Updates ... Wow! Everyone keying into Leo on that last chapter. I guess you really smart readers know when something is up! My thoughts regarding Leo? Everyone should be afraid. Very very afraid. I'd love to tell you what kind of effect he has on Sugoroku's life in the long run, and believe me, he will have an effect! But I can't. I have been sworn to secrecy. Well, not really. But I still can't tell you. If I did, you wouldn't have a reason to come back and keep reviewing!

PyroDragon2006 ... You are always the first to review! Such consistency. I love that! I have to be honest, I've never been to Hawaii. But I do hope to make it there eventually. I have to thank all the reruns of Hawaii Five-O for a lot of my visual references. I used to watch it all the time during the summer. Ah, Steve McGarrett. He was so weird, lol. Anyway, glad you liked!

Lady Althea ... It was a little amusing. Poor Sugoroku.

Scarab Dynasty ... The Longitude and Latitude was just another one of my insignificant ways of teaching you all something new. Of course that usually means I'm learning something new too when I research it! And I thank you so much for the wonderful praise on my writing. I am very grateful and pleased you think so highly of it. As for it being my own style...I'm just glad it stands out enough to keep you all coming back for more!

Ciardra ... Lol, yes tremble all before Leo the love master! I didn't actually flat out script it to be a woman really after Sugoroku just because he could play well. I had it more in mind that it was one of the other players girlfriend trying to distract him. But there will be chance(es) in the future for the ladies to be very 'interested' in him because of the way handles a game. ; )

And yes, I apologize to you all right now for this chapter getting up so late. I was sick for a couple of days and couldn't even get out of bed let alone sit in front of the computer. Just looking at it made me dizzy! On top of that, the servers were acting silly again and wouldn't let me upload for like, two days! But here it finally is so enjoy!

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

22. Paradise Found…

Sugoroku had been completely honest when he had told Leo that he had never noticed girls before in any way other than as another person with which to talk.

He had been, in fact, too busy with school during the early years of his adolescence to notice that things had changed about him. His repressed outside life had even been harsh enough during that time, to also add to his lack of awareness about the opposite sex, and so he had managed to get through what can be a difficult time for some boys, with nothing more than the occasional loud voiced release of a little pent up anger. It was not that Sugoroku did not have the ability to be attracted to girls. He had just never had leisure time enough to notice that calling. He had been too busy just trying to survive.

For someone like Leo, it was an astonishing and unheard of thing for a boy at the height of puberty to feel no compulsion towards attraction for girls. For Sugoroku, it seemed unthinkable that he could ever be so stuck on them that he could think of nothing else. For both, the opposite was a total enigma.

What was clear to both however, was that Sugoroku was going to have to start thinking about them in a slightly different way if he was going to be able to deal with them in any effective manner, though for Leo it was about actually getting a girl. For Sugoroku it was about being able to understand them enough to ignore their presence when he was playing a game so they would not remain a distraction.

To this end, Leo took Sugoroku out the very next day and the two cased about the base hospital, watching the self-confident American men try to get the attention of the knowledgeable young American ladies that served as nurses.

Leo explained every positive and every negative of the performances and Sugoroku, in innocent but rapt attention, memorized every detail that was noted to him as if it was a lesson on warfare. And to some extent for him, it was. He refused to allow himself to be so distracted by a woman ever again and he was studying their behavior as if it were a lesson in school to prepare himself for a test.

The only downside to this education, was that in his zeal to know how to deal with girls, he had never thought that there could be ways other than Leo's, and when it seemed that Leo's advice landed the men more girls than not, well, what could a sixteen year old with no prior experience with girls think? Especially, when he saw first hand how Leo went about his…'work'.

They had been watching a fellow Pemberton crew member try to get friendly with a red headed young woman unsuccessfully for almost 5 minutes before the exasperated man had given up and left the woman alone to giggle with several other girls at the man's poor attempts.

Leo's advice had been, "If you're not sure how she's going to react, if she's given no prior notice to you before hand, then never attempt to get her attention when there are others around. This way she doesn't have a pack or peer pressure to give her stability. It also means that you only have to impress her and not all the other girls as well. For some girls, if their friends don't like you, she won't let herself like you. Keep it one on one and its all about her. Here, watch this."

To prove his point, Leo waited until the young woman's friends had left before he began to approach casually, as if he were not really heading her way at all. He started to pass her and then glanced her way once, twice, then a third time, before he slowed his walk and seemed to decide to head back to her.

The woman had noticed every time that Leo looked back and Sugoroku was amazed at the difference in her behavior. Leo and the other crewman had been quite similar in build and general looks, and Leo would not have argued that the other fellow was slightly 'sweeter' looking in the face. But as Leo had stated, his presentation was dramatically different and so received a completely different reaction from the woman.

Where before the red head had been too casual and flippant about the other crewman's approach and interest, she was now showing a coy timidity with soft, almost embarrassed smiles at Leo's feigned 'sort of interest'. She peered about as they talked and did indeed seem to Sugoroku as if she were looking for the other girls to come and give her support or help her make a decision. Leo was calm, cool, and acted as if she were doing nothing out of the ordinary. He was graciously polite, and the longer he stayed with her, the less she checked about and the more she gazed at Leo.

She giggled in shyness at his obvious overtures and talked openly to him for almost fifteen minutes before she stood up slowly and started to walk away with a glance back. Leo held his spot and watched until she was just around a corner before he trotted quickly back to Sugoroku with a grin and eyes shining.

"See anything different?"

Sugoroku shook his head in amazement, "Everything!"

"Good. Remember, play it cool, suave, but respectful. They really go for that. Now if you'll excuse me. I need to do a little follow up."

Sugoroku stared blankly, not understanding for a moment what Leo meant.

"Huh?"

"You might want to head on back to the ship or find something to do. It might be a bit before I'm free again," Leo explained with a slick smile and wink.

Sugoroku could only nod as his friend took off to follow the young woman.

Heeding Leo's suggestion, Sugoroku took a short walk and upon finding a bench in the park beside the hospital, he sat looking out at the crystal waters of the harbor.

In a way, he reasoned, it was somewhat like a game. Playing your skills and talents to the right level to get a lady's attention was just as important as any good card playing instinct was to poker. Though why a man would want to waste so much time playing such a confusing and distracting game Sugoroku could not yet reason. He was definitely sure he was missing something there that the older men obviously weren't.

"Hi there," suddenly came a voice to his right.

Sugoroku turned to see a dark haired girl, no more than perhaps his age at 15 or 16, standing at the edge of the bench, a pleasant look on her inquiring face. A waist long, dark brown ponytail hung at her back, and her long bangs partially hid a pair of dark wide eyes.

"I thought I knew all the kids on the base, but I've never seen you here before," she said, "When did you come in?"

"Two days ago," answered Sugoroku.

The girl sat on the bench with a thoughtful expression.

"Hmm. The only things that came in two days ago were all military ships. You came in on one of the Battleships?"

"No, a destroyer."

"You came in on a destroyer? Neat! You must have known someone high up then. There's not a lot of room on a destroyer for passengers so they don't normally carry anyone other than officers. So are you staying here?"

Sugoroku shook his head, rather curious over the casual conversation the girl seemed to set up so easily with a complete stranger.

"No. I'm on my way to America."

"Really? That's really something. It's a shame you can't stay though. We don't get a lot of new kids around often. Anyone new is a plus here. So you're Japanese right?"

Sugoroku gave a wry smirk.

"Is itthat obvious?" he asked in humored sarcasm.

The girl laughed at him.

"Funny to boot. Ya know, you don't act Japanese."

Sugoroku blinked in curiosity.

"I don't?"

"No. The Japanese people on some of the plantations are so serious. You act more like any old ordinary American kid."

"I do? Just out of curiosity then, how do you think a Japanese boy should act?"

"I don't know…I guess, just different."

The girl flushed slightly, realizing the position she'd put herself in.

"I didn't mean to say you were odd or anything…I mean, that you were supposed to act a certain way…oh, stupid me again. Open mouth, insert foot. Sorry, I tend to shoot off at the mouth before I think things through fully. I really didn't mean to imply you had to be a certain way just because of where you're from. I'm really sorry."

Sugoroku smiled at the girl feeling just a little bad for her.

"Its alright.I'm sure youweren't trying to hurt my feelings or anything. You were just comparing me to what you knew. Besides, I already know I'm not normal, so, no harm done."

The girl perked up immediately though her eyes clearly wondered if he were kidding about the "not being normal" part.

"Trying to be funny again?" she asked.

"Sugoroku grinned easily, "I didn't think I was trying."

The girl laughed again.

"My names Loni. What's yours?"

"Sugoroku."

"Its nice to meet you Sugoroku. So if you've only been here two days, you haven't seen much of the island then?"

"No. Most of my friends are busy painting the ship and making a few repairs. I had a chance to play some poker the other day, but that got a little interrupted."

The girl's eyes widened in surprise.

"You play poker? How old are you?"

"Sixteen."

"Sixteen? And you play poker? Geez! My dad won't even let me in the room when his friends come over to play in our house! So what do you do for fun…besides play poker?"

Sugoroku shrugged.

"Play chess?"

Loni gave Sugoroku a disbelieving look.

"Do you even know how to be a kid?"

Loni quickly followed the question by smacking her hand across her mouth with wide, apologetic eyes.

"Oops. Sorry. Did it again. I didn't mean to blurt out like that."

The young man looked at the girl in forgiveness.

"Its alright. I just do different things, that's all."

Curiosity took over just then, and feeling a certain amount of comfort for the girl's close age and her open nature, he found himself wondering what an American child such as herself would spend their time doing. So, he asked.

"What do you do for fun?"

Loni brightened again immediately.

"I hang out with my friends, go to school, go exploring the island…just kid stuff. I try not be serious if I don't have to be."

'Ah,' thought Sugoroku. 'So 'kid stuff' for an American is really no different then what I had done in my own homeland when I was younger and had such time to do so.'

The only difference he could see was that he had been much younger when he had been forced to give it up for his schooling and he had never really at any point thought that he was 'exploring' the city in which he had lived. He couldn't imagine that after living in one spot for so long he would ever be 'exploring' it. What then was there to look into for this girl who lived here?

"You explore the island?"

"Oh sure. All the time. Its so beautiful. Sometimes I just spend the day looking at the fish in coral coves, sometimes I hike the mountain trails or go swimming in the fresh water pools…it just depends on my mood. My favorite thing though, is going to the other side of the island and watching the dolphins and whales."

Loni smiled mischievously, "My dad hates when I do that. He gets so red when he finds out and he grounds me for a week."

Sugoroku grinned at her. He could well imagine a father being mad at such an adventurous daughter.

"He says any good girl shouldn't go flitting about the island like that. I think he just worries too much. I know half the people on the island as well as every trail on it, so I don't see what the big deal is. Hey! I can show you around if you want. There's some really neat places on the island you have to see."

The girl's enthusiasm was infectious and before he knew it, Sugoroku had said yes to her invitation.

"Come on then," she quipped cheerfully as she stood up and started away down the walk, "There's no time to waste. There's too much island and too little time for you to see everything, so lets go!"

Sugoroku quickly followed his guide. She was definitely different by his standards. She was just as open as any other American person he had met so far and she seemed to live only in the moment, for the moment. She always appeared to be happy and on the rare occasion when she wasn't, she seemed to bounce right out of it in a heartbeat. Compared to Sugoroku, she was truly a kid in action and thought. To her though, Sugoroku was like an old man who had never had a childhood.

And to some degree that would have been true. His life had been such that Sugoroku had simply jumped from young childhood to adulthood with no gradual sliding into it. It had been an abrupt change when he had started his military school, and had been set to work both challenging himself and those he learned with. He had not had the chance to make a fool of himself with immature adventures, or truly get into childish trouble, other than when he had been chased off the docks by disgruntled losers of games.

Loni however, was living out her childhood fully with her daring life. She had not known hardship or constant discrimination and it showed by her easy manner and casual air. She had been raised with freedom to come and go and make choices liberally, and it was a most unique thing for Sugoroku to see a young person his own age acting this way.

It was almost confusing. Having been spending so much time with older men, he was more or less modeling some of his style after them. Now, here he was, seeing the way another young person from another country lived, and it was so unexpected. Having two such poles to compare, he had to wonder…who was he supposed to be? Was he still a kid, or was he an adult?

Once on the main road along the outside of the base, Loni flagged down a passing truck full of empty crates and greeted the driver.

"Hi Onuha! Heading back in?"

The chunky black haired Hawaiian nodded with a smile.

"You know I am Loni."

"Great! Can we get a lift?"

The man gave her a slightly wary look, "Will I be getting in trouble from your father again for this?"

"I won't tell him if you won't. Besides, I'm not by myself this time. My friend Sugoroku is coming along."

Onuha studied Sugoroku for a moment before he smiled.

"Alright, hop on in. But if you get caught Loni, I had nothing to do with it, okay?"

"You got it. Come on Sugoroku! Hop on up in the back."

Sugoroku followed the girl into the back of the truck and after moving a few crates aside, he leaned back against the wooden side rails. As the truck started to ramble on to the inland, Loni played the part of guide exceptionally well, expertly calling attention to each detail and setting worthy of notice.

The island of Oahu is formed by two distinct mountain ranges...the Koolau Range in the east and the Waianae Range in the west. The valley between these two mountain ranges consists of a fertile, rolling plain which easily supports many sugar and pineapple plantations. It is an open area which finds itself more than occasionally a little extra wet from the water that inundates it due to the often heavy rains that are deflected into the valley from the crevices that line the sides of the mountains.

These they passed through almost to the end until they were let off by an area known as Waimea. In this valley there could be found monstrous plants that towered over Sugoroku as easily as any city building, ceremonial cliffs from which Hawaiian men would plummet in 40-50 foot dives into deep pools of crystal clear water, and a beautiful sparkling waterfall. Waimea beach was just minutes away, and there Sugoroku enjoyed watching the last of the seasonal surf boarders try to unsuccessfully keep to the top of the dying winter waves.

From there they hopped another truck to the North Shore beaches. Almost blinded by the dazzling white sand, they spent an hour walking along in the surf in bare feet before Loni started a water fight in which the two stomped the water, causing it to jump up at the other. Loni, having had far more practice at it than Sugoroku, won easily and it was half an hour before Sugoroku was dry enough for them to move on.

Kaena Point came next and this rough western most strip of land was dry enough that large cacti grew in abundance. The long peninsula of land that formedthe Point was well controlled by numerous, very water resistant, volcanic dikes from the Waianae volcano that slowed the erosion of this part of the island. Upon climbing on the innner rock formations, Sugoroku found the edges of the rockcraggy and sharp and while Loni seemed as adept as a red squirrelhopping from one strip of rock to the next, poor Sugoroku could hardly stand straight even once he found comfortable footingas he had no interest infalling and slicing himself on the razor sharp volcanic rock.

Another hitched ride found them down along the western side of Oahu, the leeward side of the Waianae Range. Being much drier than the rest of Oahu, this area sits in a rain shadow with the mountains edges coming right out from the ocean's edge. With this came a different variety of plants and animals along with a craggy side of the mountains from the old Waianae volcano. A little further on, they paused to look up towards the center of the old Waianae volcano, to see the many old lava flows that dipped eastward from landslides in the past. Here Loni challenged Sugoroku to a short climb on the grass covered dikes that formed beside the old lave flows. Once again Loni had the advantage of having lived with these natural wonders, but by this point Sugoroku hadn't even cared. He was, for the first time, in a long time, having a truly relaxing form of fun, and without the stress of having to concentrate on performing, he found himself smiling, feeling so much more at ease and happy in a way he had not known since before he was twelve.

As the day drew closed, Loni and Sugoroku caught one more ride and just before sunset, found themselves once more on the basewalking the streets throughHickam Housing.

"So what do you think of the island so far?" the girl asked, her eyes sparkling in obvious expectant praise for the island she loved.

"I think its very beautiful, but then again, I grew up in a city, so I don't think my opinion can matter for much."

Loni laughed.

"Sure it can. We're all entitled to one after all. And just think, you haven't even seen the other side of the island yet."

"Maybe. You are lucky though, to live here. You really like it here, don't you?"

Loni nodded enthusiastically.

"I love it! I couldn't imagine ever leaving or having to live anywhere else. Well, I'd like to have a chance to check out the other islands a little more, but I'd still live here."

Sugoroku was quite for a moment in thought, before he asked, "Have you always lived on the island?"

"All my life."

"Then you were here, when, well…"

"The attack? Yes, I was here. I was twelve. It was a crazy thing. One moment I'm sleeping in late, and the next my dad is dragging me into the basement. He wouldn't let my mom and me out until four hours after it was all done and they finally had proof that no one else was coming."

"And you don't mind me, even knowing what my homeland did?"

She gave him a disbelieving look.

"Why would I? Its not as if you ordered the attack yourself. You weren't flying in those planes. Its not fair of me to hold you responsible for what others of your country did. If I did, I wouldn't have even bothered talking to you in the first place."

Loni stepped up to the front walk of a trim little house and sat on the front steps, and Sugoroku followed suit.

"So, why the interest in what people think of you just because you're Japanese?"

Sugoroku looked down sheepishly.

"I've never been anywhere outside of Japan before and I suppose I'm a little nervous about what people will think of me. I'm going to a huge country that fought against mine and…I'm not sure what will happen. I know why I'm going and what I want to do, but…"

"If you're still that confused, why go? You could stay here. It would be great having someone new around for a change."

Sugoroku looked at Loni and smiled.

"Thank you, but I do have to go. I may not be sure of a lot of things, but I am sure of that. I guess I'll just have to deal with whatever comes along when it does."

Loni put a hand on Sugoroku's arm with a nod, "I bet you'll do great too. You'll take the US by storm."

Sugoroku grinned at Loni broadly and the girl returned the grin, but a moment later, something changed. It was not then - nor would it be for some time - clear to him exactly what it was that had changed, but their amused smiles had, in the space of only seconds, turned into a soft continuous gaze. It didn't seem like anything major at first, but when Loni turned slightly shy and gave a small sweet smile, Sugoroku suddenly realized that something was most assuredly happening. A moment later, the world in his mind changed, and not understanding a bit about it except that he had to do it, he leaned toward Loni…and kissed her.

It was nothing fancy. What first kiss is? But it was enough.

Enough to know that he had just stepped into an entirely new world. Unfortunately, for him there was no more to be discovered, for just a second later, the front door suddenly opened, and Loni's father stepped out as he said loudly, "Loni where are on earth have you bee…"

Sugoroku pulled back in surprise and took enough of a look at the man to know that this was not a good situation to be caught in.

"Uh oh," he heard Loni whisper, before she said quickly, "Run Sugoroku!" shoving him off the step and into action.

He didn't even question it. He'd seen the look in the man's eye and knew that running was probably the best choice, especially if he wanted to live to see tomorrow! So he took off running as Loni had suggested, the girl's father close on his heels.

From behind him he heard Loni call out loudly, "Run Sugoroku! Hurry! Don't let him catch you!"

His heart pounding, his legs moving faster than he thought they could, Sugoroku felt a strange excitement build within him and he couldn't help but grin in wonder at it as he ran.

Yes, something had definitely happened that evening and Sugoroku fully admitted that it had been more than just a little intriguing.

It had in fact, been absolutely incredible.

Next Chapter: New Sides Seen…

R and R's gratefully appreciated: )