Chapter One
"It is near." was all she said as she appeared.
Light had been simply sitting at his desk as a dedicated student was want to do, when a black moth had glided through his window. He had thought nothing of it, until it had suddenly transformed into a young girl in a black and white hakama.
His entire body froze up and he stared. The girl stood in the middle of his room, looking in the opposite direction with a heavy and serious expression, as if completely oblivious to him. She had an air of the supernatural about her and the sword at her side didn't look like it was simply for display.
He remembered to breathe.
"Who are you?" he spoke in a low tone, keeping his voice as steady as he could and noting belatedly that her feet had made no sound as she crossed his hard wood floor.
She looked up in surprise, finally turning to face him. Light noticed that she looked a bit uncertain.
"Are you…addressing me?" she asked after a moment's pause.
"I am." He said simply, still not moving from his seat at his desk. He had not changed out of his school uniform, and the tie was beginning to feel as though it was chafing him.
"You can see me?" she asked with the same uncertainty that her face now betrayed.
"Should I not be able to?" he responded cautiously. She did not seem like a ghost, yet she was certainly not human.
"You must have unusually high spiritual force to be able to see me." she said simply, and turned away once again as if searching for something.
"What are you?" Light asked warily. He realised that she must be something more potent then a ghost, but he did not know that there were such things.
"Shinigami." was the simple and distracted response she gave. Light frowned slightly. He had never seen any evidence to prove the existence of such a thing as a God of Death, but he could see no reason to disbelieve this unusual spirit.
"I can't sense it anymore…it's disappeared." She cut through his thoughts with a defeated sigh. Turning suddenly, she drew her sword.
Light tensed and was about to leap out of the way, but before he could react, the hilt of the weapon came to a stop on the forehead of a ghost that had been lurking by the back of his chair. He and the ghost both stared in shock.
"No…" the ghost, who had the form of a scraggy middle-aged man, whimpered. Light had noticed him when he had entered the room this afternoon, but had taken not paid any attention to him. "I don't want to go to hell...!"
"Do not fear." The girl spoke in a calm and reassuring tone as the air around the ghost began to shine brightly. "You are not being sent to hell. It is Soul Society. Unlike hell, it is a peaceful place."
Without another word, the ghost was swallowed up by the light.
"What happened to him?" Light stared uncertainly at where the spirit had disappeared.
"I sent him to Soul Society. It is called a Soul Burial. In your language, I believe you call it 'going to heaven.' It is one of a Shinigami's duties."
Light nodded, but continued to stare at the girl warily. She had moved faster than his eyes could follow, and he knew that he should speak carefully until he could understand her motives.
"What are you searching for, Shinigami?" he asked. While deciding that caution was best, he had also desired to make the most out of this encounter. Knowledge was power, and Light recognised a gap in his knowledge when he saw one. "What can't you sense anymore?"
"An evil spirit; a Hollow." She frowned. "It feels like a great power is blocking my senses…."
"A Hollow?" Light's eyes narrowed uncertainly.
"Yes…" she turned to face him. "They are different to normal spirits. I'll draw you a diagram. Do you have a pen and paper?" Light nodded and pulled a few spare sheets off his desk and handed them to her with the pen he was still holding from when the Shinigami had first entered.
She sat on the floor and scribbled a few things down on the paper, before holding them up for Light to see. He was slightly taken back by how childish they were.
"In this world, there are two types of spirits. One is called Plus and is the most common spirit. They are the ghosts that you would no doubt be familiar with." The girl was pointing to the piece of paper on which she had drawn a rabbit with hearts circling, labelled as plus.
Light attempted to ignore this aspect of it and nodded.
"The other type," the girl continued, "are called Hollows. They attack both the living and dead and eat their souls. They are evil spirits" she pointed to the piece of paper on which was drawn a bear surrounded by thunderbolts.
Light smiled slightly. "They aren't very well drawn, but they're easy to understand. Thank you for explaining."
The Shinigami raised an eyebrow, but didn't seem to take the comment as an insult.
"Shinigami have two duties." She continued. "The first you have just seen; sending Pluses to the Soul Society. The other is eliminating Hollows. That is my current mission, though the Hollow I was tracking seems to have-"
Light's breath hitched as a terrible screech cut off the rest of the Shinigami's words.
"Was that it?" he asked with slight alarm. The girl gave him an uncertain look.
"Was what it?"
"That noise. That loud screech! Was that the noise of a-" this time it was Light's words that were cut short by the ghastly sound, but now the Shinigami had heard it too.
"Yes! That's undoubtedly a Hollow!" she ran to the door, before pausing and looking back at the young boy who continued to sit at his ordered desk in an immaculate private school uniform, eyes fixed steadily on her.
He had heard the cry before she, a Shinigami, had. It seemed impossible.
Another scream. This one was higher and sounded terrified.
"That's Sayu's voice…" Light whispered before jumping to his feet and racing towards the door.
"Wait, boy! You cannot fight a Hollow!" The Shinigami shouted. Light gave her an incomprehensible look before slamming the door open and disappearing through it.
She muttered a curse under her breath and followed him out of the room, skipping the flight of stairs and simply jumping over the balcony to land next to Light.
"So that's a Hollow…" Light stared at the beast with wide eyes. It was half the size of the house and covered in a thick monotone armour-like skin. Its large, empty, white eyes stared at them.
"Do not be afraid." The Shinigami spoke confidently. "I shall deal with it." She glanced at Light, but realised in an instant that his expression was not one of fear. It was wonderment.
"Light…help me…" came a strangled voice. Simultaneously, their eyes both fixed on the small figure that was held in the Hollow's bulky hand.
For a moment, Light simply continued to stare, his breathing heavy and disbelieving, before he turned to the Shinigami.
"That's my sister. How can I stop it?" he simply said.
"You, a human, cannot stop it. Leave it to me." The Shinigami said and drew her sword.
"But I must do something-" he moved forward to approach the beast.
"No! You must stay here! First Restraint: Obstruction!" she shouted and pointed at Light. Immediately, his arms jerked behind his back as if pulled by an invisible hand and he toppled to the floor.
"I'm sorry," she said after a moment, "but you must leave it to me."
She dashed forward and slashed the Hollows arm deftly. Sayu fell to the ground with a sickening thud. Light stared up at the display from the ground, an ugly look forming on his face.
"How dare you…" he whispered viciously as he watched his younger sister fall to the ground. "How dare you do this to me!" he rolled over and jumped to his feet.
"What are you…" the Shinigami turned from the Hollow and stared at Light in horror. He was trying to break his arms away from his back. "Stop! You cannot release the incantation with a human's power! Your soul will tear apart-"
A loud cracking sound and a white glow; Light had done so.
"Don't you ever use that sort of magic on me again." He spat, making his way through the door and out to where the battle was taking place. The Shinigami stared in shock.
He was only a human…it was ridiculous and impossible…
The Hollow attacked. She turned, but it was too late; it had seen her moment of weakness. She raised her sword, but it did little to stop the teeth from sinking into her chest.
Light stared as the blood poured down her chest and the Hollow threw her against a wall like a rag doll, reeling from where her sword had cut its eye.
"It…must have been after you." He heard her choke out. "A human who can see Shinigami and break a demon form? Ridiculous. You must have a ridiculous amount of spiritual force, boy. It's almost certain that its target was you."
Light stared at her with an expression that might have been disgust.
"I do not wish to die here, Shinigami." He spoke steadily. "Is there a way I can stop this thing?"
The girl stared at him for a moment, before giving a small chuckle.
"There is a way…there is only one way…" she said, pressing a hand against the blood that leaked from her chest. "You become a Shinigami."
Light's eyes lit up. "Is that possible? How?"
"Pierce your chest with my Zanpakutou and I will give you half of my Shinigami powers." She raised her sword and held it out towards him.
"What are the dangers?" Light whispered, not taking his eyes off the sword.
"…I do not know." The Shinigami admitted. "Your high spiritual force should assist you but…I have to say that if the power doesn't take, then you will die."
Light turned his head to look at the Hollow, still flailing with the deep gash across its face.
"And if I don't become a Shinigami, then I shall die anyway." He said with a frown. That was not the only thing that swirled around his mind.
Hadn't he been waiting for an opportunity like this? Power. A chance to make a change in this rotten world and the power to do it.
Light smiled wickedly.
"Give me the sword, Shinigami. I'll do as you say."
"My name is not 'Shinigami'." The girl said with a small smile as she turned the blade towards the boy's chest. "It's Kuchiki Rukia."
Light gave her a curious glance and nodded. "I see. I am Yagami Light."
"Light…an unusual name…" Rukia frowned, before shrugging. "Let's do this."
Light nodded and the sword plunged in. A moment later, Rukia found herself doubled over on the cement, her breathing significantly more heavy and painful than before. Before her was a glowing blur.
She could do nothing but stare as she realised that he had taken every last drop of her Shinigami power. She had only intended to give him half, but he had sucked her dry.
Light's pristine school uniform had been replaced with the black and white hakama of the Shinigami uniform. In his hand was a dagger-like sword that glowed with ethereal power. Behind him lay the Hollow, its face severed down the middle and its body rapidly disintegrating.
"Who he is…?" Rukia whispered as she stared up with him, her spiritual form pressed to the ground in shock.
Light simply stood there, staring at the fallen hallow dispassionately.
Rukia prayed that she hadn't made a terrible mistake.