As said before, Ryuuko doesn't mind visitors and would try to greet them. Of course, we often didn't have visitors and neither do I have many friends. With mother then around, I hardly ever invited friends over and, even if I did, they would decline for justifiable reasons or, if they came over, they wouldn't stay longer than an hour or less. That was years ago and, now, we could invite anyone over, so, at Nui's suggestion, I invited five of my friends over. When they arrived, they noticed Ryuuko, who didn't seem to notice them at first.
"Who's she?" Nonon asked, to which Ryuuko made a sound of mild annoyance before saying, "You!" Nonon was confused to which I said, "She wants to know your name." She introduced herself thusly, receiving the response of, "Ree-you-koh." At first, Nonon didn't hear and asked again, receiving the response of, "Ree-you-koh! Ree-you-koh! Ryuuko! My name Ryuuko, Nono." That surprised us, as, for the first time, she actually said her name without enunciating each syllable and, two, she said something where she actually used a word to pertain to herself.
Of course, while that was all well and fine, she didn't seem to like Nonon very much and opted to pretend that she wasn't there. With a hand on Ryuuko's shoulder, Nui introduced her, "Oh, she's Ryuuko, of course, our sister." Uzu raised an eyebrow, asking, "Your sister?"
"Yes."
"How come we haven't met her before?"
"Oh, because of our mother."
"Huh?"
"Yeah, we don't like to talk about that but she's fine now."
Gamagoori understood and said, "Some things are best left unsaid and, if she's healthy and happy now, then that is all that matters." Naturally, we agreed, however, Houka wanted to study her but said wanting to study her died as quickly as it came when she tried to identify what his laptop was and bit it, scratching its screen. When he complained, she looked at him, confused, leaving me to explain that she does that for objects she hasn't a clue about.
"Why?"
"Houka, she never had the chance to learn otherwise. She doesn't know what your computer is and bit it because she judges objects that way, which is to say, by putting it in her mouth and declaring it edible or not. I take it she needs no further explanation, as she seems to have judged it inedible."
She did judge it inedible, yet was curious as to what it does. The images on the screen made her think of the television, in which case she spent a bit eyeballing the screen, before blinking and scurrying over to Gamagoori. Looking him made her want to compare heights and prompted her to stand on two legs, before dropping back on all fours. He commented that what she did was interesting to which Nui responded, "She thinks you are rather tall and wanted to compare heights. Not the first time, as she compared my foot to her foot and the length the of Satsuki's hair and her hair."
Her interaction with Uzu was odd but she seemed to have been indifferent until he addressed her directly. She eyeballed him for a spell but, when he made a move to place his hand on her head, she recoiled and swatted, saying an indignant, "No!" I took it that she wasn't anticipating that and, what she doesn't anticipate, she doesn't like and neither was she going to take being petted without permission. This confused Uzu to which he asked, "What the hell was that for?" to which Nui gave a response of, "Oh, she didn't like that."
"Being touched?"
"No, dummy, she doesn't like what she doesn't anticipate and neither does she know you, so she probably figured you were going to hurt her."'
"Is she shy?"
"She can be, however, she tends to get to know people better on her terms and her terms alone."
She then padded towards Shiro. I detected a hint of familiarity in their eyes and Shiro seemed shocked to see her. If my memories are correct, even though we didn't have many visitors, Shiro was a frequent one from time to time but I don't recall him saying anything about seeing her. She then tilted her head and said, "Shiro?"
Her saying Shiro's name was accompanied by a long and powerful silence, the silence being punctuated more when she reached out to touch his hair, specifically, that streak of grey, which caught her attention as it did ours. I became lost in my memories as I thought about the last time Shiro visited. He just wasn't the same and, later on, he was placed on medication based on how little he could function. While Ryuuko didn't talk, I figured she sensed something about him, wanting much to comfort him.
That silence was broken when Uzu asked him, "Do you remember her?" to which he affirmed, shaking, "Yes, I do." He refused to say more but he did state that he was terrified that the Mistress would come after him, too. Why he was afraid she would come after him was obvious, as he found out about the Kiryuuin's dirty little secret and he was in the cellar when it happened. I suppose he had some regret about not helping her but, then again, what could he do? He was a child then, just as she was, and no one would probably believe him if he told.
Either way, Ryuuko seemed much happy to see him, as, while she still held onto that grey streak, she sat by him and rested her head on his shoulder. "She's affectionate, " Nui said, "and that is one of her gestures as such." Naturally, Shiro seemed to reciprocate, allowing himself to accept what could be equated as her forgiveness. Perhaps she knew he couldn't do anything and felt his upset or, perhaps, she knew how much that woman destroyed lives, hers and his included.