Shunsui entered the darkened corridor of 8th squad's main office and sighed heavily. In spite of his insistence to Nanao-chan that she should finish her work quickly so that they could spend the afternoon having some fun it was he who was arriving back later than he had anticipated. He brushed the snow from his hair and closed the door on a quickly failing afternoon. It would be dark within the hour yet he should have been prepared for this. Telling Jyuushiro potential bad news was time consuming enough without Hitsugaya-kun thrown into the fray. Between the two of them they had deliberated every possible alternative and outcome to Shunsui's plan concerning the scroll. He had tried – and failed – to leave on several occasions, not wanting to ponder his pending demise any more than he had too. However each time he had gotten to his feet a new concern would be aimed at him and he would find himself sitting back down.

The pair had finally worried themselves to a point beyond words a little over four hours after they had began and Shunsui seized his opportunity to escape when it came. No doubt he would be seeing both of them before tomorrow but today his sole purpose was to be with Nanao-chan. She had been on his mind more than the scroll was and it was with increasing worry he had been delayed from returning to her. His poor fukutaicho was on the verge of exhaustion again and it was troubling him deeply.

Shunsui shivered and pulled his haori closer to his large form as he shuffled down the wooden corridor. Had there been any light Shunsui was sure there would be frost lining the walls; if possible it was colder inside than it was outside. Today very well might have been the first time they could build snowmen inside the office which, admittedly, could be fun. He wondered how Nanao would react to that as he pushed the door that led into the room that would explode if any more paper was crammed into it.

'Sorry I'm late Nanao-chan,' he began but felt his voice dry up at the sight of her. She was lying on the sofa with an enormous tome folded across her gently falling chest. Her hand had fallen onto the floor, her glasses resting gently between slack fingers. Shunsui smiled to himself and silently pulled the heavy book away, placing it on the floor with her glasses on top. Then, his smile turning far more devious, he saw his opportunity to do something he had wanted to do forever. There were plenty of blankets lying around but this was a rare opportunity and Shunsui took great pleasure in draping his pink haori over her sleeping form. She tossed onto her side, mumbling something incoherent as she did and fell into a deeper sleep.

'Sleep tight my precious Nanao-chan,' he breathed and pondered what he should do next.

It took very little time for Shunsui to find himself sitting at his desk leaning back on his chair and staring out of the window, lost to thoughts of nothing in particular. The sun was well and truly gone now instilling a dark feeling within his chest. This winter had lasted forever and it was taking its toll on his mood. When the sun was present he was always of high spirits but the constant cold and darkness of this detestable season leached away at him constantly. He wanted to fall asleep and awaken when the trees were thick with pink sakura petals. He sighed darkly; Shunsui could not admit to hating many things but winter was established at the top of that small category of exceptions.

It was relatively late in the evening when Nanao finally woke up from her slumber. Shunsui was absently doodling on some folio or other that he had no attention of ever looking at when the sharp movement of her sitting up boldly caught his attention. She looked around for several seconds before getting her bearings and realising under whose pink haori she had been asleep. He could tell she was embarrassed and Shunsui decided to spare her the awkwardness.

'Good morning my lovely Nanao-chan, look what I drew,' he declared flamboyantly and held up the sketch for appraisal. She found her glasses and slipped them up the bridge of her nose with expert fingers, a twitch of a smile pressing her lips as she tried to depict exactly what he had drawn.

'Well Taicho it's very…what is it exactly?' She enquired unable to suppress her smile any longer.

He frowned with mock hurt. 'Can't you see it's a hollow, and that little figure there is Jyuushiro? Guess who those little guys are beside the tree? The one with the hat and the one smacking him with a giant book…' he pointed out excitedly much to her amusement. He at least thought it looked life like. He rolled the folio up and threw it into the large pile of papers that were mounted on the floor next to his desk. 'Is my Nanao-chan feeling better?'

'Much better,' she replied as she began folding the haori with unnecessary precision. 'Did things work out with Ukitake-taicho and Hitsugaya-taicho?'

Shunsui shook his head at the tedious memory. 'I swear Jyuushiro has been giving Hitsugaya-kun lessons in neurosis. Thanks to them I am now graphically aware of every possible scenario and outcome of handing the scroll over to Yamamoto-sensei. They held me up the entire afternoon,' he lamented as he lay back in his chair again. 'Not that there is too much to do when the ground is thick with snow.'

Nanao, always sensitive to his changing moods, stood up quickly and handed him the folded haori. 'Well what would you do if it was a wonderful spring afternoon, Kyouraku-taicho?'

'That's an easy one Nanao-chan,' he replied as he undid her hard work and threw the pink garment over his shoulders. 'I would take my lovely fukutaicho on a picnic and make her wear a yukata.' He smiled and left it at that, knowing there was no way his lovely fukutaicho would approve of the rest his plan. Shunsui sat forward suddenly. 'We should have a picnic anyway, right now in the office!'

He caught sight of her suppressed grin again, knowing that she had manipulated him into making the suggestion himself; Nanao-chan was keeping up appearances as always.

'You have the strangest ideas,' she commented. 'But given the direness of our current situation I will concur with you this once. However there is on part of your plan I will not be going along with.'

'No picnic?' He tried.

'No yukata,' she corrected with a sharp wave of her arm. 'It is cold and impractical and I would feel rather foolish wearing it in the dead of winter.'

'I will if you will,' Shunsui argued haplessly and swore he saw her hesitate before she refused again. 'You can't have a picnic without one Nanao-chan. It may be our last ever chance to wear one…'

She folded her arms but he could see she was once more falling victim to his begging. However she was not beaten yet. 'Does it mean that much to you?'

'Of course it does,' he went along.

'How much? I don't feel the need to wear one in the slightest and if we should survive…'

'I see where you are going with this,' he interrupted sourly. 'How many weeks of servitude would it cost me?'

Nanao hid the triumphant grin well. 'Until the entire office is cleared of backdated paperwork.'

Shunsui was temporarily speechless. Eventually he found his voice. 'You drive a hard bargain but since I won't survive until this time tomorrow I accept.' She sighed and shook her head but the deal had been settled. 'Well then let's get this prepared. You push all this furniture aside, just burn the paperwork if you need more room and I shall make up the greatest meal ever.' He sprang to his feet and charged towards the door, smiling wider than he had ever done before. 'Then I get to see my Nanao-chan in a yukata!'

She looked at him bitterly but began pushing the desk aside nonetheless.

…

Nanao diligently avoided looking in the mirror as she passed left her room; she felt foolish enough as it was. Hanging in her cupboard has been rather more yukata than she knew she possessed and she pained herself recalling where they had all come from or why she had so many. It had something largely to do with a certain Taicho who bought her a new one every year for her birthday since it was in summer, and he just so happened to buy a similar one for himself to wear to his own birthday celebrations. But even taking into account Kyouraku's annual gift she still had many she could not account for. She therefore found herself with a large choice of what she could wear to this odd occasion and it took her a disproportionately long time to choose.

It was all part of her silly deal with Kyouraku on the surface but Nanao was all too aware of how much deeper it ran. With her recent admissions to herself over her feelings, as much as she tried to suppress them, Nanao wanted to remember this night. She was prepared to die alongside him tomorrow.

Nervously she walked along the dark corridor praying that she would not run into anyone from the squad on the way down. Luck, as always, was not on her side and she spent several minutes explaining why she was dressed the way she was. Her usual excuse for this latest bout of strange behaviour was written off with a grain of truth as she informed all who enquired of the price her captain was paying for this rarity. Most laughed nervously and hastily escaped no doubt to speculate about the state of their relationship somewhere private. Nanao reached the stairs with a little more attention than she would have preferred but nothing could prepare her for the sight she met when she reached the bottom.

She stopped breathing entirely.

Kyouraku walked past quickly, his arms burdened, and stopped dead as their eyes met each other. He was wearing an azure yukata that was tied loosely at his waist with a sash of white that she could make out despite the dim corridor. A familiar floral pattern graced the long material that fell across his legs, complementing the material beneath as it slowly bled into mauve.

For a full minute she stood there in awe, unable to speak.

'You look beautiful Nanao-chan,' he said finally ending the unbearable silence. 'A year of paperwork would be worth just this moment. I never thought I would ever see you in that colour above any.'

Nanao found herself blushing. 'This is a spring picnic after all,' she defended, pushing up her glasses in a matter-of-fact manner. 'And spring means sakura petals, does it not?'

He nodded in agreement and Nanao caught sight of how red his cheeks were; it didn't surprise her that he had been at the sake already.

She sighed and continued down the stairs.

The office looked worse than it ever had before but for once Nanao did not care, she was far too preoccupied trying to suppress her thoughts. Kyouraku shuffled past her relieving himself of the food he was carrying and smiled contently.

'This will be so much fun,' he chimed. 'But we don't have a picnic blanket.' He looked around, his eyes lingering on the sofa before settling on his desk chair where the pink haori was spread lazily across the top. 'Perfect,' he declared as he grabbed it lay out on the floor with a single gesture. 'I hope you brought your appetite, my lovely beautiful Nanao-chan.'

Nanao looked out the window; a blizzard was raging through the night sky. She felt herself begin to warm a little at the prospect of having a spring picnic admits such bitter weather and somehow it seemed a rather fitting end to their potential final day together. Nervously she sat, her back to the window, and tried to find her stomach.

…

Shunsui lowered the cup away from his lips and watched his fukutaicho choke on her tea, laughing. It had taken many years but at last he had managed to make Nanao-chan laugh! He smiled to himself, revelling in the victory and found himself laughing not at what he had just said but simply because it seemed that her laughter was infectious.

'You say the most ridiculous things Taicho,' she observed when she finally found her voice again. Nanao was still smiling, her cheeks a flame across her pale face.

He shrugged innocently and finished the onigiri in his large hand. 'I just tell it like it is my lovely Nanao-chan! It is the world that is a ridiculous place.'

'Indeed,' she humoured and stretched a cramped leg out from beneath her. Shunsui found himself watching her as she did so, barely managing to stop himself before she noticed what he was doing. Nanao-chan looked particularly beautiful tonight; he had almost fainted when he had seen her come down the stairs, her hair down, wearing a pink yukata he had never seen before. The food in his hands had almost hit the floor with shock.

It was taking all of his composure to eat anything even now.

Did Nanao always have this effect on him? Was he just looking for the nearest woman because of what may occur tomorrow?

Looking at his fukutaicho, the way she gently pushed her glasses up her nose, he knew that was not true.

'Are you alright?' She asked him suddenly, tucking her leg behind her once more.

Shunsui looked at her and smiled dopily. 'Just thinking, my lovely Nanao.'

She frowned. 'Well there is a first time for everything I suppose.'

'Harsh,' he pined in a voice of mock hurt. 'Actually I was thinking about love.'

Nanao shifted uncomfortably, clearly misinterpreting his meaning. 'Well if you want to go and find someone, taicho, I am sure there are women queuing up to-'

He rubbed his chin wearily. 'You always think the worst of me! I don't mean I want to go and bed the first shinigami I see; I was thinking about love.'

She picked up her cup and drank the tea quickly, disguising the onset of embarrassment with a practiced action. 'Why would you be thinking of such a thing?'

Shunsui leaned back onto his elbows and met her blue eyes steadily. 'Isn't it obvious? It's because I love my Nanao-chan.'

He expected the usual sharp reprimand; after all he declared his love twice a day and got shot down just as often. Instead she sipped her tea delicately, avoiding his eyes without any subtlety. It was amazing how many colours her face could turn in so little a time. At first it was pale, then paler, then pink and now it was a furious shade of crimson. He couldn't tell if she was embarrassed or angry but Nanao-chan soon made her feelings obvious.

'Why do you always do that, Taicho?' She asked in a voice scarcely louder than a whisper. 'Why do you always say such things?'

He sat up, leaning in closer. 'Because I do love you Nanao, more than anything.'

They met each other's gaze slowly and Shunsui could see there was hurt in her eyes. He was being serious, more serious than he knew he could be, and she thought that he was simply mocking her.

'Did it ever occur to you that it may hurt people's feelings if you go around declaring your love for them every day, even if it is intended as a joke?' She asked bitterly, slamming the cup onto the floor. 'Because it hurts my feelings, Taicho.'

He frowned softly. 'Nanao-chan, I wasn't-'

'People's feelings aren't something for you to use for your own pleasure! Did you ever stop to think for a second what might happen if you falsely declared your love to someone who actually loved you back?'

'Do you-' Shunsui began but was cut off by her growing anger.

'How could that person live knowing that each time you told them you loved them it wasn't true?' She shouted. 'How am I supposed to endure that everyday?'

Shunsui almost fell over with shock as he watched the realisation of what she had just said dawn upon Nanao's face. Her anger was gone, replaced with an expression that transcended any description. He caught a glimpse of the tears in her blue eyes before she sprang to her feet and ran towards the door. Taking advantage of his greater speed he got up and grabbed her shoulder from behind before she could escape.

'Do you love me, Nanao-chan?'

…

Nanao turned to face him slowly, her heart thumping against her rib cage. 'I am sorry, Taicho,' she began. 'I was upset I didn't mean-'

She found the words stick in her throat, unable to escape as she felt his warm lips upon her own. Nanao felt her skin flare as her eyes widened, the suddenness of it all causing her body tremble. The kiss seemed to last forever and no time at all. They broke apart, his mouth moving towards her ear.

'I love you Nanao,' he whispered as she felt his large body press her against the wall. He kissed her neck. 'I have always loved you, from the first day we met.'

Nanao felt her body responding to his kiss once more despite her efforts to resist it. This was not right! This was Kyouraku after all; she wasn't really in love with him…Nanao lost her train of thought as their lips met again.

'Why?' She finally managed to ask. 'Why now? Is it because of Yamamoto?'

Kyouraku shook his head. 'It is because I needed to know that you loved me too. Yamamoto, the scroll, they are just the things that got us here now. The fact I love you has nothing to do with them.'

'Taicho, I-' she began but he was kissing her again, harder this time, passionately. He broke away briefly, his eyes searching for permission. Nanao tried to find the rational voice in her head, the one that should be telling her this was wrong but it was not speaking. 'Is this really alright?' Nanao managed feebly but was surprised to hear the moan that followed her question.

Kyouraku had all the permission he needed.

She felt him press in against her as they kissed, his hands moving towards her shoulder, his fingers gently easing the pink material away from her skin. Nanao could do nothing except respond to his touch. She felt the cool air hit her flesh but it was not this that was causing her body to tremble. Kyouraku was reaching towards her obi, their lips still firmly together; she felt her own hand move towards his yukata, her body aching in a way that it had never done before. They locked eyes again, for an eternity, and then Nanao was lost.

They moved slowly to begin with and she could somehow sense his hesitation. However each time he could not keep his hands away any longer Kyouraku had grown steadily more passionate as his reservations evaporated. The night passed in a blur of ecstasy that left the office in a mess that it had never before experienced. The papers from both of their desks were strewn across the floor admits the remnants of their picnic and the scattered details of their clothes. It was past dawn when, exhausted beyond reckoning, Nanao found herself wrapped in his arms on the sofa with nothing but the pink haori and each other to stave the winter cold.

'Taicho?' Nanao said as she felt sleep creep up on her at last.

'I don't think you can call me that anymore,' he replied dizzily. 'You can call me Shun-chan or something.'

She smiled to herself. 'I will never call you Shun-chan. What do we do now?'

'Well,' he began. 'We sleep on the sofa and when we wake up then the world shall end.'

'Yes, but what if it doesn't end?'

He laughed shortly. 'I'm hurt Nanao-chan! Did you take advantage of my better nature for your own devious needs just because we might die tomorrow?'

Nanao couldn't find the energy for much of an argument. 'Of course not. I was just wandering where we could possibly go from here.'

'Do not worry about that; we shall cross that bridge when it comes. Now it is time to sleep I think; we have a big day ahead of us after all.'

Nanao felt his embrace tighten around her as she slipped into a dreamless slumber, happier than she had ever been before.

'Sleep tight my lovely Nanao-chan,' he whispered. 'I will always love you.'

When she woke up he was gone.

AN: Nanao dear, somehow I don't think he was blushing because if the sake…anyways there is an explination as to the lateness of this chapter which involves my laptop breaking down and my reluctance to restart chapter ten on another computer. Suffice it to say I did and I am happy with the result. A couple of things; a yukata is like a kimono except it is made of cotton and worn in warm weather in case you are wandering what I am talking about; I switch PoV four times in this chapter but since this is THE chapter I kind of needed to. Anyways thanks to everyone who has reviewed so far/everyone who prodded me to write this chapter quicker. I am forgetting something I think but it is late so please forgive me and the probable abundance of spelling/grammar mistakes. See you in chapter eleven!