Chapter 20: To See the Light

[madimpossibledreamer]

Main Points:
Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Bleach (I Hope Tomorrow's a Better Day)
Chapter Summary: Buffy wants to see Xander's new powers for herself.
Word Count: 835
Rating: Gen

          “I’ve seen the aftermath of what you’ve done, but I don’t have a clue how you fight,” Buffy complains.
          Giles is sitting researching in the corner of the room.  He looks disturbed, but then, he’s been doing that a lot lately.
          Xander winces.  “That’s kind of the issue, though.  I can’t use most of my powers in my body, but if I’m not in my body, you can’t see me, which makes sparring a little hard.”
          “Actually…” Giles interrupts, standing and holding out…a pair of glasses?  He double checks—no, they’re not the former librarian’s, which means…
          He’s not sure what it means, actually.
          “I’m pretty sure my eyesight is still fine,” Buffy complains, pouting at them.
          “Yes, but you can’t see the spiritual world.  You may have better senses of it than most, when you actually focus and pay attention as I have taught you, but being a Slayer doesn’t automatically mean you are capable of seeing other dimensions overlapping our own.  These glasses allow you to do so,” he explains, and that gets both their interests. 
          Buffy snatches them from his hands, while Xander actually wanders over to stare at them.  “They don’t look like much, do they?”
          Giles clears his throat.  “Well, er.  That’s their supposed use.  I have not tested this myself, but now seems as good a time as any, particularly if you insist upon ignoring my warnings against using those powers.”
          Xander at least has the grace to look sheepish.
          Buffy shrugs it off.  “If something goes wrong, we’ll deal with it, the way we always do.”  She turns to Xander.  “Jump out of your body!  I want to see!”
          “Oh, man, that sounds wrong,” he responds, but even Hikari-san is intrigued.  Just don’t push yourself too hard.  From what I can tell, your ‘unconventional methods’ have been healing you faster than would otherwise be possible here, but it’s no match for a healer Shinigami.
          He pops out of his body, and before he can hit the ground carefully moves his prone body to a sitting pose at the side of the room.
          “I can see you!” Buffy’s grinning like she’s just gotten a new pair of shoes.
          She’s being weirdly excited about this, and—wait.
          “You’re just happy you’ve gotten a new punching bag, aren’t you?” he asks, not entirely expecting an answer.
          “I can’t actually go all out against Giles, and that’s not much use in training,” she pouts at him, and—well.  It’s not like he can argue with that.
          “So it does work.”  The Watcher sounds, well, as excited as he ever gets about anything.  “I should be able to replicate the effects using a spell, but that will take a little more work at the moment.  Please don’t break the glasses in the meantime.  I’m not sure what shattering the physical manifestation of the spell will do.”
          “What can you do?” Buffy interrupts, like she’s not even paying attention. 
          So it’s up to them, huh?  …well, it’s not like it’s that difficult of a request, they muse.
          “I’m not going to go all out.  I’m still healing, and using Shikai would probably kill you.  I might push it a little with shunpo, but this is just training.  I want to get the basics down, and I don’t need to get any more hurt than I am.  Don’t need to blow any of it on kidou, either.  Healing your spiritual energy is a bit harder than just having a good nap, you know.”  He unsheathes his sword and leans on it, in a pose designed to look cool—and she’s a little impressed, so that’s something good.
          Even if she’s sulking.  And then she goes to pick up a live-training sword, and something in him says ‘no, wait’.
          It’s probably Hikari-san, now that he thinks about it.
          “Hang on, we probably should use bokken—er, those wooden swords.”  He casually points toward the corner, and now she’s downright scowling at him.  Sometimes she’s as bloodthirsty as…
          Hikari-san supplies a name—no, a title.  Kenpachi.  Terrifying.
          “Look, we’re already going to be dangerous enough with those.  If you know your stuff, which you do and I kinda do, you can kill someone with a training sword.  Just…please?  For G-man to not suffer a massive heart attack and die?  We’d all miss him and be very sad.”
          “I can only hear half of the conversation, you know,” Giles complains.  He’d been trying to pretend he hadn’t been paying rapt attention by reading, but Xander’s on to him.
          “Oh, we’re discussing your possible demise,” Buffy explains cheerfully, patting his shoulder, and Giles shudders in return.
          “Oh, how very comforting.”  British sarcasm at its finest, ladies and gentlemen.
          Still, it’s enough wordly violence to convince her to pick up one of those training swords instead, as does he.
          “I can see the sword, so ostensibly, Buffy, you could spar him without the glasses should the occasion arise,” Giles comments.  That’s interesting.
          “Next time,” she promises, and without warning charges.