Gift for xtwilightzx!!
Title: Ghost Stories
Recipient's name: xtwilightzx
Rating: PG
Pairing(s): Shindou/Touya
Disclaimer: Hikago belongs to Yumi Hotta and Takeshi Obata
Warnings: none
Author's Notes: Thank you to my betas for the help with this (naming no names because we're anon). I hope you enjoy it
It had taken some time, but after a few years of complaints and excessive room service bills from hosts and hotels, someone from the Go Institute had taken to warning event organisers about two things: never let Shindou and Waya room together and never make either of them room with Ogata-sensei or Kuwabara-sensei. Really, it was lucky that his relationship with Shindou was as discreet as he could make it because otherwise he'd have most likely been stuck with Waya, and neither of them would have enjoyed that.
Touya felt that this decision was probably a good thing. It had been nice to room with Isumi-san sometimes - he tended to get more sleep that way. It was nice to be able to sit and read or play go in the evenings rather than entertain your roommate.
At the same time, they were inevitably placed in the room next to Shindou and Waya's. Noise from the room next to them had generally required one or other of them to go and bang on the door at three in the morning.
That hadn’t been fun, even if Isumi-san tended to insist on going himself.
The new arrangements meant that when they went to play the exhibition matches with young pros from Kansai that winter, Touya was rooming with Shindou in the study of Yoshikawa-sensei’s house while Isumi and Waya had the spare room next door. For a friendly event without sponsors, only Morishita-sensei and Ogata-sensei had been given rooms in hotels, the lower-ranked pros having been farmed out to volunteer hosts.
Touya was almost ready to put away his book and ask Shindou if they could turn out the light, when the door opened. Waya looked around the room, duvet around his shoulders.
“Good, you’re still awake. Isumi-san’s gone to bed - honestly, he's such an old man sometimes - so we can talk for a bit. If you think your boyfriend isn't going to sulk all night, that is."
He addressed that at Shindou. Touya had an uneasy truce with Waya that generally involved them ignoring each other as much as possible. They both understood their places in Shindou’s life - one his best friend, the other his partner - and thankfully they managed to step carefully around each other more often than Touya would have thought possible.
Shindou bounced up from where he was sprawled over Touya's legs poring over kifu and started digging in his bag for the slab of chocolate that he’d told Touya was ‘emergency rations’. Waya made himself comfortable at the end of Shindou’s futon.
Touya sighed and started a new chapter in his book. It was early enough that if he objected, Shindou would sulk for days. If they went on talking for too long, he might have to dig out another blanket - he was feeling the absence of Shindou's warmth.
“It’ll be good to have another shot at Yashiro,” Shindou said, tucking into his chocolate with relish. Touya was only thankful that they weren't at a hotel, so there was no way for Shindou to get his hands on more sugar.
Waya grunted his agreement. Given that they were all Japanese pros, it was surprising how rarely their paths crossed in competition. Even if they happened to coincide with Yashiro at a tournament and managed to squeeze in a casual game, nothing quite compared to the feeling in an offical match.
“I was talking to him yesterday, actually,” Waya said.
“What, you phoned him? I thought you were out of credit.”
Waya laughed.
“On IM, idiot. Stop living in the dark ages.” He looked at Shindou, who still looked confused. “Honestly, instant messenger - on the internet.”
Touya hid a smile. Maybe enough digs like that would persuade Shindou to actually learn how to use his computer rather than coming running to him every time he needed something.
“Oh. Did he say anything?”
“Nothing much. One of their new insei has just dropped out.”
“What? Yashiro’s still keeping track of the insei? I’d have thought he’d be set on the people above him, not the people below.”
“It’s not that - apparently it’s all over the Institute. The kid put his things in Locker Four by accident. Someone warned him and he moved them straight away but within a week he’d broken his arm, fallen down the stairs twice and lost every game he played. He got out while he could. The previous guy to do it is said to have drowned a month later.”
Shindou swallowed hard.
“He’s just telling you horror stories,” he said, grabbing the chocolate back and breaking off a larger chunk than before. “Trying to freak you out before the matches.”
“Right, Shindou,” Waya said. “Let's see what you can come up with. Scare me.”
Touya attempted to tune them out. If that was what boys did at sleepovers, he was glad that the closest he’d ever come was the training session with Shindou and Yashiro before the Hokuto Cup. Surely Shindou wasn’t immature enough to get spooked by something as juvenile as this?
Waya seemed to be having a whale of a time. He gasped in all the right places, providing appropriate ‘whoooos’ as Shindou stuttered through his story. Touya looked up as he came to the end of the next chapter, contemplating whether he’d be lynched if he tried to throw them both out. Shindou looked pale and he’d already got through half the slab of chocolate, mostly on his own.
Really, he’d thought that Shindou had more sense or at least a stomach of iron - Touya had seen him munch popcorn happily through movies where gore was splattered everywhere, sniggering at the effects that admittedly had Touya just a little squeamish. A children’s story shouldn’t have got him worked up.
Waya took over again, weaving a story about zombies that had Touya himself quaking slightly, however hard he tried not to listen. Surprisingly, Shindou seemed better.
“Right Shindou, give us another ghost story. Nothing lame, like that last one.”
Shindou swallowed, paler than before. Touya paused, finger hovering over the edge of the page, eyeing them both cautiously. There was no reason for Shindou to be looking sick just because of something Waya said.
“Actually,” Touya said quietly, trying to sound as determined as he should have felt. “If you don’t mind, it would be good to go to bed now. We have games in the morning that we need to be alert for.”
Waya looked like he was about to make a fuss. Touya only hoped that he’d restrain himself because if they woke Yoshikawa-sensei he’d be hearing about it from Ogata-sensei, Morishita-sensei (who was technically the leader of this trip) and most likely his father as well.
“Touya’s probably right,” Shindou said. They whipped round to look at him. Shindou hated going to bed early and a chance to muck around with Waya was normally one that was too good to pass over. He managed a weak laugh. “I mean, I’ll probably be playing Yashiro tomorrow and I’ll never hear the end of it if I lose.”
Waya looked doubtful. Touya glared at him, then looked pointedly at the door. Waya sighed, grabbed the last of the chocolate and left without a backwards glance, his duvet trailing on the floor behind him. Touya winced: really, that wasn’t the way he should be treating his host’s things.
“Touya?” Shindou said.
Touya immediately forgot about Waya and began to wonder what was really up with Shindou. He’d better not be getting ill the night before a match when the only person Touya could go to was Ogata-sensei. If Shindou was ill and then infected Touya, a lot of people would be singularly unimpressed.
“Good night, Shindou,” Touya said pointedly, getting up to pack his book into his suitcase again.
A pause.
“Thanks, Touya. I hate ghost stories.”
Touya hesitated next to his suitcase and flicked on the small lamp on the desk before turning off the main light. Shindou didn’t say anything, which was probably a good sign. Touya knew he’d be able to sleep with it on, so if it would help Shindou sleep, he was all for it: a restless Shindou tended to mean more snoring, strangely enough.
As he crawled back over to his futon, eyes skimming over the reassuring goban in the corner and kifu books on the desk, he was reminded of something Shindou had said back before he was a pro.
"If you keep chasing after my ghost, the real me will eventually surpass you."
He glanced at Shindou‘s form curled up tightly underneath the covers. Admittedly, there was a lot he didn’t know about Shindou but a fear of ghosts was a new discovery. He’d originally laid out the futon in the corner so as to stay well out of the way if Waya and Shindou got rowdy but given the state Shindou was in…
Touya pulled it over until he was right next Shindou, watching as some of the tension crept from him. When he lay down, a hand stole across the gap between them. He paused for a moment - normally Shindou only held hands when he was dragging Touya somewhere - then took it, squeezing reassuringly.
He thought it must have been the right move, given how fast Shindou fell asleep. He lay awake much longer, wondering about ghosts and gobans and if he’d ever understand Shindou.
Recipient's name: xtwilightzx
Rating: PG
Pairing(s): Shindou/Touya
Disclaimer: Hikago belongs to Yumi Hotta and Takeshi Obata
Warnings: none
Author's Notes: Thank you to my betas for the help with this (naming no names because we're anon). I hope you enjoy it
It had taken some time, but after a few years of complaints and excessive room service bills from hosts and hotels, someone from the Go Institute had taken to warning event organisers about two things: never let Shindou and Waya room together and never make either of them room with Ogata-sensei or Kuwabara-sensei. Really, it was lucky that his relationship with Shindou was as discreet as he could make it because otherwise he'd have most likely been stuck with Waya, and neither of them would have enjoyed that.
Touya felt that this decision was probably a good thing. It had been nice to room with Isumi-san sometimes - he tended to get more sleep that way. It was nice to be able to sit and read or play go in the evenings rather than entertain your roommate.
At the same time, they were inevitably placed in the room next to Shindou and Waya's. Noise from the room next to them had generally required one or other of them to go and bang on the door at three in the morning.
That hadn’t been fun, even if Isumi-san tended to insist on going himself.
The new arrangements meant that when they went to play the exhibition matches with young pros from Kansai that winter, Touya was rooming with Shindou in the study of Yoshikawa-sensei’s house while Isumi and Waya had the spare room next door. For a friendly event without sponsors, only Morishita-sensei and Ogata-sensei had been given rooms in hotels, the lower-ranked pros having been farmed out to volunteer hosts.
Touya was almost ready to put away his book and ask Shindou if they could turn out the light, when the door opened. Waya looked around the room, duvet around his shoulders.
“Good, you’re still awake. Isumi-san’s gone to bed - honestly, he's such an old man sometimes - so we can talk for a bit. If you think your boyfriend isn't going to sulk all night, that is."
He addressed that at Shindou. Touya had an uneasy truce with Waya that generally involved them ignoring each other as much as possible. They both understood their places in Shindou’s life - one his best friend, the other his partner - and thankfully they managed to step carefully around each other more often than Touya would have thought possible.
Shindou bounced up from where he was sprawled over Touya's legs poring over kifu and started digging in his bag for the slab of chocolate that he’d told Touya was ‘emergency rations’. Waya made himself comfortable at the end of Shindou’s futon.
Touya sighed and started a new chapter in his book. It was early enough that if he objected, Shindou would sulk for days. If they went on talking for too long, he might have to dig out another blanket - he was feeling the absence of Shindou's warmth.
“It’ll be good to have another shot at Yashiro,” Shindou said, tucking into his chocolate with relish. Touya was only thankful that they weren't at a hotel, so there was no way for Shindou to get his hands on more sugar.
Waya grunted his agreement. Given that they were all Japanese pros, it was surprising how rarely their paths crossed in competition. Even if they happened to coincide with Yashiro at a tournament and managed to squeeze in a casual game, nothing quite compared to the feeling in an offical match.
“I was talking to him yesterday, actually,” Waya said.
“What, you phoned him? I thought you were out of credit.”
Waya laughed.
“On IM, idiot. Stop living in the dark ages.” He looked at Shindou, who still looked confused. “Honestly, instant messenger - on the internet.”
Touya hid a smile. Maybe enough digs like that would persuade Shindou to actually learn how to use his computer rather than coming running to him every time he needed something.
“Oh. Did he say anything?”
“Nothing much. One of their new insei has just dropped out.”
“What? Yashiro’s still keeping track of the insei? I’d have thought he’d be set on the people above him, not the people below.”
“It’s not that - apparently it’s all over the Institute. The kid put his things in Locker Four by accident. Someone warned him and he moved them straight away but within a week he’d broken his arm, fallen down the stairs twice and lost every game he played. He got out while he could. The previous guy to do it is said to have drowned a month later.”
Shindou swallowed hard.
“He’s just telling you horror stories,” he said, grabbing the chocolate back and breaking off a larger chunk than before. “Trying to freak you out before the matches.”
“Right, Shindou,” Waya said. “Let's see what you can come up with. Scare me.”
Touya attempted to tune them out. If that was what boys did at sleepovers, he was glad that the closest he’d ever come was the training session with Shindou and Yashiro before the Hokuto Cup. Surely Shindou wasn’t immature enough to get spooked by something as juvenile as this?
Waya seemed to be having a whale of a time. He gasped in all the right places, providing appropriate ‘whoooos’ as Shindou stuttered through his story. Touya looked up as he came to the end of the next chapter, contemplating whether he’d be lynched if he tried to throw them both out. Shindou looked pale and he’d already got through half the slab of chocolate, mostly on his own.
Really, he’d thought that Shindou had more sense or at least a stomach of iron - Touya had seen him munch popcorn happily through movies where gore was splattered everywhere, sniggering at the effects that admittedly had Touya just a little squeamish. A children’s story shouldn’t have got him worked up.
Waya took over again, weaving a story about zombies that had Touya himself quaking slightly, however hard he tried not to listen. Surprisingly, Shindou seemed better.
“Right Shindou, give us another ghost story. Nothing lame, like that last one.”
Shindou swallowed, paler than before. Touya paused, finger hovering over the edge of the page, eyeing them both cautiously. There was no reason for Shindou to be looking sick just because of something Waya said.
“Actually,” Touya said quietly, trying to sound as determined as he should have felt. “If you don’t mind, it would be good to go to bed now. We have games in the morning that we need to be alert for.”
Waya looked like he was about to make a fuss. Touya only hoped that he’d restrain himself because if they woke Yoshikawa-sensei he’d be hearing about it from Ogata-sensei, Morishita-sensei (who was technically the leader of this trip) and most likely his father as well.
“Touya’s probably right,” Shindou said. They whipped round to look at him. Shindou hated going to bed early and a chance to muck around with Waya was normally one that was too good to pass over. He managed a weak laugh. “I mean, I’ll probably be playing Yashiro tomorrow and I’ll never hear the end of it if I lose.”
Waya looked doubtful. Touya glared at him, then looked pointedly at the door. Waya sighed, grabbed the last of the chocolate and left without a backwards glance, his duvet trailing on the floor behind him. Touya winced: really, that wasn’t the way he should be treating his host’s things.
“Touya?” Shindou said.
Touya immediately forgot about Waya and began to wonder what was really up with Shindou. He’d better not be getting ill the night before a match when the only person Touya could go to was Ogata-sensei. If Shindou was ill and then infected Touya, a lot of people would be singularly unimpressed.
“Good night, Shindou,” Touya said pointedly, getting up to pack his book into his suitcase again.
A pause.
“Thanks, Touya. I hate ghost stories.”
Touya hesitated next to his suitcase and flicked on the small lamp on the desk before turning off the main light. Shindou didn’t say anything, which was probably a good sign. Touya knew he’d be able to sleep with it on, so if it would help Shindou sleep, he was all for it: a restless Shindou tended to mean more snoring, strangely enough.
As he crawled back over to his futon, eyes skimming over the reassuring goban in the corner and kifu books on the desk, he was reminded of something Shindou had said back before he was a pro.
"If you keep chasing after my ghost, the real me will eventually surpass you."
He glanced at Shindou‘s form curled up tightly underneath the covers. Admittedly, there was a lot he didn’t know about Shindou but a fear of ghosts was a new discovery. He’d originally laid out the futon in the corner so as to stay well out of the way if Waya and Shindou got rowdy but given the state Shindou was in…
Touya pulled it over until he was right next Shindou, watching as some of the tension crept from him. When he lay down, a hand stole across the gap between them. He paused for a moment - normally Shindou only held hands when he was dragging Touya somewhere - then took it, squeezing reassuringly.
He thought it must have been the right move, given how fast Shindou fell asleep. He lay awake much longer, wondering about ghosts and gobans and if he’d ever understand Shindou.