PLEASE HEAD OVER TO THE "Falter" REMAKE INSTEAD.
Mahjong for the first half of the chapter. Then... something special. Squee.
As always, follow along with my corresponding blog post if you're having trouble with the mahjong stuff. And again, please point out any possible mahjong errors if you spot them. It's much appreciated.
For those who don't know yet, a bit of an update - I've translated Track 1 of a Saki drama CD (featuring the Kiyosumi cast), as well as Captain Half, a Hakkaya HxM doujin. Both available on my site, now also adorned with a new header.
Onward we go.
Mihoko straightened her thirteen tiles against the ledge and flipped them up. She ordered them by suit quickly, and glanced in Ueno-san's direction between turning a few of her tiles upright.
Ueno-san looked unduly tired.
Mihoko eyed the coffee at Ueno-san's side with a small frown. She was probably running on caffeine alone, and it was obvious that it wasn't just her first or even second can that day.
Mihoko exhaled and refocussed her attention back on the match and her own hand. Three green dragons, two norths, and a hand full of sou with four in sets of two. With only two wan tiles and one pin, cutting them to form a hon'itsu seemed like a reasonable course of action — but one of them was a 6 wan. It would be hard to cut a dora.
Ueno-san discarded the first tile and Mihoko made her decision.
"Pon!" she called decisively.
Mihoko slid her two norths along with Ueno-san's to her right, and discarded her 2 pin.
It was unorthodox to call so soon, and even odder to do so when it wasn't even for her own wind. But in exchange, she was closer to a quick open hand toitoi hon'itsu. It could easily switch to work in the dora tile if she drew a second one, with no damage to the value of her hand. To take the dealer position from Ueno-san, speed was of essence.
Amae-san and Kajiki-san both discarded irrelevant wind tiles, and Ueno-san bit back a yawn as she drew from the wall and discarded.
Mihoko drew hers and discarded the pin.
After several more go-arounds, her hand still hadn't yet come together fully. She called a pon from Kajiki-san for her 2 sou pair, but she mostly drew pin and wan tiles, with nothing near the 6 wan. Worse yet, she was fairly certain both Ueno-san and Amae-san were already in tenpai.
"Riichi!" Hisa declared as she smacked her tile sideways.
My, my.
Mihoko drew — the north at the worst possible time, no less — and there was no choice but to forgo the kan. Trading Ueno-san's potential ippatsu for an additional dora wasn't worth the risk, especially when she herself was still 1-shan-ten. She discarded the north and immediately felt herself come under Ueno-san's scrutiny for the choice she made. Her eyes conveyed much — not the least of which was a good-natured dig at her cautiousness.
Mihoko arched her brow ever so slightly in response, which only seemed to amuse Ueno-san to no end.
The two others drew and discarded without incidence, but Mihoko felt it even as Ueno-san extended her hand to draw —
"Tsumo!" Hisa slammed the 3 pin against the ledge. "Riichi ippatsu tsumo, dora 2 — 4,000 all!"
Mihoko turned her tiles face down. Counting out four 1,000 point sticks, she surveyed Ueno-san's hand. Ueno-san had gone with an edge wait on a tile with two already on the floor; although it wasn't quite a hell wait, it made her smile nevertheless. Here was someone who dared to play against the odds and managed to win time and time again.
In the next game, Mihoko's hand came together quickly, in part due to her starting hand being 3-shan-ten. It was a bit early, but she decided to pull her trump card as Ueno-san had a 16,000 lead on them all with the oyaman, and the gap would only widen if things continued the way they were. And then, she thought grimly, there was Amae-san.
The best case scenario would be a ron on either Ueno-san or Amae-san.
Mihoko opened her right eye to read her opponents' discards, and made her choice as she laid her trap. She set her wait to 2 and 5 wan as she declared riichi.
Two go-arounds later...
"Ron," Mihoko said politely as Ueno-san discarded the 5 wan. She flipped the ura-dora. "Riichi tan'yao pinfu, ura-dora 1, ipponba; 8,000 please."
"Good play there," Hisa said and handed the points over willingly.
Mihoko accepted the sticks and withdrew her hand to deposit the points. Ueno-san had to know she was gunning for her, but they were even now; with the ron, they both held 29,000 points.
They pushed the tiles in toward the middle and started the third game.
Mihoko ordered her fourteen tiles and discarded a west.
"Pon," a low voice called calmly.
Mihoko focussed her gaze on the girl opposite to her. In her original assessment, she considered Kajiki-san as the least threatening of her three opponents, but the girl had held her own in the final team tournament match. Moreover, Ueno-san chose Kajiki-san as one of her three opponents for this match. That had to count for something, even if she could somehow write off the stunts Kajiki-san pulled in the qualifiers as coincidences.
She mustn't let her guard down.
Mihoko scanned the few meagre discards on the floor and began her attempts in reading into them.
Then in the second go-around after she was 1-shan-ten, Kajiki-san won.
"Ron." Yumi exposed her hand with a clack. "Yakuhai only — 1,000."
Mihoko had dealt into the hidden tenpai. Reading Kajiki-san's discards had lead her to believe the girl was going for a hon'itsu that was still a bit away from tenpai, but against all reason, she had kept a 9 sou for the pair — and won with a low-value hand. Her actions made little sense, as she would've gotten 3,900 at least with a hon'itsu, and yet...
But because of that reasoning, she ended up dealing into Kajiki-san's hand, and consequently lost her dealer position. There was, she realised, a perverse pragmatism to Kajiki-san's strategy. What did a hand potentially worth 3,900 really mean if one couldn't actually win on it?
They began the third round.
Amae-san had lay low the last two games after Ueno-san's initial oyaman, but that changed as soon as she became dealer. As though she were waiting her chance and bidding her time, Amae-san struck quickly and swiftly with a haneman tsumo.
"East, round 3, ipponba," Koromo pronounced solemnly at the beginning of the next game.
Unlike the team tournament, there weren't that many points in reserve for any given player — a few high-value hands were more than enough to send someone's score below zero. The game might've ended much sooner if it weren't for the strategy they used.
In essence, they allied together for the duration of Amae-san's turn as dealer, by dealing tiles likely to be called on by each other — even Amae-san couldn't win if she had no turns to draw. Kajiki-san and Ueno-san to a lesser extent, were thus burdened with the tasks of calling pon.
Regardless, they ended the hanchan with no change in their relative standings. As there was only one round left after Amae-san's second turn as the dealer, it proved insufficient for anyone to make a comeback. In first place, Amae-san came out of the game a few thousand points ahead of Ueno-san, while Kajiki-san never quite recovered from the initial haneman.
"Good game, everyone," Hisa said as they pushed the rest of the mahjong tiles inward. "I know it's a bit late, but is anyone up for another hanchan, or maybe east-only?"
Mihoko spoke up first. "Ueno-san? Maybe we should postpone a rematch — I think Kajiki-san looks a bit tired."
Mihoko willed Kajiki-san to make eye contact with her. If she tried to convince Ueno-san to postpone the match due to her obvious fatigue, she'd probably wave it off. If only she could convey her intentions to Kajiki-san...
Their eyes met. Mihoko flitted her eyes to her left in Ueno-san's direction and casually touched under her own eye with the side of her finger. Thankfully, comprehension filled Kajiki-san's eyes almost instantly.
Yumi cleared her throat. "Actually, uh, I'm a bit tired."
"Yeah?" Hisa said.
"Y-Yeah."
"Well... there's no helping it then. But I'd really like a rematch with everyone — if no one's against it, how does tomorrow sound?"
"I don't mind," Koromo piped up.
"Tomorrow sounds good," Mihoko murmured. She directed a silent 'thank you' toward Kajiki-san.
"Tomorrow's good," Yumi said as she stood up. "And you better get yourself to bed soon, Hisa. You look like you could fall asleep standing. Good night, everyone."
"Good night, Tsuruga's taishou. Thanks for playing with Koromo again," Koromo said cheerfully.
Yumi gave a small nod and left.
Koromo watched Yumi leave before she faced Hisa and Mihoko, standing up herself. "Then I'm going too. See you tomorrow, Kiyosumi and Kazekoshi." She turned and skipped out of the room without further preamble. "Tomoki, Tomoki..."
Amae-san was still terribly energetic despite the hour.
"Only us left now, huh?" Hisa leaned her arms on the table ledge and propped her chin up with a hand. Stifling another yawn, she pondered out loud, "Wonder what's up with Yumi though."
"What about her?" Mihoko cursed herself for that oversight — Ueno-san was nothing short of perceptive.
"I'm pretty sure tiredness isn't the reason why she doesn't want to play a second game tonight, but..." Hisa rubbed her eyes tiredly. "Frankly, I don't know her well enough to push the issue."
Mihoko felt a bit of relief hearing the extent of Ueno-san's relationship with Kajiki-san, but put that titbit aside as she confessed, "Um, actually... Kajiki-san declined because of me."
"And what've you two been up to?"
"Well —"
Hisa leaned forward further, putting her head down in her arms. "Sorry, I need to rest my head a bit — kinda dizzy. But I'm listening."
Ueno-san really was carrying too many responsibilities.
"It's because I thought you shouldn't push yourself to play another game," Mihoko said mildly. "There's no denying you're tired right now."
"I'm not in much of a position to argue at the moment," Hisa mumbled into her arms. She turned her head to the side so she could see Mihoko. "I plead guilty as charged."
"And I was sure you'd insist on playing if I said you were tired."
"That does sound like something I'd do," Hisa said with a faint smile. "Sometimes I get into things more than I should... Feels like I need to surpass Amae Koromo if I want to fulfil my dream."
"I know what you mean," Mihoko said in understanding.
"Yeah," Hisa said. Her voice trailed off momentarily. She struggled to stay awake and added hazily in another mumble, "But, y'know, thanks... For worrying about me."
Mihoko gazed quietly at Ueno-san. Her paler-than-usual skin tone; the stray auburn bangs that moved with her slow, rhythmic breathing; eyelids heavy from drowsiness and fatigue...
"That's what friends are for," Mihoko murmured.
"Yeah... ..."
Ueno-san settled into sleep.
Mihoko stopped to watch her. Perhaps — perhaps this would be her only chance to see Ueno-san like this — completely unguarded, defenceless, and, as always, blissfully unaware of the feelings she held toward her.
She tried to etch the memory of Ueno-san deep into her mind as she followed the angle of her face, the slope of her nose — the gentle contour of her jawline, the slightly parted lips... and the hair that cascaded and splayed across her neck and shoulders with painful beauty...
Mihoko clutched her hand to her chest as the desire to touch and connect with Ueno-san overcame her.
Her hair —
It — it wouldn't hurt to touch her hair for a little bit, would it? Friends do that sort of thing, sometimes. It wasn't really crossing any lines —
In her mind, she continued to war with her conscience even as she slowly extended her hand.
Careful not to touch her forehead, Mihoko brushed a few stray bangs away from Ueno-san's face, and gently, lovingly, tucked the hair behind her ear. Her fingers grazed against Ueno-san's ear as she continued to run her fingers through the luxurious hair, lost in the feeling and sensation of the simple act.
"Ueno-san," she breathed. Her voice was barely audible even to her own ears. Her lips moved and formed the words, but no sound came out. "I like you so much, Ueno-san..."
Mihoko half-wished Ueno-san could hear her restrained, unspoken words; half-wished the distance between them could be traversed. She moved her hand and the knuckles of her fingers hovered ever so close to Ueno-san's now exposed cheek, so close that she could almost feel the warmth — so close that she felt Ueno-san's breath with each exhale.
A muffled thud sounded from the floor above, and Mihoko pulled her hand back guiltly.
Who was she kidding? Who would expect 'just a friend' to do what she just did now?
Mihoko sighed and sternly reproached herself. She observed the sleeping Ueno-san for another long moment before coming to a decision. Although she was loath to disturb Ueno-san's rest, it was impossible to let her sleep the night at the mahjong table, and in a thin yukata with the air conditioning on.
"Ueno-san... Ueno-san," Mihoko said gently.
She didn't respond.
Mihoko leaned in closer, and called her name again. "Ueno-san."
Hisa's brow wrinkled. She murmured some words unintelligibly before Mihoko could hear her say the next line. "Pon... that's... ... two han... "
Mihoko felt her heart flutter. How — Just how cute was it to daydream and think of mahjong even in her sleep?
She touched Ueno-san's arm and shook her lightly. "Ueno-san..."
Hisa lifted her head half an inch and paused before she rubbed her face groggily. "H-huh? Yeah? Um, sorry, I think I frithed — drifted off..."
"It's okay. But you really should get to bed," Mihoko said gently.
"Mm... bed. Good idea."
Mihoko thought she'd gotten through, but Ueno-san promptly buried her face back into her arms.
"Ueno-san... you can sleep back in your futon. You'll ache all over in the morning if you sleep here. With the air conditioning on, you might catch a cold too."
"Cooler temps..." Hisa mumbled, "... promote better sleep."
"I'm sure you're right, but..." Mihoko shook her arm again.
Hisa furrowed her brow and tried to turn away to get her much needed sleep.
It was surprisingly difficult to make her budge. Ueno-san seemed like a morning person, but because she'd also been losing sleep for at least two, three days, maybe more —
She'd carry Ueno-san back to the Kiyosumi resting room if she could, but it would be impossible with her strength. Mihoko shook her again. "Ueno-san... I don't want to wake you either, but —"
"... just five more minutes, Mihoko..."
"— please get up so —"
She froze.
She froze mid-motion.
Did Ueno-san just call her what she thought she did...? Surely...? But at the same time, it was hard to mishear her own name from Ueno-san's lips.
Mihoko hesitantly shook Ueno-san again experimentally, the original purpose of waking her long forgotten. But perhaps her shaking was more gentle than before in fear of waking her completely; Ueno-san would not repeat the same line but expressed her annoyance in being disturbed through unintelligible grumbles.
Mihoko sighed, and gave up in time. It was evidently doing neither herself nor Ueno-san a favour. With that decided, she shook Ueno-san again more insistently, now intent on waking her. "Ueno-san, please wake up, Ueno-san!"
"Mm...?"
Mihoko moved closer beside Ueno-san and led her into an upright position to help her reach a state of wakefulness, but her head lolled forward heavily. Mihoko tucked Ueno-san's head against her shoulder before shaking her lightly once more.
Mihoko spoke gently, "Ueno-san... if you'll get up, I can help you to your room. I'll clean up and put everything away, okay? Will you please stand?"
Hisa leaned inward and rested her head against the crook of Mihoko's neck. "Five minutes... I promise...?"
Mihoko wavered at the voice, at those words. She felt Ueno-san's steady breath against her skin, and each warm breath melted her resolve away further and further.
"Okay," she relented. "Only five minutes."
She tried to be stern, but only affection slipped through.
Mihoko repositioned herself slowly and guided Ueno-san to rest her head in her lap.
She had previously let Kana do the same any number of times, but with Ueno-san, it was different on innumerous levels and in endless ways. She felt Ueno-san's body heat through the fabric of their yukata, while the air was filled with the subtle scent of Ueno-san's mild, fruity body wash. For a moment, she was too hesitant to move at all — the fact Ueno-san was sleeping on her lap seemed too surreal to be true; it felt as though the first careless movement would shatter the illusion.
Mihoko pressed her hands together, cold from both nervousness and the air conditioning. Her fingers were stiff and numb. She pressed her hands to her neck to warm them up briefly before she gingerly rested her hand on Ueno-san's upper arm. For several moments, she had trouble deciding what to do with her other hand. Then with a deep breath and the effort to relax herself, Mihoko reached out to stroke Ueno-san's hair with tender affection.
In this way, she could almost imagine for the most fleeting of moments, that Ueno-san were her girlfriend.