"He takes after his Crane mother, somewhat, and he seems to be okay with the idea of joining the Phoenix." Moriko finally finished her breakfast, taking another sip of tea, and picking up the treat for Ten. Showing it to the pup, he immediately planted his rear on the floor, grinning and wiggling impatiently. "He made some big promises about wanting to make his future partner happy, and I could be..." she tossed the treat to Ten and the shiba inu snapped it up, "I dunno, I think I kinda like him."

"That's good." she nodded. Ren waited patiently for his treat. Hoshiko presented it to him and gave him an affectionate petting. "That's very good. I'm happy you found someone like that."

"Well, let's not get ahead of ourselves," Moriko cautioned, "but he's coming to the ranch and I'm going to cook for him tonight, and give him a hint of what it might be like to live with me. We'll see if it suits him." She dropped her hand to her side and scratched behind Ten's ear.

"Well, he sounds promising." she shrugged. "You wouldn't do that if you didn't think so."

"True," Moriko agreed, and found herself to be more excited about the prospect than she'd realised, hopeful that Ryuu would live up to the role she had created for him. "Of course, if the nakado disagrees, I don't want to get too invested."

"Of course." she sighed. "Our fates are not our own."

"Ironic, then, that my interest in Ryuu-san should be founded in resignation to those fates," Moriko shook her head.

"At least we have each other." she smiled. "And, Ren and Ten."

"Always," Moriko promised, picking up her tea, "I'm thinking curry for dinner. With otori."

"Mmmm...." she licked her lips. "Good choice. Now I wish you were making me dinner."

"You know, you could come by for dinner any time," Moriko teased, "I'll even make noodles if you prefer."

"Sister, are you trying to seduce me?" she giggled. "I'll hold you to the offer of noodles."

“Yes,” Moriko answered matter-of-factly, giggling as well. “Just warn me, I don’t keep noodles in the kitchen.”

"Of course." she nodded. "Maybe tomorrow or the day after."

“We should do dinner soon, I can’t believe the miai is almost over already.” Moriko slurped her drink, it was mostly ice now, but she was insistent on getting the last of it.

"It's kind of a relief." she sighed. "I'm nervous about how things will turn out, but I'll be happy when it's over."

“No kidding,” Moriko agreed, finally conceding a draw against her drink and setting it aside. “But, I still wish it wasn’t ending, cause then everything changes.”

"Not everything." she reached out to grasp her hand. "Not completely."

Moriko squeezed her sister’s hand, “of course.” After a moment she sighed, “well, time, tide, and the nakado wait for no one, we should probably get to the orbital defence station, lest they start without us.”

"Hai." she nodded. "This could be fun."