Round 5.5 - Kyuba, "1/2 tsp red pepper flakes", Fic (●)

[uchikomi]

Pseudonym: Kyuba
Title: 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
Characters/Pairings: Touya Kouyo and Akiko, implied Akira/Hikaru
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings/Contains: none
Summary/Notes: word count: 357

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"You handled that very well."

Kouyo looks up from his goban, and smiles as his wife sets down a tray. "You expected otherwise?"

She pours them tea. "Many men would be upset to learn their only son is not going to provide them any grandchildren."

"They will have students who will carry on their legacy." He lays down a few stones, the smell of tea enticing. "Ah... does it bother you?"

Her eyes sparkle as she sips. She always sips her tea when it is still too hot to drink. "Not so much. They might adopt someday. As long as Akira-san is happy..." She's still looking at him, amused.

He has the feeling that there's some joke to which he's not privy. "Mm. ...This sort of thing is not so unusual anymore, is it? Ashiwara-kun isn't likely to marry."

She laughs. "Well, no. But he is not your son."

"It does bother you?"

"No," she shakes her head emphatically. "Shindou-kun makes Akira-san happy. The two of them... they've been together for a while now, really."

He smiles, and puts his fingertips into the stones. "Enjoying go together is not the same thing as falling in love."

"That is a good thing, husband, or I would have had to get a divorce a long time ago. Just... Shindou-kun gives Akira-san... passion. Fire. He allows Akira-san to behave foolishly. That child is so serious... like his father. It's nice to see someone get under his skin. Oh... not to imply that you lack passion..."

That is exactly what she implied. She busies herself, picking up something to eat. Kouyo watches her hands for a moment. She handles her chopsticks so deftly.

"I am passionate about you."

She sputters a bit and coughs, looking away.

He smiles. "I can still make my wife blush..."

"You fool," she reprimands. "It's the Schezhuan shrimp the boys brought!"

"Is that it?" he asks. He reaches out and touches her cheek. It's only after he makes contact that he realizes... it's been a long time since he's touched her cheek.

She bats his hand away, but only after she looks him in the eye.

---

Go to opponent's entry: Round 5.5 - Fido, "Language", Fic (○)
Go to vote: Ichigaya vs. Kawahagi Middle School - First Board Match

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

"I am passionate about you."

She sputters a bit and coughs, looking away.

He smiles. "I can still make my wife blush..."

<3<3<3<3<3

I ship these two so hard, and you presented their characters so beautifully (as always!) <3. Thank you!

I'm glad to see that I wasn't the only person hovering on the edge of the upper word limit (I was at 361, and I had to chop things up a bit to get down to that -_-;;;)

--akota

[(Anonymous)]

Thank you so much!! I'm glad you liked it, and the characterizations.

Ahah, no way, my first draft was a bit over 600 words. Then, I got it down to 361, and then I went through once again to see if I could trim it to a less at-the-threshold number.

♥ Kyuba

[(Anonymous)]

You're a brilliant editor, then. I'm awful at cutting out the unnecessary bits, but I'm normally struggling to make the lower word limits, so it's rarely an issue (and therefore, I don't practise it a great deal). This was sort of a new experience for me XD.

akota

[(Anonymous)]

Maybe I'm just more used to it, then. I really love writing short things, particularly to a specific word count. Though, there was no way to tell this one in under 350 words, so I'm glad we weren't limited to 100!

♥ Kyuba

[(Anonymous)]

Mmph. Dude. You deserve to win this one. To use a hikago phrase, "You went deeper than I did." Like, there is so much here. It's very pretty.

--Fido

[(Anonymous)]

You're killing me. When I first saw I pitted against you, my heart sank, because you've been consistently one of my favorites throughout Deathmatch.

You're so very kind, and it means a lot (a LOT) to me that you liked my piece!

♥ Kyuba