Well, this certainly too way to long to get done. I guess it was because I didn't have very many ideas for this chapter when I finished typing the first 3. But that shouldn't' be a problem for the next few because I have them already written down, and I at least have ideas for what will happen in the ones after that. Raito will play a bigger part than I originally intended him to, and I now realize that I will have to include a lot more Bleach characters as well.
Do you think I should submit this in the Death Note section as well? It's mostly Bleach, but there will be a few chapters that are more Death Note.
Ch. 4. Hunger
Karakura Town, 8: 31 pm
L listlessly plodded down a street 3 blocks from Ichigo's house. He was hungry. The food he had eaten before hadn't sated him at all. Apparently Hollows could only gain nourishment from spirit power. But the idea of devouring a human's soul and turning them into a Hollow did not appeal to him. Besides, it seemed there was nobody out, dead or otherwise.
The sound of footsteps caught his attention. He didn't bother looking, since he had been told most normal humans couldn't see him.
"Well well, what's this? A Hollow?" asked a voice from behind him. L looked over his shoulder. Just how many exceptions were there to the 'Hollows-Are-Invisible' rule? There was a man standing there, beneath the harsh light of a streetlamp. He was dressed in a dark green robe and an odd green and white striped hat, smiling at the Hollow as if L was nothing more than a naughty pet that had run away.
"And if I am?" L asked him.
"Then you are a very strange Hollow indeed." The man replied. "Any normal Hollow would have attacked me by now."
"So I am not normal." L said as he turned away and started down the street again. "If that is all you wish to say, then leave me."
"Actually, a tame Hollow is a rare occurrence." The man said. "And I've an interest in such things. Why don't you come with me?"
"With you? Why-?" But L was interrupted by the jolly ring of a cell phone. The sound was rude and out of place in the quiet of the street. The man took the offending object out of his robe and held it to his ear.
"Yes? Oh, hello Rukia-san. What is it you want? Oh? Really? Actually, I think I've already met him. Yes, he's right here. Should I put him on? No? Okay then, I'll take him to my shop. It's no problem at all." He snapped the phone closed.
"Your friends have requested that I look after you for a while." The man said to L.
"Thank you, but I think I will be fine on my own." L said, turning away. "I have something I must attend to, and I do not need any more help."
The man seemed to consider this. "Tell me, Hollow-san…" he said. "…are you hungry?"
The Hollow visibly tensed. "Yes… I am…" He said.
"As a Hollow, you must consume souls to survive. But there has been enough killing already, hasn't there? There is an alternative…" The man offered.
L growled. Who was this man to get in his way? "Let me reiterate. I need no help. The two Death Gods I met before may have asked you personally, but I must decline."
"Fine, fine." The man held his hands up in submission. "But you're only going to get hungrier… and you may find that you won't be able to control yourself…"
The Hollow was silent, its head bowed, its back to the man in the hat. In the distance, a car's breaks screeched. Someone yelled. But it seemed that nothing major had happened, as silence fell once again. It was that way for a while until L sighed deeply, sounding like a steam engine coming to a stop. He looked at the man through one yellow eye.
"This will be another loss for me, you know." L said. "But I will come with you."
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"Here!" Jinta dumped a rather beat-up cardboard box on the back porch. "Why are we taking care of a stupid Hollow anyway? It's probably going to eat us all as soon as we fall asleep!"
"Because, Jinta, this Hollow happens to be the friend of Kurosaki and Kuchiki." Urahara explained. "And they asked me to take care of him. Perhaps you could take this opportunity to learn a little more about Hollows."
"What else is there to learn? They'll eat you unless you kill them first. That's all there is to it." Jinta said, angrily kicking the box. "And what're you staring at?" He demanded. Ururu was watching L from the opposite end of the room. The Hollow, even though he could have fit through the door easily, was lying on the ground outside like a cat, half-curled with his chin resting on his clawed front feet.
"Don't think about it too much, Jinta." Urahara said. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some things to discuss with the Hollow."
"Yeah? Well, have fun being eaten. I'm going to bed!" Jinta said, dragging his tessen into his room after him.
Urahara watched him go. "Ururu, you too."
"Yes sir." Ururu bowed and turned to go, but looked over her shoulder at L one more time. "Goodnight, Hollow-san." She said, and disappeared into her own room.
L watched her leave, and then looked to Urahara. "You said you wanted to talk to me about something?"
"Yes, but first, eat." Urahara pointed to the box with his cane.
L hoisted himself up on his front legs and examined the box. The cardboard was faded and old. It was far past the expiration date stamped on the side. Nothing about it was remotely appetizing… except for the smell. It smelled just like the black-robed Death Gods had; beyond description but irresistible. Before, L had held back with all his willpower. Now, he seized the ragged box in his jaws and tore into it, spilling small white pills everywhere. Urahara watched this spectacle with mild interest, brushing a few pills off his laps when they landed on him.
"Reiatsu-replenishment pills." He said to L when the Hollow had finished most of the box's contents and was now hunting around for any he might have missed. "They're old, but it looks like there was still a little juice left in them."
"Reiatsu… that's the only thing Hollows can eat." L licked up a few pills caught in a crack in the pavement. "I suppose this was the alternative you spoke of before."
"Yup, this is better than making more Hollows." Urahara said. "I've got about a dozen boxes in storage. They've been there for years. But anyway, I suppose you have questions about all this… L-san."
The Hollow lay back down on the ground and crossed his front feet. He chose to look at them rather than at the shopkeeper. He was still not happy about having to accept more help. On all his previous cases he had had as little assistance as possible. Now, that wasn't an option. It bothered him. "You accept my identity with no doubt. Why is that?" L asked.
"Well, from all the things you told me on our way back here, how could I not?" Urahara replied. "Besides, most Hollows are not smart enough to lie about their identity in order to get free food."
"I will take that as a compliment." L said. "There is another thing I have been wondering about ever since I met the two Death God children a few hours ago…"
"The different Shinigami?" Urahara asked.
"Yes… how did you know?"
"Oh, I thought it might come up. It's a long story, so make yourself comfortable.
"There are two different Shinigami realms: Soul Society and Mortuus. Both are very different from each other. You see, further back than most spirits can remember, there were two realms of Death Gods. One of the types of Death Gods, the kind that I and Kurosaki are, acted as psychopomps, guiding good spirits to the afterlife. 'Heaven,' you might call it. The other kind, the ones with the notebooks, were in charge of eliminating undesirable humans from the living world. The two realms worked together, trying to create a utopia for the living. Of course, a utopia was not possible due to simple human nature. The more perfect and controlled the world became, the more humans acted out, committing acts of evil, and as a result being killed by the Shinigami judges of Mortuus. Eventually the Soul Society Shinigami decided that perfection simply could not be achieved and ordered the Mortuus Shinigami to stop killing so many humans. But the Mortuus Shinigami refused, believing their goal could still be reached. In the end, a battle was fought between the two realms, and the Mortuus Shinigami were defeated and locked out of Soul Society, their numbers greatly diminished. They still use their notebooks to stay alive, but they are mostly inactive since they no longer serve a purpose. There has been little, if any, interaction between the two types of Death Gods for hundreds of years."
L was silent, his tufted tail sweeping the ground as he contemplated Urahara's story.
"I'm not too familiar with the sleeping patterns of Hollows, but I'm going to bed." The shopkeeper said. "It's been a longer night than I'm used to."
"That is fine." L responded, still deep in thought. "Tomorrow, do not expect to find me here. I have something I must do, as soon as possible. And thank you for the food."
"No problem. Good luck with whatever you have planned, Hollow-san." Urahara said as he closed the back door behind him. He did not know it, but before he himself would fall asleep that night, L would already be gone.
