Disclaimer: All characters and specifics of "Hikaru no Go" are copyrighted Hotta Yumi, Obata Takeshi, Shueisha and Studio Pierrot. All rights reserved. This fanfiction is property of Shikami Yamino and is not intended for any monetary purpose nor an infringement of copyright laws. No one is to post/host/use any aspect of this fanfic without explicit permission from the author.
Notes: SumiWaya fans rejoice! *grins* *holds up SumiWaya flag and waves* This part probably contains the majority of SumiWaya fluff to make an appearance in this fic. I'll return to the clueless Akira and Hikaru in the next part *LOL* This part should probably have been split into two, given its length, but I didn't really want to break it up. Beware time jumps as about half of this fic (in italics) is set a year ago in China, and the other half about the same time as the last part ^_^ Again, thanks to all the reviewers! You've made writing this fic just that much more enjoyable.
Hikaru no Go: "Blind Descent"
by Shikami Yamino
Part 4 - A Push in the Right Direction
One year earlier - China
They stood together at Beijing Airport, luggage at their feet, trying to look through the frantically hurrying masses of people.
"Do you see them Isumi-san?"
"No... not yet. They might just be running late or something." Isumi looked down at the piece of paper he held in his hand and then glanced at his surroundings. "I'm pretty sure this is where we're supposed to meet them."
Waya let out a long breath and looked about at the foreign signs curiously. There were some he recognised and others that he didn't. While he had tried hard to study Chinese in preparation for this trip, he had to admit that studying had never been his strong point. With the exception of go.
Then a loud yell broke through his thoughts.
"ISUMI-SAN~~~~~~!!!!!!"
Startled, Waya could only stare as a brown and red shape blurred across his field of vision to jump and firmly attach itself to Isumi's back, causing the older pro to stumble and almost lose his balance. When the blur resolved itself into a grinning brown-haired boy in a red t-shirt that could have been his younger twin, Waya gaped at the answering grin on Isumi's face.
"Le Ping!! You've grown taller!!" Isumi observed as he laughed. Then he blinked in surprise. "And you speak Japanese!"
Le Ping only beamed in response and held on tighter. "Uh-huh!! Yang Hai-san taught me so I could talk to you the next time you came!" He aimed a glare over his shoulder. "He wouldn't let me come to Japan to see you!"
"There was no way I was going to let you stow away in my luggage!" As if on cue, a tall Chinese man emerged from the crowd and raised a hand in greeting. "Isumi-kun. Long time no see."
Isumi smiled at the sight of his old friend. "Yang Hai-san. It's good to see you."
Sensing that he was being ignored, Le Ping began bouncing in place while still attached to Isumi's back. "A game Isumi-san!! Play a game with me! Now now now now now!!"
Laughing at the familiar demands, Isumi attempted placating the younger boy on his back with words of 'later', all the while trying to keep his balance and prevent himself from being unintentionally strangled by the pair of arms around his neck and shoulders.
"That brat," Yang Hai commented as he strolled to a stop next to Waya. "He hasn't matured at all since the last time Isumi-kun was here." He looked down at the shorter Japanese pro at his side. "Waya-kun, wasn't it?"
Shaking himself from the scene in front of him, Waya looked up and made a hasty bow. "Uhh... Yes! Thank you very much for coming to pick us up."
Yang Hai waved him off. "No need for formalities. We'll be getting to know each other much better in the next three weeks. On and off the go board."
Waya straightened from his bow with a determined look. "I look forward to it."
Giving him an appraising look, Yang Hai grinned. "I still can't get over how much you two look alike." Glancing over to where Isumi and Le Ping were still getting reacquainted, Yang Hai shook his head and bent down to pick up Isumi's luggage. "Come on, we better get to the hotel to get you settled in. We can introduce you to Le Ping later since it looks like there's no pulling him off Isumi-kun anytime in the near future." To the two at the side, he yelled, "Hey! Let's get going!!"
"Uhhh... Yeah..." Waya picked up his own luggage and slowly followed Yang Hai to the exit; every once in a while glancing over his shoulder at Isumi, who had apparently been conned into giving Le Ping a piggy-back ride. At the same time, he wondered why his stomach felt like it was twisted in knots.
~~
Finally letting themselves into their apartment after dinner at a local sushi restaurant, Waya promptly toed his shoes off and dropped onto their couch like a marionette that had had its strings cut off. "Long day... long long day..."
Smiling warmly, Isumi quietly took off his jacket and tie before lowering himself gently to one end of the couch. "Yeah..."
Waya, who had long since lost the tie, the jacket and untucked his shirt, quickly took advantage of the opportunity presented him -- as any go pro should -- and fell sideways so that his head was conveniently cushioned in Isumi's lap. He grinned up at the older pro from his vantage point. "Much better."
Isumi simply shook his head in feigned exasperation, gently running his left hand through the strands of Waya's hair. It was a favorite pastime of Isumi's, given that despite its spiky appearance, Waya's hair was surprisingly soft and smooth to the touch. It was one of the many contradictory things about his long-time friend that he loved; like how the loud and energetic Waya would inadvertently turn into a quietly purring kitten when his hair was being messed with.
Unable to resist, Isumi bent to press a quick kiss to the younger man's nose. Humor sparked in his blue eyes as it elicited a squawk of surprise from the unsuspecting Waya. "Sorry... couldn't resist."
Waya wrinkled his nose in mock affrontation. "If you're going to kiss me, then at least kiss me properly."
Never let it be said that Isumi Shinichirou didn't know how to follow instructions. "As you wish..."
~~
One year earlier - China
Yang Hai casually ambled into the cafeteria at the Chinese Go Institute for lunch. Dishing himself a helping of almost everything available at the buffet, he was going to sit down at his usual table when he spotted a now-familiar brown tuft of hair at an almost-empty table. Raising his eyebrow at the slumped shoulders of the young man attached to the spiky brown hair, he abruptly changed course and pulled out a chair opposite the Japanese pro.
"Hey. Mind if I join you for lunch?"
Looking up quickly, Waya shook his head. "Please. Be my guest." He then went back to his thoughts, poking at his barely touched food.
Yang Hai considered the young pro in front of him in between bites of his food. Waya and Isumi had only been here for five days, but while Isumi had fitted in as if he had always belonged, Waya had yet to lose the melancholy look that had taken over his face. It wasn't the Waya that Yang Hai had heard described over and over again in the two months that he had shared a room with Isumi. And from the few probing looks that he had caught Isumi sending his friend over the course of the last few days, he gathered that Isumi was just as puzzled by this attitude as he was.
However unlike Isumi, Yang Hai had his own ideas of what was causing the problem. "So, where's Isumi-kun? I would have thought that he'd be having lunch with you."
He watched Waya force a smile. "He got dragged off by Le Ping for another game. Since I was hungry, he said that I should eat first and that he'd grab something later."
"I see..." Observing his companion poke at his food some more, Yang Hai decided to let the bombshell drop. "You like him."
Waya straightened up with the speed of a bullet and promptly began shaking his head with wide eyes. "No no... that's not - "
Yang Hai cut him off mid-protest. "Don't deny it. It's extremely obvious to someone standing in my shoes. You like him. And I'm guessing that there's no one competing with you for his attention in Japan like there is here with Le Ping."
Taking the slump of Waya's shoulders as an affirmative, Yang Hai smiled knowingly. "I'll let you in on a little secret Waya-kun." He waited until Waya looked at him before continuing. "In the two months that Isumi-kun roomed with me, apart from go, you were all he talked about."
Waya's eyes widened.
Yang Hai grinned. "Every time I asked him something about Japan, he'd give me this long spiel about how you and he used to hang together and do stuff. Occasionally he'd mention his parents, or the Shindou kid or maybe a few of his insei friends. But it was always 'Waya this' and 'Waya that'. I got sick of hearing it after a while."
Quickly gathering up the remains of his lunch, Yang Hai stood and walked off, pausing only to pat Waya on the shoulder reassuringly. "Think about it."
~~
Long moments later, they returned to silence, quietly basking in each other's warmth to de-stress after a tiring day.
This time it was Waya that broke the silence, plucking at his friend's shirt. "I'm surprised your clothes are still intact after the way those girls were almost pawing at you."
Letting out a quiet laugh, Isumi smiled down into deep brown eyes, deceptively innocent. "That's okay. I'm only attracted to Waya-lookalikes."
It took a moment for the implications to sink in. Then Waya yelled, "Isumi-san!!"
This prompted more laughter from Isumi and subsequently more kisses to placate a riled Waya until both once again lapsed into comfortable silence.
Looking up into Isumi's contented face, Waya let his eyes wander over the flawless cheeks, the elegant nose and the way the older pro's bangs gently brushed closed eye-lids, hiding the deep blue eyes from sight. Catching the full lips twitch up in a small smile, he tugged at Isumi's right hand. "What are you thinking about?"
"Nothing much," Isumi replied, smile widening. "Just wondering how Yang Hai-san and Le Ping must be doing..."
Waya scowled half-heartedly at the mention of the younger boy. "That brat... probably hasn't grown up from the last time we saw him. Still pulling up his shirt at every opportunity..."
Isumi chuckled. "I still can't believe he demanded that you show him your belly-button in the taxi. I can still see Yang Hai-san's appalled face."
Glaring, Waya retaliated by repeatedly poking his index finger into Isumi's midriff causing the older pro to squirm in the middle of his laughter. "I didn't see you helping much!"
Catching Waya's hands in his own to prevent any more poking, Isumi let his laughter die down to a smile. Rubbing one finger over Waya's forehead to smooth out the frown, he said quietly, "Touya knows about us."
"Yeah... I think Shindou does as well..."
"Are you surprised?"
Waya started. "Hmm? Surprised about what?"
"That they found out. Because I'm not..." Isumi added, a contemplative look settling over his face.
Waya shrugged. "Touya's always struck me as the perceptive type. Even if he can be incredibly callous sometimes." Here, Waya rolled his eyes. He and Touya may have mended their fences, but some issues would clearly still need more time before they could be completely laid to rest. "But Shindou? I've never pegged Shindou to be a particularly observant person. In those matters anyway."
Isumi smiled. "Maybe that's why..."
"Why what?"
"You can't tell me you've never wondered exactly what the relationship between Shindou and Touya is." Isumi looked enquiringly down into Waya's face. "Don't you think they take the 'rivalry' just a bit far? They've been chasing and fighting with each other ever since we met Shindou when he was thirteen."
Waya thought for a minute and then settled for playing devil's advocate. "But they're friends now. Maybe they're just really good friends."
"Like we were?" Isumi grinned at Waya's startled expression. "I'm just saying that for them to still be as close and showing no romantic interest in anyone else, I wonder if they just need a little push to see what's in front of them."
"Like Yang Hai-san did for us?" Waya's smile was impish.
Isumi's eyes glinted playfully in reply. "Something like that..."
~~
One year earlier - China
Two days later, Yang Hai poked his head into the training room after dinner to see it empty except for the crowd gathered around Le Ping and Isumi playing yet another ten second speed go game. Scanning the crowd for an older Le Ping lookalike and not finding one, the older man grimaced slightly.
Not a few minutes later, the crowd cheered and Le Ping's demanding voice rose above the others.
"One more game!! One more game Isumi-san!!"
"That's enough Le Ping!" Yang Hai took the opportunity to break up the party. "You've got a game tomorrow, hadn't you better get to bed?"
Le Ping scowled determinedly. "One more game!!"
"Off! To! Bed!!" Yang Hai scowled back before clapping a hand gently onto Isumi's shoulder. "Isumi-kun, come play a game with me in my room." He grinned. "Just like the old times."
Isumi nodded agreeably. "Of course."
The two walked off out of the training room and down the hall.
"So where's Waya-kun?" Yang Hai asked.
Troubled, Isumi answered, "He said that he wasn't feeling well so he left early."
"You didn't go with him?"
"Well... I would have. But Le Ping wouldn't let me go until I'd played one more game," Isumi laughed uneasily. "You know how he is..."
"Yeah..." Yang Hai muttered then took a right turn.
Isumi blinked and swung his head from his friend to the hallway in the opposite direction. "Uhh... Yang Hai-san. Isn't your room that way?"
"Forget about the game today Isumi-kun. Just let me say something."
Even more surprised, Isumi could only manage an "Umm... Yes?"
"Remember the last time you were here, before your match with Le Ping? I told you that you were weak at controlling your mind and that you shouldn't be controlled by the emotions that affect you."
Isumi smiled gratefully. "I've never forgotten. I think those were the words that gave me the confidence in my go to pass the pro exams."
Yang Hai smiled back. "I'm glad that you think that. But I forgot to mention one very important thing. The advice only applies to go."
"Yang Hai-san..."
"In everything else in life, it's important to be guided by your emotions. Especially in matters like friendship." With a grin and a wave over his shoulder, Yang Hai strolled back the way they had come. "It's late Isumi-kun, you'd better get back to the hotel. You owe me a game tomorrow."
Blinking again in incomprehension, Isumi could only run those words over and over again in his head as he walked back to the hotel room he was sharing with Waya, trying to figure out what Yang Hai-san had meant. But when he opened the door and found Waya lying on his bed staring blankly at the ceiling, all thoughts flew out of his head.
"Waya...?" He settled himself lightly on the edge of Waya's bed. "Waya? Are you feeling better? What's wrong?"
"Nothing Isumi-san... I'm fine." With that, Waya turned his head slightly so that Isumi couldn't see his face.
Isumi tried to ignore the uncomfortable twitch in his chest at his friend's actions. "Are you sure?" Waya had been feeling off ever since they'd arrived in China, and though Isumi desperately wanted to know what was going on, he wasn't willing to force Waya to tell him.
Finally, Waya let out a long breath, and pulled himself into a sitting position on his bed. Forcing a cheerful voice, he asked, "How was your game with Le Ping? Did you kick his ass?"
"It was pretty good..." Isumi began uncertainly but then stopped when Waya once again started looking dejectedly into his lap. Unable to curb the worry flaring in him, Isumi reached out a hand and tipped Waya's face up to meet his eyes. "Waya. Tell me what's wrong."
Usually sparkling brown eyes were unnaturally flat as Waya answered, "It's fine Isumi-san, nothing's wrong."
When Isumi frowned, clearly unsatisfied with the answer, Waya asked tentatively, "We're friends right Isumi-san?"
Isumi nodded reassuringly. "Of course."
"Good friends?"
At this, Isumi broke into a small smile. "The best kind." He watched curiously as something flickered over Waya's face before a determined look replaced it; a look that he had seen often from across the goban and recognised as when Waya had determined his next hand. Then he was taken by surprise as for an instant, there was the sensation of soft lips meeting his own before it abruptly disappeared.
Taking a moment to reorient himself as he savored the feeling, Isumi glanced over at his friend to find Waya adamantly looking anywhere but at him. It was then that Yang Hai-san's words came back to him and finally made some sense. There was no need for controlled emotions here, and definitely not where Waya-the-friend was involved. Waya-the-pro would be a different matter entirely, but that was neither here nor there.
Feeling the twitch in his chest disappear as he finally made his decision, Isumi allowed a grin to spread over his face. Reaching over for Waya, he calmly leaned in and covered the younger pro's lips with his own.
The lips under his were stiff for a split second until they softened as he dragged Waya closer. A brief moment later, as he pulled away, he was gratified to see the sparkle return to those deep brown eyes that he had just realised he loved.
~~
"So what do you think we should do?" Waya asked curiously.
Isumi shrugged while stroking Waya's cheek with a light smirk. "I don't know. Find a chibi-Shindou somewhere, attach it to Touya and hope that Shindou gets jealous?"
"ISUMI-SAN!!" Not about to take that lying down, Waya leapt up and got his hands on one of the couch cushions. Using it, he proceeded to pummel the older pro until they collapsed into each other's arms in blissful laughter.
Holding Waya tightly to his chest, Isumi let the last of his chuckles die down. "I'm sure we'll think of something..."
End Part 4... to be continued.
Author's Notes: *grins* I fully admit to being a SumiWaya fangirl ^______^ But the majority of this part can probably be blamed on Sutsume-chan, who wouldn't stop nagging for SumiWaya!In!China! until I had to agree to write it *LOL* (*pokes* Hope you're happy~! =P) Hopefully the time thing didn't confuse anybody too much since I couldn't find a better place to put it ^^;;; Please let me know what you thought.