From four to five stars (Taiyou)

[Takahashi Andrew]

In the restaurant business, Andrew knew there was a rating system. In some cases there is something in regards to a health rating. This was used by a letter grade to show the quality of a dining establishment. There was also a food rating the living refer to as "Zagat". However, there was a rating that symbolized just about every restaurant and hospitality establishment in the world: the star system. In a way, Andrew always considered this cooking area to be around a 4 star. He always tried to do a better job with the quality of food and he took pride in keeping the area clean enough to rival the fourth division's medical wards. But to get a fifth star he had a feeling that it needed a better decor. And so Andrew had to make a decision that he knew was going to be one to adapt on: he needed to move the restaurant closer to the division.

Now that he was a captain, he needed things to be much closer so that he doesn't stay away for too long. He had made preparations to get his cooking gear transferred into the fifth along with the tools necessary to have a fully functioning kitchen and dining establishment. Some might consider it strange, but Andrew had always been able to get his kidou improved thanks to studying various recipes developed in the land of the living. As he looked around, he had a smile on his face as he held the welcome sign with the pineapple marking on it. He had plenty of memories in this place. So it was going to be time soon to make some more memories in the fifth division.

[Zenkai Taiyou]

Taiyou stood at the entrance of the new restaurant, impressed.
That guy wasn't kiddin' when he said he wanted to upgrade, she thought with a grin.
She frowned, musing how much things would cost, now. Big, fancy places like this tended to be pricey. Taiyou had some hunches why Andrew would want to move the place closer, but it irked her that he did it in the first place. It had been quint before, separate from the work place. Now everything was a part of it.

She looked down in the boxes in her arms, one held with each arm. Thankfully, they both had handles. The woman estimated that they were both filled with wine; one with red, the other white, both with six bottles each. Both were orders that had been made through Minori. Technically, it was his job to deliver them to the captain, but Taiyou had spent that morning with her surrogate father, and he seemed keen on making Tai do some of the heavy lifting, since she was an established shinigami and all. The woman had complained, but lo and behold, after initially getting lost (she didn't know how, but she did), here she was, with the booze.

"Better look for the back door," she realized; it probably would look unsightly if she charged in through the front. Still, it would be such a pain... However, Taiyou liked Andrew enough to respect the fact that going through the front door was probably a very tacky thing to do, so the woman cursed under her breath as she stormed off towards the back entrance.

The woman pushed the door open with her left foot.
"Hey, taichou-kun. Got your stuff," she exclaimed as she greeted the cook with a broad smile.
"Haven't seen you in a while. Place looks great!"
The woman held up both of the boxes, looking around the kitchen. Like the customer portion of the restaurant, the kitchen went through some modifications as well. Wasn't as cozy looking, either, but she knew it was going to serve Andrew very well.
"It's the wine you ordered...Where do I put these, anyway?"

[Takahashi Andrew]

"Hm, oh hi Taiyou."

Andrew smiled as he waved hello to her. He was glad to see her again helping out with some of the materials for the restaurant. While it seemed to be a peculiar thing to have, he remembered learning more about cooking when he had been trying to help alleviate the boredom of pouring through several books on how to study kidou. As he continued to organize, he saw the wine and smiled. "I actually got a place set up for those." He walked over to a compartment he made to keep the wine in case he needed to use it. Though he didn't drink like other shinigami, he did use the wine in different applications. For instance, he had used wine for both marinading meats and even used it to deglaze cooking surfaces to get the caramelized portions out of the pan so that it could be reduced into something flavorful. At the moment he had been trying to think of dessert applications with wine, contemplating on different sauces or even frozen variations. "I was meaning to ask, how has the lieutenant's position been treating you?"

[Zenkai Taiyou]

Taiyou hummed as she followed Andrew to the wine compartment, trying to be careful as she made her way through the kitchen. She wasn't entirely sure why; the shinigami certainly knew how to handle her merchandise, and she wasn't about to trip and fall, not now. The kitchen felt too big, too colorless, too clean, too empty for her.
"I hope you're not trying to manage this place alone," she said, though her concerns were briefly interrupted when Andrew opened the wine compartment.
"Oooh," she breathed, excited.
So much alcohol!

"Omph!" she exclaimed as she gently placed the boxes of wine on an opposing counter top which was thankfully clear. Taiyou skillfully ripped some of the package around the box and exerted two bottles of wine from it, placing it on the counter top besides the box.
"Here, help me with these," she carelessly ordered. The woman would have started to place the bottles away, but she knew better than to just put things away rashly. A lesson she had learned long ago- never mess with a cook's organization. Ever.

Taiyou smiled at Andrew's question.
"It's been busy. I think I work over time a bit too much," she replied in good humor, "But that ain't nothing new, is it? It's tough, but kind of fun. Has it's own perks, too. I get to travel more, and don't have to take as much bull... "
The woman laughed a little at the prospect, though there was something weary and routine about her response.
She was getting tired of the question; it was all everyone seemed to want to know now a days. On one hand, she supposed it was concern and interest, and the woman was grateful for that, but on the other it sometime seemed as if people were testing her. As if they were making sure she was up to the position that had been handed towards her in such haste. It was practically suffocating, at times. Taiyou gave a broader grin at her piece of irony as she placed down the last of the two white wine bottles.

"I gotta admit, it took a while gettin' used to," she continued as she opened up the box full of reds, quietly, "Getting over death is...tough, Andrew. But there's always work to be done, so..."
Taiyou sighed as she shook her head, trying to get her bangs from falling into her eyes. She didn't bother finishing her sentence; what was the point?
"Anyway, what are you going to call this place, anyway? Something chic?" she playfully asked.

[Takahashi Andrew]

"I'm planning to get some of the help within the division."

With Andrew, he had an unorthadox logic when it came to kidou training. When he started off in the academy, he had found himself almost having his eyes glaze over from pouring over text after text. In fact, the only way to keep his mind from going off on a tangent and slack off in kidou was being able to cook. So if he had been able to use cooking to help apply himself. Perhaps some of that training can be able to be passed down to his subordinates. As he saw her bringing out the wine, he then helped out As he carried one of the boxes, Andrew had continued to speak. "Yeah, a captain's position has a lot of work as well. I'm still working on understanding the ins and outs of the job, still feels pretty new to me. But I am more than determined to figure things out. It's just like cooking, I might make a few mistakes here and there but I will learn and understand what I need to do."

Andrew looked at some of the wines, nodding his head as he looked at some of the notes that he had been able to write down. He had also been working on wine pairings since he didn't really know much about wine in general. In a way it was to help ease a mind still learning about his new position. Thankfully Taiyou helped ease his mind a little. As she asked him about the name, he smiled as he took out the old sign again. "I am not really good with names Taiyou, so I am just going to keep it without a name. But I am still keeping the sign. Interesting note, did you know that the pineapple is actually the symbol of hospitality?"

[Zenkai Taiyou]

"What about them?" Taiyou asked, gathering the empty boxes in her arms. They didn't have anything to do with captain positions or giving the place a name, did it?
Not really interesting, she thought, though she didn't say it out loud as to not hurt his feelings.
"Call it 'Andrew's', or 'The Pineapple', then," she offered as she started to make her way towards the back door, again.
I'll be right back, just going to throw these out, 'kay?""

Outside, Taiyou threw the boxes by a trash can.
"Just like cooking, huh?" she muttered to herself with a grin.
She loved her friend, though he was a bit of a novelty to her, sometimes, always comparing things to cooking. It was a part of him, just as much as his zanpaktou was. What was her 'cooking'?
Probably music, she mused, though she hadn't had the time recently to look up any new songs. A pity, really, since it helped pass the time during the nights at sea, sometimes.
She smiled ruefully to herself as she recalled a ditty, and hummed it as she gracefully turned around and enter the kitchen once more.

"Alright, that's done," Taiyou exclaimed, stretching her arms skywards. She realized she had no business there anymore, and that kind of made her feel a bit sad. She had been so busy at work that she simply had no time to make arrangements for her days off.
Might as well hang for a bit, she thought, Nothing else to do, anyway.
"Need help with anything?" she asked with a yawn, "I'm free all afternoon."

[Takahashi Andrew]

"Huh? Oh yeah, you can take those boxes out."

Andrew seemed to be lost in his own little world as he looked at the sign once again. He still thought about everything that was going on, and he had hoped beyond anything else to be the best he can be. It was going to be difficult, but he was going to try his hardest. Though it was not really an official duty as a captain, finding a good name for the restaurant would be a good start. He smiled, nodding his head as he looked at the sign. "Yeah, I think the Pineapple sounds pretty good." Andrew always wasn't the kind of person who can think of names. It was even clear when he had been working on getting the name of his own zanpaktou. It seemed to be quiet in the restaurant, but he knew it wasn't going to be for long. He learned that sometimes people cannot do things by themselves. As he looked at Taiyou, he had a kind smile on his face as he spoke. "Well, since I am done with my paperwork for the day I was going to see what recipes to try out next."

[Zenkai Taiyou]

"What kind?" Taiyou asked, interested.
She wasn't much of a chief herself, but she knew how to cook, decently.
Meh. Might be fun, she thought.
"Did ya start writing up a menu, yet?" she asked, "Or is that what you're working on, now?"
The woman pondered on the steps on restaurant founding and running. Despite the many tasks she realized Andrew still had to take, he seemed very calm and not at all stressed out.

Not to mention his Captain duties, Taiyou thought with a determined nod. If he could do all of this and not fret about it, then the woman was determined to work even harder at her own duties. Remembering what those duties were, she shuddered at the thought of all the work that needed to be done. A part of her ached to go back to the office and get it over with, damn it, but today was her day off. None of that!

I'm turning into a work-o-holic, she thought with a desperate air, now willing more than ever to help Andrew with whatever fancy he was going to face today. Perhaps her vision of a work-o-holic was a bit of a exaggeration: cold, bitter, bloodthirsty, and snappish people who was obsessed with the confinements of their desk and the battlefield. (Okay, so she was a bit over zealous about her job but not that zealous, right?)
"Let's get started?" she asked, weakly.

[Takahashi Andrew]

"I haven't really thought of a menu yet. There is still a lot of things to prepare on the captain's side of things."

A lot of things was an understatement in Andrew's mind. Though he had been able to become a lieutenant of the fifth division, the number of tasks and responsibilities have been increased. Though he had been more than happy to do what needed to be done to ensure he had done a good job, but he had been known as "the new guy". He lacked knowing people in the captain's position. The only ones he did know in that position were also busy as well. So for now he had been trying to taking care of things by himself. But just like in his time in the academy, he had been making the same mistake he had done before when he was a student: work on something so much that his eyes started to glaze over from boredom. So doing anything cooking related would allow him to bring some zip into his brain.

He still continued to think about the menu though while looking out at a wall. Even though it seemed that he had been zoned out, Andrew was in deep thought. He seemed to be in a vegetative state for a few moments before speaking again. "Vegetable wise we can definitely do seasonal. I know watermelon should be pretty good during the summer time. If I can get my hands on some devices to help produce ice I can probably make some ice cream. Or maybe some snow cones. I remember going to this supermarket a long time ago when I had this snow cone that tasted just like tapioca pudding." He seemed to have a much more life now that his mind was able to get some distraction.

[Zenkai Taiyou]

"You really should," Taiyou scowled at Andrew when he mentioned he didn't think one up yet. She didn't blame him for not doing it, but at the same time she felt a little weary of this technique.
This is just like him, she thought.
How could you prepare a restaurant without knowing what sort of things you wanted to serve in the first place? It was a little too impulsive for her tastes, especially when it came to things like this, though the woman figured she probably had it wrong- Andrew generally knew what he was doing, especially when it came to food.

Taiyou tilted her head to see his face more clearly when it appeared as if he was zoning out. She could feel the weight of her braid as it shifted as well. Though the shinigami dared not admit it, she sometimes found the heaviness of her hair a little annoying. Short hair was freer and took less time to clean. Still, she was proud of her locks and was determined to not have them cut off. As if to emphasize this point, the woman held, tugged, and turned it gently in her hands in a bored fashion.
"Um..." she started to say, quietly, but she needn't ask what was going on in the captain's head, for he quickly picked up again.

The shinigami nodded as Andrew spoke, becoming eager as he mentioned ice cream. Never mind if she didn't know what he meant by serving seasonal vegetables or what tapioca pudding was; the thought of home made ice cream delighted her.
"Do it!" she exclaimed.
The request was only partly selfish- ice cream was a luxury for the shingami, one she didn't get to indulge in until Minori saw it fit to treat her to some, a long time ago.
Kind of to think about it, I haven't had any for a few weeks now, she thought. The oceans and the air she had been assigned to work in the human world then were rather chilly- her cravings then had been for something warm, not cold.
But now she wanted some, and she wanted it now.

Pushing her personal thoughts aside, Taiyou thought it was a genially great idea. Home made things tended to taste better which would draw in more customers and if anyone could master the art of ice cream making, she was sure Andrew could. Actually...how did one make ice cream, anyway? She strongly suspected that it involved a bucket and a handle but the woman wasn't so keen on the details.

Not forgetting her sense of business,Taiyou cheerfully hoisted herself onto a counter top, again, as she dangled her legs.
"If you need anything you can't find round here, I'm sure Minori will be able to pick up some stuff for ya."
She gave him a cheeky grin.
"Maybe I could bring the squads down here for it, if they're good," she said, though half the fun of the tease was lost, as they weren't there to be taunted.