"Tokyo U...I got into Tokyo U," he stated with satisfaction. Akira Touya held up the paper to his father and mother to see. His father, in the midst of a Go game with Karata ( who had achieved the title of 9 dan and almost Meijin which is surprisingly still held by Ogata) turned his attention to his son of almost eighteen. He stared at those dark, forest green eyes that held such knowledge and the features that he so beautifully attained from his mother. His youthful glow was still intact despite the countless nights Akira stayed awake studying Go and juggling his college entrance exams.
Mr. Touya smiled along with Mrs. Touya. His mother, uncharacteristically, jumped up from her position and ran to her son to give him an embrace he hadn't had in a long time. Her husband had told her long ago that coddling a child would only hinder his development skills, but in such a heightened state of emotions she couldn't help but hold her child; a child who will become a young adult in a few months. Despite this, there was no grunt of disapproval, but an air of acceptance coming from his father who maintained his position near the Go table.
"Amazing! Your son really is a genius!" Karata exclaimed to the elder Touya, "Congratulations! I don't think I could ever get into college let alone Tokyo University. I was usually the kid in the class playing on my gameboy back in the day and getting yelled at from the principle for being so lax in class. My teachers used to always say 'why don't you try harder? Sometimes, I don't think you don't care.' The sad part was that, during my last 3 years in school I did try and I still failed!"
Akira became less aware of the room around him as his mother gave him a last squeeze and walked out the room to make some tea. Karata and his father talked of their habits in school and continued playing Go. After a couple more congrats and a brief speech from his father, Akira walked to his bedroom and sat on his bed. His room was ordained with school books, encyclopedias, Go books, dictionaries, a poster of a haiku, a desk, a computer, and a Go board tucked safely into a corner.
He had no CD's of pop singers or rock groups, no pictures except for one of him at eight with his mother and father in front of Hon'inbo Shusaku's museum, and definitely no manga or anime of any sort unless you counted the one dusty Astro Boy DVD stashed under his bed that he had to hide from his mother since only "educational" films were allowed in the house. He thought back to the last time he saw his friend. After the Junior Asian Tournament, he had left and took a hiatus from Go. At first, he thought it was another emotional journey to find himself, but then he stopped entirely. He quit being pro and switched high schools for good measure. It almost seemed like he was avoiding him...
"Hikaru...where are you?"
Gripping the sheets in frustration, he laid on his side facing the wall. Biting his lip, he closed his eyes and drifted. He woke up an hour later with the sound of his room door opening. He guessed it was his mother when she closed the door gently and could hear the light petite footsteps he had listened to all his life walk away from his door. Eventually, he couldn't hear them anymore and he began to sleep and dream about the boy with the two toned hair .
~ooo~
"Dozing on the job again?"
Jumping up with a snort, Hikaru fell off the stool he had skillfully sat and fell asleep on and shook himself out of a stupor. He looked up at the face of his boss who held a similar appearance to Mr. Kawai except hairier, creepier, and had the stench of old french cheese. His cologne was packed on with vengeance and the look in his eye told him any day now he was going to get fired; today, however, was not going to be that day. His boss lit up a cigarette to calm his nerves.
"Old man, would you mind not smoking that around me. I actually want to live," Hikaru mumbled, waving his hand through the air to disperse the smoke from his perimeter.
"That's Heihachi to you, you dumbass! And I swear, if I catch you having a wet dream in the back of my club one more time-" in the midst of his rant, his phone went off and Hikaru snickered at the ringtone that was currently Ke$ha. After being glowered at and called a cock-sucking moron, his boss finally left to answer the phone in his office. Hikaru Shindou sighed with every fiber of his moral being and walked through a door that had loud techno music blaring on the other side. Straightening himself, he walked through the door and welcomed the intensity and chaos that he worked in every day.
The bass was heavy as people moved in a wave all together. Bodies melted into one another until it was just an array of legs, arms and flesh. In a drunk and drugged haze, people grinded, kissed, and practically fucked on the dance floor as they lost themselves to the overtly sexed atmosphere. Standing behind the bar, he quickly went into action as two girls and a guy asked for a Bloody Mary and 4 shots of whiskey. Being naturally good with his hands, Hikaru iced, shook, and mixed the drinks within 20 seconds and handed them their orders. Smiling good naturedly and receiving a wink from a cute blonde, Hikaru inwardly took note of the girls staring at him from the side of the bar. Usually, he would flirt, get a girl, and bang on the side after work, but today he just wasn't feeling it.
A girl who looked about twenty one clipped her way to the bar holding a tray with some empty glasses and beer balanced on top. She was wearing a short tight black mini skirt with fishnet stockings and a low tank top that peek-a-booed her nipples. Her hair was her usual cute bob and her blue-contact eyes were darkened by black eye shadow. "Hey Cherry, what'll it be?" Hikaru asked while wiping down the counter to make room for more customers to sit at. "Just a couple of Asahi and a Suicide," the girl answered back and handed the glasses for Hikaru to handle. If Cherry, which is just her club nickname, wasn't a co-worker, Hikaru totally would have tapped that once or twice depending on her abilities in bed; but a rule Hikaru always followed, was that he would never fuck a friend and never fuck with a friend especially since girls usually have this thing of stalking him and trying to play the virgin suicide card. Puh-lease. If they were virgins, he was the god damned pope.
Cherry checked her lipstick in a mini compacted mirror. " So, I was wondering," she began while she was applying a fresh new coat of cherrybomb red "if you wanted to come chill with me, Suki, and Keisuke. We're all going out to get some food and crashing at my place for some good ol' karaoke to scare my neighbors into thinking we're coming to steal their children for blood sacrifices." Hikaru scrunched up his nose as he held in a laughter, but shook his head and responded, " Sorry, I can't. Gotta study some more. After all, I'm still not entirely sure if I made it into TU, yet."
"Naw, it's straight. I envy your ability to stick to school. I dropped high school the first chance I got and moved out of my parents house to live with some boy I only used to get free rent and food," she said nonchalantly while placing the mixed drinks on her tray, " we'll celebrate when you get in." She strutted away leaving Hikaru to himself. Checking his watch, he saw he only had ten minutes of work left till he was home bound to his lonesome little apartment. In his peripheral view, a girl with either a super wonder bra or hard, barbie plastic surgery boobs came walking over from the group of friends that were checking him out.
Despite the obvious thing she was coming for, he asked her what she wanted to drink.
"I was wondering if you wanted to go out some time actually," she basically moaned as she bent forward to play hello-titties with him.
Yeah, because I'm desperate and need some company, Hikaru mentally thought as he stared at her assets. Just, not that desperate-. He was in mid-thought when he caught a glimpse of her hair which was that odd shade of black and green that he used to be so obsessed over when he used to play...On second thought.
"I get off at midnight. Meet me near the girls bathroom," Hikaru quipped quickly in an attempt to get her away from him. He put a hand on his face and combed through his shaggy hair that he let grow to his shoulders. Looking at his reflection in the shiny lacquered bar table, he thought of the boy who he couldn't stop dreaming of in the past week.
Counting down the minutes, he quickly loosened the top buttons of his black shirt when it was time and caught the girl waiting where he told her to be. Catching his eye, her bright pink mouth smiled coyly at him as she went into the bathroom. He followed suit and as soon as he entered, he locked the door behind them. Getting on top of the sink counter, she kicked off her panties and displayed what he came there for.
"Ready?" She annoyingly asked as if he was the one that didn't know better. Looking at her, he quickly caught her mouth and undid his pants. Leaving all his sanity out the door, he took her quick and hard all the while fantasizing about the only person who he would rather be doing this with. The same person that he avoided because of these perverted feelings and hoped he would never see again.