Disclaimer—I don't own any of the characters from Hikaru no Go. I'm just borrowing them cause I adore them. Hope you don't mind and that you enjoy the story.

Chapter 1:

He'd discovered a while back that people had many sides to them. Heck. He had many sides to him that no one was even aware of. Many people didn't understand the bleakness or loneliness that would reach his eyes at times. They couldn't even imagine the serious side of him that would suddenly take over when he was facing a worthy opponent. It clashed with his usual façade that they were used to dealing with.

He'd stopped keeping track awhile back how many people called him a spoiled brat, rude, or juvenile delinquent. The juvenile delinquent tag was more due to his abnormally dyed hair than to any of his behaviors. But grownups were like that. They didn't actually take the time to get to know the "youngsters" that surrounded them, just neatly categorized them and then behaved accordingly to that category. Hikaru snorted. And grownups thought he was being rude. At least he didn't assume anything about them! He just treated them all the same. With well… disrespect at times, he had to admit that, but also with a carefree attitude. He didn't care if they liked him or not.

Yet despite his knowledge that people had different sides to them, he was taken off guard by the shy and vulnerable look that made its way onto his rival's face. Maybe not despite…it was just that he'd spent years chasing after Touya. Years of hard work, loss, and dedication to even get the other to actually bloody look at him and he'd been so sure that he knew his rival like no one else could.

Oh he'd seen glimpses of Touya's "other sides". The sheepish smiles that bordered on something other than politeness when Ashiwara would come and push him to go eat something or go have fun! The other man's enthusiastic voice echoed through his head, pale in comparison to what it truly sounded. Or how Touya's shoulders would just relax a bit and the tension that would usually cause the pale teen to frown would suddenly dissolve when Ogata-san actually remembered his duties as Touya's "legal" guardian. And heck there were those times when he'd actually cause Touya to lose that polite mask and start yelling and being so immature that he'd be red in the face with a mixture of anger and embarrassment at having been caught acting in such a way. Hikaru had been damned confident that he'd seen or at least known what made Touya Akira well, Touya Akira.

So yeah. It was a shock to see that change occur before him. He took in the widening of those too serious green eyes, the shock that caused that mouth to hang open just a bit, and just… damn it. He couldn't explain it properly. But Touya suddenly looked his age. He looked 17 and helpless and actually, maybe even in pain. And his first reaction was to protect his rival from feeling that. Hikaru tensed and shifted his weight until he was standing in front of Touya, trying to block him from view. He'd forgotten that his sempai would be here today.

"Kaga…" Touya breathed the name out and his hand rested on Hikaru's shoulder briefly, just long enough to push the other boy back out of the way.

"Touya." The name wasn't quite spat out. But it didn't leave any doubt as to how the other boy felt at encountering the other. "Didn't think you'd be here."

"I…" Hikaru found himself mute. He'd been about to make some caustic remarks along the line of Kaga-shut-your-fucking-mouth but instead all he could do was watch as Touya bowed his head low. His long black hair fell in front with the motion, hiding his face in shadows. "I apologize for what I did. It was completely wrong of me. I didn't understand back then all that I do now and if it was possible I would redo that game in a heart beat and play seriously." Touya's tone was low and soft, so repentant that Hikaru wondered what exactly had happened between the two.

Kaga had never gone into great detail. He'd just boasted that he'd won against Touya when they'd been in the same go class but that he'd quit to focus his energy into shidou-go. The anger against Touya however spoke loudly and clearly to Hikaru that the story wasn't as simple as that. Shortly after, Tsutsui had explained, Touya had been removed from the go classes and usually avoided amateur go tournaments. The simple reason for this avoidance was that Touya's skill was already so above others, that his father had determined it would only demoralize the children who would play against him. Still, the explanation hadn't cleared any of the mystery surrounding the two.

The head lifted minutely, just enough for those piercing green eyes to take a hold of angry brown ones. Everyone in the small group held their breaths as the silence stretched. Kaga broke it by taking a step closer. With one tanned hand he tilted Touya's face back up. The two were now so close their noses nearly bumped into each other. It was strange. To Hikaru, Touya had always been taller. But compared to Kaga's muscular frame… there wasn't so much a height difference just…Touya seemed so much smaller.

Tsutsui took a slight step forward as well, hands automatically going up in a pacifying gesture. He was totally ignored. "You…" He started. Growled, really making Hikaru want to step in the middle again and break whatever was happening. He was stopped as Akari grabbed his sleeve, her smaller hands trembling. The frown broke into a huge smile. The hand left Touya's chin to pinch the cheek. "Haven't changed at all." Touya's eyes widened again, his mouth opening in an "oh". He did nothing to push the offending hand away, just stared—still as vulnerable, still as young looking. Kaga took a step back, hand dropping back to rest lazily onto his hip. "You still have the same hair cut, same style of suits…" He shook his head, a slightly evil grin touching his lips. "Though you seem to actually fit them now. We're about the same height now too. Which is beyond weird, I remember you were just here…" Kaga made a motion around his knees before straightening up. "You should never be as tall as your sempai."

Touya rubbed his cheek pensively before responding softly. "You've let your hair grow."

"I smoke too."

Touya blinked at the announcement and looked unsure to how he should comment. Kaga grinned and slipped a cigarette pack from who knows where and proceeded to lighting it. "You can relax now." The careless words were flung towards Hikaru with a jerk of a chin. "I'm not going to bite him." Hikaru frowned and shook Akari's hand off. "Though," Kaga turned a thoughtful yet serious gaze back towards Touya. "I may kidnap him." And with those words barely out in the open, barely leaving anyone time to process them, Kaga grabbed Touya's hand and pulled him into a run.

"KAGA!" Hikaru shouted after the two while the rest of the group blinked at the dust that had risen from the hasty departure. "KSO!"

"I'm sure it'll be fine, Hikaru." Akari started gently. Her words were hardly comforting when she sounded so damned unsure.

"Tsutsui do you know where he's going to take him?" The other boy blinked his large eyes behind his glasses.

"I'm not sure…" The older man squeaked. "Maybe where the shidogo club meet?"

To be continued…

sempai—older student