Blind Go: Pretty Girl
PRETTY GIRL
by
lady_addiction
DISCLAIMER: Hikaru no Go universe and characters aren't mine.
Every girl wanted to be pretty. Kaneko Masako was no exception.
However, Kaneko was a pragmatic girl and decided to forego fashion and focus on volleyball.
But every time she stared at Mitani across a Go board, she wanted him to notice her as he did Fujisaki. And Kaneko knew her last opportunity would be at the Christmas party being held at Fujisaki's place. She would be moving to England come May.
First, she needed a dress.
At the library she volunteered in, Kaneko hurriedly finished shelving the books: Ancient Myths of the East and West, The Art of Espionage, How to Really Play Snakes & Ladders, 1001 Backyard Games, A Discourse on Universal Theory, Greece: A History of the Island of Crete, Film & Media: Bollywood, Whatever Happened to Waldo, The League of Extraordinarily Old Gentlemen: Igo Players of 20th Century, A Biography of Sylvia Plath. She opened the last one to her favourite poem, tracing the line, "The vivid tulips eat my oxygen", before replacing it on the shelf. As she walked out the door, she stuffed a copy of the latest Weekly Go paper, hoping to read the latest "From the desk of Amano…" editorial.
She met Yorozuya Hiroyo at the first clothing store she went in. Kaneko shared classes with her until she transferred out of Haze Junior.
But this Yorozuya looked completely different from what she remembered. Ash-blonde layers and makeup had transformed the ugly girl Kaneko recalled from a bush with eyes into a beautiful girl, even if she was still plump. It was from her that Kaneko found out about a super-beautician at one of the local high schools.
Hunting X down and convincing her to do the makeover almost made Kaneko miss the party. By the time she made it, she could hear the music and a loud voice saying, "I don't see any ice cream! You promised there would be ice cream!" Heart pounding, she knocked on the door and blushed at the admiring looks Fujisaki's parents gave her. Fujisaki herself came out from the kitchen, holding containers of ramen and mochi, and gave a delighted shriek as she saw her. Kaneko felt bewildered as she was ushered into the festively decorated backyard with its buffet and its slush-free wooden dance floor.
The shocked silence that flooded the backyard was discomforting but exhilarating. Kaneko knew exactly what she looked like, having stared long enough at the new haircut, perfectly-applied cosmetics, the slim-looking body in a well-tailored black dress and pumps, and for the first time, she felt pretty.
She smiled.
XX
"A boy should never make a girl ask her to dance."
Mitani jumped and turned from where he was hiding by the buffet, listening to Shindou and Kaga joke about the improper use of gobans. Kaneko was standing behind him, her eyes intense under the glowing lantern light. "Well?" she continued on, impatiently.
He stared at her, still completely bemused at her change. Just today she looked like a tank in a skirt with her helmet hair and tiny eyes. Now, she looked…pretty…with her new hair, makeup, and dress. He shrugged and held out his hand. What was one dance, after all? Kaneko stared down at it for a long while before carefully putting her hand in his. When she looked up at him, his breath caught. Mitani could swear that Kaneko had seemed to glow, as radiant as any star.
Discomfited, he pulled her to an empty corner on the dance floor.
The awkwardness of trying to find a place to put his hands suddenly reminded Mitani that he had never danced with Kaneko before. Usually, the other girls would ambush him and drag him out but Kaneko was never one of them. He looked at her from under his lashes as he finally gingerly set his palms on her hips, swaying offbeat to a romantic ballad. She put hers on his shoulders as she also began to sway to the music. "You look…nice," he said with a half-hearted smile, eyes to the side where Fujisaki had suddenly burst out in giggles. The smile disappeared as he caught a shattered look coming and going on her face. He stopped moving, hands dropping off. "Kaneko, are you alright?"
"I'm fine," she said. Mitani looked closer but her face remained bland. "Well, are we dancing?" she challenged. He scowled at her and put his hands back on her hips, unable to somehow shake the feeling that he had done something terrible.
Feeling vaguely guilty, he danced with her through two more songs, one of which was a slow song. Reluctantly, Mitani drew Kaneko closer, surprised at how soft she felt against him. Her forehead rested against his shoulder as they turned quietly, then Kaneko drew back at the end. "Thanks for the dance, Mitani," she said in a subdued voice and then walked off.
He stared after her, completely bewildered.
XX
The walk home felt like an eternity when nursing a freshly broken heart.
Somehow in the transition between ugly fat girl into pretty girl, Kaneko began to think that maybe her and Mitani was not an impossible wish after all.
But wishes rarely came true.
She stopped in front of a store window, now opaque under the streetlight. Aside from the mascara running, her reflection showed a girl, a little bigger than most, but still attractive in a way Kaneko had never imagined she could ever be.
Part of her wanted to scream 'never again!', but another part of her liked the girl in the reflection, broken heart and all.
Maybe Mitani would never see her as she wanted him to, but that didn't alter the fact that he had somehow managed to draw out the pretty girl in her.
Kaneko pulled a tissue from her purse and wiped at her eyes. She'll go back to X and ask for more advice on how to apply make-up and fix her hair.
After all, England was waiting for her.
-END-