Disclaimer : I don't own Hikaru no Go.
Chapter 7 : T-Bone Steak
2 hours later,
Hikaru speedily rushed to the lobby on the ground floor, Seiji had already been there.
" Well?"
" Now, they'll know me as the 1 Dan who has beaten the strongest 7 Dans," Showing a 'V' sign, he grinned from ear to ear.
" Boastful kid," Seiji mumbled, " Hey, Let's go, unless you want to drop the deal," Walking to the exit, he called out.
" Hey, Wai..t," the over-cheerful boy immediately ran after him.
" Ne,ne, where're we going?" Skipping happily along, Hikaru asked curiously, " Ne, ne, where're we going? Let's have some ramen," Obviously, he had forgotten how annoying it could be when he himself acted like Sai, the puppy, " Ne, ne, Let's have some ramen,"
The young titles holder started to wonder if he had made a wrong decision to offer such a deal, " No, we're going to my favorite restaurant," he informed finally.
" Eh? No! I want to have some ramen!" the childish pro whined.
" But I don't want to,"
" I'm the winner!" he protested.
" I'm the one who pay the bill. Besides, who said that I would let you pick the shop?"
" But..but…" the poor boy stammered, he didn't know how to answer back, it was true anyway.
At last, they reached a quiet coffee shop, Seiji slowly opened the door, Hikaru could hear a classical melody coming out from the inside.
" Oh, Welcome, Ogata-san, you bring a friend with you today," Noticing the regular customer, the shop owner in a white long-sleeved shirt and a black bow ties greeted politely.
The shop was clearly targeted at adults, the bleached-bangs pro was sure of that. All chairs' seats were covered with fine black leather, the furniture were made of delicate dark-brown wood. Beyond the counter was abig glass-fronted display cabinet stocked with many colorful glass bottles. The room was a little dark since it used a natural light only. As a soft music went on, the quiet pro headed to the table by the window instead of his normal seat at the counter. The grayish-haired man in his late fifty gave Hikaru a menu before he turned to the man with silver glasses.
" Would you like the same set? Ogata-san?"
" Yes, master" Placing his Larks on the table, he nodded.
" And you? Young man, May I take you order now?" the old gentleman smiled courteously.
Fillet steak, Rump steak, Sirloin steak, Pork steak, Cod steak….steak….steak…steak! " Err…T-bone steak," the confused boy finally decided. Seiji's lips curved a little.
" Good choice, sir," Master noted, " How would you like your steak done? Rare, medium or well done?"
" Err…well done," Just give me the food! I'm starving! He said doubtfully, he didn't get used to this. Normally, he just entered a noisy ramen shop and shouted, ' Beef ramen, please,'. Called by the word 'Sir' was new to him.
" What would you like to drink? Young master,"
Ah..Pepsi isn't a good choice here, I'll look like a fool. " …a tea, please, a hot tea," he gave his order stilly, the old collect man nodded and went into a kitchen.
It didn't take long to cook the steak since there was no other customer but them. The shop owner came up again with a silver tray.
" Oh, you have a T-bone steak too!" Hikaru exclaimed excitingly as Seiji smiled slightly saying nothing.
" It's his favorite dish," the owner of the shop spilled the beans before he went back to his position behind the counter.
" Try it, I promise you'll like it," the 10 Dans spoke out.
Hikaru gradually cut his T-bone steak with his steak-knief, he slowly put a small piece of steak into his mouth and chewed it experimentally.
" Yummy! This is so delicious!" he suddenly cried out, " This is really good," Saying happily, he began to devour the steak, " Really good," God, It's so damn good, I wanna cry!
Seeing that childish reaction, the silver-haired man smiled in amusement. I can't believe this, just having a tastysteak almost make him cry! He is so interesting. He thought since there were so many sides of Shindou Hikaru to discover; a happy cheerful boy, a sad lonely boy, a mischievous boy…etc.
" Ne,ne, Seiji-san," the pro in a yellow casual T-shirt called out.
" Hmm?"
" Can I ask you something?" the blond spoke up.
" It depends, What do you want to ask me?" Lacking of interest in another boy, the cold Gosei focused on his steak.
" How old are you?" asked curiously Hikaru.
" What!!" the stupid question surprised the Jyudan.
" How old are you?" the young boy repeated.
" IS that what you want to know! My age?" What a ridiculous question!
" Yeah, I ask everyone I know but nobody knows. It becomes a mystery to me," his kittenish look appeared again.
" You know, it's kinda rude to ask somebody about his age," This is the silliest conversation I've ever had! God! We're looking like two stupid school girls!
" Don't say it like you're a middle-aged woman! Jesus Christ," he snapped back.
Me? A middle-aged woman?
Hikaru carefully observed his friend's face, " 35?" he guessed.
" 27!" 35! 35! I'm not that old!
It was a pleasant experience in any case. The food was good, the music was a bit outdated but nice. Since there was nobody else but them, they could sit there as long as they wanted. Hikaru enjoyed the privacy that he didn't often get. Seiji found out that having a meal with someone was far better than to be alone. The blond's questions were still coming, he couldn't help but laughed at those stupid questions. Nobody had ever asked him those kind of question before, of course, they wanted to know about his Go but not his life. He told his young buddy how he had felt when he first touched the Go stone, about his dad's reaction when he had told him that he wanted to drop his school, about the first time he had met Kuwabara in the Beginner Dans series and how the tricky old man had gotten on his nerves and crushed him mercilessly.
How long has it been that I've ever laughed like this? Ogata Seiji wondered.
A/N : I've a question to ask you guys. Well,...when we fire a gun, the sound effect will be " Bang Bang" right? What if we were hited by a stick? What the sound effect will be? Please, really wanna know.
xiar : I changed it to " unburning Larks" is that correct? or should I say " unlighted Larks" ?
I'm a bit confuse about your review that says "theunburnedLarks. It took me a few seconds to realise that it actually "the burned Larks" I did mean the unburning Larks, that's why Hikaru had to light it for Ogata. ( right? unburning means not burning, right?)
Ah, I'm sorry if I confuse you with the way I call all characters. Well, it's kinda boring if I call "Seiji this" " Seiji that"so many times. So I tried to refer him with many titles. Well, Shindou will appear in front of the Goban only. Seiji will appear when he's with Hikaru, the rest is Ogata. Is that help?
gravitation gig : Ah! you too, Have a nice day!
Kh :"without the love interests" Haha, that's 'coz the writer isn't a romantic type!
