From that point on, Rain wore a blank expression and played the role of waiter, mechanically dropping more meat and vegetables into the roiling hotpot.
Gion was clearly enjoying herself.
Maybe it was the alcohol, but the collar of her silk robe grew looser and looser. A tempting flush colored her flawless face, and her foxlike eyes shimmered with heat and languor.
Her eating motions stayed elegant, but her speed was anything but slow.
Rain silently did the math.
What the hell, is this woman part glutton? Smoker prepped a mountain of ingredients and I'm still not full—she's almost wiped them out by herself…
Finally, when the broth had boiled down to almost nothing, Gion reluctantly set the chopsticks—Rain's chopsticks—down.
She let out a long breath, propped her chin up with one hand, and studied Rain with those slightly hazy eyes, as if weighing something.
The satisfaction of good food and drink left her looking lazily relaxed.
"Sergeant Rain," she said suddenly.
"Ma'am!" Rain snapped to attention.
Gion tapped the table lightly with the tip of the chopsticks. "This hotpot is quite good. Your cooking is much better than those mess hall chefs who only know how to make pig feed."
She paused, then shifted the topic. "But this is Marineford. Here, power is what really matters."
Her lazy eyes swept him over again, and she shook her head. "I remember you. In training—swordsmanship, Rokushiki, hand-to-hand—every single one is…"
She searched for a word, then gave up. "A complete mess."
Rain: (.-＿-.)
He immediately put on a properly "ashamed" expression.
Gion kept looking him over. "You're weak, but your stamina is decent. Barely counts as someone worth training."
"Here's how it is."
She straightened a little; the alcohol and languor seemed to fade, replaced by the authority of a rear admiral.
"I never eat for free."
"In my opinion, you have talent—but you lack fine-tuned training. Starting tomorrow, I'll give you extra lessons, privately, and guide your training."
Then her tone flipped again; her red lips curved into an amused smirk.
"In return… you'll also give me extra, private 'lessons.' Whenever I'm hungry, I expect to be able to eat your cooking. On demand."
Rain nearly laughed out loud inside. What a joke.
With his [Top-Tier] setup, what exactly could a rear admiral teach him? Give him pointers on how to swing a sword?
But then he realized he couldn't refuse.
Tonight's little stunt could be a minor issue or a major one. Breaking into the kitchen, stealing officer rations… If she took any of those seriously, it would be a mess.
Agreeing was as good a way as any to walk this back.
With that cleared up, Rain instantly shifted into "overwhelmed rookie" mode, playing the part to perfection.
"R-Rear Admiral Gion! Y-you mean it?!" he stammered, letting his eyes shine. "You're really willing… to personally train me?"
"O-of course I'd be honored! Forget extra meals—if you want, I'll cook for you every day!"
Gion was very pleased with his flustered, starstruck reaction.
She liked when everything stayed firmly under her control. She was full and tipsy now; time to head back to bed.
She picked up Kinpira and walked to the doorway.
Then she turned back. Her cheeks were still red from the alcohol, but her gaze had regained a certain clarity.
She smiled, lips curling in a playful arc. "It's settled then. First lesson starts tomorrow night. Make plenty of good food. Don't disappoint me."
With that, her figure blurred and vanished into the night, leaving only a faint trace of fragrance behind.
…
Half an hour later, Rain finished cleaning the wrecked kitchen, face expressionless and mentally cursing Smoker eight hundred times over, then pushed open the door to the dorm.
Smoker, predictably, wasn't asleep. He was perched on his bed like a death row inmate waiting for sentencing, staring at the door with big anxious eyes.
The moment Rain walked in, Smoker flinched, and cold sweat broke out on his forehead.
Rain said nothing. He just took off his jacket and started rolling his wrists.
The air in the room turned suffocating.
Finally, Smoker couldn't take it anymore. He swallowed hard and, in a barely audible voice, asked:
"…Y-you're back. Rear Admiral Gion, she…"
Rain stopped, turned, and looked at him with the calm, flat stare of a man looking at a corpse.
Smoker went cold under that gaze. He clenched his teeth, squeezed his eyes shut, and blurted:
"…You're gonna hit me, aren't you?!"
Rain smiled.
"Hit you?"
He stepped forward, slowly, until he was looming over Smoker. Bending down, he gave him the warmest, most "kind" smile.
"That would be too gentle."
Smoker: (´･ω･`?)
A second later, the dorm filled with the sound of fists thudding into flesh, and Smoker's barely-stifled screams.
"What the hell did you promise me?! Cover?!"
"This is what you call cover?!"
"Running?! And faster than me!"
Half an hour later, Rain pulled his fists back, feeling refreshed.
Smoker lay on the floor, black-and-blue, curled up and unable to move. He groaned and howled internally:
Liar! This bastard is definitely a liar!!
That "losing control of his power" crap… who the hell was that supposed to fool?!
Rain ignored the lump playing dead on the floor and went to sit on his own bed, calmly reviewing the night's gains.
Beating Smoker up was just venting. The real prize was his "deal" with Gion.
"Even if I have to waste time playing along…" He flexed his wrist. "It's not really a bad thing."
He knew that his "average" performance in camp wouldn't stay hidden forever.
"With Gion as a private tutor, it's the perfect cover."
A hint of a smile tugged at his mouth.
"If my strength suddenly jumps later, I can just say it's 'thanks to Rear Admiral Gion's training.' With a reason that strong and plausible, nobody's going to dig too deeply."
And besides…
He couldn't help recalling the image of Gion in the moonlight—her face, her silk robe, the hints of curves beneath.
"Having a beautiful instructor giving me one-on-one lessons every night… doesn't sound like such a terrible burden."
That thought put him in an excellent mood.
As for Smoker…
"…Tch… bastard… you hit way too hard…" came the weak groaning from the floor.
Rain pretended not to hear. After washing up, he slid under his blanket.
With the "serenade" of his roommate's pained whining as a lullaby, he closed his eyes.
That night, he slept very well.
~~~
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