Hinata was back, bunny hoodie meets cats. He had a mostly ignored cup of tea and was waiting to see which cat would approach him first.

Still all gussied up after his meeting in the morning, Akuta took the opportunity to pass as someone who might be respectable and wander on through several shops on the 3rd Mercantile. When he saw a sign for a 'Cat Cafe' he was slightly confused. Why would anyone serve cat? It's stringy and not very tasty...

And then he walked into the place. Oh. That makes more and less sense, somehow. Well, he was here, might as well get a treat. He ordered a dango and looked around, taking note of the occupants. Well, certainly cats. And a powder blue rabbit hoodie clad figure that he had absolutely no idea who it was. Biting into one of the dango when it was given to him and he paid, he gives an incline of his head to the figure in greeting.

"You work here?"

His first instinct was to look around to make sure no actual staff were near him. Finding that they weren't he turned back.

"Oh me? No I don't work here. Despite all the lovely cats that would make it a really cool place to work! I'm Asahina Hinata, please to meet you . . . . " he looked for a recognisable mon and found nothing " . . err, Samurai-samaa!?!?!?"

"Oh. Given the outfit, looked like you might work here. Quite...colorful."

When the Crane introduces himself, Akuta gives a nod. "Ah, an Asahina eh? Makes sense with the cats. Name is Akuta." Somewhere, the name of the Crane rings a bell, but he can't quite place him. The ronin wasn't very up on his pop culture figures and interstellar news came from the occasionally grimy billboard.

Hinata looked down at his array of blues and whites, with the occasional bit of silver. No pink today though, so not as colourful as it could have been.

"Oh I suppose it is pretty colourful, but aren't all the clans like that?"

The moment he said clans the few braincells that worked, miraculously aligned and said 'No mons means he has no clan you idiot'.

"Oh . . "

He had some of the ignored tea to hide the sudden embarrassment and made a face at that too.

"Ack, cold."

Seeing the gears turn for Hinata brings a smirk to Akuta and he takes another bite of his dango.

"I'm afraid you'd be more of an expert on that topic than I would be. I see a sea of crimson every day...or brown and grey. Palette in my life is fairly drab. Unless I want to look at my own arm, anyway."

When the face is made, Akuta turns and looks over his shoulder to the counter. "A fresh hot tea for Asahina-sama, eh? An apology for my shabby presence."

"Oh thank you!"

He put the cold cup back down and pushed it slightly away. The cold bitter taste was still having him pull an slightly upset face.

"I was so busy watching the kitties I forgot all about my tea. Sea of red . . . . . ???? Oh! Scorpions! Of course."

Amazingly he'd figured that one out without any extra prompting.

When the hot tea was put onto the counter, Akuta would grab it and set it down in front of the Asahina, inviting himself to sit at the table as he continues to snack.

"So, what's with the getup? Some new fashion thing or this your own personal style? Can't say I see many people dressed...like that."

He looked over the Crane before his attention was turned to a cat rubbing against his leg...it's Debris! An idle lowering of the hand to scratch along the cats ears is all the attention Akuta is willing to offer at the moment, but perhaps if the cat is persistent it can get a few pets.

Hinata was looking at the cat.

"So floofy."

And then realised he really should answer the questions from the lesser non-cat beings.

"Oh this, a bit my own style and a bit of my idol group's style."

"What is an idol group? Some sort of Fortunist thing?" Akuta looked perplexed. Unfortunately, being from the slums meant that you didn't keep up on trends. He may or may not have been prepared for an education, but it's too late now.

The wolf didn't what an Idol was???? Everyone knew that, didn't they? Hinata was stunned for a moment.

"Oh . . . really? I'm a singer and performer, Akuta-sannnnnn!! Up on stage with the rest of my group, Usagi Drop! and all our adoring fans in the audience!"

"Usagi Drop? Hm...nope, never heard of 'em." He finished off his dango and chewed thoughtfully. This one is a singer, eh?

"Do you and your group wears costume like that on stage? And what kind of music do you sing? Afraid I don't hear much music these days other than a shamisen now and again."

Other members of the group would have been disappointed or angry that Akuta had not heard of them. Not Hinata.

"Oh this is based off one of our opening costumes but not quite as flashy and it covers more in case it's cold. We sing fast, poppy stuff you can dance to!"

He took another sip of tea, conscious not to let this one go cold and was slightly distracted by a cat stalking past them . . . but not stopping.

"We don't play any instruments though. All the music is pre recorded."

"Covers more? What are you wearing on stage, a mid-thigh length hakama?" He leans back in his chair, still petting the cat beneath his hands before lightly shooing it over towards Hinata so he can pet the furball.

"Ah, that might also be why I haven't heard of it. Not much of a dancer, really. Pre-recorded, eh? Makes sense I guess if you're going to be travelling around alot."

He looked down at his shorts. His short shorts.

"Well I guess they're about the same as these. Sometimes even shorter, but i've always got socks or thigh highs on. It's the tops that sometimes have holes in them. Well not holes . . . gaps . . . left on purpose."

Then the cat arrived and all sense, what there was of it, left.

"Oh so soft and floofy!!!"

"Well, that's good. If those shorts were any shorter, you'd cause a diplomatic incident with the Lion."

When Hinata dedicates their brain cells to the cat, Akuta leans back, considering. "So what, you just here on vacation? A concert?"

He didn't really hear the shorts comment as the cat was filling his attention at the time.

"Oh I'm here for the Winter Court festivities! I will be doing a concert, but as a solo act and warm up for Yakumo-samaaa!"

"Who is that? Another member of your group?" Akuta was truly and perhaps blissfully, oblivious.

Maybe I can get a ticket and see what this business is all about...provided it's cheap.

Hinata blinked, hand frozen mid pet on the cat.

"Oh. . . . you really don't know who Yakumo-samaaa is?"

The cat nudged him and he returned to normal service, even though still shocked.

"She's only one of the most famous idol singers the Spider have. Crane trained and contracted to the Imperials. I thought everyone knew who she was."

"Never heard of her...but if she's Crane trained and Imperial koku is moving her around, sounds like she'd be important. She nice or a snob?"

Getting up, Akuta moved to grab a bottle of water and paid for it, cracking it open and taking a long drink. Delicious and no chance of parasites...

"You got any spare tickets for the event? Never been to one of these concerts."