Disclaimer: Same as before

Chapter Three: Moving On

The small cozy kitchen in the Shindou household was a living testimony to Mitsuko's dedication to her family. Pots and pans sat neatly in a row on an easily assessable shelf above the stovetop. Their stainless steel surface sparkled like new. The exterior of the walnut-finished cabinets was free from oily residue; the kitchen counter was organized and lacked clutter, and the yellow tiles of the kitchen gleamed cheerfully with a housewife's pride.

Not that the men in my family would have noticed anyway, Mitsuko thought with a small sigh as she took a small sip from her steaming mug of black coffee from behind her newspaper.

Slowly, Mitsuko lowered her newspaper by several inches as her dark gray eyes darted a discreet look at her son who sat diagonally across from her eating his breakfast. Mitsuko's sharp eyes noted that the rims of Hikaru's eyes were slightly red and puffy as if he had been crying, but otherwise, Hikaru appeared to be behaving normally. The dazzling Hikaru smile was back on his face while he wolfed down his mushroom omelet and home fries with his usual speed and enthusiasm.

I suppose eating quickly becomes a habit when you're always late, Mitsuko thought with a sigh as she smoothed back a strand of hair that had escaped from the bun at the nape of her neck. I can't seem to stop sighing whenever the matter concerned Hikaru, Mitsuko thought as she took another sip of her black coffee. But, I'm really glad that he finally cheered up.

Hikaru squirted a generous amount of ketchup onto his omelet and home fries and ate them with gusto. For some reason, the breakfast tasted especially good this morning. Hikaru smiled happily. Then again, everything seemed so much brighter as well. This must mean that I have locked myself away for way too long, Hikaru thought as he ate a big forkful of home fries. I should give Waya and Isumi-san a call to see what's up.

A loud ringing sound from the hallway near the entrance pierced the quiet of the morning. Since Hikaru did not seem inclined to answer the phone, Mitsuko set down her newspaper with a small sigh and padded over to the phone in her fluffy pink house slippers.

"Shindou residence," Mitsuko answered in her cheerful polite voice.

"Oh... good morning Shindou-san. This is Waya Yoshitaka. I am one of Shindou's friends from the Japanese Go Institute. Can I speak to Shindou, er... I mean Shindou-kun, please?" Waya asked, stumbling slightly over the unfamiliar form of address.

"Oh, it's Waya-kun, right? Hikaru's having breakfast. Can you wait a minute while I get Hikaru on the phone?"

"Of course. Thank you, Shindou-san."

Mitsuko carefully set the receiver down on the little stand next to the phone's dial pad and returned to her seat at the dining room table.

"Hikaru. It's Waya-kun on the phone," Mitsuko said lightly as she watched for Hikaru's reaction.

Hikaru's head perked up at the name and quickly abandoned the toast that he had been chewing on and left it on top of his helping of home fries as he hurried to where the phone was.

Yes, he's definitely recovered, Mitsuko thought as a wave of relief washed through her. Hikaru had been refusing to answer the phone for this entire week.

"Yeah, what's up Waya?" Hikaru asked brightly.

"Hey Shindou! It's about time that I got a hold of you. Where the heck have you been?!" Waya spoke loudly into the phone. There was a tinge of annoyance and concern in his voice.

"Here and there," Hikaru answered noncommittally as he winced at his friend's loud voice. "What's up?"

Waya knew that it was useless to pry information from Hikaru unless Hikaru was willing to talk, so he forged on ahead with the reason for his call.

"Isumi-san, Honda-san, Fuku, Nase and I are planning to have a study session this morning at ten at the go institute to practice for next week's Young Lions Tournament. Think you'll be interested?"

"Oh! The Young Lions Tournament is coming up. I totally forgot!" Hikaru exclaimed.

"Uh-huh. Thought so. So what else is new?" Waya answered sarcastically.

The sarcasm was totally lost on Hikaru.

"Yeah! That sounds like fun. It must have been ages since I last talked to Fuku, Nase and Honda-san! I can't wait until I whoop your ass over the go board!" Hikaru gushed enthusiastically.

It's been ages since you last spoke to Isumi-san and me as well and you practically ran away from us when we tried to ask you out to lunch this week! Waya thought inwardly. Before that, you were too busy practicing with Touya and Yashiro for the Hokuto Cup. Waya quickly quashed the envy that accompanied his last thought.

"Whoop my ass?! You've been hanging around with that stuck-up Touya Akira way too much lately and he's messed with your brain. Don't think you can get on a high horse just because you got into the Hokuto Cup! I'm the one who's going to whoop your ass today!" Waya yelled back over the phone.

"Oh yeah? Is that a challenge? I'll make you eat your words!" Hikaru replied loudly, a big grin appearing on his attractive boyish features.

"Talk is cheap. Get your butt over here at ten. Loser buys lunch!"

"You're on! I can smell that ramen already!"

"Dream on!" The phone clicked lightly as Waya disconnected.

Hikaru replaced the receiver on its cradle and resumed his seat at the dining room table. From across the table in the small cozy kitchen, Mitsuko glanced at her son with a questioning look in her eyes.

"Mom, I'm going to meet with Waya and the others at the institute at ten this morning," Hikaru said as he hastily finished his toast and home fries while trying not to choke.

Mitsuko looked up at the clock on the wall right by the dining room table and said in her motherly tone, "It's nearly nine. You better get going soon or you're going to be late again."

Hikaru nodded quickly as he drank his orange juice in one big gulp. "Thanks for the meal!" Hikaru called out as he quickly bounced out of his chair and ran up the stairs two steps at a time into his room.

Back inside his room, Hikaru quickly changed into a pair of blue jeans and put on his favorite yellow and black plaid shirt over his white t-shirt. He quickly pulled a hairbrush several times through his blond bangs and chestnut-colored hair without bothering to check the results with a mirror. He then proceeded to unzipped his brightly colored yellow and black backpack and dumped the contents onto the beige rug to sort out what he needed and did not need for the day. While doing so, he noticed that there was a piece of note paper stuck to his volume of tsumego.

Hikaru scanned the note quickly and smacked a palm loudly on his knee. Thank god for the note, Hikaru thought. Otherwise, for sure I'm going to forget that I was suppose to meet Touya at his father's go salon to practice for the Young Lions Tournament at three, Hikaru thought with a quick nod. After that disaster at Hokuto last week, the Young Lions was the furthest thing from my mind, Hikaru thought while scratching the back of his head. Oh well, it's a good thing that Touya and I are meeting this afternoon instead of this morning since I already promised Waya to show up for his study session. I'll never hear the end of it if I stood Touya up. Hikaru shuddered slightly as he imagined the full glare of Touya's mean game face directed at him. Nope, I don't want that to happen now do I? Hikaru thought with a wry grin.

Last Sunday afternoon, after Hikaru had finished, and won, his private match against Hon Suyon at the go salon owned by the Korean pro's uncle, Hikaru told Akira flat out that he did not want to meet with him for any games this week. Hikaru left hastily to avoid the obligation of giving Akira a lengthy explanation for his behavior. Several days later on game day Wednesday, Akira caught Hikaru loitering in an obscure corner of the go institute.

As usual, one minute I was alone with my cold soda minding my own business and the next minute, out popped Touya yelling out my name from right behind me, Hikaru thought with a perplexed expression on his face as he recalled how startled he was when he whirled around to see Akira glaring at him with his turquoise-colored eyes. I could never figure out how he did that. I mean, I even tried to stay on a floor that relatively few people went to, Hikaru thought with a frown. Oh well.

Ultimately, angry words were exchanged, which included an accusation from Hikaru that Akira was stalking him at the go institute. However, Akira refused to leave and persisted until Hikaru reluctantly promised that they would meet on Saturday to practice for the Young Lions. As an afterthought, Akira scribbled the time and place on a piece of note paper from his bag and forced it on Hikaru.

Geez, the stubbornness of that guy, Hikaru thought with an exasperated sigh. Did Touya really think that I was going to quit go or something? I just needed time alone to think, that's all. If I was going to quit, then I wouldn't even bother showing up for my regular games. Yeah, and Touya would come and hunt me down at home, Hikaru thought with a small smile. I guess I would do the same if our positions were reversed. After all, a good rival is hard to come by.

In swift motions, Hikaru stuffed everything that he thought that he might need for the day into his backpack and pulled the black zipper shut.

Hikaru glanced around the room for a final check to see whether he had forgotten anything. His gray-green eyes fell on the half-recreated game on the go board.

I guess I should clean the stones off since I'm done analyzing this game, Hikaru thought as he raised his hands in a motion to scoop the stones off.

Hikaru's jaw fell open and his hands froze in mid-air as he stared wide-eyed at the formations on the board. A trickle of sweat ran down his right temple. Hikaru noticed instantly that there was something different about the game. During the Hokuto competition, Hikaru played black while Yongha played white. Inexplicably, there was now a black stone in a location that Hikaru had dismissed this past week because he thought that the hand was too weak. Now, as he stared at the stone, he could see that if he had timely played this move and then everything else correctly, it was possible to thwart Ko Yongha's attempt to form two eyes in about ten moves. In other words, there was a chance that Hikaru could have won. However, the move was so subtle that even Hikaru failed to see its potential until now.

How did that stone get there? Hikaru thought, thoroughly confused. Could it be...?! Hikaru quickly quashed the thought. No, it cannot be! Maybe I accidentally knocked a black stone onto the board when I was pounding the floor earlier, Hikaru thought as he contemplated the possibility. Yes, that's probably it, Hikaru nodded slowly, half convinced at his explanation. That sure was a freakishly lucky break though.

Hikaru turned his head to look at the time displayed on the VCR and all further thoughts flew out of his mind when it read 9:14. Was it that late already? Where did the time go? If I don't hurry, I'm going to be late again, Hikaru thought in a rush. I'll ponder over that move later, Hikaru decided. Hurriedly, Hikaru picked up his backpack and ran downstairs at full speed for the door.

Mitsuko was already standing by the door, waiting for Hikaru while wiping her hands dried with a small kitchen towel. Hikaru rushed right passed his mother without turning to look at her.

"Oh yeah, I'm going to meet with Touya later today to practice for a tournament," Hikaru said quickly as he stepped out of his house slippers and bent slightly to reach for his brightly colored sneakers.

"Another tournament? Didn't you just finished one?" Mitsuko's slightly plump features frown with disapproval.

"Um," Hikaru answered without looking up as he struggled into his sneakers. He had long given up on trying to explain the technicalities of the professional go system to his mother.

"Are you going to be home for dinner?" Mitsuko fretted with motherly concern.

"Yeah. I think so," Hikaru replied quickly as he knelt down on one knee to tied the laces to his sneaker.

"You think so? Why don't you give me a call when you're about to leave so I'll know whether to cook your share of the dinner," Mitsuko complained, somewhat nettled at Hikaru's vague answer.

"Um," Hikaru replied without thinking as he tied the laces to the other foot of his sneaker.

He'll probably forget to call, why do I even bother to ask? Mitsuko touched her fingertips to her right temple and rolled her eyes to the ceiling.

"I'm heading out!" Hikaru called as he jumped up, grabbed his backpack and flew out the door, slamming it hard behind him.

"Have a good day!" Mitsuko answered reflexively to the closed door. Mitsuko raised a hand to smooth a strand of hair from her face and mentally began to check off a list of chores that needed to be done for the day.

She sighed.

--0--0--0--

"Dream on!" Waya shouted into the phone.

"I take it that Shindou is showing up," Isumi said as he looked at Waya's worked up expression with unabashed amusement.

Waya hung the receiver of the green payphone up with a resounding ka-cha! as he glared indignantly at his grinning companion. The golden specks in his honey-brown eyes flashed his annoyance. Waya was not sure whether he should be peeved or happy at Hikaru's flippant attitude over the phone.

"Isumi-san, did you know what Shindou said? He said that he was going to whoop my ass over the go board today! The nerve of that guy, just because he made it into the Hokuto Cup doesn't mean that he can walk all over me like a doormat!" Waya spoke loudly with pent up frustration. Well, okay, maybe Shindou is pretty good, Waya thought to himself. "To think, I was actually worried about him when he turned down an invitation for ramen the other day!"

"Oi, oi! Keep your voice down Waya. We're still in the lobby of the go institute you know," Isumi smiled indulgently as he made a motion for Waya to calm down.

Waya looked around and saw that indeed several heads were looking at their direction with a frown. Waya glanced down trying to avoid those prying eyes. His face was slightly flushed as he scratched behind his head with his left hand. Isumi glanced at the top of Waya's reddish brown hair with barely suppressed mirth and said, "Since there's going to be six of us, we better go upstairs and make sure that we get some good seats. I don't want people to be constantly walking around us when we're trying to concentrate."

"Yeah. Sounds like a plan," Waya agreed, eager to leave the lobby.

As Waya followed Isumi to the elevator banks, Waya said quietly, "I'm really glad that Shindou is back."

Isumi turned his head, his dark bangs fell attractively over his smoky-gray eyes, startled at Waya's sudden serious tone.

Waya noticed Isumi's startled reaction and smiled sheepishly. "I mean, hey! Shindou actually turned down ramen! I thought I'll never see the day when that happened. That loss to Ko Yongha must have really hit him hard," Waya said with a grin. "For a moment there, I thought that Isumi-san would have to give him another surprise visit. Heh heh."

Isumi and Waya stood side by side as they waited for the next available elevator. Waya was several inches shorter than Isumi. He was wearing his usual army fatigues with a green jacket and beige denim jeans while Isumi was casually dressed in a blue shirt and jeans.

"Oh. You mean that time when he mysteriously forfeited his matches. Somehow, I didn't get the impression that he was going to quit this time," Isumi answered thoughtfully as he looked up at the indicator lights above the elevator doors.

"Really? I thought he acted almost exactly like that other time, except he showed up for his regular games this time," Waya said as he ruffled his unruly reddish-brown spiky hair, surprised by Isumi's answer.

"Yet, he still managed to win," Isumi pointed out.

"Go figure," Waya grumbled as he pulled a hand roughly through his spiky hair.

The chrome elevator doors in front of them opened and Isumi and Waya entered without hesitation. Waya noticed that there was a contemplative expression on Isumi's calm features as Waya hit the button for the floor that they were heading.

I never told anyone about the exact details of what I saw that day, not even to Waya, Isumi thought as he recalled the day that he had just returned from China and learned from Waya that Shindou had been consistently defaulting his games.

I was waiting for him in his bedroom when the door suddenly swung open and Shindou barged into the room huffing and puffing as if he was expecting someone to be there. The sharp disappointment was evident in Shindou's eyes when he saw that it was only me instead of whomever he thought it was.

The elevator gave a loud ding as they stepped off and walked into the public playing area. They finally settled for a quiet corner where they can easily keep an eye on the comings and goings of people into the room.

Etched in Isumi's mind was the image of Hikaru with an utterly defeated look in his eyes as Isumi tried to convince him to play a game. How Hikaru suddenly broke out crying over a particularly good move that Hikaru himself just played on the board and how the spark of life gradually crept back into Hikaru's eyes and stance. All Isumi knew was that something devastating had happened to Hikaru and that Isumi gave the correct amount of push to help Hikaru overcome his emotional hurdle. Given that Isumi was a discreet person, he kept everything that he saw to himself and never once brought it up with Hikaru or with anyone else again. Isumi knew with a certainty that the look in Hikaru's eyes after his loss at Hokuto was not one of defeat, but was something else altogether.

"Isumi-san?" Waya asked with a questioning look in his honey-brown eyes. A slight frown appearing between his brows.

"Eh? Sorry?" Isumi blinked several times as Waya interrupted his thoughts.

"I said, how about a round of speed go, Isumi-san? We have at least an hour before everyone else showed up," Waya asked with a slightly raised eyebrow, all the while wondering what Isumi was thinking about.

Isumi nodded his assent, slightly embarrassed that he completely spaced out in front of Waya.

"Sure. After watching the Hokuto Cup, I feel like we have to work twice as hard just to stay on the same footing as Shindou. We cannot let him get too far ahead of us, Waya."

"Yeah. I agree. Someone has to keep Shindou in check and that'll be us," Waya grinned broadly as he took the container of go stones in front of him from the go board.

--0--0--0--

"Geez, Isumi-san, I never knew that you were that good at speed go," Waya sighed as he leaned back to stretch on his seat. Isumi had just soundly crushed Waya after their first game.

"I'm actually not that good at it, but it appears that you were too eager to take chances this morning so I was able to take advantage of your openings," Isumi answered with a slight smile.

"I really should take up on Yang Hai-san's offer and study for several months at the Chinese Weiqi Institute to polish up on my game reading skills," Waya grumbled as he cleared his stones off the board.

Isumi's shoulders shook with mirth as he imagined the shocked faces of the Chinese players as they witness two Le Pings (or two Wayas, from Isumi's perspective) play against each other over the go board.

"Isumi-san! That's not funny!" Waya exclaimed. He knew that Isumi must be imagining about him playing with his supposed identical twin Le Ping at the Chinese Go Institute.

"Yes, it is!" Isumi said as he covered his mouth with his hand, struggling, and not too successfully, not to laugh out loud.

"Alright already, Isumi-san!" Waya answered as he shot a dirty look at his friend, amusement was twinkling in Isumi's smoky-gray eyes. Waya thought about the amazed expressions on Team China's faces as they pointed their fingers at him that day at the hotel lobby and called him "Le Ping!" I guess that kid really looks a lot like me, Waya thought with a small sigh as he rolled his eyes at Isumi.

What would it be like to finally meet this Le Ping face to face? Waya thought as he crossed his arms in front of his chest. He sweatdropped at the still grinning Isumi. Yes, it ought to be an interesting meeting, Waya conceded with a grin on his face.

A/N: I hope that you enjoyed this chapter! This chapter is substantially more light-hearted than the first two chapters. D Waya! Isumi! Yay!! They're so cute and they're so much fun to write about! (I'll write a yaoi story about them one of these days... heh heh heh..., but gotta finish this saga first... lachesis twiddles her thumbs...does anyone have a good idea for a wayasumi or isumiya story? E-mail me with the suggestion and I'll give you credit for the idea if I actually write it. :-D)

This story is turning out to be quite a project. 0.0; I think all the major and minor characters from the series will make an appearance at one point or another. ha ha... Well, this is supposed to be a sequel after all.

Feedback anybody?