fic: Gods Among Men
Nov. 30th, 2008 08:55 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bonnefoisTitle: Gods Among Men
Fandom: Hikaru no Go (AU)
Character/Pairing: Hikaru, Sai, Akira, Ogata, Touya Kouyo. Some hints at Hikaru/Akira
Rating: between PG-&-PG-13. Light.
Word count: about 4,000+
A/N: AU round for![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
blind_go. WIP proposed part 1/3 though I haven't written those parts. Quite edited from the original version.
These two come paired but distinct
By their names.
Of all things profound,
Say that their pairing is deepest
The gate to the root of the world.
-from The Tao Té Ching, by Lao Tzu, translated by R.B Blankey
—
He touched each piece to the board carefully, as if forming clay in his fingers. A misstep and the pattern would be lost, whole stars, universes and galaxies would crumble, half formed.
The village had chosen him to succeed, lauded his talent and given him the true board to play on, the surface shiny, a thin veneer covering the darkness beneath it, as likened to the world's oceans, but much deeper.
Children of all ages played on fake boards, their moves praising the Meijin and his son, the closest to the gods, the only ones worthy and skilled enough to wield the true boards.
Touya quietly played the god's game almost every waking hour, arranging the patterns, skillful, and yet unchallenged.
But he was lonely, his days spent in isolation, even Ashiwara, his father's student and a close friend, felt distant to him now that he had officially taken on the path of future Meijin.
Slowly, he began to arrange a different pattern, willing another to come, and fill the other side, complete the emptiness.
—
In a town nearby, children carefully played the fake rendition. Festivals like this celebrated the Meijin, his son, both creators, relaying messages from the gods, to the gods, in the eyes of the people, almost to the level of the gods themselves.
A boy disrupted a game, blurting out a correction. He seemed like any other child, except his hair, a fringe of gold bangs, the rest of his hair black.
In an instant, two attendants lead by a taller man, dressed entirely in white appeared around him. The man clothed in white had almost caught him, but the boy bit him, and for a moment, Ogata-sensei released his grip.
Another attendant approached. "Ogata-sensei! Did you catch him? The boy who ruined that match?"
Ogata-sensei let silence be his reply to that question.
Ogata-sensei pulled out a pipe, lit it with a flick of his fingers. "The old tales say children like that are touched by the gods own hands, and contain vast amounts of spiritual power"
He inhaled, exhaled leaving a cloud of grey smoke. "But who believes the old tales anymore?"
—
Shindou didn't stop running until he reached the edge of town, deep into the woods. He climbed a tree, ignoring the stinging feel of the bark against his palms. Only once he was nestled deep in the branches, hidden from view did he dare to stop for a breath. He leaned against the V of the area where limb met trunk and took deep gulps of breath for his screaming lungs.
Sai floated beside him, gauzy, hazy in the air, a very irritated expression over his usually calm, beautiful face.
"Stupid Hikaruuuuu! If you hadn't said that, I would've gotten to play!" Sai wept at this, pale, ghostly tears. Shindou shuddered as the feeling entered his consciousness.
"Well I would've have said it if you hadn't MENTIONED it! Geez...Why are you so obsessed with that game anyways? You're always bugging me to go into town and play it" Shindou said.
"A long time ago...I played as the Meijin's equal. I played..the true game. But I was betrayed by another... " Sai said, his voice turning solemn.
"So this game is false? Man, everyone getting so worked up over a false game."
"Only the Meijin and his trained descendants can wield the power of the true board. It is sacred, an unskilled player touching such a board..it would definitely anger heaven. Only a few others chosen by the gods can even touch the true boards without horrible consequences!"
"Yeah, yeah," Shindou said, "Geez, all the skills to get, and I get seeing ghosts."
—
Sometimes the weight of isolation was too much for Touya. He was still a child, one who had spent his days endlessly creating and practicing patterns for the real game, instead of playing outside. Childhood had eluded him, his mother often said it seemed as if she had given birth to a child who was already middle-aged.
Some were sympathetic to this, Ashiwara, who was kind, and Ogata-sensei, who knew the true state of things, Ichikawa, who was fond of him.
As Touya Akemi he was simply a regular child, intelligent, perhaps too formal and polite, but not the Meijin's son, the gods' chosen child.
He slipped into a salon, Ichikawa, smiled as he entered. She was happy to keep his secrets. Many of the other patrons turned and greeted him as well, They were fond of Touya Akemi, most considered him like a grandchild.
He played the false game for hours, and it helped against the ache in his chest, and yet, it was not enough. These players were kind, but unskilled. It took little effort to beat them, more effort to hold himself back to make the game last a suitable time.
He still awaited his equal, staring at the empty seat beside his go board.
The immense blackness beneath the board, vast as the night sky remained unfulfilled. Without a balance, it would not obey his commands. Even with his skill, it was unresponsive to his fingers.
The patterns scripted out, words to be formed went unheard by the gods.
—
That day started as any other, Touya slipped away, settling himself into the back corridors of the salon. He was welcomed, treated as a beloved son by the patrons.
He set up the board, unfolding the mahogany colored boards, his concentration only broken by a voice.
"Hey, a kid my age!"
Touya blinked and looked up. "Me?"
"Yeah, you! It's a lot better playing against someone your own age than some geezer, dontcha think?" the boy smiled, and it lit up his entire face. Gold bangs fell into his face. Touya was reminded of sunlight, bright, even blinding, yet unaccountably warm.
"What's your name, anyways? I'm Shindou Hikaru~ You write 'Hikaru' like 'light' but I never write it that way, 'cause kanji is annoying to remember. I always just write it in katakana 'cause it's easier."
"I'm Touya.. Ak...emi," he said.
"Is 'Akemi' written like 'morning' or 'red'? I always mix those two up."
"Um. 'Morning'"
Shindou sat down in the chair opposite him, fingers tapping on the table as Touya began to set up the board.
"A three stone handicap should be enough," Touya said.
"Nah, we're the same age, we should be equal, right?" Shindou said, offhand.
This caught Touya off-guard – he couldn't remember the last time someone called him 'equal'.
"I suppose so, if you wish it -- Shindou-kun."
The first move is unexpected, Touya took a moment to reply, but only a moment.
From that move on, each move grows increasingly frenzied. Touya can feel an excitement growing from under his diaphragm, it fluttered up, butterflies of nervous anticipation. Shindou was clumsy, he held the stones wrong, and somehow, skilled beyond anyone he has ever faced up to this point of his life. Touya struggled against the relentless attacks, waves corroding a fortress, with each turn penetrating each wall he formed.
Shindou's Go is wild and strange, the moves that seem mistakes often turned to cut through his defenses a few turns later. The moves seem unbalanced, and yet, they tear through barriers, leaving his attacks null and void.
When the game is done, Touya is too shocked to ask more, he has been bested, by two moku by a child his own age that he'd never seen in any of the local studying areas, none of the local games – Shindou is an enigma, someone with talent who is completely unknown to the world – and Touya.. Touya felt dazed as Shindou left. Deep inside, Touya felt a longing, clawing at him, desiring more — he had to know more about Shindou Hikaru, the first boy to defeat him.
—
Touya stared at the board, he had recreated this game again and again, trying to find the subtle intricacies of Shindou's play. His heart pounded as he remembered the game, scrambling to meet each move, for the first time in his life, he'd found a challenge.
He was still there, recreating this game when Ogata-sensei found him.
"Still pining?" Ogata-sensei said, with a wry smile.
Touya placed another stone. "That boy....I must find him."
A flicker of fire, inhale, exhale, a breath of smoke. "It could be arranged."
Touya rose suddenly, Ogata-sensei had never seen such a violent, determined reaction from him. "I'd give anything to find him – anything!"
Ogata flicked a flame, amused by the reactions of the young Meijin-to-be. Things were turning out to be quite interesting.. A God's game, a Mejin's son and a unknown child, possibly raised by faeries or wolves, or the gods themselves. It was an interesting tale indeed.
—
For the first time in his life, Shindou was wanted.
However, this was most definitely not a good thing.
Signs plastered the sides of walls, describing him, and offering a substantial reward if he was found, unharmed and alive.
"At least they want you alive?" Sai said meekly.
Shindou glared. "Yeah, that's great for you, you're a GHOST! You can survive on Go alone, but I need to eat! I can't just survive on nuts and berries from outside, Sai!"
Shindou's stomach grumbled. It was only a matter of time before he would have to give in and find food of some sort – begging was out of the question now that his face was known, probably around the whole empire – he could try skulking around at night, stealing from pantries if need be, but sooner or later he was going to get found out. Stealing was never his strong point, and Sai always lectured him for hours about honor and duty afterwards. (Shindou always pointed out that all the honor in the world wasn't going to fill his stomach)
"I still don't know what I did this time." Shindou said petulantly.
––
Shindou's luck ran out two weeks later. He had taken care to wear a hat he'd found left on some fencepost, forgotten, and stayed away from town in the lighter hours. But it was only a matter of time.
Someone had bumped into him, knocking over the hat – even in the faint light of dusk, the gold highlights shone, a sure sign of a child of the gods.
"It's him! The boy on the wanted posters!"
Shindou froze for a moment, then started running, unconscious, without thought. Adrenaline and fear mingled through him as he ran for all he was worth, legs aching, muscles pushed to their limit as a gathering crowd bore down on him.
He slipped into a side alley, just dark enough to hide in, but too bare to be safe. He stopped only for a moment, to catch a breath, rest.
"Sai (pant) this is (pant) ALL (pant) your–"
"Hikaru, there's no time for blame! Do you remember what I taught you, the move to command the winds?"
Shindou heard the commotion coming louder.
"Yeah, I remember!"
Black and white, he arranged the ions, the tiny particles of dust that most humans couldn't see. The move was unskilled, only a soft breeze came to his request.
"Dammit!"
He tried again, a more skilled play, the dust shifting to a complicated move. Black and white were equal, and this time, the wind bowed to his command.
The crowd came upon the boy commanding the wind to his own, being raised into the heavens, past the rooftops, over their heads. They stood in awe of him, whispers of a fairy child, gods' child went through the air as he disappeared.
Only Ogata-sensei, a skilled magician himself, knew the truth.
"A child of heaven, indeed." he murmured.
—
Ogata-sensei watched Touya lay a pattern across for the board, braille for the gods, yet still, halved, incomplete. While Touya seemed wholly focused on the task, Ogata-sensei knew he was listening, waiting, barely able to contain the questions. Did you find him?
"Truly skilled people can take the game off the board, even past the 'true' board, till the whole earth is their playing field."
"But there hasn't been a unschooled player that was skilled enough for hundreds of years! Not since the last consort to the former Meijin – Sai."
"Shindou can. I saw a demonstration of high-level move."
Touya's eyes widened.
When Ogata-sensei had left him, and it was just him, the board and the elegant decor of the room of profound darkness, then Touya spoke his thoughts aloud.
"Shindou...what kind of person are you...?"
––
As the rainy season neared, clouds filled the sky, dark, promising of rain to come. It was not a bit too soon, as the crops lay half-withered in dry, unyielding earth.
Touya sat at the same place in the back of the salon, board empty, ready, waiting.
"Touya-kun, you seem so down lately. Is everything ok?" Ichikawa said.
"I'm fine" Touya said, and even tried to smile to cosset the lie, make it more genuine.
Ichikawa returned to her post and Touya looked out the window. The clouds were thick, even forbidding, and had lost their softness. A few raindrops fell, haphazardly to the ground. As the people outside scattered to their own homes, he noticed a, a shift of a large, triangle shaped hat woven from straw, a hint of blond hair.
Within a second he was up and running out of the salon, Ichikawa and the patrons left in his wake, confused, concerned, calling after him.
Touya ran after the figure, every vein in his body pulsing, he'd waited for this, it feels like it's taken a lifetime, his whole life for this moment, he'd wanted this, to see Shindou again, face him, when he finally catches up and touches Shindou's shoulder, he feels an tremor run through him, a minor earthquake running down his spine.
"Shindou!"
Shindou froze in shock, like a cornered animal and jumped away. "Eh T-Touya! You scared me half to death!"
"I'm sorry."
"Eh, it's ok I guess. I'm just wound up. For some reason, someone's after me." Shindou said in a conspiratorial whisper. "I didn't even do anything, except maybe steal some fruit once, but that was just because I was hungry!"
Touya nodded, sympathetic but not understanding for he had never wanted for food in his life.
"Oh shi–- Someone's after me, I've gotta go!"
"Wait, Shindou!"
A white blur grabbed Shindou before he got far, gripping his wrists tight enough to leave marks.
"Release him! Now!" Touya said.
Ogata-sensei complied and let go. Shindou crumpled to the floor and rubbed the place where Ogata-sensei had touched, as if it burned.
"I am sorry, Shindou, hopefully he wasn't too rough with you..?" Touya said.
Shindou groaned. "I've felt worse, but still, Touya, why'd he listen to you? Aren't you just a kid..?"
Touya bowed his head. "Allow me to introduce myself... I am Touya Akira, the Meijin's son. I apologize for lying earlier – I am not allowed outside to freely mingle, thus I have to go under an assumed name."
Shindou looked up, eyes filled with curiosity. "Meijin? So you play the 'true' game?"
"You know about the game..? I guess I should not be surprised...considering it's you." Touya said.
"Sa—iii men– I mean, I heard about that. Somewhere."
Touya grapped Shindou's hands. "Shindou– I have to play against you again!"
Shindou blinked. "Eh? Why?"
Touya's grip tightened. "Because only I can play you!"
"Um, well–" Inside his consciousness, Sai begged, Touya stared at him with such force, passion as he'd never seen before. Somehow, he couldn't resist.
"Geez, if you're so insistent about it, but just one game! I still need to go get some food before it gets too dark."
"Good." "And if it's food you're worried about, I'll share my dinner with you afterwards, if you want."
"You'll share? Yeah~ Oh man, I can't wait~ I won't go hungry tonight~"
—
When they returned to the go salon, it felt as if they were playing another game entirely, one with the whole world under their fingertips.
With each touch, they were creating pathways and continents; each fleck of white, a star to be placed in the night sky. Each black spot, a freckle of rain clouds to parched soil. Each play brings them further to an existence only dreamt about.
Long before Sai attached himself to Hikaru, he knew the game, Shindou played unknowingly with particles of light and dark matter, circular in shape, bending pieces of earth, wind, to his will.
Two, complete, a pair, finally, the board answered, each move spreading, filling, fulfilling a once empty void.
—
"But where do you live?" Touya asked, the board was already cleared and the stones lay in water beneath their hands.
"Uh, just out the forest, there's a cave I furnished, the moss is a lot softer than you'd think!" Shindou replied.
"Don't you have parents? Or anyone?" Touya said, concern spreading over his face.
"Nah, I don't have anyone, really – well, mostly," he amended when Sai sent a look his way.
"It must be lonely out there, and cold. Why don't you live in town?"
"Eh...sometimes," Shindou admitted, almost sheepishly. "But I like being alone, really! I stayed with a guy once but he was mean and made me work constantly for my food. So I ran away to the forest. Pretty cliche huh? Sounds just like some kid's fairytale."
Touya was silent a moment, considering this, finally, he answered. " You should stay with me."
"What? You?" Shindou said.
"We could play each other often, and you'd never have to worry about the cold or where your next meal would come from." Touya said.
Sai was crying, shrieking and pleading and Touya's expression was strange, determined, even, and yet, containing something even approaching vulnerability. It didn't take much to decide, even the thought that Sai and Touya were more suited for each other passed his mind.
"Ok, I'll do it!" Shindou said.
––
Shindou didn't have much to pack, most carried with him. He was only a little nostalgic when he left the cave he'd called home for so long, after all, it was cold and damp and the moss wasn't that soft, not when compared to silks and fine cotton enjoyed by the Meijin and his family. Playing the gods' game wasn't too bad after all, Shindou thought. Sai glared at him for that thought, and Shindou glared back, saying it was most definitely a joke.
Touya was waiting for him when Shindou returned with a calm expression which belied his anxiety and excitement.
Shindou was bathed by servants (something he despised and protested against quite vocally) fitted for clothes which felt smooth against his skin, yet made him look like a dandy. His room adjoined Touya's own, the bed was softer than anything he's ever felt. Sometimes as he fell asleep, his hands stretched out, as if to play another hand of Go.
They play deep into the night, and sometimes Shindou falls asleep on tatami mats midway through a game. His arms stretched out, fingers splayed, like a mottled cat asleep in the sun. His fingers and Touya's almost touch for invariably, Touya will soon fall asleep after him.
—
Somehow, Shindou got included-slash-dragged-into Touya's daily studies. History, math, even attempts at culture. Without Sai's help, he'd failed every course entirely. Touya is a patient teacher, accepting that Shindou had come out of the wilds and will still be somewhat uncivilized -- that part of him still needs to be tamed. It's Go that causes them to fight, the kind of arguments that make most wars pale in comparison. There are of course minor day to day arguments, but nothing compares to their kifu fights, as the servants call them. At any given day you can hear them, even from on the other side of the palace.
Today was classical history, taught as always, by Ogata-sensei.
"Do you remember last time's lesson?" Ogata-sensai said.
"Of course. About the Meji era, and the famous player, Fujiwara no Sai, who now resides in the 'The White Tomb' though– 'The White Tomb' Isn't a tomb. Per se, as the body it houses is most likely, still alive. When the favorite player of the earlier Meijin was betrayed, in shame, he attempted to kill himself.
"Sai?" Shindou said. "Wait, this is about Sai?"
"Of course, you weren't here for the last lesson.. I didn't know you knew about him, Shindou." Touya said.
"Well, um, I've heard about him before. Once or twice." Shindou replied.
"And what else?" Ogata-sensei said, continuing on as if Shindou hadn't spoken at all.
"However," Touya continued "Sai was not fully dead when they found him, his body was put to sleep and kept there, in the same state he was before it happened. They say his body is still there, preserved by magic" Touya said, reciting flawlessly, without even looking at the book. (An ability that both left Shindou both irritated and awed.)
"Good," Ogata-sensei said. "And what did Sai accomplish and teach?"
"True magic is beyond even the God's Board, no one since Sai has practiced the game beyond the board fully. Of course. The Meijin's favored opponent, it's said they ended a twenty-year-long drought with an especially well-played game. However, latter players have lost the ability to go beyond the board," Touya said.
"Eh~ But Tou~ya, it's right there. Here–" Shindou said, grabbing Touya's hand in his own. "Now can you see it?"
Touya blushed in spite of himself. The warmth, the pressure of Shindou's hand against his own, his heart thudded beneath his ribcage, attempting to escape captivity.
It was faint, and yet, he saw it. Lines of matter, ions of white and black, just like the Go boards he had played on for most of his life. He played a move, tactically sound, and Shindou answered, all the while, never letting go of his hand. There was a brush of Shindou's thumb across the back of his hand, light, and yet his body tingled from just that momentary contact of skin on skin.
"Heh, you're cute when you blush, Touya!"
"Sh-Shindou!"
An interesting development, Ogata-sensei thought, though not unexpected.
—
In the low candlelight Ogata-sensei flipped through pages. The fire was magic, a high level move which left the wax and even the wick untouched by the flames. Tomorrow the candle would be just as pristine as if it had not been lit.
Finding the right move would be difficult, he'd looked half his life for this, and ever since the Meijin's son had found Shindou, he knew that he was that much closer.
Ogata-sensei checked another kifu, searching for the Hand to bring back a life. The hand of the gods, the divine move.
"That power, surely must exist," he murmured, flipping through more pages, more games, more kifus, somewhere in these would be the answer.
"Somewhere in here is the path to Sai.."
—
Later on when night was falling and Touya was occupied, playing against his father, Shindou went to his chambers, alone.
"Sai, I never knew that about you," he whispered.
Sai smiled, faint, transparent. "Most don't know the story anymore. Somehow, I have been forgotten..."
"I won't let them forget you, Sai! I'll find a way to make them remember! I'll find the Hand of the gods and find a way to wake you, you'll see, Sai!"
Sai was surprised, but not for the first time. Hikaru found ways to surprise him, in so many things, he wondered what had drawn him to Hikaru, an uncultured, uncivilized orphan who at first could barely hold the stones. And yet, at times he would show glimpses of talent, glimpses that could even charm the Mejin's son into chasing after him.
"If anyone can find it, it's you..and Akira-kun."
—
a/n: Yes, this is the ending. You see, as I was working on finishing it, a plot-twist sprung up that would lengthen it by at least a couple thousand words, if not more. Having only approximately 24 hours to finish, I had to end it here. It can stand on its own, perhaps like Inkspell by Cornelia Funke, but there's more to the story than this. Anyways, I'll eventually finish a sequel, I'll even post it in kifu_archive if anyone wants to read it.
Fandom: Hikaru no Go (AU)
Character/Pairing: Hikaru, Sai, Akira, Ogata, Touya Kouyo. Some hints at Hikaru/Akira
Rating: between PG-&-PG-13. Light.
Word count: about 4,000+
A/N: AU round for
blind_go. WIP proposed part 1/3 though I haven't written those parts. Quite edited from the original version. These two come paired but distinct
By their names.
Of all things profound,
Say that their pairing is deepest
The gate to the root of the world.
-from The Tao Té Ching, by Lao Tzu, translated by R.B Blankey
—
He touched each piece to the board carefully, as if forming clay in his fingers. A misstep and the pattern would be lost, whole stars, universes and galaxies would crumble, half formed.
The village had chosen him to succeed, lauded his talent and given him the true board to play on, the surface shiny, a thin veneer covering the darkness beneath it, as likened to the world's oceans, but much deeper.
Children of all ages played on fake boards, their moves praising the Meijin and his son, the closest to the gods, the only ones worthy and skilled enough to wield the true boards.
Touya quietly played the god's game almost every waking hour, arranging the patterns, skillful, and yet unchallenged.
But he was lonely, his days spent in isolation, even Ashiwara, his father's student and a close friend, felt distant to him now that he had officially taken on the path of future Meijin.
Slowly, he began to arrange a different pattern, willing another to come, and fill the other side, complete the emptiness.
—
In a town nearby, children carefully played the fake rendition. Festivals like this celebrated the Meijin, his son, both creators, relaying messages from the gods, to the gods, in the eyes of the people, almost to the level of the gods themselves.
A boy disrupted a game, blurting out a correction. He seemed like any other child, except his hair, a fringe of gold bangs, the rest of his hair black.
In an instant, two attendants lead by a taller man, dressed entirely in white appeared around him. The man clothed in white had almost caught him, but the boy bit him, and for a moment, Ogata-sensei released his grip.
Another attendant approached. "Ogata-sensei! Did you catch him? The boy who ruined that match?"
Ogata-sensei let silence be his reply to that question.
Ogata-sensei pulled out a pipe, lit it with a flick of his fingers. "The old tales say children like that are touched by the gods own hands, and contain vast amounts of spiritual power"
He inhaled, exhaled leaving a cloud of grey smoke. "But who believes the old tales anymore?"
—
Shindou didn't stop running until he reached the edge of town, deep into the woods. He climbed a tree, ignoring the stinging feel of the bark against his palms. Only once he was nestled deep in the branches, hidden from view did he dare to stop for a breath. He leaned against the V of the area where limb met trunk and took deep gulps of breath for his screaming lungs.
Sai floated beside him, gauzy, hazy in the air, a very irritated expression over his usually calm, beautiful face.
"Stupid Hikaruuuuu! If you hadn't said that, I would've gotten to play!" Sai wept at this, pale, ghostly tears. Shindou shuddered as the feeling entered his consciousness.
"Well I would've have said it if you hadn't MENTIONED it! Geez...Why are you so obsessed with that game anyways? You're always bugging me to go into town and play it" Shindou said.
"A long time ago...I played as the Meijin's equal. I played..the true game. But I was betrayed by another... " Sai said, his voice turning solemn.
"So this game is false? Man, everyone getting so worked up over a false game."
"Only the Meijin and his trained descendants can wield the power of the true board. It is sacred, an unskilled player touching such a board..it would definitely anger heaven. Only a few others chosen by the gods can even touch the true boards without horrible consequences!"
"Yeah, yeah," Shindou said, "Geez, all the skills to get, and I get seeing ghosts."
—
Sometimes the weight of isolation was too much for Touya. He was still a child, one who had spent his days endlessly creating and practicing patterns for the real game, instead of playing outside. Childhood had eluded him, his mother often said it seemed as if she had given birth to a child who was already middle-aged.
Some were sympathetic to this, Ashiwara, who was kind, and Ogata-sensei, who knew the true state of things, Ichikawa, who was fond of him.
As Touya Akemi he was simply a regular child, intelligent, perhaps too formal and polite, but not the Meijin's son, the gods' chosen child.
He slipped into a salon, Ichikawa, smiled as he entered. She was happy to keep his secrets. Many of the other patrons turned and greeted him as well, They were fond of Touya Akemi, most considered him like a grandchild.
He played the false game for hours, and it helped against the ache in his chest, and yet, it was not enough. These players were kind, but unskilled. It took little effort to beat them, more effort to hold himself back to make the game last a suitable time.
He still awaited his equal, staring at the empty seat beside his go board.
The immense blackness beneath the board, vast as the night sky remained unfulfilled. Without a balance, it would not obey his commands. Even with his skill, it was unresponsive to his fingers.
The patterns scripted out, words to be formed went unheard by the gods.
—
That day started as any other, Touya slipped away, settling himself into the back corridors of the salon. He was welcomed, treated as a beloved son by the patrons.
He set up the board, unfolding the mahogany colored boards, his concentration only broken by a voice.
"Hey, a kid my age!"
Touya blinked and looked up. "Me?"
"Yeah, you! It's a lot better playing against someone your own age than some geezer, dontcha think?" the boy smiled, and it lit up his entire face. Gold bangs fell into his face. Touya was reminded of sunlight, bright, even blinding, yet unaccountably warm.
"What's your name, anyways? I'm Shindou Hikaru~ You write 'Hikaru' like 'light' but I never write it that way, 'cause kanji is annoying to remember. I always just write it in katakana 'cause it's easier."
"I'm Touya.. Ak...emi," he said.
"Is 'Akemi' written like 'morning' or 'red'? I always mix those two up."
"Um. 'Morning'"
Shindou sat down in the chair opposite him, fingers tapping on the table as Touya began to set up the board.
"A three stone handicap should be enough," Touya said.
"Nah, we're the same age, we should be equal, right?" Shindou said, offhand.
This caught Touya off-guard – he couldn't remember the last time someone called him 'equal'.
"I suppose so, if you wish it -- Shindou-kun."
The first move is unexpected, Touya took a moment to reply, but only a moment.
From that move on, each move grows increasingly frenzied. Touya can feel an excitement growing from under his diaphragm, it fluttered up, butterflies of nervous anticipation. Shindou was clumsy, he held the stones wrong, and somehow, skilled beyond anyone he has ever faced up to this point of his life. Touya struggled against the relentless attacks, waves corroding a fortress, with each turn penetrating each wall he formed.
Shindou's Go is wild and strange, the moves that seem mistakes often turned to cut through his defenses a few turns later. The moves seem unbalanced, and yet, they tear through barriers, leaving his attacks null and void.
When the game is done, Touya is too shocked to ask more, he has been bested, by two moku by a child his own age that he'd never seen in any of the local studying areas, none of the local games – Shindou is an enigma, someone with talent who is completely unknown to the world – and Touya.. Touya felt dazed as Shindou left. Deep inside, Touya felt a longing, clawing at him, desiring more — he had to know more about Shindou Hikaru, the first boy to defeat him.
—
Touya stared at the board, he had recreated this game again and again, trying to find the subtle intricacies of Shindou's play. His heart pounded as he remembered the game, scrambling to meet each move, for the first time in his life, he'd found a challenge.
He was still there, recreating this game when Ogata-sensei found him.
"Still pining?" Ogata-sensei said, with a wry smile.
Touya placed another stone. "That boy....I must find him."
A flicker of fire, inhale, exhale, a breath of smoke. "It could be arranged."
Touya rose suddenly, Ogata-sensei had never seen such a violent, determined reaction from him. "I'd give anything to find him – anything!"
Ogata flicked a flame, amused by the reactions of the young Meijin-to-be. Things were turning out to be quite interesting.. A God's game, a Mejin's son and a unknown child, possibly raised by faeries or wolves, or the gods themselves. It was an interesting tale indeed.
—
For the first time in his life, Shindou was wanted.
However, this was most definitely not a good thing.
Signs plastered the sides of walls, describing him, and offering a substantial reward if he was found, unharmed and alive.
"At least they want you alive?" Sai said meekly.
Shindou glared. "Yeah, that's great for you, you're a GHOST! You can survive on Go alone, but I need to eat! I can't just survive on nuts and berries from outside, Sai!"
Shindou's stomach grumbled. It was only a matter of time before he would have to give in and find food of some sort – begging was out of the question now that his face was known, probably around the whole empire – he could try skulking around at night, stealing from pantries if need be, but sooner or later he was going to get found out. Stealing was never his strong point, and Sai always lectured him for hours about honor and duty afterwards. (Shindou always pointed out that all the honor in the world wasn't going to fill his stomach)
"I still don't know what I did this time." Shindou said petulantly.
––
Shindou's luck ran out two weeks later. He had taken care to wear a hat he'd found left on some fencepost, forgotten, and stayed away from town in the lighter hours. But it was only a matter of time.
Someone had bumped into him, knocking over the hat – even in the faint light of dusk, the gold highlights shone, a sure sign of a child of the gods.
"It's him! The boy on the wanted posters!"
Shindou froze for a moment, then started running, unconscious, without thought. Adrenaline and fear mingled through him as he ran for all he was worth, legs aching, muscles pushed to their limit as a gathering crowd bore down on him.
He slipped into a side alley, just dark enough to hide in, but too bare to be safe. He stopped only for a moment, to catch a breath, rest.
"Sai (pant) this is (pant) ALL (pant) your–"
"Hikaru, there's no time for blame! Do you remember what I taught you, the move to command the winds?"
Shindou heard the commotion coming louder.
"Yeah, I remember!"
Black and white, he arranged the ions, the tiny particles of dust that most humans couldn't see. The move was unskilled, only a soft breeze came to his request.
"Dammit!"
He tried again, a more skilled play, the dust shifting to a complicated move. Black and white were equal, and this time, the wind bowed to his command.
The crowd came upon the boy commanding the wind to his own, being raised into the heavens, past the rooftops, over their heads. They stood in awe of him, whispers of a fairy child, gods' child went through the air as he disappeared.
Only Ogata-sensei, a skilled magician himself, knew the truth.
"A child of heaven, indeed." he murmured.
—
Ogata-sensei watched Touya lay a pattern across for the board, braille for the gods, yet still, halved, incomplete. While Touya seemed wholly focused on the task, Ogata-sensei knew he was listening, waiting, barely able to contain the questions. Did you find him?
"Truly skilled people can take the game off the board, even past the 'true' board, till the whole earth is their playing field."
"But there hasn't been a unschooled player that was skilled enough for hundreds of years! Not since the last consort to the former Meijin – Sai."
"Shindou can. I saw a demonstration of high-level move."
Touya's eyes widened.
When Ogata-sensei had left him, and it was just him, the board and the elegant decor of the room of profound darkness, then Touya spoke his thoughts aloud.
"Shindou...what kind of person are you...?"
––
As the rainy season neared, clouds filled the sky, dark, promising of rain to come. It was not a bit too soon, as the crops lay half-withered in dry, unyielding earth.
Touya sat at the same place in the back of the salon, board empty, ready, waiting.
"Touya-kun, you seem so down lately. Is everything ok?" Ichikawa said.
"I'm fine" Touya said, and even tried to smile to cosset the lie, make it more genuine.
Ichikawa returned to her post and Touya looked out the window. The clouds were thick, even forbidding, and had lost their softness. A few raindrops fell, haphazardly to the ground. As the people outside scattered to their own homes, he noticed a, a shift of a large, triangle shaped hat woven from straw, a hint of blond hair.
Within a second he was up and running out of the salon, Ichikawa and the patrons left in his wake, confused, concerned, calling after him.
Touya ran after the figure, every vein in his body pulsing, he'd waited for this, it feels like it's taken a lifetime, his whole life for this moment, he'd wanted this, to see Shindou again, face him, when he finally catches up and touches Shindou's shoulder, he feels an tremor run through him, a minor earthquake running down his spine.
"Shindou!"
Shindou froze in shock, like a cornered animal and jumped away. "Eh T-Touya! You scared me half to death!"
"I'm sorry."
"Eh, it's ok I guess. I'm just wound up. For some reason, someone's after me." Shindou said in a conspiratorial whisper. "I didn't even do anything, except maybe steal some fruit once, but that was just because I was hungry!"
Touya nodded, sympathetic but not understanding for he had never wanted for food in his life.
"Oh shi–- Someone's after me, I've gotta go!"
"Wait, Shindou!"
A white blur grabbed Shindou before he got far, gripping his wrists tight enough to leave marks.
"Release him! Now!" Touya said.
Ogata-sensei complied and let go. Shindou crumpled to the floor and rubbed the place where Ogata-sensei had touched, as if it burned.
"I am sorry, Shindou, hopefully he wasn't too rough with you..?" Touya said.
Shindou groaned. "I've felt worse, but still, Touya, why'd he listen to you? Aren't you just a kid..?"
Touya bowed his head. "Allow me to introduce myself... I am Touya Akira, the Meijin's son. I apologize for lying earlier – I am not allowed outside to freely mingle, thus I have to go under an assumed name."
Shindou looked up, eyes filled with curiosity. "Meijin? So you play the 'true' game?"
"You know about the game..? I guess I should not be surprised...considering it's you." Touya said.
"Sa—iii men– I mean, I heard about that. Somewhere."
Touya grapped Shindou's hands. "Shindou– I have to play against you again!"
Shindou blinked. "Eh? Why?"
Touya's grip tightened. "Because only I can play you!"
"Um, well–" Inside his consciousness, Sai begged, Touya stared at him with such force, passion as he'd never seen before. Somehow, he couldn't resist.
"Geez, if you're so insistent about it, but just one game! I still need to go get some food before it gets too dark."
"Good." "And if it's food you're worried about, I'll share my dinner with you afterwards, if you want."
"You'll share? Yeah~ Oh man, I can't wait~ I won't go hungry tonight~"
—
When they returned to the go salon, it felt as if they were playing another game entirely, one with the whole world under their fingertips.
With each touch, they were creating pathways and continents; each fleck of white, a star to be placed in the night sky. Each black spot, a freckle of rain clouds to parched soil. Each play brings them further to an existence only dreamt about.
Long before Sai attached himself to Hikaru, he knew the game, Shindou played unknowingly with particles of light and dark matter, circular in shape, bending pieces of earth, wind, to his will.
Two, complete, a pair, finally, the board answered, each move spreading, filling, fulfilling a once empty void.
—
"But where do you live?" Touya asked, the board was already cleared and the stones lay in water beneath their hands.
"Uh, just out the forest, there's a cave I furnished, the moss is a lot softer than you'd think!" Shindou replied.
"Don't you have parents? Or anyone?" Touya said, concern spreading over his face.
"Nah, I don't have anyone, really – well, mostly," he amended when Sai sent a look his way.
"It must be lonely out there, and cold. Why don't you live in town?"
"Eh...sometimes," Shindou admitted, almost sheepishly. "But I like being alone, really! I stayed with a guy once but he was mean and made me work constantly for my food. So I ran away to the forest. Pretty cliche huh? Sounds just like some kid's fairytale."
Touya was silent a moment, considering this, finally, he answered. " You should stay with me."
"What? You?" Shindou said.
"We could play each other often, and you'd never have to worry about the cold or where your next meal would come from." Touya said.
Sai was crying, shrieking and pleading and Touya's expression was strange, determined, even, and yet, containing something even approaching vulnerability. It didn't take much to decide, even the thought that Sai and Touya were more suited for each other passed his mind.
"Ok, I'll do it!" Shindou said.
––
Shindou didn't have much to pack, most carried with him. He was only a little nostalgic when he left the cave he'd called home for so long, after all, it was cold and damp and the moss wasn't that soft, not when compared to silks and fine cotton enjoyed by the Meijin and his family. Playing the gods' game wasn't too bad after all, Shindou thought. Sai glared at him for that thought, and Shindou glared back, saying it was most definitely a joke.
Touya was waiting for him when Shindou returned with a calm expression which belied his anxiety and excitement.
Shindou was bathed by servants (something he despised and protested against quite vocally) fitted for clothes which felt smooth against his skin, yet made him look like a dandy. His room adjoined Touya's own, the bed was softer than anything he's ever felt. Sometimes as he fell asleep, his hands stretched out, as if to play another hand of Go.
They play deep into the night, and sometimes Shindou falls asleep on tatami mats midway through a game. His arms stretched out, fingers splayed, like a mottled cat asleep in the sun. His fingers and Touya's almost touch for invariably, Touya will soon fall asleep after him.
—
Somehow, Shindou got included-slash-dragged-into Touya's daily studies. History, math, even attempts at culture. Without Sai's help, he'd failed every course entirely. Touya is a patient teacher, accepting that Shindou had come out of the wilds and will still be somewhat uncivilized -- that part of him still needs to be tamed. It's Go that causes them to fight, the kind of arguments that make most wars pale in comparison. There are of course minor day to day arguments, but nothing compares to their kifu fights, as the servants call them. At any given day you can hear them, even from on the other side of the palace.
Today was classical history, taught as always, by Ogata-sensei.
"Do you remember last time's lesson?" Ogata-sensai said.
"Of course. About the Meji era, and the famous player, Fujiwara no Sai, who now resides in the 'The White Tomb' though– 'The White Tomb' Isn't a tomb. Per se, as the body it houses is most likely, still alive. When the favorite player of the earlier Meijin was betrayed, in shame, he attempted to kill himself.
"Sai?" Shindou said. "Wait, this is about Sai?"
"Of course, you weren't here for the last lesson.. I didn't know you knew about him, Shindou." Touya said.
"Well, um, I've heard about him before. Once or twice." Shindou replied.
"And what else?" Ogata-sensei said, continuing on as if Shindou hadn't spoken at all.
"However," Touya continued "Sai was not fully dead when they found him, his body was put to sleep and kept there, in the same state he was before it happened. They say his body is still there, preserved by magic" Touya said, reciting flawlessly, without even looking at the book. (An ability that both left Shindou both irritated and awed.)
"Good," Ogata-sensei said. "And what did Sai accomplish and teach?"
"True magic is beyond even the God's Board, no one since Sai has practiced the game beyond the board fully. Of course. The Meijin's favored opponent, it's said they ended a twenty-year-long drought with an especially well-played game. However, latter players have lost the ability to go beyond the board," Touya said.
"Eh~ But Tou~ya, it's right there. Here–" Shindou said, grabbing Touya's hand in his own. "Now can you see it?"
Touya blushed in spite of himself. The warmth, the pressure of Shindou's hand against his own, his heart thudded beneath his ribcage, attempting to escape captivity.
It was faint, and yet, he saw it. Lines of matter, ions of white and black, just like the Go boards he had played on for most of his life. He played a move, tactically sound, and Shindou answered, all the while, never letting go of his hand. There was a brush of Shindou's thumb across the back of his hand, light, and yet his body tingled from just that momentary contact of skin on skin.
"Heh, you're cute when you blush, Touya!"
"Sh-Shindou!"
An interesting development, Ogata-sensei thought, though not unexpected.
—
In the low candlelight Ogata-sensei flipped through pages. The fire was magic, a high level move which left the wax and even the wick untouched by the flames. Tomorrow the candle would be just as pristine as if it had not been lit.
Finding the right move would be difficult, he'd looked half his life for this, and ever since the Meijin's son had found Shindou, he knew that he was that much closer.
Ogata-sensei checked another kifu, searching for the Hand to bring back a life. The hand of the gods, the divine move.
"That power, surely must exist," he murmured, flipping through more pages, more games, more kifus, somewhere in these would be the answer.
"Somewhere in here is the path to Sai.."
—
Later on when night was falling and Touya was occupied, playing against his father, Shindou went to his chambers, alone.
"Sai, I never knew that about you," he whispered.
Sai smiled, faint, transparent. "Most don't know the story anymore. Somehow, I have been forgotten..."
"I won't let them forget you, Sai! I'll find a way to make them remember! I'll find the Hand of the gods and find a way to wake you, you'll see, Sai!"
Sai was surprised, but not for the first time. Hikaru found ways to surprise him, in so many things, he wondered what had drawn him to Hikaru, an uncultured, uncivilized orphan who at first could barely hold the stones. And yet, at times he would show glimpses of talent, glimpses that could even charm the Mejin's son into chasing after him.
"If anyone can find it, it's you..and Akira-kun."
—
a/n: Yes, this is the ending. You see, as I was working on finishing it, a plot-twist sprung up that would lengthen it by at least a couple thousand words, if not more. Having only approximately 24 hours to finish, I had to end it here. It can stand on its own, perhaps like Inkspell by Cornelia Funke, but there's more to the story than this. Anyways, I'll eventually finish a sequel, I'll even post it in kifu_archive if anyone wants to read it.
