Ko had appeared to not have heard her slip up; or, perhaps he had chosen to ignore it for her sake. Either way, Rinni was grateful. She let out an automatic sigh of relief as she listened to Ko tell his story. She quickly regretting asking him as she noticed the finality in his tone and realized, unlike her, his parents (or in the very least his mom) was dead. She felt instantly like she were the bad guy at this moment. It was obvious, to her at least, that this was a rather touchy subject. She looked up at the tall, dark, handsome man that towered over her, sorrow in her eyes as she thought it only polite to apologize. It seemed insensitive not to.
"I'm so sorry, Ko. I didn't mean to bring up any sad memories. I-I had no idea..." She spoke softly, gently, as if comforting a child. She then tried to place herself in his shoes. She couldn't. It was hard to imagine what life would be like for her if her parents died. If she lost her brother. The very idea of that reality was painful, and it made her realize how fragile human mortality really was. One second you're there, happy, smiling. In a blink, it's over. The thought caused the girl to visibly shudder, goosebumps running up her arms.
Ko proceeded to mention his skills with the sword, somehow keeping calm and seemingly emotionless the entire time. She wondered how he did it. How could one person keep that kind of pain suppressed to the point that their very person feels cold and heartless? Rinni always saw the good in people. She knew, deep down, there was more to Ko than what he let show. No one was that cold. Even so, she couldn't help but feel she had offended this man left and right today.
First, she threw cabbage in his face. Then, she drew her Arcing Bow on him. After that, she acted like a nervous, awkward, nitwit. Now, she brought up sad memories of his mom. God, what she must look like to him. In her mind, she could only imagine him looking down on her like the stupid child that she was. Trying so hard to prove she's grown up and capable of taking care of herself; proving the exact opposite when encountering a pretty face.
Her thoughts were abruptly interrupted when Ko took the conversation full circle and drew attention back toward her previous slip-up. Startled, her gaze shot upward to meet him. To her horror, he was looking right at her, and unintentionally, their eyes met. She was never one to make direct eye contact. She was too shy for that shit. But at this moment, she found herself locked in his gaze. And there it was. The deer in headlights look. Her light skin paled until she matched Winter's fur. The hairs on the back of her neck spiked. Her eyes widened in horror, as though Ko suddenly had three heads.
The little fox's left ear twitched, and one blue eye opened casually as she glanced lazily toward the pair of humans. Still no threat from Ko. Rinni looked traumatized, but unharmed. So, the six-tailed fox yawned lazily and stretched her body out across the grass in a very lazy movement much like the typical dog or cat would on a lazy summer morning. Rinni was ever so grateful that Winter couldn't talk. Oh, what she'd probably have said in this instance would make things so much worse for the girl. If she didn't look like a woman to Ko before, it was even less so now.
The poor teen had completely frozen up. She was momentarily unresponsive as her brain tried to process a witty response that wouldn't result in her digging a deeper hole for herself. Then again, she wouldn't mind having a nice deep hole to hide in. She could feel her heart thundering against her chest, vibrating her body. She wondered if Ko could hear it. Was it loud enough? Oh lord, she hoped not!
"W-what are you t-talking about? Mumbled? Y-you must be hearing things, Ko..." Well, there was an attempt. "I didn't say anything! N-nothing... nothing at all! At least, nothing about you! I mean... w-why would I...?"
'Steer the conversation somewhere else, Rinni! You're putting yourself in an entire grave at this rate!'
"Hey, uh, are you hungry? You must be hungry, right? Look at the time, it's almost lunch! Oh, and I never did finish my breakfast! Maybe that's what you heard earlier! My stomach growling!" She laughed in a very nervous, and awkwardly fake style in an attempt to steer him anywhere other than in the direction of her feelings toward him. Whatever those feelings may be.