Disclaimer: I do not own Death Note.
AN: To avoid the copyright infringement stories like these commonly encounter, there will be as little transcription of the show itself as possible. I hope it makes sense from the character's analyses of events where they are in certain episodes. Enjoy!
AN: First chapter is just introductory stuff. They start watching the show in Chapter 2!
The Shinigami king could see the path Ryuk's foolish human was walking down. He knew how the story would end. The white-haired child would be victorious over the self-proclaimed god of a world yet to be created. He also saw in the young Yagami a contender for his position when the mortal passed into their realm. While there was nothing he could do for the human's soul, he could put off his entrance to their world by a few decades.
Perhaps, with time, surrounded by the right influences, his ambition would die out and he wouldn't have to worry over his throne.
Wouldn't that be nice?
He also didn't want to deal with the human Rem was being set up to die for. She'd already had her life extended when Gelus had killed for her. Halving it twice had made it come closer to a normal human's, but with the addition of another death god's lifespan…while there was a high likelihood of her killing herself when Kira ultimately failed, if she didn't he'd have to go kill her himself.
That felt like an insult to Gelus and Rem's memory.
Speaking of memories, he quickly collected the relevant ones to burn on one of the mortal's compact disks. He'd hate to take away the best entertainment his substituents had in years, so he made it into a television show. Not much different from how they watched the human world from their realm.
They'd get to see how it ended, and the humans could change the course of their future.
So long as Kira didn't come into his realm, he was happy.
He swept down into the human world to drop off his gift. Light Yagami was currently without his memories of being Kira…he had to admit his own curiosity as to how he would react to seeing all he had done without the corrupting influence of the death note. He also wanted to know how the detective would react, all the detectives.
The king thought that would be the most entertaining.
For him, at least.
"Um…"Matsuda trailed off, as he usually did before he mustered up the courage to ask whatever frivolous curiosity had come to his mind. L didn't bother looking away from his screen, though Light did shift a few centimeters,"Did anyone notice that tape there a second ago or did it just appear?"
"What are you talking about, Matsuda?"Aizawa humored the youngest official detective.
"I swear that CD wasn't there a second ago."Now Light did turn around, jangling the chain between them. It was mid-September. They'd been chained together for over a month. There was no sign that his memories of being Kira were returning, if he were ever Kira to begin with and not some pawn sent to distract him.
He knew it was the near proximity effect that was making him lower his guard around the younger man, but he genuinely considered them friends.
"See?"The hyperactive man continued,"It even came with a note, and I don't think this is any of our handwriting."He turned as well, watching as the other picked up the CD case, holding the paper in his other. Matsuda was right, that was not evidence he had seen before nor did they get mail"It's addressed to the Kira task force!"The man skimmed it with a frown,"They want all of us to watch this…but who are Near, Mello, and Matt?"
That got his full attention. He held out a hand,"Give that to me."
Matsuda obeyed, and he hadn't read it wrong.
Light sensed his concern, and turned back to the monitor to pull up the security feed. Up until three minutes ago, there had been nothing on the small table. Then, as if by magic, the note and CD had appeared,"Impossible."The teenager muttered.
"Apparently not."L bit his thumb, dangling the note in front of him. The note claimed that the video on the tape would help with the investigation. Was this a trick? Was this another leap in the evolution of Kira's powers? No, if Kira knew about Wammy's house then he doubted Watari would still be alive. Was it another supernatural force trying to help them against Kira?
"Do you know those people, Ryuzaki?"Yagami inquired.
"Yes."He murmured. As far as he knew, no one in Wammy's house had decided to help him with the Kira case and no one had left. Beyond Birthday had fallen to Kira earlier in the year…unless that was faked but he trusted the people he sent to check were competent in their field. BB wouldn't have known about Near though…but no leak in their secrecy explained its appearance.
"If we set up a separate system to play the CD, there's no harm in doing so."Light suggested before he could.
L nodded to Watari, who proceeded to do so. His heirs were his best hope of catching Kira, should their current line of investigation prove to be a trap. Mello and Near together were far more capable than either of them believed, and he was certain they were more than adequate replacements for him. Especially if they continued working with Light…so long as Light wasn't who killed him.
It was a risk to introduce them before he was absolutely sure of Light's innocence. But was it riskier to exclude them when they'd been asked for by name?
He bit his thumb harder. Out of all the possible reasons, the one where a supernatural entity was attempting to assist the investigation made the most sense. With all the talk of Shinigami and Kira his mind was open to almost any possibility at this point. If the being wanted the three boys present…would there be consequences if he refused? His heirs…before Light they were the closest people he had to friends.
He didn't want anything bad to happen to them.
Their identities would be safe, and so long as they didn't reveal they were heirs to the title of L he doubted Light would see them as a threat. He sent a quick message to Roger requesting the boys be sent to Japan immediately. He then swiveled his gaze to the teen attached to him, who was watching with curious eyes. Eyes that were so different from the beginning of his confinement he found it hard to believe they belonged to the same person.
"Near, Mello, and Matt are all occupants of the orphanage I was raised in."He explained, getting a flicker of sympathy and understanding from his friend.
"Are you sure you want them involved in the case?"Aizawa asked,"If they're just kids…"
"They are by no means normal children."L assured,"The orphanage they attend is specifically catered to prodigal children."
"So three mini Ryuzakis?"Matsuda asked excitedly.
"In a sense."Near was a more apathetic version of him, he supposed. Mello had enough pride to match Light, but he didn't have the self-control to maintain that level of perfection. Matt was probably closest to normal, though he showed his peculiarities in certain subjects. They'd need the third boy to make sure Mello didn't kill Near,"You will see for yourself in about fourteen hours."
"Until then, we should keep working."Light went back to the data he was accumulating, running it through various analyses with a fervid determination. He watched the younger man for a few minutes, feeling a slight sadness. If the CD revealed that he had been right all along…
No. Light obviously had no memories of being Kira. With no evidence against him and no possible confession, there was no way he could get a conviction to stick. He just had to find a way to ensure Light would never become Kira again, or be manipulated by the killer, and he would save his friend.
If he could save Light, it would be more satisfying than simply defeating Kira.
He knew better than to put too much hope into an anomaly. He went back to looking at the latest victims. It was the first Kira he was interested in catching, the other two were terrible copies of the original. He could see both were sloppier than the first, and he almost didn't want to catch them because he knew it was only obvious because the first Kira had wanted it to be so.
It was beginning to feel like everything he did was playing right into the enemy's hands.
Time always moved more quickly when one was focused on a singular task. Before he knew it, the other members were calling it for the day and departing to go sleep. He pushed on with Light by his side until the perfect teen yawned, stretching in his chair"Are you ready to go to our bedroom?"
The college student knew his limits well, and he had learned not to argue with the other when it came to matters of self-care. He nodded, and they silently made their way up to their floor. He unlocked the handcuff so they could switch into their sleep shirts, and he marveled at how relaxed the teen could appear. He barely seemed phased by the CDs appearance, though he thought he was innocent so what did he have to fear?
"Anything I should know in advance about the boys?"Light asked as he reattached the cuff.
"Near is antisocial. He likely won't interact with you."Though the same could be said about himself and look how that turned out,"Mello has an inferiority complex, and it gets aggravated by Near. I may require your assistance if a fight breaks out between them."The teen raised an eyebrow, but nodded,"Matt is the most normal of them, and the only person Mello will listen to besides myself."
"They're all geniuses as well?"The college student sat on the bed.
"Yes."He crawled over to his side with his laptop in hand,"So don't think you'll be able to learn anything about me from them."
A sigh,"For the last time, I'm not Kira."
Not currently. But he had been, and if he didn't figure out a way to prevent it, he would be again.
"Yes, you do like to say that."He opened his laptop while the lights lowered.
Light slept peacefully, and it was only then that a genuine calm seemed to spread across his face. It was different from the forced perfection that seemed to be present regardless of if he was Kira or not. It made him wonder what it would have been like if Light had been an orphan. He would have been picked up by Wammy's radar, he'd probably be in contest to be one of his heirs.
He wondered if they would have met without Kira.
Light would have caught his attention eventually, or so he hoped.
He stretched a hand out to touch his perfect hair, a lighter brown then was normal for his nationality. It would be a shame if he were Kira. He had such potential.
The power to kill was a curse. He doubted he would have resisted the urge to use it if he had been the one cursed with it. He doubted there was anyone in the world that would have before Kira had displayed how terrifying that power would be without restraint.
Understanding it didn't make it right.
It just made it possible for him to forgive Light, if they stopped Kira.
When they stopped Kira.
He closed his laptop soon after, deciding he should have some proper rest before dealing with his heirs. He had been neglecting them since the Kira case started, and they were nearly a year into it. Besides, he couldn't continue the investigation all that seriously when he suspected it was a trap.
When he woke up they would watch the mysterious CD and then he'd move forward from there.
That was his plan.