He was still a fifteen year old boy, but he could definitely pass for a girl.
Hikaru wanted to blame it on his feminine features, his small chin, pert nose and big eyes. That way, when she justified their uncanny resemblance, it meant that he was girly, not that she was manly or anything.
They had decided on one of Hikaru's five shirts—she was so dismayed to find that he fit rather well in it. Was she really that flat?—and a pair of long cargo shorts.
As Sai watched himself in the mirror, so surprised with how much he looked like Hikaru, the young girl was bemoaning her stick-like legs, and thin, ungirly body from the corner of the room.
"I mean, I always knew I was kind of boyish…and before I met you, I would have taken that as a compliment! But now…" She kicked the back of her chair, dressed in hospital garb, looking at her black and blue knees sticking out from the end of the gown.
"I—" Sai flushed, studying his now dyed hair in the mirror. "I don't really know if this is a good idea…"
"C'mon Sai!" Hikaru leapt from her chair to walk into the bathroom with him.
The two of them looked like twins, blonde bangs cut right above the eyes, big eyes (although, his were amethyst and hers were emerald) and long hair. Of course, she had on some ugly paste-green hospital gown, and he was dressed as a questionable girl-boy. But seeing him blink at her in the mirror really sent her reeling.
They really weren't related?
"How long have you been waiting to go outside?" She reasoned with him. "To play Go—
"I can't even hold the stones properly!" Sai protested exasperatedly. "This is a bad idea. Let's change back…"
"No!" Hikaru insisted. "It'll just be for a few hours, anyway. And you can come right back! The hospital doesn't close 'till nine, anyway…"
Hikaru mentally groaned.
She had sort of assumed that Sai's intense need to see the outside world would sort of over power his goody-two-shoes outlook on life—she was wrong. They seemed pretty neck and neck. She had been playing the devil's advocate for most of the afternoon, and she had succeeded in getting Sai to grudgingly admit that he really did want to go to a Go Salon at least once more—and then from there she just had to get him to cut his hair (that was a hassle) and dye his bangs (even more of a hassle) and try on some clothes.
Now…just a little more…
"You know," She said evilly. "I heard of this guy, Touya Akira—he's my age. They say he's the new up and coming thing. His father's the Meijin—
"Touya Meijin!" Sai exclaimed. "Of course I've heard of him! But I didn't know he had a son…"
"Anyway," Hikaru interrupted with an eye roll. Sai was so predictable. "His dad's got a salon near my, uh—near my dentist—and they say he hangs around there a lot." By they, she meant Waya and Isumi, and by dentist, she meant Go tutor. But Sai wouldn't know the difference.
"Really?" He breathed.
Ah, hook and sinker.
Sai might be really mature like a fifty-year old man, and he might know that it was dangerous to leave the hospital walls, and they could get in all sorts of trouble, and it was a totally immature and irresponsible thing to do—but hey, he was a fifteen year old boy, too. A poor kid stuck in this ugly little hospital room for the unforeseeable future. And that sucked a hell of a lot more then staring down the nose of the hospital's dean of medicine.
And he also was a sucker for talent.
And, from what she had heard about the studious, nerdy Touya Akira, he was nothing but pure talent.
"Really." She nodded.
The door opened then, and the nurse walked in.
"Sai-chan? Hikaru-chan? Where are you—
She turned the corner into the bathroom, where the two teenagers stood sheepishly.
She looked nonplussed. "What are you doing out of bed?" She began imperiously.
It took Hikaru a moment to realize that the woman was staring straight at her—the one in the hospital gown. "Well…" She gulped. "I was—I was just uh—
Nurse Brenda almost fainted when she caught sight of Hikaru's hair, pointing wildly at her blonde fringe. "Sai! What on God's green Earth did you do to your hair? Is this what you two troublemakers have been up to? Oh… when Doctor Takahashi hears of this…"
"I'm sorry!" Sai stepped up, looking and sounding pitifully like Hikaru. "It's my fault! I was trying to make Sai more, ahem, fashionable—
Hikaru sent him a skewering look for his whiny voice and faux gasping. She did not act like that.
"—And he always said he liked my hair… so…" Sai looked down, doing a rather admirable impression of her crestfallen look. "I just wanted him to be a little normal…"
Nurse Brenda's eyes softened as she took in the two, as what she saw to be a close friendship between a young ward and an adorable little girl. "Alright." She sighed. "But get back in bed Sai. I don't want you over-exerting yourself."
Hikaru nodded numbly, and trudged back into the bed.
Her face went a little green as the Nurse hooked her onto the heart monitor, and Sai gave her a sympathetic look as she squeamishly wiggled on the bed.
"And you, Shindou-san," She turned around. "Don't you have somewhere to be? I thought you said you were only staying until one—it's almost three now. You're parents must be worried."
Sai startled at the attention, rubbing the back of his head. "Uh—yeah… I'll be back after dinner though!"
The nurse rolled her eyes.
"No more trouble now, you two." She said over her shoulder as she exited, grabbing her clipboard and shutting the door.
Hikaru started wheezing. "She stabbed my arm!" Said the girl with a crazed look. "This thing is like, freaking itchy…"
Sai wavered at the foot of the bed, shifting his weight between Hikaru's beat up striped trainers. "If you want to switch back—
"Hell no!" She cried aloud.
Sai gave her that, 'don't-use-that-language' look, but Hikaru ignored it.
"We did not just go through all of this for you to get cold feet!" She leaned over the bed, to where all of her stuff was gathered on a table near the bed. She grabbed a hat—of course, with the number 5—and threw it at Sai, who caught it with a fumble.
He tucked most of his long hair into it, looking even more like a boy now.
"There we go." She smiled triumphantly at his new visage. "Now that really completes the look."
"So you'll be okay for a couple hours?" Sai asked unsteadily.
Hikaru nodded, propping her feet up on the bar at the end of the bed. "Course! Your TV's got like, a bajillion channels."
Sai didn't look convinced, but Hikaru shooed him out anyway.
It was strange, making his way through the corridors without being hooked up to a machine, no Nurse guiding him through with a petulant voice. No one made a fuss when he crossed into the main lobby, didn't steer away from the double doors of freedom. Instead, the clerk at the front desk waved him goodbye, and he waved back.
The sun was warm, as it was when he felt it on his cheeks. But it was different—more real—without a window to block it out. Everything felt real, like his time in that singular room was just a dream.
This loud, colorful life outside the hospital was the real world, the screeching of cars and the yelping of children as they ran by, balloons in the sky and changing leaves on the trees.
He wanted to run right through the cross walk, take a big jump back onto the sidewalk and kick the fire hydrant a couple times, but he held himself back. He was still Fujiwara Sai, physically ill patient, with a serious heart condition. The last thing he needed was for him to actually trigger some sort of reaction and die out here.
Instead, he boarded the train station, intent on following Hikaru's directions to the Meijin's Go Salon. Even if he didn't manage to find Touya Akira there, he could still enjoy a couple hours with he patrons.
The metro was much like it was a few years ago, but Sai relished the rustle of people, the almost closterphobic closeness to the fellow riders, and the abominable stench that presided deeply near the trashcans. Most of this would have bothered him at one point in his life, but now, he only closed his eyes and smiled, basking in the freedom of public transportation.
Sai was ridiculously giddy by the time he had made it to the front of the building in which the salon was located.
It had been quite a long time since he had played go—and even though he spent most of his days watching games on the television, or thinking about strategies, or even reading books on Go, he hadn't actually had a chance to play go in such a long time that it actually made him mournful to think of all the time lost.
His greatest ambition—the hand of god—was still looming there, far in the distance, away from his reaching fingers.
He couldn't thank Hikaru enough for the opportunity to further his dream.
Sai adjusted the cap on his head, tucking his hair in and studying himself in a passing window reflection as he made his way to the elevator. He certainly could pass for a boy, with the loose shirt and the cargo pants. But he had to admit, he did sort of have a girl face.
The thought depressed him for a split second, until the electronic doors to the Meijin's Go Salon opened, and he almost felt his heart really, seriously give out.
The clatter of Go stones on the goban was sort of like a dull thrumming music, the smell of the wood, and the itching feeling of finally being where he wanted to sort of overwhelmed him for a moment, and the redhead posing as the clerk of the Salon paused in refilling the tea.
"Oh, hello there!" She smiled, the grin not faltering even when she noted how young he was, as if she was used to younger than usual customers. "Can I help you?"
"Yeah, uh, I'm looking to play a game…" He began awkwardly, suddenly unsure of what to do.
She nodded, brushing her polka-dotted apron and leaned over the counter. "Write your name down here. Is this your first time here?"
Sai nodded slowly. "I'm not really sure what I'm supposed to be doing…"
"Oh, well write down your go level here."
Sai peered at the list closely. He supposed that, as Sai, he should perhaps put 1K, but since he was posing as Hikaru, should he put 30K? Would it even matter? He doubted a girl like Hikaru would ever frequent a Go Salon in her lifetime, so perhaps it actually didn't matter…
"Do you not know?" The shopkeeper asked, a bit unsurprised. It was probably his youthful appearance. She grabbed another pencil and penned in 30K for him. "That's alright, a lot of first time players don't understand the rating. Don't worry about it."
Sai grumbled silently. First time player?
But instead of saying anything aloud, he only nodded silently.
"I'm glad some of the younger generation is taking an interest in Go!" The clerk said with a smile. "You'd be surprised at how many kids your age have been in here lately. Gosh, its surprising…" She looked at him shrewdly. "Actually, you look a bit familiar…"
Sai paled. Had she seen Hikaru at a grocery store? Maybe she was her math teacher? Babysitter? Next door neighbor? As Sai had a slight mini panic, unsure of how he was supposed to act on, he immediately noticed a young boy sitting by himself at a goban.
"Oh!" He exclaimed, jogging the woman out of thought. "He looks young! Can I play him?"
This seemed to effectively loosen the woman off of her trail of thought, as she immediately floundered to come up with the right words. "Oh—He, uh, well he's not really a beginner, uh…"
But the young boy had already noticed that Sai had been talking about him, and stood from his chair to walk over to them.
"Looking for an opponent?" Said the green haired boy with a smile. "I'll play you."
"Oh—but Akira-kun!" The woman, now identified as Ichikawa by her nametag glistening in the lighting, began with a bit of panic. "He's not—
Sai grinned with exhilaration. So this was the Touya Akira that Hikaru was talking about—the son of the Meijin. He would be, at least, an intrigue to play.
Before Ichikawa could effectively warn Akira away from playing a "beginner" Sai intervened. "Hi!" He chirped, as he imagined Hikaru would. "I'm Shindou Hikaru. I'm in sixth grade!" …Even to him posing as a girl in grade school, that sounded a bit stupid.
"Touya Akira, I'm in sixth grade too!" The boy introduced himself. "Why don't we go to the back?"
"Wah—hold on!" Ichikawa waved him over. "You haven't paid yet! It's 500 to play!"
Sai gaped. Prices sure had gone up since he had last been in a go salon. Would he have enough for the subway back to the hospital?
"This is his first time, right?" Said Akira pleasantly. "Why don't we give him a break?"
Ichikawa swooned. "Ah, well, if Akira says so…"
"Thanks!" Sai replied good naturedly. Hah, so being seen as an amateur had paid off…
As the two settled down, Akira smiled at him. Sai studied his face, hopefully not too intensely. He didn't look very much like the Meijin. However, not seeing the man in his youth, Sai really had no way to judge. He had met the man once at a convention, back when Sai was still zealous (although really, he still was) over his passion, and dedicated to becoming a professional after college, and perhaps after convincing his parents. The hospital ward wondered if perhaps that dream could have ever come true.
He supposed he'd never find out.
"So how good are you?" Akira asked conversationally.
Keeping up appearances, Sai answered, "I'm not sure. But I'm pretty strong, I think."
Huh. That sounded like something Hikaru would say.
"Not sure, but strong?" Akira laughed. "Ah, well why don't you put four or five stones down?"
Against a child younger then him? Sai flushed, but bit his tongue. No, it wouldn't do to say that, not while posing as Hikaru, anyhow. "I don't need a handicap." He pointed out, as naively as possible. "We're the same age!"
"Uh—"flabbergasted, and obviously not used to dealing with kids his age, Akira blinked. "Well… okay…"
Behind them, a couple of old men chuckled over Sai's supposed naivety.
"Okay, why don't you go first."
"Sure, I'll be black." He could say anything to that without giving something away.
He dipped his hand in the bowl, suddenly worried. His hand was shaking, and holding the stones between his the tips of his fingers caused such a strain he switched to his thumb with a certain amount of sorrow. It seemed he'd never be able to hold them as he used to…
"Forgive me," Sai said before he placed the first stone down, already aware of his physical handicap. "I play a bit slow."
He noticed Akira's face twitch at the way he hold the stones, as if figuring out how deeply of a beginner he was. Sai could only hope the boy wouldn't play easier because of it. It wouldn't do to waste his day out on an easy game.
No, perhaps he wasn't.
As the game progressed, Akira seemed more and more surprised with his expert play, and, much to Sai's pleasure, realized with no amount of small shock that Sai had been leading the game the whole time. The boy had potential, and there was nothing Sai valued more in the world then that. There were thousands of professionals who spent years honing their skill, and Sai would much rather play Akira then any of them, if only to be able to predict what Akira would be able to do in the future.
He broke off from skillfully maneuvering the upper corner out of Akira's clutches, and placed a stone off on the other side, as a way to see how Akira would react.
Akira noticed it as a way of measuring his ability, and paled.
—
"All done?" The redhead chirped from where she was chatting to a bald headed customer as Sai walked past.
"Yup!" He nodded, adjusting his cap some more. He felt as if the long ends of his hair were always slipping out.
"So? How was it?" She smiled congenially.
"I guess it's too early for me to play people." Sai sighed, attempting to flex his sore hands. He hadn't even held them correctly, holding the stones limp between his thumb and forefinger, and yet they were shaking considerably and ached. "I'm really slow and now I'm worn out!"
Ichikawa gave him a sympathetic look, as if she expected that all along. "Oh, I know!" She clapped her hands.
She pulled out a flier from underneath her desk. "This is for a Children's Go Tournament next week! Some of the strongest kids around the country will be there."
Sai blinked at it with intense longing. He'd love to see children with a passion for the game… but… next week he'd be having physical therapy, and would be switching on to a new antibiotic. He'd most likely be too swamped with doctors to even attempt escaping.
"I'll think about it." He voiced aloud, instead of his actual fears and concerns. "Well, thanks a lot for today!"
"Please come again!"
As the door slid shut, he could hear the bald man saying, "Ah, to compete against Touya-sensei.. he's fifty years too early!"
Sai smirked to himself.
