A/N: I do not own Bleach. Nor do I own Death Note. I only own the thoughts and energy, the idea and plot/original character works of this fanfiction.

Detective Shinigami

One
Opportunistic Encounter

All was silent and calm in the dorms and confines of the Seireitei Communications Office. It was just half past ten, which was way beyond their overtime hours, and his last colleague had just left about an hour before. Even though the layout and editing for the next issue was ready to be printed, an anxious hearted Hisagi Shuhei slammed his head onto the table. He took in a deep breath, taking in the acrid scent of dry papers and blotched ink, as he sighed in relief and felt his tensed muscles eased. I worked hard for that one, even if I didn't write anything! He smilingly thought as he pulled his head from the hard surface; his coal black hair shuffled against each strand at the sudden movement. It should sell more copies than the one before since… He looked back up and drew his grey eyes at the door leading to the hallway. Just along that hallway towards the end was a large, off-limits chamber that had an immensely memorable library now home to one erratic and introvert shinigami cum writer.

She hasn't been out for years, he thought as he stared back at his editor's copy of the Seireitei Communications magazine and flipped it open to page fifteen, skipping all the now mundane articles in between. The light of the office beamed across his pale skin and face, where it gave a sudden shine to his pale blue tattoo running from his left cheek to his nose and a grim reminder of the existence of a scar on his right cheek. His eyes trailed from top to the bottom of about three pages worth of an interesting article as always; it was an article regarding the issue of an increased level of Hollow appearances in the Human World and the writer suspected that a supernatural, zealous killer dubbed "Kira" was behind it.

He smiled silently to himself as he shut it close, As expected of Tachibana! She may not be around us all the time, but whenever she writes a story, it's all worth the wait. To capture shinigami's attention on the Human World like this… she's so daring! A yawn suddenly escaped from his dry lips, making him realize that he was the only one in the office. I wonder if the next generation has more guts than her…

"I should really get going," he called out as he stood from his chair and began walking away from his desk. He switched off the lights in the office and headed out into the same hallway that he eyed earlier. As he shut the door behind him, he startled to catch the glimpse of a silhouette shifting in the dark just across the path before him. He gulped, sensing the familiar reiatsu resonating from it.

"It's been a while, hasn't it, Hisagi?" A gentle but patronizing voice vibrated through the space between them; the shadow turned and the figure took a step forward, but revealing nothing more than its hakama. "You're still the same as I last saw you."

"T-Tachibana? Is that really you?"

The figure laughed a little and took another step forward; Hisagi's eyes widened and his lips let out a gasp that was neither pleased nor horrified. "I look no different, I'm sure," it spoke again but his reaction was maintained. "But judging from your reaction, I could tell that five years of being locked up sure surprises people."

"You're going out this late?"

The figure returned a step behind and shifted slightly as if nodding. "Ah," she responded darkly, "I sense a terrible thing brewing in the Human World."

"There's always something terrible brewing in the Human World. Why do you care so much about it?"

"Because we were all humans once. Or would you rather I begin my lecture on that all humans are souls and when we die, we revert to becoming merely souls? You know it better than do… that what we establish and keep as we are now is the remnants of our past as humans. My years of research had certainly proven that… or are you undermining my discovery?"

"It's not like that!" Hisagi protested. "It's just that… it's been so long since I last saw you and for you to walk out only to enter the Human World and make observations, I just don't understand!"

"So you've been reading, but never been understanding, huh?"

Hisagi bit his lips as he hissed, "What's that supposed to mean? Don't you think that what you're doing is beyond the shinigami duties entitled to you?"

"What I do benefits shinigamis and Soul Society in general," the figure moved to bask entirely in the shadows. "Even if it means I study humans. Hisagi, if you don't understand, I cannot force you. But you can't force me to stay either…"

"Tachibana! Even if you're going, let me come with you!"

He could almost see her almond slanted eyes slowly opening up in the dark; it revealed the way her golden brown orbs intensely glared into his, prying him into a sense of confusion and false security. Her reiatsu amplified practically immediately; She's definitely mad at me, he noted silently with a gulp. Hisagi slowly dragged the soles of his straw sandals backwards, I can't let her go, but I can't make her stay either… Damn it!

"I shouldn't trouble you… after all, you know I always work alone," she finally said it with a tinge of annoyance. "You know I'm better off alone anyway."

"But Tachibana! You cannot go with supervision or schedule! It's not your turn on the roster!"

"I'll take my chances."

"Tachibana!"

By the time he gave chase into the darkness, he was met with blows of golden sands; This is… Masayume's clones. That Tachibana… She purposely set up a clone while making her way out. Of course! She must've known I was here all the time. But now, what should I do?

"Urahara-san," she stood by the wooden sliding door of a rather dodgy shop and waited for a reply. She knew her voice was loud enough to be heard, but still subtle enough not to wake any dogs out there.

After for about a minute, the door was finally opened. A rather unkempt-looking man with a black and white striped hat and shoulder-length blonde hair with split ends at the back welcomed her; he had a strange smile on his face - it was either guilty or surprised. He knew who it was immediately as there could only be one person to come at his door after business hours, even though the figure was shaded from the lights. It's strange, he thought as he took off his hat and nodded slightly at her, she always comes after midnight… What brought her here so early? She took a step inside and waited as he shut the door behind him; there was no light in his shop except for the one in the stairway just behind the cashier. So it was a little difficult for him to see her.

He scratched his neck and yawned lazily as he turned to her. "Tachibana," he said smilingly, "Isn't it a bit too early for you to go hunting around?"

"Time waits for no man, Urahara-san… You should know that more than I do!"

"Well, if it's about "Kira", the newspaper's over there and your notes are still there as you've left them - I didn't take a peek!" he cheerily pointed towards the shop's counter where a box of stacked papers stood next to the cashier machine. "Looks like he's still killing off people… In fact, I should tell you, there was a live event some time ago. Some high ranking corporate figure named Higuchi something died during capture."

"On live TV?"

"Yeah, it was kind of surprising. I have to say there was something strange going on at the time."

"How's that?"

"The men who apprehended him before he died on live news started shouting shinigami when they touched his notebook."

"Could it be? Is it the Body Reapers?"

"Body Reapers? Well, of course! Tachibana-chan does a lot of reading for what she's writing!" Urahara laughed as he leaned against the wall, "I guess I could say, you're absolutely right! You've been having theories that this "Kira" must have a Body Reaper's notebook judging from the way he's killed people! You've even suspected a Body Reaper himself, but the thing is, Body Reapers don't choose who they kill - they just do. After all, the way "Kira" has been killing people shows interest in cleaning up the world's mess and that was a bit human of him, as you put it."

The young woman walked further up to the cashier with a faint smile, one he wasn't able to see properly; but as she approached closer, the light hit her face and revealed her pearly ivory skin. She had dark brown eyes and has overgrown pixie haircut angled slightly on one side of her face - very ordinary and tidy-looking. On her earlobes were medium-sized white pearl earrings, gleaming silver in colour as the lighting shifted. She still hasn't changed, he thought as he smiled to himself, I hear she's never been out of her room in Seireitei for five years… I bet they're wondering if she's ever sneaked out at all! Little did they know!

"That's true," the woman replied as she looked over the box, "I did suspect the Body Reapers. To kill with name and face sounded just about right and then there's that ability to see names to a face… But I didn't think they would be so kind as to show off their notebook. There must more to the story than meets the eye and both the Spirit King and the Reaper's King should pay attention to this. Both realms are on the verge of decomposition. But, more to the matter at hand… that L guy is interesting. He's been checking up all my list of theories and assumptions. He's the world's best detective indeed!"

"You're not trying to surpass him, are you?"

"The will to surpass overcomes the will to survive in this case… Even if I am a shinigami and he's just a human."

"So what are you going to do now?"

"I'll investigate even more! Urahara-san, I'd like to thank you for all your help and for the newspapers and for not looking into my notes. But I have to roam around first before I use one of your Gigai to read the news…"

"Roam around? What are you planning? You sure know how to put a burden on my fatherly shoulders!"

She chuckled slightly at that. "Don't worry. If it's a Hollow, I surely could handle. But a Body Reaper…"

"Hey, now! We're not supposed to confront them. Even if this issue gets out of hand, both Kings will have to have a conference but with each other! Stay out of it no matter what!"

"I'm well aware of that… Please, don't worry of me, Urahara-san."

Several minutes and districts later

"This reiatsu…" Tachibana was standing atop a sky scrapper, trying to locate the directionality of a dangerous level of spiritual energy; she quickly leaped at hundreds feet in the air from one rooftop to another and before long, she sensed she had arrived at the right building. "Let's hope it's not a Hollow… This storm is not helping it either."

She took note of the frequent lightning and thunder strikes before going through the concrete floor with her intangible body. Within seconds, she had arrived into a room where a dying old man in a suit lied on top a desk. There were several computer monitors surrounding the desk; they were all flashing the words "all data deletion". Who is this man? Did the reiatsu come from him? No, that's impossible! The reiatsu earlier just left! I must hurry! But - As she waited for him to breathe his last, his soul came rushing out of his body, but instead of automatic detachment, his Chain of Fate was still attached to the floor. He's died before his time! More importantly, an occupational hazard… He died while working for something and now has unfinished business.

"Please calm down," she muttered, to which the old man, now a soul, responded with a startle.

"W-who are you? What's happened to me?"

"I am a shinigami," she paused and watched his eyes widened at the word, Could it be? He's met with a Body Reaper before? "But not the one you think."

"What do you - "

There it is again! She quickly spun around and sensing that the reiatsu had returned into the building, just on a different floor; There's no time! I don't care what's the reason, but - She rushed towards the old man's soul and took out her zanpakuto. With the back of the hilt, she hit the man on his head and yelled, "There's no time to explain!"

The man quickly transformed into a ball of light and disappeared. At this sight, she quickly turned behind her and walked through the walls and leaped through more concrete floors and beams before she got into a dark room filled with whirring motors of internal servers. There, she jumped to see a pale white and skeletal being; it had eyes amber in colour, similar to a python, and strange locks of pastel purple hair, just standing there with a pen scribbling into a notebook. That's it! A Body Reaper!

"Stop whatever it is you're doing!"

The Body Reaper paused. "I'm sorry," it finally said; the notebook and pen fell on the floor, "I don't know what you're doing here but I cannot stop. I've written a name…"

"I'm here to find you, of course! And you've written a name? Have you any involvement with Kira?"

"No. But if you'd like to see L, you have thirty-nine seconds until his death."

"L? As in L, the world's best detective? What good is that?"

"I had to do it… In order to protect someone I cared for. Thirty-five seconds."

"Where is L? Tell me where he is!"

"Why do you care? Soul Reapers like you should stay out of this. Thirty seconds."

The young woman took out her sword and shouted, "Madoromu, Masayume (Drowse, Masayume)!"

In an instant, her sword shifted into that of pole with a curved blade at the end, similar to a glaive. Exactly twenty-seven seconds! She threw it at the Body Reaper and the sturdy pole suddenly shifted into chains and wrapped itself around its skeletal body; she tightened it before the chains disbursed into the Body Reaper in the form of golden sands. Twenty-three! She watched as the Body Reaper's eyes slowly shut and before long, sands returned towards the hilt of her sword and slowly revert to its original form. L is the next room? So is Kira? Thank you, Masayume.

"Before you go," the Body Reaper suddenly spoke; its body was slowly turning to dust as Tachibana turned around. "Are you going to perform the konso on L?"

"That would depend, wouldn't you say?"

"I see… Well then, good luck."

By the time it dissipated into merely ash, the young shinigami leaped into the wall and found the next room as dark as the previous ones. She observed the room as around six middle-aged men in suits surround two familiar young men: one was sitting on a swivel chair in an odd manner and another had tidy strawberry blonde hair. The first one had strange, spiky raven hair brushed to one side of his head and sat with his knees curling to his chest; his eyes were large and dark in color with rings and shadows around them. He was staring up intently at the computer monitors just before him, which said the same thing from the other room she saw earlier. So the old man… was he part of the team? The other young man was standing quietly beside him. These two are the same ones that I saw at To-Oh University… I wonder if that strange looking fella is really L because if he is, then "Kira" is…

"The unexpected? What do you mean? Is Watari dead?" said one of suited men.

The strange young man titled his head, "Where is the shinigami?"

Shinigami? She repeated as she continued to watch them. So they've seen the Body Reaper as well! The older men looked about and yelled in frustration to realize that it was gone.

"Everyone!" The strange haired young man exclaimed urgently, "The Shinigami - "

He's dying! It's been forty-seconds exactly right! There's no doubt about it! He really must be L! She noted as the scene began to unravel before her. L suddenly lost control over his body and fell off from the chair; it caught the other men in a strange and unpleasant surprise. But the strawberry blonde youth jumped in and grabbed hold of him. As she approached them, she watched as him smirk triumphantly at the dying one. Could it be? Why is he smirking at his friend's death? So this other person, he is…

The look of distress and shock on the young man's face broke her heart; she gasped as she took a step back, feeling uncomfortable at what she had just witnessed. As the renowned detective drew his last breath and slowly shut his eyes, his soul burst out of his body just a few seconds later; he was different from the old man earlier as he was free from his body, his Chain of Fate unattached to anything. It pained her even more to see that it was nearly completely broken. Even as she braved herself to look at his corpse, he had a relaxed expression so serene and beautiful.

It took a while for him to move about, even though he saw himself as dead and watching as the men tried to grasp the situation. Should I tell him? Tachibana gripped tightly around the hilt of her sword, I should wait for a reaction. If I perform the konso now, I - L suddenly took up a deep breath and sighed, feeling no effect to his now intangible body. He had no comprehension of what just happened or why he still has consciousness even in death. As he looked at his transparent body, Tachibana took a step forward. Masayume, I'm counting on you!

L shot a look at her, but by that time, her appearance was obscured by the persistent darkness; "Who are you?"

"I am a shinigami."

"If that's so, why don't you look like one?"

Of course, she bit her lip, he's a detective so he's not idiot! For one so smart, he'd need an explanation! "What you've seen previously is also a shinigami, but it is better known as a Body Reaper… The reason being is because it has the duty to reap body. That is, it cuts life from the body. I am a Soul Reaper and I reap souls."

"Then you mean to say that I am a soul?"

"Yes."

"And you are going to reap me?"

"Yes. Souls don't belong here, you see. Souls belong else where and it is my lifelong duty to guide you there."

L narrowed his eyes as an old man with a thick mustache came over to his lifeless body and volunteered to send him to the hospital; he suddenly nodded as he turned to Tachibana again, "Very well. But before that, would you please tell me more about where do souls belong?"

"There's a place called Soul Society. Once I perform the Soul Burial - "

"A Soul Burial?"

It's so complicated! But I can't force him to go… or else I'll be fined! I have to give a brief explanation! Where's Rukia-san when you need her? "A soul is the original form of humans," she began after taking in a deep breath, "When the human body is perfected or born, the soul takes over it to live here - in the Human World. But when the human body expires, the soul returns to its original form in order to return home - to Soul Society, where it lives again. When the soul dies in Soul Society, it is replaced and return again to become humans. Over and over, this cycle is repeated and new souls are born every other day or month, year or even century. Yet the soul is not allowed to exist in the human realm as a human is not allowed to exist in Soul Society."

"So this Soul Burial is a burial for the soul in order to return there?"

"Yes. As a Body Reaper take the life of humans by separating the bond of the soul and its body thereby beginning the Body Burial, so when a soul is forced out of its body in death, there need be a Soul Burial as a… transport so to speak."

"I see. I think I understand the main concept."

Tachibana silently sighed, Great! Now I can -

"But even so," L suddenly cupped his chin as he looked straight at her, "I have unfinished business here. I'm sorry, but you're going to have to perform the Soul Burial another time."

It's too long an explanation if I tell him about the Chain of Fate and types of souls that roamed the earth after death! Tachibana took out her sword, much to the surprise of the young detective. "I've no choice then," she muttered darkly, "Drowse, Masayume!"

It was three in the morning and Urahara was still awake; he had been waiting at the counter for about four hours now and still, there was no sign of her. That's strange, he thought as he looked back to the wall clock to double check, Where's she gone? He heard some thuds from the other room and waited as several footsteps soon followed; a young girl in pajamas with deep purple hair tied to a ponytail and parted in the middle of her face greeted him with surprise.

"Oh, dear!" Urahara exclaimed quietly and scratched his head rather nervously, "Did I wake you now, Ururu-chan?"

She didn't say anything at first; she held out her hand and pointed at the television just behind the cashier. As she switched it on, Urahara watch from his chair as the news broadcasted that "John Doe dies of heart attack".

"Hm? John Doe?" Urahara commented plainly. "The guy doesn't even have an ID on him - that's funny! Why are you showing me this, Ururu-chan?"

"That's L."

He jumped from his seat and quickly turned to the child with surprise on his face. "What do you mean? How do you know that?"

"If you see," Tsumiya Ururu, the young girl with the strange hair and distinct blush on her cheeks, walked up to the counter and fumbled through the newspapers before taking out a notebook, "Tachibana-san has - "

"Gah! Don't look at that!"

"She doesn't mind."

"Ah! But that's against my policy!"

"If you see here," Tsumiya ignored his antics and opened the notebook up anyway; she flipped open one page that revealed a sketch of two young men, "This guy with the dark hair is L and the other is Yagami Light. Light is under suspicion of being "Kira" so L has to come close to the guy to see if his theory is right. This was drawn a long time ago, I'm not sure if Tachibana-san remembers. After all, she was busy researching on Body Reapers back in Soul Society - she has told me this."

"But how does Tachibana know that that guy is L?"

"He's told Light that at the university."

Urahara nodded his head, "Well, that could be true. But that doesn't explain how John Doe is L and how you would know that!"

"For one thing," said Tsumiya as she flipped the notebook again, "All the murders by "Kira" has first started of as heart attacks - just like that of a Body Reaper's notebook. Plus, on her behalf, I have met the guy."

"What!?"

"I did it behind her back… so that I could surprise her and help her sense if he would've died."

"So does Tachibana know that he's dead? No, more importantly, does she have anything to do with it?"

A/N:
Hi. This is my first Bleach fanfiction. This is also my first Death Note fanfiction. I was so upset that L died that I had to write the wrong (pun seriously intended) :P

Please enjoy and relax and review haha!

Edited: 25/5/13 - I realized that L was never announced dead. Lolz