"That reminds me!" Sabrina called out while having a tea party at the Mikuni residence with Mami, Oriko, and Kirika.
Oriko raised an eyebrow when Sabrina yelled, placing the teacup down with a small
clatter. Mami looked a bit worried when Sabrina grabbed the bag at her side and stuck her hand inside of it, feeling around for
something. Kirika, like the cute puppy she is around Oriko, was fast asleep, using the oracle's lap as a pillow.
Sabrina pulled out a small can and placed it down on the table. She said, "While I was at Kyoto and doing some negotiations with the girls there, I decided to buy a little souvenir there. Unfortunately, I didn't have enough pocket money to buy something for everyone, so I got something that we could all share!"
Mami looked at the packaging and said, looking rather happy, "It's a can of tea."
Sabrina grinned and said, "Special Kyoto blend."
The white-haired grief controller stood up from the table. She snapped her fingers and carried off the empty tea pot and the tin of tea, using some of her grief marbles as spare hands and arms. She told the group, "I'll go fix us up a new batch of tea. Be back in a few minutes."
As she was walking away, she could hear Mami saying, "I'm rather excited to try out some Kyoto-style tea."
Oriko replied back, "Yes, I read on a magazine that this time of year is the best time to try tea from Kyoto."
Mami giggled and asked, "You read Tea-phoria Magazine as well?"
Oriko nodded and told the blonde, "Of course. I've been an avid reader for years now."
One five minutes later, Sabrina came out holding a tray with three cups. The white haired girl smiled and said, "Alright, girls! The tea is ready! Drink it while it's hot!"
Mami and Oriko looked at each other for a few seconds. Something felt a bit… off. There wasn't any teapot on that tray at all. Instead of standard teacups, those looked like coffee mugs as well. In addition, what are those strings hanging down from the sides of the cup?
Mami, shaking off any doubts about her best friend in the world, smiled and said, "Thank you for the drink, Sabrina."
Oriko was more hesitant and took the cup and simply said, "Thank you."
Sabrina beamed and told her two friends, "Don't be so modest! Let's drink!"
She took a sip of her tea and then grabbed the string. She bobbed it up and down before taking another sip.
Mami and Oriko looked in shock and horror at what Sabrina was doing. Oriko's mouth was gaped open. Mami held her hand to her mouth and shivered.
Sabrina made an approving nod and raised up the string. She pulled the string out of the tea and revealed a small bag attached to the end of it. Something that tea connoisseurs like Mami Tomoe and Oriko Mikuni could not stand.
A tea bag.
Something that holds only the lowest quality of leaves. Something that holds leaves that have been manufactured through a factory. Something that is the result of quantity rather than quality.
Sabrina mentioned to her friends, not even noticing that they weren't drinking the tea, "Two minutes in the microwave really is the best temperature don't you think? It's nice and hot, but not hot enough to burn your tongue. Just plop the teabag and you're done!"
At that moment, Oriko fainted. Not only was she presented tea in a coffee mug, rather than a proper teacup. Not only was she handed a teabag of low quality leftover leaves from Kyoto instead what she thought was high quality tea leaves from Kyoto, something that she was genuinely excited for. But the fact that Sabrina couldn't be bothered to use a kettle and brew hot water that way for tea, and instead used the microwave to make hot water, was what destroyed her last shard of sanity.
Mami was close to snapping in despair as well. However, she still had one thread of sanity left in her body. Even all that abuse to her sense of taste for tea, she was still hanging on for dear life. She tightly clutched the mug and gave Sabrina her best smile ever. Even if it was the water was microwave-heated. Even if it was a teabag. If it tasted great, it wouldn't matter. And that's all that matters right?
Mami told Sabrina, slightly stuttering, "Y-You make it sound so nice, Sabrina. I'm excited to… try it out…!"
Mami pressed her lips against the cup. She titled the cup and brought the liquid to her lips. She felt the string sliding down and it tickled her nose a bit. When the tea transferred from the mug to her mouth, she knew she made a mistake.
The water that Sabrina gave her was not "hot" in the slightest, instead it was merely lukewarm.
Also the tea wasn't even that great either.
With that, Mami placed the cup down on the table and fell backwards and passed out. For a tea lover like Mami, even when pushing her body to the limits for Sabrina, could not handle it.
