a/n: My grandfather died today, so the drivel continues on a somewhat darker note. Also, Ka-san means mother and Tou-san, father.

Part 3: Imaginary Friend

"Do you play checkers?" The seven-year-old and the twenty-eight-year-old regarded each other across the kitchen counter. They were waiting for the kettle to boil, one with barely controlled antsy-ness, the other with the bone-weariness of a man unused to children who had nevertheless found himself babysitting since seven o'clock that morning. Kinume's energy had yet to flag, but the promise of hot chocolate had her sitting still for the first time in four hours. Her mention of a board game brought him a glimmer of hope. Might he be able to get her to sit still for an hour or two of play?

"I have played checkers. Did you bring a board with you?" She shook her head and his hope diminished.

"We could play with yours, though." She was viewing him with the kind of patience one uses when dealing with a person of limited intelligence. He was unsure whether to feel offended or amused, but truly, his mind was too exhausted to decide.

"I'm afraid I don't have a checkers board."

"How about chess?" Her eyes flashed with eagerness.

"That requires the same type of board." He glanced up, in surprise. "You play chess?"

"Not here, I guess." They both watched the kettle as it refused to boil. "I'm pretty good at battleship," she offered. Seeing the look on his face, she continued quickly, "or Old Maid, or Backgammon?" He shook his head, and wondered whether he was up to the challenge of taking the girl to the local shopping center to buy a game. Remembering that morning's game of tag, he doubted it. "Do you wanna play hide-and-seek again?"

"No!" he said, a little too quickly, immediately feeling embarrassed at his outburst, and the hurt look on the child's face. He noticed steam starting to wisp from the kettle's spout, and checked again to make sure he'd put the instant cocoa into the mug. Shindou had warned him something about Kinume and sugar, but Shindou was not here and Kinume loved chocolate. If she were up all night, that was hardly Touya's problem. Her regular babysitter would be back from her outing at six o'clock. It was a little odd that Shindou had requested his assistance last night when Akari had gone into labor unexpectedly, but he didn't truly mind his rival's daughter. She was simply wearing him out.

The water was boiling, and he poured it over flavored powder in the mug. He raised a spoon to stir it, but the child reached across the counter with an unmistakable aura of I-can-do-it-myself, and he relinquished mug and spoon to her. He filled a second mug with water and dropped in a tea bag, watching the pale celedon of the mug disappear beneath the darker green of the tea.

"Touya-san?" Apparently, the cocoa was too hot, and she was stirring it patiently.

"Yes?"

"Ka-san says you and Tou-san play lots of games together. Could we play one of those?" She ducked her head immediately to try another sip of cocoa, swallowed too much, choked, gasped, fanned her mouth and finally went back to stirring as though nothing had happened. The go professional was acutely reminded of the number of games Shindou had missed or been late to due to accidents involving his daughter, but she seemed okay this time.

"Do you play Go?" It wouldn't surprise him. After all, his father had begun teaching him when he was roughly the same age.

"Ka-san won't let Tou-san teach me," the girl admitted ruefully, "but you wouldn't have to tell her..." Her eyebrows quirked in obvious hope. It seemed a little strange that Akari would object to her daughter's learning Go. Then he considered how much of her life was likely influenced by her husband's love and pursuit of the game. There was a certain rationale to keeping at least one family member well removed from that arena, and he could almost sympathize, but the prospect of spending an hour or two sitting in front of a goban and not having to worry about what entertainments the child would require after lunch was simply too tempting to avoid.

"Very well. It will be our secret," he acquiesced, smiling conspiratorially.

---

pa-chin. pa-chin.

"Touya?" The game was progressing slowly. Shindou clearly had a lot on his mind, but just as clearly had been trying not to think about most of it. Akari had been back from the hospital for a week, but showed no signs of getting over her depression. Hikaru had taken over the majority of Kinume's care and the household chores, and between that and his work schedule this was the first chance he'd had to meet for their regular games. He didn't show any evidence of grief for the baby they'd lost, but then, this was probably his time to escape such things. He'd just finished his last move, and Touya was re-evaluating his attack on the center, when his rival spoke. "Did you show Kinume how to hold Go stones?" His voice sounded unusually neutral.

"Has she taken up the game?" Touya placed a counter that should give Shindou something to think about, while deftly avoiding the question.

"We played last night, after her mother went to bed." His friend's response was quick in coming, and for several hands, it was as though they were playing speed Go. Finally, he paused again, pondering his next move. When he finally placed it, Shindou spoke again. "She said she wanted me to feel better, and that her imaginary friend taught her a game I'd like." There was something wistful in the way he said it that made Touya look up. For a moment, they stared at each other, unshared secrets behind both pairs of eyes. Touya looked away first, returning his attention to the goban. Some mysteries were better left unexplained. He made his final play, and Shindou acknowledged it with a bow. "I resign."

"Was it a good game?" They both knew he wasn't talking about the one they'd just played.

"For a seven-year-old? I don't know." Shindou smiled. "But it did make me feel better."