Chapter 626: This is a Sad Story. Yuko: I'm Growing
The Yuuki family was by no means a fragile enterprise; their corporation stood as an undisputed titan within its respective industry. While they lacked the absolute underworld pedigree required to formally join the Kengan Association, Kyouko possessed enough clearance to understand the terrifying reality of its existence. She knew exactly what it meant to hold the title of an affiliated Combatant.
To think that the mild-mannered shopkeeper, Ren, harbored such a brutal, blood-soaked secondary identity... The revelation sent a cold tremor through her chest. A flurry of calculations raced through Kyouko's mind, but one sudden, obvious resolution crystallized above the rest: she had to completely and utterly oppose Sugou Nobuyuki, the man her husband currently favored for their daughter.
Emerging from the restroom, Asuna immediately noticed her mother's pale, contemplative silence. The young girl tilted her head, her brow furrowing in genuine confusion. What on earth had happened in the span of a few minutes? Did she run into a ghost in the washroom? Why was she staring off into space with such heavy intensity?
Across the dining room, Ichihara Yuko finally set down her utensils, letting out a soft sigh of absolute satisfaction. Lucifer rested her chin on her hand, eyeing the towering stack of empty plates with a look of pure exasperation. "Where exactly do you put it all?" the Queen of Hell drawled, her crimson eyes narrowing. "There are very few beings in existence who can match that bottomless pit you call a stomach."
The rest of the table nodded in solemn agreement. Even Riven, accustomed to the heavy caloric intake of a warrior, occasionally found herself outpaced by the dimensional witch. The sheer volume was genuinely terrifying. Yuko simply tilted her head, a lazy, elegant smile playing on her lips. "What? Is a maiden not allowed to be in her growing phase?"
Nami let out a dry, disbelieving laugh. "Yuko... I personally feel like you really don't need to do any more growing. If you get any taller, you'll hit the ceiling!"
Yuko hummed thoughtfully, tapping her chin before gracefully rising from her seat. She cast her gaze straight down. Her line of sight was completely obstructed by the generous, heavy curves of her own chest; her toes were nowhere to be seen. Glancing over her shoulder, the lush swell of her hips perfectly hid her heels. Satisfied, Yuko offered a sultry, victorious smile. "The facts speak for themselves. A hearty appetite does absolute wonders for a woman's figure."
A heavy silence descended over the table. Pandemonica adjusted her glasses, her tired eyes blinking in mild confusion. "Is there actually any scientific correlation between those two things?"
Yuko waved a dismissive, elegant hand. "Pandora, sweet Pandora. Do me a favor and stand up for a moment."
Pandemonica hesitated, a flicker of suspicion crossing her features, but she slowly rose to her feet. Yuko's smirk deepened into something wicked. "Now, look straight down. Tell the class what you see."
The tired demon lowered her gaze, staring blankly at her own shoes. "My insteps," she replied in a flat, monotone voice.
Yuko didn't say a single word. She merely maintained that radiant, pitying smile. A long, agonizing second passed before Pandemonica's eye gave a violent twitch. The realization hit the rest of the table like a physical blow. Yuko possessed an impossibly lush, ideal S-curve. Pandemonica, on the other hand, was a straight, uninterrupted vertical line.
Desperately trying to salvage her pride, Pandemonica glanced over her shoulder and muttered, "Well... at the very least, I cannot see my heels."
Yuko chuckled, nodding in faux sympathy. The challenge had been issued. Lucifer, Nami, and even Justice subtly tested their own lines of sight. To their collective amusement, they discovered that their own generous assets completely blocked their feet. Only Riven, leaning forward slightly, could catch a tiny glimpse of her toes.
Pandemonica pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose, her voice dripping with cold disdain. "What an utterly juvenile and boring competition."
Lucifer let out a dramatic sigh, swirling the liquid in her glass. "Oh, Pandora, try to look on the bright side. At least you have Sonoko in the same boat as you. And... well, have you noticed a pattern here? The rest of us are all avid drinkers."
Pandemonica froze. Her mind raced through the data. It was true. Even Nami was known to throw back liquor with the best of them. The tired demon gripped her mug, her knuckles turning white. "I will stick to my coffee," she declared quietly, refusing to yield.
Yuko and the others exchanged glances before silently raising their thumbs in a gesture of deep respect. What a true warrior, marching proudly down her chosen, flat path. Still, as they pictured it, a heavily endowed Pandemonica would look entirely wrong. The sharp, professional aesthetic suited her perfectly. But beneath her stoic exterior, Pandemonica's thoughts were racing in a completely different direction. She was already mentally calculating the fastest route to purchase a bulk order of papaya milk tea.
Lucifer shifted her attention back to Yuko. A sly, calculating glint flashed in the CEO's crimson eyes. Leaning across the table, she whispered something directly into the witch's ear. Yuko's usual composure shattered instantly, a brilliant flush of crimson rushing to her cheeks. "Why on earth would you bring that up?" she hissed, her voice cracking slightly.
"Oh, come on now," Lucifer purred, a wicked smile curving her lips. "I am not trying to trick you. We are practically family at this point, aren't we?"
Yuko bit her lower lip, her gaze darting nervously toward the kitchen doors before she finally relented. "I... yes, I like it. Of course I like it," she admitted, her voice barely above a whisper.
Lucifer's smile widened into something truly devilish. "Would you like some strategic assistance on that front?"
Yuko narrowed her eyes, her guard immediately flying back up. "I always get the distinct feeling that you are leading me into a trap, yet I never have the evidence to prove it. Exactly how do you plan to help me? Wait... no, why would I even need your help in the first place?"
"Well..." Lucifer drawled, swirling her drink lazily. "I suppose whoever chickens out first will know the answer to that."
Yuko's eye twitched. If backing away from the devil's schemes made her a coward, then she was perfectly fine wearing that label. Yet, despite her better judgment, a knot of nervous anticipation tightened in her chest. Leaning closer, she whispered, "So... what exactly are you planning to do?"
"Ah, the less you know, the better," Lucifer replied, tapping a manicured nail against her glass. "Just consider it some highly entertaining support. Though... you really should keep an eye on Rindou. That girl is leagues more active than you are. Let me think... yes, she has been actively plotting with me for nearly a month now."
"Alright, alright, I get it," Yuko muttered, rubbing her temples. "But why does hearing that make me feel so incredibly anxious?"
Lucifer rolled her eyes, letting out a sharp, mocking laugh. "Why are you so utterly useless? You are the only person I know who launched a rebellion, failed miserably, got completely assimilated into the enemy camp, and yet still insists on pretending to rebel."
Yuko's expression froze. The statement sounded mildly insulting on the surface, but upon closer inspection, it was a multi-layered assassination of her character. Was the demon calling her incompetent? Was she saying she was too stubborn to learn her lesson? Or was she mocking her complete lack of backbone for surrendering so easily to Ren's charms?
Gathering her shattered dignity, Yuko cleared her throat. "Um... Lucifer, I feel like your phrasing there was a bit ambiguous."
"Hmm? You are vastly overthinking it," Lucifer replied smoothly, taking a delicate sip of her drink. "I certainly wasn't calling you amazing."
"Oh, well that makes sen— Wait, huh?!"
Meanwhile, inside the pristine environment of the kitchen, the atmosphere was thick with reverence. Erina, Alice, Momo, and Rindou stood gathered around the massive stainless-steel prep table, their eyes wide with undisguised awe. Resting before them was a colossal, impeccably fresh bluefin tuna, entirely encased in a thick block of crystalline ice. It was a legendary catch—an ingredient whose sheer quality made it far more precious than its weight in solid gold.
Snapping a pair of sterile prep gloves onto her hands, Alice leaned in and gently poked the icy surface protecting the massive fish. "Heavens, just look at the clarity of that flesh!" she exclaimed, her crimson eyes sparkling with scientific fascination. "A bluefin of this caliber... it has to be worth hundreds of millions of yen!"
Akanegakubo Momo clutched her plush toy tightly, nodding in solemn agreement. "Even if it is merely broken down for sashimi," the petite pastry chef noted, her voice quiet but carrying the heavy weight of professional respect, "purchasing a specimen of this magnitude whole is not something just anyone can afford. The logistics alone are staggering."
Erina studied the frozen monument, her delicate brows knitting together in mild confusion. She turned her gaze toward the head chef. "Shopkeeper Ren, I have a question. Is this protective ice casing formed from one single, continuous block?"
Ren didn't answer with words. Instead, he calmly stepped forward, reversing his grip on his ceramic chef's knife. With a casual, almost lazy flick of his wrist, he brought the heavy base of the handle down against the frozen surface. A sharp, resonant crack echoed through the kitchen. In the blink of an eye, the massive, solid block of ice shattered perfectly, cascading outward into a glittering, pristine mountain of crushed snow, leaving the majestic bluefin entirely unharmed in the center.
Erina gasped, taking a sudden step back as the icy mist rolled over the edges of the table. "Oh! How in the world did you just do that?"
Ren offered a faint, understated smile, twirling the knife back into a proper grip. "It is just a matter of kinetic force and speed. If your hand is fast enough, you can strike the structural weak point. The ice was already pre-fractured beneath the surface; it just held its shape until the final impact. Think of it as a flashy little bonus skill for live cooking performances."
Erina nodded slowly, her amethyst eyes still locked onto the glistening, ruby-red flesh of the tuna. Ren chuckled, a dry, amused sound. "Relax, Erina. Don't be so tense. You have broken down and prepared plenty of sashimi in your life. There is no need to stare at the fish like it is about to jump off the table and bite you."
Leaning over the counter, Kobayashi Rindou stared at the massive, glassy-eyed head of the tuna, a predatory grin spreading across her face. "Hey, Boss," she chimed in, her golden eyes gleaming with culinary mischief. "What exactly are you planning to do with the fish head?"
Ren paused, glancing down at the hefty cut. "The head? I haven't entirely decided yet. Why? What do you want to do with it?"
Rindou licked her lips, her imagination running wild. "Hmm... I suddenly have this overwhelming urge to see what a traditional chopped chili fish head would taste like if we used a premium bluefin tuna head instead..."
Ren stared at her for a long, flat second before letting out a quiet sigh. "Save the experimental chaos for later, Rindou. Just stand back and watch carefully."
[Akarin's Note: Papaya milk is a very common trope in anime and Asian pop culture, humorously believed to help increase a woman's bust size. Pandemonica is secretly hoping for a miracle!]
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