Title: The move
Author: Dead^Meat ([email protected])
ICQ: 7790861 (Auth. req – state who you are when you ask)
Dates of revision: 2003-06-09 v 0.05 (Started)
2003-06-20 v 1.0 (Chapter 1 released)
* Disclaimer: Characters from Hikaru no Go have been used without permission. All characters contained in this work are copyright their respective mangaka and publishers, etc. No financial gain made by this.
* Quick-list of various Japanese words/phrases used, and it's translation.
-kun = name suffix
-chan = name suffix, mainly girls
-san = name suffix
Go = a popular Japanese board game using black and white stones
Hai = yes
Insei = special Go-student
* Reading:
"d" - Denotes speaking
'd' - Denotes thinking
_d_ - Denotes punctuation
|d| - Denotes sound effects
******************************************************************
Chapter one: The initial move******************************************************************
"Akari, want me to help you carry the groceries?"
Startled, Fujisaki Akari quickly turned around and faced her childhood friend, Shindou Hikaru.
"Huh? Hikaru? What are you doing here?" Akari asked, still slightly overwhelmed at Hikaru's sudden approach, and especially by the wearied expression across his face.
"Tss." Hikaru crossed his arms, sounding rather annoyed at being questioned. "If you don't want my help, just say so." Turning around, he prepared to head off and leave her be, but Akari managed to remember herself, and stopped him.
"N-no! Please, help me carry my bags, Hikaru-kun."
"Che. Why didn't you just say so?" Pulling the heavy-laden grocery-bag from Akari's hands, he grunted slightly from the burden, then walked off towards home, leaving his friend to care for herself. Quickly, Akari scurried after him, slowing down to take a position slightly behind him.
Walking quietly down the familiar streets, Akari ransacked her mind to find something to say, and perhaps learn of the cause for Hikaru's annoyance, without getting him even more fed up. Coming up with nothing, she settled for the next best thing, and spoke up.
"It's, uh, a nice day today…" Cringing slightly, she wondered what Hikaru would think of her, saying something as typical as that, but his reply rather confounded her.
"Huh?" He grunted, taking a quick look at the sky. "Oh, right. It _is_ a nice day today."
Her mind whirling, Akari wondered why it was that Hikaru just noticed this, seeing how the last few days had been awfully rainy, and with the weather having cleared up, the air had felt fresh and cool. But then again, it seems like his mind has been pretty far off on something Go-related, so it shouldn't be a surprise to her.
Having fallen silent once again, Akari sadly wondered about what she should do.
******************************************************************
'I know it. I damn well know it. But I can't remember! Argh!'
Mentally punishing himself, Hikaru inwardly cursed and cried, picking on his brain for not remembering the specific set of sequence he just _had_ to figure out. Right now, right this minute. If not, Touya Akira would laugh at him, forever wondering what he ever saw in this would-be rival of the great, young Go-genius. At least, that's how Hikaru saw it.
Muttering to himself, his thoughts were once again interrupted by a certain girl.
"Umm, Hikaru-kun … is there any problem?"
'Yes. You are me problem right now!'
"No, no. No problem at all. None whatsoever. Ahaha haha ha…"
Unconvinced, Akari continued to bug him about it, surely out of concern, but concern isn't what he needs right now. He needs to remember.
"Look." Hikaru halted in midstep, and swung around to glare down at Akari, who looked surprised and maybe slightly frightened. Once again, Hikaru idly wondered when it was that he outgrew Akari, who had always been taller than him since they knew each other, but these queer thoughts he quickly shook out of his head.
"I'm having problems trying to remember something, something that I desperately need to remember right now. And it doesn't help when you consistently interrupt my thoughts!"
Taken back by his outburst, Akari stared wide-eyed up into his red-grazed ones, and spoke.
"Well, excuse _me_ for being concerned about your health!" Frowning angrily up at him, Akari extended her right hand and took a grip on the plastic bag, trying to force it back.
Her attempt failed miserably, as she was clearly not as strong as Hikaru. But her effort paid off.
Sighing, Hikaru reached over with his empty hand, and easily loosened her grip from the bag. Still holding Akari's hand, he gently squeezed it, causing her to sadly stare up at him with teary eyes, sniffling slightly. Feeling something stir inside of him, Hikaru felt an awful regret tear through him, having unjustly burdened his friend with his own problems, so he hung his head in shame, releasing Akari's hand.
"I'm … I'm sorry, alright? It's been a rough day for me, and I haven't fully come to terms with it, yet, so I've been feeling quite miserable. And now I've taken it out on you, and I feel really bad about it. Will you forgive me?"
At first, Hikaru avoided Akari's inquiring eyes, but seeing no end to it, he raised his head, allowing her sharp eyes to pierce through him, and sense his sincere admittance. Slowly, her smile started to bloom back up on her face, as she wiped her tears away, and shone like sunshine in his eyes.
"Of course I will forgive you, Hikaru-kun, but only if you tell me your problems, and allow me to help you deal with it."
Smiling back at her, he allowed all of his recently built up tension to slowly erode away from him, as he wondered what he had been so worried about, and accepted her offer.
******************************************************************
Having first returned home to drop off the groceries, Hikaru and Akari were soon walking around the neighbourhood, enjoying the afternoon sun shine brightly down on their faces. Not long after they had started walking, memories started to flush in, as they reminisced over their childhood, and past times long gone.
Laughing, they pointed at trees once climbed, houses once sneaked through, parks they had chased each other around in and candy stores once nicked off from. Finally, they lay on the grass in the park, underneath a large Sakura, one of the large ones they had often climbed a long time ago, and enjoyed the cool breeze brushing on their faces.
Finally, Hikaru thought that it was time to do what they were here for, and he sighed wearily. Turning her head to look at Hikaru, who lay next to her, she kept quiet, waiting for Hikaru to make his move.
******************************************************************
"No no no! Can't you see? You should've responded here, because then you can cut off your opponent at this point, and this point!"
"That won't work! He'd just answer here, completely destroying your territory at this corner! Instead, if you defend this territory here, you can move up and cut him off here!"
"Idiot! That's so obvious no one would think of using that tactic! They'd just stop you at this point, and move on here!"
It was usually meaningless to listen past this point, since they both would soon start to loudly quarrel and bicker at each other. It would soon enough resort to name-calling, and finally end with Hikaru storming off from the Go-salon, leaving an agitated Touya Akira sitting moodily by himself, staring down at the Go-board in front of him.
But this time, it was different.
"You don't get it, do you?" Hikaru quietly asked his rival with a tone which was so unusual that it caught Touya off guard, resulting in a, for Touya Akira, queer respond.
"Huh?"
"…" Hikaru kept his mouth shut, a serious frown marking his features, his mind churning furiously as he tried to recall something from the past.
"What is it?" Akira finally asked, wondering about what in the world Shindou-kun was thinking about.
"Damn it. I can't remember! If I did, I'd so kick your ass with the ultimate move! But I can't remember it! Damn it…"
Rolling his eyes in exaggeration, Akira stood up from the table and looked down at Shindou-kun.
"Well, since you can't prove me wrong right now, I'm for a bite at the ramen-place down the street. Will you join me?"
Frowning, Hikaru looked up at a solemn-faced Touya-kun, and shook his head.
"I'm not hungry. And I won't be back until I can remember that move, and prove you wrong!"
Touya Akira just shook his head, and strode out of the Go-salon, for once being the one who left his rival sitting moodily at the Go-board, frowning down at it.
******************************************************************
"That's it. That's the whole story. And that's what I have been so frustrated about, these last few days. I just can't seem to remember that order of moves I saw Sai play a long time ago…"
"Huh? Who's Sai?" Akari idly wondered.
"Uh, no. No one. Just a friend I've played Go with, a long time ago…" First having felt embarrassed because of the slip of his tongue, he now felt regret and longing for an old friend who had moved on, leaving Hikaru to face the world by himself. As he wallowed in these sad emotions, he got prodded by Hikari's extended finger as she loudly wondered if he had been listening to her. Stirring himself from these feelings, he shook his head clear, and asked Akari to repeat herself.
"Well, what I meant with what I just said, is that it's often the case that if you think too much on what you try to remember, it will never come to you. But on the other hand, if you relax your mind, and allow it to rest while doing something else, you'll see that it will come to you."
Surprised, Hikaru sat up and gawked down at Akari, who started to blush under his scrutiny, while thinking about what she had just said. Then his face turned into this huge grin, and he threw himself back down on the grass, arms spread wide, sighing comfortably.
"You know, now that I think about it, I've heard that saying as well! So seeing how both you and I know it, I guess I'll give it a shot. Thanks, Akari-chan!"
Blushing, Akari mumbled "No problem", and smiled up into the blue sky overhead.
******************************************************************
Sitting by the fountain in the park, the two teenagers chattered idly about whatever they could think of, such as rumours, gossip, Go, and high school as they tried to make Hikaru think of something else rather than a certain move that worried him. Unfortunately, as time past by and there was still no sign of him getting closer to a revelation, Hikaru became more and more agitated, finally ending in him falling silent once more, brooding.
Worriedly, Akari moved closer to Hikaru, who leaned forward with his elbows supported on his knees, looking glumly down on the ground. She too leaned forward, but turned her head up and tried to look into Hikaru's downcast eyes.
"I guess this is not enough … I'm sorry, Hikaru-kun, for not being of much help to you." Having apologised, she breathed out a deep sigh, then stood up on her legs, shaking the restlessness out of it. When finished, she just stood there, waiting patiently for Hikaru to wake up from his reverie. After awhile, her friend finally sat up straight, looking sadly into her eyes. Then he stood up to join her.
"No … it's not your fault. It's just that, it feels like this isn't enough … please, don't get me wrong!" Hikaru added, noticing how Akari had tensed up at his last remark. "I do enjoy your company, Akari-chan, but just sitting here, talking like this … my mind unconsciously wander off towards Go … I guess I'm way too involved in that game, am I right?" Chuckling nervously, Hikaru raised his left hand and scratched the back of his head, blushing healthily in front of Akari, who smiled painfully back at him.
"Well, at least it's not a-" She started, but was interrupted as Hikaru slammed his right fist into his palm, smiling broadly.
"Oh, hey!" He exclaimed, sounding like he just had an excellent idea. "Are you free tomorrow?"
"Y-yes … ? It's Sunday tomorrow … and I haven't really got anything special to do … why?" Akari replied nervously, but still intently forgetting to mention the homework she had to do tomorrow. She could do those tonight instead.
"Well, since we're both available, and I just got my paycheck for last month, how about if I treat you to a restaurant, and maybe a movie?" Hikaru suggested innocently, noticing how Akari started to turn bright red with the realisation of his question.
"I-I … ! Of course!" Outwardly, Akari turned crimson red in embarrassment, turning her head away to try to conceal her flushing emotions. Inwardly, Akari was screaming giddily, asking herself over and over again, if she had heard right. Asking if she had just heard Hikaru ask her out on a … date!
Hikaru, on the other hand, nodded briefly and missed everything but the positive reply, as his mind refocused on that move.
******************************************************************
"Mom, I'm going now!" Hikaru called loudly as he pulled on his shoes.
"Where are you going, Hikaru?" She called back, appearing by the door to the kitchen.
"Just hanging out with Akari for awhile, no need to fix lunch for me!"
"Well, okay, bye Hikaru."
"Bye mom!" Hikaru quickly waved at her mother, then leapt off from the house, closing the door behind him. Walking the few steps up to Akari's house, he jammed his thumb on the door bell, then backed off and turned away from the door and waited for someone to answer the door, whistling casually.
"Hey, Hikaru-kun!" Someone, probably Akari, called from behind the door. This was confirmed, as Akari opened the door and continued. "Please wait a moment, I'll be right with you."
"Che. You're not ready yet?" Hikaru pouted and glared up at the sky, hoping that his hair had finished drying. After a while, he heard the door shut close, so he turned around to face his friend, and was astounded at what he saw.
"Wow!" Hikaru remarked, letting his eyes slowly travel over a nervously blushing Akari, from top to bottom and back again. He noticed how good she looked in the light-blue, long dress she wore, with sandalwood slippers adorning her lithe feet and her regular hairstyle framing her cute, blushing face. Taking a mental note, he told himself to see her in a different light from now on.
"D-do you like it?" Akari nervously stammered her question, but felt that a reply was quite unnecessary, seeing how Hikaru's eyes began to shine in a way she haven't seen for a long time.
"Mmm." Hikaru nodded. "Very much. So, shall we go?" he proceeded to ask, extending a hand towards her.
"Sure…" Akari agreed, then slowly took hold of his offered hand, wondering why it felt different from before. It's not like this is their first time holding hands, after all…
A sudden jerk pulled her out of her thoughts, as Hikaru started to drag her away, grinning wickedly.
"W-wait, Hikaru-kun! Mou!"
******************************************************************
The day went by too far quickly, in Akari's opinion, as they first set off for the shopping centre, where they ate lunch at a small, cosy restaurant, joking and talking to each other like they used to do when they were kids.
After the movie, which was a romantic comedy Hikaru let Akari choose, they strolled around the walking streets, doing some occasional window shopping, observing other people's way of spending time on a Sunday, and generally enjoyed each other's company.
Walking around that way, they soon stumbled upon a Go-salon which Hikaru had never visited before. Raising his eyebrows in a question, Akari sighed but nodded anyway, letting him lead the way up the stairs and into the smoky confines of the Go-salon.
Looking around, their first impression was that it looked pretty shabby, with old stained wallpapers encasing the dimly lit hall, and old chairs and tables cluttering the floor in a chaotic, yet somehow organised way.
But although the location looked shabby, the clientele seemed younger than usual, apparently around ages between 20 and 40.
"Doesn't look that bad, does it?" Hikaru whispered to Akari, who nodded silently, still doubtfully scrutinising the location.
"Oy! Shindou-kun! That you?" a voice suddenly called from among a crowd standing patiently by a match. After some careful shoving and mumbled excuses, the man who called out to Hikaru broke free, grinning at Hikaru as he noticed the girl standing next to him.
"Damn, Shindou-kun, you've got a girl? And a cute one too! Why didn't you tell me?" the older boy asked Hikaru, still grinning underneath his wild, black pointy hair. "Well, introduce us already!"
"Oh, right, umm, Akari-chan, this is Waya Yoshitaka, my old insei-friend and now fellow Go-pro. Waya-kun, this is my … neighbour and childhood friend, Fujisaki Akari."
"Friend indeed … !" Waya playfully elbowed Hikaru's stomach, then turned to Akari. "Fujisaki Akari, was it? Well, nice to meet you!" He then gave her a curt bow, smiling broadly. Akari blushed and did the same, adding that it was nice meeting him as well.
After the short introduction and some idle small talk, Waya started to talk about the game he was just observing, using several terms which wasn't commonly used, which Hikaru slightly frowned upon and which were completely lost on Akari. Soon enough, she excused herself, saying that she would go get some soft drinks. After Waya had pointed out the café, and given her some money for a can, she left the two of them standing there, their eyes trailing after her lithe form navigating between the crowd.
"Finally! I thought she'd never leave!" Waya exclaimed, keeping his voice low enough for only Hikaru to hear.
"So that's why you were talking like that." Rolling his eyes, Hikaru continued to frown at his grinning friend. "You have anything against her, or something?"
"Why, no! On the contrary, she sounds like a really nice girl. But I just had to ask you, man to man … how far have you gone with her? Huh, Shindou-kun?"
"W-what are you talking about? It's nothing like that! We just went out for lunch and a movie, that's all…"
"Oh, sure, and how is that different from a real date, huh?" Waya noted, and grabbed Hikaru in a head-lock, playfully rubbing his head with his knuckles.
"Ow! Waya, stop it!" Shaking himself free, he backed off and glared at his friend, gently rubbing his aching head.
"Besides, I don't think she thinks of me in that way anyway…"
Wide-eyed, Waya stared at his friend, disbelief shining in his eyes at this for him apparent, and stupid question. Then he started his tirade.
"Then let me ask you this. Do you often see her dressed up like this?"
"W-well … no, not really. Not since we were kids…" Sensing where this would lead to, Hikaru raised his guard.
"So that means that she did dress up especially for today, for going out with you, correct?"
"I-I guess…" Hikaru nervously admitted, blushing.
"Well, there's your answer!" Waya pointed out, glad to be able to help his friend realise something this obvious.
"But what should I do now? I'm starting to feel nervous, I mean…" Shaking his head, Hikaru sighed, unsure of whether he wanted to know all this, or if it had been better playing ignorant.
"First, get her out of here. Stay in here, and you'll never be intimate with her. Instead, go do something by yourselves, in private. Seeing how you stopped by here, if you want to play Go, play with her in your room or something…" pausing for a moment, Waya carefully wondered, "she does play Go, right? …"
"Yes, she does…"
"Great! Well, don't linger here for too long, oh look, here she comes. Good luck, Shindou-kun!" Flashing Hikaru a smile, Waya nodded to him, then headed straight for Akari who had finished buying their soda's. Hikaru saw him gratefully accept his Sprite from Akari, point to Hikaru and wave good bye to her. As she came back to Hikaru, he swallowed nervously and pushed back the tingly feeling welling deep inside of him, while trying to smile as usual, going for the plan suggested by his friend.
******************************************************************
Akari was an apt student, and Hikaru began to think that it was fun, teaching her Go like this, in his slightly cluttered room. He went through lots of beginner level problems with her, explaining and guiding her through those she couldn't figure out, while complimenting her on those she managed to solve. Sitting on the opposite side to her, leaning against his closet observing Akari pondering on a problem with a serious face, he smiled to himself, and started to doze off.
"Woops!" Hikaru quickly sat back up again, having caught himself almost falling asleep. Seeing her curious expression, he stammered an explanation, and an apology.
"Sorry, guess I almost dozed off there, has been a long day hasn't it?"
Smiling, Akari nodded her understanding, and told him that it was fine, she could take care of herself, and he could go back to sleep.
"Well," Hikaru added. "If you need any help, just wake me up, alright?"
Akari nodded with a smile, and Hikaru tilted back against the closer once more, closing his eyes.
******************************************************************
Feeling wearied herself, Akari dropped the white Go-stone in her hand, and leaned back against the bed on the opposite side of Hikaru, staring sleepily at his dozing, carefree face. Suddenly thinking about the past Hikaru, she lazily compared Hikaru as he was now, with how he looked like in her mind's eye, several years ago. And the conclusion was he was the same guy that she had always known.
His hairstyle is still the same, unique mix of jet-black hair, topped with blond locks hanging over his forehead. His other features like big eyes, soft nose, and plush lips were all highlighted by the late afternoon sun, as it shone through the window and gently caressed his slumbering form. He looked the same as before, and he moved around and acted the same as before, like the Shindou Hikaru she had known since she was a child, but by god, he had had grown up to be so mature, and turned out to be so handsome.
Tuning everything else out, her mind unconsciously focused on his lips, resulting in her staring dreamily into it, wondering, dreaming, and toying with the idea of kissing him. If only she dared to confess her feelings for him.
Shaking her head, she threw away the sad emotions and embraced her fantasy, continuing from where she had left off.
First, she would run her hands through his soft, pointy hair, from his forehead up and back to his neck, caressing him softly. Then, she would move her hands back to his face, and delicately trace the outlines of his eyebrows, eyes, nose, lips and chin with the tip of her fingers, hopefully making him smile, and perhaps blush as well. Having lost her patience, she would then lean forward, slowly closing in on his lips, feeling his hot breath cover her lips in a thin film of moist, tickling her senses. And then she would take him.
Feeling all flustered and giddy, Akari covered Hikaru's lips with her own, taking in his warm exhale, and kissed him deeply. Savouring the tingling sensations made in this lifelike dream, she felt that it was her happiest moment in her life, as she moved her mouth around and trying to kiss him as much as possible. Suddenly, a tongue penetrated the gap between her lips, invaded her mouth, and roamed around it, licking her teeth and the back of her lips, making sure to cover everything with his sticky saliva. Baffled, she fought back with her own, playfully duelling with his coarse tongue, which ended with her catching it with her lips, and suck on it.
Relishing the emotions running through her, she sighed deeply, wondering and longing for when they would be doing things like this on daily basis. As Akari started to feel sad again, she accidentally bit the tongue that she had caught, causing an audible grunt to interrupt her thoughts.
Akari immediately stopped what she was doing, released the foreign tongue and flapped her eyes open. And stared directly into Hikaru's piercing gaze.
"Ow, play nice!" He mumbled dazedly.
'Oh my god! Oh my god!'
Hurling herself away from Hikaru, she covered her mouth with her hands, not believing what she had just done. Of course it had felt real, because it _was_ real! Blushing furiously, she tried to stammer an apology to him, but failed to utter a single, coherent word. Teary eyed, she mentally shook herself for what she had done, and quickly rose up and gathered her things, feeling a sudden urge to leave, to escape his inquiring eyes. Flee, before he could reject her. Because that would hurt too much.
Scurrying off towards the door, she stopped in her tracks as she noticed that Hikaru stood there by the door, blocking it slightly, his eyes intently seeking contact with hers, a request which she denied as she hung her head, waiting for his judgement.
"Akari…" Hikaru whispered softly, and she relented, bravely looking up into his eyes, and became shocked when finding a warm smile shining back at her.
"I'll see you tomorrow, right?"
Confused by the unexpected question, her mind caught up with herself as she realised the implied suggestion, and turned crimson red in apparent embarrassment, and happiness.
"Y-yes … I'll see you then…" she stammered while smiling awkwardly to him, inwardly feeling overjoyed as she literally bounced her way from his room. Once back in her own room, she threw herself on the bed, where she cuddled with a pillow and smiled blissfully at the memory of Hikaru, and their mind-numbing kiss.
******************************************************************
Early next morning, Akari gently the door to Hikaru's house, then quickly checked and adjusted her clothes. Blinking the sleeplessness from her eyes, she idly wondered what took so long, when the door opened.
"Oh, Akari-san, are you here for Hikaru?"
"Yes, Auntie. Is he awake?"
"Well, yes, actually, he woke up pretty early today, that strange kid … and I'm sorry, but he's already left." Hikaru's mom said sadly.
"Oh … well, then I guess I'll try to catch up to him. Thanks, bye!"
"Have a nice day." Hikaru's mom wished Akari.
Akari made a quick bow, then quickly turned around and leaped off on the street, wondering why Hikaru had left so early this morning.
'We were supposed to meet, weren't we? I guess I'll try to catch up to him.'
******************************************************************
"Hi, Kumiko-san."
After being called, Tsuda Kumiko turned her head and saw her friend, who seemed a bit out of breath as she made her way through the desks.
"Good morning, Akari-san!" As Akari sat down on her seat next to Kumiko, she quickly looked around, then turned back to Kumiko, who started to speak. "You know what? I think I'm starting to miss the Go-club. I haven't played much since we left it to start studying for the high school exams … but somehow I get this odd tingling sensation on my fingertips whenever I see a Go-board." Giggling nervously, Kumiko blushed at her odd feelings, then sighed sadly while gazing down on the floor. "Anyway, have you-"
"Excuse me, Kumiko-san, I just need to ask you, have you seen Hikaru today?"
Blinking at having been interrupted, Kumiko placed a delicate finger on her forehead, pouting slightly while taking a few moments to go through her memory, but then slowly shook her head.
"Oh wait! Right, now I remember!" She suddenly burst out. "Out in the hallway earlier this morning, I think I heard Shindou-kun ask the teacher for the day off, telling him that it was something Go-related." Having told her everything she knew, curiosity got the better half of her. "Why'd you ask?"
Turning her head away to hide her blush and confusion, Akari mumbled that it was nothing, that she just thought of asking. Kumiko didn't buy that, however, but resolved to get to the bottom of this, as soon as class was over.
******************************************************************
'Has he been avoiding me?' Akari sadly asked herself, as she totally forgot about the class that took place around her. Thinking about this, how she had missed him at home, then here at school, she kept thinking that it couldn't have been a coincidence. And the more she thought that way, the more she worried that that might have been the case. And the more she worried, the more depressed she became, sighing dejectedly down on the wooden table, already regretting yesterday.
******************************************************************
Staggering her way home, Akari blinked hard and often, ignoring her irritated eyes. Rubbing them again, she walked dispiritedly, thinking that all was lost, that he would avoid her from now on, and that she would never see Hikaru again. Passing his door, she stared glumly at it for a while, then pushed her way home, mumbled something to her mother's worried question, and locked herself inside the bathroom.
Once inside, she set the shower on full blast in an attempt to mask the sounds of crying from the inside.
******************************************************************
Hollow-eyed, the shower had helped little to ease her mind, as Akari trudged up the stairs to her room, ignoring her parents worried buzzing. Once inside, she locked the door, as she felt like being alone, and dropped down on her bed. Cuddling a pillow, she stared up at the ceiling, idly gazing up on the familiar texture and various stains. She knew them all by heart, as she had slept under this ceiling for all of her life, and this was hardly her first sleepless night.
Yes, she anticipated that. Her sleeplessness would come back to haunt her, each time she was emotionally distressed, like today. Drying a single tear that had escaped from her shut eye-lids on the pillow, the sound of trickling rain drumming the roof started to fill her ears, as rain poured down from the dark, cloudy sky. 'How appropriate' she thought, then felt her energy slowly deplete into the warm bed underneath.
|THUCK|
Rapidly opening her eyes, it darted across the dark room, searching for the source of the sound.
|THUCK|
'There! Again!' Having judged that it sounded like a small stone hitting a window, her guess was confirmed as her eyes visibly saw a small stone hit her window.
|THUCK|
Akari quickly leaped out of bed, and opened the window. Leaning out of her window, she saw Hikaru standing below her, with a pile of stones in his left hand, grinning up to her.
"Hey! Let me in! It's freezing out here!" He urgently whispered to her, a whisper that pierced through the rain and right into her heart. Seeing him drop the stones and attempt to climb up the tree, from where he'll probably try to jump off the branch and land on her tiny balcony, she opened her window to the fullest and reached out, to grab him.
|HUPP!|
Hikaru cried, and landed awkwardly half inside her room. Akari pulled his wet body in and quickly closed the window, then turned around to see him stagger up, a crooked smile on his face.
"Ouch …" He told her, wincing while rubbing his left knee. "Thought that it was a longer jump, but I guess I've grown a bit since last time, ehehe."
Akari just stared at him, her mind and thoughts all totally lost as her mind finally registered the surprise.
"Well! You know what? I finally remembered that move! I recalled that the Institute stored a lot of Shuusaku's old games, and I immediately decided that somewhere they should- … Akari?" Hikaru finally realised that Akari hadn't spoken to him yet, and that she was just standing there in front of him, her front slightly damp from the rain on his dripping body, staring teary-eyed at him.
"Akari, what's wrong?" He gently asked her.
|SNIFF|
"I- … I thought you never wanted to see me again …" Akari mumbled, letting her tears slowly run down her smooth, red cheeks.
Wide-eyed, Hikaru couldn't believe his ears and her statement.
"Wh-what? Who told you that?"
"N-no one … but seeing how you avoided me today, I thought …"
Finally connecting things, Hikaru smiled at her, then quickly swept her up in a gently embrace, kissing her forehead.
Surprised, Akari could only stare up at him, while her senses all screamed and focused on the point where he had just kissed her. Kissed her!
"I'm sorry, Akari-chan, for making you believe that I was avoiding you. Trust me when I say that I never intended to." Releasing her from his grip, they stood toe-to-toe to each other, both staring into each others eyes, while Hikaru gently brushed her hair away from her face, then rubbed the tears away.
"Besides, didn't I promise to meet my girlfriend today? Well, here I am."
Staring up into his piercing gaze, Akari leaped into his arms, forcing them to fall down on her bed, with her on top.
As their eyes were closed, and their lips locked to each other, the world was lost to the couple who shared their love and joy under that endless, rainy night.
******************************************************************
******************************************************************
Author's Notes:
Well! Finally, it's completed :P After writing half of this when I started, I successfully ignored this while working on other fics and other IRL stuff, before finally finishing.
Originally planned as a one-shot, I wrote this mainly because I like HnG a lot, I love WAFFy fanfics, and there were Too Damn Many Yaoi/Shounen-ai ones at FFN!!! *Ehum*
No offense meant to you guys who loves/writes them, but I just feel that there had started to become too many of those ;P Need to balance it with good, regular mf pairing :) And in this case, Hikaru/Akari, a perfect match!
Anyway, as I was saying, I had originally planned this as a one-shot, but depending on the interest generated, and whether I'll have some free time off FME! (check my Author's page) and work, I do have follow-ups planned for this. Don't expect them too soon, though :( I'll be real busy this summer -_-"
Other notes about this fic, I have tried to reduce the amount of japanese words as best I could. This because I want others, not into jap and anime and everything, to be able to understand without having to ransack their brains, but also because in the end, it would become too much. I'm not japanese, and I shan't pretend to be.
Released without Any pre-readers first going through it, this is one of my first in doing so :P Hopefully, no one will complain too much -_-
Another note, in the future, this fanfic might progress from PG13 to R-rating … speak up if you're against this, although personally I can't see why anyone would have anything against that. There's no better way for a romantic story to progress, other than through sharing their love by becoming "one" with each other.
Yes, I'm an avid lemon-reader, but I mostly only enjoy those who gives me the teary-eyed feeling of WAFFiness like the Excellent NGE fanfics Holding Hands and Phoenix Rising (which both became lemons, in later chapters).
Regarding the finishing of this chapter … I have to admit, once I noticed that there were another Hikaru/Akari fanfic out, I felt that I just had to finish this. Haven't read it yet, though, but I will.
Hope this starts a trend! :D
Last, but not least, please give me your comments regarding the WAFFiness of this chapter. I'm training myself for the future chapters of FME! :) And also, thank you so much for reading this!
/DeadMeat
P.S. Not a kawaii nickname, but I'm still kawaii! D.S.
P.P.S. Kawaii = cute … =P D.S.
P.P.P.S. I'm sorry, Lita, for not being clear enough. This fic is still PG13, so no, they didn't do anything more than cuddle and kiss in the end of chapter one :p Thanks for misunderstanding :) D.S.