Downsides of Popularity (Bleach, ByakuyaxUnohana, #7)
Title: Downsides of Popularity.
Author/Artist: lady_nepheene
Pairing: Kuchiki Byakuya x Unohana Retsu
Fandom: Bleach
Word Count: 1671
Theme: 7. superstar
Beta: kurippu
Disclaimer: I don’t own the characters, wish that I did but they belong to Kubo Tite and his people, me only borrowing them for awhile.
The captain of the fourth division was one of the few female Shinigami who wasn’t a member of the Shinigami Women's Association. Just like Nakashima Kimiko, though that didn’t mean that she hadn’t been asked to join, just that she wasn’t interested in joining. Though from time to time she did attend some of the meetings just to humor her lieutenant, Rukia, and Yachiru who had asked, well more like pleaded, for her to attend.
It wasn’t like if she thought that the SWA was a waste of time, it was merely that she most likely wouldn’t fit in with them. Most of their meetings were quite lively, for lack of a better word, and she was more like the type of woman that enjoyed peace and calm. She was a supporter of the SWA but a distant supporter and that worked fine for her. However she hadn’t expected that she would find Matsumoto in her office after she had made her routine rounds in her division to make sure that everything was in order.
“Matsumoto-san,” The gentle captain greeted politely as she always did, “What brings you here? Does your taichou need something?”
“I’m not here because my taichou sent me.” Matsumoto answered with her usual happy tone, “I’m here due to Shinigami Women’s Association business.”
Unohana stared at her for a few seconds “I see.”
“To make things short, Unohana-taichou, we kind of need your help for the new resolution that we came up with last meeting.” Matsumoto said, quickly skipped any more pleasantries, getting right to point.
“And just what kind of resolution would that be that you think I can help you with?”
“Well in our last meeting we voted, yet once again, Kuchiki-taichou as the captain that we wish to release a photo book of. Last time we couldn’t solidify that but this time it will be different.” Matsumoto brightly smiled at the woman who was technically her superior. “This time we have decided to ask for your help in taking the pictures for our awaited Kuchiki-taichou photo book.”
The captain of the fourth division let the information to fully sink into her mind. “As much as I’m flattered that you deem my help in such a project necessary, wouldn’t Rukia-san be more appropriate for that? She’s his sister, after all, and lives with him which gives her better access to him.”
“Yeah, we believed the same last time, but he found out and most of the photos were, well, not good and they left a lot to wish for. There was not even a smile on that handsome face of his.” Matsumoto replied with a defeated sigh while she remembered their last attempt at making the project. “Now he’s very careful with Rukia about that.”
“I understand,” Unohana said, now that she thought back on a conversation she had with him a year ago, he had mentioned that Rukia had tried to take photos of him for the SWA, “But what makes you think that I’ll have better luck?”
“Well, after Rukia you’re the only other person in Soul Society that he spends more time with and seems to fully trust. Which, mind you, is the proper behavior people should have with their lovers…?”
“Though part of your information is correct, Matsumoto-san, I feel in the obligation to inform you that I and Kuchiki-sama are not involved in such a way.” Unohana gently and politely interrupted the tenth division lieutenant.
“You’re not! Are you completely sure?” Matsumoto asked in pure disbelief and her shoulders fell when the woman nodded to confirm it. “That’s such a shame; I guess that means that we will have to take you out of the poll for ‘best couple’ this year.”
Unohana barely blinked at that comment. “I suppose so.”
“Pity, you were ahead of Ichigo and Rukia.” Matsumoto sighed while pondering how the SWA was going to take it. “Anyway, would you at least help us with the pictures?”
Unohana sighed once Matsumoto left. There were some things that the SWA did that appalled her a bit, but since stalking was not on her list of things to do, she supposed that, just as long as no one got hurt, she didn’t have much to complain about, or at least she thought that she shouldn’t have.
•¨¤¨•§•¨¤¨•§•¨¤¨•§•¨¤¨•§•¨¤¨•§•¨¤¨•§•¨¤¨•
Meanwhile, Byakuya was finishing the last load of paperwork that Kimiko had brought him. Though he would never mention it out loud, he had to give the girl some credit for her work as a lieutenant; it was much more effective than the work Renji had done. Kimiko was very similar to her older sister Kanoe, the woman who had occupied the spot as lieutenant before Renji when Byakuya first became the captain of the sixth division. He had been forced to replace Kanoe when she had been killed on a mission.
All in all Nakashima Kanoe still represented the idea that he had for a lieutenant but her little sister was actually doing great work at catching up with the spot her sister had left despite their different personalities. Byakuya was the type of man to recognize the worth of the people who deserved it and give them the proper credit for a job well done. A sudden knock drew his attention from the paperwork.
“Come in.”
The door slid open and the new light-brown haired lieutenant stepped inside. “Kuchiki-taichou, you have a visitor.”
“Who is it?”
Kimiko suddenly grinned and her emerald eyes brighten a bit. “Unohana-taichou, are you going to receive her?” She had wanted to laugh at the sudden pointed look that he gave her but refrained herself. “I’ll inform her.”
The lieutenant stepped out with a small unreadable smile on her lips; he couldn’t properly hear what was said between her and the captain of the fourth division but it took longer than he expected as five minutes later Unohana entered accompanied by Kimiko, who still had quite a suspicious smile on her face. She waited for the Unohana to take a seat before she looked expectantly at her own captain.
“You may retire now, Kimiko.” He said mildly, not knowing just what was she expecting from him. “Also…we’re not to be disturbed.”
A huge smile appeared on Kimiko’s face. “As you order, sir.” She mock saluted before she left the office, closing the door behind her.
“Has Nakashima-san fully adapted to her new post as a lieutenant?” Unohana asked him to divert his attention from the absent woman.
“She has, so far I don’t have any complaints in her performance.” He answered simply and directed his onyx hued eyes to her. “Though personality wise she seems to be a mix of Kanoe and Renji.”
“Well, I suppose that will work just fine with you. Kanoe-san was a lot like you and Abarai-san was your complete opposite, so since Kimiko-san seems to be a mix of both of them it will be a nice balance for you.” She commented quite wisely.
“Perhaps,” He ruefully agreed with her, “But what brings you here? I doubt that you came all the way here to talk about my lieutenant.”
“And you’re right.” She tilted her head slightly sideways and smiled very gently at him. “I wanted to merely see you.”
His eyes widened slightly at that comment. “You only came here to see me?”
“Pretty much.” She reaffirmed as if it was the simplest thing in the world.
Of all the things she had been expecting as an answer the small barely there smile that appeared on his face was the last thing she expected. She didn’t understand why he didn’t smile more often as he looked much more handsome when he smiled. Now she knew why he was so popular among the members of the SWA and she couldn’t really help but to smile back.
“Finally there it is!!!” Before they realized it Kimiko was inside and snapped a picture of her barely smiling captain. “I can see money in my future!”
Immediately Byakuya glared at his lieutenant and stood up. “What’s the meaning of this!?”
“Ohh, well you see the Shinigami Women Association offered to pay me good money for a single picture of you, smiling, so I just had to patiently wait.” Kimiko took a step backwards toward the door to make and hasty exit. “Next time maybe you and Unohana-taichou can kiss because I’ve also been offered money for that picture for the best couple, so hurry up with that!”
As quickly as Kimiko could manage she left, leaving the two shocked captains behind in the office. Apparently the SWA had a backup plan in case Unohana rejected the proposal of snapping the picture of Byakuya. But she never suspected it would be his own lieutenant. She looked over at him and almost, key word here being almost, flinched when she noticed the cold raw anger reflected in his eyes.
“Don’t take it too seriously.” She said softly before placing her hand on top of his in a vain attempt to soothe him a bit. “You always knew you were popular with them.”
“Hn…” Taking in consideration that he actually had a guest he once again sat down and took a deep breath.
“Never thought they would actually offer her money for this.” She commented while she drew her hand away.
“I’ll have to talk with her…” His tone of voice made it quite clear that he was still angry at Kimiko, but had decided to concentrate on the rest of his paper work. “…When I do kiss you, I’ll make sure my lieutenant is very far from us.”
Her eyes widened a bit at that last comment and for some seconds she didn’t know what to make of it. Had he said it without realizing it or was it a joke? But when they briefly locked eyes, well, she understood that he wasn’t lying. She just expected that when that did happen none of the members of the SWA would be around, or else…
Author/Artist: lady_nepheene
Pairing: Kuchiki Byakuya x Unohana Retsu
Fandom: Bleach
Word Count: 1671
Theme: 7. superstar
Beta: kurippu
Disclaimer: I don’t own the characters, wish that I did but they belong to Kubo Tite and his people, me only borrowing them for awhile.
The captain of the fourth division was one of the few female Shinigami who wasn’t a member of the Shinigami Women's Association. Just like Nakashima Kimiko, though that didn’t mean that she hadn’t been asked to join, just that she wasn’t interested in joining. Though from time to time she did attend some of the meetings just to humor her lieutenant, Rukia, and Yachiru who had asked, well more like pleaded, for her to attend.
It wasn’t like if she thought that the SWA was a waste of time, it was merely that she most likely wouldn’t fit in with them. Most of their meetings were quite lively, for lack of a better word, and she was more like the type of woman that enjoyed peace and calm. She was a supporter of the SWA but a distant supporter and that worked fine for her. However she hadn’t expected that she would find Matsumoto in her office after she had made her routine rounds in her division to make sure that everything was in order.
“Matsumoto-san,” The gentle captain greeted politely as she always did, “What brings you here? Does your taichou need something?”
“I’m not here because my taichou sent me.” Matsumoto answered with her usual happy tone, “I’m here due to Shinigami Women’s Association business.”
Unohana stared at her for a few seconds “I see.”
“To make things short, Unohana-taichou, we kind of need your help for the new resolution that we came up with last meeting.” Matsumoto said, quickly skipped any more pleasantries, getting right to point.
“And just what kind of resolution would that be that you think I can help you with?”
“Well in our last meeting we voted, yet once again, Kuchiki-taichou as the captain that we wish to release a photo book of. Last time we couldn’t solidify that but this time it will be different.” Matsumoto brightly smiled at the woman who was technically her superior. “This time we have decided to ask for your help in taking the pictures for our awaited Kuchiki-taichou photo book.”
The captain of the fourth division let the information to fully sink into her mind. “As much as I’m flattered that you deem my help in such a project necessary, wouldn’t Rukia-san be more appropriate for that? She’s his sister, after all, and lives with him which gives her better access to him.”
“Yeah, we believed the same last time, but he found out and most of the photos were, well, not good and they left a lot to wish for. There was not even a smile on that handsome face of his.” Matsumoto replied with a defeated sigh while she remembered their last attempt at making the project. “Now he’s very careful with Rukia about that.”
“I understand,” Unohana said, now that she thought back on a conversation she had with him a year ago, he had mentioned that Rukia had tried to take photos of him for the SWA, “But what makes you think that I’ll have better luck?”
“Well, after Rukia you’re the only other person in Soul Society that he spends more time with and seems to fully trust. Which, mind you, is the proper behavior people should have with their lovers…?”
“Though part of your information is correct, Matsumoto-san, I feel in the obligation to inform you that I and Kuchiki-sama are not involved in such a way.” Unohana gently and politely interrupted the tenth division lieutenant.
“You’re not! Are you completely sure?” Matsumoto asked in pure disbelief and her shoulders fell when the woman nodded to confirm it. “That’s such a shame; I guess that means that we will have to take you out of the poll for ‘best couple’ this year.”
Unohana barely blinked at that comment. “I suppose so.”
“Pity, you were ahead of Ichigo and Rukia.” Matsumoto sighed while pondering how the SWA was going to take it. “Anyway, would you at least help us with the pictures?”
Unohana sighed once Matsumoto left. There were some things that the SWA did that appalled her a bit, but since stalking was not on her list of things to do, she supposed that, just as long as no one got hurt, she didn’t have much to complain about, or at least she thought that she shouldn’t have.
•¨¤¨•§•¨¤¨•§•¨¤¨•§•¨¤¨•§•¨¤¨•§•¨¤¨•§•¨¤¨•
Meanwhile, Byakuya was finishing the last load of paperwork that Kimiko had brought him. Though he would never mention it out loud, he had to give the girl some credit for her work as a lieutenant; it was much more effective than the work Renji had done. Kimiko was very similar to her older sister Kanoe, the woman who had occupied the spot as lieutenant before Renji when Byakuya first became the captain of the sixth division. He had been forced to replace Kanoe when she had been killed on a mission.
All in all Nakashima Kanoe still represented the idea that he had for a lieutenant but her little sister was actually doing great work at catching up with the spot her sister had left despite their different personalities. Byakuya was the type of man to recognize the worth of the people who deserved it and give them the proper credit for a job well done. A sudden knock drew his attention from the paperwork.
“Come in.”
The door slid open and the new light-brown haired lieutenant stepped inside. “Kuchiki-taichou, you have a visitor.”
“Who is it?”
Kimiko suddenly grinned and her emerald eyes brighten a bit. “Unohana-taichou, are you going to receive her?” She had wanted to laugh at the sudden pointed look that he gave her but refrained herself. “I’ll inform her.”
The lieutenant stepped out with a small unreadable smile on her lips; he couldn’t properly hear what was said between her and the captain of the fourth division but it took longer than he expected as five minutes later Unohana entered accompanied by Kimiko, who still had quite a suspicious smile on her face. She waited for the Unohana to take a seat before she looked expectantly at her own captain.
“You may retire now, Kimiko.” He said mildly, not knowing just what was she expecting from him. “Also…we’re not to be disturbed.”
A huge smile appeared on Kimiko’s face. “As you order, sir.” She mock saluted before she left the office, closing the door behind her.
“Has Nakashima-san fully adapted to her new post as a lieutenant?” Unohana asked him to divert his attention from the absent woman.
“She has, so far I don’t have any complaints in her performance.” He answered simply and directed his onyx hued eyes to her. “Though personality wise she seems to be a mix of Kanoe and Renji.”
“Well, I suppose that will work just fine with you. Kanoe-san was a lot like you and Abarai-san was your complete opposite, so since Kimiko-san seems to be a mix of both of them it will be a nice balance for you.” She commented quite wisely.
“Perhaps,” He ruefully agreed with her, “But what brings you here? I doubt that you came all the way here to talk about my lieutenant.”
“And you’re right.” She tilted her head slightly sideways and smiled very gently at him. “I wanted to merely see you.”
His eyes widened slightly at that comment. “You only came here to see me?”
“Pretty much.” She reaffirmed as if it was the simplest thing in the world.
Of all the things she had been expecting as an answer the small barely there smile that appeared on his face was the last thing she expected. She didn’t understand why he didn’t smile more often as he looked much more handsome when he smiled. Now she knew why he was so popular among the members of the SWA and she couldn’t really help but to smile back.
“Finally there it is!!!” Before they realized it Kimiko was inside and snapped a picture of her barely smiling captain. “I can see money in my future!”
Immediately Byakuya glared at his lieutenant and stood up. “What’s the meaning of this!?”
“Ohh, well you see the Shinigami Women Association offered to pay me good money for a single picture of you, smiling, so I just had to patiently wait.” Kimiko took a step backwards toward the door to make and hasty exit. “Next time maybe you and Unohana-taichou can kiss because I’ve also been offered money for that picture for the best couple, so hurry up with that!”
As quickly as Kimiko could manage she left, leaving the two shocked captains behind in the office. Apparently the SWA had a backup plan in case Unohana rejected the proposal of snapping the picture of Byakuya. But she never suspected it would be his own lieutenant. She looked over at him and almost, key word here being almost, flinched when she noticed the cold raw anger reflected in his eyes.
“Don’t take it too seriously.” She said softly before placing her hand on top of his in a vain attempt to soothe him a bit. “You always knew you were popular with them.”
“Hn…” Taking in consideration that he actually had a guest he once again sat down and took a deep breath.
“Never thought they would actually offer her money for this.” She commented while she drew her hand away.
“I’ll have to talk with her…” His tone of voice made it quite clear that he was still angry at Kimiko, but had decided to concentrate on the rest of his paper work. “…When I do kiss you, I’ll make sure my lieutenant is very far from us.”
Her eyes widened a bit at that last comment and for some seconds she didn’t know what to make of it. Had he said it without realizing it or was it a joke? But when they briefly locked eyes, well, she understood that he wasn’t lying. She just expected that when that did happen none of the members of the SWA would be around, or else…