flonnebonne | [Hikaru no Go] Fic: The Silent Path

My vanilla yoghurt tells me that it contains "the active and unique BL(tm) culture." Hm.

Anyone who is anyone is kicking it oldskool at

dancedance_fan (a com for reccing animanga titles & fandoms) where it is now officially Slam Dunk week! Today is canonland, so you can download the first volumes of the manga in today's postings. SD is pure shounen awesomeness, the sports series that defined sports series, and also one of the funniest damn things ever.

Speaking of kicking it oldskool, I've recently started reading some of the works of Tezuka Osamu, the "God of Manga" and "God of Anime" who wrote Astro Boy. His second volume in his Phoenix series, entitled Future, is absolutely magnificent. The scope of the story-telling is amazing--it goes from microcosmic to macrocosmic in the blink of an eye. The first half of the story seems fairly "normal," but the second half heads into superbly imaginative territory. I actually cried near the end of it, not because I felt pity for the characters (which I did), but because I was so flabbergasted by the plot and Tezuka's concerns about humanity's future. It's easy to make me cry for the characters, but to make me cry for the storytelling? That's something else.

Oh yeah, and fic of the day:

Title: The Silent Path (previously known as "Untitled")
Fandom: Hikaru no Go
Characters: Sai
Genre: AU
Spoilers: None
Summary: What if Sai had not been allowed to play Go?

The Silent Path

Sai had wondered, when the boy and girl had found his goban, what kind of host the God of Go would give to him this time. He should not have expected another Torajiro.

Sai learned that the modern age was filled with many things, too many things, ice cream parlours and video games and cell phones and internet, school and homework and clubs and entrance exams and I'm sorry, Sai, I can't play Go anymore.

It was sad, so sad, these children who had forgotten how to love Go.

There were birthdays and first dates and first kisses, first days of spring and rainfall and umbrellas (some things did not change, he thought nostalgically), and there was that first car accident when Sai was so scared and helpless, a ghost who was useless for anything but Go.

I'm okay, it's okay, I'm okay, weak smile that was like Torajiro's smile before death had claimed him, the smile of a child who loved and loved well.

Sai was so sad in the days following the accident that the doctor had had to prescribe a double dose of nausea pills, because there was one thing that Sai could do aside from play Go, he could make his host sick with his sadness, and Sai wondered if he'd long ago killed Torajiro with his sadness, tears and blood mingling on a goban, which only made him sadder still until the dose of nausea pills tripled.

Sai asked his child: Do you wish you had never met me?

No, of course not, you're my best friend, Akari answered sweetly, and as soon as she got out of the hospital Sai was allowed to play NetGo until his sadness went away.

-End-

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Wow, I'm a bit floored by the emotion and sadness you manage to bring out in such a short piece. I feel for Sai, being denied the chance to be immersed in go like he was with Hikaru. Sai (and Akira) kind of transform Hikaru through their love of go, up to the point where Hikaru loves go for its own sake. With Akari, I can't see Sai being able to sway Akari away from her ordered life of getting good grades, getting into a good high school and college, and then finding a nice man to settle down with. When she tells Sai that she can't play go anymore, it must be a real blow to Sai, and he can't even get too upset because he doesn't want to take over her life like he did with Torajirou.

Lol, and I hope you don't mind if I flesh out a little plot bunny that this ficlet has inspired in me. I'm not sure when you planned for Akari to have her accident, but I'm setting this a few years down the road.

Touya Akira, 4-dan, sat back from his desk, a look of complete devastation and awe reaching his normally stoic and pristine face. Could it really be that the game that he had just played over the 'Net had been with the ever elusive 'sai' that still had the go world in a buzz?

Ever since last year's disapearance of the mysterious 'sai', impostors claiming to be 'sai' would pop up online, and every time he challenged them to a game, they would invariably show the lack of skill and depth that 'sai' possessed. 'sai' was never a regular NetGo player, coming online every few weeks for a day or two of NetGo, but whenever he was active, offers to play would always flood his net handle. Touya had only been able to challenge 'sai' five times in the three years since he had first stumbled upon him. Having been utterly crushed, Touya had put it behind him, deciding that one of the higher dans had decided to play anonymously and that he had just run into an opponent he would later face over a go board. When whispers started to float around the Go institute that a powerful 'Net player had emerged and was defeating seasoned pros left and right, Touya started to take notice.

Listening to a conversation between Waya and Isumi, both sho-dans at the time, Touya was able to learn that 'sai' couldn't be an insei or a pro. Process of elimination had ruled out too many days when 'sai' played during insei and pro matches. That many absences would have been noted and accounted for. Concentrating on the goal ahead of him, Touya put the identity of 'sai' out of his mind. As long as he was able to play go with players stronger than he was, he was sure to get that much closer to the Hand of God. 'sai' could keep his anonymity.

That all changed a year ago when 'sai' just vanished off the face of the planet and stopped playing netGo.

Wiping his suddenly sweaty palms, Touya looked back up to his screen once more to check that the player who had just defeated him was still logged in. 'hikaru' was indeed still online, and seemed to be entering a new game with 'goboi88' according to his stats. Having a very rash idea, Touya decided to send 'hikaru' a private message to see if his suspicions were right.

Hoping that 'hikaru' could read English even though his designated nationality was Japanese, Touya wrote, "I'm sorry, but are you the NetGo player, sai? I only ask, because I would like to play a game with you in person. My name is Touya Akira, and I'm a go pro. If you would please contact me at touyaakira@goinstitue.jp, I would appreciate it very much."

Waiting ten minutes for the reply, Touya let out a sigh of relief. Reading over the broken English, Touya felt his shoulders slump in defeat. "I sorry Touya-san. I no play go with pros. I only play for fun. Thank you for chance."

'hikaru' soon forced his opponent to resign and logged off. Touya Akira stared at his computer monitor for a few more minutes, willing 'hikaru' to log back on. After admitting defeat, Touya shut down his computer, shocked and defeated about whether or not 'hikaru' would be back online to play him.

He wasn't.

However, when 'torajiro' showed up six months later, and beat Ogata-san in an even match on the 'Net, Touya kept his fingers firmly in his lap.

Erm, sorry?

Dood! DOOD! Your fic is total awesomeness. I am so flattered and floored that my fic inspired you to write this. Writing about NetGo is fun, isn't it?

I love the shock value of seeing Hikaru's name pop up (and what it implies about Akari), and how Akari is SO MUCH SMARTER than Hikaru was when it comes to hiding her identity. And of course the last line=love.

*major blushing*

I'm glad you like the little comment ficlet. Your idea totally set off sparks in my head about everyone in the Hikago-verse and how they would be different if Sai wasn't there to haunt Hikaru. I actually have a couple more scenes that I didn't put into the previous drabble, because they happen at different times and I suck at writing time changes. I don't write fiction at all really, so I don't know how to transition between different times and points of views. Lol, I've read about a million fanfics, but I get stuck when I try to think it up for myself.

Yay! The NetGo arc was one of my favorites in the manga/anime. I love when the main characters hide who they are and only the audience knows what's going on. I guess that's why I love crossdressing-shoujo too. The character is one thing, but appears to be something else to all the other characters. *g*

Haha, and there's a reason for my madness in picking Hikaru's name as Akari's net handle besides the totally ego-stroking SHOCK value. ^^

Lol, and Akari is smarter than Hikaru, but that doesn't say much. A squirrel on crack is smarter than Hikaru at times.

Also thank you for the last line love. That is one of the best compliments I've ever gotten, because I always love it when authors end with impressionable last lines. I'm just really happy that you liked mine.

I was going to post another ficlet here too, but I have to run. I'll see if I can get it up to you tomorrow.

[Hikaru no Go] Fic: The Silent Path

Um, I'm very rambly and you can totally ignore this if you want

Re: Um, I'm very rambly and you can totally ignore this if you want

Re: Um, I'm very rambly and you can totally ignore this if you want