Centaurs and Angels
He drives her mad from the moment they first met. But in a world with Centaurs and Angels you never know what to expect. Or who you fall in love with.
With a loud bang the car stopped moving. Nanao Ise muttered a curse under her breath. So far this day had been a total disaster.
It all started this morning when she took the wrong turn. She had to go all the way back and then her car broke down. On top of that she lost her mobile somewhere along the way.
She opened the door and quickly got out of the car. The streets are covered in a thick layer of snow. No other cars are on the road. She is probably the only one who is crazy enough to still drive in this weather.
Nanao shivered. She pulled the jacket tighter around her. Here she is, standing in the middle-of-nowhere. She doesn't even know the way to the next town. She could only see trees and snow. It will be dark soon.
"I saw you from a distance, miss. Are you alright? It's quite cold."
Startled at the sudden sound of a voice she spun around. The voice belonged to an average height man with bright green eyes. His hair long and white. It matches with the snow falling down the sky. She thought he meant no harm.
"I am fine, sir. My car broke down though." She said as the man stepped closer.
He smiled at her. "We can help you with that." He held his hand out. "I'm Jushiro Ukitake."
"Nanao Ise." She said, shaking his hand.
"What are you doing here all by yourself on this late afternoon? It will be dark soon."
"I took the wrong turn. And then my car broke down." She sighed.
"Our house is nearby. You can stay there if you want. You can go to the nearest town tomorrow and continue your way with daylight."
"Thank you very much, sir. I really appreciate that." Nanao said, grateful she met this man. He is right, it will be dark soon.
Nanao looked surprised at the man's house. She expected a little farm in a place like this, not this mansion. Jushiro quickly opened the door and a small girl greeted them.
"Quick, come in. It's cold." She said.
They walked inside and she introduced herself as Rukia Kuchiki. She has black hair cut in a bob line and is wearing a black dress.
They moved across the hallway and ended up in the living room, Nanao guessed. The room was big and it resembled luxury. A red woolen rug on the hardwood floor, two leather couches in the corner. And a bookcase against the cream coloured wall. Nanao frowned. They didn't seem to have any lamps or television. Only candles.
"Sit down, Nanao." Rukia said happily. "We'll make you something to eat."
Nanao carefully sat down on the leather couch after Rukia and Jushiro disappeared. She realised then she hasn't eaten since early morning. And the idea of some food was appealing.
The longer she waited, the more she thought she shouldn't have been so stupid to drive here. She didn't have time to ponder it further as another man entered the living room.
"Oh my, isn't that a pretty little thing." He said. And since no one else was here, he is probably referring to her. She already disliked the way he spoke.
She looked up to meet his face. This man wore his hair in a pony tail with flower clips. He is tall and broad, that would be intimidating if he wasn't wearing that ridiculous pink flowery cardigan he wore. What man with self-respect could wear such a thing?
He quickly made his way over to her. "Up close she's even prettier. What is your name, darling?"
Darling? Did he really think he could just call her such names? "Nanao Ise." She replied stiffly.
"I'm Shunsui Kyoraku." He said holding out his hand. "Pleasure to meet you." He said after a few seconds when Nanao reluctantly shook it.
Shunsui pulled out a flask of saké from a cabinet before he plumped down next to her. It didn't surprise her at all he's a drinker.
"Do you want some?" He asked and she shook her head.
"I am glad they sent you." He said. "We usually don't get such pretty ladies."
Nanao arched an eyebrow at him. He probably thinks the world of himself, she thought.
Then something clicked in her head. Sent? Does he think she's a whore or something like that? It would explain his atrocious behaviour towards her. It mortified her.
"Sir, I'm not a prostitute." She finally said as calmly as possible.
He just chuckled. "I'm glad you're not."
"I'm serious." She said. "I'm only here because my car broke down."
Realisation slowly dawned upon him. That's strange. It's only small but he could feel the reiatsu pouring off her. Humans don't have that. He frowned. She is something else.
His eyes fell on her again. Pretty girl, he thought. Her face is small with stunning violet eyes hidden by glasses. Her hair pulled back, a few strands flaunted past both sides of her cheeks. She isn't really his type though. He liked the more exuberant type. How old is she anyway? She appears to be begin twenties.
She looked at Shunsui like she disliked him immensely. He grinned. She isn't an easy kitten, he learned that quickly.
"Dinner is ready, Ise-san." Jushiro called from the doorway.
She didn't even notice him coming in.
"Ah, you're already back, Kyoraku." Jushiro said. "You already met Ise-san I take it?"
"I sure have." And he winked at her, before exchanging a look with jushiro. It was quick but it didn't go unnoticed by Nanao. He stood up. "Come on, Nanao-chan. Let's eat. I'm starved."
What did he call her now? 'Nanao-chan'?
The kitchen was small in comparison to the living room and the rest of the house, but that's why Nanao liked it. It felt warm and cosy.
"Could I maybe use your phone after dinner, sir?" Nanao asked Jushiro politely.
"You could if we had one. But I'm sorry, we don't have a phone, Ise-san."
At this Nanao frowned. No lamps and no phones. That is odd.
"I'm really sorry." The man said again.
"It's fine." She said quickly, not wanting to come across as rude. It was already nice enough of him to let her stay here.
She just dug into her food. It tasted absolutely delicious. Although she isn't really sure if that's because its fabulous or because she's starved. Either way, she wasn't going to complain.
She noticed the three of them are really close. They conversed and laughed a lot with each other. But they also wanted to involve her in their conversations, asking her questions regularly.
After dinner they all went to the living room. Nanao felt a bit awkward sitting there with people she doesn't know. They tried to make her feel at ease.
Shunsui genuinely wanted to know more about the girl who just stranded on their doorstep. He was going to talk to Jushiro later in the evening.
He learned she has a bachelor degree in mathematics, and in one more year she will have her master in finance. Smart girl, he figured.
"What do you wanna do after you're done with school?" He asked.
"I'm not sure yet." She said. "I'm not sure I will do anything with my degree at all to be honest."
"Why not?" He asked curiously. He couldn't imagine someone like her not doing anything with her high degree. She seemed practical. A hard worker.
"Because I also want to do other things in life."
She wasn't even sure herself what she wanted to do yet. It's hard to plan your whole life when you're young.
As the evening progressed Nanao grew more tired and tried to stifle a yawn.
Shunsui smiled. "Come, Nanao-chan. I'll bring you to bed."
Nanao followed Shunsui to the guest bedroom. The room was plain, only bed and a closet. The walls are white. But she could care less, she could sleep anywhere the way she felt.
"I'm sorry. This is the best we have. We usually don't have guests here." He apologised, rubbing the back of his head.
"I'm happy with anything." She said, meaning it.
"Well, goodnight Nanao-chan." He said. "I'll see you tomorrow."
"Goodnight, sir. And please, try not to call me 'Nanao-chan'."
Shunsui just grinned. His expression was basically telling her 'not a chance'. He quietly closed the door and Nanao quickly went to bed. Sleep came to her instantly.
She woke up in the middle of the night. Where was she? She heard a lot of noises. Were people fighting? She heard someone yelling. Half-awake she sat up and tried to put her clothes back on in the dark. She opened the door, greeted by Jushiro holding a candlelight.
He didn't look the same. His upper body attached to the body of a horse. She blinked, she is probably dreaming still.
"I know this is confusing, Ise-san. And I will explain it all to you later." Jushiro said. "But someone attacked us. I need you to stay in your room, can you do that?"
"Who is attacking us?" Nanao asked, her eyes narrowed.
Jushiro sighed. "Ise-san I have to go. Please, just go back to your room. I promise I will tell you everything after this is over. Okay?"
After a few more silent seconds Nanao nodded. She was just holding him up, she knew.
"Thank you." He quickly turned around and went away.
Nanao would only admit to herself she was a little scared. No, she felt terrified. The noise around this house is enormous. And she didn't even know what the hell was going on. But she wouldn't let fear take the better of her.
She went back to her room as promised. At least until she heard someone screaming. She recognised it as Rukia's voice.
Nanao ran down the stairs as the noise muffled down. What she saw there was horrible. Everything smashed down, windows broken, pieces of wall missing and above all everyone has injuries. Rukia didn't seem to stop bleeding from her torso. Jushiro was hovering over her.
Without thinking it through Nanao walked over to Rukia and layed her hands on the wound. After a few seconds the wound slowly sealed up.
Nanao felt a weird sensation going through her whole body. Her first reaction had been to help Rukia even if she didn't know how to. But she did somehow.
Nanao sat on the ground and layed her hands in her lap. She suddenly felt dizzy.
Shunsui rushed over to her and put an arm around her shoulders. Nanao buried her head in his chest. Why did she suddenly feel so weak?
"Ssh Nanao-chan. What you did was amazing. But it did take a lot of your strength."
"What the hell is going on here?" Nanao asked. Shunsui rubbed her back.
"Don't worry, they're gone Nanao-chan."
Nanao struggled to stay awake. She wanted to ask who 'they' are, but she couldn't form the words anymore.
"Just sleep, Nanao."
With that Nanao closed her eyes, unable to stay awake any longer.
Shunsui waited until her breathing evened out before he brought her back to her room. It was really amazing, she saved Rukia's life with what she did.
He looked fascinated at her when she healed the girl. A total different girl. She radiated warmth and compassion. In those few minutes he saw more of that than the entire evening. And for a minute he wished she would look at him like that. What was he thinking?
He was also worried. There is a possibility they noticed her reiatsu too. That would mean she is in danger.
Nanao woke up, feeling tired. If only she could sleep for a few more minutes. Her eyes snapped open.. This isn't her bed.
She really thought she had dreamed. It couldn't be real. But in the back of her mind she knew it was.
She grabbed her stuff and walked downstairs. Only to be bitten in the face by the cold wind. In daylight she could really see the damage done to this house. It was real bad. There is nothing left of the bookcase, the coaches are dishevelled as well.
"Come to the kitchen, sweetheart. If you stay here any longer you will probably catch a cold." She heard Shunsui say.
She turned around. "No, I am not staying here any longer. I am going to the nearest town so someone can take of my car. "
She walked outside of the gate to her car only to find the shock of her life. Her car didn't even resemble a car anymore. It now was a scrap of iron, stumped to the ground.
She heard a low chuckle. "Well, it looks like that will not get you very far."
She glared at him. "You think this is funny? Do you even know how expensive a new car is?"
"I'm sorry, Nanao-chan. I shouldn't have laughed." But the amused grin never escaped his face. That did it for her, and she stormed off.
"You don't even know the way there." He said.
"I don't care" She didn't even bother to be polite anymore. Shunsui followed her.
"Don't you want to know what happened last night?" Shunsui asked.
"No."
"No?"
"I don't care about it. I just want to get back to my normal life."
"It's dangerous to walk off by yourself. You don't even know the way."
"Then that's my problem." She said shortly.
Shunsui just ignored her and continued to walk next to her. It was a silent walk, with Shunsui giving directions occasionally. It took almost two hours before they reached town. Nanao called a taxi at a gas station.
Nanao didn't know what to think of it all. A lot has happened yesterday. She doesn't think she will be able to forget what has happened. No, it will stick out of her memory for the rest of her life.
Seeing Rukia's body so lifeless. She acted on impulse, didn't even think her actions through. She had done something, there is no denying that, she was there. And now her first instinct is to go away. She doesn't even know how Rukia is doing and didn't thank Jushiro for his hospitality. What must they think of her? They probably think she is ungrateful.
"Nanao-chan, your cab is here." Kyoraku said quietly. "You seem out of it, is everything alright?"
Nanao nodded. She told him to thank Ukitake-san for his hospitality.
Shunsui watched until the cab was out of his sight. He sighed. He will probably not be able to put this lady out of his mind.
.