Chapter Text
Hikaru blinked away his tears again, trying to put on a strong face in front of Akira and his friends.
However, as they walked away from his match with Ko Yeong-Ha, he couldn’t help but feel that he’d let Sai down. She never would have lost to someone who obviously had no respect for the figures who allowed them to be where they were.
He was busy fighting not to stumble when he heard a soft voice.
“It’s okay, Hikaru.”
“Huh? I could swear I heard something.” Hikaru muttered to himself. He blinked again and slightly shook his head before almost reflexively looking over his shoulder.
A glimpse of white flashed by just as he turned his head. Startled, he turned around…
Hikaru felt his vision finally clear up after a moment of blindness. He was about to call out to Akira to wait in case something was wrong with him, but then the words caught in his throat.
Because as Hikaru took a look around, he saw his grandpa’s shed. Akari was crouching behind him staring at the goban - Shusaku’s Goban. He was dressed again in his favorite shirt, one that hadn’t fit in over a year. His hands - so small compared to what he was used to - clenched hard. The pain dispelled the confusion a bit, but the feeling of nails digging into his palm only started tears that he should have expected anyway. How could he ever forget this scene? From the looks of things Akari was just about to ask again about the bloodstains on the corner which meant--
‘Can you hear my voice?’ Fujiwara no Sai asked, the hopeful tone not lost to Hikaru who had longed to hear her for all this time. Lost in thought, he stayed silent a beat before replying.
“Yes.”
‘You can. You can! All powerful God, I thank you.’
Both remembering what to do next and feeling the pull of the ghost’s presence behind him, Hikaru turned around, seeing the woman standing behind him in her normal white and red attire.
“Sai!” Hikaru called out, unable to remain calm at seeing the friend he had only dreamed of for an entire year. He didn’t take notice of either Akari’s shock or the feeling of surprise emanating from his ghostly companion.
‘I… I will now return to the world of the living.’ Sai’s voice shook at the fact that this boy recognized her. However, she calmly completed the words that needed to be said. After completing the ritual, both could feel the bond forming between their two souls.
There was a weird difference as one pain ended and another began. Hikaru felt his heart relax just as his head started pounding, the splitting pain resounding through seemingly every thought. It tinted his perceptions and brought back the feeling he knew so well. Slowly slumping, he embraced the coming blackness as he passed out.