AN: Thanks to reviewers arkzero, Vein's Simply Tired, and Misha for their kind comments in the last chapter. With regards to Misha's comment about how Saki is "dark" in this fic, I see it as her dark outlook in life, which is reflected in the dark style of her mahjong. As alluded by Awai in the first chapter of this short story, Saki no longer uses rinshan kaihou, which is a stark contrast to her canon character as of chapter 151 of the manga (where Saki says that she can compromise on anything else about her play style, but just not rinshan kaihou, which as we know from her flashback with Teru is because Teru told her the meaning of the yaku is the same as Saki's name, that of blooming flowers). So Saki's mahjong in this story is not only merciless, but rather, hopeless, which is what I meant by Saki's darkness. Of course, resolving her issues with Teru would take more than this short little mahjong game, although indeed, mahjong is going to take on a major role in the process as a vehicle of expression for the siblings. This current chapter is just mahjong (hopefully I didn't make a silly mistake somewhere...), but hopefully the game description gets across some of the characters' inner thoughts. The game got a little too long, so I think I'll have to extend this short story to a five-chapter run instead of the original four. Anyway, thanks for reading! Please enjoy! Comments on your impressions and any suggestions would be appreciated. I'll try to update the next chapter on January 1st, New Years Day.

3) The Black Lily's Reflection (Dark!Saki/Teru)

Part Three

Haramura Nodoka 23500
Miyanaga Saki 25500
Takei Hisa 26500
Miyanaga Teru 23500

East 2 - Dealer Miyanaga Saki

Hisa felt a chill behind her. So this was the famous mirror, huh? She wondered what else did Miyanaga Teru see besides what could be extracted from the detailed play records of her matches from the past couple of years. But more than anything, she pondered what was it that she saw about Saki, who remained unfazed as she reached over to start picking her tiles for East 2. Hisa followed suit, then Teru, Nodoka, and back to Saki again until she picked the last two tiles and the rest the last tile of their starting hand.

Hisa flipped open her tiles and arranged them. Yikes. Without Nodoka dealing, her hand was an utter mess. If only she had one more terminal or characters tile, she could force a redraw because of the kyuushukyuuhai rule, not that that would help much seeing as Hisa's luck was usually abysmal.

Should she go for a chanta? Or hold onto the tiles that could possibly get her a quick yakuhai triplet? Or should she just go "fuck it" and bail from the start? Considering Saki was dealer, and her sister was obviously going head on against her, those two monster players were likely to win before the first row of tiles appeared on their respective discard piles. The "fuck it" option was looking more and more appealing by the second.

But that wouldn't be Takei Hisa's style, eh? She grinned as Saki discarded her first tile - if she couldn't achieve a win by herself, how about she pitched in an effort in deciding this siblings rivalry?

Rather than discarding Teru's seat wind, west, she first dumped a 9-wan. She was planning on waiting a couple turns in case Teru managed to collect a pair, then discarding it would give her the yakuhai triplet. But such a plan was naive. In the next turn, Saki followed suit with a 9-wan discard, slipping it into her pile sideways.

"Riichi."

Damn, riichi on the second turn? And considering Saki's exceptional perception, it was possible that she was aiming for an ippatsu too. Well, then what was most important was first breaking this possibility. Hisa took the risk and discarded a 5-wan in hopes Teru could make use of it.

"Chii."

3, 4, 5-wan sequence. Hisa smiled. Not only did this break Saki's ippatsu, but would also shift her winning tile to Hisa's hands if she intended to tsumo. Teru discarded a 1-sou, Nodoka her seat wind north, and Saki drawing and discarding 1-pin.

Alright. Hisa drew in a 2-sou. Was this the tile Saki waited for? In that case, 2-sou and 5-sou would both be quite dangerous, not that Hisa had a 5-sou. The honours tiles would probably be comparatively safer. Hisa discarded her own seat wind, south, which being Saki's guest wind, would not give her yaku even if she had a triplet of it. There would be no reason for her to keep a pair and wait on it, right?

"Ron. 2000."

Triplet of south, 2, 2, 7, 8, 9-sou, 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7-pin. Riichi. Dealer 1-han 40-fu hand for 2000 points. So she had a double wait of south and 2-sou, rather than waiting on 2, 5-sou to complete a sequence? That was unexpected.

So Saki was going for speed over a large hand, huh? It was the correct strategy for a dealer, and would be especially effective against her sister. Hisa couldn't help but approve while handing over her points.

Saki also retrieved the riichi sticks from this round and the last. The current standings were:

Haramura Nodoka 23500
Miyanaga Saki 28500
Takei Hisa 24500
Miyanaga Teru 23500

East 2 Bonus Round 1

"Kan."

It was the second turn, and Saki had already called a closed quad of 8-pin. Hisa had a bad feeling about this. Saki's kan, if not used for rinshan kaihou, often also brought her effective tiles from the dead wall. Indeed, her draw was placed into her hand and she discarded a 9-sou. Hisa drew and discarded, her hand still far from complete. She wondered how her shimocha was doing.

Hisa still felt that chill from the first East 2 round and was tempted to look backwards to see if the mirror was still there. It couldn't be, right? Miyanaga Teru's mirror was supposed to disappear shortly after it was called.

Teru looked closely at her draw, set it into her hand, and discarded a 8-sou.

"Pon!" Hisa called, taking it. Her hand this round looked more like a chanta hand too, and with both 7-sou and 9-sou in her hand, she had intended on discarding the extra 8-sou she didn't need. But considering she had to stop Saki from drawing, the best way would probably be calling pon as she was Saki's shimocha. As a result, she found herself discarding 7-sou after calling the 8-sou triplet.

Teru drew and discarded. Nodoka discarded a 1-pin, her hand constructed around a souzu hon'itsu.

"Pon!" Hisa called again. She hadn't expected to advance her hand in this way, but perhaps she should really bet her chances on a toitoi. At any rate, at least she was slowing down Saki's speed by preventing her draws. She still had another pair, a 3-pin, but how could she also make a pon on this?

She discarded a 4-pin. She wasn't sure if that sent the message across. Considering she pon'ed off the 1-pin, it was unlikely she would go for a 1, 2, 3-pin sequence. Now that she discarded a 4-pin, it made the odds of her going for a 2, 3, 4-pin, 3, 4, 5-pin, or 4, 5, 6-pin sequence unlikely either. Furthermore, Saki had already declared a closed quad of 8-pin, so 6, 7, 8-pin, and 7, 8, 9-pin sequences were impossible. If Hisa still held onto any pinzu, then it was likely a pair, awaiting a triplet.

Then again, such message was a little vague, right? She could just hope that her shimocha would consider her 4-pin discard at this point odd enough to warrant some additional thoughts. But even if she could deduce Hisa still held a pinzu pair, would she figure out which one it was? Furthermore, would she really be holding the third tile?

Teru drew in a tile, and then played a 3-pin.

"Pon!" Hisa took it and lined it by the side. Three open triplets! Unfortunately, she had no more sequences or pairs. The rest of her tiles were so random she struggled not to smile bitterly at them. She dumped a north wind.

Teru drew again. She had had more chances to draw than her sister, so Hisa could only speculate her hand was coming together this time. Her next discard was not called, and Nodoka drew again. After a quick moment of pondering, Nodoka discarded a west wind despite her hon'itsu plan.

Either she was bailing, or she felt that waiting on a guest wind was not worth it now that Hisa's hand looked so close to complete.

"Pon," Teru called, taking the tile. The west wind triplet gave her yakuhai. That and she successfully slowed down Saki's draw once again.

Nodoka drew and discarded another time, and finally Saki made her draw. Hisa noted how calm Saki's countenance was - certainly a whole lot different from the time during the 71st IH when she often looked on the verge of tears after such interruption. Her growth should be something Hisa was proud of, but somehow, she felt that this wasn't exactly the growth she wanted to see.

Saki wasn't looking calm because she was emotionally strong now. She merely knew such interference would not make a difference against her crushing power in the end.

She made a 5-sou discard.

"Pon."

Again!? This time it was Nodoka. So many pon in a single round made Hisa widen her eyes in surprise. Then again, it was quite obvious both Miyanaga siblings were using their keen senses of the tile mountains to purposefully feed the others.

Nodoka discarded, then Saki drew again. Like last time, she didn't even look, just tossing the tile away. 6-sou.

"Pon."

Nodoka made another pon. Saki had guessed correctly Nodoka was going for a souzu hon'itsu hand, possibly also with an iipeikou previously, but since Hisa's discard of 7-sou and her subsequent quick advancement of her hand through pon, Nodoka leaned towards not keeping her hand closed to fulfill the iipeikou not only because her chances of drawing two 7-sou had diminished, but also self-drawing either a pair of 4-sou or 7-sou would be far too slow. So after opening her hand with a 5-sou pon, she further called a pon on Saki's 6-sou. With two open triplets, she might even switch towards a simple toitoi, disregarding her initial hon'itsu intentions.

But why did Saki have to feed Nodoka? Just so she would quit her hon'itsu? That didn't make sense. To give herself more draws? But both the 5-sou and 6-sou she drew in, she discarded immediately. Then what was missing?

Ah! Hisa looked at her shimocha, who closed her eyes while Saki drew and announced.

"Tsumo. Menzen-tsumo, dora 1, 1st bonus round, 1400 all."

Could it be that Saki intentionally fed Nodoka those two pon in order to take what was supposed to be Teru's winning tile - the red 5-wan?

Her winning hand was 3, 3, 3, 4, 5, 5, 6, 7-wan, closed quad of 8-pin, 1, 2, 3-sou with a wide wait on 2, 4, 5, 7, 8-wan. The wide wait allowed her to stealth tenpai rather than declare riichi even when she had no other yaku, and she was able to tsumo with the tile her sister was waiting for.

Even if she didn't, it was without doubt she would've kept the 5-wan so Teru couldn't win. Without declaring riichi, she would've been able to restructure her hand and continue interrupting Teru's win as needed.

Haramura Nodoka 22100
Miyanaga Saki 32700
Takei Hisa 23100
Miyanaga Teru 22100

East 2 Bonus Round 2

This was not looking good. Hisa felt as though Nodoka and herself walked into the wrong universe or something - her hands were far too slow to complete compared to the two monsters on the table! As for the Miyanaga siblings, Hisa wasn't sure if Saki's or Teru's hands were faster. At any rate, they both held the ability to win within the first 6 discards. But Teru's usual defense by seeing into her opponents' souls was probably quite pointless against Hisa and Nodoka. Hisa's hands never reached the point that she had to contemplate waiting on which tile, while Nodoka's style was so digital in nature that magic mirror or not, one could calculate her moves by the laws of probability. That left Saki, who Hisa confessed after the past couple of years, had probably discarded every last remnant of the style she used to conform to. It sometimes seemed like she had no special ability, sometimes like she had every ability ever seen on a mahjong table. If there were a core to be defined about her powers, it was probably her capability of sensing the tiles on the mountains, and accurately predicting her opponents' hands.

And she did have an advantage in the second department over her older sibling, being Nodoka's and Hisa's teammate for so many years. Miyanaga Teru might be powerful, but it was much more difficult for her to harness the strength Hisa was trying to lend her - or was she even trying in the first place?

Four turns in. Saki was the only one who had opened her hand with a chii of 2, 3, 4-wan. Nodoka discarded a 5-sou, followed by Saki drawing in a chun and declaring a closed kan. Hisa swallowed hard when Saki reached for the dead wall, but she just played the 7-wan tile. So it wasn't a rinshan kaihou, huh? Well, it wasn't like Saki had used one in ages. Still, Hisa couldn't get rid of the habit of holding her breath whenever Saki made a kan.

The new dora indicator was a 1-sou, making 2-sou the new dora. Hisa was readying her hand for a pinzu hon'itsu, so as much as she'd like to keep the 2-sou dora, she thought it safest to discard it right after Nodoka's 5-sou discard, just in case anybody was holding onto 3-sou, 4-sou.

"Ron."

It was Saki.

Closed quad of chun, 2, 2, 3, 4, 5-sou, 2, 3, 4-pin, and an opened sequence of 2, 3, 4-wan.

She was waiting on 2-sou and 5-sou?

But wait...she played the rinshanpai. So she must have already been at tenpai when Nodoka discarded the 5-sou. But why did she not ron against her? Winning on the 5-sou instead of the 2-sou would've given her a sanshoku hand in addition to the yakuhai to give her a 2900 points win, plus the 600 points renchan bonus.

Was it so she could open the kan-dora 2-sou? Now her hand became a 3-han yakuhai, dora 2, for 11600 points, plus the 600 points renchan bonus.

So she gave up winning on Nodoka to win on Hisa instead so she could have a larger hand, created by the kan-dora? Considering the hands of East 2, first being 1-han 40-fu 2000 points, to 2-han 40-fu 1400-all, to this hand of 3-han 60-fu 12200 points...wasn't this looking awfully like...

Teru's staircase to heaven?

Haramura Nodoka 22100
Miyanaga Saki 44900
Takei Hisa 10900
Miyanaga Teru 22100

East 2 Bonus Round 3

Just after the last round, Hisa finally couldn't help glance to the side to see whether the mirror was still there. The chill she felt before hadn't ceased since the beginning of East 2, but what met her eyes wasn't the concrete-looking mirror she had expected, but rather, it was translucent and flickered. Of course, she knew it wasn't really a physical mirror after all, rather an illusion due to Teru's power of influence, but still, this surprised her. It was certainly not what the pros who had played with the former IH champion had said about her.

Was this why Miyanaga Teru's play today felt oddly strange? Neither Hisa nor Nodoka had ever played her on the table, so it was hard for them to draw a comparison, but just from Teru's previous record, it seemed as though her current style lacked her past dominance.

It was true that playing against the new Saki was probably a lot more difficult than many of her past opponents, but that wasn't quite it...and the mirror that still hovered faintly behind them was an indication that Hisa's hypothesis wasn't unfounded.

It was already the seventh turn. If one could visualize the psychological pressure the two monster players were exerting on the table, the table would've literally cracked. Nodoka was obviously unaffected, playing as though she were facing a cold, hard computer monitor, but Hisa was not so lucky, feeling her breath robbed away. She was pretty darn sure both siblings were either already at tenpai or awfully close, but as usual, her hand was still not coming together.

"Wish I were a little stronger..." she muttered under her breath, dumping a west wind. Saki raised her gaze, calling.

"Pon."

She took Hisa's tile and lined it to the side with another pair that was already in her hand. Opening her hand with a guest wind triplet? What did this mean?

She discarded a 3-sou. Hisa drew in a 8-sou, dumped 9-sou, going for a tanyao. Teru drew and discarded 3-pin.

Nodoka also made her draw and discard, and it was Saki's turn again. She drew in a tile, set it into her hand, then took another tile from her hand and slipped it onto the table.

"Kan."

She was adding a west wind to the pon she made off Hisa's tile. So she opened her hand just to get a kan? If Nodoka were still as persistent as she used to be, she would've frowned at such a move. Why not keep a closed triplet instead of calling a kan? It was actually a question Hisa pondered too, because Saki no longer used rinshan kaihou.

And yes, Saki drew in the rinshanpai, set that into her hand, and discarded another 3-sou. Wait...so she had a 3-sou pair before?

This kan was looking more and more suspicious. Was it like the previous hand, where she made the kan to open the kan-dora? The indicator was a 3-wan, making 4-wan the new dora. Hisa drew and discarded, then glanced over at her shimocha. Teru's discards were mostly pinzu and souzu, so it would seem that she was keeping wanzu in her hand.

Could it be that Saki made the kan not to affect her own hand, but her sister's?

But if even Hisa recognized it as a trap, Teru wouldn't fall for it, right?

Teru drew and discarded a 9-wan, this time setting it sideways.

"Riichi."

"Chii."

"Kan."

Both Nodoka and Saki's voices sounded right after Teru's riichi announcement when the 9-wan was set on the table. Nodoka retracted her hand since Saki's call took precedence. Saki took the 9-wan and lined the quad on her side.

Both the west wind and 9-wan...she already had closed triplets, but still decided to make open kans. This was so unscientific!

Once again, she did not win on the rinshanpai, instead just setting it down. It went uncalled. Hisa drew and discarded, followed by Teru, who obligated by her riichi, could just set down whichever tile she drew, which was a 4-sou.

"Ron. Toitoi, third bonus round, 6700," Saki called.

An opened quad of west and 9-wan, 1, 1, 5, 5, 5-pin, 4, 4, 4-sou.

If Hisa remembered correctly, then judging by where Saki set her draws, the 1-pin pair was what she drew in exchange for the 3-sou pair she discarded, meaning that if she hadn't declared the two kans, her hand would've been closed triplets of west, 9-wan, 5-pin, and pairs of 3-sou and 4-sou. She was tenpai for at least a sanankou, a suuankou if she self-drew the last triplet!? Well, if she hadn't made the pon of west off Hisa and the kan on 9-wan so that play wasn't interrupted, the 4-sou would've been drawn by Hisa, who would've admittedly kept it. So the first pon of west was probably to shift the 4-sou to herself.

And the kan of 9-wan? That was either for making sure Nodoka didn't make the chii, which would've returned the 4-sou back to Hisa, or she merely wanted to shift the 4-sou to Teru, who had to discard it because of riichi.

So that was the trap Saki made with the chakan on west wind. The kan-dora...or maybe the new ura-dora actually, was most likely in Teru's hand.

But did Teru really fall unknowingly into the trap? Hisa looked at Teru, who was handing Saki the riichi stick and the 6700 points she owed for this hand. No, she jumped into the trap on her own will. She was testing something - this was what it meant for her to keep her mirror open.

She was testing whether Saki was really ascending the staircase.

And she was not. Even if she couldn't get her hands on the 4-sou, she could've waited silently for the 3-sou. Even if that was somehow impossible, she could've declined the kan of 9-wan and waited for 1-pin. Either of these options would've given her a hand that was at least a mangan.

But she didn't. Hisa wasn't sure if this was because of what Saki felt about the tile mountains, or she was just sending a message to her sister.

Saki wasn't imitating Teru. She merely played in whichever way would allow her to psychologically dominate everyone on the table. This was what she perceived as true victory.

Ironically, that was probably the same reason why Teru had played the way she did those years ago when she was still the reigning IH champion.

Haramura Nodoka 22100
Miyanaga Saki 52600
Takei Hisa 10900
Miyanaga Teru 14400

East 2 Bonus Round 4

Many, many years ago, so long ago that the memories were faded, Teru remembered holding her younger sister's hand as she picked up her first mahjong tile.

At that time, Saki was smiling widely.

She remembered Saki putting the tile to her own mouth and trying to bite into it. That would lead to a very long scolding by a displeased Mrs. Miyanaga. But the scratched 1-pin, slobbered with drool, would always remain in the depths of Teru's mind.

2, 3-pin, 6, 6, 8, 8, 8-wan, 2, 3, 3, 4, 4, 5-sou. Teru drew in a chun tile in the first turn. Normally, she would just discard it and wait a few turns to see if she could change her hand to a better state. After all, there were many possibilities, toitoi or iipeikou along with the standard tanyao, but this time, she cast the chun sideways.

"Riichi."

It was no longer a chill. It was a tempest. After the double-riichi, Hisa felt as though she could literally touch the mirror behind her. Miyanaga Teru was using her full power to look into the soul of her sister - she was going all-out against who Saki had become.

In reality, even when draining everything she had to keep up her mirror for so many rounds, Teru still couldn't see anything behind Saki. It was pitch black, like the very bottom of a deep crevice, but she knew, without doubt, it was a mountain.

Because that was where both their powers came from. Even if Saki tried to hide it, to discard it, it was a truth that could not be denied.

"There is no meaning in hiding on the very top of this pinnacle, Saki. I know this because I've been there before. It's cold, dark, lonely, and in the end, nothing more than an illusion..."

Nodoka drew in her tile. At this point, even she could feel the unease on the table. Her angel persona cracked a bit, the flush fading from her face while she finally lifted her gaze towards Saki. Saki was winning, repeatedly, which should be a good thing even if it were through such improbable methods. But still, she couldn't stop herself from being concerned. Maybe Buchou's approach was the right one - even though it was tough to admit, but running away from Miyanaga Teru had not solved Saki's problems at all. As much as Nodoka would rather Saki just forget her past to live in a joyful present, such present didn't actually exist.

Miyanaga Teru had once run away, leaving Saki's hopes of reuniting her family shattered. Now she repented, but Saki no longer trusted her.

Would it be better if she took the chances and gambled again?

But what Miyanaga Teru said was correct - this was not a decision Nodoka could make for Saki. Nodoka set the tile into her hand and discarded another tile. For now, she should just play her mahjong. Everything else was up to Saki herself.

The game continued into its fourth turn. Teru was climbing in the dark, her breathing becoming ragged while sweat dripped from her forehead. Though she couldn't see anything in the mirror, she could feel the path under her feet in this imagined world. It was steep, rocky, but she could make out where it cut through the mountainous terrain. Her win was drawing near. She knew it!

"Kan."

Saki's call cut through the still air. She took Hisa's discard of east wind and slipped it with the rest of her quad to the side. She was revealing her seat and prevailing wind yakuhai.

The new dora indicator was flipped. It was a 7-wan, making 8-wan the new dora.

Then Hisa drew and discarded a 4-pin.

Teru's finger twitched from where she kept it under the table. 4-pin was her winning tile, but if she called on it, what was initially a double-riichi, tanyao hand became a double-riichi, tanyao, 3 dora hand for a 13200 haneman in this fourth bonus round.

But Hisa only had 10900 points left!

She reached instead for the wall, drew and discarded.

This was fine. She had predicted that Saki would interrupt her first try at winning anyway. She still had a second plan, her true plan, and she would have to self-draw to fulfill it either way.

Saki's next draw was effective. She discarded a 1-pin, which Teru couldn't take because she was at permanent furiten after giving up a win following riichi.

Teru knew Saki was now at tenpai as well.

But the game continued to its eleventh turn. Nodoka already had two open melds of souzu, and judging by her predominantly pinzu and wanzu discards, it was likely she was using this suit in a hon'itsu or chin'itsu. Still, Saki discarded a 7-sou.

"Pon," Nodoka called.

The road that Teru had seen disappeared.

She still ran, ran and ran, tried her hardest to climb to the top.

But with this move, her mirror crumbled and she was left staring at the blank space behind Saki.

"Is there something behind me, Miyanaga-senpai?" Saki's voice sounded as Nodoka played her discard. Saki didn't seem to be looking for an answer, just drawing and discarding as usual afterwards, but when Hisa reached for the wall, she knew something was wrong.

Saki had shifted Teru's winning tile to Hisa again, at least that was what Hisa thought.

But still, Hisa played it, not knowing Teru was at furiten, nor the fact that this wasn't really Teru's winning tile, but what led to the draw she wanted from the dead wall. All she knew was that if her discard were what it took to wake Saki up from this vicious cycle of distrust, she would do it.

She discarded the 8-wan.

"If there isn't something behind me, I would appreciate it if Miyanaga-senpai look me straight in the eyes," Saki said coldly before letting her tiles fall onto the table surface, "Ron, yakuhai seat wind, prevailing wind, wanzu hon'itsu, fourth bonus round, dealer mangan 13200 points."

The 8-wan that Teru should've drawn, but was taken up and dealt by Hisa, completed Saki's hand of open east wind quad, 2, 2, 2, 4, 4, 4, 5, 5, 6, 7, 8-wan. This plunged Hisa's score below zero.

With Teru unable to make a kan, the rinshanpai 1-pin that held such precious memories for both siblings remained hidden. Teru could just watch from the shards of her broken mirror Saki plucking out the black lily from the peak of the mountain and scattering it in the wind.

Haramura Nodoka 22100
Miyanaga Saki 66800
Takei Hisa -2300
Miyanaga Teru 13400

(Dark!Saki/Teru story to be continued next time...)