Stars; Returning to the Division

"'Stars: After using it, you'll find it easier to attract attention and leave a deep impression on others.'"

"!"

Gaoyu and Rukia had just passed each other. He continued walking without betraying a hint of emotion, but inside, his thoughts were already surging like waves.

Damn!

He had to get this ability!

It might not seem very useful, but no ability could possibly suit Gaoyu better!

Leaving a deeper impression on others meant it would be easier for him to earn their favor, didn't it?

For someone who gained abilities by raising other people's favorability toward him, was there any ability more powerful than one that made it easier to win their favor?

No!

Rukia actually had an ability like this...

Gaoyu could understand why it was called 'Stars.' Renji's Soul Ability was 'Star Chaser,' so Rukia was the star Renji pursued.

But the ability itself still shocked Gaoyu. Then again, on second thought, Rukia really did have that quality.

Still, although he wanted to work on earning Rukia's favor and get her Soul Ability, now wasn't the time.

Once Rukia joined the Gotei 13, he'd have plenty of time to win her over.

Gaoyu continued on toward the Tsunayashiro estate. When he reached the entrance, a servant was waiting for him.

Gaoyu said nothing. He simply handed over the information he had gathered.

The servant accepted the documents and said quietly, "Vice-Captain Gaoyu, this is your reward for the mission."

Gaoyu raised an eyebrow. He hadn't expected to get paid for this job.

Well, well. Very nice.

He chuckled and took a bag of Soul Coins from the servant.

"Please thank the head family for me. If you have another assignment like this, feel free to come to me."

Gaoyu was in a good mood. He'd spent over a month in the Human World, gained one of Soken Ishida's Soul Abilities, and now he was getting a handsome reward on top of it.

Everyone said the Tsunayashiro family were scoundrels, but they seemed pretty reasonable to him.

Sure, he'd worked for them all day and hadn't even been allowed to meet anyone from the main family. It was a little insulting, but Gaoyu wasn't someone who cared about that sort of thing.

Besides, the Tsunayashiro servants were very well-mannered. The family members were all arrogant and twisted, but the servants were humble. After all, in the Tsunayashiro household, servants had to know their manners.

Gaoyu was actually glad he hadn't had to deal with anyone from the main family.

He left with the money in hand. After walking about a hundred meters, he counted it and discovered that the reward came to a full three million Soul Coins!

Holy crap, three million!

As expected of the foremost of the Five Noble Clans. They sure knew how to spend.

When a Captain first took office, his monthly salary was only two million.

Of course, Captains' salaries rose with seniority. Someone like Unohana, who'd been a Captain for a thousand years, must have been making an unbelievable amount!

No wonder Shunsui wanted Unohana dead after he took office. The Soul Society's finances must have been so strained that they couldn't afford to pay salaries anymore, so they had to get rid of a longtime employee.

Heh...

After cracking a joke to himself, Gaoyu cheerfully headed home.

He didn't return to the Fifth Division. Instead, he decided to wait three more days.

He'd just pretend he was still in the Human World and take a few more days off in the Soul Society before going back to work.

He planned to train as a Quincy during those three days.

He didn't step outside once.

After activating 'Quincy Inheritor' and 'Kirin Child,' he spent three days training and successfully learned to wield Quincy Power.

The biggest difference between Quincies and Soul Reapers was that Soul Reapers drew spirit particles into their souls, strengthening their spirits and increasing their soul's power, which in turn boosted their combat ability.

Even their Zanpakuto were used in combat by channeling the Spiritual Power within their souls.

Quincies, on the other hand, also had Spiritual Power, but their primary method of combat was to control the spirit particles in their surroundings and form them into Spirit Particle Weapons.

Now that Gaoyu had gained Quincy abilities through his power, three days of training had been enough to give him a basic grasp of how to control spirit particles in his surroundings.

He could now form basic Spirit Particle Weapons. If he went out and claimed to be a Quincy, no one would doubt him.

Only after the Quincy Inheritor ability went on cooldown did Gaoyu finally leave his house.

He had permanently obtained the Kirin Child ability, so he only needed to wait a day before using it again. But that wasn't the case for Quincy Inheritor.

After leaving home, Gaoyu returned to the Fifth Division.

"Captain Aizen, I'm back."

In the Fifth Division's office, Gaoyu greeted Aizen with a smile.

Aizen was handling documents and didn't even look up. He simply pushed a stack of files toward him.

Gaoyu was confused. Aizen explained, "These are the tasks you left undone over the past month. Take care of them first."

"Come on, Captain Aizen." Gaoyu's face fell. "I went out to carry out a mission. Do I still have to take care of the division's work while I'm gone?"

"You went out on a mission? Who can prove that?"

"You can't just deny it outright when I have no proof," Gaoyu insisted.

"There's no record of it in the division." Aizen finally looked up, smiling faintly.

"..." Gaoyu fell silent.

"Fine. When your superior outranks you, you have to put up with it." Gaoyu sighed.

He took the files and headed for his office.

Just then, Aizen asked, "Did you meet Kisuke Urahara?"

Gaoyu stopped and replied, sounding a little put out, "You already know, so why ask?"

"Some things have to be said by you personally."

"Yeah, I met him," Gaoyu said. "But I didn't tell him anything. I just asked him for a gigai so I could get around more easily. I forgot to bring one when I left—my mistake."

"I see. Next time you go to the Human World, I'll make sure you have a gigai ready, Gaoyu." Aizen pushed up his glasses.

Was that it?

Seeing that Aizen didn't seem to have anything else to say, Gaoyu hurried out with the files.

It was still stressful being around Aizen.

Gaoyu set the files down in his office. He wasn't in a hurry to deal with them, though. First, he went around greeting the others in the division.

After raising his colleagues' favorability toward him, he sat in his office and sweated for a while as he stared at the baffling files.

Heaven knew he'd only been an ordinary squad member before this. At most, he'd briefly served as the Ninth Seat. When had he ever handled the work of an entire division and all the affairs of its district?

He didn't understand half of this stuff!

Whatever. He'd take it one step at a time.

Gaoyu stared at the words on the files in despair, then bolted out of the Fifth Division as soon as it was time to clock off.