Kifu #1: Introducing Touya Kaoru. She's fourteen.
Summary: Touya Akira inadvertently meets Fujiwara no Sai.
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Won't be back until late. There should be left overs in the fridge.
Touya Kaoru paused as she shifted through the messages, blinking in surprise. She hadn't been aware that her father was even capable of using a phone, let alone being able to send a text message.
School had let out a couple minutes ago, and she walked along the sunlit sidewalk alone, duffel bag full of clothes from her locker that were in desperate need of some washing. Her father was probably at an Oteia match, it was a Wednesday after all, and higher dans played then. She wondered how one could play go for such inordinate amounts of time. Her lack on interest in the game had eventually subdued her father's, and the two had reached an understanding. While Kaoru could understand him, she didn't hold Go in the same light he did. To him, it was a way of life, to her, just another game.
Her phone rang.
Catch you catch you catch me catch me matte—
"Hello?" She answered breathlessly, near toppling over the couch to read her phone on the table.
"Hey!" Shindou Chiharu greeted with a chirp. "What are you doing tomorrow?"
"I'm not sure..." She began slowly. She had gymnastics on Friday, so she was free for most of the day. "Why?"
"Let's skip!"
"Skip school?" She echoed. "N—No...I couldn't do that I—
"Don't be such a wimp!" Chiharu whined. Such a bad influence. "I promise, it's for a good cause."
Kaoru was skeptical, but tentatively agreed. After all, no matter how good they were, what kind of adolescent didn't have the urge to leave school just about every moment spent in the building? "I guess I could go." She sighed, slowly.
"Great! See you then!"
The next day, Kaoru slipped into her school's button down blouse, wrapped the ribbon around her neck and tied the bow, pulled her knee socks up, and went to meet her father out in the kitchen. The two shared a remarkably calm breakfast, before she took off.
Chiharu was already down the street, for once, not wearing her usual striped knee socks in outrageous colors like hot pink and neon blue, but instead donned a—dress? The girl wore her blonde hair down, framing her face and bright green eyes. Her resemblance to Shindou Hikaru was as uncanny as her resemblance to Touya Akira.
"Should I have gotten changed?" She wondered aloud, as she leveled in step with the other girl.
Chiharu shook her head. "Your fine as you are! Come on, we'll miss the train!"
"Train?" She didn't think they would be going far.
The two of them boarded with the bustling passengers on their way to work, Chiharu humming in her usual exuberant manner, chatting animatedly to her about the cheerleading squad's latest competition, Chiharu was a flier, and the two of them had met for a mutual love for flips and stunts and a lack of interest in all things go—much to the dismay of their fathers.
Actually, it had begun nearly ten years ago, when the two were both six years old. Chiharu had been a regular at the Go Institute since four, and Kaoru knew from first had experience that the Institute, when one wasn't involved in Go, was probably the most boring place in existence. The day she had walked in, Chiharu had grabbed her by the waist and pulled her over into the wonderful world of vintage gameboy's and pokemon, much to the ire of their perpetual babysitter, Ogata Natsuko the thirteen-year old tyrant who ruled the lobby of the Go institute when the Professionals had their games.
"Where are we going, anyway?" She asked, head turned to watch the flush scenery, the countryside striking past them in blurs of red poppies and fields of rice.
Chiharu giggled. "You'll see!"
The train had long since dumped the majority of businessmen, and rattled quietly without its fullness. Chiharu and Kaoru were the only ones in the compartment.
She began to get a little worried when, thirty minutes later, they still hadn't departed. Still, country rolled by, the train slicing through tall grass and weaving over hills and lakes.
When they finally exited, Kaoru decided it was a spectacular time to voice her opinions. "I don't get why were here. Please don't tell me you're dragging me to some dreadful place to shop again...I remember the last time—
They passed a sign; Hiroshima.
"Err—" Praying to whatever god above them existed, she hoped they weren't going to another World War II museum, they'd visited one with their class a week or two ago, and she wanted to die from lack of amusing substance.
"We're not going to a museum, are we?" She asked quickly.
Ahead of her, Chiharu smiled. "Nope."
Curiously, she tagged along without complaint as Chiharu swerved around the crowded streets as if she had lived their all her life.
The two stopped by a flower shop, in which Chiharu purchased a mass amount of water lilies in bright fresco and white, handing her a couple of them as they carried on through the slew of people. She held them tightly, as they made it to a hill full of gravestones, and her curiosity began to grow even more.
They passed the steep hills full of gravestones, and eventually made it past them to the other side, where the hills were unmarred by blocks of stone, only rolling verdant hills, claret red wild flowers flowing in the wind. Kaoru watched the visible horizon, the bright blue sky meeting emerald, wondering why Chiharu had taken her so far away from the city. This time, she decided it was better to not ask, and simply follow direction.
The two past a shrine, where the old lady greeted Chiharu as if she had seen her many times before. Chiharu greeted her back, calling her Kaede oba-san.
Finally, the blond stopped abruptly, hair the color of lemon peels twisting in the wind. Kaoru was about to wonder why this part of the graveyard had a shrine dedicated to it, when she caught sight of the enormous headstone they had past. Torajiro Shuusaku. Kaoru's brows knitted. They were visiting the shrine of the Honninbo? Why?
Chiharu began to walk again, this time veering to the left, opposite of the clean cut stone, to where the dip of the hill began and a small, nearly unnoticed, stone was placed.
"Hello," She began very softly, as she knelt in front of a small lopsided stone, that looked as if it had been there for a long time. Kaoru tried to careen her head to look over Chiharu's shoulder, but could only make out a vague shape of the characters etched onto the stone.
Next to it, a fresh pot of chrysanthemums had already been offered.
Kaoru blinked, who's grave was this?
Chiharu leaned back, as she placed the flowers on the small concrete that elevated the stone.
Kaoru gasped.
Fujiwara Sai; it read.
"I'm sorry I haven't been here in a couple months," Chiharu began sheepishly, smile wide. "I would have gone with Dad on May fifth, but I got sick! So I came today instead. How have you been? I'm good I guess, my grades could be better. Apparently I take after my dad like that, mom's always on my case about my history grade. Are you playing a lot of Go, wherever you are? You'll be happy to know that I've been playing a bit too! Just some Shidou go for some kids on the Go Club. They're pitiful, and sure could use the help. I'm still cheerleading, yesterday Miki-chan almost dropped me though!—
The two of them stayed there for some time. Chiharu, elbows on her knees as she squatted level to the grave wind picking up her hair into a vibrant storm of sunshine yellow that glowed gold in the light. Kaoru, standing back a bit, dark hair tied up atop her head, but long enough that the strands reached her shoulders, straight cut bangs covering her bright blue eyes from view.
What was she supposed to say?
"By the way," Chiharu began again, more cheerfully this time. "I brought someone here to meet you! This is Touya Kaoru, you probably know her father. Him and dad are super close, and I hear they've got this rivalry going since like sixth grade! Imagine that! Anyway, I know dad's never brought him over here, so I figured you wouldn't mind meeting his daughter."
Chiharu looked back expectantly, and incarnadine spread over Kaoru's cheeks.
"Well I—" Unsure of what to say, she stopped abruptly. Her lashes lowered over her eyes, creating long spiky shadows over freckles on her cheeks. "I've always heard about you." She decided upon, unsure of what else to begin with. "Sometimes from my dad, and sometimes from my grandfather. He really wants to play you again, and sometimes he'll stay up real late just sitting in front of the goban, waiting for you to make your move. My dad, too. He'll recreate games he's played with you."
She gulped, feeling like a pressure had surrounded her. "I'm glad to have finally met you." She said, with such honesty in shook her voice.
Chiharu grinned.
That night at dinner, her father came home after teaching at the salon. He looked pretty tired out, but he still stayed up for their meal together. Usually, the two tried to be home at the same time to at least have some sort of family time.
"So I met someone really important today." She began tentatively, noting how her father's stormy mood increased ten fold once she said that.
"Oh?" There was a deceptive sort of calm to him as he picked his rice. "Is that why I got a call from school in the middle of my league match telling me you weren't there?"
"E—eh..." She blushed, and felt that she wouldn't see her computer for a few months. "Well I..."
Her father sighed, knowing her daughter was more like him then he gave her credit. She probably had a reasonable excuse. "I hope you had a good reason."
"I did!" Kaoru interrupted hotly. "Like I said, I met someone today. I think you'd want to meet him to."
Touya didn't seem to catch her drift, eyes narrowing. If this was some sort of ploy to get him to meet her current boyfriend, he hoped she'd find a better way to do it next time. "And what is this person's name, then?"
"Sai." His noodles dropped from his chopsticks. "His name was Fujiwara Sai."
"Sai?" The man began slowly, lost in the memories that surfaced with the name.
Kaoru nodded. "Chiharu brought me to his grave." Touya's eyes softened. "It was his birthday today."
"And how was it?"
Kaoru shrugged. "I didn't know what to make of it, really." She began waveringly. "But I'm glad I went."
Touya smiled briefly, unable to calm the slight jealousy that coiled his stomach, fully knowing Shindou would probably never take him to that place.
"I put flowers," His daughter smiled at him. "For both of us."
Huh.