Right… Thanks to the three people who have reviewed thus far.

Note to readers – THIS STORY IS SITTING ON MY COMPUTER, COMPLETELY FINISHED. I'm just too lazy to slap it all up at once. If you could just remind me every now and then to shift my lethargic fingers, I'll post chapters more frequently.

Anyway, this is the chapter with the NCSish situations and really underageness. It's at the end, and marked with a single asterisk () before and after, so if you don't want to read that, you don't have to.

I still do not own any of this, except the idea. Oh, and Megu, who's just some random sleazy guy who I'd be more than happy to hand off, if you'd like.

With His Luck

The first dream came two weeks after joining the Go club and playing there after school nearly every day. Yuuki was wading into a river when he felt like he was being dragged down, the weight of layers and layers of water-logged robes fighting his attempts to stay afloat. The water filled his mouth and nose like the shadows had earlier, and he coughed and sputtered and tried to scream for help, but could make no sound.

Then he came. A beautiful young man with long black hair. He ran into the water, ignoring the way it tugged at his own heavy robes, just to grab at Yuuki, to pull him above the surface and drag him to the riverbank. He collapsed beside Yuuki at the edge of the river, breathing heavily, shaking water from his billowing sleeves.

Yuuki coughed a few more times, trying to clear the water from his lungs, before he gathered the energy to roll over and look up at his savior. He watched as one arm raised, completely hidden by the massive sleeve, to brush dark hair from a pale face, and then calm blue eyes turned and met Yuuki's own violet gaze.

Yuuki's breath caught in his throat as the beautiful young man turned his face toward him, smiling slightly as if to confirm that they were both all right. "Who are you?" Yuuki's voice came out raspy, still hoarse from his coughing. The figure's smile vanished as he started to fade away, shaking his head. Then Yuuki woke up.

Yuuki looked around his room, his furniture just dark smudges against the walls, barely lit from streetlights shining through his heavy curtains. Through the curtain dividing the small room in two, he could hear the sound of his sister's steady breathing as she slept. Yuuki ran a shaky hand through his hair, looking over at his clock. 3:14 AM. He did not need this now.

The next night, he was drowning again. And again, the beautiful young man saved him, but this time, he placed a finger over Yuuki's lips, shaking his head to tell Yuuki that he must not make a sound. Yuuki nodded, to show he understood, and the other man smiled, offering his hand to help Yuuki up.

They wandered around in a park full of sakura trees, the blossoms perfuming the air. The young man smiled and closed his eyes, drawing in the beauty of the park. Yuuki frowned and kept his eyes open, studying his dreammate.

Yuuki would drown each night. Sometimes, his dreammate would be there to save him, then spend the rest of the night wandering through a dreamscape with him, but most of the time, the icy water would win and Yuuki would sink into shadowy depths and a dreamless sleep.

The dreamscapes started varying drastically after about a month of dreamwandering. Yuuki began recognizing some of the places as scenes from his memories. Once, he and his dreammate even walked in on Yuuki's grandfather teaching five-year-old Yuuki the proper way to hold Go stones. His dreammate beamed at Yuuki and patted Chibi Yuuki's head, though the younger version didn't notice. Yuuki scuffed his foot slightly, looking away with a slight embarrassed blush staining his cheeks.

Other times, the scenes were nothing Yuuki recognized, but definitely places his dreammate knew. Yuuki and his dreammate would wander through ancient palaces, Yuuki occasionally being enthusiastically pulled from one room to the next as his dreammate silently showed off various items of interest. Once, he and his dreammate sat on opposite sides of a goban. His dreammate slid his fingers into the go-ke, closing his eyes in pleasure at the feel of the stones against his fingers, a tear sliding down his cheek as he lifted a handful onto the board to nigiri. Yuuki silently placed two black stones. The count was odd. They exchanged go-kes and began to play.

Yuuki's dreammate was good. Really good. Even playing with his eyes half-closed and tears quietly slipping from his eyes, with his fan masking his mouth, Yuuki's dreammate was really good. Yuuki lost. They played again. Yuuki lost again. His dreammate leaned over and took nine black stones from Yuuki's go-ke, placing them on the board as a handicap, and offered to play again.

Yuuki still lost.

But… Yuuki didn't mind losing. His dreammate was obviously very talented in Go, and even tried explaining some things to Yuuki without using words. By now, they both had realized that even the slightest sound from either of their lips would have Yuuki's dreammate fading away and Yuuki waking up. So after games, the dreammate would gesture to a spot on the board and recreate it on the floor, silently showing Yuuki better ways to play.

They didn't get the chance to play Go very often. Rarely did they wander through a memory with a free goban. More often then not, a younger version of Yuuki or his dreammate were occupying the only goban around. They did play enough, however, for Yuuki to recognize his dreammate's playing style. It was identical to Shusaku's. At the same time, however, Yuuki's dreammate did not resemble any picture of Shusaku Yuuki could find. So Yuuki settled for calling him "Honinbo." He wished he knew the true name of his nightly friend.

The more time he spent with Shindou and the Go club, the more comfortable Yuuki became around Shindou's shade. In fact… Yuuki's eyes widened ever so slightly as he watched Shindou play the exact same move against him that Honinbo had used just the night before. For the briefest moment, his violet eyes flicked to the dark smudge behind Shindou before returning to the goban. Shindou would still lose… but was this some form of a sign? Was Honinbo and Shindou's shade the same being? If so… if so, that would explain… it would explain something, at least. It would explain why Shindou's Go style felt ancient. He was picking it up from a person who had been dead for around 1000 years – Honinbo dressed in the styles of the Heian era.

Yuuki flattened Shindou again, but he allowed a smile for the other boy. "It was a good game," he said. "I especially liked this defense, here." He pointed to the Honinbo move, waiting to see Shindou's reaction. Shindou just beamed at him. "One of these days, I'll beat you!"

Yuuki just rolled his eyes. "Keep dreaming, Shindou."

But that night, when Honinbo fished him out of the river, he was beaming. And Yuuki knew that he was right. Honinbo was Shindou's shade.

They found an empty goban that night, and sat down as if to play each other, but Honinbo took both the go-kes. He had a questioning look on his face as he batted Yuuki's hands away and began laying out a game.

Yuuki soon recognized the shapes as the game he was playing the first time Shindou came into the Go salon. The game finished, and Honinbo met Yuuki's gaze before beginning to shift the stones around. He paused, looking up to meet Yuuki's gaze again, and Yuuki knew what would happen next. Sure enough, Honinbo pushed the stones the same way Yuuki had done, expanding one territory at the cost of the opponent's. He folded his hands back inside his sleeves and sat back, watching Yuuki, still questioning.

Yuuki sighed. How does one go about explaining to a ghost one couldn't talk to that he was desperate to win? He closed his eyes and shuddered slightly at the memory of his second-to-last loss in the Go salon.

And then Honinbo was shaking his shoulder. Yuuki opened his eyes and blanched at the sight. He was back in Shu's Go salon, and there was Megu, playing a ten-year-old him.

Honinbo looked questioningly down at Yuuki when he subconsciously tried to hide behind Honinbo's voluminous robes. He knew Megu couldn't see him, couldn't touch him, but still…

Honinbo watched as Megu played Chibi Yuuki and won. He watched Chibi Yuuki grudgingly pass over the money – only 500 yen at this time – and he watched as Chibi Yuuki left the salon, looking rather dejected. He watched Megu follow Chibi Yuuki out and followed Megu. Yuuki trailed after Honinbo, knowing what would happen next and wishing Honinbo would stop following this particular memory.

Chibi Yuuki took a sharp left down an alley, a shortcut to return to the apartment where he lived. Yuuki silently pleaded with Chibi Yuuki to turn around, stick to the well-lit, occupied paths. Megu followed Chibi Yuuki, Honinbo followed Megu, and Yuuki trailed along after them.

Yuuki remembers this. He remembers how dejected he was feeling at his first loss in a while, and how he wasn't paying any attention to his surroundings. He remembers the sound of footsteps behind him and remembers not paying any attention until it was too late and large hands had him pinned in a corner formed by a dumpster pressed against the filthy wall of a building. Yuuki turned his face away, unable to bring himself to watch as Chibi Yuuki's cry was muffled by Megu's lips crushing his, stealing his first kiss away. Beside Yuuki, Honinbo tensed, hands hidden in the wide sleeves flying up to cover his mouth in shock as he took a step back, unable to tear his eyes away from the sight.

Yuuki shivered slightly, remembering how Megu's thick tongue felt as it pushed into his mouth, remembering how the blood tasted when he bit down as hard as he could. He heard the sharp slap of flesh meeting flesh as Megu backhanded Chibi Yuuki, cursing him for being a little brat who didn't know how to give the victor his prize.

Yuuki knew what would happen next. Chibi Yuuki would fall against the wall, head spinning from the force of the blow, unable to recover in time to block the fist that would slam into his stomach, knocking the wind from him. Chibi Yuuki would then be shoved into the corner again, unable to draw enough breath for even a whimper of protest as Megu tore his shirt open – no suspenders then. Megu would use one large hand to keep Chibi Yuuki pressed against the wall while the other would possessively rake down his now exposed torso, almost big enough to cover the small boy's entire chest at once. Then the hand would dip into Chibi Yuuki's pants, too big for his slender hips, but bought with an assurance that he would grow into them.

But here Megu would make a mistake, releasing his hold on Chibi Yuuki's slim wrists to maneuver him into a better position for what would come next, and Chibi Yuuki would slam his foot into Megu's instep as hard as he could, ramming his elbow into the older man's groin and fleeing as the man recoiled in pain and surprise. He wouldn't even stop to rebutton his open shirt or hike up his pants, now riding dangerously low. He would run with his youthful stamina until he reached the safety of his own apartment, and then he would curl up in his bed with the covers drawn tightly around him and a fist shoved in his mouth to keep the sounds of his sobs from being heard by the rest of his family.

And no one but Megu would know what happened in the alley. But Chibi Yuuki would teach himself how to cheat, to make sure that he would never lose again.

Back in the alley, after Megu left, Honinbo turned to Yuuki, a horrified expression on his face. Yuuki couldn't meet his eyes. He just shoved his hands in his pockets and studied the graffiti scrawled across the walls. He didn't expect Honinbo to wrap his arms around him, to bury him in the folds of his robe and hold him tightly. He didn't expect to press closer to Honinbo, fresh tears shimmering in his eyes. Nor did he expect to hear Honinbo's voice for the first time, soft and low, murmuring, "I understand," in his ear after a long moment in Honinbo's embrace.

He did expect Honinbo to lose substance in his arms after the murmur, and did expect to wake up, wiping the tears from his face. He cast his eyes around the small room and smiled slightly. "Thank you," he whispered back, not expecting Honinbo to hear him, before pulling his covers back around him and falling asleep once more.

Again, sorry for taking so long. Sometimes I need other people reminding me.

Question: Would anyone be interested in seeing a Hikaru no Go/Yu Yu Hakusho crossover? Mitani has red hair and a really strong sixth sense in this story… which YYH guy does that remind you of?

Crawler