A/N: This chapter is a bit different, in that it wanders through the mire of angst a while before taking a sharp right turn into the sunny meadows of fluff at the end. More meaningful note at the end.

Chapter 7

It had not been an easy week for anyone. Juggling the Karakura campaign, which was still going ahead at full force, while trying to reassure employees, keep the new interns occupied and still cooperate with the investigation … no, she was certainly glad it was Friday, Nanao thought, settling back in her chair and rubbing her temples.

And of all the weeks for those interns to start! It really was the worst kind of bad luck. The red-head was proving to be especially in need of supervision – she was glad that he was with Product Testing. Goodness knew that Zaraki, at least, didn't seem fazed by the furor around him. Their own, new Marketing intern was fairly level-headed, and very quiet, which was something to be grateful for. But no matter how well-behaved, Nanao was still finding herself hard-pressed to locate either tasks or supervision for him.

It didn't help that she'd barely seen Rangiku or Momo since the news had gotten out. Not that Rangiku had stopped her daily calls, but even the redhead was hard at work. Hitsugaya was extremely upset, she'd informed Nanao during one of their brief chats. Why this should cause her to start working diligently when no amount of threats, begging or ordering had done so in the past wasn't something Nanao had had time to ask about.

All she'd had time to do, in fact, was offer to drive when Rangiku, Hisagi, and Kira when to get "bloody well smashed," as Rangiku had so eloquently put it. It seemed like the only gesture she could make, and in the end she hadn't even been able to do that; Rangiku had been working so late every night that there hadn't yet been a chance. But Nanao planned to make the offer again tonight. It was Friday, after all, and she was fairly sure that Hitsugaya would make Rangiku go home at some point, especially after she'd apparently mistaken the waiting room couch for her bed last night.

Nanao had only seen Momo for a few minutes in passing – she, Kira and Hisagi had been completely tied up, what with meeting with all kinds of investigators on top of trying to do both their own jobs and fill the posts abandoned by their former bosses.

Nanao had been doing some of that filling in herself, for that matter, as Shunsui had been forced to attend so many more meetings than usual. She wished she could go to some of them even though she knew, really, that she was needed around the office far more. But that didn't make it less frustrating to be in the dark constantly. She hated not knowing what was going on, not being able to figure out how and why the three men had left as they did.

The worst part was that she knew she was missing something, and it was throwing off her concentration in everything else she tried to work on.

She pulled herself out of her thoughts enough to focus on the papers in front of her, her hands idly turning the sheets over, both sides of each covered in her own meticulously neat handwriting: lists of everything she could think of relating to the desertion.

Not that Nanao was involved in the ongoing investigation of Aizen, Gin and Tousen, as Sereitei had hired some very discreet private investors, but she felt she could hardly ignore everything that was happening. Besides, she'd always found list-making very calming.

So she sat down and slowly pulled a blank piece of paper towards herself; perhaps the thirtieth list would be the charm.

"Investment Capital Needed" she wrote across the top of the page, then began jotting down estimates. "Operating expenses – say for the first three, no, better make it six, months," she muttered, "then building, hiring, advertising, design firm, furniture, amenities, insurance …" the list went on for quite a while, with Nanao putting down estimated prices next to each category until she felt she had a reasonable figure for their start-up capital. It would be a major company too; Aizen would be trying to eventually rival Sereitei. It was ironic – everyone had known he was ambitious, but had assumed that he would confine his aspirations to Sereitei.

The final figure Nanao's which estimates produced was staggering. But, she thought, it really shouldn't have surprised her. None of the three men would have left if they hadn't been absolutely certain they had the money to succeed.

But where in the world could they have gotten such a massive amount of money? That was what it really all came down to, she realized. Even if they had invested their private fortunes … she stood again. She needed to talk this over with someone. Momo would be busy, and anyway, she probably wouldn't want to have that conversation now. Rangiku was probably in a meeting, and she really couldn't talk to any of her subordinates about it …

Fortunately Shunsui was in his office, though he sounded a little preoccupied when she knocked. She went in anyway, and sat in the seat across the desk from him. "I just don't understand it." she said without preamble. She pushed the list she had just made across the table to him. "They must have had very, very wealthy investors. I know that Aizen and Tousen and Gin have been getting substantial salaries for years, and Aizen at least has family money into the bargain, but-"

"He would never have risked his own money." Shunsui interjected. "He's the type to leave plenty in reserve."

Nanao continued the thread of his thought. "So he must have had quite a few investors, then. If I'm right he'll have needed at least – but how did he convince anyone, even a large group of people, to put that much money in?"

Shunsui looked sober. "That's why everyone is so worried. True, as the head of Accounting it would be easy for Aizen to have gotten money out of Sereitei's accounts, but it doesn't look like he's been taking much. Besides that, none of them – not Aizen, Gin or even Tousen, should have had any vital information about Karakura – which presumably is why Gin was asking Urahara about it."

"But if Gin had to go to Urahara for information as basic as the status of Sereitei's contract in Karakura …" Nanao said helplessly.

"I know," Shunsui said, "it doesn't make sense. How could he not even know that and still be able to convince investors? They must have had very convincing information about past market behavior, or the competition, or-"

Nanao didn't really listen to the rest of his sentence. She was struggling to remember – what was it? She'd been working on the Karakura campaign for so long that it was sometimes hard to remember with whom she'd had what conversations. But she was sure that she'd been discussing the competition, with someone. As Shunsui trailed off into slightly frustrated silence, Nanao finally remembered, and her face blanched suddenly.

"Information about the competition." Nanao breathed, her voice was a horrified whisper.

Shunsui looked up in alarm. "Nanao?"

But she was caught up in the memory.

"Momo! What a nice surprise. But what brings you to my office?"

"Oh, business, I'm afraid." She made a face as she said it, and Nanao chuckled.

"Nanao? Here, I'm going to get you some water." Shunsui said as he walked over to the pitcher set out on the sideboard.

"Mr. Aizen heard that you had information on the old Karakura campaign. 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."

Nanao ignored Shunsui's concerned face. How could she have been so stupid?!

"Well, it's a bit of an unusual request, and I hate to led the research outside of the department –" Momo's face was taking on a resigned look, "-but if Mr. Hitsugaya needs the numbers, I don't suppose it's a big problem." Nanao had finished.

She'd glanced up at the clock, knowing Shunsui wouldn't be back to the office for a couple hours, at the least, and made a quick decision. "Alright, let me get them. But I'd appreciate it if you could ask Mr. Aizen to send them back quickly; we may need them. And I'm sure Shunsui would like to see a copy of Mr. Hitsugaya's report, once he and Mr. Aizen finish it."

"No problem!" Momo had chirped, and the two had chatted for another minute while Nanao found everything that Momo said Aizen needed.

She'd completely forgotten the incident in light of the tea she'd had with Shunsui later in the afternoon and her subsequent relief at having things more normal between them. Then things had been so busy, and what with work, Rangiku's after-work plans, talking to Lisa and going to her cousin's wedding, she'd only just glanced at the files when Momo brought them back last Wednesday. She hadn't even thought to email Mr. Hitsugaya to ask about the report.

She blinked rapidly to clear her eyes, and hopefully her head, and absently sipped the water Shunsui had put into her hands. She looked up at him, forcing herself to be calm.

"Sir," she said, "I'm afraid I've, I've failed you."

Shunsui looked a question. "But my dear Nanao, don't say that in such a serious tone of voice! I thought you were going to confess-"

"Sir," she interrupted. "I've failed you. It's my fault that Aizen was able to find investors and left the company." Time seemed slower than usual, and she had a second to register how calm her voice was, given that it was the hardest thing she had ever had to confess, before she was distracted by Shunsui's obvious confusion.

"It's my fault." she repeated. "Aizen did have information about the market in Karakura, how the competition for an electronics firm would be minimal, the projected sales figures, everything." She took another deep breath. "He had everything he would need to convince his investors because I gave it to him."

"Nanao, what …?" Shunsui asked. It was clear that he still didn't understand, and she didn't really want him to, because then he'd know what a dreadful mistake it had been to promote her. But it was too late now, and she couldn't lie to him.

"Momo came by a couple weeks ago and asked if she could have those figures since Aizen needed them for a set of sales projections he was setting up for Mr. Hitsugaya. I wasn't sure … but you weren't in, and I assumed that someone had already okay-ed it, and I never even checked with Mr. Hitsugaya to make sure that he had gotten it and-" she gulped, closer to crying than she'd yet been, "and it's all my fault. I just, I didn't think. I didn't even realize it until just now, but it makes sense, it has to have been me-"

Shunsui stood up abruptly, walking to the window, and Nanao fought the tremble in her voice, horrified at everything: her situation, what she'd done, that Shunsui wasn't looking at her. But she couldn't seem to stop the words from pouring out. "It was so stupid of me! I should have realized that it wasn't within procedures, I should have known. I, I'm so sorry, Mr. Kyouraku, I …" she trailed off, hopelessly, looking at his back, his silhouette hard against the fluttering curtains in the window. The pale pink shirt did nothing to soften the rigidity of the lines of his shoulders.

This was it then. She had not just made a mistake, she had failed completely. She had put Sereitei's biggest new campaign in jeopardy. She had basically financed the company that would be in competition with them in that new market. The best job she'd ever had, and she'd just blown any chance she had had of keeping it. She was loosing all of it, everyone here, thanks to her own stupidity.

Nanao didn't try to fool herself on that point. Even Shunsui's good nature had to have limits, and with this, this betrayal, she simply didn't have a chance. Just when she was beginning to understand him a little better, beginning to hope that, perhaps… she'd been so excited – was it just last Friday? – when he'd complimented her shirt. She had flattered herself that– but there was no point in thinking that any more.

Nanao wrenched her thoughts away. There was no point in those kinds of regrets. What she could do, though, was try and save him some trouble now. She stood up.

"I'm sorry, sir, for my behavior just now, and for my," she faltered, "my actions in giving the information to-"

Shunsui turned, cutting her off with a wave of his hand. His eyebrows were drawn together in concentration. "No, Nanao, don't worry about apologizing." He looked at her directly now, and his gaze softened a little. "What we need to do is talk it over with Jyuu quickly, and we'll go to Yamamoto … yes, that'll have to be next." In a fit of energy he threw himself into his office chair and grabbed his phone, dialing Mr. Ukitake's extension.

"Sir," said Nanao, cursing her voice, which wouldn't quite be steady, "please don't go to the trouble, it's, it's fine, I understand. I accept full responsibility and I'll submit my resignation immediately."

Shunsui put down the phone with a jerk. "What?!" he demanded. "Why in the world you would do that? I need you here! "

"Sir, I-"

"Nanao, I refuse to allow you to quit. You made a mistake. Everyone does. It will be fine; no one's asked me to resign yet, have they? Now sit down while I call Jyuushiro."

Nanao stood. "Sir." He glanced at her face and stopped, then stood up and walked over to her. Taking one of her hands in his, he led her back over to the chair she'd been in, and sat her down, sitting in the chair next to her.

"Nanao," he said seriously, "no one expects you to be perfect. You couldn't have predicted this any more than any of us. You haven't failed anyone, not even yourself, and certainly not me. You can't resign because of one accident. Besides, what would Matsumoto do without you? And do you think I would ever find another associate director who combined such efficiency and force of personality with such beauty? No," he answered cheerfully, "there's no one who could replace my little Nanao. So you certainly can't leave. Now sit here, drink my tea – or better yet, have some sake, while I call Jyuu. We'll deal with everything. The Old Man is a little grumpier than usual right now, but I've seen him worse."

As he spoke he pulled a side table over, took his teacup off his desk and set in on the table, and produced a sake bottle from the bottom shelf of the table (where it was hidden in a cabinet shaped like a set of books).

"Sir …"

"Nanao," he said, putting a hand lightly on the side of her face and letting it rest there for just a moment, "it will be fine. You're going to stay here with me."

"I- thank you." she whispered.

He smiled at her, his usual lazy, knowing smile, and went over to his desk to call Mr. Ukitake again. "You see?" he said, "you're feeling better already. Drink the sake, my lovely Nanao, while I talk to Jyuu. And stop worrying – I hate to see my Nanao worried. Now, tell me that you weren't trying to take the whole responsibility for those bastards leaving. I know you were, you were saying to yourself, 'It's all my fault, I didn't keep track of their every move, I didn't follow them around taking notes so that I'd know exactly what was happening.'" His eyes were twinkling as he looked at her. "Isn't that right, my lovely little Nanao? You worry too much! You were trying to take the whole blame, when it doesn't belong to you."

"Shunsui," she began. He raised an eyebrow. Relief was making her giddy, but she wouldn't be herself if she just let it go. "About my name…"

The other eyebrow went up. He was sitting on his desk now, one foot on the floor, head on one side as he listed to the ringing and waited for Mr. Ukitake to pick up. "Now dear Nanao, you can't ask me to 'address you as Ms. Ise,' not when you're on a first name basis with me. Besides, Shunsui sounds so perfect from your lovely lips."

Nanao blushed, but went on, "I was going to say, calling me Nanao isn't appropriate," she hesitated, "in front of other people."

And Shunsui threw back his head and laughed. Looking at him, Nanao believed what he'd said earlier – everything was going to be alright.

A/N: This chapter took me so so so long to write. Normally it just takes me a while to find time, but I had a draft of this weeks ago, I just haven't been satisfied with it (and it's still not my favorite). Anyway, IS the last chapter of Nomenclature. Orginally I thought that when I reached this point in the plot Shunsui and Nanao would actually be together ... but then I also thought it would be about 3 chapters, total. Anyway, I want to concentrate on some other fics, but perhaps someday a sequel will happen (I'm especially tempted to write one that revolves around the new interns... ). I would love any comments y'all have to offer!