End of the Month - Opening Eyes

Something felt very out of place, yet it was too comfortable to truly do anything. It was a little too warm, but pushing the covers back was and easy solution. The pillow under her head seemed a little too hard, but if she turned on to her side, she could easily drift back to sleep.

She dreamed of long hallways full of sunlight. Her feet made the only sound and she smiled while clutching a new book to her chest. She was going to spend the day reading uninterrupted. Then a pair of heavy arms gently caught her from behind, filling her senses with the smell of sandalwood, sakura, and sword polish. No words were spoken as she simply stood in the embrace, even leaned into it. She found herself sitting on the floor with her book open in her lap. One masculine arm curled familiarly around her waist, holding her back against his chest. She said the first words,

"I like this."

A deep voice murmured, "I like this as well."

Nanao opened her eyes slowly, focusing on the crumpled black and pink fabric in front of her face. The scent was real, filling her every breath. Eyelids dropping shut, she shifted onto her back, neck complaining. The sound of movement above her popped her eyes back open.

Her Captain had somehow turned himself into her pillow during the night. She was usually a light sleeper with any unknown noise waking her. Even now, the heavy clouds of sleep refused to clear and she stared up at his relaxed features. One large hand propped his head on the arm of the couch. The other, she realized with an enormous blush, rested on her stomach. She wouldn't be able to move without waking him.

The twinkle of something tucked inside his gi caught her eye. Nanao smirked at the sight of her glasses that he had stolen the night before. She really didn't need to wear them all the time, except for reading. However, they served as an effective shield when evading the more pointed stares of Captain and inquisitive minds alike. Carefully reaching up with her left hand, she watched his face for any signs that he was waking. Nanao sighed inwardly, noting that he desperately needed to shave. His usual five o'clock shadow had darkened to a full day and a half's growth.

Her eyes darted back to her glasses. They rested just within reach of her fingertips. She cautiously strained to get a grip on the metal frames and pulled. They slipped smoothly from their hiding place and into her grasp before a brown hand fell firmly over her wrist.

"Now, now," Shunsui grumbled, "Sneaking things around under your Captain's nose is not like you, Nanao-chan."

He plucked the glasses from her nerveless fingers and put them back into his gi. "You don't really need them anyway – half the time you lecture me over the tops." He shifted on the couch to better lean his head against its back and Nanao was sharply reminded of her rather cozy position next to him. She shot up straight, only to have him pull her right back down, head thumping awkwardly against his leg.

Shocked, Nanao stared upside down at the smiling face of her superior officer. She habitually raised her hand to smack him, but found that she couldn't quite reach his head and had to settle with his chest instead. He made a half-hearted grunt at the impact.

"Ah, Nanao, you said that you liked this only a moment ago."

It was too much – she knew she had to get away from him or something would go severely sideways. She twisted around, throwing off his restraining arm and sat up on her knees to face him. The pink haori tangled around her legs, but she ignored it and pointedly held out her hand.

"Sir, my glasses if you please."

Shunsui's brown eyes swept her up and down and inwardly she quailed. She chose to focus only on his wide grin and not the strange looks he was giving her most disheveled appearance.

He sighed dramatically, "Oh, I'm not sure where I put them! I'm afraid I am not the organized person as my Nanao-chan is."

Exasperated to a whole new level of irritation, Nanao reached over and plunged her hand into his uniform and grabbed for… nothing.

Strong arms trapped her against Shunsui's chest. Heart pounding, she struggled to summon up her mask of indifference beneath the crimson of her face. The bare skin under her fingers did not help. Jerking both hands to her chest, she leaned as far away from her Captain as possible. Shunsui gave her a catty grin that only egged her anger to greater heights. At this rate, she was seriously considering calling on her demon arts, or at least 'accidentally' putting her knee down in a most painful place.

"Sir, let go! This is harassment!"

His smile faded into deadly focus. "Not if it is a mutual exchange."

Nanao fell back onto policy as her final defense, shoving ineffectually at his shoulders. She knew now that it had all been another set-up and made it her mission to walk out the door without glasses or hairclip. She squirmed in his grasp and recited the code of conduct for all officers.

Shunsui only smiled patiently while easily keeping a hold on her smaller figure. When she started to repeat herself, he cut her off with a quick peck on the lips. Nanao froze, violet eyes wide in shock. Then she blinked and slapped him sharply across the face.

Shunsui took the blow without flinching, his dark eyes cutting. His hands slowly slid from around her waist and he withdrew, holding her only with the hurt in his gaze.

Nanao hesitated, then untangled herself from his lap and stood. They stared in heavy silence at one another. Her heart hammered in her chest and she realized that through all the teasing and flirting, a thread of sincerity had been staring her in the face. She had been willfully blind to it, but if she were honest, she would admit that such unchartered territory terrified her.

Questions piled upon questions. The reason why Shunsui had chosen now to blatantly pursue her was small in the face of what may happen in result. They were defying inter-office rules – not that her Captain had ever been overly concerned with rules. It was her job to keep him in line and now he was asking her to step over it. Nanao pushed a loose strand of hair out of her face.

Shunsui rose from the couch and held out one hand as a sort of peace offering. She knew what he wanted truly. Something drastic had changed during the night, something that simply had to happen; rules be damned. And in the end, the question was whether she would take that final step past station, rank, and stubborn pride.

She closed her eyes and took his hand. He softly pulled her to him, wrapping heavy arms around her shoulders. She knew he was waiting for something and swallowed,

"I don't know where we'll go from here."

His deep voice rumbled into her. "Anywhere you want, dear Nanao."

She let her hands creep up to the folds of his uniform, half-searching for her missing glasses, half for reassurance that he was really holding her. She finally summoned her courage to look up at him. Brown eyes met violet, one warm and secure, and the others hesitant.

Nanao fisted her hands in the material of her Captain's gi to keep them from trembling. Tilting her head upward, she frowned, "I never let myself even consider… I'm not sure how to handle this."

Shunsui's fingers traced her chin and her eyes widened as he bent and gently pressed his mouth to hers.

Kissing had been a strange concept to Nanao. She had wondered what could be thrilling in that a touch where one consumed food could be thought as romantic. Now she wasn't sure if she would ever have enough of it. The sensation of damp silk against her skin sent electricity through her entire body. A delicate pulling on her bottom lip made her shudder, knees giving way. She lost contact for a breathless moment, before Shunsui deftly picked up where he left off.

Shunsui smiled with a trace of smugness at the glassy look in her lovely eyes. Resting his forehead against her own, he whispered in her ear, "We can take it one day at a time, my Nanao. We have all the time in the world."

Author's Note:

How much suspense and fluff can I work into one chapter? I think this is the greatest ever. This is the product of a rather taxing road trip, and I hope it makes Nanao/Shunsui fans giggle!

I might throw in another chapter, but as you can tell, there is no real plot.