THINGS MOVED OFF MY FFN

Where Did You Go? (1/2)

Shindou hadn't played a game in months.

Touya knew. Of course, he knew. As soon as he'd noticed Shindou gone at that first match, and then at the Young Lions tournament, he'd been watching the reports like a hawk. It seemed like a fluke, just a few missed games, perhaps he was ill... until the forfeits started piling up. People had began to consider themselves lucky to get matched up with Shindou, a seemingly free win. It was all he could do not to glare at people when he heard them talk like that. He'd tried to talk to Shindou, but it'd ended in a shouting match (when does it not?) and he'd been left without answers yet again. He started looking for his rival's stand-out hair (seriously, what an eyesore)- first in the lineup of players at games, then in the crowds elsewhere. He was beginning to feel like he wouldn't be able to restrain himself if he saw the other boy out in public... After all this time chasing each other, they were finally on the same level, ready to face each other as equals at last, and then Shindou went and practically dropped himself off the face of the earth... To be frank, it was becoming an obsession.

It was a Friday afternoon. Akira was at the Go institute, sitting on a bench in the lobby near the door- he'd built up a habit of hanging around here every day even before Shindou had vanished. (Not like he'd be anywhere else, after the Go club fiasco...) He was going over the dates on his mobile phone again, counting the weeks. Nineteen missed games, counting yesterday. Impossible. No one'd ever gone that long without flat-out quitting. Something was wrong. Something'd been wrong since the start.

He sighed, looking up from his phone once again to scan the few people who had entered in the last twenty seconds since he'd checked- maybe he should check more often. How long did it take to get from the door to the elevator? No, no, he didn't need to think like that. There was no way he'd come in on a Thursday. His eyes moved from person to person out of habit- a tall woman. A short man. Kuwabara-Sensei, who waved, and Akira waved back. A group of four loud men, walking very fast. Waya. A woman who- wait. Waya? That was one of Shindou's friends, one of the more promising Insei- or was he a pro now? Akira couldn't quite remember. He was just strolling out of the hall to the left, sipping a soda- perhaps he'd know something? Akira must have been staring, because the other boy looked over and they locked eyes for a moment, before Touya abruptly looked in the other direction. Yoshitaka raised an eyebrow, approaching him.

"Something wrong?" Waya asked, suspicion in his voice.

"No, no... My apologies for staring. I was just looking for someone, that's all..." Touya sighed.

"Who're you looking for? I might've seen them around." Yoshitaka replied casually, sitting down next to Akira.

"Ah... Thanks for the offer, but I really don't think..." He trailed off.

"C'mon. At least I can keep an eye out."

"...have you seen Shindou recently, by any chance?" Touya asked, reluctantly.

"Not since before the tournament." Waya shook his head. "What about you? Have you seen him?"

"Once... I went over to his school and found him in the library. I asked him why he didn't come to the tournament, and he... said he wasn't going to play anymore." Touya's voice wavered. "Kept dodging my questions, and... He ran away from me, in the end."

"Geez... What's with him all of a sudden? He just vanished like that... I wonder if something happened. Hope he's okay."

"He seemed in alright health when I talked to him, but it's been a while since then..."

"I'd go over to his house, but I don't really have a good reason to besides curiosity."

"You know where he lives?" Akira asked, perhaps a tad too quickly.

"Yeah? What's it to you?"

"Nothing. Just- a bit surprising."

"If you're so interested, why don't you go over to his place, then?" Waya said, only half-jokingly.

"What? Why would I-" Touya stammered. "I can't just-"

"Oh, take one for the team, will you? It's not like you're not dying to know like the rest of us. Or are you just looking up his game losses for fun?" The redhead nodded towards the phone open on Touya's lap- which the latter promptly grabbed and closed, not responding. "Come on! He'll listen to you."

"He didn't the last time. What makes you think he will again?"

"Oh, please. You two are obsessed with each other. He's bound to tell you something."

"And just what is that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing..." Yoshitaka grinned slyly. Touya felt himself turn a bit red.

"...regardless. I am not going to his house. It's improper."

"Why not?"

"Why don't you do it, if you're so eager."

"Can't. Goin' outta town for the weekend, leaving tonight." Well, at least he had an excuse. "What, are you scared or something? Not like he'll bite your head off."

"I am not scared, don't be ridiculous."

"Then do it."

"...if you absolutely insist." How had Hikaru's hooligan friend managed to talk him into this?(And, more importantly, did he really just think the word 'hooligan'? Wow. His father really was beginning to rub off on him more.)

"Great. Gimme your phone, I'll put his address in. And my number, I wanna hear how it goes." The other boy snatched Akira's phone as soon as it was out of his pocket, typing faster than Akira thought humanly possible. (He knew he'd inherited his parents' general technological incompetence, but was he really that bad at typing?) "Heeere ya' go." Waya handed the phone back. "Tomorrow, then?"

"I suppose." Akira sighed. He already had Shindou's address now, it'd be a bit of a waste to delete it, and if he didn't go, the fact that he had it at all would bring up some questions if anyone were to ever see it... He'd backed himself into a corner.

"Thanks! And hey, if you're gonna smack him in the face, give him one from me too, okay?" Waya joked (probably) as he stood up and walked off, waving. Akira didn't wave back.

And so, he'd been appointed to go visit Shindou's house, by not only Waya but apparently everyone he knew, as when he gave Touya his number he'd also taken the liberty to look at his, and sent him no less than twenty texts as a 'reminder', also informing him that all his Insei (?) friends and half of Morishita's study group now knew this was happening as well. Great. Just the blow to his pride that he needed. Despite everything, once he'd had some time to think about this, he was almost glad for the chance to finally ease his mind, even though he would most likely get a door slammed in his face. At least he'd know he wasn't dead. (It hadn't occurred to him yet that no one had actually ruled that out, and that was unnerving.) This particular Friday afternoon seemed excruciatingly slow, and by the time it was over, Akira still wasn't sure whether or not he was looking forward to tomorrow morning.