In the Forests of the Night
A Hikaru No Go Ghost Story
As always, this is dedicated to the ever tolerant Imbrium. The girl has to face murderous tomato trucks, bikes with flat tires, and demon nekkos on a daily basis, yet she still finds the time and patience to beta my stories. It's not an easy life, but she pulls it off with style!
Part 8b: Twisting Sinews of the Heart
.... And nothing continued to happen.
Hikaru released the breath he held, slightly puzzled as to why he had been holding it in the first place. His eyes opened, and he ran a hand through his hair, tangling his fingers in the ribbons and coils. For a moment, he felt even more bewildered, then the pieces slid into place. Kitsune. The Go game. His soul at stake. Osusuki dragging him into the clearing, trying to trick him into giving up. But after that .... things were a little ... fuzzy.
What was not fuzzy, however, was the face that was inches from his own, staring at him with one eyebrow arched.
"ARRGH!" Hikaru jerked away from the unfamiliar figure. The man seemed to be wearing the same clothes as the Lord of the Kitsune, but .... "Whoa. Who are YOU? What happened to ol' Kibbles n' Bits?"
"So we're back to name calling," the sardonic voice also matched the one he had previously heard from the kitsune. Hikaru spotted the discarded mask upon the table in front of him.
He IS Osusuki! Just what happened? Something's not right. When did he take off that mask? Why did he take it off? Hikaru rubbed his eyes, feeling horribly disorientated. His brain seemed to have the consistency and the thinking capacity of a smashed tomato. Didn't Sai say something about them being able to do stuff with their eyes, when they don't have masks on? Fleatail must've taken his mask off so he could steal my soul! That's why I feel so dizzy. UGH!
"I don't know what you did to me," Hikaru spluttered, trying to avoid the kitsune's soul-taking gaze. "But I'll never let you have my soul! And I won't let Sai go to Hell!"
"Very well. No Hell, no soul taking ...can we just skip over this?" Osusuki yawned delicately. "We have a certain appointment to keep back at a certain game."
Hikaru shook his head fiercely and squinted, as if trying to bring focus to the blurred edge to his thoughts. The feeling that he hadn't quite grasped the situation prickled through him. "If you think I'm going back there with you, then you have pureed dog food for brains! You said that the Lord of Evil will read my mind!"
"Yes, I believe so," The kitsune rose from his seat. "Better get a move on then."
Maybe I'm the one with a pureed brain. It sure feels like it ... "NO! I won't let him beat Sai through me!"
Osusuki must have tried to do something to him; Hikaru could sense that much, but since he was still here instead of facing the fires of Hell, then the kitsune must have failed. Right? Except ... Hell isn't hot. It's really cold. WHOA. How do I know THAT?!
Hikaru crossed his arms against his stomach. Goose pimples dotted his skin, making his body feel chilled and loose, almost as if he didn't quite fit inside himself anymore. Almost as if something was ...One hand absently drifted up, moving over his chest.
"Come," Osusuki ordered. "We must return to the game."
"I'm not going anywhere with you!" Pureed brain or not, Hikaru instinctively shied away from the advancing kitsune. "I'm not gonna let you ... If ... if you try anything ... I'll ... I'll ..."
Osusuki rolled his eyes. "Yes, yes, you'll put fleas into my tails, skin my hide for a rug, or something equally barbaric. As much as I want to hear what creative curses will spill out of that inane mouth of yours, I'm not having this conversation with you again. It's getting rather repetitive. Either we do this the easy way, or I use my magic."
Hikaru glanced at the dark forest behind him. Perhaps if I make a run for it ... he abandoned the thought immediately. The kitsune would pounce on him before he could take three steps.
He panicked as Osusuki raised a hand, apparently ready to carry out his original threat. Scrabbling backwards, Hikaru's fingers closed upon a teacup, which he lobbed at the fox spirit. Osusuki flicked a claw, and the teacup settled itself sedately on the ground. The kitsune lord took another step forward.
"NO!" In a full fledged state of hysteria now, Hikaru seized the teapot, threw it, then pitched the second cup. He was certain that the kitsune would definitely rip him apart now, and was prepared to run for it anyway. But when his hand clenched on a fourth object, Osusuki froze. Hikaru brought his hands to the front. He had grabbed the kitsune's mask.
Kitsune need masks, in front of gods .... Hikaru bit his lip, banishing the strange mental tendril. The mask must be important -- that much he knew from Osusuki's intent expression.
"What, pray tell, are you going to do with that?"
"Don't come any closer! I'm going to ..." His hands tightened around the edges. The smooth contours felt warm against his fingers, as if the mask had a life away from its owner. Okay, what AM I going to do with it? Maybe if I smash it, I can hurt him somehow ...
But instead of coming down in a sharp, decisive motion, he clutched the mask at chest level, as if it were a shield.
"Well?"
Hikaru's arms continued to remain immobile, despite the fact that every nerve in his mind screamed for him to break mask apart. What's wrong with me?! Why can't I do this?!
"You're controlling my brain!"
"Am I?"
Hikaru swallowed. Even if he is controlling my body, I ... I still don't want to break the mask, he realized. Can he control my feelings or something? What am I going to do?
Numbly, as if he was watching a puppet of himself, Hikaru saw his hands offer forth the mask.
"Go on! TAKE IT!" The words sounded oddly familiar, like a half forgotten dream. Hikaru shuddered again.
"Change your mind?"
"I ... ugh! I hate ... but I ... I don't." Something twisted within him at those words, and all his former defiance bled away. I don't hate him?! "What's going on? Why can't I hate you!? What did you do to me?!"
For a long, breathless moment, the Lord of the Kitsune stared at the mask in Hikaru's hands. Something's important going on here. But it's way over my head. Kinda feels a lot like school, come to think about it.
With a careless looking shrug, Osusuki accepted the mask and slipped it back over his face. Hikaru blinked. With the mask on, the kitsune looked ... different. Beyond the obvious fact that Hikaru could not see the fox spirit's face, there was something else ... something in the way the kitsune now stood, perhaps, or in the way he held himself. Or maybe it was something else entirely.
"The mask mostly symbolic. Even if you could have broken it, that certainly would not have helped your situation. Now, if this bout of theatrics is over, will you cooperate, or do I have to literally drag you in by the scruff of your neck?"
Hikaru managed to back away a half step, but he could not take another, even as the kitsune approached him. Sai ... he winced. I gotta do something. I can't let him down, but ... but ... I ...
"I don't feel like I can fight you anymore," A dull ache began to bang and pound behind his eyes. He wanted to fight the kitsune, wanted to hit back with all his might until the world faded away from either him or the fox spirit, but he merely ducked his head.
"I'm so confused," his voice, even to his own ears, sounded very very small.
"I know," Osusuki said simply.
A sob swelled up through Hikaru but he clamped his teeth on his bottom lip, trying to trap the sound inside him. He almost managed to pull it off.
"S-so that's it? I just ... go back there and ...."
"Yes," The masked kitsune leaned forward, but the dark depth of his empty eyes did not scare Hikaru as much as they did before.
I think I have bigger things to worry about, now.
The clawed hands swept upwards, and a soft glow filled the palms.
"Here," in his hands, the fox spirit held out a fan. "Take it."
"Wh-what?" Hikaru extended his own hand automatically, his fingers closing around the wood before his mind had a chance to question the wisdom of accepting a gift from a fox spirit. "Why?"
"Some of us need masks. Others need ... symbols, reminders that there are things that go deeper than memory, bonds that hold through even the darkest of nights. I stand by what I said before -- you do not know your own worth, nor do you know the depth of your own mind. That is dangerous in your world, and doubly so in mine. And to be strictly honest, that outfit just doesn't look right without a fan. Take it from me, the key to any wardrobe is picking the right accessories. That and style, but it'd take a god to help you in that area. Some things are beyond my power."
"Huh? In the middle of all this you want to talk about accessorizing?! What is WITH you people?!" Hikaru grasped the fan tighter, and inexplicably, the frenetic chaos within him calmed into a small stirring of nerves. The solid reality of the wood against his fingers comforted him, giving him something to hold onto in a world that seemed to shift out from under him with an alarming regularity. It was almost as if the fan connected him somehow ... but just to what, he could not guess. I shouldn't take it ... Sai said not to take anything of the wandering night ...
Nonetheless, he couldn't find it within himself to drop the fan.
"Come."
Bewildered but obedient for once, Hikaru started shuffling forward, then stopped, staring at his feet. He turned around in a careful circle, his robes billowing in a slow, swirling wave. He checked the table, and then the chairs.
"What are you looking for?"
I wish I knew. Hikaru tugged at his robes, patting them down absently. "I thought I might have le..."
Hikaru's voice trailed off as he glanced at the fan in his hand, then back at the ground, scanning it again. "Nevermind."
He flushed as Osusuki gave him a long searching look. What is WRONG with me?!
The kitsune lord said nothing as he continued out of the clearing. The lights immediately dimmed, and the tables and chairs vanished. As the darkness closed upon him, Hikaru had little choice but to follow Osusuki back through the shadowy woods. He could feel the brush of his coiled hair against his cheek as they swayed in time to his shaking steps. His hands never left the fan.
Unlike his departure, this time the crowd definitely noticed him as he and Osusuki made their way back to the raised dais. Hundreds of silk kimonos swished softly as the waiting wanderers leaned forward at his passing. Countless eyes gleamed in the foxfire light. Hikaru kept his own gaze straight ahead. He also tried to avoid looking at the goban that sat so prominently in the middle of the platform.
Maybe if I don't look, then the Lord of the Everlasting Wedgie can't use me to cheat. But how long he could actually pull that off, Hikaru had no clue.
At the foot of the dais, the Kitsune Lord bowed to the Demon Lord. After a second's hesitation Hikaru did so as well. His hands felt sweaty, and he wiped them surreptitiously against his robes. It didn't help matters much. He knew that the other creatures could sense his fear; he could see it in the way their eyes sharpened and their mouths opened ever so slightly. He could hear it in the soft clicks and whispers sliding sibilant from ancient tongues, the nearly silent language of those who crept in the chilled spaces of nightmares. Sai's gently glowing form never seemed as welcome to him as it did then. Hikaru had to physically clasp his hands together in order not to reach out, grab his mentor, pull the ghost close, and cry into his kimono like a little kid with a stuffed animal.
I don't wanna be here anymore! he wailed internally, but an inadvertent glance at Amatsu Mikaboshi immediately muted his mental cry. Ugh! No good. This is no good. Okay, stop panicking. Stop panicking! Stop it! Don't distract Sai!
Hikaru forced himself to take a few deep breaths, keeping his attention focused on his friend instead. The ghost had yet to turn around or acknowledge his presence. Distracting him, perhaps, would not be a problem.
"Sai?" Had his friend even noticed he had left the clearing? Or had the ghost been too distracted by the game, too engrossed by the ability to place his own stones? Hikaru bit his lip, surprised at the pain the thought dredged up. It's like he's in his own little world ...without me ...
Stop it. This isn't helping either! You know it's not like that! he chided himself, bunching his hands together in his hair.
It was apparently Sai's turn to place a stone, for the ghost held one in his hand. His fan remained half opened, indicating he had been contemplating his next move. Hikaru held his breath -- his friend remained motionless, almost as if he was made of stone himself. It made the spirit seem more solid than ever.
"I see you're back! How strange of you not to want to see the very game upon which your existence rests," Amatsu Mikaboshi commented as Hikaru made his way up the platform, his steps slow and shaking. Blocking both the Demon Lord and the game out of his mind, Hikaru concentrated on Sai's face. Suddenly, the ghost blinked, as if finally sensing Hikaru's presence. Hikaru swallowed nervously as his friend's expression quickly flashed from worried to disbelief to shock to alarm.
At that point, Hikaru dropped his gaze to the platform, unable to hold eye contact any longer. He didn't want the next expression he saw to be disappointment.
He heard a fluttering of cloth as Sai moved to his feet. "Hika--"
"Osusuki, why did you take the boy away?" Lord Amatsu Mikaboshi interrupted. "Fujiwara here certainly missed him. You should have seen how agitated he became when he first noticed his little disciple was missing. I had to drag him back into the game -- it was rather undignified, really -- so I do hope you have a reasonable explanation for this highly irregular behavior. One might think you were hiding the boy from me."
"I assure you that I would never dare to even think about such a thing, my lord. A lowly worm of kitsune such as I holds not even the slightest breath of chance against the your unquestionable greatness. I merely thought that the boy seemed uncomfortable, and I was trying to calm him down. The last thing anyone wants to see is an unruly child disrupting such a magnificent game! I apologize if it seems like I interfered, and I beg your most gracious lord to forgive this most unworthy and base of kitsune for his trespass," Osusuki bowed low once again, the tip of his mask touching the base of the dais. Hikaru followed his motions.
"Forgive? Please remember who you're talking to, Osusuki. I don't do forgiveness. You know what is at stake tonight; I am surprised you would try to interfere with the proceedings. May I remind you that it is in your best interest to let the matters go as they must?"
"My apologies, my lord. I just wanted to show Shindo-kun some other ... options." Osusuki replied.
Hikaru wished the kitsune had not brought up his name again. The Lord of All Evil immediately turned his attention back to him, and Hikaru gasped as something swept through his mind, frigid and alien in its presence. In front of him, Sai stiffened as well. The ghost's eyes grew even wider, and his mouth compressed into such a tight line that his lips turned white.
"You have been a busy little bushy tail, haven't you, Osusuki? I see you tried to trick him into giving up his soul early. Almost succeeded too. I must give you bonus points for that; it's a shame you're not a demon. You know, I should let you have another try -- it'll be good practice, for later." Amatsu Mikaboshi chuckled, slapping his thigh as if he had heard the best joke ever. "Say, doesn't this just bring back memories for you, Fujiwara? I bet the Lord of the Kitsune and your little deishi had so much fun together! You do remember how much Osusuki enjoys his little mind games now, don't you?"
A sudden motion at the corner of his eye snapped Hikaru's attention away from the laughing Demon Lord.
It was Sai. The ghost had swept his sleeves back, and his forearms were fully exposed. His right hand clenched his fan so tightly that Hikaru could see the wooden edge biting into the bloodless flesh. The flame like glow had returned, and it burned a pure, cobalt blue, almost obscuring Sai's outline in its intensity. A sharp crackling sound punctuated the air.
Whoooa ... he's REALLY mad ... Hikaru realized. If he had blood vessels, he'd be having a stroke by now!
Sai took one slow step towards Osusuki. "What did you do to him?"
Hikaru had heard Sai's voice when the ghost had been enraged before. He knew how it could lower and harden, how the tempo could change and gain a razor's edge. At the moment, strangely enough, Sai sounded calm and collected -- his tone never changed nor wavered. Yet, beneath the calmly delivered words, Hikaru could hear the anger, which must have been simmering for centuries, rise to boil. At Sai's side, something glittered, long and silver, and Hikaru watched as long, elegant hands flicked towards what looked suspiciously like a hilt.
Osusuki shifted, and his robes parted to reveal his own katana. "You would do this now, Fujiwara-sensei? I would never have guessed that I'd see the day when Fujiwara no Sai would rather fight with swords than on the goban. And over me ! I'm flattered."
Sai didn't back down, though he did not draw his sword either. Both kitsune and ghost remained still, their gazes locked, their bodies balanced and ready. Glancing back and forth between them, Hikaru felt his mouth go dry. He knew just how stubborn Sai could be, but he had never seen such determination paired with cold fury. He felt a little flattered that the ghost would go to such lengths to defend him, but it chilled him a little as well. Just what was Sai capable of doing?
But ... Sai .... around him, the watching crowd shift restlessly. He heard the sharp click of claw upon claws. The very air seemed to tighten, laying heavy on his skin. "No, Sai. Not here. Not like this. Not in front of them ... Osusuki's ... not the one I'm worried about."
Sai gave no indication that he was following Hikaru's thoughts.
The sudden rasp of metal leaving leather made Hikaru jump. Osusuki had drawn his sword. Sai tensed. His hand closed around the sword hilt.
If the ghost drew it ...
"NO!" Hikaru dashed in front of the fox spirit, blocking the kitsune from Sai's gaze. "Sai! Don't be STUPID! He has TEETH and magic and stuff. You ... you don't. I'm okay -- really. I swear. He tried to do something, but it didn't work. And you still have game to play! I can't believe I have to remind you to play!"
He caught the gleam of silver a second before he felt the prick of metal against his cheek.
"Silly little mortal. Didn't anyone ever teach you not to run in front of sharp, pointy objects?" a voice purred into his ear. "And to not turn your back on a kitsune? We're liable to bite, you know."
In front of him, Sai's eyes became narrow slits, but the ghost immediately brought his hands out and away from his side, signaling his temporary surrender.
"However, this little mortal is not the only one being rather silly," Osusuki's voice raised slightly, "even if he is quite rude and forgets his place as your deishi. To tell the truth, I can't blame him for being a little nervous about your sudden interest in blood and guts. It is his soul on the line. But if you rather play with me instead of trying to save him, Fujiwara no Sai ..." Osusuki moved his blade, casually slinging it across his shoulder while sweeping his other arm out wide and bowing slightly. "Let the games begin..."
Sai blinked, and his gaze flickered to Hikaru again.
"This is not over between us. You still hurt him," he said.
"Well, perhaps a little. But only just a little. Your onigiri still has most of his rice ball intact. But you can't blame me for sampling him. He's just so delicious. I'm surprised you never took a nibble. Or did you?"
Hikaru stared as something much like a growl rumbled from the ghost.
"Ohh, stop that, or people will talk! Very well. If you manage to survive this battle, then I promise that I will take my turn with you." Osusuki sheathed his blade. Hikaru took the opportunity to edge back towards his friend. Once Hikaru was safely out of sword range, Sai's blade also flickered out of existence.
"Excuse me ... but I gather that there won't be any senseless violence and bowel-loosening gore? Pity. I do so enjoy that sort of thing. What a waste of male posturing ... no release whatsoever. But gentlemen, if you are not about to start hacking at each other, would you kindly return your attention back to the matter at hand? I do believe I am the main - how do the mortals put it - ah yes ... "bad guy" or "evil villain extraodinaire" if you prefer. I do not like being ignored," Amatsu Mikaboshi stretched out a hand delicately, gesturing towards the goban in an almost demure fashion. "And I do want to finish this game sometime soon. I may have an eternity to play, but I certainly do not want it to take that long. Moreover, I don't think Shindo Hikaru would like the results if I get ... bored. Mortal souls are so fragile."
The flames around Sai blazed up, then flickered back down as he visibly tried to calm himself. Finally, the glow settled back to its normal hue. Sai headed back toward the goban. Hikaru followed the ghost, intent on resuming his position behind his friend again.
"Wait a moment, Shindo Hikaru. Perhaps you would like to sit next to me. You certainly would get a better view of the game from over here than from behind your mentor."
Hikaru twitched nervously."S-sir?" he asked. Calling the Demon Lord insulting names was certainly easier when the aforementioned Demon Lord was not staring at him as if he was the last edamame in the bowl.
"I said, come sit next to me. Let's watch the game together," the Lord of the Night Unending gestured to the space by his side.
"Errr..." Hikaru stared at Sai's back, hoping for some sort of inspiration. "I am err ..." How do I reply this guy? What do I say? He had a distinct feeling that he really did not want to insult the demon god, whether on purpose or by accident.
"I am too umm ... stupid ... to watch such an ... excellent game. I am nothing more than ... a worm ... on the ... errr... delicious apple of Go. Yeah! I am far too ... wormy ... to be in your ... great presence."
The heat crept up from his neck when he heard the titters from the crowd around him. Worm on the delicious apple of Go... I can't believe I said that.
Amatsu Mikaboshi merely raised an eyebrow. "Still, I would think an aspiring pupil like you would want to see such a game as this. It's not often you get to watch a god play."
"Um. I ..." little beads of sweat began to trickle down his back, " Errrr ... I am worried that ... I will be .... blinded ....umm ... by the brilliance of your play, oh magnificently magnificent one, so I don't dare look."
Maybe that was a little too thick ... Hikaru gulped. Again, a murmur ran through the crowd like a hissing river, borne on the current of tension and anticipation.
"Nonetheless, come sit next to me. Like I said before, your mentor is being abysmally slow in responding to my moves, and I could use the company while I wait." Lord Mikaboshi crooked a finger at Hikaru, enticing him forward.
"Ehh ..." Hikaru felt an odd tugging near his midsection, and as if an invisible hand had collared him by the stomach, yanking him abruptly upright. "Aaugh!"
"Lord Amatsu Mikaboshi, my disciple is not worthy to sit next to your most gracious presence," Sai spoke up, and Hikaru felt the grip around him loosen, causing him to tumble backwards in a flapping cacophony of misplaced cloth and body parts. At the very edge of his vision, he saw Kojoro clutching her midsection, obviously from laughing too hard.
"Don't want me checking out the goods beforehand, Fujiwara no Sai?" Amatsu Mikaboshi rubbed his palms together. "Though you are doing quite admirably against me, sooner or later you will have to resign yourself that he will be mine before the night is through. Might as well get the boy used to me, eh?"
"Milord, pardon my impudence for saying so, but the game is not over yet," Sai said mildly. "Until that time, Shindo-kun is still my disciple. As my disciple, his correct place is behind me, as your most gracious lord must surely know."
"Still, I insist." Lord Mikaboshi traced a symbol in the air with his hand. Hikaru grunted as he felt the invisible force tighten around him once again. One foot began to move, then the other. "Come, Shindo Hikaru."
Hikaru didn't have much choice. His muscles bent and flexed without the bidding of his mind. His slippered feet padded against the wood of the platform. Crap! It's like my body's some sort of suit he's put on. Now I know how one of those stupid mecha in an anime feel! Hikaru thoughts scattered about in a random panic.
If I can't stop him from doing this to me ... how am I going to keep ...
"You can't ..."
If Hikaru's mental shriek had been audible, he knew he would have woken the whole of Tokyo. Amatsu Mikaboshi's mental laughter curled rancidly in Hikaru's mind, making all his thoughts and attempts to think curdle.
" Come now, it won't be so bad. Sit by me, and tell me what you see ..."
Hikaru felt his legs bend awkwardly as he slid into a stiff crouch near the Lord of Hell. He tried to keep his eyes closed, tried to bring his fan up to cover his face, but Lord Amatsu Mikaboshi's power crashed through him, as unstoppable as time and tide.
"I'm sorry, Sai ... " His neck bent forward, and a sudden thought of chopping blocks and falling feathers crossed his frantic mind. He saw the goban for a split second, then the image before him fractured, as if the goban had split into five gobans, ten gobans, countless gobans. Hikaru's stomach roiled as a steady stream of half images, translucent and shimmering, flickered before him. Sai's past games ... Lord Amatsu Mikaboshi was pulling them from him ...
He tried to open his mouth to say something, to scream, but he found he couldn't do that either. He could not struggle, could not look away, could only sit mute as his innermost thoughts were violated.
All the games Sai had taught him ... everything the ghost had ever given him ... the night had turned into some twisted parody their former relationship; now Sai was the opponent on the other side of the goban, while he, body-less and inconsequential, supplied the damning strategies to another player.
"Gotta love being evil, now, don't ya?"
Hikaru tamped back his own thoughts, refusing to give the Demon Lord any more assistance. Yet, still the game continued, and the cold presence in his mind grew more and more triumphant. The time Sai took to make a move became more and more pronounced, to the point that the ghost seemed to take almost hours to respond. The only good thing about being controlled by the Lord of Evil was that Hikaru could not look at Sai, even if he wanted to. He wondered if he could ever face his friend again.
"Now, this has gone on long enough. There is no way you can win. Do you admit your defeat, Fujiwara no Sai?"
Hikaru nearly emptied his stomach when he finally felt that icy touch leave his thoughts. He knew that there was only one reason for Amatsu Mikaboshi to withdraw.
Looking up, Hikaru sought Sai's eyes for one last time, wanting to apologize before they both were sent to Hell. He owed his friend that much at least ...
But he did not find defeat in his mentor's eyes. Instead he found ... Hikaru blinked, glancing at the goban again.
Sai placed his stone. A murmur rippled through the crowd again, building into gasps of real surprise.
"What?! SHINDO!"
Hikaru had a moment to gape in confusion as Amatsu Mikaboshi loomed over him. Faintly, he could hear someone frantically calling his name, but the sound faded as the outside world crumpled inward and away.
"SHOW ME THE REAL GAMES!"
Pain exploded within him. Pain beyond imagining. Pain beyond thought.
"SHOW ME!"
Images ripped scatteredshatterednothingmadesensewhatwashappenning ....
"HIKARU!" A lifeline and a link ...something in white ... someone with him ...sword drawn ... reaching out, sweeping him behind, shielding him. The pain lessened ... he wasn't alone ... wherever he was ... But he couldn't let .... He had to protect ...
"FUJIWARA! HOW DARE YOU!"
No ... he couldn't let ...he knew that through him ... Sai ...
The silver sword flickered .... flashed ...
Sai?!
And met, blocked, metal shrilling against metal, with something he could not see. He was forgotten, for the moment.
In the brief space when the pressure eased from his thoughts, Hikaru mentally fled, searching for escape with every last bit of flagging energy he could summon. There was another bright starburst, and a flash of light, arcing outward in the swelling sweep of a falling sword ... something severed, broke free ... no time to see what ... he ran ... the blade hit ... oh god it hurts ... and everything faded ... fades
into light.... Into so much light that he cannot see -- it might as well have been darkness. Not that it matters. Whether in darkness or light, he cannot run anymore. As his strength wanes, he feels a strange peace descend. Somewhere, he hears someone call what might have been his name. That doesn't matter either. At least it's not cold. That's good, right?
What is even better is the goban that suddenly appears before him. A nearly finished game glitters on its surface.
And he is not alone. Another person waits in the light, facing the starcrossed lines. A familiar feeling fills him, overrunning. He is not alone! But familiarity comes without recognition.
"Who ...?"
The game though ... the game ... Awe trembles through him. ...for this is not just any game, no. It is Go where ...
"...are you?"
..the board shines to the point of burning with moves and countermoves. The complexity makes him ache from trying to encompass it all. The beauty there, the pulse of energy that thrums between the lines and stones ... it banishes everything from thoughts to emotions ... to the point where even his sense of who ...
"...am I?"
... he is doesn't matter, his opponent's name doesn't matter .... identity cannot exist in harmony with such a moment ...all that matters is that he is not alone, he is not just one name, his rival is not just one name ....
The only thing that is one is this game, this perfect game ... he looks up at his many named rival, and infinite power crackles between them, within them, around them, in this place which can give birth to stars ...
"HIKARU!"
The vision burst, like a bubble brushing ice. He collapsed on the dais, his strength draining from him. He couldn't move, couldn't think, couldn't breathe ...
"HIKARU! " something pushed at the borders of his collapsing sanity, trying to force entry. The voice ensnared him, dragging him down, away ...
He shoved back. He shut the voice off and out. He didn't want to hear any more. Everything was nothing but sharded edges, broken, cutting. He was alone again ... alone ...
"Hikaru, please ... I can't ... reach ...."
Away. He had to get away. Back to the place with the stars and light unending ...
"NO! Hikaru, don't ~! No!"
And then, there .... a figure in windswept white, silver sword drawn. Pointing at him. Blocking. Arcing the sword backward ... cutting ... cutting ...CUTTING him. Breaking into ...
Pain!
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry ...please ... Hikaru? Hikaru!"
Pain!
"Can you hear me? Can you hear me?! Hikaru! "
Pain ... and humming?
"Hikaru, I am with you. Shh ... I am with you now..."
Not alone?
The touch in his head was careful, picking up the pieces, sorting and smoothing the edges with a practiced ease and familiarity. Slowly, like a faint radio signal sharpening to sound, the outside word merged again with his inner existence.
He wished it would not do so. It hurt.
"Breathe, Hikaru ..."
And he did. It was not easy. Thoughts were even harder. He might have screamed, if he could.
"H-hikaru, shh. You'll be fine. I am with you now, so stay with me ..."
Alone? No. Some half-formed thought within him noted that he was being held. He curled into that touch. The humming in his mind increased, pushing the agony even further back and allowing a few more thoughts to form.
Not alone. Not alone! Who? Holding ...how? He opened his eyes a crack and brought up a hand to rub at his face. Something ...poking... It took a moment to realize he was hitting himself in the head with an object in his hand. ...fan? .... connected ... memories.... hurt ... hurt ... HURT! Amat ...no!
He jerked away from the hands holding him. He didn't want to think anymore, to breathe anymore, to be anymore.
The humming in his mind, however, held him in place and forced him to focus, no matter how hard he tried to escape. He was vaguely aware of arms circling him again, pulling him close. A hand enclosed over the one he had on the fan, steadying his grip. The thrumming soundwave crested, enveloping him in its warm, comforting current. He allowed himself be carried within its tidal pull, let the embrace absorb him, and when the sound finally receded, he found himself staring into a pair of violet eyes. Angry violet eyes. Furious even.
"Sai," This time the name came easily, as did his own. "Ow."
"Hikaru! That was the most STUPID thing you have EVER done! EVER! You could have, you almost di -- what were you THINKING?! I had to hurt you to ...I had to hurt you ..." the violet eyes dimmed, and the fury faded.
"Ow. Sai. Stop. Not now." Hikaru clutched at his head. Again, he felt the ghost touch his shoulder, and the pain lessened. He was still not certain what had happened to his mind, (or to be exact, what happened to him in general, and where he had gone) but he had the strange image of a golden ribbon being shredded to pieces before being quickly sewn back up. As it was, his mind and memories still felt haphazardly quilted together. All it would take was quick tug and he would unravel.
"So. You think you've won, don't you, with your little trick?" Lord Amatsu Mikaboshi remarked casually. "Very clever of you, Osusuki, but you nearly made me destroy the boy's mind with that little annoyance. Or was that your plan all along? Hmm, it would be a little cruel, even for you, if you offered him his escape but not his sanity."
"I don't know what you're talking about, my lord. I have done nothing outside what any kitsune would have done." Hikaru caught a flash of crimson at the edge platform near where he lay, but he had no energy to look closer.
"I will deal with you later. As for this game ...my, my, it is in quite a state, isn't it? I do seem to be on the loosing side of things."
"So you agree that you've lost?" Hikaru felt his breath catch as Sai leaned forward intently.
"Oh ... I wouldn't say that."
"The moves, once made, cannot be taken back," Sai said quietly, his head still submissively bent over. His words, though, held a certain challenge to them. "Surely one as great as you, milord, knows this."
"Yes, but do you really want to continue from here? I would have to go back into certain ...places again, places which you probably don't want me to go, places which cannot hold its center anymore. You barely put him back together this time. I only let you fix him because there's something in him ... something very special indeed ... that I don't want damaged. If I was going to lose him anyway, well ... as they say, what the Hell? All the kings horses and all the king's men won't be able to put him back together again."
The pain in Hikaru's head intensified. No! I c-can't! I CAN'T! Not again!
"Shhh, I swear, I won't let him do it to you again. I swear it, Hikaru," the agony receded slightly as a warm presence filled his thoughts again, blocking out the Demon Lord's touch temporarily.
"But it doesn't have to be so unpleasant. It could be quite the opposite, actually. Tell me, do you ever wonder what it might have been like, if you hadn't taken the rather soggy route you did? Now, I must say that the suicides are amongst my most favorite residents in my realm." Amatsu Mikaboshi brought the tips of his fingers together, clicking his nails ever so softly. The sound, quiet as it was, still made Hikaru flinch.
"Sometimes, when things get boring, I like to show them what their lives could have been. That one, divine moment that comes when they realize their loss ... ah, but I don't need to go into that with you, Fujiwara, do I? You do remember your family, don't you? Your mother. Your father. When they found you afterwards ... were you surprised by their tears? Even now, after a thousand years, those images remain clear, don't they? As well as the memories of that brief, flickering time when you knew what it meant to walk fully in the mortal world, the taste of the first tea harvest, the sound of summer rain on the imperial roof, the swish of silk as you made your way through the chambers ... you do remember all of it, right?"
Sai said nothing.
The Lord of Hell snapped his fingers. "Let me refresh your memories."
Shadows began to merge and darken at his end of the podium. Hikaru swallowed hard. In the center, the darkness gathered like a web drawing inwards. A shrunken figure emerged. Thick, heavy looking chains dangled from his wasted limbs and bloody wounds opened their gaping mouths all over his flesh. Rags of grey-white wisped around like half rent bandages; the dregs of what must have been an elegant kimono in happier times. Hair unbounded into ratted tangles, reaching waist length, twisting and swaying around the gaunt face like dark serpents given life. But what horrified Hikaru the most was the expression on the sunken face ... and the familiarity he saw there. No human or anything that had once been human should wear such a look ... but he seen it before, in the pages of history, during the very worst of what humans could do to each other.
The bedraggled creature which had once been human gibbered inchoately, leaving a thin trail of sound that built up as it staggered forward. It lurched towards Sai and Hikaru. Even through the thick padding of his kimono, Hikaru could feel the vibrations from Sai's fingers as they clenched his shoulder tightly.
"Sugawara?" Sai whispered. "Sugawara no Akitada ..."
"Yes, though I have to say your rival looking a little worse for wear since you last saw him. He was your first real challenge wasn't he? How excited you must have been, to find an opponent truly worthy of your skills, after so many had abandoned you or disappointed you. You must remember how that felt, right? And how you felt when he betrayed your trust, betrayed his own talent in Go? Did the shame burn a hole in your heart then? How you must have cried, to see such shining talent perverted in such a way. That was the last cut that laid open the bone, the last grain of salt on the already bleeding wounds, wasn't it?" Amatsu Mikaboshi's eyes half closed, and the god let out a delicate sigh.
"He betrayed you, Fujiwara no Sai, in a field where it hurt the most, when you could see what kind of game it could have been, what he could have been. If only he hadn't made that one little, almost minuscule move of his .... just imagine. You would have your family's honor. You would have your position in the court. You would have an eternal rival. With the ability to play on your own power, gain recognition with your own name, and with an eternal rival ... ah, who knows what wonders you may accomplish? What heights you could scale. Perhaps even ... well, dare I say it?" Lord Amatsu Mikaboshi tapped his lips delicately with his fingers.
"You know, if I felt so inclined, I could take you back. I could make it so your father will never have to erase your name from the family registry. I could make it so that your mother and grandmother will never have to know the shame of having you as a son. I could give you back the pleasure of your old life and erase the pain. One moment in time, Fujiwara no Sai. Just one, simple little change."
Sai stared, his hands never leaving Hikaru's shoulders.
"No," he finally said. His voice was nearly inaudible, but Hikaru calmed at the underlying determination in his friend's voice. "No."
"So sure, Fujiwara? This is the chance to redeem yourself, your family, AND fix that little niggling game that must have plagued you for centuries. You need your rival, more than that pesky little deishi of yours, in order to get what you truly want. You know this."
"No." Sai drew himself up fully. "Moves ... moves, once made, cannot be taken back. It is one of the rules of Go, as it is ... in other things."
Amatsu Mikaboshi brought the tips of his fingers back together again, leaning forward slightly. "You surprise me, Fujiwara. I know how much the temptation pulls at you, how the game calls your name, how the yearning to reach the Hand of God consumes almost all your thoughts. Can you really turn away from this path? I know how sometimes - in your deepest, darkest thoughts -- you even resent your deishi for the delay he presents to you."
Hikaru swallowed hard as Sai remained silent.
The Lord of Hell shook his head slightly. "Very well. Perhaps ... I'm not appealing to the right sort of ... sensibilities. "
Lord Amatsu Mikaboshi leaned back, a wide smile crossing his delicate features. A disturbing prickle clawed its way up Hikaru's spine when the Demon Lord's eyes came to rest upon him. Looking away quickly, Hikaru's gaze caught that of Sai's old rival. The ghost flinched. Sugawara no Akitada cowered at the furthest edge of the platform away from both Amatsu Mikaboshi and Sai -- but he also tried to remain as far away from the night wanderers as possible. Hikaru felt a hot burst of satisfaction he felt as he watched the person who had helped kill his best friend curl up into a small, shivering ball. The young Go pro knew he should be ashamed of himself.
"Shindo Hikaru ... do you know? What could I offer your sensei that he would treasure even more than the Hand of God? What could he possibly value even more than you?" Amatsu Mikaboshi's voice made Hikaru want to mimic Sugawara's pose. Only Sai's grip on his shoulders kept him upright.
"D-don't let him trick you, Sai. Whatever you do, you gotta bargain to get out of Hell! Do you hear me?" Trying to speak through his thoughts made his head feel as if it had been sandblasted then left out to the wind. Auuuugh!
"Shh, Hikaru. It'll get better, just give yourself some time to heal. It will be okay. There's nothing he can do that would make me ...." Sai stopped abruptly, his expression changing as he turned to face the sudden snap-hiss of an opening portal.
"You know, I think I might just have the thing ..." Amatsu Mikaboshi mused. One long, elegant hand dipped down into Go bowl and removed a black stone. "It seems I do have some moves still open to me. Just so you know... atari."
The placement of the stone echoed the exact moment when a figure began to step forward, breaking free of the darkness and emerging into the foxfire light. He appeared far older than Hikaru or even Sai, but he was still young nonetheless, and he moved with a beauty that encompassed both his body and his face. A firefly glow danced about him, much like that which surrounded Sai. Hikaru knew then, in the same, gut level way he could sometimes predict the one, perfect move in a game littered with traps, that such a being did not belong in Hell. There was something wrong... something terribly wrong ...
He wondered who it could ...
"No. It can't be. It just can't be ... " Sai murmured, dropping his fan and backing up ...
... and away from Hikaru, who distinctly felt something within him shatter yet again.
"T-torajiro?"
Oh shit ...
To be continued . . .
A Hikaru No Go Ghost Story
As always, this is dedicated to the ever tolerant Imbrium. The girl has to face murderous tomato trucks, bikes with flat tires, and demon nekkos on a daily basis, yet she still finds the time and patience to beta my stories. It's not an easy life, but she pulls it off with style!
Part 8b: Twisting Sinews of the Heart
.... And nothing continued to happen.
Hikaru released the breath he held, slightly puzzled as to why he had been holding it in the first place. His eyes opened, and he ran a hand through his hair, tangling his fingers in the ribbons and coils. For a moment, he felt even more bewildered, then the pieces slid into place. Kitsune. The Go game. His soul at stake. Osusuki dragging him into the clearing, trying to trick him into giving up. But after that .... things were a little ... fuzzy.
What was not fuzzy, however, was the face that was inches from his own, staring at him with one eyebrow arched.
"ARRGH!" Hikaru jerked away from the unfamiliar figure. The man seemed to be wearing the same clothes as the Lord of the Kitsune, but .... "Whoa. Who are YOU? What happened to ol' Kibbles n' Bits?"
"So we're back to name calling," the sardonic voice also matched the one he had previously heard from the kitsune. Hikaru spotted the discarded mask upon the table in front of him.
He IS Osusuki! Just what happened? Something's not right. When did he take off that mask? Why did he take it off? Hikaru rubbed his eyes, feeling horribly disorientated. His brain seemed to have the consistency and the thinking capacity of a smashed tomato. Didn't Sai say something about them being able to do stuff with their eyes, when they don't have masks on? Fleatail must've taken his mask off so he could steal my soul! That's why I feel so dizzy. UGH!
"I don't know what you did to me," Hikaru spluttered, trying to avoid the kitsune's soul-taking gaze. "But I'll never let you have my soul! And I won't let Sai go to Hell!"
"Very well. No Hell, no soul taking ...can we just skip over this?" Osusuki yawned delicately. "We have a certain appointment to keep back at a certain game."
Hikaru shook his head fiercely and squinted, as if trying to bring focus to the blurred edge to his thoughts. The feeling that he hadn't quite grasped the situation prickled through him. "If you think I'm going back there with you, then you have pureed dog food for brains! You said that the Lord of Evil will read my mind!"
"Yes, I believe so," The kitsune rose from his seat. "Better get a move on then."
Maybe I'm the one with a pureed brain. It sure feels like it ... "NO! I won't let him beat Sai through me!"
Osusuki must have tried to do something to him; Hikaru could sense that much, but since he was still here instead of facing the fires of Hell, then the kitsune must have failed. Right? Except ... Hell isn't hot. It's really cold. WHOA. How do I know THAT?!
Hikaru crossed his arms against his stomach. Goose pimples dotted his skin, making his body feel chilled and loose, almost as if he didn't quite fit inside himself anymore. Almost as if something was ...One hand absently drifted up, moving over his chest.
"Come," Osusuki ordered. "We must return to the game."
"I'm not going anywhere with you!" Pureed brain or not, Hikaru instinctively shied away from the advancing kitsune. "I'm not gonna let you ... If ... if you try anything ... I'll ... I'll ..."
Osusuki rolled his eyes. "Yes, yes, you'll put fleas into my tails, skin my hide for a rug, or something equally barbaric. As much as I want to hear what creative curses will spill out of that inane mouth of yours, I'm not having this conversation with you again. It's getting rather repetitive. Either we do this the easy way, or I use my magic."
Hikaru glanced at the dark forest behind him. Perhaps if I make a run for it ... he abandoned the thought immediately. The kitsune would pounce on him before he could take three steps.
He panicked as Osusuki raised a hand, apparently ready to carry out his original threat. Scrabbling backwards, Hikaru's fingers closed upon a teacup, which he lobbed at the fox spirit. Osusuki flicked a claw, and the teacup settled itself sedately on the ground. The kitsune lord took another step forward.
"NO!" In a full fledged state of hysteria now, Hikaru seized the teapot, threw it, then pitched the second cup. He was certain that the kitsune would definitely rip him apart now, and was prepared to run for it anyway. But when his hand clenched on a fourth object, Osusuki froze. Hikaru brought his hands to the front. He had grabbed the kitsune's mask.
Kitsune need masks, in front of gods .... Hikaru bit his lip, banishing the strange mental tendril. The mask must be important -- that much he knew from Osusuki's intent expression.
"What, pray tell, are you going to do with that?"
"Don't come any closer! I'm going to ..." His hands tightened around the edges. The smooth contours felt warm against his fingers, as if the mask had a life away from its owner. Okay, what AM I going to do with it? Maybe if I smash it, I can hurt him somehow ...
But instead of coming down in a sharp, decisive motion, he clutched the mask at chest level, as if it were a shield.
"Well?"
Hikaru's arms continued to remain immobile, despite the fact that every nerve in his mind screamed for him to break mask apart. What's wrong with me?! Why can't I do this?!
"You're controlling my brain!"
"Am I?"
Hikaru swallowed. Even if he is controlling my body, I ... I still don't want to break the mask, he realized. Can he control my feelings or something? What am I going to do?
Numbly, as if he was watching a puppet of himself, Hikaru saw his hands offer forth the mask.
"Go on! TAKE IT!" The words sounded oddly familiar, like a half forgotten dream. Hikaru shuddered again.
"Change your mind?"
"I ... ugh! I hate ... but I ... I don't." Something twisted within him at those words, and all his former defiance bled away. I don't hate him?! "What's going on? Why can't I hate you!? What did you do to me?!"
For a long, breathless moment, the Lord of the Kitsune stared at the mask in Hikaru's hands. Something's important going on here. But it's way over my head. Kinda feels a lot like school, come to think about it.
With a careless looking shrug, Osusuki accepted the mask and slipped it back over his face. Hikaru blinked. With the mask on, the kitsune looked ... different. Beyond the obvious fact that Hikaru could not see the fox spirit's face, there was something else ... something in the way the kitsune now stood, perhaps, or in the way he held himself. Or maybe it was something else entirely.
"The mask mostly symbolic. Even if you could have broken it, that certainly would not have helped your situation. Now, if this bout of theatrics is over, will you cooperate, or do I have to literally drag you in by the scruff of your neck?"
Hikaru managed to back away a half step, but he could not take another, even as the kitsune approached him. Sai ... he winced. I gotta do something. I can't let him down, but ... but ... I ...
"I don't feel like I can fight you anymore," A dull ache began to bang and pound behind his eyes. He wanted to fight the kitsune, wanted to hit back with all his might until the world faded away from either him or the fox spirit, but he merely ducked his head.
"I'm so confused," his voice, even to his own ears, sounded very very small.
"I know," Osusuki said simply.
A sob swelled up through Hikaru but he clamped his teeth on his bottom lip, trying to trap the sound inside him. He almost managed to pull it off.
"S-so that's it? I just ... go back there and ...."
"Yes," The masked kitsune leaned forward, but the dark depth of his empty eyes did not scare Hikaru as much as they did before.
I think I have bigger things to worry about, now.
The clawed hands swept upwards, and a soft glow filled the palms.
"Here," in his hands, the fox spirit held out a fan. "Take it."
"Wh-what?" Hikaru extended his own hand automatically, his fingers closing around the wood before his mind had a chance to question the wisdom of accepting a gift from a fox spirit. "Why?"
"Some of us need masks. Others need ... symbols, reminders that there are things that go deeper than memory, bonds that hold through even the darkest of nights. I stand by what I said before -- you do not know your own worth, nor do you know the depth of your own mind. That is dangerous in your world, and doubly so in mine. And to be strictly honest, that outfit just doesn't look right without a fan. Take it from me, the key to any wardrobe is picking the right accessories. That and style, but it'd take a god to help you in that area. Some things are beyond my power."
"Huh? In the middle of all this you want to talk about accessorizing?! What is WITH you people?!" Hikaru grasped the fan tighter, and inexplicably, the frenetic chaos within him calmed into a small stirring of nerves. The solid reality of the wood against his fingers comforted him, giving him something to hold onto in a world that seemed to shift out from under him with an alarming regularity. It was almost as if the fan connected him somehow ... but just to what, he could not guess. I shouldn't take it ... Sai said not to take anything of the wandering night ...
Nonetheless, he couldn't find it within himself to drop the fan.
"Come."
Bewildered but obedient for once, Hikaru started shuffling forward, then stopped, staring at his feet. He turned around in a careful circle, his robes billowing in a slow, swirling wave. He checked the table, and then the chairs.
"What are you looking for?"
I wish I knew. Hikaru tugged at his robes, patting them down absently. "I thought I might have le..."
Hikaru's voice trailed off as he glanced at the fan in his hand, then back at the ground, scanning it again. "Nevermind."
He flushed as Osusuki gave him a long searching look. What is WRONG with me?!
The kitsune lord said nothing as he continued out of the clearing. The lights immediately dimmed, and the tables and chairs vanished. As the darkness closed upon him, Hikaru had little choice but to follow Osusuki back through the shadowy woods. He could feel the brush of his coiled hair against his cheek as they swayed in time to his shaking steps. His hands never left the fan.
Unlike his departure, this time the crowd definitely noticed him as he and Osusuki made their way back to the raised dais. Hundreds of silk kimonos swished softly as the waiting wanderers leaned forward at his passing. Countless eyes gleamed in the foxfire light. Hikaru kept his own gaze straight ahead. He also tried to avoid looking at the goban that sat so prominently in the middle of the platform.
Maybe if I don't look, then the Lord of the Everlasting Wedgie can't use me to cheat. But how long he could actually pull that off, Hikaru had no clue.
At the foot of the dais, the Kitsune Lord bowed to the Demon Lord. After a second's hesitation Hikaru did so as well. His hands felt sweaty, and he wiped them surreptitiously against his robes. It didn't help matters much. He knew that the other creatures could sense his fear; he could see it in the way their eyes sharpened and their mouths opened ever so slightly. He could hear it in the soft clicks and whispers sliding sibilant from ancient tongues, the nearly silent language of those who crept in the chilled spaces of nightmares. Sai's gently glowing form never seemed as welcome to him as it did then. Hikaru had to physically clasp his hands together in order not to reach out, grab his mentor, pull the ghost close, and cry into his kimono like a little kid with a stuffed animal.
I don't wanna be here anymore! he wailed internally, but an inadvertent glance at Amatsu Mikaboshi immediately muted his mental cry. Ugh! No good. This is no good. Okay, stop panicking. Stop panicking! Stop it! Don't distract Sai!
Hikaru forced himself to take a few deep breaths, keeping his attention focused on his friend instead. The ghost had yet to turn around or acknowledge his presence. Distracting him, perhaps, would not be a problem.
"Sai?" Had his friend even noticed he had left the clearing? Or had the ghost been too distracted by the game, too engrossed by the ability to place his own stones? Hikaru bit his lip, surprised at the pain the thought dredged up. It's like he's in his own little world ...without me ...
Stop it. This isn't helping either! You know it's not like that! he chided himself, bunching his hands together in his hair.
It was apparently Sai's turn to place a stone, for the ghost held one in his hand. His fan remained half opened, indicating he had been contemplating his next move. Hikaru held his breath -- his friend remained motionless, almost as if he was made of stone himself. It made the spirit seem more solid than ever.
"I see you're back! How strange of you not to want to see the very game upon which your existence rests," Amatsu Mikaboshi commented as Hikaru made his way up the platform, his steps slow and shaking. Blocking both the Demon Lord and the game out of his mind, Hikaru concentrated on Sai's face. Suddenly, the ghost blinked, as if finally sensing Hikaru's presence. Hikaru swallowed nervously as his friend's expression quickly flashed from worried to disbelief to shock to alarm.
At that point, Hikaru dropped his gaze to the platform, unable to hold eye contact any longer. He didn't want the next expression he saw to be disappointment.
He heard a fluttering of cloth as Sai moved to his feet. "Hika--"
"Osusuki, why did you take the boy away?" Lord Amatsu Mikaboshi interrupted. "Fujiwara here certainly missed him. You should have seen how agitated he became when he first noticed his little disciple was missing. I had to drag him back into the game -- it was rather undignified, really -- so I do hope you have a reasonable explanation for this highly irregular behavior. One might think you were hiding the boy from me."
"I assure you that I would never dare to even think about such a thing, my lord. A lowly worm of kitsune such as I holds not even the slightest breath of chance against the your unquestionable greatness. I merely thought that the boy seemed uncomfortable, and I was trying to calm him down. The last thing anyone wants to see is an unruly child disrupting such a magnificent game! I apologize if it seems like I interfered, and I beg your most gracious lord to forgive this most unworthy and base of kitsune for his trespass," Osusuki bowed low once again, the tip of his mask touching the base of the dais. Hikaru followed his motions.
"Forgive? Please remember who you're talking to, Osusuki. I don't do forgiveness. You know what is at stake tonight; I am surprised you would try to interfere with the proceedings. May I remind you that it is in your best interest to let the matters go as they must?"
"My apologies, my lord. I just wanted to show Shindo-kun some other ... options." Osusuki replied.
Hikaru wished the kitsune had not brought up his name again. The Lord of All Evil immediately turned his attention back to him, and Hikaru gasped as something swept through his mind, frigid and alien in its presence. In front of him, Sai stiffened as well. The ghost's eyes grew even wider, and his mouth compressed into such a tight line that his lips turned white.
"You have been a busy little bushy tail, haven't you, Osusuki? I see you tried to trick him into giving up his soul early. Almost succeeded too. I must give you bonus points for that; it's a shame you're not a demon. You know, I should let you have another try -- it'll be good practice, for later." Amatsu Mikaboshi chuckled, slapping his thigh as if he had heard the best joke ever. "Say, doesn't this just bring back memories for you, Fujiwara? I bet the Lord of the Kitsune and your little deishi had so much fun together! You do remember how much Osusuki enjoys his little mind games now, don't you?"
A sudden motion at the corner of his eye snapped Hikaru's attention away from the laughing Demon Lord.
It was Sai. The ghost had swept his sleeves back, and his forearms were fully exposed. His right hand clenched his fan so tightly that Hikaru could see the wooden edge biting into the bloodless flesh. The flame like glow had returned, and it burned a pure, cobalt blue, almost obscuring Sai's outline in its intensity. A sharp crackling sound punctuated the air.
Whoooa ... he's REALLY mad ... Hikaru realized. If he had blood vessels, he'd be having a stroke by now!
Sai took one slow step towards Osusuki. "What did you do to him?"
Hikaru had heard Sai's voice when the ghost had been enraged before. He knew how it could lower and harden, how the tempo could change and gain a razor's edge. At the moment, strangely enough, Sai sounded calm and collected -- his tone never changed nor wavered. Yet, beneath the calmly delivered words, Hikaru could hear the anger, which must have been simmering for centuries, rise to boil. At Sai's side, something glittered, long and silver, and Hikaru watched as long, elegant hands flicked towards what looked suspiciously like a hilt.
Osusuki shifted, and his robes parted to reveal his own katana. "You would do this now, Fujiwara-sensei? I would never have guessed that I'd see the day when Fujiwara no Sai would rather fight with swords than on the goban. And over me ! I'm flattered."
Sai didn't back down, though he did not draw his sword either. Both kitsune and ghost remained still, their gazes locked, their bodies balanced and ready. Glancing back and forth between them, Hikaru felt his mouth go dry. He knew just how stubborn Sai could be, but he had never seen such determination paired with cold fury. He felt a little flattered that the ghost would go to such lengths to defend him, but it chilled him a little as well. Just what was Sai capable of doing?
But ... Sai .... around him, the watching crowd shift restlessly. He heard the sharp click of claw upon claws. The very air seemed to tighten, laying heavy on his skin. "No, Sai. Not here. Not like this. Not in front of them ... Osusuki's ... not the one I'm worried about."
Sai gave no indication that he was following Hikaru's thoughts.
The sudden rasp of metal leaving leather made Hikaru jump. Osusuki had drawn his sword. Sai tensed. His hand closed around the sword hilt.
If the ghost drew it ...
"NO!" Hikaru dashed in front of the fox spirit, blocking the kitsune from Sai's gaze. "Sai! Don't be STUPID! He has TEETH and magic and stuff. You ... you don't. I'm okay -- really. I swear. He tried to do something, but it didn't work. And you still have game to play! I can't believe I have to remind you to play!"
He caught the gleam of silver a second before he felt the prick of metal against his cheek.
"Silly little mortal. Didn't anyone ever teach you not to run in front of sharp, pointy objects?" a voice purred into his ear. "And to not turn your back on a kitsune? We're liable to bite, you know."
In front of him, Sai's eyes became narrow slits, but the ghost immediately brought his hands out and away from his side, signaling his temporary surrender.
"However, this little mortal is not the only one being rather silly," Osusuki's voice raised slightly, "even if he is quite rude and forgets his place as your deishi. To tell the truth, I can't blame him for being a little nervous about your sudden interest in blood and guts. It is his soul on the line. But if you rather play with me instead of trying to save him, Fujiwara no Sai ..." Osusuki moved his blade, casually slinging it across his shoulder while sweeping his other arm out wide and bowing slightly. "Let the games begin..."
Sai blinked, and his gaze flickered to Hikaru again.
"This is not over between us. You still hurt him," he said.
"Well, perhaps a little. But only just a little. Your onigiri still has most of his rice ball intact. But you can't blame me for sampling him. He's just so delicious. I'm surprised you never took a nibble. Or did you?"
Hikaru stared as something much like a growl rumbled from the ghost.
"Ohh, stop that, or people will talk! Very well. If you manage to survive this battle, then I promise that I will take my turn with you." Osusuki sheathed his blade. Hikaru took the opportunity to edge back towards his friend. Once Hikaru was safely out of sword range, Sai's blade also flickered out of existence.
"Excuse me ... but I gather that there won't be any senseless violence and bowel-loosening gore? Pity. I do so enjoy that sort of thing. What a waste of male posturing ... no release whatsoever. But gentlemen, if you are not about to start hacking at each other, would you kindly return your attention back to the matter at hand? I do believe I am the main - how do the mortals put it - ah yes ... "bad guy" or "evil villain extraodinaire" if you prefer. I do not like being ignored," Amatsu Mikaboshi stretched out a hand delicately, gesturing towards the goban in an almost demure fashion. "And I do want to finish this game sometime soon. I may have an eternity to play, but I certainly do not want it to take that long. Moreover, I don't think Shindo Hikaru would like the results if I get ... bored. Mortal souls are so fragile."
The flames around Sai blazed up, then flickered back down as he visibly tried to calm himself. Finally, the glow settled back to its normal hue. Sai headed back toward the goban. Hikaru followed the ghost, intent on resuming his position behind his friend again.
"Wait a moment, Shindo Hikaru. Perhaps you would like to sit next to me. You certainly would get a better view of the game from over here than from behind your mentor."
Hikaru twitched nervously."S-sir?" he asked. Calling the Demon Lord insulting names was certainly easier when the aforementioned Demon Lord was not staring at him as if he was the last edamame in the bowl.
"I said, come sit next to me. Let's watch the game together," the Lord of the Night Unending gestured to the space by his side.
"Errr..." Hikaru stared at Sai's back, hoping for some sort of inspiration. "I am err ..." How do I reply this guy? What do I say? He had a distinct feeling that he really did not want to insult the demon god, whether on purpose or by accident.
"I am too umm ... stupid ... to watch such an ... excellent game. I am nothing more than ... a worm ... on the ... errr... delicious apple of Go. Yeah! I am far too ... wormy ... to be in your ... great presence."
The heat crept up from his neck when he heard the titters from the crowd around him. Worm on the delicious apple of Go... I can't believe I said that.
Amatsu Mikaboshi merely raised an eyebrow. "Still, I would think an aspiring pupil like you would want to see such a game as this. It's not often you get to watch a god play."
"Um. I ..." little beads of sweat began to trickle down his back, " Errrr ... I am worried that ... I will be .... blinded ....umm ... by the brilliance of your play, oh magnificently magnificent one, so I don't dare look."
Maybe that was a little too thick ... Hikaru gulped. Again, a murmur ran through the crowd like a hissing river, borne on the current of tension and anticipation.
"Nonetheless, come sit next to me. Like I said before, your mentor is being abysmally slow in responding to my moves, and I could use the company while I wait." Lord Mikaboshi crooked a finger at Hikaru, enticing him forward.
"Ehh ..." Hikaru felt an odd tugging near his midsection, and as if an invisible hand had collared him by the stomach, yanking him abruptly upright. "Aaugh!"
"Lord Amatsu Mikaboshi, my disciple is not worthy to sit next to your most gracious presence," Sai spoke up, and Hikaru felt the grip around him loosen, causing him to tumble backwards in a flapping cacophony of misplaced cloth and body parts. At the very edge of his vision, he saw Kojoro clutching her midsection, obviously from laughing too hard.
"Don't want me checking out the goods beforehand, Fujiwara no Sai?" Amatsu Mikaboshi rubbed his palms together. "Though you are doing quite admirably against me, sooner or later you will have to resign yourself that he will be mine before the night is through. Might as well get the boy used to me, eh?"
"Milord, pardon my impudence for saying so, but the game is not over yet," Sai said mildly. "Until that time, Shindo-kun is still my disciple. As my disciple, his correct place is behind me, as your most gracious lord must surely know."
"Still, I insist." Lord Mikaboshi traced a symbol in the air with his hand. Hikaru grunted as he felt the invisible force tighten around him once again. One foot began to move, then the other. "Come, Shindo Hikaru."
Hikaru didn't have much choice. His muscles bent and flexed without the bidding of his mind. His slippered feet padded against the wood of the platform. Crap! It's like my body's some sort of suit he's put on. Now I know how one of those stupid mecha in an anime feel! Hikaru thoughts scattered about in a random panic.
If I can't stop him from doing this to me ... how am I going to keep ...
"You can't ..."
If Hikaru's mental shriek had been audible, he knew he would have woken the whole of Tokyo. Amatsu Mikaboshi's mental laughter curled rancidly in Hikaru's mind, making all his thoughts and attempts to think curdle.
" Come now, it won't be so bad. Sit by me, and tell me what you see ..."
Hikaru felt his legs bend awkwardly as he slid into a stiff crouch near the Lord of Hell. He tried to keep his eyes closed, tried to bring his fan up to cover his face, but Lord Amatsu Mikaboshi's power crashed through him, as unstoppable as time and tide.
"I'm sorry, Sai ... " His neck bent forward, and a sudden thought of chopping blocks and falling feathers crossed his frantic mind. He saw the goban for a split second, then the image before him fractured, as if the goban had split into five gobans, ten gobans, countless gobans. Hikaru's stomach roiled as a steady stream of half images, translucent and shimmering, flickered before him. Sai's past games ... Lord Amatsu Mikaboshi was pulling them from him ...
He tried to open his mouth to say something, to scream, but he found he couldn't do that either. He could not struggle, could not look away, could only sit mute as his innermost thoughts were violated.
All the games Sai had taught him ... everything the ghost had ever given him ... the night had turned into some twisted parody their former relationship; now Sai was the opponent on the other side of the goban, while he, body-less and inconsequential, supplied the damning strategies to another player.
"Gotta love being evil, now, don't ya?"
Hikaru tamped back his own thoughts, refusing to give the Demon Lord any more assistance. Yet, still the game continued, and the cold presence in his mind grew more and more triumphant. The time Sai took to make a move became more and more pronounced, to the point that the ghost seemed to take almost hours to respond. The only good thing about being controlled by the Lord of Evil was that Hikaru could not look at Sai, even if he wanted to. He wondered if he could ever face his friend again.
"Now, this has gone on long enough. There is no way you can win. Do you admit your defeat, Fujiwara no Sai?"
Hikaru nearly emptied his stomach when he finally felt that icy touch leave his thoughts. He knew that there was only one reason for Amatsu Mikaboshi to withdraw.
Looking up, Hikaru sought Sai's eyes for one last time, wanting to apologize before they both were sent to Hell. He owed his friend that much at least ...
But he did not find defeat in his mentor's eyes. Instead he found ... Hikaru blinked, glancing at the goban again.
Sai placed his stone. A murmur rippled through the crowd again, building into gasps of real surprise.
"What?! SHINDO!"
Hikaru had a moment to gape in confusion as Amatsu Mikaboshi loomed over him. Faintly, he could hear someone frantically calling his name, but the sound faded as the outside world crumpled inward and away.
"SHOW ME THE REAL GAMES!"
Pain exploded within him. Pain beyond imagining. Pain beyond thought.
"SHOW ME!"
Images ripped scatteredshatterednothingmadesensewhatwashappenning ....
"HIKARU!" A lifeline and a link ...something in white ... someone with him ...sword drawn ... reaching out, sweeping him behind, shielding him. The pain lessened ... he wasn't alone ... wherever he was ... But he couldn't let .... He had to protect ...
"FUJIWARA! HOW DARE YOU!"
No ... he couldn't let ...he knew that through him ... Sai ...
The silver sword flickered .... flashed ...
Sai?!
And met, blocked, metal shrilling against metal, with something he could not see. He was forgotten, for the moment.
In the brief space when the pressure eased from his thoughts, Hikaru mentally fled, searching for escape with every last bit of flagging energy he could summon. There was another bright starburst, and a flash of light, arcing outward in the swelling sweep of a falling sword ... something severed, broke free ... no time to see what ... he ran ... the blade hit ... oh god it hurts ... and everything faded ... fades
into light.... Into so much light that he cannot see -- it might as well have been darkness. Not that it matters. Whether in darkness or light, he cannot run anymore. As his strength wanes, he feels a strange peace descend. Somewhere, he hears someone call what might have been his name. That doesn't matter either. At least it's not cold. That's good, right?
What is even better is the goban that suddenly appears before him. A nearly finished game glitters on its surface.
And he is not alone. Another person waits in the light, facing the starcrossed lines. A familiar feeling fills him, overrunning. He is not alone! But familiarity comes without recognition.
"Who ...?"
The game though ... the game ... Awe trembles through him. ...for this is not just any game, no. It is Go where ...
"...are you?"
..the board shines to the point of burning with moves and countermoves. The complexity makes him ache from trying to encompass it all. The beauty there, the pulse of energy that thrums between the lines and stones ... it banishes everything from thoughts to emotions ... to the point where even his sense of who ...
"...am I?"
... he is doesn't matter, his opponent's name doesn't matter .... identity cannot exist in harmony with such a moment ...all that matters is that he is not alone, he is not just one name, his rival is not just one name ....
The only thing that is one is this game, this perfect game ... he looks up at his many named rival, and infinite power crackles between them, within them, around them, in this place which can give birth to stars ...
"HIKARU!"
The vision burst, like a bubble brushing ice. He collapsed on the dais, his strength draining from him. He couldn't move, couldn't think, couldn't breathe ...
"HIKARU! " something pushed at the borders of his collapsing sanity, trying to force entry. The voice ensnared him, dragging him down, away ...
He shoved back. He shut the voice off and out. He didn't want to hear any more. Everything was nothing but sharded edges, broken, cutting. He was alone again ... alone ...
"Hikaru, please ... I can't ... reach ...."
Away. He had to get away. Back to the place with the stars and light unending ...
"NO! Hikaru, don't ~! No!"
And then, there .... a figure in windswept white, silver sword drawn. Pointing at him. Blocking. Arcing the sword backward ... cutting ... cutting ...CUTTING him. Breaking into ...
Pain!
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry ...please ... Hikaru? Hikaru!"
Pain!
"Can you hear me? Can you hear me?! Hikaru! "
Pain ... and humming?
"Hikaru, I am with you. Shh ... I am with you now..."
Not alone?
The touch in his head was careful, picking up the pieces, sorting and smoothing the edges with a practiced ease and familiarity. Slowly, like a faint radio signal sharpening to sound, the outside word merged again with his inner existence.
He wished it would not do so. It hurt.
"Breathe, Hikaru ..."
And he did. It was not easy. Thoughts were even harder. He might have screamed, if he could.
"H-hikaru, shh. You'll be fine. I am with you now, so stay with me ..."
Alone? No. Some half-formed thought within him noted that he was being held. He curled into that touch. The humming in his mind increased, pushing the agony even further back and allowing a few more thoughts to form.
Not alone. Not alone! Who? Holding ...how? He opened his eyes a crack and brought up a hand to rub at his face. Something ...poking... It took a moment to realize he was hitting himself in the head with an object in his hand. ...fan? .... connected ... memories.... hurt ... hurt ... HURT! Amat ...no!
He jerked away from the hands holding him. He didn't want to think anymore, to breathe anymore, to be anymore.
The humming in his mind, however, held him in place and forced him to focus, no matter how hard he tried to escape. He was vaguely aware of arms circling him again, pulling him close. A hand enclosed over the one he had on the fan, steadying his grip. The thrumming soundwave crested, enveloping him in its warm, comforting current. He allowed himself be carried within its tidal pull, let the embrace absorb him, and when the sound finally receded, he found himself staring into a pair of violet eyes. Angry violet eyes. Furious even.
"Sai," This time the name came easily, as did his own. "Ow."
"Hikaru! That was the most STUPID thing you have EVER done! EVER! You could have, you almost di -- what were you THINKING?! I had to hurt you to ...I had to hurt you ..." the violet eyes dimmed, and the fury faded.
"Ow. Sai. Stop. Not now." Hikaru clutched at his head. Again, he felt the ghost touch his shoulder, and the pain lessened. He was still not certain what had happened to his mind, (or to be exact, what happened to him in general, and where he had gone) but he had the strange image of a golden ribbon being shredded to pieces before being quickly sewn back up. As it was, his mind and memories still felt haphazardly quilted together. All it would take was quick tug and he would unravel.
"So. You think you've won, don't you, with your little trick?" Lord Amatsu Mikaboshi remarked casually. "Very clever of you, Osusuki, but you nearly made me destroy the boy's mind with that little annoyance. Or was that your plan all along? Hmm, it would be a little cruel, even for you, if you offered him his escape but not his sanity."
"I don't know what you're talking about, my lord. I have done nothing outside what any kitsune would have done." Hikaru caught a flash of crimson at the edge platform near where he lay, but he had no energy to look closer.
"I will deal with you later. As for this game ...my, my, it is in quite a state, isn't it? I do seem to be on the loosing side of things."
"So you agree that you've lost?" Hikaru felt his breath catch as Sai leaned forward intently.
"Oh ... I wouldn't say that."
"The moves, once made, cannot be taken back," Sai said quietly, his head still submissively bent over. His words, though, held a certain challenge to them. "Surely one as great as you, milord, knows this."
"Yes, but do you really want to continue from here? I would have to go back into certain ...places again, places which you probably don't want me to go, places which cannot hold its center anymore. You barely put him back together this time. I only let you fix him because there's something in him ... something very special indeed ... that I don't want damaged. If I was going to lose him anyway, well ... as they say, what the Hell? All the kings horses and all the king's men won't be able to put him back together again."
The pain in Hikaru's head intensified. No! I c-can't! I CAN'T! Not again!
"Shhh, I swear, I won't let him do it to you again. I swear it, Hikaru," the agony receded slightly as a warm presence filled his thoughts again, blocking out the Demon Lord's touch temporarily.
"But it doesn't have to be so unpleasant. It could be quite the opposite, actually. Tell me, do you ever wonder what it might have been like, if you hadn't taken the rather soggy route you did? Now, I must say that the suicides are amongst my most favorite residents in my realm." Amatsu Mikaboshi brought the tips of his fingers together, clicking his nails ever so softly. The sound, quiet as it was, still made Hikaru flinch.
"Sometimes, when things get boring, I like to show them what their lives could have been. That one, divine moment that comes when they realize their loss ... ah, but I don't need to go into that with you, Fujiwara, do I? You do remember your family, don't you? Your mother. Your father. When they found you afterwards ... were you surprised by their tears? Even now, after a thousand years, those images remain clear, don't they? As well as the memories of that brief, flickering time when you knew what it meant to walk fully in the mortal world, the taste of the first tea harvest, the sound of summer rain on the imperial roof, the swish of silk as you made your way through the chambers ... you do remember all of it, right?"
Sai said nothing.
The Lord of Hell snapped his fingers. "Let me refresh your memories."
Shadows began to merge and darken at his end of the podium. Hikaru swallowed hard. In the center, the darkness gathered like a web drawing inwards. A shrunken figure emerged. Thick, heavy looking chains dangled from his wasted limbs and bloody wounds opened their gaping mouths all over his flesh. Rags of grey-white wisped around like half rent bandages; the dregs of what must have been an elegant kimono in happier times. Hair unbounded into ratted tangles, reaching waist length, twisting and swaying around the gaunt face like dark serpents given life. But what horrified Hikaru the most was the expression on the sunken face ... and the familiarity he saw there. No human or anything that had once been human should wear such a look ... but he seen it before, in the pages of history, during the very worst of what humans could do to each other.
The bedraggled creature which had once been human gibbered inchoately, leaving a thin trail of sound that built up as it staggered forward. It lurched towards Sai and Hikaru. Even through the thick padding of his kimono, Hikaru could feel the vibrations from Sai's fingers as they clenched his shoulder tightly.
"Sugawara?" Sai whispered. "Sugawara no Akitada ..."
"Yes, though I have to say your rival looking a little worse for wear since you last saw him. He was your first real challenge wasn't he? How excited you must have been, to find an opponent truly worthy of your skills, after so many had abandoned you or disappointed you. You must remember how that felt, right? And how you felt when he betrayed your trust, betrayed his own talent in Go? Did the shame burn a hole in your heart then? How you must have cried, to see such shining talent perverted in such a way. That was the last cut that laid open the bone, the last grain of salt on the already bleeding wounds, wasn't it?" Amatsu Mikaboshi's eyes half closed, and the god let out a delicate sigh.
"He betrayed you, Fujiwara no Sai, in a field where it hurt the most, when you could see what kind of game it could have been, what he could have been. If only he hadn't made that one little, almost minuscule move of his .... just imagine. You would have your family's honor. You would have your position in the court. You would have an eternal rival. With the ability to play on your own power, gain recognition with your own name, and with an eternal rival ... ah, who knows what wonders you may accomplish? What heights you could scale. Perhaps even ... well, dare I say it?" Lord Amatsu Mikaboshi tapped his lips delicately with his fingers.
"You know, if I felt so inclined, I could take you back. I could make it so your father will never have to erase your name from the family registry. I could make it so that your mother and grandmother will never have to know the shame of having you as a son. I could give you back the pleasure of your old life and erase the pain. One moment in time, Fujiwara no Sai. Just one, simple little change."
Sai stared, his hands never leaving Hikaru's shoulders.
"No," he finally said. His voice was nearly inaudible, but Hikaru calmed at the underlying determination in his friend's voice. "No."
"So sure, Fujiwara? This is the chance to redeem yourself, your family, AND fix that little niggling game that must have plagued you for centuries. You need your rival, more than that pesky little deishi of yours, in order to get what you truly want. You know this."
"No." Sai drew himself up fully. "Moves ... moves, once made, cannot be taken back. It is one of the rules of Go, as it is ... in other things."
Amatsu Mikaboshi brought the tips of his fingers back together again, leaning forward slightly. "You surprise me, Fujiwara. I know how much the temptation pulls at you, how the game calls your name, how the yearning to reach the Hand of God consumes almost all your thoughts. Can you really turn away from this path? I know how sometimes - in your deepest, darkest thoughts -- you even resent your deishi for the delay he presents to you."
Hikaru swallowed hard as Sai remained silent.
The Lord of Hell shook his head slightly. "Very well. Perhaps ... I'm not appealing to the right sort of ... sensibilities. "
Lord Amatsu Mikaboshi leaned back, a wide smile crossing his delicate features. A disturbing prickle clawed its way up Hikaru's spine when the Demon Lord's eyes came to rest upon him. Looking away quickly, Hikaru's gaze caught that of Sai's old rival. The ghost flinched. Sugawara no Akitada cowered at the furthest edge of the platform away from both Amatsu Mikaboshi and Sai -- but he also tried to remain as far away from the night wanderers as possible. Hikaru felt a hot burst of satisfaction he felt as he watched the person who had helped kill his best friend curl up into a small, shivering ball. The young Go pro knew he should be ashamed of himself.
"Shindo Hikaru ... do you know? What could I offer your sensei that he would treasure even more than the Hand of God? What could he possibly value even more than you?" Amatsu Mikaboshi's voice made Hikaru want to mimic Sugawara's pose. Only Sai's grip on his shoulders kept him upright.
"D-don't let him trick you, Sai. Whatever you do, you gotta bargain to get out of Hell! Do you hear me?" Trying to speak through his thoughts made his head feel as if it had been sandblasted then left out to the wind. Auuuugh!
"Shh, Hikaru. It'll get better, just give yourself some time to heal. It will be okay. There's nothing he can do that would make me ...." Sai stopped abruptly, his expression changing as he turned to face the sudden snap-hiss of an opening portal.
"You know, I think I might just have the thing ..." Amatsu Mikaboshi mused. One long, elegant hand dipped down into Go bowl and removed a black stone. "It seems I do have some moves still open to me. Just so you know... atari."
The placement of the stone echoed the exact moment when a figure began to step forward, breaking free of the darkness and emerging into the foxfire light. He appeared far older than Hikaru or even Sai, but he was still young nonetheless, and he moved with a beauty that encompassed both his body and his face. A firefly glow danced about him, much like that which surrounded Sai. Hikaru knew then, in the same, gut level way he could sometimes predict the one, perfect move in a game littered with traps, that such a being did not belong in Hell. There was something wrong... something terribly wrong ...
He wondered who it could ...
"No. It can't be. It just can't be ... " Sai murmured, dropping his fan and backing up ...
... and away from Hikaru, who distinctly felt something within him shatter yet again.
"T-torajiro?"
Oh shit ...
To be continued . . .