Title: New Wave, Old Wave
Author:
vfic83Rating: G
Fandom: Hikaru No Go
Pairings: VERY minor Hikaru/Akira mentioned, but mostly gen
Length: 552 words
Disclaimer: Hikaru No Go isn't mine, and I don't make any money from this.
Spoilers: None
Summary: On Hikaru's 60th birthday, the "new" wave reflects on their youth. And Kuwabara Honinbou. Little slice of life ficlet
Warnings: Old men, minor violence with a cane. :P
A/N: This was one of four fics I was working on for the latest round of
blind_go... I was too busy flailing about this to be able to get it to the minimum word count at the time. ^_^;;;
---
For Hikaru's 60th birthday, Waya got him a cane. Hikaru proceeded to hit him with it until Waya told him that he was a fragile old man and if Hikaru broke anything, he would kick his ass.
"Two seconds ago you were fragile," Hikaru pointed out, though he did, admittedly, put the weapon down.
"Yeah, well. It comes and goes. What can you do," Waya grinned. "So. You're officially old. How does it feel?"
"I don't really feel that old. It's kind of weird, you know? You never think about this when you're younger, like you're going to be fifteen or twenty or whatever forever."
"The New Wave stuff didn't help with that, either," Isumi added. "All of the older pros talking about how young we were and the future of Go all the time."
"Mostly Kuwabara Honinbou," Waya said.
Hikaru snorted. "Everybody was young compared to Kuwabara Honinbou. Besides. They all bought into it. WE bought into it."
"And now the New Wave is the Old Wave," Touya said softly.
"That's a way of putting it," Isumi answered.
"The thing is, there's not really so much of a new wave," Waya said. "I mean, all the new pros are so freaking boring."
"Careful, you're going to start sounding like Ku-"
"Oh, shut up," Waya rolled his eyes at Isumi, smacking him lightly on the shoulder. "I do not."
"Actually, you kinda do."
"Shindou, just because it's your birthday, that doesn't mean I won't beat the crap out of you."
"I think it's the way it should be," Touya said suddenly. "Talent waxes and wanes over the years. There was a considerable gap between the height of my father's generation of Go and ours. Sure, in between you had players like Ogata Juudan, but it just didn't have the same spark."
"Was?" Hikaru asked. "You make it sound like we're done. I don't know about you, but I haven't found the Hand of God yet. I'm not done."
"Of course not. We're older now, we're not dead."
"Oh god, they're going to get all mushy now. Isn't the honeymoon period over yet? Like... forty years ago?"
Hikaru kicked Waya under the table, hard. He smiled when Waya howled.
"Do I even want to know?" Touya asked.
Isumi sighed. "Probably not."
"Okay, good."
"So are we having that cake sometime today or what?" Hikaru asked. He'd been waiting rather patiently, after all... for him, anyway.
"It's amazing you're not 400 pounds," Waya said.
"Or diabetic," Isumi added.
Waya scowled. "Shut up."
"Don't worry, Waya, I'll have your share of cake," Hikaru grinned. This time it was Waya kicking Hikaru under the table, spiteful old man that he was. Still, they got out the black and white cake and cut it up, including the tiniest sliver for Waya.
"Any regrets?" Isumi asked Hikaru.
"Just one," Hikaru said softly. It had been many years, but he still thought about Sai every day. Touya took his hand and gave it a squeeze, silently supportive. They'd had that discussion a long time ago.
"One, hmm?"
"Yep," he nodded. He thought quickly. "Touya beating me to a title."
They all laughed, including Touya, who gave him a look that clearly said that Hikaru hadn't fooled him. Hikaru shrugged. He hadn't been trying to.
"I've never gotten Honinbou from you, though," Touya said.
"You'll have to pry that one from my cold, dead hands."
Waya grinned. "Now who sounds like Kuwabara Honinbou?"
This time, Hikaru didn't feel bad about hitting Waya with the cane.