Hatsumoude, Nengajou, Otoshidaima, Osechi [Various; PG]
2009 New Year's Drabble Set
Author: chaineddove
Fandom: Hikaru no Go
Rating: PG
Genre: Humor
Disclaimer: Still not mine. But I like playing with them.
Author’s Notes: My entry for blind_go mini-round two - the New Year's drabble round. Full notes follow the ficlets!
Title: Hatsumoude
Characters/Pairing: Touya/Shindou, Akiko and Kouyo
Wordcount: 271
***
Touya pointedly refuses to look at Shindou, who is still snickering despite the fact that Touya has threatened to kill him if he doesn’t stop it. Shindou seems to be completely unaffected by the threat, possibly because he’s strung out on far too little sleep and too much coffee, which Touya’s usually-thoughtful mother provided when he began yawning. Apparently, when he is in this state, Touya’s hakama is the most hilarious thing Shindou has ever seen.
“Not a kimono,” he mutters through clenched teeth in Shindou’s direction. “And I do not look like a woman.”
Shindou snorts something that sounds remarkably like “baby blue,” and Touya wonders for a moment how auspicious the first day of the new year is for killing one’s uncultured swine of a boyfriend. He rings the temple bell and tries very hard not to think disagreeable thoughts, focusing instead on good fortune for his family, good health for his father, and a continuation of his ten-game winning streak.
Shindou steps in to ring the bell, still snickering. He yanks the rope and Touya watches in horror as the bell falls. “Oops,” says Shindou.
Touya’s father looks a little startled, which for anyone else is equivalent to unabashed gawking. Touya’s mother covers her mouth with her hand and emits a sound that Touya is sure could not possibly be a giggle. Shindou looks sheepishly at the rope in his hand as a flustered priest comes running, flanked by two shrine maidens. The little girl behind them tugs on her mother’s kimono and demands, “Mama, is that extra good luck?”
Touya feels the beginnings of a spectacular headache.
***
Title: Nengajou
Pairing: Implied Yeong-ha/Yashiro
Wordcount: 245
***
The postcard is postmarked from Tokyo, the stamp an absurd, cartoonish cow with bulging eyes and a wreath around its neck. It’s at the bottom of a stack of several dozen that are addressed to him, and at first he assumes it’s come from a fan - he seems to be popular with girls ever since that teen magazine ran the feature on young Go players - and wonders how they’ve gotten their hands on his address. The kana are so carefully traced that it almost looks like a grade-schooler might have written it. He gives it a cursory glance at first - wishes for continued favor in the new year - then looks closer when he realizes there’s another message scribbled in an arc under the cow.
“See you in February,” he reads aloud, “try not to lose until then.” He looks at the lottery number and his mind translates it helpfully as 17-4, 4-3, 4… He blinks for a moment at the oddly familiar opening sequence and tells himself he’s been studying too much.
The card is signed, “Who do you think?” He shakes his head and resolves to ask, assuming he does make it to Korea in February, exactly who in Tokyo the bastard has conned into mailing his greeting cards. He has to wonder, too, whether the unlikely ability to get lottery numbers perfectly matched to a game played in November might translate to a chance of actually winning the flat-screen television he’s been coveting.
***
Title: Otoshidaima
Characters/Pairing: Implied Waya/Shigeko, Moroshita-sensei
Wordcount: 266
***
It is his fourth year receiving a pochibukuro from the Morishita family and it’s a little distressing for several reasons: he likes to think he’s a grown man, after all, and he isn’t even related to them, despite the fact that he washes their dinner dishes at least once a week and occasionally buys their daughter cake and ice cream. Despite this, he’s never quite able to refuse - the look he gets from his sensei if he tries protesting could probably melt stone with its intensity.
Shigeko sidles up to him with a look of utter nonchalance, looking startlingly adult in her kimono with her hair pulled up. Waya swallows the lump in his throat and wonders just what she intends to con him into now.
“Waya-kun,” she says in a singsong voice. “That looks full this year.” Before Waya can point out rationally that hers must be at least as full if not more so, she continues. “This is great timing, don’t you think, Waya-kun? Miho-chan told me about this café in Shibuya that serves the best strawberry shortcake. If you win your league match next week, I think you should take me there to celebrate.”
“And if I lose?” Waya asks, not realizing this is a very, very stupid question until after he’s said it and Morishita-sensei glares at him from across the room with a look that pretty clearly states ‘if you lose, you die.’
Shigeko giggles, ignoring her father’s glower. “Well,” she says, “if you lose, assuming you survive, then you can take me and I’ll commiserate and make you feel better.”
***
Title: Osechi
Pairing: Saeki/Ashiwara
Wordcount: 231
***
Kouji thinks he has gotten used to Ashiwara-san and his random spurts of culinary genius, but he has to concede that even he is a little overwhelmed by the trays coming out of the kitchen one after another, carried by people whose names he has not quite managed to memorize, all of whom share an easy smile and a slight curl to their hair.
“Hiroyuki spoils us,” Ashiwara-san’s mother tells him in a tone that suggests a confidence between close friends. “He is my best student.”
Ashiwara-san is beaming as he exits the kitchen and settles next to Kouji, so close that Kouji fidgets in his best suit and wonders, not for the first time, whether it’s really a good idea that he be here. Despite all of Ashiwara-san’s assurances and his family’s warm welcome, Kouji is not entirely comfortable with being treated like a favored suitor.
Ashiwara-san, ignorant of Kouji’s concerns (or at the very least indifferent to them), fills his plate with lobster, adding konbu and datemaki. “For luck, Saeki-kun,” he says. Ashiwara-san’s mother gives them an unreadable look and adds daidai. Kouji chokes on his food and barely manages to hold back a distressed squawk of, ‘how is that even possible!?’
“In case,” Ashiwara-san’s mother tells him cheerily. Kouji shakes his head, temporarily incapable of words. Ashiwara-san chuckles and tells his mother that they’ll certainly try their best.
***
The Making of, or Something to That Effect: I originally wanted to do the full set of five, but I couldn't find any other pairings that didn't either turn angsty and introspective on me or grow into monsters of way more than 500 words, so I stuck with the four I liked. Most people know that the New Year is my favorite holiday, so I had fun playing with my favorite characters and using them to play out various Japanese New Year traditions: hatsumode (the first temple visit of the year), nengajou (new year's postcards) and the annual lottery, otoshidaima (money given to children as a gift), and osechi (traditional Japanese New Year's dishes). I will admit that my favorite is the last one, due to the hilarious fact of Ashiwara's mother offering Saeki food which signifies a hope for children in the new year.
...The lady can hope.
Incidentally, I think that if Touya's hakama hadn't been that hilarious shade of baby blue (remember the anime?) Hikaru probably wouldn't have accused him of looking like a girl in it. But. Come on. Baby blue. And if anyone could accidentally defile a temple in under 300 words, Shindou could.
Overall, I'm happy with the result. I wanted to produce something lighthearted and feel-good, and I think I succeeded. I thought readership for this round was lower overall, and on top of that, I was often overlooked due to being at the very bottom of the list. At least, I don't THINK it was an inherent flaw in the writing that did it...
What really surprised me is that three out of the four people who attempted to guess me were incorrect! I wrote the pairings most often associated with me (granted, Yeong-ha/Yashiro and Saeki/Ashiwara have become fandom staples to some degree, largely due to my previous efforts, but Waya/Shigeko? I have't gotten people to catch on to that trend yet, so it's really... just me), I didn't disguise my cracky style, I wrote in present tense... Ashiwara COOKS for Goddess' sake!
Perhaps I'm not as frequently read as I like to pretend I am? XD
Ah well, be that as it may, I had fun. That's the most important part, right?
Author: chaineddove
Fandom: Hikaru no Go
Rating: PG
Genre: Humor
Disclaimer: Still not mine. But I like playing with them.
Author’s Notes: My entry for blind_go mini-round two - the New Year's drabble round. Full notes follow the ficlets!
Title: Hatsumoude
Characters/Pairing: Touya/Shindou, Akiko and Kouyo
Wordcount: 271
***
Touya pointedly refuses to look at Shindou, who is still snickering despite the fact that Touya has threatened to kill him if he doesn’t stop it. Shindou seems to be completely unaffected by the threat, possibly because he’s strung out on far too little sleep and too much coffee, which Touya’s usually-thoughtful mother provided when he began yawning. Apparently, when he is in this state, Touya’s hakama is the most hilarious thing Shindou has ever seen.
“Not a kimono,” he mutters through clenched teeth in Shindou’s direction. “And I do not look like a woman.”
Shindou snorts something that sounds remarkably like “baby blue,” and Touya wonders for a moment how auspicious the first day of the new year is for killing one’s uncultured swine of a boyfriend. He rings the temple bell and tries very hard not to think disagreeable thoughts, focusing instead on good fortune for his family, good health for his father, and a continuation of his ten-game winning streak.
Shindou steps in to ring the bell, still snickering. He yanks the rope and Touya watches in horror as the bell falls. “Oops,” says Shindou.
Touya’s father looks a little startled, which for anyone else is equivalent to unabashed gawking. Touya’s mother covers her mouth with her hand and emits a sound that Touya is sure could not possibly be a giggle. Shindou looks sheepishly at the rope in his hand as a flustered priest comes running, flanked by two shrine maidens. The little girl behind them tugs on her mother’s kimono and demands, “Mama, is that extra good luck?”
Touya feels the beginnings of a spectacular headache.
***
Title: Nengajou
Pairing: Implied Yeong-ha/Yashiro
Wordcount: 245
***
The postcard is postmarked from Tokyo, the stamp an absurd, cartoonish cow with bulging eyes and a wreath around its neck. It’s at the bottom of a stack of several dozen that are addressed to him, and at first he assumes it’s come from a fan - he seems to be popular with girls ever since that teen magazine ran the feature on young Go players - and wonders how they’ve gotten their hands on his address. The kana are so carefully traced that it almost looks like a grade-schooler might have written it. He gives it a cursory glance at first - wishes for continued favor in the new year - then looks closer when he realizes there’s another message scribbled in an arc under the cow.
“See you in February,” he reads aloud, “try not to lose until then.” He looks at the lottery number and his mind translates it helpfully as 17-4, 4-3, 4… He blinks for a moment at the oddly familiar opening sequence and tells himself he’s been studying too much.
The card is signed, “Who do you think?” He shakes his head and resolves to ask, assuming he does make it to Korea in February, exactly who in Tokyo the bastard has conned into mailing his greeting cards. He has to wonder, too, whether the unlikely ability to get lottery numbers perfectly matched to a game played in November might translate to a chance of actually winning the flat-screen television he’s been coveting.
***
Title: Otoshidaima
Characters/Pairing: Implied Waya/Shigeko, Moroshita-sensei
Wordcount: 266
***
It is his fourth year receiving a pochibukuro from the Morishita family and it’s a little distressing for several reasons: he likes to think he’s a grown man, after all, and he isn’t even related to them, despite the fact that he washes their dinner dishes at least once a week and occasionally buys their daughter cake and ice cream. Despite this, he’s never quite able to refuse - the look he gets from his sensei if he tries protesting could probably melt stone with its intensity.
Shigeko sidles up to him with a look of utter nonchalance, looking startlingly adult in her kimono with her hair pulled up. Waya swallows the lump in his throat and wonders just what she intends to con him into now.
“Waya-kun,” she says in a singsong voice. “That looks full this year.” Before Waya can point out rationally that hers must be at least as full if not more so, she continues. “This is great timing, don’t you think, Waya-kun? Miho-chan told me about this café in Shibuya that serves the best strawberry shortcake. If you win your league match next week, I think you should take me there to celebrate.”
“And if I lose?” Waya asks, not realizing this is a very, very stupid question until after he’s said it and Morishita-sensei glares at him from across the room with a look that pretty clearly states ‘if you lose, you die.’
Shigeko giggles, ignoring her father’s glower. “Well,” she says, “if you lose, assuming you survive, then you can take me and I’ll commiserate and make you feel better.”
***
Title: Osechi
Pairing: Saeki/Ashiwara
Wordcount: 231
***
Kouji thinks he has gotten used to Ashiwara-san and his random spurts of culinary genius, but he has to concede that even he is a little overwhelmed by the trays coming out of the kitchen one after another, carried by people whose names he has not quite managed to memorize, all of whom share an easy smile and a slight curl to their hair.
“Hiroyuki spoils us,” Ashiwara-san’s mother tells him in a tone that suggests a confidence between close friends. “He is my best student.”
Ashiwara-san is beaming as he exits the kitchen and settles next to Kouji, so close that Kouji fidgets in his best suit and wonders, not for the first time, whether it’s really a good idea that he be here. Despite all of Ashiwara-san’s assurances and his family’s warm welcome, Kouji is not entirely comfortable with being treated like a favored suitor.
Ashiwara-san, ignorant of Kouji’s concerns (or at the very least indifferent to them), fills his plate with lobster, adding konbu and datemaki. “For luck, Saeki-kun,” he says. Ashiwara-san’s mother gives them an unreadable look and adds daidai. Kouji chokes on his food and barely manages to hold back a distressed squawk of, ‘how is that even possible!?’
“In case,” Ashiwara-san’s mother tells him cheerily. Kouji shakes his head, temporarily incapable of words. Ashiwara-san chuckles and tells his mother that they’ll certainly try their best.
***
The Making of, or Something to That Effect: I originally wanted to do the full set of five, but I couldn't find any other pairings that didn't either turn angsty and introspective on me or grow into monsters of way more than 500 words, so I stuck with the four I liked. Most people know that the New Year is my favorite holiday, so I had fun playing with my favorite characters and using them to play out various Japanese New Year traditions: hatsumode (the first temple visit of the year), nengajou (new year's postcards) and the annual lottery, otoshidaima (money given to children as a gift), and osechi (traditional Japanese New Year's dishes). I will admit that my favorite is the last one, due to the hilarious fact of Ashiwara's mother offering Saeki food which signifies a hope for children in the new year.
...The lady can hope.
Incidentally, I think that if Touya's hakama hadn't been that hilarious shade of baby blue (remember the anime?) Hikaru probably wouldn't have accused him of looking like a girl in it. But. Come on. Baby blue. And if anyone could accidentally defile a temple in under 300 words, Shindou could.
Overall, I'm happy with the result. I wanted to produce something lighthearted and feel-good, and I think I succeeded. I thought readership for this round was lower overall, and on top of that, I was often overlooked due to being at the very bottom of the list. At least, I don't THINK it was an inherent flaw in the writing that did it...
What really surprised me is that three out of the four people who attempted to guess me were incorrect! I wrote the pairings most often associated with me (granted, Yeong-ha/Yashiro and Saeki/Ashiwara have become fandom staples to some degree, largely due to my previous efforts, but Waya/Shigeko? I have't gotten people to catch on to that trend yet, so it's really... just me), I didn't disguise my cracky style, I wrote in present tense... Ashiwara COOKS for Goddess' sake!
Perhaps I'm not as frequently read as I like to pretend I am? XD
Ah well, be that as it may, I had fun. That's the most important part, right?