Have any ideas of the mystery is yet? Probably. Do you know the answer? If you do and you PM the answer, then I'll send you a copy of the next chapter before I actually post it.
Okay. I probably won't do a lot more A/N's. So I hope you enjoy the rest of the story. Reviews would be lovely.
Light had lost track of all the names he'd wrote down. He thumbed through the Death Note's pages for the thirteenth time that day, admiring his work. Crime rates had decreased enormously, all thanks to him. Every day, the world inched closer to his ideal utopia. His visions became the public's vision. And those who disagreed were only doing so because of the false lessons they had been taught. Human rights did not pertain to every human; if he could even call them people. They were monsters, actually. Before he had the Death Note, he would watch their atrocious crimes destroying innocence. If it hadn't been for Light-for Kira-the world would have become a Hell.
So, he had every reason to be proud of himself.
It was almost time for the six o'clock news. After Kira's existence was revealed, anchors seemed more hesitant to announce the news. Especially after L swore to catch Kira. That mindset began to change, however, as the months passed and L never got a step closer to catching Light. The only thing he knew was that Kira was in Japan and may work as either a school teacher or be a full-time student. Even after that, Light had switched up the times to confuse L. Apparently, it worked. The detective was not as brilliant as everyone claimed. Light almost laughed at how easy it was to fool him.
In fact, one day he attempted a trick to see if he could throw L off. He had a prisoner write a message on the wall to see if he could control people before they died. It had worked.
The prisoner carved in the wall with his knife, "Save me". After that, the news blasted for weeks that Kira's victims were aware that Kira was killing them just before they died. Light continued to play with this idea. Criminals would cry before they died, begging someone for help. He made one even write a suicide note, stating that he would rather take his own life, instead of Kira. Another criminal had drawn several rotten apples before his heart stopped pumping. Prison guards, according to the news, stayed on their toes, trying to see if they could prevent the deaths. But, nothing worked. Once their name was written, they were dead.
Then, Light ceased with the experiment. The news casters debated whether Kira was toying with the public, or it was all a strange coincidence. Light searched for L's opinion on the matter, but never found it. In fact, it had been a few months since he heard about L. Maybe the "detective" was off the case. He wasn't getting far anyway. Light smirked, glad that he had retreated. L wasn't much of a threat, anyway. The only real thing the detective had done was prevent some people from agreeing with Kira/Light's ideology sooner.
"Light," Ryuk groaned. "I want apples."
"After the news," Light promised.
The Shinigami had been restless for the past month. Light figured it was because nothing exciting was occurring, at least not on the surface. The truth was the excitement would come at the destination. This stage was the journey, the epic journey that would be told to generations to come. Every epic has a set end, and the world would soon find itself in an existence better than was ever imagined. Light figured even he would be impressed. Humans were capable of so much, but the criminals drained the capability and made people regress. Without them, progress would be possible.
Light smiled at that idea. "Kira leads the world to start a journey to human progress. The results will be the Garden". If Light ever had the chance, he decided he would write a book about Kira. He told this idea to Ryuk. The Shinigami chuckled.
"You write a book about yourself? That's not very modest."
"The world needs to know that Kira is not evil as some claim," Light sighed, wishing he didn't have to explain it to Ryuk. "If I can convince those who are stuck in an old fashioned ideology that this new, modern outlook is the righteous path, it will make my job much easier. There won't be protesters against Kira and people will want to be good. Any pre-notions that evil is 'cool' will be wiped away. Babies will be born pure, and people will die pure."
"Pure? You believe that is progress?"
"Yes," Light nodded. "You can trace humans back to when they were cavemen, yet you will never find a period where man was completely pure and innocent. It just wasn't possible. But, if criminals are wiped from the Earth, there will be no one to spread the bad seeds nor to corrupt children. The temptation to sin will no longer be available, either, if I continue my reign."
The Shinigami stared at Light, his eyes wide. Light couldn't read his expression; Ryuk was too far from being a human. Yet, Ryuk had revealed emotions coarse through his veins. He only slipped a few times, but Light caught him. Of course, he would never tell Ryuk that he knew the Shinigami's secret. After all, it became easier to manipulate Ryuk. And his weakness for apples made him Light's pet. All in all, the Shinigami wasn't bad company as long as his mouth wasn't running. He talked a lot when he was bored.
Light said after he glanced at his watch. One minute until six o'clock. Suddenly, he had the desire to take a walk. There was always the ten o'clock national news; he would have to keep his television low so he didn't wake his parents. He stood up and stretched his arms over his head. After sliding the Death Note into the secret compartment in his drawer, he turned to Ryuk.
"Let's go to the market. I'll buy you a bunch of apples." The Shinigami's eyes lit up.
The navy blue sky was sprinkled with stars, who were just opening their sleepy eyes to welcome the night. Ryuk obediently followed Light down the street, strangely silent. Light didn't let it bother him, though. The marker was nearly empty on account of the time. Only a few stands remained, and even their stocks were running bare. The nearly deserted market reminded Light of a horror film he had once seen about a crazy village. Too bad the movie wasn't frightening, or else Light might have turned away. When they reached the apple stand, Light stood, admiring the perfect red apples. It was the only stand completely filled with the product. The apples were all noticeably fresh and in their prime. It was perfect timing. Light picked out a few of the more dazzling apples, spinning them in his hand.
The seller stood quietly, observing Light as he admired the apples. Light settled on the brightest of the bunch and reached for a paper bag. The seller snatched it before Light could touch it and opened the bag up.
"Which ones?"
"I think I'll just take these five," Light informed the seller, pulling his wallet from his back pocket. "How much?"
"Free of charge," the seller watched him with a vacant expression. His yellow teeth, barely peaking through his pink lips, gave Light an unsettling pit in his stomach.
"Thanks," Light said, clutching the bag of apples. The stranger made him feel uneasy, especially since Light couldn't read his expression. He studied the stranger's face a bit more, then decided he should be on his way before he gave the man the wrong impression.
"Have a good night," he muttered and turned to start his trek home.
"What's your name?" the stranger suddenly asked.
Light halted, unsure of what to make of the gesture. The thought of the man's stoic stare sent shivers down his spine, but he decided he was just letting the nighttime get under his skin. Besides, Light Yagami was unstoppable. He turned back to face the man, whose eyes flickered above Light's head for a brief moment, then locked back on Light's own eyes. Light searched for some form of emotion, some glimmer of laughter, but the man's gaze remained hollow. "Yagami Light, sir. And what's yours?"
"My name is Nori," the stranger answered, pulling a pack of cigarettes from his pocket. "Do you smoke?"
"No," Light shook his head, wondering if he should have kept walking.
Nori shrugged and struck a match, lighting the cigarette. "This is my first time in this neighborhood. I like to travel and sell my apples wherever I can. That's why I'm here so late."
This Nori was becoming more suspicious by the second. Light had never heard of a traveling apple salesman, but he had to give the man the benefit of the doubt. He just would be careful about everything he said, in case, somehow, L was onto him. It was impossible, of course, but there wasn't anything wrong with being too careful. He decided he would talk to the man, see if he gave himself away at all. Or maybe he was just a lonely apple salesman-but Light highly doubted it.
"Do you own an apple orchard?"
"Yes. It's about a two hour drive from here," Nori took a long drag from his cigarette.
When it pulled it from his lips, smoke poured out of his nose. Light wanted to ask him where the farm was, but if it was in a rural town, he probably never heard of it anyway. Nori could say any word that came to the top of his head. Of course, Light would have looked it up later. If this man was lying, though, he probably would've looked up a rural town a few hours away. And if he wasn't lying, then he gave Light the creeps for worse reasons. Maybe his name would wind up in the Death Note.
"I'm assuming you live close by, right?"
Light decided it didn't matter whether Nori was suspicious of Light or just an ordinary apple farmer; there was something strange about him and Light didn't want to stick around to find out what. "Yes. Actually, my mother wanted me to be back for night time. I'm a little late so I should hurry home so she doesn't worry. It was nice meeting you," he snapped on his heels and took off before the stranger could say anything else. Yet, he could feel Nori's eyes digging into the back of his neck until he turned a corner.
He leaned against the wall and glanced around to make sure he was alone. Then, he rummaged through the brown bag and pulled out a shiny apple for Ryuk. The Shinigami devoured it, chomping loudly. Ryuk moaned unnecessarily as he finished the last bit and swallowed the core.
"Thanks, Light," he chirped. "Is your mom actually waiting for you?"
"No."
"Did that guy give you the creeps as well?" Ryuk snickered. "Humans don't usually frighten me, but there was something wrong with that guy. Maybe it was his smile."
Light stared at the Shinigami's own plastered smile. How would it feel to spend eternity with a permanent smile? It was like having lockjaw. Ryuk never frowned, even if he was in a bad mood, because he couldn't. His chilling grin would continue to give the illusion that he was happy all the time, but Light knew better. The Shinigami was actually quite lonely and bored, which is why he dropped the Death Note in the first place. Of course, Ryuk would never admit he was lonely, but it was just another one of his traits that Light used to his advantage.
"Yes, you're probably right." He tossed Ryuk another apple. If Nori was following him, he would just have to be extra careful while using the Death Note. As long as he only used it in his room, there was no way he would get caught. And if Nori wasn't following him, Light hoped he would never run into him again.