"It's a skill required for my duty... That I might have honed outside my duty. Like by sneaking out at night. You kind of have to just experiment things outside the frame your family has designed for you sometimes."

He wasn't quite sure everyone would agree to that, but he nodded anyways. "I suppose being here let's you experiment a bit free of interruptions then." There didn't seem to be many crab here to try and keep the Hida in line.

"Well, at least if you find anything to your liking." He smirked and pushed away his empty way. "I think ill take you up on that offer of a ride though sometime. I've been meaning to get out and explore sometime."

"Oh yes, the miai has barely started, and I have already took part in some... unexpected... experiments."

The Hida froze for an instant as her mind wandered down memory lane.

"Like..."

She switched to a different lane:

"Like there is a Matsu wrestler here, and she's got muscles you could break a sword on!

And my other roommate is MAXIMUM RANGE Chiyoko! Like, the Lion sniper prodigy who can kill a fly with one shot from the other side of the mountain!"

Hayato decided to let the part of experiments pass, though he couldn;t pervent his lips from forming into a playful smirk. He might have an idea about what she was refering to then.

"Maximum Range Chiyoko?" He asked a bit curiously, it must of been the woman that his clan mate had talked about earlier in the day. "She must be a truly extradonairy sniper with a name like that."

"It seems you've met far more Lion's than I though, and quite impressive one's at that." He waved his hand and called over the waiter so he could order a cup fof seet sake. "Sadly perhaps I'm not nearly impressive as they it seems.."

"Hey, it's up to you to try to impress me. I'm not a demanding lady. Matsu Hide just had to flex her muscles to achieve that. Just tell me about your achievements and talents, and maybe I'll get impressed too."

"That seems a bit dull though doesn't it?" Hayato replied with a soft chuckle. "Maybe I'll end up with a chance to show off in one of the contests the Phoenix set us instead?"

"Words only go so far after all, right?"

"So your answer is wait and see?

I can live with that."

He smiledplayfully laughter dancingbehind his eyes. . "Makes it something of a surprise that way doesn't it?"

"Surprises can be bad or good. I'll definitely keep an eye open for them."

She stood, her belly quite full, and bowed:

"Now, if you'll excuse me, I have an otori I need to return to before they start forgetting who's their new mistress."

"Have a good rest of your day Hida-san." Hayato offered with a polite bow to the Crab.

"Good luck with your Otori."

"Thanks, but I'm Crab. I know my luck will be terrible."

She hit her chest with her fist.

"But I'll fix that by being twice as persistent."

She left on these words. Her servant Kyoko bowed in turn to the Tsuruchi then ran to follow her mistress.

Hayato wasn't sure what being a Crab had to do with being unlucky, but he didn't try looking for an explanation either, merely finishing his Sake before heading on his way.

/scene?