Liang, having come around to get a clearer view of the map, once again tried to make sense of it, and once again failed.  He knew that their destination was to the southwest, and that there was a mountain range to navigate, but he had no idea how Shiori knew which direction to go to get to the pass in the mountains, or which roads to take.  He looked up across the map to Shiori, only to find that she'd bent down, giving Liang a rather privileged look down her rather considerable cleavage.  He flinched as she answered his first question, having momentarily forgotten he'd asked it, and looked up guiltily.<strong>"Oh.  Good."</strong>He noticed her blush, strengthening his suspicion that he'd been caught.  He'd not considered that she'd blushed due to her history with Keitaro, or that she'd been concerned that he'd been concerned with koku, as that was the one thing the Kaeru rarely lacked.  As she hurriedly made her way out of the room, he chastised himself for his conduct.<br/><br/>His self-lecturing did not last long, however.  Once Kotone entered and Keitaro mentioned sharing tasks on the road, Liang's thoughts became a bit more practical.<em>What kind of duties needed to be shared?</em>Liang couldn't cook, nor could he think of anything else he could do along the way of significant value.  Aside from his travel to Kyuden Ikoma, he'd never left the City of the Rich Frog.  He cleared his throat, hoping to move on from his earlier embarrassment.<strong>"I can buy the rice and vegetables.  How much rice should we get here?"</strong><br/><br/>He stopped off to change on the way out to the gate, packing his kimono and donning his light armor as quickly as possible so as not to be the last one there.  His daisho and tessen were easily viewable, identifying him as a bushi.  Seeing that Shiori and Maseko were out there waiting for the group, and that they hadn't been there for his earlier offer, he repeated it.<strong>"It was suggested that we buy rice here.  I can take care of that if you prefer.  I'm familiar with merchants."</strong>