Mental
By Uenki
I do not own Hikaru no Go.
Summary: He was naïve, just like a child. Some called him mental, others called him a loon. But he's different to me as he is a very kind and warm person. I am glad I met you Sai, because you changed my world. The world no longer looks bleak and dull… it's amazingly beautiful. AUNoslash
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Chapter 1
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I am glad that I knew him. He took the crumbling pieces of my world and pieced them together with an innocent smile on his face. He brought me into this astoundingly beautiful world of Go, and has never left my side ever since. I am proud of him as much as he is proud of me, and I swear, I will never leave him, I will never throw him in the lurch, ever. My name is Hikaru, Shindou Hikaru, and the man who changed my whole world is him, Fujiwara no Sai.
My story with Sai started on a fresh page, a brand new chapter which marks the very beginning.
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"Hikaru, aren't you playing with us?" Hikaru groaned as he shook his head, running a hand through the bleached golden tuft of hair. He was so sick and tired of playing ball. He had been playing ball for three weeks straight, and found his new life in junior high to be rather uneventful and dreary. He was not a very popular boy, but he has his own share of friends. His friends were actually better known as acquaintances and classmates, but no, never as friends.
Hikaru eyed the group of boys who walked off laughing and grinning, ready for another game of ball. He never found them to be interesting, they were simply a bunch of fanatic for ball-related games, basketball, softball and heck, even netball. However, their favorite was soccer, a sport whereby Hikaru coincidentally excelled in. He coincidentally got himself invited to games several times a week and coincidentally felt highly irked when they coincidentally ask for another game of soccer.
Everything was a pure coincidence and his whole life was coincidence. However, he never knew that a coincident encounter would be the catalyst which triggered the whole chain of events, scratching his whole life presently and was brought anew. He crossed his legs, slumped down onto the table and yawned aloud. Everyone has left the classroom, and he was dreading to go home. His house was empty anyway, and it won't hurt for it to become empty for a few more hours.
He glanced out of the window and noticed the dark clouds that were hovering near the school field. He grinned, 'Serves them right,' he thought, 'even heaven forbade them to play ball!' It started with soft pitter patters, and raindrops descended more rapidly, as they clashed onto the window pane. Slightly encouraged, Hikaru dug for an umbrella in his bag, and stepped out of the classroom in an all-too-cheery mood.
He trudged back home and the rain was getting on his nerves. He was wet throughout and was drenched from head to toe. The fabric of his school's button down shirt was sticking to his skin, and it was irritating him. He quickened his pace as his house was just round the corner. He paused for a slight moment, his eyes fixated on what appeared before him as a soft, barely inaudible gasp escaped his lips.
Before him was what seemed like a part of the scenery, yet felt all too real. The rain continued to descend, but the man who stood alone on the lush greenery has such a serene smile on his face caused Hikaru to stop believing that he was a part of the hurried world of city life. The people who walked with large strides and soft murmurs of disgust seemed to creep away from him, and time seemed to freeze at that very instant.
A thunderous boom caused Hikaru to snap out of his reverie. His eyes focused on the man who stood ever so dangerously out of on the field. 'If lightning ever strikes, he'll be the first one to go down,' Hikaru thought sardonically. No one in his or her right mind would ever stand outside on a field when it is raining, not even a disgustingly refined man with beautiful features. He wanted to ignore him; he really wanted to ignore the man who was standing outside in the middle of the field. However, his mind was thinking of putting on a nonchalant attitude, but his legs were simply refusing to listen to him.
He walked in quick, rapid strides and reached the man in mere seconds. The man, still oblivious to his surroundings, and the mere fact that Hikaru was standing right beside him, was startled when Hikaru grabbed his arm. His eyes were violet, Hikaru noticed, he has a very beautiful pair of eyes. With an unguarded smile, he allowed Hikaru to yank him away from the place he was standing, and followed the thirteen year old like an obedient little puppy.
"Why were you standing there?" Hikaru questioned, indifferently with a straight face. The man had a doubtful look and a grin appeared as he gave a shrug. The man tilted his head slightly and scrutinized the child who tugged him off from his tracks without his consent. He was a stubborn child, he noticed, as he giggled girlishly. The child quickened his pace slightly while trying to shield the man from the rain with his umbrella.
"Do not glare at me," Hikaru uttered as the man grabbed the umbrella from him. The man held the umbrella high so that both of them could be protected from the rain. Hikaru, who was slightly spoiled by nature, ignored the friendly gesture, huffed slightly and folded his arms. He was always alone, and money that was often too large a sum for him to spend was often transacted to his bank account. His parents were a prosperous and affluent couple with a single child –him, they were often found flying around instead of taking good care of their child. Hence, Hikaru was always alone, too cooped up in his own world to take notice of different things, and he did everything by himself. That simple act of thoughtfulness thrown him off his paced track and crumpled his own little world. He was upset.
They approached a large bungalow that was situated in between two rows of terrace houses. The garden's flowerbeds were well trimmed and potted plants stood out proudly under the shower. Hikaru and the man walked to the front porch, and opened the door. The adolescent shoved the man into the house and instructed him to sit down on the floor. The man nodded and strode to the veranda and placed the umbrella down. He sat there submissively and glanced around the house.
The house was spacious and it looked highly well-cleaned, the man noticed, as he sat there, arms slack and has his eyes closed. The rain brought him tranquility, he loved the rain, for reasons he seemed to have forgotten.
Hikaru returned with two fluffy white towels, one on his head and another one in his palm. Snorting softly, Hikaru wondered if the tables are seemingly reversed. 'An adult should take care of a child and not the other way round,' Hikaru contemplated, as he walked up to the man and dumped the towel on his doused mauve locks, rubbing it furiously. The man simply smiled with a child-like demeanor and remained immobile.
Taking a deep breath, Hikaru told the man to take a bath in the bathroom, and pointed to the direction in which he must move to. The man continued to sit on the porch whilst looking at Hikaru questioningly. Hikaru was never patient, and his inner voice was always so tedious. Hikaru stomped his foot, starting the man, as he gave a stern glare. The man gave an inane smile, scrambled up on his feet and scampered to the bathroom. Hikaru sighed.
He went back to his room for the search of fitting clothes for the man. 'He was tall, probably as tall as a model,' Hikaru noticed, 'his features were refined and he had a very,' Hikaru tried to search for words to describe that man whom kept his mind occupied constantly, 'striking… impression. He is a very perfect man.' Hikaru paused for a slight moment, as he threw out all his clothes on the floor, trying to look for a shirt that fits. 'However,' Hikaru took another deep breath, pulling another large closet open, 'he looked naive. He seemed naïve and he's not vigilant at all.'
Hikaru beamed as he found a fitting tee for the man. It was a simple white tee with grungy, lop-sided text at the hem of the shirt. He tucked it into the back of his cupboard due to the fact that the shirt was overly large for him and he had bought it because it looked purely tempting. With a devilish grin, Hikaru started his search for a pair of jeans. It was easy, and he found it effortlessly. He had a fetish of buying every kind of jeans that he set his sight on and being frugal was his forte.
Folding the pair of jeans and the tee neatly, Hikaru headed towards the bathroom and placed it on the basket lying at the left side of the door. A soaked all-white tee and pants caught his eyes but he ignored it instinctively, picked up the two cloths and dumped them into the large pail, headed to the bathroom in the master bedroom and took a refreshing bath.
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When Hikaru came out of the bathroom, the man was sitting the floor and drying his hair. Hikaru who was just about to boil a cup of hot chocolate, groaned aloud as the man was still there. Hikaru thought that he would have gone home after 1. The rain has stopped or 2. He has stopped dripping water. Presently, both conditions were fulfilled and the man was still tagging around the house. With a look of reluctant, Hikaru sat down in front of the man, making sure that their gaze met.
"You, where are you from?" he questioned, what followed on was pure silence. The man looked at him inquisitively with a slight smile etched on his face. Groaning even louder, Hikaru was at a loss, both in speech and actions. Undefeated, he tried again.
"Are you lost or anything?" Hikaru tried to rearrange his thoughts, as the question he asked was actually meant for three years old who have gotten lost from their parents. However, no matter how he looked, the man looked older than sixteen, definitely. The smile faded on the man's face as his clear, almost translucent violet eyes pierced through his very own green ones for a mere moment. A millisecond later, the man was smiling as if nothing happened. 'Was it just me,' Hikaru thought, 'or does he have a look of anger on his face a split second ago?'
"Fine," Hikaru concluded with a slight huff, "what's your name?" Hikaru folded his arms, least expecting the man to reply. He had never heard him before, and no matter how many questions he asked, he either replied gesticulating or simply refused to reply. Much to his surprise, when he heard that clear, deep, yet soft and alluring voice, he was simply taken aback. The man bowed down formally, kneels bended, he pressed his palms on the marble floor and bowed gracefully.
"My name is Sai."
The whole world seemed to be turning for Hikaru. He couldn't understand, he simply couldn't. Deciphering the man, known as Sai, is a mission impossible. Which one is the real him? The naïve, but seemingly innocent man, or this polite, graceful man who seemed not very abnormal?
'I'll take back my words! He isn't naïve at all! Argh! I don't understand!' His world which was crumbling, exploded into smithereens at that very instant.
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A/N: I came back with another HikaSai fiction! Hurray! This will revolve around the Professional Go world… More of Sai's information, his past, his present and his future. Hikaru's parents will also be noted… A lot of things. Yes, I know Hikaru is a spoiled, sarcastic young brat who has never seen the world and Sai looked slightly OOC, naïve yet dangerous… More will be explained.
Is he mental, is he a loon? This is the question that's for me to know and for you to find out. ;)
Stay tuned!
Uenki.
14
March 2007
