"Alright, alright! I'll take you to a go salon!" said Hikaru, exasperated with the persistent ghost. Sai was very pleased.

"Thank you, Hikaru~ !" Sai hugged the boy.

Hikaru remembered what the woman from the go club had said to him earlier. Well.. There's a go salon near the train station. But these are strong players,
so you might not be ready. She had told him this after being kicked out of the class for his behavior, which Hikaru didn't regret at all.

"Hikaru, it's over there!" Sai pointed his fan to a building on their right. They walked together inside the building, which appeared lively.
Sai beamed as they walked in, observing the games around him, commenting on the moves, although he knew he would not be heard. Hikaru walked
up to the desk, where stood a woman leaning on her arm, watching the games. She looked up at his approach.

"Oh, Hello! Welcome!" she greeted him, then said while pointing to a clipboard, "Write your name down here. Is this your first time here?"

"Yeah. It's my first time anywhere. Can anyone play go here?" Hikaru said while putting down his name.

"Yup. What's your go level?" the lady asked him.

Hikaru paused briefly, then thought to his friend, "Sai, are you good?" to which Sai replied indignantly, "Yes, Hikaru!!"

He told the lady, "I don't know my level, because I've never played a game." he looked at Sai, remembering what he said, then added, "But I
think I'm strong."

The lady looked curiously at him. "You've never played, but you think you're strong? Hehe." she said, putting her fingers to her mouth to cover
her smile, but Hikaru paid no attention.

Hikaru looked around for someone his age to play. "Aww! Sai, they're all geezers! " Not long after he thought that, a pair of dark eyes
looked up at them from across the room. They belonged to a boy who looked his age.

"Can I play him?" Hikaru broke the lady's thoughts, and she looked up, only to see the boy coming up to them. The boy had shoulder-length
dark hair, and green eyes. He looked friendly enough.

"Well.. he is.." the lady tried to say, when she was interrupted by the other boy.

"Sure." the boy answered him, looking briefly beside him, then back at him.

"But Akira-kun, this kid has ..!" the lady tried to protest, but the boy paid her no attention.

"Lucky! There's another kid! Much better than playing one of those geezers!" Hikaru said, raising his arms in victory, not noticing the older players
looking up at him.

"We can sit in the back." the boy said, gesturing to somewhere farther away from where he was just sitting, in the darker part of the salon.
"My name is Touya Akira." he added with a smile.

"I'm Shindou Hikaru." Hikaru told him, smiling back. "I'm in the sixth grade."

"Oh, so am I." Akira said to Hikaru.

"Hey, wait!" the lady behind the counter called, extending her arm to the bleached fringed boy. "You haven't paid yet!"

"What? I have to pay?!" Hikaru said, startled.

"Children are 500 yen."

While the other boy began to search through his pockets, Akira looked up at the lady and said, "Ishikawa-san, it's his first time here, right? Let's
give him a break."

The lady blushed and then gave in. "Well, if you say so, Akira-kun..." she said while holding her face in her hands.

"Thanks.." the other boy said, scratching his neck.

"Thank you." Akira told Ishikawa.

Akira wondered why she did not charge the man in the strange clothing, who was trailing his opponent. He was gazing eagerly at the many
games being played, as if he hadn't seen go being played in a long while, or as if it were new to him entirely. Was he not playing, or did she not see
him? The boy discarded the latter thought, because the man stood out very much, with his extremely long hair and flowing robes. Not to mention his large
hat, which added to the historical aura that bounced off him.

The two reached the go board and took their seats in front of each other, with the goban in front of them. Akira wondered if he should tell the man standing
behind Shindou's right shoulder that he could pull a chair over, but decided against it when he saw the man looking extremely happy where he was.

"So, how good are you?" Akira asked, taking his bowl and opening the lid.

"I'm not sure, but i'm probably pretty strong." Hikaru told Akira, taking his own bowl.

"Not sure, but strong? Hehe." Akira said to him, putting the lid aside on the table next to the goban. "Then, why don't you put down four or five stones?"

"I don't need a handicap. " Hikaru said to the other boy. "We're the same age."

Akira could hear the men behind him talking. He caught one of them saying, "Against Touya Akira without a handicap? Hehe, what a kid!"

"Well, yeah..." Akira said, scratching his head, unsure whether to point out that being the same age didn't mean they had the same skill.

Sai, on the other hand, spoke up. "Hikaru, just because you two are the same age doesn't mean your strength is equal!" Sai chided Hikaru from
behind him, with a teacher-like expression on him.

"Oh, nevermind that! We came to play go!" Hikaru thought to Sai, sliding himself out of the topic.

"Ok, why don't you go first." Akira offered.

"Sure, so I'll be black then." Hikaru said, opening the lid and taking a stone. "I play pretty slow. Forgive me for that. " Hikaru said, remembering the game
with his grandfather, where his grandfather had left because of his slowness.

"17-16" The man behind Hikaru said, he counted where that was, and eventually he put the stone down. Akira looked up at the man who told him where
to move, and hoped he wouldn't say moves for him anymore.

As Hikaru placed his black stone on 17-16, Akira realized how much of a beginner he was. "Oh! He holds his stones like a total beginner!" he thought.

Hikaru looked up at Akira, who was placing a stone, and thought, "Because I am one!"

After Akira placed his stone, he withdrew his hand and paused. "Did he just read my thoughts?"

"16 - 3" The man dressed in Heian clothes said, and Hikaru put the stone there, and froze. "Those were your thoughts?" He said aloud, looking up at Akira,
who was now looking angry.

"Are you going to keep telling him where to move?" Akira demanded of Sai, now standing up. He seemed to have not heard Hikaru.

Sai and Hikaru were now wide eyed. "You can see me?" Sai asked Akira.

"How? How can he see you, Sai? I thought I was the only one!" Hikaru thought to Sai.

Akira answered them both. "I don't know how I can see him. "

"Did you just read my thoughts?!" Hikaru demanded, also standing up now.

The players in the go salon were now looking at the two, who were being very noisy. The two realized they were being watch, apologized to the other
go players, and sat down embarrassedly.

"I'm not sure; it sounded like you were speaking." Akira told the boy with the bleached fringe. "But you read my mind earlier." Akira pointed out.

"Well... It sounded like you were just talking!" Hikaru said, eyes still a little wider than usual. "This is weird! And you shouldn't be able to see Sai either!"

Sai nodded, with a confused expression on his face. How had the boy been able to see him?

"Why? Why shouldn't I be able to see him?" Akira inquired, very curiously.

"You shouldn't be able to see him because..." Hikaru paused, unsure whether to tell Akira.

Sai, however, saw no problem in telling him. "Because I am a ghost." Sai promptly finished, causing a long silence.

- - - - - - - - - -

A/N : This chapter took much longer than I expected it to. I was actually going to make it longer, because I feel like it's too short, but, now I feel like it is a good way to end a chapter. I'm probably going to post more in a few days or so, but with school starting soon, I really don't know.