[Fic] - Threads of Different Yarns - Chapter 2/?
[Title]: Threads of Different Yarns - Chapter 2
[Characters]: Kyouraku Shunsui, Miyako and Shiba Kaien
[Summary]: Kaien tries to come up with the best way to solve his problems. From managing to postpone Miyako's insistence for him to make up his mind about their relationship to playing cupid to Ukitake and Kyouraku. Now, if only Byakuya would too be interested elsewhere...
[Word Count]: 1977
[Finished]: 26.April.2008
[Beta]: by the fastest beta ever: umihana
[Warnings]: Spoilers for the whole series, up to the latest "Turn Back the Pendulum" Arc of the manga.
[Rating]: PG-13
[Notes]: OMG, this is becoming an Het fic. Can you imagine me writing Het? What is the world coming to.XD
Disclaimer: Do not own Bleach and will not make a profit out of this fic. All characters © Kubo Tite
Chapter 2.
Shiba Kaien searched the emptying halls of 13th Division Headquarters for a missing Miyako-chan, but so far his search was coming up null. Sighting two Division members hurrying to the mess hall, he concluded that she was probably there with the rest of the Division, already at lunch. Looking out a window, he saw the mild wintry sun at its highest peak and realized it was later than what he had assumed.
Moving to the dining hall, he surveyed the area looking for the dark-haired shinigami beauty. Spotting her at the top table, Kaien called cheerfully and he made his way towards her. His heart was thumping hard in his chest, as fast as Byakuya’s shunpo. Well, make that as fast as Yoruichi-san’s shunpo!
“Miyako-chan! Just the shinigami I was looking for.”
She looked up at him and smiled, before standing up to meet him half way and said, “the shinigami, huh?” She huffed her disappointment. “So you’re not gonna finally ask me that thing that I’ve been waiting for…” She counted by her fingers and pushed three of her slim and long digits in his face. “…for the past three years?”
Kaien’s face lost some of its healthy color and his smile slightly faded. Lately she’d been pestering him with this almost every day. He liked her. No! His feelings were even greater than that. He would ask her. He wanted to! But there were others involved that he had to see settled before he could make this big move. He thought of a way to dissuade her yet again. “Ha…you see Miyako-chan…”
“Not yet, huh?” She interrupted and finished for him, her face more amused than upset.
Until when would she wait for him? “Erm… no, not yet, Miyako-chan,” he said, his left arm coming up to scratch the back of his head.
“So if that isn’t what you need me for, what can I do for you?” she asked, smiling her bright smile.
“Well…” he started, stepping aside to allow some shinigami to leave the dining area, who bowed and waved at them enthusiastically. “…you know, Ukitake-taichou had to leave for the afternoon and Byakuya-kun had to go early to attend a family lunch.”
She nodded, her brows furrowed slightly, as she tried to discern what he was going to ask her.
“And, as much as I wanted to oversee this afternoon’s training session,” Kaien continued, “I’m completely swamped and up to my ears in paperwork. So, could Miyako-chan be so kind as to oversee the training for me?” he asked, batting his eyelashes and trying to look innocent, which seemed to work wonders on her.
She laughed out loud in her spontaneous, crystalline laughter. “How did I ever fall for you and your childish techniques of persuasion?”
“You say they’re childish but you can’t resist my charms,” he said, lowering his voice, and tried to sound seductive.
Miyako’s laughing increased, bringing tears to her dark eyes. “Now, I’m even convinced it wasn’t your seduction techniques, either.” She wiped her eyes, smiling fondly at him.
“Still, you did fall for me. I must have something of interest, after all.” Kaien smiled too, and stepped closer.
“Hmm, something of interest?” she pondered, teasingly but stepped back, making him notice they weren’t alone but in a mess hall full of other shinigami, several of them watching their exchange closely.
There were rumors of a bet going on, betting on the date he would finally propose to her. Kaien had even heard of a Never option, quickly growing in odds. Oh well, it was their loss.
He closed the distance between them again and whispered close to her ear, “I can think of a thing or two you like about me. Or better, that you like doing with me.” He was being deliberately evil, but it was her turn to be teased a bit too, and she actually did blush considerably, looking embarassed for a moment. His heart churned with guilt.
But her embarrassment was over in no time and she neither hesitated, nor sugarcoated her strike back. “You see, the things I like to do with you which get me all hot and bothered, I can do on my own, thank you very much. Maybe not as fun, but with fairly the same result. And everything else, we could be doing, we’re not doing, anyway.” She looked pointedly at him, implying it was his fault, before continuing, with the coup de grace. “And won’t do, until you ask that thing that’s been pending between us for awhile now.”
Kaien gulped and covered his ashamed and guilty face with his left hand. He’d been defeated at his own game and blown any changes with Miyako. But before he could retract what he’d said, and most likely dig his grave deeper, she spoke again.
“So you see, there must be something I really like about you, Shiba Kaien.”
Kaien opened the fingers of his hand and looked through them at Miyako as she moved even closer and pulled the hand covering his face to press a gentle kiss to his lips. The whistles and catcalls from the assembled shinigami were deafening.
This was why he loved her. She could always see through to him and still loved and supported him despite it all. So this was why he had to solve all pending affairs before moving further.
“Does this mean my request will be answered? Will you oversee the training today?” he asked, hopeful, his seductive smile spreading across his lips.
“Of course, silly; I don’t mix personal things with business,” she answered him, carefree. “Have you eaten yet? You gotta eat if you’re doing the work of the Captain and the 3rd seat, as well as your own.”
The quick change of topic and her care for his wellbeing made Kaien grin and join her at the table for the meal.
As they were leaving the now almost empty mess hall and making their way to their afternoon tasks, she asked, “Are you free tonight? I said all those things but they were basically just to tease you.”
“Just to tease? You had me fooled there.”
She grinned. “Good, but it’s too easy to play you; sometimes it feels like taking a lollipop from a kid. No fun at all.”
“Keep teasing, why dont’cha?”
“And about tonight?” Miyako insisted.
“Can’t tonight,” Kaien replied. “Tonight is Byakuya’s party.”
“It’s not that I don’t understand him wanting to spend time with you, after all you’ve been friends forever.”
Kaien snorted at this, but made no further comment, so she continued.
“But he should socialize more. Why couldn’t he have invited more people from the Division?”
“It was hard enough for Byakuya to circumvent his family’s impositions on this one small party. If he were to throw a party for a dozen shinigami he would never hear the end of it. I have the feeling they just agreed because of the reduced number of guests and because we’re “noble” too,” he snorted again, disdainfully.
“Well, he still could use more socialization.”
“You’re just jealous cos you weren’t invited.”
“Like I want to spend my night babysitting three grown men, who’d be pissed at me because I decided to show up and ruin whatever kinky soirée they had planned.”
Oh, she was good!
“I’d rather spend the night babysitting your baby brother, and give your sister some time out on her own,” the black-eyed shinigami concluded as they reached their parting point: an empty hall that lead to the higher-seats offices and the exit door to the training grounds.
“Well, then give them my love,” Kaien said, leaning closer to kiss Miyako’s forehead.
“I will,” she replied. And making sure no one was in sight, she grabbed the fukutaichou by his uniform, pulling him into her and kissed him properly, tongues and all. “Have fun at the party.”
“Somehow,
I’m now having second thoughts about going,” Kaien panted.
“Nonsense,” she chided him. “Go and solve all things pending. So we can move on with that thing of ours,” she grinned and sent him on his way.
Later that afternoon, Kaien decided to sit by the water just outside of the Division Headquarters, finishing the day’s reports while trying to warm up in the rays of the mild winter sun. They weren’t really warming but from this spot he could catch a glimpse of Miyako while she directed the afternoon training in his stead. She was fierce and powerful but also understanding and kind: the right combination for a 13th Division officer. And while off-duty she was fun to be around, with just the right amount of interesting conversation and entertaining banter.
Kaien sighed. He was really done for, completely head-over-heels for the beautiful shinigami, and she knew it. She played him like a virtuoso, striking every chord at the precise moment and with the exact intensity, and he liked it. He grinned widely and was going back to concentrating on his work, when the wan sun was suddenly covered by a large shadow. Looking up, he saw Kyouraku Shunsui, the 8th Division taichou smirking over him, looking between Kaien and the training grounds on the other side of the water.
“She’s a peach, isn’t she?”
Kaien grinned and nodded.
“If I didn’t have Nanao-chan, I would be asking Miyako-chan to be my fukutaichou. In fact she reminds me of Nanao-chan, not as strict but I’m sure, and correct me if I’m wrong, but she can warm up to it if the occasion arises.”
Kaien chuckled and answered the pink-wearing Taichou, “Oh yes, she can be very bossy indeed. You don’t want to cross her path if she’s upset.” He looked fondly across the water.
“I knew she had it in her. Determined but caring, just the way I like it.” Kyouraku-taichou smiled congenially.
“You know Kyouraku-taichou, it’s comments like this that have you in the dog house with Ukitake-taichou.”
Kyouraku sighed, his warm smile waning like the pale sun before he answered, “He of all people should know I’m only joking.”
“Maybe that’s the problem, you joke too much. I’m fine with it, your fukutaichou is mostly fine with it and the general shinigami is fine with it. But maybe your lover of centuries wants and expects more from you than just jokes. Or maybe he got tired of all the jokes.”
“Has he spoken to you, Shiba-kun? About us and this entire mess?”
“Not much. He informed me of your separation and occasionally asks about you. But the one he really talks to about this is…”
Kyouraku interrupted him. “…is Kuchiki Byakuya. Yes, I’m aware of that fact.” He looked displeased; his face twisted as if he’d taken a bite out of a bitter orange. “Is Ukitake-san in?”
“No, he had some personal errands to run. Ukitake-taichou left earlier.”
“How has he been? His health? Has he had any crises?”
“He has been okay, most of the time. No major problems. Some mild fevers but mainly okay.”
“Has Kuchiki-sama been taking care of him during his crisis?” he asked, still tasting the bitter orange.
“You’re seeing things that don’t exist.”
“Yeah, maybe I am. Well, since he's not in, can I tempt you with a bottle of sake in exchange for some company this evening?”
“Sorry, I already have an appointment tonight.”
Kyouraku looked in Miyako’s direction and smiled longingly. “’nother time, then. Tell him I passed by. Later”
“See ya.”
Kaien watched as the Taichou moved away from the Division grounds. If Kyouraku-taichou was beginning to chase after Ukitake-taichou again it meant they probably would get back together and that meant one less partner for Kaien to abandon. Now if only Byakuya could find someone as well, Kaien could put his mind at ease. He would not be leaving any of them behind when he finally proposed to Miyako.
April2008©MarinLiliz