Aki-Hika-Mitsu
Watermelon Pudding
--1—
"Ah What a pain in the butt!" She yawned and looked at the huge electronic clock in the centre of the city, 7:23, "I hate playing against that guy, why the heck is he so good in the first place?!"
She scratched her head exasperatedly.
"Argh!!! Darn that stupid idiot! I'm gonna destroy him someday!!!"
Suddenly, she stopped, backed down to the manga booth she had just passed, and gasped.
Wow! The newest issue! I'd been waiting for this forever!
Forgetting about all her previous frustrations, she picked up a copy of the magazine, turned it over several times, then handed 750 yen over the person behind the booth.
Then, she proceeded into a nearby ramen shop happily, ordered an egg-and-tomato bowl of ramen, and sat comfortably down to enjoy her magazine.
So absorbed was she in the book that she didn't notice that someone had taken a seat across from her and was examining her curiously.
Suddenly, the person burst out, "Hey! You're that person who beat Ogata Judan in the shin-shodan series!"
Looking up, surprised, she saw boy around her age, with strange blonde bangs, pointing at her face like he had just seen the most amazing thing in the world.
It took her a moment to pull her mind out of the manga and process the things he'd just said, then, with a huge grin, she pointed at herself with a thumb and said, "Yup, the one and only…"
Wow, never knew that I was so famous these days, haha.
"Yeah, that person…what was her name again…uh…Eto…no…um, Mitsuko? No..." The boy looked up at the ceiling, obviously trying hard to scan his mind.
"It's Mitsuru. Mitsuru Murakami." A blood vein was popping on her forehead.
"Yeah! That's right! Mitsuru Murakami!"
/Sweatdrop/
Who the heck was this guy?
Obviously, he was a pro go player. She'd gathered that much from the way he talked. But...his face was oddly familiar, like she'd seen him somewhere before. There was a name inside her head for him too, but it just didn't click.
This guy…was…
"I'm Shindo. Hikaru Shindo. Nice to meet you." He said.
Oh, yeah! Hikaru Shindo! That guy!
"I've heard about you! You played in the Hokuto Cup!"
He was obviously pleased by that comment, "Yup."
"I've seen some of your kifu's on Go Weekly too. That recent one against Akira Touya was something else!"
"Heh heh, thanks." He rubbed his nose with his index finger, a little embarrassed, "Your game against Ogata-Judan wasn't so bad either. To tell you the truth, I was really surprised that a shodan could play like that."
Her steaming bowl of ramen arrived before she could give her reply. Thanking the waitress, she moved your manga book out of the way and dug in without a moment's hesitation.
His eyes widened, "Is that the new issue of weekly Jump?"
She was too tangled up with her ramen to look up, but she acknowledged his comment with a nod.
"Um, mind if I look at it?"
/Gurgle slurp swallow/
"Sure, go ahead."
She went back to her ramen while he flipped through the magazine.
A few minutes later---
"Uh…Shindo-kun (?)," She said after she'd finished eating, and he was almost done as well. It felt awkward, addressing a stranger and higher-ranked go player by kun, but still, she wasn't about to call him sensei –it just didn't fit-, "I was wondering, if it wasn't too much trouble, could I play a game against you some time?" It's widely known that he was Touya's rival and all, at least from what she heard… She'd wanted to play with this Shindo person ever since she watched his game with Touya Kouyo two years ago; it was a month after she'd become an insei. Of course, she'd forgotten about him for several months, but his recent debut in the Hokuto Cups piqued her interests again.
Just that she forgot about it again until their coincidental meeting today.
He looked up, and because he was in a good mood, as well as because she'd lent him the magazine, he grinned and nodded, "No problem, you pick a time." He wouldn't mind playing with a shodan, she'd played that pretty amazing game with Ogata-Judan and all. Besides, maybe she would even lend him that magazine for a night.
"How about today?"
"Sorry, I have to get home before eight." /sweatdrop/
"Aw…um, tomorrow?"
"When?"
"Anytime after 3:00 would be fine with me…"
"All right, sounds fine. Just leave me your number and I'll give you a call when I'm free. I have a study group in the morning, but I'm sure I'll have time to play around three."
"All right! Then we'll meet at the 2nd floor of the go association?"
"No prob."
"Thank you! "
Wow, this Shindo person isn't as intimidating as I'd imagined at all!
"Um, and…do you mind if I borrow this until tomorrow?" He held up the magazine.
Gak! No way…he wanted to borrow it for an entire night?! She didn't even finish it yet! She'd been waiting for this issue for so long too!
But, he did agree to take time to play a game with her…
/Sigh/
"Sure."
"Ok! See you tomorrow then!" He grabbed his jacket, waved, and headed outside.
She watched as he melted into the crowd through the window. Then, slowly, she got up, and headed home. It was already very dark outside, and the air was crisp with cold. She rubbed her hands together to keep them warm.
She walked on silently, musing to herself.
"Someday, I'm going to catch up to this Shindo person." She muttered as she headed down the dark alley, "And then, I'll get all the titles there are and everyone would know my name…!"
Snowflakes fell gently from the sky.
She picked up into a run and laughed quietly.
A/N: I had to fight to keep myself from adding 'dattebayo' to Mitsuru's last comment to herself…it was just so tempting! T-T Anyhow, first chapter! –I know it's a little vague and all, but I'm doing my best'''. Still, with university placement exams and all, the updates are going to be…can't find the right word for it Yeah, you get the point.
2— Study Group…?
"What?! No way! Morishita sensei is sick?!"
"Yeah… and keep it down Shindo." Waya glanced apologetically at the people throwing them dirty looks for being so loud and ushered Shindo into the study room, "He left a note saying for us to look over the kifu over there and discuss it."
"Why didn't he just give us a call???"
"Probably because he was really sick and all…"
"THEN HE GOES AND LEAVES US A NOTE HERE??!!!"
"Shindo, keep it DOWN!"
"Where the heck are the others anyways?" Shindo scratched his head exasperatedly and looked around.
"They're…uh, not here. I think you and I were the only ones NOT to receive his call."
Shindo slumped down onto the tatami and sighed. If only he'd checked his messaging machine last night, then he wouldn't be in this type of situation. Frustrated, he turned the note over in his hands,
To my students who didn't receive my call,
I am terribly sorry, but I am sick at the moment. I understand that you must be frustrated with coming all this way for nothing, so I've left a kifu for you to study.
Morishita
I'm such an idiot!
"So what do you want to do now?" He asked Waya.
"Let's go grab something to eat, and then we can study over that kifu; or maybe play with some outsiders upstairs. I heard Akira Touya was going to be playing teaching games with some beginners in the afternoon, so it wouldn't hurt to drop by and see."
"Really?! Akira Touya against some beginners?!"
"Uh…from what I've heard…"
"Ok! We'll go check up on him." He laughed to himself, "Never knew Touya to be the type of person to teach beginners though…the Go Weekly people must have gotten him into it, seeing as there's not a lot of matches going on this month and all. He even said himself that he was bored with nothing to do. I guess it shouldn't come as that big of a surprise."
Waya raised an eyebrow at how familiar Shindo seemed to be with Touya nowadays, but didn't say anything.
"So, what do you want to eat?"
"Ramen! I heard there was a really good ramen shop nearby that just opened!'
"No way…Sushi sounds more like it."
"I want ramen!"
"No! Sushi!"
"Will you guys KEEP IT DOWN PLEASE??!!!" Came a familiar voice from outside.
The two stopped their bickering at once.
"Nase? What are you doing here?" Waya asked, somewhat surprised.
"Oh, I had to hand in my application for the upcoming tournament." She smiled awkwardly.
/Woosh –awkward silence-/
"What tournament?"
Waya looked at Hikaru like he was the stupidest idiot that had ever existed.
"How can you not know?"
Hikaru looked back and forth between the two, "Uh…know about what?"
"The K.J.C bridge tournaments." Nase stated matter of factly, "It's for all the lower-level pros who are interested in competing with each other from Korea, Japan, and China. It's just a friendly sort of tournament though, anyone who applies gets to play in the preliminaries. But, that's just on the surface. They use this tournament as a fundamental basis for gouging just how strong the players in the opposing countries have become. Only the best players are left by the end of it…But still, I just want to try my best!"
"Really?" Shindo asked, eyes wide.
"Yeah, for all you've been through, I'd figured you'd been the first one to know." Waya punched him lightly on the head.
"I never heard about it last year…"
"Well, it's not every year…I think the last one that they held was three years ago."
"Wow…I wanna go too." The oblivious pro said as he rubbed his head where Waya had punched him.
"You can…I think the applications are accepted until next week." Nase said.
"When's the preliminaries going to be held?"
"This month. I think Akira Touya is already in it, and that Korean kid, what's his name, that you beat two summers ago. The guy who dissed Hon'inbo Shusaku is also there… From what I've heard, that is…" Waya said.
"Seriously?! How come no one told me about this??!!!"
"That's probably because everyone thought you'd already known, seeing as how it's such a big thing and all…" Nase started.
"I still don't know why I haven't heard a peep from anybody." Hikaru complained.
"Man! This guy is helpless!" Waya joked with Nase, "How the heck did he become a pro?!"
"Ok, ok! I'll apply already! Are you applying too, Waya?"
"I already did…remember? I handed in the application yesterday. You were with me."
"Oh…OH! So that's what you were doing!"
/sweatdrop/
"Ok, let's head out for sushi!" Waya jumped up enthusiastically and dashed for the door.
"Wait! I said we were going for ramen!" Hikaru looked annoyed as he headed after.
Words such as:
Sushi!!!!
Ramen!!!!!
Keep it down over there!!!
SHUT UP, WE'RE TRYING TO CONCENTRATE HERE!!!!
BUT I WANT RAMEN!!!
YOU IDIOT! SHUT IT!
Echoed down the hallway after the two.
Nase rubbed her throbbing temples as a sweatdrop formed at the back of her head.
Not again!