd rather die to have Ochi as my little brother. As you can see now, most of storyline are still the same, though some minor details change. I only want to show you how people react or behave differently towards a boy and a girl. 'Coz you gotta accept that they do act differently ,right? Especially, adults. When I was little, if I fell, my grandpa would run hurriedly to me and say something like " Oh, Little, are you alright? Are you bleeding? Are you hurted? Poor Little,"...some kind like that. But if my brother fell, he would say something cold , " Get up,And don't youdarecrying, you're a boy," My poor beloved brother, but hey, it's not my fault!
dragonshadows : "thanks for the update" No problem :D
Rebbi : "Especially how Hikaru, although being a girl, is as dense as ever" Yes, that's the main reason why I love Hikaru too :)
Thuyhy-thuyhy : "...I'll have a very good collection of Hikaru story, all of your stories in it..." Re...Really? ( Blushing)
Kinlin Child of Youma : "...i think it's because they had blonde hair?" Hahaha, actually, if there's someone you should be worried about his haircut, I think it should be Akira, right? Can you imagine? A boy with a bob haircut...he's so...geek!
kathy : " I wonder if she will be in the young lions tournament" Now, you know the answer.
xiar : Hi! Nice to see you on the list again. 50 chapters? Not that long, my friend!
Giftfrombelow : Thank you ( Blushing again) Ah! I've read your new chapter and left a review too!
BlackWingedGabriel: Yeah, too bad, huh? I like Kawai too but I think it makes sense this way, don't you think? Therefore,since, there's no " The trio insei" group, there will be no Suyong too :(