After dinner, everyone asked Captain Yamamoto for permission to go out for an evening stroll, and each formed their own little group.
Most of the captains chose to go shopping downtown, and Arata and Rangiku were no exception.
Following directions from the hotel's tour guide, the two of them arrived at a particularly famous local shopping street.
"Arata, what do you think of this one?" Rangiku peeked halfway out of the fitting room and winked at her man.
Her long golden hair casually fell over her shoulders, and she wore a burgundy dress with a deep V-neck, revealing the cleavage between her breasts.
Arata had been sitting on the sofa, bored while waiting. When he heard her voice, he looked up, and the sight in front of him made him subconsciously swallow hard.
"You... it really suits you."
"Really?" Rangiku twirled happily, the hem of the dress flaring out as her long, beautiful legs showed. "Then I'll take this one too!"
She returned to the fitting room and soon came out in a black, lace, strap dress. "What about this one? Does it look good?"
Arata's head spun. There was so little fabric on that dress it barely covered Rangiku's proud figure.
Even other customers and salesgirls in the boutique were secretly glancing in their direction, as both Rangiku's figure and face were stunning.
"Isn't that one a bit too revealing?" Arata calmly stood up and walked over to her.
"So what, everyone in this city dresses like this~" Rangiku made a pouty face, deliberately flaunting her figure in front of him. "And it's really breezy too."
Arata sighed helplessly and whispered in her ear, "If you dare walk out in that, don't even think about leaving the room for the next few days."
Rangiku's ears instantly turned red, and she smacked his chest with a spoiled whine:
"You jerk!"
In the end, the black lace dress also ended up in the shopping bag, but Arata insisted on adding a sheer tulle robe with it.
By the time the two of them came out of the first clothing store, loaded with bags big and small, night had already fallen.
The neon lights along the shopping street lit up one after another, illuminating the whole street like daylight.
"Arata, let's check out that store too!"
Just when Arata thought it was time to buy something completely different, Rangiku suddenly pulled him by the hand and dragged him into another boutique—this time one with men's suits.
Dragged in by her, Arata entered the store, and a friendly salesgirl immediately ran up to greet them.
"The gentleman has a great build, he'll look incredibly elegant in a suit!" The salesgirl, a young woman with blonde hair and blue eyes, gave Arata a few up-and-down glances.
"Would you like to try something from our latest tailored collection?"
Rangiku was already enthusiastically rummaging through the clothing racks. "This one! And this! Ah, that navy one looks really nice too!"
Before long, Arata, completely bewildered, found himself pushed into a fitting room with five or six suits of different cuts stuffed into his arms.
When he came out in the first black, slim-fit suit, Rangiku's eyes immediately lit up.
"Wooow..." She ran circles around him. "You look totally different than usual!"
The man in the mirror stood tall, the perfectly tailored suit accentuating his V-shaped torso, broad shoulders, and narrow waist.
The black fabric made his bronze skin look even healthier, and his entire body exuded the charm of a mature man, more like a dangerous beast than a teacher.
The salesgirl couldn't hold back: "Miss, you truly have great taste. The gentleman looks like he was born to wear suits!"
The corner of Arata's mouth twitched slightly. Even though he was currently in a gigai body, his height had practically returned to over two meters.
Combined with naturally powerful muscles, it was really hard not to look like a walking hanger.
Rangiku handed him another dark gray three-piece suit: "Try this one too!"
For the next half hour, under Rangiku's "supervision", Arata tried on various suit styles like a model.
From formal tuxedos to casual linen suits, not even a flashy burgundy velvet blazer escaped Rangiku's claws.
"I'll take this one! And pack that one too!" Rangiku proudly pointed at several of her favorite cuts, not paying the slightest attention to the price tags.
Arata calmly took out his black-and-gold wallet and pulled out a thick wad of bills. "I don't mind... as long as you're happy."
When he came out of the suit boutique, Arata was carrying a pile of shopping bags in his hands.
He looked at the time and saw that it was almost ten o'clock at night.
For most people, this was the time to start getting ready for bed.
But for Rangiku, who was traveling in the human world for the first time, this meant the nightlife was just beginning.
From the extremely excited look in her eyes, Arata could clearly tell she wasn't tired at all, on the contrary, she was absolutely thrilled.
"Shall we keep shopping?" he asked, looking at her.
"Of course!" Rangiku clung to his arm and pointed to a luxuriously decorated store down the street. "That one's a liquor store. I want to take a peek~"
In the store window were rows of bottled alcoholic drinks, many of which they'd never even seen in Soul Society.
The owner was a middle-aged man with a thick beard. When he saw them, he warmly approached.
"What can I get you? We have Scotch whisky, French red wine, Japanese sake..."
Rangiku curiously approached the glass display. "Arata, look how beautiful this drink's color is!"
"That's a single malt whisky, miss," the owner explained. "It comes from Islay, with a strong peaty aroma."
"Peat?" Rangiku tilted her head. "What kind of smell is that?"
The owner chuckled, opened the bottle, and poured her a small glass. Rangiku cautiously took a sip and immediately frowned.
"What a strange taste... it's like I'm drinking disinfectant."
Arata couldn't help but laugh. He took the glass and sipped it himself. It really did have a unique smoky, "smoldering" flavor.
"Try this," the owner then pulled out a bottle of pale golden liquor. "French cognac, more suited to a lady's taste."
This time Rangiku's eyes sparkled. "This one's nice! So sweet~"
In the end, they bought that bottle of cognac, along with a few bottles of red wine and one nicely packaged bottle of champagne.
Before leaving, Rangiku solemnly swore that Captain Kyōraku must not see these things, or they'd disappear in no time.
After the liquor store, the two also stopped by a dessert shop.
In the window were perfectly decorated cakes and chocolates, and Rangiku suddenly halted.
"Arata, I want to eat this!" She pointed to a three-layered cake decorated with strawberries and whipped cream, nearly drooling at the mouth.
So they added several boxes of desserts to the shopping list, full of mousse cakes, macarons, and handmade chocolates of various flavors.
By the time they finally decided to return to the hotel, they had so many bags they couldn't carry them all.
Arata had no choice but to call a taxi and stuff all the evening's "trophies" into the trunk.
"I'm so happy tonight." Rangiku leaned against Arata's shoulder, holding a small box of freshly bought ice cream in her hand, taking small spoonfuls from time to time and slowly enjoying each bite.
Arata lowered his gaze to the blonde in his arms, her smile glowing, and he couldn't help but kiss the corner of her lips where a bit of cream remained. "So, how do you feel? Tired?"
"A little." Rangiku rubbed her cheek against his shoulder. "But it was worth it. I bought so many beautiful things, and tons of snacks and drinks!"
As soon as they returned to the hotel room, Rangiku immediately began laying out her new clothes one by one on the bed, admiring each one individually. She was just thinking about how to mix and match and try them on, when Arata lifted her in a bridal carry and headed straight for the bathroom.
"Hehe! You had fun all evening, now it's my turn!"
Soon, playful giggles and increasingly heavy breathing could be heard from the bathroom.