Told ya no promises. So this is a few days late, but it's better than being late by, say, an entire year.
Thanks to Ardonius-Servant-Of-Zeta for reviewing! I agree that Go is a very ancient Asian game, but one doesn't have to be ancient or even Asian to understand it. Haha.
So the second saga begins! This one takes place during the time when Hikaru goes to the Heart of the Stone Go salon to train for the Pro exam in the Hikaru no Go world (around chapter 70 in the manga), and between the Duelist Kingdom and Legendary Hero arcs in the Yu-Gi-Oh world. So expect some tiny spoilers from each universe.
/.../ = Yugi's thoughts
/ /.../ / = Yami's thoughts
Disclaimer: Is it so shocking that I don't own either one of these mangas/animes? Er...actually, it's not that shocking. Stop laughing at me.
It's Time to Play a Game
Chapter 2: Let's Play a Game (Part 1)
"OOOIIIII! Is the brat here? I brought some cannon fodder!"
Kawai-san's loud voice made half the people in the Go salon turn their heads, while the other half merely rolled their eyes.
The owner looked up briefly from behind the counter and was about to tell him to keep it down when he saw that Kawai-san was gripping the wrist of a young boy, who had an expression on that clearly said he did not want to be here. He arched an eyebrow.
"Kawai-san, should I report a kidnapping to the police?"
The taxi driver dragged the boy over, snorting his contempt.
"Please. I'd say he deserves to be kidnapped, after what he said in front of me! And after I so nicely rescued him from being lost in the middle of a backward alley, too!"
The boy shrunk back as far as he could at the accusations, which made him look even smaller than he already was.
The Go owner frowned.
"Let go of the poor boy – I think you've scared him enough, what with your looks and brashness. Maybe Shindo-kun is beginning to rub off on you."
Ignoring the driver's rants at the insults, he looked at the 'victim', who didn't look like he quite fit in. For one, he looked around eight or nine, which was a sixth of the age of his average patron, and his hair was…extremely bizarre, to put it mildly.
Kids and their crazy hairstyles today – I bet they just try to outdo one another, the owner thought, but he chuckled – he used to think Shindou's hairstyle was the most extreme he'd ever seen. The boy also had the strangest accessories, especially the upside-down golden pyramid that hung off his neck on a chain. It was gripped tightly between the fingers of the boy's hand, the one that wasn't trapped by the driver. In fact, his entire outfit would have screamed 'MASOCHIST' if the boy didn't look so frightened at the moment. And if he wasn't just a kid.
He gave a reassuring smile to the scared boy before walking over and separating him from Kawai-san's grip.
"Hello there; I apologise for Kawai-san's behaviour – he tends to get pretty worked up over nothing."
"OI!"
The violet-eyed boy shifted uncomfortably, but managed a small smile.
"Um, it's okay. He's not as scary as some people I've met before." The smile widened, as if this was supposed to be funny instead of alarming. "I'm just confused – Taxi-driver-san started spouting some stuff about 'teaching me my place' and how 'seeing is believing' and all. I don't even know what I said to trigger all this…"
"WHAT! You brat; you know very well what you said!" Kawai-san reached over and gave the boy a noogie, drawing a yelp from him.
The owner sighed, grabbing Kawai-san's wrist and separating him from the boy again.
"Let him breathe for a moment. So, kid, what's your name? Where did Kawai-san find you?"
The kid looked down sheepishly, running his hand through his tri-coloured hair to undo the mess the noogie had done.
"I'm Yugi, Yugi Mutou. I'm here on vacation with my jii-chan, and I was exploring the area when I got a little lost." He had a glazed look for a split second, before his blush deepened. "Okay, more than a little lost. And I didn't bring my wallet or cell phone because I wasn't counting on getting lost. But then Kawai-san found me, and offered to give me a ride back to where I'm staying. Then we started talking…and I guess I said something I shouldn't have, and then he dragged me here." Yugi bit his lip, wondering if he should apologise even though he had no idea what he'd done wrong.
The owner looked at the boy, unsure if he should feel relieved or worried that he had willingly followed a complete stranger into his car, even if said stranger was a taxi driver. Didn't the boy have parents who loved him enough to say "Don't talk to strangers," or at the very least, "Don't go into a stranger's car"? He shook his head in disapproval.
"Kid – Yugi-kun, you shouldn't be wandering around alone when you're not familiar with the area, even if it's in broad daylight! Elementary students especially!"
Yugi stared at him and sighed in frustration, as if he'd heard it all before but was annoyed anyway. But he was annoyed for a very different reason.
"I'm a high-schooler."
The owner blinked in surprise, while Kawai-san, who'd been grumbling to himself (but was still listening to the conversation) burst into a roar of laughter.
"WAHAHAHAHA! Yeah right! And I'm the Queen of England! Hey brat, you're funnier than I thought!"
He gave Yugi another full-blown noogie, while Yugi squirmed and protested feebly under the assault. It didn't help that a certain spirit was laughing instead of trying to help out.
/Yami! You're not helping!/
/ /Sorry, sorry./ / Yami floated somewhere next to them, still amused despite apologising.
Their telepathic conversation was interrupted by the owner.
"Even if you are in high school, you still shouldn't wander off by yourself – what if you came across someone a lot worse than Kawai-san?"
Yugi stopped squirming to see the genuine concern reflected in the owner's kind eyes, but he was uncertain about how to answer the question. How could he explain that there was a spirit living inside of his puzzle that could banish bad guys to the shadow realm without breaking a sweat?
He opted for a partial truth – he was becoming very good at telling those.
"Eh-heh…thank you for your concern, but I can take care of myself." He gave his most winning, innocent smile, coupled with the puppy-eyes that even Yami didn't know how to resist.
The owner sighed, but dropped it. It was a mystery he wasn't sure he wanted to solve.
"So, why did Kawai-san bring you here?" He changed subjects, and they both looked at the man for an answer.
"OH! That's right; don't think I'll let you off that easily, brat! You said you were the 'King of Games', right?"
"Umm, I was just saying that's what people call me—"
"Well, say that only after you've defeated our brat!"
"Hey wait – who's going to pay for him?" The owner looked expectantly at Kawai-san, who humphed and took out a five-hundred yen piece from his pocket, flipping it towards the owner to catch.
With that, Kawai-san was dragging Yugi off again, towards the little crowd that had ignored their entire exchange in favour of observing some games.
Having nothing much to do, the owner followed the curious pair – if this Yugi was another prodigy like Hikaru, he definitely didn't want to miss it. Maybe he'd even get to witness the birth of a rivalry!
Yugi groaned – he had a feeling that everything just became a lot more complicated than he'd like it to be.
/Me and my big mouth./
-To be continued-
Poor Yugi. It seems he's always being forced to do things he doesn't want to do.
That aside, if anyone knows the Go salon's owner's name, please let me know. I'm pretty sure he remained nameless in HnG, but I could have missed something.
I just love writing Kawai-san - he's funny, and he basically writes himself. Like, I don't even have to force myself to be funny when he's around. And gasp! There's some spirit action going on! What's going to happen? Well, you'll just have to wait for part 2! In the meantime, feel free to review and/or leave a comment.
