A/N: Just a oneshot that has nothing to do with my other story at all. I needed a bit of fluff to take a break from the more serious stuff I'm working on, so enjoy!
"Do I have to sir?" she asked looking out tentatively over the crowd.
"It'd be a very big favor to me if you did," he said grinning down at her.
"But wouldn't Ukitake Taicho rather dance with someone his own age?" Nanao pressed.
"Well you see, cute Nanao-chan, that's exactly what you'd be helping him to do," Kyouraku replied winking at the hesitant child.
"How would me asking him to dance help him dance with other people?" she asked.
"Ah, sweet Nanao-chan, it's a fact of life that women find it immeasurably cute when men show kindness either to children or small animals. It's a maternal thing, I believe," Kyouraku explained. He'd discovered over the past year that the girl was the type who was much more likely to do what you wanted if you just gave it to her straight. "So you see, by dancing with you he'd gain favor with many of the women here tonight, and you'd probably earn him a dance or two."
"Why doesn't Ukitake Taicho just ask them to dance if he wants to?" she asked looking doubtful.
"Because Jyuu is very shy," he answered trying his best to look sad. "At this rate he will die a lonely old man."
"He doesn't seem lonely," Nanao commented, glancing over at his best friend again. Jyuushiro was currently talking to his fukutaicho and laughing over something.
"He puts on such a brave face, neh, Nanao-chan?" he asked mournfully. Shunsui saw the girl bite her lip and gave a mental cheer. The lip bite was a sure indication that she was wavering towards his point of view. "You know he's in the 4th division often, right? He's always too afraid to approach women for fear of them rejecting him because of his illness."
"But he's so nice!" the little girl exclaimed harshly, obviously perturbed that anyone would be mean to the kind older man.
"Exactly, Nanao-chan!" he said excitedly. "That's why we have to help him!"
"Why can't you help him?" she asked, once again looking suspicious.
"Well, no one is going to get jealous if he's dancing with an old man like me," he said rolling his eyes at her. "No, only a cute little girl will do."
"You could just introduce him to all the girls you talk to," she pointed out.
"But then he'd think I was pitying him," he said with a frown. "Besides Jyuu doesn't like the same kind of girls I like."
"Because all the ones you like are dumb?" she asked with her usual bluntness and then blushed in shame.
Shunsui merely laughed it off. "Something like that, little one. Now are you going to help him or not?"
"Fine," she said, stamping one small little foot just to prove that she would do it, but she wasn't going to like it.
The girl was dressed up in a brand new kimono he'd bought her just for this occasion, and Retsu had been kind enough to put her short hair up in a fancy comb for the evening. It was a night of food and dancing for the elite in soul society to celebrate the Soutaicho's birthday, and it had caught his fancy to bring his youngest charge along as his plus one. Nanao had been adamantly against attending, but he had bribed her by saying there would be as much daifuku as she could possibly eat. He'd honestly thought up his most current half-baked plan in part to mess with Jyuushiro, and also to get her to slow down on the sweets. As much as he liked the kid, he didn't want her throwing up on him on the way home.
He was about to praise her on her wise decision when she strode off and quickly made a beeline for Jyuushiro. If there was one thing to be said about the child, it was that when she made a decision she went for it, no hesitation. It was a good quality in a soldier, and one of the first things that'd caught his and Lisa's notice.
He'd seen her for the first time almost three years ago when some older squad members had been standing with the girl on one of the division's second story balconies. Lisa had told him her name as they approached the scene, and he'd taken special note to remember it, as she was so young. The squad members had been talking about something amongst themselves, and the little girl had looked furious. Then all of a sudden she'd climbed up on the balcony rail and taken a flying leap right off of it. Both he and Lisa had been shocked when she'd gone skipping along in the air like a rock on water for a brief second, having obviously found some rudimentary control of shunpo. Then she'd dropped equally like a rock, and Lisa had barely snatched her in time to stop her from cracking her skull open on the ground below. It turned out the members had been teasing her for her age and telling her she didn't even have enough power for one flash step, ignoring the fact that many of them were too low level to achieve it themselves, and Nanao had decided to prove them wrong.
Lisa had kept an eye on the girl after that, and he felt like it was his duty to do the same after he'd failed Lisa so completely. Besides, he liked Nanao-chan just fine. She was quick as a whip, eager to learn, and most of all incredibly fun to tease. She'd grow up to be something fierce if he let her. He was committed to tempering the fierceness with the kindness she tried so hard to hide from everyone.
She walked up to Jyuushiro blushing furiously and bowing formally. His friend looked confused for a second and then glanced over at Shunsui, who waved fondly back. His friend shook his head, but smiled down at the little girl while ignoring his grinning fukutaicho. He nodded and took the little girl's hand, after she stated her request, and escorted her out on to the dance floor.
Shunsui watched the pair, smiling inwardly at the horror that crossed Nanao's face as she realized what she'd have to do to dance with the much taller man. She tried to back off and Jyuushiro grabbed her hands gently, laughing lightly, and helped her stand on the tops of his feet. Then after he got her situated, he waltzed her around the dance floor gracefully.
As he knew it would, his plan worked perfectly. Nanao was smiling and maintaining a happy flush at the end of the next two songs when she worked her way back to him, and Jyuushiro was surrounded by women clamoring to be his next dance partner. She bolted up to him, for once looking her age, and skidded to a stop about a foot away.
"Did it work?" she asked turning around to look.
"Beautifully, Nanao-chan," he replied grinning down at her. "Did you have fun?"
"Yes, Ukitake Taicho is a very good dancer," she said happily. "It felt like floating."
"Next time you'll have to dance with me. I'm much better than he is," he pouted.
"Are you?" she asked innocently. "I didn't mean to offend you. I've never danced with anyone before."
"Not in your whole entire life?" he asked surprised.
"Not many people have time to dance in the Rukongai," she said, looking down at her feet and retreating back into herself.
"Well then we must make up for it this evening," he said with a laugh, grabbing her tiny hand and dragging her back to the dance floor. He whisked her around on the tops of his feet for several songs before getting Kaien to take the girl around for a turn, much to her embarrassment. Then he stole her back again until she begged to be allowed a break, and they settled into a table in the back.
She fell asleep in his lap about a half hour later, and as the waiters kept bringing him sake, he didn't mind in the least. Especially since the side effect was a constant stream of ladies coming over to coo over how sweet the little scene was. He wouldn't be going home with any of them tonight, but he got a few future dates lined up out of the deal.
"You should feel ashamed of yourself using a child like that," Jyuushiro said strolling over.
"Nanao-chan doesn't mind," he said shrugging as he ran a hand through her hair, which had fallen out of the comb.
"So did you just bring her to get dates?" Jyuushiro asked, glancing down at the sleeping child.
"She gets lonely," he answered lightly. "She doesn't admit to it, but she does. I just figured it'd do her some good to get out among other people."
"What are you going to do with her? If you take her back to the barracks now there will be no end to the teasing," his friend pointed out.
"You want to babysit her?" Shunsui asked raising an eyebrow.
"Can't, your plan worked great," Jyuushiro said, nodding his head to a pretty brunette standing patiently by the door.
"Nicely done, old friend," he smiled back. "I'll just tuck her in on my couch. She's little, she'll fit."
"Don't forget you'll have to feed her in the morning, little children require more than sake," Jyuushiro reprimanded.
"Yare, yare, I'm not an invalid," he said waving the other man away. "She'll be fine."
His friend wandered into the night with the woman, and Shunsui smiled after them. It was about time Jyuu got some action. After a few more minutes watching the crowds clear out, he scooped up the sleeping child and walked leisurely home. He greeted friends out bar crawling on the way, and enjoyed the cold night air while keeping the girl wrapped inside his haori and warm against his side.
Finally arriving home, he settled her down on the couch and retrieved a blanket to tuck her in. She blinked her eyes open sleepily and didn't seem to fully comprehend the situation. "Taicho?"
"Go back to sleep, precious Nanao-chan," he soothed.
He saw the fight briefly flicker into her eyes, and then she seemed to think better of it and curled up in a smaller ball. "Thanks Taicho," she mumbled sleepily. "I like dancing a lot."
"Then you should do it often," he said smiling.
"You can't dance all the time," she said.
"If it's me, it would be a waste not to dance no matter what," he replied softly. "I'll dance with Nanao-chan whenever she likes."
"You're an dork," she said fondly, as she nestled down into the blanket.
"I've been called worse," he said with a grin. "Sleep tight, Nanao-chan."
She mumbled a sleepy goodnight, and he headed back to his own room plotting ways to make sure she danced at least once a week for the foreseeable future.