Disclaimer: Too poor to own.

Pairing: Kaga x Tsutsui (it's very subtle, but there)

Simple Placidity

By: yukuro

Spring, to say, was in the air, and a fresh new school term had begun not too long ago. New high school students bustled about in their classes busily, hoping for a good start in their new school and not to make any mistakes. At least, most students did so. There were a few, however, that sat aside, distracted by other matters.

"Yo, Tsutsui."

Blinking, the boy bent over his work lifted his head to see who had called his name. Blinking more rapidly when his nose nearly came in contact with Kaga's, Tsutsui flailed his arms in utter shock and failed in attempt to put more distance between them, causing him to promptly fall back in his chair. A few of their classmates stared and giggled at him. Flushing, Tsutsui picked his chair off of the ground and sat back in it as dignified as he could manage.

"You didn't have to be so shocked, you know," the taller boy said, tapping Tsutsui's head with his fan while sitting backwards in his chair and leaning his elbows on Tsutsui's desk. Smirking, he added, "Or were you concentrating so hard you forgot we're sitting so close together now?"

"It's too hard to ignore your slacking at such close proximity," Tsutsui muttered off-handedly, pushing his glasses back up the bridge of his nose with a slightly exasperated sigh.

Making a face, the other boy interjected, taking slight offense, "Oi!"

"All you know is how to joke around," Tsutsui continued with a sigh, pushing his glasses back up the bridge of his nose. "Although you're really very smart, you're so lazy! I'm surprised you passed middle school."

Pointing his fan at the other boy's nose, Kaga said with a grin, "You should try and say that and the end of the term after we see our grades. Lazy or not, I can still keep up with you."

"You don't have to rub it in," Tsutsui sighed, pushing his work aside to flip through a thin go booklet. His thoughts suddenly wandered back to the day he left junior high. Sighing again, he closed the booklet.

Tilting his head to the side slightly to examine the other boy's face, Kaga brought his free hand to his chin in thought. "What's wrong with you today? You're driving me nuts with all the sighing you're doing."

"Shindou-kun is an Insei now," the shorter boy said quietly with a soft smile. "As wonderful as that is, I still can't help but wonder how the Igo club back at Haze is doing. Without Shindou-kun and now Mitani-kun, it looks like Haze will never make it into the middle school tournaments anymore…"

Frowning slightly, the redhead boy lifted his fan to tap a few times lightly on the other boy's head, making his glasses slide down his face. "Tsutsui!" Kaga began to scold, "Don't forget you're in high school now! You have plenty of other things to worry about!"

"But…" Tsutsui muttered quietly while pushing his glasses back up with creased eyebrows. Slowly, he lowered his face to hide his regretful expression in the shadows of his long bangs.

Shaking his head and sighing, Kaga used his fan to lift Tsutsui's head back up. He smiled slightly in sympathy, a rare action that few people had ever seen. "Look, what I'm trying to say is, we're in high school now and even if we wanted to do something for those gaki, we really can't. Instead of worrying about it, why don't you trust them a little more? That loud-mouthed brat, Mitani or whatever you called him, really likes go. I can tell he wouldn't let the others down. He'll probably just need some time."

"Kaga…" Tsutsui stared for a moment at the taller boy before smiling shakily. Before he could stop himself, a few tears slide from his eyes. Quickly removing his glasses, he hastily wiped them away. "You really do care about Mitani-kun and the others, don't you?"

Blinking, Kaga quickly pulled his fan away and folded his arms. Squeezing his eyes shut, he stated loudly, "Che! I only said all that so you would stop looking so pathetically sad. So stop crying already! Jeez, boys don't cry! Besides…you look much cuter with that stupid, innocent smile of yours on your face."

Glasses still in hand, Tsutsui lifted his wide eyes to stare at Kaga who was directing his frown towards the corner with a very slight blush on his face. Tsutsui instantly felt his face awkwardly heat up in response and absent-mindedly cleaned his glasses lens. "A-ah… Thanks, Kaga…"

"Whatever," Kaga muttered a response, rubbing the back of his head in slight embarrassment. Finally turning back to face the other boy, his eyes wandered to the thin booklet Tsutsui was leafing through before. Curiously, he snatched it up and flipped through it while Tsutsui snapped his head up in surprise, opening his mouth to say something.

Looking over the top of the booklet, Kaga smirked at the humorous display of mortification plastered on Tsutsui's face. Without his glasses on, he reminded Kaga of a small boy: even cuter and more innocent looking than he already was. Frown coming on his face, Kaga quickly shook that thought out of his mind in a huff. Scanning the pages for a moment before returning his gaze to Tsutsui, Kaga asked with a grin, "Are these your records from the Igo club here?"

"Yes," Tsutsui said with a half frown, placing his glasses back on and reaching for the booklet. He nearly pouted when Kaga quickly pulled it out of his reach again. "Why would a great shougi player like yourself be so interested in a few Igo manuals?"

"Probably because they're yours," Kaga said with a laugh as he flipped through the pages. "What the hell, Tsutsui?! Most of these are horrible! Ah… At least you're doing better than before when you constantly looked at those manuals during matches…"

"I didn't ask for your advice," Tsutsui said hotly, making another attempt to pull the booklet away. Failing once again, Tsutsui frowned at Kaga who bent his head back to rest on the desk and smirking at the shorter boy from upside down. "If I need help with shougi, I'll let you know."

"Ah, but the way I see it, you should be asking me for help with go," Kaga commented, easily pulling the booklet out of Tsutsui's reach again with one hand resting under his head. He grinned up at Tsutsui when he jumped up. "You know, it's funny to see you this way. What me to teach you a little?"

"From someone who puts gum on a go-ban?" Tsutsui commented dryly, frowning slightly. Sighing, he gave up and sat back down in his seat.

"Are you still mad about that?" Kaga asked, whacking the other boy lightly on the head with the manual before handing it back to him and sitting up to face him. "I thought you were supposed to be the forgiving type!"

"Hmph, well it was Kaga who was a jerk at that time and didn't even apologize," Tsutsui stated, closing his eyes and crossing his arms.

"Why, you little…!" Grinning, Kaga jumped across the table to put the other boy in a playful headlock while laughing.

"Ka—…! Kaga!" the other boy gasped, unable to help but smile and laugh sheepishly. Before he realized, there was no longer anything of unease in his mind to worry about anymore.

"Those two are an interesting pair, aren't they?" a boy commented with a chuckle to his friend cross the room from where Kaga and Tsutsui were.

"Ah," his friend answered, "I think they both went to Haze Chuu."

"They act like a weird old couple most of the time," a third boy interjected pointedly.

"Hey! I heard that!" Kaga shouted from across the room with Tsutsui still in a playful headlock.

The three boys instantly winced and sank down into their seats.

Kaga and Tsutsui were an interesting pair indeed. Despite the most dismal times, somehow their mere presence between each other caused a simple placidity that made the world seem perfectly smooth.

Owari.

A/N: This...is so inanely old. Never published anywhere. Not even LJ! Gasp. Well. I'd like to dabble back into the Hikago fandom when I can. I really do love all the characters :3 I'll have to write something for Mitani next...even though there is that HikaAki fic stuffed in my WiPs folder. Egh. But anyway, this is just one of those fics that makes you happy to write. Softer tones. Everything subtle. Hope that's well-received.

Thanks for reading! Drop a line if you will.