"What's this? Beethoven?" Yashiro asked, shooting his friend an incredulous

look as he riffled through the box of CDs under the bed. He had spent the night at

Shindo's house sleeping on an old, moth-eaten futon and he was currently trying to find

some music to play on the stereo in his friend's room since he had forgotten to bring his

own CD case.

"Oh, yeah! Touya let me burn a couple of his CDs," Shindo replied lightly as his

head hung upside-down from the bed. "I think I like Bach better though." He mused. He

would have said more except for the surprised and incredibly amused look on his friend's

face. "What?" he asked, completely baffled.

"It's just that you don't seem like the kind of guy who'd like classical music."

Yashiro said as he scanned the many stickers on Hikaru's furniture, none of which said

'Bach'. He was trying to keep a straight face but the effort resulted in a pained kind of

expression that Shindo had once seen on a man in the movie 'Alien' just before

something hatched inside his stomach.

"And what 'kind of guy' listens to classical music?" he asked indignantly.

"Guys like Touya. You know, the smart kind" Yashiro answered with a mild trace

of amusement in his voice.

"Shut up, baka!" Hikaru yelled as he flung a pillow in his friend's face.

************************************************************************

An hour later a pair of teenage boys dressed in crisply pressed suits waited

patiently in line as they prepared to enter the bus that would take them to the Mosaki

Center in downtown Tokyo.

"So are we meeting Waya and Touya before the convention starts?" Yashiro

asked as he and Hikaru paid the fare and took their seats.

"Waya's helping his sensei set up so he's already at the center, but yesterday

Touya said he'd meet us at the front entrance fifteen minutes before we're supposed to be

there," Hikaru replied.

Yesterday - --

Yesterday Touya had said that but it was before he stormed out of the restaurant.

Would he still show up like they'd planned? Hikaru was worried, but this was Touya.

Blowing Shindo and Yashiro off would be rude and Touya Akira was never rude.. but

then again... getting up and leaving in the middle of a meal without a word wasn't

exactly polite. Touya... What was the matter with him? Shindo had tried to find

him after he left so suddenly but Akane was busy trying to sop up the mess she had made

and she had gotten in his way. He had looked up and down the street for at least ten

minutes before he finally gave up and went back inside.

"Geeze, what was up with Touya yesterday? He just kind of freaked out," Shindo

mumbled softly as he stared out the window.

"Yeah, well his girlfriend was hitting on you. What do you expect?"

"Huh? What are you talking about, Yashiro?" Hikaru asked startled, turning his

attention away from the window for the first time since they had boarded the bus to stare

at his friend. He seemed genuinely puzzled by the comment

"That Akane girl was all over you last night," Yashiro said, shocked by his

friend's naivety.

"No way! The girl's just a spaz," Hikaru replied, dismissing the comment with a

wave of his hand. Yashiro shrugged. There was no use arguing with a man in denial . or

an idiot for that matter, and it was becoming increasingly clear that Shindo fit into at least

one of these categories (although which, Yashiro was not yet certain). Hikaru turned his

attention back to the window. "And besides Touya doesn't have a girlfriend," he said

softly after a long moment, almost to himself.

"That's not what it looked like to me in the classroom," the other pro muttered

dryly. Hikaru made no reply but continued to stare out the window. Was it possible?

Could Touya have gotten so upset because he thought Hikaru was flirting with his

girlfriend? No. Yashiro was wrong. Touya didn't have a girlfriend, he was sure of it.

Over the past few years the two rivals had steadily become good friends and if Akira did

have a relationship like that it definitely would have come up in conversation by now.

Although, Touya and Shindo rarely ever discussed girls. Mostly they talked about music,

friends, books, ramen and - of course - go. It had never seemed odd that girls hadn't

come up in their conversations before, but perhaps Shindo didn't know his friend as well

as he thought he did.

But ... even if Touya did have a girlfriend somewhere Shindo seriously

doubted he was dating Akane. She just wasn't Touya's type... not that Touya

actually had a type. But it was difficult to picture the stoic go-fanatic becoming involved

with someone like her.

Not that Akane wasn't nice. She was, after all, kind enough to spend the night

talking with Shindo since Touya and the rest of his friends had apparently forgotten that

he existed. But - and there was no kind way to say this - the girl was a klutz. During the

course of one meal she had managed to bump into him continuously, knock her elbows

against his while they ate, and she even spilled soda all over his lap. It just wasn't

possible that Akira would like a girl like that. Besides, Touya had spent the entire night

engrossed with that Maho girl (and it wasn't because she was entertaining. unless

Touya had grown a sudden interest in cosmetics). The green haired pro had his eyes

glued on her the entire time; he had practically been drooling. This thought made Shindo

clench his fists in anger. Akira had no right to get mad at Hikaru for simply talking with

one of his classmates while Touya himself was busy flirting with some other girl. If he

had a problem with Shindo and Akane talking, he could have just joined in the

conversation instead of staring at Maho.

"Oi, Shindo!" Yashiro's yell violently knocked Hikaru out of his stupor. "Are you

coming or not?" he asked in annoyance. Apparently the bus had already made its way to

the center and Yashiro was waiting impatiently for his friend to get off it.

"Oh yeah! Sure," Hikaru managed to cry as he recovered from his daze. He had a

few things he wanted to say to Touya when he saw him....

************************************************************************

Touya Akira was waiting at the front entrance just as he had promised. He had

almost decided not to show up, the image of Akane and Hikaru still fresh in his mind. But

Yashiro was not in Tokyo that often and he was one of Touya's few friends close to his

age. He sighed. He didn't know why he had gotten so upset the night before and he really

didn't want to think about it either.

Touya looked at his watch. It was 11:45 and the convention started at noon.

Technically he was right on time, but since he was meeting Hikaru he had more than

enough time to kill before his friends showed up. Being careful that no one was paying

attention to him, Akira put down his brief case (which he sometimes brought to these

conventions to carry potentially useful kifu and... ) and cautiously took out his copy

of 'One Piece'. He smiled to himself. He wasn't really into manga but Shindo had lent

him a copy of his Shonen Jump, -- which Touya had reluctantly accepted after his friend

badgered him incessantly for a solid week-- and he couldn't help but become a fan of the

story (although he refused to give Shindo the satisfaction of knowing he had been right.

God only knew how long the bleached haired boy would gloat if he ever found out.) He

sighed happily as he opened the book. He had at least another ten minutes until Shindo

arrived.

Unfortunately for Akira, he had forgotten to calculate the 'Yashiro factor' into his

estimation. The other, and far more responsible, pro had dragged Shindo out of the house

by 11:10 giving them enough time to catch the 11:15 bus into Tokyo. Which, to Touya's

later dismay, meant that for once Shindo Hikaru actually showed up on time.

"Hey, Touya! Whatcha got there?" Hikaru said, grinning madly as he spotted the

manga in his rival's hand. All thoughts of confronting Akira about the previous night

were now erased from his mind in light of this unexpected victory. Touya groaned as he

cursed himself inwardly. "I knew you'd like it!" Shindo said proudly, as he plopped

down beside his friend. "You really should listen to me more often, it'd save us all a lot

of time!" Akira sighed as he quickly put his manga away. Shindo smiled.

"Shindo-kun, Yashiro-kun. How are you both?" Akira asked politely.

"Good, good. We're both fine Touya," Hikaru answered, waving a hand in

annoyance. "Geeze, why are you always so formal?" Akira didn't have anything to say to

this; instead he stuck out his tongue.

"Wow this place is crowded!" Yashiro said loudly, hoping to avoid the verbal

sparring match that was threatening to take place. "It's too bad this is the last convention

I can go to for a while" the pro said sadly.

"Aren't you coming to the National Japanese Go Conference next week?" Touya

asked in surprise.

"No, my parents won't let me take off school for the week. I was lucky that I even

got to go to this convention." Hikaru always felt sorry for Yashiro whenever the other

boy began talking about his parents. Shindo often took his mother's support for granted

and he couldn't help feeling guilty about it at times like these. He silently gave thanks for

having such supportive, although hopelessly unskilled, parents.

"We should head inside," Yashiro said after a moment. He hated people feeling

sorry for him, and he hated feeling sorry for himself even more. Touya nodded,

understanding his friend's feelings and led the way into the building.

Akira was pleasantly surprised to see the immense volume and variety of different

people who had turned out for the convention. The center really was crowded and it was

virtually impossible to move around without running into somebody else. With this in

mind Akira, with Hikaru and Yashiro following behind him, carefully began to navigate

his way through the throng of people.

Suddenly, a large woman in a purple dress bumped into Touya, bouncing the boy

nearly two feet back with the force of her girth straight into Hikaru who, as usual, wasn't

fully paying attention to his surroundings. The two boys toppled over in a heap on floor

as the woman, unaware of her own actions, proceeded to make her way through the hall.

"Uuugh... " Akira groaned, rubbing his head. He had fallen backwards when

the woman had run into him and he had hit the floor forcefully. Fortunately though,

something soft had broken his fall. That something, unbeknownst to him, happened to be

his best friend, Shindo Hikaru. Still dazed from the incident Akira tried to balance

himself, but ground seemed to writhe beneath him.

Hikaru had not been so lucky during the encounter. One moment he was walking

behind Touya and the next he was on his back, pressed against the hard cold ground.

Disoriented he lay on the floor, not sure of where he was. The only thing he was aware of

was a wiggling pressure near his abdomen that sent a pleasant wave through his body

with every passing second.

"Uuugh... " Hikaru groaned as he opened his eyes, which quickly widened

as he realized it was Akira who lay on top of him. "Uugh! Touya!" he exclaimed in

surprise "Get the hell off of me!"

"Huh?" a slightly confused Akira grunted as he rolled off his rival. "Shindo?

What happened?"

"Hahahahahaha!!!" they heard a laugh swell over the constant murmur of the

crowd. "Oh my God! That was so great!" Yashiro cried, buckling over as tears began to

form in the corners of his eyes. "There was a fat lady, and... and..... " That was

as much as he could manage to get out before he was completely overcome by laughter.

"Well I'm glad it amused someone," Akira remarked, having quickly regained his

composure as he meticulously brushed off the dirt and dust that had come in contact with

his new suit. Shindo, who was also standing now, remained uncharacteristically quiet

though and his face was a brilliant shade of red as he stared off into space.

"Shindo, are you alright?" Akira asked, his voice marked with concern. Realizing

there was something wrong, he put his hand on his friend's arm in an attempt to capture

his attention. Hikaru tensed as he felt the hand on his arm and he became aware of a mild

tingling sensation that began coursing through it.

"Sure! I'm fine!" he exclaimed, turning around so quickly that Touya's hand was

flung from its position. "Uh.... wellIbettergettomystationsoonorI'llbelate! Oh!

Ihavetogohomerightafterwardstoo, it'smymom'sbirthdaysoshesaidIshouldbehomeearly!

Well,bye!" Hikaru quickly issued out a string of nearly incomprehensible words as he ran

off into the crowd.

"He's a weird guy," Yashiro said matter-of-factly as he watched the blonde pro

disappear into the crowd.

"You have no idea." Akira replied.

*** Thanks so much to all those who had enough patience to read and review this thing. I really appreciate the feedback. But um... I have no idea where I'm going with this. *frustrated* Sorry. Anyway, PLEASE R&R!!!! Thanks 3 ***