An Act of Chance

Disclaimer: I don't own Hikaru no Go or any of the characters presented in the story (so far). I claim no rights to it and the characters in this story are used without permission (and I'm also not being paid).

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Akari tossed her bags into a corner and dropped onto the mat that sat in the middle of the floor of her one room apartment. It was 7:00 at night now and she had just gotten off work. She heaved a heavy sigh. Monday through Saturday, she had to go to regular high school, then she had extracurriculars. After that she had to work a four hour shift at a restaurant near her apartment (tonight her boss had let her off a couple of hours early). Then on Sundays she had off of work and regular school, but was forced to take cram school so that she could keep herself from falling behind.

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Hikaru stretched lazily and began getting ready to go to the tournament. He had told Akari the day before that he was going to take a break, but the truth was that if he did he'd be unable to afford his apartment or any food at all. Sure, he'd saved up some money, but then he spent it on Go accessories. Now it was time to raise up some more money.

Sadly enough, that meant he would probably have to go up against a person that he really didn't want to see right now. He sighed and headed off to the building where the tournament was being held.

~-~

"Hey Shindo, why were you so late yesterday?" Waya asked his friend as they met on the way to the building where the tournament was being held.

"I thought I told you yesterday," Hikaru replied before taking a swig of soda.

"Yeah, and I forgot. So tell me about this friend of yours," Waya replied as he placed his hands behind his head.

"So then you didn't forget," Hikaru pointed out. Waya glared and Hikaru laughed. "Ah, she's just an old friend. We used to live on the same street before I moved out."

"She, eh? Why haven't I been introduced yet?" Waya asked with a rather primal grin. Now it was Hikaru's turn to glare.

"'Cause I know you're a dirt bag when it comes to women," Hikaru replied.

"Yes, I must admit, women do fall for me easily," Waya replied with a self satisfied smirk. Hikaru rolled his own eyes just as a blur of blue streaked past him, knocking his soda out of his hand.

Akari grunted as she hit the ground with a thud. She was about to turn around and mumble an apology when pain shot through her leg. "Agh!" she moaned with frustration.

~-~

It had been like any other normally hectic day. She had almost been late for school and then, after being forced into detention, rushed to work.

"This is the fifth time this week you've been late, Fujisaki-san," her boss's grainy, dog-like voice grunted at her.

"I know, I'm sorry sir! But it takes fifteen minutes to get here from my school and-" Akari apologized and excused, but he held up a hand and gave her an annoyed look.

"I realize that school is very important, but whatever the hell it is you're saving up to buy obviously isn't important enough-"

"But, sir! I really nee-" Akari tried to explain her situation but was cut off once more, this time with an annoyed slap.

"Listen here, Girly! There are plenty of young women who would be happy to have your job and would make the effort to show up on time. I've given you too many chances already and you still haven't shaped up! I've already written you a severance check, now get the hell out of my restaurant," he barked. Tears were already forming in Akari's eyes but she kept her composure all the way until she had gotten outside. Then she simply made a mad dash for her apartment.

After reaching her apartment, the realiztion hit her that if she didn't have job, she would be unable to afford her apartment. That was why she had been running so quickly to reach the internet cafe and do a job search... That plan ended abruptly.

She was on her way to an Internet Cafe when she ran into someone or something. Now her ankle was twisted and even if she could get to a computer, there was no way she could get a job that she couldn't come to for another two weeks.

"Hey, who the hel-..." Hikaru was about to scream when he looked at the familiar figur of his old friend.

"Akari?" a familiar voice asked. She gasped and turned her head slowly, afraid that it was who she thought. Sure enough, Hikaru stood behind her, a surprised look on his face.

"Uh, hi Hikaru..." she said with a wince as she tried to stand up one more time, avoiding putting any weight on her leg. She searched for something to lean againstand continued to turn away from Hikaru, who was trying to get a look at her face.

"Akari-chan, what's wrong?" Hikaru asked. Akari winced and tried her best to hold back a sob of pain.

"Damn it..." she muttered. Why do these things always happen to me? "Nothing's wrong Hikaru," she said, and then tried to limp away.

"Uh, Waya, how much time till the tournament starts?" Hikaru questioned his friend, jumping nervously from foot to foot. Waya gave a curious glance before saying anything.

"An hour, maybe an hour and a half," he replied.

"All right, you go on ahead. I'll be there in about thirty minutes," Hikaru instructed as he turned to face Akari again. Waya nodded and began walking again, still glancing back at the two.

Hikaru walked up to Akari's limping form and asked again, "Akari, what's wrong?"

Akari turned to face her old friend and was grateful that street they happened to be on wasn't crowded. "I'm sorry, Hikaru."

"Eh?" he replied in confusion. What was she apologizing for?

"About what I said before, at the coffee shop. About how you left me behind."

Akari looked at the ground and cringed at her own behavior. "I can't walk," she managed to say.

"Uh... ?" Hikaru was still confused. Akari was usually the one who made sense. "Akari-chan... do you need some help?" he asked.

But she wasn't now. It was as if she wasn't even the same person. Even during their meeting the day before, he noticed she didn't seem as cheery as she was before. She looked almost ragged. Her hair was dull, and so were her eyes. "Do you want me to walk you home?" he asked her again. Her house wasn't that far...

"Uh, no, that's okay. I'm sure I can manage," she began limping back in the direction of her apartment.

"Hey, stop that! Walk home? You're not fit to be walking anywhere! Come here, I'll take you to my apartment, it's just down the street," Hikaru berated worriedly, slinking one arm around her waste to hold her up. Akari blushed but didn't make any effort.

~-~

Akari had blushed all the way down the street as older women whispered how rude the two were being and younger people laughed at them. This did not add to her bad mood, but Hikaru glared at anyone who looked at them wrong anyway. When they finally did reach Hikaru's apartment, Akari couldn't say that she wasn't grateful for Hikaru's help. Though she still didn't want it.

Hikaru let her set herself down to take off her shoes, a task which took longer than it should've. He then helped her over to the couch. "Hold on a sec," he said, finally interupting the awkward silence that had settled over them since he had placed his arm around her waist. Akari nodded.

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Hikaru let out a sigh. Had they really become so distant? How could he have not noticed her state whenever he had gone to visit his mother?

He figured it must have been because she was the one who always came to him. He had always been sure that when he walked out of his house, she would be there waiting for him, walking behind him. When he was younger that bothered him, and he made a point of trying to make her go away. But now he sort of missed it.

He pulled a cloth from off a rack in his kitchen and placed a plastic bag filled with ice in it. "Okay, this'll be kinda cold," he said as he walked back out and kneeled down to place the makeshift ice pack gently against her rapidly swelling ankle. "There, just hold it there."

Akari winced once more and placed her hand over the ice pack, brushing against Hikaru's in the process. He blushed and stood up quickly. "Um, the tv's across the room... uh, here's the remote if you wanna watch. And um... make yourself at home. I'd better go," the words came out in a rush and he walked quickly the door.

"How long will you be gone?" Akari questioned as he turned the knob.

"Um... probably a while. If you get to bored.. just... uh, call my mom and she'll take you home. Yeah, she's got a car now, call her," Hikaru informed. "Uh... well... I'll see you later than..."

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Touya Akira sat in the corner of the go salon and recreated past games with little interest. His mind was on other things. Damn it Hikaru, youg bastard. He swiped his hand across the Goban, the stones spraying the wall and over the floor. Anger sweeped over him once more as the people inside the salon looked over at the sensei with curiosity. "Akira-chan? What's wrong?"

Akira looked up, "Oh, Ichikawa-san... It's..." He sighed. "It's nothing."

Ichikawa looked at him disapprovingly, "I know you better than that, Akira-chan. Now, tell me what's bothering you."

Akira looked around at all the people in the salon. He was a polite person by nature, but all of these people being around eventually got on his nerves. "Can we talk else where?" he asked.

"Yeah, let's go to the back room," Ichikawa replied. As the door closed behind them, Akira let out a frustrated sigh. "So, what is it?"

"It's Hikaru..." Akira replied, unsure of his own answer. "He's... Ugh... he pissed me off royally."

Ichikawa actually laughed at Akira's choice of words, "It seems he's also rubbed off on you a little. But really, what did he do?"

Akira clenched his fists as he related the story to her. She looked at him with a blush and a look of awe. "Well... Akira-chan, I'm not certain what to tell you. I think you should talk to him instead of avoiding him though," she tried to find a good piece of advice or some sort of worldy truth, but ended up with a generic piece of information that he probably already knew and just needed to have fortified. However, Akira was still clenching his fists and staring at the table. "If you don't, I think you're gonna scare all the customers away," she tried to light his mood and he looked up at her with a blush.

"Sorry, Ichikawa-san. You're right..." Akira left the salon several hours later to go home.

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You know, I actually had this chapter up on the website for about two seconds. But it felt awkward and stupid, so I took it off and fleshed it out a little and it turned out much better. As far as coupling goes, it started out as my vision of an Akari/Hikaru pairing and it's staying that way.

Anyway, I'm glad to finally see more support for Aka/Hika rather than all of these boy/boy couples.

Thanks for the support everybody. I'll do my best!