A/N: This is it!! The LAST chapter! Thank you all for your reviews and support. I have very much enjoyed writing this story and having the chance to share with all of you, not to mention all of the great comments. I can't say that I'm not a little glad that it's over, now. It's difficult to remain on a decent update schedule, as I'm sure you've all noticed! Thank you for your patience with me. ;D
"Are you kidding?" Hikaru exclaimed, whipping around to stare at Akira. He had been attempting to brush his teeth, but in his shock he had dropped his toothbrush in the sink.
Why did Akira always have to hit him with these things in the morning? At least, it seemed that way to him.
"My father would like us to have dinner as a family this evening in order to discuss our relationship," Akira repeated patiently, small lines of stress appearing around his aqua eyes.
"That's what I thought you said…" Hikaru murmured slowly, turning back to the sink to stare at his abandoned toothbrush.
Dinner? To 'discuss' their relationship? He hadn't thought it was up for any kind of 'discussion'. From Akira's expression, he wasn't looking forward to it, either.
"Hikaru?" Akira prompted, drawing closer in concern.
He turned back towards the aqua-eyed boy, leaning back against the vanity. "Do we have to go?" he asked meekly, pleadingly. He did not want to face down Touya senior. He had been hoping that there would never be a confrontation, even though he knew realistically that the chances of escaping one were slim to none.
Akira's expression pinched. "I would appreciate it if you would come. I don't think there's any other way to resolve this. At the very least, my…" The other boy trailed off, glancing away.
"What? Your what?" He knew Akira had a tendency to behave like this whenever there was something important to be said or done, especially when that something might be an imposition on someone else.
When Akira looked up, his expression had smoothed into blankness. "My family. My family may not recover if we decline this invitation."
The blank look was an even stronger indicator of his rival's troubled state than the frown had been. Hikaru sighed, hanging his head as he clenched his hands around the edge of the vanity. "Okay, we'll go," he assented, tone carefully neutral.
"I don't want to burden—" Akira began, reaching a tentative hand towards him.
He caught it in one of his, smiling gamely into his friend's uncertain look. "Really, I don't mind at all. We'll go."
The aqua-eyed boy couldn't hide his relief.
Hikaru busied himself with rescuing and cleansing his sullied toothbrush in order to conceal his anxiety.
His mother had been bothering him lately every time he left the house, wanting to know where he kept spending the night and so on. Sooner or later, he was going to have to face his own family. His mother already knew that he had previously been seeing Kota, and had some suspicion of something between he and Akira after the earlier scene she had been privy to.
He had denied everything, claiming to be studying at Isumi's place, or that he was trying to help Waya improve. In fact, he had been playing less Go than he ought to be lately, being so caught up in his new relationship with Akira. They only had a week until matches started up again, and he had already received notice that his first match had been scheduled.
But despite his general anxiety, there was a calm place within him. He had already attained his heart's desire. Their first - and so far only – real lovemaking had happened a week ago. He was very much looking forward to the next time, but he'd had a hard time catching up to his rival during the week. Akira had scheduled an unholy number of tutoring games, as if deliberately avoiding him – or frantically preparing for his own match. The latter made more sense.
They had talked and held each other last night, but before he had been able to act on his desires, Akira had fallen asleep on him. It figured. His hormones were raging, and Akira was oblivious.
Please don't let once a week be enough for you! Hikaru thought fervently, idly searching for the other boy's reflection in the mirror as he began brushing his teeth.
He didn't see Akira in the bedroom behind him, but he thought he smelled food and heard activity in the kitchen…
Grinning around his toothbrush, he stepped up his efforts and glanced at his watch. It was only 9:13 A.M. There was plenty of time before dinner to ambush Akira. After breakfast was good enough. The other boy couldn't possibly avoid him for that long.
Hikaru picked at his dinner dutifully, trying to look interested in it and whatever the Meijin had to say. He and Akira had been here for an hour already, and rather than being broken, the ice had thickened through the small talk.
His earlier plan of capturing Akira and making him his uke had somehow failed utterly, and now he was even more sexually frustrated as well as being anxious. Feeling the hard floor through all of that was not making him feel any happier.
It had been a while since he'd sat at a traditional table for any period of time, and the cushion he was sitting on was rather thin and did nothing to soften the hardness of the floor beneath him. The Meijin wouldn't want anyone to be comfortable, after all.
"Hikaru, what are your intentions towards my son?" Touya Koyo asked levelly during a lull in the Go chatter with his son, gaze steely.
He had been prepared for this. Really. Just not while he was mid-swallow. He began choking immediately and had to pound on his own chest while coughing up his lungs in order to breathe again. He was vaguely aware of Akira patting him gently on the back a couple of times.
Akira, that is not going to save me.
After his eyes had stopped watering and his voice was restored to him, he looked up bravely into the face of the devil. Naturally the fact that he had choked when the question was asked seemed to have condemned him even further in the eyes of Akira's father, as those eyes were even colder than before.
"I…" he began hesitantly, voice catching in his raw throat. "We're dating?" he offered hoarsely, clearing his throat.
Touya senior drew back from the table slightly, tucking his hands into his sleeves. "So you intend to burden him for a short time only? Why not withdraw completely? You're just an inconvenience to this family." Although the man's tone was even, the words practically blazed with suppressed resentment.
"Father!" Akira burst out, expression outraged.
"Dear…" Touya senior's wife began quietly.
Hikaru felt his cheeks burn with anger and embarrassment, but he lifted his chin and returned the Meijin's gaze directly. "I intend to remain with Akira for as long as he'll have me. I regret that my presence is an inconvenience to you, sir, but whether I stay or go is up to Akira. I'm serious about my commitment to him."
He glanced over at Akira to check the effect of his words and was greeted with an approving smile. Thankfully. The last thing he needed was the anger of two Touyas.
Akira's father made a disgruntled, gruff sound and slowly rose to his feet, retreating from the room.
"Is that good or bad?" Hikaru asked in the sudden silence.
His rival shrugged. "Who can say with father? It could be that he's giving up on this battle. But he might just be regrouping."
Hikaru sighed, leaning back on his hands. He could practically see his reflection in the surface of the highly polished table, and it was bothering him. "Greaaat. Something to look forward to."
Akira's mother rose, bowing slightly to him, and he quickly rose to do the same. "I believe that he will eventually come around, Shindou-kun. I have enjoyed spending time with you, and hope to know you better."
"Thank you, Touya-san. I'm sorry if I've caused any problems. I'm not very good at this sort of thing."
Akira stifled an amused noise beside him and he resisted the urge to smack the other boy.
"I'm sure that everything will work out one way or another," she replied. "Do the two of you need anything before I go? I apologize that our family dinner has been cut short. Please make yourselves at home and stay as long as you wish."
"Thank you," he murmured, folding himself back down onto his cushion as she left the room.
Just then, his cell phone rang.
"I thought you would have turned that off," Akira said sternly, giving him a disapproving look.
Hikaru sighed as he wrestled it out of his pocket. "I'm sorry, I forgot!" He almost wished that he had been considerate enough to remember to silence it when he saw who the caller was.
Kota Again. How many times did the man have to remain unanswered before he would give it a rest?
Akira was fuming silently as he peered down at the screen. "Hikaru. Why is Kota still calling? Have you encouraged him in some fashion?"
"I haven't even answered his calls! Geez. Maybe I should call him back and let him know that I'm definitely, without a doubt, not interested."
"Yes, maybe you should," the other boy replied coolly, as if Hikaru had deliberately enticed Kota into being obsessive.
He clenched his teeth, annoyed. "Why don't we just go back to my place for a while? I don't feel like hanging out here where your father so recently tried to murder me and I know you must be dying to play Go to your heart's content. Mom won't bother us, so let's go."
"I agree that it would feel less awkward…" Akira agreed reluctantly.
"Fine, let's go. I swear I won't play video games this time, okay?"
Akira glanced up from contemplating his next move only to see Hikaru staring at him with bright green eyes yet again. There was something of a mischievous light in their depths, warning him that the other boy was considering doing something that would undoubtedly leave him indignant and struggling for words.
After carefully searching Hikaru's face for any hint as to what his rival might be planning, he returned his attention to the Go-ban. The bleach-banged pro had been giving him looks like that all week, as a matter of fact. He was no closer to understanding them than he had been several days ago.
"You need to focus," he admonished Hikaru as he made his move, sharp and precise as ever.
"I am focusing," Hikaru replied with a smirk.
He pointed at the board in irritation, glaring at his friend. "You call this focusing?"
"No…this is focusing!" the other boy exclaimed, moving suddenly from his side of the Go-ban to tackle Akira to the floor with lightning speed.
"Hik-Hikaru!" he gasped out, struggling to squeeze out from under his attacker. But Hikaru's full weight was on him, and the most he could manage without serious force was a wriggle or two.
Hikaru's bright, beaming face shone down into his, green eyes wide and warm. The sunlight truly is in your eyes. It's that smile that you always used to give me before, the one that I feared you had lost. He felt relief flood through him, unaware that he had been waiting all along for the return of that precious joy, that luminescence. He had never seen light like this in anyone but Hikaru, who was so aptly named.
He pushed half-heartedly against the other boy's chest. "Hikaru…" I love you.
"Whaaaat? I haven't been able to get anywhere near you this whole week. The least you could do is let me kiss you a little." Hikaru shifted slightly.
The movement sent a sparking jolt of heat through his body, and made him realize that he had to find a way to escape this position. He had felt the arousal of the other quite clearly during that shift. Far from being shy or embarrassed, Hikaru was gazing down raptly into his face, only a few inches separating their lips.
"You're really beautiful, Akira," Hikaru said softly, eyes growing contemplative and hooded even as Akira watched. "I've always thought so. I think I wanted you even back when I was 12. You were so perfect to me. You're even more so now."
He opened his mouth to say something, anything, but was startled when Hikaru leaned even closer. Those green eyes closed completely, and the other boy remained hovering over him, lips barely touching his as they exchanged breath.
"I liked it when you did this," Hikaru breathed into his mouth, the words barely audible.
Akira swallowed back a moan, his body beginning to arch into Hikaru's against his will. He controlled himself with an effort, trying to turn his head away. "No, your mother…"
"Relax, she'll leave us alone. I just want to be close to you." Hikaru gently rocked his hips into Akira's.
"That's more than 'being close'," Akira ground out, breath hissing through his teeth as his jaw clenched briefly on what would have been a gasp.
"I love you, Akira," Hikaru murmured, summer eyes serious. "I want to be as close as we can get."
He loved it when the other boy gazed at him with those solemn eyes. But… "No, Hikaru, not here. Let's go back to my—"
"No!" his lover burst out, expression agitated. "You'll just find an excuse to put me off again."
"Hikaru—" he began sternly. Blond bangs fell into his face as Hikaru suddenly kissed him hard, completely shattering his train of thought. The green-eyed boy's tongue found his, forcefully demanding that he submit with strong, intense strokes.
Akira felt his will leave him in a rush as need and heat swept up and down his body like a fever. His blood was on fire and felt drawn to Hikaru, as if his lover was a magnet and his blood was magnetized.
'How could I have ignored this for so long?' he thought furiously, gasping into the consuming lust of Hikaru's mouth.
Hikaru's hips had begun a slow, regular rhythm, rolling torturously against his over and over again. He turned his head away, breaking their kiss. "S-stop!" he stuttered, trying to sound authoritative.
"Is this like that time I pinned you to the floor at Isumi's place?" Hikaru asked gently, voice low and throaty with passion. "It is that kind of 'stop'?"
"Nnn," he replied as the other boy bit down on the side of his neck, moving helplessly against the body pinning his. The urge to tear his lover's clothes off tripped through his mind and his hands. He clearly recalled what it felt like to sink into the tight, drawing heat of Hikaru's body, and he wanted it fiercely.
But they were at Hikaru's…his mother…
The thoughts seemed to have lost the imperative feeling they'd had only moments ago. The only thing that he was conscious of was the increasing pressure within him from the response of his own body to the pressure that was bearing down from without.
Hikaru's hips had begun to move more forcefully, pushing him into the floor. Sometime while he was distracted, the other boy's hand had risen to clench in the back of Akira's hair, insanely hot mouth sucking at the flesh of his throat.
"Stop…it…" he gasped out, pushing weakly at Hikaru's ribs.
Hikaru lifted his head. "No," the bleach-banged pro breathed against his lips, taking them again without so much as a by-your-leave from Akira.
He felt fingers invading and undoing the fastenings of his clothing as he lost himself in the deep lock of their mouths, responding to every movement of Hikaru's tongue against his. He couldn't help it. The other boy's touch always undid him absolutely.
Akira felt the motion stop for a moment, and slowly opened his eyes when he felt the fumbling of the other pro's fingers at his wrists and some other foreign sensation that he couldn't identify. "Hmm…?"
Hikaru gave him a devilish grin, returning to his previous activity of undressing Akira.
Akira tried to move his hands from where Hikaru had pressed them to the floor over his head – and couldn't. He glanced up as he felt something pulling against his wrists and saw that the other boy had somehow lashed him to the nearest leg of the bed with a length of thin leather cord.
"Hikaru!" he gasped, shocked and scandalized. He frantically tested the knots for any give or weakness.
"What? You keep trying to get away."
Although he struggled a little, his body felt steeped in desire. That his lover would be so serious about this as to do things this way, here and now…
He felt Hikaru spreading his legs, and realized that he could feel the air on his skin, not to mention the other boy's warm breath. "Hikaru, what are you—"
"You're so difficult, aren't you?" the green-eyed boy whispered into the curve of Akira's hip, pressing wet kisses into the sensitive skin.
He moaned, twisting and jerking against his bonds at the scorching, desperate feeling that was kneading its way through his flesh.
Hikaru chuckled low in his throat, lips drifting to kiss at the junction of Akira's thigh and body. Every now and then his tongue would flicker lightly over the skin there.
Akira jerked violently against his restraints as his body reacted, the breath rushing out of his lungs in a ragged moan.
"Be quiet," Hikaru whispered, taking Akira into his mouth slowly, tongue rasping down the underside of Akira's length as he did so.
He choked on his cry of pleasure, trying to remain silent, but tears were beginning to well in his eyes from frustration and the ache of his desire. "Please…let me…" he begged Hikaru, straining to keep his eyes open and locked on the other boy's face.
The bleach-banged pro lifted his head. "I'm not letting you do anything," Hikaru murmured, eyes dark and deep.
Those eyes drew him in and swallowed him. He couldn't resist at all. Akira let his head fall back, unable to continue looking or debating with every muscle in his body tremoring. Was his lover going to bring him to completion like this?
"I want you…" Akira breathed, squeezing his eyes shut tightly as he worked his wrists against the cord. "Please, Hikaru…" He held his breath as he felt his friend's warmth retreat. The sound of clothing hitting the floor reached his ears after a few moments of listening to the cloth rustle.
The other boy's body covered his again, smoldering skin branding his. "Ah!" he gasped out, arching into the heat and torturous friction. He wrapped his legs around Hikaru, just trying to keep him close and feel him more.
"Do you want me?" Hikaru murmured beside his ear, gently nudging Akira's cheek with his nose.
"Too…much…" he managed to force out between labored breaths.
"Never too much," the green-eyed boy assured Akira, fingers lightly stroking over the skin of his bound wrists.
"We…shouldn't," he tried one last time, opening his eyes to meet that brilliant green gaze.
Hikaru's expression was one of utter unconcern as he reached out to drag his backpack closer to their position.
Hikaru reached into his backpack as he blithely reassured Akira, fingers questing for the item that he always carried with him now. He no longer cared about the possibility that his mother might bother them. He only cared about being embraced as intimately as possible by the boy he loved.
He was watched by Akira's heated eyes as he found what he had been looking for, drawing the tube of lubricant out of his backpack. He squeezed some onto his fingers and set the tube aside, leaning in to kiss the other boy again as he gently teased and stroked at his entrance.
He was so excited that he thought he would die if it took any longer. But he knew that there was no rushing through the preparations, especially not for Akira's first time. He curbed his impatience and tried to split his attention between kissing and preparing, penetrating the aqua-eyed boy's mouth in just the way he wanted to penetrate his body. Hikaru made the motions with his mouth over and over, noticing the effect it had on Akira. His lover was making soft, desperate noises, hips lifting and begging for his touch – his entry.
He drew back slightly. "Do you want me?" he panted, gaze tracing over the refined yet strong features of the face he loved so dearly.
Those aqua eyes opened just enough to glare at him.
Hikaru smirked, slowing pressing a finger into the resistant heat that he had been stroking against.
Akira's eyes closed suddenly, hips lifting and jaw clenching. Worried, he slowly began to withdraw, but the other boy spread his legs a little wider and moved towards Hikaru the slightest bit, easing the finger deeper into his body.
"Does it hurt?" he whispered.
"Nothing like…wanting you this badly," Akira replied quietly. "More."
He slowly withdrew and reached for the lubricant, spreading more over his fingers and preparing his own body to enter Akira's so that he wouldn't have to worry about it when the time came.
Hikaru watched the other boy closely as he resumed touching him, wanting to observe every flicker of emotion and pleasure that chased across the normally reserved and composed face of his rival. He liked this view best of all.
"Don't…stare…" Akira murmured in a thready voice, moving into the slow thrust of Hikaru's fingers and gasping. His lover's breath came even more harshly than it had only a minute ago.
"I'm going to do it," he whispered, gently reaching down to grip Akira's hips and lift them.
The aqua-eyed boy nodded weakly, obviously incapable of answering.
Hikaru had to bite back a moan as he slowly entered Akira, his body screaming with the need to thrust all the way in and never withdraw.
"Qui…et…" Akira taunted, aqua eyes glimmering at him from under dark lashes.
"I'll give you quiet," he murmured breathlessly. Hikaru continued his entry with slightly more speed and force, goaded by his lover's attitude.
His rival cried out softly, head falling back against the floor, but his legs wrapped around Hikaru, suddenly pulling him close forcefully. They gasped together at the sudden and complete immersion.
"Are you okay?" he choked out.
"Yes," Akira gritted out, hips moving impatiently. "I.want.you. Please!"
Surprised but happy to oblige, Hikaru began to move, thrusts gradually increasing in speed and force at the unspoken requests of Akira's body. He was well and truly into it, trying to stifle Akira's maddening little cries with deep, distracted kisses, when his mother knocked on the door.
Akira stiffened suddenly, eyes widening, and they stopped kissing for a moment.
"Ignore her," he whispered against the other boy's lips.
"Hikaru, I brought some cookies," his mother's voice called through the locked door.
"Later, Mom…" he called over his shoulder, trying not to sound winded. "I'm in the middle of a game." He turned his head back only to see Akira struggling against the leather cord again, trying to escape. "No," he said quietly, rocking his hips suddenly to remind his lover of their positions.
Akira's mouth opened soundlessly, eyes closing, the other boy's back arching and inviting him to enter more deeply. The hell with Mom. He began driving into his rival for all he was worth, trapping that denying mouth with his, and swallowed Akira's choking cries of pleasure.
"Are you sure?" his mother called again.
He ignored her, hoping with a fraction of his brain that she didn't try the door and discover that it was locked. He wrapped his arms around Akira's feverish body tightly, moving even more fiercely as everything tightened and seemed to click into place in his body. Nothing had ever felt this good. Nothing.
"I could bring you two tea, Hikaru," his mother offered.
His rival was boneless but welcoming, hands jerking spasmodically against the cord as they clenched and unclenched constantly. A corner of his mind regretted the restraint, fearing that the other boy's wrists would be rubbed raw, but he had to admit that he loved making love to a prone and helpless Akira, and suspected that the Akira enjoyed it, too.
He felt a pang of regret as he felt his body gathering itself for release, but he sensed that his lover was ready, too, if the tightening of those legs that were wrapped about him was any indication.
Akira's back suddenly arched sharply, body remaining rigid for a moment before thrashing against his. He began to lose control as his rival practically screamed into the safety of his mouth, praying that his mother had gone away. It was possible that she could be hearing…hearing…
His thoughts dropped out as he fell to pieces inside of his lover, his perception of everything outside of Akira tearing away and fluttering into nothingness. The spasming and clenching of the other boy's body around his made it impossible to maintain any sort of equilibrium. It was trying to draw him in more deeply, but there was no way that was possible.
He broke their kiss when he came back to himself, slowly collapsing to lie on top of Akira. Neither of them spoke for long minutes, until suddenly the other boy kneed him in the side. "Ouch!" he exclaimed, irritated. "What was that for?"
"That was horrible of you. Horrible! Not only do you tie me up, but you take me on the floor while your mother is asking if we want cookies! I can't believe you!"
Hikaru lifted his head to meet Akira's angry eyes. "Don't tell me that you didn't like it. I know better."
"Don't talk to me," the other boy muttered under his breath, looking away. Even though Akira's face was still very flushed, he thought it seemed that his rival was blushing all over again.
"You liked it," he teased, running a finger slowly down his lover's chest.
"Hmph. I'd like tea better, at the moment." Akira's tone was slightly sullen and cool.
Hikaru grinned. You hate that you liked it so much! He was delighted at the discovery, and fully intended on re-enacting the evening's activities at the earliest opportunity.
He freed Akira's wrists and began cleaning up the area, making everything look innocent and innocuous again.
Akira glared at Hikaru's back as they walked down the stairs, hoping that the other boy's idea of 'presentable' was vaguely similar to his – although he doubted it.
He smirked slightly as he thought back on what had happened only minutes ago. He had loved it. Not that he would ever admit as much to Hikaru. He'd never hear the end of the teasing.
He schooled his expression into one of polite blankness as they descended into the living room and turned towards the kitchen. Naturally, Hikaru couldn't resist throwing a sly smile over his shoulder at Akira. Akira narrowed his eyes in response, trying to prevent himself from smiling back.
Shindou-san turned from pouring tea into three cups as they entered the kitchen. "There you boys are. I was worried when you didn't answer." Her concerned eyes skimmed over the two of them, analyzing and assessing with motherly concern.
Hikaru rolled his head in exasperation, finishing the movement by tossing his bangs out of his face. "Moooomm…I did answer you! I said that we were in the middle of a game. I had Akira in yose. You almost blew it for me!"
Akira felt his eyes widen as a blush crept across his face. Yose indeed! He turned slightly away, trying to pretend that he was deeply fascinated by pattern of the wallpaper.
"But you didn't say anything when I asked you about tea," she fretted, peering closely at her son.
Akira thought he was going to stop breathing. Did she know, somehow? Had she heard something? Had they not been as quiet as they'd hoped?
Hikaru put a hand on his hip, taking a lecturing stance. "Now, Mom. We're professionals. We learn very early on how to tune out distractions, and our concentration is fierce and absolute. I'm surprised that I even heard you the first time, but it's probably because I was winning. But then Akira made this awesome move, and I just kind of forgot everything else."
Winning?! You little…! He would have to execute his vengeance upon Hikaru later, well away from prying parents. As Akira watched the other boy gesturing and chatting so amicably with his mother, he knew that he would certainly be believing those lines himself if he didn't know any better. Hikaru was amazingly persuasive, and always seemed honest and open, no matter what nonsense he was spouting at the time.
Hikaru had snagged both of their cups, and indicated that Akira should follow him into the living room.
"Thank you, Shindou-san," Akira said formally, bowing deeply to Hikaru's mother. He felt guilty that they were deceiving her, especially since he had so much to thank her for.
He wanted to thank her for always being so kind and welcoming to him. For giving him a comfortable place to come to. But most of all, he wanted to thank her for giving birth to the greatest joy in his life. He settled for bowing again. "Thank you for everything," he repeated softly, meeting her eyes.
"Akira!" Hikaru called impatiently from the living room.
Hikaru's mother returned his gaze with a smile, although she was plainly flustered and uncertain as to what to make of his strange behavior. "You're always welcome, Touya-kun. You know that you're almost like a second son to me. You're certainly much better behaved than my birth son!"
"Yeah, yeah," Hikaru replied loudly from the other room.
Akira offered a last smile to her before turning to obey his rival's summons. "I'm coming, Hikaru. You're so obnoxious. Can't you simply wait like any other civilized—"
"Your tea is getting cold, come on," Hikaru interrupted without apparent concern, offering it to Akira with shining eyes.
He smiled despite himself, taking his cup from the other boy, and sat down on the couch. Hikaru followed suit and they sat there quietly beside each other, listening to the domestic noises of Shindou-san in the kitchen.
Akira slid periodic, surreptitious glances at Hikaru, catching the bleach-banged boy looking at him every time. It didn't seem to perturb or embarrass his friend in the least to be caught staring so openly.
"Akira…" Hikaru began hesitantly, suddenly averting his vivid green eyes.
"Yes?" he replied gently.
"Do you think…will you…" Hikaru set his cup down on the table with a sigh. "What I mean is…will we…stay like this?" The other pro's words finished in a rush, eyes rising again to meet his anxiously.
Akira was startled by the suddenness of the question, as well as its bent. "Ah…" He glanced towards the kitchen to ascertain that Shindou-san was still occupied, then turned to gaze frankly into the other boy's eyes. "As long as you are here…I will always be here," he said with quiet sincerity.
Hikaru smiled, a faint blush rising in his face. "Same here. I want to move forward with you, both in Go and in life."
Akira stared into his tea, trying to disguise how moved he was by focusing intensely on the cup in his hands as he took a slow sip. "A-ah," he agreed, fighting the smile that was attempting to curve his lips.
With Hikaru beside him, there was no longer anything for him to be afraid of.