Description: This Neo League fight was requested by Soma in order to interview Jiro to see if he had what it takes to become a member of Interpol. (Winner: Jiro)
The last time the Suiryuu docked, Soma made a point to disembark and check his messages. Most were nothing pressing, or at least nothing so pressing he was about to stop his investigation to pursue them. A few somewhat testy calls from his editor wondering how book progress was going, a few (coded) messages with queries he'd asked the SCD to investigate. However, one particular communique was very, very interesting... a link in a chain that Soma himself had started to explore long before Jinchuu. One that would probably require his personal attention. Very, very interesting indeed.
Phone calls went out, agreements were made. While the Neo League accomodates random match-ups, they are certainly open to requests for matches as well, knowing the value of a good rivalry when it comes to DVD sales. Thus they were slightly puzzled when Soma contacted them, asking for a very specific match with someone who's not exactly known for his friendliness or love of dealing with strangers.
Curious indeed.
But the arrangements went through, plane tickets bought, arrangements made. Now the ICPO undercover detective is standing on one of Metro City's nicer beaches, in the sand, while the obligatory NL camera crew sets up. The man's monochromtic dress cuts an interesting figure under the late-month moon, so bright it cuts through the dull orange of Metro's light pollution to give the dark-skinned, black-clad Fighting Novelist the impression of a hole in the silver-blue-white landscape of the sand.
If all goes well, Interpol may stand to benefit from the evening's events. Of course, that's *if* all goes well...
It's a good thing that Jiro had started getting back into the fighting circuit. Admittedly, after a long hiatus, Jiro had undergone major training just to make it this far. Now, hearing about that he's been scheduled to match against a random stranger draws out a snort from the Metro City Officer. But, he figured his comrades could use something to watch since they've been given hell over the whole Burn case.
With the beaches surrounded by fans everywhere, most of Jiro's fellow officers that are off-duty are cheering their heads off. People are exicted to see the match going under way.
Stepping into the fighting space, Jiro wore his new assemble of the blue vest, black t-shirt and white pants. He stretches his arms, giving a cheer out towards his comrades, especially his partner. His attention drifts towards the novelist.
"Huh, interesting meeting you." He tightens his fists, cracking his knuckles and he adjusts his stance to reflect his fighting, relaxed, ware, yet ready with his guard up.
Interesting indeed.
Soma's presence is... well, 'impressive' might be presumtuous, but 'composed' or 'businesslike' aren't too far from the truth. He seems a somewhat bourgeoisie figure standing in contrast to Jiro; in fact, the two mens' appearances couldn't be any more different. Jiro, light-skinned and fair-haired, cuts a figure of a rough and ready everyman in his police attire. Soma, swarthy and garbed in dark colors, has a somewhat more sinister air. He's certainly not QUITE as popular with the crowd; even without the home team advantage, Mr. Travedi's fighting record is abyssmally bad... he's not a fan favorite.
But even though his bosses at the Special Crimes Directorate don't know it, he's probably the single most qualified person in Interpol to be doing this little 'pre-interview screening' of Jiro... because rather unlike his peers, the Indian officer has the ability to see into people's hearts, down to things even they themselves might not realize.
He trains his violet eyes on Jiro, and gives a little jaunty, mock salute. "Likewise." He turns his head and, seeing the official raising his hand, tenses. "Mr. Kasagi... let's make this an enlightening battle. Show me what you've got..."
The hand drops, the yell to 'fight!' is given, and the undercover agent is on the move, driving forward with impressive speed to snap out his right hand toward Jiro's side, index and middle fingers extended to drive into a nerve cluster. Might as well let him know what he's dealing with up front...
COMBATSYS: Soma has started a fight here.
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Soma 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Jiro has joined the fight here.
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Jiro 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Soma
COMBATSYS: Jiro dodges Soma's Medium Throw.
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Jiro 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Soma
Finding himself within the presence of the novelist that seems to emit a more sinister air about him, the young man stares coldly at the figure, remaining in his fighting stance as he glances around the area. He's expecting something, but he's mostly trying to get a survey of what is planted or what would be a great advantage.
Good, a clear ring.
Anyway, Jiro looks at the man, "Enlightening battle?" He grunts, "Right." He positions himself to where he can quickly evade the attack, then he awaits the agent to come forth with the hands diving out to the side. Jiro merely crouches low to avoid the assault, having the hands go over his head.
While still crouched, Jiro makes a quick jab of the right hand at the man's stomach.
COMBATSYS: Jiro successfully hits Soma with Jab Punch.
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Jiro 0/-------/-------|=------\-------\0 Soma
Hmm... a quick attack. Not the best chance to evade it, but Soma gives it a try anyway. Fighting logic says any attack that's relatively quick usually doesn't have much power behind it, so he's not taking the greatest of risks here, after all. However, that doesn't mean he's not hurt when indeed, his attempt to get out of the way of the strike fails and the blow catches him in the side as he attempts to spin away from it. Stumbling back a step with a sharp exhalation, the ICPO officer doesn't seem too much the worse for wear, but that did indeed sting. Interesting.
More interesting to Soma, however, is the boy's stoicism and even disdain. Some of it is genuine, of course, as the detective's empathic abilities tell him. But some of it... doesn't seem entirely on the level, at least to Soma's instincts. He is taking the fight seriously, which is good... but he might be taking it a little TOO seriously, and that might not be terribly helpful in the long run. It remains to be seen.
Skipping back a step, Soma doesn't go on the second offensive, content to let Jiro come to him... but with a flick of the wrists, his daggers drop into his hands from his sleeves, held blade back in ready position. "Yeah, 'enlightening'. I'm interested to see what the man who got so involved in Schugerg's attempted take over is like in combat," Soma adds, with an almost mocking smile. His physical and stylistic similarity to Nassir probably isn't helping his case, either.
COMBATSYS: Soma focuses on his next action.
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Jiro 0/-------/-------|=------\-------\0 Soma
After the quick jab, Jiro takes the moment to leap back a few times, before he shifts his stance, his hands still guarding position as he moves side to side. The change of his stance, however, doesn't deter his attention to Soma to see what he follows up with.
One has to take the match seriously. Besides, it's a Neo League fight. Nothing more, right? The young officer does, however, stares at Soma as he mentions about Rolento. "Funny thing, I didn't even -care- for the city at the time." Still doesn't, really. "Rolento needed to get smashed." He snorts, then he channels forth his chi to manifest. With the chi manifesting, Jiro lunges forth with, "Times have changed. So have I."
He swings the arm out, shooting out the scarlet chi that imbued the arm to shape itself into a cutter, flying at Soma's direction. "Balefire!"
COMBATSYS: Jiro successfully hits Soma with Balefire.
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Jiro 0/-------/-----==|====---\-------\0 Soma
Now that's a little unexpected. Even pushing himself a little farther than normal to get out of the way, that shot is a bit quick for Soma, and the fiery burst slices into his side. Hissing at the heat/pain, the detective falls back a step... but he is by no means about to let up on Jiro. In fact, playing up the aggressor might be to his advantage, given what he came for. He grins a little as he crouches, using the sand's traction to dig up his left foot behind him so he's not totally sent sprawling. "Huh... so you just wanted to break something, and Rolento happened to be convenient? Interesting."
One dagger disappears back into Soma's sleeve with the speed and dexterity of a stage magician as he reaches into his coat and, in one smooth motion, whips his hand out, flinging something small and glowing with black-lined silver at the Stray Dog: a throwing spike, a tiny and mostly harmless throwing dagger perhaps the size of a pencil. However, if it connects, the burst of Psycho Power as the charged object bursts is considerably more dangerous. "I should hope you've changed since, then."
COMBATSYS: Soma successfully hits Jiro with Nova.
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Jiro 0/-------/----===|=====--\-------\0 Soma
"What can I say? My goals were selfish at the time." He snorts at the thought, "I've grown since then." He pulls back, dropping into his stance and he starts moving back and shifting his weight over to see what the older man had up his sleeve. There is a large degree of distrust in his opponent. He wondered what this interrogation is for anyway.
The young man notices the silver line streaking towards him. He immediately shifts his stance and he winces as the silver line pierces the arm, the psycho power filling him. "Peh.." He smirks, then he shrugs at the older man, "I'd like to think so."
He sprints towards Soma, extending his right arm out to bring out the Ol' Faithful.
The Infamous Clothesline.
"Why do you think I became an officer?"
He's aiming to take his head off.
COMBATSYS: Jiro successfully hits Soma with Fierce Punch.
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Jiro 0/-------/---====|=======\=------\1 Soma
As the blow slams into Soma's neck, bowling him over, the detective has a very distressing thought, which is effectively that even if Jiro has certain... problems, it seems like he would make a better law enforcer than Soma in the long run. Unlike the Fighting Novelist, the Stray Dog actually appears to be *good* at fighting.
However, even if he hit with impressive strength, Jiro hasn't laid Soma out just yet, though he has put him on the defensive rather sooner than Soma himself would have liked. Gritting his teeth as he stands up, however, he is unable to stop himself from grinning in amusement at Jiro's growing distrust. After all, a healthy degree of useful cynicism is pretty important in a good detective. Of course, it's not the ONLY thing. Some finesse doesn't hurt either, and nothing about Jiro that Soma has noticed so far says 'finesse'.
"If I were the bitter or cynical type," Soma says faintly, training his gaze on his opponent, "I'd say it's because you can't get away from wanting to bust heads... you just wanted legal sanction to do it. Metro's civil servants have long history of head-busting, after all."
COMBATSYS: Soma gains composure.
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Jiro 0/-------/---====|=======\-------\1 Soma
The former Stray Dog peers towards Soma, then he smirks at the older man after the clothesline. "Well, perhaps. But frankly, I decided to follow the footsteps of someone that I admire." He considers, then he extends his right hand out. He is not going to play charging boy this time.
Instead, Jiro takes a step back with a vicious grin. "Besides..." He draws his hand outward, palm facing up. "If you were the cynical type. I'd tell you to go **** yourself on a flagpole."
Then, the hand motions Soma forward, in the sense of 'Bring it'.
COMBATSYS: Jiro focuses on his next action.
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Jiro 0/-------/---====|=======\-------\1 Soma
That comment gets a raised eyebrow from Soma, and in terms of the mini 'job interview' he's having, it's not exactly winning him any points. Still, he does sense a genuine respect for... someone, so even if he's annoyingly belligerent, there is a sense of purpose there. Jiro may indeed be a man changed. And after all, how many people admit that they used to be... well, thugs? Plus he can fight, that's for sure. But doubt still nags at Soma. There has to be something else... some 'spark', some ineffable quality that makes a good Interpol officer, especially for the role the SCD is considering for Jiro. And the Stray Dog hasn't shown it just yet.
In a swift motion, both daggers are stowed once again, and Soma glances at his opponent carefully. The aggressive type... no sense in giving him any greater of an opportunity to strike back and quickly than he already has. If he wants to make a good showing, Soma himself might need to be equally aggressive. Silver-black light flickers in his hands, as a pair of 'daggers' of Psycho Power flicker into being. "Charming. Who, I wonder, beat that desire out of you..." he says, almost tauntingly, before driving forward and slashing twice, cutting an 'X' toward Jiro's stomach. The blades don't have any physical form, but they can deal some impressive damage all the same.
COMBATSYS: Jiro endures Soma's Gemini.
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Jiro 0/-------/-======|=======\-------\1 Soma
Towards people that Jiro doesn't trust? He is purposefully belligerant, especially since he wants to put them off as much as possible. Noticing that raised-eyebrow, Jiro smirks knowingly at the older man. He is amused, needless to say. It's amusing in the sense that Jiro considers that he probably is putting the man away. For all Jiro knows, he could be one of Geese's cronies. ..Or Rolento's.
Seethe.
"I applaud your skills, a nifty way to use weapons. You remind me of someone." His eyes narrow. Of course, that is -WHY- Jiro really doesn't trust the man. So when the Interpol officer comes forth with the aggression, Jiro steps right into the fray of the strikes coming his way with the daggers of Psycho Power gathers along his form. He grits his teeth as the blades slash against his body, then he tightens his stance along the sand as they step forward.
"Nice... As for who beat that desire... I'll ask you the same question, only with a twist." His body starts to become consumed by scarlet chi, then it roars into a burst of flames as he tightens his body. "Who inspired you to write? Haaaaaaaarrrggghhhhh!"
The funnel of flames surround his body, then lash out against Soma.
COMBATSYS: Soma blocks Jiro's Defiance.
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Jiro 0/-------/=======|=======\=------\1 Soma
He's been burned by attempts to get out of the way of Jiro's attacks too many times to bother trying with the sudden flamestrike. He knows that Jiro's energy is chi, and not similar to his own... while chi users may have trouble telling the difference, espers rarely have that issue. One arm comes up to block his face, and the flame washes over him... but amidst the firestorm are flashes of silver-black as Soma rallies his powers to fight back. It's not 100% effective -- he isn't one for flashy shows of power for a reason -- but it does cut a crushing blow down to merely a lingering sense of heat and pain on his forearm.
Amazingly, Soma leaps right back into action, ducking to the side and flicking out an arm in one swift movement. A dagger drops into it, and with a twist of the wrist he 'hurls' it at Jiro... only the hilt stays in his hand. "I did," he responds simply. "I like to consider myself a self-made individual, after all." The whip-like wire-blade combination snaps out toward Jiro, looking to wrap around whatever body part is handy. If Soma can get a grip, he suddenly plants his feet and yanks, dragging Jiro through the air and slamming him into the ground *hard*.
COMBATSYS: Soma successfully hits Jiro with Wishing Star.
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Jiro 1/------=/=======|=======\===----\1 Soma
It is a clash of energies that is made as Jiro's own flamestrike battles against Soma's defensive chi. Although his win out at the end, it at least brings his damage down more than what would had been the case.
That is why Jiro offers him a nod, then he watches for the man's next move. "I guess that makes the two of us. I'm self-made to a degree." He shrugs at the thought, then his eyes shift down to see that the wire-blade snaps towards him. He attempts to get away, but it captures his arm and he is dragged through the air, then he's kissing the ground.
"Ugh." He grunts, then he looks up at Soma with a grin, "Nice... alright... It's been interesting." He shuts his eyes, narrowing his eyes to a low whisper.
"What is the real reason for this interrogation?"
Jiro's not a fool.
The officer stands up, then he launches himself forward for a quick uppercut. That uppercut becomes laced with the scarlet chi as it roars in existance, then he shifts his weight outward, aiming to draw the massive sphere of chi imbued in the other fist to punch at Soma.
Should this strike make contact, Soma will be going for a ride through the air.
COMBATSYS: Soma interrupts Scarlet Slaughter from Jiro with Sapta Rishis.
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Jiro 0/-------/-----==|====---\-------\0 Soma
Looks like Jiro's getting serious... and though he feels a little outmatched by the Stray Dog, Soma is having a good time, to a degree. Part of him is simply excited at the prospect of having another insider in the fighting world to work with. His thoughts stray momentarily to Elle, a woman who is an annoying and somewhat acidic person in the ICPO agent's mind, is a success because she knows how to network. Soma, on the other hand... the SCD sent him into this mission alone, and he's definitely feeling the results of that on the Suiryuu. Nobody to turn to for help, nobody to fight with. Nobody at his back.
It's a pretty lonely place, though Soma would never admit it.
Even without a sense for chi, the Fighting Novelist can feel the impending force of Jiro's attack. But he can also feel a sense of genuine respect from the young man, something he *didn't* feel at the start of the fight. If he wants to get out of this alive, the detective is going to have to start being a little more aggressive, perhaps. His violet eyes shine as he grins at Jiro. "Well..."
Then the uppercut connects, and there's an intense feeling of pain all through Soma's body. Yes... that smarts. A lot. However, that first flaming uppercut is the only part of the move that connects cleanly... lucky for Soma too, since even that much blazes through his defenses like a proverbial hot knife through butter. However, as Jiro's fist trails around for the second strike, it suddenly meets the undercover agent's hand, fire red and silver-black clashing against each other in a nice pyrotechnic lightshow. If you can't avoid it, delay it... just long enough to react.
From Soma's other hand, there's a sudden flash of silver... and in a movement so fast the eye can't track, he jabs the tip into seven specific spots on Jiro's body in quick succession before pushing away from him and landing in a crouch a few feet away on the sand. The wounds aren't very deep -- barely enough to even cause bleeding -- but they do strike seven nerve clusters, laser accurate pressure point strikes. As Soma stands up again, bruised and bloodied but as yet unbroken, he grins at Jiro. "...You'll have to unravel that mystery for yourself."
The officer smirks over towards the other fighter, shifting his gaze out towards the Fighting Novelist, especially as he grins at the young man's direction. He grunts as the first strike makes the uppercut. Then, he is attempting to push that force out to plow straight towards Soma.
The second strike is met with the climatic clashing of energies. Soma's own energy is coming into collision with Jiro's raw power. All of the trails of power channels and wraps around each other.
But it distracted Jiro from the resounding needles piercing his body, causing him to stumble back and twitch. "Egh..." Feeling the nerves taken out, the man coughs and he grits his teeth, "Damnit.." He smirks, then he starts to channel forth his flames once more.
He immediately zips towards Soma, winding the arm to the side to manifest the blade chi, then he zips past him to arc the slash off rapidly against the young man by the sides with finesse.
COMBATSYS: Soma dodges Jiro's Firebrand.
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Jiro 0/-------/-----==|====---\-------\0 Soma
Apparently, all one needs to do to bring out Soma's true speed is beat him within an inch of his life. As the fiery chi once more springs into being, the ICPO agent sets his foot back so that when Jiro dodges, he is ready to move out of the way... not to the side, but straight up, pushing off the ground and sailing into the air. While Varma Kalai does focus very much on anatomy and knowledge of vital points, it *also* focuses very strongly on acrobatics and flexibility. Perhaps the Fighting Novelist just needed a little convincing that he could actually do it.
At the top of his arc, the detective suddenly inverts himself and flings out his wrist, lashing out with another throwing spike as he drops toward the ground. This one doesn't glow with the psychic energy it did before, however, making it relatively harmless... but not completely so. "Do you think you were destined to become a policeman? After all, your mother is one..."
COMBATSYS: Soma successfully hits Jiro with Thrown Object.
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Jiro 0/-------/----===|====---\-------\0 Soma
Tsch, how annoying.
The officer shifts his gaze out towards the novelist as he leaps up into the air to get away from the attack. "..." His head lifts up, then he peers over towards the older man, he takes a few steps back, hissing with annoyance. But at the same time, Jiro has to give the guy.
This is not cool. When he flings a throwing spike out towards Jiro, the young man grunts in pain after being struck at the arm. With blood coming out of the arm, the fist tightens as it blazes into a burning inferno. "...Right." Jiro narrows his eyes, then he looks up at Soma.
"Perhaps I was destined. Don't know. Whatever it is, I'm willing to accept it." Then, Jiro ascends towards Soma's direction, extending the fist out, aiming to plant it right within the chest of Soma with the burning fist.
COMBATSYS: Jiro successfully hits Soma with My Little Phantom.
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Jiro 0/-------/---====|=======\-------\1 Soma
Somewhere in every combat there's a knife's edge moment, where your choices are actually too wide to be useful. Slow, powerful attacks are very much the source of many of those moments, especially for nimble fighters like Soma. As the fiery attack comes at him, the detective is forced to make one of those knife edge judgments that can either make or break an individual. Sadly, in this case, Soma chose 'break'. Attempting to slide back out of the way, he fails to take the gritty sand venue into consideration, and isn't able to get quite the distance from Jiro that he wanted. The bloom of scarlet fire from the blow explodes, sending Soma flipping through the air quite dramatically.
However, even with his strength spent and the fight mostly drained out him, he's not going to make this easy for the potential new recruit. After all, if he's found to be both qualified and interested, Jiro will be facing some of the nastier fighters in the world, and not in a friendly little venue like the Neo League either. Forcing himself to make one last move as he sails toward the ground, Soma twists his body and flings out his arm, throwing not just one Psycho-charged throwing spike, but a virtual hailstorm of them. The aggregate effect... is much nastier than the single one he threw before.
However, even that last gasp isn't enough to save him, and the detective lands on the sand with a loud *WHUMP* that sends it flying everywhere at the point of impact. The best he can do is force himself to a sitting position, teeth gritted against the pain of even that, and observe how Jiro deals with his final assault.
COMBATSYS: Soma can no longer fight.
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Jiro 0/-------/---====|
COMBATSYS: Soma successfully hits Jiro with Supernova.
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Jiro 0/-------/=======|
t It was the moment that the fist planted into Soma that Jiro made the mark that he wanted. He landed straight onto the ground, then he stared off at the older man as he landed on the ground. While descending, he folds his arms and he muses over towards the man. "That takes care of that... not." He notes dryly, waiting for Soma to get back up to his feet. It was that Soma's re-stance causes him to keep a good eye out on the individual, especially when he pulls out a hailstorm of daggers flying his way.
He grits his teeth, then he attempts to sweep away from the barrage. Unfortunately, he's caught by the assault, then he stumbles back. However, Jiro doesn't fall down.
"...Hell with that..." He coughs up blood, finally. However, Jiro still stands.
The young man approaches Soma, smirking slightly, before he extends his hand out for the individual to get back up.
It may simply be wounded pride, or perhaps respect, or any of a number of things that cause Soma to reject Jiro's hand up, though as far as he's concerned, the young Kasagi has passed the initial test. It does take a moment -- Jiro beat him pretty damn bad, as the blood and bruises on the dark-skinned face reveal -- but eventually he able to get up on his own power. A little unsteadily of course, but it gives time for the Neo League people to declare the Stray Dog the winner and for the crowd to cheer and get it out of their systems.
When Soma finally does stand, it's with his arms crossed over his chest. A sudden breeze blows up from the ocean, making the silver tips of the young psychic detective's hair flutter back and forth... and also reminding him of the Suiryuu. The fight may have been fun, but Soma's here on business. He extends a hand to Jiro in congratulations, looking at him carefully. The boy is rough, this much is clear, and not just in the sense of 'aggressive'. He'd need polish to survive in the job, and naturally undercover work isn't his thing. But then, not every cop is destined to work in the shadows.
Whether Jiro shakes his hand or not, the Indian pulls it back eventually, speaking in even but quiet tones. No sense in letting anyone overhear, after all. "It's funny. The son follows in the mother's footsteps, though in your case I think it's happy accident rather than intentionality..." After all, it's not as if Yoko shared with her son her solicitation of the undercover agent's help in getting her a job with the ICPO. "Either way, you make, pardon the pun, a certain impression," Soma finishes, pointing to a bruise forming on his right cheek.
Now, with Soma dealt with in the fight, the Officer immediately pulls away the hand, tucking his hands into his pocket. He awaits for the man to get up to his feet. Then, the young man glances out at the crowd cheering them on.
"Hrm." The young man blinks, then he turns to face the man as he extends his hand. Accepting the hand, Jiro gives a firm shake, before he pulls the hand back. There are a few things unanswered, mostly about who the hell is Soma with. Why is -he- watched? Those questions fill the man's mind as he considers the individual. Sigh, he looks up at the sky. A bird is passing by, fluttering.
Watch him.
His eyes focus towards Soma with a nod. The youth blinks as he listens to the man's statement, "...Eh...? What do you mean?" He pulls back, snorting at the comment and his cheek.
Yeah, watch him.
The violet eyes close for a moment and Soma brushes his bangs away. Curiously, though, he's smiling... or at least appears to be in a good mood. Considering the way he usually looks, smiles don't appear to come naturally to him. Still... he had the time to look into Jiro's heart. The answers to the questions Soma actually gave him... mostly irrelevant. Knowledge, information, that sort of thing can always be faked, manipulated, changed around. The human mind and heart, though... they tell no obvious lies. Someone who has a line to that can really get to understand others, even through whatever semantic defenses they rig up. Soma's test wasn't about words... it was about emotions.
There is a darkness there, somewhere inside Jiro's spirit. But in reality, the detective would have been concerned had there not been. A good policeman is always aware of the dark side of human nature, always testing his or her limits... always keeping the beast in check. The point is to try and overcome it, day by day.
Jiro... clearly does that.
A white square of paper appears in Soma's hand, like a magic trick. Say what you want about the detective, but he combines great manual dexterity with a sense of style. Handing it to the Stray Dog, he gives him an even look. The address on the card is in Lyon, France... and emblazoned with the globe/sword/scales symbol clearly reading INTERPOL. "I respect the Metro Police, don't get me wrong," Soma starts, smiling faintly. "But to me, it seems like you have too much potential to waste on one city. It's not a guarantee you're a good fit, of course... though from time to time we do field tests of potential candidates. That's only the first step, though. Taking the rest is up to you."
Now then, this brings things to a point where Jiro is actually going to have the mystery unveiled. That's good, because Jiro hates surprises anyway. When Soma manifests the paper and hands it over to Jiro with an even look, Jiro returns the look and then glances at the paper.
His look returns to its stoic manner. "Not a problem. ... Like my mother? I hate this city, so..." He shrugs, "Someone has to do something." He shuts his eyes, "... I'll see you there."
He pauses, "We will need to talk soon on matters. ...It's this place and you know what it is." No need to mention about the Burn. The Neo League was to put that off of other people's minds for a while. Other than that, Jiro pockets the paper.
Sigh. To France.
Maybe they'll provide a neat uniform like Guilty Gear's Ky.
...Nah.
That comment gets a raised eyebrow from Soma, but his gaze flickers briefly to the Metro Police before he turns it back to Jiro with a faint nod. "I've done some work on my own. I sent information off that I picked up, but it's nothing good. If you have something substantial to add, I'm sure the SCD will be happy to hear about it." All Soma found out was that the members of the Hellraisers are 99% cult, 1% gang... and that such a combination makes them infinitely more dangerous than Mad Gear or Skull Cross, adversaries that have plagued Metro and its public servants in the past.
However, at the notion that the two will see each other soon, Soma grins and waves a finger from side to side. "No, probably not... not immediately, anyway. I'm on special assignment... and it's in your best interest to let the world keep thinking I'm just a novelist-turned-fighter, if it's all the same to you." Hopefully the kid will pick up on his meaning. He'd better; if he can't figure THAT one out, maybe the ICPO's not for him after all. With a grin, he adds, "For every gung-ho cop who works in the light, there's us less savory types who do our work in the shadows."
Kinda like ninja. Not that Soma would ever admit it.
Turning to go, Soma gives Jiro a wave over his shoulder. Speaking of ninja, there's plenty of other problems elsewhere that have something approaching a stranglehold on the undercover agent's attention. "Pack warm, Lyon can be a little chilly in the fall."
Log created on 21:34:32 10/12/2007 by Jiro, and last modified on 06:16:59 10/23/2007.