The Fifth Division Officers' Abilities

Third Seat Soul Ability: "Hard Work"

"Hard Work: After using this ability, you'll feel more motivated while working."

Fourth Seat Soul Ability: "Sleep When You Want"

"Sleep When You Want: After using this ability, you'll be able to fall asleep instantly."

Fifth Seat Soul Ability: "Fireball Jutsu"

"Fireball Jutsu: You can create a fireball in your hand."

Sixth Seat Soul Ability: "Destruction Death Ray"

"Destruction Death Ray: Release a black destructive beam from your finger. It ignores defenses and pierces through the target's body."

Seventh Seat Soul Ability: "Game Master"

"Game Master: You'll quickly learn how to play games and become proficient at them."

Eighth Seat Soul Ability: "Appearance Boost"

"Appearance Boost: Raises your appearance."

Tenth Seat Soul Ability: "Painfully Happy"

"Painfully Happy: You feel pleasure when stimulated by pain."

These were the abilities possessed by the members of the Fifth Division. Many of them were useful, while some were completely useless.

Useful abilities included Destruction Death Ray and Fireball Jutsu. Useless ones included Sleep When You Want...

So it wasn't the case that the stronger you were, the stronger your Soul Ability would be. These abilities were determined entirely by your own traits and the characteristics you might develop in the future.

There was another thing, too. After his strength increased, Gaoyu discovered that he had somehow gained a Soul Ability of his own.

His Soul Ability was "Safe House."

"Safe House: Designate a house as your safe house. It will be indestructible and immune to all damage. Anything inside it will also be immune to all surveillance."

Damn, it knew he felt insecure, so his Soul Ability gave him a safe house. Great, great.

Since it was his Soul Ability, Gaoyu had naturally acquired it permanently.

He planned to designate his home as his safe house. That way, he wouldn't have to worry about anyone spying on him.

These past few days had kept him on edge. The main reason was that he knew Seireitei was a damn sieve, with anyone able to come and take a look!

Never mind Sosuke Aizen, who was right beside him.

The Quincy hidden in Seireitei's shadows could monitor Seireitei.

Kenpachi Asao, hidden in Muken, could monitor Seireitei.

The Monk of the Eye, up in the heavens, could monitor Seireitei.

The Tsunayashiro family, one of the Five Noble Clans, could monitor Seireitei through the Projection Hall.

That weirdo Mayuri Kurotsuchi in the Twelfth Division might be monitoring Seireitei, too.

This place was a damn sieve!

Most of these people might look down on him, but just knowing he was being watched was enough to drive anyone crazy, right?

Gaoyu didn't want every move he made to be under someone else's surveillance.

The Safe House didn't make him completely impossible to monitor. Instead, it generated fake images. Anyone watching would see nothing strange and assume he was doing ordinary things.

In reality, he might be up to something bad.

Gaoyu was quite satisfied with this ability. It wouldn't make him invincible overnight, but it was still extremely useful.

Since he had been promoted to Ninth Seat that day, Gaoyu's work had also changed.

Officers had their own offices in the division, and they could also be assigned a house. There was a street called Lieutenant Street not far from the Fifth Division Barracks.

Even though Gaoyu already had a house of his own, he was still assigned a nice one.

His salary had gone up, too. His monthly pay had increased from two hundred thousand to three hundred thousand.

He no longer had to go out on patrol every day. He only needed to make the routine rounds once a week, and spent the rest of his time handling paperwork in his office.

Of course, if a mission came up, an officer still had to lead a team out.

That evening, Gaoyu took the division's squad members to a tavern. Half the officers came along; the rest were busy with their duties or couldn't make it.

Even Aizen and Gin Ichimaru showed up, which left the division members both flattered and a little uncomfortable.

Aizen was certainly a "kind" person, but he was still their superior. Drinking with a superior was bound to feel a little awkward.

Fortunately, Aizen left after a short while. Gin Ichimaru stayed, but his departure made everyone feel much more at ease.

Gaoyu was drinking with several officers. Just as they were getting into the swing of things, Rangiku walked in.

When she saw Gaoyu, she greeted him happily.

"Hey, Gaoyu!"

Gaoyu, who had been enjoying his drinks, jolted at the sound of her voice.

"Rangiku! What are you doing here?!"

"What do you mean, what am I doing here?" Rangiku walked over and looked at Gaoyu. "I came for a drink, of course. I just happened to run into you."

"Huh? Gin, you're here too?"

She spotted Gin Ichimaru sitting nearby.

That was right. Aizen had left, but Gin Ichimaru was still there.

Gin Ichimaru looked a little surprised, as if he hadn't expected Gaoyu and Rangiku to know each other.

"You know Vice-Captain Gin?"

Gaoyu said "in surprise," "You sure know a lot of people."

"Of course I do!" Rangiku laughed. "Is this some kind of event your division's holding today? There are so many Fifth Division people here drinking."

"Gaoyu was promoted to Ninth Seat, so he decided to treat everyone to drinks," Gin Ichimaru said with a squinting smile. "Want to join us, Rangiku?"

"Something like that is happening?!" Rangiku exclaimed happily. "Hey, that's more like it! Nobody in our division is like Gaoyu. Maybe I should just transfer to your Fifth Division!"

"Captain Shiba wouldn't let me off the hook for that," Gaoyu said with a wry smile.

"Who cares about him?" Rangiku pouted, then settled into their booth like she'd known them forever.

With Rangiku joining them, their table grew even livelier. After all, when a woman suddenly joined a group of men drinking, the men were bound to get excited.

Especially since Rangiku wasn't some shy little girl. She was easygoing and knew how to have fun, so no one had to worry about her being a woman.

The Fifth Division did have a female officer, but she had a mission and couldn't come.

Not long after Rangiku arrived, Gin Ichimaru left. He wasn't much of a drinker to begin with.

Gaoyu noticed that when Gin Ichimaru left, Rangiku didn't say anything, but she still seemed a little disappointed.

After all, she must have been confused. They had grown up together in Rukongai, but one day Gin suddenly decided to become a Soul Reaper, and from then on, everything changed.

Gin Ichimaru had grown more and more mysterious. Rangiku could no longer guess what was going on in her old friend's head.

There was nothing Gaoyu could do about that except sigh.

At the same time, another thought occurred to him.

Could the soul fragments he had split off using the Great Replenishing Pill ability heal the damage Rangiku had suffered from the part of her soul Aizen had taken?