Author's Note: Fuji Matsuri means wisteria festival. It is usually held in early may when the wisteria are in full bloom. The most popular being held in the Kameido shrine to the god Tenjin.

Chapter Three

Fuji Matsuri

Eight Months Later, May 5th...

Hikaru dreamt of being by a river under an ancient wisteria with the full moon hanging coldly in an inky black sky. It was the same dream he had for months now. The wind blew by, sweeping aside the curtain of violet blossoms, and he saw a figure in a white kariginu standing in the river. Hikaru's heart pounded every time he looked upon the familiar figure of Sai. He stared up at a cold full moon with tears flowing down his face like the river he stood in. Hikaru knew this painful scene playing out before his eyes. It was the night Sai committed suicide over a millennium ago.

Hikaru tried to run to Sai, but an invisible force always blocked his way. Hikaru yelled as loud as he could, but still Sai could never hear him. Sometimes Hikaru could see a bright crimson thread connecting their hands shining brightly in the darkness. Hikaru would tug on the string, and Sai would look around, as if looking for something he'd forgotten. The dream always ended the same way, Sai always drowned himself with Hikaru watching on helplessly.

Hikaru woke up from the dream in his grandfather's attic by Sai's goban. It had bloodstains on it again, but Sai never reappeared. Today was the fourth anniversary of Sai's disappearance. Since his graduation, he had been staying over with his grandfather, all in hopes of seeing Sai emerge from the bloodstained goban. He would end up falling asleep, using the Goban as a pillow. He was at a loss at what else he could do. Hikaru had first met Sai here in the attic, and emerged from this very same goban. It was only logical that Sai would come back the same way. Hikaru would wait every night if that's what it took. Any minute Sai would come out of that goban and things would go back to how they should be. Hikaru waited with determination burning in his green eyes.

As he looked down at the bloodstained goban, his determination burned out, and left desperation in its place. Hikaru did something for the first time he can remember: he prayed. Tears fell from Hikaru's eyes, and joined the stains of Sai's sorrow. "God, please give back Sai! I need him! Please help me! Give me a sign!"

Hikaru waited, and waited. He slumped back over the goban with his head hitting the wooden grid. The bloodstains on the goban were as clear as day to him, but no one else. Hikaru wondered if it was all in his head, and that Sai never existed at all. After all, Hikaru could find no solid proof that Sai was a real person. "Maybe I am crazy."

Then he heard a creak, and the sound of footsteps. Hikaru shot up, and shouted, "Sai!"

When Hikaru turned, his hopeful smile fell like porcelain. It was not Sai as he hoped to see, but his grandfather looming over him with a worried look on his face. "Hikaru? You've been hanging around that creepy goban for months, and I've lost count how many times I have discovered you sleeping up here, and screaming like someone was getting murdered. I'm starting to believe that my brother's old goban really is cursed."

Hikaru panicked and hugged the bloodstained goban protectively. "You're not going to get rid of this goban! I won't let you!"

Shindo Heihachi clicked his tongue, and looked affronted. "I would never do such a thing! Not only is it worth a lot of money, but its one of the few mementos I have of my brother. I'm getting you out of this house, and out of this dusty old attic. Come on, I'm taking you to the Fuji Matsuri. Some fresh air, and the smell of the wisteria in bloom will do you some good."

Hikaru protested. "I don't want to go look at some dumb flowers! Besides I'm supposed to meet Akira at the Go salon today."

Heihachi didn't budge. "Then invite him to come along. I just got off the phone with my brother's widow. She called me out of the blue, and invited us to see the wisteria at our family's shrine. The shrine is a hidden gem, not a whole lot of people know about it, so we won't have all of Tokyo breathing down our necks to see the wisteria." His grandfather grinned, and laid down the bait. "It's also said to be a Go shrine. It was used for centuries to hold Go tournaments."

Hikaru's ears pricked at the mention of Go, and relented. "So where is this shrine?"

His grandfather grinned ear to ear. "It's right here in Tokyo! I'll go make us some bentos!"

oOo

Akira looked less than pleased. "Hikaru, where have you dragged me to? When you said Fuji Matsuri, I thought you meant the one in the Kameido Shrine."

Hikaru shared Akira's displeasure. "My grandfather had said that this place was a hidden gem, but it looks like the "hidden" part was understated. Are you sure we're still in Tokyo, gramps?"

Heihachi grumbled back, "Yes, we're still in Tokyo! Well, technically speaking its on the line."

Heihachi had driven his grandson, and Touya Akira to the outskirts of Tokyo, and just outside the edge of what the two young men considered civilization. Besides thick vegetation, there was a road, a few scattered houses forming a rural suburb, and a small sign that promised that the shrine was somewhere in the looming forest up the hill. Hikaru stared ahead at a torii gate standing over old stone steps. The torii gate seemed to leer at them, daring the humans to cross its threshold into the sacred grounds consumed by the dark forest ahead.

Heihachi dashed on ahead and went through the torii gate. "Come on, kids! Don't dawdle!"

Akira sighed went up the stone steps. Hikaru paused for a moment as he walked under the torii gate, feeling like electricity ran up and down his spine. The forested hill the shrine rested on was wild, and very green. It was greener, and a lot more isolated than what a couple of teenagers living in Tokyo was used to. There were patches of green reserved for parks, and a few shrines, but none had the foreboding feel of a lonely wilderness that this shrine had.

The trees, most of which Hikaru recognized as Kaya, were very old and towered over all of them. Some of the larger Kaya trees had sacred rope tied around their thick trunks. Hikaru didn't believe in spirits before he met Sai, he quickly changed his opinion on the existence of such things the night he met him. He wondered if this forest was hiding a few, and if they were as friendly as Sai. Hikaru shivered, feeling like he was being watched. Hikaru wanted break the awkward silence, and the tension emanating from Akira. "So, gramps, did you say that my great uncle was a Kannushi?"

Heihachi hummed in agreement. "Yes. My brother, and I came from a long line of priests and priestesses. This was the family shrine, and it has been in the family for generations. Since my brother died, Fujiko, his wife had been taking care of it until someone in our family steps forward, but it doesn't look like that'll happen. My brother never had children, both your father, and uncle never had any interest in the shrine or Go, and your cousin is... well he's busy with other things."

Heihachi grumbled in disdain at the mention of Shindo Shuichi, Hikaru's cousin. Shuichi had more interest in his band, Bad Luck, and his boyfriend Yuki than running an old shrine. It was sad to say that Hikaru was the only one who still talked to him since Shuichi was disowned after dropping college to start a band, and finally openly dating a man, even if said man was a famed novelist. Hikaru had to silently thank his cousin for his part in meeting Sai. Hikaru had decided to hang out with his rockstar cousin the day before a social studies test. Not only did Hikaru come home with bleached bangs, but also an eight percent. His parents were absolutely furious, they had cut his allowance, and forced Hikaru to rummage through his grandfather's attic for money, and he came across a bloodstained goban. Needless to say, Hikaru made sure to buy all his cousin's albums as thanks for his small part in introducing him to Sai.

Hikaru wondered if this shrine was where Sai's goban sat before his grandfather stuffed it in his attic. The wind blew over Hikaru and carried the sweet spicy fragrance of wisteria, pulling Hikaru from his thoughts. He caught movement from the corner of his eye. When he turned, he saw a beautiful young woman in the forest carrying a long branch of wisteria. She had long purple hair, and wore a long sleeved kimono with a wisteria pattern on it. When she turned to glance at him, Hikaru froze when he got a good look at her face. She looked exactly like Sai. Hikaru started dashing toward her, and called out to her. "Sai! Come back!"

Hikaru was stopped when Akira put a hand on Hikaru's shoulder. Akira looked at Hikaru with wide eyes. "Who are you talking to? And you said Sai. Is it that Sai?"

Hikaru looked back at where the young woman who resembled Sai was only to discover that she was gone. He also noticed that his grandfather had wondered ahead. Hikaru was cornered. "Uh... No one. Definitely not that Sai!" Hikaru laughed nervously.

Akira crossed his arms. He wasn't going to be fooled this time. "Hikaru, I've known you for years, I'm your rival, and your friend. I know that you know who Sai was this entire time. I know you're connected to him somehow, I see him in your Go. Tell me the truth."

He sighed, he would try to be as vague as possible, but he needed to tell Akira at least part of the truth. He deserved at least that much. "Sai was my best friend, and Go teacher. He's gone now. He's been gone for four years this day. Its a very sore subject for me, and it was worst day in my life."

Akira was stunned. He suspected that maybe Hikaru was Sai's student, and now to hear of the passing of the mysterious Go legend was shocking. "Gone? What happened?"

Hikaru thought on what to say to Akira. He didn't want tell him that Sai was a ghost that followed him around like a puppy for two and half years. Instead Hikaru told Akira a part of the truth that he hoped would shut down the conversation. "Sai committed suicide. I was being a stupid selfish kid, and I wouldn't let him play. He never said good-bye to me. Can you not ask anymore? This a really painful subject for me."

Akira stayed silent, but his mind buzzed with a thousand questions he wanted so badly to voice. Hikaru wanted to tell Akira the whole truth, but he knew the other man would laugh it off the idea of a being taught by a thousand year old ghost. Hikaru wouldn't have believed himself if he hadn't lived through it. Hikaru felt something in his chest lighten, telling someone of the grief he had to silently carry for many years. Tears fell down his cheeks. Akira shocked Hikaru with a rare moment of warmth, and friendship, and pulled Hikaru into an awkward hug. "I'm sorry, Hikaru. I didn't know. Let's go to the shrine, and pray to the gods for Sai."

Hikaru sniffed, and nodded. They quickly parted from the uncomfortable hug and kept walking in awkward, but much lighter silence. It was rare moments like this that Hikaru remembered why he also considered Akira as a friend as well as his rival. "Thanks, Akira."

The shrine finally came into sight. It was larger than what Hikaru expected, but nowhere near as grand as some of the most well known shrines in other parts of Tokyo. It looked a little abandoned. It gave Hikaru the creeps. Akira voiced Hikaru's thought. "This place is creepy."

"You're late, Hikaru!"

An old woman's voice from behind Hikaru nearly jumped out of his skin. He turned around to see an obscenely old woman wearing the red hakama, and white haori of a shrine maiden. Hikaru guessed that this old bat must be his great uncle's widow, Fujiko. She smiled in a grandmotherly sort of way. "My how you've grown! I haven't seen you since you were a infant!" Her gaze slid toward Akira. "You brought a friend! And what handsome friend, too!"

Akira balked at the flirtatious gaze the old woman had directed at him. Hikaru tried to stifle his laughter, and failed. Hikaru was beginning to like this old woman. Hikaru saw his grandfather wave at them from under a tree. "Hikaru, Touya-kun! What took you kids so long?"

The old miko who seemingly popped out of nowhere chatted with Hikaru's grandfather. They chatted like old friends, and introductions were made. Hikaru's earlier guess was right, the old woman was the shrine's miko. Fujiko gave Hikaru the same look Hikaru gave spruce gobans labeled as "geniune Kaya". Finally the old woman smiled, and exclaimed. "You've been touched by a spirit! I can see its footprints on your soul! And quite a powerful spirit to leave footprints this deep, perhaps not a spirit, but a god?" She gave Hikaru a sly grin he had only seen in salesmen. "Perhaps the gods have marked you to be a kannushi?"

Hikaru's heart was pounding. He wondered if the old miko saw traces of Sai on him. Heihachi laughed. "You laid that same line on my son, he didn't become a kannushi, and neither will my grandson. He's a seventh dan, and might take the title of Honinbo this year!" Heihachi puffed up his chest as he bragged about his grandson.

Fujiko snorted. "All the more reason he should be this shrine's kannushi. It was a popular place to play Go, and a Shindo having the title of Honinbo will breathe new life into it."

Akira resisted the urge to chortle, and instead hid his amusement with a polite smile. "Hikaru will have many obstacles in taking the Honinbo title, Fujiko-san. Not only is Kuwabara Honinbo a tough opponent, but he will face me as well. I will look forward to that match, and I wish him luck."

Hikaru was never polite, nor one with tact. He growled at Akira. "I won't need luck beating you with the predictable way you play!"

Heihachi intervened before it could devolve into a grade school fight. He was no stranger to his grandson, and Akira's fights. "Come on you two, we came to see the wisteria, and play a little Go! Why don't you two settle your differences on the goban?"

Fujiko smiled and chuckled. "Come on, boys! The only sight more beautiful than yours truly is the wisteria here!"

Hikaru snorted, and quietly grumbled. "It doesn't take much to outstrip your beauty-"

Akira cut off Hikaru with a painful elbow to the gut. Unfortunately the old woman heard Hikaru and soundly whacked him on the head. "You brat! I'll have you know that I am the most beautiful flower of this shrine!"

Heihachi laughed. "She's right Hikaru, my brother was a lucky man to win the heart of the most beautiful girl in town! She must have turned down a hundred marriage offers back in the day!"

Hikaru wondered if said town was an extremely small village populated by ogres, but he wisely kept that to himself. Fujiko giggled at Heihachi's flattery. "Thank you Heihachi!" Then she glared at Hikaru. "At least someone around here appreciates my beauty! Now come on, the wisteria is this way."

Heihachi slapped his palm against his forehead. "Oh! I forgot our bento boxes! I'll meet you three under the wisteria tree, I gotta go back to the car, and get our lunches."

Heihachi ran back to the car, while Hikaru and Akira followed the old miko to the other side of the shrine. She led them down a stone path with stone lanterns, and a great variety of flowers lining either side of the path. The small path was surrounded by old pine trees with many wisteria vines embracing their thick trunks. The sight of pinks, blues, and violets of the wisteria merging with the green of the forest was breathtaking. The wisteria thickened, and then Hikaru heard the sound of running water from the nearby river. Then they saw the thick gnarled trunk of an ancient wisteria tree with a sacred rope tied around its trunk, it looked well over a century old. This was a sacred place. Farther downhill from the wisteria tree was a river. Hikaru gasped at the sight, not just because of its beauty, but also its familiarity. It was the same place that haunted Hikaru's dreams.

Hikaru ran to the tree in desperation and hope, looking for a figure in a black tate-eboshi and a white kariginu. His heart clenched when he could find Sai here. Though he did find something beside the wisteria. It was a small, and very old looking stone shrine, fenced off with a sacred rope, and much of it engulfed by wisteria vines. The only legible writing was the word "Fuji" with the rest overtaken by wisteria. Hikaru was stepping over the rope to look closer, but a wrinkled hand grabbed his wrist in an almost painful grip. Hikaru looked up to see Fujiko glaring at him with icy violet-blue eyes that for a splint second reminded Hikaru of Sai. Fujiko growled low at him. "Do not touch it! This is a grave. You will disturb the spirit it houses. It is restless enough as it is."

Hikaru's eyes widened. "Whose grave is it?"

Fujiko shrugged. "No one knows for certain. It has been here since this shrine was built in the Edo period. It was put here by your ancestor, and Honinbo Shusaku. The Go legend had some old grave from Kyoto moved here, apparently the old grave site was going to be the site of a new building. Rumor has it is that its the grave of some Fujiwara noble from the Heian period. What interest Shusaku would have in some long dead noble, I have no idea."

Hikaru's eyes widened. His heart was pounding and his fists were shaking. Akira, and Fujiko chatted away about the shrine's Go history stemming from Honinbo Shusaku visiting this shrine, but Hikaru paid them no attention. Hikaru's sole focus was the old stone grave in front of him with most of the name hidden by vines, leaving Fuji as the single clue. Hikaru knew in his heart what the rest of the characters might be. "Fujiwara no Sai."

Akira, and Fujiko stopped mid-sentence to regard the name Hikaru had dropped. Akira asked Hikaru, "What did you say?"

Hikaru kept staring at the grave in front of him, knowing the name most of the moss obscured. "That's who is buried here. Fujiwara no Sai. A Go master from the Heian period, and once the emperor's Go tutor, one of two. Fujiwara no Sai lost against the other Go tutor in a game to see who would get to keep their position in the palace. The other Go tutor cheated and accused Sai for what he had done. Sai lost, was branded a cheater, and committed suicide by drowning himself in a nearby river. His spirit still wanted to play Go so badly, and he still wanted to obtain the Divine Move. Sai's prayer was answered when a kind boy named Torajiro let Sai let him continue to play Go through him since Sai's ghost couldn't touch the Go stones anymore. Torajiro became a famous with Sai's skill, and changed his name to Shusaku."

Fujiko's face held no expression. Akira looked worried for a moment then laughed a little. "Hikaru? Are you trying to scare me? Ghost stories are only effective when told at night, not when its sunny and bright like this. I admit you almost had me."

Hikaru without warning he jumped over the sacred rope, and clawed at the vines clinging to the grave. Ripping the wisteria vines off whiles ignoring Fujiko's protests. Then Hikaru stopped and stared at the name written in stone. Hikaru was not the only one. Akira gasped at what was written there: Fujiwara-no-Sai.

oOo

Author's Corner: Again thank you for reading and please review!