Author's Note: Muahahahaha, my second HikaGo fic! (The first one is too bad to put up here.) I can write longer stuff than this though, but shortly after finishing this much, I didn't know what else to do. And I didn't know how to end it. But I did my very best. Oh, and yes, I am obsessed with calling payphones. I don't own Hikaru no Go.

What's Your Number?
by Umbreongurl

It was rather nice, walking alone in the street, looking up at the night sky.

No, more like wonderful, because there weren't any reporters and photographers surrounding him, firing questions about the match he had and taking pictures. He'd slow down, trying to push through and answering one or two questions just for the heck of it, and it always took forever to get back to the hotel. But luckily, the match that he played started at night. And when something starts at night, it always ends at night.

He yawned, stretching his arms up, and then relaxing, clasping his fingers behind his head. He was staying at a hotel. It was a little lonely, he did have to admit. But he assumed that the higher-up -Dans experienced it more than he did. His stomach grumbled. His mind started thinking about ramen when-

Ring. Ring.

"Hello?" he said, and laughed, his voice echoing oddly around the empty street. He walked up to the doors of the hotel and had his hand on the door-handle when he heard it again. A ringing sound. So faint, he could barely hear it.

Ring. Ring. Ring.

Like a phone.

There were no phones outside. It was totally, completely, impossible that there could be a phone outside. He was going crazy. Maybe this is what happens when it's late at night and my brain is weak from lack of food? he thought, and wondered if the resturaunt down the street was still open.

Ring. Ring. Ring.

He spun around. Where was the culprit?

There it is.

An old payphone, at least fifteen years old, next to the hotel doors. The paint on its case was chipping off, and the numbers on the buttons looked like they were starting to fade away. Somehow.

Ring. Ring. Ring.

He stomped over to it, watched it ring a couple more times to make sure it was it, and picked it up.

"Hello?" he said.

"Hello? Is this the hotel?" a woman's voice said on the other end. Her voice sounded a little faded and there was static, like the connection was breaking up.

"Er, yes," he replied. He couldn't believe it. He just picked up a ringing payphone and was now talking to somebody without paying anything.

"Well, my son is taking a walk around the block, and he should be coming your way soon, judging by the time he left."

"Er...?"

"Could you give him the phone when he comes around?" she asked.

"Uh, sure," he said, and still holding the phone by his ear, he turned around and scanned the street.

The hotel was set conveniently near an intersection in the street. A road going north and south and one going east. The streetlights were on, they had been on for the past five hours or so, and now they looked like they were going to burn out. Only the light from the hotel lit up the street enough to see. It was totally quiet. Nobody was here. Except for Shindo himself...

"Miss, I don't see anybody here," he spoke, and realized the phone was dead. He hung the black phone back on the hook, and then something caught his eye- a number. There was a number on the payphone, just above the number pad. He realized that it was the number for the payphone. So that's how the lady called it...

He stared at it for a moment, repeating the numbers over and over in his head, and went back into the hotel. He decided he'd try and call it too.

Hikaru ran up to his room and flung the door open, not bothering to close it. There was a cordless phone by his bed. He picked it up and punched the numbers in, then walked over to the window and slid it open. If it was so quiet out here, he should have no problem hearing the ring- and sure enough, he heard that tinkling sound float up to his two-story bedroom, as clear as if he was standing next to it.

Ring. Ring. Ring.

Satisfied, he walked back to the bedstand to set the phone back, but then he heard the payphone suddenly stop ringing. That could mean only one thing...

He held his phone up to his ear and listened.

"Hello? Hello?"

The voice sounded vaguely familiar. No, very familiar...

"Sai!" he blurted out. There was silence for several seconds.

"Who is this? You're interrupting my walk, you know-"

He groaned. It wasn't Sai. The voice sounded younger. Though for just a few seconds there, he thought he had called the afterlife. And for a few seconds after that, he wondered what number he'd have to call to reach him. He pressed the off button on the phone and fell back on his bed, still holding the black thing in his right hand. A minute later, he heard the sound of somebody talking in frustration and then hanging the payphone up, then a banging sound like they were hitting something, and a cry like they stubbed their toe. It sure was a quiet night...

next morning

It's my day off. Those four words kept repeating in his mind over and over. He both loved them and hated them.

Stepping out of the hotel, he held up a hand to shield his eyes from the glaring sun. The street shops had opened, cars were driving by with their engines humming, people were starting to appear out of seemingly nowhere.

There was a small antiques shop near the hotel, which reminded him of the time that he and Sai played a Go game against a fake antiques dealer. He inwardly grinnned as he casually walked over to the shop's window, and peeked inside.

There were shelves of china and pottery filling up one wall, and on the other side of the store was some old furniture that looked worn down. Knick-knacks of various sorts were placed around as if somebody was trying to rearrange them in an un-orderly fashion. He chuckled at the mess and looked toward the counter, where a boy with semi-long black hair and in a violet sweater was paying for something.

The boy at the counter looked off to the side, apparently studying the tea cups, and Hikaru gasped.

Even from just a side view he could tell. That was Akira Touya!

Hikaru ducked out of sight and ran off, back to the hotel. Why was he running away? He was just a little embarrased to face him, he guessed. But he also wanted to talk to him. He didn't know his phone number, but he wanted to know, and the only way to ask was to talk. So...

A mischevious idea struck him, and he grinned as he hurried back up to his room, slamming the door, grabbing the phone, and leaning out of his window to see where Akira was.

There's Akira, he thought. Walking out of the store like nothing's up with buying some old cup. He was surprised that Akira wasn't mobbed by the press. Maybe it was his aura that did it. Maybe it was his aura that made Hikaru run away. Maybe the cup was made of anti-reporters clay. Whatever the reason, Akira was walking toward the hotel- was it possible he was staying here, too?

Hikaru quickly dialed the numbers for the payphone, and looked down at Akira.

Ring. Ring. Ring.

Akira had such a puzzled look on his face that Hikaru nearly burst out laughing.

He walked over to the payphone, studying it with the same expression on his face, and in slow-motion, reached over and picked it up. That took about five seconds.

He used another five seconds to bring it up to his ear.

"Hello?" Hikaru heard his voice in the phone.

"Er, yes, hello," he replied, disguising his voice.

"Who is this?"

"This is... um... Squiggly Hampton. The Fourth!" he added, almost too late. There was a silence on the other end.

"Goodbye." Akira sighed, annoyed, and was about to put the phone back on the hook-

"Wait!" Hikaru shouted. Akira paused. Hikaru cursed silently. He had used his normal voice.

"Shindo!"

"Er, no," he replied, falling back into step. "But I know who you are..."

"What?" Akira shifted feet, both puzzled and annoyed at this stranger.

"Yes. I know for a fact that your sweater is-" Hikaru briefly stuck his head out the window to get a better look at Akira's clothes- "purple. With stripes on them. Clashing colors. Oh! And you're wearing faded jeans. You need to get a better wardrobe, man..."

"Shindo, I know it's you!"

"Who is Shin-do? I'm Hampton the Squid."

"You just said you were Tom Hanks Gleep the Fourth."

"No! Wait... I'm Squiggly Hampton. The Fourth!"

"Shindo, stop it," Akira snapped. "You can drop the Squamton Glid... Tom Han-... Hampto-... Squiggly Hampton, whatever."

Hikaru was running out of ideas, and Akira was starting to guess that it was him. He had no choice but to surrender.

"You got me," Hikaru sighed, using his normal voice. "Hello, Touya-san."

"Hikaru." Akira sighed, setting the bag with the cup by his feet. "How on earth are you doing this?"

"All I did was call the number on the payphone." He laughed. "It was eeeeaasy!"

"So... you're in this area?"

"No," he replied quickly, a little too loud, and somehow Akira heard his actual voice. He spun to the right, looked up- and saw Hikaru in the window. There was fire in his blue-green eyes.

"I found you."

It was a challenge, another catch-me-if-you-can. And it was Akira's turn to come after him.

"Crud!" He hit the off button, but it didn't even matter- Akira had already left the payphone, leaving it hanging by its cord. Hikaru bolted for the door, running out into the hallway and down toward the direction of the stairs. Ahead, he could hear the boy's feet pounding on the steps. He had no choice but to go up.

"Shindo!" Akira yelled behind him.

"What!" Hikaru called back.

"Come back here!"

"No, I'm too busy running, thank you very much!"

At the top of the third floor, he nearly ran into a service cart. The staff member who was pushing it gasped and stepped off to the side. Not far behind, Akira ran after him, nearly doing the same thing.

They kept running, running, running, yelling insults and remarks back and forth to each other, until they reached the fifth floor. Then they slowed down to a jog. And after that, they reached the roof.

Hikaru threw the door open, the light and heat hitting him right in the face. Squinting, he fast-walked out to the wall that went around the roof, looking over it to see the street so far down below.

"Shindo!" Akira's voice said behind him, and he turned around to see the boy trudging toward him, the black hair falling over one of his eyes, beads of sweat on his face, panting from running.

"You look hot in that sweater," Hikaru casually remarked. Akira slumped against the wall.

"Stop running... all the time."

"I can't help it. I like to run." He flashed a grin, but Akira didn't see it. "You need to run more anyway."

"I'd prefer it if I didn't have to run this much. And going up five... six flights of stairs... is really..."

"So long!" Hikaru said, and jogged past Akira, back down the stairs.

"You... you!" Akira shouted at his back. Hikaru inwardly laughed as he walked up to an elevator and pressed the down button. "You're running away! You're always running away!"

The boy gave a final wave before stepping in. Akira started hurrying down the steps. "Come back here!"

And then Hikaru remembered.

"What's your number!" he shouted.

"296-991-" Akira started, but his words were cut off when the elevator doors closed. The elevator shook a little and started moving down.

"...Thanks," Hikaru said to his reflection on the doors.

Edit: I left my notes in the middle of it. Took them out. Thanks, Tickle Me Razor!