Description: Daniel Jack's search for the nefarious watch thieving gangs brings him into a chance meeting with world hockey advocate Brett Neuer after lobbying for Taiyo to start up an Ice Hockey program. No new leads are found, but a small rapport is made.
Aoi Himezaki.
The name was alien to Daniel Jack. Seiyjun High, however, wasn't. The gang fighting in Sunshine City was from an Aoi Himezaki, a student from Seiyjun High. An all-girls school that, of all things, Kasumi attended. Unfortunately, that was the school where Kasumi attended, meaning that the detective was a bit cautious on approaching that one in particular. FOrutnately, he had a theory. If rumor got out that Aoi was attacking with her gang....
It would spread to the school level.
Daniel Jack waits outside Taiyo High, armed with a pass dangling around his neck. He explained the situation to the principle, and was allowed, within reason, to ask the students for information, as long as he didn't disrupt their activities. As the evening waned, though, he didn't find any contacts. Sullen, he waits on the outside perimiter of the school. Sulking.
And taking a nip out of his flask.
Sometimes, the way of hockey is one frought with disappointment. Especially for he of American Hockey. Hell, they don't even show hockey on the main broadcast channels anymore. It's all relegated to lame tertiary channels these days. And it was worse elsewhere, honestly. It was disappointing, for a sport that one Brett Neuer was so fond of and dedicated to.
He was a student of the game enough to know that Japan was one of the first places to have one of the now staples of the sport too: the goalie's mask. So he figured it was the best place to start on his renewed sabbatical from the proper rink to continue spreading the good word. Unfortunately, it seems little has changed since the last time he was here: not even the vaunted Taiyo High has an ice hockey program, depsite the famous sports focus here. And that leaves Brett...well, kind of at a brick wall.
Sighing as he he left the school grounds after a late discussion with administration, the winger rolled his way back onto the street. "I guess the fight circuit really is my only choice," he mutters. Of course, flagging dedication to using the fight scene to show the virtues of hockey wasn't his immediate problem, even if that's what has him down mostly. It's...the small bed waiting for him back at his hotel room. He's so not getting proper sleep tonight...
GUzzling down the booze, he gazes around idly. Like Brett, he had a great deal of trouble finding any potential help in tracking down Seijyun High. It seemed that after the war between the schools, they really did keep to themselves. Biting the bullet, the detective remembered how Yuri might know about the girl. Weighing out whether or not to desperately ask the Kyokugen daughter for help... he notices Brett entering the street.
And then he erupts.
"Brett? BRETT! Hey! Scuzzy! Get over here! Come on!" Daniel waves towards the hockey player, trying to get his attention. "Hey! Don't you remember me? It's me!" Pushing off the wall, he still clutching the flask in his hand, the besuited detective hurrying over.
Brett might be in trouble.
Brett seems about ready to just skate home and get back to his hotel. His had been a long and unfruitful day. About the only thing he really got out of the day was finally getting around to trying okonomiyaki. Which...well, it wasn't half bad, to be honest, even if he was told Southtown Okonomiyaki was lame compared to 'genuine'.
Of course, things can never be as simple as just getting back to a hotel. He doesn't even get to hit the train to get lost on the lines this time like back in Metro before he finds trouble. This one isn't quite as transparently trouble as before, but it still doesn't feel right when Brett ends up approached by the zoot suited guy he fought in NDP a while back. "Um...hey. I fought you back in England, didn't I," he says, frowning as he finds alarm bells going off.
Daniel Jack smiles warmly. "Why sure shootin' Brett was it right? It's me! Daniel Jack! We had that throwdown in England, for the Neo Development Project!" Daniel Jack tightens the lid to his flask, before pocketing it at the waist. "I didn't know you were a student here! Lordy, what the hell brings you here? Are you a student here? Please tell me you are a student here."
The detective looked nervous. Brett might be the lead he needs. Taiyo WAS all about sports, and Brett, a hockey star, was a sports angle that Taiyo needed. Even then, he might work something out. Daniel Jack, while a bit ruthless in the ring, tried to be a nice guy outside of it. At least, nice and eccentric.
Hopefully, Brett will stay on his nice side.
Brett blinks. Wait, what? Brett finds himself giving a bit of a clueless look to Daniel, turning back to the school grounds...then back to Daniel. Then back to the school grounds. Then back to Daniel. "Wait, you...no, no, no, I'm not a student here. I was just...." He sighs, slumping a little. "Trying to convince someone at the school to start up a hockey program. All those sports, and not a hockey player in sight anywhere," he says, shaking his head. "I do know someone who goes here, but...haven't been able to talk to her for a while, really. Haven't since I went back to the Greyhounds."
He then gives Daniel a somewhat skeptical look. "...why are you so desperate for me to be a student here anyway?"
Keeping up, the detective is a blur of conversation. "That's fine, that's real fine. Don't worry too much about it. It's just as fine seeing someone from the states here. You want to have a burger? My treat, there is a McDonalds around the corner. I'll explain everything." The detective seemed excited just to meet Brett.
And why wouldn't he be?
Daniel Jack was a bit disappointed that Brett wasn't, well, with the school. "But hockey? Well, damn. Are you trying to get the word out about hockey? That would explain the NDP. ANyways, lets have a burger. We need to talk!" The detective tips his hat at Brett, flashing that winning smile.
What the hell is he up to.
Brett finds it a bit hard to get a word in edgewise, the motormouth on the detective certainly keeping the slower talking Minnesotan off balance. "That's go....no, it's kinda la-. No, really, it's fi-. I kinda just wa-."
The shorter his contribution to the conversation becomes, the more visibly frustrated Brett becomes. Finally, after probably a good while of just plain silence from him, he gives a sharp shout. "HEY!!!" ....of course, he immediately ends up apologizing for it, looking a tad sheepish. "Sorry, just...hard to keep up with what you're saying, you know? I'm fine without the burger to be honest. I just need to get back to my hotel soon. But...seriously, what were you looking for?"
"Whoa, sorry!"
Daniel Jack's high-paced intensity is interrupted by Brett, who keeps him back to a normal pace. "Uh, yes! Sorry scuzzy. I can understand." Taking a deep breath, the detective mulls on how he wishes to approach this. Honesty WAS the best policy. "I was just hoping to connect with another fighter in the NDP. World Warriors should be tight, yo."
He kicks his feet on the ground.
Looking at the ground sheepishly himself, he begins to explain himself. "Well, see. There are a lot of gangs breaking out in Sunshine City. One of them, The Black Dragons, I am on the case with. They are watch thieves, you see. So I am on the trail, and I have two suspects I am narrowing down. The mysterious Abobo... and a student named Aoi Himezaki. From Seijyun High." The detective sticks a tongue in his cheek. "It's... she apparently is leading a gang to start riots in Sunshine City. And before I confront her, I need as much information I can get. I mean, do -you- know anything?"
Brett rubs the back of his neck, still feeling sheepish about his outburst earlier. For all his intensity and focus on the ice and in a fight, he seems way too mild-mannered to a fault. Maybe that humble upbringing and all. "It's still kind of weird being called a fighter, you know. I barely even got in fights in games you know...just....yeah..."
He shuts up again, as he lets Daniel explain the whole thing to him, a small tug at his shirt cuff (in lieu of those gloves that were usually the subject of his nervous adjustment). "Sunshine City?" he asks, scratching his chin. "Don't know much about that...or Seijyun really. Honestly, Taiyo's the only school in town I ended up getting any serious time with, and that was because of Hinata. I mean...she might know something, but I haven't been able to talk to her for a while, you know, so...I dunno."
He looks off distantly for a second before turning back to Daniel. "Watch thieves?....really?"
"Well, I can just call you a hockey star."
The detective shrugs. "Hockey is a unique thing to bring to the ring! You shouldn't be bashful about it." When explained that no, he wasn't part of Taiyo, Daniel's spirits drop a bit. Still, he likes a familiar face. "Hinata might know something? I mean, do you think so? How well versed is she with the gangs." The detective pauses, waiting for a response... but then he gets the question on the watch thieves.
Daniel Jack glowers with the utmost seriousness.
"I found a man bleeding to death in the heart of Sunshine City. The trail lead me to Brazil, the Metro City. To the Andes, to butt heads with the Ikari. I have faced off countless foes, followed trails both hot and cold. You think it is funny that people have died over a stolen watch? So yes. Really. I am after watch thieves."
"And I mean damn Mean Business"
Brett shrugs, a slightly helpless look to the big kid's face. "Gangs, I couldn't tell you, honestly. But if it's related to the schools, she's probably got herself tapped in more than anyone else. I mean, I met her on a big interschool charity thing before, so...I mean, that's about all I can suggest to you.
He ends up frowning and slumping a bit more as Daniel gives him even more reason to feel bad about what should've been a stupid rhetorical question. "Wow, that's hea-" He then gives a rather incredulous look as he hears just how far Daniel's been tracking this supposed rash of watch thieves. "...honestly, all I know about detective work and conspiracies like that is from TV and movies. But...ain't that a bit too wide for something like watch theft? I mean...if it's that huge, wouldn't there be more? Watches are expensive, but..."
"It's not about the watches."
Daniel Jack crosses his arms, unleashing the gaze of a true Todoh student. "It was never about the watches. It was about the crimes, the gangs. Metro City Crisis is breaking out in Sunshine City. What do you think will happen when it spreads? When someone is kidnapped? A good detective follows his insticts; and every step of the way I have gotten closer. The way of the detective is like the Way of Todoh: Mysterious to outsiders, and quite effective to strangers!"
The detective nods firmly.
"How has your NDP fights been Brett? Any interesting matchups?"
Brett scratches the back of his head. "I...get that, I guess. Just....it DOES go past just watches, right?" he asks. It just seems...rather nebulous to the hockey kid. He knows a bad happening when he sees it, but just hearing about it like this makes it hard to connect. "I...I dunno. Isn't easier to look around local rather than...you know, nevermind, I guess I don't know anything about that kind of stuff."
And then the conversation switches to the NDP. He shifts a bit, leaning back against the gate. "It's...well...my last fight was against that one prodigy girl, Shun think her name is. I managed to get her to a draw at least. It was...kinda weird. She tried to distract me by...." He rubs his face a little. "Might be just reading into it bad, but I think she came onto me. Not like real, but to throw me off, eh?"
Daniel Jack, for someone who isn't getting the answers he wants, was taking it well. Keeping up his gregarious air, he was still a bit relentless with his approach. Then again, maybe that's why Daniel liked Brett. They both shared that same relentless style. But as he nods along, the boy says one phrase that makes the detective erupt in a double-fist fury.
"-Shun-"
The detective punches the air, and gives it a chop. "The little Kyokugen ripoff. Ansatsuken my ass. She curbstomped me! The smug little brat, I am damn glad you got a draw! At least you knocked her on her hindquarters!" The detective was seething. What DID she do to him. "I mean, have you looked at the rankings? I worked my ass off to the first place, and now I have to contend with the two nastiest mothers on this side. Mister Jones and Shun." The detective kicks the ground. "What about you, Brett. What are you in the Neo Development League for? I'm for the full monty: Promotion, Money, and rounding out my skills."
"Also, fixing up my dojo!"
Brett is kind of surprise to see just what kind of reaction the name 'Shun' brings out of Daniel, blue eyes going wide, and his hands instantly coming up as if instinctually readying to defuse any kind of prolonged outburst. "Whoa, whoa, calm down, huh?" he insists, before relaxing a bit. He ends up giving a small half grimace, the right side of his mouth pulled back.
"Me...I just feel like if anyone's going to take me seriously about what I want to do, I have to raise my profile, and...well, I guess this seems like the fastest way. So...promotion is part of it too. Really, I'd be just content playing hockey back home if I could, but it's getting harder and harder to get taken seriously doing that, unless I just straight up move to Canada."
Shun just drew out a bad side to the detective. Rotten teenagers. A dime a dozen; Daniel just wanted to find the guy who was providing the dimes. Calming down, the detective regains his composure. "Sorry, scuzzy. When someone gets on my bad side, I am like a hellion!" Daniel Jack nods firmly, his signature nod.
And Brett exposes his plan.
Daniel Jack puts a hand on Brett's shoulder. "Well, I can say with a fact, I can darn see you at the top at least. I mean, shoot. Look at the number of hockey fighters! You should have every damn hockey fan behind you. So what if you don't feel like you are breaking ground spreading the word of hockey. When you show your style on the screen, no one will forget hockey-style fighting." The detective pats the teenager's shoulder. "Sure you can't afford a quick burger, scuzzy?"
Brett rubs his head again. "Yeah, that's the problem, ain't it? Not many hockey fans in the world, compared, right?" he says, shrugging a little. "I just have to keep moving forward though. That's all I can really do, this is the way I'm going, right? So...." he shrugs again, looking down the road as Daniel pats at his shoulder. "Mind a raincheck on the burger? I think I really need to start heading back to the hotel. But...nice talking with you again, maybe we end up fighting again in the series?" he suggests, before making his move to skate on back to the hotel.
"Yeah, it really is."
Daniel Jack really wanted to chill with a burger with the hockey star. But the fact of the matter was that Brett wasn't up for a burger. Daniel Jack didn't get his lead for the gang leader. But what he did do is get to talk with a piece of the competition. "Eh, don't worry about it. I'll hit you up for a burger later. It is great to speak with you too. Hope to fight you again, buddy!" The detective turns around, heading towards Gedo Street. He might have greater luck with the gangs on the street there. Narrowing in on his Seijyun High gang, the detective had only one thought, inspired by his hockey-star that he just spoke with.
That football will be king.
Log created on 22:47:16 04/21/2012 by Brett, and last modified on 10:04:04 04/22/2012.