Warning: Rated T. Also, beware of spoilers.

Author's Note: Here is the second part! I have also gone and fixed up my rather embarrassing mistake with the name orders in the first chapter. That's what I get for mixing translated manga with un-translated anime! It all gets jumbled in the head, especially after 10pm. Somebody slap me on the wrist if I'm caught doing it again. Also, I should point out that I've decided to write all four parts in Light's perspective, even though the prospect of writing a chapter from Watanuki's point of view is an intriguing one. Maybe this means this fic would be better posted in the Death Note category? I'm not sure. Unless people say otherwise, though, I'm going to stick with the unofficial 'Harry Potter crossover rule' which is that the crossover is always posted to the category with the smaller fandom.

Thanks also to all of the people who reviewed! I was surprised that so many people showed interest. That is rad. I hope you enjoy this chapter as well.


Addicted to Death

Chapter Two – Discussing Fate

By Sinnatious

Two days later Light Yagami could be found standing outside a high school wearing a hooded jacket, observing the students streaming from its gates with a careful eye. When he caught sight of a trio heading for the street, he withdrew a little, waiting until they were halfway down the block before drawing the hood closer around his face and stepping out to follow. A careful glance behind him revealed that Ryuk was floating some distance behind, as planned. Hiding his face was meaningless if Watanuki happened to just glance back and catch sight of the hulking Death God. As it was, Light was staying a paranoid distance away as he trailed the youth. There was a risk of losing sight of his target staying so far back, but it was preferable to lose him going around a corner than to alert him to the fact that he was being followed.

He'd spent what little spare time he'd had over the past two days investigating the strange teen, starting with his school. While sifting through the school's records he'd discovered, much to his surprise given the tidiness of the teen's appearance, that Watanuki was an orphan and that he was indeed born on April 1st. His grades were decent but nothing spectacular, except for the Home Economics elective that he excelled at and sports in which he was slightly above average. Apparently there was some agility hidden underneath that weak-looking exterior. Then again, L had been amazingly proficient at tennis, despite the fact that the now-deceased detective had led a ridiculously unhealthy lifestyle. Appearances could be deceiving.

There had been no other aberrations in the youth's profile, save for a number of reports from guidance counsellors who thought the student a bit strange and were slightly unnerved by his proneness to talk to himself, but they nearly always wrote it off as being related to loneliness after his parents' deaths. Light was mildly troubled that he couldn't find any information on that issue other than the date of their deaths when he searched through the police database, but aside from those minor anomalies, Kimihiro Watanuki was painfully ordinary. Except, of course, for the fact that he could see shinigami.

Which was why Light was now following the teen, hoping to find some clues as to how it might be possible. So far, though, Watanuki had not exhibited any more unusual behaviour. He was walking home with a tall, athletic, serious-looking individual and a short, petite, curly haired girl. They made an odd-looking trio. Even from a distance it was obvious that the blue-eyed youth held a candle for the girl, though his relationship with the other boy was a little more confusing. It was hard to tell whether the occasional fits and spastic outbursts at the other were over exaggerated banter or genuine conflict, though given that the taller boy hardly reacted, he was inclined to believe it the former.

It was easier to follow without being noticed when the three parted ways, and much more interesting as well. The extroverted youth walking home with his friends seemed to deflate into a straight-faced, brooding individual as soon as they were gone. Watanuki also acted a little paranoid - glancing left and right every now and again - but Light didn't get the impression that it was because of him. Was the high schooler perhaps involved in some shady organization after all?

Despite the paranoid activity, the college student-turned-administrator of divine justice was already beginning to wonder if this was an exercise in futility. Kimihiro Watanuki was strange, certainly, but he hadn't yet gained any clues as to how the youth could see Ryuk. Observing the teen for the couple of hours he could spare was realistically not enough time in which to expect anything notable to be revealed, but Light couldn't afford to be missing for too long or the Kira investigation team he was supposed to be leading might get curious about what was eating his time. After the privileges he'd been granted as L, it was hard to go back to such old-fashioned information gathering methods, too. It was necessary, though, to try and discover where exactly Watanuki fit in to the grand scheme of things. Did he have a Death Note of his own? Even if the teen had the eyes, however, it still didn't explain how he could see Ryuk - unless Ryuk had been up to more mischief while back in the Shinigami World.

He was surprised by what greeted him when the youth finally arrived at his destination. Light had to blink a few times to make sure what he was seeing was real. On what he could have sworn had been an empty block of land a second ago sat a traditional-looking house complete with wind chimes and tiled roof, although upon closer inspection it could actually be a shop. Cautiously, he approached the wooden gate - his target had obviously already gone inside by the time he arrived there. Was this a report to the headquarters of some organization out to destroy Kira, a part time job, or merely something as innocuous as visiting an elderly relative? The last one he could probably rule out, given the youth's lack of extended family, but the first possibility was rather disquieting.

For a moment, Light found himself indecisive. It was all too suspicious for him to just leave it alone, even though he had no alibi for entering the place. He could probably make up some sort of plausible story of wanting to use the phone, though, and pass it off as coincidence if Watanuki recognised him. Absently, he turned off his own mobile phone to avoid getting caught out in the lie.

Just as he was about to step past the fence, though, Ryuk's gravelled voice halted him.

"I shouldn't go in there," the Death God announced without preamble.

Light paused at that. "You shouldn't or you can't?" There hadn't ever been anywhere that the Shinigami hadn't followed him before.

The Death God seemed agitated. "What's so important about this? Why can't we go somewhere else?"

Ignoring the complaining Shinigami, Light stepped through the gates, eyes roaming over the premises in an effort to gather as much information as possible. Such a place in Tokyo should be an impossibility - a traditional house, complete with a spacious yard, surrounded on all sides by high-rise buildings? It had to be worth a fortune given the premium for land in even the outer suburbs of Tokyo - developers should have bought out this piece of real estate decades ago. So the people he was dealing with were obviously filthy rich – and wealth tended to equal power. Watanuki was apparently even more of a curiosity than he first thought. It would be prudent to tread lightly, since he didn't really know what he was dealing with. But Light was confident enough to proceed, armed with a piece of Death Note, his wit, and his aliases.

As soon as he had entered the yard, what sounded like a muffled voice came from the side of the house. "Hello?" he asked, politely heading to the side of the yard sporting a well.

"Oh, we have a customer?" a whimsical female voice floated from within. A moment later, an old-fashioned shoji slid aside to reveal a tall, thin woman dressed in an ornate kimono that was showing far too much leg and shoulder to be considered appropriate. She moved in a languid and graceful manner, oozing a confidence and sexuality that would make almost any man stammer and blush in her presence.

Light Yagami was not just any man. He met her gaze squarely, unperturbed. He'd not yet met a woman he couldn't manipulate to his will. Making sure to turn on the charm, he greeted her with the slightest of bows and the subtlest of smiles. "Sorry to intrude. Ryuuga Hideki, pleased to meet you." It was poetic justice, he felt, that he now used one of L's aliases.

To his slight surprise, though he didn't show it, the woman's face went still and her eyes turned cold. "I know who you are. But you have no need to be in my shop."

"No need? What is it that you sell? And might I have your name?" It was unspeakably rude not to give your name after someone had given theirs, but the criminal genius reigned in his irritation. It wasn't hard after all the practice L had given him with his array of bad habits, after all.

"Yuuko Ichihara. Don't bother writing it down - it's an alias. Only a fool would freely give out their full name these days, right 'Ryuuga'?" She smiled at that, a sickly sweet smile that made Light unquestionably paranoid.

He'd come to gather information, to determine whether or not these people were a threat, but suddenly he was beginning to feel out of his depth.

Ryuk reluctantly followed him into the yard at last, and to Light's discomfort and alarm, the woman noticed him almost immediately. "Oh, my, isn't this a surprise. Though it's to be expected. You're certainly a naughty one, though I've not yet met one who isn't. Does the King know you're here?"

Ryuk was looking uncomfortable - Light half-expected the shinigami to start sweating. It was hard to decide which was more unsettling - the fact that this woman could see Ryuk and was even less perturbed by his presence than what the boy named Watanuki had been, or that she could actually make the shinigami uncomfortable. This woman was a threat that needed to be eliminated. He had to discover her true name.

"Oh, don't be like that. Unlike 'Ryuuga' here, you can't help what you are. Watanuki! Bring some apples for our guest!" She even knew about the apples?

"Come on in, then," the woman who had introduced herself as Yuuko continued airily. "I know you're going to, whether you're invited or not."

This Yuuko was mildly infuriating, but Light followed her anyway, even though it was hard to shake the sensation that he was willingly entering the lion's den.

They sat down at a table, the high school youth he'd been following emerging after a moment carrying a tray with tea and apples on it, wearing an apron over his school uniform. It was part-time work after all, apparently. Watanuki visibly started when he caught sight of them, though his expression was schooled back into bored indifference almost immediately.

"You've met, I see?" Yuuko drawled.

"Briefly, on the train two days ago. That was the only time." Watanuki set out the tea politely, jerking his hand away hastily when Light reached for his cup. Curious. The teen offered an apple to the Death God hovering somewhat anxiously by the door, who accepted it with more reverence than what the shinigami ever showed his usual host. Ryuk's lidless gaze followed the youth for a long moment before he ate the apple in three gulps.

"You were followed," Yuuko intoned pleasantly, sounding rather like she was discussing a pair of new shoes rather than berating her worker. "Didn't you suspect?"

"I'm always being followed by something or another. How was I supposed to know it was him?" The blue-eyed youth replied resentfully. More useful morsels of information.

"Hm. Well, you've only created trouble for yourself." The woman leaned forward, pipe in hand. It was very strange to see anyone using such old fashioned pipes these days, but the smoke from it didn't smell like any known narcotic; not even opium like one would expect in a place like this. Light almost would have preferred if it was. People with drug dependencies were pathetically easy to manipulate. "You're a very interesting person, 'Ryuuga', I'll give you that. Most people would have collapsed under that weight by now. You don't even seem to notice. I guess it doesn't work so well on the clear-headed after all."

"What weight?" It wasn't as though Light wasn't used to talking in riddles with Misa and L all the time, but typically those were riddles he knew the answers to.

"If you don't know, then it's better that I don't tell you. Unless you're here for a wish, I'm not going to interfere."

"A wish?"

She leant back again, crossing her legs and extending an arm as she did so. Most anyone else would have looked like a drama queen, posing in such a fashion, but Yuuko managed to make it look perfectly natural.

"My shop grants wishes. For a price, of course." Her lazy grin was like that of a cat that had caught the canary and framed the dog. "Would you like for me to grant your wish?"

"Any wish?"

"Whatever is your heart's desire. Though I should point out that the cost for, say, killing someone or bringing someone back to life is higher than what any mortal would be able to pay."

"I see. In that case, I rather expect that I am unable to pay your prices." Light had abandoned any attempts at playing nice or being charming. Clearly it was a waste here. "That's just a hunch, of course." If the deal for the eyes cost half of your lifespan with a shinigami, he was completely uninterested in asking about it with this woman, who seemed more like a loan shark than a wish-granting fairy godmother. Besides, this was clearly some sort of occult shop if the décor and trinkets lying around were any indication. Even if it seemed to have more validity than most - given that neither of the occupants seemed at all intimidated by Ryuk - the notion that they could grant any wish at all struck him as absurd.

Then again, it was only a couple of years ago that the notion of Shinigami struck him as absurd too. And Ryuk's lack of mocking laughter so far seemed to indicate that there was at least some truth in these outlandish claims.

"Hmm, I suppose that would be the case. Such a shame."

Light could feel that was his cue to leave, but he was far from finished yet. These people were more possibly more dangerous than he first supposed, and before he could take any action to eliminate this threat, he needed information. Primarily whether they had told anyone else about his identity, and whether they had any ties to any particular group.

He glanced over at the apron-clad youth, who was hovering by the door listening in. Realizing that he'd been noticed, the teen hurried back inside to the kitchen. "And I take it that your employee is here working off a wish, then? What did Watanuki wish for?" Light put a special emphasis on 'Watanuki', letting the woman know that he knew her precious employee's name. If she knew about Shinigami, then she was sure to recognise the significance.

"You're referring to Kimihiro Watanuki, spelled like April 1st?" she mimicked, a cat-like smile spreading across her lips. "I do keep telling him to be more careful with his name, but it's early yet."

Light wasn't sure exactly what that meant, but it didn't seem important. What was important was that she'd responded to his veiled threat with such a cavalier attitude. Either she didn't care at all about her employee's life, or there was something she knew that he didn't.

Crossing his arms and leaning back, the college student repeated, "So, what was his wish?"

"That's confidential, I'm afraid. I'm sure you understand, what with your line of work and all."

He raised a single brown eyebrow at that, feigning nonchalance. "My line of work? You've overestimated my age, I'm afraid. I'm still only a college student."

"Of course you are."

This was going nowhere, and he was starting to lose his temper over how difficult the woman was insisting on being - not to mention that having some stranger he'd just met speak as though she was so certain of his secret identity was more than just a little unsettling. Leaning back in and narrowing his eyes, Light hissed, "What is this place? How is any of this possible?"

"How is it possible that people all over the world die before their time every day?" she retorted mildly.

Light stood abruptly. "I don't need to listen to this. If I cannot acquire answers from you, I'll simply acquire them from your worker."

"Very well then."

"You're not going to try to stop me?" he asked dubiously. Even if the woman didn't seem to care in the slightest that Watanuki could be killed any time, their brief exchange indicated some sort of bizarre relationship that surely was worth something.

"I don't need to," she replied serenely. "Your fate has already been decided. It is inevitable."

"I don't believe in fate." Not her kind of fate, anyway.

"Really? Can you be so sure that your encounter with Watanuki on the train was not fate? That this meeting is not fate?"

"The train was a coincidence. This meeting is merely a result of that coincidence." Light hadn't particularly wanted to take the bait, but the smug look on the woman's face gave him the intense desire to crush her completely. It had been a long time since anybody had dared look down on or underestimate him, and it chafed more than expected.

"If you think so. Either way, how you choose to accept your fate is what defines you in the end. And this will teach Watanuki a valuable lesson."

"What lesson is that?"

Her grin was decidedly wicked. "To take greater care of his name, for one." She stood up in a rustle of expensive fabric and leaned forward, drawing uncomfortably close, but Light resisted the urge to back away, a distant part of his mind considering that had she been there, Misa would have likely tried to slap the woman by now for daring to get so close to her beloved. "And secondly, that some of the worst creatures in the world aren't spirits, but humans."

If there was any doubt left in his mind that Yuuko Ichihara knew exactly who he was, it vanished then.

"You're awfully cruel to your employee. I could kill him, you know."

"Maybe. But he has a destiny of his own. You'll play your part it in, however unpleasant it may be."

This entire meeting had been a complete waste of time. If anything, he would have been better off if he'd never come. "Come on, Ryuk, we're not staying."

"Bye bye, Shinigami! Say hello to the King for me!" She transformed back into a carefree, slightly tipsy woman in the space of a second, flapping a hand cheerily at them as they walked down the cobblestone path back to the fence. Ryuk shuddered, following the Death Note user closely as they made their way to the exit. Watanuki was sweeping leaves near the gate, but he stopped and backed away as they approached, blue gaze silently following the disgruntled pair as they left the strange property.

Light refused to be played like that. It was humiliating. He would show Yuuko Ichihara exactly what it meant to deal so flippantly with Kira.

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