16/50: you, me, and him makes three.
Title: You, me, and him makes three. (16: Go)
Characters: Kuroda 'Kanbei' Yoshitaka (kuroda.yt@docomo.ne.jp); Takenaka 'Hanbei' Shigeharu (halfandhalf@docomo.ne.jp); Mouri Motonari (m-m.o0@ezweb.ne.jp). Cameos by a few others, just because.
Rating: G like sour candy; 1650w
Notes: Originally written for strateslash month, but I was slow with the picture. 8D School AU based off/after Hanbei's SW3 cutscenes, in which [general spoilersss? idk he actually lives for once! and makes kanbei (who also lives, omg!!) be friends with mouri instead of killing him, i think. ♥ which is completely adorable okay] Also even if Hanbei was historically two years Kanbei's elder or whatever, they are all the same age here. :'D Also, cheated with chess instead of Go for familiarity's sake. Mostly mine.
Have a class picture.
Or there is also the dating sim version lolol. Needs more sparkles but whatever. 8D;
*
In the speckled sun under the trees at the far edge of the football field, Kuroda Yoshitaka studied with a book in his lap and default frown on his face. It was a mild day, early autumn. His blazer sat neatly folded to his left with an empty lunch box and matching chopsticks. Nobody bothered him.
Which was just the way Kuroda liked it. Talk was cheap and education wasn't a popularity contest. Consistent, diligent study was all students needed to progress further, and so he studied alone until Takenaka Shigeharu sought him out. ('Friend' would be putting it a little liberally, but) Kuroda could identify the other's whimsical, light footsteps on the grass before Takenaka's short shadow fell into view.
"Knew you'd be here, Kanbeiii~" Takenaka greeted. His air-thin voice and smile were all singsong. "Though it's not like reading you is rocket science."
Kuroda ignored him.
Takenaka duly issued his own invitation to company. He moved Kuroda's lunch box over on the grass and appropriated Kuroda's large blazer for a makeshift pillow (Kuroda was big and Takenaka was not so big), curling up and settling down.
Kuroda let him.
"You shouldn't study so much, you know?" Takenaka said, eyes closed. "Relax sometime. Like, before your brain leaks out from the cracks in your porcelain ears."
Kuroda grunted. "You shouldn't open your mouth if all that will come out of it is nonsense."
Smiling, Takenaka ignored him. "After, come play chess with me?"
Kuroda ignored him right back. Takenaka had been trying to get him to join the chess club (blatant code for make more friends) since first year. And they would be graduating soon, yet Takenaka still hadn't given up. But neither had Kuroda given in.
He turned the page and kept reading.
Takenaka talking to him was fine. Kuroda would accept the other stealing his pens and eating his morning tea apples; even tolerate the doodles (helicopters and wizards of all things) that Takenaka left in the margins of his meticulously compiled study notes. Takenaka was Takenaka after all and couldn't be helped.
But adding anyone else to the equation was beyond the scope of Kuroda's goodwill.
"But what're you gonna do if I'm away again?" Takenaka murmured.
Kuroda looked up from his text. Takanaka's eyes were still closed, but Kuroda had long learned that meant little with regard to the other's uncanny powers of perception.
"Nothing," Kuroda replied. "Visit, perhaps. Are you ill again?" Since anybody at school had known him, Takenaka seemed to frequent the local hospital like a regular student went to clubs and pool halls.
"I'm just saying," Takenaka said. He curled his knees up. "You'll have no friends at school."
Satisfied that the other was not, in fact, dying at present, Kuroda returned his attention to his book. Takenaka's observations didn't warrant an answer. If nothing else, he'd already know Kuroda's thoughts on the matter: that Takenaka's company was sufficient.
"…well, Moucchan will keep you company if I ask," Takenaka said just to be contrary.
Kuroda continued to tutor himself in the finer points of negative gearing.
Their silence was comfortable if not exactly companionable. Slowly Takenaka's breathing evened out beside him.
At twenty-five minutes past the hour, Kuroda closed his book and looked briefly down at Takenaka's sleeping form. Class would resume soon, but Takenaka showed no sign of waking of his own accord.
Typical.
Takenaka's childish face and weak constitution allowed him to get away with far more than he ought, Kuroda thought critically, and moved to wake the other. But a shiver tightening Takenaka's slight shoulders gave him pause. "You are ill," he said with audible distaste. The day was impractically warm.
Receiving no answer, Kuroda removed his sweater and set it across Takenaka's shoulders. He had no personal need for such heavy items of clothing with the weather as it was; more importantly, dry-cleaning the blazer would be a bother if Takenaka's nose ran all over it.
Gathering up his lunch box and books, Kuroda left for class alone.
*
"Kanbei. Where's Hanbei?"
Kuroda still wasn't sure why he and Takenaka responded to the daft nicknames bestowed upon them by their monkey of a class president. "Am I to know?" Taking his seat, he ignored Mouri Motonari's gaze. If Takenaka were at all sensible he would have woken up with the bell and gone to sleep in the nurse's office like a proper invalid.
"Said he was going to find you." Mouri gave an easy smile. "I assume he did since you've lost half your clothes."
Kuroda gave Mouri a flat look. "Your deductions are flawed."
"But he did find you," Mouri said.
"And will clean my blazer of any grass stains it may acquire," Kuroda told him, which made Mouri laugh though Kuroda did not know why.
At length, Mouri spoke again. "Will you be joining us for chess this afternoon?" He leaned casually on his desk, chin in palm. Inquisitive.
"No," Kuroda said.
Mouri sighed. "Ah, that's a shame. I've been looking forward to playing against you, you know? Hanbei says you're good."
"Shigeharu has never played me before," Kuroda said. "You have been misled."
"Be that as it may," Mouri said, "I still-"
"Mouri-kun," Kuroda's teacher interrupted from the front of the room. "Class has started. I strongly suggest you attend the subjects you are enrolled in."
"301," Mouri told Kuroda with another easy smile, sliding his books onto his hip and ambling amicably from the room.
m-m.o0@ezweb.ne.jp
3:15pm okay?
kuroda.yt@docomo.ne.jp
I do not know what you are talking about, Mouri.
m-m.o0@ezweb.ne.jp
room 301
kuroda.yt@docomo.ne.jp
No.
m-m.o0@ezweb.ne.jp
hanbei will be there?
m-m.o0@ezweb.ne.jp
he owes you clothes
kuroda.yt@docomo.ne.jp
Then I will collect my effects and leave.
m-m.o0@ezweb.ne.jp
e4
kuroda.yt@docomo.ne.jp
I am not playing chess with you, Mouri.
m-m.o0@ezweb.ne.jp
e4, kanbei
kuroda.yt@docomo.ne.jp
e5.
m-m.o0@ezweb.ne.jp
Nf3
kuroda.yt@docomo.ne.jp
d6.
halfandhalf@docomo.ne.jp
Nooo~ Kanbei!! The Philidor's so cramped and outdated. :(
"Shigeharu?" Kuroda blinked.
kuroda.yt@docomo.ne.jp
It is a solid defence-
"Kuroda-kun, it's not like you to be so distracted," his teacher chastised.
"I apologise for my lapse," Kuroda said, immediately pocketing his phone.
"Do you know where Takenaka-kun is though?"
"I do not," Kuroda said, just as Takenaka appeared in the door.
"Sorry I'm late~♪"
"Speaking of the devil," their teacher said mildly, eyeing Takenaka's state of overdress. On his slight frame, Kuroda's sweater hung loose and long; the sleeves of his blazer atop it were also rolled up twice. "…are you feeling alright, Takenaka-kun?"
"I'm fine." With a bright smile, Takenaka crossed the room to his seat by the window. His face seemed a touch pale, Kuroda thought critically, but otherwise showed no sign of discomfort. "Kanbei lent me his sweater~ it's practically a blanket!"
Kuroda turned to glare at Takenaka across the room amid the cooing of their several female classmates. He heard Vice-President Nene's voice particularly loudly: "It's nice to see a guy knowing how to take care of others for once!"
"Heyyy~!" Toyotomi protested. "What's that s'pposed to mean? Don't I know how to take care of people?"
"I'd say I know how to take care of the ladies at least," Magoichi drawled.
"Kanbei's twice the gent either of you'll ever be!" Nene told them.
Magoichi ran a hand through his hair. "That pokerface? Sorry lady, but it doesn't look to me like your argument holds any water."
Nene snapped and very precisely threw her set of glitter pens at Magoichi's bag.
Knees curled up in his chair, Takenaka for his part watched on in amusement as their teacher tried to stem the swell of classroom chatter.
Irritated, Kuroda turned back to his notes. Class was inexplicably calmer when Takenaka was away. Not that the other actively caused a ruckus, but such ridiculous notions as Kuroda's masculinity would never have started an uproar otherwise.
In his pocket, Kuroda's phone buzzed again. He was tempted to ignore it until he heard Takenaka's light giggle from across the room and curiosity got the better of him.
m-m.o0@ezweb.ne.jp
your class is so lively. i feel like i'm missing out.
halfandhalf@docomo.ne.jp
You should come join us~!! ;D
m-m.o0@ezweb.ne.jp
i got kicked out before. shouldn't push my luck.
anyway, i've got tachibana and tachibana here keeping me company.
halfandhalf@docomo.ne.jp
Ooh~ say hi to them for me! <333
kuroda.yt@docomo.ne.jp
This conversation has nothing to do with me. Please stop using 'Reply All'.
halfandhalf@docomo.ne.jp
Chess club, Kanbeiii~ 3:15, Room 301! >:3
kuroda.yt@docomo.ne.jp
No. Further, you are ill and should go home to rest.
halfandhalf@docomo.ne.jp
…feel like walking me home today?
Kuroda sighed, brows drawn. When he looked back up across the classroom, Takenaka was absorbed in typing-presumably another message to Mouri or one of the Tachibana twins. 'You are not a child' he was tempted to reply. But Takenaka had been known to pass out in the middle of PE class before, and they did live in the same general direction. Kuroda owed it to Takenaka's mother if nothing else.
kuroda.yt@docomo.ne.jp
…if necessary.
halfandhalf@docomo.ne.jp
Yayyy~ Well! You know where to find me after last period <333
kuroda.yt@docomo.ne.jp
I repeat: I am not playing chess with you or Mouri.
halfandhalf@docomo.ne.jp
That's okay, Kan-bb. :D That you'll be there at all is a big step in the right direction.
With a sigh of consternation, Kuroda turned his phone off and refused to look over at the winning smile he knew Takenaka was directing his way from across the room.
Really, that childish face and weak constitution allowed him to get away with far more than he ought.
*
halfandhalf@docomo.ne.jp
Thank you for your company today, Kanbei <3
halfandhalf@docomo.ne.jp
Actually, I won't be at school tomorrow.
kuroda.yt@docomo.ne.jp
I will collect your homework for you.
halfandhalf@docomo.ne.jp
Poo. Don't feel you have to. ;T
kuroda.yt@docomo.ne.jp
I will drop it off on my way home.
halfandhalf@docomo.ne.jp
Stay for dinner again? <3 I miss you, Kanbei.
kuroda.yt@docomo.ne.jp
…it has been scarcely thirty minutes since I left your house, Shigeharu.
halfandhalf@docomo.ne.jp
So? <333
kuroda.yt@docomo.ne.jp
Go to sleep. You are unstable.
halfandhalf@docomo.ne.jp
See you tomorrow~ ;*
kuroda.yt@docomo.ne.jp
Goodnight.
Characters: Kuroda 'Kanbei' Yoshitaka (kuroda.yt@docomo.ne.jp); Takenaka 'Hanbei' Shigeharu (halfandhalf@docomo.ne.jp); Mouri Motonari (m-m.o0@ezweb.ne.jp). Cameos by a few others, just because.
Rating: G like sour candy; 1650w
Notes: Originally written for strateslash month, but I was slow with the picture. 8D School AU based off/after Hanbei's SW3 cutscenes, in which [general spoilersss? idk he actually lives for once! and makes kanbei (who also lives, omg!!) be friends with mouri instead of killing him, i think. ♥ which is completely adorable okay] Also even if Hanbei was historically two years Kanbei's elder or whatever, they are all the same age here. :'D Also, cheated with chess instead of Go for familiarity's sake. Mostly mine.
Have a class picture.
Or there is also the dating sim version lolol. Needs more sparkles but whatever. 8D;
*
In the speckled sun under the trees at the far edge of the football field, Kuroda Yoshitaka studied with a book in his lap and default frown on his face. It was a mild day, early autumn. His blazer sat neatly folded to his left with an empty lunch box and matching chopsticks. Nobody bothered him.
Which was just the way Kuroda liked it. Talk was cheap and education wasn't a popularity contest. Consistent, diligent study was all students needed to progress further, and so he studied alone until Takenaka Shigeharu sought him out. ('Friend' would be putting it a little liberally, but) Kuroda could identify the other's whimsical, light footsteps on the grass before Takenaka's short shadow fell into view.
"Knew you'd be here, Kanbeiii~" Takenaka greeted. His air-thin voice and smile were all singsong. "Though it's not like reading you is rocket science."
Kuroda ignored him.
Takenaka duly issued his own invitation to company. He moved Kuroda's lunch box over on the grass and appropriated Kuroda's large blazer for a makeshift pillow (Kuroda was big and Takenaka was not so big), curling up and settling down.
Kuroda let him.
"You shouldn't study so much, you know?" Takenaka said, eyes closed. "Relax sometime. Like, before your brain leaks out from the cracks in your porcelain ears."
Kuroda grunted. "You shouldn't open your mouth if all that will come out of it is nonsense."
Smiling, Takenaka ignored him. "After, come play chess with me?"
Kuroda ignored him right back. Takenaka had been trying to get him to join the chess club (blatant code for make more friends) since first year. And they would be graduating soon, yet Takenaka still hadn't given up. But neither had Kuroda given in.
He turned the page and kept reading.
Takenaka talking to him was fine. Kuroda would accept the other stealing his pens and eating his morning tea apples; even tolerate the doodles (helicopters and wizards of all things) that Takenaka left in the margins of his meticulously compiled study notes. Takenaka was Takenaka after all and couldn't be helped.
But adding anyone else to the equation was beyond the scope of Kuroda's goodwill.
"But what're you gonna do if I'm away again?" Takenaka murmured.
Kuroda looked up from his text. Takanaka's eyes were still closed, but Kuroda had long learned that meant little with regard to the other's uncanny powers of perception.
"Nothing," Kuroda replied. "Visit, perhaps. Are you ill again?" Since anybody at school had known him, Takenaka seemed to frequent the local hospital like a regular student went to clubs and pool halls.
"I'm just saying," Takenaka said. He curled his knees up. "You'll have no friends at school."
Satisfied that the other was not, in fact, dying at present, Kuroda returned his attention to his book. Takenaka's observations didn't warrant an answer. If nothing else, he'd already know Kuroda's thoughts on the matter: that Takenaka's company was sufficient.
"…well, Moucchan will keep you company if I ask," Takenaka said just to be contrary.
Kuroda continued to tutor himself in the finer points of negative gearing.
Their silence was comfortable if not exactly companionable. Slowly Takenaka's breathing evened out beside him.
At twenty-five minutes past the hour, Kuroda closed his book and looked briefly down at Takenaka's sleeping form. Class would resume soon, but Takenaka showed no sign of waking of his own accord.
Typical.
Takenaka's childish face and weak constitution allowed him to get away with far more than he ought, Kuroda thought critically, and moved to wake the other. But a shiver tightening Takenaka's slight shoulders gave him pause. "You are ill," he said with audible distaste. The day was impractically warm.
Receiving no answer, Kuroda removed his sweater and set it across Takenaka's shoulders. He had no personal need for such heavy items of clothing with the weather as it was; more importantly, dry-cleaning the blazer would be a bother if Takenaka's nose ran all over it.
Gathering up his lunch box and books, Kuroda left for class alone.
*
"Kanbei. Where's Hanbei?"
Kuroda still wasn't sure why he and Takenaka responded to the daft nicknames bestowed upon them by their monkey of a class president. "Am I to know?" Taking his seat, he ignored Mouri Motonari's gaze. If Takenaka were at all sensible he would have woken up with the bell and gone to sleep in the nurse's office like a proper invalid.
"Said he was going to find you." Mouri gave an easy smile. "I assume he did since you've lost half your clothes."
Kuroda gave Mouri a flat look. "Your deductions are flawed."
"But he did find you," Mouri said.
"And will clean my blazer of any grass stains it may acquire," Kuroda told him, which made Mouri laugh though Kuroda did not know why.
At length, Mouri spoke again. "Will you be joining us for chess this afternoon?" He leaned casually on his desk, chin in palm. Inquisitive.
"No," Kuroda said.
Mouri sighed. "Ah, that's a shame. I've been looking forward to playing against you, you know? Hanbei says you're good."
"Shigeharu has never played me before," Kuroda said. "You have been misled."
"Be that as it may," Mouri said, "I still-"
"Mouri-kun," Kuroda's teacher interrupted from the front of the room. "Class has started. I strongly suggest you attend the subjects you are enrolled in."
"301," Mouri told Kuroda with another easy smile, sliding his books onto his hip and ambling amicably from the room.
m-m.o0@ezweb.ne.jp
3:15pm okay?
kuroda.yt@docomo.ne.jp
I do not know what you are talking about, Mouri.
m-m.o0@ezweb.ne.jp
room 301
kuroda.yt@docomo.ne.jp
No.
m-m.o0@ezweb.ne.jp
hanbei will be there?
m-m.o0@ezweb.ne.jp
he owes you clothes
kuroda.yt@docomo.ne.jp
Then I will collect my effects and leave.
m-m.o0@ezweb.ne.jp
e4
kuroda.yt@docomo.ne.jp
I am not playing chess with you, Mouri.
m-m.o0@ezweb.ne.jp
e4, kanbei
kuroda.yt@docomo.ne.jp
e5.
m-m.o0@ezweb.ne.jp
Nf3
kuroda.yt@docomo.ne.jp
d6.
halfandhalf@docomo.ne.jp
Nooo~ Kanbei!! The Philidor's so cramped and outdated. :(
"Shigeharu?" Kuroda blinked.
kuroda.yt@docomo.ne.jp
It is a solid defence-
"Kuroda-kun, it's not like you to be so distracted," his teacher chastised.
"I apologise for my lapse," Kuroda said, immediately pocketing his phone.
"Do you know where Takenaka-kun is though?"
"I do not," Kuroda said, just as Takenaka appeared in the door.
"Sorry I'm late~♪"
"Speaking of the devil," their teacher said mildly, eyeing Takenaka's state of overdress. On his slight frame, Kuroda's sweater hung loose and long; the sleeves of his blazer atop it were also rolled up twice. "…are you feeling alright, Takenaka-kun?"
"I'm fine." With a bright smile, Takenaka crossed the room to his seat by the window. His face seemed a touch pale, Kuroda thought critically, but otherwise showed no sign of discomfort. "Kanbei lent me his sweater~ it's practically a blanket!"
Kuroda turned to glare at Takenaka across the room amid the cooing of their several female classmates. He heard Vice-President Nene's voice particularly loudly: "It's nice to see a guy knowing how to take care of others for once!"
"Heyyy~!" Toyotomi protested. "What's that s'pposed to mean? Don't I know how to take care of people?"
"I'd say I know how to take care of the ladies at least," Magoichi drawled.
"Kanbei's twice the gent either of you'll ever be!" Nene told them.
Magoichi ran a hand through his hair. "That pokerface? Sorry lady, but it doesn't look to me like your argument holds any water."
Nene snapped and very precisely threw her set of glitter pens at Magoichi's bag.
Knees curled up in his chair, Takenaka for his part watched on in amusement as their teacher tried to stem the swell of classroom chatter.
Irritated, Kuroda turned back to his notes. Class was inexplicably calmer when Takenaka was away. Not that the other actively caused a ruckus, but such ridiculous notions as Kuroda's masculinity would never have started an uproar otherwise.
In his pocket, Kuroda's phone buzzed again. He was tempted to ignore it until he heard Takenaka's light giggle from across the room and curiosity got the better of him.
m-m.o0@ezweb.ne.jp
your class is so lively. i feel like i'm missing out.
halfandhalf@docomo.ne.jp
You should come join us~!! ;D
m-m.o0@ezweb.ne.jp
i got kicked out before. shouldn't push my luck.
anyway, i've got tachibana and tachibana here keeping me company.
halfandhalf@docomo.ne.jp
Ooh~ say hi to them for me! <333
kuroda.yt@docomo.ne.jp
This conversation has nothing to do with me. Please stop using 'Reply All'.
halfandhalf@docomo.ne.jp
Chess club, Kanbeiii~ 3:15, Room 301! >:3
kuroda.yt@docomo.ne.jp
No. Further, you are ill and should go home to rest.
halfandhalf@docomo.ne.jp
…feel like walking me home today?
Kuroda sighed, brows drawn. When he looked back up across the classroom, Takenaka was absorbed in typing-presumably another message to Mouri or one of the Tachibana twins. 'You are not a child' he was tempted to reply. But Takenaka had been known to pass out in the middle of PE class before, and they did live in the same general direction. Kuroda owed it to Takenaka's mother if nothing else.
kuroda.yt@docomo.ne.jp
…if necessary.
halfandhalf@docomo.ne.jp
Yayyy~ Well! You know where to find me after last period <333
kuroda.yt@docomo.ne.jp
I repeat: I am not playing chess with you or Mouri.
halfandhalf@docomo.ne.jp
That's okay, Kan-bb. :D That you'll be there at all is a big step in the right direction.
With a sigh of consternation, Kuroda turned his phone off and refused to look over at the winning smile he knew Takenaka was directing his way from across the room.
Really, that childish face and weak constitution allowed him to get away with far more than he ought.
*
halfandhalf@docomo.ne.jp
Thank you for your company today, Kanbei <3
halfandhalf@docomo.ne.jp
Actually, I won't be at school tomorrow.
kuroda.yt@docomo.ne.jp
I will collect your homework for you.
halfandhalf@docomo.ne.jp
Poo. Don't feel you have to. ;T
kuroda.yt@docomo.ne.jp
I will drop it off on my way home.
halfandhalf@docomo.ne.jp
Stay for dinner again? <3 I miss you, Kanbei.
kuroda.yt@docomo.ne.jp
…it has been scarcely thirty minutes since I left your house, Shigeharu.
halfandhalf@docomo.ne.jp
So? <333
kuroda.yt@docomo.ne.jp
Go to sleep. You are unstable.
halfandhalf@docomo.ne.jp
See you tomorrow~ ;*
kuroda.yt@docomo.ne.jp
Goodnight.