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: In the middle of exams... in the middle of studying... muses are acting up again..... -_-;; My muses are evil, EVIL I tell you! Thanks once again to all the reviewers!! *runs and hides from muses*
To Yami no Tenshi: ^_^ The chibi-Shindou thing in the last part was just something that Isumi-san mentioned to Waya at the very end of part 4 when they were discussing what they were going to do about Hikaru and Akira *L* Not very important... just a bit of a running joke...
Hikaru no Go: "Blind Descent"
by Shikami Yamino
Part 7 - Bedside Manners
Rushing in, Hikaru reached out to shake the figure buried in blankets. "Touya. Oi Touya!" he called softly. "Wake up. Touya!"
The figure uncurled slightly and a face emerged from the blankets. "Shindou...?"
Shocked by his rival's raspy voice and flushed face, Hikaru immediately put a hand on Touya's damp forehead. "You've got a fever," came the prompt diagnosis and Hikaru scowled at the young pro in the bed. "What did you do to yourself?"
When Akira opened his mouth to attempt to answer, Hikaru cut him off with a decisive gesture of his hand. "Forget it! Don't talk. You can tell me later." Getting to his feet, he reached over for the lamp on the bedside table, making sure to aim the dim light away from Akira's eyes. Then he headed for the closet. "Now where do you keep the spare blankets?" he mumbled to himself under his breath.
"Top left."
Hikaru tossed an irritated glare over his shoulder. "Didn't I tell you not to talk?"
Despite huddling into the blankets further and feeling like he'd been run over by a steam roller, Akira's habit of arguing with Shindou still held strong. "You asked the question."
"Whatever," Hikaru conceded, bringing the spare blankets over and piling them onto the bed so that they covered Touya's shivering figure. "I'm not the one who was dumb enough to get himself this sick."
Sensing his rival about to reply, Hikaru glared, emphasising his point by waving his finger at Touya's nose. "I don't wanna hear it! Now stay put while I go get the medicine."
Akira blinked as Hikaru blew like a hurricane out his bedroom door but then obediently relaxed under the comforting weight of extra blankets.
Meanwhile, Hikaru was floundering in Akira's kitchen, unsure where his rival kept his medicine box. Reluctant to go ask Touya, he finally went and retrieved the asprin and cold medicine from his own apartment before bringing both and a glass of water back into Touya's bedroom.
Setting the medicine on the bedside table, Hikaru perched himself on the edge of Akira's bed. "Can you sit up?" When Akira managed to lever himself up on an elbow, Hikaru gently handed him the glass of water. "Here."
He allowed Touya to take a few sips then asked softly, "How do you feel?"
Akira sighed, at least his throat felt a little better after the water. "Headache and a sore throat."
"Anything else?"
One shake of his head told Akira that it was not a good idea to be doing that any time soon, so he settled for a quiet "no".
"I'm surprised you haven't got it worse," Hikaru scoffed. He shook out a few pills and handed them to Akira. "Your fever's pretty high. How'd you get so sick anyway?"
Swallowing the pills and a few more sips of water, Akira answered, "Got caught in the rain."
At that, Hikaru's brows lowered in a fierce frown; one he made sure Akira saw as he helped resettle his rival into the bed. "I thought I told you to take an umbrella!"
"I did!" Akira attempted to reply at Hikaru's volume, only to have his voice come out a hoarse, painful rasp and his headache begin to pound. He didn't protest when Shindou gently lifted his head to coax more water into him to sooth his throat.
"Hang on a second," Hikaru said as he got up. "I'm going to go get a towel." With that, he left the room and came back a few moments later with a wash basin filled with cold water and a small towel.
Wringing excess water from the towel, the bleached-blonde pro adeptly swept dark bangs off Akira's forehead to wipe off the dampness.
Akira blinked, dumbfounded. Despite the look of intense concentration on his rival's face, hovering above his own, the ministrations were most carefully controlled and gentle. Absently, he wondered whether he was hallucinating. Five minutes ago, had he not been sick and drugged, he could have come up with a million words to describe Shindou Hikaru and 'gentle' certainly wouldn't have come close to any of them.
"When did you get so good at this?" Akira ventured to ask, making sure to keep his voice to a bare whisper as the towel went back into the basin to rinse and be wrung out again.
"Kaa-san taught me." Hikaru flashed him a lopsided grin, flipping the towel into a neat rectangle and laying it on Akira's forehead. "Just be glad you're not Akari. The first time I did this... must've been when I was still in fifth grade... her parents had to step out to do something so they asked me to sit with her. She was sweating so I thought I'd do what I'd seen everybody else do on TV. I ended up drenching her pillow and waking her up because I forgot to wring out the towel."
Hikaru chuckled at the memory. "After that episode, Kaa-san took me aside and explained to me how to do it properly."
Akira smiled faintly. It wasn't often that he was treated to Shindou's childhood memories.
Watching his rival's lips quirk up, Hikaru felt his spirits lift. It couldn't be too bad if Touya could smile right?
"So what happened to the umbrella?"
"Hmm? Oh, the umbrella." Akira nestled a little deeper into the now warm blankets, feeling the drowsiness from both his lack of sleep and the medication begin to creep up on him. "Nakamura-san had to go home unexpectedly. She said she lived too close to call a taxi and she didn't have an umbrella. I couldn't let her run home in the rain, so I gave her mine."
Hikaru raised an eyebrow. He could see where this was going. "Please tell me *you* didn't run home in the rain."
"I waited, but I couldn't find a taxi."
Hikaru exploded. "Are you crazy?! It was pouring bucketfuls last night! Not to mention freezing. How stupid would you have to be to run through that and not expect to get sick?!"
"Don't call me stupid!" Akira shook himself awake and glared as fiercely as he could, which was to say not much. His head hurt, and no matter what his fuming rival thought, he did still possess a sense of self preservation.
"If what you did wasn't stupid, I dunno what is," Hikaru retorted stubbornly. Reaching over for the already warm towel, he repeated the dunk, rinse and wring process before replacing it on Akira's forehead.
"It was cold, standing and waiting outside..."
Catching Akira's eyes begin to droop shut, Hikaru sighed and rolled his eyes. "Yeah, whatever. It was still stupid. Now go to sleep. You'll probably feel better when you wake up."
Ever the gracious host, even in his state, Akira fought to stay awake. "What are you going to do?"
Blinking as if the matter had just occurred to him, Hikaru shrugged and looked around the room. Spotting Akira's goban, he dragged it over closer to the bed. "I'll keep myself busy. Sleep!"
Letting the warmth of the blankets steal over him for the first time since he'd gotten home, Akira settled down to the comforting rustle of go stones in the go-ke and the quiet 'pa-chi' as each was placed onto the goban. Turning his head slightly, he watched the progression of white and black over the board for a few moments, recognising the pattern almost immediately.
It was their long-awaited match against each other after Shindou's mysterious string of forfeits. Two years and four months of waiting and watching had, in the end, boiled down to this most enjoyable and rewarding game.
Recalling his feelings at the end of that game, Akira drifted to sleep with a smile playing on his lips. Some things were worth waiting for.
Listening to Akira's breathing even out, Hikaru paused with his hand in the go-ke and glanced over to check on his friend. Finding him asleep with a slight upward curve of the lips, the bleached-blonde go pro lifted a corner of his own lips in response.
"Idiot," he muttered, eyes exasperated but bright, as he returned his attention to the goban.
End Part 7... to be continued.
Author's Notes: *grins* One dose of fluffiness down, a few more to come... *L* Apologies for the extremely short part -- it was the best place to end while I'm still between exams ^^;;; The next part will definitely be longer! Coming up: HikaGo maths! (one domestically challenged Shindou Hikaru) – (one sick and bedridden Touya Akira) + (one nice and clean kitchen) = recipe for disaster? ^_^