What Are You Doing in My Sister's Room in the Middle of the Night?

A token of appreciation?

That was exactly what it was.

Repaying every kindness and avenging every grudge was what he believed in!

"That's right, this is my token of appreciation."

Dōsan's eyes shone, and the heat in his gaze made even Kūkaku, the uninhibited noblewoman, flustered for a moment.

"Suit yourself." Kūkaku lowered her head.

Ganju, sitting beside them, ignored the two idiots entirely. As he stared at the delicacies before him, he was practically drooling enough to fill a small bowl.

But with his big sister looking at the food without eating, he could only keep swallowing his saliva.

Under Ganju's impatient, fiery gaze, Kūkaku finally popped the small piece of egg, fried golden and drizzled with tomato juice, into her mouth.

"Mm!"

The egg's faint, distinctive savory aroma mingled with the sweet and sour taste of tomato. Kūkaku had never imagined the two would complement each other so well.

Even a dish costing several thousand kan in the Seireitei wasn't this delicious!

Not a trace remained of the impatience she had felt while waiting.

"Well? How is it?" Ganju swallowed his saliva again, his eyes shining with anticipation.

Kūkaku was jolted out of her appreciation of the food. She glared at her brother in annoyance, but what could she do? He was her own idiot brother, after all.

"It's good."

Ganju kept staring, waiting for her ladyship to say more. But after a while, Kūkaku still hadn't spoken again. Instead, she was eyeing the other dishes, seemingly deciding which to try first.

Just two words, and that was it?

Ganju's broad face fell.

Sister, don't you always say you went to a noble school?

Is that really the best you can do?

Not bothering with her brother, Kūkaku reached for another dish with her chopsticks.

To be honest, the remaining two dishes didn't look particularly suited to Kūkaku's tastes. They looked a little greasy.

But their aroma was too tempting.

Kūkaku's chopsticks touched a small, glistening piece of pork. It jiggled, as though shaking loose its own aroma.

Ganju's expression grew more and more twisted as Kūkaku picked up the food. Only when she had chewed and swallowed the braised pork did he breathe a sigh of relief, as though he had just fought a battle to the death.

There was one more dish. Ganju held his chopsticks ready; as soon as his sister picked up some duck, he could dig in.

"What's this dish called?"

"Pfft..." Ganju spat blood. She had to ask the name of the dish while she was eating?

His sister preferred lighter food, but meat was his absolute favorite. How was he supposed to hold out?

"Braised pork."

Dōsan answered. He could tell from her expression that Kūkaku was pleased, and he, who had wanted to repay her in the first place, looked a little proud.

Compared with fighting and training, he was far more confident in his talent for cooking.

Kūkaku nodded without a word, hesitating a little. The lingering taste of the braised pork was delightful, and instinctively he wanted another piece, but that would go against the Shiba Clan's etiquette.

Ganju: (?ò?ó) You sneaky bastard.

He couldn't take it anymore.

His bodily instincts overcame the suppression of his bloodline.

Ganju reached out with his chopsticks, flagrantly breaking the Shiba Clan's rules by taking a piece of braised pork before Kūkaku had finished her first round.

This taste.

Sugoi!

It was rich without being overpowering, fatty without being greasy. Dōsan had also added a little chili, giving the braised pork another layer of flavor.

As he chewed, the faint heat and saltiness stimulated his mouth, a force welling up from within that made him want to burst out and say something.

How could he describe this taste?

A word surfaced in Ganju's mind, a mind that had received a noble education under his sister's tutelage.

"Awesome."

Unlike Kūkaku, who had lived in the Seireitei, Ganju had been born in Rukongai. The best cooks he had ever known were Koganehiko and Shiroganehiko.

Without comparison, there was no knowing the difference.

Kūkaku glared at her brother but had no time to pay him any more attention. She picked up a small piece of the stripped-down roast duck, dipped it lightly in the sauce beside it, and put it in her mouth. The taste wasn't exactly earth-shattering, but she could feel the cook's care and an art called fine cuisine.

The roasting gave it a texture that was rich but not greasy, with a faint, fruitwood-like aroma mixed in.

Kūkaku closed her eyes, leisurely savoring it like a food connoisseur.

But when she opened her eyes again, she saw Ganju's chopsticks moving faster and faster beside her. He wasn't even chewing the food he stuffed into his mouth, and his cheeks bulged.

Seeing the food on the table dwindling, Kūkaku moved her chopsticks faster and faster too.

Several times, their chopsticks even collided, and for the first time in his life, faced with her ladyship's competitive gaze, he chose not to back down.

Dōsan watched them with a smile. Though he had picked up his chopsticks, he hadn't taken a single bite yet.

But gradually, Dōsan's smile froze.

With a bang, Ganju sprang to his feet, picked up the plate of braised pork, and tipped his head back, pouring it into his mouth as though drinking water.

Kūkaku didn't give an inch. She too planted a foot on the table, picked up the roast duck, and frantically stuffed it into her mouth.

This time, I won't let you have your way!

My foolish otouto!

The contest between their mouths gradually changed. Kūkaku struck first, launching a flying kick. Ganju's cheeks were stuffed full of food, and he had never expected his sister to fight so unfairly. His whole body, sturdy as a little wild boar's, went flying.

Fortunately, he didn't spit out the delicious food in his mouth.

After they had swept through the meal, Ganju looked pitifully at Dōsan, sporting two black eyes.

Even Kūkaku hadn't quite had her fill, but the last of her noble pride made her hold back and bring the unforgettable dinner to an end.

In the end, it was the cook, Dōsan Hanyū, and the brothers Koganehiko and Shiroganehiko whose stomachs were completely empty.

The three went to the kitchen to wash the dishes and chopsticks. Dōsan Hanyū also showed off his skills, making a separate stir-fry for the three of them.

Though he hadn't put as much care into it as before, Koganehiko and Shiroganehiko still dug in and ate to their hearts' content.

By the time everything was cleaned up, it was past seven in the evening.

Dōsan wiped the sweat from his forehead.

He had put no small amount of effort into providing that delicious meal.

The night was already half over. It was midnight.

"Ah..."

With a groan, Ganju stretched and raised his head, which was swollen like a pig's. His eyes were swollen into slits.

Of course he had to pay a price for fighting his sister over food.

"I'm so hungry!"

Trembling and enduring the terrible pain from his bones being loosened, he braced his right hand against the wall and pulled open the door. As a noble, he had his pride. How could he think only about eating?

What would make him any different from a pig?

Ganju could restrain himself, but his eyes, nose, mouth, tongue, and stomach couldn't forget the taste of that evening's meal.

Although he had later been beaten up for fighting his sister over food, at the very end he had still managed to lick up a couple of mouthfuls of sauce.

Though his head still throbbed painfully, Ganju's eyes narrowed and he couldn't help drooling at the thought of the delicious food Dōsan had made.

He wanted more.

Hehe.

"Dōsan-chan, are you there?"

Ganju crept to Dōsan's guest room. Afraid his sister would catch him, he looked around, turning his head this way and that, and gently tapped the sliding door. There was no answer after a while.

"Dōsan-chan, I'm coming in." Ganju rudely pulled the sliding door open, but Dōsan's Spiritual Pressure wasn't in the room.

What was more, he could even sense that Dōsan hadn't returned to his room at all.

Nani?

He was gone.

Thinking he might have remembered the wrong room, Ganju searched the other guest rooms one by one.

No, Dōsan wasn't in any of them.

Ganju even went to Koganehiko's and Shiroganehiko's rooms, but he wasn't there either.

"Now there's only that room left." Ganju's sausage-like lips were still trembling as he stood in front of a door, his eyes darting about.

It was the room of his sister, Kūkaku Shiba.

Outside the door, Ganju suddenly heard strange sounds coming from his sister inside.

It was already past midnight, and his sister was still awake?

Ganju mustered his courage and pressed his ear to the door. A moment later, his face instantly turned red.