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31_days2008-05-26 11:54 pm
issen4.livejournal.com) wrote in 31_days2008-05-26 11:54 pm
[May 26] [Hikaru no Go] Stones in Narrow Spaces 26/?
Title: Stones in Narrow Spaces 26/?
Day/Theme: May 26 - The distant thunder of a million unheard souls
Series: Hikaru no Go
Character/Pairing: Akira/Hikaru
Rating: General
----------------
Shindou flapped his long, wide sleeves in agitation, looking like a tropical bird that was about to attack everyone in sight. "I can't wear this! Did you hear what those girls were saying?"
Touya felt that if Shindou didn't want to be described as 'adorable in a kimono', then he should not have looked so adorable in one. The girls had a point: dressed in a dark blue kimono that looked like the cosplay costume of a manga hero, Shindou looked about twelve and artlessly childlike, an effect that made the female visitors at the exhibition start giggling and whispering among themselves.
He also noticed more than a few cellphone cameras aimed at his boyfriend, but Shindou didn't seem to have noticed their presence. He was too busy complaining about the fact that the last day of the exhibition had a masquerade theme.
"It's unfair. Why is it that you don't have to dress up?"
"I'm not a participant, Shindou." He had only accompanied Shindou here out of curiosity--and concern, if truth be admitted--but he had come also because he knew Shindou would be playing, and he never lost a chance to watch Shindou play if he could help it. "Besides, I think you look good."
Shindou threw up his arms, and by extension, his sleeves (narrowly missing a passerby with them) with a disgusted groan. "I feel so stupid." His eyes narrowed. "This must be why Kurata made me come instead. He knew! I'm going to give him a piece of my mind!"
Touya didn't point out that Kurata had said that he was recovering from a bout of food poisoning only because he shared Shindou's suspicions. Instead, he only said, "I didn't know wearing different clothes made you incapable of playing Go."
As he expected, his words--and the scorn in them--made Shindou growl. "Of course not! I can still play. I just-" he raised his arms and looked at the sleeves again. "They are a pain, you know. How can anyone even place stones properly with these getting in the way?"
Touya shook his head. "One would think you had never worn a kimono before," he said and caught the sleeves between his hands, beginning to roll them up. It was a disgraceful thing to do to a kimono, but it was the only solution he could think of.
Shindou waited until he was finished, and moved his arms experimentally. "That's better. Thanks."
"Now can you play?" Touya asked. "Ogata-san is waiting, you know." He nodded behind Shindou, who turned around with a start.
Ogata was smiling at him, though there wasn't much humour in his expression. "Very domestic, Touya-kun," he said. "You're good at that."
Touya did not appreciate the way he implied, You'll make someone a good wife someday. He only nodded his head in acknowledgement of the older pro's presence.
Shindou nudged him. "Yeah, while he's probably wishing he were still wearing that creepy white suit," he said in a whisper.
Touya stifled a laugh. The organisers had dressed Ogata in a dark brown kimono, which made him look very different.
To Ogata, Shindou said, "Thanks for waiting, Ogata-san"--rather than 'sensei'--"let's start our game. I believe the organisers are expecting us."
Ogata's eyes narrowed behind his glasses. After a second he said, "Of course, Shindou-kun. We wouldn't want the audience to keep waiting, right?"
"Yeah. They might start to think that I was supposed to play with a real rival," Shindou said, his gaze sliding to Touya before he stalked past Ogata, leading the way to the stage, his entrance only slightly marred by a stumble over the long robes.
Touya covered his eyes briefly with a hand, then followed. He had been offered the role of commentator, but while he had declined (as it would have required him getting into costume as well), the organisers had offered him a seat to one side of the stage where he could watch the game. The commentator was Kaneda 8-dan, whom Touya knew vaguely.
They all waited while the organisers repeated the announcement about Kurata being absent from food poisoning and that he had been replaced by Shindou. Judging by the reaction of the crowd, Touya thought that few of them were actually disappointed by the 'replacement'. Then again, Kurata's supporters knew Shindou quite well, due to Kurata's insistence on referring to Shindou as his 'fan' and the jokes about autographs.
Shindou took black after the nigiri, and started the game with a joseki that he had been working on for the past few months. A modification of Shuusaku's famous opening, it had been adapted to Shindou's own favoured methods of attacking as well as the newly changed komi (now eight-and-a-half).
The game proceeded smoothly, with Ogata demonstrating his own trademark unflappable calm as he started to push Shindou's shape aside and establish his own territory on the occupied--but poorly defended--space.
Shindou, too, had shifted into high gear as he started to widen the borders of his established territory to regain what he had lost. His stones were in narrow shapes, but he was expanding them. He played at a steady pace, his expression giving nothing away.
Then Touya heard Ogata say, "I heard that you got your goban back." His voice was too low for the audience to catch, but Touya heard him, and so did Kaneda, who paused in the middle of his commentary.
Shindou paused. His forehead creased as though to wonder why Ogata was speaking of that, before he regained his composure. "And?" he said.
"I asked about the Shuusaku goban the last time."
"That's still missing," Shindou said.
"I wonder how you can still play."
Touya clenched his fists, angry that Ogata was still using that to rattle Shindou.
But Shindou studied Ogata with that same composure, before he looked down at the goban. "It's your turn, Ogata-san," he only said.
Ogata gave a soft laugh. "I see it doesn't bother you," he said, sounding almost admiring. He placed a stone. "How cold-blooded of you, to turn away from Sai."
Shindou stared, his profile turning as still as a stature.
Touya narrowed his eyes and began plotting revenge. He had lost the Meijin title to Ogata by a slim margin last year--he immediately determined that Ogata would never come near it again.
Slowly, Shindou unbent enough to touch the paper fan that seldom left his side at games. Without taking his eyes from Ogata, he held it in one hand and unfurled it.
The soft 'schick!' of that action made Touya jump, and he was gratified to see that Ogata now looked puzzled.
All that Shindou did was to lay the fan, still open, on the side table. "Go has been around for more than a thousand years, Ogata-san," he said. "Millions of people have played it. Each game that they played is a contribution, a voice from the past reaching into the future."
Touya swallowed. Shindou was seldom philosophical about Go, but when he was, there was an aura of authority about him that was almost overpowering.
"You think the past is silent, but it thunders behind every game we play," Shindou went on. "Sai is in there too, and you are the one who cannot hear him."
(TBC)
Day/Theme: May 26 - The distant thunder of a million unheard souls
Series: Hikaru no Go
Character/Pairing: Akira/Hikaru
Rating: General
----------------
Shindou flapped his long, wide sleeves in agitation, looking like a tropical bird that was about to attack everyone in sight. "I can't wear this! Did you hear what those girls were saying?"
Touya felt that if Shindou didn't want to be described as 'adorable in a kimono', then he should not have looked so adorable in one. The girls had a point: dressed in a dark blue kimono that looked like the cosplay costume of a manga hero, Shindou looked about twelve and artlessly childlike, an effect that made the female visitors at the exhibition start giggling and whispering among themselves.
He also noticed more than a few cellphone cameras aimed at his boyfriend, but Shindou didn't seem to have noticed their presence. He was too busy complaining about the fact that the last day of the exhibition had a masquerade theme.
"It's unfair. Why is it that you don't have to dress up?"
"I'm not a participant, Shindou." He had only accompanied Shindou here out of curiosity--and concern, if truth be admitted--but he had come also because he knew Shindou would be playing, and he never lost a chance to watch Shindou play if he could help it. "Besides, I think you look good."
Shindou threw up his arms, and by extension, his sleeves (narrowly missing a passerby with them) with a disgusted groan. "I feel so stupid." His eyes narrowed. "This must be why Kurata made me come instead. He knew! I'm going to give him a piece of my mind!"
Touya didn't point out that Kurata had said that he was recovering from a bout of food poisoning only because he shared Shindou's suspicions. Instead, he only said, "I didn't know wearing different clothes made you incapable of playing Go."
As he expected, his words--and the scorn in them--made Shindou growl. "Of course not! I can still play. I just-" he raised his arms and looked at the sleeves again. "They are a pain, you know. How can anyone even place stones properly with these getting in the way?"
Touya shook his head. "One would think you had never worn a kimono before," he said and caught the sleeves between his hands, beginning to roll them up. It was a disgraceful thing to do to a kimono, but it was the only solution he could think of.
Shindou waited until he was finished, and moved his arms experimentally. "That's better. Thanks."
"Now can you play?" Touya asked. "Ogata-san is waiting, you know." He nodded behind Shindou, who turned around with a start.
Ogata was smiling at him, though there wasn't much humour in his expression. "Very domestic, Touya-kun," he said. "You're good at that."
Touya did not appreciate the way he implied, You'll make someone a good wife someday. He only nodded his head in acknowledgement of the older pro's presence.
Shindou nudged him. "Yeah, while he's probably wishing he were still wearing that creepy white suit," he said in a whisper.
Touya stifled a laugh. The organisers had dressed Ogata in a dark brown kimono, which made him look very different.
To Ogata, Shindou said, "Thanks for waiting, Ogata-san"--rather than 'sensei'--"let's start our game. I believe the organisers are expecting us."
Ogata's eyes narrowed behind his glasses. After a second he said, "Of course, Shindou-kun. We wouldn't want the audience to keep waiting, right?"
"Yeah. They might start to think that I was supposed to play with a real rival," Shindou said, his gaze sliding to Touya before he stalked past Ogata, leading the way to the stage, his entrance only slightly marred by a stumble over the long robes.
Touya covered his eyes briefly with a hand, then followed. He had been offered the role of commentator, but while he had declined (as it would have required him getting into costume as well), the organisers had offered him a seat to one side of the stage where he could watch the game. The commentator was Kaneda 8-dan, whom Touya knew vaguely.
They all waited while the organisers repeated the announcement about Kurata being absent from food poisoning and that he had been replaced by Shindou. Judging by the reaction of the crowd, Touya thought that few of them were actually disappointed by the 'replacement'. Then again, Kurata's supporters knew Shindou quite well, due to Kurata's insistence on referring to Shindou as his 'fan' and the jokes about autographs.
Shindou took black after the nigiri, and started the game with a joseki that he had been working on for the past few months. A modification of Shuusaku's famous opening, it had been adapted to Shindou's own favoured methods of attacking as well as the newly changed komi (now eight-and-a-half).
The game proceeded smoothly, with Ogata demonstrating his own trademark unflappable calm as he started to push Shindou's shape aside and establish his own territory on the occupied--but poorly defended--space.
Shindou, too, had shifted into high gear as he started to widen the borders of his established territory to regain what he had lost. His stones were in narrow shapes, but he was expanding them. He played at a steady pace, his expression giving nothing away.
Then Touya heard Ogata say, "I heard that you got your goban back." His voice was too low for the audience to catch, but Touya heard him, and so did Kaneda, who paused in the middle of his commentary.
Shindou paused. His forehead creased as though to wonder why Ogata was speaking of that, before he regained his composure. "And?" he said.
"I asked about the Shuusaku goban the last time."
"That's still missing," Shindou said.
"I wonder how you can still play."
Touya clenched his fists, angry that Ogata was still using that to rattle Shindou.
But Shindou studied Ogata with that same composure, before he looked down at the goban. "It's your turn, Ogata-san," he only said.
Ogata gave a soft laugh. "I see it doesn't bother you," he said, sounding almost admiring. He placed a stone. "How cold-blooded of you, to turn away from Sai."
Shindou stared, his profile turning as still as a stature.
Touya narrowed his eyes and began plotting revenge. He had lost the Meijin title to Ogata by a slim margin last year--he immediately determined that Ogata would never come near it again.
Slowly, Shindou unbent enough to touch the paper fan that seldom left his side at games. Without taking his eyes from Ogata, he held it in one hand and unfurled it.
The soft 'schick!' of that action made Touya jump, and he was gratified to see that Ogata now looked puzzled.
All that Shindou did was to lay the fan, still open, on the side table. "Go has been around for more than a thousand years, Ogata-san," he said. "Millions of people have played it. Each game that they played is a contribution, a voice from the past reaching into the future."
Touya swallowed. Shindou was seldom philosophical about Go, but when he was, there was an aura of authority about him that was almost overpowering.
"You think the past is silent, but it thunders behind every game we play," Shindou went on. "Sai is in there too, and you are the one who cannot hear him."
(TBC)