Description: Miko and Daigo have some information to share with one another. And Miko... has a pot to keep stirring.
Rumors have it that Miko Kobayashi has been up to something. For one... three fellow students in her history class have practically been attached to her hip wherever she goes on campus, and plenty more greet the young woman by name when she walks by. Hot-headed, tempestuous... lots of words could describe her, but attribute feared most in the rumors would be her street savvy -- no small feat here in Gedo High School. It doesn't seem like there's many here who can talk her out of... well, anything.
The second big rumor is much more recent, however: that she'd been seen talking, alone, to a young cheerleader from Pacific High just a few days prior. The meeting had taken place in the nearby riverbed, so it wasn't exactly -secret-, but the audacity was enough to raise a few eyebrows -- but of course nothing would have been mentioned to Miko about it.
The time: just after class lets out for the day. As usual, Miko and her crew (Saya, Touji, and Kazuhito) are hastening to get out of the schoolhouse... but as opposed to usual, she's heading towards a spot the Gedo Boss likes to hang out.
"You'd better be right, Saya." Miko is -quite- pissed, with a fairly big frown across her face.
Saya gives her exasperated reply, hanging back practically in Miko's shadow. "I don't know, god! Just see for yourself, but don't blame me, I ain't his damn secretary!"
Kazuhito and Touji give the two bickering ladies a wide berth.
Nothing happens in Gedo without coming to Daigo's ears eventually. After all, he was more or less the guardian of the place, the mediator who prevented open brawls from happening daily. His presence brought calm and serenity around him, perhaps out of fear and respect from his fellow students.
Though Daigo seldomly interfered in the things going on in the school, unless when it involved the well being of other students in some way. Live and let live, after all, if he tried to control everything and everyone, he'd just be another tyran like all the others Gedo High had, and he doesn't want that. He believed in freedom of actions, but also the consequences that came with it.
The tall man spent most of his times after classes wandering and strolling around the courtyard, sometimes with a bunch of friends walking along with him, sharing the rumors and having casual talks. The hot news were the Inter-school tournaments, after all, and the incident that happened in Gedo High a few weeks ago that left a good part of the building destroyed.
By making his presence known after school like this, the students tended to behave a little more. Currently, Daigo was leaning against a wall, hanging out with three other students who were talking about Daigo's lastest feats and how well Gedo High was doing in the tournament. "Sure hope Gedo High shows all those punk ass schools who are the real martial artists!" Says one them, which is followed by a wave of cheers from the other two students.
It doesn't take much for Miko and her crew to pick the towering Kazama behemoth out from the crowd. It's comforting that Daigo hasn't already sought her out, Miko considers. There are many things she's been up to that could -possibly- be construed as harmful to his interests, though she'd be happy to assure the Gedo Boss that her intentions are well-founded.
The information she has, though... well. It's interesting. And on the surface, it has little to do with the little turf wars Daigo's been interested in staging.
"Daigo," states Miko, after looking around to the others. It's not a loud cry for attention, just a simple notation that she's here, and if necessary, she can wait her turn. It gives her the opportunity to share a word with her three followers: a word that has them trotting off to loiter near one of the trees. Saya, apparently, is quite relieved about that.
Once it -is- her turn, though, she bows her head in greeting, taking care to show Daigo the proper deference to someone of his unquestioned renown. "I have news that may concern you. And... if I may, I'd like to ask if you've come across anything interesting, like we'd discussed earlier."
The tall man lifts his eyes up when he hears his name called. He nods his head to Miko, a simple gesture to show her he heard her and he glances back to his friends, "Excuse me a second," He tells them before he straightens himself up and makes his way toward Miko. It's not like his discussion was overtly important, nor did he contribute actively to it. Daigo had always been more of a listener than a talker anyway.
Daigo makes his way toward Miko and he folds his arms across his chest when he arrives near her. He inclides his head respectfully in greeting, "Is that so?" Daigo asks, arching a brow. He hums softly and he waves his head dismissingly, "Well, aside from the sudden increase in random attacks by schoolgirls, I guess I've been doing relatively well... Though I bet you must know a lot of fishy stuff has been going around. Here and what not, though I'm not sure what to do with it,"
Miko nods quietly, "Yes... it's about our principal. And Taiyo's, if you recall -that- meeting..." She wasn't wanting to get talking about anything of particular import just yet while idle ears could hear -- unfortunately, there seem to be two or three students lingering about in hopes of speaking with the Gedo Boss. But Miko has a way of handling that: smiling at them. It's not long after that the stragglers realize they have some place better to be -- the simple psychic suggestions Miko had sent their way had absolutely nothing to do with it, of course!
Once the pair's privacy is assured, she taps herself in the chin. "What... can you tell me about our dear Principal Walter Smith? Or about the Taiyo Principal? I know they... certainly didn't have much to do with the Syndicate as I'd forewarned you about, but the information I'm gathering suggests that... well." She jerks her head towards the recently rebuilt school building. "If we don't get to the bottom of this, there may not be a Gedo High here for much longer."
The young woman smiles tersely -- from her gakuran coat, not unlike Daigo's, it seems she's rather formed an attachment to the place.
Daigo glances over the students who lingers by, but it seems his frown was enough to make them go away and for them to have some privacy. He totally failed to notice Miko's own stare that was really the reason why they left. He shakes his head and glances back at Miko.
"Both principals here are rather suspicious," Daigo says, "They're hiding something -- and weirdly enough, it all starts with the panty raid that was done in Seijyun High," Daigo moves his hands, as if expecting some sort of reaction of disbelief, "Look, I know this is crazy, but this guy, Jason, right? We've done to him things no normal teenagers could withstand and he took it all like he was some sort of spy trained in torture resistance or something. He just wouldn't talk, for something that just... Made no sense,"
Daigo shrugs his shoulder and he adds, "But that's just the beginning -- all of a sudden, Mister Smith dropped in to rescue him. In the middle of the night, in the most random of location... Suspicious, no? There was supposed to be some consequences, but I think he forgot about it all," Daigo says, waving his hand dismissingly.
"Also heard the reason why a part of Gedo had been destroyed wasn't due to what's been said -- heard some guy came in and attacked the principal and it turned out into a rather explosive confrontation..." Daigo hums softly and folds his arms against his chest, "Can't say for sure, I wasn't there, but the guy who told me this is someone I can trust. The witnesses were offered quite a load of money to shut up on that incident..."
Daigo hums softly, a bit thoughtful, before he adds, "It was the same guy who came in a week or so ago, and punched up a bunch of students around looking for me..."
Jason. The name rings a bell, but it happened so long ago that she'd put it completely out of her mind. That was the interrogation she'd been invited to, but couldn't pull away from her family obligations (which is to say, her full-time circus gig) to attend. "A... spy trained in torture resistance... hmm?" She raises an eyebrow at this, but nods quietly as Daigo explains. This... this is all -fascinating- to her, judging from her intrigued expression.
When Daigo's stories are complete, Miko nods slowly... and then smiles. "On the plus side, I have some more information for you... I'd heard it secondhand, again from a trusted source, that it was spoken from the same gentleman in a suit who triggered our grand remodeling program here."
Miko reaches into her pocket, and pulls out a slender cellphone: it looks expensive. And with a few taps, she manages to pull up a press image of the man of which they speak, and turns the phone to Daigo. "His name is Urien. And after defeating an individual named Ken Masters, he is the current holder of the Master Belt of the Western Circuit of Champions." She pauses a beat. "Isn't it odd that he would come -here- of all places?"
She taps on the screen a few more times, pulling up imagery of the Gedo main building before the incident. "Daigo... Have you ever heard of an organization named NESTS, Daigo? Because, apparently, that is the name of an organization that this Urien person was demanding information from a few Justice High employees this past week. Perhaps in association with our principals, perhaps not... but I find it shocking that there could be any correlation..."
Miko takes another moment, to look Daigo right in his one good eye. "Do -not- look behind me, Daigo. Because that pavilion? It appeared in connection with this tournament. It is... believed that this entire tournament is all in relation to this... NESTS organization."
She pulls her phone back, and starts typing onto the screen. "But... hm. Jason. It's even more curious, then, for someone on the football team to be making as little of a scene as he, after his discussion with you and the Gedo Principal Smith. Does Taiyo's football team just suck this year, I wonder?"
Miko's voice can grate enough to get someone mad, at times.
Daigo keeps his arms folded against his chest, his gaze lost in the horizon, obviously trying to bring all the pieces of the puzzle together. He leans in a bit closer to get a good view on Miko's cellphone.
"That's the man," Daigo says with a slow nod of his head, "He's the one who came here -- he was interested in the incident that happened with me and Taiyo High's principal," Daigo explains. He grunts at the thought and adds, "A rather unpleasant individual who believes everyone are just worms at his mercy," All in all, he represented everything Daigo hated about elite.
Daigo shakes his head slowly when Miko asks her about this NESTS organisation, "And do you know anything about this organisation, aside from its name?" Daigo asks, arching a brow.
Daigo hums softly and says, "I kept the best part for the end though... You probably heard about the ruckus that happened when we went to Taiyo High to rescue Fury, the badger mascot?" Daigo asks, tilting his head to one side, "This was the cornerstone upon which this whole Interschool tournament had been setup, to try and help the relations between school..."
Daigo lowers his gaze and he says, "It was all staged -- sort of like a trap. The principal goaded me into attacking him, so he could make this whole thing up,"
As Daigo confirms that Urien was the man he'd seen, Miko nods her head slowly. "... I... unfortunately do not know much about NESTS at the moment. Right now I'm mostly limited to what I can gather from news broadcasts and eyewitness reports." The photos of the Gedo building were -quite- difficult to get -- only possible due to the ubiquitous nature of camera cellphones in this day and age.
As for the esteemed Taiyo principal... Miko accesses a video which was broadcast at the start of this tournament. Daigo knows who it is, of course.
"He goaded you into attacking him?" She raises a finger, as if she was about to chide Daigo... then considers something for a moment.
"He knows he can antagonize you, then. And he was counting on it. Do you know what else NESTS can reliably count on us... students to do? Especially in the midst of a fighting tournament?" Miko balls her fists, punching the air to her side. "Not only is fighting involved, hmm? But getting -hurt?-"
She flashes a predatory grin back at the Gedo Boss. "What can you tell me about the Atelier medical pavilion? There... seems to have been an incident there last week, involving the new... janitor we have here. But my question is... have they done anything in particular to -you?-"
"The tournament is a setup for something, that much I am certain, but I do not know what it is for," Daigo admits with a slow nod of his head. "I've joined in to keep an eye out and try to understand things out," Daigo adds.
Daigo narrows his eyes and he says, "He expected us to come rescue Fury, and he was obviously hurting him. He cornered me and attacked me, I was out of options, I had no choice," Daigo says. His intonation sounds more like he's stating facts more than trying to excuse himself on what happened.
"Unfortunately, I haven't heard any details about that incident..." He gives a shrug to Miko and says, "No... Nothing special, a pretty regular check up, I'd say, nothing too suspicious. Think there could be some link to NESTS?"
Hurting Fury. He had no choice. This is ... an interesting development, Miko considers -- the nice and benevolent Taiyo Principal has a dark side. Good to know for the future.
"Oh, it's definitely a setup for -something-. It's an old stage trick, Daigo..." Tucking her phone back into one pocket, she retrieves a yo-yo from the other. From her right hand, the yo-yo is slung about, whipping into a circle. She twists, turns about... counting on Daigo to keep his eye on the spinning device. One twirl, a second twirl...
And all of a sudden, Miko turns one more time, thrusting the tip of a blunt rod towards Daigo's midsection. Rod? It would have been obvious to anyone else when Miko retrieved it from her sleeve, but with only her yo-yo turned to Daigo's view... nigh impossible to see coming. The weapon is enough to raise his guard, but not in any danger of actually -touching- him -- just enough to illustrate a threat, as she never once falters in slinging the yo-yo around in its orbit.
"All you have to do, Daigo, is keep your opponent distracted with what's in one hand, and your other hand can move without fear."
Withdrawing her rod, she tugs the yo-yo back to her palm with a smile. "But so long as you -know- we're being played... I consider it fair game, wouldn't you?"
The trick works wonderfully -- Daigo's eyes follow the yo-yo, totally off-set by Miko's other trick. She was right, once he focused on the trick she did with the yo-yo, she was able to pull off the rod out of her sleeve.
Daigo hardly reacts in time, squirming a second before the rod hits his midsection, "What the.." He calls out in surprise more than pain. The surprise made the towering man react more than if it would have just touched him, most likely.
Daigo narrows his eyes a bit though and nods his head. It was enough to get her point across it seems. "You might take this like a game, but I do not," Daigo replies, his expression stern and severe, "I do not know what are their intentions with all of this... But using teenagers for whatever purpose they might have? I don't like it, and I'll be trying whatever I can to put an end to all of this, you can trust me on that," Daigo replies.
"The thing to realize, Daigo, that to people with power like that, it -is- a game. You may think yourself as an independent island, but really and truly... as long as you let yourself move to their whims, jump when they ask you to... it is a game. And you are a pawn."
She holds up her hands defensively. She knows this will probably raise his ire, but that's -precisely- why she said it. "But please, do not take my meaning the wrong way. I just mean to say, you're only as much a pawn as you let yourself be. If you want these people gone, if you want this NESTS out of your school..."
She flicks the yo-yo out once again. "You may just need to take action yourself, instead of waiting for someone like Urien to make them flinch again."
Miko puts the yo-yo away, quietly. "Now, then. One more thing -- I do want to let you know that my quest to train some of the students here seems to be proceeding well. You'll be happy to know that -some- of them can actually take a few punches." The hint of a smile plays across her features -- smug pride, perhaps?
Daigo's expression turns into one of disgust when Miko explains to him how it's played out. He does believe her, easily enough, by the short experience he had with both principal Brown and Urien, both seemed to believe everything was due to them and they could do as they pleased with the lives of everyone, as if they were just a bunch of meaningless persons.
"It doesn't please me, but I am afraid you are right," Daigo says, heaving a sigh. After all, inactions might be worse than action and it will end up in them getting just what they want.
Daigo arches a brow when Miko brings up the last subject, "So I've heard... you're getting quite a few followers," Daigo replies with a slow nod of his head. Daigo turns on his heels and frowns at Miko, "Don't mistreat anyone," Daigo warns, more as a reminder that he's keeping an eye on that.
Luckily, Daigo has enough honor to refrain from killing the messenger, so to speak -- she'd hate to have to enter a fight with Daigo all because of a hypothetical situation she'd postulated.
Miko nods solemnly. "The politics of this are all meant to appease the public. The middle class, the upper class... they never show -any- concern for the lower class at all. It's disgusting, really... then they have the nerve to blame the lower class for not trying harder." She shrugs her shoulders mildly. "I suppose you could say 'But what can you do?' And... that's a cop-out, of course, from the weak-willed who are unwilling to fight." She balls her fist, demonstratively, as she looks over towards the courtyard, the students filing out of the dorms. "Men of action, Daigo... they know exactly what to do."
As for mistreating students...? "Ah, perish the thought!" She looks back to Daigo, flashing him a smirk. "Believe me, these students are smart ones -- they may strike first, but they're smart enough to not strike again. No, it's not mistreatment, Daigo. If you hear of violence, rest assured, it's simply assertive self-defense on my part."
Kazuhito and Touji return, from their errand. Saya tags along behind them, and with a pop of her bubblegum, she calls out, "Oi, Miko! We're gonna miss the train if you don't get your ass i--"
A look from Miko is all it takes to silence Saya.
"Oof. Yeah, well. Just so ya know," says Saya, chastened.
Miko turns back to Daigo. "I should probably be going," she notes, "Though I didn't want to head out without you knowing the score first."
All of Miko's speech seems to resonate very well with Daigo's line of thoughts. A few drawn out traits on his face shows his irritation when she speaks. What could they do? Whatever they could... Though that feeling of powerlessness made his hand slowly clench into a fist at his side. He knew too well the struggle Miko was talking about.
"I'll try to change that, no matter the cost, Miko... My time in Gedo High taught me as much.. If I could do something good with this power I have, that is what I should do," Daigo says with a determined nod of his head.
He glances over to Miko and then shakes his head, "I'm not vindicative about the violence that happens here -- brawls erupt all the time between boys with all the hormones, but there are some who can't defend themselves..." Daigo narrows his eyes, "In other words, just don't become a bully, or you'll have to deal with me,"
His lips curl into a faint smirk and he waves one hand to Miko, "Take care for now, I won't hold you any longer," He says with a nod of his head.
Miko nods quietly in response -- she knows that speaking too much about the upper-class could easily send him into a rage, but she does want to make sure he knows that she's thinking of him and his students. And certainly not about... anything else.
"Right. If anything, it's the -bullied- who I want to -help-, Daigo. To show them that standing up for what's right isn't just something you leave to stronger people... but something that's everyone's responsibility."
It could be said that Miko is only telling Daigo what he wants to hear. But some statements -- sometimes, Miko -doesn't- have to stretch the truth. Sometimes her heart truly resonates with it.
Snapping a quick salute -- mostly in a mockery of something one of those Justice High elites might do -- Miko nods back in reply to Daigo. "Thanks. Glad we could touch base, Daigo." And with that... Miko steps away, with her three stooges in tow. "Take care!"
Log created on 18:05:36 01/06/2015 by Honoka, and last modified on 23:17:04 01/06/2015.