I, Uchiha Hikaru, have joined the chat group.

Chapter 360 Why are you so skilled at this?

So...

"What does dating have to do with cat ears?"

The location is a dessert shop on Cake Island.

Uchiha Hikaru sat at the table, watching Esdeath place a freshly made strawberry smoothie in front of him. His cat ears twitched, and his expression was slightly unnatural.

Well, adhering to the principle of accepting the consequences of her bet, she accepted Esdeath's invitation and chose Whole Cake Island as the convenient location.

This is arguably one of the most bustling places in the One Piece world. The island boasts a wide variety of desserts, cold drinks, and clothing stores, and you can see the distant seascape just by walking along the streets. Moreover, since the entire Whole Cake Island area has been frozen by Esdeath, you can do whatever you want here without being disturbed—it's truly perfect for enjoying some time alone together…

only……

Esdeath seems to have some kind of obsession with cat ears, insisting that Uchiha Hikaru appear in the form of a cat-eared girl, which makes her a little helpless.

"Well, this is the cutest way to look at it."

Esdeath said matter-of-factly.

At this moment, she also sat down at the table with a cup of shaved ice, and casually snapped her fingers. The air above the two cups of shaved ice suddenly cooled down, making the cream freeze even more tightly.

Using the power of "Demon Essence" in this way is quite ingenious.

"Try it."

Esdeath raised her chin: "Back in the Empire, I learned some dessert-making techniques, but I haven't used them in a long time, so I don't know if I still have the skills... Speaking of which, this place called 'Ten Thousand Kingdoms' is quite interesting. Even the walls of the houses are made of various kinds of desserts, which makes it very convenient to make them."

"really."

In a horizontal comparison within the One Piece world, Big Mom's Whole Cake Island actually has a relatively high standard of living. Although lifespan is periodically drained, at least one can survive... However, if one were to live there long-term, the most obvious drawback would be the increased risk of developing diabetes.

Uchiha Hikaru scooped up a piece of shaved ice with a spoon and put it in his mouth. The moment his tongue touched the crushed ice, his eyes widened slightly.

This taste...

It was surprisingly delicious!

"How is it?"

Esdeath, with one hand supporting her chin, sat opposite her, looking over with interest, seemingly anticipating her response.

"Hmm...it's pretty good, won't you try some?"

Uchiha Hikaru scooped up two more spoonfuls, and after eating them, she looked up and noticed that Esdeath was staring intently at her. Then, she suddenly reached out, put her fingertips to the corner of Esdeath's mouth, scraped off a small clump of cream stuck there, and then naturally put it into her own mouth.

"Wait, what's that...?"

Uchiha Hikaru opened his mouth, staring in disbelief at the scene, unable to stop it in time.

Esdeath, on the other hand, had already swallowed the cream, then licked it lightly with her rosy tongue, before smiling and saying, "Hmm, it is indeed very sweet."

"..."

no……

Why are you so skilled at it?

Hikaru Uchiha admitted that she didn't have much experience in relationships, but at least she had lived in the information-saturated modern world in her previous life and had a wealth of knowledge. She never dreamed that one day she would become the object of someone else's advances.

This sudden display of affection did indeed make her heart race.

However, it's also a bit strange...

—When did Esdeath learn these techniques?

Could it be that after getting a cell phone in the world of sorcery, he found learning materials online and secretly caught up on his studies?

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

Esdeath was slightly taken aback by Uchiha Hikaru's suspicious gaze, but then she laughed again: "Didn't we agree that I would arrange everything for this date? You're not going to go back on your word, are you? Well, hurry up and eat, it won't taste good if it melts."

As she said this, Esdeath pushed the shaved ice in front of her over as well.

Uchiha Hikaru accepted the offer without hesitation. While waiting for the shaved ice to melt, he mumbled, "What's the arrangement later?"

"Hmm... there seem to be a few clothing stores over there. Let's go check them out and pick out a few clothes after we finish our shaved ice. You look better in something cuter right now."

Esdeath looked at the cat ears on either side of Uchiha Hiro's head and said with a smile.

"...Alright then."

At this point, Uchiha Hikaru was too lazy to think about it anymore.

Since Esdeath initiated this date, and she had already made the plans, there was no need for her to ask any more questions; she could just follow her lead. She had been busy running around dealing with Yamato, Ace, Whitebeard, and the others recently, so it was time to relax and unwind.

I leisurely finished eating the shaved ice.

After that, the two got up and left the dessert shop. They walked a short distance hand in hand and went into the clothing store to try on clothes.

There are quite a few styles of clothing in the One Piece world, and many of the outfits are quite trendy. They wouldn't look out of place even if they were placed in the neighboring worlds of Dragon Raja or Jujutsu.

Just ...

The clothing sizes are generally large, with more than half of them seemingly designed for people over two meters tall, leaving relatively few for people of normal build.

Esdeath chose a gorgeous dress.

Hmm... pink.

Even though she had mentally prepared herself, when she saw this outfit, Uchiha Hikaru couldn't help but slightly twitch the corner of her mouth: "Are you sure you want to try this on? I don't really care, but this color... you probably don't like it either, right?"

"That's not necessarily true. If it were you wearing it, I'd really like to see it, no matter what color it was."

"..."

Uchiha Hikaru glanced at Esdeath, then, under the latter's enthusiastic gaze, turned and walked into the fitting room.

Two minutes later.

Uchiha Hikaru opened the fitting room door and waved to the outside: "Ai, come and help me out."

"Um?"

"This dress... is a little difficult to wear."

The fitting room was not very large.

When Uchiha Hikaru was standing inside, it was fairly spacious, but once Esdeath squeezed in, it immediately felt cramped. After a brief explanation, Uchiha Hikaru stood in front of the dressing mirror, holding up the dress she had only half-put on. She felt a few cold fingers touch her back, and her body involuntarily stiffened, a few beads of sweat appearing on her nose.

Is it hot?

Esdeath said softly.

"...A little."

"I'll be a little faster then, please bear with me for now."

That being said, Esdeath clearly didn't know much about this kind of dress either—as a former Imperial general, she mostly wore military uniforms and was completely unsuitable for this kind of cute style of dress. So, after fumbling around for a while, she finally figured out how to wear the dress, then zipped it up from the back and adjusted the fabric on the side.

"alright."

As Esdeath spoke, Uchiha Hikaru breathed a sigh of relief and was about to push open the door to leave when she called out to him again.

Then, Esdeath bent down and naturally reached her hands to her shoulders, smoothing out the folds at her neckline.

Compared to before, this movement looks much gentler, with a hint of a wife adjusting her husband's clothes.

soon.

The wrinkles on the collar were neatly tidied up.

Esdeath didn't stand up immediately. Instead, she kept her hands on her shoulders, raised her eyebrows, and stared intently at Uchiha Hikaru with her icy blue eyes. Uchiha Hikaru was also looking at her.

Eyes facing each other.

The surrounding air seemed to quiet down, and in the small space, only the sound of their breathing and heartbeats could be clearly heard.

It's hard to say who made the first move, but their faces gradually drew closer, close enough to see each other's eyelashes and smell the faint fragrance in the air.

"Speaking of which..."

Esdeath let out a soft sigh: "Isn't this kind of thing part of a date?"

Uchiha Hikaru's heart skipped a beat: "You mean...?"

no respond.

A cool and soft touch suddenly landed on her lips, causing Uchiha Hikaru to open her eyes wide for a moment before gently closing them again.

A gentle breeze was blowing.

A beautiful atmosphere permeated the small space.

a long time.

The two separated again. Esdeath took a half step back, looked at Uchiha Mitsuaki's radiant face and attire, and nodded slightly: "Looks pretty good. Let's go out and take some photos to remember this moment, and then try something else?"

"……good."

……

That afternoon.

Uchiha Hikaru and Esdeath explored almost every shop on Whole Cake Island. As evening approached, they arrived near the beach, where they caught a few fish. Esdeath scaled and prepared the fish, then placed them on the campfire. The two of them sat close together by the sea, eating grilled fish while watching the sun set and the moon hang high in the sky.

"It's been a whole day already, time really flies."

Uchiha Hikaru gazed at the full moon for a moment, then looked at Esdeath and asked softly, "Is this date over?"

"Shouldn't this kind of thing be calculated based on time?"

Esdeath raised an eyebrow, then smiled. "But it is indeed very late now. If you're sleepy, you should go to sleep... I had a great day, and I bet you did too, right?"

"……Um."

Uchiha Hikaru stretched, got up and quickly washed up, then returned to where he had been. He sat down next to Esdeath with his back to her, resting his head on her shoulder. "Well... goodnight, Esdeath."

Esdeath's shoulders stiffened slightly before relaxing, and she let out a soft breath.

Goodnight, light.

(End of this chapter)