Hello. I've wriiten this story for two reasons. The first being for a good friend whose recently had a Birthday. This is my present to her. The second reason is that I needed a break from my current work in progress STWOY. This is intended as a oneshot, however it got a little on the long side, so I've split it up into two chapters. The second Chapter does contain a Lemon. I do not own bleach, just the ideas that fuel my stories. Read and Enjoy. All comments and feedback are appriciated.
Kiss Me Better Nanao-chan Chapter 1
It was still quite early in the afternoon and Nanao as usual was busy working on that days paperwork. Filling forms here. Signing reports there. She was trying to get as much work done as possible before having to teach a kido class that was due to start soon. All was quiet in the Eighth Divisions office, except for the occasional snore that emanated from Shunsui who was fast asleep on the couch.
As Nanao pulled another report off the 'To do' pile, a particularly loud snore erupted from Shunsui. He mumbled something in his sleep that sounded a lot like her name, before rolling onto his side so his back was now facing Nanao.
Nanao quirked an eyebrow and shook her head before continuing to read through the short report in her hand, detailing a recent patrol that had gone without incident. It took her a few minutes to sweep her eyes over it and then she signed her well practised signature at the bottom before adding it to the completed pile.
She pulled another form towards her and skimmed her eyes over the transfer request that needed signing.. Wait what? She back-tracked and fully read through the transfer request.
As predicted it was another young female recruit that had recently joined their division. Looking at the exact date the young Shinigami had joined, Nanao noticed that they'd only been with them for just over three weeks.
"Not again," she sighed wearily.
She sought out the part of the form where the person requesting the transfer had to note down their reasons for wanting to move to another division. Nanao skimmed her well trained eyes over the short, seven worded reply which read – This is not the division for me.
Reading between the lines, Nanao roughly translated those words as – The Captain is a lazy, over flirtatious pervert and I'm out of here. Or something along those lines. It wouldn't be the first time this had happened and Nanao doubted it would be the last. This particular transfer request was the fourth one this month. But still, she would have to bring this to her Captains attention. It would look bad for the division on a whole if they had Shinigami transferring out on a regular basis.
Nanao placed the form to one side, she would go back to it later. She reached for another paper which was the order form for next weeks food and drink deliveries. She scanned her eyes down the very long list. It all seemed in perfect order until she arrived at the last item on the list. A scowl broke out on her face and she had to resist throwing her nearby book, at her sleeping Captain.
One hundred bottles of sake. Now he was pushing it. Nanao after lengthily arguments in the past, had finally reached a compromise with him that he could have no more then ten bottles of sake ordered in a week. She just couldn't justify ordering any more then ten bottles, especially if it was going to eat into the food budget. He'd complained, moaned and whined for days on end after she'd informed him of her decision. But in the end and after standing firm, he'd finally accepted her decision. Either that or he got tired of being bashed around the head with her book, every time he dared to bring the subject up.
But even so, one hundred bottles was an excessive amount even for him. Unless of course he was secretly planning a party for the Division. Nanao's scowl deepened further at the prospect of an upcoming party. Was the man intentionally trying her patience?
"You know Nanao-chan," Shunsui's deep baritone voice broke through the silence of the office, "A pretty lady such as yourself really shouldn't scowl so much."
Nanao's grip tightened on her writing brush, threatening to snap it in two out of irritation. How long had he been awake?
"Relax, I've only just woken up," he continued on as though he'd read her thoughts, "Although I'm curious as to what as gotten my cute little Nanao-chan all worked up though. That scowl looks pretty serious," he teased lightly.
Nanao slammed her hands down on the desk and shot to her feet. Her chair toppled over behind her with a bang, "As if you didn't know!"
"Actually, I don't know," Shunsui sat up on the couch and pushed his hat out of his eyes, "What's upset you Nanao-chan?"
Nanao snatched up the order form and brandished it at Shunsui, "Did you really think for one minute that I wouldn't have noticed this!" She yelled back irritated.
Shunsui stared back at her feeling bemused as she continued to rant on about how delicate the budget is and how bad it would look for the division if people kept transferring out after mere weeks. He genuinely had no idea what Nanao was talking about. Still it was amusing for him to see her so worked up and flustered like this. Although he knew it would be for the best if he tried not to grin at the moment.
"Come now Nanao-chan," he slowly rose to his feet and held his hands out in surrender, "Why don't you tell me exactly what the problem is."
"You know what the problem is, so quit acting all innocent," she shot back hotly. It seemed she'd finished her little rant, "And STOP calling me by that abhorrent nickname," Nanao pulled in a deep breath and allowed her eyes to close, she brought her hand up to pinch the bridge of her nose.
Shunsui sighed and stepped over to Nanao's desk. He reached his hand out and wrapped it lightly around Nanao's wrist, he felt her tense up but she didn't snatch her hand away from him. He then plucked the form out of her hand and placed it back down on her desk, he then leant closer to her so their faces were only inches apart, "No Nanao-chan, I don't know what the problem is."
Nanao couldn't believe that she'd just snapped at her Captain like that. She was also painfully aware of just how close he was hovering and how warm his hand felt wrapped around her wrist. She took a few deep calming breaths and slowly counted to ten in her head. When she felt a bit calmer she slowly opened her eyes again, just to feel startled by how close he actually was. Only a few inches separated her face from his.
She could clearly see the light specks in his grey eyes, his long eyelashes, his strong nose and jaw, and the stubble ringing his mouth and dusting his chin and cheeks. She could even feel his warm breath on her face as he spoke to her. She was entranced by the movements of his lips and briefly wondered how it would feel to press her own against his.
She shook off that train of thought and mentally slapped herself for thinking such things about her Captain. She blinked and realised that Shunsui was staring back at her, waiting for an answer to his question that she'd completely failed to hear.
Shunsui frowned at her lack of response, "Nanao-chan?"
"Hmm?" She answered distractedly.
"Why don't you tell me what the problem is?" He asked again.
Problem... Nanao tore her focus away from his face and recalled the exact reason why she was so mad at him before. Ah yes... The hundred bottles of sake. She snatched her hand out of his hold and glared at him, "I thought I'd made it clear, several times in fact, that you could have no more the ten bottles of sake ordered in a week."
Shunsui absent-mindedly rubbed the top of his head, "Perfectly clear."
"I've also explained to you several times before, that I just cant justify eating into the Divisions food budget just to accommodate your drinking habits," Nanao adjusted her glasses out of sheer habit.
"Yes you did Nanao-chan," Shunsui agreed, noticing that she was getting worked up again, "And although I didn't necessarily agree with your decision, I've respected it."
"Then what's changed? Why now?" Nanao plucked the sheet off her desk again, "I could understand if it was an extra bottle here and there. But this," she waved the sheet in front of his face, "One hundred bottles. That's on the excessive side, even for you."
Shunsui caught the sheet of paper Nanao had been waving around and plucked it from her hand. He scanned his eyes down the long list of items and sure enough right at the bottom was the order for the sake. Just as Nanao had mentioned someone had written one hundred in the quantity box. Even he had to admit that was an excessive amount of alcohol. He could understand why Nanao was upset about it and why she was directing her ire at him. Yes he enjoyed his sake and drank a lot. Yes he was always pestering her to order more and yes, he was the only other person with access to the order forms. But still, he knew he hadn't placed that order.
"Nanao-chan, I can see why you'd think it was me," Shunsui glanced one final time at the form, "But I assure you, it wasn't me who ordered that much sake," his eyes came to rest on the digits and recognized the familiar handwriting at once.
"Then who-" Nanao began but Shunsui cut her off.
"Nanao-chan, what time did you arrive in the office this morning?"
"What's that got to do with anything?" She asked trying to keep her voice even.
"Just answer the question," Shunsui prompted patiently.
Nanao sighed, "Quite early," she replied in a crisp tone, "I think it was around 6:00 am."
Shunsui harrumphed at the ungodly hour, "And what time did you leave the office last night?"
"I fail to see why you need to know that," Nanao was beginning to feel irritated again.
"Answer the question," Shunsui's eyes roamed over the familiar handwriting once again.
"Late."
"How late?"
"Quite late."
"How late is quite late?" Shunsui was growing tired of her vague answers.
"Just a bit after midnight," Nanao replied before looking away and beginning to straighten out her desk.
"Try again," Shunsui stepped forward and rested both his palms on the top of her desk.
"Excuse me?" Nanao glanced up at him and quickly looked away.
"When I arrived back here after visiting Juu last night," Shunsui for once spoke in a serious tone, "I saw that the office light was still on when I passed by. That was about 12:45am. Try again."
Nanao faltered slightly in her movements before carrying on moving things around her desk. Shunsui knew she was doing it so she could avoid looking at him. This was one of many arguments that they always seemed to be having lately. Nanao would complain and argue that he wasn't doing his share of the paperwork. He would complain and argue about her overworking herself. It seemed she was increasingly stretching out the hours she spent in the office. Getting up at ridiculously early times in the morning, yet not leaving until the early hours of the morning.
"Nanao I'm just a little concerned," he spoke up after she'd remained quiet for several minutes, "I saw you leave here just after three this morning. Is something bothering you? You've seemed really distracted lately."
"You were spying on me?" Nanao asked as she neatly lined up her writing brushes.
"Of course not I've just been keeping an eye on you, that's all."
"Your concern has been noted Captain," Nanao started to pull the completed paperwork into neater piles, "But I assure you I'm perfectly fine. Now if you don't mind I need to prepare for my kido class," Nanao began walking towards the door.
"Just a minute Nanao-chan," Shunsui called after her before she could leave the office. Nanao paused in her tracks and slowly turned to face him.
"Yes Captain?" Nanao had a slight frown on her face.
"When you've finished teaching your kido class," Shunsui paused to make sure she was listening to him, "Go home and get some rest," he began walking towards the door and as he was about to step past Nanao, as predicted she started to protest.
"Captain the paperwork!"
Shunsui stopped in front of her. Resting his hands on her shoulders he bent down so their faces were on a level. He knew he was invading her personal space and that it would make her uncomfortable. However he wanted to make sure she was really listening, "Will get done. Now make sure you go home after your kido class. I don't want to see you back in this office before 9:00am tomorrow either. Thats an order Nanao-chan. You're exhausting yourself again."
"I feel perfectly fine Captain!" She addressed him in a clipped voice.
"Really now?" Shunsui raised his eyebrows in a perfect imitation of Nanao, when she would call him out on his bullshit, "Then care to explain to me why you've filled the food and drink form out incorrectly?" Seeing the disbelieving look on her face he quickly added, "Its your handwriting Nanao-chan. All of it. Including the hundred bottles of sake."
He saw the look of outrage on her face and dropped his hands from her shoulders. He straightened up and brushed past her towards the door. Before leaving he paused and said, "I'm serious Nanao-chan. After your kido class. Go home. Thats an order."
He then walked out into the warm sunny afternoon intending to find a nice rooftop to settle down on for a nap, and before Nanao could explode at him. He already knew which rooftop he'd be using this afternoon. There was a particularly comfy one which overlooked the training yards where incidentally, he knew Nanao would be teaching her kido class. He was genuinely worried about her and wanted to observe her for a little bit. He knew something was bothering her, and intended to get to the bottom of it.
The Division members who'd showed up for the kido class, as usual had been put into four smaller teams. Each team had a target on which to take turns in practising the spells Nanao had instructed them to use. This particular class was to help teach basic skills to beginners, or acted as a brush up course for those few who still struggled with their kido.
Nanao relished the role of teacher and her students were very diligent learners and would always put everything they had into utilising the skills Nanao had taught them. As they practised the spells she'd instructed them to use on the targets, Nanao would always wander between the groups and observe their progress. While occasionally correcting a stance here, or an incantation there.
However for this particular lesson, Nanao was doing none of these things.
Instead she was standing back behind the teams, completely lost in thought as they blasted away at the targets trying to perfect their Hado 31 – Shakkaho.
Nanao's brain was a jumbled mess of thoughts. She felt incredibly guilty that she'd automatically jumped to conclusions and had accused her Captain for a mistake that'd clearly been hers. She didn't know what was more worrying. The fact that she'd made the mistake in the first place, or the fact that she hadn't pick up on her own mistake and then had proceeded to accuse and yell at her Captain.
She also felt guilty too, because he'd mentioned that he felt concerned about her. Of course she should have realised that he would have picked up on her increasing hours in the office. The man was just too damn observant at times, especially where she was concerned. Its not that she was putting in more hours then necessary because they were behind in the paperwork. They were actually ahead on the paperwork. Very ahead. She was simply using paperwork as a distraction because she found it was the only thing that kept her thoughts away from the source of her distraction. Her Captain.
Nanao let out a long sigh.
How had it managed to creep up on her like this? Had his constant flirtations finally worn her down and made her resistance crumble? She'd always made a point of refusing his advances. Shooting him down without a moments hesitation. Refusing to fall for him, for fear of being used and dumped like so many other woman had before her.
Her Captain had always tried to tell her that she was different to those other woman, but she'd never believed him.
If she had to pinpoint a time when her feelings had started to change towards him, she would've had to say it was after the winter war had been concluded. She remembered being furious with her Captain because he'd left her behind in the Soul Society while everyone else had been off fighting. As soon as she'd heard that he'd returned and had been taken to the Fourth, she'd marched right over there to give him a piece of her mind. However the pent up rage she'd felt had been immediately squelched the moment her eyes had landed on his battered and broken body. He'd been a mess. After seeing him like that, she just didn't have it in her to be angry with him any more. She guessed it was during his recovery that she'd actually started to acknowledge that just maybe she did have some feelings for her Captain. As hard as it was for her to admit to them.
"Excuse me, Lieutenant Ise."
After reaching that realisation Nanao soon noticed that in the following months, she appeared to be going a bit soft. She didn't seem to mind so much when her Captain decided to nap on the couch while she was busy with the paperwork. She didn't mind so much if he happened to turn up to watch a kido class she'd been teaching, or if he came barging into the office for no apparent reason, other then to just see her. However she had drawn the line at joining him whenever he'd invited her to come along to a bar with him. Its not that she didn't want to spend the time with him. She just simply felt uncomfortable in bars and generally avoided them. Yet occasionally she would agree to go on a walk with him to enjoy the afternoon sun and the newly blossoming trees.
As hard as it was for her to admit it to herself, she had actually grown to love her Captain. As for actually admitting that to him though, was proving problematic. She just couldn't bring herself to do it.
"Erm, Lieutenant Ise..?"
She believed that's where her current problem lay. Being around him was beginning to feel difficult. His mere presense was starting to feel distracting. He was on her mind all the time. When she was eating breakfast. When she had a shower. Whilst she was working in the office. Eating lunch. Attending meetings. No matter where she was, or what she were doing. He was always there in the back of her mind. It was always worst during the night. She couldn't sleep and would literally lay there for hours thinking about him. If she was lucky enough to finally drop off to sleep, then he would be haunting her dreams too. The only time he didn't seem to pop up in her head, was usually when she was concentrating on the paperwork or busy teaching a class. But it seemed her current lack of sleep was starting to catch up with her, if her earlier mistake was anything to go by.
Nanao sighed another long sigh, she certainly was having problems at the moment. And as usual, they all seemed to centre around Shunsui Kyouraku.
Nanao felt someone nudge her sharply, causing her to jump. Her attention was quickly pulled back to the present. She blinked a few times to see several members of her class standing before her with slightly amused looks on their faces.
She glanced at the young person who'd nudged her and saw the apologetic look on his face, "Sorry Lieutenant Ise, you seemed miles away."
Nanao only just realised that she was leaning back against a wooden beam in a most undignified slouch that would have put her Captain to shame. Damn it! She cursed internally. Would she ever get that damn man out of her head? She straightened up immediately and glanced around at the small group, "Are you having problems with the task I set?"
"We're having problems with the incantation near to the end Lieutenant," stated the young guy who'd nudged her before, "We were wondering if you could give us a demonstration Lieutenant."
"Of course," Nanao glanced at the other groups and noticed that they were all having difficulties. So she called to them to stand back and watch as she demonstrated the spell.
She stepped over to the centre targets and squared herself up. She slipped into a stance and held her palm out. She could fire kido spells off without needing to use the incantations. But when it came to teaching classes, she always made a point of using them. She just generally had to hold back on the amount of power she put into the spell.
"Ye lord! Mask of flesh and bone, flutter of wings, ye who bears the name of Man!" Nanao's palm began to glow blue as the spell started to take form. She could already feel the power building up inside her. "Truth and temperance, upon this sinless wall of dreams unleash but slightly the wrath of your claws." The spell reached its peak and Nanao was ready to unleash it. "Hadou 33 Sokatsui!"
The spell shot forward with devastating accuracy. Nanao felt a moments confusion when she saw not just one shot of Sokatsui fire off, but two. The two shots impacted against the target and exploded on impact with a bang, that kicked up a monster dust cloud that engulfed the rest of the training yard.
Nanao heard several shocked gasps and several people coughing. Once the dust cloud had settled down and the ringing in her ears had receded she glanced across the training yard to see that all four practise targets had been destroyed. The only evidence that there had been any was a lone stump of wood that was slowly being eaten by fire.
Nanao's eyes widened. What just happened here?
"Err Lieutenant Ise," One brave soul stepped towards her, "Is it a bad time to mention that we were practising Hadou 31 Shakkaho?"
Hadou 31. Right. Nanao could have slapped herself. That wasn't Hadou 31.
"But I think that incantation was for Hadou 33 Sokatsui," The brave division member was now stepping on thin ice in Nanao's mind.
Yes she was aware she'd made a mistake. A very big and dangerous mistake. As a Kido Master it was a damn near embarrassing mistake.
"And it looked more like Hadou 62 Soren Sokatsui when it fired off."
Nanao's eyes narrowed dangerously and the division member had the sense to shut the hell up. Nanao brushed her robes off and turned on her heel, "I think we'll call it a day."
The division members stared at her in bewilderment as she walked away from them. As she reached the edge of the training yard she called over her shoulder, "Class dismissed."
Lying flat on his back, Shunsui pushed his straw hat out of his face and groaned loudly. Glancing up he saw his best friend grinning down at him, "You can wipe that smirk right off your face Juu buddy."
"Comfy down there Shunsui?" Ukitake held an hand out to pull him to his feet.
"Give me a minute," Shunsui waved his help away, "And stop grinning at me. Its not that funny."
"Oh but it is Shunsui," Ukitake's grin widened.
"Easy for you to say. You're not the one who just got blasted off the roof," Shunsui groaned again as he sat himself up.
"You should have been paying attention to the situation," Ukitake crouched down before Shunsui, "Then you would have seen it coming and gotten out of the way."
Shunsui gave him a dark look which caused Ukitake to chuckle even more.
"I'm being serious now Shunsui," Ukitake began once his laughter had died down, "Aside from just being blasted off a roof, are you okay?"
"I'm still alive aren't I?" Shunsui replied gruffly.
In truth his back was hurting like hell. He'd been sitting on the roof having a quiet drink as he'd observed Nanao's kido class. Ukitake had joined him and they'd been fascinated by Nanao's unusual behaviour. They both knew it wasn't like Nanao at all to just stand back and take no part in the lesson. She would normally be actively participating by walking amongst the division members and correcting their forms.
To see her completely zone out like she had been was a rarity. They'd been even more amused when she'd completely failed to notice a division member approach and call her name several times. He doubted she'd even been aware that he'd been up on the roof with Ukitake watching her. Hell the targets were right below their perch. How could she not have noticed their presense, let alone his his pink haori that stood out a mile. Then there was the whole mix up of kido spells. So very unlike her. The blast had been so strong that the force of it had slammed into Shunsui on the roof and had sent him crashing down to the ground behind them. Ukitake had had the sense to shunpo out the way.
"Here let me help you up," Ukitake grabbed Shunsui's arm and hauled him to his feet.
After much groaning and cursing Shunsui looked up at Ukitake and asked, "Do you see what I mean now about Nanao being distracted lately?"
"Yes I see it now," Ukitake replied with an amused look on his face.
"What do you suppose is wrong with her?" Shunsui reached his arms high above him and stretched. When his back popped back into place he grimaced but looked oddly relieved at the same time.
"Shunsui," Ukitake sighed in exasperation, "You're the last person I'd expect, not to know what is going on here." At the look of bafflement on Shunsui's face, Ukitake resisted the urge to slap him for being so dense, "Isn't it obvious to you? Nanao is showing all the classic signs of someone who is in love."
"Nanao-chan's in love?" Shunsui frowned, "With who?"
"Its obviously you," Ukitake practically yelled at him, "How can you be so dense?"
Shunsui glanced over his shoulder when he heard a few of his division members snickering at Ukitake's comment. The motion caused his back to twinge painfully and he practically doubled over again, "I need to check on her. Make sure she didn't hurt herself too."
"You're in no such state to do anything Shunsui," Ukitake grabbed Shunsui's arm and began carting him off down the walkway and towards his friends quarters, "Besides I saw Nanao walk off towards the office. I assure you, she is fine. Now I suggest you go and lay down and rest your back for a bit."
"No Juu," Shunsui protested and tried to push Ukitake away, "I think I should go talk to Nanao-chan. We did kind of argue earlier."
"You'll do no such thing!" Ukitake insisted, "Now go and lay down, and I'll inform Nanao-san of your unfortunate accident."
Shunsui's eyebrows shot up his forehead, "Juu what the hell are you scheming?"
"Absolutely nothing," Ukitake replied in an indignant voice, "However."
"I knew it!" Shunsui exclaimed, "You're up to something."
"No I'm not," Ukitake brushed Shunsui's accusations aside, "However, if Nanao-san comes to visit you in your quarters," he paused and levelled a serious gaze on Shunsui, "I expect you to take full advantage of the situation and tell her seriously just how you feel about her. Then just maybe she will actually open up to you and admit that she has feelings for you too."
Shunsui was about to say something but Ukitake promptly cut him off, "I'm serious Shunsui. Don't mess it up this time."
After having reached his quarters, Shunsui was left pondering Ukitake's words long after his friend had left. Just what the hell was he up to? When he closed the door behind him his back gave another painful twinge. Maybe a nice long soak in the bath would help ease the pain a little bit.
Having a long soak in the bath had been a very good idea in Shunsui's mind. The heat had helped to relax the tense muscles in his back and the pain had eased. However he'd relaxed so much that he'd fallen asleep in the bathtub and when he'd woken up again he'd found himself to be in a bit of a predicament.
Shunsui didn't know how long he'd been asleep but the water sloshing around him was unpleasantly cold. When he'd first woken up he couldn't help but gasp at the temperature. Then there was the fact that he'd stayed in the same position for far too long and naturally his body was now stiff. Those two factors combined together and now his back was even more painful then what it had been before.
He desperately needed to get out the bath, but no matter which way he moved, it caused his back to spasm painfully. Even trying to lift his arms and supporting them against the baths rim was proving painful. Let alone trying to hoist himself up and out.
Shunsui tried a few more times and after the fourth attempt he gave up and crashed back into the bath, sending a tidal wave of water sloshing over the sides and splashing onto the tiled floor.
What to do? He thought. He couldn't stay in the tub forever. Just as he was pondering other avenues of escape he thought he heard a knock on his front door. Stilling his movements he listened hard and heard another knock. He extended his senses and detected Nanao's cool, calm and collected presense hovering outside.
Nanao-chan!
He was over joyed that she'd come over to visit him. However as soon as he heard another knock, this one much more impatient. He realised that Nanao would be too polite to come on in without being invited. His joyous mood instantly evaporated and a mad panic ensued as he tried to overcome the pain and hoist himself out the bath.
He took a few deep breaths, gritted his teeth and then hauled himself up. The cry of pain that erupted from his mouth bounced right off the tiled walls. His arms went weak and he crashed right back into the bath, sending a fresh wave of water over the rim again.
"Captain!" He heard Nanao's voice calling from his living room. He smiled a little, it seemed she'd heard him yell and came rushing in, "Where are you?"
He heard her hurrying down the hallway and pause outside his kitchen door, "I'm in the bathroom Nanao-chan," he called in a pained voice.
Nanao's footsteps neared the door and hesitated outside, "Are you okay in there Captain? It sounded like you were in pain. Can I come in?"
"Please do Nanao-chan," Shunsui replied with a small groan, "I could really use your help in here."
Nanao cautiously pushed the door open and shyly peeked inside, "Captain?" Nanao called as her eyes scanned the room for him. As soon as she saw him in the bath, a blush blossomed on her cheeks and she quickly averted her gaze.
"Right here Nanao-chan," Shunsui waved from the bath, "I've hurt my back and I'm having a little difficulty getting out again."
"You're stuck?" She asked glancing at him before quickly looking away again, "How long have you been in there?"
Shunsui grinned at her sheepishly, "I'm not really sure. I kind of fell asleep for a bit."
"YOU IDIOT!" Nanao yelled at him, "Do you know how dangerous it is to fall asleep in a bath! What if you'd drowned!"
"Nanao-chan, could you please help me out," Shunsui for once asked seriously, "My back is really hurting now."
Seeing the pained look on his face, Nanao's expression instantly softened, "Of course," she glanced around the room and located a folded towel next to the sink basin. She picked it up then stepped over to the bath.
Shunsui glanced at her and couldn't help but notice her awkwardness, and the pink blush dusting her cheeks. So cute. He also noticed her gaze running over his bare chest before quickly flickering away again.
"How do you want me to," Nanao hesitated slightly, "Help Captain?"
"If you could just stand behind me," Shunsui replied maintaining his serious tone. Ukitake's words kept running through his head. He truly didn't want to mess this up, Nanao was special to him. He'd also been waiting for any sign from her that she felt the same way towards him, "Then when I try and lift myself out again, could you support me from behind?"
"Okay Captain," Nanao nodded in agreement and went to stand just behind his shoulder, "Just tell me when you're ready."
Shunsui gripped both sides of the bath and braced himself. He took a deep breath then lifted himself up. He hissed in pain and was about to lower himself back into the bath, when Nanao wrapped her arms around his middle. Her face pressed into his back and he could feel the heat from her blush warming his cold back.
"Captain you're freezing," Nanao commented as she adjusted her hold on him.
"Yeah," Shunsui agreed through chattering teeth. He then pushed with his legs and gained just enough height to step out of the bath. Once he'd found his legs he tried to straighten up, but the muscles in his back complain at the motion and he doubled over. Groaning again he reached forward and rested his hands against the bath.
"Captain!"
"I'm okay Nanao-chan," he realised Nanao was still holding onto him. Holding onto his wet naked body. As nice as it felt, he knew it would only be a matter of seconds before she realised this herself and pulled away. He was about to lift his hand to rest it against hers when as predicted, she hastily pulled away.
"I..I'm sorry Captain, forgive me," she thrust the towel at him then began backing out of the room, "I'll give you some privacy now."
Shunsui glanced over his shoulder at her, "Nanao-chan," he called stopping her in her tracks, "Could you help me again?"
Nanao stared back at him dumbfounded, "Help?" Her hand shot up to adjust her glasses, the blush on her face deepening.
"Yeah, could you," Shunsui turned away from her and tried to wrap the towel around him.
"Oh," Understanding his meaning, Nanao stepped back over to him and pulled the towel from his hands. She then unfolded it and tucked it neatly around his waist, her hands lingering for a moment on his stomach.
"Thanks Nanao-chan," before she could pull away again, Shunsui brought his hands up to rest against Nanao's, trapping them against his stomach.
"Captain," Nanao tried to prise her hands free, "You can let go now."
"Nanao-chan," Shunsui called her name softly and she stopped struggling against him. Slowly and steadily, and without releasing her hands, Shunsui shuffled around on the spot so he could face her. "Thank you. I don't know what I would've done if you hadn't stopped by."
Nanao glanced up at him but couldn't quite meet his eyes. So she broke her gaze away only to blush harder when she realised she was staring at his well built chest and stomach.
Shunsui gently rested a large hand against her cheek and gently guided her eyes back up to his, "Is something wrong Nanao-chan?"
"No Captain," Nanao's breath caught in her throat when she saw the intense look in his eyes.
"Was there something you wanted to tell me?" Shunsui spoke in a soft low tone, "I'm sorry about earlier."
"It wasn't your fault Captain," Nanao shook her head and sighed, suddenly aware of how warm she was feeling and how close they were standing, "I actually just stopped by to apologise."
"You don't need to apologise to me Nanao-chan," Shunsui dropped his hand from her cheek and rested both of his hands on Nanao's shoulders. He leant forward so their eyes were on a level. However the small shift in his weight caused him to cry out in pain, as the small movement placed a tremendous amount of strain on his bruised back.
"Captain!" Nanao brushed his hands off her shoulders and stepped to his side. She threaded an arm around his waist and began herding him towards the bathroom door, "You should really lay down and rest your back."
"Will Nanao-chan nurse me back to health?" Shunsui asked with a small hopeful grin on his face.
"Have you even been to the Fourth to have it checked over?"
"No it didn't feel that bad," Shunsui draped his arms over Nanao's shoulder, "Maybe you could take a look and see what you think?"
"I suppose I'll have to," Nanao agreed feeling her cheeks heating up again.