A/N: Well ladies and gentleman, here it is, the very last chapter of Tossed Aside. The line which inspired the title is encased in this little gem (or I hope it's a little gem) and I hope it will be apparent why I decided to use it. I knew I wanted that line in the last chapter before I began to even write the rest of the story. There will be a short epilogue after this chapter so that you my beloved readers can get your daily quotient of Shunsui and Nanao romance before it really is all over. Enjoy the chapter and don't forget to review!
Tossed Aside
Chapter Fifteen: Cause for Celebration
Nanao hoisted her canvas bag and slung it across her torso with the air of one who has just completed a long journey and was finally returning home.
Her eyes roved meticulously around her dismal quarters as she tried to think of anything she might have forgotten to do, checking for any items she might have forgotten to pack.
Nanao had gathered most of her belongings the previous night before falling into a deep and restful sleep for the first and last time since she arrived at the Thirteen Division. In the morning, she had shared breakfast with Ukitake. He had been delighted when he accomplished what he had previously thought to be a near impossible feat, namely making her smile slightly as he playfully tried to persuade her to remain as his fukutaichō.
In the afternoon, determined to at least make some impact on any division she was assigned to, Nanao took Kiyone and her fellow seated officers aside and demonstrated a much more efficient method of organizing the squad's heavy amount of paperwork, a side effect of the fact that the Thirteenth had taken on one of the leaderless squad's workload following Aizen's betrayal. It had been during this process that Nanao discovered a large box in the corner of the room, full to the brim with folders of files, all with Ukitake's signature on them. It appeared she had finally solved the puzzle of her mysteriously light workload over the last two weeks. Had she not been so touched that Ukitake had tried to soften her own burden by hauling his own weight, even while he had been unwell, she would have scolded him in a manner very similar to how she scolded her former Taichō.
He's not your former Taichō anymore, is he? A small voice chimed gleefully in the back of Nanao's head.
She tucked the box which contained all of her most treasured possessions under her arm and picked up her new book. It was on loan from Ukitake with the promise that she would come and visit once she had finished so they could discuss it.
With a satisfying click, Nanao slid shut the door to her sepulchral quarters and began her walk back to the Eighth Division. She nodded politely to the squad members she passed as they expressed their gratitude for her time with them. Nanao sincerely hoped that they could not tell she was not the least bit disappointed to be returning to her buoyant squad-mates, the never-ending chaos that always followed in their wake, and most of all, their wonderful, sake-loving, haori-clad Taichō.
- - -
Nanao paused outside the door of the Eighth Division office. The slightly tarnished gold sign on the door shone in the orange light of the sun as it set over the deserted square. She didn't understand why she was so nervous. The office was probably empty, as most of the squad members appeared to be eating dinner, judging from the amount of noise coming from the direction of the mess hall.
With trembling fingers, Nanao reached out and turned the glinting brass knob.
She had only been partially right. The office was deserted except for two people.
"Yare, maybe I was too pushy last night," Shunsui was saying despondently.
"She's coming, Taichō," responded a slightly exasperated voice which Nanao recognized as Okuni's.
Smiling softly, Nanao opened the door farther and slid into the office. Shunsui was sitting at his large desk, his feet propped up on its polished surface. His favorite straw hat was pulled low over his eyes to deflect the bright light coming in the large office window. He was clutching his accustomed bottle of sake, which he was waving around distractedly as he spoke from beneath the brim of his hat. On the floor, Okuni was putting the finishing touches on a box of paperwork destined for the First Division offices.
"You shouldn't put your feet on the furniture, Kyōraku Taichō," Nanao scolded gently.
Shunsui slowly pushed back the brim of his hat with one finger, as his heart leapt in his throat, hardly daring to believe his ears. But there, framed in the auriferous radiance of the dying afternoon was his beautiful Nanao-chan. Her hair was rich, shining, and impeccably done as it always was; her crisp uniform tied with precision instead of flair. She had a bag slung across her shoulders and in one hand she was holding a small box. The other hand was clutched around a large, leather-bound book, a sight which thoroughly fixed the silly grin which had erupted on his face the moment he saw her.
"Nanao-chan," he breathed.
"Hai," she replied softly.
The sun was glinting off her glasses, making it hard to see her eyes but Shunsui would bet his month's supply of sake that those magnificent blue-violet orbs would be soft, and a small smile would be playing about her lips.
On the floor, Okuni took one knowing glance between her superior officers before clearing her throat loudly.
"Well, I'm famished," she said, brushing nonexistent lint off her uniform. "I think I'll go…procure some nourishment. See you tomorrow, Kyōraku Taichō." She strode jauntily to the exit, casting them one last sly glance as she shut the door with a soft snap.
And then they were alone.
Nanao slid the bag off of her shoulders and let it sink to the floor. She set the box down next to the bag, but maintained her clutch on the book, more to steady herself against her pounding heart and quaking nerves as Shunsui rose slowly to his feet.
"You had me concerned for a minute, my lovely Nanao-chan," Shunsui said, making his way around the desk.
"I had some things I had to attend to before I left," she replied, as he took a step towards her.
"This is your decision then?" Shunsui asked. They both knew he wasn't merely talking about resuming their professional relationship. Nanao took the step that closed the distance between them, her eyes staring at him intently.
"Hai Taichō, I have made up my mind," she said firmly, the last word catching in her throat as Shunsui cautiously snaked one arm around her waist, drawing her closer to him.
Shunsui bent over her upturned countenance, a large part of him expecting his face to be forcefully introduced to the book she was still clutching between them.
He was pleasantly surprised to find that this time, it was the book, along with all her inhibitions, and not his feelings that Nanao tossed aside as she leapt into his arms and meshed her mouth with his.
Shunsui was feeling a lightheadedness that was distinctly better than sake as Nanao's delicate lips moved determinedly over his. Her elegant hand slipped into the neck of his shirt, caressing the skin there. He wondered briefly if perhaps Nanao had had more experience than she let on, but then again his Nanao-chan had always been a wonderfully quick study.
Shunsui growled in approval as her legs tightened their grip around his waist. Her hairpins fell with small clinks to the floor, casualties of his quest to dominate her previously forbidden hair. These were closely followed by his hat, which Nanao dropped carelessly after unhooking it from where it had fallen back around his shoulders.
Shunsui felt a distinct pang of disappointment when Nanao unhooked her feet and slid down his body to stand once more. This feeling was quickly forgotten however as a wave of arousal unequal to anything he had ever felt crashed over him as he watched, transfixed, as Nanao removed the one item he knew she felt truly naked without― her glasses. She placed the lenses gently down onto the surface of her desk, her cheeks furiously red. Shunsui wondered if Nanao even knew how incredibly sexy she was, as her unguarded and amazingly bright eyes shyly met his own dark gaze through her thick, black lashes. Wrapping her arms around him, Nanao stood on her toes, tentatively resuming the kiss.
When her tongue grazed against his, Shunsui decided it was high time they moved to a new location. Grinning when Nanao let out a small squeal of surprise, Shunsui swept his lover off her feet and carried her upstairs to his quarters.
- - -
So preoccupied were Shunsui and Nanao that they failed to notice the top of a brown head that slowly rose over the edge of the large office windowsill until two bespectacled eyes were barely visible.
"This is too cute," Okuni squealed into the small hell butterfly suspended around her neck as she watched her Taichō's pink haori disappear up the stairs, his fukutaichō clasped in his arms.
"Mission definitely accomplished," she said, standing up to full height.
"Great job, Takahashi-san," a male voice returned. "Now, complete your final mission and return to headquarters so we can celebrate."
"Hurry up Okuni," a female voice echoed out of the butterfly. "I want to break out the sake!"
"Right!" the brunette replied, and hurried off to the mess hall to accomplish her last task.
- - -
"Ah, here's our leading lady!" Ukitake cried, looking up from the long list of calculations he was pouring over, as Okuni slid open the door to his quarters, grinning.
"Bravo! Bravo!" Matsumoto giggled, throwing a rose to the petite shinigami who caught it deftly.
"Thank you, thank you," Okuni cried, bowing dramatically while Ukitake and Matsumoto applauded.
"How did it go?" Matsumoto asked, holding up a bottle of wine and a bottle of sake for Okuni to choose from.
"They made the last part far too easy," Okuni grinned, snatching the wine out of Matsumoto's hands and popping the cork. "Nanao left her things right next to the door, which shows that she didn't go back to her quarters. Not to mention his favorite hat on the floor, her glasses on the desk and―" she paused for effect, "the sash halfway up the staircase!"
She laughed as Matsumoto shrieked with delight, flopping herself down on the sea of pillows next to the small table.
"All I had to do," Okuni continued, "was go into the mess hall."
She put on a wide-eyed, innocent expression.
"Where's Ise Fukutaichō? I thought she and Kyōraku Taichō would be here soon. I left them all alone in the office, but that was twenty minutes ago! I'm surprised the two of them didn't hear the commotion when the entire division stampeded over to the office to look in the windows. I don't think you'll have any shortage of witnesses that you won the bet Ukitake Taichō."
Okuni shrugged. "At least this way Nanao doesn't have to worry about keeping their relationship a secret. The Division was already breaking out the sake to celebrate their Taichō's glorious victory over Nanao's stubbornness!"
"I'm so happy!" Matsumoto squealed, crushing Okuni to her bosom. She turned to Ukitake who was still adding more numbers on the parchment. "I knew the minute I met her that she would be able to help us!"
Ukitake put his pen down long enough to help extradite Okuni from Matsumoto's 'Hug of Death.'
"I should not have doubted you, Rangiku-san," he said as the gasping Okuni moved over to sit in safety on his other side. "Having someone working for us in the Eighth Division was a brilliant idea. I am only happy that we were able to find such a talented actress as Takahashi-san in our midst."
"Aww, Ukitake Taichō," Okuni cooed teasingly, pecking his cheek. "How many times do I have to tell you to call me Okuni? Besides, it was no problem. I told you before that if I hadn't decided to become a shinigami I would have entered into a life in the theatre."
"Still," Ukitake said, "It must have been difficult maintaining your persona all that time. I have no idea how you managed it, I kept forgetting to cough pathetically when I was supposed to be in throws of a relapse."
"But you pulled it off brilliantly, didn't you?" Okuni said, tugging her long hair out of its twist before pulling it up into a much softer looking ponytail which fell down to near her waist, curling at the ends. "Not to mention orchestrating this entire plan to get them together. I mean getting an order from Yamamoto simply requesting that Nanao spend a few days teaching your third seats better organization and using it to forge transfer orders? Sheer genius!"
Ukitake looked down modestly. "But it was not I who was constantly in the Eighth Division pushing our lovebirds together, now was I?"
Okuni made a gesture of dismissal.
"I already told you it was nothing. Once you told me of your plan to separate them in order to make them realize the depths of their feelings, I decided that it would turn the proverbial knife a little deeper if Nanao thought there was someone around who that could potentially replace her. Who better to replace Nanao than a miniature version of herself? It also had the added effect of making Kyōraku Taichō miss her even worse than he would have. The only really difficult thing," she continued, removing the horn-rimmed glasses and pulling a face, "was wearing these things all the time. Have you ever tried fighting in glasses?"
Ukitake chuckled but Matsumoto looked thoughtful.
"There's one thing I don't understand," the strawberry-blonde said as she took another swig of sake. "Kyōraku-san was so convinced that Nanao was at the battle. Unohana Taichō said that the concussion might have caused his vision to blur, but that still doesn't explain him suddenly seeing Nanao when he knew he'd been fighting with Okuni the entire time. They look― well, looked similar," Matsumoto amended taking in the now almost unrecognizable and slightly exotic-looking girl sitting across from her. "But, you could easily tell them apart."
"In that case, you might want to read this," Ukitake replied, handing Matsumoto a book which had been resting at his side. A small scrap of paper was placed in the middle, marking the appropriate page.
"I have reason to believe that Okuni-san has an illusion zanpakutō, similar to the one Aizen used to employ."
Okuni came around the table to read over Matsumoto's shoulder.
"How can you understand this?" The brunette asked. "It so old it's like reading a foreign language!"
"You mean her zanpakutō hypnotizes people?" Matsumoto asked, glancing up at the white-haired captain.
"Not exactly. I believe that when her initial release is activated, the zanpakutō casts an illusion around Okuni-san so she appears to be someone else; an excellent weapon for covert operations and confusing an enemy."
Ukitake turned to Okuni.
"That would also explain why every time you have attempted to use your initial release, you claim nothing has happened. It would be because the effects are not visible to you, only others. Were you holding your zanpakutō when Shunsui mistook you for Ise-san?"
Okuni paused, remembering.
"Erm…Actually, I initiated release a long time before that. It wasn't until I tried remembering what Nanao had told me once during drills that he mixed us up. And then…" she paused, a wide smile breaking out on her face, "I was having trouble unclenching my fist from around my zanpakutō because of my injured arm, so that entire time on the ground…I must have looked like her!"
She paused as a thought interrupted her excitement of finally figuring out what her zanpakutō did.
"So, I have to be thinking directly of a person for the illusion to work?"
"I believe so," Ukitake confirmed, as he scribbled some more. "However, I would be glad to take a day and we could try different approaches. We could also find out how long the illusion lasts and how to maintain it, among other things. I'm sure Shunsui and Nanao would love to help as well."
Matsumoto shared a grin with Okuni.
"If they ever get out of bed!" the females chorused in unison before dissolving into fits of giggles.
"Done!" Ukitake cried, over their continuing laughter, flinging his pen down triumphantly.
"So, how much was the total?" Okuni asked, leaning over Ukitake's shoulder with Matsumoto.
"That's a lot of money," Matsumoto stated, her eyes wide.
"Well, it is the largest betting pool in the Gotei Thirteen," Ukitake reminded them, smiling at their awestruck faces. "In fact, we had to open up an account in Rukongai's Second District bank in order to house all of the money. And when you figure in the interest rate over a hundred and twenty-five years…" He circled a number on the parchment. "That's what it comes out to."
"So what is that split three ways?" Okuni asked.
"You mean four ways," Ukitake corrected, sighing at his companions confused expressions.
"How do you think I managed to keep Shunsui in the hospital long enough for Okuni-san to 'catch' us in compromising position? I was able to convince Retsu to help the cause in return for a share of the profit."
He missed Matsumoto and Okuni exchange looks at the total absence of an honorific from Unohana's name.
"I felt almost grateful when Nanao lost control of her reiatsu," Ukitake admitted. "It was proving very hard to accomplish my set task." He circled another number on the paper. "Anyway, that's how much we get each."
"That's still like a small windfall," Okuni breathed. "Matsumoto," she said, turning with a great air or revelation to her friend. "I'm rich!"
The three of them broke out in laughter.
"You know what this means?" Matsumoto asked Okuni a few minutes later. "You can buy a new sash for your zanpakutō and stop moping about the other one."
Okuni frowned slightly.
"I know, but that sash and I have been through a lot together. It's not promising that it hasn't come back from the laundry yet but…" she trailed off morosely.
Okuni shook her head after a few moments, smiling again. "Anyway, it's a happy occasion, we should be celebrating. I propose a toast!" she cried lifting her wine bottle in the air. "That conspiracies plotted behind the backs of friends for their own good may never perish from the earth and… to Shunsui and Nanao, who just landed us crap-load of money!"
"Shunsui and Nanao!" Ukitake and Matsumoto echoed enthusiastically, as the three clinked their bottles together.
"One-hundred and twenty-five years to the day she became his fukutaichō. Who would have actually thought they would dance around each other for this long?" Ukitake said pensively, swirling his own bottle of sake.
"You've been dancing around Unohana Taichō for longer than that!" Matsumoto teased, elbowing Ukitake's side gently with her elbow.
He opened his mouth to reply but was cutoff as a gentle knock sounded on the door to his quarters.
"I'll get it!" Okuni volunteered, practically skipping over the door, sliding it wide open. "Yamada-san! What are you doing here?" she asked, smiling brilliantly at the nervous-looking healer.
"I-I came to deliver this to you," Hanatarō stammered, revealing what he had been holding behind his back. Okuni's mouth dropped open. It was her sash, devoid of blood and sparkling in the twilight. The mysterious masked Geisha smiled softly up at her.
"Yamada-san!" she said, taking the sash from him lovingly. "How did you…. Oh, never mind," she said, throwing her arms around the taller boy's neck and planting a warm kiss on his cheek. "Thank you so much!"
Matsumoto winked at suggestively at Hanatarō behind Okuni's back causing his face to flush even further.
"I'm terribly sorry if I interrupted anything," he said when Okuni finally let go.
"Oh, don't worry about it," Okuni said, tying her beloved sash around her, both for show and safe-keeping. "I was just about to leave anyway, you can walk with me."
She bounded forward to give each of her fellow conspirators one last hug.
"You know, Okuni-san," Ukitake said as she drew back from their friendly embrace. "I do have several openings in the Thirteenth. I bet you could work your way up to fukutaichō in no time."
Okuni laughed appreciatively at the offer. "Thanks, Ukitake Taichō, but I think I'll stick with the Eighth. Never a dull day! And I'm sure it'll only get more interesting now that our leaders are involved. Besides, the musicians in the division love me; they haven't had someone with a voice like mine to accompany them in a couple centuries!"
Okuni bid goodnight to Matsumoto and Ukitake one last time, before linking her arm around Hanatarō's and leading him away in the direction of the Eighth Division.
"So, tell me Yamada-san," they could hear her saying as their forms disappeared into the night. "Have you ever been to an Eighth Division sake party before?"
Grinning, Matsumoto placed her partially full sake bottle onto the table with a soft thud and pushed herself to her feet. Ukitake looked at her, a puzzled expression on his face. "You're not going to finish?"
Matsumoto ran a hand through her immaculate hair. She had a smile on her face luminous enough to light the whole of Seireitei for a year.
"Not tonight, I want to be completely sober when I collect my payment kiss from Taichō!"
Ever the gentleman, Ukitake stood to see his last guest out.
Giggling, Matsumoto hurried down the path, pausing just long enough to shout, "I bet Unohana Taichō would love to celebrate with you. You should go see what's she's doing!"
Ukitake watched her skip down the path, her hair fanning out behind her as her suggestion hung suspended in the balmy air of the night.
"Maybe I will go see her," Ukitake whispered in answer into. After all, life is short, he thought to himself, and it appears lady love is being rather generous tonight.
Smiling, the white-haired captain selected a fresh bottle of wine from his collection and retrieved two glasses before heading out into the night for his own private celebration.
A/N: Sniffles…just one more update and it's over. Ah, so is life. Review or I will send you to the Eleventh Division while they are…remodeling… I hear those cement buildings hurt…