Death Note: 23 Days Later

Entry 2: Separate Ways

"How can you be so calm about it?"

I sat hunched on the floor of SPK headquarters, a pile of rubix cubes beside me. As I finished solving the one I held, I carefully placed it atop of the neat stack in front of me before taking a new one from the pile.

"Quite simply; there is no practical benefit to be gained from panic or frustration in this situation," I answered reasonably as I set to work on my fresh rubix cube, "An emotional response of any sort will not resolve the problem, therefore I see no reason to get worked up about it."

"So what you're saying is that we all have only twenty three days left to live, and there's not a thing any of us can do about it?" asked Lidner, holding up the Notebook that had been used by the most recent Kira.

"That is correct," I said, stacking yet another finished rubix cube. I hesitated as I reached for a new one, my hand frozen in place as I frowned slightly. "For what it's worth," I added, "I'm sorry it came to this. I consider this predicament to be the result of my own failings."

Leaning against a bank of computers with his arms folded, Rester shook his head. "We all knew the risks involved. This wasn't your fault, Near."

I snorted at that and picked up another cube. It was nice of him to say so, but he was wrong. It was my fault. I was in charge of the SPK, I called the shots, and my leadership had been insufficient to catch the latest Kira before he had been able to write our names down in his Notebook. If anyone was to blame, it was me, and I wasn't about to start making excuses for myself. I heard Gevanni sigh.

"So what now then? What are we supposed to do?"

I held up my newly solved cube and stared at it for a moment. "Whatever you want," I replied, "Consider yourselves all on vacation for the next three weeks. I suggest you use the time to visit your friends and family ... set your affairs in order, make arrangements, that sort of thing."

"And what are you going to do?"

I placed the cube at the very top of the stack in front of me and then carefully nudged it into place with my finger. "I'm an orphan with no social skills," I said without any bitterness or regret, "I have no friends or family, and my funeral arrangements were set in place years ago. I intend to remain here and work on the problem until the end."

This drew various startled looks from the team, save for Roger, who sat with his back to the rest of us. I did notice him turn his head slightly though. Lidner blinked with surprise at my statement.

"You still think there might be a chance to stop us from dying?" she asked, her voice tinged with just a faint trace of hopefulness. I withdrew my finger and regarded the stacked cubes critically, my mind calculating.

"I estimate a one percent probability that I might be able to find some way to overcome the Notebook."

"One percent?"

"More like half of a percent," I admitted with a bemused smirk, "I rounded up, since I'm a glass half-full kind of person."

There was more, but that was about the size of it. I asked them all to keep in touch in the event I needed to contact any of them for whatever reason, but when they left, the general understanding was that the situation was hopeless and that we all had a sword hanging over our heads. Nevertheless they actually seemed grateful to me for being able to buy us all twenty three days of time to say their goodbyes and such.

I on the other hand had no goodbyes to give to anyone. I had spoken the truth before - I had no friends, and to my knowledge no family either. The closest thing to a friend I ever had was Mello, and he was dead. Therefore I resolved to spend what time I had left trying to get more time. My final twenty-three days would be devoted to finding some way to escape the Notebook's clutches, to cheat my seemingly inevitable fate.

"Are you still here?" I asked Roger as I reached for another rubix cube. He half turned in his chair and regarded me out of the corner of his eye. He seemed thoughtful.

"Near ..."

"Yes?"

There was a lengthy pause before he continued. "Have you given any thought to a successor?"

A good point. Since there was a high probability that my efforts might end in failure, it would be prudent to secure a replacement, someone to take on the name of L should I die. I stopped in the middle of solving my current cube and stared at the thing, thinking the matter over. After a moments contemplation I finished the cube and stacked it before giving my answer.

"Yes," I said, "Send for Linda."

He nodded and then departed to make the necessary arrangements. When at last I was alone, I stood and climbed into a nearby chair. I perched in my usual fashion and reached out to lay a finger on the Notebook, which Lidner had left on the table.

"Ryuk," I said aloud.

"Hello again, human," the Shinigami answered in turn. I didn't take my eyes off the Notebook, I was too busy considering something important. After a while I smiled.

"How would you like to earn a barrel full of apples?"

That got a reaction. I heard him 'oooh!' at that, and saw the towering dark figure move about out of the corner of my vision. My smile remained.

"Where do you Shinigami get these Notebooks from?" I asked.

"From the Old Man of course."

"Old Man?"

"The Shinigami King," Ryuk explained, almost salivating at the prospect of a whole barrel full of juicy apples. My eyes widened slightly at the name. Well well, a king? I drummed my fingers on the Notebook absent mindedly.

"Tell me Ryuk," I said slowly, "Would it be possible for me to meet with this 'Shinigami King'?"