Hikaru No Go Fan Fiction ❯ Echoing truth ❯ - three - ( Chapter 3 )
[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]
By: Stray 
Anime/Manga: Hikaru No Go Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Angst / Drama | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 09.09.2004 | Pages: 1 | Words: 2.0K | Visits: 394 | Status: Work In Progress
Anime/Manga: Hikaru No Go Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Angst / Drama | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 09.09.2004 | Pages: 1 | Words: 2.0K | Visits: 394 | Status: Work In Progress
Echoing truth
by Stray
09. 09. 2004
Disclaimer: I do not own Hikaru no Go, or it's characters and make no money of it. (*NO?? Shit!*) Anyhow… It's just for fun.
-Three-
Akira didn’t remember the address. It was a long time ago since he visited Shindo in his flat. He remembered clearly. It was an awkward situation. He came to an arranged friendly match but it was apparent that Shindo forgot about that and he was struggling how to tell him. Akira didn’t understand; Shindo couldn’t ever be accused to act too shy or too polite. But then he heard some sounds coming out from behind the half-closed door and he figured that there is a person in there that Shindo does not want him to see. He frowned but courteous as he was he didn’t question him. He said 'another time then' to Shindo and walked away but that 'another time' of his was much like Shindo's 'sometime' - it wasn’t meant to actually happen.
So it was the first time he saw the apartment from the inside. He was a little surprised that Fujisaki-san had her own key, which they now used to get in. It was small - to put it subtly. It only had one room, which was used as a living room, a bedroom and a study at the same time. It had a bed, a goban, a closet and drawer and a desk with computer - it seemed Shindo got used to PC-s at least. The place felt cramped, and somehow very not Shindo-like. One wall was completely covered with bookshelves containing a large collection of kifus, journals, books about go and various other themes and… 'what the…?' Akira thought, 'manga? Strike out the not-Shindo-like part! That was definitely Shindo. Well, at least a Shindo of age 15. But why did he still keep them?'
'Why does he live in a hole like that?' Akira thought disbelieving. He could afford a much larger apartment or like Akira, he could have bought a house if he wanted from the money he earned as a pro. Of course Akira had the go salon too but it brought only that much that covered the upkeep costs. He only kept it because of the memory of his father and because he practically spent his childhood there. Now he let entirely Ichikawa-san run the place, so it was only fair to her that she earned the little return.
Shindo was either sleeping or slurring nonsense leaning upon both of their shoulders and making their lives hard. They put him down on his unmade, rumpled bed and Fujisaki-san pulled down his shoes and socks then his jeans and shirt. Akira felt a sudden embarrassment that urged him to turn and look at something else but Shindo's body that lay there limp and bare except of a pair of boxers. He felt stupid. Shindo was a male like himself so why should he feel like he was a peeping tom for looking at him while he was unconscious and being stripped? But there was that little secret that apparently wasn't so secret like he thought. He imagined how he would feel when Shindo had the opportunity to observe his body like he did and he felt uncomfortable. To know that a man would look at him like *that*. But for Pete's sake! He wasn't Shindo!
He didn’t know what to do, because sure like hell he wasn’t about to help the girl stripping the unconscious pro. At last he settled for asking, but Fujisaki-san told him she didn’t need his help in anything.
He stepped to the window and looked absently into the outer darkness that was now faintly illuminated not only by streetlights but the slowly but persistently falling snow. "Will it be okay, if we leave him there?" he asked observing the heavy white flakes swirling around, dancing in the wind between the walls of the high-rise buildings. He got a great view because Shindo's apartment was on the thirtieth floor.
Then he noticed almost with a start that because of the outer darkness and the room's turned on lights the window acted like a mirror showing him the middle of the bed with a mostly naked Shindo sprawled out like dead on the top of the blankets. He tried to avert his looks but he couldn’t. Like he someone else was controlling his body. He looked at the scene like he would look at documentary film about the life of insects on the Discovery channel with strangely illuminated premises and frames showed in slow motion. Then the illusion was broken by the motion of Fujisaki-san lifting the blanket to cover the pale, unmoving body. He forcefully jerked away his glare.
"I will drive you home, but we have to leave soon, if the snowing persists, it will be a hard ride," his voice didn’t give away a bit from his awkwardness.
"He is out cold. I don’t think he is going to wake up till morning," the young woman answered to his first question. Then she looked at him with an assessing frown. "I don’t need a ride, I live in this building only six floors down."
Akira looked at her with a blank stare for a moment. "Oh. Then I better leave now till I can." He looked out once more, worried. He didn’t like to drive in snow this heavy. It managed to cover the roads in about 30 centimeter high. His car must have gotten completely covered with snow by now. He murmured a curse under his nose when he thought about that. It was hard to get even this far in that weather, he didn’t want to try and break his neck in an accident. Maybe he should sleep in the car.
Fujisaki-san voiced his thoughts when she spoke next.
"You shouldn’t drive in this weather."
It would be a long night he feared. And Shindo didn’t even possess a couch or a spare futon to sleep on. Not like he would get any sleep with him under one roof, but next day he had a commitment he wanted to arrive at on time. He looked around reluctantly if he could spot one place to sit down, it would be sufficient for the remaining time before dawn. Till then the roads would be cleared of snow and he could leave for home for a fast shower and breakfast before his appointment.
The girl's glance followed his own and then looked straight at him with a tired confidence. "My apartment is bigger and I have a couch in the living room for you. If you don’t mind that is…" it seemed that she wasn’t that confident after all. No wonder, she was a young girl living alone and now inviting a virtual stranger into her apartment, for the night, no less.
Still Akira caught himself absentmindedly nodding at the offer in acceptance.
Soon they left the apartment and Akira followed her to the elevator without a word. He was so in his thoughts that he didn’t remember the ride down with the elevator or how they got there after she locked Shindo's door or how they arrived at the entrance of her place. He only surfaced from them when she opened her door and stepped away to let him in first. Neither of them said a word till she showed him the couch and the bathroom if he needed to use it.
"I have to leave early tomorrow," he told her when she handed him the blanket. She said she would go with him since it was the same time she used to leave for work. They awkwardly exchanged a few pleasantries and then parted for the rest of the night. Akira took down his shoes and laid his suit on the back of a chair before he cuddled into the blanket and tried to fall asleep for a long time before he finally succeeded.
He woke up at the usual hour at six, hearing sounds from the bedroom that indicated that the girl was already up. He sat up and rubbed at his eyes before he got up to use the bathroom. When he looked out of the window, the streets were already cleaned from the heaviest of snow but the cars parked alongside the road were still deeply covered in the white substance. He considered it how long it will be to get it off of his car when Fujisaki-san stepped out of her room.
There was an awkward silence for a minute and they just stared at each other. "Well," the girl ventured, "shall we go?"
Akira nodded and tried not to look so clumsy like he felt toddling after her and trying to be polite and courteous while he didn’t have an idea how he should behave in this situation. He couldn’t help it if it wasn’t his custom to wake up in and go to work from unknown girls' apartments.
- - -
Shindo Hikaru woke up at eleven in the morning. He knew it wouldn’t be the best day of his life since the last night claimed its price in form of nasty headache, nausea and tiredness of soul and body. But he had to get up eventually so he did.
It bothered him that he didn’t remember what happened after the third bottle. His memory consisted only of foggy pictures, vague sentences spoken or heard and the feeling of depression turning slowly into some kind of lethargy that he couldn’t shake off.
He wondered who it was who brought him home. Though it was most likely Akari since she was living in the same building. But he remembered a presence of someone dark and distant who didn’t spoke to him calming words of nonsense like the girl, but supported him with evident certainty when his body gave way and his mind plunged down into oblivion.
He stepped into the elevator facing the doors. Two stories later the cabin stopped and he stepped by to give space for the janitor and the landlady who chatted with each other animatedly. His headache got off on the voices but he didn’t mind that they didn’t take notice of him since he knew how he looked like.
He tried to douse the voices from his head but his attention was brought suddenly to the chatter when he heard the name ‘Fujisaki’ from the lips of the lady with the bucket. Apparently she observed her by emerging from her apartment this morning along with a man unknown, which had a black trench coat, shiny dark hair pulled back into a neat ponytail, square, tinted glasses and an assertive frown on his face. The lady thought him to be someone connected with certain crime organizations because of his appearance.
Shindo Hikaru tough knew better. So his fogged memories now made some more sense but when the picture of the two together made itself into his mind’s eyes he felt a strange emptiness creep over his already deserted heart and wished strongly he didn’t get up at all this day.
by Stray
09. 09. 2004
Disclaimer: I do not own Hikaru no Go, or it's characters and make no money of it. (*NO?? Shit!*) Anyhow… It's just for fun.
-Three-
Akira didn’t remember the address. It was a long time ago since he visited Shindo in his flat. He remembered clearly. It was an awkward situation. He came to an arranged friendly match but it was apparent that Shindo forgot about that and he was struggling how to tell him. Akira didn’t understand; Shindo couldn’t ever be accused to act too shy or too polite. But then he heard some sounds coming out from behind the half-closed door and he figured that there is a person in there that Shindo does not want him to see. He frowned but courteous as he was he didn’t question him. He said 'another time then' to Shindo and walked away but that 'another time' of his was much like Shindo's 'sometime' - it wasn’t meant to actually happen.
So it was the first time he saw the apartment from the inside. He was a little surprised that Fujisaki-san had her own key, which they now used to get in. It was small - to put it subtly. It only had one room, which was used as a living room, a bedroom and a study at the same time. It had a bed, a goban, a closet and drawer and a desk with computer - it seemed Shindo got used to PC-s at least. The place felt cramped, and somehow very not Shindo-like. One wall was completely covered with bookshelves containing a large collection of kifus, journals, books about go and various other themes and… 'what the…?' Akira thought, 'manga? Strike out the not-Shindo-like part! That was definitely Shindo. Well, at least a Shindo of age 15. But why did he still keep them?'
'Why does he live in a hole like that?' Akira thought disbelieving. He could afford a much larger apartment or like Akira, he could have bought a house if he wanted from the money he earned as a pro. Of course Akira had the go salon too but it brought only that much that covered the upkeep costs. He only kept it because of the memory of his father and because he practically spent his childhood there. Now he let entirely Ichikawa-san run the place, so it was only fair to her that she earned the little return.
Shindo was either sleeping or slurring nonsense leaning upon both of their shoulders and making their lives hard. They put him down on his unmade, rumpled bed and Fujisaki-san pulled down his shoes and socks then his jeans and shirt. Akira felt a sudden embarrassment that urged him to turn and look at something else but Shindo's body that lay there limp and bare except of a pair of boxers. He felt stupid. Shindo was a male like himself so why should he feel like he was a peeping tom for looking at him while he was unconscious and being stripped? But there was that little secret that apparently wasn't so secret like he thought. He imagined how he would feel when Shindo had the opportunity to observe his body like he did and he felt uncomfortable. To know that a man would look at him like *that*. But for Pete's sake! He wasn't Shindo!
He didn’t know what to do, because sure like hell he wasn’t about to help the girl stripping the unconscious pro. At last he settled for asking, but Fujisaki-san told him she didn’t need his help in anything.
He stepped to the window and looked absently into the outer darkness that was now faintly illuminated not only by streetlights but the slowly but persistently falling snow. "Will it be okay, if we leave him there?" he asked observing the heavy white flakes swirling around, dancing in the wind between the walls of the high-rise buildings. He got a great view because Shindo's apartment was on the thirtieth floor.
Then he noticed almost with a start that because of the outer darkness and the room's turned on lights the window acted like a mirror showing him the middle of the bed with a mostly naked Shindo sprawled out like dead on the top of the blankets. He tried to avert his looks but he couldn’t. Like he someone else was controlling his body. He looked at the scene like he would look at documentary film about the life of insects on the Discovery channel with strangely illuminated premises and frames showed in slow motion. Then the illusion was broken by the motion of Fujisaki-san lifting the blanket to cover the pale, unmoving body. He forcefully jerked away his glare.
"I will drive you home, but we have to leave soon, if the snowing persists, it will be a hard ride," his voice didn’t give away a bit from his awkwardness.
"He is out cold. I don’t think he is going to wake up till morning," the young woman answered to his first question. Then she looked at him with an assessing frown. "I don’t need a ride, I live in this building only six floors down."
Akira looked at her with a blank stare for a moment. "Oh. Then I better leave now till I can." He looked out once more, worried. He didn’t like to drive in snow this heavy. It managed to cover the roads in about 30 centimeter high. His car must have gotten completely covered with snow by now. He murmured a curse under his nose when he thought about that. It was hard to get even this far in that weather, he didn’t want to try and break his neck in an accident. Maybe he should sleep in the car.
Fujisaki-san voiced his thoughts when she spoke next.
"You shouldn’t drive in this weather."
It would be a long night he feared. And Shindo didn’t even possess a couch or a spare futon to sleep on. Not like he would get any sleep with him under one roof, but next day he had a commitment he wanted to arrive at on time. He looked around reluctantly if he could spot one place to sit down, it would be sufficient for the remaining time before dawn. Till then the roads would be cleared of snow and he could leave for home for a fast shower and breakfast before his appointment.
The girl's glance followed his own and then looked straight at him with a tired confidence. "My apartment is bigger and I have a couch in the living room for you. If you don’t mind that is…" it seemed that she wasn’t that confident after all. No wonder, she was a young girl living alone and now inviting a virtual stranger into her apartment, for the night, no less.
Still Akira caught himself absentmindedly nodding at the offer in acceptance.
Soon they left the apartment and Akira followed her to the elevator without a word. He was so in his thoughts that he didn’t remember the ride down with the elevator or how they got there after she locked Shindo's door or how they arrived at the entrance of her place. He only surfaced from them when she opened her door and stepped away to let him in first. Neither of them said a word till she showed him the couch and the bathroom if he needed to use it.
"I have to leave early tomorrow," he told her when she handed him the blanket. She said she would go with him since it was the same time she used to leave for work. They awkwardly exchanged a few pleasantries and then parted for the rest of the night. Akira took down his shoes and laid his suit on the back of a chair before he cuddled into the blanket and tried to fall asleep for a long time before he finally succeeded.
He woke up at the usual hour at six, hearing sounds from the bedroom that indicated that the girl was already up. He sat up and rubbed at his eyes before he got up to use the bathroom. When he looked out of the window, the streets were already cleaned from the heaviest of snow but the cars parked alongside the road were still deeply covered in the white substance. He considered it how long it will be to get it off of his car when Fujisaki-san stepped out of her room.
There was an awkward silence for a minute and they just stared at each other. "Well," the girl ventured, "shall we go?"
Akira nodded and tried not to look so clumsy like he felt toddling after her and trying to be polite and courteous while he didn’t have an idea how he should behave in this situation. He couldn’t help it if it wasn’t his custom to wake up in and go to work from unknown girls' apartments.
- - -
Shindo Hikaru woke up at eleven in the morning. He knew it wouldn’t be the best day of his life since the last night claimed its price in form of nasty headache, nausea and tiredness of soul and body. But he had to get up eventually so he did.
It bothered him that he didn’t remember what happened after the third bottle. His memory consisted only of foggy pictures, vague sentences spoken or heard and the feeling of depression turning slowly into some kind of lethargy that he couldn’t shake off.
He wondered who it was who brought him home. Though it was most likely Akari since she was living in the same building. But he remembered a presence of someone dark and distant who didn’t spoke to him calming words of nonsense like the girl, but supported him with evident certainty when his body gave way and his mind plunged down into oblivion.
He stepped into the elevator facing the doors. Two stories later the cabin stopped and he stepped by to give space for the janitor and the landlady who chatted with each other animatedly. His headache got off on the voices but he didn’t mind that they didn’t take notice of him since he knew how he looked like.
He tried to douse the voices from his head but his attention was brought suddenly to the chatter when he heard the name ‘Fujisaki’ from the lips of the lady with the bucket. Apparently she observed her by emerging from her apartment this morning along with a man unknown, which had a black trench coat, shiny dark hair pulled back into a neat ponytail, square, tinted glasses and an assertive frown on his face. The lady thought him to be someone connected with certain crime organizations because of his appearance.
Shindo Hikaru tough knew better. So his fogged memories now made some more sense but when the picture of the two together made itself into his mind’s eyes he felt a strange emptiness creep over his already deserted heart and wished strongly he didn’t get up at all this day.