Disclaimer: I don't own Hikaru no Go.

Chapter 21 : Little chitchat with Nase

Late October 2000,

" What?" Hikaru almost choked on her hot tea, " Isumi-san leaves the nine stars club?"

" Not only that, he quits the insei class too," Nase informed her before she took a spoonful of her Apple Crumble Pie, " Normally we stay until the end of March,"

Shindou Hikaru was in her " Casual Mode" today, she wore a violet/pink striped slim fitted tank top and a white short skirt. She also put on a rainbow striped belt and faded pink ballet flats shoes. What about her friend? Nase Azumi was in a " Model Mode" today. She had on a coffee-brown long-sleeved fitted Tee with a wide V neck and rolled up her stretch jeans to her knees to crate cuff and paired it with black knee-high boots.

The girls didn't know what the boys did in order to strengthen the bond between them but both girls frequently phoned each other at night, and it worked like magic. Sometimes they went out shopping together just like today. Right now, they were having a small girly talk in a trendy café in Tokyo. Nase's golden-brown pie looked very tasty; walnuts and sliced apple were piled carefully and sugared, a sweet crumbly topping was sprinkled all over the top.

" But he often practices there, doesn't he?" the emerald green-eyed girl gently placed the cup on its saucer, " What will he do next if he quits both classes?" She took a spoon and spooned out her Hot Chocolate Cake, the chocolate pudding on the inside ran out like a lava coming out from a volcano, " Didn't Waya-kun say something about it?"

" He called Isumi-kun many times but they told him that he wasn't home, I think he tries to avoid talking to Waya," Nase drank her iced-chocolate through a drinking-straw, " Shinoda-Sensei said that it's better for Isumi-kun this way,"

" What?" Hikaru exclaimed, she didn't see what was the good of leaving the Go class, especially if he wanted to be a pro.

" Well…,"

2 days ago,

" So, he can have a peaceful quiet moment to look at himself," Shinoda had told the concerned insei girl, " Though he leaves the nine stars club and the insei class, the competition isn't the only way to practice Go. With his strength, just studying kifu should be enough. Sometimes it's better to be alone,"

" How could he say such a thing!" The popular blonde complained, " What if Isumi-san gives up on Go?"

Stirring her beverage, the older girl answered thoughtfully, " Shinoda-Sensei told me with a serious look, he said Isumi-kun knew that he could be stronger," Lowering her eyes at small ice cubes in the glass, she paused for a second, " He said he would never give up,"

"………"

" Then he told me to study even harder and let Isumi-kun deal with his own problem,"

" Shinoda-Sensei is right," Sai ,who was sitting on the chair by his student' side, spoke up, " Since now you are a pro, you will face many tough players, therefore, we don't have time to worry about others,"

" But…," It's not just others, it's Isumu-san. He's like a brother to me.

" Nase-chan, Do you have Isumi-san's phone number?" Hikaru asked while her friend was enjoying having her Apple Crumble.

" Eh?"

" Hikaru, aren't you listening to me?" the possessive brother spoke in a disagreeable tone, " He'll get over it, we don't have time to…,"

" Are you planning to call him?" With no intention to interrupt the ghost, Nase questioned, " But, Hikaru-chan, If he doesn't talk to Waya, I don't think he'll talk to you. Look, I know you think it's your fault but…,"

" Well, it is my fault, isn't it?" the girl in violet/pink small Tee promptly broke in, " I know what you are trying to say but you can't deny that I have nothing to do with his..." she tried to find a right word to describe the boy's condition, " His...depression,"

" But, Hikaru, it's not your fault," Sai insisted, " It's not!"

" Don't blame yourself," Leaning forward a little, the mature insei uttered, " I know that you…,"

" I'm not blaming myself!" Once again Hikaru cut off, " I just…feel responsible. After he lost to me, he lost to Ochi and became a walking-zombie, you said it yourself! "

"……………" That was exactly the way it happened, the girl in knee-high boots couldn't deny it as she had said it herself.

" Ah! I want his address to," the freshly pro added.

" What?" Nase and Sai cried with surprise. Actually, they should get along pretty well since they always shared the same thought, always cared about the blonde, they did speak in the same tongue. If only Sai wasn't a ghost and had a body, they would make a perfect pair.

" Are you serious?" Nase was both surprise and curious, " Do you wanna go to his place?"

" What? Really? Hikaru, Are we going to visit Isumi-kun at his house?" Sai demanded, " Don't you think that you are a bit overreacting?"

" I think that you take it too seriously," the brown-eyed girl marked. Seriously, she and the ghost would make such a perfect team.

" Oh! Com'on! It's not that I'm gonna intrude into his house like a crazy jealous whinny girlfriend!" Waving her hand in defense , Hikaru replied sharply to both startled listeners, " I'll wait for a while, if he doesn't get any better, I'll go talk to him,"

" But…," With a hesitant look on their faces, Nase and Sai doubted if it was a good idea or not.

" I'm the one who put him into this state," the blonde pointed out logically, " Don't you think that I'll be the only one who can get him out of the despair?" she questioned.

"………………"

Digging in her Crumble, Nase said, " I'll give you a call when I get it,"

Japanese Go Association, Morishita study group

" Hahahaha," Tapping his hand with his fan, Morishita howled with merry laughter, " Good! Good! 2 out of 3 new pro this year come from my group!"

" Congratulations, both of you," Saeki kindheartedly complimented.

" Thank you very much, Saeki-san," Waya, Hikaru and Sai answered blissfully. Today was a good day at Morishita group, happiness was in the air.

" After 5 long years," Smiling in a fatherly way, Tsuzuki mentioned," You finally made it, Waya-kun,"

" Yeah! I don't know what took you so damn long!" Ruffling Waya's messy red hair, the 9-Dans spoke loudly," Aew…what did you put on your head?" he exclaimed with disgust as he hastily took his hand back, " Now my hands are all sticky! You!" he smacked the guiltless boy's head.

" Ouch! Sensei! It hurts!" Rubbing his head where he was hit, Waya moaned.

While Saeki and Tsuzuki were laughing at the noisy Sensei and his childish student, Shirakawa said to the girl warmly, " I knew that you are strong enough to pass the exam but I'd never imagined that you could pass it with straight wins like this," he came clean. Like everybody, he didn't expect the blonde to be this good, " You performed very well, Good job, Shindou-kun,"

" Ha..Hai," Blushing lightly, Hikaru bowed in thanks, " Thank you, Shirakawa-Sensei,"

" Yes, Thank you," With his fan in his hand, Sai lowered his head a little, " All of you, Thank you," he uttered gently.

" Your Beginner Dan Series will be in January, and your Oteai will begin in April," Saeki informed the girl, " Waya, don't forget to teach her how to record the game," he smirked. Now he owes me a big big time.

" Huh? Yes!" Waya cried loudly in reply, " Don't worry, Shindou, I've been with them for years, I know everything about the Pro world! You can count on me !"

Yes, it was " Shindou" now, not " Shindou-san" anymore. Hikaru had decided that it was time that the older boy should stop calling her with the title " San". After all, they had known each other for a year now, plus, they both studied in the same study group. When she had told him that it was okay to call her " Shindou,", just " Shindou", the boy had nearly jumped into the air. Yet, the dense girl hadn't noticed the obvious reaction. Poor Waya.

" Listen you two," Speaking in a solemn voice, Morishita suddenly changed into a Serious Mode, " Now you are pros like the rest of us, I expect the best from both of you,"

" Yes! Sensei! We won't let you down!" the new pros answered sharply like a soldier.

" Good! Since now the power of Morishita group is stronger!" The quick-tempered Sensei declared forcefully, " We've to show our strength to everyone by crushing those arrogant guys from Touya group!" he made a full statement.

" Eh?"

" Did he just say' Touya group' ? It's his study's group, isn't it?"

" Sensei and Touya-Sensei are friends," Seeing the girl's confused look, Shirakawa cast the light on her.

" Oh, that's great," Hikaru smiled widely, " Actually, I and Tou…,"

" Who? Who can be friends with that stony man!" the Master of the group exploded, " I'm not his friend, I'm his rival!"

" But, Sensei, Touya-Sensei holds 5 titles now, you don't even have one," Waya brought up the touchy subject.

" What did you just say? Waya!" the Sensei yelled thunderously.

" Haha, don't worry, he's just trying to hide his embarrassment," While Morishita was attacking Waya with his fan, Saeki whispered to the girl, " Actually, they're good friends to each other, you see, he's a shy guy,"

" Oh," " Morishita-Sensei? Shy?" the bleached bangs girl mentally uttered with astonishment.

" You can not tell it from his appearance," Sai giggled joyfully, " Well, at least, he has a cute side,"

" We shouldn't judge the book from its cover, right?"

" By the way, Hikaru, I don't think it's a proper time to tell him that you and Touya-kun are friends," he suggested.

Watching Morishita who was criticizing how annoyingly ignorant the Meijin was and how creepy Ogata was, Hikaru agreed with Sai's advice without second thought, " Definitely not,"

A/N: Do you still remember what happens in Anime? Actually, this is supposed to be the scene that Hikaru has lunch at Mcdonalds with Waya. But it changes to Nase and a cafe instead :) We, girls, like sweets than fast-food.

DragonWing 3's review for chapter 19 said, "you don't entirely focus on akira and hiraru's relationship,". This review make me think, Did I forget to mention anyone?

Rebbi: What he means is Hikaru passed the Exam without losing to anyone just like him, Akira Did skip his 1st game to play with Sai but he won the rest. Even in the Anime, everybody considers that Akira passed the exam with the clean record too since he won every game he attended, he only lost by forfeit in the 1st game because he chose to. Sorry if I confuse you :( "Is he going to China?" Gotta stay tune :)

Xiar : "doubts that i can hated any of the main characters of Hikago... can you?" Hmm, Hate? I dislike Ochi but I don't think I actually hate him, I guess. At least, he's a brave boy to ask to play with Yashiro to prove his skill. "so did he actually turned up for the last game" Nope, poor Isumi :(

Lilac-Blossom-Neko: " they both mean the same thing" So what it means actually? Some say " Sun", some say " Light", I'm really confused here. Why I can update so fast? Well, I havefinished typing like...25 chapters before I started posting it.

Kathy and Kireshai-chan837: Isumi-san? Oh, don't worry about him :) Be patient, ne?

Ady : "I'm getting excited about his beginning pro game" It's a Her!

Kinlin Child of Youma: I'm sorry that the Haze Jr. Go club's gang doesn't have much role here :( But you'll meet them again, slightly.

karin1004: "It seems like Akira is starting to like Hikaru or is it my imagination?" Well, I'll let Akira answer this question, hey, Akira. "She's my friend! That's all!" ( Said Akira with a blushing face)

TJ : " can you say 'a tasteful guy" Thank you,I've already fix it.

OokamiFuu: I become like this because of you guy!

Giftfrombelow: You like Suyong that much?