Chapter 235: The Eloquent Eishi Tsukasa, The Happy Courage
Sakura Hibiki and Gina Boyd sat quietly near the corner of the dining area, nursing their cups of warm tea. Looking at the sophisticated women gathered across the room, the two high school girls truly felt that they were still far too young.
There was a profound, undeniable reason why they were both chronically single. The sheer level of psychological play, the subtle flirtations, and the commanding auras radiating from these older women were simply beyond their comprehension. Or, at the very least, it was vastly beyond their current weight class in the arena of romance.
"Kirari, are you still planning to head back later tonight?" Lucifer asked, leaning back against her wooden chair with a casual, demonic grace.
Momobami Kirari gracefully set her teacup down onto the porcelain saucer, the faint clinking sound cutting through the ambient hum of the restaurant. She let out a soft, elegant sigh, resting her chin delicately against her knuckles.
"Although I really want to just stay here in this comfortable atmosphere, my victory against those stubborn old men doesn't mean I can simply ignore my remaining responsibilities," Kirari murmured, her icy blue eyes curving into a dangerous, alluring crescent. "Plus, there happens to be a very interesting new student buzzing around the academy recently."
"Oh? For the great Student Council President to admit she's interested..." Lucifer paused, an amused smirk playing on her lips. "She must have an incredibly captivating figure."
Hearing this, Kirari paused mid-breath, her braided twin-tails swaying slightly as she tilted her head. She looked genuinely puzzled, blinking her pale eyes as she stared back at the silver-haired devil. "Why would you assume that?"
"Because you've always shown a very predatory interest in both Ran-chan and Akemi," Lucifer replied smoothly, not missing a beat.
"Then what about Sonoko?" Kirari countered, a faint, teasing smile returning to her painted lips.
"That is entirely different," Lucifer chuckled, waving a hand dismissively. "That's probably just because Sonoko is far too delightfully silly to ignore."
Lucifer watched Kirari accept this assessment with a matter-of-fact nod, her posture remaining completely flawless. She silently gave the imposing academy president a mental thumbs-up. It was exactly as expected; Kirari was still the same terrifyingly composed, unapologetic ruler she had always been.
On the opposite side of the dining room, the atmosphere was drastically different. Courage was acting much livelier, practically bouncing in her seat as she bombarded Eishi Tsukasa with a relentless stream of questions.
The elite WGO Inspector was treating the renowned First Seat of Totsuki completely like her own adorable younger brother. Eishi, despite being notoriously introverted and prone to crippling anxiety, was handling the interrogation surprisingly well. His answers were thoughtful, deeply analytical, and incredibly eloquent whenever the topic shifted to his beloved culinary arts.
"Burp... oh, excuse me," Hibiki suddenly patted her slightly bulging stomach, leaning back in her chair with a blissful, glazed expression. "Sigh... I am finally, truly full."
The blonde gyaru let out a contented groan, feeling the residual heat of the spices still tingling pleasantly on her tongue. "I seriously never imagined that Shopkeeper Ren's cooking could be this overwhelmingly delicious."
"I really don't know how I'm ever going to eat normal outside food in the future. Right, Gina?"
Gina nodded vigorously in agreement, using a soft paper napkin to wipe away the faint sheen of sweat forming on her forehead. She had just chugged two consecutive bowls of scorching, flavor-packed soup without a moment's hesitation.
"Yeah, Shopkeeper Ren is just ridiculously amazing," Gina sighed dreamily, resting her cheek in her palm. "He has such an unbelievable, perfectly sculpted physique, he's handsome, his cooking is divine, and he's just a genuinely sweet person."
Gina's eyes began to sparkle with sheer, unadulterated admiration as she clenched her fist. "But the absolute most important part is that he's also a professional boxer! It's so incredibly impressive!"
Sitting a few feet away, Eishi Tsukasa completely froze, his spoon halting halfway to his mouth. A professional boxer?
He blinked his silver-white eyes in utter bewilderment, his mind struggling to process the information. Shopkeeper Ren, the man who possessed such delicate, masterful, and god-like control over spices and kitchen knives, was also someone who beat people to a pulp for a living?
However, Eishi only allowed himself to dwell on that bizarre revelation for a brief moment. After all, he didn't even watch boxing or care much for combat sports. He would much rather just focus the entirety of his mental capacity on becoming the ultimate chef.
"Oh? So you're saying you, Eishi, are completely and singularly focused on mastering French cuisine?" Courage asked, her eyes widening with genuine curiosity as she rested her elbows on the wooden table.
Eishi nodded respectfully, his posture straightening out of pure reverence for the craft. "Yes, I have always felt that French cuisine is a profoundly noble and elegant form of artistic expression."
"It possesses a rigid, beautiful structure that can perfectly highlight the absolute original, unadulterated flavor of the ingredients."
He looked down at his hands, imagining the rich, velvety sauces and precise plating techniques he worshipped. "That unwavering dedication to drawing out an ingredient's pure essence is exactly why I chose to specialize exclusively in French cuisine."
Courage nodded slowly, absorbing the young man's passionate culinary philosophy. Although she had eaten almost exclusively Chinese food since arriving at Ren's restaurant, it had to be objectively admitted that French cuisine operated on a different spectrum.
When it came to meticulous, almost architectural plating and the intricate application of decorative flavor foams and reductions, French cuisine was historically a step above the rest.
If one were to use a grand, historical analogy to describe the two titans of the culinary world, Chinese cuisine was like the unstoppable Musou Corps on an ancient battlefield. It encompassed the violent, blazing essence of a hundred different schools of thought, embracing all flavors, roaring fires, and explosive woks in a chaotic but perfect harmony.
On the other hand, French cuisine was exactly like the elite Templar Knights of the Middle Ages. It emphasized strict, unyielding codes of chivalry, requiring pristine, elaborate attire, mathematically precise cuts, and an unwavering devotion to butter, wine, and classical technique.
Each philosophy had its own distinct, insurmountable advantages. As one of the world's undisputed major cuisines alongside Chinese food, French cuisine undeniably possessed an outstanding, world-class pedigree in both flavor and visual artistry.
Courage tilted her head, suddenly looking incredibly puzzled. "But Eishi, wait a second. Absolutely everything you ordered tonight wasn't French cuisine at all."
She pointed a manicured finger at the empty plates scattered around him. "If anything, besides that single piece of French toast you started with, literally none of this aligns with your specialty."
Eishi immediately lowered his head, his voice carrying a heavy hint of awe and reverence as he spoke. "Yes, you are completely right. I ordered this because, when Shopkeeper Ren was substituting for our class a while ago, I happened to overhear him giving a brief lesson on Tom Yum soup."
He carefully picked up his spoon again, staring intently into the shallow bowl of fiery, orange-red broth sitting in front of him. "After returning to my kitchen and studying his words carefully, I managed to refine my own recipe. I found that my taste indeed improved by a significant margin."
Eishi's silver eyes darkened slightly, a shadow of lingering frustration crossing his usually placid features. "But even after all those countless hours of testing, I still felt my creation was overwhelmingly inferior to the perfect, harmonious flavor profile that Shopkeeper Ren had casually described."
"Oh, I see," Courage smiled, her eyes crinkling with understanding. "So you purposely ordered his Tom Yum soup tonight."
"You want to eat it, dissect it on your palate, and study its structural secrets to improve your own version?"
"Yes, exactly," Eishi replied, finally taking a small, deliberate sip of the Thai broth.
The moment the liquid touched his tongue, his pupils dilated violently. The explosive, sharp acidity of the kaffir lime leaves clashed flawlessly with the deep, creeping heat of the crushed chilies. Beneath that aggressive exterior lay the incredibly sweet, earthy foundation of the galangal, binding the chaos into an absolutely pristine, unified wave of umami.
Courage watched the young man's intense, almost spiritual reaction to the soup and smiled warmly. "Hmm. As expected of someone talented enough to become Totsuki Academy's reigning First Seat."
She rested her chin in her hands, her tone turning slightly nostalgic. "I remember there was a very skilled, very stubborn French chef many generations before you who possessed that exact same look in his eyes. He even went on to receive the highly coveted Prosperous Medal in France."
[Akarin's Note: Kojiro Shinomiya is an alumnus of Totsuki and a former First Seat. He is a master of French cuisine, earning the nickname "The Legumes Magician." He was the first Japanese chef to ever win the Pluspol (Prosperous) Medal, a highly prestigious award in the French culinary world.]
Eishi paused his intense flavor analysis, blinking as he mentally searched his encyclopedic knowledge of Totsuki alumni. "Hmm... Ah! Are you referring to Senior Kojiro Shinomiya, Sister Courage?"
His voice instantly filled with deep respect. "Senior Shinomiya's cooking is indeed incredibly impressive, almost untouchable. I once always wanted to follow directly in his footsteps and become an amazing, world-renowned French head chef just like him."
Courage caught the subtle shift in his phrasing immediately. "Once?"
Eishi exhaled a long, shaky breath and gave a slow, firm nod. "Yes. Eating Shopkeeper Ren's dishes made me painfully realize just how small my world was, and how far I still have to go to reach true perfection."
He looked back down at the vibrant red soup, his anxiety replaced by a burning, quiet resolve. "So, I want to vastly expand my culinary path beyond just classical French techniques. After graduation, I'll probably choose to travel around the world, study every spice imaginable, settle down for a bit to synthesize my knowledge, and then open my own restaurant."
"Is that so?" Courage's eyes sparkled with genuine delight at his ambition. "When the time comes for your establishment to receive its official star ratings, remember to find me."
Eishi looked up, visibly overwhelmed and slightly confused by the casual offer. "Eh? Can your recommendation really help with something that prestigious?"
"May I ask, Sister Courage, what rank of Executive Officer are you exactly?"
"I am one of the three First-Class Book Masters operating directly beside Nakiri Mana," Courage stated proudly, flashing him a brilliant, confident grin. "The WGO's one and only Special Executive Officer."
She waved her hand playfully, entirely unfazed by the bomb she had just dropped. "But don't worry! My offer is just to loosen the initial bureaucratic standards a tiny bit to get inspectors in your door."
"Earning the actual stars still depends entirely on your own strength in the kitchen."
"Eh?!" Eishi physically recoiled, almost knocking over his water glass in sheer panic. "A... A First-Class Book Master?!"
"Sister Courage is a First-Class Executive Officer for the WGO at such a young age? That's truly, incredibly amazing..."
Courage felt her heart melt slightly at his pure, unadulterated awe. She really, truly wanted Eishi Tsukasa to be her official younger brother.
Perhaps it was completely unintentional on his part, but every single polite, respectful word he spoke precisely hit all the right notes Courage wanted to hear. This boy definitely had a bright future.
"Hmm. Well, it is about time for us to head back," Kirari suddenly announced, her authoritative voice slicing effortlessly through the casual chatter of the room. "Ren."
Hearing his name called in that familiar, commanding tone, Ren wiped his hands on a clean towel and walked calmly out of the kitchen. His broad shoulders and athletic physique stood in stark contrast to his relaxed, easygoing expression.
"Hmm? Are you heading back already?" Ren asked, tossing the towel aside as he approached her table.
"Well, I suppose that's fine. Knowing the Momobami Clan, you probably have a massive mountain of paperwork and internal politics to deal with right now."
Kirari stood up, her pleated academy skirt falling flawlessly into place. She smiled, stepping just a fraction closer to him than was strictly necessary.
"Of course I have a lot of tedious things to manage. But if certain people could find it in their hearts to be just a little more considerate of me, I would probably feel a lot more relaxed."
Ren arched a single, perfectly sculpted eyebrow, completely immune to her passive-aggressive trap. "What exactly are you trying to say?"
"Oh, nothing at all," Kirari chuckled softly, her breath ghosting warmly against the collar of his shirt. "Just a gentle reminder that you will continue to accompany me to the gym tomorrow."
She reached out, her pale, slender fingers lightly brushing against the solid muscle of his arm. "No... actually, I should say you will be my personal coach every single day until the competition begins. Aren't you just so incredibly happy?"
Ren let out a long, long-suffering sigh, looking down at the dangerously beautiful woman. "Happy. I am very happy."
"But if I magically didn't have to go and deal with that torture chamber, I would be even happier."
"My, my. Is accompanying a helpless girl like me to the gym truly such a massive grievance for you?" Kirari teased, her eyes gleaming with dark amusement.
She leaned in, lowering her voice so only he could hear the seductive, velvety undertone. "Besides, I've already promised you a handsome reward. How about this... if you can manage to make me feel like you are a fully qualified, dedicated coach every single day until the very last day before the competition starts, I will give you a remarkably big gift package."
"Hmm?" Ren's eyes narrowed slightly, a spark of genuine curiosity finally breaking through his stoic facade.
"Now that actually interests me. In that case, make sure you be careful on your way back tonight."
"I have a private car waiting outside," Kirari replied smoothly, already turning toward the exit.
"I wasn't talking about you," Ren corrected her dryly, crossing his muscular arms over his chest. "I was talking about Hibiki and Gina."
"Eh?" Hibiki squeaked, suddenly realizing the imposing restaurant owner was staring directly at them.
Kirari paused, glancing over her shoulder at the two frozen high school girls. A gentle, surprisingly warm smile graced her lips.
"Let's go, you two. I'll give you both a ride home."
She gestured toward the glass doors with an elegant sweep of her hand. "Although it isn't exceptionally late yet, it's still not very convenient or safe for two young girls to go back by themselves. My driver will take you."
Sakura Hibiki and Gina didn't even attempt to refuse the generous offer. One reason was simply practical—it truly was safer and faster to accept. The other reason was that, despite the intimidating auras, everyone had become quite comfortably familiar over the course of the day's chaotic events.
In this unique little group, being too overly polite or stubbornly refusing help between newfound friends often resulted in the exact opposite effect, usually ending in awkwardness.
"Eh? Kirari-nee, wait, you didn't pay for your meal yet..." Hibiki stammered, hurriedly digging into her own pockets just in case.
"Hmm? It's an employee meal for me tonight," Kirari chuckled softly, her eyes flashing with a possessive glint as she looked at Ren. "Why would I ever need to pay?"
"Eh? Oh... alright," Hibiki muttered, deciding it was best not to question the inner workings of the adults' complex relationships.
"Don't just stand there daydreaming, Saya," Kirari ordered lightly, her tone shifting back to that of absolute authority. "Take them both and follow me to the car."
Igarashi Sayaka, who had been standing silently in the shadows like a fiercely loyal guard dog, immediately snapped to attention. "Yes, President!" she replied instantly, swiftly moving to guide the two bewildered girls toward the exit.
"Well then, Ren, I'll be going now," Kirari said, giving him one last, lingering look that promised entirely too much trouble for the future. "I will see you tomorrow. Oh, and goodbye, Eishi."
Eishi Tsukasa, who was still mentally reeling from the revelation of Courage's WGO identity, violently flinched at the sound of his name. For some inexplicable reason, the sheer, terrifying weight of Kirari's dominant aura made his brain completely short-circuit in a moment of pure panic.
He shot up from his chair, bowing at a perfect right angle as he practically shouted, "Goodbye, Godmother!"
The entire restaurant plunged into an absolute, stunned silence.
Momobami Kirari slowly turned back around, a deeply amused, incredibly predatory smile stretching across her flawless face. She slowly licked her lower lip, her pale eyes drinking in the trembling culinary genius. "Hmm... What a good boy."
Only after the heavy oak doors finally swung shut, completely sealing away Kirari's overwhelming presence, did Eishi Tsukasa dare to breathe a massive, ragged sigh of relief. He slumped back into his chair, looking like a man who had just narrowly escaped a localized natural disaster.
Lucifer crossed her arms beneath her chest, shaking her head helplessly at the display. "Well, in a way, there is a very valid reason why Sonoko and Akemi are so utterly terrified of Kirari. The woman is a walking apex predator."
The demon turned her crimson gaze back to the owner. "Oh, right. Ren, are you actually still going to the gym tomorrow after all that?"
"Yeah, I am," Ren replied, stretching his neck until a satisfying pop echoed in the room. "Anyway, it's almost the end of the month, so I need to maintain the routine. But if you guys want to do something else instead of coming with me, that's completely fine too."
He gestured toward the energetic WGO inspector still sitting at the table. "After all, with Courage here, the three of you should have plenty of connections and places to go have fun."
"Hmm..." Lucifer hummed thoughtfully, her demonic tail twitching slightly beneath the table as she weighed her options.
Honestly, as long as it wasn't a dreadful solo babysitting mission involving Cerberus, there was absolutely no problem in her book!
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