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31_days2008-05-09 11:59 pm
issen4.livejournal.com) wrote in 31_days2008-05-09 11:59 pm
[May 8][Hikaru no Go] Stones in Narrow Spaces 8/?
Title: Stones in Narrow Spaces 8/?
Day/Theme: May 8 - You know that ghost is me
Series: Hikaru no Go
Character/Pairing: Akira/Hikaru
Rating: General
-------------
Watching Shindou talk to her in low voices, their heads close together, Touya remembered how he used to be jealous of Fujisaki, because she was there when it all started.
Shindou's story, which was partly confession and partly explanation about an old goban, an apparition and an overwhelming urge to play Go, ran in different formats right from the first time. A drunken outpouring was too short and incoherent. A whispered secret in the middle of the night, with the moonlight sliding over their are bodies, was slow and suppressed with unshed tears. A stoic re-telling over the goban was frank, yet enigmatic.
In all these stories, Shindou started with "Akari and I-"
He knew they had grown apart as the years passed, but there was one thing Shindou could not do (or had thought of), and that was to cut his ties with her completely. Not merely because they were they had known each other since childhood, or because Shindou, while sometimes thoughtless, valued their friendship. It was also because Shindou could not forget she was there with him when he first met Sai.
The two of them finally broke apart from their whispered conversation and entered the kitchen, where Touya had busied himself making tea.
"I told you, Hikaru," Fujisaki said with the air of someone who had repeated herself too many times, "they couldn't get you on your cellphone." She accepted the cup of tea from Touya with a nod of thanks. "That's why the building manager called me; he knows that I know you and I have a key to your apartment."
Fujisaki had a key because she was Shindou's roommate for six months when she first started university. When she moved out, Shindou asked Touya to move in. Touya didn't agree then, but he was moving in by degrees, with his suits taking over Shindou's wardrobe and his hair products fighting for space with Shindou's in the bathroom cabinet.
His goban shared the designated study with Shindou's, too. Until now.
"They took my goban, but left Touya's alone?" Shindou said, apropos of nothing after he finally sat down at the kitchen table. "You know, Touya's goban is supposed to be more valuable than mine." His frustration did not hide the voice of the scared, unhappy boy beneath.
Fujisaki said, "That was what surprised me, too. First it was that creepy old goban that you gave to Touya-sensei, and now it's your own." She gave him a look that was sharper than Touya liked to see. "Hikaru, is there something going on?"
"Nothing." But Shindou didn't sound convinced himself either.
"Really." Fujisaki waited, but when Shindou made no other comment, she sighed. "I should have remembered that you always become incredibly close-mouthed when it's connected with that creepy goban."
"It's not a creepy goban," Shindou said, now with his head on the table.
"It is," she insisted. "And you can't blame me for thinking that, seeing that you started to hear weird things the moment you touched it and then passed out."
Shindou flinched.
"Anyway, for your goban, the police will want to talk to you the first thing tomorrow morning."
Shindou nodded into the table.
"And it's damn late. I'm going back first. Touya-san, I'll leave Hikaru with you."
Touya saw her to the door, murmuring his gratitude for her help.
Pausing just outside the door, Fujisaki said, not looking at him, "He told you, didn't he?"
"What?"
"What he saw in that creepy goban." She raised her head, focused on the long hallway, avoiding Touya. "I always knew that when Hikaru began changing in junior high, it was because of that creepy goban. He would never have said anything to me, but I knew he would tell you."
Touya bowed his head in silent admission, not wanting to confirm the truth of her words.
"Then it's up to you to help him now that both his goban and the creepy goban are missing. Take care of him, Touya-san."
"I will, Fujisaki-san." He listened the click of her heels as she made her way down the hallway, closed the door on it and returned to the kitchen.
Shindou was still slumped on the table, but he sat up slowly when Touya entered. "You were the first one to suspect that I was Sai, you know."
"You were angry that I was chasing him and not you, though," Touya said.
Shindou finally laughed, a soft chuckle, before he faced Touya. "Later, I realised that because you knew I had a connection to Sai, you were the only person I could tell about him."
And that was how he had outgrown his jealousy of Fujisaki, Touya thought.
(TBC)
Day/Theme: May 8 - You know that ghost is me
Series: Hikaru no Go
Character/Pairing: Akira/Hikaru
Rating: General
-------------
Watching Shindou talk to her in low voices, their heads close together, Touya remembered how he used to be jealous of Fujisaki, because she was there when it all started.
Shindou's story, which was partly confession and partly explanation about an old goban, an apparition and an overwhelming urge to play Go, ran in different formats right from the first time. A drunken outpouring was too short and incoherent. A whispered secret in the middle of the night, with the moonlight sliding over their are bodies, was slow and suppressed with unshed tears. A stoic re-telling over the goban was frank, yet enigmatic.
In all these stories, Shindou started with "Akari and I-"
He knew they had grown apart as the years passed, but there was one thing Shindou could not do (or had thought of), and that was to cut his ties with her completely. Not merely because they were they had known each other since childhood, or because Shindou, while sometimes thoughtless, valued their friendship. It was also because Shindou could not forget she was there with him when he first met Sai.
The two of them finally broke apart from their whispered conversation and entered the kitchen, where Touya had busied himself making tea.
"I told you, Hikaru," Fujisaki said with the air of someone who had repeated herself too many times, "they couldn't get you on your cellphone." She accepted the cup of tea from Touya with a nod of thanks. "That's why the building manager called me; he knows that I know you and I have a key to your apartment."
Fujisaki had a key because she was Shindou's roommate for six months when she first started university. When she moved out, Shindou asked Touya to move in. Touya didn't agree then, but he was moving in by degrees, with his suits taking over Shindou's wardrobe and his hair products fighting for space with Shindou's in the bathroom cabinet.
His goban shared the designated study with Shindou's, too. Until now.
"They took my goban, but left Touya's alone?" Shindou said, apropos of nothing after he finally sat down at the kitchen table. "You know, Touya's goban is supposed to be more valuable than mine." His frustration did not hide the voice of the scared, unhappy boy beneath.
Fujisaki said, "That was what surprised me, too. First it was that creepy old goban that you gave to Touya-sensei, and now it's your own." She gave him a look that was sharper than Touya liked to see. "Hikaru, is there something going on?"
"Nothing." But Shindou didn't sound convinced himself either.
"Really." Fujisaki waited, but when Shindou made no other comment, she sighed. "I should have remembered that you always become incredibly close-mouthed when it's connected with that creepy goban."
"It's not a creepy goban," Shindou said, now with his head on the table.
"It is," she insisted. "And you can't blame me for thinking that, seeing that you started to hear weird things the moment you touched it and then passed out."
Shindou flinched.
"Anyway, for your goban, the police will want to talk to you the first thing tomorrow morning."
Shindou nodded into the table.
"And it's damn late. I'm going back first. Touya-san, I'll leave Hikaru with you."
Touya saw her to the door, murmuring his gratitude for her help.
Pausing just outside the door, Fujisaki said, not looking at him, "He told you, didn't he?"
"What?"
"What he saw in that creepy goban." She raised her head, focused on the long hallway, avoiding Touya. "I always knew that when Hikaru began changing in junior high, it was because of that creepy goban. He would never have said anything to me, but I knew he would tell you."
Touya bowed his head in silent admission, not wanting to confirm the truth of her words.
"Then it's up to you to help him now that both his goban and the creepy goban are missing. Take care of him, Touya-san."
"I will, Fujisaki-san." He listened the click of her heels as she made her way down the hallway, closed the door on it and returned to the kitchen.
Shindou was still slumped on the table, but he sat up slowly when Touya entered. "You were the first one to suspect that I was Sai, you know."
"You were angry that I was chasing him and not you, though," Touya said.
Shindou finally laughed, a soft chuckle, before he faced Touya. "Later, I realised that because you knew I had a connection to Sai, you were the only person I could tell about him."
And that was how he had outgrown his jealousy of Fujisaki, Touya thought.
(TBC)