"Oh, in the future, eh?" He smiled like a goof at the thought. "Well then.." he started slowly circling around her. "You wouldn't be completely identical twins now, would you?"

"It depends on how closely you look." she teased.

"Oh? Oho." Joo tried moving closer, though he was worried that the birds might tangle at this rate.

"Well then...judging by the spacing of your beautiful eyes and the shine of your hair, I declare you...Hoshiko-san?"

Her cheeks reddened as he looked at her. "Well done! But, we'll have to test you against my sister."

"Oh, well I look forward to meeting her. She must as pretty as you are." She hesitated, for a moment. "You are still prettier though, I am sure."

Nice save.

"The first answer was the better one." she grinned. "But, thank you. You're rather handsome yourself."

Joo smiled, reddening himself. "Arigatou...no one mentioned it before." At least no one as nice as you. "Well...I am looking forward to meeting your sister. she sounds wonderful."

Something to note. "Mhm, Shiba-san, can I ask why you trained among the Nakouchi?"

"It seemed like the best way to reach the stars." she answered. "With Isawa training, I could become a navigator, but it wouldn't have been as focused on it. Besides, I like to dance."

"Oh? Dancing? Well...perhaps we could go dancing sometime? I...erm am not a very good one." He looked away sheepishly. "Perhaps Shiba-san can...teach me?"

Granted, there is a chance Hoshiko could run away when she sees his movements. Hopefully not.

"I am sure you will get to see he stars. You deserve to do so, Shiba-san."

"I'd like that." she smiled. "We can go to a club or just the arcade. When I do reach the stars, I hope you're with me."

Joo's heart started beating faster. "I'd like that. A lot." He felt strange, alien butterflies in his stomach. "I would like what you would like."

"Until then, I'm glad we can explore the forest together." she gestured to their surroundings. "I don't spend much time here, but I think I'll miss it."

"Hai, I do too. It's very.. atmospheric. Surprisingly so." He smiled as "his" bird trotted next to hers closely. "Perhaps we can visit again later. Together."

"There's a lot to explore." she nodded. "All over Asakaze."

Joo's gaze wondered over Hoshiko. "Hai." He glanced away, reddening.

Proper thoughts, you.

"Any place you wish to explore that you haven't so far?"

"Underwater." she answered. "I've gone swimming in some of the safer areas, but I've never gone diving."

Joo took note of that. Innnteresting. "Supposedly there's a Mantis planet where almosf everything is underwater?"

"Really? That would be interesting. We have a lot of water here, of course. I wonder if there are any similarities." She looked at him with curiosity. "Tell me more about your world."

Joo smiled. "According to rumors, at least. My world? I'd say Kuwagata is...a beautiful world. A wild one, mostly. It is ruled by my Moto cousins, and they don't believe in taming too much of the planet." He smiled fondly. "The bettles are wondrous to behold, on multiple levels really. We ride them, tame them, live on them."

"That's hard to imagine. I'd like to see it some day."