Disclaimer : I don't own Hikaru no Go.

Chapter 29 : Meeting Touya-Meijin at the Hospital

Late April 2001, The Shindous's house, dinning room

There were times when Hikaru wished time could fly quickly like the wind blew. But for some inexplicable reasons, time passed so slowly like a snail paced this month. Maybe, God was playing with her by switching her wish, turning it into the opposite one, making each minute seemed like an eternity.

Hikaru was reading Weekly Go while she was having her breakfast, " I wanna play with him, I want to play with him now," she declared demandingly. It had been 3 weeks since she received a letter from the Go Association telling her that Touya Akira, the great, was her first opponent she would face in her first Oteai game.

" Be patient, Hikaru," The dead mentor taught, patience was a good virtue that every Go player should have, " It's only 2 weeks from now,"

2 weeks, huh? 14 days… " Oh! Look! Ogata-9-Dans won the Meijin!" she exclaimed as she saw the headline.

" That man lost?" Sai uttered in disbelief and hurriedly leaned over to have a better look. Touya Meijin and Ogata-9-Dans were competing against each other for the Jyudan title. The Sensei had won the 1st game a week ago, but it was his creepiest student who gained the victory in their 2nd game yesterday, " Look! their next game is on the same day that you'll play with Touya-kun!" Pointing at the article, the ghost said excitedly.

" So, which Touya will win and which one will lose?" Hikaru questioned arrogantly before continuing having her breakfast.

2 weeks later, Japanese Go Association, 6th floor

" Where is he?" Tapping her finger nervously, Hikaru mentally grumbled impatiently. She had been sitting here for 25 minutes waiting for her rival to arrive but there was no sign of the punctual Touya Akira. If he didn't get here in 5 minutes, he would lose by forfeit.

At the same time, New Otani Hotel, 12th floor

" It's not like him to be late, Where is he?" The challenger for Jyudan title asked himself the same question. It appeared that Hikaru wasn't the only one who was waiting for her opponent, Ogata was lucky enough to share the same fate with her. He too was waiting for his opponent, his Sensei, but The Meijin was no where to be found.

10 minutes went by with suffocating air in both places, it ended up that none of the Touyas showed up to play their game, as a result, the father and son lost by surrender. Shindou-1-Dan won her 1st Oteai game while Ogata-9-Dans won the 3rd board of the Jyudan Challenge without trying.

Japanese Go Association, 6th floor

" I'll kill him! If he's still alive, I'll kill him myself!" Eyes blazed with fury, Hikaru stated angrily, " How dares he not come to play with me? It was supposed to be our first game that we actually play against each other! But he didn't come!"

" I'm sure there's an explanation of it," Sai remarked prudently with a composed tone, he knew Akira, the said boy would stagger here to play the game, even if he got hit by a truck! Therefore, there must be a reason for this abnormal behavior.

" It'd better be a very very good one," the 1-Dan muttered under her breath.

" Touya-Sensei has a heart attack!" Someone shouted crazily in panic, " He's at the hospital right now!"

" What?" The duet screamed in terror.

Well, it seemed that Akira had a good reason…a very good one too.

2 days later, The Shindous' house, Hikaru's room

The shocking news about the greatest living Japanese Go player having a heart attack had spread widely and rapidly through the Go world like a forest fire. Fortunately, it wasn't a serious stroke, Touya Kouyo was still alive and well.

" He's just working too hard," That was what they said.

So, Hikaru decided to pay him a visit today. After all, they had played in her Beginner's Dan Series together, he was also the father of her friend (and rival). Moreover, her worried ghost was dying to see his rival to make sure that he was alright.

According to their plan, they were supposed to reach Tokyo Hospital 30 minutes ago, but here they were, in Hikaru's bedroom. They hadn't left home yet because the chic girl couldn't decide what to wear.

Yawning sleepily, Sai was sitting cross-legged on the floor. It was rare for him to sit in this pose but he couldn't help it, he had been watching his student turning her wardrobe upside down, searching for what she called 'the right clothes' and tossing 'the not-right clothes' carelessly all over the room. And believe it, it wasn't fun at all!

" Umm," Looking at a bright-red Tee-shirt reflecting in the mirror, Hikaru thought indecisively, " Not good," she lobbed it high into the air.

The bored ghost looked around and found that he was surrounded by numerous trendy pieces of clothes, it was like being in the field of dresses. He couldn't even see the floor! Shirts, jeans and skirts were everywhere, on the floor, on the chair, on the bed and on the desk. He sighed deeply as he thought of his sister. And she tells them that Touya-kun is nothing more than a friend…Look at her, she's acting like a nervous daughter-in-law. He marked in silence. How could she blame them for misunderstanding? Or…maybe, she likes Touya-kun! No! NO! My little Hikaru is only 15! She's WAY too young!...Wait...maybe, it's better if she's with him…If they get married, she will become his daughter-in-law, then she can ask him for a game anytime! This is great! Perfect! Hikaru can play with Touya-kun everyday! While I can play against him whenever I want to! What..what if she has children? Will they be able to see me like her? Or they….

" This is it!" Hikaru abruptly shouted madly, " I give up! I'm not going to see him!"

" What?" Sai exclaimed loudly with surprise, " Why?"

" I have nothing to wear," She said quietly and let out a despairing sigh.

" What?" the bored to tears mentor cried at full volume in disbelief, " What do you mean by you have nothing to wear? Look at this place! You practically bury me alive with your clothes! If we take all your clothes from the closet, I bet we can create a new Fuji mountain!" he spoke rapidly.

" Oh, please, don't exaggerate!" the chic girl snapped back, " I mean I don't have a right dress for this occasion,"

Occasion? Did she just say ' Occasion'? Just visiting a sick man at the hospital? Sai shrugged indifferently, " Anything will do,"

" No! It won't! It's Touya-Sensei we're talking about! He holds FIVE titles! He's the Meijin! And…and," Blushing in pink, Hikaru suddenly dropper her voice, " He's Touya-kun's dad," she spoke almost inaudibly.

"…………" With his hand on the forehead, the bushed man uttered tiredly with his eyes closed, " What about this one?" he just pointed at the shirt nearest to him with his fan without looking at it, he only wanted her to get dressed so they could finally set off.

" Umm, are you sure?" the blonde asked hesitantly, " I don't think wearing a spaghetti-strap-top to meet the Meijin is a good idea,"

" Eh?" The Heian ghost opened his tired blue eyes, apparently that he chose a bright-orange shirt with thin-straps for his sister, " Err, you are right, it's not appropriate, How about that one?" He tilted his chin towards a dark-navy long-sleeved shirt.

" I'm not going to wear that on a hot day like this!" the attractive pro rejected darkly.

" Then, this one?" Sai pointed to a floral printed yellow sleeveless Tee-shirt.

" Too…colorful,"

Since when she becomes this difficult? I wonder if every girl is like this. " What about this one?" he showed her a green short-sleeved Polo Tee-shirt.

" Umm," Hikaru seemed thoughtful a bit, " Perfect," she eventually stated.

Thank God! With grateful tears in his eyes, the sleepy big brother knelt down and looked up to heaven. (Actually, the ceiling) Now, we can finally leave here! Thank you, God! Thank you!

" Now, help me pick a skirt," Interrupting his prayer, his baby sister told him with a still tone.

" Eh? What?" Skirt?

" Well, yeah, you don't expect me to go there wearing nothing on the bottoms, do you?" she questioned irritably, " Now, stop daydreaming and help me here," she instructed, " Umm," she took a dark embellished short skirt and said, " Too... sparkling," then she threw it away before picking up a white drawstrings long skirt, " Too long," she lobbed it away, " Umm, which one…which one," she muttered to herself.

Slowly collapsing onto the floor, Sai dramatically whispered weakly to himself, " This is not happening for real,"

30 minutes later, Tokyo Hospital, room 432

" Fortunately that the doctor lets me play the Jyudan game with you, Ogata-kun," Kouyo told his promising student, " If not, you must feel uncomfortable about this,"

As a good student and a cautious opponent, Ogata dropped by the hospital to check Kouyo's condition, " I think right now you should take a rest and leave the Go world behind for a while, Sensei," he replied respectfully, still, he knew well that it was impossible for Touya Meijin not to think about Go since the said man lived, breathed and probably died for the game he devoted for.

" Ogata-Sensei is right, Touya-Sensei," another guest agreed, she was a young lady with a short brown hair. It was Ichikawa Harumi who worked at the Meijin's Go salon. She too came here to visit her employer, the man who paid her salary, " Didn't the doctor say it's because you're working too hard? You need a rest, sir,"

Kouyo smiled coolly before saying, " Thank you both of you, Don't worry I'm fine, just a short rest is enough,"

" Well, in that case, we shouldn't bother you any longer," Ogata turned to the woman, " Do you want a lift? Ichikawa-san, I can drop you at the Salon if you want," Getting up, he suggested.

" Oh, that'll be great," Rising, Ichikawa smiled cheerfully," Thank you very much, Ogata-Sensei,"

" Good day, Sensei," the man with bronze hair lowered his head a little.

" Take care of yourself, Touya-Sensei," Ichikawa spoke with concern.

" Good day, Thank you for coming," Kouyo answered, " Have a nice trip,"

/ Knock Knock/

Hearing the knock on the door, Ogata said, " Come in,"

The new visitor hesitantly stepped into the room, " Goo…Good morning, sir," she shyly greeted with excitement.

" Shindou?" Ogata and Kouyo uttered.

" Shindou?" Ichikawa repeated the name in awe, " No way! You are that girl?" she exclaimed animatedly. She quickly moved closer the stunned girl and hastily took both her hands, " My, my, my, Touya-kun told me that you changed a lot but I didn't know you've changed this much," Touching her smooth long hair softly, she spoke in awe, " You hair…it's long now, Look at you," she studied the pretty blonde standing before her, she couldn't believe her eyes that she was the same tomboy who had entered the Salon 3 years ago, she had nothing similar to the girl whom she remembered, " You're so cute! Just like Touya-kun said!"

Hikaru flushed hotly at the statement. He…he said I was cute?

" This is the fruit of spending an hour to get dressed," Sai said sarcastically, he was angry a bit since, in the end, after 15 minutes of choosing the right skirt, Hikaru changed her mind and declared that she was not going to wear the green Polo shirt that he had chosen for her because she didn't have a skirt which matched with it.

" Besides, I wanna look cute, a Polo shirt is too…sporty," She had told him.So, here she was, in a cream A-line shirt dress with a matching cream belt and a half ponytail.

" So, you come here too," Ogata smirked cunningly, " Why I am not surprised?"

" Err..,"

" Ichikawa-san, Let's go," he urged, " Let Sensei have a little talk with his future daug…," Seeing a red blush on the girl's cheek, he changed his word, " with Shindou alone,"

" Ah, Hai," Squeezing the girl's hands lightly, Ichikawa said enthusiastically, " Come at the Salon to talk with me sometimes, Ne? I'm always be there, Touya-kun too," she winked at her.

"……" Saying nothing, Hikaru flushed with embarrassment again.

Ichikawa let go of her hands and smiled at her, " See you there, Ne?" she waved her goodbye and followed Ogata to the door.

Then Ogata and Ichikawa left, there were only Kouyo sitting on the bed and Hikaru who shifted awkwardly near the door with Sai by her side in the room.

The Meijin tittered quietly as he saw how excited the shy girl was, " It's very nice of you to come here to visit me here," he spoke kindly.

" I…I..," Calm down, Hikaru! Why are you so nervous?

" Come, come," Signaling the girl to draw closer, he called, " Don't stand too far, come over here by the bed,"

" Ha..Hai!" Jumping a bit, Hikaru timidly walked towards the bed.

With her head hung down, she fidgeted her fingers nervously, " God! I'm so excited! I don't know what to say!"

Unlike his sister, Sai knew what to say in this kind of situation, " Ask him about his condition," he suggested, " And pull yourself together! Hikaru! If not you're gonna have a heart attack!"

" Right, his condition! Right!" " Ano…, your condition…," the 1-Dan clumsily spilt out, " Well, you are…you are…,"

" …I was just tired but I'm alright now," Kouyo assured her.

" Is..is that so?" Looking up from the floor, Hikaru questioned hesitantly, " So..it means that you are going to be alright, right? Sensei?"

" In fact, I think I'm perfectly healthy now but they want me to stay here for a while, just a precaution," the serene man said with a warm smile.

" Oh! It's good to hear that," the blonde breathed a sigh of relief. " Isn't it great? Sai, it's nothing, just a minor stroke, he's fine now!"

……….

……….

" Sai?" Seeing her big brother glaring at his rival with an intense look like that, she thought sadly. He is right here, in front of him, but he can't even challenge him for a game, Poor Sai…If there is a way…Eh? What is it? Noticing something at the edge of her vision, she turned around, " A laptop?" she uttered, there was a black laptop on the table near the bed.

" Ah, Akira brought it here yesterday," Kouyo informed her, " So that I can play a NetGo to kill time,"

! NetGO! That's right! " Ano…Sensei," What should I say? What should I say? Think! Hikaru! Think carefully! She tried to plan a conspiracy in her head.

" Yes?"

" You see, I happen to know a very strong NetGo player," she timidly brought it up, " If..if you want to play with him, I can arrange a match for you,"

" Hikaru!"

"………." Staring at the girl, the man in a blue patient's uniform studied her, like his son, he was the type that thought before he acted.

" He's big fan of you!" Hikaru mentioned eagerly, " He's a very good player too! He's a worthy opponent! You won't regret playing against him, Sensei, I guarantee!" she gave him her words.

"…Then why don't you bring him here?" Kouyo suggested, " So, we can play the game face to face,"

" He'd love too but…," the young pro paused to find a good excuse, she obviously looked uncomfortable, " There is some kind of private problem, sir,"

The Meijin didn't give her any sudden reply. There was something suspicious…very suspicious about this mysterious talented NetGo player, he could sense it in the air.

" Please, sir," Hikaru pleaded him with an innocent look which she wore when she wanted her grandpa to buy something for her.

" Very well," Luckily for her, Kouyo didn't get used to this since Akira had never begged him with this poor kitten look before, " For you sake, I'll play with him,"

" Really? Sensei," the green-eyed girl exclaimed merrily.

" Really?" So did Sai.

Nodding in acceptance, Akira's father confirmed, " Umm,"

Bowing in thanks, Hikaru spoke loudly, " Thank you, sir! Touya-Sensei!"

" But I'm about to have my 4th Jyudan game," Kouyo marked, " Can we play after that?"

" Yes! Sensei, Yes!" " Isn't it great? Sai,"

" Yes! Thank you! Hikaru,"

" How about next Sunday?" he proposed, " If he's as strong as you said, it will be a good warm-up game before the last Jyudan game,"

" !" What? A warm-up game? Poor Sai has been waiting for this game, he practically dances when Touya-Sensei says 'Yes' but he only thinks of it as a warm-up game? He doesn't know how important this game is to Sai! Frowning, Sai's little sister turned mad. She didn't know what the ghost was thinking, maybe he didn't care about it, maybe he got sad, maybe he got angry, she didn't know, but she took it as an insult. It did offend her teacher…greatly, and she won't allow that to happen, she couldn't.

A warm-up game? Without knowing, Sai clenched his fan tightly, it appeared that he was thinking the same thought as his apprentice.

" Sensei, Could you please take this game seriously?" Trying to control her anger, Hikaru asked with a solemn voice.

" Hikaru?" Blinking like a fool, Sai uttered, " You …" It surprised him a little when he thought about how his little sister understood him this well.

" I always play seriously," Kouyo answered.

" I mean ' very seriously', Sensei," the two-tone hair girl stressed.

" You are saying that I will lose, if I don't play this game seriously?" the man who owned 5 titles demanded, " Do you think that I, this Touya Kouyo, is no match for your friend?"

Great, now, he gets angry! Like father like son, they are so serious about everything! The famous 1-Dan complained grumpily without a sound. Then a clever thought crossed her mind, now it was time to use her feminine charm once again, " It's not like that, Sensei," she smiled sweetly while she was mentally shouting in panic in her head. What am I gonna say? Com'on think! Think! Out of the blue, a speech popped into her head, a very good one that Waya had said long ago. Right! " It's just, though we are pro, every player deserves to be treated with respect. Therefore, we should play our best against our opponent, even though, they are just amateurs," Speaking in a collected tone, she tried to be reasonable.

! This girl… Kouyo rarely smiled but he was actually beaming with a mixture of contentment and admiration, " …...You are right, I'll play my best," She's only 15 but she has a spirit of a true player.

" Thank you! Sensei," Bending over, Hikaru shouted happily, " Next Sunday..err..how about at ten in the morning?"

" Ten will be fine,"

" Thank you, Sir!" Bowing again, she said, " I…I'd better tell him right away, besides, I've bothered you long enough,"

" Umm, Good day then,"

" I'm really appreciated this, Touya-Sensei, Good bye, sir, I hope you get well soon, " She bowed for the last time before leaving.

………..

………..

I always know that my son has a good taste. Kouyo tittered quietly.

Miki : "this is getting a bit too long" Don't worry, the clock starts ticking now.

Giftfrombelow: "I never knew Touya-kun could be so kawaii" Only when he's with Hikaru :)

OokamiFuu : Right now, let's the romance stop, Sai's game is coming.

Xiar and Karin1004: Though he met them by chance, he did intentionally said that.

Mirahime and Kinlin : Yeah, I love the name too, only the true Romeo and Juliet don't fight like them.

Rebbi: I love Yasuaki too! Yeah, it made into an Anime, 26 chapters. About the scanlation, do you know where can I find the English version?

Ady: "off-the-shoulder top shows BOTH bare shoulders" Oh! I typed it wrong! I mean to say One-Shoulder-top! Thank you, I'll fix it!

Akki : "Let Hikaru be with Akira!" Well, it seems we have to wait a little bit longer.

Kireshai-chan837: "I'm dyying to know what will happen!" NO! Stay here with me! Don't die!

Aya-Mikage2002: "Do you think that their "fight" will be in the news?" If you mean this fight, no, Ogata is not a big mouth :)

TaiFengDragon : "If Hikaru is a boy, I'm 99 sure that he would state his reasons coldly" Totally agree! Actually, I want them to have this fight, that's why I made Ochi challenge Akira with a bet.

Kathy : Morishita will appear later :) Now enjoy Sai and Touya-Sensei:)

Lilac-Blossom-Neko: Yeah, poor Akira :(

Kage.exe: "so how do u like my picture?" What? Did you send it to me? I didn't get it! Please send it againm pleaseeee.

Shouko Sakurazuka: People! Don't forget this fic is mainly about GO!