Sorry, I have replaced my interest in Hikaru no Go with my interest in Eyeshield 21, so that's why this took so long. It's also why it's not very good. I'll try to finish it before I go to camp, but there's only a few weeks left till then, and I'll be away fro a month and a half then. Well, wish me luck with that. Now, on to the story! And don't forget:

Please REVIEW!

On the way to the karaoke place on thursday, the four boys were walking at a slow pace and looking in some of the windows. There were a lot of people around, and Akira was paying them a lot of attention.

"Hey, Hikaru, how about her? She looks our age," Akira said. He was trying to help his friend and the love of his life find a girlfriend.

"Nah, too tall," Hikaru replied.

Akira began to look around again. "Her?"

"No. Her hair is too light." This was really beginning to annoy him.

"Her?"

"No!"

"Why not?"

"I don't like her, okay?"

"How can you know?" Akira asked, frustrated.

"I just do, okay! I'm not going to be able to fall in love with any of those girls!" Hikaru was getting very annoyed.

"Why not?"

"Because I'm already in love with somebody else!" Hikaru snapped. Akira flinched at that, realizing exactly what his friend was saying. 'So I'm too late…' he thought.

"Oh… Sorry, then…." The look of pain in Akira's eyes was unmistakable by his fellow Go pros.

Hikaru frowned. "No, it's alright. Just, stop suggesting girls, okay?"

"Alright…." Akira looked down. "The girl you fell in love with is very lucky," he said quietly.

"Huh?" Hikaru was a bit surprised. "Who said it's a girl?"

Akira looked up at that. "So you're gay?"

"Yeah. So what if I am?" he said, a bit afraid of the answer.

"No… nothing… nothing at all…." Depressed and angry with himself, Akira looked forward and kept walking. 'That means I had a chance….'

The two teens walked in silence while Isumi and Waya chatted away until they reached the karaoke place. They were lead to one of the soundproof rooms, where they could sing till their hearts' content. Too bad not all of them were in the mood for singing.

"Akira, cheer up! It'll be fun!" Hikaru said to his friend, trying his best to act happy. Truth be told, he didn't care to be there just then, either.

"Come on, you two. Cheer up! We're gonna sing!" Waya said, grabbing the remote. "I call choosing first song! And Shindou can sing it."

"Wait, what? Why?" Hikaru said.

""Cause I said so!"

"So? Why don't you sing first?"

Waya smirked. "Because I have a great song for you. Come on, do it for Touya."

Hikaru glared at him. "And that's going to get me to go?"

"Okay, you two, stop it," Isumi said. "Just, one of you, go. You both wanted to come here, you know."

"Well, I'm not going first," Hikaru told him stubbornly.

"Me neither," Waya said.

"For crying out loud… I'll go if you'll stop bickering," Akira announced. The others looked at him like he grew another head. "What?"

"You…" Waya started.

"…are going to sing…" Hikaru continued.

"…first?" Isumi finished.

"Yes! Gosh, you guys, you'd think I had two heads with the way you're acting," Akira answered. The three just stared at him, stunned. "What?"

"Who are you and what did you do with Touya?" Waya asked. He and Isumi were not used to seeing Akira act like this.

The green-haired boy looked at him strangely.

"He means you're acting differently from usual," Isumi explained.

"Oh…. Am I? I didn't notice."

"Yes, you are. A lot. You're acting normal," Waya replied. He then received three glares. "Okay, okay, sorry, but you guys were thinking the same thing."

"I actually was thinking that you guys are imagining things," Hikaru said. "Akira always acts like this."

Isumi and Waya raised their eyebrows.

"I suppose you'd know best, since you're around him most," Isumi said.

Then, Akira said, "Actually, I think it's because we're rivals."

Isumi and Waya weren't expecting that. They froze, not moving an inch. Hikaru began waving his hands in front of their faces. "Hello? Anybody home?"

"Sorry," Isumi said. "I just wasn't expecting that."

"So the rumors were true, huh?" Waya asked.

"Yeah," Hikaru said. "I wasn't lying when I said we were rivals when I was an insei."

Akira raised an eyebrow. Waya, noticing this, asked, "Were you lying when you said it was because he saw your potential?"

Akira raised his other eyebrow, and Hikaru, seeing this, rubbed his hand on the back of his head. "Yeah… hehehe…. That one was a lie. But I couldn't tell you it was because the ghost of Shuusaku defeated the famous Touya Akira through me. No one would believe me."

"…Right."

"Anyway, you guys, are we going to sing or not?"

"We are," Isumi said.

Hikaru and Waya grinned. "Okay," Hikaru said.

"Touya first!" Waya exclaimed.

"I know…" Akira said. He took a look at the song list, then muttered, "I think I'll press random." So, he pressed the "random" button on the remote, and then a song name came up and the song started playing.

"I don't know this one," Hikaru said, and Waya and Isumi nodded.

"I do." The three looked at him, surprised. Akira seemed to be shocking them a lot, lately. "It's 'Never Gonna Be Alone,' by Nickelback."

"Nickelback… I know them," Waya said.

"Yeah," Hikaru said. "But I only know the songs 'Savin' Me' and 'How You Remind Me.'"

"Ah," Akira said. "I know a lot of them. Although, I've only heard them each once or twice."

And then, before anyone could comment, the lyrics started, and Akira started singing.

Time, is going by, so much faster than I,

And I'm starting to regret not spending all of it with you.

Now I'm, wondering why, I've kept this bottled inside,

So I'm starting to regret not telling all of this to you.

So if I haven't yet, I've gotta let you know...

And, surprise, surprise, Akira can sing well, too. Really well, actually. Who knew?

You're never gonna be alone

From this moment on, if you ever feel like letting go,

I won't let you fall...

You're never gonna be alone

I'll hold you 'til the hurt is gone.

Hikaru was listening to the song, mesmerized. It sounded as if Akira was singing to him. And while he knew he put the thought in his own head, he refused to believe it.

And now, as long as I can, I'm holding on with both hands,

'Cause forever I believe that there's nothing I could need but you,

So if I haven't yet, I've gotta let you know...

You're never gonna be alone

From this moment on, if you ever feel like letting go,

I won't let you fall.

When all hope is gone, I know that you can carry on.

We're gonna see the world out,

I'll hold you 'til the hurt is gone.

It would be too good to be true.

Oh!

You've gotta live every single day,

Like it's the only one, what if tomorrow never comes?

Don't let it slip away,

Could be our only one, you know it's only just begun.

Every single day,

Maybe our only one, what if tomorrow never comes?

Tomorrow never comes...

Time, is going by, so much faster than I,

And I'm starting to regret not telling all of this to you.

So if I haven't yet, I've gotta let you know...

Waya and Isumi were watching him sing, not really seeing but hearing him. They could hardly tell his voice from the real singer's.

You're never gonna be alone

From this moment on, if you ever feel like letting go,

I won't let you fall.

When all hope is gone, I know that you can carry on.

We're gonna see the world out,

I'll hold you 'til the hurt is gone.

I'm gonna be there always,

I won't be missing one more day,

I'm gonna be there always,

I won't be missing one more day.

"Whoa," Waya said when Akira stopped singing. "Dude, you have an awesome voice."

"Yeah, you really do," Isumi said. "Don't you agree, Shindou?"

But Hikaru didn't hear them. He was busy staring at Akira. And Waya and Isumi soon noticed that Akira hadn't heard them either. Come to think of it, wasn't he looking at Hikaru the whole time?

The two thought at the same time, 'Did he really know that song that well? But… he only heard it once or twice.'

Then Waya said, "And we still get surprised why?"

"I don't know," Isumi said. "He's good at everything."

"Except shooting games," Waya joked. "Besides, I don't think he likes to socialize about anything except Go around anyone but him." Waya nodded towards Hikaru, who was still in his and Akira's own world.

"Yeah." Then, Isumi said loudly, "Okay," barely getting Akira and Hikaru's attention away from each other. "Who's singing next?"

"Uh…" Hikaru said. "I will, I guess."

"Okay," Waya said. "I'll go after you."

"Then me," Isumi said.

"Okay. And let's all choose 'random,' okay?"

"Right!" Hikaru said, pressing the "random" button. Then the song "Beautiful Soul" by Jesse McCartney started playing. "Oh, I know this one."

"Me, too. I was on the radio once when I was in Ogata-san's car on the way home," Akira said. The three others just stared at him. "What? It's not that weird that he listens to music like this."

"That's not it," Isumi said.

"How do you even remember that?"

"When I heard it? It's easy. Besides, it was only a little over a year ago." The three kept staring.

"You're memory is scary," Hikaru said.

Akira frowned. "Well, then, I'm sorry for being able to remember stuff. It's not like yours is any worse."

"No, but that's only in Go. I can't remember school stuff or everyday stuff like that very well at all."

"Hmm... That's weird…."

"Why's that so weird?"

"Your memory with Go is amazing. That's why. In some ways, it's even better than my own," Akira said, thinking. He got more stares, but he didn't notice. "So it's weird that you can't remember other stuff."

"Well," Hikaru said, "Maybe it's weird that you do remember everything. How about this: can you remember the song you heard closest to New Year's last year that wasn't a holiday song, and when and where it was?"

Akira looked like he was deep in thought. "Hmm…. That was probably that Beetles song, 'Hello Goodbye,' when someone was playing it really loud on his iPod outside that Mexican seafood restaurant, El Pescado. Hmm… when was that…." Akira kept thinking, but the other three were shocked enough. "Oh, it was early January. The fourth, maybe? That sounds about right…."

"Akira," Hikaru said.

"Yes?"

"How on earth do you remember that?"

"Yeah, it's nuts!" Waya said. Then, he got an idea, and smirked.

"Oh, wait, I'm missing the song!" Hikaru said, noticing the song was half over. He then began to sing with a good voice, but nowhere near as great as Akira's.

Am I crazy for wanting you?

Maybe do you think you could want me too?

I don't wanna waste your time

Do you see things the way I do?

I just wanna know that you feel it too

There is nothing left to hide

I don't want another pretty face

I don't want just anyone to hold

I don't want my love to go to waste

I want you and your beautiful soul

You're the one I wanna chase

You're the one I wanna hold

I won't let another minute go to waste

I want you and your soul

I don't want another pretty face

I don't want just anyone to hold

I don't want my love to go to waste

I want you and your beautiful soul

Ooooooo

Beautiful Soul, yeah

Oooooo, yeah

Your beautiful soul

Yeah

As Hikaru finished singing, he realized that he very well could have been singing about Akira, and blushed lightly.

"Singing for Touya, eh, Shindou?" Waya asked. Both mentioned boys blushed darkly and looked down.

Using his idea from earlier, Waya said, "Hey, Touya, what was the most embarrassing thing that ever happened to you?"

"…Why?" Akira asked, warily.

"Just curious."

"Well, that would have to be the DDR incident."

"You mean when we were there?"

"No, when I went to a hotel with my father and some of his Go friends and a kid dragged me to the arcade to play DDR with her. It was really strange."

"And what happened?" Isumi couldn't help but ask.

"I fell off the stage, and a bunch of people were staring at me oddly."

Isumi and Waya winced slightly.

"But, Akira, you fell off the stage when we were all at the arcade. What's the difference?" Hikaru asked.

"Yeah," Waya said, "and why do you always fall off DDR stages?"

"I don't like DDR. That's why. And I suppose I'm not very coordinated…. To answer Hikaru's question," he looked back at said boy and stared him in the eyes, "it was because you were there. I guess I didn't notice everyone staring." There was a tinge of red on his cheeks.

"O-oh," Hikaru stuttered. He started blushing, too.

There was another short silence.

"Uh… my turn," Waya said, and pressed random. A song began to play, and he started singing along in an okay voice. After it ended, Isumi went, and sang very well, but still no one could beat Akira.

After everyone sang a few times and talked a bit more, it was time to go. Waya and Isumi went left at the exit, and Akira and Hikaru went right, heading towards their homes together, both blushing from something Waya had told each of them separately, earlier.

As Waya and Isumi walked toward their houses, Isumi asked, "What did you tell them when they went to the bathroom? I know each time one of them left, you did too, and then you came back right away smirking and they came back blushing."

"Well, I told them to be careful when they kiss each other because it can lead to more."

Isumi sighed. "You didn't need to say that, you know."

"But it was funny!" Waya said. "I'll bet no one told them that before. And they just kissed earlier today, so there was an extra effect."

"Waya, you're just messing with their minds."

"Am not! I want to help them. I also told them that if that happens it means they like each other."

"You know that's not always true," Isumi scolded.

"But it is with them," Waya reminded him.

Isumi sighed again. "Fine. We'll just see if that helped, then. There's nothing we can do about it now."

And they continued the walk to their homes in silence, thinking about the almost couple, and wishing them luck.