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	Though she was paid to offer her counsel to students, rather than the school faculty, Shinobu often ended up providing her services to the latter, more often than not. She'd made a habit, then—without making a big deal out of it—to always be the first to arrive on Mondays, when she was needed most. It was a hidden gesture of kindness to her coworkers... but this time it would result in a crisis. If only she had arrived on time like everyone else, perhaps she may have passed poor Taro in the hall, seen him leaning on the lockers for want of someone to be a rock for him, recognized what was happening, and could have aided the overwhelmed youth—or perhaps she'd have been taken along with him.

	Unaware of the boy's impending doom, Shinobu waited for her coworkers in the faculty break room, a styrofoam cup of local coffee from a favorite cozy cafe held securely in her hand. Nothing perked her up quite like the familiar sight of Kohaku, though. She offered a familiar sight in return, a friendly and gentle smile from the brunette as she held up her free hand and wiggled her dainty fingers in greeting. She did notice the mess that had been made of her skirt, and had begun to walk towards her when the coffee machine decided to have a fit. [color=powderblue]"Oh dear. You alright?"[/color] Putting her coffee aside on the counter, she helped Kohaku clean up the mess before interrupting her clockwork routine, politely but firmly grabbing her shoulders and giving them a friendly rub. [color=powderblue]"Hold still a minute, Koko. Relax,"[/color] she insisted. [color=powderblue]"Here, use my sweater,"[/color] she said kindly, removing it and tying it around Kohaku's waist, covering the stains on her skirt.

	Satisfied, she returned to her coffee, only to have her moment of peace disturbed by a half-foot lightning bug fairy thing, telling her that someone was in trouble. [color=powderblue]"Um, girls? Do I look and sound okay to you? Am I in trouble?"[/color] she questioned, popping the top off of her coffee and looking inside, sniffing its contents cautiously, as if expecting that she'd been drugged. That had to be it, right? There was no other explanation for the sighting of this creature that made sense. In the spirit of science, however, she would look back up at the fantastical fairy girl, then hold her eyes closed for a few seconds, then open them again, then look down at her coffee, then back up at the girl. No matter what she did, she wasn't going away. Defeated, she poured the rest of her coffee down the drain of the nearby sink. Then, she had an epiphany. Pulling out her cell phone, she opened the camera app. If the fairy was a hallucination, according to what Shinobu knew, she shouldn't appear on the cell phone's screen!