Author's note: HI!!!!!!!!!!!! This is my attempt at a HikaruAkari story and my first Hikaru No Go fic... I only discovered Hikaru No Go a week and a day ago so I'm lacking a bit on info on what happens later in the manga and anime, but I think these two look adorable together... I greatly appreciate opinions, so please review!

Disclaimer: The plot and some characters are my creation, but Akari and Hikaru are the creation of Yumi Hotta and Takeshi Obata.

Searching For An Answer

Sixteen-year-old Akari shifted uneasily in bed, shivering from the chilly air seeping through her barely open window. It was two in the morning and Akari had been having difficulty falling asleep lately. Not necessarily because of the weather; this was the first chilly night in a while and it was still summertime.

In fact, Akari wasn't quite sure why she was having a hard time falling asleep, or why she went into fits of crying once every few weeks. It was driving her mad. Her best friends from school hadn't been very helpful about the situation, usually just smiling and nodding whenever Akari talked to anyone of them about it. Hikaru walked her home after school and other events, but they hardly ever talked. They had grown apart, that was clear.

1:00 pm

Akari smiled as she put the last dish away into the cupboard.

"If anybody comes and asks for me, I'll be at the library!" she said happily as she took hold of her bag from the kitchen table and headed towards the front door.

"Akari! Would you like me to call Hikaru so you can have some company?" her mother called from upstairs.

Akari frowned. Why did he have to escort her practically everywhere if they were hardly going to talk to each other?

"No, I'll be fine by myself. If I feel the need to have somebody with me, I'll call one of my friends with my cell phone, okay?" she called out.

"Okay, I'll see you in a couple of hours," her mom said, emerging from a bedroom with a pile of laundry in her hands.

Ten minutes later, Akari swung the door of the library open and walked in, pleased to feel a cool breeze on her face. The weather had been hot outside and the library's central air was one of the reasons why she visited so often. Recently, she discovered a fantastic author and her most recent collection of romance novels were the best she had ever read. While walking over to the aisle where her favorite author's books were, her cell phone began vibrating. As cell phones weren't allowed, Akari withdrew into a darker aisle and pulled out her cell phone.

"Hello?" she whispered.

"Akari, it's Sakura and why are you whispering?" one of her best friends asked with a hint of amusement in her voice.

"I'm in the library and I'll get in trouble if I'm seen using my cell phone," Akari answered, keeping her voice down.

Sakura laughed.

"You need to get yourself a boyfriend, Akari. Anyway, Katoshi said he's planning to take me somewhere tonight so I can't make it to your house later on."

Akari sighed in disappointment.

"Meiru dropped out for a date tonight too. But that's okay, really, it is. We can always reschedule for next week, right?"

"Of course we can! I'm really sorry about this though. I'll try to keep my schedule free, okay? I just couldn't pass this opportunity up."

"Thanks Sakura. I'll talk to you later..... bye." Akari hung up and put her cell phone back in her bag and resumed the search for her books.

When she finally found them and started piling them in her arms, she felt somebody lightly tap her shoulder. Seconds later, her eyes came into contact with familiar green ones.

"Did my mom send you here, Hikaru?"

"No, I just saw you enter the library and thought I'd come in too," Hikaru explained.

"Oh, okay," Akari said, shrugging as she turned her attention back to the books.

'This is how it always goes.... he's going to walk away next..... there, he did it. But, he'll sit in another part of the library and watch me from a distance...doesn't he have anything better to do? He has all those friends he made from when he played Go like a fanatic....'

Akari took a seat at a table and immediately started reading the first book on her pile, Diamond Skies.

"What a story," Akari softly murmured as she progressed further into the book.

"You wish your life were like that, don't you?" an unfamiliar voice asked.

Akari turned to see an elderly woman standing beside her.

"Oh, well... Yes.." Akari stammered.

The woman smiled. "I see you in town a lot, and for the longest time, you've had a young man in your company. I hope it's not rude to say that you two look extremely sweet together."

Akari's face flushed red. "That's very nice of you to say, but there's nothing happening between us."

The woman chuckled. "I still keep to what I say."

Still embarrassed, Akari bowed her head with the most politeness she could muster. "Thank you," Akari said as the woman walked out of sight.

Three hours later, Akari checked out her remaining books to bring home, deciding they were too good to have to wait for until tomorrow. And just as whenever Akari went to the library, Hikaru took half of Akari's book pile to help carry.

The walk back home was quiet, as usual. Akari had no idea of what Hikaru was thinking about, but her mind was still on Diamond Skies. The passion between the two lovers was just incredible and overwhelming.... Akari held her head high up to prevent tears from swelling in her eyes more than they already were.

'Not in front of Hikaru.. why am I crying now, of all times?' Akari scolded herself as she worked to stabilize her shaky breath.

Even when they were still close friends, Hikaru had never seen Akari cry. But by the time they had reached the front door of Akari's home, a few tears had escaped and slipped down her face. Hikaru noticed the tears as Akari was unlocking the door.

" Akari... are you crying?" he asked concernedly, reaching his free arm toward her.

Caught, Akari gasped and fumbled with her house keys and fled up the stairs towards her bedroom, beginning to break into sobs.

"Akari!" Hikaru yelled, running after her.

In the laundry room, Akari's mom grimaced as she heard Akari crying, but jumped a couple of inches into the air upon hearing Hikaru yell. Was it a good thing or a bad thing that Akari was crying in Hikaru's presence? This, she decided, was something they'd have to work out on their own. Perhaps they'd start talking to each other again. Or not.

SLAM.

Hikaru stopped short as Akari slammed the door in front of him.

"Was it something I did?" he called out.

But all he heard was Akari crying her eyes out. Hikaru glanced at the doorknob. There was no lock, meaning he could enter.. he placed a hand on the doorknob and twisted it open. Entering the room, he immediately spotted Akari huddled against the wall, tears rolling down her cheeks like a waterfall.

"Akari..really.." He said softly, putting his share of Akari's library books on her bed and walked towards her.

Akari huddled herself and books even closed as Hikaru knelt in front of her. Just then, the phone rang throughout the house. Hikaru sighed and turned to pick up the phone stationed in Akari's room, but felt Akari take hold of his arm firmly. Hikaru sat back down and waited for the answering machine to pick up.

"Hi Akari, it's Meiru. Sakura just called a while ago saying she had to drop out too.. I'm really sorry this had to happen today and I know we'll find sometime to meet up soon. Call back tomorrow if you want to talk or something.. Bye."

Akari winced. 'Bad timing, Meiru, bad timing..'

"You wanted to hang out with your friends tonight, didn't you.. That's why you're crying?" Hikaru asked.

Akari's anger flared and gave him a good hard kick on his read that sent Hikaru soaring back onto his feet, looking alarmed.

"What was that for?" he demanded.

Akari sniffed, taking control on her breath.

"For asking such a question.. of course I want to... but they just HAD to go out with their boyfriends instead," Akari said darkly, although beginning to realize they were the reason why she cried so often... but then why did it take her so long to fall asleep?

Hikaru knelt back on the floor in front of her. He held out a hand towards her face.

"Can I?" he offered.

Akari nodded and Hikaru proceeded to help her dry her tears. She calmed down at the moment on Hikaru's touch on her face. So gentle, so warm... Akari closed her eyes as the remaining tears fell onto Hikaru's fingers, which then wiped them away. That continued for a few more minutes in silence.

But no awkward silence; a silence that revealed so much for Hikaru and Akari took over the two. Hikaru was finally with Akari in a way he desired, something he had been patiently waiting to do for a couple of years. And Akari? She felt she might finally be able to fall asleep early tonight with such a feeling going through her.

After a while, she moved her hand to lightly graph his and gazed into his eyes. They were so close to each others faces.... "Thank you, Hikaru.." She murmured.

But she couldn't break her eyes from him; the feeling was too strong. Wordlessly, Hikaru's other hand pushed Akari's books and bag off to the corner and lightly leaned his forehead on hers. Akari's eyes were already closed....

Before he knew it, Hikaru and Akari were kissing each other slowly and tenderly, drawing even closer to each other as Hikaru moved to lean against the wall beside Akari and stroked her hair. Akari had wrapped her arms around his shoulders and leaned him into her.

Several minutes passed and obvious, heavy footsteps began making their way up the stairs. Hikaru and Akari were obliged to break apart and Akari went to her door to see who it was. Hikaru leaned back into the wall contentedly. She was good, she really was.

"Hikaru," Akari's mom called from the door.

Hikaru looked up. "Good afternoon, Mrs. Fujisaki," he greeted, smiling.

"You're welcome to stay for dinner tonight. I'm cooking Ramen if you're interested."

Hikaru's eyes lit up.

"Thanks! I'll just call my mom and let her know," he said as he jumped to his feet and moved to Akari's telephone.

"Oh, and one more thing, Hikaru."

"Yeah?"

"Don't think I didn't hear Akari and you busy a second ago. I don't want to hear anything about my daughter getting pregnant."

Akari turned red and covered her face.

"Mother, we're not even close to that point!" she protested.

Hikaru laughed. "Yeah...." he added as he nodded his head feverishly.

Mrs. Fujisaki turned to her daughter.

"Help me set up dinner, Akari. I'm almost done cooking."

Akari nodded. "I'll be down in a second."

Mrs. Fujisaki went back to the kitchen and Akari dashed back to Hikaru to give one quick kiss on the cheek.

"I'll see you downstairs," she whispered in his ear before joining her mother in the kitchen.

Hikaru shivered as he went to pick the receiver of Akari's phone up. "And a new story begins," he said to himself as he started dialing his house number.

There's the end of that! I have no idea if I should do a second chapter or not.. So, let me what you think of this and if it's worth putting up another chapter..