Not Just a Game 4
A/N: Sorry guys for skipping a week… These people from England came to visit and I was busy the whole of last week. Another thing is that school starts for me in two days. August 31st. I know, it really sucks, but there is some good news. I drew two pictures of Not Just a Game related stuff and the links are posted on my profile page. They're also in my xanga, if any of you read that. (That link is also on my profile.)
Hm… I've also drawn another one but my scanner really sucks, so I might wait till school starts and use the school scanner or something. That way I won't have to spend so much time darkening all the lines and stuff.
Enjoy!
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Disclaimer: I don't own Hikaru no Go.
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"The Game of Go will kneel before me."
Waya, Isumi, Vivian, Hikaru, and Sai could only gape at the damage the ghost had done. Shards of glass littered the floor, sunlight glinting off them so they looked dangerously inviting. Meanwhile, the music kept playing from the stereo, giving the room and even spookier atmosphere.
"We shouldn't just leave them there," Hikaru said suddenly. The unconscious Insei were in the middle of all the mess. "Let's bring them to a corner."
They all agreed. Isumi got up and found a broom on the other side of the room. He quickly swept away some glass into piles and cleared a small area.
"Be careful not to let them touch the glass," reminded Vivian. Just as she finished saying this, Waya let out an unrestrained curse as a piece of glass scraped his leg. A dribble of blood started oozing out, which he hastily wiped away.
"Waya, I haven't gotten to there yet," Isumi said, his voice a tad reproachful. Waya just continued on, looking at the glass darkly and muttering to himself. Hikaru and Vivian found it hard to stop laughing.
While they brought everyone to safely, Sai stood alone among the rubble of the exploded wall. As if to make sure of something, he raised his hand to touch the wall. As usual, his semi-transparent hand passed through it. His eyes narrowed. "Just as I thought."
Isumi was already done sweeping up the glass, so he sat down with a sigh, wiping a bead of sweat away from his face. The air-conditioning had been off for a long time already, and the atmosphere within the building was hot and humid. He glanced at the Insei that were lined up as though it was naptime in Preschool. His eyes instead were lured to something much more interesting.
An unconscious custodian was lying face-down on the ground in the hallway. Attached to his belt was a ring of keys.
Access to the stairway.
"Hey guys," Isumi called.
"Hey yourself," grunted Waya as he lifted the last Insei off the ground. "We're doing all the work."
Isumi didn't reply and instead twirled something around his finger. The keys glinted and clanged as they spun.
Waya noticed what they were and started, "So? They're just ke—"
Vivian cut him off short and gasped, "Keys to the stairwell. Oh, thanks Isumi! That's great!"
"And where are you going?" Waya said in a slightest sardonic tone. He felt himself fuming at the fact that Isumi had earned all the congratulations while gazing around like a lazy buffoon.
"My father's on the first floor," she explained. Her expression grew worried. "I-I hope he's okay."
"I'm sure he's fine," Isumi answered. Hikaru nodded and agreed.
Waya's eyes, which had been avoiding her the whole time, glanced at her slyly. He said indifferently, "Hmmph. He's obviously unconscious like everyone else. Why worry?"
The room was silent. So he continued.
"Besides, finding your father isn't going to help us out of the building. It's a waste of our time."
Vivian was speechless. "Wha—"
"Why would we need some crazy tourist messing everything up anyways? You know how you're father's like. I've seen him."
That was the last straw. Hot, angry tears welled up in her eyes at his comments. She spun around quickly, avoiding everyone's gaze, snatched the keys from Isumi's grasp, and ran out of the room.
"…psh. She's too sensitive," Waya added unnecessarily at the end.
He then literally felt himself shrink as Hikaru and Isumi's (Sai's too) condemning glares bore down upon him.
"Follow her. Now." Isumi commanded.
"Wha-why? It was her fault in the first place," Waya whined and then mimicked childishly, "Oh, thanks Isumi! That's great!"
"Go. Now."
"But—"
"Now."
"But…"
"Waya…" Isumi's eyes glinted evilly.
"O-Okay…" Waya stammered. He left the room as quick as he could and let out a deep sigh of relief when he got out. As soon as he slowed to a walking pace, he heard Isumi's voice bellow, "Run, you idiot. Don't walk." He turned and saw Isumi glaring angrily in one direction and the door to the stairs quickly closing in the other. Putting on a burst of speed, he slipped through just before it closed.
Only seconds after this happened, a piercing shriek reached Hikaru and Isumi's ears. (A/N: At this point my sister was like, "Waya shrieked?" Uh… No, Lucy. Not Waya.)
"Was that Vivian?" said Hikaru, horrified at what might have befallen her.
"We shouldn't just leave them there. There's definitely trouble down there."
Hikaru nodded readily (although in his mind he was thinking, Isumi… you were the one who found the keys in the first place…) and reached forward to grasp the handle…
"Hikaru, No!" Sai cried out in warning. Hikaru froze, his fingers barely a centimeter from the handle.
Isumi saw him stop and understood why. To make sure, he threw a mop from the custodian's little trolley at the door. It zapped and fell onto the floor, completely fried.
"Hikaru," called Sai. Hikaru looked up and was surprised to see a fierce fire blazing in Sai's eyes. He'd never seen him like this. His eyes were narrowed in a dangerous way and his knuckles were white. Well, whiter that they usually were. "I will find that ghost. And I'll give him a piece of my mind. Powers like ours should never, ever be abused."
"Sai… what do you mean by powers?"
"As a ghost, I am only a spiritual being until I possess something. A ghost can only haunt three things—a person, place, or thing. In my case I could only haunt a Go board at first, and only after a long period of time did you find me. Only somebody who is 'aware' of ghosts can be possessed."
"Lucky me," grumbled Hikaru.
"I actually had two choices at the time though. Once I had been awaked from the Go board, I chose to haunt Hikaru instead of his Grandfather's house."
"You mean you could've—" started Hikaru.
"I probably didn't have the power to do that in the first place. (And it would've been so boring!) In order to possess a whole building, I would have to have incredible amounts of emotional energy. When I passed the record room I felt it all. It was an uncontrollable flowing out of emotions…"
"So you mean… a lot of power, right?"
"Yes, but this ghost is threatening the lives of all the innocent people within the building. I will not simply stand by and let this happen," Sai asserted.
"Right," Hikaru agreed.
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"That Waya…" Vivian muttered to herself as she stumbled nervously through the eerily quiet hallways. She hated the fact that she was alone, but finding her father was of utmost importance.
She was nearing the lobby when suddenly a small thud resounded from inside one of the rooms. Was there somebody else in the building? Making a snap decision, she gathered some of the courage left inside her and turned the doorknob.
There was nobody inside. Vivian gulped and hurried out of the room. She turned and was met with the face of an unconscious but still standing man. The door slammed into him by accident and he fell forward, his stubbly, unshaven face missing her by inches. At the sudden movement of the man, she let out an earsplitting shriek, louder than she would've liked.
Calm down, she thought quietly to herself. Everything's fine. You just knocked him over. That's all.
Why are you here?
The voice echoed and faded away as if it was from some far off place.
"Who's there?" Vivian called out, feeling scared and a bit stupid at the same time. (A/N: Well, I'd feel stupid just talking to something that's not physically there… you know, it's like you're almost talking to yourself.)
Why are you here?
The voice repeated itself. So she wasn't imagining things.
"Tell my who you are first," Vivian demanded angrily and then added boldly, "And tell me why you're doing this to all these people."
The voice was silent for a second. Then, there was a strange cracking sound in the air and suddenly a huge blast of wind knocked Vivian off her feet. She gasped in pain as she slammed into the wall, the impact shaking her bones.
I will be asking the questions. Now, why are you here?
The voice was booming. Vivian winced as she stood up from the blast and resisted the temptation to cover her ears and scream, "Shut up!" to the echoes of the ghost's voice. She stood shakily and glared defiantly around her, still reluctant to give in to the ghost's demands. "I'm still here because you've trapped me. I was simply visiting a tourist spot while on vacation.
The booming in her head ended. Then, it inquired curiously, So you're not a Go player?
"No," said Vivian, surprised at the strange question. "Why would I be?"
You don't like Go?
"It's the stupidest game ever invented. I can't even understand the rules," she blurted, then caught herself back from further insulting the game as she thought of the possibility that the ghost was being also insulted in the process. She gulped nervously.
Oh. Well then, you can go.
"What?" Vivian practically screamed.
I have no interest in you. Go.
"B-but… I… wuh?"
What about those four other? Do they resent Go like you?
Vivian blinked. "Well, uh… not really, but—wait a second," Vivian said. "You only want to do this to people who like Go? But why?"
You wouldn't understand. Go is despicable. It controls your life and twists it into a complete nightmare. All the people here are its little underlings…
"It's a game," Vivian shouted with exasperation. "You play it for fun."
Fun? No, you play to win. It's not just a game. Now go.
Every fiber in Vivian's body told her to go—to get out of this goddamned place. But she couldn't. She couldn't leave everybody behind. Not Hikaru, not her father, not even Waya.
She didn't move. Instead, she heard her name being called—first faintly, but getting louder. Her eyes widened as she recognized Waya's voice.
Waya—and Insei, whose life revolved around Go twenty four-seven.
"No…," she whispered.
The ghost chuckled and said with delight, The first one has come. Let me do it away…
"No," she screamed, "Waya, get away. Don't come near me!"
Too late.
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A/N: (sighs) So the chapter ends. It wasn't as long as the last one though…
So since school starts in say… two days, my update time will probably take much, much longer… like two months each chapter sometimes kinda long. So I recommend you wonderful readers out there to put me on story alert so you don't get disappointed each time you visit to see if I've updated yet.
Speaking of which, special thanks to Kikio Shiroshi (Good luck on your story), Bluetiger42, MysticChaos, and Victoria for reviewing. You guys give me the encouragement I need!
See you next time!