I'm a little concerned about consistency. I'm an anime purist, and I believe that since anime is made in Japan, by the Japanese, where the language they speak is...Japanese...that my fanfic should not be "westernized". So I felt odd about referring to Hikaru's mother as Shindou-san, perhaps because I'm used to Hikaru being referred to in that way. In any event, I've kept the inclusion of "fangirl Japanese" to a minimum, and I've italicised any Japanese terms that do pop up.
The rough draft of Chapter Three is done, I just need to send it off to my beta. Depending upon when it's convenient for her to look it over, I hope to have Chapter Three up sometime next week. She was very prompt in returning this chapter to me, I was just slow about prepping it to be uploaded, hehe. Anyway, please enjoy, and thanks for reading.
Now for all the blah-blah repetitive stuff:
This will be AkiHika/HikaAki. Boy/Boy love. Lime-ish at times, with a possibility of alternate lemon chapters in another location so that I'm in compliance with the FF.net guidelines. Don't like, don't read.
Uh, spoilers. I started writing this not long after watching episode 65. After the events of episode 63, it sort of wanders off into AU-land, but read at your own risk!
If you would like to share constructive comments and/or criticism, I'd love to hear your thoughts. I ignore flames, so don't waste your time.
Thoughts are in italics. Flashbacks will be labeled as such. Japanese terms are also in italics.
Thanks to my beta, Sakurayuki, for doing such a great job!
Chapter Two: And I Dreamed That When You Speak, You Speak To Me
With a gusty sigh, Hikaru swiped a dusty rag across his sweaty forehead. He slumped on the floor in his now empty room, staring balefully at the box that rested in the center of the floor, flaps spread wide.
The tape, the tape…where's the tape?
"Akari! Where's the tape? D'ya have it?"
Footsteps approached, and Hikaru muttered under his breath about annoying tape-stealing girls before thrusting his hand out, palm up, as he waited expectantly for the roll of masking tape to be placed in his grasp.
It was not Akari.
"Hikaru…your game board is in the car now…"
"Oi, Mom. I thought you were Akari."
The boy looked up sheepishly, then rose from his spot on the floor and toyed with the flaps on the box, stroking the cardboard with callused fingers.
"Hikaru," His mother began uncertainly, "Are you sure about this? About moving out? Wouldn't you rather stay home with your father and me?"
The boy groaned. "Mom, I told you, I want to live closer to the Go Institute. I'm not going to school anymore and I'm a pro now."
"Shindou Hikaru!" The uncertainty was replaced with reproach. "Just because you're a pro doesn't mean that you can't live at home where you belong! Do you really make enough money with that game to live on your own? What if you get tired of it? You should stay home and go to high school. You've been accepted at Yotsubadai! It's a good school!"
"Augh! Mom, I won't get tired of playing go, and Yotsubadai isn't that great. I only took the entrance exam because you made me," he replied sullenly.
She just can't understand…she doesn't want to understand! Sai never got tired of playing go. He even hung around after he died 'cause he loved playing so much. I want to play, always. I can play for him…at least. And for me.
Mrs. Shindou sighed. "I'm concerned about your future, Hikaru. Isn't that what a mother does? Worry about her children? Your decision to move out is so sudden…I think there's more to it than just wanting to be closer to that institute."
This is where we played. The go ban was right there, and he knelt…there. It's weird. I miss him so much, but I don't want to be in the place where we played. I have to make new memories…
"It's nothing, Mom. Really." He replied, quietly.
Mrs. Shindou opened her mouth to say more, but Akari chose that moment to come bounding into the room.
"Hikaru! Here's the tape! I took it downstairs so I could wrap your goban up in bubble wrap before we put it in the car."
"Thanks," mumbled Hikaru, avoiding eye-contact with his mother.
"Um, am I interrupting something? I can go back downstairs if you want…"
The girl trailed off, unnerved by the tension hanging between Hikaru and his mother.
"No, Akari-chan, it's all right. I'll go downstairs and prepare some bento for the two of you to take to Hikaru's new apartment. You'll want lunch before you start unpacking."
Hikaru glanced down, guiltily, not wanting to see the false smile his mother had surely pasted on. Her voice only sounded brittle and overly cheerful like that when she was trying to conceal something…in this case, how hurt she was.
Akari glanced from mother to son, thinking. She wanted to ask Hikaru to let her go with him to the Go Institute for his next match, but he would never agree without his mother to pressure him into it. However, with the tension she could sense between the two, she realized that her plan might not work.
"Ne, Hikaru…can I come along next time you go to the Institute, please? I want to see a pro match!"
Mrs. Shindou stopped in the doorway, obviously waiting to hear her son's answer to the girl's question.
"Mou, Akari…why do you want to do a thing like that? You already make me play tutoring games with you all the time!"
"It's not 'all the time'! You haven't played a tutoring game with me for over a month!" "Yeah, and I only agreed to do that so you'd help me move!"
Hikaru's mother couldn't help but crack a smile at the way the two were squabbling. Akari might be interested in go, but she seemed to be Hikaru's only real link with the world outside of the game. The girl's friendship was important for her son, even if he wouldn't admit it. He was often short-tempered with the girl, and he didn't seem to feel quite the same way for her as she did for him, but her stubborn son wasn't likely to want to give up a friendship that had lasted as long as theirs had. Mrs. Shindou, of course, hadn't given up on the idea that her son might mature one day and realize how much Akari liked him and return her feelings. She would be a nice addition to the family. And the grandchildren would be very cute…
Hikaru's mother smiled to herself. The cheerful girl had lightened the mood in the room, and while the issue had not been resolved, it might not be a bad thing to just try to keep things pleasant with Hikaru on his last afternoon at home. There would be plenty of time in the future to broach the subject again, and it wasn't like he couldn't move back home if he got tired of living on his own.
"Hikaru, you should let Akari go with you," Mrs. Shindou interjected, lightly.
"Moooommmm," Hikaru moaned, uttering a long-suffering sigh.
Mrs. Shindou tapped one finger against her cheek for a moment, thoughtfully. "You played with her so that she would help you move, right? Why don't you agree to let her go with you to the Institute to repay her for helping you unpack?"
"Oh, that's a good idea, Mrs. Shindou!" Akari beamed.
"Not fair! Two against one!" He protested, loudly.
Akari stuck her tongue out at Hikaru, winking.
"Okay, okay. My next match is on Tuesday. You can go with me then. But you have to help me unpack today!"
"Yes! You have to keep your promise, though!"
"Yeah, yeah," he grumbled.
The girl giggled, and then tossed the tape to Hikaru.
"I'm going to go help your mom with the bento while you take that box downstairs!" "Girls." Hikaru groaned to himself. "They're impossible."
Hikaru slammed the trunk closed, resting his hands on the hot metal for a moment before swiping his face with the dusty rag again. His mother stood in the doorway to the house, bento in her hands, while Akari knelt on the front passenger seat, adjusting a carton in the backseat. The boy turned to face the house, gazing up at the window to his old room, where he'd often sat to make the most of the evening breeze while chatting with Sai. He'd been afraid that Sai had flown out that very window when he first disappeared.
The young pro colored with embarrassment at that memory. He'd been so distraught, running around town, searching for the ghost. What had Kawai-san thought of his impromptu trip to Innoshima? Surely the older man had wondered what was going on with his young friend.
Maybe I should go by and see Kawai-san sometime soon. I haven't been there in months…it was before Sai left…before I took a break from playing…
"Hikaru?"
He glanced up to see his mother standing in front of him, hands now empty. Akari had gratefully accepted the bento and now sat in the front seat of the car with them held securely in her lap.
"You have…a smudge on your face, Hikaru."
Mrs. Shindou reached out with the hem of her apron to wipe it away, fighting back tears. She hadn't hugged her son in a long time…her loving little boy had become a prickly teenager who disliked displays of affection. She stared at him, into his green eyes, identical to his father's. Her husband was a well-paid salaryman, who worked hard to keep his family living in a nice home in a nice neighborhood. The downside to this was that he worked anywhere from seventy to eighty hours a week. All throughout Hikaru's childhood, it had been just the two of them…and now her baby was moving away to an apartment of his own.
She stopped trying to fight the tears and let them well up and spill onto her cheeks. Hikaru looked surprised, then guilty, and finally, understanding. He pulled her into a gruff hug.
"It's okay, Mom. It's not like you'll never see me again. I'll probably come over for dinner all the time. Can you imagine me cooking for myself?"
She chuckled. Her son had definitely not inherited her cooking abilities. Heating water for instant ramen was about all he could handle, and even that simple task was fraught with potential peril. The image of a nonstick pan that he'd placed in the microwave came to mind, and she smiled. The smell of melted plastic had filled the kitchen and permeated the house for two full days afterward. After the pot's untimely demise, Hikaru had been banned from the kitchen when she wasn't present, and restricted to raiding the refrigerator and cupboards for snacks that didn't require cooking, even when she was there to supervise. He would have to come home for any kind of decent meal. She stepped away from him, dabbing her own face with the apron.
"Let me just take this off and put it in the house, and then I'll drive you two over."
"Thanks Mom."
As it happened, there was not enough room in the car for Hikaru, Akari, Mrs. Shindou, plus all of his belongings, so Hikaru was left to his own devices. If he ran, he could probably catch the bus and get to his new building only a little after the two women. With this thought in mind, he jogged towards the station.
...tbc...
So that's Chapter Two. Thoughts?
Thanks to the following reviewers:
zeynel: Thanks for reviewing. Here's more! ^_^
Kamitra: Thanks, I hope you keep reading. ^_^
Demon-master: Uh...keep that chainsaw away from me... ;-; AkiHika is coming SOON! ^____^
devilishly.sweet: Thanks for reviewing and for your comments. I hope you keep reading and that I can meet your expectations with how the story shapes up. ^^;;
Kleptomaniac Can Opener: Thanks for reviewing! I enjoy your work. ^_^ Yep, I know I'm not accepting anonymous reviews. I feel more comfortable that way. ^^;;
tati1: Thank you, Thank you, Thank you! I hope you enjoyed this chapter. ^_^