Yin Yang, Go pros and Sai Chapter 2
Yin Yang, Go pros and Sai Chapter 2
Disclaimer: I don't own Hikaru no Go and Dr. Goto's Clinic (Dr. Goto Shinryojo).
Principle 2: Yin Yang Food For Kurata Atsushi
Principles of Yin and Yang:
"2. Yin and Yang mutually create and depend on each other."
Some time after the Samsung Cup, in an unknown ramen shop in Tokyo:
"Hey!" Upon the arrival of his friends, Kurata Atsushi waved fervently at them. "This way! This way!"
Seeing him, both men beckoned back with a nod, moved toward his table and settled themselves on vacant seats opposite to him. "It would be great if you show up before time like this for your annual health check up," The first man joked. He was plainwith a homely look, typical black eyes and black hair. He was the type that blended into the crowd, the type that people overlooked his insignificant existence and tended to forget his face because there was nothing special about him worth remembering. His name was Goto Shinsuke.
Kurata had known Goto Shinsuke since his junior high school days. Goto was happy-go lucky but very intelligent. Kurata always thought this was the reason why they got along well and were able to maintain their friendship after all these years; it took a genius to understand another one. Of course, they were prodigies. Kurata himself was meant to be the Meijin while Goto was a top doctor in the prominent Tenshindo University's Hospital. Hence, Goto became his doctor.
Despite having his best friend as his doctor, Kurata wasn't quite healthy. There was no need to ask, judging from his fat body, everyone could see that he was overweight.
Goto had lectured to him over and over again that high cholesterol caused coronary heart diseases, strokes, peripheral vascular diseases, diabetes and high blood pressure. However, no matter what he had said, no matter what he had instructed him to do, Kurata was still overweight. As a matter of fact, not only did his cholesterol level not go down, it went up and he also gained more weigh. Goto, who had been in despair, decided to try an alternative way and ask for help for his friend. That was how Fujiwara no Sai came into Kurata Atsushi's life.
Fujiwara no Sai was a Feng Sui master. Unlike Goto, he was truly beautiful. He was the type that no one would ever forget once they had seen his gorgeous face. Kurata wondered how someone like Goto got to know someone like Fujiwara as they seemed to come from different planets, and how in the world a Feng Shui consultant could give him an advice about dieting. It amazed him greatly that Fujiwara knew a lot about this matter, and he had to admit that the man did have a unique way of talking.
Fujiwara had diligently elucidated him that everything could be described in either Yin or Yang, including the body and food. The organs which were responsible for producing, circulating, and storing the energy in the body like the heart, lung and liver were Yin. The organs which were responsible for taking in food, absorbing nutrients, and discarding the excess, unusable by products like the stomach, small intestine and large intestine were Yang. Plants growing beneath the ground were Yang, while those that grew up in the air such as fruits were Yin. Egg, lamb, beef and chicken were Yang. Fish were Yin. Even cooking methods were divided into Yin and Yang. Deep-frying, roasting, stir-frying, or any other cooking techniques that made the food drier were Yang. Boiling (making the food become more watery) or eating raw foods were Yin. Kurata didn't how long he had been listening to his Yin-Yang Food theory that day. Fujiwara had carried on this talk forever. By the time the Feng Shui master had mentioned something like "Food with fast oxidation are Yang, but food with slow oxidation are Yin", he was completely lost. To be precise, he didn't even think that they spoke the same language anymore. However, Kurata, being a genius as he repeatedly self proclaimed, had managed to gather that the unbalance of Yin and Yang (high cholesterol, in his case) could cause mental, physical and charka (that was Fujiwara's exact words; chakra, like 'chakra' in Naruto) instability. It came as a surprise when Fujiwara had revealed that he had too much Yin. He loved eating all kinds of meat, considering what the man had told him; he was supposed to have too much Yang. Then, the Yin Yang expert had cleared his confusion; he had further explained that, by overeating people became Yin even if they ate Yang food all day. Plus, Kurata was overweight with surplus sugar and water, which was another proof that he was a Yin-overload type who tended to have high blood lipid number and high cholesterol due to excess sterol lipids in the body, but was liable to lack cellular oxidation and be in a "reduced" metabolic state (Honestly, until this day, Kurata still had no idea what the hell the long haired man had been babbling about).
First, Fujiwara had recommended him to follow the macrobiotic diet (his meals were supposed to consist of 60 percent of grains, 20 percent of vegetable, 10 percent of legumes, 5 percent of soup, 5 percent of seaweed to lower his cholesterol. Sadly, the prescription was too hard to remember, let alone follow; Kurata had given up after 2 days.
Fujiwara then had proposed him to go by the "Yang Therapy" in order to increase his Yang level. He had advised him to go to the sauna, avoid raw foods, fruits and sweet juices which were considered Yin food, and eat heating herbs like ginger and burdock, and other Yang food such as millet, buckwheat, vegetable growing beneath the ground like turnip, carrot, onion. Too bad Kurata hated the sauna and those foods and vegetables; he had quit the therapy after 3 days.
Fujiwara hadn't backed down though. He had brought him Chinese medicine called "Er Chen Tang". He had claimed that it would dry dampness, rectify his "Chi" and harmonize the center of the body. But then again, Kurata was too lazy to take 3 capsules 2 times a day. The Er Chen Tang plan had lasted only 4 days.
So, Fujiwara had come up with the last strategy-the easiest way to reduce cholesterol; drinking green tea. Fujiwara had got him a box of Ku Ding Green Tea from Hainan Island, China. Ku Ding Green Tea appeared to raise HDL (high-density-lipoprotein, a.k.a., good fat) and reduce the cholesterol level. Unfortunately, said green tea was so fucking bitter, and Kurata hated bitterness…he had stopped drinking it after 5 days.
At last, Fujiwara had thrown in the towel in surrender and handed his case back to Goto. When the young doctor had heard the story, he only sighed while making an expression as if he knew that things would turn out this way all along; he pat Fujiwara's shoulder and apologized to him for troubling him with the impossible task.
This was what had happened two years ago.
Although Fujiwara was no longer his diet advisor, they still remained friends. Just like Goto, Kurata found the man was funny and easy to get along. Not to mention that the Feng Shui consultant was quite a decent Go player. His style was somewhat familiar to Kurata but he couldn't put his finger on it, whenever he asked him who taught him the game, the mysterious Fujiwara only gave him that damn charismatic smile of his to avoid the question.
Seeing new customers coming, a waitress came and gave menus to both of them. After they gave her their orders, Fujiwara spoke up first, "Another loss, I guess."
Kurata frowned irritably, picked up his chopsticks before continuing to devour his Miso ramen. "Don't you have anything better to say to your friend whom you haven't met for a month?" He retorted with difficulty since there was a big piece of Chushu (sliced braised pork) in the mouth.
"He's right then," Goto laughed and turned to his striking friend. "You're sharp-eyed as always, Sai."
"It's not hard to guess," the Feng Shui specialist pointed at two empty ramen bowls next to Kurata with his precious fan that he carried everywhere. "Judging from these bowls and the one you're eating, I'll say that you are moodier than usual." He leaned over the table and looked straight into the wannabe Meijin's eyes. "An Te Son?"
Kurata's face twisted upon hearing that hateful name. "You're too perceptive for your own good."
"So, he's right again," Goto said with amusement.
"Tsk!" The 7 Dan cursed before stuffing noodles into the mouth.
Not long after Kurata had finished his third bowl, the waitress came and served them their ramen; clear Shio (salt) ramen for Fujiwara, light Shoyu (soy sauce broth) ramen for Goto and thick Tonkotsu (pork bone) ramen for him. Seeing him practically snatch his ramen bowl from the young waitress, Goto chuckled lightheartedly. "No one is gonna steal it away from you, you know."
Pretending not to hear it, the Go pro started wolfing down his fourth bowl.
The Feng Shui guru made a face at the sight. "I can't say that I approve your choice of food today. You are Yin-excess type, and boiling dish like ramen is Yin food, I'm sure I've told you before. It will only add more Yin in your system causing your balance to be even more-"
"Ha! You're just saying that because you don't like ramen," Kurata cut him off, lifted his bowl up and gulped down the soup. "You prefer those high class French foods, eating with fork and knife to lowly ramen, don't you?"
"Now, now, At-chan, don't bully Sai." Speaking as if his 25 year old friend was a 5 year old child, the blithe doctor waved his hand gesturing him to calm down. He reached out to get a pair of disposable chopsticks from a box on the table, spilt them evenly and commenced eating. "I don't get it. What's the big deal? It's not like this is the first time you've lost anyway?"
"Excuse me?" the 7 Dan's eyes narrowed dangerously. What did you just say?
"Well," Goto nipped the noodles with the wooden chopsticks, held the chopstick high in the air and blew on the noodles to cool it down, "didn't you lose to..err," he tried to summon up his memories but failed nonetheless, "that retired pro when you went to play at his house?" he said before putting the noodles into the mouth.
Kurata snapped back. "Getting beaten up by Touya-sensei and that bastard An Te Son are completely different!"
"I don't get it either," Fujiwara closed his fan as he stopped fanning his hot Shio ramen. "Why do you hate him so much? I saw his photo in a magazine. He looks like a good guy to me."
Kurata banged his fist on the table hard. "That's why I hate him!"
"Huh?" came from his puzzled friends.
"Good at Go! Good-looking! Good manners! Looks smart! Always flaunting his winning smile! Everyone worships the ground he steps on! Women fawn over him! Did you know that people actually queue up for his autograph!" He binged on his ramen while raving about his ace rival.
"Ano, At-chan, don't you think that sounds a bit….," Goto wanted to say "childish" but he was too afraid to voice it out loud.
The angry Go professional slammed his bowl on the table and spoke wildly, "But I'm telling you, that whole good guy appearance is just a façade! Do you know what he said when I lost to him in the Samsung Cup?" He didn't give his friends a chance to answer though. "He said, 'Are you in a slump, Kurata-san? What happened to An Te Son of Japan?'! He made it sounded like I tarnished his name by losing! Ha! As if I want to be An Te Son of Japan! See? A real good guy wouldn't say that! He's just pretending! And the worst thing is everyone is fooled by him! No one knows his true nature except me! Actually, that guy is very-"
"What harm is it to be known as the An Te Son of Japan?" It was Fujiwara who broke his tirade.
Kurata gave him a look as if saying "Are you serious? Do you even need to ask?".
"Seriously, why are you so furious?" The former diet coach seemed genuinely curious. "You two are mutually dependent anyway," he added.
"Huh?" Now it was Kurata's turn to be at a loss.
"Mutually dependent?" Goto repeated.
"Yeah," Fujiwara nodded in confirmation. "It's like Yin and Yang." He straightened himself and leaned forward to the table. "You see, both Yin and Yang cannot exist without each other. In order to define themselves, they can only do so by comparing themselves to each other. For example," he pointed at the doctor's Shoyu ramen, "if there is no such thing as hot, we won't know what cold is." He held his glass of ice green tea loosely and gently swirled the glass. The ice in the glass hit against each other and made a 'cling' sound.
Hmmp! Even if it's only a cheap glass of low grade green tea that was served in a ramen shop, he still manages to make it look like a fancy crystal glass in a host club! Kurata admitted that he was jealous…a bit.
Goto didn't even bother to waste the time to be envious about the other's look. He focused on his statement instead. "I see, you're saying that An Te Son-san is a reference point for At-Chan, right?" he concluded. He got it right, as expected from a genius doctor.
"Yup," Fujiwara put down the glass and talked to his chubby companion, "I mean, didn't you tell us yourself that An Te Son is really, really strong, that he won many many tournaments; both domestic and international, and that he's very popular? Being recalled as An Te Son of Japan means that the public, including An Te-Son himself, regards you in the same level as him, isn't that good?"
"Hmmp," the grumpy pro leaned back into his wooden chair, crossed his arms over the chest and pondered about it for a short moment, "I still want people to recognize him as the Kurata of Korea rather than recognize me as the An Te Son of Japan!" He wore a sulky expression while saying this. The idea of being acknowledged as the An Te Son of Japan disgusted him.
"Look at the bright side, those women who have never seen you will think that you are," Fujiwara chose his words carefully, "tall like An Te Son. You'll be popular amongst them too! Who knows maybe the next time you join a Go seminar, people will line up for your autograph too!" he spoke in a cheerful tone. In fact, he meant to say "attractive and has a nice body" but decided it was best not to say it because it could be interpreted that Kurata wasn't attractive and didn't have a nice body like the Korean (which was true anyway).
Normally, Kurata would have been quick enough to know that the Feng Shui advisor merely attempted to butter him up, but somehow, when he heard words like "really strong", "same level", "popular" and "women", he became drunken. "Line up for my autograph, huh?" he mused.
"That's right!" Goto and Fujiwara uttered in union.
"Imagine," Goto spoke with a soothing and allured voice, and his hand moved dramatically, "your fans surrounding you, shouting your name, asking desperately for your autograph!"
Kurata took the bait and dreamt of that day coming. "Sounds nice," He entirely forgot about his hostility and his loss. "Chop-chop!" He clapped his hands. "What are we waiting for? Let's eat before the ramen gets cold!"
Unbeknownst to him, the other two men exchanged a knowing look.
Not only did Kurata Atshushi have a cholesterol problem, he also had a serious "autograph" issue.
Another trouble. Great, just exactly what they wanted.
End of Chapter 2
Word count: 2818
AN: Poor Goto, poor Sai. Kurata is a difficult patient, isn't he?
Disclaimer: I don't own Hikaru no Go and Dr. Goto's Clinic (Dr. Goto Shinryojo).
Principle 2: Yin Yang Food For Kurata Atsushi
Principles of Yin and Yang:
"2. Yin and Yang mutually create and depend on each other."
Some time after the Samsung Cup, in an unknown ramen shop in Tokyo:
"Hey!" Upon the arrival of his friends, Kurata Atsushi waved fervently at them. "This way! This way!"
Seeing him, both men beckoned back with a nod, moved toward his table and settled themselves on vacant seats opposite to him. "It would be great if you show up before time like this for your annual health check up," The first man joked. He was plainwith a homely look, typical black eyes and black hair. He was the type that blended into the crowd, the type that people overlooked his insignificant existence and tended to forget his face because there was nothing special about him worth remembering. His name was Goto Shinsuke.
Kurata had known Goto Shinsuke since his junior high school days. Goto was happy-go lucky but very intelligent. Kurata always thought this was the reason why they got along well and were able to maintain their friendship after all these years; it took a genius to understand another one. Of course, they were prodigies. Kurata himself was meant to be the Meijin while Goto was a top doctor in the prominent Tenshindo University's Hospital. Hence, Goto became his doctor.
Despite having his best friend as his doctor, Kurata wasn't quite healthy. There was no need to ask, judging from his fat body, everyone could see that he was overweight.
Goto had lectured to him over and over again that high cholesterol caused coronary heart diseases, strokes, peripheral vascular diseases, diabetes and high blood pressure. However, no matter what he had said, no matter what he had instructed him to do, Kurata was still overweight. As a matter of fact, not only did his cholesterol level not go down, it went up and he also gained more weigh. Goto, who had been in despair, decided to try an alternative way and ask for help for his friend. That was how Fujiwara no Sai came into Kurata Atsushi's life.
Fujiwara no Sai was a Feng Sui master. Unlike Goto, he was truly beautiful. He was the type that no one would ever forget once they had seen his gorgeous face. Kurata wondered how someone like Goto got to know someone like Fujiwara as they seemed to come from different planets, and how in the world a Feng Shui consultant could give him an advice about dieting. It amazed him greatly that Fujiwara knew a lot about this matter, and he had to admit that the man did have a unique way of talking.
Fujiwara had diligently elucidated him that everything could be described in either Yin or Yang, including the body and food. The organs which were responsible for producing, circulating, and storing the energy in the body like the heart, lung and liver were Yin. The organs which were responsible for taking in food, absorbing nutrients, and discarding the excess, unusable by products like the stomach, small intestine and large intestine were Yang. Plants growing beneath the ground were Yang, while those that grew up in the air such as fruits were Yin. Egg, lamb, beef and chicken were Yang. Fish were Yin. Even cooking methods were divided into Yin and Yang. Deep-frying, roasting, stir-frying, or any other cooking techniques that made the food drier were Yang. Boiling (making the food become more watery) or eating raw foods were Yin. Kurata didn't how long he had been listening to his Yin-Yang Food theory that day. Fujiwara had carried on this talk forever. By the time the Feng Shui master had mentioned something like "Food with fast oxidation are Yang, but food with slow oxidation are Yin", he was completely lost. To be precise, he didn't even think that they spoke the same language anymore. However, Kurata, being a genius as he repeatedly self proclaimed, had managed to gather that the unbalance of Yin and Yang (high cholesterol, in his case) could cause mental, physical and charka (that was Fujiwara's exact words; chakra, like 'chakra' in Naruto) instability. It came as a surprise when Fujiwara had revealed that he had too much Yin. He loved eating all kinds of meat, considering what the man had told him; he was supposed to have too much Yang. Then, the Yin Yang expert had cleared his confusion; he had further explained that, by overeating people became Yin even if they ate Yang food all day. Plus, Kurata was overweight with surplus sugar and water, which was another proof that he was a Yin-overload type who tended to have high blood lipid number and high cholesterol due to excess sterol lipids in the body, but was liable to lack cellular oxidation and be in a "reduced" metabolic state (Honestly, until this day, Kurata still had no idea what the hell the long haired man had been babbling about).
First, Fujiwara had recommended him to follow the macrobiotic diet (his meals were supposed to consist of 60 percent of grains, 20 percent of vegetable, 10 percent of legumes, 5 percent of soup, 5 percent of seaweed to lower his cholesterol. Sadly, the prescription was too hard to remember, let alone follow; Kurata had given up after 2 days.
Fujiwara then had proposed him to go by the "Yang Therapy" in order to increase his Yang level. He had advised him to go to the sauna, avoid raw foods, fruits and sweet juices which were considered Yin food, and eat heating herbs like ginger and burdock, and other Yang food such as millet, buckwheat, vegetable growing beneath the ground like turnip, carrot, onion. Too bad Kurata hated the sauna and those foods and vegetables; he had quit the therapy after 3 days.
Fujiwara hadn't backed down though. He had brought him Chinese medicine called "Er Chen Tang". He had claimed that it would dry dampness, rectify his "Chi" and harmonize the center of the body. But then again, Kurata was too lazy to take 3 capsules 2 times a day. The Er Chen Tang plan had lasted only 4 days.
So, Fujiwara had come up with the last strategy-the easiest way to reduce cholesterol; drinking green tea. Fujiwara had got him a box of Ku Ding Green Tea from Hainan Island, China. Ku Ding Green Tea appeared to raise HDL (high-density-lipoprotein, a.k.a., good fat) and reduce the cholesterol level. Unfortunately, said green tea was so fucking bitter, and Kurata hated bitterness…he had stopped drinking it after 5 days.
At last, Fujiwara had thrown in the towel in surrender and handed his case back to Goto. When the young doctor had heard the story, he only sighed while making an expression as if he knew that things would turn out this way all along; he pat Fujiwara's shoulder and apologized to him for troubling him with the impossible task.
This was what had happened two years ago.
Although Fujiwara was no longer his diet advisor, they still remained friends. Just like Goto, Kurata found the man was funny and easy to get along. Not to mention that the Feng Shui consultant was quite a decent Go player. His style was somewhat familiar to Kurata but he couldn't put his finger on it, whenever he asked him who taught him the game, the mysterious Fujiwara only gave him that damn charismatic smile of his to avoid the question.
Seeing new customers coming, a waitress came and gave menus to both of them. After they gave her their orders, Fujiwara spoke up first, "Another loss, I guess."
Kurata frowned irritably, picked up his chopsticks before continuing to devour his Miso ramen. "Don't you have anything better to say to your friend whom you haven't met for a month?" He retorted with difficulty since there was a big piece of Chushu (sliced braised pork) in the mouth.
"He's right then," Goto laughed and turned to his striking friend. "You're sharp-eyed as always, Sai."
"It's not hard to guess," the Feng Shui specialist pointed at two empty ramen bowls next to Kurata with his precious fan that he carried everywhere. "Judging from these bowls and the one you're eating, I'll say that you are moodier than usual." He leaned over the table and looked straight into the wannabe Meijin's eyes. "An Te Son?"
Kurata's face twisted upon hearing that hateful name. "You're too perceptive for your own good."
"So, he's right again," Goto said with amusement.
"Tsk!" The 7 Dan cursed before stuffing noodles into the mouth.
Not long after Kurata had finished his third bowl, the waitress came and served them their ramen; clear Shio (salt) ramen for Fujiwara, light Shoyu (soy sauce broth) ramen for Goto and thick Tonkotsu (pork bone) ramen for him. Seeing him practically snatch his ramen bowl from the young waitress, Goto chuckled lightheartedly. "No one is gonna steal it away from you, you know."
Pretending not to hear it, the Go pro started wolfing down his fourth bowl.
The Feng Shui guru made a face at the sight. "I can't say that I approve your choice of food today. You are Yin-excess type, and boiling dish like ramen is Yin food, I'm sure I've told you before. It will only add more Yin in your system causing your balance to be even more-"
"Ha! You're just saying that because you don't like ramen," Kurata cut him off, lifted his bowl up and gulped down the soup. "You prefer those high class French foods, eating with fork and knife to lowly ramen, don't you?"
"Now, now, At-chan, don't bully Sai." Speaking as if his 25 year old friend was a 5 year old child, the blithe doctor waved his hand gesturing him to calm down. He reached out to get a pair of disposable chopsticks from a box on the table, spilt them evenly and commenced eating. "I don't get it. What's the big deal? It's not like this is the first time you've lost anyway?"
"Excuse me?" the 7 Dan's eyes narrowed dangerously. What did you just say?
"Well," Goto nipped the noodles with the wooden chopsticks, held the chopstick high in the air and blew on the noodles to cool it down, "didn't you lose to..err," he tried to summon up his memories but failed nonetheless, "that retired pro when you went to play at his house?" he said before putting the noodles into the mouth.
Kurata snapped back. "Getting beaten up by Touya-sensei and that bastard An Te Son are completely different!"
"I don't get it either," Fujiwara closed his fan as he stopped fanning his hot Shio ramen. "Why do you hate him so much? I saw his photo in a magazine. He looks like a good guy to me."
Kurata banged his fist on the table hard. "That's why I hate him!"
"Huh?" came from his puzzled friends.
"Good at Go! Good-looking! Good manners! Looks smart! Always flaunting his winning smile! Everyone worships the ground he steps on! Women fawn over him! Did you know that people actually queue up for his autograph!" He binged on his ramen while raving about his ace rival.
"Ano, At-chan, don't you think that sounds a bit….," Goto wanted to say "childish" but he was too afraid to voice it out loud.
The angry Go professional slammed his bowl on the table and spoke wildly, "But I'm telling you, that whole good guy appearance is just a façade! Do you know what he said when I lost to him in the Samsung Cup?" He didn't give his friends a chance to answer though. "He said, 'Are you in a slump, Kurata-san? What happened to An Te Son of Japan?'! He made it sounded like I tarnished his name by losing! Ha! As if I want to be An Te Son of Japan! See? A real good guy wouldn't say that! He's just pretending! And the worst thing is everyone is fooled by him! No one knows his true nature except me! Actually, that guy is very-"
"What harm is it to be known as the An Te Son of Japan?" It was Fujiwara who broke his tirade.
Kurata gave him a look as if saying "Are you serious? Do you even need to ask?".
"Seriously, why are you so furious?" The former diet coach seemed genuinely curious. "You two are mutually dependent anyway," he added.
"Huh?" Now it was Kurata's turn to be at a loss.
"Mutually dependent?" Goto repeated.
"Yeah," Fujiwara nodded in confirmation. "It's like Yin and Yang." He straightened himself and leaned forward to the table. "You see, both Yin and Yang cannot exist without each other. In order to define themselves, they can only do so by comparing themselves to each other. For example," he pointed at the doctor's Shoyu ramen, "if there is no such thing as hot, we won't know what cold is." He held his glass of ice green tea loosely and gently swirled the glass. The ice in the glass hit against each other and made a 'cling' sound.
Hmmp! Even if it's only a cheap glass of low grade green tea that was served in a ramen shop, he still manages to make it look like a fancy crystal glass in a host club! Kurata admitted that he was jealous…a bit.
Goto didn't even bother to waste the time to be envious about the other's look. He focused on his statement instead. "I see, you're saying that An Te Son-san is a reference point for At-Chan, right?" he concluded. He got it right, as expected from a genius doctor.
"Yup," Fujiwara put down the glass and talked to his chubby companion, "I mean, didn't you tell us yourself that An Te Son is really, really strong, that he won many many tournaments; both domestic and international, and that he's very popular? Being recalled as An Te Son of Japan means that the public, including An Te-Son himself, regards you in the same level as him, isn't that good?"
"Hmmp," the grumpy pro leaned back into his wooden chair, crossed his arms over the chest and pondered about it for a short moment, "I still want people to recognize him as the Kurata of Korea rather than recognize me as the An Te Son of Japan!" He wore a sulky expression while saying this. The idea of being acknowledged as the An Te Son of Japan disgusted him.
"Look at the bright side, those women who have never seen you will think that you are," Fujiwara chose his words carefully, "tall like An Te Son. You'll be popular amongst them too! Who knows maybe the next time you join a Go seminar, people will line up for your autograph too!" he spoke in a cheerful tone. In fact, he meant to say "attractive and has a nice body" but decided it was best not to say it because it could be interpreted that Kurata wasn't attractive and didn't have a nice body like the Korean (which was true anyway).
Normally, Kurata would have been quick enough to know that the Feng Shui advisor merely attempted to butter him up, but somehow, when he heard words like "really strong", "same level", "popular" and "women", he became drunken. "Line up for my autograph, huh?" he mused.
"That's right!" Goto and Fujiwara uttered in union.
"Imagine," Goto spoke with a soothing and allured voice, and his hand moved dramatically, "your fans surrounding you, shouting your name, asking desperately for your autograph!"
Kurata took the bait and dreamt of that day coming. "Sounds nice," He entirely forgot about his hostility and his loss. "Chop-chop!" He clapped his hands. "What are we waiting for? Let's eat before the ramen gets cold!"
Unbeknownst to him, the other two men exchanged a knowing look.
Not only did Kurata Atshushi have a cholesterol problem, he also had a serious "autograph" issue.
Another trouble. Great, just exactly what they wanted.
End of Chapter 2
Word count: 2818
AN: Poor Goto, poor Sai. Kurata is a difficult patient, isn't he?