Part Seven:

Hikaru eyed the menu with a puzzled frown. He wasn’t even sure what half of the food meant, but Kim had said it was delicious and Shindo was always willing to try something new. He had met Kim outside the building, during his stroll, and they had struck up conversation. The American had not been surprised at his friends quick losses, but he had been nervous about meeting Shindo again, not really sure on how his presence would have been received. He was happy to find the Japanese boy willing to talk with him and they spent the better part of the afternoon talking about everything possible.

For the first time in hours, Shindo felt relaxed. All thoughts of Waya and Touya fled from his mind, as being with Kim seemed to take the heavy burden off his shoulders. Even Sai seemed to have perked up. Hikaru guessed that his moody attitude had gotten the kind spirit in a blue funk as well.

“Try the pepperoni,” Kim finally said with a light laugh. “I did tell you that pizza is like water to these people here. It is almost a sacred meal.”

“Kinda like okonomiyaki, huh?” Shindo replied with a smile as it finally got to their turn.

Kim nodded. He was familiar with the Japanese-style pizza and he had had a chance to taste a few, thanks to his mother’s connections. He ordered the meal and paid for it, before finding a table for them in the rapidly filling cafeteria.

Uuumm…Hikaru?

What is it, Sai? Shindo took a slice of the pizza and began to chew on it. Did I stain my suit or something?

Ah…no…but…didn’t Touya and Waya tell you to wait for them in the hall, so that you could all go to lunch together?

Hikaru choked on his food and reached quickly for his drink to wash it down. Smiling at Kim’s worried countenance, he frowned lightly. I am not going to eat with them, Sai. Those two…

How could he explain the emotional turmoil he was going through right now? He felt like he couldn’t win with either of them and it wasn’t fair.

Sai nodded in understanding. But you just can’t keep running away from them, Hikaru. You are going to have to play with Touya again this afternoon…

I know that! You don’t have to rub it in and now if you don’t mind, I would like to finish up my meal in peace!

Kim blinked at the annoyed look on Shindo’s face and he chewed nervously on his pizza. Was the blond angry with him about something? He was trying to gather enough courage to ask, when a familiar voice sent a cold chill down his spine.

“Well, well, well, if it isn’t Mr. Shindo Hikaru and the traitor.”

Kim winced as he felt Matt place a hand on his shoulder. Chris and two other boys surrounded the table, causing Shindo to drop the pizza in his hands back on to his plate. He didn’t want any trouble, but it seemed like Matt and his teammates didn’t take losing very well. Suddenly wishing that Touya or Waya were beside him, Shindo tried to maintain his cool. He couldn’t hear everything that they were saying to Kim, but from their expressions, Shindo could tell that the poor kid was being harassed over something.

~ I should stop them. ~ He thought with a growing frown. ~ I should stop them from being such overgrown crybabies. ~

~ Hikaru…be careful… ~

~ Hai, I know… ~

“Leave him alone,” he finally said slowly. Aware of how heavily accented his English was, he couldn’t help blushing at the looks that were thrown his way.

“Hello?” Matt taunted. “It looks like the Japanese boy can actually speak English!”

Shindo’s face flamed at the laughter that followed and unable to take it anymore, he yelled out angrily. “Why don’t you all stop acting like a bunch of whiny losers and get the hell away from us?!”

Matt frowned and turned to face Kim. “What did he say?”

Kim stuttered weakly and shook his head. “I…I don’t know…he…he… was talking too fast…”

“Stop lying to us, Kim!” Matt growled and shook the smaller boy. “You had better tell us what he said, or we will make you pay for being such a goddamn pussy!”

By this time, the entire cafeteria had their attention on them and Shindo wanted to leave as quickly as possible before things got out of hand. “Just leave him alone! He hasn’t done anything to you!”

“You shut up!” Matt screamed, his face reddening with anger. “And to think that I was going to make friends with you guys! How could you make us lose so badly?! You could have at least given us a chance to redeem ourselves! Do you know how bad we looked out there?! I can just see the papers tomorrow morning – ‘American washouts! Gone in three fucking strikes!’ I bet you guys all planned that out, didn’t you?!”

“Come on, Matt,” Chris said softly, as he tried to pull the other boy away from Shindo’s face. “They are about to call the cops on us. We had better leave. We still have other matches to play, you know.”

“You had better pray that we don’t meet again, Shindo Hikaru!” Matt bellowed, as he shrugged Chris’s hand away. “Because next time, I will make sure you guys go down like the losers you are!”

“Is there a problem here?”

The boys shrank back at the presence of the uniformed officers and Matt shook his head with a winning smile on his face. “No, officer. No problems here. We were just leaving.” And dropping Kim back on his seat, the taller boys made their way out of the room, leaving two clearly shaken boys behind.

“You two doing alright?” The policeman asked. Since Shindo didn’t understand, he could only nod mutely as he watched Kim bury his face within his arm. He felt a dull anger sear through him again as he noticed the trail of silent tears that had begun to cascade down the smaller boy’s cheeks. Getting to his feet, he excused himself from the officer and leant over Kim.

“Hey…do you want us to get out of here? We can go eat someplace else. And besides…Waya and Touya are waiting for me.”

Kim nodded slowly and rose to his feet, allowing Shindo to lead him back to the where the games were being held. He sniffled softly and wiped his eyes, not wanting to garner attention to his pitiful predicament. Meanwhile, Shindo’s eyes roamed the grounds, wondering where Waya and Touya could possibly be. He wasn’t that late for their appointment.

“Aaah man…where the hell are they? And I can’t afford to leave this place or we might miss them again…”

“Oi! Shindo!”

The familiar cry sent both boys spinning around quickly as they watched Waya run towards them with an impossible grin on his face. Shindo blinked and wondered if he was seeing things. The Waya he had left earlier had seemed morose and grouchy, but the sudden transformation left him bewildered and quite confused. It only became tenfold as Waya threw an arm around his shoulders, causing a dull blush to fill his cheeks at the close proximity of their bodies.

“Where did you go to, Shindo?” The redhead asked, quite aware of the effect his soft breath was having on Hikaru’s skin. “I was looking all over for you.”

“Uh…I was…I was….” Kami! Had he forgotten how to talk now?!

“He was with me. I am sorry for keeping you away from him for so long,” Kim explained with a small bow.

Waya blinked as he finally noticed the smaller boy and for a moment a flicker of uncertainty filled his eyes. “It’s okay, Waya,” Shindo said softly. “He is with us now. Those stupid Americans tried to pick a fight with us at the pizza place and they almost got him in trouble.”

“The Americans?”

“Hai. They didn’t like the fact that they had lost to us and so they came to where we were eating and tried to start a fight. If it weren’t for the policemen, we would have been in trouble.”

Waya could only gape at Shindo as if he had begun to speak in French. So, while he and Touya had been busy making plans on how to snag him, Shindo had almost gotten beaten by a bunch of whiners. Waya suddenly felt incredibly foolish.

“Gomen…” he said softly. Hikaru stared at him with a puzzled look. “Huh?”

Waya shook his head and smiled. “Ah…nothing. It’s just that…”

“Shindo!”

Both spun around and Hikaru waved lightly at the approaching boy that had called him, not noticing the low growl that escaped Waya’s lips or the clenched fists that soon followed. Touya, however, did notice and he struggled to keep a firm hold on his neutral expression. He noticed that Kim was with them and raising a curious eyebrow at Shindo, he listened to the quick rundown of the events that had happened.

“Ah…I am sorry to hear about that, Kim. I hope that you were not hurt too badly,” Touya said lightly, as he stood, a tad bit, too close to Shindo.

Kim eyed the three boys with wariness. He could feel the underlying tension and not wishing to ask about it, he nodded. “I am fine now. Shindo was nice enough to help me out.”

Touya’s smile widened as he gently placed a hand on the bleached blond’s arm. “Hai, Shindo is that kind of a person. He’s always willing to help others in need, aren’t you…Shindo-kun?”

Hikaru’s face turned a deeper shade of red as Touya glanced at him with a look in those green eyes that almost made him want to pass out. His discomfort grew as he felt Waya begin to caress his shoulder and a small shiver of delight coursed down his spine. He fought the urge to whimper or to close his eyes as the two boys at his sides continued their, seemingly, innocent actions. The final straw came when Touya’s hand moved towards his hip and with a small yelp of surprise, Shindo jumped back in disbelief.

Waya and Touya exchanged quick frowns with each other, before the redhead turned back to face the flustered blonde with a small smirk. “Something wrong, Shindo? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

“Ah…I…I…”

Sai?! You saw that, didn’t you?! You saw what they were doing to me, right?

The spirit shook his head, an expression of pure innocence on his features. I have no idea of what you are talking about, Hikaru. Why do you ask me?

Grr…because I know that look on your face! You know something and you are not telling me!

Sai covered his face with his hands and shook his head even more fervently. I know nothing, I tell you! But the telltale tone of amusement filled his voice and this only aggravated Shindo.

“Shindo-kun, are you sure you are alright? You look kind of…pale…” Touya made a step forward and was rewarded with a quick retreat from the blonde.

“Don’t come any closer to me…both of you!” He added, quickly, as Waya tried to move as well.

The redhead frowned. “What the hell’s wrong with you, Shindo? Is it so wrong to ask about your welfare now? Geez…you act as if we are trying to kill you or something.” He snorted in derision and turned his face away.

Hikaru bit his lower lip. Maybe he was overreacting. Maybe his wild imagination had conjured up that tingling sensation of being ‘molested’ by the two boys. Yeah, that had to be it! After all, there was no way in hell that Touya and Waya could both want to do…to do…

Eeee!! What the hell am I thinking?!

“Perhaps you should lie down or something?” Kim interrupted softly. Shindo’s alarmed expressions were puzzling to the boy. “You did eat your pizza a bit too fast.”

Waya snickered. “Sure…I bet it went down the wrong way. You should learn how to relax more, Shindo…”

The look that was thrown his way sent Hikaru gasping again as that hot, uncomfortable feeling rushed all the way down to his nether regions. There was something going on and he wasn’t sure what it was yet, but one thing was certain…he felt as if he were being appraised and he didn’t know if he was happy or worried about the prospect.

Touya sighed heavily and began to walk towards an eatery across the street. “Let’s get something to eat. The afternoon match begins in a less than half an hour. We should try to get ourselves in the right mindset.” He threw a cold look in Waya’s direction and it was returned with an even colder one. Growling beneath his breath, Touya pushed the door open and ushered his tension-filled guests to their table.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Hikaru tried his hardest to listen to Ogata’s words, but was failing miserably. They were currently sitting in the Player’s lounge, at the hotel, after going through another obligatory interview session and Shindo could only stare into his glass of orange juice like a zombie. However, his body told a different story, for it felt as if it would explode at any given moment. He was sandwiched between Touya and Waya with his hands clasped tightly on his lap. His face burned with heat and he was glad that the lounge was not brightly lit, for his state of discomfort would have been discovered in no time. Every movement from the two boys at his sides, sent Hikaru’s pulses racing and whether or not Akira and Waya knew what they were doing – he could not tell.

The match with Germany had been quick as well – not as quick as with the Americans, but close enough. The press had already begun to label their team as the ‘Speed Demons’ and all four boys could only try to make light of the nickname. Hikaru was still amazed at how well he had played considering his mindset. If it weren’t for Sai, again, Shindo knew he would have lost the match.

Waya moved and their thighs brushed against each other…yet again. Hikaru bit his lower lip and smiled weakly at the quick ‘sorry’ that was thrown his way before the redhead continued his animated conversation with Amano-san.

“Are you alright, Shindo?” Touya asked softly, as Ogata finally finished with his speech about something. Hikaru was just about to shake his head to say that he was far from feeling all right, when he felt Touya’s fingers brush against his other thigh, causing him to jump and blush even more furiously. In his distress, he knocked over his glass of juice and could only watch in dismay as the cold liquid stained his slacks.

“Damn it!”

“I’ll get it!” came the two simultaneous cries from Akira and Waya. Both boys had already picked up paper napkins and were in the process of dabbing the stain on the clothed thigh, when they exchanged scowls with one another.

Through grit teeth, Waya muttered softly. “I said, I got it…Touya.”

Akira’s scowl deepened. “I was going to wipe it first, Waya.”

“Uh…guys…”

“What the hell is wrong with you, Touya? I said I was going to do this first, so back off!”

“Guys…”

“I will not argue with you, Waya. It is obvious that you have a problem with me being first at anything…or getting the better of you…”

“Guuuuuuys….”

“Why you little…!”

“Guys!”

The loud scream from the red-faced blond caused everyone to gape at him in bewilderment. Hikaru was trembling and he felt like pummeling the two bickering boys before him. Didn’t they have any idea of what they were doing to him?

Waya was the first to break the thick silence. “Shin…Shindo…?”

But Hikaru was not ready to listen. He turned to face Ogata and asked in a slightly trembling voice. “Can I go back to my room? I don’t believe I have anything to do here right now.”

Ogata’s reply was a simple nod and a puff from his cigarette. He watched Hikaru almost run out of the room and a small frown came on his visage as he eyed Waya and Akira.

“Is there something I should know?” he asked softly.

Waya shook his head quickly. “No…nothing.” And turning to Akira, he said curtly. “We need to talk…now!” Giving a quick ‘excuse me’ to Amano-san and Ogata, he placed a hand on Akira’s arm and literally pulled him out of the lounge and towards a relatively quiet area.

He pushed the longhaired boy rather roughly against a wall and trapped him by placing both hands on either side of his head. With golden eyes narrowed, Waya spat out coldly. “Listen to me, Touya. We seem to be going about this wrong way, don’t you think?”

Akira struggled to hide the flush that was filling his face at being treated in such a manner and in a voice that betrayed his inner turmoil, he replied calmly, “Shouldn’t you be saying that to yourself, Waya?”

With a low growl, Waya pressed his body closer to Akira’s, smirking in satisfaction at the small gasp that escaped the other’s lips. He traced Touya’s parted lips with a thumb, his smirk widening as he watched the pink tip of his tongue try to capture it.

“We are trying to seduce Shindo, ne? And what have we done so far, Touya?”

Akira groaned helplessly at the friction that was caused by Waya’s slow movements and for a second, completely forgot what he had planned to say. Finally resorting to a nod, the redhead continued huskily. “We have scared him away, haven’t we? I wouldn’t be surprised if he hates us by now with the way we’ve been carrying on.”

With a small sigh, he pushed himself away and leaned against the wall himself. Running fingers through his hair, he stared morosely at the ceiling. “We should take it slow or something.”

Akira tried to steady his rapid breathing as he nodded in agreement. “Ha…Hai.”

Both remained quiet for a few minutes before the 6-Dan muttered softly. “Perhaps we should take turns.”

“He is not a goddamn toy! How many times do I have to tell you that?”

“Well, it is obvious that both of us going at the same time, scares him off, so why don’t we take different days to be with him.”

Waya scowled and pinned a wary gaze on Akira’s flushed face. “What do you mean…be with him?”

“It’s not what you are thinking,” came the flustered reply. “I just meant that each of us should have a day we can spend with Shindo without the other interfering, that’s all.”

Waya seemed to think this over. “Soooo…you are saying that each of us get to take turns to see who gets him to give in first, hmm?”

Akira did not like the knowing look that had come to the redhead’s face and he grumbled reluctantly. “Yes…”

“Alright! Then it’s settled. We each take turns to be with Shindo and naturally I go first! Got a problem with that, Touya?” He asked with a smug grin as he noticed the longhaired boy about to protest.

With a sigh of resignation, Akira nodded. “No…I have no problem with it.”

Waya held out his hand. “Should we shake on it?”

Touya eyed the offering as if it were a snake before reluctantly reaching for it. “Yeah…I guess we sho…mmmphfff!!”

The kiss was hard, sweet and all too brief, for once Waya pulled away, Akira was left gaping at him in shock. The redhead laughed and danced away with a mischievous twinkle in his eye.

“Payback for that stunt you pulled earlier, Touya.” And spinning around with a light wave, he yelled back over his shoulder. “Let the games begin!”