Notes: Thanks to Sheree for betaing... she is a beta goddess who knows how a person should sound with a toothbrush in their mouth! All bow down to her mightiness! ^__^ Thanks also to Kuonji, for 3 hours of AIM conversation on the stuff that needed to be worked on in this story. 8 years of friendship does get you something!
Jigo: A drawn game.
Udon: Wheat noodles, usually served in soup. Similiar to ramen.
Chapter 3
Nozoki: A peeping move which threatens to cut.
Though Shindou had a go table in his apartment, he never asked me to play him there. We kept our shouting matches at the Go Salon, and the go table between our futons collected dust.
Because we were playing in different leagues, we rarely saw each other during the day except when we went to the Go Salon together.
"Ogata-san lost a game to Kurata-san yesterday," I told Shindou after we had finished yelling at each other over the game we just played.
"Yeah, Amano-san gave me the kifu," Shindou said as he started to put away the black stones. "Ogata-san played well, but Kurata-san played a brilliant match."
"Kurata-san's getting even better than he was before," I said. "He's been improving steadily since he lost the five game series to you."
Shindou chuckled. "Well, nothing motivates you like a loss. Why do you think I keep on playing you?"
"Do you think Ogata-san is still getting better at his game?" It has been a long time since Ogata has lost a game.
"I guess I'll find out when I play him in three days," Shindou said. He closed the lid on the black stones.
"My father was getting better until the day he died," I said, staring at the wooden grooves on the lid. "He was still walking the path towards the Hand of God. Ogata-san is only half my father's age."
"Ogata 10-dan is not Touya Kouyo," Shindou said. "Neither are you," he added after a moment.
I stood up so quickly my hand struck hard against the board and knocked it over.
"What do you mean by that?" my voice rose above the sound of hundreds of stones hitting the ground.
Shindou did not stand up. Instead, he bent down and started to pick up the stones. "Your father had to walk the path to the Hand of God alone."
I stared at the back of Shindou's head as he picked up the stones. His hair is still black, and bleached in the front… the way he always kept his hair.
Taking a deep breath, I kneeled beside him to help him clean up the mess I had made. But before I could retrieve the stones, I had to unfold my fists.
"Want to go home?" he asked when we finally picked up all the pieces.
I nodded.
On the way back, we stopped at 7-11, and Shindou picked up a bag of ice in addition to Oolong tea.
When he saw me looking at the ice, he touched my hand, and I flinched from the pain. "You hit the table pretty hard, the ice will keep from swelling tomorrow."
"I'm sorry," I said after we left the store.
"Yeah, that was pretty stupid," Shindou said. "Next time you knock over the board, I'm making you clean it up by yourself."
"Shindou!"
Shindou laughed.
***
The day of Shindou's match with Ogata and the Amateur Go Competition, I woke up thirty minutes earlier than usual. Darkness was just beginning to lift from the room, but I could already hear Shindou tossing and turning in his bed.
"Are you always like this before matches?" I asked.
"You're awake?" Shindou shot up from his futon. "Did I wake you up? Sorry!"
"No, I woke up on my own," I said. I did not make any movements to get up, and after a moment, Shindou laid back down on his futon. "You should try to get more rest before a big game."
"Ogata-san's second wife divorced him a month ago," Shindou said after a few moments of silence. "Waya said that the reason that his wife divorced him was because Ogata-san made it quite clear to her that there was nothing more important to him than go, not even her."
"He should not have married her then," I said.
Shindou was quiet and he did not stir again. I thought he had gone back to sleep when he asked, "Is there anything more important to you than go, Touya?" His voice was so soft I barely heard him.
"That was a good game of go," father had told me after our game. That was the day I met Shindou.
"Touya?" Shindou got up from his bed and crawled toward me in the dawning light. "Are you still awake?"
"I just can't help having high expectations of you." Father smiled.
"Yes," I said.
"Yes what?" Shindou crawled closer, and leaned on the go table between our futons.
"Yes, there are things that are more important to me than go." I turned on my back and spoke to the ceiling.
Shindou did not respond, and when I finally turned to him again, he was smiling. "Well, I might as well get up now. I'm making instant ramen for breakfast. Do you want some?" He stood up and started towards the kitchen.
"Why did you ask me that question?" I sat up from the futon.
Shindou had been retreating into the kitchen, but he stopped walking when he heard my question, and placed his hand on the doorframe to the kitchen.
"I realized I had been thinking more about Ogata-san's go than yours lately." He kept his back to me.
I waited.
Shindou shook his head vigorously, turned back toward me, and smiled widely. "But then I realized that it doesn't matter. Ogata 10-dan is just a strong opponent. You are still my rival."
I stared at him.
"You ran out of instant ramen," I said. I rolled my blanket off of me, and got up from the futon. "So I bought other food. I was getting tired of your idea of a proper meal."
Shindou swung around and glared at me. "What do you mean my idea of a proper meal? I'll have you know that ramen is very healthy!"
"Not when you are only eating instant ramen, it's not." I ignored his gasping expression and brushed past him into the kitchen. "I will cook. You should start to get dressed."
"You, you cook?" Shindou pointed an accusing finger at me. "Why haven't you offered to cook before?"
"I haven't felt like it."
Shindou made a loud whining sound before his heavy footsteps led him away into the bathroom.
Then he peaked his head outside from the sliding door with a toothbrush in his mouth. "Wha awr oo cookig?"
Staring at Shindou's kitchen, I suddenly became aware of the lack of kitchenware.
I admitted defeat. "I'm cooking udon."
"HA!"
***
"This is Akira," I said. My hand gripping the payphone was sweating.
"Akira-san!" mother exclaimed. "I did not expect you to call!"
"I'm sorry I have not called earlier." The sounds of people going into the competition hall was getting louder. I could hear Chinese and Korean being spoken around me. "I wanted to let you know that I'm staying with Shindou Hikaru right now."
"Oh, Shindou-kun called and told me," mother said.
My hand gripped the phone tighter. "I didn't know you knew him."
"Of course I know him, Akira-san. I met him when your father had his first…" Mother's voice faltered, but when she continued, it was steady again. "I met him many years ago, and he's come by the house plenty of times… I'm glad… I'm glad you are staying with him."
"Mother…"
"I think I'm going to stay with your aunt a while longer… Is that all right?" she said.
"Of course, mother."
"Touya Akira!" a loud voice called out. I looked up and saw a large man with tinted sunglasses and unruly hair waving at me from a distance. He must be Kawai-san.
"Oh, are you busy right now?" mother asked.
"Can I call you back later?"
"Of course, Akira-san. Please take care of yourself."
"You too." I hung up the phone and took a deep breath before turning back to Kawai-san. He had covered the distance between us quickly and he was standing very close to me.
"Good morning, Kawai-san," I greeted him. "Shindou could not come today, but if it is all right with you, we could play a tutorial game together after your competition match."
"Shindou told me you were going to be here today. At last we meet Touya Akira. So you are Shindou's rival!" Kawai-san exclaimed.
Shindou's rival… Everyone called Shindou my rival, but I had never heard anyone calling me Shindou's rival… until now.
Kawai-san was smiling at me, and I realized that he was reflecting my smile. "We should probably go inside the hall," I said. "I will watch the competitions until you are done."
"It'd be great to play you after my match!" He laughed, and I half expected him to ruffle my hair, but he made no such motion.
~TBC
Jigo: A drawn game.
Udon: Wheat noodles, usually served in soup. Similiar to ramen.
Chapter 3
Nozoki: A peeping move which threatens to cut.
Though Shindou had a go table in his apartment, he never asked me to play him there. We kept our shouting matches at the Go Salon, and the go table between our futons collected dust.
Because we were playing in different leagues, we rarely saw each other during the day except when we went to the Go Salon together.
"Ogata-san lost a game to Kurata-san yesterday," I told Shindou after we had finished yelling at each other over the game we just played.
"Yeah, Amano-san gave me the kifu," Shindou said as he started to put away the black stones. "Ogata-san played well, but Kurata-san played a brilliant match."
"Kurata-san's getting even better than he was before," I said. "He's been improving steadily since he lost the five game series to you."
Shindou chuckled. "Well, nothing motivates you like a loss. Why do you think I keep on playing you?"
"Do you think Ogata-san is still getting better at his game?" It has been a long time since Ogata has lost a game.
"I guess I'll find out when I play him in three days," Shindou said. He closed the lid on the black stones.
"My father was getting better until the day he died," I said, staring at the wooden grooves on the lid. "He was still walking the path towards the Hand of God. Ogata-san is only half my father's age."
"Ogata 10-dan is not Touya Kouyo," Shindou said. "Neither are you," he added after a moment.
I stood up so quickly my hand struck hard against the board and knocked it over.
"What do you mean by that?" my voice rose above the sound of hundreds of stones hitting the ground.
Shindou did not stand up. Instead, he bent down and started to pick up the stones. "Your father had to walk the path to the Hand of God alone."
I stared at the back of Shindou's head as he picked up the stones. His hair is still black, and bleached in the front… the way he always kept his hair.
Taking a deep breath, I kneeled beside him to help him clean up the mess I had made. But before I could retrieve the stones, I had to unfold my fists.
"Want to go home?" he asked when we finally picked up all the pieces.
I nodded.
On the way back, we stopped at 7-11, and Shindou picked up a bag of ice in addition to Oolong tea.
When he saw me looking at the ice, he touched my hand, and I flinched from the pain. "You hit the table pretty hard, the ice will keep from swelling tomorrow."
"I'm sorry," I said after we left the store.
"Yeah, that was pretty stupid," Shindou said. "Next time you knock over the board, I'm making you clean it up by yourself."
"Shindou!"
Shindou laughed.
***
The day of Shindou's match with Ogata and the Amateur Go Competition, I woke up thirty minutes earlier than usual. Darkness was just beginning to lift from the room, but I could already hear Shindou tossing and turning in his bed.
"Are you always like this before matches?" I asked.
"You're awake?" Shindou shot up from his futon. "Did I wake you up? Sorry!"
"No, I woke up on my own," I said. I did not make any movements to get up, and after a moment, Shindou laid back down on his futon. "You should try to get more rest before a big game."
"Ogata-san's second wife divorced him a month ago," Shindou said after a few moments of silence. "Waya said that the reason that his wife divorced him was because Ogata-san made it quite clear to her that there was nothing more important to him than go, not even her."
"He should not have married her then," I said.
Shindou was quiet and he did not stir again. I thought he had gone back to sleep when he asked, "Is there anything more important to you than go, Touya?" His voice was so soft I barely heard him.
"That was a good game of go," father had told me after our game. That was the day I met Shindou.
"Touya?" Shindou got up from his bed and crawled toward me in the dawning light. "Are you still awake?"
"I just can't help having high expectations of you." Father smiled.
"Yes," I said.
"Yes what?" Shindou crawled closer, and leaned on the go table between our futons.
"Yes, there are things that are more important to me than go." I turned on my back and spoke to the ceiling.
Shindou did not respond, and when I finally turned to him again, he was smiling. "Well, I might as well get up now. I'm making instant ramen for breakfast. Do you want some?" He stood up and started towards the kitchen.
"Why did you ask me that question?" I sat up from the futon.
Shindou had been retreating into the kitchen, but he stopped walking when he heard my question, and placed his hand on the doorframe to the kitchen.
"I realized I had been thinking more about Ogata-san's go than yours lately." He kept his back to me.
I waited.
Shindou shook his head vigorously, turned back toward me, and smiled widely. "But then I realized that it doesn't matter. Ogata 10-dan is just a strong opponent. You are still my rival."
I stared at him.
"You ran out of instant ramen," I said. I rolled my blanket off of me, and got up from the futon. "So I bought other food. I was getting tired of your idea of a proper meal."
Shindou swung around and glared at me. "What do you mean my idea of a proper meal? I'll have you know that ramen is very healthy!"
"Not when you are only eating instant ramen, it's not." I ignored his gasping expression and brushed past him into the kitchen. "I will cook. You should start to get dressed."
"You, you cook?" Shindou pointed an accusing finger at me. "Why haven't you offered to cook before?"
"I haven't felt like it."
Shindou made a loud whining sound before his heavy footsteps led him away into the bathroom.
Then he peaked his head outside from the sliding door with a toothbrush in his mouth. "Wha awr oo cookig?"
Staring at Shindou's kitchen, I suddenly became aware of the lack of kitchenware.
I admitted defeat. "I'm cooking udon."
"HA!"
***
"This is Akira," I said. My hand gripping the payphone was sweating.
"Akira-san!" mother exclaimed. "I did not expect you to call!"
"I'm sorry I have not called earlier." The sounds of people going into the competition hall was getting louder. I could hear Chinese and Korean being spoken around me. "I wanted to let you know that I'm staying with Shindou Hikaru right now."
"Oh, Shindou-kun called and told me," mother said.
My hand gripped the phone tighter. "I didn't know you knew him."
"Of course I know him, Akira-san. I met him when your father had his first…" Mother's voice faltered, but when she continued, it was steady again. "I met him many years ago, and he's come by the house plenty of times… I'm glad… I'm glad you are staying with him."
"Mother…"
"I think I'm going to stay with your aunt a while longer… Is that all right?" she said.
"Of course, mother."
"Touya Akira!" a loud voice called out. I looked up and saw a large man with tinted sunglasses and unruly hair waving at me from a distance. He must be Kawai-san.
"Oh, are you busy right now?" mother asked.
"Can I call you back later?"
"Of course, Akira-san. Please take care of yourself."
"You too." I hung up the phone and took a deep breath before turning back to Kawai-san. He had covered the distance between us quickly and he was standing very close to me.
"Good morning, Kawai-san," I greeted him. "Shindou could not come today, but if it is all right with you, we could play a tutorial game together after your competition match."
"Shindou told me you were going to be here today. At last we meet Touya Akira. So you are Shindou's rival!" Kawai-san exclaimed.
Shindou's rival… Everyone called Shindou my rival, but I had never heard anyone calling me Shindou's rival… until now.
Kawai-san was smiling at me, and I realized that he was reflecting my smile. "We should probably go inside the hall," I said. "I will watch the competitions until you are done."
"It'd be great to play you after my match!" He laughed, and I half expected him to ruffle my hair, but he made no such motion.
~TBC
