It was a moment of weakness, really. But whatever the case, Shio had snatched up the girl she saw on the street and taken her home. It was relatively easy to acquire the young girl by first drying her tears and offering her a place to stay until she felt better. The girl apparently saw nothing amiss about it and agreed to follow her. The pink-haired girl sat down at a table wordlessly. Shio's mind was overflowing with thoughts. She could not believe it: after all these years, she finally had her beloved Satou reunited with her in some capacity. Thinking back on it, Satou did promise her that she would always be by her side, even if it meant that she was reborn.

Shio felt her heart nearly leap out of her chest. Her stomach fluttered. She must not immediately confront the girl to ask her if she were in fact her deceased "lover," out of fear that would creep her out. Shio took a deep breath to settle her breathing and walked into the kitchen to procure a teapot. She then took out two cups and poured the hot liquid into both. Returning to the girl, Shio gave the girl one of the cups which she accepted. Shio sat down and partakes in drinking the tea.

"What is your name?" Shio asked.

The girl did not immediately speak at first. Previously she had been shaken by whatever happened earlier that day. Shio could tell by the look in her red eyes. While she wanted to know, Shio respected the girl's decision of not disclosing the information if it unsettled her greatly.

"My…my name is Mio," the girl replied. Her response came out in a hollowed tone that was pained.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Mio, my name is Shio," she said. Good, she thought. She was able to say something to the girl, a small, rather mundane question naturally, but it was good that she was now starting to break the ice with her.

The two drank some of a tea oftentimes passing glances at each other if expecting for the other person to say something next. "So, I take it that you came out of school earlier?"

Mio nodded. "Yes, lady."

"Why were you walking all alone?" Shio asked. "Do you have any friends?"

Mio shook her head without having to say anything. Shio tilted her cup. She could understand completely; aside from Sakura, she did not have anyone who she would qualify as a "friend." It was always her and Satou after all. She did not have the need to have anyone else or to make relationships with others. Satou was all that she needed. Not her family. Not her brother. Even Sakura she mostly kept around because she did give her some amusement.

"Does anyone bully you?" Shio asked again. It was rather invasive of her to ask her such questions, she would be likely to admit.

"They call me weird and an alien," Mio answered in a depressed tone.

"Oh, do they?" Shio replied in a rhetorical manner. "What about at home?"

"My Mom is dead."

"I…I'm sorry to hear that," Shio said.

A mother. Shio's mother was very much still alive, but she was incarcerated in prison due to her murder of her husband. Shio still felt a tinge of contempt for her mother. Even if she had very good reason to give her away, it still brought her waves of pain. How could she throw her out like disposable trash? Asahi always made it his business to visit their mother in prison, but she never considered doing so. It was too many memories. Too much for her to bear. But if anything, the only positive thing that Shio could accredit to her is that had she not abandoned her, she never would have met Satou. Even then, that was mostly just insignificant to genuinely consider.

"My Dad hates me." Mio answered.

"Hates you?" Shio inquired. "Who can possibly hate someone like you?"

"He…beats me. He drinks some weird juice and whenever that happens, he becomes someone different. A monster!"

Another abusive patriarch. That was also something that Shio knew very well. That was part of the reason as to why she blocked that part of her life out of her mind. It was something in the past that warranted no remembering or reliving. Shio's grip tightened on her cup.

"I see. I am so sorry to hear you living with someone that cruel."

The two got finished drinking their cups and Shio collected the two cups and placed them in the kitchen sink. She then grabbed a bottle of dish soap and squirted the liquid into the sink. She filled it with water and began to wash the cups as well as any other dishes inside of it. Mio got up from her chair and started wondering around the room looking at pictures on the wall.

"You should really be going now, Mio," Shio responded. Not that she wanted her to leave, but it would elicit Mio into striking up a conversation with her again. Though she sensed from Mio's aimless walking that she had no intentions of heading home.

"Can I stay here for the night?" Mio asked. "I cannot face my Dad like this. He'd beat me again!"

Shio decided to play along already thinking about the majority of the conversation in her mind and letting it marinate. "Mio, you know that I cannot allow for that; what will your father think if his precious girl did not return home?"

Tears started to run down Mio's eyes again. "Please, Shio, I want to stay here!"

Shio crossed her arms and closed her eyes to concentrate. Mio was like a fish shimmering its way through the murky waters to snag the bait on the end of a fishing hook. Shio herself was the skillful fisherman padding her along until she had her right where she wanted her. A little more probing, and she'd have her within her grasp.

"Well, I am thinking about it, but I'm sure that there are at least some good things about your father? He had you after all, so at least that is something worth thinking about."

Mio vehemently shook her head. "My Dad always turns into a monster when he drinks that odd juice. What if he hurts me? Badly?"

Shio could not help but shiver at that implication. She nodded her head concluding that it was enough probing her with questions. She smiled warmly in reassurance. But at the same time, she tried to deny that her smile was stretching across her face from ear to ear. She decided to act like she could care less about it.

"Well, I guess you can stay with me," Shio said, "but just for tonight."

Mio smiled and dashed towards Shio to hug her in gratitude. Shio admitted ever so slightly as it crossed her mind that she enjoyed the hug. Not in a way that was lustful, but more so because it had been a long time that she had been embraced by someone who was not her beloved Satou. Holding tight to Mio invoked the same sensations she felt all those years ago. Give it time, and Shio would further indulge in Mio's sugar for as long as she desired.

But it also crossed her that her older brother Asahi would be coming home soon from working his dead-end job. When he came home, he would surely lose composure from and snap at her for doing what Satou had done and snatching this child when no one was looking. While she may have not felt love for her brother, she did allow him to play a small part in her life, but she feared that he would come in the way of her happy sugar life. With Mio not noticing Shio's smile disappear and her eyes becoming paler, Shio contemplated her course of action.

She had to get rid of Asahi. It was the only way.