Chapter 3, Finding

[Meirou]

When Tahiko awoke the next morning, she probably would've noticed that it was past the time when the kids needed to be at school. She might've also noticed that the kids weren't in the house. Furthermore Leiko WAS in the house as opposed to being at work. In fact, she was sitting quite calmly in the middle of the kitchen...which looked like a hurricane had ripped through it. Leiko didn't seem to notice however, and was serenly sitting on the floor with a cup of tea. Even odder, she was wearing her school uniform. The top seemed to be a little better filled out than when Leiko had worn it last, but not by very much. Whether or not Leiko was happy about fitting into something she wore when she was a teenager, was not clear.

[Morathor]

"...Hiragetsu-san? What... happened?"

[Meirou]

Leiko looked up from her tea and smiled, "I have a theroy about tea," she told the younger girl, "All Realms should have tea time," sip, "And everyone should just STOP whatever it is that they're doing, and I mean WHATEVER they're doing, and drink their tea. Lost your job? Tea. Being interrogated for murder? TEA. Fighting against massive amounts of evil? TEA DAMNIT," another sip, "Apparently this theroy is incorrect and tea does not solve all emotional torment."

[Morathor]

"...where are your children... did... Kaori-san take them to school?"

[Meirou]

"Nope. I did. I decided not to go to work today. But please do not let me forget that I'm meeting Kane-san around 2 or so."

[Morathor]

"...okay, Hiragetsu-san..."

[Meirou]

"There might be a tea pot somewhere in here," Leiko replied, "If you'd like to drink some tea with me I could try and find it."

[Morathor]

"...yes please..."

[Meirou]

She got to her feet and poked around the pile of rubble that used to be a counter. It appeared that someone froze it, then shattered it and allowed the ice to melt, as there was a puddle of dirty water surrounding the area. Finally she pulled out a heavily dented pot. "...... You know what? There's a nice place down the street from here that makes decent tea. It might be better to go there."

[Morathor]

"...uh-huh..."

[Meirou]

She stared at her hands for a minute, then seized a towel and wiped off the black funk that seemed to have collected there, then she snagged her purse, "C'mon," she said and walked out the door.

[Morathor]

Tahiko nodded and followed. ...this... is scary...

[Meirou]

Leiko paused outside to adjust her shoe, "Ask," she stated bluntly, casting a sidelong glance at Tahiko, "You know you want too."

[Morathor]

"What... what HAPPENED!? And how did I SLEEP THROUGH IT!?"

[Meirou]

Leiko smiled, "I have no idea how you slept though that to be honest with you. I was screaming rather loudly."