"Captain? I brought you dinner." Lieutenant Ise Nanao looked at the man with concern for a moment before approaching him and setting down a tray of food. She looked at the drawn blinds, blocking out any trace of the evening sun, and the piles of paper setting in neat stacks around the desk and floor.

"Nanao? Dinner must have been hours ago, why are you still up? Missing one meal won't be the end of me, although I appreciate your concern." Shunsui yawned and picked up the cup of tea, drinking half of it quickly before returning to his work.

"Dinner just ended... You missed last night as well. You didn't sleep, did you? You've been working all night and day..." The woman sat in the chair across the desk and took hold of her captain's hand to stop him from working. "What's gotten in to you? I could understand it during the war, but you have hardly taken a day off in the last year of peace..."

"It's been a year since the war ended, and I am still filling out death certificates for those lost. Medals and awards for the divisions and families of our soldiers, aid to the civilians of the Rukongai, whatever help we can give to the world of the living and Hueco Mundo... It feels like it is never ending." He sighs and closes his eyes, leaning back in his chair. "What can I do, Nanao? The old man left me in charge... I have to do my duty as Captain-Commander."

"But you can lean on me, like you always did before. You don't have to shoulder everything yourself. I was so amazed when you took your roll as his successor seriously, but it's not healthy for you to take it this far. I'm worried about you." Nanao sat her book down next to the tray.

"I loved how impressed you were when I started handling everything myself." Shunsui chuckled quietly. "I guess I liked it so much I wanted to handle everything myself so that I could keep seeing that look in your eyes. And... I can't fail in this position. If I do not live up to the expectations set upon me, the Central 46 will demand Juushiro take my place..."

"A lot of people think he would have been the better choice, even with his illness. I know you hate this position... Why are you so determined to keep it?"

"Because I have to do horrible things." He looks up at her and she can see the dark circles under his eyes. "I don't want my best friend to ever have to do this job... It would break his heart. My first act as Captain-Commander was to send Captain Unohana to her death. Did you know that he was in love with her once? When someone has spent so many centuries caring for you, it is hard not to care about them in return, I suppose. But he never told her. He's fallen in love half a dozen times since I met him, and he's never said a word."

"Never?"

"Never. He wants nothing more than to have children of his own and live in peace, but he thinks that he has no right to be happy with someone when he could drop dead at any moment and leave his family alone. So he shepherds the youngest Shinigami like they are his children. He teaches them and protects them all he can. And he denies himself the happiness that he deserves more than anyone else I have ever met. If I can save him from any amount of suffering by taking it on myself, that is an easy choice to make."

"Then let me share it. Let me take on half the work, at least. You have to sleep, you have to eat, and you have to see the sun." Nanao pulled the pen from his hand and then takes the next paper from the stack. "Eat your dinner, then go to bed."

"Nanao..."

"No arguments, Captain. Why can't you do anything in moderation? You either drink and sleep all the time, or work night and day. You go from chasing skirts to ignoring me all together. It's not healthy to keep jumping from one extreme to another."

"Are you saying you miss me flirting with you, my dear Nanao?"

"I... Didn't say that." She blushed slightly and adjusted her glasses, refusing to look up at her captain.

"No, I suppose you didn't." Shunsui ate in silence for a few minutes, going so far as to crack one of the blinds, wincing at the brilliant sunset. "How long did you say I had been in here?"

"Since after lunch yesterday, Sir." Nanao smiled as she set the paper aside and moved to another. "A good night's rest and you can start keeping a regular schedule tomorrow. I can write one up for you. I know this all needs done, but you have to do it at a pace you can maintain."

"I suppose I owe you an apology for worrying you. I'd be lost without you, you know."

"I know. Now go to bed."

"You need your rest as well."

"If I leave, you'll get up and work more."

"Then stay."

"I am." Nanao looked up at her captain, then blushed brighter. "I mean... What do you mean?"

"Stay with me." Shunsui leaned in the doorway, his hat in his hand. "You need sleep, and you don't trust me to sleep without you here, so it is the only logical solution."

"You took it to heart, me missing your flirting..." She tried to redirect his attention, but he just shook his head. "Sir, even if half the divisions don't obey them, there are fraternization rules."

"I really should do something about those..." Shunsui frowns, making a face of deep consideration. "I could change them so they only take effect if the captain of direct superior of one of the fraternizers has a complaint about it affecting their ability to do their work..."

"Captain... You have enough trouble taking things in moderation as it is... Why should I believe that I would be any different?"

"Because you have always been able to keep me in line. And you would be there with me the whole time, so you could knock me in the head if I mess up." The man sighed and shook his head. "Because I think I've been in love with you for a while now, and I was afraid that if I let myself be happy, Juushiro would hate me, and he told me if I didn't man up and ask you, he was going to stop speaking to me. He said I was insulting him by not taking advantage of the opportunity he didn't have."

"I can see why he would be mad about that... How long?"

"Twenty years or so... About ten years after I appointed you my Lieutenant. Spending so much time with you at my side, I guess it got to be more than just comfortable for me." Shunsui shrugged. "I imagined this going a lot worse or a lot better in my head."

"You mean you thought I would slap you or jump into your arms, not talk about it like a rational person?" Nanao smirked and raised an eyebrow. The man could be so absurd sometimes. She watched him for a moment, then her gaze softened. "I fell in love with you long before you appointed me your lieutenant. I was so mad at you for so long after Lisa's disappearance, I couldn't imagine ever seeing you as more than the enemy. I worked so hard so that I could be promoted to another division, but the more missions I followed you on, the more I respected you. When I finally got offered another position... I turned it down."

"I never knew you were offered another position. What division?"

"The Thirteenth." Nanao giggled at the look her captain gave her. "Captain Ukitake knew I was the youngest in the division, and that I worked harder than three people combined, so he offered me his third seat, before Sentaro and Kiyone took it."

"I am going to have to have a word with him..."

"He was so happy when I turned him down." Nanao stood up and sat aside the paperwork. "Alright, Shunsui. It's time for bed. And as you said, the only way I can be sure you don't get up is if I am there with you."

"Do you really mean that, Nanao?" Shunsui smiled when she pressed herself into his arms and leaned against his chest. "Just shut up. You are going to say something stupid and I want to go at least one day without regretting this decision."

"As you wish, my dear Nanao."