[If not for Ogata. Akira's mouth twists ungraciously. The fact is, there is Ogata, and her winning streak did end, and that's what matters to people. Her end is what matters to people. And so, there cannot be one. These ends that people see, Akira has to keep turning them into starts. She has to make everyone work a little bit harder, every time, for the gratification of her losses. She thinks that if there was no point in making things harder for herself, she wouldn't be playing Go at all. Her father did try to warn her, and everything, keeping her sheltered away from amateurs, teaching her first at home and then in the safety of his own salon. But, she thinks wryly, hardheaded bitch wasn't so wrong an epithet, even coming from her classmates.] You're always, always talking about things you don't know. You've always been doing that. [Shindou showed up and said she was going to win titles, like she had no idea what that meant, because she didn't. At the time, Akira felt like she could kill her. Now she's desperate to see it happen.] I came after you because I knew you'd run away. And I knew that, but I didn't know where you'd go. How far, and everything. How far or where, so I had to catch you before you did get too far. [Akira frowns, only because she doesn't know how to make her lips as soft as Shindou's always look. Even like this, you know. Even like this, Shindou looks soft in the way of blooming violets.
Her hand feels empty when Shindou accepts her offering, but it's not like a loss. Emptiness, but a gain. Akira has the insane, embarrassing idea to thank Shindou for not rejecting that, but she settles for resting her chin on top of her knees.] Ridiculous, and an idiot, to boot. That's you. I'm telling you you're Shindou Hikaru. You always have been. You were from the start. [Her face tilts down, and she rests her cheek upon her knees instead. She's looking down the stairwell.] I tried finding out more about you, and everything, because there was no way people wouldn't have noticed someone like you... but it looked like nobody did. I had no idea where you were from. All I had was your name, Shindou, Shindou, [and she says that like she used to in ignorant anxiety when she was by herself, a frantic prayer... it's tremulous out of a tight throat. But she's a little less hoarse after another breath.] I'm telling you, you're... [Her eyes shift back over, and she looks at Shindou's April shower of a face.] Do you want to be Shindou Meijin? Shindou Honinbou? Oza? Which one, first?
no subject
Her hand feels empty when Shindou accepts her offering, but it's not like a loss. Emptiness, but a gain. Akira has the insane, embarrassing idea to thank Shindou for not rejecting that, but she settles for resting her chin on top of her knees.] Ridiculous, and an idiot, to boot. That's you. I'm telling you you're Shindou Hikaru. You always have been. You were from the start. [Her face tilts down, and she rests her cheek upon her knees instead. She's looking down the stairwell.] I tried finding out more about you, and everything, because there was no way people wouldn't have noticed someone like you... but it looked like nobody did. I had no idea where you were from. All I had was your name, Shindou, Shindou, [and she says that like she used to in ignorant anxiety when she was by herself, a frantic prayer... it's tremulous out of a tight throat. But she's a little less hoarse after another breath.] I'm telling you, you're... [Her eyes shift back over, and she looks at Shindou's April shower of a face.] Do you want to be Shindou Meijin? Shindou Honinbou? Oza? Which one, first?