Chapter 10
Buffy entered the living room to see Ikkaku standing in the middle of the room, examining the television set. He was pacing in front of it, staring at it, looking behind it occasionally. He had changed his clothes, although Buffy wasn't sure how he had acquired new ones; she hadn't seen any suitcases when he and Yumichika had arrived. Then again, she hadn't been paying attention, either.
"What the hell are you doing?" she asked, stifling a snicker when he jumped.
"I'm just looking at this thing," Ikkaku replied, still examining the television set. "It looks like one of those display screens back in Seiretei, except smaller and less… gooey."
"It's a television," Buffy explained. Ikkaku ceased his examination of the said television and looked at her, his expression urging her to continue. "You sit in front of it and watch other people doing interesting stuff and wait until your brain turns into gelatinous mush. Well, it will if you watch soap operas like Spike does. Come on, sit with me. Our brains can turn into gelatinous mush at the same time."
"Spike's the blond guy, right?" Ikkaku asked as Buffy led him to the sofa. She sat down and patted the spot next to her before grabbing the remote and turning on the television.
"Yeah, why?" Buffy asked, flipping through the channels, trying to find something good.
"I don't like him," Ikkaku said blankly.
"Not very many people do," Buffy replied, finally settling on an old zombie movie. It was a little strange that a zombie movie was on the television relatively early on a Saturday morning, but she definitely wasn't complaining. Maybe it was a special marathon or something.
"I don't like the way he was looking at you," Ikkaku said as he settled down on the comfortable sofa.
"Well, how was he looking at me?" Buffy asked, kicking off her shoes before turning so that she was laying across the length of the couch, her head in Ikkaku's lap.
"Like he wanted to eat you," Ikkaku replied. He looked down at Buffy's position, practically laying on top of him, before poking her in the back of her head with his finger. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"
"If you want me to move all you have to do is ask," Buffy said. "Now shush, it's getting to the good part."
The two sat in silence as the movie played out in front of them, the only sounds coming from the television set. Ikkaku had taken to stroking her hair and trailing his fingers over her ears and neck periodically, lulling her into a sleepy state. She was asleep before the end of the movie.
It wasn't until someone had come into the house through the front door that Buffy woke up, the sound of the door opening and closing disturbing her light slumber. She blinked a couple of times before looking up, slightly surprised to see Yumichika and Dawn standing over her. Ikkaku was still seated on the couch and Buffy's head was still in his lap.
"It's amazing," Yumichika said in mock awe.
"What's amazing?" Dawn asked, curious.
"They're in the same room, sitting on the same piece of furniture, touching each other, and they're not fighting," he replied. "It's a freaking miracle."
"Oh shut up," Buffy grumbled, tossing a pillow at Yumichika, who caught it easily. She didn't, however, move from her position on the couch. "So, how did your walk go?"
"I'll tell you later," Dawn said. Buffy could see that she didn't want to talk about it in front of their guests and she respected that. She'd just have to get it out of her sister later.
"So, what's everyone up to?" Yumichika asked, plopping down on one of the chairs as Dawn sat down on the floor.
"Me and Buffy were just watching the telly-whatsit," Ikkaku replied with a shrug. "The redhead and the other girl went upstairs to have se…"
"Sensory perception practice," Buffy quickly cut in, shooting a glare at Ikkaku. He smirked in amusement. "At least, that's what I think it was. Didn't get any of the details, but I think it was a kind of magic-y thing."
"Uh huh, sure, I believe you," Dawn said with a smirk.
"Since when do you know how to smirk?" Buffy asked, arching an eyebrow.
"Since Spike started babysitting me after… well… you know," Dawn replied uncomfortably. There was an awkward silence for a few moments, before Buffy got a bright smile on her face.
"Come on Dawn, let's go have a sister-sister chat," she said, getting up and slipping her shoes back on before grabbing Dawn by the hand and hauling her to her feet. "We'll just leave you two alone. TV remote's over there, we'll be down in a bit."
Buffy dragged Dawn upstairs and didn't stop moving until they had reached Buffy's room. The door was shut and locked tight before Buffy rounded on her kid sister.
"So spill," Buffy said excitedly. "What do you think of him?"
"He's okay, I guess," Dawn said with a shrug. Buffy looked at her sceptically before Dawn's face broke into a small smile. "Okay, he's kind of cool. He didn't treat me like a little kid, which I appreciated. He told me funny stories about you, which was so great. Nice to know I'm not the only Summers girl to get kidnapped. Oh! And he told me how much he really, really loved you and that you're his best friend."
"But…" Buffy prompted.
"How did you know there was a but?" Dawn asked, surprised.
"You have buttface," Buffy replied matter-of-factly, sitting down on the bed. Dawn flopped down next to her. "So spill. What's wrong with the oh-so-great person who decided to adopt me as his kid sister?"
"It's the fact that he adopted you as his kid sister," Dawn replied with a sigh. "I mean, I know it's not gonna happen or anything, but it kind of feels like he's stealing you away from me. When you came back, I thought I had you all to myself again. But then I find out you have this whole other family, this whole other life, and now you're not all mine anymore."
"Selfish much?" Buffy asked, arching an eyebrow. Dawn ducked her head sheepishly and Buffy laughed. "It's okay Dawn, I understand. I'd be upset too if I found out and some strange people had adopted you instead of you being able to stay with Willow and Tara. But you know what? These people might take up spaces in my heart, but they'll never replace you. I've got more than enough love to go around."
"I know, but… still," Dawn said with a sigh. "It's just a lot to get used to, you know? I'm gonna need time."
"Take as much time as you need," Buffy said. "We've got plenty of it, by the looks of it. Best way to get to know Yumichika, though, is to let him take you shopping. He has excellent taste."
"Hey, Buffy?" asked Dawn.
"Yeah?" Buffy replied.
"Do you have any pictures?" Dawn asked. "I mean, of you in your other life."
"Tons," Buffy replied. "But I think they're all in my new apartment in the thirteenth division, unless the two idiots downstairs brought some with them. I don't think they did, though, because I don't think either of them have that kind of foresight."
"Oh, okay," Dawn said, sounding a little sad. "How did you end up with those two?"
"Yumichika helped me when no one else would," Buffy replied. "The reasons he did it were purely selfish reasons, but I'm not really complaining. I got to live and I got an amazing friend out of the deal. And Ikkaku, but I don't like to think of him that much. He's in the background most of the time, only coming to the forefront when he's pulling his rampaging bull routine."
"What were Yumichika's reasons for helping you?" Dawn asked. "And why wouldn't anyone else help you?"
"Yumichika helped me because I was pretty – prettiest girl in Soul Society according to him – and he liked to surround himself around pretty people and things. Don't know why he's hanging around Ikkaku, though," Buffy replied with a snort and Dawn giggled. "As for the reason why no one else would help me… I got dropped into a pretty rough part of town. It was a dog eat dog world, and if you had someone injured as badly as I was, it would only slow you down and make you a target. Besides, I'd just been practically gutted by the biggest asshole in town, someone no one wanted to get onto the bad side of. It would have just been better to leave me there instead of getting on his bad side."
"And you're friends with him?" Dawn asked, her eyebrows raised. "Do you have any idea how messed up that sounds to someone on the outside?"
"Don't remind me," Buffy replied, making a face. "He's not an easy person to get along with, I'll grant you that. Rangiku called me crazy when I first met her when I told her how Ikkaku and I met."
"I'm kinda agreeing with this Rangiku person," Dawn said. "Who is she?"
"My best girl friend," Buffy replied. "We met at the academy entrance exam and then we ended up as room mates for the years I was there. It was nice having a girl around to talk to, especially when all of your good friends are boys. And then I ended up in a division where, except for our vice captain, I was the only female."
"Did you have any other close friends?" Dawn asked.
"There were two I was really close with," Buffy replied. "I still talk with Iba, although he's closer to Kakku and Yumi now. Then there was Byakuya; we're not really friends right now. Then again, our friendship was kinda doomed from the start."
"Why's that?" Dawn asked.
"He's head of one of the noble families, I'm just a thug from the eleventh division," Buffy replied with a shrug. "Well, I was just a thug from the eleventh division. I got transferred out just before I got this mission. Anyway, I like to think I taught him everything that helped him make it as a captain. He could barely fight when I met him, before he asked me to teach him how to fight. He offered to teach me kido… magic. And how to use flash steps, which was kind of teleporting."
"You, learn magic?" Dawn asked. "I'm surprised you didn't blow yourself up."
"Uh, funny story," Buffy said with a nervous laugh. "I actually kinda did. Numerous times. To this day, I still think Byakuya got the way better deal. Although he did get threatened by Ikkaku to stay far, far away from me, so maybe he didn't get the better deal after all."
"If I didn't know any better, I'd say he liked you," Dawn said sagely.
"Since when did you get all grown up and all knowy?" Buffy asked, arching an eyebrow.
"Since when did you get all revealy and talkative about personal stuff?" Dawn shot back.
"When you live with two guys who won't let you hide anything and you can't lie to, you get used to spilling your guts about just about everything," Buffy replied with a shrug. "And the stuff they couldn't get out of me, Rangiku could. I had, like, no secrets. I couldn't even secretly date anyone, because within a week Kakku and Yumi would be storming the poor guy, threatening to kick his ass if he hurt me. They happened to be one of the best chastity belts a girl could ask for. Too bad I didn't ask for it."
"That's a little bit more information than I needed," Dawn said, as an awkward silence descended on the sisters. "Well… I'm gonna go. Lots of homework to do and stuff."
"Okay, see you later," Buffy replied, a little sad, but she knew her sister needed to keep up with her studies. She definitely didn't want Dawn to have the same somewhat spotty academic record Buffy herself had.
"Do you want to talk to Yumichika?" Dawn asked.
"Yeah, but don't go out of your way to go and tell him," Buffy replied. "It's not urgent, I'll catch up with him later."
"'Kay, see you later," Dawn said, getting up from the bed and leaving the room, waving at Buffy before opening the door and heading out into the hallway, nearly crashing into Yumichika as she did so. "You weren't droppin' any eaves, were you? 'Cause that's kinda rude."
"No, I was just about to knock," Yumichika replied as Dawn brushed past him to head to her own room. Once he heard Dawn's bedroom door close, Yumichika sighed and entered the bedroom, closing the door behind him.
"What's up?" Buffy asked, curious as to why he was there. She wasn't complaining, of course, but the curiosity still ate at her a bit. She wondered, even after all of these years, how he knew when she needed him the moment she needed him.
"I have to say, your sister is a rather special person," Yumichika said as he took Dawn's spot on the bed. "Full of life and energy, shooting off questions a mile a minute. I could barely keep up!"
"That's my Dawnie, total motor mouth," Buffy replied fondly. "What did you two talk about?"
"Didn't Dawn tell you?" Yumichika asked, puzzled.
"Not really," Buffy replied with a shrug. "We just got to talking about stuff, like my life in Soul Society and the people I was friends with. Say, you didn't bring any pictures with you, did you?"
"Just the ones I keep on me," Yumichika replied.
"You keep pictures on your person?" Buffy asked, cocking her head to the side. This was a new development.
"Just a couple," Yumichika replied. "I like having the people I love close to me, always."
"Awww, that's so sweet," Buffy gushed. "Can I see what ones you keep with you?"
"Sure, they're in my bag," Yumichika said, getting up off the bed and walking to the two suitcases she hadn't seen the night before. She wasn't surprised; Seiretei worked in strange ways and she wouldn't be surprised if someone in the twelfth division had given them shrinking suitcases or something like that.
She watched as Yumichika rooted around in his suitcase, tossing clothes out left, right and centre. Tailored slacks, designer jeans and well made, tailored collared shirts came flying at Buffy, some hitting her in the head.
"You're gonna have to clean this stuff up, because I'm not going to do it," Buffy said as she wrinkled her nose.
"Well then, your room is going to stay messy, because I'm too lazy to clean it up," Yumichika said, sticking his tongue out at Buffy before he triumphantly held up a few photographs. He tossed them onto the bed. "Go ahead and take a look at them."
Buffy grabbed the photos eagerly, wondering which snaps he held dearest to his heart. There was a picture of her and the two boys during their time at the academy; there was one of Rangiku, Iba, herself and the boys at a party somewhere; and the last one was of a picture of herself and Ikkaku, hugging each other as if one or the other would slip away. Ikkaku was in his academy uniform, but Buffy was wearing a rather ragged kimono. She recognized it as the one she had woken up wearing the day she was kidnapped. She couldn't get that thing off soon enough and was eager to see it burn when she did.
"Yumichika?" Buffy asked. She knew the time period of when the picture was taken, but she didn't remember hugging Ikkaku so hard like that.
"Yes, Buffy?" Yumichika replied.
"When did you take that picture?" Buffy asked, holding up the picture of herself and Ikkaku.
"That was just after you'd been rescued when Kurotsuchi kidnapped you," Yumichika replied. "I remember, it was so hard to get you away from him once we got you out of there… don't you remember?"
"Yeah, a bit," Buffy replied, thinking back. It had been so long ago, and she had tried to repress most of that horrible, awful day. She did remember Ikkaku's strong arms wrapped around her, his soothing voice trying to calm her down while telling her that if she ever let herself get kidnapped again, he'd kick her ass so hard her grandchildren would feel it. "I've kind of repressed that whole horrible, terrible day."
"I can't say I blame you," Yumichika said as Buffy handed the photos back to him. "Your sister was asking all kinds of questions when we talked."
"What did you two talk about?" Buffy asked again. Yumichika arched an eyebrow. "I may be blonde but I'm not dumb. I do pay attention, and you haven't answered my question yet."
"I don't think anyone's ever called you dumb," Yumichika said thoughtfully.
"Ikkaku calls me dumb," Buffy retorted.
"He only does that when you do stupid things," Yumichika said. "But his opinion of stupid and your opinion of stupid are nearly completely different, so I wouldn't worry about him all that much."
"You're stalling," Buffy said.
"I know I am," Yumichika said. "You're much too smart for me, a mere mortal, to fool."
"You, mortal? Please," Buffy scoffed.
"We're harder to kill than normal humans, but that doesn't make us immortal," Yumichika replied with a shrug. "Damn close, but not quite."
"Now answer my damn question already," Buffy said with a huff, growing impatient. It wasn't like him to stall this hard; it was beginning to make her worried.
"We just… talked," Yumichika replied with a shrug. "About everything. Nothing specific, everything important. Although, she did seem surprised when I said I was jealous of her."
"Why are you jealous of Dawn?" Buffy asked, curious. He'd been curious about her, sure, asking Buffy questions about her every chance he got, but she didn't get the impression that he had been outright jealous of her.
"She got to have you first," Yumichika replied. Buffy looked at him, puzzled. "She got to see you grow up, she got to see you before you became the Slayer. She got to see you as a cheerleader. She got to see you before evil touched you, before you turned into the strong, and frankly, scary young woman I'd protect with my own life."
"You do know that most of those memories aren't technically real, right?" Buffy asked. "I mean, they're real in the sense that they're there, and I remember them and everyone else does, but Dawn was only created a little over a year ago."
"But as you said, Buffy, you remember all of that stuff and so does she. Makes it completely real in my book," Yumichika replied. "But then Dawn turned it around and said she was jealous of me because I got you way longer than she did."
"That I can't really argue with," Buffy said. "And I'm sure everyone else will be jealous of that fact too. I've only known Willow and Xander since I was 16. Only five years. Nothing compared to you guys."
"And yet you're closer to them than me and Ikkaku," Yumichika remarked. Buffy opened her mouth to protest, but was silenced by Yumichika placing a finger on her lips. "And we're both okay with that. They were here first and we'd never, ever think of replacing them. We're all your family, and that's good enough for me, and Ikkaku too."
"Well you're wrong about me being closer to them, or to you," Buffy said once Yumichika's finger was off of her lips. He looked at her, curious. "I love you all equally, just in different ways. I have different relationships with each of you, and no one person is more or less important than another."
"I see," Yumichika said sagely.
"So, has anyone replaced me in eleventh yet?" Buffy asked abruptly, changing the subject.
"No one so far," Yumichika said with a sigh. "I don't think anyone wants to come between me and Ikkaku, although I think Himura might be gunning for that spot. I think he's still a little sore that you got promoted much higher than he did, even though he'd been there longer. He's been spreading it around that you got your position using some of your – ahem – other abilities besides your fighting abilities."
"I'm going to kill him," Buffy snarled, her fists clenched. "I'm gonna freaking kill him if I ever see him again. One on one, he can't take me. I'm too fast for him to track and a hell of a lot stronger than I look. I worked damn hard to get up as high as I did, and I wasn't working on my back."
"And that's precisely why Kenpachi won't ever promote him," Yumichika replied, rubbing Buffy's back in soothing circles. "He'd rather leave the position empty than let some moron like him get it. He doesn't care if Himura slaughters every single officer ahead of him, he won't get much higher than he already is."
"That's good," Buffy replied. "Well, the fact that Himura won't get any higher in the eleventh division, not that Kenpachi doesn't care about his entire division getting slaughtered."
"Yeah, he's a bit of an odd man, isn't he?" Yumichika mused.
"Just a smidgen," Buffy agreed.
"Are you hungry?" Yumichika asked. "It has to be around lunchtime."
"Is this your way of saying you're hungry and you wouldn't mind it if I made something for you?" Buffy asked, arching an eyebrow.
"It sounds so horrible and selfish when you put it like that," Yumichika replied, smiling sheepishly.
"I don't mind," Buffy replied with a shrug, getting up. "You've cooked for me so much, it's only fair I toss a frozen pizza in the oven for you once in a while. There's still pizza in the freezer, right?"
"I thought I saw a box this morning, but that doesn't mean it's there now," Yumichika replied, following Buffy's lead. "You know Ikkaku and his uncanny ability to clean out other people's cupboards."
"I should probably go downstairs and make sure he isn't corrupting my kid sister," Buffy said with a grin. "After all, he did such a bang up job with me."
"He wouldn't corrupt her," Yumichika reassured her. "Much."
"You're horrible," Buffy retorted, smacking him lightly on the arm as she led them out of the room.
"You love me anyway," Yumichika said with a laugh as he followed Buffy into the hallway, closing the door behind him before following Buffy down the stairs.
"Uh, Buffy?" Dawn asked as they entered the kitchen in search of food. She was standing in the middle of the room, and everything was still covered in water. "What happened in here?"
"What makes you think I did anything?" Buffy asked innocently.
"Tara and Willow wouldn't have done this, Anya and Xander weren't here and I was out with Yumichika," Dawn reasoned. "So it had to be you."
"Ikkaku and I got into a bit of a water fight," Buffy replied sheepishly. Dawn looked at her, amused. "It's his fault, he started it!"
"And you were going to leave someone else to clean it up?" Dawn asked, arching an eyebrow.
"She probably thought I would do it," Yumichika said with a long-suffering sigh. "She always seems to think I'm going to clean up all of her messes. You should have seen our apartment; if I didn't clean or cook, our apartment would look like a clothing bomb went off in it and it would be filled with take out containers."
"Oh shut up Yumichika," Buffy retorted, sticking her tongue out at him. Dawn giggled. "You had more clothes than I did and if we didn't keep your bedroom door closed the mess would have spilled out into the hallway. You're already making yourself at home; my room is covered in your clothes. You'd better clean that up or I'm gonna make you sleep in the basement."
"He slept in your room last night?" Dawn asked.
"Bed was big enough for the both of us," Buffy replied. Dawn looked at her strangely. "What?"
"You two are just way closer than I thought you'd be," she replied with a shrug.
"Dawnie, when you've pretty much spent your entire life around the same people, you're bound to get close to them," Buffy replied. "Or you end up hating their guts, depending on how your personalities mesh."
"Is that what it's like with Ikkaku?" Dawn asked as the said bald man entered the kitchen.
"Felt my ears itching, someone talking about me?" he asked.
"Just telling Dawn here that I have strong feelings for you," Buffy replied with a shrug. Ikkaku puffed himself up proudly. "Whether or not they're positive, I'm still not sure about."
"You couldn't have kept your mouth shut, could you?" he asked with a scowl. "Let me have my moment and all."
"And make you delusional?" Buffy asked. "Rather not."
"Are they always like this?" Dawn asked, making her way to Yumichika's side.
"Most of the time they're worse," Yumichika replied. "They're practically getting along; it hasn't devolved into name calling and hair pulling yet, so it's a good sign."
"I heard that," Ikkaku grumbled. "I only pulled her hair once. It wasn't even really a pull, it was more of a light tug if anything."
"You actually messed with the hair?" Dawn asked, incredulous. "And you survived?"
"She started it!" Ikkaku exclaimed, defending himself. "She was getting all comfortable, using my shoulder as a pillow when some hot girls were walking by. So I kind of yanked on a strand of her hair to get her off of my shoulder. Ended up with a bruised ass, though."
"You were being an insensitive jerk," Buffy retorted. "I'd just been kidnapped and I needed some support. Yumichika wasn't around and you were the next best thing. Besides, everyone had seen you with your arms around me not moments before, so they all probably thought you and I were together anyway."
"You're gonna have to tell me that kidnapping story one of these days… the whole story, not the edited version Yumichika told me," Dawn said.
"Maybe later," Buffy said, although she didn't have any intention of telling Dawn the story anytime soon. Not when Dawn was still a kidnapping risk herself. "But first, maybe some lunch? I'm sure you guys are hungry."
"I could use something to eat," Ikkaku said and Dawn and Yumichika agreed.
"Alright, get out of here, sit in the dining room and I'll toss a pizza in the oven," Buffy said, shooing them out of the kitchen. She wondered what they would talk about; hopefully nothing too mentally scarring. She didn't want her sister to think badly of her two best friends.
XOXOXO
So, new chapter. Yay. Getting to the end of the prewritten stuff, but I'm working diligently to write more for your reading pleasure. I know I've been bad with updates, but you can't blame me for the last little while. Blame my computer :P.
As always, feedback is appreciated. Thanks for reading.