3
Akira had been a few hours ago, beyond angry. First Shindo… Hikaru had left him in a hurry after having dinner at his place and then, Hikaru hadn't even bothered to show up for their usual Friday game. Four hours he had waited, endlessly replaying an old game here and there wondering what the heck was going on. If Akira had known Waya's number he would have called to make sure that Hikaru was okay and not hurt but… He didn't know. The anger turned to worry which was how Akira explained to himself why he had gone to the trouble in looking up Waya's address to go hunt down Shindo, Hikaru. Knowing the baka as he did, the blond bleached boy was probably off doing something else, oblivious that he was late. And yet… Hikaru had promised that he wouldn't be late. He wasn't known for breaking promises.
The nineteen year old sighed and without thought, ran a hand through his shoulder length hair. He had an irritable thought that this whole thing had to do with the fact that he might move to China. Might. Akira sighed again and wondered why it would even matter to Hikaru so much that he might leave. It wasn't as if he was leaving for good…Nothing made sense. He really shouldn't have been surprised. With Hikaru… nothing ever made sense.
His breath caught in his throat for a minute as he realized that because he had been lost in his thoughts, Akira had walked right past the apartment building. Cursing the day and all of misfortunes it had brought upon him, Akira grumbled and turned back on his footsteps. Like Hikaru had described to him, there was no security and he was simply allowed to push the door to get in. The air was warm inside the apartment building and the lights flickered a bit as if complaining that they should be fixed as well as the whirring air conditioning that was obviously not doing its job. Akira walked to the staircase with his usual determined pace until he reached the second floor and looked for the right door. He knocked and waited, wondering who would be the one to greet him at the door and hoping that it would not be Waya-san. Of course with how his luck had been going today, the door opened to reveal Waya-san. The redhead scowled at seeing who it was, his greeting trailing off.
"You…"
"Hello Waya-san." Akira muttered, his tone equally dry. "I was wondering if I could speak to Hikaru."
"Hikaru?" Waya-san questioned the wording, an eyebrow arched and his look speculative. "You mean he's not with you?" He continued, letting the door open wider and inviting him in. Akira stepped in and took off his shoes near the door while he shook his head in answer.
"We were supposed to meet four hours ago at a Go salon. He never came. I wanted to make sure everything was ok." Waya snorted and closed the door behind him.
"Don't know what to tell you, Touya-san." The redhead muttered a bit snidely. "He left around eight this morning. Well, don't just stand there." Akira blinked and then started to follow the redhead further into the room. "Sit." Waya snapped, pointing to a bean bag that was on the floor. Akira tried to hide the surprise from his face.
"If you don't know where Hikaru is then I won't bother you longer. I—" Waya glared at him.
"Sit. I have questions to ask you before I let you go." With a heavy sigh and wondering what the hell he had done to deserve such a day, Akira sat down… not on the bean bag but on his knees, in the position he always took when playing a game of Go. Waya noticed the position and smirked before copying the movement. They sat facing each other for a few minutes in complete silence. It made Akira wonder again why Waya-san held such hatred against him. He couldn't seem to think of anything in particular that he had done that could have angered the other nineteen year old so much. "What the hell did you do to Hikaru Monday night?" Akira blinked caught off guard by the question.
"Monday?" He wracked his brain. "I… we went over a game I played with one of the Insei and he ate dinner with me. Why?" Then without letting Waya answer his question he snapped with frustration edging his voice. "What does this have to do with anything about where Hikaru is now?" Waya held a hand up, his golden brown eyes holding a strange look in his eyes.
"Is that all that happened?"
"Yes." Akira answered. "I…" A scowl darkened Akira's face. "What are you thinking of? I'm not known for bullying my rivals, scaring them or poisoning them. And I hate mind games." Waya sighed, grabbing Akira's arm and pulling him back down into a sitting position.
"That's not what I meant. You really do think only of Go. No wonder Hikaru's frustrated… even if he is oblivious." Waya's mutterings reminded Akira vaguely of an old man's ramblings and he pulled his arm out of the nineteen year old's grasp. That had been the second time in a week that people accused him of thinking only of Go. "Something happened that night. I know something did… something that upset Hikaru a lot more than you think it did. And I want to know what. Did you brush him off or…" Akira sat down dumbly.
"Hikaru was upset?" Waya nodded and Akira winced, believing the redhead. Waya was not known for lying. "He got angry when I said I was possibly thinking of moving to China." He sighed. "I really don't see why I'm having this conversation with you. Thank you for your help. Tell Hikaru that I hope he is ok when you see him. I have to go pack. I've wasted enough time…"
"He likes you." Those words that left Waya's lips made Akira stop half way through the motion of getting up.
"Excuse me?" He asked, not quite believing he had heard correctly.
"Hikaru likes you. In the romantic sense." Waya added the last part to make sure that everything was quite clear. Akira blinked and dropped back to his knees.
"What…I mean… how?" Some part of him knew he was rambling and hated the fact that he was being flustered by the turn of events. He was too used to being in control, to know exactly what to expect and how to deal with any event and yet… how the hell was he supposed to deal with this? He hadn't even thought it was possible. He hadn't even thought that…
"I have no clue." Waya muttered, taking in Akira's startled and almost scared appearance. "Believe me… it's not been a picnic for him to get to know you or anything!" That was not what Akira had needed to hear. "In my opinion you're the most arrogant little prick who ever walked this earth but Hikaru doesn't see it that way. He really admires you and I don't want you hurting him! Do you understand that?"
"I…" Akira had started, still too startled to actually comprehend everything that was going on. "I would never…"
"Good…" And then Waya started ranting, telling Akira all the signs that the other boy had missed in Hikaru's behavior. So lost were the two, one in anger and one in fear/confusion that neither ever heard the door opening nor saw a paling Hikaru run in followed quickly by Isumi.
"Enough!" Isumi snapped at the same time as Hikaru spouted something as well.
"Stop it!" Waya froze, turning around, his eyes wide. The two friends started at each other before Hikaru shook his head, hands clenched at his sides. "I can't believe you… you…" He turned then, unable to finish his sentence and walked out, not bothering to slam the door behind him shut.
"Wait… Hikaru!" Akira leaped to his feet, running as he followed what minutes before in his mind had only been his eternal rival. "Wait!" He called out again, nearly tripping over his own feet as ran down the stairs. "Damn you, Shindo! Will you wait?!"
Tbc. I am soooo evil… therefore I will end this chapter here. J No worries the next ch. is coming up soon. Hope you like this story!!!
