Author's note: I do not own Bleach or its characters. Set after the Winter War. This contains some citrus. Please don't read if that offends you.

Morningside

Nanao let out a content sigh as she settled down at her desk. It was a beautiful morning, and she had the office to herself. Not only that, but the last week or so had been absolutely lovely. While this morning was the first that she had woken up without being tucked up against Shunsui's chest and wrapped in his arms, she had still slept incredibly well. Shunsui was off on a mission in the real world with Captain Ukitake for the week, and Nanao had every intention of getting ahead in her paperwork. That way she wouldn't have to worry about things being delayed by his homecoming. Nanao had plans for that as well.

She had only given into Shunsui in the last few weeks. It was proving to be the right decision in more ways than one. Nanao didn't think she had ever been so content with both her personal life and her work life before. It hadn't really changed things in the office much, but now at the end of the day, Nanao had something to go home to. Shunsui also seemed more aware of the amount of time and energy she spent on paperwork. He had taken to making sure she took an hour off, so they could eat lunch together as well. Nanao hadn't exactly been thrilled about being separated from him so early in their relationship, but she understood that orders were orders.

So, Nanao threw herself into the paperwork with gusto. She had never been fond of missions that her captain was assigned to and she was not, and the work kept her from worrying too much. Nanao knew that Shunsui could take care of himself, but she would feel better if she was there to look after him. At least Captain Ukitake had gone with him. There was very little that those two couldn't handle together. They would just forget about mundane things like clean laundry and grocery shopping.

After getting through quite a bit of paperwork, Nanao took off for lunch. When she got back, she found a pretty shinigami waiting in the office. The woman looked to be several years older than Nanao (though age was always hard to estimate with shinigami). Her robes were the standard cut, but Nanao could tell they were made of silk instead of the normal cotton. Long raven hair was pinned up in an intricate bun with several ornate hair pins. Her eyes were a dark green color, and she was clearly nobility.

"Kaori Minamoto reporting for duty as third seat, Lieutenant Ise."

The Minamoto clan was one of the major noble clans in the Seireitei. They ranked about the same as the Kyoraku clan if Nanao remember correctly. She frowned. She had not received word that they would be getting a new third seat. It was true that the division needed one; the previous one had recently transferred due to the Fifth to help them recover and rebuild from Aizen's betrayal. Still, it was not common for her not to know about new personnel coming in.

"Welcome, Minamoto-san. I'm afraid the paperwork hasn't quite caught up with you, but I can show you where your office is, and you can use the day to familiarize yourself with the division."

"Didn't Shunsui-kun tell you I would be coming?" A pretty pout formed on the woman's lips. "The arrangements were made weeks ago

Nanao kept her lips from twitching into a frown by sheer force of will. That would imply her captain had known about the transfer. He had never not discussed a personnel matter with her before. Shunsui might be absent minded about a number of things, but he knew every single shinigami in his division and their capabilities even better than she did. For him not to mention to her the addition of a new division member was unheard of.

"I'm afraid nothing about your arrival has been mentioned to me."

Minamoto let the matter drop and allowed Nanao to show her where her new office was. However, Nanao's good mood was rather ruined. There was a knot of tension growing in the pit of her stomach. Something was wrong about this situation, and Nanao was unsure what. Furthermore, those who she would normally consult about a matter such as this were unavailable to her. Nanao supposed she could go to Captain Unohana, but truthfully, she had never discussed much other than medical matters with woman, and she was unsure of how to approach her about this. It was just a feeling after all.

Nanao did her best to ignore it and continue with her work. Minamoto presence right now simply meant more paperwork for her to get through. It was dark out when Nanao finally called it a night. She hesitated but then headed back to Shunsui's quarters. She had been staying there for the past few weeks anyway, and it was rather comforting to be constantly surrounded by Shunsui's things and smell. She didn't sleep well that night though and consequently went into the office earlier than usual, even for her.

That sinking feeling got worse when at about ten in the morning, Minamoto swept into the office.

"Lieutenant Ise, Lady Kyoraku just stopped by to chat with me, and I can hardly entertain her in my little office. Could we use this space? There would be no need for you to vacate. And would it be possible for you to find some tea and a snack for us?"

She didn't even wait for Nanao's response before sweeping into the office and setting things up as she wished. Nanao found herself a little too stunned to properly react. Part of that was because this involved Lady Kyoraku. Nanao could remember meeting the woman once just after she had joined the Eighth. Nanao had been quite intimated by her captain's mother at the time, and now that she was actually sleeping with her son, that feeling had increased somewhat.

Lady Kyoraku swept in a few minutes later, and Nanao found herself fixing and serving tea to the two women. She did not, however, give them any of her best stock reserved for herself and her captain on extremely late nights at work. The next hour and a half was rather uncomfortable for Nanao. She continued to work, and neither Minamoto nor Lady Kyoraku paid her any attention unless they needed something like a refill of tea. The two of them discussed a number of things, including Nanao's captain, without caring about their audience. It made Nanao rather uncomfortable.

Especially the way they talked about Shunsui. For all her captain was a slacker, he was not an idiot nor was he incapable of managing things. He had a dislike for the administrative side of things, but that did not translate into him not being able to take care of himself. His quarters might not match the neatness of her own, but they weren't slovenly either. But what really bothered her was the way the two women spoke of arranging things without even consulting Shunsui on the matter. In fact, Nanao wasn't even sure why Lady Kyoraku would be discussing such matters with Minamoto unless the woman was some how part of the family. Nanao couldn't remember her captain's complete family tree, but she was fairly certain that none of the Minamoto clan was currently related to any of the Kyoraku clan.

After Lady Kyoraku left, Minamoto returned to work, and Nanao tried to focus on other things. She ended the day with a headache. Feeling fairly miserable, she returned to Shunsui's quarters and simply wrapped herself in the blankets from their bed and tried to get some sleep. This week was not turning out how she had planned. And Nanao found herself rather homesick for her captain. She hadn't realized how much he made the Eighth home for her until now. They weren't often separated for any length of time, even when they had simply been captain and lieutenant.

She managed to get through the next few days all right. Still, Nanao found it harder than usual to concentrate on the paperwork, and sadly, Minamoto's presence as third seat had not changed much in terms of Nanao's workload. Lady Kyoraku had not been back to visit which was perfectly fine in Nanao's mind. She did not need her third seat distracted nor did she need to be distracted by her own insecurities when it came to Shunsui's family. Things progressed as usual until lady Kyoraku made another visit towards the end of the week.

As Nanao worked at her desk while the two noblewomen chatted, she couldn't help but overhearing Lady Kyoraku's comment.

"You might consider if you could get Lieutenant Ise to agree to take over the housekeeping duties once you've moved in. She clearly has the division in good order, and I doubt you'll want to trouble with the mundane tasks of running the household."

Nanao gripped her pen tightly and bit her lip. She knew what was going on now. The two clans had arranged a marriage between Shunsui and Minamoto. Shunsui had either been ignoring it or didn't know about it. Nanao would guess he had been ignoring it and putting it off. They wouldn't arrange a marriage for him without telling, would they? Still, it meant that Nanao didn't have much of a future with him. She could understand him not mentioning it though as much as it hurt. This probably wasn't something he had wanted, and he probably had hoped to avoid for another century or two.

It still hurt know that they didn't have the future ahead of them they had expected. It probably hurt Shunsui too knowing that he didn't have a choice in his life partner. Nanao managed to keep her upset from showing until after the two women had left. Then she allowed herself the luxury of some tears, though she didn't cry herself out then. No, Nanao wanted privacy to fall apart in. She just cried enough that she wasn't going to burst into tears when she ran into someone. She ended up leaving the office early that afternoon. In something of a daze, she made her way back to Shunsui quarters, crawled into bed, and sobbed.

Nanao ran through the whole gamut of emotions in the next day and a half. She went from being furious with both herself and Shunsui to being almost homicidal to being completely depressed. In the end, Nanao finally settled on melancholy. As much as she tried to see the good parts of the relationship she shared with Shunsui, it was the fact that they had no future that kept coming to mind. She also realized that she wasn't going to be able to remain as the lieutenant for the Eighth Division. She didn't think she could handle working with him every day and knowing that he was off limits to her.

A transfer was in order. The Thirteenth would take her. They could use the help, and Nanao knew that having a lieutenant again would help Captain Ukitake greatly. It was something that she could do for Shunsui, making sure his best friend was well taken care of. The day before her captain was due to return, Nanao filled out the paperwork for her transfer and had it filed. Then she found herself penning a letter of explanation to her captain. He needed to know that she didn't hate him for this. Nanao did her best to convey had special he had made her feel and how much their entire relationship, not just their romance, meant to her. She left it on his desk for him. Then Nanao cleaned out her own desk and for the first time in several weeks went home to her own quarters.

Shunsui was glad to be home. As fun as it was to spend a week with Jyuu away from all the stuffiness that the Seireitei had at times, there were things he missed. One of them being his lovely lieutenant. Shunsui had no doubt she had used the week to get well ahead in the division's paperwork. That was well and good since he was going to keep her busy for the next few days. He never liked being away from her. Even before she had let their relationship deepen into a real romance, they had almost been constantly in each other's presence. It simply wasn't normal for them to be somewhere where they couldn't sense each other.

It was late afternoon, so his Nanao-chan was probably in the office still. Shunsui figured he would interrupt her hard work and kidnap her for the rest of the day. He silently made his way into the office, wanting to surprise. Then he stopped and blinked. Nanao was not in the office. However, his mother and a shinigami he didn't know were sitting there having tea. There was a very small stack of paperwork on his desk with an envelope sitting on top of it. Shunsui frowned. Something here was not right.

He reached for the envelope, recognizing the handwriting on it and carefully opening it. Shunsui began to read. A frown soon formed on his face, and Shunsui knew that his reiatsu was probably spiking. He was furious. He didn't think he'd been this angry in centuries. His eyes snapped to his mother and the other shinigami, Minamoto, he assumed given the letter he held.

"What did you do?" His voice was flat and cold.

His mother glanced his way. "Shunsui, is that anyway to greet your mother?"

"As the only woman I love has just resigned due to the fact that I am apparently engaged, something I know nothing about, I want to know: what did you do?"

"Honestly, Shunsui. Don't be so dramatic. You can't expect to be a bachelor forever, and it's only right that your family make arrangements. Besides, you can't have honestly expected the girl to keep your attention now that the chase is over with."

He didn't have the ability to deal with this right now without loosing his temper. Shunsui needed to make sure that Nanao was all right. He could read between the lines of her letter easily enough to see that she had been broken hearted over this. He had never wanted to cause her pain, even if this had been unintentional. He had to make sure she understood what was really going on. Shunsui couldn't lose her. And he wanted to take care this before her transfer papers were processed.

Turning on his heel, Shunsui headed for the door.

"Shunsui-kun, wait."

He glanced over his shoulder to find Minamoto standing just behind him.

"Is this any way to treat your fiancée? You haven't even properly greeted me yet."

Taking a deep breath (was this girl an idiot?), Shunsui managed to lose control of his temper. "Third Seat Minamoto, you are welcome to stay with the Eighth Division as third seat. Please understand that is your only position in this division and in my life. If you would prefer to transfer, you may see my lieutenant about it at a later date."

Then he flash stepped away before they found another reason to delay him. Shunsui searched his mind for the places his Nanao-chan would go to seek comfort. She had a handful of them, but which one she used varied based on the situation. She wouldn't have gone to Rangiku, not with this. And she wouldn't be in the library either. There was too much of a chance that she would run into someone who would want to talk. Nanao would want solitude. Shunsui frown and cursed himself for not thinking of it earlier. The Eighth had a building that basically served as a music studio. Many in the division were musicians, and it made sense to have some place to store music and extra instruments as well as hold group practices. Nanao had always found music comforting.

Shunsui was careful to suppress his reiatsu as he approached the building. He didn't want Nanao to bolt on him. He could here the sounds of a piano as he came closer. He didn't recognize the song, but the melody was melancholy. The tune shifted, and this time Nanao's voice joined the piano. The words were both sad and a little hopeful. Shunsui hesitated, unsure of what to say once confronted with her. He needed Nanao to believe what he told her. As the song died away, Shunsui stepped inside.

Nanao sat at the piano. Her back was to him, so she didn't know he was here yet. She was not in her uniform. Instead, she wore a grey yukata, and her hair was pulled into a loose tail. Shunsui doubted she had been any place besides this room today. He couldn't see her face, but he would bet her eyes were red from crying. He made his way closer to her, and Nanao must have heard or sensed something for she started to turn around. Shunsui quickly moved forward, scooping her up in his arms before she could realize who it was and try to escape. Nanao struggled against him for a few moments before quieting. He held her tight against him, shifting her so he could see her face.

"Nanao."

Her eyes were wide and a little panicked. Shunsui found a spot where he could sit down with her. He had a feeling that this would be a long conversation. Nanao seemed at a loss for words which was quite all right with him. He wasn't sure if he could manage this if he was interrupted.

"I didn't know, Nanao. I had no idea about this whole thing. I would have never left you here unprepared to deal with it if I had. My family didn't bother to consult with me when they arranged all this," bitterness had crept into his voice there. Nanao was watching him carefully. "Furthermore, there is no way that I would agree to such a marriage. I would rather be removed from the clan than lose you."

Her grasp on haori tightened, and Nanao opened her mouth, most likely to protest. Shunsui cut her off with a finger pressed to her lips.

"You are worth that to me. I don't know what I would do without you, Nanao. I wouldn't have let anyone drive you out of your position when you where just my lieutenant, and I won't let anyone drive you out of my life now. I've around informed Minamoto-san that she may stay as third seat, but that is all she will be. I told both her and my mother that there wouldn't be any wedding happened. At least, not between Minamoto-san and me."

Nanao was still staring at him wide eyed. Her breath hitched a little and a soft inarticulate noise slipped out of her mouth before she yanked his face down to hers, kissing him fiercely. Shunsui kissed her back just as fiercely. She finally pulled away, panting and with tears in her eyes.

"I love you," the words slipped out her mouth. Shunsui didn't even think she had realized it.

"I know, Nanao-chan. I love you too. I'll always love you."

Their kisses had desperation in them, and it had been an entire week since he had last seen her. Nanao's fingers instantly tugged at his haori while Shunsui's lips trailed down her neck. He sucked on the sensitive junction between her neck and shoulder prompting a moan. He probably had left a mark there, and Nanao would make him pay for it later, but right now, Shunsui was too intent on proving to her just how much he wanted and needed her. Nanao's nimble fingers had managed to get him bare to the waist, and now they were exploring his chest. It was very distracting. So he captured her hands, pressing kisses to each finger and her palms.

Feeling that it was only fair that he leveled the playing field, Shunsui tugged at her obi, distracting Nanao with another kiss. With it released, the grey cotton of her yukata slid down her shoulders baring her fair skin. He kissed his way down her collar bones, one hand coming up to cup a breast while his mouth covered the other. Nanao let out that breathy little gasp he loved so much. Nanao's hands found their way into his hair. His free hand crept down into her panties, rubbing her slick flesh. Nanao cried out and bucked into his hand.

He pulled away so he could meet her eyes.

"Shunsui, please."

He increased the pressure and rhythm of his fingers inside her and pressed his thumb against her clit. Nanao nearly screamed as she came. He pulled his fingers out of her, licking them clean. Shunsui leaned in to kiss Nanao again then lay her down on his haori and divested himself of his hakama. Nanao spread her legs invitingly for him. He covered her petite body with his own, slowly sliding into her warm heat inch by inch. Shunsui stilled a moment enjoying the sensation of being inside her.

Nanao, however, wasn't that patient. She bucked her hips up into him, trying to get him to move. With a low chuckle, Shunsui slid his hands beneath her to lift her legs higher and hitch them around his waist. Then he began to move. Slow teasing strokes that caused Nanao to moan beneath him, arching, trying to get closer to him. Her hands slid into his hair once again, and she pulled his lips down to her own, darting her tongue inside his mouth. She was fierce and demanding, and Shunsui really couldn't deny her anything.

He sped the pace up, causing Nanao to grow louder. Her fingernails dug into his shoulders as she came apart crying out his name. Shunsui followed only seconds later. He rolled to his side to keep from crushing Nanao and gathered her up in his arms, holding her close as they both basked in the afterglow. Nanao let out a soft sigh.

"I missed you."

"I know, Nanao-chan. I missed you too."

She rest her head on his chest.

"This isn't going to happen every time you go on a mission without me, is it? If so, the commander general needs to send me with you every time." Her voice went soft. "I don't think I can go through all this again."

"I don't think my family will try something like this again. Of course, you could always marry me and make the whole issue moot."

Nanao shoved him lightly. "We've had a romantic relationship for all of four and a half weeks, one of which you weren't present for. We're not getting married until we've been together at least six months."

"But you are going to marry me?" Shunsui realized he probably sounded a little whiney there.

Nanao laughed and raised a hand to touch his cheek.

"Yes, but don't think that gets you out of a proper proposal." Her face turned serious. "I'm yours, now and always."

Shunsui kissed her palm and then her lips. "I love you, my Nanao-chan."

They lay cuddled together a little while longer, but Shunsui had to admit that this was perhaps not the best place for them to be linger. Besides, he wanted a hot bath and good meal now that he had his Nanao-chan. He could probably talk her into joining him for both of those. Shunsui was also fairly certain he could convince her that they didn't need to go into the office tomorrow as well. After all, her week hadn't been a pleasant one, and she deserved some time off.

He kissed the crown of her head. "What say you to moving to a more comfortable spot, Nanao-chan? I'd much rather be in our soft bed than on the floor."

His sensible Nanao-chan agreed, and they managed to get dressed without getting too distracted. Scooping her up in his arms, Shunsui flashed them over to his own quarters. They didn't need any interruptions or distractions tonight. He would be ready to socialize tomorrow, but for tonight, Shunsui just wanted his Nanao-chan to himself. He set her down once inside, and Nanao immediately headed for the bathroom. She tossed him a mischievous smile over her shoulder.

"I'm going to go run a bath. Why don't you decide what's for dinner then join me? We can eat later."

Shunsui grinned and turned to his task. A bath, dinner, and dessert sounded about right to him. After all, they had several things to celebrate tonight. His homecoming was one, but Nanao had technically agreed to marry him, even if he hadn't quite asked yet. Shunsui smiled. Perhaps some good had come out of this whole situation after all. With that in mind, he abandoned the kitchen and decided that figuring out dinner could really wait. There was no need to let Nanao get lonely waiting for him. He smirked when he found her nearly up to her chin in bubbles in the tub. It was good to be home.