Author's note: I do not own Bleach or its characters.
Seasons of Love
Summer
For all their differences in personality, both Shunsui and Nanao were summer children. Their birthdays were only four days apart. The week of their birthdays was one of the few times during the year when Nanao allowed herself to simply be Nanao rather than Vice-captain Ise. That one week was customary spent with her being dragged around by her captain in order that she relax and have a good time. Nanao wouldn't admit it publicly, but she enjoyed and looked forward to that week.
It always ended up being completely unprofessional, and Nanao had taken to getting the paperwork for that particular week done well in advance. She might grumble about it a little, but in the end, she always ended up wearing yukatas for the week and letting Shunsui treat her to festival food and participating in all sorts of activities that she would normally never do.
The best part of summer were the nights. Most nights were spent either on the division roof or one of its porches. Shunsui would sip his sake, and they would watch the stars and the fireflies. More often than not, she would end up falling asleep on his shoulder and wake up the next morning tucked in her own bed. Her captain never commented on those nights, and Nanao never brought the subject up.
Summer was fun. It infected the other divisions as well leading to occurrences such as trips to the beach and inter-divisional watermelon eating contests. There were festival nearly every other week and lots of opportunities for fun. Summer was an excuse. It was summer. It was the right time of the year to be eating shaved ice for lunch. Paperwork never got done quickly in the summer. It wasn't just the Eighth that was slacking off either.
And there was always one night during the summer when she was a little tipsy (though not drunk, she doesn't get drunk) from the sake Shunsui insisted they share, that Nanao would be bold enough to steal a kiss or two from her captain. The next morning she woke up in his bed rather than her own. Nanao didn't mention it, and neither did Shunsui. The warm, lazy kisses increased in frequency on warm summer nights, and a warm body beside her in bed eliminated the need for any covers if there was a chill breeze.