Notes: The premise might be rather contrived as it's just an excuse for me to pursue the plot-bunny. (I figure the forms of address are too ingrained in the Japanese culture for a blunder like this to happen.) But kindly allow some suspension of disbelief and hope you'll enjoy reading.

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First-Name Basis

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Hikaru had been hanging out around Touya a lot recently.

So what's new, one would think. Well, it wasn't just with Touya, but around Touya.

"Ah, Shindou-kun. Akira-kun called to say he'd be late, but he's already on his way here."

Somehow Hikaru found himself talking to Ichikawa a lot more, as Touya was occasionally delayed by his teaching sessions.

"Did you watch the Honinbou preliminaries last week? Akira played brilliantly on that last match, don't you think?"

And somehow Ashiwara had made it a habit to drop by their regular games, too.

Puff. "Still, it's a long way before Akira-kun gets to my level."

...As for Ogata, that guy had been stalking him from the start anyway.

Hikaru always thought of himself as one who could hold his own very well; but one should never underestimate the power of prolonged exposure.

"Hey, Shindou. We were just discussing Touya's game in last week's prelims."

Hikaru toed off his shoes at Waya's door, then sat down around the goban along with the others. "Oh, this was the opening his opponent allowed just before yose, right?"

"Yeah, and we don't get why he didn't exploit it right away. The defense he played instead could have waited a few hands."

"No particular reason," Hikaru said. "He just didn't like that shape."

"Huh, really?" Honda was bewildered.

"Yeah, something similar came up in one of our games before. Serizawa would have followed up here, and the formation would end up like this." Hikaru played it out. "Akira just didn't like it."

"That was stupid," Waya commented. That earned him an elbow from Isumi.

"I think so, too," Hikaru said.

"But he can afford to have such preferences, I suppose," Honda sighed.

"No one can afford to have such preferences," Hikaru countered. "We are pros."

"Well, everyone has his own style," Isumi said, and that ended the argument.

"Anyway, Akira did attack this area afterwards, which wasn't a bad alternative." Hikaru placed the stone.

"But when Aki— I mean, Touya, attack—" Waya paused. He'd been quoting Hikaru half-consciously, and it was only then that he noticed the form of address. He looked at Hikaru. "You guys are on a first-name basis now?"

"Huh?"

Everybody turned to Hikaru. He could've brushed it off as a slip of the tongue, but his reflex ruined it for him as he started to blush, and that of course was more scandalous than simply being caught calling someone by his first name.

"Ack! No! I've just been talking to people who call him that, so it's kinda rubbing off on me, you know?"

"Sure," Isumi agreed helpfully.

"Yeah, no need to blush so hard." Waya grinned.

"But you made it sound like..." Hikaru scowled defensively.

"Like what?"

"Look, do you want to continue the discussion or not?"

"Fine, fine," Waya said, but his eyes were still laughing.

Honda placed the next stone. "So, Serizawa countered here."

"I would've gone diagonal instead... wouldn't it be a better move?"

"Not really. Touya could have moved here next..."

"Touya, Touya, Touya," Hikaru murmured to himself, drilling that name into his tongue.

Waya caught the chant, unfortunately. "Which Touya?" he whispered loudly.

Hikaru smacked him.

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"Oh, isn't this Touya Akira-kun?" Grandpa welcomed them. "How rare for Hikaru to bring a fellow pro here."

Akira went through the proper greeting routine, while Shindou said, "Yeah, the Go salon was too noisy today, so."

Akira suppressed a sigh. The antagonism between Shindou and Kitajima-san was reaching new heights as the second Hokuto Cup was approaching.

"You can play a game with him," Shindou told his grandfather. "But please don't lose too badly and make me lose face."

"What did you say? Insolent grandson!"

Shindou laughed.

Akira watched the lively exchange with a mix of fascination and confusion. To his relief, Shindou soon dragged him into the house, and a goban was quickly produced.

He glanced at Shindou for guidance, but Shindou wasn't reacting, so Akira asked hesitantly, "Would you like to place a few stones?"

"Hmm... What do you think, Hikaru? How many stones should I place?"

Shindou scowled. "Grandpa, you always refuse to place any when you play me!"

"Of course, since I'm your grandpa," Grandpa declared. "Hm, I guess I'll go with four."

Akira was slowly getting used to this. If he just thought of Shindou's grandfather as a customer in the Go salon... "Please."

"I would think you need at least six," Shindou commented.

"Quiet, Shindou," Akira said neutrally.

Grandpa looked up at Shindou, then after a moment, started to chuckle.

Judging by the lines on his forehead, Shindou was probably as confused as Akira was. "What?"

Grandpa coughed. "Nothing. It's nice to see you actually listening to your reasonable friend, Hikaru."

Then Akira realized he'd just told Shindou off in his grandfather's house, even if Shindou himself had simply obliged without a fuss. "Ah, I'm sorry—"

"Not at all, not at all. He's always so rude to his other friends, even his seniors, like that boy Waya..."

"Hey, don't be discussing me under my nose," Shindou grunted. "Besides, Waya is Waya, and Akira is Aki—"

He stopped abruptly.

Akira blinked at him.

"—And I show proper respect when I'm playing them, so isn't that okay?" Shindou continued.

"Okay, all right." Grandpa waved.

Akira quickly returned his gaze to the goban. "I'll start, then."

By the time Shindou walked with him to the bus stop, Akira had forgotten the incident, until, of course, Shindou had to bring it up.

"Maybe I should stop going to the Go salon for a while," Shindou said.

"Again?" Akira sighed. "If you would just stop baiting Kitajima-san every time..."

"It's not that." Shindou averted his eyes. "The people around you are... affecting me."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean—" Shindou turned a mild red, and took some time finding his words. "I'm starting to refer to you as 'Akira'."

Akira thought back to the game. It had been surprising, but in retrospect, he didn't find it that unnatural to consider Shindou an extension of his familial circle, all of whom called him by that name.

"It's not a big deal," he said.

"Yeah, for you." Shindou sounded mildly annoyed. "You're totally oblivious to all the talk at the Institute."

"What talk?" He hardly thought Shindou was referring to speculations on title match outcomes.

"See? If you don't know, then you're not going to find out from me."

Akira thought of Shindou's insei classmates and study group, the young and merry bunch. He said, "Doesn't sound like anything important enough to take seriously, then."

Shindou huffed. "Try actually interacting with us lower dans one of these days and see if you can still say that, Akira."

Akira stilled.

It felt suddenly invasive, having his given name in Shindou's voice called to his face, and his earlier unconcern came unhinged all at once.

"I guess I was wrong," he said at length.

"Hm?"

He didn't meet Shindou's eyes. "...It is rather a big deal."

"Huh," was all Shindou said, after a long silence.

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The next time they met formally was in the viewing room of the title match between Ogata Gosei and Morishita 10-dan, and Hikaru was mindful to say, "Touya."

Akira's quiet "Shindou" was drowned by Kuwabara's toothy grin across the table. "Oh, Shindou-kun. Long time no see."

"Kuwabara-sensei," Hikaru returned, wincing inwardly at the attention that greeting had brought him. He quickly made his way to Saeki. "Saeki-san, Waya's not here?"

"He'll come after his match," Saeki answered.

"Black attacked again," Amano commented, watching the screen. "Morishita seems to be playing aggressively today."

"Strange. Ogata is not defending?"

"Hmm..." Kuwabara tapped his chin. "What are you thinking, Ogata-kun?"

"He's laying a trap," murmured Akira.

Fourteen moves later, Hikaru said, "It's been neutralized."

"That path is not the only possibility," Akira responded.

"No, but it's too late to revive the upper-right corner even if he wants to redirect it there."

Kuwabara cackled. "Interesting discussion, you two."

Akira hastily apologized, but the old man waved him off. "No, no, by all means tune us in, Touya Junior."

"White returns the attack!" Amano exclaimed. "The battle is on."

"I take that back," Hikaru said. "There's another way to revive it."

"But not without sacrificing the group at the left," replied Akira.

Their commentary was interrupted when Waya slipped into the room. Saeki recreated the game for him, and Hikaru joined in.

"Shindou," Waya whispered at one point. "Why's Kuwabara-sensei staring at you?"

"Huh?" Hikaru glanced. "I don't know!"

"Oh, is this a mistake?" Amano's voice brought them back to the game on the screen.

"Morishita-sensei doesn't make that sort of mistake," Waya said.

"But will Ogata-kun take the bait?" Kuwabara drawled.

"Not likely," Akira said. "He's seen something like that before."

"Oh, right." Kuwabara pondered. "From none other than your dear rival, if I remember correctly."

Akira glanced at Hikaru, and said nothing.

"You've played Ogata Gosei, Shindou-kun?" Amano asked.

"Ah, the old boy stalks him," Kuwabara said cheerfully. "Who can blame the man, though?"

Hikaru huffed. "I'm not concerned."

"Shindou," Waya whispered warningly, and added a nudge for good measure.

Kuwabara cackled. "Your rival is not the only one you need to be concerned about, Shindou-kun."

Hikaru grunted something pitched too low to hear.

Waya sent forth another nudge. "Shin—"

"Hikaru," Akira said, soft but firm and definitely audible.

The tone alone would have given Hikaru pause. Hearing that name in that tone froze him on the spot.

Silence spread from their corner to the rest of the room. Hikaru stared at Akira. He wasn't the only one.

Akira, with his impeccable game face, met Hikaru's eyes for a heartbeat, then turned away. He said, in that same soft tone, "White has deflected the attack."

Hikaru followed his line of sight to the screen, and his brain leaped gratefully into the familiar comfort of the black-and-white pattern. "Still, he'll lose the corner group in six moves or so."

Then Kuwabara cackled again, but Hikaru wasn't listening to him anymore.

When the game was sealed for the day, Hikaru ignored everyone else and followed Akira out of the room.

"Akira!"

Akira halted and turned. "Shindou."

Hikaru stopped a few paces away. "So it's back to that now?"

The game face dissolved, and Hikaru thought he saw a faint resigned smile. "Sorry about earlier."

Hikaru sighed. "It's just a move, I know."

"A poorly conceived one, probably," Akira said, in a rare chagrined tone. His gaze flicked briefly over Hikaru's shoulder. "That sort of talk, huh?"

Hikaru glanced back and saw the small crowd forming by the door of the viewing room.

If Waya's expression was any indication, "the talk" wasn't likely to take place openly in front of them from then on.

"Well, it is a big deal," he said. Then he grabbed Akira's elbow to pull him along as he walked away. "But I'm okay with that."

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