A/N: Thanks people, for the great responses in chapter 2! Here's chapter 3 for you!
Disclaimer: Silently fluttering in the cold desert of Siberia, the butterfly struggled to stay up in the air. Yet the cold was slowly but surely sinking deeper and deeper into her wings, freezing her entire being.
From England, it flew across oceans and lands. It continued to flutter on, for it carries a huge responsibility. She must fulfill the last wish of her kind. Even though all she wanted to do was to lie down on the snow and let the cold take her, she would not give up, for she was so close to her goal... so close...
Finally reaching her destination, the butterfly drifted down, too tired to move. The wind easily picked her up and drifted the last Monarch butterfly to the pulse of the sleeping land.
Finally her last words, carried by the wind, echoed throughout centuries.
"Ao Yuki does not own Hikaru no Go."
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After the series of shocks the previous day, Hikaru was unprepared to face more; other than the fact that he had forgotten all about school. He was scandalized to remember that he was still a measly student at eleven years old and therefore he had to go to school. And that meant that he had to wake up early. He had to wear uniform, he had to remember to greet all the sempai as sempai, and worse of all, attend all the boring lessons. All over again.
Under his breath, Hikaru said some really colourful words.
Yawning for the umpteenth times, Hikaru allowed his legs to take on a mind of their own while he did his best to keep awake on the way to school. Daisuke on the other hand, had boundless energy and was determined to convince Sai about something. Like how takoyaki was the best food in the world. Sai just seemed generally confused. Absentmindedly, Hikaru listened in to their one-sided conversation, feeling his bed and blanket calling to him. He had surprisingly adapted quite well to the fact that he now had a twin brother.
"Sai, why do you like Go so much?"
Through their now three-way link, Hikaru felt the changes in Sai's mood. A pang went through his heart, and he felt vaguely nauseas. Daisuke too, didn't look too well. Both had stopped walking.
Sai closed his eyes and bowed his head.
"I am not sure if I can ever explain to you..." Sai said softly. "Go... Go is my life. Tell me, Daisuke and Hikaru... Do you have something that you live for?"
Hikaru felt less nauseas as the seconds passed. He frowned and shook his head slightly. He did. Go was his life. But it would be strange for this version of him to say that, would it? Daisuke shrugged.
Sai looked straight at them.
"Then do you have something that you will die for?"
Hikaru was startled. He wasn't given a chance to think about it as Sai continued.
"I do. And that is Go. Go gave brought me all my happiness. And... as it turns out, brought my me death too."
"And yet still, I would never have wished for anything else. I have never been happier than when I was teaching Go to Emperor Seiwa. Every day I played Go. But I never got bored. There are just so many ways a game could have gone and so many different opponents to face. Go is a meeting of minds. Your every emotion, your every thought, affects the game. A game can reveal your personality and your desires. It is fascinating to me. At that point in time, besides me there was another Go tutor. One day, he suggested to the emperor..."
"Only one instructor is needed. Why don't we play and the winner can remain?"
At that, Hikaru swallowed. He knew what happened next, but he was mesmerized by the tale unfolding before his eye. Maybe Sai could be a storyteller in his next life.
"You played Go with him then? Who won?" Daisuke asked quietly.
May it was his imagination, but Sai's eyes seemed to take on a darker hue.
"At first, the game was even. Both of us were equally matched. But then… I saw it. Even with everyone watching the game, somehow I was the only one who saw it. A white stone had been mixed into his goban. It rarely happens... but sometimes, your stones get mixed up with your opponent's. Of course, that has nothing to do with the match and usually the person would just hand it over..."
Sai stared at his hands.
"But he... he waited for the right moment and added it to his captured stones."
"He cheated!" Daisuke burst with indignation and scowled.
Sai nodded.
"Yes… yes he did. And I was… I was so angry. But when I was about to raise my voice... he turned around accused me of cheating instead. I denied, of course. But we had to continue the game, because the Emperor declared that he refused to believe that something so disgracefulhad happened in his presence. I... I was unravelled. I lost because I couldn't concentrate after his accusation. The emperor branded me as a cheater. I was exiled, and ordered never to touch Go again."
"But…Go is what I lived for. It's my life. What was the point in a life without what I lived for? I walked for two days straight without rest, until I reached a river. I remember the name of the river... Kohaku. I... I am not sure what came over me. There comes a point in time when there isn't anything to hold you anymore and you give up. I gave up. I jumped into the river. When I came to my senses again, it was too late. The river was unforgiving. I couldn't get myself out even if I wanted to. But I couldn't let go. I wanted to play more Go! It wasn't fair! It wasn't. Why did I have to leave just when I discovered Go? And somehow, kami heard my wishes. My spirit attached to a goban, watching and waiting and waiting for something to come along..."
Hikaru had a bitter taste in his mouth. Sai had come to the part in the story which he always hated the most. Torajirou. Honinbou Shusaku. Compared to him, Hikaru forever felt guilty. He was a jerk to Sai, confining his brilliance and talent to his room and never letting him play as much as he wanted to. He wished he had Torajirou's insight to see Sai's ability and let him played more.
"So I was given another chance. Torajirou found me. He was very interested in Go and took me on willingly and I was able to play as much Go as I wanted. Torajirou was a very good player and would have become a great Go player... But luck was not with us. He died at the young age of thirty four."
"Since then, I've stayed in the goban, waiting. I lived for Go and died for Go, Hikaru and Daisuke. Go is everything I ever had and everything I ever will. The reason why I am here is because of Go. And I think if I ever stopped loving Go, I wouldn't be here anymore. Can you understand now why I love Go?" Sai asked.
Daisuke was silent.
And Hikaru was silent too. He never thought of it that way before, but it seemed sad to him somehow. Living and dying for a game, and then having that same game take over your entire existence such that if you ever stopped loving the game, you would disappear.
It must have been terrifying. What if he got bored with the game? Or found something else more important than Go? Would he 'die' again? Those must have been Sai's thoughts at one point in time.
Was that why Sai disappeared in the first place? That he found something other than Go?
Hikaru shook his head. It couldn't be. Sai and Go were synonymous with each other. How could Sai ever abandon Go?
Hikaru spoke up with Sai and Daisuke. He made a promise to himself and to Sai.
"Don't worry Sai. Daisuke and I will let you play Go as much as we can, right Daisuke?"
Daisuke piped up.
"Yep! We will!"
Tears welled up further in his eyes, threatening to spill over. Sai hugged the both of them with all his strength, enthusiastically exclaiming his happiness. That soon ended when Daisuke pointed out that they were going to be late with his face slightly blue as his air supply had been abruptly cut off. It was strange having a ghost that felt as physical as the next human being hugged you. But then again, Hikaru recently had stranger things happen to him.
Like travelling six years back into a parallel universe for example. He was still trying to figure that out.
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Thankfully because they left home somewhat earlier than usual, they arrived on time.
To Hikaru, school was as boring as much his murky memories had informed him. The mundane lessons, the droning voices of the teachers mixing up all the facts like a giant washing machine... Time was interminable, with the hands of the clock moving ever agonizingly slowly.
When Hikaru had become a Go profession at grade six, he had cheerfully left the classroom, assuming that he would never ever have to step back into in ever again. Now, seated back at the hard plastic chair with a hard plastic table in front of him again, it only goes to show that one must never assume anything.
Staring blankly at the blackboard, Hikaru suddenly remembered one of his reasons for becoming a Go pro at such a young age.
School was torture.
With a sigh, Hikaru rested his head on the table, his eyes drifting throughout the classroom. Despite the strangeness of seeing all his classmates being a kid again, he quickly got used to it. They still acted the same way, more or less.
The window at the side of the classroom suddenly appeared very tempting. If the lesson went on any further, Hikaru thought he might just take up on its invitation and jump right out of it.
Images of the sort of horrified expression on his teacher's face played behind his eyelid. When all of a sudden, he felt a small round hard object connect solidly with the back of his head, successfully jolting him to full consciousness and disrupting said images.
Now fully awake, Hikaru looked behind him in annoyance. Daisuke had been the one to deny him the human right to fall asleep. Didn't he know that sleep was very important? That if you didn't fet enough, you could die?
Grinning wide at Hikaru, Daisuke just mouthed the words 'don't fall asleep'. Hikaru growled irritably and turned his head to face the teacher again, trying really hard to focus. Certainly by theory, an eighteen year old shouldn't fail six grade right...?
No more than five seconds later, Hikaru could feel his mind start drifting once again. Why did he have to learn all these stuff anyway? It wasn't as if the minister of something did whatever that caused whichever was even alive now. Surely the repercussions of his actions have stopped?
Fortunately (or unfortunately, whichever way you want to take it), Hikaru's drifting mind managed to catch the last few words of the teacher announcing one very unwanted piece of news.
"...poorly on their social studies test. So, we will have another test tomorrow."
Loud groans of distress were emitted from almost every student's mouth. Some complained about the total unfairness of life, some the usual teenage angst, some letting out wails of despair as if they had been told that the world was ending. Looks of utter dismay could also be clearly seen on all students' faces. No sane student liked tests, especially on the one subject that they had been told they did poorly on.
Scratch that. No sane students liked any sort of tests. Those that did had their minds twisted far along enough that they were could arguably be called 'insane'.
Hikaru groaned together with the rest of the students, convinced that the world was really going crazy. He lifted his head off the table unwillingly and gave an exaggerated sigh of hopelessness. How was he was expected to remember something he learned years ago in another universe was beyond his imagination.
The bell finally rang for break.
"Ne, nii-chan..."
Startled at the voice, Hikaru nearly fell off his chair.
They were currently in the cafeteria. While they usually ate in the classroom, Hikaru felt like exploring the school more and dragged Daisuke with him. Hikaru alternated between flipping through the social studies textbook to prepare for the test the next day, and staring at Sai and wondering if he could skip lessons and just go play a game of Go with him. Although, where exactly was he going to get a goban is a problem…
"Yeah, Diasuke?" Hikaru replied.
"Grandpa has a Go board right?"
"Oh yeah!" His eyes had just been thinking about that.
"Then do you want to go to grandpa's house after school and let Sai play Go?"
Hearing Sai's excited gasp, Hikaru smiled. He nodded with a grin.
"Definitely!"
He was going to play Go. With Sai.
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"Oh Hikaru! Are you feeling better now? It was sure a shock... Daisuke running down, saying you collapsed. I got so worried..."
"I'm fine!" "He's fine!"
Hikaru blinked.
Seeing his grandfather moving around without a wheelchair was odd, but not as odd as having someone with almost the same voice echoed the words you say at the same time.
Heihachi Shindou chuckled lightly and shook his head in affection.
"You two always do everything together. So what brought both of you here? Grandma went shopping."
Hikaru could help but smirked in a way that he thought probably looked quite evil.
"Well grandpa, Daisuke and I learned Go. I was thinking that if we beat you, will you give us the Go board in the attic?"
An expression of pleasant surprise was shown on his face, wondering if he heard wrongly, before a wide grin appeared, his eyes sparkling with excitement.
"Go?! Really? You two actually learned how to play?"
Quickly, much faster than any old man should have been able to, he dashed through the door to get the goban, thoroughly energized at the prospect of a game or two of Go with his two favourite grandsons.
"Now, you two better don't run away!"
Hikaru, with some self-control, managed to control his evil grin this time. There was something to be said knowing something that nobody else knew.
He was Shindou Hikaru, holder of the Tengen title and a strong contender for the Gosei title. His poor grandpa.
People could accuse Hikaru of many things, but a lack of confidence in Go wasn't one.
He watched on in a silence as Daisuke called their mother to notify her that they were in their grandfather's house. Sai looked in curiosity at the strange contraption widely known as a phone. Hikaru's mind wondered at the opportunity given to him by sending him back in time to the first time he met Sai. There were countless things that he could have done better... and now, he was given the chance to do so.
The endless possibilities seemed like the placement of Go stones on a board to Hikaru. If one could open up his or her mind, Go is a board game that could as easily confuse your opponents as easily as it confused you. There were no standard procedures, no method which one absolutely must follow. It was just like his current situation.
Could he prevent Sai's disappearance?
There was no doubt at all in his mind that Sai was good for the Go world; his sheer brilliance had been the kick in the Go world that it needed to get more people to notice the game.
He was glad to see Sai. Overjoyed even. As would the Go world as soon as they could meet him.
Hikaru had once lamented that he didn't let Sai play more games.
But now he didn't have to.
Hikaru did not want any more regrets. This time, Hikaru was determined to try and do things better this time round. And how he was going to do that?
Through Go of course. Internet and otherwise.
However, he was faced with the dilemma of his Go versus Sai's go. He wanted to play Go, damn it. He'd had the chance to play Go uninterrupted for three whole years and he enjoyed every little bit of it. Despite his guilt. Despite the regret. He didn't want to and couldn't just sit back and let Sai take over all the time. He knew he was being selfish. Watching Sai and feeling his anticipation of finally getting to play Go again after so many years, Hikaru felt torn.
When it was time to face his grandpa, should he place the stones for Sai?
He didn't think that he could do that. Not all the time. After Sai left, he was as obsessed with Go as Sai was. To let every game play under his fingertips but yet not his would drive him crazy.
But Hikaru didn't think he could stand seeing Sai fade away again. Sai's presence and strangely enough, Daisuke's presence as well, filled up some void of loneliness he always had after he left.
Hikaru was broken out of his reverie when Daisuke shook him.
"Nii-chan, you go first!"
He blinked several times, trying to clear the cobwebs of thoughts from his mind. While he had been immersed in his thoughts, it seemed like his grandfather had already set up the Goban.
Hikaru moved as if to take his place opposite his grandpa. However at the last minute, he turned around and looked at Daisuke.
Wait a minute.
He didn't have to have a dilemma. There was Daisuke.
The universe had apparently, given him the solution to his problem.
"You go first, Daisuke."
Hikaru pushed a puzzled Daisuke towards the tatami mat and stood up, doing several stretching exercises.
"I need to stretch my legs a little first so you can play, Daisuke. I'll play after you." He grinned.
"Scared, Hikaru? Don't worry! Grandpa will go easy on you!" Hikaru's grandfather reassured.
Hikaru stuck his tongue out.
While he wasn't going to deny Sai the chance to play, he wasn't going to give up Go as well. Daisuke could hold stones for Sai and he could play on his own.
Perfect.
While watching Sai take his place behind Daisuke to direct where to place the stone, Hikaru silently contemplated the ethereal form in front of him. He hadn't played with Sai for a while now. While Sai had been stagnant in the Go board, he had changed and gotten a lot stronger.
Was it possible that he was as strong at Sai now? Even a little bit? Perhaps even beat him?
At that, Hikaru shook his head and snorted.
Nope. If he couldn't beat that creepy Ogata guy back in his own universe, he doubted his ability to actually beat Sai. Even if he played for another hundred years. No wait, scratch that...
Hikaru frowned.
He definitely couldn't beat Sai even if I played for a hundred years. It wasn't a matter of a lack of experience. It was just pure fact.
This time Hikaru's thoughts were broken when he felt both intense happiness and sadness travelling down his mental link with Sai. So much so that for a moment, he felt slightly dizzy. Thankfully, it was only temporary, or he just might fall down and hit his head again...
Without even glancing at him, Hikaru knew that Sai was crying. For kami know how many years he had been trapped a single place, forced to only dream about his only reason for existence. Hikaru was surprised that Sai hadn't gone insane. Hikaru knew that if he was him, he would have.
Sai was crying. He felt relieved that he was no longer merely dreaming. Someone really did wake him up from the goban, and that he was finally going to play Go again. He felt happy that he had more than one person who could see him this time. He felt sad, that the last time he was facing a goban, Torajirou was on the opposite, his blood soaking into it and life leaving him with every moment.
Hikaru whispered teasingly.
"Hey Sai. I know grandpa is strong, but you don't have to be so afraid of him that you're crying, you know."
Taking in a deep breath (vaguely, Hikaru wondered how ghost could breath), Sai smiled.
"All right, Hikaru! I'll try my best to beat grandpa!" he exclaimed.
Daisuke looked back for a while, and raised an eyebrow at the tear streaks on his face. He shook his head and turned back.
"Let's play, Grandpa."
And for a moment, Hikaru felt a pang in his chest.
Because Sai and Daisuke had said the same thing at the same time, and the two of them looked exactly as how he had imagined Torajirou and Sai would have looked all those years back, a ghostly hand guiding the stones on the board.
He blinked and frowned.
The game began.
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The only word to describe the game was 'short' and 'brutal'.
Wait that was two words.
The only two words to describe the game were 'short' and 'brutal'.
Hikaru had been slightly surprised that Daisuke seemed to already know the basics of Go. It quickly faded away to pure amazement as Sai and his grandpa fought a one one-sided battle. No matter what his grandpa did, Sai ruthlessly pressed on. His grandpa was wholly unwilling to admit defeat so early in the game - and to a six grader at that - continued on. Despite Sai's old playing style, it seemed that his strength was still as incomparable as ever.
Every time his grandpa made a move, Hikaru winced in sympathy. If Hikaru didn't already know that Sai was a ghost with a thousand years of experience under his belt, he would have been utterly terrified at his strength. As such, it only further confirmed Hikaru's previous thoughts that he definitely couldn't beat Sai.
Hikaru sighed.
The game ended barely twenty minutes later, clearly in Sai's favour. No one had the heart to really count how many moku his grandpa lost by.
Sai seemed rather embarrassed.
"I'm so sorry, Shindou-san. I got caught up in the game and everything… I'm sorry…" He apologised to an incredulous grandfather.
Unconvinced by the results and convinced that it must have been a fluke, his grandpa demanded to play anther match with Daisuke, while Daisuke adamantly refused.
"No way! It's nii-chan's turn! You said you'll give us the Go board in the attic if nii-chan and I beat you, so play with nii-chan now."
Defeated and annoyed that he had been cheated (in his opinion anyway), his grandpa agreed but only if he got to play Daisuke again later. Daisuke scowled, but agreed nonetheless.
"Fine. Only one more game though. Nii-chan is going to teach me how to play Rock Man DASH when we get back home."
Hikaru watched the exchange in amusement, and then sat down.
He hesitated for a while, before clearing his throat and said out loud.
"I'll be playing on my own, Grandpa."
Hikaru could feel Sai surprise at his announcement. Daisuke was still scowling at the fact that he had been denied more time to play Rock Man DASH, and his grandpa just blinked at his strange announcement.
"What? Of course you are."
"You know how to play Go too, Hikaru?" Hikaru could hear Sai's mounting excitement. "You'll play Go with me later too?'
Hikaru gave a small smile, inclining his head slightly to indicate his agreement.
"Okay, old man! I'm so going to beat you!" Hikaru gave a feral smile.
"Wha..? You said you hated Go just a few months ago, Hikaru! I'm the city Go tournament champion. There's no way that you can beat me even if you somehow managed to pick up the game." he said incredulously.
"Well, we'll see, won't we old man?!'" Hikaru retorted, thoroughly enjoying reeling his grandpa up.
And so after arguing about whether they should nigiri or not, Hikaru just randomly grabbed a go-ke and demanded.
"Come on then, let's just start!"
The game started with Hikaru playing black.
And as if a switch had been thrown, Hikaru's facial expression changed, his mind immediately shut off all outside interference. There was nothing around him except for the goban in front, and the presence of each and every go stones. Black, white, black, white… He threw all his focus into reading ahead the game. Every stone, every move counted. Laying traps, defending, attacking, connecting...
He didn't see the growing look of utter disbelief on his grandfather's face. He didn't see the strange glint in Sai's eyes as he continued placing down the stones.
He didn't even notice when Daisuke left to answer the phone and get a glass of water.
Very soon, the game ended when his grandfather admitting his loss in a faraway and small voice.
Hikaru saw that his grandpa's face was whiter than usual. Concerned for his grandpa's health (he was pretty old after all), Hikaru waved a hand in front of his grandpa's stunned face.
"Hey! Are you okay?"
Hikaru's waving seemed to have done the trick because his grandpa merely stared at both his grandsons some more, before shaking his head.
"Unbelievable..."
"Hey, grandpa! You said you'll give us the goban, remember? Since nii-chan beat you already, can we take the goban then go home?" Daisuke asked hopefully.
"Wha..? Oh right! The goban in the attic. It's said to be haunted you know... why don't you get this goban instead?" he persuaded, seemingly having forgotten that he wanted to play Daisuke again. Daisuke didn't seem inclined to remind him either.
At the word 'haunted', the Shindou twins instinctively glanced at Sai, who was currently looking curiously at the bookshelves.
"No, no. You said we'll have that goban. And we want that goban, right, nii-chan?" Daisuke added.
Hikaru nodded his head vigorously and added in his piece.
"You should honor your promise to your grandsons, old man!"
Heihachi Shindou's shoulders slumped and he sighed in defeat.
"All right all right... I'll bring the goban here since you two want it so much. But don't tell me I didn't warn you if some strange white ghost that loves to play Go jumps out at you..." he grumbled as he left the room.
Hikaru held his laughter in until his grandpa closed the door, then let it all out. Daisuke too, dissolved into peals of laughter as he looked at Sai.
Only Sai seemed to be left in the dark.
With a confused expression on his face, Sai just asked.
"What is so funny?"
Somehow, it only sent the Shindou twins laughing more.
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A/N: Wow, I didn't end off in a cliffhanger? I guess I ought to add another disclaimer here. I don't own Rock Man DASH, capcom does.
For a couple of days, I had this humongous writer's block, my laptop had been throwing tantrums, my homework went missing, etc. You get it; I was absolutely not pleased at all. Consider this chapter a gift by unknown forces of the world because my computer has mysteriously been fixed, my writer's block cleared, my homework appearing in places I swore I checked already.