Disclaimer: I don't own Hikaru no Go.
Chapter 26 : Not fair! ( Akira's pov)
" You have a fight with her, haven't you?" Amano questioned with a suspicious tone.
" Eh? What?" Startled, Akira jumped in alert. How did he know?
" Yes, he has," Being big-mouthed, Ogata spilt out, " They have a big big fight,"
What? Waya screamed wildly in his thought. What? They are…they actually…
" Ogata-san!" Why did you tell them? It's personal!
" Ah! So now we find the one who is responsible for this mess," Kuwabara spoke with laughter.
" What? Me? But I…," Is he blaming me? " I've nothing to do with her game!" the Meijin's heir got defensive. How could he blame me?
" On the contrary, Akira," Unbelievable, but Ogata Seiji 9-Dans was actually siding with Kuwabara Honinbo, this phenomenon had never been happened before…until today. Shindou Hikaru definitely deserved a Noble prize since she ended the hatred between the 2 creepiest pros and brought peace to the world of Go, " It's because of you, you are the one who make her angry, that's why she loses her concentration and can't play her best,"
" Correct," With their arms folded, Kuwabara and Amano nodded in agreement.
" But I….But I…," Stammering, Akira was totally lost of words. Me? My fault? Again? So, they're blaming me now? She is the one who plays recklessly but I am the one to be blamed? It's not fair!
" Ah! She resigned," the reporter spoke up.
…………….
…………….
" Waya," Ochi said.
Nodding in acknowledgement, Waya got up, " Umm, Let's go,"
" Let's go," Rising up, Amano turned around, he wanted to tell the 2-Dans something, " Touya-kun, you too, you should come to comfort your girlfriend,"
" Amano-san, Shindou and I …we are…," Akira tried to tell every living the truth about their relationship but it seemed that God didn't want him to, " We are…," Just friends, say it!
" You should take better care of her, Akira," Cutting off, the man who was fond of white suit lectured him again, " If not, someone is going to steal her away," he stood up and walked towards the door.
" Ne, Ogata-kun, I'm sick of getting your money," Kuwabara winked jokingly, " If there is another game like this, I'll bet on her," he stated, " For your sake,"
" How generous of you," Ogata mocked dryly, " Akira-kun," Opening the door, he urged the boy to go.
" Err…I'll be there in a minute," Akira told his Sempai. When the man left the room, he called the Honinbo, " Kuwabara-Sensei,"
" About the game right? What an exhilarating game," the old pro commented, " It looked like she handicapped herself,"
" Handicapping herself?" the confused boy repeated in disbelief, " Against the Meijin? That's impossible!"
" Hahaha, I don't know why she did it either," Kuwabara grinned good-humoredly, " That's what makes her so interesting, isn't it?" Getting up, he uttered with amusement.
" I just don't get it, I used to play with her twice 2 years ago," Akira told him his story as he followed the Honinbo to the Yugen no Ma room.
" Really?"
" Back then, she didn't even know what a Go pro was," he narrated.
" Ah-hah,"
" Then we didn't see each other again," he went on, " When we met again, she became an insei,"
" And?"
" I saw her game, her Go changed completely," he muttered, " Like she is not the same person who played against me,"
"….Strange," the wise old pro noted. Go showed one's soul, normally one's Go didn't change entirely, a little bit, maybe, but not completely, the same way that one couldn't change his soul.
" She passed the exam with a clean record," Akira informed, " But now she lost to Father badly,"
"….Let me teach you one thing, Touya-boy,"
" ?" Teach? What is he going to teach me? It must be something important! Thrilled, The blue-eyed boy tried to control his excitement. What was the Honinbo going to teach him? Was it the secret of his success? The secret of being the greatest player ever?
" The prettier they are, they more dangerous they are," Kuwabara eventually revealed the great secret at last.
" Eh?" Frowning in misunderstanding, Akira misinterpreted, " You mean, a pattern of the stone?"
" Women! Kid!" This boy is so damn slow! I have to talk with Kouyo about this! Shaking his head in despair, the experienced man let out a boring sigh, " The cuter they are, the more fatal they are!" he simplified.
The Yugen no Ma room,
This is it? Sai hung his head down in disappointment.
"………" Gazing at the upset girl, Kouyo said serenely, " Actually, I want to play an even game with you,"
" Eh?" both conspirators uttered.
" I don't know why you play like this but you can't hide what you have,"
The ghost was both surprised and stunned by the speech. This man…He knows?
" During the match, I felt in you a spirit like a veteran of many campaigns," With razor-sharp eyes, The Meijin spoke firmly, " Next time we play, there'll be no handicapping,"
" Yes, one day," Sai replied determinedly.
That night, Shindous' house, Hikaru's room
Sitting tiredly on the edge of the bed, Hikaru talked to her teacher, " I don't think he clearly saw through you ability but…Oh, boy, Touya-kun's dad is surely impressive, he realized that it wasn't just a wild game,"
"………." Saying nothing, Sai sat in silence like a marble sculpture, he was recreating the game in his head.
"…………."
"………….."
Seeing her mentor's stressed look, the blonde heaved a deep sigh. She leaned backward, let herself fall onto her bed and dangled her hand freely above her head searching for her pillow. In the end, she found something but it wasn't the pillow, it was Sneezy, one of her teddy bears. With Sneezy in her arms, she said to herself, " Maybe I should let you play from now on,"
" Eh?"
" I promised you to be a top pro so that you could play with Touya-Sensei again," Staring at the ceiling, she quoted herself, " But…honestly, I'm not sure I can go that far,"
" What are you talking? Hikaru," Sai cried out in apprehension, her words frightened him. Is she saying that she is going to quitting Go?
" There's no way I can be as strong as you,"
" No, that's not true," Why suddenly she sounds so discouraging?
" Oh! Com'on!" Getting up, Hikaru retorted harshly, Sneezy was still held tight in her arms, " Torajiro did it too! Or you're saying that you've never thought of it, Huh?"
"……….." In fact, the Heian ghost had but things changed now.
" Being with him is much much better than being with me, this is what you think, isn't it?" the mad girl accused with a dissatisfied tone, "I'm no good,"
"…………"
"…………"
" When I lived with Torajiro, I played against many tough players," Sai slowly stated with a tender voice, " It was fun, I did have a really good time with him,"
"………." Hikaru didn't say anything back, she simply bored her eyes into her big brother.
" But to be with you, to teach you and to watch your Go growing everyday does bring me contentment," the breathtakingly beautiful man genuinely said it from the heart, " About what you've said, I'll never think of you like that, Never ever,"
"…………….." Gazing at the long purple-haired man, the unhappy girl looked highly skeptical, " Do you mean it?"
" Yes, I do,"
" Really?"
" Yes,"
" Really? Really?"
"Yes,"
She gave him a long searching questioning look in order to judge him, Sai simply stayed silent and answered her gaze with his earnest one.
……….
" Until today, I still don't get it," Breaking the silence, Hikaru finally gave in and spoke up first, " Why did you choose me?" Trying to brighten up the tense air, she changed the topic, " I means, at least Tora knew how to play Go when you met him, right?"
" Torajiro…," the man in white garment smiled warmly as he thought of the boy, " He is such a good boy,"
Feeling a pang of jealousy in her chest, the spoiled girl swiftly laid down on her side, turning her back on the naïve ghost, " That's right, Tora-chan is a saint and I'm a wicked witch from hell! " She uttered sharply.
"……….." Why today she seems so...emotional and so... impulsive? The dead man wondered. One minute she despairs of everything, next minute she's angry at me with no reason…this is strange…Ah! I know it! " Hikaru,"
" What?" Hikaru said with annoyance.
" …Err…Ano…Today is…the day?" Sai asked timidly.
" What day?"
" You know, that day," the big brother really felt distinctly uneasy about this, still, he was concerned about her. Is she in a bad mood because of the pain? " The day of the month," Is she in pain?
" What the hell are you talking about?" The day of the month?
" Are you having a period? Whaaa," he cried as Sneezy flied right through his face.
A/N : To all boys, Never ask the girl if she has a period or not! Never! Waya didn't react that much, right? Well, just 'coz they had a fight, didn't mean that they're together, right? That's why he didn't get so panic, but he highly suspects now.
Thuyhy-thuyhy : " but after I read finding Seiji , and this story , I like him verymuch" Hurey! Another Seiji's fan! ( Grinning from ear to ear)
Rebbi : " Kurabara-sensei is the one who bet on Hikaru. Did you change that intentionally?" Oh, yeah :) "if Sai knew he was going to play the game with 15 moku handicap the day before, he wouldnt use up 20 minutes just for the 1st move 'coz he'd already thought of the whole game before hand. But I guess you want to stick with the original" Oh! God! I've completely forgotten about it! I just wanted they to play this legendary game like the Anime!
Mira-hime : " It's a wonderful hobby - to begin a new day reading your new chapter!" Now I can't stop blushing, Thank you :D
Daniel Song: " Please don't copy the manga" I...I didn't mean to - -" But, at least Kuwabara couldn't wage on Hikaru's side.
Aya-Mikage2002, Kathy, Zeynel and Lilac-Blossom-Neko: Well, if Akira gets all credit when Hikaru performs well, he should the blame when she doesn't, right?
TaiFengDragon: Now I bet youwanna see his face when they all blame it on him.
Xiar: Every time they met, they had a fight, right?
Kinlin : Well, because Hikaru is a girl here, Seiji, she is 14! Behave!
EadnaOhn : Yes, Ryoma in Prince of Tennis can play tennis with both hands too.
Mikan :" So far,there's no chance for them to develop their relationship" Yeah, they're like cat and dog - -"
karin1004 : I think it's always cute when a cold guy get embrarassed.
GiftFromBelow: "Poor Kuwabara-sensei didn't get finish messing with everyone's head," In this fic, it's Ogata who messed with them.