Taboo

Chapter 3

Tootsie Rolls and the Only Taboo

-

To say Kagome was surprised to see not only Sesshomaru, but the detective from the church in her kitchen that Saturday morning would have been an understatement. However, the thing she was worried about was that they had somehow found her stash of Tootsie Rolls. The detective was eating them, and she somehow imagined that Inuyasha would probably be laughing at her right now.

She stood stock still in the entrance of her kitchen, unable to say anything as they argued about Kira's baser points. It wasn't until the third man - someone she didn't recognize leaning against the wall, rubbing his temples - saw her and spoke up that they finally noticed her.

"Higurashi-san, I presume?" he asked. "I'm Yagami Light. It's nice to meet you," he said with a polite bow.

Sesshomaru frowned, ignoring the man. "Kagome. You should get dressed," he suggested, quirking a brow at her pajamas depicting little scruffy dogs chasing multicolored bunnies around rabbit holes.

She could feel her face grow red as she curled her hands into fists and scowled darkly at him. "And you should get out of my house," she retorted hotly. "I should be able to walk around in my PJs in my kitchen without having to worry about you seeing me in them because you just let yourself IN and didn't knock or even tell me you were coming over! And where did you get a key to my house, anyway? I know I locked the door and so help me if you ruined my locks, Sesshomaru, you're paying for them!"

The detective smirked. "Light-kun," (Sesshomaru frowned. "I acquired it from Sota," he replied.) "I wager five hundred yen on the girl." ("Stole it, you mean?" she demanded.) Light sighed and looked exasperated, but L went on. (Sesshomaru scoffed. "He gave it to me," he retorted.) "What about you?" L asked eagerly.

Unfortunately, Kagome appeared to be good at multitasking and rounded on the detective, her wrath descending upon him. "And you!" she declared, pointing at him. "Are you stalking me or something? And where did you get those Tootsie Rolls?"

His smirk widened into something self-congradulatory. "The cupboard."

"You got into my chocolate?!" she demanded, her voice beginning to go shrill.

The smirk vanished and if Light didn't know better, he would swear up and down that the normally fearless detective paled just a bit. "Um..." L trailed off, gaze darting toward Sesshomaru as he leaned back as if to escape her ire.

Light sighed and handed her a glass of water. "You're probably thirsty," he said, more to distract her and diffuse the situation than through any fear of her being dehydrated. Honestly, he kind of wished she'd just drop dead, but that wasn't up to him. Yet.

She nodded and took it gratefully. "Thanks. Now where was I?"

Sesshomaru crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair. "You were going to go get dressed," he replied evenly.

She pointed at him angrily and shook her finger for a minute before speaking. "Fine. But I'm not through with you, mister," she threatened lamely.

"Of that I have no doubt," he replied dryly, rolling his eyes.

As soon as she stomped back down the hall, L rose and returned the rest of the Tootsie Rolls to their proper place, asking, "Is she always like that?"

"She has a bit of a temper," Sesshomaru replied with a sigh. "She hasn't railed on me like that in five- well, in a while."

Light watched Sesshomaru curiously, wondering what he'd been about to say before he changed his statement. "Why is that?" he asked, also picking up on the fact that it was ulike her to hold back. Sesshomaru didn't answer, leaving the brunet to wonder just what sort of secret these two had.

-

Light stared at the Death Note, sitting almost innocently before him, trying to figure out what he should do. The girl was a murderer, and worse, it was beginning to look like she would get away with it. How could they not see how evil that woman was? How could they let themselves be convinced of her innocence simply by a few tears and bats of her admittedly long eyelashes? She had to be a demon; that was the only explanation.

Even L appeared to have been entranced by the vixen, making Light wonder - and not for the first time - what she and Taisho-san could possibly be hiding. Was it some sort of sorcery? Perhaps something-

"Hey, I didn't think you'd be back already," Ryuk said suddenly as he appeared out of nowhere and rudely interrupted Light's thoughts.

Light gave him a cursory glance before looking back down at the Death Note. A thought entered his mind and he spun his chair around, eyes narrowing on the shinigami. "Oh? And why's that?" he asked, playing at idle curiosity, but by the look in Ryuk's half-crazed eye, he wasn't fooled.

Instead, Ryuk pretended to be surprised, though he answered anyway. "Well, if you ask me, it looked like you an' that pretty girl were hittin' it off..."

So that was it. Light rolled his eyes and turned away, disinterested in the idiot's babble. "Oh, please. You're going to make me sick. Besides, I was only there to make sure she didn't decide to kill L or something."

The shinigami snorted, hovering just behind Light. "Yeah, that's another thing," Ryuk said with a roll of his eyes. "Do you like the guy or do you hate the guy? Pick one; you can't do both," he declared.

Light shot a scowl in Ryuk's general direction, though he was too busy writing names and imagining the faces to bother with anything more than that. "I respect him," he retorted.

"If I didn't know better, I'd think creepy genius detectives that are trying to catch and arrest you turn you on," Ryuk muttered, just loud enough for Light to hear him. "But I know better, eh?"

The young detective spun his chair around again and pinned him with a glare that could freeze water. "What... Did you say?" he demanded softly, voice on the edge of a growl.

To his credit, Ryuk hesitated before forcing out a nervous laugh, imagining burning apples. "I'm... gonna go see Rem," he said before disappearing through the wall.

"Coward," Light scoffed and turned back to the Death Note.

-

Misa had just gone to bed when Ryuk slid into the room and motioned for Rem to follow him. She sighed but obliged and arrived on the roof at the other shinigami's heels. "What is it?" she asked, glaring at him in irritation.

Ryuk scowled around, almost as if afraid someone would overhear them, though that was ridiculous since Rem knew Misa's window was shut. "Well..." the male shinigami muttered, glancing at Rem before checking around again. He looked almost nervous. How odd. "I think... we have a problem," he said with a frown.

Rem blinked. A problem? For them? "What are you talking about?" she demanded suspiciously, something uncertain in her twisting.

"I really don't think I should be saying this-"

"Just get on with it," Rem growled, narrowing her eyes at him.

Ryuk glanced around again and swallowed before leaning forward and replying in a hushed tone, "I think we... Well, a miko... I saw one. She's an enemy of Light's and-"

"What?!" Rem demanded, eyes going wide and that uncertain feeling turning to something akin to fear. For one, mikos actually could kill them if they so wished, and for another... Killing them was against the Rules. It wasn't physically impossible, but they'd definitely be destroyed if they so much as attempted it.

Ryuk nodded. "It's the Taboo... Man, if I'd known I would run into one in this era, I woulda stayed in the shinigami world and left the humans alone," he grumbled. "What should we do? Light is gonna try eventually, and it'll be in my note-"

"Shit," Rem growled. "Well. You'll have to tell him if you want to keep yourself alive. If he kills a miko with your note, Ryuk, you're screwed. You won't be able to run forever, and you'll die."

Ryuk spun around in irritation, reaching up to scratch his neck. "I know, I know... But 'e won't like it..."

"Of course he won't like it," Rem retorted. "That boy is spoiled and doesn't like to be told no. But he can't do it. Just... Tell 'im his memory will be permanently erased or something if he does it."

"That would be lying."

"And you don't lie?"

"Point." Ryuk sighed. "Alright, I'll... tell 'im. Eventually."

Rem rolled her eyes. "Fine. I have to get back in to Misa. Good luck." She paused. "What's the miko's name?"

"Higurashi Kagome. She's also associated with a daiyokai."

Rem winced. "Great. Those things are really nasty to deal with..."

Ryuk chuckled at that. "Yeah... Better yet, it's that one that Gredos was so pissed off about five hundred years ago."

Rem palmed her face. "Just my luck. Well, better leave him alone, too. See ya."

"Yeah," Ryuk said. "Whatever. Bye." He leapt off the roof and took flight, disappearing into the night and Rem returned to Misa's room, thoughts churning.

What a nasty developement...

-

Well, there you go. Chapter 3. I will not be posting this until I can find someone to beta the story, though... Or not. If you wanna beta Taboo, PM me. R&R!