50scenes Prompt #029 -- Vital Signs
Backing away from the humour, now. Gotta give a nod to Retsu's intelligence here, and considering the situation of the story, humour would have been a bit inappropriate. When going head-to-head with Aizen, being serious strikes me as a wise decision.
Title: Lost in Undertones
Author: flowingmists
Fandom: Bleach
Characters: Unohana, Aizen
Prompt: #029 - Vital Signs
Word Count: 830
Rating: PG
Summary: A friendly game of Go between two people of great intellect. Or perhaps it isn't quite so friendly as it seems.
Warnings: None
Disclaimer: All characters and settings of Bleach are the property of Kubo Tite.
Lost in Undertones
The game entered its third hour as the bright rays of sunset bled through the screen. Carefully, Retsu studied the goban, stone poised in her fingers as she contemplated her next move. It wasn't so much that she was lacking for options, but that she had far too many of them, with the way the field was scattered. A trick perhaps, to overload her with possibilities and lead her to make a foolish choice? It was something she would not put past her opponent.
At last, she made her decision, and played the black stone. It would not aid a capture, but it would help to prevent one from the other side. "I believe it is now your move, Aizen-taichou."
This could have been called a tradition, were the term to be used loosely. Every now and then, she and Aizen would sit down for a friendly game of Go, all the while discussing literature and philosophy. With all due respect to the others around her, Aizen was one of the few she would truly acknowledge as an intellectual equal; it was a treat to be able to have such conversations.
When her turn came up again, Retsu smiled softly. So that was his game, was it? A clever move, to be sure. She expected no less. "I believe I've worked out your strategy; don't think that I will take it lightly."
She made her play, capturing three of his stones in the process.
Aizen smiled self-consciously. "My, my, am I that easy to read? Perhaps I should consider my movements more carefully. But I suppose that I should suspect you to discern such things as a matter of course. My apologies for underestimating you."
The vague flattery was amusing, she had to admit. She explained herself as he made his next move. "A divide and conquer strategy. Create as many options as possible, then force the opponent to choose between defense and offense, thus sacrificing the other."
And she realized that playing all-out defense, as she had for the past few turns, was not going to earn her victory. Defending was her nature in life, and it carried over into the game. The time was right to attack; her next move captured her another pair of white stones.
"Yes, well, dividing the enemy is rather a basic tactic, is it not?"
Retsu lifted an eyebrow at his phrasing. "Such strong words, Aizen-taichou. 'Enemy', is it? I had no idea you took games so seriously."
"Ah," Aizen ran a nervous hand through his hair once he'd taken his turn. His smile became even more bashful. "That sounded horrendously competitive of me, didn't it? Clearly, I misspoke; thoughts of work are no doubt cruelly intruding upon my leisure time. We are opponents in this game, but certainly not enemies."
She couldn't bring herself to smile at his actions. Something about the casual manner in which he'd referred to her as an enemy would not let go of her mind. Mentally, she shook herself. This was no time to be forming groundless assumptions - if ever there was a time for such a thing. He had misspoken and then corrected himself; there was no need to go deeper than that.
Her own assurances did little to help her sudden unease. But she kept those thoughts to herself. "No. We are certainly not."
The game continued from there, for nearly another hour until the room was dim. With every move, Retsu felt an odd sensation that more than a simple game of Go was at stake. There was nothing specific at all about this sensation, and that disturbed her all the more; she liked being able to pinpoint a problem.
Eventually, they both passed on their turns and the game was officially over. Since they had played in the Fifth Division this time, their unspoken agreement left it to Aizen to tally the score. His smile broadened when he finished.
"It would appear that I have been vanquished." He pushed his glasses higher up on his nose. "By a narrow margin, though it may be. Perhaps next time I will be able to devise an escape plan for when you come after me."
"Perhaps you will." Her voice was flat, devoid of the calm that usually flowed through it. She hoped that Aizen had not noticed this, but she was not foolish enough to think that her hope was validated.
She helped him clean up the game, engaging in their normal pleasant conversation as she did so. But under the surface, she could not help but think that she was missing something vitally important.
Title: Lost in Undertones
Author: flowingmists
Fandom: Bleach
Characters: Unohana, Aizen
Prompt: #029 - Vital Signs
Word Count: 830
Rating: PG
Summary: A friendly game of Go between two people of great intellect. Or perhaps it isn't quite so friendly as it seems.
Warnings: None
Disclaimer: All characters and settings of Bleach are the property of Kubo Tite.
Lost in Undertones
The game entered its third hour as the bright rays of sunset bled through the screen. Carefully, Retsu studied the goban, stone poised in her fingers as she contemplated her next move. It wasn't so much that she was lacking for options, but that she had far too many of them, with the way the field was scattered. A trick perhaps, to overload her with possibilities and lead her to make a foolish choice? It was something she would not put past her opponent.
At last, she made her decision, and played the black stone. It would not aid a capture, but it would help to prevent one from the other side. "I believe it is now your move, Aizen-taichou."
This could have been called a tradition, were the term to be used loosely. Every now and then, she and Aizen would sit down for a friendly game of Go, all the while discussing literature and philosophy. With all due respect to the others around her, Aizen was one of the few she would truly acknowledge as an intellectual equal; it was a treat to be able to have such conversations.
When her turn came up again, Retsu smiled softly. So that was his game, was it? A clever move, to be sure. She expected no less. "I believe I've worked out your strategy; don't think that I will take it lightly."
She made her play, capturing three of his stones in the process.
Aizen smiled self-consciously. "My, my, am I that easy to read? Perhaps I should consider my movements more carefully. But I suppose that I should suspect you to discern such things as a matter of course. My apologies for underestimating you."
The vague flattery was amusing, she had to admit. She explained herself as he made his next move. "A divide and conquer strategy. Create as many options as possible, then force the opponent to choose between defense and offense, thus sacrificing the other."
And she realized that playing all-out defense, as she had for the past few turns, was not going to earn her victory. Defending was her nature in life, and it carried over into the game. The time was right to attack; her next move captured her another pair of white stones.
"Yes, well, dividing the enemy is rather a basic tactic, is it not?"
Retsu lifted an eyebrow at his phrasing. "Such strong words, Aizen-taichou. 'Enemy', is it? I had no idea you took games so seriously."
"Ah," Aizen ran a nervous hand through his hair once he'd taken his turn. His smile became even more bashful. "That sounded horrendously competitive of me, didn't it? Clearly, I misspoke; thoughts of work are no doubt cruelly intruding upon my leisure time. We are opponents in this game, but certainly not enemies."
She couldn't bring herself to smile at his actions. Something about the casual manner in which he'd referred to her as an enemy would not let go of her mind. Mentally, she shook herself. This was no time to be forming groundless assumptions - if ever there was a time for such a thing. He had misspoken and then corrected himself; there was no need to go deeper than that.
Her own assurances did little to help her sudden unease. But she kept those thoughts to herself. "No. We are certainly not."
The game continued from there, for nearly another hour until the room was dim. With every move, Retsu felt an odd sensation that more than a simple game of Go was at stake. There was nothing specific at all about this sensation, and that disturbed her all the more; she liked being able to pinpoint a problem.
Eventually, they both passed on their turns and the game was officially over. Since they had played in the Fifth Division this time, their unspoken agreement left it to Aizen to tally the score. His smile broadened when he finished.
"It would appear that I have been vanquished." He pushed his glasses higher up on his nose. "By a narrow margin, though it may be. Perhaps next time I will be able to devise an escape plan for when you come after me."
"Perhaps you will." Her voice was flat, devoid of the calm that usually flowed through it. She hoped that Aizen had not noticed this, but she was not foolish enough to think that her hope was validated.
She helped him clean up the game, engaging in their normal pleasant conversation as she did so. But under the surface, she could not help but think that she was missing something vitally important.