A/N: As promised, here is the follow up to The Messes We Leave Behind. I just hope everyone likes this follow up as much as the original story. This is set about eight months after "Messes", just so you can get a good picture of it in your head.
Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach; I make no profit from this.
"Don't you have work to do?" Rose glanced up from his paperwork at Lisa, who had perched herself on the very edge of his desk. "Don't tell me Shunsui still has that little crush on you."
"I finagled the day off." Lisa shrugged. "All I have to do is give up my firstborn and my left thumb." She said it with such a straight face that anyone else would've been disturbed, but Rose chuckled quietly.
"If it's my firstborn you'll have to propose a trade. Both your thumbs." Rose didn't look up from his paperwork, but Lisa stifled a laugh anyway.
After a moment, Lisa looked at Rose seriously. "So we're having kids?" She studied Rose, who didn't falter at that change in conversation.
"Do you want kids?" Rose asked, peeking at her without tipping his head up.
"Hm. I don't know." Lisa shrugged. To be fair, she didn't even know if vizards could physically have kids. Their aging seemed to have completely stopped, so that could definitely affect that part of their systems.
"We'll figure it out." Rose murmured, holding her hand with his hand that wasn't whipping the pen across the page.
Yes, for once, time was a certainty.
"Mashiro, please take a step back." Kensei grumbled. He was trying his best to organize his office, but paperwork was on every available surface. Every time Mashiro took a step closer to him, he had to rescue a pile from falling over.
"Want some help?" Mashiro perked up at the thought of helping out her beloved Kensei.
Kensei glanced at her. "You want to help?" All he knew was that Mashiro hadn't even done paperwork as a lieutenant, and now she wanted to help?
Mashiro pouted. "Please? I wanna help! Please!"
Kensei handed her a pen and guided her through the stacks of paperwork to Shuuhei's desk.
"How'd it get so bad?" Mashiro looked at the piles of paper – most of which were taller than her when she sat down – and blinked wide eyes.
Kensei didn't answer. In truth it had been two things – increase in work and heavy distraction. The distraction being whenever he sat down in the quiet to do his paperwork he thought of Mashiro, and how much he wanted to grab her and kiss her. How every time Shuuhei was trying to tell him something about the paperwork, he got distracted, thought about that night eight months ago when he had held Mashiro through a thunderstorm, and why couldn't it storm now damn it!
Kensei blinked back to present, and found Mashiro looking at him, and papers flying around him as if he had hit them.
"'Damn it' what...?" Mashiro asked softly, her eyes wide with confusion, but not a drop of fear. No other girl looked at him exactly like that, no, she was the only one. His only one.
Before he knew what he was doing, he slipped his way through the stacks of papers and grabbed Mashiro, kissing her full on the lips.
That was the day their relationship truly began to bud.
"Hiyori, can you get me a pen?" Shinji asked, scheming as he feigned fumbling with a stack of paperwork. "Left drawer of the desk. All the way to the left."
Hiyori grumbled, something about not being stupid, but when she opened the desk drawer she nearly fainted.
The writing utensil drawer was bare, except for a diamond ring in the center of it. Gripping the desk so hopefully she could shove the dizziness down, she looked at Shinji.
"Oh, yeah." Shinji grinned at her. "Will you marry me?"
Hiyori's eyes teared up, and for once she wasn't fighting it. Instead, she hugged him, forcing him to drop the paperwork in a flutter. "Of course I will. Don't be a dumbass."
Shinji just laughed and slipped the small ring onto her delicate finger.
"I thought I was going to have to ask you." Hiyori muttered, which only made Shinji laugh harder.
Yes, something about them all being in soul society together made everything so much better.
A/N: I laughed at writing Shinji and Hiyori's bit, I must admit. Their chemistry just... I love their chemistry. Anyway, what did you guys and girls think of the follow up to 'Messes'?