An XXXHolic/Hikaru no Go X-over
By Lady Addiction
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CHAPTER 3: THE HEART'S DEEPEST WISH
It was quite cool that afternoon when they arrived at the mysterious shop. Watanuki had half-hoped that the wards would prevent newly-revealed ghost/spirit/whatever from entering, but the iron gates swung open noiselessly. With a heavy heart, he led the way inside.
The narrow hallways were brightly lit, and Watanuki rolled his eyes, amazed at his employer's blatant disregard for energy conservation. He led the way towards the main room, knowing that was where Yuuko-san was always to be found.
He wondered if he would regret introducing his new friend to the witch the minute he opened the doors and heavy, pink smoke immediately embraced him. Taking a deep breath (and he nearly choked at the sickeningly-sweet essence that filled his nostrils), he stepped inside. Shindou followed, gawking curiously.
Yuuko-san had made herself comfortable on her thickly-padded Roman-style couch. Today, she was wearing yet another unique dress that alternately covered and revealed, pale-blue and white with a heart-shaped décolletage and many strategic cutouts. Maru and Moro had pulled her hair away into a bun-like style held up by bejewelled golden sticks, while two jagged locks framed her face. At the moment, she was half-entangled with her beloved hookah and was blowing fragrant shisha smoke all around the room. The doll-like pair, Maru and Moro, were playing cat's cradle in one corner, while the black Mokona was flipping through television channels.
The moment Yuuko-san's depthless black eyes passed by Shindou with absolutely no reaction whatsoever sent uneasiness flooding into Watanuki. It was obvious that the powerful, ageless woman could not see his companion.
Shindou only looked at Watanuki, unsure as to what to do.
"Mokona sees a spirit!" A round black phenomenon with elongated ears and a dangly blue earring chirped. He turned off the TV and bounded over to the woman.
"Aahhh, a spirit," Yuuko-san murmured, her eyes narrowing. She straightened up on the couch and imperiously held out a hand to Mokona. The magical creature promptly leapt onto her palm. Watanuki could only watch, amazed, as she suddenly zeroed in on Shindou, who was now looking much like a targeted rabbit.
That frightening gaze shifted over to him and he averted his eyes. "Watanuki?"
Shindou once again showed that he was not as dense as he appeared because he stepped forward. "If you're asking about me, I'm Shindou Hikaru and, well, I don't really think I'm a ghost."
Yuuko-san's heavy-lidded eyes slipped away from Watanuki to a more deserving mark. "But you're a spirit," she replied calmly. Maru and Moro had come to her, and she relinquished the waterpipe to them.
"Um, yeah, there is that. But see…" And Shindou went through a ramble about falling sick, then waking up floating from the ceiling, looking down at his comatose body. After staying there for a day and trying everything he could to get back, he had decided to see if he could find someone to help him return to his body. Nobody ever saw or felt him as he wandered around and the first person he felt 'drawn to' was Watanuki, and it turned out that Watanuki could see, hear, and touch him.
"…I would say that maybe it's because my body's dead, but the heart machine showed that there was still a heartbeat. Besides, from what I know of ghosts, they were stuck in one place or area unless they possess someone, and they didn't have much abilities," Shindou concluded with a shrug.
"And you have 'abilities'?" Yuuko-san asked.
"Well, I'm guessing that because I'm in a coma, I'm like a wandering dreamer. And in a dream, the dreamer can do anything, or at least they could try. That's why I was able to change clothes and how I had a portable Go set and fan with me, but no one could see, hear, or touch me, besides Watanuki. If I were a real ghost, I would be wearing a katabira and a hitaikakushi or what I last wore when I died, right?"
Watanuki didn't know that he liked being described as a dream, but he had nothing he could refute that with. He exchanged glances with Yuuko-san, who shrugged. He then sighed. For all that he saw the restless denizens of the Other world, most of the ones who were drawn to him had deteriorated beyond anything human. And the ones that were still human never talked to him about their deaths, only about their lives or his life. That is, if they could still talk at all.
"Well, Shindou Hikaru-who-is-not-a-ghost, something drew you to this shop. You have a wish."
Shindou looked askance at his friend. "Um, Watanuki led me here. And what do you mean a wish?"
"Er," Watanuki shuffled his feet, "Yuuko-san is a witch and she grants wishes for a price."
"She grants wishes! Like real wishes!" Watanuki became alarmed at the sudden longing evident in Shindou's voice.
"Er, yeah."
"Then, then, I wish to see Sai again!"
Yuuko-san rose from the couch, Mokona now on her left shoulder. Wearing a pair of delicate blue slippers, she approached, right arm outstretched, until her long-nailed fingers touched Shindou's chest. Even though Watanuki could touch him, he half-expected to see Yuuko-san's hand plunge inside. He didn't know whether to be relieved or disappointed it didn't happen. He shook his head and listened closely.
Yuuko-san's words came out in soft measured beats, almost hypnotic. "Is that truly your heart's deepest wish at this very moment?"
"I-I-I-" Shindou looked down at himself, his face stricken as he suddenly remembered exactly how he came to be in this very odd place. His fists clenched and unclenched fiercely.
He took several rapid breaths before he spoke again. "It's been four years since I last saw Sai. He's a ghost but he was my closest friend. I've been having dreams about him. At first, he was happy, but in my last one, he was telling me to stay away! I know something's wrong! I know that somewhere he's hurting and he needs my help!"
Watanuki shivered. He wondered how it must have felt like, to have dreams of a dear friend slowly become your worst nightmares.
"The number four," Yuuko-san said after a long, thoughtful pause, "has a very special meaning in the spirit world. 'Shi' is also the character for death, and many are superstitious of it. The night of the Setsubon is also very special for it is the time that the barriers between the worlds of the spirits and the living become thin, thin enough for all manners of otherworldly creatures to be able to slip through." She withdrew away from Shindou and settled back onto her chair. Watanuki found his chest looser, his breath coming easier.
"From what you say, it sounds as if this 'Sai' found a way to break through the barriers. Maybe he had petitioned the gods to let him visit you on Setsubon, since it is the fourth year since his last passing and that is the preferred time for such visits."
"You mean the reason Sai was so excited was because he was going to come and see me!" Shindou's eyes were shining, and Watanuki could not bear to look upon such naked hope for long. Not when he knew that Yuuko-san rarely dealt in happily-ever-afters.
"I am only hypothesizing this," she replied calmly. "I can't read the mind of spirits nor do I speak with them. I usually can't even see them, but with Mokona's help, I can see you. Now, if we think that somehow your friend had found a way to cross through the boundary, the only reason I can think of why you would dream of him was because he was trying to leave you a sign so it is logical to conclude that you are the one he would be visiting. Now tell me, did he seem different on the night of the Setsubon?"
Shindou frowned thoughtfully. "He seemed more excited, almost like he was about to play one of his most challenging games ever. And he was hyper, racing all over the place! I could barely keep up with him!"
"But Setsubon came and went and you didn't see him," said Yuuko-san, "then you had one last dream after Setsubon and it hinted at bad things. From this, I can only conclude that Sai was successful in passing through, that is the dream on the night of the Setsubon, but something happened afterwards. On the way to you, something happened to Sai and it is my guess that he is now trapped in the living world in some way, unable to return to where he rightfully should be," Yuuko-san concluded, her tone conveying her surety.
"And you think that maybe the reason I fell sick and am now a spirit is so that I can somehow free him? And return him back to the spirit world?" Shindou was pale and shaking.
"There is no coincidence in this world, only hitsuzen," came Yuuko-san's oft-repeated phrase. "You wished to see him. He wished to see you. A wish is granted, but as always, with a great price."
"What, what can I do now! How do I find him! What about my own body!"
"The longer a body remains without a soul, the weaker it becomes and the more susceptible to the coldness of death," Yuuko-san answered. "From what you said, you've been out of your body for over three days, including this one. I would venture to say that you must be returned to your body within a week or you may incur severe penalties."
"Like what!"
"Like a stroke that paralyzes your body? Or maybe just death. I don't know," was the quiet reply. "But I think a body without a soul for more than seven days is a very dangerous thing. Too many things would be attracted to it, either wanting to eat it or inhabit it. If you don't return in time, you may soon find you have nothing to return to."
"Why don't I just return now?" Shindou argued. Watanuki's brows raised. He was more than a little impressed at the other boy, for few of Yuuko-san's clients ever questioned her like this. Even Doumeki and Himawari-chan treated Yuuko-san with great respect.
In fact, the only people he'd seen talk disrespectfully to the witch was himself and now Shindou. He wondered if it was the fact that they already had their own dealings with the supernatural before meeting her that was the cause.
"Because there is a reason you are in spirit form now, such as there is a reason why you are talking to me now. I would say that until you find and free Sai's entrapped soul, you would not be able to return to your body."
"So I have four days to somehow find Sai, defeat whatever's holding him, and then find a way to my body!"
"I would say so, yes."
Abruptly, Shindou turned on his heels and stormed out. Watanuki scrambled to go after him, but Yuuko-san's cool words stopped him. "He will be back, Watanuki. Now don't waste what precious little time you have left. Call Doumeki. You will need his help on this quest."
Watanuki stared at the enigmatic sorceress. "You, you mean…"
"Yes, you, Doumeki, and that wandering spirit will be out on a gallant quest to find a lost and innocent soul," she cooed at him, gesturing for her assistants to hand her back her waterpipe. "And, for this trip, I believe Mokona will be of great assistance to you."
Black Mokona grinned and waved its tiny paws. "Mokona will help as much as Mokona can!"
"Watanuki," the very seriousness in her voice caused him to look her in the eye, "something that can hold a ghost is not something to be taken lightly. I would suggest that you take one of my special books from the Treasure Room. You may find answers there. Maru, Moro, show Watanuki the book."
When Watanuki came back, lugging a heavy leather-bound tome with intricate gold designs on the cover, Shindou was back. The Go player's face was resolute. He appeared to be listening to Yuuko-san's last-minute advice as the three came into the room. "Well, Watanuki, do you want to go ghost-busting with me?" he asked with a weak grin.
The younger boy nodded firmly. He hated the idea of facing down spirits, but Shindou had become a good friend even in so short a time. He refused to let down his friends.
"Let's go to Doumeki's temple first. His family have been exorcists for a long time." He grimaced.
"Sounds like a good person to have on the team."
"We don't need a bastard like that on our team," Watanuki grumbled.
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On to Chapter 4...
