Title: Girl Talk
Series: Hikaru no Go
Disclaimer: Characters are the creation of Hotta and Obata, except for OFC
Notes/warnings: None except for the OFC, but if you were wondering about Akira's clothes...
Summary: Touya Akiko reveals a few home truths.
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The girl--or rather, young woman--was dressed in a beautiful pink kimono, her obi tied plainly and elegantly. She was very pretty, and with her hands demurely clasped on her knees as she sat on the tatami, she was a sight to stir the hearts of men everywhere.
Most men, at any rate, Touya Akiko amended mentally. Her husband had popped his head in a few moments ago, and had barely noticed the girl, though he was normally the most polite of individuals. He only said, "Morishita has invited me to sit in on his teaching sessions. Shindou-kun will probably be there too. I'll be back late."
She had already begun nodding when he mentioned Shindou, and smiled as he closed the door. Then the door slid opened again. "Have you seen Akira anywhere?" he asked.
Akiko sensed the girl's attention perk up. "No, I haven't seen him," she said with perfect truthfulness.
Her husband nodded. "Maybe he's there too," he said, his eyes already far away, deep in the next game, if Akiko was any judge. "I'm going off now," he added, closing the door.
"Take care on the way," she called after him, knowing that he probably didn't hear her. Turning to the girl, Akiko realized that she had been trying to get her husband's attention all along.
"T-Touya-sensei?" the girl said belatedly, looking at the closed door.
"Don't worry, I'll introduce you the next time," Akiko said, and added helpfully, "You have to talk fast when you see him, before he realizes that you aren't talking about Go."
The girl looked puzzled. "I'm sorry?" she asked.
"Go is the only thing that my husband thinks about. He's not very interested in other things. My son, too," Akiko added the last bit, hoping to push the girl to come to the point.
"Oh, Akira-kun!" the girl said, and blushed.
Akiko blinked at the familiar way the girl referred to her son, and studied the girl again. This was a bad case. No wonder Akira had- "Do you know my son well, Kojima-san?" she asked.
"I think so," the girl ducked her head bashfully. "I-I have been learning Go from him for the last two months. "
"I see," Akiko said. "You must be very good at Go, then."
"Oh no!" she exclaimed in horror, almost as though, Akiko thought, that competence in Go was to be abhorred. "I'm only a beginner."
Her son spending his precious time teaching a beginner? This could be serious. "Are you enjoying Go, then, Kojima-san?" Akiko asked, determined to be fair.
Luckily she had the wit to nod at that point, or Akiko would have given up the encounter as pointless. "Oh, yes. It's a lot of fun! Especially wh-when Akira-kun is teaching me…" she blushed some more.
Akiko felt bored as the girl went on to describe her son's teaching capabilities, and tried to distract herself. The men in her family might be Go-obsessed, but she still took pride in managing the household for them, even if they didn't always appreciate it. She started to think about what to cook for dinner. It was the season for the new potatoes from Hokkaido, wasn't it?
"…he's always so polite and gentle, especially when he plays shidougo…"
Akiko hoped this was not going to be one of those he taught me how to hold Go stones and he held my hand stories where she was required to cough gently and meaningfully. Her son was too attractive for his own good, despite her attempts to help him fend off admirers by putting him in the most eye-clashing clothes she could find. Then again, her husband had been the same way. Those sweaters! Her inner eye twitched at the memory.
"…the moment I met him, I knew we shared a special connection-" the girl paused for effect.
"It's very good of you to take the time from your Go studies to visit," Akiko said into the pause, timing it just right to stop her from saying anything else about 'connections'; she was married to a Go genius, after all.
"Uh-" the girl bowed. "I'm sorry, I just babbled on and on."
A wise student knows his mistakes, Akiko mentally intoned, having heard her husband say the very same thing dozens of times. "It's all right," she said.
"The reason I came here," the girl said--another bow--and suddenly she was pushing a pink envelope towards her. "-was to invite Akira-kun to my birthday party."
"Oh," Akiko said.
"It's next Tuesday," the girl said. "At the Sheraton."
Akiko thought about it. "I'm afraid Akira-san has a title game that day," she said to the girl. "He won't be able to attend." It was for the Juudan title, and the first game, with Ogata. Akira had been jubilant when he finally made it to the finals for the Juudan title; after all, it was the title her husband had lost just before he retired, and Akira had always wanted to take it back from Ogata. He was such a good boy.
The girl's face fell with dismay. "But, surely he could change his schedule? I heard that pros can do that if they requested that in advance!"
Not likely, Akiko thought. She understood Go players, and the world of professional Go, well enough to know that to request for a change of time for the very first game would only be taken as a sign of weakness by your opponent. "I'm afraid that would be difficult," she said, softening her voice to let the girl down more gently. "There's Ogata-san's schedule to consider as well, and it would be unfair to him to request for a change at this late date."
"But…" the girl looked as though she wanted to argue the point. "I'm sure if Akira-kun saw the invitation, he'd change it for me!"
The concept was so alien that Akiko was struck speechless for second. "I'll give him the invitation," she said at last. It was the only thing she could think of.
The girl's expression immediately turned bright again. "Thank you, Touya-san!"
"However-" Akiko cast about for the most tactful way of saying it. "You should be prepared for him to refuse the invitation," she said.
"Excuse me?" the girl said, her voice rising in pitch. "But it wouldn't be the same without Akira-kun!"
Akiko squirmed inwardly at another 'Akira-kun'. That had to stop. She took a deep breath, and mentally girded her loins. "K-Kojima-san," she said, belatedly recalling the girl's name. "I'm not sure if you have realized, but Go professionals like my son have-" better things to do than go to a birthday party "-a strong attachment to the game."
The girl stared at her. "So? That's why Akira-kun is a pro, right?"
Akiko said, "When I say 'strong attachment', I really mean 'obsession'." She watched comprehension seep into the girl's eyes. "Go pros study the game their entire lives, and would rather spend their time playing Go, than do anything else. Akira will not change his schedule for a birthday party." She was certain about that if nothing else.
"But-"
"Go is his life." True, she had said that to herself with resignation once or twice, but it was still the truth.
"Oh." She looked unconvinced. "But Akira-kun and I have a special understanding!"
"And if that is true, then you undoubtedly know how important Go is to him," Akiko said.
The girl opened her mouth to retort, and closed it again. She looked down at the invitation, the corners of her mouth turning down.
Akiko felt a bit sorry for her. "All Go players are like that," she said. "You know, Akira's father was in the middle of an important game when I went into labour with Akira. That was the only time he left a game right in the middle." She shook her head, fighting to hide a smile at the memory. He had been so happy when he saw them--she even saw him wiping away a tear at one point. He had held her and Akira as though they were the most precious people to him; she had felt so loved… "And once he saw that Akira and I were fine, he wanted to go back to his game," she finished solidly.
"What?" The girl's expression was a mixture of appalled disbelief and shock.
"So you see, Kojima-san," Akiko said, regaining her composure. "With Go players, the game comes first. I'm sorry Akira will not be able to attend your party." She paused, and added kindly, "Maybe next year."
It was, as her husband would have said, the exact hand at the exact time. Something in the girl deflated.
Akiko waited. She was good at waiting.
"I-I see." The girl swallowed. "I have taken up enough of your time, Touya-san. I-I have to go back home."
"So soon?" Akiko said, but the ending moves were already in place, and it only remained for the two of them to play it out.
Akiko saw the girl to the door, exchanged more pleasantries and a goodbye, and entered the sitting room again. Her son was already there, putting the untouched cups of (now) cold tea onto a tray. "Akira-san?"
Akira turned around. "Thank you for meeting her for me," he said.
She gave him a pointed look. "You're welcome, but the next one's yours." Her job was housewife, not defender-of-her-son's virtue. This was- what, the sixth?
"But it's hard to make them understand!" he protested.
"If you're waiting for one that will understand, you were born twenty years too late," Akiko said, teasing him. "Girls these days want you to spend time on them, not on a boring board game. You think everyone's like your mother?"
"But Go is-" he gestured futilely, trying to describe the extent of his obsession. "Did Father really go back to that Go game?" he asked as they walked out of the room.
"No, he didn't go back," she said, answering his question.
"Really?"
He looked pleased, Akiko reflected. For her or him, only a few hours old at that time? "But only because they sealed the game and postponed it to the next day," she said.
"Oh."
It sounded much weaker. Akiko hid a smile. Kouyo had made it up to her after all, even if it had to wait until his retirement. She had always known he was the one for her. "I knew you were eavesdropping," she said, and saw her son's cheeks turn pink.
"Sorry," he said.
She shook her head. "Shindou-kun's a bad influence on you," she joked, and watched as he turned pinker. There was something there... If 'understanding' females were not available, then maybe an equally obsessed counterpart?
"Mother!" he protested. "I'm not like Shindou."
She chuckled as he walked into the kitchen to put the tray in the sink. Still much too attractive--just like his father. Maybe it was time to try that orange-and-green suit...
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