As Toshiko proceeded down the stairs, her eyes(and ears) fell upon the small form of the boy, one of two children in her care. She raised an eyebrow, inclining her head to the side as she listened to his very external monologue. She couldn't help but find it rather amusing. Cruel woman? She supposed that was true, to some people. And she couldn't argue the cigarette point. It wasn't as if her smoking habit had particularly dropped off. Still, they were useful for more then satisfying cravings. Holding her cigarette to the side, angled away from Jun, she replied to him.

"Unfortunately, you're going to have to wait until everyone's here to learn about the case," she replied, to the boy's question. To be fair, his guesses weren't exactly outlandish. In fact, she'd experienced some stranger situations prior to founding Fu Sonzai no Gensō. So the enthusiastic suggestions from the child weren't actually out of the realm of possibility. However, the case Toshiko had received was both more mundane and more outlandish, just in different aspects. "I [i]will[/i] tell you that it's going to be a surprise for you, given that none of your guesses were the right one."

Her eyes drifted away from the child and upwards, towards the older boy. Or perhaps younger. His nature as a familiar made it difficult to gauge whether or not the age difference was only skin deep. What was certainly clear that, in spite seeking her employ, the familiar certainly didn't like her. It was impossible for her to ignore the look of disdain he harbored when she had been interviewing her. Oh well. Toshiko was certainly familiar with being disliked. To be fair, several of the people who had shown such dislike for her where... indisposed, but she would not do that to one of her employees. Or anyone, if they didn't give her a reason.

"Oda-kun," she began, addressing him, "It's good to see you. You'll be on your first case, today."

There was no reason, as of yet, for her to treat him with the same disdain. That said, there was also no reason for her not to be aggressively polite and friendly towards him as a response to his dislike.

And... there. The next arrival was another new recruit, the icy homunculus girl. Complaining about her smoking habit. Oh, well, it's not as if Toshiko cared. She did her best to keep the smoke away from others and that was that. "... It's nice to see you, too, Kurosawa-san."

She considered the request to open a window for a moment. Of course, Toshiko did smoke rather a lot. And certainly, she didn't want it to affect anyone here. She could deal with it herself, but hardly wanted to inconvenience her employees or the children in her care. After a few moments, she made her decision.

After all, she certainly wasn't going to be quitting... ever.

"I suppose as long as it's not raining..." Toshiko gestured to the window, her voice becoming a quiet mutter under her breath. With a creak, the window slide open, allowing smoke to escape into the air. "Anyway, I'll begin briefing you on our new case as soon as everyone's arrived."