Disclaimer: anyone who thinks Hikaru no Go belongs to me should have their head checked. The authors were merely gracious enough to allow me to have a romp in their delightful world.

Can't guarantee time between chapters, but hey. That's life.

Hikaru didn't exactly know what it was. All he knew was that it looked expensive, and he might be able to get some good money if he managed to sell it. He had found other things in this alleyway that the antique shop had thrown away that he had managed to sell for a good price, so why not this time? It looked like a game board of sorts, with grooves all over the top. He squatted down next to it to take a closer look, and saw something like blood stains on the board. Well, he thought, I guess that's why they threw it out. But if I can get the stain off, it might be worth something. He began to rub at the stain with his sleeve.

"Why won't this stupid stain come off?" he said aloud in frustration, to no one in particular.

'You can see the stains?'

Hikaru whirled around, searching for the source of the voice.

"Who's there?"

'You can hear my voice?'

"Whoever that is, stop hiding and get out here!" The goban began to glow, drawing Hikaru's eyes to it in time to see a person in white robes rise from the board.

'Thank kami. I can at last return to the living world!'

Hikaru scrambled away from the glowing board and hit his head against the wall of the building, hard. The blow, combined with the growing pressure of a foreign presence in his mind made him lose consciousness.

When Hikaru came to, he was immediately aware of a few things. For one thing his head really hurt, and for another, there was something flitting back and forth in front of him.

'Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear.' Hikaru cracked his eyes open to find himself face to face with the ghost that had come out of the board.

'Are you all right?'

"Aaaah!" Hikaru yelled and jerked backwards, hitting his head again. "Ittai!" he said clutching his head.

'I'm so sorry,' the ghost said frantically.

"Who are you?" Hikaru asked, and groaned as the pain hit his head again

'Me? I'm Fujiwara no Sai.'

"Fuji no what?"

'Fujiwara no Sai,' the ghost said patiently.

"Weird name," the boy said. "And why are you dressed like that?" The ghost looked down at his elaborate outfit in consternation.

'Is it really that strange?'

"Heck yes it is! We're in the 21st century now. You're like, 1000 years out of date."

'This was the height of fashion in the Heian Period.'

"You lived in the Heian Period?" The ghost nodded his head.

"So you lived a really long time ago."

'Yes.'

"Then why are you here? And why did you come out of that board?"

'Well,' the ghost began.

"Wait, wait, wait," Hikaru said, waving his hand in front of him. "You should just start from the beginning. I'll just get confused otherwise."

'All right.' And the ghost began his tale.

'I was a go instructor in the Heian court,'

"Wait," Hikaru interrupted. "What's go?" The ghost looked horrified.

'You don't know what go is?'

Hikaru shook his head.

'It is the most wonderful game in the world. It is a game of intellect and strategy, and luch plays no part in it. It is entirely based on skill. Almost all the great leaders played go, and used it's strategies. It has been cultivated over thousands of years and,'

Hikaru cut him off. "I get it, I get it. It's a geat game. Get on with the rest of your story." The ghost pouted, but eventually continued. He told a tale of treachery and tragedy. An opponent cheated in a crucial game, then accused Sai of his own dastardly deed. This resulted in Sai's ruin, and unable to live without playing his beloved go, he ended his life, drowning himself in the river.

"Wait," Hikaru said. "You killed yourself over a game?"

'It is more than just a game. Go was my life, and I have dedicated my very existence to it. With it gone, I had nothing left to live for.'

"I still don't get it," Hikaru muttered. "Is that the end of your story?" The ghost shook his head.

'That is only the first part. The second half is happier than the first. Instead of moving on, I found myself bound to the go board, and stayed that way for hundreds of years.' The ghost then told of another child who had seen Sai's tears on the board and heard his voice. The boy, Torajiro allowed Sai to play go through him, and eventually became known as Honinbo Shusaku, and the greatest player of his time. Unfortunately, Torajiro died an early death at the age of 34, leaving Sai trapped in the board.

"So that's this Torajiro guy's blood on the board?" Sai nodded. "But why are you still around?"

'I have yet to achieve the Divine Move, the Hand of God, that which all true go players strive for.'

"So you've stuck around for a thousand years to play go?" Hikaru asked incredulously. The ghost nodded his head again.

"How come I can see you? I don't know the first thing about go!"

Sai looked thoughtful. 'Why did you have Torajiro's board?'

"This antique store was throwing it out, and I was looking for something to sell." Sai looked almost as horrified as he had when Hikaru had said he didn't know what go was. 'You're going to sell Torajiro's board?' and he burst into tears. Hikaru suddenly felt incredibly sick, and rushed to the garbage can down the alley to throw up. After he finished heaving, he turned to the ghost.

"What did you do to me?"

'Nothing!' wailed the ghost. 'Torajiro was my dearest friend, and when I heard you were going to sell his goban, the one thing I have left of him, I was filled with sorrow.'

"I'll give you sorrow! Do you know how hard it was to get that breakfast?" Sai looked at him in concern.

'Don't your parents feed you?'

"I don't have parents," Hikaru snapped, turning away from the ghost.

'You mean, you're an orphan?'

"Yeah. What's it to you?" Hikaru said grumpily. "I was going to sell that go-thingy for some cash," Sai began to sniff back another set of tears. "But I won't since it's so important to you," Hikaru finished with a sigh.

'Oh thank you!' the ghost exclaimed, clinging to Hikaru's neck.

"You're probably the reason no one would buy it," Hikaru muttered. "You know, if I don't sell it, it's just gonna be sent to the dump."

'Wah!' Sai cried and burst into tears again. 'You can't let that happen!' Hikaru, who was doubled over, clutching his stomach, gasped out, "All right! I get it! I'll ask if I can take the board!"

'Really?' the ghost said, looking at Hikaru with a pleading, puppy dog look.

"Yeah, yeah. As long as you don't kill me."

The bell tinkled as Hikaru entered the shop. "Excuse me, sir," Hikaru said timidly from the doorway. The man at the counter looked up to see a young boy, a rare sight in his dusty, quaint shop.

"How can I help you?"

Hikaru approached the counter, looking around the dusty store in something like awe. He finally reached the counter and said, "I saw you throw out a go board this morning."

"Ah," said the old man. "I've had that here for ages. It's a work of art, isn't it, my boy." Hikaru felt nodding would be the best response, and did so.

"It's strange, but no one seems to want to buy it. I finally gave up hope on selling it, and as I'm not a go player myself, I didn't know what else to do with it. Why do you ask?"

"Well, if you don't need it anymore, can I have it?"

The man looked at him strangely. "What would a lad like you do with a go board?"

"I don't want to sell it or anything," Hikaru said earnestly. "It's just that recently I've been interested in go, but I haven't had a board of my own to play on. I don't have any money to give you, but if you don't need it, I could give it a home where it would be well used and love." The man chuckled.

"You're a strange lad indeed." He fixed Hikaru with a piercing look. "You're the first to show a real interest in that board. I think it will be best off with you."

Hikaru grinned. "Thank you so much." And he dashed out the door.

"Strange lad," the man murmured. "Strange lad."

The goban was large and awkward, and Hikaru felt horribly conspicuous.

'Hikaru,' Sai said. 'Were you serious when you told that man you were interested in go?'

"As hard as it is to believe, yes. I mean, if you were willing to die for it, there's gotta be something more to it." Hikaru had figured out he could communicate with Sai without speaking aloud, which was very convenient. "You're going to have to teach me, Sai."

'It would be my pleasure.'

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