If we have not quiet in our minds,

[god_of_games]

Characters: Ise Nanao, Kyouraku Shunsui
When: May 21
Where: Eighth Division sitting room
Rating: PGish
Summary: The officers of the Eighth find a few moments for themselves.

Comments

[lady_of_books]

Nanao had almost become pleasantly lost in her book when her captain blew into the room, settling with uncommon silence. She understood his gravity well; the day had been heavy for many. Loath as she was to relinquish any of the Gotei to Aizen, Kurosaki and Muguruma were the pragmatic choice. They had even offered to go themselves.

Quietly, she uncorked the half-full sake jar and poured a dish for him. Her own sat empty and untouched on the low table; when one drank in company, one expected the company to fill one's cup.

"I suppose so, sir," she said mildly. "I've been meaning to finish this volume so I can return it to Hinamori-san.

"They have gone, then? To the Central Forty-Six?" Her voice fell slightly.

[god_of_games]

Shunsui hummed low in his throat, a noncommittal acknowledgment of her reading the book. As mild as her tone was, that she admitted to the stress said volumes. Volumes he really didn't care to hear about. Would that this day had gone differently. Would that this war had gone differently.

"They have," he answered, his tone echoing hers. He reached across the table and poured her sake. How deep into tradition his Nanao-chan did fall. If it provided some sort of meager comfort -- because knowing one could rely on at least something often provided some small amount -- then he would not chide her this time. Normally, perhaps he would.

Not today. "I suppose we simply wait now."

[lady_of_books]

She nodded her thanks to his gesture, then indicated the covered plate of onigiri and yokan and the pot of roasted barley tea. "If you have not eaten. I know I have kept forgetting."

Taking up the cup, she took a careful sip of the cooled, smoky sake. There were times when one even required a measure of the lightening effect a good stiff drink could provide, and today had certainly been such a time.

"Do you think it was just, sir, what we were forced to do today? My head naturally tells me we must recover Commander Ukitake, and I am sure he went peacefully based on his best judgement in the first place.

"I suppose I simply feel uncertain if I am up to this task. It's an idle concern; don't pay it too much mind."

[god_of_games]

Shunsui nodded his thanks before picking up his dish of sake. Nanao carefully sipped it, but he simply held it for a moment and inhaled the aroma. "Thank you," he said. She knew him well. He had been back and forth so much over the last few days that meals had become somewhat... hit or miss at best. Whenever he had time, he ate. Unfortunately, time was not a commodity he had in abundance.

He sighed at her question, head bowed over the sake. "How can I not pay it mind? You're my lieutenant. Your concerns are mine."

And her concerns echoed his. He sipped the sake, unable to answer quickly. "I feel as if nothing of this is just. We've been forced into an untenable position. Jyuushirou himself would hate to know that lives are to be traded for his. He went without complaint, hoping it was best for us all."

Another sigh and he went back to his sake.

[lady_of_books]

"The commander is a good man." She had worked with Ukitake when he was still a captain, and her respect for his authority was strengthened by a quiet, profound personal fondness for him. "Perhaps a better man than Yamamoto-sama, rest his soul, but were Yamamoto-sama still alive, this would have been a far shorter matter."

She knew there was a measure of audacity in speaking so frankly of her superior officers. On the other hand, Captain Kyouraku most often wished her to speak her mind.

"I do not say it would have been a better way, however." She took up the teapot and poured herself a cup, although her sake wasn't quite finished. "It would be easy to lose ourselves in this conflict."