"I can't believe you volunteered us for this," Jyuushiro said as they shunpoed through Hueco Mundo.
"It's the annual division review," Shunsui explained with a shrug. "I'd rather be hunting down an adjucha in Hueco Mundo than trying to avoid Nanao-chan and her armload of paperwork and repair needs. If we play this right we can be gone for the whole week."
Jyuushiro rolled his eyes and paused on the top of a sand dune to scan the area. "You could have at least only volunteered yourself. I actually help my division with the review."
"But then I'd have been bored, and besides this thing has already made three scouting parties of various abilities disappear in this area. How could I be sure I could handle the big mean monster all on my own?"
Jyuushiro arched a doubting eyebrow at him and sighed. "You could have just brought Ise-san and only screwed your own division."
"And bring sweet Nanao-chan to this awful place?"
"So instead I get the honor? I've got to work out how to get Ise-san's friendship level with you for myself."
"You'd have to become female, I'm afraid," Shunsui said with a mock sad tone. "Although I hear the 12th can do wonders nowadays. Then I'd have my cute Nanao-chan and Ukitake-chan and wouldn't know what to do with myself."
"You're a pervert and an imbecile," Jyuushiro said exasperated. "I was wrong. Yamamoto-sensei should have sent Ise-san and me instead and left you with the division review. Kami knows she has enough experience tracking things down after serving under you for almost forty years now."
"Come on, Jyuu-chan," Shunsui wheedled. "It won't be that bad. It'll be like our old academy patrols, camping and staying up late, I've even got some sake in my pack."
"Of course you do. At least you had the sense not to wear your usual pink and attract every hollow's eye in the near vicinity."
"I would have," Shunsui replied looking aggrieved. "But Nanao-chan said it needed to be laundered and it wouldn't be back in time for when we had to leave. I think she did it out of spite."
"I never thought I'd see the day where the great womanizing Kyouraku Shunsui would be that whipped by a woman." Jyuushiro grinned at him and started another shunpo to the north. "Even Yadomaru-san couldn't get that thing off of you."
"I am not whipped." He shot his friend a glare that Jyuushiro entirely ignored.
"You are too," Jyuushiro teased. "You spent all of last weekend sober and helping her assemble furniture at her new house. Then this week you left the party at the 10th early so you could get up before work to train with her since she had an SWA meeting in the evening the next day. If that's not whipped I don't know what is."
"I was being helpful. I'm always helpful when there is a damsel in distress."
"Just admit you're stupid in love with your Fukutaicho. Everyone already knows it anyway."
"We're just friends."
"You haven't been just friends for almost a decade now," Jyuushiro said firmly. "You're more married than Kaien-san is and he's actually married."
"We aren't sleeping together," Shunsui defended.
"I never said you were, which is why its even more shocking how whipped you are. When's the last time you brought a random woman home anyway? Not that I miss hearing those particular stories."
"Recently," Shunsui said quickly and then thought about it. "Less than a year ago, at least." He went over the past year's parties and nights out drinking. Then he thought of the year before that. "Holy shit, I'm celibate."
Jyuushiro burst into laughter and clapped his friend on the back mid-step. "Like I said, you're stupid in love with Ise-san."
"No, seriously, Jyuu. This isn't funny."
"Sure it is. You fell in love with the only woman in the world who'd rather beat you upside the head than sleep with you. It's plenty funny. I'm sure you have quite a few exes that would love to see this and laugh. Your mom will be delighted to finally have Ise-san as part of the family too."
"Nobody said anything about marriage," Shunsui said sharply. So he might have some feelings for his Fukutaicho that weren't exactly platonic, but he certainly wasn't thinking about settling down and starting a family. Hell, he was just trying to get his head around the fact that he'd gone this long without sex without noticing. Given he'd had plenty of fantasies involving Nanao-chan to occupy his time over the last couple years, but that was just being male. She was the closest female to him and attractive as hell, of course he fantasized. It didn't mean he was in love with the woman. And so what if they spent nearly all their time together? Obviously during the week they had to and on the weekend they often had the same friends and plans tended to overlap. It wasn't something they consciously did. If she occasionally asked him to help her around the house or with heavy lifting who was he to say no to a friend? And if she tended to be the one he invited out to events it was only because he knew they had similar interest and she'd enjoy them. Who wanted to go to a play or new restaurant with an idiotic girl who would chatter meaninglessly through it or not enjoy it? And as for family events, they expected to see her. He wasn't going to disappoint his mom and his nieces and nephews by not inviting her. That didn't mean they were in love.
"We've always been just friends," he reaffirmed.
"Then you truly are an idiot," Jyuushiro said with a shake of his head. "It's not often you find a woman that intelligent and pretty who also succeeds in making you a better person. Do what you want, but eventually someone is going to decide you've taken too long and make a move on her, and you don't want that to be the moment you realize you're head over heels in love with her. Come on, let's see if those caves are clear and make camp for the night." With that Jyuushiro let the topic drop and the two of them cleared out the two minor hollows from the cave and set up camp, cooking dinner over a small kido fire. Conversation ranged from old times in their friendship to the latest books brought back from the living world, and Shunsui studiously avoiding the subject of his enticing little Fukutaicho.
The next day they got a late start as Jyuushiro had learned long ago it wasn't worth waking him up, and it wasn't as if either of them had anywhere to be. Jyuushiro might gripe, but he didn't love the annual review either. Better to be hunting hollows than dealing with red tape and division repairs.
"Do you want to cover the north quadrant and I'll take the south?" Shunsui asked reviewing the sketchy map the 12th had provided them of the area. Something big was hunting in it, and the Soutaicho had finally decided to send some Taichos to end the problem before it got itself into the living world and they had to deal with it there.
"Are you sure it's smart to split up?"
"How powerful could it possibly by, Jyuu? We'll be fine. Just locate it and we can re-group here and then take it out tomorrow together." Shunsui punched him good-naturedly on the shoulder and headed out to the south. Hopefully it'd take them a day or two to locate the hollow and then maybe a day to kill it and another to regroup. Nanao would want to murder him by the time he got back, but she'd probably be too exhausted from the review to actually follow through.
Four hours later Shunsui was debating whether or not it would be ok if he headed back to the caves for a nap. Jyuushiro probably wouldn't judge him for it, but perhaps he should find his friend and they could both take mid-afternoon naps. There would be no Nanao-chan to get him in trouble for it after all. He was covering his area in a grid, but so far he'd not even picked up a peep of power and he was seriously thinking about turning around and giving up for the morning when he caught a flash of movement out of the corner of his eye. Shunsui sighed and changed directions. He'd really been looking forward to that nap.
Gaining on the movement Shunsui ground to a halt as he made out the figure and a familiar reiatsu signature moving in front of him in a hurry in the opposite direction. How in the world had Nanao convinced Yama-jii to let her into Hueco Mundo? Beyond that why had Yama-jii let her come alone?
Shunsui shunpoed after her as she pelted across the sand. "Nanao-chan!" he called out trying to gain her attention before overtaking her so as not to scare her, but the woman kept moving like she hadn't heard him. He watched her slip around the corner into a cave mouth and frowned. Had Yama-jii sent her to spy on them for some reason and she was trying not to be seen? He couldn't imagine Nanao would have followed that order even if it had been given. He could, however, imagine her demanding to be sent so he didn't slack off and came back quickly to help her with the paperwork. He supposed it was too much to hope that he'd get out of the division review entirely. At least she wasn't trying to beat him incoherent with her book.
"Nanao-chan?" he called cautiously into the cave as he reached the entrance. Across the cave in the gloom he saw her slip around the corner into a deeper cavern. He followed her more slowly this time as she'd stopped shunpoing at least. "Nanao-chan, I've already seen you if you weren't supposed to be seen. Why not come out and talk to me? Or are you trying to get me alone and have your wicked way with me?"
"Taicho?" her voice called back.
"Yes," he said rounding the corner. There was another corner up ahead and he couldn't see her anywhere. "Nanao-chan, where are you? And besides that what in the world are you doing here?"
"Taicho, over here," she said sharply. "I think I found something."
"Why are you here?" he asked moving towards the sound of her voice. Of course she'd be the first to find something and rush head long into danger. "Did Yama-jii send you to make sure Jyuu and I aren't slacking off?"
"You didn't think you were going to get out of the division review entirely, did you?"
Shunsui sighed. There would be no afternoon nap today or anytime soon for that matter. He rounded yet another corner and finally found Nanao a few meters out from him staring over a sheer drop into the darkness below. "What'd you find, lovely Nanao-chan? You probably should have found Jyuu and I first before you started hunting hollows down." Not that she couldn't handle herself, he thought, but if she'd found the adjucha in question without them he'd have been concerned. As it was he didn't feel any real power around the area other than her.
"I can take care of myself," she said shooting a glare at him over her shoulder.
"Yare, yare, Nanao-chan," he said holding up his hands in surrender. "Show me what you found." He moved up to her side, bent over the edge of the drop, and squinted into the darkness.
"I found you," she said lightly, suddenly right by his side and with her face near his.
"Nanao?" he asked confused as he went to stand up straight again. She put both of her small hands on the side of his face and for a moment he thought she was going to kiss him.
"And aren't you a wonderful find indeed?" she asked with a slow grin. Then she kicked off the side and sent both of them tumbling over the edge of the cliff.
Shunsui reacted instinctively and pulled her to his chest cradling the back of her head to protect it from any kind of impact. Thinking fast and trying to right them both he was about to leap into a shunpo when he felt something wrap around his ankle and tug. As soon as he registered that, a hundred more tendrils reached up to wrap around his arms, legs, throat, anywhere they could grasp. Shunsui struggled to get to his sword, but Nanao's limp body made it impossible as more wickedly fast vines grabbed on to every inch they could, stopping their fall and effectively tangling them both and quickly cocooning them.
Shunsui felt the vines start to pull Nanao out of his hold and he fought desperately to keep her with him. Whatever this thing was had obviously gotten to her first and done something to her. He'd kill it slowly. She slipped from his grasp as more vines rose to restrict him further back. He started a strong kido and felt surprise run through him when his reiatsu didn't instantly answer. He'd been so distracted by getting to Nanao he hadn't realized right away that the vines were leeching his reiatsu and quickly. Struggling seemed to make the vines pull tighter and he relaxed into them slightly trying to think. By this point he was completely covered in the things and Nanao was nowhere to be seen. If he couldn't fight his way out and his reiatsu was draining his only hope was his swords. Slowly and carefully he started to work his arms down to his sides hoping the vines would only react to overt quick movements like quicksand.
He was damn near his blades when the vines tightened on his wrists and whipped them back. Shunsui cursed and the vines shifted away from his face unblocking his view, but staying perfectly planted around his throat. He looked up to see Nanao standing opposite him, free of the vines, and staring at him placidly.
"Nanao-chan" he rasped around the pressure at his throat. "Come on, sweetheart, whatever it did to you, you have to fight it."
Nanao walked to him and a slow smile spread across her face as she reached up to touch his cheek. "You're so convinced she'd never hurt you," Nanao said softly. "Usually they start to doubt their friends about now or at least start to worry more about themselves. But you only want to get to her don't you?"
Shunsui frowned. Whatever the thing had done to her, it better be reversible.
"It's sweet really," she said giving him a soft lazy grin as she pressed up against the front of the vines covering him. "You'd follow her into hell and back. Although there's something dark twisting in you isn't there? Maybe you'd just drag her down to hell with you. Create something dark and twisty in her too."
"Nanao-chan," he said calmly. "You've got to try and remember who you are."
"Still think it's her?" she asked running a finger down his cheek. He didn't take the bait, he'd know that reiatsu anywhere. "Ah, the reiatsu. You really shouldn't project your thoughts quite so loudly if you can help it. No, darling, I can mimic that too. Whatever you expect to see and feel I can be."
He glared at the creature in front of him and she laughed lightly taking a step back. Nanao's form shimmered and twisted until a female adjucha was standing before him with dark gauzy wings wrapping around her body. Her eyes watched him steadily and she cocked her head to the side. "You're relieved," she said surprised. "You're going to die and you're just relieved she's not here and not in danger. How odd."
"It's a lot to assume I'm going to die here," Shunsui said casually, though it was creepy how much the creature could read out from his mind. He'd have to work on blanking his mind to get out of this one. It was true. The second the creature changed he'd been relieved to know Nanao was still safe and sound in the Seireitei probably stamping forms and cursing his name.
The hollow smiled and stepped towards him stroking a vine. "It's no assumption. My friend has you all bound up. You see he's very strong but not very mobile."
"So you're the bait in the trap, becoming something you know the target will follow," he filled in easily. "Then you get part of the snack."
"Very good," the adjucha trilled. "Although sometimes my bait isn't so perfect. You had such a strong mental image of her and what she is floating right at the top of your mind that it was easy this time. It's not always like that." The creature shimmered and twisted again and he had Nanao's indigo eyes blinking up at him from behind a pair of glasses.
"You shouldn't waste your power on me," he said lightly. "You've already got me here."
"I just want you to be comfortable during your stay," she said softly in Nanao's voice. It was the voice she used when he was injured in battle and in the 4th or had a particularly nasty case of the flu. It was a voice he was sure very few people got to hear out of Nanao-chan, and it made him sick to hear it coming out of this creature's mouth now. Her hand reached up to his cheek and he turned his face away from it as much as the vines would allow. "You're so strong. I'm sure we'll get to play for several days."
The vine at his throat released when she stroked it and he felt her hot breath at the crook of his neck. "It doesn't have to be completely unpleasant if you don't want it to be." And that was a tone he certainly had never heard from Nanao, but had imagined often enough.
"I'm afraid I'd need more mobility to have that kind of fun," he teased playing along. If he could get the creature to let him go he could probably snap her delicate little neck, although it would disturb him to do so when she looked like Nanao.
She backed off and grinned up at him. "Maybe when you're very much weaker." She stood on her tiptoes and pressed a kiss to his throat. He tried not to tighten his jaw in disgust at the sensation since right now this seemed like his best option for escape. The hollow licked over his clavicle and for once he wished he'd listened to Nanao-chan and worn his uniform properly closed. Then the creature bit him hard enough to draw blood and he hissed. Another swipe of her tongue and she backed off once more smiling at him with Nanao's smile and his blood on her lips.
"Rest now," she said lightly. "I'll be back later to play." The creature left the cavern with a sway to her hips that was decidedly not Nanao and the vine quickly latched around his throat again. Only patience would win this one. Jyuushiro knew vaguely where he was, he'd find him soon enough and they'd kill both of the hollows. Barring that he'd just have to hold on to enough strength that when she eventually got too confident and gave him some leeway he'd be able to take her down.
A/N: Hope everyone who celebrates had a very happy thanksgiving! Glad everyone enjoyed the fluff of the last chapter. Sorry for the cliffy on this one. As always thank you to everyone who reviewed, audriefrias, Arihimew, Megiddo, 0Sam0, one-bakaneko-piece, pinkypunkful, liferscove2118, and the two guests!
