Disclaimer : I don't own Hikaru no Go.
Chapter 35 : Where is Shindou Hikaru?
2 days later, Japanese Association
/Beep/ an alarm rang, many Go pros hurriedly ran into the game room, the match would begin in 3 minutes.
Still, there were 2 young pro who didn't go into the room but stood impatiently waiting for their friend to arrive instead, they were Touya Akira 2-Dans and Waya Yoshitaka 1-Dan.
" Akira-kun, hurry up," Ashiwara urged his Sensei's son.
" Aa, Hai!" Where is she? Why hasn't she arrived yet? Akira thought with concern. The match will start any minute soon. There was no other choice, he couldn't wait for the blonde any longer, if he didn't want to lose by forfeit, he had to walk into that room now. And he didn't want to give up his game.
So as Waya, She's so late! What the hell is she doing?
Taking their seat, both boys couldn't avert their gaze away from the seat which Shindou Hikaru was supposed to sit on it.
Does she wake up late? Waya wondered.
Why don't you come? Shindou, I thought that I was going to see how you play today.
Touya is worried about her too. No! No! With his eyes closed, the red haired boy took a deep breath in order to regain his concentration. Think about the game, Waya!
/ Beep/ The alarm rang again, and their game began.
Haze Junior High school,
" These examples are the adjective which show the state of continuation," Said the teacher, " Now, let's see what they mean,"
Staring out the window, Hikaru was still mourning for her brother's depart. Sai, Please come back, why did you go? Please, Sai, come back to me.
3 days later, The Young Lion Tournament,
" Shinoda-Sensei, it's time, Let's get started," a heavy pro told the insei master.
" Shindou-kun isn't here yet," Shinoda said with a sigh, he didn't want to begin the tournament without the girl, he didn't want her to lose, at least, not by default like this.
" She skipped all the Oteai games last week," Waya reported to Honda and Nase.
" Really? Honda exclaimed.
" Is she alright? Is she sick or something?" Nase posed, " The last time I called her, she's still okay,"
" She didn't go to Morishita-Sensei's study group or Shirakawa's class either," the punky pro informed them, " Both Sensei are really worried too…Well, ' worried' is not a right word for Morishita-Sensei's case," he commented as he looked back on what had happened 2 days ago.
2 Days ago, Morishita's study group
" What? She didn't attend the Oteai match?" Morishita cried out noisily in alarm, " Why?"
Ouch! My ears hurt! If I turn deaf, I'm gonna sue him " I don't know, Sensei," Rubbing his ear, Waya replied with boredom.
" She didn't come to my class either," Shirakawa mentioned evenly, " Didn't she tell you anything?" he asked the boy, " After all, you two are good friends, she shouldn't just disappear without telling anyone,"
" No, Shirakawa-Sensei," Shaking his head, the 1-Dan answered nervously, " Not a word,"
" Did you call her?" Tsuzuki spoke up, " She has a cell phone, hasn't she? I remember she telling me that her grandfather gave it to her as a gift,"
" I've tried but she turned it off," Sighing in defeat, Waya stated with no hope," It's like she's running away from us,"
" What? Is it that serious?" Morishita exclaimed, " There must be someone who can contact her for us,"
" Did you ask Touya-kun about this?" Saeki questioned. If there was someone who knew what was wrong with the girl, it should be her assumed boyfriend, right?
" Touya? You mean Kouyo's son?" Frowning with displeasure, The Master of the group uttered with discontentment, " What does he have to do with her?"
Morishita 9-Dans was a strict man, every time he saw Go players gossiping like high school girls, he scolded at them, no matter who they were, insei or his colleagues, the pros. If they had enough time to talk about other people's private lives, why didn't they spend that valuable time to practice Go or study kifu to improve their skill? After all, a rumor was just a rumor, it was probably not true. Although, it was true, then what? It had nothing to do with him any way. So, why did he have to bother to listen to it anyway?
Maybe it was because of this kind of attitude, nobody dared to tell or to ask him about the hottest gossip about his favorite student whom he treated like the second daughter.
" Well, because they are pretty close to each other," Saeki spoke as if it was the most common thing in the world like the way everyone on earth knew that the sun rose from the East.
" What? Hikaru-chan? My Hikaru-chan and that cold boy from Touya group?" Morishita screamed in alert, " They are friends? And they are pretty close too? Waya!" he turned to the red headed boy.
The said boy nodded awkwardly. Everyone knows that! Except you, Sensei. Maybe, they aren't just friends. Though the girl had declared that they were not a couple, but when he thought of how protective Hikaru was every time she heard someone talked about Akira in a bad way and the way she blushed every time people asked her about their relationship, he couldn't help but wondered if what his friend always told him was true or not. Come to think of it, lately she doesn't deny that she is not his girlfriend anymore. Is she…? Really? Instead of me, she chooses that steadfast cold fish? Why? Does he have something that I don't have?
" What? Really?" The 9-Dans cried out in disbelief, " Why she didn't tell me about this?" Talking to himself, he wondered.
How could she? You grumble about how Touya-Sensei and Ogata-Sensei irritate you all the time! Saeki retorted with out a word, if he actually said it out loud, his Sensei was going to kill him for sure.
Luckily, Morishita was too impatient to wait for any reply," Shirakawa-kun, do you know about this too?" he interrogated as the wavy-haired pro had known the blonde since she was 12, he was the man who knew her the longest in this room.
" Of course," Shirakawa said with a big smile, " When she was 12, she told me that she met a boy at her age at a Go salon, that boy was Touya-kun,"
" They met each other since they were 12?" the silver-haired young pro uttered.
" Yes," Nodding, the naïve 7-Dans, " Actually, Touya-kun is the first person she has ever played with,"
" He is?" Waya said it like a fool, he hadn't heard about this fact before. He… the two of them have such a long history together.
" Yes,"
" This is unacceptable! I don't accept it! I can not accept it!" Morishita burst out protectively.
" What?" his students exclaimed.
" Waya! Saeki! From now on, you have to keep an eye on her!" The Master ordered darkly, " Don't let that Touya-boy get too close to her! Understand?"
" What? With all the respect, Sensei, I don't think her being friend with Touya-kun is a bad thing," Saeki marked. I bet last night he watched Romeo and Juliet again.
" You baka! She's like your little sister!" his Sensei countered back grumpily, " Listen, if she get married with any guy from Touya group, she will regret for the rest of her life,"
" Ano, Sensei, she is only 15," said Tsuzuki.
" So what? It's called a precaution, a precaution," the loud 9-Dans snapped back, " This is an order, we can't lose our baby girl to Touya group, Got it?"
" Aaa, Hai…ai," Bored, the boys finally gave in.
" Wow, did your Sensei actually say that?" Honda uttered in astonishment, " Don't you think that he kinda…overreacts about this?"
" Honda, he completely overreacts about this," Nase corrected him, " I didn't know that he hates Touya-Sensei this much, I thought that they were friends," she stated with a questioning tone.
" Well, they are friends," Waya spoke firmly, " They had been good friends for 40 years now," Rolling his eyes, he let out a tired sigh of mocking defeat, " He just doesn't want to lose to Touya-Sensei, Believe me, if Touya-Sensei has a daughter, he will order me to charm her and persuade her to join our group,"
"….No matter how old you guys are, boys will be boys," the brown-eyed girl smirked, " So childish,"
" Hey!" the boys protested in unison.
" Speaking of Touya, do you think if he knows why she forfeits the game?" Honda brought back the previous subject.
Waya looked over his shoulder and secretly studied the prodigy," Nah, Judging from that look, I bet he doesn't know either," he said as he noticed the obvious anxiety on Akira's face.
Another corner of the room,
" Ne, ne, this is just me or Touya-kun seems a bit nervous here?" One of Akira's fan whispered to his friend.
" Maybe it's because that girl hasn't shown up yet," his friend replied inaudibly.
" That girl? Ah, you mean the girl he had a fight with last year, right? I was there too, you know?"
" Yeah, Shindou Hikaru is her name, she passed the exam with straight wins but she lost 3 games in a row last week, all by default,"
" Really? I wonder what happened to her,"
Not only these two who wanted to know what got into the blonde this time, so did the legendary 2-Dans.
/ Hitting sound/
Punching the wall with his fist, Akira tightened his teeth angrily. Shindou…
The sound was loud enough to make Waya turn around to look at him. Touya.
In the same time, Honmyoji Temple,
" Hi, Tora-chan, it's me, Hikaru, again," Standing in front of Honinbo Shusaku's burial chamber, Hikaru in school uniform greeted the tomb, she came here to talk with the standing stone everyday since the day Sai left, " Here, I bring you this," Slowly kneeling, she carefully laid down a bunch of Wisteria on the ground, " So, how are you? Me? As you can see, I'm not fine at all, not at all," she went on her monologue, " I bet you're having a good time, right? Since Sai's with you now," she said with shaking voice, " I…I just don't get it, Tora-chan, wh…why did he disappear? He's not attained the Hand of God yet, then why?" she pleaded for the answer but the stone didn't say anything in return, " Did…did he want to be with you that much? Couldn't he just…wait until I die? So the three of us can be together, after all the more the merrier, right? " She tried to fake a pathetic smile to cheer herself up. Staring at the name on the gray stone, Hikaru laughed at her stupidity softly, " Who am I kidding? This is Sai, we're talking about, that whinny ghost doesn't know how to wait," she spoke sarcastically, "…Is that what it's all about? Tora-chan, he left me because he wanted to be with you?" she questioned.
"…………." But she got no reply.
" Damn it! Talk to me! Torajiro!" Shouting at the voiceless stone, she couldn't fight back the tears any longer. She placed her hand on the stone, it was incredible cold, it sent out the coolness through her trembling body, she rested her forehead on the back of the hand, " Please tell me what the hell what the hell is going on," she wept tiredly.
The following day, Haze Junior High school,
" There is no record of Fujiwara no Sai? Not even one?" Disappointed, Hikaru asked persistently. 3 days ago, she had asked Mr. Matsui, her historical teacher, to search for any historical record of Sai. Right now, she was in the teacher's office talking with him.
With books and many reports on his messy desk, Matsui spoke, " Really, I've done a research for you already but I didn't find anything about him, the emperor's Go teacher during Heian period, you say,"
" What about Sai? Just the name Sai,"
" What? Where did you get this name anyway?" the middle-aged man wondered, he had even called his own teacher to ask him about it but he had never heard of this name either.
/ Click/ the door opened, Mitani entered the office with a file in his hand.
Shindou? He stole a quick glance on her.
" Still, just because we can't find him in the written record, it's too soon to presume that he doesn't exist," Matsui encouraged her, though he himself believed that this Fujiwara no Sai was just an imaginary person.
Matsui-Sensei? The historical teacher? Mitani sneaked a peek at them before walking to his teacher's desk, " Here, the file you ask for, Sazaki-Sensei," he handed her the file.
" Oh, thank you," said Sazaki as she took it from him.
" Thank you, Sensei," Hikaru bowed and exited the room.
Too soon to presume that he doesn't exist? Sai does exist! Only I know that. Walking along the hallway with a sad look, the blonde was deep in thought thinking of her brother.
" Shindou-san," Someone called her from behind.
" Oh, Mitani-kun," Hikaru greeted him with a sad smile as she saw him running after her, " It's been a while, huh?"
It had been a year after the green-eyed girl left the Go club and turned him down. Right now, at this moment, he had gotten over it already. To him, Shindou Hikaru was still one of his truth-worthy friends, and he didn't have many friends," Ah, So, what are you and Matsui-Sensei were talking about?" Trying to make a conversation, he questioned.
" It's nothing," the famed pro replied softly.
" Fujisaki-san is getting better, she plays with that bigheaded Kaneko with 2 stones handicap only," Mitani chatted casually, " Drop by there sometimes,"
" Kaneko Masako-san, right? Akari told me about her," Eyes dropped to the floor, Hikaru mentioned, " She plays as the 1st player of the girls team, doesn't she? We are in the same class, she's very smart, you know? She gets the highest score in every subject," she reported.
Yeah, and she reminds me that every single day. The boy turned irritated when he thought of the said girl, especially when she haughtily lectured him as if she knew everything, " What about your professional game? Is everything going smoothly?" he changed to the merrier topic.
" I quit it," the depressed girl simply said it.
" What? Wait! Shindo-san!" Mitani called out as his friend walked away droopily but she didn't stop walking.
Hikaru went to her classroom, took her bag and headed to the library. Sai, why did you disappear? Didn't you promise that we'll always be together forever? I love the game but…without you, nothing is the same.
In front of Haze Junior High school,
So, this is Haze. Looking at the sign on the wall, a boy in Kaio Junoir High school's uniform breathed deeply. Let's go and find her. With a determined expression, he told himself.
It was easy to say but it wasn't easy when he actually did it. How was he supposed to find a girl in such a large place? He didn't study here, he had never come here before, he didn't know the way around here and he didn't have any friend or any acquaintance who studied at this school either. What should he do in order to find the blonde then?
Walking towards a girl who wore the same bob hairstyle as him, Akira politely called her, " Excuse-me,"
" Yes?" the girl with black hair turned around.
" Do you know where I can find Shindou Hikaru?" the blue-eyed boy courteously asked her.
" Oh, Shindou Hikaru? She's my classmate," the chubby girl answered, giving Akira a little hope, " She is in the library," she pointed out at the door around the corner, " Enter that door and take the stairs to the 2nd floor, it's on the right," she told him the way.
" Thank you," Akira bowed with gratitude, " Thank you very much," then he went to the said door going up to the 2nd floor.
After he disappeared into the said building, a bunch of girls crowed around the black-haired girl, " Ne, ne, Kaneko-san, who is that boy?"
" I don't know, he is looking for Shindou-san," Kaneko answered indifferently.
" Shindou? She's seeing a Kaio's student? God, I'm so envious," one of the girls chatted stupidly.
" He's good-looking too, ne? Kinda pretty," another girl added, then they circled around talking, gossiping, giggling foolishly.
Gossipy girls! If you concentrate on your studies like the way you get nosy on other's lives, you maybe even smarter than me! Giving them a disapproving look, Kaneko shook her head with boredom before heading to the Go club.
The library,
It was 4.00 in the evening, most of the student attended their clubs or went back home, therefore, there were only few students in the library and most of them were reading preparing for the exam.
To be correct, everyone but Hikaru was reading books, revising the lesson. With arms folded on the table, the discouraged girl buried her face in her arms trying to get a nap.
" Shindou," A familiar voice called her gently.
Looking up, she turned to the voice, " Tou…Touya-kun!" she exclaimed with shock causing the other students to look up from their books to observe an alien Kaio boy, " Wh…what are you doing here?" Excited, she stuttered, " How…how do you know that I study here?"
" I called the Association," Akira tranquilly told her, " They told me that you study here and gave me the address,"
" Is that so?" Aren't they supposed to keep the pro's profile in secret? What if he's a serial-killer?
" Shindou, why didn't you attend the Young Lion Tournament?" he queried worriedly.
Seeing the girl suddenly turning tense as soon as he finished the line, he was worried even more, " Why didn't you go to play your Oteai game?" he pressed on.
" It doesn't matter anymore," Gazing at the empty table, Hikaru replied indifferently.
" Doesn't matter? What do you mean by that?" Doesn't matter?
" I quit," she clarified, " I'm not going to play Go anymore,"
What? " What are you saying? You can't quit!" Frowning with discontent, Akira stated loudly with a disapproving tone, he strongly opposed the idea. Was the girl insane? She was Shindou Hikaru! Apart from Akira himself, she was the only one in the history of the Go world who passed the Pro exam without losing to anyone! She was the most promising new pro this year! Even Ogata-10-Dans called her as ' The New Wave'! She was a star! Most of all, you are my rival! " How could you ever think of it!" he demanded furiously. At this moment, every living bored their eyes into them, watching the soap opera show in silence.
" Shut up!" the blonde promptly stood up, " It's not that I want to! Stop asking me about it!" she blew up wildly, yet, there was an unbelievable painful sadness on her charming face, " Just…leave me alone, will you?" Then she grabbed her bag and hurriedly stormed out the library.
" Wait! Shindou!" Without the slightest hesitation, the 2-Dans rose and chased after his friend at once. The bleached bangs girl ran pretty fast but Akira didn't give up so easily, he speeded up as fast as he could. Finally, he managed to catch up with her at the school entrance. He quickly reached out his hand and seized her wrist, " Shindou! Wait! We have to talk!" he spoke loudly.
" Let go of me! I have nothing to talk with you!" Struggling from the grasp, trying to shake Akira off, Hikaru ordered him dryly.
Yet, the said boy didn't loosen his grip, he still held her wrist firmly, " Shindou, Listen…,"
" Le..Leave me alone," the popular blonde said with shaking voice, " Please," then she cried.
Just like that,
No warning,
No signal,
All of a sudden, the strong Shindou Hikaru just cried.
" Shin…Shindou!" Seeing tears rolling down her soft face, Akira widened his eyes in absolute shock and alarm. She's crying! Shindou is crying! He mentally shouted crazily in panic. Being a Go player didn't give only him the advantage of being good in Maths but also blessed him with good sixth-sense. He cast his eyes around as he sensed the critical piercing look coming from everywhere, stabbing him like a knife all over his body. He looked around and found that there were at least 20 Haze boys who were more than ready to knock him down to the ground in order to punish him for bullying their school mate. This is no good…., " Shindou, Let's go," then he pulled Hikaru along, luckily that the girl didn't resist but willingly followed him.
Akira had absolutely no idea where he was taking her, he just wanted to find a place where they could sit and have a quiet talk together. While they were wandering searching for the place, he saw the way people looking at him. He knew exactly what they were thinking. I must look like a bad guy to their eyes, it's not their fault though. If I see a boy dragging a crying girl along with him, I would think the same. Ah! Is that the park? Perfect! He hurriedly led the blonde to the park near by.
The park was incredible quiet as there was nobody else in the park. Akira thought it was because it was too late for children to play in the park, on the other way round, it was too early to the teenage gangsters to gather out here. Then they sat on a long wooden bench which gave them a magnificent river view.
Still holding Hikaru's hand, Akira noticed that she was still whimpering. Unlike Kawai, he had seen a girl crying before. In fact, he made many girls cry when he turned down their confession of love to him, he didn't mean to hurt them though. He always politely thanked them with great appreciation and kindly told them that he didn't wish to have any relationship right now since he devoted himself to Go, yet, most of them ran away, crying because of an embarrassed feeling of rejection, and he made no attempt to chase after them.
However, the last thing he would ever do was to leave Hikaru crying alone. He knew that it would be very stupid and unforgivable rude if he questioned her right now when she was weeping, so he waited, he decided to wait until she stopped crying and be ready to talk.
Unknown to him, Akira should count himself very lucky since Hikaru had already sobbed her heart out when she had gone to Shuusaku's grave the other day. If she hadn't wailed until she cried her eyes out on that day, she would have done that today giving Akira a really hard time. Fortunately, she didn't have enough tears to explode in tears anymore.
Searching his pocket, he brought out his handkerchief and handed it to the weeping blonde without saying a word.
Looking up from the ground, Hikaru saw Akira smiling tenderly at her. She smiled back weakly at him and took his soft hankie.
A long peaceful silence went by with no word spoken, Akira gazed at the river flowing while he was listening to Hikaru's quiet whimper. He didn't know how long they had been sitting there, he didn't even bother to sneak a quick glance at his wrist-watch, all he knew was he wanted to be right here, by her side, he would get through this with her, no matter what it was.
When the sky and the river were colored into orange by the setting sun, finally Hikaru spoke up, " He's like a brother to me," she suddenly broke the silence, " A brother that I've never had,"
Akira stared at her, saying nothing.
Still looking at the river, the blonde went on her monologue without returning his gaze, " He taught me Go,"
Eh?
" He tried to teach me how to be a real lady too, you know, like I want to be," she sniggered, " Hikaru, Don't curse! Hikaru Don't dress too revealing! kinda thing," she faked Sai's tone.
Shindou…
" He's my….my guardian," she smiled forlornly as she thought of her ghost, " A whinny silly immature spoiled Go addict guardian," she said with bitter laugh, " Not a very good guardian, still, he's my guardian,"
"………….."
" You should have met him, you know," she wondered what would happen if Akira actually met her dead teacher, the picture of Touya Akira screamed in horror would be something to worth seeing, " He's quite an interesting guy. Whenever he wanna play Go or go somewhere, he'll give me his poor naive puppy look," she laughed as she recalled how adorable Sai was, " I couldn't say no to that look, Damn it,"
"……………"
" He's…he's always be by my side tailing me like a Poodle with a Saint Bernard's size,"
"……………"
" Always by my side, yeah, we promised to be together forever, he gave me his word, he promised me so," Unconsciously, she clenched the handkerchief tight, " And then, he's just…gone,"
Gone? Now I understand everything. " Shindou, Listen," This is why she didn't go to play the game.
Face wet with tears, Hikaru turned and shouted at Akira's face, " He's gone! Touya-kun! He's gone!"
Shindou Akira held her hand tight, " Back then, on the day we were supposed to play in the Oteai match, the day Father fell down," Akira mentioned peacefully, " I was really scared, I thought that he was going to die. Just thinking about a life without him made me paralyze, I…I know that compare to you, I'm much luckier since Father is alright… I…I can't imagine how terrible you feel right now, still, I understand you," What are you talking? Akira! You said that you couldn't imagine how terrible she felt but you understood her? What does it mean? He cursed himself in silence, he was capable to do anything, except to communicate with people, especially the one he cared, " What…What I am trying to say is I understand you because I have experienced that feeling before…even if it is only a slight glimpse of the sadness that you have now," What? What am I saying? " Well, I mean…,"
" Touya-kun," Smiling sadly with gratitude, Hikaru was thankful for his effort. If there was someone who knew how serious his communication problem was, it was her, " Thank you,"
" I know that you love him. From the way you talk about him, I know that you dearly love him," the quiet boy spoke firmly, " He is a very lucky man,"
His words only brought more tears to the blonde's eyes, she tilted her head up to fight back the dropping tears and sniggered mockingly, " Lucky, huh?" That ghost didn't even have his own body, he couldn't do a thing without me, nobody but me recognized his existence! That is Lucky?
" The thing is…no one lives forever, Shindou,"
But not in this case! I'm sure that he can! Besides, " He promised me to!" Hikaru retorted instantly.
" But no one can," Akira tried to be reasonable, " None of us can, no matter how much we try or want it to be. Life doesn't work that way,"
"………………"
" People live and…gone,"
" Gone" this word was like a knife pierced through Hikaru's heart. She dried her cheeks with the handkerchief as tears of sorrow started running down again.
" If he had a choice, I'm sure he preferred to live…err, I mean to be with you," the black-haired boy pointed out, " But he's…gon..err…he is in a better place now,"
"…………….."
" You can't continue grieving like this, Shindou for yourself and for him too,"
" He's my big brother! How can I NOT grieve for him!" the heartbreaking 1-Dan burst out heatedly.
" I know, I know," What am I supposed to say? Akira tried to cool her down, " If you grieve, you will only bother him, his spirit will never rest in peace," Though the boy had a grave problem in expressing his feeling, he was still the diplomatic Touya Akira.
! I bother his spirit?
" You have to get over it and move on, Shindou,"
" But to live alone without him!" The green-eyed pro snapped back wildly.
" But you have me!" With out thinking, the talented 2-Dans loudly blurted out instinctively.
" Err…...rrr" Seeing the red flush on Hikaru's cheeks, Akira looked down to the ground to hide his red face as he just realized what he had just said, " I…I," Feeling himself blushing hotly, he stammered with embarrassment, " I mean, there are a lot of people who deeply care for you and…and I…Well, you see, after all, we are friends, so I…I…I mean, although we didn't meet for years and we had a fight every times we met but we've known each other since we were 12 and I…err…I," I can for you too!
" That's okay, I understand," With consideration in her eyes, Hikaru gave him a soft smile. Poor Touya-kun, his problem is even more serious than I thought, he needs a therapy.
" I'm very sorry for your loss, Shindou, but you can't quit playing Go because of this," the rational boy lectured, " Do you actually think that this is what he wants? You, quitting Go, the game that he himself taught you how to play,"
Sai…I…I
" What will he say if he knows this?" he questioned.
" Be strong, My beloved sister," Sai's last word voiced in her head again.
I know, I know you better than anyone. I know how much you love me, how much you love Go…I do know, with all my heart, that you want me to keep playing…but Sai, it's not easily like that! Promptly standing up, the school girl exploded crossly, "What's the point in playing when he's not here to congratulate on my win? Who is gonna praise me when I play well? Or Lecturing me when I make a bad move! Studying the game with me! " I'm alone now! Can't you see it?
" It's true that he left us but it's only his body," Rising up, Akira raised his voice, " He's still here, in your memory, in your heart, his soul's still alive in your Go,"
" It's easy for you to say that !" Hikaru countered back rudely, " He's not here anymore! Don't try to convince me with your cheap fancy words!" she shouted with tears, " He left me alone!"
Shindou. Narrowing his eyes as he came into a decision, Akira swiftly took her bag on the bench and hastily snatched her hand, " Come with me," he uttered solemnly.
A/N : This is the longest chapter with 5197 words. Next chapter is the last chapter.
HikaruKotobashi: " the teenage angst" Yeah, at this moment, it suits Hikaru well.
Peggy: Hikaru isn't going to Hiroshima then?" Nope, as you will see in the next chapter, she doesn't need to.
Kage.exe: So, what do you think at the current situation?
Ady: "I think that Shusaku's grave is VERY far from Tokyo" That is Hiroshima where Shuusaku was born. Yet, he moved to Edo ( Tokyo) when he was 8, that's why they have both graves for him,both in Hiroshima and in Tokyo. Remember the game Hikaru played with Shuhei? He played as fast as he could because he wanted to go back to look for Sai in Tokyo. ( Volume 15, I guess)
Rebbi: "your version made me want to cry even more" - -" Sorry. Still, while I was watching Anime, I didn't cry when Sai disappeared, I cried when they met again in Hikaru's dream.
Kireshai-chan837: At first,you guys told me you loved me, now, all of a sudden, you want to kill me? I'm the one who should cry!
Karin: Here, I give your the tissue.
Giftbefrombelow: WHAT? You wanna feed me to you cat? And you say that I'm a meanie?
sendoh11 : Nope, sorry, Sai''s gone for sure.
Kinlin:" I mean if i kill you, this fic wont continue anymore!" Good point!
Xiar: Here comes the prince on a white horse in Kaio uniform!
OokamiFuu: Nah, it's just your imagination.
Lilac-Blossom-Neko: Well, girls can cry freely, as much as we want, it's our birth right!
KazeKiryoku: "You wrote the sad hikaru really well" Thank you, maybe because I'm a girl too so it's easy to write about the sad girl.
zeynel : "Who will convince her to play again?" Now you know who that person is :)
Kathy: Great now, OokamiFuu think that I'm a sadist who like torturing my readers while you think I like making you cry! Poor me!
BlackWingedGabriel: Yeah, I finally managed to add Kawai in the fic.