An Act of Chance

Disclaimer: I don't own Hikaru no Go or any of the characters presented in the story with the exception of Mimiru. 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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Hikaru yawned as he stepped into his apartment. He had managed to scrape a few wins in the tournament, but he lost later on. Still, he and his friends went out to eat and celebrate. After shutting the door, he looked around his apartment and took note of the fact that the tv was on and there was someone sleeping on the couch.

"She's still here?" he thought aloud. He'd figured she have called her mother or someone to pick her up, but he didn't know her circumstances so he couldn't really say. Hikaru walked into the living room and looked down at Akari. He sat for a minute and just looked at her, unsure of what to do, and realized just how different she looked. She wasn't a little girl anymore.

He brushed the hair out of her eyes before looking around the room and deciding to clean up a little. As he walked back into the room to pick up a couple cups on the coffee table, he noticed Akari shiver. He almost laughed before replacing the cups and walking into his room to grab a blanket and set on top of her.

"Hikaru?" he looked back at her and her hand reached out. He took it without any prompting as she said, "Hikaru, don't leave me again." Hikaru gasped in surprise as she flipped over as if she had said nothing.

~-~

Akari was standing on her street, in front of Hikaru's house. She looked up at his window and watched as Hikaru milled around inside and spoke to another person. He was completely occupied and it looked as if he was aging before her eyes. Then he disappeared briefly and showed up outside the door. "Hikaru!" she yelled happily as he smiled at her. But instead of stopping to talk to her, it was as if her walked right through her. And he just kept walking, "Hikaru! Hikaru, don't leave me again!" she cried and tried to follow.

The world vanished around her, everything becoming white, and she saw Hikaru's smiling face move away from her, and then she saw her parents and their stern gaze and her sister's sympathetic eyes. And they turned away and faded into the distance. She saw Mitani, Tsusui, everyone from the Go club, and many of her friends. It was as if they all disappeared. And as each one left, the white around her began to fade until the entire world became endless black.

~-~

Akari awoke with a start, her chest clinched painfully. Tears poured from her eyes as she tried her best to hold back sobs. "What a nightmare," she tried to laugh at herself but failed miserably as it only made her sobs louder. She covered her eyes and sniffed as if it would force all the pain back inside of her.

"Akari, are you okay?" Hikaru's voice drifted into the room and Akari turned to hide her face. Hikaru peered through the darkness at her as he walked over and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Y-yeah, I'm fine," she lied, her voice completely betraying her. Hikaru sat down next to her and tentatively placed an arm around her.

Akari squinted, trying to hold back tears, but ended up breaking down completely. She turned to Hikaru and climbed into his lap, crying into his chest. The pain in her ankle was almost completely forgotten and traded for something she thought was much worse. "Hikaru... I can't do it anymore. I can't do it all by myself..." she cried

Hikaru felt like he was gonna cry with her as he tried to calm her down. "Shhhh, shh. It's okay, Akari. What's wrong?" he asked as he rubbed her back gently.

Akari sniffed, "All my friends are busy with being themselves. I never-I never get to see anyone anymore because of this stu-stupid job. I never meant for any of this to happen, and now I have to pay the bills and the rent and I have no job anymore, and-and-"

"Wait wait, slow down. Pay for bills, what's this all about?" he asked, cutting her off.

More tears spilled out with Akari's next words, "My parents kicked me out of the house so I had to get a job and an apartment."

"Why'd they kick you out?" he asked.

"Because...because..." Akari stopped herself and debated whether or not she should tell. She had kept her problems to herself for so long that it was hard to tell if anything had even happened. And for a long while that had worked pretty damn well. Should she really compromise that now? She shook her head and continued,

"Because I got pregnant two years ago," Akari let out a breath that she didn't reallize she had been holding and with it went a strange sort of weight, and her grip on Hikaru loosened slightly.

However, the opposite happened with Hikaru, and his grip tightened slightly as his eyes widened in surprise. "Who?" it was only one word, but it came out carrying an odd emotion to Hikaru that he couldn't correctly identify himself.

"Mitani... I... the night before he moved away... we... and I...," she couldn't find the words to continue, and she pulled away from Hikaru and wiped her eyes. "We got caught in the moment..." she finally said.

"Were you guys seeing each other before that?" Hikaru asked, the words tumbling out without him really thinking them through.

"Well... no... actually, he was dating someone else...," she said, not looking him in the eyes. Hikaru drew a blank as Akari continued, "I don't even know how it happened. We went out to eat and he took me home... and no one was there. My sister was spending the night at a friend's house, and my parents had gone out to eat. So I invited him in... you know, since he was leaving... I... I knew he would be the last person I played go with for a long time. We went upstares and I got my set out... and then... and I made a stupid move. So he came over to my side and was showing me what was wrong... and it was weird because usually he would just point it out from his side of the goban... And a few minutes later... we were kissing...

"And it just kind of went on from there... He left the next day... kissed me goodbye and everything. A month later, my doctor told me.. and my mom was in the room... Then... they made me get an abortion and let me stay until I was healthy again. After that, though, they told me to pack my bags and get out..." several more tears slipped out of her eyes as she stared down at the floor. She glanced over at Hikaru once, but he didn't seem to want to look her in the eye. What was he thinking? Was he angry, upset? Did he think she was a horrible person?

Hikaru, however, was not angry or upset and didn't think any less of her. In fact, he was admiring her. True, he was dissappointed with the fact that she had gotten "caught in the moment," but he would probably have killed himself if he had gone through that kind of situation with absolutely no support. "How did you do it?" he asked.

Akari looked up and turned her head to him in surprise, "Do.. do what?"

"Live all by yourself. I mean, was there anyone there for you at all?" he asked.

Akari shook her head, "I didn't want anyone to know. My parents just told the school that I was sick... didn't want it to leak out that I had had an abortion. The only person I told was my best friend at the time."

Hikaru pulled her into a tight embrace, unable to think of anything else. Akari herself hugged him back fiercly and pulled away again, but she said nothing. She'd talked enough.

Hikaru looked at the couch and then back at Akari. "Hey, there's a futon in my room. You can sleep on that and I'll sleep out here."

"I couldn't put you out of your bed, Hikaru. I shouldn't even be here," she replied.

For a moment Hikaru thought she was going to actually try to stand up, but she figured out for herself a moment later that she wouldn't be able to if she tried. "Hey, it's all right. I usually sleep out on the couch anyway, so really, if you stay out here you're putting me out of my bed."

Akari smiled gratefully up at him, "Well okay... But only if you'll help me to the room." She said it as if it were a chore but Hikaru didn't mind at all. He just grinned and stood up then helped her up as well.

As he pulled the covers over her, she grabbed his hand and blushed, "Hikaru?"

"Yeah?" he asked with a gentle smile.

"Could just sit with me for a while. Not long, just-"

Hikaru placed a finger over her mouth, "It's cool, just scoot over a little." Akari smiled up at him again and moved against the wall, now conscious and careful of her foot.

By the time she had fallen asleep, so had Hikaru. Neither of them minded it.

~-~

The next day Hikaru had invited Akari to live with him. "Are you kidding?" Akari asked, dropping her fork in suprise.

"Well yeah. I was thinking about what you said last night, about losing your job and having to much stress and stuff. Since you're in school anyway and really do need time to study and hang out with friends, you could live here and wouldn't have to worry about a job," Akari looked down at her lap and looked as if she were about to cry. "Uh, is something wrong?" he asked.

She looked up and was grinning in spite of the tears that were flowing down her face. "Thank you!"

Hikaru rubbed the back of his head in embarassment, "Ah, it's nothing. Besides, I don't get many home cooked meals anymore."

"Still leading with the stomach, I see," Akari replied, wiping her eyes of the tears. Hikaru laughed with her as well as they continued breakfast.

~-~

Hikaru lifted the last box from Akari's friend's car. "Thanks, Mimiru! You're the greatest!" Akari exclaimed as her friend held onto a bag of accessories that Akari was bringing from her old apartment.

"No sweat. But you know, I'm sure my parents would've let you stay with us until you could find a job," Mimiru said, eyeing Hikaru suspiciously.

Akari smiled and replied, "I know, but this way I won't have to look for a job at all. I told already that Hikaru's a professional go player so he can afford it. All I have to do is cook."

"Ok, ok. If you say so. Oh give me that bag, you dork! You're gonna end up breaking your leg that way," the two shared a laugh as they walked up the steps.

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Those last two scenes were kinda awkward to write, but there wasn't anyway around them. They established a couple of things that I probably couldn't have figured out how to do any other way by myself.

In any case, sorry it took so long to get out. There should only be a couple more chapters after this. I'm so glad that I finally made up a story in which I had everything figured out!