Title: Unknown Bonds
Author: Jaylaa
Disclaimer: Hikago's not mine…never was, never will be
In a crumbling world, laid to ruins by war, there are still little niches where the young can grow up and follow dreams that once might have brought them into the spotlight and fame, to be admired by men and women of all ages… Then there are some that enjoy the freedom only someone of their kind can enjoy in a wrecked world, the freedom to hunt with ease and blend back into the ruined society without anyone twitching an eye. A name that is scoffed at as a myth, but now the myth appears with regularity among the darkened streets…Vampire.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Evening fell unnoticed by everyone in the Go salon, their gazes trapped by the game unfolding before them. The players continued, ignoring the crowd, mentally striving to think of moves to outplay the other. Each move showing a brilliance that the spectators could not fully appreciate, unable to read to the depth of the players.
With a subtle shift, one player bent and resigned.
"Makemashita."
Go was one of the pastimes that had survived amongst people though no longer the major tournaments or a full time career. Legends were passed down about great players such as Honinbou Shusaku and Touya Meijin. There were Go Salons if you knew the right places to look for them, hidden in corners and run down buildings. One such as these was owned by the Touya family, setup before the war by Touya Meijin himself and now run by his son Akira. It continued to be a small quiet establishment, with regular customers and hardly ever a new face. It had been built in a sheltered location, set apart slightly from the centre of the city, which had been its saving grace.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
With eyes that glowed, the shadow continued to stalk his prey. The scent of loneliness drifted from the moving figure back to the shadow, confirming that he had found someone with the right type of blood. The figure paused under a dim light, allowing the shadow to catch up with him and see the face of his prey for the first time. Without time to blink the shadow had approached the person and placed a hand in front of their eyes, placing them in a trance. Fangs elongated and attached themselves to the victim's neck and started to suck, mouth filling with the richness of blood, saturated in loneliness.
Taking only what he needed, the shadow withdrew his teeth from his victim's neck and melted back into the darkness of the night.
The person, coming out of the daze imposed on him, continued on his way as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened and only a faint wondering at what had caused the faint soreness in his neck. It would also come to light that the loneliness that he had been feeling was no longer there, but instead the want to do something that made him happy.
Myths about vampires have often been exaggerated, leading to beliefs that are not quite right and if attempted will not have much effect. A vampire will not just suck the blood of any human that is nearby when they get the hunger; they need to find a human with the right emotions suited to their individual tastes. They will also only take the amount that is needed, leaving the human with only a slight case of low blood pressure. Vampirism also tends to run in families, some able to trace their lineage back thousands of years (with some of those relatives still in the mortal world). One of these families was the Shindou family, with their current son Hikaru.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Touya sat at his customary table in the Go salon, surrounded by peers, but always isolated. People thought they knew him, but they were only scratching the surface. He had always been waiting for a rival to appear before him, someone who he could rely on to always be there, push and pulling each other along the path to the Hand of God. Even in this devastated world, the Hand of God was still the ultimate play, yearned for by all Go players. Some things would never change.
Occasionally there was the unknown stranger that entered the door to the salon to challenge him, some quite good, others quite bad, but none filled that area within him that would only be filled by the one who would see more than just his Go.
The door rattled and opened, Ichikawa looked up from her counter and greeted the newcomer. It was a young man with blond bangs and a look about him that didn't seem to fit the atmosphere of the salon, but seemed to meld with the growing darkness outside the door.
As the youth walked in there was a slight change to the atmosphere that caused the hair on the back of Touya's neck to rise. There was something about this man, something odd, but also the stirrings of a connection. He was looking around the salon as if he wasn't sure what he was doing. Touya stood and walked over. As he approached, the man's head swivelled around towards him, meeting his gaze. The intensity within the gaze caused Touya to stumble slightly. He greeted the stranger, introducing himself and inviting him to play a game. The stranger agreed, returning the civilities, informing Touya of his name, Shindou Hikaru.
Once seated back at his table, Touya and Shindou nigiri'ed, Shindou winning black. Touya didn't even bother trying to offer a handicap, feeling that it would be a great insult to the man before him. They easily slipped into the customary moves as the game commenced and moved into midgame. It felt to Touya like they were treading well worn paths, like they had done this before, that this man before him was not the stranger to him that he knew he was. He knew that he had never met Shindou before in his life, but as they continued to play a bond was being re-awoken that had laid dormant for several lives.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Shindou had been prowling the streets; he was looking for something, something tugging at him slightly from the edge of his senses. He was one to follow his senses, never having lead him astray before and getting him out of some sticky situations. There was a doorway up ahead with a sign that pronounced it to be a Go Salon in the dying light of day. The feeling was pulling him towards that doorway. Go was not unknown to him, a friend of his grandfather had took it upon him years ago to teach him the game when he showed an interest in it, though he had not touched it since Sai had gone into a forced slumber after been majorly injured saving Hikaru several years ago when he had been caught out in the sunrise.
He pulled the door open and was greeted by the woman behind the counter. It felt like he had been here before, a sense of familiarity washing over him. As he moved further into the room, he felt a presence moving towards him and he realised this presence is what he was being led towards. Looking up his eyes met with a young man who stumbled slightly when their eyes met. Shindou was almost overwhelmed with the sense of loneliness rolling off the man and he fought to control himself. The man introduced himself as Touya Akira, the name registering with him as one of the best Go players still around, the son of Touya Meijin, and invited him to a game. Accepting the invitation and giving his name in return, he followed Touya back to the table he had risen from.
Throughout the game Shindou could feel the link that had lead him here flaring to life, allowing him to smell every emotion that was flowing off Touya with the sense that there was more to this meeting than meets the eye, that they had done this before in some other life.