Title: Ragnarok
Characters/Pairing: Hikaru, Sai, Yuuko
Genre: Gen
Rating: G
Warnings: none
Word Count: 562
Summary: Request from the Clamp Anon meme on livejournal. Hikaru no Go crossover with xxxHolic; "creating and destroying universes."

"You're crazy," Hikaru half-shouted, half-hissed. He could barely breathe for the sudden torrent of thoughts trickling into his mind: what-ifs, what-ifs, what-ifs, each one a sharp and sudden slice at an old wound, an old dream. For once, Sai was silent. Not knowing how to express himself, the young man ended up waving his arms awkwardly in vivid, irritated gestures. "That's way too much! How can you ask that!?"

The way the witch stared at him was really freaking him out. She had eyes the color of old blood, half-lidded but unblinking, and her face--cheery and utterly wasted when he'd first walked in--was solemn now. "Granting wishes," Yuuko said, "Is a two-way street. You can never take something without receiving something else. There is no such thing as generosity. The price you must pay for your wish is exactly equal to its cost to grant. Nothing more, and nothing less."

"But--"

"You came here because you have an unfulfilled desire. Whether or not you choose to pursue that through my shop is your choice only, Shindou-san."

The little shop tasted old, as old as time immemorial, and it felt as if Sai's presence behind him--another spirit from a bygone age--was seeping into its cracks, slowly melting away, and that frightened Hikaru more then anything. Sai! He said sharply his mind, but the old Go teacher looked deep in thought, troubled, and did not stir when Hikaru called to him. Some place deep inside him imagined briefly what it'd be like, reaching the highest levels of Go without Sai's presence wrapped about his shoulder blades, and the pachi, pachi sound of the stones made hollow echoes in his heart.

"Forget it! I won't need help to reach my goal. Thanks but no thanks, Ichihara-san." He sprang to his feet, bowed jerkily and all but ran out the door. The Heian spirit glanced at her over his fan, and in a rustle of silk and sad eyes, was gone. Yuuko sighed, set down her pipe and moodily re-arranged the sleeves to her elaborate robe. Dealings in her trade weren't always the fun and games she loved to torture Watanuki with. It was a terrible burden, at times, watching destiny play itself out, with or without her help.

Shindou Hikaru's one heart-felt dream was to discover the Hand of God: how could he know, then, that fulfilling that goal would cost him Sai's dream, the spirit who had brought him to the world he now loved? And would he know that--from the very first time he ignored Sai's instructions and chose to play his own game--he was already granting his own wish?

It was with slow, careful and unknowing incisions that Hikaru cut into Sai's soul, every time he raised his eyes to Touya's over a go board, with every delicate and deadly play he made. There's only time left now, Hikaru, the ghost had been mouthing, silently behind the boy's back the moment he walked into her shop.

It's only a matter of time, Shindou-san, Hikaru.