The Most Cursed of Hands

by Brownbeard the Pirate

They say that, for want of a nail, the kingdom was lost. Any one change in the flow of events could have catastrophic consequences down the road. On that fateful day, when Ryuk dropped the Death Note, it wasn't Light that picked it up. Instead, it was his little sister, Sayu. [Basically, a Death Note FWoaN with Sayu as the MC instead of Light].

4. Chapter 4: Confrontation

Chapter 4: Confrontation

AN: Oh, Archer. You always crack me up. *looks up from computer screen* What? Why are you looking at me expectantly like that? Do you think I owe you this chapter? I don't owe you anything, kid, and neither does anyone else. Now, go away. I'm trying to watch Krieger do brain surgery on acid. *grabs popcorn* (Disclaimer: This is just a joke. Please don't leave me.)

Oh, also, I don't own Death Note. Now I'm depressed.

International Criminal Police Organization (ICPO) HQ

Lyon, France

4 December, 2003

Inside the enormous conference room in ICPO headquarters, chaos seemed to be the order of the day.

"So far, we've counted 52 dead this week."

"All of them by heart attacks."

"All of them were wanted for a violent crime, currently involved in the commission of a violent crime at the time of death, or acquitted for a violent crime in spite of evidence strongly pointing towards their guilt."

"According to reports, no criminals who've already been convicted and imprisoned have yet been targeted."

"Chances are, we've barely found half of them. There could be many more we haven't been made aware of yet."

"Well, all these people should've died anyways!"

"Who said that?!"

"That's right! Even if it's criminals on death row we're talking about, wanton murder is still a crime!"

"But, how can you be sure it's murder?"

"What else could it be?! There's no way this many people could just coincidentally drop dead from sudden heart attacks! It's ludicrous!"

"What's ludicrous is the idea that a sudden heart attack has anything to do with murder. Last I checked, millions of people die of heart attacks every year. It's perfectly natural."

"It's impossible to organize a mass murder of this scale and frequency. Especially the victims whose actions and locations couldn't have been predicted prior to death."

"We suspect that a large organization is responsible for these killings."

"In that case, it must be the FBI or the CIA. It certainly wouldn't be the first time they've pulled such a ridiculous stunt."

"What the hell did you just say?!"

"That's enough of that."

"These deaths can bolster the police's reputation."

"Reputation?! Is that all you care about?! Don't you think we have bigger worries right now?!"

"True. It is a problem if criminals are killed without due process of the law."

"Before we worry about that, we should determine if this even is a mass murder at all."

"But didn't the coroner's reports say the origins of the heart attacks can't be determined?"

"Like that other guy said, plenty of people die of heart attacks. It's no consequence to us."

"It'd be easier to determine if there were signs of a crime having been committed, like stab wounds, gunshot wounds, burns, or traces of poison."

"Shall we vote on it, then?"

"If we can't come to a consensus on this matter, then it looks like we'll have to call in L."

Suddenly, the entire room went deathly silent. Over at the table for the Japanese delegates sat NPA Chief Superintendent Yagami Soichiro and Detective Matsuda Tota.

"Chief," said Matsuda, leaning over toward Soichiro and making sure he wasn't speaking into an active microphone while doing so. "Who's this 'L' person?"

"Ah, right," said Soichiro, "This is your first time coming to one of these conferences. L is… a complete mystery. His real name and face aren't known to anyone in Interpol. But, he can solve any case. He's something of a private investigator. He shrouds himself in absolute secrecy, but he alone has solved some of the world's most difficult cases. You could say he's our trump card. Our ace in the hole. Our last resort."

"But, he's kind of stubborn," said another delegate. "L will only take on cases that he's personally interested in."

"Stubbornness aside, how do we even contact him?"

"Gentlemen, L is already on the move."

Once again, the room went deathly silent. A man in a dark heavy coat and a large, dark hat which completely shadowed his face strode up to the center of the large stage at the front of the conference hall. He carried nothing but a small briefcase, which he set down on a desk. He cleared his throat, and began speaking, an almost elderly quality to his voice. "There is no need to panic. L has already started working on the case."

"Watari!" came the scattered shouts of several delegates.

"Huh?" asked Matsuda. "Watari? Another Japanese delegate?"

"No," said Soichiro, "but, Watari is the only known person who can contact L, so he acts as our liaison to L. Still, I don't believe even Watari knows who L really is."

As mumbles continued to circulate throughout the conference hall, Watari opened the briefcase and took out a plain laptop. He connected an auxiliary cable to the laptop and another computer, connecting it to the large screen at the front of the room and the accompanying speakers. "Silence, please," said Watari. "I give you the voice of L."

"Greetings, delegates of the ICPO," came a scrambled voice. "I… am L. This is the biggest and most difficult case yet. The difficulty is compounded by the fact that there are no clear signs of a crime having been committed." The voice paused for effect. "However, make no mistake. What we are witnessing is an atrocious and unforgivable act of mass murder. In order to solve this case, I require the full cooperation of every member nation of the ICPO. In particular, I require special assistance from the Japanese NPA."

~o~

L was crouched on the floor of the hotel room, eating a piece of strawberry shortcake as he spoke to the delegates of the ICPO. It appeared that Interpol was already desperate. That made his job much easier. However, this was only the beginning.

"In particular," L said into the microphone, "I require special assistance from the Japanese NPA."

At that, the Japanese delegates, one Yagami Soichiro and one Matsuda Tota, stood up, confusion marring their faces. "Why us in particular?" came the inquisitive voice of Chief Yagami.

"Whether the perpetrator is an individual or a group, there is a strong probability that they are Japanese, or at least, are currently hiding in Japan. In order to prove it, I will require your full cooperation, and I will require you to follow all of my orders to the letter, no matter how ridiculous they might seem." He took a bite of his cake.

"Uh… okay, understood," said Yagami, returning to his seat and beckoning Matsuda to do the same. With that, the delegates in the room took a vote.

Regardless of anyone's personal feelings on the matter, L had a pretty good idea what the outcome would be. And even if they voted against, L would still work on the case. This was far too intriguing to do otherwise, and he was already personally invested anyways.

As the vote continued, L looked to his right, at another open laptop. On screen, there was a man strapped to a chair, chains restricting his movements, a gag preventing him from speaking, and a blindfold preventing him from seeing. This man was Lind L. Tailor. L had originally planned to use him as a stand-in for himself, but based on the perpetrator's pattern of killing… L had come to the conclusion that that would accomplish nothing; in fact, it would likely accomplish the opposite of the intended effect. Rather than provoking him into action, it might make him think less of the police and less of L, and he likely wouldn't act on the provocation.

So, instead…

~o~

After School, Eishu Junior High

5 December, 2003

Sayu was walking home from school with several of her friends. The whole time, she struggled to contain a nervous twitch in her lips. The things they were saying… It was all she could do not to reveal the truth to them right then and there.

"This is pretty cool," said her friend Tsuru, a petite girl with long brown hair pulled back in twin tails.

"I don't know, I think it's pretty scary," said Sakura, a slightly taller girl with chin-length hair of an odd light red color.

"I think whoever's doing this needs to just leave punishing criminals to the cops. That's their job, after all," said Yuri, a girl with a relatively flat chest and broad hips with long black hair styled into a side tail.

"Big bro thinks this stuff is wrong, but I think it's great that all these bad people are getting what they deserve," said Mika, an unusually busty girl with very light brown hair verging on blonde styled in a loose bun with a large strand flying freely on the right side, and a distinctive mole on the left side of her chin.

"So, you support Kira?!" Yuri retorted. "I never knew you were that kind of person."

Mika blew her a raspberry. Then she turned to Sayu. "You haven't said anything, Sayu. What do you think?"

"I bet she agrees with me," said Yuri. "Her father's a cop after all. She knows what it's about, right Sayu?"

"I wasn't asking you, stupid Yuri!" said Mika.

"Yeah, well, it's not my fault you're wrong, Mika, you dumb bitch," Yuri- retorted. Then, they both ganged up on Sayu. "So, what do you think, Sayu?"

"Yeah, tell us," said Mika.

"Uh, well," Sayu said, rubbing the back of her neck, "I haven't really thought about it. I'm not really into that sort of thing. It's all way over my head." She laughed awkwardly.

Both girls pouted at her. "You really aren't very smart, are you Sayu?" said Mika. "Not like your sexy older brother, Light." She practically fell over from swooning so hard. "Oh, I bet he's hung like an elephant!" She was actually, literally starting to drool. Oh boy.

"Fucking dumbass!" said Yuri, giving Mika a withering glare. "Are you still thinking you're going to marry Light? Dream on. He's not into dumb broads like you. I'll be the one marrying him."

"And he's not into flat-chested freaks like you," said Mika. "Once he and I get married, we're going to have five children, and I'm going to name the first one Hikari in honor of my Light~."

"Yeah, well," Yuri snorted indignantly, "unlike you, I'm at least not breaking my back trying to lug around a pair of watermelons. And besides, everyone knows that men really like women who have a thick, round butt they can grab onto. And you? You just haven't got it."

"Men love women with huge boobs!" Mika yelled, wrapping her arms tightly around her chest. "You're just jealous because you'll never have a man using your chest as a pillow."

"I swear to Christ, Mika, you are such an impossible bitch!' Yuri yelled back.

Okay, yeah. Never mind. This was going nowhere fast. "To be honest, I don't think Light is into either of you," Sayu interjected, getting tired of their daily bickering. 'Actually,' she thought, 'I don't think I've ever seen Light show any genuine interest in girls before. Or anyone else for that matter. Does he even think about that stuff?'

"Who asked you?!" both girls yelled, before going right back to bickering amongst themselves.

Sayu tuned out Mika and Yuri for the rest of the walk home. Once she got home, everyone said their goodbyes and she was finally free of that exhausting conversation. 'Honestly,' she thought, 'I think those two should marry each other. They've already got the old married couple shtick down to a tee.'

Back in her room, she changed into a white top, a purple cardigan and black skinny jeans, and took the Death Note out of its hiding place. As she sat at her desk and turned on her computer, Ryuk appeared behind her, munching on an apple.

"So," Ryuk said, "What was all that 'Kira' stuff they were talking about?"

"What, you couldn't figure it out, Ryuk?" Sayu said bitingly, rolling her eyes haughtily.

"You know, brat. You really ought to be a little nicer to me. There's nothing stopping me from writing your name in my Death Note."

"Yeah, yeah." Sayu opened up a web browser and typed in the word 'Kira.' "Let me tell you something about humans, Ryuk." She looked away from the monitor, which held dozens of search results, most of which were talking about the recent heart attacks. "Out in public, if you were to ask any random person if they thought criminals should be killed, they would most likely say, 'Of course not. Murder is wrong.' That would be the politically correct answer. But, for a great many people, that's not the truth." She clicked on a link, and there appeared on screen a black page with religious-looking designs talking about the 'Great God, Kira' and the 'Great Judgement' that 'Lord Kira' has wrought. "However," Sayu continued, "on the internet, where you can remain anonymous, people have begun voicing their true feelings on the matter. This," she waved a hand at the website, "is how people really feel. To be honest, it's a little scary. I never expected what I was doing to catch on this quickly." She rubbed her chin, looking at the word, 'Kira.' "I'm not nearly as good at English as Light, but I think they might have taken the word 'Kira' from the English word 'Killer.' It's not nearly heroic enough to be the moniker I would have chosen, but if that's what they're calling me, then that's what they're calling me."

"I see," said Ryuk. He started doing a merry gigue in the middle of the room. "Oh man, this is so interesting!"

Sayu turned towards the TV set opposite her bed and flipped it to the news. "Anyways, I don't have a ton of time to work, so I'd better get to it. Justice sleeps for no one –"

She was interrupted by the news broadcaster saying, "And now, we bring you a special worldwide broadcast from the ICPO."

The screen changed from the broadcaster to an image of a man restrained to a chair. Sayu could see his face clearly. It looked like he'd been put through a bit of a ringer. She wasn't really sure how to respond to this. Then, her questions were answered, by a scrambled voice which, in the coming months, she would come to hear in her nightmares. "Greetings, people of the world. My name is irrelevant, but you can refer to me… as L."

"L?" Sayu asked confusedly. She thought she might have heard that moniker before, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it.

"I'm sure you're all confused about what you're seeing on screen. Rest assured, all will be made clear in a moment. As for right now, I wish to speak directly to the individual known to the world as 'Kira.'"

"'Kira?'" Sayu asked, pointing at herself. "Who the hell is this guy?"

"Kira. I don't know if you're watching this, but if you are, I want to tell you that… I wholeheartedly agree with what you're doing, and I wish to be of assistance to you in your endeavor."

Sayu was thrown completely off by that statement. "W-wait, what? He wants to… help me?"

"I agree that this world is rotten, and that it needs a beacon of justice to punish the wicked. The world… needs you, now more than ever before. Which is why I've brought this man before you." The camera zoomed in on the man tied to the chair, showing his face in clear detail. "This man is Lind L. Tailor. His name is spelled L-I-N-D-Space-L-Period-Space-T-A-I-L-O-R." Just in case that wasn't clear enough, a masked person appeared on camera and hung a sign around the man's neck which displayed the proper spelling of his name. "He is a disgusting piece of human garbage, and the prime suspect in multiple homicides. The evidence against him is as clear as day, but for one reason or another, he keeps managing to evade the justice that is due him." L paused for a moment to let that sink in. "Kira. If you would work with me and the ICPO in cleaning up the world of such filth, then prove your might and kill this man. Right here. Right now."

Sayu stared at the screen in shock. This… L person seriously wanted to help her? The ICPO wanted to help her?! This was… She didn't even know what this was. Still, if what he said was correct, then this was exactly the sort of person that needed to be purged. She probably would have killed him eventually anyways. Might as well get it over with, since she had the opportunity. She opened her Death Note to the first empty page and wrote "Lind L. Tailor" exactly the way it was spelled on screen. She looked back at the screen. '10 seconds,' she thought. '20 seconds. 30 seconds. 40 seconds.' The man's face suddenly contorted in shock and pain. He attempted to clutch at his chest as if that would stop the inevitable, but the bindings on his hands prevented it. Then, he slumped over, dead in his chair. She closed the notebook and stared at the screen, waiting for L's reaction. On screen, several masked individuals began untying Lind L. Tailor and dragging him away. The way they were acting, it didn't seem like they particularly cared about the man. Maybe L really was telling the truth?

Then, the situation turned over on its head, and at the same time, the screen turned to a mostly blank white screen, only broken by a stylized English letter 'L.' "Kira," came the scrambled voice of L. "I-I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't just seen it with my own eyes! It seems you can kill without having to be present!" Sayu nodded awkwardly, trying to figure out L's angle. "Listen, Kira. This man was a criminal sentenced to be killed at this time today. He was imprisoned in absolute secrecy, so it seems even you can't target criminals you know nothing about. That's a pretty useful hint~." He said the last sentence in a singsong-y voice that got on Sayu's nerves, but more importantly, Sayu was starting to get a very bad feeling about this. "The truth of the matter is that I, L, am in charge of the investigation against you." And there was the other shoe. The blood drained from Sayu's face in short order. "You appear to be a rather childish individual, but I believe you truly are on the side of justice. Or rather, I should say, you've deluded yourself into believing that you are on the side of justice. However, what you are doing, right now, is an unforgivable act of pure evil."

"Y-you think I'm evil?" Sayu said, quivering with fury. She stood up with enough force to knock her chair back, eyes wide with rage, a snarl on her face. "Like hell! I am justice! I protect the innocent, I oppose evil and I punish those who would do evil! You, on the other hand? You're nothing more than a delusional fool, sitting up in the safety of your high horse while the innocent suffer for your retarded brand of 'justice!'"

"Kira! Justice always prevails! What gives you the right to act as judge, jury, and executioner to criminals who haven't even been given due process under the law?! Do you think you're some sort of great vigilante comic book hero? How foolish. The police and courts are sufficient. You aren't needed. Do you really think anyone wants you? You and your brand of justice are utterly superfluous."

"What the hell do you know?! Justice doesn't always prevail! So much blatantly guilty scum gets to walk free and terrorize the innocent at their leisure, and you have the balls to call that JUSTICE?! How naïve! The world needs Kira! This world is rotten, and in desperate need of a symbol of true justice! Just look at what people are saying on the internet! Everyone wants Kira!"

L was silent for a moment as Sayu stood there fuming in place. Then, he spoke the words that drove ice into Sayu's veins. "Oh, by the way, Kira. While it was announced that this was a worldwide broadcast, the truth is that this broadcast is only being aired in the Kanto region of Japan." Once again, the blood drained from Sayu's face. "We had planned to continue airing this broadcast in different regions until we found you, but it seems that that's no longer necessary. As a matter of fact, not only are you local to the Kanto region of Japan, you're local to the Shinjuku area."

"Wh-what did he just say?" Sayu said, real fear creeping into her voice for the first time.

"Surprised? I suppose that's reasonable. However, the reason I say this is that your first murder victim was a man named Shibuimaru Takuo, a criminal local to Shinjuku whose crimes were only ever reported in Shinjuku."

"Oh. Oh shit." Sayu had to sit down to keep from collapsing to the floor once the room started spinning. Her entire body was quivering, her skin pale as paper. How on Earth could he know that?

"Oof," said Ryuk. "He got you there."

"Shut the fuck up, Ryuk!" Sayu shouted. "Now is not the time!"

"This means, of course, that you haven't been killing for very long, and your first murder was little more than an experiment. I don't know how you conduct your murders without being physically present, but not to worry. You can answer all my questions when I catch you."

Sayu's heartbeat grew frantic and her breathing grew ragged. This was… This was so much worse than she ever could've imagined. He'd played her like a careworn fiddle and, in one fell swoop, had narrowed his search down from the entire world to practically her neighborhood.

"One more thing, Kira." There was more? Seriously? "I want to ask. How far are you willing to take your brand of justice? Are you of the mindset that anyone who opposes you is as evil as the criminals you've heartlessly murdered? If so, then try and kill me!"

She couldn't. Even if she'd wanted to (and at that point, she really wanted to), without his name and face, there was nothing she could do. And he had likely issued that challenge knowing full well that she could do nothing.

"What's wrong, Kira? What are you waiting for? I'm right here. Do it!"

At this point, he was just taunting her, and it was really pissing her off. Where the hell did this guy get off? What a jackass.

"Well, well. Either you really are a true believer as I thought, or you can't kill me even if you want to. Perhaps a bit of both. Regardless, you've given me a very useful hint~. In any case, we'll speak again some other time. By then, I'll hopefully have you in custody and you can answer all of my questions in detail. See ya."

The signal cut out, leaving Sayu feeling more frustrated and, well, like a scared little girl, than she'd ever felt before in her life. Sayu ground her teeth together. She needed to get rid of this guy as quickly as possible. Not just because he was incredibly irritating, either. She really didn't want to give this jerk the satisfaction of waving his victory in front of her face, and she really, really didn't want to be executed.

She put her head in her hands and massaged her numb face, trying to get some blood rushing back. That broadcast had left her emotionally exhausted, but it wasn't like she could just go to sleep, either. Thoughts raced through her head at a million kilometers an hour. What on Earth was she going to do? How could she even approach dealing with someone like that? Sayu would be willing to bet that this guy was even smarter than Light, and if he was smarter than Light, there was absolutely no question that he was smarter than her. That much had just been made painfully clear.

"Oh boy!" Ryuk said behind her, apparently having gone back to doing a merry gigue. "This is so exciting! Whichever one of you has their name and face revealed first dies. I haven't been this excited since the Shinigami King's big millennial celebration back in 999!"

"Ryuk! Please! You're not helping!" she shouted through her hands. She had to think of something. Anything. She flung the Death Note open and reread the rules one by one in as great of detail as possible, but no matter how much she considered the possibilities, this notebook was completely useless if she didn't know L's name and face. She didn't even know the names and faces of anyone who might be in contact with L. She knew absolutely nothing about him.

What she really needed was a secret weapon, some sort of ace in the hole that could give her the upper hand against him, something good enough to match his wit. But what…

She blinked and smacked herself in the face. Was she really that stupid? The answer was so obvious!

"Ryuk," she said.

"Oh, what, can I talk now?" he asked sarcastically.

She looked back at him with a withering glare, then exhaled heavily and shook her head. Getting angry would solve nothing. "I have a favor to ask of you."

"Yeah? What?"

She looked at her desk, tracing an odd pattern in the lacquer finish with her eyes. "If I gave you a bunch of apples, I don't suppose you could go and kill L for me?"

Ryuk was silent for a long moment. Then, to Sayu's dismay, he started rolling around on the ground, laughing his head off. "Oh man, Sayu. That's a riot!" A vein became clearly visible on Sayu's forehead. "In all seriousness, I thought you were wanting to be some kind of superhero. What kind of superhero needs others to fight their battles for them?" That was… actually a pretty good point. "I mean, it's not like I care what happens to some human, but that's such a dull resolution that I'm actually offended you would even suggest such a thing. I came here for excitement. If you won't give me that, then I'll just take that Death Note and all your memories of it and be on my merry way. There aren't enough apples in the world to make up for that."

The most frustrating part was that… Sayu really couldn't argue with his logic, even if it was incredibly infuriating and selfish. That still left her with the original problem of how to deal with L. What else was there? What other angle could she approach this problem from?

Her eyes opened wide. There was an idea. "Ryuk," she said again.

"I already told you, brat. I'm not doing it and that's final."

"No, not that. I understand your reasoning, and I won't ask again." She continued studying the pattern on her desk. "I just wanted to ask. When you were explaining the Death Note and its user's relationship to the Shinigami, was there maybe anything you left out or forgot to mention?"

Sayu could practically feel Ryuk's stare in her back. "Actually, now that you mention it," he started. She turned around to face him, and actually felt a little intimidated as he stood to his full height and absolutely towered over her. "There was one thing I failed to mention, mostly because it was never really relevant before. But now, I have to say. If you're desperate enough to ask me to directly intervene on your behalf, then maybe you'd be willing to consider it. But before I explain it, I have a question to ask."

"What's that, Ryuk?"

He leaned in closer, and she scooted backwards to get away from his looming leer. "Do you know what the difference is between a Shinigami and a Death Note-using human?"

"Uh…" she said intelligently, not really sure where he was going with this. "Is it the ability to fly, phase through solid objects, and go unseen by most people?"

"…" Ryuk stared at her unblinkingly (not that he appeared to have eyelids anyways). "Uh, actually, no. But, A+ for effort. Actually, I'm talking about these." At that, he pointed at his eyes. "You see, there are two important distinctions between a Shinigami and a human user of a Death Note. The first," he held up a long, pointy finger, "is that when a Shinigami writes a human's name in his or her Death Note, the remainder of that human's lifespan that will no longer be lived by that human gets transferred to the Shinigami who wrote that human's name. Say a human was meant to live to be sixty, but a Shinigami wrote that that human would die at forty. Then the remaining twenty years would be added to the Shinigami's lifespan. That is the primary reason that Shinigami bother to write human names in their Death Notes. However, no matter how many names you write in the Death Note, your lifespan will not increase. That is the first major difference."

"I… see," Sayu nodded, still not sure where he was going with this. Then, a thought occurred to her. "But, wait, how would you know how long a human was supposed to live for? In fact, how do you even know that human's name?"

"I was getting to that, but those are very good questions, brat." He held up a second long, pointy finger. "The second major difference between us, and the one that's far more relevant to you, is that very thing." He once again pointed to his eyes. "The difference is that we have different eyes, you and I. With my eyes, I can see a person's true name and lifespan just by looking at their face."

Sayu's eyes widened at that announcement. She smirked crookedly as a thought occurred to her. "I don't suppose you'd be willing to tell me my lifespan if I gave you some apples?"

"Nope."

"Hm," she closed her eyes and chuckled. "You really are a pest, you know that?"

"I've been called worse by better."

She looked up at him from half-closed eyelids. "That… doesn't exactly fill me with confidence."

"It wasn't meant to."

She bit her lip. "And if I asked you to go find L and tell me his real name?"

"Even if I did, which I won't, it wouldn't help you without knowing what he looks like."

"True, but unless he's ridiculously meticulous about photos of him, knowing his real name could lead to finding a photo of him on the internet."

"I'm still not going to do it either way. But, anyways, that's not what I was talking about. You see, this is the really interesting part. While the first gap I mentioned can never be crossed by a human, the second one can."

She looked up at him in shock. "Y-you mean…?"

"Yup. There exists a deal as ancient as the Shinigami themselves. If you take the deal, then you," he pointed at her, "can see the world through the eyes of a Shinigami, and all that that entails."

She stared at him thoughtfully for a few minutes. "A deal, huh?" she said at length. "Something like that, with that kind of power… There's no way I could get something like that for free."

"Heh," Ryuk laughed. "You know, you're a lot sharper than you give yourself credit for, brat. That's right. It's a deal, not charity. The deal is this: you can have the eyes of a Shinigami… in exchange for exactly half of your remaining lifespan. No more, no less. And, once you take the deal, you can never get that lifespan back, ever."

She gulped heavily and looked down at the floor. That was… an incredibly steep price to pay. Still… If she got caught by L and sentenced to death, all that extra lifespan would kind of be completely worthless to her. As unpalatable an option as it was, she was in this to win. This wasn't a game. In order to win… sacrifices would inevitably have to be made. She didn't want to die young, but better to live a life that's short and sweet than to die in a hole somewhere while that infuriating man gloated about it right in front of her.

So, as much as it pained her, she… didn't really see what other choice she had. "Ryuk…" She turned back around to face her computer, steepled her hands in front of her face, and closed her eyes tight. "…Fine. Let's… let's make the deal."

"Are you sure?" Ryuk asked. "Not that I particularly care, but you realize there's no turning back once I do this."

"Ryuk, it was too late to turn back the moment I decided to walk this path in the first place. It's far too late for regrets."

"Very well," Ryuk said with an air of finality. "If the eyes of a Shinigami are what you desire, then it's the eyes of a Shinigami you'll receive." He raised his hand and pointed a partly open palm directly at her. A second later, Sayu felt her entire body vibrate painfully all at once, like it was actively fighting against what was being done. And then, her eyes suddenly felt… different than before. Heavier.

She opened her eyes again, and this time when she saw her reflection in the computer screen, rather than her natural dull brown, her eyes shone a bright vermilion. "With this… I might just be able to gain the upper hand… L. You'll soon find that no one stands in the way of true justice. Not. Even. You."

~o~

To say that the mood in the large meeting room for the Japanese Kira Taskforce was palpable would be a laughable understatement. Tensions were quite high in the wake of what L had just done, with the room split almost evenly in half; one half criticizing his methods heavily, and the other half praising his pragmatism and results.

"Honestly, where does that guy get off? Sacrificing a human life just to make a point?! How can he go around thinking he's better than Kira when he's pulling crap like that?!"

"Yeah, but it was just a death row inmate."

"And Kira's victims are just criminals. What's your point? We're still investigating Kira, are we not?"

"Criminals who haven't faced a proper trial, no less."

"He's right. A life is still a life, even the life of a criminal."

"Sure, but look at how much L managed to accomplish just by doing that. Not only did he prove that Kira exists, he narrowed the search down from the entire world to one small region of Japan! That's an incredible amount of progress, and not something we would've ever accomplished on our own."

"So you don't see anything wrong with the way he did it?! If this kind of thing is acceptable, then why are we even bothering to investigate Kira at all? If that's the way we operate, then we might as well just bend the knee and let Kira do whatever the hell he wants!"

Finally, a loud whistle cut right through the tension in the room. "Everyone!" came the welcome voice of Chief Yagami Soichiro. "Why don't we just calm down and give L a chance to explain himself."

In response, a voice emanated from the laptop held in the back of the room by Watari. "Actually, to be honest, I figured you people wouldn't like what I had in mind. I don't particularly like it, either, but I just didn't see any other way of flushing out Kira and proving he exists. Sometimes, what's necessary to solve a case isn't necessarily the most palatable option, ethically speaking. In any case, what I accomplished through my gambit on the broadcast goes beyond simply proving the existence and location of Kira. After all, I was already well aware of both prior to the broadcast."

"What do you mean?" asked Detective Aizawa.

"What I mean, Mr. Detective, is that Kira's reaction to the bait that I left allowed us to gain a deeper insight into the personality of the flesh and blood human behind the moniker, and indeed, solidified some of my own theories about that very thing that I had going in."

"So, that means you've already completed your profile of the perpetrator?"

"Not quite, but I'm mostly there. I'd say about, seventy percent. Maybe eighty percent. For the remainder, I would like you to look into the exact circumstances of the deaths, as well as the exact way the criminals were reported in the media. In particular, I want you to look into whether or not names and faces of victims were properly reported prior to the deaths of the victims, as well as the times of death. These things together could very well be the missing pieces needed to complete the first major section of the puzzle that is Kira. Once that's completed, we can begin our investigation in earnest."

With that, the officers in the room went back to arguing with each other, and not much else really got done that day.

~o~

Later that night, elsewhere in Japan, Amane Misa was sitting in her apartment, eyes glued to her computer screen as she watched a video of L's live declaration of war against Kira.

"Wow," she said in awe. "L's pretty amazing, isn't he?" She looked over at the corner of her desk. On the corner, there sat a newspaper from about two days prior, which held the headline, 'Prime Suspect in the Amane Family Murder Dies of Heart Attack.' "Still," she said, "Kira. I'm rooting for you."

~o~

In his office in the Tokyo Metropolitan Public Prosecutor's Office, Mikami Teru was struggling to complete his paperwork for the day, as he sat, transfixed, re-watching the indisputable proof of God's existence for what must have been the fourteenth time in a row. On his desktop computer, a secret anonymous forum for Kira supporters was absolutely abuzz with speculation about what would happen next.

"God," he muttered under his breath as he hit replay on the video for the fifteenth time. "I'm with you all the way. I know you can't lose. Not to such a pitiful person as that."

-0-

AN: By the way, for anyone who actually cares (so, basically no one), since Sayu has the Shinigami eyes now, I figured I might as well tell you the full names, ages, and lifespans of Sayu's group of friends:

Amakashi Mika (天歌詞美香)

Age: 15

Lifespan: Supposed to die at 59, from complications caused by chronic back problems, which she adamantly refused to resolve by getting the breast reduction surgery that Yuri offered to pay for seventeen different times

Nishimoto Yuri (西本百合)

Age: 15

Lifespan: Supposed to die at 87, from stomach cancer after living a long, successful life, having nine children, thirteen grandchildren, and finally dying after the birth of her third great-grandchild

Goto Sakura (後藤桜)

Age: 13

Lifespan: Supposed to die at 48, from getting hit by a bus on her way home from work at a video game development company

Shinozaki Tsuru (篠崎鶴)

Age: 14

Lifespan: Supposed to die at 31, of an unknown cause.