a/n: Someone wanted to know how Touya's date went - personally I don't care about her, so instead I bring you the cliche of a certain pro's fashion sense (or lack thereof).

Part 21. Playing Blind

It wasn't until he heard the knock on the door that Touya realized he'd forgotten to call off that evening's practice with Shindou. In retrospect, he should not have overlooked the detail, but there was nothing to be done about it once the dull sound of knuckles hitting wood echoed. Touya sighed and dropped the ties he'd been considering on the back of the sofa. The knock sounded a second time before he reached the door, and the hand was poised for a third attempt as he opened it.

"What?" he asked, knowing it was rude, but too flustered to bother being polite with someone as lacking in manners as his rival.

"Ishikawa said you had a date tonight." The statement clearly had a period, but was just as clearly a summary of uncounted questions. Shindou was smiling. Touya frowned.

"And you felt the need to drive all the way out here to inform me that she told you?" He remained standing in the doorway as he said it. Shindou did not back down, however, so he returned to the ties on the sofa, tacitly inviting the blond man to enter and observe. There was something simultaneously amusing and insulting in the way Shindou's eyes widened at the sight of the flowers in their bucket in the entryway.

"Wow. You really are going out. I mean, Kinume said..." He let the statement trail off, while Touya tried to suppress concern at the thought of what Kinume might have told her father. "I just can't imagine you dating." Shindou grinned and sat on the sofa to watch his rival choose a tie.

"Why not?" Was the blue too severe? Perhaps the plum colored one... His hands didn't seem coordinated enough all of a sudden.

"I dunno. Maybe because it's you." Shindou's confidence that that said it all was almost as annoying as the fact that Touya privately agreed with him. Even so, a good argument sounded far more attractive than continuing to worry over the evening's plans. Touya decided to accept the opening.

"And what exactly is that supposed to mean?" In his mind, a black stone touched a star point.

"Well..." White took a reluctant position on the opposite side of the board. Touya glared. Black to the lower right. "It's just... you never even dated in high school." White cautious but sound in the upper left.

"I have dated before." His hands began knotting the plum tie while his mind challenged white's last position with a block.

"Escorting some woman your parents set you up with to some institute function doesn't count." A white stone reinforced its neighbor, acknowledging the fight. Touya felt vaguely hurt, and black mirrored white.

"There have been other instances." He couldn't recall any, but he was sure there must have been at least one.

"And you're still planning to wear that?" Hane. Already black's position was weak. "I mean, lilac?" Shindou stood and headed back to Touya's room, leaving his rival to contemplate his mental goban in confusion. He called from the bedroom. "Where's that charcoal suit you wore to the benefit game last week?" Was it possible to take two moves in a row in mental go? Touya hurried back to see just what his rival was doing and caught him going through his closet.

"It's at the cleaners – your daughter spilled peach juice on the jacket the last time she was here... what are you doing?" His lighter grey suit was tossed over the back of his armchair, along with a blue shirt and the other tie he'd been considering.

"Your call, but you'd look better in that." Shindou smirked. Touya stared – realized white had him beaten – and resigned. He began changing while his rival took a seat in the armchair and continued his questions. "So is she pretty?"

"I suppose." He hadn't really thought about it, but from what he could remember the woman wasn't unattractive.

"What's she do?" Shindou's persistence was making him feel far more stripped than the fact that he was half way through changing his trousers.

"I believe she is an accountant." The hem of his shirt would not stray straight and he turned to the mirror to re-do it.

"Does she play go?" The irrepressibly nosy intruder had picked up the well-worn copy of his father's book of tsumego from its resting place on the arm of the chair and was leafing through it.

"I don't believe so."

"So what are you going to talk about?" Oddly enough, the question was concerned rather than joking. Touya swallowed, his mouth suddenly dry at the worry that had been nagging him all afternoon.

"I have no idea."

The shirt finally lay correctly and he finished adjusting his trousers and belt. His rival watched silently from the chair while he looped the tie beneath the collar and began the careful sequence of knotting it. When he finished, Shindou handed him his jacket, and he put it on despite the fact that he'd have to take it off for the car ride. They both stared at his reflection in the mirror for a moment. Then his rival grinned.

"You clean up nice, Touya-sensei," he teased, then seemed to reconsider. "Of course, I've never seen you dirty..." He stopped, noticing the oddly uncomfortable look on his friend's face. He misinterpreted it, predictably. "Ah, it's okay. She'll probably talk enough for both of you." Touya rolled his eyes at this, but felt a little better just the same. He composed his expression into what he felt was an appropriate scowl and glanced from Shindou to the door. The older man took the hint and preceded him back to the living room.

The clock on the wall read six-forty, twenty minutes before the arranged time. Touya's eyes wandered briefly to the closet where his father's goban resided, only to blink as he noticed his rival's doing the same.

"We probably don't have time for another game, huh?" commented Shindou. He smiled.

"No. But perhaps tomorrow morning?" It would be Sunday, after all.

"Can't. I'm headed to Spain with K-chan. She's playing some grandmaster and I didn't want her going by herself..." There was a hint of wistfulness in his voice. "I'll be back in a week, but then you'll be in China, right?" Touya nodded. Shindou made his way to the entry and sat to tie his shoes. Touya slipped on his loafers, but the temptation to call off his evening and stay for one last game with his rival was nearly overpowering.

The shoelaces were tied, but their owner paused on the stair. "You know, K-chan said that her friends always take cell-phones when they go on blind dates. Then they call each other half an hour through the date so that the girl has an out if she wants to leave... Crazy kids, huh?" He stood and reached for the door, but Touya caught his eye. Picking up the flowers from their bucket, he retrieved his car keys and cell phone from their place on the floor beside it. The latter he slipped into his pocket with barely perceptible deliberation.

"Have a safe trip, Shindou. You know how to reach me if anything comes up." It wasn't really a plea, but both rivals had always been able to read deeply. A handful of white stones joined the single black one on a grid only the mind's eye could see.

"Sure thing. Have fun tonight." They passed through the door and made their way to separate vehicles. Touya heard the growling of a familiar engine and smiled.

pa-chi, pa-chi