Later That Day (For TurnKTech)

Unfortunately for her, Kenneth plans to take her up on that claim! There were some pretty fishy things going on around his block, and she is the one person that might be able to help him. "How about here in.. an hour or so? I.." There's a brief pause after the first half of the message is sent, as if Paak is contemplating whether or not he should leave it there or not. But if she already knows as much as she seems to, he figures that there is no point in not being honest with her.

"..I'll be real. I do want to hang with you -- but I also need some help. I'm pretty sure this guy I know is trying to get me in a lot of trouble with some tough guys. Do you think you could help me uh.. see what's really going on? I understand if you dont feel comfortable about it." The enter key is pressed before he leans back in his chair, both hands moving to link and rest on the back of his head. But he's anything but relaxed.

Noriko's eyes go wide, given the immediate statement. Already?! In an hour?! She needs mental preparation to knowingly go out into the world and converse. Will that be enough time? "You should've given yourself some leeway! Now it's too late!" The teen speaks-- to herself.

The Takehaya overreacts and overthinks for some time while considering a response. Before she actually decicdes to respond, however, Kenneth types again. She'll gradually lean in to get a zoomed-in vision of the following statement. Noriko's got a pretty good idea what he could be speaking of, no that she's willing to admit it again. Maybe doing this would earn her some well-desired trust and assure friendship - that's what she's hoping for, anyway. "Play it cool, Noriko."

It is then that she'll begin to type. "Yeah, okay, sure. If you want." There's a pause, then she continues. "You'll need to give me your address, though." Then another pause-- and she types again. "Because I don't know it."

Without too much hesitation, Kenneth sends a thumbs up emoji followed by his address. This might have been the best possible time to elaborate a bit on just what he was asking get to done - but he doesn't. Instead, he moves to grab his phone and check on the situation that had had mentioned to her.

Sure enough, his phone is still being blown up about a 'job' that he needs to do. One involving one of the various mini-shops that is set up along the Little Tokyo strip. One close to his home! His tired eyes roll around in disbelief, then he makes his way back to the computer to bring an end to the conversation they were having online.

"See you soon, okay? I'll probably be out front, tinkering with my moped."

"Yeah, yeah, right on!" She'll return several thumbs up. The teen rises from her seat and searches for her backpack! It's, of course, filled with manga, snacks, and drinks. The essentials. From its place within itsher messy room, she'll acquire it and put on the backpack that had been decorated with many anime-and-manga-themed pins and stickers.

"You can totally do this, just don't make it weird," Noriko reminds herself. A free hand grabs at her smart phone and she'll send a message to her parents of her soon-to-be whereabouts. They'll frantically reply with all sorts of positive messages, as she was actually intending to leave the house to go to a place that wasn't the Seven Stars Academy's drama storage basement. "G-Geeze, is it really that surprising?"

After some travel, notably without usage of public transit, she'll arrive at Kenneth's house! Assuming he's outside as previously stated, she'll greet him with, "Hey, Kenneth!" The teen would wave. "I'm here! I'm glad YOU gave me YOUR address, because -I- didn't know it before then!" Noriko may even temporarily grab the attention of transversing locals, but they'll soon be off on their way again. "Have you ever used the trains-- or buses--
before? I'm pretty sure I could've gotten here quicker with them. Just, uh.. Felt like it'd be weird. And a little scary." One day she'll use public transit, probably.

By the time Noriko arrives, Kenneth had all but finished the work he wanted to perform on his scooter. Namely.. Slapping a new sticker on the side of it. It was roughly the side of half the moped's length, and it was shaped like a certain pink pocket monster. As the majority of the day comes to an end and the sun starts to set, he sits up and looks directly at the now-mobile tech-wizard.

"Yeah.. public transit is not my favorite thing in the world, y'know? It's why I have this bad boy. Let me show you something else, though." He offers a smile and a wave and starts to walk back into the tiny garage attached to his house -- only to stop and look back at her with a furrowed brow. "You look.. nice, by the way."

After the somewhat awkward compliment he makes his way into the garage and comes back out with something special. It was a sidecar that looked somewhat old and not all the way safe! Kenneth wheels it up to the moped and starts to hook it up to the left side of the moped.

"I was thinking about it, and.. Maybe we could go for a ride through Little Tokyo. The place that I wanted to.. watch, is only about twelve blocks away. Would that be alright?"

Noriko nods, mildly content with the fact that another person also believes that public transit -probably- isn't that great. A grin is also returned to the male as one is displayed to her, although the sudden stop causes a quizzical look to appear on her face. "W--" Her eyes then go wide, given the statement, and a faint rosy pigment appears her cheeks. "I-I do?! I.. Uh.. I'm.. Pretty sure I look exactly the same as I did earlier."

The mildly flustered teen then follows him off to his garage. There's a new thought on her mind and, well, it's pretty obvious what it is. It's not everyday that she's given compliments, especially in person by a -real- person! She'll involuntarily replay the moment in her head several times, until snapped back into reality by the student speaking yet again. There's a pensive pause, but she'll reply, of course..! "As long as you don't make me talk to anyone, yeah. I... Guess."

Kenneth finishes attaching the side-car and gives it a slap -- only for the rusty wagon to fall apart near instantly, wheels rolling down into the street in a comedic fashion. "..Oh. Better here than on the actual street, right...?" He tries to make light of the deathtrap blunder by letting out a nervous sigh and pushing what is left of the sidecar back into the garage.

Soon after, Paak returns with his backpack on his back and two bottles of water, fresh out of the fridge. Instead of tossing one to her he hands it over.. then makes his way to the moped to get it fired up. "Alright, so.. It's pretty simple, but it's also not. Over the last few months, I've been doing oddjobs around the strip at night to help out my parents with the bills. But then, I met a guy - a former student at our academy, that said he knew how to make us a big buck." He lets out a sigh and takes the moped off of its stand, the tiny engine kicking up. The seat is just long enough for two people to sit on. "..Oh. Yeah. You don't mind sharing a seat with me, do you..?"

Noriko observes Kenneth applying the finishing touches to the side-car. The rusty wagon suddenly falling off the moped causes her to flinch lightly and yelp. Destruction sure hadn't been as glamorous in real life as it has been in manga and anime. Gradually, she'll lower her arms and peer over to the moped.

"Oh-- well-- uh.. That's definitely better, here and now." She could only imagine sitting in said side-car and then suddenly tumbling into traffic. Yikes. Said scenario is ran through in her head, and the results are all too gruesome. Why'd the Takehaya have to be some imaginative? Her attention shifts back to Kenneth as the water bottle is offered over to her. "Uh.. Thanks." It's not as if she didn't have various refreshments within her bookbag, she just doesn't possess the communicative skill or courage to state that. A gift is a gift, isn't it?

A crimson pigment appears on the teen's expression at the mention of sitting so closely to one another. After deciding to leave her room to a place that hadn't been the storage basement-- she's already experiencing such new things. Walking sizable distances, the destruction of machinery, and now even sharing a seat (for one) with another human being. "Uhh.." An earnest lack of social experience leads her to be indecisive for a time. Is this even important--
is she overthinking this? "I-I.. I.. Uh.. I guess not."

Kenneth gives a solid nod and then hops on to start the engine up. A few solid 'put-put' sounds are made before the engine actually turns on fully. "It's probably best if you hold on to my hips or something, y'know? We're not going to go fast, but if we hit the wrong bump, it's over."Despite his height, Kenneth's build allows for enough room for the both of them to sit somewhat comfortably on the seat! Should Noriko hop on, the two would take off, heading at over a hundred miles per hour!

..Er wait. Not a hundred. More like somewhere between a dozen and twenty miles an hour. Fast enough to beat those who were jogging, but slow enough to make the car-bound upset and Noriko hopefully feel more safe than before.

Due to the evening rush being over, the streets and the heart of Little Tokyo seem to be a bit more open, allowing the teens to drift freely in and out of traffic on their path to where they wanted to be. All in all, it's a quick, and mostly safe, trip.

The duo arrive outside of a sketchy looking portion of the strip right as the sun sets fully. The elderly seem to be retiring for the evening while the other demographics came out for a good time. "Lesse.. what's the best way to do this..?" Kenneth puts the kickstand for the moped down and waits for his passenger to get acclimated to the area around them.

Noriko carefully throws a leg over the moped, sitting on the remainder of the seat. Her miniature size is sure to not take up lots of space to begin with. She doesn't pay much attention to the student's initial statement, as she is busy trying to get accustomed to her positioning. It's a whole new experience, after all!

The mild vibrations created by the idle mobile-machine are only amplified once the piece of machinery is actually in motion. No matter the exact speed, Noriko didn't have much of an idea of how quickly it'd go and how vibrate-y it'd get. "W--" She'd release a soft yelp, her arms immediately reach to coil around the male's waist. Her eyelids will shut.

Once properly secured, she'll hesitantly open her eyes. The Takehaya peers around, gradually becoming accustomed to the speed that they'd been moving at. Her gaze flickers from the people, to the lights, and even the freely flowing traffic around them. It's honestly not that bad-- watching city life, at least. Actually talking to these masses of people would probably have been much more difficult than just watching them. "This is actually kinda' nice," She whisper-states, while they maneuver into the heart of Little Tokyo. Even when they'd stop, she remains in position, scanning the vicinity. Kenneth's statement isn't paid much attention to.

Noriko of the Hermit Arcana and Kenneth of the Hanged Man have ranked up!