Title: Present from Afar
Author: Luce Red
Series: Hikaru no Go
Disclaimer: Characters are the property of Hotta and Obata
Pairing/Notes: General fic.  Hint of AkiraHikaru. Fourth of the In Vino Veritas series.
Summary: What the fan means to Hikaru.

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Touya told himself that his presence was required to ensure that Shindou would be able to get home safely after his drinking session, though in fact he had come to ensure that Kuwabara would not, in fact, murder him. So far, his worries had only been partly assuaged: Kuwabara was liable to shoot vicious glares at Shindou every now and then, even after two hours of determined drinking, but he had not done anything worse.

The table was silent except for the sound of drinking and sake cups being refilled, and the smell of sake was becoming nauseating. The proprietor, who was more used to seeing this set of customers arguing loudly, was giving Touya curious looks.

"I'm sorry, okay!" Shindou suddenly growled.

Kuwabara ignored him.

After five minutes, Shindou slapped down his cup, and glared back at him. "Who stuck the stick up your ass, anyway!" he demanded. "Stop staring at me."

It was so much like Shindou to take the offensive, even in matters where it was technically his fault, Touya reflected, even as Kuwabara responded, "I'll stop staring as soon as you explain yourself, you little shit."

Shindou's expression turned mutinous again.

A bare five minutes before what was, arguably, one of the most important games of his professional life, Shindou had stood up, his body rigid with shock for no reason Touya could see, and asked for a postponement. The officials hastily declared an unprecedented thirty-minute delay, and bundled Shindou to a private room for a private talk. Ten minutes later, Shindou had announced a change of mind: he would go on with the game, after all, though Touya could see that he was still pale and had barely managed to pull himself together.

Kuwabara, who seemed to have taken Shindou's actions as a massive insult, had spent the entire game stalking Shindou with bloodthirsty intent. To Shindou's credit, he held on grimly and managed a two-and-a-half moku loss, which was not insignificant considering his initial lack of composure. But it was a game which frayed the nerves. By the time the game ended, Touya felt as exhausted as though he had been playing the game, instead of Shindou.

It was also by the time the game ended that Touya realized what was wrong. Shindou's hands were empty; his fingers were curved around his go-ke and they twitched restlessly on empty air when he bowed his head to resign. There was no fan.

Shindou had kept a Japanese-styled fan by his side soon after he returned to Go, and over the years it had become his trademark. He never unfurled it, but held it as he contemplated a game. When he laid it down, it usually meant that Shindou had begun to play in earnest. He had been known to tap the fan on the go-ke when he was impatient with how the game was going, and some of the more easily intimidated pros had been known to resign on cue just from hearing the sharp, firm 'thunk'.

Touya watched as Shindou poured more sake for himself and Kuwabara, and downed his own. Then he poured himself another cup and drank that too. "Shindou…" he began.

Shindou leant back, and for a second Touya thought that he was about to pass out. But he only dug into his pocket, pulled out something and slapped it down on the table between Kuwabara and himself.

It was the fan, of course. Shindou had left the minute the game ended, and Touya knew he must have gone back home to look for it.

Kuwabara raised an eyebrow at the object. "This was what made you back down from the game?" he asked.

Either Kuwabara had noticed the lack of a fan in the game, or he had just deduced Shindou's reasons for wanting a postponement. The old man was sharp, indeed.

Shindou helped himself to more sake. "It was his," he finally said. "He gave it to me."

"And this is a reason for clinging on it so strongly that you can't function without it?" Kuwabara asked.

Shindou flinched as though he had been punched. "I…" he started, then looked at Touya as though for assistance. "It was his!" he repeated.

Touya froze as the sense of Shindou's words penetrated his mind. "Sai… this was from Sai?" he choked. Actually, he had heard that Shindou bought the fan from the shop at the Go Institute.

Shindou nodded. He turned back to Kuwabara. "Today was the first time I forgot to bring it. I panicked. I thought I couldn't play without it."

Kuwabara still looked as though he would like to remove Shindou's entrails. By hand. "You are the stupidest opponent I have had, if you think that," he said.

"But Shindou…" Touya started, trying to make sense out of his disordered thoughts.

Shindou was bristling at Kuwabara's tone. "I had a shock, old man!" he said.

"What are you, a ten-year-old?" Kuwabara retorted.

"Ten-year-old!" Shindou spluttered. "A ten-year-old is someone who gets a grudge just because someone wouldn't play with him!"

"As though someone who can't play without his security blanket is any better. You're no better than a five-year-old!"

"Shindou…" Touya tried again.

Shindou was too intent on returning the insult to hear him. "Five-year-old!" he shouted. "When I was five years old I was showing the kids at kindergarten that I was boss!"

"Ooh, I'm scared." Kuwabara's expression belied his words, however. "When you were five years old, I was already defeating challengers for my title."

"And when I was three, I could play baseball!" Shindou shouted, somewhat incoherently by now. He turned to Touya suddenly. "What were you doing when you were three, Touya?"

Taken aback by the question, Touya stuttered, "I… I was playing Go." He tried again. "Shindou, when you said Sai gave you the fan, what did you mean?"

But Shindou had already turned back to Kuwabara. "Playing Go when you're three," he said as he shook his own head.

"Shindou!"

"Drink up, Touya!" Shindou urged before pouring Touya a cup.

He turned to Kuwabara again. "It's important to me, this fan," he said, more serious now, looking down at the fan on the table. "I didn't mean to hurt your feelings, so will you stop acting like someone dumped you?" he said.

Kuwabara cracked a smile for the first time that evening, though his gimlet-eyed glare was still just as ferocious. "We'll see how you play in our next game, punk," he said.

"Huh." Shindou poured more sake for the two of them. "I'm winning the next one, fan or no fan. Get ready to surrender your title, old man."

Since Shindou was in no danger of being glared to death by Kuwabara, Touya suggested that the drinking party come to an end sometime after midnight. This time, he insisted that Shindou foot the bill-which included a generous tip for the harassed proprietor-and saw Kuwabara into a taxi. Their taxi arrived soon after, and Touya made Shindou get in, and climbed in after him.

"Shindou," he asked after a while, remembering what he had been trying to ask.

"Yes?" Shindou asked, before he laid his cheek on Touya's shoulder. It had not escaped his attention that Shindou's fist was still clenched tightly around the fan.

"Shindou, did Sai…"

"Yeah," Shindou nodded. Then his face fell. "It was in a dream."

Touya allowed himself an unobtrusive sigh of relief. "What do you mean?" he asked.

"It was after our first game together, after I started playing again," Shindou said, before he sighed. "I dreamt about him. Do you know, he used to point out Go hands using it? It's like a part of him."

"I see."

"I guess I thought that so as long I had it-had this," Shindou raised his hand, with the fan still in it. "I wouldn't forget him."

"You wouldn't forget him, Shindou," he said.

"Yeah. Believe it or not, it took a game with the old man to make me realize it," Shindou said, looking up at him, his eyes blurry, though his grip on the fan never wavered. Touya watched as the stressed lines of his face slowly smoothed out and a soft smile appeared in its place. He returned the smile as Shindou sank into sleep.

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