Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach, so any names/characters/plot elements you recognize because of their eerie or exact similarity to those found in Tite Kubo's story are, in fact, his.
Note: I have put the names in western order, and have used western forms of address (Mr., Ms., ma'am, etc.). I know that some of the nuances of the relationships are lost because of this, for which I apologize, but I decided it was better to use terms I was familiar with and deviate from the original work rather than use the Japanese terms and butcher them.
Chapter 1
"What do you know about Shunsui Kyouraku?"
If Nanao Ise was surprised by the question that greeted her when she walked into Hana Shimizu's office, she did not show it.
"Shunsui Kyouraku?" she repeated, looking thoughtful. "Well, he's one of the founding members of Sereitei Inc., and is now the head of the Marketing department. They say he was trained by Director Yamamoto himself, and worked with him before he started Sereitei. He's an important man, very influential, very wealthy."
"I'm impressed, Ise. And you've never worked at Sereitei have you?" Shimizu asked.
Nanao shook her head, but at her boss's questioning look, added, "Do you remember Lisa Yadomaru? She worked here several years ago, and the agency ended up sending her to Sereitei. I believe she worked under Mr. Kyouraku for three years before moving to Vizard Inc."
"Oh," her boss said, "I do remember Ms. Yadomaru. And if you're friends with her then I think you know a little more about Mr. Kyouraku than you're letting on."
Nanao hesitated.
"It's alright, Ise." the other woman said with a wry smile. "You won't be telling me anything I haven't heard already. What else?"
"He's undisciplined, lazy, extravagant, and mostly cares about sake and women."
"Admirably succinct as usual, Ise. And given what you've just told me, I'm sure you're not surprised to hear that Mr. Kyouraku has been running through secretaries for quite a while now. Everyone, both here and at Sereitei, is getting tired of it – with good reason. His secretaries are either fired for slacking off on the job or they quit because he's been slacking off. Sereitei is putting on the pressure for us to send someone who won't do either. I need to send in someone I can trust, someone that I know won't back down too easily."
Nanao remained impassive at the praise; she could see where this was heading.
"I've suggested you to Director Yamamoto, but you don't have to take the position if you're uncomfortable with it. Still, I'd like you to at least consider it. Will you?"
"Yes, of course." Nanao thought for a moment. "May I let you know tomorrow?"
"That would be perfect. Just drop by when you come in."
"Thank you Ma'am." Nanao stood, bowed, and left the office, trying to remember everything Lisa had ever told her about Shunsui Kyouraku.
Nanao called her friend after dinner that night. The two had met when Lisa spoke at a college fair at Nanao's high school, and had been together for Nanao's freshman (and Lisa's senior) year of university. Lisa's career at the secretarial placement agency had been no small influence when Nanao was looking at her options after college, and she still suspected that Lisa, though she'd moved to Vizard and Co. permanently by then, had put in a good word for her when she'd applied for a job.
"Nanao?"
"Hi Lisa. I have a question for you." said Nanao.
"I'm fine, thanks for asking, Nao." said Lisa dryly. "Now what did you want to know? You're sounding more business-like than usual."
"Actually, I wondered if you could tell me about Shunsui Kyouraku."
Nanao could hear Lisa's smile through the phone. "Him? Don't tell me they're sending you to Sereitei?"
"Well, I was asked to consider it. Should I not? I thought you'd enjoyed working under him." Nanao said.
"I usually did. What do you need to know about him? I don't remember how much I'd told you when I was at Sereitei. That was a while ago."
Nanao gave her the same information she'd given Ms. Shimizu. "And it worries me that he's gone through so many secretaries."
"Umhmm." Lisa assented. "I wonder what he's been doing." She sighed. "Probably just being himself. Shunsui is brilliant, but people tend to overlook that because he's also everything else you said. And more." she added, dryly. "He really is in charge of the sector, and he's quite brilliant, but he does tend to take naps. A lot. During office hours. And he's very … flamboyant."
"That was not precisely encouraging." said Nanao.
"No, I suppose it wasn't. But I'm not trying to be discouraging Nanao. The secretaries have probably been quitting because they can't quite handle him. But I'm sure you could. The others all probably tried to his job and made a mess of it, too." she said, professional disgust seeping into her voice.
"Handle him? What exactly to you mean by-" Nanao said, with a touch of worry.
"Oh, you'll be fine. It will be a challenge. And I know you enjoy challenges. Just be yourself Nanao. I know how professional you are; you just need to do your job. He'll take care of his." She could hear Lisa smiling through the phone again.
"Well, if you think I should, I can at least give it a try. But how are you? How's Vizard?" Nanao asked, and Lisa launched into an explanation of the latest antics of her coworkers. Nanao wasn't fooled by her repeatedly expressed frustration with their unprofessionalism and constant bickering – she knew how much Lisa loved her job.
Lisa's love of her work was actually one of the main reasons Nanao was considering the job with Sereitei. She knew that Lisa, even though she'd eventually left, had liked working at Sereitei, and Nanao had not particularly enjoyed her last few secretarial positions.
The agency where she worked provided temporary secretaries to a wide variety of corporations and firms. The secretaries usually worked for three to six months, although if the employer liked them enough they could be hired on a more permanent basis. Nanao, though she'd been with the organization for nearly four years and had a reputation for efficiency and hard work, had still not found a position she wasn't glad to leave when her time was up. Sereitei would at least be a change of pace.
Nanao Ise started work at Sereitei Inc. as the personal secretary to Departmental Director Shunsui Kyouraku a week later. She had been in the day before to see the office that would be hers, but had not been able to meet the previous secretary who had, apparently, announced her resignation by leaving a post-it note reading "I quit" on her desk one night and simply not showing up at work the next day.
She didn't really mind not having to meet with the former secretary, of whom she was quickly forming a very low opinion. She did wish, however, that she more of an idea what all the papers on her desk were. Since her boss was not yet in – and it was already 8:30, she noted – she called in one of the undersecretaries.
"What, exactly, is all of this?" she asked, gesturing to the crowded desk in front of her. After nearly 45 minutes spent on one stack, she was in no mood to waste time or words.
The young man looked a little nervously at Nanao, who was standing next to her desk, arms crossed, her eyes hard behind her glasses. "I'm … not sure." Seeing her eyebrow go up, he rushed on. "It's just, Ms. Sato was only here three weeks, and before that the secretary for two months was Ms. Takahashi, and she left things in a bit of a mess. I don't think Ms. Sato had finished sorting things out from her before she left."
Nanao sighed. She would have even more to do than she'd have realized. "Very well. Thank you for explaining. You may go." He bowed nervously and left.
She looked back down at her desk for a few minutes, already a little despondent as she realized she wasn't even sure where to start. Pulling herself together she walked back around the desk and sat down, straightening her glasses. "I'll just have to get to work, then."
"Already?" a deep voice said from the doorway behind her, sounding amused.
Nanao looked up in surprise to see her new boss leaning against the frame of her door. He was wearing black suit pants and a white button-up that was open at the collar, but no tie. He did not seem to have brought a jacket.
"Sir!" she exclaimed, starting up. "I didn't realize you were here yet."
He waved a hand at her calmly. "Don't worry, don't worry. And don't be so formal." He smiled at her warmly. "Your name is Nanao Ise, am I correct? Come in, come in. We can sit in my office and get to know each other a little before you dive into that pile of papers." He crossed the room as he spoke, stopping to hold open his office door after he unlocked it. "Unless you're that eager to get started?"
"Oh, no, I, I'm sorry, I'm just coming." Cursing herself mentally for sounding so incompetent, Nanao quickly stood up, walking back around the large desk and into his office. She sat in a comfortable chair while her boss – Mr. Kyouraku, she silently reminded herself – walked behind his own desk and made himself comfortable, propping his feet up on it. His informality was in sharp contrast to her own straight back and neatly crossed ankles.
"So," he said, "tell me a little about yourself, Nanao Ise. Or may I call you Nanao?"
"I would prefer that you call me Ms. Ise, Mr. Kyouraku." she said.
His smile widened. "Lovely Nanao, you are too formal! No, no, I insist. You are too beautiful for such a hard name. And you must call me Shunsui."
"Yes Mr. Kyouraku." she replied, stoically.
He made a little tsking sound, but did not correct her. "Now, tell me a little about yourself."
"I am 28. I have worked for the agency for four years, starting two years after I graduated from S. Business School. I have worked at Forrest Inc., Lorie &co., and several other firms." she stopped. "What exactly did you wish to know, Mr. Kyouraku?"
"Nanao, my darling, anything you wish to tell me. But I suppose that is enough for now. Now, what were you interrogating poor Kimura about?" he smiled at her, brown eyes warm.
"I would prefer that you call me Ms. Ise." Nanao said briskly. "I have several questions about the papers stacked on my desk. I noticed that there are several copies of form …" and the next half an hour was spent in a question and answer session about the filing and reference system the office used, followed by a tour of the office facilities, and then a break for tea, something Shunsui seemed to feel was absolutely necessary.
During tea he told her a little about his expectations – most of them pertaining to the atmosphere required for a relaxing tea break – but otherwise Nanao got very little in the way of specific instructions.
It was a little frustrating, she admitted to herself, but less so than the way he persisted in calling her by her first name, usually with some form of endearment attached. Thanks to this she had ended up prefacing most of her sentences with, "I would prefer that you call me Ms. Ise." and she was beginning to fear that she was fighting a loosing battle.
After tea Nanao got to work again. She had to get up to go see Mr. Kyouraku several times with questions about his schedule, meeting times, and more forms, but by lunch she at least felt like she had made some headway.
When she got back from lunch, however, more papers had arrived and Mr. Kyouraku had several meetings scheduled. He almost missed the first one – Nanao had been knocking on his door for several minutes when she finally gave up and went in, uninvited, to find him napping behind his newspaper. She was a little exasperated, but remembering Lisa's advice, was determinedly polite and professional. Well, as professional as could be expected when she was standing in front of his desk all but yelling to get him to wake up.
The only apology she received was: "Lovely Nanao, it is a pleasure to wake up to the sound of your voice."
"I would prefer that you call me Ms. Ise. And here is your schedule for the afternoon, along with some files I thought you might want for the second meeting." She handed him a stack of papers. He flipped through them, selected a few, and handed several back.
"Very perceptive." He said, approvingly. "These should do." He walked her out to her desk, but stopped at the door to the outer office. "Darling Nanao, do you think you could arrange for tea at three? I plan to be back by then." But he was gone before she ask him, again, to please call her Ms. Ise.
A/N: Thanks for reading! This is my first fanfic for Bleach, so I'd be especially grateful for feedback to improve characterization etc. And if anyone is interested, I'm looking for a beta for this.
~Arielle