Fifthmus Fic: True Shot (for lanerose, from aithine)
TITLE: True Shot
AUTHOR: Aithine (aithine)
RECIPIENT: lanerose, requests
PAIRING: None. (Ish. It is Hikaru and Akira, after all. *g*)
REQUEST: "Akira's hobby (other than go, which is a way of life and therefore does not count) and Shindou's reaction to it."
WARNINGS: None.
SUMMARY: Akira Touya has a hobby that isn't Go--who knew? Certainly not Hikaru Shindou.
"A true shot never misses." --Kyudo principle
Hikaru whistled softly to himself, the weight of his bag familiar on his back as he kicked a rock on the sidewalk. He was glad he didn't have to spend the rest of the day cooped up inside. Maybe Touya wouldn't object to playing outside in the garden Hikaru had glimpsed when he and Yashirou had stayed at Touya's place.
He loosened his tie and unbuttoned his collar with a sigh of relief. He was getting used to wearing suits as his competition schedule increased, but he didn't think he'd ever wear one voluntarily--unlike Touya, who he sometimes thought had been born wearing a suit and tie. Hikaru had seen him in more casual clothes recently, but he didn't think he'd see Touya wear jeans and tennis shoes to a dan match any time soon. The looks he knew Touya would get if that ever happened made him grin as he walked the last half a block to Touya's house.
Touya's mother smiled warmly at him when she answered the door. "Good afternoon, Shindou-san."
"Hello, Touya-san." Hikaru grinned back as he bounced lightly in place. Touya-san wasn't anywhere near as intimidating as her husband and was much more polite than her son. "Is Touya here yet? My tutoring session ended early, and we're going to go over the Hokuto Cup match games this afternoon."
She gestured at the path to her right. "He's out back. You're welcome to join him there."
"Thanks!" Hikaru gave her a little wave as he turned to walk on the path that led through the garden to the back of the house. Once out of sight of the door, he made a game of hopping from stepping-stone to stepping-stone. An involuntary laugh escaped as his dress shoes slid on the paving stone near the koi pond, leaving him teetering on the edge of falling in.
He rounded the corner of the house and stopped when he saw Touya standing with his back turned. Touya's stocking feet were planted about a meter apart, and he stood with his left side facing an archery target on the other side of the yard.
Though it was a regular sight to see Touya Mejin dressed traditionally, this was the first time Hikaru had seen Touya dressed in a kimono and hakama. The loose material accentuated the lines of his body more than his customary vests and suits, and from the back he looked like a complete stranger. The only familiar thing about him was the smooth, dark hair hanging down to brush against the nape of his neck.
Touya had the same slight and slender build as his mother, though he was taller now than he'd been when Hikaru had met him three years ago. Come to think of it, Touya's shoulders were wider, too, which made him look more like his father. If Hikaru met them both for the first time now, he'd know immediately that they were related.
He wondered if Sai would have been able to tell just by looking.
Hikaru shook it off--he refused to think about how much he missed Sai today. Instead he'd focus on how much Sai would enjoy getting to see Touya practice. Sai would probably go into raptures over Touya's precise form and "the strength being demonstrated in front of you, Hikaru!"--something like that, anyway.
Hikaru shook his head and dragged his focus back on to Touya.
Touya raised the tall, asymmetrical bow above his head and slowly moved it forward, his eyes on the target the whole time. He paused and Hikaru could see the strength in his arms as he held the bow partially drawn. He drew the bowstring back the remaining distance, bringing the bow down so the arrow was level with his shoulders. The thwack as Touya released it was loud in the quiet of the sheltered yard.
Touya held his stance for a moment--bow upright in his left hand that still aimed toward the target and his right arm back at shoulder height in the opposite direction--before he acknowledged Hikaru's presence. "Do you enjoy sneaking up on people, Shindou?"
"You're one to talk."
"It's not my fault you're completely oblivious to the world around you." Touya lowered his arms. The tip of the bow almost touched the ground as he set his fists on his waist, then moved to face the target so he could give it a brief bow. He glanced at Hikaru as he straightened up and started to remove the glove on his right hand.
Hikaru rolled his eyes. "Whatever." He moved closer to Touya and turned to stare at the target as they stood side by side in silence.
"So why kyudo?" He wasn't surprised that Touya would participate in such a traditional activity, but he had to admit that he was somewhat surprised that Touya had any activities he enjoyed besides playing Go.
Touya shrugged, the move as graceful as the ritualized movements he'd just finished. "Why do you have a PlayStation?"
"I don't think shooting monsters and blowing things up is quite the same thing as all this." Hikaru's vague hand wave took in the formal clothes and the bow still in Touya's grasp.
"Why not? The goal of both is to take your mind off of what you're thinking too hard about, right? To take you completely out of yourself."
"Yeah, I guess." Hikaru reached out to run his hand down the bow; the bamboo was smooth and cool under his fingers. "How'd you get started with this?"
"My mother taught me."
"Yeah? My mom wants to teach me how to cook something besides ramen, not a martial art."
Touya shrugged again, a faint smile on his face. "Her mother taught her, and she wanted to pass it on. There's nothing mysterious about it."
"Hmm." He stood a moment longer, staring at the bow. He could feel the weight of Touya's gaze, but didn't turn to meet it. "Want to bring the board out here?"
"Sure." Touya turned to lead him from the dojo to the door at the back of the house. "Did you get a chance to eat before your tutoring sessions?"
"Nope."
"I haven't eaten, either. Let's go see if there's anything we can eat in the house. My parents just got back from Kyoto, so Mother might not have gone to the store yet."
"Sounds good." Hikaru followed Touya into the house with a brief stop to switch shoes. He felt an unaccustomed sense of melancholy as he walked along. Sai really would have liked to see Touya shoot. For all that he'd been so focused on playing Go, Sai had enjoyed a lot of other activities, too--most of which seemed positively ancient to Hikaru--and he'd tried unsuccessfully to get Hikaru to participate in some of them when they took much-needed breaks from playing Go.
It was too late now to make it up to Sai for refusing to go along with his demands, but maybe it would make him feel a little closer to that missing part of Sai, too, the way Hikaru's Go brought Sai back every time he played.
"Hey, Touya?"
"Yes?" Touya threw him a brief glance as they walked down the hall toward the kitchen.
"After we're done going over the matches, can you show me how to shoot?"
Touya glanced at him from under his eyelashes, as if making sure Hikaru wasn't setting up some elaborate prank with his request. Hikaru tried to look sincere and interested, but suspected he just looked ridiculous, if the eye roll he received was anything to go by. "Well, you've got the hardest part down already: no mind."
"Thanks a lot," Hikaru said with a snort. "See if I let you win our next game."
"Let me win? Right." Touya drew the word out, his disbelief clear. "Before we analyze last week's matches, let's play a game of speed Go."
"Bring it on." Hikaru grinned as Touya tried--unsuccessfully, he thought--not to scowl. "But I really mean it. I want you to show me how to do that."
Touya stopped walking and turned to face Hikaru straight on. Hikaru tried not to squirm under the intense look. "All right. But you have to listen to me."
"When do I ever not listen to you?"
Touya threw his hands up in the air. "All the time! When I tell you that you should make a specific move, you always play something else, just to spite me."
"I don't do it to spite you. I do it because you're wrong."
"I am not!" Touya leaned closer; he looked five seconds away from pounding his finger through Hikaru's chest to make his point.
"Are, too!" Hikaru didn't stick his tongue out, but it was close. Touya was too much fun to rile up.
"Am not!" Touya stomped into the kitchen and marched directly to the fridge. "Do you want something to eat or not?"
"Sure."
"If you say you want ramen, I'm going to throw something at you, I'm warning you."
"Like that'd be a new occurrence."
"And how often do I miss? In fact, consider it your first lesson in kyudo: 'a true shot never misses.'"
"What's that supposed to mean? Don't tell me kyudo's a 'visualize yourself being one with the target' and all that junk sort of martial art."
"'Junk'? You know, Shindou, there are occasionally times when I wonder why you don't get asked to do more conference teaching jobs, and then you open your mouth and I remember why."
"Oh, a hit!" Hikaru put his hand to his heart and staggered in mock shock. Touya grinned and handed over a can of cold coffee. "I thought hitting the target wasn't the point of kyudo."
"It is and it isn't."
"Wow, that made sense. Not."
"You should feel right at home, then. I think the only reason I've stopped getting whiplash from your seemingly random moves in our games is because I know that you'll do something I can't predict, so there's no point in wasting any time being surprised." Touya fidgeted with his coffee can, passing it from hand to hand. He focused intently on the can before continuing. "You've been doing that since our very first game, when you played incredibly awkwardly, but with an unheard of ability to read the board at the same time."
"Yeah." Hikaru looked down at the can in his hand as he realized that this was it--this was opening he'd been waiting for, and it was time to share his secret.
To share Sai.
Because Touya would understand--he knew there wasn't ever going to be an end to this. Even if Touya found out that it was just an accident that had started everything. But maybe he would see it more like the true shot he'd mentioned, like everything about their Go and their lives was meant to be no matter how it started, because they were where they were supposed to be.
Hikaru took a deep breath, then exhaled slowly. "Want to hear a story?"
Touya blinked, then nodded. "Sure."
"Okay. A long time ago, there was a Go player named Fujiwara-no-Sai--"
"Sai?" Touya was practically vibrating in place. The gaze he focused on Hikaru would've made most of his competitors run away in terror. Oddly enough, it made Hikaru relax.
"Yeah. Sai." Hikaru had to laugh at Touya's expression--mouth hanging open was a pretty unattractive look on anybody, even Touya. "Now, do you want to hear this or not?"
"Yes! Of course!"
"Then shut up and listen."
Touya looked ready to throw his coffee can at Hikaru's head. "Oh, would you--just tell me already!"
"I don't know why anybody thinks you're the polite one--"
"Hikaru!" Touya wailed, formalities forgotten as he all but stomped his foot in frustration.
The hitch in Hikaru's laugh was slight, but Touya's expression flickered with barely concealed concern. Hikaru shook his head--he didn't want to talk about that part yet. "You--you sounded like Sai just then."
"I did?"
"Yeah." Hikaru smiled a little, and Touya relaxed and smiled tentatively in return. "So anyway, a really long time ago, there was a Go player named Fujiwara-no-Sai..."
AUTHOR: Aithine (aithine)
RECIPIENT: lanerose, requests
PAIRING: None. (Ish. It is Hikaru and Akira, after all. *g*)
REQUEST: "Akira's hobby (other than go, which is a way of life and therefore does not count) and Shindou's reaction to it."
WARNINGS: None.
SUMMARY: Akira Touya has a hobby that isn't Go--who knew? Certainly not Hikaru Shindou.
"A true shot never misses." --Kyudo principle
Hikaru whistled softly to himself, the weight of his bag familiar on his back as he kicked a rock on the sidewalk. He was glad he didn't have to spend the rest of the day cooped up inside. Maybe Touya wouldn't object to playing outside in the garden Hikaru had glimpsed when he and Yashirou had stayed at Touya's place.
He loosened his tie and unbuttoned his collar with a sigh of relief. He was getting used to wearing suits as his competition schedule increased, but he didn't think he'd ever wear one voluntarily--unlike Touya, who he sometimes thought had been born wearing a suit and tie. Hikaru had seen him in more casual clothes recently, but he didn't think he'd see Touya wear jeans and tennis shoes to a dan match any time soon. The looks he knew Touya would get if that ever happened made him grin as he walked the last half a block to Touya's house.
Touya's mother smiled warmly at him when she answered the door. "Good afternoon, Shindou-san."
"Hello, Touya-san." Hikaru grinned back as he bounced lightly in place. Touya-san wasn't anywhere near as intimidating as her husband and was much more polite than her son. "Is Touya here yet? My tutoring session ended early, and we're going to go over the Hokuto Cup match games this afternoon."
She gestured at the path to her right. "He's out back. You're welcome to join him there."
"Thanks!" Hikaru gave her a little wave as he turned to walk on the path that led through the garden to the back of the house. Once out of sight of the door, he made a game of hopping from stepping-stone to stepping-stone. An involuntary laugh escaped as his dress shoes slid on the paving stone near the koi pond, leaving him teetering on the edge of falling in.
He rounded the corner of the house and stopped when he saw Touya standing with his back turned. Touya's stocking feet were planted about a meter apart, and he stood with his left side facing an archery target on the other side of the yard.
Though it was a regular sight to see Touya Mejin dressed traditionally, this was the first time Hikaru had seen Touya dressed in a kimono and hakama. The loose material accentuated the lines of his body more than his customary vests and suits, and from the back he looked like a complete stranger. The only familiar thing about him was the smooth, dark hair hanging down to brush against the nape of his neck.
Touya had the same slight and slender build as his mother, though he was taller now than he'd been when Hikaru had met him three years ago. Come to think of it, Touya's shoulders were wider, too, which made him look more like his father. If Hikaru met them both for the first time now, he'd know immediately that they were related.
He wondered if Sai would have been able to tell just by looking.
Hikaru shook it off--he refused to think about how much he missed Sai today. Instead he'd focus on how much Sai would enjoy getting to see Touya practice. Sai would probably go into raptures over Touya's precise form and "the strength being demonstrated in front of you, Hikaru!"--something like that, anyway.
Hikaru shook his head and dragged his focus back on to Touya.
Touya raised the tall, asymmetrical bow above his head and slowly moved it forward, his eyes on the target the whole time. He paused and Hikaru could see the strength in his arms as he held the bow partially drawn. He drew the bowstring back the remaining distance, bringing the bow down so the arrow was level with his shoulders. The thwack as Touya released it was loud in the quiet of the sheltered yard.
Touya held his stance for a moment--bow upright in his left hand that still aimed toward the target and his right arm back at shoulder height in the opposite direction--before he acknowledged Hikaru's presence. "Do you enjoy sneaking up on people, Shindou?"
"You're one to talk."
"It's not my fault you're completely oblivious to the world around you." Touya lowered his arms. The tip of the bow almost touched the ground as he set his fists on his waist, then moved to face the target so he could give it a brief bow. He glanced at Hikaru as he straightened up and started to remove the glove on his right hand.
Hikaru rolled his eyes. "Whatever." He moved closer to Touya and turned to stare at the target as they stood side by side in silence.
"So why kyudo?" He wasn't surprised that Touya would participate in such a traditional activity, but he had to admit that he was somewhat surprised that Touya had any activities he enjoyed besides playing Go.
Touya shrugged, the move as graceful as the ritualized movements he'd just finished. "Why do you have a PlayStation?"
"I don't think shooting monsters and blowing things up is quite the same thing as all this." Hikaru's vague hand wave took in the formal clothes and the bow still in Touya's grasp.
"Why not? The goal of both is to take your mind off of what you're thinking too hard about, right? To take you completely out of yourself."
"Yeah, I guess." Hikaru reached out to run his hand down the bow; the bamboo was smooth and cool under his fingers. "How'd you get started with this?"
"My mother taught me."
"Yeah? My mom wants to teach me how to cook something besides ramen, not a martial art."
Touya shrugged again, a faint smile on his face. "Her mother taught her, and she wanted to pass it on. There's nothing mysterious about it."
"Hmm." He stood a moment longer, staring at the bow. He could feel the weight of Touya's gaze, but didn't turn to meet it. "Want to bring the board out here?"
"Sure." Touya turned to lead him from the dojo to the door at the back of the house. "Did you get a chance to eat before your tutoring sessions?"
"Nope."
"I haven't eaten, either. Let's go see if there's anything we can eat in the house. My parents just got back from Kyoto, so Mother might not have gone to the store yet."
"Sounds good." Hikaru followed Touya into the house with a brief stop to switch shoes. He felt an unaccustomed sense of melancholy as he walked along. Sai really would have liked to see Touya shoot. For all that he'd been so focused on playing Go, Sai had enjoyed a lot of other activities, too--most of which seemed positively ancient to Hikaru--and he'd tried unsuccessfully to get Hikaru to participate in some of them when they took much-needed breaks from playing Go.
It was too late now to make it up to Sai for refusing to go along with his demands, but maybe it would make him feel a little closer to that missing part of Sai, too, the way Hikaru's Go brought Sai back every time he played.
"Hey, Touya?"
"Yes?" Touya threw him a brief glance as they walked down the hall toward the kitchen.
"After we're done going over the matches, can you show me how to shoot?"
Touya glanced at him from under his eyelashes, as if making sure Hikaru wasn't setting up some elaborate prank with his request. Hikaru tried to look sincere and interested, but suspected he just looked ridiculous, if the eye roll he received was anything to go by. "Well, you've got the hardest part down already: no mind."
"Thanks a lot," Hikaru said with a snort. "See if I let you win our next game."
"Let me win? Right." Touya drew the word out, his disbelief clear. "Before we analyze last week's matches, let's play a game of speed Go."
"Bring it on." Hikaru grinned as Touya tried--unsuccessfully, he thought--not to scowl. "But I really mean it. I want you to show me how to do that."
Touya stopped walking and turned to face Hikaru straight on. Hikaru tried not to squirm under the intense look. "All right. But you have to listen to me."
"When do I ever not listen to you?"
Touya threw his hands up in the air. "All the time! When I tell you that you should make a specific move, you always play something else, just to spite me."
"I don't do it to spite you. I do it because you're wrong."
"I am not!" Touya leaned closer; he looked five seconds away from pounding his finger through Hikaru's chest to make his point.
"Are, too!" Hikaru didn't stick his tongue out, but it was close. Touya was too much fun to rile up.
"Am not!" Touya stomped into the kitchen and marched directly to the fridge. "Do you want something to eat or not?"
"Sure."
"If you say you want ramen, I'm going to throw something at you, I'm warning you."
"Like that'd be a new occurrence."
"And how often do I miss? In fact, consider it your first lesson in kyudo: 'a true shot never misses.'"
"What's that supposed to mean? Don't tell me kyudo's a 'visualize yourself being one with the target' and all that junk sort of martial art."
"'Junk'? You know, Shindou, there are occasionally times when I wonder why you don't get asked to do more conference teaching jobs, and then you open your mouth and I remember why."
"Oh, a hit!" Hikaru put his hand to his heart and staggered in mock shock. Touya grinned and handed over a can of cold coffee. "I thought hitting the target wasn't the point of kyudo."
"It is and it isn't."
"Wow, that made sense. Not."
"You should feel right at home, then. I think the only reason I've stopped getting whiplash from your seemingly random moves in our games is because I know that you'll do something I can't predict, so there's no point in wasting any time being surprised." Touya fidgeted with his coffee can, passing it from hand to hand. He focused intently on the can before continuing. "You've been doing that since our very first game, when you played incredibly awkwardly, but with an unheard of ability to read the board at the same time."
"Yeah." Hikaru looked down at the can in his hand as he realized that this was it--this was opening he'd been waiting for, and it was time to share his secret.
To share Sai.
Because Touya would understand--he knew there wasn't ever going to be an end to this. Even if Touya found out that it was just an accident that had started everything. But maybe he would see it more like the true shot he'd mentioned, like everything about their Go and their lives was meant to be no matter how it started, because they were where they were supposed to be.
Hikaru took a deep breath, then exhaled slowly. "Want to hear a story?"
Touya blinked, then nodded. "Sure."
"Okay. A long time ago, there was a Go player named Fujiwara-no-Sai--"
"Sai?" Touya was practically vibrating in place. The gaze he focused on Hikaru would've made most of his competitors run away in terror. Oddly enough, it made Hikaru relax.
"Yeah. Sai." Hikaru had to laugh at Touya's expression--mouth hanging open was a pretty unattractive look on anybody, even Touya. "Now, do you want to hear this or not?"
"Yes! Of course!"
"Then shut up and listen."
Touya looked ready to throw his coffee can at Hikaru's head. "Oh, would you--just tell me already!"
"I don't know why anybody thinks you're the polite one--"
"Hikaru!" Touya wailed, formalities forgotten as he all but stomped his foot in frustration.
The hitch in Hikaru's laugh was slight, but Touya's expression flickered with barely concealed concern. Hikaru shook his head--he didn't want to talk about that part yet. "You--you sounded like Sai just then."
"I did?"
"Yeah." Hikaru smiled a little, and Touya relaxed and smiled tentatively in return. "So anyway, a really long time ago, there was a Go player named Fujiwara-no-Sai..."