Author's Note: I do not own Bleach or its characters. This is AU.
Maybe I've Learned
Nanao did not scream at the person on the other end of the phone nor did she slam the phone back into its rest. Neither would help her very much even if it would be rather satisfying. Nanao did not consider herself to be a violent person, but the urge to hurt someone was rather overwhelming right now. Was there no one on this planet that could do something correctly the first time around? It couldn't be that difficult to follow directions.
The phone call had been from the university's library. Two weeks ago, Nanao had sent them a list of books from their special collections that were supposed to be on display for the conference. Apparently, that along with the paperwork she had filled out in order to borrow things from the special collections had been lost. And this close to the conference, Nanao would have to go and deal with things in person. It wouldn't normally be an issue, but it had to be done now, and Nanao had plans for this afternoon. She was not happy about having to put them off.
She had finished her dissertation last night (insomnia could be a wonderful thing at times), and Nanao had set aside this afternoon to go over it one last time before she submitted it. Quite truthfully, Nanao was ready to move on to the next step in the process. But that was going to have to wait until after she had gone to the library and dealt with things. Nanao was not looking forward to an afternoon spent in the special collections complete with dust and paperwork. But she might as well get it over with.
With a sigh, Nanao wrote a short message on a sticky note letting people know where she had gone and stuck it to her computer monitor. She wouldn't be able to take her cell phone into the archives (just about everything a person carried with them had to be check at the front desk), and at least this way people would know where to find her. Nanao had learned several years ago that leaving without letting people know where they could find her resulted in numerous hysterical voicemails when minor crises occurred in the office while she was gone.
After spending nearly twenty minutes filling out paperwork, Nanao tucked a pair of archival gloves into her pocket and ventured into the special collections. With a bookcart for her to collect items on, it didn't take Nanao long to lose herself in the work of assembling the necessary items for the display and loose track of time.
