Disclaimer: I don't own these characters of Hikaru no Go in the fanfic… They belong to Obata-sensei and Hotta Yumi-sama

Summary: Akari is feels that she doesn't know Hikaru at all. She can feel the gap between her and him get wider every second… especially since Hikaru's a part of the professional Go world. Yet, Hikaru is clueless about how Akari feels. Possible HikaAka, or just no pairing. Features a lot of Touya.

True or False

Part 1: Hikaru

By: Snakey

I looked through the windows and didn't see Akari anywhere. She was supposed to be here right before her Go club session started! I can't believe she's late! Here I was, stuck in a café near her high-school, waiting for her to come and get me. Her go club should've begun half an hour ago. She invites me to her go club, and she doesn't show up. I was starting to get impatient, and was about to leave and get her myself, but suddenly…

"Shindo?"

That voice made me jump. I was facing away from the café entrance, and had to turn around to see who had called my family name. And there that person was, slowly walking towards me. It was my rival, Touya Akira.

"I thought I told you to stop doing that!" My screaming seemed to earn me a few annoyed looks from the staff. This guy is going to kill me with all these surprises.

"What are you doing here?" Touya sat down in the chair across from me. "I thought you'd be preparing for your next game since it's with a higher dan."

"Touya… I have a life outside of go… I'm sixteen years old. Of course I go out with friends at my age!" I placed my butt back on my seat, since now I could wait for Akari while talking with Touya.

Touya looked around with a bit of confusion, and then turned back to me. "I don't see any friends that you're supposed to be with. Are you just slacking off?"

"Touya, I wouldn't slack off! I take go very seriously and you know it!" I crossed my arms over my chest and looked at Touya with a proud grin. But all he did was laugh at my remark, or possibly my grin.

"You're right, I'm sorry. I was just kidding." He then turned to the waitress and ordered a cup of coffee.

"Well, enough about me. What are you doing here? I thought you were supposed to be heading home after school?" I sipped my own ice cappuccino and waited for his reply. I still didn't understand why Touya continued education, but I wasn't curious, yet.

"I was just going to the bookstore, and then I got thirsty and came into this café. I didn't think I'd see you here." The waitress put his cup of coffee on the table, and walked away. He held the cup and started blowing at it, cooling it off before taking a sip. "So, are you waiting for this friend of yours? Seeing as you were about to stand up when I saw you, he's late."

Right after he said that, I remembered my purpose of being here. "It's a she, not a he." I said, and then looked at my watch. It had already been forty minutes since I came to this café. Now that I think of it, I was already at the end of my second ice cappuccino. My head even started to hurt from the coldness. I looked through the windows again, and finally, I spotted the girl that kept me waiting for so long.

"There she is… I waited for forty minutes already…" I groaned out and finally answered Touya. He also looked out from the windows and saw Akari running in her short-sleeved school uniform, her hair flying all over the place, and tightly gripping on her schoolbag as she swung it back and forth. I swear she might've hit someone with that bag on her way. She was almost out of breath by the time she was in the café.

"Hi-Hikaru! I'm… so sorry that I'm half an hour late!" She came up to us and breathed heavily, trying to speak after her run. "I didn't know I was supposed to stay behind today to clean up the class…"

"Actually, you're forty minutes late, Akari. And if you were going to be late, you could have at least called me on my cell phone." I took out my cell and held it out to her, but all she did was widen her eyes.

"You're always late too! And when did you get a cell phone? You never told me! Baka!" Akari still managed to scream at me after running from the school to the café. Girls…

"Sorry, Akari… I thought I already told you about my new cell phone… I mean… Even Touya knew!" I pointed across from me to the long-haired boy. "I never even thought that I'd forget to tell you!" Right after my line, Akari shifted her eyes to where my index finger was pointing to, and started to blush. Then, she turned away from me and focused on Touya.

"Ah… Sorry Touya-kun… I didn't even realize you were here…" She took a bow as she apologized. "Did Hikaru drag you along with him?" She turned and gave me a weird look that said 'You should've told me he was here earlier'.

Like the Touya he was, his formalities and politeness took over. "It was no trouble at all. You were rushing to get here and must be tired." And, just like Touya… "Here, take my seat, Fujisaki-san. I should get going to the bookstore anyways." …he stands up and politely takes a bow. He's too good with girls…

Akari seemed taken back by Touya's over-politeness. I could even see that blush on her face get redder! How does Touya do that? Akari said something polite in response and took another bow. Touya stretched out his hand towards the seat, insisting she take the seat. Akari rejects politely and shook her head. Touya asked her again just to be sure… I can't take this politeness any longer…

"Just get another chair!" I think by that time everyone in the café was staring at me. It couldn't be helped. It was the only way that these two would stop being polite. Touya and Akari looked at me, unhappy about my statement. "If I didn't stop you two, I'd be here till tomorrow." I turned my head towards the windows, but I could hear the sounds of a chair banging against the floor. Good, they took my advice.

"Hikaru, I'm sorry about being late. And now I'll have to be sorry for something else too." I could feel Akari's eyes looking at me from behind. "Go club ends in twenty minutes or so. We won't have enough time anyways by the time we get there." Now that caused my head to turn.

"Akari… You made me wait for nothing?" I gave sort of a half pout to her. "…You'd better make it up to me…" Akari nodded, causing a grin to appear on my face. "Okay then! Let's have ramen right now! Your treat, okay?" Again, Akari nodded. I shifted and focused on Touya. "Hey, Touya, you wanna come too?"

"Sure, I'm in no rush. But only if Fujisaki-san agrees." We both stared at Akari, who seemed to be staring at her feet.

"S-Sure, Touya-kun can come…" I don't know why, but her voice seemed to have a bit of disappointment in them. Maybe because she knows she'll have to pay for Touya too.

"Are you sure?" Touya asked. Please don't start this again…Akari gave another timid nod, and stood up.

"Okay, let's go then!" I called the waitress over for the bill, and slapped down some yen from my wallet, paying for Touya's drink as well without knowing it. Inside my wallet, I also found my so-called business card, which I needed just in case people wanted one for go tutoring. "Oh, Akari, here is my cell phone's number if you need." I handed her one of the cards from my wallet. She seemed to cheer up a bit when she got it.

The three of us were walking down the street under the bright sun. It was burning out here. My headache from the ice cappuccinos was going away, but I was sweating like I was in hell. Akari wasn't doing much better either. She ran to the café in this heat, and was walking in it again after a short rest. I looked to my left to see if Touya was suffering from the heat too. But he was his usual composed self. I would've tried to look closer to see some hints, but then I'd be invading his personal space.

"It's… so… hot…" I said, pulling my T-shirt's collar back and forth to cool off. "I should have brought a cap…" All I wore were my yellow T-shirt and blue jeans. But then, when I examined Touya again, I realized he was wearing his school uniform. "Oh right, you still go to school, Touya. How can you still go when you already have a stable job for a living?" Touya gave me a frown.

"Shindo, it's true that we are go professionals at a young age, but it doesn't give us a right to stop education. I would like to have something else to use in the future aside from go." And here I was, thinking Touya Akira was all about go. Now, I think of Touya Akira as allgo and education. If I were him, I'd probably be completely stressed over school and go, but I didn't have to, since I chose not to go to school.

"I-Isn't it hard to keep up at school though, Touya-kun?" Akari asked shyly, possibly to start a conversation on our way to the ramen shop.

"Not really, I plan my schedule for everything I do in the day, so I make time for both school and Go." Well, Touya put an end to that conversation. We walked in silence after that, except that once in awhile I'd whine about the heat. When we finally arrived at the ramen shop, I really didn't feel like eating ramen anymore. It was so hot out that I didn't even want to eat my favourite food, which didn't happen often. Right now, I just wanted something cold.

"Ah, can we eat something else? It's so hot out that I don't want to eat ramen." It seemed like my statement shocked Akari and Touya. They both started at me with wide eyes… which weren't very pleasant at all.

Touya spoke first. "Shindo, do you have a fever or something? You never give up a chance to eat ramen, especially not when someone's treating!" I made it my obligation to retort. "Just because I decide to have something other than ramen doesn't make me sick!" I stuck my tongue out at him, but he just crossed his arms on his chest. "Well, it's hard to believe since you always drag me out on game days to have ramen for lunch!" And now it was my turn again. "That's because you never EAT any lunch! No wonder you're so skinny!" Touya was going to scream at me from the top of his lungs, but he must've seen Akari standing timidly next to me.

"Go-Gomenasai! I forgot that you were with us Fujisaki-san! It's just that Shindo was starting another mindless argument…" Oh, so I was the one that started? "You're that one that started it, TO-YA-A-KI-RA!" Before long, we were engaged in another round of screaming at each other. Akari just stood there not knowing what to do. As we were screaming, I caught sight of Akari from the corner of my eye. She looked down, like she was on the verge of tears. What was with her?

"…Akari?" Touya realized the situation too, and stopped our screaming and shouting. We faced Akari, both bewildered. She squeezed so tightly on her school bag that I thought she'd break it. I had no idea how to handle this. Akari has never acted this way before. She was always cheerful and enthusiastic.

After what seemed like an eternity, Akari finally looked up. "Hi-Hikaru, I'm sorry. I just remembered there's something I have to do… I'll see you later!" She took a quick and apologetic bow, and ran off into the crowds on the street. I just stood there quietly as I watched her disappear into the sea of people. Touya didn't say a thing either. Was something wrong with Akari today?

But before I could think up an answer to my question, I realized something else. "Hey! She was supposed to be treating us for meal!"

…To be continued

Author's Notes: I finally wrote a HikaGo fanfic Always wanted to write one. I have no idea how long this fanfic will be, but I'll try to keep it below 10 chapters. XD Might have some Hikaru x Akari moments, but probably VERY mild. Might not even be a Hikaru x Akari fic. Oo; And I don't know why, but I want to feature a lot of Akira in this fanfic. I just want him in the fanfic. Anyways, hope you all like this fanfic and RR Critiques are welcome too.

February 4, 2005