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Though it didn't occur often, when operating a business, occasionally there were mix-ups. For the most part, the Koga Inn ran smoothly thanks to Chouko, but things could slip out of her control for time to time. For instance, they had recently gotten their weekly shipment of teas, and for some reason, a portion of them had been missing. Though he didn't like to take the wagon out, there was no way he would be able to carry an entire half shipment back in his own arms, so he would deal with it. Reluctantly.

Hopping to the ground, he dusted off the seat of his pants, giving the horse a dire look as she snorted and blew at his bangs. He and the animal had a long history of disliking one another, and he didn't think that was going to change any time soon.

At least with Shizuka present the horse was less likely to take off and leave him stranded.

"I shouldn't be long," he said, placing his hands on his hips. "Mind the cart, and be polite if anyone comes by. But don't talk to strange men."

He scowled, and Shizuka giggled. "Don't worry, Yuu. I'll be smart." She gripped the reigns loosely in her hands, nodding toward him. "Go, go. We can get the tea and then go home, and we can make mochi."

He gave the horse one last look, trying to convey through telepathy that it needed to behave, and headed into the store. A bell chimed, and he wiped his feet, glancing around for an attendant.

He wore his typical uniform, complete with an apron, so it shouldn't have been difficult to tell who he was or what business he was on.

It was early enough in the day that there were no customers, which was the perfect arrangement as far as Yuudai was concerned. He wanted to take care of this business as quickly as possible so that he could get home and get on with his day. He couldn't recall ever being sent to Xian Herbals on an errand like this, however, so he didn't know exactly how long it would take. There must have been a reason his mother hadn't wanted to do it, after all.

Crossing to the other man, he inclined his head, tone brisk and businesslike as he introduced himself. "Hello. I am Koga Yuudai, from the Koga Inn. There was a bit of a mistake with our last tea order, and I've come to sort things out."

He was, as usual, dressed in a comfortable pair of pants and shirt, covered by the typical apron of the inn's uniform. Junko and Natsuko liked to make fun of him because he oftentimes forgot to remove the apron when he went out, but he didn't see what was so funny about it. Most of his time was spent at the inn, after all, unless he was at the academy, so it would have been tedious to constantly be taking it on and off. Not only that, but it readily identified him as an employee of the inn for those who didn't immediately recognize him as a member of the family.

Reaching into the pocket of his apron, he pulled out a slip of paper, unfolding it and scanning the first few lines on it. "Here, for our last shipment, we received all of this-" and he offered the paper, circling a few items with one blue-tipped nail. "But we are missing several crates, detailed here and here, from the shipment."

He'd gone through the inventory before he left, wanting to be certain of exactly which ones he was missing before he went to fetch them, so he knew his estimation was accurate. It seemed a little ridiculous to have missed three crates of tea for a shipment, but mistakes happened. He was willing to forgive and forget, because the inn and the tea shop had a long history of working together smoothly.

"We have already paid for them, as you can see, and I've brought the wagon so that the teas can be taken back right away."

Yuudai didn't typically handle the receiving of shipments, but what the man said made sense. He nodded, arms tucked at his sides, and followed silently while Zhong moved about the back room. Though he seemed too young to be the owner, Yuudai assumed he was a capable worker, as he knew his way around and began preparing the teas without a fuss. If there was one thing he hated, it was his integrity being questioned, and so he appreciated the other man's prompt and businesslike manner.

Seating himself, he crossed one leg high over the other, his foot jiggling in time to nothing in particular. This time of day, he was generally busy doing something or other, and so it was strange for him to be at rest.

"Your teas are a good quality and a good price, and we will continue to order from you as long as that stays true." It wasn't exactly the most encouraging thing he could have said, but Yuudai didn't have a reputation for being the most reassuring when it came to business. He was much better at soothing people than he was preventing the hurts in the first place; he often didn't even realize that he came across as unnecessarily brusque in regular conversation. "Mistakes such as this don't tend to happen often, and we are generally very happy with your services."

He ran his tongue along his teeth, eyebrows arching when Zhong turned and stared at a nearly empty jar. Well, that was no good. He leaned over, reading the label and sighing when he realized what it was.

"That's one of our more popular teas. When will you get another shipment in?" His mother wouldn't be pleased if he came back with only part of the product, and he couldn't blame her. He wasn't feeling all that impressed at the moment, himself.

He began to tap his foot, impatience showing in the slight gesture. Perhaps this was why his mother hadn't come herself -- she couldn't have anticipated these exact circumstances, but she had a funny way of knowing when a task was going to take longer than it should have. He wasn't sure if it was just intuition or if she'd inquired ahead, but either way, he was substantially less impressed with the situation than he'd hoped to be.

"My inn is constantly open," He said slowly, hiking his brows at the other man. "But I appreciate your haste." Was there a time when the inn was ever closed? Though business tended to be very scarce during the night, there was at least one person awake to man the desk just in case a guest had an issue, or someone wandered inside in need of a place to stay.

Lately, too, at least one member of the family kept an eye out for any Nobles who might come calling. They weren't charged, of course, if they were in need of shelter, but they were given specific instructions to come around the back if that were the case. While supportive of the Noble cause, the Koga family didn't exactly want to broadcast to the world that they were running an operation inside their establishment.

"Of course I can handle a knife." His tone was short and irritated, and after observing for a moment, he took the orange peels and began to slice them deftly. Really, who did this man think he was speaking to? He worked at the Inn, for goodness sake; everyone in the family could cook at least a little.

Well, save for his mother.

Yuudai's hands slowed, and he stared, eyebrows slowly raising behind his bangs. His irritation, though apparent in his tone, had not been directed at the inn or the other Lunarian's competence. The fact that he immediately assumed it was, however, was telling.

Voice chilled, as his temper was such that it was more often cold than hot, he said evenly, "You are making a spectacle of yourself for no reason. If I seemed irritated, it was because of the implication that I would not be able to handle a knife in the simple process of slicing orange peels. I never mentioned anything about your family business."

While it was true that he would go red-faced and angry if his gender was misinterpreted or his pride wounded severely, Yuudai was able to maintain a frigid calm under most other circumstances. This was especially true when it came to dealing with business partners; the inn's reputation was far more important than his own.

It didn't make his words any softer, however, as he delivered them. One hand on his hip, he held the knife loosely in the other.

"If you wish to retain any form of loyal business arrangements, I suggest you put aside your massive sense of entitlement and learn to deal with some irritation when your establishment makes a mistake with a vital order for mine. If you were paying even the slightest attention while you got into a righteous huff about being shown respect, you would see that I have already diced the orange peels, and was awaiting further instruction."

His lips were pressed into a thin, unimpressed line, and his eyes narrowed. After another beat of silence, he added, "I will not apologize, either, for showing my irritation, because you have been quite disproportionately rude to me this day. Apologize, or your family business will lose my family's business, and I promise you, we will not suffer as you will."

There were plenty of other tea shops that his family could choose to buy from. There were plenty of other inns that the tea shop could sell to, of course, but over the years the Koga family had made it a habit to order large quantities of tea leaves from the same place, and they were surely in an arrangement where each business helped the other. It wouldn't be good for either of them to break their business dealings, but he also knew that his parents wouldn't stand for being disrespected in the way that he had just been -- nor would they appreciate being threatened by a mere worker simply because he had been briefly, and mistakenly, offended by something their son said.

Of course, he was likely to get scolded himself, but he was confident his parents would stand behind him.

He waited expectantly, expression clearly unimpressed.