Eriko returned to the Hakumyo to catch up with some cats and get some much-needed caffeine to help her with her day. She found herself a seat at the table after it was cleared by a group of three and sat down to immediately conquer it (was that Lion 101-ing right?). As she held back a yawn and fished for the table menu buried in the stack of magazines, a familiar cat leapt up on the table to look at her curiously.



It was Mold, the supposed guardian at the table. Last time she was here, he was recharging on the sun but this time he seemed various curious about the Matsu.

"Heya, there," she said as she offered her hand to him. "I didn't take your seat, right? Hah, I guess these are really all of your seats!"

Having some time between meetings and other things that required her attention, Yakumo decided to relax a bit at the Cat Cafe. After all, what better place to relax than with lazy felines who expected you to shower them with love and attention.

As she placed her order for some coffee, the well-dressed diva looked around at who else was here this time of time, and spotted a Kuni... no a Lion. Dressing up as a Kuni? Or was it a Kuni dressing up as a Lion??

That was too much of a mystery to leave alone. Even if her last meeting with a Lion hadn't gone so well. Damnit, Yakumo, stop being such a chicken. Kicking herself mentally, she grabbed her coffee and approached the table. "Hello... you're a friend of little Mold here?"

Ugh. Such a terrible ice-breaker. Her nerves got the best of her.

It didn't really take much to encourage Mold and get his attention as he brushed his face on Eriko's hand. Eriko chuckled at the cat's suddenly affectionate streak as he seemed rather intent on rubbing his face on her palm to encourage stitches.

"Huh, you're a really friendly one!" She laughed at the needy affection of the cat before looking up when the felt a presence approach the table. Wait, wasn't that Yakumo? No chance it was a celebrity lookalike, right? "Heya. Hello. Oh, his name is Mold? Quite a strange name. We haven't known each for long but I suppose we're becoming fast friends it seems."

She smirked and gave Mold a few scritches between the ears to appease him for now before giving Yakumo a quick bow. "But, I'm sure there's plenty Mold for everyone if you want to join me, Susumu-san. I'm Matsu Eriko."

"The locals seem to bestow their felines with some strange names. But yes, his name is Mold and he's a rather sweet cat," she chuckled watching him smash his nose into the Matsu's hand.

"A pleasure, Matsu-san. Susumu Yakumo, although... I guess you might have already known that." Her voice and her smile, she did seem like the real deal. "I admit, I wasn't sure if you were a Lion or a Kuni at first glance..."

"Hah, well...how could I not at this point?" She chuckled with a shrug of her shoulder. "That's a pretty nice show you've put on the other day at the Wicked Wasp. Would that be considered something of a house show, I suppose? A rare treat. I'm surprised the whole city block didn't line up in hopes of getting a spot!"

Eriko turned her attention back to Mold for a moment, giving him a few more pets as he butted heads into her hand more before ultimately stopping. This left Mold a bit confused.

"Oh...Funny that." She smirked at first. "I guess I've had people assume that I've just taken to the local custom of masks and painted my face but generally most people assume that I'm a Lion in the most awkward sense. You wouldn't believe the amount of misunderstanding I get being thought of as a Deathseeker! But, to answer Susumu-sama's question, I was born and trained as a Kuni. I guess some supposedly ditch the facepaint sometimes but I've got to make it up to my sensei somewhere."

"Oh, thank you," she smiled and took the seat opposite of Eriko to sit down. "Yeah, something like a house-show. It's a good opportunity for local artists like Soshi-san to show off to a different audience too."

Lots more people were willing to come if it was a big star headlining a show, rather than just a local artist who might only draw the usual crowd.

"As for the paint... I suppose I have a bit of an interest in such. The traditional make-up that is," and totally not because her current girfriend was a Kuni. "I've seen it before, especially here around the Akatsubaki and such, and it's just so fascinating. Looks completely different from these Lion Deathseekers I've heard of. Because there's a level of attention and detail."

Mold would cast a curious glance at both of them, trying to size up which human would give the most pets as the pet train seemed to have suddenly stopped.

"Yes, please have a seat, Susumu-sama. Just me and my new friend Mold here!" She chuckled before reaching out a hand and resuming the pets on Mold's back, giving him a few pats in between on his at least slightly chonk body. "Part of me wondered if it was a shoot for one of those acoustic house show specials but I don't think the crowd was subdued enough for that. It was a great production to make it seem like a regular concert...just boxed into one place."

"A Lion Deathseeker would be far more plain in design, that's for sure." She smirked. "I don't know if mine is that traditional but Kuni face paint does have a necessary artform to it, which is mostly by necessity than the need to be fanciful. Each face paint design on a Kuni is pretty much unique. Yet, also must be a slight variation of our sensei's own design."

"Really? That is very interesting actually..." she mused, finding it fascinating how there seemed to be some very small parallels there between the Kuni and the ways of the geiko and maiko, who also learned their makeup from their big sisters, and would often continue a similar style as they progressed through their career.

"So are you... married into the Lion then? I did often wonder if a Kuni would maintain their facepaint if they joined another family. I suppose seeing you answers my question."

Mold would adopt something of a strange cat resting face with all of the petting, which made indicated some disappointment with his expression. However, the loud purrs from his throat told another story.

The question might have been a bit strange but she supposed it wasn't uncommon to be asked about her face paint and the nature surrounding it. "Yes, that is correct. Matsu Hide-san is my wife, I'm sure you must have seen her around here. She's the popular one but I'd like to think that I'm the adorable one. I'm sure I'm good for something, I promise." She laughed on that note.

"If a Kuni would honour their heritage and the heritage of their schooling, I'd think so. Of course, I've met a Kuni who completely dropped it after being married to a Yasuki." She gave a look around the place almost wondering if said Kuni would appear out of nowhere. "But, something tells me she was never a fan in the first place..."

Yakumo watched the content feline with an amused smile. Oh, to be a cat...

"I don't think I've had the pleasure of meeting her, except catching a glimpse of her, like at the oshidama games, or in that Survivor-contest. Perhaps I will have the opportunity to run into her in the coming days, as I have met other members of the Lion present." One had gone rather well, and the other not so much. This one seemed to be going fine too for the moment, as there wasn't any so where is your jade, Spider? or do you even know what honor is?.

Picking up her cup for another sip, Yakumo chuckled softly. "It does seem like quite the hassle to put on every day, but I suppose that shows the committment. Not as easy as just slipping on a mask. But are you here on holiday with your wife then?"

Eriko gave Yakumo's cup a glance and waved down the server to get something similar. She had been so distracted by Mold that she forgot about getting a caffeinated drink! With that fixed, she would go back to casually petting Mold as she conversed with Susumu. "Eh, hassle sure but once you build a system for it, it's not that bad? Honestly, at this point, I swear I would have more trouble...blending at this point. The facepaint is routine and admittedly, a lot of modern products help with the process."

"Eventually, I'm sure you'll run into my wife eventually!" She gave a shrug on the matter. "It does look like she doing something during her time here, at least. Sounds like I'm missing out on a few things there. Me? I'm not officially on holiday, nah. My duty is mostly day-to-day embassy work and gopher. You know, the general stuff they could throw on me to keep me busy." And out of trouble, I suppose...

She chuckled warmly. "I suppose that's true, it's just as much routine for you as regular makeup is for me."

Little did Yakumo know she would get roped into a meeting with Hide the day after. "Doing something? What like... diplomat-stuff, or negotiations?" Yakumo didn't know that she was asking about Matsu 'The Strategist' Hide, after all. "But it sounds like they do a lot of work to keep you busy, K--Matsu-san."

Eriko chuckled at the question as her hand moved down from scratching Mold between his ears to scratching his jaw. The cat would lift his jaw slightly from the attention and half-close his eyes at the attention as he was having his best time yet today as a cat.

"You know, I guess I've never bothered her to bug her about work, to be honest. We aren't exactly a diplomat or negotiation-based couple, as much as I'd like to think that I'd do a swell job at it. You know, past results withstanding! All water under the bridge. But yeah, my wife is pretty humble about it and she does it leagues better than I could. You have way-way better things to talk about during our time together." She took a break from giving Mold those scratches and his tired resting cat face expressed his immediate disappointment.

She smirked at Yakumo momentarily. "You know, Susumu-sama, I didn't think you knew me that long to almost make the mistake of calling me, Kuni-san."

Seeing Mold's disappointment of not getting anymore pets from one human, Yakumo beckoned him closer to her with some movements of her fingers accompanied by softly clicking her tongue to get his attention.

And Mold's loyalty was to pets and cuddles, so he didn't need to be asked twice, and made his spot in the middle of the two ladies to recieve all the pets he rightfully deserved.

"Ah well," she chuckled sheepisly, trying to recover from her blunder, "the paint threw me off a little still. My apologies, I meant to disrespect..." Quick, deflect away from the mistake! "I totally see why you don't spend time talking about work when you're with your partner, of course. Got to cherish the moments you have, right?"

"None at all, Susumu-sama! Not a disrespect if it was true at some point! Just makes me think that you knew me a while back or you hand out with a lot of Kuni," she said with a shrug as a mug of coffee was placed before her, not quite dropping the topic yet. She picked up her mug to get a closer whiff of it, which was doing much for her already. Mornings were just not her thing and she was fitting yawns all morning. She took a sip from her coffee before setting it down. "I can't say I really hung out with that many Spider because, well...you know."

"Anyway, yeah, absolutely," she took to the next topic easily after speaking her mind. "I mean who knows when she'll ship out again. She'll be in space and I'll be here. We haven't really been married for that long but I guess the toughest times are when you're not used to it, right?"

"Right..." she tried to not think of the awkwardness that usually accompanied meeting Crab or Lion. Would it be doubly so with a Crab-Lion?

"Mm, yes, I'd think so. If you've not been married for a long time yet, you still need to find your rythm and habits, so to speak." Said the obvious expert on relationship, having... no serious relationships like that under her belt from past experiences.

At least Mold could continue to enjoy the pets, and he was making hurr-purr sounds in response to the scritches he was getting behind his ear near the neck.

"Have you, uhm... if you don't mind me asking, but have you met many Spider before? Like, more than just in passing-met?"

"Oh, of course. I suppose there are some samurai out there who regard the relationship as akin to another facet of duty. It's about understanding your new role, becoming familiar with your surroundings, and just getting used to the routine." She said on the matter, while not exactly subscribing to that particular mindset. "Well, I'll have it figured out. No need to bore you with talk of my relationship and my wife, Susumu-sama."

She took a sip of her coffee and gave a few nods as she swallowed her gulp. "Mmmhmm. I mean, yes. It comes with the territory of being a travelling witch-hunter, at least a former one! You tend to run into your share of Spiders when you go to a place like the World of Dreams, border systems, Imperial worlds, and other more cosmopolitan worlds. We talk for a bit, sometimes for more than a moment like we are now. I suppose are you asking me if I've gotten into their business about the taint or their tattoos?"

"Ahhh," that gave her pause in the cat-petting, "no, not as such, no... I meant more like, if you've made any friends with Spider samurai, or gotten to know some of them well."

Gloved fingers poked awkwardly at the coffee-cup before her. "I just, hm," it's stupid, "met one of your new kinsmen the other day. To be honest, I haven't always had amicable encounters with Lion, or Crab, before, but it was an unpleasant meeting of sorts. A part of me is now curious if more people approach me and my kin with such... willfull ignorance, and lack of kindness."

"Oh! Friends in the Spider Clan? Well, I'm generally friendly with everyone, I think! Friends for me are probably a little hard to come by, especially when it comes to tolerating me and what I put people through. Unintentionally, I swear!" She chuckled on a slightly anxious note.

"As for actual friends, ah well." She gave a glance down at her mug for a moment before shrugging her shoulder. "I guess not, if I had to be honest. Kind of hard when they often think that I'm just trying to scope them out for some secret Kuni plan or I know I can tell that they're scoping me out for some secret Spider plan. Considering what I'm known to do and my Family of birth. Talking tends to be really awkward, sometimes, like they're constantly trying to get one up on you or lay some sort of slam dunk insult..."

"Not that I feel that way about the present company, of course!" She chuckled with a quick smile before letting out a small sigh. "Ah...You're talking about Lion kinsman, right? Was it over as a swanky place? A courtly place? I guess that doesn't really matter that it happened. Sorry about that, Susumu-sama. I guess it's rather typical that people have an agenda around here, which is probably why they were confrontational? Kind of easy to do that when you just look at people as their Clan and not people. Probably more of a defensive measure, I'm sure."

Gosh, she is nice. No one told me Kuni were allowed to be nice!

Mold headbutted into Yakumo's hand to demand the pets that had been so cruelly stopped, prompting the singer to resume the headscritches.

"Ah, no... just happened upon eachother in the park here. I was taking advantage of the earlier hours of the day to get some pictures of those lilac drakes since they're such shy creatures, and our paths crossed there. I like to think I approached the meeting with the same courtesy and friendliness I extend to most people I meet, but..." she sighed, and shrugged, "well, she was kind of starting to question me if I understood honor and such."

Yakumo shook her head, snapping out of the unpleasant memory. "Anyway, it didn't end so well. I'd rather not dwell on it, since I don't want a meeting with one bad Lion tarnish my impression on all the other Lion I might meet in my life later on. As you say, avoiding looking at people as their clan, and not the person they are. I feel too many people do that, sadly."