Updates ... And the answer is... Foghorn Leghorn! He was that goofy southern accented rooster that always made fun of that hound dog and was constantly being chased after for dinner by that Henry Chickenhawk. Everytime I typed Admiral Chester Faraday, all I could see was that goofy rooster. I even started hearing his voice when I was coming up with the admiral's lines.
PyroDragon2006 ... You were on the right track with Looney Tunes and chicken. I thank you immensly for keeping up with my continueing story and look forward to updates on your's as well!
Scarab Dynasty ... Ohhh, a growing Solomon/Sugoroku fan! LOL. I am very pleased you're liking my efforts and please don't feel stupid. After reading some of your fics, that term definately does NOT apply. After all, anyone who uses the word 'emulate' in a review for my story has got to have a whole mountain of very intelligent marbles in their head! PS all! Check out SD's fic "YuGiOh In Production: Memos of the Cast". I'm so loving it. Quick synopsis...the cast are sending memos back and forth from their secondary jobs in production. Atem is Head of Production (like the obsessive person he is), Téa Gardner is Head of Friendship Maintenance (uh duh lol), Seto Kaiba is Head of Technology Department (of course!)... and thats just the tip of it! It all just works so well! Even Solomon/Sugoroku gets paper time!
Ciardra ... Glad you're excited about Sugoroku going to America. He just has such an American style and outlook I had to bring it in. Besides, he's the world traveler. It only stands to reason he would get there sooner or later. I just went there sooner. : ) And don't worry about not getting the cartoon quiz. I'm just an old cartoon fan, hence my love for Speed Racer, Mysterious Cities of Gold, StarBlazers, Battle of the Planets, Super Friends and the old Voltron (does anyone else even know of these?). All very awesome in my book!
BabyGatomon ... Hells Bells! Someone likes that phrase besides me? Totally awesome! Very pleased you thought the chapter was good. Heres another one for ya'.
Snow Weaver ... Welcome back and good to see you again! Aplus on the cartoon quiz. It is Foghorn Leghorn! Thrilled you liked the chapter too. : )
I find it amazing that everyone automatically expected Sugoroku to say 'yes' and go to America! He never did give an answer in the last chapter. He just heard he had the offer. Well of course, you're all right. But now you get to read how his answer is cemented. Hey Snow Weaver! Just for you, this chapter is rated 'STW' for 'Slight Tissue Warning!' LOL.
And now its full steam ahead!
Trixie21
Okay, you all know the drill. I have to take up valuable space and time to say that I do not own any part that is the coolness of the Yu-Gi-Oh universe. That honor goes completely to Kazuki Takahashi. Authoress as she bows subserviently before her shrine of great creators... "We're not worthy! We're not worthy! We're not worthy!"
This Old Man: Sugoroku's Story
Part 1: Japan
16. Stage Three and Its Finale …
There was no one in all the world who could have been that dizzy in the head over it. He was absolutely sure of it. But that was the only thing he was sure of just then.
As he half floated home a little later in the slowly darkening evening, still in the borrowed uniform, Sugoroku could not for the life of him ever recall a moment such as this. Absolute elation had filled him. He was being given a chance to go some place he had only dreamed about.
Him!
Sugoroku Mutou!
Invited to go to America!
The possibilities of life in America before him were absolutely endless! He would get to see places and things he had never known existed! He would get to experience things he never knew a person could know! He would get to try life in what would be for him, a totally different world! Best of all, he was going to get to play chess with people that had no clue how well he could play! Though that also meant that he had no idea how well they could play either. But what difference was that? If they were good, then he would finally have a challenge worth seriously playing for a change.
Of course, that was even if he decided to go.
Sugoroku came to a stop as he knitted his dark brows in worry.
He felt quite sure he wanted to go, but what about his mother and father? What about life here? Everything he knew was here in Tokyo, Japan. The things that were to him a familiar daily sight, might well never be seen in America. No wood and paper houses. No silk kimonos. Did Americans even eat raw fish? It was exciting to think about what he would be able to discover, but it was scary too.
And what would his mother and father even think of it? Would they even let him go? His mother would give him his choice he felt sure, but his father… That was a whole different thing right there.
That was why he had not immediately agreed to it. He had to talk to his parents first. But was it really to get their permission first, or was simply just to let them know and get their thoughts?
Remembering where it was he had been heading, Sugoroku started forward again, but when he looked up, he chanced a sight that he had never before seen anything like.
About half a block up from where he was walking, he could see his own father standing with two other men by a light. Though he could not hear what was being said, it was evident by their hand gestures that they seemed to be having an argument. Sugoroku continued to walk towards them, but when his father was knocked back and down onto the ground by one of the men, the boy was immediately shocked and then angry. Differences though they may have, it was still his father these men were threatening, and Sugoroku would not stand for it.
After putting his roll of semi dry clothes against his chest, he started running towards the men as fast as he could. Ducking his head and rolling his shoulder forward, he came in and rammed the man that had knocked his father down, square in the stomach. If this had been an average size American man, the person would have perhaps only staggered back a few feet or so. Fortunately for him, the men were just as Japanese as he, and being only about 5'4, the man fell back and into his companion, both ending up on the ground.
Sugoroku recovered quickly to stand before his father as he dropped his bundle of clothes. Every inch of him was ready to do what ever he had to in order to protect his father. No one could dare go after someone from his family and get away with it.
"Sugoroku! No!"
The boy looked back at his father as the man continued.
"Get back. This is not your business."
Unimaginable surprise filled Sugoroku's eyes.
"What?" he asked.
"This is not your fight Sugoroku. Go home."
"Not my fight? You're my father. Why would it not be my fight when they come after you?"
"I did not ask for your help Sugoroku. Now go."
Confusion was now the element at play and Sugoroku could not begin to understand what his father meant.
The two men had gotten off the ground and taking a look at Sugoroku standing there in a uniform, they looked at each other.
"He is with the Americans!" said one.
"Then this isn't our night. Lets go," replied the other, before the two quickly made themselves scarce.
Osamu stood and watched as the men left. He then turned and looked at Sugoroku hard.
"I did not ask for your help!"
"Does that matter? They're gone. Now we can go home."
"They are gone because of that uniform! It should have been my fight to see through, not yours or the Americans."
"I was trying to help you."
"I didn't want your help, Sugoroku! Do you not understand?"
"But…"
"No! It does not matter that they are gone! Whether you help or the Americans help, life will still go on as it always does. They were facing me, not you! They were fighting me, not the Americans! It was my right to stand before them at their challenge and defend myself!"
Sugoroku was incredulous. His father had to be insane. Surely there was no other way explain the man's unappreciative attitude.
"Your right? There were two of them! They were going to hurt you. I couldn't let them do that to you!" he shot back hotly.
"It doesn't matter what they were or were not going to do. I did not need your help! Next time, do not stick yourself in matters that do not concern you."
"You are my father. You are a matter that does concern me."
"Yes, I am your father. A fact you sometimes so casually seem to dismiss. But more than that, I am your elder. I stand above you in wisdom and age. You have no right to take a decision from me."
"I didn't take anything away from you!" argued Sugoroku.
His youthful temper up, he took no notice as the exchange grew louder, their voices echoing along the dark street.
"They were going to hurt you…"
"I do not need you to defend me! It is I who should be defending you! I should be supporting you and setting you up to find your place in our world! I should be the one to guide you, not the other way around!"
"But why can I not…"
"You have taken my honor as the head of our household and stomped it to the ground over and over again!"
"No! I only tried to…"
"You go against my rules at every turn!"
"That's not true!"
"A father's son should not so soon be making the decisions for him!"
"But I was just…"
"I have been living and surviving by my decisions and choices for over forty years, and have never been questioned. I have been taking care of myself and your mother long before you were born!"
"If you would just…"
"Sugoroku, I have not, do not, or will I ever, need your help!"
Silence followed as the two stared each other down, the anger a corporeal presence between them. Both stood with curled fists and the in the dim light of the street, it was like looking at a mirror image except for the distinction in height and hair.
There was nothing more to say.
The difference between the ideals of the old and the ideals of the young, had reached the end of its coexistence, and neither would yield. Like a dry reed that will not bend before a gale wind, their thin acceptance of the other's thoughts had reached its end and so snapped, unable to handle anymore of the pressure.
With a final blistering stare, Osamu stood straight before giving a stiff half bow, before turning and walking away.
A bow thus given was not at this moment anything close to being a show of respect. It was a sign of his thoughts as to his son. That in fact, he was just another person on the street. Just another face. Nothing more.
Sugoroku stood shaking in outraged resentment for several long moments, unable to even think clearly just then. Suddenly, without warning, the anger gave way and he turned with a yell as he struck his foot out at a bucket that sat at the corner of a house behind him. The innocent bucket clattered down the street, breaking into several pieces, but Sugoroku didn't notice. He was too busy hitting a small potted plant off of a short table. The table quickly followed suit. Then, finding nothing else loose to send flying, he started kicking at an old fence. Again and again he attacked the fence with his feet, even managing to pop one of the boards half off.
Another minute later, his physical anger finally abated, he came to slow stop. He turned and leaned against the stalwart fence, slowly letting himself slip down it, until he was sitting on the damp ground, and as he breathed heavily from a combination of exertion and residual anger, he looked up at the sky a second before the clouds opened up with a chilly rain.
Sugoroku squinted against the pellets that smacked at his face.
Once again, his father had made the decision for him even if the man did not realize it.
Had Osamu approached the incident with understanding and an open mind, Sugoroku's rescue of him could have set a firm bond of appreciation and amity between the two. One that can only come through the chance to stand side by side with another to battle what is wrong or treacherous. A bond like that could have had the potential to help the boy see a new side to the older man, one which might have fostered an earned admiration. That kind of respect could have even had the power to keep Sugoroku in Tokyo, perhaps even encourage him to take greater care to follow his father's advice.
But instead, the steadily growing rift between the two had been cemented by this event, and in effect, Osamu had indeed made the decision for Sugoroku.
He knew now, with no more doubt, what he was going to do next.
Sitting in the rain, alone and tired, the young man wondered absently if he would be able to see any of the same stars in the US that he had for so long seen here.
Next Chapter: The Parting of Ways…
R and R's gratefully appreciated: )