Bleach belongs to Tite Kubo. Rose is my OC.
Thanks to all of you who reviewed and/or added this to your watch list last chapter! It means a lot to me! I worked pretty hard on this fanfiction, so feedback is appreciated!
Thanks!
~Rose : )
The empty words bounced off the side of Rose's mind all morning, when she woke up to the fitful chirping of her alarm clock.
She'd sworn they were only in her dreams- a faceless man in a white room.
Just when she was going to put on her school uniform, she folded it back up and made a hasty decision.
Rose was going to skip school, for the first time in her life.
After taking a shower, she pulled out a pair of black skinny jeans, laced up her knee-high purple high-tops over them, slipped into a snug long-sleeved purple shirt and a black mini-vest.
Rose put her hair up in a side ponytail, tied a blue ribbon in her hair and packed a blue shoulder bag with her drawing folders and pens.
She got her house key, packed a snack, grabbed her wallet and rushed out the door; but not before calling Sadako and leaving a message on her cell phone.
"Hey, Sada it's Rose. I'm not going to be at school today: skipping. Call me back at lunch, bye."
With that, Rose raced off down the street to her favorite teashop in the whole world.
Little did she know, that heading that very same direction was a man whose face portrayed his attitude, just like the lying fox he was.
He stalked her from above, unseen to the eyes of Karakura town.
This man walked on the air.
His sliver hair fluttered in the light wind, and his already squinted eyes narrowed more to see her.
A black and purple blob, from where he was, she hurried down to the teashop.
"Take yer time, Rosie. Take yer time."
His sinister voice was caught by the wind and carried far away.
She couldn't have heard him if she had super natural senses.
By the time Rose had reached the teashop, rain was drizzling down from the sky.
She bought a hot cup of raspberry tea and sat by the window, like always.
Thunder rolled faintly in the distance as she sipped her tea.
The teashop was very empty, save for her, the staff and an elderly man drinking Hot chocolate.
She sat there, relaxing for a half an hour or so, enjoying the sweet smell of the familiar place.
As sharp shiver ran up her spine as a man in all white opened the door and walked up to the counter.
Not knowing what had made her react so, Rose hastily left a tip, gathered her things and rushed out the door.
The staff had never seen the man, and they thought the door opening 'by it's self' had just been the wind, but a breeze so light would never be able to do that.
The man in the corner drinking Hot chocolate had never even raised his head.
She was the only one who had seen him, and the look on his face sent terror running through her nerves.
Rose bolted off down the streets; weaving her way through rows parked cars, abandon bicycles and slow people.
She never looked back.
Her brain was focused on a set destination: not her apartment, not the mall, but her school. She had to reach the school.
At her school, the last bell had rung and students were hurrying home. Her eyes were shut against the rain, and she never saw him.
Rose had slowed down to a hastened walking pace when she ran into him.
Luckily, nether one fell down.
"I'm sorry! I'm in a hurry- I mean I wasn't looking-"
"It's cool."
Rose nodded and looked up at whom she had nearly mowed down: Saka.
Before he could say he knew her from somewhere, Rose blurted out her question.
"Have you seen Sadako? Please, tell me you've seen her!"
He shook his head.
"Nope, sorry. What's the big hurry-"
The hairs on the back of Rose's neck stood up, and her eyes widened.
He was back.
"Look, Hogakue-san, I've gotta go. Like, I've really gotta go. If you see Sada, tell her I'm looking for her.
Better yet, call me and tell her where I am!" she hastily scribbled her cell number down on a piece of paper and shoved it in his hand.
Saka looked slightly stunned. What she had said made no sense at all.
As she took off running again, he yelled back to her.
"Wait! Where are you going?"
She snapped her head back. "The old railroad park!"
Rose ran off into the rain; Saka called out after her
"But that's on the other side of town…!"
His voice never reached her ears through the laughter and shouts of students talking to their friends.
At the park, Rose sat on the swing. No one really knew about this place other then a handful of students.
Here, she could relax.
She looked down at the ground and sighed.
She was safe, for now.
"Done wit yer runnin', Rosie?"
Her breath caught in her lungs and Rose gripped the chains of the swing.
'I swore I lost him.'
She swallowed her fear the best she could, but her voice trembled when she spoke and her knees shook.
"I'm done with my running."
The man stood in front of her, so she could get a good look at his face, not that she wanted to see it again.
He had squinted eyes, silver hair, and a fox-like expression. His smile never faded. It seemed slightly psychotic, it not overly happy.
"Tha names Gin, Rosie. What's yer last name?"
"I don't have a last name."
Rose dug her heals into the ground to stop herself from shaking, but she only succeeded in getting mud on her shoes.
Gin pulled her up by her arm.
"Where am I going?" she asked rather bravely. But Gin could smell the fear in her voice.
Like a child, he pointed to the sky.
"Wer goin' up, Rosie."
Gin grabbed her waist, and launched into the air. Rose squeezed her eyes shut, and grabbed Gin's arm. After a second, he let her go, and she squeezed his arm. "Ya can let me go now, Rosie. Yer not gonna fall." He said. "But-" Rose slowly let him go, and looked around. She was standing in the air. "HOW-" Rose started, but Gin cut her off.
Her stomach lurched as he snapped his bony fingers, tearing open the air before her eyes, and an overwhelming pressure wrapped around Rose, ripping the air from her lungs.
Gin led her into the rift, and all of her senses went blank. She couldn't see, hear, or smell.
Instinctively, her spiritual pressure lashed out, but was pressed down by Gin.
After seconds of hell, the rift closed and the two of them stepped out into a desert the covered everything in sight.
Gin screwed up his face in disappointment.
"Well, shit. I messed up how far tha damn castle is."
He turned his face down to rose, who was clinging to his arm.
"Hold on tight Rosie."
Time and spaced became a grey-scale blur as Gin 'flash stepped' them to the out side wall of a huge white castle.
Rose's head was spinning and she felt sick.
He let her lean up against the wall to rest, and then Gin stepped back.
"HEY, YA MANGY BASTARDS! OPEN TA GATES!"
Unbelievable shaking rocked the ground and a huge hole appeared in the castles wall.
Rose turned around to peer though the hole in the wall, feeling her knees nearly give out.
A bony hand steadied her.
"Welcome ta Las Noches, Rosie."
Rose closed her eyes as Gin lead her though hallway after hallway. She didn't want to see any of it, not even the color of the walls, though she had a feeling they were white.
They came to a stop in a room. Rose cracked open her eyes.
A man with slick brown hair and hard eyes sat in a high white chair.
Just like the man in her drawing.
On his stiff lips was a sickening smile; it was dripping with well-practiced treachery.
The room was filed with a heavy spiritual pressure, and it took everything Rose had to keep hers in check.
She took a deep breath and walked over to sit on top of a huge table in the room.
'How interesting… Sitting on the table instead of the chair…' he thought.
"I drew a picture of you."
Her voice was shaky.
She dumped her drawing folders on the table, and a sad look fell on to her face.
Everything was damp. The colors form her pictures bled into the backgrounds and into the picture behind them, ruing everything that was in her bag.
Never then less, she searched until she found it.
The ink was smeared and the colors (what very few there was) had bled all over the picture.
"But it was ruined in the rain."
Gin left the two to talk.
Words were exchanged; situations were explained (though not well), and rules were laid down.
A sharp ringing noise filled the room. Rose was surprised her cell wasn't damaged. She took it out of her pocket and checked caller i.d.
Shaking her head and whispering something like 'Sada, you waited too long.'
She threw her phone to the ground and smashed it with her foot.
The man, whose name she'd recently learned, Aizen, smirked.
This girl knew where her loyalties lay.
Gin walked back into the room and prepared to escort her to her room when Rose asked for another minuet alone to speak.
"Go on, Gin."
"If I'm going to stay here, I have a few requests…"
She asked shyly.
"Go on."
"I don't want to wear one of those boring white uniforms, I want to visit my home and get my own…"
Her voice trembled.
Aizen nodded his head in agreement. If she was here, she might as well be comfortable enough to want to stay.
"And I need to get some things from my house…"
"Such as?"
"My guitar and other art supplies."
"Done. Those things are a minor pleasure that you will be allowed."
"One more question, Aizen-sama."
"Yes?"
"Is this whole castle white?"
"Yes, it is. Will that prove to be a problem?"
"… I like color."
Gin entered the room and was filled in on the situation.
Rose's knees weren't shaking anymore; the sickness had left her stomach.
She got her bag off the table, was led to dump it in her room (which was white), and then was carted off to get her things from the world of the living.
After what seemed like hours of walking (Gin didn't want to flash step in the real world) they reached her apartment, gathered her things, and left via rift in the air.
"Gin-sama…" she asked him, watching the rift close.
"Yea Rosie?"
The rift closed and the two began walking.
"Will I ever go home?"
Instead of answering her question, Gin grabbed her arm and flash stepped to the end of the black tunnel, out the other side and all the way to Las Noches.
After stepping through the foreign gates again, Gin gave Rose a moment to rest.
Rose was now feeling very sick, and was struggling to keep her spiritual pressure down.
After swallowing her fear for the millionth time that day, she fallowed closely behind Gin, down the twisting hallways of Las Noches and to her room.
Before he left he told her to be careful.
"Rosie, watch yer back. Some of tha 'spada don't like humans. Neah, scratch that. None of 'em do."
He left with a wink.
'So who do I ask if I get lost…'
Rose stepped inside her room, getting a good look at it.
There was a bed, dresser, closet, coffee table, nightstand and even a mirror. A large window let in dim light. She now realized she was inside a huge dome because there was no real sun here.
'So that's what that part of the castle was. My room must be facing the inner part of the dome…'
After more inspection, she noticed a door that lead to her own bathroom, complete with a shower.
Rose laid out her damp pictures on the table, put her cloths away in the dresser, and stood her guitar up in the closest.
'Alright,' she thought. ' I need a shower.'
After her shower, Rose dried off and walked out of the bathroom and back into her room, only to notice that a crisp white uniform with long pants and sleeves, had been placed on her bed.
Rose let out a giggle.
They really thought she'd wear it, didn't they?
She really should, and Rose knew it. But she'd always been one to push the rules.
Rose braided her wild hair, leaving her bangs to flop over the left side of her face.
She deiced on wearing the long Hamaka pants, because she'd forgot pajamas, and slipped on a long-wasted blue t-shirt.
Flopping down on her new bed, Rose realized that, with all luck, she'd probably die here.
She'd never see her friends again.
She'd never go to her favorite Teashop, or have Art class.
She'd never go back to her apartment.
Aizen, she'd learned once they got back, had burned it to the ground right after she'd left it.
Everyone she knew would think she'd died in the blaze.
'Sada…' she thought. All of the people she could remember filled her mind.
The whole situation crashed down on her head.
Rose would never go home.
The first tears rolled gently down her cheeks.
The reality of this dreamland ate its way into her brain.
Rose stuffed a pillow into her face so no one would hear her crying and
She sobbed so violently that afterwards, she raced to the bathroom to throw up. But seeing as she hadn't eaten anything all day other then tea, the majority of it was stomach acid, and it burned her throat.
After the vomiting stopped, Rose drank water from the sink with her hands and washed her face.
Her eyes were red and puffy.
Rose walked to stand in front of her huge window and took deep breaths.
She opened the window to let in fresh air and to help take away the 'white squishy strait jacket' feeling in the room.
But it didn't help.
Rose's eyes scanned the room again, and caught sight of a white (obviously) piece of paper folded on top of her dresser.
Curiosity getting the better of her, she walked over and unfolded it, Rose's eyes widened in surprise.
It was a map of Las Noches, showing what rooms were whose, places she could go and couldn't go and passage ways.
On the side of it was a small note that read ' Don't get lost.' In scraggily hand writing.
A small smile tugged at the corner of her lips. Stuffing the map into her pocket, Rose slipped on some socks, because her shoes were still wet and her feet were cold.
She was just about to open her door when a soft nock rang through the room.
"Rosie, open ta door!"
She twisted the doorknob, only to have Gin grab her by her wrist once it was open.
Rose stuttered in confusion as he flash stepped both of them behind the door of Aizens throne room.
"Yer late fer a meeting. Didn't I tell ya there'd be one later?"
"N-no."
"Well, Just pretend I did 'cause I don't wanna get in trouble."
"… Alright."
Gin listened very closely to the muffled voices behind the door, and then told Rose to stay out side.
Gin slipped into the meeting room, leaving the door ajar.
A few minuets later, he pushed the door open, and Rose stepped out of sight.
"I could'a sworn I left her there, Aizen-sama."
Aizen rolled his eyes and his voice called out softly.
"Rose, stop hiding and come inside."
Fear slithered its way down into her gut once more. Rose took a deep breath to steady her self and slipped into the room. But she made no movement to go any farther then the very edge of the room.
Gin gave her a push, and she walked into the middle of the room.
Every pair of eyes in that room snapped around to see her.
Every single pair of cold, judging eyes scanned her body, face, and eyes. Rose stood up straighter than before, clenching her jaw.
A harsh laugh broke the silence.
"She aint nothing but a lil' HUMAN GIRL!"
"Silence, Nnoitra."
Nnoitra shot an angry glare at the one who called his name.
"I don't think I SHOULD, Ulquiorra!"
A heavy spiritual pressure slammed down on the tall man with long black hair, nearly suffocating him.
He fell silent.
A quiet yawn sounded from the end of the table.
Gin whisper something in her ear that sounded like ' stay away from him, he's a rapist.' But what he had really said was ' stay away from him, he's dangerous.'
Yet the first description fit the man much better.
Aizen eyed her with curiosity.
"Why are you only wearing half of the uniform?"
"I like color."
Aizen 'hm'-ed in approval at this bold statement.
"It looks like Grimmjow-sans hair." Yawned someone in a gruff voice.
'You know, Starrk, you're right." Said someone else.
Rose looked around, but there was no one in the room with Bright blue hair, like her shirt.
"If you're wondering who Grimmjow is, he's still out on some mission." Starrk had answered her unspoken question.
"Now, my Espada, I would like you to formally meet the girl whom I've informed you about."
Rose smiled nervously. "H-Hello."
A light murmur of greeting was whisked out of the room by a breeze.
Starrk piped up.
"Forgive me, Aizen-sama, but what is her propose here?"
"That's for time to tell, Starrk."
"I bet she's just a friend for Pet-sama."
"Silence, Nnoitra."
Pet-sama was the name Nnoitra had given to Orohime Inoue, who was currently a hostage while the war was in truce.
Both sides had made a pact (this was very surprising) to not recruit troops in this time.
It has lasted four months up to now.
Rose turned to meet Aizens eyes.
"Really, Aizen-sama. What's my purpose? I know I'm not some 'valuable asset' to this war. I can't do anything. I don't have any 'secret talents', and I'm not powerful…"
She paused.
"What am I doing here?"
There was no doubt that hers was a daring question, but it was one she had every right to ask.
"In truth, Rose, I have barely an idea. Before the Hogyoku began to malfunction it started spitting up random information on your whereabouts. It might have been pre-programmed, or something, but I wouldn't say so. You have some kind of connection to it, and if that's so, someday you might fix it." Aizen rested his chin on his hand, a sickening smile plastered to his lips.
All she could do was answer "oh…"
But she knew. Rose knew that Aizen was the kind of man who would always get his way. If she never fixed this thing, proving she was worthless, he wouldn't hesitate to kill her.
'If I'm going to be here for a while, I've gotta get strong, fast.' Rose scanned the room. There were 9 people in the room, all on levels of 'scary'.
Rose shifted her weight from her left foot to her right foot.
"I trust all of you to inform your Fraccions that Rose will be staying here for…quiet a while. Any harm to her is punishable. If you are not careful-"
Aizen locked eyes with Nnoitra.
"I will strip you of your rank."
A shiver ran down Rose's back.
"You may go, Rose."
"Y-yes Aizen-sama."
With that, Rose scampered out of the room and back to her own.
She closed the door, slipped under the covers, and drifted off to sleep