Chapter 20: Unfortunate Events

The sun had just set, causing a thick blanket of darkness to descend over the Seireitei. Shunsui stood by the window in his office and stared out of it. For hours he had searched for Rose and he had failed to find her. He had even gone and asked Hana if she knew where his darling was. But she claimed that she did not know, something that he found hard to believe. Hana knew where Rose was but she would not tell him where that was. Shunsui had briefly detected Rose in the library somewhere and had of course rushed over in order to speak to her. However, by the time he had arrived her reiatsu had vanished without a trace. It was frustrating as Shunsui desperately wanted to find Rose and see how much damage Lisa's words had done. He knew that his previous fukutaicho could be a little insensitive with her words but she had crossed the line back in the office. Her comment could not have come at a worse time. Things were already bad between him and Rose and now he had the feeling that it was only going to get worse. Yare, how bothersome.

The door to the office slid open but Shunsui did not even bother to turn around to see who had walked in.

"How did the game of chess go?" asked Nanao. Shunsui turned around and smiled a small smile at his current second in command.

"It was going well until Lisa said something to offend Rose and thus caused her to leave the office in an angry storm. You have not seen her anywhere have you?" he asked.

"Not since she was playing chess with you. What did Yadomaru-san say?"

"Oh…she brought up Kurosawa. You know how upset Rose gets when that subject comes up."

Nanao nodded. "Wherever Rose is she will be ok. Yamada fukutaicho is most likely with her." she reassured her Taicho.

"I know that Hana-Chan is with her. When I asked her about my darling's whereabouts she said that she did not know where she was…which was a lie. She knows where Rose is and it is driving me insane."

"Maybe Rose just needs to be left alone for a while. When she is ready she will come back to you and everything will be alright." Nanao even managed a small smile for her Taicho.

Shunsui did not doubt Nanao's logic. His second in command's logic was almost always impeccable and so it was always good to listen to what she had to say. He turned back around and stared out of the window. There was silence in the office, broken only by the sound of Nanao shuffling through her desk draw.

"She took my queen." Said Shunsui while looking out the window.

"What?" said Nanao, having been caught off-guard by the sudden change of topic.

"She managed to take my queen during our game of chess without me noticing." Explained Shunsui. He turned around to face his second in command and could not help but smile at the look of shock on her face.

"How?" she asked rather weakly. Whenever Shunsui played chess he always built his defence around his queen. He defended her almost as well as he defended his king and so to have Rose so easily take her from him was just shocking. Nanao knew that Rose was a terrible chess played, so to have her undermine Shunsui's defence so easily was downright…impressive.

"She is a sneaky player, always defying conventions and is always rather unpredictable. I think I may have underestimated her." Nanao suddenly realised that her superior may not have been referring to Rose's chess playing abilities.

"Agreed sir, I think underestimating her would be a dangerous thing to do." She replied.

There was silence in the office. Shunsui knew that Rose had the potential to be a challenging opponent…she just lacked the confidence to really push herself forwards. But he knew that with time and patience she would become a formidable Shinigami. But in the meantime he just had to wait. Maybe tomorrow he could ask her if she wanted to train with him. Of course he would only be instructing her on her katas as he was still rather nervous around her after their last sparring session.

Shunsui had just about opened his mouth to ask Nanao to clear his schedule for tomorrow, (was it ever full?) so that he could spar with Rose when a hell butterfly flew in through the window and fluttered around his second in command's head. With a graceful finger she accepted the butterfly's message. Her eyes suddenly widened.

"What is it?" asked Shunsui. It was never good when his second in command opened her eyes like that.

"The…" she cleared her throat. "The elemental hollows have returned and are currently attacking a large town in the 71st and 72nd district. The Soutaicho has ordered our division, along with the thirteenth to intervene." She explained in a weak voice. It was a very rare occurrence that the eighth was sent into battle but Shunsui knew why his division had been asked to step in. He was the leader of the mission sent to track down and destroy the elemental hollows.

"Nanao-Chan I want you to go and inform the my third seat, fourth seat, fifth and sixth seat, along with Lisa and gather together two, twelve man squads and tell them that we are moving out. I want you to stay behind, however, if I need you I will summon you for backup. And I clear?" he asked in a hard voice. My now? Why did the hollows have to attack now?"

"Yes sir." Said Nanao before disappearing out the office door in order to gather together the people he had asked for.

Shunsui looked out the window and sighed. The day had been so beautiful up until now. It was a shame that it had to be spoiled by potential bloodshed.

Rose had been unaware of the situation and so she was rather surprised to find the office empty when she returned from her hiding place in the library. She had been quickly informed by the secretaries that the eighth division along with the thirteenth division had been called into battle in order to deal with a large bunch of hollows. They then told her that the situation was most likely dire as Nanao and the back-up team had been called out. Rose did not know what to think. She knew that one day Shunsui would have to be called out in order to do battle. He was a Taicho in a military organization so it was to be expected. However, what had come as a surprise for Rose was how quickly it had occurred. She had been told by Hana and other people that the eleventh division was the one normally called out to handle situations along these lines. Why was the eight and the thirteenth division called out but not the eleventh? It definitely was rather odd. But Rose did not have time to contemplate the mechanics of the Seireitei as her beloved Shunsui was at this very moment facing danger and she had no idea what state he would be in when he came back. Worse still from what she had overheard the hollows that Shunsui had been tracking down were targeting him.

None of this made any sense. But hopefully Shunsui would be alright. She simply could not imagine a world without him in it. In many way he completed her. Of course she could survive on her own, there year apart only proved that point. But what she had experienced was only a half-life. Nothing seemed the same when he was not there. Sun sets were not as beautiful, chocolate did not taste the same, music sounded dull to her ears and colours just seemed all monotone. Everything that gave her life beauty would disappear if Shunsui left. But her lover was a strong fighter and it would take a lot to bring him down. But still Shunsui was not invincible…his terrible back injury only proved that.

It was passed midnight by the time Nanao opened the door to her office and walked in.

"Rose…I didn't know you were here." said Nanao the moment she spotted the woman curled up on the couch.

"I heard about the hollow attack and so I came here to wait for Shunsui to return. Is it over? Is he hurt? What happened?" asked Rose in a desperate tone.

"Kyoraku Taicho, Ukitake Taicho all survived however the hollows escaped. We failed in our mission." Replied Nanao before exhaling deeply. It was only then did Rose notice how sombre the woman looked. Something was not right.

"But…what else happened?"

"The sixth seat and five other unseated officers from the eighth division along with four unseated officers from the thirteenth division were killed. Kyoraku Taicho and Ukitake Taicho are currently at the fourth division trying to sort out the funeral. After that he was going to return to the thirteenth division and…and mourn the loss of his subordinates with Ukitake Taicho." Explained Nanao

Rose was silent for a moment. She knew the sixth seat. He had always been very nice to her. In fact he had been one of the first person to truly welcome her as a member of the eighth division. And now he was gone…and she would never see him again. Rose could feel the tears starting to gather in her eyes but she willed them the stay put. She did not want to cry in front of Nanao.

"I see…is there anything that I can do?" she asked.

"Please return to Kyoraku Taicho's quarters. When Kyoraku Taicho is ready he will come looking for you and I suspect he would be very unhappy if he cannot find you. Go…I can handle matters here." replied the second in command. Rose noticed that Nanao too was trying to hold back her tears but because she was a stubborn, prideful woman, she would not let them fall in front of people. She wanted her out so she could cry in peace and Rose respected that.

"Alright…Goodnight Ise Fukutaicho." Rose bowed and left the room, conscious of the fact that Nanao had started to cry. It really was a tragic moment and Rose felt miserable. Although she was sad and depressed that a friend of hers had died she was more upset by the fact that Shunsui would be suffering. He hated death and so losing six people in one night was likely to hit him hard. And as for her…well she was sad and miserable…but also numb. But right now her feelings did not matter. All the mattered now was making sure that Shunsui could handle the situation. It was a rather comforting feeling knowing that Ukitake was looking after her love. He would not let him do anything stupid. And when Shunsui finally arrived home, Rose was going to make sure he didn't have to think.

Many miles away Shunsui sat in Ukitake's living room with Lisa by his side gulping down his bottle of sake. The two of them seemed to have made peace after their little spat earlier that day. All Shunsui could picture was the pale and silent bodies of his dead officers in front of him. He wanted the pictures to end and so he was going to drink until he could not remember his own name. The moment he had suggested this Lisa and Ukitake had both agreed, in fact they were the ones who had supplied the sake. Shunsui knew that he had promised Rose that he would not over drink…but right now he simply could not care about her. He had six dead people on his hands and right now a silly little promise to his lover just seemed so…stupid

"There's the Kyoraku I remember." Pointed out Lisa who was well on her way to being completely sloshed.

"You mean angry, miserable and drunk?" replied Shunsui.

"No…well yes. What I mean is that you are so much more fun when you drink."

"Am I?"

"Yes…ever since you promised your lover that you would not drink to excess you have become rather boring. In fact I would say that you were a completely different person."

"I am not in the mood for this conversation." Stated Shunsui. He was feeling angry about his failure to protect his subordinates and Lisa wanted to talk about how he had changed. Now was simply not the right time. Shunsui could feel his inner demons growing stronger inside of him and no matter how much sake he drank they just seemed to keep growing. Normally sake helped as it turned his mind to mush and prevented him from thinking. The less time he spent thinking the smaller the demons became. However, this time round the sake was simply not working. He could still see the panic and fearful looks in his subordinates face when they realised the end was near. Damn it why had he not been fast enough?! Maybe if he had his subordinates would still be alive. No, not maybe…they would have been alive. But they were dead and it was all his fault.

Lisa looked at Shunsui and frowned. "The sake not working?" she asked.

"Yeah. It's not dulling my mind like it used to. I can still see their faces and it angers me. I should have been there to save them…but I was too slow." Shunsui angrily threw his now empty bottle of sake on the floor and watched as it rolled away from him.

"Do you know why that is?" Asked Lisa in a gently voice.

"Enlighten me," hissed Shunsui.

"You are not facing your demons like you used to in the past. I take it that you do not have anybody whom you trust enough to open up to. Nanao and Ukitake can only understand so much. Since nobody understands what you are going through you turn to sake in order to lighten your load and forget. I also guess that you are no longer having sex with random people like you did in the past. You would always do that because sex relaxed your body and sake relaxed your mind. But then again you have Rose, so I assume you are getting enough sex and so you no longer need to have sex with random women." Analysed Lisa.

"As always Lisa your analysis is perfect. I have nobody I can truly open up to and thus my demons have grown stronger. Especially with what has happened."

"I take it that you have not opened up to Rose about any of this?" asked Lisa.

"No. And about the sex…we have not been doing that at all."

"Why?"

"I don't want to taint her even more. She has already been through enough and I don't want to add the weight of my misery to hers." Sighed Shunsui. His hand reached out to one of the empty bottles of sake on the table and opened it. He was not drunk enough yet. "And about the sex…I don't want to hurt her."

"Her misery?"

"Yes, she did not have a happy childhood and she has never been able to get over it. Rose was working for Kurosawa as a child sex slave." Explained Shunsui. Lisa found this news rather interesting. Of course she knew about the most recent Kurosawa incidences but she did not know that there had been others.

"I don't think that is the real reason." She said.

"What do you mean?"

"Don't get me wrong. You are the sort of person who would cares deeply about others. But I think there is something else preventing you from telling Rose about your demons." Said Lisa.

"And what would that be?"

"You are scared she will not understand you, not be able to accept who you are and as a result she leaves you for someone who is not so broken."

Shunsui opened his mouth to reply, but closed it rather quickly. Lisa had hit the nail on the head. He did fear that Rose would reject him and so he refused to tell her anything.

Lisa leaned in closer. "She does not understand you like I do. And I don't think she ever will."

"No Lisa she does not and true…I don't think she will ever be able to understand me." Exhaled Shunsui before taking a large swig from his sake bottle.

"You know that I will always be there for you…never judging or running away…I am one of the few people who truly understands you." Said Lisa after a while.

Shunsui was silent for a moment. Before her disappearance, Shunsui had always gone to Lisa when he was having a hard time because she always seemed to be able to understand him. It might have been because she was just as broken and destroyed as he was. She knew the pain he was going through as she had, at some point in her life, experienced it. Lisa would invite him into her quarters where they would talk, drink and try to forget about their troubles. After a while, when the alcohol was not enough they would try to loose themselves in each other. Shunsui would drive into Lisa until he felt numb and no thoughts were present in his head. He needed her during those times…but he never needed her in a lover's way. Their relationship was one of friendship with a bit of fucking on the side. And when Lisa had gone Shunsui had never felt more alone. He had tried to duplicate their relationship with other females but he had never achieved the same level of numbness while he fucked them that he had when he had been with Lisa. Of course, little Nanao-Chan had pulled him out of his depression and then he had met Rose and it was like all of his darkness had been pushed to the side. And when he slept with her, Shunsui had felt something different, something better from when he had been mindlessly fucking Lisa. It was more powerful and toxic making even his bones feel numb and lifeless. He was not fucking Rose but making love to her. It was not the positions or the hardness that differentiated fucking from making love but the emotions behind it. He loved Rose deeply which only made having sex with her all the more pleasurable. He could drive into her as hard as he wanted and it would still be making love as he loved her. With Lisa there had been no love. There was only need and lust which made fucking empty in comparison to making love. But Shunsui was still holding himself back when he was with Rose. He never fully lost control of himself and allowed the darkness to consume him while he repeatedly entered her like he had when he was with Lisa. Shunsui knew that Lisa could take it when he allowed the darkness inside him to consume his being while he mindlessly fucked her…but he was not sure Rose could. And that was the main difference between the two of them. Lisa understood and accepted him on every level…including his dark side. Rose, on the other hand only supported and understood bits of him…and did not know about his dark side. And he would never let her as she was too innocent and delicate.

Rose had just fallen asleep when she heard a large bang coming from somewhere in the house. As quick as a flash she had jumped out of the bed and was standing on her feet, her heart pounding loudly in her ears. The room was dark and made her feel rather uneasy. She paused for a moment, listening intently to see if she would hear the noise again. Just as she was about to give up she heard the sound of something smashing. Somebody was definitely in the house. Rose grabbed her Zanpakuto, which was sitting by her night stand, and made her way through the house. She could see that the light was on in the kitchen and that whoever was in there was making a lot of noise. Rose rounded the corner and sighed in relief when she saw that it was Shunsui who was in the kitchen. However, that relief soon turned to worry when she smelt the alcohol and saw that her lover was in fact hanging onto the sink like his life depended on it. There was the distinct smell of vomit in the air. Either Shunsui had been too drunk or too ill to make it to the bathroom so he had ended up in the kitchen. Rose rushed forwards and pulled his hair out of the way as he was sick again. His entire body shook violently as he was violently sick. Oh man, how much had he drunk? Over and over Shunsui was violently sick into the sink until finally only dry heaves left his body. It seemed like the worst of it was over. Rose contemplated taking him to the fourth to see if he had alcohol poisoning but then the man was twice her size. She would never be able to carry him very far. And so she decided to just put him to bed and monitor him until he was better. If his condition got any worse then she could always contact the fourth and have one of the healers come to his quarters and heal him.

Shunsui seemed too out of it to realise that somebody had wrapped their arm around his waist and where trying to lead him someplace. In fact his head just lolled to the side. Rose had maybe taken two steps before realising that it was hopeless trying to carry him back to the bedroom. Not only was he twice her size but he also weighed a lot. Rose was already huffing and puffing after only a few steps. And so she decided on leading him to the living room where there were couches for him to sleep on. It took a lot of effort but finally Rose managed to drag Shunsui onto one of the couches in the living room. However, his body was too big for the couch so his feet stuck out over the edge. Rose retreated out the living room and went about collecting a few items: A blanket for Shunsui, his pillow, a duvet, a bucket and a large bottle of water. By the time she had returned she saw that her lover had passed out. She slipped his pillow under his head and then wrapped him up in the blanket. The heating in the house had been turned on but Rose did not want to risk Shunsui getting cold. She then placed the bucket next to the couch before moving away and curling up onto the other couch in the room. She needed to monitor him to make sure that he got better. Rose curled up under the duvet and tried to fall asleep. However, the alcohol fumes were so intense that it made her want to be sick. She knew why Shunsui had done this to himself and she could sympathise with him. It was never easy to lose someone you were close to. If she felt this upset she hated to think how miserable her lover must feel. He had been responsible for his subordinates and yet they had died. But he should know that it was not his fault. It was the fault of the hollows who had killed those men.

Rose rolled over and stared blankly up at the ceiling. Shunsui was going to need her more than ever now and she was going to make sure she was there for him.