A/N: My first Hikago fic, I'm sorry if its a bit queer...I really hope this fic of mine didn't ruin the beauty that is Hikaru no go, anyway review kudasai(please)!
If I told You
It was the stroke of midnight, the sound of go stones echoed through the silence. Had it not been for such a tap, would not a sound be made?
"It's late isn't it?" Touya Akira stated after glancing at the clock.
"Wanna call it quits?" Asked his opponent, Shindou Hikaru.
"I'm not really tired, but…"
"But?"
"Never mind. Do you want to stop, its fine with me."
"What's on your mind, Touya?" Hikaru asked, scooping up some stones and putting them away.
"You don't have to call me that when were home." Akira stated after he and Hikaru finished tidying up.
"I can call you whatever I want can't I?" Hikaru smirked,
"Yeah I suppose."
Eternal silence, no longer being disturbed by the sound of go stones upon the goban. No words being exchanged, only the sound of exhaling and inhaling, but that couldn't be heard.
Hikaru breathed in and out, he felt he was being crushed by an un-seen force. Tension that could be cut with a knife, he glanced at Akira, who looked away once they made eye-contact.
"Touya…Akira, what's wrong?" Hikaru asked once more,
"I said nothing, will you drop it already?!"
"Look I'm only worried about you!" Hikaru shot back,
"Well there is nothing wrong!"Akira yelled,
"Then why…"
"Why what, Hikaru?"
"Nothing."
"Aren't you doing the same." Akira stated, Hikaru blink, then turned to face Akira.
"So…your admitting something is wrong!" Hikaru smirked, Akira looked surprised. Hikaru did get him on that one, but he didn't want the other pro to realize that.
"You are as well!" Hikaru paused then answered, "aren't we both admitting something's up." The older boy said rationally.
The younger one looked at him, then left the room, Hikaru followed.
"Oi, Touya."
"Do you want coffee, Hikaru?"
"Huh? Uh..sure but its midnight."
"You do want to know what's on my mind right?"
"Uh…yeah your right. I'll help." Hikaru said going into the kitchen along with Akira.
Shortly after the coffee was brewed, the two sat on the couch next to each other.
"So… what's up Touya?" Hikaru asked sipping some of the coffee.
Akira looked at Hikaru, they exchanged glances then Akira looked away.
"When will you tell me?" He whispered, Hikaru looked at Akira.
"What did you say Touya, I couldn't hear you."
"When will you tell me?" Akira repeated,
"About what?"
"About your connection to 'sai'." Hikaru nearly spat out his coffee, realizing the coffee went down the wrong tube, when he swallowed, he coughed a few times.
"Why did you bring that up now?" Hikaru said after clearing his throat.
"When we played, I noticed 'sai'. Hikaru, you promised you would tell me." Hikaru looked at Akira,
"Did I really say that?" Hikaru said sounding dumbfounded.
"Hikaru don't lie."
"Why is it that only I know when you're lying and you know when I'm lying?" Hikaru asked sounding annoyed.
"You're always too obvious, that's why." Akira shot back,
"What was that!" Hikaru yelled, but before he could continue the argument, Akira shoved a cookie into Hikaru's mouth. Hikaru chewed the cookie then swallowed.
"You're pushing your luck Touya!" Hikaru yelled pushing Akira down,
"That's why you're stupid Shindou!" Akira yelled getting back up, and pinning Hikaru on the ground. Hikaru tried to push him off, but Akira wouldn't let him.
"Give up, Shindou."
"If this were go I'd crush you. But since I don't want to hurt you, I give." Akira got off of Hikaru and both sat back on the couch.
"You want to know about 'sai'?" Hikaru asked once again, sounding bitter.
"Yes." Hikaru looked away, Akira looked at Hikaru for a moment.
"Is it a hard topic?"
"I…where should I start?" Akira didn't say anything.
"I know. When me and you first met."
"When me and you first met?" Akira smiled, "did you know 'sai' back then?"
"Yeah. Remember our first game?"
"How could I ever forget?" Akira laughed, realizing how much Hikaru had put him through, just because of that one game.
"I didn't play that game that was 'sai'." Akira's eyes widened,
" 'Sai' was there?!"
"He was. But no one could see him, only I could."
"What do you mean?!" Akira asked,
"Also the second game, that was 'sai' too."
"What is 'sai'?" Asked Akira,
"Remember the go tournament, Haze vs. Kaiou?" Akira sighed, Hikaru wasn't planning on answering Akira's questions, just yet.
"I wish I could forget that one." Akira said shooting a glare to Hikaru; Hikaru just smiled.
"You said 'stop messing around'. I told you I wasn't messing around,but you didn't believe me, so how about now, do you believe me?" Hikaru smirked,
"I…"Akira didn't say anything, he wasn't sure what to believe at the moment.
"I want an answer."
"I…"
"Yes?"
"Hikaru, just finish. You won't answer my questions anyways." Akira retorted,
"Oh fine, stingy. I really was playing, not 'sai' but 'me'. But 'sai' was playing, the first half."
"He was?"
"Remember when I said 'if you keep chasing my shadow, someday the real me will catch up'. When I said that, I really meant it, Akira…you were chasing my shadow, you were chasing 'sai' not me. You thought it was me, but it wasn't."
"I don't understand, Hikaru."
"That time 'I' really played you during the tournament. When you really wanted to play 'sai'."
"What is 'sai'?" Akira asked again, this time Hikaru answered, after pausing.
" 'Sai' was Honinbo Shusaku."
"Ho-Honinbo Shusaku! Hikaru, how?!"
"Fujiwara no Sai. Was a go mentor in the Heian era. After he died with the desire to still play go, he possessed Honinbo Shusaku."
"He possessed Honinbo Shusaku? Is 'sai' a ghost?"
"Yeah, it took you a bit. That's why Honinbo was so great, because Sai was always playing. Sai then possessed me."
"Why didn't you just let Sai play?"
"At first I did, then you began to chase Sai. Then I started to chase you, when I started to chase you, I wanted to play go more and more, until I caught up to you Akira." Hikaru said with a smile, he looked at Akira.
"Me?"
"Yeah, I wanted to catch up to you Akira."
"How did you meet Sai?" Akira asked, realizing that the Shindou Hikaru he knew in the go club became a pro, and his rival.
"When I was looking through gramps shed, I found a goban. I wanted to sell it for money after getting my allowance cut off. Then I collapsed when I tried to remove a bloodstain from the goban. When I woke up Sai was in my mind."
"Bloodstain?"
"Shusaku's. The bloodstain is gone now; now that Sai is gone."
"Sai is gone now?!" Akira said putting his coffee down.
"Yeah, did you really still think Sai was playing for me?" Hikaru asked looking at Akira coyly, Akira shook his head.
"You're the real thing now Hikaru. Back then I didn't want you to touch me, I didn't want you to get close." Akira whispered, while he looked down at the floor then suddenly at Hikaru's face.
Hikaru pecked Akira on the lips then smiled, "yeah I'm sure you didn't then."
"When was the last time I played Sai?"
"On the internet. I think you skipped your first day of the pro exam, Waya told me you did."
"The 'sai' on the internet was really you, but it wasn't…"
"Exactly."
"When did Sai disappear?"
"Sometime after that match with your father over the net. It was so sudden."
Akira nodded, there was nothing more he needed to know. It was destiny, that Hikaru met Sai and was drawn into the world of go. It was destiny that he met Hikaru, so he could chase Sai and get stronger, and Hikaru chase him.
To lead to this moment, where they were eternal rivals on the battlefield.
"The reason you play go is because of Sai?"
"Not only that, but to link the far past with the far future. Sai the past, and me the future. Sai told me, even after a thousand years go never changed, and a thousand years later it still won't. I believe that." Hikaru said solemnly, Akira looked at Hikaru, and pulled him close to him.
"I believe that too."
Hikaru looked at Akira, "that day during the Hokuto cup, I wonder how many people…"
"I think everyone believed it was true, Hikaru." Akira said, Hikaru finally wrapped his arms around Akira.
"Thanks for telling me, Hikaru."
" 'Maybe for you Touya, I would tell you'." Hikaru said drawing Akira into a kiss, Akira smiled and accepted it.
On the battlefield, playing a game that has been around for thousands of years, eternal rivals. But always returning alive to the one they love. The world of go, each move a mystery, each move containing a deep meaning behind it.
Was it truly destiny that Touya Akira and Shindou Hikaru would meet? Destiny they would be rivals? Lovers? A path that was carved ever since the beginning, that is destiny. Unless you yourself chose the path, the path before you.
"Back then, when we met…was the past but also the future. Go will always be in the past and in the future, like that moment then."
"Yeah."
"My name is Fujiwara no Sai."
-To link the far past…
"I'm Shindou Hikaru."
…with the far future.-
A/N: I hope everyone enjoyed my lil Valentine's Day one shot! If they're is any spelling/grammar mistakes please let me know! Review kudasai(please)!