Author's note: I do not own Bleach or its characters. This is AU and draws inspiration from The West Wing. Some of the dialogue is almost directly quoted from the show.


Valuable

Shunsui headed for his office to get the file for the thing. He strode in, grabbed the folder, and made to leave before doing a double take. There was a woman on his phone. She was petite, pretty, and she couldn't have finished college yet.

"I can get your name and number and give Mr. Kyoraku the message when he gets back. Thank you very much." She hung up the phone.

Shunsui smiled. "Hi."

"Hello." Her voice was a soft alto.

"Who are you?"

She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "I'm Nanao Ise. Who are you?"

"I'm Shunsui Kyoraku."

She blinked. "Oh."

He nodded. "Yes."

Nanao adjusted her glasses. "I'm your new assistant."

Shunsui racked his brain. "Did I have an old assistant?"

Nanao tilted her head to the side. "Maybe not."

He was just confused. "Who are you?"

"I'm Nanao Ise. I came here to volunteer, and the woman assigned me to you."

He noted the change in her story. "Which woman?"

She frowned a little. "Kiyoshi."

"You mean Kiyone?" That would make a little more sense.

"Yes."

Shunsui had the sinking feeling that she really wasn't supposed to be here. "Who are you?"

She sighed. "I'm Nanao Ise. I'll be working as your assistant."

Shunsui shook his head. "I'm going to talk to Kiyone."

Nanao bit her lip. "Actually, Mr. Kyoraku…"

"Yeah?" Now they were getting to it.

"When I said I was assigned to you?" Her voice was soft. "I may have been overstating it a little."

"Who are you?" He wanted the truth this time.

She tucked the same strand of hair behind her ear again; it kept coming loose the bun she wore. She looked awfully young to him. She wore jeans and a faded violet top that matched her eyes.

"I'm Nanao Ise. I drove up here from Bellingham, Washington."

It was his turn to sigh. "When did your boyfriend break up with you?"

Her eyes went cold as did her tone. "What makes you think that my boyfriend broke up with me?"

Shunsui fiddled with the folder in his hands feeling uncomfortable. "Well, you're too old for your parents to have kicked you out of the house."

Her face tightened at that. "I'm here because I want to work for Urahara."

"Where did you study?" Not that it was probably going to make a difference in the long run.

"University of Washington," came her prompt reply.

"And your major?"

"Political Science and History with minors in English and Anthropology."

That was quite a course load. "You had two majors and two minors in four years?"

Nanao voice was soft again as she looked away. "Two years."

Which meant that she hadn't graduated. Shunsui hated having to do this to people. "Okay, listen--"

She cut him off with a voice full of sad conviction. "I had to drop out."

He knew this story. "Your boyfriend was older than you?"

She met his eyes, her own sad and vulnerable. "My parents spent the rest of my college money trying to find my older sister when she disappeared. They ruined the family finances enough that I can't get any sort of loan. My scholarships couldn't cover full tuition."

Damn. He had been right about the parents. Not an older boyfriend who took advantage of her after all.

"And why did your parents kick you out of the house?"

"What makes you think they kicked me out?"

Shunsui sighed again. "Nanao, this is a campaign for the Presidency, and there's nothing I take more seriously than that. This can't be a place where people come to find their confidence and start over."

"Why not?"

Her question rang in his ears. "I'm sorry?"

"Why can't it be those things?"

"Because--"

She cut him off before he could even start explaining. "What, is it going to interfere with my typing?"

He admired her strength and audacity. "Nanao, we're picking up today and going to South Carolina. If you want to stay in the Manchester office--"

"I want to come to Charleston." Her gaze was level.

She was one of the most stubborn women he had ever met.

"I can't carry you, Nanao! I've got a lot of guys out there not making the trip."

"I'll pay my own way."

"With what?" He didn't think she was in a position to do that.

Nanao took a deep breath. "I'll sleep on the floor. I'll sell my car. Eventually, you're going to put me on salary."

"Nanao." He didn't want to hurt her more than she had already been. This young woman was clearly vulnerable and strong at the same time, and he couldn't help but like her. But she wasn't really qualified.

"Look. I think I might be good at this. I think you might find me valuable."

His office phone rang. He held her stare for a moment and it rang again. Shunsui let out a soft sigh.

"Go ahead."

Nanao snatched up the phone. "Urahara for America, Shunsui Kyoraku's office."

Her tone was firm and confident. "Yes, I think I'm going to have someone from the press office get back to you if it's related to…"

Shunsui glanced around his office. It had been a chaotic mess early. Now it was all neatly organized with everything he need for today on order sitting on top of his desk. He glanced back at Nanao who was still on the phone.

"Yes."

With a smile he pulled off his own campaign id badge and held it out to her. Nanao took it with the first smile he had seen from her. She had a beautiful smile.