Disclaimer: I don't own any of it, except maybe the plot. Tite Kubo thought up Bleach, Joss Whedon thought up Buffy. No money is being made, so please don't sue.

Summary: When Buffy dies in Season Five, she ends up in Soul Society. There, she soon realizes that she isn't like the other ghosts wandering Rukongai.

Author's Note: This takes place pre-series for Bleach to begin with, and post Season 5 for Buffy. General knowledge for the entire Bleach series would be a huge asset; while I'm only up to episode 122 or so, that is quickly changing. This is my first Bleach fic, so constructive criticism would be absolutely fabulous.

Flames will be used to melt marshmallows for Rice Krispie squares .

Chapter 1

Buffy stood, a short distance from her friends. They were huddled around someone, something; even though she couldn't see who or what it was, Buffy knew what they were looking at.

They were looking at Buffy's lifeless body.

Buffy sighed; it wasn't as if she'd had a choice. It was either Buffy that jumped off of that platform, or Dawn that jumped off of the platform, and there was no way in hell Buffy would let Dawn do that. Dawn had her whole life ahead of her, and the girl deserved that after all she had been through. Buffy, on the other hand, had resigned herself to her early death, knowing that she had lasted longer than most of the other Slayers. Besides, it had come to a point where she had wanted death, on some level, and while some might consider it the coward's way out, Buffy didn't care. She was deserving of her retirement; too bad her retirement had also meant her death.

Watching her friends fussing over her body, knowing that they wouldn't be able to see her, and that she wouldn't be able to talk to them, Buffy was unaware that something was materializing behind her until it was almost too late. Turning, she saw a large, hulking figure behind her, and was almost hit as she dodged the attack.

Behind her was something Buffy had never seen before. Glancing over at her friends, they seemed unaffected by what was going on about a hundred feet away and assumed that they could neither see nor hear whatever it was that was attacking her. Looks like I'm flying solo on this one, Buffy thought as she just barely dodged another attack. She crouched low, ready to dodge again, and surveyed her opponent carefully, trying to discern any weaknesses there may be.

The figure was massive, at least eight feet tall; bigger than anything else she had fought in a while. The first thing that Buffy noticed was its face; it was almost as if the creature was wearing a mask. It came forward, stalking Buffy and eying her as if she were prey. Suddenly, it stretched its arms out – It has wings. Crap! Buffy thought, panicking – and shot up into the air. Buffy remained on the alert, waiting for the inevitable air attack. The creature dove, heading right towards Buffy. She dodged again, just as the creature hit the ground. Before the creature could attack again, Buffy got on the offence.

Here's hoping my Slayer powers aren't gone just because I'm dead, Buffy thought as she kicked the creature in the head. Even though she could feel her foot connect with the creature's skull, it still sprang to its feet. Buffy weighed her options, and decided that there was only one way that she could get some sort of an advantage. She kicked the creature in one knee, and then the other. The creature fell and Buffy started kicking and punching as much as she could find.

And then, Buffy made the killing blow. She kicked the creature square in the face, splitting the mask and obliterating any face that might have been on the other side. As soon as she did this, the creature dissolved into nothingness.

Okay, that was weird, Buffy thought. She had assumed that, because she was dead, the things that went bump in the night would leave her the hell alone. Obviously, she was wrong.

While she had been fighting, her friends had disappeared, along with her body. She wondered who had carried her away; it was one of the men, most definitely, because Dawn, Tara and Willow weren't quite strong enough to do it. As she was wondering who had carried her lifeless corpse from the scene of the crime, another figure entered the scene.

This figure was human in appearance, male, brandishing a sword and wearing black robes. He skidded to a stop, looking around. He spotted Buffy after a moment and pointed at her.

"Hey, you there!" he said, stalking over to her. "Did you see the Hollow that was here?"

"What?" asked Buffy. "And how can you see me? I'm dead!"

"It doesn't matter how I can see you," the man said irritably. "I was called to take care of a Hollow, and I don't see one here and there is no indication of where it went on my sensors. So, have you seen it?"

"I don't know," Buffy replied with a shrug. "What's a Hollow?"

"A Hollow is an evil spirit," the robed man explained, annoyed. "They're usually large, and have white skeletal looking masks."

"Would they sometimes look like eight-foot tall bats?" Buffy asked, arching an eyebrow.

"Yes, I suppose so," the man said slowly. "Where did it go?"

"It attacked me, I attacked back, I won," Buffy replied with a shrug. "Not a big deal, I do this kind of thing all of the time."

"Let me get this straight," the guy said slowly, collecting the facts and trying to understand them. "You battled with a Hollow and survived, without a zanpaktou?"

"Well, survival is all relative," Buffy replied. "I'm dead, after all. So, now that the Hollow thingy is gone, shouldn't you go too? Because it looks like I did your job for you."

"You must have a high reiatsu," the man said, contemplative. "And I still have to perform the konso."

"Kon - what? What's that" Buffy asked. "And what's ricea? And the Zantacs, that too."

"Konso, reiatsu and zanpaktou," the man corrected, obviously annoyed. "Konso is the ritual that will allow you to pass to Soul Society, reiatsu is the power your soul gives off, and a zanpaktou is this."

The man pulled out his samurai sword from the sheath on his back and held it out in front of him. Buffy gazed at it, clearly impressed; she may be dead, but she was still the Slayer and could appreciate a well made weapon. Even though this guy was brandishing a weapon at her, she felt kind of safe; her Slayer sense wasn't going off. Then again, it hadn't gone off when the Hollow had attacked, either. Maybe my Slayer senses are gone, Buffy mused to herself. I hope not, if I'm going to keep running into those Hollow things.

"Hello, are you still paying attention to me, or should I just perform the konso and get you to Soul Society already?" the samurai guy asked, annoyed again. Buffy snapped out of her reverie, bringing her full attention back to the guy standing there impatiently, his sword sheathed again and his hands on his hips.

"Sorry, just thinking," Buffy replied with a shrug. "You know, recently dead here and everything… I've got a lot of things to think about."

"Well, where you're going you don't need to worry about a thing," the samurai guy said. "In Soul Society, most everyone forgets what happened to them when they were alive."

Buffy considered that for a moment; she wasn't sure if she was ready to forget everything she knew in Sunnydale. Xander, Willow, Giles, Dawn, her mother, even Spike and all of the other baddies that inhabited the town. Her mother might, just might, be where she was going, but Buffy was sure that hoping to see her mother would be hoping for too much.

"I'm sorry, but you don't have much of a choice," the samurai said, breaking into Buffy's thoughts again. She turned her attention to him once more, and this time the man looked far from annoyed. His harsh expression had softened, and he looked almost sympathetic. "What I mean to say is, you can stay here if you really want to, but it isn't a good idea. You'll turn into a Hollow if you don't allow me to lead you to Soul Society."

While Buffy was reluctant to leave the strange little town that had been her home the last couple of years, she also didn't want to become one of those Hollow things. At least where she was going, she might have some kind of normal life, with new adventures or something like that.

"Beam me up, Scotty," Buffy said with a shrug.

"What?" asked the samurai guy, arching a confused eyebrow. Buffy rolled her eyes; did no one get her pop culture references?

"Nevermind," Buffy replied with a sigh. "What I mean to say, is that I'm ready to go now."

The samurai guy smiled slightly and nodded before taking out his zanpaktou again.

"Kneel, please," he said gently. Buffy obliged quickly, and the samurai guy pressed the handle to her forehead, marking her with some kind of symbol.

She closed her eyes, her body enveloped in warmth as Sunnydale, the stars and everything around her faded into blackness. Buffy felt like she was floating gently in water as she was transported away from Earth, her home and transplanted somewhere on a spiritual plane not accessible to the vast majority of humans. Relaxed, Buffy surrendered herself to just feeling, under the impression that she was going to land perfectly safely at her destination.

That is, until she was dropped unceremoniously into the middle of the dusty street.