The Tower

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Author's note:

A strange little story that came to me when listening to Vienna Teng's "The Tower"

AU: Both Hikaru and Sai are female and Sai is a real person, not a ghost! The storyline is about the same, except Hikaru obviously never played as Sai. Other pro's are still curious about the girl who became such a strong player without an official teacher and about the mysterious internet player who defeated Touya Meijin.

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Prologue

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"What! Sai, no!"

"I'm sorry, Hikaru-chan but there is nothing I can do about it."

"But you can't give up go! You live go, you breathe go! How can they… they… argh!"

"Calm down, my deshi. My fate has been decided. A good go player knows when to resign."

Hikaru looked up at the young woman she met when she was a sixth grader. It's amazing how one moment can turn a person's life completely upside down, that's what happened when she met Sai. Back then she had been in the girls' soccer team and had spent most of her time with her friends; she enjoyed shopping with them or watching movies. Now she is a professional go player. It has been an interesting three years, learning go from Sai and becoming a professional player.

Three years. It seemed both longer and shorter at the same time; her life before meeting Sai seems like a lifetime ago and yet those three years flew by really quickly, three years wasn't nearly long enough!

"But Sai, you love go..." Hikaru tried once more, her voice softer now, tears beginning to form in her eyes.

"Hikaru" Sai smiled a sad, gentle smile "I really enjoyed these go-filled years we spend together. I am glad that I found you. That, although I would never be allowed to walk the path of a professional go player, I can still see my dreams come true in you."

"Sai…" the tears were making their way down Hikaru's cheeks now.

"I'm sorry, my dear friend. I would have liked to continue walking down this path with you, teaching you and playing net-go. It is a pity that that is not the fate reserved for me." Sai said in her soft, kind voice, gently hugging her crying friend.

It had been about a week since Sai had told her deshi that her family would not allow her to play go anymore and one day longer since her parents had informed Sai herself of their decision. Sai had been very shocked at first; although her parents didn't allow her to pursue a career as a professional player and didn't want her to play at go salons or tournaments they had never denied her net-go or the many games she had played with Hikaru.

They had left her to her own devices, to a certain extend, setting up dates for her with young men from their (high-class) society, but because she'd never shown any more interest than politeness demanded they had decided that it was time to find a husband for her, before she was too old.

Now they wouldn't let her play go anymore, she was twenty-two and her family would see her married before long, which was a lot easier to achieve if Sai used her time to meet with the men her family deemed acceptable matches for her, instead of playing go.

It had taken Sai a couple of days to come to terms with this decree, but in the end she had accepted her fate, she would resign herself to her family's wishes, as she had always done.

Now, a little more than a week after the decision was made, it seemed to Sai that her friend had finally accepted the truth too.

Sai should have known better. Hikaru is Hikaru after all, she may have grown up a lot under Sai's guidance but she's still the same stubborn girl as she had always been.

The girl who bleached her bangs blond no matter what her parents or anyone else had to say about it.

The girl who stubbornly pursued a career as a professional go player despite the fact that the only one who really supported her at first was Sai, despite the fact that the other go players had been disregarding the lively, trendy young girl at first.

The girl who insisted on playing first board against Youngha because the Korean had insulted her teacher's idol, paying no attention to the ruckus it caused.

Let it never be said that that girl would back down without one hell of a fight.

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