Title: Partners and Sake Stashes
Rating: T
Contains: Sake, slight innuendo and some foul language.
The partnership between a little shinigami and an old captain begins with sake stash.
The first time Nanao bribed Shunsui, she was still a little girl. Vice Captain Yadomaru had sent Nanao, stack of paperwork in hand, to get the necessary signatures before the budget meeting later that afternoon. After about an hour of searching, Nanao had found her Captain asleep under one of the sakura trees in the 8th’s garden.
“Captain, Vice Captain Yadomaru said for you to sign these papers and that if you don’t-“ she paused.
In actuality Lisa’s words had been, ‘If he gives you any trouble tell him I’ll shave all his hair before the next Captain’s meeting.’ Nanao wasn’t quite sure what she meant by ‘all’, but…
“Actually, Captain, I was thinking if you could sign these for me, I could move your sake stash to somewhere I don’t think Vice Captain Yadomaru knows about.”
Shunsui raised his hat and regarded her curiously. “Is that what Lisa-chan said?”
“Well, it’s not… exactly. But…” she fidgeted.
“How do you know where my sake stash is?” He looked amused.
“Well, it is a bit obvious, Captain,” Nanao looked down at her hands, cheeks pinking.
He chuckled at that, and Nanao found herself wondering miserably just how much trouble she was about to be in. But, to her surprise, she found the papers being taken from her.
“Did you print my stamp?” Shunsui asked drolly.
“Y-your stamp?” She blinked owlishly. “Oh, yes Captain.” Blushing furiously she held the wooden box out to him, refusing to meet his eyes.
“Thank you, Nanao-chan.”
They sat in companionable silence, broken only by the rustle of papers and the outdoor noises. She thanked him politely when at last he handed the stack back to her, fussing with them until they fell back into a neat stack.
“Nanao-chan,” Captain Kyouraku’s lazy voice stopped her just as she was about to shunpo away.
“Sir?”
“Do I know where this new hiding place is?”
She paused, shifting her weight as she considered the question before leaning forward to whisper something in his hear. At first he looked surprised and then grinned.
“That is an excellent hiding place, my cute Nanao-chan. It will be our secret, okay?”
Later that week, Nanao had to hide her smile at the sounds from the office. Vice Captain Yadomaru had been turning the office inside out since early that morning.
“Damn him,” Vice Captain Yadomaru fumed. “All this time and he still finds new hiding places.”
Nanao Ise giggled.