2.

Hikaru had his hands deeply stuffed in the pockets of his jeans as he waited for Waya and Isumi to catch up to him. The two had paused at a news stand on their way to the fast food place where they were going to grab lunch. He watched the two friends nearly turn as one and walk towards him. Isumi was tall while Waya was of average height. Their clothes and the way they held themselves spoke of their personality differences but still neither could quite hide the similarities they shared nor of the long years they'd spent at each other's side.

He frowned and looked away. Only to be smacked in the back of the head. Hell. He'd forgotten how fast Waya could move.

"What's wrong with you today?" Waya asked, his hand falling from the back of his now ringing head to rest around his shoulders. "You look glum." It was a comfortable weight to have there and Hikaru just made a small show of trying to wriggle out from under it before "giving up" and letting it stay where it was.

"Nothing." He lied slowly. "Just tired." Amber eyes gave him a look, clearly Waya wasn't buying it. Isumi caught up to them then and the three of them started to walk again. The companionable silence remained intact until they were sitting down at the table, food in front of them. "Hey guys," Hikaru started as he unwrapped his burger. "Have you heard of w-inds?" Waya shook his head, sipping his soda. But Isumi tilted his head to one side and then nodded slowly.

"The boy band, right?" He asked. "My little brothers love them. One of them even dreams of being like the lead singer…Keita something. Why?"

"No reason in particular." Hikaru answered, feeling his stomach tighten. He sighed. "Guess they are known." He muttered more to himself but Waya heard it. The redhead felt his eyebrows moving further up in his forehead as his confusion mounted.

"Ok…spill. What's going on?" Waya sighed the words out, pushing his glass away from himself. "Did you find out Touya has a boy band fetish or something?" He probably meant to be funny. It really wasn't however. Hikaru scowled at him.

"Waya!" Isumi yelped, eyes darting nervously between the two younger men.

"No." Hikaru refused to bite the bait. "He doesn't." He just knows two of the people in that band and they're closer to him than he could ever dream of becoming. And wasn't that all great and dandy? He wondered what the three of them would be up to today. Damn, the little flare of jealousy that followed that thought was not what he'd wanted or expected.

He muffled a sigh by taking a bite into his food. Which was his first mistake of the day as it caused him to choke and gasp for air in such a comical fashion that Waya started to laugh while Isumi patted his back awkwardly.

Note to self: sighing is dangerous when eating.

Right.

Breathing is good.

Breathing is necessary.

He finally waved Isumi away and glared at Waya who was drying his eyes with a napkin. "It wasn't," He took another gasp of air in. Damn his throat hurt now! "…funny!" Apparently it was the wrong thing to say as it set Waya off on a whole new peal of laughter. And it was really dumb, minute little things like Waya's raucous laughter and Isumi's half exasperated, half amused expression that started taking the sting out of last night's memory. There was no real reason why either. They just did.

"Awh man," Waya muttered finally shaking his head. "That was good." He slouched back into his chair. "I haven't laughed like that in ages."

"Oh well, I'm really glad me choking to death was amusing for you." Hikaru managed not to be too acidic as he snapped. The redhead simply chuckled and then sat straighter, eyes focusing on something or someone behind him. Hikaru turned around, craning his head to get a good view and…what. The. Fuck!?

"Touya!?" Waya yelped. "No freaking way. No way…" But it was him. It was definitely his rival. Looking like his age for once instead of a young man in his father's business suits. His pale skin was just slightly flushed in his face and his neck was bare for once—his hair had been pulled back into a hasty pony tail. Black strands, too short to be held for long in a pony tail, were loose around his face. The shirt wasn't the usual button down covered by a suit jacket; instead it was a regular t-shirt that almost seemed like it was a size smaller than it should have been. It revealed much more of his rival's figure than he'd ever seen or imagined it could be like. And those pants…Hikaru swallowed hard.

"Shindo!" There was Ryuichi. Hikaru forced a smile on his face.

"Hey. Come join us." He greeted before moving over to make room for them on his side. The huge grin on Ryuichi's face as he pulled up a chair and let Touya take the open seat next to his rival was enough for Hikaru to start blushing as well. If only it wasn't so damned…he didn't know how to describe it. It just rubbed him the wrong way.

"Thanks." Ryuichi muttered while Touya was quietly asking if they weren't intruding. Hikaru shook his head and cleared his throat.

"Uhm Waya, Isumi, this is Ryuichi. He's Ogata-sensei's cousin." He supplied, jerking his head towards each of his friends in turn. Waya was still blatantly staring at Touya—no doubt about how the other was dressed—which Hikaru was currently trying his hardest not to think about. Isumi however was smiling politely to Ryuichi though with a particularly thoughtful expression on his face. Ryuichi smiled at each of them in turn.

"You're all go professionals as well?"

"Yeah…" Waya muttered, finally looking away from Touya's form. "Yeah… Shindo and I became professionals a year after Touya here. Isumi a year after us. And you…?" His amber eyes curiously looked over Ogata-sensei's cousin and it was obvious from his expression that he was wondering how the two could possibly be related. Hikaru felt himself smirk a little at that and relax a bit.

"Me?" Ryuichi snorted. He would have continued but Isumi snapped his fingers and then flushed when everyone turned to stare at him.

"Ah, sorry. Don't mind me."

"No. What is it?" Waya asked, shoving his friend with his shoulder, eyes slightly worried.

"Nothing, really." Isumi gave a nervous smile. "I just realized something." He gave a slight cough and reached for his drink. They all watched silently as Isumi took a long sip and then quickly stated that he needed a refill. Hikaru hadn't ever seen his friend move quite that fast.

"Is…he alright?" Touya asked quietly. Hikaru shrugged and looked at Waya for some sort of explanation but it was Ryuichi and not the redhead who came up with one. The young dancer had followed the other with his eyes and shook his head.

"Guess I got recognized even with my hat." He grumbled, shoving at the baseball cap so it fell more into his face. "I knew I should've brought my sunglasses."

"Huh?" Waya looked from everyone's face to where Isumi was standing in line. Hikaru didn't even know where to begin or whether he was even allowed to explain. So he stayed quiet, deciding that taking a bite of his burger was the safest option to take. Touya seemed to follow his lead as he picked up his own sandwich—a chicken fillet—and took the wrapper off. When Isumi joined them again, he quite carefully ignored Waya's curious look and chewed on his bottom lip. After a couple more minutes of the awkward silence, Isumi finally sighed and turned to Ryuichi, who on all accounts looked like he'd been expecting it.

"I'm really sorry. I don't mean to bother you…I'm guessing you're on vacation. But," He took a deep breath in as Ryuichi continued to listen. "My little brothers would kill me if they ever found out I'd met you and never… well… you know?" It was the closest that Hikaru had ever heard Isumi come to stammering. "Could you autograph this?" He pushed a clean paper napkin towards the singer and dancer who accepted it with a small smile.

"What the fuck?" Waya asked. "What am I missing here? Cause that's Ogata-sensei's cousin right? Right?"

"Who do I make these out too?" Ryuichi asked, grabbing a pen from his backpack with practiced ease. A paper napkin was on the lower end of the weird spectrum of things people had asked him to sign. Isumi gave him an appreciative smile and quickly gave the names of his two little brothers, ignoring Waya's mounting confusion.

"Later." Touya finally answered Waya more to get him to shut up than in taking pity of his baffled looks. He then gave the rest of the fast food joint a quick look. No one seemed to be overly curious of them and the taller man gave a slight sigh of relief. He really didn't want to alert any paparazzi or overly rabid fans of Ryuichi's current whereabouts.

"O-okay." Waya muttered, shaking his head.

"So where's Ryohei?" Hikaru asked, grasping at possible safe topics to discuss.

"He went to visit a friend. He's going to be joining us at the skate park." Ryuichi answered as he finished the autograph. Isumi's eyes widened again.

"Is Keita here as well?" He found the question slipping from his mouth. His cheeks reddened in embarrassment as Ryuichi chuckled, his dark eyes sparkling with mischief.

"Is it your little brothers or you who are fans?" He asked giving the napkin back. Isumi merely shook his head. "And no. Keita's working on his solo album right now…" Waya stopped trying to look like he was eating. He simply dropped his burger and flat out stared. It seemed their previous conversation and Keita's name had suddenly clicked. Hikaru could almost visualize the thought process in Waya's brain coming to a halt at the conclusion he'd just arrived at. Ogata-sensei's cousin member of boy band? Ogata-sensei…boy band? The thought was just too absurd.

"…" He blinked his amber eyes shut and then opened them again. When the image of Ryuichi didn't leave the table, he simply shook his head. "Wow." Was all he said at first. "Just wow…" His reaction made everyone else stare at him. He shook his head again and pushed away from the table. "I think it's my turn to refill my glass." As he left, the redhead continued to mutter words under his breath. Hikaru almost wished he could have heard them.

"Skate park?" He asked instead, his voice cracking slightly.

"Skateboarding." Touya offered helpfully.

"You?!" This time his voice did crack. How embarrassing. Ryuichi snorted but was in the middle of chewing.

"I hope not." Touya muttered. "Ryuichi's the one who does it. Ryohei and I are coming along to make sure he doesn't break anything."

"Oh you have so little faith in me." The dancer finally swallowed. "And he's not bad for a newbie skateboarder. Do you skate…?" He trailed off as Waya came back and halted midway through sitting.

"Touya skateboards?" The redhead asked, his voice sounding ready to crack as well. "I need more to drink." He left again. Ryuichi stared at him and blinked.

"Are th…Is he always like this?" He caught himself in time and glanced carefully at Touya who was trying very hard to keep a composed face.

"Not really. I don't think so anyway." His rival answered while Hikaru shook his head. "We don't usually hang out outside of work." Touya added in way of explaining Waya's reactions. Hikaru wondered if the explanation fit for him and Isumi as well. After all, Ryuichi had been about to ask "they" and not just "he". Hadn't he? He realized, as he stomach lurched and tightened into one big knot, that he wasn't really hungry anymore.

"Ah." Ryuichi nodded sagely.

"Speaking of work, don't you have kids to tutor today?" Hikaru asked suddenly wanting to be back on more familiar grounds. Touya pushed his half eaten sandwich aside and shook his head.

"I took the day off." Well that was earth shattering news to add to the growing collection for the day. He'd never heard of Touya doing that before. Ever. Waya finally came back and sat down. He took one look at his friends' faces of equal shock and he braced himself.

"Do I need to get another refill?" He asked. Ryuichi who was staring at everyone with an odd expression on his face, shrugged. Perhaps he was reconsidering the choice of having sat with them after all.

"Maybe," He said carefully. "You're not eating only that are you?" He then asked, turning his attention on Touya who squirmed uncomfortably under the scrutiny.

"He doesn't eat lunch usually." Hikaru offered slightly defensive. At least he knew that much and it was his job to nag Touya into eating. Nobody else's! Ryuichi's initial smile—the one that just rubbed Hikaru the wrong way—was back with a vengeance along with a slightly knowing look. As if what he'd just said, how he had just reacted answered something that Ryuichi had known all along. He frowned. He suddenly could see how Ogata-sensei and Ryuichi were related. That blasted smile.

"So," Ryuichi asked after swallowing the last of his burger. "Any of you skateboard?"

…

How they ended up all going to the skate park was beyond him. But one thing had led to another and now here they were. Hikaru looked over the park with some misgivings. He'd given skateboarding a try when he'd been younger and stupid. Oh he must have been like ten or something and he still remembered the feeling of having a broken arm as a consequence. He sighed and watched as Ryuichi dropped his backpack and simply ran towards someone. He leap-tackled them from behind, wrapping his legs around the other person's waist.

Hikaru could only hope that it was Ryohei. Or at least somebody that Ryuichi knew well enough to do that to. Touya who was beside him merely sighed. He dutifully picked the backpack up and walked the rest of the way. The man Ryuichi had—for lack of a better word—just glomped had grabbed a hold of the dancer's legs and had somehow maintained balance. As Hikaru got closer, he heard Ryohei's voice lecturing the younger man.

"…scaring me to death like that! What's wrong with you? And look— you let Akira carry your stuff! Get down, you menace!" Ryuichi was laughing, head resting comfortably atop of Ryohei's. "I'm serious Ryu, I'm gonna let go of you soon. I'm not friggin' Keita you know…"

"Oh that big oaf." Ryuichi muttered between chuckles. "He's no fun at all; he's so used to it."

"I wonder why…" Ryohei grumbled. "Now get down. You're making people stare."

"What no piggyback ride?"

"No."

"Ryo-kun!"

"This is really Ogata-sensei's cousin?" Waya was at his side, watching the scene with incredulity. Hikaru could only nod. "Damn…" He shook his head. "They couldn't be more different then…then…" Waya trailed off and gave a little shrug. "…anything really."

"Oh-oh before I forget." Ryuichi started as he let himself fall back to the ground. "You've got people to meet." He turned to face them. "This is Waya and Isumi, both are go professionals. Isumi knows about us. His brothers are fans and he'd like your autograph for them. And Waya actually skateboards so Aki's safe for now."

"Ah. It's nice to meet you." Ryohei nodded to each of them in turn having followed quite easily all the information that Ryuichi had given him.

"It's nice to meet you as well." Isumi replied while Waya continued to ogle the scene. Ryuichi ignored the wide eyes and the attention he was currently receiving. Instead he just went towards Touya and grabbed his backpack with an apology and thank you slipped in during the action. He removed two skate boards from there and looked over his shoulder at Waya, considering the redhead for another moment. Then he sort of shook himself and made a motion towards Hikaru's friend to take one of them. Waya did, briefly looking down at it.

"You still owe me a skateboarding day Aki. Don't you forget it!" Ryuichi muttered, removing his hat. "Come on Waya, it is Waya, ne?"

The four watched them go and Hikaru heard Touya breath a sigh of relief. Apparently, skateboarding wasn't really his thing. Strangely enough, it was just what Hikaru needed to know. He felt some part of him relax. He scanned the surroundings, figured that where they were situated wasn't that bad of a location and sat down. He reached and managed to grab a hold of his rival's hand (and damn it, he didn't care if he was being irrational or possessive at this point, Touya was still his rival and his only). He tugged at it briefly, smiling at the slightly startled look.

"Might as well sit and enjoy the view." Touya nodded at that and gingerly sat on the grass. Once settled, the two were shoulder to shoulder. It was a bit weird. He was so used to facing the other over a go board that just sitting like this was…weird but nice. "How long ago has it been since Waya's skateboarded?" Hikaru asked Isumi who was now the happy owner of a very autographed napkin. Ryuichi hadn't just signed his name. He'd done some sort of little drawing—a figure of some sort making a 'W' with both his hands. It had made Ryohei grin and add to the picture before writing a short message and his name at the bottom of it. The older go player was carefully folding it back up and placing it in his back pocket. Once done, he sat on Hikaru's other side while Ryohei sat next to Touya's.

"Couple years I think." Isumi answered carefully, squinting against the sun to see how their two friends were doing. "I'm not sure though. With Waya anything's possible."

"Too true." The sun's warmth was nice and relaxing. After a few minutes of just staring at Ryuichi performing some tricks and Waya following his lead, Hikaru let himself fall back onto the grass.

To be continued…