A/N: Of course, I'm thankful for every story alert and favourite I get, but please review. I can't update without them. I would also like to know what you like or don't like so that I can improve my story. Thank you for your support, you are all beautiful people. Also, what is it with Mello and kidnapping? It's all he ever seems to do, bless him.
Manipulated Living
Chapter Two: Twenty Six
The eighth hour of the evening, January the twenty-sixth.
The sun was fast sinking in the sky, bathing the world in deep oranges and dark reds. A cool winter wind whipped at the air, but this had no effect on the stoic fanatics waiting to see their idol. Kira worshippers would be willing to wait bare-backed in the snow just to catch a glimpse of a person affiliated with their God. Night after night they waited outside the NHN studio, holding their banners high with pride, whipping themselves up into a frenzy of worship. They screamed the name of Kira in praise, and Takada followed like an echo. She was a messenger from God, a disciple of the Lord and an angel of mercy.
A sleek black limo pulled up smoothly to the front of the building. First emerged a blonde foreign woman, a body guard in a tight and decidedly stylish suit, and then, to shrieks of of joy, came Kiyomi Takada. She looked as refined and unfazed as ever, a cool smile just touching her rose-petal lips. Her dark hair was perfectly coiffed in it's cute, pixie style, and she moved elegantly, her designer winter coat clinging tightly to her voluptuous curves.
The paparazzi went wild, the crowd screamed, and everyone was taken with this pure vision of a goddess.
Mello's leather-clad hands tightened their clutch on the grip of his gleaming black motorbike. He was confident of his safety for now, due to his tinted-visor; a basic necessity of body-guarding the Stars in the times of Kira. Matt had hacked in and placed him on a team in charge of Kiyomi, creating a back-story and years of experience to go with his fake name. He was currently an American immigrant called Blu Skyee. And, luckily, there were no questions asked.
Now, while he sat and waited for things to be set into motion, something akin to nervousness welled up inside of him. This was the unstable point of the plan, things hung in the balance. Everything could go smoothly and without a hitch, or everything could turn to shit. It just depended on this one moment.
Then came the smooth purr of a high-class engine, distant and soft at first, but growing in power with every millisecond. A sneering smile curled Mello's thin lips.
'Matt, I knew you'd be capable. Thank you my friend. And now … now it's time to bring Kira, no not Kira, not some faceless God – time to bring Light Yagami to his knees.'
Matt screeched into the parking lot, leaning nonchalantly out of the window, and fired his gun. The powerful and enhanced smoke bomb exploded at once, leaving a thick mist to settle about the outside of the studio. Matt was off like lightening, and Takada's army of mercenaries snapped up the bait.
Fools - not like that was a bad thing.
Mello's hawk-like eyes quickly scanned the clouded scene; though his vision was obscured by the disruption of his own plan, he managed to spot the retreating silhouettes of two familiar bodies. Lidner. She was rushing Takada into the NHN building. Hal Lidner's heavily accented Japanese fell awkwardly from her mouth: "Get inside NHN right away."
He wheeled his machine to block their path to the building. "No, we've been attacked. It's too dangerous for you to stay around or inside the NHN."
Lidner's cautious eyes flickered quickly over his figure, but they glimmered with knowledge. She was an intelligent woman, not easily fooled by disguises. He figured that even if he had not spoken, she would have worked out who he was. She pressed her rouged lips into a firm line for a second, on the brink of decision. Her steps faltered and she simply stared for several long moments, in limbo between trusting him and running.
She was taking too long.
"Hurry!" He barked. "The best thing for the moment is to get away from this place. Please get behind me, ma'am."
Lidner pressed her eyes closed and then shoved the terrified Takada forward. Lady Takada clambered onto the bike and wrapped her shaking arms around his waist in a death grip. He would have grinned, if he hadn't been signing his own death warrant.
He sped off, her grip tightening even more, so that he felt like she was trying to squeeze his stomach up through his throat. He heard the steady drone of engines, and he knew that her army of guards where coming to get him. One car crept into his line of vision; the black tinted glass was rolled down and a well build man with a buzz cut leaned out and shouted: "Okay, she's safe now. Get Lady Takada in to car seven."
Mello narrowed his eyes. I don't think so.
His sharp eyes scanned his surroundings and, with a sudden jerk, he turned the bike down a tiny alley. His shoulders nearly touched the adjacent walls, so there was no way in hell they could follow him. Everything had been taken into consideration, everything had been carefully planned out. His pride would not allow him to fuck up on his death-day.
Almost absent-mindedly, he slipped Takada's thin wrist into the handcuffs. She was tied to him now.
There was no escape for either of them.
;~;~;
Vitae watched the kidnap unfold from a hole in the Shinigami realm, her unbeating heart heavy with a pure sorrow. She knew, as well as he did, how this was going to end. She felt so powerless, so lost. If he were to die, what then? In what other pursuit could she spend her endless time? Her world was rotten; there was no beauty here, only dust and rock. There was nothing to do; she found no fun in gambling and she found the company of her comrades abominable – they were just as bland as the landscape.
If she lost him, there would be no joy in her world. She had watched over his family for over a century, father to son, over and over. She had watched them all wither and die, the ones she had adored, but they had always been replaced, and she had loved again. But Mihael was the last of his family, there was no son to take his place.
Her sewn lips quivered.
It was not even his time. The number hovering above his head was a healthy one, a long lifespan stretching on into a comfortable old age. Not like his companion, the ill fated Mail Jeevas. Poor boy, so young. But she did not love him like she loved Mihael; even if she had, there was nothing she could have done. He was fated to die on the twenty-sixth of January, and his time had come to an end.
She could not bring herself to watch him die. She had seen him many times at the orphanage with Mihael, and she was saddened by his destiny. And she was saddened for Mihael's sake. His only friend was now lost to oblivion.
And he would soon be joining him, unless she did something about it.
'The original Shinigami owners of Death Notes don't, in principle, do anything to help or prevent the deaths brought about by the notes.'
She ran it over and over again in her head. Was it a possibility?
In essence, she would not be lengthening his lifespan; just ensuring that it reached it's natural end. And killing the person writing the name was not against the rules, she was just doing her job as a Shinigami, just cutting another life short. It was perfectly fine. Perfectly, perfectly fine.
And even if it wasn't, she didn't have much of a choice.
He had the eyes of Adolphus Keehl, and he was about to die. That simply would not do.
Immortal eyes watched frantically as he swerved about the busy city, finally reaching his destination: an open truck, complete with waiting ramp. He drove smoothly up into the vehicle, just as he had planned.
Vitae swallowed. Her frozen pulse quickened. This was it, the final stage.
;~;~;
Mello had masterly manoeuvred the bike into the back of the truck. It was spacious and had enough room for himself, 'Lady' Takada and a fair few supplies. He dismounted, dragging her from the bike as well; he grabbed her wrist roughly, unlocked the handcuffs, and shoved her away. She stumbled into the opposite wall, hitting it with all of her weight.
Mello did not particularly like hitting women, but they were so weak and easy to control. And besides, this woman was connected to Kira. She deserved no mercy.
He removed his helmet and reclined easily on the bike. He knew what would happen now that she had seen his face, and a heavy feeling of regret spread through his stomach. There was no going back now. But this had to be done. It was essential. He would die, but justice would be served eventually.
"Take off everything you're wearing and put it in that box." It was said in a commanding tone, but there was an inflection of something else. Tiredness perhaps? Probably. A huge weight had been lifted from his shoulders: the vital stages of his plan had run seamlessly, and now the struggle of life was over for him. No more trials, no more tests, no more tricks – just peace, and a final thought of a girl he had once held.
He was almost glad for it. The end.
Takada put up a little fight, but after he'd given her the blanket to cover herself with, she had no more objections. The silly girl had thought she had out-foxed him; that was not the case, he had seen her take a fragment of the Death Note out of her bra, he'd just chosen to ignore it.
;~;~;
Vitae clutched her notebook to her chest. Takada had some of the Death Note – this truly was it.
Mihael would not die today. But she was not so sure of her own safety. Not that it really mattered all that much.
He was currently driving down the free-way, heading to Nagano; and it hurt the ancient Shinigami's heart to see him weep for the loss of his friend, so callously reported on all the news networks. But even though she felt his pain, she was not supposed to be keeping her eye on him. It was Kiyomi Takada that she kept her large eyes trained on.
The woman was sat hunched over in the corner of the storage space. The little piece of paper she'd been keeping concealed in her undergarments was pressed to her heart, like a precious treasure. There was a look of murder in her dark eyes.
Vitae opened her notebook, ready to strike her down at any given moment.
Time passed slowly. The truck hurtled forward in the darkness. He kept silent. She shivered, alternating between weeping and sighing. Vitae observed.
Eventually, Mello pulled into an abandoned church. His face was pained with the expression of a man with a melancholy heart. He clutched at the ornate rosary hanging about his throat and pressed it to his lips, and began to mutter a fast prayer in a low voice. He had given up God not long after coming to the orphanage, but then again, most people turned to God at the end.
Takada, seizing her chance, lurched forward, looking under the blanket for the pencil she had hidden there.
Vitae was two steps ahead of her. Her name was already written in the Immortal's book, the Kanji characters standing out bright and bold in acidic green ink.
Takada was half-way through scrawling the messy English letters on her fragment when the heart-attack hit her. Her dark, desperate eyes widened and she screamed as wave after wave of pain hit her, clenching her chest and stealing her last breath. She shrieked at the sky, her own empty life flashing before her eyes.
An absent father, a career of lies, a trail of heartbreak winding back along the years. She clawed desperately at her bare chest, trying to alleviate the crushing, clamping feeling that at grabbed her young heart; she succeeded only in painting pretty red lines across the soft, pale skin.
In her last moments, she wondered if Light would miss her. Emotionless eyes and cold kisses dictated that he would not even go to her funeral.
;~;~;
A/N: Well, it is a little tiny bit longer I guess. Next chapter: Takada dies, Mello meets Vitae and other things happen. So please, please, please review. They actually make my day. Also, how does Mello know about Light Yagami? That is to be revealed yet! So much excitement, I can barely contain myself.
