A/N: So here is chapter 4! I got lots of feedback, and many who put my story as a favorite or as an alert. But because I am greedy, I wanted to see more response...oh well...guess little pieces of chocolates wasn't enough huh? Anyway Lets move on to Q/A
Q: Will there be any pairings? If so, what sort of pairings would it be?
A: One of the feedback I got asked for Hikaru x Akari. I am sorry to say that, I never really liked that pairing. Currently I haven't thought much about pairings, but if there were any, Akari will be paired with someone else. As to who? I haven't thought that far ahead.
Q: Will this be a yaoi fanfic?
A: I would like that...but it probably won't happen. Since I'm sure there are some that don't like yaoi, I will probably not include any in this story. So there probably won't be any pairings...especially main characters. But side characters are okay, you can think about that, and give me some suggestions.
Q: Why did you decide to make Sai human, rather than a ghost?
A: Well now here is something interesting. I have thought about it a lot, one thing for sure is that if Sai was a ghost he did probably disappear at some point. I don't want that. My story won't stick to the original plot, and if you don't like that, well I can't really say much. I am not going to do what pleases anyone, I am going to do instead what makes me happy. Another thing, I wanted to make my story unique (to some degree) so Sai was turned into a human being. He isn't strong as he was in the original story because he hasn't been in the human world for nearly a thousand year. I think that characters that contain flaws are easier to work with, and if Sai was unbeatable that did beat my point. The point of him being a human (just in case you were confused).
I think I have got all the Q/A covered, so lets move on to the story!
Edited on 12/15/12
My Unnamed Phobia
Chapter 4: My Sin That Cannot Be Atoned
"I am a vindictive person,
do not fault me for what I am about to do.
I do not pay more,
and neither do I pay less.
That is how I shall see it be done."
Akira was not looking forward to coming to school. Why is it that when he most desired a Go match or convention he could get none?
It's not like he doesn't like his school or classmates, he liked to learn, the only problem was the person that will be sitting beside him. Two weeks of silence and harmony was really like the calm before a storm.
Akira sighed, knowing that he couldn't avoid this. He mustered all the power he had in him and opened the door, everyone in the classroom stopped and glanced at him. But seeing as he wasn't the one they were seeking for they returned back to their conversations.
Once settle in his seat, Akira took out a book about Go, but before he could even start reading, the classroom door slammed open. And then there was turmoil.
"Hey man, you finally decided to show up?"
"Why did you really beat Masaki and Taka?"
"Which is your real girlfriend Hikaru-kun?"
"Heard you got a week's worth of detention from Ms. Hanamiya."
"During lunch we should have a game of soccer!"
Akira knew that his seat-partner was popular, but he never thought he will be this popular. He never really liked people whom seem to joke around and think that popularity meant everything. While he was establishing himself in society, this class clown was probably going to drop out of high school and be working in a convenience store for the rest of his life.
He ignored the commotion and tried to read the first paragraph. He tried, but his attempt was futile as the chair beside him was roughly pulled, and then a body collapsed on the chair ungracefully.
He felt a vein thumping against the side of his temple while he tried to restrain the twitching of his right eyebrow. If he wasn't so controlled and well-mannered, he would have stood up and overthrown his desk by now.
"Come on guys, my partner is trying to read! You noisy people!" Hikaru yelled jokingly to his classmates before turning back to the shoulder length haired teenager.
"Hey, hello? Hi? Excuse me?" Hikaru said as he waved his hand at the quiet boy while the others laughed.
"Hikaru you are wasting your time, that's Touya Akira and he's too good for you. No one can talk to him on even grounds unless they are a Go professional." One of his classmates informed him.
"Hey, don't you remember me? We played last week." Hikaru explained as he scooped closer to the other boy, while his classmates burst into laughter thinking the half blonde had been joking.
Akira finally lifted his head, unable to sit quietly and let people laugh at him for a second longer. But as his teal colored eyes met emerald, he felt as if time had stopped. The boy he had been thinking about was right beside him. The boy he thought could have been his rival…was also his class' clown.
"We should play another game again." The half blonde said cheerfully before moving his seat back to his desk.
Akira opened his mouth to say something, but ended up swallowing it instead when the teacher opened the door.
'I will talk to him about the game later.' Akira thought silently as he took out his history textbook.
But when lunch came and an opportunity was given, every other classmate took it before Akira could react. It seems that Hikaru was popular for a reason. He was a social butterfly, knew what to say to which type of people, and could flirt with girls while still sustaining a conversation with his fellow male classmates.
Akira sat back down on his chair and decided to eat his lunch box, he will have time later.
When he saw Hikaru stand up, Akira watched in surprise as others followed him. He had never been one to socialize, and so did not have many friends. But sometimes he wondered what it would be like to have friends that were of his age.
"Hey give me some privacy here; I can't go to the bathroom by myself or something?" Hikaru joked as he ran for the door before one of his male classmates decided to ruffle his hair.
Akira kept an eye on his classmates, wondering what they would do. And to his surprise they sat back down and continued talking. He decided it was his chance to talk to Hikaru before he was flooded by his classmates again. He put away his lunch box and stood up.
When Akira made a left turn to the boy's bathroom he saw Hikaru talking to a shorter boy with glasses. Akira almost staggered as he realized whom Hikaru was talking to. Not just that, he had never realized that Ochi Kousuke attended the same school as him.
"If they bother you again tell me okay?" Hikaru said to the shorter boy.
Now that Akira looked at Ochi school uniform, his collar had a Roman numeral one, which meant he was a freshman.
"As if I would need help from someone like you." Ochi muttered as he crossed his arms.
"Now loosen up, and don't be so uptight, I am still your sempai." Hikaru's voice was light hearted, while his hand clapped Ochi's shoulder playfully.
"Don't touch me you murderer!" Ochi's hysterical cry shook Akira, and it made him wonder what he had meant.
Akira turned his eyes to Hikaru and was left stunned as he studied that crestfallen face. It wasn't one of smiles or of mischief; it was an expression that seemed oddly surreal to be on such an easy going class clown.
"I'm sorry, guess I overstepped the line, but if Masaki and Taka bully you again I hope you would come to me." Hikaru said honestly as he tried to put a smile on his tanned face.
"Why should I? So you can compensate for your sins? There's no way that what you have done can be fixed, much less bring back the dead!" Ochi glared before swiftly turning to the stairs so he could head back to the freshman's floor.
Akira couldn't really see Hikaru's face as the half blonde turned to watch the shorter boy leave. All he saw was side of his face and the number five tattoo. He studied a little more and noticed that Hikaru actually had a piercing on his right earlobe as well. One piercing on both ears, and they were of dark green stones. Who else wore earrings on both of their ears?
It reminded him of someone, but Akira didn't ponder for too long as his teal colored orbs trailed upward. For someone that was as carefree as Hikaru, he sure carried a big burden on his shoulders.
Something shiny slipped from the corner of the other boy's right eye, and Akira noted that it was a tear.
A single tear.
The joyful yells and cheers from the school yard did not reflect the moment Akira stood in. It was the silent hallways that mirrored the profound moment Akira was in. He wondered what sort of expression Hikaru was casting right now.
Sai had a title match tomorrow with Zama Oza. But that wasn't what his mind had been thinking about. As he sat on the tatami mat facing the beautiful Japanese garden, all he did was indulge in the reminiscence of his childhood.
No one besides him was in the Shindou Heihachi's residence currently. So he had time to brood about the past and enjoy the jasmine tea.
He could still remember when he was seven, and he was still having a hard time adjusting to his life without his parents. He had sat in this same position, but he hasn't been thinking much. Instead he had been spacing out as tears rolled down his pale cheeks.
Then three years old Hikaru had stumbled in the Japanese garden and had fallen face first to the ground. Sai had watched but had not been compelled to help said boy. He could see that the dark haired three years old was trying his best to hold back his tears unlike him.
His emerald eyes were round and big; they were blurred by the tears, but to Sai's bewilderment not even one slipped. The boy was trying really hard not to blink while his round cheeks became even rounder. His face became red, but the boy held it in anyway. If he let go of his breath then his concentration would break as well; which ultimately would lead him to blink his eyes.
Finally Sai couldn't hold it any longer and let out a laugher he haven't done so since the accident. The three years old was startled by the abrupt sound and blinked. Then his cries filled the residence. Sai blinked back tears of laugher as he stood up and neared the boy.
"You know its okay to cry at times." Sai assured as he kneeled down and pulled the little boy back onto his feet.
The boy's response had been muffled but Sai could still understand half of it, "But you are crying…"
Sai blinked in shock, but then stood up and tugged the boy to where he had been sitting before.
"Yep, but you helped me to stop crying. So is okay for you to cry now, I will stop my tears for you." Sai smiled cheerfully as he lifted the heavy boy onto the tatami mat.
"No."
"Huh?" Sai questioned as he sat beside his little cousin.
"You don't have to hold your tears, ice cream works!" Hikaru had stumbled on some words and had eaten the others, but Sai had understood it perfectly.
"It does?" Sai humored his little cousin, while tilting his head to the side.
"Yep!"
Sai closed his eyes and breathed in the fresh smell of cut grass. Even though the scent wasn't sweet and it made his nose itch, it was refreshing. He took the warm cup into his hands and drank a small portion of it as his mind trailed back to his happier memories with Hikaru.
Sai was nine years old while his little cousin was five. Sai had been trying to teach Hikaru how to play go, but it hasn't turned out the way he had wanted it. He had assumed that it would be fun, but that naughty and troublemaking kid had wanted ice cream rather than to learn the complexity of Go.
"Hikaru pay attention, or no chocolate ice cream." Sai scolded, before he returned to his explanation about the rules.
After going through the rules for nearly three times, Sai gave an easy problem for Hikaru to solve. But when five minutes passed and no tiny hands made an effort to take a white stone out, Sai finally glanced upward.
The seat before him was empty.
He felt a tug on his sleeves so he turned to the direction of the tug and met round green eyes inches from his bluish ones.
"Hikaru what about the problem?" Sai asked in concern, wondering if Hikaru had no interest in Go.
The little boy liked going to the park and playing soccer, he couldn't sit still during dinner so it was a feat that he had actually sat on the tatami mat for nearly ten minutes without moving.
"15-4." Came the reply as Hikaru settled himself beside him.
Sai turned back to the board and nodded, but then he felt his hair being pull.
"Sai you should keep your hair long!" Hikaru smiled childishly.
"Why?" Sai asked curiously while moving the stones to another position. This time the problem will be a little harder to solve.
"Because it's smooth like mom's hair." An unexpected reply but nevertheless Sai took it as a compliment.
"If you solve this one correctly I will keep my hair long." Sai told his cousin, knowing that this one would be a challenge for Hikaru.
He watched as the boy studied the board for a few seconds and then to his surprise said, "19-8."
It should have taken longer to figure out, but Hikaru had done it in a breeze. So Sai decided to test Hikaru's ability a little more. A life and death situation.
One that he had taken longer than usual to solve. If Hikaru did this correctly, he would be a genius, especially since his little cousin was four years younger than him. If Sai was considered a prodigy for his age, then what would Hikaru be then?
"Hikaru what about this?" Sai pointed to the problem on the kaya board.
"Why so many stones?" Hikaru whined instead, but looked at the kaya board anyway.
"Hikaru this is a test." Sai replied seriously, even though he knew there was no way Hikaru could solve it. After all he had just learned the rules, and this challenge wasn't for those that had just begun to play Go.
"On one condition." Hikaru smiled in mischief.
Sai smiled back, knowing Hikaru wouldn't get this right, "Go ahead."
"Pierce your ears!" And then the little boy cackled as he slumped on the tatami mat.
"Do you really think I am your mom?" Sai exclaimed instead, thinking 'Hikaru is being unbelievable'.
"Nope, but you look girly even with your neck length hair." Hikaru teased, rolling on the floor while laughing.
"Solve the problem first." Sai gritted his teethes while his tone showed his seriousness; no way was he going to get piercings.
"Remember to get your ears pierced!" Hikaru said cockily as he stared at the Go board.
"If you get it right."
"Ha! Just watch."
Five minutes passed by and Sai knew that Hikaru wasn't going to get it right any time soon. He said to his little cousin, "Give up; I am not getting my ears pierced."
"I said just watch!" The other boy yelled as he returned his eyes to the board. Sai had to admit that Hikaru's concentration was amazing.
"Hikaru is time to go." Mitsuko called from the living room. Sai smirked as he watched his cousin struggle.
"Hey your mom said you are leaving Hikaru." Sai sang, he really had to clap his back on a job well done.
Hikaru stood up indignantly, his eyes still glaring at the board, Sai stood up as well. He wanted to dance around his cousin, but he knew that if he did, he will be pushing it too far.
"Hikaru! Let's go." Mitsuko called again.
Hikaru began to walk toward the sliding door, and Sai almost pumped his fist into the air.
Almost.
Too bad Hikaru had to break his victory mood by saying,
"13-15."
That little brat was too smart for his own good, Sai grumbled as he stared at the Go board in bewilderment.
He got it right.
And so he had to pierce his ears now. 'Damn him.'
Sai let out a chuckle as he remembered the reason why his ears are now adorning violet stones. Well he did return the favor. His little cousin had his ears pierced as well, and his bangs bleached.
No less and no more, that was the family motto when payback was involved.
Sai drank the remaining portion of his tea. He was looking forward to that title match tomorrow, after all Zama Oza owed him. 'No less and no more', Sai thought to himself as he looked up at the clear sky.
Akira sat in his seat wondering how he should interpret what he had just witnessed. How did Ochi 5-dan and Hikaru relate to all of this? What he once thought about the half blonde seemed no longer true. Was he truly just a carefree boy that caused troubles for teachers left and right? Or was he someone that carried dark secrets and an unknown past?
"—Hikaru come to the black board and solve this math equation!" Yun-sensei was the Go Club's supervisor and coach. Besides being involved in after school activities, he was also a math teacher.
The boy sitting next to Akira groaned, but made no effort to stand up from his seat. The surrounding classmates all chuckled and commented on how Hikaru wouldn't be able to answer the question on the board even if Yun-sensei gave him unlimited time.
"Hey, are you implying I'm dumb?" Hikaru yelled as he stretched his feet beneath him.
"You said it yourself Hikaru." One of the male students teased, while the others nodded along or tried to hold back their laugher.
Akira wondered if it was right for students to make such a joke, wouldn't it be considered bullying? Why would Hikaru be okay with being laugh at? Akira would surely have demanded their silence, and would have proved them wrong. But Hikaru wasn't him; his mind was on a different platform than Akira's level-headedness.
"All right, I will answer that question, but better catch your jaws before it hits the floor." The emerald eyed boy said as he brought his body up and carried himself lazily toward the blackboard.
"Nah, Hikaru you are ten years too early to be able to solve that problem. Besides, you have your head on the desk most of the time, there's no way you would even remember the formula for Arithmetic Series." Another student said, while another clapped his back.
Akira turned his gaze to Yun-sensei and pondered at the fact that the teacher wasn't silencing them or defending Hikaru. Did Yun-sensei dislike Hikaru?
Hikaru had been standing there writing neatly which was a huge contrast compared to the lousy way he presented himself. Akira checked the work and thought that it was going well; he just hoped he didn't mess up in one of the calculations.
"Hikaru go back to your seat." Yun-sensei said after seeing Hikaru's unmoving figure before the board.
"Yun-sensei, I almost got it!" Hikaru exclaimed, as he continued writing.
Akira stared, confused as to why Hikaru was writing so many numbers, and why he had to fill the board completely when he only required a small space.
"Sit back down." Yun-sensei's voice was strict and stolid, a tone Akira had never heard from said teacher since he had attended Kaio High School. Almost six years, if he included his Middle School time all the way till now.
"Okay sensei, I am done!" Hikaru said as he sauntered toward his seat as if he had achieved something amazing.
Noticing the sudden laugher, Akira snapped his eyes back to the board, only to stare in shock. Hikaru had used many numbers to form a collage of Yun-sensei's face in a cartooned style. It trailed from the left board all the way to the end of the right board; where in a comic bubble was the answer to the problem.
If one had not looked closely, they would not had figured out all the numbers formed a larger picture. Just like Yun-sensei whom had stood to the side and close to the board would not have seen, unlike his students who sat facing toward the collage.
Hikaru was ingenious in the ways that no one would had thought, and also daring, for it took someone with the will power in order to execute something as risky as that.
And knowing the consequences.
"Hikaru detention with me after school today for two hours!"
"Aaaw sensei I know you want my company but you don't have to be so selfish."
"Detention tomorrow!"
"I would stick to you even without the detention sensei."
"Hikaru!"
Akira had been thinking a lot ever since he met Hikaru. And there were times he was amazed by his outrageous actions, disgusted by his childish attitude, confused by his sudden apathy, and shocked by his talent in Go. He might not be able to gauge his Go skills yet, but he knew from what he had seen and faced against that he was good. What Akira wanted was a rematch to see who would truly be the winner.
But at times like these, Akira really wanted to slap some senses into that foolish mind.
To be continued...
~Lots of Luvs~
