Scattered Memories
By FuyuKaze
Summary: Instead of meeting the ghost of Fujiwara no Sai, Shindou Hikaru received something more interesting during his contact with the Goban. After all, memories of an unknown legend in the Go world are kind of mind blowing…
Notes: I have decided to take up a story about Hikaru no Go. The development will be slow and unfortunately, Sai will not be present per se in the Hikaru no Go world. You'll understand when you reach the end.
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PREGAME – THE GOBAN
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途い思い出のようなちぎれた夢
ちぎれた夢のような途い思い出
つなぎ合わせたいんだ。。。
一生に
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Shindou Hikaru sighed lowly as he and his companion have safely entered his grandfather's shed without alerting anyone. His tensed shoulders soon relaxed as he grinned and looked at his childhood friend. Fujisaki Akari was reluctant at first, but after a good constant pleading from the boy, she quickly relented to his pleas.
'So what exactly are we looking for here Hikaru' the question eerily echoed in the dark room as they both climbed up the ladder. The girl shivered, as she grew colder from her wet clothing. The rain started to get stronger as they made their way towards their destination and she could have sworn she heard thunder while they were running.
The partially bleached haired boy gave a small groan as he rummaged through the large box. His eyes scanned through the various items, trying to find something of value. 'Looking for anything of value, but none of these things are of value' his answer was followed with a sigh of exasperation.
'So can we leave now then? I'm starting to feel cold and it's creepy in here' the girl pleaded. Her eyes caught the boy's frown turn into a smile. Hikaru bent down, lifted the rather heavy board, and settled it down safely as soon as he got it out of the box.
'It can't be helped Akari, because I got another crappy score on my exam my parents cut off my allowance again' he explained using a tone the girl was used to by now. The young sixth grader was completely into money and he cared more for it than his schooling. His love for money only came second to his love for soccer.
'Is that a table for gomoku narabe?' Hikaru shrugged his shoulders in response. He eyed the board carefully and was quite surprised to see that it was still in an acceptable condition. He would have considered it in mint condition if it weren't for that annoying stain on the board.
'Hikaru what are you doing?' Akari asked as she watched her classmate wiping a corner with extreme gusto. She found it rather odd since there was no dust of any removable stains on the section he was fervently wiping with his sleeve.
'You can't see the red stains?' he asked her, not looking back to see her puzzled expression. He heard a low puff of annoyance before the girl behind him walked away, intending on waiting for him on the bottom. Sighing in frustration, he placed his left hand on what he thought were bloodstains.
As soon as his hand made contact with that particular section of the board, his eyes widened as flashes of images entered his mind. They were strange images in his point of view. He saw many things: people wearing clothing that emperors used to wear, strange outfit worn by others, samurais, swords, fans, boards, white stones, black stones, water –lots and lots of water–, people bowing, kimonos, more boards, the same white and black stones scattered across the board, more bowing, and blood. These flashes of images and more entered one by one in quick succession, no single break between each image.
'Hikaru, what's taking you so long?' the boy's companion asked as she waited at the bottom of the stairs. It's been at least five minutes since she descended and Hikaru still didn't come down with the board he was going to pawn off. It was quite strange as the board was in perfect condition. She didn't understand what her bleached banged haired friend was worrying about, after all, they weren't any red stains anywhere on the board.
'GAAAH-!' the sudden frightening yell broke her out of her musings as she looked up towards the source of the noise. Her eyes widened as she heard a loud thud upstairs. Fearing for the worst, she climbed back up, only to find that Hikaru was on the cold ground floor of his grandfather's shack.
Shindou Hikaru lay near the goban and shivered as he grabbed his head in pain. The images were fresh and the amount of information he received was too much. The last thing he saw and heard was the worried face and voice of his red haired friend…
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'Otou-sama, what is that?' asked a perplexed child. He wore a long white kimono and had long dark purplish hair. His deep purple eyes stared at the board his father had set down earlier. The large 19x19 board was fascinating and the two bowls that lay on top of it brought more questions to the young boy. It was only his third birthday and he already grew accustomed to anything that resembled highly intellectual activities.
'This, Sai, is a goban. From today onwards, I shall teach you the intricacies of Go' the small boy nodded his head in excitement, although clearly not knowing what Go was. It sounder rather interesting at the very least.
'I shall work hard to learn this otou-sama' the small child said as he bowed to his father. The older man smiled lightly as his youngest child, however, his smile soon turned into a frown. A frown that indicated his displeasure of the severe infraction he was about to do as a father.
'Very well Sai, we shall begin now'
That was when the dreams started. Shindou Hikaru, from that day on, dreamt of stone: stones that presented the shapes of battles… both of victory and of defeat…
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End Note: Horrible? Yeah I know something that just didn't want to leave my mind after reading Esa MaRie's Lost Memories. It was awesome! Anyways, whether you liked it or not, it doesn't really matter to me. If I see that people actually want me to continue, I'll go for it. If people don't like it and want me to discontinue, I'll still work on this, although with less gusto.
Hikaru no Go seems a bit easier to write to me than what I'm planning with my upcoming Digimon story. That thing has plot holes everywhere that I can't get rid of. I think the difficulty in here would be writing a story of an overpowered Hikaru, but I'm thinking about that already.
