Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach, or any of the Bleach characters used in this fic. They all belong to Tite Kubo: the genius behind the captivating manga that started it all. I only own any of my original characters that I choose to include, as well as any of my own original plot ideas.
Her Admiration
Prompt: Greater tragedies
A/N: Set during Turn Back the Pendelum. Or "the past arc" for those who don't know. For LJ.
The only thing in the world greater than a woman's touch, was the smile on the face of a child.
As time had passed him by, Shunsui had often found himself wishing he could return to those sweet days of old. Everything in that innocent peace of mind was calm and secure, joyful without worries bearing down upon one's shoulders. When he had the chance, he'd visit many districts of the Rukongai, watching the children play in the streets and fields, just so he could reminisce on his own childhood. There was a strength in one's early years that was lost with time. A strength that he longed to feel again. Even those abused and battered innocents who had come from the darker districts were strong. Not once had he seen so much as fear in their eyes.
To them, there was no then and later. There was only now.
But of all the children he'd seen, the one who had followed his stunning lieutenant was the one who stood out to him. She was young thing, a prodigy with quiet eyes and a small voice to match. And almost everything she said was about his darling Lisa. It was evident that this sweet spirit wanted to be like her, to live like her, to follow and admire her as a leader, or perhaps a mother. But all that had suddenly changed when the woman had vanished. The girl, he'd noticed, had remained all but silent since that night she'd spoken to him last. The night Lisa had been whisked away. She no longer carried books in her arms, waiting for the lieutenant to read to her. They had been discarded in the corner of her room, gathering dust. The sweetest days of this girl's childhood were now memories, bittersweet and heavy.
Had Shunsui a way with words, he would have gone to her, offering his condolences for that which they both had lost. But, as much as he liked children, they never seemed to pay him any mind. It was just as well. He was a stranger to many of them. Just a man who, quite possibly, appeared to be no more than some horny pervert looking for an easy target. But this child, Nanao, seemed to gravitate towards him with the disappearance of her idol.
He was staring at her now, shocked to find that she'd followed him home, a heavy book clasped in her tiny arms. Her sweet face twisted into a scowl as she marched past him, planting herself on a tatami mat before his steaming cup of tea. The book was then thrown onto the table in defiance, sending the liquid flying to the floor. Closing the door, he relented, lifting her into his lap as her hands flipped the book open, finger stabbing one of the pages to indicate where Lisa had left off.
With his lieutenant gone, it seemed that the girl's admiration had been shifted to him.