"No thank you, I don't drink sake" Akira said politely as Saitou-san offered him a

cup. Touya didn't have a high alcohol tolerance, which he had recently discovered the

previous New Years when Ogata-san had given him a glass of sake. Even watered down

it didn't take very long for the young pro to become very VERY drunk. Just thinking

about the incident made him flush with embarrassment.

"Oh you don't like sake, Touya-sensei?" Saitou asked curiously.

"No, not very much I'm afraid," he said, still being polite.

"Oh come on, Touya! You're so uptight! Have some fun!" Hikaru scolded as he

motioned Saitou to fill his cup.

"No, I'd rather just drink tea," he answered.

"Then why did you come hear anyway?" Shindo yelled.

"Because you asked me to come, baka!" came the reply, no longer polite.

"Yeah, I asked you to come out and have some fun!" the blonde haired boy

shouted heatedly. Saitou-san was getting nervous. He had heard stories about the

monumental fights these two could have, he hadn't believed them though when he saw

the two go prodigies in the hall that afternoon joking and laughing like old friends. But

Saitou was beginning to fear that there was some truth to those rumors after all as the two

pros continued their childish bickering. People were starting to stare.

"That's okay!" The little bald man broke in just as Shindo was about to make

some obscene comment. "I'm just happy that Touya-sensei was willing to come with us

at all!" he said, patting the long haired boy on the shoulder. Shindo opened his mouth but

quickly closed it as he saw the desperate look on the older man's face. Why did Touya

have to be so damn stubborn all the time anyway? It was just sake, it wasn't like anyone

was going to get drunk. After all, Hikaru had to work the next morning, he was a

professional too. All he had really wanted to do in the first place was relax and have some

fun with Touya. And that moron was ruining it. If he was going to act like this he

shouldn't have come at all, and Shindo was just about to tell him so. But....

Saitou-san seemed so desperate.... Folding his arms across his chest the blonde

boy grunted, slouched back into his seat, and stared at the wall: a ritual Akira had come

to recognize over the years as Shindo's way of admitting defeat. A slight smile played at

the corners of Touya's mouth; he had won.

"Here you are, Touya-sensei," the bald man said as he handed Akira a tall glass

nearly over flowing with ice and a dark brown liquid. Apparently the older man had

ordered something from the bar while Akira and Hikaru were arguing.

"What is that?" he asked suspiciously.

"It's tea, just like you wanted," Saitou said. Touya sighed. He hadn't meant he

wanted iced tea, but if he said anything now Shindo would have an aneurism right there

in the bar.

"Thank you very much," the green haired boy replied as he accepted the drink.

Hikaru was still slouched in his seat, pouting as he watched his friend take his first sip.

"Are you sure this is iced tea, Saitou-san?" Akira asked. "It doesn't taste like any

thing I've ever had before."

"Oh, well it's ...... from Long Island," the little man replied, flashing

Akira a grin. "It's an American drink, I thought you would like it." Touya stirred the

glass in his hands as he took another cautious sip; it wasn't half bad.

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

Four hours and eight long Island Ice Teas later, Touya was drunk. By now the bar

had grown crowded and noisy. Shindo and Akira had divided into two separate groups

hours ago, Hikaru going up to the bar to talk sports with the bartender and Akira chosing

to instead to at a table with Saitou-san and his friends. It was starting to get late and

Shindo, having stopped himself after four cups of watered down sake was ready to go

back to the hotel. Getting up to tell Akira he was leaving, he made his way to the table in

the back of the bar. He was surprised, to say the least, to see his usually very serious

friend sitting in the corner with a napkin on his head and a stupid grin spread across his

face.
"What's the matter with him?" he asked Saitou-san anxiously, who by now was

also very drunk.

"Oh, him?" he asked, slurring the question. "Nothing's the matter with him! He's

just had a few too.... A few tooooooo many iced teas! Haha!" Hikaru didn't

understand. Iced tea did not make people act like that.

"But it's just iced tea," he said, confused.

"No, no, no! It's from Looong Iiiissland!" the little man said, shaking his finger at

Hikaru. "Long Iiiiisland iced tea is the best!" Shindo paled as he put two and two

together. 'Long Island Iced Tea' wasn't just 'iced tea'. He slapped his hand to his

forehead.

"Caaaaalllm dooooooown Shindo," Akira said, noticing his friend's distress as he

started to giggle.

//Damn it! I should have noticed sooner!// the blonde thought furiously to himself.

"I think we better go," Hikaru said, taking the drunken Akira by the wrist and

gently leading him out the door. He didn't want anyone else to see him this way.

"Do you want me to come with you?" Saitou-san asked, making as if to get up as

well. Hikaru glared at him.

"No thanks, I think you've done enough," he said.

"Shindo?! Where are you taking me?" Akira asked as he was guided by his friend

out of the bar.

"Back to the room," came the reply.

"I don't want to go back to the room!" the green haired boy protested as he

stumbled over his own feet. It was difficult to walk but Touya had been having fun and

he didn't want it to end.

"Let me go!" he cried out petulantly as he tried to twist his hand free. He looked

down at his hand, finally noticing the tan rough fingers that were wrapped around it.

//Shindo is holding my hand// he thought to himself and a strange warmth

flooded through his body as he found that he no longer cared that he had been so abruptly

taken from his conversation. //He smells so - --// but he quickly caught himself. //What

am I thinking?!?! He's a guy!// Blushing furiously Touya redoubled his efforts to get

away from his rival.

"Don't treat me like a child!" he snapped pulling his hand forcefully from

Shindo's grasp.

"Then stop acting like one!" Hikaru replied angrily. He was losing patience with

his friend now and really didn't care anymore if he was nice or not. Touya slumped

against the wall, his eyes glazed over with liquor. Clearly he wasn't going anywhere

unless someone made him. Frustrated and thoroughly annoyed the blonde reached over

and grabbed Akira by the wrist once more.

"I said don't touch me!" the green haired boy screamed as he pushed Shindo

violently against the wall. Hikaru's head smacked against the stone painfully, the edges

of his vision blackening as his sight blurred. Surprise quickly turned to anger as Shindo

realized what had happened. He didn't care if Akira was drunk or not, no one was going

to do that to him and get away with it.

Touya didn't have time to react as the sleek muscular form of his rival lunged out

at him, knocking him to the pavement. Akira's head bounced as it hit the ground causing

him to cry out in pain. Shindo strattled the intoxicated boy, pinning him to the street, and

using his left arm to pin his rival's back to the ground he raised up his right to punch the

boy's face. Anger burned brightly in Shindo's eyes but as he glared down at his friend's

startled, pain filled expression, his resolve began to crumble.

Akira, after having recovered from the initial shock and pain from being flung

against the hard pavement, was now angrily trying to throw his rival off of him. It was no

use though, considering the slender boy's disadvantage; the blonde haired pro easily

overpowered him. But just like in go, Touya was not going to quit, no matter the odds.

The long haired boy twisted and writhed furiously trying to unpin his arm, which had

been trapped behind his back in the fall, and shove Hikaru off. But knowing this Shindo

simply pressed himself up against his rival harder, making it virtually impossible to free

the hand.

Shindo blushed as he became increasingly aware of the pleasant waves his rival's

movements sent shuddering through his body, causing a throbbing ache below his waist.

"Touya," Hikaru whispered. "Touya, stop it," he said. Akira glared at his rival

harshly but his eyes softened as he saw the pleading look on Hikaru's face.

"I'll get off if you promise not to make any more trouble and just go back to the

hotel," he whispered again. Akira nodded his assent. Slowly Shindo took his arm away

and rolled off his rival. Sighing in relief, he lifted himself off the ground and extended his

hand to his friend, which the other boy grudgingly took. Akira had really caused a lot of

trouble this time. Hikaru smiled slightly. He wasn't going to let him forget it either.

The bleached haired pro draped his friend's arm over his shoulder, supporting him

as they slowly made their way back to the hotel. They walked in silence for sometime,

steadily making progress. Walking side by side, Hikaru could feel Akira's chest rise

and fall heavily with his breathing. //Touya's so warm// he thought to himself as he felt

the heat from the other boy flooding into him. A slight blush tinged his cheeks.

"Hikaru," the other boy whispered hoarsely, wrenching him from his thoughts.

Touya called him by his first name. He had never done that before. "Hikaru" he

whispered again, and the warmth of his rival's breath on his neck made Shindo's cheeks

flush violently. "I - I like you," he said slurring the words slightly as they rolled off his

tongue. Shindo pulled his head back, eyes open wide with surprise as he looked at Akira.

"I like you," the green haired boy repeated matter-of-factly, his emerald eyes boring into

Shindo's gray ones.

"Wha-- " Hikaru began to reply, but his words were abruptly cut off as Touya's

face flushed and his cheeks began to swell as the usually dignified pro leaned over and

promptly threw up.

"I don't feel so well," he said in a quivering voice when he had finished.

"Ugh, Touya! That's so gross!" Hikaru cried out in disgust. "We need to get you

back to the hotel."

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

"You know Shindo, I think I'm drunk," Touya said, seemingly surprised by the

realization as they entered their room.

"I think so too," Hikaru grunted, smiling slightly as he gently laid the unsteady

boy on the bed. "Geeze, Touya! You weigh a ton!" Despite his slender frame, Akira was

deceptively heavy.

"Maybe you should take an aspirin before you fall asleep," he heard Waya say

once that when you got drunk you should take a Tylenol before you passed out, that way

you wouldn't have a hangover the next morning. At least it sounded like something Waya

would say. "Touya?" he asked, shaking his friend lightly. It was too late. He was already

asleep.

Hikaru sighed as he stared at the sleeping face of his rival and friend. Funny. He

had been chasing after Akira for so long that he had never bothered to look at his face

before. Oh sure, he had examined it from across a goban on many occasions, searching

for any sign of weakness or hint of emotion, but he had never really looked at it before.

Hikaru blushed fiercely as he caught himself staring at the curve of his rival's slightly

parted lips.

~Hikaru, I like you~ The memory came unbidden to his mind.

//What hell did Touya mean by that anyway?// the blonde thought furiously to

himself. They were friends, of course they liked each other. He turned away, his face

burning with embarrassment. Akira hadn't called him by his family name. He said

'Hikaru' not 'Shindo'.... But that didn't necessarily mean anything. Akari

called him by his first name all the time, and she didn't have any feelings for him ...

not like that at least. Had Touya meant that they were friends? But.... he already

knew that.... Although.... It was true that they had never actually declared their

friendship formally.

~Hikaru, I like you~

//What the hell is that supposed to mean?!?!// he thought again in frustration.

Shindo sighed. Touya had been drunk anyway. He probably wouldn't even

remember it in the morning. It'd be best not to mention it. They'd talk about it if Akira

ever brought it up. Until then.....

Shindo bent down and took off his friend's shoes. He was going to take off his

over shirt too, but blushingly he thought better of it. Taking a blanket from the closet he

covered the sleeping form of his eternal rival and friend and got ready for bed.

**** Um .... I personally have never been drunk so I have no idea what it's like or how much alcohol it takes to get that way. So if my description is off please tell me and I'll fix it. Alright! That's it! PLEASE R&R and if anyone can give any tips on possible ways to make it better I'm all ears!!!*****