Chasing a Shadow by Cienna

Chapter 10 - Strategies

Author's Note - Sorry once again for taking so long! Next chapter will probably be out soon since I'm currently on a writing kick.

By the time Saturday morning had arrived with no call from Touya, Hikaru's worry had reached extreme levels. And it didn't help that he couldn't stop thinking about Sai. Their last few moments together seemed to play over and over again in his mind. It always happened at this time of year, but right now he couldn't force the pain away as easily as usual. Not when he had to worry about Touya too. It was at times like these when the fan Sai had given him never left his hand.

He glanced at the clock by his bed. It was just barely eight o'clock. Probably too early to call Touya's house. But then again, Touya definitely seemed the type to be an early riser. Still in his pajamas, Hikaru padded down the stairs to the phone in the hallway. Touya's mother answered the phone on the second ring.

"Uh, hi, this is Shindou Hikaru."

"Shindou-kun, good morning,"she paused, "is something wrong?"

"No, nothing's wrong." Hikaru kicked himself mentally for calling so early. "I just wondered if I could speak with Akira."

"Actually he's still sleeping." Now her voice was tinged with worry. "He's looked so tired lately I just couldn't bring myself to wake him."

"Do you think he's sick?" Hikaru asked.

"I don't think so. He hasn't said anything. But he has been awfully busy lately..." her voice trailed off.

"With the tutoring you mean?"

"Well, yes. I think he may have taken on too much responsibility. I've never seen him tutor anyone as often as he tutors this boy."

Hikaru filed that information away for future reference. "Well, could you ask him to call me when he wakes up?"

"Of course," she replied gently. "I know you and he have had some troubles, but you're such a good friend to him Shindou-kun."

Hikaru felt heat rising to his cheeks as he wondered what Touya's mother would think if she knew their relationship went beyond mere friendship. "Uh, thanks." He hung up the phone quickly and headed back upstairs to get dressed.

At noon Touya still hadn't called, and Hikaru's mother had already come upstairs a few times to yell at him for not coming out of his room all day. He was just lying on his bed staring at the patterns on the ceiling and thinking about Sai when she barged in again.

"You're supposed to be a professional Go player! Don't you have something you should be doing today?"

Hikaru didn't look at her, keeping his eyes fixed on a ragged looking crack in the ceiling. "No." He didn't tell her that he had gotten out of everything he was supposed to do this weekend because it was the anniversary of Sai's disappearance. He definitely didn't think his Go skills would be at their best. "Shouldn't I have a weekend off once in awhile?"

His mother looked at him suspiciously. "Does this have something to do with that Touya Akira boy? I heard you calling his house this morning."

Hikaru sighed. "I just called to see if he wanted to do something today, that's all."

"And he didn't?"

Hikaru pushed himself off the bed and dragged himself over to the goban. He picked up a white stone, laying it down with a satisfying plink. "No, I guess he's busy or something."

"Well do you want to come with me while I run some errands?" she offered. "It's better than just moping around in the house all day."

"No thanks. I really want to stay here and work on some strategies." And listen for the phone in case Touya called.

"All right then. You better not still be here when I get back, though. Surely working on your strategies with someone else would be more helpful than by yourself."

Hikaru knocked the few stones on the board aside and looked at his mother directly. "I need to be alone right now." He fought to keep his voice from wavering.

She finally seemed to get the hint and suddenly became cheerful. "Okay. I'll see you later then. Maybe we can go out for ramen for dinner."

Hikaru forced himself to smile. "That sounds good." His mother smiled back as she closed the door gently. Hikaru picked up his fan, opening and closing it with a snap. He pondered what to do. Finally he decided to just give in and call Touya's house again.

Touya's mother sounded upset when she answered, promising that Touya had wanted to call him back, but he had been in such a hurry to get to another tutoring appointment that he had had to rush out of the house. Apparently he hadn't even had time for breakfast. Hikaru wasn't at all surprised to learn that it was an appointment with the same man. Shealso saidthat he would be back around four and would definitely call him then. Disappointed, and even more worried, Hikaru hang the phone up with a click and headed back to his room.

He recreated a few of Sai's games while he thought about what to do. He needed Touya; that he was sure of. And he was worried about him. He certainly wasn't going to give up what he had with Touya now after all they had been through. And he was sure that Touya wouldn't give up either. Something had to be going on. And it looked like he was going to have to confront Touya to find out what it was.

When five o'clock came with no phone call, Hikaru scribbled out a note for his mother and left the house. It was still light, so it wasn't quite as hard to find Touya's house this time. He rang the bell at the entry gate and said he was there to see Akira. Touya's mother let him in.

"I'm really worried about him. He looks worse than ever, but keeps insisting that he's fine. And he refuses to cut down on his tutoring classes. He's been in his room ever since I tried to talk to him about it. Maybe you can talk some sense into him."

Hikaru steeled himself. He knew how stubborn Touya could be. "I'll try," he said.

A few minutes later he was knocking gently on Touya's door. "Touya, it's me."

There was some shuffling and he heard Touya's voice sounding slightly muffled. "This isn't a good time, Shindou."

"I don't care if it's a good time or not. I'm not leaving till I see you."

There was a moment of silence and then Touya slid the door open. Hikaru couldn't hide his sharp intake of breath. Touya looked terrible. The dark circles under his eyes had gotten worse and he looked like he had lost weight. Even his normally impeccable hair was ruffled.

"Oh, god! You are sick!" Hikaru stepped into the room and closed the door.

"What?" Touya looked taken aback. "No, no, I was just sleeping." He gestured down to his blue pajamas.

"During the day?" he asked suspiciously.

"I've just been a little tired lately, that's all."

"I was so worried." Unable to stop himself he pulled Touya to him, holding him gently. Touya resisted at first and then seemed to relax in his embrace. Hikaru pulled Touya down into a sitting position on the futon, his arms still around the other boy. "Why are you being such an idiot?" Touya stiffened and tried to pull away, but Hikaru held him firmly until he relaxed again. He noticed unhappily that Touya didn't seem to have the energy to resist for long.

"I'm not being an idiot, Shindou. I just have responsibilities. We've already been over this."

Hikaru put his hand on Touya's chin and turned his head so their eyes met. "I want to know everything about this boy you've been tutoring," he demanded.

Touya immediately looked away, refusing to meet his eyes. "Please, Shindou. I don't want to talk about it."

"Why?"

"There's nothing to say. He's just a normal boy."

Hikaru released him angrily. "Why are you lying to me?" he asked. "Don't you trust me?"

"I'm not lying to you! Why can't you just take my word as true? Don't you trust me?"

Hikaru took a deep breath and forced himself to speak calmly. "Look at this from my point of view, Touya. After all this time we finally get together, and then you stop returning my phone calls. You refuse to see me. You're constantly tutoring for the son of this weird guy that we met a few weeks ago. And you now look like you're suffering from some kind of major illness. How could I not be worried? What am I supposed to think?"

Touya leaned back against the wall behind the futon and closed his eyes. "I remember the first time we kissed," he said softly.

"What?" That definitely wasn't the answer he had been expecting.

"In your room, when I was sick."

Even though he had considered that option, Hikaru was still surprised. "But you never said anything..."

Touya opened his eyes. "I initiated it. At the time I thought I had taken advantage of you. Obviously that wasn't the case," he finished dryly.

Hikaru laughed. "We're great at misunderstandings, aren't we?"

Touya's smile disappeared. "I'm sorry, Hikaru. Just give me some more time. That's all I ask."

Even the use of his given name didn't make him feel better when he thought about Touya continuing to tutor that boy. "I can't do that," he stated firmly. "Why can't you just tell me the truth?"

"Please believe me when I say that I would if I could," Touya said desperately.

At least Touya had admitted that something was wrong. That was enough for now. Or at least it would have to be. He suddenly felt very tired. Hikaru closed his eyes, the stress of the past few days catching up with him. "This weekend hasn't exactly been easy for me either, you know. This isn't a good time of year for me." He felt Touya touch his shoulder hesitantly.

"When you forfeited all those matches. That was in May, wasn't it?"

Hikaru didn't reply and a moment later felt soft lips pressing insistently against his. He couldn't stop himself from responding as Touya moved to straddle his lap, running his hands under Hikaru's shirt. What had started out gently quickly became heated and desperate as they both lost control. Touya's dark hair fell forward and brushed against Hikaru's cheek, his tongue was in Hikaru's mouth. For a moment the urge to keep going, to press himself against Touya, to touch him until they both came was overwhelming. Then his foot brushed against the tatami, and he remembered where they were. Breaking off their kiss he met Touya's eyes.

"Umm, your mom is home," he pointed out.

Touya looked slightly dazed as he climbed off Hikaru and collapsed on the futon. "I know."

"And you look really tired. You should get some sleep."

"I will. But, Hikaru, you have to promise me that you won't do anything. That you'll give me some time to work things out with these people. Please trust me."

"I trust you," he said, and watched as Touya's face relaxed. He just didn't trust that slimy man who had conned Touya into this. "Call me tomorrow." Leaning over the other boy, he placed a lingering kiss on his lips.

"I will," Touya answered, but his eyes were already drifting closed.

Hikaru made sure that Touya was covered and then left the room, sliding the door closed gently behind him. Touya's mother was waiting when he got to the entranceway.

"Well," she questioned, "did you get him to cut back on his tutoring?"

"No, he just made me promise to give him some time. He said everything was okay."

"And you believe him?" she asked doubtfully.

"Of course not," Hikaru replied. "Don't worry. I won't let anything happen to him. I'm going to try to figure this out, but I need your help."

She nodded, her shoulders taking a firm stance. "What can I do?"

"He's supposed to be tutoring for him again tomorrow, right?" She nodded. "Tell Akira that that guy called saying that he wants to cancel. I'll go instead. Just make sure you don't tell him that part."

"He's supposed to be there at nine," she said, quickly copying the man's name and address for him. "What are you going to do?"

"I haven't quite figured that part out yet."

Touya's mother looked worried as she said goodbye and walked him out to the gate. Hikaru was feeling more than a little worried himself. He had no idea what to expect at this man's house. And he had no idea how to get the man to tell him what was going on. He just hoped that whatever Touya had gotten himself into, he wasn't in too deep to be pulled out.