A/N: Hello! This chapter has finally begun; thank God (whichever one
that's listening, I guess; I'm not picky). Anyway, I'd like to take
advantage of the unlimited space this site gives me for each chapter to
thank all my reviewers! Thanks for the compliments and 'constructive
criticism' (as it is most elegantly phrased); they've both really
motivated me to actually take the time and effort to write this fic. As
for those that read but don't review... well, at least you read it...
what more can I ask of you than to actually pay attention to the words I
painstakingly try to write each day? Well, even if you don't review for
me, please do review for greater authors like Aishuu and Mami-san, okay?
Anyhow, I do hereby humbly apologise for the amount of Japanese in the
first chapter. I don't find my Japanese very good and I guess I
mistakenly considered whatever I used to be easy; I'm very, very sorry.
There were also times when the words just sounded so much better in
Japanese that I simply couldn't resist... gomen nasai! Oh, and in
response to a few reviews that simply demanded a reply from me due to
said content:
To Regatto: Yes, as a matter of fact, you can bribe me into trying
my hardest to write faster. How much are you going to pay me and
when is the money coming and how? lol ;) Never mind, I'm just
joking but you CAN pay me if you want to.
To ILLK: Glad to know you liked it. Well, I guess you beat me at long
reviews. Anyway, I've cut down on Japanese already and I'll try to
keep it down. Hope you continue to enjoy the fic!
To kamitra: That's really... uh... vengeful? (lol) I write half the
first chapter in Jap, you write half the review in Jap... Iia,
heiki; jyoudan dake sa. Sankyuu!
To Aishuu: I'm honoured to have such a prolific writer as yourself
as a reader; really, it's very inspiring. I also really enjoyed your
fic: Lessons in How To Make A Bishounen Snap; I hope I reviewed it
and if I failed to, I'm terribly sorry and I hope you're reading
this. It was really funny and I can truly imagine Akira having a
school fan club and getting love letters, being so gorgeous
(pretty?) and all but one would wonder why all those girls try so
hard when he's so obviously taken with and completely for Hikaru,
ne? By the way, if you know of any real Touya Akira fan clubs
around, please tell me about it; I'd really like to petition for
president. (lol) ^.
To Miyahara Yuuki: I KNOW! RYUU-CHAN IS SO KAWAII!! Yuki's
here, in this chapter, don't worry. Anyway, seriously now,
I'm really happy to know someone's waiting for the next
chapter; it makes writing it all the more worthwhile. Thanks!
To everyone else, please keep reviewing and I hope you continue to enjoy this fic! Now to the fic and more sweet innocent Akira fun! (Don't you think he's soooo....... pretty?)
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Chapter 4: Days
~Hikaru~
"So, where shall we go today?" I ask my rival.
We are walking away from his house at 9 on a Friday morning. I'm here to take him out as usual and see if he remembers anything. Waya called me last night and put me through some crazy lecture about neglecting friends until I pointed out that he had been spending most of his time with Isumi anyway. Really, pot? Kettle? Black? And he's got something to say. I shake my head and turn to look at Akira who is presently deep in thought, perpending today's destination. He hasn't made much progress walking around Tokyo, where he grew up; maybe I should start being more location-specific. Perhaps I'll take him to Kaiou; the winter interschool team tournament should be taking place soon.
"I want to see the new circus at Jyuban road."
I blink. "What?"
"Circus, Hikaru. I want to go to the new circus at Jyuban road," Akira repeats patiently.
"The circus," I echo incredulously.
"Yup!" He catches the look on my face. "Na... Ka na... Hikaru 'tte ba...?" he whines, tugging my arm.
I blink. Twice. He sounds like Sai. Oh my God, he sounds like Sai! Touya Akira is 'Sai 002"! Oh my God... what if there's a part of Sai in every Go player? Then... Touya Meijin='Sai 003'...? Curse that thing called imagination. *Ogata Jyudan*...? NOOOOO!!! KUWABARA HONINBOU...? _Kurata 9-dan_...? Oh no! Oh God, perish the thought.
Touch wood; I touch a wooden pillar as we pass it, Akira still hanging on to my arm and looking up at me hopefully. I blink again. "Uh... Aa. The circus it is," I agree at last.
"Yay!" he exclaims happily. "We're going to the circus! Circus! Circus! We're going to the circus!" Akira sings cheerfully. "Lalalalalalalalala..."
I shake my head in disbelief as we board the subway to the station nearest to Jyuban road, then suddenly start chuckling. In retrospect, the whole idea of going to the circus is just hilarious. I think Akira's reliving his childhood; that is, if he ever had one so to speak. I, personally, haven't been to the circus in years; not since I was about ten. Oh well, to the circus then; just for the heck of it. We get off the train about twenty uneventful minutes later and walk to Jyuban road. It's crowded as usual; you'd expect nothing less from a popular hangout. There are shops on both sides selling all kinds of things including... I quickly walk over to one selling Go paraphernalia with Akira tagging along behind me.
"Hey, I'll be over there, okay?" my rival tells me, indicating a shop not too far away.
"Aa." I nod.
I look over the various types of Goban and Go-tsubo feeling a sense of nostalgia; it seems like only yesterday that I met Sai in my grandfather's attic and all of a sudden, he's just gone... like dust flying out the window. I always thought he'd stay forever, that we had an eternity to while away, so I simply let our time together slip through my fingers like sand. If only I had treasured that time more... My gaze falls on a white fan like my own; if only I had treasured that time more. Even now, I still expect him to suddenly pop out and damn near suffocate me in a hug to convince me to do something or go somewhere; I still remember him nagging me to stretch before the professional exams, still hear him whining over our not playing Go often enough. Even my room seems empty without him sitting on the floor across the Goban or whining me awake by my bedside. I miss him; I really do. I tear my eyes away from the display just as the salesgirl comes over, fighting down the dull stab of pain from that old wound that never really healed. After that last time, Sai never visited me in my dreams again. I hope he's happy wherever he is; maybe everyone in heaven plays Go...? Oh, perish the thought; that would be so dull! Besides, any priest or monk would probably have found the idea of a Go-heaven blasphemous. I giggle quietly to myself as I walk over to where Akira stands in front of a shop. Maybe I should ask Sai that if ever he visits me again. In fact, I wonder what Waya would think on that; he's always full of outrageous ideas anyway.
"Aki, what's that you're looking at?" I ask as I approach him. My eyes widen as the stuff on display registers in my brain. Condoms. Edible underwear. Glow-in-the-dark handcuffs. Oh my God. "Hikaru?" he starts.
I turn to look at him, stunned speechless.
"I'd like to buy these," he declares, indicating a box of edible underwear.
This time, I am shocked into action. "No! And we're underaged anyway!" I reply in horror as I grab his hand and half-drag-half-haul him away from the shop towards the circus.
"Why not? What's wrong with edible underwear?" he challenges indignantly, a little too loud for comfort. Already I can feel at least half a dozen pairs of eyes on us.
"That's for people who sleep with each other!" We reach the entrance to the circus and I pay for both of us.
"Aren't we?"
I know he's referring to my sleeping over at his house on Wednesday where I slept in his room. "No!! We sleep together, not with each other!" I can feel the stares and hear the giggles around us as I pull him towards the House of Mirrors.
"And the difference is...?" he asks, struggling to keep his balance and keep up with me.
"Huge," I reply pulling him inside with me. "When people sleep together, they just sleep. When they sleep with each other, they do something else as well," I clarify.
"Which is...?"
God, is he really that dense or is he just pretending? "They have sex." I know that turned heads; I just know it did.
"Oh," he says, like he just had a revelation. "Have you had sex before?"
I stop suddenly and he bumps into me as I turn to glare at him. "That's none of your business!" I can feel the heat rising in my cheeks.
"Oh, sorry..." he apologizes sheepishly. Then... "Have I?" he asks, pointing at himself.
I give him a dirty Look. "How would I know?!" I can't believe I'm having this conversation with him! I mean, Touya Akira! Gods! What have I done to deserve this?!
"Sorry... I just thought you might know, since I can't remember."
"People don't go around broadcasting these things, you know..."
"Aa."
I bury my face in my hands and resign myself to a day at the circus with a child in my rival's body.
* * *
"Hi!" Akira chirps.
I look up. Oh my God. "H-Hi, A-Aki," I manage to stammer in my shock.
It is the night of the concert and as usual, I'm picking him up. It's half past six in the evening and Akira's wearing that Shindou Shuuichi stage outfit with that pair of black leather boots he bought with me at the mall. Okay, so it's a concert but my brain is still having trouble processing the image before me. Touya Akira in Shindou Shuuichi's stage outfit... It's not clicking in my mind; it doesn't look right at all. Add that to the fact that he's half-skipping-half-hopping over to me and it just looks totally wrong. I called Waya last night for the sole purpose of gloating over the fact that I have concert tickets and he doesn't. Naturally, I smugly ended by pleasantly telling him that I already had company. Serves him right for finding every opportunity to tease me about something. And speaking of teasing...
"Aki, how on Earth did you manage to get your parents to let you walk out like this?"
"By no way on Earth. Heaven intervened for me," my rival chirps cheerfully in reply, shouldering his black carryall.
I blink. "Huh?" He lost me somewhere.
"My parents happened to have a function today. A friend of my mom's getting married," he explains.
"Oh... And what about when they get back?" I ask, starting to trot towards the bus station; there's a bus that stops really near Ruido, so I thought we'd take the bus for a change.
"What then? A bit too late to do anything about it, isn't it?"
"Never mind, forget I asked. I gather that I'm asking the wrong person the wrong question." Well, actually, it's technically the correct person with the wrong mind.
A half-hour long bus ride later, we are standing at the bus station a few doors to the left of Ruido. There's a little stall behind us selling hot pork buns and a sweet shop across the road. Behind the bun stall is a newsstand and next to that is a 7-11. I haven't eaten my dinner and those pork buns just smell so good and all those yummy scents are wafting over and I just can't resist buying a full dozen for Akira and me. We have scarcely turned our backs on the seller and we're already digging in. My rival promptly proceeds to shove half the bun into his mouth and chomp it greedily.
"Hikaru, I want some sweets," Akira tells me between mouthfuls. "Come on... Let's go buy some over there," he continues, indicating the sweet shop when I don't reply.
I nod, a fair bit too busy chewing a mouthful of pork bun to reply. We cross the overhead bridge and enter the sweet shop on the other side. It's called... Double Sweet Darkness...? Are people running out of names or something? Life just keeps getting weirder and weirder. But it certainly doesn't lack variety, that's for sure. I swear there's everything from pure sugar to concentrated citric acid for sale in there. The décor certainly matches the name though; the walls have been painted completely black with silver borders between it and the ceiling and floor. The carpet is also immaculate in its perfect spotless blackness; the cosmos is depicted to almost lifelike perfection on the ceiling and the shop is illuminated with several spherical white lights made to resemble moons. Simple, but tasteful and expensive; the owner must be nothing short of a millionaire.
"Irasshaimase!! Shinigami Duo Maxwell at your service. How are you today?" a young brunette boy with a very long braid greets cheerfully, executing a dramatic sweeping bow.
"Uh... Fine, thanks," I reply, swallowing a mouthful of pork bun. "Aki, you buying some for Ryuuichi?" I just noticed the background music in here; it's a sugary song I happen to recognise as Fruits Candy. Well, it's apt but ugh.
"Yeah, any ideas?"
"Lollipops."
"Why lollipops?"
"Because lollipops; I think it goes."
"Fine, lollipops."
"Lollipops? Oh, you've gotta try these," Duo enthuses, grabbing Akira by the arm and leading him over to one section. "Chocolate flavoured with real chocolate centre, my personal favourite."
I grab myself a plastic bag and walk to another section to fill it with barley mints. "Hey Aki, you want me to get extra barley mints for you?"
"Yeah."
"Peppermint candy canes?"
"Mm!"
"You know, if you like mints, you might want to try today's special. It's over there," Duo points out a compartment to me. "Honey-eucalyptus balls with a hint of chamomile, specially imported from Australia!"
"Can I try one?" I ask.
"Sure! Help yourself! But only one."
"Aa." I pop one into my mouth. It _is_ delicious. "Mm! How much is this stuff?"
"See? Told you you'd like it. It's on offer today, so it's 1500 Yen per hundred grams; don't complain, it's normally 3000 Yen per hundred grams," Duo replies smugly.
"Fine. You American?"
"Yup! How did you know?"
"Duh... It's written all over you." I'm not stupid, you know.
"I'll take twenty of these lollipops, please," Akira tells Duo suddenly. "Oh, and what's this tea candy here?"
"Wow, good intuition. Those are the jasmine ice lemon tea candies. They have that distinct jasmine scent to them. Best tea candy I've ever eaten," Duo replies enthusiastically.
"Right. Five hundred grams of those then and another five hundred grams of those champagne truffles over there," Akira orders decisively.
Duo grins. "You know, why don't you leave me your names and numbers. You and I might just get along really well," he says, going to pack my rival's orders.
"Shindou Hikaru; I don't like giving people my number." If he's going to call me up just to go on and on about everything...
"Touya Akira; I'm not allowed to give people my number." I know he's lying; even with amnesia, Touya Akira can still be such a sweet jerk.
"Oh, well... Too bad, then." He sighs dramatically.
Fifteen minutes later, Akira and I are at the counter paying for a large assortment of sweets and chocolates, eating a cotton candy each; Akira's is blueberry flavoured and mine is honeydew flavoured.
"Ara? Duo? I thought you were closing early for the concert today," says a fair blonde boy as he walks in. He is dressed in brown slacks and a lavender white shirt with a violet vest matched with black expensive leather shoes.
"Q-man! Yeah, the day's last customer. Hikaru, Akira, meet Quatre," Duo chirps.
"Hi," we greet in unison as Duo hands us the change.
"Hi."
"Hey, Q-man! Where are the others?"
"Ah, you know them. Concerts are not their thing."
"They're not coming? How could they? I mean, Wu-man, I know I'm the problem but Hee-man and Tro-man? I mean, we're going... Can't they take it as a date?"
"Duo..." Quatre inclines his head meaningfully towards us.
Akira and I quickly hold up our hands in supplication. "It's okay; we're uh... open-minded," I tell them. More than open-minded really, closer to acceptant.
"And we're leaving," Akira chips in, leading me out by the elbow.
"Thank you! Please come again!" Duo picks up the phone. "Let me try," he tells Quatre. A pause. "Hee-man..." An even shorter pause. "Quatre, he hung up on me!" Duo whines just before he falls out of our hearing range as we climb back up the overhead bridge.
"Ne, Aki?"
"Hm?"
"The concert's starting soon. You want some drinks?" I ask as we walk down the bridge back to the other side of the road.
"Mm!" Akira nods with a cheerful smile as we toss the cotton candy sticks into a dustbin.
I grin at him before leading him into the 7-11 and making my way straight to the drinks section at the back. "So, what's for drinks?"
"Well, they don't sell apple juice *with* strawberry ice cream..." my rivals reasons slowly.
Eww... I balk. "Nope, don't think so. Oh! Oh, how about this?" I ask showing him a bottle of Kampai Ice. "It's good, you know..."
"But we're underaged; they might not sell it to us. Say, how did you manage to get your hands on it before anyway?"
"Oh? Waya usually got Isumi to buy it for us, along with a whole lot of other stuff; he's nineteen." I grin mischievously and wink.
"I do not want to know," he declares before turning and approaching a tall blonde guy. He's definitely Japanese but he has slightly American features and amber eyes. "Excuse me, sir; could you do us a favour and help us buy these?" My rival shows the man the two bottles of Kampai Ice.
The man blinks at us as he takes a long drag on his cigarette. "No, buy it yourself," he answers, turning and walking away. Okay, that was mean.
Suddenly... "Yu---ki... That's mean!" a pink-haired... boy -his dress sense makes it hard to tell- complains.
"Urusai."
"Datte, Yu---ki..."
All of a sudden, recognition sinks in and the pieces fall into place in my brain. "Shindou Shuuichi?" The pink-haired singer looks up and grins. "Naraba... Yuki 'tte... Yuki Eiri?" I wonder aloud.
"Na... Yu---ki... See? He's a fan. Don't be mean," Shuuichi implores.
"Damari."
"But Yu---ki..."
"Fine, fine. Just that, right?" the novelist asks Akira.
My rival silently nods and takes out some money to pay for the drinks.
"Fine." He irritably snatches the drinks and money and storms over to the counter to pay for them. Shuuichi winks at us and we tag along and walk out together. Akira has the good grace to thank them for their help and I echo his thanks.
"Hey, you guys going for the concert?" Shuuichi asks suddenly.
"Yeah; Sakuma-san gave us tickets," I reply.
"Oh? You know him that well?"
"Uh... Sorta; we bumped into him at the mall," replies Akira.
"Ah... Well, that's him alright. Sakuma-san's really nice!"
"Aa," we reply in unison.
"Anyway, the concert's starting; why don't you come in with us?"
"Okay..." I agree and we fall in step beside the singer.
"By the way, I'll be doing the opening; Sakuma-san's going to appear 'fashionably late' as they all say. Then we're going to do the duet Twin Blade Rainbow and then he's going to run the show."
"Right-o. Say, where did you guys get that title anyway?"
"We were asked the same question at a press conference. Didn't you watch it?"
My rival and I shake our heads in perfect synchronisation.
"Never mind; what we said then wasn't true anyway. Truth is, we were both drunk after writing the song and Sakuma-san suggested it and at that time it sounded like a great idea and when we passed it to Seguchi-san, he just raised his eyebrows and said nothing. Of course, when we were sober again the next morning and thinking straight, we thought it was quite weird but then Noriko-san said it sounded cute; so, it stuck."
And we face-faulted on cue. That was kinda lame... No wonder they lied at the press conference.
"Okay, we're here. Now I've to go backstage to prepare, see ya! Yu---ki..." he loops his arms around the novelist's neck and leans in for a kiss before running off.
Akira grabs my elbow and leads me into the hall where we pass an usher our tickets and let her guide us to our seats. "Ne, Hikaru?" he whispers.
"Hm?"
"Is it just me or is everyone we've met today... queer...?" he continues at the same volume.
"No, it's not just you."
"Good, thought so."
We settle down in our seats; Ryuuichi gave us front row tickets! Shindou Shuuichi walks out clad in pink and baby blue with the rest of Bad Luck five minutes later and he waves cheerfully at us before kicking off with Spicy Marmalade. Bad Luck belts out Easy Action and Jounetsu Ballad and then halfway through In The Moonlight (I swear Shuuichi was gazing at Yuki Eiri the entire time he was singing it), Ryuuichi makes his grand entrance decked in skin-tight black leather with the rest of Nittle Grasper and joins in. Ryuuichi then waves at us and blows a kiss to Akira who blushes furiously before singing the duet with Shuuichi; he makes a show of making advances on Shuuichi, attempting some crazy Argentinean tango pose, and even kissing him on the lips during the interlude. Actually, I wonder if it's really just for show or if there is some other meaning behind all that. Then Shuuichi 'flies' away and Ryuuichi proceeds to dazzle the audience with his vocal chords in Shining Collection, during which he tossed his jacket to the audience, much to the delight of his screaming fan girls. I cast a sidelong glance at my rival as we down the Kampai Ice; he seems to be having a good time. Then Ryuuichi demands that we all get up, dance and turn his concert into an orgy and I lose myself to the music.
An energetic hour later, we hurry backstage to meet the members of Nittle Grasper and Bad Luck. Akira's a tad tipsy and his pale skin is flushed at all the most obvious and compromising places. Backstage, it is more like a family gathering than an after-concert rejoicing; Shuuichi is shamelessly making out with Yuki, Hiroshi and Suguru are cuddling in a corner, Noriko is speaking quietly with her husband, Touma is in the arms of a tall American with long blonde hair and clear blue eyes, and some obsessive guy is fawning and falling all over Ryuuichi. Not too far away, a man with black hair and glasses lies still on the floor in a daze. Our approach is as yet unnoticed.
Akira clears his throat.
No response.
I try. "Cosy here, isn't it?"
Freeze. Candid camera moment. Then... "Ah! Cute pair na no da!!" Ryuuichi bursts out suddenly, running over to glomp Akira whose flush immediately deepens to a rich tomato-red shade.
"Oh, you two! I see Sakuma-san gave you backstage passes too," greets Shuuichi, coming over.
"Uh... Here, for you," my rivals tells Ryuuichi, passing him a bag of ten lollipops.
"Huh? Don't I get any?" wails Shuuichi as if on cue.
"Uh... I..."
I decide to rescue Akira. "Yeah, here." I pass him a bag of ten candy canes.
"Yay!"
"Ne, ne, Shuuichi?"
"Hm?"
"Exchange with Ryuuichi?"
"Okay!"
As the two singers swap sweets, I notice the Ryuuichi-obsessed guy glaring venomous daggers at both Shuuichi and Akira and decide to save my rival; I casually put an arm around Akira's shoulder and he -for goodness knows what reason- inches closer to me. The guy appears temporarily appeased and restricts his glaring to Shuuichi. Suddenly, there are gunshots and everyone jumps; the blonde American holding Touma has an AK47 aimed at the Ryuuichi-obsessed guy and everyone's stunned speechless. Akira's openly staring and I'm busy admiring the perfect polished ebony sheen of his gun.
"Get up and lay off boring holes with your eyes, Tatsuha-san," he orders calmly; he speaks with a melodramatic American accent.
Tatsuha stands and backs away while Akira next to me mutters something about a demon from the seventh circle of hell under his breath.
Suddenly, the American starts laughing maniacally and firing his gun at the ceiling. "What a success!" he proclaims in English and I'm not sure if he's talking about Tatsuha's obedience or the concert.
Akira and I silently exchange glances. Weird. Life gets curiouser and curiouser.
"Uh... We should be going," I tell the general public.
"Oh! Okay, then. Bye-bye no da!" Ryuuichi calls, waving cheerfully as we leave.
"Bye-bye! See you soon!" Shuuichi adds.
"Bye!" we reply, walking off.
We hail a cab at eleven at night and make our way to Akira's house. I walk my rival to his front door and he fumbles for his keys a moment before finally fishing it out of his small carryall. He picks the correct one and unlocks the door. We look at each other awkwardly for a moment.
I find my tongue first. "Uh... I guess it's goodnight, then...?"
"Yeah, I guess."
"Right-o. Um... Goodnight then."
"Goodnight."
I turn and start to walk away.
"Wait!"
I pause midstep. "Hm?"
He steps closer. "I had fun today."
"Good, me too."
He looks me in the face; our gazes meet and hold. His pale creamy skin is still flushed from the alcohol and I have to fight down the wave of heat that washes over me. "We uh... should do stuff like that more often."
"Yeah. I'll take you to the next concert that comes if it's nice and available."
"Right."
Minutes pass as we simply stand there looking at each other, then Akira slides his eyes shut. I lean closer almost instinctively; his lips are slightly parted and they look so soft and I want to but... I sharply turn away. Touya would kill me; he would never have wanted this.
"I should go," I tell Akira, stepping away and turning my back to him. He's one side of the coin and Touya's the other; so alike yet so different. I feel my eyes sting as tears come unbidden. This was all I ever wanted with Touya; more than Go, more than the competition and rivalry, more than anything, I wanted us to be friends. Maybe more than that even. And now that I have what I want, Touya's... gone. I brush away the tears and blink the rest back.
"Yeah... Hey, Hikaru? Is something wrong?" Akira asks, concern lacing his voice.
"No, no; I'm fine. Just sleepy, that's all," I lie, blinking my eyes furiously.
"Right. Um... Why don't you come in and spend the night here? It's late." He opens the door invitingly.
"But I don't have my stuff and..." I protest.
"It's okay; you can use mine for now. It's not safe to walk around at this hour," he reasons.
I hesitate, then... "Alright, then." I walk into his house and toe off my sneakers. "You know, Aki, you sound like my mom," I tell him.
"Oh, why you..." He throws a half-hearted punch at my shoulder in mock fury and we laugh our way to his room.
A/N: I don't know how the Gundam Wing crew ended up here; I know the
timeline's way off but there are some defects with my core logic anyway
so you guys can just declare me crazy and work on the idea that they
fell through a black hole, met Sailor Pluto and found a way back in time
or something.
Glossary:
Na... Ka na... Hikaru 'tte ba... = 'Aww... can't we...? Hikaru...' or something like that; Sai says this at one point in the anime. I can't translate it; the effect would be lost.
Urusai = 'noisy'; comes off as 'shut up'
Datte ... = 'but ...'
Naraba ... = 'then ...'
Damari = 'shut up'
that's listening, I guess; I'm not picky). Anyway, I'd like to take
advantage of the unlimited space this site gives me for each chapter to
thank all my reviewers! Thanks for the compliments and 'constructive
criticism' (as it is most elegantly phrased); they've both really
motivated me to actually take the time and effort to write this fic. As
for those that read but don't review... well, at least you read it...
what more can I ask of you than to actually pay attention to the words I
painstakingly try to write each day? Well, even if you don't review for
me, please do review for greater authors like Aishuu and Mami-san, okay?
Anyhow, I do hereby humbly apologise for the amount of Japanese in the
first chapter. I don't find my Japanese very good and I guess I
mistakenly considered whatever I used to be easy; I'm very, very sorry.
There were also times when the words just sounded so much better in
Japanese that I simply couldn't resist... gomen nasai! Oh, and in
response to a few reviews that simply demanded a reply from me due to
said content:
To Regatto: Yes, as a matter of fact, you can bribe me into trying
my hardest to write faster. How much are you going to pay me and
when is the money coming and how? lol ;) Never mind, I'm just
joking but you CAN pay me if you want to.
To ILLK: Glad to know you liked it. Well, I guess you beat me at long
reviews. Anyway, I've cut down on Japanese already and I'll try to
keep it down. Hope you continue to enjoy the fic!
To kamitra: That's really... uh... vengeful? (lol) I write half the
first chapter in Jap, you write half the review in Jap... Iia,
heiki; jyoudan dake sa. Sankyuu!
To Aishuu: I'm honoured to have such a prolific writer as yourself
as a reader; really, it's very inspiring. I also really enjoyed your
fic: Lessons in How To Make A Bishounen Snap; I hope I reviewed it
and if I failed to, I'm terribly sorry and I hope you're reading
this. It was really funny and I can truly imagine Akira having a
school fan club and getting love letters, being so gorgeous
(pretty?) and all but one would wonder why all those girls try so
hard when he's so obviously taken with and completely for Hikaru,
ne? By the way, if you know of any real Touya Akira fan clubs
around, please tell me about it; I'd really like to petition for
president. (lol) ^.
To Miyahara Yuuki: I KNOW! RYUU-CHAN IS SO KAWAII!! Yuki's
here, in this chapter, don't worry. Anyway, seriously now,
I'm really happy to know someone's waiting for the next
chapter; it makes writing it all the more worthwhile. Thanks!
To everyone else, please keep reviewing and I hope you continue to enjoy this fic! Now to the fic and more sweet innocent Akira fun! (Don't you think he's soooo....... pretty?)
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Chapter 4: Days
~Hikaru~
"So, where shall we go today?" I ask my rival.
We are walking away from his house at 9 on a Friday morning. I'm here to take him out as usual and see if he remembers anything. Waya called me last night and put me through some crazy lecture about neglecting friends until I pointed out that he had been spending most of his time with Isumi anyway. Really, pot? Kettle? Black? And he's got something to say. I shake my head and turn to look at Akira who is presently deep in thought, perpending today's destination. He hasn't made much progress walking around Tokyo, where he grew up; maybe I should start being more location-specific. Perhaps I'll take him to Kaiou; the winter interschool team tournament should be taking place soon.
"I want to see the new circus at Jyuban road."
I blink. "What?"
"Circus, Hikaru. I want to go to the new circus at Jyuban road," Akira repeats patiently.
"The circus," I echo incredulously.
"Yup!" He catches the look on my face. "Na... Ka na... Hikaru 'tte ba...?" he whines, tugging my arm.
I blink. Twice. He sounds like Sai. Oh my God, he sounds like Sai! Touya Akira is 'Sai 002"! Oh my God... what if there's a part of Sai in every Go player? Then... Touya Meijin='Sai 003'...? Curse that thing called imagination. *Ogata Jyudan*...? NOOOOO!!! KUWABARA HONINBOU...? _Kurata 9-dan_...? Oh no! Oh God, perish the thought.
Touch wood; I touch a wooden pillar as we pass it, Akira still hanging on to my arm and looking up at me hopefully. I blink again. "Uh... Aa. The circus it is," I agree at last.
"Yay!" he exclaims happily. "We're going to the circus! Circus! Circus! We're going to the circus!" Akira sings cheerfully. "Lalalalalalalalala..."
I shake my head in disbelief as we board the subway to the station nearest to Jyuban road, then suddenly start chuckling. In retrospect, the whole idea of going to the circus is just hilarious. I think Akira's reliving his childhood; that is, if he ever had one so to speak. I, personally, haven't been to the circus in years; not since I was about ten. Oh well, to the circus then; just for the heck of it. We get off the train about twenty uneventful minutes later and walk to Jyuban road. It's crowded as usual; you'd expect nothing less from a popular hangout. There are shops on both sides selling all kinds of things including... I quickly walk over to one selling Go paraphernalia with Akira tagging along behind me.
"Hey, I'll be over there, okay?" my rival tells me, indicating a shop not too far away.
"Aa." I nod.
I look over the various types of Goban and Go-tsubo feeling a sense of nostalgia; it seems like only yesterday that I met Sai in my grandfather's attic and all of a sudden, he's just gone... like dust flying out the window. I always thought he'd stay forever, that we had an eternity to while away, so I simply let our time together slip through my fingers like sand. If only I had treasured that time more... My gaze falls on a white fan like my own; if only I had treasured that time more. Even now, I still expect him to suddenly pop out and damn near suffocate me in a hug to convince me to do something or go somewhere; I still remember him nagging me to stretch before the professional exams, still hear him whining over our not playing Go often enough. Even my room seems empty without him sitting on the floor across the Goban or whining me awake by my bedside. I miss him; I really do. I tear my eyes away from the display just as the salesgirl comes over, fighting down the dull stab of pain from that old wound that never really healed. After that last time, Sai never visited me in my dreams again. I hope he's happy wherever he is; maybe everyone in heaven plays Go...? Oh, perish the thought; that would be so dull! Besides, any priest or monk would probably have found the idea of a Go-heaven blasphemous. I giggle quietly to myself as I walk over to where Akira stands in front of a shop. Maybe I should ask Sai that if ever he visits me again. In fact, I wonder what Waya would think on that; he's always full of outrageous ideas anyway.
"Aki, what's that you're looking at?" I ask as I approach him. My eyes widen as the stuff on display registers in my brain. Condoms. Edible underwear. Glow-in-the-dark handcuffs. Oh my God. "Hikaru?" he starts.
I turn to look at him, stunned speechless.
"I'd like to buy these," he declares, indicating a box of edible underwear.
This time, I am shocked into action. "No! And we're underaged anyway!" I reply in horror as I grab his hand and half-drag-half-haul him away from the shop towards the circus.
"Why not? What's wrong with edible underwear?" he challenges indignantly, a little too loud for comfort. Already I can feel at least half a dozen pairs of eyes on us.
"That's for people who sleep with each other!" We reach the entrance to the circus and I pay for both of us.
"Aren't we?"
I know he's referring to my sleeping over at his house on Wednesday where I slept in his room. "No!! We sleep together, not with each other!" I can feel the stares and hear the giggles around us as I pull him towards the House of Mirrors.
"And the difference is...?" he asks, struggling to keep his balance and keep up with me.
"Huge," I reply pulling him inside with me. "When people sleep together, they just sleep. When they sleep with each other, they do something else as well," I clarify.
"Which is...?"
God, is he really that dense or is he just pretending? "They have sex." I know that turned heads; I just know it did.
"Oh," he says, like he just had a revelation. "Have you had sex before?"
I stop suddenly and he bumps into me as I turn to glare at him. "That's none of your business!" I can feel the heat rising in my cheeks.
"Oh, sorry..." he apologizes sheepishly. Then... "Have I?" he asks, pointing at himself.
I give him a dirty Look. "How would I know?!" I can't believe I'm having this conversation with him! I mean, Touya Akira! Gods! What have I done to deserve this?!
"Sorry... I just thought you might know, since I can't remember."
"People don't go around broadcasting these things, you know..."
"Aa."
I bury my face in my hands and resign myself to a day at the circus with a child in my rival's body.
* * *
"Hi!" Akira chirps.
I look up. Oh my God. "H-Hi, A-Aki," I manage to stammer in my shock.
It is the night of the concert and as usual, I'm picking him up. It's half past six in the evening and Akira's wearing that Shindou Shuuichi stage outfit with that pair of black leather boots he bought with me at the mall. Okay, so it's a concert but my brain is still having trouble processing the image before me. Touya Akira in Shindou Shuuichi's stage outfit... It's not clicking in my mind; it doesn't look right at all. Add that to the fact that he's half-skipping-half-hopping over to me and it just looks totally wrong. I called Waya last night for the sole purpose of gloating over the fact that I have concert tickets and he doesn't. Naturally, I smugly ended by pleasantly telling him that I already had company. Serves him right for finding every opportunity to tease me about something. And speaking of teasing...
"Aki, how on Earth did you manage to get your parents to let you walk out like this?"
"By no way on Earth. Heaven intervened for me," my rival chirps cheerfully in reply, shouldering his black carryall.
I blink. "Huh?" He lost me somewhere.
"My parents happened to have a function today. A friend of my mom's getting married," he explains.
"Oh... And what about when they get back?" I ask, starting to trot towards the bus station; there's a bus that stops really near Ruido, so I thought we'd take the bus for a change.
"What then? A bit too late to do anything about it, isn't it?"
"Never mind, forget I asked. I gather that I'm asking the wrong person the wrong question." Well, actually, it's technically the correct person with the wrong mind.
A half-hour long bus ride later, we are standing at the bus station a few doors to the left of Ruido. There's a little stall behind us selling hot pork buns and a sweet shop across the road. Behind the bun stall is a newsstand and next to that is a 7-11. I haven't eaten my dinner and those pork buns just smell so good and all those yummy scents are wafting over and I just can't resist buying a full dozen for Akira and me. We have scarcely turned our backs on the seller and we're already digging in. My rival promptly proceeds to shove half the bun into his mouth and chomp it greedily.
"Hikaru, I want some sweets," Akira tells me between mouthfuls. "Come on... Let's go buy some over there," he continues, indicating the sweet shop when I don't reply.
I nod, a fair bit too busy chewing a mouthful of pork bun to reply. We cross the overhead bridge and enter the sweet shop on the other side. It's called... Double Sweet Darkness...? Are people running out of names or something? Life just keeps getting weirder and weirder. But it certainly doesn't lack variety, that's for sure. I swear there's everything from pure sugar to concentrated citric acid for sale in there. The décor certainly matches the name though; the walls have been painted completely black with silver borders between it and the ceiling and floor. The carpet is also immaculate in its perfect spotless blackness; the cosmos is depicted to almost lifelike perfection on the ceiling and the shop is illuminated with several spherical white lights made to resemble moons. Simple, but tasteful and expensive; the owner must be nothing short of a millionaire.
"Irasshaimase!! Shinigami Duo Maxwell at your service. How are you today?" a young brunette boy with a very long braid greets cheerfully, executing a dramatic sweeping bow.
"Uh... Fine, thanks," I reply, swallowing a mouthful of pork bun. "Aki, you buying some for Ryuuichi?" I just noticed the background music in here; it's a sugary song I happen to recognise as Fruits Candy. Well, it's apt but ugh.
"Yeah, any ideas?"
"Lollipops."
"Why lollipops?"
"Because lollipops; I think it goes."
"Fine, lollipops."
"Lollipops? Oh, you've gotta try these," Duo enthuses, grabbing Akira by the arm and leading him over to one section. "Chocolate flavoured with real chocolate centre, my personal favourite."
I grab myself a plastic bag and walk to another section to fill it with barley mints. "Hey Aki, you want me to get extra barley mints for you?"
"Yeah."
"Peppermint candy canes?"
"Mm!"
"You know, if you like mints, you might want to try today's special. It's over there," Duo points out a compartment to me. "Honey-eucalyptus balls with a hint of chamomile, specially imported from Australia!"
"Can I try one?" I ask.
"Sure! Help yourself! But only one."
"Aa." I pop one into my mouth. It _is_ delicious. "Mm! How much is this stuff?"
"See? Told you you'd like it. It's on offer today, so it's 1500 Yen per hundred grams; don't complain, it's normally 3000 Yen per hundred grams," Duo replies smugly.
"Fine. You American?"
"Yup! How did you know?"
"Duh... It's written all over you." I'm not stupid, you know.
"I'll take twenty of these lollipops, please," Akira tells Duo suddenly. "Oh, and what's this tea candy here?"
"Wow, good intuition. Those are the jasmine ice lemon tea candies. They have that distinct jasmine scent to them. Best tea candy I've ever eaten," Duo replies enthusiastically.
"Right. Five hundred grams of those then and another five hundred grams of those champagne truffles over there," Akira orders decisively.
Duo grins. "You know, why don't you leave me your names and numbers. You and I might just get along really well," he says, going to pack my rival's orders.
"Shindou Hikaru; I don't like giving people my number." If he's going to call me up just to go on and on about everything...
"Touya Akira; I'm not allowed to give people my number." I know he's lying; even with amnesia, Touya Akira can still be such a sweet jerk.
"Oh, well... Too bad, then." He sighs dramatically.
Fifteen minutes later, Akira and I are at the counter paying for a large assortment of sweets and chocolates, eating a cotton candy each; Akira's is blueberry flavoured and mine is honeydew flavoured.
"Ara? Duo? I thought you were closing early for the concert today," says a fair blonde boy as he walks in. He is dressed in brown slacks and a lavender white shirt with a violet vest matched with black expensive leather shoes.
"Q-man! Yeah, the day's last customer. Hikaru, Akira, meet Quatre," Duo chirps.
"Hi," we greet in unison as Duo hands us the change.
"Hi."
"Hey, Q-man! Where are the others?"
"Ah, you know them. Concerts are not their thing."
"They're not coming? How could they? I mean, Wu-man, I know I'm the problem but Hee-man and Tro-man? I mean, we're going... Can't they take it as a date?"
"Duo..." Quatre inclines his head meaningfully towards us.
Akira and I quickly hold up our hands in supplication. "It's okay; we're uh... open-minded," I tell them. More than open-minded really, closer to acceptant.
"And we're leaving," Akira chips in, leading me out by the elbow.
"Thank you! Please come again!" Duo picks up the phone. "Let me try," he tells Quatre. A pause. "Hee-man..." An even shorter pause. "Quatre, he hung up on me!" Duo whines just before he falls out of our hearing range as we climb back up the overhead bridge.
"Ne, Aki?"
"Hm?"
"The concert's starting soon. You want some drinks?" I ask as we walk down the bridge back to the other side of the road.
"Mm!" Akira nods with a cheerful smile as we toss the cotton candy sticks into a dustbin.
I grin at him before leading him into the 7-11 and making my way straight to the drinks section at the back. "So, what's for drinks?"
"Well, they don't sell apple juice *with* strawberry ice cream..." my rivals reasons slowly.
Eww... I balk. "Nope, don't think so. Oh! Oh, how about this?" I ask showing him a bottle of Kampai Ice. "It's good, you know..."
"But we're underaged; they might not sell it to us. Say, how did you manage to get your hands on it before anyway?"
"Oh? Waya usually got Isumi to buy it for us, along with a whole lot of other stuff; he's nineteen." I grin mischievously and wink.
"I do not want to know," he declares before turning and approaching a tall blonde guy. He's definitely Japanese but he has slightly American features and amber eyes. "Excuse me, sir; could you do us a favour and help us buy these?" My rival shows the man the two bottles of Kampai Ice.
The man blinks at us as he takes a long drag on his cigarette. "No, buy it yourself," he answers, turning and walking away. Okay, that was mean.
Suddenly... "Yu---ki... That's mean!" a pink-haired... boy -his dress sense makes it hard to tell- complains.
"Urusai."
"Datte, Yu---ki..."
All of a sudden, recognition sinks in and the pieces fall into place in my brain. "Shindou Shuuichi?" The pink-haired singer looks up and grins. "Naraba... Yuki 'tte... Yuki Eiri?" I wonder aloud.
"Na... Yu---ki... See? He's a fan. Don't be mean," Shuuichi implores.
"Damari."
"But Yu---ki..."
"Fine, fine. Just that, right?" the novelist asks Akira.
My rival silently nods and takes out some money to pay for the drinks.
"Fine." He irritably snatches the drinks and money and storms over to the counter to pay for them. Shuuichi winks at us and we tag along and walk out together. Akira has the good grace to thank them for their help and I echo his thanks.
"Hey, you guys going for the concert?" Shuuichi asks suddenly.
"Yeah; Sakuma-san gave us tickets," I reply.
"Oh? You know him that well?"
"Uh... Sorta; we bumped into him at the mall," replies Akira.
"Ah... Well, that's him alright. Sakuma-san's really nice!"
"Aa," we reply in unison.
"Anyway, the concert's starting; why don't you come in with us?"
"Okay..." I agree and we fall in step beside the singer.
"By the way, I'll be doing the opening; Sakuma-san's going to appear 'fashionably late' as they all say. Then we're going to do the duet Twin Blade Rainbow and then he's going to run the show."
"Right-o. Say, where did you guys get that title anyway?"
"We were asked the same question at a press conference. Didn't you watch it?"
My rival and I shake our heads in perfect synchronisation.
"Never mind; what we said then wasn't true anyway. Truth is, we were both drunk after writing the song and Sakuma-san suggested it and at that time it sounded like a great idea and when we passed it to Seguchi-san, he just raised his eyebrows and said nothing. Of course, when we were sober again the next morning and thinking straight, we thought it was quite weird but then Noriko-san said it sounded cute; so, it stuck."
And we face-faulted on cue. That was kinda lame... No wonder they lied at the press conference.
"Okay, we're here. Now I've to go backstage to prepare, see ya! Yu---ki..." he loops his arms around the novelist's neck and leans in for a kiss before running off.
Akira grabs my elbow and leads me into the hall where we pass an usher our tickets and let her guide us to our seats. "Ne, Hikaru?" he whispers.
"Hm?"
"Is it just me or is everyone we've met today... queer...?" he continues at the same volume.
"No, it's not just you."
"Good, thought so."
We settle down in our seats; Ryuuichi gave us front row tickets! Shindou Shuuichi walks out clad in pink and baby blue with the rest of Bad Luck five minutes later and he waves cheerfully at us before kicking off with Spicy Marmalade. Bad Luck belts out Easy Action and Jounetsu Ballad and then halfway through In The Moonlight (I swear Shuuichi was gazing at Yuki Eiri the entire time he was singing it), Ryuuichi makes his grand entrance decked in skin-tight black leather with the rest of Nittle Grasper and joins in. Ryuuichi then waves at us and blows a kiss to Akira who blushes furiously before singing the duet with Shuuichi; he makes a show of making advances on Shuuichi, attempting some crazy Argentinean tango pose, and even kissing him on the lips during the interlude. Actually, I wonder if it's really just for show or if there is some other meaning behind all that. Then Shuuichi 'flies' away and Ryuuichi proceeds to dazzle the audience with his vocal chords in Shining Collection, during which he tossed his jacket to the audience, much to the delight of his screaming fan girls. I cast a sidelong glance at my rival as we down the Kampai Ice; he seems to be having a good time. Then Ryuuichi demands that we all get up, dance and turn his concert into an orgy and I lose myself to the music.
An energetic hour later, we hurry backstage to meet the members of Nittle Grasper and Bad Luck. Akira's a tad tipsy and his pale skin is flushed at all the most obvious and compromising places. Backstage, it is more like a family gathering than an after-concert rejoicing; Shuuichi is shamelessly making out with Yuki, Hiroshi and Suguru are cuddling in a corner, Noriko is speaking quietly with her husband, Touma is in the arms of a tall American with long blonde hair and clear blue eyes, and some obsessive guy is fawning and falling all over Ryuuichi. Not too far away, a man with black hair and glasses lies still on the floor in a daze. Our approach is as yet unnoticed.
Akira clears his throat.
No response.
I try. "Cosy here, isn't it?"
Freeze. Candid camera moment. Then... "Ah! Cute pair na no da!!" Ryuuichi bursts out suddenly, running over to glomp Akira whose flush immediately deepens to a rich tomato-red shade.
"Oh, you two! I see Sakuma-san gave you backstage passes too," greets Shuuichi, coming over.
"Uh... Here, for you," my rivals tells Ryuuichi, passing him a bag of ten lollipops.
"Huh? Don't I get any?" wails Shuuichi as if on cue.
"Uh... I..."
I decide to rescue Akira. "Yeah, here." I pass him a bag of ten candy canes.
"Yay!"
"Ne, ne, Shuuichi?"
"Hm?"
"Exchange with Ryuuichi?"
"Okay!"
As the two singers swap sweets, I notice the Ryuuichi-obsessed guy glaring venomous daggers at both Shuuichi and Akira and decide to save my rival; I casually put an arm around Akira's shoulder and he -for goodness knows what reason- inches closer to me. The guy appears temporarily appeased and restricts his glaring to Shuuichi. Suddenly, there are gunshots and everyone jumps; the blonde American holding Touma has an AK47 aimed at the Ryuuichi-obsessed guy and everyone's stunned speechless. Akira's openly staring and I'm busy admiring the perfect polished ebony sheen of his gun.
"Get up and lay off boring holes with your eyes, Tatsuha-san," he orders calmly; he speaks with a melodramatic American accent.
Tatsuha stands and backs away while Akira next to me mutters something about a demon from the seventh circle of hell under his breath.
Suddenly, the American starts laughing maniacally and firing his gun at the ceiling. "What a success!" he proclaims in English and I'm not sure if he's talking about Tatsuha's obedience or the concert.
Akira and I silently exchange glances. Weird. Life gets curiouser and curiouser.
"Uh... We should be going," I tell the general public.
"Oh! Okay, then. Bye-bye no da!" Ryuuichi calls, waving cheerfully as we leave.
"Bye-bye! See you soon!" Shuuichi adds.
"Bye!" we reply, walking off.
We hail a cab at eleven at night and make our way to Akira's house. I walk my rival to his front door and he fumbles for his keys a moment before finally fishing it out of his small carryall. He picks the correct one and unlocks the door. We look at each other awkwardly for a moment.
I find my tongue first. "Uh... I guess it's goodnight, then...?"
"Yeah, I guess."
"Right-o. Um... Goodnight then."
"Goodnight."
I turn and start to walk away.
"Wait!"
I pause midstep. "Hm?"
He steps closer. "I had fun today."
"Good, me too."
He looks me in the face; our gazes meet and hold. His pale creamy skin is still flushed from the alcohol and I have to fight down the wave of heat that washes over me. "We uh... should do stuff like that more often."
"Yeah. I'll take you to the next concert that comes if it's nice and available."
"Right."
Minutes pass as we simply stand there looking at each other, then Akira slides his eyes shut. I lean closer almost instinctively; his lips are slightly parted and they look so soft and I want to but... I sharply turn away. Touya would kill me; he would never have wanted this.
"I should go," I tell Akira, stepping away and turning my back to him. He's one side of the coin and Touya's the other; so alike yet so different. I feel my eyes sting as tears come unbidden. This was all I ever wanted with Touya; more than Go, more than the competition and rivalry, more than anything, I wanted us to be friends. Maybe more than that even. And now that I have what I want, Touya's... gone. I brush away the tears and blink the rest back.
"Yeah... Hey, Hikaru? Is something wrong?" Akira asks, concern lacing his voice.
"No, no; I'm fine. Just sleepy, that's all," I lie, blinking my eyes furiously.
"Right. Um... Why don't you come in and spend the night here? It's late." He opens the door invitingly.
"But I don't have my stuff and..." I protest.
"It's okay; you can use mine for now. It's not safe to walk around at this hour," he reasons.
I hesitate, then... "Alright, then." I walk into his house and toe off my sneakers. "You know, Aki, you sound like my mom," I tell him.
"Oh, why you..." He throws a half-hearted punch at my shoulder in mock fury and we laugh our way to his room.
A/N: I don't know how the Gundam Wing crew ended up here; I know the
timeline's way off but there are some defects with my core logic anyway
so you guys can just declare me crazy and work on the idea that they
fell through a black hole, met Sailor Pluto and found a way back in time
or something.
Glossary:
Na... Ka na... Hikaru 'tte ba... = 'Aww... can't we...? Hikaru...' or something like that; Sai says this at one point in the anime. I can't translate it; the effect would be lost.
Urusai = 'noisy'; comes off as 'shut up'
Datte ... = 'but ...'
Naraba ... = 'then ...'
Damari = 'shut up'
