Author's note: I do not own Bleach or its characters. This is AU and set in Japan.
Love Song
Nanao sighed as she worked her way through another form. Her desk was finally visible again. The young assistant director of the piano department at Seireitei Music Academy had finally made it through most of the end of the year paperwork. Technically, this was the department head's job, but the day she got Shunsui Kyoraku to do all his paperwork on his own would be the day that hell froze over and the demons invited the angels to come figure skating with them. Kyoraku was an amazing pianist and teacher but a rather poor administrator.
Which was in part why she was the assistant director. With her around, the paperwork got done. Nanao sighed again. At twenty-two, she was a talented pianist and proficient teacher. At least technically. No, Nanao's current struggle with her music was putting emotion into. She could do that. She just couldn't do it consistently. It was frustrating. Especially since the one certain way of getting emotion into a piece left her own emotions in a muddle. All she had to do was keep her boss in mind, and some sort of emotion would flow into the piece.
She hadn't originally been his student. Kyoraku had inherited her when his former assistant director had abandoned the school for a place at Vizard Music. Lisa Yadomaru had picked Nanao out when she started taking lessons at Seireitei Academy at the tender age of six, and Nanao had adored the older woman. Lisa too had been a young prodigy and at the time was the department's youngest assistant director ever at the age of sixteen. Of course, the whole department staff had been young then. Kyoraku had only eighteen at the time.
Their first meeting was still memorable. Nanao had been small enough that she had to sit on a phonebook to be able to reach the piano keys properly. Lisa had been walking her through a Mozart piece when a man in a bright pink Hawaiian shirt plopped on the end of piano.
"Who's this, Lisa-chan?"
"Nanao Ise, Kyoraku. Our new prodigy."
"Nanao-chan." He beamed at her. "What are you working on?"
"Mozart, sir."
"You can call me Shunsui, Nanao-chan. Do you like playing piano?"
"It's interesting, sir."
He tapped her nose. "Make sure you enjoy your music too, Nanao-chan."
When Lisa had abandoned them for Vizard Music two years later, Nanao had been heartbroken. On the one hand, she understood some of why Lisa had left, but it hurt that she had just left Nanao without a word of explanation. Kyoraku had taken over her lessons after that. It had been an interesting and frustrating experience for them both.
"Nanao-chan!"
Speak of the devil. Kyoraku breezed into the office in his customary Hawaiian shirt. Following him was Jyuushiro Ukitake, his best friend and the head of the woodwind. Department. The silver haired man smiled at her.
"Good afternoon, Miss Ise."
"Good afternoon, Mr. Ukitake." Nanao turned her attention to her boss. "I need you to finish the paperwork for ordering the new music for the summer program, sir."
"I'll get to it eventually, Nanao-chan. Does my adorable assistant have plans for this Saturday?"
"We need the music to arrive before the classes start, sir."
He tapped her nose. "Don't worry so much. Saturday?"
She held out the forms. "Your signature first, please."
Kyoraku sighed but took the forms from her, reaching for one of her pens. "Nanao-chan is so cruel to me, Jyuushiro."
His friend rolled his eyes. Once Nanao was sure he'd signed the forms, she gave him a small smile. "I'm spending Saturday working on my concertos for the concert next month. I'm not happy with either the Gershwin or the Rachmaninoff."
He wrinkled his nose at her. "No real plans then. Good. You work far too hard, Nanao-chan."
It was a common complaint from her boss. He seemed to believe that her days should be spent in far more idleness than was practical. Of course, if she spent her days lazing around, flirting, and drinking, nothing around here would get done. Kyoraku was a phenomenal pianist, but Nanao honestly had no idea how he managed that. He only seemed to play at practicing most of the time.
"There. See how diligent I am in your service?" Kyoraku handed her back the forms. "Here. My Nanao-chan will need this for this weekend."
He placed his credit card onto of the papers.
"Sir?"
"You'll need a dress for Saturday night since you're coming with me. And shoes probably, and one of those little shawl things that can't possibly keep you warm."
Nanao froze. Saturday night was the academy's party for its major donors. Despite being the assistant director of the department, she'd never been invited before. Of course, she had started in her position when she was just fourteen (the department had been drowning in paperwork and someone had to deal with it), and it wasn't really the type of event that one invited teenagers to. Still, she was twenty-two now, and she had simply assumed that her boss felt she would be underfoot at such an event.
"I'll pick you up at six-thirty, Nanao-chan, and being your punctual self, I'm sure you'll be ready." He considered her with a warm look in his eyes. "In fact, you should take tomorrow off, so you can get your shopping done. My diligent Nanao-chan works too hard as it is."
She gaped at him a moment before recovering. "Mr. Kyoraku, there is far too much that needs to be done before the term ends for me to take tomorrow off. I shouldn't have any trouble getting all of the necessary shopping done Saturday morning and afternoon."
"Nonsense. We both know that you are routinely a week ahead in the paperwork. One day off is not going throw you too badly off schedule." Kyoraku held her gaze. "I also know that you hate shopping, and it will take you twice as long as you plan to find anything."
It was true. Nanao sighed but gave in. "Yes, sir. Is there anything else?"
"Not today. Shiro and I have an early dinner with Yamamoto. I'll see you Saturday at six-thirty, Nanao-chan."
With that, he swept out of their office. Nanao waited a minute to make sure he was really gone before letting out a sigh. That man was the most frustrating, irritating, thoughtful, irresponsible, caring person she had ever met. And that was her problem. Over the years she had gone from being annoyed with him for flirting with her to being annoyed that he didn't really mean it when he flirted with her. It was clear from most of his behavior that he still thought of her as the young girl that he had taught, and she wanted him to see the woman she had become. She had fallen in love with the idiot, and he seemed oblivious.
Not that Nanao was certain she would do something about it if he ever did notice. Part of her wanted to, but part of her was afraid of all the complications that getting involved with her boss could bring, especially since she really wasn't the type of girl he normally seemed interested in. Either way, mooning over that man was not going to get work done, and if she was taking tomorrow off, she should try and get ahead in the paperwork.
It was nearly seven by the time Nanao finished with the stacks of paperwork. She carefully stretched before rising from her chair to start closing up the office. It was nearly eight by the time Nanao reached her apartment, but there was curry simmering in a crock-pot, and dinner didn't take that long to fix. She fed her cat before a hot shower closed out the night for her, and Nanao settled into bed after resetting her alarm clock for eight instead of six. She was going to sleep in tomorrow since she didn't have work.
The fact that her morning was pleasant was a good thing. It was one of the few things that had gone her way so far. Nanao was in over her head. She hated shopping, and she was currently at a loss where to even begin looking for what she needed. Of course, it would help if she knew what she wanted in a dress, something else that she didn't know. Normally, she'd call upon the shopping talents of the Assistant Department Head of the Strings Department, Rangiku Matsumoto, for this sort of thing. Rangiku had impeccable fashion sense and actually enjoyed shopping. However, Rangiku was currently on vacation. So Nanao was on her own.
Sighing, she peered through another rack of dresses. Why were all of these cut so she wouldn't be able to bend over without popping out of them? Nanao didn't mind showing a little skin, but most of these seemed more like handkerchiefs than actual dresses.
"Nanao? Is that you?"
She turned to find a tall brunette behind her and smiled. Aedryn Rhys Maddox was the vocal star of the Welsh music scene. She had also been Nanao's roommate for the year the pianist had studied at Cardiff University. Mr. Kyoraku had insisted she spend a year abroad, and Nanao had the luck to stay with a fellow musician. They had kept in contact over the years.
"Aedryn, what are you doing in Japan?"
The Welsh singer laughed. "I'm actually in town for your school's party tomorrow night. What has been going on there lately? I've been hearing all sorts of rumors about a split in the school and possible closure."
Nanao sighed; she'd hoped that the mess wasn't that well known. "It's a long story. We're not about to close any time soon, but things are currently pretty shaky. I'd give you all the details, but I have to find a dress for tomorrow night, and I am so lost."
"Fine, I'll find you the perfect dress, and you give me the details." Aedryn grinned. "There's a great place a few streets over we should try. Do you have a color in mind?"
"Green or pink. Preferably green. So what do you already know or should I just start form the beginning?"
"Start from the beginning. All I've got is the rumors to go on."
Nanao began to explain the situation that had led to three department heads leaving for the for the rival music school in town. She hadn't been involved in the beginning, so her details were a little sketchy.
"It started when Rukia Kuchiki got stuck working with Kisuke Urahara when she was stuck in Karakura. Well, I'm sure things actually were in motion before that, but that's when people started noticing things. The school adminstration decided that Rukia would need to be expelled because of it, and things exploded from there."
"Hmm. Go try this one on." Aedryn held out a hanger. "Wasn't Urahara the man who got kicked out about ten years ago?"
"Yes. He's been teaching music off and on in Karakura as far as I know." Nanao popped her head out of the dressing room. "This one is not going to work. I feel like it's going to fall off every time I move."
"I'll look for something that isn't strapless then. So, what happened once they decided to expel Miss Kuchiki?"
"A number of things actually. Her friends from Karakura decided they had to do something about the situation, and there were a number of department heads who thought it was the wrong decision. Mr. Aizen, the Theory Department Head, started playing everyone off one another. Before I knew it things had gotten out of hand. There were even physical fights over it. Rukia was almost expelled, but enough people were against it, and once it was revealed that her expulsion was simply part of Aizen's plan, that she was spared from that." Nanao stepped out of the dressing room. "Did you find anything else?"
"Nope, but there's another three places on my list. So what did Aizen want? It can't just have been to leave the school. Not with all the chaos he caused." Aedryn frowned. "We'll hit the boutique on the corner and then grab lunch before continuing."
Nanao perked up at that. "Food? Food sounds lovely."
"After we check out the boutique. You're still horrible about shopping, Nanao. And you didn't answer my question. What else did Aizen want?"
"He took over half of our financial reserves. We have things stabilized until the fall, but unless our contributors are generous, we will have to start cutting back on things and increasing some of the tuition and other costs."
Luck proved to be with them at the next shop though. Aedryn found a sage green dress that fell just past Nanao's knees. With the help of the shop girl, they found a wrap that would match since the simple spaghetti straps wouldn't provide much warmth should the evening prove to be cool. The sweetheart neckline was a little more daring than Nanao liked, but she had to admit the dress look beautiful on her.
"You'll still need shoes, and do you have jewelry to go with this? If not, there's a great place near Shibuya Station."
"I have the pearls that Mr. Kyoraku gave me for my twentieth birthday. They should work with the dress."
Aedryn raised an eyebrow. "He gave you pearls for your birthday? And you still don't think that he's interested in you?"
"He's always given me extravagant presents." Nanao shrugged. "It doesn't mean anything. He gave me a Vespa when I got my license for heaven's sake."
"I think you need to stop dismissing his flirting with you. Did it ever occur to you that he's been waiting on you? You are younger than him, and he could just be waiting for you to figure out what sort of relationship you want with him."
Nanao just shook her head. "He flirts with everyone, Aedryn. He just flirts with me more because he knows it annoys me and because we spend so much time with me because of work. It doesn't mean anything."
"So you say."
After lunch, Aedryn insisted on dragging her to another two stores so they could find the right shoes and underthings for the dress. Once that was accomplished to her satisfaction, the Welsh singer dragged Nanao off a music store. It was at least something that Nanao enjoyed shopping for. She pursued through the sheet music looking for something new to work on. Aedryn sighed.
"I wish I could sing in Japanese better. I love some of the music by your artists, but I just don't have the language skills to pull off most of their songs." Aedryn held up a book of piano arrangements. "Have you ever worked on any of Angela Aki's pieces?"
"I haven't had a chance to work on something for fun in ages, and you know I don't like to sing."
"I'll take that as a no. And what you mean is that you don't like to sing for other people." She made a face. "You have a beautiful voice. I remember that time we got you drunk after the rugby game even if you don't. You should try a few of these pieces. They're well suited to you."
The two women parted ways just as twilight was falling. Nanao would admit that the day had been rather productive. She had found an outfit for tomorrow night that wasn't atrocious, and she had found some pieces that could prove interesting to work on in her free time. And she would still have most of tomorrow to work on her concertos as well. Not a bad day's work.
Nanao woke early on Saturday and spent the early hours of the morning sipping tea and entertaining Sonata, her cat. She puttered around her apartment, dealing with any mess the week had caused. Once her home matched her expectations of neatness, Nanao gathered up her music and sat down to work. After warming up with scales and a few short pieces, Nanao turned to the concertos. Several hours later, she set aside her performance pieces to fix a quick lunch before returning to the piano.
Instead of returning to her two concertos, Nanao instead took out the music she had bought the previous day. Along with the sheet music, she also found the book of Angela Aki songs that Aedryn had mentioned and bit back a smile. That was so like her friend. Nanao flipped through the book before settling on a song to try out. It wasn't that Nanao didn't like to sing, but working with professional singers and vocal students on a regular basis had made her hesitant to perform in public. Still this was a fairly simple song, and Nanao soon found herself singing along with the accompaniment she was playing.
It was with a sigh that she finally shut the piano lid. She couldn't put off getting ready for the party any longer. After a quick shower, Nanao fussed with her hair, twisting it up into a sleek chignon, before slipping into her underthings and sliding on the green dress. Nanao smiled at her reflection before applying her make up. The seed pearl necklace and earrings were dug out of her jewelry box leaving her only to collect her purse and wrap and put on her shoes. She still had fifteen minutes before her ride was supposed to show up, and he was always late.
The doorbell rang at six-thirty-five, startling her. Nanao hadn't been expecting Kyoraku for at least another ten minutes. She opened to the door.
"You're late, sir."
"Nanao-chan, you wound me. We'll still get there on time." He took in her outfit and held out a hand. "You look lovely. Are you ready to go?"
She nodded and took the offered hand. Kyoraku tucked in the crook of his arm.
"Good. Let's be off then, Nanao-chan."
It was a brief drive to the hotel where the party was being held. Nanao felt a stirring of butterflies in her stomach. Her boss reached over and squeezed her hand.
"You'll do just fine, Nanao-chan. You're more than ready for this. Besides," he beamed at her, "I finally have an excuse to get a dance out of you."
Nanao blushed and sighed. He never changed. It was both frustrating and comforting at the same time. Ever the gentleman, he helped her out of the car once they arrived, turning the keys over to a valet, and escorted her inside. She did her best to hide her awe at the ballroom. She doubted she'd ever attended an event this fancy before.
"It's really quite boring, you know. I have to say this probably one of the least interesting parts of my job." He winked. "Of course, I've never had my Nanao-chan along to keep me company. It could be more fun than I expect."
Kyoraku steered them towards a table where Mr. Ukitake and Retsu Unohana, the Head of the Education Department, were already seated. Both offered her warm smiles.
"Drinks anyone?" Kyoraku inquired as he held Nanao's seat out for her. "Cabernet for Jyuushiro, and what would Retsu and Nanao-chan like?"
"A white wine spritzer for me, Shunsui." Retsu smiled.
"Nanao-chan?"
"I'll just have a ginger ale please."
Her boss went off to get their drinks, and Nanao was left alone with the two department heads. The butterflies in her stomach decided to take up the cha cha. Retsu patted her hand.
"Don't worry so much, Nanao. You'll do just fine."
Ukitake added his reassurances. "Shunsui is right when he says these things are boring. As long as you're polite, which you always are, you'll be fine. Honestly, I don't know why Shunsui hasn't brought you before."
Nanao smiled. "Thank you."
The conversation turned to the summer music programs, and Shunsui rejoined them with their drinks. It wasn't long before they were joined by Toshiro Hitsugaya, the Head of the Strings Department, and his date for the evening. Momo Hinamori looked a little fragile but much improved from the last time Nanao had seen her just after Momo's boss had betrayed the school. However, before long the six of them had broken up to circulate around the room. Dinner wouldn't be served for a while, and now was the time for schmoozing.
Shunsui, she had been badgered into calling him that if only for the evening, kept her on his arm for the most part. It was an interesting experience. Nanao typically had very little to do with fundraising side of the school except for playing at events, and meeting with many of these people was an education. She also had to admit that this was rather boring and found that her boss' over affectionate nature protected her from a number of what she was sure would have be inappropriate proposals.
When dinner was finally announced, Nanao found that their table had been joined by several of the contributors. Shunsui and Ukitake kept the conversation flowing as the courses were served, and Nanao could see why her boss had ended up with his position. He was perfectly charming and engaging, easily keeping every one entertained. Nanao found herself enjoying the meal greatly.
Once the food was gone, then came the dancing and more conversation. Nanao danced her first dance with Shunsui before being passed on to Ukitake and then Hitsugaya. After that, Nanao found herself making a circuit of her fellow assistant department heads and even some of their contributors. It took some doing, but she finally managed to extract herself from the dance floor to collect a drink and rest her feet.
Nanao tucked herself in a sparely populated corner with a glass of water. It wasn't long before Rangiku joined her. The older woman smiled at her.
"Enjoying your first fundraising gala? I was bored to tears at mine."
"It's not that bad, Rangiku." Nanao grinned. "I thought you were still on vacation."
"Hitsugaya dragged me back for this," Rangiku sighed. "I was hoping to have a little more time before coming back. I'm not really ready for this."
Her voice sounded wistful, and she kept toying with her left ring finger. Nanao frowned as she noticed a plain gold ring.
"Rangiku?"
Rangiku blushed to her utmost surprise. "I got married, yes. It's going to cause a scandal or two for a while though."
There was only one person that Nanao could imagine Rangiku agreeing to marry, and it would cause a scandal right now. It would also most definitely cause a scandal right now. It could also get Rangiku fired. At her look, Rangiku hurried to explain.
"I'm not in trouble, Nanao, honestly. President Yamamoto knew before I left that it was going to happen. There's more going on, but I can't talk about it right now. I'm just not really ready to face everyone else with the news."
Her eyes were begging for understanding.
"Does Gin make you happy?"
That was what was important to Nanao. She'd watched her friend's relationship with that man for years, and despite his other actions, Gin Ichimaru had always been good to Rangiku. He had always seen more to her than just the pretty face and extraordinary figure, and that had been a blessing for Ran. Too many people dismissed her simply as nothing more than window dressing.
"Yes." The answer was immediate.
Nanao nodded. "Good. As long as that's true, I won't complain. This will stay between the two of us until you're ready to announce it."
"Thank you."
Their conversation turned to lighter subjects. Unfortunately, their sanctuary was soon breached by other partygoers. Rangiku was almost immediately monopolized by a pair of men who clearly were more interested in her body than herself. Rangiku started to look harried and uncomfortable, and Nanao decided to step in before her friend did something she would regret later.
And that was how, she found herself seated at the room's grand piano with a growing audience. Nanao took a deep breath, blocking out the noises around her, and rest her fingers on the piano keys. She took a moment to decide what to play before starting in on an instrumental piece. When that was done, there were demands for more, so Nanao launched into the one song in English that she felt she could both sing and play. It was a recent piece, not really her normal fare, but she'd been enamored enough of it that it had occupied much of her spare time for the past year.
That was greeted with applause and demands for more. Nanao was beginning to feel a little uncomfortable. Normally when she preformed, her audience was separated from her by space, not pressed all around her. She closed her eyes, trying to calm her fluttering nerves. She opened them to find Shunsui standing at the opposite end of the piano. He smiled at her, all warmth and confidence, and Nanao smiled.
"All right, but this is the last piece I'm playing tonight."
She locked eyes with Shunsui, and her fingers glided over the keys. She kept her eyes on Shunsui's as she began to sing. It was one of the pieces from the book Aria had bought it. It wasn't really polished yet, but the notes felt right under her fingertips. It wasn't until she had reached the bridge that Nanao realized that she hadn't broken her gaze with Shunsui at all.
"You don't have to fear this love, this love," the bridge came out with more force and emotion than she had planned.
Nanao's eyes never left Shunsui's as she launched into the final chorus of the song. When the last notes died away, there was thunderous applause, and Nanao found herself surrounded by far more people than she was comfortable with, all of them talking at once. A strong arm wrapped around her waist, shepherding her safely through the morass of people and out to the veranda that ran along one side of the ballroom. Shunsui's arm around her waist remained even outside the crush of people.
"I think that was one of your best performances, Nanao-chan."
The compliment made her blush. Shunsui stroked a gentle finger across her cheek.
"What am I going to do with you, Nanao?" He sighed. "I don't think I'm going to be able to let you go after all. Even though I should."
His comment confused her, but she was more distracted by the intent look in his eyes. Shunsui must have read the question in her own eyes because he sighed and kissed her forehead.
"I'm too old for you, you know, and I have all these bad habits that you shouldn't get stuck with. And as long as you seemed indifferent, I had myself convinced that if you found someone that made you happy, I would be content."
He cupped her face, and Nanao blinked up at him. She had never seen Shunsui this intent about anything other than music before. Did this mean that he did care about her and just thought that he wasn't good enough for her? Nanao frowned a little. How could he think that? She pushed up on her toes so she could brush her lips across his, her hands coming to rest lightly on his shoulders.
Shunsui immediately slid an arm around her waist, his lips taking control of the kiss. Nanao vaguely felt herself being lifted, but all she really cared about was the fact that it was easier to kiss him now. Shunsui's kisses were warm, gentle, and insistent. Her arms had gone around his neck of their own volition, and Nanao found herself weaving her fingers into his hair. When he finally pulled away from her lips, Nanao was feeling rather hazy. He was still holding her up, and they were at the same eye level. She smiled at him.
"I'm not indifferent. Unless you've been running around murdering people lately, I don't think you can come up with a reason good enough for me to give up on this, especially since you do have feelings for me." She gave him a stubborn look. "I want this. I want you. And I'm not going to change my mind."
Shunsui looked into her eyes, and Nanao felt like he was almost looking into her soul. Then he was kissing her again. After leaving her breathless once again, Shunsui gently set her down and kissed her forehead.
"You win, Nanao-chan."
Whatever else he might said was forgotten when a trio of very drunk assistant department heads stumbled out onto the veranda.
Shunsui sighed. "We should probably go back inside and stay a little longer."
She nodded, and they headed back inside. As the reentered the ballroom, Shunsui gave her a mischievous grin.
"Does this mean I get to take Nanao-chan home with me tonight?"
Unable to help herself, Nanao whacked him on the shoulder. "No, but you can take me out for breakfast tomorrow. Say, nine-ish?"
She bit back a giggle at his crestfallen look, mostly due to the idea of having to be awake at nine in the morning, and slid her hand into his. Shunsui pressed a kiss to her temple, and they rejoined the throng of contributors and faculty. Nanao couldn't help the serene smile on her face. She wasn't familiar with the newest movement of this piece music, but so far she liked the sound of it.