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31_days2008-05-10 11:59 pm
issen4.livejournal.com) wrote in 31_days2008-05-10 11:59 pm
[May 10][Hikaru no Go] Stones in Narrow Spaces 10/?
Title: Stones in Narrow Spaces 10/?
Day/Theme: May 10 / It's a dump of a destiny
Series: Hikaru no Go
Character/Pairing: Hikaru, Akira
Rating: General
------------
Touya's goban was a hand-me-down from his father. That didn't sound like much to an outsider, but to Touya, it was a valuable legacy that symbolised Touya Kouyo's hopes for his only son. Touya had learnt to play Go on it, and every morning when he was growing up, he played a game on it with his father. It was Touya's treasured possession.
The fact that his goban remained intact and untouched by thieves now seemed like a joke.
"It's not a joke," Shindou said in response, looking up from where he was rearranging his bookshelf, trying to fit all his Go books and manga in it. (Touya had wondered how he managed it--since Shindou bought manga every week--until he spotted Shindou's books on his bookshelf.) "It just means you have a boring goban."
Touya, who had not realised he had spoken out loud, raised his head from where he was cleaning his goban. "What do you mean?"
Shindou scoffed. "Well, think about it. Five gobans have been stolen so far, and all of them have reputations. There's Sai's--I mean, Touya-sensei's, mine, Nase's, a Heian-period goban belonging to Ito-san," Shindou named a goban collector that he knew casually, "and one belonging to an insei named Aikawa Tetsuo."
The recitation of the list of stolen gobans made Touya remember something. "Wasn't that Heian-period goban the one that Ito-san paid to have an exorcism done on last year?"
Shindou nodded. "Yeah, that's the one. Ito-san had said that it gave him nightmares for weeks after he bought it. He got scared." He looked thoughtful rather than scornful, however. "And then there's the one belonging to Aikawa-kun. You said there was something special about it too, remember?"
Touya nodded. Aikawa's mother knew Touya's mother. "It's a family heirloom, from the time the Aikawa family started making gobans."
Shindou pushed a stack of books to the back of a shelf with a grunt, and turned to Touya, waiting for him to elaborate.
Touya explained reluctantly, "There's a superstition that as long as someone continued to play Go using that goban, the family business would thrive. How about Nase's goban? Is there something unusual about it?" He knew that Shindou was on much better terms with the female pro than he was.
Shindou stretched his arms before shaking his head. "Nope. But last year, when Nase was in the league games for the Tengen title, she kept saying that her goban was a lucky charm. Most of us thought it was just talk and intimidation. But what if someone took her seriously?"
"You mean someone like the thief?"
"Uh-huh." Shindou stood up and walked over to Touya, before sitting down, cross-legged, opposite him. "Touya-sensei's goban was the infamous cursed goban of Shuusaku," he said, and only a split-second's hesitation revealed his pain. "My goban... well, there's been rumours about it over the years too." He tried to shrug, but only ended up drumming his fingers lightly on the tatami.
Sensing what it was Shindou really wanted to do, Touya put the cleaning cloth aside and pushed a go-ke at him.
"Thanks." Shindou hesitated only for a second before flashing Touya an impish smile. "Nigiri?"
"Odd."
Shindou counted out the stones. "Even."
Touya could see Shindou relax as they started playing. Shindou still missed his goban, he knew. Now that news of the theft was out, the old stories about Shindou's goban--all untrue--were spreading: how Shindou could come up with superior strategies whenever he used it, and how he played as though possessed on it.
No, those were simply signs of Shindou's skill and his obsession with Go, an obsession any pro would be familiar with. But there was no denying that all the stolen gobans seemed to have an extra dimension to them, one that was usually connected to rumours of the supernatural.
His goban had no such association, Touya realised. It was valuable to him because of the memories it held. It did not have a ghost clinging to it, except for the ghosts of his memory. It was no lucky charm and brought no unsual dreams to its owner. But just as the Shuusaku goban linked Shindou to Sai, Touya's goban connected him to his destiny in life.
(TBC)
Day/Theme: May 10 / It's a dump of a destiny
Series: Hikaru no Go
Character/Pairing: Hikaru, Akira
Rating: General
------------
Touya's goban was a hand-me-down from his father. That didn't sound like much to an outsider, but to Touya, it was a valuable legacy that symbolised Touya Kouyo's hopes for his only son. Touya had learnt to play Go on it, and every morning when he was growing up, he played a game on it with his father. It was Touya's treasured possession.
The fact that his goban remained intact and untouched by thieves now seemed like a joke.
"It's not a joke," Shindou said in response, looking up from where he was rearranging his bookshelf, trying to fit all his Go books and manga in it. (Touya had wondered how he managed it--since Shindou bought manga every week--until he spotted Shindou's books on his bookshelf.) "It just means you have a boring goban."
Touya, who had not realised he had spoken out loud, raised his head from where he was cleaning his goban. "What do you mean?"
Shindou scoffed. "Well, think about it. Five gobans have been stolen so far, and all of them have reputations. There's Sai's--I mean, Touya-sensei's, mine, Nase's, a Heian-period goban belonging to Ito-san," Shindou named a goban collector that he knew casually, "and one belonging to an insei named Aikawa Tetsuo."
The recitation of the list of stolen gobans made Touya remember something. "Wasn't that Heian-period goban the one that Ito-san paid to have an exorcism done on last year?"
Shindou nodded. "Yeah, that's the one. Ito-san had said that it gave him nightmares for weeks after he bought it. He got scared." He looked thoughtful rather than scornful, however. "And then there's the one belonging to Aikawa-kun. You said there was something special about it too, remember?"
Touya nodded. Aikawa's mother knew Touya's mother. "It's a family heirloom, from the time the Aikawa family started making gobans."
Shindou pushed a stack of books to the back of a shelf with a grunt, and turned to Touya, waiting for him to elaborate.
Touya explained reluctantly, "There's a superstition that as long as someone continued to play Go using that goban, the family business would thrive. How about Nase's goban? Is there something unusual about it?" He knew that Shindou was on much better terms with the female pro than he was.
Shindou stretched his arms before shaking his head. "Nope. But last year, when Nase was in the league games for the Tengen title, she kept saying that her goban was a lucky charm. Most of us thought it was just talk and intimidation. But what if someone took her seriously?"
"You mean someone like the thief?"
"Uh-huh." Shindou stood up and walked over to Touya, before sitting down, cross-legged, opposite him. "Touya-sensei's goban was the infamous cursed goban of Shuusaku," he said, and only a split-second's hesitation revealed his pain. "My goban... well, there's been rumours about it over the years too." He tried to shrug, but only ended up drumming his fingers lightly on the tatami.
Sensing what it was Shindou really wanted to do, Touya put the cleaning cloth aside and pushed a go-ke at him.
"Thanks." Shindou hesitated only for a second before flashing Touya an impish smile. "Nigiri?"
"Odd."
Shindou counted out the stones. "Even."
Touya could see Shindou relax as they started playing. Shindou still missed his goban, he knew. Now that news of the theft was out, the old stories about Shindou's goban--all untrue--were spreading: how Shindou could come up with superior strategies whenever he used it, and how he played as though possessed on it.
No, those were simply signs of Shindou's skill and his obsession with Go, an obsession any pro would be familiar with. But there was no denying that all the stolen gobans seemed to have an extra dimension to them, one that was usually connected to rumours of the supernatural.
His goban had no such association, Touya realised. It was valuable to him because of the memories it held. It did not have a ghost clinging to it, except for the ghosts of his memory. It was no lucky charm and brought no unsual dreams to its owner. But just as the Shuusaku goban linked Shindou to Sai, Touya's goban connected him to his destiny in life.
(TBC)