A Moment, a Lifetime

"A few moments to learn, a lifetime to master" (Ancient proverb)

The annual tournament was never known to be a popular destination. Older folks were the ones who attended the most, with a few interested young people in between. Reid came sometimes if he didn't have work that day, but he had never stayed long. The games only interested him for a short while before he remembered that he had more important things to do. When he indulged himself in a match or two, he was reminded why he didn't like the attention too much. Today, he was free from the worries of work for once in a long time.

Reid wouldn't have spent his rare work-free day there had he not heard that something interesting was going to happen this year. The details weren't released until the day of the event and Reid was curious, so he took a detour for the tournament. Truthfully, America wasn't very interested in the game and there weren't as many strong players as there were in Asia. That was probably one of the reasons why Reid was surprised to find the hall so crowded with people he could hardly walk. There were many young people here- not children, but young adults, and Reid had never seen the hall so filled with chatter.

It took a moment for Reid to realize that the chatter was not entirely in a language he could understand. The genius that he was, Reid didn't have a knack for speaking different languages, but he recognized them perfectly. A few moments later he concluded that some of the strong players from Korea, China, and Japan were the main reason for the bustle. The tournament was a low-budget event the last time he checked, so Reid wondered how they could afford to hire the guests. Professionals weren't paid lightly. With the decline in interest in the past few years, it wasn't too much a surprise that the organization was willing to go beyond their limits this year, actually.

The normal events held were livelier than they usually were today. The banners were written in four languages and some places had a translator where it was needed. Reid didn't intend on playing a game, so he settled before a lecture about the different phases of the endgame. Some time ago he'd learnt the rules and he played well, but the lecture was interesting enough. Hearing the words from a professional was somehow different than reading a book about the ancient game. It was rather distant and stiff when read. The best way to understand it was to actually hold the stones in hand.

The lecture extended into another about some of the most famous players in history. Reid restrained himself from blurting out the answers in his normal fashion. Apparently he spoke fast when he babbled, so he doubted that the teacher would be able to understand him anyways. It was a bad habit; people were usually put off by his knowledge. There wasn't much about the history of the game that Reid didn't know about. He'd read about it some years ago, just like everything else he knew.

The lecture was finishing an explanation of Shuusaku's famous ear-reddening move when a commotion across the hall drew Reid's attention. A large crowd was gathered around one of the event areas, not that there wasn't already a huge crowd on the floor. As the people dispersed a little, Reid approached the closed off space. The multilingual sign above read 'Tutoring Games'. The regulars that Reid recognized from previous tournaments were among the few Asian players that had been invited by the organization. Even the regulars had abandoned their games for the small crowd gathered in the corner. Reid squeezed his way through and found an older man and a child as the center of attention.

The game had finished already, which was why the crowd slowly returned to their tables. The black and white stones had been cleaned up, but the game must have been impressive. People were muttering strange things, from which Reid quickly gathered that the child was incredibly strong. The surprise that such a small child- he must have been only ten or so- had beaten all of the strong American players only lasted for a moment. Reid quickly remembered that Asian players were considered to be exceptionally talented, even at such young ages. He faintly wondered how good he was compared to them.

"Mister, a game you want to play?" Reid started when he realized that the child had spoken to him. He must have been staring, because he did remember now that the older man had been a good player. Reid had only ever played him once, but he'd watched other games before. The man wasn't a pushover. He wondered by what margin this boy had won against him. Were Asian players really that strong? He'd read about the extremely talented young professionals, but most of those were a little older than this boy. "Go, you play?"

"Huh…oh yes, uh, yeah, I play. Sometimes, not often, but yeah," Reid said, stumbling over his words like he normally did. The child's English was broken and hard to understand beneath the thick accent, but when Reid looked at him, the boy didn't seem bothered by the language barrier at all. A bright, childish face with a wide smile nodded in understanding. It took Reid a moment more than usual for him to conclude that the boy was Japanese. The blue color of his eyes was what threw him off slightly- it wasn't normal as far as Asians went.

"With me, play game? My name is Akira. What stone handicap?" Reid blinked and rearranged the words in his head. When he understood what the boy meant, he wondered if he did need a handicap. Sometimes he lost to Gideon at chess, but go was another story. It felt a little silly playing a handicap against a child, but Reid understood. He was a genius and if the crowd was right, this boy was too, at go at least. The boy- Akira- wasn't being arrogant by suggesting the handicap. Reid could tell that he was just that good. Nothing about his body language suggested that he thought he was superior to others, but he clearly knew his strength. He also clearly loved the game.

"Two stones then," Reid said, settling down at the table. He was a genius, but he had no illusions about himself; he definitely wasn't perfect. A few instances of the past flickered before his eyes, but he ignored them as he always did. Composing himself, he placed two white stones on the star points and the game begun. With practiced speed and familiarity the boy placed his own black stone. It was too early to tell how good he was, but the stone was placed with a strength and confidence that made Reid smile.

Reid was naturally in the habit of observing people, since it was his job and all. The startling expression on the boy's face almost cost him a bad move. The professional world of go, especially in Asia, was highly competitive, he knew. But he had never actually seen that competition face-to-face. Only moments before Akira had smiled brightly at him with all the innocence and joy a young child should have. The sharp, set glare now on his face might as well have been another person entirely. Akira was completely serious.

The game progressed and Reid came to a few conclusions, not all relating to the maneuvers around the board. Akira had played go since he was young, and a close relative of his probably played on a high level too. There had nothing but confidence in his posture and few hesitations in his movements. When he was in danger, he took a moment to calmly consider the board and never panicked. Reid knew that he was a prodigy by seeing the ease in which he played. The life and death situations, the defending, attacking, and claiming phases all came easily to the boy.

Akira intended to make this game his life and he was more than good enough for it. But because he was a prodigy at the game, Reid knew that it would be a lonely life away from his peers- none of which would best him. Akira would spend his life looking to the sky, striving to improve and reach them someday. Reid had no doubts that he would succeed. And if something stopped him along the way, it would probably do him good in the long run. Adversity would build his character, strength him.

Reid quickly saw where he had failed and knew when he had lost. He said, "I resign" and swept his hands across the board to collect the stones. Akira did a sort of bow as he muttered some intelligible Japanese. When Reid's gaze returned to the boy, the bright and happy child he had seen before was back. Delighted, Akira didn't let him leave through determination alone, which left Reid a little confused. Normally, the opponents would discuss the game afterwards and understand where they had gone wrong. But they couldn't understand the words that came out of each others' mouths.

"You are very good," Reid said before Akira could discuss the game. The boy paused for a moment with a soft, "huh?" and shook his head when the words dawned on him. A smile still adorned his face. Reid couldn't remember the last time he had been able to smile without worries clouding his mind. Even when the team didn't have a case, they were always concerned about one thing or another. Their jobs hung heavy on their shoulders even when they were home.

"I still learn, always learn. If my life spent on go, still learn more. A…a lifetime to master, I want there to go!" Akira laughed lightly, delight written on his features. It was an obvious challenge to form those sentences, but Reid understood him. So he smiled back. It was the only real communication he could make that wouldn't end badly. People who spoke English barely understood him. He didn't want to confuse the boy by rambling about the statistics of a world he didn't belong to. "All you are is the go you play. Don't tell, but one day I want to say that to someone. I want to pull along people behind me into this world I love!"

"…What did you say?" Reid said, blinking in confusion. The sudden lapse into Japanese wasn't wholly on his level. Even if he understood a few words, the Japanese boy spoke too fast for him to catch the meaning. Akira didn't seem to mind his ignorance. An even brighter smile was spread across his face as he giggled to himself. He was immersed in whatever he had said and didn't notice when a young man stepped up behind him. A hand was placed on his shoulder and he started, but clearly happy that he could actually speak to someone now.

"I apologize for him; he doesn't know much English," the young man said, chuckling. An accent was apparent in his voice. Reid nodded and excused himself, leaving the two to their conversation. Nice as that game was, he really wondered what the boy had said. The young man was teasing Akira about it was his guess, judging by the color on his pale face. Reid weaved his way through the crowd and thought that the boy was going to make a nice future for himself, whoever he was. He had never gotten his last name.

He wondered how it had turned out that two geniuses met and played each other. Like often attracted like, but Reid was an overall genius, Akira one at go. They didn't have much in common. It would be a pleasant surprise if Akira found someone who was a genius at go- someone like himself, his age, to be friends with. Reid knew how lonely it was being a genius. He had the team beside him now, so he wasn't alone anymore and he was grateful.

Reid didn't have much time for leisure these days, with his job at the BAU, but he was glad that he had taken the time to visit the tournament. It was worthwhile.

"All you are is the go you play" (Hotta Yumi)

Notes/References:

• So, lately I've been just a tiny bit obsessed over the Japanese anime/manga, Hikaru no Go, which is about the game go. Then I was watching Criminal Minds and remembered Gideon and Reid playing chess, and the episode Extreme Aggressor, which features a go board that helps the investigation. Thus this was born. because I couldn't resist pitting Reid against cute little Touya Akira, who is spoken of as a go prodigy. Go is considered as one of the oldest board games, being around 3,000 to 4,000 years old. It is widely popular in Asia, but has spread to the rest of the world as well. Japan is the country that introduced the game to the west, but Koreans and Chinese are considered to have stronger players I think.

• I don't own the quotes. I don't own the characters, even the young Japanese man at the end. For anyone that cares, he's Ashiwara.

• The italicized words that Akira speaks is in Japanese. Sorry about his speech, but he isn't very good at speaking English since he's so young and Japanese sentence structure is the opposite of English.

• "All you are is the...into this world I love!" This references to Hikaru no Go.

• Shuusaku is a go player famous for his ear reddeing move. He was considered to be one of the best for his time period.

• I wasn't sure of the handicap. Reid can be defeated by Gideon at chess after all, and go is harder than chess. Akira has (according to the anime) been playing since he was two. He can beat many pros and was strong enough to become one when he was twelve. I figured that he could beat Reid at two stones, since Reid can't win everything. He's a genius and all, but he has his limits too. :3 Also, go isn't the type of game that can afford distractions, I think. He was busy observing Akira instead of playing.