Rebirth
Chapter 4
Akari looked up from her food and across the table. Hikaru, who was seated opposite her, had his chopsticks halfway to his mouth, which was open. They had been sitting there at the ramen stall for fifteen minutes already, but Hikaru's food was almost untouched. Akari, on the other hand, was already halfway through her lunch. Usually, Hikaru would have already finished his food and would probably be asking for seconds.
Sighing to herself, Akari decided to snap Hikaru out of his trance. 'Ne, Hikaru, your food's cold already.'
'Ah? Oh! Wow, what just happened?'
'I should be the one asking that.'
'Eh?'
'You barely touched your food, and you were like this-' Akari mimicked Hikaru's earlier "pose"-'for at least five minutes. What's wrong? Is there anything on your mind that you'd like to share with me?'
Hikaru stared hard at his food. He hadn't ever wanted to tell Akari about the Sai episode about ten years back because he was worried that Akari would blab about it and soon the whole world would know. Well, that certainly wasn't what he wanted, but when he looked up and stared into Akari's earnest brown eyes, he knew that she was sincerely worried for him.
Hikaru weighed his options, pondering whether to tell Akari about Sayoku and Sai. If he told her the whole truth, and if news of it got around to Go Weekly or worse still, the tabloids, he would be in hot soup. However, if he told her a white lie to get out of this situation (he had never been good at lying; his expression always gave him away), she would know, and would either press him for the truth, or worry about it, and he didn't like the sound of either.
So Hikaru came up with the ultimate solution. As he leaned across the table to kiss Akari, he guessed that she would be too happy to care about what troubled him earlier. Hikaru smiled just a split second before their lips met, and decided that eventually, it was still Sai who helped him admit what he truly felt for Akari.
*****
Sayoku sat alone on a park bench, deep in thought. His pale and slender arms were folded across his chest, and his brow was slightly furrowed. This was one of the rare times that he was alone; he was usually with other insei when he wasn't in school or at home. Sayoku wanted to think, to ponder, to remember his past. He didn't want to think at home; the goban sitting next to his desk was just way too tempting.
He wondered why he had impulsively called Hi-no, Shindou-sensei "Hikaru" that day in the pachinko stall, and why he hugged him for apparently no reason. Sayoku recalled that his limbs and his tongue seemed to move of their own accord then, or something like that at least. He recalled the class nerd, Watanabe Takeshi, mumbling to himself something about reflex actions. Since Sayoku had been sitting next to him then, some information concerning the topic had managed to penetrate his thick skull.
'Reflex action. something like involuntary action. but then again it involves some form of threat. Hmm.' Sayoku mumbled to himself what snippets of information he could still remember. However, he knew that jumping to hug your sensei wasn't quite a reflex action. In fact, it seemed like Sayoku had become a puppet and a puppeteer had controlled the strings and made him hug Shindou-sensei and call him by his first name.
That freaked Sayoku out. He didn't like the idea of being called a puppet but right then, he knew that that was the closest he could ever get to the answer. He had been controlled by something, but what? A ghost seemed to be the likeliest possibility. Maybe the ghost knew Shindou-sensei well. Maybe the ghost, or whatever it was, had been Shindou-sensei's girlfriend.
The more Sayoku thought about the matter, the more confused he got, and the more he tried to sort things out in his head, the drowsier he got. Eventually a wave of sleepiness overcame him, and unable to fight it, Sayoku fell into a light slumber, in the shade of the afternoon sun.
*****
'Hikaru! Hikaru! Uchitai!'
'Eh?' Sayoku opened his eyes and looked around him. He wasn't in the park. He was in someone's room, Shindou-sensei's room to be precise. Shindou- sensei looked very much younger; perhaps he was twelve or so. His shaggy hair was pretty much the same-dyed blonde fringe, but his cheeks were chubbier. Pinchable. Sayoku observed the state of Shindou-sensei's room: messy, typical of a boy's room. A very ancient-looking television set, a few electronic products so old he couldn't even recognise them, a refrigerator, cupboards, a bed and a goban. Ah, so he had gone back in time.
Shindou-sensei was lying lazily on his bed, reading manga. He seemed rather irritated with the voice that was whining, pleading with him to have a game of Go.
The voice wasn't quite masculine, but neither was it feminine. In fact, it sounded a little like Sayoku's own voice, which was beginning to break. He looked around, searching for the source of the voice, and realised that it was behind him. Turning around, he saw the profile of a young man dressed in Heian court garb, tall hat and all, just like in the history books. However, the person in Heian clothes wore his hair as a woman would during his time, raven hair tied at the middle of his back.
At first, Sayoku dismissed the man as a historical reenactor who got confused between what the men and women wore, but then he noticed that he was floating above the ground. A ghost! After overcoming his initial shock, he studied the apparition's face and realised that the figure before him looked exactly like an older version of him would. What in the world was going on? Did this ghost. possess him as well?
'Hikaru.' The ghost beseeched once more, gesticulating earnestly towards the goban in the corner.
Shindou-sensei covered his ears and tried to ignore the ghost but to no avail. Eventually he gave in. 'Sai, ONLY one game. No bargaining.'
The ghost's, or Sai, face lit up immediately, his eyes shining as Shindou- sensei went to get the goban, sighing in defeat. Sayoku felt a great sense of déjà vu right then. Wasn't this precisely how he got his grandfather to play Go with him when he was young? And wasn't that exactly he had behaved when his Ojiisan finally gave in?
Sayoku began to wonder about his connection with the ghost as he watched Shindou-sensei and Sai play-Shindou-sensei placed their stones while Sai used his fan as a pointer.
Maybe, just maybe, they were related some way, somehow. Their behaviour was startlingly similar, and they even looked and sounded uncannily alike. Upon observation, Sayoku also noted that they even played with a similar style, only that Sai was much more professional, more like Honinbo Shusaku, the man Sayoku adored so much. Oh, and even their names sounded similar too. Sai and Sayoku. If you dragged the "Sa" before joining it to "yo", their names really sounded uncannily alike, although they were born millenniums apart.
*****
Sayoku opened his eyes to a dusky sky as the rain fell. As he pulled his navy blue Nike jacket over his head, he decided that perhaps he would speak to Shindou-sensei about Sai. Sai, the Heian courtier who had appeared mysteriously in his dream, along with Shindou-sensei. Just who was he? And what was he doing in modern Japan with Shindou-sensei?
It just didn't make any sense to him at all.
A/n: Hey guys, sorry for making you all wait so long. school homework and tests and homework and tests. T_T sigh. finally got the chance to upload. It's the last day of the hols you know. sigh. hope you enjoyed the fic, and I pray hard I'll be able to find time to write the next chapter ASAP. Thanks so much for the reviews again, I really appreciate your support. Thanks so much again, and thanks for being so patient with me ^^
Chapter 4
Akari looked up from her food and across the table. Hikaru, who was seated opposite her, had his chopsticks halfway to his mouth, which was open. They had been sitting there at the ramen stall for fifteen minutes already, but Hikaru's food was almost untouched. Akari, on the other hand, was already halfway through her lunch. Usually, Hikaru would have already finished his food and would probably be asking for seconds.
Sighing to herself, Akari decided to snap Hikaru out of his trance. 'Ne, Hikaru, your food's cold already.'
'Ah? Oh! Wow, what just happened?'
'I should be the one asking that.'
'Eh?'
'You barely touched your food, and you were like this-' Akari mimicked Hikaru's earlier "pose"-'for at least five minutes. What's wrong? Is there anything on your mind that you'd like to share with me?'
Hikaru stared hard at his food. He hadn't ever wanted to tell Akari about the Sai episode about ten years back because he was worried that Akari would blab about it and soon the whole world would know. Well, that certainly wasn't what he wanted, but when he looked up and stared into Akari's earnest brown eyes, he knew that she was sincerely worried for him.
Hikaru weighed his options, pondering whether to tell Akari about Sayoku and Sai. If he told her the whole truth, and if news of it got around to Go Weekly or worse still, the tabloids, he would be in hot soup. However, if he told her a white lie to get out of this situation (he had never been good at lying; his expression always gave him away), she would know, and would either press him for the truth, or worry about it, and he didn't like the sound of either.
So Hikaru came up with the ultimate solution. As he leaned across the table to kiss Akari, he guessed that she would be too happy to care about what troubled him earlier. Hikaru smiled just a split second before their lips met, and decided that eventually, it was still Sai who helped him admit what he truly felt for Akari.
*****
Sayoku sat alone on a park bench, deep in thought. His pale and slender arms were folded across his chest, and his brow was slightly furrowed. This was one of the rare times that he was alone; he was usually with other insei when he wasn't in school or at home. Sayoku wanted to think, to ponder, to remember his past. He didn't want to think at home; the goban sitting next to his desk was just way too tempting.
He wondered why he had impulsively called Hi-no, Shindou-sensei "Hikaru" that day in the pachinko stall, and why he hugged him for apparently no reason. Sayoku recalled that his limbs and his tongue seemed to move of their own accord then, or something like that at least. He recalled the class nerd, Watanabe Takeshi, mumbling to himself something about reflex actions. Since Sayoku had been sitting next to him then, some information concerning the topic had managed to penetrate his thick skull.
'Reflex action. something like involuntary action. but then again it involves some form of threat. Hmm.' Sayoku mumbled to himself what snippets of information he could still remember. However, he knew that jumping to hug your sensei wasn't quite a reflex action. In fact, it seemed like Sayoku had become a puppet and a puppeteer had controlled the strings and made him hug Shindou-sensei and call him by his first name.
That freaked Sayoku out. He didn't like the idea of being called a puppet but right then, he knew that that was the closest he could ever get to the answer. He had been controlled by something, but what? A ghost seemed to be the likeliest possibility. Maybe the ghost knew Shindou-sensei well. Maybe the ghost, or whatever it was, had been Shindou-sensei's girlfriend.
The more Sayoku thought about the matter, the more confused he got, and the more he tried to sort things out in his head, the drowsier he got. Eventually a wave of sleepiness overcame him, and unable to fight it, Sayoku fell into a light slumber, in the shade of the afternoon sun.
*****
'Hikaru! Hikaru! Uchitai!'
'Eh?' Sayoku opened his eyes and looked around him. He wasn't in the park. He was in someone's room, Shindou-sensei's room to be precise. Shindou- sensei looked very much younger; perhaps he was twelve or so. His shaggy hair was pretty much the same-dyed blonde fringe, but his cheeks were chubbier. Pinchable. Sayoku observed the state of Shindou-sensei's room: messy, typical of a boy's room. A very ancient-looking television set, a few electronic products so old he couldn't even recognise them, a refrigerator, cupboards, a bed and a goban. Ah, so he had gone back in time.
Shindou-sensei was lying lazily on his bed, reading manga. He seemed rather irritated with the voice that was whining, pleading with him to have a game of Go.
The voice wasn't quite masculine, but neither was it feminine. In fact, it sounded a little like Sayoku's own voice, which was beginning to break. He looked around, searching for the source of the voice, and realised that it was behind him. Turning around, he saw the profile of a young man dressed in Heian court garb, tall hat and all, just like in the history books. However, the person in Heian clothes wore his hair as a woman would during his time, raven hair tied at the middle of his back.
At first, Sayoku dismissed the man as a historical reenactor who got confused between what the men and women wore, but then he noticed that he was floating above the ground. A ghost! After overcoming his initial shock, he studied the apparition's face and realised that the figure before him looked exactly like an older version of him would. What in the world was going on? Did this ghost. possess him as well?
'Hikaru.' The ghost beseeched once more, gesticulating earnestly towards the goban in the corner.
Shindou-sensei covered his ears and tried to ignore the ghost but to no avail. Eventually he gave in. 'Sai, ONLY one game. No bargaining.'
The ghost's, or Sai, face lit up immediately, his eyes shining as Shindou- sensei went to get the goban, sighing in defeat. Sayoku felt a great sense of déjà vu right then. Wasn't this precisely how he got his grandfather to play Go with him when he was young? And wasn't that exactly he had behaved when his Ojiisan finally gave in?
Sayoku began to wonder about his connection with the ghost as he watched Shindou-sensei and Sai play-Shindou-sensei placed their stones while Sai used his fan as a pointer.
Maybe, just maybe, they were related some way, somehow. Their behaviour was startlingly similar, and they even looked and sounded uncannily alike. Upon observation, Sayoku also noted that they even played with a similar style, only that Sai was much more professional, more like Honinbo Shusaku, the man Sayoku adored so much. Oh, and even their names sounded similar too. Sai and Sayoku. If you dragged the "Sa" before joining it to "yo", their names really sounded uncannily alike, although they were born millenniums apart.
*****
Sayoku opened his eyes to a dusky sky as the rain fell. As he pulled his navy blue Nike jacket over his head, he decided that perhaps he would speak to Shindou-sensei about Sai. Sai, the Heian courtier who had appeared mysteriously in his dream, along with Shindou-sensei. Just who was he? And what was he doing in modern Japan with Shindou-sensei?
It just didn't make any sense to him at all.
A/n: Hey guys, sorry for making you all wait so long. school homework and tests and homework and tests. T_T sigh. finally got the chance to upload. It's the last day of the hols you know. sigh. hope you enjoyed the fic, and I pray hard I'll be able to find time to write the next chapter ASAP. Thanks so much for the reviews again, I really appreciate your support. Thanks so much again, and thanks for being so patient with me ^^
