It was an unseasonably hot and humid evening. Heat rolled off of the asphalt in hazy waves, distorting Hikaru's view of the building in front of him.
Reluctantly he turned from the air-conditioned sanctuary and adjusted his sweaty backpack straps. His fingers found the searing handlebars of his bike and he sped past the strangers crowding the sidewalk. His friend Akari trailed behind, pedaling in tandem with the rhythm of the bustling city.
After the field trip had let out, he'd made a small detour to the arcade. This hadn't been the first time Hikaru had dragged his friend on one of his whacky spur-of-the-moment trips. Whenever possible, he'd blow his allowance in hopes of catching the machines buzz the coveted word, 'Winner!'
They'd had a lot of fun. Unfortunately, time flies when 'you're having fun,' and being twelve wasn't always the blast people made it out to be. There were drawbacks. To avoid trouble, children had to abide by certain rules.
The moment Hikaru noticed the street lights zinging on one-after-another, his stomach flip-flopped. It was clear that curfew was fast approaching. Still, he was determined to make a final stop before turning in for the night.
Feeling the first few merciful drops fall and break the heat, Hikaru chanced a glance behind him. Though he nearly toppled off his bike, he could just make out Akari's figure. She'd fallen a ways back and was one-handedly shielding her eyes from the rain. The other hand hovered precariously over her handle brakes.
Now was not the time to dawdle, he decided. After all, a sudden storm was brewing, and if he wanted to make it, then they needed to keep flying at breakneck speed toward his family's property.
Minutes felt like hours and he wished he could magically teleport; that is until his grandfather's shed appeared like a beacon in the evening light. Thrilled, Hikaru pumped his fist to the sky and whooped gleefully. He could hardly believe it, but they had actually made it in time!
A dog barked erratically in the distance, set off by the gust of wind that had swept the neighborhood. It whirled, stirring fallen leaves with it, and sporadically picked up with fierce gusto. Hikaru hopped off of his bike and dodged a person-shaped blur. Up ahead, Akari crashed. With an impressive grunt, she collected herself and slugged her bicycle tiredly against the shed.
Their shoes squelched the dampening ground and he stared up at two tall doors. Wordlessly, they accepted that now was as good a time as any to gain cover. Following a brief nod, the two scrambled their way inside.
When they settled in, both surveyed their surroundings. Jenga towers of boxes cluttered the room. Officially, the space was used for storage and had managed to evade the Shindo household's annual cleaning purge. Unofficially, it was Hikaru's secret hide-out.
He was grateful that it existed, largely forgotten. After all, that meant one less place to clean and one more place to laze about. Besides, he figured it could only take away from the shed's character and charm.
Akari made a point of ducking down and disgustedly shook a fallen cobweb from her hair.
"Hikaru!" She moaned utterly aghast at the state of her being, "I hate this! When was the last time you even stepped foot in this place? And why are there so many spiders?!
Suppressing a smirk, he huffed, "I know, I know! This place could use a good spring cleaning, but at least it's dry. You don't have to complain that much."
He ignored the drip-dripping sound to his left because, okay, maybe the shed needed a patch or two. No biggie. In any case, this was a place he liked to frequent. Maybe not enough to tidy, but he certainly wasn't ashamed of it. Many a time the shed had served its duty of being a safe haven for him. In his books, that classified the place as both 'extra awesome' and 'hangout worthy'.
Hikaru's good mood dampened. He realized that wherever it was, he needed to find a light. Without natural lighting, it was creepy... in a dark and gloomy kind of way. Besides, with all the junk, it was obvious that they would fare better with a working bulb. There was no point in losing a toe if it could be prevented.
"Anyway," he continued after a long pause, "I stop by all the time. Gramps keeps all kinds of interesting junk in here and lets me play with a lot of stuff." He wiggled his hands in emphasis and then started pushing through the clutter.
Akari finally stopped shuffling around and appeared to have adjusted to the dimness of the room.
"Oh, yeah... I guess I do see the soccer gear." She pointed to a corner housing a mountain of athletic equipment.
Much like the other boys his age, Shindo Hikaru was an obsessed soccer maniac. Unfortunately for the boy, if his grades were not up to standard, his mother seemed to favor banning sports and other fun activities as punishment. It was very likely that, in preparation, the boy was stockpiling his beloved treasures and stalling for a time when things were looking brighter on the educational front.
Hikaru found the light switch and a hot yellow light flooded the room.
"Yeah," he muttered, "I stashed it all here. 'Cause... I already know that once my mom finds out I failed that history quiz, she'll deliver me the mother of all groundings. She'll ground me to death! And even with me dead, I'm sure she'd hire a Shinto priest or something to summon me back so I could serve the full sentence."
Hikaru didn't think he was good for much, especially when it came to pop quizzes. Sulking, he thought, soccer and arcade games were a whole different arena. Those didn't require the regurgitation of pointless information, and that thought made him feel good. He could be a winner on either field. And if only the world could flip on its axis and value his strengths, he would be the happiest kid alive.
Akari knew that her friend was stuck in some sort of funk.
She was committed to bringing her friend up to the classroom standard. If he could manage fewer groundings, then they could spend more time with each other. In any case, she'd gotten to know Hikaru very well over the years. If the occasion called for it, Hikaru could be surprisingly perceptive and introspective. He wasn't dumb, but merely unmotivated, she thought. They were neighbors and longtime friends. As his friend, she wouldn't give up on him.
"I think the whole class knows!" Akari lectured, "...think of your future. You have to put in more effort! Instead of hitting up the arcade, we could study together. Make it a study d-" Heat burned her cheeks and she started to fumble angrily with a zipper before turning to stare pointedly at him, "...day. Anyway, I thought your allowance was cut off. How in the world did you have the money to play today?"
"Y'know, every now and then I stop by this place and see what gramps has laying around. All of this," he waved grandly to the surrounding junk, "...it's all long forgotten. His old trinkets and things. And I know he has got no problem with me pocketing a couple of things for some extra money."
As soon as Hikaru screwed up his face, much like he tended to do when lying, Akari realized that something was fishy.
She blinked, horrified. "You're stealing?"
Her temper flared as Hikaru started to whistle innocently. Too innocently, in her opinion.
In truth, Hikaru traded some things here and there when especially desperate for a few bucks. Though, he always made a point to ensure that when he took something, it couldn't be easily missed.
Scowling, Hikaru defended himself. "Whoah, whoa! Y'know, that's a mighty accusation. You got a tape recorder or something? When did I say I stole anything? Like I said, he's fine with it."
He lied so vehemently that Akari physically recoiled.
"Look, I said what I said, and what I said is true."
Akari didn't quite believe him, but lamented, "I don't know, but okay..."
An inkling of doubt crept in and she temporarily suspended her disbelief. Not wanting to jump to any further conclusions and risk further offending him, she kept quiet.
Hikaru's eyes landed on a solitary ladder leading into an attic. "Better head up there. Maybe I'll find something good to steal." He rolled his eyes and climbed the ladder.
Akari scrambled into motion, following hot on his heels.
Upstairs was possibly even more unpleasant than below. The pounding rain was more apparent here and therefore more unsettling. Hikaru appeared unbothered as he rifled through his grandfather's belongings. Akari hesitantly lingered behind. She had never been here before and was still upset about their previous conversation.
A clap of thunder exploded in the air and they both stiffened. Akari swiveled toward the exit.
"I sh...should probably go home," she sputtered.
Akari may have been a remarkably resilient girl, but she was no Supergirl. Thunderstorms were her kryptonite. She looked out the window and counted between the flashes of lightning. Even the chance to hang out with Hikaru a bit longer could not keep her, especially if it promised to be a big storm.
"Wait a minute, I'm almost done." Hikaru moaned and then paused. "... hold up, what's this?" He stooped forward and uncovered a long-forgotten board game. The thing practically thrummed with the promise of cash and it was sandwiched between two shelves. "Looks pretty pricey..." he appraised before lugging it out from its spot on the shelf and rubbed aggressively against it with his sleeve, "...if only this stain would come out!"
Akari moved closer and peered over her friend's shoulder to get a closer peek. Hikaru was scrubbing vigorously at a dusty, but otherwise spotless wooden box. She bit her lip.
"There's nothing there." She assured him.
"Of course there is! You don't see that spot?" he demanded. His finger circled at… nothing. It was merely an antique-looking board game. Looked to be in good condition too.
The gentle pitter-patter of rain had morphed into something else entirely and now pelted angrily against the roof. They fell into an uncomfortable silence. The only noise was the alternating racket of Hikaru's sleeve and finger scrubbing against his new treasure. Akari quietly wondered if curfew had started. It seemed like they had been here for ages.
Suddenly, as if ice water had been dumped over him, Hikaru froze. His finger stopped obsessively circling the corner of the board and his face turned white.
"What's wro-"
"Who is that? Is someone else here?" Hikaru interrupted, eyes darting suspiciously around the room.
Akari noticed a certain stiffness in his normally mobile face. Disturbed, she retreated one, two, three paces. Hikaru was acting very strangely. Thinking it was a joke she weakly laughed, "Stop messing around!" Although her tone was scolding, she made sure to briefly sweep the area. "No one's here. It's just you and me."
Hikaru lurched to his feet, further startling his friend, and hollered, "Come out and lemme see you!" Seemingly manic, he gripped at his collar.
He squinted as the game below him inexplicably grew brighter.
The sensation was like that of staring at the sun for too long. He registered squiggly spots dancing at the forefront of his vision before the light swallowed itself and winked out. Pitched into relative darkness, Hikaru gasped deep greedy breaths. And that's when it appeared. A misty apparition. Clad in period clothing, its slender fingers grasped a fan which moved to point languidly at the trembling boy.
Hikaru slipped back down to the floor, utterly gobsmacked.
"There is... That's a… " He quickly slapped his hand to his mouth because, well, there was definitely an extra person in the room. He could only just make out an outline, but it was there.
Convinced her friend was unraveling, Akari lunged toward freedom and practically slid down the ladder to escape; likely on her way to inform an adult of her friend's unexpected mental breakdown.
The extra person problem turned into Hikaru's sole problem.
Like a train wreck, he could feel the adrenaline crash through him. His mind, which had practically been shutting down moments before, raced. Hikaru was not sure if he was grateful that he could see again or terrified because he could now clearly see the phantom before him.
Shindo Hikaru was a young boy, and he'd lived his short but cushy life comforted with the belief that ghosts were in fact, not real.
He looked at the board game and looked back.
On the bright side, in an out-of-body type of way, the whole scene was pretty spectacular. On the not-so-bright side, his intrinsic flight reflex refused to work and his body felt like lead.
He desperately wished Akari had not abandoned him. He stared transfixed at the being before him. Long hair and robes rippled weightlessly in space until it all came to a complete stop before his trembling knees.
"It is through God's mercy that I am once more able to return to this world!" The apparition gleefully cried.
Hikaru registered that the apparition was, in fact, a man. And a strange vision he was. Willowy and tall and intimidating in his very nature. Hikaru wondered when the nightmare would end. He was sure he was moments away from a ghostly possession. Or worse, the thing was a demon and had come to devour his soul! From the looks of it, Hikaru estimated that it was probably a ghost. Ghost? Impossibly. Hopefully. Probably.
Hikaru tried to steal himself but felt the opposite of that crash over him.
It was a strange feeling to be overcome with a sensation of delight which was not his, and fear, which most certainly was. Hikaru knew he was not one bit thrilled about this encounter, so why…? He stared and stared. It dawned on him that he could feel what the ghost was feeling and that realization was unspeakably disturbing.
Ignorant of the boy's inner turmoil, the ghost spoke again, "You can see the bloodstain, you can hear my voice, and you can see me! You have no idea to what extent I owe you my gratitude. It gives me great comfort to know that I am not eternally doomed to walk the astral plane."
Hikaru broke eye contact and struggled to swallow the lump in his throat. Coping, he internally rationalized that, yeah, maybe he had released a ghost from its...chosen object. And now that it was free, perhaps it would leave him alone? It didn't have a reason to hurt him, right?
Geez, it was no wonder the board had been abandoned in the shed! The darn thing was haunted!
The ghost's glee waned as recognition dawned, "Child, do not be afraid. I will not harm you," he knelt down and soothed in a surprisingly gentle tone.
Trying to gauge himself on a scale of one-to-crazy, Hikaru pushed past the thumping fear and pinched his arm hard. Ouch! Not a dream at all.
He finally choked out, "Right. Um, who are you?"
Its literal essence alluded to a noble upbringing of some sort, and by appearances, he figured that unless the man had died shooting a historical drama, the ghost was not recently deceased.
Abruptly, the ghost flipped open his fan and confessed, "During a time of peace and prosperity, I served the emperor as his Go instructor. I am Sai of the Fujiwara Clan, and I am the top player of my time."
Hikaru vaguely remembered that Go was a game of some sort. In fact, his grandpa had mentioned it several times. Back in the day, he had won a few local tournaments. With regret, Hikaru also realized that the object he'd wanted to take was probably a fancy Go board; as such, that board game was now the catalyst for his new ghost problem.
Hikaru racked his brain and pondered over what the ghost had revealed. He did not recognize the name but noted with relief that the ghost, though a thing of the supernatural, had not yet made any life-threatening moves. It merely drifted above the floor, an arm's length away, and examined Hikaru with great interest.
He tried to quash his nerves and shoot for more information.
Feeling gutsy he grunted, "I'm Hikaru. Shindo Hikaru."
Sai smiled graciously and tipped his head, "It's a pleasure to meet you, Shindo Hikaru."
Hikaru shifted against a shelf and scoffed, "So. Why are you here? Were you just haunting the board game or do you… do you haunt people too?" Secretly he wondered what he had done to deserve this ghostly encounter. He was a good kid! Well, except for...
Hikaru looked up as if to speak to God, and with a marked fervency asked himself, 'is this some sort of divine retribution? ...like, is this karma?!'
The ghost turned his head and sighed.
Hikaru blinked. He was half-sure he'd lost it, because it sure seemed like the ghost had heard him. Anyway, Sai still hadn't answered his questions, instead choosing to leave them in the air for reasons unknown.
This was going nowhere. Hikaru shook his head and felt light-headed. The situation was just so outlandish. He closed his eyes, "just for a moment," he told himself and swiftly succumbed to the darkness that had started crawling along the edges of his vision. All of this ghost business made a great recipe for exhaustion.
Unfortunately, it seemed Hikaru could not stay within the grip of the void for long.
The ghost sailed forward and made its first bodily contact. He needed to possess the boy, although it was harder than it looked.
Sai furrowed his brows in concentration and finally made enough progress to coast into his host's body.
With purpose, he latched onto something in Hikaru's head and dragged the boy out of his comatose state.
Satisfied, he yanked the boy into what was a reflection of his darkest moments. He would show Hikaru what plagued him the most in this world. And in the end, maybe he would get the help he required. After all, there was a reason Sai still lingered with the living. He needed the boy's help to accomplish something he himself could not.
Even now as Hikaru vaguely registered the blaring of ambulance sirens, he understood that whether he wanted to or not, his only feasible path through this was to simply go with the flow and hope that things turned out alright.
The snap of fingers near his ears shot Hikaru into instant awareness, and he opened his eyes to a place in a universe, not like his own.
HNG holds a sentimental place in my heart. That's why I decided to try this out. So hey, even if you hated this chapter leave a review. Thanks!