This is a dual author fict between PhoenixIsis and Lady Blackpearl. Please
check out our other stories. We hope you enjoy our Hikaru no Go story as
much as we have in writing it. Enjoy.
Disclaimer: We do not own Hikaru no Go. though we got dibs on Waya for Pearl and Hikaru for Isis.
Chapter 1
Berdine toyed with the ring on her pinky idly, as she tended to do by way of nervous habit. Either that, or fuss with her hair, but in the tight quarters of the airplane seats, that wasn't exactly possible. So play with her ring she did, earphones humming the tones of the CD that now spun beneath the cover of her discman. The flight to this point had gone by easily. From the time she boarded in Paris, her heart was pounding in excitement. She'd been to many countries before in her life, but never any of the Asian parts of the world. Asia really was different from Europe, different from the Americas.
It thrilled her that she was going to be off to such a new and unique place as Japan. This excitement fueled her in a conversation with a French fluent Chinese man on his way to a convention in Rome from a brief business trip in Paris. He shared his experiences in numerous other countries with her, and she told him of the chateaus and musée's he should visit were he to come back to France again. Their conversation had lasted four hours, and Berdine had hardly noticed the amount of time that passed, the scenery below, and the countries they stopped in.
Between her anticipation and the way she spent so much time doing her favorite thing (talking, of course), she hadn't hit one low. But her conversational companion had gone, having gotten off the plane at his stop, and she was faced with an empty seat and no one left to talk to. That is, except for the lump of flesh that snored at her right. She prodded her brother with one finger, right at that sensitive niche at his waist. The boy snorted and jumped, then passed her an annoyed look. Berdine plucked the earphones from her ears and then made similar work of her brother's.
"Dis, combien d'heures jusqu'à nous arrivons dans-"
"Practice your Japanese," he replied. "You haven't been in class for a year, and I don't want you embarrassing me."
"You know I speak it ten times better than you do. And you've been taking it for a year more than I have." Berdine wrinkled her nose, and her brother shrugged nonchalantly. "How much longer until we get to Japan?"
"Don't know." The blonde boy shucked his shoulders and rubbed at his eyes tiredly. "Dad said it's about a twelve hour flight."
"And it's been about four. Oh ick. I have to sit in this seat for eight more hours?!"
"You should've stayed up all night like me. Then you could just sleep."
"I guess so. But I probably would've gone insane if I stayed up that long the night before."
Her brother yawned and sat up in his seat. If it weren't for the tea brown eye color the two siblings shared and the way they bickered, it would be hard to tell their relationship with one another. Seventeen-year-old Axelle Lamontagne was a year older than Berdine, but his height made him appear a good three or four years older, especially when standing next to his rather short sister. Freckles littered his cheeks and nose, the kind that had disappeared from Berdine's face when she hit puberty. He typically wore a goofy pair of sunglasses atop his head to keep his shaggy blonde hair out of his face, those had been discarded now in favor of a backwards-turned baseball cap. Basically, Axelle looked like his parents. He had his father's jaw line and brow, and his mother's slender nose and bright smile. Berdine, on the other hand, looked like their father's sister, Aunt Rachelle. Rachelle was a brazen redhead with a love for anything high- adrenaline. Berdine wasn't half as rebellious and brave, but definitely was the spitting image of her adventurous aunt, from her garnet hair to her pug nose and heart-shaped face.
Where Berdine didn't inherit her parents' looks, she did gain her mother's personality. Mrs. Lamontagne was a bubbly woman, talkative, positive, and very good with handling other people's feelings. Berdine was a bit clumsier in the latter department, but overall was her mother's daughter, just as Axelle was his father's son. Mr. Lamontagne was a business strategist with a thirst for adventure. Axelle wasn't half as serious as his father, but maintained the go-getter spirit like a fine art. At seventeen, Axelle was one of the top Jeu de la Dame players in France, and competed in professional outings regularly. He'd made a good sum of money for college already, and now looked to improve on his game even more so that he could compete at an international level.
This was the reason their parents had arranged to send the siblings to Japan for their summer vacation. Originally, Axelle had been the only traveler, but pouting and persuading on Berdine's half had earned her a ticket as well. Axelle was going to Japan to look in on the Go players there-apparently, observing their strategizing would assist in his own playing. Go was a much more complicated game than Jeu de la Dame was, and from the way Axelle talked about it, he seemed to be catching some sort of infectious bug. He'd probably come back to Paris with a board and pieces and fervor to become "the best." Berdine was going just to go. That, and she knew that the music scene in Japan was rather appealing. A future singer needed to explore all the avenues available, anyway.
Berdine stretched and yawned, the ring she toyed with before now forgotten. She nuzzled against her brother's shoulder affectionately, and the boy gave her a fraternal pat. Perhaps it was her boredom, perhaps it was just the idea of having to sit for so long. Either way, Berdine was getting rather sleepy, despite the eight hours of sleep she'd gotten the night before. She closed her eyes, listening to her older brother's breathing until she found herself lost in a dream about her first concert in Japan, thousands of fans screaming her name.
** ** **
She sighed as she placed the last Go stone into place. Today she had spent her morning off working through kifu of several different games. It was time consuming, but she also found that it was fairly useful to get used to different types of Go. She slowly separated the stones and placed them back into their holders before standing up. She was tired of sitting here and really wanted to go out and do something. After placing the two holders back onto the goban, she stood up and stretched her legs.
She walked over to her mirror and took a look at herself. Her violet colored hair, which normally drifted down to just below her shoulders, was pulled up into a high ponytail adorned with small blue fan clips. The tips of her hair were dyed a light lavender matching the color of her eyes. She wore a black shirt with the characters of electric fan written in blue glitter. She wore a black skirt that reached her knees, with blue fans scattered over as a pattern. Beneath she wore black spandex pants that reached half-way down her leg. Blue socks accented her ankles and matched her blue slippers.
Her face was void of make-up, showing that the girl was just that, a girl. At age thirteen, she was the spitting image of a girl caught in the middle of being a child and an adult. Her figure was one of a girl just blossoming into her adult form, though her height was still a flat five foot nothing. Other than that, however, Eriza was still very much a child. Her personality was still very much child-like, except when she played Go.
Since the age of six, Eriza Itoko played the game Go. She had stumbled upon the game while she was browsing through a department store. Her parents had been so engrossed in some piece of furniture that they never even noticed that their only child had wandered off, in search of more interesting things. She was, to this day, notoriously known to have a very short attention span. Even then it had been no real surprise when the parents turned around to find her gone. The store clerk, however, had been so surprised and worried about the little girl that he had the whole store up in arms trying to find the errant little girl.
The sight that greeted the family and personell, when they found the girl, was one that they would never forget. She was found playing Go against an elderly looking man. She had her small pink tongue peaking out the corner of her mouth, her brows were furrowed in concentration, and her small hand held a white go stone. The man sitting across from her had a slightly surprised look on his face, but on closer inspection it was one more of fear than glee.
"She's winning," mumbled her father. This remark was heard by a few people passing by, causing them to stop in their tracks to watch the game. Many soon wore similar shocked expressions on their faces as they watched the girl place her stone with cutting percision. She did not know how to hold the stones properly, but at that age it really didn't matter too much. The more important matter was the fact that the girl had just won the game. The old man's eyes widened, and with a saddened look he as he said, "I resign."
Eriza smiled at the memory. Her parents had been so surprised that they bought her the goban and stones, and started teaching her how to play. At first she just watched games play before she recreated them. Her photographic memory was astounding, and it was soon found that her skill for remembering how a game was played made her a strong opponent. Her father, once a Four- Dan Go player, taught her until she surpassed him in skills, or had all his moves memorized, when she turned ten years old. Since that time she studied at Go salons and with several other Dans to improve her skills, much to her parents delight.
This year she was going to be an Insei and then take the Pro test in the coming spring/summer. Needless to say she was extremely excited about it. She may have a short attention span for most things, but not for Go. It was her strength and peace of mind, even when she lost her games. She liked to think of Go as the glue that held her together and prevented her from going in a hundred different directions at once.
She opened up her door and shuffled out of her room and hurried down the steps of the house. The house itself was two stories with two wings. The bottom of the first wing was the apartments of her grandparents, since her father was the eldest son. Based on traditions of the Japanese culture, the eldest son took care of his parents when they retired. Her grandparents had very traditional furniture and appliances decorating their area. They had one bedroom, one bath, a living room, a dinning room, and a kitchen. The main entrance to the house was on this side of the wing as well. If you walked through the doors to the right you would enter the grandparents apartments.
To the left was the guest apartments that had three bedrooms, one study, a kitchenette, and a small sitting room. All these rooms, except one that her mother used for her seamstress work, were not in current use. However, her parents loved to have company, and thus usually invited many people to stay. Today, some family from some other country, she cannot recall since she wasn't listening, would stay with them for the next year or so. The son apparently was Chekka pro who was here for training to become better. That was kind of confusing to her because he wanted to play Go, which wasn't anything like checkers. Her family, however, was very excited. That is if you don't include Eriza, who was too busy getting ready for her test to become an Insei to really notice.
The stairs in front of the entrance led up to her immediate family's apartments. They used the entire upper floors of both wings. Another set of stairs lead down to the guest apartments, and ultimately the small backyard garden. There were three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a dinning room, a tatami room, a den, a kitchen, and two studies. She played Go in the tatami room, while her mother used one of the study rooms as her storage shelf for her sewing supplies. The other study, her father used for his business.
Since "retiring" from the main arena of the Go world, he owned several small companies that sold various Go supplies and other board game equipment. Her family was not rich, but were more in the medium- high income range. Her mother, as a hobby and main reason why her parents weren't filthy rich, made and sold many different kinds of clothing apparel. She did this all for fun, since she loved sewing, and as a result she typically didn't really make any money. This hobby ultimately meant that Eriza's entire wardrobe, accessories included.
She kicked off her slippers and pulled on her shoes to match her outfit. "I'm going out!" she called.
"Don't stay at the Go Salon late, Eriza-san! You have school tomorrow and our guests are coming tonight!" replied a woman's voice, her mother.
"Yes, yes!" she called back. She picked up a small backpack purse and hurried out of the house. If anyone asked Eriza what her school was called, she would reply that she doesn't know. She could, however, tell you that you walk three blocks to the train station, go to platform five after buying a two hundred and fifty yen ticket, get off after seven stops, go right from the station about one block, and there was her school. Though, she could really careless what her school was called since she spent most of her time at Go salons and Go study groups.
She maneuvered her way through the streets, riding her bike, towards the more active areas. Her mind wandering about how life was going to be as an Insei. Her confidence in her ability took out the "if" part of getting into the Go Institute. She was going to be an Insei and then a Pro. Was that her dream? She wasn't quite sure what her dream to be was anymore because she never had time. Her playing of Go and going to school was all her brain could handle, and even that sometimes was too much. There was a lot of stuff she had to know for Go and that alone was a history, math, and language skill all rolled up into one.
Her lavender eyes brightened at the building up ahead. It was the Chietsu Go Salon. She was known to hang around there almost every day. It was a good place to play because it was also about three blocks from the Go Institute. That meant Pros, Insei, and amateurs alike turned up there. She was itching for a good game, even if she lost. She parked her bike amoung all the others, ignoring the sign that said "Do not park your bicycles here." No one ever noticed the sign much, as there were usually fifty to a hundred bikes all parked there. She stretched her slightly stiff arms as she entered the salon and greeted a middle-age woman.
"Good afternoon, Itoko-chan," the woman said.
"Hi, Chou-san. Are there any interesting people in today?"
"Hmmm... I think we have some of the lower Dans hanging around towards the back."
Eriza nodded her head and handed over a five hundred yen coin. "Can you let me know when six rolls around. I have to be home early."
"Sure, Itoko-chan. Have some good matches."
"Thank you very much." Eriza smiled and entered into the lounge.
** ** **
The pilot's voice was the first thing to greet Berdine as she came out of her slumber. He was announcing their arrival in Tokyo, and asking passengers to remain seated until the plane had halted completely. Again, Berdine prodded her living pillow, who groaned a bit and opened one eye sluggishly.
"We're here," she said. "Get your things, it's going to be crazy getting out of here."
Axelle grunted in reply and sat up a bit, cupping a yawn with one hand. His sister smiled, and while he was still groggy, stole his baseball cap.
By the time the aircraft finally touched down, Berdine felt like her heart was going to pound its way out of her chest. Her knees knocked anxiously, her palms were sweating, and her grip on her brother's wrist was getting tighter by the second. The boy winced a bit and gave her braid a good yank.
"Calm down, you spazz monster."
"I can't. This is going to be so great. I can't wait to meet our foster family. I wonder what their daughter is like. She's three years younger than me."
"And a Go professional. So she's probably very mature. You know, unlike the daughter in this family."
"Hey, you're a professional, and there's no way anyone can use the name Axelle Lamontagne and the word mature in the same sentence without being sarcastic."
"Give me my hat back, brat."
"No way, shaggy."
Axelle grabbed at the bill of the cap on Berdine's head, and the girl shrunk back, deflecting him and grabbing a hold of his hands. The siblings' scuffle was quickly ended, as Axelle over powered his sister and stole the cap back, leaving Berdine with considerably frizzed hair and a pout. Before Berdine could retort or fix her messed mane, the plane took up its spot at the terminal, and passengers were standing and gathering the luggage they'd brought on board. Axelle shouldered both his bag and his sister's, and hurried down the aisle, leaving the redhead to tangle her way through the other passengers and yell playful threats in his direction.
** ** **
Eriza hurried into the house, slipping off her shoes in one swift movement. She was late. Her mother had called her on the cell phone that they were going to pick up the two teenagers at the airport at five o'clock. Being the normal forgetful and engrossed Go player she was, she forgot the time and ignored Chou-san about the time. She had been in the middle of a match with a young adult around nineteen who was going to be taking the pro exam come next spring. He was good, she found out early on, but not quite good enough, at least not yet. He mentioned that he was going to china in a few months to learn at the institute there. She wished him the best of luck and told him that she looked forward to seeing him at the Pro exams next year.
Now here she was rushing up the stairs at seven o'clock, late as usual. She hoped that she wouldn't be in too much trouble. "I'm home!" she announced as she slid into the main room. Her family was situated at the dinning table, her mother placing the food on the table.
The woman shot her daughter a reproving frown. "Go wash up, Eriza-san and don't yell so loudly. You scared our company." Her Japanese was fast and sharp, making it hard for anyone who wasn't born into the language get lost in the twists.
Eriza blushed deeply and bowed sagely. "Sorry." She hurried into the bathroom and washed her hands and returned to the table. She found her spot next to a girl a few years older than her, with the reddest hair she had ever seen in her life. "Cool," she breathed as she sat down. "Sorry for being so late and not meeting you and your brother," she started, glancing over at the boy across from her. "I will try better." She spoke in careful Japanese, just to make sure she didn't blow the girl away. After all, she didn't know how much of the language she knew, if she knew any at all. "Welcome to Japan. I'm Eriza. Age thirteen, blood type A." She smiled, nodding her head slightly in greeting.
** ** **
Berdine's impression of the Itoko household was, at first, one of awe. Granted her home was large and ornate, something rather rare in a densely populated area like Paris, but the house that the Itoko's lived in was very meticulously organized. The way the rooms were arranged, the way the furniture was positioned, everything seemed to have been placed perfectly. Against her own judgement, she found herself getting nervous. The mother was a kind woman; she'd found this out from the car ride back, even if it were hard to always follow what she said. She had a very short temper, though, and as the daughter entered, Berdine found herself wondering if that quality had been handed down. Eriza greeted the two politely, though, and Berdine had to grin at how incredibly cute she was. Japanese girls had such child-like voices to begin with, and the purple hair just assisted in it. Berdine smiled wider and gave a small bow as she introduced herself.
"Pleased to meet you, Eriza. I'm Berdine, and this is my older brother Axelle. I'm sixteen and he's seventeen. Your parents probably told you he's a professional-" She stopped, searched for the word. "Chekka player. Well, don't let him fool you. He's not that great."
Axelle grumbled an "oi" in protest, but his sister didn't seem to notice. "In fact, one of the only reasons he's a professional is because the pool of players in France is so limited. Every time he plays someone from another country, they crush him."
"Berd, shut up."
"So don't go to rough on him when he eventually asks you to play with him, okay? He gets all sulky after he loses."
The girls laughed, Mrs. Itoko even hiding a smile behind her hand. Axelle twitched visibly and reached over, giving Berdine's braid another stern yank. For the next year, it seemed Itoko household was going to be a bit livelier.
Disclaimer: We do not own Hikaru no Go. though we got dibs on Waya for Pearl and Hikaru for Isis.
Chapter 1
Berdine toyed with the ring on her pinky idly, as she tended to do by way of nervous habit. Either that, or fuss with her hair, but in the tight quarters of the airplane seats, that wasn't exactly possible. So play with her ring she did, earphones humming the tones of the CD that now spun beneath the cover of her discman. The flight to this point had gone by easily. From the time she boarded in Paris, her heart was pounding in excitement. She'd been to many countries before in her life, but never any of the Asian parts of the world. Asia really was different from Europe, different from the Americas.
It thrilled her that she was going to be off to such a new and unique place as Japan. This excitement fueled her in a conversation with a French fluent Chinese man on his way to a convention in Rome from a brief business trip in Paris. He shared his experiences in numerous other countries with her, and she told him of the chateaus and musée's he should visit were he to come back to France again. Their conversation had lasted four hours, and Berdine had hardly noticed the amount of time that passed, the scenery below, and the countries they stopped in.
Between her anticipation and the way she spent so much time doing her favorite thing (talking, of course), she hadn't hit one low. But her conversational companion had gone, having gotten off the plane at his stop, and she was faced with an empty seat and no one left to talk to. That is, except for the lump of flesh that snored at her right. She prodded her brother with one finger, right at that sensitive niche at his waist. The boy snorted and jumped, then passed her an annoyed look. Berdine plucked the earphones from her ears and then made similar work of her brother's.
"Dis, combien d'heures jusqu'à nous arrivons dans-"
"Practice your Japanese," he replied. "You haven't been in class for a year, and I don't want you embarrassing me."
"You know I speak it ten times better than you do. And you've been taking it for a year more than I have." Berdine wrinkled her nose, and her brother shrugged nonchalantly. "How much longer until we get to Japan?"
"Don't know." The blonde boy shucked his shoulders and rubbed at his eyes tiredly. "Dad said it's about a twelve hour flight."
"And it's been about four. Oh ick. I have to sit in this seat for eight more hours?!"
"You should've stayed up all night like me. Then you could just sleep."
"I guess so. But I probably would've gone insane if I stayed up that long the night before."
Her brother yawned and sat up in his seat. If it weren't for the tea brown eye color the two siblings shared and the way they bickered, it would be hard to tell their relationship with one another. Seventeen-year-old Axelle Lamontagne was a year older than Berdine, but his height made him appear a good three or four years older, especially when standing next to his rather short sister. Freckles littered his cheeks and nose, the kind that had disappeared from Berdine's face when she hit puberty. He typically wore a goofy pair of sunglasses atop his head to keep his shaggy blonde hair out of his face, those had been discarded now in favor of a backwards-turned baseball cap. Basically, Axelle looked like his parents. He had his father's jaw line and brow, and his mother's slender nose and bright smile. Berdine, on the other hand, looked like their father's sister, Aunt Rachelle. Rachelle was a brazen redhead with a love for anything high- adrenaline. Berdine wasn't half as rebellious and brave, but definitely was the spitting image of her adventurous aunt, from her garnet hair to her pug nose and heart-shaped face.
Where Berdine didn't inherit her parents' looks, she did gain her mother's personality. Mrs. Lamontagne was a bubbly woman, talkative, positive, and very good with handling other people's feelings. Berdine was a bit clumsier in the latter department, but overall was her mother's daughter, just as Axelle was his father's son. Mr. Lamontagne was a business strategist with a thirst for adventure. Axelle wasn't half as serious as his father, but maintained the go-getter spirit like a fine art. At seventeen, Axelle was one of the top Jeu de la Dame players in France, and competed in professional outings regularly. He'd made a good sum of money for college already, and now looked to improve on his game even more so that he could compete at an international level.
This was the reason their parents had arranged to send the siblings to Japan for their summer vacation. Originally, Axelle had been the only traveler, but pouting and persuading on Berdine's half had earned her a ticket as well. Axelle was going to Japan to look in on the Go players there-apparently, observing their strategizing would assist in his own playing. Go was a much more complicated game than Jeu de la Dame was, and from the way Axelle talked about it, he seemed to be catching some sort of infectious bug. He'd probably come back to Paris with a board and pieces and fervor to become "the best." Berdine was going just to go. That, and she knew that the music scene in Japan was rather appealing. A future singer needed to explore all the avenues available, anyway.
Berdine stretched and yawned, the ring she toyed with before now forgotten. She nuzzled against her brother's shoulder affectionately, and the boy gave her a fraternal pat. Perhaps it was her boredom, perhaps it was just the idea of having to sit for so long. Either way, Berdine was getting rather sleepy, despite the eight hours of sleep she'd gotten the night before. She closed her eyes, listening to her older brother's breathing until she found herself lost in a dream about her first concert in Japan, thousands of fans screaming her name.
** ** **
She sighed as she placed the last Go stone into place. Today she had spent her morning off working through kifu of several different games. It was time consuming, but she also found that it was fairly useful to get used to different types of Go. She slowly separated the stones and placed them back into their holders before standing up. She was tired of sitting here and really wanted to go out and do something. After placing the two holders back onto the goban, she stood up and stretched her legs.
She walked over to her mirror and took a look at herself. Her violet colored hair, which normally drifted down to just below her shoulders, was pulled up into a high ponytail adorned with small blue fan clips. The tips of her hair were dyed a light lavender matching the color of her eyes. She wore a black shirt with the characters of electric fan written in blue glitter. She wore a black skirt that reached her knees, with blue fans scattered over as a pattern. Beneath she wore black spandex pants that reached half-way down her leg. Blue socks accented her ankles and matched her blue slippers.
Her face was void of make-up, showing that the girl was just that, a girl. At age thirteen, she was the spitting image of a girl caught in the middle of being a child and an adult. Her figure was one of a girl just blossoming into her adult form, though her height was still a flat five foot nothing. Other than that, however, Eriza was still very much a child. Her personality was still very much child-like, except when she played Go.
Since the age of six, Eriza Itoko played the game Go. She had stumbled upon the game while she was browsing through a department store. Her parents had been so engrossed in some piece of furniture that they never even noticed that their only child had wandered off, in search of more interesting things. She was, to this day, notoriously known to have a very short attention span. Even then it had been no real surprise when the parents turned around to find her gone. The store clerk, however, had been so surprised and worried about the little girl that he had the whole store up in arms trying to find the errant little girl.
The sight that greeted the family and personell, when they found the girl, was one that they would never forget. She was found playing Go against an elderly looking man. She had her small pink tongue peaking out the corner of her mouth, her brows were furrowed in concentration, and her small hand held a white go stone. The man sitting across from her had a slightly surprised look on his face, but on closer inspection it was one more of fear than glee.
"She's winning," mumbled her father. This remark was heard by a few people passing by, causing them to stop in their tracks to watch the game. Many soon wore similar shocked expressions on their faces as they watched the girl place her stone with cutting percision. She did not know how to hold the stones properly, but at that age it really didn't matter too much. The more important matter was the fact that the girl had just won the game. The old man's eyes widened, and with a saddened look he as he said, "I resign."
Eriza smiled at the memory. Her parents had been so surprised that they bought her the goban and stones, and started teaching her how to play. At first she just watched games play before she recreated them. Her photographic memory was astounding, and it was soon found that her skill for remembering how a game was played made her a strong opponent. Her father, once a Four- Dan Go player, taught her until she surpassed him in skills, or had all his moves memorized, when she turned ten years old. Since that time she studied at Go salons and with several other Dans to improve her skills, much to her parents delight.
This year she was going to be an Insei and then take the Pro test in the coming spring/summer. Needless to say she was extremely excited about it. She may have a short attention span for most things, but not for Go. It was her strength and peace of mind, even when she lost her games. She liked to think of Go as the glue that held her together and prevented her from going in a hundred different directions at once.
She opened up her door and shuffled out of her room and hurried down the steps of the house. The house itself was two stories with two wings. The bottom of the first wing was the apartments of her grandparents, since her father was the eldest son. Based on traditions of the Japanese culture, the eldest son took care of his parents when they retired. Her grandparents had very traditional furniture and appliances decorating their area. They had one bedroom, one bath, a living room, a dinning room, and a kitchen. The main entrance to the house was on this side of the wing as well. If you walked through the doors to the right you would enter the grandparents apartments.
To the left was the guest apartments that had three bedrooms, one study, a kitchenette, and a small sitting room. All these rooms, except one that her mother used for her seamstress work, were not in current use. However, her parents loved to have company, and thus usually invited many people to stay. Today, some family from some other country, she cannot recall since she wasn't listening, would stay with them for the next year or so. The son apparently was Chekka pro who was here for training to become better. That was kind of confusing to her because he wanted to play Go, which wasn't anything like checkers. Her family, however, was very excited. That is if you don't include Eriza, who was too busy getting ready for her test to become an Insei to really notice.
The stairs in front of the entrance led up to her immediate family's apartments. They used the entire upper floors of both wings. Another set of stairs lead down to the guest apartments, and ultimately the small backyard garden. There were three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a dinning room, a tatami room, a den, a kitchen, and two studies. She played Go in the tatami room, while her mother used one of the study rooms as her storage shelf for her sewing supplies. The other study, her father used for his business.
Since "retiring" from the main arena of the Go world, he owned several small companies that sold various Go supplies and other board game equipment. Her family was not rich, but were more in the medium- high income range. Her mother, as a hobby and main reason why her parents weren't filthy rich, made and sold many different kinds of clothing apparel. She did this all for fun, since she loved sewing, and as a result she typically didn't really make any money. This hobby ultimately meant that Eriza's entire wardrobe, accessories included.
She kicked off her slippers and pulled on her shoes to match her outfit. "I'm going out!" she called.
"Don't stay at the Go Salon late, Eriza-san! You have school tomorrow and our guests are coming tonight!" replied a woman's voice, her mother.
"Yes, yes!" she called back. She picked up a small backpack purse and hurried out of the house. If anyone asked Eriza what her school was called, she would reply that she doesn't know. She could, however, tell you that you walk three blocks to the train station, go to platform five after buying a two hundred and fifty yen ticket, get off after seven stops, go right from the station about one block, and there was her school. Though, she could really careless what her school was called since she spent most of her time at Go salons and Go study groups.
She maneuvered her way through the streets, riding her bike, towards the more active areas. Her mind wandering about how life was going to be as an Insei. Her confidence in her ability took out the "if" part of getting into the Go Institute. She was going to be an Insei and then a Pro. Was that her dream? She wasn't quite sure what her dream to be was anymore because she never had time. Her playing of Go and going to school was all her brain could handle, and even that sometimes was too much. There was a lot of stuff she had to know for Go and that alone was a history, math, and language skill all rolled up into one.
Her lavender eyes brightened at the building up ahead. It was the Chietsu Go Salon. She was known to hang around there almost every day. It was a good place to play because it was also about three blocks from the Go Institute. That meant Pros, Insei, and amateurs alike turned up there. She was itching for a good game, even if she lost. She parked her bike amoung all the others, ignoring the sign that said "Do not park your bicycles here." No one ever noticed the sign much, as there were usually fifty to a hundred bikes all parked there. She stretched her slightly stiff arms as she entered the salon and greeted a middle-age woman.
"Good afternoon, Itoko-chan," the woman said.
"Hi, Chou-san. Are there any interesting people in today?"
"Hmmm... I think we have some of the lower Dans hanging around towards the back."
Eriza nodded her head and handed over a five hundred yen coin. "Can you let me know when six rolls around. I have to be home early."
"Sure, Itoko-chan. Have some good matches."
"Thank you very much." Eriza smiled and entered into the lounge.
** ** **
The pilot's voice was the first thing to greet Berdine as she came out of her slumber. He was announcing their arrival in Tokyo, and asking passengers to remain seated until the plane had halted completely. Again, Berdine prodded her living pillow, who groaned a bit and opened one eye sluggishly.
"We're here," she said. "Get your things, it's going to be crazy getting out of here."
Axelle grunted in reply and sat up a bit, cupping a yawn with one hand. His sister smiled, and while he was still groggy, stole his baseball cap.
By the time the aircraft finally touched down, Berdine felt like her heart was going to pound its way out of her chest. Her knees knocked anxiously, her palms were sweating, and her grip on her brother's wrist was getting tighter by the second. The boy winced a bit and gave her braid a good yank.
"Calm down, you spazz monster."
"I can't. This is going to be so great. I can't wait to meet our foster family. I wonder what their daughter is like. She's three years younger than me."
"And a Go professional. So she's probably very mature. You know, unlike the daughter in this family."
"Hey, you're a professional, and there's no way anyone can use the name Axelle Lamontagne and the word mature in the same sentence without being sarcastic."
"Give me my hat back, brat."
"No way, shaggy."
Axelle grabbed at the bill of the cap on Berdine's head, and the girl shrunk back, deflecting him and grabbing a hold of his hands. The siblings' scuffle was quickly ended, as Axelle over powered his sister and stole the cap back, leaving Berdine with considerably frizzed hair and a pout. Before Berdine could retort or fix her messed mane, the plane took up its spot at the terminal, and passengers were standing and gathering the luggage they'd brought on board. Axelle shouldered both his bag and his sister's, and hurried down the aisle, leaving the redhead to tangle her way through the other passengers and yell playful threats in his direction.
** ** **
Eriza hurried into the house, slipping off her shoes in one swift movement. She was late. Her mother had called her on the cell phone that they were going to pick up the two teenagers at the airport at five o'clock. Being the normal forgetful and engrossed Go player she was, she forgot the time and ignored Chou-san about the time. She had been in the middle of a match with a young adult around nineteen who was going to be taking the pro exam come next spring. He was good, she found out early on, but not quite good enough, at least not yet. He mentioned that he was going to china in a few months to learn at the institute there. She wished him the best of luck and told him that she looked forward to seeing him at the Pro exams next year.
Now here she was rushing up the stairs at seven o'clock, late as usual. She hoped that she wouldn't be in too much trouble. "I'm home!" she announced as she slid into the main room. Her family was situated at the dinning table, her mother placing the food on the table.
The woman shot her daughter a reproving frown. "Go wash up, Eriza-san and don't yell so loudly. You scared our company." Her Japanese was fast and sharp, making it hard for anyone who wasn't born into the language get lost in the twists.
Eriza blushed deeply and bowed sagely. "Sorry." She hurried into the bathroom and washed her hands and returned to the table. She found her spot next to a girl a few years older than her, with the reddest hair she had ever seen in her life. "Cool," she breathed as she sat down. "Sorry for being so late and not meeting you and your brother," she started, glancing over at the boy across from her. "I will try better." She spoke in careful Japanese, just to make sure she didn't blow the girl away. After all, she didn't know how much of the language she knew, if she knew any at all. "Welcome to Japan. I'm Eriza. Age thirteen, blood type A." She smiled, nodding her head slightly in greeting.
** ** **
Berdine's impression of the Itoko household was, at first, one of awe. Granted her home was large and ornate, something rather rare in a densely populated area like Paris, but the house that the Itoko's lived in was very meticulously organized. The way the rooms were arranged, the way the furniture was positioned, everything seemed to have been placed perfectly. Against her own judgement, she found herself getting nervous. The mother was a kind woman; she'd found this out from the car ride back, even if it were hard to always follow what she said. She had a very short temper, though, and as the daughter entered, Berdine found herself wondering if that quality had been handed down. Eriza greeted the two politely, though, and Berdine had to grin at how incredibly cute she was. Japanese girls had such child-like voices to begin with, and the purple hair just assisted in it. Berdine smiled wider and gave a small bow as she introduced herself.
"Pleased to meet you, Eriza. I'm Berdine, and this is my older brother Axelle. I'm sixteen and he's seventeen. Your parents probably told you he's a professional-" She stopped, searched for the word. "Chekka player. Well, don't let him fool you. He's not that great."
Axelle grumbled an "oi" in protest, but his sister didn't seem to notice. "In fact, one of the only reasons he's a professional is because the pool of players in France is so limited. Every time he plays someone from another country, they crush him."
"Berd, shut up."
"So don't go to rough on him when he eventually asks you to play with him, okay? He gets all sulky after he loses."
The girls laughed, Mrs. Itoko even hiding a smile behind her hand. Axelle twitched visibly and reached over, giving Berdine's braid another stern yank. For the next year, it seemed Itoko household was going to be a bit livelier.