The trip back to Claudia's house was, for the most part, uneventful. The girls loaded Kumiko's belongings into the back of the minvan before heading out. As they drove they discovered some unintentional results from Kumiko's regression.
The 35 year old woman was a fashion designer and part time model. She was, in fact, a coworker and friend of Lisa. It turned out that it was Lisa who had told Kumiko of what happened to Mika. Being the loving aunt that she was Kumiko was more than happy to take Mika in, looking at Lisa as an example.
Somewhat shocked by this revelation the girls talked briefly about it before pulling into the driveway. As they did they noticed Claudia's parents exit the front door.
Tom and Marjorie were aware of Kumiko wanting to take Mika into her home. Although saddened, they were happy someone in hwr family wanted her. The two now stood waiting with Mika's belongings, waiting to help the young teen pack.
"Thanks Tom, thanks Marjorie," Mika called. "You really didn't have to pack up all my stuff I could of done it."
Marjorie smiled before hugging Mika. "It was our pleasure dear," she said. "You've been such a joy to have around it's the least we could do." Mika smiled as she turned to face Tom.
Tom stood before the girl with a sad look on his face. Mika smiled up at the giant of a man. "Thank you so much for everytbing sir," she said warmly. Tom stood their for a moment before placing Mika in a giant bear hug, lifting the girl off of the ground.
"Mika thank you," he whispered. "You helped me understand my own daughter better. I am really going to miss you but your welcome anytime."
Mikas eyes bulged as Tom squeezed her tightly. While she appreciated the show of love from Tom the fact he was squeezing her so tightly was making it hard to breath. "Thanks," she croaked as he finally put her down.
As the two families began to talk amongst themselves Katie and Kellie looked at eachother. "Kinda feeling like a fifth wheel," Katie said. "You wanna walk home should only take 30 minutes."
Kellie nodded. "Sounds good besides I was hoping we could talk."
The two girls said their goodbyes and began to walk home. Katie was excited as she cuddled up next to her girlfriend. She was finally getting some alone time with Kellie. As she leaned in her shoulder she gazed at her. Kellie appeared stone face and had yet to say anything. The two had been walking in silence for almost 15 minutes and Katies curiousity was begining to get the best of her.
"Whats up," she said.
Kellie blinked before looking at Katie. She had a sad look in her eyes as she gazed at Katie.
"Ive been doing alot of thinking," she said sadly. "Katie I love you but your really scaring me today."
"Look I'm sorry about Shiro okay," she sighed. "He was being a jerk. I mean he said all those awful things about you I lost my temper."
"What about Kumiko?"
Katie stared at Kellie with a befuddled look on her face. "We helped Mika," she exclaimed. "She has a family again. Maybe she can talk some sense into the rest of the family so Mika can have the rest of her family back."
Kellie shook her head sadly before speaking. "You still don't get it," she sighed. "Im not mad about Kumiko, I'm mad that you transformed an entire nursing home and you dont care about the consequences. You think you did something good. You didn't."
"I gave all those people a second chance at life," Katie said defensively. "They have a chance to have a better life now."
"You dont know what their lives were like to begin with," Kellie frowned. "You just assume you know best. You went too far today and your being to stubborn to admit your power mad now."
Katies cheeks flushed with anger. She thought Kellie was being a bit harsh. "So what do you want me to do," she grumbled. "Get rid of the ring."
"No," Kellie yelled. "But you need to be more careful and listen to your friends.....and me."
The girls now walked again in silence. While the had fights before, they were always relatively minor. Neither had actually yelled at the other before. As the girls walked onto their street Kellie sighed sadly.
"So we got the rest of the afternoon," Katie said. "You want to hangout."
Kellie wiped her eyes and looked at her girlfriend. "No," she said sadly. "I dont think that would be a good idea. In fact I kind of think I need a break, at least until you learn to not be so careless with the ring."
"Your breaking up with me," Katie stammered as her eyes began to water.
"No," Kellie said. "I'm not breaking uo with you and I don't want you to get rid of the ring. But you need to think about how you use your power. If you going to use it to scare people or do whatever you want then I don't know if I can be with you."
Katie gaped in stunned silence unable to say anything. As the girls walked up to Kellies home she sighed sadly and turned away from Katie. "I'll see you tomorrow Kat," she mumbled. "Love you." Quickly she turned and entered her house not sayimg another word to Katie.
Katie quietly entered her house. Lisa, Gloria and Jason were in the living room watching t.v. Not wanting to bother them Katie entered her room and closed the door. With the door closed Katie flung herself onto her bed, silently sobbing into her pillow