Your first meeting will be met with kindness.

In the second he will show you sympathy.

Third, he will cause you pain and anger.

Fourth, he'll erase those feelings by protecting you from harm.

The fifth meeting will display his resistance...

But in the sixth it is you who will let your guard down.

Seventh, he will confess his love.

And Eighth... You will fall in love with him.

"Your name means 'Seven Inceptions' and that is to remind you to think twice before you hop in bed with a man. Ultimately the choice is yours, but remember you be the one to hear him continually repeating your name as you have sex. You gotta be sure you can handle that."

"Why's that Yadoumaru-Fuku Taichou?"

"Because each time he says your name, it'll be harder for you to refuse him."


How many times had he called her 'Nanao-chan' now? Had that been the reason her well constructed barrier towards love began crumbling around him? What did it matter now? She'd be breaking her century of professionalism by coming to his quarters at night, but she disguised it as a business matter and not a personal one and thus gained the courage to knock on the door.

"...Kyouraku-Taichou?"

"Aa, come in." She heard him respond.

She slid open the door and stepped inside. Kyouraku Shunsui was lounging on his futon and hitting the bottle hard. Thankfully, he was in his kosode, for Nanao was almost certain he'd be naked if he had expected her visitation. He must have been mad with her because he didn't look up at her when she entered.

"Anou... Taichou?"

He gave a small grunt to indicate he was listening.

"I... I'm sorry sir." She bowed deeply. "I was completely out of line and hope you can forgive my outburst, though I don't expect you do."

"Never mind that." He said rather seriously. "You talked about your falling in battle, which raised a question. Nanao-chan, what would you do if I was killed? Could you leave me there to die?"

It had never occurred to her that Kyouraku was just as mortal as she was. The very idea of this legendary captain dying was next to impossible though. He was powerful and actually intelligent when it came to battle.

"That would never happen." Nanao stated. "I highly doubt you'd receive any fatal injury."

"But if I did...?" He asked, standing up to approach her.

"You won't because I won't let you do anything stupid that could get you killed!" She felt like crying again.

"Nanao-chan..." He brushed the back of his fingers against her cheek, wiping away a tear that had begun trickling down her face. "If we live, which is the more likely, would you consider marrying me?"

She looked up at him with confused eyes. "What...?"

"My Nanao-chan would make such a cute little wife for me. Ah, and I can just picture how coy you'll be with me on our wedding night. My lovely blushing bride all dressed in white. It'll be fun." His voice turned goofy again and Nanao couldn't help but smile.

"Taichou... don't be ridiculous... I'd be even more nagging as a wife."

"Hm, you make a good point." He swept her off her feet, literally, and spun around as he carried her over to his futon. He flopped her down on the blankets playfully, then went to unroll the extra futon he had. "But you're worth it."

Nanao snuggled into her designated futon without argument and lay on her side to talk to see eye to eye with her captain. "Remember the first birthday I celebrated with you?"

"Of course I do. It was a beautiful seventh of July. I took you to the Rukongai Tanabata festival and bought you some fancy hair-clips and a goldfish. You wore the cutest little yukata too. Then I took you up to the highest hill and we watched the stars until daybreak. You tried so hard to stay awake but fell asleep."

"I was just a little girl, Taichou..."

"A very precious and beautiful little girl." He corrected her. "Who fell asleep holding my hand."

Nanao blushed with embarrassment. How she hated when he brought up her childhood fondness for him. "I just liked knowing someone was there..." She said in her defense.

He chuckled and rolled over on his back, stretching his arm out so his hand was in reaching distance.

The ebony haired vice captain received the message and rolled onto her back as well, placing her hand in his palm and lacing their fingers together.

"Good night, Nanao-chan." He said softly as he lightly squeezed her hand. "I'll be right here if you need me."

"...Arigatou, Taichou."


That night, sleep was not kind to the Vice Captain of the Eighth Division. Horrible dreams of slain Shinigami and a monstrous being known as Aizen Sousuke as the one holding the blood stained sword. She ran amidst a see of blood and bodies, frantically searching to find her captain but by the time she found him, it was too late.

"Kyouraku-Taichou... no... no! Taichou!!"

He was there, as he had promised, and quickly released her from her tossing and turning by embracing her. His lips pressed against her ear lobe and as soon as she heard his voice murmur her name, she woke up.

"Tai... chou..."

"It's alright Nanao-chan. I'm right here. Shh, shh."

Nanao slid her arms around his neck, hiding her head against his shoulder. "How could you...? You put that awful scenario in my head...!"

"Shh..." His voice remained gentle and oddly comforting. She couldn't remember the last time she pressed her ear to his chest and listened to his heartbeat. He was still alive, he was still by her side, and he had no plans on changing that.

Then another horrible thought crossed her mind; maybe she could love someone like him...

The Eighth Inception...

"T-Taichou...?"

"Yes?" He looked down at her with loving soft brown eyes and smiled only as he could. She felt his right hand stroke her hair and his left squeeze the small of her back, all acts tender and slow.

"I... I really am scared..." She clenched his kosode in her hands. "I... I don't want you to die... and I don't want to die either... but we might... and the last thing I want is to regret is you..."

"Nanao-chan..." He purred as he set her back down against the futon, his hand still stroking her ebony locks. "You won't regret it. I promise." With that, he laid his lips over hers and softly kissed her.


Author Note:

Okay my fellow perverts, should I add another chapter an' have 'em do it? Or are ya'll contented if I end here? Either way Kinpa Ginpa reveals their fate (once I'm done rewriting the damn thing so it makes more sense)