A Day Off

That night, everyone spent their time at Gaoyu's home.

When they woke up the next day, the others had already left.

Last night, Aizen said he would give him another day off. After all, he drank the most last night, so today would be for sobering up.

Look, look, how understanding!

This is my Captain, Gaoyu Kouun! Do you guys have a captain like this?

No wonder everyone in the Fifth Division respected Aizen so much. Even though Aizen had openly betrayed them, people still spoke highly of him.

Gaoyu finally understood. If he were someone from the Fifth Division in the original story, he would definitely be Aizen's little fanboy!

Lying in bed, Gaoyu stared at the ceiling and yawned again.

Honestly, he really drank a bit too much last night, and his head still hurt a little now.

Gaoyu got out of bed and poured himself a glass of hot water.

After washing up, he took a sip of hot water to quench his thirst.

He had originally planned to go to work today, but now he could enjoy a nice lie-in again. So comfortable.

But...

Forget it. How could he waste such a good day sleeping?

He'd go and increase his favorability points instead.

Gaoyu thought about it. He had already set his sights on several abilities.

However, he couldn't rush some people's favorability. After all, if he rashly tried to gain their favor, he might even arouse their disgust.

He thought for a moment and decided to get the 'Strict Teacher, Talented Student' ability first.

After all, since he had a rare day off, he wouldn't try to gain favor with people from the Gotei 13. He was on vacation, but they were working!

So, Gaoyu tidied himself up and headed in the direction of Shino Academy.

"Teacher!"

At Shino Academy, Gaoyu walked familiarly to Dainaihara Gen'ichirō's office and found him reading a book.

"Gaoyu?!" Dainaihara Gen'ichirō was taken aback for a moment, then his expression turned joyful. He quickly stood up and said, "You're quite the celebrity in Seireitei now. What brings you here?"

Look, look! When he was just a lowly Shinigami, he never received this kind of treatment.

See how his teacher was smiling when he saw him now?

Sigh, this world is truly too realistic.

When he was a small Shinigami before, his teacher was indifferent. Now that he was a Vice-Captain, his teacher was all smiles.

"Captain Aizen gave me a day off. I figured I had nothing else to do, so I came to visit you, teacher."

As he spoke, Gaoyu placed a bag of fruit on the desk.

Dainaihara Gen'ichirō smiled again. "You didn't have to bring anything."

"Teacher, you helped me so much back then. Of course, I can't forget your kindness," Gaoyu said with a smile.

He loved saying nice things now. It didn't cost him anything, and it made the other person happy and increased his favorability points. Why wouldn't he do it?

"If it weren't for you, teacher, I wouldn't have been able to become a Vice-Captain."

"With your efforts, becoming a Vice-Captain was only a matter of time," Dainaihara Gen'ichirō said.

He was actually being a bit insincere with his words.

Gaoyu had indeed worked very hard back then, but what good was just hard work? If hard work alone could make someone a Vice-Captain, then Seireitei would have hundreds of Vice-Captains by now.

This stuff depended on talent!

Without talent, even a lifetime of hard work would only make one a minor Shinigami.

Back then, Dainaihara Gen'ichirō thought that Gaoyu would be lucky to become a Seventh or Eighth Seat.

He had higher hopes for Hizaki Shūhei becoming a Vice-Captain.

But he never expected that only a few years after graduation, Gaoyu would already become a Vice-Captain.

This was big news in Seireitei, and Gaoyu had gained considerable attention.

Dainaihara Gen'ichirō sighed, realizing that a person's future depended not only on effort and talent but also on luck.

Just half a year ago, Gaoyu was still an ordinary Shinigami. Yet, in just six months, he had made successive leaps and become a Vice-Captain.

Gaoyu naturally understood this principle as well.

He and Dainaihara Gen'ichirō walked out, and on the way, Gaoyu asked about Toshiro Hitsugaya.

Dainaihara Gen'ichirō stated that Hitsugaya was a rare genius. He had almost completed the Shino Academy curriculum in just six months of enrollment.

However, after the school's evaluation, they determined that Toshiro Hitsugaya was not yet ready to graduate. Even if he wanted to graduate early, they were thinking of two years from now.

He was still too young, and rashly joining the Gotei 13 would not be a good thing.

At Shino Academy, he would have time to grow.

What if something goes wrong with a mission once he joins the Gotei 13?

He has a lot of room for growth and doesn't need to rush to join the Thirteenth Division like other students.

Anyway, some division will definitely want him.

"Yeah, this is pretty good too." Gaoyu nodded after listening to the school's arrangements and said, "Toshiro-kun is still a child, after all. If I were his teacher, I would definitely want him to complete the six-year curriculum so he'd have the ability to protect himself as soon as he joins the Gotei 13."

"That's right," Dainaihara Gen'ichirō said with emotion. "I actually had the same thought, and it's a good thing for your Fifth Division too."

"How so?" Gaoyu smiled. "Why are you bringing our Fifth Division into this?"

"Think about it, next year, almost all the promising talents from our class will be taken by your Fifth Division."

"If you take away another genius like Tōshirō, the other divisions won't be able to accept it."

Today is already December 26th, which means the New Year is just a few days away, and after the New Year, it will be a new year.

A new year means new students will graduate, and among the new graduates, the Fifth Division has already practically secured the highly talented students Izuru Kira, Renji Abarai, and Momo Hinamori.

If Toshiro Hitsugaya were to join as well, how would the other divisions accept that?

Are you going to hog all the benefits for yourself?

"Haha," Gaoyu couldn't help but laugh. "There's nothing that can be done about it. Who can blame our Fifth Division for being so attractive? But Teacher, what you said also makes sense. It's better not to make ourselves a target."

Gaoyu echoed Dainaihara Gen'ichirō's words, gained another two points of favorability from him, and then took his leave.

Next, he went to the White Road Gate and chatted with Jidanbō nearby for a while.

Jidanbō was a rather simple big guy. Gaoyu only chatted with him casually, and his favorability increased rapidly.

Although it hadn't reached sixty yet, Gaoyu felt that it would be about right the next time he visited.

And so, his holiday for the day came to an end.

After that, Gaoyu returned to work as usual, and life seemed to return to how it was before.

Work, train, drink, and when on vacation, go around gaining favorability.

In the blink of an eye, the second year arrived.