[ His younger (?) siblings, then. Shi Qingxuan nods, smiling. Not saying more on his father doesn't cross Shi Qingxuan's mind; this is about Shino's siblings, after all. (And, less consciously, he hasn't thought of his own parents enough in centuries to think there's anything strange about Shino focusing on his siblings.) More so, he thinks, that sounds like quite an assortment...but given what he knows of Shino's childhood, maybe that's not unusual. ]

So Shino's in the middle! You seem like someone with siblings; I'm not surprised at all. Even of you aren't related by blood, you've still known each other since you were young.

[ It's also nice and easy to talk about things like this... Taking a sip of his tea, he lightly continues: ]

What are they like? Did they usually take care of the cooking or just the tea?