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31_days2008-10-08 11:18 pm
issen4.livejournal.com) wrote in 31_days2008-10-08 11:18 pm
[8 Oct] [Initial D/Prince of Tennis/Hikago] Slip Roads 8/31
Title: Slip Roads 8/31
Day/Theme: 8 Oct/power play
Series: Initial D/Prince of Tennis/Hikago
Character/Pairing: none
Rating: PG-13
------------------
It was very late when he finally reached home. The utter darkness of Mt Akina loomed like a physical presence, but Ryousuke was used to it, both from his days as a racer and from nights of studying, and much later the late shifts at the hospital.
The house was quiet as he entered, seeing his way by the light of a small lamp near the door as he walked towards his room. Exhaustion lingered at the back of his mind, but he did not feel sleepy yet; he needed a little time--no, he wanted a little time, to savour the meeting with Fujiwara, to remember the minute changes he had seen in Fujiwara's appearance since the last time, to capture the whole encounter firmly in his mind.
He had never wondered what it was like to kiss Fujiwara before but tonight, he had imagined it in his mind's eye, the shocked looked in those eyes, the surprised blush on Fujiwara's cheek, and the gasp of "Ryousuke-san!" Would there be a time when...
"Ryousuke-san!"
Quite a different voice from what he was expecting. Ryousuke turned to see Shindou, wearing a garish T-shirt and faded shorts that was probably his sleepwear, coming from the direction of the guest room.
"Oops! Sorry for startling you," Shindou said.
Ryousuke wasn't aware that he had jumped, but his heart was racing in reaction. "Shindou-san," he said in greeting. "You aren't asleep?"
"Nah. I was looking for the kitchen when I saw you, and I thought I better call out in case you didn't know it was me, and thought I was a burglar or something." He grinned, then stifled a yawn. "I'm starving, actually. I've got these..." he held a shopping bag up, and Ryousuke identified the plastic cups in it as instant ramen. "...I just need a kettle."
"I'll show you where it is," Ryousuke decided, leading the way to the kitchen.
"Uh, don't put yourself to any trouble, I can find..." Shindou's protests died away; it seemed he'd decided to just follow Ryousuke.
Ryousuke switched on the kitchen lights and filled the electric kettle on the counter, before switching it on.
"Oh, thanks." After looking around the kitchen for a second, Shindou rummaged in his bag, as though unable to make up his mind. "At least you're too polite to lecture me on the evils of eating instant ramen," he remarked, finally selecting one and pulling off the top. The label at the side said, 'XXXtra Spicy Beef with Real Italian Pizza Flavour!!!' complete with the illustration of a dancing cow chomping on coloured bits of what looked like the Italian flag.
"It's just ramen," Ryousuke said, sitting down at the kitchen island.
Shindou nodded his head vigorously. "See, that's what I always tell Touya. But he still nags me about it. He's worse than the old man- I mean, Kuwabara-sensei." He looked embarrassed for a second, then grinned. "Sorry."
"Why apologise? You and Grandfather seem to get along really well." He still found it strange that someone so young--a mere boy, really--would come all the way to spend time with his grandfather.
"Oh, Kuwabara-sensei's Go crazy. Like me and Touya." He shook his head as though thinking of something funny, and walked towards the counter as the kettle gave a click of completion. He filled the plastic cup and set it aside to finish cooking.
"Drawer on your right," Ryousuke said.
"Huh? Right." Shindou pulled out a pair of chopsticks from the indicated drawer, and turned to put both ramen and chopsticks on the kitchen island. "You've known Fujiwara-san for a long time, right?"
"Yes," Ryousuke said, wondering at this line of questioning.
"Aha." Shindou nodded as though confirming an inner hypothesis. "And Keisuke-san has known him for a long time as well, I suppose?"
"Yes."
"No wonder Keisuke-san acted so strangely when he saw Fujiwara-san just now."
"Keisuke? He saw Fujiwara as well?" He had assumed that Keisuke was spending the day catching up Nakamura and the rest of his friends. "What happened?"
Shindou was pulling off the cover to his ramen now--the slightly pungent smell of spices filled the kitchen--before he dipped his chopsticks into the steaming container. "Hm?" He stirred it a few times. "You already knew that Fujiwara came here?"
"No, I- " Ryousuke wondered why he had wanted to deny it, then realised he didn't really want to share the experience of meeting Fujiwara with anyone. "Yes, I talked to him earlier," he said, giving up. Shindou was just an outsider; it did not matter.
"Uh-huh." Shindou started eating his ramen nosily, the steam from the still-hot soup rising around him like a cloud.
Ryousuke wondered if he was in danger of scalding himself, then watched in bemusement as Shindou gulped a mouthful of soup, coughed it down, then ate even more quickly, with manners more suited for a ten-year-old than an adult. Finally he put the cup and chopsticks down with a satisfied sigh. "Nothing like ramen for a midnight snack," he said. He wiped his mouth with a sleeve.
Ryousuke wondered if he had already forgotten the question.
"Keisuke-san seems to think of Fujiwara-san as an enemy," Shindou said.
That was so unexpected that Ryousuke stared.
Shindou shrugged. "They talked, and you'd think they were just catching up, but every other thing that Keisuke-san said seemed calculated to warn Fujiwara-san off: a lot of posturing about his achievements as a professional racer, with suggestions that Fujiwara-san was a company salaryman and had no ambitions--quite an interesting performance."
Ryousuke frowned. "They used to race against each other. If anything, I had thought they were rivals-" He stopped, because Shindou was shaking his head.
"You're rivals because you want to be better than the other person," Shindou said. He turned to face Ryousuke, and suddenly he didn't look like a brash youth who had behaved so disrespectfully to Ryousuke's grandfather. "But you're enemies because you think someone has taken a thing you valued from you."
Ryousuke stared at the solemnity in his eyes, before Shindou shrugged. "Hey, those of us in the Go world know all about rivalry," he said, before he grinned, breaking the mood.
-----tbc-----
Day/Theme: 8 Oct/power play
Series: Initial D/Prince of Tennis/Hikago
Character/Pairing: none
Rating: PG-13
------------------
It was very late when he finally reached home. The utter darkness of Mt Akina loomed like a physical presence, but Ryousuke was used to it, both from his days as a racer and from nights of studying, and much later the late shifts at the hospital.
The house was quiet as he entered, seeing his way by the light of a small lamp near the door as he walked towards his room. Exhaustion lingered at the back of his mind, but he did not feel sleepy yet; he needed a little time--no, he wanted a little time, to savour the meeting with Fujiwara, to remember the minute changes he had seen in Fujiwara's appearance since the last time, to capture the whole encounter firmly in his mind.
He had never wondered what it was like to kiss Fujiwara before but tonight, he had imagined it in his mind's eye, the shocked looked in those eyes, the surprised blush on Fujiwara's cheek, and the gasp of "Ryousuke-san!" Would there be a time when...
"Ryousuke-san!"
Quite a different voice from what he was expecting. Ryousuke turned to see Shindou, wearing a garish T-shirt and faded shorts that was probably his sleepwear, coming from the direction of the guest room.
"Oops! Sorry for startling you," Shindou said.
Ryousuke wasn't aware that he had jumped, but his heart was racing in reaction. "Shindou-san," he said in greeting. "You aren't asleep?"
"Nah. I was looking for the kitchen when I saw you, and I thought I better call out in case you didn't know it was me, and thought I was a burglar or something." He grinned, then stifled a yawn. "I'm starving, actually. I've got these..." he held a shopping bag up, and Ryousuke identified the plastic cups in it as instant ramen. "...I just need a kettle."
"I'll show you where it is," Ryousuke decided, leading the way to the kitchen.
"Uh, don't put yourself to any trouble, I can find..." Shindou's protests died away; it seemed he'd decided to just follow Ryousuke.
Ryousuke switched on the kitchen lights and filled the electric kettle on the counter, before switching it on.
"Oh, thanks." After looking around the kitchen for a second, Shindou rummaged in his bag, as though unable to make up his mind. "At least you're too polite to lecture me on the evils of eating instant ramen," he remarked, finally selecting one and pulling off the top. The label at the side said, 'XXXtra Spicy Beef with Real Italian Pizza Flavour!!!' complete with the illustration of a dancing cow chomping on coloured bits of what looked like the Italian flag.
"It's just ramen," Ryousuke said, sitting down at the kitchen island.
Shindou nodded his head vigorously. "See, that's what I always tell Touya. But he still nags me about it. He's worse than the old man- I mean, Kuwabara-sensei." He looked embarrassed for a second, then grinned. "Sorry."
"Why apologise? You and Grandfather seem to get along really well." He still found it strange that someone so young--a mere boy, really--would come all the way to spend time with his grandfather.
"Oh, Kuwabara-sensei's Go crazy. Like me and Touya." He shook his head as though thinking of something funny, and walked towards the counter as the kettle gave a click of completion. He filled the plastic cup and set it aside to finish cooking.
"Drawer on your right," Ryousuke said.
"Huh? Right." Shindou pulled out a pair of chopsticks from the indicated drawer, and turned to put both ramen and chopsticks on the kitchen island. "You've known Fujiwara-san for a long time, right?"
"Yes," Ryousuke said, wondering at this line of questioning.
"Aha." Shindou nodded as though confirming an inner hypothesis. "And Keisuke-san has known him for a long time as well, I suppose?"
"Yes."
"No wonder Keisuke-san acted so strangely when he saw Fujiwara-san just now."
"Keisuke? He saw Fujiwara as well?" He had assumed that Keisuke was spending the day catching up Nakamura and the rest of his friends. "What happened?"
Shindou was pulling off the cover to his ramen now--the slightly pungent smell of spices filled the kitchen--before he dipped his chopsticks into the steaming container. "Hm?" He stirred it a few times. "You already knew that Fujiwara came here?"
"No, I- " Ryousuke wondered why he had wanted to deny it, then realised he didn't really want to share the experience of meeting Fujiwara with anyone. "Yes, I talked to him earlier," he said, giving up. Shindou was just an outsider; it did not matter.
"Uh-huh." Shindou started eating his ramen nosily, the steam from the still-hot soup rising around him like a cloud.
Ryousuke wondered if he was in danger of scalding himself, then watched in bemusement as Shindou gulped a mouthful of soup, coughed it down, then ate even more quickly, with manners more suited for a ten-year-old than an adult. Finally he put the cup and chopsticks down with a satisfied sigh. "Nothing like ramen for a midnight snack," he said. He wiped his mouth with a sleeve.
Ryousuke wondered if he had already forgotten the question.
"Keisuke-san seems to think of Fujiwara-san as an enemy," Shindou said.
That was so unexpected that Ryousuke stared.
Shindou shrugged. "They talked, and you'd think they were just catching up, but every other thing that Keisuke-san said seemed calculated to warn Fujiwara-san off: a lot of posturing about his achievements as a professional racer, with suggestions that Fujiwara-san was a company salaryman and had no ambitions--quite an interesting performance."
Ryousuke frowned. "They used to race against each other. If anything, I had thought they were rivals-" He stopped, because Shindou was shaking his head.
"You're rivals because you want to be better than the other person," Shindou said. He turned to face Ryousuke, and suddenly he didn't look like a brash youth who had behaved so disrespectfully to Ryousuke's grandfather. "But you're enemies because you think someone has taken a thing you valued from you."
Ryousuke stared at the solemnity in his eyes, before Shindou shrugged. "Hey, those of us in the Go world know all about rivalry," he said, before he grinned, breaking the mood.
-----tbc-----