"You're sure you want to come?" Shin asked again.
"For the last time, yes," Nanao said rigidly. "Why are you so against this?"
"It's just that it could get bad fast," Shin explained continuing to lead the way. "I still don't get why you're doing this. You should just take the job at the 13th like your brother suggested."
"I'm just going to watch some fights and try to be more integrated with the family," she said with a shrug. "You all need to calm down and stop worrying."
"Fine, whatever," Shin groaned. "I still say you'd be better off spending your weekends with the shinigami."
"You don't need to go in with me," Nanao snapped brushing past him, "if that's what you're worried about. I wouldn't want you to be known as the friend of a shinigami. Just tell me where its being held, and I'll go on my own."
"Hey," he said, keeping pace with her. "That's not the reason and you know it. Look, they're all going to be fired up from the fights and from drinking, and I just don't think it's the safest decision ever."
"Would all of you stop?" she demanded whirling on him in the street. "I'm not a little girl!"
"Nanao-san," he started to comfort.
"No!" she shouted really starting to lose it. "My entire life I've had my brother protecting me and then my Taicho protecting me, and as much as I appreciate the concern, I'm not an invalid. I don't need one more man telling me it isn't safe!"
"They were just trying to do what's best for you," Shin defended.
"What's best for me? My brother shipped me off to the Gotei 13 to keep me safe and left me wondering for years if he was alive or dead. My Taicho made sure I was smothered in sweetness since the day he took notice of me. Then I got promoted up the ranks quickly. I was qualified for every position, but I'm also not dumb enough to not know that a major motivating factor in making me a fukutaicho was to get me out of the field and safely into an office with a view and a crippling amount of paperwork. I saw more action when I was a fifth seat for kami sake. Then I finally find my brother again and he tries to force me to stay away from him, again for my own protection. That plan gets blown out of the water when Tanaka shows up and then he tells me I'd be safer leaving the Gotei 13 altogether. We all saw how that turned out. Then at the end I wind up with Mamoru trying to protect me from getting my heart broken, my Taicho trying to protect me from the entire world, and everything still goes to hell regardless."
"Nanao-san," he tried to interrupt, staring at her wide-eyed.
"I am physically exhausted from being sheltered," she said coldly. "And if you tell me that I shouldn't go tonight like a small child one more time, I am going to scream."
There was silence for a second and then Shin said, "This way." They walked quietly for a little while before he spoke up again. "Why'd you take the fukutaicho position if you knew it was just paperwork?"
She glanced at him sideways and then sighed. "He needed help, and I wanted to be promoted. I knew what it was, but I also knew I should never take such a high level position for security reasons. Tanaka had too much of a chance of hearing about me if I was a fukutaicho. The 8th's fukutaicho was the only one I knew wouldn't be sent on dangerous missions in the Rukongai or the living world. I knew I'd always be the small, quiet, slightly invisible paper pusher fading into the background. Not visible enough, even as a fukutaicho, for people to spread my name around or talk about me. It was the only compromise I could make between staying unnoticed by my father and still being an officer at the level I wanted. Besides, I was already half in love with him, I'd have done whatever he asked just to stay at his side, to have the right to protect him too."
"He's an ass," Shin put in confidently.
"No, just a womanizer," she sighed. "And I should have known better."
"If you just joined the Higurashi we wouldn't be having these problems," Shin said lightly. "I mean there would still be a few people that disliked you for having been a shinigami, but it'd be much better."
Nanao shook her head. "I like the shinigami. We're not perfect, but we do do good things. We help where others can't. I understand why people out here don't like us, but there are only so many souls we can protect. Our duty is first and foremost to the souls of the living and the dying, not the dead. The whole point of me being out here though is to try to start helping those souls we haven't been able to in the past. It's a worthy job."
"Just puts you in a shitty position," he said.
"I was the subordinate of the man I'd been in love with for a decade and sleeping with for a year and a half who then went and got another woman pregnant," Nanao said dryly. "This isn't nearly as shitty."
"Touché," he said with a small laugh. He turned down a back alley and had her stop at the edge of it while he went down to rap on a door. Something was said and he responded, then the door slid open, and he motioned for her to follow him inside. "We're just in time."
"In time for what?" she asked over the roar of voices.
"Mamoru's next," he said grinning and pointing over at the fighting ring in the middle of the din. She looked where he was pointing and saw her brother move gracefully into the ring playing to the riotous crowd. His opponent was a big burly man who also had loud supporters. "Come on," Shin said while taking a light hold on her wrist and starting to navigate them through the crowd.
She glanced away from the ring and spotted what Shin was moving towards. Kei sat front and center with two open spots next to him. He grinned and winked at her and she rolled her eyes back. She did have to admit it was impressive that he'd been able to maintain open seats as the crowd jostled and pushed around them.
"Thank you," she said giving Kei a slight bow of acknowledgement as she slipped into the seat next to him.
"Anything for a beautiful lady, Shinigami-chan," he said happily.
"So what are the rules?" she asked refocusing on her brother.
"Anything goes hand to hand combat," Kei said with a shrug. "No reiatsu based attacks or defenses allowed and hits below the belt are generally frowned upon."
"No reiatsu?" she asked looking back over at him.
"Not everyone here has got it, sweetheart," Kei replied smiling. "One of the only fair fights you'll find."
"Don't call me sweetheart," she growled and then turned back to the fighting ring.
The fight was not a particularly long one. Mostly it was strange to her because it wasn't performed at shunpo speeds. A lot of shinigami didn't favor kido so she'd watched more than enough sword and hand to hand combat fights without brilliant flashes of light, but she rarely saw a fight where at least some level of shunpo wasn't employed.
Dirty tactics mixed in with true fighting styles abounded and she winced in sympathy when her brother took a particularly hard elbow to the stomach. He rolled back with the punch, taking some of the force off it, and came around in a shuffling side step to pin his attacker's arm down. Mamoru's opponent broke free, but not without a good wrenching to his shoulder and shouts of encouragement and cries of anger swelled up from the crowd. The man tried to charge Mamoru, but her brother simply sidestepped him at the last minute and brought a vicious knee up into the man's chest using the man's own momentum against him to make the impact harder.
Nanao was on her feet with the rest of the crowd before she even realized it. Everyone was struggling to see if the man would get up from the latest hit. Her brother's opponent rose to his feet once more and went at Mamoru in a flurry of fists. Mamoru seemed to slip through the onslaught like water escaping from an open hand, and he used his attacker's fury to land shots of his own when they opened up.
"Do you know why people watch fights, Shinigami-chan?" a voice said quietly right next to her ear.
She jumped a bit and glanced sideways at Kei who had moved up to stand much too close in her personal space so as to be heard. "To find out who survives," Nanao replied. "To know who is the strongest and the fastest." Her eyes refocused on the fight in front of her as Mamoru dodged an attack and tripped the man up, delivering a precise blow to the back of his opponent's head while he stumbled to regain his balance.
A roar went up from the crowd and Kei's warm breath moved along her throat. She shivered and he chuckled. "That's part of it," he conceded. "And the other part is because it just feels good. The adrenaline and the joy of victory. No matter how cultured we become at the end of the day we all just really want to rip, and tear, and rut until we go out in a glorious haze of passion. Nothing besides maybe sex makes you feel better, gets your blood racing faster, than a fight."
The other man in the ring groaned as he tried to stagger to his feet and a silence flew over the crowd once more, everyone wondering if the fight might go on. Then the man collapsed and the people who'd placed their bets on Mamoru let out their own howls of victory, a few of his friends rushing the ring to congratulate him.
"So what are you good for Shinigami-chan, fucking or fighting?" Kei asked smiling lazily. Nanao turned a sharp glare on him and he didn't waver under the look. "From everything I've seen and heard so far I'd say your much better equipped for the former, but then again you have those vicious eyes."
"Nao?" her brother's voice called from behind her. She turned away from Kei and tried to forget he was there.
"Good fight, nii-san," she congratulated with a quick bow of her head.
"What are you doing here?" he demanded as he got out of the fighting ring and a man rushed in to clean the blood off the floor for the next fight.
"I just came to watch," she said giving him a smile. "Everyone said you were good."
"Leave now," Mamoru said frostily.
"What?"
"You need to leave right now," he repeated.
"Mamoru," she began, but was quickly interrupted.
"No need to be rude, Mamoru-kun," Kei said lazily having resumed his seat like nothing happened. "I invited her so it's fine."
"She shouldn't be here," Mamoru argued.
"I said it's fine," Kei replied waving a dismissive hand. "She needs to get more in touch with the family if she wants to work with us."
"I agree," she said. "I'm just trying to fit in a bit, nii-san."
"Whatever," he growled slamming himself down in the chair Shin had vacated to go place bets on the next fights. He winced as the action jarred his side.
"Want me to fix that?" Nanao asked while already reaching for his side. He caught her hand mid-air and held it there.
"It's fine," he said coolly. "Leave it be."
"That's stupid," she said frowning. "One little kido and you'll feel much better."
"It'll mend itself," he said, releasing her hand and brushing her concern off.
"We don't fix the little things out here, Shinigami-chan," Kei added helpfully. "Mark of pride and a fight fought with all you had to give. Life does not always hand you an easy fix. Sometimes you must bear with the pain."
"But that's idiotic when there is an easy fix that does no harm," she argued. "What's the point of walking around all beat up when you don't have to?"
"We don't have as many healers out here with as much free time as yours apparently have," Mamoru said lightly. "If we healed every little thing, some men would have to go untreated just due to lack of time. It would degrade to the point where only the rich and powerful could get themselves treated while those without as much money and influence would die unseen. If there's no possibility it's going to kill you, then you bear up and take it like a man. Besides it's tradition."
"Further proving the point that men are overgrown 6 year olds," she muttered, but didn't press him to accept her healing. She figured it was much like the 11th division and let it be. Kami knew how many times Unohana had had to politely force the entire 11th into the 4th for treatment.
"Did I miss anything?" Shin asked as he returned. "Good fight, Mamoru. Had a lot of money on you."
"Perfect timing," Kei said easily. "The next fight is just starting."
Nanao sat through the next three fights in rapt interest. It was brutal and animalistic and nothing near as fair as Kei had tried to imply. While there was no reiatsu based cheating allowed, more than a few dirty shots had gone by without reprimand. The crowed rose and fell in waves and Nanao found herself screaming along with the masses. One man's nose broke with a vicious hit, and Nanao discovered the downside of having such good seats as their yukutas got splattered with blood.
By the fourth fight a brawny woman entered the ring to a deafening roar. "Who's she?" Nanao asked leaning over to Kei.
"Born and raised in the 80th," he said grinning. "Best known as the Black Widow."
"Why?" Nanao asked watching the woman as she played to the crowed and flexed her muscles.
"Has the tendency to cut men's heads off if they get too much into her personal space," he said with a shrug. "It's why we can't let her fight guys in the ring anymore. To many accidents, if you know what I mean."
"So who's she fighting?" Nanao asked.
"Who knows? Whoever challenges her I suppose?" Kei said with a grin. Nanao turned to look back at the ring and saw the woman making her way towards them purposefully.
"Shinigami," the woman roared and the audience went silent as the whole room focused on her.
"You've got to be shitting me," Mamoru snarled at Kei next to her.
"Fight me," the woman demanded.
"Just came to watch actually," Nanao said calmly. "Maybe another night."
"Told you the little high class bitch wouldn't lower herself to our level," the woman announced to the crowd, and Nanao felt the hostility rise around her.
Really, it was the first time she'd been insulted by being called high class. "My apologies," she said trying to diffuse the situation. "I simply didn't come prepared to fight."
"You hear that?" the woman cackled. "Shinigami-chan needs to meditate and ask for permission before she can raise a fist." The audience laughed with her.
"Really integrating yourself well, luv," Kei said relaxed on the seat beside her. Her brother shifted disgruntled on her other side and Kei glanced over at him. "Nothing you can do will help her," Kei commented quietly.
"Look, we don't do a lot of hand to hand fights without kido being allowed," Nanao explained trying to keep her voice level.
"Told you they were all a bunch of magic using weaklings, couldn't hold their own against a pair of drunk old men, let alone the Higurashi," the woman yelled and a roar of encouragement backed her up. "We shouldn't even let the bitch breath the same air as us. If she's too good for us, let her crawl home." Another shriek of approval and Nanao realized this was going to get violent fast. Her brother's hand shifted to the hilt of the sword he'd put back on after his fight was over, and she knew that if she didn't do something he was going to protect her and it wasn't going to end well. They might get out of the mob alive, but he sure as hell wasn't ever going to be welcomed home again.
"Fucking or fighting, luv?" Kei asked coolly next to her making no movement whatsoever to help diffuse the situation.
She stood up jerkily and glared at her brother to make him sit still. The option was fighting one or fighting them all, and she wasn't about to let her brother go down for her mistake. "I'm not too good for anything. I grew up out here like the rest of you. No need to be jealous that I had enough talent to be a shinigami and the rest of you didn't," she said nastily. She was making a gamble, but she didn't think these people were going to respect anything besides full confidence.
A hiss rose up from the crowd and Kei let out a rumbling laugh. "Let's see what Shinigami-chan can do then, huh?"
The crowd howled its consent and she stiffened her shoulders as she started towards the ring. This was going to end badly. Nanao was well aware she wasn't prepared for this. She hadn't been in a serious hand to hand combat fight since her first couple years in the 8th. Kido masters didn't fight with brute strength and they certainly didn't when their Taichos made more than sure they always had enough space between themselves and the enemy.
"Sword, please," an old man said as she stood at the edge of the ring. He was already holding a huge mace, which she could only assume belonged to the woman in front of her. Feeling slightly like she was stripping in front of a crowd, Nanao reached up her sleeve and unstrapped her tanto, sheath and all. She felt her zanpakutou's displeasure at being removed ripple over her and she ignored the silent emotion. Her zanpakutou never spoke to her in the way she assumed others did from the talk she'd overheard. She could communicate with Kage just fine, but she'd never heard a voice to go along with it. It wasn't even telepathic communication really as it didn't seem like someone else was speaking in her mind. All Nanao had ever gotten were sentences as if spoken in a memory. Kage himself didn't seem to have a voice, as his words seemed to be her own thoughts in her own voice. All of a sudden she'd just know what her zanpaktou had said without him ever seeming to have truly said anything at all. Not that he was a big talker even then, which suited her just fine.
You can't win this alone, she heard in the same silent communication as always when she started to hand him over to the old man.
Doesn't really matter at this point, she thought back. Just have to survive.
We're good at that, Kage agreed silently, and then she released the hold on his hilt.
She entered the ring and tried to focus. Nanao quickly tried to assimilate all the fights she'd watched before this one to at least have a heads up on the dirty tactics that could be employed. She blocked out the crowd as it clashed against her and tried to steady her breathing. Her best bet was going to be moving defensively, slipping through the other woman's hits, and hoping to wear her out. It was really the only thing she'd practiced intensively, as her best bet in a fight was to slip away from the enemy and blast it with kido at a longer distance. It'd also always made the most sense with the length of her sword. She just wasn't prepared for close range fighting that didn't include an element of surprise.
The signal sounded for the fight to begin and she sidestepped as the woman dove straight for her. Her opponent changed directions more lithely than she'd expected and Nanao quickly found herself rolling out of the way of a particular vicious kick. They separated a few feet again as the woman reassessed her.
"Gonna run all night bitch?" she growled.
"Seems like a good tactic if you aren't fast enough to catch me," Nanao said with a bravado she certainly didn't feel. Kami, for all her bitching about not needing to be protected she sure as hell didn't have much to back up her claims to the contrary if her kido was taken out of the equation.
The woman lunged again and Nanao avoided once more. The dance continued for several minutes and Nanao could feel the crowd raging around her. They wanted blood on the floor and Nanao wasn't offering them any. Beyond that, this plan was going to wear out fast. The woman was toughened from everyday wear and tear. Nanao didn't think running her down was going to be any faster than running herself down too. She always completed the yearly physical assessment just fine, but the Gotei 13 had worked that one out so that the 4th could pass too. It wasn't particularly difficult and other than that her only real scheduled training was the kido classes she taught. Given those had ducking and running in them, but not a whole lot of fighting.
She moved too slow as she dodged again and took a hit to her side that sent her reeling to her hands and knees. The woman moved in quickly for a sloppy parting blow and Nanao twisted first, knocking the woman's legs out from under her and rolling to her feet. Her opponent scrambled to get up, and Nanao used the unsteadiness of the woman's half vertical state to get a good hold on her arm and complete a throw over her hip. The woman hit the ground hard, but rolled instantly and faster than Nanao expected.
She came to her feet and charged Nanao making her duck low and dance through her opponent's arms. Nanao slipped behind the woman, trying to get a good grip around her throat to squeeze off her air supply, but her adversary twisted like a trapped tiger and got a hard elbow back into Nanao's side. It dislodged her hold, driving her to the floor and the air straight out of her lungs. Nanao tried to gasp in pain and felt the fire in her lungs protest. The woman came at her again and she threw herself sideways desperately trying to reclaim some oxygen as she scrambled to her feet. Nanao saw the fist coming the moment before it made contact and tried to roll with it, but all the same felt the pounding impact on her temple and eye. Her vision explode in white and she quickly found the woman's meaty hand pinning her throat to the floor. Nanao instinctively grasped the arm and tried to force it away, but knew it was a lost cause as her already laboring lungs fought for relief.
Then suddenly the pressure was gone, and it took her a moment to realize the fight had been called.
She lay there for a moment and found Kei grinning down at her shortly. "Need help up, Shinigami-chan?" he asked reaching out a hand. She batted it away and dragged herself to her feet, wincing as it jarred her side.
The crowd was cheering around her as the woman did a little victory dance and pose and Nanao sighed. At least she didn't totally get her ass handed to her. The woman noticed she was up and instantly took a more defensive stance. Nanao simply bowed respectfully to the woman and headed back to the side of the ring. She was more than relieved to feel Kage back with her as the old man released the sword back into her care.
Kei followed close behind her whistling a little tune and she felt like blasting him with a good kido attack, but restrained herself. "You alright?" Mamoru asked darkly as she reclaimed the empty seat next to him.
"Fine," she said with a shrug.
"Let me see," Shin said reaching for her face.
"If no one else gets healing then neither do I," she replied fiercely pushing his reaching hands away.
"Shinigami-chan," Kei chastised as he flopped down next to her, his eyes sparkling like he'd just been told a great joke. "Nobody expects the same out of you."
"And that's the problem isn't it?" she snarled at him. "Wasn't that the point of this whole little fight? To show me that I don't belong here?"
"It was just a fight," Kei said with a shrug.
"I'm not going anywhere," she replied primly. "Not if I have to get my ass kicked multiple more times tonight."
"You were right about the stubborn," Kei called to Mamoru laughing. "I like it."
"Go screw yourself," Nanao said grumpily. She sat through the next five fights and took the ribbing from the yakuza around her with grace. Once again, the fact that she had been teased and harassed for years within the Gotei 13 came in handy. If nothing else she knew how to take a hit, verbal or physical, and keep her head up. She had to admit she was relieved though when the fights came to an end and everyone started heading for the exits. Her side was sore, her face throbbing, and the headache that had started up was going to be a doozy.
"If it helps, knocking her off her feet even once was more impressive than most people thought you would be," Kei said grinning as they stepped out into the night air.
"Give me kido, and I'll take you all out," she said levelly.
"That I don't doubt," he replied with a smirk. "Fighting from long range, it must feel so much safer. Bet your father would have preferred it too."
Something inside her snapped, and Mamoru had both of her arms pinned behind her instantly before she could do something she'd regret. "He's trying to get to you," he hissed.
"I don't care," she ground out.
"You do this, and it's done," Mamoru said, but released her arms all the same.
"What's it going to be Shinigami-chan?" Kei asked, calmly smiling over at her though the intelligent hostility shone through in his eyes. She had enough sense to notice the surrounding people's attention turning in their direction and she took a deep breath.
"I suppose I'll see you all on Monday," she said pleasantly, giving him a polite bow. "Thank you all for hosting me for the fights. It was truly an experience."
A few taunts were thrown out, but mostly everyone reverted to their previous drunken euphoria seeing the danger to one of their own had passed.
"I'll walk you home," Mamoru said.
"I'd rather you didn't," she replied. "I'll see you next week."
"Nao-chan," he said catching her wrist as she turned to go. "I warned you it wouldn't be easy."
"I know," she said, glancing over at where Kei and Shin stood conversing. "When did he suddenly become a bastard?"
Her brother laughed. "He's always been a bastard, it's just the first time he turned it on you. He's a lot like your Taicho, sees into people's hearts. He just doesn't feel the same need to coddle them that your Taicho does especially when they're not family."
"He's not my Taicho anymore," she said firmly.
"Am I allowed to say I told you so yet?" he asked lightly.
"Give it another week or two," she said shaking her head, but giving him a weak smile. "I'm going home."
"Sure you don't want me to walk you?" he asked.
"And give them another thing to tease the Shinigami-chan about?" she asked rhetorically. "No thank you."
The both said their goodbyes and Nanao started shunpoing home. Each step jarred her side and she contemplated healing it on her own. It wasn't like they'd even be able to tell she'd done it if she left the black eye that she was sure was currently forming. She'd see how bad it was in the morning.
He's not going to come anymore, she heard a wordless voice state matter of factly.
I didn't expect him to, she replied mentally not needing to be told who he referred to.
Yes you did.
Kyouraku Taicho didn't even know I was attending the fights, why in the world would I have expected him to come? she asked stopping to be identified at the Seireitei gates.
Because he always has before, regardless of whether he was supposed to know where you were or not, Kage answered silently.
I'm not a little girl. I can take care of myself, she thought fiercely.
You allowed him to take care of you, Kage replied simply. You made yourself weak willingly, and now he's not going to come anymore.
"Shut up," she replied morosely out loud, moving slower now that she was inside the Seireitei. Her fellow shinigami did like to drink, and there were always run in accidents with shinigami trying to shunpo home drunk on the weekends. She'd had to pick up her Taicho from the 4th for a few over the years.
We don't have to be weak.
We could also get locked up in a prison cell with no chance of parole, she snapped not in the mood to start an age old argument with her zanpaktou.
As you wish, her blade said, and she felt his presence recede from her mind.
She sighed as she touched down in front of her door. Nanao undid the locks quickly and opened the door only to find she'd left a light on when she'd headed out earlier that evening. Cursing at that stupidity, she kicked her shoes of in the entrance and wondered where Boo had gotten off too. He was usually front and center waiting to greet her when she got home. She wandered into the apartment and nearly screamed when she noticed a woman sitting primly on her couch.
"Oh Nanao-san," Hana said pleasantly. "You're back."
"Kyouraku-dono?" she asked, trying to get over her initial shock. The woman sat on her couch with her attention-hogging cat draped over her legs purring contentedly as the woman stroked his back. "What are you doing here?"
"I came to see you of course," the woman said smiling calmly. "What else would I be doing here?"
"How did you get in here?" Nanao asked.
"Simple," Hana replied cocking her head to one side quizzically in an action that reminded her so much of Shunsui it physically hurt. "I have the key."
"Why do you have the key to my apartment?" Nanao demanded feeling exhausted by this whole night.
"I had one of the servants borrow yours and make a copy the first time you stayed with us dear," Hana said as if it was completely normal. "The best way to know what type of person someone is is by perusing their home without their knowledge."
"Did you break into my house to check out if I was an appropriate girlfriend?" she asked trying not to scream. Why was Shunsui's entire family batshit crazy?
"Of course, darling," Hana said with a shrug. "You passed wonderfully. Although I have always wanted to ask you about the catsuit in your closet."
"It was for Halloween one year," Nanao said with a blush. "Matsumoto and I had duty in the living world and had to blend in."
"Halloween?" his mother asked raising an eyebrow. Nanao groaned internally, how was she supposed to explain the holiday to a woman that probably never went to the living world and hadn't had to deal with a great deal of the Western influences that Japan had been exposed to over the years. Given all she'd have to do is visit the 8th to be exposed to them all. Shunsui always liked a party and tended to adopt whatever new holiday came along at least within the division. She'd refused to dress up for the 8th's Halloween parties much to his disappointment.
"It's a living holiday that's gotten more popular in the recent years. Sort of like obon only sillier and people dress up in costumes," Nanao explained with a sigh.
"Interesting," his mother said thoughtfully. "I think I would like this Halloween."
"Your son holds a party every year," Nanao said lightly. "Just go to the 8th on October 31st."
"Speaking of my son," Hana started, and Nanao sighed. God she just wanted to go to bed. "Has he seen that yet?" Hana asked tapping her own eye to express what she was asking about.
"No, just got it," Nanao answered.
"You really should heal it before he does, dear," Hana said lightly. "He's going to have a fit."
"It's fine," Nanao said brushing it off. "He probably won't see it anyway," she added bitterly when she thought again about the fact that his family had had her forcefully transferred. Not that she minded so very much, but it was the principle of the thing.
His mother sighed lightly. "Aren't you going to offer me some tea?" she asked after a moment of awkward silence.
Nanao rolled her eyes. "Sorry, my first instinct isn't to be a good hostess when someone breaks into my home."
"A good hostess is always prepared," Hana said mocking a teacher's voice. "Some tea would be wonderful."
Nanao wanted to refuse, but knew better. With the Kyourakus it was easier just to hear them out, because if you told them no they'd just get crazier and try harder until you cracked. Boo jumped gracefully out of the woman's lap and followed Nanao into the kitchen, meowing and sitting down next to his empty food bowl.
"Traitor," she chastised as she dumped some food out for him. He just looked up at her and then yawned and started in on his dinner. Nanao made the tea, and the familiar process was calming. Her injuries were starting to hurt in a dull consistent way that made her ache for bed. Instead, she put the tea and cups on a platter and headed back out to her living room only to find Hana examining her bookcase. She set the tray down on the low table, and Hana turned at the noise.
"Love poetry?" his mother asked holding up a thin novel.
"A gift," Nanao explained, but didn't add from Shunsui since she assumed his mother knew anyway.
"Hmm," Hana agreed and slid the novel back into place coming back to the table. "I wanted to speak with you about this thing with Shunsui."
"I assumed as much," Nanao said coldly. "It's not like we've been social in other respects."
"First of all I'd like to apologize for the consequences it's had on your career," she said softly. "I know that was very important to you."
"Did you do it?" Nanao demanded quietly.
"My husband," Hana admitted calmly. "But I don't believe he was entirely wrong in this respect."
"Neither of you should have had any say in the matter," Nanao said coldly. "I was good at my job."
"I know," Hana said soothingly. "If it makes you feel better it worked Shunsui into one of the biggest tantrums I've seen in a while. But really, did you want to continue to work in that environment? If you're going to let him go, then you have to completely sever your ties. Staying in that office only gave him daily access to you, and my son does have a way of wearing people down. It's better like this."
"I should be the one to decide what's best for me, not you," Nanao stated firmly. "If you've simply come to talk about the job it's already done. There's nothing left to say."
"I've come to talk to you about marrying Shunsui," Hana said taking a sip of her tea.
"You mean me marrying Shunsui?" Nanao asked to clarify as the comment had thrown her off balance.
"That would be what I said," Hana replied.
"Did you forget the whole, another girl is pregnant with his child thing?" Nanao asked lifting an eyebrow.
"Of course not," Hana dismissed. "Now you're being as silly as Shunsui. The fact of the matter is, I've talked it over with Kiyoko-chan and we both agree that it would work out just fine if you married him and she remained his consort. That way your children would still inherit, and if you chose not to have children the Kyouraku line is taken care of through Kiyoko-chan. It's really the perfect solution. You and Shunsui get to have a love marriage, my son is happy, you may maintain your focus on your career, and Kiyoko will be a legitimate member of the family who can produce heirs and manage the household as she's been raised to do."
Nanao just stared at her. Then she took an extra few minutes and stared at her some more while she tried to work her mind around what had just been said. "Are you insane?" she finally asked.
"Not at all," Hana replied looking vaguely insulted, and then her face softened. "Perhaps I should have eased you into it more. I forget sometimes that you were not raised as a noble. This solution is perfectly acceptable. No one is going to raise any outcry over it, and Kiyoko is more than happy with the situation. She'd genuinely like for the two of you to be friends. She wasn't aware Shunsui was seeing anyone when it happened."
"Did Shunsui put you both up to this?" Nanao asked quietly.
"Shunsui would be quite upset if he knew I was here," Hana said with a laugh. "During his tirade after having you removed from the 8th, he expressly forbid his father and myself from meddling in his affairs or going within a five feet radius of you."
Well, that was one less person she needed to kill tonight, Nanao thought wearily. "I refuse," Nanao said, wanting to end the conversation and forget that it had ever happened. "I understand that you both are trying to help, but I absolutely won't accept being second best in my own marriage."
"But it'd be Kiyoko-chan who'd be accepting second best," his mother replied confused. "We are all well aware Shunsui's heart belongs to you."
"It's not enough," Nanao answered. "Because one day there is going to be a man who's whole being, mind, body, soul, and heart will belong to me and me to him, and I won't accept anything less. Shunsui obviously can't provide me that."
His mother let out a tinkling laugh. "Darling, no man can provide you that. I forget how young and idealistic you are. Kami, no wonder Shunsui's desperate over you. One minute you're the picture of grace, intelligence and maturity, and the next you might as well be a child princess that's been coddled and fed fairy tales all her life. You fit him beautifully."
"I won't marry him," she said, crossing her arms and refusing to acknowledge yet another wound to her pride for the evening.
"As you wish," Hana said, still smiling brightly. "It'd really be much easier if you'd just give in now though. Kiyoko-chan will be miserable in her state of limbo until he finally convinces you to marry him and gets things set right. It'd be so much easier if she could just proudly claim first consort status and her child made legitimate in one swoop."
"He should marry her then," Nanao said.
"As long as you're near and somewhat available, child, I don't think he can," Hana said. "Young people, always making things so complicated."
"And you'd be fine with your husband having a concubine?" Nanao asked coldly.
"It be better than the whores he attends to now," Hana said with a shrug. The shock must have shown on Nanao's face, because Hana laughed again. "We weren't a love match, Ise-san. I was married to continue the Kyouraku line and rejuvenate the reiatsu levels within it, which I have done quite well. I keep my household running, my husband happy, my boys safe, and I am satisfied. If my husband needs to sleep with a few other women to get his fill what does it matter to me? Sex is just sex. I have all the important parts of him. Besides my own father had a wife and three consorts. It worked out just fine."
"I can't accept that," Nanao said finally.
"Pity," Hana replied. "Well then, I should be going. Thank you for the tea."
"Of course," Nanao said standing and walking her to the door. Hana slipped her shoes on and bowed politely which Nanao returned.
"Do get someone to take a look at that eye," Hana suggested. "Goodnight."
"Goodnight, Kyouraku-dono," Nanao said. She shut the door and breathed a sigh of relief. Hopefully that was the closing conversation she had to have with Shunsui's family. Whoever knew that breaking up meant doing it with so many people?
A meow broke her out of her reverie. "Oh don't you dare start, you traitor," Nanao said to the cat as she moved away from her door. "You could have warned me."
Boo just looked at her like she was crazy and stalked off through the house. "What am I going to do?" she sighed to no one and about nothing in particular.
You're going to get stronger, Kage stated coldly.
"I suppose I'm going to have to," she replied to her zanpakutou outloud, carefully brushing her fingertips over her throbbing eye. "Now who to ask for help?"
A/N: I'm sorry if there are errors. It's a long chapter and I only had time to edit it once. Girl's got to get up early for work tomorrow morning :) Hopefully it's not too bad.
Reviews please!