#i hadn't been since pre-pandemic and had to cross an international border to go but the vibes are 1000% worth it

[bleachbleachbleach]

That Time the 9th Division Revolutionized Gotei Dining

When I think about what I most want to see Bleach characters doing, it is either admin, eating, or the most depraved crimes imaginable. And when I think about how I want food to work in the Gotei, my guiding light is what I think would be the most fun. Generally, this means I think the Gotei should be run like a Girl Scout camp.

In general, my headcanon is that:

Like everything else within divisions, how food works really depends on the Division's particular whimsy. But in most divisions, there's a kaper chart and every week you're assigned to a chore in addition to whatever it is shinigami do all day: cooking, various forms of cleaning, etc. (Some divisions choose to outsource much of this to the pros at the 4th.) If you're deployed into the Rukongai hinterlands or the Living World, your kaper duties are either replaced by similar duties within your deployment group, or you're wandering around the Living World solo like some kind of contestant on Alone.

When you're on cooking duty, your group decides what you're capable of cooking in bulk, within budget. This might mean the same rice and soup every meal every day of the week if you get a cooking crew that's not into it. Others are more excited about cooking and sharing things they like. Matsumoto's tenure in the kitchen pre-VCship is somewhat legendary for its inventiveness. Usually, every meal there's just the one option, but some divisions offer a Set Meal A and B, and some have specialties that persist regardless of which shinigami are specifically in the kitchen.

Shinigami usually eat at their own mess halls in their division, but depending on where their duties take them or how far they're willing to travel, they can eat at other divisions for a fee.

These mess halls are separate from the various restaurants in Soul Society, though the restaurants are pricey. (The mess halls aren't FREE per se; you just don't have to pay when you go because a portion of your paycheck is automatically held back for meals. You're paying whether you eat there or not.)

Then there's the 9th. The 9th under Kensei, and then Tousen, and then Kensei again. By Kensei's tenure, the 9th was already well on its way to sub-specializing in multiple ways throughout the division--there's people doing stints in the SC editorial office, people specializing in field assignments in Team Muguruma. And then there's the 9th Division canteen, staffed by shinigami who still work their normal shinigami duties, but work primarily in the kitchens. They've gotten REALLY good at it.

But it's kind of a best-kept secret, because this is what the 9th Division mess hall looks like from the outside:

After being charmed by the incredible curb appeal of the 9th Division mess hall, you walk in and there's a whole wall with different meals you can order, cafeteria-style.

Each has a little slip of paper with the name of your meal and the price!

The "Stamina Don" is a very popular choice for lunching shinigami.

Once you've made your choice, you take it to the shinigami working at the order window:

And when your order is yelled out, you come back to the front and pick up your meal on a tray and grab whatever utensils and toppings you need. As pictured here, Soul SocieTV is playing nonstop in the 9th Mess Hall.

After your meal, you can enjoy some tea on these very Soul Society Approved couches:

Always the sort to embrace idiosyncrasy, the 9th Division mess hall is the only place in all of Soul Society that stocks these elegant Jesus mugs (so they know that you stole it, should a patron happen to "accidentally" walk off with one).

They also stock copies of the SC for your reading pleasure. This edition is extolling the wonderment that is "Smallmouth Disneyland," the Seireitei's annual bass fishing competition.

The 9th likes to keep all of this on the DL, because it's *amazing* that there's a mess in the Seireitei with dedicated cooks (well, their official employment is a 25/75, with 75% cooking and 25% Shinigami Stuff), and so many different options to choose from at every meal, and they don't want it too get too crowded/so popular as to be unsustainable.

Still, there's a small cabal of non-9th division folks in the know (Hisagi's Friends, mostly. Minus Matsumoto), which the 9th is fine with because their patronage = additional revenue for the mess hall, but overall it's probably the only secret in the history of Soul Society anyone has been able to keep successfully.

Ironically, this mess hall is also where Aizen, Tousen, and Ichimaru held a lot of their after-hours secret planning meetings.