Title: The Wildly AU-ish AU Doings of Shindou Hikaru I, II, III, IV & V
Series: Hikaru no Go
Disclaimer: I really would not want Hotta or Obata to know of this.
Warning: I use the expression "AU-ish" in a rather AU way. You're forewarned. The pros' names are from Prince of Tennis.
Length: 100 words each
Notes: karabana is in no way responsible for these drabbles. But thanks for the fic bunny.

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I: Saying Goodbye

�Goodbye, Hikaru. I must leave you now, to seek the Hand of God.� The ghost faded slowly from view, flickering in the last seconds like a malfunctioning television.

Hikaru extracted the cigarette butt out of his mouth and dropped it to the pavement, grounding it with his heel. �Damn, there goes another one,� he muttered. Looking down at the goban�now restored to its former perfection, free of scratches and bloodstains�he raised a foot to kick it, but managed to stop himself. �Hand of God, my foot,� he growled, pulling out a flashy red cellular phone from his pocket.

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II: Life Goes On

�Yo, Shindou-san,� the seedy-looking man said as he entered. �I managed to sell that goban you gave me. Got a good price, too. You restored it nicely.�

�What do you want, Kai?� Hikaru asked.

�The goban you were looking for. I got it. You still want it, right?�

Hikaru sat up. �Of course I want it,� he said impatiently. �Where is it?�

The goban looked terrible. It was old, caked with dirt on one side, and the top was covered with scratches and brownish stains. Hikaru inspected the signature on its underside.

�Mizuki Hajime, huh.� He started rubbing the stains.

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III: Employee Training

Mizuki Hajime, a Tokugawa-period Go player, had an annoying tendency to flick his hair.

�Look, here�s the deal,� Hikaru said. �I�m a Go pro� wait,� he said as the ghost opened his mouth. �I�m in Go to win money� wait, wait till I�m finished. And I need you to play on my behalf� wait, okay? In return, I�ll help you to find the Hand of God, how about that?�

�The Hand of God?� Mizuki echoed, his eyes brightening. He flicked more hair. �Yes, I�ll do anything to find the Hand of God.�

�Good.� Hikaru lit a cigarette. �Sucker,� he muttered.

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IV: 'I Only Play When I'm in the Zone, Okay?!'

� �Restoring antique gobans� ?� the event organizer read the business card.

�Hey, it�s a living,� Hikaru said. �You�d be surprised how many antique gobans there are in the world.�

�But you�re a Go pro, Shindou-sensei, and you want to advertise your goban restoration skills instead? You could play a game with Touya Akira at our Children�s Day event.�

�Uh� no. I�m sort of between gobans for now,� Hikaru mumbled.

�What?�

�Nothing. Touya doesn�t like the way I play. He thinks I change my style too often.� Hikaru lit a cigarette. �I can�t imagine why he�d think so, can you?�

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V: I've Seen Them Before

Touya was reading out loud. � 'The minor Go players of the nineteenth century included Wakato Hiroshi-' �

�Showoff nutcase,� Hikaru muttered.

� '-Taichi Dan-' �

�Whiny girl-�

� '-and Sanada Genichirou.' �

�Sadistic jerk.�

Touya looked up. �Shindou, it sounds like you know them quite well.�

�Me? Just er, what I know about them from ah, restoring old gobans, you know.�

�Oh. I see that you are working on another one of those,� Touya said, motioning at the dusty-looking goban that had been pushed to one corner of the room. He leant forward. �Looks like a stain of some sort��

�Wait, Touya! Don�t touch it!�

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