Marmalade Mercury: Ep 6a

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	*_* MARMALADE MERCURY *_* EP 6a: DILEMMA WITH A CHESS MATE. I CAN'T TALK TO YOU NOW! <opening theme>

Greg walked past Mamoru and the girl as they separated their embrace. Glancing over as he proceeded into the arcade, Greg caught her eye momentarily. Hard to say what feelings she had for him… there seemed to be something…

Greg waved to Motoki. "Hey, how's business?" he inquired.

"Busy," Motoki noted, hands in his pockets. "Usually is on a Friday."

Greg nodded and donned one of the Centre's change holding aprons. "Looks like your friend Mamoru's met a friend outside," he commented.

"Hm?" Motoki moved over by the door to look outside. "Oh!" he suddenly exclaimed. "It's Kato! Kato Sujigaki! I haven't seen her in months… me and Mamoru were in school together with her at one point," Motoki clarified. "Excuse me a minute, I'll return shortly…"

He quickly walked out of the arcade and went over to offer his greetings.

Shrugging, Greg turned back to the people milling about the arcade. Childhood friends… ok, that would explain it. He paused. Though in Kato's eyes, there had almost been something else…

"Pardon me - can you change this bill?" a young boy asked him. Greg blinked and nodded, fumbling with his change. Well, best not to think about things that didn't concern him.

*****

"How good of a chess player are you?"

Ami stood nervously in Greg's doorway. He had apparently been lying on his bed reading when she'd knocked.

He now sat up and smiled at her. "Well, fairly good," Greg replied. "Why? Looking for a game?"

"Yes. Well… no," Ami corrected herself. She forced herself to stop fidgeting with her hands.

It was weird, seeing Greg's room for the first time since he'd moved in. She'd avoided it up until now. It was rather sparsely decorated… the bed moved a bit closer to the window, a couple pictures of who she assumed were elder relatives, like his parents, on the dresser.

The desk almost resembled hers though… tidy, a computer on one end - she wondered where that had been packed - with a bookshelf to the side. It was filled with several books; a couple she actually recognized from the day she'd accidentally looked through his things.

The picture of Minako wasn't anywhere though. There were no pictures of girls at all, actually.

"Which then, yes or no?" Greg wondered aloud.

Ami blushed mildly. "Er, I am… sort of," she finally specified. "Urawa needs a player to… to help him in a tournament."

Urawa had come up to her at the end of classes yesterday, asking if she knew any other great chess players. He'd seemed quite upset over Shougi's illness; apparently Shougi was the only other really good player in the club. She could still remember Urawa's troubled look.

~~~

"I wouldn't mind so much if it weren't for my opponent," Urawa muttered to her. "He's not only a great player, he's a bit of a thorn in my side..."

~~~

"You mean the chess tournament?" Greg broke into her thoughts. He shook his head. "Isn't it after school? I work at the arcade, remember? Besides, I don't get involved in things like this."

Ami nodded and lowered her eyes marginally. "Okay," she acknowledged. "Just a passing thought. I'll, er, stop bothering you," she concluded, moving to leave the room.

It likely wouldn't work with them anyway, right?

Greg sighed inwardly. He didn't want to get involved; it was unwise for others to find out things about you. At best, people started to expect more from you. At worst, people could end up finding out things resulting in someone getting hurt. Plus this situation involved Urawa - and how would he react?

However… his flat refusal had seemed to disappoint Ami. He did hate to see her upset. Was it so important to her?

Greg shrugged outwardly. "Well, wait… it's been a while since I've had a good match," he noted. "Assuming Urawa is willing, I guess I can get Motoki to give me a little time off. I'll work a weekend or something."

Ami paused. "You're sure…?" she verified. "I don't want to --"

"No, no, it could be interesting after all," Greg broke in. "Hey, maybe he'll even see I'm not such a bad guy. Assuming he lets me play," he reiterated.

Ami nodded. "Er… I did mention you knew how to play yesterday," she admitted, blushing again. "Urawa was sort of upset he didn't have another good player… I'm sorry, I hope you don't mind, I just… well…"

Greg nodded back. "Whatever. What's the outcome then?"

Ami took in a quick breath. "He said if you want to then he'll have a game tonight, with you, to see if you'd be better than anyone else he could come up with," she divulged.

"Ok," Greg agreed. "Set it up then." He lay back on his bed and returned to his reading.

Ami stood uncertainly for a few seconds before quickly backing out of the room and closing the door.

That was it? Just 'set it up'? Somehow she thought it would be more difficult. Well, he hadn't seemed willing at first… then it was like something had changed his mind… the chance to play? Something to do with Urawa? Maybe nothing. After all, Greg didn't tend to take things too seriously, right?

She shook her head. Well, she'd phone Urawa, tell him the match was on. She just hoped in trying to help him she hadn't made everything worse…

*****

"Check," Greg indicated.

"Nice," Urawa admitted grudgingly. He gazed at the chessboard. "How about this," he returned, moving his queen in to block.

Greg nodded. "I was hoping you wouldn't do that," he conceded. The two players exchanged queens and the game continued.

Fifteen minutes later Greg leaned back in his chair. "Draw," he said, with a wave of his hand.

Urawa frowned. "What? The game's not over."

Greg smiled. "Your pawn isn't going anywhere. These pieces are pinned and I'm not going to checkmate you with a knight. It's a draw. Wouldn't you agree, Ami?" he concluded, turning slightly to look at her.

Ami blinked from where she was sitting on the couch and looked down at the board, despite the fact that she'd been nervously observing the entire game for the past forty minutes.

"Er, it does look like neither of you can get the advantage now," she admitted.

"Um," was all Urawa said. Then he nodded. "I guess you're right. But the tournament has a time limit, that can make a difference," he pointed out.

Greg shrugged back. "I've played timed games before," he responded. "We can play one now if you want."

Urawa paused for a minute as if considering it, then shook his head. "No, that's all right," he said. "You are a good player. Actually made me think about what I was doing; probably for the first time since I last played with Ami."

Urawa smiled at her and Ami was unable to hold back her blush. She really wished she could stop doing that! Ami quickly stood up.

"Well, if that was all for that, should I get us some drinks or something?" she asked to change the subject. Things had gone fairly smoothly so far, she didn't want the romantic situation to intrude.

But Urawa shook his head as he stood as well. "Thanks, but I'd rather not," he declined. "It's getting late and - I'm not exactly comfortable being here right now," he continued, glancing momentarily at Greg.

Then he turned to address Greg directly. "I would appreciate your assistance in the tournament Monday. We should probably practice some standard moves and gambits tomorrow…"

"No, that's fine," Greg said airily as he stood to join the others. "I'll just see you at the tournament."

With a quick nod and wave, he moved out of the room. Three was a crowd.

Urawa paused with his mouth slightly open then clamped it shut. "No??" he repeated.

He paused, staring at the doorway before shifting his gaze to Ami. "He's making light of the situation," Urawa said incredulously. "Maybe I made a mistake in choosing him…"

Ami sighed. "He's usually like that," she told him with a small shrug. "Don't take it personally. And it is just a tournament after all…"

Urawa folded his hands across his chest. "Well, for me it's a little more than that," he put forth with a shake of his head. "I don't know, maybe it's me, but I can't see how that guy cares about anything. Do watch yourself Ami - I… I don't want you getting hurt…"

"Urawa, don't worry," Ami answered, trying to put on a convincing smile. "I'm fine. I will be fine. If you MUST worry about something, worry about the tournament."

Urawa looked at her for a minute and smiled. "All right then."

The two of them moved into the front hall. "This would all be easier of course if I could have a vision of the outcome," Urawa sighed ruefully. "If only the universe worked like that… but all I've seen recently is events to do with other people."

Ami nodded. "Do your best then," she encouraged him.

When he had departed she leaned back against the door. The situation hadn't exploded yet. Both Greg and Urawa had ended up… reasonably content with the situation. So with any luck this would work. Ami moved away from the door and went back to turn out the light in the living room.

The evening hadn't really helped the other situation though; she didn't really feel any closer to a decision. Yet… Ami paused to think about what Urawa had said.

Greg not caring about anything? She shook her head slightly. Somehow, she just couldn't believe that. There was something there… something… Ami fingered the blue medallion in her pocket absently as she walked up the stairs to her room.

*****

"You're tense," Greg pointed out. "Can't you relax?"

"I can't think that's going to help," Urawa scoffed. "You don't know our opponent."

"Who exactly is this guy?" Ami inquired.

The three of them were standing in the library, amidst the small crowd of people waiting for the match to begin. The library was the chosen site of the tournament, mainly due to it's tranquility; they were only waiting for the other two opponents to arrive now.

Urawa frowned and opened his mouth to reply but was interrupted by another voice calling out. "Ami! Greg!"

Ami spun around. "Minako?" she affirmed.

Minako waved as she walked up to them. "Hi there!" She grinned. "Fancy meeting you here, Ami. Oh, and thanks for the call on the weekend, Greg."

Ami blinked. Greg had told her about the tournament? Why?

"But why didn't you mention you'd be in this tournament?"

Oh. Ami felt a little foolish now… but what had that phone call meant then?

Greg shrugged. "I didn't think chess would interest you," he replied. "How did you know about the games anyway?"

Minako raised an eyebrow. "You didn't know? You're playing people from our school," she revealed. "I came by to see if some of my friends would be here."

She smiled again, and Ami found herself wondering if Minako meant her, Usagi and Makoto… or Greg.

"Anyway, I was rather surprised when I found out who the players were," Minako continued. "I hope you're good… it would be nice to take some of the wind out of the sails of one of the guys we have."

"You know them well?" Urawa mused.

He didn't know a great deal about Minako himself… most of the initial relationship between him and Ami hadn't involved her at all. He'd really only met her after Ami had admitted her feelings, and hadn't seen her much afterwards.

Minako nodded to him. "Hi Urawa! All too well, I fear. One of them…" she shook her head. "He's crazy. An obsessed nut."

"Wait… wait, this isn't the same nut you mentioned to me back in England, is it?" Greg said, suspiciously.

Minako blinked. "Er… actually, yes," she confirmed. "I'm surprised you remember though."

Greg grimaced. "I remember because I met him afterwards… in Canada," he admitted.

Urawa stared. "Are you two talking about who I think you're talking about?" he inquired, eyes widening.

Ami stared back and forth between the three of them in confusion. "Uh… who?" she said, puzzled.

Urawa exchanged a glance with Minako and Greg, then all three folded their arms across their chests.

"Sewaya Kanren!" they declared in unison.

"You rang?" a voice sounded out. The trio turned to face the new arrival who was walking up to them. He shot them a wicked grin. "Well, If it isn't Urawa and Greg. What a small world!" he laughed.

Minako rolled her eyes. "Gimme a break," she murmured.

<commercial break; Minako, Urawa and Sewaya skating, they trip over Ami's computer>