My first ever fanfiction, so please don't hesitate to criticize. Thank you mina!

Disclaimer: I do not own Hikaru no Go or any of it's characters. They belong to their original author(Forgot his/her name XD)

Summary: Shindou Hikaru, Jung-shin is a half Japanese and half Korean born child. He lived his life normally until a certain goban intruded, leaving with him the mystery of his past life. Yet what changes does the appearance of a certain red head bring?

Chapter 1

Tokyo, Japan...Hikaru, 12 years old.

Shindou Hikaru, Jung-shin, 12 years old sneakily climbed up the stairs of the senior Shindou's household with his childhood friend, Fujisaki Akari in tow. "Hurry Akari, before Ji-san realizes that we're gone!"he says, pulling Akari by the hand towards the attic. The attic was a enclosed dark space filled with dust and cobwebs. Hikaru coughed slightly and let go of his friend's hand, moving deeper into the darkness. "I can barely see anything in here," Hikaru said as he squinted. He was already in a bad mood from having to come here to rummage about Shindou Heihachi's collection, figuring that he may find something valuable to sell. If it weren't for his mother whom had yet again decrease his allowance, he wouldn't have had to do this.

"Hikaru, I don't think we should be doing this,"Akari whined, impatient to leave the attic. "We'll get in trouble if we're caught."

"Don't be such a wimp Akari," Hikaru said as he continued to dig about the clutter. "Ji-san rarely comes up here and probably has already forgotten about half of the stuff here. Besides, with so much rubbish around, I doubt he'd notice if one or two went missing." That was when the cube in a corner caught his eye. Hikaru approached the goban and dragged it out to the center of the room. It was heavy, undoubtedly expensive was Hikaru's thought. Excitement bubbled up from within and he started to clean the dust of the goban's surface using the hem of his shirt. "Hm? This stain isn't coming off," he mumbled to himself, rubbing at the red stain which look creepily like blood.

Akari shuffled closer to peer at the goban,"What stain?" she asked. "I don't see any stain Hikaru, don't say such stuff to scare me." She honestly couldn't spot a single stain.

"It's right there!"Hikaru stressed, pointing at the mentioned blood like stain. Akari begin to feel afraid and decided to leave, leaving Hikaru alone in the attic. Hikaru returned his attention to cleaning the goban, believing that with the stain there, the goban's value would decrease. He was vaguely aware of a slight headache which seemed to be getting stronger by the seconds. The blood stain pulsated in sync with the throbbing of his head. Before the pain got unbearable though, his surroundings disappeared and was replaced by images.

Historical figures wearing thick robes, a large palace and a beautiful garden. In the middle of the garden stood a patio connected to one of the palace's many rooms. Two figures sat opposite each other and in between them was a goban. The Emperor was in front of him, Hikaru...no, Fujiwara no Sai thought. As usual, they would be playing Go. He as a mentor to the Emperor.

Everywhere Fujiwara no Sai went, he was respected, awed and many came to him for advice or war strategies. His very essence was the game itself, he lived to play it. But alas, every story had an ending and so did his. Branded a cheater, Fujiwara no Sai was exiled from the palace and forbidden to play. His name was erased from the list of the Emperor's Go tutors for committing such a disgraceful act. This was of course in the eyes of those who didn't know the truth. So deep was his love for the game, Fujiwara no Sai couldn't...wouldn't ever allow himself to cheat. The despair at being forbidden to play, so painful it was, extremely unbearable. He wanted to play, again and again. Even as he stepped into the freezing waters of the river, tears flowing down his porcelain cheeks, his only thoughts were...

'I want to play...

And if I can't in this life, then this life has no meaning...

Dear Kami-sama, I still want to play...

Be it in this life or the next, I want to continue playing...

For I have yet to attain it...

The Hand of God...'

Water filled his lungs painfully as he choked. His hand reached out to the surface of the water then his vision blurred and everything went black.

Honinbou Shuusaku, the greatest player ever known in history. Originally named Torajiro before receiving his title, he held his first Go stone as a boy. Mysteriously, to his tutors and family, the boy displayed great insight and understanding of the game despite having just started learning. In time, his name was known to scholars and even the Emperor himself. Torajiro at the tender age of 20, began to travel throughout the whole of ancient Japan, spreading his knowledge of Go and playing together with Go masters from all over the world.

But it appears that even this life time wasn't enough. At the age of 34, a great plague hit Japan, taking away the lives of many. Torajiro was no exception, the plague slowly seeped away his strength, soon he was to weak to even pick up a stone. In his last moments, Torajiro placed a hand on his beloved goban, reluctant to part with it. He coughed, his blood splattered on the smooth surface then blackness.

Hikaru gasped and shot up from the bed, coughing and inhaling big gulps of air. That was him, he drowned, then he died a second time from the plague. No... they weren't him, he was alive wasn't he? Hikaru breathed a sigh of relieve and turned to his mother's face staring worriedly at him.

"Are you feeling alright Hikaru?" Lee Young-in asked her son. "We found you unconscious in the attic, what were you doing there?" Hikaru kept quiet, he couldn't possibly tell his mother that he had been intending to sell his grandfather's collection for allowance.

"That goban got my attention, but I guess all that dust got to me," he said with a nervous laugh. His mother narrowed her eyes in suspicion but otherwise left him alone.

"We can't have you falling sick all the time Hikaru," she said. "We leave for Korea to live with your grandmother next week remember?" Young-in lightly knocked her son's head. "And stop being so mischievous all the time, focus on your studies too," Hikaru nodded his head lazily. He had heard this lecture many times before and had long gotten tired of hearing it again and again.

In three days, Hikaru found himself once again in Shindou Heihachi's house going over his grandfather's collection of kifu. He hadn't actually intended to look at them but somehow his curiosity got the better of him due to the relevance of the game to his vision. Shindou Heihachi sat in front of his goban, a stone between his middle and forefinger. But his hand was frozen in mid-air instead of placing the stone on the board. Never in his life did he once thought that his grandson would be interested in Go, a game that said grandson had claimed to be an 'old man's game'. Heihachi could barely restrain the tears of joy which were threatening to burst forth.

"Hikaru, are you interested in learning the game?"he asked eagerly, hoping that his grandson was truly showing an interest in the game.

Hikaru looked up from the book and looked at Heihachi. "Ji-chan, this game looks familiar, who played it?" His grandfather owned many of these books, in fact, that was just one of six hundred books, all records of Shuusaku's games. But Hikaru didn't know that, he was still waiting for his grandfather's answer.

"Every one of those games are played by Honinbou Shuusaku, the greatest Go player of all time," Heihachi explained. Who knew that his grandson who always failed in history would be interested in such a famous historical figure.

Honinbou Shuusaku, Hikaru's eyes were wide, shock evident in their midst. That name...that man who died in that plague. Hikaru dropped the book and rushed towards his grandfather, grabbing the old man's hands. "What about Sai, Ji-chan?! Do you know any Go players by the name of Fujiwara no Sai?"

Heihachi scratched his head and thought hard,"Fujiwara no Sai...nope, doesn't ring a bell. Why do you ask?"

Hikaru's legs gave out and his bottom landed on the tatami floor. Shuusaku exists but Sai doesn't, how was that possible? What role did they play in his life, why did he have a vision about them? Confusion clouded his mind as he moved to pick up the book once again to read it. He didn't know why he understood every hand that was made by the players who played this game. Rather than that, he felt like he was the one who played this game. He could almost visualize how his opponent had looked like, an old man with a long beard wearing a tall hat.

Hikaru returned his attention to Heihachi,"Ji-chan, play a game with me. If I win, give me that goban in the attic" To be sure, he wanted to test, to see if he really knew the game without learning it and that goban was his only connection to Sai and Torajiro.

Heihachi looked up from his goban in surprise," a game? You haven't studied Go before, what makes you think that you could beat me?"he said this with disbelieve. " I'll have you know that I've won many amateur tournaments in my time," he said gesturing to the shelf of trophies attain in his younger days.

"Yeah yeah," Hikaru replied lazily, he had heard this countless times as well. "Just hurry and play me so that I can get my goban." He hadn't realized how he had unconsciously claimed the goban as his.

Twenty minutes later...

Heihachi stared at the goban in shock. Impossible. But the impossible had already occurred. "When did you learn to play Go so well Hikaru, I never knew you played so well,"the old man commented.

Hikaru himself was in shock but he tried to seem nonchalant about it. "Secret Ji-chan, I'll get the goban when I leave for Korea next week. I need to go back now or Oka-san won't give me dinner again. Ja!" He left the house in a hurry and ran all the way home. Upon closing the door of his room, Hikaru leant against the door and slid to the floor breathing heavily.

He knew how to play! He knew how to play! Something that wasn't possible. Hikaru had never touched Go his whole life but he knew it. What made the game so scary was because he enjoyed it. He enjoyed it so immensely. Hikaru remembered how he felt upon touching the Go stone... Nostalgia, peace, excitement, happiness and relieve. Hikaru lifted his hand to touch his face, the were wet he realized. Hikaru had been crying tears of joy, relieved and happy that he had finally gotten to play again, even now, he couldn't wait to play another game. He knew that this was the reason for his tears, but they weren't his feelings. These feelings belonged to Sai, Sai whom had desired to play Go until he attained the Hand of God.

Hikaru pushed the luggage cart through the junction in the Korean airport, the goban was packed away safely in a box among his luggage. "Eomeoni!(Mother!) Slow down, you're too fast!" He called, scrambling after his parents whom had stopped to wait for him.

Shindou Masao beamed at his son," leave that goban and you'll be able to move faster,"he said good-naturedly. Hikaru snorted and continued to move on without a reply.

Author's note:

And that concludes the end of my first chapter. I hope you peeps enjoyed it! In case you all were wondering, Hikaru is half Japanese and half Korean. As you can all guess, his grandmother on Korea is on his maternal side. Hikaru will be living in Korea for a while before returning to Japan.

Anyways, I won't be spoiling. Don't forget to review, do tell me the areas in which I can improve on. I apologize if Hikaru was a bit ooc, but I am trying my best to get his character right. Ja mina! I'll see you all in the next chapter!