Rivals and Friends
This takes place immediately after the manga ended.
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The tournament judge moved over to the table where Akira and Hikaru were counting territory.
"I won by ½ a point." Said Akira, looking a bit disappointed even though he just won.
"Ha! You see that Touya! I told you two years ago I was going to catch up with you and I did. I'm only behind by ½ a point."
"Shindou-kun." Said Judge.
"I could beat you any day of the week by 15 points or more. This was just luck." Said Akira.
"Touya-kun!" Said Judge.
"Oh yeah! What about this move and that one!" Said Hikaru, pointing at the board.
"Shindou!" Said the impatient judge.
"Like you can beat me with such cheap moves." Said Akira.
"Touya! Your next opponent…" Said the judge, starting to panic as the crowd started to watch the fight.
"I demand a re-match!" Said Akira.
"Fine!" Said Hikaru as he and Akira collect stones. To everyone watching it looked like the boys were set on starting another game.
"TOUYA!" Screamed the judge.
The boys finally heard the tournament judge and are startled into awareness. They blushed as they realize they were still at the Young Lions Competition and began arguing as they normally do. The room was in hushed silence and staring at the pair of them. Whispers of astonishment over the normally calm and collected Akira shouting over a match he won. Rumors of Shindou being his rival flew around the room. Chuckles about young lions roaring went among the older spectators. Akira shrugged off his embarrassment and returned to the business at hand. He stood and pointed at Hikaru as the judge sweat dropped.
"Shindou, after the tournament, a best of three match at my house."
Hikaru stood and gripping his fan with both hands said:
"You're on."
Akira was satisfied with this and spoke in a calmer manner:
"Ok, meet me outside afterwards and we will get a cab."
"A cab? Why not the train?"
"At that hour, are you crazy? The height of the rush hour."
"Fine we'll take a cab but if you got money to burn, buy me dinner. I want ramen."
"Ramen? Shindou, you have no taste. We'll have sushi."
"Ugh, I'm sick of sushi. We always have sushi. I want noodles."
"Sushi!"
"Ramen!"
"Sushi!"
"Ramen!"
"SHINDOU! TOUYA! THE TOURNAMENT!"
The boys were startled out of their childish fight again.
"Fine we will split the cab fare and buy our own food." Said Hikaru.
"Deal." Said Akira.
Akira and Hikaru shook hands over the table and Akira turned away. Akira had a small smile as he thought about the upcoming matches with Hikaru. He wondered what kind of sushi he should get as he shook hands with his trembling opponent (now even more intimidated by the fierce side of Akira Touya).
Hikaru's friends looked on in shock as he cleaned up the stones. Hikaru had a small smile too as he thought about what kind of ramen to get.
"What the heck was that?" Asked Isumi.
"They are rivals." Ochi finally admitted.
Waya looked from one boy to the other.
"They are more than rivals, they're friends."
"Huh?" The boys said collectively.
"You heard what they said, fighting over what kind of food to get. They're friends."
"When did this happen?" Asked Isumi.
"How did this happen?" Asked Ochi.
Hikaru was waylaid by some well-wishers as he worked his way over to his friends.
"Did you guys see that? A ½ point behind Touya!"
"We didn't see much but we heard plenty." Said Ochi.
"Ha, ha yeah, it gets that way with us when we play each other." Said Hikaru.
"You often have matches at his house?" Asked Isumi.
"Only a couple of times since the Cup. Mostly we meet at his salon."
"Hey can we watch your matches tonight?" Asked Waya.
Hikaru felt the weight of his fan as thought things over. As he was cleaning up the stones, he realized this was the best time to talk to Akira. He was finally ready to tell him everything. He hoped their friendship wouldn't be ruined. Telling Akira about Sai could either make them closer friends or enemies.
"Let's make it another night. This is my chance to talk to Touya privately about something important."
"We understand." Said Isumi.
"Hey wait a second what's this secret? Why didn't you tell us?" Said Waya.
"Waya!" Said Isumi.
"I didn't tell you because it doesn't concern you. I've known Touya longer than you and it's a private matter between us from back in the day." Said Hikaru.
"Waya, Shindou has no reason to tell you anything between himself and Touya." Reasoned Isumi. Waya pouted and Ochi thought:
"Is this about the 'mysterious strength', I wish I could be a fly on the wall in Touya's room."
"Come on guys lets watch Touya's match." Said Ochi.
As the boys moved to view the match, Waya reminded Hikaru:
"Don't forget to ask him about going to his house."
"I won't. I think most of Touya's friends are old men. So, it would be good for him to have some friends his own age."
"Agreed." Said Waya.
"Shh, they're starting the middle game." Said Ochi.
ceo
I hope people found this funny, now comes the real purpose of the story. One of the story lines left hanging at the end of the series is: will Hikaru tell Akira about Sai? In the next chapter I'll try to answer the question.
