Chapter 4: The New Player
"If he's not the one following me, who is he? And why didn't you tell me this sooner, Ryuk?"
Ryuk only laughed. Light knew he'd get no answers from the shinigami and turned instead to watch Harry sip his tea from the reflection of his phone. The counter counted down until Light held his breath in anticipation.
39. 40.
Nothing. Harry sipped at the tea and didn't so much as twitch.
"It been fourty seconds. Why isn't he getting up?"
Light scowled and paced in the alleyway, heartbeat frantic – faster even than when he'd seen the stranger in his kitchen and knew he had to kill him. Just another block moved from his path to wiping the scum off the face of the Earth and creating his utopia.
Light pulled out the sheet from the Death Note and read over his instructions.
Harry Potter dies of an accident after writing down his motives and sealing them in an envelope which he places underneath the rock by the second tree of Tongling park. Steps out onto the road and his site of death at 1.15pm.
"A fake name?" Light clenched his fists and crumpled the page into a ball. He should have expected it. Next time he'll have to ask for an ID, but how to do that without raising suspicion?
"Remember," Ryuk said, looming over his shoulder. "We can make the deal at any time. All you need to do is request."
The shinigami's grin stretched full across his face and with Ryuk's spread of spiky hair he appeared quite like the devil. Light wasn't nearly fool enough to deal with the devil.
"No. I've said already that the new world will need me as its God. I will not trade away my time for this Potter."
Ryuk let out a belt of laughter which sent Light searching back through his words. Which was it? There was a clue in here somewhere. Was it Potter? Did Harry lie about his other name?
"Damnit, Harry Potter, or whoever you are," Light muttered. "What were you doing in my house?"
It was bad enough his mother and Sayu had seen the man… it would prove problematic if an investigation was held over his death but Light had been confident he'd be able to make it seem like an accident.
Think through this logically. He isn't with the police – his father had no records of a man fitting Harry's appearance, but it was obvious Harry knew something. For a second back at the house Light thought he saw Harry react to Ryuk's laughter.
But that was impossible. He'd taken the utmost of care with his Death Note and every safe guard had been in place and been untouched. It would be too farfetched to believe that man would walk into his house with the ability to see Ryuk but not react beyond twitching a smile.
Did L send him? Light suspected his follower to be an agent sent by L and assumed that Harry was the one, but Ryuk's comment would have him believe otherwise. The detective was stepping up the pace if he was going behind the Japanese police force and Light would have allowed himself to feel satisfied if it weren't for the danger that the wildcard, Harry, posed.
The man didn't have the right feel for an agent. Light had caught him staring at everyday objects like he had never seen them before – electricity lines, a remote control car, a mailbox. Harry seemed like he was a few marbles from being completely there, although Light couldn't say if that, too, was a ruse.
It was too early in the game for Light to let such a potential disaster walk away but now it seemed he had failed his first attempt. No, he hadn't failed. He had learned from this and perhaps the situation could yet be salvaged.
He had to go back there. Whatever Harry Potter was doing here, Light needed to get to the bottom of it. So far, he shouldn't have given anything away – to Harry or his as yet undiscovered follower. The last few days he'd been a model student, and now, what was odd about a coffee stop before he finished grocery shopping? If he was a bit overly trusting, that couldn't be a fault. It certainly didn't make him Kira.
Harry was smiling when he returned and Light acted like nothing had happened. His coffee was cold, but he nursed it as if it was fresh.
"Good, you're back. Light, I've been meaning to ask… Have you ever heard the tale of three brothers?"
Three brothers? For a wild moment Light thought Harry was going to confess his relation, that he was a long lost brother com to join the family despite his obviously foreign appearance. What fancy, Light thought in disgust.
The Harry shook his head and sighed. "Of course you wouldn't. It's not a story someone like you would be familiar with. In any case, it goes like this. I hope you don't mind humouring an old- uhh, don't mind humouring me."
What was that? What had he cut off? An old man? And had there been a tinge of superiority? To think that anyone would be superior to Light. He'd play along for now, but this story is not something Light had foreseen.
"Ohhh this should be good," Ryuk said.
Light watched Harry carefully for any sign he'd heard, but the man did not react at all.
"So. Long ago, and stay with me here, Death met three brothers."
Light felt a shiver travel down his spine. Death. Light wasn't a stranger to death. It was necessary to cleanse the trash, and Light was willing to dished as much out as was necessary but it was as if Harry spoke of a different thing entirely.
"They were from a family called the Peverells, and each managed to best Death in their own way and Death rewarded each with a gift. The first, a ring that would call the dead back to the living; the second, a cloak to make the wearer invisible; and the third, a wand that would be unbested in battle. Together they made the Deathly Hallows and the one who possess all three makes the Master of Death."
Light struggled to keep his face neutral. What was this nonsense now? A children's story? Light didn't know how to respond. Should he be entertained? Was there hidden meaning in the story? His eyes hardened. Was it a code?
As if sensing his disbelief, Ryuk floated straight up out of the table between Light and Harry, wicked grin still in place. "Come, Light. You would believe in shinigami and Death Notes but you falter at the thought of a Master?"
Harry sucked in a hard breath and Light narrowed his eyes at the man. Ryuk spun lazily around so he too faced Harry who stared at them both in a kind of shocked gaze. His eyes moved from Ryuk to Light, then back to Ryuk again before settling on an annoyed expression.
"Great," the man muttered. "I've been played for a fool haven't I?"
It was like Light's mind was running several seconds slower than normal. It took him a blink before he caught up with the sheer implausibility of what was being revealed. Ryuk's laughter rang through his head, the memory of it clashing with the present.
He clenched the table and fought down a burst of laughter. This wasn't real. This couldn't be real. Light dragged in a deep breath and made a concerted effort of pulling himself together.
Harry put his head in his hands and said something that sounded like, "Well, that's one gnome out of the garden." Light didn't know whether or not to believe his ears anymore.
He realised the hand holding the coffee was shaking and put the cup down before it could spill.
"Look to your left, Light," Ryuk said with a grin.
Unthinkingly, Light did just as the shinigami asked and stared right into the interested eyes of a man in a trench coat. They both broke the gaze at the same time and Light knew at once that this was the one who had been following him.
And now L would know.
What was L going to know? Too much. Light could afford to blunder again with this one, especially if that story about the Master of Death was true. Especially if he was sitting across the table from Light.
It couldn't be. Could it?
"Well, now that you know I know, and I know you know… well, how about we get down to business. Ryuk, tell me-"
"Shut up. Not here," Light hissed and cut Harry off.
Harry glowered and for the first time since meeting the man, Light noticed the deep, imposing glow in the emerald of his eyes. Light sat back, intimidated.
"There are listeners around us," Light stressed.
"And they won't hear anything."
Light stared back, doubtful. He didn't dare look back at the man in the trench coat but he could hear everyone else just fine and was sure that every word was travelling back to snake into L's ears.
Harry rubbed his temples. "Look, just trust me, alright? No one's going to hear us."
Trust? Trust? How could Light trust this man? Did he know what he was asking for? Especially of Light, especially now. Harry must have taken Light's silence as assent.
"Ryuk," he said again. "You need to stop doing whatever it is that's keeping the others caught up. I know it's been a while but I'm here now and Merlin forbid we delay this any further. Do you know how many souls we've screw up? How much of a backlog we're going to have?"
Ryuk for once, lost his grin and scratched at the back of his head in an extremely human gesture of embarrassment.
"Well, ehh, Master. I don't know if I can do that. And I don't know if the others would be happy if they found out their bets wouldn't be won or lost."
It was true. Light couldn't stop his sharp inhale. Hearing Ryuk confirm his suspicions… This changed things. He'd have to change his plans, take Harry, the apparent Master of Death, into account, and – Oh Kami what was someone like him doing here? Wasn't a shinigami enough?
"Right. Right, the king had something like that. Bloody hell. Alright, what is it? What's gotten you damned reapers in such a mood? Tell me."
Light was keenly aware that Harry hadn't garnered any attention as he talked into the air. People continued with their conversations and Light found himself slowly giving in to Harry's words. Did he have some sort of supernatural selective noise dampening ability? The shinigami had their eyes, that much Light knew, and were invincible until their years ran out. Their Master would no doubt be the same.
Light snorted and felt the crumpled up piece of the Death Note still in his pocket. He'd tried to kill the Master of Death.
Ryuk turned to Light, who was instantly suspicious of the attention. The shinigami looked at him knowingly, malicious amusement in every line of his face. "Why don't you tell him, Light? I'm only here for the ride, after all."
Then, with increasing apprehension, Light looked up into the judging stare of the Master of Death. A notebook that could kill, shinigami, the country's police, the undefeated L, the daunting task of removing crime from the face of the Earth. All of that he could handle, but Light knew this being here was something else.
His greatest weapon useless, Ryuk subversive and without a way out, Light knew he couldn't fight Death. A glimmer of hope returned as he saw the path. He could not destroy this wildcard but he could recruit Harry to his cause. If there was one thing Light was confident in, it was his ability to take advantage of opportunities. That's right. A shift in perspective was all that as needed.
He'd become the true Master, the God of the new world, and he do it with Death reigning below his feet.
Later, at an unnamed hotel, L balanced a slice of blueberry cheesecake on a stack of six marshmallows. His trademark gothic letter glowed on the computer screen and cast his face into a white washed mask.
He pulled up the images he received from the prison. L, do you know Gods of death love apples?
"L," Watari's voice came from a shadowed corner. "There is a message from Ray Penber. It looks… intriguing."
"Light Yagami."
"Yes."
"Percentage chance that Light Yagami is Kira has increased to seven point five."
"Even without seeing the report?"
"Yes. If there is incriminating evidence, the chance increases to nine point two."
L plucked a glazed blueberry off the dessert stack with his fingers and set it aside. He balanced another blueberry on the first, lost patience with the third and ate it. Then the cheesecake toppled and fell. L set the plate aside and poked the cake on the ground. He licked his finger. Delicious.
"Watari?"
"Yes, L?"
"I need another piece of cheesecake."
A sigh. "Very good."
L picked up a marshmallow, tore it in two and stared at the sticky centre for a moment before turning back to his screen. Watari's soft footsteps echoed out of the room and there was soon another plate with a perfect slice of cheesecake. Good. L would need the energy tonight.
The missive from Raye Penber scrolled up his page and L smiled. It won't be long now.
AN: Huh. Sorta turned out alright. Didn't quite expect the truth to come out all at once but ehh. Hope Light was alright in this. The plot's going to derail a little more from now on with Harry in the picture. If I leave any glaring plot holes, point them out, yeah?
Edited: 18.1.2014
