Chapter 63

"What the hell is the matter with you?"

"Huh?"

Waya was glaring at him, taking a bite out of his hamburger as though it had personally offended him, and swallowed it down with a large gulp of Coke. Waya was planning to talk to Hikaru about Sai today, hoping Hikaru'd have any information that could help Sai recover his memory, but Hikaru looked as though he were in a different dimension.

"I've noticed how you're acting, you know. You're completely distracted. Something wrong?"

"I'm doing well enough, aren't I?" He was, wasn't he? He hadn't really been paying attention, but he seemed to be back on a winning streak lately.

"You are. That's why I haven't asked you about it before. It's not like that time you skipped all your matches." Waya watched him with a frown, eating slowly. "But you're completely out of it. Seriously, what's wrong?"

Hikaru glanced down at his hands, then picked up his own Coke to give himself something to do. Sloshing the liquid around inside the cup, he stared down into it, his mind oddly blank.

"I have feelings for Akira," he heard himself say.

"Feelings? What kind of feelings?"

"Well, like...maybe...perhaps...love?" He looked up to find Waya staring at him, mouth hanging open, half-eaten hamburger dangling from his lower lip. "Waya, that's really disgusting."

Waya swallowed, stared, and then burst into laughter. He laughed so loudly and so long that every person in the restaurant turned to stare at them, and Hikaru sighed, waiting for him to finish.

"What's so funny?" It was Isumi, arriving late, sitting down and looking at the two of them. "Or wait, don't tell me before I get my lunch." He got up again and headed for the counter while Waya wiped his eyes, his shoulders still shaking. Hikaru sighed and continued eating, suspecting that the full force of what he'd just said would hit him later.

Isumi returned to the table and sat down, carrying a tray with his lunch.

"Well, what's the joke?" he asked, glancing between them.

"I told Waya I have feelings for Akira." Hikaru said, quietly, and Waya started laughing again, sobbing with mirth. Isumi didn't laugh. He glanced over at Hikaru, his expression thoughtful, and nodded.

"I see," he said, lifting his hamburger to his lips and beginning to eat.

"Isumi-san, he's not serious. - Congratulations, buddy, you've made the joke of the week. No, wait, let's call it the joke of the century!" Waya cackled, looking exhausted with laughter, his face red.

"No" Hikaru replied, sipping his drink and regretting he'd ever answered Waya's question. "I am not joking. I am being very serious."

Waya abruptly stopped laughing, and his expression changed into one of horror. Glancing between Isumi and Hikaru, he drew a couple of deep shaky breaths, his body still in laughing mode.

"Wh- Serious? You're actually serious?"

"Waya." It was Isumi, his voice and expression tired. "What could be not serious about that?"

"Yeah, but- Touya's... Shindou, you like guys? I thought you're dating Nase!"

Hikaru shrugged, picking at the lettuce leaf sticking limply out of what remained of his hamburger.
"I'm not dating Nase, moron! How many times do I have to repeat this?"

"I wouldn't have thought that of you," Waya said, sitting up, his back very straight. "I mean, you're not... You don't look like... I mean, you're not like that."

"Waya, shut up!"

"You can normally tell, though, can't you?" Waya said, glaring defensively at Isumi. "I mean, it's kinda obvious, sometimes. You know. Those sort of men, they're..."

"Now, I don't' know if I like men in general, you know. I mean…I only have these kinds of feelings for Akira, that's all. Besides, as Nase or Akari kissed me before –

"Nase KISSED you?!"

" - back then I thought , oh, that's not bad – but that was all. But when I kissed Akira - "

"You KISSED him?"

"Or that time when I spent the night in a hotel with Nase -"

"You SPENT the night in a hotel with Nase?!"

"I had thought at first, okay, why not give it a try, Nase's pretty and smart and she likes me and all. But while she was taking a bath, I just fell asleep. I guess I still ow Nase an explanation. I didn't feel the drive, if you know what I mean... But everytime I spend the night with Akira - "

"You SPEND nights with Touya Akira?! Of all people, that ugly arrogant..." Waya looked like he's about to puke.

"Waya, I think that's enough nonsense talking already." Isumi interrupted and turned to Hikaru. "I am actually not surprised, Shindou. I mean, I saw you two together often enough at the Institute, how you talk and look at each other – I've always felt like it was much more than just rivalry between you two. There's always been a strange kind of understanding between you two. In fact, Touya Akira never ever shows any kind of emotions, unless Shindou Hikaru's somehow involved.." Isumi smiled, added "If you love him and he loves you back, then I'm glad for you two."

"Oh…Isumi-san…thank you!"

"Okay then, guess I'll have to accept that anyway." Waya sat back again, frowning. "What else could I say huh? Hey, imagine Weekly Go running the tittle Two princes of Go in a battle of…tounges - That would be hilarious! "

"Of course Weekly Go is not going to run such a title. I could trust in your discretion, couldn't I?"

"My discretion is but not for free, mind you. I want more ramen!" Waya laughed.