This story will not be super long, probably only a few chapters. I thought about just making it a one shot, but I'm so excited about actually writing a new story that I just want to start posting before I've finished it, so it'll go up in chapters.

Disclaimer: I do not own Hikaru no Go or any of its characters. I only own my own ideas.

The day that Shindou Hikaru died, Touya Akira locked himself in his room and wouldn't come out. Touya had always warned Hikaru that all that cup ramen would be the death of him. He had just never meant it quite so literally.

It was the most important game either of them had ever played. Of course, every game they played against each other was somehow more important than any game they played against anyone else, even if it was just a casual game on a lazy Sunday afternoon. But this game was different. This was the final game in the Houinbou league. Whoever won would earn the right to challenge Kuwabara-sensei for his title. Neither of them had managed to enter a title match yet, and at the tender age of 18, the winner would break the record for the youngest challenger since the inception of the tournament.

The match had become something of a festival for the go community. Weekly Go had called it "the game of the decade, not to be missed." Hikaru and Touya's fierce rivalry was public knowledge by this point, but official matches between them were few and far between. And a match with this much riding on it was certain to be spectacular. The viewing room, which usually held only a reporter and the odd bored pro or two, was standing room only.

You would think that all of those people might have remembered that Hikaru needed lunch. They didn't.

It was a good game, a solid game, and Touya held his own, but Hikaru took an early lead and by lunch time, it was obvious to Touya that he was going to lose. While the game was still close, Touya knew Hikaru's go better than most people, and the situation he now found himself in was all but hopeless. The game paused for lunch, but Touya stayed where he was, trying frantically to think of a way out of his doomed situation. Hikaru stayed with him. Touya never ate during a game, but over the years he had at least developed the habit of joining Hikaru while he ate. By the time Hikaru looked up at the clock, it was 12:45. The game was supposed to start again at 1:00.

"Crap, lunch!" Hikaru groaned. "I totally forgot. And I didn't bring anything to eat today." He jumped to his feet. "Touya, I'm going to run across the street and buy some cup ramen. Do you want anything?" Hikaru already knew that Touya would say no, but he asked anyway. They were just like that, the two of them. Bitter enemies on the go board, the best of friends off it. Touya smiled at the thought and shook his head.

If Touya had known then that this would be the last conversation he would ever have with Hikaru, he would have voiced that thought out loud. But he didn't know, so he didn't say it.

Touya continued to stare at the board, praying that he could find a path to life, but the more he looked, the more impossible it seemed. He was so focused on the game in front of him that he didn't hear the screams. He didn't hear the frantic shouting or the sirens blaring down the street. An earthquake could have ripped through the room and Touya still would not have noticed. Nothing meant more to Touya than this game. Nothing. Except what was occurring outside. But he didn't know that.

Touya didn't hear Amano enter the room. He didn't hear him call his name. He didn't even notice him at all until a gentle hand was placed on his shoulder and he was forced from his trance with a jolt.

"Touya-kun! What are you still doing here?" Amano's face was pale and lined with worry. As Touya slowly brought his go-soaked brain back to reality, he began to realize that something was wrong. He could hear sirens outside, and hurried footsteps and tense voices in the hallway. He glanced at the clock. It was 1:15. And he and Amano were the only people in the room.

"What's going on?" Touya asked. "Where is everyone?" Amano's face was strained, as if he wanted to be anywhere but where he was. He took a deep breath.

"Touya-kun," he said steadily. "There was an accident. Shindou-kun was hit by a car. He…he died instantly."

The words didn't click right away in Touya's head. He couldn't understand. Dead? Hikaru couldn't be dead. They were in the middle of a game! Hikaru wouldn't just abandon a game like that. He couldn't! Shoving Amano aside, Touya sprinted from the room, heart pounding in his ears as he raced to the street, knocking into several people and not caring.

Touya was only partially processing the stimuli around him. A mass of people. Yellow tape. An ambulance and two police cars. Touya pushed himself to the front of the crowd and came to a grinding halt. Blood. More blood than Touya had ever seen in his life. He felt dizzy, unstable.

And then he saw it. Lying abandoned in the middle of the red pool was a plastic bag from the convenience store. Inside were a container of cup ramen and a bottle of Touya's favorite barley tea. Hikaru hated that tea. And suddenly, the weight of what had occurred finally hit him full force. Touya want to vomit and scream and cry all at the same time.

"It's not true," he said with disbelief. "It can't be true. He can't be gone!"

Two paramedics were standing nearby, talking to each other and taking notes, and Touya tore up to them, grabbing one of them by the lapels.

"Shindou!" he said desperately. "Where's Shindou?" The man he was holding looked confused.

"He means the body," the other man said, prying Touya's hands off his companion. "Sorry, but no one's allowed near that body. Health risk you understand."

Body? BODY?! Touya felt more rage than he had ever experienced surge through him.

"He is NOT a body!" he shrieked. "He's my best friend! Give him back!" He lunged towards the ambulance.

"Shindou!" he cried. "Shindou, answer me!" He felt arms grab his shoulders, but he fought them off. He felt that if he could just reach the ambulance, everything would be ok. Hikaru would be inside, with nothing more serious than a scraped knee and would berate him for leaving the game over something so trivial. A second pair of hands joined the first, but Touya was kicking and punching and biting like a wildcat, pushing with all his might towards his last desperate hope. He felt a sharp pinch in his back and he knew no more.

Yes, I know, sad and depressing. More will follow…