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Blind Luck2: No Way Back
Chapter 16
'I found you a job.'
'A job?' Sai was so surprised he could only repeat the word incredulously. He knew he had asked for one, but at the same time he had known how unlikely it was that he should get his wish; after all, who'd hire a blind man?
'Well, you said you wanted one. Didn't you?' Ogata added, now sounding unsure.
The thought that Ogata might rescind the job offer if the titleholder was unsure of the blind man's interest in a job spurred Sai on to quickly reassure the man.
'Yes! Yes, I want one! ' he squealed. Then in a more sedate tone he added, 'What is it?' It really was a minor detail; having a job at all would be wonderful, but he did want to know.
'It's here at the club; you are to play Go with the customers and teach Go, if that's what they want.' Ogata sounded quite self-satisfied. As well he should, for that had been the exact description of Sai's idea of a dream job.
Sai's right hand clamped over his own mouth, effectively squelching the scream of utter surprise and elation that was coming out of his mouth.
An avalanche of emotion washed over the blind man. All at once his dreams had come true. He would be able to build a life if he had a job; he’d have a proper place in society, no longer the despised and pitied outcast. And to top that, all he had do was play Go, every day, forever!
Sai's hand could not stop the few tears that ran down his cheeks from sheer happiness. And, despite keeping his head down, the Go pro had seen them.
He said, 'Damn it, Fujiwara, I thought you wanted that, don't tell me I messed up again, please!' His voice slowly went up as he spoke, indicating his distress.
Sai dropped his hand from his face, realizing the man had misinterpreted his emotional response. Ogata had nothing to feel upset about; he had done just as Sai would have wished in his wildest dreams!
Sai grabbed in the direction of Ogata's arm and caught the material of his sleeve in an iron grip, preventing the man from moving away further.
'No! Ogata-san, you did nothing wrong! In fact you did everything right; I want that job, more than anything in the world!' Sai tugged strongly on the sleeve until the titleholder let himself be pulled back down into his chair.
When Ogata remained silent, Sai continued speaking, pleading for understanding.
'Believe me when I say I want that job, please don't take it away! I want,' Sai had to search for the words to express what was in his heart, 'I want to work and meet people and not be despised and,' he inhaled strongly, 'I want to play Go! Please!' he added after another silence from the pro player, and tugged one more time on the man's sleeve.
Again silence fell, and Sai braced himself yet again for disappointment; had Sai's emotional reaction put the other man off so much he'd lose his newly offered job? Or even worse? Sai held his breath and berated himself for making a spectacle of himself, yet again. Who would want to be around a sniffling, emotional, blind idiot like himself? The former ghost could not, would not, fault the titleholder for not wanting him in this state.
Sai's thoughts were interrupted by Ogata's very audible exhale.
'Look,' the pro started, and Sai grabbed a little tighter on man's sleeve. 'I just don't understand you,' he sighed, 'Why on earth would I take away what I only just offered?'
Sai had no answer, and couldn't stop himself from sniffing his tears away.
The blind man felt his hand being pulled away from the pro player’s sleeve, and again, imagined the worst.
But then he felt both hands taken in Ogata's bigger ones and squeezed in what Sai hoped was reassurance.
'Fujiwara,' Ogata started again, 'Do you want this job?'
'Yes,' Sai replied softly.
Ogata gave his hands another squeeze.
'Well then, stop crying, and let's get it sorted!'
With that he got up, dragging the blind man up by both hands, dislodging Sai's folded cane bundle, and made it swing loosely by the former ghost's wrist. The titleholder let go of Sai's hands, and shifted the chair he had been sitting on back in its place, before heading towards the door.
'Come on, then,' the Go pro called, and Sai undid the strap on his cane, letting it fold out, before following Ogata's voice out the door.
o00o
It turned out that 'sorting it out' involved a lot of paperwork, which was taken care of by Miss Ichikawa, the receptionist, who was, apparently in charge of these things. Upstairs in the office the three of them 'sorted' a whole slew of things that Sai had never heard of and - even after having some of it explained to him - still didn't understand. All in all, it reminded him strongly of sitting in Mr. Uwayaku's office while the man worked. Sai supposed all offices were really very much alike.
There were papers he had to read, but couldn't, to which Ogata said, 'don't worry about it'. There were papers he had to sign, and presumably read. On those he scribbled with a pen, an item he was sure he'd never handled before in his life.
Ogata directed him where to place his mark, saying again, not to worry about it. The only thing that Sai could make out in the deluge of strange terms, was that his job's name was 'Custodian'. Unfortunately that meant nothing to him, so he just memorized the tittle and left it at that.
It turned out the titleholder had contacted Mr. Uwayaku earlier that day, to ask if Sai's name change had been officially applied for yet. It had, as Mr. Uwayaku was a real professional. And Ogata was given some valuable legal advice; because of the blind man's amnesiac circumstances, Sai would be able to legally use his newly re-found name at once. All Sai had to do was keep the official receipt from the application for the name change with his current ID card at all times, while he waited for his new ID card to be issued. Mr. Uwayaku would messenger the receipt over tomorrow, as it was after 6pm already, if Ogata would pay for it.
His own name! For the former ghost it suddenly sunk in he'd have his real name, well, for real now! He'd not be ‘nobody’ anymore; not 'Mayō' any more, not 'Lost' anymore! He'd be 'Fujiwara Sai' now if anyone officially asked.
The idea left him speechless for some moments.
xXXx
After all the paperwork had been done, Miss Ichikawa gave the blind man the low down on the job. Ogata had had to leave for his evening Go tutoring client. So the blind man was instructed by her over sandwich dinner downstairs. Touya joined them, letting Sai know Hikaru had had to go home for dinner.
Sai was disappointed to have missed saying goodbye to his friend, but he was also very anxious to hear what Miss Ichikawa had to say, because he strongly suspected that these would be the bits about the job he would have to 'worry' about.
Miss Ichikawa explained Sai was expected to play Go with the customers at the club, just like Ogata had said. For this Miss Ichikawa - 'Oh do call me Ichikawa, everyone does!' - would allocate a table with four chairs and two Gobans, for Sai to use. She had already called and commissioned a craftsman to put the numbers of the co-ordinate on one Goban, so the less experienced could play the blind man on that. It would arrive tomorrow or Wednesday, Thursday at the latest. The second Goban was there so two games could be played simultaneously and also as a teaching tool, so two games could be laid out side by side and be compared in post-game discussions.
The game table was set aside in a niche in the Go club. You had to take two steps up a platform to get to it. Miss Ichikawa 'showed' him the layout by actually taking him around the table. Sai really didn't feel ready to call her anything but Miss, as he pretty much viewed her as his immediate boss. She let him feel where the chairs were and the - for now - solitary Goban.
After that she took him on the grand tour of the Go club. The general layout of the place, the location of the downstairs washrooms, tea corner, book and magazine corner, the two private rooms the upstairs office and its staff washroom, offices and boardroom.
At the tea corner she only indicated what could be obtained there. The receptionist added that he'd not be called on making any beverage there. She, or her niece, would always be on hand to supply him and his guest(s).
Sai was amazed how much thought Miss Ichikawa, and possibly Ogata, had put into making this job work for him. With all these tools and foresight, he felt he would be able to do this job well.
Miss Ichikawa concluded with giving him his schedule. He'd be working five days a week, with Tuesdays and Wednesdays off, as those were the slowest days at the club. He'd work in morning and afternoon, but could be scheduled for the evening too. He would get paid by the hour, for now.
Sai's head spun. He would get paid for playing Go? Was there anything more wondrous in the world? The receptionist ran him through a very complicated calculation to show him how much he would earn, but on seeing his utterly blank reaction, took pity on him and explained that he'd be taking home ¥530 hour. Why that was pretty much ¥500 a game!
Sai was set to start work on Wednesday this week, (the day after tomorrow), so he could spend that day familiarizing himself with the club and its inner workings. He was to start at 10am, but was expected to arrive earlier to set up, but no earlier than 9:30, or the main door would still be closed. There would be an appointment book set up for him, so people could sign up for his sessions for each day. Miss Ichikawa added that Ogata had already filled a few regular slots, and Touya had promptly added himself for Monday afternoons.
The blind man hadn't realized he'd be able to play his friends this way; this was getting better and better!
o00o
Sai was still dazed from it all when Miss Ichikawa left him in Touya's hands, who immediately asked for a game. The magic allure of Go worked yet again and the blind man was soon lost in the world of black and white disks, where any thoughts not related to Go ceased to exist.
It was late when Ogata came back to pick him up, and Sai was quite exhausted. It wasn't until he was lying on 'his' futon in Ogata's bedroom with the other man snoring softly a meter or so away from him, that he realized they had not discussed anything further about the his living arrangements with Ogata. It had just happened and it seemed everything was back to 'normal'.
Sai briefly thought there should be more discussion, but his body betrayed him and he fell asleep before he could do any more serious thinking.
o00o
TBC….
Sorry for the very short chapter. I’m again having problems getting my stuff beta-ed. My sister kindly beta-ed this, for which I’m very grateful!