Author's Note: Hello, there readers! Welcome to Ashes in the Wind. This is my first Hikaru No Go story, though I've had all the ideas for one for a few years now. I do suppose this is long overdue. I've written three other stories for PoT, they're on my profile if anyone is interested. I've been told they're pretty good. Anyway…enjoy, enjoy! And review! Without further delay…

Chapter 1: A Whole New World

It had never been easy. For Hikaru, adjusting to life without Sai was like adjusting to breathing without oxygen. But somehow, he had done it. Well…

"Oi, Shindou," Akira snapped at him from across the goban, "Are you planning on moving or not?"

Hikaru shook his head rapidly. Well, it was a work in progress. The near daily matches with Touya, as much as he hated to admit, were pretty much all that kept him sane.

When Hikaru was playing Touya, he somehow felt closer to Sai than anything else. Because Sai had discovered Akria's Go…Sai had inspired Akira to grow, to challenge himself and climb ever higher. Sai had given Akira something to chase. Sai would have wanted this…but Sai wasn't here.

There was only Hikaru. A poor substitute. Even though Akira had finally stopped chasing Sai's ever-elusive shadow and acknowledged Hikaru's strength, it still wasn't the same. The two boys had each other to measure themselves against now but…

It could never be the same.

"Shindou?" Akira was clearly nearing the end of his patience. The normally poised, collected Go prodigy was tapping his foot in irritation.

Hikaru blinked. He still hadn't moved.

"Sorry, Touya." He said, lacking all of his usual spunk. He cringed at how defeated his voice sounded. He studied the collections of stones on the board for a brief moment before placing one.

Touya looked up at him in sheer disbelief. His sharp, crystal blue-green gaze was cold.

"Stop kidding around!" He shouted, standing in one fluid motion. His neatly manicured tresses seemed to stand on end in anger.

The other patrons of the Go salon sighed and mumbled amongst themselves. They'd gotten used to the Shindou vs. Touya debates over the past year or so. They'd pretty much learned to expect it. Nearly every game ended with yelling, insults and finally, Hikaru storming out in a huff only to return the next day.

"I'm not kidding around!" Hikaru shouted back but his voice lacked any real conviction. Truthfully, he hadn't even looked at where he was placing the stones. He had lost all real interest in this game several minutes ago.

"That move was terrible! You just lost an entire group of stones!"

Hikaru, for the first time, actually looked carefully at the placement of his stones. "Horrid" was actually a mild word for his last couple of moves. He'd practically handed two sects of territory over to Akira on a silver platter.

You're right.

But of course, he was far too proud to say that. He stood up also; forcing his face to take on a look that he hoped was indignation.

"Yeah right, Touya! You just don't understand my strategy!"

"Strategy? That's not strategy, that's pathetic!"

Yes. I am pathetic.

"If you're going to insult me like this, I can just leave!"

"If you're going to play like that, I don't know why you came in the first place!"

Hikaru bit his lip and looked away.

Ouch.

When had Akira's taunts actually started getting to him? Probably when the green haired boy had started being exactly right.

Hikaru knew he deserved every bit of this lecture. And in that moment, he lost his will to fight back.

"I'm going home." He mumbled, catching the look of shock on Akira's face as he turned away.

"Oi, Shindou-,"

Hikaru didn't answer. He just kept walking. He was seventeen years old. He couldn't just start crying in public…he couldn't. Ichikawa-san handed him his bag without even looking up from her magazine.

Hikaru was grateful for that. Had she looked up, she would've seen the stricken look in his olive green eyes.

He managed to make it onto the train before the tears pushed their way out from between his tightly closed eyelids. No one noticed him in the late afternoon traffic, everyone was too busy absorbed in their own worlds.

There was a woman bouncing a clearly disgruntled toddler on her knee.

There was a man annoying everyone around him with a cell phone conversation.

There was an old man carrying grocery bags.

And there was a 17 year old boy with his face buried in his trademark orange sweatshirt, biting a hole through his lips to stifle the sobs that were wracking his frame.

Damn it.

Why now, of all times? With a tournament starting next week…I can't afford…to break down now.

This is my last chance…to enter the Hokuto Cup again before Yongha is too old…this time...this time…I have to beat him…

For Sai.

"A Whole New World."

That was the headline of the article in Japan's largest Go publication. Touya. Shindou. A new wave of young pros breathing new life into what some had once seen as a dying game.

Akira grimaced as he saw his picture splashed across the page. He always looked so stiff in pictures. He placed the magazine on his bedside table.

It was pointless. He couldn't sleep. He'd tried reading, playing Go, listening to classical music…nothing had worked.

His parents were in China. There was no one to talk to, nothing to break up the agonizing silence in the large house.

Maybe…just maybe he'd been too hard on Shindou earlier. Granted, the other boy had played badly…very, very badly…with total disregard for the sanctity of Go…but still.

It was evident that he was under stress…even Akira, who had been playing competitively since he could walk, was feeling the strain. He'd been tutoring students (at his father's insistence) for the upcoming Pro exam, as well as playing matches nearly every other day and studying kifu in his free time. When he wasn't doing that, he was playing Shindou. He couldn't afford to get complacent, despite the magazine's praises.

It was only going to get harder.

The Hokuto Cup qualifying matches were not going to be easy this year. Realistically, both he and Shindou would qualify but there was no doubt that there was going to be an all out battle for the third spot between Yashiro, Oichi and Waya. From what Shindou had been saying, the spiky haired upstart had grown a lot in the past year. And Oichi, in his relentless desire to replace Shindou as Akira's rival, would no doubt have grown as well.

Shindou had managed to progress to 3-dan, while Akira was a 5-dan. Despite their difference in ranking, everyone in the Go world had come to acknowledge them as the two strongest players among the youth. To be honest, Akira was more at the level of a 7-dan, while Shindou was a strong 6-dan. Sometimes, rank could be deceiving. It was unwise to go into a match with assumptions based on things like that.

Climbing up the ranks took time. It didn't matter how skilled one was- no one could become a 9-dan in a day.

Too many people had underestimated Shindou and been crushed. Akira included…all those years ago.

Touya felt his thoughts wavering, as they so often did, to the enigma that was Shindou Hikaru.

To the day they'd met…that round faced, seemingly clueless little boy who'd wondered into the Go salon.

The way he'd held the stones…indicating inexperience…and yet…the overwhelming strength lurking behind those innocent eyes.

Hikaru…who had inexplicably gone from insanely strong to pitifully weak…and then back to strong. Hikaru's pace truly was incredible…he'd only been playing for a few years and he was nearly as good as Akira, who had been taught by Japan's strongest player since he was a mere toddler.

It was obvious that Hikaru possessed a truly staggering amount of natural talent. Still…it didn't explain the shadow. That other person that existed inside Hikaru's Go. No matter how hard he wracked his brains, Akira could come up with no reasonable explanation.

Still…Hikaru had promised to tell him one day.

And until that day came, Akira knew he'd have extreme difficulty finding sleep.

Hikaru consumed him. He'd always had and probably always would.

Akira was so tired at that point, he failed to notice that the word "Go" had been nowhere in that last thought.

It had been three days.

That was the longest Hikaru had ever gone without showing up at the Go salon after school. Akira had double checked- Hikaru had showed up for his match that morning. He'd won by a strong margin. But still…Akira hadn't heard from his rival at all. Not so much as a courtesy email.

He hadn't responded to Akira's text messages, either.

Now it was starting to get annoying. Akira stared at the empty seat across from him, folding his hands neatly in his lap to disguise his immense displeasure.

It looked like he might have no choice but to actually…apologize…to Shindou.

But…he hadn't said anything unusual. The two boys had exchanged scathing barbs that would make a hardened sailor blush every day for months now. And it was normally Shindou who started it. Based on that, it seemed truly unlikely that their recent argument would leave any lasting effect.

But…if Shindou's feelings really were hurt…

"Akira-kun?"

Akira looked up from his lap to find Ichikawa-san standing there, offering him a cup of tea.

"Ah…thank you but...I have to go. I'm sorry."

The docile brown haired woman frowned.

"Has Shindou-kun still not come back?"

Akira shook his head, neatly cut bangs blocking his eyes from view.

"Gomen…I'm going."

"Ah…Akira-kun!"

Ichikawa stared at Akira's retreating form as he all but bolted out the door. Geez…he hadn't even cleared his stones.

It was always like this with the two of them. They were always chasing after each other, always arguing, always fighting and yet….always lifting each other up.

She had given up on trying to understand it.

They probably didn't even understand it themselves.

Well, as long as the two of them came back tomorrow smiling…

That was all that mattered to her.