FORGETTING THE PAST
By: Sendoh11
Disclaimer: I do not own HNG or Gravitation.
Chapter 2
No One Can Foresee What Destiny Hold In Store
"Shindou!"
To say Hikaru was shocked would be as bad as insulting the God. No, Hikaru was not shocked.
He was appalled.
Before he could try leaving the institute, Akira gripped his shoulder and turned him around roughly. His grip on Hikaru's shoulder was so tight that Hikaru was sure there would be a bruise later.
"Shindou! Is it really you?" Akira asked.
Not getting any answer from the other boy, Akira asked again. "Where have you been, Shindou? Where have you been these two years? Why didn't you tell us? You should at least send us a mail or phone us to tell us that you are alright. Do you know how worried we were?" Do you know how worried I was?
Hikaru looked away, feeling guilty. Now that he thought about it, he never tell any of his friends that he was quitting go, or where he was going.All he had thought about was he.
How selfish. No wonder he left. It was his entire fault.
"Shindou!" Akira tried again.
Hikaru looked up once more, noting Akira's hair style and clothes with a touch of disgust.
'Still wearing clothes that are too formal that made him look years older than he really was,' he thought. Before knowing it, he blurted out, "I didn't know your fashion taste is still that bad."
A nerve could be seen working in Akira's forehead at that statement. Bad fashion taste? Him? How dare him.
"What about you? You are no better than me if you said that I'm still the same." Akira retorted.
"What about me? There's nothing wrong about me."
"What do you mean nothing wrong? Having pink hair means that there's something wrong with you. Besides that, pink is such a stupid colour that only someone who's stupid would choose."
"Are trying to start something? Because I can't help but felt that was directed towards me."
"Why yes! It was actually meant to be directed towards you. Besides that, I'm merely stating the facts. The colour that you chose is not suitable for you. In fact, the colour that you have chosen before this is not suitable too, and i don't think that you will be able to choose a colour that is suitable for you."
"At least, I'm better than you. I change my style, unlike someone here. Are those clothes yours? Because it looks as if it's old enough for recycling and surely you aren't that old, are you? Or is it that you are already in your thirties, or even forties but your body can no longer grow?"
"Why, you…"
"Yes, why me?"
At this, both were glaring at each other.
Silence spread across the room thicker than jiffy peanut butter and it lasted for five minutes.Suddenly, Hikaru started chuckling, before laughing loudly.
To say Akira was shocked would be an understatement for he had taken two steps backwards.
"Shindou? Are you alright?" Akira was worried. No one would start laughing all of a sudden when they were still quarrelling with another, right?
At least, he thought normal people would not, but Hikaru could not be considered normal, could he? Still, Akira was worried.
"Shindou! Stop laughing. What is it? You are scaring me like this.""Sorry," Hikaru answered after laughing for two whole minutes. Even though he had stop laughing, his face was still plastered with a big grin.
"It just reminds me of us two years ago, always bickering with each other."
Hikaru looked away again, not wanting Akira to see him looking sad. He missed them.He really did, Waya, Honda, Isumi, and even Ochi, but he missed Sai the most.
"Yeah! We were always bickering."
"And I was always saying that I would beat you in an official match, remember?" Hikaru asked.
"Yes. And if you meant you what you said, then why? Why did you leave? Didn't you say that you want to reach the hand of god? How could you reach it if you had stop playing go? Didn't you say that you want to be stronger than me?" Akira was shouting by now.
All his frustration and anger was let out at this moment.He was really angry at Hikaru for leaving two years ago without telling anyone. Even though it has been two years, he was still angry.
He really felt like slapping Hikaru at the cheek right now, but he managed to calm himself down.'Slapping someone is not proper whether that person is in wrong or not,' his father's voice whispered sternly in his mind.
"Let's go play a game of go, now." Akira said after not getting any reaction from Hikaru. He grabbed Hikaru's arm and started dragging him along not waiting for Hikaru's answer.
"Wait, hold on, Touya." Hikaru said while trying his best to yank his arm away from Akira.
"Can't you just hold on for a bloody second?" God, he never knew that Akira's grip could be so strong.
Are all go players so strong?He could still remember the time when Ogata sensei threw him against the wall when he wanted to know about Sai.
To say it was not painful would be lying. It hurt like hell.
Go players should be weak, shouldn't they? Since they lack of exercise as they were always doing nothing but playing go.
He could not compare himself to Akira since he had only played for about two years. Akira must have played for only God knows how long.
"Sit." Akira commanded. Hikaru looked up only to find himself in front of a goban. Had he walked that far?He tried to turn away, but Akira caught him and forced him to sit.
"Nigiri," Akira started picking those stones not waiting for an answer.Hikaru looked at the goban. His hand itched for the stones.
How he wished to just pick up a stone and placed it onto the goban. How he wished to just touched the stones again, to feel it.
But he could not do it if he wanted Sai to come back. He had always believed that Sai left because he never let him play and Sai would come back if he quit go.It has been two years now and there was no sign of Sai returning. Hikaru started to doubt that Sai would ever return. So it would be okay even if he started playing again, right?
After all, Sai would not return after two years, right? If he wanted to return, he would have returned a long time back.
Hikaru tried to think that way, but the faintest tinges of doubt had dug its claws into his heart and strengthened its hold on him. He was not sure if he should be playing.Slowly, his hand went forward to reach the go ke. He picked up a stone and placed it on the goban hesitantly, finger not leaving it only after a few seconds.
Akira slammed his stone down almost immediately.
Pachi
Pachi
Pachi
Hikaru's confidence increased as the game continues. Both were intent on the game now.
Pachi
Pachi
Pachi
Suddenly, Hikaru thought he saw Sai. He looked up hopefully, only to have his hopes crushed once again.
Hikaru looked at his hands. Realisation struck him like it never did. 'So this was where Sai had always been, and i'm stupid enough not to realise it.' Hikaru thought. 'I should have known it. Even though Sai isn't here anymore, he's still in my go. After all, he's the one who teach me. Why haven't I thought of it? I'm really stupid.'
Tears started sprouting from the corner of his eyes. The pain in his heart was plain to see on his face.
Meanwhile, Akira had stop playing too. He knew Hikaru's style seemed familiar with another person since they started playing, yet the memory stayed stubbornly out of reach. It was someone important, he knew. Yet, his mind defied his drugged pleas for recollection.
Or so it seemed.
When Hikaru played the last hand, the one name that came into his mind was 'Sai'. Hikaru's style was alike to Sai, yet it was different, as if there were two people in him.
Is that possible?
Akira looked up, wanting to ask Hikaru about it, but those questions died the moment he saw Hikaru crying. Tears were now flowing freely down Hikaru's cheek and he made no attempt to wipe it.
Instead, he looked at his hand, saying "maybe, just maybe I could play again. No! I must play again, no matter how many games, be it thousands or millions, I will play it. After all, this is the only way."
Hikaru looked into Akira's confusing eyes, his owns fierce with determination.
"I'll beat you, Akira, and I'll definitely achieve the hand of god. That I promise you."
Akira smiled. Those questions that he intended to ask did not matter anymore. All that matter now was that Hikaru was playing again, and that was more than enough.
Yo, minna. Sorry I took so long to update. I have reasons though. The internet system was down for some time and I was being lazy. Even though this story is finished, I've planned on writing a sequel. But I can't update anytime soon, since I'm currently having my end-of-year examinations. God, how I hate exams. sigh Anyway, good luck to me for my exams.