Like I promised, here's part 2! And once again, I don't own anything.


It's Time to Play a Game

Chapter 1: Meeting a Stranger (part 2)

"Ah! Welcome back, Touya Meijin, Akira-kun."

Akira bowed politely and received the usual pile of candy from Ichikawa-neesan, even though he'd protested before. Despite his age, he wasn't a big fan of candy. But his father told him it was impolite to refuse a gift, especially from a lady, so now he gave the sweets to his mother when they got home.

"Ichikawa-san," his father inclined his head to the young woman. "I see you're holding up quite well for your first week here. How are the customers?"

"Good, good. Hirose-san was complaining earlier about how Kume-san was cheating, but you know how they are. A lot of them still hope you'll have time to play shidougo with them…"

Akira tuned the adults out. The Go function was really interesting and he'd learned a lot, so now the idea of teaching others seemed more boring than usual. He knew that out of politeness he couldn't really refuse, but perhaps he could convince the adults to let him review what he learned instead of playing shidougo…? He furrowed his eyebrows, trying to recall a particularly difficult strategy he'd learned, but his thoughts were interrupted by a sudden change in tone in his father's voice.

"Ichikawa-san, what's happening over there?"

Akira looked, and sure enough there was a mysterious crowd in the middle of the lounge.

"Ehhh? I don't know…what…oh! Before I forget, there was an older man who was looking for you – a Mutou-san. He should be waiting in the lounge."

The Meijin blinked before his face broke into a rare smile.

"Ah. That explains it."

"Heh? What? What explains what, Touya Meijin?" But he'd already left in favour of navigating through the crowd, causing Akira to scramble after him after bidding a hasty thank you to the onee-san.

The crowd parted like the Red Sea when the customers saw the famous Go player arrive, but unlike normal days, everyone's attention returned to the game at hand. In fact, a few hands ushered the Meijin closer, as if to get him in on the action.

Akira was much smaller than everyone else, so he'd managed to squeeze his way through the forest of legs to see what everyone was looking at. But before he reached the front, he heard an "I have nothing" and a collective sigh as the tension was released.

"Great game, Mutou-san! You've just beaten our best player!"

"Compared to you, maybe. I on the other hand might be able to win—"

"Forget it, Gotou-san. Didn't you see him just win in less than forty moves?"

"But now that the Meijin himself is here, I don't think anyone can argue about who's the best!"

Many in the crowd chuckled, grinning at the prospect of the Meijin himself putting this new challenger in his place, but everyone in the room was surprised when the pro suddenly reached over and gave the older man an uncharacteristic hug.

"Mutou-sensei! It's been too long! And you've made yourself right at home, as I can see."

The other man laughed and returned the gesture.

"Touya-kun, it's great to see you too. And I'm not your sensei anymore, so you can stop calling me that."

"Well, I'm not a child anymore, so you can stop calling me 'kun'." They laughed again, and one of the regulars couldn't help but ask the question that everyone was thinking.

"Touya Meijin? Excuse me for asking, but how do you know Mutou-san? Is he your Go sensei?"

Even Akira was curious – he'd never seen the other man before, and to be on such friendly terms with his father meant that they probably knew each other from a long time ago.

"Ah. No, no – he used to tutor me in world history quite a while ago. Mutou-san was quite an avid historian back then."

"Archaeologist, my dear Touya-kun. And what do you mean by 'back then'? I'll have you know I recently scaled the depths of the Egyptian pyramids, and you wouldn't believe half the things that happened to our team!"

Akira was a little sceptical at the sudden tirade of questions and tall tales that were being exchanged in that little lounge. Sure, his father's friend was a very good storyteller, but everything sounded so exaggerated and over-the-top that he wasn't sure how much of it was true. From what he could understand, he picked up the fact that Mutou-ojii-san was a treasure hunter of sorts, and travelled around the world to discover the ancient past.

"So, did you ever find any hidden treasure?" one of the patrons asked, leaning forward. Like the rest of the adults, he was completely caught in the spider-web of Mutou-san's adventures.

The spikey-haired gentleman paused for effect, before winking playfully.

"True treasure hunters never reveal whether they've found what they're looking for." His audience groaned, while the Meijin just chuckled. "But…I've given up the hunt. I'm now just your average game shop owner in Domino City."

"What? Why? Does this mean…you really did find treasure, didn't you? I knew it!"

Mutou-san smiled wistfully and shook his head. "I'm not going to confirm or deny it, but I can tell you that there are things in life that are definitely out of our control. And it's often these things that are worth much more than any hidden treasure."

Over twenty pairs of eyes stared at him with confused suspicion, which gave the Meijin the opportunity to cut in.

"Okay, enough with the badgering. And Mutou-san, while it's great to catch up with you again, surely you didn't come here just to share your stories with us?"

"Ever the serious boy, eh? Fine, fine. I actually stopped by to promote my new game shop and get a few advanced copies of the latest games, and I thought, 'Hey, why not visit some of my Tokyo friends while I'm here?' Imagine my surprise when I saw your face pop up on one of the news channels on the hotel's TV! A good thing, too – it's always easier to find people who are famous." He grinned, his eyes twinkling with mischief. "It's even better when I know that famous person, because that means I have a way to promote myself in a very, very short amount of time. All I have to do is beat said famous person at what he's famous for."

That did it – the oh-so-innocent comment sent the entire Go salon into a frenzied uproar, and Akira couldn't help but plug both ears with his fingers. It took every ounce of his father's intimidation skills to calm down the mob, so the fire was simmering, but still ready to flare up at any moment.

"Very well, Mutou-san. I will play a game – an even game, against you." Shocked whispers rose around them, and were ignored by the two main characters. "That was what you wanted, right?"

The older man grinned, looking much more dangerous than he did a few seconds ago. Everyone around them automatically cleared the area so they could sit at the best table that allowed everyone a good vantage point to watch the game.

The Meijin sat on one side, and motioned to his former teacher to do the same, when—

"Eep!"

Startled, Mutou-san turned to see that he'd almost squished his grandson against the seat, since Yugi had been trying to become one with his grandfather's shadow. In the mayhem of all the games and curious eyes, he'd forgotten that he'd even brought Yugi along despite the boy's neon-coloured hair. He flushed with embarrassment, turning even redder than Yugi (who had squeaked and gone all shy when all eyes were suddenly trained on him). He shook it off with his signature chuckle, and gently pushed a squirming Yugi forward by the shoulders.

"Gentlemen, may I present to you my one and only grandson, Yugi Mutou. Say hello, Yugi."

With his grandfather preventing him from running and/or hiding, all Yugi could do was bore holes in the ground with his eyes.

"He…llo."

Most murmured a reply, although some stared as if they'd just heard the world's cutest baby panda talk(1).

The Meijin smiled another rare smile, and Akira could recognise it as the one he used when Akira had just said or done something absolutely adorable. Needless to say, he didn't see that smile so often.

The green monster of jealousy reared its ugly head, and Akira tried to quash it down with limited success.

"I can see why you gave up hunting for treasure, Mutou-san. How old is he?"

"He'll turn eight this year."

Touya-san raised an eyebrow in surprise, but refrained from making any comments. He would've guessed that Yugi was barely five years old. To think he was older than his own son.

"He's usually a chatterbox when we're home, but…" Mutou-san glanced down before whispering something in Touya's ear. The Go pro frowned, and beckoned to Akira to come over.

Squatting down so he was at eye-level with Yugi, he pulled Akira to his side and said, "This is my son, Akira. He's almost seven, so he's your otouto. Your grandfather and I are going to play a game of Go, so is it okay if I let Akira play with you?"

Yugi glanced at the boy, then to his grandfather, who nodded and pushed him even further forward. Yugi sighed. He knew when he was cornered. Besides, the other kid looked like he couldn't harm an insect, even though he had an intense look in his eyes. But looks can be deceiving…

"But otou-san, I want to watch you play!" Akira didn't want to sound like a whiner, but the words flew out of his mouth before he could stop them.

His father merely gave him a stern look in response that said, "No arguing." Audibly, he replied, "I'm sure Yugi-kun would love it if you taught him how to play Go. Isn't that right, Mutou-san?"

"Heh, don't let his cute looks fool you, Akira-kun – we call him 'Yugi' for a reason! And Yugi," he suddenly gave the boy a death glare, "don't you dare let the Mutou name down."

"Hiiieeeeeeee!" Yugi squeaked again, and all the spikes of his hair shivered upwards like lightning.

"Now go make me proud, boy!" He ushered his grandson through the crowd, and when he passed by the younger Touya, he winked and mouthed a quick "Thank you" to him.

"Go on, Akira. I promise I will show you the game after dinner tonight." The Meijin had sat back down again, and was already clearing off the goban's previous game and sorting the stones with practiced hands.

Akira sighed. Today was turning out to be a long, long day.

-To be continued-


Shidougo is what they call a 'teaching game of Go' in the Go world. But I bet you knew that already, didn't you?

(1) Ah, the baby panda comment...I couldn't resist! Credit goes to the Yu-Gi-Oh The Abridged Series, created by LittleKuriboh. I promise this will be the only reference to YGOTAS.

When I was writing this, I suddenly really wished I had a Yugi plushie. Hm.