An XXXHolic/Hikaru no Go X-over
By Lady Addiction
WWW
CHAPTER 8: A GAME WITH A TRICKSTER
"Wait."
The tanuki-spirit halted and looked over his shoulder at Shindou, whiskers twitching.
The human-spirit turned to Watanuki. It took a sotto-voce aside of "goban set" from Doumeki before Watanuki understood what his friend wanted. Flushing, he let the heavy backpack fall to the ground and dug out a portable wooden goban and two plastic go-ke. He headed for the grassy spot beside Sai's cage. Doumeki, carrying the backpack, followed as he trotted off to set up the match location. Mokona still clung to the bigger youth fiercely, chubby face in an uncharacteristic frown.
"This is unnecessary, human," the tanuki said. "I could have easily transformed us a goban set."
Shindou smiled bleakly. "Forgive me, but I find that I would prefer this." Watanuki nodded. They had discussed this earlier. What can be transformed can easily be returned to its original form at any time, and mayhap disrupting the game at a fateful moment. Fortunately, Doumeki had anticipated this and had already bought a cheap portable set before he and Mokona returned to the temple that afternoon.
The opponents settled on the opposite sides of the board. Then a problem occurred that none of the human trio had foreseen. Shindou's hands passed through the go-ke as he tried to reach for it. He froze. The tanuki smiled and took a big gulp from his sake bottle.
"What happened?" Doumeki asked Watanuki softly.
"I think it's because Shindou didn't create the goban set himself," he replied, "they are things from the living world and since he's a spirit, he can't touch them."
Exhaling softly, Shindou turned his eyes to them. "Watanuki, can you…?"
"Of course," the boy replied, squaring his shoulders. He settled down on Shindou's previous position while the other moved behind him to the right. Watanuki picked up the go-ke and settled close to his right knee. "Um, Shindou, how are we going to do this?"
Shindou's green eyes seemed to darken and deepen, before the boy smiled, an enigmatic stretch of the mouth that set Watanuki wondering if the other was laughing at some secret joke. Shindou held up his fan. "I will point out the positions with this."
"Ah, good. Nigiri then," Watanuki said, directing his words at his otherworldly opponent. The tanuki bared his sharp teeth at him and dropped two black stones with a clack-clack on the board. Watanuki grabbed a handful of white stones and followed suit.
They were black.
"We will follow the no-komi rule," the tanuki stated. Both humans looked at him. "I am merely a lowly spirit, and much of the changes in Igo leave me baffled." Neither of his opponents looked convinced but as Shindou slowly nodded his agreement, Watanuki shrugged. Doumeki settled close to them, and both he and Mokona watched silently.
They switched the go-ke, bowed, and murmured the ritual beginning phrase. Then Watanuki jerked in startlement as a ghostly fan appeared beside him, the tip hovering over the lower-right star point. The tanuki was quick to reply, grabbing the upper-right star point. The next two star points were claimed and before Watanuki's eyes, the opening josekis unfolded with casual ease.
'It is odd,' he thought, moving his hand to follow Shindou's fan, 'to see the patterns blossom under my hand yet to know that I have nothing to do with this.'
After the quick first half, the mid-game began to drag down. Shindou would spend long moments pondering the board, while the tanuki would make careless comments that had Watanuki twitching. The boy-spirit behind him though never even flinched, even when the comments were about Sai.
As the game progressed, Watanuki felt totally lost. His beginner's knowledge of Go only allowed him to see the obvious traps and pitfalls, but veiled the deeper meanings to the careful moves placed. Often he would stifle a gasp as a seeming random hand placed a stone for a purpose he couldn't understand, only to see a killing pattern emerge – suffocating and isolating White's soldiers. Then the tanuki would dispel it, his clawed paw handling the stones with a delicate precision that seemed unnatural.
In one of the pauses, Watanuki turned his head slightly to look at the object of this night's battle. The ancient spirit had fallen into seiza, his eyes glittering as it followed the game. That beautiful face was expressionless and still, and Watanuki chafed, wondering if Shindou was winning or losing and wanting some kind of hint.
Just before they entered endgame, a windfall of leaves fell upon them before a chilly wind blew them away. Then Watanuki heard Shindou and Sai gasped simultaneously, and his attention went back to the board.
He couldn't see it at first, and so he looked at his two companions. Both ghosts had horror-stricken expressions. Whipping his head back to the game before him, he studied it intently. Then he blinked, and blinked again.
The shape on the upper left corner was wrong.
There was a stone missing.
A black stone.
And it wasn't until it was missing that Watanuki saw exactly how significant that move had been. Now the three groups of black were in danger of being swallowed up by the wall of white surrounding them.
With a growly chuckle, the tanuki spirit languidly placed a stone on that spot. And Watanuki winced. From what he could understand of the shapes, Shindou is on the verge of losing two of the three groups – a combined territory worth at least fifteen moku.
A loss that would mean the end of the game for both Sai and Shindou.
"Well, well, well," the tanuki taunted, "it looks like the game is almost complete. Are you ready for your last competent game of Go to finish, impudent human-spirit?"
"Not yet," Shindou gritted out. "I will never give up!"
Watanuki craned his neck and blanched at the sight of Shindou's face. The boy's face was drawn taut, his brows furrowed, mouth tight. His green eyes seemed to glow, and Watanuki could feel an immense aura radiate from Shindou, an aura that seemed to suffocate him.
"Watanuki!" the boy snapped. Watanuki jumped and settled back. The fan was pointed imperiously at a spot far from the disputed position, but a look at Shindou's face told him it was no mistake. Gingerly, Watanuki placed the stone.
Then his eyes widened as the threat made itself apparent three moves later. That stone had been a set-up in order to attack a crucial point in the defence of a tight-clustered white group at the middle. The tanuki took a deep gulp of sake, but Watanuki could see it flinch. He allowed himself to smirk at the demon-spirit. It glared at him.
Then, as if the setback had not affected him at all, Shindou's fan flicked from position to position. So fast that Watanuki almost failed to follow a couple of times. He did keep an eye on that fateful area, and breathed a sigh of relief as his friend deftly rescued his endangered stones. He hid a smile as he heard the tanuki angrily growl before him. Then, the orders came with little pause in between and he had no time to study the game as he tried to keep up with the fan's rapid-fire movements.
So caught up was he that the tanuki's disgusted mutter of "I resign" caught him by surprise. Watanuki stared blankly at that dark, inhuman face. Shindou, on the other hand, was relaxed as he bowed and murmured his thanks. Watanuki hastened to follow his example.
"Beware, human-child, and you, Fujiwarano, never to cross my path again," warned the tanuki. "I would not be so lenient the next time." Then faster than their eyes could follow, the demon scuttled away.
Sai's bamboo cage dissipated. The spirit immediately tried to get up, only to stumble.
"Sai!" Shindou ran to him and helped him up. Then the two of them embraced tightly. Watanuki slowly repacked the goban set into the backpack, trying not to listen to Shindou's sobbing words as Sai rubbed a hand on his back. Doumeki took up the backpack and they retreated a good distance away. Mokona was dancing happily on Doumeki's head, chirping praises to the two triumphant warriors.
"We survived," he whispered aloud. Doumeki only looked at him. For once, that placid face failed to make him angry. "I-I can't believe it…we battled a tanuki and won!"
"You surprised me, being able to follow Shindou's orders like that," his rival said. "I thought you only followed Yuuko-san's orders."
"Shut up!" Trust Doumeki to destroy the glowy feeling that encompassed him. He sent a killing glare into those dark eyes, but he could only see his own angry face reflected back in its calm depths. Mumbling angrily, he looked away.
"Guys!" The two spirits made their way towards them. Shindou's face was wreathed in a breathtaking grin, and Sai's was alit with a gorgeous smile. "Watanuki, I-I can't take you enough for helping me. If I hadn't met you, I would never have been able to free Sai and I might have died and become a ghost!" Awkwardly, Shindou bowed low.
Sai also bowed, a fluid motion so unlike his younger companion's. "I am also deeply in debt to you, to both of you. Thank you for taking care of Hikaru and helping set me free from Kyuusei-san's trap."
Watanuki brought up his hands and waved them frantically before himself. "No, no, it was nothing. I can't do any less when I know a friend is in need of help." He dropped his hands. "I'm just glad everything turned out fine." Doumeki nodded beside him.
"Hikaru, you forgot to introduce us," reproached the ancient spirit.
"Oh yeah, heh-heh-heh." Rubbing the back of his head, Shindou made a quick, sloppy introduction.
They all made their way back to the roads, chatting happily. Watanuki was fascinated at the idea that a thousand-year-old ghost was right beside him and didn't want to devour him. He asked Sai to describe some of his experiences in the Heian era and in Shusaku's time, while Shindou interrupted intermittently and Doumeki listened intently. Mokona was watching them all with a proud, paternal expression on his dark face.
"Ne, Shindou?" Watanuki ventured as they came out of the mountain trail and onto the highway. There was one thing about the game that was gnawing at him. "Maybe I'm wrong, but the game could have reached seichi, right?"
"Well, all games could have reached seichi," it was Sai who answered with a gentle smile. Shindou nodded beside him. "However, Hikaru was correct in forcing Kyuusei-san to resign before that stage."
"Why is that?" Watanuki prodded. They began the long walk back into town.
"That tanuki cheated," Shindou said with a shrug, "you saw it. Somehow, it caused the wind to blow just before his turn and while we couldn't see, it filched a vital stone. If it disrespected me and the game enough to do that during midgame, it will definitely try something during seichi."
"Seichi is the most vulnerable point in a Go game," explained Sai. "It completely relies on a sense of honour. Because you would normally be concentrating on counting your opponent's territory, you would not be paying any attention to what he is doing. It is one of the most dishonourable ways of cheating. Well, all cheating is dishonourable but…"
"The kitsune who told us your story said that the reason the tanuki was angry because he had lost a game to you and had dishonoured himself in the losing," Doumeki inserted.
"He was cheating during that game too," Sai replied calmly. "The dishonour came with losing to a human, especially after making a point of bragging about how he had only lost games to the higher gods and spirits, not the act of losing itself. The demons in the Other world don't look at humans or human-spirits as equals. That is why to a tanuki, cheating a human is seen as something acceptable, while if he tried to do something similar to a fellow demon, it would be dishonourable and worthy of bloodshed."
"I think I understand," Watanuki finally said. He sighed wistfully. "I think I would like to learn a bit more about Go. When I was placing the stones down, I felt as if I was missing a lot of what was going on."
Shindou exchanged mysterious smiles with Sai. "I know what you mean," the boy-spirit replied with a grin. "Don't worry, once I'm back in my own body, I'll make sure to make time to teach you as much as you want to know."
The rest of the walk passed by in companionable silence.
"What are you going to do now, Shindou?" Doumeki asked once they were inside the town again. The two spirits looked at each other.
"I, well, Sai and I have a lot to catch up on so I think we're just going to head to the hospital where my body is. After that, he's going back to the Other world, while I'm hoping that by tomorrow, I'll be back in my own body," Shindou replied after he consulted with the other ghost.
"Most likely," Doumeki agreed, "however, we will visit you tomorrow to see if everything has gone alright."
"That's fine. I'm in the Kamogawa Hospital, fifth floor. Just tell them that you're good friends of mine, and they'll let you in. Now, we've got to go! I don't want to waste any more time!" With a wave, the two trotted off.
"What about you?"
Watanuki scowled. "I'm going home, of course! I'm not staying another night at your ghost-infested temple!" With a roll of his eyes, Doumeki handed over the pack. Mokona made a great leap from Doumeki's head onto Watanuki's. The bigger boy smirked, while Watanuki half-heartedly tried to swat at the black creature.
"I'll see you at school then tomorrow."
"If you have to," Watanuki replied unenthusiastically. Doumeki, however, was undaunted and he waved casually before heading back to the temple.
And Watanuki made his home, feeling both bereft and satisfied with the aftermath. He couldn't help but reach up to poke Mokona on its belly as he walked, more than a little glad that he wasn't alone.
WWWW
And to the last chapter…
