For the Love of Go

New chapter!!!!

Thanks: Curtis Zidane Ziraa, Irony Random, muntos girl, aerinoutlander, Silver-White-Tiger, keelain, dragonzice, RickaZcurser and White Ivy for the reviews.

Someone complained about the way I write out the dialogues so I've changed it in this chapter:

"blah" : talking

Blah : thoughts

This chapter is more from Akiras point of view.

Hikaru no go doesn't belong to me.

Chapter 03

When he got home, Akira was greeted by his mother who said:

"Akira, go get changed for dinner. We have a guest."

"Yes, mother." he replied gently.

I don't even need to ask who the guest is, thought Akira. It's obviously Ogata-sensei. He's the only one who comes without warning us at least a day before.

His house was an old fashioned house and its wooden floor creaked with every step he took. He went up the stairs into his room. His room was neither took big nor too small and the walls were bare except for the calendar that hung near his desk. His futon that was folded neatly on the floor lay against the white wall opposite to his desks.

He went over to his closet and put on a white shirt and navy blue pant. As he got dressed, he couldn't help but think about his friend.

The boy looked like punk with his bleached hair but he was actually very punctual and polite. He pondered over how pale and fragile the boy was very often. The boy was often not present for class and it was always for the same reason. He also didn't even have physical education classes because of his health problems.

He stopped that train of thought and went to look in the mirror of the adjoined bathroom to make sure he was presentable.

As soon as he was satisfied, he went downstairs into the kitchen where his mother was making their dinner. He asked:

"Mother, do you need any help?"

"That's sweet of you, dear, but, no, I don't need any. You can go greet the guest and your father. They are in the living room."

"Alright"

He didn't try to convince her to let him help since he knew that when his mother decided on something it was hard to convince her otherwise. His mother was a beautiful and gentle spirit but she was very stubborn. She was at least 5 years younger then his father and looked young for her age. He had gotten most of his features from her but he was more like his father when it came to his behavior.

He walked down the hall towards the living room. When he reached it, he heard a voice on the other side say:

"Do you think Akira was ready to become a pro?"

"Why do you ask?" he heard his father reply.

"Well… it's just that the boy doesn't have a rival his age…you know what I mean…"

"Yes, I know there some pros who are his age but their go isn't as good as his. This troubles me but there is nothing we can do about it."

"That is true"

Akira didn't need to listen to anymore and he slid the door open. He knew he shouldn't have eavesdropped on them but he had been too surprised to stop himself from listening to the rest. He hadn't known that his father was worried about him since the man rarely showed his emotions.

Ogata-sensei was the first to greet him since his father was to the back of him:

"Ah… Akira. Did you just come back from school?"

"You've come back later then you usually do." interjected his father before he could reply to Ogata.

"Yes, I was a bit tardy because I lost track of time talking to a friend."

"A friend? May I ask who this friend is?"

"His name is Shindo Hikaru. He's a friend from school" explained Akira. "Didn't I ever mention him?

"No… Is he a go player?" asked his father.

Akira was surprised. Why on earth would he ask that? Thought Akira. Why are they interested in Shindo? He's just an ordinary guy…well except for the fact that the boy was very intelligent and weird.

"I don't know… We don't talk about go. He didn't even know I was a go player until today." Not that he knew what a go player was anyway, he thought to himself.

"Now, that is surprising!" Exclaimed Ogata in disbelief.

"What's surprising?" Akira asked him confused.

"Well…" his father replied. "Even as a child, all you ever thought about was go and you never spoke more than once to a person who didn't play go or who was not as good as you at it. This is why we were expecting your friend to be a person who loved go as much as you do and who was at least as skilled at it as you are"

"Oh…"

Now that he thought about it, his father was right. Even as a child, the only people who interested him were go players. Even though he didn't know if Shindo was a go player, there was something that attracted him to other boy. Shindo never ceased to amaze him. The boy was considered a genius but he sometimes didn't know things that most people already knew like what a pro was.

He also knew strange things and could do thing not many could. He remembered the great surprise he got when he saw the boy handwriting. It had been beautiful like the ones you saw in the museums and when he had asked were he had learned to write in that manner. The boy had replied that a good friend had taught him as though it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Sometimes, he was as carefree and innocent as a child other times he seemed like he was suffering greatly. However, before he could ever comment about it, he would revert back to his usual innocent-self.

Before, they could ask anymore about Shindo his mother came in and announced that dinner was ready.

They settled down at the low table sitting on their knees on top of the cushions. He sat down facing Ogata-sensei while sitting next to his mother who was in turn facing his father.

The food had a delicious aroma and since he was very hungry he felt his stomach growl inaudibly at the smell of the food. He waited until the adult served themselves before doing so himself.

They ate in silence for a couple of minutes before his father asked his mother:

"Did you know about Akiras friend?"

"Friend?" she asked surprised.

"So, hasn't mentioned him to you either?" Ogata asked curious.

"Well, no. Who is this friend they speak of?"

"His name is Shindo Hikaru. We go to school together and don't ask if he plays go."

"How about you invite him to dinner? I'm sure your father would like to meat him as much as I do." His mother said smiling gently.

"I will ask him when the next time I go to school." If he comes to school that is.

"Count me in. I wish to meet him too." He interjected softly. "I'm to meet the person who got Akira interested in him without using go to get his attention."

After that they ate without saying anything else. He hoped that when the time came for his parent to meet Shindo that everything will go well. For some reason, he couldn't get rid of the feeling of dread that had settled on his chest after he had agreed to invite his friend over. He finally pushed it aside and continued to eat.

END OF CHAPTER 3

In the next chapter, Akira will play the pro match and Hikaru will play more netgo.

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