It'd been a mistake to use her shower. Well, it wasn't really the shower so much as it was the fact that he'd had to use her bath products. Now lying on the couch in his office all he could smell was her and it was slowly driving him mad. He wasn't sure if this was better or worse than enduring his mother. Shunsui flipped over on his stomach and buried his face in the cushions trying to escape the scent.
A tentative knock sounded on the door and he sighed. Turning his head he muttered a tired 'come in' and waited while his 5th seat shuffled around the door. "Your mother stopped by this morning, sir."
"Oh?" he asked raising an eyebrow. "What did she want?"
"She said something about knocking out a wall and whether or not you knew a good painting company," the man offered nervously.
"I'll deal with it later," Shunsui said sighing. "Thank you for telling me."
"Yes, sir," the man said bowing crisply and running back out.
Shunsui buried his face back in the couch and groaned. It was no use. He just couldn't sleep peacefully in the office without the sound of paperwork getting done and the feeling of someone consistently glaring at him. He missed Nanao, and this morning had just solidified the fact. He missed talking to her, and being near her, and hearing her laugh. Maybe if he tried hard not to butt into her personal life she'd let him around more often. He wasn't stupid. He knew she must have been coming home from Hisagi and while the thought made him angry and jealous all at once, it was worth ignoring if she'd only just be slightly normal with him again. More than even their physical relationship, he missed their friendship. Not that he didn't fantasize about the physical aspect a hell of a lot too. If he'd known his last night with Nanao-chan was going to be his last he'd have never have let her sleep. As it was abstinence was tougher than he'd ever imagined it to be, mainly because he hadn't participated in it since he was a boy.
Shunsui sighed and pushed himself up off the couch moving out of the office and deciding to visit one of his old hiding places under the cherry blossoms. He'd go back to the office later and work some through the night. Kami only knew when his mother planned on leaving, and after she did Kiyoko would eventually come back. Shunpoing out into the early afternoon sun, he tried to get his thoughts on other things.
Unfortunately that damn scent kept driving his thoughts back to one place. He scanned the surrounding areas for Nanao's reiatsu briefly as he settled down into his usual napping position and found her headed out of the Seireitei into the Rukongai. He contemplated making his reiatsu presence known to her, sending her a small thank you for breakfast, and then decided it'd be too intrusive and reeled his reiatsu back in without making any contact.
"You're mother is looking for you," a pleasant voice said a few minutes later as he finally started drifting off to sleep with the smell of cherry blossoms drowning out everything else.
"About the wall or the paint?" Shunsui asked lazily, not bothering to open his eyes.
"She was muttering something about windows to me," Jyuushiro said taking a seat next to his friend.
"I'm thinking about moving," Shunsui said simply cracking an eye open.
Jyuushiro laughed and tilted his head back in the sun. "You could always just tell her to go home. Why are you letting her do this anyway?"
"I don't know," Shunsui said shrugging as best he could while lying down. "She came in and started off on baby proofing and it freaked me out so I just let her have at it. I didn't think it would take this long."
"Have you even been home recently?"
"Nope," Shunsui said yawning. "Spending most of my time at the office."
"You're hopeless," Jyuushiro chastised lightly. "When are you ever just going to bury the past and get along with your family?"
"Hey, its not me that makes things difficult," Shunsui defended. "My father is an ass, my mother is crazy, and my brother hates me. It's why I never wanted to have a family in the first place."
"Well maybe this whole situation will make your family life better," Jyuushiro said hopefully. "I have to get back to the office, but let me know if you need a place to sleep. I honestly don't mind."
"You really are the bestest best friend a man could have," Shunsui cooed and Jyuushiro rolled his eyes at him before shunpoing away. Shunsui lay back once more and let his thoughts wander.
He'd been telling the truth when he said he'd never wanted a family. It was Nanao that had changed that, and he'd been more than a little horrified when he'd figured out she had. He wasn't used to picturing a future with a woman, not when so many things could go so horribly wrong. No, the best part of love was the beginning when everything was wonderful and new, not the part where you were getting annoyed by each other's dirty towels or inability to arrive on time. Somehow Nanao had managed to work her way into his life way past the first love phase and still have him head over heels for her. He liked to think it was the same for her. She knew he was flawed and loved him anyway.
He'd never really been exposed to a relationship like that before. All he'd ever witnessed were marriages that were pretty in the public eye and every sort of dysfunctional behind closed doors. He'd grown up around enough cheating, lying, and anger to last him a lifetime. Shunsui distinctly remembered his parents gossiping about all the misdeeds of their noble counterparts after every social event. Hell, he'd walked in on more than a few forbidden liaisons when trying to find abandoned rooms to nap in until the noble parties ended when he was a kid. Shunsui never understood why they all went about it the way they did. If they were going to sleep around and obey their every whim why not be open and honest about it? Why not do what felt right without lying and hurting the people around you? It was a philosophy he always subscribed to and made sure the women that were with him were well aware of. Not that that always sunk in.
His brother's wife, Yuriko, was a perfect example of a woman who just hadn't gotten it. She'd grown up with the two of them being a daughter of a nearby noble family. She'd actually been Shunsui's first kiss when they were little. Not that he'd been happy about it. He'd thought girls were disgusting at the time and had promptly shoved her into a mud puddle.
As they'd gotten to be teenagers, he'd had an about face on the subject of girls and Yuriko had turned into something of a looker. They'd had sex a few times, neither of them being the other's first, and Shunsui had thought it was all well and good. They were both out for a fun time and nothing else. He'd known she was interested in the Kyouraku name and fortune, but he'd made it perfectly clear he had no intentions of marrying. She'd finally walked in on him having sex with one of her maids when his family was visiting her family's country estate and declared she wouldn't be sleeping with him again. It was a loss because she was a pretty thing that knew all sorts of neat tricks, but he'd known he'd find someone to replace her easily enough. What he didn't expect was for her to go after Seichii.
Needless to say when he'd tried to warn his brother off about the fact she was only after the Kyouraku legacy it hadn't gone over well. Seichii had declared that he was jealous that she'd chosen him over Shunsui and Shunsui was just trying sabotage it. Shunsui often wondered if his brother would have been quite so hasty to marry the woman if he'd said nothing at all. He doubted it really would have made much of a difference since Seichii had been desperately in love with her since they were kids. Part of the brother's bad relationship certainly stemmed from when Shunsui had first started sleeping with Yuriko.
It wasn't until a few years after their wedding that Shunsui fully understood how little he'd gotten his point across to Yuriko though. He'd been in the academy by then and had been on a break, which unfortunately meant he'd had to return home for a while. Bored out of his mind and completely fed up with his parents' bickering he'd decided to go out to the lake on the edge of their lands and get a swim in. It'd been rather relaxing until he'd made it back to the shore and found all his clothing missing. Not that he'd minded particularly, but he knew his father would have a conniption if he walked back starkers and he had just not been in the mood to handle it.
"Looking for something?" an overly sweet voice had called from off to his right.
"Yuriko-san," he'd sighed. "Aren't we a little old for this?"
"San?" she'd asked sticking out her bottom lip in a pout. "How polite. Whatever happened to Riko-chan?"
"You married my brother," he'd said with a shrug glancing around to see if she was holding his clothing. No such luck. "It'd be creepy if I called you by a pet name."
"No one is around to hear it," she'd replied with a grin. "Besides if you want your clothing back I'd start doing whatever it is I want."
"I don't need it that badly," he'd said with another shrug. He really had just wanted to get away from everyone, and although it was rare for him not to be up for a game, a week at home had rung the fun right out of him. He'd mentally braced himself for the chewing out he was about to get and started towards home.
"Shunsui-kun, are you seriously walking home naked?" Yuriko had called after him laughing.
"I'll say a yokai stole my clothing," he'd yelled back.
"And why would a yokai want your clothing?" she'd asked happily as he paused and she darted off into the woods.
"Monsters are very fond of the color pink," he'd answered with a grin. She'd emerged from the tree line carrying his bundle of clothes and he'd been more than pleased that he could now just go home and take a nap unmolested, or so he'd thought.
"What'll you give me for them?" she'd asked stopping a few feet away from him and shooting him a flirty grin.
"My thanks?" he'd offered trying to look as standoffish as a naked man could muster.
"Oh, come on, Shu-kun, I'm sure we can think of something more fun than that," she'd said rolling her eyes. "Like perhaps a kiss for each article of clothing?"
"Yuriko-san, are you going to give me the clothes or not? I don't want to stand here all day," he'd said sighing.
"When did you get all stuffy and boring?" she'd asked with a glare. "From the stories we hear from that school of yours you're just as rowdy as ever. I heard you got kicked out of the girls dormitories again just before your break so don't try to pretend you're a moral prude now."
"I never said I was," he'd answered coolly. "But you are not a girl at the academy. You are my brother's wife."
"Oh la," she'd said disdainfully waving a hand at him. "And what does that really mean, but that I have to return to his bed at night? Goodness, Shu-kun you'd think you'd never grown up around nobles. You know as well as I do the only rule is don't get caught red handed. Come on, you and I had good times didn't we? I'd be up for any fun new things you'd learned at school." She'd dropped his clothes on a rock by this point and had been inching closer. Shunsui couldn't deny that she was beautiful, that if she'd been any other girl he'd have grinned right back at her flirtation and taken her on the dirt path beneath them. But she wasn't any other girl.
"I am not sleeping with my brother's wife," Shunsui had stated plainly. "If you wanted to keep screwing around with me you shouldn't have gone after him."
"You said yourself you weren't going to get married," she'd replied rolling her eyes. "And a proper girl needs a proper marriage. Seichii-san was so delightfully easy too. Did you know I was his first? It was adorable, but a girl gets tired of cute. Do you know how many nights I've laid there half satisfied thinking about when you used to have me screaming your name? I almost said your name once in fact. Thank god, they both start with an s."
"You're using him," Shunsui had confirmed although he'd long since known that was the case.
"No more than he's using me," she'd said with a truly charming laugh. "I'm the perfect wife Shunsui-kun. I run the house, I'll bare his children, and I look pretty on his arm. Doesn't mean I have to be content with missionary for the rest of my life. Besides if you accidentally knock me up it's still a Kyouraku."
"Marring my brother was your choice," Shunsui had answered taking a step back as he realized how close she had gotten.
"No, it was yours," she'd replied running a finger down his chest. "You were the one that was so set on being a bachelor."
He'd caught her hand and pulled it away from him. "He's my brother."
"And you've both hated each other since you were kids," she'd answered unconcerned. "Don't even get me started on how many 'perfect Shunsui gets away with everything' rants I've been subjected to. Kami, Shunsui, I just imagine all the perfectly naughty things you must be getting away with in that school and it gets me off. If my family had even considered letting me go, we'd have been running that school together. We were always a perfect fit in that sense."
"I'm sorry things didn't turn out the way you'd hoped," Shunsui had said releasing her hand and stepping away from her again. "And I know Seichii and I will probably never get along. I'm still not going to sleep with his wife behind his back, and if I find you with anyone else I will tell him."
"He won't believe you," she'd said with a satisfied little grin. "Shunsui-kun I could climb on top of you right now and let him find us and it would still be your fault. Isn't that delightful?"
Shunsui had glared at her, but knew there was no denying it. Instead of trying he'd sidestepped her and shunpoed to his forgotten pile of clothes, tugging his pants on with more force than absolutely necessary.
"New trick?" she'd asked from behind him and he could hear the grin in her voice, could almost hear all the devious things she was thinking they could do with his shunpo. The two of them really had been a pair, always goading and teasing the other onto the next forbidden thing.
"I have to get home," he'd said stiffly. "I assume you and Seichii are here for dinner?"
She'd confirmed it with a little humming noise, and he'd felt her hands glide up his recently clad back. He'd straightened and pulled away from them and she'd given a small snort of derision.
"I'll be shunpoing back," he'd said flatly. "Take your time returning. I plan on seeing you for the first time during this break when you return to the house."
"Well, if that's the plan, why not have a little more fun we can forget?" she'd challenged.
"This is the last time I'll say this to you," he'd said spinning on her. "I will not sleep with my brother's wife. It doesn't matter what Seichii and my relationship is. I will not go there. There are plenty of free girls, Yuriko-san, and you are no longer one of them."
She'd just laughed and backed off a few steps. "You aren't one for commitment Shunsui-kun. We'll see how long this one lasts."
He'd not bothered with a reply and had instead taken off for home, pushing his shunpo like they'd been taught in class. He'd need a shower when he arrived with the sweat he was working up, but at least it helped him get off some of the anger and tension. Kami he hated going home more than anything else.
He'd walked into the house a few minutes later in time to bump into Seichii in the hall who sent him a glare and stepped around him like he'd smelled something bad and then walk passed his parents arguing about some expense or another. He'd been about to sneak by them when they both walked into the hall arguing.
"There is no reason a kimono should cost so much," his father had steamed as Shunsui tried to disappear into a wall.
"Well it did, and it looks fabulous, and I'm not taking it back," his mother had said simply. "Hello, Shunsui."
Shunsui had grunted a reply and been more than happy when his father had butted back in again. "You have millions of perfectly good kimonos. Wear one of them and take the expensive one back."
"Tell you what dear," his mother had said in that oddly pleasant tone that always signaled danger. "You apply that reasoning to your whores and I will apply it to my wardrobe."
"You dare," his father had sputtered.
"What do you think you're going to do about it?" his mother had flared back.
"I'm turning gay," Shunsui had announced calmly.
"That's nice, darling," his mother had said shooting him a smile.
"You're what?" his father had demanded losing focus on the other argument.
"I'm only dating men from here on out," Shunsui had added simply.
"You absolutely will not," his father had raged instantly.
"Oh leave him be," his mother had chastised rolling her eyes. "If there's a hole Shunsui'll go for it. He couldn't turn completely gay if he wanted to."
"You will get married to a woman and you will produce heirs," his father had declared.
"I'd really rather be slowly eaten alive by carp while you explained tax laws to me," Shunsui had said firmly. "Off to take a shower."
"Don't be late for dinner," his mother had called as she started the other way down the hall.
"We are not done here," his father had yelled and whether it had been aimed at him or his mother he would never know. For their parts they both had ignored him.
Shunsui sighed at the memory and wondered if life would have turned out better if he really had been able to swear off women. Yuriko had been a consistent problem over the years, but had simply gotten less playful and more hateful as the time passed. Now she'd probably still sleep with him if only to prove some vengeful point, but he doubted there was any true desire there anymore. She hated him for never giving in, and she hated his family for demanding an heir she'd been unable to produce.
He'd taken no pleasure in seeing Yuriko's anger when he'd brought Nanao home as his partner and not just his fukutaicho. She'd never done or said anything to Nanao as far as he knew, he'd always worked hard to keep the two away from each other, but it wasn't like she ever hid her dislike whenever Nanao was around. Luckily Yuriko had become bitter enough at everything around her that Nanao had never taken it personally. He wasn't even sure Nanao had ever noticed how vehemently his sister-in-law despised her. That or Nanao had just ignored it with the defenses she'd raised up to protect herself from all of Shunsui's other jealous conquests. He'd never been lying to the women he was with when he'd said he didn't want marriage, but the way he hounded Nanao for it recently sure made it look like he had been deceiving them over the years. Not all of the women he had known took that very well. You'd think they'd have taken it out on him, but they all seemed to think Nanao was an easier target. At least, most of them had seemed to leave Nanao alone after their breakup. They probably all thought they had been proven right.
Shunsui sighed again and wished he was finding his normal solace in nature. He threw his arm over his eyes and cursed quietly when her scent overcame him again. Kami, all he really wanted to do was find her, ravish her, and convince her that they'd figure it out. He'd dreamed up about a million ways to get her back, but they all fell short of the mark. He'd even briefly contemplated faking his own death to make her see how much she'd regret not being with him if he did actually die, but had then decided that might cross the line somewhere as Jyuushiro would say. So instead he was spending his days sitting in the office like a miserable old man doing paperwork. At least he could be proud of the fact that other than ignoring Hisagi in Taicho meetings he'd been very mature about that whole her dating other people situation. He planned on remaining that way until the kid screwed up and broke her heart. Then he'd slow roast him with kido as a special tribute to Nanao and figure out a way to apologize to Yama-jii about being one Taicho short of 13 after the fact.
Shunsui lumbered to his feet and decided to walk to Jyuushiro's. Maybe an afternoon with his friend would get his mind on better things, and with any luck his mother would be gone soon. He was lucky to have a friend like Jyuushiro who not only always had his back, but also was willing to stay friends with him after meeting his judgmental family. His brother in particular had always hated Ukitake. From the first time he'd brought his friend home with him it'd been a hostile situation. Jyuushiro had done his best to be friends with Seichii, despite Shunsui's constant advice that it was impossible, but it just hadn't worked at all. Seichii liked to alternate between making snide comments about Jyuushiro's ancestry and his illness. Nanao had always maintained that his brother did it out of jealousy, but Shunsui didn't buy it. What was there to be jealous of? Yes, Jyuushiro was more of a brother to him than Seichii was, but Seichii had never wanted that relationship in the first place.
He still remembered the time his brother had banished him from his birthday celebrations and Shunsui had willingly complied. Ended up going out and meeting Jyuushiro in the town over and getting thoroughly wasted. He'd stumbled home early the next morning after waking up at some nameless girls' house. His mother hadn't even let him get in the door before she laid into him for missing the party. Seichii had simply sat in a corner and smirked until Shunsui had revealed he'd been out drinking with Jyuushiro. Then all the humor had gone out of his brother's face and he'd commenced with the lecture on proper family relations. Shunsui had punched him in the face. Probably not the best response, but he'd been hungover and agitated and it was all Seichii's fault in the first place that he'd not been at the party. Not that he'd wanted to attend anyway, but he'd at least thought he'd not get in that much trouble if it was Seichii that had told him to go. After that Seichii had kept his opinions to himself mainly, but that punch had been the end of any kind of tolerable relationship between the two of them for years.
Shunsui sighed as he entered the 13th. Maybe it was best that he'd only ever have one kid as long as he was stuck with Kiyoko. There'd be no possibility of horrible sibling relations. Then again he couldn't even imagine how lonely his life would have been without Jyuushiro, and he knew for a fact that Nanao hadn't enjoyed the years spent without her brother in her life. Either way the baby was going to be an only child, a fact his mother had started to pick up on and was already trying to change. Regardless of what she did, he didn't think he could ever love Kiyoko. Tolerate her, yes, but that was about it.
"Kyouraku Taicho," a voice greeted. He looked up from his feet to notice the male counterpart of his friend's third seats. Shunsui shot him a grin and the man returned the smile jerking his head back to the office building. "He's doing paperwork."
"About time I put a stop to that, don't you think?" Shunsui joked.
"Just like always, sir," Kotsubaki agreed.
Shunsui nodded and walked on thinking about that last comment. Just like always. How could everything have changed so drastically and still be just the same? You'd think at his age he'd be used to it by now.
A/N: Ok so the latest chapter of Bleach made all of this story non-cannon compliant, but I'm ok with that. Especially when the chapter was so adorable (probably not the reaction Kubo intended, but hey whatever). As always review, please!