Disconnect (4/4) [Yeong-ha/Yashiro, Shindou/Touya, Hong Su-yeong ; NC-17]
Title: Disconnect (4/4)
Author: stillskies
Fandom: Hikaru no Go
Rating: NC-17 because of Part 1
Genre: Dark, twisted Romance
Characters/Pairing: Yeong-ha/Yashiro, Shindou/Touya, Hong Su-yeong
Wordcount: 2,704
Disclaimer: Not mine. Obata-sensei and Hotta-sensei own all. I'm just playing with them. ♥
A/N: This was originally supposed to be a short one-shot. Once I reached 10,000 words, the idea of a one-shot kind of got thrown out the window. It is now a four-shot which is all being posted at once because my writing doesn't have a chaptered feel to it. There is porn within, so be warned.
In this section, Yashiro and Yeong-ha sort of start to figure it out. Yashiro graduates and his parents show up again. Shindou figures it out and makes a mess of things because he's Shindou.
He wants to say that things don't change, but that would be a lie.
He now has Ko's e-mail address, even though he hasn't actually written to him. It's in his address book, and whenever he opens his phone, it mocks him. Whenever Ko is in Japan, they no longer bother with the bars and the hotel rooms.
Ko still has a hotel room, but, as far as Kiyoharu can tell, he doesn't sleep there.
They still don't talk about anything and that suits Kiyoharu just fine; too much change is never good, and he doesn't want Ko thinking that Kiyoharu might want a relationship, because Kiyoharu doesn't.
At least, he thinks he doesn’t.
Shindou notices something is different and Kiyoharu is just waiting for Shindou to say something, anything really. He figures the sooner Shindou figures it out, the better, even though he's not exactly sure what there is for Shindou to figure out.
•
Between the tournaments, league matches and oteai matches, Kiyoharu barely manages to get his theses in on time.
He's not surprised when he gets full marks on his Korean thesis - after all, Hong helped him out every step of the way, and then read over it for any stupid mistakes which Kiyoharu was known to make. What does surprise him is getting full marks on his law thesis.
"You have some very interesting ideas, Yashiro-kun," his professor tells him the last day of class. "It's a shame you won't consider going into trade law."
Kiyoharu bows and leaves the classroom.
He doesn't bother to turn around and look back.
•
He invites the Morishita study group as well as the Touya study group to his graduation. After all, he spends equal time between the two, and both groups are more supportive than his parents.
He knows that his parents are there, somewhere in the crowd. Part of him wants to find them, to say, 'Look, I did what you wanted. Why can't you be proud of me?' The other part wants to ignore them like they ignore him. What will happen, he knows, is some mix of the two.
The announcer calls his name and Kiyoharu stands. He walks across the stage as the man announces his programs. He bows to the woman who hands him his certificate and exits the stage.
Shindou and Touya are waiting for him.
•
Everyone is congratulating him and Waya suggests they all go out for drinks to celebrate. Kiyoharu is about to agree when he hears a familiar voice calling his name.
Shindou is looking behind Kiyoharu with an odd expression.
Kiyoharu turns around and faces his father.
"Kiyoharu."
"Father." There isn't the slightest trace of pride on his father's face. He knows it shouldn't surprise him, but it still hurts.
"You will join your mother and me for dinner." There is no room for arguments.
Kiyoharu looks at the people behind him and smiles weakly. "Sorry, guys," he says.
Saeki 8-dan steps forward and smiles. "No problem. We'll celebrate later. You should spend some time with your family."
Everyone else murmurs their agreement except for Shindou and Touya.
"I'll catch up with you guys later," Kiyoharu tells them and Shindou nods.
•
The restaurant his father chooses is expensive. The food tastes like cardboard, and no one is smiling. Kiyoharu tries to ignore all of that and focuses on his water.
"Have you decided?" his father asks as he cuts his filet mignon.
Kiyoharu stares at the glass of water harder. "No."
His mother remains quiet and pours his father another glass of wine.
"That's fine," his father says. "We have picked some firms in Tokyo. You will meet with them tomorrow."
Kiyoharu raises his eyes from the water glass and shakes his head. "No."
His father narrows his eyes. "What do you mean no?"
"I mean no. I will not meet with them. I have a job - one that I'm good at."
Kiyoharu's father snorts derisively. "Go will get you nowhere, Kiyoharu. You will meet with the firms tomorrow."
There is a note of finality in his father's voice that makes something in Kiyoharu snap. He stands and places his napkin on the table. "I will not."
"Sit down, Kiyoharu."
"No," Kiyoharu says, shaking his head. "Not until you understand."
"I will not argue with a child, Kiyoharu," his father says quietly. "You will do as you are told, or you will no longer be a part of this family."
Kiyoharu laughs bitterly. "Fine," he says and puts his jacket back on. "It's not like I was a part of it anyway."
•
When he gets home, there is an e-mail waiting for him from Ko.
Congratulations, Yashiro.
He wonders what that says about him that Ko says congratulations when his own parents won't.
•
He's awakened the next morning by loud knocking on his door. He rolls out of bed and tosses on a pair of shorts and a tank top and goes to answer it.
Shindou is standing outside with an obnoxiously cheerful grin. Touya is standing beside him with containers that Kiyoharu hopes contain food.
He moves aside to let them in.
Touya excuses himself to make tea and heat up whatever is in the containers. Kiyoharu doesn't argue.
Shindou sits down at the table and gives Kiyoharu an assessing look. "So."
Kiyoharu yawns. "What?"
"How did it go?"
He snorts. "How do you think?"
Shindou shakes his head. "Seriously? You go through all of that and they're still not happy?"
Kiyoharu shrugs. "I've come to the conclusion that nothing I do will make them happy."
"I know," Shindou says suddenly. "We should get away for a little while. Your schedule is light for the next few weeks, right? We should go to Hokkaido."
Kiyoharu blinks. "That sounds fun and all, but I'm going to Korea tomorrow."
Now it's Shindou's turn to blink. "Korea."
Kiyoharu nods. "I told Hong I'd come visit for something other than Go once I was finished with school."
Shindou levels a serious gaze on Kiyoharu. "Are you sure there's nothing going on between you and Su-yeong?"
It's a struggle to keep from banging Shindou's head against the table. "Are you still stuck on that?"
"Well, you go to Korea a lot," Shindou explains. "And you even learned Korean even though Su-yeong speaks Japanese. And you and Su-yeong seem pretty close."
"You are so focusing on the wrong Korean," Kiyoharu mutters.
He can see the exact moment things click into place in Shindou's head.
"Ko Yeong-ha." Shindou's face is the perfect picture of absolute horror that Kiyoharu almost laughs.
Touya chooses this moment to walk into the room, carrying a tray with three teacups. He gives Shindou an incredulous look. "Did you just figure that out? Honestly, Shindou."
Shindou narrows his eyes and fixes Touya with an accusing glare. "You knew."
Touya is passing out the teacups, which Kiyoharu takes gratefully. "Of course I knew, Shindou," Touya says, spooning sugar into his own cup. "You'd have to be blind not to know."
Shindou is looking back and forth between Touya and Kiyoharu. "Am I the only one who didn't know?"
Kiyoharu shrugs. "To be fair, I don't even know what's going on."
Shindou spends the rest of the meal in silence, going back and forth between disbelief and accusatory stares.
Touya tells Kiyoharu to ignore it, which Kiyoharu thinks is easier said than done.
•
He sleeps on the plane. He doesn't even realize they've landed until the flight attendant shakes him awake and informs him that they've arrived and he needs to disembark.
He grabs his carry-on and quickly makes his way off the plane. He rubs his forehead and decides that this is going to be a long, long trip.
Hong is waiting for him in the terminal. Kiyoharu is about to raise his hand in greeting when he notices Ko standing off to the side. Kiyoharu slows down. Hong notices and Kiyoharu swears he can hear Hong sigh.
"How was the flight?" Hong asks as soon as Kiyoharu is close enough to hear him. Ko is watching him and Kiyoharu figures that as long as Ko doesn't say anything, Kiyoharu doesn't have to say anything.
"It was fine," Kiyoharu says, heading towards baggage claim. He doesn't mention that he fell asleep on the plane - that's nothing new. At this point, he figures that Hong expects it.
Hong nods his head and doesn't say anything.
•
He spends his first day in Korea sleeping. Hong has a game that day, and while Kiyoharu wants to watch, his exhausted body clearly has other ideas; he wishes Hong good luck and crawls back into the guest bed.
When he wakes up, it's dark outside and he feels worse than when he went to sleep. He rolls out of the bed and into the kitchen. There is a cup of tea on the counter waiting for him.
He frowns and looks around, but no one is there. He's about to shrug it off when he sees notices the light under the bathroom door is lit. Deciding that Hong will be right out, Kiyoharu seats himself at the table and waits.
The door opens and Ko steps out.
It probably says something about Kiyoharu's frame of mind that he isn't even surprised. Instead, he waits until Ko sits at the table before he says anything.
"Thank you," Kiyoharu says and derives a little satisfaction from the confused look that briefly flashes across Ko's face.
It doesn't last long, of course. Ko folds his hands on the table and looks at Kiyoharu. "For what?"
Kiyoharu shrugs. "The e-mail a while ago."
"Oh? So you did receive it," Ko says. "I wasn't sure since there was no reply."
"I didn't get the chance," Kiyoharu says nonchalantly. "There were other things going on."
He's not sure why he says that because he has no intention of explaining it, but he finds that he's curious to see if Ko asks.
Ko, however, doesn't rise to the bait. "I would imagine so," he says instead.
They sit in silence for a few moments. Kiyoharu is struggling to find a topic of conversation when he realizes that this is probably the most that they've said to each other. He's suddenly very uncomfortable; Ko, predictably, looks perfectly at ease.
"Is the tea sweet enough?" Ko asks and Kiyoharu blinks. He had forgotten about the tea. He takes another sip and nods. "I wasn't sure how much sugar to put in," Ko explains, "but considering the vile things you drink, I assumed the sweeter the better."
There isn't anything to say to that, so Kiyoharu doesn't try. He wants to ask how Ko even knows what he drinks, but he supposes that maybe Ko has been paying more attention than Kiyoharu originally thought.
•
When Hong comes back, hands full of take out, Kiyoharu and Ko are sitting at the table arguing about Touya Kouyo's latest game on the
amateur circuit.
"I see you two are getting along," Hong says, and Kiyoharu rolls his eyes.
Before Kiyoharu can say anything, Ko cuts in. "It is generally polite to speak in a language that everyone understands when in a group."
It's Hong's turn to roll his eyes and Kiyoharu laughs.
By the time Ko leaves, Kiyoharu is almost sad to see him go.
•
He's just finished a pick-up game when he sees Ko leaning against the wall. He finishes up the post-game discussion, returns the black stones to the goke and walks over to where Ko is standing.
"Where's Hong?" Kiyoharu asks, mostly because he's not really sure how to be alone with Ko, and Hong is safe.
Ko shrugs. "I don't know."
"Oh."
He's really beginning to hate the awkward silences, but he can't seem to break the habit of not saying anything. He's about to ask a really inane question when Ko asks him to lunch.
He says yes without even thinking about it.
•
The restaurant is nice. There is a mix of people, and neither of them look out of place, which is a huge feat considering Ko and his designer slacks and button ups and Kiyoharu's jeans and t-shirts. He's not surprised when they get a table immediately - Ko seems to be ridiculously popular everywhere.
Kiyoharu picks up the menu and frowns. "It's all noodle dishes."
There is an amused smile on Ko's face. "I heard you like noodles."
"Have you been stalking me?" The question is only half serious.
"I've been paying attention."
Kiyoharu doesn't have anything to say to that.
The server appears at the table, and they order their food. The server leaves, promising to have their food out as soon as possible, and they are left alone again.
"I pay attention," Kiyoharu finally says.
Ko raises an eyebrow. "Is that so?"
Kiyoharu nods.
"And?"
Kiyoharu is at a loss, because he can't say that the only thing he's really noticed are the people Ko may or may not have slept with. It's none of his business, and there's no real reason to bring it up now, anyway.
"What do you want from me, Ko?"
"It depends," Ko says seriously. He's looking Kiyoharu in the eye and Kiyoharu wants to squirm. Instead, he stares right back.
"On what?"
"On what you're willing to give."
•
He spends the next day thinking.
He tries to explain to Hong all the ways that this is a bad idea, but Hong doesn't seem to care.
"Will it make you happy?" Hong seems to think this is the only question that matters.
Kiyoharu isn't quite sure that Hong is wrong.
•
Vacations, Kiyoharu decides, never last as long as they should.
He's at the airport with Hong and Ko. Hong is watching them both with satisfaction, and Kiyoharu has seen enough of that smug look the past few days to be almost happy that he's leaving.
Ko steps forward and places a hand briefly on Kiyoharu's hip. "Next month."
Kiyoharu takes a quick breath before nodding. "E-mail me when you book your flight."
•
He shows up early to his oteai match to find Shindou sitting in the game hall.
"Yo."
Shindou looks up and nods. "How was Korea?"
Kiyoharu shrugs and sits down. "It was fine. Played some pick-up games."
Shindou grins. "Got your ass kicked?"
He flips Shindou off. "I managed to win a few times."
"Against the six year olds, you mean."
Kiyoharu elbows Shindou in the side. "You're a real ass. I don't know how Touya puts up with you."
Shindou shrugs. "The same way Ko puts up with you, I guess."
He eyes Shindou warily.
Shindou is looking up at the ceiling with a serious look on his face. "Did you guys get whatever it is straightened out?"
It's Kiyoharu's turn to shrug. "We'll see. He's coming to Japan next month."
Shindou nods. "I guess that's good."
It's not an apology, but Kiyoharu supposes that this is as good as he's getting and decides to let it go. "I think it is."
"Then that's all that matters, right?"
•
They e-mail each other when they have the time, which seems to be more often as it gets closer to Ko's flight.
He's at Waya's study group when his phone chimes. He pulls it out of his pocket and quickly reads the e-mail.
Shindou leans over and starts trying to read it, as well, until Touya pulls the back of his collar and drags Shindou away from Kiyoharu's phone.
Kiyoharu stands and pockets his phone. "Sorry guys," he says as he grabs his messenger bag. "I've got some stuff to take care of."
"More like some thing," he hears Shindou mutter. Touya nudges Shindou in the ribs and Shindou yelps. Kiyoharu rolls his eyes.
"All right," Waya says, giving Shindou a curious look. "See you."
Kiyoharu says bye to everyone and leaves.
•
He meets Ko in the terminal.
"Did you check a bag?" Kiyoharu asks. He's smiling and he knows it must look ridiculous, but he's kind of hopeful and doesn't care.
Ko shakes his head. The fact that Ko is smiling as well makes him feel a little better.
"Then let's go."
Part 1 │ Part 2 │ Part 3
Author: stillskies
Fandom: Hikaru no Go
Rating: NC-17 because of Part 1
Genre: Dark, twisted Romance
Characters/Pairing: Yeong-ha/Yashiro, Shindou/Touya, Hong Su-yeong
Wordcount: 2,704
Disclaimer: Not mine. Obata-sensei and Hotta-sensei own all. I'm just playing with them. ♥
A/N: This was originally supposed to be a short one-shot. Once I reached 10,000 words, the idea of a one-shot kind of got thrown out the window. It is now a four-shot which is all being posted at once because my writing doesn't have a chaptered feel to it. There is porn within, so be warned.
In this section, Yashiro and Yeong-ha sort of start to figure it out. Yashiro graduates and his parents show up again. Shindou figures it out and makes a mess of things because he's Shindou.
He wants to say that things don't change, but that would be a lie.
He now has Ko's e-mail address, even though he hasn't actually written to him. It's in his address book, and whenever he opens his phone, it mocks him. Whenever Ko is in Japan, they no longer bother with the bars and the hotel rooms.
Ko still has a hotel room, but, as far as Kiyoharu can tell, he doesn't sleep there.
They still don't talk about anything and that suits Kiyoharu just fine; too much change is never good, and he doesn't want Ko thinking that Kiyoharu might want a relationship, because Kiyoharu doesn't.
At least, he thinks he doesn’t.
Shindou notices something is different and Kiyoharu is just waiting for Shindou to say something, anything really. He figures the sooner Shindou figures it out, the better, even though he's not exactly sure what there is for Shindou to figure out.
•
Between the tournaments, league matches and oteai matches, Kiyoharu barely manages to get his theses in on time.
He's not surprised when he gets full marks on his Korean thesis - after all, Hong helped him out every step of the way, and then read over it for any stupid mistakes which Kiyoharu was known to make. What does surprise him is getting full marks on his law thesis.
"You have some very interesting ideas, Yashiro-kun," his professor tells him the last day of class. "It's a shame you won't consider going into trade law."
Kiyoharu bows and leaves the classroom.
He doesn't bother to turn around and look back.
•
He invites the Morishita study group as well as the Touya study group to his graduation. After all, he spends equal time between the two, and both groups are more supportive than his parents.
He knows that his parents are there, somewhere in the crowd. Part of him wants to find them, to say, 'Look, I did what you wanted. Why can't you be proud of me?' The other part wants to ignore them like they ignore him. What will happen, he knows, is some mix of the two.
The announcer calls his name and Kiyoharu stands. He walks across the stage as the man announces his programs. He bows to the woman who hands him his certificate and exits the stage.
Shindou and Touya are waiting for him.
•
Everyone is congratulating him and Waya suggests they all go out for drinks to celebrate. Kiyoharu is about to agree when he hears a familiar voice calling his name.
Shindou is looking behind Kiyoharu with an odd expression.
Kiyoharu turns around and faces his father.
"Kiyoharu."
"Father." There isn't the slightest trace of pride on his father's face. He knows it shouldn't surprise him, but it still hurts.
"You will join your mother and me for dinner." There is no room for arguments.
Kiyoharu looks at the people behind him and smiles weakly. "Sorry, guys," he says.
Saeki 8-dan steps forward and smiles. "No problem. We'll celebrate later. You should spend some time with your family."
Everyone else murmurs their agreement except for Shindou and Touya.
"I'll catch up with you guys later," Kiyoharu tells them and Shindou nods.
•
The restaurant his father chooses is expensive. The food tastes like cardboard, and no one is smiling. Kiyoharu tries to ignore all of that and focuses on his water.
"Have you decided?" his father asks as he cuts his filet mignon.
Kiyoharu stares at the glass of water harder. "No."
His mother remains quiet and pours his father another glass of wine.
"That's fine," his father says. "We have picked some firms in Tokyo. You will meet with them tomorrow."
Kiyoharu raises his eyes from the water glass and shakes his head. "No."
His father narrows his eyes. "What do you mean no?"
"I mean no. I will not meet with them. I have a job - one that I'm good at."
Kiyoharu's father snorts derisively. "Go will get you nowhere, Kiyoharu. You will meet with the firms tomorrow."
There is a note of finality in his father's voice that makes something in Kiyoharu snap. He stands and places his napkin on the table. "I will not."
"Sit down, Kiyoharu."
"No," Kiyoharu says, shaking his head. "Not until you understand."
"I will not argue with a child, Kiyoharu," his father says quietly. "You will do as you are told, or you will no longer be a part of this family."
Kiyoharu laughs bitterly. "Fine," he says and puts his jacket back on. "It's not like I was a part of it anyway."
•
When he gets home, there is an e-mail waiting for him from Ko.
Congratulations, Yashiro.
He wonders what that says about him that Ko says congratulations when his own parents won't.
•
He's awakened the next morning by loud knocking on his door. He rolls out of bed and tosses on a pair of shorts and a tank top and goes to answer it.
Shindou is standing outside with an obnoxiously cheerful grin. Touya is standing beside him with containers that Kiyoharu hopes contain food.
He moves aside to let them in.
Touya excuses himself to make tea and heat up whatever is in the containers. Kiyoharu doesn't argue.
Shindou sits down at the table and gives Kiyoharu an assessing look. "So."
Kiyoharu yawns. "What?"
"How did it go?"
He snorts. "How do you think?"
Shindou shakes his head. "Seriously? You go through all of that and they're still not happy?"
Kiyoharu shrugs. "I've come to the conclusion that nothing I do will make them happy."
"I know," Shindou says suddenly. "We should get away for a little while. Your schedule is light for the next few weeks, right? We should go to Hokkaido."
Kiyoharu blinks. "That sounds fun and all, but I'm going to Korea tomorrow."
Now it's Shindou's turn to blink. "Korea."
Kiyoharu nods. "I told Hong I'd come visit for something other than Go once I was finished with school."
Shindou levels a serious gaze on Kiyoharu. "Are you sure there's nothing going on between you and Su-yeong?"
It's a struggle to keep from banging Shindou's head against the table. "Are you still stuck on that?"
"Well, you go to Korea a lot," Shindou explains. "And you even learned Korean even though Su-yeong speaks Japanese. And you and Su-yeong seem pretty close."
"You are so focusing on the wrong Korean," Kiyoharu mutters.
He can see the exact moment things click into place in Shindou's head.
"Ko Yeong-ha." Shindou's face is the perfect picture of absolute horror that Kiyoharu almost laughs.
Touya chooses this moment to walk into the room, carrying a tray with three teacups. He gives Shindou an incredulous look. "Did you just figure that out? Honestly, Shindou."
Shindou narrows his eyes and fixes Touya with an accusing glare. "You knew."
Touya is passing out the teacups, which Kiyoharu takes gratefully. "Of course I knew, Shindou," Touya says, spooning sugar into his own cup. "You'd have to be blind not to know."
Shindou is looking back and forth between Touya and Kiyoharu. "Am I the only one who didn't know?"
Kiyoharu shrugs. "To be fair, I don't even know what's going on."
Shindou spends the rest of the meal in silence, going back and forth between disbelief and accusatory stares.
Touya tells Kiyoharu to ignore it, which Kiyoharu thinks is easier said than done.
•
He sleeps on the plane. He doesn't even realize they've landed until the flight attendant shakes him awake and informs him that they've arrived and he needs to disembark.
He grabs his carry-on and quickly makes his way off the plane. He rubs his forehead and decides that this is going to be a long, long trip.
Hong is waiting for him in the terminal. Kiyoharu is about to raise his hand in greeting when he notices Ko standing off to the side. Kiyoharu slows down. Hong notices and Kiyoharu swears he can hear Hong sigh.
"How was the flight?" Hong asks as soon as Kiyoharu is close enough to hear him. Ko is watching him and Kiyoharu figures that as long as Ko doesn't say anything, Kiyoharu doesn't have to say anything.
"It was fine," Kiyoharu says, heading towards baggage claim. He doesn't mention that he fell asleep on the plane - that's nothing new. At this point, he figures that Hong expects it.
Hong nods his head and doesn't say anything.
•
He spends his first day in Korea sleeping. Hong has a game that day, and while Kiyoharu wants to watch, his exhausted body clearly has other ideas; he wishes Hong good luck and crawls back into the guest bed.
When he wakes up, it's dark outside and he feels worse than when he went to sleep. He rolls out of the bed and into the kitchen. There is a cup of tea on the counter waiting for him.
He frowns and looks around, but no one is there. He's about to shrug it off when he sees notices the light under the bathroom door is lit. Deciding that Hong will be right out, Kiyoharu seats himself at the table and waits.
The door opens and Ko steps out.
It probably says something about Kiyoharu's frame of mind that he isn't even surprised. Instead, he waits until Ko sits at the table before he says anything.
"Thank you," Kiyoharu says and derives a little satisfaction from the confused look that briefly flashes across Ko's face.
It doesn't last long, of course. Ko folds his hands on the table and looks at Kiyoharu. "For what?"
Kiyoharu shrugs. "The e-mail a while ago."
"Oh? So you did receive it," Ko says. "I wasn't sure since there was no reply."
"I didn't get the chance," Kiyoharu says nonchalantly. "There were other things going on."
He's not sure why he says that because he has no intention of explaining it, but he finds that he's curious to see if Ko asks.
Ko, however, doesn't rise to the bait. "I would imagine so," he says instead.
They sit in silence for a few moments. Kiyoharu is struggling to find a topic of conversation when he realizes that this is probably the most that they've said to each other. He's suddenly very uncomfortable; Ko, predictably, looks perfectly at ease.
"Is the tea sweet enough?" Ko asks and Kiyoharu blinks. He had forgotten about the tea. He takes another sip and nods. "I wasn't sure how much sugar to put in," Ko explains, "but considering the vile things you drink, I assumed the sweeter the better."
There isn't anything to say to that, so Kiyoharu doesn't try. He wants to ask how Ko even knows what he drinks, but he supposes that maybe Ko has been paying more attention than Kiyoharu originally thought.
•
When Hong comes back, hands full of take out, Kiyoharu and Ko are sitting at the table arguing about Touya Kouyo's latest game on the
amateur circuit.
"I see you two are getting along," Hong says, and Kiyoharu rolls his eyes.
Before Kiyoharu can say anything, Ko cuts in. "It is generally polite to speak in a language that everyone understands when in a group."
It's Hong's turn to roll his eyes and Kiyoharu laughs.
By the time Ko leaves, Kiyoharu is almost sad to see him go.
•
He's just finished a pick-up game when he sees Ko leaning against the wall. He finishes up the post-game discussion, returns the black stones to the goke and walks over to where Ko is standing.
"Where's Hong?" Kiyoharu asks, mostly because he's not really sure how to be alone with Ko, and Hong is safe.
Ko shrugs. "I don't know."
"Oh."
He's really beginning to hate the awkward silences, but he can't seem to break the habit of not saying anything. He's about to ask a really inane question when Ko asks him to lunch.
He says yes without even thinking about it.
•
The restaurant is nice. There is a mix of people, and neither of them look out of place, which is a huge feat considering Ko and his designer slacks and button ups and Kiyoharu's jeans and t-shirts. He's not surprised when they get a table immediately - Ko seems to be ridiculously popular everywhere.
Kiyoharu picks up the menu and frowns. "It's all noodle dishes."
There is an amused smile on Ko's face. "I heard you like noodles."
"Have you been stalking me?" The question is only half serious.
"I've been paying attention."
Kiyoharu doesn't have anything to say to that.
The server appears at the table, and they order their food. The server leaves, promising to have their food out as soon as possible, and they are left alone again.
"I pay attention," Kiyoharu finally says.
Ko raises an eyebrow. "Is that so?"
Kiyoharu nods.
"And?"
Kiyoharu is at a loss, because he can't say that the only thing he's really noticed are the people Ko may or may not have slept with. It's none of his business, and there's no real reason to bring it up now, anyway.
"What do you want from me, Ko?"
"It depends," Ko says seriously. He's looking Kiyoharu in the eye and Kiyoharu wants to squirm. Instead, he stares right back.
"On what?"
"On what you're willing to give."
•
He spends the next day thinking.
He tries to explain to Hong all the ways that this is a bad idea, but Hong doesn't seem to care.
"Will it make you happy?" Hong seems to think this is the only question that matters.
Kiyoharu isn't quite sure that Hong is wrong.
•
Vacations, Kiyoharu decides, never last as long as they should.
He's at the airport with Hong and Ko. Hong is watching them both with satisfaction, and Kiyoharu has seen enough of that smug look the past few days to be almost happy that he's leaving.
Ko steps forward and places a hand briefly on Kiyoharu's hip. "Next month."
Kiyoharu takes a quick breath before nodding. "E-mail me when you book your flight."
•
He shows up early to his oteai match to find Shindou sitting in the game hall.
"Yo."
Shindou looks up and nods. "How was Korea?"
Kiyoharu shrugs and sits down. "It was fine. Played some pick-up games."
Shindou grins. "Got your ass kicked?"
He flips Shindou off. "I managed to win a few times."
"Against the six year olds, you mean."
Kiyoharu elbows Shindou in the side. "You're a real ass. I don't know how Touya puts up with you."
Shindou shrugs. "The same way Ko puts up with you, I guess."
He eyes Shindou warily.
Shindou is looking up at the ceiling with a serious look on his face. "Did you guys get whatever it is straightened out?"
It's Kiyoharu's turn to shrug. "We'll see. He's coming to Japan next month."
Shindou nods. "I guess that's good."
It's not an apology, but Kiyoharu supposes that this is as good as he's getting and decides to let it go. "I think it is."
"Then that's all that matters, right?"
•
They e-mail each other when they have the time, which seems to be more often as it gets closer to Ko's flight.
He's at Waya's study group when his phone chimes. He pulls it out of his pocket and quickly reads the e-mail.
Shindou leans over and starts trying to read it, as well, until Touya pulls the back of his collar and drags Shindou away from Kiyoharu's phone.
Kiyoharu stands and pockets his phone. "Sorry guys," he says as he grabs his messenger bag. "I've got some stuff to take care of."
"More like some thing," he hears Shindou mutter. Touya nudges Shindou in the ribs and Shindou yelps. Kiyoharu rolls his eyes.
"All right," Waya says, giving Shindou a curious look. "See you."
Kiyoharu says bye to everyone and leaves.
•
He meets Ko in the terminal.
"Did you check a bag?" Kiyoharu asks. He's smiling and he knows it must look ridiculous, but he's kind of hopeful and doesn't care.
Ko shakes his head. The fact that Ko is smiling as well makes him feel a little better.
"Then let's go."
Part 1 │ Part 2 │ Part 3