Hollow Account (One Punch Man x Bleach)

Chapter 4

Story by Ekroth Ekronicus

Written by Joe D. Mercala

***

It's a cold night.

Rare for the cities, but not impossible to see...especially when you have two or three S-Class heroes fighting a beast that controls the weather and tries to freeze the city over. Such a beast might only end up creating a winter wonderland however instead of humbling the human race with another ice age.

Sometimes such weather can produce unexpected results, the least surprising of which is that people don't wish to go outside. In the face of such elements many find solace in the arms of another, warming up near a fire under a blanket while drinking cocoa.

Others go for a more...extreme approach.

Take the hero known as Twin Tails. Despite the cold and the slight amount of snow drifting through the top of the big circus tent she was performing in...she couldn't help but feel the heat in her painted cheeks as she balanced herself atop a ball, juggling as she did, keeping a perfect and elegant balance between her legwork and moving hands.

Of course, there wasn't much of an audience...mostly a bunch of kids, some probably having snuck in...but there was one adult amongst them. One not even wearing a coat on this cold day. Nothing but a white shirt, dark pants and a briefcase on his lap, but not wearing a tie like usual.

Ulquiorra was slightly bored, and that was saying something for him.

He had sat through thousands of meetings in his life as a human and even his life as a Hollow when he was an Arrancar. He had fought with people leagues under him never going to full strength as if he had to humor a dancing child. He had been sent to fetch documents and talk about some of the most banal topics with people on a daily basis...

Yet, there was nothing that bored him to tears more than the defiance of death.

One must understand, from his point of view...death isn't even close to the end. The only thing that gives one a fear of it is knowing that your existence might cease. Even before he became an Arrancar he knew that death was not the end for a human life.

Most entertainment works on struggle and danger. One after all does not want to simply watch everything being fine with no risk at all. The most exciting things in life always carry a risk of danger. Even in movies, films and video games there is more risk of the death of characters as the plot may make it so they never come back.

In real life though, knowing that there is more to it all...it stops all in person death defiance being a risk at all, and takes all the fun out of it.

What use is watching a guillotine come down if it couldn't end someone's life?

The once Hollow man was not the only one going over morbid thoughts however. A woman with blonde pigtails, a painted face and striped costume had been strapped to a wheel, having knives thrown her way by one of her compatriots in the circus. In her mind she was criticizing his technique, thinking that even if one of the knives hit her it would barely scratch her with how crap his throwing is.

Twin Tails used to respect death. It was something that once followed her in all her work in the circus...but lately she had pushed herself above it. None of the things she did thrilled her anymore. She had gotten too good at it all.

Having knives thrown at her...walking a high tightrope without a net. It seems that doing these things enough times has simply softened the effect they could have on her to the point it feels...absolutely boring to her.

After all, what use is it putting your head in a guillotine that can't cut your head off?

Ulquiorra watches as the knife act ends and the ring leader comes in, bowing as many of the other performers leave.

"Now I know we don't have a huge audience tonight, but that does not mean we will give you any less of a show!" The boisterous man cried out as Twin Tails got off the spinning wheel. "I give you a lady who has seen death, our fearless harlequin, our greatest performer...Twin Tails! Watch her as she walks the line between life and death high above!"

The skinny accountant and the children watch, still a little bored as she just climbs up the railing up to the tightrope suspended about 100 feet into the air. The girl takes a short bow, her face showing no excitement as she puts her first foot forward onto the rope.

It seems to be the same as any other act to her. The children watch in silence, sucking their breath in while Ulquiorra looks down at his watch, thinking about his next couple of clients and a few certain new tax laws that the cities are going to be passing...when he hears everyone suddenly gasp.

He looked up to see the woman falling.

Twin Tails had not expected the cold to matter so much. She had not figured that the rope would be much more stuff with her steps. Suddenly a simple little trick she had done more than a thousand times had sharpened the blade of the guillotine much, much more.

Halfway across she fell after losing her balance. It all started coming back to her then, the fear and excitement, the morbid fascination with risk and death as the air pulled at her long pigtails fluttering all the way down. Her heart was beating so loudly as she wondered what beauty or horror she would see on the other side...or whether she would find nothing but darkness in the death she wanted to be so utterly close to?

Ulquiorra, watching all of this with eyes that could count the flapping of ten thousand humming birds flying before him, watched the situation almost in slow motion as she came down.

He wondered whether the children would scream...or cheer? Would they think it part of the act or would it make them see what death was in such a narrow view? He didn't think much of the woman falling...after all, she had made the choice to risk it all...she deserved such danger finally consuming her for the entertainment of others.

Yet, something irked in the back of his mind. Here he was, with all the power to save her...and yet he was still sitting, watching all of it go down as inch by inch he watched her slowly fall. He was making a choice right now, simply by sitting...and it was an interesting one to him.

On one hand, was he the arbiter of her life? Was he holding a gun up to her life or was he simply a man watching something else put a gun up to her head? He had the power, sure, but even if he could turn the bullets into mercury, or the gun into steam...he wondered whether it was his job to do it.

Thinking of his brother, he thought at the very least he should do something as being a good samaritan was something human.

Moving quickly with Sonido, he caught the woman in the air, using the ability again to appear above the tightrope, delivering her back where she was atop the rope, all of it done in less than a second's worth of time.

Twin Tails had barely felt the change. Her balance on the rope was found immediately out of instinct as Ulquiorra was already back in his seat...not knowing that the woman had seen his face, if only briefly for a moment when saving her.

To her, it was if death's green eyes had come upon her and given her a second chance.

* * *

The rest of the act went off without a hitch. The children weren't sure what they saw but clapped in the end anyways while Ulq seemed to slip back into being bored once again. He started planning a quiet evening at home as the cold began to die down. Seems whatever snowing effect that weather villain had wouldn't last the night.

Just as he was about to get up to leave though, a voice stopped him. "Hey, you, salaryman."

The striped entertainer that he had saved was running toward him, going into a series of acrobatic flips that launched her over the railing and into the seats next to him, leaving her standing before him with her leg up on the seat next to the once Hollow as she looked down upon him.

"You were bored the entire time watching, not a look of excitement in those...green...eyes..."

Looking into them, she blinked under her blindfold and wondered why his eyes matched what she saw...surely something else had saved her from death...and yet this man had been so close during the situation. What was he?

"Uh, uh...ya, you looked bored the entire time...so why was that?" She pushed the thought of those eyes back for a moment as she was genuinely curious.

Ulquiorra was quite straight with her. "I found more enjoyment out of the other acts. The early lion taming, even your juggling skill. However when it comes to ones of risk and death, I find myself bored by such stunts."

"Then why come to a circus then? Especially when it's cold like this?" She asked, putting her leg down to take the seat next to him.

"I was given a ticket by a client for helping them."

"Oh, what do you do for a living then? Salaryman like I guessed?"

"Oh no, I'm a-" Just as he was saying it, a dozen children passed before them, talking loudly and arguing, drowning out most of his explanation of him being an accountant, and letting out only one word out of it as he was explaining his clients.

That word was hero, and the dear Twin Tails ran with it.

"Wow...I've heard of that sort of job. You don't really look the part though."

Ulquiorra looked down at his shirt. Thinking that she meant he didn't look like an accountant because he had left his tie at home, he simply shrugged. "One's garb does not always signify what one is. A serious woman like yourself does not seem to carry any clownish tendencies despite dressing the part."

That much was true, but then again she did not wish to be compared to a clown in any way. "Oh? You can tell I'm serious? I would think walking across a rope that high up would say that much."

"Oh there are many who could do that around the world, but you seem quite serious about death. After all, why would you display the number 4 so prominently upon the dice you wear for your pigtails?"

Reaching up to touch them, Twin Tails was surprised over the fact he had noticed them. Her boss simply seemed to think they were just a part of her costume...but the fact every side of the dice had a four on them was special to her. Four being an unlucky number and all, symbolizing death which she always thought was close to her...and yet before today never really felt it embrace her.

She tries to change the subject back to his work. "I...well, I get close to risk a lot. Still...even from what I know about your sort of work...I mean people need someone like you."

Ulquiorra still does not know she does not know that he's an accountant.

"Of course they do, but to me it's just...the job. Sure, there are risks involved for them but to me...I'm just a public servant there to help them."

Risk? Twin Tails began to realize it, but the hero job was filled with all sorts of different risks...different types of monsters to fight, different challenges...along with a brand new set of skills that would be needed for such a job...all for the aim of making people's lives better...

As she went quiet thinking about it, the semi-human Ulq realized that she was something of a rarity. She was a pigtailed girl just like one of the sisters in the Doki Doki games he had played with one of his other clients. Though the hair itself was no strange color like the girl in the games...but it could be said the girl was exotic in a way, at least the way she was dressed. Perhaps this would be a good time to try out some of his skills?

First, would have to come an examination of her, probably something physical about her being...he had already mentioned the dice, but there was something else to be taken into account.

"Forgive me for asking, might I know why you wear a blindfold over your eyes?" He asks, tilting his head slightly. "It seems clear that you can see me through it. Is it simply part of your costume?"

"Oh, ya, sort of..." She answers, having been pulled from her train of thought. "Well...back when I started, I wanted more of a thrill up on the rope and during my other acts, so I would close my eyes...but my boss said people wouldn't be able to see me doing it. So...he gave me a blindfold and said that I could continue to close my eyes or keep them open when I wanted and everyone would just think I'm blind all the time...so either way it works."

"I see..." Something hidden about the girl, protected. Ulquiorra used all of his knowledge gained from the Doki Doki games to formulate the perfect answer. "Still, the eyes tend to be the most beautiful parts of one's body. You should not hide your eyes away, it's rather unbecoming of a girl like you."

"W-What?" Was he...did she just get hit on? How the hell did that happen!? One moment they were talking about his job and risk and all that and the next he was talking about her eyes?

Luckily for the entertainer she was wearing stark white makeup to hide away any evidence of a blush. She had been doing this job since she was young...and in all of that time she didn't really have time to get noticed by boys. In fact, once she started dressing up she got noticed even less, some even not sure whether she was a woman at all even with her pigtails...and now some random man was hitting on her?

Ulquiorra did not know the effect he was having. He simply thought that this was the best way to talk to a girl like her after being taught some...rather suspect lessons from dating sims that he was now applying to a much different situation.

Though such confusion brought her mind back to an earlier thought over the sight of his green eyes. It made her want to ask her own question...but the answer brought a strange case of dread over her...but it was combined with an interesting sense of risky alluring curiosity..

"Did...you save me back there?" She asks, looking back toward the wire then down toward where she might have fallen.

Ulquiorra wasn't exactly sure how to answer. Revealing what he did may make her question how he could do it, which would be a long answer in itself that he was beginning to notice bored people to death quite a fair bit.

"Does it matter really?" He asked, looking forward to where she may have fallen as well. "Does it matter? Besides...whatever may have saved you simply put you back on the rope where you were. You still finished and walked along the rope the rest of the way...you just got a second chance is all."

A second chance? The answer gave her chills of a sort, and it only caused another question to rise up in her throat. "I saw green eyes when I was saved...ones like yours. Are you...are you death?"

The question was such an utter surprise to Ulquiorra...that he could not help himself but to laugh out loud, scaring the girl a fair bit.

She thought he...was a reaper? Oh that was too utterly rich, that after his resurrection and all this time that someone would ever think that he was anything close to a reaper was just too much even for someone who didn't often show his emotions.

Settling down after a few moments, he looked over at her and saw her nervous face as she pulled away from him ever so slightly. Resuming his more standard state, he gave her a deep sigh before going on to correct her.

"No...I am not death, nor any kind of reaper...but I have fought them."

Now that's the kind of story that can pique a woman's interest.

"Tell me more, please."

* * *

"And so, I was defeated by a sixteen year old human with both Soul Reaper and Hollow powers after he transformed. I had a few moments before my death, but ultimately I thought there would not be anything for me waiting on the other side...except now I'm here."

The circus cleaning crew had already taken care of all the peanuts and popcorn left by the children. The animals and equipment had been packed away...but even then the dear female entertainer was still sitting by the accountant's side, except now she was leaning against his shoulder as she was lost in just...how wild his story seemed to be.

"So...you've basically been stuck as a human for like...years now?"

"I have lived this life as a human, yes. I have grown up from being a child with memories of my past life. I even have a family, with a brother who does not live that far from me."

It was all...a little hard for her to take at once. The existence of another world, maybe even another universe too. It was all so beyond the entertainer...more than staring into death she felt like she had her eyes opened for the first time in a long time...and that's saying something for someone who wears a blindfold.

"I don't get it though...if you were a Hollow in your past life...why do you care so much about being human in this one?"

Ulquiorra ponders the question for a moment as he looks up to the top of the circus tent, seeing the hole in the top where a few snowflakes continue to fall.

"I explained before but...Hollows like me, we weren't truly one creature. We were beasts that had been pulled together after thousands of us would devour one another. I came to exist and evolve from that...but before that my life has no memory. When I became an Arrancar I did not have human feelings, nor did I have the same drive my other fellow Hollow's had gained...I still felt...empty. Even with what I was before being an Arrancar...I knew that there was at least a struggle for more."

The strangely dressed woman continued to listen on, empathizing with the strange man. "You were Hollow."

"Yes, in another sense of the word I suppose." He admits freely while he continues to watch the snow fall. "When I died...I found a new life, with new limitations...and more than that I found myself born amongst humanity. Strangely enough there seems to be a similar cycle of combat here between heroes, villains and monsters...but I couldn't be a monster or a villain like before."

She smirked, chuckling to herself. "So that's why you do what you do now?"

"Well, it seemed like a good use of my skills." Ulquiorra stated, referring to his organizational abilities and dry demeanor when it came to his tax work. "Besides, as you said, people tend to need someone like me, especially when they get into...well, let's just call it deep trouble."

"I see...oh...I'm sorry, I haven't told you my name."

"That is true, but I never gave mine in return. My name is Ulquiorra."

"Oh wow...that's a strange one, but I guess you come from a strange place." She smiles before pulling away and looking into his eyes. "My name is-"

"Twin Tails!" Her boss suddenly yells out to her from the side entrance of the tent. "Stop flirting over there! We're closing the tent up for the night and closing the lights! Hurry the hell up!"

Again, she was happy her makeup hid any sort of blush on her while she imagined putting her boss on the spinning wheel while throwing some knives his way.

"Well, it seems our introduction will have to be how we end our meeting." Ulquiorra states as he gets up, pulling his briefcase up. "Next time though, be a little careful. I don't make it a habit to catch girls that fall for me."

It was in the way he said it that made all the difference to her. She thought he was saying she fell for him in a much different way...while he simply thought that her falling gave him something to think about and make a choice because of. In a way, she fell for his personal growth and that was his meaning...but to her it meant a hell of something else.

"O-Oh um...I will...uh..." He was leaving quietly and suddenly she was getting a little fidgety. How was he acting so cool and under the radar while talking to her? Was it just because she had no experience with other guys or was he just this way with all women?

"Wait, Ulquiorra...can I ask you a question?"

He turns back, stopping halfway toward the entrance. "I see no reason why can't, whether I have the answer to your question is another matter entirely though."

Earnestly, she took a moment to herself. Closing her eyes as she took a risk rather close to her heart. "Do you think...that I could be a hero? One like y-"

"Of course you could." He says, interrupting her. "There are many heroes with skill sets like yours. Plus with the fact you are already an entertainer means that you know how to present yourself extremely well. I would have no doubt that you could rise far in the ranks among many others."

Opening her eyes, she could only smile at the thin man and those green eyes that seemed to pull her in.

"Will um...I see you again, if I become a hero?"

Ulquiorra puts a finger to his chin, and shrugs. "There is a good chance of it. I tend to work with a lot of heroes as you would imagine. So there is more than a good chance we may cross paths once again if you make that choice. Either way, I must be going."

He turns again, and the dear entertainer watches one of the few men who has walked into her life...step away. Not only that...but he may also be the most interesting man in the world to her simply because of his story alone. One who may have put her on a completely different path that may lead her to much more happiness.

Could she let such a man walk out so easily?

"Wait!" She shouts without thinking, making the man turn again with a quizzical look upon his face, wondering if she possibly had another question to throw his way.

Running over to the side where they kept a few small bristol boards and markers for certain acts, she grabbed a marker and a piece of paper and quickly wrote something down. When she finished, she dashed toward Ulquiorra and in her brash excitement fell forward, catching herself to go into a series of flips and cartwheels toward him before landing perfectly before him.

"Oh! Uh...tada!?" She exclaims before presenting her hand toward him. In it, a small piece of paper lay atop her palm that the once Hollow took and looked upon.

"It's um...my number, if you ever need help for work or something like that, you know...once I become a hero, I wouldn't mind...meeting you again."

"Above the numbers there...is that your name?" Ulquiorra asked, looking over it with curious eyes.

"Yes..." She reaches up and scratches the back of her neck awkwardly. The entertainer wasn't exactly fond of her actual name, which is why she's been calling herself Twin Tails for so long here. "It's a bit of a boring one isn't it?"

"It's simple, sure...but sometimes simple is good." The thin man states before slipping the paper into the front pocket of his shirt. "Besides, I think the name you have chosen suits you better, Miss Twin Tails. It suits you and your hair quite well."

He doesn't give her much time to be embarrassed about that before he turns again, walking away to leave her. In her mind it was almost in a heartbreaking way as he never even said goodbye to her. To him, he had already said that he must leave, so adding a goodbye to all that seemed unnecessary for him.

The entertainer who called herself Twin Tails headed back to her own tent. The cold had died down a fair bit, allowing her to take the rest of her costume off, including her blindfold. She looked into the mirror, slowly using a small sponge to clean off all the excess makeup so that tomorrow she could reapply it...only to realize two things. That tomorrow she may not need to...as she was going to become a hero, and that she was smiling all the way through it.

It had been so long since she felt so...playful. Usually she had just been a morbid person but Ulquiorra changed everything when she had her brush with death, only to fall into the arms of a man who was once something of a demon.

To her it was whimsical, like something out of Beauty and the Beast...if Belle had been a morbid circus girl and the Beast in this case was more of a former creature now turned into what some would deem to be an extremely boring man.

To Twin Tails though...he was everything but boring. He was a hero to her, but also a man with a past. Once a monster now trying to discover his human side...to a girl with no experience with men and only a passing knowledge from reading books and watching movies having someone who seemed like an emotionless, brooding, post-monster sort of man was exactly the kind of thing that made girls like her blush and want to hug men like Ulquiorra.

That night, she went to bed, warm under the sheets as she clutched one of her many pillows, thinking about how he had described how he looked before as an Arrancar. He had been very articulate while going over it all. It wasn't hard to imagine his green eyes...white skin, black messy hair with that sexy bang over his eyes. Teal lines running down the side of his face near a black upper lip.

Let's just say that it was going to be rather hard for the dear girl to get a good sleep that night.

* * *

Ulquiorra had once again returned to his little spot atop a building, looking out toward the night with a small layer of snow covering every building and street. The amount of white and gray around combined with the brightness of the moon...actually reminded him of Hueco Mundo, his old home.

That in turn also made him consider that he seemed to have a more positive conversation with another woman today. Not only had he applied what he had learned from the Doki Doki games he had played with King, but also he had spoken to someone about his past who had taken it seriously, engaging with him and asking questions about it.

For a while actually, he had been wondering if his whole backstory was simply...boring. Based upon how his brother and others would act it seemed like they would simply tune him out, but it seems that logic was flawed. Maybe he was boring them with simple conversations instead and they were already too tired to hear the story?

It made sense, since using the Doki Doki techniques had made Twin Tails engage with him much more. Perhaps he should adapt said techniques in his conversations towards other men? After all, if he could get such a positive result from using them on one girl, perhaps more men would open up with compliments as well?

It was something for him to think about as he looked out into the sea of white snow amongst the city streets.

The woman had said that people needed someone like him, and to an extent he liked that. He liked being needed in his own way. Not so much like a hero...and more by doing his own thing, though he wasn't going to say that saving Twin Tails today was a terrible experience. It allowed him to examine his own agency and what he should do in certain cases...but he wasn't about to use Sonido to jump around the whole city looking for falling people now.No...today, he had simply been a good citizen, the same as he had been a good accountant. If there were any others around him in danger he would help quietly. He wanted to understand people, whether they were heroes or just average. Being an actual hero didn't seem like it would help him with that goal at all...but it may help Twin Tails.After all, even he could recognize that the girl enjoyed risks. Heroism was a risky business...and a lucrative one. One day he might see her again and do her taxes. It would be interesting as a case study to see how heroism might change somebody other than his brother.At the thought of her though, he suddenly realized something extremely important and pertinent to the fact she had given him her number."Hmm...should I have told her I don't have a phone?"