As the children woke up, Masako kicked Mai on accident causing the smaller girl to whimper and alerting Ayako to her charges. She was not sure how they became her job, but accepted it fairly willingly as they DID look fairly adorable. After setting a chair in front of the sink, she supervised each youngster in brushing their teeth and washing their faces. Gathering two towels, two pairs of panties and two outfits she layed them out on the counter. After giving Mai a sketch pad to draw in for a bit, she led Masako into the bathroom. There were a few awkward moments as far as getting her into the tub while keeping her privacy as much as was safely possible. She then left the door cracked so she could hear if the small girl needed anything or got into trouble. she had already placed the soap on the washrag and put the shampoo in her hair so the small thing did not have to stand in the tub and risk falling and splitting her head open. After ordering Masako to not move and to let her know when she was done, she joined Mai in her drawing.
They managed to fill three pages with flowers and various designs before the child in the bathroom called out. Ayako carefully lifted the girl from the tub and wrapped her in the towel. She allowed her to dry herself off as best as she could considering the towel was big enough to wrap around her little body atleast three times. There was no argument as she placed the clothes on the toilet seat for easier reach. She had to admit the jumper outfit really was adorable. She handed Masako her shoes as she dried the floor to get the bathroom ready for Mai to have her turn in the bath. Mentally, she prepared herself for a battle if those undergarments were too big.
As she lead the smaller girl into the bathroom, the child was blushing and insisting she did not NEED help. With a sigh, Ayako ignored the mini-tantrum, sure ther would be more to follow, and prepared the soap and shampoo the same as she had for Masako. This time, she felt the need to sit on the closed toilet lid to make sure Mai would not attempt to stand up and reach for things. With much squirming and arguing she finally convinced the petulant child to sit down and wash up. Half an hour later, she took a deep breath and prepared herself for quite a battle. Mai was used to being independent and apparently disliked relying on anyone else for basic needs. Growing up since junior high on her own, she had developed a taste for taking care of herself. Once the little child was finally clean, she wrapped her in the fuzzy towel and allowed her to atleast dry herself to preserve some dignity as Ayako gathered her strength for the next battle.
When the panties slipped down to the childs ankles, she knew she was going to end up with a headache. Cringing, she simply helped her slip on the shirt and let her sit on the towel while she gathered the dreaded disposable undergarment. Mai contentedly sat patiently as she waited, not knowing what was coming. As soon as the colorful pull up came into her view, she objected as loudly as she could. It took Ayako ten minutes to finally wrestle the damned thing onto the kicking and fussing child. Once that was accomplished, she leaned back and let the girl pout for a few minutes. After assuring her she could still used the bathroom and did not have to USE them she slipped the shortalls onto the cranky girl.
After brushing out each childs hair and making sure they looked presentable, she headed for the stairs with a childs hand in each of hers for breakfast.
John met Ayako at the top of the stairs to take a toddler so they did not fall down the stairs. The kids did not like it but did understand and Mai was a bit worn out from the tantrum that was bathtime and the subsequent dressing. She leaned into John pouting and sniffling. As far as Ayako could guess, they had their memories but only had the maturity level of the age they were currently at. She made a mental note to not let the little dears out of her sight lest they get into typical toddler trouble. Also she made a note that with these children, Mai especially, she would need plenty of aspirin. She hoped it would not have to come with it, but dicipline might also be neccesary if the girl was going to act like the brat she was being this morning. Either way, a nap was surely going to be a neccesity.
Someone had found a child sized tea party table with matching pastel colored wood chairs that would suit their needs as they did not have booster seats. Masako took the green chair and Mai the yellow one. A plate of waffles and bacon, cut into child sized pieces was placed in front of each of them. Ayako could not help but cringe as she saw the syrup on them. She would let one of the guys clean the children up this time. They did seem to enjoy the meal especially when Bou-san brought them glases of strawberry milk to go with it. She would have to discuss the effects of sugar on youngsters with him later.
Sitting at the adult table, they discussed what was to be done with the kids until they could figure out how to fix this. Eventually, it was decided that someone would have to stay with them in base at all times. Lin only agreed to this if he did not have to watch them and they would not be allowed anywhere NEAR his equipment. They came to the conclusion that everyone but Naru and Lin would take turns babysitting. Naru because he refused to deal with "brats" and Lin because they were fairly sure he might end up killing the little dears. He was not very child friendly or patient.
After breakfast, John was given the task of cleaning the girls up as Ayako and Bou-san cleared the table and did dishes. He used a damp washcloth on each childs hands and face. They were then taken to a special corner in base with couch pillows to sit on and paper to draw on. Yasu was being sent for toys that morning as well as kid sized hygeine implements. Each girl found some colored pencils and settled in for the day. They were given orders if they wanted to leave their area, to ask first. Ayako pulled Mai to the side and let her know if she needed help getting her clothes down, come get her and she would help her out. The assistant blushed and glared but agreed.
Checking the audio, they watched a mist form over each girls bed as the adults vanished to be replaced by small toddlers. As the mist dissapated, they heard a young giggling. The camera in the hallway picked up a shadow about the size of a six or seven year old child sneaking away from the room shortly after. Yasu was immediately called to get a record on each family and child that had been in that house since it was built. If possible, even any houses that were on that property.
Things stayed calm all the way up to lunch. The kids had been asked repeatedly what they could remember to try to solve the mystery. They had both drawn a picture of the same little girl who looked roughly the same size as the shadow in the hall. Naru had a hunch she could be the first child to have met misfortune in that house. He needed, however, some research to confirm this. They fixed ham and cheese sandwiches with potato chips for lunch and the girls, once again, ate at their little table.
Once the plates were cleared and the grease from the chips cleaned from little hands Ayako and Bou-san escorted the children to their pillow corner with some small blankets set up near it for naps. Just to be careful, they put a pull up on Masako as well just for the nap. They promised it would be taken off as soon as they were up and it was just a precaution. As the girls slept, they continued bouncing theories off of each other until Yasu could get there with the much needed research. Ayako opted to nap as well knowing that she would need the energy to deal with Mai. That girl had some attitude and spirit.