989/New In Town, and Other Things

New In Town, and Other Things
Date of Scene:	08 January 2024
Location:	Mitakihara Ward
Synopsis:	Newcomer Taro Yamada tries feeding the cats, only to end up accidentally going mano a womano over the hand who holds the treats with Usagi Tsukino and Amanda Faust. Despite Taro's lack of filter, he and Usagi manage to hit it off, while his unstoppable bluntness and Amanda's immovable bafflement manages to bamboozle them both. But he has, very tenatively, made his first friends in Tokyo.
Cast of Characters:	Taro Yamada, Usagi Tsukino, Amanda Faust

---

Taro Yamada has posed:
In a certain alleyway in a certain ward, evil lurks. Wicked, nasty and bad evil. The most rotton heart to exist in a hundred years (self described).

And what most certainly be the most powerful evil in Japan, by his own estimate, hooks a finger into a pork bun and fishes out a scrap of meat and flicks it to the ground.

A cat jumps out of a crack in the wall, grabs the pork, and runs back.

"I can't give you much or I'll get hungry," grumbles the boy in an oversized black jacket as he plucks out another pice of pork and flicks it to the cat. "And you're lucky none of these have garlic in them. Garlic is bad for both of us."

The cat squeaks at him, then runs back to the crack in the wall.

The boy bites off a hunk of dough as ravenous as a wolf, swallows, then finds and flicks more pork to the cat. "Dumb cat. Shouldn't you have a house where little rich children pet your fur and feed you sardines? I thought Tokyo was full of rich people."

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Tokyo is full of all sorts of people - rich ones, poor ones, and definitely the semi-spoiled by fortune upper middle class ones who keep fancy catfood snacks in their backpacks as a bribe for their talking cat.

Okay, maybe there were like, two girls in the entirety of Tokyo who fit that last description, but one of them was here. In this very moment! Lurking! Like a threat hidden in the night! The one and only Sailor -

The one and only Usagi Tsukino, anyway. She's got her backpack on and no school uniform in sight - it's school break! There's not a chance she's going to be caught dead in a school uniform until she's been dragged kicking and screaming back to homeroom.

Instead, she's walking down the street, backpack on her back, a too-saturated purple jacket and ugly-green skirt over a pair of brown leggings keeping her warm. She's been window shopping, figuring out if there's anything nice she wants to pick up on a rare day out alone, when she hears meowing and stops. Luna's got her trained to that sound, at this point - the sound of a hungry kitty. It's coming from an alley - what if it's abandoned? What if it's lost? What if it's hurt?! Clearly there's only one thing to do!

"Hey, kitty-kitty, hey kitty-kitty," she chirps, stepping into the alley, "Are you lost? Hungry? How's it - oh! Hi! Was that your cat crying?"

Somehow, she hadn't noticed the lanky boy in the alley. Some girls might have been unnerved, coming face to face with a stranger in an alley, but well... Usagi Tsukino had seen worse. And also, it was rude to be scared of people just because you saw them.

Taro Yamada has posed:
The boy clearly hasn't heard it's rude to be scared of people just because you saw them - when he hears Usagi, he springs to his feet and tenses, his body taut as a guitar string as he shoves the bun into his mouth, shoving the rest of the bag of pastries into his coat's pouch.

He stares at Usagi, chewing the bun until it's no longer sticking out of his mouth, and swallows the lump of it.

"It's not," he says cautiously, "my cat. I didn't see a collar on it."

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
The boy jumps back, obviously startled, and Usagi jumps back because she's startled him, and because she's Usagi, she nearly falls back on her rump, because she's not coordinated enough to jump back and not end up pinwheeling a bit to stay upright. There's a yelp, but she stays on her feet.

Smooth, Usagi. Very smooth.

"I meant to do that," she says very earnestly, watching the boy who watches her, "I definitely meant to do that. If it's not your cat, can I feed it too? I mean, I don't think it will run off."

The cat hasn't run off yet, after all.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Miaow? Miaow? Amy hears a kitty, and a familiar voice! She's still wearing an oversized coat over a green shirt with a chibi, simplified cartoon tiger on it and the syllable 'nyo' in romaji above it, along with her uniform skirt and schoolgirl socks. She approaches the alley just in time to see Usagi pinwheeling.

    "Woah, are you okay?" She's wondering if it's some kind of dusk monster cat as she runs the last few steps to see--

    Messy hair
    Not taking care of his appearance
    Baggy clothes
    Hmm...

    --Oh uh, hello there!" She smiles and waves. "Are you okay? Are you from around here? I mean um. Hi. I'm Amy. Uhhh... did we all follow the meowing cat?" She glances down at the creature. "Aww, who's a good kitty. Will you let me pet you?" She crouches slightly and holds out her hand for it to approach and sniff if it wants.

Taro Yamada has posed:
Two of them! Two strangers! Two strangers and his cat -

No, not his cat. A cat. Belonging to no one. Why would he assume the cat would stick around with something like him?

The cat leans forward, sniffing Amy's hand, then Usagi, before running back to the boy and shoving its shoulder against his legs.

The boy gingerly leans down, and the cat licks his fingers.

"I just moved here," he says, and holds very still so that the cat doesn't run away. "You can feed it. You should try to fall on your side next time, you won't smack your head."

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"I'm fine! Everything is fine! I definitely didn't fall, you saw nothing!" Nothing! Absolutely nothing! She waves her hands, and feels bad when the cat runs off after sniffing Amy's hand, but not too bad.

"Here, maybe you should feed him. He likes you!" She swings her bag around to her front side so she can dig into it, and pulls out some fancy salmon treats, the kind that come from a push tube. Ever since Koji had fed Luna them and told her the brand, she carries them around for bribes. "Catch!"

Just before she lightly tosses the tube his way.

"And I wasn't going to fall! I totally had that! Amy-chan, tell him I'm the most coordinated person ever!"

Alright, maybe that's a bridge too far.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy smiles as the cat comes to her, and after the sniff reaches to pet the cat but it ran. Aww. She does look slightly put out.

    She cocks her head to one side at Usagi's request. She doesn't want to lie... "If you're going to fall, crouch and lower your center of gravity in a controlled manner to reduce the impact."

    She moves next to Usagi and mutters just to her, "Although I guess we don't have very far to fall or much mass to fall with. Still, that reflex saved me when I missed a step at a staff party a couple years ago. My knee smarted for a week, I don't wanna think about how bad it woulda been otherwise."

Taro Yamada has posed:
"Or fall on your side with an arm around your head. Protects the spine and the head," the boy says, and catches the tube of treats with a snap of his wrist."

He kneels down, rolls a treat into his palm, and offers it. The cat squeaks roughly and shoves his face into the boy's hand.

The boy's face softens as the cat eats, and he glances up at the two girls again. "Do you live here? The cat likes your treats." His lips quirk up, and he teases, "Blondie, you couldn't land on your feet if you had bricks glued to your shoes."

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"Ugh, you guys ought to let me have at least a little pride! Come on!"

Usagi pouts, looking at them both. "I'll have you know, I fall all the time! I'm totally good at it, even! And it's Usagi. U-sa-gi Tsukino! Definitely not Blondie!"

She's huffing, looking at this boy as if he's totally disappointed her! But she's hiding a grin, too, amusement in her eyes.

She slings an arm around Amy's shoulders, drawing her closer to whisper, "Shorties have to stick together! Back me up!"

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy nods at the boy's suggestion. And then frowns at the sudden, uncalled-for insult. "Wow, rude." And then she's pulled in and told shorties stick together. The whispers back, "Wait, so am I saying you don't fall or you fall all the time?"

    Still, she tucks her hands in her pockets and leans against Usagi lightly. "She's plenty athletic." Sailor Moon gets up to a lot of running and jumping around and monster fighting!

    The small redhead cocks her head to the side. "Why the uncalled-for insult? I dunno what you think your beef with her is, but Usagi is a kind soul who helps people."

Taro Yamada has posed:
"U-sa-gi Tsu-ki-no," the boy repeats, mimicking her tones, and then feeds the cat another treat. The cat mushes up against him.

"I'm Taro. It's not an insult if it's true," he says.

There'd been no ire behind his words when he said them. In this world, it's dog eat dog, wound for wound, so why not give as good as he got? Besides, if the girl had slipped and fallen wrong, she could have bruised at best, broken a bone at worst. None of this flopping around. He could heal from anything, and he had - but some kid who didn't think twice about sharing her kitty treats? Probably disregarded the danger.

He sticks his arm out, offering the tube of treats as he touches the cat - fingers delicate, as if afraid the animal might snap in two with a singlne touch. "Here. I think he's warming up to us. You can probably feed him without him bolting now. If I'm not such a wretch that I'll get you both dirty."

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"That I don't fall! Or - shhh, don't worry about it, it's fine!!" She already admitted to falling! Foiled! Oh No!

"It's the curse of being a cute girl, Amy-chan! Boys can't help but get so flustered by how cute I am that they just have to tease me. But you should know, Taro the Mystery Cat Lover, that I have a boyfriend! And he's super handsome, too."

That's right! She's one of those girls with tons of confidence, only some of it earned, AND she talks about her boyfriend all the time! Fear her!

And then she giggles, as Amy defends her, and even more as Taro calls himself a wretch.

"Don't be silly. You're not a wretch, you're just a kid like us. And that cat clearly likes you best. It's good to know my fancy cat treats work on every cat."

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Does she really count as a shorty? Or even an honorary one? Amanda chose this body, or at least, it was likely shaped by her subconscious preferences when she got a do-over. She will never know the struggle of wishing you were taller.

    The curse of being a cute girl? Amy is cute? It's been awhile since anyone told her that, and her face reddens at the compliment. "A-and I have a girlfriend." She adds, to Taro. "And a metamor. I don't think I'm into guys." Wait. That implies unsureness. "I mean I'm not!" But what about those intrusive thoughts the other days? Is she sure?? "I mean... rgh..." She looks away awkwardly, blushing, having embarassed herself.

    She takes a breath and looks back at Taro. "If you just met her, you can't possibly have known her long enough to judge that in any case."

    And then her brain catches the other thing Usagi said. Wait, hold on. Amy blinks, and then looks at her sister-in-shortness in confusion. "Wait, the teasing-because-they-like-you thing is real? People actually do that? Why? If you like someone why would you try to hurt their feelings?"

    She glances between them, looking for a reaction that might hint that this is a strange joke she didn't get. "Oh, is this that 'negging' thing where someone online told them girls want to earn some random stranger's approval just because he was rude?"

Taro Yamada has posed:
"Why would I flirt with a girl?" Taro asks, his face as easy to read as the dictionary article for 'baffled'. "Especially one with a boyfriend." Pause. "Or a girlfriend. Or a." His face crinkles up in confusion. "Butterfly? Or is this another word for someone who likes 'art'?" He pronounces 'gei' meaningfully, badly sketching the kanji in the air with his finger.

Wait, are people allowed to do that now? He's behind the times. Didn't people get in trouble for that a lot before? He's been so busy running around, trying to get all his ducks in order that he's completely lost track of the news.

Not that like that was his business! He was a terrifying vampire after all! Most of the time! So it was silly for him to think about men like that. No need to get distracted.

"I'm not saying it to impress her, I'm saying it to impress on her that if she falls over, she'll crack her head open and then I'll have to make sure the cat doesn't try and nibble on her brains and nobody will be happy. What kind of moron would be mean to a girl to impress her? Even I know that's stupid."

It's... odd. Having someone react to him just saying things? He talks like this. He's always talked like this. He can rein it in he's trying to lay low, but he'd thought....?

"She is obviously a - cute? Girl? Who is? Not actively trying to break her...head??" he says, and looks between the two girls, trying to gauge if he's defusing the situation at all.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Usagi is giggling. Actually, that's a lie. She's cackling. Laughing full throated and honestly it's amazing she's not outright wheezing, between Amy's innocent but complete bafflement and Taro's equally and apparently innocent and complete bafflement.

In fact, she's laughing so hard that she's now leaning over, clutching the alley for support, wheezing for breath and absolutely failing to get herself under control.

"Oh this is- this is - he's - and you're - and I'm -"

Nothing coherent just yet, still laughing, hooting and hollering with laughter.

This is amazing. This is actually everything she needed.

Still, eventually she's laughing so much she's out of breath, and her arms are around her middle, and she's still giggling but she's trying to breathe, trying to fill her lungs.

"Y-yes, people do that, but I was just - teasing - oh that was too much - oh my stomach hurts - oh you both look so confused -"

She wipes at her eyes, trying to get herself under control.

"Thank you for worrying about my brains," she manages, still giggle-snorting a little, "It would probably not be very good if the kitty cat ate them, that's true. N-negging is real, but, I don't think he was doing that either, I was just teasing him cause he teased me, but oh boy, thank you both, I needed that - I hope that wasn't mean, it was just - your reactions were just - I never -"

She buries her face in her hands, still giggling.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy isn't entirely sure if that's some weird phrase she hasn't heard for insinuating someone is, as English-speakers would say, 'gei', so she just clears it up: "It's someone in the same polycule as you who you're not dating. My girlfriend's girlfriend. ...other girlfriend, I mean."

    When he says only a moron would be mean to a girl because he likes her, she throws out her hands, "THANK you! See? This guy sees it!"

    Usagi breaks down cackling and Amy pouts a bit. She doubts she's being laughed at, but is annoyed she doesn't get the joke. "...I still don't understand..."

    She thinks about the way he... directly stated things, and turns back to Taro. "So your insult was your genuine assessment, or at least concern. Fair enough. It came across as rude though, or whatever kind of teasing she's talking about. I believe the wording 'couldn't land on your feet with bricks tied to them' crosses the line from concern to mean, although I think most neurotypicals would take concern that they were so incompetent as to randomly fall and split their head open as an insult no matter how it was worded."

Taro Yamada has posed:
He... what's neurotypical? Polycule - wait, so it's dating multiple people. Ok, ok, that makes sense. Like a hyena or an elephant seal. Although he gets the feeling that saying that out loud will just make the redhead even more upset with him.

He pouts at Usagi, crossing the one arm he has not petting the cat. She's admitted he's right (which he is!) but the laughter is. Unsettling. People don't laugh at him, much less with him.

"Good. Keep your brains in your head and your feet on the ground. They are in there, aren't they?"

At least he knows where Blondie's at. Can he open his mouth without making the other girl upset? He's supposed to make people scream and cry when he turns into a hideous beast, not by just talking to people! Unless he's got a waiter job, then it just kind of happens.

"I don't know what a neurotypical is. You'd be surprised at how many people fall over in a stupid manner? People are stupid." wait. "But girls are. Not stupid." Is that any better?? "Having two girlfriends means you have three heads to think about things which is not stupid at all." Is this salvaging anything?? He's too old for this!

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"My feet are definitely in my shoes," Usagi says, deliberately misunderstanding him. She sticks out her tongue, making it clear she's not really mad, and looks up at the sky. It's getting darker out pretty early now that it's winter, and she's got a ways to get home if she doesn't use a Sailor Moon Cheat, so - "You keep those treats for the kitty, okay? I've got to get home soon. It's a good thing you know that girls aren't stupid - Sailor V says 'drink respect women juice', you know?"

Finger guns! She's pretty sure Minako-chan hasn't said that, but also sure that Minako-chan would agree with her, so all's well that ends well, right?

She too doesn't know what a neurotypical is, but she's not going to just ask. Not here, anyway. She'll ask Naru-chan, or Mamochan.

"Amy-chan, I'm heading back to campus, if you're going that way. But if you're going to stay and talk to Taro-kun, that's cool too! No pressure!"

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy's not angry at him now! He talked plainly so she's responding in kind. "In this case I mean someone who's not autistic." She shrugs. "Some girls definitely are. Some people are. Stupidity knows no gender, as much as boys and girls claim it of the other. Honestly, the ones claiming that are more likely to be the stupid ones..."

    Usagi has to go. Amy turns and smiles to her, "Good seeing you, Usagi-chan. See you tommorrow at school!" Or tonight when some monster shows up. You know, whatever. She gives a little wave.

    Walk with Usagi, or stay with strange guy.

    It's probably not a good idea in principle, but you're a magical girl and he just seems misunderstood.

    She waves Usagi on. "I'll text you when I get home."

    And then she turns back to Taro. "Is there anything more you want to talk about? Do you... go to school around here?" Why do you look so unkempt? Are you treated alright at home? Do you feel a strange aversion to mirrors? But, she should be careful asking that directly, and maybe not in front of Usagi right now, no need to give her more cause to worry about someone just yet.

Taro Yamada has posed:
He gets one word defined and another appears. Is autistic like sukeban? He has got to get his hands on a dictionary.

Blondie first though, since she's leaving. "Thank you for the treats," he says, and shoves them into his jacket before she can change her mind. "Walk home being smart. There's always weird stuff out at night. Like Kuchisake-onna."

....Or him. He probably won't tonight, not if he has a cat around, it'd be too risky for the cat, but there's always. Something.

He would know.

He shrugs to the redhead. "I'm going to try and get a job here. I'm not in school anymore," because he is definitely a legal adult and not an eternally immortal teenager with a fake id don't ask any questions. "Because I'm very smart." And strong! And cool! And scary! He knows basic algebra and 800 of the first 1000 kanji taught to grade schoolers, that's enough to get a job!

....ok he should leave before he blows his cover on the first day in town. "I should start looking at fliers for jobs again. It was. Nice? To meet you. If I see you again, I'll give you more cat treats."

He's just gonna. Do that finger gun whatever the kids must be doing now and slink back into the alley with the cat.

If only he could have been born a sea urchin or something.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Kuchisake-onna... man, there are youkai wandering around sometimes.

    Amy nods at the comment about getting a job. "Wait, um. Like seriously, are you okay? You, um. Are you being treated okay? Your, uh... I don't mean this as an insult, but you look like you don't care about your appearance." She glances over him. The last question itches in her mind. It's silly, stop seeing things everywhere. But she's going to wonder if she doesn't say it. She can just say nevermind and leave when he looks at her like she's crazy. Slightly more quietly, she asks: "...Do you have an aversion... a dislike of mirrors and photographs?"

Taro Yamada has posed:
"I'm fine. Once I find an apartment," or, more likely, some hole in the wall to squat in, "I'll start building up." Get energy for his dolls, get energy for himself... He'd been told this was the finest place in Japan to get the kind of dark energy he would need.

And at the question, he flinches.

What's the point in looking in a mirror when it's not your face, it's- that - thing -

"No, I just look like this normally," he lies -

And flees, before her well meaning questions can drag the truth out of him.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    What's the point in looking in a mirror when it's not your face, it's that thing

    Yeah boy is that a mood.

    Boy is that a mood, sister. Or brother. Sib. Fam. Whatever.

    He considers that normal? That is actually more concerning! "Uhhhhh..." But then he's gone. Amy runs to the end of the alley and looks around, but he's gone. She returns to try and pet the cat, but it's run too. She's not going to transform to pursue. That seems like overkill.

    Amy pulls out her phone and texts Usagi.

Heading home. Wait for me a minute.
We can walk back together.

    And then she glances back down the alley one more time, before walking quickly off in the direction Usagi went.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Usagi hasn't gotten far - she's halfway down just one block, having decided to go a little, slow. She shoots a quick text back, when her phone dings.

    Sure thing! I went left when you turn out the alley.
    I'll wait for you. <3