This wasn't a Hikaru he knew. Not this boy who could hear inaudible things, lose consciousness for no discernible reason, talk about strange things like 'presence'…Akira was afraid of what he saw Shindo becoming.

"Shindo?" he called after watching his friend make all manner of pained expressions without any physical external reason, and he was growing tired of waiting for an explanation.

"Touya, I'm sorry, all I can do is apologize to you right now. I still can't really explain…"

Beyond frustration, concern and doubt, Touya exclaimed shakily, "I don't want an excuse, just tell me what's happening. I'm almost at my limit, Hikaru. I swear it, I will leave you—"

"It's haunted!" a hand flew to cover Hikaru's mouth.

"Wha…What?" Akira recoiled, fear blending with disgust and disbelief to build a negative response that resounded in every cubic centimeter of his body. He stepped back, repulsed beyond words, beyond conscious thought for a brief instant. "Are you serious?" Touya's hand slid up into his hair, trying to discern whether his rival was insane or if Hikaru just thought Akira was thick-witted enough to fall into some form of elaborate prank.

"It's, uh, kind of like…like a feeling I get sometimes," Hikaru babbled, becoming redder and redder. Touya could only look on, finding himself beyond words for the first time in a long while. "It's kind of…" Shindo threw his gaze to the ground. "I can feel a lot of emotion coming from this," he gestured to the biwa. "Maybe if you were to touch it—"

"This is not funny, Shindo!" he hissed, hand falling out of his hair to lock with his elbow as he crossed his arms tightly around himself. His friend appeared miserable, clinging delicately to the cursed instrument.

'No! Not "cursed". There's just no way for that to be possible…'Akira thought desperately, shivering so badly he could feel his teeth knocking together. Soon, Shindo would be able to hear how frightened he was. He donned his haughtiest mask. "Stop playing pretend and let's go back to my family. The sun's almost down; they might come looking for us soon." The voice he used wasn't his. He felt his tongue slow, unwilling to lash out so coldly against his best friend, but Hikaru wasn't leaving him any option. He was being annoyingly persistent about this "haunted" business.

Hikaru hugged the biwa to his body, head slowly lowering. He nodded quickly once his face was completely out of sight. Akira made himself look away as Hikaru swiped at his cheeks and stowed the biwa tenderly in his backpack, its neck barely poking out the top. When Touya finally sighed and began walking, he heard Hikaru trudge after him in a defeated manner.

'Stop it,' Akira thought aggressively. 'You don't get to be mad. I'm still mad. Dammit…'

"…Dammit!" He stopped walking. He spun to face his rival. Hikaru almost blundered into him, head still down. "I still don't understand it or you or anything, but we're going to be staying here for the night. While you were unconscious, we decided that you'll be sharing a room with me, so please, please try to act normal for at least a little while." Shindo nodded, refusing to raise his head. Akira looked at him carefully for a moment before resuming their trek back to his parents. When Hikaru made to fall behind again, he pulled his friend to his side by the sleeve, carefully concealing the incriminating bag between them. The long haired boy definitely didn't want Shindo to try explaining the biwa to his family and even less did he want to try himself.

"Did you find it?" his mother asked politely, face a bit red from the sake she was drinking.

"Yes, we did," Touya answered, fake smile coming easily to his features. "It was a bit dark so we had to really search for it."

"Good, good. We heard that there are going to be fireworks later on, so we were going to stay and enjoy them. And you?" His mother looked pointedly at Hikaru who still kept his head lowered. "Are you two feeling up to staying a bit later?"

Akira found himself shaking his head almost vehemently. "We'll be leaving in the morning and Shindo is already feeling tired. We should go and check in to the hotel now. Have rooms been reserved for everyone already?"

"Yes, yes," his mother said warmly, kissing her son on the forehead. "It's one that your father played in a tournament at recently, and they've arranged everything. It's close to the station, so if you hurry, you can catch the last train over."

Akira wanted to hug his father, knowing that he wouldn't be seeing the man before he would have to leave in the morning—and probably not for weeks after that—but that wouldn't have been acceptable no matter how inebriated the man was at the time; a tight bow for his father instead. He grabbed his own bag and took Shindo by the wrist and hurried off toward the train station.

"Oi, Touya, we could've stayed for the fireworks," Hikaru pressed quietly, tugging lightly at the vice-grip that Touya had on his wrist. Akira squeezed a bit harder before releasing the boy entirely.

"What you do at this point is entirely up to you." He was bitterly calm. "I'm done. I can't feel responsible for you right now. I don't know if you're delusional or what, but you, right now, decide what you want to do."

"…I want to stay with you…" the voice didn't belong to Hikaru. Rather, the tone that he spoke with didn't match the context at all. It was bald and confident and almost…

…suggestive.

Akira studied his friend carefully. Shindo appeared almost angry with himself, biting down firmly on his lip, brow furrowed in an expression akin to concentration with just a hint of displeasure. No, more than a hint…it was…

He sighed. "This is what I mean, Shindo. What's the matter with you?"

Hikaru seemed surprised then suddenly wilted. "I'm sorry, Touya. I don't…I shouldn't have even agreed to this trip. I haven't been very…w-well recently. It's kind of a hard time and I guess I can't deal-l with it like I want to, but," he looked straight into Akira's eyes abruptly, "I don't want you to be mad at me, no matter what." Bottle green eyes, shining with frustrated tears. Touya was disarmed completely.

"Okay. Let's go. We'll need to hurry to get to the station in time."

They reached the station with just enough time to catch the last train to the hotel. The entire way there, Hikaru had Setsuko cackling in his ear, saying all kinds of things that made Hikaru flush all the way to the ends of his blond hair.

He really does look like a woman; no wonder you look at him the way you do… Setsuko crooned, sizing both of them up slyly.

'Shut up, please? I'm begging you, stop it,' Hikaru pleaded, wondering how he'd be able to look at his friend again. 'I do not look at him like that.'

Well, the joke is becoming rather old I suppose, she finally conceded, settling down to sit demurely across from them. She combed through her hair with her fingers. Doesn't his hair look soft, though? I could run my fingers through it all day…Mmm…

Hikaru stared at his knees and wished himself anywhere else.

This is a strange carriage. It runs under the city?

'Sure does.'

How does it work? I don't see any beasts pulling it.

'Who knows.'

Setsuko pouted for a moment, alternating her gaze between Hikaru and Akira with curiosity.

Say…why can't he see me?

'I told you, Setsuko-hime. You're dead. No one can see you but me.'

Well, why can you see me then?

'I don't know, I just can.' Hikaru sighed quietly to himself. Akira turned his head slightly before resuming his stare out the window. 'Setsuko-hime? What's the last thing you remember before I found your biwa?'

Setsuko gave him a questioning glance. I've been waiting, she answered simply. Waiting for a long, loooong time. She stretched out in the seat, arching her back like a cat. Setsuko was very feline in nature and had most likely been pampered like one when she was still alive, and Hikaru was still no closer to figuring out just when that had been.

'What did you do for a living before you had to wait?' he asked, trying a different approach.

What an absurd question, she scoffed. Hikaru hid his irritation and held out for an actual reply. I was high priestess at the Shinto shrine in Ise. I've not "worked" a day in my life. Can't you tell? she demanded, indicating her intricate dress. I was one of the Saio there… her eyes sparkled in memory again and Hikaru knew he had a few moments before she would pester him again.

"Touya, what do you know about the Saio at the Ise Shrine?" he asked quickly. Touya looked at him briefly before sighing through his nose.

"They were Shinto priestesses that were related somehow to the emperor. It was just an elaborate ruse to promote the ruler at the time." Akira rolled his eyes. "It was just a meaningless intricacy of the old regime."

"O-oh…" Hikaru stammered, wincing as Setsuko took direct offense what Touya had said.

Meaningless? We Saio blessed our ruler with prayer and rituals that you wouldn't even begin to understand, peasant! While Setsuko fumed, Hikaru dedicated his remaining willpower into shutting her out long enough to relax his new migraine. He massaged his temples vigorously, trying to shake the spirit from his mind. Okay, okay. I get it. I'll calm down. But seriously, Hikaru, you need to tell him to mind his manners!

Hikaru chuckled lightly at that before he remembered that Touya could hear him. But just the idea of criticizing Touya's etiquette was so laughable that Hikaru couldn't contain himself.

"Shindo, what is it now?" Touya didn't sound completely unpleased, just exhausted.

"Just a funny memory. Something Waya said to me before he left for China."

"Oh?" It was probably an invitation to continue, but Hikaru wasn't quite sure how to lie anymore; he was far too worn-out.

"Something to do with Ochi and diarrhea. Makes for a bad mental image."

"Yes, I think that's quite enough detail for me." Touya shook off a layer of drowsiness. "I wasn't giving him lessons again, you know," he added after a bit of consideration.

"Eh?"

"You had mentioned something like that yesterday. I didn't train him or anything like that."

Hikaru vaguely recalled the topic, but why—

"It just slipped my mind until now," he explained, seeming to read Hikaru's thoughts. "I didn't want you to think something absurd like that. We just met up to play a few times. He doesn't think I take him seriously enough." Hikaru stopped listening to his friend.

'I suppose a haunted biwa is "something absurd" too, right Setsuko?'

Who knows anymore. Are you sure I'm dead?

Hikaru remembered the feeling of wanting to throttle a ghost, but Sai had never managed to be so…

'insufferable,' his brain supplied viciously.

Hm? Who is this "Sai"? Setsuko asked lightly, bored by the lack of dialogue.

'A spirit who attached himself to me before you did,' Hikaru thought dispassionately. 'That's how I know you're dead too.'

Sai…what was his surname?

'Fujiwara. Fujiwara-no-Sai. Did you know him?' Shindo wondered absently as if ghosts could have some sort of phone tree or club meetings or something.

No. I did know my fair share of Fujiwaras, though. Their blood was all over the royal family tree. My father's mother was a Fujiwara. I could even be related to your Sai…she trailed off, though not in one of her usual moods. She appeared somewhat distraught about something. I don't remember—

"Shindo? This is our stop," Touya said lightly, his hand suddenly on Hikaru's shoulder.

"Oh, ah, thanks." Setsuko dangled around Hikaru's head, giggling at his expression: sleepy and thoroughly nonplussed.

"Come on, Shindo, before you fall asleep standing up…again." The attempt at a joke was enough for Hikaru to pretend to laugh, give a sheepish grin, and follow his friend off the train and up to the street.

Hikaru, you should really take the initiative in times like these, Setsuko frowned. For instance…

His hand tangled in Touya's sleeve as Hikaru's body grew horribly heavy, causing him to nearly fall under his own weight.

"Oi, Shindo?" Touya tried to right his rival, finding the other pro to be largely unresponsive.

'Setsuko, what the hell are you doing to me?' Hikaru shouted to her.

We share a consciousness, right? she giggled. This is just a parlor trick for someone like me.

'Just what…are you? What is this…?' Hikaru wondered, exhaustion fading his vision. He was vaguely aware of Touya lightly shaking his shoulders.

"Just a fever," he tried to reassure his friend.

A priestess, Setsuko answered, pressing her will over Hikaru's body. I'm sure that Fujiwara spirit never tried anything like this before.

A hand that was Hikaru's—though at the same time, not his—covered Touya's fingers tenderly where they gripped his shoulder.

'For a priestess, you don't seem very virtuous.' Hikaru felt his jaw begin to move and clamped it shut frantically, clamping his cheek in his teeth. He hoped that the pain would better ground him. Setsuko tightened Hikaru's fingers around Akira's in defiance.

I was already sixteen when I left to be a Saio, young and royal and quite beautiful. I didn't care much for the stuffy lifestyle of a priestess. Besides, she tossed her hair impishly, this boy doesn't seem to mind. And he is very attractive…

"Hikaru, we're almost at the hotel. You can lie down when we get there."

"Okay…"

'Setsuko, let me go!' Hikaru pushed back against the pressure he felt on his body, relieved when he felt the priestess withdraw her power.

Don't be mean, Hikaru. She was pouting. It was just a bit of fun. I just thought that since you've been so concerned with him all evening—

'Knock it off!' She sniffed at the command but stayed silent.

Hikaru straightened up and made to continue when he realized—

"Shindo?"

He was still holding Touya's hand. He tried to loosen his fingers, but Setsuko's power still hadn't worn off. They were frozen, and the mischievous apparition only laughed horribly at the situation.

Unwilling to even suggest returning control to her for any matter, Hikaru, bright red and embarrassed beyond compare, asked quietly, "Do you mind? Just so I don't fall again or…" He could feel heat rising from the back of his neck.

"You're very strange today." He was annoyed—very annoyed—but to Hikaru's surprise, his rival didn't even try to shake off his hand, even using the contact to pull Hikaru along beside him. "Why can't you just behave normally? Your moods are so scattered these days…" Akira was muttering, but Hikaru knew he was meant to hear. He found himself surprised at the thought of Touya actually noticing his ordinary behaviors and moods.

See? What did I tell you?

'Calm down, you! We've been friends for years and I've known him even longer than that! He was the only one I even looked at for so long—'

Nnn?

He ignored her. "Sorry. I guess I've just been re-evaluating a few things. A lot's…happened recently," he kept his voice low.

"Shindo, it's been months since I've seen you as happy as you were this afternoon." Touya squeezed his hand. "What happened after that? You've been distracted ever since. You couldn't have—"

He broke off the statement as they reached their hotel. After staring dumbly at the door for a moment, not quite recognizing that it was indeed their destination, Touya slipped his hand out of Hikaru's grip to open the door. Setsuko's eyes went wide as she skipped ahead into the foyer, a quaint but well-fashioned room with a widescreen television and telephones and all manner of conversation. A boy played a handheld game sitting on the stairs. Akira walked over to the front desk to collect their room key, so Hikaru was better able to attend to his ghostly companion.

What on Earth… Setsuko flitted all over the room, completely enthralled by the activity of the hall. She stopped at the television, inspecting the frame, the screen, and speakers all separately before noticing that it was discussing the global news.

'Were you not paying attention at all on the walk here?'

You were being distracting, only thinking about that other boy, she accused quietly, focusing on a map of Asia that flooded the screen. Where is that? What kind of made up world is this? Hello? She tapped on the screen as if the news anchor could answer her questions. She became angry. Hikaru, he's ignoring me!

Hikaru laughed openly. 'That's a television, Setsuko-hime. The man inside can't hear you. He's miles away from here. The picture is only a recording.'

Recording?

'Yeah, like a moving photograph.'

'Photograph?'

"This again," Hikaru groaned, rubbing his head. 'Just never mind. Things have gotten much more complicated since you were alive.'

Setsuko regarded him very seriously for a moment.

You keep saying that, but I don't remember being dead.

'Setsuko, it's been centuries since you were alive…I think. Who was the emperor when you were a priestess?'

My brother, Korehito. As a sovereign, he is called Emperor Seiwa.

"Seiwa…" Hikaru wondered if he'd even heard the name before. "Sounds like a long time ago to me…So you were really a princess, huh?"

My mother was a consort. I chose to take on her name once I left Kyoto.

"Kyoto?"

"Shindo?" Without a warning, Akira materialized beside him. "What about Kyoto?"

"Touya! Oh, it was…" Hikaru trailed off, indicating the television. "They were talking about it a bit. Some kind of…thing."

"…I see." Hikaru colored. "Well, here." Touya handed his rival a card key. "We're on the seventh floor."

"Is it a suite?" he was joking, but then found himself thinking that if it was Touya, then it wasn't impossible. However, the blankness of Akira's expression made him clarify, "Just a joke," and meekly trudge over to the elevator.

What is this? This new spirit was clearly enjoying the twenty-first century just as much as Sai had, still mooning over a cellphone that a teenage girl was using. Setsuko was clearly not as limited as Sai had been, able to wander at her leisure any distance from him she so chose. Are there little men inside here, too?

'Setsuko, come with me. I don't want you to get lost,' he thought at her with a sigh. 'This woman is so exhausting.'

As the elevator arrived, Setsuko darted over to stare in awe at the opening doors. She stepped right inside, ogling the buttons, marveling at the shape of the carriage, listening to the walls.

Hikaru, what's this for? Hikaru?

He found himself smiling as he followed Akira into the elevator, unable to shake off the nostalgia. 'Just wait.' He pressed the button as the doors slid closed. Setsuko laughed delightedly as the carriage began to move, bouncing up and down until it stopped and the doors slid open.

Hikaru, again! Please, once more!

'Sorry, Setsuko-hime.' His sincerity amazed himself. Her childishness was so like his former spectral companion. 'Not just now.' He followed Touya out of the elevator, relieved to feel Setsuko trailing after him obediently for a change. After a bit of fuss from the ghost over the card key, Hikaru finally relaxed. He kicked off his shoes, pulled off his backpack, and flopped down on the nearest bed. It was a simple room with two queen sized beds; nothing remotely similar to the suites he was used to seeing his rival stay in. Setsuko immediately moved to marvel at the television set on the wall.

"I'll take the shower first," Touya said, placing his things on the small desk in the corner. "Don't fall asleep before at least washing your face."

"Fine, fine. Just don't use up all the shampoo," Hikaru teased lazily. He couldn't recall lying down ever being so comfortable, even if on the scratchy hotel sheets and semi-lumpy mattress. He stared at the ceiling and tried to think about nothing.

Will there be another man in this box? Setsuko asked, beaming in his direction. How do I see him? …Hikaru?

"Hmm?"

This is the same kind of picture box as before, right? Can you make the man come out?

"Setsuko-hime, wouldn't you rather relax a bit? It's been one hell of a day, and I don't really want to watch the TV." He sat up again, pulling over his backpack. The biwa's wilted strings made pathetic little noises as he tugged it lightly from amongst his belongings.

Ah… Phantom feet glided over the carpet. Setsuko sat beside her new companion, reaching in vain for her beloved instrument.

"What's the story with this biwa?" he asked quietly. His hands glided over the wooden body, afraid to apply any pressure to the artifact. "How did you…?" Her expression silenced him. Her face seemed darker than it had a moment ago.

I think I'm starting to remember. Yes…It all started with this biwa. She tossed her hair in a manner that Hikaru was growing accustomed to. I don't think I can really talk about it right now. But if I could… she reached towards Hikaru, and he grew cold as he realized what she was doing.

"Oi, none of that!" He recoiled from her probing presence. "This is my body, all right?" A look that would have been mischievous in good humor froze his blood.

I know that your previous apparition friend may have been a good sport about such things, but… she sighed, sagging her shoulders, …I would just like to play my biwa. Just once? Hands folded to plead childishly.

It was too much. Her sad face from before…

'I don't want anyone to look like that again.' It was a look that Sai had gotten quite frequently before he had vanished. He quietly gave his consent.

"Okay." She clapped her hands and beamed ecstatically. "But!" he interrupted her little celebration, "You only get one song. And if you try anything…strange, I'll never let you do anything like this again. Do you understand me?" The priestess nodded, still giggling with glee. Then she settled back inside his consciousness and he felt his entire body go numb, then cold, then he blacked out for a moment.

'…mmm…Setsuko? What…'

Sorry, sorry. It takes a bit of getting used to. This is new for me too, you know. Her acerbic tongue made him smile. No…he couldn't move his face. It was… Calm down. You're panicking a bit. It's throwing off my chi.

'Well then, breathe better! I'm suffocating in here!' Hearing his own voice make a Setsuko-giggle almost made him nauseous.

Setsuko evened out deep breaths, helping Hikaru steady himself in his own head. He watched from his own eyes as Setsuko picked up the biwa, caressing it like a lover. Her fingers—no, his fingers—ran up and down the strings as if each stroke was a conversation between long-parted friends. Then he watched his fingers tighten the strings, drawing them taut until he was sure they would break.

"Relax," his voice told him. "I know what I'm doing." He couldn't remember ever hearing his voice sound so contented. Setsuko brushed blond bangs out of his eyes, plucking the strings of the biwa with deliberate, tender pulls. When she was satisfied with its tuning, she began to play a gentle song.

'Oh please, don't sing. I can't sing…' he pleaded, regretting his decision to allow the phantom control.

"Relax," Setsuko repeated. She used his throat to hum, supplying Hikaru the words through their link. It was a pastoral song, meant to call gentle rains from the mountains. Or maybe it was an abstract love song. Whatever it was, it was beautiful.

The young pro allowed himself to be lost in the words, not even realizing the ending notes of the song, nor Setsuko peeling herself from his body. He was glad that she had thought to lay the biwa off to the side; once her influence was removed from his muscles, they turned to jelly and he fell on his side, forgetting everything except how to breathe for what felt like hours.

'Why didn't Sai do this in the first place,' he thought miserably. 'He could have just taken my body whenever he wanted to play. He wouldn't have had to—' Hikaru broke the thought off. He knew that Setsuko was special, her history as a priestess giving her more control than Sai ever had, but just knowing it was possible…

'But then again, it wasn't ever his style to do things that way.' He tried to smile, but his face wouldn't listen; he was still too numb. He wanted to think of his old friend and smile, but a tear slipped down his face instead. He felt Setsuko pressing at his mind, but she too was exhausted by the possession. She faded until Hikaru couldn't tell if she was gone or sleeping.

'Come back!' he near wailed. 'Don't you dare…'He found her, a faint pulse in the deepest recess of his brain. If he was absolutely silent, he could hear her heart next to his, the thrum matching the pull of her fingers on the biwa. That song, too, was beautiful.

My oh my. I am really enjoying writing this story. I hope there's more Go soon. It's really odd writing about Go players that aren't playing Go. I wasn't exactly satisfied with the way this chapter turned out, but Setsuko's character is super fun to write for. I adore sass...
Anyway! Thanks to my reviewers; it really means a lot to me. All of you are lovely, lovely individuals. More to follow very soon!

If I'm accidentally vague about any details that you're curious about, just ask. I feel like I should be explaining some things about Setsuko's abilities better, but I'm struggling to find ways to do that without being redundant or boring. The idea for the possession came from the sixth chapter of the manga when Hikaru plays a stone correctly for the first time. The way I read it, he sort of tapped into Sai's experience to "make his fingertips glow" or whatever he was trying to do there. The difference is that Setsuko, who was much more involved in the spiritual during her lifetime, can actually use her will to overpower Hikaru's. When he lets her, really. It's exhausting for the both of them. I couldn't think of how best to explain that-the purpose of this entire chapter-so I quit.

As for the Saio, you'll have to wait. Setsuko loves being mysterious, so Hikaru's going to research it on his own. It's a real thing, if you're curious. I learned mostly from Wikipedia what it's about and then made up the rest. She is, indeed, a Heiian period spirit like Sai. They didn't know each other, but they were probably related six kinds of ways (so much inbreeding back then). Tachibana-no-Setsuko isn't based on a real Saio though. WOW ENOUGH FROM ME, BACK TO WRITING CHAPTER 5. ttfn~

Disclaimer: Setsuko was my idea! Whoo! Nothing else though. I own no bishies.