Not So Gentle

Over the next while, Rayne served as a waiter with a blank expression, mechanically adding fresh slices of meat and vegetables to the still-bubbling hotpot.

Gion was clearly enjoying herself immensely.

Perhaps because of the alcohol, the collar of her silk robe had loosened further, and a tempting flush spread across her fair, exquisite face. Her phoenix eyes were misty, brimming with seductive charm.

Her movements remained elegant as she ate, but she was by no means slow.

Rayne silently did the math in his head.

Damn it, is this woman some kind of bottomless pit? Smoker prepared so many ingredients, and I'm not even full yet. She's about to eat it all by herself...

Finally, when the broth had nearly boiled dry after simmering for so long, Gion reluctantly set down the chopsticks that should have belonged to Rayne.

She let out a long breath and propped her chin on one hand, studying Rayne with interest through those misty phoenix eyes, as though considering something.

The satisfaction brought by alcohol and good food made her seem somewhat languid at the moment.

"Sergeant Rayne," she suddenly said.

"Here!" Rayne snapped to attention.

Gion lightly tapped the table with the end of her chopsticks. "This hotpot tastes quite good. Your cooking is far better than those chefs at headquarters who only know how to make pig feed."

She paused, then changed the subject. "But this is Marineford. What truly matters here is strength."

Gion's lazy gaze swept over Rayne again, and she shook her head. "I remember you. Your Swordsmanship training, Six Powers, hand-to-hand combat during the day—every single one of them was..."

She seemed to search for an appropriate word before ultimately shaking her head again. "A complete mess."

Rayne: (.-＿-.)

He immediately put on a "shameful" expression in cooperation.

Gion continued examining Rayne with her lazy eyes. "Your strength is lacking, but your stamina is passable. You can barely be considered worth cultivating."

"Here's the deal."

Gion straightened up slightly. The drunken languor seemed to fade, and she regained some of a commodore's authority. "I never eat someone else's food for free."

"I think you have decent talent. You simply lack more meticulous training. Starting tomorrow, I'll give you some private coaching and guide your training."

Her tone suddenly shifted. Her red lips curled into an amused smile.

"In exchange... you'll also give me some private coaching. Whenever I'm hungry from now on, I want to be able to eat food you've made at any time."

After hearing that, Rayne nearly laughed out loud. What a joke.

With his [Top-tier] setup, what could a mere commodore like Gion teach him? How to use a sword?

But on second thought, he really couldn't refuse.

What happened tonight could be made into either a big deal or a small one. Sneaking into the back kitchen, misusing ingredients... if she truly pressed the matter, each charge would bring him plenty of trouble.

Agreeing to it might also give himself a way out.

Having thought it through, Rayne instantly put on a flattered, overwhelmed expression. His acting was practically flawless.

"Com... Commodore Gion! You... you really mean it?!" Rayne stammered excitedly. "You're willing to... personally guide me?"

"I... I'm absolutely willing! Forget private coaching—whatever you want to eat, I'll cook it for you every day!!"

Gion was very satisfied to see Rayne acting so excited, like someone who had never seen the world.

She liked this feeling of having everything under control. Now that she was full and content, it was time to return and sleep.

Gion picked up her beloved blade, Kompira, and walked to the kitchen entrance.

She suddenly turned around. Her cheeks were flushed from the wine, but her eyes had regained some clarity.

She looked at Rayne, an amused curve on her lips. "Then it's settled. The first lesson starts tomorrow night. Remember to make more delicious food. Don't disappoint me."

With that, her figure flashed and vanished into the night, leaving behind only a faint fragrance.

Half an hour later, Rayne finished cleaning up the mess with a blank expression, cursed Smoker eight hundred times in his heart, then pushed open the door and returned to the dormitory.

Smoker really had not gone to sleep. He sat at the edge of the bed with a pitiful expression, like a death-row inmate awaiting judgment.

When he saw Rayne return, his entire body trembled, and cold sweat instantly broke out.

Rayne said nothing. He simply took off his coat and began loosening his wrists.

The atmosphere in the dormitory became suffocatingly oppressive.

Smoker finally could not hold it in any longer. He swallowed and asked in a trembling, mosquito-like voice:

"...Y-you're back. Commodore Gion, she..."

Rayne stopped moving, turned around, and calmly looked at him as though looking at a dead man.

Smoker's skin crawled under that gaze. Gritting his teeth, he shut his eyes and shouted, "...Are you going to beat me up?!"

Rayne smiled.

"Beat you up?"

He walked toward Smoker step by step, bent down, and revealed a "kind" smile.

"Not so gentle."

Smoker: (´･ω･`?)

The next second, dull thuds of fists striking flesh echoed through the dormitory, along with Smoker's uncontrollable screams.

"What the hell did you promise me?! Cover for me?!"

"This is how you cover for me?!"

"Run?! You ran even faster than I did!"

Half an hour later, Rayne refreshedly withdrew his fist.

Smoker lay on the ground, bruised and battered, curled into a ball without even the strength to move. As he whimpered, he wailed wildly in his heart:

Liar! That bastard is absolutely a liar!!

That nonsense he said before about "not being able to control his strength"... he was clearly lying through his teeth!!

Rayne ignored Smoker, who was playing dead on the floor, and walked straight to his own bed. Sitting down, he calmly considered the gains and losses from tonight.

Beating Smoker up was merely a way to vent his anger. Reaching this "deal" with Gion was the true focus of the night.

"Though I'll have to waste time playing along with her..." Rayne rubbed his wrist, "it might not be a bad thing."

He knew very well that his unremarkable performance in the recruit camp would not be able to stay hidden forever.

"With Commodore Gion privately giving me extra coaching, that'll be the perfect cover."

A smile tugged at Rayne's lips.

"If my strength advances by leaps and bounds in the future, I can simply attribute it to 'Commodore Gion's excellent guidance.' With such a reasonable and powerful excuse, no one will likely become suspicious of me."

Besides...

Unbidden, Gion's exquisite face beneath the moonlight that night, along with the faintly visible curves beneath her silk robe, flashed through Rayne's mind.

"Having such a beautiful teacher give me private lessons every day seems... not like an unbearable hardship at all."

Thinking of that, Rayne's mood completely brightened.

As for Smoker...

"...Hiss... bastard... you hit way too hard..." Smoker's intermittent whimpering still drifted up from the floor.

Rayne turned a deaf ear. After washing up, he lay down and pulled the blanket over himself.

Accompanied by the melodious, rising and falling groans of pain from his "good roommate," Rayne closed his eyes.

That night, he slept exceptionally soundly.