Authors Notes: This is the sequel to Conversations over a Go Board, although familiarity with that fic is not required. Thanks for all the great comments I received for that story and I hope you enjoy this one as well.

Disclaimer - these are not my characters, this is not my world or set up, all credit, thanks and apologies go to Hotta Yumi and Obata Takeshi.

Chapter 1

Toya Akira snored.

Hikaru still couldn't wrap his mind around the idea. But the proof, emanating noisily from his bed, was beyond reproach. He stared at the darkened ceiling and tried to ignore the sawmill sound.

You think you know a person, he mused. Toya, who never had a wrinkle in his suit, never slurped his ramen, and was a perfect gentleman to everyone, snored. He's gay, too, added an inner voice that Hikaru was trying even more valiantly to ignore, and he's in love with you.

Hikaru rolled to his side to stare at the feet of his goban. While the portable futon was comfortable, he doubted he'd get any sleep tonight.

At least they could still play go, thought Hikaru, remembering their game from earlier in the evening. It had been a challenge with some interesting stone patterns. Game analysis had lead to a heated discussion culminating with Toya announcing that he was leaving and storming down the stairs. which gave rise to a whole new series of arguments involving the lateness of the night, hospitality, train schedules, and exactly who was being the most pigheaded and immature. Out of exhaustion, they compromised on Hikaru being the most pigheaded and Toya grudgingly spending the night. His rival hadn't wanted to take Hikaru's bed either, but Hikaru had pulled the my-mother-would-throw-a-fit-if-I-let-you-sleep-on-the-floor trump card and even Toya had acknowledged the logic in that.

It had been reassuring, the naturalness of their interactions. It was as if the events of the afternoon had never happened, as if they'd never come to the agreement.

The agreement - Toya would wait for Hikaru to make up his mind. Up to two years, he'd promised. Which means, the inner voice taunted him, you have two years before you turn him down and he never speaks to you again.

Because guys just didn't get together with other guys. Or, reasoned Hikaru, even if some guys apparently did, it wasn't the way it usually played out, and he certainly had never caught himself doing double takes at hot men on the street. He didn't even know what would make a guy hot.

So, eventually, he was just going to have to tell Toya thanks but no thanks, not interested, better luck next time. Hikaru wasn't looking forward to that day, and not just because it would be the end to their friendship. Toya would be hurt - like today, just before Hikaru had chased after him. The expression on Toya's face was like the time Hikaru announced he was quitting go. No, worse.

Maybe Toya would fall for someone else and Hikaru would be off the hook. The thought gave Hikaru hope, it wasn't as if Toya was ugly.

Hikaru sat up to look at Toya. His eyes had long since adjusted to the dark and he could make out every feature of Toya's profile. Funny, Toya looked like a completely different person when he was asleep. His usually determined jaw hung slightly open, distorting his face. Not in a bad way, Hikaru noted. Rather, Toya's cheekbones seemed less pronounced and with his closed eyes he resembled some master doll maker's prize creation. The waking Toya was never relaxed like this.

A low rumbling sound echoed through the room and Hikaru had to smother his laughter in his pillow. If he wasn't going to get any sleep tonight, he'd at least think happy thoughts, like the look on Toya's face tomorrow when Hikaru chastised him for snoring.

Akari studied the go board, contemplating her next move. On one level, it hardly mattered where she'd place the stone, Hikaru was sure to win. But these tutoring games weren't simply a ploy to spend time with her secret crush; they were a chance to impress on him that she was more than a silly school-chum. She wasn't sure if respect would lead to romance, but it was the only in she had.

Pa-ching. She looked to Hikaru. His mood had been distracted when he first arrived, but now he was completely focused on the pattern of the stones. No, it was something more, even as a sixth grader, Hikaru had been single minded when playing go.

Just now, he looked his full eighteen years, as opposed to how she usually saw him, a fifteen year old with really long legs. Could it be something in his face? Whatever the cause of the change, Akari decided she approved it.

"Why did you play such a stu -" Hikaru started, clamping his mouth shut, "I meant to say, exactly why did you put your stone there?"

He looked expectantly at her. Akari kept her face expressionless, not wanting to give anything away.

"Or," Hikaru tried again, "should I have said: that's an interesting choice, could you please explain your strategy?"

Akari sighed and sat back from the board. "I don't like either of them. With the first it's obvious that you thought it was a stupid move, and the second sounds condescending." explained Akari, trying to make her own criticism as supportive as possible. It wasn't working, Hikaru was bristling. "Don't you think it would be better for them to just play out the move and let your pupil see for themselves where they went wrong?"

"But it's such a stupid move, Akari. I mean, I've got an opening here," he pointed with his fan, "to get the whole corner, no contest. But if you were to counter it here, it could still go either way, all the way up till yose. Your move is such an elementary mistake, any book could explain it. A person who doesn't understand go at this level shouldn't be wasting their money paying a pro to tutor them."

Akari tried to hide her smile. She was supposed to be the stern sensei here, guiding Hikaru on the proper way to teach go, not to encourage him to rant. But he was just too endearing, the way he was getting into the whole tutoring thing.

Hikaru had come to her several months ago, quite upset. (The go instructor) had arranged for Hikaru to help with the introductory classes at his school, and, in Hikaru's opinion, it wasn't going well.

"It's like they don't even see the simplest patterns, Akari, and they never seem to remember the techniques that I've shown them. I can't believe they're all that dumb, I mean one of the guys is a medical doctor. I'm just a crummy teacher. That's the only explanation."

"Well," Akari had replied, secretly thrilled that he had come to her with this problem, never mind that her class was after the one that Hikaru taught, "Maybe we could play a game together and I could critique you on your teaching style. This way you could get insight into how your pupils think. I could even make a whole bunch of mistakes on purpose, to give you practice giving advice."

Her words had immediate effect on Hikaru's mood.

"Yeah, that might be just what I need. Oh, and don't worry about trying to make mistakes, the way you usually play should work fine."

They'd spent the first few sessions working on Hikaru's tact and politeness. Sensei had noticed the results almost immediately. So, now every Sunday afternoon they'd play for several hours. Akari was grateful for the privilege, the only other person Hikaru played with such regularity was Toya Akira. And none of her matches had ended in a screaming fit.

"A lot of people," Akari said in response to Hikaru's comment "are uncomfortable learning from books."

"Or think they can learn the basics faster if they're paying money to a professional. Not that I should complain."

"It is how go players gets paid," Akari agreed, "At least until they start winning titles."

"That's true," said Hikaru, "but it's more. I mean, we have to have people interested in the game, even if they only play it at home or in the salons. And because I'm a professional, it's like I'm kind of a goodwill ambassador."

Akari's heart skipped a beat. It was the little glimpses of Hikaru's growing sense of responsibility that made her all the more determined to make him see her as a potential girlfriend.

"I just need to be able to evaluate people better." Hikaru went on, "I need to be able to see if someone's just starting the game and needs lots of encouragement or if they're really into the game and need as much of a challenge as possible. Unfortunately, I'm pretty bad at reading people."

"Oh no, Hikaru. I think you're getting much better."

"If recent experience is a guideline, I have a long ways to go."

"Huh?"

Hikaru had an introspective, unusual expression for him. At first it seemed to convey some secret meaning, then it almost looked guilty. "I don't want to bother you with my problems," he said simply.

"Hikaru, we've been friends since kindergarten! Of course you can tell me your problems." And I'm not backing down until you do.

Hikaru must have sensed her resolution.

"It's just . . . Well, I have . . . this friend." Hikaru wasn't making eye contact, but he was talking, "And he recently found out that his friend was kind of . . . secretly in love with him. Only my friend's not really interested, so he's trying to think of a gentle way of turn the other person down, and he's not sure how."

It was spoken in all in vague terms, but Akari had read enough Ribbon comics over the course of her life to recognize that the friend must be Hikaru himself. So, he had finally realized that she had a crush on him. It was embarrassing, but also a potential opportunity that she couldn't slip away.

"How can your friend be sure he's not interested? I mean, he didn't even know about this love until just now. Would it hurt him to wait a bit, just to be sure?"

"For what?" asked Hikaru, complete incomprehension on his face.

"In case he's wrong about not being love. What if he changes his mind?"

"Oh, I don't think he's going to change his mind."

"That attitude is just . . . dumb." Not constructive criticism by any means, but it was infuriating how Hikaru, who had as far as Akari was aware, zero experience in matters of the heart, could be so pig headed about this. "Has your friend ever been in love before? How can he be certain that he's not at least partially in love now? And even if he isn't, friendships can grow into love, if given half a chance."

She could tell by his looks that he wasn't getting any of this. Time to pull out the big guns.

"Even you, the talented Shindo Hikaru, at one point didn't even know what a go board was. You were sure you couldn't be interested in go. What if you had never played your first game? You would have given up on the most important thing in your life. And you wouldn't even have known it."

A while back, Akari had figured out that if she wanted to drive a point home to Hikaru, she had to use a go analogy. Looking at Hikaru's rapt eyes, she knew the technique had once again worked.

"But, with go, you just play. How can I, I mean, my, my friend, find out?"

"Easy. Go on a date."

"What?"

"It's no big deal, Hikaru. Just dinner, a movie, maybe a walk in the park afterwards. Spending time with another person on a date is a great way to see if there are feelings there. And if there aren't, then it's only one wasted night. So, you see this would be a very good option for your friend to consider, don't you think?"

"Yeah, you might have a point there. I'll mention it to him."

It wasn't a brush off, Akari could see the cogs turning in Hikaru's brain, albeit very slowly.

Several months ago, in a conversation with, of all people, Toya Akira, she had promised herself not to give up chasing after Hikaru. Now was the time to follow through with the resolution. Using more courage than she thought herself capable, Akari took a deep breath and said:

"Also mention that I'm free on Saturday and he could pick me up anytime."

There, she'd actually said it. She met Hikaru's eyes expecting to see embarrassment, or indignation, but instead there was an expression she could only describe as incomprehension. What if there really was a friend?

Fine then, she'd been mortified already. Nothing to do but see if she could talk her way into a date.

"Come on Hikaru, it's obvious you were talking about yourself."

"What? No way. I wasn't - "

"Yes, you were. Is there someone besides me who has a crush on you?"

That was a possibility she hadn't considered. Could it be that Nase girl, the one that actually knew how to play go? Her heart sank at just the possibility.

"No! I mean, no, I mean," Hikaru sighed loudly and forced a smile, "okay, I'll see you on Saturday."