Updates ... "Here I go again on my own! Down the only road I've ever known!" Opps. Sorry. You caught me singing. Now I'm embarrassed, lol. Hey all! I've recently found another rather interesting cartoon out there. It's probably old hat to all of you but "Fairly Odd Parents" has for some odd reason caught my attention, and I'm loving it! Cosmo and Wanda are awesome! There are a few decent fics out there about it too. The best by far would be the continuing four part fic called the "The Other Saga" by soulful-sin, http / www . fanfiction . net / u / 516158 /. Its dark and angsty but cool as heck. Especially if you like seeing these character suffer. You should definitely read the first three parts as well or Part four will make little sense. I can't wait for her to update it! I'm really enjoying it.
Ciardra ... Mark says 'anytime' and it was no problem. He enjoyed watching Richter get taken out just as much as anyone else and he was very happy to set it up. Lol. Like I always say, 'Pride goeth before a fall'. Okay, so maybe I don't always say that. But it is true. Richter set himself up for that long before Sugoroku even came into the picture. He definately got what he deserved. At least in my book.
PyroDragon2006 ... Kukyou (trouble) may be Sugoroku's middle name! As for finding it in Hawaii...well...he might... ; )
Scarab Dynasty ... Mmmmm...chocolate...ahhhh... Okay, so much for my Homer Simpson imatation. Glad you were happy to see Solomon/Sugoroku win. I was too!
Tamara Raymond ... Welcome back Tamara! I'm glad life has finally let you return to the saga that is Sugoroku! And boy is he ever happy to have you back to correct all my little mistakes!
Lady Althea ... Sooo glad you liked it!
Did you know that the word "trouble" has more than a hundred individual useage spellings in Japanese? The one I choose 'kukyou' is defined as... "(n) trouble; crisis; predicament". Hmm... Sugoroku, 16 yrs old, too smart for his own good sometimes, in Hawaii... Seemed like the right choice to me!
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 2: America
21. Confusion in Paradise…
The archipelago islands that make up Hawaii will sit on any correct map between 154° 40' W to 162° W Longitude by 16° 55' N to 23° N Latitude. At 1,523 miles in length, it is the world's longest island chain. Bordered on all sides by the Pacific Ocean, it claims a land area of 6,423 square miles and a water area of 4,508 square miles, and even manages to claim a surprisingly high point of 13,796 feet at the tip of Mauna Kea.
The entire chain consists of 132 individual islands, but it is generally accepted that when one speaks of Hawaii, they are referring to the eight main islands, each of which is the top of a submerged volcanic mountain. The remaining 124 islands together only comprise about three square miles and are not fit for human habitation. All of the main islands, with the exception of Kahoolawe, are inhabited.
Yes, a good map will tell you its precise location by the degree, tells you how many islands are part of it, gives you an estimate of size and comparative length, but does not give the curious reader any hint as to the true diversity and beauty of these amazing islands.
From black sand beaches to tropical rain forests, calm palm fields to heated and active volcanoes, plains of glass like lava rocks to the sweet perfumed flowered glades, there are few islands that can present so much in so little space. Here, one can find active volcanoes, long dead craters, magnificent waterfalls tumbling hundreds of feet, and sheer cliffs rising from the very edge of the ocean. Whole forest plantations of pineapples and macadamia trees fill the fertile land, and multitudes of endemic life, that can be found no where else in the world, flourish abundantly with subspecies that can vary dramatically even from island to island.
And with coral reefs and ancient atolls, the waters surrounding the land are no exception. Fish of every imaginable color and shape, dart and flit around the calcified remains of shellfish that passed centuries ago, as gentle and ever patient sea turtles float by, hardly noticing the gambling of their water going neighbors. Spinner dolphins play about, doing daring feats of acrobatics while humpback whales glide majestically through the warm waters of the North coast off the island of Oahu.
This last, Sugoroku had the good fortune to view first hand as the Pemberton came down across that south western side of Oahu. Though it was towards the end of their winter season there, several massive humpbacks had stayed on a little longer than their counterparts, and as the Destroyer broke through the water to begin its course around to the south-western corner of the island, three of these great, deep gray creatures sallied lazily along with the Pemberton as if mistaking her for some long genetically distant relative.
Sugoroku watched them in fascination even after they left the Destroyer's side, and as the whales began to head in a North-easterly direction, one of the largest suddenly breeched the surface of the water, and with a turn in the air it came crashing onto its back, spouts of water shooting from its massive bulk in all directions.
The natural wonders filled Sugoroku's eyes and he smiled in appreciation at the immeasurable beauty. Only two weeks ago, he had been nothing more than a child of the streets, born and raised in a jungle of homes and concrete with thousands of shades of gray for the colors of his landscape. Now here he stood, feasting upon visions that he had never guessed could have existed. That side of him that yearned to know all that was different ate it all in gluttonously, ravenously, as if he would never be full. His friends could not even get him to leave the rails long enough to get dinner. As far as Sugoroku was concerned, food was not the necessity just then.
The Destroyer made its way down the eastern side of Oahu and than, turned to travel along the southern side for a short time, before turning left into an inlet. Once in its mouth, the destroyer cruised along sedately, having cut its speed by more than three quarters, to make its short run through the bottle neck of the inlet. To the left of the inlet sat Pearl Harbor West Loch Naval Magazine. To the right was Hickam Air Force Base. A little further in, the inlet widened, and then split in two. Upon the out cropping that separated the water, sat the Pearl Harbor Naval Base. Having taken the right, the ship continued on until Sugoroku was able to see the waterway widen again before an island, Ford Island, split the water. Another angle to the right, and the Pemberton was there. Pearl Harbor…where 5 years ago began the war that was changing Sugoroku's life.
Sugoroku's earlier amazement at the beauty of the islands slipped away as he remembered all that had occurred that had brought him to this point. It had all begun on a Sunday morning. A surprise attack that had killed some 2000 American men before they'd even had a chance to defend themselves. Some still sleeping, some at Sunday morning religious services, some still eating breakfast…all not knowing.
It was here that began the long run of sea battles and, eventually, the land maneuvers that came to a head with the bombings of his own home town and the Atomic holocausts of Nagasaki and Hiroshima.
Yes, Sugoroku knew. Too well. The piles of twisted and broken bodies, the charred remains of men, women and children, the silent desert that was for months the heart of Tokyo…these images had not left Sugoroku. Nor did they fail to affect him now that he stood at the beginning of it all. How could it not? Especially when he so often dreamed of them all at night… He'd already lost count of the number of times his friends had shaken him awake from those nightmares.
He closed his eyes and tried to push them away, tried to send the faces frozen in agony and terror to the blackness of some deep hidden pit within his mind.
But they persisted.
They refused to be ignored. They refused to be forgotten. They would not allow their memory to retreat to another plain. In Sugoroku they had found a home that all too easily recalled every detail, a mind that remembered every shade of horror, and an imagination that saw how each one of those spirits had died as if he had been witness to it first hand.
Sugoroku was one they would be remembered by.
As the Destroyer was gently edged into a berthing slip by a small naval tug boat, Sugoroku finally left the rails and went below decks to his bunk, where he lay the rest of the night, sleeping in fits and starts and in between those, trying to understand his own mind, the play of the world, and its effect upon his life.
Had there been no war, he thought, there would have been no lives lost. Had there been no war, there would have been no battles to fight. Had there been no war, he would never have gone to the military school. Had there been no war, he would never have found out there could be a difference within his own station of living. Had there been no war, there would not have been any Americans, no chess, no job, no invitation, no journey to another land, and no chance of such magnificent beauty to see. Had there been no war, Sugoroku would most likely still be at home, living his father's way of life, living by his rules, never knowing there could be anything different or better... An empty shell of existence forever stuck in a life that he saw not as his, but as his father's.
Did things happen for a reason?
Was there really a certain amount of fate to all that happened in the world, or was it just a matter of simple luck?
Did a person follow the steps set before him in a blind rote, or did his experiences depend on his own personal will and aim?
Sugoroku wasn't sure about the war itself, but he was sure he had made his own choice when he had decided to come along to America. He still did believe that who he was to become would happen there, not in Japan, but whether that was because he willed it so or it was a preordained path, he just could not say.
The following morning found Sugoroku pensive as he walked alone along the dock that the Pemberton had been tied to. The men were refitting the Destroyer with a few new gears and on the outside, the ship was getting a fresh paint job, keeping Sugoroku's normal company busy for most of the coming week.
This left Sugoroku with too much time to sit and think about his place in the grand scheme of things and with the way he had been the previous night, he found it didn't look so great for him just yet. Sure he was going to America, but who knew what would happen once he got there?
"Hey, Sugoroku! Wait up pal!"
Sugoroku paused his depressing revere and looked up to see a smiling Leo running up to him.
"What are ya' doin' all out here by yourself Sugoroku?"
The young man simply shrugged as he continued his slow amble.
Leo looked at him in curious amusement.
"You know what you need?"
Sugoroku only glanced at Leo in half hearted interest.
Leo finished, "A good game of poker."
That did it. Sugoroku stopped dead and turned to face Leo.
"Is there any place around here to play?"
Leo laughed as if it was the craziest question on the earth.
"Sugoroku pal, just hang by my side a while, and you'll get into games held beneath a man's very nose without him ever seeing."
For the first time in a full day Sugoroku smiled broadly.
xxxxxxxxx
Just as Leo had said, there were games to be played all through out Oahu, and Sugoroku didn't have to go far. In fact, he only needed to go about 2 miles down the road to a little town called Aliamanu, to find several.
Leo had a few friends in the only real bar in the town - or 'men's club' as some of the military men called it - who had several back rooms where the American men and the locals would daily meet for a few good rounds of cards. Though the looks that Sugoroku initially received were a far cry less than friendly, he quickly established his right to be there by working his way through 3 sets of games winning every time.
This, in short order, earned him a seat in a fourth game in which he was set loose against three air force men each claiming to be the best the air corps had to offer. Sugoroku ignored their blustering affirmations and started in with several quick aggressive bets that settled the other men down very quickly, plainly telling them that they had better back their words up with good play if they were to keep those honors with him around. It was a good way to start the game in Sugoroku's mind. By taking them so quickly off kilter, he was sure that he was going to get some stiff competition now that men were thinking more carefully. But then for some reason, things turned a corner, and Sugoroku's edge was lost in a strange swirl of perfume, touch and youthful confusion.
Sugoroku was settled well into the game when he noticed her. A brown haired woman with a low cut blouse, voluminous skirts and a nose cutting flowery perfume, had at some point come to stand right behind him. Now ordinarily, the thought that someone stood behind as he played the game, would not have been a bother to Sugoroku. After all, the men on board the ship had done so all the time, especially with so little space afforded them in which to watch. Sugoroku had just ignored their presence and never considered them.
But this woman was too close, unnervingly close, and Sugoroku was not sure how to deal with it. He tried to ignore her at first, continuing his game as if the woman was not there at all. But the woman seemed adamant that he should remember she was there, and she would regularly lean forward a little, letting her arm brush his shoulder or rustle his hair with a breath. Sugoroku leaned forward himself in his chair to try to avoid her, his annoyance growing though not quite as fast as his inexperienced uncertainty. She only leaned closer still. He tried leaning back quickly, to bump her arm slightly, apologizing afterward in a feint to try to call attention to her over closeness. She merely smiled at him and seemed not to notice otherwise. He even resorted to giving her annoyed and unhappy looks, which she seemed to ignore completely. It was really reaching the limit.
He couldn't concentrate on the game as effectively as he wished and while he wasn't losing in any way, he certainly wasn't gaining advance ground or dollars on his opponents. His irritated edge become nervousness at his inability to understand why this woman would be so near, and as his thoughts became more and more settled on the intruder of his personal space, he soon found himself losing hands to aggressive betting.
The loss of almost 30 dollars in one hand should have - would have - normally been enough to jog Sugoroku back onto full attention to the game, but just before his thoughts could shift to resentment at his recent loss and push him once more to full game mode, there was a firm touch at the back of his head and the young man's body went rigid as he quickly realized what had just happened.
His nerve gone, Sugoroku shoved his chair back regardless of who stood there, and he very nearly ran out of the room, pushing a few surprised spectators aside as he went, his money and the game, forgotten. He left the bar and not daring to slow his quick pace, Sugoroku started down the road back towards the Naval yards and the Pemberton.
"Sugoroku!" called a voice from behind him.
He ignored it.
"Hey! Come on man! Hold up!"
Sugoroku did not oblige the follower. He continued his harried walk, seriously intent on getting back to the ship.
Leo finally caught up to him, a confused look across his face.
"What the heck happened in there Sugoroku?" asked Leo, "One second you're owning the place, the next you're storming out like someone just called your mom a nasty name or something. What happened?"
Sugoroku flushed red at the thought of what had prompted his retreat.
"I couldn't stand it anymore."
"Couldn't stand what?"
"That woman behind me."
"What? You're kidding? What did she do?"
Sugoroku would not meet his friend's eye. It was too embarrassing to talk openly about such things that had never exactly been encouraged discussion in his home.
"She would not stop bothering me."
"Some girls are annoying like that. Couldn't you just ignore her?"
"I tried."
Leo thought for a moment before saying, "There has to be more than that. I've seen you play Sugoroku, and I know for a fact that when you don't want to notice something, you won't. What's really going on?"
Sugoroku huffed slightly. Maybe he should say something. Perhaps Leo could help him understand.
"She…she was always so close. She was touching my arm or my shoulder, and she wouldn't stop no matter what I did. I tried to be nice, then look annoyed, but she didn't care. Then right before I got up she…well, she…"
"Yes," egged Leo.
"Well, she bumped against me…the back of my head…"
Leo stopped and looked at Sugoroku in surprise. An experienced enough man, Leo quickly saw the scene in his head and understood what had happened to prompt Sugoroku's retreat.
"You mean she touched her chest against the back of your head?"
Sugoroku looked down in red faced awkwardness as he nodded.
"Hmm. You sure it wasn't an accident or something? Maybe you moved back a little, or…"
"It wasn't an accident. I didn't move. And I don't think she was falling either."
The two stood quietly for a few moments before Leo shifted his feet uncomfortably for a moment.
"Listen, pal, uh, can I ask you something?"
Sugoroku nodded slowly.
"Have you, uh, ever been with a girl?"
Sugoroku looked up at Leo in curiosity. It was a phrase he'd heard in passing more than once from many of the guys on board the ship, but he'd never been quite sure what it meant. His innocence to the phrase obvious, Leo tried several other options.
"You know, gone out with,…touched,…slept with, aw hell! Have you even kissed a girl before?"
Now that the topic of conversation was clear, Sugoroku's face first turned to one of pure shock, then one of total embarrassment as the already present shade of red deepened to something between an over ripe tomato and a pickled red beet.
Leo whistled at the expression.
"Okay. I'm thinking that that is a definite no on all accounts."
Sugoroku continued to shine red as he swallowed nervously.
"Is that a bad thing?" he asked quietly.
Leo jumped a step.
"What? No! Hell no! You're only sixteen right? No big thing at all. You're still just a kid really. 'Course it does sort of explain the problem right there."
Sugoroku's face cleared, the red toning down, as the idea that Leo could explain what had happened to him in the bar took over and gave him a momentary sense of relief.
"The woman in there, she was being really forward with you. She was acting like she was interested in you in a really obvious way and since you don't have any experience with women, that you're admitting to anyway, you didn't know how to react to it. She caught you way off guard and, well, you're a guy, so its normal that you might let it affect you…to some degree."
"Why would she do that? Especially while I was trying to play?"
Leo shrugged.
"Not totally sure there pal. Maybe she was really interested in you. Maybe she thought you were cute as hell or something. Maybe she just saw you were winning and wanted to grab you before any other girl could notice you. Some girls really go for men with power and with the way you play, I wouldn't be surprised a bit if it doesn't happen often. Then of course, she could have been doing it to intentionally distract you from the game. She may have been one of the other guy's girlfriend or something with orders to bother the biggest competition so her guy stood a better chance of winning. I don't know why she did it really, but what I do know, is that until you get used to them being around and figure out what they really mean to you, you're going to be distracted by them really easy for a long time."
Sugoroku thought about it for a moment. For him, it didn't matter if she had been interested in him as a guy, was a power hungry girl or she was out to derail him as a competitor. It had been enough that she had bothered him to the point where he had walked out on a game! It was not a thought he liked at all and the way Leo put it, it seemed that it may well become a plague to his playing skill if he didn't understand it all better.
"So then, what do I do to be clear on why they're doing what they are?"
Leo grinned.
"Sugoroku my friend, I'd be a rich man if I had those answers! Okay, here's you're first lesson in 'Ladies 101 from Leo's point of view'. Girls are a tough bunch. They don't think like a guy does. When we decide to so something, we just do it. When a girl decides to do something, she has to think about how the best way to do it is, when to do it at just the right time and even how to go about doing it and still look pretty. There's another example. Guys in the bathroom just brush their hair and they're done. Girls go in and spend about an hour making themselves up to look pretty instead of just getting on out and going. Now I'm not going to complain about a pretty girl, kid. The prettier the better in my book. But they shouldn't have to spend that much time just to look that good. Makes me wonder sometimes what's really underneath all that make up."
"So, they're vain?"
"Some are, but don't ever dare imply that to a woman you're hoping to catch or its adios pal. Off they go into the sunset, usually on the arm of another guy. Not all girls are like that though, but knowing which are and which aren't, well, until you get a feel for it, just take the safe course and compliment her on how pretty she is. Its works most of the time nicely."
Sugoroku shook his head.
"If its so hard, then why do you bother with them?"
Leo's jaw dropped nearly to the floor in stunned disbelief, but he quickly recovered.
"Oh boy kid! We have definitely got to get you around a few girls. Didn't you ever see a girl you wanted to be near back home?"
Sugoroku shook his head truthfully.
"I was too busy with school to notice. I knew a few girls where I grew up, but we were just friends. I had no interest in them. There was one girl at a festival once who kept looking at me, but her parents took her away before we could talk."
"Ouch," said Leo in sympathetic male pride, "Not the best of starts there, huh? It doesn't matter though. From this point on, you are going to learn the American way of getting a girl and I, Leo the love master, will help you."
A/N: Hmmm. Leo teaching Sugoroku about girls... Does anyone else get a bad feeling about that, or is it just me?
Next Chapter: Paradise Found…
R and R's gratefully appreciated: )