The secret...
J's P.O.V.
I have done so many bad things in my life, this was only one of them. I'd gone under a few names, many of them being demon related, J is my real name. Two weeks ago I was called by an anonymous person, asking for my help with an investigation in Japan. Of course, a free ticket out of a bad situation wasn't really something to turn up, the benefits didn't end there either.
The only thing that I could claim that I was good at was killing people, that was it. I hoped that this opportunity would grant me some new skills in life rather than just being a murderous psychopath.
After a 24 hour flight, I landed in Japan's Kanto region. As I exited the airport, I lit up one of my herbs, a combination of basic herbs and sugar helped me stay awake and alert. Some would think that this combo would create a hot caramel mess, well it would if a human smoked it.
I wasn't human, still not one, I was what was known as a Tiwinoku. A supernatural being with a few subspecies inside the race. Me? I could absorb liquids into my body and store them up in order to freeze them and use them as weapons among other things. The sugar inside the cigarettes allowed me to store some more glucose in my body, keeping me awake and alert.
Before I could take my first drag, the phone rang. It wasn't my cell phone but the pay phone next to me. Cautiously I picked up the phone.
"Is this you?" I asked, looking for the man who made contact with me.
"Yes, in a moment a black car will pull up. A man named Watari will drive you to my location, in fact. You'll be here before you know it."
My world turned into darkness as a blindfold was placed over my eyes. I didn't fight back, I trusted this man for some reason. The journey was uneventful, the slight hum of the car was the only thing to keep me company. It didn't take long for the car to stop. However, there were about 4 car changes before finally I was thrown into the trunk of one car.
When we stopped. I was greeted by a soft voice.
"I apologise for the inconvenience, but we must be certain that you weren't followed." It was an old man's voice.
I dragged myself out of the car, as my sneaker hit the floor I realized that I was in a parking lot of sorts. Probably underneath a hotel of some description.
"I've been in worse, are you going to take off my blindfold or am I going to have to be hidden on the way up?" I groaned as I straightened my back.
The man took my blindfold off, he was quite a tall man, old and mustached. He held a black plastic mask for me to wear.
"I see, things are hectic enough in the west, the news shouldn't have broadcast it over to Asia right?" I asked as I took the mask.
"I would not be certain, your face hasn't been broadcast in Japan, but the crimes in question are well known here," Watari answered as I fixed the mask to my head.
"Your bag." He handed the gym bag I was carrying to me. I took it in thanks.
My mind was clouded.
"Why am I just following this guy? Should I be afraid? I mean, with the voice changer I still don't know what sex the voice is, so even if I don't meet the real owner of the voice it wouldn't matter." I couldn't think straight, a voice in my head was asking too many questions.
When we got into the elevator, I was reminded of the hotel hit. I was sent to kill a pedophile senate candidate, the job went wrong when I slipped up and the job got messy.
Absentmindedly, I pulled the hood of my new jacket over my head. I didn't like to be too visual about my appearance, I hated superficial people. The guy next to me didn't seem like the type to judge on appearances, I guessed that it was because of the appearance of his employer. I couldn't have been more right.
The doors opened and we walked for a short while, he opened a door, I accepted the gesture as I walked in. Something shocked me.
He was there, tall, thin, black hair, bags under his eyes, spiked hair and a terrible posture. Everything that happened next stuck with me, mainly because we both looked so similar.
"Hello, J." His voice was nothing like it had been over the phone. I realized what it was.
"You used a voice program, not to mask your voice, but to create a new one so I wouldn't know what to expect when I saw you." I was star struck.
"So... You could hear that from over the phone..." he thought aloud.
Carefully, I took off the mask.
"Look at you, I've been waiting to meet you for so long. I had no idea we looked so alike." He smiled at me.
"Who are you?" I finally asked the burning question.
"I am L. However, I must ask that you call me Ryuzaki from this moment."
I nodded in understanding, quickly I took the hood off.
"Why have you gone to the trouble to get me here?" I asked.
"Well, I need your help. Come with me."
Ryuzaki led me into the next room, a map was on half of the table and the rest had a number of markings on it. Sadly, they were in Japanese.
"Do not worry, you needn't worry about this. I need you for a different purpose." Ryuzaki explained.
The map had a number of red crosses on it, they had lines drawn between them. It looked as if Ryuzaki was trying to find a pattern. Clearly, there was none.
"Someone's been killing randomly by the look of the map." I started.
"From a first glance that is how they look, but listen. Each and every one of these red crosses is a criminal that was murdered, they were killed by a heart attack, these blue crosses are criminals that were killed by other means." Ryuzaki explained.
"Hm." I sighed, amused.
"Something funny?" He tilted his head.
"It reminds me of a story about a god o- ah. What are you doing Ruyzaki?" I asked.
Ryuzaki was sitting very strangely in his armchair.
"Sitting like this improved my deductive skill by about 37%. The reason matters little, please continue." He smiled.
"Oh, um. It was a bedtime story from the Tiwinoku, that's a village in china and a tribe. They believed that there wasn't just one god, but several. Hundreds, in fact, most of them were gods of death. Sometimes they go rouge in the story." I explained.
Ryuzaki put his thumb in his mouth and bit it slightly, I took this as lead to continue.
"These gods of death end up falling in love with humans and trying to protect them, the gods die protecting them and end up falling to the earth as a mist. Sometimes they blamed the storms and terrible weather on the death of a death god. According to our legends, Tiwinoku can't be killed by gods of death, we can only die through battle or old age. Although my mom died in a car crash, so that's that myth debunked." I finished explaining.
"Hmmm..." Ryuzaki made a noise in thought.
"What could happen in these stories?" He pressed.
"Well... The gods would get bored and drop their notebooks into the human world-"
"Notebooks?" He interrupted.
"Yeah, they write down names. That's all they do so that's why we call them lazy gods. Sometimes humans found the books, they go mad and kill people. All Tiwinkoku would do is throw them back to the god world."
"Is there a possibility that these are in fact myths and not a legend?" Ryuzaki asked.
"Why is he so interested about this, if he's investigating killings, the last thing he needs is me to tell him fairy tales. Then again, it can't hurt can it?" The voice in my head spoke.
"Well, when I went back to the village. There were inscriptions on the temple walls about a falling book." I accessed a few of my memories.
We spent a while discussing the legend, L was very interested in this little tale of mine.
"Shinigami..." Ryuzaki sighed.
"Well, I guess that's what you would call them. I don't know the real name." I admitted.
"Hmm, a supernatural explanation seems likely. Tell me, does a shinigami follow its human?" He asked.
"It has the 24-hour obligation to follow the human who possesses the notebook. If it looses it... I don't think they can get a new one."
"Well then, I suppose if we follow this tale then we could find Kira..."
I laughed manically, it was made worse by the fact that I figured that I was under suspicion seeing as I knew about a way that these deaths would've been made possible.
"You think that superstition will help solve this case? No-one's seen a shinigami." I only just stopped laughing.
"I understand why would feel that way, but the fact that you're stood here makes that theory just that much more likely. You see when I said that I'd been following you for quite some time, I meant it. I've seen what happened at that village, what you did whilst defending the village people..." Ryuzaki stopped before he could push me further, I hadn't realized that I'd been shaking in anger.
"I'm sorry, the past is something that I don't like to remember," I explained, it didn't make sense but Ryuzaki seemed to understand.
"I see, well back to my original point." He picked up a file and handed it to me. I sat down to open and read the file.
"Inside you'll find the description of your role here. I think you'll be happy with it."
Ryuzaki had made me a bodyguard, the file contained a key card and ID with a fake name in it.
"Wait, you wanted me to be a bodyguard?" I asked, not believing the file.
"Yes, I should also tell you that you are a suspect in this case. Although the chance that you are Kira is below 2%" L explained.
"WHAT? DOES HE HAVE A DEATH WISH? KILL HIM! SHOW HIM WHAT YOU ARE!" The voice was screaming at me.
"Shut up," I whispered to myself.
"Hm, what's wrong?" Ryuzaki pressed.
"Oh, sorry. It's just... Do you have a death wish? If I was the killer then wouldn't have I tried to kill you yet? Don't you think it's just a little bit strange that a psychopath wouldn't kill his enemy the moment he sees him?" I was shaking a little again.
"Yes, that's why you're only at a 2% so I wouldn't be so stupid as to leave my life in the hands of the person whom I'm trying to find." Ryuzaki frowned as he began to put sugar cubes into his tea.
"Wha-. Ok, I guess there is some sort of sense behind that. I was never very good at maths." I made up the likeliest excuse.
"I must also explain something to you, none of the investigators speak perfect English. You'll be staying with me so I can give you a report on what has been discussed. Think of it as a 24-hour surveillance program."
I was taken aback, after all. My sleep wasn't perfect, I was tired and the plane trip didn't give me much time for private sleep. Night terrors aren't something I wanted to experience mid-flight.
"Here, you look exhausted." Ryuzaki handed me a hot cup of black coffee topped with cream. I definitely needed it.
"Thank you, I haven't slept much." I thanked as I drank slowly from the cup.
Gently, I rubbed my chin, a small amount of stubble had begun to form. I was growing as a teenager, I'd seen most of the things that grizzled war vets didn't even know about. I thought it was time to drop crime and go back to helping people in a better fashion.
"I would assume that as a bodyguard, I would need a weapon. Then again..." I put the coffee down on the table.
"I highly doubt you actually need a bodyguard... I believe that you wouldn't reveal yourself to the public, or at least show your face outside. Look, I think you need me for something else other than a bodyguard. You need insurance, because of my powers you believe that I could figure something out faster than you, or kill people without being in sight of that person... You need me to confirm your theories about this being a supernatural case, which is why you were so interested in that tale of mine." My mind ran amok with my mouth.
Ryuzaki smiled, a small chuckle left his lips.
"I believe I made the right choice, with some training you could become quite the investigator."
I was taken aback, I joined in with the chuckle.
"I suppose." I took another drink from the coffee.
"Have you ever seen a Shinigami?" Ryuzaki pushed.
"As a matter of fact, I think I have... I was raped about a year ago and tourtured. I saw this black thing, it was like a shadow but I saw its eyes, they glowed, it had crow wings and it looked like a..." I was almost afraid to talk about it.
"A what?" Ryuzaki leaned forward, his face painted with curiosity.
"Clown." I took another drink.
"I thought it was an hallucination. Problem was, it looked at me. It wasn't a shadow because one of the guys in the hut passed right through it. Then it flew away." I explained as I wiped the cream from my mouth.
"Take a look at this." Ryuzaki passed me a photo.
It was a pentagram, drawn in blood. A man's face next to it, pinned by a paperclip. It was too easy.
"This man drew this pentagram with his own blood before he died. Although, he clearly didn't believe in the occult." I passed the file back.
"How so?" Ryuzaki spoke.
"The markings are all wrong. The point of the star is toward the roof, whereas on a real witchcraft pentagram the split is toward the roof. This guy was being controlled before he died. Not only this, but he was shaking as he did this." I explained.
It was true too, everything that had happened to this man clearly was being controlled.
"It could've been the pain."
"No, if he believed in the devil with all his heart, the pain wouldn't have mattered. The person who did this knew what he was doing but was trying to stop himself from doing so, hence the shakiness." I explained further.
Ryuzaki put his thumb back in his mouth, he knew exactly what I was saying but he didn't particularly agree with it.
"Well, I suppose that is a possibility. What about this person?" He gave me a photo of a young skinny male person. I'd never seen him before in my life.
"No idea, he's a suspect then?" I asked.
"How did you know?" Ryuzaki was surprised.
"...There's no post mortem picture?" I tried.
"He doesn't exactly look like the type to be a criminal, then again neither do I." I sighed as I put the picture down and took another drink.
"That is Light Yagami, he is the chief director's son."
I coughed on the coffee slightly.
"Well, I suppose that makes sense. He'd be able to get access to criminal's names through his father's computer without much problem." I wiped the coffee from my eyes.
"That's right, you do have all the makings of an investigator. It's a shame you aren't clean." Ryuzaki frowned.
I smiled, it was true.
"I wouldn't be able to keep up. Being an assassin was easy enough, it wasn't hard to cover tracks."
We continued a conversation well into the night, I began to yawn in exhaustion. No amount of sugar or caffeine was going to keep me awake. A few seconds later, the room began to darken, my eyelids drooped.
"Ryuzaki, I'm very tired right now." I stifled a yawn.
"I understand, I should've thought about this. There are no beds in this room, so you'll have to sleep on the couch for now."
"It doesn't matter, I could sleep on shattered glass and be comfortable."
Ryuzaki got up and walked around to me, put a hand on my forehead and kept it there for a minute.
"You're very cold." He gave a worried tone.
"I'm always cold." I yawned again, it was getting hard to keep my eyes open.
"It's OK, we'll discuss this more in the morning. Good night J."
I smiled as Ryuzaki said my name the right way.
"G'd night Ryuzaki." I kicked my shoes off and pulled my legs to my chest, slowly, I fell asleep in the security of the world's greatest detective.
Batman can get fucked.
However, my sleep was quickly disturbed by a slight mumbling a few feet away from me. I opened my eyes slightly, Ryuzaki was eating quite a lot of sugar and watching a surveillance tape. I'd seen much stranger things and done a lot stranger things so I wasn't phased by it. I went back to sleep after getting used to getting to the noises.
5 hours later, sunlight entered the room turning my deep black into a burnt orange. I opened my eyes to see L in exactly the same position he was when I went to sleep myself. I hadn't seen stranger things than this. He was wide awake and was still looking over a surveillance tape.
"Did you sleep at all?" I asked
"Yes, although it sounded like you were having quite the nightmare." He didn't take his eyes from the screen.
"Well, now you know why I didn't sleep on the plane." I got up and walked around to behind Ryuzaki.
The surveillance tape was that of the deaths that happened in prison. I was confused, to say the least.
"Can I ask you a question?" Ryuzaki spoke first.
"Sure."
"How do you feel about wearing a face mask? I'm worried that even though you haven't been out in public, it shouldn't be easy to find your face." Ryuzaki held up a face scarf.
"Ryuzaki, I'm almost infamous for getting into trouble. It wouldn't be hard to find my face on the internet, so I'm good." It didn't make sense to wear a mask when my face was likely to be over the internet.
"I was right about you, most people are terrified of death. You don't seem too phased."
"I don't care about death, I just want it to mean something when my time's up. Living safe means living long, but what's the point? If you're going to live 'till 100 it's hardly worth it when you can barely move. If I die here, I died finding this killer. If I die at home, I die protecting my family." I explained as I sat down next to him.
"I admire your philosophy, would you say this looks familiar?" He pointed at a prisoner having a heart attack.
"No, I haven't seen a heart attack before."
"If you were Kira, how would you do it?" Ryuzaki asked.
"...If I were Kira?...Seeing as it seems like he's punishing people I'd do it in person. I would be seen, but it would mean something. A deterrent." I was trying to repress memories.
"I see... You seem brave."
"I'm a coward Ryuzaki, a smart one at that."
"How so?"
"Well, I killed people for no real reason. The killings didn't mean anything other than I could stay under someone's roof. I was scared of what would happen should I not." I explained, doing my best not to start having flashbacks.
"There's no need to tell me everything you know, I suppose you can have some secrets."
I shook my head.
"There's every need. The last thing I need is you locking me up because I didn't tell you about something you asked."
I took out the fake ID. My new name was Alex Black, a little different from Jason White.
"So... Why do I need a keycard?" I asked.
"Oh, that's just for security purposes. Plus when the other investigators arrive I don't want them to panic when they find out who you really are." Ryuzaki explained.
"Right, you don't want them to freak out over a 14-year-old assassin wearing a face mask, you'd rather them freak out over a 14-year-old investigator... Wearing a face mask." Ryuzaki was definitely a person you couldn't always understand.
He switched the surveillance tapes and froze on a certain scene, it was a college kid walking home. There was something strange. There was an apple in mid-air. I moved the thought to the back of my head, hoping that I was just hallucinating and not seeing a Shinigami.
"What do you make of this?" Ryuzaki turned to me as I looked closer at the screen.
"Well, I-" I was cut off by the voice in my head.
"JUST KILL HIM, HE'S RIGHT THERE! FUCKING DO HIM!" it screamed at me. It's hard to ignore something telling you to kill someone when there's only one other person in the room.
"I think he could be talking to himself." I tried as I looked at the kid's open mouth.
"Yes, I noticed that as well. Let me play the whole tape for you."
The kid walked down the street, he was definitely talking to himself but I was more concerned with the shadow that had appeared in the streetlight.
"He's being followed by someone."
"Well done, your observation skills are quite good, but you missed something." Ryuzaki slowed the tape down.
"You can clearly see something in the air here, by the time the camera transitions it hasn't landed, nor is it still there. It's gone."
"So, I wasn't hallucinating?" I asked.
"No, I don't think you were." Ryuzaki got up and walked over to the tray next to the couch.
"Judging by the strange behavior around Light, I suppose there is something suspicious. That's not the point. Have you noticed that more often than not, groups of children walk home in groups?" Ryuzaki began to pour coffee into two cups.
"I haven't been to school in a year Ryuzaki, I used to run home to get away from people trying to hurt me." I stood up and looked out of the window.
My military jacket was beginning to feel heavy on my shoulders, I had no idea how tired I was.
"Well, nevertheless more often then not these groups are usually very popular kids, like Light."
"Hold on, is 'Light' the guy in the video?" Again, I was confused.
"Yes, now. Why would an extremely popular college student walk home alone?" Ryuzaki handed me another cup of coffee.
"So he could do something without being seen or... Talk to someone who can't be seen... You think he's being followed by a Shinigami?"
"It's a possibility."
"No, it isn't. The only reason a Shinigami comes down to earth is when he or she drops their notebook into the human world. They only follow a human if the notebook has been picked up by them... Unless Light has a notebook..." My thoughts were beginning to swarm around me.
"The only way there is a Shinigami following Light is if he's picked up the notebook... Why did he drop it?" I thought aloud.
"You said shinigami get bored."
"That's right, we have no way of knowing whether or not he's being followed by one or not." I sighed.
"Can't you see them?"
"No, at least I don't think I can. I was drugged up Ryuzaki I could've been hallucinating for all I know." I sat down again and took a long drink from the coffee, I was grateful that Ryuzaki could make a decent cup of coffee.
"Without meeting Light in person, I don't think I'll have much chance of seeing one. Even if I can see them they usually avoid Tiwinoku... According to legend anyway." I put a hand to my head.
"Exactly why I'd like to meet Light in person. However..." I felt a handcuff on my wrist.
"I can't keep 24hr surveillance on him and you at the same time."
"Fuck." I sighed.
"I hate these things."
"We're to meet Light's father and the rest of the NPA very shortly," Ryuzaki explained.
"It would seem hypocritical of me if it didn't look like you were under my watch."
"Ok, alright. As long as I can shower and stuff without these cuffs." I laughed.
"Of course, this is only for appearance's sake," Ryuzaki spoke.
A knock on the door distracted my attention on the cuffs. Watari appeared from nowhere and opened the door. Several police officers walked in. Ryuzaki got up and walked over to the door, accidentally dragging me. I ended up falling forwards onto my face. I couldn't understand what most of them were saying, although what I did see were their police badges.
I groaned as I got up. Ryuzaki directed me over to the other side of the room and introduced me as Alex and that I couldn't speak Japanese.
"This is..." The chef's jaw dropped.
"You have me mistaken for someone else." I began to wish I had cut my hair before I came out to Japan.
"I must ask that If you're going to talk to the young one, then you should speak English. He doesn't have a good grasp on Japanese." Ryuzaki explained.
"I'm only here as Ryuzaki wishes me to be," I added.
"Who is this kid?" A tall afro-sporting guy gave his input.
"He is going to be a key part of this investigation, although he will be under the guise as my bodyguard. Not only this but his deductive skills are quite remarkable, it would be a shame is he were to be wasted on the streets as a gun-for-hire. Nevertheless, he is a suspect in this case hence why we're wearing handcuffs. I should also tell you that he is no ordinary child. None of you are to try and talk to him about his past. However, that's beside the point." Ryuzaki lead everyone into the room with the table.
I picked up my coffee and drank a little. I received a shocked gasp from one of the younger detectives. My eyes began to glow again, I didn't really know what to do. Not that there was something I could do.
"He's that demon kid!" he exclaimed with a smile. The smile shocked me more than anything else, it kind of suggested that he was a fan of mine or something.
"Don't call me that, you don't have to do anything I tell you but if you do one thing for me, you'll never call me that again," I replied coldly.
"Don't be like that, I know all about you!"
"Then you know what I've done in the past." I put the cup down.
"That's enough small talk for now on. Let's get down to business."
Light's P.O.V
I had managed to kill all 12 FBI agent within the space of 3 days of them starting their investigation, it wasn't going to be very long until I figured out how to find L. Then again, it wasn't long before L was going to try and find me himself. I didn't know what to do.
"Hey, Light. Wanna hear something funny?" Ryuk began as I closed the death note.
"Depends." I sighed as I hid it away.
"Do you know what a Tiwinoku is? Well, when they're near, we shinigami can feel them. What's more is that a Tiwinoku can see Shinigami without touching the death note." He explained.
"So?"
"Well, if L has a Tiwinoku on his side and I'm with you, he'll be able to see me and it won't be long before L would put two and two together." Ryuk laughed.
"So you're saying this because you can feel one close by?"
"No. I just have this feeling we'll run into one of them." He chuckled.
"Damn, even if I do run into L. If he is a tiwinoku then I'm done for." I sighed.
"It wouldn't matter, most people who see a Shinigami usually die from shock, a Tiwinoku might think he's hallucinating. Hell they're all so disturbed and destructive I guess their practically born insane. Although, I did run into a tiwinoku. He was in a bad way so I granted him a little visit. I think he's still alive." Ryuk laughed.
"This is bad."
"No kidding."