Disclaimer: Not mine. Not making any money doing this. Only for fun, please don't sue me.

A/N: Thanks to the peeps who tagged this fic for tracking or put it on their favourites list; it lets me know that people are reading this thing. If you really like the fic, please review; it makes my day just that much brighter.

This chapter was inspired by Episode 119 of Bleach. Enjoy.

Chapter 2

Buffy landed unceremoniously on the ground, a loud "oof!" issuing from her lips. She waited for the cloud of dust that had been stirred up upon her landing to settle before trying to move. Surprisingly, the fall alone didn't actually hurt at all, it was more just a shock to her system than anything else.

Groaning, Buffy got to her feet and dusted herself off, surveying her surroundings. She was in, what looked like, the wrong side of town. The buildings were dilapidated and run down and the people looked like they'd seen better days. Everything was drab and depressing, including her clothes; a grey robe-like garment was draped across her form in a comfortable but somewhat unflattering fashion. Surveying the other people nearby, she realized that nearly everyone else was dressed in the same manner.

Buffy began walking, exploring her surroundings. All of the buildings looked the same, and even though the sun was out everything was cast in a sort of grey light. All in all, everything was kind of drab and depressing.

That is, until Buffy saw the crowd.

Buffy jogged to where there was a crowd of people clamouring around something. Fighting her way to the forefront of the crowd, she saw something that she really didn't want to see, but supposed it was inevitable. Two men were fighting, and one was obviously more skilled than the other. The skilled one, a bald man was standing over the other combatant, a smirk on his face.

"I'm going to tell you my name, because someone who is about to die in battle should know the name of the person who defeated them," he said softly. "I am Ikkaku Madarame, prepare to die."

Buffy watched the man laying on the ground; he looked frightened, as if he wasn't prepared to die at all. That wasn't right. It was one thing to bring on a fight to the death and actually expect death to happen in the event of a loss. It was entirely another to be coerced into it, and Buffy had a feeling the guy on the ground hadn't been prepared to die in a fight. Transfixed, she watched as the man on the ground was killed, unable to do anything to stop it. The victor, Ikkaku, stood up when his deed was done, a smirk on his face.

"Any other takers?" he said, resting his sword on his shoulder. "I'll even let you take the first shot, give you a fighting chance."

"I will," Buffy said, stepping forward. Ikkaku looked her up and down once and promptly burst out laughing. Buffy glared at him, which caused him to laugh even harder.

"Well, someone give the little lady a sword and we can get on with this," Ikkaku said with a smirk. As Buffy stepped forward into the circle, someone tossed her a katana. She caught it deftly, testing out its weight. Light, easy to handle and almost perfectly balanced; whoever had made this weapon knew what he was doing.

"Let's do this," Buffy said. Ikkaku's smirk widened into a predatory smile as he slipped into a combative pose.

"Give me your best, little girl," he said, using his hand to make a "come and get me" gesture. "Free opening shot, so make it good. It's the only opening you're gonna to get."

Buffy smiled; she felt like she was in her element. With a smirk that matched Ikkaku's, she rushed at him headfirst. However, instead of launching a frontal attack, when she drew nearer to Ikkaku Buffy leaped into the air and flipped so that she landed behind him. As soon as she landed her leg shot out, kicking Ikkaku in the back and sending him flying into the dirt. Buffy swung her katana, fully intending on getting a couple of good slices in, when she was surprised to hit, not fabric or flesh, but the cold steel of another katana. Ikkaku smirked before pushing Buffy away, causing her to stumble long enough for him to jump back to his feet.

"You're going to have to be quicker than that, girlie," Ikkaku said with a laugh before charging head-on at Buffy, bringing his katana down for a hard strike. Buffy blocked, although she was brought to her knees by the force of the blow. She pushed against him, causing him to stumble back just long enough for Buffy to prepare for another onslaught.

Buffy was able to stay on her feet this time, fending off attacks while looking for an opening. Finding one, Buffy's leg lashed out, catching Ikkaku in the stomach, causing him to sail backwards and land on his behind. Leaping forward, Buffy took aim to land a slash to Ikkaku's chest; he rolled out of the wand and Buffy ended up slicing his arm.

"Lucky hit," Ikkaku said, examining the wound briefly. It was a flesh wound, more annoying than anything else. However, it was one of the only times someone had actually drawn blood while fighting against him, not that he would tell her that.

The fight was evenly matched and went on for hours. Buffy and Ikkaku would counter each other's attacks flawlessly, almost dancing as they fought as one or the other would land a hit every half attacks or so. The crowd began to disperse after they realized that no one was going to die right away, and after a while the only person watching was a man with long black hair wearing a flowered robe.

Buffy breathed hard as she tried to regroup, keeping an eye on Ikkaku as he did the same. They had both taken hits, and Buffy could feel the blood trickling from some of her wounds; she was sure Ikkaku could feel the same thing with his. However, despite the damage she was caused and was causing, she felt exhilarated in a way that she never thought possible. It was amazing to just fight without having to worry about saving the world. Saving her own hide, yeah, but not saving the world.

Buffy just hoped she could continue doing this for a while, that her life end tonight.

"Had enough, girlie?" Ikkaku asked with a smirk. It didn't hurt that the person she was fighting seemed to draw at least as much joy from the battle as she did. His exuberance was infectious. "If ya concede now, I might just let you live, short a limb or two."

"What's the fun in that?" Buffy asked, arching an eyebrow. She was close to the limit, but so was Ikkaku; she could tell that the winner would be decided by the next few blows. "Bring it on, Baldy."

Ikkaku's ever-present smirk morphed into a scowl as he pointed his katana at her.

"I am not bald," he said through gritted teeth.

"Folically challenged, then," Buffy countered with a grin. She was sure that if she didn't shut up she just might meet her doom, but it was kind of fun to tease this guy.

"You're gonna pay for that, girlie," Ikkaku said, smirking yet again.

"Bring it on," Buffy replied, her smirk matching his.

With renewed fervour, he attacked as if he were fresh off the block and not into his second fight to the death that day. It was all Buffy could do to block the blows; she was really beginning to regret calling this guy "Baldy" and "folically challenged".

Buffy's mind must have wandered further than it should have from the fight she was in. One moment she was frantically blocking Ikkaku's attacks, the next she had a katana in her gut, Ikkaku's hand on the handle.

"Not so cocky now, are you?" he said as he withdrew the blade. Buffy's eyes widened when she saw the cold steel covered in blood, her blood, before she fell to the ground. "Couldn't keep up, could you?"

Buffy lay there on the ground; she could feel the blood seeping from her wound as she struggled to breathe. She would most likely die there if she didn't get some kind of medical attention, which if her initial assessment of the place she'd ended up was correct, no medical attention was forthcoming.

She watched Ikkaku as he walked away. The long haired guy with the flowered robe met him in the middle, and Buffy strained her ears to hear what they were saying.

"I don't think I've ever seen you that happy," long-haired guy said.

"Best fight I've had in a while," Ikkaku said with a shrug. "Shame it had to end, I was having way too much fun."

"Does it have to end?"

They stopped walking, and Buffy could see hear the two of them talking.

"What are you talking about, Yumichika?" Ikkaku asked warily.

"Do you have to let this one die?" the long haired guy, Yumichika, said. "She made you happy. Besides, she's pretty and you know how much I like pretty people."

Buffy could hear Ikkaku sigh.

"Fine, do with her what you want, but it wasn't my idea," Ikkaku said, turning and continuing forward. Buffy could hear footsteps as Yumichika jogged over to where she lay.

"Come on, up you come, let's make you pretty again," said Yumichika kindly, his voice soft. Buffy looked up and found herself staring into a kind, smiling face.

Buffy was rolled over gently so that Yumichika could take a look at Buffy's wound. He helped patch up Ikkaku whenever he ended up worse for wear, so he had some experience with first aid, even if it did mean getting his hands dirty.

He staunched the blood flow easily and helped Buffy to her feet. Carefully, so as to not aggravate the would, he helped her walk to where he lived with Ikkaku.

In the back of her pain-addled brain, Buffy decided that her afterlife was going to be far from boring, if the first day was any indication of how things were going to be.