Risks and Rewards
Description: Elijah has a new year and a new mission, but this time Light won't be so cooperative. Let the battle of ideology begin.
Disclaimer: Death Note is still not mine. Go figure.
A/N: Well, it appears that updates will continue to be slow for awhile. Here's the next one at least. Thanks for all your patience.
Chapter 4
It was a truce. He had to keep telling himself that. It was only a temporary truce.
Light stole a glance at Elijah as the blond attempted to decipher Ethan's homemade scoring sheet. That expression of mild confusion tempered with serene patience, Light had grown so accustomed to seeing it and all of its brothers. Everything about the man sitting next to him was comforting in its familiarity. Light had slipped into the role of best friend so easily, and although it had been a "role", he had not been acting.
Being with Elijah felt so natural. So right. The others, too, once they had decided to stop being angry at him. When he spent time with them, Light forgot about the troubles of this rotten, dying world. He forgot how it felt to be bored. Somehow, they gave light and color to his otherwise dull and dreary existence. And when he was with them, Light felt as if he belonged, as if he was one of many instead of one in a million.
It would all end soon, though. This dream world that he had found would not last. Nine outs to go became six, and soon they would become three. Behind him, Mark began to call them out as part of his cheering, like a merry version of a detonation countdown. Outwardly, Light applauded each batter that the home team retired, but in his heart, he mourned. He found himself secretly wishing that the visiting team would tie up the score and send the game into extra innings or that the home girls would have such a blowout inning that they batted around once, or even twice or three times. Anything to keep the game going and prevent it from ending. To prevent Elijah from becoming his enemy again.
"Pop up!" Annie cried as the bat clanked and the ball flew skyward. "That's it! That's the game!"
"Someone has to catch it first," Ethan reminded her, but his tone of voice held the expectation that someone would. And, in spite of Light's willing it otherwise, someone did.
The next several minutes were full of noise and movement as the girls packed up their gear and the spectators talked and celebrated. Light did not move from his seat on the bleachers. For once, he had no desire to make a preemptive strike; the atmosphere was still too hostile for one anyway. He would let Elijah make the first move and from there determine the direction the war would take.
Lily's voice broke into his thoughts as she asked, "Will you stay and meet Charlie?"
Before the younger man could so much as turn to look in her direction, Elijah had answered for the both of them. "Of course. We would be happy to."
Light swallowed a smile. His friend seemed to like Lily, although probably not in the way about which Light had teased him. If Elijah ever decided he was interested in women, however, the girl would make a good match for him. She was sweet, quiet, and, judging from her drawings, interested in details. And Light liked her, too, which was a must for any woman who wanted to date his best friend.
The smile that had succeeded in creeping onto Light's face slowly slipped off of it again. These thoughts he was having, they were irrelevant now. Because it was just a temporary truce, and it was almost over. Soon, he would be unable to call Elijah "friend". Soon, he would once again be a solitary god, ruling over the world and defending his position from those who sought to bring him down.
Something inside of him twisted. This was the road he had chosen and had walked for so long. It was his mission, his destiny. Not once had he doubted that he was doing the right thing. Not once had he considered stopping. And yet something in him hurt. It hurt so very much.
On the other side of Elijah, Lily had continued to speak. "I suppose I should warn you," she said nervously, twisting her fingers together. "Charlie tends to be a bit … energetic."
Elijah lifted an eyebrow at her in curiosity. "Why is energy a cause for alarm?" he asked.
"Well …" She looked down at her feet, then up at the horizon. "I just don't want you to be … put off by her. She's very special to me, and …" Her voice softened into nothing.
Shaking himself from his dark thoughts, Light opened his mouth with the intention of finally joining the conversation. Unfortunately, his gentle reassurances for Lily's benefit never got the chance to leave his throat. Before he could speak, a sound erupted from somewhere near the dugouts. A loud, wild cry like a scream from some crazed animal. And with it came a blur of color heading straight for Ethan.
"Rrrraaaaaaaaaaarrrrggggghhh!!"
The creature leapt onto Ethan's back and proceeded to pummel his head and shoulders with lightning fists.
"Oh dear," Lily said calmly as Light and Elijah just stared.
"Ethan, you bastard! I told you I'd get my revenge! I told you!"
"Waah! I thought you had forgiven me!" Ethan cried, repentant and scared, although Light could hear the laughter in his voice as well. He tried to pry his attacker off of his back, but he couldn't do much while also defending himself from the blows.
"I'll never forgive you!" the girl replied, for that was what the creature was. "Never! Never!"
"Um, is that … ?" Somehow, Elijah had found enough of his voice to begin the question in both of the stunned men's minds.
"Yes," Lily answered with a hint of a sigh. "That's Charlie."
Now that his shock had receded a bit, Light could see that the female attempting to beat Ethan into the ground was wearing the college's softball uniform and that the number on the back belonged to the athlete he and his friends had been cheering for most of the afternoon. He also realized, to his relief, that she was laughing just as much as Ethan was and that her punches were not strong enough to do much damage. She was, however, punching him, and Ethan was wincing as each blow fell.
"Why is she … ?" Elijah asked.
"Last December," Lily explained, "Kim made a cake for my birthday, but Charlie was sick so she stayed away from the small party we had. Kim saved a piece for her, but Ethan, not knowing that it was spoken for, ate it instead." She shook her head gently as she watched her friend continue to pound on Ethan while he staggered about. "Charlie doesn't allow herself to have many sweets, so she gets very protective of those she has declared to be hers. Excuse me a moment." Giving them both a small smile, she rose to her feet and began to walk towards the others.
On a hunch, Light glanced at his companion. Sure enough, Elijah was staring off into space, eyes wide, thumb pressed against his lips. The younger man could easily see what was tumbling through the elder's mind: the horrors of stolen cake. Back when they had worked together on the Kira case, Light had frequently wondered what would have happened if he had swiped L's precious sweets. He had a feeling that whatever retribution he would have received, it would have been much worse than simply being beaten into oblivion by a lanky softball player.
By the time Lily reached the two combatants, a small group had formed about them, mostly other girls on the team who were raucously cheering Charlie on. The small girl passed through them and walked straight up to Ethan's side.
"Charlie," she said calmly.
In spite of the enormous racket all around, the other girl heard her and immediately stopped. She plunked one elbow down on the top of Ethan's head, rested her own head in her hand, and grinned down at her friend. "Heya, Lily. What's up?"
Lily inclined her head back towards the bleachers and replied, "Elijah McCormick and Light Yagami are here and would like to meet you. You aren't making a very good first impression on them."
Charlie just shrugged. "Good? Maybe not. But it's an accurate first impression at least." With one last smash of a fist on Ethan's head, she leapt off of the junior's back and straightened out her uniform. "So, where are they?" She calmly walked away from Ethan, leaving him to recover by himself in the dirt.
Elijah and Light both stood as the women approached. After Lily had introduced them, Charlie shook Elijah's hand and then offered a shake to Light. The delicate-looking hand in front of him tricked Light into expecting an equally soft handshake. He should have known better. Once she had finished, he had to resist the urge to massage his shoulder muscles.
Now that he had a closer view, Light could see that Charlie was rather pretty in a rough, rugged way. Like most of the girls on the team, she was lean, tanned, and lightly muscled. Her hair, pulled into a ponytail and shoved through the opening in the back of her cap, was a knotted mess from the game and small bits that had broken free were sticking to her face and neck, but the look suited her somehow. She held herself with complete confidence, and her bright smile shone through all the dust and grass stains that covered her, making them practically invisible.
"I'm so glad to meet you finally," she was saying, not to Light but to Elijah. "Ethan's told us a lot, you know. He said you were sick before, and Lily and I were worried. But you're okay now?"
"Yes, I'm fine," Elijah answered. Because of the way he slouched, he had to peer upwards at the tall girl through his bangs. "Thank you for asking."
"Hey, no problem." She turned suddenly and faced Light. The blueness of her eyes surprised him; they almost sparkled in the sun. "And you're the Jap kid, right?"
Light blinked. Had she really just called him … ?
"The … what?" he asked carefully.
Behind Charlie, Lily gently clapped a hand to her face in exasperation, but the other girl plowed on without hesitation. "The Jap kid. You know, the exchange student thing. So, yeah, welcome to our country and all that shit."
"Charlie! Language!"
The blonde turned on her friend with an indignant expression. "What? I always talk like this, you know that. I'm not going to pretty myself up just so some snob will approve of me." She wrinkled her nose in distaste at the thought and proclaimed, "Screw that."
Lily looked mortified, but Elijah patted her gently on the shoulder, chuckling. "It's all right. Light and I don't mind." He grinned slyly and glanced briefly at Light before returning his eyes to Charlie. He was clearly enjoying this far more than he should have. "You're a little late on the greeting, Miss Charlie. Light's been here since fall."
"Oh, has he?" she replied easily. She turned back to Light and flicked her hands at him. "Go on back home then. You've been here long enough."
Light's cry of indignation stuck in his throat when she winked at him. He felt his face begin to burn. What the hell was he supposed to make of this woman? She had the energy level of Misa but without any of the femininity. And she said whatever she damn well pleased. Hoping to get some form of backup, he looked to Lily, but the girl stood a few steps back with one hand over her face, peeking through her fingers as if at an imminent train wreck.
"Hey!" Charlie had focused her attention back to Elijah. "Did you just call me 'Miss'?"
"Yes, I did."
"Well, don't." She lifted a fist and gently bopped the other, her elder by several years, on the top of the head. While Elijah just stood there, his mouth slightly open in shock, she planted her hands on her hips and began to look around. "Where's Kim?" she asked no one in particular. "We won which means ice cream, dammit. Oh, there she is. Come on, Lil."
She took off, dragging Lily by the hand behind her. The smaller girl tried to send the men a good-bye, but she was quickly pulled out of earshot. Once they had gone, Light and Elijah stood in silence for several minutes, both feeling as if they had been hit by a caravan of trucks.
"You know," Elijah finally managed, "I believe we have just witnessed the future of Mark and Annie should they decide ever to have children."
Light's eyes widened as he realized the other man was right. Annie's energy and Mark's loud mouth. Put them together and ramp them up a bit due to indulgent parenting, and you get the wild thing that had just left.
Covering his eyes with a hand, he groaned and replied, "We have to break them up. Now. For the good of humanity."
He had expected Elijah to laugh at his half-joke. To smile at the very least. Instead, the other man's expression blanked out, and serious blue eyes turned to regard him.
"You think of humanity quite a bit, don't you … Raito-kun?"
Light sucked in his breath and held it. A surprise attack! Dammit! He had allowed himself to forget after all, and Elijah had caught him off guard. He wasn't mentally prepared for a battle right now. He should have kept his wits about him more. It was all that damn woman's fault. If she hadn't confused him … .
Narrowing his eyes, he shot back, "I thought this wasn't the time or place."
"It isn't," Elijah conceded quietly. "But I don't think we have a choice. I just noticed Annie stopping Ethan from approaching us." He smiled a little, an embarrassed, lop-sided gesture. "I imagine she has decided we are to make up now and won't let us leave until we do. Or at least give the impression of having done so."
As Light swallowed his irritation and took several steeling breaths, Elijah returned to his seat on the now-empty bleachers. "Sit down, Raito-kun," he ordered. "We have things to discuss."
For a moment, Light considered just walking away. But when he glanced over at where his other friends stood chatting, a pair of unyielding blue eyes glared back at him. Those eyes promised constant hounding and harassment until he gave in and did what their owner wanted. Sighing, he took his place beside Elijah.
"You have some serious back-up this time around," he remarked to the other with annoyance.
"I know," Elijah replied. "'The female of the species is more deadly than the male,' after all."
"Kipling."
"Indeed. Well done." He rested his chin on his drawn-up knees and blinked at Light. "You should know that whatever she did to get you here, I did not put her up to it."
"I know." Light leaned forward with his elbows on his knees and gazed at the ground. "Unfortunately, she thinks this problem between us can be resolved."
"And you think it can't?"
"Of course it can't," he replied with a scowl. "Your mission is to get me to give up the Death Note, and in order to do that, you're going to have to convince me that what I'm doing is wrong. I think we both know how impossible that is."
To Light's surprise, Elijah began to chuckle. When the younger man fixed him with an inquiring stare, he said, "I'm just amused by how stubborn you are, Raito-kun. I've informed you that Heaven itself does not approve of your actions, that God wishes for you to stop. Most men would need no other convincing. But you are not affected by that information in the least."
Light shrugged and looked away. "I don't believe in God."
"Indeed? My resurrection has not convinced you? Would you like to speak to Him yourself?"
"It wouldn't change my mind," Light stated. Returning his gaze to Elijah's, he clarified, "I know that Heaven and Hell exist, that Shinigami exist, and thanks to you, I know that angels exist. However, I don't believe in any of those things, and even if God came down and looked me in the eye, I wouldn't believe in Him either. Because knowledge is not the same thing as belief. Belief implies faith, and I have absolutely no faith in a God that would let this world fall into ruin the way it has."
"Ah," Elijah breathed, "I see. So you would have God punish the wicked in this world as well as the next."
"No, I would have Him not allow the wicked to exist in this world at all!" Light frowned and gazed off into the distance with hard determination. "However since He has and since I have the means to punish them, I will continue to do so. If Heaven disapproves, then let God strike me down Himself instead of sending you to do his work for Him."
Elijah smiled slightly and began nibbling on a thumbnail. "Unfortunately, Heaven has a non-interference policy. Otherwise, I'm sure you would have been hit by a lightning bolt or two by now."
Surprised, Light turned to him and lifted an eyebrow. "Non-interference policy?"
"Yes," Elijah confirmed. "For the purpose of free will and such. Incidentally, that policy is why God does not simply smite all sinners Himself. When the world was in its infant stage, it was different, but now Heaven is allowing us the freedom to grow and learn on our own. We are in our teenage years, if you will, and it is up to us to decide whether we will become responsible adults or burn out before our time." He smiled again. "Your thinking would have us remain children forever, Kira-san."
Light's face flushed and he turned away. Having Elijah call him Kira felt uncomfortable. Regaining his confidence, he argued, "Better to be children and be happy and content than to be adults who suffer in pain and injustice."
"Well," Elijah murmured, nestling his chin in his knees again, "that is where our viewpoints differ."
"Yeah." Light sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "So what do we do about this? I'm not going to give up the Death Note, and you're not going to stop trying to convince me to give it up because your life literally depends on it. We'll be fighting for the entire year."
"Perhaps not," Elijah replied. With his thumb once again between his lips, he continued, "You seem very certain of those two facts. I, however, am not convinced that I will be unable to persuade you. And as for the second point, if you are able to persuade me that your view is the better one, I will accept my defeat and simply live out the rest of my year normally."
Light turned to him in disbelief. "Really?" he asked. "You'd willingly die?"
"Why not?" Elijah returned with a shrug. "If you can recruit me to your cause, I don't see why I would have a problem with it. After all, a cause is something that is larger than oneself. You've given your soul for yours. Literally. My life is very little in comparison with that, especially since I've already been given two extra years. But Raito-kun …" He turned his head to his companion and gazed at him with serious eyes. "It will not be easy to convince me. I will be spending my time trying to convince you, and not because my continued existence depends on it. Because I truly believe that you are wrong in what you are doing."
"I understand," Light answered seriously. "It's not a fight, then, but a competition."
Elijah's lips quirked. "If you'd like to see it that way, yes."
"Then I accept your challenge." He stood and offered his hand to the other man. Elijah gazed at it for a moment before taking it and lifting his eyes to Light with a smile. After shaking Elijah's hand once to finalize their agreement, Light looked down at the long fingers he held. His lips curled in a smile.
"One more thing, 'Lij."
"What is it, Light?"
The brunet lifted the blond's hand and showed it to him. "This year, we're working on getting you to stop biting your nails."
Elijah blinked mournfully at him. "But Light …"
"No excuses!" he interrupted with a grin. "Look at them! They're pathetic. You're going to stop biting them, and that's that."
The little pout on Elijah's face made Light grin even more. He knew that this coming year would be very hard. They were both stubborn and set in their ways. He would probably end up wishing that he had ignored Annie and stayed away, safe with his memories from the previous year. But right now, standing there with his best friend's hand in his, arguing over the older man's bad habits, Light felt the knots in his chest ease and the ache subside. Right now, if only temporarily, it was all okay.