Where There's a Will
by Granate, 2005 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Ise Nanao had a will of iron. That's what everyone said. That's why she was assigned to be the lieutenant of the 8th squad under Captain Kyouraku. Her orders were clear: she was under no circumstances to succumb to the captain's advances. To last so long as his lieutenant, she must have a will of iron and the patience of a saint. + "Nanao-chan, fan me." The lieutenant did not look up from the desk in the corner, where she was dutifully looking through records of recent Hollow occurrences. She did not need to look up, she was well aware that her captain was sprawled out half naked on the floor. On this obscenely hot day, it could almost be excused. "Nanao-chan…" he coaxed as if he were calling to a pet. It had been like this all day. Fan me, Nanao-chan. Fetch me the chilled sake, Nanao-chan. Let's go skinny dipping in the creek, Nanao-chan. Run and see if Hitsugaya won't make some ice for us, Nanao-chan. "I told you before," she said blandly, eyes firmly on the page, "I can do this records work, or I can fan you as YOU do this records work." "But Nanao-chan, it's too hot to work," he complained, and she heard the furious flapping of his straw fan. She went back to ignoring him. Not because she didn't agree, but because the reminder was not appreciated. She adjusted the collar of her robe and tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear. At least doing the records work assigned to their squad kept her mind off the oppressive heat. She really didn't mind doing it. Besides, doing it herself was a whole lot easier than making him do it. Her captain seemed to give up after that, at least temporarily. She heard the straw fan and his periodic sighs. He began to hum a slow tune, something she recognized but couldn't place - like a lazy, Shunsui version of something famous. He had a nice voice, she didn't even pretend to hate his humming or occasional, absent-minded singing. What ever tune he was humming got her through the rest of her work. She signed his name on the last sheet and sealed the packet back in the envelope. "Go on home after you deliver that, Nanao-chan," Captain Kyouraku instructed her from the floor. "There's nothing going on today," he added with a yawn. So early? She looked up at him in mild surprise and saw that he was lying exactly as she'd imagined: robe drooping off his shoulders; hat covering his eyes. He grinned. "Go home and lounge in a cool bath," he said, "and I shall have those thoughts for company this afternoon." "Yes, sir," she said. She adjusted her glasses before standing up. Tucking the folder under her arm, she skirted past him to the door. "Nanao-chan in a cool bath," he sang, inserting the made up words into the tune he'd been humming before, "na na na na… lovely lovely na na nanao." She pushed the door open and let it click shut behind her. She walked briskly to the records department, trying to decide if it was hotter inside or outside. Inside, at least one was protected from the sun, but outside, the air moved a little better. Not much, but a little. What Soul Society needed right now was a nice breeze. Nanao resisted the urge to fan herself with the folder she carried. All of the main court seemed to be moving slower this afternoon. Pedestrians tried to stay in the shade. Guards waved her past. The clerk at the records desk dropped her folder in a pile to be filed later. Luckily, there were only a few days quite this miserable every summer. Disobeying orders, she did not go home. A cool bath would be just the thing for later, she had decided. She padded through the halls to the same suite she'd just left maybe twenty minutes ago and opened the door just as quietly as she'd closed it. Over time, she'd learned to lock it silently as well. Captain Kyouraku looked up from the desk in the corner like a kid caught doing something bad. "Nanao-chan, you're back," he observed as he tried to brush some loose papers over whatever it was he was working on. Without a word, Nanao came closer to see what he was looking at. She put her hands on her hips. Caught red handed. Her captain was looking at the recruit profiles that had been dropped off for him yesterday. She'd meant to start bugging him about it tomorrow. He always seemed to do this. He let her nag and nag him about work until she thought she was going to have to go bankai, only to eventually find out he'd finished it days ago. Nanao sighed. Catching him in one of his plots to make her prematurely grey was not actually why she had returned this afternoon, but at least she knew she wouldn't have to nag herself hoarse tomorrow. He must have sensed why she had returned and didn't say another word. She took off her glasses and set them nonchalantly on the desk, confirming what was surely running through his head. She unpinned her hair and let the clip fall in his lap before turning away. She ignored him as she shook her hair out, as if she were alone at home, about to step into that cool bath. His pink robe caught her eye, lying abandoned on the floor where he'd left it. She went over to it, tugging on the black sash at her waist. She felt his eyes on her, gentle and patient. Her belt came free and she let her robe slide off to fall at her ankles, leaving her in just the bindings around her chest and very skimpy, sheer underwear. She sat down in the middle of the pink coat and pulled it up around her. The heat from his body was gone, but it smelled like him, like sake and pipe tobacco and something muskier. Nanao put her arms in the enormous sleeves and stood up. The pink robe hung off her shoulders, so big and loose it hid her shape completely, even her feet. He was not fanning or even humming, just watching her approach the desk. She knelt next to where he was seated on the floor and leaned over to kiss his collarbone. She kissed upwards, lips moving over his stubbled jaw until they reached his own. He cradled her cheek and waited for her tongue to tempt his into action. She invited and he responded eagerly. Her fingers curled in the sleeves of his black robe, pulling them down his arms. She knew he would let her peel his clothes off at her own pace. She knew he would wait for her to shrug out of the robe and set his hands to the cloth strips that bound her body. He would not take control until she was long past caring. He was careful. He knew her games just as well as she knew his. It could only ever be her idea. She had her orders to follow, and she followed them to the letter. She could not - she would not be seduced by Kyouraku Shunsui. + Ise Nanao had a will of iron. That's what everyone said. If asked, she could state with absolute honesty, and probably an indignant huff, that she had never yielded to her captain's advances. Not once.
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