SAMSARA

A Death Note/Yami No Matsuei Crossover

Prologue, Part ii

"God is dead. God remains dead. And we have killed him. Yet his shadow still looms. How shall we comfort ourselves, the murderers of all murderers? What was holiest and mightiest of all that the world has yet owned has bled to death under our knives: who will wipe this blood off us? What water is there for us to clean ourselves?"

—Friedrich Nietzsche

The small footsteps of the servant Watson echoed like scattering pebbles across the castle floor. He struggled to keep up with the long strides of the furious intruder, who had just at this moment burst through the front doors.

"Yagami-san! You may not enter without permission!"

The petite flames on some of the castle's candles flickered dangerously as Light stormed past them.

"COUNT!"

The Count nearly dropped his cup of Darjeeling as Light barged into his dining hall. His mask refracted dozens of delicate candle-lights as he rose from his chair. He was in no mood for such an affront, especially from a murderous lowlife such as this.

"What is the meaning of this, Light Yagami!?"

"I won't do it!" Light snarled. "Of all the despicable orders that could have been dealt me… did the Enma Daioh REALLY think I would agree to follow HIM!?"

Before the Count could react, Tsuzuki also came rushing into the hall. "Yagami-san, what's gotten into you? You're not allowed in here!"

He tried to draw his companion outside, grabbing him by the arm. Light, in his frenzy, shook him off. Tsuzuki stumbled, then retreated a few steps, hurt gleaming in his eyes.

"What are you talking about?" The Count demanded.

"There is no way I would ever stoop so low as to accept L as my partner! The very man who engineered Kira's downfall!"

Light was breathing heavily, still seized by his frenzy. As soon as he'd been introduced to his old foe, he had at once departed from his presence, racing out of the office, across the Ministry grounds, back to the Castle of Candles. He was determined to hold onto whatever little power he had left. If he could not spit in the face of the Enma Daioh for such an insult, then at least he could deliver a refusal to the King's representative.

Light's gaze followed the Count's mask, as he crossed the room to where Tsuzuki stood, seeming to want to comfort him.

"L was not only chosen as your partner because of his desire to supervise you. Given your shared history in the human world, and his vast knowledge regarding all aspects of the Kira case, he is by far the most qualified Shinigami to help you in your duty to us."

"I don't care!" Light roared. "I made no promise, I gave no vow! I would rather die than have anything to do with him!"

His harsh, ravaged voice died away slowly. For a long moment, the Count was silent. Light expected an angry tirade to come for his defiance. However, when he finally spoke, the Count was calm.

"Very well. If you choose not to serve your sentence with the Ministry, you will be exiled to the lesser shinigami lands on the outskirts of the Underworld. Eventually you will degenerate into a lesser shinigami yourself, and be forced to eke out a measly existence from using a Death Note of your own."

Light suppressed a shudder. "Fine."

Spinning on his heel, he strode out of the castle, slamming the door shut behind him.

Dust was everywhere. It drifted in the atmosphere, it lay thick on the ground. No wind blew to clear it away.

Light ran, and ran, and ran. He ran until the lush grass underfoot gave way to cracked grey dirt, and the felicitous blue sky was obscured by a great noxious mist. As his final after-burners of adrenalin gave out, he collapsed in this wasteland. His rasping lungs were burned by the dry, stale air.

Rolling onto his back, he took in the endless morass of oppressive clouds that hung low in the sky. In his exhaustion, a new, odd sense of restfulness came to him. This place was much closer to how he had always pictured the Underworld. Instead of a surreal technicolour parody of the mortal realm, it was perfect in its desolation.

He wondered how his degeneration would happen. Would he gradually grow misshapen, like a vine trained to become twisted and thorny? Or would the metamorphosis be instant, upon the very moment that the Count relayed his will to The Enma Daioh? He imagined his current human-like form being rapidly burned up by some divine fire, and a ghastly monster's body flashing into existence, encasing his damned consciousness within it.

Now, he felt heat in his face. A few teardrops surged down his dirty cheeks. Defiantly, he wiped them away. At some point, no doubt, a Death Note would be issued to him (most likely by another of the Enma Daioh's pompous beauracrats). He would then be able to search for some worthy mortal soul whose life was fated to be ended by another. He would save their life, murder their murderer, and then, it would all be over. It was just a matter of time.

"Well, well! Look what the cat dragged in!"

Light felt someone deliver a sharp kick to his ribs. He struggled to a sitting position.

"Ryuk?"

"Long time, no see, Kira. How's the Underworld treating y—"

Ryuk's sarcastic salutation was cut off as he began to twitch and spasm, his facial muscles ticcing wildly and his long, rangy limbs jerking gracelessly. It was deeply unsettling to witness.

Light crossed his arms. "Apple withdrawal?"

As the seizure subsided, Ryuk regained control of speech. "It's horrible," he moaned, and shook like a dog to cast off the last of the feeling. "Sometimes it lasts for hours at a time. So, what brings you to this dump? Don't tell me you chose existence in the Underworld over passing on to the afterlife. Having lost all you had in the mortal realm, I would have thought you'd want to end it."

"It was chosen for me," Light replied dourly. "The Enma Daioh sentenced me to work for the Ministry of Hades. With L."

Ryuk cackled. "Oh, how the mighty have fallen! I can only imagine how this must be eating away at you. Does L make you fetch his tea and cake?"

"Who said that I obeyed?" Indignance flashed in Light's eyes. "The Count said that if I refused, I would become a lesser shinigami like you. And even that fate is far better than having to bow down to my enemy."

Ryuk blinked his wide set eyes. "You refused? You would rather live here, in this cesspit, like us, instead of basking in sunshine at the Ministry? You may have to work for L, but you get the compensation of Ministry life! A warm bed! A form that allows you to fully interact with the mortal realm! Access to real food!... Real apples!… I'm surprised that an ambitious guy like you would turn all of that down!"

"I would. A thousand times over."

Ryuk huffed. "Hm." The two were then silent for a while.

The silver chain on Ryuk's waistband rattled. He began to finger his Death Note.

"Light…" He rumbled. His voice was slow and considered. "At the Ministry, you have easy access to the freshest apples that both the Underworld and the mortal realm can offer. If you stay with them and agree to work for L, you'd be able to provide me with a steady supply."

"You have nothing I want, Ryuk."

"Perhaps not, but…"

Ryuk opened his Death Note to a fresh page, his pen poised over the paper. Light's breath caught in his throat. What could Ryuk possibly hold over him?

The lanky creature mimed writing down some names.

"Sayu Yagami. Sachiko Yagami. You know, it would be too easy."

No. No.

Ryuk tapped the base of his pen against his long chin, in a mockery of deep reflection.

"Let's see now… infectious disease? Traffic accident? Or possibly murder-suicide…? The agony of choice…"

"RYUK!"

Light scrambled to his feet, looking hard at the shinigami.

"Don't you dare."

"Bring me apples, then."

He bowed his head, said nothing more, and began to trudge off back to the Ministry. Ryuk was about to launch into a giddy dance of triumph, but instead suffered another attack of withdrawal symptoms. He writhed on the barren earth as Light's heavy steps thudded evenly away.

Light did not look at L, and L did not look at Light.

One sat hunched in an armchair by the office window, his legs crossed, staring at the floor. The other was perched in his swivelling desk chair, absently fiddling with a discarded mochi cake wrapper. A penitent Tsuzuki leant on the desk, watching the two anxiously.

"I must say, it is an interesting development," L mused. "I had expected that your co-operation would be much harder to win."

"I'm not doing this for your sake," Light snapped.

"Of course not. But neither are you doing this for your own sake, Yagami-kun. You have put the lives of your mother and sister before your ability to rebel against me and the Ministry. I am most surprised that Kira's sense of morality could operate in this way. I assumed that humility of this kind was beyond you."

Light was about to offer a comeback, but was interrupted by L's low, insouciant drawl. "Of course, your seemingly noble act to save your family may only be dependent on the logistics of the situation. You come out as the clear moral victor in this case, and are also spared from the same sad fate as your apple-dependent friend. But what if their lives were obstructing some greatly desired goal…? Would you then be so quick to come to their aid?"

Light leapt out of his chair. "Would you stop acting like you're still on the Kira case!?"

L's gaze finally met his own. "Yagami-kun, I am still on the Kira case. My duty is, and has always been, to ensure that justice is done. My goal has been to identify Kira, and then ensure that he pays his dues, and all the loose ends of his disastrous acts are tied up. I paid with my own life to ascertain your identity. And now, in the Underworld, my objective is to aid in your penance as your partner.

L fell silent again, his attention turning to the half-empty cup of cold tea that sat on his desk.

"Oh. Watari, can you please refresh this for me?"

Watari rose from his seat in the room's second armchair, gently taking the cup and saucer from his ward. He, too, had become a Shinigami, and was still working on the Kira case.

Tsuzuki spoke up. "I apologise, this is partly my fault. Had I known of the history between you two, I would not have confronted Yagami-san with your partnership so abruptly. He has been through so much already, and to handle this atop of everything else…"

"It is quite alright, Tsuzuki-san, you had no way of knowing. I only relayed the details of my past relationship to Yagami-kun and the Kira case to the Count. I assumed that they would be of no interest or importance to anyone else."

Tsuzuki smiled wistfully. "I do hope that this arrangement works out for the two of you."

Light had sat back down again, perched upon the arm of his chair, hunched over. L picked up the now dishevelled mochi wrapper between his thumb and forefinger, dropping it daintily into the rubbish bin.

"Ah… as a matter of fact… it just now occurred to me that the freedom to dissociate from me and the Ministry would be a greatly desired goal for Kira. Despite the poverty faced as a lesser shinigami, you would still maintain some manner of personal power and victory. This, I believe, is the thing which Kira prizes above all else. Therefore, your intention to save your mother and sister from death is indeed pure. Kira is capable of selfless love. How encouraging."

"Ryuzaki…"

L smirked. "There is no longer any need to address me by that alias, Yagami-kun."

"Ryuzaki," Light repeated, "you can keep your judgements to yourself. Call me when we have some actual work to do."

He turned to leave. L grabbed him by the wrist, his pale fingers pinching at Light's skin.

"Please, Yagami-kun! You misunderstand. As you are now my partner, the task that the Enma Daioh has set you is partially my responsibility. My new intent in examining your motives is to learn how to work effectively with you. If we are to be successful, we need to know how to motivate one another. Regardless of personal feelings, do not forget that you and I have a common goal."

Light sighed, he could not disagree with this.

"I cannot say that you are an ideal partner, and I am sure you would say the same of me. But the Light Yagami I knew— both the earnest detective who investigated the Yotsuba Group with me, and the young man who murdered me for the sake of a strange and singular moral code— is a person who sincerely wished to change the world for the better. If you cannot spare any sympathy for the other Kiras whose fate has been entrusted to us, then at least think of your sister and mother."

A gentler tone entered L's voice. "It gives me hope to learn that you can extend your mercy to them, Yagami-kun." He smiled.

Light raised an eyebrow. "What's with all this 'Yagami-kun'? You used to call me 'Light-kun'."

"Well, you seem to insist on calling me 'Ryuzaki'."

Light huffed.

"Besides," L continued, "don't forget that you had me killed. Something like that tends to make one less inclined to be so familiar."

"Whatever," Light shot back, heading again for the door.

"We begin work tomorrow morning. Please meet me here at 9 o'clock," L told him.

Light shut the door on his way out.

As he headed back down the hall, he bumped into Watari, carrying a fresh tea service on a silver tray.

"Yagami-kun. Before you leave, may I have a quick word?"

A small group of Shinigami ambled past them in the opposite direction, chatting casually. One of them stared at Light for a moment before averting her gaze and whispering to her colleagues. Watari waited until they were out of earshot, set the tray down on a sideboard nearby, and turned back to Light.

"Every single effort L has made since coming to the Summons Division has culminated today. In becoming a Shinigami, his one wish is to bring the best closure possible to the Kira case. As he watched the events leading to your downfall on Earth play out, he tirelessly assisted in the safe passage of many of your victims. L would not want me telling you this, but he believes, with deep conviction, that he will see those involved with the Death Notes fully redeemed."

Light tensed, anticipating yet another confrontation. However, a pained warmth entered Watari's eyes.

"He is… was… a generous-hearted, fine upstanding boy, and a brilliant detective, without equal. I followed him into this semi-life in the Underworld, because his own keenest wish is also mine. He was taken from the world too soon. The least compensation he deserves is the absolution that he has been working so hard to realise. Please, Yagami-kun…"

Here, Watari put a hand on his shoulder.

"Please. Call upon your highest and best impulses, and do your best to co-operate with him."

A distant voice in Light's head reminded him that this heartfelt appeal was coming from an honest man, one whose death was on his hands.

"Okay," Light murmured.

Benevolence washed across Watari's face. "I am glad."

He picked up the tray and set off down the hall. He did not look at Light again.

"Oh, one more thing, Yagami-kun."

"Yes, Watari?"

"In the years I have been here, I have made sure to ingratiate myself with the Count. If you harm one single hair on L's head, I will see to it that you are punished swiftly and severely. Good afternoon."

He disappeared into L's office, leaving Light standing in the hallway, alone.