A/N: This is becoming a habit of mine, the not updating that often thing. Sorry, been busy most weekends and school days, not to mention the 3 day long trip to New York I went on with my class, and the spring break I spent in my hometown of Cary North Carolina. But I'm back now! Oh, I'm moving back to North Carolina from Massachusetts around the end of July, so I'll try to fit one or two more chapters in there before I will be off for a while trying to unpack and get everything ready, so I won't have time to plan and write. I'll let you know when that last chapter comes around, or at least give another update. Oh, I am still looking for a beta reader, anyone whose interested PM me, and without further adue I present chapter 3 of Ominous Spirits.

Chapter 3: A Chilly Summer Night, A Breezy New Day

It was dark outside by now. Chilly in its wind, but easily forgotten by the warmth of the summer that slid in when the slight wind died down. The cherry blossom petals lined the wooden walkway to the houses of the young captain Hitsugaya, and as the two walked, L took notice of the many trees lining the forest entrance behind Toshiro's house. Toshiro stopped in front of his door and slid it open to reveal a small, empty room, save the mat in front of the door. Toshiro walked in and took off his shoes, then turned to L.

"You can take off your...." He looked down at L's bare feet. "Oh yea...."

"Something wrong?" L asked.

"No, it's nothing." Toshiro turned around and opened another set of doors. L followed, after shutting the front door, and walked into a decent sized room. Lightly furnished with a desk filled with scattered and stacked papers, a couch big enough for 3 people, as well as a small chair in the corner, and a decorative table on a carpet in front of the couch with a Narcissus flower in a small vase on the top. He looked around to see a large painting of an ocean with some boats on it, and a large wave rising over them, with a small mountain topped with snow off in the background. He immediately recognized this as the famous Great Wave off Kanagawa painting. L also noticed some pictures, some embarassing, of him and his lieutenant, as well as a young black haired girl he hadn't met before, although L thought Toshiro had no part in putting these pictures up, as they had been both super glued and nailed in place.

"Interesting tastes...." L thought. But he liked it. It felt.... homey.

"Make yourself at home." Toshiro said as he walked over to his desk to straighten up his scattered mess, as well as possibly completing some work he had to finish. He sat down and began as L made his way upstairs. L discovered 2 rooms, both seemed unused as the futons were laid out but hadn't been touched. There was also a small bathroom, with no apparent evidence of prolonged use.

"Did he move in recently, or is he just that clean?" L asked himself. The windows of Toshiro's home we're open, and allowed the breeze to flow through, while the silent ticking of the clock downstairs rang through the house.

L looked at the end of the hallway and saw another small door, what he guessed to be another closet. Still, wouldn't hurt to take a peek, he thought. He reached for the knob when the clock went off.

"DING, DING, DING, DING, DING, DING, DING" The sounds of the clock ran through the house.

"7 o'clock...." L quietly said to himself as he wondered whether to call it a night. It would be an interesting one, to say the least. No sounds of TV or computer keyboards clacking to fall asleep to, which he was most accustom to, he wondered if he could sleep without it. "I'm sure I'll find a way" L reached for the knob again and opened the door to reveal what he had least expected. A ladder. He looked up to see darkness, with a slight sliver of light coming from the ceiling. "Mineaswell take a venture." L climbed the ladder, once reaching the top poked the ceiling. It hopped a little. He pushed it up, and it opened to reveal the outside. L wondered why Toshiro had an access ladder to his roof, but it quickly slipped his mind when he looked around to see the scenery around him. Above, the clear starry night with the moon in full, beautiful gaze. Below, the light scent of booming cherry blossoms overtook the air, with the slight aroma of fresh grass in the distance, and the slight trickle of water from the bamboo fountain emanating from a small garden, with the click of the bamboo hitting being ever so silent. He climbed onto the roof, and off the ladder, and looked around. Even the presence of the house itself seemed complimentary to his current placement. L hadn't seen anything like this before, he was used to.... well.... the inside. He had spent most of his time either inside, or in big cities. Nature wasn't really his thing, and before, he didn't know how people could get used to such a thing. But with the dim lights of the house highlighting the trees, the hypnotic sound of the water, and the sky above, he could get used to this. L laid down on the roof, looking at the moon, the stars, and the trees, with astonishment.

A few hours later....

Toshiro awoke as he usually did, from the sound of the clock hitting twelve, head on desk, drooling on his papers. He picked his head up and quickly wiped the drool away with a slight flush, as he remembered he had a guest, and he didn't really know when L was gonna show up in random places. He looked around as he noticed L wasn't there, and began questioning where his newfound companion could be.

"Probably raiding my kitchen" Toshiro thought as he angrily looked down. He got up, and walked to the door next to the stairs, and slid it open to reveal it had been exactly as he had left it the night before. Toshiro looked around questioningly, wondering where L could be. He turned to the stairs, and walked up. He peered in both rooms, and after seeing they had also been untouched, noticed the open door at the end of the hall. Toshiro smiled as he walked to the ladder, reminiscing on the fond memories he and Momo had on his roof. He looked up, and noticed the trapdoor open, so he climbed up, peered out, and looked around. He saw L, in a way he hadn't pictured him before. He was laying there, simply, but asleep. Smiling. Back straightened up, legs pulled out, Toshiro guessed L had to be at least 5'8". Although Toshiro knew it wasn't a good idea to sleep out where he was, L seemed so calm, and happy. Going to a new world in itself is hard, and Toshiro could tell that those were in fact bags under his eyes. He also knew firsthand how nice it would be to wake up in the morning, and what L would see. Toshiro got up on the roof, took off his jacket, and placed it on L. He figured it'd give him some warmth. Toshiro moved back to the opening, and grabbed the small chain attached to the wood, and started to pull as he went down the ladder. He heard L shift in his sleep as he dreamed. He thought he heard him say something, maybe along the lines of "Wasabi" or something, he couldn't tell.

"Dream well...." Toshiro said as he looked around, remembering all the times he and Momo had spent up here. He smiled as he climbed down the ladder, and into his actual bed, as opposed to the couch as he had the nights before. He only hoped L would dream better than Toshiro knew he would himself.

9 A.M....

L awoke to the chirping of birds, and the humming of the grass as the breeze blew over it. He picked his head up to look around, this time the trees being highlighted by the sun hovering behind him. His eyes looked around as a flutter of butterflies grouped off the flowers in the small garden below, and the birds chirped as they started gathering food for their young. L started to pick himself up, and noticed a white vest- like jacket on him, of which he recognized being Toshiro's. He smiled as he stood up, and felt the warm breeze through his hair as he stretched, cracking joints he didn't even know he had. He looked to see the tree's petals dancing about in the air. He picked up the jacket off the floor of the roof, and looked over to where the opening was, to see it had been shut the night before. He walked over to the door, lifted it up, then looked around again as he treasured this moment he would be likely to never see again. He took a deep breath, exhaled, then began his descent down the ladder.

Inside, L could hear the sound of water running, and heat as it emanated from underneath the bathroom door. L walked downstairs and into the kitchen and placed Toshiro's jacket on one of the chairs next to the table. He then walked over to the cabinets to find anything he could to eat.

Meanwhile

Toshiro sat in the shower, warm water trickling down his head and steam entering his nostrils, on his knees, trying to get the gruesome images out of his head. The same images that had been plaguing him every morning and night for the past 5 weeks. Of Aizen.... of stabbing him through the heart.... of Kurosaki's screams..... and Momo on his sword, her tears streaming out of her eyes.... "......shiro chan.......why........." her voice grasping for impression as Toshiro held her in his arms, mortified. He grasped his head, crying, unsure of what to do. The sound of his cries drowned by the droplets of the shower hitting the floor.

Later....

When Toshiro exited the shower, he was greeted by the smell of freshly cooked bacon, and the simmer of eggs. He wondered if his guest had something to do with that. So he took a leave downstairs. Upon entering the kitchen, he saw his table neatly set with 2 plates with eggs on them, 2 empty glasses, a plate of bacon, and a plate of biscuits. Toshiro stared at the table for a second before looking over to L, still cooking scrambled eggs.

"Hey." L turned around.

"Oh, hello. I'm not really much of a morning person, but I figured to thank you for your hospitality, I should do something." Toshiro looked at the table again, then back at L.

"I didn't even know I had eggs....." He replied monotone.

"Thats surprising, seeing as you had a full carton in there. How often do you cook?" L asked. Toshiro gave a blank stare. "Oh, I see."

"How about you? You seem to have this cooking thing down pact." Toshiro asked.

"Not quite, usually I have my food made by Watari......" L stopped and looked up, wide eyed. Toshiro cocked his head to the side.

"Watari.... could that have been what he said?" Toshiro said as he recalled the sleeping L mumbling in his sleep. "Whose Watari?" Toshiro asked, concerned. L turned his head slightly, only enough for Toshiro to see the ends of his eyelids, even that was mostly covered by his hair.

"Just a friend. You should probably get dressed." Toshiro's eyes shot open as he looked down, realizing he was still wearing his towel.

"Guh! Oops!" His mind yelled.

"Everything will be ready when you get down." L said as he looked back at his task. Toshiro looked at L for a moment, trying to figure him out. One minute he seemed almost.... happy. Now, he was unsure. Maybe it was this Watari. Who was he? Toshiro would have to look into this. Toshiro turned his body to face the door, still looking at L through his peripherals. He opened the door slowly and walked out, leaving with a "CRACK" of the sliding door. Toshiro walked upstairs and into the room to see his captains jacket on his newly made bed, the one he didn't make. He took off his towel and began to wipe clean his wet mop of white hair, of which he had been accused of dying. He walked over to the closet and pulled out his shihakusho, and, after putting it on, his captains jacket. He made his way downstairs for the food that he was actually looking forward to, and, upon entering, saw the food ready for consumption, just as L had said it would be by the time he got down. Toshiro walked over to the table and sat down, L already seated, and picked up his fork. It remained a quiet meal, seeing as both participants had something to rattle their minds with, between the case, personal problems, and future issues, they had a lot on their plate, metaphorically speaking. It didn't last long luckily, as both scarfed down their food as fast as possible, and left nothing but dishes, of which L promptly took to the sink. Toshiro leaned back in his seat and looked at L as he cleaned the plates they had just used.

"Thanks." He said bluntly. L paused, and looked back, then back at his task at hand.

"No problem, it was the least I could do." He replied, and although Toshiro couldn't see him, it seemed like he was smiling. Of course he had no way of telling for sure. Toshiro got up and walked to the door.

"We're leaving soon, got a lot of work to do on the case." Toshiro said. He walked through the door, leaving it open for L, who soon followed. Toshiro walked to the front door, put his shoes on, than faced the door. "It's been a while since I had anyone over.........." He paused slightly. ".............thanks." He continued with a voice quieter than he used before. It took L back. Toshiro turned around in time to hear L's response.

"Thank you....... Toshiro." L replied, beaming an incredible smile. That took Toshiro back. He smiled slightly, and opened the door behind him.

"Let's get that murderer." He said with determination as he walked outside, L close behind.

A/N: Please review, not many people are, and it kinda worries me.