Ise Nanao was a precise woman. Uniform, hair, words, actions, and sentiments were to be thought through and decisive. Indecision led to regret. Regret of the way things could have been — should have been — but were, ultimately, not.

She knew regret served a purpose. She knew that, when fully understood, regret became a map of what to avoid in the future. It was a roadmap she refused to acknowledge because she knew that if she allowed herself the moment of introspection, she would get caught in her indecisions and become overwhelmed by the regret that loomed just under the surface of her steadfast decisiveness.

She regretted that she had held back and refrained from taking risks. She regretted the times she could have reached out but did not allow herself to extend a hand. She regretted the times she could have spoken but couldn't find the right words. She regretted the times she could have said 'yes' but said no out of fear and pride.

Most of all, she regretted the games and charades she played — they played.

However, such contemplations would not be had during the workday because nothing required more precision than the division review season. Personelle evaluations, budgets, field and patrol reports, expense reports, and seemingly everything else under the sun had to be documented and submitted to the First Division. While the hours were long, and the paperwork was tedious and taxing, it was nothing compared to Kyouraku Taicho's incorrigible behavior during the review season. He did everything he could to avoid the office, and any paperwork associated with the review. She often found herself spending hours tracking him down, which only added to the time she spent working. It also wasn't very helpful that it was spring. The warming weather only encouraged his napping habits and uncanny ability to hide. This time of year, he became a master at masking his reiatsu.

His reiatsu was a constant presence at the back of her mind, playing what was, ostensibly, a relentless game of tag. Most of the time, he used it to annoy her, especially if she was doing a task that required attention. However, there were times that he'd use it to nudge her to stop working and relax or to tell her to go home. If forced to tell the truth, she knew she was no better. Using their steady connection to trace him down, scold him, and, on rare occasions, comfort him. While it was not uncommon to use one's reiatsu to communicate, especially between close friends, the frequency and level of close contact they shared were relatively uncommon. In fact, it was wholly inappropriate between a Taicho and Fukutaicho. And yet, she couldn't bring herself to end this part of their relationship.

So, on an abnormally warm April afternoon, she found herself trying to track him down by his tightly clamped reiatsu. Damnit. Against popular belief, at his core, her Taicho was not a lazy man. He was very stubborn and diligent when he set his mind to it. He was nearly impossible to find when he put energy into hiding — this was especially true during division review season. But much to his chagrin, so was she. After nearly two hours of searching, she found him in a grove hidden in the Thirteenth's training grounds.

"Kyouraku Taicho."

He remained silent and unmoving.

"Taicho. I know you're not asleep." All she needed was one signature; two hours lost for one signature. "I need you to sign off on the patrol reports, sir."

"But Nanao-chan, I'm napping." He was whining. He had no right to be whining — not when she was the one who wasted two hours searching for him. "Don't you want to come nap with me? I promise I'll keep you warm."

Yes. Yes, she wanted to nap. However, "I don't have time for naps. I have to finish all the work and get to bed at a reasonable hour for patrol tomorrow morning."

That got him to sit up. "Oh! So you did take me up on my idea of patrolling?"

He'd been pushing for her to take on morning patrols for weeks. She suspected it was because if she were on patrol, she couldn't wake him up early in the morning.

"Yes, Taicho, I did." In the warmer spring weather, most of her squad was to some degree hungover or still drunk in the morning hours — it was simply more efficient if she did it herself.

"How do you like it?" He was gloating, and she would not dignify it with an answer. "It has certainly put a healthy glow in my sweet Nanao-chan's cheeks."

Nope — definitely not getting a response. "Taicho, please just sign."

"If I must." He signed the form and promptly returned to his napping position.

"Taicho, please be at the division tomorrow. Early. There is a stack of papers that need to be submitted to the first before lunchtime. Just get it done and go back to sleep."

He only hummed in response. Clearly, he wouldn't be doing any of what she asked. Why did she even bother?

She turned around, made to leave the clearing, and thought better of it — she could preemptively exact revenge. Walking away, she concentrated on getting past his reiatsu's intricate barriers as quickly and efficiently as possible to give him a jab that would keep him up for at least an hour.

"OW!" She heard him yell from his prone position, "Nanao-chan! You can't just do that! Why are you so mean to your loving Taicho."

She couldn't contain her laugh and jumped into shunpo.

To say Nanao was angry was an understatement. The two hours spent tracking down Kyouraku-Taicho were two she had budgeted to finish the training schedule for the rest of the week and expense reports. It didn't help that there was a series of fires to put out throughout the rest of the afternoon. By ten in the evening, Nanao was pissed at her division, herself, but mostly her Taicho. She'd most likely not be going home until well past midnight. The fact that she had to be up by five did nothing to help her mood. Why she'd agreed to early morning patrols was beyond her at this point — she should make Kyouraku Taicho do them for her when he insisted on being difficult.

A knock at the door interrupted her fantasies of the many ways she could make her Kyouraku Taicho pay for her inability to work. If one more incident required her attention, she'd scream.

"Come in."

"Ise Fukutaicho, I brought you some dinner if you'd like. I figured you would be working late and thought I would drop some food off," said a tentative voice from the door.

Oh, right. Dinner.

"Thank you, Yatsuneko-san. I hadn't even noticed. I've been busy getting everything done in time to get at least some hours of sleep before patrol tomorrow." She rambled on.

Her Fifth Seat smiled sympathetically at her. "About that. I was wondering if I could go to the morning patrol tomorrow?"

"Oh?"

"My husband has tomorrow evening off, and it would be nice to spend time together…"

She should probably say no. There was limited information about the 37th district, and she should have been the one to scout it. But, the young woman, still newly married, looked so hopeful, and it would free up her early morning to wrap up the papers piled on her desk. If she came in early enough. she might even be able to spend time at Logistics working out the kinks in her latest Kido spell. It was tempting.

"Are you sure? It's quite early in the morning."

"I'm sure! It's more than worth it for the evening off." The woman was a saint.

"The alright then. We can do that. Thank you for volunteering."

"Thank you!" The woman smiled and left the office.

Before she could even breathe a sigh of relief, she felt something playfully poking at her consciousness. Based on the levity in his reiatsu, she could tell he was out enjoying himself with friends. Did this man ever give up? She knew he was most likely checking in on her to make sure she'd gone home. Today, however, was not the day for his games. Shoving him away, she closed off her reiatsu well enough that he wouldn't be able to find her, let alone poke at her. Two could play at his games. He was right, though. She should go home, especially since she now had more time tomorrow. The idea of a warm shower and a good book was far too appealing.

Spring was one of the best times to be outside in Seireitei. People were out and about, there seemed to be parties on every other block, and everyone was up for spending evenings out except for one person. His sweet Nanao-chan was notoriously strict and diligent, especially during division reviews. On any other night, she should be at home winding down; however, knowing her, she would still be at the office working on paperwork and could, no doubt, wait until tomorrow morning.

After all their years together, reaching out to her reiatsu was second nature. He didn't even really have to reach for her presence; it always lingered at the periphery of his senses. So much so that it was easy to continue participating in the table's lively conversation and search for her; he wasn't surprised to find her still at the office, lost in thought, it seemed. Well, the opportunity to tease her was so well set up it was impossible to resist. He stretched his reiatsu towards her and nearly laughed out loud when he felt her jump. She shoved him away and slammed her barriers, clearly still mad at him for this afternoon.

"What are you smiling about?" It seemed nothing for past Ukitake.

"Just thinking."

"You should leave her alone, you know."

Nothing.

Well, if they were going to talk about it, he might as well. "She needs to lighten up and come out every once in a while."

"Who? Nanao?" Was he so transparent that, sitting at the next table over, Matsumoto could intuit their conversation?

"Nanao-chan just needs to relax more and let the moonlight shine on her beautiful porcelain skin."

"I know! I've spent all week trying to convince her to come out. But it was paperwork this, Division that — scheduling this — patrol that." Matsumoto continued listing on.

"Oh! That's right, my sweet Nanao-chan is patrolling tomorrow."

"What on earth inspired her to do that during revision season." Ukitake inquired.

"It was all my idea — my latest ingenious plan. If Nanao-chan is patrolling, then she can't wake me up."

Ukitake only raised an eyebrow. "And how did you convince her to do that?"

"I told her it would be would for the Division's morale to have her out there with them… and that in return, I would be running all the upper-level sword skills training sessions — you know, for morale."

"… You should be doing that anyway." Really, nothing got by the man.

Matsumoto leaned over the side of the chair. "You know there's no way she bought that, right? She is letting you get away with it. I'm sure she just figured you'd be easier to catch if you're at the Division leading drills," she said, laughing at him.

Huh. He never considered that angle, but it did make more sense that Nanao-chan decided to lose time at the office in favor of patrolling.

"That sounds about right," Ukitake said to his left. "Kyouraku, I can't believe you're making the poor woman lose hours of sleep so you can get a few more. I bet she's still at the office and then has to get up early for patrol. Shame on you." he chided jokingly.

"Shame on you." Matsumoto parroted.

"Jeez, you know she gets something out of it too — once she catches me, I have to spend hours at the office." Regardless, hopefully, she was already on her way home. Not missing a beat, he reached for her and found her reiatsu still clamped down. Oh well. He'd be sure to put in at least some hours at the office tomorrow.