Chapter 422 - Hell's Training Camp (IV)...
[Urahara Shop, Karakura Town]
"It wasn't a dream, right?" Kurosaki Isshin muttered as he got up from the floor… he felt really dizzy.
"If you are asking about our meeting with a God, then no" Hirako Shinji said in a bland tone while rubbing his temples.
"Did any of you see glimpses of a woman dressed in a green and black body suit?" Cat Yoruichi asked curiously as the cat shook her head.
"Yes… that is why I wanted to know if everything was a dream or not" Isshin grumbled as he crossed his arms over his chest.
"Then you should have said that clearly" Ryuken Ishida said in a bland tone.
"Kisuke, what are you thinking?" The Cat noticed that her friend seemed to be really silent.
"I think that the woman in our visions was Hela… and I don't know what Reo did but I need to conduct some tests before I can reach any conclusion" Kisuke Urahara said while rubbing his chin. .
"That's good and all but I wanted to ask if this means we can stop looking for more information?" Hirako Shinji asked curiously and everyone in the room answered negatively.
"Fine… be a spoilsport" Hirako Shinji grumbled in annoyance…
[POV Rumi]
I quickly made my way towards where Shinomiya Kojiro's appointed station was. I wasn't surprised to find Dojima Gin was hiding nearby… he must be waiting for the perfect moment to show up… so, I also decided to wait outside.
With my senses, it wasn't hard to find what was going on inside the hall. I quickly noticed a blue-haired timid girl was working with bad ingredients… she was using wine to fix the taste… the stage was already set so I decided to patiently wait and I wasn't disappointed.
Shinomiya Kojiro expelled the poor girl without bothering to taste her dish. Ah… so, Hinako Inui is also involved in this. I thought as I noticed Hinako Inui arrived and she met up with Dojima Gin, as both of them decided to wait nearby.
Oh… what is this? Young love? I thought as I saw a red-haired boy challenge Shinomiya Kojiro's decision. Shinomiya Kojiro didn't appreciate the defiance and threatened to expel him too. After that, the boy proposed a Shokugeki. Obviously, Shinomiya Kojiro refused.
That is when both Dojima Gin and Hinako Inui decided to make their appearance. They forced Shinomiya Kojiro to accept the Shokugeki.
No matter how much I would love to see the Shokugeki, I can't allow this to happen. Not for the sake of the students but there is simply no need for something like… so, I decided to make my appearance.
"Isn't this interesting?" I spoke out loud as I approached their group. Dojima Gin and Hinako Inui frowned when they saw me and Shinomiya Kojiro simply scowled.
"Hinako Inui… what are you doing here? According to the schedule, you should be overseeing an assignment?" I asked as I tilted my head. Hinako simply laughed nervously.
"...I was looking around" she said while rubbing the back of her head.
"Fine… Dojima, postpone all the tasks and assemble all the Alumni and the Totsuki lecturers in my office…" I said and my eyes turned towards the blue-haired girl and the red-haired boy.
"What about the assignments?" Dojima Gin asked me with an uncomfortable look on his face.
"I just told you to postpone them…" I said in a dismissive tone. "You two come with me…" I said looking towards the blue-haired girl and the red-haired boy.
The girl started to shake in fear and I started to walk towards my office… After a few moments, both of them followed me. When we were finally out of the other's view I sensed the red-haired boy approaching me.
"Hello, I am Yukihira Soma… who are you?" the red-haired boy introduced himself. I already like him… the boy has some guts.
"Rumi Usagiyama" I said and extended my fist towards him. For a second he looked confused until he realized my gesture and bumped his fist with mine.
"What's your name girl?" I asked as I looked at her from the corner of my eye. She yelped in fear… damn girl… if you get scared of me then I am glad that you didn't meet Nemuri or Hela.
"Megumi Tadokoro…" the girl stuttered out and I nodded my head. The rest of the journey to my office was spent in silence.
"Whoa!! Your office is massive…!!" Yukihira exclaimed loudly as we entered my office. The girl was also looking around in awe.
"Please take a seat and tell me what happened from the beginning…" I said and gestured towards the seats. Yukihira excitedly sat down while the girl took the seat but she was a nervous wreck.
After that, the boy started to tell me the story when he noticed that Megumi wouldn't be able to say anything. The whole thing went down just like I had thought. So when I was finally finished with their story, I decided to send them back.
I didn't want any Alumni targeting these two. I decided to patiently wait in my office for the others to arrive. The Totsuki lecturers were the first ones to arrive…
"Why did you postpone the tasks and call us here?" Roland Chapelle questioned as soon as he arrived.
"I will explain everything when everyone is here… why don't all of you take a seat and make yourself comfortable?" I offered and they reluctantly went along with it.
After some time the Alumni also started to arrive. Within half an hour, all the Alumni were here. "All of you might be wondering why I have called all of you here, so let's get this started. Shinomiya Kojiro, please have a seat" I said in a calm tone.
Shinomiya Kojiro approached my desk with a haughty and defiant look on his face and Dojima Gin didn't have any noticeable expression on his face. Both of them sat down and leaned on my desk.
"Now… let's start with this. Dojima Gin, why did you recommend Shinomiya Kojiro for the Training Camp?" I asked in a neutral tone.
"He is one of the best chefs to graduate from Totsuki…" Dojima Gin began to say but I cut him off.
"That's enough… Now, Shinomiya Kojiro, did you knowingly bring bad ingredients for the assignment?" I asked and a lot of Alumni started to murmur.
"Yes, I did" Shinomiya Kojiro admitted with a defiant look on his face. More Alumni started to murmur, even the lectures gave him weird looks.
"So, you knew that someone would have to use those ingredients, right?" I asked and he nodded his head.
"Roland Chapelle… you are a Totsuki lecturer who has taught Shinomiya Kojiro, right?" I asked and nodded his head.
"Then tell me, what would you do if you found yourself in that student's shoes?" I asked and his answer was instantaneous.
"Depends on the recipe but I will probably use Wine, after all, my specialty is French Cuisine" Roland Chapelle said like it was an obvious thing. Before I could say anything, Shinomiya Kojiro decided to speak up.
"They changed my recipe" Shinomiya Kojiro said while gritting his teeth.
"Oh… so not only are you knowingly giving a student bad ingredients so that they would fail but you are also denying their efforts to fix their dish?" I asked and Shinomiya Kojiro almost snarled in rage.
"They were late, that is why she got those bad ingredients" Shinomiya Kojiro spat out and Dojima Gin looked almost defeated.
Now almost everyone was giving Shinomiya Kojiro uncomfortable looks… even the lecturers were doing the same. I leaned back in my chair as I contemplated his words.
"I am not speaking about that girl in particular… you are expelling students just because you can. One way or other you are expelling students… Can anyone tell me what the objective of this Training Camp is?" I asked and a purple-haired woman walked out of the crowd of Alumni.
"The objective is to challenge students, I understand that the students who aren't good enough should be expelled but what he is doing is simply sabotaging" the woman spat out in disgust.
Shinomiya Kojiro shot out of his chair and glared at the woman… his eyes were filled with hatred. "What the fuck do you know??!! I was doing what is right? They are still students!! How dare they change my recipe?" Shinomiya Kojiro yelled in anger. I will have to give the woman some credit, she didn't flinch back and started into Shinomiya's eyes without fear.
Now, almost all the Alumni were looking at Shinomiya Kojiro with disgust in their eyes. Even the lecturers were looking at him with horrified looks on their faces. Roland Chapelle stared at Kojiro like he was the worst trash in society.
"Sit down" I said in a calm tone. Shinomiya's head turned towards me as he kept glaring at me. "Sit. Down" I said slowly as I started to release some of my bloodlust.
Shinomiya Kojiro's eyes widened in fear as he started to sweat. Everyone in the room shuddered in fear even though my blood lust wasn't directed towards them. Shinomiya Kojiro dropped in his chair, his legs failing to support his weight any longer.
I stopped releasing my bloodlust. "Now that you are calm let me tell you what is going to happen… Totsuki no longer requires your service…" I said and both Dojima's and Shinomiya's eyes grew wide in surprise and shock.
"You may leave. I am also going to blacklist you from anything related to Totsuki" I said and several gasps were heard throughout the room then my eyes turned towards Dojima.
"From now on if you want to help someone then don't do it at someone else's expense" I said as I dismissed the meeting…
(A/N: The next chapter will the last of this Training Camp Arc)