Thanks to friend Old Master Has Arrived for the 100 Qidian Coins.
Thanks to friend Anime Enthusiast for the 500 Qidian Coins.
However, he hadn't forgotten the main reason he'd come here.
After asking a young woman from the Fourth Division where the Ninth Division's injured were staying, he headed over.
Shūhei was a high-ranking seated officer, after all, so he wasn't staying in a regular ward with the ordinary squad members. He had a room to himself.
Gaoyu knocked on the door. Only after hearing someone say, "Come in," did he push it open.
As soon as he entered, he saw Shūhei lying on the bed.
Shūhei really had been badly injured. Bandages covered most of his body, and the smell of medicine clung to him.
Gaoyu set the fruit on the table, then sat down beside the bed.
"I heard you weren't dead, but seeing you walk in here safe and sound..."
Shūhei said softly, "It's good."
"Just barely," Gaoyu said honestly. "I almost died, but Captain Aizen arrived at the last moment."
"You're making that up, aren't you?" Shūhei glanced at him, then looked away again. "I heard all about it. You're the one who took down that Hollow."
"Just got lucky." Gaoyu shook his head.
"Honestly, I wasn't a match for it."
"Making it that far is impressive enough, you know. You did good."
At that moment, Gaoyu noticed Shūhei's favorability toward him had risen to eighty. That meant he'd permanently gained the ability Black Sun.
He couldn't help chuckling. "Maybe they'll promote me to vice-captain over this."
"Is Vice-Captain Gin Ichimaru going to the Third Division?"
"Yeah. He's had the ability to be a captain for a long time; there just wasn't an opening before."
Gaoyu said casually, "You'd better focus on getting better. The last few days have been so intense that I feel like I need alcohol to numb myself."
"Isn't it a bit much to drink in front of a patient?"
"Mr. Hisagi..."
Suddenly, a voice came from outside. A short Shinigami walked in.
He looked a little surprised to see Gaoyu, then quickly lowered his head.
"Mr. Hisagi, are you ready to have your bandages changed?"
"Hey, Katarō, we're both seated officers. You don't have to use honorifics with me," Hisagi said.
"I—I can't do that." Katarō hurriedly waved his hands, flustered. "I'm only in the Fourth Division..."
"What's wrong with the Fourth Division?" Gaoyu asked, looking at him.
"Um..." Katarō grew even more flustered when Gaoyu spoke to him, and for a moment he didn't know what to say.
"Doctors are no different from the soldiers on the battlefield. No, when you think about it, doctors might even be more important," Gaoyu said to Katarō.
While he was at it, he checked Katarō's Soul Ability.
Medical Wave: Releases a beam of light with healing properties. The beam can pass between multiple people in succession, rapidly healing the wounds of anyone it passes through.
So it was a sort of healing ability, like Kaidō. And it could heal multiple people, too. Great. You're definitely going to be my friend.
"To be honest, I find it pretty unbelievable that the Gotei 13 pays the Fourth Division less."
It wasn't unusual for officers to earn more than military doctors, but the Fourth Division's problem went beyond low pay. Their status was extremely low, and sometimes they were even made to do janitorial work.
"P-please don't say that," Yamada Katarō said, seemingly startled. He hurriedly added, "We don't have the talent for fighting, and if we can't go to the front lines, it's only natural that we're paid less. That's a decision made by Central 46!"
"Best not to talk about things like that," Hisagi said as well.
"You're all so cautious," Gaoyu clicked his tongue, then said to Katarō, "By the way, weren't you going to change Hisagi's bandages?"
"Oh, right!" Katarō quickly took some medicine out of his bag, then looked at Gaoyu.
Gaoyu got up without being asked.
"All right, you two go ahead and get him treated. I'll be off."
Gaoyu rose and walked out of the room.
After leaving the ward, he didn't go far. He wandered around and chatted with a few seated officers from the Fourth Division.
The people in the Fourth Division were pretty easy to befriend. Maybe it was because their status was so low that they immediately warmed to anyone from another division who treated them with respect.
What surprised Gaoyu was that, aside from Katarō, all the seated officers in the Fourth Division had combat-oriented abilities.
Things like Lightning Chain, Blizzard, Heavy Strike, Flame Storm, and Dust Storm...
They all seemed to resent not having the talent for fighting. No wonder they were so deferential to people from the other divisions. They probably felt deep down that it was better to fight on the front lines.
Unfortunately, he hadn't seen the Fourth Division's captain or vice-captain. He wondered what Isane's and Unohana's Soul Abilities were.
Come to think of it, listening to Aizen and becoming the Fifth Division's vice-captain did seem to have one advantage.
He'd get to meet the captains and vice-captains of the other divisions more often.
The Gotei 13 held Captain's Meetings, where captains and vice-captains alike went to the First Division for meetings.
Of course, the captains held the meeting, while the vice-captains waited in another room.
That would give Gaoyu more chances to talk with people from the other divisions.
There was another important point, too. Once he became a vice-captain, he'd be considered Captain-level in the Seireitei—in other words, a well-known figure.
Maybe lots of people would fall for him.
Heh. Gaoyu imagined his bright future and broke into a silly grin.
"That's such a silly smile," someone remarked in front of him.
Gaoyu snapped out of it and looked at the blonde, busty young woman before him. "Miss Rangiku, what brings you here?"
"What do you mean, what brings me here?" Matsumoto Rangiku said. "I heard you all got hurt on your mission, so I came to check on you. And the first thing I see when I get here is you grinning like an idiot."
"I'm fine," Gaoyu sighed. "Shūhei's the one who got badly hurt. I just came from his room."
"That poor Shūhei... He really is unlucky."
"By the way, I heard you killed the captain of the Third Division. Is that true?"
"What?! That's already reached your ears? And how did the story get more and more outrageous?" Gaoyu couldn't help complaining. "Are they going to say next that I killed a captain with one slash?"
"So what actually happened?"
"The captain of the Third Division was possessed by a Hollow. His spirit was already fighting it off, and then Captain Aizen badly wounded him. He barely managed to escape."
"Only then did I finish him off. I just took advantage of the situation. If we'd fought for real, how could I possibly have beaten a captain?!"
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