Disclaimer: Hikaru no Go belongs to Obata Takeshi and Hotter Yuma, not me!

A/N: I have finally thought through the whole plot and I just can't wait to put all of them down. There will be a few more interesting twists so please keep reading! Oh, and don't forget to review too as I'd like some feedback (Onegaishimasu! )

Warning: This has not been betaed (someone willing to be my beta pleeeeeease?) so I apologize in advance for any grammatical or spelling mistakes (corrections are welcome!)

Summary: The story takes place five years after the conclusion of the manga. Hikaru is now on the verge of winning his first title, while Akira has already become Meiji. Both are still rivals on their path to Kami no Itte – the hand of God. But their successful careers are also matched with complicated personal lives.

Chapter Two: The Touya Dilemma

Shindou Hikaru quickened his steps as he claimed the stairs to the Go Salon. It has been a long and tiring day for him, yet he was eager to see his life-long rival, Touya Akira. A detailed analysis over today's game with Touya was exactly what he felt like right now. As he swung the door of the Go Salon open, Shindou immediately his eyes immediately met Touya's eager and determined gaze. As Hikaru gave a tiny nod, he couldn't help smiling at the sight of Touya dropping his squared shoulders and signing with relief, as if it was one of his own games. He's just as glad as I am that we are finally on the same level. Now is when our rivalry truly begins!

Just as the two pros were involved in a deep discussion in their usual corner, Ichikawa-san's voice rang from the counter: 'Touya-kun? Your mother called and asked you to go home for dinner.' Pa! Hikaru frowned as his opponent dropped the white go stone he was holding.

'Are you okay Touya?'

'I'm fine. The stone just slipped.' Touya regained his composure quickly, yet Hikaru, who has come to know the boy so well, identified a slight note of stress in his calm reply. Slipped! When has Touya Akira ever dropped a Go stone! The only other time this has happened was when he heard about his father's second heart attack…Wait! This couldn't be…!

'Touya! What's wrong? Is your father okay?' The blond boy almost knocked over the Go board as he reached over and grabbed the other boy's shoulders.

'What are you talking about?' The dark haired boy questioned with a blank look, wincing at the firm grip.

'Oh,' quickly letting go of the other boy, Hikaru murmured in embarrassment. 'I just thought your father was…last time you dropped your stone…so it's not your father then?'

'Of course not!' Akira would have been quite amused by Hikaru's reaction if he didn't have other things on his mind. 'It's just that my mother's been trying to…' Realizing what he was saying, the boy abruptly stopped. 'Let's continue with the game. It's your turn.'

Hikaru raised his eyebrow and didn't reach out for the stones. So something is bothering him! 'What did your mother want?' The blond haired boy was clearly resolved not to give up on this one.

'It's none of your business!'

'Yeah it is! It's bothering you right now and I don't want to win so easily just because you're not concentrating!'

Half annoyed half exasperated by his opponent, Akira just didn't have the heart to retort. Signing heavily, he murmured absentmindedly: 'She wants me to get married…'

'Get MARRIED!' to Akira's horror, the blond managed to attract the full attention of all patrons in the salon while he also managed to finally knock over the Goban. Feeling intense heat creeping up his cheek, Akira suddenly found himself wishing he could evaporate right at the spot instead of being gawked at by a bunch of people, but his own politeness stopped him from running away. Only half aware of what was going on, Akira felt being gripped by his arm and dragged out of the salon door as he heard Shindou's voice: 'Ichikawa-san, we are leaving now. Can you please clean up for us today?'

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Twenty minutes later, Akira found himself staring at a bowl of steaming Ramen in front of him, with his rival smacking his lips asking for another serve.

'Eat up, we can't talk with empty stomach.' Shindou mumbled between mouthfuls of noodles. I'm not even sure I'm going to talk to you yet. Thought the dark haired boy as he reluctantly picked up a pair of chopsticks.

It was not like Akira to talk about his own affairs in front of others, or to listen to other people's private problems for that matter. He'd usually feel intensely embarrassed and his mind would go suddenly blank, unable to think up the appropriate thing to say. Indeed, Akira was no good at dealing emotions, which is one of the reasons he was such an 'unsociable' person, as most his peers had labeled him. What would they expect from somebody who's been taught for a lifetime that emotions are the greatest weakness for a go player? The boy thought bitterly as he began to sip some soup.

'So, are you going to tell me or what?' After the long painful silence with Shindou clicking his tongue while shooting his rival irritated glances across the table, which were carefully ignored by the dark haired boy, the blonde finally lost his patience.

'I've already told you that I don't want to talk about it.' A cold and flat response that could have intimidated lots of people, but apparently not Shindou.

'Just spill. I want to hear about it!' The blonde waved Akira's response out of the way as though it was just an irritating fly.

A cold furry was now running through Akira's body and he could barely control the anger that's eating him from inside. Wishing his glares would stab the other boy as painful as knives, he spat: 'What makes you think that you can order me around like that? I've had enough people telling me what to do and what not to do in my whole life and I am not having it from you too!' The dark haired boy suddenly raised from his seat and stormed out of the Ramen shop, knocking over the chopstick stand in the process, leaving his rival quite stunned.

Running along the dark street as though he was chased by somebody, the young protégé didn't know what to do, where to go, or what to think about. He felt lost and alone, as though the whole world is against him.

I should stop running and go home, mother and father would be worried. But his subconscious kept his legs busy. I'm being extremely childish and I should not be acting like how Shindou always act. Akira reasoned with himself, trying to gather his thoughts. Why am I so angry? Shindou only tried to help but I've completely blown him off. In fact, I shouldn't be upset with mother either. The whole marriage thing was stupid, but she was just concerned about me after all. I should be ashamed of myself for throwing such a tantrum, this is not like me at all! Imagine what would people think when they see 'the Touya Akira' acting like…

What would people think….

That's it! Why should I always care about what other people think about me? I want to hang out with people my own age and have fun! I want to laugh and yell and scream just like other young people! I want to… but all people care about is the fact that I am 'the upright and serious young man, the ex-Meijin's son and the new Meijin, the raising star or new wave or whatever they call it'. Nobody even knows who I truly am; I don't even know who I really am…

The thought hit him like a heavy rock falling right on top of his head: being alive for twenty years and not even knowing who you are was not a pleasant thing. Akira slowed his pace, his subconscious has brought him to the only place he could think of where he would have a peaceful little space undisturbed so that he could get his thoughts straight.

TBC

A/N: Ok, Akira's finally snapped! I've always thought he would one of these days, considering the amount of stress somebody in his position would have Anyways, hope you enjoyed the chapter, next one will have Hikaru involved a bit more.