Title: 10 Minutes
Author: Luce Red
Series: Hikaru no Go
Disclaimer: Characters are the creation of Hotta and Obata.
Notes/pairings: general, hint of HikaruAkira
Summary: too short to need a summary, but perhaps: Go is all
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10 minutes till it struck midnight and they were still playing Go. They had spent the entire afternoon and evening holed up in the apartment that still smelled and looked plasticky—one of the very newest private housing projects just outside the metropolitan city—playing Go. It was a nice location, not too far from the Go Institute, and within easy reach of public transport. They would have bought a car, but neither had taken the time to learn to drive, having deemed it unnecessary. They didn't even have furniture yet, though there was a rolled-up futon in the bedroom. There was nothing else in the apartment save the old, worn cushions and the beautiful Go board, its dark, luxurious wood-veined surface slightly out of place in the bare room. They had started playing immediately. They started out wanting to christian the apartment with a game, and the games had never stopped save for bathroom breaks. They hadn’t eaten a bite yet.
10 minutes before the first day of staying in the apartment was officially over, and there were many things that they could have done in that time. At the very least, push back the boxes of clothes and belongings from the door so that they wouldn’t have to step over them in the morning. A minute to put their shoes away properly. Three-minute instant ramen, if they had taken the trouble to set up the electric kettle. A few seconds to rinse a glass and drink some water. A minute or two to change out of their clothes, still dusty and sweat-stained from carrying the boxes up. But no, the game continued, the stones clicking as firmly as ever.
10 minutes left to commemorate moving into their new apartment with something other than Go. A second to ask, “Are you tired?’ A second to reply. A few brief moments, perhaps, to grasp the other’s hand and say something silly and commemorative like, “Our new apartment.” A full minute to gaze into each other’s eyes. All these to do, before the day ended and this special occasion became lost, but instead they stayed in the apartment playing continuous Go.
10 minutes more until midnight to watch the pattern of black and white stones, to read far, far ahead, farther than the physical space between them, farther than midnight. A Go game was something without time, without limitations, and completely self-contained, and they were fine with that.
10 minutes to midnight to stop this game, stop this dance of beckoning attacks and fiercer reprisals. They glanced at each other over the Go board for less than a second.
10 minutes. Let’s play.
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