A/N: A little short, I know, but I wanted to get something out there. I went too long again without updating X.X It's a bit uneventful too, but it fills in a little bit. It's basically a set up for my next chapter, which could possibly be my last? Maybe, mabye not. This is the reason it was supposed to just be a long one-shot. There really isn't much plot stuff. Oh well, fluff is good too. Good, not good? Let me know. -KG

Part Four: Surprises

Nanao showed up at The Thirteenth Step around four thirty the next day, slightly earlier than yesterday. She had nothing better to do at the moment, so she figured she might as well keep herself busy with work. As she passed Kenpachi on the way in, she noticed that everyone was crowded around the bar, at least, almost everyone she knew. It was a slower night because there was no show, so there weren't that many people present. It was still odd though, for people like Rangiku and Isane to be here on their day off. Surely they had already finished practice.

When she walked in, everyone stopped and looked at her. Some broke out into giggles, and she raised her eyebrow in suspicion. What was so funny? Nearing closer, she found even Jushiro present. He had a knowing smile on his face, one that made her even more suspicious. What on earth?

Upon closer inspection, she found them crowded around a something, although from this angle she couldn't tell what it was. She could feel the waves of excitement rolling off the lot of them. It was like they knew something she didn't, and in this instance, that was entirely true.

She decided to play along with their little game and took her time reaching the bar. She walked past into the staff room, and waited a few moments before appearing on the inside of the bar, where Jushiro and Nemu were currently standing. Even Nemu had a pleased look on her face! What was going on?

She ignored it for a moment longer and turned around to look at herself in the mirror. Smoothing back her hair, she turned to face them and put an indifferent expression on her face, hands going to rest on her hips.

"Alright, what's going on?"

At her words, Jushiro stepped to the side, revealing a large bouquet. Nanao's eyes went wide, and somewhere in her mind she thought that she probably looked stupid while gaping, but currently she didn't care. Still trying to get her thoughts in order, she pointed to herself in question, asking what she wasn't able to in words. A lot of people nodded enthusiastically, and she stepped towards them, to get a better view.

Sure enough, her name was written in a somewhat messy fashion on a card in the middle of the petals. She took in the sight of them before opening the card, the reds, yellows, and oranges of the bird of paradise flowers pleasing her eyes. They were beautiful to say the least. The single light blue petals reminded her of the sky, making it seem like anything could be obtained if you worked hard enough for it.

She turned her attention to the card now, wondering who would've sent her such a thing. In a twisted thought in the back of her mind, she speculated that maybe it was somewhere she had applied before, and now they were sending her an apology and telling her they made a grave mistake by not hiring her before. If she was alone, she would've laughed dryly.

Looking inside, she found the same slightly messy handwriting in the form of a small message.

Nanao-chan,
I had a wonderful time last night.
Hope to see you soon.
Your ever loving,
Shunsui

She looked blankly at the note for a minute, trying to decide how she should react to it. The note implied something had happened between them (less innocent than what actually transpired), and she knew that people like Rangiku were probably going to take it the wrong way. On another note, she felt a little flattered that he thought enough of their little encounter to do something that was considered sweet. She decided that it was a sweet gesture, even if he wouldn't stop using that nickname of hers.

"So? What did it say?"

Rangiku's voice broke the still air that had engulfed everyone while she read the note. Nanao sighed, knowing that she would get it from her one way or the other, and passed the note to her while she went back to admiring her gift. She faintly heard Rangiku reading it out loud, but she was too preoccupied looking at the vibrant colors to really care too much.

Nanao was aware that she was probably blushing. She was also partly aware of the slight daze she was in. She spoke up, still in a bit of awe from receiving such an unexpected gift.

"I've never received flowers before."

Jushiro grinned. "Don't tell that to him. You'll end up being engulfed in flowers everyday for the next year. I'm a bit surprised that he behaved so well."

Nanao nodded in understanding, but she secretly wondered how wonderful it would be to get flowers from someone everyday.

--KG--

Life continued after that. Over the course of the rest of the month, Nanao had seen Shunsui quite a lot. He was oftentimes at the club on every night she worked. He would usually stay until her shift was over, insisting that he should see her home. She let him sometimes, realizing that it wouldn't be nice to shun his attempts at being helpful. Sometimes they stopped at that same café to sit and chat, and Nanao found that underneath that flirtatious attitude and apparently lax manner to all things work-related, there were actually some redeeming qualities about him. She trusted in those. Besides, if Jushiro and he were close friends, he couldn't be that bad.

It was one of those real slow days at the club. Nanao had taken over the later half of someone's afternoon shift, so she was here much earlier than normal. There was hardly anyone here because dancing didn't usually start up until six or seven, and the show wasn't until nine. Her and Nemu were working the bar this afternoon.

Nemu had traded shifts with Rukia because apparently her father needed her really early the next morning. Sometimes everyone worried for her, but whenever anyone brought it up, she always dismissed it with a smile, telling them not to worry. Nanao had wondered how many of these smiles were fake, but she didn't know the girl well enough to make any speculations.

Nanao had wiped down the counters and washed all the spare glasses, but she still couldn't find anything to keep her occupied for more than five minutes. Then, salvation came in the form of one smiling, strawberry blonde.

"Hey, Nanao!"

"Hello, Rangiku." Nanao made the motions to get her a drink, like she did all other times. She was halted by Rangiku's next words however.

"Hold the sake, Nanao. We have practicing to do."

She blinked a few times before she noticed that she had absolutely no idea what her friend was talking about.

"What are you talking about? Practicing for what?"

"You, me, and the dance floor, of course!"

Nanao tensed a bit. She couldn't be serious could she? At any rate, the answer was still the same.

"No."

Rangiku gave a pout. "What do you mean, 'no'? It's been far too long since you've danced with me."

"Not long enough." Her reply was cold and bitter, reflecting off her previous experience with it.

"That was a long time ago, Nanao. I thought that it didn't bother you anymore? Aizen was being an idiot. Besides, here is a much better place than there, isn't it?"

She looked hopeful, and Nanao felt a little bit of guilt for making her feel that way. Sure, she liked it better here by a landslide, but Hueco Mundo still left a sore spot on her. It made a dent in her self-esteem if anything else. She had tried her best to perform as well as she was able, but it just wasn't good enough apparently. It's hard to accept a comment when they basically tell you that you're too plain for their liking.

She supposed she could've fought against some of the smaller things, the ones that they said qualified her for being fired, but in the end she decided that it just wasn't worth it. She hadn't danced since then, preferring to stick to what she did best. Now she was faced with an inner demon, and as much as she hated letting past things bother her, this one definitely walked that thin line.

"Come on, there's hardly anyone here. Nemu won't mind watching the bar. Jushiro already said it was okay. He said it might be good for you, kind of like a straw hat-wearing patron I know." She gave a cheeky grin, and shoved her arm a bit. Nanao was still unsure.

--KG--

Ten minutes later, Nanao found herself in the back practice room with Rangiku. It was just the two of them in the empty room. They made their way over to Rangiku's locker, and she pulled out a spare set of clothes and handed them to Nanao. This caused the bespectacled woman to raise an eyebrow. She speculated that Rangiku may have sneakily planned this whole thing out after all.

She changed into the more comfortable clothes and began to stretch out her arms and legs, knowing that it was always good to start with a stretch. She didn't want to hurt herself after all. She could tell she hadn't done this in a while. She wasn't nearly as flexible as she used to be. Her muscles pulled uncomfortable as she tried to warm them up. Why was she doing this again? Oh right. A scheme of Rangiku's.

When she was done, Rangiku started messing with the sound system in the room, compliments of Renji. Picking a song, she took up a position next to Nanao as "Move Your Body" started to play.

Nanao recognized the tune almost immediately. This was one of the routines that they used to practice before she went out for the entertainer part at Hueco Mundo.

She knowingly fell into the steps she knew so well and moved like she only did it yesterday. Sometimes it was just like riding a bike, you could never forget. A spin here and some fancy footwork there, and Nanao thought she saw a smirk appear on Rangiku's face out of the corner of her eye. Okay, so maybe she was enjoying it. The familiar movements felt wonderful to enact again.

Before she knew it, she was lost within her own memory and enjoying every second of it. If only this path would've worked out for her. Oh well. For now she would take what she could get.

A voice soon ripped her out of her fantasy, and she halted all motions.

"Well, it seems to me that Sosuke didn't know talent when it saw it."

It was hard to not recognize his laid back voice upon hearing it. Turning around, she saw none other than Shunsui. This wasn't what surprised her though. The fact that he seemed to know more about the Hueco Mundo incident than she told him did. Then again, he had been talking to Rangiku almost as much as herself, so maybe she really shouldn't be surprised.

Speaking of that woman, where did she go? Nanao looked around, not finding a trace of her.

"Apparently he thought he knew so. What are you doing here? This room is for staff only."

He rubbed the back of his head. "Ah, so cruel, Nanao-chan. I merely came to give you this."

At this point, he handed her a fancy envelope with her name on it. He stood there as she opened it, revealing an equally fancy invitation. Looking inside, she found it invited her to a dinner at a more elegant restaurant she'd heard about uptown. She raised her eyebrow and looked at him.

"What's the occasion?"

He made dramatic motions as he spoke. "Why, it's my lovely Nanao-chan's birthday , of course! You didn't think I'd forget, did you?"

That's right. It was now July, a day before her birthday, also known as the 6th. Why hadn't that crossed her mind before? "I don't recall mentioning that."

He grinned at her. "Well, technically you didn't, but Jushiro was nice enough to share that bit of wonderful information. What kind of Beau would I be if I didn't know when it was?"

Beau? Did that mean they were dating? It didn't seem that way to her. Maybe they were only kind of dating. How you kind of dated, she didn't really know, but that seemed to fit better. True, they did spend a lot of time in each other's presence, but it was mainly at the club. In her mind, that didn't exactly count, but the way he made it sound…

"But-"

"No, buts, Nanao-chan. Juu already said you could have the day off. I'm taking you out whether you like it or not. During previous years, according to a reliable source, you've done nothing to celebrate. We're going to change that. Starting tomorrow."

"I don't have the option of saying no, do I?"

He smiled again. "Not a chance. Just meet me there. 6 o'clock." Then, he took up her hand and planted a kiss on it. "For now I have a meeting I must attend to. I'll see you tomorrow."

With a tip of his hat he departed, leaving a puzzled Nanao behind.

-End of Part Four

A/N: I don't own this song either, but it is pretty sweet. It's by Eiffel 65. The flower thing was sparked from a day I had at work. Someone got flowers from a person they hung out with for a few hours. They were pretty. I was wanting some. End of story XD. This was the part that I wanted out on the 7th, but we all saw how that went. I should've started this like two weeks ago when I first had the idea. Oh well. Tell me what you think. -KG