I don't own Death Note nor Inuyasha

"Very strange indeed." After Kagome had finished explaining the situation to the Shinigami, he had looked thoughtful for a moment before staring at Ray, who did his best to not fidget under his glowing yellow eyes. "I can assure you he has all his memories. And judging by his earlier reaction, he never saw a Shinigami before."

Kagome started massaging her temples, feeling a migraine coming. How can we solve this ? "Do you know who he killed and when ?"

The death god grinned "I took the liberty of bringing the file. He wrote the names in a Death Note about 30 minutes before his death."

At this, something in Ray's brain clicked. "Oh god."

"Yes ?" replied te Shinigami. Kagome glared at him, but Ray was too distraught to pay attention and mumbled incoherent phrases. "It fits... eleven people... Damn !" was all Kagome could understand.

"Do you remember ?"

Ray turned toward her. His face was anguished and he half-yelled : "I didn't know ! I didn't want to kill them !"

Upon hearing this, Kagome inwardly frowned with incomprehension but kept a calm face and asked with a soothing tone : "Tell me what happened, we will find a solution."

But Ray was frantic now, and started rambling. "He tricked me. It was only writing names... I killed my colleagues. But I didn't intent to, I swear. He tricked me. I didn't know that-"

"Enough !" cut him Kagome, firmly but calmly. Her interruption seemed to bring the ghost back to reality. "I need you to tell me about everything if you want me to be able to help you."

Ray gulped, took a deep breath and nodded. "Okay." Then, in a more assured tone : "Okay. I... I was tricked."

"I may be mistaken, but I think you already said that. Twice, in fact." interfered mockingly the Shinigami. Kagome threw him a glare even nastier than the last. "Continue."

"I was a FBI agent and investigating the Kira case. He contacted me, said he would kill me, my family and my fiancee if I didn't follow his instructions. I had to write the names of the other agents who were on the case on paper in some envelopes he gave me. After that he... he killed me." Ray's face darkened again. "I killed eleven people. People I knew and worked with." He lowered his head. "I'm a murderer. Maybe I deserve to stay on earth as a ghost." He laughed bitterly, startling Kagome. "I remember thinking 'He won't be able to harm them with only their names' as I was writing. As I was killing them myself."

Not for the first time, Kagome wished she could touch him to offer him some comfort. Since she couldn't, she spoke softly, breaking the silence that had followed his words : You're not a murderer. As far as you were concerned, you just wrote some names on a piece of paper. There's no way you could have known." He was staring at her, crying silently. She smiled at him. "Kira is the only responsible."

"Do you really think so ?" he asked hopefully. She just nodded.

The Shinigami sighed. "Well, now that we know what happened, what do you want me to do ? He did use a Death Note."

The miko turned at him and looked at him disbelievingly : "He didn't know what it was ! You can't punish him for that !"

The god grinned. "It doesn't work like that, and you know it, miko." He seemed to think shortly and declared "You will have to make a deal with the Shinigami King if you want to change his situation." His grin widened. "It must be your lucky day, I'm the King's spokesperson. I can accept your propositions in the name of the King."

"Yes, it's incredible how lucky we are." Kagome's voice was dripping with sarcasm. She didn't believe one second that it was luck.

The Shinigami spoke again : "I can make a suggestion. You see, the King is annoyed by the events in the human world. He wants the Death Note back in the Shinigami realm or destroyed. If you manage to do either, I could allow this ghost to cross the border between here and the other world."

As soon as he finished, Kagome exploded : "This is not a fair deal ! You know he will become insane if he stays here too long !"

The Shinigami shrugged. "Well, you will have to work quickly, if you want him to move on with his sanity left."

The miko glared at him for what seemed the hundredth time. This is madness ! I can't do that with such a deadline, it only takes a few weeks for a ghost to lose it ! She forced herself to think calmly. He knows that. He wants me to propose something else, that's why he left room for improvement. Maybe...

"I think I have a better idea : I know it is the Shinigami King who produces the Death Notes. If I destroy the one that's here, he will have to make another. But the problem is, the common usage is to burn any Death Note found in the human realm. I could ignore this rule for once and not destroy it if I can avoid it. In exchange, you allow Mr. Penber to go now." She knew she had reached the good conclusion when the death god seemed pleased : his grin seemed to get even larger, something she didn't know was possible.

"That would be possible, miko, but once we have allowed him to go, we will not have any garanties that you will keep your end of the bargain. And it is not a fair deal either : if you destroy it, we will not have gained anything in exchange for our kindness."

Kindness. As if, thought Kagome. But I have to offer garanties. "As I said, I can't promise you to keep the Death Note intact. I will have to investigate without revealing anything about the supernatural world to normal humans. This will be, of course, my main priority. I promise you, though, that I will do my possible to not destroy it. And if there's no avoiding it, I could give you a compensation."

As soon as she had uttered those words, the Shinigami's expression became greedy. What did I get myself into ? "We want a wish on the Shikon Jewel." His tone said that it was not negotiable. Kagome sighed. This is the only acceptable deal I will have. I better make sure I don't burn this thing. At least until I find a loophole.

"Okay. We have a deal." The Shinigami, surprised by how easily she had agreed, regained quickly his composure and nodded. "Very well. I will bring the ferryman back and tell him he has to take the ghost to the afterlife." And he disappeared.

Ray turned toward Kagome. "You can't do that ! Going after Kira ! Do you have any idea how dangerous this is ?"

She smiled and said "Don't worry, I'm not easy to kill."

He looked at her and muttered after a moment : "I won't be able to make you change your mind, will I ?" She shook her head. Ray continued "Then I will tell you something that will help you : I know Kira's identity."

"You do ?"

He smiled humorlessly. "Yes, I saw him just before I died. His name is Light Yagami. "

Kagome's face lit up. "This is Kira's fatal mistake. Thanks, I will not have to waste time looking for him."

The ferryman appeared suddenly, making Ray jump. He said politely : "We can go if you're ready, mister." while glancing frequently and fearfully at Kagome. The ghost looked guiltily at Kagome. "I'm sorry to have dragged you into this mess. You don't have to-"

The miko laughed and made a shooing motion with her hands. "I already told you not to worry ! Now you have to go and find your fiancee again ! Go now, or I will get mad !"

Seeing the ferryman wince at the thought of an angry Kagome, Ray chuckled. "Thank you." he said sincerely.

Kagome smiled, he took the ferryman's arm and they disappeared.

AN : Sorry for the long wait !

From now on, I will try to update at least once a week. It will most likely be on weekends, I think.

Thank you to everyone that reviewed, it means a lot to me when you take the time of telling me what you think !

What did you think of this chapter ? I attempted to add a bit of humor here, but I'm not so sure if it is not an epic fail. Tell me if I should just give up on humor or if it wasn't too terrible. I'm also not too sure if I portrayed Ray's reaction right, when he understood that he had basically killed his coworkers.

I always get a huge smile when I read your reviews ! So don't forget to review !