1.

"I just need an assurance�"

Akira awoke to find Hikaru naked, sitting before the shrine at one corner of their small studio-type apartment. The figure was strangely comforting among the darkness broken only by outside streetlamps, candles, and incense. Akira had once asked for whom the shrine was for. Hikaru had simply replied, "For the God of Go," as if it explained all.

Akira chalked it up as another one of his lover's quirks.

So this time, he felt he had no right to interrupt a prayer to a god.

"�that you accept the path I have chosen."

Akira caught his breath.

A few minutes later, his lover blew out the candles and crawled back to his arms. Akira drew him closer, tighter, and Hikaru stiffened slightly before relaxing, yet offering no words. No assurances.

Not for the first time Akira wondered if, for Hikaru, he would ever be enough.

2.

Dark could understand how words could mean so much. Weren't words spoken to a loved one the only thing that could make him disappear? He supposed, then, he understood why his lover would demand Dark to speak before he could let himself go.

So with the moonlight pooling through the window and over their entangled bodies, his lover gasped, "Say it."

Dark replied only with a groan and moved his hips faster, eliciting a moan as he wedged himself deeper inside his lover.

"Say it!"

What baffled him was what made him return. Was it this power over words? Sex? Or maybe it was this lonely boy, whose only need was an assurance only Dark could give?

"Say it."

Heady with power, with lust, Dark leaned forward, letting his lips touch his lover's ear to whisper the three expected words: "This isn't love."

Satoshi came hard into Dark's waiting hand.

3.

Yuuya had thought that the dark sky might provide him words, but despite their ongoing conversations as the night matured, he found himself still unable to mold words into something his opponent might understand. In the end, he blurted out, "Crush Gear was developed for communicating."

Harry blinked. "So was language," he replied, amused.

However, the speech they used was different and too hard, Yuuya realized. Ashamed, he turned away, but a hand touched his. Harry was smiling.

"Use a language you know," his rival said softly.

Feeling more courageous, Yuuya smiled. "I'll tell you tomorrow, during the finals." Using a language we both understand. "Will you wait until then?"

Harry nodded. "I promise."

Yuuya took a deep breath and plucked enough nerve to kiss Harry's cheek. Harry looked startled. He grinned. "Thanks."

Words and Crush Gear, Yuuya thought while returning to his room, weren't the only language they shared.

4.

Once a year, when the moon is full, two lovers meet under a sakura tree: unique because its blossoms were never as pink as the others; they were pale and almost white.

Enma Daioh thought it was exquisite and so excruciatingly sad.

Yet, so was this relationship, he thought with amusement, watching his lover lie beside him under the open sky. He let his fingers caress his lover's face, tracing the lines around his eyes.

Eyes opened, met his, and lips parted, which the God of Death leaned down to kiss, mostly to silence the words ready to escape. Words had no place here; they were as fleeting as this moment.

Yet despite the ominous thought, the God of Death let his body entangle once more with the Earl of Candle's, knowing that with each touch of their skin, they were allowing East to finally meet West and make love.