A/N: I'm back! And I realized that I've been terrible about remembering to do this, but none of these characters belong to me. There, disclaimed.
I've been a terrible person, Nanao thought. I jumped to conclusions. I was rude to Shunsui –my boss. I ought to be officially reprimanded for that. Agitated, she twirled the pen she was holding between her fingers, drumming on the surface of her desk with her other hand.
It was she who had been impolite, unpardonably so. So perhaps she ought to apologize? He was her superior, had been completely innocent, and –
Nanao stopped the nervous movement of her pen. Since when had Shunsui Kyouraku been "completely innocent"? Mr. Ukitake had vouched for his lateness this morning, but what about all the other ones? What about the meetings he had skipped, and the sake bottles she knew were hidden (not very well) in the bottom drawer of the far left filing cabinet?
She set the pen down, indignant.
He should really be apologizing to her. Just because he had an excuse this once didn't mean all the other incidents could be forgotten. Her suspicions and her reaction had been perfectly justified, given his past behavior. He didn't deserve any kind of apology.
With a fresh sense of justification, Nanao picked up a pencil to being marking the proofs in front of her.
And stopped, with a small frown. She had always prided herself on her meticulousness, her responsibility and her logic, and Nanao knew she was being far from logical now. Being around Shunsui seemed to do that to her, in fact. She was not going to be emotional and irrational about this, though. She simply needed to look at the issue in a balanced light.
She had been harsh, even if her suspicions were justified – which, she reminded herself, they were. She was feeling out of sorts now because her suspicions with regards to this particular incidence had been proved wrong. But really, why hadn't Shunsui explained himself? It was not what she would have expected. She would have thought he'd come out with it, be pathetic about being unjustly accused. But perhaps he hadn't wanted to embarrass Mr. Ukitake by bring up his illness?
That might be it, she thought. He wouldn't have been reluctant to melodramatically accuse her of cruelty normally, in a bid for sympathy, but as Mr. Ukitake was involved … she'd known that Mr. Ukitake was ill, of course, but he had always been very light about his health condition.
She ought to have noticed that Shunsui was being evasive. She should have noticed that he was acting strangely! Of course, she'd been rather out of sorts with her boss since her unexpected promotion and, she admitted reluctantly to herself, had perhaps been looking for an excuse to be upset at him. Therefore she had jumped on the chance to complain. Well, she knew what to do, given that she'd been in the wrong.
That afternoon Nanao did not manage to be quite as productive as she'd planned to be. She was finding it hard to work while trying to think of a facing-saving way to admit to having been completely in the wrong. She finally decided to be matter-of-fact about it. After all, matter-of-fact and Nanao Ise were practically synonymous.
So that afternoon, once she had packed her briefcase, put her desk in order, and shut down her computer, Nanao squared her shoulders and made her way to Shunsui's office. She walked in after hearing his absentminded "Come in" and found him sitting at his desk, apparently working.
"Ah, Mr. Kyouraku, I wanted to –"
He looked up, smiling, "Yes, Nanao?"
Nanao plowed on, her eyes firmly on his forehead as she talked. "My behavior this morning was wrong. I was extremely rude, and relied on assumptions rather than fact. Please accept my apology."
"Ah, Nanao?" Shunsui sounded a little concerned, and she reluctantly shifted her gaze a few inches so she could look him in the eyes.
"That, um, that was all I wanted to say." Nanao informed him, a little nervously, readying herself to go now that she had finished. She hated apologies; they meant that she had failed, somehow.
But Shunsui was still looking at her, intently, and she couldn't quite turn away. Suddenly, though, he smiled. Not his usual debonair, teasing one, but a lighter, almost surprised, smile. He leaned back casually in his chair, still holding her gaze.
"Ah, Nanao, you could never upset me! But may I ask what prompted this?"
Nanao hesitated. "Mr. Ukitake called, and said that you had been helping him last night. I, well I shouldn't have made assumptions about the reasons for your lateness."
Shunsui sighed. "I can't believe Jyuu went and spoiled the game."
"The game?" Nanao's eyebrows went up.
"Jyuushiro is serious, responsible and good. And so he is always meddling, and being honest and forthright." He smiled fondly at some memory. "But darling Nanao, don't let him convince you that I'm like that too."
Nanao wished she was sure that he was only avoiding the issue out of modesty. But she only replied, "That's hardly likely, sir."
Shunsui's smiled broadened. "Well, well, I would hope not. That would be months of effort gone to waste. But maybe I have teased you a bit much. I assure you, my dear Nanao, that I will try not to be so carried away by your beauty in the future."
His eyes were twinkling. Nanao's were not. "Perhaps you would be more like to remember," she suggested, "if you addressed me as Ms. Ise."
"But Nanao, I was wounded by your suspicion this morning." Shunsui went on, grandly ignoring her. "To know how little confidence you have in me …" he trailed off with a melodramatic sigh. "But perhaps there is something you could do to ease my pain …" he left the sentence hanging hopefully.
"Such as?" Nanao asked, repeating do not jump to conclusions to herself.
"We must have lunch together tomorrow, my lovely Nanao, to get rid of all this bad feeling." he announced. "We can take a small picnic into the courtyard; a loaf of bread, a jug of wine, apple blossoms overhead, and my dear Nanao, basking in the sunlight beside me."
Well, the lunch part wasn't a terrible idea, Nanao thought, although a picnic was completely out of the question. It could be a sort of working lunch. Maybe. Well, a lunch during which she worked. Or tried to. No, she was not about to let him have his own way on this when he already took advantage of her willingness to do paperwork. "I will consider bringing something for tea tomorrow." she informed him.
He beamed at her, and Nanao had a sinking suspicion that this was what he had been aiming for all along.
Nanao decided to make cookies. Shunsui was almost certain to seize upon the chance she'd offered and, she told herself, it was less trouble to make the cookies than to deal with his piteous disappointment if she didn't bring anything for him.
But while she could predict his reaction if she didn't bring something for tea the next day, Nanao was rather frustrated to realize how little she really understood her boss; he was a mess of contradictions. As she began measuring flour, sugar, baking powder and other ingredients, Nanao examined the situation.
Shunsui flirted constantly, and not just with her (although she did seem to be the object of most of his pet names). He was irresponsible, trying to avoid meetings when he could and napping during work hours. But when he did work he got things done quickly and well, apparently feeling that if he had to take the trouble to work he ought to accomplish something. He was brilliant, with an instinctive grasp of marketing and a good memory, both of which had been supplemented by an excellent education. If promotions had been given out on the basis of energy expended, however, Nanao doubted he would have obtained his current position.
And of course there was the matter of how he treated her. His referring to her as "my heart" had only been teasing – he'd admitted as much that afternoon. She would have thought he didn't take her seriously, except he'd promoted her. And he must have recommended her strongly, or Director Yamamoto wouldn't have approved the decision.
Furthermore, she enjoyed talking to Shunsui when they were discussing work-related projects. He listened attentively to her input, freely sharing his own ideas and experiences; they really did work well together. When he wasn't teasing he was very pleasant to be around, very calm and laid-back. And of course, as Rangiku had helpfully pointed out over drinks the week before, it was better to work for an attractive man than an unattractive one, and there was no denying that Shunsui was an attractive man.
But none of this was helping her figure out exactly what her boss's attitude towards her was. Nanao put the baking sheet into the now pre-heated oven and sat down at her small, round kitchen table. Perhaps she ought to call Lisa again.
Making up her mind, she walked over the phone, taking it back to the table, along with a bowl granola. Lisa, fortunately, had time to chat. They talked for a few minutes about the book-signing that Lisa had been to the previous weekend and the new restaurant she'd seen while there, but Lisa soon turned the conversation to Nanao.
"So, Nanao, tell me what's bothering you. I've known you long enough to know you've got a reason for calling."
"I do." Nanao admitted, "I'm afraid it's about work again, though."
"Well, hurry up and spit it out. We're not getting any younger here."
Nanao almost laughed, but went on. "It's just that I like Sereitei, and I'm flattered to have been promoted, and I like my new position much better."
Lisa muttered something impatient that might have been "Yes, we've already been over that."
Continuing smoothly, Nanao went on, "But I'm still having a little trouble with Mr. Kyouraku. It's frustrating but I just don't know where I stand with him and I don't feel like I understand him, even thought I've been at Sereitei for months."
Lisa was quiet for a moment, thinking. Then she said, "Tell me what specifically happened to start you wondering all this again."
So Nanao explained.
"Well, you're young and pretty." was Lisa's first response. "So that would account for the flirting and teasing. And you tend to react to it, which would account for his continuing it."
"But I don't react!" protested Nanao. "I'm very calm and firm. It's only recently I've started getting a little annoyed."
"Then he's looking for a reaction." Lisa returned. "Shunsui watches out for other people. You've already noticed he takes careful care of the other employees. You're young, pretty, capable and serious – he probably feels it's his duty to help you loosen up."
"I suppose." said Nanao, but her voice was doubtful.
"Well, it's just a guess, but I'd say it's his way of taking care of you."
"I don't need to be taken care of!" protested Nanao.
"I'm not the one to tell that to; I finished babysitting you years ago."
Nanao went to work the following morning with a box oatmeal butterscotch cookies and a fresh sense of determination. She would be professional and calm, prove she did not need looking after – she was 28 for heaven's sake! – and she might, just might, consider trying to loosen up a little. When she figured exactly how to do that.
After carefully hiding the cookies in a desk drawer, Nanao went to work with a will. She was focusing on part of the new Karakura campaign and the work was mostly independent at this point. Just as well that it was, she thought, since Shunsui was tied up in meetings about the campaign with International Business, Accounting, Communications and Advertising.
Momo Hinamori, the assistant director of the Accounting department, came by around 11 in search of a few files.
"Mr. Aizen heard that you had information on the old Karakura campaign." she explained. "He was wondering if you would mind lending us that research, and the information on the rival organizations, so that we can work out some predictive numbers for Mr. Hitsugaya."
It took Nanao about fifteen minutes to get everything together, but she didn't begrudge the time; Momo was a very pleasant, talkative woman, about her own age, and Nanao liked her. They had gotten along well during the "girl's dinner" that Rangiku had organized to celebrate Nanao's promotion and ended up spending more time together during the subsequent nights out Matsumoto had organized.
Momo's visit was the only real interruption of the morning – as Shunsui was out of the office and Rangiku was tied up in meetings, the only emails or phone calls Nanao received were brief and actually work-related.
Shunsui finally returned a little after 1, stopping by Nanao's office to update her on the status of the project. He did not mention tea or lunch.
At 2:30 Nanao went to the break room and filled Shunsui's personal tea pot with hot water. Setting it on a tray with two mugs she stopped by her office to collect her cookies before making her way to Shunsui's office. Too late she realized that with the tray in both hands she couldn't knock.
"Mr. Kyouraku?" she called. "Could you open the door? I'm afraid my hands are full." Instantly, almost before she was done speaking, the door was swept open, exposing the interior of Shunsui's office. Nanao stepped in carefully, looking around for her boss.
"Ah, Nanao, let me take that." He said, shutting the door and coming up behind her. She turned, careful not to jostle the tray, only to have him scoop it out of her hands. "Just here," he called over his shoulder, sweeping over to a low table already set up near one of the windows. Nanao was more than a little glad to see that there were no flower petals, candles, or fine linen table cloths in sight.
Instead the simple wooden table was set with two teacups, a bowl of wildflowers and a small plate of fruit. Shunsui added the teapot and her cookies to the table, and settled himself beside it.
"Well Nanao?" he asked, looking up with a slight smile. "You don't want the cookies to go to waste, do you?"
"I have to get back to work in half an hour." Nanao said sternly, by way of an answer. But she couldn't help smiling a little as she sat.
A/N: So I kind of felt like Shunsui had been getting away from me, hence all the introspection and exploration of his character by both Nanao and Lisa. It seemed necessary. Again, it will probably be at least three weeks before I update as I'll be away from internet access. Thanks for reading!