The Call of Go

Chapter 5 (Special Date Chapter)

"Ayumi!" Hitsuji calls, spotting his girlfriend in front of the crowded station. He makes eye contact and quickens his pace. "Sorry, did you wait long?"

"No, I just got here." Ayumi smiles, nervously twirling her hair. "It's been too long since we've gone out like this. Do you anything have in mind? If not, there's a new movie I've been... Hitsuji?"

Ayumi leans towards Hitsuji and waves a hand before him. "Ayumi to Hitsuji, come in, Hitsuji. Are you there?"

Hitsuji brushes one of Ayumi's bangs behind her ear and looks deep into her eyes, "Your hair... I really like it."

Ayumi blushes and shyly turns away, tugging at a lock of her hair. "Oh this, I-I just felt like trying something new..."

Hitsuji smiles. He nervously takes Ayumi's hand as he steps past her and pivots to face her. "We-we should get going. You said something about a movie?"

…..

"I don't get it." Hitsuji shakes his head, opening a door.

"Really?" Ayumi looks to Hitsuji as she exits threw the door. "How so?"

Hitsuji follows Ayumi onto the busy street. He turns to a poster on a pillar of the building they exited.

"This guy," Hitsuji points to a character with snow white hair who's waving a staff. "all he did was play around the entire movie."

"That was his inner nature." Ayumi crosses her arms. "He's suppose to act like that."

"Yeah, I can get that, but not all the time. He was sledding away from that nightmare guy to find reinforcements after he got cornered. That entire group actually being able to escape is another problem, but they were laughing." Hitsuji throws his hands before himself. "They should have been terrified, not happy."

"Any other complaints?" Ayumi taps her foot keeping her arms crossed.

"Tons," Hitsuji shrugs. Turning to Ayumi, he gives her a grin. "but how about some ice cream instead?"

Ayumi's face brightens with a smile as she wraps her arm into Hitsuji's. "Let's go."

The two make their way through the crowd and reach the park. With ice cream from a vendor, they sit on a bank of grass before the river. Hitsuji, finishing his ice cream, stands and picks up a flat stone. With a flick of his wrist, the stone flies and skips on the water.

"You can skip stones?" Ayumi gaps as Hitsuji searches for another stone. "That's cool."

"A bit." Hitsuji holds out a stone, "Here, you try."

"I don't know how." Ayumi stares at the stone in her hand.

"It's easy, first you have to find a thin stone and hold it like this." Hitsuji holds a new stone by its sides within his thumb and index finger. "Then you throw it. It helps to rotate, like this."

Hitsuji places his hands on Ayumi's shoulders and turns her body outward. He then guides her arm out having it follow the line of her body.

"As you unwind, your arm will follow your body and end with a flick of your wrist. The flicking will make it spin, helping it bounce." Hitsuji demonstrates, his stone bouncing three times and sinking on its fourth landing.

"Like this?" Ayumi flings her stone into the water. "It didn't bounce..."

"Close," Hitsuji suppresses a laugh. "try with this one."

Ayumi accepts the stone and throws it into the water.

"Try adjusting your angle." Hitsuji holds out his arm. "Try swinging your arm lower to the ground, like your trying to get below some sort of wall."

Ayumi flicks a stone and it hops twice.

"I did it." Ayumi jumps and searches for another stone. Following in her excitement, she continuously succeeds in getting her stones to skip twice, occasionally getting three times.

A stone skips five times across the water.

"Show off." Ayumi pouts, lightly stamping her foot as she turns to her boyfriend.

…..

"You're right." Hitsuji says to Ayumi as they walk under some trees. They walk in a secluded area, off the path and deep within the park.

Ayumi stops walking and looks at Hitsuji, tilting her head.

"It really has been too long since we last went out like this."

"Yeah." Ayumi circles her arms around Hitsuji's and rest her head on his shoulder. "With everything going on, we just got too busy."

"Still..."

"Ever since I learned you play Go, that's all we've done when we're together. More so now with the pro exam coming up."

"We're more than just Go players." Hitsuji stops walking. He keeps his arm around Ayumi as he says. "There's more to you than Go."

"Hitsuji..." Ayumi gazes back into Hitsuji's eyes. She rests her head on his shoulder and closes her eyes.

Hitsuji smiles and moves to rest his head on Ayumi's. He breaks away and stumbles back, clutching his nose from a sudden head-butt.

"...se-san!" Hitsuji hears someone calling. "Nase-san!"

Hitsuji opens his eyes and sees Ayumi blushing furiously while trying to casually greet someone hidden by a tree.

"Nase-san, you're taking a walk in the park?"

"Ki-kinda," Ayumi stammers. "Fu-Fuku, why are you here?"

"I passed the preliminaries earlier. I'm need to relax."

"Re-really?" Ayumi gives a weak grin. "Co-congratulations."

"But, I like your summer dress, Nase-san." Hitsuji frowns, looking towards Ayumi's sun dress. Examining it, he discovers he's never seen her wear it before. "I wouldn't have recognized you without your bag."

"Rea-really?" Ayumi responds, beginning to fidget.

"Yeah," Hitsuji hears Fuku laugh. "but you don't look to well. You should go home and lie down. Anyway, I'll see you at pro exam."

"B-bye." Ayumi waves.

"Sorry," Ayumi relaxes and turns to Hitsuji. She links her fingers together and gives a nervous smile, "How's your nose?"

"It's fine, it's fine." Hitsuji sighs and places an arm around Ayumi. The two begin walking towards the path and Hitsuji mumbles. "It's his timing really, I was enjoying that..."

"Did you say something?"

"No, nothing."

…..

"How about some dinner?" Hitsuji asks Ayumi as they pass through the park entrance.

"Well..." Ayumi's eyes twinkle in her anticipation, "since we're on a date, there's only one place we can go to."

Hitsuji smiles, silently expressing his curiosity by raising an eyebrow.

"The ramen stand near the southern edge of the river."

Hitsuji stops walking. His mind blanks with Ayumi's determined expression engraving itself onto his memory as her words continuously repeat themselves.

Hitsuji's hand trembles slightly. He stills it only for his breath to get caught in his throat. Coughing, he begins to laugh. Using his palm to cover his face, Hitsuji bends over and uses his free hand to hold his stomach.

"Hitsuji!" Ayumi cries in alarm, holding up an uncertain hand.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Hitsuji apologizes, catching his breath. "pff-ahaha. Ayumi... haha."

Hunched over and panting, Hitsuji turns to Ayumi and gives her a sheepish grin. "You're amazing."

Ayumi retracts her hand, jumping in surprise. "Idiot," she grumbles, looking away in embarrassment.

"No really," Hitsuji straightens his posture. He inhales deeply and continues, "you... I'll never regret the time you've given me. Ayumi, you truly are spectacular."

"Hitsuji..." Ayumi looks away from her boyfriend in embarrassment.

"I'm serious." Hitsuji whispers into her ear as he places his hands on her shoulder.

With a gentle smile, Ayumi turns her head to Hitsuji.

A person behind Ayumi catches Hitsuji's attention. He focuses on the person and his eyes widen. Hitsuji jerks Ayumi towards himself. He catches her and uses the momentum to leap back.

Ayumi pushes away from Hitsuji's hold and lifts her head, turning to her boyfriend in fright. "Hi-Hitsuji!" Ayumi gasps at the panic on Hitsuji's face. She feels his heart beat accelerate through his arms.

"So-sorry," Hitsuji forces the words. "le-let's go. Before they see us."

"Who see's us?" Ayumi cries, as Hitsuji tightly grips her hand and pulls her away. "He-hey, Hitsuji?"

Hitsuji remains silent. With a stoic expression, he leads Ayumi threw the crowded streets, occasionally stopping to search their surroundings.

Relief spreads across Hitsuji's face as they reach an empty bench. Sighing, he sits down, drooping his arms beside himself. Hitsuji sits up wide eyed, inhaling sharply. "Idiot..." he sighs, supporting his head with two fingers.

"Hitsuji?" Ayumi questions, biting her lips. Leaning towards him, places a hand on his shoulder.

"Sorry," Hitsuji looks to Ayumi. "I over reacted."

Hitsuji turns away, avoiding Ayumi's gaze, "I saw some people from my school and just... panicked."

Ayumi stares at Hitsuji for a moment and blinks. A sound escapes from her throat and leading her to cover her mouth with a hand. Her free arm wraps itself around her side as she bends over trembling.

"Pfftahahahahahaha!" Ayumi bursts.

"A-Ayumi!" Hitsuji jumps to his feet. His face a deep crimson, he stands gritting his teeth. Holding his arms up, he looks around, uncertain on how to react.

"That- pfft, that's too cute!" Ayumi points a finger at Hitsuji, "Freaking out for no reason like that, gyahahaha!"

Ayumi holds her sides, looking to the ground as she continues to laugh.

"I-it isn't that funny." Hitsuji mumbles. He makes an annoyed expression as Ayumi begins to catch her breath.

Ayumi turns to Hitsuji and bursts laughing. As Hitsuji sighs and collapses against the bench, he decides to wait for Ayumi to finish.

…..

"So-sorry," Ayumi sits next to Hitsuji, resting her head on his shoulder. Bringing a hand to her mouth, she forces down her giggles. "It's just, I almost never see all of you like this."

Ayumi inhales deeply, considering her next words.

"You're always smiling. Even when you're bored, you're smiling." Ayumi closes her eyes, recalling the times she's shared with Hitsuji. "But your real face... hah-ahem, I'm glad. You almost never express your faces."

Ayumi trembles, fighting down the laughter from recalling Hitsuji's many expressions.

"So, why did you panic that much?" Ayumi frowns, scrunching her nose, "You're not ashamed of me, are you?"

"Of course not! That's because..." Hitsuji swallows, "they would of third wheeled us all day, completely ruining our date."

Ayumi gasps. She sits up, turning toward Hitsuji. Her eyes sparkling, she pounces upon him, embracing him tightly. She ignores his yelp, forgetting about the surrounding public as they fall of the bench.

…..

"Today was the best." Hitsuji glows, leaning back on a railing in an apartment corridor. The street below him loudly brims with life despite the late hour.

"Well, maybe..." Ayumi furrows her eyebrows in though as she looks over the city before her. She leans forward on the railing, supporting herself with her arms, "no, it was perfect."

"Well, I'll see you tomorrow then." Hitsuji steps up from the rail.

"Yeah," Ayumi steps back from the railing. "time to start our training."

The two turn and face one another, taking the other's hands into their own. Lost in the other's eyes, they meet their foreheads.

A door slams somewhere down the corridor causing the two to jump apart.

"It's getting late." Ayumi states as she opens her apartment door. Standing within the door frame, she says, "Good night, Hitsuji."

"Ayumi," Hitsuji calls, preventing Ayumi form turning away.

As Ayumi looks at Hitsuji questioningly, Hitsuji leans forward. He slides across Ayumi's face and kisses her cheek.

"Go-good night." Hitsuji smiles, staring into Ayumi's eyes. He takes a few steps back and turns, his face burning up in the process. His face remains a deep crimson as he walks home, occasionally laughing out or breaking into a run.

A/N: Here we have Hitsuji and Ayumis' date, revised. I've said a few times that the romance was only going to be happening on the side, but I just had to write this. The only real progress he was character development. Regardless, writing this was one of the hardest things I've ever written. Mainly, I don't know how to write date scenes. I don't know what to say to make a believable date, but the romance did get me jittery. Since I was just having them do random activities that felt date appropriate this chapter may have accidentally come across a bit clichéd, sorry. Please let me know what your opinions are.

Thank you

Warrior Seadra