Yaoi Betrothal
Chapter 14
Ceremony

"In the Go Association, it has been a tradition to only allow three people to enter the professional rankings every year for decades. This year, we at the Go Association are proud to announce that all three of our Beginner-Dan's come from the Insei ranks. They are Shindou Hikaru, Ochi Kosuke, and Waya Yoshitaka. Please welcome them to our midst's with honor," a tall, brown-haired man introduced at the 2004 Graduation Ceremony. "Would they please come to the stage now to be awarded their certificates by last year's top qualifier, Touya Akira."

Hikaru, Ochi, and Waya stood from their seats in the first row of the small auditorium, and walked to the front of the room onto the stage, standing in order of ranking facing the announcer. Akira walked up the other side of the stage, took the certificates from the announcer's podium, and walked down the line, handing them to the three boys, shaking their hands as he did so. Once he handed the last certificate to Waya, he stepped back as the three new go professionals turned to the crowd and bowed, symbolizing the end of the hour-long yearly ceremony. As the three stars of the night's ceremony straightened out of their bows, Akira walked forward until he was behind his fiancé, wrapping his arms around the blonde-banged boy's waist. Hikaru automatically leaned into Akira's chest, who smiled, grabbing the boy's hand and slipping a small elegant ring onto his left ring finger.

Hikaru gasped, turning around quickly in Akira's arms. "Does this …!" he asked breathlessly. Akira nodded, and Hikaru threw his arms around his neck, burring his head into the hard shoulder beneath him. Akira tightened his arms around the slightly shorter boy's waist, kissing his head softly before looking up at the other people in the room, who were all starring at the two young pro's in shock.

"What?" he asked faux curiously, tilting his head.

"Can you please explain what is going on? I'd assume that's an engagement ring, but that seemed like an unusual proposal on it's own, let alone between two fourteen-year-old boy's," Ogata asked, pushing his glasses higher up on his nose as he gazed at the two boys with cold, studious eyes.

Akira shrugged. "You're right about it being an engagement ring, but the proposal sounded weird because it wasn't a proposal. We've been betrothed since birth, we just never announced it to the public. By asking 'do you mean,' Hikaru was just clarifying that we don't have to hide our relationship anymore."

"You've been betrothed since birth?" Waya asked in shock, "how did that happen? I've heard of arranged marriages before, but never between two men!"

"That's because we're this generations keisuke." As soon as that word left Akira's mouth, the room silenced immediately, an aura of awe resonating around the room.

Waya blinked in confusion. "What's keisuke?"

"Keisuke is two people who are so well intoned to each other it's like they are one person. Some countries call this soul mates. Before death, the keisuke receives a vision of the next generations, and how to contact the parents of the two, as the ones chosen are always children still in their parents womb. As soon as they have completed their job, the magic releases them, and the keisuke dies within twenty-four hours, no longer sustained by what they are," Ogata explained. "The keisuke pairs have begun to keep their identities secret, not wanting the fame that comes with the title, so it's been two hundred years since the world knew who they were. It's come to the point where most people have stopped believing in it, thinking it a legend."

Waya's eyes widened in amazement, but Ochi rolled his eyes in disbelief.

"If it's so famous, why haven't I heard of it before? And even if it does exist, I doubt you're it. Even Ogata said that they never revealed their identity to the public, so it's not like anyone would be able to tell you out as liars."

Akira shrugged his shoulders. "I really don't care if you believe it or not, we know, and that's all that matters. But to make things clear, we wouldn't have told if Hikaru hadn't passed the Pro exam. But he did, and that means both of us will be in the spotlight, meaning we wouldn't be able to keep our relationship under wraps too much longer. It's much simpler to simple say it now before it turns into a huge scandal outside of our control."

The next day, the go world expected to wake up to headlines about the pro's that had been introduced into the professional world around the globe the day before. However, everyone was blown away by headlines like "Japan's Meijin's son part of famous 'keisuke' pair with a new pro, a male." The world sat stunned for several days, then erupted in whispers of gossip as the pro's tried to ascertain whether the two boys were sprouting truth and lies. But when the Meijin himself submitted to an interview and supported the boys' claims, the professional world shrugged and went on with life as normal, accepting the relationship for what it was. No matter how homophobic a person was, they couldn't deny that keisuke, and destiny, was something that couldn't be avoided.

Years later, Hikaru and Akira, both nineteen, sat down to play the final game of the Meijin Ranking Matches. Akira had beaten his father the year before, and now it was Hikaru's time to challenge his husband. Hours into the match, Akira played the Hand of God, and Hikaru responded with the same move, ending the match in a draw. Sai sat next to the board between the two boys, glowing with pride.

Owari

Author's Notes:

If you haven't already, go back and re-read chapter 13. I added about half a page to the beginning of the chapter.Thanks for reading, and thank you for all the support over my car, they really brightened my day. Hope to see you again.