Chapter 13: Legend of the Fighting Ghost

[madimpossibledreamer]

Main Points:
Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Bleach (I Hope Tomorrow's a Better Day)
Chapter Summary: (whoops i forgot to change this) Xander wakes up in the hospital and Giles and Buffy demand answers.
Word Count: 1113
Rating: Gen
Notes: By the way, wrapping the ribs isn't something that's done anymore.  I found a study that discovered this in the 90s, but I decided that Sunnydale is a small enough town it would've taken longer for the medical staff to adapt to something new, assuming the new treatment is technological.  New magical discoveries, they might have adopted earlier.

 

        If he thought he could get away with pretending to continue to be asleep, he would.  He’s almost tempted to try anyway.  He’s not in the mood for an interrogation.  On the other hand, he’s in pain, so it’s hard to just sleep.
        “You were also caught in the collapse of the café,” Giles informs him matter-of-factly.  So he’s not really fooling anyone.  Good to know.  “Your work was informed, and this time you even have doctors to confirm.  The wound on your back means that you will continue to have to wear bandages for a few weeks.  You also have wrapping for your ribs, and are not to stop taking the pain medication until they say so.  Try to breathe as deeply as you can, and take it easy.”
        “This isn’t the first time I’ve broken my ribs,” Xander complains.  He’s not a kid.
        “That may be.  Miss McClain informed me that the last time you broke your ribs, you didn’t inform anyone or change your daily activities until you came down with pneumonia that had to be magically healed.”  He doesn’t even have to glance over to see the stern look in the former librarian’s eyes. 
        Tch.  Well, that’s thorough, anyway.  “My shoulder,” he mutters, before he realizes that that wound didn’t happen to his body.  It’s too late to take the words back, though.
        “What happened?”  Buffy’s taking this seriously, clearly, because she’s not joking or putting on her Valley Girl act.  He wishes she would.  He’d be more comfortable at least.
        “They found no wounds on your shoulder,” Giles clarifies.
        “It happened while you were Fighting Ghost or whatever, didn’t it?” Buffy guesses, and he raises an eyebrow.
        “Apparently I don’t need to say anything.  You’ll just finish each other’s questions,” he suggests.  Buffy’s elbow in his shoulder makes him hiss in pain.  It might not be wounded, persay, but it still hurts.
        “If Willow didn’t have a test, she’d be here, too.  Now, answers, mister,” she demands.
        He really, really doesn’t want to, but if he refuses to talk, he’s pretty sure Giles-san will just find some way to get the answers from him anyway, willingly or not.
        “The sword in your apartment doesn’t have power anymore, because that all went into me.  I guess,” He begins.  He finally glances over.  Giles doesn’t appear to be shocked—so he’d actually suspected, but didn’t say anything.  Thanks, Watcher.
        At least Buffy gasps.  So they didn’t all have a conspiracy against him.  That’s good to know.
        “I’ve been hearing her whisper in my dreams, and I’ve seen…well, ghosts, around.  There are a lot less of them than there should be—I’m not sure why.  I was trying to ignore it.”  That didn’t quite work out, but then, neither did most of his plans.  “Today, though, or whenever if it’s been a few days, Willow called about the invisible monster, only I saw it when I showed up, and I was going to help Buffy fight it by being her eyes only then my ribs got broken and I couldn’t warn her.  The sword-lady said she’d help, and, uhm, I guess we kind of broke your ‘stay in your body’ spell, and then we fought and beat the monster.  She said it’s called a Hollow and she’s a Zanpuktou.  Hollows are ghosts that have lost their minds and have decided nomming other ghosts or souls from living people is a good idea.”  There’s a lot more he could mention, but he’s not sure what to say, really.  “Oh, yeah, Fighting Ghost Form is apparently called Shinigami.”
        Hey, that finally gets a shocked look from G-san.  Cool.  “You’re sure it’s ‘Shinigami’,” he clarifies, and Xander rolls his eyes.
        “Yeah, I’m sure, and yeah, I know that translates as Death God.  It sounds kind of melodramatic to me too.”
        Giles shakes his head.  “I’ve read it translated as ‘Soul Reaper’.  Most of the notes on the specifics have been lost to time, but it is suggested their presence is the reason why only one of the Slayers over the years has come from the Japanese islands.”
        He blinks.  By the shock, the sword is also unaware of that.  People in the World of the Living were aware of us?  Oh, Soul Society is going to be furious.
        He frowns.  Wait, could they help?  Buffy doesn’t need to risk her life—
        They have problems of their own, she insists, sounding as disgusted by the concept as he is.  It’d be nice if we could solve all the world’s problems, but you’re realistic enough to know the world doesn’t work that way.
        Yeah.  It’d be nice if we could help each other out, though, he points out.  He’s not sure why she feels slightly guilty.  She’s just a sword.  It’s not like she can change any of this.  She can’t even do anything if she’s not being wielded.
        “The spirit of the sword was just conversing with you, was it not?” Giles asks, and, well, that’s a lot more observant than he’d expected.
        “Yeah, she’s mostly just saying that they’re unfortunately too busy dealing with spirit people problems to help with vampire-shaped ones,” he explains, and Buffy sighs even as she smiles sadly. 
        “Yeah, that’d be too much to hope for, wouldn’t it?” she agrees.
        “Think about it this way.  At least you don’t have to fix their problems, either,” he points out, and she laughs.
        “Yeah, that’s fair,” she agrees.
        “Xander, could you concentrate for once?”  G-san sounds irritable.  “If the sword really was associated with Shinigami, that would explain its association with Death.  It would probably also mean I need not worry about a cursed sword controlling you.”
        “She said her name was Kakokuna Hikari.  Which I guess means Harsh Light?  She summons a bunch of colorful lasers, plus she knows a couple Shinigami spells, though those are kind of hard to cast,” he explains.
        At least Giles only looks concerned about the whole spell thing.  “I recommend you not try to use magic at the very least, given your previous track record.”
        He winces.  “Ouch, not that I can disagree.”
        “Tell me if you start falling out of your body again, and in the meantime I’ll research.  Try not to use the powers if you can avoid it, and relax at least long enough to heal.”  With the tone Giles is using, he’s serious and will find some way to punish him if he ignores it.
        He nods.  “I’m sure Buffy and Willow aren’t above sitting on me if I try to go anywhere before I’m supposed to, so…”
        Buffy nods brightly and hands him a comic book.  “What are friends for?”