Hikaru's Life Lessons Number Ten: Friends Recognize You Even When You Have A Dress And Make-Up On; True Friends Are The Ones Who Are Willing To Admit That They Recognize You

The silence in the room was cut by the sound of someone laughing. It was Professor Wen.

"Open matches are closed. If you want to try again, our next location will be in Thailand," he said dismissively.

Akira broke through the crowd and ran forward, grabbing Hikaru's arm. "We have to get you out of here. Come on," he hissed.

Hikaru shrugged off the arm with a sad smile. "I'm glad you still care, but I'm not leaving."

"You idiot, you're going to get caught-"

"I know. People here know me, and that's why they wouldn't believe I was Sai if I came as myself. But it only has to last long enough for me to finish the game. I know you think I'm selfish, and maybe usually I am, but I have to do this. You know why."

Akira let his hand slip away. Hikaru shouted again, "I'll play anyone here! If I beat every single one of you, will you let me play?"

Professor Wen made a gesture towards the security standing around to guard the computer.

Koyo Touya stepped in front of them. "One moment of your time, Professor. You said that you would be open to playing one more game if I would challenge. As you know, I am medically unable for one more week—which is why I would like to offer this player as a substitute."

"For you? Why?" Wen asked.

"Perhaps I simply wish to acknowledge the determination of a younger player."

Wen considered.

It was the disguise that saved Hikaru. Akira watched Professor Wen give Hikaru the once-over, and dismiss him. A teenage girl couldn't possibly be any kind of threat.

"Very well. One more game. You can all keep eating. We'll call this the dinner entertainment."

Behind Akira, Kurata asked, "Does that girl look somewhat familiar? I feel like I've seen her before. Can't quite put my finger on it."

Akira looked down. His hands were shaking.

As Hikaru stepped on to the stage, Sai followed.

Sai was in the vogue. It was the same mode he'd been in when he'd played Touya Meijin. In over a thousand years of existence, it was a state of mind he'd reached at most eight times.

Despite what Sai had said before, deep down he was not ready to let someone else achieve the Hand of God ahead of himself, and certainly not a shiny box instead of a player he could respect.

Bring it on, you metal monstrosity, he thought silently.

Let's find out who the real "SAI" is.

The urge for Akira to jump on to the stage, pick Hikaru up, and bodily care him off was almost overwhelming. Truthfully, the only thing stopping Akira was that it was already too late. There were two media cameras aimed at that stage, and Touya Meijin's surprising endorsement had ensured the entire audience was watching as well.

The make-up was very well done. Most people present who'd met Hikaru still didn't recognize him. But reporters were taking pictures, and when Hikaru's girl-face ended up plastered in media outlets around the world, his identity would never be able to remain hidden under that kind of scrutiny. There were too many people who might potentially recognize him, and even if his friends kept quiet, one of those people would blow the whistle. And then Hikaru's private media-nightmare would begin, made worse by the fact that he'd have to explain the cross-dressing too.

Akira cursed Hikaru's perpetual delusion that putting on a dress made him unrecognizable. He was an idiot.

Except he wasn't an idiot. Akira knew that Hikaru had to realize that he was going to get caught. He was doing this for Sai.

Sure, Hikaru was selfish and reckless and when he decided to be oblivious you couldn't knock sense into him with a crowbar. But he was also generous enough to sacrifice his future for a friend and brave enough to stand before a crowd of famous Go figures from around the world and make an absolute fool of himself. Hikaru would never be anyone but Hikaru, under any circumstances, wearing any clothes.

And it was up to Akira to save him, as usual.

Akira moved rapidly through the crowd, shoving people aside with uncharacteristic rudeness, until he finally found the three faces he was looking for. Three people who were huddled together and talking in whispers, sneaking concerned glances at the figure on stage who they had clearly all recognized.

Akira said, "I know that all of you don't like me very much, but I need you to help me for Hikaru's sake."

Isumi said, "I don't dislike you. In fact, I need to apologize for some assumptions I made earlier about you forcing Hikaru to cross-dress, which you clearly haven't. This was definitely a patented Hikaru scheme."

Ochi said, "I kind of admire you, I'm just not very good at being nice to people I admire."

Waya said, "You might be annoying, Akira, but I've come to realize that Hikaru is far more annoying than you are—so since I'm still friends with him, I don't see why I can't be friends with you. What do you need us to do?"

Waya slid up to his long-time teacher, Morishita. "May I have a word with you, sir?"

Morishita let himself be pulled aside.

"Do you know who that is?" Waya asked.

"Of course I know who that is, he's been coming over to my house every week for a Go study session for almost four years. What is Hikaru thinking?"

"Shh! I need to let you in on a secret. It's about Sai. He's actually a convict. He joined the Yakuza at a young age and took the fall for a hit done by his boss' son, and he ended up with a lifetime sentence. But while he was in prison he began to devote all of his time to learning how to play Go. And—he's Hikaru's uncle."

"His uncle?"

"You can understand why Hikaru doesn't talk about it. But he couldn't resist a heartfelt plea from his uncle to let him play in this match. Hikaru came here in disguise and is communicating with him with a hidden ear phone. We have to keep this a secret."

"Well, of course. Imagine if people found out Sai was a convict, it would be a serious blow to the Go world."

Waya breathed a sigh of relief and wondered how Akira Touya had known that his teacher was a passionate devotee of Yakuza movies.

Isumi said, "She was hospitalized at age ten, and she's never even seen the outside world since then. Her only possession after her parents abandoned her was a Go book."

Doi sniffed into his handkerchief. "That's so tragic!"

"Sai became friends with Hikaru when he was hospitalized for hitting his head in his grandfather's attic. He showed her how to play online. But her constitution is so weak that she can't go outside for fear of catching an illness."

"How is he playing for her?"

"There's a very small phone is his ear," Isumi explained.

Doi said, "That's the saddest story I've ever heard. Of course, we won't say anything."

Kosemura added, "Mysteries sell more papers anyway."

Ochi looked down at the piece of paper in his hands. Drawing on a lifetime of experience with the major figures of the Go world, Akira had given each of the three a list of names of people most likely to recognize Hikaru or people who had cameras, and what to say to them in order to shut them up. Ochi was the only one who had taken notes, but he couldn't help but be nervous about this. Charm was not his strong point.

"Oh, dear, they didn't tell you the full story about Sai, did they?" he asked the young female camera woman.

"Real story?"

"I guess the regular media wouldn't have heard, but everyone who plays Go knows that Sai was a ghost. A young woman was stabbed to death the night before she was supposed to take the professional test—and after that a strange player appeared on the internet. A player who couldn't be beaten."

The woman looked fascinated. Ochi continued, "But what they don't tell you is that she's been playing Go by possessing the bodies of young women. If you look directly into her eyes, you'll be the next victim. So be careful."

The woman nodded frantically, and adjusted her camera angle.

Akira said, "It's a split personality."

Kurata said, "I knew Hikaru couldn't play like that. And after seeing how hard he tries at all of his games, I can't believe he's been holding back."

Akira nodded. "But there are two Hikarus."

Kurata said, "So they both play Go, but one is a much stronger player. Like in Yugioh."

"No, not like in Yugioh!"

"Of course, it's a split personality not a ghost."

"Right…" Akira said.

Kurata asked, "So why do we have to keep this a secret? Why not tell the world?"

"Because the usual Hikaru is the dominant personality. If Hikaru was cured, Sai would disappear. And what a loss for the Go world that would be. It's tragic, but it's for the best if Hikaru never finds out about this. That's why you have to keep quiet."

"Mums the word," Kurata promised.

Waya tapped a man with a camera on the shoulder. "Excuse me?"

He turned around, camera in hand. "Yes?"

"Akira Touya says to delete any pictures you have of Sai's face or the entire world will know about the second bathroom incident. You can keep the rest of your shots, just not those."

The man paled and began deleting pictures.

Isumi whispered in another ear, "Akira Touya says you have been known to babble women's names before you pass out drunk at one of his father's parties. And that your film of this game should avoid Sai's face."

Ochi approached Kuwabara warily. The wily old title-holder gave him a predatory smile.

"Akira Touya says—it's for the good of the Go world."

"You can tell that brat I don't need him to tell me that. I know how to keep a secret."

Akira had saved the most difficult job for himself. He couldn't risk putting it off any longer—he approached Mr. Amano at the back of the room.

"So your story about Sai being a young girl will finally be vindicated in the press."

Mr. Amano smiled. "Nice try, Akira, but I can write an even better story. After I let you trick me, I went through pictures of all your friends' faces, but I couldn't remember what she looked like well enough to identify anyone. This time, I've had a very long look. And for starters, 'she' is a -"

Akira cut in, "Don't you think it's better for the Go world if we leave Sai as a mystery? All of this publicity has benefited both players and reporters. I bet your magazine has been getting more subscriptions. We want people to keep up the interest in Go—which could be hurt by a scandal."

Mr. Amano said, "In all honesty, you're right. But for me personally, a story like this could be quite profitable. So I have to take that into account as well."

Akira gritted his teeth. Sometimes you had to lay it all on the line for the one you loved.

"Do you remember that Go Weekly calendar of shirtless Go players you were trying to do that no one would agree to pose for?"

"Yes?"

"Would it still sell if I was the only one in it?"

Mr. Amano smirked. "Akira, it would sell like hotcakes if you were the only one in it."

The four young Go players met back by the drinks table. "How did it go?" Akira asked anxiously. Because it only took one person to crack a secret…

"Mission success," Waya reported. Ochi added his confirmation and Isumi gave a thumbs-up.

"How is the match going?"

"Do you think any of us had time to watch?" Ochi demanded.

A cheer went through the room. Someone next to Akira shouted, "She did it! It's the real Sai!"

Akira experienced his first ever group glomp. It wasn't as unpleasant as he might have thought.

Suddenly trying to worm free, Isumi said, "He's going to be mobbed by reporters! What about an escape route?"

Akira said, "Already taken care of."

Hikaru understood now why Sai had said that he didn't mind playing computers. Because that had been a truly beautiful game.

The final move had followed a pattern very similar to the Sai-Touya game, right down to the place Hikaru had identified after the last game.

Hikaru had felt Sai's smile behind him. "But did they really think I would play the same move? I can learn from my mistakes."

The computer had forced the game out to the end instead of resigning gracefully like Touya Meijin, but from that moment on it had been Sai's victory.

"Good game, Sai," Hikaru said.

He turned around, and there was nothing there. "Sai?"

Nothing except several people with cameras rushing the stage. Hikaru gulped.

Koyo Touya grabbed his arm and pulled him forward. Hikaru quickly followed, ducking through the side exit.

Koyo Touya planted himself in the door. "I won't let anyone come through this way, so you should have a good head start, Hikaru. I demand that you and my son explain everything to me later."

"Y-y-you know it's me?" Hikaru asked.

"I shouldn't recognize you?" Koyo gave Hikaru a closer look. "Why are you wearing a dress?"

"You mean to say that you didn't notice until now?" Hikaru gave Touya Meijin a deep look of respect. "Sir, you're crazier than I am!"

Then he hightailed it out of there. Good thing Akari had never managed to persuade him to try high-heels.

While a few curious people were searching the closest train station for Sai, Akira knew better. He went straight to the station closest to the Hokuto Cup, because that was where Hikaru would have left his clothes.

He was just going there to see if Hikaru needed any help, Akira told himself. He might need someone to smuggle the bag of woman's clothes for him. And even if Akira was helping him just this once, this completely didn't mean they were together again or anything. (Maybe, maybe if Hikaru did some serious groveling.)

Akira prepared the speech he was going to make in his head. It went something like this: so I saved your butt again, maybe mostly out of habit at this point, but I'd be lying if I said this doesn't mean that I don't care a bit, so if you care a bit then we both care and there's no point pretending we don't, not that I was doing that, but basically if you want to say you're sorry this time I'm listening.

Hikaru sat on top of a toilet seat, shoulders hunched over. He had changed back into jeans and a T-shirt, and his wig was rammed into his backpack. When he looked up, two bright blue streaks of mascara ran down his cheeks.

In a hoarse voice, he said, "Akira, Sai disappeared. He just kept getting more transparent, and then he started popping in and out of existence, and each time might be the last one he reappears, and I'm not sure if he's coming back this time—I don't know what to do!"

Akira's words dried up in his throat. When Hikaru stumbled towards him, he opened his arms and wrapped them around him.