Ngoc Chau does not own Bleach.

So... this is rated M, with limey goodness. Hope you like it and will r&r.

Part 3/12 of the Proposal String

Prompt: Influence

1. Be confident about yourself. If you feel beautiful, you are beautiful.

Despite the advice that she had heeded from Rangiku, Nemu was feeling horribly nervous. Just as she was brushing out her hair, she was having serious second thoughts about this; if he didn't want to have sex with her, she should just leave it instead of trying to provoke him like so. But she had needs as a woman, needs that he had at least tried to make time for to help her with her development when she was a lot younger and seldom before, but now as his wife… he was just torturing her with it!

Reader, she had gone to see Matsumoto Rangiku when the work day was over, requesting if she could leave early to prepare his dinner at home. He had given her a somewhat confused, possibly it was exasperated, look and told her no. Until they were alone for a moment and he whispered in her ear that she could leave but he wanted pike for that night. Acting indifferent, she had bid him goodbye with a bow and promised to make him pike just the way he seemed to prefer it.
She had gone shopping as quick as possible and luckily sought out Rangiku, requesting her for advice to seduce and tempt men. Her expression had been one that was almost indescribable, Reader, but I will try my best to attempt it. Her eyes were wide with surprise and bright with curiosity, her mouth a gasp. There was the odd cross of emotions spreading over her visage of someone all at once pleased and nosey, surprised and disturbed.

Rangiku asked Nemu what was her reason for wanting to learn how and she explained honestly that she was not feeling attractive enough. Tears immediately welled up in Rangiku's eyes and she grabbed Nemu in a tight embrace. "Oh, Nemu-chan! Don't ever let people tell you that you're not pretty! You have a chest and great legs, better than Nana-chan who stuffs her bra!"
However, after trying to comfort Nemu about her appearance, she suddenly had the look of a cat who trapped the canary. "Nemu-chan? Just who is he? Is he someone I know? Is he a captain or a lieutenant? Is he an officer, at least? Older?"

Nemu did not want to tell her about Mayuri, but she did not want to lie nor could she. She described briefly that he was a number of decades older than her, he worked closely with her in the 12th division, and he was a very intelligent man…

Reader, Matsumoto Rangiku had somehow guessed that Nemu was in love with the 3rd seat of the 12th division, Akon. And though she did not exactly approve of him, he seemed to be a good match for her friend: both of them intelligent, a bit odd and quiet, and she occasionally saw them talking with each other when her father wasn't around. Still, as long as he didn't beat her and he was nice: she was okay with it.
In just a few short minutes, Rangiku pointed out some tips in seduction and how to lure a man to bed because they were, after all, "only fish."

Nemu had thanked her for the help and immediately set off for home to get everything ready if it should all go according to plan that night. She had prepared their dinner: white rice, cabbage soup, fried pike with ginger, and tofu soaked in tomato sauce; tidied up what rooms that would surely need the clean up such as his office and her bedroom(dusty for she had not slept in it since the marriage), even took a quick shower to cleanse herself, and when all of the evening's necessities were completed by her standards… She went back upstairs to her room and gazed at herself in the long-length mirror. Reader, this brings us back to the beginning of our story once more.

Nemu nervously fingered the ribbon that she had used to tie her hair back.

2. Let your hair down. Men like to see women with a nice head of hair.

This tip was, at least, making her feel somewhat better. Mayuri did in fact like her hair when it was down and so with that thought in mind, she tucked it away into the opening of her kimono. She wondered if she should leave it cascading down her back or perhaps move it to rest on one sole shoulder. She considered a neck to be sexy as what she had seen from some of the more obscene materials that Rangiku had shown her whenever she dragged her to the 8th division to see its lieutenant and they would run into the captain. She could not decide and so she parted it evenly in two and placed the hair on both shoulders, the back of the neck and collar bare for all to see. She felt satisfied with the look and then thought back about the tips that Rangiku had given her. Nemu thought to herself, What else had Rangiku had advised her?
She closed her eyes and sought to remember the words of wisdom she had been told in dealing with the opposite sex.

3. Wear something sexy: lace, silk, leather… Whatever! It just has to be sexy!

Yes! She ran to her closet and looked at the assortment of clothes she owned. Reader, despite how mistreated Nemu was and how it appeared she never wore anything nice at all, it was only because she seldom wore anything nice and when she did, it was only in the presence of Kurotsuchi Mayuri(occasionally in front of their closest scientists whenever they went out for dinner), when in fact she possibly possessed clothes that would make any girl envious of her.
The bigger surprise was that most of the nicest clothes did not come from any store at any of her friends' prompting to buy, but they were occasional birthday gifts from Mayuri's own fingers! Most of it was comprised of kimono like designs(Think Wa-Lolita, Reader) and schoolgirl outfits, the rest were a rather miscellaneous mix. She wasn't sure what could actually count as sexy, a few of her friends had often commented that her uniform was rather provocative. Yet it had no effect on Mayuri during most of the day.

She scanned through the closet, her gloved hands(she would take them off when he came home) touching the material and fingering it for the closest feel to lace or silk(she knew that she possessed no leather). After much thought, she finally picked out what she was going to wear and pulled it out of her closet.
She decided to wear an old kimono that had been given to her within the first year of her creation. As she put it on, she almost marvelled at how long it had been since she had worn it: it was definitely one of her favourites in those days and she wondered why she had not worn it more often. The design was of white butterflies on black, white ripples coursing throughout the pattern. She adjusted the wide sleeves so that the many layers of lace and fringe could be shown to match its burgundy skirt. It was not intended to wear with tabi, but she had received one the other day: long velvety black ones that reached high up to mid thigh and how shiny black lace at its opening to tighten it.

She regarded herself in the mirror and halfway considered to take off the long tabi but left it on. Nemu tied the white obi around, finishing it off with a butterfly knot beneath her bust in the front. She supposed that it could be counted as sexy, it showed off her chest a lot and she considered whether or not to wear a tank top beneath it as it was intended. But she decided to forego it as the next tip did say to:

4. Show off your chest as much as you can. It's only sexy until they can see cleavage.

She tugged at the opening of the kimono, making sure that anyone would be able to see the swell and slope of her breasts at virtually every angle. As she adjusted the obi to elevate her chest, there was the sound of a door opening and she appeared almost instantly before the person who just entered.

Mayuri came in rather sluggishly, his steps a tad slower and heavier than they were during the early hours. She bowed to him, her hair nearly touching the floor. "Mayuri-sama, please let me take your coat." Nemu offered and she held out her hands to receive it.

He handed her his captain's haori, he ran his long fingers through his shaggy hair and sighed loudly. Overlooking her completely, he made his way to the kitchen; she followed faithfully behind him, her hands tucked into each other. She told him that his dinner was hot and ready, simply waiting for him to dig in. He turned around and as he did, his eyes widened. She felt at ease when she noticed the slight blush appear on his white cheeks and it quickly disappeared.

Mayuri asked, almost sounding indignant, "What are you wearing?"

She laid her hands out over the skirt and answered the obvious. "It's a kimono, Mayuri-sama."

He rolled his eyes and snarled at her, "Yes, I know it's a kimono! I made it, didn't I? But what are you wearing that for? Are you planning on going out tonight with the other females?" He crossed his arms over his chest and headed towards their small dining room where she had already set up their dinner.

Following after him, she answered, "No, Mayuri-sama. I wanted… I wanted to wear this tonight."

He raised an unnoticeable brow and the tips of his mouth turned downwards, the age lines on the sides suddenly looking more accented than ever before. "Hm… Is there some special occasion I should know about that would compel you to wear that?" He pointed a long bony finger at her, touching the skin of her chest. Then his finger moved up higher until it twirled and wrapped itself in her hair. His face came closer to her, his mouth opening wider and she thought that he was about to mark her with a love bite. But what came from his was a hiss of, "Well?" His cheek touched hers, she was so glad that his mask was off.

Nemu shook and shivered beneath him, scenes and thoughts of all things licentious were suddenly conjured up by his contact. I want us to have sex, she thought, instead what came out of her mouth was, "No, Mayuri-sama. If you do not like me wearing this tonight, I will go and change."

She was relieved when he answered nonchalantly, "It doesn't matter, I want my dinner now and I'm not going to wait for you to change. Just leave it on."

"Yes, Mayuri-sama." she said with a nod.

He walked past her, and as their shoulders met his golden eyes looked up at her. "Nemu, what are you looking at?" he asked most suspiciously. He didn't even bother waiting for an answer and his back was already turned to her.

What she said next, she had not meant but it had simply slipped out, "At you."

He stopped in his tracks and looked at her, something wild in his eyes and his teeth bared. She nervously fidgeted with her fingers as he continued watching her watching him.
Then his brows furrowed and he barked, "Don't just stand there gawking, we don't have all night!"

5. Keep close to him and subtly touch him - tease him!

She repeated this tip over and over to herself. She served him his rice and he sat down at his usual spot, sitting cross legged with this knees almost spanning the entire width of their dinner table. Actually feeling a little bit more confident since he had not ordered her to change out of the dress, she sat close to him on the adjacent side of the table: the side of her arm coming in contact with his knee.

He flinched and looked almost accusingly at her, "What are you doing, Nemu?" He shifted away from her.

She didn't hurt or offend him, did she? She shifted away from him as well and bowed her head low as she answered, her hands placing the bowl of rice and chopsticks directly in front of her on the table. "Forgive me, Mayuri-sama. But… I wanted to sit next to you tonight."

Reader, it was perhaps the most sincerest sight ever and anyone(possibly not Mayuri, but who knows?) would've cried at the sight of this young girl with such honest and sad eyes, hopeful to sit next to the man she loved.

His eyes widened and there seemed to be disbelief in his tone, despite how even his voice was. "You wanted to sit next to me?"

She nodded her head, "Yes, sir. But if you do not want me to, I will move to my spot across the table." Getting up halfway, she hoped he would stop her.

"It's fine, just eat. Geez, what's wrong with you tonight?" And he did. He grabbed her hand and pulled her back down to where she had chosen to sit.

"My deepest apologies, Mayuri-sama." that she said with a small smile on her lips and began eating the dinner.

Throughout the dinner, she noticed that his wrist would sometimes touch the top of her hand and there would be the slightest bit of pressure from him. In turn, she tried her best to initiate the most contact as she could, yet still keep it subtle. His arm, his hand; she was almost sure that she had heard his breath hitch up when her knee touched his. Reader, squee if you must, if you want to; but as Nemu did not detect it so well as I, the writer, did, Kurotsuchi Mayuri nervously kept his eyes on everything but his young wife at his side. When Nemu felt that she had initiated enough contact, she thought of the next tip.

6. Flirt. Hard. But don't make it obvious.

Was she not already flirting? She decided to skip this step, not really understanding it. However, the next tip proved useless as well.

7. Get personal about it. Do something that would appeal only to him.

He was a man that was appealed by many things, but perhaps the most personal was that he liked his work as his pleasure. But there was a problem with that tip for a man like her husband. Where was she going to get a corpse to dissect at this hour? She skipped that step as well and presumed with the 8th tip of what Rangiuku had given to her.

8. A lot of sake will help, it'll set the mood. But! If you give him too much, he won't be able to get it up!

She waited until he was done with his dinner and when he appeared full and satisfied with it, asking for a cup of tea, she instead sought something else from the kitchen.

"Sake?" he asked.

She came even closer to him, her arms pushing her chest up higher to show off her assets for him, and poured him a glass. She suppressed her smile as she saw another blush on his face and it quickly cleared away, she was sure that she was blushing like mad as well(she was indeed, Reader). She nodded in response to his question, "Yes, Mayuri-sama." and carefully handed him the glass. Their hands touched and she would've jolted had it not been for her incredibly control of will and the habit of often biting her tongue.

He took a sip and she watched with cloudy eyes as the tip of his tongue slipped from between his lips and licked a corner of his mouth. He eyed her cautiously, "Nemu. Honestly, what is the occasion for tonight?"

She slightly bowed her head forward once more, her hair pouring over her shoulder like fine strings, and she watched him drink. "Nothing in particular, Mayuri-sama."

And Reader, unbeknownst to Mayuri or Nemu, her smile was rather sly as she told him that.

9. When it seems that he's getting into the mood too, don't jump into it. Build up to it.

She was currently thinking on how to proceed with that step because it appeared to be the most crucial one. Perhaps she should chance fate and sit on his lap? But her train of thought was interrupted by him standing up and telling her, "I feel tired, Nemu. Clean up. I'm going to get this paint off of me." It did not even sound like a hint that he would want her like that in bed for after he had just said that, he nodded and his face looked angry as though at himself for not being able to fend off sleep. She could feel the fatigue rolling off of him in waves.

"Yes, Mayuri-sama." Not showing her disappointment, she immediately began cleaning up, her mind still thinking of what to do next when the last tip presented itself to her.

10. If all else fails, just pretend that you need help and milk it, make him feel like he's big for helping you. Then you can repay him how you want.

Though he was a lot nicer, asking him for help seemed to be a bad idea… And Reader, for once our Nemu had a devious idea that would've made any woman applaud her and her father actually smile if she was using it as a technique to distract an enemy and have him underestimate her.

She finished cleaning up and stood at the foot of the stairs. There was still the sound of water running and she assumed that he was getting the paints off of himself or possibly washing. She inhaled and carefully picked a spot on her leg that would not impair any of her motor skills or flexibility for what she was about to do. Pinching the piece of flesh between her fine nails, she tore it out like a bandaid and winced slightly at the pain. Because of the tabi stockings, she could not feel as the blood trailed down her leg and the only evidence for her that the cut had been deep enough was the piece of flesh still held by her nails and the blood all over her fingers. She disposed of it quickly, swallowing the piece of flesh and licking away the blood.
Then she made her way upstairs to bait her husband, hoping that this last step would work because she was literally out of choices now. Discreetly, she made sure that the blood would run on her foot, not wanting to get any of it on the floors and be forced to wash it.

She passed by the bathroom in the hall where he was currently washing his face, though the paint was not so easy to get off in so little time. He had apparently changed into his navy hiyoku and his blue hair contrasted greatly to the whites of his self.

She faced him and bowed. "Goodnight, Mayuri-sama."

Still washing his face and not even looking at her, he asked, as the cloth he was scrubbing over his face muffed some of his words, "You're going to bed?"

Look at me! Look at me! She was thinking. Her toes nervously dug into the floor, uneasy that the blood was already getting on it. "Yes, Mayuri-sama. But is there anything that you would require of me to do before I retire to sleep?"

He looked up at her, water droplets dripped down his face and she found the sight utterly delectable.

His eyes widened at her and his mouth gaped in surprise. He approached with her long strides and pointed a finger at her and high heaven, "Nemu! You're getting blood everywhere!"

She feigned dumbness and surprise, looking down at the blood that was pooling around her heel. She bowed and tried to induce worry in her voice, "My deepest apologies, Mayuri-sama. I suddenly felt something sharp but I did not think that-"

"Goodness, you are such a hassle!" he interrupted her. He pulled her into the bathroom that he had previously been occupying and hit her sharply on the top of her head, scolding her for getting blood on their floor that would have to be cleaned up later. With delicate hands, she raised the skirt for him to properly see the wound and she blushed more from the fact that she was practically putting everything on the line to seduce her husband into their bed, rather than the fact that she was modest about him seeing her vulnerable.
He was surprisingly gentle with her; though his words were anything but nice as he called her clumsy and boorish, his hands were still over the self-inflicted gash and rubbing ointment on it to cease the bleeding and speed up the closing of the wound. A wound such as that was not even worth the use of his Hojiku-Zai, he informed her. She apologized to him for her clumsiness and her inexcusable mistake that he had to help her. He told her that she should be sorry, he was very tired and only wanted sleep, but she had hurt himself and it was his obligation to make sure that she was maintained.

Her body gave her away as he touched just a little higher than he had, her legs jerked at the sensation and her toes curled. She saw his golden eyes stare down the length of her long legs, his smile widening as the seconds passed. She breathed in deep, her heart racing a mile a minute. There was the thump of his knee hitting the floor and then she felt both his hands on the back of her thigh, rising higher and higher upwards till she felt his fingertips slip under her panties.

She gasped out loud, "Mayuri-sama!"

There was a chuckle from his and suddenly, his form loomed over her, her lips parted for him. He literally swept her off her feet, he carried her in his arms and swiftly took her to his - their - bed. The lights were dim, its only source coming from outside the door. Her stomach had butterflies fluttering about, his heart was ready to burst, her palms grew wetter as did the space between her legs, aching to be filled by him. She arched her back ever so slightly, wanting him to notice her chest and feel aroused by it.

The kimono slipped slightly off of her bare shoulder. She looked at his face, the white paint still covering his entire form and some of the black creating an effect of a masquerade mask on him. There was something about his expression that made her feel and think that he was as frustrated as her, that he was left wanting her as she did for him. The bed creaked as he moved above her. His knee touched her inner thigh, his shoulders were square as his arms were straight and held him at a level high above her. Her hands rested atop the pillow above her head, her arms raised and laid on top of the bed to give him a full and unblocked access to her body and the opening of her kimono.

He shifted his weight to one arm, the bed creaked once more, the other hand caressing her. The edge of his hand traced the side of her face, down her neck, over her exposed chest, and down the hill of her breast to the obi.
He fingered the white obi and bow, his fingers hooking into its loops and she thought that he wanted it to be undone. But as her hands came to the knot of the obi to undo it for him, he batter her hands away and his own returned to its original position near the top of her head. They held each other's gaze, her green ones looking deep into his yellow ones. Her hand hesitantly came up and touched his shoulder, he was cold under her fingertips.

"Mayuri-sama." she whispered to him.

He furrowed his brows and sat back on his knees; she remained still on the bed, still watching him through bright eyes. His fingers touched her leg, grazed over the spot behind her thigh to which she bent it upwards for him. His lips brushed by the top of her knee and she shivered at the sensation. Excruciatingly slow, he peeled the bloodstained tabi socks off of her legs and threw it to the ground. His fingers prodded and petted her legs from thigh to calf, bringing the limb to hook over his shoulder as he continued to softly examine it. She breathed slowly through her nose, wanting to stay silent to egg him on to actually finish this time instead of leaving her wanting for more.

To her surprise, he touched her there in her special spot, she arched her back towards him in response. A meek cry, helpless in tone and expression, escaped her mouth. He laughed and grabbed her arm, wrenching her up to his level. His mouth crashed into hers painfully. She felt electric, jolts going through every one of her nerves and fingers and hairs and toes. She held onto his shoulders, clawing and gripping.
There was the sound of her kimono ripping, but as far as she could tell there were no holes or tears yet to be seen. Both of his hands simultaneously pulled it off her shoulders completely while the other searched eagerly and frantically under her skirt and pulled away the cotton panties she wore underneath. He pushed her back on the bed, practically smothering her face into the pillows while his hand gripped the back of her neck. There was the sound of more cloth moving, something in her stirred at the thought of what could be coming next. She felt him, felt it touch against the back of her leg near her rear and stiffened. He spread her knees apart wider, she felt the coarse hair of him tickling her vulnerably. The heat burned from her diaphragm to the womanhood below, moist and aching to be filled by him and only him. She silently begged in her mind to have him to herself.

When he entered her and filled her, she wanted to cry from the fullness of it. "N-Nemu!" he grunted as he pushed into her. In a sound that was crossed between a sigh and a scream, she uttered his name too, her hands digging into the mattress and her knuckles turning whiter than the sheets. All she could concentrate on was the feel of his hands everywhere, groping her and handling her so well. She loved the coolness of his thighs on the backs of hers, how it somehow made her think that it put her closer to him. Every time she felt his front touch her back, her heart skipped a beat. She hated doing it this way, there was almost more hurt than pleasure; but if he wanted it that, who was she to counter it? She was happy as long as he was happy. He shifted, something shifted, and she let out a screech, her elbows giving away and she fell on her face.

Her moans filled the room, soon escalating to more and more screaming. He pushed himself into her: one hand steadying her lower back while the other massaged the flesh between her thigh and hip. Heavy breaths filled the space in between; Reader, he was a quiet lover after all: preferring to hear the screams of others instead of his own. He moved slowly inside her, taking his time with her and she appreciated it greatly. It was seldom that this was ever spent leisurely, more so in haste for he had often viewed it more times than not as a burden of human nature and they were a meticulous sort who lived for work more than sex.

Reader, there was almost something poignant in it: for her to forget where they both began and ended; that as she reared her head back in lighted headedness and ecstasy, he had buckled over, shuddering her name, and their heads barely skimmed each others'. The blue of his hair dangled over her dark locks and the fine hairs ticked her hairline. His hands gripped her hips tighter, almost raising them higher while her legs bent more obscenely and tangled themselves around his arms: the soles of her feet against his scarred shoulder blades. She could feel it, the crash of it all about to come down on her.
When suddenly, he stopped and pulled away from her. He did not finish. He refused to finish again. The absence of him was bitter and she cried out more from the frustration of yet another near coupling ended too soon by him, than from her own release. She thought of that over and over in her mind as she bit on her tongue to keep from screaming again. He detangled himself from her and got off the bed, she wanted to grab a hold of him and pull him back down to continue and complete what he had started but she dared not to do something so bold as that. Instead, she resigned herself to watch as he fixed himself and his clothes up.
It was still in want of her but it soon turned flaccid then dead.

"Nemu." he stated as he turned to look at her.

She got up immediately. "Yes, Mayuri-sama." she answered to him.

He smiled that smile of his, teeth bared like someone hungry and laughing. "I just thought of something to look after and so I'm going to need my pills."

She bowed her head and ran to the medicine cabinet in his bathroom, the pills right before her eyes as she opened the mirror. She brought it back to him, a container of a dozen pills or so: little black balls with happy-looking white skulls decorating it. He swallowed three and his countenance almost brightened, became more vibrant. He headed to the door and she faithfully followed behind him, adjusting her robe.

When suddenly he turned around and eyed her, the golden glare shining bright through the darkness, "Nemu. This is something I'm going to do by myself, it cannot have any interference. I should be back before the morning, stay here and go to sleep. You aren't any help or use to me tired."

She nodded and returned to his bed. His hand was heavy on her shoulder as she lowered herself down on the bed, her legs hanging off its edge. He playfully patted her cheek once, twice, thrice…

Then he leaned in close to her that for a second, she thought that he was going to kiss her goodbye, but he withheld himself from closing the distance. Mayuri whispered low, the voice sending shivers through her skin and inducing goose bumps, "Stay away from that air-headed Matsumoto Rangiku: she's a bad influence on you."
He recoiled slowly upwards and headed for the door, picking up his zanpakuto that was leaning against the sword guard he kept in his bedroom. He had only walked out for a few seconds and returned back to the doorway. The hope in her rose that he should come back to her but with a humorous smile on his face, he told her, "On second thought. Clean up your blood in the hallway before you go to sleep. When I come back, it had better be spotless."

She nodded her head and stood up, "Yes, Mayuri-sama."

But as he left the doorway and she heard the slam of the door, her legs gave way and she fell back on their bed. Her legs curled up on the edge, the knees touching close to her chin, and she squeezed her fist. She wondered what was wrong with her that he did not to want her when she was practically begging him and offering herself freely to him.
Nemu laid down into the bed, she felt a sting in the pit of her stomach and something wet spilled across the bridge of her nose down her cheek.

Now she forced herself to get up and clean up her blood.

Please review!