A Series of Giant Events
Maria had been at Mahoutokoro for two full years and even though she felt she was social and well behaved, had very little friends to show for it. The school was strange and the culture of the people here even more confounding. When she first moved to Japan, she got relentlessly harassed for not being Japanese. When she finally got a handle of the language to some degree and got used to the particulars, she thought, as she entered Mahoutokoro, that she finally might have found her rhythm with the culture. However, the mixture of magic and Japanese peculiarities just ended up leaving her more confused.Scene 1 - A Damsel in Distress
Note: This thread will be made up of several backdated scenes designed to establish some sort of relationship between Maria and Kiyoshi for summer camp and beyond.
Note 2: Maria here is pre-goth. So. Here is her FC and fashion for the scene:
Reducio
Perhaps if she had taken the time to examine things from the outside, she would have realized that her own posturing, expectations that Japan is basically China, and emphasis on perfection and well-bred manners, left her as alien to the people around her as they were to her. She always carried herself with an air of importance, and readiness to argue that left her distant and ethereal.
Her second year at Mahoutokoro had worn her down though. She was excited at the chance to go back to China the following summer so that she could be with family, but she had to survive this year first - what she wouldn’t give for a friend, or at the very least a change of pace something to shake her out of the status quo.
On this particular day she was traveling down the halls of the school. A bag with her favorite teas in one hand, and her spell books in the other. She was out of her kimono and instead wearing a blue dress with folded layers as if she were wearing scarves. She was on her way, as was often the case, to one of the many well curated and maintained gardens on campus to do a bit of studying, and of course, drink tea. Whether the dress clung to her too tightly, or she was lost in her own thoughts, she stumbled on either a floorboard or something else, and dropped her books. “Shit…” she cursed under her breath in Chinese.
@Kiyoshi Sato
Maria Leung de Almeida is the iNPC of Dennis Tumberton
A Series of Giant Events
He hadn’t meant to be in that hallway. He hadn't meant to be anywhere at all, in fact. It was just that the stillness and structure of Mahoutokoro had felt too heavy, like a blanket being pressed down on him, suffocating his breathing. He didn't have classes for an hour yet, but the simply could not stand to sit still, stuck in a world not built for hands like his.
He wasn’t angry. Not truly in his heart of hearts. But still, something about the day felt off, like a storm behind his ribs that hadn’t broken yet.
So he wandered.
His footsteps always echoed differently in the hallways, louder than the others and slower. He tried to tiptoe sometimes, to try and stand out less, and to at least try to fit in. But honestly. what was the point? Even his breath seemed louder than others.
It was on one of those mindless, pathless wanderings that he come across the girl. She was dressed oddly, not in usual school robes or even a kimono, but in some kind of dress-y something that blue and flowing that he would have trouble really describing. It suited her, he thought, though he couldn’t say why.
Then she tripped. And her books fell, the soft thunk of them hitting the floor ringing louder in his ears than it should have. And she swore. He didn’t understand the words, precisely, but that sound -- the spit of frustration, the crack of something brittle breaking from the inside -- it was familiar to him.
Kiyoshi froze.
There was a right thing to do here.
Normal boys would say something like, “Are you okay?” or maybe kneel down and help. But he could already see the weary look people gave him when he got too close, as if bracing for more trouble.
And anyway, what help could he really be? He was as likely to tear up those books accidentally as he was to retrieve them for her.
Still... He couldn’t just keep walking, could he?
His boots scraped against the floor as he moved slowly forward, careful not to loom. He reached down, carefully; his huge hands much too awkward around delicate bindings of books. Seconds ticked by as he gathered them, slow and silent.
Then he looked at her.
Clearing his throat, he crouched deeper and offered the book with both hands. Respectful, deferential, steady. Just as his mother had taught him.
“You dropped this.”
@Maria Leung de Almeida
iNPC of Camilla Carter
A Series of Giant Events
Maria leaned against the wall, one arm propping her up as she checked her ankle with the other. She stopped rubbing the sore spot when she heard the stomps of someone who was clearly flat footed. Well, that’s what she thought until she saw the half-giant. The Chinese student had heard rumors of there being a giant in the halls of Mahoutokoro, but, being from outside the magical world, she had been skeptical that such a people even existed. Skeptical, until now that is.
Of all the things she heard of giants, which was admittedly very little, she expected something more formidable. The boy that approached her was…mishaped? Tall but with larger than life hands and feet, whose steps echoed the hall. Perhaps he was meant to grow into them later? She realized she was staring and she regained her composure as he stooped down to pick up her book.
Hands resting easy in front of her and a pleasant smile painted across her face. She noted how very delicate his touch was, despite hands that looked like they could easily tear off the bindings of the books. Far more gentle than she had thought someone…like him…was capable of - granted, she had only heard rumors!
No matter, she took the offered books graciously. She’d help him to his feet but he would probably just pull her down with the effort. “I could have gotten them,” she said softly in broken Japanese, the kind of Japanese that made it obvious she was a foreigner. She wasn’t someone to say thank you.
When he got to his feet and straightened up, should he, she would take one more admiring glance at this gentle giant. He looked like he was on his way to class or she might pay him back by inviting him to tea. Maybe next time. “My name is Shiying…er…you can call me Maria,” she said softly.
Whether or not the giant would introduce himself, she would just nod and continue on her way. The smell of lilies and honey in her wake.
Maria Leung de Almeida is the iNPC of Dennis Tumberton
Of all the things she heard of giants, which was admittedly very little, she expected something more formidable. The boy that approached her was…mishaped? Tall but with larger than life hands and feet, whose steps echoed the hall. Perhaps he was meant to grow into them later? She realized she was staring and she regained her composure as he stooped down to pick up her book.
Hands resting easy in front of her and a pleasant smile painted across her face. She noted how very delicate his touch was, despite hands that looked like they could easily tear off the bindings of the books. Far more gentle than she had thought someone…like him…was capable of - granted, she had only heard rumors!
No matter, she took the offered books graciously. She’d help him to his feet but he would probably just pull her down with the effort. “I could have gotten them,” she said softly in broken Japanese, the kind of Japanese that made it obvious she was a foreigner. She wasn’t someone to say thank you.
When he got to his feet and straightened up, should he, she would take one more admiring glance at this gentle giant. He looked like he was on his way to class or she might pay him back by inviting him to tea. Maybe next time. “My name is Shiying…er…you can call me Maria,” she said softly.
Whether or not the giant would introduce himself, she would just nod and continue on her way. The smell of lilies and honey in her wake.
@Kiyoshi Sato
Maria Leung de Almeida is the iNPC of Dennis Tumberton
A Series of Giant Events
She didn’t say thank you.
Instead, she leaned against the wall calmly, as if nothing had happened. One arm resting loosely, the other brushing lightly against her ankle. And then her eyes caught his.
She was staring.
At him. At his feet first. Then up.
Too big, he thought bitterly. I should’ve kept walking.
The tight, tingling feeling behind his ribs hadn’t eased. If anything, it got worse the longer he was here. The air felt too thin. Or maybe too thick. He wanted to move, shift his weight, do something with his hands. But they just hung there like anchors.
It was always the hands that did it. Blunt-knuckled, scarred, oversized things that didn’t fit through desk openings or wand cases or even sleeves. For a moment, he considered curling them behind his back like a guilty schoolboy.
But before he could move, she spoke.
Her Japanese was halting. Like a borrowed pair of chopsticks she was still learning how to hold properly. The words didn’t match her posture; she looked composed, almost elegant, but the sounds came out in fragments.“I could have gotten them.”
The realization threw him off that she was a foreigner. Just like him.
Well. No. Not just like him. She didn’t look like she’d break the floor if she tripped. She didn’t tower. She didn’t weigh on a room. But still. She was not one of them. Not really.
He blinked once. Then he blinked again.
“…Sorry,” he muttered automatically. Not because he meant it, really. But because he didn't know what else to say. It was just the thing people said. It got them out of things.
She didn’t look annoyed. Just... distant. Not cold, just somewhere else behind her eyes. The kind of polite stillness he quite never knew what to do with.
She took the book from his hand without hesitation. No twitch, no nervousness. Just...calm.
That surprised him. Most people treated him like he was something sharp that they wouldn't want to bump into. Most people would have left the interaction right after. But she didn’t. Instead--
He didn’t know what to do with that. Two names. One given, one offered. People didn’t usually give him either. Not without expecting something in return.“My name is Shiying… er… you can call me Maria.”
“…Kiyoshi,” he said, quiet. Clipped.
She nodded once and walked away, smooth and calm, like the whole thing hadn’t even happened.
He didn’t move right away. He was still restless. Still wanting to walk the energy out of his bones. But something in the air had shifted.
He shook it off and started walking again.
Maria.
He’d remember the name.
iNPC of Camilla Carter
A Series of Giant Events
Crash!Scene 2 - Tea Parties and Revenge
Note: Her current fit for this scene:
Reducio[url=https://imgbox.com/ogLcPzTy][/url
A teacup shattered again the stone bench in what was normally a very peaceful zen garden, only there wasn’t much zen happening at that particular moment. “Reparo!” Came a growl as the teacup pieced itself back together again only to be smashed again. This went on for some time. The normally calm Maria, so full of grace and elegance was anything but at the moment. “Stupid…” she spat as the teacup shattered again.
Something, or someone, had successfully crawled under her skin and no matter how many times she broke things it wouldn’t come out. Had she finally had enough of drinking what Japanese passed off as tea? Was there a particularly rude and obviously evil classmate that she wanted to rip a new one? Whatever the reason, Maria stood in the garden practically daring the cup to disobey her.
“When I get my hands on them…” she seethed as she picked up the cup again ready to trash it. “Reparo!” She demanded, interrupting her threat. “They are going to rue the day…” she sneered. She picked up the cup for the last time, whipping around as fast as she could and throwing it hard, with all her might, down the path, aiming for one of the cherry blossom trees.
@Kiyoshi Sato
Maria Leung de Almeida is the iNPC of Dennis Tumberton
A Series of Giant Events
He’d only come out here to be alone.
The garden wasn’t his usual haunt. It was much too pristine for the likes of him, with too many rules about where to step and what not to do. But something about today had set him off. The walls of the school too close, and left him yearning for the high trees and open skies of Iida.
So he walked. Heavy steps. No direction. Just movement.
Until he was waylaid by the sound.
Crash.
He stopped.
Again. With a half-familiar voice beneath it.
Kiyoshi followed the noise, rounding a bend just in time to see a girl rear back and hurl a teacup down the path with the kind of force you didn’t usually see from people from the city. Her whole body behind it.
He blinked, equal parts impressed at the intensity of the throw, and surprised that the throw was aimed apparently at him.
He didn’t duck as the cup flew past his shoulder, close enough that he felt the air move, then exploded behind him in a shower of ceramic shards.
He didn’t flinch. Just stood there as the ceramic rain settled around his boots. His hands curled into fists before he even knew it. Reflex. Fight. His blood was singing in his ears.
She threw it at you.
Let her see what happens next.
Let her feel it.
Wouldn't that be something?
But, that wouldn't do now.
He unclenched his fists. Slowly. Almost reluctantly.
A pause. Then his voice. Even. Controlled.
“If that was meant for me, you’ll have to aim better.”
Another beat.
There was no accusation in his voice. Just truth. And a quiet dare beneath the words.
His gaze didn’t leave her. Watching. Measuring.
And then the moment passed, and he added to what he'd said before.
“…But if you’re just trying to break something, I get it.”
He tilted his head, voice lower now. Not warm, but not cold either.
“Better the cup than yourself.”
And he meant that. Even if he wasn’t always so good at following it himself.
He didn’t move to clean it up. Didn’t ask if she was okay. Just stood there, in the wake of the storm, letting her decide what came next.
@Maria Leung de Almeida
iNPC of Camilla Carter
A Series of Giant Events
All the anger and rage she was feeling drained from her as if someone pulled the plug. Her hands went to her mouth and her eyes widened as the cup sailed past a particular giant and rained down shards on him. “Kiyoshi-kun!” She gasped, absolutely embarrassed more so that someone, anyone saw her in such a state, not necessarily that she almost hit someone.
“Reparo!” She said bashfully in hurried tones. The cup, as always, formed at the tall boy’s feet. “Accio teacup!” She followed up in quick succession. The teacup flinging itself back and landing in her hand, as if someone hit the rewind button. “I…” she called out before she realized that she doesn’t apologize either. What was happening to her that she almost actually apologized. “I didn’t see you there…” is all she was able to muster.
She was quiet for a moment. She saw his body tense. She had done a little bit more digging to learn about giants and one thing was very clear - she did not want to provoke his anger. Not that she would mind a fight, but she probably wasn’t looking to fight someone like Kiyoshi.
“If I wanted to hit you, I wouldn’t miss,” she responded feigning indignation, however she felt deflated. She sighed. Don’t provoke the big scary giant, she reminded herself. “Ever be so mad you just want to smash things?” She asked jokingly, not even sure if she was forming the Japanese words remotely correctly, looking down at the teacup, suddenly feeling very foolish and very small. “It’s just one of those days, Kiyoshi-kun” she knew how to say that!
“What brings you out to the garden?” She asked, trying desperately to regain some kind of composure, perhaps change the subject. “Engorgio,” she said quietly, her wand pointed at the cup. It grew until she was guessing it would fit comfortably in Kiyoshi’s hands. She quietly took note of exactly how big that boy’s hands were. Oh my.
“I don’t supposed you’d like a some tea after I nearly assaulted you,” she asked, her voice shaking, more from the whiplash of her adolescent emotions than for any fear she might have of Kiyoshi. Even though he looked quite threatening, and the distance was great enough she’d get a good spell off first, she couldn’t help but remember the Kiyoshi that was so gentle with that book.
Maria Leung de Almeida is the iNPC of Dennis Tumberton
“Reparo!” She said bashfully in hurried tones. The cup, as always, formed at the tall boy’s feet. “Accio teacup!” She followed up in quick succession. The teacup flinging itself back and landing in her hand, as if someone hit the rewind button. “I…” she called out before she realized that she doesn’t apologize either. What was happening to her that she almost actually apologized. “I didn’t see you there…” is all she was able to muster.
She was quiet for a moment. She saw his body tense. She had done a little bit more digging to learn about giants and one thing was very clear - she did not want to provoke his anger. Not that she would mind a fight, but she probably wasn’t looking to fight someone like Kiyoshi.
“If I wanted to hit you, I wouldn’t miss,” she responded feigning indignation, however she felt deflated. She sighed. Don’t provoke the big scary giant, she reminded herself. “Ever be so mad you just want to smash things?” She asked jokingly, not even sure if she was forming the Japanese words remotely correctly, looking down at the teacup, suddenly feeling very foolish and very small. “It’s just one of those days, Kiyoshi-kun” she knew how to say that!
“What brings you out to the garden?” She asked, trying desperately to regain some kind of composure, perhaps change the subject. “Engorgio,” she said quietly, her wand pointed at the cup. It grew until she was guessing it would fit comfortably in Kiyoshi’s hands. She quietly took note of exactly how big that boy’s hands were. Oh my.
“I don’t supposed you’d like a some tea after I nearly assaulted you,” she asked, her voice shaking, more from the whiplash of her adolescent emotions than for any fear she might have of Kiyoshi. Even though he looked quite threatening, and the distance was great enough she’d get a good spell off first, she couldn’t help but remember the Kiyoshi that was so gentle with that book.
@Kiyoshi Sato
Maria Leung de Almeida is the iNPC of Dennis Tumberton
A Series of Giant Events
He didn’t move. Not right away.
The garden had gone quiet now, even the wind was holding its breath. He’d felt the storm drain out of her the moment she saw him. Pulled like a plug. Left her brittle at the edges. He could tell what stung wasn’t that she’d nearly hit him. It was that he’d seen her like this.
Not guilt, but exposure. He knew that feeling.
She patched the scene together fast with a slew of spells. Tidy. Automatic. Like if she moved quickly enough, she could rewind the crack shut.
He didn’t speak. Just watched.
Felt the silence tug at him. That old urge to fill it with something. Anything. Maybe another stupid apology. He had had too many of those, worn smooth from being too much in a world that always asked him to be less.
But he held it back.
So did she.
Her voice shook, then straightened. He caught the sleight of hand. He used it himself when he needed it. Explanations instead of apologies. Distance that looked like humility.“I didn’t see you there…”
It was armor. Not surrender.
Then the mask came back on.
A flicker of pride. A dare, dressed up like indifference. He almost smiled. Didn’t. Gave her the out she wanted, but didn’t press either.“If I wanted to hit you, I wouldn’t miss.”He looked at her. Not as a challenge. Merely to let her know he heard the real question under the joke.“Ever get so mad you want to smash things?”
He nodded. Once. Heavy.
“All the time.”
He didn’t say more. Didn’t offer comfort. Some truths didn’t need commentary.
She pivoted, trying for composure.
That was his cue to pretend none of this happened.“What brings you out to the garden?”
He didn’t take it.
Instead, he watched as she muttered “Engorgio” and the cup swelled in her hands—awkward, a little uneven, but sized for him. That gave him pause.
It didn’t feel like pity. Or charity. Just… practical. A small, strange kind of consideration.
Not many people reshaped the world to meet him. Mostly, they just waited for him to shrink.
She held the cup out. Not quite sheepish. Not quite bold. Testing the space between them again.“I don’t suppose you’d like some tea after I nearly assaulted you…”
He looked at it for a moment. Then at her, before he reached out, slow as always and took it from her hands.
He took the cup. Heavy. Solid. Fitting his hands like it belonged there.
“Tea’s better than blood,” he replied, eyes down. “Some days, anyway.”
That was as close to a joke as he got. The air eased, just slightly.
He didn’t try to fix the moment. Just sat with her. Let her put herself back together in the quiet.
But he’d remember. The way she looked at him, the way the cup fit. Her name. The storm under her skin, so much like his own.
He wondered, a dull ache inside, what it might have felt like to clash. To see what she was made of. He knew that hunger, recognized how close he’d come to letting the monster out.
Instead, he lifted the oversized cup, and let the silence do the talking.
If this was peace, it would have to do.
@Maria Leung de Almeida
iNPC of Camilla Carter
A Series of Giant Events
Quiet. For someone so imposing he wielded his size like it was dynamite. In fact, there was something in his calculus that made Maria, for a moment, grip her wand, ready to freeze him in place. However, he finally spoke easing her fear that this was going to turn into a match she wouldn’t be able to handle. The second year wasn’t quite sure what would make someone so imposing seem so small. If she were that big she’d just smash her way through life and dare anyone to get in her way.
Finally, though, the glint in his eye, a hunger perhaps for a challenge, seemed to ebb as he closed the distance and took the cup she offered. Something about tea being better than blood sometimes. It might have been his accent, or her poor Japanese, but she didn’t quite get his meaning. She sat down and started preparing the tea with expert care, reserving a full pot for his cup before filling hers.
She found herself wanting to ask what it was like to be a giant. What it was like to have to go to a school like this and if, perhaps, he felt the same way, so out of place in a place seemingly inhospitable at every turn. She dared not ask her silent companion though. She looked at her reflection in the cup. She cleared her throat as if finally getting the strength to pull herself together.
She was nearly begging for any kind of connection for two years. She wasn’t about to squander the chance just because it happened to be someone who could probably crush her with those big ol’ hands. There was still the elephant in the room, she had been behaving quite unladylike and this boy had caught her twice in what she would consider compromising positions for a lady so dedicated to good posture and social graces. Perhaps…an attempt at a joke.
“Next time I want to fight something, or someone, I will make sure to come find you. As long as you keep it a secret that sometimes…I just want to hurt something…can see what you are made of. Keep meeting like this and people will think I’m the giant.”
Maria Leung de Almeida is the iNPC of Dennis Tumberton
Finally, though, the glint in his eye, a hunger perhaps for a challenge, seemed to ebb as he closed the distance and took the cup she offered. Something about tea being better than blood sometimes. It might have been his accent, or her poor Japanese, but she didn’t quite get his meaning. She sat down and started preparing the tea with expert care, reserving a full pot for his cup before filling hers.
She found herself wanting to ask what it was like to be a giant. What it was like to have to go to a school like this and if, perhaps, he felt the same way, so out of place in a place seemingly inhospitable at every turn. She dared not ask her silent companion though. She looked at her reflection in the cup. She cleared her throat as if finally getting the strength to pull herself together.
She was nearly begging for any kind of connection for two years. She wasn’t about to squander the chance just because it happened to be someone who could probably crush her with those big ol’ hands. There was still the elephant in the room, she had been behaving quite unladylike and this boy had caught her twice in what she would consider compromising positions for a lady so dedicated to good posture and social graces. Perhaps…an attempt at a joke.
“Next time I want to fight something, or someone, I will make sure to come find you. As long as you keep it a secret that sometimes…I just want to hurt something…can see what you are made of. Keep meeting like this and people will think I’m the giant.”
@Kiyoshi Sato
Maria Leung de Almeida is the iNPC of Dennis Tumberton
A Series of Giant Events
She sat across from him like none of it had happened. Her hands moved with care, all ritual and polish. Like maybe if she poured the tea just right, the cracks wouldn’t show.
He watched. Quiet. Still.
She was better at this than he was. At putting herself back together. Maybe because she’d had more practice. Or maybe she was just more afraid of what people might see if she didn't.
Her words came out dressed as jokes.
That one didn’t hurt. Not exactly. There was honesty in it. Recognition. An unspoken truth between people who knew how pressure built beneath skin. He could live with that.“Next time I want to fight something, or someone, I will make sure to come find you.”
Then the other one.That one stuck different.“Keep meeting like this, people’ll think I’m the giant.”
Not because it was cruel. Because it was casual.
Like she could just try the title on, wear the word like a joke. Like being him was something you could do for a moment and laugh off.
He’d spent years being reminded he was too much. Too big. Too loud. Too strong. She said it like it was a costume.
He said nothing. Let it roll past. But the bruises it left were quiet and real.
She’d handed him something, too. Not an insult. Not even a challenge. An out. A place to throw the fire if it ever burned too high. Somewhere to put the storm without breaking anything that couldn’t take it.
He didn’t know if she understood what she’d just offered. He doubted it. But some part of him hoped she meant it anyway.
He met her eyes over the steam.
One word. Even. Final.
“Deal.”
And it wasn’t just about fighting. Or secrets.
It was the kind of word that sealed something. A recognition passed between monsters who hadn’t yet shown their teeth.
The tea was bitter. He didn’t mind. Bitterness he understood.
He didn’t thank her. Just sat with her in the quiet, and drank like the whole thing made sense.
Maybe it did. Maybe next time, when the storm got too loud, he wouldn’t have to hold it all alone.
Maybe he’d take her up on it.
He’d remember. The look in her eyes. The dented pride. The invitation.
And the sharp little sting of being told he wasn’t quite what she expected.
That last part.... That one, he’d tuck away. Add it to the quiet ledger of what people see, and what they never ask.
@Maria Leung de Almeida
iNPC of Camilla Carter