"There's only so much pottery you can look at before it all starts to look the same." Inko mumbled, mostly to herself. She caught the reproachful look on Rayet's face, before the other girl turned back to the display.

Inko wondered if she was going to be reprimanded but as the silence lingered between them, she figured she wouldn't. She shrugged, and took a picture of the next piece with her phone, taking care to also get the description that went with the piece of pottery. Once the picture was taken, she took a good look at it to make sure it was legible, before saving it, and clicking away on her phone.

As she was typing in the address, Yuki wandered over to the two of them. She'd been taking a little longer to look at things than the other girls. Inko thought that might mean she was distracted - because Rayet studied everything for too long already - but she wasn't sure if it was a good idea to say anything.

She smiled over at Yuki as she came over, and then finished clicking out the message on her phone. "You've been on that thing all day. Just like Nao-kun." Yuki sighed in mock irritation. "At least you're getting some good pictures?"

Inko smiled over at Yuki and nodded before answering. "Right! You said Nao-kun hasn't been to the museum before, so I thought I'd take some pictures for him. It's too bad he couldn't make it." She'd started the statement energetically, but as she got to the end of it, Inko petered off. She stared at the screen a few more seconds, before looking over at Yuki. "I thought he'd take some time off to get better, but I guess it is always work, work, work with him, right?"

Yuki gave her a sympathetic smile, and was about to say something when Rayet spoke. "It's more like his brain will turn to mush if he sits still for too long. He needs something to focus on." Inko noticed how Yuki's eyes narrowed suspiciously in Rayet's direction, but Rayet gave no inclination that she was paying attention. After a few seconds of silence, where Yuki seemed to have difficulty saying anything, Rayet walked off to look at the next piece. Both Inko and Yuki watched her go.

"Sorry about that. I think she's-"

"Unhappy that Nao-kun stood you two up, right?" Yuki supplied. Inko blushed at the bold statement, looking to the side and shaking her head.

"He didn't. He had work, I get it. It sort of isn't fair for us to just show up and all..." She fiddled with her phone for a few minutes, wondering if she should delete her comment, or send it anyway. The more she looked at it, the dumber it seemed. Should she keep the smiley faces? Should she just delete it outright? Was he even interested in pottery?

Yuki sighed, but it sounded more abrupt than anything else. "It's really busy for him now, something came up." Yuki reached over and placed her hand on Inko's shoulder, and when Inko looked up at her this time, it was an actual smile on her face. "But you're always welcome. Neither of us want you to feel like having you two here is a burden. I know Nao-kun feels the same way."

Inko gave Yuki a sheepish smile. "It's hard to tell sometimes with him."

Yuki gave a great huff, and placed her hands on her hip. "You know him; he has a hard time saying what he means sometimes." The two of them started walking together towards where Rayet was looking at another ceramic pot. "But believe me when I tell you something really important came up."

They'd reached Rayet, and Inko had pressed send on the message, when Rayet spoke. "What?"

Neither of them had really been paying attention, so when Rayet spoke, they both looked over at her quizzically. When Yuki didn't ask the obvious question, Inko felt it was her job to do so. "What did you say Rayet?"

At the prompting, Rayet turned from the piece of pottery she was looking at, and stared at Yuki. "What was so important?"

Inko quickly pursed her lips at Rayet. "You heard the first time, it's confidential." She could understand the other girl's irritation, but it didn't make any sense to take it out on Yuki. It wasn't something Inko could condone.

Rayet gave her a passing glance before turning back to Yuki. "What is so important at work that it can't wait for him to recover from an attempted assassination? We are supposed to be at peace time, what is keeping him chained to his work?"

"Rayet!" Inko all but hissed, looking around to make sure that no one was listening to their conversation. She was happy to note that the elderly couple that had been in the room with them had moved on already, but it still made her squeamish to hear Rayet so blatantly state the question.

Rayet didn't even give her the time of day. Her eyes were squarely locked with Yuki. "Are there medical complications we aren't being told about? I knew he liked keeping secrets, but I didn't expect it from you too."

Instead of hardening, like Inko had expected, Yuki's eyes seemed to soften, and she gave Rayet a soft smile. "I know you're worried. I wish he could be here spending time with you two, but he can't right now."

If the statement was meant to placate Rayet, it didn't. Her eyes remained as intent as they had before. "It's about Mars, isn't it. Is he planning another trip?"

For a few seconds Yuki looked flabbergasted, before the calm look was back on her face, but Inko could easily note the hint of worry still lingering. "I certainly hope not."

Rayet's eyes never wavered. In fact, they intensified, and Inko wanted to placate her, to calm her down and get that burning coldness out of her face, but she didn't dare. "If he's dumb enough to go back, they really will kill him this time."

It hit Inko right then, that they couldn't be having that conversation, no matter what. Those were the sorts of things she had nightmares about, and Rayet was almost outright promising them, as if she didn't know that saying something makes it more real. On instinct, Inko hoped between the two of them, her eyes coming between Rayet's and Yuki's. Inko smiled sheepishly. "Ya know, it's about lunch time. We should go eat. Rayet gets cranky when she's hungry."

Taking the diversion for what it was, Yuki looked down at her. There was worry swimming in Yuki's brown eyes, and something else that Inko couldn't name, something aggressive. But in a blink, it was gone. Yuki was once again the composed commanding officer, and the sympathetic teacher. "Inko's right, it is about lunch time. We have a day pass to the museum, so we can come back after lunch." Yuki looked past Inko, over to Rayet, and her eyes weren't hard, but they were searching. "Or we can go to the beach. It's pretty quiet there, I'm sure we could have some privacy."

Inko's eyes widened. This was not what they need to be doing. This was not what they should be discussing. They should have been having a good time, and enjoying themselves, and looking at the dumb pottery that Rayet liked so much. She shifted her eyes to look over at Rayet, but the other girl was no longer looking at them. Instead, Rayet was gazing over her shoulder at the pottery, her eyes cloudy, and her face blank. "We can get something to eat, but I'd pick a museum over a beach any day."

Inko wasn't exactly sure what that meant, but she'd take what she could get. She gave Yuki a sheepish smile and tried to ignore the obvious irritation on the older woman's face. She reached over and took Rayet's hand. "What do you want for lunch, Rayet? Or should we let Yuki pick? I'm sure she knows what's good, right, Yuki?"

When Inko looked back, Yuki was all composure again. It was enough to remind her that she was dealing with a Kaizuka. "Sure, I could suggest some places."