Chapter 4: A Compromise

A Senkaimon appeared over London and out walked Ukitake. He was curious as to why Shunsui's reiatsu was flowing through his body in an erratic wave, or why Rose's reiatsu was located three miles away from Shunsui's. Giving the area a quick scan Ukitake noted that there were no hollows in the area. As long as Rose did not move from her current location then she was safe. With a sigh Ukitake set of to find Shunsui and find out why his reiatsu was fluctuating erratically. He soon found out why when he entered Rose's room and saw the semi-conscious form of Shunsui lying on Rose's bed. He could sense that Shunsui's reiatsu erratic and for a moment he wondered what had happened to his friend. Allowing his reiatsu to flow into his hands, Ukitake placed his now green glowing hand on Shunsui chest and healed his erratic reiatsu flow. With grunt Shunsui sat up and massaged his aching head.

"Care to explain Shunsui why I found you passed out on Rose's bed and why she is nowhere in the vicinity?" asked Ukitake.

"I am not sure what happened. Rose said something about going to work and I tried to stop her from leaving but then she zapped me with something. My reiatsu started to behave erratically and then I felt numb" said Shunsui while rubbing his head. Suddenly Shunsui smiled a wide smile and looked off into the distance.

"What?" asked Ukitake with an uncertain tone.

"Our little human has a lot of strength if she was able to hoist my body onto the bed. Also before I blackout out she started to get undressed. She has some on the nicest pair of-"

"Shunsui no! You are not to pursue her. She is already unsure around men, let's not make it worse for her" atomised Ukitake.

Shunsui expression darkened. He hated that such a pretty girl was so uncertain around men. That sort of uncertainty only came when a women had terrible past relationship with a man. Shunsui immediately hated the man that had caused Rose so much pain.

"So what did Yama-ji decide to do with the girl?" asked Shunsui.

"It was decided that for her own safety she should come and stay in the Soul Society until we can determine why Shadow Crawler is hunting her. Also we want to run a few tests on her to determine why-"

"Tests? Why does Yama-ji want to run some tests on her?" asked Shunsui

"Oh come on Shunsui, don't tell me that you have not been asking yourself how she got her powers to begin with? She is a human yet she has reiatsu and unlike Ichigo she did not share her power with another Shinigami" said a slightly exasperated Ukitake

"I guess so. Who will be doing these tests anyway?"

"Unohana-sensei and Kurotsuchi Taicho will be working together to determine why the girl has reiatsu. It's ok Shunsui" reassured Ukitake when he saw Shunsui's horrified face, "With Unohana-sensei there Kurotsuchi will not do anything too drastic".

Shunsui sighed, Rose was not going to like this, but it was the only option.

"Come on Ukitake let's go tell our little spitfire that she has to come stay with us until this mess is sorted" sighed Shunsui while slowly getting to his feet.

"Her reiatsu is only a few miles away. Oh and Shunsui…if you hurt her in any way I will tell everybody that you were rendered unconscious by a little girl half your height." Said Ukitake with a smile on his face. Shunsui grinned at his friend. The two of them shunpooed out of the room and towards Rose's location.

The oven timer pinged letting Rose know that her dark chocolate cupcakes with peanut butter frosting were done. Putting down her spatula she made her way over to the oven to remove the finished cupcakes. The warm smell of melted chocolate and peanut butter greater her when she opened the oven door. With a content smile Rose saw that all of the two dozen cupcakes had come out looked wonderful. Still smiling Rose replaced the finished cupcakes with the raw chocolate and orange fudge squares and set the timer on both the oven and her IPhone. When that was done she returned to her unfinished millionaires chocolate tart. Rose had been working at the Smith & Jay bakery for nearly two years. She first applied for the job when she moved to London to go to University in order to help pay the fees. She was at first a waitress in the small bakery, taking coffee and afternoon tea orders from the customers. But one day Agatha Jay-Smith (co-owner of the bakery) found Rose baking a patch of cupcakes. Upon discovering how delicious the cupcakes were Agatha decided that Rose should start baking her own batch of treats for the bakery. Today Rose's baked treats were famous and brought crowds to the tiny bakery. Her treats were so popular that Rose started her own website where people could order their own patch of treats. She worked in the bakery all of Wednesday and Sunday and on afternoons on a Saturday.

However, Rose could not find her inner peace, which she normally got when baking. Her mind was plagued by thoughts of Shadow Crawler, mysterious places where the souls of the dead inhabited and the strange but handsome Shunsui Kyoraku. Cursing herself again for thinking about Shunsui Kyoraku, Rose focused on her millionaires chocolate pie.

"Rose darling". Rose startled and looked up to see Agatha Jay-Smith standing in the kitchen. "There are two rather handsome men asking for you at table four" said Agatha with a knowing tone. Rose sighed. Agatha had on many occasions tried to set her up with 'handsome' men by informing her where they sat in the bakery and insisting she takes their orders. Agatha insisted that Rose finds a man because of springtime of her beauty will not last forever. The statement in its self was not odd. What was peculiar was that she mentioned two men. Is she setting me up for a three way? through Rose.

"OK Mrs Jay-Smith I will be right out when I finish making this tart" answered Rose.

A few moments later Rose emerged from the kitchen and looked around for the mysterious men. The bakery was decorated in light pastel colours walls and a light wooden floor. The room had ten small tabled with chairs scattered artfully around the room. At the back of the room was a large counter full to bursting with tasty treats. The bakery was designed for people who either wanted a quick takeaway drink and treat or to sit down and have afternoon tea. The closest comparison Rose could come up with was that the bakery was a cuter, less main stream version of Starbucks. Looking to her right, Rose spotted Agatha serving a bunch of middle aged women who were carrying a ridiculous amount of shopping bags. Agatha turned and frowned when she saw Rose.

"Rose you are not going to attract any men looking like the dough monster attacked you." atomised Agatha. With an exasperated sigh Rose grabbed a cloth and wiped her face. To her right she saw Gregory Smith (husband of Agatha) shake his head at his wife's antics.

"Now Rose" continued Agatha, "table four and remember men like intelligent girls so don't act stupid, and they also like it when you are interested in them. Ask them lots of questions about their life and job, but don't make it sound like you are nosey."

"Alright Mrs Jay-Smith" sighed Rose. Rose loved Agatha, she was the closest thing she had to a mother. But sometimes she was really annoying. Grabbing a note pad Rose made her way over to table four.

"May I take your order gentlemen?" asked Rose. The two men lowered their menus and Rose gasped. There sitting at the table in front of her was none other than Shunsui Kyoraku and Jushiro Ukitake. However, they were not wearing their black and white (and pink) uniform from the previous night. Jushiro was wearing a pair of jeans and a tight white T-shirt that showed of his muscles while Shunsui was wearing a pair of black jeans and a pink shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. Thankfully Shunsui was not wearing his sakkat, but his hair was still tied back. They were both drawing a few eyes, especially from the girls in the room. Rose stuttered and blushed, unable to look into Shunsui's piercing brown eyes. Shunsui grinned wolfishly at Rose, happy to see her reaction towards him.

"Yes Rose we would like you to sit down and listen to what we have to say" said Ukitake. Rose slowly sank down in the free chair and laced her hands together on her lap.

"Rose it was not very nice what you did to me earlier" smiled Shunsui.

"Sorry" mumbled Rose "But you started me. It was self-defence".

"We have important information to discuss with you Rose, is there a more private area we can talk" asked Ukitake.

"Yes, the kitchen. Go outside and down the alleyway next to the bakery and eventually you will reach a white door. That will lead you into the kitchen. I will meet you there in a few minutes whispered Rose. The last thing she wanted were people seeing her disappear into the kitchen with two men. The gossip would be unimaginable.

"Alright".

Rose got up and walked back towards the kitchen. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Shunsui and Ukitake walk out the bakery door.

"What happened Rose?" asked Agatha.

"They were already taken"

"Oh." Agatha seemed very disappointed.

"Yes. Anyway I will get back to work. I am currently trying to develop a cupcake"

"Alright then. Oh and before you leave here are the cake orders for the Easter holiday. There are currently twenty four orders. Now I know you mentioned that you wanted a holiday so I closed the online orders and told the customers that you were away. Now you can enjoy a long restful holiday" Agatha handed Rose a stack of order forms and smiled.

"OK thanks"

Rose entered the kitchen and saw Shunsui and Ukitake standing around the room looking curiously at the finished cupcakes and the raw tart. Both of them, Rose noted, had changed back into their black uniform. The kitchen was medium sized with spotless white ties and walls. On one side of the kitchen there were four ovens, one of which was currently in use while on the over side of the kitchen there stood several large fridges. At the centre of the kitchen stood a large counter were Rose assembled all the ingredients together.

Rose was about to speak but the door to the kitchen behind her burst open and in marched Agatha carrying an empty tray.

"Rose honey we are out of your strawberry cream cupcakes. Do you have something else ready that we can put out to replace them? Oh and what are these?" Rose panicked when Agatha walked into the kitchen because Shunsui and Ukitake were standing right there. However, it seemed like Agatha had not seen them. Rose looked towards Shunsui and had to seriously fight the urge to throw something at his smiling face.

"Rose?" asked Agatha.

"Eh?" Rose focused her attention back on Agatha who was currently examining the dark chocolate and peanut butter cupcakes.

"What are these?" repeated Agatha

"Oh they are dark chocolate cupcakes with peanut butter icing, a new creation of mine" answered Rose. "My floor mates like them so I guess you could try selling them. Otherwise I have chocolate and orange fudge squares, but they are still in the oven and will not be done for another five minutes."

"No, these will have to do for the moment. People just loved your strawberry cupcakes. Do you think you could make more of them?" asked Agatha.

Rose looked down at the list on the counter. Before starting to cook Rose would make a list of all the cakes she was going to bake. The list included:

Dark Chocolate cupcakes with peanut butter icing

Chocolate and Orange fudge squares.

Millionaires chocolate tart.

Coffee Cupcake with Bailey's icing.

Spicy apple cake

Blueberry Muffins.

"Sure I can squeeze in a patch before I close the kitchen for the day" answered Rose.

"That's great honey" said Agatha while pilling the chocolate cupcakes onto the empty tray leaving one left over for Rose to take home. Agatha always thought that Rose was too thin, so her solution to the problem was to stuff her full of sugary treats. Rose waited until the door was shut firmly behind Agatha before the rounded on Shunsui and Ukitake who were looking at her with interest.

"Ok why is it that Mrs Jay-Smith could see you before but not now?" asked Rose.

"We were wearing a gigai before" replied Ukitake. "As spirits were have no physical form so we require a gigai in order to take on a physical form" he continued upon seeing Roses confused expression.

"We have a matter to discuss with you" said Shunsui while leaning against one of the counters.

"Can we discuss it while I am working? As you can see I have a lot of work to do" replied Rose walking over to the oven and removing the now finished fudge squares. Ukitake eyed them with interest. "Oh how rude of me. Would the two of you like some tea?" asked Rose.

"No thank you Rose, but some food would be nice. You left this morning without feeding me" sad Shunsui with a grin on his face.

"Feed you? Aren't you grown up enough to feed yourself?" teased Rose. "Second fridge top shelf, there are more of the cupcakes I gave you last night". A few moments later both Shunsui and Ukitake were happily munching away on some cupcakes.

"So Rose we have been ordered by the Soul Society to tell you that for your own safety you have to come and stay with us until the problem concerning Shadow Crawler is resolved" Said Ukitake after finishing his cupcake.

"What?" cried Rose, who had started assembling the ingredients for her strawberry cupcakes.

"We don't know why you are being targeted but whatever Shadow Crawler has planned it must not be nice and I personally do not want to see it happen. So for your own security you must come with us" enforced Shunsui.

"And what if I don't want to go with you. I have a tone of work to do over the holidays and I have plans" said Rose while forcefully cracking an egg.

"So you don't want to come with us because you already have plans" questioned Shunsui in a mocking tone. Rose glared at him. "I am just clarifying the situation" he stated, "You would rather stay here and be captured by Shadow Crawler instead of coming with us".

"No you see I have been thinking. If I do go with you guys and stay in the Soul Society what will I get in return. You see you are the only people who benefit from this agreement. What do I get?" asked Rose raising her eyebrow. Shunsui looked at her as if she was crazy. Maybe she was crazy but Rose still did not trust these people. People in the past had abused her trust.

"What do you benefit? Well you get to live that is a major benefit" replied Shunsui.

"I also get to live if I continued going about my own business. I can defend myself I am not totally defenceless" continued Rose now mixing the batter forcefully.

"Yes I saw last night how well you were able to defend yourself" stated Shunsui sarcastically. Rose snapped. Slamming down her bowl she marched over to where Shunsui was.

"I also recall knocking your sorry arse unconscious this morning with my Taser. Shadow Crawler stated himself that he was not strong enough to take on a Taicho like yourself. So if I was able to knock you unconscious then I will probably be able to do the same with him" snapped Rose jabbing Shunsui's chest with her finger. Shunsui started down at Rose silently. He loved it when girls had a brain and were able to think for themselves. But this woman was starting to get annoying. Rose took his silence as permission to continue.

"Moreover, you guys have another motive for wanting to take me to the Soul Society. If it was just to defend me against Shadow Crawler then why not just give me a body guard. No there is something else that you want form me" snapped Rose. Shunsui looked over at Ukitake who was currently munching his way through another cupcake. Damn this woman is sharp thought Shunsui.

"You are right, we don't just want to defend you" started Shunsui but then paused unsure how to phrase the next bit. "We also want to do some tests with you because you were born with reiatsu, something that as rarely happened outside the Soul Society and we want to know why".

Rose stepped back a few steps. "NO!" cried Rose, "you will not be doing any experiments on me".

"What?" asked Shunsui in shock. He had never met a woman who was willing to risk her life because she was scared of getting a jab.

"It's not just for your own protection Rose." Spoke Ukitake in a calm tone which contrasted with the hard, angry tone experience by Shunsui and Rose. "But for the safety of your comrades as well". Rose looked at him confused.

"You have no control over your powers and as a result you are leaking reiatsu. This being the case you will start attracting hollows thus putting your friends in danger," continued Ukitake in a calm tone.

"What are hollows?" asked Rose.

"They are corrupt souls that feed off the souls of both living and dead. They are attracted to high reiatsu i.e people like you. As you can see you are a danger to everyone around you. I am surprised that you have not encountered a hollow before" answered Ukitake.

Rose was silent for a moment. Memories, or were they past dreams swam around in her mind. Images of a shadow devouring her parents and splashing her face with blood. It was a nightmare that still haunted her at night. Was it a hollow that killed her parents all those years ago?

"Let's make a deal Rose as you seem so opposed to going to the soul society with us" said Ukitake smiling slightly when he saw that he had Rose's full attention. "You will come with us to the Soul Society, no tests will be done on you without consulting you beforehand and in return we will train you to control you powers so that when this whole mess is over you can come back here and continue living your life". Rose bit her lip. This was a good deal. Maybe the best compromise. Except there was one thing she wanted to add.

"Ok I accept but I want to leave to this Soul Society tomorrow evening"

"What? Why?" asked Shunsui.

"Because I have my research project to hand in and I will not jeopardise my degree. Plus I still have to deposit my check for accommodation, tell my boss that I am leaving early on my holiday and pack so yes we will leave tomorrow" snapped Rose. Shunsui and Rose stared at each other with sharp eyes. And suddenly Rose felt it, the overwhelming urge to kiss Shunsui. The magnetic pull that she had experienced that morning in her room was back and all she could think about was how nice it would be to mould her lips to Shunsui's and kiss him senseless. Ukitake cleared his throat and the tension in the room collapsed.

"Deal" said Ukitake.

Rose spent the rest of the day baking and talking to Shunsui and Ukitake about her University course and her research project. Ukitake then inquired into how she got her current job which launched Rose into an explanation into how she had always loved to bake and make her own creations. At the end of her shift Rose accepted the box full of an assortments of her own creations from Agatha and a promise saying that the next time handsome men walk through the bakery door she will let Rose know. This led to Shunsui laughing all the way back to Rose's dorm.

It was currently dinner time and Rose was just pondering what she was going to cook for the two men now spending the night in her cramped bedroom when there was a knock on the door.

"ROSE!" shouted Lexie "open up I need to talk to you before I leave tomorrow".

Curiously Rose opened the door and allowed an overexcited Lexie to bounce into her room. Shunsui and Ukitake, who had been previously browsing Rose's book collection looked up as Lexie jumped onto the bed, oblivious towards them.

"Lexie my overexcited child, what do you want to talk about?" asked Rose with a slight sigh. She knew she was going to regret allowing Lexie entrance.

"Well I thought you could do with a girl talk" said Lexie sitting up while Rose awkwardly perched herself on the edge of the bed. Looking up, Rose stared straight into Shunsui's eyes and pleaded him to leave. But alas he and Ukitake stayed and looked on with interest.

"Excellent idea Lexie, why not have this talk in your room" suggested Rose. Please, please, please, PLEASE Lexie leave right now, willed Rose.

"Why would I want to leave when I just got comfy" asked Lexie, pouting slightly.

"Yes Rose why should she leave?" said Shunsui while getting more comfortable on the desk.

"Anyway I just got off the Phone with Danny and she said she saw you at the bakery you work at talking to two gorgeous men" said Lexie with a wide smile.

Dear God if you are up there….why do you hate me? Questioned Rose. She looked towards Shunsui and Ukitake and saw that the two of them were looking on with interest.

"Come on Rose tell me about them…are you? You know?" continued Lexie.

Rose blushed a truly shocking shade of pink. "Yes Rose tell her about us handsome men" injected Shunsui with a grin on his face.

"Rose you are blushing come on don't be coy tell me about them. Are you…?" said Lexie.

"Yes Rose don't be coy" repeated Shunsui. Ukitake had the guts to look embarrassed.

"Fine!" cried Rose, "I met these two men in the bakery and then were called Shunsui Kyoraku and Jushiro Ukitake. And we chatted for a bit and then they left".

"Foreign boys" said Lexie with a sigh of happiness. "But that was not all that happened. Dan said she saw you whispering to them and then head into the kitchen straight afterwards. What else happened Rose…did you bone them?" Rose did not dare look at Shunsui. She was so red that she could be mistaken for a tomato. She could hear Shunsui's howl of laughter and Ukitake's chuckle.

"OK so they came back to the kitchen with me but nothing happened. We talked some more and then they left, end of story…no boning". Snapped Rose.

"Oh Rose I know that you are upset that nothing happened. Next time they come round you should just jump their bones and ride them" said Lexie sympathetically.

"What the two of them" asked Rose but then immediately regretted it.

"Yes…I mean that is why woman have more than one whole" laughed Lexie. Now would have been the best time for god to smite Rose. God she regretted inviting Lexie into her room. The roaring laughter coming from Shunsui and Ukitake was so embarrassing. This whole situation was embarrassing. Why was it that Rose applied to one of the best universities in the country and she still had the misfortune of meeting clueless people like Lexie?

"Well girl it was nice having this chat with you. See after the holidays" and Lexie bounded out of the room. Rose buried herself into her pillow in the small hopes that it would swallow her.

"Whoever mentions this again will not get fed" said Rose but Shunsui and Ukitake still laughed.