"Hah-ha! Yes!" Waya half-shouted the moment they were out of hearing range of the room that contained the players still finishing their oteai games. He pumped his fist in the air before turning and flinging a finger in Shindou's face. "I can't believe I finally beat you!" Shindou frowned but didn't react much otherwise. "I mean, seriously! It had been a while." When he didn't get the rise out of his friend and opponent that he was looking for, Waya stuck his tongue out before swinging back around to face the front again. Shindou trailed quietly along behind him.
He could only take a few moments of silence, in his excited condition, before turning back and grinning at Shindou. "Why so silent?" he questioned. "Are you really that upset that I actually beat you for once?"
Shindou shrugged and looked down at his dirty sneakers as he spoke. "Not really," he said without much feeling. It was Waya's turn to frown. "C'mon, you don't have to be so disappointed by it," Waya intoned, choosing to ignore the slight whine in his words as he spoke. "I'm not that bad." He suddenly grinned again. "Or maybe it's because I broke that winning streak you've been having lately."
This, at least, finally got a reaction from Shindou. "It's not like I've been keeping track. Besides, this game doesn't really affect anything." Waya avoided Shindou's sharp glare, choosing to focus on his left ear instead. "Maybe for you," he groused.
Shindou continued to glare but said nothing. Waya turned back and let the conversation drop for the moment. They quickly reached the break room near the back, where Isumi and Nase were already waiting for them. "Hey, guess who won?" Waya called out excitedly as soon as they were in the room.
"Shindou," Isumi and Nase said in unison, causing Nase to giggle and Isumi to look away, embarrassed.
"No way! It was me!" Waya announced grumpily as a blush crept into his cheeks. Okay, so maybe it had been longer than he was willing to admit since he had least beat Shindou.
"Oh, no," Isumi said with real worry in his voice. "Are you feeling okay, Shindou?" Shindou glanced up at his name, but just shrugged before looking back down at his shoes. Why were they suddenly so interesting, anyways?
"Why does he have to be sick for me to be able to beat him?" Waya growled in protest of the offending comment. Isumi, at least, had to decency to look shamed. Nase just rolled her eyes. "Do you really have to ask?" she said. Waya frowned but didn't say anything. She kind of had a point, after all.
Then she glanced over at Shindou. "What are you doing?" she asked curiously. The other two boys looked up to see Shindou with his back flat against the wall, his knees bent slightly as if he was a diver, caught just before the jump. He flushed and shook his head as he straightened up. "Nothing," he replied quickly. "Uh, where's Fuku? He still playing?"
Once they had all realized that they were playing on the same day last month when the schedules came out, the five former insei buddies had agreed to meet afterwards and catch up, maybe go to a go salon or maybe try out something considered more normal for teens their age, like uh . . . karaoke, or something. Fukui was the only one who had yet to show on their date.
"He's still playing. I know, weird, right?" Isumi told them, taking in the surprise on Shindou's and Waya's faces. Fukui tended to not be able to wait for long to place a move, making his matches much shorter than most. Shindou did, too, not as much as Fukui, but today he had taken it slowly for some reason. He and Waya had been one of the last few groups in there, they hadn't even bothered looking to see which of their friends had already finished. Maybe there was something wrong with Shindou, Waya thought to himself as he looked over at the subject of his thoughts. Shindou was now staring out the window with his head tilted all the way back, his long neck seeming over exposed as the skin pulled tight against the odd angle.
Waya shrugged mentally. Shindou was just weird sometimes.
Just then Fukui burst into the room in tumble. "Jeez, that took forever, that guy was so slow and tricky! I won, though. Well, barely." Fuku grinned. Shindou glanced over, gave his friend a brief congratulatory smile, and then turned back to the window. "What's wrong with him?" Fuku whispered to Waya, concerned. Normally Shindou would jump up and high-five him or something.
"I beat him!" Waya informed him brightly.
"What? Did he fall asleep at the board or something?" Fukui asked, completely serious.
"You've all betrayed me!" Waya cried, only half joking. "Well, I'll just have to put up with you all, not much choice when you're a Go freak. C'mon, let's go," he said, rising out of his chair and grabbing his bag.
"Oh, well, actually . . ." Isumi interrupted.
"He wants us to go over his game with him," Nase chimed in. "His partner was such a jerk, he just completely blew him off the second he lost to Isumi."
"Jerk," Fuku nodded in agreement.
"It's okay, we don't have to, I mean I still won," Isumi said quietly, but Waya grinned. "Nah, it's okay. Let's be honest, we'd probably just wander around for a while before ending up going to a Go salon anyways."
Isumi smiled before turning to the board in the room and pulling a bowl of stones towards him to begin recreating his game for them. They all began discussing it loudly, it had been an interesting game, despite the other player's inability to keep up with Isumi's unassuming strength, which just pushed and pushed until his opponent was slowly flattened.
Shindou had watched the game with mild interest for about five minutes, but he didn't comment at all and soon Waya could tell he wasn't focusing. He quietly got up, muttered something about the bathroom, and left the room. Waya sat, confused, for about ten seconds before leaping up after him.
"Hey, Shindou," he called down the hall. "Wait up for a second." Hikaru just glanced back at him and kept walking, but slowed his pace a little so that Waya could catch up more easily. He panted a little as he jogged to Shindou.
"What's wrong with you? I'm pretty sure this funk isn't about me beating you." Right then Shindou threw him this look, and it made him want to stop. He didn't want to hear, he didn't want to know about whatever it was that made Shindou look like that. Thankfully, Shindou seemed to agree. He remained silent until they reached the washroom, where he planted himself in front of a sink and splashed his face in cold water. He ripped a paper towel off the dispenser in front of him and dried his face and hands.
"It's just -" Shindou cut himself off with a frustrated sigh, refusing to look at Waya. He was gripping tightly onto the sink with both hands. "Today is a bad day for me. It is every year. I -" he made a little sound of discomfort in the back of his throat, cutting himself off again. "I don't really want to talk about it, I don't feel so good right now."
Waya grinned, trying to lighten the mood. "Oh, I see how it is, you've decided to go with the whole 'Waya can't beat me unless I'm sick' thing, haven't you? Can't let me ruin your- whoa, hey!" Shindou had just made a that little noise of discomfort again, when suddenly he lurched forward and was puking into the sink, his knuckles white as he hung onto it with a deathgrip. "Oh, geez, fuck," Waya said out of surprise. He leaped forward and sort of awkwardly patted Shindou on the back as his body heaved, forcing his stomach inside out. There was heat radiating off him through his shirt. Soon there was nothing more to come up, so Shindou just stood for a minute, spitting and coughing and panting, before leaning forward and cupping water in his hands to wash out his mouth.
"Uhm . . . Are you okay?" Waya asked cautiously. Shindou nodded but then suddenly grimaced again as his stomach twisted. It passed and he straightened. "I feel a little better now," he said warily, as if he weren't sure whether he believed himself or not. "But you kind of always feel better right after you throw up," he amended. He was shaking badly, but other than that seemed fine, or at least until he stepped away from the sink. Waya lunged forward and held him upright as Shindou's legs gave out under him. He lowered him to the ground.
"Uh, why don't you ah - rest for a moment." Waya said as he stood. "I'll go get you a drink and your bag." Shindou made a face at the offer of a drink but Waya flicked a piece of pocket lint at him. "You should drink something. At least get the taste out of your mouth."
Shindou looked up at him from the floor and sighed. "Water, please."
Waya nodded and quickly left the bathroom. Seeing Shindou that sick disturbed him - maybe more than he'd like to admit.