What a day. 

The entire city was abuzz with the news of the death of one of the Reformist leaders. Her patients, in particular, were incredibly concerned. She'd had to give sedatives to at least a half dozen people on her rounds, who were plagued with insomnia ever since the story broke. She'd also delivered three babies, one of whom she was uncertain would last the month — he had been born several weeks before he was meant to, with fluid in his lungs and struggling to breathe. She had used her waterbending to pull out as much fluid as possible, but baby had a long road ahead of him. The Dragon Flats district was not a kind place to those who had special medical needs; ideally, Kioko would have taken baby to hospital, but it was far and the family were wary of the doctors — they were, like Kioko, benders; unlike Kioko, however, they had not established a rapport with the Dragon Flats citizens and were mistrusted. She could convince some families to place their faith in her, to make sure their loved ones were cared for in hospital, but others could not be convinced.

Her stomach growled, protesting its lack of attention since the wee hours of the morning. Kioko took a quick assessment of her physical state — she hadn't noticed at first, but she had begun to feel faint and there was a slight tremor in her right hand. She sighed, changing her course from going home to looking for the nearest eatery. She hadn't been able to do the shopping yet, and quite frankly she had no energy to actually stand there and cook.

Luckily she wasn't far from the Market District; after a quick cab ride, she found herself in the heart of the city's hub for all things tasty. Her stomach gurgled in anticipating, and Kioko cast her eyes about for something appealing.

She hadn't been looking long when she spotted a sign: Watashi's. It was a modest, humble location with some tell-tale signs of Water Tribe aesthetic. She smiled and went in — a taste of home would be very welcome.

There was a very handsome man standing at the host station. He looked to her what she was told she looked like to others; someone who should be doing something like modelling, or fashion, not working some high-stress position.

Kioko walked to the host stand, the fatigue of the night and morning catching up to her with every step. By the time she reached him, she was exhausted.

"Table for one, please."

Ichiro had only been standing at the host stand for a few minutes when a young woman walked in. She looked exhausted. He wondered what she did - did she have a profession where she worked the night shift? Could that be why she was tired? Or had she simply not slept well the night before? Long morning at work? He just put on a smile. "Welcome to Watashi's. Right this way, ma'am," he said. He grabbed a menu, and lead to her a table in by the window. "Misato will be your server, and she'll be right with you." She was a couple tables away, and he met her eyes. She nodded and headed over as he went back to the host stand. Temporarily, of course, as soon as Kamiko got back he'd be free to walk around and talk to people before he had to do his manager duties for the day.

Ichiro thought maybe he go and talk to that young woman, if she was up for it, find out what she did for a living. That was part of the thing that he enjoyed about working in this line of work - he met so many different people, from different walks of life. It was always interesting finding out where they were from, what they did for a living... it made his job very interesting. In the meantime, he saw Misato go over to the table from his spot at the host stand.

Misato smiled at the woman. "Hi, I'm Misato, how are you doing today?" she asked. "Can I get you something to drink? If you have any questions over the menu, please don't hesitate to ask."

"Hi Misato," said Kioko wearily. "I'll have a pot of whatever tea you're serving today."

She was so tired, but she forced herself to look over the rest of her menu while she waited for Misato to return with the tea. When she returned — with an added treat of steamed soybeans lightly salted — Kioko ordered the lunch special and a piece of wagashi for dessert.

It was all she could do not to doze off at the table, so she busied herself with peeling soybeans, concentrating on the feel of each bean in her mouth. She wished she had someone to talk to; conversation was far better at keeping her awake than anything else.

Since no one else had decided to walk in, Ichiro started to walk around, making sure that everyone was fine. A few smiles here, a kind word there, and everyone seemed happy. That was what he wanted. He tried to encourage people to tell their friends and family, come back, and they all said they would... yet business still wouldn't increase. He hoped his grandfather gave the new restaurant at least a year before deciding anything. If he did decide it wasn't worth the risk - and his father couldn't change his mind - what would they do? What would he do? Go back to being a Crew Leader, while Ami and Ren'ai went to being regular employees again? They deserved better than that, but at the end of the day, it wasn't really up to him. He could only do what he could to keep the place going.

Ichiro made his way over to the newest customer, the woman that looked as if she was going to fall asleep. "How is everything going so far?" he asked her, smiling down at her. She really did look tired. He hoped she was okay. He couldn't even tell if she was enjoying her food and tea her not, because she looked about to fall asleep right then and there. He made a mental note to ask her if she was okay before she went home. He didn't want her walking home if she was going to fall asleep doing so.

A kind voice startled Kioko out of her stupor. A soybean pod fell from between her fingers as she looked up in surprise. "Oh! So far, so good. The tea in particular is won—" The urge to yawn overtook her, her mouth opening wide mid-sentence. "—nnnnderful. Oof, sorry about that." She squeezed the bridge of her nose and shut her eyes briefly. "It's been a very long night."

Kioko smiled wearily. "I'm definitely looking forward to the lunch special, though, I'm so hungry."

As if magically summon, Misato reappeared with a steaming bowl of seaweed noodles in broth, accompanied by tempura fried shrimps and vegetables and a light dipping sauce. "Oh!" Kioko smiled happily, her stomach gurgling and mouth watering in anticipation. "This smells absolutely divine."

Ichiro just smiled as she yawned. She hadn't needed to apologize, because he could tell the moment she walked in that she was very tired, so yawning was to be expected. She obviously did work in some profession to where she had to work overnight, as he had suspected, though he was still curious as to what one.  "I'm glad you enjoy the tea, and I hope the food lives up to it," he told her. "What do you, if you don't mind me asking?" The food did smell good, and it made his stomach rumble. He never took his break until he made sure that all of his staff had gotten their breaks first, so he'd have to wait. If there was still some of the special left, he might order that himself.

She took a bite of the noodles along with a bite of the tempura shrimp. She gave a happy little sigh and a thumbs up to the maitre'd. "It's lovely," she said with a smile.

The smile grew wider when he asked what she did for a living, though she could feel the fatigue set into her bones. "I'm a nurse — a district nurse, to be specific. I'm currently assigned to the Dragon Flats district." She took another bite, talking around her mouthful. "Got called out last night, a few wee ones absolutely could not wait for my beauty sleep to say hello to the world, then after that I had my rounds."

The tea was also wonderful, and she took a long drink before looking back up at the maitre'd. "You look a little tired yourself," she said, her gaze sharpening and her voice taking on a more professional tone. "Have you eaten lately?"

Ichiro nodded and smiled at her. "Good, I'm glad to hear it," he said. Compliments were always so much more preferable to complaints. Luckily, they didn't get too many of those. He wasn't all that surprised when she told him she was a nurse. That made a lot of sense with the hours she had seemed to work. "Well, if I may say, thank you for your service," he said. "It's a great thing you're doing, and there should be more of you." He knew that places like that didn't get as much help as they needed, so it was great to see someone like her going and helping where it was needed. "

Ichiro waved off her comment. "I'm fine. I haven't eaten since this morning, but I'll eat once the staff had all eaten," he said, remembering that others hadn't taken their breaks. He turned away for a moment, motioning for Ken to take his break. He nodded, before going over to one of his tables before quickly heading off. He then turned back to the woman at the table. "I'm fine. It's a product of the profession. The staff comes first." Besides, he was a bit of a workaholic and had to remind himself to go and eat and take care of himself sometimes. It was easier said than done, at least for him.