A/N

I hope you like this chapter. Please keep in mind though, I didn't read much into the real story of Hoinbou Shuusaku so there may be some wrong facts in there. If you notice any extremely wrong fact, then please PM me. Also, the I don't actually know where Sai died so this is all based on my own ideas. I thought I should write longer chapters but I am still a beginner at this so just writing a 2,000 word chapter takes me a while so please bear with the shortness. Please tell me if this chapter was confusing. I'll rewrite it... I was in a rush to post this but I do plan to fix it!

Enjoy!

"Their grave? A place with memories?" Hikaru said with slight realization.

But Sai probably doesn't have a grave so…a place with memories?

Sai shook his head as he heard Hikaru's thoughts vibrate though his mind in a gentle way. Sai was definitely here but in a different way. However, Sai did begin to think about his real body. Where could it be? Maybe it was still stuck deep in the river he did suicide in. Or could they have found the body and gave it a proper burial?

No way.

It couldn't be possible that they found his body; after all, it was in a secret place that only Sai went to. It was a river deep in a forest that had a spot full of Sakura trees.

It was on one spring afternoon when he followed a little purple bird and he found the perfect place to sit silently and meditate. There was his favorite Sakura trees and a beautiful spring of water. Once he found that spot, he never told anyone of it and he never saw anyone there either. Nobody could have know about it.

"Thanks Gramps." Hikaru said as he hung up the phone.

Hikaru began to think:

He wasn't in the basement where we met so maybe he isn't in a place of memories with me?

Wait a second.

"Torajiro!" Hikaru exclaimed realizing that Sai might go to that person's grave or memorial sites.

Ah~Sai loved Torajiro. It would have been wonderful to go to Torajiro's graveyard but alas, Sai was in a current state of immobilization.

Hikaru dashed up his stairs and ran to his bookshelf looking for the Japan map. He mumbled a few things that Sai didn't listen to. The boy excitedly found the map and held it in his two hands and started talking to himself.

"Sai always had complaints about me but," Hikaru made an annoyed face, "he seemed to like Torajiro a lot."

Sai smiled big and bright. He sat on the bed once more and enjoyed the breeze.

"Yes, Torajiro was a great man." Sai's eyes shined and the world suddenly looked like sparkles, "He was a big and compassionate man."

"Che," Hikaru pouted and threw the map onto the floor, "Forget about Torajiro. Hump, Sai was also inside me."

Sai brought up his hand in his kimono sleeve and cover his mouth as he chuckled, "Hikaru, Are you jealous? Indeed Torajiro was a person I loved very much but Hikaru," Sai closed his eyes and remembered the death of Torajiro. His old companion coughed up so much blood that Sai never knew a human could do. Sai wished he could be more of help towards his old friend but he knew he could only give encouraging thoughts, "I love you just as much as I love him."

Hikaru looked with longing towards the direction Sai was seated in. For Hikaru the bed was empty with only a mid-afternoon breeze present, but for Sai, when Hikaru looked at him, it was like the world came back to him. It almost felt like Hikaru could see him.

Hikaru looked determined again. "I have time to look for Sai all day tomorrow so I'll wait for Sai today and if he doesn't come back," Hikaru murmered as he picked up the map again, "I'll look for him."

I'm definitely going to find you. It's not fair that you can just disappear like that. I don't like that, Sai!

That day passed like a blur.

Sai never appeared and it made Hikaru frustrated.

Why isn't Sai here? He must have gone to Innoshima to look at Torajiro sites. That must be it.

The boy took his map, a bag full of necessities and headed off to the train station. Innoshima was far and he knew that he would have to be there for a long time. He probably won't be back till the next day. But if it meant that he would get even the slightest hint of where Sai was, the boy was ready to go.

Beep Beep!

The boy turned to the sound of a car honking only to see Kawai-san.

"Hey, where you going? I'll give you a ride."

The boy sat in the car then told Kawai-san, "I'm going to the Tokyo station."

"Hum, a trip? Where."

"Innoshima," Hikaru said as quietly as possible. He didn't want anyone to really know where he was going. Especially Kawai-san.

"What?! Innoshima? Isn't that where Hoinbou Shuusaku was born?" Kawai-san began to ramble, "Ah~ I want to go there too."

Hikaru began to sweat. Hopefuly Kawai-san wouldn't get some stupid ideas.

"I know! I have vacation right now so I'll do you a favor and go with you!"

"EH? What?" Hikaru was shocked. He expected something but not that Kawai-san would come with him.

"I said, 'I'll go with you."

"EHH?"

(Hoinbou Shuusaku site: Go board)

"Oh~ look, there's a Go board." Kawai-san said happily with his hands in his pocket.

Sai glanced at the said Go board and in a millisecond was sent to that day hundreds of years ago. It wasn't the same Go board that Hikaru's grandfather had but it was one that triggered memories. It triggered memories of Torajiro's death.

Torajiro had been sick in bed for less than three days but the doctors had announced that Torajiro would die shortly. Torajiro had looked up at Sai who had been watching the doctors for a while now and smiled his most beautiful yet sad smile.

"Torajiro…" Sai had whispered to the sick man. Torajiro had been unable to eat well with out throwing up in the process so the young man had been emaciated and pale.

"S-sai," the go player had replied, "lets play one last match."

"B-but Torajiro, y-your health."

Sai had begun to resent the doctors. They could have helped Torajiro and he may have lived longer, but the healers had already long lost hope for any person who caught the illness. They had assumed that anyone who caught the epidemic would die anyways so they stopped taking care of them and left them to die.

"I'll be dying anyways so I might as well play my first and last game with you."

Sai gasped. Their first and last game? Had they really never had a match with each other despite their long relationship? Sai thought about it. Could it really be that Sai didn't actually know how Torajiro really played Go?

Sai then heard a shuffle from Torajiro. The man had forced his emaciated body to move. He was dragging his body to the Go board.

Sai ran to Torajiro. He wished to help him. He wished to wrap Torajiro's arms around his shoulders and help him move. He wished he could have been able to hug him and comfort him. It was impossible. He was a ghost and Torajiro was human. The strangeness was that Sai was dead for longer than Torajiro but it seemed like his friend was leaving the world way before him.

The man dragged himself to the cushion near the Go board. He sat in seiza, trembling; he lifted his thin hand, pale blue and boney, and chose a black stone and placed it on the right corner.

"Sai, its your turn."

With eyes filled with tears, Sai lifted his long slender hands, pure white and beautiful, and pointed to his move.

The game moved on and came towards the finale. Sai began to think.

Torajiro, your Go is beautiful. If you would say my Go is like an elegant warrior then yours is a cloudless serene. The more you look into it, the more you are drawn in; but you can't stare at it for long. The sun is always there to stop you. But that is the beauty. Afterall the elegant warrior can never be without the tranquil sky.

Torajiro's mind was clouded and as he finally lifted his hand to place his next move but he suddenly felt a spasm of coughs hit him and he droped the stone, ruining the game. It was one of the most painful spasm so far and Sai could feel the pain from Torajiro.

Sai also felt like he would double up and cough but be didn't. Instead he felt a second of whiteness and silence. He felt like he went to heaven for one second but he was still there with Torajiro. He could feel Torajiro's pain and suffering. (A/N BTW, Sai just 'disppeared' from Torajiro)

"Torajiro, I'm with you so don't worry."

Torajiro could no longer hear or see Sai. He didn't want to be alone. But when he looked up again only to see Sai still gone it made him scared and not to mention lonely.

"S-sai. Sai!" the emaciated man looked up with blurred eyes full of painful tears, "SAI Where are you?!" Torajiro then buckled over and started to cough more strongly and fear over came him.

Am I going to die like this? With no one around?

He moved his hand from his mouth and saw his whole palm bloodied and dripping over the Go board.

Right next to the tearstains of Sai.

"S..a…i where are you?"

Sai ran to Torajiro and hugged him, "I'm here, don't you hear me?" He asked not realizing that he was not visible in Torajiro's eyes anymore.

The man continued asking, "Where are you?" till he fell on top of the Go board and closed his eyes with tear rolling down his cheeks. The tear plopped right over Sai's old ones. "Whe…re…are…yo….u…" Torajiro said with his last breath.

The young man had expired and Sai was all alone again. Sai didn't understand why Torajiro couldn't see him or why the man was calling out, 'Where are you,' but what he did know was the fact that Torajiro was scared and Sai couldn't do anything for him.

Sai's eyes watered and he cried and before he knew it he was stuck in the Go board still selfishly desiring the Hand of G-d.

"-ai, Sai!" The ghost heard the sound of a teen boy calling out his name. They were still in the Hoinbou Shuusaku site looking at the Go board.

The ghost saw Hikaru looking around for Sai. Hikaru still couldn't see him and he probably would never see him again either. The boy looked sad when he saw that Sai wasn't there.

Yes, Sai thought. Right now I have to watch over Hikaru and not get stuck in a past I can't change.

(Hoinbou Shuusaku site: Greave yard)

Sai watched Hikaru searching everywhere for the ghost in hopes that he would find him. However Sai knew that it was impossible.

Sai followed the boy to the cemetery in which Torajiro's grave rested. Hikaru immediately began to run around in search of Sai. The ghost however, sat seiza by the tombstone of Torajiro.

"Ne, Torajiro," Sai began to say as he stared at the tombstone. "Why does Hikaru have to suffer so much? It's hard to see him search so much for me. I want to tell him, 'I am right here. Right in front of you.' But…" Sai gripped the fan with his hands and blinked hard as he felt water build up in his eyes, "he can't hear me." Sai stopped talking and let the silence take over. He felt that maybe Torajiro would reply. But there was no silence.

And this is how Hikaru feels when I don't reply to him…

Sai heard the birds chirping, the wind blowing, and not very far from him the voice of a young adult calling his name.

"SAI!" Hikaru called out.

"What should I do, Torajiro?" Sai questioned, "What should I do when Hikaru calls me?"

Then Sai thought, what did you want me to do when you called me at the brink of death?

"Hey Sai, If you can hear me, say something!" Sai heard Hikaru make another worthless request, but for some reason, despite all the attempts to make Hikaru see him, Sai still felt a useless hope.

A feeling of possibilities.

But most of all, he felt a slight feeling of resentment towards G-d for making him disappear.

"Hikaru!" Sai stood up and waved, "Look, I waving to you!"

"If you can see me, come fly here!" Hikaru continued to call in his thoughts.

Sai now let go of all the resistant to hold back his tears. He ran to Hikaru and hugged him with big huge droplets of tears falling out of his eyes like faucets.

"Thank you Hikaru," Sai whispered, "Thank you for calling me."

"Sai!"

The ghost looked at the young boy's face as it slowly scrunched into a frown. The teen then turned to leave the cemetery as he said under his breath, "I guess Sai isn't here…"

"Wait a second…Hikaru," Sai said sadly as Kawai-san called Hikaru and told him that they had to leave. Hikaru walked slowly towards the exit of the cemetery and left the dejected ghost alone.

Sai stood still as he saw Hikaru's sad looking back run with an incomplete feeling hanging off his shoulders. Sai put his hand to he chest and quietly said his phrase that had started to become a new habit, "I'm right here…"

Then there was silence.

The loud sound of regretful silence. An awkward silence would have been better. Then the birds chirped again as though to try to cheer up the ghost.

Please, please review!

~Zanima