Disclaimer: Do not own Bleach, but it would be awesome for me if I did!

Warnings: This is an AU story. This story goes along my story Astounding Revelations. I suggest you read that story before starting this one.

Pairings: Mainly Shunsui/Nanao

A/N: Many thanks to my beta, ForeverSam, for everything.

Arrival

By: akirk85029

Rangiku, Shunsui, and Jyuushiro were sitting in Rangiku's living room a couple of days after Nanao's interview. Rangiku had poured everyone a drink and handed the guys their glasses. The television was set to the news behind them but the sound was on mute. Every once in a while Rangiku would steal a glance at it.

Jyuushiro cleared his throat causing the other two to turn to him. "So Rangiku, tell me why there is no record of a Nanao Ise before seventeen years ago."

Rangiku's eyes widened. She hadn't expected Jyuushiro to do a background investigation on Nanao. "Well, you know, my stepfather is Tomoya Ise and that he's a judge."

Jyuushiro nodded his head; he knew this information well, as he had been friends with Rangiku for a while. Shunsui was actually being quiet; he was interested in learning what he could about Nanao.

"Again, I won't tell you what happened, but I'll tell you that her real parents disowned her and when I found her and took her home Tomoya helped her get her emancipation papers and then he adopted her, giving her a new name and then sealed everything to give her protection." Rangiku told them trying not to go into too much detail.

"If Ise adopted her, why isn't she an attorney?" Shunsui simply asked.

Rangiku shrugged her shoulders. "God knows she should be! She wanted to do everything herself. She's been going to school part-time, paying for it when she could. She just received her Bachelor degree and I've been trying to talk her into going to law school. I think she feels guilty about moving on when she doesn't know…." Rangiku stopped talking by taking a large drink from her glass. There was a reason she didn't talk about Nanao while she was drinking.

Both men watched Rangiku. They both wanted to ask questions as curiosity was a part of human nature.

Rangiku took a quick glance back at the silent television and frowned.

"Why are you so interested in that kidnapping story?" Shunsui asked as he had been the one to bring it up the other day.

Rangiku sighed and turned to her old friend. "I was hoping for something. I mean I'm glad the kid's okay." She said looking at the TV again, along with both men, as it showed a picture of the little girl with her name, Kiyomi Hinamori, scrolling across the bottom. The girl had been rescued during the night and the story had been plastered all over the news.

"What were you looking for?" Jyuushiro asked interested in possibly helping.

"The last name Hinamori is not right. I can't remember the correct name but that's not it. I was hoping to help Nanao. I think she feels guilty about her brother, that she feels like she abandoned him. I was thinking that the kid might possibly be his because of the hair color, but I guess not." Rangiku said frowning.

Jyuushiro raised his brow. "Her brother has white hair?"

Rangiku nodded her head in the affirmative.

"That explains one thing." Jyuushiro said taking a sip from his glass.

Rangiku looked at him to continue.

"When I walked into the bookstore, she looked at me like she was expecting someone else. I kind of felt bad because of the look she had when she realized I wasn't who she thought I might be." Jyuushiro stated.

Rangiku got up to pour herself another drink.

The next week Nanao realized very quickly that she was going to have to reorganize Shunsui Kyouraku's whole filing system. She couldn't find anything and had no idea how he had even survived for so long or how he won any of his cases. Nanao surmised that was why Jyuushiro's assistant, Miyako Shiba, didn't like to handle Shunsui's files and Nanao couldn't blame her for that.

Nanao liked Miyako, as the woman has shown her nothing but kindness. Nanao learned that Miyako was married to a man named Kaien, that he was Jyuushiro's protégé, and that he now worked in the prosecutor's office. Miyako and Kaien also had a one year old son named Kaishiro.

Nanao looked at the clock on her computer, it was almost midnight. She couldn't believe she was at work this late on a Friday night. Then Nanao reminded herself that she had nothing better to do anyway. She grabbed one of the manila files and walked into Shunsui's office to place it on his desk. He needed to review the documents she had prepared.

As Nanao was prepared to leave the office she notice that the small television on top of the file cabinet in the corner was still on, albeit with no sound, but still on. Nanao had an intense dislike for that particular invention especially when one could curl up with a good book. She quickly turned the TV off and walked out of the office, flipping off the light as well.

Nanao sighed as her office line started to ring. She looked at the caller id and answered as she recognized the number. "Sir?"

"My little Nanao, what are you doing at the office at this hour on a glorious Friday night?" Shunsui asked.

Nanao rolled her eyes. She wondered how he even knew she was there. "I wouldn't be here if I didn't have so much to do!" Nanao said almost scolding him.

"That hurts! Come, you must join us!" Shunsui said happily, thinking that she would accept the offer.

"I am sorry, sir, but I must decline. I am leaving anyway to go home." Nanao replied not sure why she added the last part.

"And how is my little Nanao getting home?" Shunsui inquired.

"I will walk, sir." Nanao answered while shutting down her computer.

"No worries. I will be right there to take you home!" Shunsui said, and hung up before Nanao could say no.

Nanao felt like banging her head into the wall.

As Nanao was locking the front door to the office she heard a car pull up along side her. She looked over to see a red Mercedes with her boss behind the wheel. Nanao sighed deeply before walking over and getting into the car. It would be nice not to have to walk home this late at night. Nanao almost regretted it though because as soon as she sat down Shunsui called out those three words she dreaded hearing: my little Nanao. "Sir, I insist that you quit calling me that."

Shunsui pouted as he put the car into gear and drove off. "You would take away the best part of my day?" He asked, taunting her.

Nanao pinched the bridge of her nose. She did not understand the man sitting next to her driving. She could not wrap her brain around the reason why he would do those things or why he would flirt with her. She knew it had to be part of his game; she had answered enough phone calls from when he had been out drinking the night before, in just this past week, to know that he got around pretty well. She just didn't understand why he would waste his time with her. She felt that she was definitely not worth it.

Shunsui watched her silently as he drove her home. He knew one day that she would eventually hit him, or so he hoped. That would mean that he had cracked her shell a little bit. He wanted her to live life the way it should be lived, not hiding behind her books. He couldn't fathom the reason, though, as to why he just wanted to see her smile.

Nanao closed the door rather harshly behind her after letting Shunsui into her apartment. He had insisted on making sure she made it all the way home safely, and after much protest he had followed her up to her apartment.

"Rangiku keeps all the liquor in that cabinet over there." Nanao said, pointing towards the hutch in the dining room.

Shunsui gave her a long look before walking over to pour himself a good strong drink. He had a feeling he might need it.

Nanao had pulled a book from the shelf and was reading over the first few pages to see if she wanted to continue to read that particular book. She was so engrossed that she hadn't even noticed Shunsui walk up behind her until he was looking at her book over her shoulder. Her heart was pounding against her chest; he had scared her so badly. She was beginning to question why he was really there. Did he want something? "Sir?"

"What do you see in all these books?" Shunsui asked, trying to ignore the guilt he felt in scaring her. He didn't know that she hadn't heard him approaching. He didn't like that she was afraid around him. He was going to have to work on that.

"They give me something I can't have." Nanao replied while taking a step away from him.

Before Shunsui could say anything further Nanao had retreated to her room closing her door firmly. He sighed and moved to the couch. He didn't feel much like leaving, especially when Nanao wasn't out to lock the door behind him if he left. He downed the contents of his glass before lying down to sleep alone again.

Shunsui grunted as he slowly picked himself up from the couch. He ran his fingers through his long hair that had come loose during the night. Shunsui groggily made his way to the bathroom; it was way too early to be up. He looked over to the clock as he passed; it was only ten in the morning. Yep, way to early to be up!

As Shunsui walked back into the living room he heard the lock in the door being turned and he watched Rangiku enter the apartment. "And just what have you been up to?"

Rangiku spun her head around so fast she nearly gave herself whiplash. "Shunsui" Rangiku exclaimed. "You nearly gave me a heart attack. Man, I thought you were my step-father! That just took me back to high school."

Shunsui chuckled at his friend's expense. "Sorry, couldn't help myself!"

Rangiku eyed him suspiciously. "What are you doing here?"

Shunsui shook his head and raised his hand waving her off. "Don't worry, I slept on the couch."

Rangiku laughed at him this time. "Why exactly did you leave the party last night?"

"Nanao was going home by herself at midnight. I couldn't let her leave the office that late by herself." Shunsui said, sitting down on the couch.

Rangiku seated herself across from him in her favorite chair. "She should know better than that!"

Shunsui looked calmly at his friend. He wanted to ask so many questions but he knew she wouldn't answer. Rangiku would just tell him he needed to talk to Nanao. The problem was he wasn't near close enough to her for her to confide in him.

During the middle of the next week, as Miyako walked into the office, after her lunch break, she had a bright smile on her face. "Good afternoon everyone!"

Everyone looked at her and most grunted out replies as it had been a very strenuous and taxing morning and the afternoon wasn't looking any better.

"What has you in such a good mood?" Rangiku asked wishing she was as content as the dark haired woman.

"Well, Kaien got his first big case. He's only co-counsel, but it's still major for him!" Miyako stated, remembering how eager he had been to start working on the case.

Jyuushiro smiled at his assistant. "That's great! Which case is he working?"

"You remember that kidnapping a couple of weeks ago? He is prosecuting the kidnapper. It should be an open and shut case because the guy kidnapped an agent's kid, but I think they are going to charge him with all those murders in Tokyo, you know the serial murders!" Miyako said thinking about what she was told during lunch.

"Did Kaien tell you how the kid faired?" Jyuushiro asked out of concern for the child's safety.

"Yeah, he said she wasn't harmed and only time will tell if there are any mental scars from it. He said she was a brave little girl. He's only met her once so far though. I know that one of the kidnappers was killed." Miyako told them.

"Are you ready for how much time he'll be away?" Jyuushiro asked her, wondering if she knew how much time her husband was going to have to put into a big case like that.

"No, but I'll have to deal with it." Miyako said slowly, realizing how much time her husband really was going to be gone dealing with the case as there would be a lot of pressure on him to make the case stick.

Jyuushiro patted her shoulder gently. "We'll all be here if you need any help with little Kaishiro."

Miyako looked up at her employer and thanked him for his kindness. She walked over to Nanao. "Do you want to go with me tomorrow to the courthouse? I can show you around and introduce you to everyone."

"Sure, I would like that." Nanao replied softly. She figured Miyako must not know who her adoptive father was, but Nanao was glad that she didn't know. That meant that Miyako was being nice with no underlying cause.

"Great." Miyako replied while walking back to her desk. There was someone she wanted to introduce Nanao to. She didn't realize that she had whispered that under her breath as she passed Shunsui who stiffened his stance.

Shunsui needed to think of a reason to join them tomorrow. He didn't like the idea of Nanao being introduced to a potential dating partner; not when he's barely scratched the surface of the barrier that was surrounding Nanao Ise. Yes, he was definitely going with them no matter what.

A/N: So what did everyone think? Was it satisfactory? I hope so:) I want to thank everyone who has reviewed so far - I really appreciate it!!:) Also for Miyako and Kaien's kid - I just took Kai from Kaien and Shiro from Jyuushiro and combined them. Doubt there's a real meaning - might be fourth son of the sea or something - but I figured that they might name their kid something out of Jyuushiro's name to honor him. Maybe. Anyway please review and let me know what you think:)