I'm working on the new update and need to reread the earlier chapters again just in case I left any hole in my fanfic. After coming back to look at these again, I decide to fuse the chapters together and did a bit of revising and editing. The improved version didn't change much in terms of the story plot. I only added details to make the story flows better (in my opinion). This chapter includes the original chapter1-2. Chapter 3-6 will be edited and re-upload within the next few days.
Disclaimer: I don't own Hikaru no Go
It was a stormy night, the kind of weather that was quite common during the month of September in Japan. The wind outside was blowing restlessly as did for the boy in his elementary school year who was stirring in his sleep, beads of sweat moistened his pajamas as he struggled to stay in his dream against the gusty sound of wind outside his bedroom windows.
A few boisterously loud knocks ripped through the door of his room, immediately jerked him up from his slumber. The boy groggily sat up in his bed, rubbing his still droopy eyes as he groaned away his displeasure at the interruption of his sleep. He patiently waited for the arrival of the person behind the door. But what came to greet him was a loud shout from a man on the other side of the room.
"I'm taking your mom to a hospital! She's delivering the baby!" the boy heard his father rushed down the stairs. He even heard his mother moaning painfully in the background.
"Father! Shouldn't we call the ambulance!?" the boy swung the door opened to his parents. His father was frantically throwing some blanket and pillows into the back seat of his car which he had the engine started and ready to take off.
"I already did but the typhoon is really bad they might not make it here in time. Her water had broken already. There's no time left!" His father yelled back at him against the strong wind. Upon hearing his mother condition, the boy went rigid. His eyes widened in panic as he clenched his shaky hands. In all honesty, he had no idea what his father meant but it sounded gravely serious to the ears of ten year old boy.
"SAI!" his father called him out from his stupor. In his arms was his mother who was caressing her oversized belly, pain evidenced on her face.
The boy was finally pulled out of his trance. He quickly grabbed the house keys, locking the door, and plopped into the front seat next to his father who stepped on the pedal the second his son closed the car door.
"Mother, we're taking you to a hospital. You'll be alright!" he turned to look at his mother who was trying to smile at him despite her physical state.
"I'm sorry. We must have terrified you" Mitsuko took a deep breath as she tried her best to calm the other two despite the look of her current state. The boy stiffly smiled back at his mother, mentally praying for her safe delivery as they drove away from their house.
~o0O0o~
The next morning, Shindou Heihachi and his wife found themselves rushing to the hospital after receiving a hasty phone call from his only son, informing them of the news of their newborn.
"Sai will be there. He's taking a leave from school today. I'll be back with them in the afternoon after I deal with some paper work from my office. Could you look after them for me while I'm away?"
"Oh for god sake, that son of mine!" the old Heihachi muttered heatedly while his wife was busy talking to the receptionist at the front desk of the hospital. He never understood why his son had always put his work before his own family as he was certain he had never acted like one as a role model. His wife led him to the elevator and they rode a few floor above with Heihachi grumpily mumbling his disapproval all the way down the corridor. He didn't stop complaining until the both of them came to a halt in front of a room with a plate number 505 attached to the door.
"Grandfather, grandmother," Sai brightened up at the sight of the two elders. His mother lied weakly on the bed beside him.
"We received a call from Masao early this morning. I think he is worried about leaving you and your mother alone." His grandmother said before switching her gaze to her daughter in law while the latter gave a feeble smile back in reply.
"It's not that we don't want to pay a visit but he is the one who should be here the most. Geez! That no good workaholic!" Heihachi grumpily greeted Mitsuko and his first grandson before his eyes fell on the younger one. His frown became softer and a smile gently spread itself upon his lips.
"Look at this young one, Saki." Heihachi turned to his wife, his sullen mood was whiffed away as if the thoughtless phone call from his son never disturbed him in the first place. "Mitsuko, have you given him a name?" He chimed up excitedly.
"Oh, we haven't name him yet. I felt like it would be a jinx if we thought of a name for the baby before he was born."
"In that case, do you mind if I give one to him?"
Mitsuko was somewhat reluctant to agree with her father in law since her husband wasn't there to help her make such a decision. But the guilt of taking away the only son from the Shindous and had him married into her family made it nearly impossible to turn down his request.
"We will be happy to have you name this little one for us." she spoke after a pause. Mitsuko turned to look at her older son as if to assure herself that she just did the right thing in which Sai firmly nodded and he smiled back at her sweetly.
The old Heihachi traced his fingers softly on the newborn's cheek while his new grandson stirred in his crib, the tip of his tiny tongue lingered innocently between his lips.
"I keep dreaming about playing Go with my late brother nowadays. I wonder if he's getting bored, waiting for me to play with him again." the oldest Shindou sighed quietly, a longing look crossed his face for a second before it turned back into a kind smile. He didn't intend for any other occupants in the room to hear what he had just said, except, maybe for his little grandson. He stared affectionately at the baby for a moment longer as if wishing for the infant to understand the reason behind him bringing up his dead brother in his muttering.
"Mitsuko, I'm sorry if my request offends you, but do you mind if I name him after my late brother?" Heihachi paused to glance around the room. Seeing as no one had made any protest, he continued. "He was a great guy and was loved by everyone who knew him. I want him to be remembered by our grandsons as well, even if they never get to know him on a personal level."
Mitsuko was lost for words. She had known the guy, even met him a few times when her husband decided to marry into Fujiwara family. He was the only person in the Shindou family who accepted the idea of her husband abandoning his surname, and also, the only Shindou who convinced other family members to give blessings to their wedding. However, the old man was obsessed with his ancient board game, so obsessed that he insisted to keep a haunted game board in his bedroom despite everyone's objection. Mitsuko had finally come to terms with her older son playing the game. But she wasn't eager to face the problem of her younger son turning into a board game addict like the late Shindou (not to mention she might be having her very own ten year old game addict from Fujiwara family in the very near future).
Mitsuko was about to voice her concern when Sai grabbed a hold of her hand. He squeezed it down as if telling her that he wanted to support his grandfather's choice of naming.
"Well, if Masao doesn't mind then I don't have anything against it" she resigned at the sight of Sai's pleading eyes.
"I'm sure Masao would love the name. He was nearly inseparable from my brother back in the days." Heihachi grinned with confidence. His wife nodded slowly while giving Mitsuko a reluctant but serene smile.
Heihachi turned to his little grandson once more, smiling brightly at him before his lips parted to speak the name he used to call lovingly.
"Hello, Hikaru" And the baby giggled back cheerfully.
~o0O0o~
"Sai, can you look after Hikaru for me? I'm going out for some grocery." Mitsuko carefully nudged her younger son into the living room where Sai was reviewing his game on his Goban. The younger boy was swinging his toy sword in the air, imitating his favorite evening TV program. The three-year-old Hikaru was so creative he even made his own sound effect to go along with his acting.
"But, mother, I'm studying!" Sai whined but still kept his tone polite and soft.
"Please, darling, I only need fifteen minutes. I'll be back as soon as I can" Mitsuko pleaded as she slide shut the shoji door. Sai promptly followed his mother out onto the polished veranda, calling after her.
"Then why don't you take him to shopping with you. I'm sure he would be happier walking with you than sitting here with me." Sai warily eyed the tip of the toy sword which his brother had point directly in his face. The youngest Fujiwara looked more than ready to launch at his enemy brother.
"I'm going!" Mitsuko vanished behind the front door, ignoring her first son's distress request.
"Wait, mother! I have a game tomorrow!..." Sai trailed off when he saw the main door swung shut in his face instead of seeing his mother's retreating back. Before he could fully turn back and glared at his baby brother, the latter had already mobbed him down, resulting in Sai nearly kissing the tatami mat.
"Hey, stop! Get off me!" his tone raised as he frowned at the overly energetic boy. Within seconds, he managed to stand on his feet again, albeit in a little disheveled state.
"Sai, let's play. You'll be the bad guy. Yahhhh!" Hikaru launched at Sai again but this time he also added some jump to his fencing. Sai's eyes widened as he barely dodged the dead hit his brother had produced. He held his arms up high after a narrow escape from his brother's attack. "Alright, I give up!"
"What!? Oh~, you're no fun, nii-chan. I can't hit you if you give up easily." Hikaru pouted, his sword sadly dangling at his side.
"That's exactly why I gave up." Sai mumbled annoyingly before a sudden idea appeared in his mind. "Hey, do you want to play my game? You can be the general."
"The general? What is that?" Hikaru asked innocently. His round eyes began to twinkle at the mention of the chance to play a game with his brother.
"The guy who controls everyone to do what he wants." Sai grinned. This conversation was unexpectedly going in the way he had planned.
"That sounds cool! And who will you be?" a small fire was lid in Hikaru's eyes. It took a lot of effort for Sai to hide his growing smirk. He even had to school his face into his usual calm or he was sure his wide grin would scare the little gremlin away before his brilliant plan could take action.
"I'll be a general too but an enemy general." The corner of his lips twitched in amusement as he watched his brother bounced up in his spot with excitement.
"I like this game! Pick your weapon, nii-chan!" the little Hikaru skipped around the room. It was the first time since forever that his brother was willing to play with him.
"No Hikaru, the generals don't fight. That is what the foot soldiers do. We give orders."
"Hm? That sounds hard. Show me how to play this game then." Sai almost let out a gleeful laugh at Hikaru's request. Who knew that talking his brother into playing his favorite game would be unexpectedly easy? He was surprised that his brother quickly jumped to his offer though. After all, Hikaru never showed interest in listening to whatever Sai had to say. But he wasn't going to voice that out, not when he managed to coerce his demonic little brother into playing a game with him.
He immediately moved to pick up the pieces of stone, which were scattered all over the floor, picking up one white stone and one black. "These are our soldiers." He began carefully.
Hikaru dropped his head to the side slightly, looking at his brother with confused eyes. Sai didn't wait for any interruption as he continued "For now, you'll be black and I'll be white. We'll play on that board over there."
Surprisingly, Hikaru walked closer to the board and sat crossed-leg on one side. Sai blinked a few times, not believing that his brother finally gave in to his explanation and started to behave unlike most three-year-old brats he had seen so far.
"These lines are the roads. If your soldiers are blocked by my soldiers, they can't run away so they will die." Sai placed his stones to surround Hikaru's stone "But if you can run away, like this," he put Hikaru's stone to extend the single black stone that was originally on the board. "You'll live." Sai finally smiled as he looked up at Hikaru who was now quietly musing while staring at the stones on the board. "How about that, want to give it a try?"
~o0O0o~
"Sai, Hikaru, I'm back!" the house was eerily quiet. The only reason that kept Fujiwara Mitsuko from screaming out her sons' names repeatedly in panic was the sound of stones clicking on the wooden board, letting her knew that her sons weren't knocked out because of some poor action play. Maybe Sai finally managed to find a way to get Hikaru his much needed afternoon nap.
"Sai?" she whispered through the crack of the shoji door. Instead of seeing her oldest son studying his board game, she found her three-year-old awkwardly placed his stones onto the board, his brother sat on the opposite end.
"If you go there, I can block you here" Sai chuckled smugly.
"Geez, then where should I go?" It was the first groan from a toddler that Sai had ever heard and it sounded no less frustrating than his grandfather's grumpy moment when he accused Sai for tricking him on the board.
"Oh? Are you sure you need a hint?" He mercilessly mocked his brother as Hikaru glanced up at him with a pout before Sai's lips curved upward into an affectionate grin.
"No! I don't need help from the enemy general." Hikaru huffed angrily and scowled at him. Sai couldn't help giggling at this. He really needed to find a better way to mask his expression as he noticed that Hikaru was quick to get irritated whenever Sai teased him.
~o0O0o~
"Sensei, can you read these two pages to me? The letters are too messy to read. I can't understand what it says at all." a boy in his blue nursery dress plunged the book directly into his teacher's hand.
Fukuyama Yuka bent down to see the book which the boy handed her. In all her years of being a kindergarten teacher, she had never seen a book with this level of kanji loitering around the school ground at all, even much less being read by one of her students.
"Hikaru-kun, don't you want to play dodge ball with everyone? I'm sure your friends will be happy playing with you."
"I did play with them but the game is boring." The boy puckered his lips. "Do you think we can read this book together instead?"
"Hmm, let me see," Yuka searched the page for an easy start. But no matter where she looked, the content of the book didn't seem very friendly to the six year old boy (or even to her) She was about to go back on convincing the boy once again when her eyes met with his determined stare.
"Erm..." She cleared her throat in preparation. It wouldn't hurt to show the boy that the book was beyond his level to comprehend. "The examples above help to develop the judgment of where/how to fight so that its beneficial, rather than be left with a weakening your overall position." She winced at the difficult vocabularies.
As expected, the boy tied his brows together in confusion. Fukuyama secretly prayed that she wouldn't have to try and elaborated what she had just read. The boy was reading a book about Go? What happened to kids these days? Even the fully grown adult like herself didn't know how to play Shogi, much less expecting her to play Go.
"Can you say it in a way I can understand? My brother always does that for me."
"Then why don't we go to your brother together and have him read to us?" Fukuyama sighed quietly, feeling somewhat relieved that she might find someone who could help with this situation.
The boy fidgeted in his spots at the mention of his brother. He bit down on his lips and balled his hands into fists as he averted his eyes away from her.
"…He has been very busy lately. It seems he can't find the time to read with me anymore. I know that he is taking an exam to become a Go pro and I don't really want to interrupt. But I don't get to see him around the house any more and it makes me feel...lonely." The last word was faded into the sound of the chattering playground in the back. It was as if the boy was too embarrass to admit his feeling out loud. However, the droplets of tear in his eyes had revealed his distress state even better than the muffled word and Fukuyama couldn't help sighing in resignation at her helplessness.
"Hikaru kun, how about we go to someone else for help? Someone who knows how to play this game," She comforted him but it didn't seem to work. The boy still gloomily looked down to the ground, keeping his stare to his feet.
"Only brother and grandpa play Go. But grandpa lives…" He paused for a moment before whipped his head up to look at her with hopeful smile.
"Grandpa!" He beamed.
~o0O0o~
"Grandpa! Grandpa!" Hikaru kicked his shoes off his feet unceremoniously. He greeted his surprised grandmother who nearly dropped her tea set as he stormed by her in a hurry with a big grin and a wave. "Grandpa, read me a book!" the six-year-old demanded loudly as he barged into the living room.
Heihachi was caught off guard by the sudden request. His youngest grandson rarely initiated any intelligence activities with him. Only Sai, his older grandson, would show such interest. He quickly discarded the novel idea, assuming it must have been some manga that the boy wanted to read but was not able to because the Kanjis were too hard for him.
"You can't just storm into my house and order me to read to you using that kind of tone, you brat!" he mock scolded his grandchild, grabbing the simmering hot tea and raised the cup to his lips.
"Please read it to me grandpa." Hikaru plopped his book onto the low coffee table where his grandfather was sitting, leisurely sipping his tea. The old Shindou almost choked on his favorite drink upon seeing the cover of the book which read 'Intermediate Level, Power Builder Vol.1'
"This…is Go book! Where did you find this? Since when did you-"
"Geez, just stop with the questions and read it to me already, quickly!" Hikaru cut him off rudely as he urged his grandfather to take a look at the page. Heihachi picked up the book and flipped through its content. It was indeed a book for an intermediate level player but he never knew that his younger grandson was playing the game at all, much less reaching this level of skills when he was only six years old. Did Sai teach him? He didn't notice that Hikaru had gone fetching his Go board in the corner and placed it in between them. Until the boy turned back to the corner again to retrieve the two stone bowls that the old Shindou had came to his sense.
"Hikaru, what are you doing?" Heihachi was baffled at the sight of his grandchild sitting on the opposite side of the Go board. "Do you want to play a game?" His wrinkled face lid up at the idea of his younger grandson challenging him.
"Don't be silly, Grandpa." Hikaru sighed impatiently, his lips turning down into a lopsided frown. "I want a board to follow the examples from the book. Now, I'm all set!" Hikaru pulled his knees into a comfortable cross-leg sitting. Heihachi, still looking somewhat reluctant at the idea of Hikaru studying the intermediate Go problems, took a deep breath as he prepared himself for a talk with his grandson.
"Look, I still think that these problems are too hard for a kid your age. Why don't we-" However, he was cut off again. Only this time, it wasn't the loud and unrefined tone that disrupted his speech. It was Hikaru's unusually firm gaze that demanded finality.
"Please," Hikaru bowed calmly and Heihachi couldn't help noticing the change in the air around his grandson. Gone with the ill-mannered and uncouth boy who was rudely demanded him to comply to his request. It was as if his youngest grandchild had turned into someone he didn't know, someone who could very well be his opponent.
The old Shindou cleared his throat and began constructing his own explanation for the contents of the book. He watched in awe as Hikaru's small hand moved accordingly to the coordination given to him. His short fingers held the stones gracefully before placing them down on the board with confidence that Heihachi had never seen in someone at such a young age. The boy paused after Heihachi finished reading the first two figures from the book. His innocent eyes stared unblinking at the two groups of stones on the board. A few moments later, he moved some black stones into the open spots and filled in the two formations with ease.
"Did I get it right grandpa? The answer should be on the next page." Hikaru looked up at him expectantly.
Heihachi nodded dumbly before he proceeded to read the explanation to his grandchild again. Hikaru beamed with more confidence as he realized he had successfully solved the problems but he kept quiet as he listened intently to the explanation his grandfather read to him. Both of them were too immersed in their study that when the time Heihachi looked up at the clock on the opposite wall, it was well into afternoon.
"That reminds me Hikaru, how did you get here from your school? Did you come by yourself?"
"Yup, I ran here from school since I can remember how Sai always brings me to see you after class." His grandson answered casually, not bothering to look up at the old Shindou as he studied the board. The latter almost jumped when he heard the story of his grandson's escapade.
"You skipped school by yourself!?" Heihachi panicked. He was now standing on his two feet, ready to launch for his phone any seconds.
"You're annoying, grandpa. I told you I ran here!" Hikaru furrowed his brows in annoyance as he was forced to look up from the board. But his grandfather was no longer in front him. The old man was frantically dialing some numbers on his phone, nervously rubbing his face his other hand.
~oO0Oo~
"Fujiwara Hikaru! Do you know how many people were looking for you in the past hour?" Saying that Mitsuko was outraged was definitely an understatement. Her wrath alone was sufficient to make the other two Fujiwara men flinched even though they were not its direct target, the little Hikaru was.
The boy mumbled his apology quietly. His gaze strayed to his older brother as if pleading for the interference. Sai felt his chest clenched tightly at the sight of his younger brother's tear.
"Mother, I don't think he meant to run away from school." Sai tried to calm his mother. His father also took an early leave from work when he heard about Hikaru's disappearance from his kindergarten but he didn't seem angry in the least. Sai suspected that it was because his mother had already blew Hikaru's sense out of his mind, enough to scared the poor troublemaker for days and that look of an abandoned puppy on his brother's face was enough to soften his father's heart.
"It was that board game again, wasn't it? That was the reason you went to see your grandfather in the middle of the day." Mitsuko raised her voice in anger. "Give that little board to me. You're not allowed to play the game for a week, young man." Mitsuko continued as she ignored her older son's protest.
Terror struck Hikaru like a lighting. His pale face was hollowed and his already moistened eyes widened in horror. "Please mom, I won't do it again. I promise."
It was then when Sai stepped forward and stood between his mother and his little brother. "Mother, please calm down. I'll take care of him about this matter since I'm the one who teach him to play Go."
Mitsuko didn't seem willing to give up but a nudge from her husband was a firm vote to close down the matter. "Let him handle it." Masao agreed softly.
Sai took a side glance at his brother who was sobbing uncontrollably into the back of his school uniform. His arms clung to his bag dearly as if his life depended on it. Whatever Go related item inside his bag must be the last thing on earth he wanted to let go. "Go on, I'll see you in my room," he whispered. The poor Hikaru dashed out and up the stairs like there was no tomorrow. Sai's gaze followed him until his brother's form disappeared behind his bedroom door.
"Did you have to scare him to that extent, mother?"
"It's not what I want to do. But ever since you said you'd take the pro exam, I have to start preparing him to take over our store and its branches. Sai, I can't have him turn into another Go player." Mitsuko rubbed her forehead with her palm. Her oldest son went rigid after he heard what she said. Sai didn't think of the consequence after his parents had given up on making him the head of Fujiwara after he graduated his high school education. His mind was focusing only on becoming a pro and playing more Go. Now his beloved brother had to step in and pay the price for his decision. Hikaru would be taking over their centuries old kimono business and its branches once he had come of age.
"Hikaru…" Sai felt like his legs would collapse on to the floor but he forced himself to walk up the stairs, following his little brother to his room. Hikaru was already there, in front of his Goban, looking up at him with his bright and rounded eyes.
"Nii-chan, did mom scold you?" Hikaru walked up to his big brother, grabbing his hand to get his attention when the older boy didn't answer him.
"Hikaru, do you want to play Go with me?" Sai whispered weakly.
"Yes! I want to. I'll keep studying hard and I'll become a pro like you so we can play each other forever." Hikaru replied with a bright smile. The boy didn't catch the sorrow glint that was linger in his brother's eyes as he felt a hand patted down gently on his head.
Sai couldn't hold in his tears any longer. He crouched down to the floor, hugging Hikaru tightly while trying to hide his tears by sobbing into Hikaru's small shoulder. "I'm sorry Hikaru. Will you forgive me?" Sai's form began to shake and he grew more unsteady the longer he held onto his little brother.
"Nii-chan, why are you crying? Don't cry!" For some unknown reason, Hikaru's tears started falling down on his own smooth, plump cheeks. It was too sad seeing his brother cried while hugging him.
"I'm sorry, really sorry," Sai cried.
~o0O0o~
It was around two months since the incident that almost resulted in banning Hikaru from playing Go. Surprisingly, Hikaru's life went on peacefully, except that he was keeping a secret from his parents. It was mostly on impulse that he decided to enter a Kanto children Go competition that was to be held in Tokyo big sight on the coming weekend. After Hikaru went out of his way to annoy his sponsor (his grandfather) for an entrance fee, here he was, standing outside the enormous entrance by himself, a participant ticket in his hand.
"Yosh! Here I come!" Hikaru puffed his chest and lifted his chin as he stepped into the great hall. Before he could proceed any further, a gust of wind blew his ticket from his hand.
"No! Stop!" Hikaru panicked. Fortunately, the ticket went under some kid's foot and stuck there. The said kid bent down to grabbed Hikaru's ticket "Ah~ there it is, 'my' ticket" he sneered meaningfully at Hikaru.
Hikaru's anger rose to its peak within seconds. His face flushed and his ears reddened. He indignantly pointed to his ticket in the kid's hand. "You liar! That's my ticket!"
Undoubtedly, the argument that followed was considerably loud judging from the attention they gathered. However, before any of them could shout to their heart content, they were interrupted by another boy who wore a strange hair cut.
"That is his ticket. The wind just blew it away from him and you are the one who pick it up. I believe you are about to give it back to him, Mashiba-kun?"
The two heads turned simultaneously. The boy around Hikaru's age stood to the side from the both of them. His face was stern as he stared coldly at the older boy who had picked up the ticket in question.
"Touya-kun, ah, yeah~ I was about to turn it in if no one was looking for it." Mashiba stuttered.
"I was screaming at you that it is 'my' ticket!" Hikaru saw a chance and he immediately snatched his ticket away. The boy in the neck length hair cut gasped in fear that he might have ripped the paper slip with his sudden tuck but he soon sighed in relieve after Hikaru put the unscathed piece of paper into his pocket.
Mashiba's hand jerked back in surprise. His face contorted into a stiff grin as he quickly apologized to the two boys and excused himself into the hall. However, before he went completely out of the two boys' sight, he made a quick turn to glare at Hikaru.
"Weirdo," Hikaru glared back at him with an equal intensity. He then shifted his focus to the boy who stood next to him. "Thanks for helping me. I don't think he'll give my ticket back if you didn't show up."
"I guess you're right." The boy shrugged. "I couldn't give much credit to that guy even if he acted all nice and friendly just now." He said as he narrowed his eyes, his tone was smooth and serious.
"Are you in the competition? It should be fun playing with you." Hikaru perked up at the idea. The air around this boy made his spine tinkle with excitement. It reminded him of the time when he was sitting in front of a Goban, waiting for his brother to arrive for their nightly game. The anticipation was almost unbearable.
"No. I'm not entering. But I'll walk around." the boy smiled. It was not a bright smile like Hikaru's but the polite one nonetheless.
Hikaru shrugged. It was too bad he didn't get to face the boy who saved him but at least he got games waiting and he was determined not to let anything ruin his mood today.
"I guess I'll see you around then," Hikaru waved the boy goodbye.
"Hey, what is your name?" the boy suddenly shouted as Hikaru was disappearing into the crowd. He must have realized that they didn't introduce each other.
"Fujiwara Hikaru" Hikaru bellowed as he blended in with people around him before heading off to face his first opponent of the day.