Disclaimer: I still don't own Bleach.
Chapter 2
Three weeks into her new job and Nanao had finally gotten the last of the stacks of papers organized and put away. There were no boxes next to the outer door, and the polished wood floor was clear except for a small rug across from her desk. Once the clutter was gone, she realized, it really was a pleasant room.
Her L-shaped desk dominated the right side of the room, the large window behind it flooding her work area with light. Her chair sat behind the upright part of the L of the desk so that the door into the inner office – Mr. Kyouraku's – was on her right, and the door into her own office was on her left. On the left side of the room were a few comfortable chairs and numerous book cases and filing cabinets.
It was fairly spacious, and the window was large enough to ensure that there was little need for the glaring florescent bulbs overhead. The shelves were a dark mahogany, and the carpet and curtains were shades of pale green – unlike Mr. Kyouraku's, whose vivid pink curtains were emblazoned with large flowers.
Speaking of which, she realized suddenly, there was a bouquet on her desk. Again. Nanao hoped that Mr. Kyouraku was not going to make a habit of presenting her with flowers every Monday.
On the first day of her second week of work she had come in to find a huge bouquet of hibiscus on her desk and flower petals strewn across the floor. "It's to celebrate your one week anniversary of being my secretary, darling Nanao." Shunsui had said. He had, she surmised, come into work early expressly to set up her office, and had been leaning against his door when she entered, surveying his work with pride.
"I would prefer to be called Ms. Ise." Nanao had responded. But he seemed sincere, and his brown eyes had been so warm and apparently pleased to see her, that she couldn't help adding, "Thank you. I like hibiscus." He looked rather pleased with himself. Too pleased, she thought, nettled. "But do not carpet my floor with rose petals again. It is impractical, messy, and wastes time both in setting up and cleaning."
Nanao had been at Sereitei for six months when Shunsui asked her to take care of refreshments for the meeting that afternoon with "Hitsugaya and my dear Rangiku," adding seriously, "although she will never be as dear to me as you, Nanao." He just avoided the folder that she brought down heavily the spot where his hand been. "I prefer Ms. Ise, Mr. Kyouraku. And here are the documents you asked for."
"Ah, Nanao, my dear, I hope you don't mind bringing the refreshments."
"It's Ms. Ise, Mr. Kyouraku. And no, I don't mind." she said stiffly. But she did, in fact, mind. Nanao had always made it a strict rule never to serve food or drinks when working as a secretary. She was too well trained for it, and just because she was a woman didn't mean that she ought to have to serve, she reminded herself.
"If you would rather have someone else do it, I understand. It's not in your job description, after all. Although I don't think anyone else would do as good a job." he added, smiling, but his eyes looked rather knowing.
Curse him, Nanao thought, for being able to read her so well. And there really wasn't anyone else she trusted to take care of serving this meeting; she still hadn't really interacted with the Director or Associate Director of the International Business Department, and she wanted to make sure the department (and therefore the agency) left a good impression. The only people besides herself that she could even consider were the undersecretary of the department and the receptionist.
Unfortunately, the undersecretary was male, and from the conversation she'd overheard earlier, Nanao did not think he deserved a chance to look at the Associate Director. If it wasn't enough that the undersecretary only wanted to ogle Rangiku Matsumoto, Nanao's receptionist was, apparently, obsessed with the young Director of International Business. At least obsession seemed to be an appropriate term, Nanao thought with some amusement, given the number of times the girl had tried to change departments.
So she really couldn't let either of them do the serving, Nanao rationalized, which only left her. And really, Mr. Kyouraku himself brought her tea at least once a day, so it seemed silly to object to returning the favor. She looked at her boss. Mr. Kyouraku had known that she would eventually agree, she as sure of it. She sighed.
"No, Mr. Kyouraku, I really don't mind."
Which is how, at two o'clock sharp, she found herself knocking on the door of the conference room adjacent to Shunsui's office while balancing a large tray of drinks and pastries.
Shunsui was seated at one end of the long table, studying a chart of some kind as he listened to Toshiro Hitsugaya, who managed the Department of International Business. Hitsugaya's associate director, Rangiku Matsumoto, was leaning forward to look at the paper as well, her elbows propped up on the dark wood of the conference table. Nanao realized suddenly why exactly her male undersecretary had been so desperate to be the one serving drinks for the meeting.
"That's exactly why that won't work, Kyouraku." Mr. Hitsugaya was saying, his voice irritated. "I can't use that campaign in Karakura; it would be completely inappropriate, given that it assumes-" he stopped, seeing Nanao.
Shunsui waved a hand at him, "No, no, go on." His eyes twinkled as he looked up at his secretary, who was setting out the food. "Don't stop on account of Nanao." Hitsugaya studied her for a moment, glanced at Shunsui, and went on, a little grudgingly. Matsumoto also spared Nanao a glance, but quickly turned back to Hitsugaya, lips drawn together and expression serious.
"-which is why I no longer have a campaign to use, and nothing to tell Kisuke Urahara at our meeting tomorrow." Hitsugaya finished, a moment later. "The biggest problem, though, is that Ichimaru suggested this campaign. And this is confidential," another swift, half look at Nanao, and Hitsugaya continued, "but he said he had no idea that the pictures would be an issue and can't offer me anything else to use. He almost seems to be deliberately …" he stopped, his expression hard, and Shunsui nodded slowly.
"I see." he said, his deep voice thoughtful. Nanao was thinking furiously. Hitsugaya must mean Gin Ichimaru, the director of the advertising department. Clearly he was withholding information on some advertising campaign that Hitsugaya needed for a meeting with a client. Why exactly would he –
"Ah, Nanao, come here a moment." Shunsui's voice cut across her train of thought, startling her briefly. "I would like your opinion on this."
She walked over to the table, and looked down at the papers the other three were studying. There were pages of charts and tables, several large posters, and the storyboard of a commercial, all dealing with Sereitei's latest line of cell phones: Sol.
"Hitsugaya is meeting with Urahara Kisuke tomorrow to discuss using his shop as an outlet to sell the new Sol phones and equipment in Karakura. As I trust you've gathered, Hitusugaya, unfortunately, doesn't have an advertising campaign to show him –"
"-so he can't make a very good pitch and probably won't convince Mr. Kisuke to make a deal with Sereitei." Nanao finished.
"Exactly." beamed Shunsui. "So, Nanao, could you go find us the files on Karakura, if we have any?"
Nanao nodded and left, shutting the door behind her. As soon as she was gone, Hitusugaya turned to the man next to him. "Kyouraku, she's your secretary. What exactly do you expect to gain by including her in private conversations that –"
He was interrupted by Matsumoto's cheerful voice. "Now Director, don't say that! And you shouldn't underestimate Nanao. Look at me!" she smiled roguishly. "Just because you can't see it right away doesn't mean I don't have a great brain behind my big-"
"Yes, thank you Matsumoto." said Hitsugaya, cutting her off a little sourly.
It took Nanao longer than she had expected to find everything that might be useful, and it was nearly twenty minutes before she made her way back into the conference room holding a large pile of folders.
"About time." said Hitsugaya shortly, when she opened the door.
"I didn't realize there was so much information." Shunsui said, looking at the large stack of files in her hands and then up at her face.
"Some of this is relatively new." Nanao said, in answer to his unspoken question. She made her way over to the conference table and began laying out the information. "Here is the data from when we marketed the old Soul Candy line of electronics in Karakura – although that was a while ago. Here's the more recent information on some of our other products, although of course you know we really haven't done much in Karakura lately." There were now about ten folders on the table.
She laid down several more. "These are the research and marketing polls for each of those." Five more folders. "These are the campaign information from each product." Four more. "This is the information about the companies we used." Six more. "And these are the advertisements themselves."
Nanao moved farther down the table as she talked. "These here –" laying down seven more, "are general information: a profile of the electronics market in Karakura, information about potential competitors, including profiles of sales and annual reports, as well as some brief cultural notes on Karakura itself." She frowned for a moment. "I didn't actually have a report about Urahara Kisuke's business, but I can see if I can find one."
She stopped. Hitsugaya was looking at her in astonishment, Matsumoto in awe, and Shunsui in complacency.
"Ms. Ise," said Hitsugaya, "we haven't sold anything in Karakura for over five years because the market was doing so poorly. So how exactly did the Marketing Department come to possess this much information about it?"
"I put most of it together about a month ago." Nanao replied.
"A month ago less than ten people knew that we were planning to move back into Karakura."
"I didn't know that Sereitei was planning to re-open a sector in Karakura," Nanao explained patiently, "but Mr. Kyouraku mentioned that it would be nice if we had profiles ready for potential markets, so that the information would be accessible when we needed it. Since we used to sell in Karakura, it seemed logical to start with a profile for it."
"You mean you've done this for other places?" demanded Hitsugaya.
"A few. It's something I've been putting together in my spare time. Was there anything else you needed?"
Shunsui, who was now looking very amused, said "No, I think not. Thank you, Nanao, you've been very helpful."
As soon as she was gone, Hitsugaya turned to Shunsui abruptly. "I hope you're going to give her a raise. She certainly deserves it for-"
He was cut off by his associate director's hug, which enveloped him. "Oh Boss! You're so thoughtful!"
"Matsumoto!" he growled, but his unrepentant subordinate only laughed, her seriousness from the beginning of the meeting gone now that they had something to work with. "Don't be mad! Look, I have an idea. I was flipping through this folder of our old campaigns, and I think that with a little modification …"
Matsumoto gave Nanao a huge smile and wink as she sauntered by the secretary's desk a few hours later. Hitsugaya, on the other hand, stopped and said abruptly, "If you ever decide to work for a different department, I want you in International Business." He walked off without waiting for a reply, leaving Nanao staring after him in astonishment.
"I think it's safe to say that you've made a good impression, my darling Nanao." Shunsui told her when he strolled out of his office at five o'clock. "You never do things half-way, do you?" he smiled at her.
"Mr. Kyouraku," Nanao said wearily, continuing to pack her briefcase, "You called me 'Nanao' in front of the Director and Associate Director of International Business. As long as I'm working as your subordinate, I don't think that addressing me as such is appro-"
"Ah, Nanao, you've reminded me." He cut her off. "I did need to speak to you about your continuing to work as my subordinate." He looked suddenly serious. "Can you come in a little early tomorrow?"
Startled, Nanao could only nod.
A/N: Hope you enjoyed this! As always, I'd love input/comments/constructive criticism.