Timeline Note: Post-canon, probably around a few years after the end of the series.
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Shadows
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"He would have liked that."
Akira turned, glancing at Shindou and then at the traditional ink painting hanging on the wall above an array of antique bowls and plates. It looked like something that could have belonged in the Heian era. He tilted his head, frowning a little in thought, and then nodded. "Probably."
He didn't ask who Shindou was talking about.
It had been a few years since Akira had come to accept Sai as a shadow that would always linger around Shindou - sometimes hovering, sometimes consuming, and sometimes squeezing into the little spaces between them.
Shindou grinned at him. "I'm going to get it, Touya."
Akira watched him wave wildly for the man behind the counter, who had been eyeing them dubiously from the moment they entered the store, and sighed before turning back to frown at the painting. Even now, it was a constant burn - that urge to reach over and shake the answers out of Shindou with his bare hands.
For a phantom, Sai was always there, his presence stronger than any solid person. And for someone he had never met or even known the history of, Akira had begun to think he knew the man better than he knew most people. Because, for someone who was almost obsessively tight-lipped about the topic, Shindou talked about him a whole lot.
There was a time, when Akira had wondered if the reason Shindou refused to tell him about the circumstances surrounding Sai was because he didn't want them to meet. It stung a little, he had to admit. Until one day, seemingly out of the blue, Shindou began talking about him, about Sai - carefully casual at first but always with a sense of desperation, like it was something he needed to remember. And all of a sudden, Akira found himself able to list the things Sai liked, the things he found amusing, and even form a picture of a blurry, ageless man with childlike curiosity and strange mannerisms from when Shindou had deemed it necessary to act them out in order to get his point across.
It was all in past tense, and Akira began to believe that Sai's shadow would never disappear. Instead, it only seemed to grow, taking the shape of a man Akira imagined he must have already met.
"Touyaaa!" There was an undertone of a whine in his voice, and Akira got the impression that it wasn't the first time Shindou called out to him. He opened his mouth to respond, but Shindou was already rolling his eyes and dragging him towards the door, his other arm carrying a paper bag holding the rolled up scroll.
"Shindou!" He allowed himself to be pulled along, but he complained anyway. "Stop yanking me around like a barbarian, I can walk by myself!"
His rival ignored him, choosing instead to stick his tongue out at him as they pushed the door open to the street outside. The brightness of the sunlight that greeted them was immediate, and Akira had to squint, blinking rapidly at the spots in his vision. But right then, looking over at Shindou and noting the gentle, almost-content smile slowly swimming into view, Akira had this fleeting image of a man hovering to the side with a smile of his own, as blinding as the sun.
Sometimes, he imagined he could even hear him, perhaps saying, Ne, ne, Hikaru, what's in the bag? Is it for me? Can I see it?
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Originally written on May 15th, 2010 - reposted here with minor edits.
A/N: This was done for the Hikago May 5th Comment Fic Fest on Dreamwidth. The prompt I responded to was "There stands the shadow of a glorious name." And may I just add that I'm so glad I finally managed to write something for Hikago? I've always wanted to write Hikago fics, but alas, my attempts at it usually make me want to cry. :p