Liang lit up noticeably as Kotone presented him with the koku.  If all went well, very little of his own reserves would be spent, and he would have performed a service for his new companions, proven some small level of worth, and potentially avoided some unpleasant duty while in travel.  He was quite pleased with himself so far.<br/><br/>At market, Liang quickly discovered that the abundance of travelers had resulted in destroying all chances of discount on traveling provisions.  The realization was quite unpleasant, more so than it should be for any samurai with the means to pay the full amount. He negotiated the price back down to standard fare and had an assistant help him carry the bags of rice (fifty days' worth for one man) back to the gate, along with the paste and vegetables.<br/><br/>The situation seemed calmer when Liang returned.  Maseko seemed to have calmed, her...eccentric behavior no longer as great a risk for dishonorable staring, for which Liang was mainly grateful, if a little disappointed.  Having previously been made aware of Shiori's considerable assets as well, his mind wandered quite inappropriately with thoughts of the two samurai-ko.<br/><br/>Liang distributed the bags based on direction (making his best effort to hide his disappointment upon learning he would be carrying some of it), and gave the paste and vegetables to Kotone.  Once that was done he looked around expectantly, not wanting to be the one to make things happen.<br/><br/>***<br/><br/>The trip was unpleasant.  The cloud cover, blocking the sun, made for a chill day, though for the middle of the day it was mildly refreshing.  As afternoon began fading into evening, the meeting location appeared to be reached (assuming Shiori was right).  The area was fairly non-descript, off of the road, but with firm, flat ground.  A small ridge prohibited view of the road that had been traveled on.