Author's Note: I think I'm going to die. I've reread and reedited this at least ten times, and though that might not sound very bad, it's more torturous than it seems. Not that this chapter is bad; quite the opposite, actually: it's one of the best things I've ever written, in my humble opinion. (And, yes, I did just use a semicolon and a colon in the same sentence.) Either way, I'm ecstatic to finally be able to submit this. If I made any errors, please point them out to me. I've put a lot of effort into this chapter, and it was very fun to write and I hope just as much fun to read! (An as an afternote, Rangiku is a pleasure to write, and Shunsui and Nanao even more so. I've never really had such a huge OTP before.)
Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach, nor any of its respective characters, settings, etc. If I did, Kaien would have a way bigger role right now and I wouldn't be so confused about who the hell he actually is. Also, there would be some tangible HitsuHina hurt/comfort scenes, like I've been wanting for the past, oh, one hundred chapters.
Chapter Two:
Thy Lady Lush
The morning of the next day was hell. In defiance of their treaty, Shunsui had drunk as much sake as he dared the night before. Somehow he convinced himself that all natural laws would be bended so that he would get just intoxicated enough to preserve the sake-induced euphoria all through the next day.
It didn't come as a big surprise (to Nanao at least) that he was wrong.
Shunsui spent most of the morning and early afternoon hunched over a bush or the trunk of a tree. It was so because Nanao refused him entrance into his room, saying that hell would freeze over before she'd clean up his drunken remnants. He had to wonder why hell would need to freeze over when she was such an ice queen already.
By four o'clock, Shunsui's mind was sufficiently sober and his stomach sufficiently empty. Finally allowed into his (own) room, he plopped listlessly onto the couch and was about to fall into a graceless nap when Nanao appeared over him. For once, he was not in the mood to see her stern face.
"Your twenty-four hours begin now," she said, voice calm as a river and intent cruel as the undertow.
He shot up, eyes wide and back ramrod straight. "What!"
She nodded, and he would have thought she'd be biting back a grin of victory were she not so prudish. "While you're not vomiting, you can truly enjoy the freedom of sobriety." There she was again, looking at him over the frames of her glasses.
Shunsui struggled for words but found none. He managed to squeak out a few barely audible "buts," and that was the extent of it. When she concluded that he had nothing tangible to say, she turned and resumed sweeping. Falling back onto the couch in defeat, his resolve hardened all the more. That night he vowed to get her very, very drunk. He wouldn't do anything too terrible (he was a gentleman after all), but he'd have to show her the virtues and curses of life on Sake Street.
At six o'clock, Shunsui was unceremoniously shaken awake. Eyes fluttering abruptly open, he was greeted by a not-too-unpleasant sight – two of them, in fact.
"Rangiku-chan?" he asked, his voice slightly dazed and his mouth still rank from his earlier unfortunate encounters with the shrubberies.
Said woman stood and placed her hands on her hips. "Get up, Kyouraku-kun! It's already six o'clock!"
Scratching his head, he steadily rose and glanced around the room. He could see Nanao sweeping quietly in the corner, trying very hard to be inconspicuous. She should know better than that, he thought. Perhaps she could go unnoticed by others, but she would never go unnoticed by her captain.
"You hear that, Nanao-chan?" Despite his grogginess, his voice rang clear as a bell and twice as harmonious.
He could see her stiffen before she turned, striving to become the essence of collected elegance. He knew elegance was one of the few things she had trouble portraying. "Really?" she asked innocently.
He smiled and nodded, getting up from the couch to stand victoriously beside his drinking partner. Rangiku and Shunsui exchanged looks, each fully prepared to drag Nanao by her heels if need be. "You know what that means?"
"Time for your nap?" Nanao ventured, though her tone was wary. Rangiku giggled a little wickedly, and the motion accentuated her assets. Then again, everything Rangiku did accentuated her assets.
"Wrong, Nanao-chan!" he said just to annoy her, knowing how much she hated to be wrong about anything. "It's sake time!"
As if on cue, Rangiku pulled out two bottles of sake from God only knew where, and cheered. "I'm so excited!"
Nanao cleared her throat deliberately and her eyes wandered to the stack of papers on his desk. "But there's so much paperwork to be done," she lamented, sounding wistful.
Shunsui had expected that. He knew that was only the tip of the iceberg: she must have prepared countless escape routes for herself. Not to mention the fact that the paperwork had just been sitting there all day – not getting done – must have been torture for her impeccable self. He almost felt sympathy for her, realizing she would rather sign papers than drink sake with him. However, knowing just how his Nanao-chan worked, he was not discouraged.
"I shall do them tomorrow," he told her regally. "After all, with my newfound freedom of sobriety, I should be able to get through them in a flash!"
"But," she interjected, "the Office…"
"Ah ah ah!" He shook a finger at her disapprovingly. "They'll be done so fast the Office won't even know they were late. Now come, I'm ashamed that you'd try to wiggle out of a goodhearted deal between friends."
"Exactly!" chimed Rangiku. "What kind of vice-captain are you to betray your captain's trust?"
That one struck a chord and Nanao's expression hardened. "Excuse me?"
Rangiku grinned, pleased with herself. Before Nanao could get a word in edgewise, the busty blonde had crossed the room and linked arms with her, dragging her out the doorway and into the warm evening. "I was thinking, since it's such a nice time of year, that we should drink outside! You seldom get many people out here at this hour, so it should be nice and private, and we'll have a fantastic view of the forest. Not to mention the moon's near full and…"
Rangiku trailed on with Nanao barely listening, and Shunsui chuckled as he followed behind them. He enjoyed seeing all the different variations of apathy and annoyance that Nanao's pretty face could conjure, and was more than excited to see that normally unabashed visage spread into a wide, inebriated grin. To think, all those years he'd spent thinking that watching other people drink wasn't fun. He had a feeling this was to be one of the most rewarding nights of his life.
They finally arrived at where Rangiku intended to go: a grassy hill surrounded by small blossoming cherry trees. It was still in sight of the square, but in front of them lay a lush little forest. As the sun slowly set and the moon eagerly rose to take its place, the sky shifted from blues to pale pinks and was presently deepening into a light purple. The contrast of the cherry petals to the evening hues was heavenly, and would be almost romantic if not for the purpose of their presence. The purpose, of course, was simple: in this lovely knoll that was the essence of springtime perfection, they were solely there to get Nanao hammered.
They all took a seat, the grass comfortable and coated in cherry blossoms beneath them. He could hear them shake and rustle as Nanao shifted uncomfortably, and for a moment he felt a little guilty. Then he remembered their agreement, and her locking him out in the morning, and him heaving his dinner from the past week into a rosebush, and he suddenly felt infinitely better.
"I really think that paperwork should be done tonight," Nanao muttered, but was silenced when Rangiku all but shoved a bottle in her face.
"Drink," she said simply, taking a swig herself. She glanced playfully at Shunsui and stuck her tongue out. "None for you, gramps!"
He rolled his eyes. "Haven't you heard? I'm on the straight and narrow now."
Rangiku barked with laughter. "What's next, celibacy?" She turned to Nanao. "After this, you should try to get him to not have sex for a week. Now that would be a real record!"
Nanao nearly spit out the sake she had finally managed to swallow. "And what would I give him in return?" she croaked, surprised and genuinely confused.
Shunsui tried very hard not to laugh, overcome with anticipation. One sip and she was already asking stupid questions!
Rangiku grinned, nudging Nanao's side with her elbow. "Well, what did you give him in exchange for sobriety?"
"I promised I would…" her sentence trailed off as the realization dawned and her entire face flushed pink for a moment. Rangiku laughed again, taking a long sip of her own sake and handing Nanao another bottle. Nanao, however, was not even a quarter through her first one.
Nanao cleared her throat awkwardly, but Rangiku had just begun her fun. "You should do it. You two are the only interesting thing around here right now. Captain Hitsugaya can be so boring, and he's especially cranky in spring."
"Rangiku-san!" Nanao reprimanded. "You should not speak of your captain that way."
Again, Shunsui's drinking partner grinned. "Oh? And what about the way you speak of Captain Kyouraku when it's just the girls?"
Nanao glared, and Shunsui again had to bite back a laugh. Not yet, he told himself, trying desperately to tether his amusement. Instead, he asked curiously, "Oh, and what do you say, Nanao-chan?"
She rolled her eyes. "I say that's it's annoying that you call me 'Nanao-chan.'"
He smirked and glanced over at Rangiku who shook her head and raised her eyebrows suggestively. Nanao was sharp, but already her senses were dulling.
When the dark-haired vice-captain whirled around to see where he was looking, she leered at the blonde. "Stop that!"
"What?" she asked. "It's true."
"Oh?" tried Nanao, taking another bitter sip of sake. "Then isn't it true you're always spouting off about Kira-san's graces in bed?"
Rangiku's eyes flew wide. "Hey!"
Nanao shrugged. "You reap what you sow."
The blonde huffed. "Shut up and drink more sake."
For some reason Nanao obeyed. It was not long after she had drunk the entire bottle that Rangiku handed her another (on top of the one she'd already given her), and the conversation again resumed complete silliness. Shunsui's excitement mounted when he noticed Nanao's emphatic arguments and the slightest tinge of a slur lagging behind her words. She had lasted longer than he'd expected, but victory was near.
"What's your favorite season?" Rangiku asked her, the question before having been, "Nanao-chan, what's your favorite color?"
"Spring!" Nanao answered enthusiastically, sake bottle in one hand and blossoms flowing through the other.
"Really?" Shunsui asked, surprised. "Why?"
She turned to him and placed a finger to her lips, shaking her head. "It's a secret."
He grinned as she downed the rest of the bottle, knowing his fastidious Nanao-chan was now thoroughly drunk. He decided it was the best time to venture, "So, what do you say about me, lovely Nanao-chan?"
Rangiku smirked, following their conversation and only half tipsy. Her hands went to Nanao's hair, fiddling with the back and trying to free it. To both Shunsui and Rangiku's general shock, Nanao did nothing to stop her. Instead she tried to glare at her captain, though it came off looking more ridiculous than threatening. "Wouldn't you like to know?"
"Of course I would," he told her simply. "I asked, didn't I?"
"Well," she said, straightening and trying to look like she possessed authority, though swaying a bit as she did so. "I'll tell you." She took a meaningful pause there, partly for effect and partly because she started to wobble a bit and had to right herself before continuing. Once stable, she punctuated her statement with, "I think you're a coquet."
Shunsui laughed merrily. "Is that so?"
Nanao nodded vigorously, and the action was the last step in freeing her hair. It fell just a little past her shoulders in rumpled black waves, over her eyes. "Yes! You're always flirting with women all the time! But you never mean it!"
Rangiku grinned, tousling Nanao's locks and receiving a glare. "She's right."
Shunsui smiled and found that he was so amused his fingers didn't even itch for a sake bottle (but, oh, how they pined to run through his vice-captain's hair). In actuality, he was a little intoxicated off of Nanao's unbelievable drunken persona. "I never say things I don't mean, Nanao-chan," he told her, and purposefully made his tone dark and sultry.
She blushed and batted him on the arm. The attack would have hurt under normal circumstances, but her wrist was limp and her mind foggy. She laughed. "See! There you go again!"
He smiled but shook his head. "Not so." He was tempted to pull her into an embrace to prove his point, but knew that she'd all but kill him once she was sober again. That was if she remembered, of course.
Nanao looked at him skeptically, but took another swig of sake and finished off the bottle. She leaned backwards with the motion until she fell onto the grass, petals drifting up beside her. She laughed, tossing the bottle to lay with he other she had finished and the two Rangiku had already emptied. As her giggles subsided she looked up at the sky, presently a dark orchid color streaked with diamond stars.
Shunsui seized the moment and used her distraction to enjoy her freed beauty. Her hair was no longer restrained by that cruel clip of hers – instead, it cascaded over her shoulders and acted as a blanket that covered the sheet of cherry blossom petals. Her glasses, rather than perching precariously on her nose as usual, were resting gaily on top of Rangiku's blond head. He enjoyed watching Nanao's pretty eyes dance as they glided over the forms in the sky above them. Her lips were twisted upward in a giggle, flushed and full and looking unfathomably kissable. Even her uniform was a bit rumpled by her slackened posture as she lay in the blossoms, falling open a bit as her chest rose and fell with her laughter.
When her bare gaze shifted to meet his and her merriment subsided, he had little time to react. "You always call me pretty," she said to him simply, voice barely a curious muttering.
He blinked out of surprise, tuning out Rangiku's laughter and redundant claims of the shapes she saw in the sky. "That's because you are."
She shook her head, leaning up on her elbow to look at him. "No, Rangiku-san's pretty."
At that, Rangiku grinned and jutted her chest out. "Sure am!"
They ignored her and Nanao continued frankly, "I'm plain."
Shunsui sighed and shook his head, removing his hat and wondering how to broach the subject. "There are many different types of prettiness, Nanao-chan."
He barely caught her mumble, "Yeah, and Rangiku-san's got two big ones."
He chuckled lightly, leaning down and resting on his elbow, mimicking her pose. "Rangiku-chan is the outgoing, bubbly type of pretty."
Tuning in, the blonde leaned over Nanao and smacked his arm. "And sexy!"
Shunsui rolled his eyes. "And sexy." Rangiku nodded and went back to her musings with the clouds and petals. Again, he turned to his vice-captain. "You're the educated, immaculate, smart type of pretty."
"Really?" she asked, and her tone was neither inquisitive nor impressed. "Because I thought I was an ice queen. That's what you always say, isn't it?"
He exhaled tentatively, cautious of where to tread with a drunken Nanao. "You are, but that's why you're pretty."
She didn't seem satisfied with the answer and took another sip of sake. "Well, I don't think you're handsome," she told him snidely.
He was about to play the scandalized card when Rangiku collapsed over Nanao, breasts threatening to flee from their precarious hold in her uniform. "That's not true!" the blonde practically sang.
"Rangiku-san!" Nanao protested, but was silenced by Rangiku's hand over her mouth.
"Actually," she whispered, though she might as well have been yelling, "she thinks you're very handsome."
"I do not!" Nanao cursed from behind Rangiku's slack fingers. "You're lying!"
Shunsui grinned and leaned forward, playing along with his fellow conspirator and genuinely interested in how much of it was true. "Is that so, Rangiku-chan?"
His drinking partner nodded despite being constantly shaken around by Nanao, who fought for freedom beneath the blonde's impressive (and surprisingly heavy) bust. "In fact, she gets a little jealous whenever you and I go out drinking."
"Really?" asked Shunsui, even as Nanao screamed bloody murder.
"Yup!" she replied perkily. "Told me herself at one of the Women's Association meetings! You come up surprisingly often, Kyouraku-kun."
He was about to ask more when Nanao finally heaved her friend off, and the devilish blonde's face was replaced with a peeved Nanao's. "That isn't true!"
He rolled his eyes just to get a rise out of her. "Oh, I'm sure it isn't," he droned, purposefully sounding unconvinced.
Nanao seethed, glaring at Rangiku who laughed heartily. Her gaze returned to Shunsui, fiery and a little pleading. "I didn't! I said you were an insufferable man with an addiction to drinking and a complete lack of priorities!"
He erupted into laughter at that, and Nanao whirled around to leer accusingly at Rangiku. "Tell him you're lying!"
Rangiku, between bouts of giggles, obeyed. "All right, all right, I was lying!" She paused for a moment before continuing, "She actually told me over dinner, not at an Association meeting."
Both Shunsui and Rangiku were laughing as Nanao barely resisted screaming out of frustration. She pounded her fists into the ground, knocking numerous empty sake bottles over. "That's not true, damn it!"
Noticing Nanao's genuine anger, Rangiku set her giggles aside and patted her on the shoulder. "Fine, fine, she didn't say anything of the sort."
Shunsui pouted. "Why not, Nanao-chan?"
Nanao took a vigorous swig of sake and glared at him. "Because you really are insufferable!"
"Insufferably handsome," Rangiku muttered, but was silenced by a glare.
Shunsui allowed himself a few final chuckles before turning to greener pastures. "Now, now, let's not get in a tizzy. Why don't you tell me why your favorite season is spring, Nanao-chan?"
He received a curt glance. "I'm not sure you deserve to know now."
"I'll tell you why!" Rangiku chimed in, raising her hand as if in school.
Nanao huffed and finished off her sake bottle, ignoring Rangiku. "I want to go home," she said flatly, her statement followed by a tiny hiccup.
"Aw, why?" Rangiku wondered innocently, her shoulders also jumping with a hiccup.
"Because I'm tired," Nanao told her, a blatant and ill-disguised lie. Either way, there was no arguing with her, even when she was drunk.
Shunsui sighed, but despite all he was quite happy with the way the night had turned out. "Very well," he conceded and stood up, grabbing his hat and placing it on his head. He extended a hand to Nanao. "Shall I take you home, Nanao-chan?"
"What about me?" Rangiku whimpered even as Nanao glared at his outstretched palm.
He rolled his eyes. "You're not as drunk as you look," he said, and she gave him a sour stare. She would have gone on to complain about how it was too early to stop drinking, but knew she'd find Kira someplace and continue the ritual with him. Rangiku begrudgingly stood, took a small sip of her sake and wandered back to civilization, searching fervently for Third Division's vice-captain.
"I will be fine," Nanao finally grumbled, brushing petals off her lap and knocking away errant bottles. She stood too quickly for herself and wobbled, her equilibrium sent whirring by the uneven footing of the hill. She fell unintentionally forward into the waiting cradle of her captain's arms, collapsing awkwardly against his partially exposed chest.
She blushed, even as he shook with chuckles. "Will you, my clumsy Nanao-chan?"
Her eyes narrowed and tried to steady herself, failing miserably. Finally resigning herself to taking his arm, she reflexively motioned to push her glasses onto the bridge of her nose. Her eyes widened when she only wound up poking herself between her brows. She glanced around wildly. "My glasses!"
"Calm down," he cajoled, helping her to stand straight. "Rangiku has them. Despite being drunk, she's very responsible with other peoples' belongings. I'm sure you'll get them back tomorrow."
Nanao was not entirely comforted, but in her current state felt ill at the thought of running after the blonde. Instead she concentrated heavily on the rise and fall of her steps, watching her feet and hoping she wouldn't stumble and embarrass herself in front of her captain – not that she hadn't already.
"So, now that we're alone," he began, and she nearly dreaded what he would say next, "would you mind telling me?"
"Telling you what?" she asked, her voice curious despite her best intentions to come off as uninterested. The dim firelight burned her eyes, announcing their approach of the main square of Eighth Division.
"Why spring is your favorite season."
She snorted, a sound she didn't make often and that he thus found amusing when it came from her. "You'd make fun of me."
He was veritably shocked. "I would never make fun of you, Nanao-chan!"
"Yes you would!" she retorted. "You make fun of me every day!"
Shunsui stopped, glancing down at her in confusion and concern. "Whatever do you mean?"
Nanao shook off his arm and turned to face him. "It's true! 'My Nanao-chan' this and 'O, my Undying Love' that. All you do is mock me!"
He frowned, eyes sympathetic. "Nanao-chan, I never mean it as poking fun."
She rolled her eyes, and the action set her balance off a bit. He reached out to steady her but she refused his touch. "You only poke fun because you can't poke something else," she muttered spitefully.
His frown deepened. "That's not true."
She waved a hand emphatically, dismissing him. "It doesn't matter. Just take me home."
His eyebrows drooped and he resumed walking beside her, this time keeping a respectful distance. He was still in shock: she thought he was mocking her? In truth that had been his furthest possible intent.
In the meantime Nanao tried to comport herself with as much dignity as possible. He was slightly impressed by how quickly she could revert from being flirtatious and girlish to her prudish ice queen façade, but all that was quickly wiped away as her toe snagged on a rock and she was sent tumbling. Instinctively, he used shunpou to rush forward and catch her before she got within hair's breadth of where the ground awaited her ungraceful landing. Before she could argue, she was swept into his arms and braced against his chest protectively.
He waited for an indignant response – perhaps a verbal jab or something more physical – but was most surprised when he heard the soft whistling of her breath. She was asleep. In fact, she felt either content or unaware enough to take some of his haori in her hands, nuzzling closer into the fabric and seeking out his familiar scent. The affectionate action caught him off guard, but he allowed her the indulgence and said nothing, instead continuing onto her apartment and relishing the contrast of her beautiful black hair against the silky pink weave of his haori.
Even though he took his time and moved with impossibly slow steps, they arrived at her door all too soon. Frowning, he opened it and wandered inside. Having never seen her living space before, he wasn't very surprised. The foyer, living room and kitchen were all clean to the point of being sterile. Not a single thing was out of place, and he frowned when he realized no art hung on the walls. He found the entire affair depressing, but brushed the thought away as he entered her room.
Leaning forward as gracefully as possible, he moved her covers away. Setting her down gently, he tucked her body beneath the white blanket. She mewled a bit, her sleepy lips twisting up in a tiny smile, and he grinned. With delicate fingers he brushed the hair from her eyes and, despite himself, leaned down to place a chaste kiss on her forehead.
"Sleep well, my Nanao-chan," he whispered, rising and about to leave. "May you remember me in the morning."
