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31_days2008-05-24 11:59 pm
issen4.livejournal.com) wrote in 31_days2008-05-24 11:59 pm
[May 24] [Hikaru no Go] Stones in Narrow Spaces 24/?
Title: Stones in Narrow Spaces 24/?
Day/Theme: May 24 - When a woman learns to walk, she's not dependent any more
Series: Hikaru no Go
Character/Pairing: none
Rating: General
----------------
The pale, fine-grained surface was restful to look at. The design was simple to the point of starkness, but that only meant that it was waiting for someone to play on it, to bring it to life. It seemed a pity to leave its surface empty. "This one."
"Good choice! Er, I mean, are you sure you want to do this, Nase?"
She did not pause but nodded firmly, pleased when Shindou did not say anything else. He simply nodded to two of the staff, who lifted the goban carefully between themselves and carried it to the other room.
"Phew!" Shindou stretched, his arms wind-milling as he stood up. "Now that's done, want a drink?"
"Just something simple." She looked around the traditional shop, with its high wooden ceiling, thick beams blackened by age and thought how intimidated she had been at first. "A coke, if you have that," she said, feeling strange just for asking. An ordinary canned drink seemed out of place here.
Shindou snorted. "Of course I have that!"
In response, Nase looked around the shop again, wordlessly pointing out the contradiction between their ancient surroundings and the existence of a modern canned drink.
Shindou got it. "I used to have that reaction all the time." He chuckled, and Nase felt her eyes widen as he turned toward one of the cabinets and opened it to reveal a small refrigerator.
A moment later, she was holding an icy can, and it looked out of place in her hands. "I feel as though I should have dressed for chado," Nase said, looking down at her pantsuit.
"Hah. Remind me to tell you about the first time I visited Touya's parents. His mother said she was going to make me tea, and I thought it was iced tea, but it turned out to be the sort of tea that you whisk with those little brushes!" He made a face. "It tasted so bitter! I could barely swallow it. Er, don't tell Touya I said that."
Nase laughed. When they were insei, they had traded jokes--sometimes malicious ones--about how traditional the Touya family was. It seemed that Shindou had found how for himself. "Thank you for your help, Shindou."
"You're welcome. But I didn't do that much."
"I needed a new goban and I trusted you to find me a suitable one." She meant one without lingering supernatural manifestations, or rumours thereof. Shindou, with his network of reputable goban makers, had agreed to her request immediately.
Shindou looked guilty at her words. "But-" he broke off. "Nase, you know that your goban--I mean, your old goban, is perfectly normal, right?"
She appreciated the fact that he had said 'old'--Shindou was the only one who took her request for a new one at face value. The others had only assumed that she was spooked by the theft of her goban and set out to reassure her, as though she was a child. "I know that," she said.
And what a relief that had been! Aikawa Koji had finally confessed his reasoning for taking Nase's goban to put it in Ochi's way. It horrified Nase to learn that the man had actually hoped that the ghost of Ochi's grandfather would appear; she could not think of anything more disrespectful to the dead and hurtful to Ochi than that. Nase wasn't sure if she believed in the supernatural, but Aikawa Koji's intentions disgusted her.
She was ashamed that she had ever boasted about her goban and even encouraged the rumour that it was her good luck charm in order to intimidate her opponents. No. She was going to start over and not depend on rumours anymore. From now on, she was going to make her own luck.
A/N: The scenario Shindou describes about tea is taken from Zig*Zag by Nakaji Yuki.
(TBC)
Day/Theme: May 24 - When a woman learns to walk, she's not dependent any more
Series: Hikaru no Go
Character/Pairing: none
Rating: General
----------------
The pale, fine-grained surface was restful to look at. The design was simple to the point of starkness, but that only meant that it was waiting for someone to play on it, to bring it to life. It seemed a pity to leave its surface empty. "This one."
"Good choice! Er, I mean, are you sure you want to do this, Nase?"
She did not pause but nodded firmly, pleased when Shindou did not say anything else. He simply nodded to two of the staff, who lifted the goban carefully between themselves and carried it to the other room.
"Phew!" Shindou stretched, his arms wind-milling as he stood up. "Now that's done, want a drink?"
"Just something simple." She looked around the traditional shop, with its high wooden ceiling, thick beams blackened by age and thought how intimidated she had been at first. "A coke, if you have that," she said, feeling strange just for asking. An ordinary canned drink seemed out of place here.
Shindou snorted. "Of course I have that!"
In response, Nase looked around the shop again, wordlessly pointing out the contradiction between their ancient surroundings and the existence of a modern canned drink.
Shindou got it. "I used to have that reaction all the time." He chuckled, and Nase felt her eyes widen as he turned toward one of the cabinets and opened it to reveal a small refrigerator.
A moment later, she was holding an icy can, and it looked out of place in her hands. "I feel as though I should have dressed for chado," Nase said, looking down at her pantsuit.
"Hah. Remind me to tell you about the first time I visited Touya's parents. His mother said she was going to make me tea, and I thought it was iced tea, but it turned out to be the sort of tea that you whisk with those little brushes!" He made a face. "It tasted so bitter! I could barely swallow it. Er, don't tell Touya I said that."
Nase laughed. When they were insei, they had traded jokes--sometimes malicious ones--about how traditional the Touya family was. It seemed that Shindou had found how for himself. "Thank you for your help, Shindou."
"You're welcome. But I didn't do that much."
"I needed a new goban and I trusted you to find me a suitable one." She meant one without lingering supernatural manifestations, or rumours thereof. Shindou, with his network of reputable goban makers, had agreed to her request immediately.
Shindou looked guilty at her words. "But-" he broke off. "Nase, you know that your goban--I mean, your old goban, is perfectly normal, right?"
She appreciated the fact that he had said 'old'--Shindou was the only one who took her request for a new one at face value. The others had only assumed that she was spooked by the theft of her goban and set out to reassure her, as though she was a child. "I know that," she said.
And what a relief that had been! Aikawa Koji had finally confessed his reasoning for taking Nase's goban to put it in Ochi's way. It horrified Nase to learn that the man had actually hoped that the ghost of Ochi's grandfather would appear; she could not think of anything more disrespectful to the dead and hurtful to Ochi than that. Nase wasn't sure if she believed in the supernatural, but Aikawa Koji's intentions disgusted her.
She was ashamed that she had ever boasted about her goban and even encouraged the rumour that it was her good luck charm in order to intimidate her opponents. No. She was going to start over and not depend on rumours anymore. From now on, she was going to make her own luck.
A/N: The scenario Shindou describes about tea is taken from Zig*Zag by Nakaji Yuki.
(TBC)