Mitani - Understanding

I never understood what was so special about Shindou. All I knew was that he had a super enthusiasm for the game of Go and talked to himself sometimes. Also, he was really pushy and not so smart; his mouth worked before his brain usually. Though, I guess I can't say much against him there, since if I'm being honest I guess I have to admit to being on the same level as him as far as school goes. Kaneko has been helping me a bit, or so she says, and seems to get a kick out of it. But we were talking about Shindou, not me.

I asked Tsutsui-san once what was so special about him that even the prodigy Touya Akira would chase him to a Junior High tournament. He said something about how, in the first tournament they went to, before Shindou was even a real Haze student, Shindou could play wonderfully and with skill beyond skill. I don't see how that could work, since by the time I had joined the Go club, he sucked. Whoever heard of playing more and getting worse? It doesn't make sense.

I asked Tsutsui-san how that could be after he told me but he just shrugged and said he didn't know; it was just the mystery of Shindou Hikaru. If it was Kaga I had asked, I would still be skeptical, but it was Tsutsui-san, and he doesn't lie.

Plus, it's the only possible explanation for how he was able to beat that Dake guy at the Go salon I went to and get my money back. I couldn't even beat that guy. Shindou shouldn't have been able to either at the level he was at then. And I played him the very next day, so I know for a fact that he sucked at that point.

I also don't understand why she likes him so much. Fujisaki Akari. I mean, I know they were childhood friends and all that, but still. Why does she like him so much even after all of the stupid stuff he says to her? Or maybe that's part of what she likes. I'll never understand it.

And he is so completely oblivious, too. It is painfully clear to everyone, including myself, that Fujisaki is in love with him, that she has been for awhile now, and yet he doesn't even have a clue. I don't see how that can be. Yet another thing I'll never understand about him.

I asked Fujisaki about their names once, too. You don't have a close old childhood friend and the two of you have names like that by coincidence.[1] She answered that their moms were old friends and since they were both pregnant at the same time they thought it would be cute to name their children like that. She blushed as she was telling me this. I think that she thought it was cute as well.

Though I don't like admitting it, it hurt when Shindou threw us away to become an insei. Why was chasing and catching up to Touya so important that he was even willing to throw away his friends and beloved Go club? He had put his heart and soul into that thing, dragging both Kaneko and me in and coming every day. Well, every day until he got into Internet Go. I still remember him talking about it and how excited he was when I mentioned that my older sister worked at a computer salon. He rushed off right after I gave him the directions, leaving me standing there confused about why he was being so persistent on such a thing. Why did he have to play online if he could just play us in person?

So he becomes an insei, all in his grand quest to catch up to Touya Akira. I hardly ever saw him then, after he left the club. I didn't want to see him. While I could kind of understand that he wanted to get better, I couldn't, or didn't want to, forgive him so easily for just ditching us like that.

And he eventually became a pro. Thinking back, it's almost an amazing thing. He used to suck, so much, and now he's a professional. Makes it seem like almost anything is possible in this world of ours.

Why did he start skipping all of those matches soon after he became a pro, though? Did he finally realize how far behind Touya he was and give up? But that doesn't seem like him at all, really. And yeah, I have been following Shindou's progress in the pro world. If he ever finds out, somehow, I'm prepared with the excuse that I just wanted to be sure to know when he messed up.

But why did he skip them, then? Did something happen to him? We haven't talked much lately, so if something did I don't know about it. Though, I'm sure if it was some kind of family problem or whatever, Fujisaki would have told me about it. So why would he skip them?

I don't think I'll ever understand.

[1]Hikaru = shining

Akari = light

A/N: This is the first in what I was planning to do a series of; different character pieces on what they think/thought of Hikaru. I started doing Akari's already, but then really didn't like how it was coming and put both of these aside for a long time. Finally, I've come back to this one and decided to just post it for now. There may or may not be more in this series; I'll probably have to completely redo Akari's if I want it to resemble anything at all worth reading. Anyway, I hope you liked this, and please leave me a review with your thoughts or suggestions! Thank you for reading.

(By the way, if I do continue, I'll probably change the overall story title to something more for the series than just this story.)