Later That Day (For TurnKTech)

Later that day after their brief encounter, in the night hours, Noriko does look up Kenneth's username! She'll be much more in her element this time around, as they're speaking through the interwebs. That's where she speaks to most, anyway-- except this was a little odd. There's a genuine possibility that she will meet this person again! Not that she didn't want to, anyhow.

Instead of overthinking before even starting the conversation, Noriko will slow down her thoughts and take a deep breath. "You've chatted with people over the internet a billion times, Noriko. It's simple, you've got this!" The teen explains to herself. This is probably to reassure the Takehaya that there's nothing to stress about. There wasn't-- was there? She's backtracking. "Okay, okay." She'll look up Kenneth's name and begin to chat. Her username had been 'Technomancer'.

"Hey! It's Noriko. What's up?" Noriko hits send, after. Several more deep breaths are taken. "Nothing to it.

Exhausting. It's the only word the youngest member of the Paak family can thick to utter once he returns home from his 'job' and makes it through the living gauntlet that is his parents to his room. As per Otaku customs, he throws his backpack, blazer, and shirt off (in that order), and leaps onto his computer, a stack of manga on one side of his monitor and several bags of fruit snacks on the other."I love you, Gelch's fruit snacks."

He had served his time in the 'real world', now it was time for him to kickback a bit. With his friend group's weekly campaign put on hold indefinitely due to the DM going missing, he had to find other ways to entertain himself -- something that he'd have no trouble doing. A few key strokes and the pressing of one over-sized button takes him right to where he wants to be.


"A new message, huh? Who is it fro--" he cuts himself off prematurely as his question is answered and a smile appears on his face. "Well whaddya know? She actually added me." He spends the next few seconds opening and reading the message and formulating a reply. "Noriko? I think you have the wrong person.

. . .

But not really. Hey. It's Kenneth."

Noriko switches to a differen program, a streaming service, while awaiting a response. There's never a -wrong- time to catch up on anime. The teen idly stuffs her mouth with chocolate while awaiting a response. Then eventually the response did, in fact, arrive.

"Huh," She'll mumble, switching back to the chatting program. Eyes carefully scan the initially sent message. "I could've sworn that I typed it in right." Noriko begins to search for the ever-so elusive slip of paper. It's probably lost in the mess that is her room-- and luckily, before long, Kenneth types once more! Her attention shifts back to the screen; she begins to giggle.
"Epic fake-out! What's up, dude?"

The chat box is kept in the bottom right corner of his screen as the conversation continues, the majority of the monitor's space taken by a certain game that he plays in his free time. He looks at the message sent by Noriko and prepares to type a response.. only for his phone to start buzzing beside him. After staring at the screen and seeing who it is, he decides against answering and prepares for the inevitable surge of aggressive text messages that were about to come his way.

"Gimme a break, will ya'? I've been out every night this week.." The teenager's focus shifts back to the keyboard and he starts clacking away at the keys. "Eh, you know. Just had to push my way through a sale at the Little Tokyo Strip to get home.Who knew that people like berries so much?!" A few emojis are sent right after that, if read correctly, depict a berry getting hit by a car and exploding because there is a bomb in the car?

The otaku begins to stuff her face with chocolate again, as she'll await a response. Said message is scanned once it appears on her end. Noriko is, of course, an expert at reading emojis. A soft chuckle escapes the teen. She'll begin to type again, soon enough.

Laughing emojis are sent, followed by: "I was watching that from my house! It looked pretty wild. I wonder if those berries were worth it." There's a pensive pause as Noriko begins to scan through the contents of her at-home desktop. "Oh, yeah. I do see you in one of these!" Noriko uploads an image of a disgruntled Kenneth forcing his way through the masses. The angling of the image suggests that it was taken aerially -- and from a wall. An especially keen individual may even hypothesize that it's from a security camera on the Little Tokyo Strip. "Wow, you do NOT look happy."

A wave of panic immediately washes over Paak as the pictures of him are sent over messenger. How did she get them? How many more did she have? How long had she been doing this..? He stares at his screen for a solid five minutes, trying to determine he threat level. Are there.. two Noriko's? The sweet, reserved techie girl and then the terrorist-bound cyber-hacker that can end my life..?" His hands begin to shake, but he responds nonetheless. She couldn't know that he had been intimidated.

"Ha....Ha....Yeah. I was upset, alright! Say.. how'd you get those pictures? You're not some kind of stalker, are you?" He adds on a few extra 'lols' and what not to defuse the situation, but this is bad. If she could see him then, chances are she could see him sneaking around for his 'other job' throughout the streets of Little Tokyo at night. The conversation has gone from being a casual one to one that could determine his fate!

Next issue: Noriko the Puppet Master?!

A frown manifests across the teen's face. Maybe she shouldn't have shared that piece of information. She'll scratch the back of her head while pensively considering her next move. Is she already gonna lose a friend? Of course, a friend that she's extensively researched -- wow, she should've known sending such an image would've stirred issues.

"Uhh.. I'm sorry I sent that. We should forget it." She'll type, cautiously. Lots of people have questionable photos that could leave to far more revealing secrets, don't they? Probably. Noriko doesn't know.

He doesn't respond right away. The massive muscle that pumps blood throughout his entire body is beating too fast for him to do so. But what was the point of worrying about something he could not control? If she had the means to access information like that.. Kenneth couldn't help but wonder what else she could do.

"Er, no. Don't get me wrong. It's cool, I just wasn't expecting it, is all. What other kinda stuff have you seen?!" The message is sent and he moves to grab his phone right after, scrolling through the texts that he had gotten. "..What else can they possibly want from me?"

Noriko facepalms. "I really am an idiot. Why would you say that, Noriko?" Even with all the smarts in the world, she couldn't navigate socially, at all. The teen hesitantly stares at her keyboard. She's got a pretty good idea of what he assumes she's seen -- and, well, that's exactly what she's seen.

"Lots a of stuff. some stuff not so great-- doesn't matter to me though." An understanding friend is the best friend, right? Or, well, she hopes.

Her response brings him a bit of relief, but the anxiety of it stays in the back of his mind. In following his movements and understanding just what he had been getting into, she is placing herself in danger. Not of him, however. That was a conversation for another time, though. To defuse the awkwardness of the situation, a gif of a man hitting a large anime deer with a suplex is sent.


"Are you from Little Tokyo, then?" Just like that, he aims to move on. Having online conversations were already offbeat enough without the idea of being watched by the other person on the mind!

The teen releases a sigh of relief. She's navigated through that well enough-- or, well, so she hopes. Laughing emojis are initially sent. The awkward tension had been noticed, even by Noriko. Though, that's probably due to the fact that she's the one who actually caused it.

"Yeah, I am! And you-- also live here.. I assume.. In a specific location that I have NOT ascertained." That sounds believable enough, doesn't it? She can't even tell a great lie over the internet, apparently. Or at least not in this specific instance, where it's not just text behind a screen, but a real -person-.

"Definitely! Little Tokyo has been my home for as long as I can remember. But if that's the case.. why don't we actually hang out sometime in a place that isn't the Drama Club's basement? Haha.
Ever been fishing before?" A couple of fishy emojis are thrown out and then he picks up his phone again... Only to let out a loud groan and toss the phone across the room and onto his bed.

If there was one thing he wishes that could change, it's the infinite loop of debt that he had been caught in. It seemed never-ending. If the job isn't completed, there are consequences. If it is, he becomes to valuable to let go. But him not being able to find a way out doesn't mean that there isn't one. A few moments pass before he types again.

"..Or better yet, maybe we could just hang and watch some anime. Teach me a thing or two about the eye in the sky.
Y'know?"

"Wow, you suck at this, Nori--" Mild surprise appears on the teen's features as he doesn't even question the contents of her previous post. Maybe she's hidden the lie effectively. Or maybe, the more probable possibility: he just didn't care enough to question it. Regardless, it's fine with Noriko. She'll stare at the initial message, hesitant. Hang out-- outside of her lair? In a public area, with tons of people? Discomfort's a word that might not be enough to describe the emotion she'd probably feel in such a scenario.

"The latter sounds way cooler. I've never been fishing, but isn't that place pretty crowded? I'm sure you haven't noticed, but I'm not great around people. Especially lots of them."

Well, at least she will not have to see how horrible he is at the activity. There were plenty of things for them to do, but this is the one that might be the most beneficial for the both of them. Meanwhile, the scent of homecooking travels through his house, up the stairs, under his door.. and into his nose without concern for what it might due to his stomach. A loud rumbling in his stomach shakes the room soon after.

"Sheesh. Are Gelch's fruit snacks not enough to survive anymore?" After a bit of suffering and a lot of trying to fill the void in his stomach with tiny packs of snacks, Kenneth sighs and tabs back into the messenger. "I get that! A few of my other friends are the same way. We'll keep it low-profile, then. What day works best for you?"

Noriko tabs back into an unfinished program while awaiting a response. Click-clack, click-clack. "The drama club's stage equipment will be -way- safer after this. I'm surprised they didn't start a fire yet." The teen chuckles lightly to herself. Gee, that may have been a little dark. At least she's just talking to herself.

Alas, soon enough, Kenneth does type a response! Noriko swaps tabs, back to the chatting service while adjusting her glasses. She'll then begin to type again. "Literally, like, any time.
I'm never doing anything."