What Is Go?
"I'm home!" Hikaru Shindou called as he took off his shoes and put on his slippers.
"Hikaru! Would you come here for a minute?" His mother called from the kitchen.
"Mom! What now? I'm tired." He complained, setting his backpack by the stairs and entering the kitchen.
"Are you hungry? I'll make you a sandwich!" Mrs. Shindou said cheerily.
"No mom, I'm fine. What did you want?" Hikaru sighed, flopping down in a chair.
The woman chewed on her lip as she made the sandwich anyway. "Well, I was hoping you could try to explain Go for me again." She said hopefully.
"Mom!" Hikaru whined "It's hopeless! I thought you were fine with just letting me do it." He pouted.
"I know," She sighed, setting the plate in front of him. "But I was talking to some of the other mothers at the market today. They were all bragging about all the wonderful things their children were doing and all I could say was 'My son plays Go.'"
"I'm a Pro Go player, mom! I don't just play it! And just because I'm a First Dan right now doesn't mean anything! I'll rise up and pass Touya no matter what!" He declared with a grin, thinking of his and his rival's latest argument.
"But, Hikaru. . . I don't even know what a 'dan' is. And neither do any of the women I talk to." His mother all but pouted. "Can't you explain it any more?"
"Aah!" Hikaru sounded in frustration "A Dan's a rank, how else can I explain it? It's just hopeless!" He said, starting to stand.
"Oh, Please Hikaru!" She said, grabbing her son's arm. After all, one of the other mothers had said she should just sit him down and make him explain it. "I understand that you're passionate about it, I just don't understand why! You're growing up so fast and I don't want you to be the kind of son that never talks to his mother!"
Hikaru twitched, looking down at her. She reminded him of Sai just before he would start bawling. "Alright, Alright!" He said in defeat as he flopped back down. "How do you want me to explain it?"
"Well. . ." she said, chewing her lip a bit more."I don't know. What's so amazing about it that makes you want to play so badly?"
"Um. . ." Even Hikaru could tell his mother was expecting more then a 'Cause it's fun.' "Well, because of the rush you get when you play." he said scratching his head as he tried to organize his thoughts on the subject. How had he described it to Sai once? "It's like you're creating a whole new universe on the board. . . Or like a really intense battle!" He said, remembering Sai's analogy. "And when I play someone really good, like Touya, it get's really exciting! Trying to predict what he'll do next, it turns into a real battle! Each side pushing the other to their full potential and challenging them to be even greater! Everything else just fades away when you focus on a really intense game. It's just you and your opponent and one can't exist without the other! Go's a game of fire and passion! Give and take! Win or lose! Dominance or submission! Nothing else matters! And when you play a game like that, with someone like Touya, you never forget it!" At some point during his speech, he had ended up on his feet with his fists clenched in the air.
His mother sat blinking at him. "Goodness, Hikaru! That sounds an awful lot like love."
Hikaru stared at her as his face slowly began to heat up. "You're hopeless, mom!" He shouted, grabbing the sandwich and running upstairs.
Mrs. Shindou blinked before smiling softly and going to the stairs "Thank you, Hikaru! I think I do understand a bit more now!"
She was answered by a slamming door.
Hooray for my first Drabble ever. I don't think I have ever written a piece of fiction this short ever. That also makes this my second completed work ever. Yay me! But I defiantly don't think this was my best work ever. I just couldn't get the comparison of Go to love out of my head. I couldn't see how to expand it to make it a longer story, so this came out. Bleh. Hope you like it anyway.
Kioko Yasu