Disclaimer: I do not own the series Hikaru no Go or the characters.

Chapter 1: A day in the Go Institute

"Good morning, Fujiwara-sensei." A few people greeted as soon as he stepped into the Go Institute. Only one face was vaguely familiar amongst them but it would be impolite to not return their greetings. He had long since grown used to be greeted by strangers who knew him through his Go.

"Good morning" A gentle smile went with the greeting.

"It was a brilliant win against Touya-sensei in the Honinbo title match yesterday, Fujiwara-sensei." A middle age female congratulated him as he passed by her. The mention of the game brought another smile to his face; being able to play a beautiful game with someone he respected always made him filled with happiness.

"Thank you for the compliment." He nodded his head slightly in modesty; though it was not his first time defending his title, it was the first time the challenger was Touya-Meijin, someone whom is much like a rival to him.

The tirade of comments and compliments was almost endless and the only thing Sai could do was to smile and thank each of them as he slowly proceeded through the small crowd that had gathered around him. It was another thing he had grown used to after winning his first title a few years ago at the young age of 21.

Even though it was quite tiring to continuously exchange pleasantry with others when all he wanted to do was sit down and play a game of Go, it was something he needed to do lest he appeared rude.

"Don't you find it irritating?" A young, curious face suddenly popped out sideway in front of him, bright green eyes peering up at Sai with blond bangs framing a half translucent face of a teenager. But before Sai could said anything the boy was already gone, flitting in-between the people surrounding Sai. He even attempted to poke quite a few of them.

Attempted was, of course, the keyword and luckily so. Sai had no doubt that if any of them were to hear what the teenager said or to feel Hikaru's poking, they would be highly offended. It was not the first time that Sai felt relieve that this boy's words would never reach anyone's ears beside his own; nor would his touch be felt by someone other than himself.

'Hikaru,' He reprimanded the teenager lightly through the mental link they shared, only for Hikaru to start sulking.

"It's not like they can feel or hear me anyway." Hikaru scoffed, sticking out his tongue at a few female admirers who followed a little too close to Sai. Sai frowned at Hikaru's comment, and tried not to dwell on how lonely that must have been.

Not being able to communicate with anyone else, not being able to touch anything, not being able to know the joy of eating; no other living beings would ever know of his existence. It was a fate far too cruel to be bestowed on a child of merely 15.

'It's still rude,' Sai told Hikaru disapprovingly to distract himself from that depressing trail of thought. The younger of the two only gave a shrug, causing Sai to have a feeling that it would not be the last time they will be having this particular discussion.

Sai pressed the button for the lift when the crowd had finally left after he politely told them his match would be starting soon. He closed his eyes and let out a small sigh for finally having a moment of peace. However it was a moment too short to be truly enjoyed.

"Ne, ne, Sai, you won't believe how cool this is." Hikaru's excited yell came from Sai's left. Sai clenched one of his fists to prevent losing control over his expressions.

Hikaru was standing next to a vending machine, but his head could not be seen. In fact it looked very much as if his head was cut off and his neck was attached to the outside of the vending machine. His head was clearly inside the vending machine, exploring the content. Sai was not amused.

"I never knew the vending machine looked like this on the inside." Hikaru beamed as he extracted his head out. "There're lots of coins and the cans are all lined up together." He started to rub his hands together almost gleefully. "If only I can grab them, I'll never need to worry about being broke or being thirsty anymore."

Sai restrained himself from massaging his temple.

'Hikaru, in your state, you don't need to worry about being broke or being thirsty; and even if you need to, you will not be able to grab them. Stop fantasizing about unnecessary things.' Sai told Hikaru, who seem to be ignoring Sai as he made his way to the fish tank on the other side of the lift 'Hikaru, are you listening to me?'

Thankfully, before Hikaru did something stupid again, like sticking his entire head into the fish tank, the lift finally arrived. Nonetheless, a headache was already forming. Sai stepped into the lift, a little more forcefully than needed, earning a few strange looks from the people exiting.

It was not long before they reached the level where Sai would be playing his game today. Hikaru, being the impatient teenager he was, ran out of the lift even before the door fully opened and disappeared from Sai's sight. Sai mentally sighed, while he knew teenagers could be impatient, it was never really proven during his interactions with the younger pros and insei.

Sai was not really worried though, seeing that there was hardly anything Hikaru could do to cause disarray. Moreover, knowing the fact that Hikaru can never stray too far from him further reassured him. With Hikaru constricted to only this level, the only thing that the boy could do here was to watch the various Go matches that was going on, unless he wished to float around aimlessly for the rest of the day.

His opponent today, a young 4-Dan by the name of Waya, showed signs of nervousness through his shaking voice as they exchanged greetings. It was clear that it was one of Waya's first few times in an official game with higher Dan players. Gently smiling at the young pro, Sai opened his fan and covered the bottom half of his face as he pondered to play a quick game or not.

Author's Note:

Each chapter of this fanfic will be written in the format of a short story happening in this AU where Hikaru is the ghost instead of Sai. I'll be mostly following some facts in the original series but a lot of things will still be different. Anything strange or incorrect please let me know, seeing that it is not beta-ed. Both comments and criticisms are welcomed.