PART 2
Akira watched seemingly dispassionately as his father, 'stepmother', and stepsiblings got into the large horse-drawn carriage waiting for them at them at the mansion door. Truth was, his entire being was tingling with excitement as he silently wondered what plan Sai had contrived to get him to the Tournament. The 'Duchess' and his children were dressed in the latest in court fashions and Mitani looked –in Akira's opinion- like a Harlequin doll in his outfit. Evidently, fashion also dictated that Akari may as well not wear anything, given how scantily clad she was. Or perhaps it was the 'Duchess' Ouza's idea as part of his plan to become part of the royal family. It was rather well known that he thirsted incessantly for wealth and power. In fact, Akira strongly suspected that that was the reason behind his marriage to his father. He wasn't even sure whether the 'Duchess' was capable of loving anyone but himself anyway. Who knew whether or not he really even loved his own children? He waved goodbye with a small smile, as if trying to act cheerful and closed the mansion doors slowly as the carriage pulled away from the doorstep. The doors had scarcely clicked shut when he immediately raced up the stairs to the attic to find the chubby Go fairy already waiting there for him.
"Right. How am I supposed to get to the palace?" he asked immediately, without even greeting the other or pausing to catch his breath.
Sai simply grinned. "Magic Goban come to me; over hill and dale do carry me!" he chanted cheerily, his normal three-year-old self.
Akira watched in amazement as a large Goban flew right through the attic window to land before Sai. "You're saying I should take that there?" he questioned incredulously. Just when he thought the idea of a Go fairy's existence was absurd enough on its own.
"Yup! It's easy. Just say 'Magic Goban come to me; over hill and dale do carry me' when you want it to pick you up and then get onto it and tell it where you want to go. For instance, if you want to go to the palace, you say 'Magic Goban fly with me; to Wei Qi Palace carry me'. Just replace your destination accordingly when you want to go elsewhere," the fairy explained enthusiastically.
"Okay..." Akira said slowly; he thought he understood. It did indeed sound simple enough. Then he remembered another problem. Two, in fact. "But I can't go in this! And I don't have anything dressy to wear! I'm definitely not going in anything of Mitani's, that's for sure. Besides, what if they recognise me? What would I do then?" He shook his head in despair; perhaps he really couldn't go after all.
But Sai's grin just widened in response. "Don't worry," he replied, growing serious. "I've already taken that into account. No one will recognise you in this."
"What..." Akira began to ask but Sai had already waved his fan. A shower of Go stones and poof! He could do little but blink in utter disbelief at the sight that welcomed him. He was wearing... a dress! It was simple, cream- coloured and quite pretty, actually but... it was a dress. Well, more like a gown really, adorned with rosettes and accompanied by a wide brim hat and lacy gloves of similar design. "I can't go in this!" he exclaimed, taking a step towards Sai and nearly falling as he teetered on the pair of matching stilettos he was wearing. He had seen Akari and other women wear shoes like these before and they never seemed to have a problem walking; he was going to have to learn how they did it someday. They were the most precarious things to stand on! He continuously felt like he was going to trip and fall flat on his face.
"Yes, you can," came the response. "And absolutely no one will recognise you in this."
"But I can't breathe!" he protested. The outfit felt really tight at the top.
"That's what corsets do, Akira. They are made to impede your breathing so you can fit into clothes you'd normally be out of shape for."
He teetered over to an old mirror leaning against the attic wall and stared at himself for a very long time. "I look ridiculous," he pronounced at last.
"No, you don't. In fact, you look really pretty in it," Sai assured him calmly.
"I look like a girl!" he tried protesting again, poking the filler bra he was wearing.
"Well, it's better than looking like a clown or a slut and you look and sound so much the part that no one will even suspect you were cross- dressing."
Akira merely shot the fairy a dark Look in reply.
"Look, do you want to go or not?" the fairy asked, losing some of his patience.
"Fine, fine," he agreed grudgingly. "But I can't walk in these." He looked down at his shoes as he carefully made his way over to the magic Goban.
"All the more reason to fall into the prince's arms. Get going," the other ordered and Akira merely glared at him in response as he sat atop the magic Goban. "One more thing. My power over these things ends at twelve midnight. So you'd better be back before then."
"This really sounds like a fucked up Cinderella story," he muttered.
"Right, whatever. Now, hurry up and tell the Goban where you want to go. Have fun!" the other enthused, returning to his three-year-old personality.
"Magic Goban fly with me; to Wei Qi Palace carry me," he chanted obediently and without hesitation, the Goban rose in one quick motion and took off with him out the window.
* * *
The Crown Prince of the Kingdom of Kyu-Dan Shindou Hikaru sighed. He had no idea where the rumour came from that he was using the tournament as a cover for choosing a bride. He didn't even know where they got the idea that he was even interested in getting a wife to begin with! All he wanted was some good Go games and preferably ones that didn't come with insinuations and implications of interest from opponents who looked more at him than at the board. He had quite remembered ordering a Go competition and not a fashion exhibition but most of the people in attendance had donned ludicrous and fanciful clothing most probably invented by some crazed designer and swept right off the catwalks of the D.I.E.. The women, especially, were about a total of one square metre of cloth away from appearing naked, much to the delight of the old geezer Duke of Honinbou whom he had recently discovered to be a pervert. Well, at least he was only interested in women. Prince Hikaru resignedly turned his attention back to the board in front of him. He was playing Shidougo with Akari, daughter of the former Grand 'Duchess' of Ouza and stepdaughter of the Duke of Meijin. For a lady of two noble houses, her skill was pitifully lacking. Her brother, Mitani, had been only slightly better. What worsened the situation was the fact that Akari seemed much more interested in him than in the game they were playing; at least Mitani had had a genuine interest in Go. Akari was a pretty nice girl to talk to actually, at least regarding anything but Go. She was a bit shy, sweet, polite and rather friendly, and had a nice smile. But he really wasn't interested anyway. She was clad as scantily as any of the other women and he simply had to assume that it was both the influence of fashion trends as well as the circulating rumours. The actual objective of the tournament was to find a good Go player with whom he could play great games to the mutual betterment of skills. It wasn't as if he didn't already know quite a few great players. Duke Kuwabara Honinbou, Duke Touya Meijin, current Duke Kurata Ouza, Duke Waya Kisei, Duke Isumi Gosei, Duke Ogata Jyudan, and his own cousin, the former Duke Fukui Tengen and now Ken Prince of the D.I.E., were very good players indeed. However, they weren't quite right somehow and he could only guess that there was something missing. Besides, there might be many even better players among the commoners who had thus far been living in the shadow of the nobility and he thought that it was high time they got a chance to prove themselves in this free competition, of which the actual competing would begin tomorrow evening. The third night would draw to an end with the announcement of the winner, whom he himself would play before the closing ceremony. Currently, they were in the opening part of the competition and the activity was generally a free-for-all Go summit. He had insisted that everyone could ask anyone, including himself, for a game and the person asked should be obliged to accept the challenge unless he had an extremely good and reasonable excuse to decline. But presently, this game was boring him sick.
"Um... Lady Akari?" he began.
"Yes, Your Highness?" She gave a shy smile.
"I'm tired and I'd like a break. What say you we call it a day?" he suggested, somehow finding a usually absent well of tact from somewhere.
"Certainly, Your Highness. Whatever you say." She rose and curtseyed gracefully as the servants began to clear the board and backed out of the room before turning and walking away, obviously disappointed in his lack of interest in her.
The Crown Prince sighed once more. Was a challenging and interesting game of Go too much to ask for?
* * *
"My loss, twelve and a half moku," Akira conceded. Somehow, he had caught the eye of Duke Ogata Jyudan who had attempted some sort of flirting with him before the game, thinking him to be a noblewoman of some sort. Well, at least the duke was an extremely strong player.
"Hmm... You're a strong and talented player, lady. And you are...?"
"Um..." he struggled to come up with an identity. "Aki of the house of Suji, distant relative to the Mayor of Baduk, Your Grace," he managed.
"May I have the pleasure of your company for the rest of the evening then, Lady Aki?" the Duke requested evenly.
"Uh..." And how did one politely tell a duke 'no'? "Um... Well, I actually came to meet someone, Your Grace," was the best excuse he could come up with.
"And who may that person be? Perhaps I could be of assistance in locating him or her," the other offered.
Akira shook his head, no. "Please don't trouble yourself, Your Grace. I'll be fine on my own. Thank you." And with that, he rose and curtseyed as best he could before carefully walking off into the crowd without waiting for a reply from the Duke of Jyudan.
He frowned, he still had a problem balancing on the shoes he was wearing. Not to mention the fact that the dress was making it hard for him to breathe. Well, he had to admit –however grudgingly- that Sai was right regarding how well he fit the part. He had received considerably more than his fair share of compliments on his looks throughout the evening, all from people who thought him to be the very pretty young daughter of a minor noble. It wasn't exactly too far from the truth; he was the son of the Duke of Meijin after all but it wasn't very flattering to have the world take you for a member of the opposite sex. To add to his irritation and increasing annoyance, he still hadn't figured out where the prince was and it was growing late. Add that to the fact that he had to be back by midnight and Touya Akira wasn't a very happy young 'lady'. Oof! He lost his balance on the stiletto and fell sideways onto what must be a young nobleman.
"Careful, lady. There might not always be someone to break your fall," he heard a voice tell him.
"Sorry," he mumbled, regaining his balance before teetering off into the crowd without even glancing up to see who he had fallen on.
Meanwhile, Duke Waya Kisei bristled. "Hmmph! Should have let her fall. I deliberately stay in place to break her fall and catch her and I don't even get a word of thanks," the young duke complained. "Women," he snorted derisively. "A pretty face and they think they're on top of the world."
"Waya, you're expecting her to thank you for doing something any proper gentleman would have done. At least she apologized," came a familiar voice from behind.
The Duke of Kisei turned to face his lover and best friend, Duke Isumi Gosei and smiled. Then, with a sparkle to his brown eyes and a mischievous grin, he reached up to tug the other's dark bangs lightly. "Oh dear... I'm considered a gentleman in your opinion," he feigned a lament. "I guess I'd best do something about that tonight then."
The older duke reached out to make a slight mess out of spiky brown hair. "I wouldn't put it past you, Waya; I wouldn't put it past you."
"Isumi-san!" Waya cried, trying to get his hair back into some semblance of order. "Stop doing that!"
It was a hopeless and futile task and he would give up after several attempts anyway, so the Duke of Gosei saw no reason to pay the other's instruction any heed. He was about to say something else when a voice distracted him.
"Excuse me, Your Graces." It was the lady Duke Waya had helped just moments ago.
Not trusting his lover not to give the girl a piece of his mind for not thanking him, Duke Isumi quickly took the liberty of answering. "Yes?"
"I was wondering if you know where I can find His Highness Prince Hikaru, Your Grace," she replied, her voice a soft even contralto and her manners perfect.
"He's over there, in a small room behind the curtains. His Highness likes privacy when he's playing his games," he answered easily as he pointed in the appropriate direction, not giving the Duke of Kisei a chance to get a word in.
"Thank you, Your Grace." Akira curtseyed as best he could and quickly but cautiously made his way off in the indicated direction, leaving the two dukes to their own affairs.
He wove through the crowd towards the thick dark red velvet curtains and ducked behind them. Akira made his way down the dim corridor towards the short flight of carpeted stairs and teetered up the steps, holding the wall for balance with every shaky step as he silently cursed the Go fairy for making him wear the shoes. At the top of the steps, he turned right and ducked beneath the velvet curtains hanging low over the doorway into a small room with dark red velvet on the walls and four glass- covered lamps for lighting. In the middle of the rather small chamber, there was a polished rosewood table and a dark red leather armchair on either side with a gold satin cushion each. At this table sat the Crown Prince, just finishing a game of Go with a minor noble. Akira gazed at the intricate patterns of black and white on the board between the two players and quickly determined that the prince's opponent was about thirty moku short. From the placing of the prince's white stones, Akira saw that the prince was indeed a very strong player... just like everyone said. But perhaps he was stronger than this game indicated? At that moment, the young noble rose to his feet and thanked the prince for the game with a bow. The Crown Prince of the Kingdom of Kyu-Dan turned... and their eyes met.
The moment seemed to hang in time for Akira as the prince asked, "Play a game with me?"
Those eyes... One murky green look and he knew he had lost even before the game had begun. The sheer intensity of them took his breath away and made his blood race. He could never say no to those eyes. And even as he took his place in the armchair opposite the prince, he knew that even if he won this game, there would never be another for him. He had lost... his heart... to the one person he might never have, the Crown Prince Shindou Hikaru. He nodded slightly, trying to regulate the beat of his pounding heart.
"Um, would you like a handicap?" the prince asked.
And the moment shattered. A handicap?! "What makes you think I need one?!" Akira nearly screamed. In his outrage, he had quite forgotten whom he was speaking to.
Prince Hikaru blinked dumbly at his companion's outburst. Being Crown Prince of the Kingdom, he had never once in his life been spoken to that way. He quickly recovered from the shock and shrugged. "Fine, have it your way. We can play even if you like but don't go off crying if I crush you because I won't go easy on you." He grinned smugly.
"You...! Play your best and let's see who crushes who! Nigiri!" Prince or no prince, Akira wasn't about to let Hikaru disrespect him before the game even began.
The bleached-blonde simply placed a handful of Go stones on the board as the other placed down two and began to separate them into pairs. Even. The prince gathered the stones and dropped them back into their container as Akira placed his first stone on the 4-16 hoshi. "Who are you?"
Akira looked up at the sound of the other's voice, distracted from his strategy planning by the blunt question. "Huh?" was the most intelligent reply he could come up with at the moment.
"I asked you who you are. I'd like to remember the only person in the Kingdom who dares speak to me so rudely."
The longhaired boy felt a slight blush coming to his cheeks as he recalled his utter lack of protocol a moment ago. "I'm sorry, Your Highness."
"Don't. It's interesting. And you still haven't told me who you are," the prince said with a grin.
"I... I'm..." Akira wanted to tell the Crown Prince the truth, but somehow, he didn't dare. "I'm just a simple farmer's daughter. This dress was given to me by a kind merchant, Your Highness," he lied.
"I see." He did a komoku on the upper left hoshi. "And your name is...?"
"Aki. Please call me Aki." The 4-4 hoshi.
"Aki," he repeated softly before they both lapsed into silence as the game progressed.
Stone after stone was placed on the board in turn and Hikaru felt his excitement building; Aki was very strong, one of the strongest players he had ever played. He had always known that there were perhaps many strong players among the common people who had been living in the shadow of the nobility, but thus far, all the players he had played against had proved little challenge for him. Being Crown Prince and Heir Apparent to the throne of the Kingdom of Kyu-Dan meant that he was one of the best Go players in the Kingdom, but games weren't really fun if one didn't have someone exciting to play with. Not that there weren't any great players around; all the Dukes were excellent players in their own right, but there was definitely something missing somewhere. The prince glanced up at his opponent as he placed a stone in a hane on the board. And he knew. He took in the way Akira's slender fingers elegantly placed stones on the board with expert precision, the subtle way he scraped his fingertips on the Go stone he held when he was deep in thought about his next move, the look of intense concentration on the other's face, the fire in his eyes, the intensity of the air around him. He took in all these things and he knew. He knew what had been missing all this while. That electric air, that burning passion, that single-minded pursuit of victory... This was the opponent he had been searching for, his playmate, his rival, his Aki. They would be able to spur each other to greater heights of skill and all their games would be challenging and exciting. At that point, he decided that he wanted to play hundreds of thousands of games with Aki; he never wanted their game to end. By the time the game ended, Akira was ten moku short but he held Hikaru completely enraptured. There were some hands that might have been put to better use, but it was rather late to have realized that. They were both panting, hearts pounding and blood racing from the sheer excitement and intensity of the game. Akira hated losing with a vengeance; he didn't know how to handle losing, no matter how he appeared to feel about it outwardly. Ten moku was a lot in his opinion, especially after he had so rudely declined a handicap in his confidence in his own ability. Hikaru was extremely strong, as was fitting of the Crown Prince and Heir Apparent to the throne of the Kingdom. Hikaru, on the other hand, wanted nothing more than to play another game with him and another and another and another after that. He wanted to play Akira until he could memorize the very arc in which his fingers moved to place each stone on the Goban's polished surface, until he could see nothing but those fiery emerald orbs and the intricate patterns of black and white on a wooden backdrop.
"Why aren't you in the competition, Lady Aki?" he asked breathlessly, looking up at his opponent.
"Huh?" That was the most intelligent reply Akira could muster as he looked up at Hikaru, having been startled out of his study of the game.
"I asked, why aren't you in the competition?"
"Um... I uh..." Now, what was he supposed to say? He couldn't very well tell the prince that he wasn't in because his family banned him from playing Go and wouldn't even allow him to come, could he? "I... uh... didn't want to discourage anyone else with my strength, Your Highness," he lied, knowing how bloody arrogant that sounded. But well, he lacked choices in his reasons and beggars can't be choosers now, can they?
"Cocky bitch," the prince muttered under his breath, too softly for Akira to catch.
"I beg your pardon, Your Highness?"
"Nothing. Shall we discuss the game?"
"Yes, please, Your Highness. This hand here was a little premature. I should have gone here first before attacking this area," Akira said, gesturing at the respective parts of the board.
"Yes, and then you tried a little too hard to rescue yourself here."
"I see. Over here, you dug yourself in too deep and wasted many hands that could have been put to much better use."
"There was thirty moku at stake. I wasn't about to let you have it."
"But all I had to do was attack here and this entire group would be in danger. Those hands could have been used to secure this area."
"Oh yeah? One cut here and your shape would have been utterly destroyed!"
The gesturing became more violent.
"Really? Like I would have to do any more than tsuke that to completely surround this group!"
Their voices increased in volume.
"Oh yeah? I would have survived in there even if you did surround!!"
"Oh? Like say how? There isn't enough space over here! And what's with the 'oh yeah' thing anyway?!"
Court protocol could have ceased to exist and it wouldn't have made a difference.
"Yes, there is!! And what's my speech patterns to you?!" Hikaru yelled, rising so violently that the chair nearly fell over.
"No, there isn't!! And you keep saying that!! Even during the game!"
"Is to! What's wrong with that, stupid?!"
"Is not!! It's annoying!! And I AM NOT STUPID!!" Akira practically screeched as he too rose with enough violence to nearly topple the heavy wooden armchair.
It was going at about a hundred and sixty decibels right then.
"Is to!! You've got issues, you know? And yes, you are stupid!!"
"Is not!! I DO NOT have issues and I AM NOT STUPID!!!"
They screamed on, leaning closer to the other with each word, each trying to shout the other down to no avail.
"Yes!!"
"No!!"
"Yes!!!"
"No!!!"
"YES!!"
"NO!!"
No one watching or listening to this would have imagined that the Crown Prince would argue this way with a commoner.
"Arrogant bitch!!"
"Annoying idiot!!"
Or imagined that he was even the Crown Prince at all.
"I'm leaving!!!" Hikaru nearly shrieked out of the blue, whirling around and storming out of the little chamber, leaving a suddenly very stunned and confused Akira alone in the suddenly empty room.
A/N: Hope you enjoyed it this far. Will try to finish this as fast as I
can with all the rest of my fics. Please review!
Akira watched seemingly dispassionately as his father, 'stepmother', and stepsiblings got into the large horse-drawn carriage waiting for them at them at the mansion door. Truth was, his entire being was tingling with excitement as he silently wondered what plan Sai had contrived to get him to the Tournament. The 'Duchess' and his children were dressed in the latest in court fashions and Mitani looked –in Akira's opinion- like a Harlequin doll in his outfit. Evidently, fashion also dictated that Akari may as well not wear anything, given how scantily clad she was. Or perhaps it was the 'Duchess' Ouza's idea as part of his plan to become part of the royal family. It was rather well known that he thirsted incessantly for wealth and power. In fact, Akira strongly suspected that that was the reason behind his marriage to his father. He wasn't even sure whether the 'Duchess' was capable of loving anyone but himself anyway. Who knew whether or not he really even loved his own children? He waved goodbye with a small smile, as if trying to act cheerful and closed the mansion doors slowly as the carriage pulled away from the doorstep. The doors had scarcely clicked shut when he immediately raced up the stairs to the attic to find the chubby Go fairy already waiting there for him.
"Right. How am I supposed to get to the palace?" he asked immediately, without even greeting the other or pausing to catch his breath.
Sai simply grinned. "Magic Goban come to me; over hill and dale do carry me!" he chanted cheerily, his normal three-year-old self.
Akira watched in amazement as a large Goban flew right through the attic window to land before Sai. "You're saying I should take that there?" he questioned incredulously. Just when he thought the idea of a Go fairy's existence was absurd enough on its own.
"Yup! It's easy. Just say 'Magic Goban come to me; over hill and dale do carry me' when you want it to pick you up and then get onto it and tell it where you want to go. For instance, if you want to go to the palace, you say 'Magic Goban fly with me; to Wei Qi Palace carry me'. Just replace your destination accordingly when you want to go elsewhere," the fairy explained enthusiastically.
"Okay..." Akira said slowly; he thought he understood. It did indeed sound simple enough. Then he remembered another problem. Two, in fact. "But I can't go in this! And I don't have anything dressy to wear! I'm definitely not going in anything of Mitani's, that's for sure. Besides, what if they recognise me? What would I do then?" He shook his head in despair; perhaps he really couldn't go after all.
But Sai's grin just widened in response. "Don't worry," he replied, growing serious. "I've already taken that into account. No one will recognise you in this."
"What..." Akira began to ask but Sai had already waved his fan. A shower of Go stones and poof! He could do little but blink in utter disbelief at the sight that welcomed him. He was wearing... a dress! It was simple, cream- coloured and quite pretty, actually but... it was a dress. Well, more like a gown really, adorned with rosettes and accompanied by a wide brim hat and lacy gloves of similar design. "I can't go in this!" he exclaimed, taking a step towards Sai and nearly falling as he teetered on the pair of matching stilettos he was wearing. He had seen Akari and other women wear shoes like these before and they never seemed to have a problem walking; he was going to have to learn how they did it someday. They were the most precarious things to stand on! He continuously felt like he was going to trip and fall flat on his face.
"Yes, you can," came the response. "And absolutely no one will recognise you in this."
"But I can't breathe!" he protested. The outfit felt really tight at the top.
"That's what corsets do, Akira. They are made to impede your breathing so you can fit into clothes you'd normally be out of shape for."
He teetered over to an old mirror leaning against the attic wall and stared at himself for a very long time. "I look ridiculous," he pronounced at last.
"No, you don't. In fact, you look really pretty in it," Sai assured him calmly.
"I look like a girl!" he tried protesting again, poking the filler bra he was wearing.
"Well, it's better than looking like a clown or a slut and you look and sound so much the part that no one will even suspect you were cross- dressing."
Akira merely shot the fairy a dark Look in reply.
"Look, do you want to go or not?" the fairy asked, losing some of his patience.
"Fine, fine," he agreed grudgingly. "But I can't walk in these." He looked down at his shoes as he carefully made his way over to the magic Goban.
"All the more reason to fall into the prince's arms. Get going," the other ordered and Akira merely glared at him in response as he sat atop the magic Goban. "One more thing. My power over these things ends at twelve midnight. So you'd better be back before then."
"This really sounds like a fucked up Cinderella story," he muttered.
"Right, whatever. Now, hurry up and tell the Goban where you want to go. Have fun!" the other enthused, returning to his three-year-old personality.
"Magic Goban fly with me; to Wei Qi Palace carry me," he chanted obediently and without hesitation, the Goban rose in one quick motion and took off with him out the window.
* * *
The Crown Prince of the Kingdom of Kyu-Dan Shindou Hikaru sighed. He had no idea where the rumour came from that he was using the tournament as a cover for choosing a bride. He didn't even know where they got the idea that he was even interested in getting a wife to begin with! All he wanted was some good Go games and preferably ones that didn't come with insinuations and implications of interest from opponents who looked more at him than at the board. He had quite remembered ordering a Go competition and not a fashion exhibition but most of the people in attendance had donned ludicrous and fanciful clothing most probably invented by some crazed designer and swept right off the catwalks of the D.I.E.. The women, especially, were about a total of one square metre of cloth away from appearing naked, much to the delight of the old geezer Duke of Honinbou whom he had recently discovered to be a pervert. Well, at least he was only interested in women. Prince Hikaru resignedly turned his attention back to the board in front of him. He was playing Shidougo with Akari, daughter of the former Grand 'Duchess' of Ouza and stepdaughter of the Duke of Meijin. For a lady of two noble houses, her skill was pitifully lacking. Her brother, Mitani, had been only slightly better. What worsened the situation was the fact that Akari seemed much more interested in him than in the game they were playing; at least Mitani had had a genuine interest in Go. Akari was a pretty nice girl to talk to actually, at least regarding anything but Go. She was a bit shy, sweet, polite and rather friendly, and had a nice smile. But he really wasn't interested anyway. She was clad as scantily as any of the other women and he simply had to assume that it was both the influence of fashion trends as well as the circulating rumours. The actual objective of the tournament was to find a good Go player with whom he could play great games to the mutual betterment of skills. It wasn't as if he didn't already know quite a few great players. Duke Kuwabara Honinbou, Duke Touya Meijin, current Duke Kurata Ouza, Duke Waya Kisei, Duke Isumi Gosei, Duke Ogata Jyudan, and his own cousin, the former Duke Fukui Tengen and now Ken Prince of the D.I.E., were very good players indeed. However, they weren't quite right somehow and he could only guess that there was something missing. Besides, there might be many even better players among the commoners who had thus far been living in the shadow of the nobility and he thought that it was high time they got a chance to prove themselves in this free competition, of which the actual competing would begin tomorrow evening. The third night would draw to an end with the announcement of the winner, whom he himself would play before the closing ceremony. Currently, they were in the opening part of the competition and the activity was generally a free-for-all Go summit. He had insisted that everyone could ask anyone, including himself, for a game and the person asked should be obliged to accept the challenge unless he had an extremely good and reasonable excuse to decline. But presently, this game was boring him sick.
"Um... Lady Akari?" he began.
"Yes, Your Highness?" She gave a shy smile.
"I'm tired and I'd like a break. What say you we call it a day?" he suggested, somehow finding a usually absent well of tact from somewhere.
"Certainly, Your Highness. Whatever you say." She rose and curtseyed gracefully as the servants began to clear the board and backed out of the room before turning and walking away, obviously disappointed in his lack of interest in her.
The Crown Prince sighed once more. Was a challenging and interesting game of Go too much to ask for?
* * *
"My loss, twelve and a half moku," Akira conceded. Somehow, he had caught the eye of Duke Ogata Jyudan who had attempted some sort of flirting with him before the game, thinking him to be a noblewoman of some sort. Well, at least the duke was an extremely strong player.
"Hmm... You're a strong and talented player, lady. And you are...?"
"Um..." he struggled to come up with an identity. "Aki of the house of Suji, distant relative to the Mayor of Baduk, Your Grace," he managed.
"May I have the pleasure of your company for the rest of the evening then, Lady Aki?" the Duke requested evenly.
"Uh..." And how did one politely tell a duke 'no'? "Um... Well, I actually came to meet someone, Your Grace," was the best excuse he could come up with.
"And who may that person be? Perhaps I could be of assistance in locating him or her," the other offered.
Akira shook his head, no. "Please don't trouble yourself, Your Grace. I'll be fine on my own. Thank you." And with that, he rose and curtseyed as best he could before carefully walking off into the crowd without waiting for a reply from the Duke of Jyudan.
He frowned, he still had a problem balancing on the shoes he was wearing. Not to mention the fact that the dress was making it hard for him to breathe. Well, he had to admit –however grudgingly- that Sai was right regarding how well he fit the part. He had received considerably more than his fair share of compliments on his looks throughout the evening, all from people who thought him to be the very pretty young daughter of a minor noble. It wasn't exactly too far from the truth; he was the son of the Duke of Meijin after all but it wasn't very flattering to have the world take you for a member of the opposite sex. To add to his irritation and increasing annoyance, he still hadn't figured out where the prince was and it was growing late. Add that to the fact that he had to be back by midnight and Touya Akira wasn't a very happy young 'lady'. Oof! He lost his balance on the stiletto and fell sideways onto what must be a young nobleman.
"Careful, lady. There might not always be someone to break your fall," he heard a voice tell him.
"Sorry," he mumbled, regaining his balance before teetering off into the crowd without even glancing up to see who he had fallen on.
Meanwhile, Duke Waya Kisei bristled. "Hmmph! Should have let her fall. I deliberately stay in place to break her fall and catch her and I don't even get a word of thanks," the young duke complained. "Women," he snorted derisively. "A pretty face and they think they're on top of the world."
"Waya, you're expecting her to thank you for doing something any proper gentleman would have done. At least she apologized," came a familiar voice from behind.
The Duke of Kisei turned to face his lover and best friend, Duke Isumi Gosei and smiled. Then, with a sparkle to his brown eyes and a mischievous grin, he reached up to tug the other's dark bangs lightly. "Oh dear... I'm considered a gentleman in your opinion," he feigned a lament. "I guess I'd best do something about that tonight then."
The older duke reached out to make a slight mess out of spiky brown hair. "I wouldn't put it past you, Waya; I wouldn't put it past you."
"Isumi-san!" Waya cried, trying to get his hair back into some semblance of order. "Stop doing that!"
It was a hopeless and futile task and he would give up after several attempts anyway, so the Duke of Gosei saw no reason to pay the other's instruction any heed. He was about to say something else when a voice distracted him.
"Excuse me, Your Graces." It was the lady Duke Waya had helped just moments ago.
Not trusting his lover not to give the girl a piece of his mind for not thanking him, Duke Isumi quickly took the liberty of answering. "Yes?"
"I was wondering if you know where I can find His Highness Prince Hikaru, Your Grace," she replied, her voice a soft even contralto and her manners perfect.
"He's over there, in a small room behind the curtains. His Highness likes privacy when he's playing his games," he answered easily as he pointed in the appropriate direction, not giving the Duke of Kisei a chance to get a word in.
"Thank you, Your Grace." Akira curtseyed as best he could and quickly but cautiously made his way off in the indicated direction, leaving the two dukes to their own affairs.
He wove through the crowd towards the thick dark red velvet curtains and ducked behind them. Akira made his way down the dim corridor towards the short flight of carpeted stairs and teetered up the steps, holding the wall for balance with every shaky step as he silently cursed the Go fairy for making him wear the shoes. At the top of the steps, he turned right and ducked beneath the velvet curtains hanging low over the doorway into a small room with dark red velvet on the walls and four glass- covered lamps for lighting. In the middle of the rather small chamber, there was a polished rosewood table and a dark red leather armchair on either side with a gold satin cushion each. At this table sat the Crown Prince, just finishing a game of Go with a minor noble. Akira gazed at the intricate patterns of black and white on the board between the two players and quickly determined that the prince's opponent was about thirty moku short. From the placing of the prince's white stones, Akira saw that the prince was indeed a very strong player... just like everyone said. But perhaps he was stronger than this game indicated? At that moment, the young noble rose to his feet and thanked the prince for the game with a bow. The Crown Prince of the Kingdom of Kyu-Dan turned... and their eyes met.
The moment seemed to hang in time for Akira as the prince asked, "Play a game with me?"
Those eyes... One murky green look and he knew he had lost even before the game had begun. The sheer intensity of them took his breath away and made his blood race. He could never say no to those eyes. And even as he took his place in the armchair opposite the prince, he knew that even if he won this game, there would never be another for him. He had lost... his heart... to the one person he might never have, the Crown Prince Shindou Hikaru. He nodded slightly, trying to regulate the beat of his pounding heart.
"Um, would you like a handicap?" the prince asked.
And the moment shattered. A handicap?! "What makes you think I need one?!" Akira nearly screamed. In his outrage, he had quite forgotten whom he was speaking to.
Prince Hikaru blinked dumbly at his companion's outburst. Being Crown Prince of the Kingdom, he had never once in his life been spoken to that way. He quickly recovered from the shock and shrugged. "Fine, have it your way. We can play even if you like but don't go off crying if I crush you because I won't go easy on you." He grinned smugly.
"You...! Play your best and let's see who crushes who! Nigiri!" Prince or no prince, Akira wasn't about to let Hikaru disrespect him before the game even began.
The bleached-blonde simply placed a handful of Go stones on the board as the other placed down two and began to separate them into pairs. Even. The prince gathered the stones and dropped them back into their container as Akira placed his first stone on the 4-16 hoshi. "Who are you?"
Akira looked up at the sound of the other's voice, distracted from his strategy planning by the blunt question. "Huh?" was the most intelligent reply he could come up with at the moment.
"I asked you who you are. I'd like to remember the only person in the Kingdom who dares speak to me so rudely."
The longhaired boy felt a slight blush coming to his cheeks as he recalled his utter lack of protocol a moment ago. "I'm sorry, Your Highness."
"Don't. It's interesting. And you still haven't told me who you are," the prince said with a grin.
"I... I'm..." Akira wanted to tell the Crown Prince the truth, but somehow, he didn't dare. "I'm just a simple farmer's daughter. This dress was given to me by a kind merchant, Your Highness," he lied.
"I see." He did a komoku on the upper left hoshi. "And your name is...?"
"Aki. Please call me Aki." The 4-4 hoshi.
"Aki," he repeated softly before they both lapsed into silence as the game progressed.
Stone after stone was placed on the board in turn and Hikaru felt his excitement building; Aki was very strong, one of the strongest players he had ever played. He had always known that there were perhaps many strong players among the common people who had been living in the shadow of the nobility, but thus far, all the players he had played against had proved little challenge for him. Being Crown Prince and Heir Apparent to the throne of the Kingdom of Kyu-Dan meant that he was one of the best Go players in the Kingdom, but games weren't really fun if one didn't have someone exciting to play with. Not that there weren't any great players around; all the Dukes were excellent players in their own right, but there was definitely something missing somewhere. The prince glanced up at his opponent as he placed a stone in a hane on the board. And he knew. He took in the way Akira's slender fingers elegantly placed stones on the board with expert precision, the subtle way he scraped his fingertips on the Go stone he held when he was deep in thought about his next move, the look of intense concentration on the other's face, the fire in his eyes, the intensity of the air around him. He took in all these things and he knew. He knew what had been missing all this while. That electric air, that burning passion, that single-minded pursuit of victory... This was the opponent he had been searching for, his playmate, his rival, his Aki. They would be able to spur each other to greater heights of skill and all their games would be challenging and exciting. At that point, he decided that he wanted to play hundreds of thousands of games with Aki; he never wanted their game to end. By the time the game ended, Akira was ten moku short but he held Hikaru completely enraptured. There were some hands that might have been put to better use, but it was rather late to have realized that. They were both panting, hearts pounding and blood racing from the sheer excitement and intensity of the game. Akira hated losing with a vengeance; he didn't know how to handle losing, no matter how he appeared to feel about it outwardly. Ten moku was a lot in his opinion, especially after he had so rudely declined a handicap in his confidence in his own ability. Hikaru was extremely strong, as was fitting of the Crown Prince and Heir Apparent to the throne of the Kingdom. Hikaru, on the other hand, wanted nothing more than to play another game with him and another and another and another after that. He wanted to play Akira until he could memorize the very arc in which his fingers moved to place each stone on the Goban's polished surface, until he could see nothing but those fiery emerald orbs and the intricate patterns of black and white on a wooden backdrop.
"Why aren't you in the competition, Lady Aki?" he asked breathlessly, looking up at his opponent.
"Huh?" That was the most intelligent reply Akira could muster as he looked up at Hikaru, having been startled out of his study of the game.
"I asked, why aren't you in the competition?"
"Um... I uh..." Now, what was he supposed to say? He couldn't very well tell the prince that he wasn't in because his family banned him from playing Go and wouldn't even allow him to come, could he? "I... uh... didn't want to discourage anyone else with my strength, Your Highness," he lied, knowing how bloody arrogant that sounded. But well, he lacked choices in his reasons and beggars can't be choosers now, can they?
"Cocky bitch," the prince muttered under his breath, too softly for Akira to catch.
"I beg your pardon, Your Highness?"
"Nothing. Shall we discuss the game?"
"Yes, please, Your Highness. This hand here was a little premature. I should have gone here first before attacking this area," Akira said, gesturing at the respective parts of the board.
"Yes, and then you tried a little too hard to rescue yourself here."
"I see. Over here, you dug yourself in too deep and wasted many hands that could have been put to much better use."
"There was thirty moku at stake. I wasn't about to let you have it."
"But all I had to do was attack here and this entire group would be in danger. Those hands could have been used to secure this area."
"Oh yeah? One cut here and your shape would have been utterly destroyed!"
The gesturing became more violent.
"Really? Like I would have to do any more than tsuke that to completely surround this group!"
Their voices increased in volume.
"Oh yeah? I would have survived in there even if you did surround!!"
"Oh? Like say how? There isn't enough space over here! And what's with the 'oh yeah' thing anyway?!"
Court protocol could have ceased to exist and it wouldn't have made a difference.
"Yes, there is!! And what's my speech patterns to you?!" Hikaru yelled, rising so violently that the chair nearly fell over.
"No, there isn't!! And you keep saying that!! Even during the game!"
"Is to! What's wrong with that, stupid?!"
"Is not!! It's annoying!! And I AM NOT STUPID!!" Akira practically screeched as he too rose with enough violence to nearly topple the heavy wooden armchair.
It was going at about a hundred and sixty decibels right then.
"Is to!! You've got issues, you know? And yes, you are stupid!!"
"Is not!! I DO NOT have issues and I AM NOT STUPID!!!"
They screamed on, leaning closer to the other with each word, each trying to shout the other down to no avail.
"Yes!!"
"No!!"
"Yes!!!"
"No!!!"
"YES!!"
"NO!!"
No one watching or listening to this would have imagined that the Crown Prince would argue this way with a commoner.
"Arrogant bitch!!"
"Annoying idiot!!"
Or imagined that he was even the Crown Prince at all.
"I'm leaving!!!" Hikaru nearly shrieked out of the blue, whirling around and storming out of the little chamber, leaving a suddenly very stunned and confused Akira alone in the suddenly empty room.
A/N: Hope you enjoyed it this far. Will try to finish this as fast as I
can with all the rest of my fics. Please review!