Systems Check (D4, Mid Afternoon) [Invite]

[Susumu Yakumo]

(Closed unless you're supposed to be here)

The Wicked Wasp wasn't open for business yet, but that didn't mean things weren't happening there. Which meant the involvement of a Spider diva, a boy-band star, and a local DJ. (And others working at the Wicked Wasp too of course)

Dressed casual yet nice for the day, Yakumo had her classic thigh-highs and gloves in place as she finished her talk with the management part of the club to square out some of the final details on behind-the-scenes stuff. She'd had Yu for this stuff at New Kalani, and the Miya had handled everything during her touring, so there was a lot of stuff she hadn't needed to think about before.

But everything seemed to be proceeding well for the concert.

[Asahina Hinata]

Hinata arrived being his usual cheery self. Wearing one of his bunny hoodies, this time in white, blue shorts, knee socks and white trainers he bounced up to Yakumo and pulled off a classic Drop! stage pose.

"Yakumo-samaaaaa!!! Let's do this!"

[Soshi Kazumi]

Kazumi was down right gloomy by comparison to the Asahina, and that was to say Kazumi was actually pretty excited but few could match the exuberant energies the Crane put out.

Kazumi strolled in, hands in pockets of their usual synth leather jacket wirh red shirt and black pants "Minna-sama, I am honored to work with both of you!" They said after giving a welcoming bow.

[Susumu Yakumo]

"Hinata-san, so good you could come," and that you managed to even find the way and not end up at the Cat Cafe. Again. Yakumo would rather try to herd the cats there than to try to be Hinata's handler.

"And Soshi-san. Happy to see you too." And this time she'd been able to listen to all of his music that had been available here on the planet that wasn't some secret illegal files. "Hinata-san, this is Soshi Kazumi, also known as Moonshade here locally. Have you two met before? He's a very talented musician, working with electronic dance music, and seems to know his way around good sounds."

And introducing Hinata was easy. "And this is Asahina Hinata from Usagi Drop!, and my favorite member of the group." While that wasn't a lie, it did sound... odd coming from her.

[Asahina Hinata]

"Oh hi, Soshi-samaaaaa!!"

He bowed politely but was still bouncing around like an overexcited kitten.

"No, I hadn't met Soshi-samaa! until now, Yakumo-samaaa!."

He looked ready for anything, which was good as he had no idea what they were here to do. These kind of things had always been organised by their manager or one of the other Drop! boys.

[Soshi Kazumi]

Kazumi bowed again at being introduced "it is nice to meet you Asahina-sama. I hope you have been enjoying World of Dreams so far." Kazumi said in their distinct sounding voice.

"So how's everything coming along so far? Need any help with set up talking with management?" Kazumi asked being the one most familiar with the venue.

[Susumu Yakumo]

"Everything on that end should be squared out," Yakumo reassured Kazumi. "They'll be running the ads tomorrow. Make people scramble for tickets and such - probably all part of their plan to maximize profits, I'm guessing."

She at least seemed to recall something like that with Yu, that it was good to pressure people into having to make decisions in a short timeframe, or something. Commercial matters were still not her area of expertise.

"So we're here today to check out the sound systems, for me and Hinata-san to check out the stage and how well we can move around there." She knew Hinata was much more the dancer than she was. "And decide on the set-lists. I was thinking as Soshi-san is the local celebrity, he could open the show?"

[Asahina Hinata]

At mention of the stage, Hinata was already looking across to it.

"It looks a little smaller than what I usually work with."

He also usually had four other boys dancing with him at the same time but he wouldn't realise that without help.

[Susumu Yakumo]

"Well, you will get to have it all for yourself for your numbers, Hinata-san," Yakumo said, providing some brainpower for the derpy Asahina.

Not that she had that much to spare herself, but next to Hinata even she looked like an absolute genius of a fox what used to be Professor of Cunning at Rokugan University but has moved on and is now working for the Emerald Office at the High Commission of Inter-Clan Cunning Planning.

[Asahina Hinata]

"Oh . . . . Great!!!!"

The few braincells rattling around in his skull managed to align for a nanosecond.

"Oh but that means there's no one to cover lyrics when I cast an illusion spell . . . . argh."

[Soshi Kazumi]

i guess being part of a group has some disadvantages as well Kazumi thought while they discussed Hinata's set.

Kazumi was the relative unknown in this situation, sure locally they had some popularity but they were the one that was filling the building.

"I'm happy to open for you two, in fact it's a crazy honor really. So I can come out and give the crowd a local face and do a bit to hype them up for you Asahina-sama and then Susumu-sama can come in and deliver the killing blow for a great show." They said laying out a preliminary plan for the flow of the show

[Susumu Yakumo]

Well magic was far outside of her realm to be able to give any pointers on it, other than don't let a Kuchiki use you to test new spells. So Hinata would be stuck trying to figure that out for himself if he wanted to ask the kami for illusions.

"Mhmm, yes, that sounds good," Yakumo nodded, trying to formulate the right lineup. When to switch it up with a ballad compared to a high energy song, all that jazz.

"I think we should find a way to close the show together. One I've been working on could work well with additional vocals, I think. Besides, it creates for additional hype at the end to get three performers together."

Opening up her densai, Yakumo started going through her own program to bring up one of the songs she had been working on.

[Asahina Hinata]

Hinata eventually figured out he could just cast a few illusions during the musical solo bits that usually were used by Yuta for his awesome dancing. He did sparkly butterflies for most Drop! songs and he was going to get them in somehow. On hearing the three of them would perform together on something though . . . he returned to excited kitten.

"Sing with Yakumo-samaaaa?!?!?!??!?!!?"

[Susumu Yakumo]

"Yes. Wouldn't that be fun?" she said with a small grin.

Nazuna would go absolutely ballistic, but the Crane would lap it up, she figured.

[Asahina Hinata]

"Oh absolutely! I can't wait to tell Naz-kun!!!! he's always talking about you."

Talking trash about her, Hinata . . . trash . . .

[Soshi Kazumi]

Kazumi couldn't help but smile at the enthusiasm of the little Crane. He seemed like a truly pure soul.

Listening to the track they nodded "sounds like good stuff, not that you would share anything but. I'm definitely in for a joint finale."

[Susumu Yakumo]

"Wonderful. It's sure to get people hyped at the end. Always finish big, I say." Some artists liked to finish with something calming to round off an evening, but Yakumo absolutely preferred to finish with a big bang at her shows.

"It will be exciting working with you both. What kind of numbers do you have in mind?"

[Asahina Hinata]

Now Hinata looked a bit shocked. He had to pick his numbers? Naz-kun or Tomo-kun always did the sets for Usagi Drop! Hinata just stared at the lists until he remembered the order without needing the actual list. Also he wasn't used to singing the entire number, being an ensemble group.

"Oh. I guess I better pick some of our older numbers. The ones I know all the words to."

[Soshi Kazumi]

Kazumi nodded at the Asahina, seemed like a sensible decision.

"For my part I'll probably do a couple songs people know, a remix and an original. I think I'll actually finish with a live performance of the song I showed you the other day Susumu-sama. Maybe with a bit ofba twist."