[Glasser]
by onkoona
Once Upon A Time, Part 1
(This is a non-explicite yaoi fic, with Hikaru & Sai as the pairing)
Part 1
Once upon a time, a long long time ago, Hikaru - 23 years old, 7-dan Go pro and repeated winner of the Juudan and Gosei Titles - found himself, dressed up silk robes and wearing a ridiculously tall hat, squatting behind a bush in the dead of night. The full moonlight intermittently cast it's rays over the ancient landscape of trees and lake and it's reeded shore.
Hikaru knew the day was right, but not how long he'd have to wait, so he shifted his weight from one leg to the other, wincing at both the twinge in either leg and the noise the move produced that disturbed some of the night life into action. As all became quiet again, Hikaru went back to letting his emotions swing between elated anticipation and extreme annoyance. Anticipation of what might be accomplished this night and annoyance at himself, for he was half-way sure he had been complete had and conned out of a very large sum of money.
It had all started when he'd been mistaken about a lecturing date and had shown up at Fussa Town Hall one week early. He was pretty quick to notice that his Go lecture was not the announced talk of that night but rather a scientific lecture about time travel, of all things! Checking with the management put the fault clearly in Hikaru's own hands; he had written up the date a week too early, had never check afterwards and like an automaton had had gone that night to wherever his diary commanded he should go. The problem was quickly fixed; he noted the date of the week after in his diary and texted Waya to cancel the planned bowling outing of that night. Waya was neither surprised nor upset; he knew Hikaru long enough to know that sometimes Hikaru's mind would wander. It was altogether a good thing that Hikaru had been a week too early instead of too late; he really would be in trouble with the Go Institute if he'd miss yet another lecturing date.
So, with all schedule errors fixed, that left Hikaru in Fussa Town at 8:27 pm with nothing to do and nothing but a long boring hour and a half on the train back home - with nothing to do there either - to look forward too. He figured even if he started back now, by the time he'd arrive at the Touya Go club, most everybody worth playing would have gone home. And there was the rather good smell of the ramen vendor at the Town Hall was producing, to consider.
It wasn't too much later that Hikaru found himself sitting all the way at the back of the hall - together with no few others - discretely slurping his ramen and listening to the science presentation.
And that had been the beginning of everything.
OOOO
The moment it got through Hikaru's ramen stuffed head that the talk was not just about the theory of time travel but that the speaker implied that they had actually time traveled, right before the end of the presentation, that Hikaru's interest suddenly went into overdrive, while that of everybody else waned considerably.
Even more credulity was lost by the crowd when the speaker explained that the time travel theory itself, while making the actual travel possible, at the same time made proving that time travel had occurred impossible. This last bit of information Hikaru had serious trouble with; he had always know he'd never be a science buff to begin with and he knew that dropping out of High School at age 15 would not have helped matters any, so the fact that the speaker's statements seemed incomprehensible to Hikaru was not a big surprise.
What he did know was that he'd be damned if he'd let this chance slip by. Time travel! Actual working time travel! It was the answer to the unsolvable problem that had burdened him since he had been 14 years old. Sai. He could get back Sai. Even if it was a remote chance, he'd take it; Sai, he just meant that much to Hikaru, even now.
Hikaru hadn't realized until he had been about 16 and Sai had been gone some two years that he had been in love with the Heian ghost for years. Ever since Sai's disappearance Hikaru had dreamt of him frequently. Oh, that first dream, that had been different; it had felt very different. But the dreams after that were normal dreams; well, as normal as dreams can be anyway.
At first he just dreamed of all the things they'd done together; play Go, walk around town, go to school, go to Insei class, the Go exam, and loads more. But gradually, so gradually it took a while for Hikaru to notice, the dreams would just be about the two of them together, just the closeness of it, not so much the things they did. And then after a while Hikaru found himself having very sweet dreams of the both of them looking into each other's eyes and floating in a sea of clouds or sometimes masses of purple-black hair and the softest white silk.
When awake, Hikaru had been slightly revolted at the sticky sweetness of those dreams, but he couldn't deny that the residual emotions from them made him feel the lack of his friend more than ever.
It was not too soon after that Hikaru had started to deal with the physical aspects of his nightly 'sweet dreams'; he suddenly found he needed to change his sheets a lot more often!
Realizing he was in love with the ghost at that point was even easy for a lame brain like Hikaru. He really could kick himself that he had not seen it sooner. A 16 year old virgin for goodness sake! Well, no, that was not fair; he was sure there were plenty of 16 virgin boys out there, but not so many that had not even lusted after a girl (or boy) before. No, he had to be the one who fell for a dead man. Hopeless. Utterly hopeless.
He felt such a fool that he'd never told Sai how he'd felt. Oh, fair enough again; at 14 he really hadn't know that he'd fallen in love with Sai, but he could have nicer, less of brat! But what was done, was done. And for years Hikaru played Go to show the world his Sai and the rest of the time he dreamed of him at night and reminisced about their time together in the day time.
He had tried to get over his grief, he really had. He had gone to a grief councilor who had advised him to write all his feelings down. Hikaru didn't feel he had any writing ability and had opted to write out as many of the games he had played against Sai as he could remember. He then continued with any and all games that Sai had played with Hikaru placing the stones. It had helped ease his heart a bit, but it didn't make the longing go away.
So Hikaru had resolved to live on with the bleeding of the Sai shaped hole in his heart. There really had been nothing else to do. Except perhaps... But no, he did feel that Sai would be disappointed in him if he showed up in heaven too soon.
OOOO
Once the lecture was over, Hikaru started off by cornering the mousy looking scientist speaker as the man was putting away his laptop. He bombarded the man with questions, quite a few sounding less than bright, even to his own ears. Once the man had backed so far backwards that he had hit the wall, Hikaru asked him to explain again how that 'can't prove it'-thing exactly worked. The poor man kept spluttering and using his laptop as a shield against the young Go Pro, trying to get out from under. Hikaru was having none of it; he notched up the stakes and started demanding a time trip. At this point the scientist's burly assistant drew Hikaru's attention by tugging on his sleeve.
'You want to take a trip through time?' the assistant asked.
Hikaru let go of the professor and took a step backwards. 'Yeah. If it's possible,' he said slowly.
'Oh, it's possible all right,' the man drawled.
OOOO
It took Hikaru a week of hard thinking, interspersed with very frequent calls to Kanzou-sensei - who turned out to be the real brain of the outfit, not a lowly assistant at all - for clarification, before Hikaru finally started to understand the problem with time travel.
Kanzou-sensei explained - and the speaker that night had said it also, even if it had gone way over Hikaru's head at the time - that they had undertaken several time travel trips in order to prove their research was worthy of funding from the government. There results were always the same; mission successful, but the proof couldn't be produced.
For example: they had gone back to 13th century and had stolen the 'Nendo' sword from Master Craftsman and Priest Gorou Masamune before it was famously used in the hands of a senior member of the Tokugawa Shogunate. Only to find, upon arrival home, that now history had the 'Honjo' blade listed as the famous sword.
They had tried gathering different types of historically significant items, from many different periods, but each time when they came home history recorded some other item had been used instead. The Time Team, as they called themselves, had seen first the Japanese government then company after company turn down their pleas for funding. They all cited the same reason, even if the wording differed: a difference that makes no difference IS no difference.
No, difference, 'ey? So Hikaru asked the - to him the most - obvious question: what about taking a human out of his own time?
OOOO
And so Hikaru squatted, dressed like character from a Noh play, in the dead of a chilly October night, in in the year Kantou 8 of the Traditional Japanese calendar, also known as 1012 CE in the modern world, one thousand years exactly into the past, by a marshy lakeside with mosquitoes buzzing all around and his leg was falling asleep on him, darn it!
This was the culmination of the three previous trips in which the Time Team and Hikaru had pin pointed the exact date on which Sai had originally committed suicide. While Hikaru had remembered himself as being an insensitive little brat, he had had a great capacity for memory even back then - that possibly being one of the reasons why he'd done so well in Go. Of course now that he was 23 he still had that ability, but apart from using it in Go, he had lost the interest in using it to recall events in his current life.
His childhood memories had given them a place to start; Sai had mentioned the notable Ladies of his time: Sei Shounagon and Murasaki Shikibu, both of whom History remembered and both of whom had been at the emperor's court from around 1000-1010. So the first three trips had been to times around those dates, narrowing down the date of that fateful game and the gruesome location of where Sai's remains were found many days later. This forth trip was 'the Pick-Up' and would, hopefully, prevent there ever being any remains.
Hikaru had not told the Time Team how he knew there once existed a man called Fujiwara no Sai, Go Tutor to the Emperor, that was disgraced and committed suicide and that no modern or ancient history book had ever mentioned. And after the Go pro had pointedly ignored the first three times Kanzou-sensei asked, the subject was dropped altogether. Maybe also in light of the large sums of money Hikaru was shelling out.
Four trips at five million yen* a pop. Now that was no peanuts! It was a very good thing that Hikaru had managed to claim and keep both his titles these last few years. 'Cause this little joke was blowing a huge hole in his funds! But if he got Sai back for it, it would be all worth it, he felt sure.
OOOO
The night got darker and darker and was only disturbed by owls hooting and Hikaru's restless shifting. Behind him, hidden from view a projected holographic image and some real tree branches, was the Time Craft. Even though it was genuinely invincible, Hikaru knew exactly where it was and more importantly where its open door was. All he had to do was lure Sai close enough so he could nab him. To that end they had set up the perfect lure; a holographic image of a Goban, complete with Goke on top, was setup up to appear the moment Hikaru pressed the remote button on his belt.
There had been long discussions on how 'Operation Pick-Up' was to go down. That and many practice sessions. They had chosen to purchase Hikaru's over clothing in the Heian Period - which had been very expensive - and had tried and failed to get a period Goban. Kanzou-sensei pointblank refused to bring one from 2012, even if it was as old a Goban as they could lay their hands on. The sensei was apparently worried of what might happen to the time line if they lost the Goban back in time, as the Time Team had not done any experiments on that possibility yet. So they opted to use a holographic Goban instead, projected from the Time Craft. It turned out to be one of the cheapest items on the bill, much to Hikaru's relief.
OOOO
Yet another owl hooted and a twig snapped, making Hikaru groan with boredom; com' on already! Then another twig crackled and another. Hikaru hunkered down a little more as he realized that the twigs were being snapped in a rhythm akin to walking. 'Places everyone,' he could hear whispered over his ear bud.
Then suddenly the clouds parted and the moon shone down at its brightest and a white garbed figure with a tall black hat came into the clearing between Hikaru and the marsh. The figure walked backwards onto the scene, his face turned away from Hikaru and up at the moon, hair streaming behind him as a soft wind picked at the strands. Hikaru was mesmerized at the sight; even from the back he had no doubt; this was his Sai.
'Sai!' he couldn't help but call out. 'Operation Pick-Up' called for Hikaru to go no further away from the Time Craft than he was now, but it took all his will power not to run to Sai once the Heian Noble's face came into view.
Never in his ghostly existence had Sai looked like that; his face was covered in smudges and tears, the hair around his face had escaped its bow at the back and was lank and messy, his Kariginu** was also dirty and undone and his hat askew. But what shocked Hikaru most was how thin Sai's face was and how much pain he could see in this eyes.
As Sai took in the stranger that Hikaru was to him, Hikaru could see surprise, shock and no little fear enter the near purple orbs.
'Who...?' Sai's voice was soft, almost inaudible, his eyes trained on Hikaru.
Hikaru quickly recovered himself and forced his mind back to the operation's plan; lure Sai closer. He pressed the button on his belt and the Goban appeared to his left, right in front of the invisible door to the Time Craft. He swiped his long sleeved left arm and, bowing low, he said the pre-rehearsed line, 'Good even, good Sirrah, wilt thou do me the honor of playing a round with me?' Hikaru grimaced as he said it, but had been assured by Kanzou-sensei that it was all correct.
When no movement was forthcoming, Hikaru lifted his head and saw that Sai had turned a little ways towards the Goban, his eyes as wide as Hikaru had ever seen them, both his sleeve covered hands were held before his open mouth.
'A round?' came the soft whisper from behind the sleeves and the sound seemed to Hikaru full of hope and wonder.
'To be sure.' Hikaru felt safe to use this pre-rehearsed phrase to coax Sai on. He moved a little closer to the Goban and was gratified that Sai moved forward also, his eyes fixed on the glowing board. Just one more step.
Then the moon light was whisked away by an over flying cloud and with it went the hope in Sai's eyes as he stopped advancing and gazed back up to Hikaru. A sadness flooded the purple gaze and he took a small step backwards and then another. Tear started rolling down his dirty face once more as Sai slowly shook his head.
No!
Hikaru could tell Sai was not going to fall for his lure and decided to throw caution to the wind. He lunged forward and grabbed the distraught noble around the waist, almost drowning in a sea of silk, before bodily dragging him the few meters to the Time Craft. At fist Sai had been stunned by the move but by the time Hikaru was manhandling him through the door of the Craft, Sai had started to struggle weakly.
It was to no avail; while Hikaru had never been the tallest in any group of males, he was stout. He was strong enough when he had to be and certainly stronger than one tired thin Heian Noble. For thin Sai truly was; Hikaru could feel it just by holding him like this. Sai also smelled strongly of stale incense and even staler human male. If it wasn't for the fact that Hikaru had no intention of ever letting Sai go no matter what, he might have let go because of the smell. Hikaru just steeled himself to ignore it and he speedily manhandled Sai into one of the passenger seats of the Craft, strapping him down tightly while the Craft's engine started revving up.
OOOO
Once Hikaru had strapped himself in and the Craft started its odd balancing act that indicated time travel, he looked back over at Sai sitting next to him. The Heian Noble had pulled up his legs, put his head on his knees and had wrapped his arms around himself, so that only the back of his head was showing. He wasn't wearing his hat and Hikaru looked about for it in two quick motions of his head, just as the Craft stopped moving.
The inside of the Time Craft was so small; a big back hat would have been quite conspicuous. It was not in the craft. It was then that Hikaru noticed that Sai was only wearing one shoe. A quick check revealed that it too was not in the craft. Ah well, Hikaru guessed that the same history that had not bothered to record the finding of Sai's body the first time around, would now likely not be recording the finding of his hat and single shoe either.
Hikaru looked over the bundled up Sai and let out a sigh of relief; Sai was here with him and a missing hat and shoe did not detract from that in anyway. He reached out a hand and touched one silk swaddled shoulder. It twitched under his arm and felt warm. Hikaru's heart hammered; Sai was really real. As in could be touched real. As in breathing, as in living, as in... looking up at him?
Hikaru met the shocked purple gaze and smiled ruefully. He shrugged his shoulders in a what-can-I-say kinda gesture when fear started to enter Sai's gaze and his brow furrowed. Sai pointedly looked down at where Hikaru was touching him and Hikaru let his hand drop.
'Hey, no harm meant,' he said, hoping to sound friendly. And as he looked back at Sai, he found those rounded eyes once more gazing at him in fear and wonder.
'Art... Art thou the Kami?' came the softest of whispers. Kami? Did Sai think Hikaru was a god?
'What? No! Of course not!' Hikaru proclaimed. And he would have said more, if Kanzou hadn't interrupted by announcing: ''Operation Pick-Up' is now complete. ALL ASHORE!'
It made Sai jump in his seat, the seat belt knocking him back into the chair with an oomph. Hikaru had to admit it didn't do much for his nerves either. He did spring into action though; he got himself loose and then Sai and the he got both of them out of the Craft into the well lit drafty hanger.
Kanzou-sensei stepped up to them and said, 'Well, that's it for now. I'll ring you later for the debriefing, all right?' Hikaru nodded and made an assenting noise.
He then held on to Sai's arm as if his life depended on it - and maybe it did - as the Time Team got busy with the break down all around them. The Craft was neatly lifted up by a small forklift truck and driven inside a huge lorry, forklift and all. Then cables were gathered and the control modules that had been scattered about the hanger were put into boxes that went into the lorry as well. A bright red carry-all was dropped at Hikaru's feet and one of the technicians helped Hikaru taking off his belt. Once all big items were gone, the lorry's ramp was raised and with a medium puff of exhaust smoke the vehicle roared into motion, away from Hikaru and Sai.
Those of the team that had not gotten the cabin of the lorry piled some luggage and themselves into the two cars that stood to the side, speeding off after the lorry. The whole operation took no more that 3 minutes.
It left Hikaru and Sai as the only occupants of the well-lit hanger. The sudden silence was deafening at first. Then Hikaru felt Sai drop down by his side, almost knocking him over as Hikaru still had been holding on the Sai's upper arm. As the arm escaped his grasp, for a moment Hikaru thought that Sai had fainted and looked down in a near panic.
'Thou art a Kami! Or as good as one!' Sai exclaimed, sitting on his knees in a pool of dirty silk on the rough concrete floor, pulling on Hikaru's sleeve urgently.
'Oh, how wondrous a thing that one such as me may reside in a space such as thine!' Sai gestated wildly with his free arm, making his grubby white sleeve dance. 'With but one gesture, thee, my Liege, commands the greatest beast to yield and take flight into a swallowing cave! Oh, such wonders have I e'er spied! Oh,..' This is where Hikaru put a finger in front of the emoting Noble.
'That's enough,' he said and mercifully Sai fell silent.
Hikaru's head was oddly spinning; he had trouble following Sai's speech, probably he was still confused from the time traveling, yes that must be it. Now that Sai had stopped talking, Hikaru found he could think again. Uh, first order of business; go home. Okay, he could do that.
He cast about for the car he had planned to rent, but it wasn't there. Oh, must have forgotten to actually rent it. Well, never mind, he thought as he flipped open his mobile and called up 'taxi' from its address menu. As he placed the call, he motioned Sai up from the ground then he took Sai's hand in his right and the red bag in his left and headed outside, pulling the Heian Noble along.
Outside it was an overcast autumn day, the same in fact as it had been when Hikaru had left on this last time trip. The weather was quite warm for the time of year and Hikaru stopped to take the time to take off his loose hanging Heian clothing; without a belt it had pretty much turned into strips of cloth hanging off his shoulders. These stupid Heian people couldn't even design a piece of clothing that made any sense! He wore a t-shirt underneath and left the Hakama on. He zipped open the bag, stuffing the silk outfit inside.
When he was finished, he spied Sai sitting down on the pavement, both sleeves in front of his mouth, looking around with eyes the size of saucers. Hikaru looked around; trying to discern what could be so interesting. He couldn't see anything but warehouses and hangars made of corrugated iron and weathered concrete; deadly dull, really.
Well, no time to waste; the cab would be at the gate soon. Hikaru motioned Sai up and grabbed his hand again and started walking briskly towards the gate. After he felt Sai stumble behind him, he slowed down. He didn't want to hurt his friend, but he also didn't want miss the taxi. He slowed down more as Sai wobbled again. Hikaru had not ever been in a situation like this; he had never had had a friend that he had needed - or felt bothered - to slow down for. Sai when he had been a ghost had certainly not needed it. Oddly it threw him for a loop; he suddenly realized nothing would ever be the same again now he had this living Sai.
Hikaru stopped walking so suddenly that Sai ran fully into his back. Hikaru turned around so fast that Sai didn't even get the chance to fall down, but was instead held up by both his upper arms. This move brought Sai's face quite close to Hikaru's - Sai was maybe an inch or two taller than Hikaru, so Hikaru had to look up - pretty much as Hikaru had intended.
'My liege?' Sai stammered as Hikaru looked into his dark purple eyes.
Hikaru hadn't had anything planned with this move, other than taking a closer look at this living Sai. And so, look he did. Hikaru concluded that Sai looked a bit better in broad daylight than he had in the moonlight; his face was still dirty and definitely thinner than Hikaru had ever seen him. But the eyes held a lot less despair and that pleased Hikaru enormously. Sai's eyes had always been a window to his soul - when he wasn't playing Go - Hikaru remembered it well.
Satisfied at what he had seen, Hikaru pushed Sai back onto his own feet, letting go of his arms, but grasping him by the hand again.
'Let's go,' he said and this time he walked at a pace that Sai could follow easily.
OOOO
Getting Sai home in a taxi was not uneventful. As the taxi had driven up to them at the gate and Hikaru opened the passenger door, Sai had not only sat down on the curve, but had bowed down deeply.
'My liege, may I speak?' he had asked.
'Of course you may!' Hikaru had groused, being bewildered by the question; Sai had had no problems talking before.
Sai sat up and said, 'Oh, my Lord, commander of great roaring beasts, whither thee goeth, dither I will surely follow, be it into the mouth of lions. And be it foretold that I not return, it is all but right and proper.' He stopped there and Hikaru felt that odd nausea coming back; what the F was he talking about!
Hikaru took that last thought right back when he saw the fear in his friend's eyes. Eyes that were alternately looking at him and the taxi. Sai was scared of the taxi?
Great roaring beasts? Sai had said that before, had he meant the Time Craft? Into the mouth of lions? Was that meant to be the taxi?
'Oh, no, don't worry!' Hikaru let go of the car door and bent down to grasp both Sai's hands. As he tugged him up and onto his feet he added, 'This is no lion! This is, uh, it's, uh, a chariot! Yes, that's what this is.' He wrapped his arm around Sai's waist, much as he had done in the Heian Period, and turned him around so they were both facing the driver's window.
'Are we going or what?' the gruff voice of the cabby came over the half rolled down window from inside the dark cab.
'See? This good man is the, uh, charioteer,' Hikaru added, grimacing at the bad analogy. Ah, it would have to do.
Apparently it did, because after that Sai let himself be bundled inside where Hikaru joined him.
OOOO
It was a long 20 minute ride that Hikaru spent being clung to by Sai still dressed in his silks. It seemed it was the speed at which they were going that worried the Heian Noble the most, as whenever they slowed down and stopped for some traffic light, Sai would look out the window with much interest. Understandably, Hikaru had to admit, Sai being from a time when the fastest mode of transport was a horse. And Hikaru wasn't at all sure Sai actually had ever been on a horse.
Hikaru tried to keep his friend's mind off the speed by asking him about horses, but he got such a flood gate of unfamiliar words back he quickly made Sai stop talking. That Sai had stopped talking after just one rude command from Hikaru, was something Hikaru at first was very relieved about, but then on second thought, that was not how Sai the ghost would have reacted, was it? Something was definitely off. If only he could understand what Sai said so he could ask him! And if only Hikaru wasn't going to be getting that size 10 headache that was threatening behind his eyes!
OOOO
Hikaru let them into his flat after a not uneventful ride up the elevator. He knew he was quite rudely pushing Sai into the one room flat while he flicked on the overheads and duped the bag and his keys in the corner next to the door. The sudden bright light in a room that had been well into twilight, made Hikaru's headache flare up and he could feel a bad case of grumpiness coming on.
After Hikaru had toed off his boots, he turned fully into the room, where he could see that his current mood had not gone unnoticed by Sai, who was kneeling on the laminate floor and had bowed over so deep that his forehead almost touched the floor. A random thought of, how does he do that? Sit on his legs and then get his head down that far? Man, he must be made of rubber! flooded Hikaru's brain.
He shook off the thought and said, 'You can sit up now.' Sai took his time lifting his head and Hikaru flopped down on his couch in the meantime, crossing his legs at the ankle. Sai's head came up enough so that he could look up at Hikaru's face.
'My Liege?' Sai whispered, eyes wide with a myriad of emotions. Arg! Did he have to use that word again? Hikaru sat up from his sprawl and demanded, 'Why do you call me that?'
Sai visibly started and Hikaru cursed his own tone; too harsh, poor guy must be scared to death right now! But then he saw that all was not lost when a sprig of determination entered the ancient face and Sai spoke again.
'Art thou not my liege that hath tain me from my sorrow's home, afore Lethe's shroud could rest upon my head? Art thou not my liege that by most rapid method, hath brought me dither, to this palace, now flooded with the sun's own rays at your command?'
Hikaru grabbed his head with both hands as a stab of pure agony went through it. 'Stop speaking!' he pleaded.
As silence fell the pain gradually ebbed away and Hikaru carefully let his arms down and opened his eyes. In the modern setting of his mundane flat, the incongruous figure of a Heian Noble sat bowed again with his forehead back to touching the floor. Hikaru could see that Sai was trembling a bit. Damn, this is not going to work! he thought.
But it had to work. Hikaru hadn't gone through all that trouble and not to mention great expense to fail now. And there was just no way in H that he was ever losing Sai again! Hikaru looked at the grubby hatless figure again. He may not look much like the Sai Hikaru had know - nor talk like him! - but jeepers; this was Sai. The original Sai. The Sai that had been about to kill himself 'cause he wouldn't be able to play Go any more, just before Hikaru nabbed him.
Go. Go had always been Sai's reason for living, for existing, when he had been a ghost. Yes, Sai had always been able to communicate through Go.
Hikaru quickly dived under his bed and pulled out the old Goban and the Goke. 'Let's play!' he cheered, pushing the heavy board towards the still bowing Sai.
Sai came up out of the bow and brought one sleeve up to his mouth. 'G-go?' he stammered and then pressed the sleeve against his mouth in shock. Hikaru was puzzled for a moment, then he realized; he had ordered Sai to keep quiet and Sai had 'disobeyed'.
Hikaru smiled as reassuringly as he could and confirmed, 'Yes, Go. Let's play,' he added as he adjusted the angle of the board to sit properly in front of the disheveled noble. He seated himself tailor fashion and lifted a Goke off the board.
'Nigiri,' he commanded and Sai dropped his hand from his mouth to take the remaining Goke off the board. Hikaru waited until Sai nodded to open his Goke with the white stones inside.
OOOO
As Hikaru placed the fist stone after having won black, he was thinking how thrilling it was to be once again playing Sai. He knew had no hope of winning, not even after having won two titles - and holding on to them! - but that was more than okay; Sai was really in Touya Meijin's league and Hikaru wasn't anywhere near there yet!
Openings were very traditional, even though Hikaru was surprised at Sai's Kosumi response. It was a move that Sai, ghostly Sai, had used when he first started playing through Hikaru and later had used a lot less. But because it was a pretty good response to Hikaru's move, he paid it no more mind until not much later when Sai seemed to miss using a well known resolution to a standard Joseki gambit and sacrificed the stones instead by playing somewhere else on the board. What was even more startling was that Sai had seemed genuinely surprised when Hikaru's move killed off the undefended stones.
Hikaru's forehead scrunched up more and more as the game progressed. Sai's play certainly did not seem up to par. Oh, it was brilliant enough in some places but there were noticeable gaps in others. It was oddly reminding Hikaru of something, but he couldn't quite lay his finger on it.
Then Sai abandoned another bog standard Joseki formation and while he actually was ahead, too! And suddenly it clicked in Hikaru's mind; something he had read some years ago, when trying to get an insight into the Heian Period and he had run into an essay on Heian Go Playing. It had said that the Go players in the Heian Period had been so 'refined' - Hikaru had read 'snobs' between the lines - that they would not battle out a Joseki at all; it was enough that it had been formed. Hikaru had agreed with the writer at the time; it was a dumb way to play the game.
But now he saw it practiced before his eyes and, dumb or not, it was how this Sai played the game. Hikaru quickly glanced up at Sai, who was giving him a questioning look back. He was about to ask his friend about his playing style when his phone started playing "Jingle Bells" and Sai's eyes became saucers again.
Hikaru made a grab for his phone, flipped it open and growled, 'Moshi, moshi,' while still glancing at Sai.
'My liege,' Sai whispered as if unsure if Hikaru was addressing him. Hikaru gave him a little shake of the head while he listened to Kanzou-sensei yelling at him.
Now Hikaru was quite used to people yelling at him; for some reason he was great at rubbing people the wrong way. But he was surprised that it was the sensei that was yelling; the man had only ever been fatherly and decent to Hikaru. And Hikaru had done his best to be polite back, even if he wasn't too forthcoming with information on 'why'.
It took a minute or two for Kanzou-sensei to become coherent. Apparently the money was missing. This surprised Hikaru as he had made four transfers, each one a day before each tip in time, as agreed and he had carried the confirmation papers with him in his back to each event as proof.
He got up to check his bag, taking the phone with him while he felt Sai's wide-eyed gaze following him around the room. He put the phone on the floor as he searched the bag; no papers. He turned to his mini chest of drawers and pulled out is bankbook from the top drawer. He flipped it open and found the page that covered the last set of transfers. His overall balance was ¥200,000***; no surprise there. He traced the list of transfers from the bottom up and found no large sums transferred at all. The last big payment he saw was into his account some weeks ago; his salary. But then he looked again and realized something was very wrong; it was about half the money it should have been. And the name was wrong; where it should have said "Personnel Department, Go Institute, Tokyo" it now said "Personnel Department, Asagohan Shinbun, Tokyo". Hikaru sat stumped for a moment and then started to reason it out.
If he wasn't paid by the institute than he wasn't employed by the Institute. He swallowed. Did that mean he wasn't a Go Pro at all?
He quickly groped about the drawer for his 'Go ID' (as the younger pros called it), the official record of his attained dan level and titles. It wasn't there. What was there was a laminated plastic ID card, with a clip and a ribbon, with his own picture on it that said: Shindou, Hikaru. Licensed Photo Reporter, Asagohan Shinbun, Tokyo.
In shock he sat back on his heels, the phone still open on its side, next to him, with Kanzou-sensei's angry voice blaring out of it. Hikaru mulled over the evidence; His money was missing. His job had changed; he was now a reporter? But he remembered being a Go Pro, remembered winning those titles - remembered the many hangovers from the many celebration parties! What the H had happened?
It was then that he became aware that Kanzou-sensei was still screaming from the phone. Slowly he picked up the device.
'Sensei,' he started saying.
'Ah, you're back! You idiot! I had you checked out before I took your commission, you were a successful Go Pro then. Now you are not; explain that to me!'
'Uh, I, uh, checked my bankbook, the money ain't there either,' he stammered.
'I know that, you ninny! Tell me how nabbing a person from 1000 years ago can influence your whole life and nothing else!'
Hikaru swallowed at that and nearly dropped the phone. That was it. Sai. Hikaru turned around by sliding his knees on the laminate and looked at Sai who sat patiently by the Goban, even if he did look scared to death.
Sai. It had been Sai, the ghost, that had set him on his path to Go when he had been only 11 years old. But now Hikaru had taken Sai away from his own time, before he had died. Now Sai would not, had not, could not have been - geez, what is the right tense for this kinda thing? - a Go loving ghost. And he had not taught Hikaru's younger self Go. So Hikaru had had different life instead. With a different career. Photo Reporter for the Asagohan Shinbun, the free neighborhood newspaper, oh no.
Of course Hikaru had nothing against the Asagohan Shinbun. He even read it occasionally. It was nice and informative, reporting on local events like openings and festivals and the like. It also had a very comprehensive listing of upcoming events. They even did a decent job of reporting about Go, since the Institute was situated in the neighborhood. But the thought of being one of their reporters, urg. Well, at least he took photos instead of writing...
But not being a successful Go Pro meant he had no big sacks of money he could spend on time trips. But hang on, if he wasn't a successful pro, with titles, and hadn't been taught by a Heian ghost, why would he even want to go back in time and pick up said ghost before he became a ghost? Ouch! Hikaru felt that splitting headache come back on. So where that leave Sai? And where did that leave the demand for money that Kanzou-sensei was screeching at him.
Hikaru tried to use this argument with the sensei, but the man would have none of it. Yes, it was a paradox but since they were both in on it and Hikaru indeed had taken 4 time trips, Hikaru still owed him that money. And the man wasn't backing down either.
In the end Hikaru promised he'd get him as much money as he could, as fast as he could. Kanzou-sensei did understand that it was going to take time and he said philosophically, if unhappily, 'time is something that I have in abundance,' before ringing off.
OOOO
Hikaru let his hand drop from his ear, taking the phone with it. He needed to think, he thought. Than he was annoyed with himself for thinking such an inane thought. Really think, you dumb-ass!
'My liege?' came a whisper from Sai's direction, drawing Hikaru's full attention. Okay, let's deal with this first.
'Don't call me that,' he commanded, the words coming out harsher than intended.
'Yes, sir,' was Sai's immediate response before he bowed down again, very narrowly missing the sharp corner of the Goban as his head went down. Hikaru winced at the near miss.
'And stop doing that!' he rapped out. Sai's head came up a little and he asked, 'My l.., uh, sir?'
'Bowing like that, stop it!' Hikaru repeated.
'But, uh, sir! May thy humble servant not feel the happiness of showing thee the level of respect and admiration?'
'Stop talking!' Hikaru's head had started throbbing again at the Heian Noble's long winded speech. Well, at least Hikaru had known most all the words used this time. He was glad that this meant that they could at least communicate. If only he could stop the guy from using such long sentences!
'Sai,' Hikaru started, an idea forming in his head.
'Yes, sir,' Sai acknowledged. He made a move to bow again but apparently the look that Hikaru gave him was enough to stop him.
'Sai, from now on I want you to speak with as few words as possible,' Hikaru said. Hikaru saw his friend's eyes become large again. Well, Hikaru could appreciate that, for a person who talked like this Sai did, being curtailed like this couldn't be easy!
Then Hikaru saw a frown appear of the handsome face and Sai said, 'Wouldst thou I speak not?'
Hikaru had to wrack his brain at the meaning. Damn those old style verbs; Hikaru had never been any good at that sorta thing! Uh, had Sai just asked if Hikaru wanted him to shut up altogether?
'Oh! Uh, no! Of course not! Just not so much, okay? And not so fancy,' he spluttered.
'"Okay"?' Sai repeated tentatively. Oh! Well, that was certainly not a word a Heian Noble would know!
'It means that you agree,' Hikaru tried to explain.
'Oh,' Sai started, the puzzled look still on his face. 'My humble self will make, uh, efforts to comply, uh, okay.' Sai looked unhappy at the ending of his phrase, no doubt it was hard to keep all the flowery bits out of it too. Hikaru, though, really appreciated it and told him so and then rounded it off with a bow of his own. When Hikaru's head came back up he realized he'd made an error, 'cause Sai looked mortified.
'What's the matter now?' Hikaru said in exasperation.
'Why sir! Thee must not bow down to one such as me, a mere mortal!' Sai exclaimed.
Oh, that again. Hikaru sighed.
'Listen Sai, I am a "mere mortal" too. Just as you are,' he added.
To this Sai said nothing, but Hikaru could tell the Heian Noble was not convinced. With a sigh, Hikaru decided to leave this battle for another day. First there was a game to finish and the mysteries surrounding that to solve.
OOOO
Distracting Sai - and himself - with Go seemed to work like a charm and they were deeply engrossed back into the game in no time flat.
Now that Hikaru was keeping in mind that this Sai played in a style so old it was actually forgotten he started to challenge his friend a little. First thing he did was tell him straight off he should finish his Joseki. Sai had looked appalled at the suggestion but had done it consistently from then on.
A little further into the game - which Hikaru was losing now that he could no longer count on those unplayed gambits - Hikaru realized that Sai was still holding back. Ghostly Sai had been kind to those of players with a very low level. But with good players he had been merciless. Hikaru was getting a little miffed that Sai was maybe regarding him as a low level player. What with having won - and defended! - two titles successfully - if only in a world that didn't seem to exist anymore - Hikaru should be counted as a 'good player'. Or - dread ran up his spine - had his ability to play ceased to exist along with his titles?
The only way to find that out was to keep playing. He did tell Sai to play stronger, which, after deepening his frown, the Heian Noble did.
After some serious tussles on the board and about an hour of play, Hikaru had his answer. He lost from Sai by 4 and a half moku, fully the best he had done against Sai, like ever. His Go felt strong and true and utterly familiar; his Go was as good it had been, he concluded with a great sigh of relief.
'Sir, thou art a great player,' Sai startled Hikaru out of his contemplation of the board. As Hikaru looked up, Sai looked down at the Goban and added, 'Alas, I was trounced quite thoroughly. I've been a most unworthy adversary I fear. I have much to learn, yet.'
Hn? Did Sai think he had lost?
'You won,' Hikaru stated. Sai's head shot up, the confusion plain on his face.
'With the komi rule, you win by 4 and a half moku.'
The confusion turned to shock.
'"Komi rule"?' Sai asked. Oh, that's right! Hikaru had forgotten. Of course this Sai knew nothing of the komi rule, how could he? Not even ghostly Sai had know; it was just too new.
Quickly Hikaru explained the rule and then was oddly shocked when this Sai's response pretty much mimicked exactly the old Sai's response.
'I have gained understanding. I ne'er suffered defeat while playing black, 'tis true.'
'May I humbly ask for another game,' Sai asked, visibly halting a bow right after.
The answer was given by the load rumbling in Hikaru's stomach.
'Nope, food first!' Hikaru said, jumping up from his seated position and bounding into his kitchenette, leaving a startled Sai behind.
OOOO
End of part one.
Notes for part 1:
*5 million yen = about $62,500
**Kariginu = Sai's white garment
*** ¥200,000 = about $2,500
General glossery:
Goban = Go game board
Goke = boxes for Go stones
Kosumi = very old fashioned Go move
Joseki = a defined formation of stones
Moku = win points in Go
Komi rule = the rule that give white extra points to counterbalance black's advantage of having the first move
Kifu = a record of a played game
Yukata = a unisex cotton summer Kimono.
part two
Once Upon A Time, Part 1
(This is a non-explicite yaoi fic, with Hikaru & Sai as the pairing)
Part 1
Once upon a time, a long long time ago, Hikaru - 23 years old, 7-dan Go pro and repeated winner of the Juudan and Gosei Titles - found himself, dressed up silk robes and wearing a ridiculously tall hat, squatting behind a bush in the dead of night. The full moonlight intermittently cast it's rays over the ancient landscape of trees and lake and it's reeded shore.
Hikaru knew the day was right, but not how long he'd have to wait, so he shifted his weight from one leg to the other, wincing at both the twinge in either leg and the noise the move produced that disturbed some of the night life into action. As all became quiet again, Hikaru went back to letting his emotions swing between elated anticipation and extreme annoyance. Anticipation of what might be accomplished this night and annoyance at himself, for he was half-way sure he had been complete had and conned out of a very large sum of money.
It had all started when he'd been mistaken about a lecturing date and had shown up at Fussa Town Hall one week early. He was pretty quick to notice that his Go lecture was not the announced talk of that night but rather a scientific lecture about time travel, of all things! Checking with the management put the fault clearly in Hikaru's own hands; he had written up the date a week too early, had never check afterwards and like an automaton had had gone that night to wherever his diary commanded he should go. The problem was quickly fixed; he noted the date of the week after in his diary and texted Waya to cancel the planned bowling outing of that night. Waya was neither surprised nor upset; he knew Hikaru long enough to know that sometimes Hikaru's mind would wander. It was altogether a good thing that Hikaru had been a week too early instead of too late; he really would be in trouble with the Go Institute if he'd miss yet another lecturing date.
So, with all schedule errors fixed, that left Hikaru in Fussa Town at 8:27 pm with nothing to do and nothing but a long boring hour and a half on the train back home - with nothing to do there either - to look forward too. He figured even if he started back now, by the time he'd arrive at the Touya Go club, most everybody worth playing would have gone home. And there was the rather good smell of the ramen vendor at the Town Hall was producing, to consider.
It wasn't too much later that Hikaru found himself sitting all the way at the back of the hall - together with no few others - discretely slurping his ramen and listening to the science presentation.
And that had been the beginning of everything.
OOOO
The moment it got through Hikaru's ramen stuffed head that the talk was not just about the theory of time travel but that the speaker implied that they had actually time traveled, right before the end of the presentation, that Hikaru's interest suddenly went into overdrive, while that of everybody else waned considerably.
Even more credulity was lost by the crowd when the speaker explained that the time travel theory itself, while making the actual travel possible, at the same time made proving that time travel had occurred impossible. This last bit of information Hikaru had serious trouble with; he had always know he'd never be a science buff to begin with and he knew that dropping out of High School at age 15 would not have helped matters any, so the fact that the speaker's statements seemed incomprehensible to Hikaru was not a big surprise.
What he did know was that he'd be damned if he'd let this chance slip by. Time travel! Actual working time travel! It was the answer to the unsolvable problem that had burdened him since he had been 14 years old. Sai. He could get back Sai. Even if it was a remote chance, he'd take it; Sai, he just meant that much to Hikaru, even now.
Hikaru hadn't realized until he had been about 16 and Sai had been gone some two years that he had been in love with the Heian ghost for years. Ever since Sai's disappearance Hikaru had dreamt of him frequently. Oh, that first dream, that had been different; it had felt very different. But the dreams after that were normal dreams; well, as normal as dreams can be anyway.
At first he just dreamed of all the things they'd done together; play Go, walk around town, go to school, go to Insei class, the Go exam, and loads more. But gradually, so gradually it took a while for Hikaru to notice, the dreams would just be about the two of them together, just the closeness of it, not so much the things they did. And then after a while Hikaru found himself having very sweet dreams of the both of them looking into each other's eyes and floating in a sea of clouds or sometimes masses of purple-black hair and the softest white silk.
When awake, Hikaru had been slightly revolted at the sticky sweetness of those dreams, but he couldn't deny that the residual emotions from them made him feel the lack of his friend more than ever.
It was not too soon after that Hikaru had started to deal with the physical aspects of his nightly 'sweet dreams'; he suddenly found he needed to change his sheets a lot more often!
Realizing he was in love with the ghost at that point was even easy for a lame brain like Hikaru. He really could kick himself that he had not seen it sooner. A 16 year old virgin for goodness sake! Well, no, that was not fair; he was sure there were plenty of 16 virgin boys out there, but not so many that had not even lusted after a girl (or boy) before. No, he had to be the one who fell for a dead man. Hopeless. Utterly hopeless.
He felt such a fool that he'd never told Sai how he'd felt. Oh, fair enough again; at 14 he really hadn't know that he'd fallen in love with Sai, but he could have nicer, less of brat! But what was done, was done. And for years Hikaru played Go to show the world his Sai and the rest of the time he dreamed of him at night and reminisced about their time together in the day time.
He had tried to get over his grief, he really had. He had gone to a grief councilor who had advised him to write all his feelings down. Hikaru didn't feel he had any writing ability and had opted to write out as many of the games he had played against Sai as he could remember. He then continued with any and all games that Sai had played with Hikaru placing the stones. It had helped ease his heart a bit, but it didn't make the longing go away.
So Hikaru had resolved to live on with the bleeding of the Sai shaped hole in his heart. There really had been nothing else to do. Except perhaps... But no, he did feel that Sai would be disappointed in him if he showed up in heaven too soon.
OOOO
Once the lecture was over, Hikaru started off by cornering the mousy looking scientist speaker as the man was putting away his laptop. He bombarded the man with questions, quite a few sounding less than bright, even to his own ears. Once the man had backed so far backwards that he had hit the wall, Hikaru asked him to explain again how that 'can't prove it'-thing exactly worked. The poor man kept spluttering and using his laptop as a shield against the young Go Pro, trying to get out from under. Hikaru was having none of it; he notched up the stakes and started demanding a time trip. At this point the scientist's burly assistant drew Hikaru's attention by tugging on his sleeve.
'You want to take a trip through time?' the assistant asked.
Hikaru let go of the professor and took a step backwards. 'Yeah. If it's possible,' he said slowly.
'Oh, it's possible all right,' the man drawled.
OOOO
It took Hikaru a week of hard thinking, interspersed with very frequent calls to Kanzou-sensei - who turned out to be the real brain of the outfit, not a lowly assistant at all - for clarification, before Hikaru finally started to understand the problem with time travel.
Kanzou-sensei explained - and the speaker that night had said it also, even if it had gone way over Hikaru's head at the time - that they had undertaken several time travel trips in order to prove their research was worthy of funding from the government. There results were always the same; mission successful, but the proof couldn't be produced.
For example: they had gone back to 13th century and had stolen the 'Nendo' sword from Master Craftsman and Priest Gorou Masamune before it was famously used in the hands of a senior member of the Tokugawa Shogunate. Only to find, upon arrival home, that now history had the 'Honjo' blade listed as the famous sword.
They had tried gathering different types of historically significant items, from many different periods, but each time when they came home history recorded some other item had been used instead. The Time Team, as they called themselves, had seen first the Japanese government then company after company turn down their pleas for funding. They all cited the same reason, even if the wording differed: a difference that makes no difference IS no difference.
No, difference, 'ey? So Hikaru asked the - to him the most - obvious question: what about taking a human out of his own time?
OOOO
And so Hikaru squatted, dressed like character from a Noh play, in the dead of a chilly October night, in in the year Kantou 8 of the Traditional Japanese calendar, also known as 1012 CE in the modern world, one thousand years exactly into the past, by a marshy lakeside with mosquitoes buzzing all around and his leg was falling asleep on him, darn it!
This was the culmination of the three previous trips in which the Time Team and Hikaru had pin pointed the exact date on which Sai had originally committed suicide. While Hikaru had remembered himself as being an insensitive little brat, he had had a great capacity for memory even back then - that possibly being one of the reasons why he'd done so well in Go. Of course now that he was 23 he still had that ability, but apart from using it in Go, he had lost the interest in using it to recall events in his current life.
His childhood memories had given them a place to start; Sai had mentioned the notable Ladies of his time: Sei Shounagon and Murasaki Shikibu, both of whom History remembered and both of whom had been at the emperor's court from around 1000-1010. So the first three trips had been to times around those dates, narrowing down the date of that fateful game and the gruesome location of where Sai's remains were found many days later. This forth trip was 'the Pick-Up' and would, hopefully, prevent there ever being any remains.
Hikaru had not told the Time Team how he knew there once existed a man called Fujiwara no Sai, Go Tutor to the Emperor, that was disgraced and committed suicide and that no modern or ancient history book had ever mentioned. And after the Go pro had pointedly ignored the first three times Kanzou-sensei asked, the subject was dropped altogether. Maybe also in light of the large sums of money Hikaru was shelling out.
Four trips at five million yen* a pop. Now that was no peanuts! It was a very good thing that Hikaru had managed to claim and keep both his titles these last few years. 'Cause this little joke was blowing a huge hole in his funds! But if he got Sai back for it, it would be all worth it, he felt sure.
OOOO
The night got darker and darker and was only disturbed by owls hooting and Hikaru's restless shifting. Behind him, hidden from view a projected holographic image and some real tree branches, was the Time Craft. Even though it was genuinely invincible, Hikaru knew exactly where it was and more importantly where its open door was. All he had to do was lure Sai close enough so he could nab him. To that end they had set up the perfect lure; a holographic image of a Goban, complete with Goke on top, was setup up to appear the moment Hikaru pressed the remote button on his belt.
There had been long discussions on how 'Operation Pick-Up' was to go down. That and many practice sessions. They had chosen to purchase Hikaru's over clothing in the Heian Period - which had been very expensive - and had tried and failed to get a period Goban. Kanzou-sensei pointblank refused to bring one from 2012, even if it was as old a Goban as they could lay their hands on. The sensei was apparently worried of what might happen to the time line if they lost the Goban back in time, as the Time Team had not done any experiments on that possibility yet. So they opted to use a holographic Goban instead, projected from the Time Craft. It turned out to be one of the cheapest items on the bill, much to Hikaru's relief.
OOOO
Yet another owl hooted and a twig snapped, making Hikaru groan with boredom; com' on already! Then another twig crackled and another. Hikaru hunkered down a little more as he realized that the twigs were being snapped in a rhythm akin to walking. 'Places everyone,' he could hear whispered over his ear bud.
Then suddenly the clouds parted and the moon shone down at its brightest and a white garbed figure with a tall black hat came into the clearing between Hikaru and the marsh. The figure walked backwards onto the scene, his face turned away from Hikaru and up at the moon, hair streaming behind him as a soft wind picked at the strands. Hikaru was mesmerized at the sight; even from the back he had no doubt; this was his Sai.
'Sai!' he couldn't help but call out. 'Operation Pick-Up' called for Hikaru to go no further away from the Time Craft than he was now, but it took all his will power not to run to Sai once the Heian Noble's face came into view.
Never in his ghostly existence had Sai looked like that; his face was covered in smudges and tears, the hair around his face had escaped its bow at the back and was lank and messy, his Kariginu** was also dirty and undone and his hat askew. But what shocked Hikaru most was how thin Sai's face was and how much pain he could see in this eyes.
As Sai took in the stranger that Hikaru was to him, Hikaru could see surprise, shock and no little fear enter the near purple orbs.
'Who...?' Sai's voice was soft, almost inaudible, his eyes trained on Hikaru.
Hikaru quickly recovered himself and forced his mind back to the operation's plan; lure Sai closer. He pressed the button on his belt and the Goban appeared to his left, right in front of the invisible door to the Time Craft. He swiped his long sleeved left arm and, bowing low, he said the pre-rehearsed line, 'Good even, good Sirrah, wilt thou do me the honor of playing a round with me?' Hikaru grimaced as he said it, but had been assured by Kanzou-sensei that it was all correct.
When no movement was forthcoming, Hikaru lifted his head and saw that Sai had turned a little ways towards the Goban, his eyes as wide as Hikaru had ever seen them, both his sleeve covered hands were held before his open mouth.
'A round?' came the soft whisper from behind the sleeves and the sound seemed to Hikaru full of hope and wonder.
'To be sure.' Hikaru felt safe to use this pre-rehearsed phrase to coax Sai on. He moved a little closer to the Goban and was gratified that Sai moved forward also, his eyes fixed on the glowing board. Just one more step.
Then the moon light was whisked away by an over flying cloud and with it went the hope in Sai's eyes as he stopped advancing and gazed back up to Hikaru. A sadness flooded the purple gaze and he took a small step backwards and then another. Tear started rolling down his dirty face once more as Sai slowly shook his head.
No!
Hikaru could tell Sai was not going to fall for his lure and decided to throw caution to the wind. He lunged forward and grabbed the distraught noble around the waist, almost drowning in a sea of silk, before bodily dragging him the few meters to the Time Craft. At fist Sai had been stunned by the move but by the time Hikaru was manhandling him through the door of the Craft, Sai had started to struggle weakly.
It was to no avail; while Hikaru had never been the tallest in any group of males, he was stout. He was strong enough when he had to be and certainly stronger than one tired thin Heian Noble. For thin Sai truly was; Hikaru could feel it just by holding him like this. Sai also smelled strongly of stale incense and even staler human male. If it wasn't for the fact that Hikaru had no intention of ever letting Sai go no matter what, he might have let go because of the smell. Hikaru just steeled himself to ignore it and he speedily manhandled Sai into one of the passenger seats of the Craft, strapping him down tightly while the Craft's engine started revving up.
OOOO
Once Hikaru had strapped himself in and the Craft started its odd balancing act that indicated time travel, he looked back over at Sai sitting next to him. The Heian Noble had pulled up his legs, put his head on his knees and had wrapped his arms around himself, so that only the back of his head was showing. He wasn't wearing his hat and Hikaru looked about for it in two quick motions of his head, just as the Craft stopped moving.
The inside of the Time Craft was so small; a big back hat would have been quite conspicuous. It was not in the craft. It was then that Hikaru noticed that Sai was only wearing one shoe. A quick check revealed that it too was not in the craft. Ah well, Hikaru guessed that the same history that had not bothered to record the finding of Sai's body the first time around, would now likely not be recording the finding of his hat and single shoe either.
Hikaru looked over the bundled up Sai and let out a sigh of relief; Sai was here with him and a missing hat and shoe did not detract from that in anyway. He reached out a hand and touched one silk swaddled shoulder. It twitched under his arm and felt warm. Hikaru's heart hammered; Sai was really real. As in could be touched real. As in breathing, as in living, as in... looking up at him?
Hikaru met the shocked purple gaze and smiled ruefully. He shrugged his shoulders in a what-can-I-say kinda gesture when fear started to enter Sai's gaze and his brow furrowed. Sai pointedly looked down at where Hikaru was touching him and Hikaru let his hand drop.
'Hey, no harm meant,' he said, hoping to sound friendly. And as he looked back at Sai, he found those rounded eyes once more gazing at him in fear and wonder.
'Art... Art thou the Kami?' came the softest of whispers. Kami? Did Sai think Hikaru was a god?
'What? No! Of course not!' Hikaru proclaimed. And he would have said more, if Kanzou hadn't interrupted by announcing: ''Operation Pick-Up' is now complete. ALL ASHORE!'
It made Sai jump in his seat, the seat belt knocking him back into the chair with an oomph. Hikaru had to admit it didn't do much for his nerves either. He did spring into action though; he got himself loose and then Sai and the he got both of them out of the Craft into the well lit drafty hanger.
Kanzou-sensei stepped up to them and said, 'Well, that's it for now. I'll ring you later for the debriefing, all right?' Hikaru nodded and made an assenting noise.
He then held on to Sai's arm as if his life depended on it - and maybe it did - as the Time Team got busy with the break down all around them. The Craft was neatly lifted up by a small forklift truck and driven inside a huge lorry, forklift and all. Then cables were gathered and the control modules that had been scattered about the hanger were put into boxes that went into the lorry as well. A bright red carry-all was dropped at Hikaru's feet and one of the technicians helped Hikaru taking off his belt. Once all big items were gone, the lorry's ramp was raised and with a medium puff of exhaust smoke the vehicle roared into motion, away from Hikaru and Sai.
Those of the team that had not gotten the cabin of the lorry piled some luggage and themselves into the two cars that stood to the side, speeding off after the lorry. The whole operation took no more that 3 minutes.
It left Hikaru and Sai as the only occupants of the well-lit hanger. The sudden silence was deafening at first. Then Hikaru felt Sai drop down by his side, almost knocking him over as Hikaru still had been holding on the Sai's upper arm. As the arm escaped his grasp, for a moment Hikaru thought that Sai had fainted and looked down in a near panic.
'Thou art a Kami! Or as good as one!' Sai exclaimed, sitting on his knees in a pool of dirty silk on the rough concrete floor, pulling on Hikaru's sleeve urgently.
'Oh, how wondrous a thing that one such as me may reside in a space such as thine!' Sai gestated wildly with his free arm, making his grubby white sleeve dance. 'With but one gesture, thee, my Liege, commands the greatest beast to yield and take flight into a swallowing cave! Oh, such wonders have I e'er spied! Oh,..' This is where Hikaru put a finger in front of the emoting Noble.
'That's enough,' he said and mercifully Sai fell silent.
Hikaru's head was oddly spinning; he had trouble following Sai's speech, probably he was still confused from the time traveling, yes that must be it. Now that Sai had stopped talking, Hikaru found he could think again. Uh, first order of business; go home. Okay, he could do that.
He cast about for the car he had planned to rent, but it wasn't there. Oh, must have forgotten to actually rent it. Well, never mind, he thought as he flipped open his mobile and called up 'taxi' from its address menu. As he placed the call, he motioned Sai up from the ground then he took Sai's hand in his right and the red bag in his left and headed outside, pulling the Heian Noble along.
Outside it was an overcast autumn day, the same in fact as it had been when Hikaru had left on this last time trip. The weather was quite warm for the time of year and Hikaru stopped to take the time to take off his loose hanging Heian clothing; without a belt it had pretty much turned into strips of cloth hanging off his shoulders. These stupid Heian people couldn't even design a piece of clothing that made any sense! He wore a t-shirt underneath and left the Hakama on. He zipped open the bag, stuffing the silk outfit inside.
When he was finished, he spied Sai sitting down on the pavement, both sleeves in front of his mouth, looking around with eyes the size of saucers. Hikaru looked around; trying to discern what could be so interesting. He couldn't see anything but warehouses and hangars made of corrugated iron and weathered concrete; deadly dull, really.
Well, no time to waste; the cab would be at the gate soon. Hikaru motioned Sai up and grabbed his hand again and started walking briskly towards the gate. After he felt Sai stumble behind him, he slowed down. He didn't want to hurt his friend, but he also didn't want miss the taxi. He slowed down more as Sai wobbled again. Hikaru had not ever been in a situation like this; he had never had had a friend that he had needed - or felt bothered - to slow down for. Sai when he had been a ghost had certainly not needed it. Oddly it threw him for a loop; he suddenly realized nothing would ever be the same again now he had this living Sai.
Hikaru stopped walking so suddenly that Sai ran fully into his back. Hikaru turned around so fast that Sai didn't even get the chance to fall down, but was instead held up by both his upper arms. This move brought Sai's face quite close to Hikaru's - Sai was maybe an inch or two taller than Hikaru, so Hikaru had to look up - pretty much as Hikaru had intended.
'My liege?' Sai stammered as Hikaru looked into his dark purple eyes.
Hikaru hadn't had anything planned with this move, other than taking a closer look at this living Sai. And so, look he did. Hikaru concluded that Sai looked a bit better in broad daylight than he had in the moonlight; his face was still dirty and definitely thinner than Hikaru had ever seen him. But the eyes held a lot less despair and that pleased Hikaru enormously. Sai's eyes had always been a window to his soul - when he wasn't playing Go - Hikaru remembered it well.
Satisfied at what he had seen, Hikaru pushed Sai back onto his own feet, letting go of his arms, but grasping him by the hand again.
'Let's go,' he said and this time he walked at a pace that Sai could follow easily.
OOOO
Getting Sai home in a taxi was not uneventful. As the taxi had driven up to them at the gate and Hikaru opened the passenger door, Sai had not only sat down on the curve, but had bowed down deeply.
'My liege, may I speak?' he had asked.
'Of course you may!' Hikaru had groused, being bewildered by the question; Sai had had no problems talking before.
Sai sat up and said, 'Oh, my Lord, commander of great roaring beasts, whither thee goeth, dither I will surely follow, be it into the mouth of lions. And be it foretold that I not return, it is all but right and proper.' He stopped there and Hikaru felt that odd nausea coming back; what the F was he talking about!
Hikaru took that last thought right back when he saw the fear in his friend's eyes. Eyes that were alternately looking at him and the taxi. Sai was scared of the taxi?
Great roaring beasts? Sai had said that before, had he meant the Time Craft? Into the mouth of lions? Was that meant to be the taxi?
'Oh, no, don't worry!' Hikaru let go of the car door and bent down to grasp both Sai's hands. As he tugged him up and onto his feet he added, 'This is no lion! This is, uh, it's, uh, a chariot! Yes, that's what this is.' He wrapped his arm around Sai's waist, much as he had done in the Heian Period, and turned him around so they were both facing the driver's window.
'Are we going or what?' the gruff voice of the cabby came over the half rolled down window from inside the dark cab.
'See? This good man is the, uh, charioteer,' Hikaru added, grimacing at the bad analogy. Ah, it would have to do.
Apparently it did, because after that Sai let himself be bundled inside where Hikaru joined him.
OOOO
It was a long 20 minute ride that Hikaru spent being clung to by Sai still dressed in his silks. It seemed it was the speed at which they were going that worried the Heian Noble the most, as whenever they slowed down and stopped for some traffic light, Sai would look out the window with much interest. Understandably, Hikaru had to admit, Sai being from a time when the fastest mode of transport was a horse. And Hikaru wasn't at all sure Sai actually had ever been on a horse.
Hikaru tried to keep his friend's mind off the speed by asking him about horses, but he got such a flood gate of unfamiliar words back he quickly made Sai stop talking. That Sai had stopped talking after just one rude command from Hikaru, was something Hikaru at first was very relieved about, but then on second thought, that was not how Sai the ghost would have reacted, was it? Something was definitely off. If only he could understand what Sai said so he could ask him! And if only Hikaru wasn't going to be getting that size 10 headache that was threatening behind his eyes!
OOOO
Hikaru let them into his flat after a not uneventful ride up the elevator. He knew he was quite rudely pushing Sai into the one room flat while he flicked on the overheads and duped the bag and his keys in the corner next to the door. The sudden bright light in a room that had been well into twilight, made Hikaru's headache flare up and he could feel a bad case of grumpiness coming on.
After Hikaru had toed off his boots, he turned fully into the room, where he could see that his current mood had not gone unnoticed by Sai, who was kneeling on the laminate floor and had bowed over so deep that his forehead almost touched the floor. A random thought of, how does he do that? Sit on his legs and then get his head down that far? Man, he must be made of rubber! flooded Hikaru's brain.
He shook off the thought and said, 'You can sit up now.' Sai took his time lifting his head and Hikaru flopped down on his couch in the meantime, crossing his legs at the ankle. Sai's head came up enough so that he could look up at Hikaru's face.
'My Liege?' Sai whispered, eyes wide with a myriad of emotions. Arg! Did he have to use that word again? Hikaru sat up from his sprawl and demanded, 'Why do you call me that?'
Sai visibly started and Hikaru cursed his own tone; too harsh, poor guy must be scared to death right now! But then he saw that all was not lost when a sprig of determination entered the ancient face and Sai spoke again.
'Art thou not my liege that hath tain me from my sorrow's home, afore Lethe's shroud could rest upon my head? Art thou not my liege that by most rapid method, hath brought me dither, to this palace, now flooded with the sun's own rays at your command?'
Hikaru grabbed his head with both hands as a stab of pure agony went through it. 'Stop speaking!' he pleaded.
As silence fell the pain gradually ebbed away and Hikaru carefully let his arms down and opened his eyes. In the modern setting of his mundane flat, the incongruous figure of a Heian Noble sat bowed again with his forehead back to touching the floor. Hikaru could see that Sai was trembling a bit. Damn, this is not going to work! he thought.
But it had to work. Hikaru hadn't gone through all that trouble and not to mention great expense to fail now. And there was just no way in H that he was ever losing Sai again! Hikaru looked at the grubby hatless figure again. He may not look much like the Sai Hikaru had know - nor talk like him! - but jeepers; this was Sai. The original Sai. The Sai that had been about to kill himself 'cause he wouldn't be able to play Go any more, just before Hikaru nabbed him.
Go. Go had always been Sai's reason for living, for existing, when he had been a ghost. Yes, Sai had always been able to communicate through Go.
Hikaru quickly dived under his bed and pulled out the old Goban and the Goke. 'Let's play!' he cheered, pushing the heavy board towards the still bowing Sai.
Sai came up out of the bow and brought one sleeve up to his mouth. 'G-go?' he stammered and then pressed the sleeve against his mouth in shock. Hikaru was puzzled for a moment, then he realized; he had ordered Sai to keep quiet and Sai had 'disobeyed'.
Hikaru smiled as reassuringly as he could and confirmed, 'Yes, Go. Let's play,' he added as he adjusted the angle of the board to sit properly in front of the disheveled noble. He seated himself tailor fashion and lifted a Goke off the board.
'Nigiri,' he commanded and Sai dropped his hand from his mouth to take the remaining Goke off the board. Hikaru waited until Sai nodded to open his Goke with the white stones inside.
OOOO
As Hikaru placed the fist stone after having won black, he was thinking how thrilling it was to be once again playing Sai. He knew had no hope of winning, not even after having won two titles - and holding on to them! - but that was more than okay; Sai was really in Touya Meijin's league and Hikaru wasn't anywhere near there yet!
Openings were very traditional, even though Hikaru was surprised at Sai's Kosumi response. It was a move that Sai, ghostly Sai, had used when he first started playing through Hikaru and later had used a lot less. But because it was a pretty good response to Hikaru's move, he paid it no more mind until not much later when Sai seemed to miss using a well known resolution to a standard Joseki gambit and sacrificed the stones instead by playing somewhere else on the board. What was even more startling was that Sai had seemed genuinely surprised when Hikaru's move killed off the undefended stones.
Hikaru's forehead scrunched up more and more as the game progressed. Sai's play certainly did not seem up to par. Oh, it was brilliant enough in some places but there were noticeable gaps in others. It was oddly reminding Hikaru of something, but he couldn't quite lay his finger on it.
Then Sai abandoned another bog standard Joseki formation and while he actually was ahead, too! And suddenly it clicked in Hikaru's mind; something he had read some years ago, when trying to get an insight into the Heian Period and he had run into an essay on Heian Go Playing. It had said that the Go players in the Heian Period had been so 'refined' - Hikaru had read 'snobs' between the lines - that they would not battle out a Joseki at all; it was enough that it had been formed. Hikaru had agreed with the writer at the time; it was a dumb way to play the game.
But now he saw it practiced before his eyes and, dumb or not, it was how this Sai played the game. Hikaru quickly glanced up at Sai, who was giving him a questioning look back. He was about to ask his friend about his playing style when his phone started playing "Jingle Bells" and Sai's eyes became saucers again.
Hikaru made a grab for his phone, flipped it open and growled, 'Moshi, moshi,' while still glancing at Sai.
'My liege,' Sai whispered as if unsure if Hikaru was addressing him. Hikaru gave him a little shake of the head while he listened to Kanzou-sensei yelling at him.
Now Hikaru was quite used to people yelling at him; for some reason he was great at rubbing people the wrong way. But he was surprised that it was the sensei that was yelling; the man had only ever been fatherly and decent to Hikaru. And Hikaru had done his best to be polite back, even if he wasn't too forthcoming with information on 'why'.
It took a minute or two for Kanzou-sensei to become coherent. Apparently the money was missing. This surprised Hikaru as he had made four transfers, each one a day before each tip in time, as agreed and he had carried the confirmation papers with him in his back to each event as proof.
He got up to check his bag, taking the phone with him while he felt Sai's wide-eyed gaze following him around the room. He put the phone on the floor as he searched the bag; no papers. He turned to his mini chest of drawers and pulled out is bankbook from the top drawer. He flipped it open and found the page that covered the last set of transfers. His overall balance was ¥200,000***; no surprise there. He traced the list of transfers from the bottom up and found no large sums transferred at all. The last big payment he saw was into his account some weeks ago; his salary. But then he looked again and realized something was very wrong; it was about half the money it should have been. And the name was wrong; where it should have said "Personnel Department, Go Institute, Tokyo" it now said "Personnel Department, Asagohan Shinbun, Tokyo". Hikaru sat stumped for a moment and then started to reason it out.
If he wasn't paid by the institute than he wasn't employed by the Institute. He swallowed. Did that mean he wasn't a Go Pro at all?
He quickly groped about the drawer for his 'Go ID' (as the younger pros called it), the official record of his attained dan level and titles. It wasn't there. What was there was a laminated plastic ID card, with a clip and a ribbon, with his own picture on it that said: Shindou, Hikaru. Licensed Photo Reporter, Asagohan Shinbun, Tokyo.
In shock he sat back on his heels, the phone still open on its side, next to him, with Kanzou-sensei's angry voice blaring out of it. Hikaru mulled over the evidence; His money was missing. His job had changed; he was now a reporter? But he remembered being a Go Pro, remembered winning those titles - remembered the many hangovers from the many celebration parties! What the H had happened?
It was then that he became aware that Kanzou-sensei was still screaming from the phone. Slowly he picked up the device.
'Sensei,' he started saying.
'Ah, you're back! You idiot! I had you checked out before I took your commission, you were a successful Go Pro then. Now you are not; explain that to me!'
'Uh, I, uh, checked my bankbook, the money ain't there either,' he stammered.
'I know that, you ninny! Tell me how nabbing a person from 1000 years ago can influence your whole life and nothing else!'
Hikaru swallowed at that and nearly dropped the phone. That was it. Sai. Hikaru turned around by sliding his knees on the laminate and looked at Sai who sat patiently by the Goban, even if he did look scared to death.
Sai. It had been Sai, the ghost, that had set him on his path to Go when he had been only 11 years old. But now Hikaru had taken Sai away from his own time, before he had died. Now Sai would not, had not, could not have been - geez, what is the right tense for this kinda thing? - a Go loving ghost. And he had not taught Hikaru's younger self Go. So Hikaru had had different life instead. With a different career. Photo Reporter for the Asagohan Shinbun, the free neighborhood newspaper, oh no.
Of course Hikaru had nothing against the Asagohan Shinbun. He even read it occasionally. It was nice and informative, reporting on local events like openings and festivals and the like. It also had a very comprehensive listing of upcoming events. They even did a decent job of reporting about Go, since the Institute was situated in the neighborhood. But the thought of being one of their reporters, urg. Well, at least he took photos instead of writing...
But not being a successful Go Pro meant he had no big sacks of money he could spend on time trips. But hang on, if he wasn't a successful pro, with titles, and hadn't been taught by a Heian ghost, why would he even want to go back in time and pick up said ghost before he became a ghost? Ouch! Hikaru felt that splitting headache come back on. So where that leave Sai? And where did that leave the demand for money that Kanzou-sensei was screeching at him.
Hikaru tried to use this argument with the sensei, but the man would have none of it. Yes, it was a paradox but since they were both in on it and Hikaru indeed had taken 4 time trips, Hikaru still owed him that money. And the man wasn't backing down either.
In the end Hikaru promised he'd get him as much money as he could, as fast as he could. Kanzou-sensei did understand that it was going to take time and he said philosophically, if unhappily, 'time is something that I have in abundance,' before ringing off.
OOOO
Hikaru let his hand drop from his ear, taking the phone with it. He needed to think, he thought. Than he was annoyed with himself for thinking such an inane thought. Really think, you dumb-ass!
'My liege?' came a whisper from Sai's direction, drawing Hikaru's full attention. Okay, let's deal with this first.
'Don't call me that,' he commanded, the words coming out harsher than intended.
'Yes, sir,' was Sai's immediate response before he bowed down again, very narrowly missing the sharp corner of the Goban as his head went down. Hikaru winced at the near miss.
'And stop doing that!' he rapped out. Sai's head came up a little and he asked, 'My l.., uh, sir?'
'Bowing like that, stop it!' Hikaru repeated.
'But, uh, sir! May thy humble servant not feel the happiness of showing thee the level of respect and admiration?'
'Stop talking!' Hikaru's head had started throbbing again at the Heian Noble's long winded speech. Well, at least Hikaru had known most all the words used this time. He was glad that this meant that they could at least communicate. If only he could stop the guy from using such long sentences!
'Sai,' Hikaru started, an idea forming in his head.
'Yes, sir,' Sai acknowledged. He made a move to bow again but apparently the look that Hikaru gave him was enough to stop him.
'Sai, from now on I want you to speak with as few words as possible,' Hikaru said. Hikaru saw his friend's eyes become large again. Well, Hikaru could appreciate that, for a person who talked like this Sai did, being curtailed like this couldn't be easy!
Then Hikaru saw a frown appear of the handsome face and Sai said, 'Wouldst thou I speak not?'
Hikaru had to wrack his brain at the meaning. Damn those old style verbs; Hikaru had never been any good at that sorta thing! Uh, had Sai just asked if Hikaru wanted him to shut up altogether?
'Oh! Uh, no! Of course not! Just not so much, okay? And not so fancy,' he spluttered.
'"Okay"?' Sai repeated tentatively. Oh! Well, that was certainly not a word a Heian Noble would know!
'It means that you agree,' Hikaru tried to explain.
'Oh,' Sai started, the puzzled look still on his face. 'My humble self will make, uh, efforts to comply, uh, okay.' Sai looked unhappy at the ending of his phrase, no doubt it was hard to keep all the flowery bits out of it too. Hikaru, though, really appreciated it and told him so and then rounded it off with a bow of his own. When Hikaru's head came back up he realized he'd made an error, 'cause Sai looked mortified.
'What's the matter now?' Hikaru said in exasperation.
'Why sir! Thee must not bow down to one such as me, a mere mortal!' Sai exclaimed.
Oh, that again. Hikaru sighed.
'Listen Sai, I am a "mere mortal" too. Just as you are,' he added.
To this Sai said nothing, but Hikaru could tell the Heian Noble was not convinced. With a sigh, Hikaru decided to leave this battle for another day. First there was a game to finish and the mysteries surrounding that to solve.
OOOO
Distracting Sai - and himself - with Go seemed to work like a charm and they were deeply engrossed back into the game in no time flat.
Now that Hikaru was keeping in mind that this Sai played in a style so old it was actually forgotten he started to challenge his friend a little. First thing he did was tell him straight off he should finish his Joseki. Sai had looked appalled at the suggestion but had done it consistently from then on.
A little further into the game - which Hikaru was losing now that he could no longer count on those unplayed gambits - Hikaru realized that Sai was still holding back. Ghostly Sai had been kind to those of players with a very low level. But with good players he had been merciless. Hikaru was getting a little miffed that Sai was maybe regarding him as a low level player. What with having won - and defended! - two titles successfully - if only in a world that didn't seem to exist anymore - Hikaru should be counted as a 'good player'. Or - dread ran up his spine - had his ability to play ceased to exist along with his titles?
The only way to find that out was to keep playing. He did tell Sai to play stronger, which, after deepening his frown, the Heian Noble did.
After some serious tussles on the board and about an hour of play, Hikaru had his answer. He lost from Sai by 4 and a half moku, fully the best he had done against Sai, like ever. His Go felt strong and true and utterly familiar; his Go was as good it had been, he concluded with a great sigh of relief.
'Sir, thou art a great player,' Sai startled Hikaru out of his contemplation of the board. As Hikaru looked up, Sai looked down at the Goban and added, 'Alas, I was trounced quite thoroughly. I've been a most unworthy adversary I fear. I have much to learn, yet.'
Hn? Did Sai think he had lost?
'You won,' Hikaru stated. Sai's head shot up, the confusion plain on his face.
'With the komi rule, you win by 4 and a half moku.'
The confusion turned to shock.
'"Komi rule"?' Sai asked. Oh, that's right! Hikaru had forgotten. Of course this Sai knew nothing of the komi rule, how could he? Not even ghostly Sai had know; it was just too new.
Quickly Hikaru explained the rule and then was oddly shocked when this Sai's response pretty much mimicked exactly the old Sai's response.
'I have gained understanding. I ne'er suffered defeat while playing black, 'tis true.'
'May I humbly ask for another game,' Sai asked, visibly halting a bow right after.
The answer was given by the load rumbling in Hikaru's stomach.
'Nope, food first!' Hikaru said, jumping up from his seated position and bounding into his kitchenette, leaving a startled Sai behind.
OOOO
End of part one.
Notes for part 1:
*5 million yen = about $62,500
**Kariginu = Sai's white garment
*** ¥200,000 = about $2,500
General glossery:
Goban = Go game board
Goke = boxes for Go stones
Kosumi = very old fashioned Go move
Joseki = a defined formation of stones
Moku = win points in Go
Komi rule = the rule that give white extra points to counterbalance black's advantage of having the first move
Kifu = a record of a played game
Yukata = a unisex cotton summer Kimono.
part two