Hello Oblivion

Part One

Hello Oblivion

L stood there in the middle of the plaza, eyes closed as he enjoyed one of the few quiet moments he'd ever have. People busy with their lives rushed past him, blind to him. The noise was a dull roar in his ear, and the happy, busy people around him noticed it no more than he. A child laughed, then was shushed by his mother. A couple of school girls giggled over a male model on a poster. A man walked hurriedly, phone practically glued to his ear as he attempted to talk over the noise.

A little girl sat on a bench, staring.

Staring at L. He met her gaze, and she blinked slowly. She could see him? How curious. Then a man sat on the bench, so close to her that they were touching, but he didn't seem to notice her. She scooted over.

"Sir?" A hand touched his arm and he turned, taking in the woman standing there. She wore a strange black outfit and held a sword at her side. At his curious look, she smiled. "I'm a shinigami," she said.

"Shinigami?" He reached up almost unconsciously and bit his thumb. "But I've never seen a shinigami look like you before."

"I know." She sighed. "You were involved with our predecessors. They're not really shinigami anymore, but they've forgotten that they aren't." She tucked a few strands of black hair behind her ear and switched her sword to her other hand. "Listen, I have to send you on."

L frowned. "I see." He looked back at the little girl, only to find her crossing the massive room. "And her?"

"Who?" The shinigami woman glanced past him and sucked in a breath. "Run. Run away; it's a hollow!" She shoved him behind her as the girl suddenly grinned viciously, face starting to turn black.

L stumbled and stared, shocked as he watched the little girl grow huge, turning into a giant monster that no one saw or noticed. He turned and ran.

XxXxX

When he finally stopped running, the chain on his chest felt heavy and the plaza was a ways behind him. There were screams coming from the open shopping area now, and the ground was shaking. L couldn't run any further, though. The chain on his chest prevented him from going further away from the plaza. Why this plaza? This wasn't where he'd died.

"L?"

He turned and was unsurprised to see his sometimes companion. "Light."

The young man nodded and sighed, looking towards the plaza. "What is it?"

"I don't know. The woman said it was a hollow," L replied, taking in the sleekly-dressed Light.

He still wore the brown suit he'd died in, though he wasn't covered in blood anymore. Like L, there was a chain attached to Light's chest, this one anchored to the corner he stood on. Behind him was the building he'd died in, and the stairs where he'd laid as the last beats of his heart were spent. He wasn't consumed by hatred and insanity anymore, for which L was glad. They got along better, now that everything was out in the air and they were no longer enemies.

Light regretted what he'd done now.

"So this is our fate?" Light asked softly. He asked this question often, when he was watching people live their lives, recovering from the fear he'd set on them, or when he was depressed. Which happened a lot.

L shrugged, then remembered what the shinigami had told him. "That woman I talked to... She said she was there to 'send me on'."

"Lucky bastard," Light replied, though it was without heat. He'd resigned himself to living forever as a ghost in the world he was born in. "You would get special treatment."

L snorted and shot his companion a look. "She also said Ryuk and Rem weren't really shinigami."

That got the younger male's attention. "What? Seriously?" he demanded, incredulous.

"Apparently, beings like them had deluded themselves into believing they were." L shrugged. "I wondered, myself. After all, what sort of god would kill people for their life-spans? It's selfish, and shinigami are supposed to be impartial."

Light nodded, thoughtful. "It makes sense. But... Does that mean...?" Hope glimmered in his eyes, hope that he'd get to move on like L, hope that his soul wouldn't wander the world forever, alone.

L felt slightly guilty that he couldn't tell Light anything else. "I don't know," he admitted. "Maybe."

Light slumped, but the hope was still there. "Okay."

The screams had died off by now, and the earth had stopped trembling. Everything was still. Before them, a man appeared, wearing much the same thing that the woman from before had worn, only he wore a strange pink haori as well (and a white one underneath it, if L wasn't mistaken). There were flowers decorating the pink fabric and he wore a straw hat. A scraggly beard covered half of his face, his hair was heavily curly and tied back in a ponytail and straw waraji cushioned his feet from the ground.

He grinned. "Sorry to keep you gentlemen waiting," he drawled, wiggling a sake jug that he held in one hand. "We had an issue with one of Aizen's Rejects."

"Who's Aizen?" Light asked, curiosity coloring his tone.

"Nah, don't worry about him," the guy replied evasively. "You won't have to in a bit." He grinned again. "I've gotta send you guys to a place called Soul Society. It's where all the good little souls go. You ready?" He pulled a sword out of it's sheath at his waist and both Light and L tensed, so he went on to explain. "You see this?" He tapped the flat end of the hilt. "I have to touch this to your foreheads and perform what we call a Soul Burial."

"Soul Burial?" Light echoed, paling. "It's nicer than it sounds, right?"

The man laughed. "Yeah. It doesn't hurt a bit. You'll go to sleep, and when you wake up again, you'll be in Soul Society. After that, it's up to you to make yourselves a new life." He frowned slightly. "I warn you now, though. You probably won't end up in the same place, so say your goodbyes now."

Light looked at L, who looked back. "Well... Meet up in the next life?" the younger male ventured.

L smirked slightly in amusement. "Maybe. Promise you'll stay away from suspicious-looking notebooks?"

Light chuckled and nodded. "Sure. No problem." They clasped hands as the man reached up for Light's forehead with the hilt of his sword, pressing it gently there and murmuring something. Light's hand dissolved with the rest of his body, but he was smiling at L. And, of course, he couldn't help a few parting words. "I'm still better than you, L. You just have Lady Luck on your side." And then he was gone. A small black butterfly fluttered away on the wind and L closed his eyes, feeling the press of cool metal to his forehead.

"Goodbye," he whispered, to everyone he'd ever known.

Hello oblivion.

XxXxX

And here it is. This is the prologue for Hello Oblivion, my epic BleachxDeath Note crossover. I'm unsure at this point what I'll be doing pairing-wise (if I do anything at all), but for now, it's looking like LxLight. This is going to be a VERY long story. I already have part two written and am starting part three, so updates should be semi-regular for now.

I hope you all like it, and please don't shoot it down because I have more than one extra OC. That's just plain stupid and if you do it, I don't want you reading it anyway. I don't mean to be rude, but it's ridiculous and insulting when people do that.

Also, I will not take flames for this story. I do. not. care what you think I should do differently. I am writing the story and shall continue to do so the way I want to do so. That being said, I will accept constructive critism (not 'I don't like such and such, it's stupid, change it nao!') and if you see things like typos, lemme know. ^^

Read, review (politely) and enjoy.

Ja,

The Sorrowful Vampress