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: *sweatdrops* Profuse apologies to those who have been waiting for this part for... ^^;; a month?? RL has not been kind during the break and, as seems to be the trend with my muses, when I'm on break, they're on break..... -_-;; I really hate my muses...
Anyhoo, this part ties up the loose ends and launches into the final parts of the fic ^^;; After countless moans of "Why is this fic growing?!?!", it's finally gonna start coming to a close *is relieved* Of course, couldn't have done it without the encouragement from all the reviewers!! Thank you!!
Hikaru no Go: "Blind Descent"
by Shikami Yamino
Part 10 - Empty
Not with just a little bit of annoyance, Ogata Seiji 10-dan, Gosei and Ouza, wondered when he had become a personal message delivery service.
A phone call last night from an upset Nakamura Chitose, the daughter of one of his old teachers, had informed him that Touya Akira was sick. Most likely from running through the pouring rain two nights ago, after he had done the gentlemanly thing and given Chitose his own umbrella.
The phone call had also contained a plea that he tell her Touya 6-dan's address so that she could go and apologise in person. Apparently, the man who had picked up the phone at Akira's house had hung up without hearing her out.
When he had refused to do so, respecting Akira's wish to not have his home address divulged, Ogata had then been relegated to the position of messenger. And so here he stood, outside Touya Akira's apartment door, the wayward umbrella in his hand and Chitose's frantic requests for forgiveness running through his mind.
Releasing a small breath in mild disgust, he lifted his hand to knock.
"Ogata-sensei?"
Turning at the sound of his name, Ogata acknowledged the young man walking towards him. "Shindou."
"Are you here to see Touya?" Hikaru asked as he stopped next to the blonde man and dug into his pockets for his keys. "He's kinda sick."
Ogata nodded once. "Nakamura-san asked me to return his umbrella."
Hikaru glanced down at the umbrella in the older man's hand and grinned slightly. "I don't think he'll be going anywhere for a few days." Opening Akira's apartment door, he stood back to let Ogata in first. "Come on in."
Inwardly, Ogata was raising a curious eyebrow. He had been aware that Shindou and Akira were neighbors. He had not been aware that Shindou had a key to Akira's apartment. It was an interesting development, given the exceedingly private person that was Touya Akira.
He was already moving to step past the waiting Shindou when a familiar sight caught him up short. The boys had grown up fast. Compared to when they were kids, Ogata now only had a few inches on either of them at best. All the better to see the collar of Shindou's blue shirt, which was embroidered with a faint "TA" on the corners of both sides.
Before Shindou could realise that he was staring, Ogata continued on into the apartment, carefully processing the information his eyes had just related to his brain.
If he wasn't mistaken, and he was sure that he wasn't, that shirt had been Akira's mother's present to her son on his last birthday. How Shindou came to be wearing it, have a key to Akira's apartment, and be toeing off his shoes, dumping his backpack and walking into said apartment like it was the most natural of actions, he didn't know. But it was getting more interesting by the minute.
Following Shindou into the living room, his ears were immediately assailed by the younger pro's yell.
"What the hell are you doing outta bed?!"
"I was hungry," Akira replied calmly, unmoved in the face of his rival's irritation. Looking past Hikaru, he caught sight of the other person in his apartment. "Ogata-san!"
Ogata nodded in acknowledgement. "Akira-kun." Refraining from saying anything else, he watched the bleached blonde Shindou stalk towards the apartment's owner. A smirk curled a corner of his lips as he observed the dynamics between the two rivals unfold.
"I thought I told you that I'd do the dishes when I got back!" Hikaru scowled, glaring pointedly at the plates in Akira's hands, ready to be put away. "Why don't you ever listen?"
Akira raised a silent eyebrow at his rival. Then he walked over and dumped the pile of plates into Hikaru's arms. "Fine. You can put them away."
Turning to a quietly amused Ogata, he smiled politely. "Please have a seat Ogata-san. Can I get you tea?"
"Tea is fine," Ogata replied, seating himself on the couch where he could still see the goings on in the kitchenette.
As Akira filled the kettle and prepared tea, Hikaru blinked uncomprehendingly at the plates that had appeared in his arms. Brain catching up, he cast Touya a dirty look but obediently proceeded to put the plates and bowls away. "Ya know, you have an obsession with doing dishes," he muttered at the other boy.
Choosing not to deny it, Akira went for a different tack. "At least it's not as bad as your obsession with ramen."
"I hope you realise you're still sick."
Akira gave the bleached blonde pro an exasperated look. "Shindou, I'm sick, but I'm not an invalid."
Hikaru snorted. "Coulda fooled me yesterday." Digging into his jacket pocket, he came out with a slightly crumpled white paper bag and held it out. "Here, I picked up some more medicine."
"Thanks," Akira returned. Reaching out to take the bag, their fingers brushed for the briefest of moments as Akira added, "Hadn't you better go do your laundry?" He smiled coolly, eyes laughing. "You've got a game tomorrow."
"Yeah yeah," Hikaru rolled his eyes. "Smart ass. Guess I'm not needed here. But you'd better be back in bed after you're done talking with Ogata-sensei! I don't wanna have to nurse you back to health again if you relapse."
"Yes, Shindou-*sensei*."
Hikaru stuck his tongue out at Akira's sarcastic reply. "You suck."
Akira smirked. But as Hikaru turned to leave, he pressed a steaming mug of tea into the bleached blonde's hands. "Take that with you. Your fingers are freezing."
Hikaru blinked down at the mug then lifted his head and grinned. "Thanks." Walking out, he made a small bow to the blonde man on the couch. "I'll see you later Ogata-sensei."
Hearing the front door slam shut, Ogata focused his attention on the approaching Akira. Graciously accepting the offered tea, he leaned back to study the boy he'd watched grow up. If he had had to pick three words to describe Touya Akira, they would have to be serious, intense and focused. Never had he seen Akira as relaxed or as lively as in the last few minutes. Not even in his parents' house had he ever displayed any sign of there being a playful side to his personality.
Granted, 'playfulness' didn't really fit with the reserved and dignified air that lingered around the former Meijin and the go students that frequently visited the Touya family home. Even so, Akira had never shown an inclination to mingle with those of his own age until the day Shindou Hikaru breezed into his life. It was then that Akira had seemed to come alive, and it wasn't much later that Ogata had witnessed Shindou Hikaru do the same.
For seven years, they had chased each other professionally, spurring each other onto new heights of development in their go skills. Privately though, Ogata was of the opinion that they had also helped each other grow into respectable adults. Of course, 'respectable' was a term that, when applied to Shindou Hikaru, had to be applied loosely. Nevertheless, Akira's seriousness and Shindou's boisterous personality tempered each other perfectly.
But with the strangely domestic scene he had just witnessed, Ogata had to wonder whether their 'pursuit' of each other had reached an entirely different level.
"To what do I owe the pleasure, Ogata-san?"
Akira's question bringing him out of his silent contemplation, the blonde title holder gestured at the umbrella that he had placed on the coffee table. "I was asked to bring you your umbrella since Chitose doesn't know your address."
"Oh... Thank you." Akira smiled, almost embarrasedly. "You needn't have gone to all the trouble."
Ogata smirked. "Chitose also asked me to express her most sincere apologies for making you sick. Apparently, the man who picked up your phone yesterday wasn't very receptive to her profuse apologies."
Akira frowned. "Shindou didn't tell me that..."
At that little piece of information, Ogata raised a curious eyebrow. "Does Shindou visit often?"
Smiling faintly, Akira replied, "Whenever he runs out of food. I seem to have become his emergency food supply."
Ogata looked speculatively at the younger go pro, his smirk widening. "You know what they say about feeding strays Akira-kun. You'll have a hard time getting rid of him."
"Unfortunately," Akira answered, now smiling fully, "I think it's already at a stage when I don't think I could get rid of him even if I wanted to."
Sipping his tea, Ogata amusedly considered Akira's choice of words. Perhaps his earlier thoughts hadn't been too far off the mark. Not that he was terribly surprised. He of all people knew how hard it was to form long-term connections with people who didn't have the same depth of appreciation for the game he had dedicated his life to.
Leaving his tea on the coffee table, he stood to leave, the knowing smirk never leaving his face. "Well. I'd better be going. You have your orders to be in bed after all."
A hint of red appeared in Akira's cheeks as he walked the older man to the door. "Shindou over-reacts. I'm perfectly fine."
"Even so," Ogata replied, "with the trip to Korea in a week, it's better not to take chances."
Akira nodded. "I understand. Of course, please relay my thanks to Nakamura-san for dinner and her concern," he added with a perfectly polite smile.
Probing Akira with another look, Ogata laughed quietly. "I'll see to it that Chitose doesn't bother you too much."
Stunned, Akira blushed awkwardly. "Ummm... Thank you."
~~
It always started out calmly, quietly, analytically.
"That was a good move, but you tried too hard to rescue yourself here."
"Mmm... what if I did this instead...?"
"You'd still leave an opening here."
"Yeah, but if you chose to go for that, then I'd be able to attack the upper right before you could consolidate."
"No you wouldn't. The upper right's sufficiently defended here, here and here. You'd just be wasting your hands while I picked you apart."
But there was always a point at which the neighbors, had they any idea of what went on, would have started thanking everything under the stars for their sound-proof walls and doors.
This was evidently one of those points in time.
"'Picked me apart'? No way! A cut right here," the gestures at the stones became more aggressive, "and you would have been forced to respond!"
"Only if I was sleeping on the job! Any idiot can see that you're completely missing my attack here! I would have destroyed your shape in the matter of a few hands!"
"Oh yeah?! Then what the hell do you think this is?! This stone's here for a reason ya know!!"
Two teenaged boys sat across from each other in Touya Akira's apartment, a goban between them. With angry scowls on their faces and wild gestures at the stones on the board, they proceeded full steam into their habitual post-game 'discussion'. Given the childish words they were flinging at each other, if it weren't for the intricacy of the black and white patterns on the goban, nobody would have ever thought that these two were the rising stars of the professional go world.
"See? There you go with your 'oh yeah??'s again!!"
"I can't believe you would sit there and count my speech patterns!!"
"I can't believe you could miss this move right here!!"
"I did not miss that!!"
"Yes you did!"
"I did NOT!!"
"Prove it!"
Or ever mistaken them for professionals of any kind.
Eyes blazing, they leaned forward with each new reply, attempting to shout the other down with absolutely no effect.
"You are so infuriating!!" Hikaru yelled, throwing up his hands.
"And what about you?!" Akira yelled back, narrowing his eyes.
Electricity crackled along the locked gazes as neither boy showed any signs of backing down. The room was most likely only saved from instantaneous self-combustion by the ringing of the telephone.
With a last glare at his rival, Akira pulled himself to his feet and strode purposefully past the other pro to the phone. He picked up only after taking a silent breath to compose himself. "Hello?"
Hikaru returned the parting glare full measure, then turned his displeasure onto the goban in front of him. It had been close, but with a one and a half moku difference, it was once again a score in Akira's favor. Although he had to admit, he had dug himself a little too deep into the lower left and then had had trouble keeping control of the shape. Touya had recognised it for what it was and exploited the opening mercilessly. He was probably lucky to have gotten away without a much greater difference in territory. It was something he'd have to work on...
Letting out a long breath, he slumped back onto his hands and stared up at the ceiling, keeping half an ear on his rival's conversation.
"Yes. Yes I understand. That's fine. Thank you very much. I'll be down in a few minutes."
Hearing the phone being hung up, Hikaru tilted his head back until he caught sight of a very upside-down Akira. "Time to go?"
"Mmmm..." Akira replied in the affirmative, then allowed the corner of his lips to twitch up faintly. "You're going to get a headache doing that."
Straightening up as Akira walked past him in the direction of the packed suitcase standing in the hallway to the front door, Hikaru grinned. "Nah... I've spent too much time in the playground for that to bother me."
"Maybe we should get your nickname changed from 'idiot' to 'monkey boy'."
Hikaru glared and rose to his feet after clearing the goban. "I am not an idiot!"
Akira simply smirked in response.
Following Akira and the suitcase to the door, Hikaru stuffed his hands into his pockets and his feet into his shoes. "So three weeks right?"
"Mmmhmm..." Akira hummed, slipping on his own shoes then lifting the light suitcase out the door and towards the elevators, hitting the down button.
Shutting Akira's apartment door after himself, Hikaru stepped up to wait next to his friend. "I'll remember to feed the fish... and water the plants."
Akira cast a look at his rival out of the corner of his eye and smiled faintly. "You'd better," he threatened jokingly. "And try not to torch your own apartment either."
Hikaru aimed a dirty look Akira's way just as the elevator dinged.
Moving in, they stood side by side against the back wall. Both sets of eyes fixed on the flashing numbers above the doors as they waited for them to count down in comfortable silence. When the elevator reached the ground floor, the taxi was clearly visible through the glass doors of their apartment building.
Hikaru waited on the sidewalk, hands in pockets and rocking on his feet, as Akira's suitcase was loaded into the trunk. "Say hi to Suyong for me. And tell Yongha that I'll kick his ass next time I see him."
Akira smiled amusedly. "I'll see you when I get back."
Nodding, Hikaru watched his rival slide into the backseat of the taxi. "Go kick some ass!" he called just before the door slammed.
The window rolled down and Akira lifted a hand in a brief wave of acknowledgement and goodbye before the taxi pulled away from the curb.
Eyes following the taxi until it turned into a side street and disappeared, Hikaru let out a breath. After kicking half-heartedly at an imaginary speck of dust on the sidewalk, he turned to walk back inside.
The ride up in the elevator was oddly silent. When he let himself back into his own apartment, he kicked off his shoes and headed to the fridge for a can of soda. Popping it open, he took a swig as he wordlessly surveyed his sparsely furnished apartment.
And for the first time since he'd moved in, it was beginning to seem strangely empty.
End Part 10... to be continued.
Author's Notes: Really not much to say after this... ^^;;
Coming up: Akira in Korea
Warnings: The next part requires some knowledge of who Ko Yongha and Hong Suyong are. While details of the Hokuto Cup Arc would help, it's not necessary as I won't be covering what happened at the end. There may be oblique references to events but no direct spoilers. I apologise in advance for the inconvenience caused to any of the readers.