Author's Notes
You get points if you can read through this and understand it. Really. I seem to get all of my writing inspiration at night, and I just want to upload it right then and there rather than going through it and making sure that it actually makes sense. So. More Nemucrack because I love Nemu and I love crack Nemu pairings and I love Isane so she was the target of my Nemucrackfury. I didn't really think about it. I just thought up a general theme(with the ByakuyaxNemu thing, it was skeletons. With this one, it's flaws), and started writing. I love writing for Isane..because she seems like the sort of person who would notice even her tiniest flaws, and they'd seem much bigger than they are to her. When writing -this- piece of work, I was listening to the song Ningentte Sonna Mono Ne by KOKIA...so. Find it, listen to it while reading this, and enjoy. XD
Disclaimer: I don't own the characters, obviously.
Isane Kotetsu was a flawed woman. She was not as beautiful as Lieutenant Matsumoto, as unreserved as Lieutenant Kusajishi, or as strong as Captain Unohana. She was too plain, too timid, too everything. Her swordsmanship was not outstanding, and she was certain that Lieutenant Hinamori surpassed her skills in kidou. She was not as stern as Lieutenant Ise, and she knew that she would never posess the air of command that belonged to Captain Soifon.
She was flawed, so Lieutenant Kurotsuchi always took her breath away.
On the occasions that Nemu Kurotsuchi ended up at the fourth division for the purposes of an errand or treatment, Isane could not help but marvel at her. Perhaps it was because she had been artificially created, but to the silver-haired lieutenant thought that the quiet woman was perfect. And there was something about her..something that made the too-plain, too-timid lieutenant want to open up. So, a little bit at a time, she did.
And Lieutenant Kurotsuchi never judged her, never scolded her, never told her she was too tall or too weak. In fact, she said very little; she merely listened quietly as Isane spoke to her while treating her injuries or tending to the paperwork that was brought to her. And slowly but surely, even when she had no injuries or errands, the silver haired woman found Nemu around more and more frequently, always ready to listen whenever Isane wanted to talk. It became a habit, something comfortable that she felt that she could place herself into because it would never change, and would never judge her or her many flaws.
So, Isane could not help but feel surprised on an evening when Nemu arrived on her doorstep while the silver-haired lieutenant was attempting to calm her mind after yet another nightmare. And somehow, the bruises that she'd never really thought about made her think, from the one dancing across Lieutenant Kurotsuchi's perfect cheekbone to the one that was certainly forming at her ribcage as the slender woman held one hand carefully over her side. She was flawed, yes, but she was not cruel; so she shook off the cobwebs of her nightmare and pulled the other woman in so that she could begin to tend to her bruises.
As always, it was Isane who broke the lengthy silence that was so meticulously held as she combed her strong, soothing fingers through the other woman's tangled ebony hair.
"Nemu-san. What do you think beauty is made from?"
She didn't expect the slender girl to smile, but she did, those perfect lips curving upward in a graceful arch as Nemu leaned back delicately against the kind, gentle woman behind her.
"Flaws."
And that one word made Isane realize that maybe she was beautiful after all.