17 March/Hikaru no Go/Spirited Away/Twice the River 16/?
Title: Twice the River
Series: Hikaru no Go/Spirited Away crossover
Day/Theme: 17 March/Faith is a series of calculations
It was Hikaru who found the stairs, though he had nearly given Sai a heart attack in the discovery.
The balcony was long, but it was not without end. The four of them had explored it, searching for a clue as to what they needed to do next, and Hikaru had nearly fallen off the edge of the balcony when the railing he was leaning against swung outwards, a gate into...open air?
"Sai!" Hikaru struggled against him, though not as fiercely as he might have, and Sai released him from the bear hug. "I'm all right!" he said, though Sai noticed that he was looking at Touya-kun when he said that.
Touya-kun's lips had been white, Sai realized, when Hikaru, having managed to grab on to a jutting part of the railing, continued hanging there until all three of them--Ogino-san was surprisingly strong--were able to drag him up.
"You never watch where you're going," Touya-kun said.
Hikaru blinked at the coldness in his voice. "That's not true," he retorted, his panic turning to anger.
"That's why your games are such a mess. You never consider the consequences of your action."
"What? Excuse me, not everyone can calculate like a robot like you!"
"That's why you make mistakes."
Sai watched as Hikaru seemed to puff himself up with indignation at that, and opened his mouth to speak, but just beyond he could see Ogino-san shaking her head.
"It just looks like a mistake to you because you can't appreciate the way I read games," Hikaru argued. "I know what is going on."
"Really?" Touya-kun asked. "Then what about just now? Wasn't that carelessness to the extreme?"
Hikaru made an extremely immature face at him, then suddenly, he grinned. "You were worried about me, weren't you?"
It seemed to Sai that a faint hint of colour appeared on Touya-kun's cheeks, but the light was too dim for him to be sure.
"I was not!" Touya-kun said.
"Ha! Admit it, you were scared!" Hikaru preened. "And--" he held up a finger. "Firstly, that was an accident and not Go, so you can't blame me for not expecting it."
Touya-kun looked embarrassed and furious all at once at Hikaru's gleeful tone, and Sai was tempted to smack him on the head with his fan before he remembered that he didn't currently have a fan.
"Second!" Hikaru held up another finger, "I grabbed a railing and managed to hold on, so that means I'm good at working out what to do in an emergency like that."
Touya-kun's eyes were narrowed now. Ogino-san simply looked amused.
"And third!" Three fingers now. "I saw something surprising that could be a way out of here."
Ogino-san's eyes widened at that.
"See!" Hikaru scrambled back to the part of the balcony where he had nearly fallen over (the opened gate was still there).
"Hikaru!" Touya-kun asked and then changed that to "Shindou!" as he caught up. Sai and Ogino-san followed.
"I saw this just now," Hikaru said, all trace of fear gone now. "I was wondering why there was a gate here, of all places, but there's a reason. Look!"
And leaning out carefully, Sai did see. They all did. A short distance below the gate--slightly more than the height of a man--was a stair landing, made of the same material as that which made up the balcony, and if the glimpse over the edge was right, there were stairs leading from it. It was a very small landing, though Sai judged that it was just enough for two people to stand comfortably, four if they were careful.
"It's too dangerous," Touya-kun said. "You would have to jump down to reach it. What if you miss?"
Hikaru shook his head. "You got to have faith, Touya," he said, still tilting his head to the side as though to gauge the distance downwards. "I was hanging there, and I was too scared, but if I had really let go, I would have just fallen on that, and I would have been safe. See? And I did catch a glimpse of the stairs. It leads all the way down," he informed them, and then asked, "Ogino-san?"
Sai looked too.
Ogino-san looked as though she was remembering something from a very long time ago, and her eyes were liquid bright.
Series: Hikaru no Go/Spirited Away crossover
Day/Theme: 17 March/Faith is a series of calculations
It was Hikaru who found the stairs, though he had nearly given Sai a heart attack in the discovery.
The balcony was long, but it was not without end. The four of them had explored it, searching for a clue as to what they needed to do next, and Hikaru had nearly fallen off the edge of the balcony when the railing he was leaning against swung outwards, a gate into...open air?
"Sai!" Hikaru struggled against him, though not as fiercely as he might have, and Sai released him from the bear hug. "I'm all right!" he said, though Sai noticed that he was looking at Touya-kun when he said that.
Touya-kun's lips had been white, Sai realized, when Hikaru, having managed to grab on to a jutting part of the railing, continued hanging there until all three of them--Ogino-san was surprisingly strong--were able to drag him up.
"You never watch where you're going," Touya-kun said.
Hikaru blinked at the coldness in his voice. "That's not true," he retorted, his panic turning to anger.
"That's why your games are such a mess. You never consider the consequences of your action."
"What? Excuse me, not everyone can calculate like a robot like you!"
"That's why you make mistakes."
Sai watched as Hikaru seemed to puff himself up with indignation at that, and opened his mouth to speak, but just beyond he could see Ogino-san shaking her head.
"It just looks like a mistake to you because you can't appreciate the way I read games," Hikaru argued. "I know what is going on."
"Really?" Touya-kun asked. "Then what about just now? Wasn't that carelessness to the extreme?"
Hikaru made an extremely immature face at him, then suddenly, he grinned. "You were worried about me, weren't you?"
It seemed to Sai that a faint hint of colour appeared on Touya-kun's cheeks, but the light was too dim for him to be sure.
"I was not!" Touya-kun said.
"Ha! Admit it, you were scared!" Hikaru preened. "And--" he held up a finger. "Firstly, that was an accident and not Go, so you can't blame me for not expecting it."
Touya-kun looked embarrassed and furious all at once at Hikaru's gleeful tone, and Sai was tempted to smack him on the head with his fan before he remembered that he didn't currently have a fan.
"Second!" Hikaru held up another finger, "I grabbed a railing and managed to hold on, so that means I'm good at working out what to do in an emergency like that."
Touya-kun's eyes were narrowed now. Ogino-san simply looked amused.
"And third!" Three fingers now. "I saw something surprising that could be a way out of here."
Ogino-san's eyes widened at that.
"See!" Hikaru scrambled back to the part of the balcony where he had nearly fallen over (the opened gate was still there).
"Hikaru!" Touya-kun asked and then changed that to "Shindou!" as he caught up. Sai and Ogino-san followed.
"I saw this just now," Hikaru said, all trace of fear gone now. "I was wondering why there was a gate here, of all places, but there's a reason. Look!"
And leaning out carefully, Sai did see. They all did. A short distance below the gate--slightly more than the height of a man--was a stair landing, made of the same material as that which made up the balcony, and if the glimpse over the edge was right, there were stairs leading from it. It was a very small landing, though Sai judged that it was just enough for two people to stand comfortably, four if they were careful.
"It's too dangerous," Touya-kun said. "You would have to jump down to reach it. What if you miss?"
Hikaru shook his head. "You got to have faith, Touya," he said, still tilting his head to the side as though to gauge the distance downwards. "I was hanging there, and I was too scared, but if I had really let go, I would have just fallen on that, and I would have been safe. See? And I did catch a glimpse of the stairs. It leads all the way down," he informed them, and then asked, "Ogino-san?"
Sai looked too.
Ogino-san looked as though she was remembering something from a very long time ago, and her eyes were liquid bright.