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31_days2010-03-01 11:56 pm
issen4.livejournal.com) wrote in 31_days2010-03-01 11:56 pm
1 March/Hikaru no Go/Spirited Away/Twice the River 1/?
Title: Twice the River 1/?
Day/Theme: March o1. Hunt for the liquid measure of your steps
Series: Hikaru no Go/Spirited Away
This was the last place she would look, Chihiro thought, or could look. After all, she had exhausted every other possible spot in Japan, and this shallow pond, with slabs of drying mud at its edges curving up in a parody of water lilies, was the last chance she had. She glanced around, tugging her hat on more tightly around her head as flies buzzed, flew and dipped drunkenly; she noted the lack of dragonflies. Only ten minutes from the edge of the city, but here, it felt like another world.
She had been searching for three years. It had not been easy to look for where the river used to be, for though it ran near the city it was but one of many and therefore unremarkable to mere mortals. Here and there a chance mention appeared in commentaries of the city; a thin, carelessly drawn line in old maps; occasionally tales and warnings of river spirits or monsters. It had been much deeper in the past; it was said in Heian times that heartbroken courtiers had drowned themselves in it, earning it a reputation for being haunted. The newest maps, of course, no longer showed it, though there were always some (most of them old) who remembered.
As she remembered. She stared down into the weedy water, calling to mind her memories of being small and struggling and shoeless. The sound of that multi-syllabic name seemed too full for her tongue, and seemed to burst forth as she opened her mouth to call.
***
Touya Akira did not make a habit of watching late night new programmes, much less search through channels to find this particular snippet, but he had the feeling it would be a clue to his rival's strange behaviour.
Shindou had ditched his games again. To be fair, this time he had phoned the Go Institute to inform the officials that he was taking emergency leave and would they please cancel all his games indefinitely, sorry for the inconvenience and thank you very much for your cooperation.
He had left no explanation, however, and that never sat easily with Touya (much less being stood up for their weekly game), who was by nature reticent with everybody except Shindou.
But he had come across Shindou standing stock-still in front of one of the televisions in the Go Institute the day before, and had seen Shindou making a beeline for the exit before Touya could even ask him what was going on.
Now Touya watched the repeated news snippet, noticing the utter lack of concrete information (or update), as a newscaster jabbered about how the body of a man had been discovered in a muddy pond on the outskirts of Kyoto and was miraculously found to be alive. What was remarkable was that the man had been found wearing what looked like Heian-era clothes, which led the police to suspect foul play among cosplayers.
It didn't seem like the sort of thing to draw Shindou's attention, Shindou who ate, drank and breathed igo with an intensity that even Touya could envy. But one of the things that eight years of rivalry had taught Touya was that Shindou had many secrets and that if Touya wanted to find out what was going on, he was going to have to be extra sneaky.
Day/Theme: March o1. Hunt for the liquid measure of your steps
Series: Hikaru no Go/Spirited Away
This was the last place she would look, Chihiro thought, or could look. After all, she had exhausted every other possible spot in Japan, and this shallow pond, with slabs of drying mud at its edges curving up in a parody of water lilies, was the last chance she had. She glanced around, tugging her hat on more tightly around her head as flies buzzed, flew and dipped drunkenly; she noted the lack of dragonflies. Only ten minutes from the edge of the city, but here, it felt like another world.
She had been searching for three years. It had not been easy to look for where the river used to be, for though it ran near the city it was but one of many and therefore unremarkable to mere mortals. Here and there a chance mention appeared in commentaries of the city; a thin, carelessly drawn line in old maps; occasionally tales and warnings of river spirits or monsters. It had been much deeper in the past; it was said in Heian times that heartbroken courtiers had drowned themselves in it, earning it a reputation for being haunted. The newest maps, of course, no longer showed it, though there were always some (most of them old) who remembered.
As she remembered. She stared down into the weedy water, calling to mind her memories of being small and struggling and shoeless. The sound of that multi-syllabic name seemed too full for her tongue, and seemed to burst forth as she opened her mouth to call.
***
Touya Akira did not make a habit of watching late night new programmes, much less search through channels to find this particular snippet, but he had the feeling it would be a clue to his rival's strange behaviour.
Shindou had ditched his games again. To be fair, this time he had phoned the Go Institute to inform the officials that he was taking emergency leave and would they please cancel all his games indefinitely, sorry for the inconvenience and thank you very much for your cooperation.
He had left no explanation, however, and that never sat easily with Touya (much less being stood up for their weekly game), who was by nature reticent with everybody except Shindou.
But he had come across Shindou standing stock-still in front of one of the televisions in the Go Institute the day before, and had seen Shindou making a beeline for the exit before Touya could even ask him what was going on.
Now Touya watched the repeated news snippet, noticing the utter lack of concrete information (or update), as a newscaster jabbered about how the body of a man had been discovered in a muddy pond on the outskirts of Kyoto and was miraculously found to be alive. What was remarkable was that the man had been found wearing what looked like Heian-era clothes, which led the police to suspect foul play among cosplayers.
It didn't seem like the sort of thing to draw Shindou's attention, Shindou who ate, drank and breathed igo with an intensity that even Touya could envy. But one of the things that eight years of rivalry had taught Touya was that Shindou had many secrets and that if Touya wanted to find out what was going on, he was going to have to be extra sneaky.