Death Note: A Brave New World
The door slid open as Kira's servant, called X-Kira by Near, entered the frame of the doorway, a mad smile on his face. I saw Light turn towards him casually.
"How many seconds has it been since you wrote down the first name?"
Light sounded almost, interested. Curious, maybe Light did trust in Near's plan. It was a little more difficult for me.
X-Kira leaned over, looking at his watch… "35, 36, 37, 38, 39!" He was almost shouting with anticipation. I wrapped my hands around my head, unable to face what was happening. Light turned back to Near, leering. Near stared straight on, nothing breaking his gaze from Light.
"Well, Near, looks like I won-"
At that moment X-Kira shouted the final, fateful number. "40!"
I closed my eyes. Well, this was how I died, never knowing who Kira was or if my plan would even begin to come close to working. And then…
Silence.
Nothing had happened. I raised my head slowly. Near had been right…but how? This was impossible. Had X-Kira turned against his master? Then why had he revealed himself? The silence stretched on, unbearably so. I decided to break the stillness.
"We're still alive." Everyone was looking around. "It's been over a minute and we haven't died!" I allowed some joy to creep into my voice. X-Kira looked up in utter agitation. Near glanced over to me.
"Didn't I already tell you all that no one was gonna die?" He used that same condescending tone. As they all did.
X-Kira stuttered, at a loss for words.
"Bu-bu, but why?" He looked over the names, checking to see if they were correct. "Why won't they die?" He grew more desperate. "God, I did everything you told me!" Wait, he had said this in Light's direction. Was it possible that Light was…no it couldn't be. Light had passed all the tests that L and the task force had placed in front of him. He had been a loyal friend. The betrayal of it all struck me like bricks, but in a strange way, I was fascinated.
Near wasted no time, he immediately ordered Rester and Gevanni, his stooges, to take X-Kira into custody. X-Kira flailed backwards, clutching the notebook. Rester put him into a chokehold, as Gevanni quickly locked handcuffs around his wrists. X-Kira yelled in despair, and the notebook dropped. I actually considered running over to snatch it, but I remembered we were on Near's terms for now.
Completely in control, Near followed up that course of action with a command.
"Gevanni, the notebook, please." He raised his hand from where he crouched. Gevanni obeyed and walked over to the detective. Near grasped the notebook in hand, and brought it down to his eye level. He scanned the page and flipped it over for all of us to see.
"If you didn't believe me earlier, then see it for yourselves." I gazed hard at the page, trying to see the answer to all of this. "I can confirm that the first four names are definitely the real names of the SPK members." They were in English, but I could decipher them. "The second four are the names of your team. The only name that hasn't been written down is Light Yagami." Near provided a small smirk at his victory. So it was true…Light was Kira. And now he was caught. "If that won't enough, Mikami also addressed you as 'God.' And said he did what you'd asked him to." Near lowered the notebook and glared at the revealed Kira. "It's settled."
Light was shaking, and exploded into a furious retaliation.
"IT'S A TRAP! This whole thing is a setup! This is all part of Near's plan to frame me!" Light angrily pointed his finger at the little boy. "Isn't it little odd that no one died after having their name written in the notebook?" I honestly thought that Light's comments had some merit, however, I remembered what Near said earlier. "This proves it's a trap!" I felt short of breath. The end of the entire case…was at hand. Light exhaled unstably.
Near responded without even raising his voice.
"I believe I already told you that no one would die because I modified the notebook." Light couldn't help but crack.
"N-no, you …! That, that can't be!" Light paused, looking for what to say in his impossible situation. "… This is a setup." He tore his head away from Near to look at X-Kira. "I don't know this guy!
X-Kira looked like he had been slapped in the face. As much as I didn't want to believe it, Light was Kira. Hell, I was actually hoping it had been Near. It would have been so much more interesting.
Aizawa walked up behind Light, putting his hand on his shoulder. I saw sorrow on his face, but a steely determination in his voice.
"Light, it's too late to deny it. You know Near has won. Just a moment ago, you were saying, 'It looks like I win.' How much more of a confession do we need?"
Light's head dropped a little. Aizawa removed his hand. At this point, the full force of it hit me. I needed to know the reason. What drove Light to do this?
"Light …, why …?"
One of Near's goons walked over to cuff Light as well. He managed to get close to Light's wrists, when Light shoved him away, scrambling to get away.
"Ah, stop it!" Light managed to stumble upwards and reach the metal wall.
He violently turned around, panting as he stared us down, like a cornered animal.
Near did not show anything but pity for him.
"Light Yagami," Near proclaimed his name as if it were the alias of another man. "L," the title that Near obviously thought was unworthy of him to own. Then his eyes narrowed. "Kira, it's over. You've lost the game." Light's stare was full of an insane will to get out of this situation, no matter the cost. "Just a moment ago, you proclaimed your victory expecting us all to die. And, to tell the truth, you might have actually won. And I would have lost." Near's admission of Light's brilliance held no false notes in it. "We ended up doing exactly what you expected us to, and altered the fake notebook in Mikami's possession." Mikami. That must be X-Kira. "However, when I said before that we'd modified the notebook; I was in fact referring to the real notebook as well as the fake." I marveled at this forethought. Light could not believe it.
"We only switched part of the fake notebook, but, as for the real one, we've replaced the entire thing." Near looked down and knocked over one of his idiotic toys, this one representing Mikami/X-Kira. "This notebook here is actually the real one." Near pulled the notebook from his shirt. Light's eyes again widened.
"No, impossible!"
Near placed both notebooks side by side.
"We used the same kind of pen that Mikami used, copied his handwriting perfectly, and made both the inside and the outside of our fake look exactly like the original." The fact that Near would go to such lengths to capture Kira without breaking his morale code had me chuckling. Very elaborate. "Gevanni was able to do it in a single night." Hmph. I looked at Gevanni's face. Very skillful, indeed. "Of course, since I had touched the real notebook before coming," Near lifted the notebook yet again. "I've been able to see the Shinigami as well." I glanced to the middle of our group. Having those things invisible and around was very unnerving.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Shinigami. I'm Near." Near was discussing something with the death god. What was it? "Some of the edges of this notebook's pages are torn. Tell me, if someone's name is written on the ripped up piece of paper, will they still die?" An reply, unheard by myself, reached Near's ears. The answer was clear. "I thought so." Near regarded Light. "I bet you were able to use that to your advantage.
I wonder how many times you deceived with this, and how many people you killed." Near's head remained bowed. "Light Yagami, you are Kira." There was a touch of venom to his words.
Light looked over at Mikami with an accusatory glanced. Had Mikami deceived Kira?
Near saw this and negated the possiblility. "You are mistaken."
He could see Light trying to riddle this out as I was doing.
"This was all thanks to Mello." I couldn't comprehend this. Mello? Chocolate-loving, gang-joining, good-for-nothing, pain-in-the-ass, Mello? Really, Near? "I believe if I explain this much, you'll begin to understand." Near's index finger had a figurine of Mello, all cartooned and mischievous-looking. "Please take a look at this page of the notebook." Whatever was on it, as I was straining to see, set Light off. He again bored his gaze at him.
Mikami began to try to explain himself.
"God, you told me you couldn't move freely. I had to make sure Takada was taken care of! Wasn't that my duty to you?" Mikami's lip quivered.
Light verbally attacked him.
"You idiot! I gave you strict orders not to make any unnecessary movements until today!" It almost sounded like something people would say to me. I sympathized with Mikami.
Near kept going.
"It's all true. On the 26th, right after Takada's kidnapping was broadcast on the news, Mikami went to the bank." Near nodded at Gevanni, who continued.
"I've been trailing him.
I knew he went to the bank every month on the 25th, so it was odd for someone so methodical to go to the bank twice in two days. I followed Mikami to the bank as he headed for the safe-deposit boxes. It was only at this time that he seemed concerned whether someone was following him or not." Mikami and Light both caught. Maybe my plan could happen after all, proven things go as predicted. "I got into his safe-deposit box; inside was the real notebook. Sure enough, Takada's name had already been written inside it." This Gevanni was a worthy student of Near, but still very far below L, who has always seemed beyond the intelligence of a mortal man.
Near made sure Light was following. What a pretentious little child.
"Do you understand now, Light Yagami? You didn't realize that Mikami made a move on his own and wrote Takada's name in his notebook because you had already killed her using a notebook clipping yourself. This was the event that made me consider the possibility of a fake notebook. We were able to stop this here thanks to the efforts of one person. It was Mello who did it all."
In my mind, all I was thinking was: Bullshit, Near.
What did Mello accomplish? Rebelling and crashing a car, a genius does not make.
When I thought Near was done praising his former colleague, he went on. Was he doing this out of guilt? For once, he should be taking the praise.
"I bet Mello knew in his heart that, working by ourselves, neither of us would be able to obtain our goal and surpass our mentor L. But, together …. Together, we can stand with L! Together, we can SURPASS L!" Now Near was really getting on my nerves. He had come into this case with it more than half-finished, and here he is spouting a ridiculous diatribe, just to gloat at Light. "And now, acting as one, we face to Kira who defeated L, and, with solid evidence, beat him at his own game!"
Surprisingly, instead of shrinking back, Kira seemed to stand stronger
"…Let's see you try and talk away out of this one, if you can." Light's teeth gritted. There was a long pause, the only sound being the whirling fan at the top of the warehouse. What would Kira have to say?
Then, Light began to snicker. That snicker grew, until, like a tidal wave, crashed down into maniacal laughter, echoing across the room with deranged glee. There was no escaping it, he was Kira now, he could see it in his eyes. We all just looked on, dumbfounded.
"… That's right. I am Kira." His shadow increased on the wall behind him. "And what can you do? Kill me right here?" I argued internally with myself. He should be brought to justice, but if we do it, are we not guilty of the same justifications that created Kira? "Hear this; I'm not only Kira, but I am also God of the new world!" Light's fist curled in determination. "Kira has become law in the world we now live. He is the one who's maintaining order. I have become justice. The only hope for mankind." His words rang inside my head. My façade I had assumed recently had me thinking that this was madness, but the true me, waiting for the right moment, like an asp in the desert…agreed with him. Kira lifted his arms out, similar to a crucifix.
"Huh, kill me? Is that really the right thing to do?" His words stabbed an accusation. "Since Kira has appeared 6 years ago, wars have stopped and global crime rates have been reduced by over 70%." As my father once said, 'You can't argue with numbers.' Kira lifted his hands in front of his face, looking down on an imaginary world, as it would seem. "But, it's not enough. This world is still rotten with too many rotten people! Somebody has to do this! When I first got that notebook all those years ago, I knew I had to do it. No, I was the only one who could." Kira roared, "There was no other way! The world had to be fixed! A purpose given to me!"
Kira bathed in the glory of the moment.
"Only I could do it." Kira threw his arms back, regarding us. "Who else could have done it…and come this far? Would they have kept going?" His face shrinked back into the shadows, his words now only a whisper.
"The only one…who can create a new world…is me."
There was another pause. Even Near seemed to have lost his thunder.
"NO!" he said without compromise. "You're just a murderer, Light Yagami. And this notebook is the deadliest weapon of mass murder in the history of mankind." Near raised another toy, this one was a Kira doll. "You yielded to the power of the Shinigami and the notebook. And you have confused yourself with a God." Would you have done any better, Near? Only the indoctrination of Watari's home kept you so "innocent". "In the end, you're nothing more than a crazy serial killer. That's all you are. Nothing more and nothing less."
I could feel this duel coming to an end. Now to prepare.
"Near! Here's some food for thought."
What? Did Kira have yet another trick up his sleeve. Light was always the best in his class.
"That notebook you have and the one that Aizawa brought from the Japanese task force headquarters, are they both real?" I saw Near puzzled by this. Is it a bluff? "At the moment, only I know where the real notebook is. If you truly want to defeat Kira as well as test the notebook that Aizawa's carrying, I guess you're gonna have to write down either my name or Mikami's." Kira was completely confident.
Brilliant!
"It's the only way to see if it's real or fake!"
Light flipped around and began writing on…his watch? Wait, did he have a piece of it in his watch? A compartment? My god, I hadn't expected this!
Rester was bellowing, "He has a piece of the notebook!"
Time to act.
This was it.
The plan. Simple, but effective.
My gun was loaded. Aim…fire.
Goodbye, Yagami-san
BANG
A bullet sped through our ranks and tore through Kira's hand.
My hand quivered, but just for a moment. There was no going back. To make this moment believable, I had to sell it.
I began to shudder. Light moaned in pain.
Aizawa was shocked. He said my name. I didn't hear him.
Then Light screamed my name.
"YOU IDIOT! Who the hell do you think you are shooting at? Don't screw with me!"
That was the last straw. I had such an urge to send his brains all over the wall. Idiot?
I calmed myself and I remembered how Light/Kira had treated the closest thing I ever had to a father. That helped to fuel my rage.
"What was that all for, then? What about your Dad? What the hell did he die for?"
Although I was putting this all on, there was a section of me that had to know.
"My Dad? You mean Soichiro Yagami?" Light's voice trembled and shifted in erratic pattern.
Was that the pain, or the insanity?
Was I insane?
"In this world, all those honest people like him who fight for justice; they always lose." Light's blood dripped downwards. "You want the world where people like that are made to be fools? I know you understand so kill the others!"
I will.
Not yet.
"SHOOT THEM!"
The irony of this did not escape me. Light had given away my entire plan…and no one would ever realize it. I decided tears would be a nice touch. I continued to throw my hate at him.
"You led your own father to his death. And now he's gone, you call him a fool?"
Soichiro Yagami was not a simple peon like Mello, Kira! Light's blood covered his fingertips in little rivers. His motions were quick, he tried to write the rest of a name in blood. Was it Near? Me?
"His blood!" By the time Aizawa warned me, I had already done it.
BANG
BANG
BANG
BANG!
Light fell backwards into a pool of water. He couldn't speak, his lungs severely damaged. Maybe I hit one.
Never said I was a good shot.
I ran up to him and grabbed his shirt.
"I'll kill him. I'll kill him!" I aimed the gun at his forehead. "HE HAS TO DIE!"
Or else all of this would fail.
Aizawa startled me and my final shot sounded off next to Light's head. If I went farther, they might suspect something. Hopefully, I've wounded him enough. They restrained me.
C'mon Light, provoke me. In my mind I sneered, like I was Clint Eastwood or some shit.
Light's eyes fell to the hole. Mikami's face was a cipher.
"Damn you. What the hell is this …?" Was he talking about the agony? "Mikami, what are you waiting for? Write down their names! Write them down! Kill them now!"
Light struggled to stand. His will was unreal. Could I even aspire to have such strength?
Mikami was slowly losing it. Rester stood quietly.
"It's finally over, isn't it, Near?"
No Rester…it's not over. It's never over.
But of course Near replied positively. Fool.
Light crawled. His mind spouting random thoughts.
"Where are you Misa? Where is Takada?"
Mikami couldn't take it anymore. With a hidden blade, he thrust it into his own chest, causing blood to fountain through the air. I watched on for a moment, forgetting Kira.
Gevanni told the rest not to bother. It was too late.
Mikami was dead.
I suddenly realized I should've kept an eye on Light.
"Wait, Light!" No. He can't get away…
Wait. What a peculiar fear I just experienced. I had given him his death wound; he was out of the way. Perhaps I worried he would give me my death blow, in vengeance and I would perish.
Was I feeling my own mortality?
Kira slid open the door, the light cascading around him.
As usual, Aizawa overeacted.
"He's getting away! Light!" He actually stepped forth to stop him.
Light was gone.
Near commanded Aizawa to stay.
"It's unlikely he has any more pieces of the notebook. And with those wounds, he's not going to go far. He'll stop running soon even if we leave him alone."
Aizawa disagreed apparently.
"Near, I'm not gonna follow your orders."
Near's arrogance didn't allow for such a possibility. So, he just played it off with indifference.
"Huh? Very well, then, I'll leave it up to you."
I followed Aizawa and the others outside.
...
We found Light's body in a warehouse about three days later, his face turned up to the sky.
Funny, he looked at peace.
...
It happened on a dark night. The taskforce was returning the notebooks so Near could burn them, ridding the human race of their influence forever.
That wasn't going to work with me.
Aizawa and I were driving to the old building the task force had worked with L in. Aizawa had been made the leader of the NPA.
Good for him.
Not that it mattered.
One group was bringing the first notebook, and my group was bringing the second Kira's notebook.
What Aizawa didn't know, was that I also had the fake with me.
Right…with me…