11 March/Hikaru no Go/Spirited Away crossover/Twice the River 10/?
Title: Twice the River 10/?
Series: Hikaru no Go/Spirited Away crossover
Day/Theme: 11 March/Memoirs of an amnesic
For all that he had spent more than two lifetimes playing Go and prided himself on his ability to remember hundreds of games, Sai found that he had to concentrate hard to help Ogino-san. It was as though he was trying to remember a matter so trivial that it had no meaning, and his thoughts kept sliding back.
But since the moment he was interrupted at Go practice by Ogino-san, he thought that he had grasped the edges of the path ahead. Perhaps it was the fact that she was right in front of him.
"I can't," she finally said in response to his offer. She was looking bewildered now, dismay starting to overtake her anxiety. Her eyes were fixed upon the blank surface of the goban, as though instructions might appear. "I don't know how to play Go."
Hikaru and Touya-kun both turned to survey her at that admission.
Sai could sympathise--the implacable air about Ogino-san turned her determination into a shining flame, so that she seemed daunted by nothing.
"But--" Hikaru said. "It's Go. You must--"
Touya-kun responded by stepping on his foot.
Hikaru shut up.
They both stared at Ogino-san, worried.
"No matter," Sai said, his confidence growing as the words came to his lips. "I can teach you the beginnings of it. Please, have a seat."
It was Hikaru who carried the chair over to the side of the bed, so that Ogino-san could sit. Hikaru, Sai thought, had been shaken by the revelation that Ogino-san was the reason for Sai's present resurrection, far more than Touya-kun had been, and was covering it up with action, as usual. It also explained why Hikaru was now hovering by Ogino-san's shoulder, and Touya-kun, no doubt noticing the lack of symmetry, went to stand by Sai.
The familiarity between them had been nurtured by long rivalry and, Sai trusted, no small measure of affection for each other.
"What do I need to do?" Ogino-san asked, when Sai's and her seconds, in a manner of speaking, had settled themselves. Sai repressed the spark of astonishment that she had divined the undercurrents between Hikaru and Touya-kun so easily despite the fact that she hardly knew them.
It was who she was, Sai thought, as he directed his thoughts to drift back. The beloved of a god.
It was only with difficulty that his own memories, over-layered with much of game strategy, receded to the point when he stopping thinking of Go altogether.
The link to the river god was deeper when it was all he knew. When he had woke in hospital and had not known Hikaru (but knew Ogino-san, if not by name), it had been clear, a stream that glittered as though by droplets of water suspended in sunlight. Now all he knew was the shape of it. It seemed things were better when he was amnesic. Sai frowned. No, it was all right, he told himself. This was Go, and he knew Go.
He said, "Ogino-san, as you are an amateur, I will have to give you a handicap." He sensed, rather than see Touya-kun turn his head sharply towards him at that, though Hikaru seemed frozen to the spot.
Ogino-san's eyes seemed to come alive at his words. "Yes, sensei," she said. "Thank you."
Yes, she can sense it, Sai thought. "I hope it will not be an insult if I offer you nine stones in all," he went on. "To do that, please place a stone on every star point of the goban."
On every goban, the star-points were clearly marked and Sai could see that Ogino-san immediately understood what he meant. She nodded, her hand going to the go-ke for the black stones. Sai saw her give a start at their coldness but she said nothing. One by one, she placed nine Go stones on the intersecting star-points.
Sai breathed out slowly, waiting.
One by one, the Go stones on the goban began to sparkle.
Series: Hikaru no Go/Spirited Away crossover
Day/Theme: 11 March/Memoirs of an amnesic
For all that he had spent more than two lifetimes playing Go and prided himself on his ability to remember hundreds of games, Sai found that he had to concentrate hard to help Ogino-san. It was as though he was trying to remember a matter so trivial that it had no meaning, and his thoughts kept sliding back.
But since the moment he was interrupted at Go practice by Ogino-san, he thought that he had grasped the edges of the path ahead. Perhaps it was the fact that she was right in front of him.
"I can't," she finally said in response to his offer. She was looking bewildered now, dismay starting to overtake her anxiety. Her eyes were fixed upon the blank surface of the goban, as though instructions might appear. "I don't know how to play Go."
Hikaru and Touya-kun both turned to survey her at that admission.
Sai could sympathise--the implacable air about Ogino-san turned her determination into a shining flame, so that she seemed daunted by nothing.
"But--" Hikaru said. "It's Go. You must--"
Touya-kun responded by stepping on his foot.
Hikaru shut up.
They both stared at Ogino-san, worried.
"No matter," Sai said, his confidence growing as the words came to his lips. "I can teach you the beginnings of it. Please, have a seat."
It was Hikaru who carried the chair over to the side of the bed, so that Ogino-san could sit. Hikaru, Sai thought, had been shaken by the revelation that Ogino-san was the reason for Sai's present resurrection, far more than Touya-kun had been, and was covering it up with action, as usual. It also explained why Hikaru was now hovering by Ogino-san's shoulder, and Touya-kun, no doubt noticing the lack of symmetry, went to stand by Sai.
The familiarity between them had been nurtured by long rivalry and, Sai trusted, no small measure of affection for each other.
"What do I need to do?" Ogino-san asked, when Sai's and her seconds, in a manner of speaking, had settled themselves. Sai repressed the spark of astonishment that she had divined the undercurrents between Hikaru and Touya-kun so easily despite the fact that she hardly knew them.
It was who she was, Sai thought, as he directed his thoughts to drift back. The beloved of a god.
It was only with difficulty that his own memories, over-layered with much of game strategy, receded to the point when he stopping thinking of Go altogether.
The link to the river god was deeper when it was all he knew. When he had woke in hospital and had not known Hikaru (but knew Ogino-san, if not by name), it had been clear, a stream that glittered as though by droplets of water suspended in sunlight. Now all he knew was the shape of it. It seemed things were better when he was amnesic. Sai frowned. No, it was all right, he told himself. This was Go, and he knew Go.
He said, "Ogino-san, as you are an amateur, I will have to give you a handicap." He sensed, rather than see Touya-kun turn his head sharply towards him at that, though Hikaru seemed frozen to the spot.
Ogino-san's eyes seemed to come alive at his words. "Yes, sensei," she said. "Thank you."
Yes, she can sense it, Sai thought. "I hope it will not be an insult if I offer you nine stones in all," he went on. "To do that, please place a stone on every star point of the goban."
On every goban, the star-points were clearly marked and Sai could see that Ogino-san immediately understood what he meant. She nodded, her hand going to the go-ke for the black stones. Sai saw her give a start at their coldness but she said nothing. One by one, she placed nine Go stones on the intersecting star-points.
Sai breathed out slowly, waiting.
One by one, the Go stones on the goban began to sparkle.