Disclaimer: I don't own Hikaru No GO
I am so sorry I took such a long time to update this fic. I hadn't been free lately... and usually my mind had been really occupied with working matters. So there wasn't once I could really sit down and concentrate writing a new chapter. Due to this matter I couldn't update. Now that I am taking a break. Hopefully I could update more often.
I need to thank all those who had supported and reviewing this fic. I really appreciate it alot. So don't stop reviewing and reading my fics. Thank you so much...
Hope everyone enjoys this chapter
Chapter 11: Confrontations
Hikaru looked at Akari when their classes were having combine P.E. in school. He was sitting quietly at the side of the field. Boys were playing soccer and girls were playing volleyball during that period. However, Hikaru wasn't paying attention to the events around him. His mind was still occupied with the incident back during the school trip.
He couldn't forget that time, when he saw Touya carrying Akari and she seemed to look rather comfortable sleeping on his back. It had been in his thoughts regularly that passed few days. He meant to ask Akari about it but he couldn't talk about the incident.
Sighing out loud, Hikaru leaned his chin on his knees and stared blankly ahead of him. Everyone was cheering and having fun during P.E lesson but Hikaru didn't have the mood to participate in anything that day. He actually felt rather low, knowing that Akari was hiding something from him.
"Heads up!"
With a jerked, Hikaru looked up and saw a white round thing coming towards his face. Before he could register in his head what was coming his way; that white round thing made contact with his face and he felt his brains was about to burst out.
"Ah Hikaru!" He could hear Akari's voice in a distance but he wasn't sure.
He was seeing stars that moment. Or were those birds flying around his head? He wasn't sure either and everything went dark…
When Hikaru regained his consciousness, he could smell a strong whiff of medications before he opened his eyes. He could hear distance and very soft voices nearby, one he could distinctively recognize as Akari's voice and the other could probably be the school nurse.
"Is he alright?"
"Yes, he just need some bed rest and he will be fine."
"Thank you…"
He heard the curtains drew aside and someone walked in. Very slowly, he opened his eyes and saw Akari still in her sports uniform looking rather worriedly at him. He smiled softly.
"Akari?"
"Gomen, Hikaru…."
"Why are you sorry?" Hikaru asked startled that Akari was apologizing suddenly. He sat up from the bed in hurry to look at her. "Did you do something wrong?"
"I was the one who hit you with the ball." Akari said uneasily. Both her hands were clasped together in a prayer form looking at him rather nervously. "I am really, really sorry!"
Hikaru was dumbfounded for a moment while staring at her anxious self. Then he burst out laughing.
"Wha…" In turned, Akari was stunned.
"No wonder that was such an awful hit…" Hikaru continued to laugh, clutching his stomach.
Akari fumed, this was always the treatment she had gotten from Hikaru.
"Well, I came to see if you are alright," Akari retorted. "Seeing that you are full of energy I guess I am going."
Hikaru continued laughing while Akari walked towards the curtains that shield around the bed Hikaru was laying in. She stopped when she felt Hikaru grabbed her wrist. She turned around slightly with wide eyes to see Hikaru smiling at her.
"I am really happy that you came to see if I am alright." Hikaru said. "Even, you are the course of it."
Akari smiled in returned.
"I have to go back to class Hikaru," Akari said rather ruefully. "Sorry I can't stay longer.
"Let's go back together Akari," Hikaru said. "After school, it had been a long time since we walked home together."
"Hai," Akari grinned. "I will wait for you at the front door."
Hikaru let her wrist go and watched her leave the room. He felt that Akari's behaviour towards him was different. She didn't blush or jumped with joy when he behaved so politely towards her. If it was the Akari he knew before, she would be really happy.
"Why did you change Akari?" Hikaru whispered softly after Akari was no longer in the nurse's office.
He flopped back on the bed and stared up the white ceiling of the infirmary room with a sigh.
Akari waited for Hikaru by the entrance door after school. Students were already on their way out of the school compound and there were still no sign of Hikaru coming out the corridors leading to the classes. Akari breathed out loudly. It wasn't the first time Hikaru made her wait and she was used to it. So, she stood patiently waiting for her best friend to appear.
After almost half an hour had passed, still no sign of Hikaru. Akari huffed slightly and shifted her legs. She was wondering to leave or to continue waiting. Since Hikaru had asked to go back together, Akari had decided to wait. It was very rarely Hikaru would ask her something like this. She thought maybe Hikaru had something important to tell her.
"Fujisaki-san…"
Not long later, Akari heard Kaneko, who was in the same class as Hikaru calling after her. She turned to see Kaneko walking towards her.
"Shindou-kun told me to inform you that he couldn't meet you." Kaneko said. "Our class sensei had asked him to stay back for some reason. So he couldn't leave."
"I see," Akari's shoulders slumped slightly with disappointment. "I waited for such a long time. Well, I guess it can't be help. I'll see you Kaneko-san. Ja-ne…"
"Ja, Fujisaki-san." Kaneko was changing her shoes, while Akari smiled at her before leaving.
Akari stepped out the building and looked up the clear blue sky taking in a deep breath. Strangely, she didn't feel remorse that Hikaru stood up on her. She had no idea why but she didn't feel upset like she would be in the past.
"Well, I guess its better this way…" She smiled softly and placed a hand over her beating heart. There was no longer any pain. "That awful feeling wasn't exactly very pleasant…"
Without much thought about the change, Akari headed towards the school front gates and made her way home by herself, with a small serene smile never leaving her face…
Hikaru could only feel rather crestfallen that he couldn't see Akari after school. Since he had nothing special that afternoon, he took a walk in the city alone to clear his unwanted thoughts. Unconsciously, he made his way towards the salon he had first met Touya. When he realized where he was, he stopped with surprise.
"I must be out of my mind." Hikaru muttered to himself angrily and turned away from the building.
As soon as he did, he came face to face with Touya. He was in his Kaio uniform staring at Hikaru with wide eyes. Judging by Touya's clothing, it was clear to Hikaru that Touya must have come here like he always did after school. Hikaru nearly groaned. That was definitely not his day. He frowned slightly at Touya before he walked on and ignored him.
"Shindou, you can't avoid it." Touya muttered softly when Hikaru walked passed him.
Hikaru stopped on the spot and turned to Touya angrily.
"I don't know what you are talking about." Hikaru snapped.
"If you want to talk about Fujisaki-san, you know where to find me."
After that sentence, Touya walked into the building to his GO salon in his cool collected self. Hikaru was still rooted angrily on the spot. He was torn between running after Touya and walking away like nothing had happened. However, his curiosity was killing him. After a few minutes passed, Hikaru finally turned towards the building where Touya had disappeared into…
Touya was surprised to see Hikaru outside the building to his GO salon when he was making his way towards it. He looked like he wasn't very happy to see him. But there was no way of escaping it anymore.
He had gone through his trouble thoughts many times. The surprise and stern look on Hikaru's face when he saw him piggyback Akari during the school trip, had told him that Hikaru was suspicious of him. Hikaru may have alleged that Akari and he may have known each other before the trip.
He somehow, suspected that Akari never told Hikaru that they were meeting. Touya didn't want to get Akari into trouble either and he knew that it wouldn't be a nice to destroy the close friendship she had with Hikaru. But now that the cat was out of the bag, he had no choice but settles this matter and hopefully could be able to make everything better.
While he was laying stones out of the go board, he heard the auto sliding door slid opened and soon Hikaru stood before the table he was sitting at. He looked up slowly as Hikaru stared down at him.
"Take a seat…" Touya said calmly and cleaned the stones away. "Why don't we play a game together? I will tell you what you want to know… and hopefully you will understand."
Hikaru blinked at his friendly request. He nodded once slightly, sat down and their game begins…
"So that is how we met…" Touya finally finished his story while their game carried on. "I had been tutoring her math for almost three years now."
"You knew her for such a long time?" Hikaru whispered while studying Touya's moves. "She never said anything… but it was because of me as an Insei at that time, I had been so busy practicing GO, I didn't even know what she had been doing."
"I'll be frank with you." Touya continued. "I like Fujisaki-san. She is very different from other girls I know and she gave me very pleasant memories in these three years."
Hikaru was silent while he looked up at Touya who had his concentration on the Go board.
"Then I guess we are rivals in our personal life too." Hikaru smirked slightly.
Touya looked up with surprise.
"I won't loose to you Touya." Hikaru continued with a small smile on his face. "I guess, I will have to make up to the time I neglected Akari."
"Don't you know that Fujisaki-san always like you Shindou?" Touya frowned. "I have already lost!"
"But she had been different nowadays." Hikaru replied leaning back on his chair and placed both hands behind her head. "I can tell. There is a feeling that she is more distant from me now. I had been wondering if you were the cause of it."
"Me?" Touya was surprised at this news. "I never knew…"
"Maybe it is because Akari doesn't know it herself." Hikaru smiled. "So I still have an advantage to try getting her back from you."
Touya was speechless for a moment.
"Ah well, I can't continue with this game today." Hikaru grinned and stood up. "We will continue this game another day. I have to get home."
Hikaru whistled a soft tune while he walked towards the door. Touya stood up abruptly before he could leave and shouted after him.
"I won't let you take her then!"
Hikaru turned back to him in surprise, his eyes wide. Touya however, was blushing at his impulsive outburst. The astounded guests in his salon had turned to look at the calm Touya loosing his cool. Ichikawa was rather speechless while watching Touya looking rather uneasy about what he had said earlier.
Hikaru only smile and shrugged. He turned away and raised a hand in a waving gesture.
"We will see about that, ja-ne Touya." Hikaru said in a nonchalant tone while he walked out the salon.
Touya watched the automatic door sliding shut again before he turned back to his seat and sank down. He never felt so anxious about a girl before. It was the first for him and for a short while, he felt rather afraid of loosing Akari.
"What was that about Akira-kun?" Ichikawa asked walking over to him. "Was that Shindou-kun?"
"Yes," Touya smiled slightly at the worried Ichikawa. "It's nothing to worry about."
"If you say so…" Ichikawa said doubtfully but didn't press on.
Who would Fujisaki-san want to be with? Touya wondered silently and nervously.
Akari was doing her homework that night when she heard soft knocking noises on her window. With a frowned she turned towards her window and nearly fell off her chair when she saw Hikaru outside her window knocking on the glass pane. She rushed over to her window, unlocked it and pushed the glass pane upwards.
"Hikaru, what are you doing?" Akari asked with surprised.
"I am sorry I stood up on you today." Hikaru grinned at her. "I had to stay back to take down notes I'd miss for the last class because I was in the infirmary."
"Don't worry about it." Akari smiled. "You climbed all the way here to tell me this?"
"Well, I thought you may be sulking or something, so I came over to see."
"You never bothered before Hikaru." Akari laughed. "I am not sulking anyways; actually I am busy finishing my homework."
"You are always busy with homework and studying." Hikaru tilt his head slightly. "I am still curious about this matter."
"Well, I guess you will know soon, so I might as well just tell you." Akari smiled. "I am taking the entrance test to Kaio High School before spring next year. Their qualification is very high. I am hoping I am able to enter."
"Kaio?" Hikaru frowned and for a moment, he thought Akari was doing this for Touya. "Why Kaio?"
Hikaru had heard from others that Touya will be continuing his studies in Kiao High after he graduates junior high school. Unlike him, Hikaru had decided to quit school and focus only on GO as a profession. Of all schools, Akari had to choose the one that Touya will be going? Hikaru couldn't help but felt rather envious.
"Well, I am applying for a scholarship to a Uni in America." Akari explained. "Only Kaio High provides that scholarship. So I have to go there."
"America… why?" Hikaru stammered slightly. Why was there one bad news after another? He was not ready to see Akari going so far away. Even though there was still such a long way to go. But time flies really quickly.
"Hikaru, I dream to be a vet someday." Akari told him still smiling and rather unaware of Hikaru's shock and distressed expression. "I had always dream of this ever since I was young."
"Really, I never knew." Hikaru mumbled softly. "You never told me about this before."
"Well, you never really cared Hikaru and besides you always laugh at whatever I do, so…"
"I am that mean to you?" Hikaru felt rather down at what Akari had said. Was he that bad?
"Well, no…" Akari blinked, rather flabbergasted at Hikaru's strange behaviour. "Ano, Hikaru… are you feeling alright?"
"Yes, I am alright" Hikaru nodded. "I guess I will miss you when you leave…"
"It will be another three years from now!" Akari laughed. "You can still see plenty of me until then! By then I am sure you will be tired of seeing me. At that time, you will be pleased to send me off."
"I will make sure I see plenty of you." Hikaru smiled and added silently to himself that he will never get tired of seeing her. "I will be having Oteai match tomorrow, so I won't be going to school. But the day after, I will be going to school, so let's walk to school together."
"OK," Akari smiled.
"Oyasumi…" Hikaru waved and turned towards the wooden plank he had used to climb over from his roof to Akari's.
"Oyasumi…"
After seeing Hikaru had returned to his roof, Akari shut her window and returned to her homework.
"Hikaru is acting weird today…" She mumbled softly to herself before she pushed all thoughts away and began concentrating on her homework again.
Nevertheless, before Akari could start doing her work, she could hear the house phone ringing in the distance for a few rings before someone picked it up. Then, there was a shout from the hallway calling for her.
"Akari, it's your call!" It was her mother that answered the phone.
Akari groaned but got up from her desk anyways. She dashed out her room towards the stairs. The house phone was place at the foot of the stairs. Her mother was looking up at her holding the receiver waiting for her patiently, while Akari rushed down the stairs and took the receiver from her.
"Arigatou…" Akari told her mother and she returned back to the kitchen to prepare for the breakfast the next day. "Moshi moshi?"
"Fujisaki-san?"
Akari blinked at that familiar voice and a huge smile broke out her face. "Touya-kun?"
"Hai, I was wondering if we will be meeting tomorrow." Touya said. "Since finals are coming, I wonder if you want to have extra couching."
"Of course! I will definitely need it!" Akari exclaimed. "Is after school tomorrow, alright with you?"
"Great, I will see you, oyasumi Fujisaki-san."
"Hai, oyasumi, Touya-kun." Akari couldn't stop grinning.
She hung up and ran back up the stairs to her room. Somehow, after she closed the door of her room, she inclined her head slightly at the curious occurrence that happened to her that night. First, it was Hikaru coming over to talk to her and asking her to walk to school together. He never does that before.
Then, Touya called her and asked if she wants tutoring. Well, since it wasn't the first time, they had arranged to meet after school for tutoring lessons but she couldn't help feeling peculiar about both occurrences. She raised an eyebrow at the bizarre night, but without much thought about it, she shrugged and went back to her desk to continue with her homework.
She had so much to do to reach her goal…
Tzusukeru
Thank you for reading... for a few chapters onwards... it may have a slight Touya Akari Hikaru love triangle. Not much though... I am not sure yet... since I am more focus on Touya and Akari all the time... I have to think how Hikaru stands in... LOL.
I will try updating soon. Don't forget to review!
