Fic: (HnG) Season of Black Chrysanthemums: Spring - Part 4/4

[corbeaun]

Title: Season of Black Chrysanthemums: Spring
Author: corbeaun
Fandom: Hikaru no Go
Disclaimer: Hikaru no Go belongs to Obata Takeshi and Hotta Yumi.

Summary: In which Akira has issues with Yashiro...and let's everyone know it. And part of Icchan's scheme is revealed.

Thank you therhoda, for telling me to write the last section. :)

Comments

Soon

[anonymous]

I have to admit, you're quick to update. Congratulations! ^^ It was a nice chapter at that!

I still think it's a bit soon for Akira to make advances... Or simply to realize his feelings. Well, I know he's bright but I'd label him as a very social-retarded person and very unsure when it comes to feelings. More than Hikaru anyway.

Then again, with his recent "experience" with Ichikawa... Guess it could help. I still don't feel quite satisfied. Maybe just because I usually enjoy more fics that talk about feelings growing in slow motion... Sounds more plausible to me. (Even though I admit there's nothing much to add to Akira and Hikaru's feelings in the manga itself... ^^; )

Yashiro's reactions were funny, though. Wait... "flushed"? oO No yaoi triangle, pretty please. That's hardly plausible, especially for Yashiro. (I mean, there's nothing in the manga that could make readers suspect him of liking either Akira or Hikaru, is there?)

I pity him... He just doesn't know what he just dragged himself into... Didn't even do it on purpose, the poor guy. And true enough, Akira's behaviour confuses me. He couldn't have been acting out of mere jealousy, could he? I'd understand that he'd want to play someone else for a change but the way he acted looked too vicious for it to be the only reason...

So Akira did murder Ohba in the end... Look, having a vicious game and killing people are two very different things. Akira might be a harsh player but so is Hikaru and so was Sai. I can't imagine either of them killing people with cold blood. You won't be able to convince me there wasn't a major change implied here. XP

You're welcome for the reviews, you deserve them, really. ^^ Plus, since there're so little nice Hikago fics out there, we owe you even more, don't we? And the audience happens to be lower as well (only God knows why...), so it's our purpose to support you!

Oh and I finally noticed the summer was to take place in Korea... Now that's interesting. It probably has something to do with Toya's new organization... (Bad boy.) Anyway, if Hikaru meets Su-Yong there, he's going to suffer. X)

I can't wait for more! I admit I'm a bit anxious about what you might do to our beloved go-players, though... But it's not like I'm not used to angst.

Re: Soon

[anonymous]

Shit, forgot to add my name... I'm Nadramon. See you around!

[corbeaun]

Hey Nadramon! *g*

Thank you so much for your long and thoughtful review.

It is a problem making Akira suddenly react like that, since I've been writing mostly from Hikaru's POV for this entire series and so haven't had the time to show Akira's thoughts on all this. If I was able to rewrite "Spring - Part 1" (and I might just do that), I would his thoughts/emotions clearer when he thinks about Icchan and Hikaru and go. I'm realizing at this point from your comment and others that my version of Akira is not quite the version the readers have in mind - and that is something I'll have to fix.

About the slow realization of feelings...

You would have liked some of the drafts I made for Winter (but which I didn't have time to implement, and so I tossed most of it out) and the earliest version of this chapter. My lovely beta can attest to that. :) But I was getting decidedly antsy with the slow progress - so you're right if you've detected a bit of impatience here. ^^

No yaoi triangle, pretty please.

*laughs* Oh, no worries. I'm not one to write those type of melodramas (though I do occasionally read them), and, besides, the plot wouldn't have room for that anyway. Also, my usual reading of Yashiro - like Isumi, Waya and Hon Suyeong - is preferentially gen. The "flushed" is the flush of embarrassment and slowly dawning awareness of a friend's/go-playing partner's extremely personal preferences. Like stumbling into your coworker's occupied bedroom in the middle of a drunken party. ^^

...continued

[corbeaun]

Ah, and Akira.

We really don't know what's going on in his head right now - well, alright, strictly speaking, I should. ^^; But I would have to argue about the "mere-ness" of jealousy. Touya Akira at this point has a lot to be resentful and jealous of Yashiro for (and Hikaru too, for that matter). And I'm not talking about romantic jealousy - that was not what that challenge to Yashiro was about. Akira looks at this Kansai 7-dan, and sees someone who is living the life he desperately wants but (thinks) he can't have - as Shindo Hikaru's rival, as a go player who had access to the top pros in the world, and a potential finder of 'the hand of god.' And then to find out that Yashiro can't even beat the Tokyo pros Akira remembered cowing nearly a decade ago... It burns, in a really bad way.

Akira, at this point, is in a really unsteady place in his life - like Hikaru was in Winter. He thinks he's finally giving up on his dream as a go player, and is rushing headlong into his father's criminal enterprise in the hope that'll fill the need. But he's in pain and he really doesn't know what he is doing. And though he's brilliant, he's making more enemies than he knows.

About the Touya Akira's viciousness...

I keep remembering Yang Hai's comment during the Hokuto Cup about Akira's kifus, and how surprised he was to find Akira himself so mild-mannered. And earlier, there was that four board tie that Akira had forced on the men who'd expected him to throw the game, and the look in Akira's eyes as he'd asked if they'd like to discuss the game... From these instances and others, I read Touya Akira's character as having the potential for such viciousness inherent in him. Granted, the canon Akira would find it very hard to even consider killing anyone. But then, this yakuza Akira has been through some slightly different events in his life - not the least, the cold-blooded murder of both his parents, and the subsequent dealings he's had to ensure his father's infrastructure is not taken by a man like Ohba and used to ferry in a new era of drug dealing and human trafficking. So, yes, there's definitely been a change. ;)

I also really love the Hikago fandom. Compared to some of the other fandoms I've been in, HnG is certainly not as large. But the stories that exist are par excellence, and the fellow fans are absolutely amazing. I'm really glad I'm a part of it. *g*

It probably has something to do with Toya's new organization...

Well, now, we don't really know that. The two detectives are working from quite a skewed perspective, and fed such misleading information no less. We really have to take all they say with a grain of salt. Or maybe I'm just being misdirecting. :P

I really look forward to hearing from you in the future. And I'll be trying to get the next part out as soon as possible. ^_^