Author's Note: I've been getting some questions as to how I'm going to deal with the timelines and things like that when it comes to this fic. To save everyone from mass confusion and to save me time from answering the questions multiple, here's a simple answer. I'm treating Soul Society like the hell dimension that Angel was in when Buffy sent him to hell in Season Two, which means that hundreds of years can pass in Soul Society and only a few days/weeks/months/years pass in the real world. It's not perfect, but it's the only way I could think of to do this logically and relatively easily.

As well, I'd like to thank all of my readers and reviewers; you all rule! I know I say it in my comments, but it just needs to be said again. I appreciate everything you throw at me, whether it be praise, words of wisdom, suggestions or curious queries so that I can clarify certain aspects of my view of the realms I play in. Thank you all!

And now, because I've yakked on enough… here's Chapter Seven for your reading pleasure! I hope you enjoy it.

Chapter 7

A week later, there was a buzz in the air. It started in the lower-numbered and more peaceful districts, but it soon spread to the outer, poorer districts. The details might have changed in the course of the spread, but the basic story was the same.

A man from the Rukongai slums had taken on the eleventh squad captain, and won. He was now captain of the eleventh squad and some little pink haired kid was his lieutenant.

It wasn't long at all before Ikkaku, Yumichika and Buffy had found out once the news had reached their district. When Ikkaku had started dancing around like an idiot, it was all Buffy could do to keep from laughing until she cried.

"Has he ever done this before?" Buffy muttered to Yumichika as they packed their meager belongings. Ikkaku had hugged them both when he had heard the news and hadn't stopped smiling since. While a little disconcerting because she hadn't seen him smile before then, Buffy had to admit he looked much better with an expression besides smirking or scowling.

"No," Yumichika replied. "Terrifying, isn't it?"

"I've seen a lot of stuff, but I think that might be the scariest thing I've ever seen," Buffy whispered back. "Here's hoping he's back to normal soon."

"You want him back to being angry and violent?" Yumichika asked, astonished. While he was also somewhat worried about Ikkaku's new personality, he didn't want Ikkaku to go back to his old personality. He wondered if they could find a happy medium between "angry and violent Ikkaku" and "happy and dancing Ikkaku".

"Anger and violence I can deal with; all I have to do is yell and hit back," Buffy replied with a shrug. "With this, I don't know what to do."

"You should enjoy it, Buffy," Ikkaku said as he handed her her katana. "Come on, let's get a move on, we're losing daylight here!"

Buffy blinked dumbly as she strapped her katana to her side; he'd never called her Buffy before. It was either "girl", "girlie" or "little girl" most of the time, although he had called her an attention seeking liar once. She sighed and followed Yumichika out, as Ikkaku was leading their little caravan.

"There she is! Get her!"

They were maybe five hundred feet from their former home when the exclamation broke the still morning air. The group turned to see a group of five men standing behind them. Buffy recognized three of them as the guys she had beat up the week before; one of them had a bandage on his hand and the other two still had bruises that were turning nice shades of yellow and green. The other two were massive; not as large as Kenpachi had been, but Buffy could tell that they ate their Wheaties.

"What do you guys want now?" Buffy asked, turning fully to face them. "Getting beaten by a girl once wasn't enough?"

The spiky haired guy with the broken hand didn't say anything as he snapped the fingers on his good hand. The two large, gorilla-like men advanced forward sneers on their faces.

"Guys, do we really have to do this now?" Buffy asked, her voice whiny. "Because I have places to go and people to see, and I really don't have time for this."

Gorilla man number one swung at her with a left hook, and Buffy showed no sign of dodging. She held up her hand and caught the fist in her tiny hand, which most likely would have smashed her face if it had hit. She cocked an eyebrow at him, smirking.

"You going to rethink that, big guy?" she asked. He let loose a frustrated cry as he tried to move his fist closer to her face and found that he couldn't. Rolling her eyes, she grabbed onto his fist with her other hand and flipped him over her shoulder. He landed on the ground with a dull thud.

Gorilla man number two bellowed a war cry of some sort before coming at Buffy head on. She smashed the heel of her hand into his nose and felt the sickening crunch as the cartilage tore. He bent over in pain; Buffy took advantage of that, kicking him in the gut and causing him to land six feet away.

"Can I go now?" Buffy asked, arching an eyebrow at the three guys she had met the week before. All three of them had expressions of abject fear on their faces before they turned and fled, leaving their large companions where they lay.

Buffy turned back to her friends, a scowl on her face. She thought she'd gotten rid of those guys before, but she was obviously wrong; hopefully she'd never see them again.

"Remind me to never ever piss you off," Yumichika said as they continued on their way.

"Believe me now?" Buffy asked Ikkaku. He still held an air of disbelief about the whole incident as Buffy had described it, although he hadn't done anything more than scoff whenever it was brought up.

"That was pure luck," Ikkaku replied. "You were using your opponent's weight to your advantage and that was the reason why you won."

"And what about the guy with the bandaged hand?" Buffy asked, arching an eyebrow.

"That could have happened anywhere," Ikkaku replied with a shrug. "This part of Rukongai ain't exactly safe."

Buffy huffed and crossed her arms but didn't say anything else; she could tell that Yumichika was beginning to get annoyed with their antics and she didn't want to be the one to set him off. She'd never seen him get angry, but there was something to be said about people who had long, slow-burning fuses. She had a feeling that Yumichika could be rather frightening if he ever got angry enough.

"What, no comeback?" Ikkaku asked.

"No point," Buffy replied with a shrug. "You're not going to believe me, even though you have proof now, so I've decided to stop trying. Believe, don't believe, it doesn't matter to me because I know what happened."

"Not going to fight for what you believe?" Ikkaku asked. "Weak."

"Are you having fun trying to piss me off?" Buffy asked with a glare. "Because it's not working."

"You sure about that?" Ikkaku retorted, arching an eyebrow.

"Do you want me to act like you and blow up every time someone says something I don't agree with?" Buffy asked.

"It makes life a hell of a lot more fun," Ikkaku replied with a smirk. Buffy reached over from behind Yumichika and smacked Ikkaku on the back of his bald head. "What the hell was that for?!"

"No particular reason," Buffy replied with a shrug.

"Could you two stop bickering for five minutes, please?" Yumichika said, his voice almost whining. "Arguing is so ugly."

"He started it," Buffy said with a pout.

"And I'm finishing it," Yumichika retorted. "It's like I'm surrounded by a couple of children."

Ikkaku scowled and Buffy sulked as Yumichika walked between them, presumably to keep the arguing and snapping an bickering at a minimum. It worked, although the long day of walking was silent and uneventful. The sun was beginning to dip below the horizon before they decided to stop for the night.

"You two go and find us something to eat, and I'll find us somewhere to sleep," Yumichika said when they arrived in District 60. "Do you think you two can do that without arguing, or am I going to have to supervise you two?"

"No, we can do it, as long as he behaves," Buffy said.

"I'll behave if she doesn't insist on drawing attention to herself by telling stories about herself that obviously aren't true," Ikkaku retorted.

Buffy sighed, rolled her eyes before balling up her fist and swinging her arm around for a mean right hook. Ikkaku was caught off guard and the punch landed true, square in his jaw. He stumbled back, holding his jaw and staring at Buffy in shock.

"What the hell was that for?!" he exclaimed. "Any harder and you might have broken it!"

"I am getting so fed up with you bringing that up every single chance you get," Buffy replied calmly. "If you don't believe my version of what happened, fine, but that doesn't give you the right to be an asshole about it."

"In case you haven't noticed, I am an asshole!" Ikkaku retorted.

"Then be an asshole about something else," Buffy shot back with a glare.

"Okay, that is enough," Yumichika said, stepping between them. "I'm fed up with you two acting like a couple of two year olds. Now, either you two do whatever it is you have to do to get this tension out of your systems or you learn to deal with it in a way where I don't have to keep separating you because you're fighting like cats and dogs. Are we understood?"

"Yeah, fine, whatever," Ikkaku said with a sigh and a roll of his eyes. Buffy nodded, but remained silent.

"Good," Yumichika said with a satisfied nod. "You and Buffy can go find us someplace to stay; I think I saw an empty shack or something a few houses back, go and check that out. I'll go and find us some food."

Ikkaku and Buffy nodded in agreement, not questioning the change of plans. Yumichika was better at finding things, whether it be food, people or anything else. He'd catch up to them eventually.

Buffy and Ikkaku silently backtracked until they reached the shack Yumichika had mentioned. They cased the place, walking around the perimeter and checking to make sure it was empty before deciding to take it over for the night.

"Looks empty to me," Buffy said when they met up at the front door. "What do you think?"

"It'll do for a night," Ikkaku replied, entering the shack. Buffy followed, closing the door behind her.

The shack was a little on the dark side due to small windows and lack of lanterns and smaller than their previous dwelling, but there was more than enough room for the three of them to sleep without touching if they so chose.

Ikkaku unstrapped his bag from his back and unpacked his mat, unrolling it on the floor near the wall before sitting on it. Buffy followed suit, unrolling her mat next to his and sitting next to him, close enough that they were almost touching

"Hey, can I ask you something?" Buffy asked.

"Ya just did, but sure," Ikkaku replied with a shrug. "Can't promise I'll answer, but you can ask away."

"Why didn't you kill me?" she asked softly. Ikkaku's head whipped around, looking at her in disbelief.

"Jump right to the serious stuff, don't you?" he retorted with a small smile.

"Yep, that's me, straight to the point," Buffy replied with a grin. "And you're not supposed to answer a question with another question!"

"Fine," Ikkaku said with a sigh. "Do you have any idea how rare it is for a pretty girl who can brawl with the best of them?"

"You think I'm pretty?" Buffy asked, arching an eyebrow.

"Yumichika thinks you are, and he would know," Ikkaku replied with a shrug. "He likes pretty people, and he likes you."

"Oh, okay," Buffy said simply, averting her gaze. She didn't know why his opinion mattered so much to her; they could barely stand each other, after all. Still, it kind of stung. Then again, Ikkaku kind of struck her as asexual and rather uncomfortable with human contact, so she shouldn't be too bothered by it.

"What's wrong?" Ikkaku asked. He had no experience with women, but even he knew that when a girl got quiet during a discussion it was a bad thing. He just hoped that she didn't start to cry.

"Nothing, I'm fine," Buffy replied, glancing over at him and offering him a small smile. She hoped it would reassure him; the last thing she needed was him being suspicious of her.

"Not buying it," Ikkaku retorted. He touched her arm to get her attention. "Buffy, look at me."

Buffy looked up and their gazes locked. For the first time she met him, she realized his eyes were brown. Not that she would admit it out loud, she also realized that he was quite good looking when he wasn't scowling, shouting or being a complete asshole.

They sat there, staring at each other for what seemed like an eternity until they heard someone at the door. Buffy blinked out of her trance first as Yumichika entered, bearing food. Scrambling quickly to find something to say that would explain why they were sitting together without killing each other and said the first thing that came out of her mouth.

"Uh, nope, I don't think I did any permanent damage," Buffy said, reaching over to touch the jaw she had hit earlier. "Barely even a bruise there, you'll be fine."

"Oh, um, right," Ikkaku said, blinking as Buffy had and shaking his head. "Now stop touching me, you crazy chick."

Buffy mock glared at him and scooted herself and her mat away from him before looking up at Yumichika. Even though the little cabin was dimly lit, she could see that he was amused, very amused.

She'd never hear the end of it.

"I'm glad I was able to leave you two alone and not come back to find one of you dead," Yumichika said as he set the food down on Buffy's mat so that it wasn't on the dirt floor. "I think I might be able to leave you two alone more often, if no death and dismemberment is a result."

Buffy wasn't sure if she liked the prospect of being left alone with Ikkaku, now that they'd had a couple of moments in the last couple of weeks where it would seem that something more could happen. The first time she had thought she had caught him off guard and dismissed it as a one-time thing, but after what had just happened she wasn't so sure about that.

"Anyway, I couldn't get much variety so we're just going to have to deal with it," Yumichika said as he sat on the end of Buffy's mat and began unpacking the bags. "It's not exciting, but it'll fill us up. Hopefully we'll get to the Court of Pure Souls by tomorrow and won't have to do this again."

Buffy surveyed the basic fare laid out in front of her. Filling and hearty but not particularly exciting, but he had been able to pick up some red bean paste buns which made Buffy happy. They had become a favorite food of her since moving in and never passed up an opportunity to have one.

"What do you think it'll be like?" Buffy asked as they ate.

"What do we think what will be like?" Yumichika asked.

"You know, becoming a shini-whatsit," Buffy replied. She vaguely remembered a man in a black kimono before she had arrived in Rukongai, and wondered if maybe that guy was a shinigami.

"You mean a shinigami?" Yumichika asked, arching an eyebrow. Buffy nodded. "To be honest I have no idea. Most shinigami don't come back to Rukongai, especially the ones that come from the higher-numbered districts. It's a better life for the ones who started with nothing. I do know, however, that it'll be a lot of work."

"We're talking years of training, aren't we?" Buffy asked with a slight groan. While she was not adverse to extra training, she wasn't particularly fond of the thought of more school, not now.

"Looks like," Yumichika replied. Ikkaku made a face, but didn't comment.

They ate the remainder of their meal in silence, the only sounds were the sounds of people enjoying a simple meal. It was pleasant; Buffy could almost forget the last couple of weeks of bickering, baiting and brawling. Almost. She waited with trepidation, wondering what the bald wonder would say to completely ruin the blissful quiet.

Once she was finished eating, Buffy stifled a yawn; she hadn't realize how tired she was. She blamed Ikkaku for that; he'd had them up at first light and they had walked all day. Maybe not as quickly as they could have, but a full day of walking really took it out of you no matter what the pace.

"I think I'm going to hit the sack," Buffy said after Yumichika had cleared the remaining food and stowed it in his bag.

"Excellent idea, I'm beat. Keeping you two from killing each other really takes it out of me," Yumichika replied with a yawn of his own. "Do you think you're safe sleeping there? I'd be happy to change places with you."

"Nah, I should be okay," Buffy replied. "As far as I know, I don't have any homicidal tendencies in my sleep."

"Well, if you're sure," Yumichika said uncertainly.

"Yep, I'm sure," Buffy replied with a nod. "As long as Ikkaku doesn't take advantage of me or anything."

"What?" Ikkaku spluttered, incoherent sounds of embarrassment and outrage spewing from his mouth.

"I was joking, joking!" Buffy reassured him with a sigh and a roll of her eyes. "Besides, we both know you're asexual."

"I am not!" Ikkaku exclaimed heatedly. He grabbed Buffy's shoulders in a firm grip so that she couldn't escape before crushing his lips onto hers. She squeaked in surprise before melting into the kiss, returning it. Her tongue darted out and lightly probed his lips, causing him to tense up before releasing her.

"I have to go," he said quickly, getting up and bolting out. Buffy and Yumichika stared after him, both surprised that he hadn't taken his katana with him.

"What the hell was that all about?" Buffy wondered aloud, shocked. She pressed a finger to her lips, wondering what had come over him. Or her, for that matter. What had possessed her to kiss him back?

"See, that's what happen when you insult a man's sexuality," Yumichika retorted, trying not to sound giddy.

"But was it really that horrible that he had to run away?" Buffy asked.

"No, I'm sure it wasn't," Yumichika replied, sitting next to Buffy and wrapping an arm around her shoulders. "I wouldn't worry about it; he's probably just confused and needs some time to think. Go to sleep, he'll be back in the morning and we can keep going."

"I hope you're right," Buffy said with a sigh before curling up on her mat in an attempt to get some much needed rest.

***

The next morning dawned bright and clear and Buffy rose with the rising sun. She hadn't slept well, her worries and fears plaguing her, but she hoped that Yumichika wouldn't notice and if he did, she hoped he wouldn't say anything.

As she began packing up her mat, she heard someone enter the cabin. Slipping into a fighting stance, ready to spring, she relaxed when she saw it was only Ikkaku, looking about as bad as she felt.

"Rough night?" Buffy asked as he rummaged around in Yumichika's bag for the leftover food.

"I could ask you the same thing," Ikkaku replied as he handed her a bun.

"Good to see you're back," Yumichika said as he sat up. "We should probably get out of here pretty soon; I don't know about you two, but the less time we spend walking, the better."

"Sounds good," Buffy said with a grin before packing up the rest of her things. Ikkaku nodded in agreement and waited for Buffy to be finished packing her things before tossing his stuff into his bag.

"Ready to go?" Yumichika asked. Getting a nod of agreement from both Buffy and Ikkaku, they ventured out into the early morning light, one day closer to their goal.

***

Here's chapter seven. Hope you all enjoyed it!