After seeing off Aizen and Ichimaru Gin,
Nobu and Rukia returned to the student council office.
"Captain Aizen is so kind," Rukia said, unable to hold back her thoughts. "I was nervous at first, but being around him made that gradually go away."
Nobu glanced at her, describing her impression of Aizen, and thought to himself, You may have relaxed, but I was on edge the entire time.
Now that he looked back, though, he felt like he might have been overthinking it. He was just a student at Shin'ō Academy—why would Aizen pay any special attention to him? Maybe he'd been too wrapped up in his own head from the start.
If he really wanted to seem normal, he should've behaved more like Rukia.
The more anxious you act, the more suspicious you look.
"You did well too, Rukia."
Rukia shook her head quickly. "No, I didn't do much. And sitting in on that class… I actually learned a lot. Captain Aizen's perspectives are really different from our instructors'."
She was talking about the lecture Aizen had given to Class A. As a student of Class B, she wouldn't have had the chance if not for her role in the student council.
Nobu picked up on what she was thinking and said, "If you work hard, you could join Class A next year too."
"I will!" Rukia nodded earnestly.
Renji and Hinamori Momo were both in Class A—she wanted to be there too.
"If there's anything you don't understand in your studies, feel free to come to me anytime. I may not be on the same level as Captain Aizen, but maybe I can still help clear things up."
"Really?" Rukia's eyes lit up with surprise.
[Affection Level: 37]
Nobu chuckled, then suddenly reached out and patted Rukia on the head. She was petite, barely up to his chest, so it took no effort at all.
Startled by the sudden gesture, Rukia instinctively tensed and drew back her neck, but she didn't pull away. His hand landed gently atop her hair.
"Of course—if you want to, that is."
[Affection Level: 38]
She's got such soft hair, Nobu thought.
---
Fourth Division Barracks
"Vice-Captain, this just came in from Shin'ō Academy. It's a student file."
"Shin'ō Academy?"
Kotetsu Isane, Vice-Captain of the Fourth Division, had just stepped into the barracks when a squad member intercepted her. It was technically a day off, but also a team-building day for the Women's Shinigami Association, and the event just so happened to be hosted at the Fourth Division.
Isane took the file the squad member handed her, her expression faintly puzzled. It's only been a month since the new term started—why send over student files now?
"All right. Got it."
She had a sharp, handsome face but always carried a gentle air between her brows. Her silver-gray hair was cut short, with a few delicate braids woven in—she gave off a calm and soothing presence.
But despite that gentleness and her graceful features, Isane stood nearly a full meter ninety—head and shoulders above the crowd. Most of the male squad members weren't even close to her height, something that left her a bit self-conscious.
She glanced through the file—it was a student record from Shin'ō Academy.
"Tachikawa Nobu…"
She murmured the name aloud. It sounded vaguely familiar. Then she remembered—toward the end of the last academic year, when the Fourth Division had been reviewing promising graduates, she had seen this name.
Back then, Nobu had been listed among those eligible for early graduation.
Lately, that student council at the Academy had been getting a lot of attention, and if she remembered right, its president was also named Tachikawa Nobu.
The Fourth Division was the medical division, responsible for emergency response and general healthcare. They faced an inherent disadvantage when it came to recruiting new members—most Shinigami didn't list the Fourth Division as their top choice.
Student preferences were an important part of squad placement, so many of the new recruits to Fourth Division were often assigned based on their Kaidō scores in school.
But when Isane finished reading the entire file on this Tachikawa Nobu, she suddenly froze.
Beyond the astonishing full marks in Zanjutsu, Hakuda, Hohō, and Kidō, the file included a final note about his Zanpakutō.
"Exact abilities unknown. Shows healing properties. Tentatively categorized as Kaidō-type…"
Isane blinked, then reread the whole thing from the beginning.
A Zanpakutō with healing abilities was extremely rare. Even she, Vice-Captain of the Fourth Division, had an ice-element Zanpakutō—not one aligned with Kaidō.
And yet this student wasn't just gifted—he was the Academy's top-ranked student, with outstanding performance across every category. Not a single weakness.
How had a student like this ever become available to the Fourth Division?!
Isane grabbed the file and rushed toward her captain's office.
She pushed the door open a bit too abruptly, only to stop short at the threshold.
Inside the room, it wasn't just her captain.
Eighth Division Vice-Captain Ise Nanao, Tenth Division Vice-Captain Matsumoto Rangiku, and Eleventh Division Vice-Captain Kusajishi Yachiru were all there as well.
One of Captain Unohana Retsu's many hobbies was flower arranging. The women gathered here were basically the inner circle of the Women's Shinigami Association. Each had a vase in front of her, and the floor was strewn with a riot of flowers.
"Ah, Isane,"
Unohana greeted her warmly, unfazed by her sudden entrance.
"Captain."
Isane nodded politely to the other vice-captains. Nanao was arranging her flowers with serious concentration, clearly trying to learn from Unohana. Rangiku, on the other hand, lounged in her seat, lazily tossing handfuls of daisies at Yachiru like she was feeding a pet.
Yachiru was munching on petals nonstop.
It was a strange scene. Isane quickly averted her eyes and stepped closer to Unohana.
"Sorry to interrupt, but this file just came in from the Academy. I thought you should see it."
Unohana paused her flower arranging and accepted the folder with a thoughtful expression.
"You work so hard, Isane," Rangiku chimed in teasingly. "Isn't today a day off? Still stuck handling paperwork?"
"Are you suggesting I'm a bad captain?" Unohana asked sweetly, eyes twinkling as she looked up from the file.
"…Absolutely not!"
Rangiku shivered visibly and shook her head at once.
Isane explained, "I just happened to run into a squad member delivering it on my way in."
Unohana finished reading and gave a small nod. "A Kaidō-type Zanpakutō… quite rare. This Tachikawa Nobu should come to our Fourth Division after graduation."
Rangiku blinked.
"Huh?"