The usual Disclaimer: HnG does not belong to me, blah blah blah.

*Knock*Knock*

"Who's there?"

"Shindou."

"Shindou who?"

"Shindou Hikaru."

The door swung open before Hikaru. Glaring back at him from the inside was one of his best friends, Waya. "You are late! You could've at least said something funny!" Waya yelled.

"Sorry, I slept in," an apologetic grin spread across Hikaru's face, as one of his hands rubbed against the back of his head. His friend blocked the doorway for a moment longer before letting him in. Isumi and Nase were already there. It was a nice Sunday morning in March. It had been a while since he had seen his friends. Everyone had been busy with their matches now that three of them have become pros. He was supposed to be at this study session an hour ago, but as usual, he was late.

"So how's it going?" Hikaru walked in as he noticed that Isumi and Nase were in the middle of a game.

"I'm losing," the girl replied, staring at the goban between her opponent and her.

"Well, duh~" he rolled his eyes and said sarcastically. "I'm asking by how much you are losing."

"HEY!" Nase tied her eyebrows. Hikaru laughed. Waya bent down beside Isumi and put a hand on his shoulder, "Your opponent is THE Isumi Shinichirou who passed the pro exam undefeated afterall!"

Isumi, a little embarrassed, smiled humbly, "But I lost to both of you at the exam before that."

"You are taking the pro exam this year, Nase?" Hikaru asked, taking off his backpack.

"Yep, I hope I pass this year!" Nase prayed. "You guys gotta help me practice today!"

"Sure, I'll play you after you resign," Waya laughed, resulting a glare from the girl. The others laughed along. "Until then, let's play a game, Hikaru."

"You got another goban?"

"No."

"..."

"..."

"17-6!"

"16-17!" Hikaru shouted back as he realized that Waya was challenging him to play blind go.

"16-6!" The other boy responded with an anticipated grin, pointing his finger at his opponent.

"Quiet down! You are disturbing us!" Nase complained. Both boys pouted as Waya muttered something along the line: "It's not like you would win if we don't disturb you..."

"Let's play Internet Go then," Waya suggested, walking toward his computer.

Internet Go. Memories flooded into Hikaru's head. It had been two years since he played for Sai on the Internet, Hikaru thought. The last time had been the match against Touya Kouyo. It had been the game of the century. Hikaru closed his eyes and remembered the tensed aura that he had been able to felt during the game even though it had been over the Internet. Each move had been as breathtaking as the one before.

"Yo, Shindou!" Hikaru snapped open his eyes and walked to the computer as his friend launched a browser.

"Have you played Internet Go before?" Waya asked.

"Umm...no, but I've watched."

"How is it fun to play on the Internet? Pros don't play Internet Go much, so wouldn't the people who do suck?" Nase asked.

"Not necessarily. There was this unbeatable player named Sai a few years back, who played on the Internet often," Isumi explained. "I heard that even Touya Sensei wasn't able to beat him.

"Sai," Hikaru repeated the name that was so familiar to him.

"That's right. I've played him too. Back then, I was still an Insei, but he was good. He was God!" Waya praised Sai like a devoted fan. "There are fan clubs on the Internet, I am a member of some of them too!" He then quickly went to his Yahoo! Groups page via his bookmarks.

"See how many Sai clubs there are?" Waya scrolled down the page, as Nase and Isumi gathered around the monitor.

"Doesn't anyone know who he is?" Nase was confused at the sight of one of the club names - Who is Sai

"Nope. No one knows. Although there are many guesses, no one knows for sure," Waya explained. "All we know is that he's from Japan."

"I wonder if he still is," Hikaru wondered out loud.

"What do you mean, Shindou?" Isumi inquired.

"Huh? Nothing."

"Hey, why don't we look at OUR clubs? Do we have any?" Nase asked excitedly.

"You are not even a pro, Nase!" Waya mocked. "But other than you, all of us do."

"Really?" Isumi smiled anxiously, as his eyes beamed with excitement. "Can I see?"

"Eh?" Isumi looked confused as Waya clicked to the page with the list of clubs dedicated to Isumi. None of them could hold back their laughter, except for Isumi himself. Even Hikaru let go of the thought of Sai, as he laughed uncontrollably. Isumi had four fan clubs: Sexy Isumi NightClub, Hot Steamy Shinichirou Sama, Bishounen Isumi for the Gays, and finally one normal one named Isumi Shinichirou Go Club.

"Mwahahha... man, I gotta join!" Waya had tears in his eyes, while Isumi was blushing so badly.

"Let's take some sexy pictures of him and sell them on Ebay! Who knows, we can probably earn more than being a pro!" Hikaru proposed, still laughing.

"Shindou! Waya!" Isumi's pink face showed a glimpse of fear, hoping that Hikaru was joking.

"Waya, what about yours?" Noticing Isumi's expression, Nase decided to help him change the topic, although she was still trying to stop her own laughter.

"I've already checked mine before. I have two normal ones and only one fangirl one," Waya shook his head, pretending to sigh disappointedly. "Couldn't beat Isumi's THREE fangirl clubs...I mean...two fangirl and one fanboy." The three bursted out another laughter, while Isumi showed a pained look on his face.

"What about me?" Hikaru asked as he wiped his tears away. His list was almost as funny as Isumi's that even Isumi tried to hide his smile: Seductive Shindou, Hikaru no Go, and HikaAki.

"WHAT THE HELL IS HIKAAKI?" Hikaru shouted, half knowing the answer to his own question.

"Isn't that obvious, Shindou?" Nase giggled.

"I bet Touya's the founder of the club," Waya teased. "Wanna join, Hikaru? Maybe you could become the co-founder."

"Not funny, Waya!!" he yelled as the others chuckled. "Are we gonna play Internet Go or not?"

"Sure, sure, Touya Hikaru," Waya wouldn't drop it as he logged in as Zelda, his screen name.

Checking the list of players online, Waya said hopefully, "I wonder if Sai's on. I know he hasn't since two years ago after the game against Touya Sensei. But every time I log on, I just couldn't help but hope that he'd be on."

Hikaru realized that he had the exact same feeling. Every time he felt someone behind him, he would turn and hope that it would be Sai. It had been two years, but that hope just wouldn't vanish.

"SAI!" Waya suddenly screamed. He's pointing at the monitor. "It better not be another imposter!"

'Sai? Could it be really him?' Hikaru wondered. 'How could Sai log on without haunting another person? Has he found another person to possess because I was mean to him?' Question after question entered his head continuously.

"He's playing a game! Let's watch. I'll be able to tell if it's the real Sai or not," Waya proudly claimed. "I've watched many of his games."

'So have I,' Hikaru thought and agreed, "Let's watch!" He was unwilling to take his eyes off the monitor. He was afraid that the name Sai would disappear off the screen if he did.

To be Continued...Please Review