Disclaimer : I don't own Hikaru no Go.


Chapter 18 : Shindou's rival but not Hikaru's friend

Hikaru didn't give his friends a chance to interrogate him about Ogata-Sensei again. As soon as the class finished, he hurriedly left the room since he had somewhere to go.

Yes, he had to go to Touya's Go salon.


At Touya's Go salon,

I wonder what's going on. Am I missing something happening around here? Shindou and Ogata-san seem to be closer than I've ever thought. First, Shindou confronted those pros for him. Then Kousemura-san and Serizawa-Sensei said that they had lunch together…twice. It's strange for someone like Ogata-san who has never been interested in anyone except himself offered to buy someone like Shindou lunch. And what happened yesterday is…

The shocking picture crossed Akira's mind. He still remembered the way Seiji tenderly held his rival's head, how close their faces were…Their noses almost touched…maybe they touched…I don't know, it's too far. But Shindou didn't get angry or anything…Shindou and Ogata-san…Shindou and Ogata-san.. What were they doing back then? A cigarette! Shindou was smoking! Yes, he was smoking, I saw a cigarette. He smokes? Since when does he smoke? Why didn't he tell me before since we meet here almost everyday? I wonder if anyone knows about this…And his family? Does his mother know?...No, I bet she doesn't know. Shindou must hide it from her, if she knows, she will never let her underage son smoke then Shindou will complain about it to me. Speaking of smoking, Shindou, don't you know that smoking is bad for your health? You can get a lung cancer! Most importantly is you're a minor! You're too young! Why didn't Ogata-san say anything about this?...Ogata-san is another one to blame, how could he let him smoke! …Ah, did he say ' Let's go Hikaru, I'll buy you dinner' ? …So they went to dinner together? Why did Ogata-san call him ' Hikaru' instead of ' Shindou'? How familiar they are?...Arrz! I'm getting a headache! Maybe I should ask Shindou about this…

………………

What am I thinking? Ask him? Who am I to have a right to interfere his life? We're definitely rivals but being rivals doesn't mean that I can butt in his private life, it's not proper at all! Maybe his friends can but I can't…Are we friend?...No, we're not. We're rivals, yes, he's my destined rival. As long as he plays, he can do anything he wants…That's right, I have to respect his privacy…

" Touya!" Gasping for air, his destined rival walked up to him tiredly, " Sorry, I'm late again, I've just finished the study session," Apologizing to another boy, Shindou took his seat, " Okay, let's start,"

" A..Ah, yes," the blue-eyed pro uttered.


An hour later,

" Okay, what's wrong?" Shindou spoke up when they entered Chuban.

" Eh," Touya was taken aback by the sudden question.

" You're distracted," the 1 Dan noted, " Something is bothering you, I can tell," he paused and took a quick glance at his rival " Do you want to talk about it?" asked Hikaru.

No, I shouldn't ask him about that. " There's nothing, Shindou, I'm just tired," the long-haired pro lied.

" You're lying, I know something is definitely bothering you. I can see it from you Go," Though Hikaru wasn't that sharp but Shindou knew his eternal rival very well.

My Go?

Hmm, maybe " About Ogata-Sensei and me?" Hikaru guessed. Seeing how Touya jumped by that name, he knew this time he hit the right answer, " If you wanna know about that why don't you ask me?" he questioned. Why doesn't he ask me? Waya keeps asking me about it but he keeps quiet, God, Is there any normal people around me?

"…Well, it's not appropriate to interfere to somebody else's personal life," the prodigy informed stilly.

"…It's not appropriate or you don't care?" the blond inquired.

" I do care about you, Shindou, we're rivals, I know that since the first day I met you and I've never doubted again since the day we played in the 1st preliminaries of the Meijin league. Do you still remember it, right?" Touya asked in his serious tone.

Rivals, huh? " How can I forget?" Hikaru snorted, " You said my Go was all I was, that was all you wanted,"

" Yes, Shindou, I…"

" Don't worry Touya," Shindou cut off, " Shindou won't never let you down. As long as I live, I'll play," Rising, he continued, " You're and will always be my rival, my only rival," he strongly confirmed as he received his back bag from Ichikawa, " Too bad that you only want to be Shindou's rival but not Hikaru's friend," that was his last word before he left the salon.

" Shin..Wait!" But it was too late, the blond had left already.


A/N : Touya, you idiot! I don't know if you notice it. Though Shindou is the one who notices that something bothers Touya but it is Hikaru who asks him if he wants to talk about it. By the way, right now Finding Seiji is my longest fic!

Chuban : the middle of the game


Kamiyama : " will you deepen the plot?" Well, it's still a rate T fiction.

siobhn01 : " I' m suprised that Ogata didn' t hit Hikaru yet!" Opps, I forgot!

kari : How about this chapter ?

gravitation gig : I won't drop it, I promise. Thank god, other authors complain too, right? I thought I was the only one.