Chapter 11: You Don't Know the Worth of a Master Chef
"Whew—I'm stuffed, stuffed."
Yoruichi patted her stomach as she lay on the floor, letting out a satisfied sigh. Her casual demeanor made it hard to believe she was the young lady of the Four Great Noble Houses, the Shihōin family.
"Hmm? Why aren't you eating? Not to your taste?"
Seeing Kensei Kenzuru sitting there dumbly holding his bowl and chopsticks, Yoruichi thought he might not be used to the food prepared by her family's servants. Kensei shot her an exasperated look, his gaze sweeping over the battlefield of a dinner table, and found himself at a loss for words.
Soul Reapers with high spiritual power needed to eat more, as absorbing ambient spirit particles alone wasn't enough to sustain them, but Kensei had never seen anyone who could polish off twenty dishes single-handedly like Yoruichi.
"Sorry, sorry, little Kensei."
Belatedly realizing she'd eaten everything and left Kensei with an empty stomach, Yoruichi gave an awkward laugh and was about to order the kitchen to prepare another meal, but Kensei stopped her.
"No need, I'll do it myself."
He had barely managed to snatch a couple of bites from under Yoruichi's assault earlier. While it tasted fine, he still wasn't used to it. It had been a long time since he'd cooked, and he wasn't sure if his skills had gotten rusty.
"Little Kensei, you're going to cook? Are you sure you can handle it?"
What kind of question was that? Did she think all those cooking tutorials he'd watched in his past life were for nothing?
"You don't know the worth of a Master Chef, do you? Let me open your eyes today."
A man couldn't stand being told he couldn't do something. Swearing to prove himself, Kensei plunged into the kitchen. Watching from behind as Kensei handled the kitchen tools with practiced ease, Yoruichi began to believe he really could cook—though the final verdict would depend on the taste.
Kensei kept it simple: braised tofu with scallions, garlic chicken breast, and the indispensable sweet and sour pork ribs. It was great being a Soul Reaper with spiritual pressure; he could use simple Kidō for fine control and heating. This was far better than timing everything by the clock.
The rich landowner Yoruichi's house not only had all the ingredients, but they were all fresh. The color, aroma, and taste of the finished dishes were far superior to what he used to make at home. The tempting fragrance drifted towards Yoruichi, making her feel hungry again despite having just eaten her fill.
"Hey, didn't you just say you were full?"
"Quiet! Have some respect for your teacher! Give me a taste!"
Kensei tried to fend off Yoruichi's sneaky attempts with one hand, pushing her face away, but she tickled him under the arm with her foot, robbing him of his strength. He could only rely on his hand speed to compete with her. Thankfully, Yoruichi had some restraint, knowing Kensei hadn't eaten because of her, and she just sampled each dish before putting her chopsticks down.
"Little Kensei, why don't you come be the chef for my family?"
Although it was just a simple taste test, she couldn't deny that Kensei's cooking was truly delicious. Moreover, while eating, she could feel the spirit particle concentration in the dishes was noticeably higher than in ordinary meals.
"Aren't you afraid Old Man Yama would tear your house down?"
Kensei savored the long-missed delicious food while politely declining the offer. Why would he trade being a future pillar of the Soul Society for being someone's workhorse?
Yoruichi also knew the Captain-Commander wouldn't agree to it. Suddenly, an idea struck her. She clenched her right fist and smacked it into her left palm.
"How about you marry into my family! Then Old Man Yama won't have a reason to refuse, right?!"
"Cough, cough—"
Choked by the sheer audacity of Yoruichi's 'brilliant' idea, Kensei hurriedly took several gulps of water to recover. Wiping the droplets from the corner of his mouth, he looked at Yoruichi speechlessly.
"Don't say things like that recklessly. You could scare someone to death."
With that, Kensei went back to filling his stomach. But Yoruichi, noticing the slight stiffness in his chopstick movements, saw right through him. A mischievous, cat-like grin spread across her face as she hooked an arm around Kensei's neck.
"Aww, little Kensei, you're blushing! How cute."
"I just don't want to be eaten by an older woman, that's all."
This was pure stubbornness on Kensei's part. Discussing age among Soul Reapers was meaningless—just look at Hitsugaya Tōshirō, still a kid at over a hundred years old. But women everywhere disliked being called old. Consequently, Kensei's afternoon Shunpo training was sheer hell.
"What happened to you?"
Sōsuke Aizen, who was scribbling notes in his notebook, looked up at Kensei, who appeared as lifeless as a zombie, and couldn't help but ask curiously. Collapsing limply onto his bed, Kensei slowly recounted the day's ordeal—inhumane training methods like running upstream with weights or using Hakuda to withstand a waterfall's impact. Even the memory made him shiver.
"Snap—"
Hearing the sound of Aizen's pen breaking, Kensei managed to lift his head and looked at him in confusion.
"Don't mind it," Aizen said, tossing the broken pen aside and pushing up his glasses as if casually inquiring. "You're saying the head of the Shihōin family wants you to marry into their family?"
"It was definitely just Yoruichi joking around. That's just how she is. Shouldn't you be comforting my thoroughly abused body and mind instead?"
Kensei protested unhappily. Aizen wasn't concerned about the torture he endured but focused on something that was clearly a joke. Was there something wrong with his brain?
"Just be careful around nobles. Even if they're on the same side as the Captain-Commander, you shouldn't let your guard down."
"I know, I know."
Waving his hand to reassure Aizen, Kensei thought, Who's good and who's bad? Do you think I don't know? Even if his memories weren't crystal clear, he remembered the general plot of Bleach well enough.
"By the way, I learned a lot of Hakuda and Shunpo techniques today. Want to hear about them, Sōsuke?"
It would be a lie to say he wasn't interested in advanced applications of Zanjustu, Hakuda, Hohō, and Kidō. But Aizen felt a strange unease, as if he were mooching off Kensei. Moreover, these techniques were taught to Kensei by that Shihōin Yoruichi... What did that make this?
Kensei, however, didn't care whether Aizen wanted to listen or not. He dumped all his insights on Aizen in one go. Now that Aizen has taken so many benefits from me, when I become a pillar of the Soul Society later, I'll dump all the dirty and hard work on him. Then I can live a carefree life.
Pushing aside the strange thought, Aizen listened attentively to Kensei's explanations. These precious experiences were enough for Aizen to ponder for days and would provide significant help for his own experiments.
Recalling all the help Kensei had given him, Aizen began to wonder: even if he succeeded in creating that "Hōgyoku," would it really be able to help Kensei?
"Sōsuke, I know your talent is among the best in the Soul Society. During my training today, I felt Hakuda could be taken a step further, but I'm not sure in which direction. Your wisdom is no less than mine. Help me brainstorm."
Choosing not to comment on the intellectual gap between himself and Kensei, Aizen seriously contemplated the potential evolution of Hakuda.
"Hakuda is essentially unarmed combat. To increase its power... one way is to enhance force through altering one's body mechanics. Another is to try and fuse Hakuda with other skills."
Kensei stroked his chin, thinking over Aizen's suggestions. The first method was somewhat like Old Man Yama's Ikotsu and Sōkotsu, but that wasn't something just anyone could master. As for fusion, combining it with Zanjustu was out of the question. Kidō seemed to be the only viable option.
"Alright. I'll ask Yoruichi about it tomorrow. If we get results, you're going to be famous, Sōsuke."
If Kidō and Hakuda could truly be combined, even if not every Soul Reaper could learn it, a division like the Second, which specialized in Hakuda, could gain a new ace up their sleeve. As one of the contributors, Aizen would also gain renown among the Captains, just like Kensei.
"Spare me. Unless absolutely necessary, don't mention me in front of others."
Aizen shook his head. He preferred to conduct his experiments in a low-key manner. Being thrust into Captain-Commander Yamamoto's spotlight like Kensei would be troublesome. Kensei nodded, picked up the handbook Ukitake had given him, and resumed his Kidō studies. Since he wanted to try fusing Hakuda and Kidō, he needed a solid foundation. Otherwise, if he messed up, it wouldn't be good.
I wonder what expression Yoruichi will have tomorrow when she hears my genius idea. If only the training could be less torturous...
Before falling asleep, having finished reviewing the handbook, Kensei offered a silent prayer.
Shihōin Yoruichi, huh...
Aizen's fingers tapped rhythmically against his knee. He felt that as Kensei's web of relationships grew more complex, choosing suitable experimental subjects was becoming increasingly difficult.
Well, I'll just take it one step at a time...