>"Yes, I can only imagine."
>You and Minoriko exchange a few more words on the subject of telepathic communication, but then her focus turns entirely to the task ahead of her. As she putters away in her kitchen, you take the time to ponder your ring, and why it did, and is still, reacting to Minoriko. Or for that matter, what sets it off. So far, apart from the people you've already recruited, your ring has reacted to Komachi, Hatate, Haruka, Keine and now Minoriko. But it hasn't reacted to the likes of Letty or Nitori or Marissa. It can't simply be a willingness to fight that causes your ring to react, otherwise it would have jumped at Nitori. It can't be closeness to you, or it wouldn't have reacted to Hatate or Kiku, certainly not before it reacted to others. Although the fact that it reacted more strongly to Rin seems to indicate that this may have at least something to do with it. The fact that it didn't react to her right away, though, is a bit puzzling. And proximity is plainly a factor as well, at least thus far.
>Perhaps it is a matter of selflessness? The four people you've given rings to have all been willing to risk their lives for something other than themselves or their own desires, and this is true for you as well. But then again, that doesn't explain why it didn't react to Letty, and you don't know Keine or Hatate well enough to be able to tell if this is true for them. Perhaps it isn't just one thing, but a combination of factors that leads your ring to react to certain people and not others, but even with the experiences and information you've gathered thus far, exactly what those factors might be is something you can't be certain of. At least, not at this point.
>In less than the fifteen minutes asked for, Minoriko has finished, and has prepared a spread of rice balls, flavored with various materials, southern-style okonomiyaki, some sliced beef sandwiches, a thermos of tea, and of course the peaches you requested.
>"Were you planning on walking all the way up there?" Minoriko asks as she gives her hands a quick scrub following her cooking.
