Kido Destiny
"And that's how it happened," Masaki finished. "I spent the one hundred years sealed away perfecting my kido, hakuda, zanjutsu and hoho."
"Interesting," The head captain agreed. "Masaki Nakamura, there have been many changes since your being sealed away."
Masaki nodded. "There are a lot of captains I don't recognize. But I count ten. Is captain Urahara still here?"
The head captain shook his head. He went on to relate the events of the creation of the vizards, how many of his favorite captains had disappeared, along with his favorite lieutenant, Lisa. He was told of the loss of the captain and lieutenant of the Kido Corps, and about the defection of the three captains Tosen, Ichimaru, and Aizen. Finally, he was told about Aizen's creation of the arrancar.
"Lisa," He whispered. "Hachi, captain-donno." He clenched his fists. "Tosen."
"The Soul Society has suffered a great loss and now we are in the middle of a war. The Kido Corps have survived, but they are being led by Ana Tsukabishi, someone with the power of a lieutenant. They would benefit much more from having a captain to lead them."
Masaki nodded. "I will be that captain."
"Are you powerful enough?" SoiFon asked.
"I have been training for over 100 years." He insisted. "I've learned how to materialize my zanpakuto. I can achieve bankai, I know it."
"We are short three captains," Jushiro admitted. "So you can't become captain through recommendation."
"You can't kill the last captain," Shunsui added. "There is none."
"The only way you can become a captain," Yamamoto clarified, "Is to pass the exam. To do so, you must achieve bankai."
"I can have it done in a week,"
"Very well," The head captain announced. "As soon as you have, approach the barracks of the 1st squad. There, you will take the exam."
The captains all vanished, except for Shunsui and Ukitake. Nanao also stayed.
Jushiro approached him first. "Masaki?"
The red head looked up at his former guardian. "Jushiro-san."
A second of time passed. Then Masaki embraced him. He hugged the captain tightly. "Jushiro-san," He sniffed. "I was afraid you'd be gone."
"I like how he jumped to you first," Shunsui grinned. A split second later Masaki had his arms around Shunsui's waist.
"It's good to see you, Shunsui-san," He quickly wiped a stray tear from his eye and stood up straight. "I'm happy you're both still here," He exclaimed. "I can't believe it."
Shunsui gripped the rim of his hat. "Like I said before, it's good to see you again, little fire head."
Masaki stepped back. "Thank you both for being here when I got back, and I would love to catch up with you later. But if you'll excuse me, there's someone I'd really like to be alone with."
The two captains looked at each other and smirked before vanishing.
Nanao was left standing with Masaki, alone. "M-Masaki-san," She whispered. He didn't say a word, only walked towards her slowly.
He was gone for one hundred years, She thought to herself. He broke your heart. He left you crying and crying. He stepped closer. Closer. You're a woman now, She thought to herself. You are a proper woman, and proper women don't allow themselves to become flustered, or swept away, especially not by boys they haven't seen in a century.
Closer.
He has the body of a teenager, She thought before blushing deeply. Is . . . is that a pro or a con? I can't decide, She realized. I can't,
His face wasn't a finger's width away from hers.
"M-Masaki . . ."
"Hush," He whispered. Masaki put one hand on her waist, the other on her shoulder. Slowly, carefully, he dipped her. She looked up at the sky, and saw his face. And then he kissed her. It was a sweet, tender kiss. She felt a rush of heat flow through her body. All of her resistance melted away and she fell all over again.
He pulled away slowly and looked down at her face. She was blushing, breathing a little heavy.
"Aren't we still engaged?" He whispered.
She nodded slowly, wrapping her arms around his neck. "Masaki,"
"Didn't I promise that I would come back?" He asked. "No matter how long it took, didn't I say that I would come back to you?"
Nanao had calmly led Masaki back to the 8th squad barracks. She told herself it was because he had nowhere else to stay. But that wasn't the true reason.
They kissed passionately as she slid open the door to her bedroom. She led him into the room and closed the door behind him. He turned around and kissed her neck sweetly.
"Masaki," She whispered. "I-I've never done this before,"
"It's okay," He kissed her cheek softly. "Neither have I. We can teach each other."
She looked into his eyes. He gently took her glasses off with one hand and let her down with the other. "You look beautiful," He whispered.
They fell onto the bed together. And for that one night, Nanao felt happier than she had ever felt in one hundred years.
The next morning was calm and sweet. Nanao woke with her head resting on her fiancé's chest. It had been a magical night. She kissed his face calmly and woke him up.
Masaki opened his eyes and saw Nanao's face looking down at him. "Good morning," He whispered.
"Good morning," She whispered back. "I find it ironic."
"What?" Masaki asked.
"Now I'm the older one." She grinned. "I know you're technically eight years older than me, but to anyone else it looks like I'm a cougar."
"It doesn't matter to me what anyone else thinks," Masaki insisted. "What do you think?"
She stroked his face sweetly. "I think I've been waiting forever for that night."
"Do you have anything you need to do today?" He asked. "Because I'd love it if you went with me to barracks of the Kido Corps, help me get settled in."
She grinned. "I'd love to. But isn't the location supposed to be a secret?"
Masaki shook his head. "Not to the families of ranked officers."
She blushed. "Thank you."
Ana Tsukabishi, acting captain of the corps, had just welcomed back Masaki Nakamura and his fiancé to the barracks. Masaki was pleased to see they hadn't changed at all.
"You're still wearing those rags?" Ana shook her head. "Well come on, let's go to the fitting room and get you a clean new shihakusho."
Now, he stood in his new outfit. Masaki wore the standard shihakusho, under his new black robe. The sleeves fit tight around his arms. A yellow belt much like his blue one held the robe closed over the standard uniform. The robe stopped at his waist in the front but continued in the back, down to his ankles. He wore it open, in a v-neck fashion. The robe itself had yellow lining.
"How do I look?" He asked.
Ana smiled. "Like a captain."
"Let's hope I do," He chuckled. "Now, technically, I'm not a member of the corps right now. But is my old room still here?"
Ana scratched the back of her head. "Well, see, there were a lot of new recruits since you've been here," She explained. "Your room has been reused many times. It's not really available right now."
"That's just fine," Nanao clutched his arm. "He can stay with me."
"I was hoping you'd say that," Masaki admitted.
It was dark. Masaki stood by the window, staring into the night. They need someone to lead them, He thought. They need me.
He felt a pair of soft hands wrap around his waist. It was her.
"Masaki," She whispered. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing," He said, turning around in her arms. "Nothing's wrong."
"There's something I need to ask." Nanao admitted. "Something that's been eating at me."
"What is it?"
She looked down for a second. "Why did you propose to me, all those years ago?" She asked. "I was a child, and you are who you were back then. Why did you say yes?"
Masaki squeezed her sides gently. He cupped her face in his hands. "When I look at your face I see the cute little girl who told me I looked pretty. Remember when you used to sleep on me when we visited our favorite little field? Or when you came to me with your nightmares and I let you sleep in my bed?"
She nodded, now blushing hard. "I remember. I felt comfortable with you."
He kissed her forehead. "After that happened for the fifth time, I decided I never wanted it to stop." He stroked her cheeks with his thumbs. "This beautiful little girl trusted me to keep her safe. So I promised myself I would always be there to protect her. That's when I knew I loved you, and wanted to spend the rest of my life with you."
"And when I was sealed away," He continued, "My mind kept going back to what I missed the most. And it was always you. And after ten years had passed, I just thought of how you had grown. And I wanted to marry you right then. I didn't want to wait another second, much less ninety years. And after every passing moment, I wanted to hold you more and more. I have to say, the real you has exceeded all my expectations."
Nanao kissed him softly. "Masaki, I've just had a nightmare." She whispered seductively. "And I need you to comfort me." She reached around to find the light switch and quickly turned it off.
Author's Notes; Oooh la la, aren't reunions so sweet? We're finally back into the present, and Masaki already has a lot to do. But at least he's going to have his fiancé by his side. Isn't love sweet? Tell me what you think, please Rate and Review.