Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot.

Warning: Same with the first chapter.

Chapter II – To Find Hikaru

After moping for a very long time, finally Sai had managed to get himself calm enough. He was here to help Hikaru and if he wanted to do that he had to find him first. After that he could mope all he wanted but not now. He started to scan his surroundings, looking for anything familiar. He was sent to help Hikaru, so he was sure the portal would at least drop him in Tokyo.

At the beginning it was a bit hard to get used to his new sight, especially with the new point of view. He used to see everything from standing position and now he had to see from a position that was more or less similar with a human's laying position. So it was a bit of a challenge to recognize his surroundings.

The first thing that he realized was that it was almost sunset and that he was in a small park. That could be easily said from the grass covered ground, some benches, and the nearby pond. His strong smelling sense could also catch the wonderful aroma of food from the takoyaki stand near the park's gate. And that was when he remembered something useful.

He had visited that stand before. Hikaru once brought some takoyaki from said stand on his way home from the Go institute but then whined about how disgusting the taste was. So that was the first and the last time they ever dropped by here. But if his memories served him right, this park located not far from the institute and he could still vaguely remembered the way back there. If he could get to the institute it would be easier for him to find Hikaru. All he had to do was wait, and hopefully sooner rather than later, Hikaru would pass by.

With a loud 'whoo' of excitement, Sai made out his mind and started to run to the gate and out of the park.

He had been running for about fifteen minutes when he finally accepted the fact that he was lost. In his excitement, he must have taken a wrong turn or something. And now he couldn't even remember how to backtrack his way to the park.

"Oh great!" he thought ironically. "Now, I will never be able to find him."

Being in this predicament really made him wished that he paid more attention to his surroundings when he was a ghost. But back then; all he had to do was tagged along behind Hikaru, so he didn't have the need to do that. But now, he sadly regretted his lack of attention on anything else other than Go.

Didn't know what to do next, the dog could only sit at the sideway and stared confusedly to the passersby. But it seemed that God hadn't forsaken him because after a while, he suddenly saw the familiar face of the person that he had been looking for, Shindou Hikaru.

000

Hikaru was walking in a cheerful mood. His heart still felt light after the wonderful victory that he got today. With that victory he was finally promoted to 5-dan, something that would bring him one step closer to his rival. Isumi-san seemed to understand that. Even though he still looked disappointed after the lost, the kind-hearted pro had congratulated Hikaru on his win. He even willingly went to the celebration of Hikaru's promotion after that.

They had been celebrating it on a newly opened sushi restaurant a few blocks away from the institute. Hikaru would have preferred ramen instead but Waya had declared loudly that since it was HIS treat, he was the one who had the right to choose the place. So he, along with Waya, Isumi, Saeki, Honda, and Fukui, had spent the whole afternoon at the sushi restaurant, eating and chatting.

They had part ways in front of the restaurant ten minutes ago and now he was alone. He had been thinking about the many possibilities of Touya's reactions after he told his rival about his promotion, most likely he would say something like 'about time', when he suddenly felt as if someone or something was following him. And when he turned around to see who his follower was, he could only gape in confusion.

At first he couldn't see anyone, but after looking further down, he finally found who his stalker was. It was a little puppy, a Siberian Husky to be more exact. He knew that because Touya had some Huskies figurines, which he placed on top of the television set. Its fur was a mix of black and white, and it was looking at Hikaru with a hopeful expression on its pale blue eyes. The expression sent a tinge of sadness to Hikaru's heart because somehow it reminded him with Sai's expression whenever he wanted to play Go.

"You want some food right? Sorry, but I don't have any…" Said Hikaru regrettably.

He could have sworn that the dog looked offended when he said that but he blamed that to his overly active imagination and shrugged it off. He really didn't know what to do when the dog kept on starring at him so he decided to just ignore it and walked on. Hopefully, it would go away after a while.

He had walked for another few minutes but the dog was still following him and it started to creep him out. And to covered it, he spun angrily to the dog and shouted at the top of his lungs

"What do you want from me? I've told you I got no food. So stop following me already." He said with a withering glare at the dog. He knew it must have looked silly for him to yell at a dog but he really hated being followed.

Now the dog looked hurt and let out a sad howl. But it still stubbornly sat before him with that hopeful look. The sad expression melted Hikaru's heart. And out of guilt he finally knelt before the dog and patted it behind the ears.

"Aww, you poor little dog. You are stranded, aren't you? I'm really sorry but I can't take you home. Touya will kill me if I do." Said Hikaru with a cringe on his face.

He had shared an apartment with Touya for five months now. Half a year ago, his father got a promotion that required him to move to Australia and Hikaru had adamantly refused to move out with his parents. So he had to find an apartment as soon as possible. He had told Touya about his situation on one of their unofficial games on the Go salon. And surprisingly, either it was out of pity or just to make Hikaru stopped moping and started to concentrate on their game properly, probably the later, Touya offered to share his new apartment with Hikaru as long as he was willing to pay half of the rent and helped him do his chores.

Hikaru had accepted the offer gratefully and since then they had shared the apartment with thankfully not that much arguments except when they were playing Go. They had respected each other's personal lives and it seemed to work fine enough so far. But if he dared to bring a dog home, he was sure that the peacefulness would be ruined. And he knew better than to wake a sleeping dragon.

It wasn't that Touya hated dogs. In fact he loved dogs, especially Siberian Huskies. That was the reason why he had many of its figurines. But the great Touya Akira was allergic to animal's fur. He found out how bad it was after his rival's encounter with Akari's new cat a few months ago. The poor guy couldn't stop sneezing that he finally decided to see a doctor who then gave him a medicine that put him into the state of half-awake for the next three days. So there was no way he would accept a fury animal in his apartment.

But he knew that if he left the dog, he would felt guilty for the rest of his life. The newly promoted 5-dan was torn between decisions now. To brought or not to brought the dog home. But finally he made his decision.

000

It had been a very long day for Touya Akira. After all, there were only so much shidougo with old men that a person could take before being completely drained both mentally and physically. When he finally returned home, all he wanted were a hot shower, a good meal, and a long peaceful sleep without any disturbance. So it was completely understandable that he screeched like a banshee when he opened the door of his apartment and was greeted by the sight of a puppy sprawled on his beloved couch beside his rival.

"Oh, hi Touya." Shindou greeted with a fake cheerfulness and a guilty look on his face. And then quickly added "I can explain this!"

And the only reply that Akira could give was "You're dead!"

To be continued

Siberian Huskies rarely bark and most of the time they just howl or yowl to communicate.

Next Chapter: A Go Playing Dog?