Last chapter! Thank you to the people who left me a grand total of… five reviews.

Well.

Five is better than four! Yay! Thank you!

Anyway, Akari puts in her two cents in here, and suicide and stuff comes up… and… yeah.

But here, it's complete. Read, enjoy, please comment.

With His Luck

To his surprise, Honinbo didn't completely vanish from his life. His dream visits were far less frequent than they were during the summer, and Yuuki was more often than not left to drown in the river. But he was grateful for still being allowed to visit with Honinbo and occasionally play a game with him. Yuuki never complained.

Gradually, with time, lots and lots of time, Yuuki swallowed his pride and began to slip back into the Go club. There were a few new members, Koike and Kaneko, and he couldn't stand either of them for long, but he stuck it out. The opportunity to play Go again was worth their annoying presences.

Indeed, over time, the two started to grow on him. Koike practically worshipped the ground he walked on, as he was the best Go player in the club, and Kaneko was just as stubborn as he was, and improving every day. She was the biggest challenge he had when he wasn't able to play Honinbo, and he craved the chance to duel with an equal.

Shindou, however, was not one he could forgive. Shindou had stolen Honinbo from his life, making the shade not a constant presence, but rather an occasional nightly gift. As he grew older and wiser in the ways of life, his dislike for Shindou increased. He began to see Honinbo as more than just a pretty young man, but as an attractive friend. Without even realizing it, Yuuki sought chances to bring a smile to Honinbo's face, to make his expressive blue eyes glow with pleasure, or even to earn an embrace from the other. When Honinbo himself was absent from Yuuki's dreams, his image was there, usually without quite as many robes, and Yuuki woke with his face burning and an unsatisfied ache between his legs. He prayed that he and Honinbo would never walk through those particular memories.

One night, not long after Shindou had become a pro, Yuuki was pulled from the river and looked at Honinbo, shocked to see a desperate, pleading expression on the young man's face. Yuuki reached out to touch Honinbo's cheek, his own face questioning Honinbo, wondering what was wrong.

Honinbo responded by drawing Yuuki close and kissing him.

It took all of Yuuki's willpower not to gasp or cry out in surprise or moan, not wanting this night to end right then. He quickly relaxed, raising his other hand to cup Honinbo's face, and he returned the kiss.

It was an odd sensation, like kissing sakura blossoms. Honinbo's lips and mouth didn't feel natural under Yuuki's, but they didn't feel bad either. Honinbo broke the kiss too soon for Yuuki's liking, but made it up to him by trailing his petal-lips across Yuuki's chin and down his neck.

Yuuki could have stopped it there, should have stopped it there, but he didn't. He didn't want to. He wanted to feel Honinbo, wanted to press their bodies together and taste every inch of the beautiful man before him. He wanted Honinbo's fingers and lips caressing every inch of his body. He wanted to give himself completely to Honinbo, and he wanted to lie sated in his arms, with Honinbo's robes wrapped around both of them like blankets, the sweat drying on their skin as they listened to each other's heart beat.

He almost got his wish.

Everything was going well. Clothes were shed, lips met skin, bodies were united… but Yuuki was the one who destroyed the end for both of them. Honinbo reached his completion moments before Yuuki, and as Yuuki came, a cry was torn from his throat, escaping his lips before he could stop it. Honinbo leaned forward, quickly muffling Yuuki with a kiss, but the damage was done, and Honinbo slipped through Yuuki's fingers like a fine mist. "Don't go!" Yuuki cried, trying to hold on to the rapidly fading figure, but Honinbo could only smile sadly and disappear as Yuuki woke, the sticky evidence of his passion smeared across his stomach.

Yuuki didn't drown the next night. Or the night after. It was rather frightening to not drown, just as terrifying as it had been the first few nights he had drowned. But Yuuki didn't drown in the river, and Honinbo never visited him.

Before too long, Yuuki learned that Shindou had been skipping his pro matches, and, when confronted in the hall by Fujisaki and himself, was all alone. He looked absolutely miserable, and the now-familiar shade was gone from his side. Yuuki's heart dropped to somewhere in the vicinity of his stomach. Honinbo was gone. Honinbo was gone, and somehow it was all Shindou's fault. It was all Shindou's fault! Shindou killed Honinbo!

Yuuki knew his accusations were irrational, but it felt better to put the blame on Shindou. It was easier to hate Shindou for Honinbo's disappearance than to hate himself… what if his cry was the reason Honinbo was gone from both of their lives?

Yuuki barely noticed how quickly he was spiraling deeper into depression after Honinbo's disappearance. Fujisaki drew his attention to it many months after Shindou had gotten back on his feet in the Go world – how dare he return to normal life after Honinbo left? How dare he? – by pointing out how irritable had had become. After all, how was Kumiko supposed to know he hated sakura blossoms? She had brought them in as Valentine's Day gifts for the males in the Go club, there really was no reason for Yuuki to knock his from her hands and coldly declare that he couldn't stand the sight of the blossoms. Yuuki admitted to himself that Fujisaki had a point… but still… Natsumi suggested they go out for a meal together, to calm down. After all, it was probably just the looming entrance exams that had Yuuki in such a riled state – this wasn't an easy time for any of them.

Yuuki went, because he owed Kumiko that much, an apology of sorts. They decided on a relatively cheap but still nice restaurant not too far from the school, and they started walking there as a group. Natsumi, Koike, Fujisaki, Kaneko, and Kumiko all talked and laughed together while Yuuki kept falling farther and farther behind. As they crossed a bridge over a river, Yuuki stopped altogether. He walked to the railing and looked down at the water below.

"Mitani! Come on!" Fujisaki called back to him, a giggle in her voice as she glanced back for a moment, but the group didn't stop. Not yet, at least.

Yuuki only barely glanced over at her before looking back at the lazy river. If he squinted, he could almost make out the billow of Honinbo's robes as he was dragged to his death. It would be easy to follow him. Yuuki set his bag down and climbed up on the railing. "Honinbo… catch me," he whispered before leaning forward and letting go.

> > > > >

Akari heard a splash and turned again to see if Mitani had caught up to them yet, but she couldn't see him. He had been right there, by the railing, staring into the river as if it held some answer he needed. His bag was still there... splash? "Mitani!" she shrieked, running to the railing and leaning over, watching the river ripple right below where Mitani's bag was. "Mitani!" She could see him in the water, she could see that red head anywhere. What scared her was how Mitani wasn't struggling, wasn't making any attempt to swim, from what should could see. He was letting himself sink into the depths of the river.

Beside her, Kumiko was wailing, and Koike was gripping the railing, his knuckles turning white as his eyes grew wider and wider. There was another splash as Kaneko, having kicked off her shoes, dived into the river as well, swimming for Mitani with strong, steady strokes. Natsumi was behind her, calling for an ambulance on his cell phone.

Mitani had stopped breathing by the time Kaneko got him to shore, and she performed the CPR she had learned in a life guarding class on him until the rescue workers arrived. Akari had never felt such relief as she did when Mitani suddenly coughed and sputtered, spitting out river water he had breathed in. He was taken to the hospital, and the rest of the Go club was offered rides to their respective houses by some policemen who had arrived as well.

By the time Mitani returned to school the next week, everyone knew about his fall. The most prevalent rumor was that he had jumped in, an attempt at suicide. The other acceptable reasoning was that he had fainted and fallen in.

Akari hated to admit it, but she believed the former. The way Mitani's bag had been neatly placed against the railing, the dead look to his eyes that had been present for months, his higher-than-normal irritability, his sulks… Mitani had been depressed. Depressed people tried to end their suffering. Akari knew that.

So she was surprised when he quietly slipped back into the Chem. lab after school, silently taking a place behind one of the gobans. But she didn't question it. None of the club members did. They played Go as if nothing had happened.

Two games later, when Mitani and Kaneko were picking up a game they had just played (one stone handicap for Kaneko, she lost), Mitani suddenly flung a handful of stones back on the board. "Why did you save me?" he demanded, his eyes cold. And Akari knew for sure that Mitani had attempted suicide.

Kaneko just continued calmly picking up the stones. "Because you're alive," she replied. "And every life is valuable, even yours." Mitani clenched his fists as if readying himself to punch her. But Kaneko stayed calm. She knew Mitani's mindset better than anyone else in the club. "But you're not mad for being alive right now, you're mad because you now owe me. You owe me your life." Her dark eyes met Mitani's surprised violet ones. The rest of the Go club was staring at her with similar surprise on their faces. "And, to repay me, you won't ever try to take your life again. I won't accept anything else in payment of your debt."

Mitani's eyes narrowed and he slammed his fist into the table with a curse. Kaneko just leveled an even gaze at him. "What was so terrible that you couldn't stand life anymore?"

Akari turned to look at Mitani. He was quiet and still for a long, long moment, then he murmured. "That isn't part of the payment." He swept a handful of white stones off the board and into his hand, holding them out. "Nigiri."

And as Mitani left the lab that evening, Akari watched him lift a sakura blossom from a vase and press a kiss to the soft petals before he replaced it and disappeared, as quietly as a ghost.

And she knew everything would turn out all right.

> > > > >

Crawler