fragmentation;
05.
"I've lost," Shindou says, his fan clenched tightly in his hand. "Thank you for the game."
"Thank you," Akira says back.
"I lost," Shindou wails, "again!"
"You shouldn't have started that battle up here," Akira says, pointing. "You focused all of your plays there and didn't see what I was doing down here. You should have been more careful. I had more territory there." He frowns.
Shindou groans and flops to the side, grumbling to himself. "I'll win next time!" he promises. "I'll win next time and we'll bet and I'll choke 3000 yen out of you, I will!"
"I wouldn't mind giving 3000 yen to you if you actually decided to start using it wisely, Shindou."
"I do use it wisely!" Shindou defends. "Ramen is a necessity in my life. One day you'll learn to appreciate that."
"Thank you," Akira says suddenly.
Shindou stares at him. "What?"
"And I'm sorry."
"...Touya, I know I'm kind of dumb, but I really don't know what you're talking about."
"For... the other day."
Shindou thinks about it. "Oh," he says. Then he smiles, just a little bit. Akira watches him clench his fan tighter. "No problem," he says, waving his hand in the air. "I've already forgotten about that."
Akira hesitates. "Your loss," he starts, wondering what to say and how to say it—would you like to talk about it? What happened? There are a lot of things Akira wants to know, a lot of things he wants to know; is afraid to find out, but if he doesn't ask, he knows Shindou will never say.
But Shindou waves it off. "That's... a long story," he says. He's quiet for a bit. Akira's eyebrows crease.
"Shindou?"
"Touya," he says, and Akira blinks, startled.
"Yes?"
"Welcome back."
He doesn't know if it's the effect the words have on him when Shindou says it, doesn't really know whether it's the atmospheric shine in the air or the timing that reminds Akira of the times his father had scolded him, of the times Touya Kouyo had held his hand and walked with him to the park and had lifted him up with nothing but the feeling of pride on his shoulders.
And Touya Kouyo is gone, but Akira feels less helpless, less unable.
His eyes water. "Thank you," he says.
He means it.
owari.