still more HikaGo fic
Jul. 29th, 2005 11:00 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sakon76Costume College day 1 was interesting. I learned things for costuming, for sewing in general, got information that'll be useful for The Novel (which I need to resume on as soon as I finish this fic, since I've gotten into a nightly writing habit recently), and something useful for this story. Tomorrow morning, wig class! But for now, fic.
Yoshitaka clicked to place his stone, then leaned back in his chair, waiting for his opponent to place a move.
He knew what he'd seen. There had been the mirror, and his reflection, and Shindou, and Shindou had had no reflection. There was no way it had been an odd angle on the mirror. Most damning of all had been Shindou's expression and the way he had bolted.
Yoshitaka frowned. He'd known for as long as he'd known Shindou that he had secrets. This, though, went beyond anything he had wondered about before.
"Are you still there?" Isumi asked through the phone cradled between Yoshitaka's shoulder and ear.
"Yeah. Just thinking."
"Oh?"
Yoshitaka sighed. "What does it mean when someone's got no reflection?"
There was silence for a minute from the other end of the line. "Have you been watching horror movies again?"
"That was *one time*!"
"Have I ever mentioned how cute you are when you're scared out of your wits and can't sleep by yourself?" Isumi was laughing.
"Shut up!"
Isumi laughed for a little longer, then sobered. "All right. But why the question about reflections?"
Yoshitaka slumped a little more, his eyes still on the screen. "Tenkuu" still hadn't made his move. "No reason, I guess."
"Mm-hmm."
He sighed. "In the men's room today... Shindou didn't have a reflection in the mirror."
"Are you sure--"
"It wasn't the angle, all right! I thought about it. A thousand times. I would have seen it. It was just like... he wasn't there at all."
*
He'd taken less blood this time. And he wasn't at all hyperactive like he'd been before. "Thank God," Hikaru muttered, flopping backwards to lay on the floor of his room. He watched the ceiling for a few minutes, then levered himself back up. He began clearing away the stones he'd laid out from kifu of his next opponent. He'd gotten home late to begin with, and it was after midnight now. At least his first lesson the next day wasn't bright and early.
White and black spilled from his hands into their bowls and he put the lids on, placing the bowls atop the board, ready for the next day. A lesson at ten, another at two, Morishita-sensei's study group later....
He froze momentarily. Morishita-sensei's study group.
Waya.
Hikaru sighed unhappily and continued cleaning up. He didn't know what to tell Waya. He didn't even know what Waya was thinking.
Maybe, he tried to cheer himself, Waya would have decided the whole thing was a product of his imagination.
Right. Hikaru's luck hadn't been running that way for quite a while now.
He frowned. Well, whatever Waya thought, whether it was the truth or not, he'd get through it. It wasn't like he hadn't had to survive inquisitions before. Just that then they'd been related to Sai instead of himself....
Hikaru sighed and stood to turn off his light. He'd deal with Waya when he had to. There was no sense, he told himself firmly, in borrowing trouble before he had to.
*
The first thing Hikaru noticed was that Waya smelled like garlic. The second was the silver cross around his throat.
Right. So much for not assuming things. He ignored Waya and made his greetings to the rest of the group.
All through the game analysis and a match with Saeki and another with Shirakawa (the former he won, the latter he lost), Hikaru politely ignored one of his closest friends. And apparently Waya wasn't quite ready to shout out in the middle of the study group his accusation that Hikaru was a vampire.
It crossed Hikaru's mind that it was perhaps a very good thing that people at large no longer believed in things like ghosts... or vampires.
He and Waya always left together, so they left together today. They got half a block down the street before Waya asked, sounding puzzled, "Why isn't it working on you?"
"What?"
"The garlic. The... cross."
Hikaru shrugged. "Garlic just smells. The cross...." He reached out and picked up the pendant where it lay on a chain at Waya's throat. "Y'know, the J-Pop look really isn't you."
Waya was staring at him, eyes wide. "What the hell are you, Shindou?"
"I /thought/ I was your friend," Hikaru replied. "Apparently I was wrong." He let the cross drop and walked onward.
Waya just stood there for a second, then there were footsteps and he caught up, grabbing Hikaru by the shoulders and wrenching him around. "Look, will you tell me what's going on? I *know* you didn't have a reflection. Don't think I haven't noticed you haven't eaten with us in weeks. You're weird, Shindou, but I thought you trusted me."
Hikaru's eyes were drawn to the cross again. "And I thought you trusted me," he said softly.
Waya put a hand on the pendant. "You... promise not to attack me if I take it off?"
"Waya," Hikaru pointed out, "it didn't do anything to me when I touched it, and if I /was/ going to attack you, I could have done it anytime in the last few weeks."
Waya's hesitant look faded as he took that in. "Aw, hell," he groaned, and removed the jewelry, stuffing it in one pocket. "I'm going to kill Isumi."
"Isumi-san?"
"I kind of told him," Waya admitted. "What?!" he demanded at Hikaru's look. "He's my best friend and he knows about this kind of stuff!"
*
Shinichirou got up at the knock on his door. He wasn't expecting any visitors, but it was too late for it to be door-to-door salesmen either.
He /definitely/ wasn't expecting it to be Shindou and Waya side-by-side.
He closed the door and undid the chain before letting them in. "What are you doing here? Can I get you anything?" he asked as they took off their shoes.
"No thanks," Shindou replied.
"Me either," Waya agreed. "Are your folks home?"
"They're out tonight."
"Good."
Shinichirou finally pegged the faint odor around Waya. Garlic. /He can't have been serious about that,/ he thought. And then, /Ah. That's what there here about./
Half-hiding a smile, he followed the two younger pros into the living room. Waya was here to apologize... this should be interesting.
"Isumi-san, do you have a mirror anywhere?" Shindou asked.
"Um, in the restroom," he replied.
Shindou nodded. "Fine. Come on, let's settle this about me having a reflection or not."
Waya flicked eyes at Shinichirou as he led the way and flicked on the light. Shindou stepped in front of the two of them to prove his point.
"See?" he asked, but to Shinichirou's surprise, Shindou wasn't asking Waya, but himself.
"Of course," he replied, looking up at the mirror.
The words died half unspoken in his throat.
In the mirror, he saw himself and he saw Waya, but Shindou might as well not have been in the room.
Shindou walked closer and waved his hand in front of the mirror.
Nothing.
He turned and smiled. "I think you're right that Isumi-san didn't believe you, Waya."
Shinichirou turned to face Waya. "Waya...?" he asked.
Waya nodded. "I told you he didn't have a reflection," he said.
Shindou regarded the two of them calmly. "I think the three of us should have a talk."
Yoshitaka clicked to place his stone, then leaned back in his chair, waiting for his opponent to place a move.
He knew what he'd seen. There had been the mirror, and his reflection, and Shindou, and Shindou had had no reflection. There was no way it had been an odd angle on the mirror. Most damning of all had been Shindou's expression and the way he had bolted.
Yoshitaka frowned. He'd known for as long as he'd known Shindou that he had secrets. This, though, went beyond anything he had wondered about before.
"Are you still there?" Isumi asked through the phone cradled between Yoshitaka's shoulder and ear.
"Yeah. Just thinking."
"Oh?"
Yoshitaka sighed. "What does it mean when someone's got no reflection?"
There was silence for a minute from the other end of the line. "Have you been watching horror movies again?"
"That was *one time*!"
"Have I ever mentioned how cute you are when you're scared out of your wits and can't sleep by yourself?" Isumi was laughing.
"Shut up!"
Isumi laughed for a little longer, then sobered. "All right. But why the question about reflections?"
Yoshitaka slumped a little more, his eyes still on the screen. "Tenkuu" still hadn't made his move. "No reason, I guess."
"Mm-hmm."
He sighed. "In the men's room today... Shindou didn't have a reflection in the mirror."
"Are you sure--"
"It wasn't the angle, all right! I thought about it. A thousand times. I would have seen it. It was just like... he wasn't there at all."
He'd taken less blood this time. And he wasn't at all hyperactive like he'd been before. "Thank God," Hikaru muttered, flopping backwards to lay on the floor of his room. He watched the ceiling for a few minutes, then levered himself back up. He began clearing away the stones he'd laid out from kifu of his next opponent. He'd gotten home late to begin with, and it was after midnight now. At least his first lesson the next day wasn't bright and early.
White and black spilled from his hands into their bowls and he put the lids on, placing the bowls atop the board, ready for the next day. A lesson at ten, another at two, Morishita-sensei's study group later....
He froze momentarily. Morishita-sensei's study group.
Waya.
Hikaru sighed unhappily and continued cleaning up. He didn't know what to tell Waya. He didn't even know what Waya was thinking.
Maybe, he tried to cheer himself, Waya would have decided the whole thing was a product of his imagination.
Right. Hikaru's luck hadn't been running that way for quite a while now.
He frowned. Well, whatever Waya thought, whether it was the truth or not, he'd get through it. It wasn't like he hadn't had to survive inquisitions before. Just that then they'd been related to Sai instead of himself....
Hikaru sighed and stood to turn off his light. He'd deal with Waya when he had to. There was no sense, he told himself firmly, in borrowing trouble before he had to.
The first thing Hikaru noticed was that Waya smelled like garlic. The second was the silver cross around his throat.
Right. So much for not assuming things. He ignored Waya and made his greetings to the rest of the group.
All through the game analysis and a match with Saeki and another with Shirakawa (the former he won, the latter he lost), Hikaru politely ignored one of his closest friends. And apparently Waya wasn't quite ready to shout out in the middle of the study group his accusation that Hikaru was a vampire.
It crossed Hikaru's mind that it was perhaps a very good thing that people at large no longer believed in things like ghosts... or vampires.
He and Waya always left together, so they left together today. They got half a block down the street before Waya asked, sounding puzzled, "Why isn't it working on you?"
"What?"
"The garlic. The... cross."
Hikaru shrugged. "Garlic just smells. The cross...." He reached out and picked up the pendant where it lay on a chain at Waya's throat. "Y'know, the J-Pop look really isn't you."
Waya was staring at him, eyes wide. "What the hell are you, Shindou?"
"I /thought/ I was your friend," Hikaru replied. "Apparently I was wrong." He let the cross drop and walked onward.
Waya just stood there for a second, then there were footsteps and he caught up, grabbing Hikaru by the shoulders and wrenching him around. "Look, will you tell me what's going on? I *know* you didn't have a reflection. Don't think I haven't noticed you haven't eaten with us in weeks. You're weird, Shindou, but I thought you trusted me."
Hikaru's eyes were drawn to the cross again. "And I thought you trusted me," he said softly.
Waya put a hand on the pendant. "You... promise not to attack me if I take it off?"
"Waya," Hikaru pointed out, "it didn't do anything to me when I touched it, and if I /was/ going to attack you, I could have done it anytime in the last few weeks."
Waya's hesitant look faded as he took that in. "Aw, hell," he groaned, and removed the jewelry, stuffing it in one pocket. "I'm going to kill Isumi."
"Isumi-san?"
"I kind of told him," Waya admitted. "What?!" he demanded at Hikaru's look. "He's my best friend and he knows about this kind of stuff!"
Shinichirou got up at the knock on his door. He wasn't expecting any visitors, but it was too late for it to be door-to-door salesmen either.
He /definitely/ wasn't expecting it to be Shindou and Waya side-by-side.
He closed the door and undid the chain before letting them in. "What are you doing here? Can I get you anything?" he asked as they took off their shoes.
"No thanks," Shindou replied.
"Me either," Waya agreed. "Are your folks home?"
"They're out tonight."
"Good."
Shinichirou finally pegged the faint odor around Waya. Garlic. /He can't have been serious about that,/ he thought. And then, /Ah. That's what there here about./
Half-hiding a smile, he followed the two younger pros into the living room. Waya was here to apologize... this should be interesting.
"Isumi-san, do you have a mirror anywhere?" Shindou asked.
"Um, in the restroom," he replied.
Shindou nodded. "Fine. Come on, let's settle this about me having a reflection or not."
Waya flicked eyes at Shinichirou as he led the way and flicked on the light. Shindou stepped in front of the two of them to prove his point.
"See?" he asked, but to Shinichirou's surprise, Shindou wasn't asking Waya, but himself.
"Of course," he replied, looking up at the mirror.
The words died half unspoken in his throat.
In the mirror, he saw himself and he saw Waya, but Shindou might as well not have been in the room.
Shindou walked closer and waved his hand in front of the mirror.
Nothing.
He turned and smiled. "I think you're right that Isumi-san didn't believe you, Waya."
Shinichirou turned to face Waya. "Waya...?" he asked.
Waya nodded. "I told you he didn't have a reflection," he said.
Shindou regarded the two of them calmly. "I think the three of us should have a talk."
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Date: 2005-07-30 12:24 pm (UTC)Interesting that Hikaru was less hyper this time. It's a good explanation for why some vampires are maniacal psychopaths--it's not just that they're bestial by nature, but they take too much blood and get revved up by it, then probably feed again before they need to and while they're still on that high, and it just becomes a vicious cycle.
I loved the "I /thought/ I was your friend" line. ^_^