Hikaru No Go Fan Fiction ❯ Riding the Wave ❯ Their Favorite Bad Boy ( Chapter 3 )

Riding the Wave

Their Favorite Bad Boy

Hikaru smiled, double checking the sheet of paper in front of him and glancing at the clock for about the fifth time. Yes, he was at the right place, and he was actually early. "It's a really nice house too," he murmured to himself, shaking his head. "Then again, of course it is. That's just like Touya. I'll bet he didn't move on his own until he knew he could afford something like this."

It didn't matter. He was a little regretful that he didn't know for sure, considering how the two of them had been so close in their mutual striving years ago. Right now though, that wasn't important. He wasn't in love, and he wasn't about to leave everything at the wayside over something as silly as that again. Hikaru was finally picking up the pieces and returning to his life and what he was really meant for.

With newly squared shoulders and a determined smile he pressed the intercom button and waited. A thrill of nervous energy rushed through him when he heard Touya's voice, and he answered a little more enthusiastically than he'd meant to.

"Come in, please. It's open. I'm still teaching right now, so I am sorry for being rude and not showing you in."

"No problem," he replied cheerfully, smiling.

He found himself walking in with a spring to his step and a sense of hope he'd been lacking since the shit hit the fan three years ago. This was a step forward in leaving behind the headlines of scandals and blatant lies that he couldn't believe had ever been printed. The inquiry. The...infamy.

Most of all, it was a step forward in leaving behind the insecurity and depression. He hadn't felt that lonely and hopeless since that day in May when Sai had silently and swiftly slipped away. He'd only nodded off for a moment, in the middle of a game, and....

No, this was not the time to think of losing Sai or Waya. This was not the time for painful things. This was his step forward. Into the future.

He slid open the door, ignoring the slight tremble in his hands. The first of his regular games with Touya again. It was finally time.

So, why did he almost turn right around and leave?

Hikaru found himself biting his lower lip as he walked through the door. It quickly bloomed into a full smile as he heard the familiar click of stones placed upon a goban and Touya's voice in gentle admonition. Hikaru figured it must be a new student to be getting the kind treatment still; he well knew the limits of Touya's patience when someone did something "stupid" and was expected to be better than that.

He chuckled softly to himself as he removed his shoes. Just the other night he'd found himself at the wrong end of a set of scathing comments for doing something "wrong".

I know you're not rusty, since you haven't skipped a pro game in ten years, Touya had said, his voice glacially cold. So, either you're not taking me seriously, or playing Waya all this time has addled your brains.

Relax! I just wanted to see what you'd do! Hikaru had grinned playfully at the time, unable to hold back the nostalgia-inspired glee.

And oh, how it had degenerated from there....

Today would be better though.

"I think that's enough for today," Touya said from the other room, just before Hikaru would have peeked inside.

"Thank you, Sensei!" came the cheerful reply. It was the voice of a little girl--one he thought he recognized. A moment later, Saya bounced out of the room, sliding the door open so fast Hikaru jumped despite half expecting it. She almost ran into him, but she stopped at the last possible moment and bowed so that her soft violet hair fell in her face. "Good evening, Shindou-sensei!"

"Saya-chan," he replied, bowing slightly with a grin on his face. "So, how was your lesson? This was your first?"

"Yes, it was. It was so long! I'm not used to sitting still like that for so long," she complained casually.

Hikaru laughed, but in the other room Touya was shaking his head as he stood. "You'll get used to it in time, Saya-chan. Maybe you should practice sitting still for next week."

Saya's eyes grew large. "I don't know how to practice sitting still," she said, voice quavering.

"I'll call your grandmother and ask her to help you with it," Touya said, eyes barely giving a hint that he was teasing the little girl. "She'll probably thank me for it."

She gasped, then crossed her arms and pouted. To Hikaru's experienced eye, it looked like she wanted to say something but was afraid to get her teacher mad at her. He couldn't blame her a bit, since Touya had a legendary scary "game face".

So, Hikaru would have to come to her rescue.

"You'll have to forgive Touya, he forgets that not everyone was born with go stones clutched in their fists." He shot Saya a wink and patted her casually on top of her head. She positively beamed in response, but quickly looked in Touya's direction to see how he'd react.

"In order to be a pro, you have to eventually learn to take it seriously," he replied, shrugging.

"Relax! She's already better than I was at her age," Hikaru rebutted.

Saya spoke softly at the same time though. "A pro?" She looked back and forth between them quickly. "I could be a pro like both of you?"

"It will take hard work and dedication, but I believe you could," Touya said, walking closer. "If that is what you want, then I will teach you everything I can to help you. Of course, when that happens I'll have to start charging you for lessons." This time he added a wink, smiling as he said the last sentence.

"Yes, Sensei! Thank you, Sensei! I'll work hard so you'll be proud and I can repay you for this and I'll even practice hard at sitting still this week so--"

"Saya-chan! Relax. He was joking about sitting still. You're still young; you should go out and enjoy life while you still can. Spend time playing with your friends, okay?" Hikaru thought her attitude and enthusiasm were admirable, but to keep her from having fun--?

"Okay!" Now she grinned from ear to ear and raced toward the door and put on her shoes quickly. "I have to go before Grandmother gets worried! I'll be back next week, bye-bye!" In an instant she was out the door, her loud voice still echoing through the still and silent house.

Hikaru found himself staring at the closed door thoughtfully, only peripherally aware of Touya staring at him questioningly. He was lost in the past, remembering someone else with that exact shade of violet hair and those same piercing green eyes and somehow containing the same mercurial mood swings. He idly wondered when her birthday was, and chuckled evilly at the thought of getting her something with a picture of a toad on it, just to see her reaction.

"Shindou?"

He straightened with a start, grinning guiltily. "Ah, sorry. She just...she...reminds me of someone. That's all." He then turned away from the door and shrugged.

Touya led the way into the kitchen. "I hope you don't mind, but I haven't eaten yet. Are you hungry? Could I get you anything?"

Hikaru started to make an excuse, "Oh, no thank you, I had a late lunch and--" he was cut off by his stomach growling very loudly in protest.

"I promise, I won't poison it," Touya replied, shaking his head. "Come on, I'll throw something together for both of us. It will be just as easy to fix something for both of us as it would be to make something for myself alone, and this way I won't feel rude about eating in front of you."

He couldn't argue with that. "I'll help. Just tell me what to do, and I'll do it!"

Touya eyed him appraisingly, and then nodded as he opened the door. "In that case, sit right over there and wait."

"Touya! I'm serious, I want to help!"

"I'm serious too. Sit there, and wait," he pointed. "If you really want to help, you can answer some questions. I already told you that Saya reminds me of you, but who does she remind you of? A relative?"

Hikaru took a deep breath and held it a moment. "Are you sure you don't want me to chop anything up or something? I do know how to cook after all, so--"

"Shindou." Touya had his hands on his hips, and his eyes were flashing with impatience. "If you don't want to answer, then just don't answer. I was only trying to make conversation, but you're the one who brought it up in the first place."

He sat down quietly, frowning. The kitchen was soon filled with the sounds of food being made, and Hikaru tossed the words over and over in his head, trying to somehow build up the courage to just say them. Maybe, if he said it softly enough, Touya wouldn't hear and his soul would still feel unburdened by the admission. Then, he could build up to explaining later and--

"She reminds me of Sai," he said as softly as he could while still being loud enough to satisfy the growing feeling inside of him.

Touya dropped the plate he'd just pulled out.

"Shindou?"

Okay, so that plan had backfired. Time for plan B. What was plan B? Okay, time to come up with plan B.

Maybe it was just time to tell him everything.

Part of him rebelled out of habit, unwilling to share the secret he'd held alone for so long. A thousand reasons to keep his mouth shut flooded his brain again, primary among them was that he just didn't think now was the right time. He wanted to be able to plan what he was going to say, not have to jump into it suddenly. "It's a really long story," he began, stalling.

Touya bent over, picking up the plate and examining it for chips. It had escaped miraculously unscathed, so he placed it in the sink and pulled out another one. His shoulders were tense, and he kept shooting glances toward Hikaru, but he didn't say a word for a while. When he finally spoke, his voice was full of barely suppressed reluctance. "If it's that long of a story, maybe it should wait for another time. I don't want the short version after all, I want every detail you're willing to give me."

Hikaru nodded, smiling gratefully. "I promise. I'll tell you everything."

"Okay," he said, giving a tight smile. "I look forward to that someday you keep promising." The disappointment was obvious though, to Hikaru's practiced eye.

"Someday soon," he corrected gently. "That's also a promise."