AN: So here is the start of my Gravitation/Hikaru no Go crossover. I don't think it will be very long, maybe five chapters tops. I've been working on it for a while, so I hope anyone who has happened upon it enjoys it. ^.^

A Note on [Nihon]go: Any and all go-related notes will be mentioned at the end of each chapter so as to not clutter the actual story. Because the game of go actually originated in Japan, I will be using the Japanese words, expressions, and ranking systems. I will also be using Japanese suffixes for continuity's sake throughout the story. This is the ONLY Japanese wording I will be using throughout the story.

Standard Disclaimer: Sugarpony does not own Gravitation or Hikaru no Go. They belong to their respective genius creators.

Music is . . .

Happiness. Playfulness. Lightheartedness. Fun. Love.

Music is . . .

Sadness. Mourning. Restlessness. Anger. Hatred.

Music is . . .

Fleeting emotions, feelings, images, sounds, smells, from a time long since forgotten.

Music is . . .

Memories dancing on the edge of consciousness only to fade away untouched.

Music is . . .

The invisible connection between then and now.

Music is . . .

Untouchable, here for an instant and gone in a breath.

Music is . . .

Life.

Music is . . .

Death.

Music is . . .

Rebirth.

Singing Stones

Movement One: Introduction

Shindou Shuuichi never went to work on the fifth of May.

On the fifth of May Shindou Shuuichi always travelled to Innoshima, climbed to the Ishikiri Temple, and said a prayer at the grave of Honinbou Shuusaku. He wasn't sure exactly why he did this each year, he only knew it was important that he did. So for four long years he had continued this tradition. After all, it gave him the opportunity to travel and see some go related tourist sites, so what was the harm in taking one day off?

This year, however, Shuuichi kept looking over his shoulder as he rushed through his trip more quickly than usual, expecting at any moment a blond, machine gun-wielding American to kidnap him and drag him back to Tokyo for a mayhem-filled recording session with his band, Bad Luck. So far, though, his overenthusiastic manager had not made an appearance, and it was already nearing dinner time. Shuuichi would have to thank his best friend and fellow band member, Nakano Hiroshi, for the favor.

The fear of his manager's twitchy trigger finger wasn't the only reason he was hurrying his trip along this year, though; this was only the second time he had made the trip since meeting and subsequently falling in love with Yuki Eiri, and he would be happy when he was home once more, especially since Yuki had recently confessed his feelings. He had informed Yuki ahead of time that he would be missing dinner and wouldn't be home until late at night; it was all just as well since his best-selling author boyfriend had a deadline the following day and would most likely be locked in his study until the early morning hours tapping away at the keys on his computer. Still, he couldn't help but want to be as near to his fair-haired lover as soon as possible.

Before he left Hiroshima, however, he made sure to stop by one of the local go salons and play a game with Shuuhei-san. He had met the Carps fan during his first annual Shuusaku sight-seeing trip when he had stopped to play a quick game. The intimidating man had recognized his go, and the two had quickly become friends. Playing a game with the one-time national amateur representative had soon turned into a staple element of his annual day trip.

Shuuichi threw the door to the parlor open and bounced inside the small building, joyfully wearing a face-splitting grin. "Shuuhei-san," he called out cheerfully, throwing his sunglasses and Tokyo Giants cap behind the counter, "you're gonna resign halfway through chuuban today!"

The occupants of the salon all welcomed the pink-haired boy, and the elderly man at the counter waved him toward the center goban without collecting his entrance fee. Shuuhei grunted and cleared the board of the game he was replaying. "You've gotten much too cocky, Shindou-kun," he scolded. "If I win today you have to promise to stop wearing that ridiculous Giants cap whenever you visit."

Shuuichi laughed as he sat at the table and pulled one of the go ke toward him. "Alright, but when I win you have to go out and buy every single one of my Yuki's novels!"

Shuuhei chuckled as he nigiried. "So," he said, switching stones with his opponent, "you're still chasing after that writer of yours, are you?"

The singer's eyes lit up as he contemplated the board. "No way! I don't need to chase Yuki anymore! Yuki told me he loves me!"

The older man smiled broadly at his friend's blissful expression. He was glad to see the boy in such a good mood. "Good for you, Shindou-kun," he congratulated, "but you'd better concentrate on this game. I've gotten better while you've been off having fun with that band of yours."

"We'll see about that," Shuuichi crowed, and the two played bowed their heads and mumbled the customary "Onegaishimasu." Soon, the sharp sound of glass stones being placed on wood was all that could be heard in the go salon.

An hour later a crowd had gathered as the game between Shuuichi and Shuuhei was discussed. Shuuhei had forfeited shortly before the game progressed to yosei. "When you played at 3-15," Shuuichi declared, "that was where you lost. It let me get complete control over the upper left."

"Shindou-sensei is so strong," one red-nosed observer commented. "Why aren't you a pro-oof!" He was cut off mid-sentence as another customer elbowed him in the stomach. Shuuhei's glare silenced any protests he may have had.

Shuuichi laughed off the question. "No way could I be a pro," he said, waving a hand in dismissal. "I'm nowhere near good enough, and besides, I'm way too busy with Bad Luck! K-san would never let me spend so much time on go!"

The singer noisily scooted his chair back, stretching his arms over his head before rising from where he was seated in the middle of the ring of go players. "Leaving already?" the top amateur asked as the boy made his way to the front counter.

"Yup! Make sure you bring those books with you next year, and I'll get Yuki to sign them for you!" Shuuichi winked cheekily and ducked out of the salon, avoiding Shuuhei's half-hearted swipe. The big man chuckled, already looking forward to their next meeting, as his friend left to spend some time in Hiroshima's shopping district.

But soon enough the fifth of May had passed and the rock star returned to his everyday routine. On the sixth of May he bounded into Studio 3 at N-G Productions twenty minutes late for rehearsal. He burst through the door and was greeted by his producer, Sakano-san, caught in his usual whirlwind of worry, Hiro, his best friend and the band's guitarist, tuning his instrument, Fujisaki Suguru, Bad Luck's keyboardist, trying some new tunes on his synthesizer, and K-san, who was pointing his magnum right between Shuuichi's eyes. Just another normal day for Bad Luck.

By the time K-san allowed them to break for lunch, Shuuichi was exhausted; K-san's retribution for his skipping rehearsal the previous day was to work the lead singer until his vocal folds were rubbed raw. The vocalist flopped down in a chair next to his long-haired friend and guzzled half a bottle of water. He let out a contented sigh, grateful for the cool relief, and turned his most pathetic kicked puppy look on his band mate.

"Hiro~!" His big, bright violet eyes glistened, but they held mischief. "Hiro-kun~, play a game with me~!"

"No."

Shuuichi frowned. He hadn't even looked up from where he was combing his fingers through the strings of his guitar. The pink-haired boy sniffled and whimpered for dramatic affect and then tried again.

"But Hiro~, you haven't played with me in so~ long~!"

Hiro sighed and paused his playing to scold his hyper friend. "First of all, Shuuichi, we don't even have a board here-"

"I brought my portable one!"

"-second of all, we don't have enough time to play a game; we're in the middle of rehearsal, remember?" He not so subtly glanced at where K-san was bent over the recordings of the day's work so far, one hand resting on his ever present semi-automatic. "And third of all, the last time we played a game you won before we even made it to chuuban!"

"I promise I'll go easy on you! You can even have a nine stone handicap!"

"Shuuichi, that was a game of shidougo. You don't know how to go easy on someone."

Shuuichi was about to retort with a sizzling comeback that would have Hiro begging to play a game, but as he opened his mouth he was stalled by a snort from where Fujisaki was chewing on a red bean bun. The front man glowered at his skeptical band mate.

"What? Is there something on my face?"

Fujisaki snorted again and shook his head as he swallowed his mouthful of food. "Oh, please," he drawled, ridicule painted on his young face, "you don't really expect me to believe that Shindou, of all people, is some kind of mastermind at igo, possibly the most difficult strategic game ever created?"

"Hey!" Shuuichi bristled at the insinuation that he couldn't solve even a simple tsumego, highly affronted. "I'll have you know that I'm an awesome go player! I rarely ever lose when I play Net-Go!"

A slender eyebrow arched gracefully on the aristocratic face. It was times like these when Shuuichi was painfully reminded that his synth player was the younger cousin of his boss, head of N-G recording company and brother-in-law of his lover Yuki Eiri, Seguchi Tohma. Fujisaki could at times be just as irritatingly arrogant and condescending toward Shuuichi as Seguchi often was about the singer's love life.

"Oh really? Why don't we play a round of speed go and find out just how 'awesome' you are?"

"You're on!" Shuuichi, never one to back down from a challenge, immediately accepted the olive-haired teenager's proposal and began rifling through his bag for his portable goban and stones. He withdrew the game with a triumphant 'ah-hah!', flung it on the nearby table, and grabbed a fistful of stones. "Nigiri!"

The room was soon filled with the echoing sound of glass stone being placed (or in Shuuichi's case, slammed) on the wooden board. The two boys barely paused between moves, as per the rules of ten second go, and the goban soon became filled with a complex black and white pattern.

Pa-chi!

Black connects at 8-16.

Pa-chi!

White cuts at 18-3.

Pa-chi!

A ko fight breaks out in the upper left corner.

Pa-chi!

A small group of white stones are sacrificed in order to form two eyes.

Pa-chi!

White responds to the ko fight in the upper left.

Pa-chi!

Black claims the tengen.

Pa-chi!

White defends its suffering shape.

Pa-chi!

A short pause. A mistake from black? White attacks and takes the advantage.

Pa-chi!

Black returns to the ko fight once more.

Pa-chi!

White resigns in the ko fight and presses further into black's territory. With that mistake of black's, the loss of a simple ko fight is meaningless.

Pa-chi!

Pa-chi!

Pa-chi!

A black stone is slammed into 10-4, and a white stone is dropped into a go-ke from its place in prepared fingertips. Suddenly black's shape is strong and full of life all across the board, and the lost ko fight has killed most of white's territory. Black's seemingly fatal mistake from early suddenly takes on new life and turns the tide of the game.

". . . I have lost."

Shuuichi released his pent-up excitement in a great sigh and gleamed across the board to where Fujisaki's head hung in defeat. "Hey, you're pretty good, Fujisaki! Let's play again some time!"

A snort from Hiro's direction drew the surprisingly adept go player's attention from the game. "If you know what's good for you," the long-haired man said to his junior, "you'll keep your distance when he's on a go kick. He only gets more and more ruthless each time you play him."

The vocalist pouted and sent a hurt look to his friend. "Hiro~! You're so mean to me~!"

Fujisaki wore a gobsmacked expression on his young face, disbelief filling his eyes as they roved over the completed game. "How the- what the- where the hell did you learn how to play igo like that?!"

Shuuichi broke from his celebratory dance and turned an innocent expression on his friend. "I dunno," he shrugged, retaking his seat. "I've always played, ever since I can remember. Did you want to discuss the game?" He smiled and reached across the board to begin pointing out areas of significance, but he was interrupted before he could start by a calloused hand on his shoulder steering him in the direction of the microphone. The singer looked up at his manager and pouted.

"K-san!" Shuuichi whined, pouting, "We were just getting started!"

K gave his client another firm shove toward the microphone. "No way," he said, shaking his head, eyes sharp and reproving. "You," he continued, wagging a finger at him, "still have to make up for all the lost recording time from your sudden vanishing act yesterday!" He reached down and grabbed his gun from its shoulder holster and turned to the other members of Bad Luck with a warning glare. "And that goes for the rest of you, as well!"

Hiroshi merely rolled his eyes with a sigh a retook his position next to Shuuichi, while Fujisaki dazedly stood and returned to his keyboard. The recording session resumed, and the goban stood in the corner, forgotten in lieu of Bad Luck's music and K's vast skills in gunman-ship.

AN: I'm still not very happy about how the game of go came out, but it's better than what I had to start out with. Overall, I'm pretty satisfied with the chapter. I was originally going to put more of the story in it, but that last sentence felt like a good stopping point; I don't think I could make a good transition from it, and I like it too much to take it out.

Please review and let me know what you think! Constructive criticism and flames accepted!

-Sugarpony

Edit: 04/02/11

2nd Edit: 09/22/12

Go-related Terms:

Goban- go board

Go ke- bowl which holds go stones

Nigiri- the act of deciding which player plays which color stones

Onegaishimasu- "Please give me your guidance," customarily said before a game of go

Chuuban- middle game

Yosei- end game

Shidougo- teaching game

Kifu- game records

Tsumego- problems of life and death

Net-Go- Internet go

Tengen- middle point on the goban