Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach or D Gray Man! I just wish I did.

Beta: the lovely Midnight-Kitsune11.

Ch 06

He ended up going to school instead of visiting his stalker. Mostly because Kuchiki was waiting for him the moment he stepped out of his door and he really didn't want to discuss the danger he was in because of her bosses as she sat next to him.

So he waited.

He'd ended up having to wait a few days, after it turned out some of his classmates had some hollow trouble. Orihime Inoue had been stalked by her dead-brother-turned-hollow and, while Allen had dispatched of the guy fairly quickly (Kuchiki kept pestering him about doing her job for her, which he was very reluctant to do after his talk with Isshin), the girl must have seen him do it. It was the only explanation for her suddenly hanging around him at school. Allen had been just as stunned as the rest of his classmates when she'd come up to him the next morning and started talking like they'd know each other for years. She was sweet, in an almost Lenalee-like way, which made him want to cringe. Luckily the two girls looked nothing alike and Inoue-san seemed more… eccentric than the green haired exorcist had been.

It was luck, because he really didn't need the extra nightmares.

Chad, who had been hanging around for years, had suddenly found a small bird that was somehow possessed by the souls of a young boy and had been chased around town for most of the day by a hollow he had not been able to see, but had still fought. Catching up to him had almost been more trouble than Allen had liked (even if he would never let Chad deal with that soul alone), but disposing of the hollow had been easy. Seeing the gates of hell had filled him with dread and he had been very glad to leave quickly afterwards.

Still, all those Hollows popping up like that… It couldn't be a coincidence. It seemed like the town was infected by them, especially since his classmates kept getting involved.

Tonight a TV-show had come to their little town to make some live recordings and the whole town went mad. Now, Allen enjoyed watching some television, but he could not see what the big deal with this celebrity guy was all about. From Yuzu to his dad, to half his class… everyone went around laughing like a madman and making strange poses, trying to mimic the guy from the show.

He even saw Kisuke there. It annoyed him, because he still hadn't managed to go see the man alone, and there the man was, laughing happily at him and waving his fan around.

'Just let me out and I'll throttle him for you.' Nea proposed.

Allen snickered. 'Tempting, but not right now. Too many people watching.'

"Kurosaki-kun!"

He turned around. It was Inoue, whose brother's soul he had taken care of just a few days ago. She waved at him and came over.

"Oh, hi." He said, slightly uncomfortable with her around.

"Umm... I'm sorry about the other day." She said.

"For what?" asked Allen confused.

"Tatsuki said that you don't like these kinds of programs. I didn't know."

Allen blinked at her. Right, they had talked about it in school. His classmates had insisted he come and see the show being recorded.

"Bohahahahaha!" He flinched at the noise Yuzu and Isshin made.

"At least they are enjoying themselves." He sighed with a small smile.

There were moments he still couldn't believe he had an actual family this time around. It still felt surreal, how much the girls loved him and depended on him.

"Did you come for them? Because they enjoy the show so much?" Inoue insisted.

"Yuzu asked me to." He shrugged. Like he was going to let the girls come alone with their father. The man needed more supervision than his sisters did.

Sure, Isshin had been trying to do better since their talk, but old habits died hard. He wouldn't trust the man to be responsible for a good long while yet.

"You're very kind, Kurosaki." He fidgeted uncomfortably.

Crown clown nudged him.

"Hey Orihime! We're leaving you behind!" some other girls yelled at her from the crowd.

"Tatsuki, wait!" She called out, before waving at Allen. "See you later, Kurosaki-kun."

He waved back, relieved she was gone. This evening couldn't be over soon enough…

"What's the matter, Ichigo? Bohahaha!"

"Will you stop popping up like that?" Allen asked the shinigami as she popped up, pulling off Don Kanonji's signature move.

"You should relax and enjoy yourself." She replied. "You must be exhausted from school and shinigami work. There will be hard battles ahead. Use this opportunity to spread your wings."

"Honestly…" He sighed. It wasn't like he did that much anyway, or that he would suddenly start doing her job for her.

Why did he have to do her job, anyway? She insisted she hadn't healed yet from that first night, but honestly, it couldn't take that long, right?

"By the way, just what is this festival about?"

"You came along without knowing?" He asked sceptically.

A loud roar sounded. It overpowered the noise of the crowd, and sent a thrill down his spine. It was still very human though.

His left eye activated, but he couldn't spot the spirit through the crowd.

"What?" He asked softly as he looked around.

Only a few people seemed to have heard the same thing he had. Soul stuff, then.

"It's the cry of a jibaku spirit." Kuchiki said, as she held her cell phone up. "It seems there is one, after all."

"You mean to tell me this somehow famous guy, who exorcises spirits, actually found a spirit?" Allen asked sceptically. "And what is a jibaku spirit?"

"You're aware that the occurrence of Hollows follows several patterns. One is when a jibaku spirit who feels a strong attachment to this world is left alone and ends up becoming a Hollow.
Such as this spirit, one on the verge of becoming a Hollow is a Demi-Hollow."

Kuchiki pointed, and now Allen noticed see the soul. It was chained at the entrance of the old hospital that would serve as a backdrop tonight.

"It looks like a normal soul, except for the chains. He's not a hollow yet?"

"Indeed. The hole in a Hollow's chest signifies that the heart is lost and has become a mass of simple instincts. The skull-shaped white mask shields the bared instincts from the outside world. Neither of these is necessary if the heart is still intact. When a human dies, the chain of fate is severed from the body. Usually the spirit waits for a Soul Reaper to guide it, but if they have regrets and cannot let go, their chains become bound to the object of their regret.
This Demi-Hollow's heart is being held by the hospital."

"Alright. How big is the chance he'll become a danger to the people here tonight?" Allen asked.

"Very small. He still has a way to go in his transformation." Kuchiki shrugged. "You can take care of it after everyone else left."

"Why don't you do your job, for a change." He couldn't stop himself from saying.

"I told you before. I'm still not healed enough to do my job." She snipped back.

"And how long do you usually take to recover? Because this is…"

She frowned at him. "It's very… Unusual, but…"

"This hospital is mine! I won't let anyone have it! You guys better not come in!" The spirit called out in anger.

'Yeah, he has all the time in the world.' Nea commented dryly.

Allen sighed. "Dear lord."

"The spirits are always with you! Bohahaha!" The main man appeared in front of the camera, exciting the crowd.

"Bohahaha!"

Allen covered his ears against the noise.

"Now then, the time has come for Mr. Kanonji's purification of the spirit!" a loud voice rang over the crowd.

"Huh? Who are you?! Are you going to taint my hospital too?! You've got guts! Look at that weird hat!" the spirited commented as the celebrity came on stage.

Allen couldn't really blame the spirit. The man really did look ridiculous.

"He sure is spirited." Allen muttered.

"Was that a pun?" Kuchiki asked with a smile.

Allen flushed.

"Either way, unless the partially closed hole in his chest is damaged in some way, it'll take another half a year for this spirit to become a Hollow."

"I'll let you cross over peacefully, baby!" Kanonji yelled as he twirled his cane around.

"Ohhh! There it is! The Super Spirit Cane! For him to use it at this early stage is truly unusual!" the commentator yelled as if he didn't have a microphone.

Only for Don Kanonji to ram his cane/staff thing into the hole of the spirit and poke around in it.

The spirit screamed in pain. That was even more chilling than the scream before. This was a scream of agony.

It shook him.

Inside his mind, Crown Clown wrapped itself around him in comfort.

"What's he doing?! That fool! It will only speed up the process of becoming a Hollow!" Kuchiki yelled over the cheering.

"Yes! Kiru-kiru-au-nan, au-maku-kiru-nan!" Kanonji chanted some weird stuff.

Allen's face paled. It was one thing to mess with people and let them paint you as some exorcist, but it was another to mess with and hurt souls.

Without a care of who saw (no one really, everyone was staring at the scene) he released Crown Clown and Nea both. If Crown Clown didn't disguise him enough, Nea sure would. He took a step back, letting Nea out.

Nea clocked the man over his head with their claw, and vaulted higher until he landed on top of the roof. He smirked.

"Ah, The joy of having a body. You should work on your flexibility, nephew. I think I bruised something." Nea said as he stretched their spine.

'I didn't think we'd run into trouble tonight.' Allen said.

The spirit below them was clearly undergoing some transformation. White goo enveloped his face, before he disappeared. Nea turned around.

"There you are. You can't hide from me." He pointed at their eye and smirked.

And indeed, the Hollow appeared just where Nea was looking. Nea ran forward and slashed at the Akuma (or Hollow) destroying it immediately.

He sighed. "This is such a pain. Why do we need to keep taking care of this? Don't get me wrong, I love stretching my legs every now and again, but honestly… If we are doing the shinigami's job, shouldn't we get paid?"

'Because if we don't they might send another Shinigami? And we don't want to attract attention?' Allen thought morosely. 'And I'm not sure how money works in the afterlife.'

"We should find out." Nea smiled diabolically. "Do you think Shinigami play cards?"

'I'd rather not find out for a good long while.' Allen admitted, even if the idea has a lot of merit.

TBC.

Sorry this took a while, almost a year I was stuck! I have some awesome plans for once they get to the Seireitei, but I have no idea what I'm doing till then… So, sorry this is a filler? I just really enjoy this episode.

I hope you all enjoyed it!