Forever, Family.

Rio was so proud of Yugiri. Words could not describe how happy she was to see Yugiri open up. She cursed how ironic it was to actually attain a situation where Yugiri was welcoming and not the cold, frigid woman she presented herself as.

Rio smiled as Yugiri let go of her and returned to eating her meal, observing how adorable it was to see Yugiri stare at her, avoid her gaze, and stare at her again. Gods, why couldn't this have happened sooner? She hoped that, if nothing else, Yugiri would allow her to visit.. but she wouldn't push her luck now. The Shihoin protector returned to eating her own meal and decided to ask a question out of curiosity.

"I hope you like the food. I prepared it in a way I figured you'd like. On another note, you said that you made a friend here? That surprised me. How is this friend?" Rio was genuinely curious. Yugiri was not exactly a sociable person. She idly wondered who on earth was able to get her to soften up, for a friendship to even be possible.

"It tastes really good."

Assuring her cousin that it was indeed quite delicious she looked a little uncomfortable when she got asked about her friend.

"He's uh... good. He's very dedicated and old, he's kinda cool and kinda like Papa is you know? If that makes sense."

She took another bite of her food to silence herself for a moment to avoid saying something she thought would be stupid and maybe bait out a different kind of conversation.

"Tell me more about your boyfriend... Is he better than Chidori's?"

Yugiri couldn't quite tell what she meant by better, whether it was from better social standing or he was just a better guy. Granted Yugiri was pretty bias against Chidori's boyfriend which wasn't really that fair given all she had to go off was a very short and badly started interaction between them.

Rio smiled with a look of contentment in her features as Yugiri complimented her food. In a way, she wouldn't have cared if the woman told her something mean about her food. For them to be sharing this moment was the height of joy for the unfaltering shielder. Hearing her describe this friend of hers was pleasant. Like Papa, huh? Interesting. Rio found herself concluding that she wouldn't mind meeting him in person one day; if she were allowed to visit, of course.

It all came down to how Yugiri felt about that... and then she asked her another question that left her surprised yet again.

All of this was a lot for Rio to take in. Maybe Kokoro had gotten this side out of her but Rio had never seen it before. Asking questions about boyfriends was certainly not something she would expect from the girl. Clearing her throat, Rio did her best to sort of have an arrogant posture, proud to prove her sister wrong about obtaining a boyfriend.

"Ah, yes... Hakuyou. I certainly think he is better. He's taller, mature, and takes very good care of himself in all aspects. He speaks in such a noble way that one could say he has a "way with words."

This was so odd to be speaking to Yugiri about a love interest but it felt so pleasant, too.

Yugiri had to think about that, she asked the question and it didn't take long after that she was asking herself why, when she couldn't really understand the whole deal with boyfriends. At least you weren't lonely, that was an upside if she had to figure one out.

"That's nice."

Wow. This whole talking to your family about stuff like this was hard, what'd she ask now? If he was strong? Wealthy? Good in bed? All those felt really awkward whenever she tried to imagine the scenario of her asking in her head. So she took another bit of food while waiting for Rio to talk.

Rio couldn't help but chuckle at Yugiri's reply. This was a strange conversation but one she welcomed with joy. She could spend an entire day talking with Yugiri about their lives and not get bored. In some ways, Rio viewed Yugiri as more sister than she did cousin. She could tell in some type of way - by Yugiri's silence - that it was awkward for her to ask these questions but Rio commended her for her efforts and decided to spark up a little conversation piece.

"Do you ever see yourself having a boyfriend, Yugiri? I've always thought you were a very attractive woman, worth being courted by any man you desire. I'm curious to know what you'd even like in a man..."

What did she just say?

There was a splutter and a cough from Yugiri when she heard the questions posed to her. Not just one but so many ones she just didn't want to answer all bundled up into one. w

"Uh... No? I dunno. That's a stupid question anyway. I'm too busy for men..."

Oh. That excuse used to work, now it didn't. She wasn't able to hide her utter lack of love life behind the excuse of working or trying to achieve things. Especially when she was living like this so she sighed in resignation.

"Well uh, I guess if they're pretty cute..."

What other traits would she even put onto her 'ideal man', the paragon of her romantic interests if he existed? She had never thought about adding any actual or meaningful characteristics to the faces of random guys she would create to fantasise about or see and just imagine them. So what else was she going to add as well as being cute?

"I- I don't know. I've never had a boyfriend."

As expected, Yugiri hit Rio with her typical reply, of how she was too busy for men. She had heard that from her a lot but now, considering she was on earth and not in the Shihoin estate training, there was no exit point. She had to face the question head-on. It wasn't as if Rio was pressuring her or anything. She honestly wished to see Yugiri happy and wouldn't mind seeing her find that special someone. She was so adorable trying to play it off and even her reply was fun to chuckle about as she spoke. Well, if they were cute, then that was fine by Rio. A cute boyfriend was nice, right? Rio admittedly had no experience with the subject herself.

"If it makes you feel any better, I have no idea how this whole thing with romance works, either. I have feelings for the man who's made his way into my life but... I don't know how to express them. All my life... all I've ever wanted was to protect this family."

While Rio tried to assure her that it was okay to be completely clueless about the whole situation Yugiri still didn't like this whole topic, so she tried to change it in the worst way possible without thinking to escape having to talk about boys.

"Well uh.. I just wanted to do my best for the family and return it to status.. Then I messed it all up."

She bit her lip but didn't cry about it like before, she just took another bite while her shoulders kind of just slumped in a defeated way.

Rio smiled politely as she listened to Yugiri talk. Once again, she was reminding herself of her failures. Rio was still supportive of her cousin. She would not let her feel ashamed about what had happened. As she said once before, none of them in this family were really perfect at all. They were just as prone to mistakes as anybody else. And besides, she believed they would reach their glory one way or another. They were Shihoin. She softly patted her cousin's head as she looked at the stars.

"Hey, you didn't mess it all up. It set us back, but come on now, nothing will ever truly hold our clan down. I believe in the potential of everyone, including you if you decide to ever return one day. But if not, I know you'll do something amazing here on earth. I will always believe in you and the path you walk, Yugiri-chan."

It was just a set back. It kinda made it better knowing whatever damage she did wasn't eternal but she didn't feel any better about the fact that she had done it. At least people didn't hate her for it, at least from what she knew from Rio's words.

"Thank you Rio."

With another thank you for her older relative reassuring her she ate some more of the food. After having a lot of western food it felt different to suddenly go back to the way she had eaten most of her life. The tastes really were pretty different.