A/N: A lot of you who have seen the last two episodes of HnG will recognize this as some of the final scenes. I'm doing this to set up my story. You'll notice where it skews off from the show and glides into a new direction immediately. ^^
For those of you who only know the manga, I'll apologize now, because I haven't read it, and I dunno if this follows it.. (I only know as much Japanese as a first-year Japanese college student. ^^;;) From past experience, there are very few (if any) Anime series out there that directly follows their Manga predecessor.
For those of you who -haven't- seen the last two episodes of HnG, I don't suggest reading this until you have. It might (read: probably will) spoil a lot, if not all, of the story. Plain and simple.
More comments will be at the end..
"Spoken"
*Thoughts*
--------
Both of them were breathing hard as the lunch buzzer sounded.
*We stopped the clock after Touya's Katatsuki.. I should play on the lower left instead of the conflict at the top right.* Hikaru's mouth set into a thin line.
*I'll play at the Keima to assault White's weakness. Touya will deffinately connect, so I'll just get life on the side.* Brows knit together in thought. *The lower left is still too small. How should I attack the top?*
He stared at the positioning of the two-tone stones. *... Am I at a disadvantage..? No. It's close. I can still play..*
"Oh yeah, lunch!" Hikaru began to rise from seiza and looked over at Akira. "Touya, what're you doing about lunch?"
Akira wasn't listening. He was still staring at the goban in front of them.
*Hm..?* Hikaru's head tilted to the side in question, studying his opponent in his silence. Glancing to the clock, he looked back to Akira and stood fully. "I'm gonna go before we run out of time.." *Is he not gonna eat?* Another moment's delay, and Hikaru started for the door towards the genkan, when Touya's soft voice stopped him in his tracks.
"Sai.."
Green eyes turned back to fix Touya with a mildly suprised look.
"I thought of Sai from the Internet when I was playing you," Touya began, and still his pale teal hues were locked onto the stones arranged on the grid before him.
Hikaru's eyes softened, and a ghost of a smile settled onto his face. *Touya..* He started to turn away again. "I'm not Sai, unfortunately."
"It's you." The certainty in his voice was astounding.
Hikaru turned to regard him over his shoulder, more than a little shocked this time around. "Touya..?"
The san-dan's hands rested on his knees, as his head bent lower, letting the curtain of dark green block his vision from the sho-dan's view. "It's the other you," he started. "There's another one of you. The Shindou Hikaru when we first met... he is Sai!"
This time, Akira had Hikaru's full attention. His eyes were wide as he stared at his rival. "To-.. Touya..."
Akira's hands gripped the pale slate fabric at his knees. "There's.." his eyes narrowed, "..someone else inside you!"
***
If it were at all possible, those sage green eyes widened even more in disbelief. *Touya ...*
"You played me twice," Akira began. "In a Go salon." He paused to form the thoughts in his head into words. "He ... he is Sai."
All Hikaru could do was look upon his rival in disbelief, while Akira continued to confess. "I can tell because I know you better than anyone else. Only I can tell this.. but there's someone else inside you!"
An electric flash shot through Hikaru's entire being at the last words spoken. *Touya..*
Finally, Akira made some other movement aside from speech, and brought a hand to cover his mouth. "No ... nevermind. I'm not making any sense."
And amidst the silence, Hikaru was rooted to the spot. *Touya found Sai ... Only I knew of Sai until now ... But Sai ... Touya's found you. He's found you!* The shock having just wore off, he nodded his head once.
Akira's head bent low in a slow nod of his own. "No ...The game you play is what you are."
*Wh..?*
"That won't change," he continued, "and that's all I need."
*Touya..* A small smile crept onto Hikaru's face & his eyes softened. *The game I play ... Is who I am.* He turned back towards the genkan. *Touya. That's right. Sai is in the game I play.* At the doorway, he nodded once and spoke facing away from the room. "Yeah, maybe." Closing his eyes, the smile spread a touch further. "I might tell you everything someday." With that, he walked out completely.
Akira's glance shifted slowly upwards, then snapped around to look at the now empty doorway, wide and questioning.
Hikaru's steps led him to the elevator, where he pressed the down arrow.
"Shindo!"
Hikaru turned to look over his shoulder at Akira. "Huh?"
Akira's eyes had narrowed again. "What do you mean?"
*giku* "W..What is it?"
The former Meijin's son quickly slipped on his shoes and jogged over to his rival. "So there -is- something behind you?! Tell me!" He demanded.
The partial bleach-blond sweatdropped. He rolled his eyes and turned slightly away. "Tell you? No way." The elevator chimed & the doors rolled open. Hikaru made his way inside and leaned back against the wall, folding his arms & closing his eyes as he spoke. "You said that the game I play is what I am, and that's all you need."
Akira rushed in, cupping his chin between his thumb & index. A calculating look crossed his features. "Y-yeah.. I did..."
"Then don't ask," shot the other.
Akira couldn't help but be frustrated. His fists clenched, and his eyes flashed. "But you just said you'd tell me everything!"
"Someday," muttered Hikaru. He turned to face Akira and scowled at him, his own digits balled at his sides. "Someday far in the future, baka!"
"Ba--?!" The doors to the elevator chose those last moments to start closing, and the rest of Akira's words were cut off.
Hikaru was still steamed at the persistence of his rival. "Just give it up already, Touya. I'm not gonna tell you right now."
"Fine!" Akira folded his arms in a huff and leaned back against the elevator wall, eyes shut and fuming in silence. *I'll have to be content with Shindou's childishness for now.* His jaw clenched. *He said he would tell me, so I'll just wait. He can't hold out forever.*
The doors of the elevator whispered open and Akira strode purposefully away. He didn't really know why he'd followed Hikaru down in the first place. Wait. Yes he did. He'd meant to squeeze some information out of the boy, to no avail. And now that he was away from the Game Room, he didn't really know where to go. There wasn't a lot of time left in the break, and he had a thing about not eating durring a match, so he was at a loss as to what he should do. It would have looked silly if he'd just turned back around and headed back up to the match area, so he decided to make his way outside for a few minues of air.
As soon as Akira had left, Hikaru had waited a moment before exiting the elevator. Instead of following him outside & risk another interrogation by his rival, he'd turned towards the pro shop and make himself look intrigued by items in the glass case. After several moments, he'd pushed the earlier conversation to the back of his mind and started to actually consider what he was staring at.
*Jiichan would probably like some new Go stones for Christmas.. I'll bet he's been using the same ones for a million years.* A picture of his granfather setting chipped go stones onto his worn out goban from warped, wooden go-ke's for the past X amount of years made Hikaru snicker.
***
After the end of the session, Several of the pros had sat down to review Hikaru & Akira's match. Waya was looking at the lower left end of the board with a frown. *Man, it was a really close game when we broke for lunch, but I can tell that the fight here is where Shindou lost.* He glanced from one to the other and sweatdropped as they started to argue about the match. "Are you two always like that?"
Neither combatant heard his question.
Ochi glared at the board, flat out ignoring the verbal sparring match between either pro. *Looks like the complicated battle got worse, but Shindou was not match for Touya.* Deep down, Ochi knew that Hikaru had a talent for Go, even if he wouldn't subconsciously admit it to himself. "It was a good game," he remarked, his respect for both of them, begrugingly in Hikaru's case, had risen up a notch.
The comment went in one pair of ears & out the other.
Eventually, all the spectators had left Hikaru & Akira to their bickering, growing tired of the rips each made into the other. If this was how it was going to be after every one of their matches, it wasn't going to be anything anyone could bring a halt to.
*I waited too long to make life at the bottom,* Hikaru thought. *But it had been a close match almost all the way through. I still had a good chance.* Although the first half of the game had gone at speeds most lower dans could not keep up with, both of them had played off the other perfectly. But the lunch break and their discussion had broken the moment, and Hikaru's concentration had waned slightly.
Later on, Akira had broached the idea of games played at his father's Salon, and Hikaru had taken him up on the offer. There would be plenty of opportunities for them to play in the future, which had each of them smiling inwardly at the prospect.
It's a shame that this was the start of all the post-match fights that would follow them for a long time to come...
------
A/N (cont'd): I know I said you'd notice where the story went in another direction, but it still looks fairly 'canon' to me. Waya and Ochi might seem a little off -- I admit, they're not my favorite characters. I don't really pay much attention to either character because of this. (Sorry Ochi & Waya fans!) If you're looking for shounen-ai or yaoi, then ... this -might- involve some in the future, but it will be a long time coming. That is, -if- I get enough feedback to write another chapter. (*ahem* That's your cue. *g*)
So, what do you think? I'm assuming some of you would have liked to see the game finished in more detail, but I've only recently begun to take an active interest in Go itself, so I'm quite illiterate on the inner workings of the game. For future chapters, I'll be more prepared. Kyahaha! I'll accept comments and 'constructive' critizism, as well as ideas on where this should go. Flames ... I don't respond to. I gave you enough warning in the beginning & no one twisted your arm to read it. You're entitled to your opinion & free speech, but don't complain to me if you don't like what's going on.
For those of you who only know the manga, I'll apologize now, because I haven't read it, and I dunno if this follows it.. (I only know as much Japanese as a first-year Japanese college student. ^^;;) From past experience, there are very few (if any) Anime series out there that directly follows their Manga predecessor.
For those of you who -haven't- seen the last two episodes of HnG, I don't suggest reading this until you have. It might (read: probably will) spoil a lot, if not all, of the story. Plain and simple.
More comments will be at the end..
"Spoken"
*Thoughts*
--------
Both of them were breathing hard as the lunch buzzer sounded.
*We stopped the clock after Touya's Katatsuki.. I should play on the lower left instead of the conflict at the top right.* Hikaru's mouth set into a thin line.
*I'll play at the Keima to assault White's weakness. Touya will deffinately connect, so I'll just get life on the side.* Brows knit together in thought. *The lower left is still too small. How should I attack the top?*
He stared at the positioning of the two-tone stones. *... Am I at a disadvantage..? No. It's close. I can still play..*
"Oh yeah, lunch!" Hikaru began to rise from seiza and looked over at Akira. "Touya, what're you doing about lunch?"
Akira wasn't listening. He was still staring at the goban in front of them.
*Hm..?* Hikaru's head tilted to the side in question, studying his opponent in his silence. Glancing to the clock, he looked back to Akira and stood fully. "I'm gonna go before we run out of time.." *Is he not gonna eat?* Another moment's delay, and Hikaru started for the door towards the genkan, when Touya's soft voice stopped him in his tracks.
"Sai.."
Green eyes turned back to fix Touya with a mildly suprised look.
"I thought of Sai from the Internet when I was playing you," Touya began, and still his pale teal hues were locked onto the stones arranged on the grid before him.
Hikaru's eyes softened, and a ghost of a smile settled onto his face. *Touya..* He started to turn away again. "I'm not Sai, unfortunately."
"It's you." The certainty in his voice was astounding.
Hikaru turned to regard him over his shoulder, more than a little shocked this time around. "Touya..?"
The san-dan's hands rested on his knees, as his head bent lower, letting the curtain of dark green block his vision from the sho-dan's view. "It's the other you," he started. "There's another one of you. The Shindou Hikaru when we first met... he is Sai!"
This time, Akira had Hikaru's full attention. His eyes were wide as he stared at his rival. "To-.. Touya..."
Akira's hands gripped the pale slate fabric at his knees. "There's.." his eyes narrowed, "..someone else inside you!"
***
If it were at all possible, those sage green eyes widened even more in disbelief. *Touya ...*
"You played me twice," Akira began. "In a Go salon." He paused to form the thoughts in his head into words. "He ... he is Sai."
All Hikaru could do was look upon his rival in disbelief, while Akira continued to confess. "I can tell because I know you better than anyone else. Only I can tell this.. but there's someone else inside you!"
An electric flash shot through Hikaru's entire being at the last words spoken. *Touya..*
Finally, Akira made some other movement aside from speech, and brought a hand to cover his mouth. "No ... nevermind. I'm not making any sense."
And amidst the silence, Hikaru was rooted to the spot. *Touya found Sai ... Only I knew of Sai until now ... But Sai ... Touya's found you. He's found you!* The shock having just wore off, he nodded his head once.
Akira's head bent low in a slow nod of his own. "No ...The game you play is what you are."
*Wh..?*
"That won't change," he continued, "and that's all I need."
*Touya..* A small smile crept onto Hikaru's face & his eyes softened. *The game I play ... Is who I am.* He turned back towards the genkan. *Touya. That's right. Sai is in the game I play.* At the doorway, he nodded once and spoke facing away from the room. "Yeah, maybe." Closing his eyes, the smile spread a touch further. "I might tell you everything someday." With that, he walked out completely.
Akira's glance shifted slowly upwards, then snapped around to look at the now empty doorway, wide and questioning.
Hikaru's steps led him to the elevator, where he pressed the down arrow.
"Shindo!"
Hikaru turned to look over his shoulder at Akira. "Huh?"
Akira's eyes had narrowed again. "What do you mean?"
*giku* "W..What is it?"
The former Meijin's son quickly slipped on his shoes and jogged over to his rival. "So there -is- something behind you?! Tell me!" He demanded.
The partial bleach-blond sweatdropped. He rolled his eyes and turned slightly away. "Tell you? No way." The elevator chimed & the doors rolled open. Hikaru made his way inside and leaned back against the wall, folding his arms & closing his eyes as he spoke. "You said that the game I play is what I am, and that's all you need."
Akira rushed in, cupping his chin between his thumb & index. A calculating look crossed his features. "Y-yeah.. I did..."
"Then don't ask," shot the other.
Akira couldn't help but be frustrated. His fists clenched, and his eyes flashed. "But you just said you'd tell me everything!"
"Someday," muttered Hikaru. He turned to face Akira and scowled at him, his own digits balled at his sides. "Someday far in the future, baka!"
"Ba--?!" The doors to the elevator chose those last moments to start closing, and the rest of Akira's words were cut off.
Hikaru was still steamed at the persistence of his rival. "Just give it up already, Touya. I'm not gonna tell you right now."
"Fine!" Akira folded his arms in a huff and leaned back against the elevator wall, eyes shut and fuming in silence. *I'll have to be content with Shindou's childishness for now.* His jaw clenched. *He said he would tell me, so I'll just wait. He can't hold out forever.*
The doors of the elevator whispered open and Akira strode purposefully away. He didn't really know why he'd followed Hikaru down in the first place. Wait. Yes he did. He'd meant to squeeze some information out of the boy, to no avail. And now that he was away from the Game Room, he didn't really know where to go. There wasn't a lot of time left in the break, and he had a thing about not eating durring a match, so he was at a loss as to what he should do. It would have looked silly if he'd just turned back around and headed back up to the match area, so he decided to make his way outside for a few minues of air.
As soon as Akira had left, Hikaru had waited a moment before exiting the elevator. Instead of following him outside & risk another interrogation by his rival, he'd turned towards the pro shop and make himself look intrigued by items in the glass case. After several moments, he'd pushed the earlier conversation to the back of his mind and started to actually consider what he was staring at.
*Jiichan would probably like some new Go stones for Christmas.. I'll bet he's been using the same ones for a million years.* A picture of his granfather setting chipped go stones onto his worn out goban from warped, wooden go-ke's for the past X amount of years made Hikaru snicker.
***
After the end of the session, Several of the pros had sat down to review Hikaru & Akira's match. Waya was looking at the lower left end of the board with a frown. *Man, it was a really close game when we broke for lunch, but I can tell that the fight here is where Shindou lost.* He glanced from one to the other and sweatdropped as they started to argue about the match. "Are you two always like that?"
Neither combatant heard his question.
Ochi glared at the board, flat out ignoring the verbal sparring match between either pro. *Looks like the complicated battle got worse, but Shindou was not match for Touya.* Deep down, Ochi knew that Hikaru had a talent for Go, even if he wouldn't subconsciously admit it to himself. "It was a good game," he remarked, his respect for both of them, begrugingly in Hikaru's case, had risen up a notch.
The comment went in one pair of ears & out the other.
Eventually, all the spectators had left Hikaru & Akira to their bickering, growing tired of the rips each made into the other. If this was how it was going to be after every one of their matches, it wasn't going to be anything anyone could bring a halt to.
*I waited too long to make life at the bottom,* Hikaru thought. *But it had been a close match almost all the way through. I still had a good chance.* Although the first half of the game had gone at speeds most lower dans could not keep up with, both of them had played off the other perfectly. But the lunch break and their discussion had broken the moment, and Hikaru's concentration had waned slightly.
Later on, Akira had broached the idea of games played at his father's Salon, and Hikaru had taken him up on the offer. There would be plenty of opportunities for them to play in the future, which had each of them smiling inwardly at the prospect.
It's a shame that this was the start of all the post-match fights that would follow them for a long time to come...
------
A/N (cont'd): I know I said you'd notice where the story went in another direction, but it still looks fairly 'canon' to me. Waya and Ochi might seem a little off -- I admit, they're not my favorite characters. I don't really pay much attention to either character because of this. (Sorry Ochi & Waya fans!) If you're looking for shounen-ai or yaoi, then ... this -might- involve some in the future, but it will be a long time coming. That is, -if- I get enough feedback to write another chapter. (*ahem* That's your cue. *g*)
So, what do you think? I'm assuming some of you would have liked to see the game finished in more detail, but I've only recently begun to take an active interest in Go itself, so I'm quite illiterate on the inner workings of the game. For future chapters, I'll be more prepared. Kyahaha! I'll accept comments and 'constructive' critizism, as well as ideas on where this should go. Flames ... I don't respond to. I gave you enough warning in the beginning & no one twisted your arm to read it. You're entitled to your opinion & free speech, but don't complain to me if you don't like what's going on.