A/N: Hello Bleachverse and welcome to my first Bleach story. I have been up and down in Dragon Ball Z and I thought I would give a hand at one of my top five favorite manga's. And on a side note this will be my first attempt at doing honorifics and all that fun stuff so if I fail at it please let me know in the kindest way possible. Now enough about me, summary time!

This story is an A/U and so I will explain. No Soul Reapers, No Hollows, it is an alternate reality basically. To get what this story really is you're going to have to read it I'm afraid. It is about a man's will to protect, and protecting those he cares about most but will it be enough to break the chains off him? Ready? On with the story.

Oh and normally I try to stay away from this kind of thing because it seems second rate and childish but I will put up a few songs that was inspired by each chapter. Oh and I do not own those either.

Songs: Along the Way by Bad Religion, Last Rites/Loved to Deth by Megadeth, In My Time of Dying by Led Zeppelin.

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach, any of its characters, or ideas. All those belong to the great Tite Kubo.

Enter Hollow

Darkness, the black of night. The midnight sun gone and in the darkness people find their true selves. The ability to see was long past gone and the ability to think left shortly after that. It was just a void in all vision, thought, hearing, even feeling. The loss of everything just left a great void, a nonexistent being.

In an uninhabited area of the world where rock and dirt were plenty lay a single body. This body had yet to move, just lying lifeless like the rocks. In a flash of light a body jolted upright in a fit of shakes. The individual had yet to open his eyes as the light was too bright. His entire being ached as he struggled to stay up. He felt as if he was having a heart attack. A shaky hand left it's job as a support beam for his body and went up to feel his heart. His body shook and cold sweat came down his neck as his hand reached its destination. His head tilted downwards as his eyes slowly opened.

The pain of the light hit him full force, like a newborn opening its eyes for the first time, he immediately shut his eyes after opening them. However, a few seconds later his eyes opened once more as he looked to confirm his fears. When his eyes became fully adjusted to the light he opened them wide and looked on in horror, as his hand was above a hole in the middle of his chest.

He dropped his hand and stared on into the hole in his chest. It was a fairly large hole and it went right through where his heart was supposed to be. His breathing suddenly went into quick pants as he grabbed his head in pain. Once his fingers touched his head he froze once more. He cautiously, and carefully, trailed a single finger from his right hand down the side of his face. He didn't feel soft skin, no, instead he felt the hardness of bone. He stopped his hesitant touch and grabbed his face with both hands and felt the protruding bone that covered his entire face. He dropped his head and his hands fell to his knees.

It seemed as though he was dead, or close to it, yet he remained in this open, rocky terrain with no one to come for him. He felt like the last person on earth, alone with his problems. This man was confused as to why these things were wrong with him, but he had a bigger problem.

He couldn't recall his name. Not only that but he couldn't recall a single memory. His mind was blank from everything except has happened from when he woke up. He didn't even know if the hole in his chest was natural or not. He could not recall if he even had a face or if the bone covering his entire face was normal. Hell, he didn't even know what normal was.

Just as soon as he was about to get up and start wandering, a figure came up to him. He barely registered the figure until it was right in front of him. He looked up slowly to see something he was sure was not normal. Standing tall was a dark cloaked figure that had smoke coming off it. There was no face, just darkness under the hood that concealed the figure along with two dark red dots for eyes. The ground that it walked on turned to ice and the sun was instantly gone, covered by the darkest clouds ever imagined. The temperature dropped to below freezing yet the man felt as if he would be burnt alive.

"Stand," the word left no room for arguments. The voice was deep yet it sounded as if someone were hissing like a snake. The man didn't immediately stand up but as he hesitated it felt like he was rising without his knowledge. Now on his feet, the man stared at the figure.

"What do you remember?" The figure asked. The man was unsure if he should talk to this thing but there was no other options, given his condition. The chill down his spine and the gut feeling that this was someone he didn't want to be around, let alone talk to, was ignored by the desperation of needing answers.

"Nothing." The man said in a low voice. He noted how his voice sounded disfigured in a way, as if his vocal cords were damaged and created an unneeded vibration after each word. The figure gave a slight nod of the head and continued.

"Good… you have been sleeping for quite a while, I almost gave up on you. Allow me to introduce myself, I am the Devil." The figure, who is the Devil, let the words hang in the air.

"The Devil?" The man was horribly confused, he felt that he should know what that means. The name didn't sound good but the man didn't know what good even was.

"Yes… it seems the total mind erase worked. I am the ultimate evil. When people who forsake themselves die they go to me and spend an eternity in Hell." The Devil summed up for the man.

"Hell?" He was slowly processing each thing he heard but what he caught was the mind erase comment. So this Devil knew that his mind was blank and that he liked it. He decided to play along before asking who he was.

"Hell is an eternity of suffering for those who die and get cast to me. And sometimes, if the will is stronger than the soul, they become a part of my servitude which is why you are here with no name, no memory, a hole in your heart, and a mask on your face." The Devil pointed out.

The man slowly brought a hand up to his face and felt his mask. It covered his entire face besides his eyes. Everything was starting to worry him more and more. And everything made sense less and less. This Devil was an evil creature and now it wanted something to do with him. Not only that but he had just said that he was forced to serve this Devil. "What are you saying?" The man said in an unsure tone.

The Devil stood up to his full height reaching almost seven feet. "You are dead. No longer apart of the living realm and yet you can still prove yourself useful. Your will stayed connected to the living world because you could not let go, and in the end you could not go into Paradise, or Heaven. Which is where all the souls of those who do good go. From the moment you died your soul was mine. However, considering how strong your soul and will to go on is, I have made a decision." The Devil reached behind his back and pulled out a large silver and black blade with no guard, no hilt, and wrapped in a long white cloth.

The Devil threw the sword at the ground of the man's feet. In doing so the cloth loosened a bit and the gleam of the blade came out and revealed the man's reflection. He stared into it to see that he was indeed wearing a mask. A mask that was pure white with several red lines on the side of the mask and menacing looking fangs over where his mouth should be. His eyes gleamed in a yellow black spectrum and his hair was bright orange. He was dressed in a loose fitting black Shihakusho. His mask made even him stare in frightened amazement. He stared for several seconds before looking back at the Devil.

"You are a demon, not just any demon but my own personal soldier demon." The Devil slowly lifted a claw like finger towards the demon. He took a step back hoping that it wasn't a sign for an attack. "You will work for me, gathering evil souls and damning them. Also you will find and destroy any souls that escape from my realm." The Devil's finger dropped down and pointed to the sword. "This blade is a manifestation of the power in you, bought out through your soul. Use it to destroy any and all of my enemies. Do that, and I shall restore your soul."

The demon looked from his hands to the blade. To say that he was confused was an understatement. If he heard everything correctly, than he has just been recruited to work for the Devil without a choice. He knew that he couldn't trust this Devil but, all things considered, what choice did he have? He didn't, he knew he would not like it but for now he was going to work for the Devil.

"You don't have to answer." The demon looked up hurriedly to see the Devil walking away, taking the freezing temperature with him. "I knew you would do it before I came here."

The demon took a step forward and quickly shouted. "Wait! Wh-What is my name!?"

The Devil stopped and slowly turned. "Name? You no longer have a name. That is beneath you. But I suppose I do have to call you something so you will be… the Hollow."

Hollow's eyes widened as the dark clouds and the Devil disappeared in the blink of an eye. The demon looked all around until he was sure that he was alone. 'What the hell is that thing?' The demon asked himself. He knew instantly that the Devil controlled a power he couldn't hope to have. So his choices were few and he knew it. He looked back down at the blade and went to pick it up. As he reached down he heard laughter. His head snapped up and looked all around once more. "Who is there?" He asked wearily.

He was met with complete silence. He stood there silently for several minutes making sure he was alone before reaching back down for the sword. When he touched the blade he was met with a flood of knowledge that didn't stay for very long. His eyes went wide as for a split second he saw a name in all the confusion that went through his mind. "Zangetsu," he mumbled the name he saw in his mind as he picked up the giant sword like it weighed nothing. Once it was off the ground something fell from it and hit the ground. Hollow cocked his head to the side and looked curiously at the item. It looked like a large pendant with a weird skull on the front. As he looked at it the eyes glowed for a moment before returning to normal. There was also a small rope hanging from the pendant, badge, whatever it was.

He slowly reached down and picked it up, wrapping the tie on his belt, and proceeding with placing the giant blade on his back. Once he got comfortable with the heavy blade on his back he began walking in no particular direction, just that way. It's not like the Devil gave him any specifics.

The demon, known as Hollow, didn't know how long he had been walking but long enough for it to go from day to night. He had kept on walking in one direction and finally made it to a major city. He found out that the people did not see him and walked right though him like he was invisible. No, he IS invisible. After all how can you see a dead guy?

After venturing into the city Hollow found himself on top of a stone building looking out into a busy street as cars sped by and people went on with their lives. It was all very interesting to the demon as this is his first time being around other people, well that he can remember. It was all new to experience, the sounds, smells, and thoughts. From what the Devil said he did live a life, one that he can no longer remember. Speaking of which the Devil was being very cryptic with what he wanted him to do. There was no specific target, but he counted that as a good thing for now.

Watching these human interactions left Hollow even more confused and he was filled with so many questions. Most importantly he was left with the biggest mystery of all. Why was his mind wiped of everything, and who was he? It didn't make sense for him to be totally missing everything, like the way things worked, including humans. And why take away his name?

The more he thought about it the more he got a headache. He then just focused on his situation. Apparently he was the Devil's bounty hunter and the price was many souls for his own. The Devil hadn't said that but Hollow got a feeling that the situation was like that.

The demon sat atop a perch on the stone and brick building looking out into a small alleyway as night came swiftly. He felt bored and took out the skull badge he was, apparently, given. It didn't seem like it had any purpose or did anything except stare back at him. He was about to drop it on the ground when a commotion caught his attention. He turned his head to the side to see a man and a young girl running around the corner.

It was a fairly large man and a young girl and they seemed to be fighting. Hollow absently leaned forward and watched. This was the first time he was seeing conflict and violence and it deeply interested him. He watched as the young girl, who couldn't be more than 16, was trying desperately to fight away the larger man who was beating her. For some reason he felt enticed with the fighting. It was making him edgy and wanting to jump in. He desperately fought down this feeling and kept back.

The demon looked around them and found no one around. Was there no one to assist the obviously defenseless person, was that how people were? The more he watched the more he questioned people in general. Like why fight someone who obviously could not fight back? And why was there no one watching this incident except for him? Many questions.

The large man took out a knife and slashed the girl's throat making her drop to the ground with very few breaths left. Hollow stared on in anticipation and confusion. Suddenly the badge in his left hand started beeping quite loudly. His head snapped back to it and stared into the eyes of it. The eyes on the skull glowed bright and the demon felt pulled into a trance. All at once he knew what to do.

He remembered how to fight. It was like his inner self was awake again, even if it was just for this instant. His instinct kicked in and he was relieved that something about him had yet to die. Hollow reached to his back, with his right hand, and pulled off the large sword as the wrapping came off it, revealing the gleam of the blade. Then he jumped down right behind the man and the dying girl.

The man had heard his fall and jumped around quickly. The man seemed to see him and took a fearful step backward. His eyes showed instant fear when he took one look at the evil mask. "W-who are you?" He said holding up his knife. "I ain't scared of ya, you hear?"

The demon didn't register the fact he wasn't invisible anymore as he took a step forward and raised up his long blade so that it reflected in the light. The man took another fearful step backward seeing the massive blade this crazy guy with a mask was carrying. The demon's eyes were hungry and they flashed every which way, sizing up his opponent and the terrain of the battlefield.

"You," the demon said taking another step, raising his left hand, with the badge still in it, and pointing his index finger at the man. "Guilty," he then held up the badge as the glowing eyes connected with the man's eyes. "Off to Hell." The man came back to reality and charged at the demon. He plunged his small knife deep into Hollow's abdomen and smirked with victory.

His smirk vanished when he heard the disoriented laughter that came from beneath the mask. Hollow reached forward and grabbed the man's collar and pulled him to his mask. Tears poured down the man's cheeks as he stared into the demon's eyes. Hollow looked at him for a while before narrowing his eyes. He dropped the man who collapsed to his knees. "I'm disappointed." He said simply, pulling the knife out of his stomach.

He let the small knife drop to the ground and in a puff of white smoke his wound was healed. No scar or blood was to be found on him. The demon let out a low growl and raised up Zangetsu. The man fell back in fear as Hollow slammed the giant blade into the ground. The whole area shook and cracks in the ground formed from the sheer power of forcing a sword into the ground.

The demon left his sword and knelt in front of the man. He extended his left hand which held the badge. The man fell into a trance and the eyes glowed on the skull. Slowly the man began to fade away until there was nothing left of him. A crackle of thunder echoed in the distance as the demon was the only one that remained. He looked at the spot the man once was then at the badge. The glow in the eyes of the skull slowly started to fade but he heard a whisper. "The soul belongs to me." Hollow knew where he had heard that voice from. It was the Devil telling him a job well done, more or less.

He shrugged and tucked the badge inside of his Shihakusho and looked down at the dying girl a few feet away. He left his sword in its place in the ground and slowly walked over to her. He knelt down beside her and looked her over. She seemed so small, humans seemed so fragile to him after this. It was such a complex thing for him to understand how they live so recklessly with such weak lives.

He saw a tear fall out of the girl's eye before they closed and she exhaled one final time. Hollow sat there and pondered what would happen to her. An instant later a see through version of the same girl was standing next to him by her dead body. The girl looked at him then her body and quietly asked. "Are you an angel?"

Hollow tilted his head to the side. 'Angel? What is that?' He thought. Before he could say anything, however, a beam of light extended from the sky. It was a pure white light that blinded the demon as he looked on. He raised a hand over his eyes to shield him from the pureness of the light. It had felt like it almost hurt him.

Out from the light came a short figure. The small figure stepped forward and towards the girl who was unaffected from the light. Hollow slowly lowered his arm as the bright light faded. He looked on to see a very short girl with medium length ebony hair and violet eyes. She was wearing a black Shihakusho very similar to his own and a sword was on her waist. He stared at her in confusion and wonder.

The girl went over to the spirit of the dead girl and smiled. She opened her mouth to speak but one glance at Hollow and her face hardened. She took the other girl's hand and jumped back, drawing her weapon. "Why are you here?" She demanded.

Hollow stood up and looked over his shoulder seeing if there was anyone behind him. He looked back at the short girl and pointed a finger at himself, just below the hole in his chest. "Me?" He asked in confusion.

The girl looked at him perplexed. She shook it off and pointed the tip of her sword at him. "Yes you, demon, are you here for the girl's soul?"

Again, the demon tilted his head apparently not getting what she was saying. After a moment, and staring at her threatening posture, he slowly reached for his weapon and yanked it out of the ground. The girl with the sword clenched her teeth and was prepared for a strike when the demon disappeared. She scanned over the alleyway but found nothing. Her head jerked up to see the demon standing on top of the building. His figure only visible in the moonlight.

"I have no intention of fighting you, so go, and leave me be." The demon turned and disappeared into the night.

The girl shook out of the daze of what had just happened and turned her attention to the spirit of the dead girl. "Who was that?" She asked timidly.

The girl sighed as she returned her blade to its sheath. "That was a demon. Not just any demon but one of the more powerful ones that can come to the living world to steal people's souls."

The dead girl nodded silently before asking: "And who are you?"

She smiled. "I am an angel, my name is Rukia Kuchiki and I am here to take you to Heaven." She extended her hand to the dead girl which she took. They both walked into the bright light that had reappeared and left the night.

In the shadows of a window across the way sat Hollow. He had left but stayed within hearing distance. He looked at the spot they had vanished from and pondered what he had heard. 'Angel,' he thought. 'So that is what an angel is, and she wanted to fight me, but why? Have I done something wrong?'

His gaze never left the spot as he jumped down and walked over to it. He saw the dead body of the girl remain but he knew that she was gone. He stood a long while pondering over what had happened. Many things didn't make sense to him but slowly questions were answering themselves.

He turned and began walking down the street into the dead of the night. But, he was already accustomed to darkness.

Fin.

A/N: So a slow start yes but I promise you that things will become clear and you will see everything that I have done makes sense… I hope. Anyway I guess there is no real mystery as to who the demon is but plot wise he has no name… yet. Now this isn't some religion fic to try and sway anyone it is just a different spin on how Bleach really is so don't accuse me of anything. And if you noticed this particular chapter wasn't too in depth and such but that is because I needed that in the first chapter because the big thing behind this is the whole mystery to it but future chapters will be more detailed with each character's feelings and backstory and such.

Anyway leave me a review to tell me if you love it, hate it, like it or don't like it. Thanks for reading.