Under the personal welcome of the great god Ōmaeda, Arata and his group arrived at the VIP room on the second floor.
Perhaps under the influence of some eastern culture, the private rooms of this hotel were named by Ōmaeda with the [Ten no-gō] series.
The private room where Arata and the others were seated was [Number 1].
"I heard you came up with an innovation – hot pot with milkshake?" Arata patted the business genius on the shoulder and caught sight of the joint menu with Kikuchiya tea house posted on the wall – [Iced Strawberry Milk Boba].
The milkshake on the menu was full of toppings and looked extremely tempting, and beside it, clearly written, were the words artifact to ease spiciness.
Ōmaeda rubbed his hands as he approached, his face full of a sycophantic smile. "Thanks to the hot pot recipe you taught Isane-san, I secretly copied a little from her. Now, a third of all banquets on Noble Street order hot pot base from me!"
Suddenly, he lowered his voice and pointed to the door on the other side of the private room. "Today I specially reserved private room number 1 just for you. The balcony outside has the most beautiful sunset in all of Rukongai..."
"Ōmaeda, you're really thoughtful. When I go to the Second Division for training, I'll definitely say a few nice words about you to Captain Soi-Fong." Arata patted the great god Ōmaeda strongly on the shoulder, perfectly mastering the art of social dealings.
"Ah, Arata-sama, there's no need to be so kind! Then I won't disturb your gathering anymore. I'll take care of the food ordering and guarantee you'll eat to your heart's content tonight!" With those words, the smile on Ōmaeda's face nearly turned into a chrysanthemum.
"Alright, alright, thank you for your help." Arata nodded in satisfaction and watched as Ōmaeda respectfully withdrew from the private room.
"Senpai Arata is truly amazing…" Rukia quietly sighed to Kira, who sat beside her. "Even the nobles of the Ōmaeda family respect him so much."
"Well, he is Senpai Arata. He just graduated from the Shinō Academy of Spiritual Arts, and he's already a super-powerful shinigami standing shoulder to shoulder with captains, and even the Captain-General Yamamoto values him..." Kira sighed as well.
Arata had attended the academy only five years longer than them, but the gap between them was already wider than a chasm. Unless a miracle occurred, they would probably spend their entire lives only looking at his back.
No, if they didn't work hard enough, they might not even be worthy of seeing his back.
Room number 1 was even more extravagant than they had imagined, behind floor-to-ceiling windows, the lights of thousands of homes in Rukongai looked like a starry sky spilling down a slope.
The bronze hot pot in the center was carved in the shape of a qilin walking on clouds, and the fire glowed through the beast's mouth, making the broth inside boil and bubble.
Before long, maidservants entered one after another, bringing dishes that filled the entire rotating table.
Bright red, thinly sliced beef was arranged in the shape of a rose, emerald green vegetables steamed with chill from icy trays. Most eye-catching was a nine-compartment sauce plate in the center, arranged in a pattern resembling a chrysanthemum.
"First, spread out the meat slices, pick them up with chopsticks like this, and blanch them in the pot for three to five seconds." Arata demonstrated, picking up a slice of beef thin as a cicada's wing and gently shook it in the boiling red broth. "When you see the meat change color, take it out immediately, or it'll overcook."
Rangiku leaned over behind Hinamori Momo and taught her how to make a dipping sauce. "Use tahini as the base, add a bit of garlic and cilantro. If you like it spicy, you can add this red chili oil… Oh, little Momo, your hands are shaking like crazy!"
The tip of Hinamori's chopstick kept tapping against the edge of the bowl, and splashing chili oil almost flew onto Rukia's kimono.
Kira quickly handed over a damp cloth, but Renji elbowed him, and the entire cloth ended up stuck to Tōshirō's face.
"You guys…" Arata grabbed his head, watching six clumsy pairs of chopsticks flailing above the hot pot.
Hitsugaya Tōshirō was trying to use the wrist strength he had trained in kendo class to control the angle of blanching meat, but he accidentally used too much force and flung the slice straight into Kusaka's tea.
"Watch this." Arata suddenly stood up, and a silver flash of his drawn zanpakutō swept across the table.
Everyone's vision darkened for a moment, and seven slices of beef simultaneously flew into the air, tracing a path in the pot almost like the Big Dipper constellation, then perfectly landed back into their respective bowls.
"If you wrap the ingredients with spiritual pressure, you can do multiple things at once." When he sheathed his sword, the meat slices had just reached the perfect doneness, and the pink hue of the tender meat was still sealed in the juices.
"Too cool! Just as expected from Senpai Arata!" Renji's red hair stood on end from excitement, and he tried to imitate using spiritual pressure to wrap a roll of lamb.
Result, his spiritual pressure burst out of control, and the boiling soup splashed straight into Tōshirō's face across the table.
"To–Tōshirō, sorry! I didn't mean to!" Renji immediately realized he messed up and quickly grabbed a towel and shoved it into the other's hands.
"Hiii–" The white-haired boy, whose face was drenched in spicy soup, suddenly froze, his cheeks turning red at a speed visible to the naked eye.
He quickly wiped the soup from his face with the towel, then shivered and downed a whole glass of ice water, pointing with teary eyes at his burning face: "Spicy… so spicy…"
Kusaka, suspiciously, lifted a slice of meat from Tōshirō's bowl and tasted it. "Huh? The broth is only mildly spicy…"
As he said this, he scooped a spoonful of super spicy base from the center and downed it. Then, without a change in facial expression, he commented: "Yeah, really not spicy at all."
Everyone fell silent!
Even Rangiku, who was secretly drinking plum wine, widened her eyes and forgot to wipe the drop of wine slipping from the corner of her mouth.
"Impossible! Absolutely impossible!" Renji jumped up and pointed at the bottom of the pot that read "Extremely Spicy." "I just licked the chopsticks and nearly breathed fire!"
Kusaka tilted his head, picked up tripe wrapped in chili, and gently chewed.
The tips of his black hair brushed the edge of the chili oil bowl, yet not a single drop of sweat appeared on his handsome face.
"Abarai-senpai, it really isn't spicy, it's even slightly sweet…"
"Oh my God… Kusaka-kun, you're really a spice monster, huh?" Rukia stared wide-eyed at Kusaka, as if she couldn't believe him.
"Ka–ka!" While Tōshirō was still hiccupping and crying, a gentle knock came at the box door.
Ōmaeda pushed in a golden serving cart, on which six drinks emitted cold steam.
"Dear guests, thank you for waiting! This is the [Iced Strawberry Milkshake], a special order from Kikuchiya. The strawberries are delivered fresh from the living world and…"
Before he could finish the sentence, Tōshirō had already snatched a glass in an instant.
Milky white foam and pink frozen layers swirled in a spiral, and the way he threw back his head and drank greedily resembled a traveler in the desert finally finding an oasis.
"Hey, Tōshirō, drink slowly, or you'll…" Arata wanted to warn him, but he was a moment too late.
Tōshirō suddenly grabbed his temples and squatted, his whole face scrunched like a wrinkled bun.
"Hiii! So cold! My brain froze!"
"Hahaha, Tōshirō is still just a child after all." Rangiku laughed so hard she shook, her golden hair brushing across Arata's neck.
Suddenly she leaned into his ear, her warm breath tickling behind his earlobe, and softly whispered: "Want to show the kids how to really drink?"
Before Arata could react, she suddenly bit down on the straw, took a big sip, then grabbed his chin with her fingers and passed the drink to him.
The sweet scent of strawberries mixed with milk exploded between his lips and teeth, and Arata's heart started pounding faster than the bubbles in the spicy hot pot.
"Ms. Rangiku!!" Hinamori Momo covered her eyes, but her fingers were spread wide open.
Kira forgot to wipe the tea that spilled on his pants, and Rukia stomped with all her might on the frozen Renji's foot.
Ōmaeda wisely turned and backed toward the door.
"Well… the kitchen just came up with a new hot pot based on milk tea. I'll go right away to… check how it's doing…"
…
After three rounds of dishes, this little scene ended with Arata "applying the family rules" on Rangiku.
"Ahem… tomorrow is the group final for Group 1." Arata suddenly knocked on the table and looked toward Tōshirō and Momo.
The noise instantly ceased, and even Tōshirō looked up from his iced drink.
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