Chapter 11: Midnight Dancer

Warning: Some minor Lemon.

Blue mist swirled around Rose mind as she fell through the sky but she was not scared. The fall was slow and tranquil as the mist seemed to gently hold her up and allow her to glide down. Rose knew where she was going, she had been there before. Suddenly the mist cleared and Rose found herself standing in the courtyard of her inner world. The courtyard was fully repaired and bathed in a bright silver light brought on by the large moon that shone overhead. The benches that lined the wall were fully repaired and sparkled in the light and the fountain glittered in the moon light. Opposite to the benches was a large archway that lead out onto a balcony. Rose walked through the archway and onto the balcony and looked down. Before she had been unable to see beyond the courtyard as the light from the moon was too weak. Now she could see out beyond the balcony and what a sight it was. In the distance there was a large lake with the same silvery water as the fountain in the courtyard. But this time large figures could be seen on the water. Upon further investigation Rose realized that these figures where images of her past self. One figure was of her opening a large present and pulling out a blue bunny. Another was of a small girl cowering in the corner with dark sunken eyes. The rest of the figures seemed to be either dancing or baking mouth-watering cupcakes. And then it dawned on Rose, these were not images but memories. All of them, the good and the bad. Rose turned around and ran back to the fountain, urged on by an idea. The water in the fountain lay motionless but Rose knew what to do. Gently she poked the water and then gasped as the water rose up and moulded into two figures. One figure was Rose while the other images looked suspiciously like Hana. The two of them were baking and seemed to be having an argument. Rose gasped again when she realized that she had already experienced this. She had dreamt that Hana and herself were baking cupcakes but then Hana wanted to sell them to earn money to buy a year supply of bubble gum. The dream had been rather silly but that was not the point. It seemed that this liquid was able to not only show the past but also dreams.

And then it clicked in Rose's mind. The night time and the dreams…she knew her Zanpakuto's name. And speaking of her Zanpakuto where was she? Normal her Zanpakuto would sit on one of the benches and express her discontent towards Rose. But now she was nowhere to be seen. For a brief moment Rose was scared that she had been too late to save her soul. But then again her inner world would not be in such pristine condition if she had lost her soul.

Maybe she needed to call out her Zanpakuto, summon her like she was supposed to do. "I know your name…and I am sorry for not listening to you. You were right all along….Midnight Dancer." Said Rose loudly.

She heard the movement of silk behind her and spun around and saw her Zanpakuto standing there. However this time there was no veil covering her face. Midnight Dancer had long dark blue hair and silver eyes and lips. She looked stunningly beautiful.

"Wow Midnight dancer…what happened to your veil…and why were you hiding?" Asked Rose in shock.

"I was able to remove it ones you removed the veil you kept over your past. And I was only able to come out when you called my name" Said Midnight Dancer in her ethereal voice.

Rose frowned. Something about that explanation was not right. "I get the feeling that you are lying to me."

Midnight Dancer blushed and looked away. "Right tell me the truth." Said Rose with a smile on her face. It seemed that her Zanpakuto was exactly like her.

"Oh alright I was using the veil to prove a point ok, and I wanted to make a dramatic entrance."

Rose laughed. "You are so overdramatic."

"Well I am part of your soul. If you are over dramatic then so am I." snapped Midnight Dancer before bursting out laughing. Rose stared in confusion as her Zanpakuto rolled around on the ground, overcome by laughter.

"Erm…now to the important bit." Said Midnight Dancer before standing up and leading Rose over to one of the benches. "Now although you know my name you still need to train with me. You know my shikai command but you need to train to release it. You need to start by closing your mind before you train and allow your reiatsu to swirl around in you. I am not an offensive or defensive weapon. As you can tell my powers are psychological so you will spill no blood while I am in shikai. Now you need to replace your sandals with shoes you can dance in. Not you sneakers but maybe a pair of flats. You need to be able to move freely and gracefully while welding me. Oh and bring music, classical music to begin with. I will tell you more once you release me."

Rose stared at Midnight Dancer like she had just sprouted two heads. "Well aren't we a demanding little thing."

Midnight Dancer snorted with laughter. "Well I am you. And you can get a little demanding. But seriously get the shoes and the music. It will make training easier."

Rose got to her feet and stared at Midnight dancer for a moment. "You know when you are not a mean bitch you can actually be very nice."

"I will say it again… I am you so I guess that makes you a bitch as well." Replied Midnight dancer with a smile.

Rose smiled back. "Well I need to be off. I need time to find all the things you want me to get. Until next time Midnight Dancer.

Rose opened her eyes and saw that she was on an unfamiliar location. And then it all came back to her, the truth and then Shunsui's comforting word afterwards. Rose placed her head in her hands, too embarrassed to face the reality. How embarrassing having a breakdown and having you superior take you back to their quarters for 'looking after'. Quickly and quietly Rose got up and folded away the futon she was sleeping on. Then as quiet as a mouse she crept out of the room she was staying in and down the corridor. She assumed Shunsui would be in the kitchen or someplace similar as according to the clock her phone it was mid-morning. Shunsui was nowhere to be found and Rose was not comfortable staying in his quarters, but it was rude to not express her gratitude towards him and apologies. It was also rude to wander around his quarters without permission and so Rose found a piece of paper and wrote a short message to Shunsui expressing her gratitude and then apologising for her actions. She left the note on the side and then quietly slide out a door into the garden and then climbed over the wall.

The streets were silent and Rose met nobody as she ran back to her room and changed into her uniform. Sadly the mess hall was crowded so Rose was subject yet again to the jeering and insults hurled at her by the Shinigami there. But she ignored them and plugged in her headphones and listened to the Rolling Stones. A small part of her felt guilty for missing her morning training with Nanao but right now she really could not give a damn. But as midday approached the guilt overtook the rebellious side of her so Rose got up and walked towards the administrative building in order to apologies to Nanao. As she walked through the administrative building she noticed that it was empty. Normally high ranking officers sat at desks filling out paperwork or pretending to do so but now it was empty. And then she heard it, the loud angry voices coming from Nanao and Shunsui's shared office.

"What makes you think that she would agree to any of this?"

"She has no choice. It is vital that we know what was done to her and the only way to know this is by experimenting on her." Said a deep voice full of authority and sternness.

"Don't you think she has been experimented on enough already?"

Rose froze when she heard the word experiment. Fear, ice cold fear crept through her body making her shiver. Quietly she made her way over to the door and knelt down next to the door. Rose looked through the crack between the door and the floor and saw fire pairs of feet, one of which was not wearing any shocks.

"Maybe we can reach a compromise" suggested a voice that Rose assumed belonged to Ukitake.

"This is ridiculous! You are all wasting my time. I need to collect some samples. The sooner I get them the better." Cried out a cold voice that Rose did not recognize but it made her shiver.

"Mayuri calm yourself". Said a low baritone voice that Rose knew to be Shunsui's.

"You seem awfully protective of the child. I won't get too close to her, you seem to drive every woman close to you away." sneered the cold voice. There was the sound of movement and a loud grunting noise.

"There will be no fighting but Ukitake is right maybe we can reach a compromise. But we desperately need more data if we are to work out what was done on Rose Bentley." Said a calm voice.

"So Unohana Taicho you admit that you need more data." said the cold voice again.

"Kurotsuchi you are NOT experimenting on girl" Said Shunsui darkly.

"Who said anything about experimenting on her? I only want to take from of her blood and bone marrow. Maybe even inject her with a substance to see how her soul responds to it. Nothing too bad. But I do want to open her up and see what I can deduce. She is a very interesting specimen."

"Shunsui we have no choice." Said the stern authoritative voice again.

Rose gasped and frantically backed away only to knock into one of the desks behind her. Papers fell around her along with several ink brushed and wells. She could feel ink running down her back and pooling at her feet. The door to the office opened swung open and footsteps walked towards Rose.

"Rose it is not nice to listen in to other people's conversations." Said Shunsui in a tone that suggested that he was not happy.

"Neither is talking behind people's back." Spat Rose as she scrambled to her feet. Behind Shunsui she could see Ukitake, Unohana and a man that looked like a demented clown looking at her. What a sight she must be covered in ink.

Suddenly she felt exposed, standing in front of a bunch of people staring at her. Rose pushed past Shunsui and started to walk down the corridor. She knew what she had just do was incredibly rude but she could not careless. These people were planning on experimenting on her and she wanted nothing to do with them. God she had trusted them and now they wanted to experiment on her like Master. They were in her eyes just like Master. If these people were going to treat her like an object to be used that their convenience then why should she show them any respect. Shunsui let out an audible sigh and turned towards Rose. He really was not in the mood to deal with someone having a temper tantrum.

Unohana moved forwards and blocked Rose's escape. "Well aren't we spirited today". Rose heard the undertone in Unohana's voice that suggested that she was impressed with Rose's behaviour.

Rose simply glared at Unohana and then she stopped. Glaring and then storming of was a very childish thing to do and it would not solve the issue at hand. For all she knew they might sign her up for experiments without her permission. She was hurt and felt betrayed and she wanted people to know that. "I trusted you captain Kyoraku. I told you and everybody else the yesterday the truth in secret and now I discover that you have told everybody. And now you want to experiment on me. I thought I could trust you but now I discover that you are exactly like my old Master." Said Rose a little faintly. She could feel the tears welling up in her eyes but she would not let them fall. Her pride would not let her.

Shunsui stiffened at her words. "This is ridiculous! Give me the girl and let me start experimenting on her. Nemu take the girl!" cried out Kurotsuchi.

Shunsui swivelled around at grabbed Kurotsuchi by the collar, anger radiating off him. "Might I remind you that Rose is a member of my squad and so is under my protection. You will not touch me without her permission and if I discover that you have I will hurt you…painfully." Said Shunsui in a dark tone.

"Shunsui, Kurotsuchi enough!" Said a stern voice.

Rose turned around and saw an old man with a long white beard and cane walked out of the office. He may have been old but he was emitting an aura that screamed that he was not a man to trifle with. Rose was immediately intimidated by him. His reiatsu was hot and suffocating and made Rose feel weak.

"We will continue this conversation at a more convenient location where unwanted ears may listen in." Rose could the intense aura of the old man bearing down on her and suddenly she felt really guilty for eavesdropping. "Now Rose Bentley I have heard a lot of things from you. 5th seat Maya Koru has reported that you are neglecting your training. Is that true?"

Rose looked down at the floor.

"Well?"

"Yes sir I have been neglecting my training." Said Rose out of breath. The intense heat and power was suffocating her but she would not collapse.

"Do you realise that people have given up their time to train you?"

"Yes sir."

"Without your training you will not learn how to control your powers and thus cause even more problems."

Rose was humiliated and out of breath. "yes sir." She whispered.

"Disgraceful child! You are disgracing the Gotei 13 with your antics and normally I would punish you but you are not an official member so I cannot do so. In that case I am going to organize a trail, in exam in other words where you will be expected to show off your abilities."

"Yes sir" whispered Rose.

The old man grunted and then turned to leave. "I will summon you later to finish our discussion concerning the experiments."

Rose stared at the fall totally humiliated. She had just been scolded in front of everyone and called a disgrace. Shinigami had been calling her names before but this was the straw that broke the camel's back. A small sob escaped her lips.

"Rose-"

"Please, just, just leave me alone". Rose blinked back her. She heard people quietly leave until it was only Shunsui and herself standing in the corridor.

"I thought I asked you to leave?" murmured Rose.

"No I won't leave you. Not ever. Please Rose." Whispered Shunsui.

"No…I can't." And then rose burst into tears. Her entire body started to shake as weeks of anger, shame and self-loathing over took her.

Shunsui walked forwards and hugged Rose close to his body. "Shh Rose it will be alright."

"How can you say that." Sobbed Rose. "People won't to experiment on me again and to top it all off people think that I am a disgrace."

"I don't"

"What?"

"I don't think that you are a disgrace. You are a fighter but you prefer to use your intelligence rather than your fists in a fight. That is understandable considering your brutal past."

Rose looked up and Shunsui and smiled sadly. "Thank you Shunsui…you are always so nice to me and…and I am sorry for what I said before. I do trust you and you are not like Master. I was just so angry."

Shunsui released his hold on Rose and then looked into her eyes. "I know Rose. I am also angry at what people want to do to you. I want you to know that I will make sure that they never experiment on you without your permission first."

Rose smiled and nodded. "Thank you… for everything."

Rose stayed silent and just looked into Shunsui's kind eyes. He really was a kind man when he wanted to be and Rose felt guilty for the way she had treated him for the last few days. She needed to explain herself, he deserved to know. "Shunsui I-I am sorry for all the things I said. I had no right to say them. The other day you scared me when you came asking questions that I was not ready to answer. Please forgive me."

Shunsui gently pulled Rose into a hug. "Oh darling Rose I have already forgiven you for that. I am sorry if I scared you."

"Thank you Shunsui. I just want you to know that I may not be ready to trust you with my heart but I am willing to try. Just please be patient with me" Rose begged.

Shunsui looked down into Rose's pleading eyes and smiled. "Darling Rose I would wait until hell freezes over for you to be ready. I am just happy that you are willing to try". Gently he lowered his lips and kissed Rose delicately on the lips. Rose sighed and pulled Shunsui in closer and deepened the kiss slightly. Kissing his darling Rose made Shunsui wonder if he was dreaming. If he was then he hoped to never wake up from it.

After their little confrontation Rose and Shunsui decided to eat a late lunch where Shunsui chuckled at Rose's less than lady-like attempts to use chopsticks. Then the two of them somehow ended up sitting in the field where they first had lunch together. Shunsui was slumped back against a tree, lazily drinking Sake and running his hand up and down Rose's back, giving her a light massage while she lay on her stomach reading over her notes. A light breeze was causing Rose's long brown hair to dance across her face. She really was a beautiful woman in Shunsui's opinion. Unlike all, or most of the women Shunsui had been with Rose was not overly curvaceous in fact she was very petit. However, her pale skin and delicate features made her look elegant and simply beautiful.

Rose shivered slightly under his touch. "Are you ok? I can stop if I am making you uncomfortable" asked Shunsui with a hint of worry in his voice.

"No, it feels nice actually." Said Rose while pressing her back against Shunsui's hand.

Shunsui increased the pressure of his hands on Rose's back. "Your muscles are slightly tensed. Are you worried about something? Maybe the upcoming trial match?"

Rose pondered his words for a minute. She had not given her upcoming match much thought. But when she did she felt like a cold weight was sitting in her stomach, pressing her down. It was not something that she was overly joyed to do. "I am slightly nervous." She confessed after a while.

Shunsui shifted slightly and pulled Rose closer to his side. "You know that I will be present at your match and that I will stop the match if it gets too out of control".

Rose smiled and snuggled closer to Shunsui. "Thank you, that is reassuring to know". They stat in comfortable silence after that. Rose started to absent minded play with Shunsui's ankle bracelet.

"Do you think you are ready for the match?" asked Shunsui out of the blue.

"I think so" replied Rose with a secretive look on her face.

"I know Hana Yamada is training you. You were not very discrete when you were sneaking around outside Juu's office. He followed you ones." Explained Shunsui after seeing Rose's incredulous face.

"You stalked me?" Snapped Rose.

"No, not stalked, Ukitake followed you one day because he was worried that you were doing something illegal. It was only last Saturday did he inform me that you were sneaking off to train with Hana. Neither he nor I have told anybody but we both want to know why you are keeping this a secret". Explained Shunsui while looking at Rose with piercing eyes.

Rose sighed. "Hana has been training me but she asked me to keep it a secret. She is bullied in her division because of her talent hence the reason why she does not show it off and hence why we must train in secret."

"Do you know who is bullying her?" Asked Shunsui in a quiet but serious tone.

"No" lied Rose.

"Rose"

"Look even if I did know I would not tell you. Telling a superior would only make matter worse. Hana needs to deal with this in her own way. And anyway if you start acting against the bullies Hana would know that I told you something and I risk losing one of the few friends I have here". Explained Rose in an exasperated tone.

Shunsui sighed. He was not going to let this matter slide but he knew that he had pushed the subject a bit too far for Rose's liking. But one thing was for sure, he was going to go and have a long talk with Ukitake about this. "Ukitake and Nanao both said that you prefer using Bakudo instead of Hado, care to explain why?" Asked Shunsui, changing the subject. He saw Rose's body visibly relax.

"I don't like hurting people or drawing blood. The idea of casting a spell or slicing someone is abhorrent for me hence why I prefer to bind the person. I hate blood." Answered Rose in a quiet tone. Shunsui swore he could hear a note of self-loathing in her tone.

"I also prefer not to kill or hurt a being, but sometimes it is the only option."

"I still prefer to bind them."

A paused passed between them. "I will tell Nanao to relax a bit on training you in Hado kido. But I still want you to learn them because on day you will have to use them." Said Shunsui in a serious tone.

Rose rolled over and straddled Shunsui's chest. "Thank you Shunsui" she said while bending down to kiss him. The kiss was short but still very sweet. While pulling back from him, Rose snatched Shunsui's sakkat off his head and placed it on hers. It was too big for her and fell past her eyes.

"It suits you but you will need to get a smaller size." Chuckled Shunsui. Gently, Shunsui ran his hands up Rose's back and delicately laced his fingers in her hair. Slowly he brought her mouth down onto his and kissed her deeply causing her to moan slightly. Rose gently pulled on Shunsui's hair tie, releasing his hair. As she ran her hands through his hair she noticed how soft it felt. Shunsui groaned at the fell of Rose's fingers running through his hair.

Slowly, Shunsui ran his hands down Rose chest, grazing her breasts in the process. Rose froze against Shunsui lips, unsure of how to react. Shunsui looked into her eyes and felt his heart constrict when he saw the fear and uncertainty in them.

"Rose, if you feel uncomfortable then we can stop" murmured Shunsui.

"No Shunsui. I am fine. It-it just fells…different." Whispered Rose a little out of breath. She wrapped her hands around Shunsui's and brought them up to her breast. Gently Shunsui began to strock them, drawing out slowly moans from Rose.

"Rose?" Asked Shunsui in a concerned voice when he saw that her breathing had increased.

"What Shunsui? Please" moaned Rose.

"Are you ok?"

"Yes please don't stop"

Shunsui smiled and then ran his hand over Rose's covered nipple making her gasp. Rose held onto Shunsui hair harder, anchoring herself against the pleasure she was experiencing. Shunsui latched onto her neck and began to kiss and suck at her pulse point. Rose opened her eyes and gasped. She had never felt pleasure on this level before.

"Hmm Shunsui more please." She moaned in a desperate voice.

"More?" Murmured Shunsui against Rose's neck. Rose pushed against Shunsui's chest and lifted herself up onto her knees. Slowly she undid the top of her shihakushō, revealing her pale pink bra.

"You don't have to do that." Said Shunsui ones he saw the uncertainty in Rose's eyes.

"It's not that…it's just….do you like it?" She asked with a deep blush on her face. She used her hands to try and cover her breast but she was stopped by Shunsui.

"Rose you look…delightful…please don't cover yourself, you look magnificent." Said Shunsui. Rose blushed and timidly leaned down and kissed Shunsui. The kiss changed and became more desperate. Shunsui ran his hands over Rose breasts while Rose allowed her hand to skim over Shunsui's chest, marvelling at how muscular and soft his chest was. Their tongues danced together drawing moans from the both of them. Slowly Shunsui began to kiss down Rose's neck until he was sucking on the sensitive skin above her breast. With a small nod Rose allowed him to remove her bra. Shunsui looked at the small, perky and magnificent breasts in front of him. Gently he took a rose coloured nipple into his mouth and started to suck on in. Rose groaned and arched her back, begging Shunsui to take more of her into his mouth. With his other hand Shunsui began to massage Rose's neglected breast. Rose gasped, moaned and sighed at the feeling of Shunsui suckling on her breasts. The feeling of pleasure was beyond her comprehension, all she could do was hold onto Shunsui's shoulders and moan against the onslaught of pleasure. Slowly she began to feel something build up within her. Panicking she looked down at Shunsui, but the sight of him suckling on her breasts made her moan louder, causing the feeling deep within her to increase.

"Do you trust me?" Asked Shunsui in a slightly muffled tone.

"Yes." Moaned Rose loudly.

"Then let go."

Rose gasped and moaned loudly when she felt her muscles within her core contract uncontrollably. The pleasure experienced was unbelievable. Rose felt Shunsui wrap his arms around her body and hold her close to his chest. Eventually Rose came down from her high. She just had, without question her first orgasm, and it was brilliant.

"Shunsui…that" mumbled Rose.

"I know Rose" murmured Shunsui close to her ear.

"Thank you" murmured Rose before blushing deeply. Did she really just say that?

Shunsui chuckled. "You are more than welcome. In fact I would not mind doing that again."

Rose laughed and sat up. "Sorry Shunsui, maybe another time. You still have paperwork to do."

Shunsui looked at her with horror on his face which then immediately turned into a dark, seductive look. "You know as a Taicho I can order you to stay…"

"Yes I know you could, but both you and I fear Nanao's wrath which we are both sure to experience if we do not return soon. Plus I have work to do." Laughed Rose.

Shunsui sighed dramatically before sitting up. "If darling Rose wishes to work then I will allow her to for I cannot refuse her. And for the record I do not fear Nanao's wrath…I just choose to avoid it."

Rose laughed and then climbed to her feat. Shunsui helped her gather her things together before he Shunpooed them back to the eighth division.