Chapter 6: First Day
When Rose awoke the next day she thought for a moment that she was back in London and that meeting Shunsui and Ukitake, and going to the Soul Society was just a dream. Sadly when her eyes finally adjusted to the light coming in from her window she saw that she was clad in a black Shihakushō and that her katana was lying on her desk. A quick glance at her IPhone told her that it was 7:36 am. Somehow the time should mean something to Rose but she just could not place her finger on it…
"Shit! I have to meet Ise Fukutaicho in 24 minutes!" cried Rose. Frantically she shoved on her sandals and placed her katana in her belt. Nanao had not told her yesterday what she would need for her Kido lessons but Hanataro had explained that Kido required the chanting of a spell. If Rose was going to learn a spell she at least needed to remember it, and Nanao seemed like the sort of person who did not like repeating herself. On a hunch Rose yanked open her bag (which was still full of her stuff and sitting on the floor since she did not have time to unpack yesterday.) and pulled out a small midnight blue notepad and pen, and shoved them in her pocket along with her phone. After that she dashed out of her room and sprinted along the empty corridors. Rose knew vaguely where she needed to be but it was still a long way away. In fact everything was a long way away from where her room was located. Rose had the feeling that it was done on purpose.
Rose arrived at the training room with seconds to spare and saw that Nanao was standing in the centre of the field with a scowl on her face.
"Ise Fukutaicho" bowed an out of breath Rose.
"You arrived just on time. A few seconds later and you would have been late. I suggest that next time you try getting up earlier. The Division may seem like it tolerates tardiness but I most certainly do not" said Nanao in a stern voice while adjusting her glasses on her nose. "Now let us begin with the lesson, today I will teach you the basics of how to summon your reiatsu which is necessary for performing kido. You need to have a clear mind and soul. You must not let your emotions get in the way. You must remain calm and focused" continued Nanao while Rose frantically made notes in her note book. Nanao could not help but be slightly amazed at Rose's preparedness and willingness to take notes.
The sun slowly rose higher in the sky and still Nanao lectured and Rose took notes diligently, fascinated by what Nanao was telling her. When the kido lesson was done Nanao led Rose down a corridor and into a large dojo. The dojo was decorated with large paper doors on one side which Rose assumed would open up onto a large terrace or grassy patch. The other three walls were painted in white while the floor was decorated with dark wood floorboards. Nanao and Rose both removed their sandals and stepped out into the centre of the room.
"Hakudo is very rarely used by a Shinigami, in fact only the Onmitsukidō use it. However, hakudo will teach you how to move agilely and will help you build up strength. I want to start today with a simple sparing match between the two of us so that I can see how good you are" stated Nanao while removing her glasses and whipping them with her shihakushō sleeve. Without her glasses Rose could see that Nanao was very pretty. She had an elegant face that matched her elegant demeanour.
Rose knew basic self-defence. She had spent most of her late teen years in many streets fights so she knew how to fight. But she knew how to fight against a knife and gun, hell she knew how to snatch a gun right from her opponents hand. But somehow that skill would not be beneficial for this kind of fighting. Rose saw Nanao crouch down into a fighting stance and so she mimicked her.
"Your feet at two fide apart Rose" snapped Nanao from her crouched position. Awkwardly Rose adjusted her stance by moving her feet closer together.
"Begin" cried Nanao.
By the end of the hour Rose was battered and bruised in every possible location on her body. Nanao had not taken pity on her and had beaten her black and blue until Rose was a quivering mess on the floor. Nanao had then said that overall Rose lacked the basic skills and would have to train daily for several additional hours in order to build up her strength. She also mentioned as a side note while walking away from Rose's prone body on the floor that she needed to train harder otherwise she would be a disgrace to the Shinigami and the uniform she wore. With a quiet clack Nanao shut the door to the dojo and walked silently away. Gingerly Rose climbed to her feet and hobbled over to the wall, where she sank down to the floor. So far she had not impressed Nanao, a feat which now seemed impossible. Exhausted and hungry, Rose sat there and stared at the white walls of the dojo.
He had finally stopped hitting her. She was safe for the moment. Master was always very considerate as to where he hit her. He did not want to mark her so close to an appointment. Rose had failed to produce the results that he wanted and as a result she had to be punished. At least this time it was with his fists and not with the cane… slowly Rose crawled over to her grubby cot and pulled of her tank top to inspect her wounds. The hard material of the top brushed her thin chest, revealing dark red blotches on her chest and sides. Hopefully they would not bruise like the last time otherwise she was in for another beating for disappointing Master. Even at the tender as of seven Rose knew that she was too thin, I mean nobody should be showing that many ribs or that much of her spinal cord. On the plus side Rose had an appointment later on in the week which meant that she would be getting more food than usual in order to fatten her up.
Shaking her head slightly, Rose banished the memory away to the deepest corner of her mind. Slowly Rose walked to her discarded sandals and put them on. She had two hours until her zanjutsu class that afternoon which was in Rose's opinion just enough time to unpack and study for her exam on the collapse of the Russian empire and the rise of the Bolsheviks. It was not her favourite module class but it was still fascinating. With a smile on her face Rose walked back to her room, her previous pains forgotten.
It took shorter than expected to unpack her bag. Shunsui and Ukitake had been vague on what she needed to pack so she had packed everything. Her clothes were placed in her cupboard while her books and laptop were placed on her desk. She also brought her dark blue bunny named blue bunny. It was almost as old as she was and it went with her everywhere. It was a gift from her parents a long time ago and was the only memory she had from them after they died. With a happy sigh Rose sat down at her desk and started to revise. Slowly, oh so slowly she started to learn important dates and quotes from historians. By midday Rose's head hurt from all the knowledge she had just crammed into her brain. Feeling extremely famished, Rose got up, picked up one of her smaller book and walked off towards the mess hall. The mess hall was already crowded by the time she had arrived and when she walked in she regretted coming. It was like high school all over again. People stopped talked and watched as she walked towards the food, while others pointed and whispered. It seems that high school never really ends.
Starving, Rose was craving fries or onion rings, but when she arrived at food table she saw a variety of dishes that she had never seen before. There were meet and fish dishes dipped in sauces that looked rather suspicious in Rose's point of view. She had never tried Japanese food and so she had no idea what food was in front of her. With a sign Rose filled her plate with the only food she recognized, steamed rice. Without making eye contact with anybody in the room she walked to a deserted table at the back of the mess hall and sat down. Rose took out her book from her pocket and placed it on the table. It was a book about the Stalin's great terror, a subject that she was always curious about. Slowly Rose was taken into the world of the past as she read about the show trials and the torture methods use by the NKVD and eventually the whispers from the surrounding Shinigami were blocked out. Rose read, completely unaware of the large pink form approaching her wearing a sakkat.
"Beautiful Rose" cried Shunsui and he sat down on the chair facing Rose, "how are you doing?"
Rose jumped, startled out of her inner history mode and looked up at the smiling form of Shunsui. "Please do not call me that" asked Rose.
"But you are a beautiful Rose, one that must be reminded everyday" exclaimed Shunsui with an extravagant hand gesture. Rose sighed and looked around the room. Many female Shinigami were giving her and evil glare, while the men gave her a knowing smile.
"We missed you last night at the party" said Shunsui.
"Oh? I did not know there was a party going on here. It took me so long to get back from the fourth division and by then I was too tired. I am sorry" Said Rose with a bow.
Shunsui eyed her with interest, she never used to bow at him. "That is ok Rose. You will just have to come tonight. A few friends of mine are having a drinking party, you should come along they are interested to meet you".
Rose looked down at her book. She did not like parties, especially those where she was the centre of attention. "Sorry but I don't think that would be very appropriate".
Shunsui looked at her and laughed, "You sound just like my Nanao-Chan". Rose smiled lightly at that comment. There was silence between them in which Rose took the liberty of reading more of her book.
"Ne darling Rose, I got your portfolio this morning from the fourth… they say that you are underweight which under normal circumstances I would ignore. But you are several pounds underweight and borderline dangerously underweight. I am concerned because if you are not eating enough you will not be able to reach your full potential" stated Shunsui while tipping his hat forwards to hid his face slightly. Rose internally sighed, she did not need another person saying how inadequate she was. And it was not her fault that she very rarely got hungry.
"Rose this is serious, you need to eat more. So I am going to sit here and listen to you as you explain to me why you are only having a small bowl of rice for lunch" said Shunsui leaning back in his chair.
"I was not hungry"
"No I think you can do better than that"
Rose looked down at her hands, they seemed much less intimidating then Shunsui's eyes. It was embarrassing answering to Shunsui like some child being scolded.
"Rose…did you at least eat breakfast?" asked Shunsui.
Rose did not answer.
"Yare" murmured Shunsui. Quickly he stood up and walked away leaving Rose alone at the table. With a smile Rose returned to her book, thankful that Shunsui had left. However, she was very surprised when Shunsui returned and placed a large plate of food in front of her.
"Eat" commanded Shunsui gesturing towards the food. Rose looked down at the plate and was stunned by the amount of food on it. It was enough to feed an entire army. Slowly Rose reached for her chop sticks and started to poke at the food
"Eat"! Shouted Master pointing towards the metal plate with bread on it. "Eat it all up like the bitch that you are. You are not even worth the food on that plate. Eat it with your hands tied behind your back you animal"
Rose slowly munched on the stale bread praying that her Master would leave her alone.
"I am not leaving here until you finish all that is on your plate" said Shunsui, snapping Rose out of her memory.
"Why do you even care" asked Rose while poking at an ongrini with a chop stick.
"Because you are under my care for the time being so it is my responsibility to look out for you. Also I can't stand watching a pretty girl starve herself" answered Shunsui while looking at Rose straight in the eyes. He could see a slight blush on her cheeks and he internal wooped.
"You think I'm pretty?" murmured Rose still looking down at her food.
"Exceptionally pretty" murmured Shunsui leaning in closer until her was only a few centimetre away from Rose's face. He could see her gulp and blush even more. But he also saw, in her eye a layer of uneasiness and fear at his closeness.
"Captain Kyoraku, you are invading my personal space" whispered Rose while staring straight into Shunsui's eyes.
"Oh really? I like invading your personal space. I get to see you beauty up close" murmured Shunsui. His breath was hot against Rose's face and in many ways was rather pleasant. He smelt delightful, like sakura petals and sandal wood. But his closeness really did intimidate Rose so was a strong hand she lightly pushed Shunsui away from her face. Shunsui promptly fell back into his chair and grabbed his heart and proclaimed that Rose had broken his heart by rejecting his advances. Rose blushed as most of the mess hall went quiet and stared at them.
Rose had hoped for a quiet lunch, but Shunsui had somehow made her the centre of attention. She looked down at her plate trying to ignore the looks she was getting. Rose picked up her chop sticks again and started to eat. The only way she could get this mess over with was if she ate as quickly as possible. Sadly she had no idea how to use chop sticks having never used them before in her life. In vain she tried to pick the food up while Shunsui watched her like a hawk. Getting rather angry at the chop sticks and food for not obeying her command, Rose brutally stabbed the meat (chicken maybe) with one of her chop stick and then shoved it in her mouth. Shunsui raised his eyebrow and grinded at Rose's deplorable table manners.
"Tell me do they all have terrible table manners in the world of the living. I swear the last time I was in Karakura town the people there had delightful table manners. You on the other hand eat like a barbarian. Do all people from London eat like this?" chuckled Shunsui.
Rose glared at him, "I have never used chop sticks in my life. SORRY for not being very good at using them" snapped Rose.
Shunsui laughed. "It's true" snapped Rose.
"Oh don't worry darling Rose I will teach you how to use them. I just never foresaw that I would have to teach you how to eat as well as how to fight" chucked Shunsui.
"Firstly, I know how to eat, just with a knife and fork. And secondly you are not teaching me anything, your subordinates are doing it are doing it for you" said Rose while pointing her finger at Shunsui.
"Would you have preferred it if I taught you? I can teach you so many things about how to wield a sword" asked Shunsui with a gleam in his eye. Somehow Rose knew that Shunsui was not referring to the sword strapped to her belt, but to the one between his legs. This caused Rose to blush and for Shunsui to smile at the obvious sign that she understood his true meaning.
"How very generous of you Captain Kyoraku but I must decline your offer. You obviously have other more pressing matters to attend to" said Rose while looking at Shunsui's chin, his eyes were too intense for her liking.
"But for you my beautiful Rose I will make time" said Shunsui.
"Please Captain Kyoraku do not waste your time on me, you have more important things to deal with".
"Oh, such as?" teased Shunsui
"Finding out why Shadow Crawler is targeting me so that I can go home" snapped Rose reaching the end of her temper with Shunsui.
Shunsui looked taken aback by her comment, "you want to go home, has my division and their hospitality not been to your liking?"
Rose looked around the room at all the glares, points and whispers the other members of the eight were giving her. The eighth so far had not been be very kind towards her but she could not voice her discontent towards Shunsui. She did not want to hurt his feelings, it was his division after all. Shunsui took Rose's silence as confirmation of her opinion of the eighth. It hurt him greatly that she did not like it here. He wanted to make her happy so that she would forget the pain of the past that was obvious in her eyes.
Shunsui got to his feet, "Yare, Rose you are not easy to please. You reject my compliments and then you insult my division. All this leads me to believe that you hate comments because you do not think you are worthy of them. In the case of my division, well I think we will just have to try harder to impress you". He tipped his hat and walked away. Rose felt like shit, she had meant to say that the division was great and kind, but somehow she knew that Shunsui would not believe her and would be even more offended that she lied to him. Full of melancholy, Rose got up from her table and left, trying to ignore the whispers from the others
"Did you see how she treated the Taicho? Such disrespect"
"Well she is not from here, she must be barbaric"
"I know and the way she eats, despicable"
"How long until Taicho bangs her?"
"She's not that pretty, I mean she is so thin"
"She looks like a whore"
Rose's eyes filled with tears as she left the mess hall and she desperately tried to hold them in until she reached her room. Sadly she could not make it so she broke down in the girl's bathroom and sobbed until she ran out of tears. She hated herself and wanted desperately to go home but sadly god or whatever deity that lied above wanted to torture her some more. It had done it to her in the past. What she did not know was that Shunsui had not meant what he said. Well the part about her not liking compliments because she thought of herself as unworthy was correct. But the part about the division he was only joking. Sadly she did not know how to tell that he was lying.
Rose stayed in the bathroom until it was time for her zanjutsu class. She quickly cleaned herself up and then briskly walked out towards the training grounds where she was going to meet her teacher. She arrived early and waited for her to arrive. Absent-mindedly she fiddled with her Kanata and tried to imagine what it would be like to properly wield it. It was exciting holding her own weapon and if Hanataro was right it would mould itself into her own personal weapon. Rose was curious to see what it would look like.
Rose waited and waited but Maya did not turn up. She was positive that she was in the right place, having double checked with a passing Shinigami. Forty five minutes later a tall woman with long blond hair down to her waist walked out onto the training ground. She wore a typical Shihakushō but unlike all other Shinigami she wore a deep red sash with a gold flower pattern on the ends.
"I was ordered by the Taicho to come and teach you zanjutsu. I want you to know that I do not give up my free time just about anybody. So make my time with you worthwhile" ordered Maya.
"Yes Ma'am" said Rose with a bow.
"Such disrespect. I heard about your little stunt in the mess hall at lunch. You must treat the Taicho with more respect. He is a Taicho and you are a lowly human. Consider yourself lucky to be in his presence. As for me, you will address me as lady Maya Koru from the noble house of Koru. If you pull the same stunt on me as you did on Taicho you will be most sorry" snapped Maya.
Rose said nothing but continued to stare at the ground.
"Now we begin. Every day we will spar and hopefully you will gain some skill with a Zanpakuto. But seeing you now it is going to take a small miracle for that to happen" continued Maya. Rose internally sighed, it seemed that everybody here thought of her as a lost cause. If she really was that bad then why don't they just stop training her, at least then they will stop wasting time. God right now she could be studying for her exams, something that was more important to her than wielding a Zanpakuto. Rose stopped thinking when she felt the tip of Maya's Zanpakuto touch her neck. Slowly she looked up into Maya's eyes. Suddenly she felt impact across her face.
"How dare you look at me" cried Maya while Rose slowly massaged the spot where Maya had just struck her. Her eyes filled with tears as she remembered how Master used to hit her. It was humiliating.
"Such disrespect" sighed Maya. After that Rose made sure to only look and Maya's chin while she taught her, albeit badly, how to wield her katana. Saying that Maya was giving her zanjutsu classes was an understatement, Maya was brutally swiping her Zanpakuto at Rose who desperately tried to defend herself. By the end of the lessons (all fifteen minutes of it) Rose was covered in dirty and cuts while Maya barely had a drop of sweat on her forehead.
"You look dirty Rose, at least it matches your un-pure blood" sneered Maya as she walked away. Rose staggered to her feet, feeling blood trickling down her arm. Blood, she hated blood. The smell and the look, it was awful. Slowly, and in agony Rose walked back to her room where she collapsed on the bed and started to cry.
"There, there child dry your tears. Your tears are not worth what happened" said an ethereal, musical voice
"What, who? Where are you" cried Rose looking around her empty room and seeing nobody.
"I am your Zanpakuto and I have been trying to make contact with you for a very long time" said the voice.
"You are my Zanpakuto" whispered Rose while picking up her discarded Zanpakuto from the floor where she had dropped it.
"Yes now come with me". Suddenly the room around Rose swayed and moved and she found herself being flung around in an unknown direction. Rose closed her eyes to avoid getting dizzy and then suddenly it stopped. It was silent now but in the distance Rose could hear the sound water. Slowly Rose opened her eyes and saw that she was lying in a small Victorian looking courtyard that looked like it had seen better days. The place lay in ruin, the old archways surrounding the courtyard were broken, smashed into pieces. Weeds and ivy grew unkempt in and around the walls and archways that surrounded the courtyard. Rose could see that it was the middle of the night and pitched black due to the lack of the moon. Gingerly she got to her feet and looked around but the limited light (she had no idea where it was coming from) only showed what was in the courtyard and not what was out beyond it. A quick investigation showed Rose that the light was coming from a beautiful looking fountain built into the wall of the courtyard. The fountain was obviously the source of the sound of water, but upon further inspection Rose saw that the fountain was not spewing out water, but a silver sort of liquid. She also noted the fountain was the only item in the courtyard that was not broken, in fact it was in pristine condition.
"Come here child" said the voice.
Rose looked around and saw where the source of the voice was coming from. A woman wearing long midnight blue robes decorated in silver swirls and a veil that covered her face sat on a broken bench in a corner. Slowly Rose walked towards the woman.
"Where am I?" asked Rose ones she had reached to woman.
"You are in your inner world" replied the voice. Rose looked around at the derelict state of her inner world and wanted to laugh. The place suited her mood perfectly.
"You are thinking that this place suits your personality. That is partly true. This place used to be beautiful and serene. But then you lost all hope in yourself and slowly this place turned to rubble"
"It is such a shame. This place looked like it was beautiful. What happened?" asked Rose while looking around the courtyard.
"You lost all hope and stopped dreaming. Rose Bentley you need to start having hope and believing in yourself again otherwise this place will turn to ashes and I will be no more" said the voice in a serious tone.
"And what will happen if this place turns to ashes and you disappear?" asked Rose not really liking what she was hearing.
"You will lose yourself to insanity and die a lonely death" said the woman. Rose stared at her in shock. "This place lost its beauty because you lost part of your soul through your misery and despair. It is time that you regained the soul that you lost all those years ago" continued the voice.
"Lost part of my soul" gasped Rose.
"I am referring to what happened to you ten years ago"
Rose blanched, "Ten years ago…but that was when"
"Yes Rose Bentley, you must confront your past in order to live for your future. Your time is running out"
"But I can't go back. Looking back at the past is too painful" cried Rose.
"You must and I will guide you. You must learn to us me and only by doing that will you be able to save yourself" said the voice and out of her robes she pulled out a katana and handed it to Rose. It was the most beautiful sword Rose ad ever seen. The sheath was silver and decorated with midnight blue swirls with dark blue diamond studs and intervals. The handle was midnight and decorated with sliver while the hand guard was silver. Rose drew the sword and gasped as she saw the colour of the blade. It was midnight blue and beautiful.
"This is your Zanpakuto and you must train to use me" said the woman. Rose was speechless and she stared at the Zanpakuto in her hands. "You must leave now, your presence is required elsewhere" said the woman.
"Wait" cried Rose, "What is your name?"
"That is something I cannot tell you Rose Bentley, you must find it out for yourself" replied the voice.
Rose opened her eyes and saw that she was clutching her new Zanpakuto in her hands. She smiled, it was not a dream but a reality. Rose had found her Zanpakuto and it was beautiful.