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31_days2008-10-11 11:29 pm
issen4.livejournal.com) wrote in 31_days2008-10-11 11:29 pm
[11 Oct] [Initial D/Prince of Tennis/Hikago] Slip Roads 11/31
Title: Slip Roads 11/31
Day/Theme: 11 Oct/no place like home
Series: Initial D/Prince of Tennis/Hikago
Character/Pairing: none
Rating: PG-13, references to incest between brothers
--------------------
"Did something happen between you and Keisuke-san?" Shindou asked. He was standing at the kitchen counter, shifting impatiently from foot to foot as he waited for the water in the kettle to come to boil.
Ryousuke, rubbing his face to stop himself from nodding off, looked up at that. "Not really," he said untruthfully.
"Uh huh," Shindou said in a voice of deep disbelief. "I can tell when you're feinting, Ryousuke-san."
"Because of your consummate Go skills?" Ryousuke teased. It amazed him how fanatic Shindou--and by extension, Touya and Ryousuke's grandfather--was, about a board game that moved at approximately the speed of a glacier. Yet when Shindou had told him that Go taught to read the undercurrents of social situations, he had not been wrong.
He had long known about Keisuke's resentment of Fujiwara, but had preferred to see as a matter of rivalry of the latter's driving skills. Shindou was the one who saw to the heart of the matter after only overhearing a conversation between them.
"Hey, don't diss Go," Shindou said, facing him and making a motion with his right hand that looked like a cross between a V-sign and a gun.
It was the hand motion used in placing Go stones, Ryousuke realised after a moment, when Shindou had turned back to the counter, peeling back the cover of another of his cup ramen. Did he think of everything in terms of Go? No, he answered that immediately; Shindou also thought in terms of instant ramen.
It was only the second time that he had run into Shindou making a midnight snack run, but already he could tell that it was habitual with the Go pro.
"He and you have unsettled business," Shindou said, bringing the now-filled plastic cup to the kitchen island.
"Only on his side," Ryousuke said, thinking of the way Keisuke had tried to talk to him the next day after that disastrous attempt at seduction. Ryousuke, meanwhile, had found--to his chagrin--that he was behaving like a coward and avoiding Keisuke as much as he could. He told himself it was only a strategic retreat.
"Huh," Shindou leant back in his chair, his eyes on his ramen. "Ryousuke-san, I get the impression that strategic retreats are not your style."
Startled to have his thoughts echoed, Ryousuke sat up, his mouth open to refute Shindou's words, and found himself lost for words.
Shindou looked enquiringly at him. "Yup, strategic retreats are my speciality too," he quipped.
"Really?"
"I take that back. Strategic retreats of other people are my speciality. Touya says I'm too stubborn to retreat. Oh good, it's ready!" This was to the cup ramen.
Ryousuke watched as Shindou tore off the foil cover, and steam rose up into the air. The kitchen was suddenly filled with the smell of seafood. The label on the side of Shindou's ramen, he now saw, featured a talking crab (if the speech bubble was any indication) that had something that looked like a radish in its claws. The pink and yellow picture was dotted with tiny black spots.
"Wasabi crab flavour. With toasted sesame seeds. Want to try?" Shindou offered, already holding up a chopstick heaped with curly ramen.
The ramen soup, from what Ryousuke could see of it, was bright green. "No, thanks. I think eating ramen at this time of the night will give me indigestion."
"Your loss," Shindou said. He devoured the ramen with a speed that only amazed Ryousuke a little, this time, before he sat back with a sigh. "Keisuke-san wants something from you that you aren't willing to give," he said, apparently ready to return to the topic.
"Can't give," Ryousuke said, then wondered if he had said too much. It was easy to become paranoid around Shindou--he saw a lot, and had no qualms about saying what he saw.
"Does he know that?"
Ryousuke frowned at the question. Wasn't it enough that any sort of relationship between he and Keisuke beyond the fraternal was taboo?
"What I mean is, a strategic retreat should be accompanied by some other show of power, so as to stay your losses." Shindou motioned at the table, as though describing a game on an invisible Go board.
"Oh?" Ryousuke had thought of that, but he had been reluctant to say anything more to Keisuke, for fear Keisuke would think he was being defensive.
"Not towards Keisuke-san," Shindou said. His eyes were bright with thought. "Go to the other corner and attack from above... um, I mean, catch him unawares... that is, oh!" He threw up his hands. "Don't let him push you on your weak spot," he finished awkwardly. "Sorry. I keep reading ahead."
Unwillingly amused, Ryousuke smiled. "You have a point," he said.
Shindou stared. "I-I do?"
"I can't keep avoiding Keisuke, after all. He won't be in Japan for long, and I don't want him to leave with bad associations about his home."
"Yeah, there's no place like home," Shindou said.
----tbc----
Day/Theme: 11 Oct/no place like home
Series: Initial D/Prince of Tennis/Hikago
Character/Pairing: none
Rating: PG-13, references to incest between brothers
--------------------
"Did something happen between you and Keisuke-san?" Shindou asked. He was standing at the kitchen counter, shifting impatiently from foot to foot as he waited for the water in the kettle to come to boil.
Ryousuke, rubbing his face to stop himself from nodding off, looked up at that. "Not really," he said untruthfully.
"Uh huh," Shindou said in a voice of deep disbelief. "I can tell when you're feinting, Ryousuke-san."
"Because of your consummate Go skills?" Ryousuke teased. It amazed him how fanatic Shindou--and by extension, Touya and Ryousuke's grandfather--was, about a board game that moved at approximately the speed of a glacier. Yet when Shindou had told him that Go taught to read the undercurrents of social situations, he had not been wrong.
He had long known about Keisuke's resentment of Fujiwara, but had preferred to see as a matter of rivalry of the latter's driving skills. Shindou was the one who saw to the heart of the matter after only overhearing a conversation between them.
"Hey, don't diss Go," Shindou said, facing him and making a motion with his right hand that looked like a cross between a V-sign and a gun.
It was the hand motion used in placing Go stones, Ryousuke realised after a moment, when Shindou had turned back to the counter, peeling back the cover of another of his cup ramen. Did he think of everything in terms of Go? No, he answered that immediately; Shindou also thought in terms of instant ramen.
It was only the second time that he had run into Shindou making a midnight snack run, but already he could tell that it was habitual with the Go pro.
"He and you have unsettled business," Shindou said, bringing the now-filled plastic cup to the kitchen island.
"Only on his side," Ryousuke said, thinking of the way Keisuke had tried to talk to him the next day after that disastrous attempt at seduction. Ryousuke, meanwhile, had found--to his chagrin--that he was behaving like a coward and avoiding Keisuke as much as he could. He told himself it was only a strategic retreat.
"Huh," Shindou leant back in his chair, his eyes on his ramen. "Ryousuke-san, I get the impression that strategic retreats are not your style."
Startled to have his thoughts echoed, Ryousuke sat up, his mouth open to refute Shindou's words, and found himself lost for words.
Shindou looked enquiringly at him. "Yup, strategic retreats are my speciality too," he quipped.
"Really?"
"I take that back. Strategic retreats of other people are my speciality. Touya says I'm too stubborn to retreat. Oh good, it's ready!" This was to the cup ramen.
Ryousuke watched as Shindou tore off the foil cover, and steam rose up into the air. The kitchen was suddenly filled with the smell of seafood. The label on the side of Shindou's ramen, he now saw, featured a talking crab (if the speech bubble was any indication) that had something that looked like a radish in its claws. The pink and yellow picture was dotted with tiny black spots.
"Wasabi crab flavour. With toasted sesame seeds. Want to try?" Shindou offered, already holding up a chopstick heaped with curly ramen.
The ramen soup, from what Ryousuke could see of it, was bright green. "No, thanks. I think eating ramen at this time of the night will give me indigestion."
"Your loss," Shindou said. He devoured the ramen with a speed that only amazed Ryousuke a little, this time, before he sat back with a sigh. "Keisuke-san wants something from you that you aren't willing to give," he said, apparently ready to return to the topic.
"Can't give," Ryousuke said, then wondered if he had said too much. It was easy to become paranoid around Shindou--he saw a lot, and had no qualms about saying what he saw.
"Does he know that?"
Ryousuke frowned at the question. Wasn't it enough that any sort of relationship between he and Keisuke beyond the fraternal was taboo?
"What I mean is, a strategic retreat should be accompanied by some other show of power, so as to stay your losses." Shindou motioned at the table, as though describing a game on an invisible Go board.
"Oh?" Ryousuke had thought of that, but he had been reluctant to say anything more to Keisuke, for fear Keisuke would think he was being defensive.
"Not towards Keisuke-san," Shindou said. His eyes were bright with thought. "Go to the other corner and attack from above... um, I mean, catch him unawares... that is, oh!" He threw up his hands. "Don't let him push you on your weak spot," he finished awkwardly. "Sorry. I keep reading ahead."
Unwillingly amused, Ryousuke smiled. "You have a point," he said.
Shindou stared. "I-I do?"
"I can't keep avoiding Keisuke, after all. He won't be in Japan for long, and I don't want him to leave with bad associations about his home."
"Yeah, there's no place like home," Shindou said.
----tbc----