Moonstar's Library

Kiss Me

Shunsui was beginning to worry. Nanao had been withdrawing more and more lately, and unfortunately, he could guess the cause. He just didn't entirely know what to do about it. He could pinpoint the start of her behavior to the return of the Vizards to the Seireitei. And Shunsui could guess what was behind it. Or at least part of what was behind it.

Nanao was worried about being replaced. Only she wouldn't call it that because in her eyes she was the one who was a replacement. She felt that her position as Lieutenant of the Eighth Division rightfully belonged to Lisa. And his Nanao-chan was very reluctant to let people get close to her, in part because of what had happened to Lisa. Shunsui could count on one hand the people who Nanao was truly close with, and she was pulling back from all of them, especially him. It was as if all of the progress their relationship had made since he'd realized he was in love with her had been undone. Nanao was preparing for those around her to decide that she wasn't important any more. It was a defense mechanism, and Shunsui wasn't even sure if she was completely conscious of what she was doing.

It wasn't going to happen. Nanao had never been just a replacement, and those who loved her were not about to abandon her. And Shunsui didn't know how to make sure she understood that with both her head and her heart. He sighed. He hated the fact that this situation was causing his Nanao pain, but he couldn't figure out how to convince her that she was irreplaceable. Shaking his head, Shunsui continued on his way to Jyuushiro's. He was hoping that his friend would have some good advice on the subject. Shunsui was out of ideas.

Snow had started to lightly fall by the time that he'd reached the Thirteenth. Shunsui was more than pleased to get inside out of the cold. He couldn't help but smile at the sight that Jyuu and Retsu made together. That had been yet another of the changes after the Winter War. Those two had finally finished dancing around one another and had settled into a happy relationship. Shunsui was happy for his best friend. He thought the pair suited one another quite well, and he'd been trying to get them to do something about their feelings for centuries. However, he also had to admit that he was a little bit envious of them as well.

"What's with the long face?" Jyuu asked.

Shunsui shrugged as he took a seat. "Nanao."

Retsu nodded. "I was wondering how long it would take for you to feel like you needed to do something about that."

"Do you think I can? Nothing I have done so far has made much of a difference. She's not replaceable."

"And no one is actually trying to replace her. Though she does have some reason to worry about that, you do have to admit." Jyuu handed him a cup of tea. "She's never really had an easy time of transitions. Give her time and space, and she'll probably come around."

Retsu frowned at that. "I'm not sure that is the right approach actually. You've been acting like nothing has changed. But things have changed, and Nanao knows that. Even if her own role in things hasn't changed, things around her have. Acting like nothing at all has changed is not going to set her at ease."

There was logic to that. And while Shunsui tended to avoid confrontation when it came to his Nanao, perhaps it was what was called for this time. Until the Winter War, Shunsui had been content to let things develop at Nanao's own pace when it came to their relationship. He had been more than willing to wait until she was ready to face that idea. However, now waiting wasn't nearly as appealing, especially when he could lose her to something so silly as a misconception.

"Do you have any particular advice?"

Retsu simply arched an eyebrow at him. "Other than actually telling the girl what you feeling instead of dancing around the subject like you have been? No. I think that will be enough."

There was a clear command behind that. Shunsui wasn't entirely sure why Retsu was being so insistent about this, but it typically was a good idea to listen to her. So Shunsui finished his tea before going off in search of his Nanao-chan. Knowing Retsu, if he stuck around, she would continue with her subtle hints until he left. The snow wasn't coming down much harder than before, but the sky had the looks of a snowstorm on the way, and Shunsui would much prefer to be nice and warm inside anyway.

Furthermore, he didn't even know where to start looking for his lieutenant. She wasn't in the office (he knew that much), and she had become very adept at disappearing in the last few weeks. Wherever she was going, it wasn't her normal places of solitude, and Shunsui wasn't entirely sure where to start looking. It seemed far more sensible to head back to his own quarters and come up with a plan than wander around in a snowstorm looking for Nanao.

As it turned out, fate had other plans. He had barely turned down the path towards his quarters when he came across Nanao. She was wrapped up in a thick wool haori, but what really startled Shunsui was the kimono she was wearing. Nanao actually had several of those (most of them had been gifts from him), but she seldom wore them. This one was a deep plum color and patterned with white plum blossoms. She was carrying an umbrella to keep the snow off of her, and she looked absolutely picturesque and charming.

"Nanao-chan?"

She looked up, startled. Then she shivered. Shunsui immediately swept into action.

"You must be freezing, Nanao-chan."

Before she had a chance to protest, Shunsui had scooped her up in his arms and had flashstepped them to his quarters. Given the fact that Nanao was still shivering despite all her layers, he could guess why she hadn't complained. Thankfully, his quarters were nice and warm, and it wasn't long before both of them had warmed up. Nanao had been fairly silent since they had arrived, though she had accepted the cup of tea he had offered.

"What are you thinking about, sweetheart?"

Nanao stared down at her empty tea cup, not meeting his eyes. "Just how much has changed. I don't think anyone had a clue how much the Winter War would change things."

"Is that good or bad?"

She was silent for a long moment. "I don't know."

"Not everything had changed though." He reached for her hand. "You're still my Nanao-chan."

That made her look up at him. And for once Nanao didn't try and use her glasses to shield what was in her eyes. There was both hope and fear there as well as a great deal of affection. Shunsui smiled and cupped her cheek with his other hand.

"You will always be my Nanao no matter what your position in the Gotei Thirteen is." He held her eyes. "Nothing will ever change that."

It wasn't until he saw the acceptance of that in her eyes that Shunsui leaned in and kissed Nanao. It was a cautious tentative kiss, but when Nanao kissed him back, Shunsui pulled her into his arms. She was his Nanao, and he would not be giving her up. No matter what changed.

Pas De Deux

Nanao carefully laced up her toe shoes and ran through a couple more stretches before launching into her normal warm up. The young soloist wanted to be well practiced when the team from Seireitei Ballet Company showed up. Her mentor and teacher had always spoken well of that company, and Nanao was looking forward to working with them. Rukongai Ballet Company, her own company, had lucked out when they had been chosen to work with a team of dancers and choreographers from the SBC to put on a performance of The Nutcracker. Rukongai was still working to get established as a well known entity in their city, and this could really put them on the map.

She had been with this company since she had become employed as a dancer. Nanao Ise had started ballet lessons at the tender age of three, and her teacher had quickly singled her out for more advanced instruction. Lisa Yadomaru had been an amazing dancer. She had also been a principal dancer for Rukongai. She had been Nanao's teacher and mentor until the girl had been about ten. Lisa had left Rukongai for SBC at the time, but she hadn't stayed their long either. As it turned out, Lisa had been more interested in something a little less classical than ballet and was now part of Vizard Dance, one of the most prominent modern dance troupes.

It had been a hard loss for Nanao, but she had thrown herself into becoming the best possible ballet dancer that she could. And she had done well for herself. She was a soloist in a good dance company, and at twenty-one was a pretty talented dancer. Nanao had tried out for the principal dancer position last year, but she had been told that she wasn't up to their standards yet. She would just have to work harder. Hopefully, the part she would receive for The Nutcracker would be a challenge for her.

Once she was warmed up, Nanao made her way through a couple of old performance routines. She was just about to see if she still remembered the routine she had done when she had played Clara as a child in The Nutcracker when a figure at the practice room door caught her attention. He was a tall man with chestnut hair pulled back in a ponytail. His eyes were a warm chocolate color, and he stood like a dancer. It was his clothing that was ridiculous. The man wore khaki pants and a hideous, bright pink Hawaiian shirt. If she couldn't tell that he was dancer by the way he stood, Nanao would have assumed he was one of those idiot graduate students from the university.

"Can I help you, sir?"

He offered her a slow, easy smile. "Your name you be a start, lovely one."

Nanao frowned. "Nanao Ise. Is there anything else I can help you with or are you just going to gawk?"

"As much as I would love to bask in your presence all day," he smiled, "I'm looking for the artistic director's office."

She blinked. "Down the hall, second door to the right."

"Thank you, my lovely Nanao. I'll be seeing you later."

And with that he was gone. Nanao's frowned increased. He had looked vaguely familiar. Where would she know him from? The clock on the wall caught her eye, and Nanao sighed. Time to round up the rest of the dancers. If she didn't remind them about the meeting in fifteen minutes, only a handful of them would show up. There were days when she felt like she was running a ballet school full of unruly students. And it wasn't even really her job. She certainly didn't get paid extra for it.

When everyone was finally assembled in the largest of the practice rooms, their artistic director strode into the room.

"I'm sure you all are eager to get to work on our production of The Nutcracker. The team from SBC has arrived, and I'll introduce them to you shortly. I know you all will work especially hard on this project no matter what part you are cast as." He glanced around the room. "We are lucky enough to be working with some of the SBC's finest performers. Jyuushiro Ukitake will be our choreographer while both Rangiku Matsumoto, one the SBC's most famous principal dancers, and Shunsui Kyoraku will be performing with you."

Nanao knew all three of those names, and she now knew why that man had looked familiar. Shunsui Kyoraku was probably the most famous male dancers in the ballet world. She had expected him to be a little more professional. The other two were no slouches either. Jyuushiro Ukitake was almost as famous as Kyoraku, but he had turned to chorography several years ago due to ongoing health problems. And Rangiku Matsumoto was one of the only two active ballet dancers to currently hold the title of prima ballerina. The other was Yoruichi Shihoin, also of SBC, and she was semi-retired. These were the caliber of people Nanao had always wanted to dance with.

A white haired man stepped into view, and Nanao instantly recognized Ukitake. That hair of his had been his trademark for years.

"It's good to meet all of you. I just want to give you an overview of how this will work. Shunsui, Rangiku, and I are going to spend the next few days working with you, so we can get a feel for your strengths and capabilities. Once we have an idea of that, we'll do the casting call for the children. When we have an entire cast, we'll start assigning parts and begin rehearsing The Nutcracker." He smiled at them all. "I'll let you get back to your regular schedule now. Please don't mind us as we pop in and out of your rehearsals."

Truthfully, Nanao wanted to be assigned to one of the major solos in The Nutcracker. She hadn't had a real challenge when it came to dancing in quite a while, and she was itching to find something that would push her skills. It wasn't likely that she would get a major solo though. Perhaps she might get one of the dances that provided entertainment in the second art, but besides that, there were too many skilled dancers in the company for her to receive a part like the Sugar Plum Fairy. Still, it was an incentive to work even harder.

The presence of the three SBC performers took some getting used to. Rangiku was the easiest to get along with. The woman had a bright, bubbly personality, and she insisted on practicing with everyone, including the soloist and apprentices, not just the principal dancers. She wasn't at all like Nanao would have expected a prima ballerina to be, but then Nanao would admit that she had only worked with a handful of principal dancers since Lisa left, and none of them had been easy to work with. Mr. Ukitake was also very easy to work with. He was extremely kind, and he seemed to know exactly how to change chorography so that it challenged those who needed it while also made things easier on those who weren't quite at the same level. It was Shunsui Kyoraku who was really bothering Nanao. She just couldn't figure out why he had fixated on her.

She wasn't the best dancer in the company nor was she the worst. She wasn't especially beautiful despite all his comments about 'his lovely Nanao' or 'his pretty Nanao'. And yet the man seemed quite interested in her. He flirted with all the female dancers to be sure, but none of them were receiving the constant attention she was. Maybe it was because she wouldn't give into his advances. Normally, Nanao would just write the man off as a goof. He didn't seem to be that interested in rehearsing or the actual work of being a dancer. However, there would be times when he jumped into a dance routine and pulled it off with amazing finesse and talent or take the time to coach one of the less accomplished dancers through choreography that they were having trouble with using infinite patience. The man was a paradox.

As the auditions for the children began, Nanao found herself busier than usual. Any time the company had children performing with them, Nanao found herself placed in charge of them. It looked like this year they had an especially talent crop of children. Nanao was rather surprised when Kyoraku started spending half his time working with the children. He was quite good with them. If she had him as a teacher when she was that age, he could have easily been her favorite. Kyoraku had a way of making each child feel like they were a vital part of the performance and eased them out of any stage fright or fears of performing badly. And he definitely made the task of managing them much easier.

Once they had the children, it didn't take long for the artistic director and the SBC members to start casting The Nutcracker. Nanao was on pins and needles when the day for announcing the parts came. She had been very pleased with her dancing as they were preparing to cast the roles, and hopefully, that would be reflected in the part she got. The way Ukitake had chorographer things he had taken parts from most of the famous arrangements of the ballet. For instance, the Waltz of the Flowers followed the Balanchine Nutcracker with a Dewdrop solo, but followed the Stowell Nutcracker with replacing the Sugar Plum Fairy and her Chevalier in the second act with an older Clara and the Nutcracker Prince. Nanao couldn't help but notice that the ballet had been designed in a way to showcase as many dancers as possible.

When the parts were finally announced, they mostly went to the dancers as expected. Almost all of the adult dancers were playing party guests. Ken Ishikawa would play Drosselmayer while Aiko Taira and Shinji Kurakawa would play the two life sized dolls. All three of them were principal dancers. Rangiku Matsumoto would take the part of Dewdrop for the Waltz of the Flowers. The entertainment dances in the second act were assigned to the other soloists for the most part save for what was traditionally Mother Ginger and her children's dance. Ukitake had tweaked the dance and the characters some, but the roles were still for children and music was the same. Nanao found herself cast as the soloist for the Waltz of the Snowflakes. That probably meant they wanted her to corral the children backstage during the second act. Kyoraku would be the Nutcracker while Nanako Yamaguchi would dance the older Clara.

Nanao sighed. At least she would get to learn the various other parts. She tended to be the principal understudy. It was a disappointment, but at least she was still working with some of the best dancers in the country. She would just have to make the best of it.

Shunsui wasn't especially happy with the artistic director of Rukongai Ballet. The man was clearly blind and wouldn't listen to reason. It was true that Shunsui had actually been working the ballet company for only about three weeks, but he could clearly see several of the reasons why the ballet company was having trouble getting established. For one, their artistic director had no imagination. He also had a tendency to play favorites. That had been clear from Shunsui's interactions with the principal dancers. But what bothered Shunsui the most was the waste of talent.

Nanao Ise was clearly the most talented dancer in the company. Shunsui had been quite impressed with her, and he had no idea why she was still just a soloist. She definitely would qualify as a principal dancer in most companies. She was not quite up to SBC standards for a principal dancer, but that was mostly because she lacked experience. Something she clearly wasn't getting here. When he had first come upon her practicing, Shunsui had been impressed by her grace and finesse and also by the way she poured emotion into her dancing even if it was just practice.

Truth be told, Shunsui was quite fond of the woman. He wasn't sure what had first drawn him to her, but he kept finding new reasons to like her. The fact that she didn't fall worshiping at his feet like some women was just a start. He liked the way she worked with the children in the performance. His Nanao would make a very good ballet instructor. Both he and Jyuushiro had lobbied to give her a more significant part in The Nutcracker. She was ideal for the older Clara or even would do the Arabian dance beautifully and both would showcase her talents. The artistic director would hear none of it. Shunsui had caught the forlorn little look on her face when the parts were announced. She had masked it quickly, but it had been there.

He was just going to have to poach her into the SBC. Talent like hers should not be going to waste. With a sigh, Shunsui turned back to the task at hand. He and Yamaguchi were working on the pas de deux for Clara and the Nutcracker in the second act. It wasn't going especially well, and Shunsui was concerned that Jyuu would have to rechoreograph it so the woman could dance it. If he did, it would be too bad. It was a lovely dance. Shunsui kept his eyes on his partner. He was tempted to look out and see what expression was on Nanao's face. She was here too since she was the understudy for all the female principal dancers. Shunsui would prefer her to his partner, but right now that wasn't likely.

Jyuu started them from the top of the dance again, and Shunsui truthfully tuned out some. His part was getting instinctive at this point. His body was able to follow Jyuushiro's instructions without his mind having to be too involved. Nanao Ise was something of a puzzle, and Shunsui was interested in trying to solve it. She was clearly a dedicated dancer, despite the way her company treated her, but she also attended university part time. No one seemed to know what her major was though. She also had no family to speak of and no close friends or mentors in this ballet company. All of the dancers at her level or lower spoke highly of her while the principal dancers seemed to ignore her for the most part. And Nanao clearly didn't realize just how talented she was. Otherwise, Shunsui would bet that she would have insisted on being given the roles that she was due.

They only made it halfway through the dance routine before Jyuushiro called a halt to things. His friend was masking his frustration well, but Shunsui knew him well enough to see that he wasn't happy with the way things were going.

"Why don't we take a break and come back to this?" Jyuushiro gave a grim smile. "I need to go over the Waltz of the Flowers and the Arabian dance as well today."

Yamaguchi immediately disappeared off to the dressing rooms while Shunsui decided to join Nanao on the studio sidelines. As Sayaka Kitani came forward to work on the Arabian dance, Shunsui turned to the pretty soloist.

"What do you think so far, my lovely Nanao?"

She frowned at him but answered. "Mr. Ukitake's choreography is quite lovely, though it's deceptively difficult. It would be nice to see the pas de deux performed all the way through. It's hard for me to get a sense of it as I've only seen it in parts. I like what he's done with the entire ballet. It's both in keeping with the traditions of The Nutcracker, but is also very fresh at the same time."

It was good answer and quite true. The sad thing was even with this production there wasn't much room for innovation or elaboration with the Waltz of the Snowflakes. That scene was the quintessential ballet chorus scene, and there really wasn't that much room for a solo. Nanao needed a part that would showcase her talents. Trying to get his mind off that subject, Shunsui attempted to engage the young woman in a discussion of literature, but she seemed set and determined ignore him. Finally she reached over and placed her hand on top of his. She didn't look at him and her voice was soft.

"Actually, I would love to discuss Austen versus the Brontes' with you, but I can't right now. I have too make sure I know all the parts in case something happens, and I don't really get any time on my own to go over that sort of thing with the choreographer. If you really want to discuss literature, perhaps it could be done over a cup of tea at a later time?"

Shunsui slid his fingers between hers and squeezed lightly. "All right, Nanao."
It was a step in the right direction at least. Since he wasn't talking to her, Shunsui turned his attention to studying her as she studying the dancers rehearsing. Nanao really was quite an elegant beauty even though she didn't seem to see it. Soft raven hair that was normally confined to a bun set off her porcelain skin well, and her eyes were a remarkable shade of violet, though often conceal behind her glasses. The woman had admitted to wearing contacts during performances. She was petite but well proportioned and clearly very athletic. She was also much stronger than she looked. Shunsui had seen that first hand with her dancing.

Finally Jyuushiro called a halt to practice, having everyone break for lunch. Shunsui wasn't about to let Nanao get out of the promised discussion and quickly caught hold of her elbow.

"Is there somewhere near here where we can get lunch, darling Nanao?"

She gave him a half hearted glare. "There's a café just down the street that's pretty good."

The café was only a block away and was a cheery little place. The waitress clearly knew Nanao and escorted them to a quite table on near the back patio. Shunsui flipped through the offered menu though Nanao didn't even bother to look at it. They placed their drink orders and then were left on their own. Shunsui started up the conversation about literature again and was pleased to find out that not only was his lady conversant, but she was a Literature major. In fact, it was one of the most animated discussion he'd had with her that didn't involve Nanao either trying to escape him or hitting him with something. She had taken to throwing toe shoes at him when he especially annoyed her.

Shunsui also managed to pry some more personal information out of her. This was the first and only ballet company she had worked for, and she had been hired as an apprentice. Nanao lived along in a studio apartment save for a cat, and she was an avid reader in her free time. She was also slated to graduate from university at the end of this term. Shunsui got the feeling that the young woman was a little lonely most of the time. While she had plenty of peers, there didn't seem to be many people she called friends.

Their lunch was woefully short in Shunsui's mind, but there was still work to do. Besides, it felt like Nanao had finally let him in a little. It was a start at least. Now he just had to figure out how to continue gaining her confidence and friendship. This was one lady that he was not going to let slip through his fingers. Not with a mind like hers and her ability to dance. Shunsui didn't think he had ever met anyone who had fascinated him so and that was so well suited to him.

When they returned to the studio, it was time to work with the children in the ballet which was always one of Shunsui's favorite parts of this job. Also Shuuhei Hisagi, from the SBC's publicity department, was there to take candid picture of the practices. They were currently working on the second act. While Shunsui worked with the girls who would be performing the Chinese dance, Nanao was helping the eight children who be performing the "Mother Ginger" dance. Jyuu had changed the story a little so there wasn't a Mother Ginger, simply the master of ceremonies for the dreamland (who was really Drosselmeir). Not that those changes made much difference to the children.

Hisagi managed to get several really great photos including one of Nanao leading the line of children in the steps of the dance. Shunsui was definitely getting a copy of that one. When Nanao worked with the children, it was easy to see her love of dance shining through. She was much more contained when she worked with other adults. He had been a little surprised when the task of preparing the children for their parts had been left completely in her and Jyuushiro's hands. It was not one of the normal duties of a soloist in a ballet company, but Shunsui had begun to realize that Nanao had far more duties here than were covered in her job description.

In some ways, it irked him. It was easy enough to see that Nanao put in far more hours than any other dancer and that she did things that no other dancer in the company did. She practically ran some aspects of the company and got absolutely no credit for her work. It was rather maddening to him. Especially when she was so clearly a better dancer than some of the others in the company. Shunsui could come up with no conceivable reason Nanao wasn't a principal dancer at this point.

He was bound and determined to get her to agree to join the SBC, for both personal and professional reasons. However, it was clear that he was going to have to take this slowly otherwise he would scare her off. It was a good thing he knew how to be patient.

Nanao carefully stretched making sure that her left leg was well and truly warmed up. She had completely recovered from her injury two years ago, but Nanao was always especially careful when it came to doing anything that might possibly aggravate the old injury. She had been lucky to escape any permanent damage. She was not going to press her luck. Today Mr. Ukitake was going to go over the two main waltzes in the ballet, and that meant Nanao would be on her feet quite a bit. She wanted to be prepared.

They actually started with the Waltz of the Flowers which meant Nanao simply got to watch. She was understudying Rangiku, but Nanao doubted the woman would need her services. Rangiku was incredibly dedicated to her work. They got about halfway through the piece when Rangiku suddenly stopped in the middle of her solo and rushed out of the room, her hand covering her mouth. Nanao shared a startled glance with Kyoraku and Mr. Ukitake before rising to her feet.

"I'll go check on her."

Nanao found the woman bent over a toilet in the ladies room, heaving up the remains of her breakfast. Nanao wet a paper towel with cold water and held the older woman's hair back while she finished throwing up.

"Do you need me to call someone for you?"

Rangiku shook her head. "Retsu, that's Jyuu's wife, is dropping by for lunch, and she's the head doctor for the SBC. Besides, I think I know what this is. I should be fine."

"Do you want a bottle of water or something?" Nanao was concerned about how pale the other dancer was. She didn't look well at all.

"Water would be lovely. I'll probably sit out the rest of practice, but since you know the part, it won't be a problem."

Nanao was a little surprised at her willingness to let Nanao take over the practice. Most of the principal dancers she had worked with had not been happy about the fact that they had an understudy. In fact, Nanao didn't think she had ever once actually preformed a part she had understudied. The two women made their way back to the practice studio where Rangiku assured everyone that she was fine but needed to sit out the rest of practice. Nanao took her place and practice resumed.

She couldn't help but notice that Shunsui was watching her more closely than usual. He almost always was watching her when they were in the same room, but today his gaze seemed more intense than normal. Nanao did her best to ignore it and focused on her dancing. She had practiced the steps on her own, but she had never preformed this solo with the rest of the corps de ballet before. By the end, Nanao was pretty pleased with herself. She hadn't done that badly. She had noticed a dark haired woman slip into the studio towards the end of practice. The woman had gone to sit by Rangiku, and Nanao assumed this must be Retsu Ukitake.

Once they were dismissed from practice, Nanao couldn't help lingering. She wanted to make sure that Rangiku was really all right. Shunsui caught sight of her and came dropping his arm around her shoulders. He led her right over to the group.

"Retsu, this is Nanao Ise, our favorite soloist. Nanao, this is Jyuu's wife, Retsu."

She greeted Nanao with a gentle smile. "I saw the end of the practice. You did a lovely job of the solo."

Nanao blushed at the unexpected praise. It was not often someone other than her fellow soloists or one of the students praised her.

"It still needs some work, but I'm hoping that Rangiku will still be able to perform it." Nanao directed a concerned look at the other dancer.

Rangiku just smiled. "You'd do just fine at it, but I'll be fine. I don't think I'm going to have much more in the way of problems."

She shared a look with Retsu then, and Nanao couldn't help but wonder what was going on. Rangiku rose to her feet.

"Well, I have a phone call to make and lunch to find. I'll see you all later."

Shunsui grinned. "Lunch sounds like a good idea. What are people up for?"

Nanao tried to back out of it, but none of them would let her, and they all insisted she wasn't intruding. The four of them ended up at a little place several blocks away from the dance studio. Nanao had been there a number of times, and they had great soup and noodles. Retsu got her talking about her school work. The soft spoken woman was incredibly kind and went out of her wait to make Nanao feel like she belonged. Retsu also had a vast store of stories from Jyuushiro and Shunsui's younger days, many of which were rather embarrassing for the boys. Retsu herself was a dancer, though she only preformed for special occasions anymore. Her first love had been medicine.

All there of them (Retsu, Jyuushiro, and Shunsui) had been founding member of Seireitei ballet company, and Nanao coaxed them into telling some stories of that time. Though it was hard to believe that Shunsui and Jyuushiro had ever stolen all of their choreographer notes in an attempt to keep from doing an extremely badly choreographed number. She watched Shunsui attempted to add a thirteenth sugar to his iced tea and then had second thoughts about that. She could see him talking Jyuushiro into it. Especially if he had sugar in his system.

Nanao found herself a little melancholy when she finally returned to her apartment. It wasn't often that she spent so much time in the company of others outside of work or school, and she was finding solitude not as comfortable now. She curled up with her cat and her class readings after putting on a recording of The Nutcracker. Nanao liked to get the music of the ballet she was working on well ingrained in her mind before the performance. With a sigh, she got down to work reading about the theories concerning the Pearl Poet's writings in Middle English.

"So what do you think of our little dancer?" Shunsui idly sipped his sake.

Retsu raised an eyebrow at him. "I can tell that you're smitten. She's clearly talented, though it's hard to tell just how talent from the little bit of the solo I caught. Nanao seems like a lovely person though. What are you planning?"

"You accuse me of plotting something?" Shunsui did his best to look innocent. "I'd like to get her to join the SBC, and not just because I'm rather fond of her. They're wasting her talent here, and Nanao needs more of a challenge if she's going to improve. She's a soloist by the way. Not a principal dancer. It's a criminal waste of her skills, and no one has bothered to inform her that she is more than just an average dancer."

Retsu frowned at that. "That much is clearly untrue. How is it that she doesn't realize how good she is?"

Jyuushiro shrugged. "As far as I can tell, she's been with this company her whole career, and no one has bothered to give her much in the way of praise. I would have preferred to cast her as the older Clara just so we could get a better idea of what she can do, but I was overruled. I'm still trying to figure out a way that we can highlight her talent in the production. Casting her as a soloist in the Waltz of the Snowflakes seems a supreme waste."

"She was disappointed about that. Given that the current dancer in the role of Clara hasn't been able to get through the pas de deux once, I think we should just switch Nanao to role and see what happens." Shunsui pursed his lips. "My only concern is that she would refuse so as not to cause trouble with her ballet company."

"Have you thought about asking her to simply practice with you?" Retsu offered. "She would probably be willing to do that, and then we could just switch dancers around at the last minute. We'll have to make sure we already have a costume made up for her, but that shouldn't be too hard. I know that Yoruichi was looking for a project lately."

It was a good plan, and once they had brought Rangiku in on it, they began to put things in place. Shunsui started looking for a good opportunity to corner Nanao with his request. He didn't exactly want it to be public knowledge just yet, and he doubted Nanao would agree if she thought everyone knew they were practicing together. However, it seemed like Nanao was around a little less than normal. He finally managed to find out that she was in the middle of midterms at school. So, armed with a large cup of her tea of choice, Shunsui headed to the university campus. She had mentioned which classes she was taking earlier, and it was easy enough for him to find out where the classes were.

Nanao came out of her class and had the oddest expression cross her face when she saw him waiting. It was part wistfulness, part irritation, and part disbelief.

Shunsui took advantage of her surprised and pressed the cup into her hands. "It's a Chai latte with no water. Just how you like it."

She blinked, clearly startled that he knew that. "Oh. Thank you."

"I have a favor to ask."

She raised an eyebrow, and they began making their way outside. "Oh?"

"You've seen the practices lately." Shunsui grimaced. "It's a little hard to focus on your own part when your partner can't get more than five to ten minutes into a routine. I was hoping you would practice with me, so I could work on my part."

Nanao blinked, and he thought he detected a hint of blush on her cheeks. "I've never actually danced the part."

Shunsui dismissed the concern. "I know you. Even if you've never danced the part, you have it memorized. You take your job as understudy very seriously."

She was really blushing now. "All right."

He beamed at her. "Thank you, Nanao."

Nanao bit her lip then offered shyly. "I haven't actually danced with a partner except in classes."

"It won't be a problem. You're too good a dancer for that."

Her blush deepened; Nanao was close to being bright red. Shunsui didn't know if she was embarrassed or just not used to getting compliments. Still, he had gotten her to agree to dance with him, and he had no doubt that Nanao would take to dancing with a partner with no troubles. Shunsui offered to take her out to lunch, and they made plans for when to meet to practice. It would just be the two of them to start with, but Shunsui planned on bringing Jyuushiro in at some point to fine tune the dancing. He didn't tell Nanao that though. He wanted her to be comfortable with her part before he brought anyone else in to help him. Shunsui was afraid that too much attention too quickly would scare her off.

When he arrived at the practice room the next afternoon, Shunsui found Nanao already there, warming up and stretching. Once they both were warmed up enough, Shunsui put the cd in the player and turned it to the first track for Clara and the Nutcracker: the scene in the pine woods. It took a little time for Nanao to get used to dancing with him rather than simply on her own or with the corps de ballet. However, once his presence and involvement in the dancing stopped taking her by surprise, Nanao proved to be quite adept at the pieces. It didn't take long for her to start relaxing and start really dancing. By the end of two weeks of their practices, Nanao had danced all of the sequences between the Nutcracker and Clara with him, and both of them were quite pleased with the way they were shaping up.

Shunsui also liked the confidence he saw in Nanao as they worked together. By their third week of practicing, she no longer seemed uncertain or shy about performing with him. While they still had some things they needed to work on, it was clear that Nanao had a much better grasp on the dances than did the woman assigned to play Clara. The practices also gave him a chance to get to know Nanao a little better. It took some time, but she finally began to relax around him. There was a lively, engaging woman hiding behind the mask of a stoic professional, and Shunsui delighted in drawing her out. She had even gotten to the point where she was comfortable doing things like smacking him in the shoulder when he annoyed her.

Rehearsal for the rest of the ballet was going well too. Save for the exception of the current Clara, almost everyone had mastered their parts, and now they were working on fine tuning the performance. The set was almost finished as well, and the costumes were in their final stages of design and building. There of course would still be some tweaking to be done with those, but soon everyone would be able to practice in costume. That was good because opening night was getting closer. Nanao's costume was also currently being built. However, it was the only one that wasn't built by the RBC's costume shop. Once they had her measurements, he and Jyuushiro had sent them and several pictures of Nanao to Yoruichi Shihoin, the head of the SBC's costume shop. She would put together a costume for Nanao, and it would keep their little plot a secret.

Jyuushiro started to join them for their private practices, and with his help, it didn't take long for things to really come together. Shunsui's one major concern was the stress that was beginning to show on Nanao. As they got closer to opening night, more and more tasks that weren't really in her job description were loaded on her. She had already been working with the children in the production along with the teachers from the RBC's school, but now she had also been put in charge of getting them organized for the publicity shots. In fact, Nanao was doing a lot that would have been done by the SBC's publicity office. Of course, the RBC was smaller and less well funded than the SBC, but still, one would think they wouldn't have one of their dancers doing so much of the work. It wasn't like any one else was pitching in with this sort of thing.

Shunsui did understand some of their reasoning. If you gave Nanao a task, it got done efficiently and professionally even if it wasn't something that she specialized in. Nanao was incredibly professional even when it came to things that weren't her job. He worried about how much she worked sometimes. Between her school work and the ballet company, he wasn't sure that she had any free time to just relax. He was going to have to enlist Rangiku's help in kidnapping Nanao for some fun sometime soon. The two women seemed to get along quite well, and Ran always knew how to have fun.

Still, things were quite well. By the time opening night arrived, hopefully it wouldn't be too hard to persuade old man Yama to hire Nanao or get Nanao to agree to accept the offer.

Nanao didn't think she had ever been this busy before. Between her classes and the ballet company, she was almost always swamped with work. It didn't help that she was putting in extra time to practice with Shunsui. Of course, she wasn't about to give that up. Nanao enjoyed the time they spent dancing together immensely. It was some of the most challenging work she had ever done, and Nanao enjoyed being pushed to the limits of her abilities. She still had a lot to learn about dancing, but this was giving her a chance to get some new experiences.

She also didn't think she'd had this much interaction with people outside of work or school since she was little. Both Rangiku and Shunsui seemed determined to get her outside their normal places of interaction. Which was why Nanao had been dragged out shopping along with Rangiku and Retsu this weekend. Rangiku had claimed she needed company for the trip, and the two other women had been pulled along in her wake.

"What exactly are we looking for?" Nanao asked once they had arrived downtown.

Rangiku blushed. "Baby things. I'm pregnant. The Nutcracker will be my last ballet for awhile."

Nanao frowned slightly. "Will that affect your career much?"

Retsu shook her head. "The SBC has provisions for maternity leave and arrangements for the first few years after in all the female employees' contracts. They also have a pretty good childcare center as well."

Rangiku nodded. "I'll probably end up teaching part time once the baby is born."

"All right." Nanao pursed her lips. "There's a boutique that specializes in baby and toddler things at the mall that's downtown, and there are several children's stores a little closer to the waterfront. If we try the mall first, we can stop at a little bistro I know on the way to the waterfront."

Rangiku laughed. "You see? That's exactly why I wanted you to come along. We don't know the town as well as you do, and no one can create a plan of attack as well as you do."

Rangiku led the charge into the shopping. While they were specifically looking for baby things, that didn't stop them from popping into a few stores that weren't on the list. By the time they took a break for lunch, the three of them had a collection of shopping bags. And Rangiku wasn't even close to running out of steam. Nanao would admit this was sort of fun. Retsu and Rangiku got her talking about when she started taking ballet lessons, and soon they were trading stories about their experiences in ballet lessons. Nanao could believe that Rangiku and her partner got scolded for locking themselves into the school overnight. Of course, she didn't think they tried too hard to get out. If Rangiku was really determined to do something, she would get it. The woman could be a force to reckon with.

One of the stores by the waterfront turned out to be exactly what Rangiku was looking for, and it took both Nanao and Retsu to keep the shopping trip within reasonable limits. As it was, Rangiku left the store with enough things for her baby's first week in the world as well as some rather adorable stuffed animals that Rangiku just couldn't pass up. All and all, it was a very pleasant Saturday. Nanao still had a paper to write, but it wasn't due until Tuesday, and the break from spending her weekend staring at a computer screen had probably done her good.

Sunday evening found her with the essay complete and in need of doing something that had very little to do with intellectual stimulation. So Nanao let herself into the studio to get some practicing done on her own. It wouldn't hurt to go over all the different the different part she had been practicing. Also, Nanao had to finish putting together the short solo she had promised the children if they behaved during the dress rehearsal next week. Whenever there were children involved in a performance, Nanao would let them pick out about four or five minutes of music for her dance to in exchange for good behavior.

It was a bribe that always worked, and Nanao rather enjoyed making up the little solos. One of her favorites had been when they picked Bruce Springsteen's Radio Nowhere. This year they had picked out the Enchanted Suite from the movie Enchanted, and Nanao was having a little more trouble with the solo. The music was very expressive and good for dancing, but there was one part that just begged for a two person dance, and Nanao didn't have a second person on hand. She was still struggling with what to do with that little section.

Nanao worked her way through The Nutcracker pieces she danced and then turned her attention to the solo. Every time she got to that sequence in the music, it seemed to fall apart. With a sigh of frustration, Nanao turned up the volume before starting the track one more time. If she couldn't get it to work after this, she was quitting for the night. Nanao closed her eyes and let the music carry her away. This time, however, when she reached that place, a hand took her own, and Nanao opened her eyes to find Shunsui beside her. They borrowed steps from Clara and the Nutcracker's pas de deux that led into a lift. Once he had set her down, the music changed again, and Nanao finished the piece alone.

Applause sounded from the doorway. Startled, Nanao looked over to find Mr. Ukitake and an older gentleman she didn't recognize at all.

"Lovely. Beautiful footwork and not a moment of hesitation when you realized that Shunsui was there." He beamed at her. "You're company is very lucky to have such a skilled dancer."

Nanao blushed at the compliment and ducked her head. "Thank you, sir."

"We've been here going over the project so far," Ukitake explained. "We were heading out to find some dinner. Why don't you join us?"

"I wouldn't want to impose."

"Nonsense." Shunsui declared. "We'll wait while you go change."

She bowed to the inevitable and went to quickly change into street clothes. She had the feeling if she dallied so they would leave without her, Shunsui might come in and drag her out. The four of them ended up in what looked like a little hole in the wall restaurant. However, Nanao soon discovered that the food was excellent; though it was clear that Shunsui had picked this place because of its sake selection. At his insistence, she found herself ordering a sake from the northern region.

In the end, she was rather grateful for the drink. If it hadn't been for the alcohol in her system, she might have become incredibly tense when she realized that the older gentleman was Shigekuni Yamamoto-Genryusai, the founder and current head of Seireitei Ballet Company. The four of them chatted amiably about how The Nutcracker was going and ballet in general. It was an incredibly pleasant evening all in all. Afterwards, Shunsui insisted on walking her home.

"Did you have a good time tonight?"

She nodded. "Yes, thank you."

"Good." He smiled down at her. "The old man really was impressed you know. Don't be too surprised if he offers you a position at SBC at some point soon."

Nanao blinked and shook her head. "You must be joking. I'm not that good of a dancer."

It was Shunsui's turn to shake his head, but he changed the subject. "What was the piece you were working on when we came in? I didn't recognize it."

Nanao explained about the bribe she provided to help the children behave during dress rehearsals. He seemed to find it a good idea which prompted Nanao to ask.

"Would you mind helping me with it? I don't think I can do the entire thing as a solo, and as you proved, it works as a pas de deux in places."

Shunsui smiled. "Of course."

They had reached her building, and Nanao found herself oddly reluctant to say goodbye to him. Shunsui smiled at her and bent to kiss her cheek.

"Good night, Nanao. I'll see you in the morning."

"So what do you think of our little soloist?" Shunsui asked once he had rejoined Jyuushiro and the old man.

Yamamoto snorted. "Her artistic director is an idiot not to be using that kind of talent properly. You said she isn't aware of just how talented she is?"

Shunsui nodded. "She honestly believes she's just an average dancer. I'm trying to build up her confidence a little, but it's not easy. I think getting her away from this company will help. Hopefully, having her dance the older Clara will help some too. I take it you aren't averse to offering her a contract?"

"She doesn't have as much experience as I'd like, but she's never going to get that here." Yamamoto shrugged. "I'll wait until we've seen her perform in The Nutcracker, but yes, I'll offer her a contract. Now, what exactly is going on between the two you?"

It was Shunsui's turn to shrug. Trust the old man to pick up on that.

"I am cautiously pursuing her. Nanao doesn't trust easily nor is she one to jump into things without thinking them through. However, she does seem to have warmed up to me some." He sighed. "There are times when I'm not sure she realizes that I actually am interested in her. I don't think she's ever had much of a love life. Jyuu finds it all greatly amusing."

His friend shrugged. "Turnabout is fair play. You teased me mercilessly about Retsu even after we got engaged."

Yamamoto called them back to the subject at hand. "Have you figured out how exactly you are going to implement this replacement plan you've concocted? If you wait too long, the playbills won't give the girl credit, but if you act too soon, someone might be able to foil your little plan."

Jyuu shook his head. "Not a problem actually. Nanao was put in charge of getting the playbills done, but Rangiku offered to take care of things for her. If we have to, we can print up a fake on to pass around."

Their mentor nodded. "It sounds like you have things in hand then. I look forward to seeing the opening performance."

With that he left the two of them on their own to finish things up at the studio before heading home. Shunsui spent the next day running through a number of his scenes with the older Clara. Yamaguchi had not really gotten much more proficient at any of them. He didn't see Nanao at all until later when everyone was getting ready to leave. He had been planning on seeing if she wanted to work on the pas de deux for the children, but Rangiku came bouncing with a bright smile.

"Look what Gin found for me," she held up a video cassette. "You'll never guess who's in this."

She marched right over to the TV in the dancer's lounge area popped the cassette in. It was production of the Balanchine Nutcracker, and within minutes of it starting, Nanao had buried her face in her hands with a groan.

"Turn it off. Please."

"Not a chance." Rangiku's smile widened.

It became clear to Shunsui minutes later that Nanao was playing Clara. She couldn't have been more than eight or nine. She was adorable. And even at that age, her talent was clear. Shunsui frowned a little when the parents and guests came on scene. He could swear he knew one of the dancers. By the time they had reached the battle scene, Nanao had gotten over her embarrassment some, though she was still blushing. This had probably been her first major performance.

When they hit the second act, Shunsui finally realized why he knew one of the adult dancers. It was Lisa Yadomaru. She had performed with him on a couple of occasions during her time at the SBC. She had been a very good dancer, and Shunsui had been sorry to see her go, but her heart hadn't really been in ballet. And given the way Nanao was watching Lisa perform the Sugar Plum Fairy's pas de deux, the woman had probably been Nanao's mentor when she here. Shunsui doubted anyone had stepped into role after she had left. That would explain some of Nanao's lack of confidence in her own skills.

When the recording ended, Nanao found herself inundated with people telling her how cute she had been, giving Shunsui a chance to organize his thoughts. He now had some clue as to part of Nanao's lack in confidence when it came to her abilities, and he planned on using that knowledge to try and get her to realize just how talented she was. Once he had a plan in mind, he waded in and rescued Nanao from her admirers. She was beginning to look rather flustered. Shunsui took advantage of that to convince her to go to dinner with him. He had noticed that Nanao was looking a little worn lately, and Shunsui didn't want her to have to work more than she needed to. That included cooking for herself.

As it turned out, he was dead in the black about Nanao being exhausted. As the end of her term at school was approaching, her workload had increased, and between that and approaching opening of the ballet, Nanao had very little time or energy to spare. It worried him a little too. The more tired you were, the easier it was to get sick. Though if Nanao was going to get sick, it would be better if she did it now rather than once the performances of The Nutcracker began. Shunsui doubted they could do without her.

He made sure that she got home all right and gave her strict instructions that if she wasn't feeling well, to stay home and rest. It was a measure of how tired she must be that she didn't argue with him about that. Shunsui made a mental note to keep an eye on her for the next few days just to make sure she was okay. If she did get sick, he could always send Retsu over to make sure Nanao got the proper care.

Shunsui had been right to be concerned. Two days later, he got a call from a very raspy sounding Nanao.

"I'm sorry. I just don't think that I can make it to practice today." She coughed. "I'm hoping that rest will take care of it."

"Not to worry. Just focus on getting better, Nanao. Do you need groceries or anything like that? Jyuushiro's working with the corps de ballet all afternoon, so I would have time to run out and get you some things."

She hesitated. "I…if you wouldn't mind picking up some orange juice, chicken stock, and alphabet noodles, I would appreciate it."

Shunsui nodded even though she couldn't see it. "Orange juice, chicken stock, alphabet noodles. Got it. I'll drop by around two-ish."

"There's an extra key taped behind the little messageboard hanging on my door. I'm not sure I'll be awake."

"That's fine, sweetheart. Just get some rest."

It wasn't until after he had hung up the phone that Shunsui realized the endearment had slipped out. Hopefully, Nanao was too sick to pay much attention to that. He didn't want to scare her off at this point. Not when they had come so far. It was easy enough for him to slip off and get the groceries Nanao had asked for. Shunsui ended up buying significantly more than just those three items. He had no problems letting himself into Nanao's apartment. After checking on her briefly and finding her asleep, Shunsui retreated to her kitchen to whip up some lunch for her and put away the groceries. It didn't take long to have soup simmering on the stove. He also made up a pot of lemon-chamomile tea as well.

A weak little cough from the other room alerted him to Nanao's awakening. It was the work of mere moments to put together a tray for her. She blinked a little and tilted her head to the side when he made his way to her bedside.

"I must be sicker than I thought if I'm having hallucinations."

Shunsui laughed. "No hallucinations, darling. Someone needed to make sure that you were taken care of, and I wasn't about to let anyone else take the job.

Nanao opened her mouth then shut it. Shunsui took advantage of her surprise to set the tray on her dresser and help her rearrange herself in bed so she could eat. While she ate, he filled her in on what the ballet was doing that day and how things were going. By the time Nanao had finished eating, she was looking sleepy again. Shunsui got her tucked back into bed.

"Retsu thinks you should take the next few days off and just rest. If you need anything from the university or the ballet studio, just give me a call, and someone will fetch it for you."

Nanao nodded, half asleep already. With a smile, Shunsui left her to her rest. He cleaned up the kitchen and left the rest of the soup in a container in the fridge. He had also picked up several meals that just needed to be microwaved. He hoped to be back to cook for her, but just in case something came up, he didn't want her to have to worry about cooking. Locking the apartment behind him, Shunsui left to go see how Jyuu was doing with the rehearsals.

The next few days weren't exactly fun without Nanao there, but Shunsui quickly discovered just how important she was to the whole ballet. Nothing had run as smoothly without her, and it especially showed when working with the children. However, it did end up giving them the very opportunity they needed. Jyuushiro had been running over the second act with everyone except for the children. They had been working on the Clara and the Nutcracker's pas de deux, and Yamaguchi was butchering it. Jyuu had already stopped them three times to correct and go over parts. Shunsui was pretty sure that everyone was feeling frustrated.

And it finally got to Yamaguchi. She had lost her temper and snapped.

"Why can't you just rechoreograph the damn thing? No one living could perform this!"

Jyuushiro's eyes went hard. "That is hardly true. But if that is how you feel, I'll have Miss Ise dance the part. I doubt you'll find that solo in the Waltz of the Snowflakes that difficult."

"Fine," she snapped back.

"When Miss Ise returns, she'll take over the part."

Nobody dared contradict him. Shunsui was hard pressed to keep from showing his triumph. He doubted that anyone was going to argue with the decision. Not after a public outburst like that. The part was Nanao's now. They were going to have to tell her that sooner rather than later. He knew his Nanao well enough that she would need some time to come to grips with the change. Her first reaction would most likely be that she didn't deserve the part. But Shunsui wasn't going to let her refuse, and he knew that once she got past her gut reaction, Nanao would realize that she was the best choice for the role.

When he dropped by to check on Nanao that afternoon, Shunsui found her looking much better. She was curled up on the couch with a book in hand and a cup of tea at her side.

He smiled. "How are you feeling, Nanao?"

"Much better, thank you." She flushed a little. "You really didn't have to go to all the trouble that you did for me."

"It wasn't a problem. Besides," his grin turned mischievous, "what would we do if we lost our Clara?"

Nanao blinked at him. "Excuse me?"

Shunsui settled into her armchair. "Yamaguchi told Jyuushiro that the part was impossible and refused to dance it. Since you're the only other one who knows the part, naturally it went to you. Besides, it's about time you had a larger role in the actual production."

"But-"

He cut her off before she could protest. "You were already dancing the part better than Yamaguchi in practice with me. You are also not inclined to through temper tantrums in the middle of rehearsal. Just because you have not been given roles like this before does mean you are not capable of performing them. And if anyone gives you a hard time about the change, I'll set them straight."

Deciding that now was probably a good time to change the subject, Shunsui turned the conversation to the latest antics of the children in The Nutcracker that she had missed.

Nanao was more than a little stunned by her new role in the ballet. Part of her was sure this was just some sort of fever dream. However, when she returned to the ballet studio, Nanao found that she indeed was dancing the Older Clara, and that most people were pretty satisfied by that. She did find herself a little nervous about rehearsing in front of other people. She and Shunsui had only ever danced those sequences for Mr. Ukitake before. But once she actually started dancing, most of those nerves faded away.

The next week was too busy for Nanao to really worry about what the other principal dancers thought about this. She wasn't one of them, but she had been given the part over any of the other female dancers. It would at least cause snide comments. But she hadn't heard any of them yet. Of course, that could be because Shunsui, Rangiku, Jyuushiro, and Retsu had made a concentrated effort to have at least one of them in her presence whenever she was at the studio. No one wanted to offend SBC dancers and staff.

The week ended with the dress rehearsal which went very well. There had been a few minor mishaps, but they were all things that could be easily fixed. It was better that they had happened at the dress rehearsal than on opening night. The only little snag for Nanao was the fact that she didn't have her costume yet. The one that had been made for Yamaguchi wouldn't fit her. Shunsui had assured her that she would have a proper costume for opening night though, so Nanao was trying not to worry about that. The children had all behaved during the dress rehearsal, and so she had preformed her short dance piece for them, and they seemed to enjoy it.

Opening night found Nanao at the theater three hours before she needed to be there. She was unaccountably nervous and felt the need to do some serious warm ups to calm herself. It was easy enough to set her Ipod to her warm up playlist and let the music carry her off. She moved from warm ups to barre work, and once she felt sufficiently warmed up, Nanao moved to the center floor. She was sticking to fairly simple things, not wanting to exhaust herself before the performance. Still, as always she found the act of dancing soothing, and the more she danced, the less nervous she felt. Nanao didn't even start when some one took her hand and began to dance with her. Nanao opened her eyes to find Shunsui's face merely inches from her own.

Nanao found herself holding her breath as Shunsui carefully closed the distance between them. His lips brushed her own lightly, and when she didn't pull away, he increased the pressure. Nanao kissed him back. When their lips finally parted, Nanao stared at him wide eyed. Shunsui gently tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

"Let me take you out for a celebratory dinner after the performance tonight?"

She nodded, feeling a little dazed. Still, she wanted to give this a try. Nanao didn't think she could keep denying that she felt something for this man. Shunsui smiled.

"Your costume's here. Do you want to go try it on?"

Nanao let Shunsui herd her over to the space in the theater where the costume department was set up. There was a dark haired woman there that Nanao didn't recognize. She looked up from the costume in her lap.

"So, is this our dancer, Shunsui?"

Shunsui smiled. "Yoruichi, this Nanao Ise. Nanao, Yoruichi Shihoin, our wardrobe mistress at the SBC."

Yoruichi smiled. "Wonderful. Why do you go pop this on, so I can make alterations?"

The woman handed her a pale lilac tutu and bodice to go put on. Nanao ducked into one of the changing rooms set up to put on the costume. It was probably the prettiest costume she had ever worn. The pale lilac fabric was accented with silver detail work and jewels ranging in color from clear to a deep royal purple. And it fit like a dream.

"Miss Ise? Does it fit all right?"

Nanao stepped out of the changing room, feeling a little uncertain. She wasn't sure she did justice to such a beautiful work of art. Ms. Shihoin stalked around her, making minor adjustments.

"Thankfully, I had your shoe size, so we've already dyed enough pairs to match for this first week. Once we can see how quickly you go through shoes you go through, we can get enough made up for the rest of the performances." The woman frowned slightly. "What are they doing with your hair?"

Nanao blinked. She had no idea. It wasn't often that she had a separate hairstyle from the rest of the corps de ballet. However, Ms. Shihoin didn't seem to be expecting an answer to her own question. The woman was rummaging around in her bag, looking for something. She pulled out a slim tiara, the type that resembled a v and was easily pinned to a dancer's hair.

"Let's just see if this will fit. It's the only one I have made up in lilac and silver, but I think we should be able to adjust it to fit."

It all felt a little surreal. It felt even more surreal a few hours later when she was fully dressed, wearing her stage make up and an elegant up do complete with the tiara. The dancer in the mirror couldn't be her. Shunsui's reflection appeared behind her, and he rest his hands on her shoulders.

"Are you ready, Nanao?" His voice was soft and warm.

She nodded, turning to look at him. "Yes."

"Good. We'll be on in about fifteen minutes. Time to get into place."

Shunsui hesitated a moment then leaned down and closed the distance between their lips. The kiss was light and soft, and it left Nanao feeling warm and content.

"Break a leg, Nanao."

Then she was too busy to be nervous anymore. And once she was on stage, nothing mattered but the music and the dance. Nanao lost herself in her performance. She came back to herself in a rush when it came time for the bows and the applause thundered from the audience. Nanao was forced to make several bows and accept an enormous bouquet of roses before she was finally allowed off stage. Nanao nearly collapsed into the first chair she found. She was exhausted but more than happy with her performance. However, she was also starving, and her feet were killing her. Nanao hadn't even made it to the dressing rooms when Shunsui caught up with her.

She found herself lifted off her feet in a hug.

"You were magnificent, Nanao. That was an incredible performance." He set her back down and kissed her forehead. "Go change, and we'll go get something to eat. You're probably just as hungry as I am."

Nanao changed as quickly as possible. She had a comfortable pair of jeans and a sweater with her things. She didn't even both to pin her hair up in its customary bun. Shunsui was lurking right outside the door. He took in her attire with a slow grin.

"You look lovely, Nanao. Let's go."

It didn't turn out to be that simple. Nearly everyone stopped them on their way out offering congratulations on the performance. Retsu and Jyuushiro had been deep in conversation with Yamamoto but had both waved, and Nanao had finally met Rangiku's husband, Gin Ichimaru. The two of them finally made it out of the theater. It was raining outside, but Shunsui produced an umbrella, and they scrambled over to the line of taxis that was waiting for the theater patrons. Shunsui gave the driver an address that Nanao didn't recognize. When they stopped, it was in front of a little place that looked like a hole in the wall. It seemed like Shunsui had an endless supply of these restaurants. Nanao raised a dubious eyebrow, but Shunsui just smiled.

Inside the restaurant was clean and simply furnished. The two dancers were given a table for two in a quiet corner. Nanao busied herself with the menu, unsure of what to say. She would be the first to admit that she had next to no experience when it came to romance that was outside the pages of a book. She knew she wanted something with this man, but really, Nanao had no idea how to proceed. Shunsui seemed genuinely interested in her. He was a great dancer and seemed to be a wonderful person as well. They ordered their dinner, and then Nanao was left with a rather awkward silence.

Shunsui reached out and took her hand in his. "So, Nanao, how do you feel about the way the performance went?"

Dancing. She could always talk about dancing. "I'm not sure that I've ever preformed that well before. Or been that exhausted afterwards."

"We did sort of throw you in the deep end." Shunsui smiled at her. "But you did marvelously. I'm not sure I've ever seen anything as beautiful on the stage."

Nanao blushed and looked away, but her fingers curled more tightly around his. Shunsui chuckled softly.

"You're adorable when you blush, you know that? You're such an amazing woman. Smart, funny, strong, and such a lovely dancer. I was enchanted when I first saw you, but it wasn't until you opened your mouth that I really was hooked. So many of the women I meet just fall at my feet or spend all their time flirting."

Nanao just knew that her blush had deepened. Her cheeks felt hot. But Shunsui was still talking.

"And you're such a talented dancer. I can't decide which is better: watching you dance or dancing with you. I've never had a partner as attuned to me as you are. Hell, I've never met anyone as attuned to me as you are. So I have two questions for you."

Nanao realized that he was waiting for a response from her and found her voice. "Yes?"

"First of all, the Seireitei Ballet Company would like to offer you a five year contract as one of our principal dancers. Would you be interested in taking it?"

Nanao fought to keep her composure. It was an opportunity of a lifetime. Hell, even if the contract had been for her to be a soloist with the SBC, it would be the opportunity of a lifetime."

"Yes." She couldn't find words other than the affirmative.

Shunsui smiled. "Good. I know you'll be a welcome addition. My second question is a bit more personal. Would you date me?"

She hadn't expected him to so direct about. Not when he'd been so subtle about most of his romantic overtures earlier. Still, Nanao would be lying if she said no. She was already more than half in love with this man. Her fingers tightened around his.

"I would like that very much."

Shunsui leaned in and kissed her. "Good. So would I."

The rest of dinner was just as pleasant, though not as intense. Shunsui only relinquished her hand from his when their food came. They ended up discussing their opinions of how the ballet had gone tonight. While there wouldn't be any reviews out until tomorrow at the earliest, they could at least compare each other's opinions. It hadn't been a bad first night at all. There had been no major errors or mishaps, and everything had run pretty smoothly. Somehow they had gotten on to the topic of opening night horror stories. Nanao had several of her own, but Shunsui seemed to have an endless supply with some very odd occurrences including a dressing room full of bubble wrap. Still laughing, they ordered dessert.

It was still pouring when they left the restaurant, but Nanao didn't really mind. It was rather cozy being tucked under the umbrella with Shunsui. He had insisted on seeing her home. He kissed her one more time under the umbrella at her door, and Nanao found herself hesitantly inviting him in for tea. Shunsui accepted, and Nanao soon was curled up on the couch with him, both of the drinking peppermint tea. It seemed that Shunsui shared her dislike for green tea. Nanao rest her head against Shunsui chest, content to sit there and listen to the rain outside and his heartbeat. This was nice. Nanao had not expected this to be the result of her giving him directions to the artistic director's office when they first met, but she wouldn't complain. It was nice not to be dancing alone anymore. Either on stage or in life.

Next
 

Heart Song

Nanao entered the office cautiously. White Day tended to be extravagant and at times embarrassing when it came to her boss. Added to that the fact that she was now actually romantically involved with the man, Nanao was uncertain what to expect. However, the office looked fairly normal this morning. There was a bouquet of iris and calla lilies on her desk that hadn't been there yesterday as well as a lack of paperwork, but that was it. Nanao was more than a little surprised by that. Shunsui had the tendency to be extravagant, and their Valentine's Day plans had been put on hold. He had more than once mentioned needing to make up for that.

Not that those events had been under their control. Rangiku had been a month out from her due date, so her going into labor on Valentine's had caught everyone by surprise, including her husband. Nanao had spent most of the day at Rangiku's side while Shunsui tracked down Gin and got him back where he needed to be. By the time they were done, both Shunsui and Nanao had been exhausted and wanting nothing more than to go to bed. After that, they had been too busy with the classes they were teaching to really have a make up date.

Still the fact the office was not filled with flowers or balloons or some other sort of extravagant gesture didn't completely set Nanao at ease. There were still a number of things that could happen. It wasn't that Nanao minded Shunsui's affectionate nature; she just didn't really like being the center of attention. When she preformed, Nanao dealt with it by focusing on the music. However, when one is suddenly showered in rose petals for no apparent reason or some else flashy like that, there wasn't anything else to focus on. Hopefully, Shunsui would go too overboard. Nanao set her cup of tea down on her desk and got down to work.

As she began to work through the paperwork, she was surprised to find the only thing here were the papers she needed to grade for a class she was teaching. Nanao couldn't find any of the other paperwork she normally dealt with for her boss. The woman finally spied it in Shunsui's out box. When she went over to investigate, she was even more surprised to find that it was all completed correctly. A smile spread across her face. Perhaps this was her White Day gift. If it was, Shunsui had chosen quite well. This made her much happier than candies or flowers would.

With a smile, Nanao returned to her grading. The class wasn't until one, and she hoped to be able to return everyone's papers then. As lunch approached, Nanao found herself in need of snack. She opened the bottom drawer of her desk to retrieve the crackers she normally kept there for just such occasions. However, instead of her crackers, Nanao found a box of chocolate truffles shaped like ladybugs. She blinked. She hadn't realized he knew these were her favorites. They weren't easy to find chocolates either.

By the time lunch rolled around, Nanao had finished both her grading and her chocolates. The lunch hour also was the first time her boss showed up. Shunsui swept into the room wearing that ridiculous pink shirt he loved and carrying take out.

"Happy White Day, my lovely Nanao-chan. I brought lunch."

She smiled. "Thank you, Shunsui. You really didn't need to. You've already done more than enough."

His eyes lit up when she used his first name. Nanao rarely did that when they were in the office much to his frustration. "Nonsense. My Nanao-chan needs someone to spoil her every once in a while."

Nanao's desk served as a makeshift table. Shunsui laid out the meal, and Nanao at this point was not surprised to find that it was not only her favorite, but it was also from her favorite restaurant. The two of them discussed their various piano classes as they ate as well as the upcoming spring recitals. The subject turned to Rangiku and her twin daughters who would be a month old today. Once they had finished eating, Shunsui began to clean up. Nanao got up to help, but he waved her back into her seat.

"Ne, Nanao-chan, do you have plans for this evening?"

She shook her head. "Not really, no. Why?"

"I want to take my Nanao-chan out for dinner. Say eight-ish?"

"All right. What sort of place did you have in mind?"

"That's a secret, Nanao-chan."

"How am I supposed to know what to wear then?"

Shunsui frowned a little. "If you wear that violet dress from the New Year's party, you'll be just fine."

That told her more than he thought. The dress wasn't the most formal thing she owned, but it wasn't the sort of thing you wore to the restaurants they regularly frequented. Nanao tucked that information in the back of her mind as she went about the rest of her work for the day. She wasn't quite sure what Shunsui was planning, but he was clearly up to something. Nanao finished work with more than enough time to swing by her apartment to shower and change. Truthfully, these days her apartment was more of a storage facility than anything else. She spent most of her time at Shunsui's home. However, it made for sense to let her lease run out in April rather than pay the hefty fee for breaking it.

Dressed in the pale violet dress with a soft grey shawl wrapped around her shoulders, Nanao was ready ten minutes before eight. She ran her fingers over her necklace to calm herself some. Nanao would admit to being a little nervous. Shunsui tended to be more spontaneous with their romance, and the fact that he had planned all this out made her wonder what exactly he was up to. Oddly enough, she was not afraid of them breaking up despite her fear of just that being one of the reasons she had avoided starting a romance with the man in the first place. In the nine months that Nanao had been dating Shunsui, she had quickly come to realize that there truly was no room for anyone else in his heart beside her. She was it for him. As clichéd as the idea of true love was, it rather fit the two of them.

Shunsui showed up at her door on time for a change. He pulled her in close for a kiss before offering Nanao a smile and his arm. To Nanao's surprise, the restaurant was no more than a ten minute walk from her apartment. In fact, she had walked by the place a few times without realizing it. The host greeted them warmly and immediately led them to a table in the back that overlooked a little garden. Shunsui ordered sake for both of them, and they were left with their menus.

Nanao worried her bottom lip as she tried to decide what to eat. There were too many things that looked delicious. Once they had ordered, Shunsui started a conversation about recent movies and what they might want to go see at some point. Their food arrived, and it was quite good. Shunsui had yet to mention what he was up to, but Nanao could be patient. Truthfully, this was rather nice. Far too often the school kept them to busy to really have a night out, especially with all the insanity Aizen had caused. Things were calming down some, but nights like this were still relatively rare.

Dessert arrived, and Nanao was delighted to find that her favorite treat was on the menu. However, when the little confection arrived, it was not alone on the plate. Resting beside it was a delicate platinum ring that held a diamond flanked by a pair of amethysts. Startled, Nanao looked up to meet Shunsui's eyes.

"I know we haven't really been together for all that long, but it seems like you've been with me for years. In some ways, you have." Shunsui smiled at her. "I love you, Nanao. Marry me?"

She nodded, slipping on the ring. Nanao didn't trust her voice right this moment. Shunsui rose and came over to her side of the table to kiss her. She kissed him back, her heart practically singing with joy.

Next
 

New Song

Nanao still wasn't used to attending functions on Shunsui's arm despite the fact that they had now been dating for six months. Still, things had been going well, and even her discomfort seemed small in comparison with excitement that came with the annual New Year's Eve party. The party was an academy tradition. Any one at the school could come, though department staff were required to attend. It was something between a fancy dress party and an extended family gathering. Each department took turns providing the entertainment, and there was always plenty of food. It was probably one of the best events the school put on.

She smoothed the folds of her dress. Nanao would admit to being a little nervous. Shunsui had convinced her to that she should play and sing for her portion of the entertainment as well as the piano duet they had planned. She hadn't sung publicly since the fundraiser back in June, and that had simply been a fluke. However, Shunsui wasn't the only one requesting a song or two, and Nanao finally gave in to all the pressure. She hoped it would go well. Shunsui chuckled beside her.

"Don't look so nervous, Nanao-chan. You look lovely, and everything will be just fine."

He led her towards the refreshment tables. The party was already in swing. The little stage was currently occupied by a string quartet. Nanao recognized Toushiro Hitsugaya, the strings department head, as the violinist, and the cellist as her friend, Rangiku. Rangiku was back from her vacation then. The older woman had taken off once school ended for the winter break, and Nanao was fairly certain that she had gone to spend it somewhere with her husband away from all the scandal and brouhaha that their marriage had caused. Rangiku had married her childhood friend Gin Ichimaru about six months ago. The only problem with that was Gin had been one of the faculty to defect from the school with Sosuke Aizen, taking with them over half of the school's financial reserves. Needless to say, Rangiku's marriage to the man had not gone over well with many of her colleagues.

Nanao had the feeling that there was more to the story than was commonly known. Rangiku had not been able to give her the details, but she had implied that Gin was operating under orders from the higher ups at the school. Besides, he made Rangiku happy, and that was what was important to Nanao. It didn't take Shunsui long to find himself some sake, though Nanao declined the glass he offered her. Instead she helped herself to some of the traditional sweets that were being offered. She had a weakness for anything made with anko. Nanao nibbled at her snack as she watched the assembled group. Despite the hardships of the year, people seemed to be having a good time.

It didn't take long for Shunsui to coax her out onto the dance floor, and before she knew it, it was time for the two of them to perform. As they stepped up onto the performance stage, Nanao touched her necklace, trying to calm herself. The platinum chain held eleven amethysts that matched her eyes and her dress. She also wore a matching bracelet and earrings. They had been her Christmas gift from Shunsui this year. They were far more extravagant a gift than Nanao really needed, but she had long since given up on the amount of money Shunsui spent on her. If she didn't accept the gifts up front, the man would find a sneaky way to give them too her.

They took their seats side by side on the piano bench, and without even a nod needed to synchronize themselves, they started the duet. It was clever little piano piece. The two parts took turns being solemn and silly, dancing around each other until at the end of the piece they found a happy medium together. Nanao had felt the piece of music suited the two of them quite well. The piece came to a conclusion spurring applause, and Shunsui vacated the bench, leaving her to perform her three pieces. Nanao played two of the songs she had at the fundraiser as well as one new one she had learned for this party. Then Shunsui returned, this time armed with a guitar. While it wasn't his primary instrument, he was a skilled player, and their last duet was for guitar, piano, and voice. The song had won several awards in the past year, and Nanao had fallen in love with it. Which seemed appropriate because it was a song about falling in love.

When they finished Falling Slowly, there was thunderous applause, and Nanao and Shunsui turned the stage over to the next group. This time around Nanao accept the sake Shunsui offered. They mingled some visiting with Rangiku about her trip to New York before joining Jyuushiro and Retsu in a discussion with the school's president and founder Shigekuni Yamamoto-Genryusai. Nanao did little more than listen in. For all that Shunsui and Jyuushiro had been the man's favorite students, she barely knew him and was very much in awe of him.

However, the president seemed rather interested in her and personally drew her into the conversation. He also remarked how pleased he was to see her and Shunsui together and that he thought they made a fine pair both musically and as a couple. Nanao blushed at his compliments. It was very kind of him. The evening wore on. Nanao and Shunsui danced some more before Jyuushiro claimed a dance from her. Shunsui laughed and went off to steal Retsu for the dance. Soon the vocal department was taking the stage. They traditional provided the last of the entertainment for the evening. They sang several sets of songs, but when midnight began approaching, they struck up Auld Lang Syne.

Everyone joined in by the last verse. Both Nanao and Shunsui raised their voices along with the rest of the students and teachers.

"So here is a hand, my trusted friend, and give me a hand of thine. We'll take a cup of kindness yet for auld lang syne. For auld lang syne, my dear. For auld land syne. We'll take a cup of kindness yet for auld lang syne."

The song ends, and there are just minutes to go before the New Year begins. It's time for one last tradition. Every year the vocal department chooses a song to start the New Year with, something that everyone can sing the chorus of. Even with the chaos of their department head abandoning them, they've done so this year as well. As the song begins to rise, people start preparing for midnight. Nanao is content in Shunsui's arms as she joined the chorus as the song drew to its close. It didn't take long for Shunsui's baritone to join the throng.

"Singing don't let me into this year with an empty heart. With an empty heart. Don't let me into this year with an empty heart."

The music swelled and surrounded them all. As the New Year approached, it filled the room and spilled out the doors and windows.

"Singing don't let me into this year with an empty heart. With an empty heart. Don't let me into this year with an empty heart."

The song came to a close as the last seconds of the year passed. Shunsui dipped down for one last kiss this year. He pulled away as midnight chimed, only to swoop down for the first kiss of the year. Nanao slid her fingers into his hair and kissed him back. It was going to be a very good year.

Next

Love Song

Nanao sighed as she worked her way through another form. Her desk was finally visible again. The young assistant director of the piano department at Seireitei Music Academy had finally made it through most of the end of the year paperwork. Technically, this was the department head's job, but the day she got Shunsui Kyoraku to do all his paperwork on his own would be the day that hell froze over and the demons invited the angels to come figure skating with them. Kyoraku was an amazing pianist and teacher but a rather poor administrator.

Which was in part why she was the assistant director. With her around, the paperwork got done. Nanao sighed again. At twenty-two, she was a talented pianist and proficient teacher. At least technically. No, Nanao's current struggle with her music was putting emotion into. She could do that. She just couldn't do it consistently. It was frustrating. Especially since the one certain way of getting emotion into a piece left her own emotions in a muddle. All she had to do was keep her boss in mind, and some sort of emotion would flow into the piece.

She hadn't originally been his student. Kyoraku had inherited her when his former assistant director had abandoned the school for a place at Vizard Music. Lisa Yadomaru had picked Nanao out when she started taking lessons at Seireitei Academy at the tender age of six, and Nanao had adored the older woman. Lisa too had been a young prodigy and at the time was the department's youngest assistant director ever at the age of sixteen. Of course, the whole department staff had been young then. Kyoraku had only eighteen at the time.

Their first meeting was still memorable. Nanao had been small enough that she had to sit on a phonebook to be able to reach the piano keys properly. Lisa had been walking her through a Mozart piece when a man in a bright pink Hawaiian shirt plopped on the end of piano.

"Who's this, Lisa-chan?"

"Nanao Ise, Kyoraku. Our new prodigy."

"Nanao-chan." He beamed at her. "What are you working on?"

"Mozart, sir."

"You can call me Shunsui, Nanao-chan. Do you like playing piano?"

"It's interesting, sir."

He tapped her nose. "Make sure you enjoy your music too, Nanao-chan."

When Lisa had abandoned them for Vizard Music two years later, Nanao had been heartbroken. On the one hand, she understood some of why Lisa had left, but it hurt that she had just left Nanao without a word of explanation. Kyoraku had taken over her lessons after that. It had been an interesting and frustrating experience for them both.

"Nanao-chan!"

Speak of the devil. Kyoraku breezed into the office in his customary Hawaiian shirt. Following him was Jyuushiro Ukitake, his best friend and the head of the woodwind. Department. The silver haired man smiled at her.

"Good afternoon, Miss Ise."

"Good afternoon, Mr. Ukitake." Nanao turned her attention to her boss. "I need you to finish the paperwork for ordering the new music for the summer program, sir."

"I'll get to it eventually, Nanao-chan. Does my adorable assistant have plans for this Saturday?"

"We need the music to arrive before the classes start, sir."

He tapped her nose. "Don't worry so much. Saturday?"

She held out the forms. "Your signature first, please."

Kyoraku sighed but took the forms from her, reaching for one of her pens. "Nanao-chan is so cruel to me, Jyuushiro."

His friend rolled his eyes. Once Nanao was sure he'd signed the forms, she gave him a small smile. "I'm spending Saturday working on my concertos for the concert next month. I'm not happy with either the Gershwin or the Rachmaninoff."

He wrinkled his nose at her. "No real plans then. Good. You work far too hard, Nanao-chan."

It was a common complaint from her boss. He seemed to believe that her days should be spent in far more idleness than was practical. Of course, if she spent her days lazing around, flirting, and drinking, nothing around here would get done. Kyoraku was a phenomenal pianist, but Nanao honestly had no idea how he managed that. He only seemed to play at practicing most of the time.

"There. See how diligent I am in your service?" Kyoraku handed her back the forms. "Here. My Nanao-chan will need this for this weekend."

He placed his credit card onto of the papers.

"Sir?"

"You'll need a dress for Saturday night since you're coming with me. And shoes probably, and one of those little shawl things that can't possibly keep you warm."

Nanao froze. Saturday night was the academy's party for its major donors. Despite being the assistant director of the department, she'd never been invited before. Of course, she had started in her position when she was just fourteen (the department had been drowning in paperwork and someone had to deal with it), and it wasn't really the type of event that one invited teenagers to. Still, she was twenty-two now, and she had simply assumed that her boss felt she would be underfoot at such an event.

"I'll pick you up at six-thirty, Nanao-chan, and being your punctual self, I'm sure you'll be ready." He considered her with a warm look in his eyes. "In fact, you should take tomorrow off, so you can get your shopping done. My diligent Nanao-chan works too hard as it is."

She gaped at him a moment before recovering. "Mr. Kyoraku, there is far too much that needs to be done before the term ends for me to take tomorrow off. I shouldn't have any trouble getting all of the necessary shopping done Saturday morning and afternoon."

"Nonsense. We both know that you are routinely a week ahead in the paperwork. One day off is not going throw you too badly off schedule." Kyoraku held her gaze. "I also know that you hate shopping, and it will take you twice as long as you plan to find anything."

It was true. Nanao sighed but gave in. "Yes, sir. Is there anything else?"

"Not today. Shiro and I have an early dinner with Yamamoto. I'll see you Saturday at six-thirty, Nanao-chan."

With that, he swept out of their office. Nanao waited a minute to make sure he was really gone before letting out a sigh. That man was the most frustrating, irritating, thoughtful, irresponsible, caring person she had ever met. And that was her problem. Over the years she had gone from being annoyed with him for flirting with her to being annoyed that he didn't really mean it when he flirted with her. It was clear from most of his behavior that he still thought of her as the young girl that he had taught, and she wanted him to see the woman she had become. She had fallen in love with the idiot, and he seemed oblivious.

Not that Nanao was certain she would do something about it if he ever did notice. Part of her wanted to, but part of her was afraid of all the complications that getting involved with her boss could bring, especially since she really wasn't the type of girl he normally seemed interested in. Either way, mooning over that man was not going to get work done, and if she was taking tomorrow off, she should try and get ahead in the paperwork.

It was nearly seven by the time Nanao finished with the stacks of paperwork. She carefully stretched before rising from her chair to start closing up the office. It was nearly eight by the time Nanao reached her apartment, but there was curry simmering in a crock-pot, and dinner didn't take that long to fix. She fed her cat before a hot shower closed out the night for her, and Nanao settled into bed after resetting her alarm clock for eight instead of six. She was going to sleep in tomorrow since she didn't have work.

The fact that her morning was pleasant was a good thing. It was one of the few things that had gone her way so far. Nanao was in over her head. She hated shopping, and she was currently at a loss where to even begin looking for what she needed. Of course, it would help if she knew what she wanted in a dress, something else that she didn't know. Normally, she'd call upon the shopping talents of the Assistant Department Head of the Strings Department, Rangiku Matsumoto, for this sort of thing. Rangiku had impeccable fashion sense and actually enjoyed shopping. However, Rangiku was currently on vacation. So Nanao was on her own.

Sighing, she peered through another rack of dresses. Why were all of these cut so she wouldn't be able to bend over without popping out of them? Nanao didn't mind showing a little skin, but most of these seemed more like handkerchiefs than actual dresses.

"Nanao? Is that you?"

She turned to find a tall brunette behind her and smiled. Aedryn Rhys Maddox was the vocal star of the Welsh music scene. She had also been Nanao's roommate for the year the pianist had studied at Cardiff University. Mr. Kyoraku had insisted she spend a year abroad, and Nanao had the luck to stay with a fellow musician. They had kept in contact over the years.

"Aedryn, what are you doing in Japan?"

The Welsh singer laughed. "I'm actually in town for your school's party tomorrow night. What has been going on there lately? I've been hearing all sorts of rumors about a split in the school and possible closure."

Nanao sighed; she'd hoped that the mess wasn't that well known. "It's a long story. We're not about to close any time soon, but things are currently pretty shaky. I'd give you all the details, but I have to find a dress for tomorrow night, and I am so lost."

"Fine, I'll find you the perfect dress, and you give me the details." Aedryn grinned. "There's a great place a few streets over we should try. Do you have a color in mind?"

"Green or pink. Preferably green. So what do you already know or should I just start form the beginning?"

"Start from the beginning. All I've got is the rumors to go on."

Nanao began to explain the situation that had led to three department heads leaving for the for the rival music school in town. She hadn't been involved in the beginning, so her details were a little sketchy.

"It started when Rukia Kuchiki got stuck working with Kisuke Urahara when she was stuck in Karakura. Well, I'm sure things actually were in motion before that, but that's when people started noticing things. The school adminstration decided that Rukia would need to be expelled because of it, and things exploded from there."

"Hmm. Go try this one on." Aedryn held out a hanger. "Wasn't Urahara the man who got kicked out about ten years ago?"

"Yes. He's been teaching music off and on in Karakura as far as I know." Nanao popped her head out of the dressing room. "This one is not going to work. I feel like it's going to fall off every time I move."

"I'll look for something that isn't strapless then. So, what happened once they decided to expel Miss Kuchiki?"

"A number of things actually. Her friends from Karakura decided they had to do something about the situation, and there were a number of department heads who thought it was the wrong decision. Mr. Aizen, the Theory Department Head, started playing everyone off one another. Before I knew it things had gotten out of hand. There were even physical fights over it. Rukia was almost expelled, but enough people were against it, and once it was revealed that her expulsion was simply part of Aizen's plan, that she was spared from that." Nanao stepped out of the dressing room. "Did you find anything else?"

"Nope, but there's another three places on my list. So what did Aizen want? It can't just have been to leave the school. Not with all the chaos he caused." Aedryn frowned. "We'll hit the boutique on the corner and then grab lunch before continuing."

Nanao perked up at that. "Food? Food sounds lovely."

"After we check out the boutique. You're still horrible about shopping, Nanao. And you didn't answer my question. What else did Aizen want?"

"He took over half of our financial reserves. We have things stabilized until the fall, but unless our contributors are generous, we will have to start cutting back on things and increasing some of the tuition and other costs."

Luck proved to be with them at the next shop though. Aedryn found a sage green dress that fell just past Nanao's knees. With the help of the shop girl, they found a wrap that would match since the simple spaghetti straps wouldn't provide much warmth should the evening prove to be cool. The sweetheart neckline was a little more daring than Nanao liked, but she had to admit the dress look beautiful on her.

"You'll still need shoes, and do you have jewelry to go with this? If not, there's a great place near Shibuya Station."

"I have the pearls that Mr. Kyoraku gave me for my twentieth birthday. They should work with the dress."

Aedryn raised an eyebrow. "He gave you pearls for your birthday? And you still don't think that he's interested in you?"

"He's always given me extravagant presents." Nanao shrugged. "It doesn't mean anything. He gave me a Vespa when I got my license for heaven's sake."

"I think you need to stop dismissing his flirting with you. Did it ever occur to you that he's been waiting on you? You are younger than him, and he could just be waiting for you to figure out what sort of relationship you want with him."

Nanao just shook her head. "He flirts with everyone, Aedryn. He just flirts with me more because he knows it annoys me and because we spend so much time with me because of work. It doesn't mean anything."

"So you say."

After lunch, Aedryn insisted on dragging her to another two stores so they could find the right shoes and underthings for the dress. Once that was accomplished to her satisfaction, the Welsh singer dragged Nanao off a music store. It was at least something that Nanao enjoyed shopping for. She pursued through the sheet music looking for something new to work on. Aedryn sighed.

"I wish I could sing in Japanese better. I love some of the music by your artists, but I just don't have the language skills to pull off most of their songs." Aedryn held up a book of piano arrangements. "Have you ever worked on any of Angela Aki's pieces?"

"I haven't had a chance to work on something for fun in ages, and you know I don't like to sing."

"I'll take that as a no. And what you mean is that you don't like to sing for other people." She made a face. "You have a beautiful voice. I remember that time we got you drunk after the rugby game even if you don't. You should try a few of these pieces. They're well suited to you."

The two women parted ways just as twilight was falling. Nanao would admit that the day had been rather productive. She had found an outfit for tomorrow night that wasn't atrocious, and she had found some pieces that could prove interesting to work on in her free time. And she would still have most of tomorrow to work on her concertos as well. Not a bad day's work.

Nanao woke early on Saturday and spent the early hours of the morning sipping tea and entertaining Sonata, her cat. She puttered around her apartment, dealing with any mess the week had caused. Once her home matched her expectations of neatness, Nanao gathered up her music and sat down to work. After warming up with scales and a few short pieces, Nanao turned to the concertos. Several hours later, she set aside her performance pieces to fix a quick lunch before returning to the piano.

Instead of returning to her two concertos, Nanao instead took out the music she had bought the previous day. Along with the sheet music, she also found the book of Angela Aki songs that Aedryn had mentioned and bit back a smile. That was so like her friend. Nanao flipped through the book before settling on a song to try out. It wasn't that Nanao didn't like to sing, but working with professional singers and vocal students on a regular basis had made her hesitant to perform in public. Still this was a fairly simple song, and Nanao soon found herself singing along with the accompaniment she was playing.

It was with a sigh that she finally shut the piano lid. She couldn't put off getting ready for the party any longer. After a quick shower, Nanao fussed with her hair, twisting it up into a sleek chignon, before slipping into her underthings and sliding on the green dress. Nanao smiled at her reflection before applying her make up. The seed pearl necklace and earrings were dug out of her jewelry box leaving her only to collect her purse and wrap and put on her shoes. She still had fifteen minutes before her ride was supposed to show up, and he was always late.

The doorbell rang at six-thirty-five, startling her. Nanao hadn't been expecting Kyoraku for at least another ten minutes. She opened to the door.

"You're late, sir."

"Nanao-chan, you wound me. We'll still get there on time." He took in her outfit and held out a hand. "You look lovely. Are you ready to go?"

She nodded and took the offered hand. Kyoraku tucked in the crook of his arm.

"Good. Let's be off then, Nanao-chan."

It was a brief drive to the hotel where the party was being held. Nanao felt a stirring of butterflies in her stomach. Her boss reached over and squeezed her hand.

"You'll do just fine, Nanao-chan. You're more than ready for this. Besides," he beamed at her, "I finally have an excuse to get a dance out of you."

Nanao blushed and sighed. He never changed. It was both frustrating and comforting at the same time. Ever the gentleman, he helped her out of the car once they arrived, turning the keys over to a valet, and escorted her inside. She did her best to hide her awe at the ballroom. She doubted she'd ever attended an event this fancy before.

"It's really quite boring, you know. I have to say this probably one of the least interesting parts of my job." He winked. "Of course, I've never had my Nanao-chan along to keep me company. It could be more fun than I expect."

Kyoraku steered them towards a table where Mr. Ukitake and Retsu Unohana, the Head of the Education Department, were already seated. Both offered her warm smiles.

"Drinks anyone?" Kyoraku inquired as he held Nanao's seat out for her. "Cabernet for Jyuushiro, and what would Retsu and Nanao-chan like?"

"A white wine spritzer for me, Shunsui." Retsu smiled.

"Nanao-chan?"

"I'll just have a ginger ale please."

Her boss went off to get their drinks, and Nanao was left alone with the two department heads. The butterflies in her stomach decided to take up the cha cha. Retsu patted her hand.

"Don't worry so much, Nanao. You'll do just fine."

Ukitake added his reassurances. "Shunsui is right when he says these things are boring. As long as you're polite, which you always are, you'll be fine. Honestly, I don't know why Shunsui hasn't brought you before."

Nanao smiled. "Thank you."

The conversation turned to the summer music programs, and Shunsui rejoined them with their drinks. It wasn't long before they were joined by Toshiro Hitsugaya, the Head of the Strings Department, and his date for the evening. Momo Hinamori looked a little fragile but much improved from the last time Nanao had seen her just after Momo's boss had betrayed the school. However, before long the six of them had broken up to circulate around the room. Dinner wouldn't be served for a while, and now was the time for schmoozing.

Shunsui, she had been badgered into calling him that if only for the evening, kept her on his arm for the most part. It was an interesting experience. Nanao typically had very little to do with fundraising side of the school except for playing at events, and meeting with many of these people was an education. She also had to admit that this was rather boring and found that her boss' over affectionate nature protected her from a number of what she was sure would have be inappropriate proposals.

When dinner was finally announced, Nanao found that their table had been joined by several of the contributors. Shunsui and Ukitake kept the conversation flowing as the courses were served, and Nanao could see why her boss had ended up with his position. He was perfectly charming and engaging, easily keeping every one entertained. Nanao found herself enjoying the meal greatly.

Once the food was gone, then came the dancing and more conversation. Nanao danced her first dance with Shunsui before being passed on to Ukitake and then Hitsugaya. After that, Nanao found herself making a circuit of her fellow assistant department heads and even some of their contributors. It took some doing, but she finally managed to extract herself from the dance floor to collect a drink and rest her feet.

Nanao tucked herself in a sparely populated corner with a glass of water. It wasn't long before Rangiku joined her. The older woman smiled at her.

"Enjoying your first fundraising gala? I was bored to tears at mine."

"It's not that bad, Rangiku." Nanao grinned. "I thought you were still on vacation."

"Hitsugaya dragged me back for this," Rangiku sighed. "I was hoping to have a little more time before coming back. I'm not really ready for this."

Her voice sounded wistful, and she kept toying with her left ring finger. Nanao frowned as she noticed a plain gold ring.

"Rangiku?"

Rangiku blushed to her utmost surprise. "I got married, yes. It's going to cause a scandal or two for a while though."

There was only one person that Nanao could imagine Rangiku agreeing to marry, and it would cause a scandal right now. It would also most definitely cause a scandal right now. It could also get Rangiku fired. At her look, Rangiku hurried to explain.

"I'm not in trouble, Nanao, honestly. President Yamamoto knew before I left that it was going to happen. There's more going on, but I can't talk about it right now. I'm just not really ready to face everyone else with the news."

Her eyes were begging for understanding.

"Does Gin make you happy?"

That was what was important to Nanao. She'd watched her friend's relationship with that man for years, and despite his other actions, Gin Ichimaru had always been good to Rangiku. He had always seen more to her than just the pretty face and extraordinary figure, and that had been a blessing for Ran. Too many people dismissed her simply as nothing more than window dressing.

"Yes." The answer was immediate.

Nanao nodded. "Good. As long as that's true, I won't complain. This will stay between the two of us until you're ready to announce it."

"Thank you."

Their conversation turned to lighter subjects. Unfortunately, their sanctuary was soon breached by other partygoers. Rangiku was almost immediately monopolized by a pair of men who clearly were more interested in her body than herself. Rangiku started to look harried and uncomfortable, and Nanao decided to step in before her friend did something she would regret later.

And that was how, she found herself seated at the room's grand piano with a growing audience. Nanao took a deep breath, blocking out the noises around her, and rest her fingers on the piano keys. She took a moment to decide what to play before starting in on an instrumental piece. When that was done, there were demands for more, so Nanao launched into the one song in English that she felt she could both sing and play. It was a recent piece, not really her normal fare, but she'd been enamored enough of it that it had occupied much of her spare time for the past year.

That was greeted with applause and demands for more. Nanao was beginning to feel a little uncomfortable. Normally when she preformed, her audience was separated from her by space, not pressed all around her. She closed her eyes, trying to calm her fluttering nerves. She opened them to find Shunsui standing at the opposite end of the piano. He smiled at her, all warmth and confidence, and Nanao smiled.

"All right, but this is the last piece I'm playing tonight."

She locked eyes with Shunsui, and her fingers glided over the keys. She kept her eyes on Shunsui's as she began to sing. It was one of the pieces from the book Aria had bought it. It wasn't really polished yet, but the notes felt right under her fingertips. It wasn't until she had reached the bridge that Nanao realized that she hadn't broken her gaze with Shunsui at all.

"You don't have to fear this love, this love," the bridge came out with more force and emotion than she had planned.

Nanao's eyes never left Shunsui's as she launched into the final chorus of the song. When the last notes died away, there was thunderous applause, and Nanao found herself surrounded by far more people than she was comfortable with, all of them talking at once. A strong arm wrapped around her waist, shepherding her safely through the morass of people and out to the veranda that ran along one side of the ballroom. Shunsui's arm around her waist remained even outside the crush of people.

"I think that was one of your best performances, Nanao-chan."

The compliment made her blush. Shunsui stroked a gentle finger across her cheek.

"What am I going to do with you, Nanao?" He sighed. "I don't think I'm going to be able to let you go after all. Even though I should."

His comment confused her, but she was more distracted by the intent look in his eyes. Shunsui must have read the question in her own eyes because he sighed and kissed her forehead.

"I'm too old for you, you know, and I have all these bad habits that you shouldn't get stuck with. And as long as you seemed indifferent, I had myself convinced that if you found someone that made you happy, I would be content."

He cupped her face, and Nanao blinked up at him. She had never seen Shunsui this intent about anything other than music before. Did this mean that he did care about her and just thought that he wasn't good enough for her? Nanao frowned a little. How could he think that? She pushed up on her toes so she could brush her lips across his, her hands coming to rest lightly on his shoulders.

Shunsui immediately slid an arm around her waist, his lips taking control of the kiss. Nanao vaguely felt herself being lifted, but all she really cared about was the fact that it was easier to kiss him now. Shunsui's kisses were warm, gentle, and insistent. Her arms had gone around his neck of their own volition, and Nanao found herself weaving her fingers into his hair. When he finally pulled away from her lips, Nanao was feeling rather hazy. He was still holding her up, and they were at the same eye level. She smiled at him.

"I'm not indifferent. Unless you've been running around murdering people lately, I don't think you can come up with a reason good enough for me to give up on this, especially since you do have feelings for me." She gave him a stubborn look. "I want this. I want you. And I'm not going to change my mind."

Shunsui looked into her eyes, and Nanao felt like he was almost looking into her soul. Then he was kissing her again. After leaving her breathless once again, Shunsui gently set her down and kissed her forehead.

"You win, Nanao-chan."

Whatever else he might said was forgotten when a trio of very drunk assistant department heads stumbled out onto the veranda.

Shunsui sighed. "We should probably go back inside and stay a little longer."

She nodded, and they headed back inside. As the reentered the ballroom, Shunsui gave her a mischievous grin.

"Does this mean I get to take Nanao-chan home with me tonight?"

Unable to help herself, Nanao whacked him on the shoulder. "No, but you can take me out for breakfast tomorrow. Say, nine-ish?"

She bit back a giggle at his crestfallen look, mostly due to the idea of having to be awake at nine in the morning, and slid her hand into his. Shunsui pressed a kiss to her temple, and they rejoined the throng of contributors and faculty. Nanao couldn't help the serene smile on her face. She wasn't familiar with the newest movement of this piece music, but so far she liked the sound of it.

Take a Chance On Me

It was probably a good thing that Nanao had not been watching the TV this week. It would probably have made her much more nervous. Shunsui hadn't actually been watching it either. But Jyuu had been keeping him informed. About half the commentators had taken up the cause of the underdogs as he and Nanao were being considered while the other half predicted that the best they would was silver, probably bronze. Shunsui doubted that. Especially after last night's skate. He was fairly certain that it had been the best skate of his life so far.

Oddly enough, it was Nanao keeping him calm tonight. In so many ways, this was a dream come true for Shunsui. He had wanted to skate in the Olympics since he had been a teenager. And to be so close to a gold medal was indescribable. Even if they didn't win, it would have been worth it to skate here with the best partner he had ever hand and his best friend coaching him. Nanao and Jyuu really made this for him. The experience was definitely worth it.

He and Nanao were once again the middle skaters in the final flight. There was quite a bit of applause as they took the ice. The two of them seemed to have attracted a number of fans here. The music started, and Shunsui couldn't help but thinking that it was really appropriate for them. He had taken a chance when he had decided he wanted Nanao for his partner, and it had paid off. Shunsui was so proud of her. She had gone from being shy and timid to this confident young woman who skated with amazing talent and passion. Well, that talent and passion had been there to start with, but now everyone could see it.

The program ended up with their faces inches way from one another. Nanao's eyes were bright with happiness and pride. Shunsui grinned back and kissed her nose. She blushed. They took their bows and skated over to the kiss and cry. Jyuu hugged them both, grinning like mad. It was clear to see how he felt they had done. The crowded roared with applause when their scores were announced and Shunsui and Nanao moved into first place with a twelve point lead on any of the previous ice dancers.

The wait while the last two pairs of ice dancers skated was nearly unbearable. Shunsui was kept from pacing only after Nanao pushed him into a chair and sat on his lap. That was actually quite delightful, and Shunsui turned his attention to flustering his partner. She was absolutely adorable when she blushed. But when the last couple's marks were announced, Shunsui fell silent as he listened. Then his eyes went wide. Sitting on his lap, Nanao actually squeaked. She met his eyes with a delighted smile, and then Nanao bit her lip. The next thing Shunsui knew, she was kissing him. They had won gold.

Next

Shall We Dance

In some random whim of fate, Nanao and Shunsui drew slots in the second flight of skaters for the compulsory dance. It meant that they wouldn't have too long to wait to skate, but it also meant that they would spend all night wondering what their final standing would be. Which probably accounted for the excess of nervous energy his partner was displaying. Tired of watching her pace, Shunsui pulled her into his arms and spun Nanao into a modified waltz. Neither of them had their skates on, and it was a good way to both warm up a little and get Nanao to relax.

She was calmer when they finished their impromptu dance, and the two of them got ready for their warm up. It wouldn't be too much longer until they skated. Once they were on the ice, Shunsui found that they both were more at ease. The warm up went well, and they would be the third pair to skate in their flight. When their names were called, Nanao smiled at him, and they stepped out onto ice together to take their places.

The music began, and Nanao's eyes met his. Then they began to dance. The Tango Romantica might not be their best compulsory dance, but Shunsui knew they skated it well. He could feel the rhythm of the music, and Nanao responded perfectly to each move he made. Together they made the two circuits of the rink before finishing the program with the final spin. There was thunderous applause as they took their bows. Nanao held tightly to his hand as they made their way to the kiss and cry area.

It did not take the judges long to score them, and Shunsui was not surprised by their first place standing. They had the highest score so far, and one that would match most of the top teams. Now they just had wait to see how the rest of the teams did, and Shunsui would have to make sure his partner didn't go crazy while they waited. That was his main concern. Thankfully, it seemed Jyuushiro had also considered this possibility. Once they had gotten backstage in the arena, he had shoved a bag into Shunsui's hands.

It had been filled with a snack, a deck of cards, a couple paperbacks, and a portable radio. It wasn't long before they actually attracted a few other people, both skaters and coaches, and had a poker game going. Nanao was winning hands down. She had one amazing poker face. And the game was definitely keeping her mind off of the other skaters and their scores. When there was a break about half way through the competition to resurface the ice, they checked in with Jyuu who was keeping tracking of everything for them. They were still in first place.

To Shunsui's utter surprise, Nanao ended up dozing off leaning against his shoulder before the competition was over. He kissed her forehead and shook her awake when the final results came in. They were in second place, and only one point away from first.

Next
 

Do You Want to Dance

Nanao was rather torn between elation and melancholy. The reason for this was clear. At least to her. On the one hand, she had just won Nationals in ice dance and been selected for the Olympic team. And Nanao didn't think she would be able to forget the way Shunsui had kissed her and then spun her in circles when they made the Olympic team. On the other hand, she had also heard what the commentators had to say about her win. They were calling it "a fluke" and "highly surprising" and were completely certain that Nanao and Shunsui were destined for Olympic failure.

She wasn't entirely sure what to believe. Nanao knew that the commentators were supposed to be experts, but they didn't know her or Shunsui. And it could just be because they had been blindsided by the couple's performance. Nanao and Shunsui really hadn't attracted that much media attention before now. Still, Nanao couldn't completely dismiss the comments. She and Shunsui were relatively new partners, and they would be going up against the best in the world. Whatever happened, it would be an extraordinary experience, and Nanao was trying not to let the commentators' dire predictions bring her down. She wasn't entirely successful about that, but she was trying.

At least she had one major distraction: trying to sort out her reaction to Shunsui kissing her. It had been a very brief kiss, but it still had Nanao reeling to some extent. What Nanao didn't know was if it meant something. It could have just been a spontaneous gesture of excitement and happiness; they had just made the Olympic team after all. Yes, Shunsui flirted with her and gave her pet names, but he flirted with most women. It didn't typically mean anything. What had surprised Nanao was the fact that she rather wanted it to. She would admit it, at least to herself, that she was very attracted to Shunsui Kyoraku. The idea that he might be interested in her too both thrilled her and scared her.

"You're fretting again, precious," Shunsui's voice interrupted her thoughts. "Let me guess. You watched the coverage of Nationals."

The two of them were waiting for the zamboni to finish resurfacing the ice before their practice session started. Jyuushiro was busy chatting with Retsu. Shunsui reached over and took her hand, squeezing it gently.

"Ignore it. They always hate it when they get blindsided by the unpredictable. It's not our fault that they failed to take a good look at our previous history. Our scores over the season pretty much matched the other top couple's. They've just been around longer than we have. Now, come dance with me."

Then he grinned at her and pulled her to her feet. The zamboni had finished its work. Shunsui fiddled with the stereo before stepping onto the ice. As Nanao joined him, the opening strains of Dancing Queen began to play. Nanao couldn't help laughing and letting the music and her partner sweep her away, leaving her worries behind for now.

We Can Go Dancing

At the end of the original dance segment of Nationals, Shunsui and Nanao were in first place. Now, they were only leading by a point and a half, but they were still leading. Shunsui was very pleased with their standing. Tomorrow would tell them who would win Nationals, but there were two Olympic spots, and with their showing so far, Shunsui was pretty sure that they had landed at least one of the. Rangiku had stolen his partner for the rest of the afternoon, so Shunsui was left to his own devices.

What Shunsui kept going back over in his mind was the moment Nanao had kissed his cheek. He knew it was an unconscious gesture on Nanao's part (she would probably talk herself out of such a gesture if she thought about it), but it was a little astounding to him just how much that little gesture meant to him. How much his partner meant to him. He'd wanted Nanao as a friend from the start, but Shunsui was beginning to realize that he wanted her as more than just his friend and skating partner. He'd been attracted to some of his skating partners before, but it had never been like this.

Unfortunately for him, the middle of a National competition was not exactly the best place to explore newfound romantic feelings. Besides, Shunsui knew Nanao. He'd have to take things slow with her or he would scare her off. What this really called for was a plan of some sort. And so Shunsui started plotting out just how to go about romancing his Nanao which kept him busy until Rangiku called in order to insist he join her and Nanao for dinner. Though as it turned out, it was more like, her, Nanao, and nearly a dozen other skaters. But it was a fun dinner, and they could all use a break from the competition.

Rangiku had assembled an interesting group. Ichigo and Rukia were pairs skaters, and this was their first year of senior competition, though they had won Junior World's last year. Toushiro and Momo were also in the pairs competition, and they'd been skating together since Momo was six and Toushiro was five. Yachiru and Kiyone were both junior ladies skaters. Neither of them would be competing in the senior division for another two years. With them came their coach, who was also Yachiru's father, and Yumichika, who was their choreographer. Ikkaku was a men's skater who was also coached by Kenpachi. The men's field was actually quite well represented at dinner. Besides, Ikakku, there was also Uryuu Ishida, who was making his debut in the senior division this year, Renji, and Gin. Gin's presence was not a surprise to Shunsui despite the fact that the man wasn't exactly known for being sociable. He was Rangiku's best friend after all. Tatsuki, a ladies' skater, rounded out the group.

They had pushed together a bunch of tables in the back of the restaurant and spent the meal laughing and trading stories. Everything from the worst costumes they had ever had to wear to travel horror stories to childhood adventures. It was good to see Nanao relaxed and enjoying herself with other skaters. Shunsui didn't see her interact with them much, and the few interactions he had seen weren't exactly polite. At least not from the other skaters. Nanao could be chillingly polite when she felt like it.

Shunsui had to give Rangiku credit though. This probably was a very good way to keep Nanao entertained and distracted. Nanao tended to worry about things if she wasn't, and while his partner had been thrilled about their standing earlier, Shunsui knew that if she had time to really think about it, she was going to start doubting herself and worrying. Tomorrow would come, and there wasn't really anything they could do except skate their best.

Dancing Through Life

By the end of the compulsory dance, Nanao and Shunsui were in second place, though they only trailed the pair in first by one point. It was better than Nanao thought they would do. The original dance would not be until the next afternoon, and Nanao was determined not to worry about it. She went out to dinner with Shunsui, Retsu, and Jyuushiro which was a great deal of fun. Afterwards, the four of them meandered around the downtown area of the city for about an hour in search of someplace good to get dessert. What they finally settled on was a little pastry shop that had some very interesting cakes.

Nanao found it surprisingly easy to fall asleep that night, and when she woke the next morning, the young woman felt more than ready to face the day. Of course, given the early hour, she doubted her partner was awake yet. So Nanao got dressed and treated herself to a nice breakfast at the little café across the street from their hotel. By the time she was done, Nanao had just enough time for a quick shower and picking up a chai latte before their practice slot. She was first one of their group there, and Nanao quickly changed into her costume and went out to finish her tea while she waited for Shunsui and Jyuushiro.

Her partner and her coach showed up within ten minutes, and the three of them got down to work. While they probably didn't need to practice, it was habit at this point, and Nanao found it soothing. Besides, their original dance was probably Nanao's favorite out of all their programs. It felt good to go through the program the entire at least once. When it came time for their warm up before they skated, Nanao knew there wouldn't be time to skate through the entire thing.

After practice, Shunsui insisted on taking her out to lunch before they have to come back for the actual competition. He dragged her off to some little hole in the wall restaurant that Nanao's never heard of, but the food was absolutely delicious. Shunsui engaged her in a debate about favorite books, and they arrive back at the skating rink before Nanao can think about it or start to get nervous. They have fifteen minutes to change into their costumes before the competition starts. Of course, the two of them are in the final flight of skaters, so it will be a while before they actually skate.

She spent her time waiting with her ipod and mentally running through the program. Ten minutes before their warm is set to start Shunsui joined her, and the two of them work through the entrances and exits of the lifts in their program. Nanao had never really liked warm ups all that much. There was something a little uncomfortable about sharing the ice with several other teams, and she always had to keep an eye out for who was skating near them rather than being able to concentrate completely on her skating. Still, it gave her a feel for the ice and got her muscles warmed up before she skated.

They were the second to last pair in the final flight which meant more waiting, but at least the original dances couldn't be longer than two and a half minutes. So each team took about five to seven minutes all together if you counted the time it took for the judges to score them and announce their marks. She hadn't really felt nervous until this moment. Nanao reached for her necklace, trying to calm herself. Shunsui reached for her free hand.

"Ready, precious?"

She nodded, and the announcer called their names. It was time to skate.