That's an interesting idea, you wrote down here.
I enjoyed reading your little story.

I love this! It's beautiful and sad and so in character, and really captures the feel of the series. And I'm so glad you did the research to make it all fit, because it's perfect and that much more wonderful for it. ...I just LOVE this.

The sheer amount of work you put into this aside (looking up history and trying to predict story timelines on a manga? Nerd. ;), you really hit the heartstrings with your writing and this fiction was another example of your alluring and downright superb prose.

I always admire how you plan out your one-shots, and this is no exception. Each year is such a vivid painting of Hikaru's growth as both a Go player and a person, and the bits with Akari is just plain cute. Hikaru is such a girly man.

You portrayed Sai wonderfully, giving him the mentor air that he exudes and how he teaches Hikaru (or tries to) more than just Go. I really thought you also nailed his eccentric nature (lawl at the Torajiro part) and breathed the same sort of life into him that Hotta would.

The fifteenth birthday and Hikaru's interactions with everyone at this point was done splendidly. He was definitely grown up here (at least in comparison to how you portrayed him earlier) and I really admire how you still made him seem vaguely unfocused, distracted by recovering from Sai's abrupt disappearance. Awesome bit with the star burning out and how vulnerable Hikaru is before he goes to sleep and wishes for Sai's return. However, what's even more awesome is how everything you wrote in this one-shot could just as easily fit into the actual story: you really just gave everything more depth and feeling.

It was a somewhat short but extremely satisfying one-shot that honestly couldn't have been done better. You never cease to amaze.

You managed to capture Hikaru's transition from whiny kid to contemplative teenager perfectly. 5 stars.

:)

I appreciate your attention to detail. Not just on specific dates, but how each character has changed over the years. This is a wonderful story. Thank you.

-AKung
aeckung(at)gmail(dot)com

*sniff* Why is everything making my cry today... (It could have something to do with the icky fever that actually made me too dizzy to walk a bit ago, but eh.) Very well done. *applauds*

Lilz

You make me want to make a fanfic now with Sai's birthday. X_X But maybe you could end up writing one, too. :D I don't think I know how they celebrate their birthdays there, too. I doubt they blow out candles on cakes... so I wonder how. @_@

Your fic got very beautiful in the end. I loved the sentence "He imagined all those little fires flickering, a thousand candles strong, a thousand years extinguished in a single careless breath, existing nowhere now but in his memory and in his go." This could be very well something Hikaru would think.
I also thing that your hard research payed off, it was quite realistic.

It was...sad yet it was beutifull.And yeah,we take bday for granted didnt we?Anyway it was beutifull !_!

This fic is a case of "like at first read/love at second". A beautiful, endearing succession of birthday scenes, with evolving characters who remain totally IC and credible. A tad nostalgic, but very lively altogether. To make it brief: totally Hikago-like! You spent time on this, it paid off: welcome to my favs ^^