"Connections" side story

by Lady Addiction

DISCLAIMER: Again, neither xxxHolic nor Hikaru no Go is mine…to my ongoing despair…

WARNINGS: Fluff, spoilers for "Connections"

AUTHOR NOTES: This was mainly written after I finished posting up the story on LJ, exhausted and sleepy, and suddenly bang! I totally forgot the one thing that xxxHolic revolves around on: Yuuko never, ever gives anything away for free.

WWWW

It was rather startling to finally be able to see what Shindou looked like in his own body. Watanuki hadn't realized just how faded his friend had looked as a spirit until he finally saw that living, breathing body. It was gaunt and pale, and the familiar face had shadows under the eyes and lines where there shouldn't be any. But the eyes, the eyes were twinkling and alive, and Watanuki knew, just knew, that Shindou-kun would soon be back on his feet, laughing and playing.

This was his third visit to the hospital room and for once, he and Shindou were alone. The other boy was reclining on his bed, idly flipping through a popular boy's magazine, as Watanuki approached with a tentative smile.

"Watanuki!" Shindou tossed away the magazine. "Finally, someone to talk to! I've been bored for hours!"

His visitor settled on one of the plastic chairs by the bedside. "I heard you're getting out tomorrow," Watanuki commented.

"Yeah, and I can't wait! Did I tell you that Touya signed me up for four tournaments! Since when did he run my life!" his friend whined.

Watanuki raised both brows. "As if you wouldn't have signed up for them anyways," he replied dryly.

"Yeah, but that's different! Sometimes, that bastard acts like he's my teacher or something," grumbled Shindou. "Forget about him! Why'd you come today? You were just here two days ago!"

"Getting tired of me already?" Watanuki watched in amusement as the other boy frantically (and loudly) back-pedalled. "No, I've just been wondering about something and I never got a chance to ask you about it."

Shindou looked at him curiously. "Oh?"

"Yeah," Watanuki shifted his head so he was staring at his hands. He wriggled his shoulders, feeling awkward. "You see, I-I was just wondering…what payment did Yuuko-san ask for?"

Shindou was quiet, which made him look up and fumble further. "I mean, I've been working for her for months now and Yuuko-san, well, she never gives anything away for free! There's always a price! So I, I was just wondering if, if you wouldn't mind telling me. I mean, you don't have to…"

"It's fine," the other boy interrupted. He settled heavily back onto the thick pillows and turned his face to the ceiling. "I don't mind telling you. Yuuko-san only asked for a copy of a kifu collection I'm making."

"A kifu collection?" Watanuki didn't even know what a kifu was.

"Oh, I didn't tell you about it? A kifu is a written record of a Go game. It's the only way Go players can study how earlier Go masters played," explained Shindou, "the Go Institute has a storage room just dedicated to books and books of nothing but kifu!"

"And Yuuko-san said she wants a copy of the collection?"

"Yeah. My collection is more of a personal scrapbook. I'm trying to record down as much of what I remember of Sai's games as possible. I'm also adding kifu of my own matches, Touya's, Waya's, and the other people I know. I'm even trying to make copies of the kifu of the title matches. It's in a big messy pile in a box in my room." Shindou paused for breath and looked at Watanuki. "I don't know why she wanted a copy. I told her my collection will be an ongoing thing, and that it probably won't be finished until I die, but she just laughed and said that I can give her a copy of what I now have currently and that for every year I add to my collection, I also mail her copies of the updates."

Watanuki frowned, wondering what convoluted plot Yuuko-san was weaving. He recalled one memorable day where he had been dragged along with her to find bizarre items like a red baseball bat and a child's high chair, and wondered whether this was a similar case. Then, he remembered that each and every one of those items in the 'Treasure Room' seemed to be waiting for new keepers, new purposes.

Maybe some day another Go fanatic would stumble into Yuuko-san's shop and find himself the new owner of an eclectic collection of kifu.

"I never understand why Yuuko-san asks for what she asks," confided Watanuki, "but I have no doubts that she has some sort of purpose for that collection."

Shindou shrugged. "To me, it is a small enough price to pay for me to be able to rescue Sai and to spend time with him."

Watanuki looked at that peaceful expression and hoped deeply that Shindou would never need to step into Yuuko-san's shop again.

FIN

Fun? Reader comments are much appreciated!