Fire Nerbil here, thanking you for choosing to read her first Bleach fanfic, which is also her first Death Note fanfic since it's a crossover.
I'm writing this intro here as I work on chapter 11, so at the moment the later chapters have a more solid timeframe than the early ones here. This story occurs around the early mid-Arrancar arc in Bleach and around the time Mello kidnaps Raito's sister in Death Note. At the time I wrote the first four chapters I had no idea what the timeframe would be, so there may be some inconsistancies. But it shouldn't take away from your enjoyment of the story at all
I own neither Bleach nor Death Note.
Ch. 1 Cake
6:15 pm, Naruki City
Frightened civilians dove out of the way as a small delivery van with the familiar orange and pink Dunkin' Doughnuts logo on its door swerved onto the sidewalk and crashed back down onto the pavement. The driver was frantic. How would he explain this to his boss? The side of the van had been gouged with three long, jagged tears. It would be terribly expensive to fix. Of course they would ask how it happened, and he couldn't' very well say that the vehicle was attacked by an invisible monster. Which was currently in hot pursuit.
A red light loomed into view. The street was backed up by a long row of cars. There was nowhere to turn. The diver looked around frantically, decided he preferred to keep his life over his job, and jumped out the door just as the unseen monster caught up. The force of its impact flipped the van onto its side.
The two equally unseen Death Gods, who had been following the monster, arrived just in time to see it rip the entire side off the vehicle and look inside. The monster lifted its head and howled in disappointment. The van had been returning from a delivery. It was empty.
"There it is. A low-class Hollow."
"This shouldn't take too long, then."
The Hollow abandoned the van and looked over its shoulder at the Death Gods, not appearing too shocked that it had been followed. It was a small Hollow, not much larger than the deliver van it had just attacked. Its lanky body was dark blue with a lighter underside. The signature mask, that all Hollows wore, was simplistic. The only distinct markings it bore were two dark comma shapes around the eyes, making it look as if it hadn't slept in days. But its most distinct feature was a ridge of long, dark, spiky hair that ran from its head to the base of its long tail.
"Oi! Hollow!" One of the Death Gods called. He was a tall young man with bright orange hair. The Hollow tilted its head and growled. Then it charged, its large black claws clattering on the asphalt.
"Here it comes! Wait until its right in front of you." Said the second Death God. She was a short, slender girl with black hair. She raised her Zanpaktou to a defense position, waiting for the other to strike. The male Death God placed his hand on the grip of his own long, cleaver-like sword, prepared to strike as soon as the Hollow was close enough. 'Doesn't she know I've done this before?' He thought to himself as the Hollow drew closer. But instead of attacking, the monster launched itself right over their heads and continued running down the street.
"It must have another target. After it!" The female Death God said to her partner, who nodded. They took off after the Hollow. Hollows usually went after humans with high spiritual energy. It was what they fed on.
The little Hollow kept to the streets, nimbly dodging traffic. Finally it found what it had been looking for. Another delivery truck, a tractor trailer en route to various bakeries. Was the Hollow going after the driver?
Apparently not.
As soon as it was close enough, the monster leapt on top of the truck, causing the diver to swerve out of control and jackknife. The truck turned off the road came to rest in front of a warehouse. The stunned driver opened the door and fell out. The airbag had deployed, but he appeared unhurt. He got shakily to his feet and started at his truck in horror. To him it looked as if some unnatural force was tearing huge holes in the side of the trailer. He ran, yelling for help.
"He'll be back soon." Said the male Death God when the pair arrived at the scene. "Let's take care of the Hollow."
Said Hollow had successfully torn open the side of the truck. It was making a soft purring sound as it rummaged around in the trailer. Realizing the existence of another reiatsu, it turned to see where it was coming from. The lower half of its mask and its claws were smeared with frosting. It licked its chin with its long black tongue and growled softly.
"Hey, Rukia." The taller Death God asked his partner quietly. "Why is the Hollow eating cake? You're the senior Death God here…"
"I… don't know." The other Death God, Rukia, answered. "I've never heard of them eating anything but reiatsu before…"
The Hollow had gone back to munching on the contents of the trailer. It was still making the soft purring/growling sound, and it had shifted position so that it was sitting with its knees drawn up in front of its chest.
"Well, regardless of its tastes, we've got to slay it." Rukia's partner said.
"Slay?" The Hollow turned its head and looked at the Death gods with one glowing yellow eye. It spoke calmly. "Now why would you do that to me?"
"Why not?" The tall, orange-haired Death God asked. "You'll get to go to Soul Society. Heaven. Eternal peace and all that crap."
"Sounds nice, but I couldn't be a peace in a place like that." The Hollow said. "I still have something very important to do. Besides, I haven't hurt anyone. I hardly think I deserve to die." It reached back into the truck and took out another cake. It popped it into its toothy mouth, box and all, and chewed pensively.
"So why are you sitting here eating, and not out doing it?" Rukia asked the Hollow. She had her Zanpakou out, still ready to defend. "And what do you mean you haven't hurt anybody? Someone could've been injured in those car crashed you caused!"
"But no one was hurt. It they had been, I'm sure I would have noticed." Answered the Hollow. "As for the cake… sweet things help me think. It's kind of a habit I had in life, and I'm hoping it'll still imply now that I'm a ghost. Thinking is what I need to do at the moment. So since I'm not hurting anyone, will you not kill me? The last thing I need right now it some sort of ghost exterminator agency after me."
"Ghost exterminators?" Rukia looked puzzled. "You mean like that Kanonji guy? We're not with him."
"Besides, you're not a ghost. You're a Hollow!" Her partner exclaimed.
"Oh, really? Because of the hole?" The Hollow fingered the hole in its chest.
The male Death God rested his sword on his shoulder and looked distastefully at the Hollow. "I don't trust it." He announced. "It makes me uncomfortable to just stand here with a Hollow sitting in plain view."
"Ichigo!" Rukia scolded him. "It's our job to help souls pass peacefully to Soul Society, and this Hollow is no exception!" She turned to the Hollow, which had pulled a bunch of boxes out of the truck and was stacking them on top of each other, deep in thought again. "What is your unfinished business in this world?" She asked it.
The Hollow looked up, its glowing eyes unreadable. "Surely you've heard of the mysterious heart attacks that have befallen most of the criminal population. And of Kira, the psychic killer, and the enigmatic man who is working against him. Well… what I know will end it all." Its tail twitched in anticipation. "I know who Kira is, because I was right next to him when he killed me."
"The Gates of Hell have been rather active recently…" Rukia confirmed. "Alright. We'll trust you for now. But we'll need you to come with us, so we can make sure you don't cause any more trouble. No more chasing trucks."
Police sirens wailed in the distance.
"C'mon, let's get going." Ichigo said. "It wouldn't do any good to stick around here. Rukia, Hollow-san." He sheathed his blade in its holster on his back.
"No…" The Hollow said. "I want you to use the name I used as a human. Call me… L."