Hey, all. So, this is my first Hikaru no Go fanfic, so please be gentle. I love constructive criticism, but nicely please.
WARNING! THIS STORY HAS A VERY PROMINENT OC! TURN BACK NOW IF YOU HATE OC'S!
The air in the antique store was thick with dust.
Nikai-Shae wrinkled his nose with distaste. Honestly, this place looked like it was on its last leg. From the shabby carpet, to the poor lighting, to the old man behind the counter who glared at him as he walked in, it was no wonder the sign out front said, "CLOSING SOON. ALL ITEMS 75% OFF." Normally, Nikai wouldn't even bother coming to a place like this, but 75% was a hefty discount. If he was lucky, he might find a couple of old screens or cabinets that he could decorate and sell in his shop. If he was really lucky, he might find a musical instrument.
Nikai headed further inside, carefully maneuvering through the cluttered aisles. Everywhere he looked, merchandise was stacked haphazardly. One pile of old books leaned dangerously to the side, uncaring of the customers it could potentially bury if it toppled over. Old dolls shared shelf space with chipped vases and dusty figurines. Nikai paused to consider an abacus. He'd never redecorated one before, and he didn't know who the hell would ever buy it, but maybe...He was just reaching out to touch it when he caught sight of what the abacus was sitting on.
A glimmer of hope speared through his chest. It looked to be a tiny, sturdy wooden table with a grid across the top. This he could work with, he thought, placing the abacus to the side and gently running his hand through the dust gathered on the surface. Underneath the dust, the wood gleamed warmly. It was a light wood. Birch, maybe? Or oak...Nikai ran his hands over the edges, testing for any obvious nicks or chunks missing. The wood seemed to be in good condition, but there was a dark stain extending from one corner almost to the middle of the board. He peered closely at it. "I wonder if this is ink," he murmured, tracing his finger along the edge. From the looks of the shop, he wouldn't have been surprised if someone had spilled ink on it. "Oh, well," he continued, a bit more cheerfully. "A good coat of paint will cover that stain right up."
Can you see it?
Nikai jumped, whirling around to face the employee who'd snuck up on him...only there was no one there. He narrowed his eyes. "It's rude to sneak up on people," he called, certain that whomever had spoken to him was trying to give him a scare...that old man probably got off on scaring the customers...
Can you...can you hear me?
"Yeah, I hear you," Nikai snapped. "Either come out or leave me alone. I'm not in the mood to deal with rude old men."
You can hear me! Oh, great Kami, I thank you!
Nikai stepped forward, intent on finding the owner of that voice. A faint light at the corner of his vision made him pause, and he whipped his head around, ready to tear them a new one. What he saw, instead, forced his muscles to lock in place in shock.
An androgynous man with long, long dark hair stood before him, directly over the old table Nikai had been examining. He was dressed in traditional Japanese garments, white, with a tall hat. He wore purple lipstick, but more than that...he was vaguely transparent.
"What the..." Nikai began, breathily, just as the odd man called out.
I will now return...to the world of the living.
And the world went dark.
Fujiwara no Sai stared down at the soul he now haunted with obvious concern. The child (boy or girl? and how old? they looked fairly young...) had slumped down in a dead faint, just like Torajiro had, all those years ago. He supposed he should have expected it. Torajiro had once told him that the initial possession had been horrible, that Sai's consciousness had forced itself into his psyche, like a rushing river of foreign memory and emotion as Sai's soul had attached to his.
Ignoring the ache he felt at the thought of his old friend, Sai leaned in close to study his new host. It was nearly impossible for him to tell whether the child was a boy or girl, thanks to the odd hair and manner of dress. The hair was about shoulder-blade length, and was dyed in a rainbow of colors. Red, pink, gold, orange, fuschia, copper, it spilled across their face like the sunrise personified. The face was pale, with straight, thin, dark brows and long eyelashes. The ear that wasn't hidden by hair was full of odd earrings, and there was a ring in both corners of their lower lip, as well...The child (does not look very old, at all) seemed slender, willowy, and of average height. Colorful tattoos raced up both arms, flowers and seemingly random streaks of color and foreign words that were hard for him to make sense of.
In all, his new host looked...interesting. And they had been examining the kaya board for a while before they'd mentioned the stains...maybe they were a Go fan? He certainly hoped so. The gods couldn't possibly be so cruel as to place him with someone who hated Go, no matter how unorthodox they appeared. He still didn't understand what they had meant when they'd murmured about painting over the stains. He couldn't possibly allow that; how else would he know who would be able to see him? Ah, well. He would convince the sleeping (unconscious) child to leave the goban be.
That decided, Sai tapped his fan carefully against his lips as he regarded the space they were in. It was filthy, to say the least, and he delicately raised one sleeve to guard his mouth and nose against the dust that permeated the air. He spared a moment to despair for the child laying on that horrible floor; his black clothing would probably be stained gray by the time he woke. There were many shelves, filled with old, often broken artifacts. He began walking through them. He knew from previous experience that he could only go so far from his hosts (and why should he want to? they were the only ones who could see him, anyways.), but hopefully he would get far enough to discern their whereabouts. He doubted his child would have gone somewhere dangerous-surely they had more sense than that-but it never hurt to check. It was his fault that they had fainted, after all. It would be impolite to allow something to happen to them whilst they were so vulnerable.
In the end, he was jerked to a stop roughly five feet from where the child lay, and all he had managed to ascertain was that they were in some kind of shop. That was good; the child would most certainly be able to take the goban back to their home so long as he had the money for it.
Soul a bit lighter, Sai earnestly began scouring the shelves for anything familiar.
Nikai woke knowing exactly where he was, and why he had fainted. There was no storybook moment of, When he woke, he discovered it had all been a dream, oh, no. Nothing was ever that simple. He levered himself into a semi-upright position, keeping his eyes carefully shut. He could feel threadbare carpet under his hands, so he knew that he was still inside the antique store. Had no one even noticed that he had fainted? He wasn't exactly surprised. Besides the old man at the counter, the shop seemed to be devoid of life. It was certainly devoid of a janitor, at least.
"Excuse me."
Nikai tried really, really hard not to flinch at that quiet musical voice. He had been hoping that he'd imagined that voice, and the pretty (there really wasn't any other word for it) man that went with it. Mustering up his courage, he took a deep breath and mumbled a flat "What?"
"May I ask you your name, child?"
Nikai cracked an eye open. The...spirit/ghost/poltergeist/hallucination-of-a-fevered-mind was leaning over him, face open and friendly, expression curious. His eyes were almond-shaped, like most native Japanese people that Nikai had met, though the color was decidedly foreign. Sparkling amethyst orbs regarded him from above a plain white folding fan. "...Nikai-Shae," he said eventually, opening the other eye a bit warily.
The...man...nodded, looking marginally satisfied, before asking hesitantly, "And...your gender?"
Nikai glared half-heartedly. He knew that he was fairly effeminite. "Male," he said shortly. "What the hell are you?" he added a moment later.
"I'm so sorry, I seem to have forgotten my manners." The man offered a bow. "I am Fujiwara no Sai, and until today, my soul has been bound to the goban you were examining."
"What's a goban?"
The man's face went slack with surprise, and then tightened with what looked oddly like disappointment. Nikai's stomach churned uneasily. "It is a board upon which the game Go is played," the man (Sai) explained carefully. "Do you know what Go is?"
Nikai looked at him consideringly. He could guess, from the man's clothing, that Go was old. Why else would a man in period dress be interested in it, or have his soul bound to the game board? "No," he offered. "Not a clue."
The look on the man's face was definitely disappointed, no matter how quickly he raised his fan to cover it. "Oh," he replied glumly. He moved back a few steps as Nikai shakily hauled himself to his feet. Sai was a couple of inches taller than he was, even without the hat.
Nikai carefully kept his gaze from straying to the board. "Well, goodbye," he tried, though the sinking feeling in his gut assured him that it was not going to be that easy.
Sure enough..."Wait!" Sai cried. He sounded panicked, but more than that, Nikai could feel his panic. It echoed down to him through some mysterious link, and he suddenly had the feeling that he was never going to get rid of this guy. "Surely you plan to take the goban with you?" the other man implored.
He glanced back to where Sai was hesitating near the board, looking torn between staying with it and following Nikai. "I try not to buy haunted Go boards," he replied flippantly. "Something tells me it's bad for my blood pressure."
The other man's panic eased, and Nikai's heartbeat slowed in response. He hadn't even realized that it had been responding to Sai's panic, racing in his chest, until it started slowing down. "Well, you should certainly buy the board, then," the man said happily, "seeing as it is no longer haunted."
"Wait," Nikai said, trying to fight the dread of a dawning realization. "I thought you said that your soul was bound to the goban. You did say that, right? I heard you. You're still here, so why isn't the goban haunted anymore?"
"I was bound to the goban, yes. But now, I am bound to you. I'll follow you everywhere now."
"No," Nikai refuted. "You're gonna stay with the board. I've got enough stress in my life, I can't handle you, too."
A tendril of sadness unfurled down the link. "I must stay with you," Sai murmured. "I am bound. You are the only one who can see me, and I can only go so far from you."
Fuck.
Ta-da. So, just to ease any worries, YES, Hikaru is going to be in the story. I have plans for that boy. Many plans.
So, anyway, drop a review and let me know your pairing preferences. I have a tentative idea, but, who knows, you could possibly sway my opinion. Thanks so much for reading!
