Welcome to my death note crossover! A few warnings before we begin.
If you are not into shipping, yaoi, genderswapping, or anything of the like, then it's best if you leave right now. This fic contains all three. However, if you think the story will be worth it, then by all means read on. Have fun.
*ShonaNinja*
More Than Alive - Chapter 1
It was late. The sun had set, and the sky had been dark for quite some time. The noise of the city outside rushed along with the wind, hurried as always. But somehow, it all felt peaceful. Light Yagami was finally alone.
It seemed it was the first time in days that he had time to himself. He'd finally managed to get away from the prying eyes of the task force, Mikami's obsessive messaging, Misa's constant fawning, and millions of other nameless forms of unwanted attention. At least after he'd gotten rid of Mello a week earlier, Takeda had gone along with him. The demand wasn't nearly so bad with her out of the way. But it didn't matter. This was still exhausting, even with one weight lifted from his shoulders.
And now here he was, alone at last, his laptop sitting at his desk before him. He sighed and reclined in his swivel chair. He'd never realized how truly exhausting being Kira would be. He closed his eyes and breathed in. Peace, even if just for a few minutes. It was nice.
Light opened his eyes and straightened up. He couldn't stay like this for long. Mikami would be sending him a message any minute now. He'd told him to notify him of every criminal he killed according to his orders, and he'd kept to the schedule like clockwork. Every night, 9 PM Japan time, he received an email from him, a firewall set to protect their identities. Tonight was especially important. He would be meeting Near tomorrow, N, the one who had been watching him for months now. Mikami had better have gotten his message. If he knew the truth, Near would die the moment they meet. Light just knew it.
He flipped open his laptop and waited as it slowly powered up. He opened his secondary email as soon as the wifi signal picked up. He stared blankly at his email page, waiting impatiently for the message. Minutes passed. For the first time ever, Mikami was late. Light sighed again and spun his chair away from the computer. He was too tired to deal with this.
A chime sounded from close behind him. Light picked his head up and looked over his shoulder. The high, mechanized tone sounded again. He had a new message.
Light quickly spun around and rolled his chair back toward his desk. He had to see Mikami's email and delete it fast, cautious even when he knew not even the task force themselves could break through the firewall. He clicked on the small icon on the screen to open his inbox. A highlighted line glowed above all the others, identifying itself as a new message. Light squinted at the sending address. Something was different.
He stared at the line of text. It wasn't Mikami's dummy address that he had created to throw off the police. In fact, it didn't appear to be an email address at all. It looked like complete gibberish, random letters, numbers and symbols, as if someone were trying to create an email and had a seizure in the middle of typing a username.
Light stared at the address, unsure of whether to click on it or not. Something felt suspicious about it. Something was wrong.
He shook the feeling away. It just didn't make sense. He wasn't even sure if randomized text could be used as an address. The only thing he could do was investigate. Light shrugged and clicked on the email.
Almost immediately the screen went black.
"Ah!" Light jumped in his seat, startled. He sat there, staring at the darkened screen for a moment, trying to piece together what had just happened. He'd clicked on a strange email, and then his computer crashed. He ran through a list of possibilities, trying to find a rational cause. Nothing made sense. He plugged a charger cord into the computer's side, though he could have sworn the laptop was fully charged. Nothing. The screen simply remained black. "What the hell?"
Light dragged a hand across the trackpad, pressed a few keys, the power button, shut the laptop and opened it again, and checked the power cord again. Still nothing. "God dammit," he mumbled, irritated. "Now? Of all times, this has to happen now?"
Light pushed his chair away from the desk once again and dropped his head into his hands. "I can't believe this. I can't fucking believe this."
He looked back up at his laptop and stared into the endless blackness of the screen. Something caught his attention. A small flash of color appeared on the blank, darkened screen. Light took a closer look. There it was again. A small, glowing green cursor had appeared in the upper-left corner of the screen. It blinked invitingly. Light stared, unsure of what to do. He lifted his hands to the keyboard and lay his fingers over the keys to type a single word. Hello?
The cursor obediently printed out the letters on the screen. Light stared at the screen, unsure of what to expect next. A few seconds later, his words disappeared from the screen. A new cursor appeared, flashing bright white against the dark background. It stayed there for a second, then scrolled to the right, glowing white text trailing behind it.
Hello, Light Yagami.
Light stared at the screen, dumbstruck. His head was spinning. He scrambled for an explanation, but nothing would come. A virus? A hacker? But he'd been prepared for everything. The firewall, his virus scanner, every defense against this that he'd spent forever building up, all gone in one night? Impossible. He splayed his fingers over the keyboard again. What did you do to my computer?
Seconds passed, and the green text cleared. The white text appeared again.
It's only temporary.
The text cleared. Light typed another message. How long will it last?
As long as it needs to, Light.
Light narrowed his eyes, staring at the black screen. Who are you?
I am L.
Light's eyes widened. His hands tightened into fists over the keyboard. This wasn't L. It couldn't be. He himself had taken L's place and hidden his death from the world. N knew about it, of course. It seemed that he always had. Could this be him, deciding to hack him instead of meeting in person? Light unclenched his fists and typed another message. No, it's not. L is dead. Who are you, really?
Like I told you, Light. I am L.
How do you know my name?
I know a lot of things about you. I know that you're not really in love with Misa. I know that you don't really work for the task force either. Mikami works for you, as did Misa. And I know that you are Kira.
Light's heart stopped. His hands froze over the keys. No. He couldn't believe this. After all he'd done to hide his identity... Fine. I am Kira. There. Now tell me who you are. Tell me or I will kill you.
I am L.
No you're not.
Stop playing games, Light. I may not have much longer.
The text cleared again. Light stared at the blank, darkened screen. Who was this person, and why were they doing this? He typed a new message. Well?
Your future lies in another world, Light. You are not where you are meant to be.
So where am I meant to be?
You will know when the time comes. Tomorrow, when you awaken, look just outside of your door. An unmarked package will be on your doorstep. Inside you will find a black pill. Take this pill immediately. The task force will arrive shortly to escort you to the Yellow Box.
Light read the text over again. He grabbed a slip of paper from the desk and scribbled down the instructions. The text cleared. Light typed another message. What then?
You will see. My time is up. Goodbye, Light.
The text cleared. A flash of panic sparked in the back of Light's mind. His hands flew across the keyboard. Wait. Who are you?
L.
The text disappeared and the black screen flashed away. Light's email reappeared. The strange message had disappeared. A new email had taken its place. Light clicked on it. It was from Mikami. He'd gotten the message about Near. He would be there tomorrow.
Light deleted the message. He didn't need to respond. He was done with today. He shut down his laptop. He heard the door downstairs open, and then shut. Misa was home from her photo shoot. Misa's shrill voice sounded from the entryway. "Light? I'm home! Light?"
Light stood up and stretched himself out. Well, that was the end of the short time he had to himself. Still, he pondered over the stranger's words. They had to be lying. It couldn't have been L. He'd been dead for five years. Yet, even as he repeated the thought over and over as he walked downstairs to greet Misa, something told him that it really was true.
0o0o0o0o0
The sun was setting. Through the small, frosty windows of a bare, concrete stairwell, colored light streamed in, dyeing everything inside a thousand shades of red, gold and purple. It seemed eerily coordinated to the bruised, bloody body of a young man lying lifeless on the stairs.
A voice sounded from the dimness. "This is him?"
Another voice spoke, a lower tone than the other. "Yep. He looks different when he's dead, doesn't he?"
"I have to say he does. Probably still just as much if an asshole as in life though," the first voice said. It traveled through the air with a dark, silky grace. A figure stepped out into the light. It was a girl, slim and willowy, dressed completely in black, the red light spilling through the windows staining her cap of golden-blonde hair a glowing shade of orange.
"Hm. Maybe. Or maybe he's finally realized what he's been doing all this time. He might know that he's paying for his crimes. You never really know." The source of the second voice emerged from the shadows. A boy around the girl's age broke away from the darkness, his dark, blood-red hair sharply contrasting his black outfit.
"It won't matter anyway," the girl said, walking towards the body on the stairs. "He'll be different once he's reached the other side. They always are." She crouched down and leaned in towards the his face. She brushed his blood-soaked brown hair away from his eyes. "Light Yagami. I never thought I would see him like this."
The boy approached her and knelt across from her on the other side of the body. He reached into his pocket and removed some gadget that appeared to be a smartphone. He laid it on the young man's deathly still chest. A second ticked by, and an alarm sounded from the device. The boy glanced at the screen. "He's gone."
"Did he take the pill?"
"I don't know. I hope we didn't take Tempest all the way to the drop-off just for a false alarm."
"Scan him."
The boy placed his fingers on the young man's forehead. He closed his deep blue eyes and focused. Suddenly he relaxed. His eyes opened as he breathed a sigh of relief. "Yeah, he took it."
"Well, that's new. I didn't think he'd believe the message we sent him."
"Neither did I."
The girl stood up. "We should go. The paramedics will be here any second."
"Good idea." The boy stood up as well and moved away from the dead body, taking the girl's hand. "Besides, we've done all we can. We should be getting back to the ship."
The girl slipped an arm around the boy's waist and kissed his cheek. "Of course." She looked over her shoulder at Light, now nothing more than a lifeless shell covered in blood lying in a stairwell. "Sleep tight, Light. You're going to need it."