A short, drabble-y one-shot that popped into my head just this morning. Because there aren't enough Stark x Nanao fics to go around.

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach. No Hollows or Shunsui-feelings were hurt in the making of this one-shot.

Summary: With Shunsui, it is always "delicate Nanao," or "fragile, beautiful Nanao." Everything she does is forced into a cautious crabwalk. But with Stark…with Stark, she imagines she could walk and breathe freely. One-sided Shunsui x Nanao, Stark x Nanao.

Crabwalk

"Be careful, Nanao."

As always, he whispers the words into her hair the moment before the battle begins, the instant before the Hollows arrive with him and launch their brutal attack against the eighth squad. Before she is swept away by the tide of war and he can no longer hover by her side like an overprotective father.

He leans back, dark eyes concerned, giving her breathing room. Still, his concern stifles her lungs, presses down on her chest like an overeager puppy.

"I will, sir," she murmurs back, knowing that if she does not make him this promise, he will abandon all pretense of propriety and stick to her like a burr. He nods and drifts away, giving orders just as the first Hollow explodes forth from a garganta and screeches its battle cry.

Shunsui knows Nanao can take care of herself. Yet he has appointed himself her unofficial bodyguard, to make sure that no harm ever comes to his "precious, delicate Nanao-chan."

If Nanao is truly honest with herself, his attention is nauseating. Everything she does, every step she takes outside of Soul Society into the Real World is monitored, watched by a careful eye and a heart too full of adoration to consider how having a constant sentinel makes her feel. Her once-purposeful strides are forced into a cautious crabwalk.

"Be careful, Nanao-chan." Always "be careful." Never, "I trust you, Nanao," or "I know you can take care of yourself."

Doesn't he trust her anymore? Not even with her own life? Or has that too become his to safeguard and govern as he pleases, just like her freedom?

"Espada!" someone shrieks above the din of dying Hollow. "The Espada is here!"

Nanao's head snaps up. Her eyes are wide, her heart beating to an unsteady rhythm that once belonged to Shunsui. But not anymore.

Stark?

She can't see him. There is a flash of white and nothing more before people start screaming and calling for aid. Nanao struggles to reach him through the chaos. She can't breathe. Shunsui is still nearby; she can feel his reiatsu wrapped around her like a blanket, trying to hold on, to keep her by him. Frustration boiling in her stomach like a coiled snake, Nanao reaches up a hand and blasts a Hollow into oblivion.

She can't breathe with Shunsui. She crabwalks, always careful, always over-cautious and restricted. She can't be herself with him anymore.

But…with Stark, she imagines she would walk freely, say what she wants to say, take in huge gulping breaths and never once be told to watch her step.

"Out of my way!" she shouts at another Hollow, and this one too feels the bite of her power.

She turns, searching for another glimpse of white among the seething mass of black robes and flashing claws—and suddenly, he is behind her, hands cupping her elbows and solid chest pressing against her back.

Shunsui's reiatsu falls away like heavy chains from a freed prisoner. Nanao basks in the sudden, unexpected freedom, the same freedom she feels whenever Stark is near.

Stark leans forward for a split instant, brushes his lips against her ear and whispers, "Hello, Nanao."

And then he is gone again, pulled into the throng and push of battle, and she is alone. But he has freed her—a moment's touch is all it takes. She can walk, breathe, smile again.

With Stark, Nanao can live freely.

A/N: Please review! :)