A/N: Well, I was running a little dry for ideas lately, when all of a sudden, the rock of inspiration came flying through the air and struck me in the skull. I remembered that I had some ideas from way back, and that now they bubbled up to the surface once again. This was the first thing I thought of before I started writing, coming from work of course. I don't think it turned out too bad. It, for the most part and with Skolli's help, cured my Shunsui x Nanao withdrawls for now. Good, not good? Let me know. -KG

Diclaimer: I've never once presumed ownership of anything but the situations I create. I still got nothing.

Who's Counting?

It had been 5 years, 2 months, and 14 days.

Actually, Nanao had it down to the minute, and could go in seconds if need be. She glanced up from her paperwork to the time. That particular moment in time was really 5 years, 2 months, 13 days, 3 hours, and 13 minutes ago.

The event in question was one she spoke openly about to no one. It was a self-realization, and sometimes she even had trouble admitting it to herself, even though she came to the conclusion so long ago. This time marked when she admitted a very important quality about herself.

She was in love with her captain.

She knew that it would probably happen eventually, even if she didn't like to admit it. It was hard to resist his multiple charms and personality. She would try as long as possible though, and only give in when faced with her thoughts.

He was currently napping on the couch in the corner of the room. She glanced over at him for a moment, enjoying the soothing effect of his light breathing. Although he was generally uncooperative and lazy, it was too hard for her to stay mad at him for long periods of time. She blamed it on her infatuation.

There were many reasons behind her refusal to admit her revelation to anyone else. He had quite the track record, but she was pretty sure that even though that may be true, his devotion would not stray from her. It was a big assumption, but she knew that he had loved all that he was involved with at one time or another.

On some days, she just wanted to say 'to heck with it all' and give in to one of his flirtatious actions. She may end up regretting it later, but she would be content in knowing that she got exactly what she wanted at some point. Those were only some day though, others were spent just like this.

What held her back the most was how unprofessional it would seem. It was generally looked down upon, for a bad relationship could ruin a well-working division, so being as strict as she was, she heeded what precedents were set down. If the rules weren't in the way, she may have already taken action.

She usually stayed away from thinking like this, especially in the office. It turned her mood more sour, and then she wouldn't want to finish the mountain of work she had left to do. It wasn't even noon yet. Oh well, what was one more late night?

She had taken to looking out the window during this time. The wind was blowing gently, so the leaves on the trees were allowed to dance through the air. It was peaceful, like his presence. "I can't believe it's already been five years, two months, and fourteen days..."

"Five years, two months, and fourteen days since what, Nanao-chan?"

Uh oh.

She was so transfixed on her own thoughts that she didn't notice she had spoken out loud. Shunsui had been watching her while she was lost in thought. In his opinion, she had never looked cuter than that dreamy look she just held. He was surprised by her sentence, and naturally, he wanted to know what it referred to.

"N-nothing, Captain Kyouraku." She looked down at her papers as she answered, fighting a battle with herself over the blush that threatened to appear on her skin from embarrassment. Her answer was supplied a little too quickly, but she hoped that it would go unnoticed.

Keeping her cool, that's how she was planning on getting through this. If she lost it, she knew he was observant enough to know that something was up.

"Now, now, lovely Nanao-chan. You couldn't have possibly been thinking about nothing with such a sweet look on your face."

She stiffened a bit at his observational skills. She had not planned on that. She stayed quiet, hoping he would just drop the subject.

"Tell me, where you thinking of your wonderful Shunsui? Your knight in shining pink armor, come to steal you from your window sill in the dead hours of the night to-"

THUNK

Inkwell's target located. She looked over at him, seeing him rub the side of his head where her projectile had struck.

"I was most certainly not thinking of you, sir, I was thinking of..." She frantically searched her mind for the most passable bluff, cursing herself for not coming up with something before she started to speak. "...how long it's been since my sister passed away."

She was slightly proud of herself for coming up with something so believable on such short notice. "I would appreciate if I didn't have to speak about it." That should get him to drop it, if the inkwell didn't do the trick.

He leaned up, clutching his hat so it stayed in place on his head. "But, Nanao-chan, I thought your sister-"

"I am going on a brief break now, sir. I will be back to the office shortly."

She stood up and left quickly, leaving his sentence unfinished.

"Well that was odd. I could swear that her sister passed a little more than three years ago..."

What was his mysterious Nanao-chan up to? Curious, he decided to follow her, to heck with the consequences.

XoXoXoX

Nanao stood before the small enclosure in the forest. Walking forward, she floated through petals and leaves that swirled around her, a dance of reds, pinks, and greens. She stopped in front of her desired destination, a pair of head stones.

These were the graves of Captain Kyouraku's parents.

It was protected by the veil of trees, leaving the tomb in quiet solitude. He once told her that they valued the serenity they could get, so he took it upon himself to find the most peaceful place he could find. Not many disturbed them here.

She remembered back when he showed her this place, a little more than three years ago.

"Sir, may I inquire as to what this place is?" She had followed him without question when he stated he had something to show her.

"This, dear Nanao-chan, is my family's resting place." She turned towards him suddenly, meeting his gaze. She was a bit surprised.

She stood quiet, not knowing how to answer. She wondered why he had brought her here, to a most sacred of places.

"Sir?"

He chuckled a little, his soft gaze turning towards the stones. "I thought they would want to meet you. I think they would have liked you."

She held a solemn look, and he elaborated. "I used to come here when I was ill at ease, when my friends could do no more for me than the sake I drank. Sometimes, there's no one able to help us but ourselves."

He looked back at her again, smiling. "Now I'm showing this place to you, in case you need it too. I'm sure they won't mind."

How he knew that she needed just that, she would never understand. She had just dealt with the loss of her sister to a hollow. They hadn't spoken too much since she had become the vice of the Eighth, but they still talked enough to be close. She had taken it hard, but she managed the best she could. Despite her efforts, there was still changes in her everyday actions. He had noticed this, and had wanted to help her be able to make herself as normal as she possibly could once again.

The fact that he had noticed and tried to help touched her heart. Knowing that somebody was there for you was a great feeling.

She nodded to him, and he left her alone there. She didn't know what to do at first, having no real instruction, so she did what came natural to her.

She talked to them.

She found it not very hard at all, and she became quite comfortable with it. She came here often, maybe a few times a week, until she gradually felt better. It did help. After she had come to terms, she still found herself here every once in a while, just to keep in touch. At least, that's what she told herself. Of course she didn't tell her captain this, not really knowing what he would think. She wished she could have met them just once.

This is now where she sat, back against his mother's grave, speaking to them. Whenever she was stressed, this place did wonders for her mind.

"Is he a lot like you? I would think that he got his kindness from you, although your husband was probably very kind as well. I can almost picture the kinds of soft smiles you would give, ones that carried over to him. Were you like that?"

It really didn't matter to her if they could answer or not. At least she felt better.

"His strength must have come from you, although I'm sure you were both strong." She looked to the right, addressing his father now. "The elegance shown in battle comes from great skill, one that he possesses. I'm sure you had that too."

She picked up a few of the fallen petals, bringing them to eye level before the wind picked up and carried them away. The wind blew gently around her, almost like they were answering. It was probably just her imagination, but she liked to think that such things were possible.

She tilted her head back and closed her eyes, continuing to speak out unimportant things.

XoXoXoX

Well this was very interesting. When Shunsui had finally caught up to her from her jagged path of travel, he found her at none other than his parents' grove. He smiled at the idea. He was glad that she enjoyed something that he did for her. Usually, anything he suggested was not appreciated and he was hit for it. Granted not all of these things were appropriate, but he overlooked that detail. If this helped her out, he was satisfied.

Hearing her speak again, he listened deeply, making sure he gave nothing away to hint at his presence.

"Your son once told me that you would've wanted to meet me. I believe it was at our first encounter. I wonder now if it could've been true. Would you have liked me?"

She sighed a little. "I know I'm a bit strict when it comes to my duties as a soul reaper, but I'm not really that uptight about everything. I guess I just don't really know how to deal with things in anyway but how I usually am. Rangiku could tell you that."

Sometimes she didn't want to seem like she wasn't much fun, but if she suddenly changed her ways, people might think she was ill. Her attitude also helped her to get all the work done. If by someway a new outlook made her get less work done, she didn't want to get demoted or something, although she really doubted her captain would do something like that.

"On some days, I wish I was more laidback like him or carefree like Rangiku. Things seem to bother them less, and even if they don't, they don't show it as much. Being like that once in a while wouldn't be so bad I guess. Would I be liked more that way?"

She had a thoughtful look for a moment. Of course, if they were anything like her captain as she thought, they would've liked her just the way she was. She was glad that he accepted her that way for now, it was nice.

"What did he mean by all that anyway? My sister had been affecting me a bit, but how that brought to his attention taking me to meet his parents I'll never know. Oh well, I guess your guess is as good as mine."

She had a faint idea of what was probably implied behind it, and she smiled to herself thinking that he may have been serious. Generally you only introduced someone to your parents if they were important to you.

Inside his mind Shunsui was chuckling. It was strange watching his Nanao-chan act like her non-professional self. It was refreshing to see that she did indeed have other sides to her, just like he always thought.

He did think his parents would've appreciated her. She was basically the opposite of him, as Ukitake had once pointed out. In Shunsui's mind, that meant they completed each other.

He thought that she would've liked them too. They were just as she had described them, a lot like he was. They had that deep-rooted kindness in them, along with that peace-loving nature. They were also strong when they needed to be. Letting all of them convene together was one thing he wished could've happened.

Getting lost in his own thoughts for a moment, he failed to keep his power hidden. He tried to remedy the situation as soon as he realized it, but judging from the way her eyes shot open and how she was looking around, he'd already been detected.

She got up, realizing that she had a visitor. She didn't need to see him to know who it was, but she looked anyway. The pink of his haori was partly visible behind a tree, and he stepped out as soon as she spotted him. She stayed still as he approached. She silently wondered how much he'd overheard.

"Nanao-chan! This is quite a surprise. Did you enjoy your chat with them?"

She raised an eyebrow. "Sir, what are you doing here?" She wanted to hit herself in the forehead after she said it.

"Well, they are my parents too. I think it would be alright if I visited too, right Nanao-chan?"

Exactly. That was a dumb question. She also didn't miss that he had said 'too'. Did that mean she considered them her parents? She supposed she did, hers having gone also, but she wasn't going to tell him that. He would never let it go if she did, calling it fate or some other mystical force trying to bring them together. She rolled her eyes in her mind.

"That's not what I meant." Maybe being her usual stone self would help her.

"Of course not, just pointing it out." He smiled at her before glancing at the stones. "I was worried where you ran off to. I wanted to make sure nothing had happened."

"I didn't run off, I stated that I was just-"

"Yare, you stated, but you were a bit flustered from thinking whatever it was you were thinking about." It was now or never if he was going to bring this up. He hoped he wouldn't fair too terribly.

"I already told you what I was thinking about, thank you very much." She turned to walk around him, not wanting to be in this situation.

"And I know you better than that to know that you were not thinking about your sister." She stopped when he said it, not really surprised. She turned to look at him again. He was now between her and the stones.

"If I'm not mistaken, your sister passed three years, six months, and twenty one days ago."

She was amazed. "How do you know that? More importantly, why do you know that?"

"It was the day before my Nanao-chan spoke to my parents for the first time as well as an important part of your history, why wouldn't I know it?"

She could think of many reasons, but she wasn't going to voice any of them. She was still surprised that he had it down to the day.

"Therefore, I concluded that you weren't thinking about her, and that's why I'm here. I had the slightest assumption that you were thinking about me, so I had to come see for myself." He had that cheeky grin on his face, the one that was capable of lightening any mood, like the one that fell over the grove.

She gazed at the stones, wishing for the same amount of confidence she had when she spoke to them about him. Her head was down slightly, not wanting to look him in the eyes. She spoke very quietly, but he still heard her.

"You're right."

"About what part, Nanao-chan?"

"Both." It was barely over a whisper, and she looked up to judge his reaction. She was in one of those moods again, the one that really didn't care at the moment.

He was shocked to say the least. Filled with a slight euphoria that made him bolder, he chanced asking her another question.

"So you were thinking about me?"

She nodded her head. "Yes, I was." The fact that she admitted it willingly unnerved him a bit.

"And what was the time thing about, if I may be so bold to ask?"

She took a deep breath and thought for a moment. She had two options, she could tell the truth or make something up. She didn't want to lie to him, but she didn't want to come out and say it either. She settled for something between the two.

"This may or may not be of importance to you, but for the previous time that I specified, I have been questioning my ability and my willingness to avoid your frivolous tactics. As time is wearing on, I'm finding it increasingly difficult to want to resist."

There, she said it. Now it was time to see what he would do.

Again he found himself shocked. She had acted just like she usually does, but referred to something she usually didn't speak about. It was practically a confession. Judging by the serious look on her face, he knew it was. Well that was good news if he ever heard any.

"That's wonderful, Nanao-chan!" He had his arms opened and was going to sweep her into them when a powerful force came into contact with his face.

THWACK

Eyes opening again, he saw her folding her fan and returning it to her sleeve.

"But, Nanao-chan, I thought-"

He was silenced when she placed a chaste kiss on his lips. It was short and sweet, and it was over before he realized it. When had she moved closer?

"There. You're better."

He was puzzled, and she saw it. She elaborated a little. "There's no need for such a flamboyant display, not in front of company." She looked towards the markers once again before turning and walking a few steps.

His smile returned to him. His parent's definitely would've liked her.

He caught up with her, offering his right arm. She took it, and they started walking away. She spoke up suddenly.

"I do believe you've finally scored one against me." She stopped, causing him to stop as well.

"Surely I've gotten a few before now in our game of wits?" He sounded a little hopeful.

"Not that I'm counting mind you, but the score is now twenty two to one. Congratulations on being right for once."

He pouted a bit. "But I was right twice today, shouldn't that be worth two?"

She pulled her arm out of his, reaching for her fan again. Before she could smack him, he grabbed her wrist.

"Yare, alright Nanao-chan, I get it."

He looked over to the remnants of his parents and shouted to them. "I told you she would be a keeper!"

Laughing, she didn't pull away when he kissed her again.

-Fin