"Aha! We should take a picture; they're always at each other's throats, but now. . ." Kurata said, gesturing across the aisle and leaning far too closely into Seiji's space.

He looked across himself, and found the scene much the same as it had been when last he'd stirred his attention from his newspaper - there was a small magnetic goban a hair from slipping off the seat, and Akira and Shindou had tipped together over it, Akira's head tipped backwards against the seat and Shindou's resting on his shoulder.

"You cannot possibly be surprised." Seiji observed, watching the boys - solidly asleep, even as the train rattled across a bridge - and ignoring Kurata, who had apparently been too thick to see this for all his attention to the new rising stars; Seiji had been anticipating this almost since the first time he'd seen Shindou play, and Akira's reaction to him.