imbrii (imbrii) wrote in imbrication, @ 2010-01-11 23:51:00 |
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Current mood: | accomplished |
Current music: | Megumi Hayashibara - Nemuranai Yoru Wa (Sleepless Nights) [remix] |
Entry tags: | hikaru no go, vienna teng prompts |
Vienna Teng prompt 8, Hikaru no Go
Series: Hikaru no Go
Characters: Isumi, Shindou
Pairing: none
Type: futurefic
Warnings: None
Spoilers: Spoilers for most of the series
Word Count: 511
Etc: There are many "Hikaru tells Akira about Sai" fics...but I wanted one where he tells Isumi, instead. Needs lots of editing, but I FINISHED IT ON TIME!
"You don't have any matches today, right?" Shindou asks, grey eyes intent and voice rough with something more than his usual imperiousness.
“Waya isn’t here, he’ll be out all day,” Isumi replies, scratching the back of his neck.
“I know.”
Isumi hesitates, then pushes away the questions on the tip of his tongue some instinct says his friend isn’t ready for, "Come inside."
A few minutes pass in the visitor pleasantries of removing shoes and offering drinks before they settle in the living room on the secondhand couch Waya received from
Morishita-sensei.
“What’s this about, Shindou?”
Hikaru’s hands are white-knuckled around the can of cola. "It's been five years since you played me after coming back from China."
A trill of shock runs up Isumi’s spine. He never thought that would come up again, for all the avoidance of the topic. “You’re going to tell me the reason you took that break?”
“Yes. But...that means I’m going to tell you about Sai.”
Dark eyes wide with shock, it takes a moment before his words stumble out. "Why me?"
"Because you helped me find him again.”
The older man’s breath catches, remembering a whispered “He used to play like this.”
“And...if you believe me, that means somebody else would be able to, too."
Isumi smiles, knowing that “somebody else” means “Touya Akira.”
The story is slow and stuttering at first as Shindou tries to pick out the right words. He finally blurts out “ghost” and Isumi is surprised, but says nothing. It's like watching a scab being peeled off slowly.
Hikaru suddenly can’t push out the words fast enough, taking great gulps of breath between run-on sentence. It doesn't quite cover how much his voice is wavering, how close he is to choking up.
Like everyone else in the Go world Isumi had thought about who Sai might be. But this…
Isumi has always been the responsible, sensible one--it came with the territory of being the oldest in the group, the oldest child. He wasn’t one for overreacting or indulging in fantasy. This story was too crazy to be believed.
But he can see the pieces falling into place, how it forms a complete pattern if he takes the impossible into account. Everything makes so much sense this way. If Shindou wanted to lie, surely he’d say something more realistic?
The blond-banged man has curled into himself on the couch, looking too young, too fragile for the bold opponent everyone sees across the goban. Isumi can’t deny what it pained his friend so much to reveal. “I believe you.”
The strain the younger pro had been under snaps, his shoulders shaking. Shuuichiro has never seen his friend with a bigger smile, despite the tears that start flowing and the snot that soon follows. He grabs a box of tissues sitting on the coffee table and drops it beside Hikaru.
His hands shake as he noisily blows his nose. “Thank you.”
Isumi knows it’s for more than just the tissues.