Yashiro Kiyoharu lives for Fridays at 4 pm. It is at that time on the dot when Professor Tomoda dismisses the Comparative Politics class for the day, wishing them a productive weekend. He has a paper due, but he's free from lectures for the next three days, and can focus on other things for a while. He gathers his things and walks out of the classroom, waving off invitations to stay and chat, or go out and do things with the girls in the class. For some reason he hasn't yet fathomed, university has turned him into quite a hot commodity even while being a Go nerd.
Well. Not spreading around that he's a Go professional is probably part of it. He knows he certainly doesn't look the type to most people, unless they're familiar with other recent pros.
It's a mild day, and Kiyoharu is in no hurry to get to the bus. The shade of the trees casts shadows on the paving stones that line the campus paths, and to either side of him multistory buildings reach toward the sky, a stately brick façade to his left and sleek steel and glass to his right. There are other students milling around the entrances to each of the buildings, and for the most part Kiyoharu ignores them. He's finished with classes for the day, and is looking forward to some time away from school. He feels as though nearly all his time is spent either at school or at the Ki'in, with barely enough time to sleep after his homework is completed.
Kiyoharu hears his name being called and pauses just outside the entrance of the glass and steel building, the student lounge. There is a group of three guys he vaguely recognizes leaning against the boulder set to the left of the entrance. One of them - wearing a lime green polo shirt that makes Kiyoharu wince - is waving at him, and as he halts his footsteps the guy approaches him with a grin.
"Hey Yashiro-kun," he says, and Kiyoharu really wishes he could remember where he knows this guy from so he could begin to dredge up a name to go with the face so he can greet him properly.
"Hey," he says instead, feeling like a jerk of the highest order. He discreetly reaches into his pocket to pull out his phone, looking for an excuse to end this conversation before he embarrasses himself too badly.
"I was just talking about you with those guys," Green Polo Shirt gestures to the two still leaning against the boulder. Kiyoharu glances over at them, then politely smiles at Green Polo Shirt.
"Is that so?" he asks. "Nothing bad I hope."
"No way, you're a legend in the club," Green Polo Shirt says. Something about Kiyoharu's face must have tipped him off that he's completely clueless about who he is, because Green Polo Shirt starts laughing. "I'm Yasutada Fumihiko, the vice president of the Go club here," he explains, and finally it dawns on Kiyoharu where he's seen the guy before. When he first started school they tried to recruit him as a sort of student adviser for the club.
"Oh," he says with a sheepish smile. "I thought I recognized you."
"No big deal," Yasutada says with a shrug. "But we were all impressed with your performance at last year's Hokutohai. All three of your performances! Sweeping both Korea AND China? It's just too bad Ko Yeong-ha wasn't eligible last year so he could have taken part in the stomping Team Japan gave everyone!" Kiyoharu laughs at the enthusiasm Yasutada is showing, and one of the guys by the entrance to the student lounge whoops at his proclamation.
"Yeah it was a good year for us," he admits, trying to keep a modicum of humility in his voice. But he is proud of their performance. It was the fourth year for Team Japan to be comprised of himself, Shindou, and Touya, and none of them wanted their last eligible year to be anything less than spectacular. He's glad that it was, and that he could have been part of the effort to show that Japan is still a contender in the world of Go, but he really doesn't have the time to stand around discussing that.
"You should come play with our Go club," Yasutada pushes the conversation forward before Kiyoharu can find a way to excuse himself politely. "We'd be sure to kick some ass at the next tournament if a pro came and gave us a few pointers."
Kiyoharu sighs mentally. In a way, he's been expecting this for a while. The only thing that's surprising is that the Go club has taken an entire year to hunt him down and ask him since the first time they had at the entrance ceremony. "You couldn't afford me," he says with an apologetic shake of his head.
Yasutada pulls an exaggerated face. "Come on, how about a freebie for your senpai?"
The thing is, if Kiyoharu had the time he wouldn't mind coming to a meeting or two of the Go club to play with them. He wouldn't even charge. But things are so hectic with school combined with his shidougo commitments. The preliminary rounds for the Gosei tournament are starting up, and Kiyoharu is looking forward to playing some of the better players after slogging his way through the first rounds. His time is not his own, and when he can steal some it's usually spent with Shindou playing Go or doing something else - video games, shopping, going out to eat. Even when it doesn't have something to do with Go, it usually ends with them playing anyway. That way it's easier to justify the use of time as Go study.
"Hey, I gotta make a living somehow," he replies to Yasutada, shrugging one shoulder.
"At least think about it," Yasutada says, giving Kiyoharu's arm a friendly punch as he starts to head back to the other two members of the Go club. Kiyoharu is relieved he doesn't have to think of a reason to bow out of the conversation.
"Good luck with the tournament," he says instead of answering. Getting their hopes up wouldn't do anyone any good, but saying 'no' outright just seems rude.
As Yasutada rejoins his friends, he calls out once more, "THINK ABOUT IT!" Kiyoharu admires his enthusiasm and persistence, but he just shakes his head as he starts walking again.
The glint of something off the glass of the student lounge grabs his attention, and Kiyoharu turns in time to catch sight of a shock of cherry-red hair. He feels his stomach drop as he reflexively turns to find the person attached to the hair coming out of the building behind him. It's been months since he's seen him, but Kiyoharu would recognize him anywhere. His hair has grown out somewhat so his roots are longer than the red is now, but the long, sideswept bangs and stylish square glasses are the same.
'Inoue-senpai,' he doesn't say. The pace of his heart most definitely doesn't pick up. And when he sees Inoue's arm around the same girl he recognizes from when he returned from winter break during his first year, all he feels is a vague sense of hollow emptiness where the feelings for the first person he'd ever slept with used to be.
Kiyoharu stands there in the middle of the pathway for longer than is appropriate, staring at the senpai he'd had a fling with - well, Kiyoharu had thought it was more than a fling, but Inoue apparently had other thoughts regarding it if he could replace him without a second thought, or even a word to him beforehand. Panic fills him when he sees that Inoue has seen him, and his senpai has scarcely quirked his lips in an awkward-looking smile and raised his hand before Kiyoharu has spun on his heel and started walking in the opposite direction as fast as he can, running away while trying to seem as though he isn't.
Kiyoharu's phone vibrates in his pocket with an incoming call as he's reaching for it to retrieve it and check his messages in an attempt at looking natural. The pace he's set isn't helping to slow his heartbeat, so when he feels he's a safe distance away from the student lounge he slows down to look at the digital readout. He's only marginally surprised when the caller ID readout informs him that Shindou is calling him. He presses the button to accept the call, glad of the distraction.
"What's up?" Kiyoharu asks without preamble.
"You busy?" Shindou says, sounding annoyed. Kiyoharu can hear the faint sound of voices in the background, as well as the telltale click-clack of Go stones. It doesn't take much thought to figure out where he is.
"Yeah, kind of." It's not a dodge, he has a paper due in a week he really shouldn't blow off until the last minute. Almost-encounter with Inoue notwithstanding, if Kiyoharu wants to stay ahead in his classes while attending to all his pro responsibilities, he needs to take every opportunity he can to get things done.
"Well make yourself un-busy," Shindou insists. Kiyoharu can hear the grin through the phone, and wonders what he's got planned. Part of him wants to blow off his homework without a second thought, but the more rational part knows he can't.
"Why don't you give your wife a call or something?" he asks testily, annoyed at himself that he can't just say no. He knows the longer he stays on the phone with Shindou, the more likely he is to eventually give in.
"Dude, you need to stop calling Touya that or else he's gonna punch you or something," Shindou says, sounding serious. The thought of Touya punching anyone is enough to make him crack a smile, and he shakes his head even though he knows Shindou can't see him.
"Yeah, yeah," Kiyoharu says, the smile seeping into his voice, "I'd like to see that happen." It's a running joke between the two of them. He would never disrespect Touya like this to his face; he looks up to him too much. But the ease with which he can rile Shindou up with a few well-placed words regarding Touya makes him an easy target when the two of them are together.
"Just get over here," Shindou orders, and Kiyoharu feels his resolve weakening. "Kawai-san is getting on my nerves."
"Oh, so you need me to rescue you, huh?" he teases.
"You're a huge jerk, Kansai," Shindou gripes, making Kiyoharu laugh.
"Yeah well you need this huge jerk apparently."
"Are you coming or not?" Shindou asks. Kiyoharu is silent for a moment, before sighing and giving in. It was pretty futile to refuse, he rationalized, since Shindou would just keep calling and bothering him if he said no. He'd never get anything done with that happening.
"Yeah, yeah," he repeats with a wry smile, "keep your panties on. I'll be there in a while." Sighing, Kiyoharu shakes his head again.
"Okay awesome. Great! See you soon. You're the best!" As Kiyoharu presses the button to end the call he can't help but wonder when Shindou was able to turn him into such a pushover. He figures he must be able to do it to all his friends.
When he walks into Dougenzaka, he's greeted by the owner's wife with as much courtesy as she shows anyone; that is to say not very much. But since he's a pro he's automatically exempt from the biting sarcasm she usually displays. Since he's almost as much a regular as Shindou is these days, she waves him by without asking for the table fee, and Kiyoharu offers her a polite bow in thanks before turning around and looking for Shindou. It's not difficult to pick out his friend's two-toned hair, even when it's being mussed out of place by Kawai-san.
"Yashiro-pro!" Kawai-san calls out when he spots Kiyoharu, and he lifts a hand in greeting as Shindou tries to pat his hair back in place with grumbled vows of retribution.
"Hi Kawai-san," Kiyoharu greets, turning the chair across from Shindou around and straddling it. He sees a pile of torn candy wrappers next to the goban, and two bowls filled with what look like Mentos. Purple and red Mentos. He wrinkles his nose at the sight of the purple. Artificial grape was definitely one of his least favorite flavors.
"Maybe you can talk some sense into him, Yashiro-pro," Kawai-san declares, and Kiyoharu watches the mutinous expression bloom across Shindou's face.
"You call him 'Yashiro-pro', why don't you call me 'Shindou-pro'?" He asks, sounding more like a petulant child than a professional anything.
"Shindou-kun will always be Shindou-kun," Kawai-san declares without explaining himself, and Kiyoharu can't help but chuckle at the pout Shindou wears at the declaration.
"What am I talking sense into him for, Kawai-san?" Kiyoharu asks to distract Shindou from further childishness - not that it ever helps.
"I asked him for a game, but he said he was too busy unwrapping candy to play," Kawai-san says, sounding outraged.
"Because I was! These aren't as easy to open as they look!" Shindou cries out; Yashiro can see other Dougenzaka patrons shaking their heads or rolling their eyes. Shindou might be a favorite around here, but that doesn't mean they're ignorant of some of his sillier tendencies.
"What I don't understand is why," Kawai-san says, crossing his arms over his chest. He can tell Shindou wants to argue for the sake of arguing at this point, so he interjects before he can say anything.
"I thought you called me over to play a game," Kiyoharu says, drawing Shindou's attention from Kawai-san to himself. Shindou grins at him, nodding at the bowls full of candy.
"I did. But I thought I'd make it interesting for us. Not that Go isn't interesting by itself," Shindou tears open the last roll of what looks like cola-flavored Mentos and dumps them into the bowl. He doesn't speak as he works at the ones stuck in the bottom of the package, but when it's empty and the wrapper is discarded on the pile next to the goban Shindou points to each bowl. "These are gonna be our stones."
Kiyoharu blinks, raising an eyebrow. Sure, Mentos are shaped similarly to Go stones, but why go out of the way when actual Go stones are perfectly serviceable? "Bored with black and white?" he ventures.
Shindou has the audacity to roll his eyes. "Psh, no. These are edible."
"Wow, I didn't know that. Thank you for that interesting bit of knowledge," Kiyoharu snipes, lifting his messenger bag full of textbooks off his shoulder. He ducks his head so the strap doesn't get caught in his hair, and drops the bag to the floor with an audible thud.
"Shut up," Shindou says, and if Kiyoharu hadn't been looking at him he would have sworn he'd stuck out his tongue. "I mean that means we can use special rules since they're edible."
"Ah," Kiyoharu says. He doesn't yet follow what the special rules are going to be, but if he knows anything about Shindou it's that he'll let him know eventually. Standing, he turns the chair back around so he can sit normally in it.
"Sounds kind of pointless to me," Kawai-san mutters from behind Shindou, and Kiyoharu suspects it's because he doesn't get to play Shindou today. He can't feel too badly, since he's got a pretty sweet deal being one of Shindou's favorite Dougenzaka customers. Shindou ignores the comment, and Kawai-san sits down at the end of the table, facing them in profile.
"Pick a flavor," Shindou says, offering both bowls to him. Kiyoharu automatically points at the bowl full of red candies. If this is going to involve eating, he's going to avoid the grape at all costs. Shindou hands him the red and he picks one out and pops it into his mouth.
"Not bad," he says as he chews.
"Hey, don't eat them, we need them to play!" Shindou protests. Kiyoharu puts the bowl down where the goke would normally sit and shrugs. "So the way this'll work is that whenever one of us captures a stone we have to eat it. I call it 'Cannibal Go'."
"That's a dumb name dude," he says automatically.
"No way, it's an awesome name. We eat the prisoners, so we're cannibals," Shindou explains needlessly, giving Kiyoharu a wounded look.
"Whatever," he replies, frowning. Since Shindou has the grape, that means any 'stones' he captures he has to eat. "Eugh, trade me flavors then," he orders.
"No way, no takebacks," Shindou says, pulling his bowl out of Kiyoharu's reach.
"I don't eat grape," Kiyoharu insists. "Plus, I've seen how you handle your stones, your fingers are all over them. I don't know where you've been. You expect me to eat candies you've been fondling?"
"Geez," Shindou says in exasperation, "I'll go wash my hands if it'll make you happy. But we're not trading. You picked so you have to live with it."
"That was before you told me the rules," Kiyoharu says, his frown deepening. Shindou shrugs, and he has to resist the urge to reach over the goban and smack his stupid head. "You did that on purpose," he mutters mutinously, slouching back against the the chair back. Shindou doesn't deny it, and after a beat Kiyoharu's mouth twists into a crooked smile as he shrugs, giving in. He'll just have to win without taking any prisoners. "So who goes first?"
"We can janken or something to figure that out." Shindou holds out his hand over the goban, Kiyoharu mirroring him. Shindou throws out paper, while he throws scissors.
"Guess that makes me black," he declares needlessly, and Shindou shrugs with a half-smile. Spitefully, Kiyoharu eats another of his candies from the bowl before setting one down, claiming a corner. The candy doesn't make as satisfying a sound as a go stone on the goban, but Kiyoharu doesn't pay that much mind. He's more concerned about how he's going to win without taking any stones.
They start laying stones, and Kiyoharu doesn't play anything flashy or unusual drawing a quirked eyebrow from Shindou as they go through the steps of fuseki, claiming territory and readying themselves for the inevitable battles to be had. He's being more conservative than he's used to, and it feels especially wrong against Shindou since he's used to pushing boundaries and flaunting accepted gameplay with him, but his desire to not have to eat one of Shindou's stones trumps his zeal for new and interesting hands. But that doesn't mean he has to lose, either. Being conservative doesn't mean being a loser.
They're about twenty-five hands into the game when Shindou captures one of his stones. Kiyoharu doesn't much care at first, until Shindou waves it in front of his face. "What?" he asks, the annoyance clear in his voice.
"This is gonna be awesome," Shindou says, tossing the candy into his mouth and making a show of chewing slowly. Kiyoharu wants to throw a goke at him, and allows himself a short fantasy of how it would look with the black stones scattered everywhere, and a large red spot in the middle of Shindou's forehead. "Oh man this is the best flavor ever," Shindou practically moans, and Kiyoharu kicks him under the table.
"Dude, you are a huge douche," he says, eyes narrowed. Shindou isn't offended, he just takes the opportunity to laugh. Kiyoharu mocks him, mimicking the laugh in a high-pitched voice that sounds nothing like Shindou. "Ha ha ha ha ha, shut up."
"Whatever man," Shindou shrugs. "I'm totally winning this."
"In your dreams."
Fifteen hands later, Kiyoharu sighs heavily as he looks at the board, regretting his cocky words. There's no way he can continue without taking any stones, not if he doesn't want to get stomped by Shindou. Shindou is good, but if there's one thing he's proud of it's his ability to keep pace with him fairly well. He may not win every one of their games together, but his margin of loss isn't usually as embarrassing as he's setting himself up for.
He's going to have to eat a prisoner.
Placing his stone, he picks up the grape Mentos he just captured, staring at it with a baleful eye. He can see Shindou grinning eagerly at him, and wonders why this is so fascinating to him.
"Well?" Shindou asks, and Kiyoharu can practically hear the glee dripping from his voice. He stifles a groan and shoves the obnoxiously purple disk into his mouth, chewing and swallowing as quickly as he can. It's too sweet and the flavor is nothing like any grape Kiyoharu has ever eaten. Whoever invented artificial grape had obviously never tasted one before. He makes a face at the flavor, taking a sip of the tea the owner had thoughtfully placed next to him when he hadn't been paying attention.
"That was gross," Kiyoharu states, to which Shindou starts cackling.
"You should have seen your face!" he laughs. Kiyoharu rolls his eyes. "Man what is your problem with grape?"
"There is nothing even vaguely grape about that," Kiyoharu says, pointing at a group of purple in the upper left. "At least other flavors usually taste like what they're supposed to." He makes another face at the memory of the taste, and Shindou cracks up even more. Annoyed, Kiyoharu takes a red candy and flicks it at Shindou. Unfortunately, his friend has better reflexes than Kiyoharu had been counting on, and moves out of the way in time for the candy to go sailing past his head and straight into the neck of the customer sitting behind him. The older man turns around curiously, and Kiyoharu feels his cheeks light up with an ashamed blush.
"Sorry 'bout that," he mutters, trying to sink into the floor but just succeeding in slouching down in the chair a few inches. The man laughs and shakes his head, plucking the candy out of his collar.
"It's okay, Yashiro-pro. We know how Shindou-pro gets under your skin sometimes. He's an expert at it." The rest of the customers in earshot chuckle at the perceived truth of the words.
At the declaration and resulting laughter, Kiyoharu leans forward, burying his face in his hands in embarrassment. If the patrons aren't even surprised about Shindou being able to rile him up, then he's obviously coming here too often. If he were smart he'd avoid coming to Dougenzaka for a while.
Imagining the whining Shindou would throw at him if he tried doing that is the only thing that stops him from considering that thought further.
He hears Shindou place a hand, and he looks up, considering the board. He's played carefully, so his position isn't as bad as it could be, but Shindou still has a comfortable lead he can protect. It's still fairly early, though, and if Kiyoharu plays carefully he can turn it around. Laying a stone, he returns his concentration to the game, and judging by the soft ambience of stones hitting wood he can tell everyone else has as well.
A few hands later while Shindou is considering the possibilities, Kiyoharu leans forward conspiratorially. "Hey, so why don't you bring Touya here?" he asks.
"No way," Shindou says automatically, sounding distracted. His eyes never leave the board. "The old guys here would forget I even exist if I brought him around."
Before Kiyoharu can comment on that, Kawai-san speaks up. "We wouldn't forget you exist, Shindou-kun," he says with a grin and a wink Shindou doesn't see. "You're like a bad penny."
This is enough to draw Shindou's attention away from the game, just long enough to stick his tongue out at Kawai-san. All he receives in return is another ruffling of hair.
"Hey!" he cries out, trying to swat Kawai-san's hand away from his hair. "You're messing it up!"
Kiyoharu doesn't point out that it had been messed up when he'd arrived, figuring Shindou doesn't need the hair angst to deal with. "Shindou, you can fix it later," he offers, trying to calm things down.
"You should bring Touya-pro," Kawai-san insists, ignoring Kiyoharu completely. He feels a flash of irritation, but tamps it down. Shindou is annoyed enough for the both of them, after all.
"No way," Shindou refuses flat out, finally succeeding at shoving Kawai-san away. He combs his fingers through his bangs to try and fluff them up, pouting when it's not very successful. So much for avoiding hair angst. Kiyoharu tries not to smile, but something about Shindou with his hair out of place in public is so different from the norm as to be a novelty. Shindou sees the smile and gives him a hurt look.
"Don't look at me like that, Shindou," Kiyoharu says, still smiling. "You look fine. So stop obsessing and play." Shindou takes the time to stick his tongue out at Kiyoharu, then pulls a purple candy out of the bowl to play his hand. Kiyoharu answers the hand, and they fall into the rhythm of the game once more.
As they continue playing, Kiyoharu lets himself feel a small spark of pleasure at the fact Shindou lets him come to Dougenzaka. He's so close to Touya, he would have expected him to have been here before, but even if Shindou doesn't mean it that way Kiyoharu feels special. At the same time, though, he wonders if he should take it as a compliment. After all, it means Shindou thinks Kiyoharu won't take any attention away from him. If it's a compliment, it's a backhanded one when he thinks of it that way. In the end, though, he doesn't really mind. He can understand Shindou needing to have a place where he's the celebrity after spending a lot of his free time with Touya and the resulting furor that tends to result from his name alone.
Lost in thought, he's allowed Shindou to set the pace, and he's drawn them into a game of speed Go. It's nothing new; most of the games they play are speedy ones, but he had been taking his time up until now to allow himself ample time to plot his moves. Speed Go is partially based on intuition, and it can be a dangerous thing. Later, he'll kick himself for not realizing something was afoot when Shindou's expression takes on an angelic innocence as he makes his next move.
Before he can even think about it, Kiyoharu places his own stone, and by the look of Shindou's triumphant grin he knows he's done something stupid. Studying the board, he tries to figure out what Shindou sees. His move hadn't been a bad one, he's captured five of Shindou's stones after all.
As soon as that thought registers, his heart - and stomach - sinks. Five stones means five pieces of candy to eat. "You let me capture those on purpose," he accuses, and Shindou doesn't bother to deny it.
"Just seeing if you were paying attention," he says airily, and Yashiro picks up each purple disk of poison and drops them in his left palm all while glaring halfheartedly at Shindou. His shoulders slump as he stares at the small pile in his hand. He should not feel like he's being defeated when the outcome is still up in the air, yet here he is feeling like a big fat loser because of a few stupid candies.
"This is not funny," Kiyoharu says, his fingers closing around the captured 'stones'. This only serves to make Shindou laugh at him for real, a laugh that resounds through the room clear and crisp.
"It's hilarious," he contradicts, and Kiyoharu wrinkles his nose. "Come on Yashiro, you have to eat them or you have to forfeit."
Oh hell no, Kiyoharu isn't going down without a fight. Stubbornly, he shoves two of the Mentos into his mouth, briefly flirting with the idea of just swallowing them whole. Dying of choking in the middle of a game of Cannibal Go - he still thinks the name is pretty dumb - would be one of the worst ways he could think of to die, right behind gruesome murder and his limbs falling off from whatever horrible disease Shindou is probably harboring on his hands. So he chews them a few times, but swallowing them is more of an ordeal. The taste lingers, and as he bores a hole through the remaining three candies with his stare, he just can't do it.
"Okay no, screw this. These are disgusting. I resign." Very deliberately, Kiyoharu extends his hand just far enough to upend it, dumping the captured stones onto the goban. The force of the falling pieces causes several of the others to skitter off the board and onto the table, disturbing the pile of wrappers and sending them cascading to the floor.
"Hey!" Shindou protests. "You can't do that!"
"You just said I could," Kiyoharu points out, taking another swallow of the tea. It had gone lukewarm sometime between his last capture and now, but he doesn't care as long as it can get rid of the aftertaste somewhat. "So I am."
At the end of the table, Kawai-san starts laughing really hard, drowning out Shindou's wordless noises of protest. Kiyoharu would feel accomplished at having both caused quite the commotion as well as rendered Shindou speechless from shock or indignation, but all he can muster is a vague sense of relief that his slow, voluntary torture is over.
Shindou usually has good ideas of how to change up their games so they're always fun and interesting, but he's going to refuse to play Cannibal Go with him in the future unless he gets to pick the candy flavors.
Kiyoharu starts gathering up the red candies to replace in the bowl, wondering what Shindou is planning on doing with so much sugar. It wouldn't surprise him if he ends up eating them all, he just hopes Shindou decides to do it when Kiyoharu isn't around to feel obligated to play conscience. As he shoves the purple disks across the goban, he catches sight of Shindou making a forlorn face at him. He groans mentally, rolling his eyes.
"Come on Shindou, it was fun but I have a ton of homework to do so I should really be going anyway," he says, reaching across the goban to poke at the furrow in Shindou's forehead.
"Wait, no, you can't go yet," Shindou says quickly, bating Kiyoharu's hand away. "We should go get something to eat."
Taking a moment, Kiyoharu considers this. It won't do any harm to spend a little while longer with Shindou, and it'll save him a trip to the convenience store to pick up something to eat while he studies. "Okay, why not," he says.
"Awesome!" Shindou replies, standing and scattering candy and the rest of the foil and paper wrappers across the table and floor. "I just have to call my mom to let her know I won't be home for a while." He looks around at the mess he's made, and it seems to register for the first time. "Oh wait, I should probably clean this up first," he says reluctantly.
"Don't worry about it, Shindou-kun," the owner of Dougenzaka says with a laugh. "I'll take care of it."
"You're going to spoil him," his wife calls out from the front counter. Shindou ignores her, grinning at the owner.
"Thanks master!" he exclaims as he fishes his cell phone out of his pocket. Kiyoharu has seen it about a hundred times, but it never fails to amaze him how obnoxiously yellow it is. While Shindou is busy getting out of the owner's way while trying to dial a phone at the same time, Kiyoharu stands, bending over to pick up his messenger bag and sling it across his body. He follows Shindou to the exit, murmuring a polite 'thanks' to the owner's wife when Shindou doesn't say anything to her on his way out. She favors him with a rare smile, though it's pretty tiny.
"Hey mom? Just calling to tell you I'm not going to be home until later," Shindou says as they walk up the street. Kiyoharu has no idea where they're going, so he just follows Shindou and hopes for the best. Shindou is an expert at getting lost under the most ideal circumstances; getting lost while distracted on the phone is almost a matter of course. "No I won't need dinner, I'm going out with Yashiro. No we were just gonna hit up a restaurant around the salon. Yes I'm sure. Yes he's been eating. I just know, okay?"
Kiyoharu raises an eyebrow at the direction the half of the conversation he can hear has taken, but refrains from saying anything just yet.
"Yeah, I'll invite him over next time, don't worry. Yeah. Bye." Shindou shuts his phone and stuffs it into his pocket, rolling his eyes after catching Kiyoharu's gaze as if to say 'parents, huh?'
"Either your mom likes me, or she thinks I'm a bad influence on you and wants to keep an eye on me," Kiyoharu jokes, feeling a little weird about how concerned Shindou's mother seems about his eating habits. Even his own mother has started trusting him not to starve or subsist on crappy convenience store food day in and day out.
"No, she definitely likes you," Shindou says, shrugging one shoulder. "I think she likes you more than she likes me."
This surprises Kiyoharu, but he tries not to show it. "Sure," he says with an embarrassed laugh, "she just doesn't know me very well."
"Whatever dude," Shindou says dismissively. "You're pretty likeable."
Something about the way Shindou says that makes Kiyoharu's stomach do a little flip. "Oh yeah?" he asks nonchalantly.
"Duh. I'm friends with you after all, aren't I?" Shindou flashes a cheeky grin at him, and Kiyoharu feels the familiar fond annoyance creep up on him, smothering whatever it was he had just been feeling.
"Well when you say it that way how can I deny it," he deadpans, causing Shindou to laugh.
By the time Shindou's laugh subsides into an echoing smile, they've stopped in front of the entrance to a family restaurant Kiyoharu had never known was there. He stares up at the sign, before glancing over at Shindou when he announces, "We're here."
"Oh, and we didn't even get lost," Kiyoharu says jokingly. Shindou punches his arm and shoves on the door, ignoring the hostess who greets them as Kiyoharu follows him. They're seated in a booth by the window, and Kiyoharu slides into the bench seat on the left, dropping his messenger bag next to him. A cute waitress comes to hand them menus and drop off glasses of water, and Kiyoharu nods at her as she moves on to service the other tables with people at them.
"I was expecting ramen," he says offhandedly as he peruses the selections.
"I thought we'd do something different today," Shindou replies. Kiyoharu lays his menu down on the table so he can give Shindou a disbelieving stare.
"This from the guy who claims to be able to eat nothing but ramen for weeks on end?" he asks.
"I totally could!" Shindou insists. "But I thought since you're with me we could do something else. I'm not completely heartless."
"My stomach and blood pressure thank you," Kiyoharu says, picking his menu back up just as their waiter comes and introduces himself, ready to take their orders.
When they've ordered their food and are alone again - or as alone as they can be in the middle of a restaurant - Kiyoharu takes the opportunity to pull out his textbook for his International Relations class. As much as he's not really planning on doing anything related to political science, he actually enjoys the classes. He's got a test to study for, and it seems like the perfect bit of downtime to sneak in some revision. The textbook barely has time to hit the table before Shindou speaks up.
"What the heck?" he asks. Kiyoharu glances up at him as he flips to the page he has marked with a sticky tab. "You can't do that here."
"And why not?" Kiyoharu asks, turning his attention to the book. "There isn't a sign anywhere saying 'no studying for exams allowed,' is there?"
"You are a huge dork," Shindou says, ignoring the sarcasm. Kiyoharu puts an elbow on the table and rests his chin on his hand casually.
"Well when do you suggest I study, since you're taking all my free time today?" he asks.
"Whatever," Shindou scoffs, making Kiyoharu scowl. "You're some sort of genius or something. You don't need to study."
"As much as your faith in me warms me, I actually do have to study if I don't want to fail," Kiyoharu insists with a roll of his eyes. Shindou ignores him and reaches across the table to snatch the textbook before he can get a good grip on it. "Hey!" he protests.
"I'll give it back later," Shindou says, standing just long enough to drop the book beneath him and sit back down on it. Kiyoharu heaves a heavy sigh; the futility of resisting is readily apparent.
"Why do I hang out with you?" he asks under his breath, just loud enough for Shindou to catch the words.
"Because I'm awesome, duh," he says without missing a beat.
"Yeah that's one word for it," Kiyoharu mutters.
"So I totally have to tell you this," Shindou says without context, making Kiyoharu wonder how he holds normal conversations with anyone. "You're here after all, and I have to tell someone."
"When you put it that way, please excuse me if I'm not flattered at your candor," Kiyoharu says dryly.
"Shut up," Shindou shoots back at him. Kiyoharu cracks a smile and makes a motion with one hand for him to continue. "So I'm moving out of my parents' house."
A beat passes, and when nothing else is forthcoming Kiyoharu raises his eyebrows. "Oh. Is that all?" He feels Shindou's shoe connect with his ankle, but not hard enough to hurt.
"Come on, be excited for me. I'm excited!" he says with a pouty frown.
"Well I'm sorry. I left my pompoms at home with the rest of my unfinished homework," he half-jokes.
They're interrupted by the waiter bringing their food, and the conversation lulls as they both fill their mouths. The food is good, and Kiyoharu hasn't eaten out like this in a few weeks, so it's a nice treat to not have to figure out how to manage to cook for one without a ton of leftovers for once. It's definitely better than convenience store food.
"So," Shindou says a few minutes later as he's pushing his food around his plate, "you totally have to help me out with picking a place. Since you know what you're doing and all."
Kiyoharu scoffs, swallows, and takes a sip of water before answering. "Are you kiddin' me? I went to a real estate agent. They did all the work, all I did was pick the place I liked the best."
"But you've done it before!" Shindou insists.
Kiyoharu points his fork at him. "Dude, I don't have the time to go apartment hunting with you."
"Oh no you won't have to I'll have that covered I think. I just want you to give me some hints about what I should look for, or something. I don't know, I've never done this before." Shindou gives him a pleading look, and the hand holding Kiyoharu's fork droops down.
"That's what real estate agents are for, Shindou," he says wearily. "They will hold your hand if you need it. You expect to survive on your own with that attitude?"
Shindou sticks his tongue out at Kiyoharu. "Stop being a raincloud on my parade of life," he says.
"You are a complete dork," Kiyoharu states. Shindou doesn't deny it.
They finish their meals in companionable silence, and when the waiter comes to bus their table and drop off the check Kiyoharu reaches for his wallet to pull out some cash to pay for his half. Shindou stops him with a word.
"Hey," he says, and Kiyoharu pauses to look at him curiously. "I got this."
Cocking his head to the side, Kiyoharu tries not to look completely puzzled. "What? Why? You never pay for me when we go out."
"It's a birthday present, duh," Shindou answers, as if it should have been obvious. Kiyoharu stares at him unblinking. His birthday isn't something he can remember telling anyone, but it's also not a secret either. It's just something he never expected Shindou to know off the top of his head.
"You know when my birthday is," he says, his flat tone turning the question into a statement.
"It's in two days," Shindou answers, wrinkling his nose as his eyebrows draw together. It makes him look younger than his nineteen years. "What kind of friend do you take me for? Geez."
"Whatever," Kiyoharu says, trying to hide the embarrassment he suddenly feels. "Go pay already." Shindou stands, hands him his textbook - it's warm from Shindou sitting on it, and it occurs belatedly to Kiyoharu that he missed a great opportunity to make a joke about Shindou needing a booster seat. He watches Shindou shuffle to the cashier, and while he's handing money over Kiyoharu puts his book back into his bag.
Being friends with Shindou can be frustrating, invigorating, surreal, or fun. Sometimes everything at once. But even if he's a little self-centered and dense, Kiyoharu is glad they're friends. He knows Shindou is a complete Go-freak, and his knowledge and interest in anything else is pretty hit-or-miss, but that's okay. They're pros after all, they'll always have that common ground. He has to admit that even though Shindou's naming sense and choice of flavors were both pretty terrible, candy Go was pretty fun. And he's pretty happy that Shindou is his friend.