Author's Notes: Written for a yaoi zine distributed at Animazement 2004. Eventually it will be rewritten and the scene I deleted in order to make the required word count will be added. Therefore it gets the WIP appellation.
Rating: PG-13, WIP
Pairing: Touya/Hikaru
Written: 2004
Touya Akira was not waiting for Shindou.
He was not checking his watch every five minutes, watching the seconds hand tick by until only ten minutes remained before the match (and really, he should already be up there). He was not waiting out in the lobby of the Go Institute, fidgeting just in front of the elevator doors. He was not worried about the fact that fate always seemed to move against them whenever he and his rival were scheduled to play an official match against each other.
Maybe if Akira told himself that often enough, he'd start to actually believe it.
With a shake of his head, Touya pressed the button to call the elevator. He couldn't wait any longer. If Shindou forfeited this match... no. Better not to even think it. Tempting fate at this stage was not a good idea.
The elevator dinged open and Touya stepped inside. Trying to fight down disappointment, he pressed the button for the fifth floor.
"Wait. Hold the elevator."
Swifter than thought, Touya hit the hold button. The sound of running feet echoed off the tiled floors. The elevator jumped as the person running made it aboard. Touya got a brief impression of blonde bangs, a rumpled dress jacket, a loose tie and sneakers. Only Shindou would think a dress suit and sneakers belonged together.
"Touya..." Shindou said his name in a disbelieving tone of voice. His breath was coming in harsh pants. "You were... waiting..." It was not quite a question.
"You are late."
"I am not," Hikaru replied.
"What would have happened if I hadn't been here to hold the elevator? You would have forfeited the match." Touya was not happy about that thought, but he didn't think that was a good reason to bait Shindou like he was. He didn't know why he was doing it. It would not help their game.
"I have plenty of time. I could have made it up the stairs if I had to." Shindou's voice had gotten that edge to it. The one that let Touya know he was beginning to get on the other boy's nerves.
"Up all five flights of stairs? And then you would have tried to play against me?"
"I would have been fine."
Touya opened his mouth to reply. He wasn't quite sure what he was going to say, what his next words were going to be. He never got a chance to find out. That's when the earthquake hit.
Years of training and drills from school kicked in. Both Akira and Hikaru dropped to a crouch, their hand automatically coming up to cover their heads and necks. The elevator bounced wildly on its cable. The glass cover for the lights came loose, fell to the floor, and shattered. One of the halogen bulbs came loose from its socket, swinging into the wall before coming out completely and dropping to the floor. It broke into several large pieces.
Less than one minute after it had started to move, the ground settled.
"Are you okay?" Hikaru asked once he was sure the world would remain still.
"Yes." Adrenaline made Akira's voice shaky. "I'm fine."
"The elevator's stopped." Hikaru said. He pressed the still lit fifth floor button, but the elevator remained still. Hikaru sighed. "We're stuck. Bet you're glad you held the elevator for me now."
"Why?"
"Because if you hadn't, you'd be stuck in this elevator by yourself and I'd be at the top of the stairs waiting for the match." Hikaru grinned. "Another win by default."
*******************************************
The intercom had worked long enough for Touya to relay to the officials that both he and Shindou were in the elevator and they were both all right. The officials had assured them they would be rescued. At some point. Since they were both unharmed and not in danger, they were pretty low on the list. Injury and life threatening situations took priority.
The Go official had sounded offended by this bit of information. After all, they had a match to play. Surely the fact that both of the Go pros that were supposed to play that day were stuck in the elevator made them a high priority.
The emergency coordinator didn't agree.
That information had come through the intercom almost thirty minutes ago. The second aftershock after the main earthquake had taken out their only form of communication shortly after. Now he and Shindou were trying to stay cool while not worrying if their families were okay.
Hikaru had used his jacket to push all the glass into a corner so they could sit on the floor. Touya had unbuttoned his shirt at the cuffs and the collar. His jacket was neatly folded on the floor. After a few minutes Shindou had pulled out his fan. Touya leaned against the wall, head tipped back, eyes closed.
"It's hot." Hikaru stating the obvious.
"Mmmm..."
"It's too bad we don't have a goban. Even a small travel one would work." Touya opened his eyes and looked up at the ceiling. The remaining bulb glowed dimly. Then he slowly raised his head to look at Shindou. Sweat trickled down his forehead at the movement.
"The floor looks kind of like a goban," Touya commented. It was true. The small, slightly rectangular tiles formed regular intersections. Given that he spent so much time in front of a goban, it was no wonder he immediately saw the similarities. Hikaru's eyes tracked to where Touya was looking.
"It's too small," Hikaru complained.
"It's big enough to play a 13 by 13 game on."
Shindou blinked, considering. Then he started rummaging in his pockets. "I've got some change and some paper in my pockets. Change could be black, paper wads white."
"I think I have some receipts in my wallet, but I don't have any change," Touya said. "I don't think we're going to have enough black."
As soon as Touya stopped talking Shindou reached for his crumpled dress jacket. He calmly began pulling buttons off of it. "I have eight buttons. How many do you have?"
"Shindou..."
"You can always sew them back on later," Shindou stated.
Any other protest Touya would have voiced died in his throat. It was a challenge. Shindou's eyes were bright, his posture forward, his whole being daring Touya to back down. Touya had never backed down from a challenge. Who cared if they were dealing with off circumstances? Go was Go, regardless of where it was played.
"I'll get my jacket."
*******************************************
Nearly two hours after the earthquake, with the heat and tension steadily rising, Touya and Hikaru were doing what they did best. Fighting over Go.
"What kind of move was that?" Akira demanded as he pointed an accusing finger at the arrangement of buttons and scrap paper that formed arcane patterns on the floor. Hikaru didn't even bother to look. He knew what move Touya was talking about.
"It was a perfectly good move," Hikaru snapped back.
"If we were playing on a full sized board it would be a good move." It was hot enough that Touya's shirt stuck damply to his back and shouting only seemed to make it hotter. "What kind of Go player can't change his playing style to fit the situation?"
"The kind of Go player that beat you."
Touya reared back as if he'd been slapped. "In an elevator? With paper wads and button?" he said in an incredulous voice. It was petty and cruel, but Akira couldn't think of anything else.
"Go is Go, no matter where it's played. You're just mad because I beat you."
The light flickered twice and died, plunging the elevator into darkness.
"Fuck."
"Language, Shindou," Touya automatically replied. He tried to look up at where the light had been, but all he saw was the faint afterimage burned onto his eyes. What had he expected to see? It was pitch black. There was something disturbing about the absolute darkness to one so use to living in a large city. "Where are you?"
"Stay there. I'm going to..." Touya heard it when Shindou stepped on a button, the loud cracking of plastic echoing in the confines of the elevator. "I just screwed up our game. Good thing I can recreate if from memory, eh?"
"Good. That way we can continue discussing in my father's Go salon." Akira wanted Shindou to keep talking. When he talked, Akira knew where Shindou was. Otherwise it was just the darkness and the anticipation. For such a small elevator, it sure seemed to be taking Hikaru a long time to move towards him.
Touya found he didn't want to wait for Shindou to come to him. He was tired of waiting for Shindou to make all the moves. He reached out into the darkness and his fingers encountered warm skin.
Shindou jumped a bit and laughed sheepishly. "You startled me."
He didn't stop there. Touya leaned forward trying to figure out where his fingers had landed on Shindou, unconsciously pulling Shindou closer. It was much easier this way. He didn't have to look Hikaru in the eye while he did this. Much easier, even if the darkness didn't allow him to see what he was doing.
Coward that he was, Touya didn't want to see Hikaru's face when the rejection came.
Their noses bumped in the dark, causing Hikaru to let out an undignified squeak. Touya corrected, going by feel and memory until his lips contact with Hikaru's. He felt Shindou's breath rush past his lips and Touya took the opportunity to slide his tongue inside Shindou's mouth. There was a tense moment, and then Hikaru was kissing him back.
Hikaru was kissing him back?
"Why didn't you say something?" Touya asked the darkness when he pulled back long enough to breath.
"Why didn't you?" Hikaru didn't wait for an answer before he pulled Touya back against him. Their lips met again and this time it was Hikaru's tongue that slid past closed lips. Akira made a small sound in the back of his throat as questing fingers found their way under his shirt.
He had been waiting so long, but now it was over. Shindou had caught up with him.
*******************************************
The Go official was very apologetic when Touya Akira and Shindou Hikaru were rescued. It had been nearly six hours after the earthquake. The match had been delayed and then finally cancelled. After all the two pros would be in no shape to concentrate.
He had expected then to be disheveled. Six hours in an enclosed elevator with no ventilation would make even the most staid players look rumpled. The messed up hair, the half buttoned clothes, the fine sheen of sweat: all could be explained by the heat.
But the giant hickie on the side of Touya's neck... no matter how much the official might want to put it down to the heat he knew better. There was only one person who could have put that mark there. The only other person in the elevator.
Shindou Hikaru.
Fine. He was a mature adult. He could deal with the idea of the two best Go players in Japan getting physical. As long as they continued their rivalry in Go, he didn't care what they did outside of the game.
At least he didn't have to be the one who would tell Touya-sensei that his son innocence had been lost in an elevator.