Title: Sai Once More
Author: Cheska
Chapter 4
PG-13

Disclaimer:  Obata-san and Hotta-san own Hikaru no Go, not I.

Author's Notes:  Another chapter… ^^ *bows* And thank you for the reviews, I really appreciate it.

~.~.~.~.~

 Merodi led the two outside the room and to the side.  Silence overwhelmed all of them, the tension from Hikaru was too much to bear and Sai couldn't help but feel a little bit guilty. 

  "…Heh..I guess you two were pretty surprised to see me," Merodi stated with a forced smile but inwardly winced at the look that Hikaru sent her way.

  (He's angry…with both of us…can't you tell?) Merodi told the ghost by her side.

  Sai didn't respond, he only glanced back at his previous host and let out a nostalgic smile, making Shindo Hikaru suddenly blush before dispersing it away to glare hard at his old mentor and friend.

  "...you're back, and now you are…a…" Touya Akira began, his eyes filled with seriousness.

  "…hai, I'm going to become a Pro," Merodi let out a small smile.

  (Or rather, Sai is going to be a Pro now…) Merodi sent this message out across for even Shindo to hear.

  His reaction, however, was that of shock and surprise but slowly it turned back to a small smile.

  "…welcome to the World of the Pros…" Hikaru softly stated.

  (…Sai…) he added, looking from Merodi to Sai with a smile on his face, although the two could tell it was slightly strained.

  "Thank you," Merodi bowed low before the two Pros before straightening up again.

  "Aa…Merodi, can I…" Hikaru began, casting small glances now and then at Sai.

  Smiling, she only smiled and nodded her head in assent knowing fully well that it's been awhile since Hikaru had last seen his friend. 

  "I understand," Merodi said and excused herself from Touya Akira.

  "Ano…Merodi!" Touya cried out as she watched Merodi and Hikaru walk away from him.

  "I'll talk to you later, Touya-san," Merodi replied to the longhaired boy who could only accept her words.

  (What…relationship do Merodi and Shindo have with each other?) he silently wondered.

  "Sai…"

  "You miss him a lot, don't you?" Merodi tenderly gazed at the boy by her side as they rode the elevator down to the ground floor.

  "He disappeared on me just after we got back from a convention.  I remember…everything as if it was just yesterday," Hikaru stated, pushing his hands into his pockets as he tilted his head up to stare at the ceiling of the elevator.

  (Hikaru…)

  "Uhn, I…heard that you stopped playing Go for a time. It must have been right after you found out about Sai's disappearance," Merodi nodded her head in affirmation.

  (Not quite heard…mostly…saw…) Merodi sweat dropped as she glanced at Sai beside her.

  "When did you meet Sai? I've looked everywhere that I could think of for him," Hikaru inquired as the two stepped out of the elevator.

  Silence ensued as the girl debated over her response to the Pro Go player.

  (It's all right, Merodi…you can tell him.) Sai prodded with confidence as well as insistence.

  "Tell me what?" Hikaru had heard Sai's words and turned an inquisitive face at the girl.

  "It's pretty much a long story, but you see…." Merodi took a deep breath before re-telling her tale over to the boy.

  "I'm not really alive…"

  "Nani?!?  You're a ghost? But you can't be a ghost if you…!" Hikaru blanched and started to rant as they walked down the street, catching many stares from those around them.

  (Hikaru…Hikaru…!) Sai was trying his best to calm the boy down while Merodi continued to watch with a bit of unease.

  A few seconds later, Shindo Hikaru had calmed down and they were now close to home but stopped at a nearby park to rest.  Sitting on a swing, he gazed up at her and saddened at the sight of his ghost now with another host.

  "You see, I died a long time ago…quite possibly a few years after Sai's death during the Heian period.  Except, on my part, I wasn't encased in a Goban with another chance of being able to play.  Instead, I was sent to heaven with a chance to become something else.  It was my wish…to change the lives of others,"

  "Hmm?" Hikaru looked up at her with a wondering mind.

  "When I was alive, I wasn't very talkative.  Always in peace of mind, formal, and though others respected me I didn't have any to call as my friend.  The only interest I ever took up weren't even normal.  I watched people practice for the battlefield, studied strategy, and even began to take interest in Go.  Go was the only thing that people thought normal about me, seeing that women could learn to play as well.  However, even though I was interested in it…I never had the chance to play.  I only watched…until I died…" the last part she said softly, with a bit of hurt glittering in her eyes.

  "How did you die?"

  "I can't exactly remember the day…but I believe it was a year or two after hearing the death of Fujiwara no Sai.  His name had become non-existent and it was forbidden to mention him at all.  Those who did were looked down upon, because it became known that he had cheated during a match against the Emperor's Go Instructor. His name had become stained.  I, for my part, hadn't the chance to study Sai's play and so didn't have the chance to learn it until years later.  As for my death, I was overcome with an unknown illness.  People came to help me, doing what they could to try to save my life but in the end, it didn't work.  However, I was grateful that they cared enough for me and since then I had the wish to change other people's lives.  Yet, I still don't quite understand the mortal realm even though I was once mortal, myself." Merodi let a few tears fall before she brushed it away and smiled down at the young boy.

  "So why are you here now?"

  With a small chuckle, her eyes twinkled merrily as she stared at him.

  "Silly, to help of course! I haven't watched the people on Earth for over a thousand years just to do nothing but look now do I?  I'm here to help revolutionize the Go world and help push those forward in obtaining the divine hand of God!" Merodi proclaimed.

  "The…hand of God…" Hikaru whispered.

  "Sai is going to help in the process.  When he finished his reason to be in the mortal realm, he was instantly brought over to the heavens and from there he managed to play as much as he can with all the famous Go players…including Torajirou.  As for myself, after leaving the mortal realm after such a short amount of time, I continued to take up my position from before as a Guardian Protectorate who helps watch over the heavens," Merodi smiled lightly.

  "Guardian Protectorate…?" Hikaru took up a confused expression on his face.

  "Not many…or none know about them.  They are a secretive bunch who helps maintain peace and prevent things that should not be or not what the Fates themselves would wish.  We help carry out their wishes," Merodi giggled slightly.

  "Sai did you know about this?" Hikaru looked up at his friend who had a dazed expression on his face.

  Sai only raised up his konoshi sleeve and shook his head from behind it.

  "Like I said, not many people do…but anyways, Sai's reason for here is almost the same as mine.  I still have a lot to learn about the people and even more so about Go despite the number of years I have spent watching it.  Sai is here because of his passion for Go, it surpasses so many that it even amuses the Fates themselves so they're giving him another 'go' at it," at this Merodi let out a small laugh, her eyes filled with mirth.

  "So Sai hasn't achieved the Hand of God yet?"

  (No, I haven't but I can feel it…feel that I'm close…) Sai's expression was filled with unknown emotions that managed to stir Hikaru's heart.

  "Why…can't Sai be with me again?"

  At this, Sai shook himself from his reverie and sadly stared down at his old friend before daring to look back at Merodi whose face was filled with sympathy.

  "Your passion for Go…"

  "He can play all that he wants!  I'll even stop playing Go if he'll just return to me again!" Hikaru intercepted, his voice heightening and his eyes widening with desperation.

  Merodi, shocked by his actions took a step back.  Her eyes for a moment were wide with shock but slowly it lowered into amusement and awe.  It was interesting to see just how much he was willing to sacrifice in order to have his friend back and it was something she hadn't quite seen all that much throughout her years.

  "You really care for him, up to the point where you're willing to do just about anything to have him back," Merodi commented.

  "I'd do anything…just anything…to have Sai with me again," Hikaru whispered softly.

  (Hikaru…)  Sai was touched by his words, he could remember that time when he was inside the kifu room of the Go Institute.  He had shouted his feelings, what he was willing to do if Sai could just come back to him. 

  "I remember…I was watching as well," Merodi glanced at Sai before turning her attention back to Hikaru.

  Hikaru raised his head in question before Merodi moved forward and wiped away his tears with her hand and kneeled down in front of him in the swings. 

  "Sai was watching as well, watching over you at that time when you cried out to God about your pain and sorrow of not having Sai there anymore.  The thing is, his time was up, he had fulfilled his duty by teaching you the passion of Go.  We cannot allow you to be reunited with him as it was before.  You'll have to settle for seeing him with me instead," Merodi explained and as she finished she noticed that the tears she had wiped away had returned upon the boy's face.

  (Hikaru, don't cry…) Sai had now kneeled down as well and was trying desperately to make his friend better.

 Merodi moved out of the way, giving the ghost time to be alone with his friend who was openly crying.

 "Sai, I missed you…and now, now we can't be together!" Hikaru cried to the ghost.

 (It's better than what we had before though, isn't it?  At least, this way you don't have to put the stones all by yourself now and we can still see each other.  Just not…all the time) Sai pointed out.

  "There is no reason for you to cry anymore, look towards the bright future towards the path that you walk.  There are several out there, who walk the same path as you, except alone.  But for you, you walk it with another…"

  "Touya…" Hikaru now had dried his tears and was looking at Merodi with bloodshot eyes. 

  Sai was with him, his arms around the young boy as he tried to give him support in regaining back his strength.  All of this, the 14-year-old girl saw making her heart slightly tinges in pain and regret at having the two of them be apart.  It was already clear to her that the two cared for each other, after all the two endured how could they not?  When Sai left Shindo Hikaru for the heavens, it had taken the ghostly spirit a long time before he managed to accept the fact that he wouldn't be going back to Earth and so took every opportunity that he had to be able to catch glimpses of the young pro Go player.  Now that he had returned, his next step would have to be trying to contain himself from hovering around Hikaru all the time.  The two had to learn to be apart from one another.

  "Touya Akira is your eternal rival something that even Sai has yet to find.  We cannot let you two be together for the basic fact that you have a purpose in this world…" Merodi emphasized with her hands before turning her attention to the setting sun.

  "Sai had a purpose too!" Hikaru argued.

  (A purpose that I have already fulfilled…) Sai responded as he let go of Hikaru and stood up.

  "Sai…I don't know what to do without you," Hikaru uttered softly.

  "You've survived without him, you can make it."

  (Hai Hikaru.)

  "You'll do fine," Merodi murmured encouragingly as she placed a warm and comforting hand on him before she began to leave.

  "M-Merodi!" Hikaru cried out after noticing that she was leaving and that Sai was with her.

  Merodi didn't respond but she did stop to glance back at him.

  "When we face each other in the Go Institute, I want to…face Sai," Hikaru shouted out.

  She nodded in consent, a big smile on her face.

  "Instead of at the Institute, why not today or later on?  After all, it doesn't have to be a formal match now does it?" she winked before walking off away from him.

  (…that's right…) Hikaru noticed, feeling the weight over his shoulders slightly lift from him now.  He sat back down on the swing set and gazed after the retreating forms.

~.~.~.~

  "Well Sai, how was that?  We got to meet Hikaru again, isn't this great?" Merodi grinned happily, as they walked down the street, autumn leaves falling all around them.

  The konoshi wearing spirit merely nodded his head happily, a jaunt in each of his steps.

  (Aa…Merodi-chan, can we play here?) Sai inquired as he halted and pointed to a Go Salon.

  Seeing the Salon, memory flooded both of their minds as they recalled exactly where they were.  The Go Salon of Touya Kouyo and Touya Akira.

  (Do you think…?) Merodi wondered in her mind to which Sai heard.

  Not quite thinking, she reached out and grabbed the handle of the door and before she knew it, she was riding the elevator that would soon lead her to the front of the Go Salon. 

  "Ahh…what am I doing?" Merodi sweat dropped and glanced to her side at a happy-go-lucky Sai.

  "Let's play Merodi-chan!" Sai cried out in glee.

  As the door to the elevator opened, the girl and the ghost stepped out.  Pausing just slightly, she debated whether to go inside the salon. For a few seconds she stood there, contemplating over what to do and then finally decided on her decision.  Taking a step back she was about to enter the elevator once more when the door ringed and a figure step out before her.

  "Aerea Merodi…"

  "…" Merodi slightly paled as she stared at the figure before her.

  "Care to play a game?"

  (Play, Merodi-chan!) Sai urged her on, grabbing her arm.

  "Touya…"

  It wasn't too long before the two finally made their way into the salon and took up a seat where Akira always was.  Under the dim lighting, the two sat at and played with a quiet resolve.  Merodi placing the stones where Sai wished them to be at and Touya responding with his own style, there was no actual change in the atmosphere.

  "I…resign," Touya stated as calmly as he could.

  "Thank you for the game," Merodi replied with a small bow.

  "This game…" Touya gathered his Go stones along with Merodi.

  "Hm?"

  "It's just like…Sai's…like the old Shindo that I remember," Touya softly commented as he dropped the stones into the Go-ke.

  "The old Shindo and Sai…" Merodi copied, placing her stones into her own Go-ke as well before standing up.

  (Sai, what do you wish from this?)

  (Not yet, don't tell him just yet…) Sai stated.

  Merodi bowed her head to the longhaired boy before moving on out toward the door to where Ichikawa monitored from the counter. 

  "It's been fun playing with you, Touya.  Let's do it again, some day."

  Merodi waved from the doorway before saying another good-bye to the young woman and then proceeded out of the premises.

  (Her game…just like Sai's…no, maybe…stronger?  But how?  She only learned a short while ago, didn't she?  Or had she lied all this time?) Akira wondered to himself, lost in his thoughts over the girl.

~.~.~.~.~

  Before long, that month of October passed and the season drifted by as winter came into the hearts of all.  As was promised, Sai and Merodi would sometimes drop by the Shindo household where Sai and Hikaru could play as much as they want. 

  "This is the end," Hikaru announced and dropped back with a sigh.

  "Looks like Sai wins by 1.5 mokus."

  "I made a mistake right there.  I should have dropped it over here instead," Hikaru responded.

  "You have gotten better," Sai commented with a smile.

  "I remember what you've taught me.  Sometimes I think about where you would respond whenever I'm caught in an area," Hikaru smiled.

  Merodi could tell that Sai was proud of Hikaru, glad that he had gotten stronger and from the looks of it much more confident and solid in his play.  He was fast approaching to the position of Sai and from the look that Sai now held in his eyes, knew that if he wasn't cautious enough Hikaru would soon overtake him.

  But isn't that why they were here: to help the mortals progress towards the divine hand? 

  Blinking Merodi looked down at the Goban to see the intricate display of the Go stones.  Before, from what she could remember during that one summer she spent in the mortal realm, Hikaru would end the game with Sai around the middle game but now it was different.  Hikaru was able to play the game with Sai up to yose and it made both her and Sai smile with gladness.

  "How are you doing in your pro matches, Hikaru?  I've heard you've been undefeated except against Touya Akira and all those matches when you were saying that you weren't going to play anymore," Merodi conversed as she cleaned up the Go stones and placed them back into the Go-ke.

  Hikaru slightly winced at the memory of Sai's disappearance but as he tried to hide it, he knew it wouldn't work since it was plainly visible to the ghost and the girl that they already knew how much he had suffered in that amount of time.

  "I'm doing alright.  Oh, that reminds me, do you know who you're going to be playing for the Beginner Dan Series this January?" Hikaru asked as he rose up from his kneeling position and wandered off to the kitchen where some cake awaited them.

  "Uhn, I just got the call this morning.  I'll be playing…"

  "…Ogata-san.  I suppose it's a way of showing to the Go World that he's risen higher in rank as the new title holder over the Jyudan match the past year when…" Hikaru trailed off again.

  "I understand and Sai seems eager to play him too."

  (The only time we played was when he was too drunk and made several careless mistakes.  Yet, despite his condition, he could at least make some good moves and was capable of holding the Go stones correctly enough.) Sai smiled lightly.

  "I'm not sure if Ogata-san will either humor you in the game or actually try and defeat you.  I haven't exactly played him in an official match, so it's a bit chancy," Hikaru warned, "But even with that, don't let your guard down.  He's watched a lot of Sai's games over the internet so he can tell by the way you play."

  "We have no intention of completely hiding Sai's identity now.  There's no reason to worry about anyone knowing about him, but I still sometimes wish that he could have an actual body to move around in," Merodi stated before brushing back her hair and moving towards the door.

  "That way, he could really be free…couldn't he?" Hikaru agreed.

  "Yes….well, see you later you'll be coming to my match won't you?"

  "The match's next week and I don't have any games that day since the Insei are going to be using the room.  I'll be free and I'm sure Touya will be there as well."

  "Touya…" Merodi whispered softly to herself but brushed it aside as she opened the door and stepped through.

  "How do you know about Touya, Merodi?  I don't remember you mentioning him before," Hikaru wondered aloud.

  "Oh, that's easy.  I met him in a Go Salon and used to watch him play games throughout the summer when he was studying for the Pro-preliminaries.  I didn't play a game against him though, seeing that I wasn't good enough at the time.  But when I learned under you and Sai's guidance I challenged him the day before I left with a no komi rule," Merodi replied.

  "Who won?"

  Merodi started to walk forward and then turned her head around.  She let out a small pout and tapped her chin thoughtfully; trying to recall the two games, they played together.

  "The first game was when I won.  I really thought I had caught up to him but the second time we played that day it ended up in a tie.  From the look in his face, I knew it was no coincidence that that happened.  He had surpassed me in skill and that was the game where we made a wager."

  "A wager?"
  "Yup! I was to give him my name if he won and seeing the difference between our strengths in the game, I relented despite the tie and told him.  You see, throughout the summer I came into his Salon and watched him play but never told him anything about me.  While in that same summer I was with you, I learned more about you and Sai and you knew a bit about me, including my name."

  "Why did you do that?"

  She shrugged nonchalantly and then grinned a bit.

  "Probably because I felt like it, I don't know but it seemed like the right thing to do the time.  But it's over now…"

  With that, the girl left with the friendly ghost down the pavement and around the corner, all the time snow was beginning to fall and the cold became much cooler.

  (I'll never understand girls…) Hikaru sighed inwardly before closing the front door and leaving to go into the kitchen where he took the time to make some hot cocoa and helped himself to some more cake.

  "But then again…"He scrunched up his nose as he thought about the polite boy with the fierce eyes. 

  (He's always polite and yet, when we're together he just gets angry after every game we play together.  It's not like it's my fault…)

  Hikaru gripped the cup in his hand tightly, feeling the heat move from the cup to his hand as he squeezed the glass cup.

  "Itai!" Hikaru released the cup and put it down, blowing on his hands.  Afterwards, just as his hands cooled back to room temperature he leaned down against the wooden chair he sat in and raised his hands up to stare at them.  They were callused from the many games he played whether it be from other opponents, replaying old kifus by himself, or the ones he played with Touya.  Remembering the green haired, green-eyed Pro, he squeezed his hands tight and slight anger and excitement ran through his body.

  "Touya…"

  (I don't understand him either…his actions…they're so unpredictable whenever we're around each other.) 

  "But I guess it can't be helped," Hikaru inwardly smirked before finishing his cocoa and cake.

To be continued…

~.~.~.~.~.~.~

  Weird place to stop, I know…^^;; But there's more to come in the future.

Voting is still open, so keep voicing out who you want!  ^^

Pairings:

 Akira/Hikaru: 2

 Sai/Hikaru:   2

 OC/Akira:      3

 OC/Hikaru:    3

 Nase/Hikaru:  1