Kota trots after her, looking at all the stuff, recoiling when a horse poops in the street. Nobody's paying much attention to either of them, though Kota's hair gets a couple second looks.

Fika keeps tryin' to find someone who'll let her sew with them! She is very de-termined and not all bothered by things like horse poop.

Yeah nobody wants to let her do that.

Kota, very bothered by horse poop, is loitering in one place near a dye shop which has lots of hot water and an incentive to keep away the ick.

"Hi! What'dyoudo here?"

"- kid, I'm busy," says the dye shop man.

"With what?"

With slapping her in the face! "Get lost!"

"Uh."

?!

"Shoo! Can't you see I'm working?"

"You stopped working to hit me?" Fika says, completely flabbergasted. 

"Get out!" he says, raising his hand again.

Fika backs away from this ...wild animal that doesn't know what it's doing or something?

That seems to satisfy him. He goes back to what he's doing.

"What was that??" Fika asks Kota.

"- he wanted you to leave and you wouldn't leave and he hit you," says Kota.

"Yes!"

"It was mean but I don't get why you wouldn't leave?"

"He didn't seem sad about it and I wanted to learn more! That's how people work!"

"He was mad! Mad is a good reason to leave people alone too!"

"Oh, he was? I guess that's what I might think an animal was if it hit me."

"People can be mad too. Don't you ever get mad?"

"Yeah, and I'd say I'm mad or move away and not hit someone! Hitting someone hurts them!"

"- well he couldn't move away, you were in his shop."

"He didn't tell me to leave! And why would hurting me help!"

"He said he was busy. I think that just means leave or at least stop distracting them."