Chapter 6

It had been two days.

Two days since Ikkaku's fight with Kenpachi of Zaraki.

Two days since Ikkaku had gotten his ass handed to him because he decided to go and bother a little girl.

Two days since Ikkaku had been awake.

"Stupid Baldy, making me worry about him," Buffy grumbled as she sat and watched him. He'd been able to get back to the hut all right, although he was leaning heavily on herself and Yumichika, but as soon as they helped him down to his mat he was out like a light.

"Have you slept at all, Buffy?" Yumichika asked, crossing the small hut and sitting next to her. He handed her one of the cups of tea he had before taking a sip of his own.

"Was I supposed to?" Buffy responded, turning to him and arching an eyebrow. She was exhausted, but she couldn't find the energy to lay down and sleep. She couldn't help feel that Ikkaku's injury was somehow her responsibility; after all, what she had hinted to had freaked him out. Note to self, no more doing the flirting-teasing thing with the bald guy, she thought with a sigh.

"You don't think this is your fault, do you?" Yumichika asked, glancing at her. She remained silent, not trusting herself to speak. "This is not your fault, Buffy. He's the one who ran off and got himself almost killed. The only person responsible for that is him."

"Sure feels like my fault," Buffy muttered under her breath. "If I hadn't opened my big fat mouth, he wouldn't have stalked off and nearly killed himself and I wouldn't be sitting here having a one person pity party because I'm the reason someone I can barely stand nearly died."

"And that's the kind of thing Ikkaku needs!" Yumichika hissed fiercely. Buffy blinked, surprised. "He needs to realize that there is more to life than anger and violence."

"If you're gonna talk about me like that Yumichika, you might wanna wait until I'm actually dead."

Buffy and Yumichika glanced up at their "patient"; Ikkaku's eyes were still closed, but his expression was one of vague annoyance.

"Eavesdropping now, are you?" Buffy asked.

"Kinda hard not to, you two aren't exactly being quiet," Ikkaku replied irritably. He opened his eyes and tried to get up, but before he could get very far Buffy was at his side.

"Oh no you don't," Buffy said, placing a hand on his shoulder to stop him. His bare shoulder, but Buffy tried not to dwell on that. Ikkaku glared at her, obviously irritated, but he didn't shrug her hand off. "Don't look at me like that, Mr. Grumpy Pants. Yumichika needs to look you over before you go anywhere. If you don't lay back down I'll sit on you until he's finished."

"I don't think you'll have to go that far," Yumichika remarked as he settled on Ikkaku's other side. He handed Buffy an empty bucket. "I need you to go to the pump down the road and fill this up."

"Consider it done," Buffy replied, grabbing the bucket and heading out of the hut. She didn't grab her katana.

There were, as she had expected, people huddling together in small groups, keeping to themselves. They turned their gazes away from Buffy as she made her way over to the water pump. Thankfully, no one was waiting in line for water, so she got the pump all to herself.

At least, so she thought.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here?"

Buffy turned around, barely able to do so because three young men had crowded around her, cruel sneers on their faces. Instead of panicking like most people would, her face spread into a large, sunny smile.

"What can I do for you boys?" she asked cheerfully. "If you need to get to the water pump, I'll be done in half a minute and it's all yours."

"Did you hear that? The little girl wants to know what we want," one of the men, who had spiky black hair and seemed to be the leader, said. His two companions laughed stupidly. "We're gonna teach Madarame a lesson, and you're going to help us."

The spiky haired guy grabbed at her then, his meaty fingers enclosing around her left bicep. She glanced down at the hand before arching an eyebrow at her would-be assailant. She grabbed the man's hand with her right, squeezing it with all of the strength she could muster; it took a lot of effort to keep the smirk from her face as she felt several of his bones break. Buffy easily extracted herself from his grip, pushing him back hard enough to make him stumble.

"You broke my hand, you little bitch!" the man exclaimed.

"Damn, and here I thought I completely shattered it," Buffy said with a shrug. She did feel a little bad about breaking the guy's hand, but enough to feel particularly apologetic about it. He'd started it, after all; a young woman had every right to defend herself against unwanted advances.

"What the hell are you two standing there for? Get her!" Spiky-Haired said, cradling his damaged hand. His two compatriots lunged at her, as if she were some harmless girl and they could easily overpower her.

The fight was over within moments, and everyone who had been watching would have had a different version of events but they would all end up with the two guys knocked out on the ground. She shot a look at the guy with the broken hand, an unspoken challenge in her eyes. The spiky haired guy's eyes widened in fear before he turned and ran faster than anyone Buffy had seen run before.

Gracefully, Buffy stepped over the unconscious bodies in front of her and grabbed her bucket, which had been dropped in the scuffle. She filled it with water and practically skipped back to the hut, ignoring the stares of the people in the street.

"What the hell took you so long?!" Ikkaku asked, annoyed. "Yumichika asked you to bring that water ages ago."

"Sorry, but fighting for my life seemed more important at the time," Buffy replied, setting the bucket down next to Yumichika. "Do you need any help?"

"What happened? Are you okay?" Yumichika asked, worried.

"Baldy here isn't exactly very popular," Buffy said with a shrug. "A couple of thugs thought it would be a good idea to gang up on little old me to teach him a lesson. We've got two knocked out guys by the water pump and another one running around with a broken hand, probably telling anyone who will listen about the crazy blonde chick who is way too strong for her size."

"I don't think you broke that guy's hand," Ikkaku scoffed, rolling his eyes. Yumichika poked his injury particularly hard, causing him to flinch. "What the hell was that for?!"

"Want me to prove it to you, then?" Buffy asked innocently. "I'm sure there must be some way for you to believe me."

"Buffy, Ikkaku, not now," Yumichika said, closing his eyes and rubbing his temples. "You two are going to make me old and ugly way sooner than I need to be."

"Sorry," Buffy said sheepishly. Ikkaku grunted and lay back, allowing Yumichika to do his work.

It wasn't long before Ikkaku drifted back to sleep, his body needing the rest so that it would heal. Buffy supposed he wasn't too happy about that, but it was pretty hard to argue when your eyes were drooping and it was difficult for you to string together a coherent sentence because you were so tired.

While she appreciated the quiet, Buffy still worried about him. She also worried about what he had said after his fight with Kenpachi of Zaraki. It was hard for her to forget; after all, he had practically shouted, "I lost! Kill me!" If that had been his opinion when they had fought – and Buffy had a feeling that this wasn't a recent revelation – why hadn't he killed her? Why had he just let her injuries run their course?

"Hey, Yumichika?" Buffy asked. They had been enjoying a comfortable silence; Buffy was seated at the table and even though Yumichika was lying down and his eyes were closed, she knew that he was awake. Well, awake enough to answer questions.

"Hmm?"

"Why didn't Ikkaku kill me?"

If Yumichika had been even close to falling asleep, it was all shot to hell with that question. He sat up, his eyes wide and concerned when his gaze reached his newest friend. He got up and crossed the room so that he could sit by her.

"What's gotten that ugly thought in your head?" Yumichika asked, wrapping an arm around her shoulder in a comforting manner. She leaned into him, resting her cheek on his shoulder. She felt nothing more than a friendly affection from him, and hoped she was right. She had the feeling that she had been wrong about this kind of thing before, even though she wasn't quite sure where that feeling came from. It must have come from her previous life, the one that she could only vaguely remember.

"Well, Ikkaku was telling that guy to kill him," Buffy said. "You know, when he lost. And it got me thinking; if he thought that losing equaled death, then why didn't he kill me? He obviously beat me, after all. Don't know if he'd be able to do it now, but he beat me then. I know you asked him to take me in, but what made him listen? It's just been bugging me."

"You want to know my opinion?" Yumichika asked.

"Of course," Buffy replied. "I wouldn't have asked you if I didn't want to now what you had to say."

"He likes a challenge," Yumichika said. "You gave him that challenge, and that's why he let you live. Much like Kenpachi of Zaraki had let Ikkaku live. As for taking you in, that was a purely selfish request on my part. I like beautiful things, and the thought of having one of the prettiest people in Rukongai as my friend was too hard a prospect to pass up."

"Oh really?" Buffy asked, quirking an eyebrow. "And who just so happens to be the prettiest person in Rukongai?"

"Me, of course," Yumichika said arrogantly. Buffy laughed and smacked him lightly on the shoulder. Even though it was a light smack, Yumichika still winced. "Ow, that hurt!"

"I know my own strength, and that was not a hard hit," Buffy scoffed.

"You're right, it wasn't," Yumichika agreed. He squeezed her shoulder affectionately. "So, tell me about this fight you were in. You're not hurt, are you?"

"Nope, I'm just fine, not a scratch on me," Buffy replied with a grin. "And there's not much to tell. One guy grabbed me, I broke his hand and I pushed him away. He sent his cronies after me and I knocked them out so quick that I'm not even sure how I did it so fast. Then the other guy ran off, leaving his cronies and crying about his hand."

"Why do I get the feeling life is going to be far more interesting with you around?" Yumichika asked.

"Because I'm a trouble magnet?" Buffy offered helpfully. Yumichika chuckled, shaking his head.

"And a lying attention addict," came a voice from across the room. Ikkaku was awake. Again. "Seriously, it's hard for a guy to sleep when you two are yakking like a couple of girls."

"Come on, let's go for a walk and leave sleeping beauty alone," Yumichika said, rising to his feet. He held out a hand to help Buffy up, and when she was on her feet they headed out, grabbing their katanas on the way just in case.

As soon as they exited, they were greeted with a wall of people. Everyone was lining the street, watching something or someone walking on the road. Buffy stood on her tiptoes and stretched out her neck as far as it could go in an attempt to see what was going on, but she was so short that she couldn't see over the tops of most people's heads.

"Excuse me, but do you know what's going on?" Yumichika asked a nearby bystander.

"It's Zaraki of Kenpachi," the man said. "He's planning on challenging someone in the Thirteen Protection Squads in a fight."

"Who?" Buffy asked, curious.

"The Eleventh Squad captain," the man replied.

"Is he insane?" Yumichika asked. Buffy arched an eyebrow at him, silently asking for an explanation. "I don't know a lot about the Thirteen Squads, but I do know that Squad Eleven is the toughest and most violent. He's good, but I don't think he'll stand a chance."

"Sounds like Ikkaku's kind of club," Buffy said with a smirk; Yumichika returned it with a smile of her own. The bystander that Yumichika had spoken to turned and looked at Buffy for a moment.

"You're that chick that took down those three thugs, aren't you?" he asked. Buffy nodded mutely, wondering how that had spread around so fast; it had been maybe two hours since the incident had happened. He looked her up and down in disbelief. "I was expecting someone taller, like really tall. And big. I don't believe you."

"How about I show you?" Buffy asked, testily. She knew she was small and weak-looking, but did these guys really think someone would lie about getting their behinds kicked by a small woman.

"Come on Buffy, it's not worth it," Yumichika said. "We should go, see how Ikkaku's doing; hopefully he won't be cranky anymore."

Yumichika led Buffy away from the still disbelieving bystander, moving quickly so that they wouldn't be accosted by anyone else on their way back.

"Where the hell did you two go?" Ikkaku asked as soon as they walked in the door. Buffy leaned her katana up against the wall next to the door; Yumichika did the same.

"We went for a walk," Yumichika replied. "Couldn't get very far without hitting a wall of people so we turned around and came back."

"Another fight?" Ikkaku asked, sounding disappointed. "I can't believe I'm missing out on all of this crap! Am I going to be allowed to get out of this bed any time soon? 'Cause I gotta say, this sucks."

"Not exactly a fight," Buffy said, glancing at Yumichika for approval. He nodded and she continued with her explanation. "Kenpachi of Zaraki was on his way to challenge one of the captains of the Protection Squads to a fight."

"What the hell?!" Ikkaku exclaimed. "How am I gonna get my rematch now? This sucks!"

"You could always track him down once you've healed," Buffy suggested.

"Like I'm gonna be able to track him down," Ikkaku scoffed. "He's gonna be dead! He might be good here in the sticks, but the Protection Squads are big league. Who he's fighting, anyway?"

"Eleventh squad captain," Yumichika replied. Ikkaku swore violently under his breath.

"I think we should take a 'wait and see' attitude towards this," Buffy said reasonably. "Who knows, he could totally kick ass and not die."

"And then what? He'll be captain if he wins," Ikkaku spat. He scowled for a moment before a slightly evil smirk crossed his face. "I know what we could do… we could become Shinigami!"

Yumichika and Buffy stared at him, blinking in shocked silence.

"What?" Ikkaku asked. "It's not a bad idea, is it?"

"Well, no, but didn't you just say a few days ago that you'd never be a Shinigami," Yumichika said with an arched eyebrow.

"And that was before I learned that crazy mofo was going to fight his way to the top of the Protection Squads," Ikkaku replied, his smirk widening to a grin.

"Well, I have no objections to it, if this ends up happening," Buffy said with a shrug. "Could be interesting. And hey, you might learn something."

"This, of course, is all dependant on the outcome of the fight that may or may not happen," Yumichika said with a sigh. "He might go in there, but that doesn't mean they'll let him in."

"Well, let's just hope he wins," Buffy said brightly. She lowered her voice so that only Yumichika could hear. "For his sake, especially."

***

Chapter 6 is done! Let me know what you think.