Chapter 9: The Companion
I hear, hurricanes a blowin'
I know, the end is coming soon.
I hear, the rivers overflowin'
I hear, the voice of rage and ruin.
Don't go 'round tonight
Well it's bound to take your life
There's a bad moon on the rise.
Shunsui was at a loss. For the first time in many years his carefree existence was at an end. He didn't know how to deal with this situation at all, so he did the same thing he always did whenever he was uncertain about something: he went to Ukkitake's house.
"Hey! Joshirou!" he called, a little surprised when the door opened up immediately
The sake was already sitting on the table. Ukkitake had been prepared.
"Come in old friend, I knew you'd stop by." The white haired captain smiled
Inwardly though, he was sad to see the usually cheerful Kyoraku in such a state. Shunsui said nothing and walked over to the table, downing a glass as if it were water. He had been drinking the stuff for so many centuries now his tolerance was at mythological proportions.
He plopped down into a chair and took off his straw hat, holding it in his hands and staring at it as if the thing could somehow give him the answers he sought.
"I've lost her." He said softly
"Shun, you never had her." Ukkitake reminded gently
"Where did I do wrong? I was sure she found my teasing affectionate."
"Shun…" Joshirou started
"I always thought I was attractive enough. Maybe it was the age difference, maybe he's just more charming than me.." He reasoned, running through all the possibilities he could think of
"Shunsui…"
"Perhaps it's my drinking that put her off! Or maybe if I hadn't made her do all my paperwork.."
"KYORAKU!" Ukkitake shouted, getting his attention
He hadn't seen Joshirou yell in a long time.
"…Maybe she just loves you like a stupid, drunken, lazy older brother." He said, finally getting a word in edgewise
The idea was completely alien. Platonic, sisterly feelings? That Nanao could think of him in a way other than romantic had never even occurred to him. He supposed it made sense, now that he really thought about it. How could the prim and proper Nanao Ise ever be attracted to someone like him? It hurt to know the object of his desire was no longer even in the realm of possibility, but he found himself strangely happy.
His lovely lovely Nanao-chan had finally found someone to care about.
During all his long years in Seretei, not once could he remember Nanao showing the slightest interest in a man. Or anyone for that matter; for a while there had been nasty speculation that she might be attracted to someone of the fairer gender, but that quickly went south when no evidence ever arose.
The fact of the matter was, Nanao-chan was attracted to books. The library it seemed, was her one true love. Now that she was involved in someone who loved to read as much as she did, he wondered if she'd ever spend any time at the division at all. A strange thought occurred to him then.
"So… what do I do now?" Shunsui wondered
"What do you mean?" Ukkitake asked
"All this time I've been chasing after Nanao… what do I do with the rest of my afterlife?"
It all seemed so silly he nearly laughed at himself.
"Shun, I don't think you have to worry about that.." his friend started
"Huh?"
"There's someone in Seretei who cares about you a great deal." Joshirou said mysteriously, a warm smile on his face
"Hey hey, woah buddy!" he panicked, eyes widening in alarm "We're pals and all but I'm just not interested."
"IDIOT!" a familiar voice screamed at him from behind
He slowly turned around and was hit in the face with a sake dish. Lieutenant Rangiku Matsumoto stood there with her hands on her hips, glaring at him angrily.
"Ra… Rangiku?!" Shunsui cried
He was getting quite close now, Jen could feel it. It got colder the further down he went, and the smells grew less and less pleasant. Every substance you could think of seemed to be in puddles on the ground surrounding broken flasks and beakers.
Jen whipped around ready for a fight as a monitor suddenly turned on, showing Mayuri's ugly face.
"Come and get me fools. I'm growing impatient." He commanded
It was a recording Jen realized, as the message looped over and over. He smashed it violently, once again encasing him in silence. Going through a set of steel doors he suddenly found himself at a dead end.
This was odd, the room seemed be consist of nothing but a research library; rows and rows of books on anatomy, physiology, genetics and more surrounded him. Jen slowly walked around the room, half expecting some sort of trap. By sheer chance, out of the corner of his eye he noticed the one book that wasn't in it's proper place on it's shelf, the spine slightly tilted out towards him. When he read the title he snarled.
Proper parenting techniques Vol. 1
His hand clawed at the book and attempted to throw it onto the floor, only to find that it was attached to the shelf and apparently some kind of secret lever. A section of books swung open revealing a spiral staircase leading down into the unknown. Looking back to make certain he wasn't being followed, Jen descended into the shadows.
When he reached the bottom it was cold enough to see his breath. He stood on some sort of metal catwalk, an ominous wooden doorway waiting up ahead. Relentless, Jen hurried across the metal grating not even considering that it might give way. He swung open the door and nearly dropped his zanpaktou. A glass vat of green liquid stood there, surrounded by countless more of it's kind. Inside something floated, naked and fetal.
It was Nemu.
Lots of Nemus.
"Oh, fuck me."