I recently began to read Hikaru no Go. It was addictive, so addictive that I finished most of the series within two days, except for the omakes. From there, I switched to reading fanfics, watching anime, and reading its Wikipedia page. Finally, I ran out of a steady supply of good-quality HikaGo fics and decided to write my own.

I do not own Hikaru no Go, Yumi Hotta does. I admire her for creating such a story. Of course, i was quite dissatisfied with how Sai faded without even finishing his game; it was quite a breach of etiquette. Therefore, in this fic, I want to revive Sai and have him finish this game once and for all...to achieve the Hand of God.

Prologue

For humans, there are four ways of existences waiting after the moment of death. The first, and most common, is reincarnation, where souls live over and over again with no recollection of their previous lives. The second is to be anchored by all the emotions they have felt prior to death, wandering the earth as a vengeful spirit. The third, and rarest, is to become a minor deity, in essence a god, in the land of the Eight Million Gods. The last, is to gain eternal time, but at a horrible, painful price; never again being able to return should they die again...

Among the great gods, rarely had there been such a fuss, particularly among the especially honourable old ones. In the land of the gods, the deities of the Way of the Gods were faced with a dilemma of a certain soul.

Susanowo, surly and bad-tempered as befitted the lord of storms, Tsukiyomi, no longer the calm god of the moon, Shinigami, dark entity of death, even serene Amaterasu, beautiful sun goddess and ruler of the land of gods, were puzzled, irritated even, by the sudden problem that had presented itself before them, a hiccup in their long lives, a difficult, unprecedented problem to solve.

Sai.

Fujiwara no Sai.

That name was whispered around the Hall of Judgement, a simple wood-panelled room with a large dais far across the entrance. Around this dais where the great ones knelt in seiza, was scattered the shirasu, the white sand of truth. Even among the hushed whispers, the gods, major and minor alike, could sense a disturbance; never had the three siblings taken so long to pronounce judgement.

The defendant himself was serene, curious even, as to what was happening, unaware that his fate was being debated among the gods themselves. In the midst of so many, the man, dressed in his official robes and eboshi, hid his face behind the white paper fan he held in an effort to hide his emotions at seeing such a wondrous presence as he was now. Well he should; he was amidst gods, after all. Thoroughly schooled in the ways of the old superstitions of the Heian era, he knew that he was in the midst of a higher presence.

The problem: Fujiwara no Sai. Having lived over a millennium as a spirit trapped in a goban, he was a Tsukumogami and thus rightly should have been immediately thrown into the cycle of reincarnation. However, he was also one of the most adept talents closest to achieving the Hand of God, a feat which even the Three have not witnessed, and were eager to. Needless to say, having the person closest to achieving it lose all his memories and relive life all over again was arguably going to throw a huge spanner into the works. Shinigami did not help much either, insisting that the soul of Fujiwara no Sai should either be reincarnated or become a denizen of Yomi, the land of the dead. This decision was immediately rejected by all three on the grounds that the Hand of God could not possibly be witnessed or even achieved in there, a rare feat indeed; Amaterasu and Susanowo hardly ever agreed with one another. They could not formally induct Sai as a god of go; he had done nothing very remarkable, no matter which of his three lifetimes showcased a testament to his ability in Go. Not to mention, sending him back to the human world as a vengeful spirit was not only cruel, but also technically inaccurate and bound to cause a lot of questions if the subject of where Sai ended up came up with Sai's last possessed, the Go player called Shindo Hikaru. No, telling a human the existence of gods was unforgivable. Not to mention that in order to create a vengeful spirit, the person with whom Sai had a grudge with had to be somewhere around, a feat not possible since Shinigami, hearing what the man had done, had thrown the cheater into Jigoku to roast for all eternity. For the first time, what must have been half the gods all agreed to damn a soul.

This left the gods a last, very horrible option, the only option they could resort to when a soul came under the strict rules governing the laws of nature itself.

Of course, to actually achieve it, the rule-breaker was needed.

The whispers cut off abruptly as a presence made it known, subtle but strong. No one needed confirmation; everyone knew the powerful kami, one of the most powerful after the great three themselves.

'I wish to take the young one with me,' a soft, strong voice made itself known, neither male nor female, but beautiful anyway. Each and every eye drew upon the speaker, a great white fox, glowing as though the full moon itself shone from it, the pure light drawing small gasps from some of the less jaded. 'I want the young spirit to follow in the paths of the gods soon, and he shall need time. I will give him that time, Amaterasu, until the child has achieved the Hand of God, and return as one of your people. What do you say?' The fox's eyes flickered to Sai, where it was met with the man's large innocent purple eyes.

The serene beauty, a ghost of a smile upon small red lips, bowed her head in assent. Susanowo shrugged, and even Tsukiyomi managed to nod.

Do what you wish. Find a way to bring forth the Hands of God from your people's talents of the game. We shall await the Divine Move.

'Come, Fujiwara no Sai. Come with me, and I shall give you the eternal time you so desire to walk the earth for the Hand of God.' The fox's voice slowly murmured, extending a forepaw towards the man.

'At what cost would be the time that you would give?' The man slowly replied in a husky, serious nature. The fox, if you studied it closely, almost smiled sadly. 'If you were to die in the life I would give you, never again can you return here. Your spirit would be broken, scattered to the winds, and you will never endure reincarnation. However, should you live, never will your body age or be diseased, and never can you die a natural death. Should you wish to redeem yourself, achieve the Hand of God in this time I give, and become one of the gods.'

The young man thought about this for some time, finally reaching out a hand to the fox. 'I accept the borrowed time you offer, Kami Sama.'

As hand met paw, a thin line of blue-white fire snaked around the joined pair, sealing a compact between the spirit named Fujiwara no Sai, and the god named Fushimi Inari.

'O-Inari Sama...' Sai softly whispered in measured, hushed tones in the god's adobe.

'Do not call me that, Fujiwara San. I may be accepted as a kami, but they did not have much of a choice when they accepted me.' The fox quietly reproached. 'I am addressed as Inari Sama, but I am not accorded the power that comes with that title, only with what I had prior to ascension. You will call me Fushimi, in public and private, and just Fushimi.' Some of the glow faded, allowing Sai to take note of his surroundings for once.

Rustic and simple, the large, wide open room held several tables, chairs and, in one corner, what looked like several boxes made of that material Sai remembered Hikaru called cardboard. Yes, it was in a cardboard box that Hikaru got a goban from his grandfather. It would be very much like a Go salon, except that Sai was quite sure that the furniture, although well cared for, was definitely very old, and the place's lighting had a certain...feeling to it, as if the place was teeming with sheer life, even among supposedly dead furniture. It had the same feeling of standing in a desolate forest; surrounded by life, but completely alone.

'Perhaps I should explain exactly what have you gotten yourself into, Fujiwara no Sai,' the fox sighed. 'Allow me a moment to change.' The fox's eyes, clear and glowing a bright topaz, mesmerised Sai, and he found himself almost unable to look away from those beautiful, vertically slit pupils.

When he finally tore his eyes away, there was a person in place of the white fox. The person did not look very masculine or feminine; he/she had a long face with a matching pointed nose. The person had long hair, conveniently tied back in a timeless ponytail, and was wearing an ordinary brown yukata usually reserved for males, but that was not any indication of gender, given that Sai himself had long hair which he tied back. Fushimi had charming, androgynous features, and surely the fox god would stand out in any crowd he so desired, but Fushimi Inari would never be standing in the limelight.

'Human form is slightly more agreeable, I see,' the fox murmured, again the same voice, as those charming eyes met Sai's. 'Well, then, the précis is that you have been given a way back to the human world. You now possess a physical body, all your faculties, all your memories, and allowed back to earth as you are now. You will not age, or fall sick, or sustain any serious injury inflicted during this time. However, exactly how much time you are allowed is quite uncertain, and there are still ways for you to die. Once you die, you can never return, ever again. Not now, not ever, cursed to spend eternity in the realm of Izanami no Mikoto. You are a very rare one, Fujiwara no Sai, exempted by the gods to achieve the Divine Move so that those above can finally witness it. Furthermore, you will be bound to me as one of my subjects, and bound until either you achieve the Divine Move and ascend, until you die as you are now, until I choose to release you from our pact, or until you choose to become a youkai. Which in that case you will, in all probability be trapped as a cursed goban that kills anyone who play it.'

Sai gasped at the last alternative, shivering in distaste. 'O-Inari...Fushimi Sama, since this is a matter of the Hand of God, why would Fushimi Sama, a patron of agriculture, choose to involve yourself in this matter?'

Fushimi laughed. 'You are young and curious, I see. Well, permit an old fox to indulge in a whim now and then, Fujiwara San. After all, I am Inari, the fox god who protects the rice land and tricks the mortals who do not know their place.'

That answers nothing, but Sai felt a bit better at hearing Fushimi's laugh, knowing that this was definitely more like what a cunning fox would do to express dissatisfaction at the gods.

'You can still turn back, Fujiwara San.' Fushimi gently replied, producing a fan from his sleeve. 'Turn back and reincarnate. Live life all over again, forgetting what is Go, forgetting the game you loved for three lifetimes, forgetting everything to start all over, even what was the Divine Move.'

This was a tempting offer. Sai did not know what the gods had prepared for him, but he was quite suspicious, even if they were gods. The road to the Hand of God was long, arduous trip, and having travelled on this stony path for almost a millennium, he was tempted to take a new path and relive life. Just one decision, and he could be on his way, and the gods would not force him. It was a good offer, one that most people would take if they could. However, Fujiwara no Sai was no normal person. His love for Go, his pursuit of the God's Hand had continued, undeterred even by death, and he had by his skill carved one of history's most exalted Go players, one that all would acknowledge as the greatest player in the world: Honinbo Shuusaku. Even in death, he wanted to play Go, to finally play the perfect game, and win.

Hence, not knowing what fate had in store for him, Fujiwara no Sai straightened his back, squared his shoulders, and made his decision: 'I will accept.'

Per essere continuato...

To fully understand what is going on, this is a précis of Japanese mythology. The world was created when a couple, Izanagi and Izanami, poked the oily primordial chaos that was the world before everything was there with a magic spear to create land, or more specifically the Japanese islands we know today. The 'Mikoto' thing at the end of Izanami is the god's title. Continuing on, after creating the islands, the two came down to the land, got married there and created the gods of the land, the mountains, etcetera and basically gods of almost every aspect of life, Izanami died in giving birth to the god of fire and was sent to Yomi, the land of the dead. Izanagi went down to retrieve his wife but upon seeing the goddess ravaged by maggots and decomposing and so on, fled to the surface world and sealed the entrance to Yomi to prevent her from following him to the world, which is why Izanami controls the world of the dead. Shinigami is actually the name given to an entity who harbrings death, which is actually considered unclean in Shinto, which means 'Way of the Gods'. Okay, so after which, Izanagi, in his grief, goes to a small pool of water [some versions vary between a spring, a pond, and a river] and washes his face, and out of his left eye was born the sun goddess Amaterasu, his right eye gave the moon god Tsukiyomi life, and from his nose Susanowo [sometimes spelled as Susanoo, pronounced Su-san-no-O] the god of sea and storms. Amaterasu rules the Shinto version of heaven, Takamagahara [aka Heavenly Celestial Plain], with her brother Tsukiyomi. Susanowo, upon orders from Izanagi, was banished from Takamagahara [further details freely available on the Net].

Inari is a fox god in Shinto mythology. I named this Inari 'Fushimi Inari' after the famous Fushimi Inari shrine in Kyoto, Japan. Fushimi Inari is perhaps the oldest shrine in Japan dedicated to Inari worship, the shrine is located on top of Inari-Yama, and was featured in the movie Memoirs of a Geisha.

Here, I will always alternate between 'the Divine Move', 'The Hand of God' or 'God's Hand' because I believe in variety.

Please review!