"Kyouraku-Taichou..." Nanao whimpered in her sleep. "Dame desu... Kyouraku-Taichou!" She shot up from her desktop, breathing heavily.
"What is it Nanao-chan?" Kyouraku tipped his hat upward.
Nanao adjusted her glasses and smoothed her hair back. "Ah! I fell asleep!"
"I'm not surprised. You stayed at the office all night and sure enough when I come in to work, you're sound asleep."
"I must have lost track of time..."
Kyouraku leaned his cheek against the palm of his hand and stared dreamily at his vice captain. "What were you dreaming about Nanao-chan? It sounded like you were pleading with me."
"Probably another nightmare about you not doing your paperwork." She lied, re-adjusting her glasses as she did so.
"It is the weekend Nanao-chan. Why don't we both take two days off and go on a date?"
Nanao unclipped her hair and pulled out a spare hair comb from her desk, quickly making her appearance decent for the work-day.
Kyouraku Shunsui had other intentions. Nanao had yet to take a single day off of work and all work and no play made things no fun. He snatched her wrist and whisked her outside before she could grab her hair clip.
"Kyouraku-Taichou!"
"This'll be fun Nanao-chan!" He hoisted her up in his arms and used his shunpo to get them as far away from the Eighth Division as possible.
"I don't do fun sir! Not when there's paperwork to attend to! Now let me go!" She beat her tiny fists against his chest until he set her down on her feet. "Sir, this is highly inappropriate!"
The unshaven captain paid her no mind and wandered off along the sparkling lake he'd brought them to. "Then I'll let you stay here until you're comfortable Nanao-chan!"
"Taichou! You can't leave me out in the middle of no where!" She stomped after him. "Are you listening to me Kyouraku-Taichou?!" She rounded the corner and caught her captain in the process of removing his clothing. "AH! PARDON ME SIR!"
Kyouraku seemed a tad confused. He was only shirtless. "Nanao-chan, it's natural to be curious. All those text books really can't capture the true beauty of the human form now can they?"
Nanao hid behind a tree, her eyes squeezed shut. "And just why are you disrobing Taichou?!"
"I wanna go swimming."
"Without a swimsuit?"
"Oh no, I'm wearing a nice fundoshi." He stepped out from beyond the bend and stretched. "Ah! The sun feels nice today! Feel free to take your clothes off too Nanao-chan. The Kyouraku family owns this land so their shouldn't be any perverts to spy on my Nanao-chan."
"Yes and that really puts me at ease." She sank down to the ground and buried her head between her knees.
The tanned captain peaked his head around the tree and gave a light sigh. "Ne, Nanao-chan, why waste the day? You're not going to get any paper work done."
"Because I intend to maintain my professionalism!"
"Hmm, well in case you change your mind..." He dropped a bikini next to her and dove off into the lake.
Kyouraku had his hands folded behind his head as he floated along the surface of the crystal clear water, just enjoying getting lost in meaningless, endless thought.
Across the way, Nanao had changed into the sexy two piece and tip-toed toward the water. She dipped in her big toe, found the temperature tolerable, and waded in.
The captain happened to eye his ivory skinned goddess melting into the surface. His initial reaction would be to swim up behind her and overwhelm her with his dashing good looks and a confession of love, but that would be too easy. He was lazy, but was willing to put forth a little extra effort to win over the so-called 'unattainable woman'.
"I'll just swim around for a little while to calm down then convince Kyouraku-Taichou to take me back to the office..." Nanao processed her plan carefully before glancing over to where Kyouraku had been floating; to make sure he was keeping a good distance away from her.
He wasn't there. She saw some air bubbles floating up to the surface and wondered if the man had been stupid enough to fall asleep and subsequently drown himself.
"Kyouraku-Taichou?" She called over.
All at once he burst out of the water, kicking and shouting. "Nanao! The weeds have entangled my legs! I can't break free! Help me!"
How stupid. "Kyouraku-Taichou, I believe you're perfectly capable of freeing yourself if you actually put some effort into it!"
"But Nana--!" He choked down some water and sunk beneath the water, dozens of air bubbles popped at the surface. Then they stopped and Nanao found herself treading alone on a now quiet lake.
She waited. It had to be one of his tricks. As the minutes ticked by she worried that she had made a grave mistake and dove underneath the surface to look for her captain.
"Oh god no... I've killed my captain!" Nanao repeated to herself as she scanned along the lake bed for any sign of the man.
The lavender eyed vice captain finally spied her captain tangled up in a forest of lake weeds and hurried to free him. She wasted no time and used a kidou spell to cut the water flora then kicked hard to the surface with her hand firmly grasping Kyouraku Shunsui's.
"AH!" She gasped as she emerged near the shore. "Kyouraku-Taichou!"
He didn't answer her, not even as she dragged his heavy body across the stoney embankment.
"Kyouraku-Taichou! Please answer me Kyouraku-Taichou!" Nanao kneeled down and checked for a pulse. The rhythm of a heart beat failed to meet her fingers pressed against his neck. "KYOURAKU-TAICHOU!"
She folded her hands together and slammed them down onto his chest. "I'm sorry! Please be alright Kyouraku-Taichou! Please!" She tilted his head back and performed mouth-to-mouth CPR, then pushed down on his chest, breathed into his mouth, pushed down on his chest, and so on until after a few minutes she realized the worst.
"No... no... no..." Nanao's eyes watered as she desperately beat down on her captain's chest. "Don't die Kyouraku-Taichou! You can't die! C'mon! You can't just leave me!"
"Ow... Nanao-chan, that hurts..." She heard him say weakly.
"Kyouraku-Taichou?!"
The man coughed and spat up a bit of water, before smiling up at his vice captain. "I'd never leave my Nanao-chan..."
"Thank god!" She threw herself over his chest and pressed her ear over his heart, just to make sure. She'd never been more relieved in her life. "I'm so sorry sir! I thought you were trying to trick me!"
"Well technically I did trick you. My years of laziness have made me quite skilled in slowing my heartbeat."He praised his own cunningness while he remained looking like he'd just been snatched from death himself. "It's alright Nanao-chan..."
"Kyouraku-Taichou..." He was shocked to actually see his vice captain crying. Perhaps he'd taken this a little too far.
"I'm sorry to make you worry..." He brought his hand up around her and held her unprofessionally close. "Nanao-chan..." A finger tenderly wiped away her tears and it was at that moment when Kyouraku Shunsui noticed how truly beautiful Nanao was with her hair down and her glasses off. "You are the goddess of this lake..."
"You shouldn't talk. Your lungs are still probably a little water logged."
"Nn..." He grunted.
Nanao pushed herself out of his arms and looked around the lake for some sort of shelter. "Is there a house any where near here sir? You mentioned this was your family's land..."
Kyouraku pointed a finger to the right. "There should be a small hut over there... it's near the lake shrine..."
"Okay then. I'll gather our clothes while you recover. Then we'll get to that hut."
"As you wish malady..." He said weakly, for he really did swallow a little too much water.
Nanao made quick to own up to her responsibilities. She helped her staggering captain into the rather nice one room hut. A fire was made in the fireplace, Kyouraku laid back on the only futon they could find, and Nanao gathered some fresh water and fruit for nourishment.
"How are you feeling sir?"
"Better... but awfully cold..."
"I'm sorry sir. I'm doing the best I can with the fire."
"A fire isn't enough... come warm me with your body Nanao-chan..."
His perverted come-ons seemed like humurous comfort. Nanao wouldn't slap him this time. "Would you like something to eat sir?"
"No... But some sake would be nice."
"Alas, we have none." She said sarcastically while Kyouraku's hand knocked along the floorboards. "...What are you doing?"
"Where there are Kyourakus, there are sake stashes." He found a loose board and removed it, then pulled out a jug marked with the kanji for alcohol. "And here it is!"
Nanao groaned. "Unbelievable..."
"Want some?"
"I should have let him drown."Her darker side scolded her, but seeing as Kyouraku was on the road to a quick recovery, she could sit in her corner of the hut without needing to associate with the man any further. She was tired, so she curled up on a bundle of old potato bags and fell asleep.
She woke up a couple hours later swinging her arm around when she realized she'd let her guard down. "HYA!"
"Nanao-chan, you keep having violent tendencies before you awaken. Perhaps you should see Unohana-chan for some medicine." Kyouraku commented from across the room. The dog had stayed without a leash.
The vice captain adjusted her glasses and cleared her throat. "You're feeling better, I take it?"
"Yup." He had a drunken blush across his cheeks and an empty sake jug at his side.
Nanao looked around for her glasses, but was unable to locate them. "Sir, have you seen my glasses?"
"I haven't." He smiled as he tucked the spectactles underneath his captain's haori. "Did you leave them at the lake?"
"I must have..." She sighed, tossing another log on the dwindling fire. "I should go look for them."
"But Nanao-chan, it's the middle of the night." The captain pouted.
"And I'm surprised that you're still awake."
"I couldn't sleep." He gave her a sweet smile and extended his hand to her, hoping she'd come over and sit by him. "Won't you come to me?"
Nanao decided to be generous with the man after his near drowning experience, even though it was completely ridiculous. The ebony haired vice captain got on her feet once again and stood in front of her captain with a typical annoyed expression across her face. "Yes sir?"
"Nanao..." He said gently, reaching out to grasp her hands in his own. "...I love you."
She blushed, despite the fact she was used to this kind of talk from him. No, she'd dismiss this confession like she had all the others. "Kyouraku-Taichou, you're clearly drunk."
He smiled and shook his head. "Not even tipsy."
She hoped he'd release her hands. She hated when he toyed with her like this. "...Let go of me sir."
"While you were sleeping, I couldn't keep my eyes off you..." He said with a romantic inflection, rubbing the back of her hands with his thumbs. "You're always so strong and confident, but to see you sleeping Nanao, it was like you had reverted to being a child..."
"So you're a pedofile now?"
Kyouraku just smiled, stood, and placed his hands on both of the young woman's arms. "You cry in your sleep Nanao. You call for me."
She tried to turn her head away from him, but Kyouraku's firm hands cupped her chin and turned her face back to his. Her eyes swelled with tears upon being forced to look him in the eye. Those soft brown eyes that many a women had been seduced by. Nanao, however, would not fall victim.
"I love you Nanao."
"Just stop it!" She snapped. "I already accepted that I would be the strict secretary who always got the job done! I was just fine until I was assigned to the Eighth Division and then I met you! And you had the audacity to make me even think for one second that I was someone men would fall in love with!"
"But Nanao--!"
"Don't you even claim to care for me! I hate you!" She pounded her fists against his chest, crying uncontrollably by this point. "I hate you! I hate you! I hate you!"
The dark haired man took the words with a heavy heart, before he wrapped his arms around his vice captain, kissing her forehead and cheeks until she stopped crying.
"I hate you..." Nanao whimpered as she tried to escape her captain's arms.
Kyouraku Shunsui, being physically stronger, kept her clutched to his chest as he laid down on the worn futon holding her against his chest. He waited until she had exhausted her tears before he finally spoke. "Maybe you can't get all men to fall in love with you, but in the end... isn't it only one that matters?"
Nanao couldn't speak. Her throat ached from crying and shouting, not to mention his embrace was far too tight.
"... Kiss me Nanao-chan." He said gently as he eased his grip on her.
The ebony haired vice captain sat up and stared down at him, detecting no hint of teasing in his eyes. For a moment she did want to kiss him, but reason and logic still held power over her and she quickly dismissed the urge.
She forced herself out of his arms and walked to the door without looking back. Nanao held her arms as she walked up the stone stairway to the lake shrine. She wanted to be alone, if only for a little while, for she knew her captain would follow after her in a short amount of time.
Ise Nanao knew she bared a resemblance to the former vice captain of the eighth division, Yadoumaru Risa, but their personalities could never be compared. She wondered if Kyouraku's obsession with her was due to her appearance. Yadoumaru-san was probably the love of his life and now all he had was her face on an entirely different, and much younger, woman. It was all so frustrating.
"Gods, please change Kyouraku-Taichou's feelings. He won't be happy with someone like me, so please let him find the one woman who can stand him." She prayed softly to the guardian the shrine was built for. Her hands trembled as she folded them together and started crying. "I'm not one to ask for help, but I'm begging you... please... please..."
She half expected Kyouraku to arrive at that moment and drape his arms around her to quell her trembles. But he didn't. Then a terrible thought hit her. What if he had wanted to come after her, but hadn't the strength to? He might have collapsed and need further medical attention. Then another thought came to mind. Why was she worried so much about him?
Did she want him to come and get her? Would the comfort she needed be found in his arms? Could kissing him make everything alright? More and more questions filled her head and the next thing Nanao knew, she was standing in the open doorway of the hut breathing heavily from running back.
"Nanao-chan...?" He opened his eyes and sat up on the futon.
"Shu... Shunsui..." She nervously spoke his first name.
Kyouraku widened his eyes in surprise, his legs standing him upward without his body realizing until he was looking down at her.
"Wh-Why didn't you follow me...?"
"You seemed pretty upset. I didn't want to make things worse..." He said sincerely. He knew when to draw the line between teasing his vice captain and being utterly cruel to a woman.
Nanao hung her head, bringing up a hand to rub her eyes. "I'm tired... is it okay if I lay with you...?"
"Sure." He smiled warmly as she closed the door and walked over to her captain and the single futon. Kyouraku took his right hand and placed it on her left cheek, stroking the chilled skin in a delicate manner. "Is it alright to hold you? I wouldn't want you to catch cold now Nanao-chan."
She nodded into his hand as he laid both of them down and unselfishly brought the blanket up over her. Nanao heaved a quiet sigh of relief as she nestled her head against her captain's chest, hoping that their weekend together could still be salvaged into a normal vacation.
Of course, when they awoke their routine had already fallen back into place and nothing had changed on the surface, but one thing had begun to stir inside Ise Nanao. She feared she too, was falling in love with Kyouraku Shunsui.
Owari