For all her harsh lines and professional appearance, she really was quite lovely.

Shunsui watched her as she reached to put a volume back on the bookshelf, her slender forearm pale and contrasted with the black of her uniform. His eyes followed the soft curve of her arm to her shoulder and up her neck.

He paused, and a grin blossomed on his features. He'd been caught.

She didn't scold him or even turn to acknowledge him, but he knew she was aware of him staring at her due to the delicate pink blush threatening to entirely overcome her cheeks.

She was unsure of how to proceed, he could tell. Of course the blush was settling in deeper because now she knew that he knew that she knew he was watching her, and that it wasn't bothering him at all that he had been caught red-handed.

His smile got a little wider. She was stunning when she got flustered like that.

She was also very stubborn, and despite the fact that he refused to take his eyes off of her, she carried on with her project, balancing a large pile of books in one arm and slipping them onto shelves with the other.

Shunpo had its uses in battle, but Shunsui found it far more effectual in the sneaking up on of unsuspecting and highly irritable vice captains, pretty though they may be.

"Need a hand?" He asked; mouth next to her ear. He grasped the spine of the book in her hand before she could swing her arm to hit him with it and clucked his tongue reproachfully. "Yare, yare, my kawaii Nanao-chan. That's not very nice."

"Are you trying to give me a heart-attack?"

"Just trying to help," he said cheerfully, and guided her hand and the book to its rightful location.

He could practically hear her teeth grinding in irritation.

"Nanao-chan has such lovely fingers," he said, pressing his thumb to the centre of her palm, the small pressure enough to keep her from pulling it away. He brought it to his mouth and kissed a finger tip. "And such delicate wrists," he continued, pressing a kiss there as well, feeling her pulse flutter beneath his lips.

"If you want to help," she snapped suddenly, jerking her hand away from him. "You might as well put this one on the top shelf. I can't reach," she said, handing him the next book on her pile. She made to step out of his way as he took the book from her, but his opposite hand found her hip, keeping her in place in front of him as he leaned forward to put the book away, the entire length of his body pressing against the back of hers.

"Hmm," he hummed appreciatively once the book was on its shelf. "Nanao-chan's body is so luscious and firm."

When he stepped back enough that her hips were no longer pinned against the bookcase, she turned to face him, cheeks flaming and her eyes enraged. "Since you are so eager to help, you can finish this yourself," she declared, shoving the last two remaining books into his arms.

The wily grin he so often wore while teasing her, however, was still securely in place.

"Nanao is beautiful when she blushes," he said, voice deep and dark and alluring. Shifting the books into one large hand, Shunsui leaned in, bracing himself against the bookshelf with his free arm, effectively caging his flustered vice-captain as he jammed both of the books into a single open spot next to her head.

She gazed at him helplessly, arms limp at her sides as he looked at her, and as his smile slid wide across his face, they both knew what was coming.

"All done," he chirped. But when he made to back away and leave her, her small hand fisted in the front of his robes, pulling him back to her.

"Not yet, you're not," she murmured almost hesitantly (though nothing his vice captain ever said or did was not carefully thought out).

His eyes were on her lips as she spoke, on her chest as it heaved, and on the trembling hand still gripping his haori.

She really was quite lovely.