Kira Kira
Disclaimer: If I owned Death Note, I'd be rich and have all the good manga in the world. (No Yu-Gi-Oh. Sorry, guys.)
A/N: Kekeke, WHO VOTED THAT I'M KIRA? Loyal Subject and I (well, mostly LS since I seem to make a better Kira than an L) figured who one of the votes was… But she wasn't the only one! -shifty eyes-
THANK YOU ALL FOR THE REVIEWS AND THE VOTES IN THE POLL AND THE READING AND FAVES AND ALERTS… I reached my six reviews in a few hours. That is so a first! As a reward for the TEN LOVELY REVIEWS for the last chapter…you get a chapter faster than usual, and although I usually stop at five pages, this one ran a little longer.
Near's eyes were being forced open by the blinding light. A tear trickled down his cheek, but seemed to evaporate halfway to his chin. L's successor had a pretty good guess that his retinas were being fried by the intense white glare.
On the other hand, white was definitely NOT his favorite color any more.
Faces swam into view, but the light made it impossible to focus on any of them in particular. Finally, a blissful shadow eclipsed the blinding light; he was cast onto a hospital bed.
White still danced across his field of view. However, this was merely an ordinary, sickly clean hospital shade.
The "tears" that had trickled down his face earlier were really antiseptic, the young teen discovered upon catching his reflection in the side of the metal heart monitor screen beside him. He also looked pretty bad off…
What's going on, anyway…?
L crouched in the waiting room. "Mello, it is understandable that you would be worried. However, it would be nice if you stopped pacing."
"Kira must have failed to kill him…" Mello sat down, rubbing the toes of his shoes together.
L ignored the statement for the most part, due to the distraction of Matsuda dancing in. "What is it, Matsuda-san?"
"The doctor said he was awake!"
"Hi, Near." Mello pursed his lips and peered at the small teen in a half-interested manner.
"Mello," the boy mumbled in reply.
"So ANYWAY," Mello continued, sitting down grandly in the nearest chair, "I KNOW it feels like you got hit by a truck. It wasn't QUITE a truck. One of those Suzuki Cervo."
"How did you know…?" Near's voice was incredibly soft; Mello had to rest his chin on the side of the bed to hear him.
L and Mello exchanged a glance. L blinked at Near for a moment. "The police informed us. We were also with you…"
Mello jumped back. "Near…how much do you remember?"
"Something about seeing a black notebook in a store window... And I walked toward it from across the street. I had the eerie feeling that Kira was nearby."
L bumped into a piece of hospital equipment, catching a small ring with the tip of his index finger before it hit the floor. "I never expected Near to believe in that sort of intuition."
Mello, meanwhile, was laughing. "What does a notebook have to do with KIRA?"
L looked at him strangely. "You aren't a particularly good liar."
Mello turned to his role model and puffed out his cheeks. "What is that supposed to mean?"
"You are Kira."
"What? We had a deal! If you stopped with the Kira accusations in front of people, I'd–"
Near coughed, wincing a bit at the uncomfortable spasm in is throat. "Please stop arguing…"
"See? You're scaring Near." The stubborn teen crossed his arms and turned away from the older man.
L just sighed. "Near, you probably confused a dream with reality. However, it isn't completely impossible for the notebook to be a sign," he allowed, gazing up at the ceiling.
Mello kicked at the books along the bottom shelf. "Why are we HERE?" It wasn't that he didn't like to read, he just didn't like to read dream dictionaries.
"It seems as though it would be in our best interest to humor Near-kun." L was used to using honorifics with the task force; he didn't even notice he'd said it unnecessarily.
Mello spotted a shelf full of the type of book L was scanning for, but he didn't say anything. That would teach him to break his end of their little deal… "Well, what if it wasn't a dream? We're wasting our time here."
L looked up at him, surprise painted across his face. "If it wasn't a dream, how do you explain it? Mello-kun was there. There was no black notebook in the shop windows."
"Let's go check, then."
L opened his mouth to argue back before he spotted the rack of dream dictionaries behind Mello. The detective tugged at one thick volume.
"A notebook is a sign that you are attempting to keep on top of things with detailed records…" L blinked at Mello. "It means he's trying to keep on top of things and stay a step ahead of Kira. Or maybe stay ahead of the detectives…?"
Mello smacked his forehead. "Although I agree that Near may be Kira, I think he's lost his memories of it when he was hit. And if the killings stop, you won't be able to argue!"
A small crowd had gathered around the two, eavesdropping on the odd conversation they were having in the middle of a bookstore. L was about to resort to switching to English, but he decided that enough of them would understand it too well. He would start speaking in French, too, but Mello probably didn't know it.
"It is possible Kira is someone who will find out that Near-kun is in the hospital. However, I've been more concerned about figuring out the second Kira first."
Mello swallowed and shook his head. "Alright then."
L had to feel a bit sorry for the teen. He had to grow up before his time; the stress was certainly showing up in his behavioral patterns.
The speck of remorse that had always kept the bizarre detective linked to the rest of humanity slipped back behind his mask.
Light and Matsuda sat across the room from Near. The three pretty much just stared at each other until Matsuda coughed to break the suffocating silence. "Who do you guys think Kira is?"
Light paused for a long moment. "I believe the second Kira to be Mello. Kira might even be Ryuzaki."
Matsuda smiled. At last, someone didn't think he was the murderer here! "Near, what do you think?"
"I don't remember…"
"His memory was damaged when the car hit him," Light offered, although it was really just pointing out the obvious. "Near, did Mello and Ryuzaki say where they were going?"
"Bookstore." Near yawned; his throat still felt like he'd chugged salt water.
Light chewed the tip of the pen he'd taken from his shirt pocket. "This is…off-topic. Do you think it's possible for Kira to kill with methods other than a heart attack?"
"Ah, Light-kun…" Matsuda grinned sheepishly. "Do you think that maybe this is a bad place to discuss that type of thing?"
"I'm listening," Near rasped, ignoring Matsuda completely. "What makes you say that?"
Light chewed on his thumbnail in a familiar manner, much to the other guys' amusement. "The lack of proof that he can only use heart attacks… If you can't find something there…look for something that isn't there."
Near looked a little disappointed. "That's not enough of an excuse. The rule doesn't apply here."
"…L–"
"Ryuzaki."
"Wasn't that…?" Matt shook his head. "Ryuzaki," he muttered to test it out, snickering a bit at the memory of a story of a case back in 2002. "Why am I in Japan?"
"You will be taking over for me if the case proves to be too difficult."
Matt dropped the phone. The teen scrambled to recover it. "Wh-what?"
"I did not stutter, Matt-kun. If I die, you are to take over as L."
"Why me? Why not…Near?"
"Near was recently…hit by a car."
If it were an anime, Matt would have sweat-dropped at the sheer bluntness of the statement. "Is Mello alright?"
"He seems to have taken a hit emotionally. However, that may simply be the Kira case at work on his nerves."
Something about that didn't sit right with Matt. Mello may have always been emotional, and quite overdramatic, but that just didn't sound right. "So I get actual human contact, aside from calls with you and…Watari…when, now?"
"When I am dead or when the case is solved. Whichever comes first. However, if I die, the case should be fairly simple at that point. I expect Kira might let his guard down if Near is still in the hospital."
"You said you suspected Near."
"Hmm, perhaps I do." Had L seriously forgotten how much information he'd given away? "However, there is still an uncomfortably large chance that Kira is not even one of the suspects."
"I see."
"That is to say that for all we know, Kira could be…Amane Misa, on the cover of this week's Eighteen magazine."
Matt chuckled a bit at the thought. "Yes, but what are the odds of that?"
Well, higher than he knew.
Souchiro leaned back on the couch, reaching for the remote. Finally, he got a bit of time to himself. What, with his second job and the Kira case, he barely had time to stop for air… The agenda for the night consisted of falling asleep in front of the television, hopefully with Sachiko leaning into the crook of his arm.
He flicked it on.
Kira. Kira. Oh, look, here's an anime called…Death Note…
Souchiro flicked the television off. Maybe he'd just work a bit more.
A kitten prowled the alleyway, a newly stolen pen gripped in its mouth. It hopped along the lids of the trash cans, finally stopping at a window.
The second Kira, upon seeing the cat, opened the window and accepted the pen. The little ball of fur wrestled it away, though. It leapt into the room, bolting out of the opened door.
The second Kira winced. They had lost their pen, ironically, and couldn't find another. Strange behavior in a kitten was the least of their concerns, however.
"Useless. Useless."
L was up late that night, scanning the papers spread out across the table before him and brushing some into a wastebasket. The detective was getting a bit frustrated, and that was certainly never a good sign.
Light offered him coffee, but the sleep-deprived man ignored him.
"Useless, useless, useless."
It was obvious that it wasn't stress Light's first real friend was feeling. "Do you do this every time you have a case, Ryuzaki?"
"No. I rarely do it at all. Useless…"
"Ah, then why…?"
"The sheer amount of information we had seemed like it was beginning to intimidate the other investigators."
"Aren't you afraid you will throw away something important to the case?"
L was too busy to bother coming up with a retort, so he just kept sorting. "Useless."
Light's eyes narrowed. That was exactly why he suspected L in the first place. The strange man would do something so completely out of character that could possibly jeopardize the outcome of the case.
L, on the other hand, was fully aware of the suspicion. A little of it was healthy, actually.
L planned to come out on top, though. He always won.
A/N: Scary detectives.
Now I REALLY know how Light felt. I'm terrified that this is moving too fast, to add to the situation. XD
I suddenly feel so bad about what happened to Near! I have absolutely nothing against him. Y.Y By the way, that "notebook" thing is from an online dream dictionary, paraphrased.
Please review! Remember, I don't update until I get at least seven reviews to a chapter! XD
