Chapter 2
After a weeklong absence, Hikaru returned to school. For most of the day he laid his head down on his desk, or simply stared out the window. Whenever he was greeted, his expression would totally change from a wistful, lonely look to a warm, energetic smile. Akari caught up to Hikaru and lunch.
"Hikaru? I heard that you came back, Kanako-san said so. Are you okay now? Is everything better with your friend?" Akari inquired, concerned.
Hikaru responded with a warm smile, "Yeah, I'm fine Akari, sorry for making you worry. Don't worry about Touya and Waya, I'll apologize later."
"That's great Hikaru! But I was talking about your friend Sai." Akari responded.
Hikaru's smile faltered a little, "I don't know any Sai." He said quietly.
"But…" She objected.
"I said I don't know any Sai!" Hikaru yelled. Hikaru hesitated, and then smiled warmly again.
"I'm sorry Akari, I'll tell you later, but now's not a good time. Lunch is about to end, could you meet me after school at this place?" He asked, handing her a folded note.
"Umm, Okay Hikaru," She said, accepting the note. "But you owe me an explanation!" She pouted.
Hikaru chuckled, and then ran off to his . "I'll give you one, I promise!"
As Akari opened the note, she wondered; there was something off about Hikaru, something missing. Opening the note she was puzzled at the address, Honinbo Shusaku's Tokyo grave? Why on earth would Hikaru want to talk there? With these questions in her heart, she finally realized what was wrong with Hikaru.
His smile was empty.
Akari was worried again, Hikaru had left school a little early on sick leave. As she was walking to the train station she wondered if she should still meet at the promised place. Shaking off those concerns, she purchased the train ticket. It was odd to think of Hikaru being sick. He hadn't been sick since 6th grade, when he had collapsed over his grandfather's go board. Looking back on it, after that day he had changed. He had started playing go and passing his history tests, even though he had always gotten Fs before. He also seemed to always be looking over his shoulder, and mumbling to himself. Shaking her self out of her reverie, she realized that she had already gotten off at her stop and had walked to her destination without thinking about it.
"Touya-kun! Waya-kun!" She exclaimed, she was surprised to see them there. She had assumed that Hikaru had wanted to talk to her alone.
"Fujisaki-san! I did not expect to see you here." Touya responded.
"That damn Shindo! How long is he going to keep us waiting? It's already 4:30!" Waya complained.
"Hey! You kids!" A loud voice exclaimed. Kawai-san, the loud-mouthed taxi driver, came up and ruffled Waya's hair, "the brat asked me to give you this letter, and to let only Touya Akira open it." He explained.
"That brat, he said he would only pay me back for that trip to Hiroshima if I delivered this letter at this time. What do I look like, a delivery service?" Kawai-san grumbled.
Puzzled, Touya accepted the letter and started to read the contents. His eyes widened, and he nearly dropped the letter. With shaking hands, he continued reading.
"It can't be true." He whispered.
"Well, what does it say?" asked Waya impatiently.
In a trembling voice, Touya began to read the contents out loud.
A long, long time ago, in the Hein era, there lived a young Go master. This Go master taught the emperor himself. However, there was another Go master a more elderly one, and he insisted that there only be one Go master. So it was decided that there would be a match to determine who would remain in the capital to teach. The game was pretty much even. However, during the match, the young master saw, by chance, the elder master had slipped a stone into his container, as if it were a captured stone. While everyone's attention was focused on the board, the young master was about to raise his voice when the other master jumped up and accused the young master of his crime. The game continued, but disheartened, the young master lost the match.
Banished from the capital and branded a cheater, two days later the young master drowned himself. However, his spirit could not rest in peace, his soul hovered around a Go board. One day he found a boy that could see his tears of resentment, he then resided in the heart of that young boy. The ghost played countless games though the young boy, by the time the boy had reached twenty, he had surpassed his master. He earned the reputation as a legendary Go player. However, at the young age of 36 he died over a Go board.
Over a hundred years later, another boy found the Go board with blood stains only he could see. "Can you hear me? Kami-sama, I am grateful for this second chance." The ghost cried with happiness. However, the second boy was different. He knew nothing of Go and had no desire to play. Although after much nagging, the ghost convinced the boy to play for him. The boy soon developed an interest for Go, and started letting the ghost play less and less. And finally, he would only let the ghost play against himself. He didn't want to draw attention to himself, he wanted his talent to be noticed. He wanted to be recognized instead of the ghost. However one day everything changed, after nearly 3 years, suddenly the ghost disappeared.
The ghost's name was Fujiwara no Sai.
"Sai!?!" Waya exclaimed. "A ghost? Impossible!"
Touya was shaking. "Wait… there is more."
I should have let Sai play from the very beginning. I was nothing, he was a genius! Anyone would have said that. I should have let him play all the games, all of them! I don't need anything, I won't ask to play Go ever again if it would mean that he would come back to me. I can't stand it. I can't stand the silence, the emptiness. I have never been completely alone since I was 12 years old. I'm not going to be alone anymore, I'm going to go meet Sai again, where we first met.
Goodbye.
Hikaru
Author's note: Man, now I know why other authors always beg for feedback. It's basically the only reason to actually post on Fanfiction.net. I mean, I know what's going to happen, and my friends are my beta-readers, so the only reason to put it on the net is to get feedback from other people. Seriously though, I actually have the entire story written already. Unfortunatly, deciphering my friend's editing job is proving to be a challenge. She is very good at what she does, but she sure does butcher my poor story. Give me enough reviews, and I'll make it a point to post faster.