A/N: I hate incest too so don't worry! This story is not a foursome! Haha.
Here's how I will refer to Sai: "he" will be used from a perspective that knew about his past (including you readers); "she" will be used otherwise.
Examples: "Akira was certain that he had never met her before."; "Sai scolded at himself."
I tried to use "he" for everything, but then it doesn't always make sense to me. Hopefully it won't be too confusing.
Chapter 2
*Pa-chi* *Pa-chi*
Even before the automatic door slid open, Sai could hear the wonderful sound coming from the Go Salon. He couldn't wait any longer as he hurried inside.
"Welcome, are you here to play a game?" The receptionist, Ichikawa greeted politely with her usual warm smile.
"HAI~!!!" Sai answered enthusiastically with his cute face, recognizing the lady.
"That would be 1,000 yen, thank you very much!" Ichikawa kept her smile.
Several seconds of silence passed and both ladies sweatdropped. "Umm...can I play a free game?" Sai asked with a small voice, eyes still up-curved.
The receptionist tilted her head slightly as if she didn't quite understand what he meant, the polite expression unchanged.
"I don't have any money with me," The former ghost said with a embarrassed laugh, a hand rubbing the back of his head. "Ha. Ha."
Akira had been replaying the game he had played with Hikaru earlier by placing a stone on the goban one by one. He was quite depressed at the fact that another opportunity had slipped away. Maybe his confession was not meant to be made, the pro sighed disappointedly. *Pa-chi* He placed a white stone at the intersection where Hikaru had identified as a mistake. Akira studied the goban as a whole and tried to understand what his rival had meant. Although every time he denied all the accusations the blond boy made, he would study them over once he was alone. Sometimes he could see the mistake, but most of the time not - and this is one of those times.
The 6-dan was interrupted as he heard noises from the reception. He saw a very pretty girl around early twenties giving Ichikawa a puppy face. "What's going on, Ichikawa-san?" Akira asked with concern as he approached them.
"Touya!" Sai exclaimed. Akira was certain that he had never met her before, so he assumed that she must've seen him on Weekly Go or something.
"Akira-kun, this lady here wanted to play a free game!" the receptionist frowned, gesturing a hand to Sai. "But I have explained to her that she cannot just come in and ask for a free game."
"But Hikaru never had to pay when he came!" Sai protested sadly.
"Hikaru?" The name was too sensitive to the pro. "You mean Shindou Hikaru? You know Shindou?" Why is this girl calling Shindou by his first name? What is their relationship? Questions flooded Akira's mind. He had to admit that this girl had the beauty that he could not compete with.
That was when Sai realized that he had blurted out something he shouldn't have. "Umm... he's a friend of mine....and ...he told me about this place. He said that I could play for free if I mention his name...Please, Touya. I really want a game! Believe me when I say that my love for Go is no less than you or Hikaru," the former ghost begged sincerely. He wanted to feel the Go stones in his fingers and place them on the Goban with a *Pa-Chi* so badly.
Sai greeted Akira's skeptical eyes with his own, beaming with hope. The pro gave up and led the beauty to the table where he was sitting at earlier. The game he was replaying still remained on the Goban.
"Ooh! A game!" Sai couldn't help but analyzed the game on the Goban immediately. He was able to figure out the order the stones were placed and how the game was formed in an instant.
Pointing at the stone, which was placed most recently by white, Sai commented with a frown, "White can't go here! It will easily lose the entire territory."
"How?" The boy asked keenly. This girl had made the exact same comment as Hikaru had earlier, but he couldn't figure out what he had meant. Akira was anxious to understand as he stared at the long-haired girl, wondering how good a player she was.
Goroo~Goroooo~
A shade of pink crept up Sai's face, as he stared at the floor embarrassedly. "That was my stomach. Ha. Ha."
"Would you like to eat something first?" Akira asked out of politeness, but truthfully he wanted to learn how big an impact was his so-called mistake right away.
"YES! Thank you very much, Touya-kun!" A huge silly grin spread across Sai's face.
"Thank you very much?" Akira wondered what she was thanking him for. Did she expect me to treat her dinner?
"She has no money with her," Ichikawa informed the perplexed pro from the counter as she overheard their conversation. Akira looked at Sai strangely.
Thinking that he would spend dinner with Hikaru, the 6-dan had already told his mother that he wouldn't return for dinner. He supposed he could have dinner with this happy-go-lucky girl. "Ichikawa-san, if you don't mind, can you please order pizza for us?" he asked, making a mental note about asking Hikaru for the money back since this girl was his friend.
"Of course I can, Akira-kun," the receptionist flashed her best smile.
"Ooh~! Pizza! I wanna try!" Sai exclaimed excitedly, but quieted down as Akira looked at him strangely again.
"So about this move..." The pro quickly reminded Sai their conversation before it was disrupted by her stomach.
"Oh, here. Let me show you," The Go Lover sat himself down and took a black stone. He hadn't touched a stone for a thousand years, yet he still picked it up with his thumb and index finger and skillfully placed it between his index and middle finger by flipping it over his index finger in a split second. *Pa-chi* Sai placed the stone on the board with a bitter sweet feeling. It felt like as if a gymnasts, who had just recovered from long term injury, had just performed a series of complicated moves and landed on the mat perfectly on his feet, awaiting for his ten points.
Sai continued placing white and black stones on the board and showed the pro the horrible situation white could end up with due to the earlier mistake. Akira just watched the game progress in awe. Hikaru was right. It was an unforgivable mistake. How could he have not seen this before? He started to scold at himself. Then he looked up and met Sai's eyes. Who is she?
"Would you like to play a game with me?" Akira offered. He wanted to know how good this girl was. She had claimed to be as much of a Go lover as he was. Was she also as skilled in Go as he was? He wanted to find out - not only about her Go, but also about who she is. More specifically, who she is to Hikaru.
"HAI!!!! PLEASE!!!!" Sai couldn't have asked for more and bowed lowly.
It was when Hikaru reached the subway station that he realized he had left his wallet at the Go Salon. "Damn it!" he cursed under his breath. Today was not a happy day for him. Other than getting into an argument with Akira, which was within expectation, today was the third anniversary.
He had wanted to call this the death day of Sai, but it wasn't technically correct because he had already been a ghost when he disappeared on May 5th, exactly three years ago today. Even after three years, he still missed the ghost terribly. He missed his annoying whining. He missed his cheerful voice. He missed his amused face when he saw something slightly hi-tech. Even all these years, he still couldn't figure out the exact reason why Sai had to leave.
The 5-dan had planned to go to his grandfather's place. He had visited Torajirou's Goban every year on the anniversary. If he had an event to go to on the day in another town like the North Star Cup, he would visit it once he got back. If it wasn't for this, he would have probably gone dinner with Akira. Hikaru sighed deeply and looked up at the cloudy gray sky. He didn't want to get home too late at night. Perhaps he should move out as this would provide him greater freedom. With that thought, he ran back to Touya's Go Salon.
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