Chapter 10: The Autumn Ball

Warning: Mentions of Lemon

Whoever decided to make the theme of the evening 'Human World Dress' was an absolute idiot, cursed Shunsui as he walked through the streets of the Seireitei while tugging on the uncomfortable bow tie around his neck. He hated the way his tux constrained his movements or how uncomfortable his dress shoes were. But thankfully he could move sort of freely without his back causing him absolute agony, but that was mainly due to the vast quantities of painkillers he had taken a few minutes ago.

"You know you could always just head back home to bed and I will go inform Rose that you have returned." Said Ukitake.

"No. Anyway that would only result in her getting overly anxious about my minor injury." Replied Shunsui.

"Minor injury? You broke your back." Ukitake stared at his friend like he was mad. "I think it was a bad idea not telling her to begin with."

After Shunsui had regained consciousness he had asked his team (Hana) to not tell Rose about his back injury. He did not want her to worry about him. Plus he knew that she already had enough on her plate and he did not want to add yet another load to it. Besides with the pain killers and the amount of time he spent napping during the day would surely heal his back in no time. And if she did find out he could always down play it to make it sound like he jarred it and then allow his darling lover to 'heal him'.

"If I told her about it she would just worry and that would not have helped the situation one bit." Replied Shunsui as they neared the first division. Men wearing black tuxedos were hanging around the entrance with pretty dressed women either hanging off their arms or standing incredibly close to them.

"Now remember what we talked about." Said Ukitake.

"Yare, yare Jushiro there is no need to remind me. I know that I can't be overly affectionate to Rose when I see her so as not to draw attention to the fact that we are lovers." Sighed Shunsui. His best friend had spent the better part of an hour lecturing him on how he should behave that evening. Besides Shunsui only planed on staying for an hour or so before whisking Rose away and showing her how much he really missed her.

"So what is your plan for tonight then?" questioned Ukitake as they walked into the first division.

"This is a party not a battle field." Replied Shunsui with an extravagant wave of his hand. "I plan on talking to old friends and then squeeze in a few dances with Rose before I drag her back to my bed."

"You know people are going to get suspicious if you only dance with Rose the entire night. Maybe you should alternate between women." Suggested Ukitake.

"Are you suggesting that I should act like a womanizer?" replied Shunsui with a mock look of hurt on his face. The two of them turned left and entered the large ball room which was decorated with reds, oranges, yellows and browns to symbolize the season. There were several tables lined up against the walls with either drink or food on them. There was an orchestra playing music in a corner however nobody was dancing yet…it was too early in the evening. By the looks of it only half the guests had arrived, and those who had arrived were all standing around talking. Shunsui could see his family talking to the Airi clan, another high ranking noble family, and frowned. He really did not want his family anywhere near his darling Rose.

"No, what I meant was that in the past you have acted rather wildly and if you started to act more tamed people are going to talk. Dance with Rose all you like but don't make it look like you are giving her preferential treatment." Said Ukitake. He looked over at his friend and frowned. "Are you even listening to me?"

Shunsui looked back at his friend. "Sorry Jushiro but I'm afraid that I am going to have to leave you." Ukitake looked over his friend should and saw who he had been looking at.

"I wish you the best of luck with them."

"Thanks my dear friend." Shunsui started to walk slowly towards his family. It was rather peculiar seeing his parents and brother out of their formal kimonos, but even in western style clothes they still managed to show off their prestige. His father was wearing what the westerners would call a 'white tie'. This consisted of a black tail coat, black trousers, white shirt, white bow tie, white waist coat, black dress shoes and white gloves. His brother wore almost the exact same thing as his father except his bow tie and waist coat were dark blue. His mother wore a mint coloured full length dress with a poufy skirt and wide straps. Her hair was up in an elegant up do which only highlighted the expensive looking diamond earrings she was wearing. She also wore a huge, diamond encrusted chocker on her neck and a small but elegant tiara on her head. The closer Shunsui got to his family the deeper his father's frown got. But the most striking out of the group was his brothers lover, the lovely Lady Choshi Sakiko. She wore a pale pink, strapless, floor length dress which seemed to hug her body. There was also a moderate slip up the side of her leg to make movement easier. Choshi Sakiko wore simple platinum jewellery that Shunsui's brother had gifted to her. Shunsui liked Choshi Sakiko as she was kind and gently, but he through her too good for his brother.

"Shunsui, what do you think you are wearing?" snapped his father. Obviously Shunsui's black tuxedo, white shirt, baby pink waist coat and pink bow tie had offended him.

"Good evening to you as well father." He replied with a bit of sass in his voice.

"Do not take that tone with your father." Snapped his mother.

"My apologies." Shunsui bowed.

"We were just talking to the Airi dono about Central 46's decision to limit the amount of Rukongai prats that are allowing into the Seireitei to attend the Shino academy. They want to reduce the number of applicants by half and introduce a screening to make sure those prats do not contain any…diseases." Said Shunsui's brother, Sachi.

Shunsui looked over his father's shoulder at the four members of the Airi family and grit his teeth silently. His was not a big fan of the Airi family. The Father (who wore a grey suit and grey tie to match his greying hair) was considered to be one of the most intolerable man in the entire Seireitei. If he was to have things his way, the Rukongai district would be burnt down to make place for the noble's many houses. His wife (tall, long blonde haired woman wearing a tight and revealing silver white dress) was a mere trophy that the husband showed off. However, she, by the cover of night, had many lovers. And then came the children. Shunsui had heard about Airi Fu and had the displeasure of seeing her on odd occasions and receiving the annual Valentine's Day card from her. Every year he received multiple cards from his fan club at the Academy, and although it was nice to know that younger woman had crushes on him it was also rather annoying. Of course, he was not the only Taicho how received love notes from academy students, but he certainly got the most. Shunsui always responded in the same manner: a pink letter with his thanks for their letter. The same went to Fu. However, he still had to put up with her whenever they crossed paths at family functions. The girl follow him around like an annoying blond and giggly shadow. At first he had found it cute but now he just found it exhausting. He dreaded the moment she left the academy and was deemed old enough to get married as he just knew his parents would push him to marry her. The Airi clan was rich, well placed and had lots of power which made their daughter the perfect match for Shunsui in his parents eyes. Shunsui had to admit that Fu was beautiful and talented but he was just not attracted to her. She was the sort of woman who would use her talents and connections in order to manipulate those around her. In fact Shunsui had heard some rather unpleasant rumours about her in the Academy. No, Fu would be a terrible wife for him.

And the last child was a small and rather large boy of about five years old with a sickly sweet smile and a wad of blond hair. Shunsui had not heard much about the boy, but from what he had the kid was spoilt and cruel.

"Pleasure to meet you again." Shunsui bowed at the Airi clan.

"Kyoraku Taicho." Squeaked Fu before blushing and bowing. "A pleasure to meet you."

Shunsui grit his teeth and willed for Rose to hurry up and arrive so that he could whisk her away.

"As we were saying Shunsui, the Academy should limit the amount of riffraff in. It is a prestigious school where the nobles' offspring's go to learn the art of being a Shinigami. We can't expect them to be sullied by the presence of such fifth like those from the Rukongai." Said Kazushi, Shunsui's father.

"Agreed darling, we have no idea what sort of…illnesses those…things have." Stated Yae, Shunsui's mother, with a look that suggested that there was something foul under her nose.

"We should just get rid of those Rukongai things. We give them to option to both submit to our authority and agree to serve us or die." Said Fu's father.

"You do know that the majority of Gotei 13 members were originally from the Rukongai. And if we were to start limiting the number of potential Shinigami from the Rukongai we would be severely damaging the capabilities of the Gotei 13." Said Shunsui. When he got his hands on Rose he was going to drag her back to his house and do unspeakable things to her.

"Oh come on Shunsui, that filth can't contribute that much to the Gotei 13." Said Sachi.

He would then lead her to his bedroom.

"I heard that they even steal things from people." Added Yae

Slowly, oh so slowly he would remove her dress

"Oh how revolting and scary. I no longer feel safe with those filthy things walking around outside my house." Gasped Fu's mother.

Shunsui would then gently lower Rose down onto the bed before removing his clothes.

"There is no need to worry sweetie, I hired those ninja specifically to protect us from those Rukongai filth." Said the Father.

Of course Rose would look over his naked body and blush.

"There is no need to worry about your protection. Central 46 has asked all the Taicho's of the Gotei 13 to keep a tight leash on all of their subordinates who come from the Rukongai." Said Sachi.

Shunsui would then remove Rose's underwear and start to play with her folds.

"That is a superb idea."

She would start to pant loudly, begging for him to enter her.

"Sadly, it might take a long time to implement this propositions." Sighed Sachi.

"Why?" asked Kazushi.

Shunsui would slowly sink his member into Rose's warm folds, her gaps of pleasure music to his ears.

"The Soutaicho is being rather stubborn. He says that the academy and the running of the Gotei13 was his business and nobody else's. He also suggested that we re-think about our prejudices against those who live outside the walls of the Seireitei." Said Sachi rather sourly.

Shunsui would gently thrust into Rose while trying to prolong both their pleasures. God he would need a long round after spending time with his parents.

"Shunsui?" Shunsui looked up at his mother and blinked. "Do you think you could talk to the Soutaicho and see if his views could be swayed?"

"No, I don't think Yama-jii will change his opinions so freely and I also have no desire to talk to him about this as I support his decision whole heartedly." He replied with a hint of steel in his voice. "Please excuse me." he bowed and started to walk away while ignoring his family's snide comments about his views. Sometime he was ashamed to even be related to them.

Shunsui walked over to where Ukitake and Unohana were standing and talking. Without even stopping he picked up a glass of sake and downed it.

"Let me guess…your parents said something that angered you?" asked Ukitake.

"What gave it away?"

"Oh I don't know…maybe the fact that you just downed an entire glass of sake on your way over here." Smiled Ukitake at his friend. "What did they say anyway?"

"Apparently Central 46 wants to half the number of recruits into the Shino academy from the Rukongai as they believe it would 'harm' the noble kids there. They wanted me to talk to Yama-jii and see if he could be swayed." Explained Shunsui.

"I see." Grimaced Ukitake. "Well don't drink too much."

"I plan on getting pleasantly drunk and then leaving with my darling." Replied Shunsui before picking up another glass of sake and taking a sip of it.

"Remember what we talked about on the way here."

"Yare, yare how could I forget when you remind me every five minutes."

The music changed to a waltz and couples started to walk out onto the dance floor. Shunsui watched as his best friend accompanied Unohana out onto the dance floor where they started to dance with such grace and elegance that the onlookers could only watch in awe. They made such a beautiful couple and yet the two of them were both happy the way they were. It was common knowledge that Ukitake and Unohana were an item and yet despite that the two of them did not want to get married. Ukitake had explained it to Shunsui one night when the later had questioned the former about it. He had said that they did not need some priest or a piece of paper to show how much they loved each other. Shunsui respected and disagreed with his friend belief. He knew that the moment he found the perfect woman for him that he was going to marry her and make her his. And finally after many hundred years of searching, he had found the woman he wanted to marry. Rose was his everything. But Shunsui knew that it was too early on in their relationship for a marriage proposal. He would give it two years before he popped the question. Let the two of them act young (well one of them at least) and in love for a while longer. Plus there was no hurry. Moreover with Rose attending to academy it would most likely be a better to wait until she had graduated. Plus, if people saw her one day with a giant diamond ring on her finger they would start to ask questions.

Shunsui put down his glass of sake and started to walk around the room, stopping every now and then to talk to people. Occasionally he would dance with the young noble girls, but he only did that to uphold his previous image of being a Casanova. Although he tried to focus on his dance partner his mind kept wandering off to Rose and he wondered when she would be arriving. Ukitake had said that she would be turning up. He had not taken a tonne of painkiller for nothing. Speaking of painkillers, his bake was starting to hurt again. Not an agonizing pain like that morning, but a dull pain that irritated him more than hurt him.

"Kyoraku Taicho…is something the matter?"

Shunsui looked down at Fu, who just so happened to be his dance partner at the moment and smiled. "Sorry, I guess I am a little distracted tonight."

"That is ok. I am sure that a man of your status has a lot on his mind." Shunsui smiled down at Fu and spun her around before freezing and staring in shock at what just walked into the ball room.

Rose had to admit that her dress was absolutely beautiful. Apparently Nanao and Rangiku had picked it out for her which had been a shock to discover. The dress was a dark blue, floor length strapless dress with a puffy shirt (not overly puffy). Small silver sequins created a swirling pattern on the bust of the dress and would shine in the moonlight. When asked about the dress, Nanao had said that they had drawn inspiration from Rose's Zanpakuto sheath. Rose's hair was lightly curled and her make-up was at a minimum but the effect was still stunning. When she had complained to Rangiku that there was no point dressing up when there was nobody there that she wanted to empress the blonde had just smiled knowing. In fact all of her girlfriends and smiled knowingly. They knew something and it was starting to annoy her.

The walk to the first division had been a slow affair due to the fact that they all wore high heels but finally they had arrived. Slowly Rose followed the rest of the giggling girls as they headed towards the ball room. She decided that she would only stay for an hour before heading back to Shunsui's house and sleeping until Monday morning. What was the point of dancing with a bunch of men when her heart belonged to another? Admittedly that 'other' was currently in deep shit due to the fact that he had failed to call her for nearly two weeks and had not bothered to mention the fact that he had had a relationship with one of the people he was going on a mission with. Maybe Rose should punish Shunsui. She turned left and entered the ball room and paused, taking in the scene of over a hundred exquisitely dressed people either dancing or talking. She could see Komamura Taicho talking to Toushiro, while a rather excited Yachiru balanced on one of the tables and devoured one of the cakes Rose had made. Her eyes wandered onto the dance floor where she saw Ukitake gracefully twirl and elegantly dressed Unohana around…wait! Rose stared at Ukitake in shock. Why was he here when he should be out in Karakura town with her lover? What was he doing here? And then Rose saw him. He looked so handsome in a black tux and pink waist coat and bow tie. Even his untidy hair made him look godly beautiful. She could feel her heart beating at a frantic pace. Was this just her imagination? And then Shunsui looked straight at her and Rose felt all the air inside of her leave. Those dark brown eyes that she had missed for so long were staring into her soul. If this was a dream then she did not want to wake up. And then Rose saw who Shunsui was dancing with and frowned. What the hell was Fu doing with her hands around HER man?! Shunsui had some nerve if he thought he could not call her for two weeks and then when he finally does turn up he dances with one of the academy's trollope! Oh and he failed to mention his past relationship with his ex-fukutaicho. Rose turned around and flicked her hair before walking towards the drinks table. Damn that man!

Shunsui watched as Rose frowned at him before walking away without looking at him again and sighed. Whatever he had done had obviously angered her but the problem was that he had no idea what he had done. There was no way that she could know about his injuries. Shunsui watched on rather helplessly while Rose started to talk with Nanao. He then watched as a rather existed Hana ran up to his girl and hugged her tightly. How he wished he could do that. He was going to wait ten minutes before going over and asking if she wanted to dance with him. Maybe then he could ask her what he had done to anger her. If he went over there too quickly it would be too suspicious but if he waited it would look like he was being his usual womanizing self. What sort of Casanova would he be if he did not dance with every single beautiful woman in the room? And Rose looked absolutely wonderful. No wonderful was not good enough a word to describe how she looked. In fact no words could be used to describe how beautiful she looked that evening in Shunsui's mind. The hair, the make-up and the dress made her look absolutely stunning.

When the song ended Shunsui bowed at Fu before walking off towards Ukitake, who was taking a break from dancing. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Rose talking and dancing with Renji. Green jealously ran through Shunsui at the sight of another man touching HIS woman. He almost, almost when over there and broke the two of them up but thankfully he had enough restrain to stop himself. Instead he stood to the side with Ukitake and conversed about anything and everything with yet another glass of sake in his hand.

"How is your back Shunsui?" asked Ukitake

Shunsui sifted uncomfortable and grimace as a shot of pain ran up his spine. "I think the pain killers are finally wearing off. But I should be fine. Anyway I plan on leaving in an hour anyway."

"If your back is painful then you should head on home. I could always tell Rose where you have gone." Suggested Ukitake.

"No, she will get suspicious and start asking questions that I do not want to answer. And I do actually want to dance with her…of course I will make it look like something innocent." Replied Shunsui. Just then the song ended and Rose stepped away from her dance partner and smiled. "Well looks like it is my turn with Rose." Shunsui smiled at Ukitake before walking off towards his love. Every step he took jarred his back and sent white hot shocks of pain up his spine. One dance with Rose and then the two of them were leaving…subtly of course.

Rose could sense her lover behind her. Slowly she turned around and looked into his dark brown eyes and gasped slightly. They were dark, intense and so mesmerizing.

Shunsui looked down at Rose and smiled. She really was beautiful. "Good evening Ma'am." He bowed slightly. "Your beauty is so stunning that I could not help but be drawn to it."

"Such kind words." replied Rose with a blush on her cheek. She had no idea why he was acting like the two of them had never met before but she trusted him enough to play along. There must be method to his madness…

"I'm Kyoraku Shunsui, Taicho of the eighth division." He took her hand and kissed it before smiling up at her.

"Pleasure to meet you. My name is Rose Bentley."

"A beautiful name for a beautiful woman." The words were cheesy and bittersweet but Rose still loved them.

"Do you compliment all the women you meet?"

"Only the pretty ones." Smiled Shunsui before adding, "will you do me the honours of dancing with me?"

Rose was just about to reply when she was violently pushed out of the way but a rather busty red head woman.

"But Kyoraku Taicho you promised that you would dance with me." She pouted.

"No he said that he would dance with me." Cried a short black hair woman who seemed to have appeared out of nowhere.

"But he promised me first." The blond hair woman stomped her foot. All girls had one thing in common: they were scantily dressed and had HUGE assets…which they were thrusting towards Shunsui.

Rose looked up at Shunsui and saw that he was looking at her with a sort of desperation and pleading in his eyes. But the damage had already been done. He was pretending that he did not know her just so that he could flirt with all these beautiful women. Well she was going to have none of it!

"Whatever." She hissed at him before turning around and marching away.

"Wait!" called out Shunsui but it was too late.

"Hey forget about her." pouted one of the women.

"Yeah…now about that dance you promised me."

"No he promised me first!"

Shunsui sighed before hissing silently while he felt his back seize up again. Damn…of all the time! All he could was watch as Rose walked through the large sliding doors and out into the beautifully decorated gardens outside.

"Ladies please." He said. "I will dance with all of you but I believe I promised to dance with Unohana and you know how she is."

The women pouted and watched as Shunsui started to walk away. He was going to pretend like he was heading towards Unohana and then when nobody was looking he was going to slip outside and follow Rose.

His plan worked like clockwork and soon he was following Rose's reiatsu. It seemed like she had headed out to find a quite area which he was grateful for as all he wanted to do was kiss her deeply and tell her how much he missed her. Screw his aching back, he was going to go spend some time with his love. Shunsui found Rose sitting on a wooden bench in an area which had not been lit up by the many paper lanterns that decorated the gardens of the first division. The moonlight glinted off her dress while she was bathed in the soft light of the moon. She looked absolutely breath taking bathed in moonlight.

"Rose."

She looked up when she heard Shunsui say her name. "Did you finally decide which one of your fan girls got to dance with you?" she said with coldness in her tone.

"There is only one woman I want to dance with and she is sitting right in front to me." Replied Shunsui while slowly walking towards her.

"Really?" she said rather sarcastically. "From the way you have been acting tonight I would assume that there are several girls you wanted to dance with."

Shunsui froze. "Did you assume that I wanted to dance with those girls?"

"Well I have not heard from you in nearly two weeks so I have no idea what to think. If you were really that bored with me then you could have told me instead of hinting it by flirting with other women." Replied Rose again in a cold voice.

"I would never get bored of you. I love you so much. But you see I had to dance with other women and act like my past self so as not to raise suspicions."

"Explain."

"Most of the guests here are nobles with kids in the Academy. If the two of us started to act like a couple then people are going to talk. We both cannot risk anybody thinking that we are together otherwise our secret is out. So I acted like my past self in order to prevent people from talking. I actually planned on dancing with you before moving on and then returning to you." Explained Shunsui with a hint of desperation in his voice.

That made a lot of sense. Rose placed her head in her hands. "Kami I am such an idiot. I am so sorry for doubting you. Kami why did I not think of that?"

Shunsui closed the gap between them and pulled Rose into a hug, gently pressing her head into his chest. This was where she belonged and this was what he had been missing for so long. "I have missed you so much." He murmured before pulling her to her feet and covering her lips with his. Finally he had her in his arms.

Rose froze for a moment before melting against Shunsui and his kiss. He kissed her slowly and lovingly, his hands running through her silky hair. All the anger and frustration that Rose had been feeling towards this man and disappeared and all that was left was the intense love she felt for him. He was her rock, her stability in a storm…her life. Rose slowly ran her hand up Shunsui's chest, feeling the softness of his shirt under her fingers, until she reached his neck, where she wrapped her arms around him.

"Hi there darling." Smiled Shunsui when the two of them broke apart.

Rose blushed. "Hi."

Shunsui leaning in. "I missed you so much…but that naughty picture you sent me helped me through the long and lonely nights." He nibbled her ear lightly and smiled when he heard her gasp.

Rose did not believe she could be any more mortified. She had sent the nude in the hopes that the two of them would never speak of it. Sadly she had forgotten who she was in love with. Of course he was going to bring it up and tease her about it.

"I am glad you like it." she managed to gasp out.

"Like it? Oh no I loved it." whispered Shunsui seductively. "I loved it enough that I could not look at it without getting hard. Please do sent more of those in the future…especially during Taicho meetings."

"But you will not get any work done."

"Exactly." Murmured Shunsui again before kissing her again, more deeply this time. Rose could feel the kiss all the way down to her toes as she submitted to the wonderful tongue devouring her mouth with expert skill.

"Dance with me." Panted Shunsui. His back was killing him but he was going to dance with his lover before the night was out.

"Yes."

Shunsui held Rose close to his body and the two of them started to sway to the sound of music that only they could hear. Round and round they danced, lost in their own little world with no desire to leave it. Both had no idea how much time had passed but it did not matter. Nothing mattered except for the two of them. Rose gently rested her head against Shunsui's chest and closed her eyes, listening to the sound of his heart beating. With moonlight around them it was truly a magic moment. Shunsui could feel is back getting more and more painful but he ignored it…however, there was a growing pain coming from his chest. He hissed slightly after his lover moved.

"Shunsui?" Rose lifted her head up and looked up into his eyes with confusion in her eyes.

No he would not ruin this moment between them. "Nothing Rose." He smiled.

Rose looked at him dubiously and was about to rest her head back on his chest when she saw a slight hint of blood starting to soak through his waist coat. She leapt back and pointed down at the blood. "You're bleeding."

Shunsui looked down at his waist and cursed internally. "Oh that's nothing." He lied.

"That does not look like nothing. Let me see." Rose walked forwards and started to undo Shunsui's waist coat.

"You know I love it when you undress me darling but should we not wait until we return home?" teased Shunsui in the hopes of distracting her.

"Be quiet." Hissed Rose before she pulled his white shirt out of his trousers and lifted it up. At first all she saw was hard muscle and hair but then she saw it, the nasty looking slash across his chest.

"You're hurt." She stated rather weakly before looking up at him with eyes that looked like they were brimming with tears.

"It's nothing." Reassured Shunsui.

"It does not look like nothing." Replied Rose before tucking his shirt back into his trousers. "I am taking you to the fourth division."

"It's nothing."

"I am taking you to the fourth division." Said Rose more forcefully this time.

Shunsui sighed. All he wanted to do was dance with Rose before taking her back to his bed and making love to her. But sadly everything seemed to be preventing him from doing so. Damn everything was going wrong this evening!"

Hi guys,

All I can say is that...my romantic streak came out and I ended up writing a cheesy ball scene. Oh well I hope you like it :)