[Shusai]
QUESTIONS, SOME ANSWERS
by zoesque
Ogata, chatting idly to Ichikawa Harumi while waiting for Akira to finish his game of shidougo, realizes he has no idea how she came to work at the go salon. It's not that she's a permanent fixture in his mind -- he can remember the reception desk without her, after all -- it's that he's terrible with remembering anything about the women he is acquainted (however intimately) with. Mostly this is because he doesn't ask or care to know.
He has no idea why he asks.
"How did you come to work for Touya-sensei, Ichikawa-san?" He doesn't add that it's an odd sort of job to stumble into; certainly not for a young woman who could just as easily be working at a cafe, or a clothing store somewhere.
Ogata really hopes she doesn't say it's because such-and-such aged relative always played go, and she had fond memories, and etcera. Hehas very little patience for these sorts of sentimental reasons: he's not like Shindou, playing for some half-baked notion of nostalgia and the ever-illlusive hand of god. His own reason for playing is realistic and self-assured: he plays go because he's damn good at it, and because he enjoys it more than he enjoys anything else he's tried.
"Oh, please call me Harumi, you'll make me feel old!" she laughs, and he raises an eyebrow. He's willing to bet she's younger than he is. "I used to pass by here, coming back from university. One day there was a help wanted sign, and I needed a job, so I applied."
"You went to university?" It shouldn't be odd to hear that, but in a professional world where few finish high school, let alone go to university, it really is.
"Only for two semesters," she elaborates, smiling like she has something to be sorry for. "I had no idea what I wanted to do, though. It seemed pointless to continue with something I had no interest in, so I started working here instead."
Ogata can understand that, perfectly. It reminds him of his last relationship, among other things. He has half a mind to ask her if she plays go or not, but across the room, Akira is standing up, bowing once more to the elderly woman across from him. He picks up his coat draped over the back of his chair and following her up to the counter. Ogata slides the door open for the woman, because it's the sort of thing Akira would bring up in front of Ashiwara if he didn't.
"Ogata-san, thank you for coming to pick me up," he says, pulling on his coat. "I hope we'll be able to make it on time."
Between his driving skills and the fact that Shindou is also attending, Ogata highly doubts they will be the last people arriving at the restaurant, but he says nothing as they leave the salon, Ichikawa locking up behind them.
It's not a large gathering, nor is it a particularly fancy one, but it's notable for the presence of Touya Kouyo and Akiko, who haven't been in Japan for over a year. Akira looks pleased to see his parents, sitting next to his father and placing his coat on the seat
to his other side, not-so-subtly reserving it.
It doesn't stay empty for long, as Shindou manages to make it on time, arriving with a cheerful, "Hello, everyone -- Touya, move your stuff, god!"
Ogata sits across from Ichikawa, who keeps insisting everyone call her Harumi, to limited success. Ashiwara takes to calling her Harumi-chan in an effort to overcompensate, and gets whacked on the shoulder for his efforts. Akira and Shindou, Ogata suspects, are playing footsie under the table, even while they are engaged in a serious conversation with Touya-sensei regarding a recent match.
The sake is very good.
It is late into the evening before anyone starts to leave, and Ogata suspects, with insouciance, that he is astoundingly drunk. He also suspects that he is not the only one, but either way, Akira will undoubtedly use it as an excuse for the way he and Shindou are hanging all over each other.
Akiko spends a good ten minutes with the restaurant's phone, calling cabs.
He ends up sharing a cab with Ichikawa, although they don't really live that close together. Probably it's force of habit for when he's drunk and there's a woman in the general vicinity. He walks her -- stumbles with her, more accurately -- to her apartment door, where he kisses her, possibly out of the same force of habit.
She leans into it for a split-second before pulling back, giggling in an inebriated sort of way, and tugs on his jacket, leading him into her apartment.
The first thing he says when he wakes up the next morning is, "Do you play go, Ichikawa-san?"
"It's Harumi," she corrects, rolling over and sporting a rather spectacular cowlick. "Yes. But badly. I'll leave that to you. Any more questions?"
Ogata has about a hundred, actually, but he decides to go back to sleep. He's terrible with remembering, anyways.
by zoesque
Ogata, chatting idly to Ichikawa Harumi while waiting for Akira to finish his game of shidougo, realizes he has no idea how she came to work at the go salon. It's not that she's a permanent fixture in his mind -- he can remember the reception desk without her, after all -- it's that he's terrible with remembering anything about the women he is acquainted (however intimately) with. Mostly this is because he doesn't ask or care to know.
He has no idea why he asks.
"How did you come to work for Touya-sensei, Ichikawa-san?" He doesn't add that it's an odd sort of job to stumble into; certainly not for a young woman who could just as easily be working at a cafe, or a clothing store somewhere.
Ogata really hopes she doesn't say it's because such-and-such aged relative always played go, and she had fond memories, and etcera. Hehas very little patience for these sorts of sentimental reasons: he's not like Shindou, playing for some half-baked notion of nostalgia and the ever-illlusive hand of god. His own reason for playing is realistic and self-assured: he plays go because he's damn good at it, and because he enjoys it more than he enjoys anything else he's tried.
"Oh, please call me Harumi, you'll make me feel old!" she laughs, and he raises an eyebrow. He's willing to bet she's younger than he is. "I used to pass by here, coming back from university. One day there was a help wanted sign, and I needed a job, so I applied."
"You went to university?" It shouldn't be odd to hear that, but in a professional world where few finish high school, let alone go to university, it really is.
"Only for two semesters," she elaborates, smiling like she has something to be sorry for. "I had no idea what I wanted to do, though. It seemed pointless to continue with something I had no interest in, so I started working here instead."
Ogata can understand that, perfectly. It reminds him of his last relationship, among other things. He has half a mind to ask her if she plays go or not, but across the room, Akira is standing up, bowing once more to the elderly woman across from him. He picks up his coat draped over the back of his chair and following her up to the counter. Ogata slides the door open for the woman, because it's the sort of thing Akira would bring up in front of Ashiwara if he didn't.
"Ogata-san, thank you for coming to pick me up," he says, pulling on his coat. "I hope we'll be able to make it on time."
Between his driving skills and the fact that Shindou is also attending, Ogata highly doubts they will be the last people arriving at the restaurant, but he says nothing as they leave the salon, Ichikawa locking up behind them.
It's not a large gathering, nor is it a particularly fancy one, but it's notable for the presence of Touya Kouyo and Akiko, who haven't been in Japan for over a year. Akira looks pleased to see his parents, sitting next to his father and placing his coat on the seat
to his other side, not-so-subtly reserving it.
It doesn't stay empty for long, as Shindou manages to make it on time, arriving with a cheerful, "Hello, everyone -- Touya, move your stuff, god!"
Ogata sits across from Ichikawa, who keeps insisting everyone call her Harumi, to limited success. Ashiwara takes to calling her Harumi-chan in an effort to overcompensate, and gets whacked on the shoulder for his efforts. Akira and Shindou, Ogata suspects, are playing footsie under the table, even while they are engaged in a serious conversation with Touya-sensei regarding a recent match.
The sake is very good.
It is late into the evening before anyone starts to leave, and Ogata suspects, with insouciance, that he is astoundingly drunk. He also suspects that he is not the only one, but either way, Akira will undoubtedly use it as an excuse for the way he and Shindou are hanging all over each other.
Akiko spends a good ten minutes with the restaurant's phone, calling cabs.
He ends up sharing a cab with Ichikawa, although they don't really live that close together. Probably it's force of habit for when he's drunk and there's a woman in the general vicinity. He walks her -- stumbles with her, more accurately -- to her apartment door, where he kisses her, possibly out of the same force of habit.
She leans into it for a split-second before pulling back, giggling in an inebriated sort of way, and tugs on his jacket, leading him into her apartment.
The first thing he says when he wakes up the next morning is, "Do you play go, Ichikawa-san?"
"It's Harumi," she corrects, rolling over and sporting a rather spectacular cowlick. "Yes. But badly. I'll leave that to you. Any more questions?"
Ogata has about a hundred, actually, but he decides to go back to sleep. He's terrible with remembering, anyways.