Finally all the formality was over and done with... Hyeon-ju was still dressed up from the ceremony as she and Yul headed over to Tian's for a last round of bubble tea, and... well, they probably needed to talk.

Things hadn't exactly turned out the way they had expected, and she had only told Hayato about what had happened.

"Well... I wanna say congratulations first, Yul. You and Mumei-san will be very happy together, I can tell."

Yul hadn't changed either, and so it was a pair of very formal Unicorn that descended on the bubble tea place.

He turned as Hyeon-ju spoke. "Thanks." Yul's expression softened. "It really means a lot to me. And..." He smiled. "She really means a lot to me."

The smile faded. "Wasp, are you okay? What happened?" His voice and eyes both held real concern, as much as when he'd come and picked her up that one fateful night.

She knew that question was coming. Still, she took a moment to close her eyes and draw a deep breath of air.

"I thought it was going to be fine. He's a Lion you know... it seemed natural that the dutiful choice would be the natural choice; it's what Chiyoko would've wanted. It's what I wanted, since he was my first choice for a long while along with her. We put in a lot of effort with the Lion for this."

Sitting down by one of the tables, Hyeon-ju carefully took off her gloves. "I invited him to watch the fireworks with me last night. You know, thought it might be a romantic and blissful start to the whole thing. And then... then he drops the bomb... he wouldn't be choosing me. Goes on about how he's not worthy or something. Because I was... I was supposedly so much better than him." Her fingers flex and then roll up as she clenches her hands, still angry about what happened then.

"And then... he picks a Crane. I... I don't know what to think."

"I think he's an idiot." Yul said, his lips thinning, voice tight.

He sat forward a little. "Look. I really wanted to apologize. Sometimes I'm an idiot too, right?" He quirked his lips at her. "But I was an idiot to say that, and he's an idiot for not picking you, for all the reasons I'm an idiot, plus a few more."

Yul sighed, half-smiling. "So... I guess I'm sorry. We're both idiots. But I can do something about one of those, anyway."

"I feel insulted, to be frank. I could understand, were it a better match - like an Imperial, or some other samurai allied to the Lion, but..." she sighed, shaking her head. "I think he's doing his love a disservice, bringing her into a clan that will hate her for who she is and what she represents to them. It is not a kind thing he has done to her."

If anything, Hyeon-ju's wounded pride and anger was only directed at the one who had made the choice. She had no ill will towards the Crane girl. Truthfully, she pitied her a little to be put in that situation.

"... Hayato's the only other one who knew. At least, that I told. He noticed I wasn't... at my best, last night, when you and Mumei-san stepped out for drinks, and I told him what happened then." Hyeon-ju sighed, straightening her sleeves slightly. "... I was left having to scramble for a match on the eve before the choosing. He's the only one left I actually liked, and wouldn't feel like I was breaking up someone else's happiness."

Yul was silent as she spoke. His expression was strange. Sad, perhaps? It was hard to tell.

As she finished, Yul closed his eyes, nodding. "I guess it was good that he noticed." He said, sighing. After a few moments, his eyes opened again. "So... you like him, then? You think you can be..." his lips moved a moment, searching for the right word, "-content with him?"

"I like him," she confirmed, confidently. "There were plenty of times this miai where I thought if only he wasn't a Mantis - it would've made things easier for both of us, I think, and... well, at some point we promised eachother not to choose one another unless the other said they wanted it." Which probably spoke a lot for how well they had gotten along.

"He is still a Mantis though, so..." Hyeon-ju sighed. "We're gonna have to figure that one out, but, he's smart - I think we'll figure something out that we'll both be happy with. And hopefully will be of some use to the Unicorn."

"Well. Okay." Yul smiled, just a little.

Then he chewed his lip for a few moments. "What do you mean, work something out, though? I mean, you're going to join the Mantis, right?" With an effort, he softened the lines of tension in his jaw, doing his best to look at Hyeon-ju casually.

"Well, that is the most natural outcome, as it is the rules of the miai. But I know his family wouldn't mind him marrying out, so perhaps some arrangement could be made." Hyeon-ju shrugged, certain that something could be sorted out somehow.

"And, it's my impression the Mantis weren't very happy with the Spider during this miai. It's a long-shot of course, but maybe something can be done there. I don't think we can break up their alliance, of course, but something that benefits our clan should be possible."

Yul rubbed his face with his hands. He hadn't had any of his bubble tea yet. He sighed. "If there's any chance that you wouldn't have to join the Mantis, hey, I'm all for it." He gave her a wan smile. "It's not as bad as the Spider, but I don't want to have to go into combat, and wonder if you're one of the opponents I'm facing."

He sat up a little, managing a better smile. "And hey, if something else can be done, I'm all for that, too." He reached for his bubble tea, and then paused. "Hey... you remember the bet we made, about the drone thing?"

Having ordered herself some yuzu-and-orange bubble tea alongside a treat packed in a bubble-waffle, she finally found the sense of awareness to take a deep sip of her bubble tea.

"I would prefer to avoid having to fight my former clan too, you know." And she was quite honest about that.

"... I have actually forgotten, you know... so much happened that day. And after. It just slipped my mind. Sorry."

Yul took a sip of his bubble tea. It was his usual, the Neutrino Wave.

He waved a hand. "No, don't apologize. I was actually gonna say that I think we're even." Yul smiled. "After you got that news from that moron," Yul grimaced, "it seems like you trusted Hayato-san, even though the Mantis, well, aren't a friend. But you trusted him anyway."

He spread his hands. "It seems like you made the right call. Brain or gut. I don't know which it was."

It was a small smirk, but it was there nonetheless for a brief moment. "Maybe a bit of both. I... didn't feel like I could speak to the other Lions, like Murame-san, or Kitsu-san about it. We saw how they reacted earlier today - imagine how bad things could've been if they had known beforehand. And to be honest, I don't think I would have liked the idea of him needing to be... ugh, beaten into submission by his fellow Lion to choose me. That would've been a terrible marriage."

One thing was to agree to work together to make the best of it. It was another thing entirely if one party was forced into it against their will.

She took a careful bite of her dessert. This might be her last visit to Tian's for a while, unless the chain had spread to Mantis space.

"I won't forgive him for it, of course."

Yul smiled. "Of course." He waved a hand. "But maybe you can forget him. You'll never see him again after this. And Hayato's a good guy, and it seems like he gets you."

He stirred his bubble tea around with his straw, still not drinking much. "And you're right that it wouldn't have been a good marriage. We make people marry, but we can't make them like it."

Yul shrugged. "I hope we can be friends with the Lion, still. Just other Lion."

"Me too..." she agreed, poking around at her food before taking another bite. She had hardly eaten since last night so this was helping her blood-sugar.

"Other Lion like Murame-san and Kitsu-san, yes?"

Yul nodded. "Yeah. Both of them. We took down Matsu Chiyoko-san's killer with them. And Hide-san. I fought beside her, too."

Yul shook his head. "Really, it's mostly just the one. Every other Lion has impressed me."

"Yes..." she nodded in agreement.

"But! How are your future plans with Mumei-san looking? We can't spend all of this time here only talking about my miseries."

Yul couldn't help but grin at the reminder of his own happiness. "We'd already been talking about what our future might look like. I'd always been serious about it, but it feels more real now."

His expression grew more serious. "I've been wondering if we might be able to get assigned to a Baraunghar. Those are chosen for the bond between pilot and navigator, and well..." Yul smiled, "-we've got a pretty good bond."

"Mm, that will be some extensive training for her in the future then," she said, nodding seriously, as if assessing how hard it would be for the two of them.

"If you like, I can put you in touch with my mom, or my brothers, as they're all navigators, and my brothers are assigned to Baraunghars. While I know you will be supportive of your spouse, having shugenja to help her will probably make a difference."

Sometimes, a shugenja was certainly needed. One from the Lion, still without glasses, scurried over and gave a deep bow. "Unicorn-sama, I'm so, so sorry," she blubbered out. "He does not represent us at all. A disgrace, an utter disgrace."