The Dream
A soft breeze was floating over his closed eyes, carrying the sounds of high, dry grass waving in the wind around him.
Knitting his brows, Ogata Seiji moved his head a bit. The surface he lay on felt soft and smelled… earthy. As he slowly opened his eyes, the blurry picture that greeted him cleared into an orange, glowing sky, littered with puffy clouds lazily wandering over the firmament. Out of the corner of his eyes he could spot the snowy tips of a mountain range, far far away.
Confused, and feeling a bit dizzy, the blond sat up, reached for his glasses and adjusted them, but the surroundings didn´t change. Arching an elegant brow, he slowly turned his head, taking in the landscape with calm stoicism.
How had he gotten here?
This surely wasn´t Tokyo…
His pragmatic mind told him, that there was only one rational way that could explain how he´d gotten from the bar, where he had celebrated his victory over the old geezer, to this strange, dream like world in the blink of an eye: he must have fallen asleep and be dreaming.
In the back of his mind, the slightly sarcastic thought formed that hopefully someone was considerate enough to drive him home right now while he was in lala-land; he really didn´t want to wake up with a killer of a hangover, lying in some dirty side alley, robbed of his belongings…
Getting to his feet, Ogata patted the legs of his pants to get the dust off and took another look around, his scrutinizing eyes searching for something where he could go, where his dream would lead him. And surely, there, down the hill he was currently located at, was a small house, built in the traditional, japanese style.
Mentally shrugging, the bespectacled man started to walk through the high grass towards it without much hurry, one hand casually put in his pocket. The longer he remained here, the better for his alcohol drowned body. Maybe he could even manage to oversleep his hangover, he thought wryly.
When he got to the house, it became clearer. Like most japanese, feudal establishments it consisted of only one store, with a relatively low roof. The porch was made from polished, brown wood and evenly gleamed in the dim afternoon light. Only now did the blond notice the lack of a sun, the calming light came from everywhere: the sky, seeping through the ground; even the house seemed to softly radiate from inside.
Frowning, but dismissing it as an unimportant detail, Ogata stepped onto the porch, not bothering to get out of his shoes. This was his dream anyway, and such trivial things as etiquette didn´t matter; or so he thought when he boldly pulled the paper door open, expecting the room to be empty. To his surprise he found himself confronted with another person though.
And a stunningly beautiful woman at that. She was dressed in an ancient attire, wearing a large black hat. Her angelic face was framed by long, black silky tresses and the lower part of her face was hidden by a beautiful fan, held by slender fingers. She didn´t seem surprised by his sudden and rude intrusion.
"My apologies," Ogata said mechanically, suddenly remembering his manners very well.
Now this dream had actually taken a rather pleasant turn. Even though Ogata had never seen this person before –which made him frown a bit, since he had read somewhere that one only could dream about things one had actually experienced before and he was very positive that he had never seen this woman in his life (he certainly would have remembered her)- he wasn´t really bothered. She seemed pretty much like the woman of his dreams incarnated. Maybe his mind had created her from fragments of other people? Her eyes were deep, soft and wise, but at the same time twinkled with an underlaying aura of mirth and mischief even. There was seriousness in there as well and an almost bottomless calmness and patience.
Forcing his attention back to the matter at hand, Ogata let go of the paper door and cleared his throat. "I did not want to intrude."
The lady lowered her head a bit, probably trying to hide the amused twinkle, but it didn´t escape the blond´s sharp senses anyway. So she had humor. Good, maybe he could get comfortable here then.
"Welcome, Ogata Seiji. I have been waiting for you. Please, have a seat."
Startled by the clearly male voice, Ogata slowly lifted a brow, looking much more sober now. What was this? Why was he imagining his perfect woman to be male? His subconscious wasn´t trying to tell him something important here, was it? Shaking his head, he dismissed the thought as well. It didn´t matter. This was just a dream, where such trivial things as gender didn´t hold any significance.
Blinking, he finally followed the fan, now invitingly pointing on the tatami in front of the go-ban. Strange that he only noticed it now. Usually it would have been the first thing his eyes´d have spotted. Maybe it hadn´t been there before? It was common that items would magically appear and vanish in dreams…
Getting rid of his shoes now, leaving them on the porch, Ogata stepped on the tatami and closed the distance between them, kneeling down at a respectable distance before the go-ban and his beautiful host. Absently he noticed that the room was empty, apart from the aforementioned board and the girly man.
"Would you like to play a game with me?" the stranger asked softly with a smile, the fan resting on his knees now. Beside the board were two closed bowls, probably holding white and black stones. Or slimy, oversized insects, one could never be sure with dreams.
"I´d be delighted to."
The young man nodded, his smile turning bright, and excited, almost impish. Ogata relaxed a bit and reached for the bowl, beheading it. He put his stones on the board and it turned out that the stranger would start. Actually Ogata wasn´t really worried about losing. Again, this was a dream and nothing could happen that hadn´t already taken place, meaning this was his sound win.
So he rather concentrated back on his dream boy. Said man had reopened his fan, but the formerly light and friendly air around him had changed. His eyes were still kind and charming, but now they also sported a determined and serious expression.
"Would you mind telling me with whom I have the pleasure of playing?"
The person froze, the white stone hovering just above the board. With this startled, shocked expression the long haired beauty looked actually rather cute, Ogata decided. Even more so, when his cheeks blossomed with a pink colour.
"Of course, how rude of me! Please excuse my misbehaviour, I was so excited to finally meet you in person, I have waited for so long!" Placing the stone back into the bowl, the young man overcame his flustered state and bowed low, coming up with a smile. "My name is Fujiwara no Sai. I am very pleased to make your acquaintance, Ogata-san."
Sai...? Now it was the blond´s turn to be flustered. His heart skipped at least three beats, before it started pounding in his chest like a colibri on speed. Sai? The sai?
"You are the internet-sai?" he asked, disbelieving, mouth hanging slightly open. It would have been quite a sight to his friends to see the ever so composed and controlled man dumbfounded like that. Sadly, no one was really there to appreciate it.
Sai looked taken aback for a moment, but then the smile was back on his lips. "Yes, that is me." He bowed slightly again. "I am honoured you remember me."
"How could I not?" the blond replied, shaking his head. "It all makes sense now, though…" Of course, his subconscious had cooked up the perfect partner indeed! His secretly rather partriarchic oriented mind couldn´t view sai as anything non-male, but his idolization lead him to think of sai as the most gorgeous person he could imagine. One and one put together and he got what was sitting right in front of him now.
"Are you all right?" Sai asked, leaning forward a bit, the fan resting against his chin and his voice sounding concerned.
"I am very fine, thank you." Ogata adjusted his glasses, his face back to being as calm (and slightly haughty) as ever. There was something smug playing in his eyes. Now this was a one-time opportunity, since this could very well be his one and only dream about sai after all, so why not enjoy it to its fullest? "Before we start, however, we should agree on stakes, I believe."
"...Stakes?" Sai echoed, tilting his head in question. Ogata found that he rather enjoyed these huge, questioning eyes on him, looking so innocent… He shouldn´t get side-tracked, he reprimanded himself harshly, they could get to the mature themed part of his dream later (because seriously, what go-pro wouldn´t get all hot and bothered about the idea of getting intimate with the mysterious sai ? Above all when he looked like this!).
"Yes, stakes. It would make the game a bit more exciting, don´t you think?" He sported a thin smile, concealing his ulteriour motives behind a trustful expression. Not that this wasn´t already exciting, but since he´d win anyway, Ogata could as well play around a bit.
Sai frowned at that, but then he just nodded. "If you wish so, I will gladly partake," he answered politely, and then added a bit more excited and curious "What will it be?"
Really, just like a little boy….
The blond pretended to be thoughtful for a moment, before putting down his glasses to clean them with the hem of his suit, smirking confidently. "How about… a kiss?"
"Ehhhh?"
The dumbfounded expression on Fujiwara´s face was priceless, but Ogata maintained his faint smirk and put his glasses back on his nose. Clasping his hands before his mouth to cover up his undignified screech, Sai repeated, almost whispering this time "A kiss?" Another blush spread across his cheeks, much more brilliant this time, and he shifted a bit on the tatami.
"Well, why not? It should be worth one´s while," Ogata replied unfazed, waving his hand.
"Hm…" Sai looked down at the goban, biting his lower lip, the blush still heating his high cheeks. Ogata was rather handsome, but doing such a bold thing…? It wasn´t like Sai was disgusted by the thought of kissing another man, it had actually been a rather common practice during his time. But still, Sai was horrible where these things were concerned…
The other waited patiently for the young man to come to a decision and finally Fujiwara looked up again, still appearing a bit uncertain. "So, if you win, you get a kiss… and what do I get if I win?"
"What do you want?" was the instant, and far too smooth, reply.
At that, Sai´s face lightened up again though, and he eagerly exclaimed "I want another game!"
"… Very well then." Admittedly, Ogata was a bit impressed by his dream- sai ´s fervor for the game, but under different circumstances – meaning he faced sai in real life- he wouldn´t have been so bold either. He´d demanded another game, no matter who won or lost.
They finally settled down, and the blond let his opponent, who had gone serious again, make the first draw. At the beginning he was still rather easy going, playing fast and not paying as much attention to the game as he bestowed on observing sai. He soon had to realize, however, that this dream game may not be as easy as he had anticipate and by the beginning of the second half of it, it was actually he who took the long moments to ponder the outlaying, slowly building a pattern. The more stones got on the board, the more uncertain Ogata was about his win. Just like he knew from his experience, sai was brilliant. And he didn´t even seem to break a sweat! In fact, Ogata was almost under the impression that Sai was toying with him and enjoying it! Not in a mean way of course, he doubted that soft-spoken, polite and slightly naive young man could even harbour one evil thought. No, he was playing a game of cat and mouse and he simply enjoyed the challenge, because Ogata surely wasn´t an opponent to be taken lightly. Also, the pattern on the board strayed from every kifu the blond had ever studied, he was sure of that. But maybe he just couldn´t remember correctly? His mind wasn´t clouded though, like it sometimes happened in dreams…
The blond had no idea how long the game went on, but in the end he had to voice his loss.
Wordlessly, he stared at the board, shocked, disbelieving, but utterly thrilled nonetheless.
"I demand another game."
"Of course, you lost," Sai chuckled behind his fan, obviously pleased that he was taken seriously now.
"You really are sai, aren´t you?" the go-pro asked, narrowing his eyes.
"I told you," the other simply smiled, lowering his fan.
"How is this even possible?" Ogata shook his head anew, trying to wrap his mind around the concept, removing his glasses again and pinching the bridge of his nose.
"Ah, don´t be so grouchy! You can always win the next game!" Sai exclaimed, and then, after a moment of hesitation he leaned forward, brushing with his soft lips over Ogata´s cheek in a feather-like touch. That at least got the man´s attention and he let go of his nose, his hand instead mechanically moving towards the tingling, pleasant sensation on his cheek.
"What was that for? I didn´t even win." Then he quickly added, as he noticed another deep blush, "Not that I mind, not at all."
"It… should be worth one´s while, shouldn´t it? That is what you said…" Sai replied weakly behind his fan, not looking Ogata in the eye.
For the first time, a true, genuine smile appeared on the blond´s lips and he gave a brief nod. "You are right, thank you." Then he turned back into his old, confident and wry self, smirking,
"I suggest we double the ante then."
"Yes, that sounds like a fabulous idea," the long haired man affirmed, smiling. "We have all the time in the world. Do you want to discuss the game now?"
"I would love to," Ogata replied, ignoring the fact that Sai had just implemented that they would play a lot of games before Ogata could actually beat him. Setting his bowl aside, he got a bit more comfortable for one of many, many discussions to come.
At the hospital, a large group of tired, worried looking humans had gathered before room 134d in the intensive care unit. The accusations and discussions of who was to be held responsible for letting Ogata Seiji, young and aspiring, promising go-pro, drive in his drunken state, had long ceased. It didn´t matter anymore. They rather focused their energy on praying for the man to survive the horrible crash against a bridge pilar. Three hours of surgery and he still was nowhere near of being out of the woods. But even if he was, no one could say in what condition they would find him. Severe damage had been done to his head and brain; his go-career had already died the second his car made contact with the concrete. The machines surrounding his broken body desperately blinked and peeped.
Fifty-two games later, Ogata wondered when he would wake up.
Onehundred and sixty-five games later, Ogata wondered if he would get even close to defeat Sai.
Threehundred and seven games later, Ogata wondered why he suddenly felt so connected, as if he actually belonged to this strange world now.
Sixhundred and twenty six games later, Ogata wondered why he didn´t care anymore.
Onethousand and eighthundred ninety-nine games later, Ogata Seiji lay in the arms of the one person he could ever have dreamed for and wondered, if there was any way that he could possibly feel even more happy and completed.
Fin.
I watched Hikaru no Go again, and this idea came to mind. Instead of bringing Sai to Ogata why not do it the other way around? I figured since Sai is a ghost and therefore dead, the easiest way for them to meet was killing Ogata (not very nice, I know, but well... I was in a bittersweet mood *sigh*)
I hope you liked it and I would be very very happy if you left me a little review. Thank you ^_^ *bows down in advance*
Disclaimer: I do not own Hikaru no Go and I do not make any money from this.