Burninating_Torchic
New Member
Charizardian: No. One of my pet peeves is writers who mix commonplace Japanese words like "Konnichiwa", "Arigatou", "San", and, worst of all, "Desu", into English writing. It shows a total lack of understanding and respect for Japanese culture and language, especially when the words are used incorrectly (as they most often are).
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Chicago, Illinois
Playing cards and poker chips were strewn across the black wooden table. Damian layed on the sofa, asleep with an alcoholic beverage in his hand and accompanied by his groupies. Several empty cans of similar beverages were scattered on the floor, as were some stray chips that had fallen from the table. Percy had fallen asleep as well, in one of several folding chairs that had been pulled up to the table. The two men had been playing poker all weekend, and had continued to play into the early hours of the morning. The other members of the band had played a few hands as well, but none of them had the endurance nor the will to win of the contest winner or the lead guitarist.
Wes opened the door to the room, quietly closing it behind him as he entered. He carried a black plastic garbage bag in his hand. He took in the scene, and the look on his face showed that he was not at all surprised by what he was seeing. He creeped up to the table and picked up the cans on the floor, trying not to disturb the sleeping people. He carefully removed the final can from Damian's hand, adding it to the collection that had accumulated in the large plastic bag. As he headed back towards the door, a short man in a beige suit walked in and met him halfway. The man had a face that made him appear nervous at all times, an image that was added to by his fidgety mannerisms. He glanced over the bass player's shoulder, noticing the two men at the poker table.
"Oh, hey, Shawn," Wes whispered, "They're still sleeping. What's up?"
"Still sleeping?" The fidgety man asked in a relatively high voice, "How can they still be sleeping? We have to get going!"
"Already?"
"Yes, already! Wake them up, we have to go!"
"Alright, fine, fine, don't freak out." As Shawn left the room, Wes walked over to Percy, shaking him lightly.
"Wh-what?" Percy woke up instantly and began to look around.
"We have to get on the road," Wes explained, "Get all your stuff together." He then walked behind the sofa, and without warning, pushed his fellow band member off of it.
"Ow! What the heck?!" Damian exclaimed, waking up even faster than Percy had.
"Time to go, lazy." Wes was considerably less friendly about the second awakening, and Percy could not tell whether or not he had done what he did as a joke. The two groupies that had been at the foot of the sofa woke up shortly after Damian, startled by the commotion. As Wes left the room, Damian stood up and rubbed the back of his head where he had hit the floor. Percy pulled a silver case out from underneath his chair and began to fill it with the poker chips and cards from the table.
"So, that was a long game last night," Damian said after fully orientating himself and recovering from his rude awakening, "Who won, anyways?"
"I was up by 500," Percy answered as he shut his metallic case, "It was pretty close. I didn't expect you to be so good."
"Same to you," The guitarist replied in a slightly stuck-up tone, "I guess you won because that's all you do for a living."
"Yeah, I guess." The contest winner was caught off guard by the statement, but knew better than to reply with equal rudeness.
"Are you guys coming or not?" Wes had returned to the door, "Shawn's freaking out. We have to go."
"Alright, alright," Damian waved his hand as if swatting a fly, "Tell him we'll be right there." Wes left the room, and the four people remaining in it looked around to ensure that they weren't forgetting anything. Confident that they had everything they needed, Damian and Percy slowly made their way to the door and exited the room, followed by the former's groupies.
Dallas, Texas
Flint walked through the concrete path that bisected his school's open courtyard, dressed in his typical weekday attire: a brown and red shirt with long sleeves, brown pants, and a light tan backpack. Beside him walked another boy of about the same height as he, dressed in similar but mostly blue and white attire. This boy had blonde hair and blue eyes, in contrast to Flint's brown and black. All around them, children of their age and younger were eating lunch at long white picnic tables or on the grassy ground. They were in tenth grade; the highest grade at Covington Junior High.
"So, did you see the news yesterday?" Flint asked his peer.
"What, about the NATU guy? I didn't see it, but everybody's been talking about it nonstop." The other boy replied.
"They have?" Flint asked in an interested tone, "What've they been saying?"
"Well, a lot of people are saying it must've been another member," The boy explained, "Personally, I agree with them. I wouldn't be surprised if that disorganized bunch of criminals started killing each other left and right for no reason whatsoever."
"Yeah, you're pretty anti-NATU, aren't you?"
"What can I say? My mom's a hardcore Christian. And between you and me, she's a full-blown whistle-blower for CAPE, too. Can't say I agree with her on some of CAPE's more radical ideas, but I definitely agree with her that Demi-Pokemon are dangerous."
"CAPE? What's that?" Flint hadn't heard the term before.
"Don't you ever pay attention in history class? It stands for Christians Against Pokemon and Evolution. They're a pretty extreme group of Christians that are completely against Pokemon. They advocate the illegalization of Pokemon training, but of course, that never works, so they tend to focus more on turning in Demi-Pokemon instead. Come to think of it, it could've been CAPE members that broke into that guy's house, but I doubt it. They don't usually kill Demi-Pokemon, they just turn 'em into the government."
"And that's the part of their philosophy that you agree with?"
"To an extent, yeah. I don't go so far as to use the slurs my mom does, but I'd certainly turn one in in a heartbeat if I ever had proof that they were one. That's why I've been trying to figure out if this rumor of a NATU Club here at Covington is real or not."
"A NATU Club?"
"Geez, man, you don't keep up with gossip, either?"
"Not really. I'm not a member of five different clubs like you are, Uriel."
"Well, there's a rumor going around that there's at least a dozen members of NATU at our school, and they've formed a secret club together. They're keeping it really well hidden, though, since nobody has any idea who they are. Sure, there are some guesses that people have, but there isn't really any proof against anybody."
"Or maybe it's just a rumor, and there really isn't a secret club."
"Maybe, but I don't know. The hottest gossip usually turns out to be true." They reached the end of the courtyard, and Flint opened the door that led into one of the school's main hallways.
"Well, I've got to get to class," Uriel said as he walked through the door, "I'll talk to you later."
"Later." The door close behind his friend, and Flint walked back down the path from which he had come. As he passed by a large oak tree, a small black-haired girl in a red shirt and blue jeans jumped out from it. It was the girl that had been at his apartment several nights ago, and the girl that he had met up with for lunch even more recently.
"Hey, Victoria." The boy said with a smile as the girl latched onto his arm.
"Heyy!" She exclaimed, "What's up?"
"Nothin' much, I was just talking to Uriel."
"Ooh, and what did he have to say?"
"I dunno... he said that there's a rumor going around that there's a NATU club here at school."
"Oh, really? A rumor?" Victoria detached herself from her companion, and her tone shifted from playful to serious, "What do you think we should do?"
"It's up to you," Flint shrugged and spoke as if he was trying to revert the mood to its previously unserious tone, "You're the one that likes to gossip."
"Hmm... I'll get right on it!" Victoria ran off of the path and began to weave around tables where various groups of students were sitting.
"I swear, she has so much energy, sometimes I think she's five, not fifteen." Flint said to himself with an affectionate smile.
Osaka, Japan
Hayato sat on the tatami matted floor, staring at the empty blackness of the television screen. The conversation that he had had with the marketing executive had been weighing heavily on his mind, and he had come to Gousuke's training stable to discuss the matter with his friend. The wall behind Hayato parted, and Gousuke walked in through the unusual doorway.
"Hey, Hayato!" Gousuke exclaimed, happy to see his friend.
"Hey, Gousuke."
"Hey, you had a jujitsu match yesterday, right? How'd you do?"
"I lost... but that's alright. That's not what I'm here to talk about."
"Oh yeah, one of the elder's assistants said you wanted to talk to me. What's up?"
"Well... at your tournament on Saturday..."
"I did good, right?" Gousuke interrupted his friend.
"Yeah, you did good," Hayato said with a soft smile, trying to conceal his anguish, "It's just... someone approached me there."
"Who?"
"A marketing executive for Tokyo Burger."
"Don't tell me, he wanted to sponsor me." Gousuke had become accustomed to such offers, and as such, was not surprised.
"Yeah."
"Well, you told him I wasn't interested, right?"
"Yeah."
"So then what's the problem?"
"Even though I told him that, he gave me his card, and... he wrote a number on the back of it. The amount of money you'd get."
"Hayato, we've talked about this. I don't care how much money they offer. There weren't sponsors in sumo until recently, and I don't approve of the fact that there are now."
"I know, but... it was so much money... maybe you could just..."
"Hayato," Gousuke's voice was stern and authoritative, "I said no. Don't push this. I don't want to get into a fight with you about something this stupid."
"... Yeah," Hayato was struck speechless by his friend's surprisingly insightful statement, "You're right. If he tries to bring it up at the tournament this weekend, I'll ignore him." A confident look grew on the skinnier man's face.
"Right," The larger man nodded his head to reinforce his friend's confidence, "Was that all you wanted to talk about?"
"Yeah, it was," Hayato replied, "You can get back to training now. I'll see you this weekend."
"See you then." Gousuke's voice was already returning to its usual innocent and naïve tone. Hayato couldn't help but smile at the fact that even the most serious of subjects couldn't cause his friend's childlike innocence to fade for very long.
"A gentle giant indeed." Hayato said to himself.
Dallas, Texas
Grayson's armchair had been moved, and was now set up next to his kitchen counter. He sat on it, Rachel sat on the counter itself, and Kayden stood next to them. Flint stood in the center of the living room, playing his virtual reality game as he did in much of his free time.
"So, you just got accepted to the academy, and they're already having you cover a high-profile case that's been all over the news?" Rachel asked in disbelief.
"Yeah," Kayden replied, "They're having all of the new recruits help try to solve the Gottenski case. They want as many people covering it as possible, because if it really is connected to NATU, it could be key in catching dozens of members. So, tomorrow, we're going to be searching the Arlington area and trying to find clues as to what happened."
"Wow." Grayson was awestruck.
"I don't really know anyone else from the academy," Kayden said, "Would you guys like to come with me to check it out?"
"Really?" Rachel asked, even more disbelieving than before.
"Yeah," Kayden replied, "I'm sure the captain wouldn't mind a few extra hands."
"I'd love to go! That sounds fun!" Rachel exclaimed.
"What about you, Grayson?"
"Sure, I'm not busy," He looked over his shoulder, "Hey, Flint, you want to come?"
"To what?" Flint hadn't been paying attention to the conversation, as he was too busy combating virtual monsters.
"We're going out to Arlington to investigate the murder from last weekend."
"Nah, that's okay," Flint replied, still focused on his game, "I'm doing something with some friends anyways."
"Alright, suit yourself."
"Well, I've got to get going," Rachel said, glancing at the clock, "Dad needs some help on the ranch tonight."
"I'll be leaving as well, then." Kayden chimed in.
"Alright, I'll see you guys tomorrow. Where are we going to meet?"
"The light train station at Reflection Tower," Kayden answered, "That's where the rest of the academy trainees are meeting. The train leaves at ten o' clock." Reflection Tower was one of the Re Towers, and was the second in terms of the order in which they had been built.
"Right," Grayson opened the door for his friends, "See you then."
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Jimmy, Rose, and Dart sat next to each other at one of several tall black tables in the room. At one end of the table was a sink, and at the other was a line of four electrical plugs. Other than the special tables, the room was a fairly ordinary classroom, although there was a door next to the teacher's desk marked with a sign that read "Supply Closet".
In front of the large white board at the head of the classroom was a relatively young, tan-skinned man. In one of his hands he held a stack of papers.
"Alright, I got your tests graded last night, so I'm going to pass those back now." He said as he walked towards the table nearest to him. As he made his way through the room, he placed papers at each of the tables, which students eagerly grabbed to see how they had done on the test. He eventually reached the table at which the trio of friends was sitting, and set three pieces of paper in front of them.
"Woohoo! Sixty-one percent!" Dart exclaimed.
"You know that's a D minus, right?" Rose looked at the boy as if he was crazy.
"But it's not an E!" He replied. Rose rolled her eyes and turned to her other friend.
"How'd you do, Jimmy?"
"Eighty-four."
"That's not too bad. You did better than Dart, at least."
"Yeah," Jimmy said with a small chuckle, "And let's see... I bet you got... a hundred and five."
"Hundred and six." Rose stuck out her tongue and held the piece of paper up.
"Geez, you're like a genius." Dart said, impressed.
"Alright, class, your homework for tonight is to read chapter six point two," The teacher announced after returning to his desk at the front of the room, "Take notes, there might be a reading quiz tomorrow." As he finished speaking, the bell rang, and students hurriedly jumped out of their seats and bolted for the door. Jimmy and Dart stood by their table, waiting for Rose to put her book back into her brown satchel bag. They then left the room and walked down the crowded hallway that led to the cafeteria.
"Yknow what I don't get?" Jimmy asked Rose.
"What?"
"How you can never do your homework and still do so well on the tests."
"I dunno. It just comes easy to me, that's all."
"Yeah, I guess so. I wish it came more easily to me..."
"I could tutor you, if you want. That might help."
"Hey, you never offered to tutor me!" Dart chimed in.
"You never asked," Rose replied with a smile, "And even if I did, I don't think it'd make a difference. You're just hopeless."
"Hey!" Jimmy and Rose both laughed at their friend's reaction.
The three of them entered the single-file line in the spacious cafeteria, quickly progressing down a buffet line of various foods. After covering their plastic red trays with food, they walked over to a cash register, where they took turns swiping small plastic cards into a machine. The old, apron-wearing woman at the register pressed a few buttons on the machine's keyboard and dismissed them. They continued on to the school's courtyard, where they sat at the peak of a small, grassy hill. As they sat down to eat, they heard a female voice calling their names.
"Hey! Jimmy! Luna! Dart!" They turned to see the raven-haired freshman girl walking towards them, waving one of her hands in the air while balancing a lunch tray with her other.
"Hey, Sabrina!" Jimmy replied, waving one of his own hands to signal that he had seen her.
"Mind if I join you?" Rather than waiting for an answer, she immediately sat down upon reaching the top of the hill.
"Oh, sure." Rose said. She was still annoyed that the freshman was addressing her by her birth name, but she had no desire to bring the matter to the other girl's attention.
"Hey, yknow, she doesn't like people calling her Luna," Jimmy said, much to Rose's surprise, "Most people call her Rose."
"N-No, it's alright." Rose looked down at her food, trying to conceal the fact that she was blushing slightly. Dart was the only one of the other three students that noticed this, but did not say anything, and merely let out a small chuckle instead.
"Oh, I'm so sorry!" Sabrina apologized, "Rose it is, then." She smiled warmly, then began to eat her food.
"Hey, I almost forgot," She said after a few minutes, "Your final match is tonight, right, Dart?"
"Yeah, it is!" Dart's face lit up; he was always eager to talk about his Pokemon battles.
"You guys are both going to watch him, right?"
"Of course!" Jimmy answered.
"Could I go with you guys? I was planning on going with some friends, but they're all busy tonight."
"Sure! The more people come watch, the better!" Dart exclaimed.
"Yeah, we're meeting at the Subterra lot after school." Jimmy said.
"Cool," Sabrina responded, "I'll see you guys there, then?"
"Sounds good." As Jimmy spoke, the warning bell rung, telling the students that they had five minutes to get to their next classes. The four students stood up and walked to a large plastic trash bin at the bottom of the hill, depositing their leftover food crumbs and placing their trays on top of it.
"I've got to go, my class is on the other side of the school," Sabrina said as she began to walk towards the far side of the courtyard, "See you guys tonight!"
Sicily, Italy
Cecil sat in a brown leather armchair, reading the job advertisements in a newspaper. The room was completely quiet, except for the faint buzz given off by the neon light that lit up the small cylindrical fish tank in the corner. In the fish tank was a white and orange fish Pokemon with a small horn on its head.
Suddenly, the quiet atmosphere was disturbed by a knocking on the door.
"Coming." Cecil set his newspaper down on the arm of the chair and walked over to the door. As he pulled it open, Niccolo came rushing in.
"Close the door!" He exclaimed. Cecil did nothing, as he was somewhat dumbstruck by his friend's abrupt entrance. Seeing that Cecil was not doing what he had asked, Niccolo ran back to the door and slammed it closed.
"Niccolo? What are you..."
"Somebody turned me in, kid. Somebody told the police about me an Cosa Nostra."
"What?!"
"If the police catch me... they've got mind readers. They'll gain access to all of my information about Cosa Nostra. The Don knows this... so he sent hitmen to silence me, so that information doesn't get out."
"Wh... what? Are... are you serious?"
"I'm serious, kid," Niccolo began to pace around the room frantically, "They're after me."
"So why did you come here?" Upon hearing the question, Niccolo stopped dead in his tracks.
"Because... I know it was you." Without warning, Niccolo pulled a small handgun out from his pocket and aimed it at Cecil.
"What?! N-Niccolo, what are you talking about?!"
"You're the only one I told about Cosa Nostra. You're the only one outside of the organization that knew."
"But... I didn't tell anyone! Niccolo, please!" Cecil was shaking from fright.
"Kid, I have to do this. They know it was you, too. They know that you know about them. If they find us here, they're going to kill you anyways. So please... let me do this. I know where to aim so that it'll be quick and painless. It won't hurt at all."
"Niccolo, listen to yourself!" Cecil pleaded, "This isn't like you!"
"I'm sorry, kid." Niccolo held up the gun and prepared to fire.
"Freeze!" The door flew open. Both of the men turned, and their eyes widened out of shock. The bald muscle man that had greeted Cecil when he had first set foot in the "Pizzeria" was standing at the door, his arm extended and ending in a fist. Behind him was a smaller, rat-faced man in a fedora.
"Quite literally, I might add." The rat-faced man stepped in front of the cigar smoker and extended his own arm. A flurry of snow shot from the palm of his hand, and before Niccolo had time to react, he was frozen in a solid block of ice.
"Y-You!" Cecil exclaimed, recognizing the muscle man.
"Looks like we were right," The muscle man said to his friend, "He did come here."
"Even though this is the same kid that he knew ratted him out," His companion added, "What a trusting fool."
"I didn't rat him out!"
"Well, whether you ratted him out or not, that should be the least of your concerns, now," The man in the fedora snickered, "Because you're about to die!"
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Note: Timeframe: Chicago=Monday morning, Dallas=Monday, Osaka=Tuesday or Wednesday, Dallas=Thursday, Milwaukee=Friday, Sicily=Friday night. Yeah, it's progressing a bit faster now.
Note: I hinted at it in chapter 1, but I didn't specifically say it; Hayato is a practitioner of Jujitsu. Some people were a little confused and some even thought he was a sumo wrestler. I should've made it more clear in chapter one, but I cleared it up now.
Note: You may have been thrown off a little by "training stable", sumo wrestlers actually live in "training stables" (so to speak) with other sumo wrestlers. And, guess what they do there? They train.
Note: The Don is the crime boss; the head of a crime family.
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Chapter Five: Organizations
Chicago, Illinois
Playing cards and poker chips were strewn across the black wooden table. Damian layed on the sofa, asleep with an alcoholic beverage in his hand and accompanied by his groupies. Several empty cans of similar beverages were scattered on the floor, as were some stray chips that had fallen from the table. Percy had fallen asleep as well, in one of several folding chairs that had been pulled up to the table. The two men had been playing poker all weekend, and had continued to play into the early hours of the morning. The other members of the band had played a few hands as well, but none of them had the endurance nor the will to win of the contest winner or the lead guitarist.
Wes opened the door to the room, quietly closing it behind him as he entered. He carried a black plastic garbage bag in his hand. He took in the scene, and the look on his face showed that he was not at all surprised by what he was seeing. He creeped up to the table and picked up the cans on the floor, trying not to disturb the sleeping people. He carefully removed the final can from Damian's hand, adding it to the collection that had accumulated in the large plastic bag. As he headed back towards the door, a short man in a beige suit walked in and met him halfway. The man had a face that made him appear nervous at all times, an image that was added to by his fidgety mannerisms. He glanced over the bass player's shoulder, noticing the two men at the poker table.
"Oh, hey, Shawn," Wes whispered, "They're still sleeping. What's up?"
"Still sleeping?" The fidgety man asked in a relatively high voice, "How can they still be sleeping? We have to get going!"
"Already?"
"Yes, already! Wake them up, we have to go!"
"Alright, fine, fine, don't freak out." As Shawn left the room, Wes walked over to Percy, shaking him lightly.
"Wh-what?" Percy woke up instantly and began to look around.
"We have to get on the road," Wes explained, "Get all your stuff together." He then walked behind the sofa, and without warning, pushed his fellow band member off of it.
"Ow! What the heck?!" Damian exclaimed, waking up even faster than Percy had.
"Time to go, lazy." Wes was considerably less friendly about the second awakening, and Percy could not tell whether or not he had done what he did as a joke. The two groupies that had been at the foot of the sofa woke up shortly after Damian, startled by the commotion. As Wes left the room, Damian stood up and rubbed the back of his head where he had hit the floor. Percy pulled a silver case out from underneath his chair and began to fill it with the poker chips and cards from the table.
"So, that was a long game last night," Damian said after fully orientating himself and recovering from his rude awakening, "Who won, anyways?"
"I was up by 500," Percy answered as he shut his metallic case, "It was pretty close. I didn't expect you to be so good."
"Same to you," The guitarist replied in a slightly stuck-up tone, "I guess you won because that's all you do for a living."
"Yeah, I guess." The contest winner was caught off guard by the statement, but knew better than to reply with equal rudeness.
"Are you guys coming or not?" Wes had returned to the door, "Shawn's freaking out. We have to go."
"Alright, alright," Damian waved his hand as if swatting a fly, "Tell him we'll be right there." Wes left the room, and the four people remaining in it looked around to ensure that they weren't forgetting anything. Confident that they had everything they needed, Damian and Percy slowly made their way to the door and exited the room, followed by the former's groupies.
Dallas, Texas
Flint walked through the concrete path that bisected his school's open courtyard, dressed in his typical weekday attire: a brown and red shirt with long sleeves, brown pants, and a light tan backpack. Beside him walked another boy of about the same height as he, dressed in similar but mostly blue and white attire. This boy had blonde hair and blue eyes, in contrast to Flint's brown and black. All around them, children of their age and younger were eating lunch at long white picnic tables or on the grassy ground. They were in tenth grade; the highest grade at Covington Junior High.
"So, did you see the news yesterday?" Flint asked his peer.
"What, about the NATU guy? I didn't see it, but everybody's been talking about it nonstop." The other boy replied.
"They have?" Flint asked in an interested tone, "What've they been saying?"
"Well, a lot of people are saying it must've been another member," The boy explained, "Personally, I agree with them. I wouldn't be surprised if that disorganized bunch of criminals started killing each other left and right for no reason whatsoever."
"Yeah, you're pretty anti-NATU, aren't you?"
"What can I say? My mom's a hardcore Christian. And between you and me, she's a full-blown whistle-blower for CAPE, too. Can't say I agree with her on some of CAPE's more radical ideas, but I definitely agree with her that Demi-Pokemon are dangerous."
"CAPE? What's that?" Flint hadn't heard the term before.
"Don't you ever pay attention in history class? It stands for Christians Against Pokemon and Evolution. They're a pretty extreme group of Christians that are completely against Pokemon. They advocate the illegalization of Pokemon training, but of course, that never works, so they tend to focus more on turning in Demi-Pokemon instead. Come to think of it, it could've been CAPE members that broke into that guy's house, but I doubt it. They don't usually kill Demi-Pokemon, they just turn 'em into the government."
"And that's the part of their philosophy that you agree with?"
"To an extent, yeah. I don't go so far as to use the slurs my mom does, but I'd certainly turn one in in a heartbeat if I ever had proof that they were one. That's why I've been trying to figure out if this rumor of a NATU Club here at Covington is real or not."
"A NATU Club?"
"Geez, man, you don't keep up with gossip, either?"
"Not really. I'm not a member of five different clubs like you are, Uriel."
"Well, there's a rumor going around that there's at least a dozen members of NATU at our school, and they've formed a secret club together. They're keeping it really well hidden, though, since nobody has any idea who they are. Sure, there are some guesses that people have, but there isn't really any proof against anybody."
"Or maybe it's just a rumor, and there really isn't a secret club."
"Maybe, but I don't know. The hottest gossip usually turns out to be true." They reached the end of the courtyard, and Flint opened the door that led into one of the school's main hallways.
"Well, I've got to get to class," Uriel said as he walked through the door, "I'll talk to you later."
"Later." The door close behind his friend, and Flint walked back down the path from which he had come. As he passed by a large oak tree, a small black-haired girl in a red shirt and blue jeans jumped out from it. It was the girl that had been at his apartment several nights ago, and the girl that he had met up with for lunch even more recently.
"Hey, Victoria." The boy said with a smile as the girl latched onto his arm.
"Heyy!" She exclaimed, "What's up?"
"Nothin' much, I was just talking to Uriel."
"Ooh, and what did he have to say?"
"I dunno... he said that there's a rumor going around that there's a NATU club here at school."
"Oh, really? A rumor?" Victoria detached herself from her companion, and her tone shifted from playful to serious, "What do you think we should do?"
"It's up to you," Flint shrugged and spoke as if he was trying to revert the mood to its previously unserious tone, "You're the one that likes to gossip."
"Hmm... I'll get right on it!" Victoria ran off of the path and began to weave around tables where various groups of students were sitting.
"I swear, she has so much energy, sometimes I think she's five, not fifteen." Flint said to himself with an affectionate smile.
Osaka, Japan
Hayato sat on the tatami matted floor, staring at the empty blackness of the television screen. The conversation that he had had with the marketing executive had been weighing heavily on his mind, and he had come to Gousuke's training stable to discuss the matter with his friend. The wall behind Hayato parted, and Gousuke walked in through the unusual doorway.
"Hey, Hayato!" Gousuke exclaimed, happy to see his friend.
"Hey, Gousuke."
"Hey, you had a jujitsu match yesterday, right? How'd you do?"
"I lost... but that's alright. That's not what I'm here to talk about."
"Oh yeah, one of the elder's assistants said you wanted to talk to me. What's up?"
"Well... at your tournament on Saturday..."
"I did good, right?" Gousuke interrupted his friend.
"Yeah, you did good," Hayato said with a soft smile, trying to conceal his anguish, "It's just... someone approached me there."
"Who?"
"A marketing executive for Tokyo Burger."
"Don't tell me, he wanted to sponsor me." Gousuke had become accustomed to such offers, and as such, was not surprised.
"Yeah."
"Well, you told him I wasn't interested, right?"
"Yeah."
"So then what's the problem?"
"Even though I told him that, he gave me his card, and... he wrote a number on the back of it. The amount of money you'd get."
"Hayato, we've talked about this. I don't care how much money they offer. There weren't sponsors in sumo until recently, and I don't approve of the fact that there are now."
"I know, but... it was so much money... maybe you could just..."
"Hayato," Gousuke's voice was stern and authoritative, "I said no. Don't push this. I don't want to get into a fight with you about something this stupid."
"... Yeah," Hayato was struck speechless by his friend's surprisingly insightful statement, "You're right. If he tries to bring it up at the tournament this weekend, I'll ignore him." A confident look grew on the skinnier man's face.
"Right," The larger man nodded his head to reinforce his friend's confidence, "Was that all you wanted to talk about?"
"Yeah, it was," Hayato replied, "You can get back to training now. I'll see you this weekend."
"See you then." Gousuke's voice was already returning to its usual innocent and naïve tone. Hayato couldn't help but smile at the fact that even the most serious of subjects couldn't cause his friend's childlike innocence to fade for very long.
"A gentle giant indeed." Hayato said to himself.
Dallas, Texas
Grayson's armchair had been moved, and was now set up next to his kitchen counter. He sat on it, Rachel sat on the counter itself, and Kayden stood next to them. Flint stood in the center of the living room, playing his virtual reality game as he did in much of his free time.
"So, you just got accepted to the academy, and they're already having you cover a high-profile case that's been all over the news?" Rachel asked in disbelief.
"Yeah," Kayden replied, "They're having all of the new recruits help try to solve the Gottenski case. They want as many people covering it as possible, because if it really is connected to NATU, it could be key in catching dozens of members. So, tomorrow, we're going to be searching the Arlington area and trying to find clues as to what happened."
"Wow." Grayson was awestruck.
"I don't really know anyone else from the academy," Kayden said, "Would you guys like to come with me to check it out?"
"Really?" Rachel asked, even more disbelieving than before.
"Yeah," Kayden replied, "I'm sure the captain wouldn't mind a few extra hands."
"I'd love to go! That sounds fun!" Rachel exclaimed.
"What about you, Grayson?"
"Sure, I'm not busy," He looked over his shoulder, "Hey, Flint, you want to come?"
"To what?" Flint hadn't been paying attention to the conversation, as he was too busy combating virtual monsters.
"We're going out to Arlington to investigate the murder from last weekend."
"Nah, that's okay," Flint replied, still focused on his game, "I'm doing something with some friends anyways."
"Alright, suit yourself."
"Well, I've got to get going," Rachel said, glancing at the clock, "Dad needs some help on the ranch tonight."
"I'll be leaving as well, then." Kayden chimed in.
"Alright, I'll see you guys tomorrow. Where are we going to meet?"
"The light train station at Reflection Tower," Kayden answered, "That's where the rest of the academy trainees are meeting. The train leaves at ten o' clock." Reflection Tower was one of the Re Towers, and was the second in terms of the order in which they had been built.
"Right," Grayson opened the door for his friends, "See you then."
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Jimmy, Rose, and Dart sat next to each other at one of several tall black tables in the room. At one end of the table was a sink, and at the other was a line of four electrical plugs. Other than the special tables, the room was a fairly ordinary classroom, although there was a door next to the teacher's desk marked with a sign that read "Supply Closet".
In front of the large white board at the head of the classroom was a relatively young, tan-skinned man. In one of his hands he held a stack of papers.
"Alright, I got your tests graded last night, so I'm going to pass those back now." He said as he walked towards the table nearest to him. As he made his way through the room, he placed papers at each of the tables, which students eagerly grabbed to see how they had done on the test. He eventually reached the table at which the trio of friends was sitting, and set three pieces of paper in front of them.
"Woohoo! Sixty-one percent!" Dart exclaimed.
"You know that's a D minus, right?" Rose looked at the boy as if he was crazy.
"But it's not an E!" He replied. Rose rolled her eyes and turned to her other friend.
"How'd you do, Jimmy?"
"Eighty-four."
"That's not too bad. You did better than Dart, at least."
"Yeah," Jimmy said with a small chuckle, "And let's see... I bet you got... a hundred and five."
"Hundred and six." Rose stuck out her tongue and held the piece of paper up.
"Geez, you're like a genius." Dart said, impressed.
"Alright, class, your homework for tonight is to read chapter six point two," The teacher announced after returning to his desk at the front of the room, "Take notes, there might be a reading quiz tomorrow." As he finished speaking, the bell rang, and students hurriedly jumped out of their seats and bolted for the door. Jimmy and Dart stood by their table, waiting for Rose to put her book back into her brown satchel bag. They then left the room and walked down the crowded hallway that led to the cafeteria.
"Yknow what I don't get?" Jimmy asked Rose.
"What?"
"How you can never do your homework and still do so well on the tests."
"I dunno. It just comes easy to me, that's all."
"Yeah, I guess so. I wish it came more easily to me..."
"I could tutor you, if you want. That might help."
"Hey, you never offered to tutor me!" Dart chimed in.
"You never asked," Rose replied with a smile, "And even if I did, I don't think it'd make a difference. You're just hopeless."
"Hey!" Jimmy and Rose both laughed at their friend's reaction.
The three of them entered the single-file line in the spacious cafeteria, quickly progressing down a buffet line of various foods. After covering their plastic red trays with food, they walked over to a cash register, where they took turns swiping small plastic cards into a machine. The old, apron-wearing woman at the register pressed a few buttons on the machine's keyboard and dismissed them. They continued on to the school's courtyard, where they sat at the peak of a small, grassy hill. As they sat down to eat, they heard a female voice calling their names.
"Hey! Jimmy! Luna! Dart!" They turned to see the raven-haired freshman girl walking towards them, waving one of her hands in the air while balancing a lunch tray with her other.
"Hey, Sabrina!" Jimmy replied, waving one of his own hands to signal that he had seen her.
"Mind if I join you?" Rather than waiting for an answer, she immediately sat down upon reaching the top of the hill.
"Oh, sure." Rose said. She was still annoyed that the freshman was addressing her by her birth name, but she had no desire to bring the matter to the other girl's attention.
"Hey, yknow, she doesn't like people calling her Luna," Jimmy said, much to Rose's surprise, "Most people call her Rose."
"N-No, it's alright." Rose looked down at her food, trying to conceal the fact that she was blushing slightly. Dart was the only one of the other three students that noticed this, but did not say anything, and merely let out a small chuckle instead.
"Oh, I'm so sorry!" Sabrina apologized, "Rose it is, then." She smiled warmly, then began to eat her food.
"Hey, I almost forgot," She said after a few minutes, "Your final match is tonight, right, Dart?"
"Yeah, it is!" Dart's face lit up; he was always eager to talk about his Pokemon battles.
"You guys are both going to watch him, right?"
"Of course!" Jimmy answered.
"Could I go with you guys? I was planning on going with some friends, but they're all busy tonight."
"Sure! The more people come watch, the better!" Dart exclaimed.
"Yeah, we're meeting at the Subterra lot after school." Jimmy said.
"Cool," Sabrina responded, "I'll see you guys there, then?"
"Sounds good." As Jimmy spoke, the warning bell rung, telling the students that they had five minutes to get to their next classes. The four students stood up and walked to a large plastic trash bin at the bottom of the hill, depositing their leftover food crumbs and placing their trays on top of it.
"I've got to go, my class is on the other side of the school," Sabrina said as she began to walk towards the far side of the courtyard, "See you guys tonight!"
Sicily, Italy
Cecil sat in a brown leather armchair, reading the job advertisements in a newspaper. The room was completely quiet, except for the faint buzz given off by the neon light that lit up the small cylindrical fish tank in the corner. In the fish tank was a white and orange fish Pokemon with a small horn on its head.
Suddenly, the quiet atmosphere was disturbed by a knocking on the door.
"Coming." Cecil set his newspaper down on the arm of the chair and walked over to the door. As he pulled it open, Niccolo came rushing in.
"Close the door!" He exclaimed. Cecil did nothing, as he was somewhat dumbstruck by his friend's abrupt entrance. Seeing that Cecil was not doing what he had asked, Niccolo ran back to the door and slammed it closed.
"Niccolo? What are you..."
"Somebody turned me in, kid. Somebody told the police about me an Cosa Nostra."
"What?!"
"If the police catch me... they've got mind readers. They'll gain access to all of my information about Cosa Nostra. The Don knows this... so he sent hitmen to silence me, so that information doesn't get out."
"Wh... what? Are... are you serious?"
"I'm serious, kid," Niccolo began to pace around the room frantically, "They're after me."
"So why did you come here?" Upon hearing the question, Niccolo stopped dead in his tracks.
"Because... I know it was you." Without warning, Niccolo pulled a small handgun out from his pocket and aimed it at Cecil.
"What?! N-Niccolo, what are you talking about?!"
"You're the only one I told about Cosa Nostra. You're the only one outside of the organization that knew."
"But... I didn't tell anyone! Niccolo, please!" Cecil was shaking from fright.
"Kid, I have to do this. They know it was you, too. They know that you know about them. If they find us here, they're going to kill you anyways. So please... let me do this. I know where to aim so that it'll be quick and painless. It won't hurt at all."
"Niccolo, listen to yourself!" Cecil pleaded, "This isn't like you!"
"I'm sorry, kid." Niccolo held up the gun and prepared to fire.
"Freeze!" The door flew open. Both of the men turned, and their eyes widened out of shock. The bald muscle man that had greeted Cecil when he had first set foot in the "Pizzeria" was standing at the door, his arm extended and ending in a fist. Behind him was a smaller, rat-faced man in a fedora.
"Quite literally, I might add." The rat-faced man stepped in front of the cigar smoker and extended his own arm. A flurry of snow shot from the palm of his hand, and before Niccolo had time to react, he was frozen in a solid block of ice.
"Y-You!" Cecil exclaimed, recognizing the muscle man.
"Looks like we were right," The muscle man said to his friend, "He did come here."
"Even though this is the same kid that he knew ratted him out," His companion added, "What a trusting fool."
"I didn't rat him out!"
"Well, whether you ratted him out or not, that should be the least of your concerns, now," The man in the fedora snickered, "Because you're about to die!"
------
Note: Timeframe: Chicago=Monday morning, Dallas=Monday, Osaka=Tuesday or Wednesday, Dallas=Thursday, Milwaukee=Friday, Sicily=Friday night. Yeah, it's progressing a bit faster now.
Note: I hinted at it in chapter 1, but I didn't specifically say it; Hayato is a practitioner of Jujitsu. Some people were a little confused and some even thought he was a sumo wrestler. I should've made it more clear in chapter one, but I cleared it up now.
Note: You may have been thrown off a little by "training stable", sumo wrestlers actually live in "training stables" (so to speak) with other sumo wrestlers. And, guess what they do there? They train.
Note: The Don is the crime boss; the head of a crime family.
