The Deep Stacks

Back far in the back of the Library, in the older parts that were barely found by anything there was a low pitched whine. So low it was annoying, though it couldn't be traced. Deep in the musty areas, in the stacks where barely anyone had recently traveled and in need of some TLC there emitted a few hopeless barks.

After a while of this there were more barks. Sadder, louder and more forceful. After even longer... it was just a small voice calling for help.

There, stuck somehow in some convoluted knot of a leash and collar, lay a prone woman covered only by her pure white hair. Her arms were tied up in the leash, unable to detangle herself from the mess that it had become. Her hair strategically covered every bit of her that mattered, though red tattoos could be seen dotting the spots her hair didn't cover.

"Heeeeeeeelp! Pleeeeeeeease!" The voice was desperate and sad.

Hideki scurried to and fro about the library, returning books to their proper places. On the one hand, it was the most tedious part of his duties by a wide margin. On the other hand, it was the most exercise he got outside of the desk. So it was a matter of mixed feelings that propelled him from aisle to aisle with an increasingly smaller stack of books. It was as he approached the... OLD stacks that he heard the noise...

At first it sounded like... some kind of squeaky wheel? Wait... maybe a bark? No.. it was a voice.. A voice calling for help? He speed-walked down the aisle towards the ever louder voice. Curious... What could someone need help with down here? Why would they need to just shout? Why not come to the desk?

Hideki rounded the corner, turning to see the sight before him and froze, rather suddenly. What... the... hell? He stared blankly, an incredulous look the only face he was willing to make. After a moment or two, he just.. sort of .... slowly backed away and turned to leave. Why did nobody ever come here to read, he thought, face bright red.

"NO! PLEASE DON'T GO. I'm...stuck..." The voice wavered, a melodic and nice voice, wracked with sad and embarrassment and pain. She twisted, trying to make sure her long hair covered enough of her body so that way no one could see anything they shouldn't. A noble's body was their treasure! And hers...was tied up like... well things she didn't honestly know about.

"Please don't leave me back here alone! Its dusty and s-scary..." Yuzuki called out to her mysterious rescuer who seemed intent on leaving. She was crying slightly and sniffled. "You are the only one...to hear me..."

He was ten steps down the aisle already when she protested that she was stuck. He seized up, almost dropping the few books he was still carrying. Maybe she wasn't talking to him? .... Okay, dumb thought. Nobody just came back here... He glanced over his shoulder in that direction. Okay Hideki... You're putting away books and you come across a gorgeous tied up NO DAMN IT, A REGULAR TIED UP WOMAN... what do you do... If you go help her... his face turned brighter red.. okay... not even going to give more thought to that.. And if you leave her here, she might starve...
....

....

Hideki sighed. "C-coming..." he said shakily before turning and walking back over to her, trying to look anywhere but directly at her. "Uhhh... don't worry? I'm here to help?" He said-asked. "What um. What.." He quietly turned and faced away from her, clearing his throat. "Well, miss. How did you get stuck like this and how can I get you down?" He would know it was a matter of simply untangling the leash... y'know... if he could look directly at her.

He was going to leave her! No! She was going to die here, and all because of her love of mystery novels. Yuzuki was about at the point of resigning herself to her evil demented fate, or make a solemn vow to give up something like mystery novels if only to get her out of this. If only it had been a woman who found her... Not a young man. What if... he was awful. What if he did things... Yuzuki flushed and struggled a bit at her binding, angry at her family for their stupid ideas.

A few elegant, trained sniffles and tears fell down her cheeks as she looked up at Hideki, happy to see him walking back and deciding to help. She smiled as she noticed he wasn't looking at her, this was good! The red lines around her eyes didn't run with her tears, as they were tattoos, for which she was thankful. Her body and dignity was preserved and this man wasn't an awful one. "Thank you good sir. I...am tied up. Up on my arms! I was...I had a problem and... then... it wouldn't come off. You need to unlatch these! Immediately!...Please? The leash first and then the ones binding my arms."

She struggled lightly, impatient now that she had someone to help. Yuzuki wouldn't say so, but she had been near panicking and still was. Her voice quavered and she shook slightly from the effort to stay calm.

He took a deep breath, still facing away from her, exhaling slowly. "Um... Okay.." He thought for a second, trying to keep his mind blank, remembering where her hands were. "W-wait... leash?" Why did she have a... leash... His face went even redder. Of all the times he'd ever walked in on squad members doing it, this was by a WIDE margin the weirdest. He finally moved. Stiffly... awkwardly... walking backwards towards her...

His plan was simple.. Walk over to her backwards so he doesn't have to look at her... crouch down, place the books on the floor, then turn so he would only see her hands and get to work. And he did it fine... until he misjudged how far back she was. Right about when the back of his leg felt a bound hand on it, his eyes widened. Oh... no... and then he tumbled backwards, arms flailing.

What was this insane, silly young man doing?! He didn't need to look at her but the way he was doing this was bound to end badly. Still she kept quiet, not wanting to disturb his movements. Maybe he knew what he was doing, he did seem to grasp how sacred her body was and wasn't looking at it with his eyes. Maybe this could work?

Trusting in his judgement, Yuzuki relaxed a second and one second too long. As Hideki came falling towards her, she let out a surprised shriek as he landed on her. Not only did he land on her, his reflexes must have kicked in. He was half turned, aimed for her and landed...face first into her chest. She... was utterly stunned and couldn't move. Her body was stone. There was a man, pressed against her naked body...laying partially on her... she wished death would come swiftly for that was all that could end her humiliation.

Hideki wasn't sure what happened. He was falling... and he was scared... and then he was... yeah. He must be dead. He was in heaven now... That's what it felt like.. soft, smooth heaven... wait... heaven didn't have pain, which some of him that DIDN'T land on the poor Yuzuki was in... he lifted his head... what the hell had he... he looked down and his face suddenly blushed bright red. "O-oh my god! I'm so sorry!" Um um um "um. um um.." what should he do. He should leave! RUN AWAY! WAIT NO SHE'LL STARVE!

UM UM UM GET HER OUT OF THE BONDS YES, SET HER FREE THEN RUN. PERFECT PLAN HIDEKI. BEST AT PLANNING. GET THIS DONE. He glanced up, meeting her gaze for half a second long enough to give an expression that could best be described as "HOLY SHIT I AM SORRY!'' before scooting up to his knees, no longer thinking that awesome and trying to get her loose as fast as possible so he could flee this terrible situation. and maybe soul society... maybe earth. Could shinigami breathe in space? He was going to find out soon... He scooted forward to get close to the knot as he could, trying to work it undone. "H-h-how did you um... g-get this t-tangled?"

Yuzki was frozen in shock... This lower class soul had...touched her inappropriately, stammered an apology and then... tried to free her by staying this close?! His face had...been... no! Noooooooooo! Her mind rejected such notions, but still she couldn't move. She could only stare at Hideki in a mixture of horror and embarrassment as he was still almost pressed against her trying to untie her. How had she fallen this far? Even her hair couldn't protect her now...

"Just...just cut it! You are a Shinigami, you have a weapon!" Finally she snapped a bit, her voice much higher than normal as she closed her eyes and yelled slightly. End this now, she wished to die.

His face felt like it got brighter red. Maybe it didn't. But it sure heated up more. What the HELL had she done to this DAMNED THING... He pursed his lips trying really really hard not to think about the soft warm... NO. COLD STEEL MANNEQUIN. THAT'S WHAT HE WAS... er... squooshed... up against NO NO NO. SO UNCOMFORTABLE. He almost glanced down before catching himself. "uhhh uhhh... I don't um.. o-oh.. y-yeah.. yeah I do.." He leaned back a bit, surely much to Yuzuki's delight before he pulled Librom out and flipped through it to the knives page. "Here we go!" He said, slamming the book shut.... and getting an eye full. "S...shit.." He squeezed his eyes shut and reached up, finding the rope with his hand and placing the knife to it, pushing it through, finally cutting her free. Not wanting her to fall and hurt herself, he let his other hand stay immobile and as un-touchy as possible behind her to keep her from falling.

"U...um... s-sorry..."

He didn't what? Did he not have a weapon?! What kind of Shinigami was this!? Yuzuki just had to have the one shinigami in all of existence without a sharp pointy weapon end up finding her. As he leaned away, she moved slightly, hoping to catch a glimpse of what he was doing. A book? What use was this!? She glared at him, until he pulled a knife out of it. It startled her and she looked utterly confused, missing the glance and swearing he had done. Seeing his eyes close, she closed hers as well. If she spoke now it might end up with her having a gash in her arm, so despite her frustration and anger she kept quiet and as still as she could while he cut through the ropes.

She fell backwards against his arm for a second before she threw herself sideways, away from Hideki though she ended up brushing him aside. Yuzuki used her arms to cover her upper half as she tried to lean over herself, her hair covering as much as she could make it. Her voice was imperious as she spoke, glaring at the shinigami. "Give me some clothes! Like your top garment! And some pants... Q-Quickly! I need to be covered."

Yuzuki was grateful and happy to be free, and she appreciated what that shinigami had done for her.

Hideki sighed in relief as the rope cut. Finally, she was free. AND SO WAS HE! YES! FREE TO RUN AWAY! RUNNING AWAY WAS GOOD! He stumbled away as she leaped away and covered herself... Which immediately made him blush and looked down. It seemed like her attempts to cover herself were.... about as alluring as her exposed self. His cheeks burned as he cleared his throat. Why were there bindings on her arm though? And she sure as hell wasn't a shinigami he had seen around before... He would remember her... The more he thought, the more questions he had.

Questions chased away by her demand for clothes. "OH! U-um... My clothes? Uh... well...." He blushed, looking up for a moment. His clothes? Well... she was naked...he couldn't just leave her that way. He sighed, rubbing his forehead... Well... He didn't really have an option... did he... He looked at her... frowned... looked down and then... kicked off his sandles, dropped his trousers and pulled his top over his head. He folded them together and handed them to the girl. "Uh... I just cleaned them before coming here today... uh..." He coughed and his posture shrunk a little, as if it could hide the polka dot boxers he was wearing. He could swear up and down that he bought these ironically... if he could get a word out.

Yuzuki turned bright red as she looked over and caught a glimpse of... polka dot undergarments?! She had been sitting there waiting and the sound of his clothing and his agreement to her using his clothing had drawn her eye for just a second. "W-where is your under clothes?! Don't shinigami have a second layer in their shihakusho?! Ahhh now I have seen another man's body, I am tainted."

"You should take responsibility for such nakedness! How could he could you go around like that!?" As she took the clothing, she lamented to herself as she quickly pulled the outfit on. It was odd wearing pant type garments, though some of the formal wear of her family was such. However the clothing was... slightly too tight. The pants were quite...snug against her butt and hips. The top? It covered enough but quite a bit of her chest was showing. Pulling her hair forward to try and cover it, she realized that the arms were a bit longer on her than him as well. She grew frustrated at such indignities and stepped forward only to trip on her long white hair.

Laying there, she grumbled more. "And get me something to tie my hair back. It is too onerous to walk around with it getting all dusty and being a hassle."

He frowned, face still a little red, but quite indignant at the slight against his underwear choice. "H-hey... they're supposed to be funny. I mean, nobody is supposed to see them." He decided not to add that it wasn't HIS decision to not bring clothes to the library today. Bah. Tainted... his body was glorious... ish.. well.. it, according to the NOT EVEN SORT OF DISTRACTING way his uniform fit her, was smaller then a woman's... ugh. "Y-yes, sure." He looked around before unhooking some of the leash that had been stuck on the shelf, cutting it loose where necessary, effectively getting a decent size length of strap. He walked over to her and moved to tie her hair up before thinking better of it and handing her the material.

"So... uh... I hate to ask... although it's... technically my job to ask.. um..." He blushed, still trying to be as un-visible as possible in his skivvies. "How exactly... did this happen?"

"They are ridiculous! How could you not expect me to scorn them?" Yuzuki was on a roll, though she refused to look at Hideki again. Such impure images were not to be in her mind. Another body flashed in front of her eyes and she covered them with a small eep. No! No such things were impossible.

He was obeying her, which was good. If he didn't ask questions, she could flee and leave him to his...polka dot boxer clad life. Who even wore those as a joke? At least they weren't hearts or bears... Such undignified garments would only soil her more.

Yuzuki moved her hands from her face to grab the strap, setting it on her lap as she started pulling the long thick and white hair over her shoulder. "Well? What are you waiting for? Help me, this is rather unwieldy to do alone."

As he asked a question, she turned red and fussed with her hair. "I-Its none of your business! All you need to know is I was trapped here and needed assistance. Which you gave after such a slow start. Do your superiors know you work so slow? Still, despite the rather unprompt help... You have my thanks... Uh, what is your name?"

For how much he was avoiding looking at her, and how impure his boxer choice seemed to be, she seemed to be fascinated with him, even if it was just to judge... Who was this girl? Nobody who had gone through the academy could be THIS....posh... Hrm... maybe... His train of thought was distracted by her hair... there sure was a lot of it... and those tattoos... they looked less like she got them done for giggles and more.... hrm.... had he seen them in a book? Maybe, maybe not... but he sure bet he could find them in one...

"Uh...s-sure..." He walked behind her, reaching around and gently pulling back the strands of hair, neatly looping it up into a ponytail. "Well, I wouldn't ask, but you have actual bindings on your arm, they weren't just tangled up. I'm glad I could help though." He coughed. "Uh, my name is Hideki. Vice Captain Hideki Nishimura. What's your name, may I ask?"

"Its too long for just that, that would hurt me. What kind of shinigami are you? Causing pain to a soul under your care... Hmph! You have to pull it up like this and twist around to move the weight to more manageable levels." Yuzuki moved her head and held the hair out, showing him a sort of knot to make with it as she did. Then she pointed at a spot near the end of the knot from behind. She wasn't going to turn. She also wasn't going to admit this was the first time a man who wasn't family had touched her hair. Her soft hair...

"That is where you lash it with the tie, to hold it. It keeps it off the floor so it does not get dirty." He could easily see the markings on her hands and wrist as she did this, if he was paying attention.

She startled and dropped her hair though, turning her body so she could look up at him. "Vice...Captain?! How are you Vice Captain?! What are you doing out here? It is such a prestigious position..." Crossing her arms under her chest, her eyes ran back and forth as she thought.

Knowing what was required, but sighing at the need, Yuzuki executed a beautifully done movement that raised her from sitting to standing in a graceful manner. She turned to bow, her hair falling to the side. "I am Yuzuki, Scion of the Morinaga Clan."

"I was...bound. If you must know, Vice Captain. To keep me from exploring." He was a VICE CAPTAIN. She should be more polite. It didn't mean she would be nice about it though and she pouted from her bowed position. She felt like her chest would fall out of this garment if she stayed like that too much longer.

He sighed under his breath. Was it too late to leave her stuck to the bookshelf and go back to work? But she was likely to raise a fuss and although it's hardly like he would get in trouble, did he really need the hassle? He was bored, obviously, but was THIS the best way to spend his time? Still... she had his clothes... so he at least needed to see her off long enough for her to get her own and give him his uniform back... he didn't want to have to requisition another one... He was taken aback however at her shock of him being Vice Captain.

"H...How? Because I'm smart." He wasn't one to compliment himself, but he felt like he needed the defending at the moment. And why did she suddenly care that he was a vice captain? Lots of people paid him little mind... But then she introduced herself. Ah.. That explained the familiar markings and her attention to formality... "Ohhhh... You're the heir of one of those noble clans... That explains a lot.."

He crossed his arms. "Hrm... Well... that explains the leash... and the no clothes... they tie you up when you're in animal form, don't you..." he said, thinking of her bit about exploring too. "Um... Y-you don't need to address me formally, though. Just Hideki would be fine... er... that and if we could find me some clothes.."

"You are smart?" Yuzuki was genuinely confused, a look of disbelief on her lovely face as she stared towards Hideki. It quickly changed to one of utter shock as he spoke more, forgetting his unclothed state. "You ARE SMART. Oh my lordes. You... Huh. I guess I underestimated you, Vice Captain."

As he continued to speak though, her jaw dropped and she turned bright red. Whether from anger or embarrassment, she couldn't speak words for several seconds as she spluttered. How had... such a... lowly person figured it out so quickly?! Not many knew of the Morinaga's tendancies... It was mostly in the books... Here in the library. That he would have access to as Vice Captain. Oh boy.

Pointing her hand forward, she stuttered. "You can tell NO ONE. I forbid it. I forbid. It. No one must know! I have a reputation to maintain, and it would be ruined by them knowing I was a regular soul and not a rather fluffy and adorable dog Hideki!"

Was it that confusing to think of him as smart? He opened his mouth, but only made a simple exasperated noise as Yuzuki continued to fumble around with the idea that he wasn't some braindead cretin. He crossed his arms, starting to feel a little drafty. Great. He was going to catch a cold.... Could shinigami even catch colds? They were dead, after all... but... then again, people aged... and could have children... and die... Jeez, the afterlife was confusing. He made a small "hm?" as he looked back up, realizing he hadn't been listening and finding her pointing at him. Crap. You weren't listening Hideki, were you? Great. She's going to think you were staring at her cl-WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT BRAIN, MY OUTFIT FITS HER TOTALLY NORMALLY.

He looked left and right awkwardly before reaching out and softly batting her hand away. "Stop the pointing and shouting. For someone worried about keeping secrets you're... not very secretive. And seriously. You want me to keep quiet? Help me find you clothes so I can get my uniform back."

As Yuzuki stood there, she realized one...small...simple thing. The Vice Captain seemed to know about her dog form... And he was awfully naked, and she didn't want to see anyone naked but her future husband...

Her slow as molasses thoughts, jumbled up by all the things she had been through today, pieced together something as the Vice Captain apparently stared directly into her chest. As he swatted her hand away, she pulled it back as if he had hurt it and glared. "Don't touch me! I am perfectly secretive. And I have a better idea... You already know so its not like it'll hurt anything."

She grumbled as she started slipping off the shinigami uniform without thinking, before turning a bright red and stuttering. "T-Turn away! I'm going to give you your clothes back and switch to dog form. Then I won't need your ridiculously ill-fitting uniform and you can lead me from this dusty hell hole."

He gave a curious "hm?" Wondering what her idea was, before giving a follow up "Oh" as she started slipping the uniform off. As she started... his face turned bright red again before she started shouting for him to turn around. He did so with a sigh, before grumbling, just loud enough for her to hear "not anything I haven't seen already." Once turned around, he crossed his arms and sighed again. How had he gotten himself into this? How was he going to get out of this. He didn't want to walk a dog all the way back to her place. Plus, he would get in trouble for carrying a dog around the library.

Okay, so he needed to get her some clothes... let's see... they didn't have any spare uniforms in the library... and the barracks were a ways a way.... was there anything for clothing they could-

His eyes snapped open before his face sunk into a devious, almost grinch like smile. Yes... Yes there WAS somewhere they had clothing in the library...

"I don't care if you have, seeing it again is what I am worried over." Yuzuki's voice was scathing, even as her face was a deep red from Hideki's comment. W-Who did he think he was to assume he could just see her body now because he saw it once?! Even a Vice Captain couldn't look!

As Hideki thought, a poof of smoke appeared and inside it was a fluffy, white dog. A cute, happy, fluffy white dog. Her tail wagged vigorously and she ran up to Hideki, hopping on her back legs to try and lick his face.

She had light red markings even in dog form, though they were only truly visible up close and she whined softly at the young man, hoping he'd let her lick his face in true doggy manner. Doge was back!

"Like I even want to see it again." He said dismissively, absolutely not lying through his teeth in any way shape or liar as hell form. It wasn't till there was a poof that he turned around and saw the tiny little dog there. Well... He had to admit, she was awfully cute as a dog... not that she wasn't cute as a person, but that was a MUCH different kind of cute and SHE IS MEAN WHAT ARE YOU EVEN THINKING ABOUT THIS FOR DAMN IT.

He crouched down. "Aww, you're a smiley dog!" He said, finding the pup too adorable to really even think of it the same as Yuzuki. He picked her up without thought, letting her lick at his face. "Ahh. Stop, stop!" he lowered her just a bit. "Let's go. I can't walk out the front door with you. Having a dog in here would get me in trouble. But I know where we can find you a set of clothes." He said, managing not to giggle or even smirk as he headed off and up some stairs.

Now that she was in dog form, she ignored the comment he said about not wanting to see her naked again. It wasn't important. What was important was... He enjoyed happy doggy face. Wooing at him, as she licked his face while being carried.

It was okay Hideki. Zuzu understood. She was a dog, they weren't allowed in places. As she cuddled up to him, she continued to try and sneak licks under his chin. Clothes were nice. Hideki was so nice. She liked Hideki.