DISCLAIMER: Hikaru no Go and its characters belong to Hotta Yumi and Obata Takeshi.

WARNINGS: Sequel to "The Long Awaited Confession". No spoilers per se, but might be a bit difficult to understand if you didn't read the manga or didn't see the anime. Language – from our dear Hikaru, maybe others – possible underage drinking again and mild boy on boy theme. Or maybe not so mild, depending on my mood.

A/N: I apologize for any errors, discrepancies, inaccuracies or mistakes for they are all mine, as this work is unbeta'd. Reviews are really appreciated. Please don't tell me I'm going to have to hand out cookies for reviews.

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The Morning After Prologue

I wake up with the first rays of light filtering through the shutters of an unknown hotel room. My head feels like exploding any moment now and I am queasy. I grunt unhappily and my tongue feels thick in my mouth. 'Where am I and what am I doing here?' Even thinking on my current situation is generating a literally mind-blowing headache. I open my eyes partway and don't distinguish anything familiar. I am lying on a bed, over the covers. I am still dressed. I suppose I need a few more minutes for assessing my predicament.

"Good morning, sunshine!" The cheery, loud and derisive voice of Shindou is causing me to moan in pain as my skull is pierced by this sound like by a thousand arrows. I can barely see him sitting on the edge of the second twin single bed adorning the room. "Time to wake up, sleepyhead!" I can't help but wonder why he is so sarcastic and uncaring when I am obviously ill.

"Come on" he said in a lower voice, "you need to drink a glass or two of water and take some aspirin. Or you're gonna have a terrible hangover all day." He holds a glass out to me and hands me a couple of pills.

"Aspirin? Hangover? About what…? What?" I am suddenly worried that I might be seriously sick as I cannot utter a simple coherent question. I take the glass and the pills, and swallow them in a few sips. I try to speak again, but I can only croak some words. "Hangover? What?"

"Touya, at the moment, you're completely pathetic. Please, go back to sleep and we'll talk again when you feel better. Don't worry about the train tickets; I went to the station to swap them. Don't worry about your go students either; I called the Go institute to let them know that you're not available. Everything is being rescheduled. Everything is gonna be just fine." I can hear the strain in Shindou's voice beneath the usual buoyancy. "Just go back to sleep for now, okay?"

The moment I close my eyes, I feel a great relief flooding me and drift into a dreamless slumber.

I open my eyes to the sound of Shindou flicking through the TV channels. I feel a lot better. I even remember where we are – Innoshima – and what we have come here to do – Shindou confessing about who Sai is, or should I say was, and his relation with him. I don't find ghosts' stories entertaining, but this one was true and special. To Shindou. And to me. His sincerity and openness with me has alleviated my heart. We truly are best friends.

"Howdy," he calls out. "Did I wake you up with the television? Sorry about that, I was getting a bit bored, but I can totally turn it off if you want to sleep some more, you know, it's not like I want to watch TV, I was just…" He is blathering. He is blushing. 'What is going on here?' I think it is time to get up and find out.

"What happened, Shindou?" I go straight to the point. No use in beating about the bush.

"You mean you don't remember?" Shindou looks absolutely horrified at the notion.

"It was about May the fifth… We went to Innoshima together because I won our last official game. You told me about Sai while we were sitting on Shuusaku Honinbou's grave. You told me how he appeared to you when you were twelve and had no idea what go was. You told me it was him who played against me the first two times we played and how he taught you after that because you wanted me to chase you and not him. You told me that…" I pause here, as I know his feeling of loss has not healed yet. "… that you felt guilty you didn't let him play more and didn't listen to him when he said he was going to disappear." A frown creases Shindou's forehead. I fear he doubts that I trust him on telling me the truth, so I carry on. "And I believe you. It is the only explanation that makes sense. It is almost what I told you two or three years ago when we played our first official match; do you remember?"

"Don't you remember something else?" He is still scowling.

"No." I am thoroughly confused. We haven't talk about anything else. Just Shindou's great secret. "Should I?"

"Touya…" He is treading on carefully. "Touya, you left me at the cemetery without saying a word. You came back to the hotel room alone. And when I arrived, you had gulped down eleven small bottles of sake and you were drunk…"

"Come again?" I am incredulous and sceptical.

"You were drunk… and you said you loved me…" He is averting his eyes.

"Excuse me?" I feel my face grow hot and red.

"… and then you kissed me… on the lips…" He is blushing and looks utterly embarrassed.

"WHAT?" I shout. I drop the pretence of coolness and civility at hearing those words. This must be some sick joke of Shindou's. It must be, because there is no way I actually confessed last night because I was drunk. Even I don't know if there is anything to confess. For good measure, I squeal in a much lower voice. "What are you talking about?"

"… then you passed out…" He concludes.