Summary: Hikaru's life changed when Fujiwara Sai appeared. It pissed him more when other Go players followed right away. (In which Sai kept looking at Hikaru with anguished look on his eyes and Hikaru would have memories/delusions flashing before his eyes that involved about death and later on about the mystery of Fujiwara Sai: "I'll protect you, I swear.")

Note: I am going to make this fast pace so I could finish this until the end or until I stopped being motivated to work on this story. (And once motivation runs out, this work would obviously go into hiatus) I am also busy with internship (and other works but I am now working on this) but I would still write this until the end just give me time, a lot of time…

A/N: Unedited. My plan for this story's pace went to the drain (and other stories). I am disappointed on myself.

Disclaimer: I don't own Hikaru no Go so no suing…!

Chapter 9

It had been a week after learning that Fujiwara Sai knew him. Those seven long days, Hikaru could admit that he wanted to strangle Fujiwara Sai's neck. The older man, was annoying and kept asking him about Go. It was obvious Hikaru didn't want to play the damned game yet the man kept forcing him to play and it pissed him off.

When he thought his day wouldn't get anymore strange or frustrating. It went from spending time with Fujiwara Sai, forced on his part, to… almost dyi- Hikaru shook his head weakly. It wasn't almost. It was-

(Crash.

With wide terrified eyes, Hikaru stared with glazed eyes onto the scene before him. However, his sight turned blur as he gasped in pain, spurting blood from his lips to his chin and shirt. He gurgled out blood, spitting, like he would to wash out the aftertaste of vomit but instead of the acrid taste of bile, the metallic coppery taste of blood spread through his tongue. Hikaru coughed more, and at the same time, he felt light-headed. The dizzying lightness he could feel encompassing his head became a slowly thudding racking through his skull.

His hand fumbled weakly to grasp something away from his abdomen but his weak limb failed him. Instead, he felt the warm feeling of blood on his hands, and something heavy pressed, pierced, onto his abdomen. Hikaru tried to pull or push or anything to get the thing away from his body but he couldn't grasp it with his limpy hands.

Hikaru coughed once more and he refrained from gagging with his own blood. As he closed his eyes in pain, he could feel the pain running rampant in his body, in every fiber of his being like small garbed wire that gave off burning heat under his very skin. The pain on his abdomen grew worse, making it harder to breathe. Everything down below was numb but the immeasurable pain on his abdomen couldn't compare. Hikaru noted that he was getting tired and so pained, he was screaming with incoherent words and voice. He wanted to pass out due to the pain. He didn't want to experience this pain anymore and as Hikaru longed for a blissful sleep, slowly yet surely his sight grew dim then darkness claimed him in a tight choke.)

Hikaru experienced dying and when he opened his eyes, there was a hand clamped on his arm in a surely bruising manner. It made him look down but there wasn't any blood on his person. He was cleaned as if the event didn't happen. "What…?" He muttered in question, his voice almost a squeak. Hikaru thought he really died but now he actually wasn't. Maybe what he saw was hallucination. 'But the pain, it felt real.' He rebuked with confusion.

"Hikaru."

Fujiwara Sai called out and he stared at the older man with glazed eyes. Sai looked at him worriedly, his violet eyes simmering with many emotions behind those beautiful violet eyes. Hikaru kept looking at those eyes, like a captive and when he blinked next, he saw something else.

(Red puffy eyes stared at him with unshed tears, and the despair was obvious onto those beautiful violet orbs that seemed to reflect his pathetic dying self. Pale hand with short clipped fingernails reached up to him in a desperate, pleading, manner. The older man before him had his eyes wide and pale lips parted to call out, the voice left unheard on Hikaru's ears. However, Hikaru could see, those lips forming one word, a name, and three syllables, as if to scream. "Hikaru!")

Hikaru automatically jerked from his standing position.

Without even knowing what he did, he already ran on his heels, away from that place and above all else, away from that gaze that conjured painful delusion inside his head.

~linebreak~

Hikaru closed his eyes with a shut; he didn't know what was going on. It had been days after that second time of almost dying from a car crash. Ever since then, those violet eyes kept flashing inside his head with the same expression on those pitiful, tormented, eyes and same almost bony hand reaching towards him. It greatly confused him, because he knew that person who seemed to reach out to him with desperate eyes was no other than Fujiwara Sai.

However, it only made it more confusing. He couldn't think of any reason as to why he would vividly see Fujiwara's puffy violet eyes.

Hikaru took a deep breath.

It wasn't only that, he had been having dreams slash nightmares that left him breathless and terrified for the rest of the night. Those vivid nightmares felt so real like it actually happened. However, he knew based on his memories that those situation never happened. In fact, those nightmares made him think that it were merely his delusions playing trick onto his mind. Nevertheless, with pain added on the equation. It made him think that perhaps it actually did happen.

When he thought of it like that, instead of thinking of how it made sense, it wasn't. It only made him question on when those things actually happened that would make him think that it was all a delusion because as he reasoned out, there wasn't anything like that in any of his memories.

Hikaru couldn't believe which was true. To believe or not. And, not only did it confuse him it piss him off as well.

It weighed heavily on his mind; making him think that if, Fujiwara Sai didn't appear in his life he wouldn't even deal with these troubles. He could still go over his life like the same as ever: boring, uninteresting, and monotonous. He wouldn't have to deal with any Go players too or anyone related to his past.

Fujiwara Sai's appearance on his life was like a trigger for everyone to come intruding as if nothing happened, as if nothing changed. It made him want to punch the man in the face but he wouldn't act on that, probably.

There was a sudden knock on his door that roused Hikaru out. He idly wondered who it was on the other side of the door but shook his head, it was probably nothing serious. As he opened the door, he promptly squinted his eyes at the sight that greeted him.

"Touya?"

Looked like something from his dream happened in reality. How did Touya Akira manage to learn where he lived, was beyond him but knowing Touya's personality he should have expected this.

Within second of recognizing who was his visitor and uttering the name of that said visitor, he rudely made a gesture to close the door rather childishly on Touya's face. As if, Touya expected that response already, stucked one of his feet between the door before grabbing the handle forcefully, interrupting Hikaru's attempt.

"Shindou!" Touya said in an irritated tone, there was a glare on his face that was directed to the greyish-green eyed teen. "Is this how you welcome a guest?" Touya asked in disbelieving tone, rather put out at the fact his sworn rival had just resorted to petty childish trick.

Hikaru huffed before letting go of the door then eyed the teen before him with annoyance, "Fine. Get in."

Instead of remarking how rude the other teen was, Touya merely glared at Hikaru before making his way inside, polite words of Sorry for intrusion left pass his lips as he lined up his black shoes at the shoe rack. They made their way without any fanfare, Touya glancing around the place curiously, as he followed his sworn rival towards their destination.

"So, what did you come here for?" Hikaru asked with arms crossed after they settled down on the small almost bare kitchen.

Touya took a sip from his portion of refreshment before answering and made a look at Hikaru, who obviously looked displeased with mild curiosity. "Let's play Go."

Well, that answer immediately made Hikaru threw an annoyed glower at the other before saying. "Figure, you would say something like that." That made the other glare even more so.

Hikaru peered at the other in the eyes and said in a curious tone with a tilt of his head. "When would you stop asking me such question?"

Touya immediately had a stubborn look into his face then glowered at the other with all the intensity he could muster. "Until you say yes." Touya continued looking at the Hikaru with deep intense eyes and Hikaru inwardly sighed at that. Hikaru could say that Touya's passionate eyes was discomforting when it was directed at him. Abruptly, Hikaru averted his gaze and said in a put off tone. "Then I'll just have to wait until you get tired of asking."

The silence and the even more intense glare he received was an answer to itself that, Touya didn't think so.

'So stubborn.' Hikaru thought in mild annoyance.

"How did you know where I live?" Hikaru suddenly asked to forget the tension. Touya glared in clear displeasure at the blatant show of changing topic. "Fine," Touya bit out but there was a silent promise on Touya's eyes that Hikaru ignored. "Fujiwara-san gave me your address."

'Should have known that same feather flocks together.' Hikaru outwardly rolled his eyes.

"He's decent person." Touya commented as if an answer to Hikaru's thoughts and the green-eyed teen just shook his head at that answer. It only made Hikaru shook his head in annoyance at those answer. As much as he know Sai was a decent person if only he wasn't so overly annoying.

"So what are you doing here, Touya?" Hikaru asked with arms crossed on his chest, he wasn't looking at the other but onto the wall.

"To ask you to play Go against me." Touya immediately answered without any fanfare, making Hikaru threw a glare at the direction of his once-a-rival-but-not-anymore as he said with a clipped tone. "No."

And just like that, Hikaru and Touya continued that conversation with the same question, with Hikaru redirecting in other topic but with Touya interrupting by demanding a game that would end with Hikaru disagreeing immediately. Hikaru wasn't even surprised that he needed to use force to haul his not-rival to get out of his house when it was clear that day had turned into night and he had lost count, he had already lost count after an hour upon Touya's arrival, on how many times Touya had demanded for a game.

~linebreak~

"Tell me."

Hikaru started, he was directly staring at Fujiwara Sai in the eyes, trying to convey his honest feelings.

Sai remained silent.

If this was another day, or one of the previous day, he would have looked smug at the fact he managed to silent the annoying Sai. However, the silence only pissed him more. And he showed it by clenching his fist and hitting the still man on the cheek.

Sai had widened his eyes as he took a startled step back before Hikaru's fist connected to his cheek but on the last moment he forced his body lax, letting the punch land squarely onto his cheek.

"Idiot!" Hikaru yelled in anger as he directed said anger to the long haired man before him only for his eyes to go unfocused when another memory slash illusion slash delusion played on his mind.

(There was a yell of his name on the background, that much he could hear as he laid on the cold asphalt.

"Hikaru!" He heard and saw his dear friend Sai run towards him. Sai kneeled next to him with wide panicked eyes and dishevelled hair.

Hikaru felt and knew he had no time left.

"S…sorry." He weakly and feebly whispered between wheezing for sweet heavenly air and grunting due to the overwhelming pain all over his body.

When he closed his eyes painfully and without his knowledge, he still could dimly fell a hand grasping his so tightly and that was the last thing he felt before darkness claimed his consciousness.)

He gritted his teeth after that lapse before glaring at the man before him that looked worried. Before the man could say anything, he beat him first. "Who really are you? Why do you keep saving me inside my head? Why do I keep seeing you inside my head?" He said with emotion-filled voice, his exhaustion growing visible on every second, panic and alarm clear on his voice and lastly weariness remained.

"I…" Sai started with unsure voice as a frown formed onto his lips. Hikaru noted that it made Sai look like a ghost.

Sai looked away with a sigh. There was silence the next then a minute passed before the violet-eyed teen turned to Hikaru with searching eyes. The man closed his eyes as if he decided onto something he reluctantly didn't want to agree.

"I know you. We are childhood friend as we grew onto the same neighbourhood." When Hikaru looked as if he was going to protest, Sai looked at Hikaru pleadingly and said in an almost weak voice. "Let me finish and you will have the answer you need." And Hikaru reluctantly agreed with a nod.

As Hikaru listened to Sai, he came to know of a happy family, of a person grieving, of a broken person that received a miracle as an answer to his wish. And of the price of a miracle that eventually grew into a curse, full of heartbreak and pain that shatter and kill a man.

A/N: Please read and review