2025-08-28: Crash Into Hello?
- Log: Crash Into Hello?
- Cast: Maria Sakurai, Tyler Gould
- Where:
- OOC Date: August 28, 2025
- IC Date: July 02, 2012
- Summary: It's a lovely Sunday, and Maria has just hit a boy with her bicycle.
<Pose Tracker> Maria Sakurai has posed.
At last, it's July! And a Sunday, at that!
...There's nothing all that special about July, but Maria thinks it's fun to say -- or rather, think -- things like that. At last!
Besides, doesn't that mean that officially, the year is halfway done? She's about ready for it to be 'all the way' there.
But those are grimmer thoughts for a different time of day. Certainly not for the moments when she sails down the Mirai Biking Path's stretch to the north of Yumezaki's bustling glitter and glitz. With the scanty treebreak between here and there, you'd hardly even notice the city lights! You know, unless you looked over that way.
The one thing someone can say about Maria's biking skill is that she's definitely adept at it. The other thing someone can say about it is, it's also a good thing she's wearing a helmet, her long pink ponytail trailing out from under it. Or that she's sticking to the bike lane, because there's a fair chance she'd dent a pedestrian going all out like that.
...oh no, is she attempting a wheelie? this can't end well...
<Pose Tracker> Tyler Gould has posed.
It's July! It's Sunday!
Tyler's not the most outgoing type of person either, but just as some of the others are... encouraged... to spend extra time on their homework, he's likely *likewise* encouraged to spend some time outdoors because it's healthy or something.
It's clearly not something that he normally complies with As Intended, though, given the pale skin.
Pale skin is just one of the reasons that Tyler sticks out in a crowd. He's also very tall, at least in a country when the average male height is 5'7", which is a few inches below his own height. This might make him a little easier to see, which might be helpful because he's definitely not looking where he's going.
Rather than go hang out in the arcade or avoid the sunlight in some other indoor fashion, Tyler's out and about today. Dressed in black from head to toe -- with the exception of the violet-lensed glasses on his face. In his hands? A Y-shaped piece of wire that's held in both hands with the long end extending outwards. Yes, he's out *Dowsing*. For what? Who knows. But he's laser focused on the attempt, which means he does not see the trick-performing biker headed *right* for him...
<Pose Tracker> Maria Sakurai has posed.
Her father probably would have a heart attack if he knew she was doing things like this on her days off. Of course, her grandfather also wouldn't have liked it, but he'd thought riding bikes had been unladylike from jump.
Her grandmother had seemed to tacitly approve, whereas her mother... well, Maria hadn't asked, and her mother hadn't given her opinion. The reason for that response was pretty obvious, all told
Wait! Where did that giant person come from!?!
...come on, Maria, you can't think things like that, he's just taller than average, that doesn't make him a giant...
More to the point, though, isn't she totally going to crash into him if she doesn't do something?
Like, say, screaming. And dropping the bike back into two wheels, and hitting the brakes, and--
Maria comes to a stop, yes, but it's sort of a rolling skidding uncontrolled stop, and it's a stop right into Tyler, if he hasn't gotten enough forwarning (the screaming wasn't just for the sake of screaming) or can't quite get out of the way of the skidding and somewhat out of control bike in time.
It could be worse! She could have hit him at top speed, or wiped out and landed in him, or any other sort of ill twists of fate.
Of course, it could have been better, too.
"Are you okay??" Maria asks him, once she's disentangled herself from the bike.
<Pose Tracker> Tyler Gould has posed.
Unfortunately, Tyler doesn't have the bulk to go along with that height, making him easily trampled by one with the intention to do so...
...and by one not trying to do so? Well, the scream has his head snap in her direction suddenly. There's a certain... lack of self-preservation that comes with being fearless, though, and that rears its ugly head here. He doesn't dive out of the way, and by the time he's able to calmly move...
There's a definite crash, and he's sent sprawling.
Does it hurt? Sure, first getting crashed into hurts, and then crashing into the ground (thankfully, mostly grass!) hurts, and it's enough to daze him for several seconds.
It gives her time to get away from the bike, and his head to stop spinning. He doesn't answer right away, though. Instead, he takes a moment. He puts his fingers to his wrist. Then raises them in front of his eyes. Then, and only then does he focus on the source of the voice.
"Still have a pulse. Not seeing double. As getting run over goes, I give it a three out of ten." Beat. "Are you alright?"
<Pose Tracker> Maria Sakurai has posed.
"Oh, good! I was worried you were hurt," Maria chirps, offering him a hand up. She's got a strong grip, if she takes his hand. "Hey, are you American? Or, oh, what was it-- British! You don't look Japanese!" she tells him, as if she's made a huge discovery all of a sudden.
And as if it wasn't, well, completely obvious.
"How cool! I've always wanted to meet an American! Or a British!" She's not using that nationality descriptor quite right. "What's it like in America? Or, uh..." She pauses for a moment, as if thinking. "Briti... Britiana?" Even Maria knows that's not the right answer, pursing her lips as if in deep, profound doubt.
And, wait a minute, weren't they just in a bike crash? And how is she doing?
"Eh? Me?" She waves a hand, dismissively. "I'm fine, I'm fine! I've had worse," she says, unbuckling her helmet and tugging it off. She has a few visible scrapes, but even a kid half her age would be able to walk those off.
"So! Where's your bike? Or are you walking?" she asks him, holding her helmet in both hands before her.
Her bike, meanwhile, lies in a pile in the middle of the road.
<Pose Tracker> Tyler Gould has posed.
He'll definitely take the offered hand up, his own grip... not as strong. This one's not an athlete, for sure. There's some minor groaning as he gets up, but... he's been knocked down before. Like the Chumbawumba song, he gets back up again. He's also not by any means *fluent* in Japanese, so he doesn't quite catch the mis-used descriptor. Though he's definitely heard 'you don't look Japanese!' before. That one's pretty common.
"I... okay, yeah. I'm American." This time around, he decides to opt not to fight the idea that he's cool, because at least this time it doesn't exactly have anything to do with him *personally*... and, just maybe, being cool isn't really so bad in the end? He'll think about that, later. "What's it like?"
He considers that. Japan, so far, has had paranormal events out the wazoo. People have tried to kill him (before today even!). There are people with guns (evokers) all over the place. "Actually... kind of similar to here." he admits. "Colder, though."
"I do have a..." he pauses, thinking of exactly how to describe Hazuki. He's come to her aid on a couple occasiosn. They hang out. She's a bit of a lifeline who doesn't find him naturally weird. So he'll opt for. "...friend, who's from England, though." Beat. "Brittania." Kind of the same thing!
When she answers him about how *she's* doing, though, he pauses to stare at her. Scanning. If his irises weren't moving quickly behind the glasses (how did those not fall off!? Lucky this time, maybe), he'd look like he was staring right through her. Though, given that he has to look down, it is a bit of an intense stare! "You have?" he echoes, his voice mostly a sort of monotone but... with a hint of curiousity behind it. With all the things he's been through? Yeah, this rates low on the scale. Was it a swing-and-miss by the Joker Killer? Shadows trying to suck out her very soul?
This are the sorts of things that fascinate him.
"I was..." he pauses, glancing over towards the grass to try and find the dousing rod -- it doesn't immediately turn up in his vision. He'll look for it later. "...yeah, walking. A classmate of mine tells me I should get more exercise. Something about living longer." A horrifying fate to be sure!
<Pose Tracker> Maria Sakurai has posed.
Maria, by contrast, was! If her calves don't already give that away, that is, she used to run track.
Yup, that's probably a familiar sort of phrase for him by now. Unlike some, though, it doesn't seem like she means anything bad by it. She's just fascinated, which might be a whole brand new sort of bad! Sorry, Tyler. Sometimes a kid can't catch a break.
"American!" she echoes, sounding delighted. "So, are you from Los Angeles? Oh, or do you go to New York!" Her awareness of American cities is a little bit shallow and extremely dictated by media, it'd seem, from a casual observation. "New York seems very cool! I saw a movie about it!" Case in point...
The revelation that it's not all that different from Japan, though is met with some mild confusion. "Huh? Really?" Maria says, tilting her head to one side. "But everything looks so different! And everyone is always doing cool things and fighting bad guys!" That was definitely just a movie, Maria...
"Really? You know a British? How cool!" She nods emphatically, fisting her helmet at her chest. "Introduce me to your friend sometime? Maybe?" Maybe she can run away to America or Britannia, and get away from this life.
She has? "Uh huh! Sometimes you, just, pow! Wipe out when you're doing a trick, right?" she says, lifting one hand from the helmet she's holding to attempt to demonstrate with a hand gesture. Pow!! Luckily he's not in punching range, with the one-inch punch motion she's making.
"Walking!" She seems delighted to hear that. "I walk most places, too! So it's healthy... I didn't know! But, it's good to be outside. Do you spend a lot of time inside? One of my friends is like that." She's just like a freight train, she runs roughshod over everything through conversation alone...
It's on that note that Maria, finally, remembers her bike. "Oh!" she yelps, breaking away from Tyler long enough to scoop up her beloved bicycle and give it a little test roll along the path. It wobbles. "Oh no, the front wheel's bent..." she sighs, shoulders sagging. "Hey! Do you want to walk with me? There's a repair shop not too far from here. I bet they can straighten it out."
And it's here, at last, that Maria realizes she has an additional problem--
"Wait! I didn't introduce myself!"
Planting her helmet on the bike seat, she thrusts out her hand towards Tyler. Americans shake hands, right? "I'm Maria Sakurai! What's your name?"
<Pose Tracker> Tyler Gould has posed.
Tyler probably noticed during his stare! Because his brain definitely leans more analytical than it does emotionally aware, which probably also helped contribute to his standing outside of easy punching range for Maria.
Because if someone's gonna hit him, gosh darnit, they're gonna work for it!
Or maybe he'll just not be paying attention, case in point earlier.
As for the question of Los Angeles versus New York... he makes a bit of a face. Natural Bostonian reaction. "I'm from... North of New York. Boston. We have a better baseball team."
Even Tyler, who has not one sports bone in his body, takes sides in *that* historic rivalry.
'Everyone is always doing cool things and fighting bad guys!' she says. He meets her with that unblinking stare for a couple of long moments, and then responds. "Like I said, about the same." Demons there, demons here. Exorcisms there, Personas here. "You might be hanging out in the wrong parts of Japan to see the exciting parts, though."
Or, she's not Awakened, Tyler. The fact that the worst thing that's happened to her is wiping out while attempting a stunt? Backs that idea up.
"Well. At least you're all in one piece, right? Most people appreciate all their limbs remaining connected..."
The fact that it's 'most' people and not 'all' people might be worrying. Much like the fact that she, who seems to be in good shape, didn't know walking was healthy. *That* gets another few moments of wordlessness before he adds, "That's what the school nurse tells us, anyways." Beat. "Yeah. My impressive tan didn't clue you in?" he holds up a hand to show said paleness. A sarcastic joke, delivered without emotion. Or was it a true statement? Is that what an American tan looks like?
No, it was a joke. He's not good at delivering them.
Of course, then the conversation goes to her bike, and... "Oof." It definitely looks bent. But then she's suggesting they walk together. Tyler's more pessimistic brain goes towards, 'is she going to sue me for falling off her bike? Is this what a car accident is like for teenagers?' and, combined with the fact that she talks a mile a minute, and he should PROBABLY find that dowsing rod first...
"I probably shouldn't. I have an appointment to get to, soon." It's truth, he had planned to meet with one of the people from his class for a study session. What he was doing *now* was more for fun.
"But, here, let me give you my number." he offers, reaching into a pocket and pulling out a strip of paper - his name and phone number pre-written neatly upon it. This is placed into the hand that reaches out to shake hers -- and left in hers when he withdraws his hand. "Tyler Gould." Searching 'Gould' on the internet will bring up interesting things -- if spelled as it's spelt and not just as it sounds! "It's nice to meet you." That's what you're supposed to say in times like this, right? Maybe his head's just a little jarred from the collision still. "When you find out the verdict on your bike, let me know... and sure, maybe I can introduce you to her sometime." Beat. "Good luck not running into anyone else on the way to the shop."
<Pose Tracker> Maria Sakurai has posed.
"Boston?" She's drawing a blank, Tyler. She doesn't know what that is. Her concept of the United States of America is probably some melange of Los Angeles, New York, Washington, and Texas. Please don't ask why Texas.
"Baseball? That's a lot of fun! I used to play when I was little," she tells him, as if this is a fact he needs to know. Looking at her, maybe he can believe it. "It's important for America, but it's important here, too. I like the Giants! But, you've heard about the Tigers, right? They're," and she leans in to whisper to him, "cursed. The Colonel did it!" She nods as if to underline the truth of the matter, here.
But speaking of fighting bad guys--
"Really?" She, a student at Seven Sisters, which has never had anything bad happen to it at all, ever, scratches her cheek. "I never heard! Oh, though Cuss High has ghosts in the air raid shelter!" She pauses. "That's what everyone says." In other words, she hasn't verified that for herself (and why would she, getting caught there in uniform would be terrible...).
A strange look crosses her face when he says that 'at least she's all in one piece'. It's like someone hit a switch and turned the lights off momentarily. "Yeah," she says, finally. "Could be worse."
But someone must have restarted the generator, because here she goes. "Your tan?" She peers at him closely, squinting. "Tan...?" She tilts her head. "You're not tan at all! You're as white as a sheet! --Oh, but that's not a bad thing! My friend told me too much sun can be bad for your skin," she adds, perhaps detecting she might have overstepped, even for her. "That's why she says she stays inside. But it's really because she wants to read more," she asides, as if passing on a sordid secret. "Then again, I read those books too." What books? Is this a good thing to want to know?
It's bent. But a little quality time at the shop should fix it! Truth be told, this is far from the worst thing she's done to that bike (and it's a good thing her parents and grandmother don't know about it).
"Oh, really?" Maria seems a little deflated, but it's not a state of affairs that lasts too long. "I know how it is. Back to school tomorrow, right? I go to Seven Sisters, by the way! Next year, I'll be a senior!" And she still hasn't figured out what it is she wants to do... alas, adolescence is such a fleeting thing.
"Oh, let me get you my number, too, uh..." She takes the paper from him. "Oh, good thinking! I don't have anything like that," she says, and instead rattles off her number. "That's 'Sakurai' like 'cherry blossom' and 'well'. And my name's easy. It's just 'Ma-Ri-A', right?" Some kids might have fancy names, but hers is easy to write, and at the end of the day, she'll take that.
"'Gould', huh... Okay! Got it, Gould-kun! Maybe I'll look it up sometime! It's nice to meet you, too!"
Good luck not running into someone else on the way to the shop. "I'll do my best!" she says, seemingly undeterred. And with that, she begins walking her bike along, off towards the repair shop she's darkened the doorway of way too many times.
'Good at biking' and 'accident-free' biking are not mutually-inclusive terms.