Winsome Smile
Pairing: Nanao/Shunsui
Genre: Romance
Rating: T
Summary: She cursed herself-fate, luck- and whatever it was that had to do with where she was. Now she was in a very compromising position, sprawled across her drunken captain no doubt. "Hey, Nanao," he slurred, "are you trying to seduce me?"
She had always adored and loved him, deep down, where no could see.
She had learned to steel herself in this world, where everything from the inbetween to the outrageous could occur daily.
Nanao still recalled when he would read to her, and when he had been the handsome young thing that would joke around and give her affectionate pats on the back when she was flustered or upset. He'd practically raised her in this environment, this difficult place that had taken its tole on so many people like her.
Being a Soul Reaper at her age hadn't been a walk in the park, such as it had been for prodigies like Kaien Shiba, Shuhei Hisagi, and even captain Kyoraku himself.
Nanao was inspired by him; she admired him and hoped that one day she could amount to someone such as his own lieutenant, Lisa Yodamaru.
Lisa was so lucky, she thought. That pig-tailed girl with the lithe legs and short skirts and tart remarks was the one that got to fight and serve alongside Shunsui. Nanao envied Lisa that much.
She couldn't even begin to comprehend how such a wonderful woman had abandoned his side, leaving that empty position for just someone—anyone—to come up and take. Ukitake had comforted Shunsui, he, too, having the same void space that Kaien Shiba, stubborn eldest son of the Shiba clan, refused to fill.
Nanao, at a period and tender age where nothing could hurt her, always had her face stuck in books. Behind the backs of her superiors, she was just a four-eyed girl. She was practically the only one that got picked on for having an adult sense of wisdom and poked at because she refused to raise her zanpaku-to except for only for the right causes. After all, she couldn't wield it for just anything.
But she would vanquish Hollows for him, she would do better for him, and she would do anything for him, just so long as he saw her. However, as she grew older and blossomed into a woman, she recognized that he noticed her more than was necessary.
She flushed when he joked around her, and was often befuddled as to why he insisted on embarrassing her in front of the public eye. Was he mental? she thought, now a full-fledged Shinigami and not another idiot just waving a hunk of metal around. He was a complete numb-skull, a clueless, mindless-
"Nanao!" he wailed, failing miserably to get her attention." Nanao, c'mon!"
She messed with her hair, clipping it back into place after he'd purposely bumped into her, pushing her onto the floor and spilling her textbooks all over the place.
" C-captain Kyoraku!" she cried, a note of distress creeping into her tone." Will you please lower your voice? This is a library, and I am studying. Will you please stop this nonsense and move your behavior elsewhere?"
Shunsui frowned, watching her tidy her books back into place. How he wished she was the old Nanao, the one who was at his every beck and call, and was more than eager to spend time with him.
Now she was always doing something or the other, and giving him excuses unless he gave her an order.
Shunsui hated being the authority figure, but his family said that he was leading an aimless life, so welcome from carefree dump, to paperwork and secluded sake stalls.
Nanao wasn't stupid. She knew what her captain got up to after hours, and she also knew that he spent half his duty drinking. He was too lazy, too bent on snacks and late afternoon naps, obsessed with gorgeous women, and absolutely stupid when he was most known for his intelligence.
Nanao had even once questioned herself as to why his marital status remained to be single, especially when he was so ruggedly good-looking and charming. He had all the right and wrong moves in spades, yet he lacked commitment and didn't seem particularly eager in jumping into a relationship.
What bewildered her even more was that her beloved captain Kyoraku seemed to care far more about her than any other female since Lisa had vanished off the face of the planet.
He gave her time to shun his presence, waited, and then crawled right back in the most inappopriate of times. But then, when Nanao was most expecting to see him, Shunsui simply disappeared.
She stood in the entrance of his courters, shivering from the pouring rain that had soaked through her shihakusho while she wiped the water from her glasses. The room was immersed in shadow, but his desk was piled with paperwork and files that needed to be categorized and proffesionally gone over.
She was excited for once, quivering not with the effects of the weather, but with the anticipation to tell her captain the great news.
That day, the heavens wept soully for Kaien Shiba, lieutenant of squad 13, whom had died in combat while exterminating the Hollow that had murdered his wife, Miyako. He, too, had been killed, leaving a deep wound upon Ukitake, Kyoraku's closest friend and comrade.
All the Shinigami in Soul Society were mourning Kaien's death and tending to a proper funeral and vigil, the reason why Shunsui was missing from his office.
Nanao was probably the only one that evening who was rejoicing. She had just been made assistant captain of squad 8, and on the least favorable of days.
Many were very aggrieved, and Kyoraku didn't return to his post for half a week because he was mourning with Jushiro. She understood, yet she felt alone and at a loss as to what to do.
Even worse: she spent the next few days mulling long hours over hoards of paperwork, working until she was sure she would pass out from exhaustion. It wasn't exactly how she had imagined starting out as a lieutenant, and she didn't even have it in her to lay blame when it obviously was a job she should take with greatful servitude.
Still, after that, she couldn't help but feel the flame of fury when he looked at her one day and pointed to her lieutenant's badge after she had worn it for two weeks.
"Wait, Nanao, since when did you become my second in command?" he'd asked, drunk and trying to relax after he'd spent most of goodwill and energy being serious and calm for Ukitake's sake.
When Nanao looked back, she saw that she could have been more professional about it, but at that time and place she had chosen to scream and throw a book at his head. She'd thankfully been able to hide her tears, but her rage was scathing.
"I've been your lieutenant for two weeks now, you ignorant buffoon!" she shouted. "Instead of drinking alcohol all the time, why don't you use your head a little more and pay attention to what's going on around you! I don't even know why I bother being in the same room with you!"
Nanao whirled around, stomping away from him and throwing the door aside so she could shunpo out of the candlelit room.
When she was in a secluded area away from any company, she cried, allowing the waterworks to break free. She sniffed, wiping away the saline tears and pushing her glasses up just an inch so she could try to remove any evidence that would lead any passerby to suspect she'd broken down.
No, she couldn't keep doing this! She couldn't keep getting upset over him just because he was a selfish, freeloading jerk.
He was Shunsui Kyoraku, and nothing, not even her, could change him. How long was she going to keep up this pretentious game, thinking that she could cure him of this problem he had? Or maybe she was just convinced that her captain even had something wrong with him, which she was sure he did. He always made her heart skip a beat, and just when she thought he'd begun to comprehend her, he would do something moronic and hurt her all over again.
He didn't do that with other people. Hell, Shunsui was as social as they come, an ambient spirit who would do anything for his friends and even more to carry out justice. But for some reason Nanao was the only one who had a problem with his layed back ways.
She never forgave him for forgetting her ceremony and also failing not once, but many days within the week to notice the crest she wore that symbalized her new status. Nanao had been filled with such pride to finally be completing the dream she'd always fantasized about. She finally had Lisa Yodamaru's position, and it was just up to Shunsui to go and ruin her brief moment of happiness.
The following morning, he trailed after her like a lovesick puppy, pleading to her with those beautiful eyes and winsome smile.
"Nanao!" he whined.
"Nanaoooo! Please, Nanao! I'm sorry! I'm sorry, my beautiful, beautiful-" She turned to him from where she stood in the empty courtyard outside the barracks. "What, captain Kyoraku?" she hissed. Shunsui gazed at her, injured. He gave it a flare when he cringed, making him seem more pathetic than he really was.
"Nanao...I'm sorry. Isn't there anything I can do to make it up to you?"
He gave her a longing look, and the noise echoed around the vicinity as she slammed her book of laws closed. "You're not going to be leave me be unless you have a clear consciense, are you?" she queried. He looked thoughtful for a moment, hands clasped together as if in prayer, and then he said, "No." Nanao sighed, shaking her head.
"Well, you can get me some tea. I was just headed that way, anyway." Shunsui nodded, already trotting off to do her bidding.
It was adorable, she thought, watching his familiar flower-printed haori billowing in the wind while he scurried away.
Maybe she would forgive him after all, maybe she she would think about taking better care of him and getting him away from his unhealthy lifestyle- maybe. But when Nanao was around captain Kyoraku, maybe always meant yes.
She lectured him constantly and made him eat better, she stole his sake from him and even hid it away at times just so he could be the decent person she knew he was on the inside. So he could do his duties. She got him to sleep at wholesome hours, too.
But for some reason, like the ocean current which couldn't be changed, Shunsui couldn't be converted from what he was: a breezy, laid-back, fun-loving captain opposed to violence. After listening to her every command that day to try and win her over, he finally caved in and drowned himself in sake.
Nanao discovered him inside his pagoda, resting peacefully on the hardwood floor. She merely took one innocent step forward, and blushed furiously when his head lolled to the side, bottle in hand, hat tipping precariously to the side from where it was shielding his eyes, and drawled,
"Nanao...did anyone ever tell you...that you look sexy?"
Her jaw dropped, agape, and she spluttered as she stepped into his residence, fumbling for words and cursing herself—fate, luck—and whatever it was that made her trip. Damn her inability to steer around his flirting.
Now, she, Nanao Ise, literally landed herself in the most compromising of positions, sprawled across her inebriated captain no doubt.
"Hey, Nanao," he slurred," are you trying to seduce me?" Nanao blushed such a deep scarlet that she could have been likened to a tomato.
She was prepared to spit a retort and rebuke him with a meaningful slap, when he wrapped his arms around her in a show of love, coddling her.
"I'm sorry I made you cry, Nanao," he murmured sweetly in her ear. Unable to resist, she stroked his loose ponytail, fingering his silky strands. "And I'm sorry, as well...for calling you arrogant...and an idiot."
"I love you, Nanao," he crooned.
"You're still drunk," she admonished, adding in a quiet tone, "but I love you, too."
Shunsui pulled her close, grinning. "My little Nanao." There was nothing said for a moment, nothing but the intake of breath for each. "Since when am I your Nanao?" she questioned.
They both smiled.
A/N: I've never thought of actually writing a Shunsui~Nanao fic, but they are one of my favorite pairings and I just couldn't resist writing it all down. However, because I'm new to them, I'm curious as to if I kept them in character or not. Feedback would be nice.