The Glasses Girl of the 8th Division

After compiling the information she had gathered into a booklet, Ise Nanao of the 8th Division threw it heavily onto the captain's tea table. Shunsui Kyōraku was as unreliable as ever, suddenly ordering her to investigate the current situation of the nobles, and then suddenly stopping the investigation and returning to the division to await orders.

The Vice-Captain's life is also a life. If this bastard captain of hers wasn't her uncle, she really wanted to punch him hard. Now that she's stayed up all night to finish organizing the data, she doesn't have time to go back. She'll just have to make do with the night in the barracks.

The barracks of the 8th Division are quite nice. As an intelligence unit, it's not uncommon for them to work through the night, so it's already a good thing they don't fall asleep directly on their desks.

Vice-Captain like Nanao have their own rooms, which aren't big, but just right for resting.

Nanao nodded to the squad members who greeted her as she walked towards her room. This was the daily routine of the 8th Division: no day or night, constantly sorting out intelligence.

The atmosphere in the 8th Division wasn't originally this serious. After all, they had an unreliable captain before, and the former Vice-Captain wasn't exactly serious either, so the atmosphere in the whole team was rather loose.

After Nanao became the Vice-Captain of the 8th Division, she took on almost all the work of the 8th Division. With her serious attitude towards work, the entire 8th Division began to look like it was doing intelligence gathering.

Shunsui Kyōraku is naturally fine with it. The more capable Nanao is, the more free he will be. However, he cannot drink during working hours. If Nanao catches him drinking, he will not give him face as his uncle. He will run him over from one end of the barracks to the other, making all the barracks members stare at him.

Since then, Kyōraku has been particularly afraid of Nanao. He never imagined that the gentle girl at home could unleash such a terrifying aura in the squad.

As she reached the doorway, Nanao stopped, her eyes narrowing slightly. A faint light shone through the crack in the door; it was impossible for her to have left the candle extinguished. This meant something strange was amiss in Nanao's room.

With a slight concentration of spiritual pressure on her fingers, Nanao was ready to strike at any moment. She didn't have Zanpakuto; all her abilities were focused on Kido. The good thing was that even without a weapon, her combat power wouldn't be weakened. The bad thing was that Kido, when used in close combat in confined spaces, wasn't as fast as swords.

Gently pushing open her bedroom door, Nanao silently gathered her Kido in her hand, ready to use Kido quickly at any time. Once she had freed up space, she could use an even stronger Kido to deal with the people in the room.

The door made a sound, and a woman's voice came from inside. "Didn't I say just leave it by the door? Put it down and close the door. I'm busy organizing documents!"

Nanao could hardly believe what she was seeing. A figure that looked very much like her was lying horizontally in the room, and the sound of turning pages made it sound like someone was looking at documents.

I saw myself?

Just as Nanao thought she was under Illusion, the woman lying in the room turned her head and said impatiently, "Didn't I tell you to leave? What are you standing there for?"

The moment Nanao saw the person's face, she knew it wasn't her. Although the person had the same hairstyle, wore glasses, and had delicate features, looking about 70% like her, other members of the team might have mistaken her for someone else. But Nanao herself would never mistake her.

This isn't Illusion; someone is impersonating Nanao!

"Who are you?"

As she spoke, the Hadō #1, Rush, was launched from Nanao's fingertips. It was a small shockwave, not very powerful, but enough to buy Nanao room for further combat.

To everyone's surprise, the person's face lit up with joy upon seeing Nanao. With a single push, he flipped himself off the ground and rushed towards Nanao with a happy expression, "Little Nanao!"

In mid-air, the man casually slapped the Kido that Nanao had shot out onto the ground, creating a crater the size of a finger. Nanao, who had been called out, stopped her subsequent movements and let the other person hang on her like a big cat.

Nanao already remembered who this person was. The familiar name, the elastic touch on his chest, and the restless hands on her body—from the physiological reaction of her body to the belated realization of her brain, Nanao knew that the person in front of her was none other than the former Vice-Captain of the 8th Division, Yagimaru Lisa.

Nanao was quite familiar with Lisa. When she first joined the 8th Division, Lisa took good care of Lisa. The two read books together, but Nanao felt that Lisa's smug shrug at the time made her think that the books she was reading were not very serious.

Later, due to the Hollowfication Incident, Lisa had to defect from Soul Society. When Nanao discovered that Lisa's location might be in the World of the Living, she even considered going to find Lisa, but Kyōraku stopped her.

According to Kyōraku, Lisa didn't want to get involved with them either, and the best option was for neither side to interfere. With Lisa's abilities, she could live a good life even in the World of the Living.

Later, Nanao was promoted to Vice-Captain of the 8th Division. She felt that, based on her abilities alone, she was not yet qualified to be the captain. Perhaps Kyōraku promoted her, besides their familial relationship, because he wanted her to manage the division better with her diligent work ethic?

Since then, Nanao has become even more meticulous in her work, and the atmosphere of the entire squad has gradually changed under her management. The single room that symbolizes the Vice-Captain's status has also been handed over to Nanao.

Nanao had no intention of changing the locks. The moment she got the key, she fantasized that perhaps Lisa would come back someday, and then Lisa would have a place to stay.

Nanao and Lisa have a very good relationship. She even knows that Lisa's glasses are just an accessory. The reason is that Nanao thought Lisa's glasses were pretty and asked Lisa to take her to buy glasses. As a result, Lisa took her to a jewelry store.

According to Lisa, she herself is not nearsighted; she wears glasses only to satisfy the perverse fetish of a certain unscrupulous captain. Lisa deduces that Kyōraku must like or admire a woman who wears glasses, which is why he developed this wicked taste.

However, Lisa only teased Kyōraku verbally. Gradually, glasses became an accessory that Lisa always wore. She would also often remind Nanao to be careful of Kyōraku, as their captain's favorite thing was a girl who wore glasses.

When Nanao became the Vice-Captain, she even wondered if Kyōraku chose her as the Vice-Captain because she wore glasses, and whether her existence was a way for Kyōraku to remember Lisa.

Nanao was surprised to see her long-lost friend in her room, but that wasn't surprising, since she hadn't changed her apartment number...

"Lisa, why are you back?" Nanao reacted, forcefully pulled Lisa off her, and closed the door behind her as she asked.

"Hmm, as expected of Little Nanao, as cautious as ever," Lisa said with satisfaction.

It was only then that Nanao realized her room was a complete mess, with various hot teas and snacks scattered all over the table, and several of Lisa's favorite books lying on the floor.

The current Nanao is no longer the naive girl she used to be. She now knows that Lisa likes obscene books. As for how she knows this, it's because after she moved into this room, she found many of Lisa's treasured books under the bed, which made Nanao blush all night.

As for the tea and snacks, it goes without saying that Lisa had them delivered by pretending to be the Vice-Captain. She had never used such privileges during her years as Vice-Captain, and she could already guess that in a few days, the squad would be full of rumors about her.

Noticing Nanao's gaze, Lisa quickly stuffed the books into her bosom. She had brought them specifically to relieve her boredom. As for her past collections, Lisa no longer cared about them. In terms of erotic art, the rapidly developing world of the World of the Living was far more artistic than Soul Society, which had remained unchanged for thousands of years.

"You still haven't answered my question. When did you get back?" Nanao asked, looking at Lisa, who was lying on the ground enjoying herself again.

"These past two days," Lisa said vaguely.

"Are you a member of the Ryoka?" Nanao asked, habitually adjusting her glasses.

"I know him, but we're not here to cause trouble. There's someone else behind this chaos in Seireitei," Lisa said while flipping through an erotic book.

Recalling her captain's strange orders over the past two days, Nanao guessed that Kyōraku must know something. Rather than asking Kyōraku, Lisa in front of her clearly knew something as well. "Who is it?"

Lisa glanced at Nanao, "Since Kyōraku didn't let you know, don't overthink it. You'll find out in a couple of days."

"What are you planning to do after coming back this time?" Nanao asked.

"Revenge." Lisa didn't hide her purpose from her best friend.

"The person behind the Hollowfication Incident back then has been found?" Nanao asked in surprise. She had never believed that Lisa would dabble in Hollow powers; that would be too much trouble for Lisa. She could have used that time for something else.

"The person behind it all? We've always known who did it, but we just lacked evidence and the means to fight back."

Nanao fell silent. After hearing what Lisa said, she realized that the opponent was indeed a very troublesome person. She didn't ask any further questions because she knew that if she asked any more, Lisa wouldn't say anything more for her safety.

Although Lisa often expressed her disdain for Kyōraku's flirtatious nature, only Nanao knew that the two of them had very similar personalities. When they had nothing to do, they always liked to do silly things, but when it came to serious matters, they were calmer than anyone else, and they would not hesitate to sacrifice themselves to protect the ones they loved.

In some ways, Kyōraku and Lisa are the perfect match.

"What are your plans after taking revenge? Will you come back?"

Nanao didn't doubt Lisa's ability to get revenge. Just as Lisa said, she would only really take action once she was confident in dealing with the person behind the scenes. As for the Nanao half of her sentence, which Nanao didn't finish saying, if Lisa was willing to come back, she could give up her position as Vice-Captain.

Lisa closed the book. She understood what Nanao meant: come back? With the Captain-Commander's intolerant nature, could the Seireitei really accommodate those who had dabbled in Hollow's power? It would be difficult.

This is also why Lisa chose to spread her art in Rukongai.

"I'm not coming back. I plan to bring World of the Living art to Soul Society," Lisa said earnestly, holding the book up.

Nanao slapped her forehead, speechless. Knowing Lisa as she did, it wasn't hard for her to understand what those so-called World of the Living art things were all about.

"Don't look at me like that. World of the Living art is far ahead of its time." Lisa gave a mysterious smile as she looked at Nanao. "You've probably seen my old collection, haven't you? This art far surpasses anything from the past!"

Nanao blushed when Lisa mentioned her collection. It seemed Lisa had already discovered the fact that there was no one under the bed. Nanao didn't intend to get entangled with Lisa on erotic topics.

"Would you like to meet the Captain Kyōraku?"

Upon hearing that name, Lisa fell silent. She opened her book, pretending to read. It wasn't that she didn't want to see Kyōraku, but what could she possibly say to him? Kyōraku would probably only engage her in pointless conversation...