Lei was blinking as the French breakfast was put before him on the table a little while later.

"Is there anything else, sir?" the waiter of sorts inquired in a voice with the faintest trace of an accent.

"Uh, this would do just…fine." Lei nodded. "Thank you very much."

The waiter left without another word. Lei blinked again. "I guess I better get…started."

It was SWEET. VERY sweet. It consisted of croissants, fresh butter, fresh berry jam, assorted pastries, and a huge mug of hot chocolate. The tiny marshmallows were just beginning to dissolve when Lei peered down at it.

Lei was about to bite into his freshly buttered and jammed croissant when Asaya came ambling out of the room, rubbing her eyes sleepily.

"Oh. Good morning…" She yawned, covering her mouth with her hand. "Oops, excuse me. Umm…where are Takao and the others…?"

"Having breakfast down below. They had kindly rung this up for the both of us."

"Oh! French breakfast!" Asaya nodded. "I'll go wash myself up first."

She returned a good 5 minutes later, looking refreshed and happy as she sat on the seat opposite him. She was very happy. "Wow. This is the 1st time in my whole 8 year absence from France that I'd be eating an authentic French breakfast again…"

"You like…French breakfasts?" SD Lei asked, blinking.

"Yes! I have a fond taste for everything SWEET. It's for the sweet-toothed at heart, anyway. Oh…" Asaya looked over at Lei's set breakfast. "If you don't want it, then you should have opted for American or…anything else, if you prefer."

"It's alright. This is the 1st time I'll be eating very sweet things for breakfast, anyway." Lei nodded. "I'm quite curious of how French breakfasts are like."

Asaya delicately spread fresh, warm butter on her croissant, bit into it, then let out a blissful sigh. "You just can't get authentic croissants everywhere…you have to experience it to believe that something like THIS could be so incredibly fluffy and CREAMY…"

Lei was blinking at SD Asaya, whose eyes were closed happily as she ate, when there came a knock upon the door, and Max poked his head in. He blinked. "Oh. You're both up…"

"Good morning, Max! Want a croissant?" SD Asaya asked him happily, nibbling on the delicate bread delicately.

"Uh…thanks but no thanks, Asaya. I already had some croissant downstairs." Max blinked. "Hey Lei, we met up with Chairman Daitenji. He's invited us to the Center after breakfast. Are you feeling fine now for a little bit of walking?"

"Umm…yes…" Lei said.

"OK. That's GOOD!" We'll wait for you guys downstairs," Max told him. He then closed the door.

The 2 finished breakfast a little while later, and they both went into their own rooms to take a quick shower and change into fresh clothes. Lei had closed the door to his room and Asaya closed the door to her own room right in front of his own room (0_o;; get the idea?).

Lei blinked. He was wearing his cheongsam with navy blue piping at the sides, a pair of navy blue baggy trousers, bandages and navy blue cloth bound in yellow cords on his arms, and his yin/yang bandanna upon his forehead. He was also wearing a short gray long sleeved coat over his upper extremities (^^;;), and a pair of kung-fu sandals on his feet. He had his nondescript satchel slung across his chest.

Asaya, in stark contrast, was wearing a soft lilac-paneled denim jacket over a cream-colored blouse with lace puffs, and soft denim skirt that reached quite down to her the lower part of her knees, made up of funky quilt-like work. She was wearing her red and gold Skechers Sports on her small feet, and had her ice pink Jansport slung across her left shoulder, with its many keychains. She had her MP3 player earphones stuck in her ears, and she was wearing her hair in low pigtails before her ears (like Videl's hairdo). She blinked at him, her curious lightest amethyst eyes seemed to glow with a radiance of its own, like some lost starlight.

"Um…let's go?" Asaya ventured.

"Uh…yes…" Lei managed to reply. His voice seemed so far away.

They were all soon walking towards the Center a few minutes later. Takao had become extremely quiet, and this struck Tsukiyo as ODD.

"Hey…are you alright?" she asked curiously.

"…" Takao just nodded.

"I just can't believe IT! Wow…-Forbidden Holy Beasts-…I would LOVE to get to see ONE!" SD Max said happily, practically skipping on the entire walk to the Center.

"…" Kai just blinked. They sure looked like a bunch of Fine Arts fashionista students than a bunch of Bladers. Takao was wearing a close-fitting Adidas hooded jacket over a pair of dark blue denims and a pair of his Red, white and blue Skechers; Tsukiyo was wearing the same Adidas style jacket except it was yellow over a pair of green 6-pockets and a pair of Chuck Taylors; Max was wearing a puffy sleeveless ice blue jacket with faux fur over a long sleeved white shirt and zippered 6 pockets and a ribbed bonnet on his head and a pair of buckled low boots on his feet; Professor was wearing an orange and yellow close-fitting turtleneck over a pair of gray Nike slip-ons; while he was wearing a white baby tee with the Tide® logo up front, comfortable blue corduroy jacket and a pair of black denim pants over a pair of sleek silver and ice blue Skechers on his feet. A scarf was draped loosely about his neck.

They all wore scarves draped loosely about their necks one way or the other. Kai was imagining a bunch of papparazzi flashing the day away, taking every chance of photo op with them.

"Ah, welcome, welcome!" Chairman Daitenji greeted them as they went up the stairs of the Center. He smiles. "It really is good to see you all again. It's been 4 years! And Lei! My, Takao tells me you're quite the world traveler."

"It was nothing Chairman Daitenji," Lei said with a boyish grin on his face. "I'm really glad to see you too."

"Glad to hear it!" He smiled in a grandfatehrly way towards Asaya. "Pleasure to meet you too, Miss Ninomiya."

"Same here Chairman Daitenji," Asaya said with a small smile.

"Well, let's go up then, shall we?" Chairman Daitenji nodded. "The special guest awaits."