The characters Yumi Ishiyama, Mr. & Mrs. Ishiyama, Ulrich Stern, and others are based on characters from the cartoon 'Code Lyoko.' I do not own, nor do I claim, any copyright to these characters.

The characters Koyo Toya, Akiko Toya, Akira Toya and Hikaru Shindo are based on characters from the manga 'Hikaru No Go' by Yumi Hotta and Takeshi Obata. I do not own, nor do I claim, any copyright to these characters.

Between Yumi's getting settled and Kichi's schedule, it was the weekend before the girls had any time together.

"Yumi, who is 'Urrick'?" Kichi asked her.

"Ulrich? He's, ahh, just a friend of mine from school, why?"

"Oh, not much. You've just been moaning his name in your sleep ever since you got here. Last night was so bad, I had to get up and take a cold shower, you got me so hot and bothered! It was either that, or jump you myself!"

Yumi blushed and Kichi laughed.

"Don't worry about it, your virtue is safe! And I sure didn't mind! Tell me, is he, ahh, different from other boys?"

"I'm not sure what you mean, Kichi."

"You know, different from Japanese boys."

"No, I don't know. As far as I could tell, Ulrich isn't equipped any differently than you would expect. What were you expecting, a tail?"

"No!" Kichi laughed again.

"Well, I do know a boy who sometimes has a tail..."

Later, over a game of go, Yumi told Kichi what was going on, about aunt Sayuri's trying to get her into a school here, and Kichi nodded her head.

Click! Kichi placed a white stone on the board.

"Yeah, I've heard of that school. It's not only what you thought it was but more. It's also a school families send headstrong daughters to to break them down, make them more compatible with society."

"What!" Yumi exclaimed.

"Yeah, I think the gaijin do the same thing when they send their daughters to Catholic nunneries."

Click! Yumi played a black stone.

"You're kidding."

"No, I'm not. I knew a girl once that got sent there. Before that, she had run away from home something like nine times, and had about five different gaijin boyfriends. When she came out of that school, she was a perfectly respectable little drone."

Click! Another white stone.

"What am I going to do?" Yumi moaned.

"First of all, I'd resign," Kichi replied, "you're about twenty points behind on the board, and there's no way to catch up."

Yumi looked at the goban(1), and saw Kichi was right.

"I resign," she said.

"Second," Kichi continued, "I'd let things sit for a little bit. I heard mother and father talking about it the other night, and father doesn't seem all that thrilled about helping his brother-in-law again. So, maybe, you can skirt disaster by doing nothing."

"But I feel like I have to do something," Yumi said.

"Sometimes, tenuki(2) is the best move," Kichi said, "look, tomorrow, we'll go over to the Nihon Ki-in. After playing you myself, I'd guess you're about 3-kyu(3). You can play some games, get them recorded, and bring them with you to Toya-sensei's for a review. Speaking of which, would you like to go over this game?"

"Yes, of course, thank you," Yumi replied, and the lesson began.

Their visit to the Nihon Ki-in the next day was wonderful. Kichi spent her time there helping instructors conduct classes. Yumi was able to play six games with various people, all magically around her strength in the game. And they were hard fought games too. In all, she lost four of them, but learned a great deal afterwards. And, she got a game record of each game she played.

When they were ready to leave, Kichi said, "c'mon, I want to show you something."

She led Yumi up several floors and they came to a room. Kichi looked around to make sure there was no one around, then opened the door and turned on the lights.

Directly across from them, in the far wall, was a rock garden, carefully maintained. In the middle of the room was a goban with two low seat backs on either side, along with an arm rest. To the right was the room's to-ko-ma(4). There was a scroll hanging in it.

All around the perimeter was tatami(5) mats. Directly in front of the girls, between them and the doorway, was a long low table.

"What is this place?" Yumi asked.

"It's the Yugen No Ma. They play really important games in this room. All of the final matches in the major tournaments are played here. Look at the cameras," Kichi said, pointing to the cameras mounted directly above the board, "commentators sit in the next room over there and do real time commentary on the games. And only select individuals actually sit in the room with the contestants. I almost got to record a game for Toya-sensei here about a year ago, but I got sick at the last moment. Jitters."

"Wow," was all Yumi said. It was like seeing where they played the finals of World Cup Soccer right before the championship.

"We'd better get going," Kichi said as she turned out the lights and shut the door, "they might not look too kindly on us being here."

Notes:

(1) goban; the board that the game of go is played on.

(2) tenuki: in the game of go, this refers to playing in a different section of the board than where play has been recently. This may be done because there is a more effective play elsewhere on the board, and there is nothing more to be gained at the moment from playing in the area just played.

(3) kyu, dan: go players are ranked much like martial arts practitioners are. A kyu level go player is similar to a martial artist with a rank below black belt. Dan level players are black belts. Professional go players are ranked as dan level players, but they are above amateur dan level players.

(4) to-ko-ma: an alcove in Japanese homes where things of significance to the owners are displayed.

(5) tatami: reed mats that cover the floors in Japanese homes.