A/N: Sorry this is out late… ran into lots of problems yesterday. I can verify that yesterday was by far the worst day in my life. I won't go into gritty details because the chapter /is/ up. I hope you all enjoy. I actually wrote this thing to be around 15 pages before I figured out I'd cut it into 2 chapters. The sixth chapter should be up today as well so look for it. Thanks for all the reviews.
Welcome Back
Chapter 5: Of the Internet and Run-ins
A week passed by without incident. There was one time that Hikaru was afraid might force him to talk to Touya and that was at the dan tournament on Wednesday. He'd walked into the building late because Touya was playing in the same room that day. He'd sat down, Sai sitting down behind him, and he could feel Touya's eyes on them. He'd looked over and, sure enough, there was Touya watching him.
He'd looked very frustrated at not being able to talk to him. Hikaru was happy that he was late. He was also relieved that he'd come. That week away from Touya had been a living nightmare for Hikaru. When he'd gone to school, he was required to play sports in his physical education class. It would have been enjoyable if he hadn't felt this huge pain in his heart. After running for the first ten minutes, he'd been on the ground clutching his heart. The teacher had rushed him to the infirmary but they'd found nothing wrong. The second time it happened, the teachers allowed Hikaru to sit out the class period.
Akari asked Hikaru what was wrong and Hikaru was forced to brush her off, much to Mitani's anger. He'd yelled long and hard at Hikaru for upsetting his Akari. Then the two of them left Hikaru alone and he hadn't seen them since.
His opponent was watching him cautiously so Hikaru decided to get on with the game. He needed to be done with this game before Touya or his being late had no purpose.
He managed to get black and began speed playing. Every time he shot out a move, his opponent winced. No matter how slow the guy went, Hikaru was never hampered with his moves.
Hikaruuu! You're going too fast. Sai whined.
No I'm not. Watch.
Fast, he cut off his opponent at their two most critical points and finished the play. His opponent was shivering.
"I-I resign." Came the whispered comment from his opponent.
"Thank you for the game." Hikaru mechanically responded.
See. His mental word was smug. Sai looked at him reprovingly.
Playing that fast could get you in trouble. Sai reprimanded.
It was fine with this type of person. I'll think harder when there's someone worth it.
Like Touya. Sai's eyes grew mischievous.
Unwillingly, Hikaru's eyes drifted to Touya. Grey-blue eyes locked with his green ones and he blushed. Why is it that Sai only had to mention Touya and he went searching for him? Hikaru could feel the curse rising in his thoughts. He stomped on it before it could make it to his top thoughts.
Hide me. Hikaru pleaded with Sai.
Sai's eyes were dancing when he moved in front of Hikaru. You realize how redundant you sound when you ask a ghost to hide you.
Hikaru rolled his eyes. You really don't have to remind me. He informed the amused ghost. I WAS going to take you to the internet café so you could play Go again but… He left the sentence hanging.
Sai was all of a sudden hyper. Hikaru, you're so mean! Tell me that was just a threat. I wanna play! He yelled, crying. I came back to play with you Hikaru so let me play. I wanna play.
Hikaru laughed. Fine. Let's go before Touya gets done.
Sai's eyes lit up when Hikaru said that. They left the building and grabbed the first train they could catch. It didn't take long to get to the internet café. Mitani's sister was at the front desk.
After six years, she still worked there. She said she liked the atmosphere and once and while a nice kid would come in and talk with her when he wasn't playing Go. Her eyes locked on his so he wouldn't be mistaken just who the kid was. She found out about his part in hooking up her brother with his childhood friend, Akari. She told him, for as long as she worked in that café, he'd be able to use the computers for free if he wanted. She'd never seen her brother so happy and it was thanks to Hikaru that they were together.
He sat down at the computer and quickly logged on. It had been a while but, in between the three years Sai was gone, Hikaru had got pretty efficient with the computer.
"Now, let's see if anyone remembers you. Right, Sai?" Hikaru grinned over his shoulder.
Sai smiled but his attention was on the little machine. Hikaru indulged the ghost and logged in. For the first ten minutes, no one challenged him. Hikaru was about to take the initiative and invite someone to a match when it popped up. Someone had issued the match.
It was like old times. The challenges were never ending. Some of the challengers were difficult and some he could tell were beginners. No matter what, he had people watching his games. The rooms were always very full. Sai looked to be in dream-land. His eyes glowed when he told Hikaru a point; his fan movements were more crisp and commanding. Hikaru was very glad he'd thought of going to the café.
"Guess people haven't forgotten about you." Hikaru grinned at Sai.
Sai grinned back. I'm glad. This is fun.
To keep the tradition, Hikaru ignored any attempt to talk to him. He would remain unknown to the internet Go community. When it was almost time for him to leave, a challenge popped up on the screen. He was about to refuse it when he saw the nick. It was 'Ogata'. Hikaru nearly dropped the mouse he was holding in his shock.
"It's Ogata-sensei. What do I do?" Hikaru asked Sai breathlessly.
He looked up at Sai and blinked when his eyes met Sai's hard ones. They had already transformed into the serious Go player eyes. Hikaru's lips thinned when he realized that Sai was probably not going to back away from this fight willingly.
"I guess I'll just accept." He received a soft smile from Sai. "There. Accepted. Let's set the clock for 3 hours. There. Good I'm black. I get to go first."
Sai wasn't paying attention to Hikaru but he knew that. He was talking to himself to calm down. He vividly remembered when Ogata had shoved him against a wall in his excitement to play Sai. He'd only been sixteen then. Sai's return must have nearly given Ogata a heart attack. He was actually a little glad that Ogata could play Sai right now. Perhaps that would keep the older man away from him. Hikaru had got quite deft at avoiding Ogata. The older man always asked if he could play Sai whenever he saw Hikaru. When Sai was gone, it had been a painful memory.
Sai firmly stated a point and Hikaru clicked a stone onto it. Ogata was quick placing his stone. This was how it went for two hours. Every once and a while Hikaru would look at Sai and realize that he couldn't tell if he was being pushed into a corner or if he was attacking. Sai's face never changed expressions. He must have been really into the game to do that.
The moves were brilliant on both sides. Hikaru memorized each detail so he could ask Sai about them later. Sai was never a talker during a difficult game so Hikaru never attempted to talk to him. He could tell that Ogata was getting frustrated. His moves were become a bit clumsier with time. This was definitely not quite up to par with the game played with the Meijin but it was close.
When the resign message came on the screen, Hikaru let out the breath he was holding. He'd been afraid that Ogata might try something else to win the game. It had been intense.
"You won, Sai." Hikaru gave Sai a huge grin that was returned. Now that the game was over, Sai was more animated.
That was a worthy game. He commented. I would like to play him again sometime.
Hikaru nodded. "I'll see when I can get time to come down here again."
Sai nodded his agreement. Hikaru logged out and got up. He stretched and yawned and then looked at the clock.
"Oh, look at the time. We've been here for hours!"
Mitani's sister laughed. "Wow, thought you were going to spend the night here." She winked at him to show she was joking. "How'd it go?"
Hikaru laughed back. "Great! We beat everyone."
"We?" She frowned in confusion.
Hikaru jumped and put a hand over his mouth. "I mean 'I'. I beat everyone." He laughed nervously.
She cocked her head to the side and then shrugged. "That's great. You must be really good to do that."
He rubbed the back of his head. "Not really. I just got really lucky. I'll see you later Mitani's sister."
He ran out of the café and turned toward the train station.
"Wow that was close. Almost screwed it up back there." He laughed and looked at Sai who was also smiling. "Hm, the train station should be right around this corner." He told the ghost.
He turned the corner and bumped into someone. The other person was knocked down but Hikaru caught himself. The other person was apologizing when Hikaru lent a hand to help. They both looked at each other and Hikaru's green eyes met stormy blue ones. His breath caught in his throat when he saw Touya's eyes widen.
It's Touya. Sai pointed out.
Hikaru rolled his eyes. "Of course it's Touya. I can see that. Thank you for pointing out the obvious Sai."
Sai and Touya both gasped. Uh… Hikaru?
"What?" He turned to glare at the ghost.
Sai was in turn pointing at Touya. He turned around and blinked. Touya's eyes were half the size of his face. He kept looking back and forth between Hikaru and Sai. That's when remembered what he'd said aloud. He'd said Sai's name aloud.
His mouth dropped open. He was about to say something when Touya spoke up.
"We need to talk."
He grabbed Hikaru's hand and pulled him along to the train station. Hikaru didn't protest. He knew they had to talk, he was just hoping it wouldn't come this soon.
He also should have paid attention. Ever since Sai had returned, he knew where Touya was at all times. If he was getting closer to Hikaru, he'd run the opposite direction to avoid him. Tonight he hadn't paid attention and now Touya was right in front of him. The only good thing about it was the fact that his chest didn't hurt anymore.
Things were getting interesting. Hikaru wondered where Touya was taking him and then sighed. He'd find out when Touya wanted him to find out. He could be patient when he wanted to be. Today was going to be interesting, Hikaru knew that.
