clearasmudYouko had been in the Ichinomiya yard, hanging laundry, when the earthquake had struck.
This was no coincidence, of course. The signs were impossible to not notice... so long as you weren't human. They were fairly lousy at that, much to their disadvantage.
Unfortunately, she couldn't classify that as not being her problem; much of what filled her current life was human. Youko lived in a human house now, with a human, worked at human cafe, bought things from human stores - when their world fell into disarray, so did hers. The most egregious example of this could be found in the wreckage of her home.
The house was fortified with their magic, maintained on a regular basis, but it hadn't been enough this time. The earthquake, Youko observed glumly, had simply been too strong. And after all the extra reinforcement she'd poured into it this week, too...!
The chest they had prepared for this had done its job, at least. It was still secure, and still concealed from the eyes of scavengers. It would be there whenever the three of them returned to claim it, the family's most valuable possessions contained within. Which also meant she had no reason to stay here, not while the other two were out of town on work. Even if they attempted to return the moment they caught word of what had happened, it could still be awhile before they made it back into Tokyo. She would return to the site each day, but...
For now, she would wander, and see exactly how bad the destruction had been.