Oops! I Broke It!

Shunsui/Nanao

A/N: This story was written at the request of rainy-lullaby. Also, "Kan" is the unit of currency in the Soul Society.

*o*o*o*o*

The first thing Shunsui Kyoraku noticed when he woke up was that he didn't weigh anything.

"Whooooaaaa, man. Am I in outer space? Outta this world!" the 8th Company captain commented out loud, his words a little slurred because his jaw ached and his tongue felt thick and numb in his mouth. Indeed, he lay on his bed in his private quarters in the Seireitei, but maybe he wasn't really leaning on his bed. He was probably hovering over it, and that was why he felt so light! He raised his left arm and held his hand over his face, admiring how the morning light made it seem to glow. Shunsui clapped his hand over his face just for fun, but it had an unexpected effect: he had slapped himself back into being sober.

"No way!" Shunsui yelped, bolting upright in his bed and shaking his head. His loose brown hair whipped this way and that, and the sudden movement helped to further clear his head. Shunsui blinked and sighed, realizing that he was simply having a hangover from becoming punch-drunk the night before. Shunsui suddenly felt tired, and he flumped back onto his bed, enjoying the soft feeling of the futon.

He decided to stretch and swept his arms wide, but his right hand unexpectedly ran into something. Unable to stop himself, Shunsui plowed his arm right through the hard object and he suddenly heard the din of crashing and breaking china. Shunsui scrambled to his feet, his heart suddenly racing.

Then, he saw what he had broken. "H-huh?" he squawked, seeing the shattered set of cups and other drinking-related items, all of which seemed expensive and rare, at least judging from their shards. They had been set on a tray near Shunsui's futon, and he had just shattered the whole set!

"Oops. I broke it!" Shunsui tried to laugh it off, still feeling the alcohol's aftereffects as he scratched the back of his head. He stopped. How'd that china set get there? Was it a gift because I'm so popular? Wait! Who says I'm popular? But it might be a gift... gotta check...

Shunsui knelt and examined the remains of the drinking set and found a little note. This set was a gift from his lieutenant, Nanao Ise, as a consolation gift in the wake of Sosuke Aizen's shocking and bloody betrayal only days prior. She knew how much he liked fine drinking so she had spent almost all her money on this gift, but now Shunsui had broken it before he could use it!

There's no way I can hide what I did, there's no way, he thought, standing up and staggering away from the scene of the crime. The hangover still made his mind fuzzy. Nanao must have crept in during the night just to give this to me as a surprise! I've got to do something... anything... I know!

Shunsui snapped his fingers as he formulated his master plan, and he didn't waste a second. He bolted from the room, throwing on his pink robe and straw hat along the way.

*o*o*o*o*

"This is so nice of you, Shunsui! I'm sorry if I thought you were a dumb drunkard, but you're a nice man after all," Momo Hinamori glowed, as she lay on her stomach on her bed, and Shunsui massaged her to the best of his ability.

"It's nothing. You suffered more from Aizen's betrayal than any of us, after all," Shunsui reminded her. "Are you sure you want to pay me for this?"

"Don't worry about it," Momo told him. "500 Kan, okay? Buy yourself something nice. Maybe a new sake cup?"

"Hahaha. Yeah, maybe," Shunsui agreed, feeling a flash of terror. How does she know? "Th-that was just an idea, right?"

Momo thought about it. "Well, I don't know," she said. "Why ask?"

"N-nothing," Shunsui told her, relieved that she apparently didn't know about him breaking Nanao's gift. Just then, Rangiku burst into the room, her chest bouncing merrily as she bounded across the room.

"Momo! I was going to go drinking with Shunsui but I can't find him anywhere. Do you know where – Shunsui Kyoraku!" Rangiku flared, seeing the 8th Company Captain in the room. She ran over and gave Shunsui a good whack on the head, sending him sprawling. "You perverted man! What were you going to have that massage lead to, huh? Getting comfortable with Momo?"

"I-it was nothing! Nothing!" Shunsui defended himself, gesturing with his hands. "I'm just doing small favors for people in return for Kan because I'm poor and -"

Rangiku brightened. "Favors? For real?" she glowed. "In that case, go get me some food? I'm starving!"

"That's kind of... vague?" Shunsui protested. Rangiku tossed him a 2,000 Kan coin.

"That's for Momo's massage and money for my food. Make it something sweet, okay?" Rangiku instructed Shunsui. "Buy me something worth 1,000 Kan so you can have 500 from each of us. Thanks!"

Something occurred to Shunsui. "Hey, instead of 500 Kan, can I -" he started before Rangiku covered her bosom and turned away.

"No, you can't! 500 Kan and that's it!" Rangiku flared up, then got happy again. "Get going, okay?"

"Fine," Shunsui shrugged, getting out of the room before anything else crazy happened. He trotted along the Seireitei, gripping the 2,000 Kan coin tightly in his hand as he searched for a sweet-bun stand or something. Along the way, though, he found other chances to rake in some cash, utterly forgetting that he was a wealthy man. Alcohol can do that to people.

Ukitake was busy hacking and coughing up a storm, and managed to choke out a request for Shunsui, his good friend, to get him some medicine. Shunsui retrieved it, but had to object to getting paid. "You're my best friend! This is just a little something..."

Ukitake took the medicine and felt better. "Don't sweat it, Shunsui. Take 500 Kan, okay? Buy yourself something nice, maybe a new sake cup."

"How do you know about -" Shunsui started before he clapped his hand over his mouth. I can't reveal that! Just take the money... take the money... "Thanks. See you around!"

"I can't catch this bunny! It's too fast!" Rukia Kuchiki was complaining five minutes later on a grassy hill, and Shunsui came over to see what was going on. "Captain Shunsui, I'm on break and I wanted to catch this cute bunny but it's too hard to catch!"

"Tricky bastard, huh?" Shunsui summarized, fiddling with his hair and looking over at the white rabbit. The little animal perked up as Shunsui crept closer, its dark eyes watching him closely as its nose twitched. It tried to bound away, but Shunsui was faster; he fell flat on his stomach, his hands clasped around the animal.

He handed it over to a delighted Rukia. "Here it is. Treat him well, you hear?"

"Of course! I'll pamper him, you'll see," Rukia smiled. She handed Shunsui a 500 Kan coin. "Here. For the hard work."

"Much appreciated," Shunsui agreed, but he couldn't stop now. He had recognized the china set that Nanao had given him, and knew that they went for 30,000 Kan at the china store. That meant he had to do favors for 60 people! No time to waste. As Rukia merrily waltzed away with her new pet, Shunsui rocketed back to where everyone else was, determined to milk 500 Kan from everyone he met. He finally got Rangiku her sweet buns, but his lateness cost him half of her payment, making him have to work for 61 people instead!

So much trouble! Shunsui groaned to himself as he zipped around and asked everyone if they wanted a favor done. Many of them turned him down, but others suggested favors that sent Shunsui running away; "living target dummy" for Kenpachi, for example. Toshiro's favor was an easy one: he'd give 500 Kan if Shunsui would go the hell away and leave him alone! Mayuri wasn't much of a bargain, either, because the creepy 12th Company Captain requested that Shunsui go to the labs and "lie down and hold veeeeeeeeery still" as Mayuri would do all kinds of sadistic experiments on him.

By early afternoon, Shunsui checked his money bag: just 12,750 Kan, still not enough. He blindly asked one person after another, not even noticing who they were, and even tried to ask a second favor from some people he had served earlier. Shunsui turned a corner and gave out his automatic statement: "Hi, I'm trying to raise some cash, could I do a favor for you?" Then he realized that he was talking to his lieutenant, Nanao Ise herself.

She was carrying a large book in her arms and gave her Captain a hard look behind those glasses of hers. "Why? Spend all your money on liquor again, sir?" Nanao asked with resentment.

"I, uh... stuff, and..." Shunsui flustered, not knowing what to say. "I mean, I..."

"I got you a very nice sake drinking set as a little present. Can't you be happy with that for now?" Nanao asked more patiently, blushing slightly as she fiddled with her glasses. "It cost me a lot."

"Y-yeah, I got it and..." Shunsui started, before he realized that he was sunk: Nanao realized what he was up to.

She peeked at the coins in Shunsui's bag and frowned. "Did you break that set? Is that why you're raising money, to buy a replacement before I notice?"

"Wow, you're smart! No wonder you're my lieutenant!" Shunsui declared, hoping to flatter Nanao out of being angry at him. "Th-that is, brilliant deduction and..."

"I spent all that money to make you feel better after the trauma we all went through," Nanao said gently, approaching Shunsui and looking up at him, making eye contact. "I just wanted to help, Captain. We don't get along very well, and after Aizen's bloody betrayal I thought that our squabbles were too trivial to keep up, and..."

Shunsui wrapped his lieutenant in a tight hug, making her fluster. "Captain! What..."

"I'm very sorry if I broke the sake set you gave me," Shunsui told her. "And I'm grateful for the gesture. I really wish I hadn't broken it..."

"It's all right. You said it yourself: it's the thought that counts," Nanao pointed out as soon as they parted. "Right?"

"That... that's true," Shunsui agreed brightly. "Look, why don't we both share a drink at my place, with the other cups that I own? We'll drink to everyone's health and happiness, my little Nanao." She's such a nice person.

Nanao bonked Shunsui on the head with her heavy book, blushing again. "Don't call me that! But okay, let's go," she nodded, and they both returned to Shunsui's place. There, Nanao made a shocking discovery.

"You broke almost everything you own?" she cried, seeing the sorry state of Shunsui's rooms. Everything was shattered, crumpled, or otherwise torn up, even some of the floorboards.

"I, uh... must have been very angry and violent while I was drunk last night! Yeah, I was lashing out at Aizen's memory! That's it!" Shunsui snapped his fingers, remembering the prior night's events. He had imagined that Aizen was in the room with him, and he had hacked the back-stabbing ex-Captain to pieces with his Zanpakuto, but in reality he had only hacked apart everything he owned. Nanao's sake set was only the most recent thing he had broken. "At least it was fun bashing everything..."

Nanao was not impressed. "I can't believe you!" she stormed, making Shunsui's heart sink. "I didn't see any of that debris last night because it was too dark, but now I know how it is. You've got a lot of growing up to do, Captain. Good day!" and she stomped out of the building and left Shunsui alone.

"Can we drink together another time? When I grow up?" he called after her. "I promise to quit being so wasted all the time! We can be the best of friends!"

Nanao didn't turn around, but she raised a hand to acknowledge that she heard. "I look forward to that, Captain. Good day."