A/N: Here is another one. I saw a few stories like this, and I thought that it would be fun to do. There are 16 themes. At first they were going to be little blurps, but then I realized that they formed a bit of a story as they went. This was created in an attempt to come up with ideas for a short sequel to "The Three Hardest Phrases". Good, not good? Let me know. -KG

Disclaimer: This hasn't changed since two days ago. I still got nothing.

Things The Eighth Kept In Mind

Initial

Shunsui Kyouraku had heard somewhere that a first impression was everything. He wasn't too worried for himself, having really nothing to hide, but focused more on what his new lieutenant was going to show on her first day.

He had heard she was lovely but a little uptight. Going through vices rapidly was something he'd been doing lately, so he was a bit apprehensive.

He knew his Nanao-chan was a keeper from the reaction she gave when he flirted with her for the first time. She hit him with her fan.

Isolated

Nanao had always felt a little out of place around other people, even back in the academy days. She doubted that once she became a soul reaper things would change much. Sure, she talked to more people now, but it was mostly out of business.

There were a few people she was close to though, and sometimes they made all the difference. One of these people was her captain, but she would never tell him that. Still, she didn't fail to notice that when she was in his company, she never felt alone.

Haste

Shunsui realized that the key to winning Nanao over couldn't be done overnight (although he had tried very hard at first). This wasn't a problem thankfully, because he was a patient man. 'Good things come to those that wait' was something he kept in mind during this time.

He placed his Nanao-chan in the 'good things' category, so he figured something he tried would work sooner or later. She couldn't keep up that cool exterior forever right? Thinking, he realized that when it came to his Nanao-chan, she probably could.

Obstinate

To put up with his antics constantly, she had to develop a firm mask to wear. If she didn't keep this up, she feared that she wouldn't be able to block out everything that he did. She might actually give in to something he did once. That would be it, she decided, so she stayed just the way she was, even if some thought she wasn't much fun. She was stone.

Everyone knows that stone eventually chips and flakes though. It was this knowledge that lead Nanao to believe that maybe she never stood a chance in the first place, especially against an unrelenting wind of cherry blossoms that always tried to move her.

Dame

Above all else, Shunsui recognized that Nanao was a lady of utmost elegance. Some may think her plain, but what others saw didn't matter much to him. He saw someone very refined, one who paid close attention to detail in everything she did.

Her uniform may never have any wrinkles and her glasses never askew, but he was sure there was a fiery passion locked away in her somewhere. He was going to discover it, even if it took him forever. He thought that maybe he could find it better if her glasses were removed, allowing him to look into her soul, but he knew that all he might get for that were burns from her kido.

No, he would find a less dangerous method of doing this, one that could possibly leave him with more limbs.

Internal

Nanao realized that she had been fighting a battle inside herself a few years after she joined the Eighth. Her heart was battling her iron will, all looped around Shunsui of course. She only referred to him by his first name in her mind, finding it too unprofessional to do so. She didn't doubt that he would be very pleased if she ever did call him that. Knowing this, she realized that slowly but surely her will could be close to defeat.

On late nights she laid in bed, she didn't know what scared her more: the fact that her iron will might be losing, or the fact that she didn't really want it to win anyway.

Wail

It didn't matter how many times he lamented in front of his best friend Jushiro Ukitake, the fact of the matter was that his problem was not going away by doing so. By the fifth time that day he'd realized this, and Ukitake looked relieved, judging from the look on his face.

He had thought about telling these things to his Nanao-chan instead, but he also realized that all he would probably get was a smack from her fan...or book...or whatever else was handy.

Furthermore, it could possibly lead to him having to do some of his paperwork if she got mad enough. Tipping his hat down over his eyes, he decided to abandon the effort all-together. Juu was probably bored with it anyway.

Blunder

Sometimes Nanao wondered if she had ever made a mistake in accepting the offer to be vice-captain of the Eighth. She thought about it on slow days, or days when he wasn't in the office to see that she was thinking about something. She had to be careful because he was quite observant for being so...reserved.

Accordingly, she had to monitor her thoughts and actions now. She could no longer deny the fact that she had developed feelings for him, but she could deny him the privilege of knowing.

Shaking her head clear of such ridiculous things, she would get back to work, telling herself that this was her family and that nothing was going to change that.

Shrivel

She also found it odd in how he never looked down on her for anything. Even when she had blindly followed him against Captain Yamamoto during Aizen's betrayal and crumbled useless at his feet, he still didn't think any less of her.

In fact, he told her that he'd never been more proud of anyone. He said that loyalty was something deeply admired, and he was glad to have her as his lieutenant and more importantly, his friend.

They always fought back to back in battle after that. Even if she didn't need to make up for back then, she still wanted to make sure the same thing didn't happen again.

Need

It was funny how much he depended on her to be there. It wasn't just running the division (although she did a wonderful job of that), but on a personal level. Her presence made him feel better, especially when he was relaxing to take a nap. He had yet to get her to accept one of his drinking proposals, but there was always hope.

She had become more like a drug to him, more intoxicating than his sake. He never knew that something could be more addicting than his favorite drink. Oh yes, Shunsui had fallen hard indeed.

Unconditional

Nanao came to find that the love she had for her captain was the unconditional kind. It didn't matter how infuriating he got or how stupid some of his actions were, she found she couldn't stay mad at him for very long.

Sure, she would be agitated for a little while, usually resulting in taking it out on him some way. This varied from hitting him with her fan or book, making him actually do some of his paperwork, or better yet, hiding his stashes of sake.

Although, after seeing his forlorn expression for a while, she would always give it back, discreetly of course.

Resourceful

Lately, he had to be more creative in his methods to woo her. She either ignored or punished his flirting, didn't pay attention when he read poetry to her, or threw away any notes or letters he left on her desk.

Now, he got her to leave the office with him by saying that she needed to eat no matter how much paperwork there was. He silently hoped that she enjoyed them as much as he did. He never made it an order, and he was relieved to find that she didn't refuse every time he insisted.

Maybe she did enjoy it after all.

Envy

Uncharacteristically for her, she found herself getting more and more jealous every time she saw him flirting with someone. She had to have strict control when they flirted back, just so she didn't lose it and accidentally burst them into a massive ball of flames.

She would just pretend not to pay any attention to them and continue on her way. Sometimes the ink would splatter on her work, or she would sign in the wrong block. When she saw this, she spent a few silent moments telling herself that this was perfectly normal and that she was not jealous.

Then, she would speculate that he did it on purpose, just to get her attention.

Agony

He really couldn't protest when Nanao had decided to accept one of the invitations she got to go on a date...with another guy. She wasn't his property, and even if he could make it some sort of order and forbid it, he wouldn't ever want to treat her that way.

He realized he could do nothing about it, even if he knew the guy was a dirtball, so when she came into the office the day after he broke her heart, he did all he could to comfort her. She had only let out a few tears, but she was shaking, so he hugged her and told her everything would be okay. He even stated that he would beat the guy if she thought it would help (because in reality he wanted to kill him), but she only grabbed his haori tighter.

Seeing the look of anguish on her face, he felt true torture. He never wanted to see her like that again.

Entrust

Nanao wondered if she had been right to trust Shunsui with her heart. When faced the conflicting feelings she had, she found out that it was too hard to fight him anymore, especially when she didn't want to.

She was still asking herself this when she found herself wrapped up in his arms. She had given in that day. They had been arguing over some trifle thing, ending with another flirtatious remark from him. She had told him to stop mocking her, and he had told her in all seriousness to stop thinking he was.

When he kissed her, she let go of any doubts she had. She knew that he wouldn't stray.

Intimate

Shunsui found that his Nanao-chan really was quite affectionate beneath all those walls she put up. He doubted that she would let him show such displays in public, but when they were alone she really was amazing.

He couldn't really help but smile as he gazed over to her curled up beside him. As he too dozed off, he thought himself the luckiest man in all Soul Society.

-Fin