Disclaimer: Don't own Hikaru no Go, at times I wish I did though

A: everyone does moron

WR: AYA-KUN that's not nice

A:Hn….

Waiting for May

"What are you doing here?"

The question hung in the thick cold winter air. Touya Akira stood in his front doorway, with a blanket wrapped around his body. It had been snowing all day and he wasn't feeling his best so he had called out sick. He had apologized to his students but he didn't want to play unless he was playing 100. So he slept the morning away and then took a nice hot bath. After two minutes after finally settling down to read some old kifu and drink a cup of hot tea with honey, the doorbell rang. Now he was freezing and still waiting for a reply from the person standing outside his door. He glared darkly at the boy standing in front of him. There stood Shindo Hikaru, with his bleached bangs frozen from the falling snow and out of breath. The boy wasn't answering his question, just staring at him panting heavily. It was getting colder by the second.

"Did you run all the way here?" There was still no response. "Shindo!" The boy snapped out of his daze and their eyes locked. "Why are you here?" this only accomplished in having the other boy stare down at his shoes again. What was so damn fascinating that he was standing here looking at his snow covered shoes while giving him glimpses from underneath locks of bleached blonde bangs.

"I…need…I…."

"Will you just come in? It's freezing outside and you're increasing my heating bill." Touya snapped pulling the boy in from the freezing cold. Within moments the two of them were heading towards the Go room because that's where they always ended up. Touya sniffled and made Hikaru a cup of tea while reheating his now cold tea. The other boy continued stare at him as he handed him the cup.

"So what's so important that you need to come all the way here in the middle of a blizzard?" Touya asked crossly.

Shindo looked up at his rival sitting across from him. Then he turned his head to the gobans and then back to Touya, but he remained silent. He tossled his head in a negative motion as if he was arguing with himself.

"Do you want to play a game?" Touya asked concerned, Shindo was being quiet, too quiet. There was a rumor going around the Go Institute that a quiet Shindo meant inedible death of this opponent. It had been around last May when that occurred. The other pro was so humiliated and he left the profession all together. No one even dared to mention the incident let alone the name. Now, that he was face to face with a quiet Shindo and it was beginning to freak him out.

"Sure," Shindo answered after a moment, his usual smile flashed upon his features. Touya paused for a moment then offered his own smile of uncertainty, "Ok that's fine." Then he muttered, " Are you going to tell me what's up? Or are you going to tell me if you loose?."

"I could play that game but I'm not going to sink to your level of cuteness, so nice try." Shindo announced with his usual arrogance and gave Touya a wink.

"W…What.. What was that about? It was a joke Shindo," Touya asked his face suddenly felt hot and he knew it wasn't from the fever. "And I'm not cute."

Shindo snorted as they nigiri, a smirk flashing from underneath the bleach bangs. Touya sighed shaking his head, the cold must be affecting him more than he thought.

"Of course your not, especially when your falling asleep on the couch," Shindo remarked and went into the upper left corner.

"Shindo, shut up," Touya growled shooting the boy with a glare, slapping the stone down on the wooden surface.

PACHI!

An hour later the two pros had finalized the game and Shindo had seemed to tie Touya. The host was about ready to start throwing things at his rival who was throwing him a smirk from his position on the floor. "Will you stop looking so smug already and just leave." Touya snapped standing up to storm out of the room. His head was pounding from the game and the reactions. He reached the door and turned back to see Shindo staring out into the courtyard. A white layer of snow covered the ground. It was quiet and calm and Shindo was just watching the snowflakes fall from a gray blue sky. "Shindo?" he asked approaching the boy, he watched the boy breathe heavily. He could feel his forehead being hot again.

"Hey Touya," Shindo asked curiously still watching the snow fall. "You could have beaten me."

Touya shrugged and turned to look out at the courtyard, one eye studying the other boy.

"So, I usually beat you," he replied with a shrug.

"True," Shindo chuckled. "I'm grateful, I wouldn't have told you anything if you beat me anyway."

"I figured as much," Touya just smiled while shaking his head. The snow continued to fall from the sky. Two teenage boys sat side by side staring as the powder increased silently.

"Hey Touya, what are you doing in May?"

"We're pretty busy, we have a lot of tournaments coming up for titles then," Touya replied, "I have to take Meijin back from Ogata, he's been hogging for it too long."

"Ah, that's right, two years," Shindo answered whisk fully, falling back onto the floor with a flop. Arms outstretch to the side, almost touching Touya's fingertips. His bangs were hiding his eyes again as he stared at the ceiling. Touya shook his head, for some reason his face was feeling flushed again. Out of the corner he could see the ghost of a smile on his rival's lips as their fingertips brushed.

Silence fell again between the two. Touya's mind began to wander, what was Shindo doing here? He played his game and is just hanging out. Why the heck would he be hanging out at here? We' re rivals not friends. So why is he here?

"I'm going on a trip on the 1st week of May," Shindo announced out of the blue. Touya's head nearly snapped off as he whipped it to stare at the other teenager.

"WHAT! ARE YOU INSANE!" Touya moved so fast as he fisted the t-shirt of Shindo's pulling him closer as he met intense shocked green eyes. "You can't afford to take a trip during the preliminaries of the Hoinbou, not with your record. You said you wanted to take the title THIS YEAR! Shindo! Are you listening? SHINDO!" Touya was shouting at the top of his lungs furiously shaking him.

"I'm not ready yet," Shindo replied after a moment staring at Touya intently, pulling his shirt free and taking several steps back from Touya. "And I am going to take the title this year." Fierce green eyes stared back at Touya and his rival just gritted his teeth. They continued to stare at each other intently, Touya was tightening his fist and glared. "Oh never mind," Shindo threw his arms up and muttered something about, "not ready yet. Should have known." The he loudly announced as he always did when they had a fight, throwing up his hands in a familiar manner. "That's it, I'm going home." The boy headed towards the hall, his hand resting on the doorframe, pausing for a second. He turned back and flashed a smile to Touya, "I hope you feel better. I'll see you later."

"Not ready for what?" it was quiet and stern but the tone Touya was taking meant pure business.

"You're obviously not ready yet," Shindo stated while crossing his arms in front of his chest dramatically, leaning against the door frame.

Touya stared at him, Shindo had just made him feel like a child and he was enjoying this…this torture. That fact infuriated Touya, they were the same age, and how he can be so degrading. "Not ready for what?" Touya asked louder, and the glaring contest of doom began again.

"You really want to know?" Shindo asked staring at Touya intently. He nodded firmly. "I'll tell you when I beat you. That will be by the 1st week of May. Then you and I are going to go on a trip and then I'll tell you everything."

"Everything?" Touya stared with a childlike innocence, and then silence set in as Shindo allowed the other teenager to absorb what he had just said. His jaw dropped in shock as he found his knees began to shake. "You mean…"

"I want a fair and square game. I want a game that…he would be proud of. You can't let me win," Shindo interrupted him, "otherwise I won't tell you a thing and I'll know, Akira." Piercing green eyes bore into his soul, "You have until spring, and don't worry about the other games because they're going to be postponed this year."

"Why?" Touya asked.

"Because something about a leap year," Shindo muttered while holding his chin going off into deep thought, a childish smile on his face.

"That's not what I meant," Touya growled taking a forceful step forward, invading Shindo's personal space again. "I mean why are you doing this now?"

"Because I need to know if I'm really ready to move on," Shindo answered quietly, turning away and heading towards the hall. "Thanks for the game, Touya."

Touya moved before he fully process what was going on. His hands found themselves entangled in Shindo's t-shirt again. Green eyes were wide with surprise as they toppled back onto the floor, Touya landing on top of him. Touya pinned the other boy staring down at him angrily, "You think that's it. You just waltz in like you did the first time. Play a game. Say some stuff that makes no sense at all then run out. I never gave you permission to call me by name."

"What are you so angry about, Akira? You must be really sick, you usually don't loose your temper this much," Shindo gave a smile while staring up at him. His green eyes held a softer tone. "You're finally getting what you've always wanted."

"No," Touya stated firmly staring at him, "It was a tie. A tie! Damn it! I didn't win."

"You didn't loose either," Shindo replied calmly, "Neither did I. I just told you the plan that's all. You don't have to come if you don't want to."

"Why are you here?" Touya was getting tired of this merry-go-round of questions. However, Shindo seemed to like rhetorical questions.

"The same reason you are," Shindo answered with evil smile, "You seriously think you can play hooky and not have me know about it." Suddenly, the tables were turned and Touya found his back on the ground and Shindo resting on his lap. Green eyes held mischievous and victory, "I once told you I would tell you the story someday. I just wanted to see if you were ready for what it entails, Touya Akira." The two stared at each other, Touya glaring daggers at the teenager on his lap. Their faces were inches from each other, his expression was one that would make his father proud. Shindo's childlike smile just hovered over him, then he blinked breaking off the staring contest. It was brief but he swore he felt a slight pressure on his lips for a millisecond. His entire body was having hot flashes as the weight disappeared as he snapped his eyes open. "I'll see you later, Touya." Then just like a ghost, his rival was gone. He didn't hear the front door opened and closed with a slam.

That's how his parents found him when they came home hours later. Lying on the floor in the Go room, staring aimlessly at the ceiling a small smile on his lips. His face was red but not from the fever and the courtyard covered in a blanket of snow.

"Touya, what are you doing?" his mother's concerned voice broke the silence.

"Waiting for May," he replied and quickly ran towards his room.