[Fic] Pearly Gates 1/? (Hikaru no Go)
Title: Pearly Gates 1/?
Characters: Ogata, Kuwabara, Isumi
Words/Rating: 900+ words / PG
Summary: Ogata finally arrives at the great go salon in the sky.
Author's Notes: I blame the lack of sleep and the need to produce something to make up for all the whining I've done. Dedicated to everyone watching hikarunogo. ^_^
When he grew more aware of his surroundings, Ogata realised he was standing. He also realised there was mist around his ankles, and that he had no recollection of how he came to be here.
The first thing he did was glance down at his feet, just to check if he had imagined the mist. He hadn't. It stretched about him for miles around. If Ogata didn't know better and the ground beneath his feet didn't feel so solid, he'd have thought himself standing on a cloud in the sky. Preposterous. He dismissed the notion immediately.
Looking around, he didn't seem to be in a room--there were no discernible walls or ceiling. If he was outside, though, there should be scenery about him. Instead, there was nothing. A pure, endless, unbroken expansion of smooth white nothing.
How annoying. Ogata began to walk. He didn't care which way he went, as long as it was in a straight line, as straight as he could make it without anything around with which he might orient himself. After what felt like a long time, though, nothing around him had changed. When he turned his head to look back, in case he had left a mark in the clouds, he was greeted with the same unchanging white. It was as if he had never been there nor walked over that ground/cloud/whatever seconds ago.
He'd been curious at first, but now Ogata admitted this was more irritating than intriguing. What was this place? His surroundings suggested the stereotypical Western idea of Heaven, perhaps, but was Heaven supposed to be so desolate? He cleared his throat loudly, hoping for some acknowledgment. The pale blank wilderness around him swallowed the sound eagerly, but offered nothing in return.
He turned again, annoyed, and then halted mid-turn. Fifty or so paces before him was a big hollow archway rising out of the mist.
It hadn't been there the last time he had looked; of that, Ogata was absolutely certain. Nevertheless, there it was, a big white gate gleaming under an indiscernible source of light. Its iridiscent surface seemed to glow. Moments later, Ogata realized this was because it was beginning to emit gentle, faintly silver rays.
Because there was a dire lack of other things to do, Ogata watched as the gate grew brighter. Touching it might be dangerous, and if he stayed a careful distance away, he'd be close enough to jump forward at the first opportunity, or escape unscathed. Discretion was valor.
A figure began to materialize. Ogata stiffened--that figure looked familiar ...
"Oho, you're not coming over? How rude, Ogata-kun. Are you going to keep an old man waiting for centuries?"
The voice was as hoarse as it had been in life, and not at all weaker. If anything, it had become more strident. Kuwabara looked strange, now bereft of his usual suits. Surprisingly, the white hakama suited the old man well, even if it accentuated Kuwabara's deceptively fragile outward appearance.
Ogata wasn't wearing a hakama himself, was he? He hadn't noticed earlier, but Kuwabara's accouterments now caused Ogata a moment of doubt. He pretended to smooth down what he was relieved to find was his usual white suit. There was no change there, at least, and he had also retained his yellow handkerchief, its silken corner peeking out from his breast pocket.
"Hah! Stop admiring yourself, Ogata-kun, and come here," Kuwabara said. The old man hadn't moved from where he'd appeared, in the middle of the archway. "Unless, of course, you have something better to do? I can leave you here and come back later." Kuwabara turned to go.
The old man wouldn't dare leave him like this ... would he? Though Ogata probably deserved it, leaving Isumi--
Isumi.
He paused. Who was Isumi?
Chapter 2
Characters: Ogata, Kuwabara, Isumi
Words/Rating: 900+ words / PG
Summary: Ogata finally arrives at the great go salon in the sky.
Author's Notes: I blame the lack of sleep and the need to produce something to make up for all the whining I've done. Dedicated to everyone watching hikarunogo. ^_^
When he grew more aware of his surroundings, Ogata realised he was standing. He also realised there was mist around his ankles, and that he had no recollection of how he came to be here.
The first thing he did was glance down at his feet, just to check if he had imagined the mist. He hadn't. It stretched about him for miles around. If Ogata didn't know better and the ground beneath his feet didn't feel so solid, he'd have thought himself standing on a cloud in the sky. Preposterous. He dismissed the notion immediately.
Looking around, he didn't seem to be in a room--there were no discernible walls or ceiling. If he was outside, though, there should be scenery about him. Instead, there was nothing. A pure, endless, unbroken expansion of smooth white nothing.
How annoying. Ogata began to walk. He didn't care which way he went, as long as it was in a straight line, as straight as he could make it without anything around with which he might orient himself. After what felt like a long time, though, nothing around him had changed. When he turned his head to look back, in case he had left a mark in the clouds, he was greeted with the same unchanging white. It was as if he had never been there nor walked over that ground/cloud/whatever seconds ago.
He'd been curious at first, but now Ogata admitted this was more irritating than intriguing. What was this place? His surroundings suggested the stereotypical Western idea of Heaven, perhaps, but was Heaven supposed to be so desolate? He cleared his throat loudly, hoping for some acknowledgment. The pale blank wilderness around him swallowed the sound eagerly, but offered nothing in return.
He turned again, annoyed, and then halted mid-turn. Fifty or so paces before him was a big hollow archway rising out of the mist.
It hadn't been there the last time he had looked; of that, Ogata was absolutely certain. Nevertheless, there it was, a big white gate gleaming under an indiscernible source of light. Its iridiscent surface seemed to glow. Moments later, Ogata realized this was because it was beginning to emit gentle, faintly silver rays.
Because there was a dire lack of other things to do, Ogata watched as the gate grew brighter. Touching it might be dangerous, and if he stayed a careful distance away, he'd be close enough to jump forward at the first opportunity, or escape unscathed. Discretion was valor.
A figure began to materialize. Ogata stiffened--that figure looked familiar ...
"Oho, you're not coming over? How rude, Ogata-kun. Are you going to keep an old man waiting for centuries?"
The voice was as hoarse as it had been in life, and not at all weaker. If anything, it had become more strident. Kuwabara looked strange, now bereft of his usual suits. Surprisingly, the white hakama suited the old man well, even if it accentuated Kuwabara's deceptively fragile outward appearance.
Ogata wasn't wearing a hakama himself, was he? He hadn't noticed earlier, but Kuwabara's accouterments now caused Ogata a moment of doubt. He pretended to smooth down what he was relieved to find was his usual white suit. There was no change there, at least, and he had also retained his yellow handkerchief, its silken corner peeking out from his breast pocket.
"Hah! Stop admiring yourself, Ogata-kun, and come here," Kuwabara said. The old man hadn't moved from where he'd appeared, in the middle of the archway. "Unless, of course, you have something better to do? I can leave you here and come back later." Kuwabara turned to go.
The old man wouldn't dare leave him like this ... would he? Though Ogata probably deserved it, leaving Isumi--
Isumi.
He paused. Who was Isumi?
Chapter 2