[D8, EE, expecting] I heard it through the void

[Kuni Mitsuko]

Mitsuko tries to respond courteously, but her heart is thundering inside her head.

"Also seek," she says, a bit breathless. "So... Rin-chan..." The Crab seems to have fallen into talking to herself, or perhaps is accidentally verbalizing parts of her thinking. It's clear she's having some kind of moment, and slowly a blissful smile takes hold across her features.

It's a while longer before the Kuni seems to remember she isn't alone.

"Eeh, uh... I'm, um. My apologies... Isawa-san," Mitsuko cobbles together, bowing her head deeply in genuine apology as well as cover for her inability to maintain on. "That, um... I would be... Most pleased, I'm sure," she finally stammers, trying to respond appropriately.

[Isawa Natsuko]

"That was the sense I had from her, though I think she may feel too unimportant to be asking things of the nakodo. I think her parents might be fine doing it for her though, given her tale of their meeting." Her eyes remain on her tea as she slowly taps shriveled purple petals into the bowl. "I know very little of the process of trying to set up a match from the side of those desiring to be matched."

"I imagine she would join the Crab, then, no?"

[Kuni Mitsuko]

Mitsuko nods as the Phoenix speaks, partially lost in her own thoughts still, but also keenly aware of what Natsuko is saying.

"It... Um. It would seem unlikely that the Crab would let a student of the Battle Leader Academy marry out of the clan. We are, um, not a large dojo to begin with." The Kuni, as much as she wants to focus on a potential match with Rin, can't help but look at the Isawa curiously.

"Isawa-san, I apologize in advance for my presumptuousness," Mitsuko says, trying to be kind. "But what... What do you feel, thinking about your match with Shiba-san," she asks bluntly.

[Isawa Natsuko]

Setting the bowl down, she looks up at Mitsuko with her still, blue eyes. "I feel it was made to the purposes of the Isawa with little regard for much beyond bloodline, though I think they chose the right twin of the pair, all things considered. I find myself more moved than I expected to consider the duty of children, to have family that share some resemblance to me." She pauses, considering her words as she looks to the bowl again, lifting it to mix the contents with practiced shaking that tosses the tea and additives together.

"I do not feel that Benten has granted us the attention you may have attracted to yourselves, though we are not entirely uncompatible. I think that is good enough to start with. It is not likely the Isawa would change their minds if we did not like one another at all, so I suppose that is a far better start than might have been."

[Kuni Mitsuko]

The Crab nods thoughtfully, trying to smile supportively though her thoughts are a swirl.

"Shiba Jiro-san certainly has his merits," Mitsuko says, trying to be helpful. "Though, for me, I think Shiba Haru-san a better match," she adds hurriedly. There's a momentary look of nervousness, then a sigh. "But perhaps such things are best left to the experts." Mitsuko realizes she's ill-equipped to be helpful here. There's an image in her mind that she can't shake, a sort of grim certainty casting a specter behind her eyes that the Phoenix can probably sense one way or another.

[Isawa Natsuko]

"Hmm, I suppose bushi make a better match for one another, understand one another better? I am less eager to be wed to another sort of guardian." She holds the bowl of tea forth. "what do you think of the scent of this blend?" The roasty scent of the oolong mingles with citrus and floral notes.

[Kuni Mitsuko]

"It, um... It's quite pleasant, Isawa-san," the Crab says, looking distracted. "Um, on the fancier side, perhaps... Something better suited to an artisan's sensibilities than a warrior's?" Mitsuko is clearly trying to be encouraging.

"I, um... I don't know about bushi understanding each other better. I..." She glances around nervously, then speaks more quietly. "I do not believe that Suzume Rin-san is so ever-present in my thoughts because of her sword." Even now, Mitsuko can only say those words with her eyes anxiously focused on the ground.

[Isawa Natsuko]

Natsuko nods, before setting the bowl down. "I think it will suit then."

She begins rummaging in her satchel, but pauses to look up. "No, I imagine it is more than that or there are plenty here with swords to think about." Her hands still, as she looks up at Rin for a long moment. "What is it that causes her to fill your thoughts then? What...what creates that draw that is difficult to set aside?"

[Kuni Mitsuko]

Mitsuko makes a faint, almost whimper sound, and looks up at Natsuko like she doesn't believe what she's heard. But she has, he's just not sure it's safe to say. This Phoenix and her spirit friends probably already know my thoughts anyway.

"My..." She looks down again and starts to speak, still very quiet. "My heart flutters when she says nice things about me. Not because they're nice, but... Because she is the one saying them. She is..." Mitsuko can't say anything more as her hands fidget in her lap. "Just. She's... She's Rin-chan," the Crab says, barely whispering loud enough for the Isawa's ears to catch it.

[Isawa Natsuko]

She nods once, drawing a small, brightly-enameled tin from her satchel. "Just so? I respect and admire her, but her words are just words for me." Looking up to Mitsuko, there's a curiosity in her bright eyes. "Yet you say that of the twins, Shiba Haru-san would be more a match for you. Do his words flutter your heart? Or seem like they could?"

[Kuni Mitsuko]

Mitsuko takes a deep, steadying breath. She's anxious about this direction in the conversation, but stubborn enough to see it through.

"It... It is not the same, no," she says, still quiet but voice firmer than when talking about the Sparrow. "Shiba Haru-san is so honest and forthright... Perhaps inappropriately so for a samurai... And he..." The Crab waves a hand vaguely, not sure how to describe the feeling. "He knows... more, about some things, than I do," she continues, looking a little embarrassed as she remembers what her friends had had to explain to her. "But he shares the knowledge freely, doesn't sound superior or condescending..." She looks at Natsuko and pauses.

"I, um, I do not mean to suggest Shiba Jiro-san is not honest and wise, Isawa-san," she hurries to add. "I... I have a high opinion of him as well," she stresses. "It's just... It's... not... the same," she finishes lamely.

[Isawa Natsuko]

Tapping the tea into the tin, Natsuko notes, "honest? Moreso of late. But perhaps not so wise," she says in that same quiet voice. There is a pause, and a small sigh. "I suppose I should ask, though I very much doubt the answer is yes." Eyes still on her task, she asks, "is it you that he's been sharing inappropriate affections with? I only ask because I think you'd want to make things clear with Suzume-san before going forward much farther."

[Kuni Mitsuko]

Mitsuko discovers a new level of pale and terrified that her face can make, her heart falling into her stomach in a way she didn't know was possible.

"No Isawa-san!" She says, shocked and distressed but defensive enough that she has to start responding aggressively. "I wouldn't! I would never do that to Rin-chan! She... I..." The Kuni almost starts to cry in rage. "It..." And then the Phoenix hears a surprisingly deep growl of frustration from the slim Crab.

"I didn't... know that you knew," Mitsuko says lamely. "I... I can't imagine how you must feel..." The Kuni girl starts to think that she really should get out of this place, but she feels a strange need to stay and talk more with the intimidating Phoenix.

[Isawa Natsuko]

Compared to the Kuni's storm, the ishiken remains an unruffled pond, glancing up with cool eyes as she reseals the tin. "We spoke of it last night. I am still figuring out what I feel. I had rather expected a match to someone I would be bound to in duty, and little else. It is not exactly a secret that many find connection elsewhere. But...he had given me reason to think, perhaps..." Her voice trails off for a moment before blinking and looking back to her collection of bowls. "So...beginning again, is how it goes."

She looks up to Mitsuko, the muscles around her cheeks and eyes easing. "But I am glad you and Suzume-san are so well suited. I would have felt...worse somehow for all that to create complications for you." Oddly, she gives no thought to the possibility that the friendly Sparrow could possibly be the 'other' that Jiro had spoken of.

[Kuni Mitsuko]

Mitsuko's stomach churns, knowledge gnawing at her. What would mother and father say? Is it better to know?

"Um. I am... Glad you spoke of it? It... I don't think a secret would do well. In a marriage, I mean. It..." She looks flustered and shakes her head to try to clear it. "My parents..." She starts strong, but then lets the thought drop for now. Natsuko can ask what she wants.

"I, um. I hope... Suitability is rewarded," she says distractedly. "I know that the couple's preferences are not the primary concern of matchmakers."

[Isawa Natsuko]

Natsuko pauses for a long moment. "No...I think you are right about secrets. That is something to consider." She begins moving all the random herbs from bowls back into their little paper packets one by one. "Did your parents have unfortunate secrets to learn from?"

To the latter, she offers a more serious look. "No. Preferences are seldom their concern, and you are both now singled out as important. If one of you should become Topaz Champion? Even more so. It could complicate things. But...without that distinction you would not have met."

[Kuni Mitsuko]

The Crab looks thoughtful at the question about her parents, silent long enough that when Natsuko continues about prospects with the Sparrow, Mitsuko stats there.

"Hai, Isawa-san. We are... important." It's clear the skinny Kuni girl isn't entirely convinced, and even if she's close, this is the first time she's ever put those words together in that way.

"My, um, parents were also important. Not Topaz important, but... Mother especially. A prodigy, took a break to have six children, then went to teach at the Kuni school. She um..." Mitsuko looks at the Phoenix nervously. "She's good at a lot of things. Really good. But being married..." The girl makes a face and stops there, trusting in her philosophy of Natsuko will ask.

[Isawa Natsuko]

Natsuko pauses a moment. "Six children is quite a long break." At least...it seems like a long time when it's something like 1/3 of all your years so far. "And seems like she provided quite well for the clan, continuing to do so by teaching." Her head tilts slightly, working through the question in mind. "How does one be good...or not good...at being married?" The clutter of tea ingredients waits for the time being.

[Kuni Mitsuko]

Mitsuko looks obviously uncomfortable at critiquing her mother, trying to speak delicately while still sharing her real thoughts.

"Um, from the perspective of a child... Presence is important. Physical and mental presence. And while father was better at being physically present..." She sighs, then quietly admits, "neither of them was there for us much. So I would guess, though they never spoke of it, that they were not there for each other much, either." The Crab looks under her brows at Natsuko, head bowed with sadness but hoping she's not making anything worse.

[Isawa Natsuko]

Natsuko nods. "To be honest, what little we are told of the Crab would have me think that was common. That your duty takes almost everyone's attention and time," and lives, so many lives, "that there might be little left for such things."

"But I do not think our children will lack for our presence, whatever lies between the pair of us. I officially have no parents and...do not want my children to suffer anything like that. She shakes her head slightly, turning to continue her careful cleanup process.

"Regardless of their presence, you found your way here, which is an accomplisment."