Just Breathe
by Ju

Something was wrong with this picture.

Hikaru couldn't quite put his finger on what it was; he was sitting in the playing room before the matches were scheduled to start, as always. Every once in awhile, another pro would wander in and greet his or her friends, as always. Everyone steered respectfully clear of Touya when he approached his designated place, and Touya himself looked somewhat discomfited by the attention he was receiving; but then the God-like treatment was something Hikaru saw practically everyday, and was as normal an event to him as breathing, so that wasn't it either.

There was something wrong with this picture, but only as the bell rang to indicate for players to nigiri did the realisation finally hit Hikaru like a sack of potatoes to the head.

Touya was wearing jeans.

Blue jeans.

Tight blue jeans.

His head whipped around so fast that his neck protested by creaking like an old staircase, and Hagiwara 9-dan looked singularly unimpressed as Shindo 6-dan spent the next minute staring at Touya 7-dan's denim-clad ass with his mouth hanging open. A discreet cough brought his attention back to where it should be (that is, away from Touya's backside), and another minute passed before he was able to close his mouth again. He then made an attempt to focus, which clearly wasn't successful when he pulled out three black stones to nigiri. However, his brain eventually managed to properly function long enough for the game to begin, and perhaps it was a miracle that Hikaru didn't lose before the lunch break was announced.

"Man, you suck today," Waya pointed out with no little glee after taking a quick glance at the board.

"Shut up," Hikaru mumbled, and studiously kept his gaze down as he sensed Touya walking past. A flash of blue nonetheless caught the corner of his eye, and he frowned fiercely at the most pathetic game he'd played since he'd become a pro.

"Waya, I think Shindo might appreciate some time alone," Isumi interrupted their bickering before it could gather momentum, and managed to tactfully drag Waya from the playing room in a way that only Isumi could.

And Hikaru was left to ponder strategies for an impossible comeback, the remaining vestiges of his sanity, and other deeply philosophical things like that. After awhile, the scent of a subtle cologne reached his nose before he detected the vibration of silent footsteps, and the last thing Hikaru needed was for Touya to sit down beside him, cross-legged, tight blue jeans stretched across the front of his crotch like–

"Are you sick?" Touya's voice was unusually tense, a fact which nobody besides Hikaru would've noticed.

And his first thought was to answer 'yes', but then on second thought, Touya probably hadn't been referring to his mind. So, with his eyes focused on the goban, he mumbled, "No."

"Then what's wrong with you today?"

"Nothing's wrong," he mumbled some more.

"Well, something must be, because you didn't come to meet me during this lunch break like we agreed, and you haven't even looked at me all day. So I repeat, what's wrong with you today?"

As always, Touya waited patiently for an answer, despite Hikaru's fervent wish for the other boy to just go away. He spent the next few minutes debating with himself whether to say that he was coming down with something (that is, lie to Touya), or to tell the other boy that it should be illegal for him to wear jeans (that is, reveal that he had been perving on Touya's ass). It shouldn't have been a tough choice, but for some reason Hikaru simply couldn't decide.

So he said, "I didn't know that you even owned a pair of jeans."

And when he finally looked up, Touya was blushing, which the brain in Hikaru's pants thought was the cutest thing it had ever seen. Hikaru suppressed said brain by swiftly bombarding it with images of Kuwabara-sensei.

"My mother bought them for me," Touya muttered, embarrassed, although Hikaru wasn't sure if it was because Touya wasn't used to wearing jeans, or perhaps because he'd just admitted that his mother still bought his clothes for him. It was probably a bit of both. "But don't change the subject, Shindo!"

"I'm not changing the subject," Hikaru mumbled, but the two boys were then distracted by the appearance of several pros, one of whom was Touya's current opponent. They gathered around his board and began to discuss the game, and Hikaru didn't need to ask to know that Touya had practically won it already. He stared at his own dismal effort, and depression began to set in like the mildew in his bathroom.

To top it off, his stomach chose that moment to protest loudly, and Hikaru sighed. Touya never ate lunch anyway, so the other boy would be perfectly content to sit there and taunt Hikaru with his sexy jeans all day; but Hikaru was a growing boy with an insatiable need for ramen, and now he wouldn't even have enough time to duck out to the vending machine for some Pocky.

They sat side by side, silently staring at the board before them. Hikaru could tell that Touya was feeling sorry for him, and therefore didn't say anything, and that pissed him off more than anything else that had already happened that day. Just as he was about to vent his anger, though, Touya rose and made as if to leave. But then he dropped something as he was standing (since when did Touya carry a mini magnetic goban in his back pocket?), and he bent over to retrieve it, and Hikaru no longer considered breathing so normal when he found himself forgetting how to do it.

"Shindo? Why the hell are you hyperventilating like you've seen a ghost?"

Waya's voice was a loud but welcome intrusion, and prompted Hikaru's lungs to start working properly again before his face turned purple. Isumi made a vague sound which could be interpreted as either distress or amusement, or maybe both, and it was entirely possible that Hikaru had never been so pleased to see his friends before.

Touya regarded Waya warily, but nodded in acknowledgment to Isumi; then, with one last, confused glance over his shoulder at Hikaru, he returned to his place. Waya snickered as he studied Hikaru's board again, Isumi dragged him away, and Hikaru found himself once again facing a rather exasperated Hagiwara-sensei, only this time on an empty stomach.

And then he lost, to put it mildly.

As he was putting on his shoes later and preparing to leave, Touya performed his amazing Appear Out of Nowhere Behind Your Back and Scare the Shit Out of You trick, and Hikaru duly jumped a foot in the air. He whirled around, opened his mouth to snap something far from polite, received an eyeful of The Jeans up close, and suddenly changed his mind.

"Touya. We're friends, right?" This was said in all seriousness.

The other boy nodded slowly, not sure where this line of conversation was heading. He had his bag (the dorky-looking one, Hikaru was relieved to see) slung over one shoulder, but his thumbs were tucked in his rear pockets in a somewhat nervous pose. This only served to remind Hikaru of the fact that yes, Touya's ass was fine, and yes, his gaze was irresistibly drawn to the pelvic area which was unconsciously thrust forward.

If Sai were still with him, the ghost would've pronounced Hikaru's insanity at right about this point in time.

But Sai wasn't with him anymore, and he stepped closer to Touya, who looked as if he wanted to take a step back, but didn't. "We're friends… so if I told you something important, you wouldn't take it badly?"

Touya nodded again, but this time only after a brief pause. Nervousness made him look cute too, Hikaru's other-brain noted perkily.

Ignoring it, he took another step forward, so that they were now close enough to share breathing space. "Touya…"

"Yes?" The apprehension on the other boy's face suddenly seemed not so much apprehensive as hopeful, but then Hikaru's eyes were almost crossing and his vision wasn't exactly clear enough to tell. Touya's eyes seemed very blue in this proximity, though.

Hikaru took a deep, calming breath, then finally said, "Touya… those jeans make you look fat."

And it was with a certain satisfaction that he left the Go Institute several minutes later; his cheek was red and throbbing, his other-brain was utterly miserable, but Shindo Hikaru 6-dan would never lose a game of Go due to distraction again.

fin