A/N: I didn't realize until just now that this is the second update I've had today. Oh well. I'm pretty sure I won't be looked down on for that. This chapter was fun. I think the next ones will be too. I'm unsure how many there will be after this. It's probably going to be two because I don't think I can do it in one. There also could possibly be three. I don't know yet. Maybe I should write longer stories more often, this one is doing excellent at helping me with my habit of leaving things unfinished. It's good for the inspiration too. Alright, I won't bug you anymore. Good, not good? Let me know. -KG
Chapter Nine: Cornered In The Rain
As soon as they were clear of the First, Shunsui wasted no time in grabbing Nanao and flashing them back to the office. It wasn't because the sky had darkened when they were meeting with the Captain Commander. It wasn't because it was threatening to rain, or because there was a lot of work to be done. No, it was because Nanao looked like she was ready to breakdown, and he wanted to prevent it.
He slid the door open and deposited her inside, closing it behind him. If Yamamoto had called Yukio right away, he only had a short amount of time to speak with her before he got here. It looked like his confession would have to wait until later. They would need more time than what they were going to get. They might've been successful in banning him from the office, but they couldn't ban him from seeing her afterward.
He looked over at her and noticed that she had gone extremely pale. It seemed that she realized exactly what was happening and wasn't taking it too well. She was looking down at her hands, which were clutching the white captain's haori that was around her. She slowly looked up at him, a worried expression on her usually expressionless face.
"What's going to happen now? I don't even know how this happened. There must be something we can do."
She dropped the fabric, letting it fall back to the ground. It was a little big on her small frame, a constant reminder that it wasn't hers and things weren't alright as long as she had it. Her mind had slowed down since the declaration of their current situation, and she couldn't think of anything she could do to fix it. She didn't lose hope though, because there had to be something.
He shook his head sadly, walking over to her and enveloping her in a hug. "For right now, we're not going to do anything. We're going to act completely normal and do what we would usually do, Nanao-chan. As much as I want to, I can't convince Yama-ji of anything else right now."
She leaned up against him, and he kissed the top of her head. "Maybe he'll let me off early for good behavior. I should invite him out for a drink too."
She smiled a little, even if it was just a joke. He wanted to brighten her up somehow, at least for now.
A rap and opening of the door made the smile fall from her face. Looking over, arms still around Nanao, he spotted Yukio. He had a smug look on his face that Shunsui wanted to smack off of him.
"If I'm not mistaken, Kyouraku, I believe that you're not allowed here." He put extra emphasis on the fact that he no longer had to call him captain.
Nanao moved threateningly towards him and was about to retort when Yukio held up a scroll. "I have the official order right here, signed by Captain Yamamoto. I don't think you want to argue with that now, do you?"
Shunsui put a hand on Nanao's shoulder. "Of course we don't. I was just merely saying farewell, Yukio."
"I believe that it's Lieutenant Otori now, Kyouraku. I think it would be best if you vacated yourself from the office. We have work to do."
He ran his hand over the armband on his arm, the insignia showing the same familiar symbol of the Eighth. Nanao cringed at the sight of it. It was wrong. She still had hers on underneath the haori, hoping that she wouldn't have to let go of what it meant and that all of this would be solved out soon. He seemed to be silently gloating about it.
"My mistake, Lieutenant Otori. I'll be going now." He used the phrase with disdain. Talk about rubbing salt on an open wound.
He turned back towards Nanao, lifting her chin up to look at him. "Chin up, Nanao-chan. I'll see you tonight." She nodded, watching as he floated past Yukio. At the door he turned to look at her one more time, eyes meeting in a silent understanding for now.
As the door was closing, Shunsui could even hear the tension in the room thicken. He also heard the argument that was itching to stir.
XoXoXoX
"You shouldn't tolerate such disrespect, Captain Ise." He walked towards her.
"Well, since I'm the captain now, I think I can allow people to call me whatever I wish." She was a bit snappy, but she didn't care. She was moving past the miserable stage and going right into the part where she got angry.
She was moving over to her desk, attempting to make things a bit more normal by doing some familiar work. She doubted it would work without Shunsui there, but she was willing to give almost anything a shot at this point. It wasn't the captain's desk, but it was hers. She planned on things staying that way.
"I'm only trying to be helpful, Captain. No need to get upset." Did he enjoy rubbing it in so much?
"Enough." Her hands came down hard on her desk.
"What?" He seemed so innocent, but she now knew much better.
"For one, as long as you're here, I don't want to hear anything from you other than what piece of paperwork goes where, got it? As you can see, I'm extremely agitated, and it's not going to go away as long as you're here."
He was in a stunned silence, so she continued. "Two, I am greatly disappointed that you didn't come to me with your concerns before calling a meeting. Those were things that were easily fixable. I don't appreciate you going behind Shunsui and I's backs."
He still said nothing. "Now, I'm going to attempt to get some work done. If you have any other concerns about the division, see the third seat, she should be able to assist you."
She stopped talking to him then, not really caring if he did anything or not. At least that aspect hadn't changed. Sighing, she lifted the first piece of paper off of the yet-to-be-completed pile.
XoXoXoX
An hour ticked slowly by, and Nanao found that she really hadn't gotten any work done. She couldn't think. It just wasn't the same without Shunsui here in the office napping or just watching her. Of course, there had been previous times when he was absent from the office, but those were times that she either knew he'd be back or times when she knew exactly where to find him.
She had been absently staring out the window for the past ten minutes, thinking about Shunsui. It was one of the first times where she didn't know where he was. It had started to rain just after she left, the sky darkening as the clouds drew closer. On days like this, he was usually in the office, unable to lounge outside. Where did he go now? She didn't really like not knowing. Suddenly, in light of current events, the whole scene yesterday wasn't that important. Neither of them were really. She would still have to bring that up tonight, but that was later.
She had to make it through the rest of the day first.
She peered over at Yukio, who unfortunately was sitting in Shunsui's desk, her captain. He had actually done some work, she saw. That didn't make her feel any better though. Maybe she should do what Shunsui usually did. If she unloaded all her work onto Yukio, maybe he would complain and then they could be in exile together. Then again, she doubted it. He would probably say nothing.
It was all too strange to her. The Eighth captain's haori did not belong on her shoulders, at least not while Shunsui was around. She couldn't take this anymore. Wordlessly she got up and headed towards the door. She stepped out into the rain, not bothering to close the door behind her. She faintly heard Yukio call her name, but she kept going, to who knows where.
XoXoXoX
Shunsui had been wandering around for about an hour after he left the office. He didn't care much for the rain because of his hat, but instead found himself worrying about Nanao. He had heard what she told Yukio, and he was proud of her. She sounded stern and unforgiving without starting a fight. Hopefully her mood had gotten a little better.
Seeing a flash of white, he did a double take and strained his eyes to get a better view. Going down one of the alleys was what appeared to be his Nanao-chan. What was she doing out in the rain? Getting closer, he confirmed his sight. She was leaning against the wall, protected from the rain because of the slightly overhanging roof. He was going to move closer when another figure came onto the scene, stopping him in his tracks.
Yukio was here.
Stopping around the corner, he watched on out of sight.
Nanao looked up from her feet, feeling a presence. Meeting the person, a frown came to her face.
"What do you want, Yukio?" She knew she probably shouldn't be rude, but she left the office to get away from him.
"I noticed that you looked upset. I just wanted to see if you were okay."
"I'm fine." Her answer was dry, and a bit muffled from the noise of the rain on the roof above her.
He stepped under the roof also, getting closer to her. She backed up a little in response.
"Are you sure? I know I haven't been the most helpful lately, but I only wanted what was best for you."
She glared at him. "I don't think it's any of your business to be concerned with what's best for me. I already have someone more than capable of doing so."
He shrugged his shoulders. "Still. If it helps any, I am sorry."
She looked at his face, not really convinced. "I don't believe you."
"Are you sure?" He stepped closer again. When Nanao backed up, she found herself hitting the wall.
"What are you doing?"
Her question went unanswered, however.
As soon as the words left her lips, she felt something press up against them. She was aware of pressure on her shoulders, pushing her against the wall. Confused for a moment, she was motionless.
Time almost stood still for Shunsui. He didn't like how this looked, even if she had no part in it. It was like what happened to him. It sent a different kind of pain through him. He dimly wondered if she would've felt the same had she seen him.
As soon as Nanao realized what was happening and regained control of her body, she shoved him as hard as she could. He stumbled backwards, out into the pathway of the alley before he fell backwards. He looked a little surprised. What nerve. She put her hand up to her head, a buzzing all of a sudden filling it.
And just like that, something snapped in her. This was going too far. There was a blind rage building up inside her, wanting to lash out at him. She wondered, is this how Leiko felt when she watched Shunsui flirt with others? She hated being compared to her, but in the light of that moment, she could almost understand how she felt when she attacked that division member.
In response, her hand ignited with a blue flame. She walked out into the open, rain pouring down on her. She stalked closer to him, fire flickering dangerously. She began to chant the words to a spell, when a strong hand appeared on hers, pulling her out of the daze.
"No, Nanao. As much as he deserves it, you can't kill him."
She looked over to Shunsui, who had come to stand beside her. The energy immediately ceased from her hand, not wanting to burn him. He brought her hand up to his mouth and kissed it.
"I want to kill him too, trust me."
From the ground, Yukio spoke up. "That's a threatening remark! I'll make sure you never get put back in command."
"I would advise you to be quiet." He looked over at him. "If I don't let her kill you, I'm not going to stop her from filing harassment against you."
Shunsui let go of her hand, trusting that she wouldn't lunge at him or melt him. Yukio slowly got up, rain soaking all three of them.
"Now, I want to know what you think that was." Shunsui had taken a step forward, slightly in front of Nanao.
Yukio started to laugh. "Well, Kyouraku, I'm surprised you would ask such a thing. It was revenge. You don't think that only you could get away with it do you? In that abandoned alleyway? I'm sure Nanao would agree with me."
He knew exactly what he was talking about, but what did Nanao have to do with it? He looked over at her, meeting her eyes before she dropped them to look at the ground.
"I…saw what happened the other day." She couldn't look at him. Inside, her mind laughed woefully. They were even now right? Somehow, she didn't find that very funny.
His mind was a disaster. She had known about that? Why hadn't she said anything? His stomach dropped at the thought. She probably wanted to see if he would say anything about it. It made him ill. Is that the reason she had been so different lately? Did she know that he didn't do it on purpose?
Shunsui whirled back to Yukio.
"You! What did you do? That woman was in a daze. Why are you here?"
"It doesn't matter what I did. Now the two of you are even. A kiss for a kiss."
Nanao stepped to the left a little, to get a better view from behind Shunsui. "But none of that makes any sense! Why would you bother with something like that?" She was confused, and that buzzing still hadn't gone away.
"So have you given up on him yet? Does his betrayal bother you? Does it hurt, Nanao-chan? Don't worry, it will all be over soon."
The realization hit her like slamming into a brick wall.
"No…it couldn't be. You're not…?"
Shunsui was puzzled. What was she talking about? He was angry that Yukio insinuated that he was cheating on her, but his other comment worried him.
"No, I'm not. Not exactly. That would be too cliché, don't you think?"
"What's he talking about, Nanao?"
"Easy. Here, I'll explain." He stated pacing about, a characteristic she recognized. Now that she thought about it, his hair was a bit of the same color too.
"My real name is Yukio Tokinori, so yes, I am indeed Leiko's brother. You couldn't imagine how easy it is to change your name and hide out for a while. Nobody even notices that it shouldn't be that easy to advance through the Academy like that, especially when you proclaim yourself a prodigy."
"So you hid away for what purpose? Are you trying to hurt Nanao?" He took a threatening step forward, prepared to do some damage if that was his intent, damn the consequences.
"It's simple really. I want revenge." He held up his hand and shook his head as Shunsui took another step. "No, no. Not like that. I don't want to kill Nanao. I'm not as violent as Leiko was."
When he stopped, Yukio continued. "I simply want to see her suffer, to take away what she wanted the most, just like you did to Leiko. Surprising enough, what you wanted, Nanao, was something you already had, making it that much easier for me. It might seem cliché, but you can't imagine how much fun it is until you try it yourself. My ultimate goal was to take her away from you, Shunsui, and then break what was left of her."
He grinned wickedly, and Shunsui glared.
"You see though, I made a slight miscalculation. It seems you weren't that easy to get rid of. I had to resort to many methods. It would've been much more fun if you would have left a few moments ago. Sadly, you decided to intervene. That's too bad."
"I don't care if I'm going to get in trouble. I'm going to take care of this." Nanao's hand had flared up again, and she had started to move forward.
Shunsui had to move in front of her and grab her shoulders. "No, Nanao, that's what he wants." He was interrupted by another chuckle.
"Yes, technically you can't really do anything to me. Not if you want to stay together, that is. I'm sure they would squirm at the chance to arrest an upper level officer."
She stopped, realizing that he was right. There really wasn't anything they could do to him, at least not yet. Someone had to be informed of his actions, and then they might be able to do something. If she did hurt him, or Shunsui for that matter, they would take it as an offense. They would either be locked up or discharged permanently from the Seireitei.
Shunsui moved next to her again, and they both looked at him, not knowing what to do next.
Then, Captain Soi Fon appeared about twenty feet from Yukio, causing him to turn around and the other two to look. Members of the Kido Corp appeared at her side, extras landing on the roofs overlooking the alley. She looked to the right, at one of the dark-garbed figures.
"Arrest him."
-End of Part Nine