"You coming to grab lunch with us Shindou?" Waya asked, one hand clutching the shoe rack and the other on the back of the shoe he was trying to put on. He then tapped it a few times against the ground to adjust its position. Isumi was next to him just waiting for his other two friends to ready up, glancing at clock idly.

"I'm grabbing ramen with Ogata-san today." Answered Hikaru half-apologetically. That statement made both of his friends raise their eyebrows.

"Funny because as far as I'm concerned, you seem to hate his guts. Are you getting tutoring session or something? Can I come too?" The brunette's eyes lit up a little at the thought of having lesson with Ogata 10-dan, leaving Isumi wondering what had caused the sudden shift Hikaru's perception of the man but excited at the thought of learning from the title holder himself.

"Yeah, he was kind of a creep in the beginning but now that I've gotten to know him better, he's actually a pretty cool guy." Resting his hands on the back of his head, Hikaru grinned. "Plus, riding in that snazzy sports car of his feels pretty sick. Oh, he also takes me to all these fancy restaurants. It's great."

"What, he sounds like your dad now." Waya laughed. "Well, when you're buddy-buddy with all the pros, don't forget about us, okay? We were friends with you first."

As if on cue, a red car stopped at the entrance of the Go association and the driver's window rolled down to reveal no other than Ogata Seiji, He rested his arm on the window space, letting his elbow poke outside, nodding at both Isumi and Waya as a way to greet them.

"I'll catch you two later!" Hikaru waved, then proceeded to run for the car, only barely hearing them reply with "See you" before he jumped into the car. "Hey!" He closed the door and threw his bag on the back seat then immediately pulled on the lever under the seat to lounge.

"How was your match?" Sai asked excitedly.

"Here we go!" The boy in question took out a kifu paper from his pocket and showed it to the left side of the back seat, where he guessed Sai was. The spirit, however, was on the right side and he had to shuffle to the left to take a look at the paper.

There was a momentary silent as he quickly recorded the game and processed it in his mind. "It's a beautiful game."

Hearing that coming from Sai, Ogata repeated what the spirit had said while taking one hand off the steering wheel to ruffle Hikaru's hair.

"Euurgh, stop it!" The boy complained, annoyed that he was treating him just like Kawai always does. "I'm 16, you know? Geez." He sulked, crossing his arms in a manner that was very Sai-like.

"With the way you and Sai act, there is no way I would treat you like an adult." Ogata mocked, a smile clear on his face. It never ceased to amaze him how similar the two were—made him wonder if others pictured Ogata like the Meijin.

"At least I don't have terrible taste in music." He retaliated, fingers working the dial on the radio, only stopping when he heard a song he liked. He cranked the volume up until Ogata shook his head, half in distaste, half in amusement. He knew exactly what that song was. "Don't lose your grip on the dreams of the past, you must fight just to keep them alive..." Hikaru hummed in English with accent as heavy as lead it almost made Ogata laugh out loud. He wouldn't claim that his English was perfect either, but at least he was better than the boy.

"It's the eye of the tiger, it's the cream of the fight." Both of them sang out, head moving from side to side, singing in perfect harmony without missing a single word until the song came to an end. The whole time, Sai watched them with an amused expression on his face. He didn't understand the language, of course, but it was refreshing to see the two interacting with each other. He would have never imagined that this would ever happen, by the way that Hikaru would badmouth the older male.

"You suck at singing, Ogata-san!" Hikaru cracked up laughing after hearing the off-tune voice of the 10-dan.

"It might take you by surprise, but go players don't exactly need to know how to sing."

"What do you think Sai? He sucks right?" He turned to face the back seat where he could see no one, but the other man could.

"I think Ogata-sensei's singing voice is rather adorable." The spirit giggled.

"W—" Ogata stammered, not expecting that response by a long shot. Before he could embarrass himself, lose concentration and kill everyone in the car, he cleared his throat.

"What did he say? What did he saaay?" Hikaru rocked on the seat back and forth, desperately wanting to know what made the cold and stoic Ogata so flustered.

"He said you are a terrible singer too."

"I did not!" Sai punched Ogata's shoulders repeatedly.

"Fine, fine!" He raised his shoulder to stop the assault directed at him. "He said my singing voice was… uh…" Blood raised to his cheeks as he adjusted his glasses due to the sudden raise in temperature.

"Horrendous?"

"No. I'm not saying it." Replied Ogata, streaks of red still plastered on his cheeks.

Hikaru blinked and was silent momentarily before a shit-eating grin grew on his face. "You're blushing. That's so creepy. Did you get complimented? Did Sai said that your voice was adorable?" He rolled down the window and stuck his face out. "Ogata-san likes Sai!"

"Brat!" He panicked, grabbing Hikaru by the shirt from behind and dragged him back inside while closing the window at the same time. His hand quickly found its way to his hair and ruffled them like there was no tomorrow.

"Owowowow!" He tried to push Ogata's hand away to no avail.

It was starting to be their everyday, Hikaru would finish a match or retire for the day from the go salon and Ogata usually would try to adjust his schedule so both of them would be able to grab some lunch or dinner together. The boy would talk to Sai and Ogata would relay what Sai said while joining in the conversation himself. Sometimes they would play at Ogata's unnecessarily large apartment until late at night when occasionally Hikaru would stay over. For that reason, he had prepared a futon on the foot of his bed. At times, Hikaru would jump onto his oversized bed, claiming that he was selfish for hogging it all to himself.

Today was one of those days. Sai was analysing kifu from Go weekly magazines scattered all over the floor while Hikaru was held up by a phone call with his mum, scratching his head in frustration as he tried to explain why he had been spending time away from home at least once a week. Ogata sat in front of the goban, analysing the game he just finished against Sai.

It had never been that lively in his apartment before. He usually hated the commotion, hence why he hardly ever brought anyone over. When he was home, he wanted to be alone with NetGo, cigarette and beer. He wasn't sure why he didn't mind the noise nowadays.

"Distracted, Ogata-sensei?" Sai's voice snapped him back to reality. "How unlike you. Something on your mind?"

"I said I'll be fine! Yeah, I'm fine. I'm with a senpai from the go association." In the background, they could hear Hikaru's loud voice.

Ogata shook his head, eyes focusing on one particular cluster of stones on the top right corner. "I can't believe how brilliant your hands are."

"Yeah, he has a really nice suit and awesome car. I'm gonna be fine!"

"But you are not any less skilled. In fact, I think your go is slowly changing, for the better." Sai gave him a warm smile as he assumed a seiza next to him. "Thank you for taking care of Hikaru."

"A compliment from the internet legend Sai is something to be proud of." He took one stone from the bowl and placed it on the board, removing the wrong move that he had made on turn 120. It had costed him the game. "And I should be the one thanking you. You are the reason why he picked up go in the first place."

"What? Yeah, I've had food. Look, I'm probably gonna do this next week too. Stop bugging me—I said that it's not far!"

"Is he always a handful like that?" Ogata took a sip of the ice cold beer next to him.

"I don't think he is at all!" Sai denied, shooting up to his feet and put his hands on his hips, chest pushed forward. He looked just like a proud father. "Hikaru is a brilliant boy!"

"It's Ogata-san. Remember the guy who's always wearing the white suit?"

"Well, I suppose he is a lively company to keep around." He chuckled, glasses reflecting the blue light from the fish tank, the aquarium that Sai had always been fascinated with. "I forgot how long it has been since I've enjoyed someone else's presence in here."

"That's right. Aside from Hikaru I've never seen anyone else in here." Sai placed his finger on his chin thoughtfully as Ogata stood up to open the window and flipped out a cigarette.

"Well, if I do plan to bring someone home, I remember that you're always here and I lose all my will." He flatly retorted, covering the nicotine stick as he lit it up.

"I can leave. I can leave!" Sai flapped his hands around like he often does.

The blond leaned against the window and puffed away, smirking teasingly. "I have no interest in romantic liaison. Perhaps not for another three years." He stole a glance into the living room where he could see Hikaru still on the phone, then back at the ghost standing in front of him.

Defying all common sense in the world, he found himself being rather fond of Hikaru, and it wasn't entirely innocent either. He knew that the boy was scandalously almost half his age, but he couldn't help loving how bright and bubbly he is, smile so warm and sometimes full of mischief, attitude so approachable—pretty much everything that Ogata wasn't. Half the time when he smiled, people tend to think that he had some evil masterplan laid out in his head. Perhaps something involving utter annihilation of his opponent or the sort.

Hikaru was only 15, however. Not only did it not sit right with him, it would also cause media uproar if they found out, because gods, those journalists resembled FBI sometimes with the things they somehow were able to figure out. So, he deemed it wise to wait before he says anything to Hikaru. There was also the matter of the boy not liking men, but for now that was in the sideburner. He had gone through years without any serious romantic affiliation or even sexual gratification. 3 years wouldn't make too much of a difference, he thought.

However, seeing the silky purple hair, long eyelashes, thin lips and fair complexion of the man in front of him, Ogata found himself struggling to get his mind out of the gutter. All those years without sex had come back to bite him in the ass. It wasn't that he wasn't interested, it was that he liked go more than sex. If the person he's interested in wasn't too skilled or know nothing of go, he probably would drop them immediately as he didn't really have any other interest. Well, maybe fish. Fishes are great. Unfortunately, he could only talk about fishes for so long. On the contrary, if his partner is good at go, he probably would be playing them instead of having sex with them. Sometimes go is more intimate than bodily contact.

Ogata decided to chug the might-as-well-be-full can of beer on his hand, leaving Sai to stare at him in awe. Hopefully that would be enough to numb the sudden rise in libido swelling inside him.

"Shit," He cursed, wiping his lips using the sleeves of his blue shirt. "I'm gonna have a shower." Ogata decided. "A cold one."

It didn't take Hikaru long before he finished the phone call, grumbling as he stomped his way into the bedroom only to see that it was empty. He sat on the edge of Ogata's fluffy bed and sighed.

"Mum is still annoying sometimes!" Said Hikaru, hoping that Sai would be there with him.

"I'm sure she's just worried about you." Slowly approaching the boy, the spirit smiled even though he knew Hikaru could see nor hear him.

"It sucks how I can't see you." He mumbled, scooting up towards the pillow and lied down. "I wonder why you're Ogata-san's resident ghost now." Hikaru was convinced that such change had been very confusing for Sai too in the beginning. Was there a point for the gods to remove him from Hikaru and now push him to someone else?

It was obvious to Sai that he wasn't meant to reach the divine move as he had originally assumed. If that was the reason why he couldn't rest, why couldn't he stand by Hikaru the whole way there? He, too, had taken some time to think about it. Perhaps he wasn't there for his own benefit, perhaps he was there to help others realise their true potential—he had concluded.

"It's my match against Touya in three months, Sai. It really makes my heart race. I can't wait to beat him!" He chuckled, hoping to claim a victory against his rival and make everyone stop glorifying him as if he was the only decent young player.

"You'll do well, Hikaru! I'll teach you as much as I can!" Sai answered with the same amount of excitement.

Hikaru rolled so he was face down on the bed before he grabbed a pillow and hugged it. "Ogata-san turned out to be pretty alright, huh?" Hikaru let his bleached bangs drop messily on his forehead before taking in a deep breath after the long match he had that afternoon. "He didn't exactly give the best impression when he forced me to arrange a game between you two. Well, at least now his wish came true."

"That it did, and he doesn't disappoint." Sai smiled. "You seem to have grown quite an attachment to him, haven't you, Hikaru?"

The room was engulfed in silence as Hikaru caught a whiff of Ogata's expensive, branded cologne that as much as he hates to admit, liked. "Considering how much he smokes, his suit probably smells like tobacco. Even though he's rich, I doubt he's going to spray some cologne after each cigarette session, right Sai?"

"The amount of sticks he smokes each day has reduced though, now that you're always with him. It seems he might be a lot more thoughtful than he lets on." Sai mused while covering his lips with the oversized sleeve.

.

That cold shower had got to be the most refreshing shower that Ogata had ever taken in his life. Not only did he wash away the sudden warmth rising in his stomach and lower half, it had also helped him to regain some sort of control over his thoughts.

Slinging the towel around his neck, he put on some pants and short-sleeved shirt before walking out of the bathroom and into the bedroom where Hikaru was rolling around in his bed, pillow in his arms. Ogata stopped himself before he could think about how adorable it was.

Seeing the Ogata Seiji with loose blue t-shirt and baggy pants was enough to make Hikaru burst out laughing, choking on his spit and cough all within 3 seconds.

Suddenly feeling self-conscious, Ogata inspected himself by looking at his attire before he caught on. "Yes, I wear something else aside from suits."

"I'm sorry—" Hikaru laughed. "—It's just, I thought—" He continued for another five seconds. "—I thought you sleep in your suit!" Despite having slept over numerous times, Ogata had never bothered to change from that signature blue shirt of his. "Anyways." He took a deep breath, finally calming down. "A game, Ogata-san?"

The 10-dan sat in front of the goban, cheeks starting to flush after the beer he had chugged. Well, not that it mattered. "Sai?" He called out, and the spirit responded by sitting next to him.

"No. I want to play you." Hikaru grinned, quickly assuming seiza on the other side.

So they did. The game stretched for over an hour until the younger boy resigned and immediately passed out on the futon, arms and legs sprawled wide.

"We haven't even started reviewing yet, brat." Ogata scoffed and stopped reconstructing the match at move 8. What a handful, he thought to himself. "I don't know how you handled him." Said the bespectacled man to the spirit next to him.

"You are handling himself quite well, Ogata-sensei." Sai let out a smile and a small chuckle. "A game? Or is it time for you to rest?"

"You can wake me up at 3 in the morning after I passed out and threw up, and I'd be more than happy to play." He closed his eyes, letting out a breath of amusement. He had dreamed of playing him for months prior to their meeting, and now he had been given the honour to. Ogata didn't to miss even one chance of getting the better of Sai.

"I will remember that." The spirit replied with a streak of mischief in his tone.

.

Ogata wasn't exactly sure how it happened or if he even realised what he was doing After the 3rd game he played that night, several cans of beers downed and at 2 AM in the morning with Hikaru's loud snoring in the background, somehow he ended up in front of the computer to play some NetGo using Hikaru's—Sai's account.

He was a little tipsy, but sober enough to not play any wrong moves. Grabbing the glass of water resting next to the mouse, he chugged all of them to re-hydrate himself after all the alcohol he had consumed. Currently, he was playing the 5th game and the number of spectators had jumped from 5 to over 150. In the beginning, he had to deal with a lot of messages telling him to fuck off and to stop tainting the name Sai. Now, they were all silent.

"You're very popular." Ogata mused, as he clicked on an empty spot on the go board. "I guess your mystery's part of your charm."

Sai let out a small smile. "You don't play NetGo, Ogata-sensei?"

"There's not many skilled players. Besides, now that I have you here, I have even less reason to play NetGo. After all, I can just ask for a game and you would never turn it down."

"One of the benefits of being a spirit is that you never get tired." Sai giggled while trying to think of a good next move. Most of his games had been a teaching game, but that was fine. Sometimes the best way of learning is teaching.

"Silent teaching, huh?" Adjusting his glasses, Ogata smirked. He had realised that it wasn't Sai's true strength. "Do you have anything to say to them or did you want to keep yourself shrouded in mystery?"

"I'm content by guiding them to the right path. If they are truly dedicated to go, they will understand what I'm trying to teach them." Sai answered before specifying where he wanted to move and soon after, the opponent, an amateur 2-dan, resigned.

"It has been an honour, Sai." The player typed on the chat.

"Do you need to sleep, Ogata-sensei? It's almost 3."

"I can go for a few more games if you'd like. Playing your games make me understand what you mean by my go being 'cold'. Besides, I don't have anything tomorrow." The 10-dan shifted his body to the side slightly so he was able to rest his arm on the backrest of his seat. "Did you want me to arrange a game for you with Touya-sensei?" He asked, thinking that it would be a great way to learn.

"Touya Meijin," Sai closed his eyes, recalling the moves he played a few months ago. That was one of the best games he had played in his life. "I do would like an honour to play against him once more." Thinking about him made him shiver in excitement. "You have been very kind to me, Ogata-sensei."

"Well, it's not like I'm not reaping benefits of letting you play. It's a win-win." He chuckled.

Sai found himself staring at the screen of the magical box in front of him. Even though he had initially thought that he would not get along with the 10-dan, things took a surprising turn. He found himself being rather fond of the man, in a different way that he loved Hikaru's presence. Ogata's passion and love towards go is truly charming. He carries himself with confidence in a way that make people admire him.

Had he been a human and not a spirit, perhaps he could try to say something about it. Alas, he couldn't ask for more than he was already given. It would be selfish to.

"So, one more game?" Ogata cut through the silence, bringing Sai back to reality.

Sai smiled warmly. He knew that his time was not unlimited, and he was uncertain as to what would happen after his job is finished. However, he thought that he would make use of the time he was given to play what he always loved.

"Are you playing NetGo?" Hikaru's voice was loud in the silent room. He rubbed his eyes, yawned and stood up to approach Ogata. "Sai is playing?" His expression brightened in an instant and he placed his arm on Ogata's shoulder.

"Go back to sleep, brat. It's 3 AM." The older man said without even bothering to look at Hikaru.

"Make me." He stuck out his tongue. Ogata said nothing, but he raised his arm to ruffle Hikaru's hair. "Euuurgh, stop!"

Sai chuckled at the interaction and he shifted his eyes from the two, towards the monitor and a smile bloomed on his lips and he said softly,

"One more game."