[People always have their faces turned toward Shindou. Akira notices that, and she understands it. First off, Shindou is loud. She says her thoughts like she thinks them for the sake of saying them. This has long been mystifying. Akira used to think, flabbergasted, Who cares? Not with demeaning intent, but... Touya Meijin's daughter, Touya Akira, worked so hard for years and years in order for people to value her opinion on Go. Shindou Hikaru showed up and started talking about all sorts of things that nobody asked her to say. She talked, and she asked questions, and she made it known when she didn't like the answers. She demanded to be heard and she was impossible to ignore. She laughed about things.
Akira laughs. It's startled and it's shaky, anxiety wearing it thin and nearly unrecognizable, but it's a genuine thing, like she really does find something funny. Her body isn't angled toward Shindou, but her face is—everyone turns toward Shindou, after all. So Akira laughs in a hoarse puff of air, and then stops laughing, and then raises her eyebrows. She gulps in a breath, the way she wouldn't do before when the stairs had worn her out.] Are you serious? [she asks, almost alarmed.] That's not going to happen. [Leeway? Maybe in their anger, yeah. Not in their condescension. Plus, you know, it goes to show, women aren't suited for a game of thorough logic... Whatever. Akira already knows all this. She was bracing for it since reaching the second floor of her climb.] Shindou, they are always going to look for a chance to give... [Me. But it's more than that. Akira purses her lips for a moment.] They'll always look for a chance to give us shit. [There is no end. There's no end to it. Akira has been so focused on the camouflage of any of these chances, but maybe it's better to simply be in control of them.
Looking at Shindou's face, Akira wants to make fists. She wants to cause regret in people. Instead, she unclasps her hands from her ankles, and reaches into her pocket. When she holds out Shindou's fan, it's with one of her own handkerchiefs. She's staring hard, as if daring Shindou to reject her. (Better to be in control of the chances.)] You have it utterly backwards, [she says, not unlike a lecture, which is so like her.] You're Shindou Hikaru. I'm Touya Meijin's daughter. You came out of nowhere. I never thought that I would... [She's self-conscious, suddenly, of her hands, of the hand she has held out to Shindou, of the differences between her hands and Shindou's hands. The softness, the scent...] See anyone like you. It was ridiculous to even imagine it. The whole thing is ridiculous.
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Akira laughs. It's startled and it's shaky, anxiety wearing it thin and nearly unrecognizable, but it's a genuine thing, like she really does find something funny. Her body isn't angled toward Shindou, but her face is—everyone turns toward Shindou, after all. So Akira laughs in a hoarse puff of air, and then stops laughing, and then raises her eyebrows. She gulps in a breath, the way she wouldn't do before when the stairs had worn her out.] Are you serious? [she asks, almost alarmed.] That's not going to happen. [Leeway? Maybe in their anger, yeah. Not in their condescension. Plus, you know, it goes to show, women aren't suited for a game of thorough logic... Whatever. Akira already knows all this. She was bracing for it since reaching the second floor of her climb.] Shindou, they are always going to look for a chance to give... [Me. But it's more than that. Akira purses her lips for a moment.] They'll always look for a chance to give us shit. [There is no end. There's no end to it. Akira has been so focused on the camouflage of any of these chances, but maybe it's better to simply be in control of them.
Looking at Shindou's face, Akira wants to make fists. She wants to cause regret in people. Instead, she unclasps her hands from her ankles, and reaches into her pocket. When she holds out Shindou's fan, it's with one of her own handkerchiefs. She's staring hard, as if daring Shindou to reject her. (Better to be in control of the chances.)] You have it utterly backwards, [she says, not unlike a lecture, which is so like her.] You're Shindou Hikaru. I'm Touya Meijin's daughter. You came out of nowhere. I never thought that I would... [She's self-conscious, suddenly, of her hands, of the hand she has held out to Shindou, of the differences between her hands and Shindou's hands. The softness, the scent...] See anyone like you. It was ridiculous to even imagine it. The whole thing is ridiculous.