Author's note: I realize that I'm very late to the party, but my husband showed me this anime this month and it absolutely blew me away. I also read the last part of the manga and was left with a feeling of incompleteness and a ton of ideas about what would happen next, what the future would have in store for Shindo Hikaru and Touya Akira. This fic is my take on their journey and on that crucial moment when Hikaru would decide to finally be completely honest with Akira. Contains some hints at romance. Apologies if that's not your cup of tea, but to me this felt completely natural for these characters. I hope you'll enjoy.

Disclaimer: I do not own these characters or the cover artwork.

The Day Hikaru told Akira Everything

The cherry blossoms were falling slowly all around him, drifting through the air. A gust of wind suddenly picked them up and carried them further through the park.

Sai…

He watched how the blossoms were falling all around him while he was laying down in the grass, arms behind his head. Floating through the air, carried on the currents of the wind. A whirlwind of pink and white.

The cherry blossoms always reminded him of Sai, although he wasn't sure why. Maybe Sai had talked about them once. So many of the conversations they used to have were already quite faded in Hikaru's mind. So many details softened and erased by time.

Sai…

It's been ten years since you disappeared, Sai.

"Shindo."

A quiet but familiar voice broke him out of his reverie. He turned his head, a piece of straw still sticking out of his mouth. Touya Akira was standing only a few feet away, looking down at him. It seemed that he had already been standing there for some time, waiting for Hikaru to notice him. His eyes were intense as always. His lips were upturned in a slight smile at the sight of Hikaru.

"So this is how Shindo Hon'ninbo is spending his afternoon before his title defense begins tomorrow?"

Hikaru grinned at his fiercest rival and best friend. He sat up and leaned back against the cherry tree he had been resting under.

"I can't think of a better way, Touya Meijin," Hikaru replied and patted at the grass next to him. "Come join me. And before you even have to ask-" he interrupted Akira as his friend was already opening his mouth. "- I have indeed come prepared." He produced a shoulder bag which had been hidden behind him out of view. He opened it to reveal a portable goban and two black, clinking pouches that clearly contained stones.

"So have I," Akira smiled and gingerly placed a paper bag in front of Hikaru before sitting down in the grass next to his friend. If he looked a bit awkward and apprehensive about ruining the purple pin striped suit that he was wearing, Hikaru made no mention of it.

"Pork ramen! My favourite!" Hikaru exclaimed enthusiastically as he rummaged through the contents of the paper bag. He produced two plastic bowls from which a delicious smell was emanating and handed Akira his portion along with some wooden chopsticks and napkins. The following moments were spent in contentment where the only sounds were slurping and Hikaru's appreciative "ooh's" and "aah's".

Akira was enjoying his meal as well though he was clearly out of his comfort zone. Balancing the food delicately in his lap he was deftly eating noodles and pork with his chopsticks while periodically glancing over at Hikaru. Hikaru however seemed to be completely absorbed in his meal until the very end.

"Aaahh.. delicious," Hikaru sighed contentedly as he swallowed the last of the soup and placed the bowl and cutlery back in the paper bag. "Thank you Touya. I really needed that".

"Of course," Akira replied before taking one last gulp of the ramen soup and also setting his dish aside. "Though I still don't understand why we can't just eat at a ramen place like normal people." He glanced at Hikaru again.

His friend was still smiling but he had a strange and distant look in his eyes. He leaned back against the tree, one knee up and an arm resting against it. He appeared to be watching the other people milling through the park, taking pictures of cherry blossoms and each other. "Normal people…" Hikaru echoed Akira's comment softly. "Is that what we are, Touya?"

Akira laughed quietly and brushed some dirt off his pants. "I suppose not," he mused. "However, what would be normal for people like us would be to keep our minds sharp and play a game or two." He glanced at the portable goban and sniffed. "Even if you have forced me to come to the park and play on that thing."

Hikaru turned his head and grinned at his friend. "Excellent. Your reluctance will provide me with an edge in the game."

Akira scoffed and turned on his knees to face his opponent. "Not likely. It will only make me more determined to beat you on this board so that we can return to playing at the Go salon like normal.. pfft, you know what I mean!" He furrowed his brows. Hikaru continued to chuckle whilst he was setting out the board and the stone pouches in front of them.

No one in the park was paying them any attention. To anyone who wasn't a part of the Go world they were just two twenty-something guys lazing about and killing an afternoon in the park with a friendly game of Go. To some others, if they had known that two 10-Dans were about to play a game here in the Shinjuku park, it would have made national news. It's one of the reasons Hikaru enjoyed being here. The anonymity of the park was perfect. No one expected to see them here so no one bothered them. It was like hiding in plain sight.

They faced each other across the 19x19 square Goban and the rest of the park, the rest of the world even, faded out of existence. Cherry blossoms swirled around them and the board. They nigiried for the stones; Hikaru won and kept the pouch of black stones.

"Onegaishimasu," they bowed respectfully to each other. Hikaru retrieved the fan that he always kept in his pocket and grasped it in his hand, giving it a small squeeze.

You're always with me, Sai.

Hikaru made his first move and watched Akira respond almost immediately with his own stone. They had a rhythm to their games now after all these years. Hikaru had lost count of how many times they had played each other by now. It must have been thousands. Just as he had promised Sai all those years ago.

Hikaru responded by placing another black stone strategically on the board. He smiled wryly to himself as he remembered the first time he had beaten Akira. It had been at the Young Lion's tournament, a few months after their first Hokuto Cup. Hikaru had then won by one and a half moku after a fierce battle until the very end. The exhilaration and the thrill he had felt at finally beating his rival had been immense. Akira had taken it surprisingly well. As they bowed to each other after Hikaru's victory, Akira had even smiled at Hikaru and there was a hint of pride in his voice as he had congratulated him on his victory. "Congratulations. Now we are true rivals, Shindo," he had said solemnly.

Hikaru had understood what he meant. After all, rivals should be equal and should continue to challenge each other and push each other to become the best versions of themselves. Hikaru's first narrow win over Akira signaled that he had now reached his level and was ready to challenge him for the rest of their lives.

The years that followed had been a whirlwind of excitement. Hikaru continued his streak of wins and successes. He rose steadily through the ranks and got more and more opportunities to participate in League matches. Him and Akira were now often competing against the higher dans while also rising swiftly in rank themselves. Ochi, Waya, Isumi and other new challengers were always hot on their heels, but it had been Touya Akira who had been the first of the new wave of Go players to secure a title and make history in the process. The youngest player ever in the history of Japan to become a title holder. Touya Meijin as he was known now for the last five years, having already successfully defended his title twice, once against Hikaru himself. Many people said that he was carrying on the legacy of his father. Hikaru knew better.

"Shindo?" Akira's voice brought him back again. His friend was staring at him thoughtfully. "It's your turn".

"Oh.. yeah. Sorry," Hikaru mumbled and examined the board before making his move. The game progressed swiftly as he now kept his focus on the board, resulting in a fierce fight as always. Even after all these years of playing against Akira, the intensity of their games never changed. Every single one was a battle to the death. They knew each other's styles and moves very well by now and yet somehow they still often managed to surprise each other with an unexpected, innovative move. Akira always pushed him harder and further than anyone else. He was like a dog with a bone, never letting go until the last stone was on the board and the match was decided. Even now after all this time they were still improving each other, sharpening each other's skills. Hikaru knew that this would never change.

"I lost.. by a moku," Hikaru sighed as he examined the result of his counted stones on the board. "I should have cut you off here but I didn't see it until it was too late. This shape of yours was too good."

"You will need to do better against Isumi-san tomorrow," Akira started collecting his stones and scooping them back into the pouch. Afterwards he paused, as if hesitating, before looking at Hikaru. "Shindo... you seem a bit distracted. Are you alright?"

Cherry blossoms fell softly all around them, coating the grass in a blanket of precious, fragile petals. Hikaru's head remained bowed.

"Is it.. Sai?"

Hikaru's head swiveled upwards as he stared at his friend. "Huh?"

"You're always a bit.. distant. At this time. Every year." Akira was watching him intently. "Ever since... what happened ten years ago. When you stopped playing." Hikaru continued to stare, so Akira went on, everything coming out in a rushed stream of words. "I notice it every time, you know. You pull away from everything and everyone for a while. And then.. you're fine again. But I can always tell that something.. or someone.. has been on your mind."

Hikaru smiled thoughtfully at his friend, his fingers idly twirling the fan that he was holding in his right hand. "You really can tell, huh?"

Akira's hands grasped his knees, his intent gaze piercing through Hikaru. "Shindo... you told me once that you would tell me everything someday. About Sai."

Hikaru was silent. Akira also said no more. He wasn't going to beg Hikaru or plead with him. He simply waited, as he had done all these years, and wondered if maybe today would be the day.

Soft petals twirled through the air in a beautiful dance of swirling colours.

It's time, Sai.

Hikaru took a deep breath and spoke, his head still lowered, staring at the ground. "I... I had never played a game of Go in my life... until the day I met you."

Akira's eyes widened, his fingers grasping his knees even tighter, yet he said nothing. His deep green eyes never left Hikaru's face.

Hikaru exhaled in a breathless laughter and touched his forehead with the closed fan. "You have no idea how long I have wanted to say that to you. To say that out loud. To hear these words spoken out loud. And this is mostly for myself, really, because you... you knew." He looked up at Akira. "That first day we met I told you how inexperienced I was, although my wins against you showed different. You could tell that I didn't even know how to hold the stones. And then three years later… you already guessed at the truth. You guessed what no one else ever did."

Akira gave him the briefest of nods, urging Hikaru to continue.

"I was just a stupid kid," Hikaru said simply. "I could never really focus on anything. Nothing grabbed my attention. School bored me. My parents were disappointed with my performance but I just didn't care. The day before we first met, I was rummaging through my grandfather's attic. I was looking for something I could sell at the local pawn shop because my parents had cut off my allowance for doing so badly at school," He grimaced, embarrassed at his behaviour from all those years ago, of trying to steal from his grandfather. "I found an old Goban in the attic. I was wiping off the dust and wondering how I could haul it out of there when.. when he found me. Sai."

He took another deep breath and kept his eyes fixed on Akira's face. "Sai was a spirit who had been trapped in the Go board. His full name was Fujiwara no Sai. No one else could see him, except for me. He... bonded himself to me."

Akira's lips parted in a soft whisper. His eyes shone. "Fuijwara no Sai.."

"I know this sounds crazy, but… He was the spirit of a man who had lived a thousand years ago," Hikaru continued. The stream of words was spilling out of him now, rushing out with each breath. Words and thoughts that had been living inside him for so many years. He almost didn't care anymore if Akira believed him or not. He had to say these things out loud.

"He was a Go teacher to the Emperor in the Heian period. Go was his consuming passion, his purpose in life. But his life was a sad tale… and it ended in suicide. His spirit became trapped in a Goban. He wanted to keep playing Go… and he got another chance when a hundred and forty years ago a boy found the board. A boy who became bonded with Sai, just like I was. His name was.. Torajiro Kuwabara."

Akira gasped. "Shuusaku?"

Hikaru nodded. "Shuusaku. Honinbou Shuusaku was also.. Fujiwara no Sai."

Dumbstruck, Akira stared at his friend. It was unbelievable, and yet… One by one, the mysterious threads that had surrounded Hikaru all these years were slowly weaving themselves together before his eyes to form a pattern. This is why Hikaru had always been so obsessed with Shuusaku. This is why he had been so adamant to play Yong Ha at the Hokuto Cup. Sai was Shuusaku… He remained silent, his gaze simply urging his friend to continue. He could say nothing for now. Only listen to the tale.

"Through Shuusaku, Sai played the most amazing games and became one of the most renown Go masters in the world." Hikaru continued while glancing down at the fan he was now grasping so tightly in his hands. "When Shuusaku died.. Sai became trapped in the Go board once more. Until I found it and he found me."

He smiled slightly. "When we bonded, I.. passed out. I woke up the next day and could hardly believe it when I started hearing Sai's voice in my head. At first I thought I was going nuts. I could see him too, though no one else could. It was like…having an imaginary friend. Except he was real." He shrugged. "As I said, I had never played Go before. I didn't care about it. But Sai was so insistent on playing that I took him to a Go salon. Just a random Go salon." Hikaru swallowed and looked up to meet Akira's intense gaze. "Where I met you."

For a moment they both remembered that day so long ago. Two young boys meeting each other in a Go salon. The innocent start of a course of events that would change their lives forever.

Akira cleared his throat. "So the games you then played with me…" He trailed off.

"It was Sai," Hikaru said simply. "He was telling me exactly where to put the stones. I had no idea what I was doing or what was happening on the board. I was indulging him."

Akira nodded as if to himself. He would never forget how those games had made him feel. How small, how insignificant, how insufficient he had felt. To be so thoroughly defeated by another kid of his own age, who claimed that he had no experience at the game. Afterwards, he had doubted himself and his own ability for so long, yet he had never given up his desire to improve. If anything, being defeated by Hikaru… no, Sai.. had spurred him on to greater heights than ever before. But it had never made any sense.

Akira forced himself out of his reverie to pay attention to Hikaru once more.

"The more I let Sai play, the more I began to… admire and respect Go players," Hikaru continued. "I saw.. the intensity with which you played. The dedication. The determination. The way you.. devoted yourselves completely to this one goal, one ambition. I had never seen or felt anything like it. And I… I realized that I wanted it. I wanted to feel this way. For the first time in my life, I knew what I wanted." Hikaru's soft green eyes met Akira's own.

"I wanted to play you," Hikaru said. "When you looked at me, you saw Sai. You saw the challenge of Sai. You were so… determined. Because you thought you saw the challenge of a lifetime in me." He smiled sadly. "You have no idea what that felt like. To have such intensity directed at me, to see and feel how badly you wanted to play me… but it wasn't me you wanted. It was Sai." He paused. "I realized then that I… I wanted you to look at me like that. Not at Sai. At me. And I… I wanted to be worthy of that."

Akira resisted the urge to reach across the Goban to touch Hikaru's shoulder. He wiped the sweat from his palms on his suit. He hadn't realized that he was trembling until now. He waited.

Hikaru unfolded the fan and examined the pattern inside. "It turned out that Sai probably had a much better deal with Shuusaku," he continued softly. "I ended up being not a very agreeable subject. You… awoke something inside me that I didn't know was there. An urge to fight, to strive for greatness. So when you asked to play me, to play Sai, I refused you. I knew then that I couldn't explain it to you. How could I tell you that I was spending every moment desperately trying to learn the game that you already thought I was brilliant at?" He chuckled mirthlessly and shook his head at the memory.

"I can only imagine what you must have thought of me then. During the school Go competition which you joined to seek me out.. I realized that I couldn't let Sai play my games anymore. I needed to do this for myself. To pit my own strength, not his, against yours. So when you and I started playing, I stopped listening to Sai and played the match myself instead. And, well.. you remember how that went." He laughed hollowly. "I was miles and miles behind you… but it didn't stop me from running after you with everything I had."

"I thought I was going insane," Akira spoke up. "I felt like I had been chasing a ghost. When you refused to play me, I spent an entire year suffering through the school Go club just to get a chance at a match with you. I wanted so desperately to find out if I had improved enough, if I had become worthy of you… And then…" He sighed. "It was the biggest disappointment of my life thus far. I couldn't believe it. I felt so.. cheated. I was so angry at you.. and at myself, for having wasted all that effort, all that time, chasing something that didn't exist. I really thought I was going crazy. But I fought hard to get over it and move on."

It was Hikaru's turn to nod sadly.

"And yet…" Akira whispered as he watched his friend with a small smile on his lips. "I never forgot about you."

Hikaru returned his smile. "I know."

They sat together for a moment in companionable silence, processing Hikaru's tale so far. Hikaru folded the portable Goban and placed it back in the bag along with the stone pouches. He then leaned back against the tree. Akira remained on his knees, facing him, patiently waiting for the tale to continue. After a while Hikaru spoke again.

"It was more difficult after that, for Sai and me. He was happy to train me of course and we played matches every day together. I learned so much from him. I was set on my path to become an Insei and then a Pro. I thought about nothing but Go, and about you. I was chasing you with the same intensity that you had been chasing Sai. Every story I heard about your success urged me on to do better, to study harder, to overcome new challenges. But Sai.. Sai also had his dreams and his ambitions. He wanted to play the Divine Hand. He was also looking for challenges. So… so I took him online where I was hoping he could play anonymously and as much as he liked. And that worked for a while again until…"

"Until Sai's match with me," Akira finished softly. "And my visit to the internet café where I found you."

Hikaru smiled. "Even then… it was like you knew. Or suspected, at least."

"His moves were so similar to our initial games. But I also knew the level of your skill. I couldn't match the two in my mind. It was infuriating," Akira admitted. "There was a voice at the back of my mind, telling me that there was a connection between you and Sai, but I just couldn't make sense of it. When I heard that you'd been spending a lot of time at the internet café.. It was like being struck by lightning." He looked at his friend. "The answer was staring me right in the face but I just couldn't see it."

Hikaru nodded. "Things got more and more difficult for Sai after that. I couldn't let him play any of my Insei or pro exam games. I was his only opponent apart from the odd match here and there where I was incognito and it made no difference to my own career. My own skill was growing rapidly, in no small part thanks to Sai's tutelage, but his own satisfaction of existence was lessening by the day."

Hikaru sighed, automatically folding and unfolding the fan in his hand. "And I just.. I didn't see it. I was too wrapped up with my own goals. I was chasing you with a single-minded purpose. Everything else was secondary, including Sai's wishes. I tried to accommodate him as best as I could, but… it was hard."

Hikaru glanced at Akira. "But then an opportunity presented itself that I couldn't pass up. Something I knew that Sai had been dreaming about ever since he had first heard of your father."

"Sai and Toyo Koya…" Akira whispered. Hikaru nodded.

"I arranged the online match with your father when I visited him at the hospital. I told your father that Sai was a friend. It was one of the last games Sai ever played," Hikaru sighed wistfully. "The most amazing game of Go I have ever seen." He hesitated, and then added, "I asked your father to keep the connection between Sai and me a secret. And… I'm sorry that the loss of the game resulted in your father retiring from the Pro world. I never meant for that to happen."

"Don't be sorry," Akira interjected softly and smiled. "My father is now happier than I've ever seen him."

Hikaru nodded thoughtfully, still idly twirling the fan in his hands. "When your father lost that game against Sai… I could see his mistake on the board. I knew how he could have turned the match around," He smiled. "I saw something that both your father and Sai had not noticed." He laughed. "Me, Shindo Hikaru, a 14 year old boy who a few years ago had never even touched a stone in his life, could spot a crucial mistake that could have changed the outcome in a game between two giants." He paused again. "After that it was not long until… until he vanished from my life forever."

He sighed and closed his eyes, his hand gently clutching the fan. He heard nothing but the rustle of leaves in branches and the background sounds of other people in the park.

"I woke up one day to find him gone." His voice sounded broken. "You have no idea what that was like. He had always been with me, every moment of every day, for over two years. While I had Sai, I was never alone. He had been my best friend and my companion, my guide and my tutor… and now he was simply gone. I searched for him everywhere. I went to Innoshima, the birth place of Torajiro. I searched every Shuusaku landmark, every place I could think of that had any significance to Sai, thinking that maybe, somehow, his spirit had become lost again and would return to a familiar place."

"When I realized I couldn't find him," Hikaru continued with a ragged breath. "I punished myself. I cursed my own ambition and blamed myself for robbing the world of Sai's brilliance. I was nothing compared to him, my Go was nothing compared to his mastery of the game. And I thought that because of my own selfishness and my refusal to let him play games, I had made Sai's spirit vanish." The tears that rolled down his cheeks felt like they were breaking free from a lifetime of imprisonment. What he couldn't see was that those same tears were flowing down Akira's face as well. "I was heartbroken. I hated myself. And I vowed to never touch another Go stone. To never give in to my selfishness again."

Akira wiped his face with the back of his sleeve and moved closer to sit next to his friend. After a moment's hesitation, he reached out and grasped the fingers of Hikaru's free hand and gave it a squeeze. He remained silent but continued to hold his hand. Akira remembered the frustration and disappointment he had felt during this time, when Hikaru had disappeared from the world of professional Go. Akira had so longed to play Hikaru after closely following his incredibly rapid advance through the Insei ranks and the pro exam. Having him disappear from the Pro scene without any explanation had been like a ringing slap in the face. Akira's frustration had eventually turned to genuine worry that had led him to once again seek out his rival, only to find him in an indescribable slump and a depression that no one could explain.

"What…" Akira cleared his throat. "What got you out of it?"

"Isumi," Hikaru replied with a small smile and squeezed Akira's hand. "He came to my house and demanded to play a game of Go with me. He wouldn't take no for an answer.. and honestly, I owed him a match. I could barely bring myself to play but I couldn't refuse his request. I was punishing myself the entire time while playing, fighting the excitement that was building inside of me, the desire to lose myself to the flow of the game that I had come to love with all my heart and soul… and then I felt him." His smile widened through the tears. "I felt Sai. Inside me. Inside my Go."

He looked at Akira and whispered softly. "So you see… you were right, all those years ago. When I came back after Sai left me. When we were playing the first real match that we had ever played together, you said that you saw someone else inside of me. Inside my game. You were right. You already found Sai ten years ago." He showed his friend the fan that he was holding in his other hand. "I carry this to always remind me of Sai and the promise I made to him, and to myself, that day when I played Isumi-san. To play thousands of games of Go and to strive to play the Hand of God until the day I die."

Akira slowly let out his breath. He stretched out his long legs in the grass, his hand firmly holding Hikaru's, his head resting against the trunk of the tree. He watched the people and the cherry blossoms, the flow of life all around them. "Thank you, Shindo," he finally said after some time. "Thank you for sharing this with me."

Some moments passed in silence.

Hikaru turned his head to look at Akira. "I have never mentioned any of this before to anyone."

"I know. How does it feel?"

"Amazing. Like a massive stone lifted from my shoulders," Hikaru exhaled and took a deep breath. "But…how do you know?"

"Because I know you better than anyone."

Hikaru laughed out loud. "I guess it's too late to ask you if you believe me."

"It is," Akira agreed, smiling wryly.

Now it was Hikaru's turn to stare at his friend. He untwined their fingers and sat up, turning to face him. "But.. do you?"

Akira thought for a moment and sat up slightly as well, raising his head. "I have always known there was something very special about you, Shindo," he said seriously. "Even when all the evidence suggested otherwise. There's a reason I have always been drawn to you, pulled to you like a magnet. Even when there was no logical reason for it. What you've told me today… well, it only explains some of it. I think I always saw the potential of greatness in you. Even when you did not see it yourself."

"Shindo, you have to understand," he suddenly said intently. "We may have met because of Sai. Sai may have brought us together. But I have stayed for you, and for you alone." His dark green eyes locked into Hikaru's own. "You cannot underestimate your own accomplishments. You have indeed had an amazing teacher. But then again, so have I," Akira shrugged and smiled. "What you have managed to achieve is nothing short of incredible. Only a fool would fail to see the incredible talent that you possess. The talent that is still growing, developing and evolving every day. And Sai was no fool." He paused and then tilted his head while looking at his friend. "Have you ever considered why you were chosen to see Sai and no one else? Why out of the millions of possibilities, only you and Shuusaku were chosen?"

Hikaru thought for a moment and then slowly shook his head. Truthfully, the thought had never occurred to him.

Akira took a deep breath, his eyes never leaving Hikaru's face.

"Shindo, I still see the challenge of a lifetime in you. And I know that I always will."

A bolt of lightning coursed through Hikaru's veins as those eyes bored deep into his very being. The intensity that he had been chasing, the determined look that he had so longed to be the focus of… it was right there in front of him. And it already had been there for years. The rivalry that had challenged them both to become some of the best players in the world, the strong bond of friendship that had grown between them over these long years of endless Go matches, championships and tournaments... it had all started on an innocent day in a Go salon more than twelve years ago. The strange relationship of a Go prodigy and a boy who had never played a game of Go in his life. Here together, to share the dream they both had. The lifelong passion and determination to be the best Go players in the world.

Akira smiled at him. It was a carefree, beautiful smile that lit up his face. "I will always be grateful to Sai," he said softly. "For bringing us together."

Hikaru's breath caught in his throat and his heart thudded deeply in his chest. They stared at each other for a long moment. Hikaru's fingers found Akira's again and together they laid down in the grass next to each other, their heads and shoulders slightly touching. His fingers were entwined with Akira's in a perfect match, like pieces of a puzzle slotting completely into place.

Afternoon was drifting into evening. Soft sunlight covered the park, the rays of the sun lengthening as it was slowly sinking below the horizon. For a moment nothing else mattered, nothing else existed except for the two young men lying next to each other, with no secrets between them and their entire lives in front of them. Together.

Hikaru closed his eyes.

Thank you, Sai. For everything.

"Will you tell me more about Sai sometime?" Akira whispered.

Hikaru breathed deeply and smiled. He nodded. "I will."

"Let's go to my house," he suggested suddenly, opening his eyes. "Let's play a few more rounds of Go. I think the world of Isumi-san but there's no way in hell that I'm letting him anywhere near my Hon'inbo title."

Akira turned to look at Hikaru and smiled. "Let's go."