The Eyes of Death
Sugar Sweet
Ryuzaki "L" was sitting in that unique way of his on a chair in the hotel he was currently staying at. It's been the sixth since he arrived in Japan. He'd been here for a few weeks now, working with the now five members of the task force. Right now, he was reviewing the taps that Kira had sent to Sakura T.V. chewing on his thumb per usual. He really needed to quit such a habit as this.
Watari came in then, carrying a tray of sweets. "Did you look up her file, Watari?" L asked, his dark eyes taking in the sweets. The other members of the task force just glanced at him oddly. But that didn't stop them from all wondering what he was talking about.
"Yes. Right now, she is staying in L.A with her Aunt it seems."
"Hmm. Good, now go get me a phone." L reached for the strawberry shortcake: His favorite.
~.~
"Alright, let's get to work!" Amy Carsh said, her crowd of employees dispersing. Her twenty year old niece, Mary groaned and slumped down onto an overturned crate.
"Urgh! Why do I have to help you? Why did you have to be a freaking wedding planner?" she asked.
"Because I needed help and because I love weddings!" Amy grinned, her lavender eyes taking on a dreamy, far off look.
"Uh, right." Mary rolled her eyes, sweatdropping. "As long as I get paid, I'll help you I guess." She stood up as she said this, dusting off the back of her jeans.
Amy snapped back into reality at that, and exclaimed, "Oh, of course!"
With a sigh, Mary left the restaurant. There was something seriously wrong with her aunt, but if she hadn't decided she was going to live with her, she'd still be stuck in that orphanage in England. Either that or the streets anyway.
She plopped down onto the bench just outside the restaurant, and watched all the lively people as they past. Only, a few weren't so lively. Oh, they gave off the air of someone perfectly fine, and yet it was because of that that they did not have the slightest clue that they were soon going to die.
Mary knew, she always knew. She'd been cursed with the shinigami's eyes: The ability to see a person's name and life span, how they died, and by whom if murdered. Mary sighed, rubbing at her temple. This was why she considered her eyes to be cursed. Not only did she have to see the names and deaths of any person she past or touched, she had to suffer through migraine after migraine, along with other minor illness she had to deal with on a daily bases. She was not aware of how she came to possess such powers, and she didn't want to. They were always just there, for as long as she could remember, and Mary never forgot.
Her phone rang, causing her to jump. "Hello?" she answered hesitantly for the number was blocked.
"Mary Carsh?" The voice was mechanical, computer like.
"This is she."
"I am L."
L? That sounds familiar, she thought. And then: "I remember you! You were that strange kid addicted to sweets!" She clamped a hand over her mouth. Oops, she hadn't meant to offend him.
"Excuse me?"
"Sorry, I just forgot momentarily, it's been a while," sighed Mary.
"I see. I have something to ask of you, Mary-chan. I need you to come to Japan. More importantly, I need your assistance with something."
He needs my help? That's weird; from what I remember, he's never asked for my help before. Hmm, this might be interesting, Mary thought, highly intrigued now. "Okay, I suppose I could come. When?"
"Good. Your flight leaves tomorrow at 6am, if that's not a problem?"
"No, I guess not." You won't be sleeping in tomorrow, Mary, yay, what fun that'll be.
"Until then, Mary-chan." With that said, L hung up. Mary shrugged, stood up, and walked back into the restaurant. Japan, here I come.
Hot Japanese Boy
L was acting far stranger than normal, at least that was what the task force concluded. They might have thought it was just from the case, since they didn't know him all that well, it could have been. It wasn't. No, L was just excited, you could say, for Mary was coming. He was just excited in his own way, of course.
"Miss Carsh is here," Watari said. L got up from the chair and walked toward the door.
Alright, here it is, the hotel L is staying in, thought Mary as she stood in front of the hotel door. The door opened before her hand even touched the wood. It hovered there as she stared at the man she hadn't seen in over five years. She knew it was him from the bed-head, crazy black hair, onyx eyes, and slouching frame. The baggy jeans and long-sleeved white T only added to that. She smiled, and pointed a finger that had since been hovering in the air at him. "Panda-kun," she said. He did, in fact, resemble a panda. For a guy who hardly ever slept it was obvious from the dark, dark circles under his eyes.
L frowned. "Don't call me panda, Mary-chan."
"Right, so why am I here?" She closed the door and followed him into the room. There were five other men in the room, ranging from 25 to 50. It was clear from the suits they were wearing that they were cops. Mary blinked. L never, ever revealed himself to the police, or even hardly contacted them. What the hell is going on here?
"You have heard of Kira, correct?" L asked as he crouched down on a chair.
"Hmm, yeah, why?"
"He is in the Kanto region of Japan, and that is why I have come here. I want you to watch these tapes with me, Mary-chan," he explained. That was when she saw the T.V in front of him.
She threw her bag on the floor and sat on the edge of the chair he was in. "Okay, why?"
Ryuzaki barely glanced at her. "I have a theory, and I want a second opinion."
"Fine, but answer me first: What's with the police? Last time I checked, you didn't involve yourself with the police."
"Hmm, yes, I normally don't, but this time I've acquired their assistance. Now, the taps." He picked up a remote and flicked on the T.V. In Gothic scripture was the word KIRA. Mary raised an eyebrow. She watched the video, feeling Ryuzaki's dark eyes watching her, possibly gauging her reaction. Well, he wasn't going to get one.
When the tap was done, L asked, "Well? What do you make of them?"
"Huh," was all Mary said. From what she'd heard about Kira, he only viewed those who did crimes as bad, not innocent people. But this "Kira" was different; he killed a cop. There's a second Kira, thought Mary, gnawing on her lip. "Clearly, there's a second Kira."
"What makes you think that?"
"The same thing that makes you think that, Ryu-chan." Mary rolled her eyes. "Really, Ryuzaki, stop with the tests. If you want my help, ask," she said.
"Then, will you help me?"
Mary stared him, black eyes staring into purple. "Okay, why not." Though she had a feeling she wouldn't be helping him in the way she thought.
Death in the Bedroom
Clunk! Bam! Bang!
Mary's eyes snapped open. What the hell? She sat up in her bed, staring into the semi-darkness ahead of her. The sun was just rising, peeking through the white lace curtains of the hotel room. She squinted, seeing-but mostly feeling-the shadowy figure. She was positive L was in the main room-so what was this? A spirit? Probably, Mary thought, annoyed. She did not want to deal with a ghost at the moment for she was a real grump when she first woke in the morning.
Then, when she finally recognized the shade, she openly gasped. A shinigami was in her bedroom-well, what she'd come to believe was a God of Death anyway. He-it? - didn't even look an ounce human; it was big, it was black, and it was grinning at her. Feeling immensely violated, she pulled the blanket up to her chin, and glared at the shimigami. She'd never before come in contact with one, but she'd learned from her mother that they were bad, real bad, though not for people like her. Mary had the same eyes as them, yet that was all they shared as far as abilities went. Besides, Mary was human; the thing standing in front of the door was not.
"What do you want, shinigami?" she asked, feeling quite annoyed at this point.
The shinigami just chuckled. "Hyku, what an interesting human." Then he floated through the wall. Mary shook her head. "Whatever," she mumbled, and swung out of the bed. Not bothering to change out of her black pj shorts and t-shirt, she ran a hand through her crazy, disheveled blonde curls and entered the main room. She nearly shrieked at what she almost collided into. The shinigami that had been in her room mere seconds ago. Fully aware she would not just go through him, Mary stepped to the side, something that did not go unnoticed by L-who had been watching her since she'd entered the room, nor a brown haired boy who looked seventeen or so. Who the hell is he? She thought: And is he why this shimigami's here? Mary vaguely knew the powers shinigami's possessed; such as the eyes and something called a Death Note, but she didn't know completely the rules in which they were implied.
"Ah, Mary-chan, this is Light Yagami-san; he will be joining the investigation as of now," L inquired to her.
"Oh, hi," she mumbled, waving lamely before shuffling into the small kitchen of the hotel room. It was time for her to get started on the cake she promised L she'd bake. She knew his fondness for sweets could only rival her own. Plus, she just really wanted cake.
Humming to herself, she ignored all the voices in the main room as she made the preparations for the strawberry shortcake she was making. As she opened the fridge, she frowned then growled lightly as she didn't see the bowl of clean-cut strawberries she knew she'd put there the night before. Mary never forgot. Fine, she thought you steal my strawberries; I steal your chance at getting strawberry shortcake. So, instead of preparing for strawberry shortcake, she made a chocolate fudge cake. And used splenda instead of real sugar. Ha, take that, she thought. Mary was a bit of a child when it came to pay-backs but that was part of the reason she and L got along so well.
Cutting a slice of cake for L, she walked back out into the main room. Ever since she'd arrived, mainly what L had been making her do was bake cakes. Amongst other sweets. Of course, that didn't surprise her as she'd suspected as such. Not that Mary cared; she'd much rather bake than plan weddings with her eccentric Aunt which meant being around people. Quite a lot of people: Mary wasn't a fan of crowds.
"Here ya go," she said to L as she placed the slice in front of him. He mumbled his thanks. Bleh, Mary thought, sticking out her tongue.
The second after L took a bite out of the cake, he immediately knew something was wrong. It taste…strange. Like the sugar used was different, he thought. "Mary-chan, is there something wrong with the sugar you used?"
"Nope," Mary replied, but he had the distinct feeling she was lying.
"Are you sure?"
"Positive."
Mary watched as he frowned, poking at the cake with his fork. She rolled her eyes. "I'm not making you another one, you know. You either eat or you don't." L could be such a child! thought Mary, exasperated.
"Did you perhaps use a sugar substitute?" he asked.
"Yes, I did. You're gonna have some kind of heart attack from all the sugar you consume if Kira doesn't get to you first." She stood next to him, her arms crossed.
"I will catch Kira before that happens."
"Yeah, but all this sugar is gonna catch up to you before that, so when you do have a heart attack or something, don't say I didn't warn you."
"My sugar intake is not a problem, Mary-chan, I am perfectly healthy."
Mary snorted. "I highly doubt that, you probably haven't been to a doctor in years; who knows how high your blood level is!"
"I assure you my blood level is normal; I just went to a doctor last year," he said.
"Yeah, sure, ya did. If you had, he would have suggested you stop with all the sugar!"
Across the room, Light leaned to the side and mock whispered, "Are they always like this?"
His father, Soichiro Yagami, answered, "They have been acting like this since Mary-san arrived."
"Why is she here anyway?"
"Ryuzaki says she can be a real help to the investigation, but all she's done so far is bake cakes for him. Though she did have the same theory as Ryuzaki when he tested her with the second Kira tapes."
"Oh."
Mary huffed. "The reason why I used 'fake' sugar as you so put it is because you stole my strawberries. I really wanted strawberry shortcake, as did you, but because you took them, that was not possible. So, apologize for taking them or I will from here on out use 'fake' sugar for your cakes."
He didn't say anything, and Mary knew he probably wouldn't. Well, she was fine with that. They were both stubborn, though L was more childish then stubborn, so she knew he wouldn't apologize, and he knew she would continue using fake sugar until he did. So, let the stubborn war begin!