Full Summary: Hikaru Shindo is just a normal teenaged girl—only, she is also a music prodigy. Sure, she spends most of her days practicing her harp, but she is determined to make time for some normal teenager things. That is, until the ghost of a certain go fanatic takes up residence in her soul. Now, she has to fit all of this go playing into her very full life, and soon she doesn't know what her priorities are anymore. That boy prodigy at the go salon and the loud-mouthed redhead aren't helping her maintain a clear mind, not to mention the stoically earnest Korean player. What's a girl to do? And, underneath it all, there seems to be a persistent current of fate, pushing her away from what she loves and towards her destiny.

A/N:

For the purposes of my story, I've decided to push the Hokuto Cup one year later, to 2003. I've also changed the names and locations of real schools and colleges in Tokyo to better suit my creative needs, so don't fact check me!

Pairings: I'm going to say…HikaruXeveryone for now. She's young! We'll let her have some fun before she settles down. Eventually, I'll settle on a pairing. There are just too many cute boys in the anime! How exciting.

Chapter 1: In which we meet Hikaru, a normal teenager, more or less…

April 2002

"Hikaru, did I really have to come up here with you? All this dust is making my—achoo!" Fujisaki Akari sneezed so hard that she nearly toppled over.

Shindou Hikaru turned around from her rummaging and frowned at her friend.

"Gee, sorry, Akari. I didn't think you were so prone to allergies. Wait for me downstairs then? I'll be right down."

"Okay, but hurry," said Akari, dusting off her plaid uniform skirt and descending the ladder.

For a few minutes, the two girls were silent. Akari had pulled out her bejeweled flip-phone to check her texts, while Hikaru rummaged through the old, crumbling boxes that lined the shelves. The tenth-graders were in the shed behind Grandpa Shindou's house, and Hikaru was looking for the intricate rosewood music stand in her grandfather's possession. Her plain metal stand at home had finally breathed its last breath yesterday, having fallen over and broken into two. This was the perfect opportunity to take that beautiful stand off her grandpa's hands.

Akari sighed as she responded to the messages on her phone. What was Hikaru thinking, anyway? Sure, from what she'd said, that music stand sounded pretty, but wasn't rosewood a reddish color? And wasn't Hikaru's harp a light brown? Those two colors would definitely clash, so she couldn't imagine why Hikaru didn't just ask her mom to buy her a new stand. If Akari wasn't such a supportive friend, there was no way she'd even be here.

"Come on, where is it?" Hikaru mumbled upstairs, rubbing the dust from her nose as she stood and looked around. "Gramps said it was in here! He'd better not have put it somewhere else and forgotten about it."

"Hey, Hikaru," Akari's voice came from downstairs, "I think it's starting to rain! We'd better head home."

"Dammit. Okay, I'm coming!" Just as Hikaru was about to give up her search and head down the ladder, a block of wood peeking out from one corner caught her eye. "Wait, Akari, I actually think I found it!"

"Yeah? Wait, I'm coming up," Akari said as she scrambled to her feet and up the ladder in record time. Hikaru had been waxing poetic all day about how beautiful the music stand was. Now, even Akari, who only enjoyed a passing interest in her cello, was anxious to see it.

The two girls made a beeline for the wooden object, moving aside several pieces of old furniture and old garden decorations, sending clouds of dust into the air. Through the haze, Hikaru saw, to her disappointment, that the wooden object was not the music stand she'd been looking for.

"Hm," Hikaru pouted, clapping the dust off her hands. "Well, I that was a bust."

"Huh. But what is it, though?" Akari, curious at the wooden block, stooped down next to it for a better look. "It's like a chabudaitable of some sort."

"Oh," Hikaru exclaimed as she, too, bent down next to it, "It's a go board!" Carefully, she wiped at its dusty surface with the sleeve of her uniform shirt.

"A what board?"

"A go board," Hikaru repeated, pointing at the black ink grid below the dust. "My grandpa likes to play with his buddies. If I remember right, you have white and black stones, and you take turns placing them on these intersections here."

"Huh. Interesting," said Akari. "I think I've heard of go before. Maybe on TV."

Unconsciously, a small smile played at the corner of Hikaru's mouth.

"Hm? Hikaru? What's funny?"

"Oh, nothing. I just remembered how my grandpa used to have his go-fanatic friends over to play when he'd babysit me. I'd bring that little Celtic harp I have—"

"Oh my gosh, that really cute one with the pink levers?"

"Yeah, that one! Anyway, I'd make my mom bring it, and I'd play concerts as background entertainment for while Gramps' friends played their games."

"Oh, Hikaru-chan, you used to be so adorable!"

Hikaru gave her a look and a smile that said well, of course I was, then turned back to the old board.

"Hmm, I wonder what happened to this board, though," Hikaru said almost to herself, frowning down at the rusty stains in the upper corner.

"What do you mean, 'what happened'?"

"Well, here," Hikaru pointed at the stains, and rubbed the board again with her sleeve. "You see these stains? They won't come off."

"What? Stains? I don't see any stains."

"Right here! See? It looks a little like dried blood."

"You can see the stains, can't you?"

"Akari, that's what I've been trying to—

"You can hear my voice, can't you?" Hikaru's head snapped up. This time she had heard the voice clearly, and it certainly didn't belong to Akari. No, this voice echoed in the shed, filling her ears with a crisp ring.

Hikaru slowly stood to her feet, eyes round like a doe's. "Who is it? Who's there?"

"Hikaru, what are you saying? What's wrong? You're scaring me!" Akari rose too, frowning at Hikaru, whose face was growing more frantic by the second.

"I've found you! I've finally found you!"

"Is that Grandpa? Who's talking? Where are you? Show yourself!" Hikaru's eyes darted wildly around the room, searching, her hands clenched tightly into fists.

Akari tried to step forward and grip Hikaru's arm, but in her own panic tripped on a sideways stool and fell over.

"Ouch!she cried, but Hikaru didn't hear her.

"I thank all the gods and spirits under Heaven," the voice echoed again. "Finally…finally…"

And suddenly, all Hikaru saw was light. Ghostly, watery orbs of green and blue rose around her and twisted around her body. She could feel a presence settling in around her, large and strong and grand.

What in the world…?

"Finally, once again, I have returned to this world!" Before Hikaru's eyes, a brilliant white light began to take shape, and soon she could see the outlines of a white and purple kimono, then a flash of black mesh fabric, and finally, wisps of violet that looked like long hair.

Slowly, the form raised his glowing head, and she saw before her a tall, beautiful man in a black nobleman's hat. He wore a white, round-necked noshi robe over a purple kimono and turquoise hakama, and in his hand was an exquisite dancing fan. He opened his eyes in a flash of indigo, and in that moment, Hikaru lost all sense of the world.

Hikaru felt as if she were swimming through snow. None of her senses seemed to be working, and all she could grasp was the voice of the ghost. Was he speaking to her? He must be speaking to her. Yes, she could hear his voice. She could hear his story.

Hikaru wanted to weep for this Fujiwara no Sai, for this Heian nobleman whose life was a thousand years away from her own. All he wanted was to play go. All he wanted to do was the one thing he loved, and yet it was cruelly taken away from him. Even given another chance with Torajiro, he still could not achieve the one thing for which his heart yearned. I understand,she thought.

"I want to play go again. It is my only wish. For I have yet to reach the divine move."

"I understand."

Hikaru was rudely awakened by the loud squawking of her cellphone. Startled, she sat straight up, her eyes about to bulge out of their sockets. Frantically, she slapped her bedside table in search of the offensive device. This ringtone did not announce just any old caller. No, this squawking ringtone belonged to her long-time harp teacher, the one and only Suzuki-sensei. Even if Hikaru had died the night before, hearing that ringtone would likely raise her from the grave to answer it.

Without giving herself time to think, Hikaru flipped open her phone and pressed it to her ear.

"Moshi moshi, Suzuki-sensei," Hikaru chirped, trying to wring the sleepy rasp out of her voice.

"—Hikaru-chan? Is that you? For the love of Kami-sama, what were you thinking yesterday, fainting like that? I was so worried, I almost rushed to the hospital when your mother called me! And she told me she had to get you back home all while you were half unconscious? Honestly, what happened, you clumsy girl?

Oh! I…I'm sorry, sensei. I don't know what happened either, to be honest…I sort of just…collapsed…"

"—Just collapsed?! I've never heard of anything so ridiculous!" The elderly woman's voice was shrill, and Hikaru had to hold the phone a few inches from her heard to prevent eardrum damage.

"—Really, girl, do you know how dangerous that was? Next time you really must sit down before you faint like that! You're a musician! Your hands are your life! You can't go around falling down like any old Joe, you know. You're lucking you didn't hurt anything!"

Hikaru pursed her lips.

Objectively, Suzuki-sensei was right, of course. She was a very serious harp player. It would have been a nightmare if she'd sprained a finger or something similar. Not being able to play for weeks because of something stupid like a fainting spell? How embarrassing would that be?

However…however…did Suziku-sensei really have to make it sound like Hikaru could have stopped herself from fainting and falling over?

I didn't do it on purpose, she grumbled to herself.

Yeah, but I'd like to see you actually say that to Sensei, her sardonic self rolled her eyes.

Sighing, Hikaru could only offer profuse apologies to her harp teacher.

"—Well, your mother says there's nothing wrong with you, so at least there's that. The doctors all checked, so you should be fine for our lesson today, right girl?"

Uh…right. Yes, Sensei." Dammit! I completely forgot I have a lesson today!

"—Good, good, I'll see you later today then! Make sure you don't forget to bring that new Bach Toccata again! I know you've got it memorized, but you have to pity an old woman! My memory isn't what it was, you know. Oh, and make sure to eat a good breakfast. Wouldn't want you falling over again, now would we?" Suzuki-sensei chuckled at her own quip, and, after a few more words of admonition, hung up the phone.

"Phew, what a way to wake up," Hikaru grumbled, puffing her cheeks and letting the air out in an audible sigh. She looked down at her phone. The monochrome screen read 5:45 AM.

So. Freaking. Early.

"Indeed, that was quite the noisy wakeup call, was it not?" The silvery male voice beside her startled Hikaru so much that she jerked her head up way too quickly and hit the back of her skull on her headboard. It made contact with a dull thud.

"Oh no! I didn't mean to frighten you! Are you alright? Please be alright!"

"You! You…you…you're real?"

"Well, yes," the ghost nodded. "As real as any spirit could be."

"And…andandand…so last night wasn't a dream?" This time, Hikaru didn't speak out loud. Instead, she instinctively knew how to direct her thoughts at the spirit.

"No, it most certainly was not a dream."

"Um, okay then."

I'm definitely hallucinating. How could this possibly be real? One look at the white-clad nobleman in the room, however, and Hikaru could only accept this as reality.

"Sorry, what did you say your name was?"

The ghost stood up to his full height, and Hikaru craned her neck as she followed his movement.

"Fujiwara no Sai, at your service. Pleasure to meet you." He made a low, formal bow.

A little flustered by his formality, Hikaru felt her face flush. She was rash and had a loud mouth, to be sure, but years of musical training had taught her enough manners for her to know it would be to continue sitting in bed.

Flustered, she also got to her feet and bowed, not realizing how strange she appeared, making a formal bow in yellow pajamas.

"Right…uh…Shindou Hikaru. Nice to meet you, er…Fujiwara…sama?" Hikaru was unsure of what to call him, but the honorific for royalty seemed to be the only proper way to address an ancient nobleman.

"Oh, my! Please, all that formality is not necessary! You humble me with such undeserved respect!" The ghost appeared quite flustered, hand over mouth.

"Please, just call me Sai," he continued."That would be best."

"Oh," said Hikaru. It was bit strange to forgo any honorifics altogether with a basic stranger, but seeing as she and the ghost were now literal soul mates, she would say they were more than familiar. "Well then, I suppose it would be best if you called me Hikaru."

The ghost and the girl sat across from each other on the floor. Hikaru rested her face on her palm, elbow on knee, and stared at her new companion.

"I guess I'm the only one who can see you, huh? And you can't touch anything solid?

"That's right. It is because I am part of your soul."

"That's…somewhat creepy."

"I apologize."

Suddenly, Hikaru had an even creepier thought.

"Um…you can't actually take over by body, can you?" Hikaru asked warily.

"Goodness, no! I am not that sort of ghost," Sai gasped, appalled. "Even if I had that ability, I would never think of possessing you!"

"Oh. I see. Well, good then. That's a relief. You're just going to haunt my mind."

"I deeply appreciate your making room for me in your life."

"Right. And are you sure you can't go haunt someone else?" Hikaru raised an eyebrow.

"No, I'm afraid it has to be you."

"Huh. Well that's a shame, then."

"Why do you say that?"

"Well, you really love go, right? And you really, really want to play again?"

"Yes, that's right, that's right!" Hikaru could hear the excitement in the ghost's voice. She sighed.

"Unfortunately, then, I can't help you. I have no interest in go. I don't think I'll ever play it."

Sai let out a heart wrenching sob, and before Hikaru knew what was happening, a hulking wave of nausea and dread washed through her. Her stomach lurched, and she nearly ran right through her sliding doors to get to the bathroom.

After a few moments of gagging, she glared up at Sai.

"What the hell was that?! I thought you said you couldn't possess me!" Hikaru picked up her hairbrush and attempted to knock Sai on the head with it. Of course, this course of attack failed miserably, and as the brush went right through his face, Hikaru lost balance and nearly fell into the bathtub.

"No, no! I didn't possess you, I swear," stammered the accused. "All I did was show you my sorrow at not being able to play go! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"

"Dude, do you know what that felt like? What the actual hell?! There was a second where I thought I was literally going to die! From emotional poisoning!" She was yelling out loud now, and only stopped when she realized she would wake up her parents if she continued.

"I'm really, really sorry, Hikaru! Really! That's never happened before! I'm sorry!"

Taking a deep breath, Hikaru returned to her seat on her bedroom floor. Sai followed.

"It's alright, I guess. No real harm done.Hikaru mumbled. "Just please, don't do that again. Anyway, like I said, I don't know how play go, and I don't really have extra time to learn."

"But last night! Last night you told me you understood! I thought it meant…"

"Well, yes, I do understand," Hikaru sighed again. "I mean, I understand your emotions. You love go, and all your happiest moments are when you can play go. I get it—that kind of love and devotion. I feel it all the time, too."

"Oh, is that so?" Sai suddenly perked up, very interested. "Tell me, Hikaru, what do you love to do?"

"Play harp," Hikaru answered out loud. Her lips curled into a little smile, and she walked to the concert grand harp standing against the wall. The whole thing was made from fine, wheat-colored spruce wood, and the crown and pillar were elegantly tapered. The sound box flared out at the bottom in a pleasing gourd shape, and the feet were decorated with darker wood highlights.

"Ah," nodded Sai, appreciating the grace of this foreign instrument, "I thought this might have been an instrument." The previous night, while Hikaru slept, Sai had taken a long, close examination of Hikaru's entire room, including her desk, her bookshelf, her mysterious set of grey boxes, (which included one with a shiny black face and two with many tiny holes on the front), and finally, this large instrument. Sai hadn't seen a harp before, but the shape of the instrument reminded him of something he'd seen back in the Heian days, in one of the emperor's antique collections.

"It's a pedal harp. It comes from the West."

"The West? Like the West where Commodore Perry was from?"

"Ah! Right! I forgot you were there for that." Hikaru thought for a moment, deciding that Europe and the US could pretty much be lumped together into "the West".

"Uh…they're not exactly the same place, but close enough."

"I see, I see. Tell me more, Hikaru!"

"Uh…well, its sound comes from plucking varying lengths of string. The red and blue strings indicate certain notes, to make it easier to find your way around. You play like this, see?" She plucked an arpeggio with her right hand. A clear string of notes tumbled into the air.

"Wow! My, oh my," Sai's head bobbed with interest, "What a unique, lovely sound. I believe I've seen something with this shape at the Heian court. The emperor said it was an old instrument, but what was it called…"

"A kogu?"

"Yes! A kogu! My, Hikaru, you are certainly a knowledgeable young woman!"

Hikaru had the decency to blush.

"Well, no, I wouldn't say that," she stammered. "I just know a whole lot about anything harp related, that's all. The harp went through a lot of different incarnations before it took this form."

"Say, Hikaru," Sai asked, staring at the back of the harp now, completely missing Hikaru's embarrassment."What are these feet back here? The black ones? They're quite adorable!"

"Those are called pedals." She pulled over her stool, hopped on, and hugged the harp to her shoulder, one knee on each side of the sound box. With her right foot, she pressed one of the pedals down and secured it into the second notch.

"You can change the sound of a single string by half a pitch. Here, listen."

She played one of the red strings, moved the pedal down one more notch, and played the red string again. This time, the sound came out a half step higher.

"Oh! How intriguing! This instrument is so clever! It's like one of those…what do you call them…machines! It's like those curious machines the gaijin brought from their black ships."

"Sai, if you're excited about harp mechanics, just wait until I take you outside today," Hikaru smirked. She could already imagine the ghost's incredulous excitement.

Sai took a step back, looking Hikaru up and down as she perched on her stool and held her harp. Even in her strange yellow outfit, there was something elegant and serene about the girl who had, minutes ago, been trying to hit him with a hairbrush.

"Hikaru, will you play something for me, then?"

"Yes," Hikaru smiled at him. It wasn't the cheeky smile she'd been giving him all morning. This smile was soft and light, yet full of satisfaction. As she adjusted the pedals and began to play, hints of the smile still hung at the corners of her lips.

Hikaru played Albert Zabel's "La Source". It was full of arpeggios and flowing note sequences—all pretty typical of classical harp music. Hikaru reasoned that, if Sai was going to get a full introduction to western Romantic era music, this piece would be sending him straight into the deep end.

Hikaru grinned to herself. Maybe I'll play him Debussy next. Or maybe some Celtic stuff. Then Sai will really get the whole immersive experience.

As the piece settled into rhythm, then picked up speed, Hikaru forgot about Sai standing at the edge of her consciousness. She eyes focused intently on her fingers as they plucked the strings up and down the harp, but half of her mind wandered with the melody. The notes flowed like the fountain the piece portrayed, washing over her like celestial rain. Playing music was always this strange mix of hyper-focus and daydream. It was the sensation of the two mixing that made her drunk each time she played.

When the last rich notes were plucked, Hikaru silenced the strings with the palms of her hands, then looked over at Sai.

For a few moments, Sai only looked at her, expression earnest, hands meeting in front of his chest, tucked into the sleeves of his kimono.

"Hikaru, you are spectacular," Sai finally said. He didn't raise his voice, or sound overly surprised. He said it simply, as if stating a universal truth.

"I know nothing of this western music of yours, but from what I see and hear, you are a truly spectacular musician."

Hikaru simply smiled, inclined her head, and thanked him. She didn't blush. She didn't get embarrassed. Her music was her one certainty. She had absolute confidence in her playing. She was good, she knew. She was more than good. It was objective. There was no need for fake modesty.

"So you see, Sai, that this is my life. I do try to be a normal girl, but the fact is I spend almost all of my time practicing and studying music. I can't help it. Because I'm good, but I know I can be much, much better. I guess you could say that I'm looking for my own divine move of sorts, just like you. A moment of perfect inspiration, maybe, in which I play a piece so perfectly it's divine beyond human hands."

Sai nodded, thoughtfully tapping his fan against his chin. He tried not to let his disappointment show in his face. He certainly had no right. He had, quite rudely, imposed on the life of a girl who was perfectly happy with her own life and her own dreams. Here she was, an impressive—no, brilliant—musician, who wanted nothing more than to spend her life playing music. Who was he to ask her to do something she had no interest in? No, that would never do. He could never. What to do, what to do?

Hikaru looked at the contemplative ghost, and, despite his efforts, she could see the sadness radiating from his face. Suddenly, she felt overwhelming awe for Sai. She may have been a little flowery with her language just now, but it was the essence of what she wanted with her music. Even so, did she really love music so much that, even after death, she would choose to be a floating ghost—haunting the world without a body, unable to pass into the afterlife—just to keep playing? She was not certain.

Sure, she loved music with her entire being. That was a given. Her mother was a concert pianist. Music was always in her life, even before she was born. It was part of her. The Shindou Hikaru she knew wouldn't be Shindou Hikaru without music. And yet, it was not her entire life. If she couldn't play harp, she would be lost, like a barren tree caught in a blizzard, but would she really lose the will to live?

She couldn't answer that. Not now. But Sai could. Obviously, he could, because he did. His entire existence was now only for the sake of playing go. At this thought, she inhaled deeply, letting her thoughts settle. She did understand him, after all.

"You know what, Sai?" she finally exhaled. "I'll take you to play go."

At this, Sai's head popped up as if his neck was a spring.

"But…but Hikaru…you don't…"

"No, Sai, it's alright,"she smiled back. "It can't hurt to play once in a while. This way, I can find something in common with Gramps, too. Besides, I said I spend almost all my time on music. I do do other things sometimes too, you know. Go can just be one of them." Yes, the more she thought about it, the more she was liking this new plan.

"Really, Hikaru? You're not just trying to make me feel better? You really think it's a good idea? It really won't disrupt your practice?"

"Hey, now, are you questioning my time management skills?" Hikaru raised an eyebrow. "I'll have you know, no one's ever told me I didn't practice enough. Not once! Not even Suzuki-sensei!" Hikaru huffed, then turned around to set her harp pedals back into place.

"Oh, thank you, thank you, Hikaru!" soothed a beaming Sai. "Of course I trust you can manage your time. I'm just too overjoyed! I get to play go again! I can't believe it! I can hardly wait!" Now he was trying to hug her, and, although he couldn't really touch her, she could feel his ghostly presence all up in her face.

Hikaru rolled her eyes and grinned. This ghost was starting to grow on her."Well, try to contain your excitement a bit longer, Sai," she said, opening her closet and retrieving a fresh change of her uniform. "We have to get through a whole day of school first, but I promise I'll take you to play after we're done."

The rest of the early morning passed quickly as Hikaru got ready for school, explaining to Sai everything from the concept of the modern school system to why she could light such a bright candle on her ceiling without even touching it. Hikaru had thought that, since Sai had already experienced this time-skip situation once before, he would, perhaps, be a little less enthusiastic about modern inventions.

She was very wrong. By the time she had eaten her breakfast and headed out the door to wait for Akari, she was beginning to wonder how it was possible for a dead person to be so lively. This day was already tiring her out. Over breakfast, she had tried to explain electricity, but, being clueless about science, had resorted to showing Sai a few things on her flip phone and attributing it to "scientific magic".

Then, Sai had frolicked about the kitchen, asking about all sorts of appliances and marveling at the different colors of bowls, cups, and utensils their family had.

"Hikaru, what are all these metal pointy things in here? Are they from the West, too?"

"Yup. Those are forks. For…stabbing food, I guess."

"Wow, I am glad to see all these Western things in use. That must mean we Japanese have kept good relationships with them since they came on their ships, right?"

"Eh…"

"Back then, Torajiro and I were very worried that war was going to break out. I am so happy we've kept the peace for so long!"

"Well…actually…" Hikaru then had to give a horrified Sai the briefest overview of the Second World War.

And then, Sai had noticed the length of her skirt, and had been appalled by the lack of modesty in this modern day and age.

"Hikaru, really, the yellow garment you called "pajamas" was alright, but this! This skirt! Do all girls go around showing their legs? What has the world come to?"

Hikaru rolled her eyes. "Sai, this is the modern age. When it gets hot, we show our arms and legs. Girls aren't marriage pawns for their families anymore, so this whole modesty thing isn't that important anymore. Girls can do what they want these days.

Sai seemed to think this was a revolutionary explanation on modest dress, and took several minutes of silence to mull it over. This reprieve was short-lived, however, because as soon as they stepped out onto the sidewalk, Sai's questions began anew.

It was a huge relief when Akari showed up, even though Akari had questions of her own.

"Hikaru, are you sure you're okay to go to school today? You really scared me yesterday!"

Hikaru tried for an apologetic grin, but it came out looking more like a grimace.

"I'm really sorry about that, Akari," she said, "I don't know what happened. I just got lightheaded. Probably should have eaten more at lunch yesterday."