Shouganai [HnG; Shindou Masao]
Title: Shouganai
Fandom: HnG
Word Count: 450
Summary: Shindou Masao's life is the company. He misses things, but it can't be helped.
Notes: Originally written for the team round of the HnG Deathmatch, held on the Dreamwidth
HnG comm here.
Shindou Masao was always in the office early. Always. Even when they had been out at karaoke until the small hours of the morning. He was usually the first one to the coffee machine, too, and the precious pint of real milk that the cleaners left for them. He couldn’t afford to buy real coffee, not when he was clinging to his job with redundancies around him, but he had the machine coffee down to a fine art.
“How was your weekend?”
Masao turned, nodded to his Takeshi, his seatmate.
“As usual,” he said. “We had a big conference call on Saturday morning, to suit the American clients. I was here most of the weekend, in the end. It’s good to be busy.”
Takeshi laughed and managed to make it sympathetic. It had been him the previous weekend, working on the neighbouring team. The coffee machine bleeped and Masao gently extracted the too-thin cardboard cup, holding it gingerly around the rim as the heat seeped through. He frowned, tipping out just enough of the black coffee to top it up with milk.
“How are your family these days?” Takeshi asked as he punched in his selection. He didn’t drink coffee because it made his hands shake but he still queued to get hot water for his green tea.
Masao shrugged. He hadn’t seen Hikaru more than in passing for weeks now. Mitsuko he saw but rarely spoke to, in the middle of the night and early in the mornings.
“As ever, I suppose. Hikaru has left school.”
“Not destined to join the company, then? A shame. Where is he now?”
“Living at home, still.”
Takeshi turned and looked at him.
“Ah, so it’s not the Shindou Hikaru who is a professional igo player. I did wonder, when I saw the name. I went with my father to watch an international go tournament this weekend and saw him play. It’s been a while since I got the chance.”
Masao shrugged. Hikaru played go, he knew, but it seemed unlikely he was playing internationally at his age. It was hardly an uncommon name. That night he was scheduled to go for dinner with clients, no doubt followed by a night in a bar and the last train home.
Maybe tomorrow evening he would have a chance to ask Mitsuko, just in case. It would be a conversation starter with some of his older clients, if Hikaru had become a success in such a traditional field. If not, well, it couldn’t be helped.
Maybe this weekend.
Fandom: HnG
Word Count: 450
Summary: Shindou Masao's life is the company. He misses things, but it can't be helped.
Notes: Originally written for the team round of the HnG Deathmatch, held on the Dreamwidth
HnG comm here.
Shindou Masao was always in the office early. Always. Even when they had been out at karaoke until the small hours of the morning. He was usually the first one to the coffee machine, too, and the precious pint of real milk that the cleaners left for them. He couldn’t afford to buy real coffee, not when he was clinging to his job with redundancies around him, but he had the machine coffee down to a fine art.
“How was your weekend?”
Masao turned, nodded to his Takeshi, his seatmate.
“As usual,” he said. “We had a big conference call on Saturday morning, to suit the American clients. I was here most of the weekend, in the end. It’s good to be busy.”
Takeshi laughed and managed to make it sympathetic. It had been him the previous weekend, working on the neighbouring team. The coffee machine bleeped and Masao gently extracted the too-thin cardboard cup, holding it gingerly around the rim as the heat seeped through. He frowned, tipping out just enough of the black coffee to top it up with milk.
“How are your family these days?” Takeshi asked as he punched in his selection. He didn’t drink coffee because it made his hands shake but he still queued to get hot water for his green tea.
Masao shrugged. He hadn’t seen Hikaru more than in passing for weeks now. Mitsuko he saw but rarely spoke to, in the middle of the night and early in the mornings.
“As ever, I suppose. Hikaru has left school.”
“Not destined to join the company, then? A shame. Where is he now?”
“Living at home, still.”
Takeshi turned and looked at him.
“Ah, so it’s not the Shindou Hikaru who is a professional igo player. I did wonder, when I saw the name. I went with my father to watch an international go tournament this weekend and saw him play. It’s been a while since I got the chance.”
Masao shrugged. Hikaru played go, he knew, but it seemed unlikely he was playing internationally at his age. It was hardly an uncommon name. That night he was scheduled to go for dinner with clients, no doubt followed by a night in a bar and the last train home.
Maybe tomorrow evening he would have a chance to ask Mitsuko, just in case. It would be a conversation starter with some of his older clients, if Hikaru had become a success in such a traditional field. If not, well, it couldn’t be helped.
Maybe this weekend.