A/N: Chapter 15, now. Sorry for the long wait. Both my arms got chopped off in a freak accident. You know, these things happen. 'tis but a scratch. But the lack of fingers did make it difficult to type for a while.

No actually. That didn't happen. Sorry.

The truth is, my work place had been going through some qualification assurance thing and real life suddenly became a whirlwind of paperwork, deadlines, and ridiculous requests to type more than 50k words in a month. After that… well… There was NaNoWrimo. And then I just never really found the time to type this. But here it is anyway. I hope the length somewhat make up for the time it took?

Disclaimer: May loaded her gun in silence.

Time had been insistent about getting her to a mentalogist for evaluations and treatment ever since their encounter with Merlyn. She didn't want to. She knew exactly who she had been talking to and why.

She continued to ignore the voices and visions that only she could sense. It was easy, when most of them were in a different language that she couldn't understand. But nothing ever got easy, when Merlyn was involved.

Ao Yuki does not own Hikaru no Go.

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Chapter 15:

It seemed like such a long time since he had been alone by himself.

Ever since Sai's appearance, his life had been full of Go adventures one after another. Everything in his life was suddenly filled with Go. Playing Go online, playing Go with Sai, looking at his brother play Go, and even doing tsumego in his free time. It felt overwhelming. It became difficult for him to find the time to just be alone, especially not when he had a ghost following him almost everywhere. Setsubun however, had given him an idea to get some dearly craved time alone.

A gust of wind blew past. Daisuke pulled his jacket closer together. Despite being February, there was still a definite chill in the air that spoke of winter. The blue jacket, which had once been his brother's, hung on his small body frame. The backpack slipped off his shoulders, and he adjusted it again.

It wasn't that he resented Sai's presence, exactly. He felt sad for him, and didn't mind being his pair of hands whenever he needed him. Go was all right as a game, he supposed, and he did learned a lot about Go just being able to see Sai play. But sometimes he felt like he needed to do things other than Go. He wasn't yet sure what things they were yet. He'd figure it out somehow and having some time alone would probably help him. Naturally, his mother had wanted to accompany him, or at least have Hikaru do so. But he had been insistent on making the trip alone. Even Sai wouldn't be able to follow him. Not into the shrine at least.

Time. That was what he needed now. Time alone.

The shrine rose in front of him, its distinctive roof bringing a sigh of relief. Finally. His legs were starting to ache in protest. He continued up the staircase in silence, a small smile on his face.

At this time of the day, there weren't many people around. A couple holding hands were chatting in a corner, an old man was tending to a stall selling various charms and trinkets, and a priestess wearing a traditional reed hakama was hurrying her way through with a broom in her hand.

For his first stop, Daisuke went to visit the tree at the back of the shrine.

He's always had a strange fondness for myths, legends, and folklore. Maybe it was the storybooks that his mother and occasionally, the nurses read to him while he was still in the hospital. Legend said that the Saisei tree was the source of energy for souls to make a last journey back to their body to say goodbye to their loved ones before finally departing.

He stood in front of the altar and prayed.

When he was much younger, he had once asked his mother why he couldn't have been born normal, like his brother. His mother hadn't said anything. She just gave him a hug and said 'sorry' repeatedly while something wet and hot soaked the back of his hospital gown.

He hadn't asked anyone that question again. Till now, he didn't have the answer. But he figured that it was just one of those questions that didn't have an answer. Like why humans were on Earth. And what happened before the big bang.

Slowly, he opened his eyes again and made his way back to the front of the shrine. Spotting an empty bench, he sat down and took out the sandwich in his bag.

He took a bite of the sandwich and chewed slowly, his mind drifting back to Sai again.

Even though he'd always been fascinated by the supernatural, he hadn't had any supernatural encounters before Sai came into his life. It made him wonder if there were other ghosts around. And when he died, would he become a ghost too? Being a ghost seemed like such a lonely after-life, from how Sai described it. He had many questions to ask Sai. Whether he could feel time passing while he was in the goban, whether he had seen other ghosts before, how it felt like to be a ghost, if he could pass through walls, whether he could feel if someone was using the goban he possessed, and what would happen if something happened to the goban….

But he figured it'd be rude to ask all that when they barely knew each other, so kept the questions to himself.

Sai's presence had changed his life, proving to him that there were indeed ghosts in the world and given him a new hobby that he could actually pursue. But it seemed to have changed his brother even more. He was aware that the day that Sai arrived, Hikaru became like a different person. They still spoke to each other the same way, but it was… His brother seemed to be wary of him, almost as if he didn't know him or that they were talking on different frequencies. It was strange how he didn't even played video games much anymore when they used to be his favourite thing to do.

Slightly perturbed, Daisuke realised that he seemed to play them more often than Hikaru did these days. It used to be the opposite. While he enjoyed playing them about as much as he did playing Go, he wanted to find other activities to occupy his time. Maybe now that he was going to middle school, he should join some sort of club.

That would be nice.

He took the last bite of his sandwich and threw the remaining cling wrap away into the bin. Reaching into his bag again, he took out the book in his bag that he had borrowed from the school library. A glance at his watch told him that he had around an hour left before the Sun would begin to set. The title of the book read 'The world in a drop of water'. He made himself comfortable, and began to read.

Sometime later, he stood up, shaking his head a little from all the information. A drop of water across different countries could contain so many different types of lifeform. The Sun was barely at the horizon now, and he ought to begin to make his way back.

"Daisuke…?"

The sound of his name broke his thoughts about DNA, bacteria, and viruses. He looked around for the source of the voice.

"Akari! What are you doing here?" He asked in surprise. He hadn't expected to see her, and could feel his face slightly heating up.

Akari was in her usual casual outfit; pink turtleneck and leggings with a jacket and skirt. She held up what seemed to be charms.

"I was just getting some of these. What about you?"

Daisuke smiled.

"I was just about to get them too. Are you leaving soon?"

Akari nodded.

"Let's walk back together then!"

Daisuke felt as if someone had pasted springs in his shoes. Akari's presence had always cheered him up. He kept the book away in his bag. After getting a few health and study charms together, the two of them then made their way home, chatting all the while.

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The difference between Haze Junior High School and Kaio Junior High School was obvious to him.

It wasn't just the physical aspect either. True, the physical part of it was there as well. Kaio was much bigger than Haze, had corridors that were re-painted annually, and didn't smell like old socks and shoes. But the entire atmosphere was different as well. In Kaio, people carried books almost everywhere, just so they could catch up on a bit of reading in between lessons while walking along the corridors or during lunch. In Haze, it seemed that books weren't really in anyone's dictionary. If they even had dictionaries. People generally ran or hopped around, swinging their bags as they would a weapon. The noise level was significantly higher, and Akira wasn't as conspicuously out of place as he thought he would with his grey suit, what with several other students that dressed up in the same way.

For the past few weeks, he had spent his time orientating himself around his room, his house, and the neighbourhood again since both he and his mother had shifted house around two years ago after his father's death. He spent more time with his parents as well. He visited Ogata-san, Aishiwara-san, and his father's Go salon. While he knew they were not actions that were entirely out of character for him, they were certainly odd when done in succession.

The fact that his last waking memory before waking up as a twelve years old had been sitting at Shindou's side did not escape his notice. Ever since then, he had lived in a dream-like state, half-wondered if he was in a highly elaborated dream, half thinking that playing too much Go had finally made him insane. But each day that he woke up in his twelve year old body confirmed that he had indeed somehow travelled back in time.

Hikaru definitely had something to do with this, even if Akira couldn't fathom how exactly anyone had the ability to turn back time.

Briefly, he glanced down at the paper clutched in his hand that the administrator had kindly given him. According to it, he was now near the science labs. A small sign on A4 paper pointed out that the 'Haze Go Club' was now currently in session

He frowned slightly at the sign. It had taken the administrator quite a while before informing him that while they did have a Go club, it wasn't a legitimate one as they did not have enough members. According to the teacher in charge, they had their 'sessions' in one of the science labs.

Akira wondered about that. If he had not been born to a father who played Go, or been in a school with a Go club, how would his life had been? He'd have liked to think that Go and him were linked in such a way that they would have eventually found each other anyway. But he wasn't so sure.

Steeling his sudden bout of nerves, Akira slide opened the door.

At first, he was puzzled. The room appeared to be void of inhabitants. There were the usual rows of tables and science apparatus on them, looking slightly worse for wear. He could spot a few broken breakers at the desk in front of the room. There wasn't even a sign of any gobans around to indicate that there was a Go club here.

He was just about to back out of the room and return to the main office when there was a 'thud' followed by someone who yelped in pain.

"Ouch!"

Akira blinked.

A boy straightened from one of the back row of tables against the wall, his left hand rubbing his skull and right hand adjusting the skewed spectacles on his nose. He had apparently been looking for something in the cupboards below the drawers.

"Oh! Hello. Are you here to join the club?" The boy had a hopeful expression on his face.

"Ah, hello. Sorry for bothering you," Akira gave a slight nod of his head, "This is the Go club?"

He got a nod in return.

"I am looking for a club member named Shindou Hikaru."

The other boy looked nonplussed.

"I'm sorry. But there isn't any other members so far…." He replied sadly.

Akira was thrown off for a second. No other member? How…?

Ahh.. Of course. It was February. School hadn't begun, so Hikaru wouldn't Haze yet. Even so, to be in a club with only one member was…

Realising that he had been pausing too long without saying anything for it to be socially acceptable, Akira quickly said.

"I'm sorry. My name is Touya Akira and I am here to visit the school grounds. I apologise if I have disturbed you in anyway. I have other areas of the school to tour, so…"

"Wait! You're Touya Akira? Touya Meijin's son?" He was visibly surprised.

Akira blinked. He hadn't expected to be recognised, but he supposed someone who was running a Go-club without other members must have heard of his father, at least. He nodded.

"I am… Sorry to disturb you. I will be leaving now…"

"No, no! Please, wait!" The boy hurriedly bended down again, and this time he emerged with a plastic goban. He was smiling widely, waving the said plastic goban in the air .

"It's not every day that I meet a top player of Go. Can you… can you play a game with me?"

He hesitated for a moment. Just. But then he smiled and stepped forward further into the room.

"I would be happy to. Would a four stones handicap be fine with you?"

While waiting for the other boy to set up the goban, he found that he became more curious about Haze's Go club. What made the other boy decide to continue a club that only had one member? It was such a vast difference from Kaio, who had more than fifty members at any one time.

He wasn't sure if he could do it had it been him.

"Could I have a five stones handicap, please?"

He gestured with his hands to say 'go ahead'.

"Oh I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Kimihiro Tsutsui," he said as he placed the small magnetic stones on the board.

The game began.

Among his 18 years of life, he'd always found Go to be an exciting game. He loved the way the patterns emerge slowly, unfolding itself like a puzzle. He loved how each piece of stone, in different circumstances, symbolised the difference between victory and defeat. He loved how the path to victory would shine brightly in his mind, and his fingers work to recreate it on the board.

He was aware that through Go, an experienced player can detect hints of the current mood of the other player. And from what he could sense, Kimihiro-san was not all focused on the game. His eyes seemed troubled, and his moves were almost erratic. He was occasionally engrossed and focused, but other times his hands twitched and clenched randomly. The way he played told Akira that there was something obviously on his mind, even if he obviously tried to concentrate on the game.

In mid-game, Akira paused. There wasn't any point in playing someone that was obviously distracted.

"Perhaps we could play another day, Kimihiro-san."

The other player dropped the stone in his hand on the board and sighed.

"It was that obvious? I'm sorry. It's just that I have a friend in the hospital, and I can't really concentrate now…"

Akira nodded in understanding.

"Another time then." He got up to leave. "It's been a pleasure."

"No, no. The pleasure is all mine." Kimihiro Tsutsui got up as well.

Before Akira left the science room, there was a hesitant 'erm'.

He turned around.

"Are you joining Haze, Touya-san?"

The thought spread around his mind and lodged itself there. He came to Haze mainly to find and talk to Hikaru… But to join the school…?

"Maybe," he replied with a smiled and left.

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In the end, she had been late for dinner that day anyway. Her parents had understood, although her mother continued to be hesitant about letting her visit the hospital today.

Akari held in her hands a charm for health that she had gotten when she met Daisuke the other day. This was her second visit to the hospital. During her first one, he had been asleep. She contemplated just leaving the charm at his side, but since she felt that the charm would work better if she gave it to him personally, she decided to come back another day. It wasn't as if she was busy or anything. She could afford the time.

Her footsteps echoed slightly against the powder blue linoleum tiles. It had been almost a month since the incident. She had been thankful to kami that the gang, in their haste to get away on their motorcycle, did not notice her badly hidden hiding place. After she had calmed down her rampaging heart, she fumbled with her phone and managed to call the ambulance. The slight stutter that she had as a child came back when they asked her about the prone body on the floor.

She remembered that day well. Swallowing, she had forced herself to stand up on her wobbly legs. Aware that she was potentially making her way to a body that was no longer alive, Akira had continued on anyway. She let out a breath that she didn't know she had been holding when she saw the rise and fall of his chest. She described what she saw in what she thought was a relatively calm voice, even with the slight stutter.

That's 205. Here's 207. 209…

The bruises and blood had made it difficult for her to identify him at first, but when the ambulance took him away on the stretcher, she realised that she had seen him before. He was a student in Haze Junior High, and from what she can remember from Hikaru that day, he was from the Go club there.

221. She was here.

The door slid opened when she pressed the button, and she went in.

Kaga was sitting up, his hand holding onto a small bag and rummaging through it. The first thing she noticed was the bandages that were still wrapped around his left eye and right arm. She felt a little awkward, with him staring at her. But she stepped forward again anyway, and introduced herself.

"Hello. I'm Fujisaki Akari. I'm-"

"I know. The girl that saved me right?"

Akari blinked. How had he…?

"I met a nurse the other day. She told me a girl with red hair was the one that called the ambulance. It's not everyday you meet people with red hair…" He placed the bag in his hand on a desk at the side.

"Thank you, Fujisaki-san." He bowed from the waist stiffly, as if the action pained him in some way.

"You're welcome."

A few seconds of silence passed. Akari chewed the insides of her lips and stepped forward.

"Here. This is a health charm from the Saisei shrine." She placed the charm in his hand, and gave a tentative smile.

"… Oh. Sure. Thanks," he said.

"So… How are you feeling now?"

His left hand automatically rose to touch the bandages around his left eye.

"Better than before." He shrugged, and then grimaced.

"I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Tetsuo Kaga."

"Tetso Kaga. Nice to meet you again. We've met before… You know. At the food festival?"

It seemed to take him a few second to think. He frowned.

"Yeah. You… you're that Shindou Hikaru's girlfriend right?"

She sighed in annoyance. It seemed to her that everyone made the same conclusion.

"No. We're just childhood friends."

He snorted, as if he didn't believe her one bit.

"How did you boyfriend got into playing Go anyway?"

It was on her tongue to tell him that he wasn't her boyfriend, but stopped herself. What was the point? It didn't seem as if he was the type to change his mind easily. She pursed her lips together and replied.

"He just did. Right after his trip to the hospital. I heard from Daisuke that they even joined some sort of Go class a while ago…."

Something seemed to flash in his eyes.

"He picked it up? Just like that?"

"Yes," Akari replied, moving to sit down on the chair beside the bed.

"But I don't understand it. What is so interesting about Go? It is just putting some black and white stones on a board."

There was a strange silence.

"Have you ever taken drugs before?"

Akari blinked. What…? Drugs?

"Judging by your expression, you probably haven't." He smirked. Akari felt an urge to stand up and leave. This Tetsuo guy was obviously not quite right in the head. He continued.

"Some people get addicted to that stuff. Some don't. But once you do…" He shook his head.

"Go is like that," he continued, "If you played and got addicted to it, you think about it all the time. Everything is suddenly about Go. It's sorta hard to explain."

"You took… drugs…?" She asked cautiously. It wasn't the sort of thing to ask someone after all. Her urge to stand up and leave increased.

He let out a bark of laughter. Somehow, the sight of bandages became less unsettling.

"Of course not. What am I? Stupid?"

She huffed in irritation. He didn't have to be rude about it.

"But I was in America for a while a few years back. Had a friend who got into that. It really messed him up."

He shook his head.

"You ought to confess you know."

The change in topic was starting to unsettle Akira.

"What…?"

"You like him, right? Then go confess or something."

She didn't though about denying it. Hikaru… For some reason, she liked him. She didn't try to figure out why all that much. It didn't seem to be a type of feeling that you can cut open and examine.

"It's not that easy, you know. You may like drugs and all that, but the drug doesn't have to like you back."

He laughed.

"That's a good one."

He gave a yawn.

"Oh. Sorry to trouble you… I will be going off now."

"Yeah, yeah. See you, Fujisaki." He yawned again.

When she was about to close the door behind her, the nurse came in.

"Hello! Were you going to visit Tetsuo-kun? Sorry, he just finished taking a lot of medication a few minutes ago so he's sleeping right now. You can come back in about four hour's time and he should be awake by then!"

Akari frowned. Butshe was just talking to him a while ago…?

When she looked back, he was lying on the bed with eyes closed. Tetsuo Kaga. A brash, pushy, and loud guy was the impression she got. Then again, it wasn't as if she hadn't known any brash, pushy, and loud guys before…

She shook her head and left.

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The chills of winter were finally fading away. The go stones were finally warm enough to be held without having his fingers frozen. He grabbed the cup of tea next to the well-worn but equally well-cared for goban and sipped.

Shirakawa, now 8th dan, wondered not for the first time, the reason for his sudden ambition.

And the answer came to him again, as clear as the first time he thought about it.

Shindou Hikaru. A boy that was just about slightly more than a third of his age, with ten times more talent than him.

When he had announced that he would continue the exams, there were many raised eyebrows and whispers from members in the study group. It had been somewhat a secret, that he had intended to stop participating the titles tournament, the oteai, and concentrate on teaching Go.

He had found them meaningless, and told Morishita-sensei so. Despite reaching 7th dan, he felt that hadn't grown in strength. As long as he won a certain number of matches, he rose in rank. His true strength didn't matter. His loses didn't matter as long as he could beat a certain number of pros. He didn't want that.

Or rather, he was in a sense, giving up.

But he hadn't felt shame in that. If he focused on teaching, he could earn more money. His girlfriend, Chiko, had hinted that she wanted to get married after all. For the past year, he had been working on a book for beginner Go players, resigned to his fate. He simply didn't have the talents or shamelessness to rise any higher than he did. It would not be right. The small amount of money that he won from the matches wouldn't be able to fund a marriage.

Then Shindou Hikaru came along. As if a fire had been lit up in him, he realised that he didn't want to let go like that. He didn't want to give up. Shindou Hikaru had given him something that he hadn't had before; burning curiosity. He felt that he wanted, no needed, to be there at the front lines to see the suddenly expanding Go world. If there was a new wave coming in the world of Go, he would continue on until the new wave extinguished him.

The cup of tea consumed, Shirakawa continued placing the few final stones on the goban, bringing the game almost to an end.

He would have settled for being mediocre. A 7-dan sensei. A respectable job.

But now?

Now he didn't want to give up anymore. He would fight.

With a final 'clack' of the go stone, Shirakawa stood up.

And he would fight till the end.

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After Akira visited Haze, he went to the Go association. Just to be thorough. But as he had expected, they didn't have any record of anyone named Shindou anything there. Hikaru or otherwise. There was someone registered as Shinkou Hikata there… But he was listed as a man in his sixties and still a 1-dan.

Guess he'd just have to wait till April arrives to find Hikaru in Haze.

Walking to the train station, Akira sighed. The Go association hadn't changed much, compared to the one in the future. But he did forgotten that they hadn't yet expanded and almost walked into a storeroom, thinking that it was the Sakura room where visiting pros could relax and drink tea while playing Go. Some things change in seven years. Others stayed the same. The receptionist for example, had been younger, but otherwise essentially the same person.

Even her greetings hadn't varied.

Still it was frustrating, not being able to find the person that he was sure could clarify things for him. Back in the future, Hikaru had long since moved out of his parent's house. That was the address that he remembered now. He wished he had taken more noticed of where Hikaru stayed before he moved. That would be helpful now.

Akira wasn't certain why he was so sure that the cause for his time travelling… or whatever this is, was caused by Hikaru. It was just an instinctual knowledge. Logically, he shouldn't be placing the blame on Hikaru. For all he knew, it could have been Ogata-san. Or Ashiwara. Or his father.

He shook his head firmly. No. It was definitely Hikaru. Hikaru and his… twin.

He wasn't quite sure how to feel about that, Hikaru having a twin. As if one of him wasn't enough.

Meanwhile… He placed another stone on the board. The person sitting opposite him bowed her head, mumbling the traditional words for defeat.

Meanwhile, Akira would continue to play go.

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A/N: I have no idea if schools in Japan would allow potential students to browse the school nilly willy, but for the sake of this story, let's say they would? I don't know when the next chapter would be up… Hopefully soon.