An uncomfortable silence set between the two girls as they sat across from each other. Satsuki was feeling a little better now, so she could sit up without any pain and walk for a couple minutes before starting to hobble. Right now, at the request of Mako, who, strangely enough didn't stick around to see if they had actually followed through, the girls were having tea. Or at least attempting to.

Ryuko held her tea cup a bit awkwardly, never having had any formal training, while Satsuki held hers like a dignified aristocrat. Which looked pretty funny, because she was wearing Ryuko's pajamas. She smirked, amused at the predicament that Ryuko was in. She was anything but proper, and her actions spoke of it louder than her words. She crossed her legs and put an elbow on the table.

"Matoi, elbows off the table. It is unladylike." Satsuki commanded, her smirk hidden behind the brim of her teacup.

Ryuko blew a strand of jet black hair out of her face and leaned back in the chair, letting out a sigh of frustration. "This is boring. Why do we have to do this?" She whined, lolling her head. They had been sitting in front of each other for twenty minutes now. And every time Ryuko did something that Satsuki didn't deem ladylike, she was chastened for it.

"Because Mankanshoku thought this would be a good way to start our bond." Satsuki replied for the hundredth time. for a moment she wondered if this is how Ryuko would have acted if they had grown up together. "If you had grown up with me, you wouldn't be saying that." She added.

"If I had grown up with you things would be a lot different, huh?" Ryuko mused, tapping her sneaker against the table. She was quiet for a moment. Then quietly, she asked, "What was Dad like?"

The question caught Satsuki off guard. She had never heard anyone else call Soichiro 'Dad' but herself. It was a little unsettling. "He was...a good man. You would have liked him." She answered with a wry smile.

Ryuko nodded, absentmindedly taking a sip of her tea. It was noiseless once again, and the only sounds reverberating was both girls breathing, and the calm, steady sips of tea. "Do you..." Ryuko pursed her lips.

Satsuki's eyebrows raised at her sudden outburst. "Do I what?"

"Do you ever...you know...wonder what things would have been like if Ragyo wasn't a monster and if Soichiro was still alive?" That was the second loaded question Ryuko had asked Satsuki during their little tea party.

And to be honest, Satsuki did wonder. A lot. She used to daydream and dream about it when she was little, but now she did it even more now that she knew who her sister was. She did wonder if things were normal, how would they have gotten along? How would they have played together? Ryuko acting proper did amuse her a bit, but would things really be different if Ragyo hadn't thrown Ryuko away?

"Yes. Sometimes. It does come to mind every now and again." She responded, plucking a cookie off the plate on the small, wobbly table. She watched as Ryuko pulled at the black suspenders on Senketsu. She learned it was a nervous habit Ryuko had developed around her. "Something troubling you, Matoi?"

"Ryuko."

"Hmm?"

"Just call me Ryuko, okay? We can drop the last names thing. It's completely redundant now." Ryuko's cerulean eyes flickered to her sister's.

"Ryuko. My apologies." Satsuki told her. "Now what's the matter?"

"What are we gonna do with the other half of the scissors?" Ryuko asked.

"Do we have it yet?" Satsuki countered.

"No, but-"

"So do not fret over it. We'll cross that bridge when we come to it." Satsuki interrupted. She refilled her cup, and then Ryuko's. Ryuko's face twisted. "Something tells me the scissors aren't what is making you nervous."

"This tea is disgusting. And bitter." Ryuko responded, not missing a beat. She glared down at the steaming cup.

Satsuki chuckled. "You talk about tea being bitter when you eat lemons like they're apples." She teased. "Though, it does make sense, since you have such a sour attitude." She smirked when she saw that her teasing had gotten to the younger girl.

"I have a sour attitude, but at least I'm not a bitter person who drinks bitter tea!" Ryuko snapped back. It was supposed to be insulting but she couldn't seem to quite conceal a smirk of her own.

"Well we do have many reasons to be bitter, little sister." Satsuki said pointedly, lifting up her cup.

Ryuko lifted up her cup and leaned back in her chair, sighing. "True that, sis." She agreed, before toasting cups with her older sister.

They smiled at each other, and hummed as the warm liquid ran down their throats. Then, something registered in Ryuko's head.

"Don't ever call me little sister again."

Satsuki couldn't help but laugh.