Although this was a little selfish at someone else's expense, well, if Rangiku recovered, he might be able to earn Gin Ichimaru's favor.
If it was for Gin Ichimaru's "Venomous Snake," then he could accept losing a few Soul Fragments.
Well, he'd think about it later.
He wasn't close to Gin Ichimaru at all yet. More importantly, he was still far too weak.
At the very least, he'd have to wait until he learned Bankai.
By the time everyone had finished eating and drinking, it was already past eleven. When Gaoyu went to pay the bill, he discovered the meal had cost him a total of 520,000.
Damn, that was expensive!
Nearly two months' salary had just vanished, and that was counting his pay after being promoted to Ninth Seat.
He calculated the cost of living in Seireitei. Compared with his previous life, the meal had probably cost more than thirty thousand yuan.
Well, that wasn't too bad. It was for raising their favorability, for making himself stronger in the future. This was a good deal.
The Fifth Division members left one after another. In the end, only Gaoyu and the slightly flushed Rangiku remained.
Rangiku had drunk quite a lot. Reeking of alcohol, she patted Gaoyu on the shoulder.
"Yoshi, you did very, very good!"
Gaoyu was at a loss. "You're drunk."
"I'm not drunk!" Rangiku burst out laughing, then patted his shoulder even harder. "From now on, I've got your back. If anything comes up, come find me in the Tenth Division!"
"Got it, got it. You've said that a hundred times already. You're so annoying!" Gaoyu pursed his lips, then watched Rangiku leave.
He turned around, intending to head home, but found a man standing in front of him.
"Are you... a member of the Fifth Division?"
The man wore an ornate kimono and a hat. His outfit was so distinctive that Gaoyu immediately recognized who he was.
Besides, there weren't many people in Seireitei who could afford a kimono like that. Gaoyu's original self had looked up its price: 3.3 million.
Plenty of people could afford 3.3 million, but not many would spend that much on clothes.
In Seireitei, aside from the lower-ranking nobles who were merchants, only the upper-ranking nobles and the Five Noble Clans could afford it.
So the identity of the man standing before Gaoyu was obvious.
"Kyōraku... Captain Kyōraku?!"
Gaoyu exclaimed in surprise.
The man was Shunsui Kyoraku, Captain of the Eighth Division.
Gaoyu took a look and saw that Shunsui Kyoraku's Soul Ability was "Inner and Outer."
"Inner and Outer: When you do something that goes against your public persona, your Spiritual Power increases dramatically."
Heh, he really is a man of contradictions.
On the surface, Shunsui Kyoraku seemed rather lazy and reluctant to fight. In truth, he'd do whatever it took to get the job done. Once he decided to fight, he was willing to do anything to kill his opponent.
Stark had been fooled by the old man's act, thinking Shunsui was just like him. Then Shunsui came at him with a Shadow Demon backstab, nearly killing him with one strike.
Gaoyu didn't think there was anything wrong with that. It was a war, after all. Caring about pointless pride and restraint would be childish.
Of course Gaoyu wanted this ability, but he wasn't very familiar with Shunsui Kyoraku.
Shunsui Kyoraku looked a little embarrassed.
"Oh dear, you recognized me. But even so, I still have to ask: if you have another event like this, could you invite me?"
Gaoyu's eyes turned into the little dot eyes from an anime. He asked in surprise, "Captain Kyōraku, you..."
"You're so embarrassing!"
Before Gaoyu could finish speaking, a woman in a Shinigami Uniform suddenly appeared and struck Shunsui on the head. She said angrily,
"As a Captain, how can you make such an embarrassing request to a member of another division?!"
Gaoyu knew this was Nanao Ise. Her Soul Ability was called "Mirror Reflection."
"Mirror Reflection: Creates a mirror at the fingertip, which can reflect the opponent's attacks."
It was probably connected to her family's inherited sacred treasure, the Eight Mirror Sword. After all, the Eight Mirror Sword was an heirloom blade that reflected the Power of God.
He wanted this ability too!
Great. He was determined to be friends with these two!
Watching the two of them act like they were in a comedy sketch, Gaoyu couldn't help asking, "Um... Captain Kyōraku, Vice-Captain Ise, what are you..."
Nanao Ise coughed and said, "It's nothing. We have somewhere to be, so we'll be going."
Before leaving, Shunsui Kyoraku gave Gaoyu a look to tell him to invite him for a drink next time. Then Nanao led him away.
He hadn't expected to see a scene like that before leaving. Gaoyu smiled and shook his head, then went home.
How should he put it? At this point in time, relations between the different divisions of the Gotei 13 weren't very good.
The divisions rarely interacted. People like Rangiku, who often went drinking with members of other divisions, were few and far between.
Normally, the divisions didn't know one another. They might not even know who the other divisions' Captains were.
But Gaoyu was determined to change the Gotei 13! He was going to become the Gotei 13's Casanova. Not just women—he'd make friends with the men too!
And if he could, he wanted to be friends with Hollows and Quincies as well! Anyone with a Soul Ability was a potential friend!
Humming a little tune, Gaoyu returned home and set it as his Safe House.
Immediately, he felt much more at ease.
It wasn't true physical relaxation, but a sense of ease in his mind. After all, he'd been watched by a whole crowd of people before. Now that no one was watching him, he naturally felt much more relaxed.
Once home, Gaoyu took out his Zanpakuto.
Or, he couldn't call it a Zanpakuto yet. It was still only an Asauchi.
In theory, he would need to spend several more years nourishing the Asauchi before it could achieve Shikai and truly become his Zanpakuto.
This process began when each student entered the academy. Those who were quick might achieve Shikai by graduation, while those who were slow might take decades just to barely grasp their Zanpakuto's world.
Under normal circumstances, Gaoyu would have needed twenty or thirty years to gradually learn his Zanpakuto's name and achieve Shikai, then become a seated officer in some division. That would have been it.
But now, with talent on par with Toshiro Hitsugaya, things were different.
After activating the Kirin Child skill, even the speed at which he infused his soul's essence into the Asauchi to nourish it had increased considerably.
On top of the ten years he'd already spent nourishing it, he felt that he could hear the voice of his Zanpakuto deep within his heart.
Before you continue