Warning: Both disclaimer and story include spoilers up to and including volume 7! After that, not even I know what happens, but if you haven't read volume 7, and don't want to know major spoilers – do NOT read. If you don't mind spoilers or have already read, then please go ahead
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAND here's chapter 7!
Disclaimer: I do not own Death Note or any of its Characters. If I did, L would never have died and There would've been a lot more yaoi laugh
Summary: In the year 2010, Kira's will has almost become the law. Raito has no more competition as the chief inspector of the NPA. Even if the role of 'L' was relinquished a year earlier, at the same time as Near and Mello got wiped from history, he has no problem, since he holds the entire police force of Japan, as well as well as the role of the worlds 'saviour', Kira. There are slight complications with the now upcoming discussions about disbanding the police, but he doesn't see it as a long-term problem.
Everything seems to be going fine, up until Friday the thirteenth of August, when something pretty unpredictable happens. One of the newly dead criminals, who got killed by Kira's judgement, suddenly reawakens on the hospital, three hours after her death. Shocked at this information, Raito decides to get information from the woman. But she has no memories of her life whatsoever, only her name, age and a cryptic phrase; "Once is once – but everyone gains a second chance."
Deciding to go home to think the entire situation over, he finds another shocking surprise waiting. For if a woman who has been dead can reawaken… then why couldn't also someone else?
Warnings: Yaoi (malexmale), Violence, Language
Well, with that in mind, why don't we get started? And my dears, please don't forget to review It would make a poor authoresses' day if you could take the time to write a decent review! Tell me what you think
Chapter 7
"For you to understand the basic concept of the high order tenshi, it would be easier if you first understood the basic concept of all tenshi." Jyiva spoke, slowly. Raito didn't move, merely gave a small nod for the creature to continue. "No one speaks of how a tenshi is born. One day we just are. And no angel has any memory of before they started to exist."
They just were? They just suddenly appeared? Very well, he just had to go with that for the time being. He didn't want to make unnecessary interruptions and cause the conversation to be cut short. He needed information in order to continue on. He wasn't going to let himself be locked up in a position in which he was bound to loose.
"At any rate, tenshi are divided into three major groups." The tenshi continued, silver eyes locking calmly with his. "First we have the lower order – cherub, followed by the main order – angelus – and lastly, we have the high order, seraphim. All groups have different means and duties. The cherub order, for example, serves to oversee the souls' passing through the purgatory lands."
"The land between life and death, correct?" He asked, getting a small nod of affirmation. He frowned softly. So even that existed. The land in which passed souls waited for their judgement. Interesting, yet terrifying in an awkward way. He had never been the one to believe in either heaven or hell. Then again, most people didn't believe in the existence of shinigami, either. "What about the other orders?"
"The Angelus order governs over the heavens, and watches over the souls residing there." The seraphim continued, closing his eyes for a brief second. "And the seraphim order is in the high council, and also oversees the book of the dead, the Kiseki. Souls who are passing on when their lifespan runs out appear in the book before they are being judged based on their memories and happenings."
"I see your problem now." Raito said, as the tenshi had silenced. He leaned back, eyeing both the tenshi and Ryuzaki casually. "Since the names only appear in the Kiseki naturally when they die of a natural death, the criminals I pass judgement on aren't in it when they cross over – correct?"
"You are correct." Jyiva said calmly, while Ryuzaki nodded, the package of pocky enigmatically appeared out of nowhere. The detective then continued by calmly taking out one of the treats and biting off a piece of it. "When someone dies unexpectedly, which can only occur when a shinigami or a human writes someone's name in the death note, the name must be written into the Kiseki afterwards, and the judgement will be prolonged because of lack of information. Also, when someone hasn't lived their entire predicted life, they cannot be judged correctly, as they haven't lived their entire life, and they are – rather unfairly – judged based on what they used their given lifespan for."
"But all of them were criminals, so there wouldn't be a problem." Raito replied smartly. He didn't see the point here. Evil-doers went to hell, easy as that. And if criminals weren't evil-doers, then who were?"
"The only problem is that you ended their life before they could repent for what they did." Ryuzaki said, biting off another piece of the pocky stick. Raito blinked at him. "Everyone makes mistakes, Raito-kun. Everyone has a dark spot on their conscience. But if we repent for what we do, even the worst criminal can go to heaven."
"A mass murderer?"
"Do I hear an implication towards your own self, Raito-kun?" There was a clear hint of curious waywardness in the other's voice, and he decided to only snort at the other. "It is possible. If a mistake you made causes a hundred people to die, you can repent for it, and still go to heaven. If you deliberately kill the same amount of people, and don't regret it, however, you won't be accepted through the gates of heaven."
"So it is all in the will of the action?" Raito hummed. Sounded reasonable, but it was still not right. Anyone could say that they were sorry – that didn't mean that they actually were sorry, though.
"At any rate, the trouble lies in the fact that purgatory is filled with souls waiting to get judged, but since none of them are listed in the Kiseki, it can take very long time before they can pass on correctly. The cherub order has been forced to ask for reinforcements from the angelus order, and the angelus order from the seraphim order. That was how I came to meet L."
He blinked once. So maybe it hadn't been planned? "So you were serving as substitute for one from angelus order when you first met Near, and then Ryuzaki?"
"Correct." A nod. "That was how we got to know the true facts about why the sudden activity of the death note had occurred. Since we left the living world alone, we haven't gazed back on it ever since – until now."
"So at first, you had no idea why?"
"No. The closest guess we got was that the shinigami started collecting life in a frantic manner." Jyiva locked gazes with him, a stern look. "And so far, only I know of the truth."
"So the other tenshi do not know about this – at all?" This could be useful. He didn't exactly know in what way yet, but the fact that him being Kira still was only known by that few beings was a little soothing.
"Not a thing. After my first conversation, I tried telling the high council about my findings, but they wouldn't believe me – nor did they believe a mere human being would know anything about the current predicament."
"So they didn't believe Ryuzaki either?"
"They didn't even want to hear him out." Jyiva said, slowly. Ryuzaki was still devouring pocky, eyes a little vacant as he seemed to look at a wall. Raito looked back at the tenshi. "At any rate, the current situation is that the tenshi high council believes that these sudden killings are the shinigami's doing. They are assured that the shinigami are preparing for something that could be war."
"War?" he echoed, suddenly frowning. Now this seemed to take a strange turn.
"Indeed." Jyiva frowned, the first real facial expression Raito had seen on the otherworldly being. "As our powers cancel each others out, they have to stock up on life force in order to fight us."
"In what way would they be afraid of you?"
"Because," Raito jumped a little as Ryuzaki spoke up, "when a tenshi restores a human's life, the life force the shinigami gained goes to vain, and they are back where they started."
"And while the tenshi return people to life, they shorten their own life. Guess like it's a complete tie, then." Raito looked at Jyiva, calmly.
"Unless the shinigami kills a lot of humans. If it kills more than four or five, one tenshi cannot completely kill it before dying." Jyiva closed his eyes for a brief second. "That's why the council is in an absolute uproar. They are convinced the shinigami are aimed at war."
"And what does that have to do with me?" He didn't see the tenshi's point. Okay, so maybe a war would break out between tenshi and shinigami, but that really didn't have anything to do with him. Unless… of course…
Ryuzaki answered before the tenshi had the time to. "If the shinigami were to hear about it, they'd start killing humans in fury to get their life up. Also, of course…" His calm eyes focused on Raito's as he bit of another piece of the pocky. "…they'd make sure that the inconvenience that started the tenshi's suspicion of them – as well as stealing a lot of important life sources – was taken care – and disposed – of."
"…" He narrowed his eyes slightly. Of course. That did make sense. If a war was on the brink of breaking out, he was pretty sure that the shinigami – lazy as they were – would assure that Ryuk killed him, in order to calm the tenshi. "So, were you telling the high council that I was killing them to avoid the war between the tenshi and the shinigami, or because you figured that they would agree to try and make me change my mind?"
"No." Jyiva shook his head. "I knew the shinigami weren't doing it, and I am sure that the high council would notice too, as the killings would stop as soon as we sent out a warning to the shinigami – since they would kill you."
"Then, why?" He asked, narrowing his eyes further. There was a knock on the door, and Ryuzaki stood up smoothly.
"I think that's a cue to be silent…" He mumbled, setting down the box of pocky before sauntering over to the door. Raito watched the detective's back as he opened the door, greeting whoever had brought up the massive amount of sugary treats for the raven-haired male, when Jyiva spoke up, calmly.
"The answer is quite obvious." A small pause occurred as Raito arched a brow, glancing at the tenshi from the corner of his eyes. "L asked of me to tell the high council."
"…" He blinked, baffled. What? He stared at the tenshi now, and was glad that he had just heard the door close. "Why would he do that?"
"That's also quite obvious, Raito-kun." Ryuzaki spoke, having placed the tray with his order on the counter, lifting of a piece of strawberry shortcake and a small silver fork, before joining them again, sitting down without giving Raito's questioning stare a second of affirmation. "My main course here is to stop your actions while, if possible, manage to keep you from recklessly losing your life."
"…Why would you be concerned if I lived or died? You just want to stop Kira, don't you?" He asked, sternly. The detective took a bite of the cake, glancing up at him. For a while, not a single word was spoken, and the raven-haired male looked back down on his cake, using the fork to push the strawberry to the side before continuing with the cake itself.
"I want to stop Kira – that is correct." Raito hummed, knowingly, and leaned back again, closing his eyes. So he had been right. Well, not that it mattered much. If push came to shove, he had to pass one of the unattended death notes over to someone else. As a safety measure in case the shinigami really planned on killing him. Because none of the other two had a shinigami attached, there wouldn't be a problem. And since Ryuzaki's main goal was to stop Kira, he'd be satisfied too, for the time being. "However," he looked up, blinking at the other as Ryuzaki pierced the strawberry with the fork and brought it up to his mouth before taking a piece of it, black eyes studying him still, "I do wish to save Yagami Raito."
"…That doesn't make any sense." He said, snorting. "You've said it yourself, that Yagami Raito is Kira. Nothing has changed. I am still Kira; you still know that with a hundred percent certainty."
"That is true. Yagami Raito is Kira, with a hundred percent certainty. But during a certain amount of time, Yagami Raito was only Yagami Raito." He knew very well what the detective was referring to. To the time when he had ended his ownership of the death note, and lost all his memories of it, in order to fool the detective.
"That was all a fraud." He said, frowning. "It was a part of the plan."
"Of course. But there is still no denying that during that certain amount of time, you where no other than yourself, Raito-kun. And during that time, you wished to stop Kira, and had the same determination as I. So in a manner of speaking, as soon as one subtracts the Kira inside of you, you are Yagami Raito."
"That's just plain nonsense." He snorted accentuating. "That Yagami Raito is the one who never found the death note."
"Correct. This is why I believe that you are not completely Kira, Raito-kun. It doesn't matter that you found the death note – all that matters is that you stop using it, and dismiss the part of you that is Kira – the part of you who has a god complex." The small plate was set down, now empty, as Ryuzaki placed both hands on his knees, looking at Raito inquiringly. "I believe that side of you somehow evolved out of the knowledge that you could accomplish a godlike position with that notebook – even if you knew that the way there wouldn't be lawful."
"So you're saying I'm schizophrenic?" He asked, perplexed, eyes narrowed angrily at the detective, who dismissed his gaze without remorse, rising up to get a new treat from the tray, in the process turning his back to Raito.
"Not at all." He answered, in all simplicity, and Raito arched a brow, questioning even thought he raven-haired male couldn't see the look. "I'm merely stating you have two minds in one soul."
"Isn't that pretty much the same, though?"
Ryuzaki stopped up for a moment, turning back towards him while tilting his head slightly in thought. "No, I do not believe that. In opposition to schizophrenia – which is a psychosomatic ailment, where a particular human believes himself to be numerous individuals – what I am speaking about is more about one individual having two tracks of deliberation that are opposing each other, even though not intentionally."
"Opposing each other… you say?" He asked, frowning. How did that come together? Sure, if he thought about it, the way he had been after relinquishing his ownership of the death note was quite the contrary from the person he'd become over these last years, but where they opposites?
"Indeed. The Yagami Raito who didn't have the death note was indeed aiming to in a way rid the world of evil-doers, but," Ryuzaki sat down before continuing, "he was doing it in the way any other human would. He aimed on becoming a police officer, hoping to become one of the greater in the NPA-"
"Which I already am." He cut the detective off. "So I don't see your point in saying this."
"If you had allowed me to finish my thesis, Raito-kun, you would have seen my point." The raven-haired male sounded a little annoyed. "…As I was saying – a police officer. By catching criminals and putting them in jail – after a proper trial and a correct judgement. The Yagami Raito who did have the death note, is the one we know today as Kira, working as a police officer as a cover, while secretly passing out his own childlike sense of justice over whomever he sees fit."
"…You make it sound like I don't have a motive, Ryuzaki."
"I'm just stating the truth. People might follow Kira, seeing his actions as the correct way, but most are doing it out of fear, Raito-kun. Everyone wants to see someone dead once or twice in their life, but a world in fear of being killed for any little misstep they make – is that truly what you wished for?" The detective took a bite of the new piece of cake he had fetched, studying him indulgently while swallowing it. "The Raito-kun I thought I knew wouldn't have wanted that. Maybe he was a little too naïve and was too much of an idealist – but he was logical enough to understand that this sort of world isn't much better than it had been before – the only difference is that the one people are afraid of is the one calling himself the god of this world."
"… That was the Yagami Raito you thought you knew, Ryuzaki."
"Indeed it was." The other nodded soberly. "I hoped that there was a sliver of that persona in this Yagami Raito too, but your answer on my prior asked question states that there is no such penitence in the current Yagami Raito. That distresses me significantly." The prior asked question… oh, about the 'sacrifices'. Tsk.
"This world is almost entirely free of crimes, Ryuzaki. That should make people happy."
"Free of crimes, perhaps – but not free from the fear of getting hurt. People loathe criminals because they know that criminals have no maximum value of people to hurt with their actions. This isn't very much of a difference. You might have killed the criminals causing some people grief, but you have also caused grief for those who are left behind."
"…What do you mean with that?"
"How about this scenario? A man, age thirty-five, is in a lot of trouble with money – since he just lost his job – and cheats the tax company to get more in order to support himself. After that, he realizes he can gain more money in this way, and does it again, three times, four times, each time he gets the chance to. A friend finds out and he 'silences' the friend, by drowning him in a nearby river in panic. Would you kill him?"
"Obviously, yes." Raito frowned. "I don't see your point."
Ryuzaki swallowed another piece of cake before pointing the fork at Raito lazily. "Now let's see it from another point of view. He is unemployed, his wife is at home and sick, he has two daughters, age twelve and five. He also has his parents, who have been tricked by their annuity company, leaving them with nothing. So he does it not only to support himself, but also pay for his sick wife's medicine, his parent's living, as well as school and toys for his daughters, in order to keep them happy. The friend was threatening him by commanding him to give him two million American dollars for his silence, or he will kill his daughters."
Raito blinked. What the-?
Ryuzaki allowed him some time to think, continuing to eat the cake, before asking; "With that in mind, would you kill him?"
"…That is…" No, he shouldn't falter at this. "He still committed the crime."
"That he did – but for a good cause, isn't that true?" Ryuzaki glanced up at him through raven-black bangs. "Just as you are killing people for a 'good cause', Raito-kun. You are no different from him in this case. Also, if you think about it, the tax company could have tricked him first, or we could blame the annuity company, or the friend for threatening him."
"They didn't commit any crime-"
"How can you be sure? Without a proper trial after a proper investigation, you can get the answers to who is at fault." The plate was set down, once again empty. "Killing them as soon as media puts them up as criminals isn't as assuring – you can never be hundred percent certain that the person is guilty."
"People get sent to jail innocently too." He defended, but was frowning. He was falling behind, allowing the other a sort of advantage – and that wasn't good at all.
"Indeed – but if they are, then the mistake from the police can be corrected." The detective gave him a calm look. "Under normal circumstances, you cannot reawaken the dead."
He sat silent, returning the other's look just as calmly, but he didn't feel calm. He damned the other make for being able to make him falter in his own logic – he knew he was right and he knew he couldn't let Ryuzaki walk over him in this – or he might loose his own motive along the way. He had come far too long to lose here. "I won't quit, Ryuzaki." He said. "True, what you say does have logic, but the criminals also leave other people behind. By killing someone, they hurt that person's family."
"Which is why I'm saying that Kira is just like them, Raito-kun." Ryuzaki averted his eyes, to the window. "I'm not giving them more credit – I don't think any different about Kira than any other criminal. Neither is better, they are just the same. And as any other who has done the wrong thing, the correct thing to do is to repent for your sins."
"Spare me the spiritual talk, please." He rolled his eyes exasperatedly. This was getting on his nerves. This wasn't what he had come here to talk about. "Enough about it, I was the one asking questions, and we were still on the tenshi."
"…Have you not understood a thing of what we've discussed, Raito-kun?" Ryuzaki looked disconcerted. "This is connected to the tenshi… you could loose your life, quite futilely, if you keep this up."
"And if I don't?" He asked, narrowing his eyes while sitting up straight, leaving the almost relaxed pose he had held during the main time of the conversation. "If I do 'repent for my sins' and turn myself in, I will die – right? I'll be executed. So what is the difference? I'd rather die for something I believe in than throw it away because you, of all people, told me to."
"That's not what I was suggesting for you to do, Raito-kun." Ryuzaki defended, thumb between his teeth almost nervously.
"Then would you be so kind and tell me what you suggest that I do?" He gritted his teeth, rather sick and tired of the way this conversation was going. It wasn't getting him anywhere, and the other only left him with confusion and cryptic answer.
"What I'm trying to say is-"
After that, everything happened in a flash – literally.
As he had his back to the window, he could only see the clash of lightning lit up the dimly illuminated room only to be followed by a loud crash just zero point two seconds later. But that wasn't what caught his attention.
At the same moment as the lightning struck outside the window, the detective had cut his sentence short just as quickly as he had managed to pierce the skin of his thumb with a rather harsh bite. But Ryuzaki didn't seem to mention this as he stared, wide-eyed, at the window. And even from his distance, Raito could see the violent tremors that coursed through the other's body.
"…Ryuzaki?" He asked, slowly.
He got no response.
Raito frowned as he stood up, slowly, eyeing Jyiva carefully. The tenshi looked generally concerned, nothing more. What was going on here…? "Ryuzaki? Are you okay?" He tried, again, as he rounded the table. He saw blood slip from the detectives damaged thumb to stain his slacks, on occasion even the floor, as the raven-haired male's shaking didn't make matters better. "Hey… Ryuzaki?" Something was definitely off here…
He kneeled a little by the armchair, to get into eye-level with the other. Ryuzaki merely stared past him, as if not even noticing his presence. Okay, this was just getting stranger by the second. He contemplated putting a hand on the other's shoulder, but knew that in case the detective did react to that, it might be a rather violent reaction. And he most certainly didn't want to receive a kick to his head at this moment. He opened his mouth to try and reach the other with words again, when another clash of lightning struck outside.
The detective jerked back, shuddering more violently, while his breathing grew more ragged and shallow, eyes widened in what would… unmistakably be…
Fear.
And just that second, the answer struck him as the lightning outside.
Karaunophobia. Ryuzaki was afraid of the thunder. Actually, afraid wasn't the right word – he looked downright terrified. That would explain the abrupt reaction to the phenomenon. And he also knew that phobias could cause people severe problems, as panic attacks, respiratory arrest, fainting or a certain shocked state, that even could evolve into a trauma.
And he didn't really want to be forced to call an ambulance for a man that was supposed to be already dead. So, he had to think. What did you do to lessen someone's reaction to fear?
First thing first, get rid of the reason for the fear. Not that he could stop the thunder, but he could at least dispose of the lightning. He rose up hastily and went over to the windows, quickly finding the buttons for the electronic blind that the room was provided with. And so, in a matter of seconds, he had gotten rid of the lightning, at the very least,
"Hey, Ryuzaki." He trued, yet again, walking up to the armchair. "Hey."
Subconsciously now, he grabbed the other's shoulder loosely, taking notice in the continuous shudders that shook the other's frame, and gave a gentle shake.
He saw the other's eyes dilate slightly before the detective blinked, harshly, and looked up at him. He still looked afraid, and his breathing was continuously shallow. And somehow, even though the look of weakness the other was presenting would any other time be to his utter glee, he felt a sting of melancholy at the other's helpless look. For he looked so utterly, completely and undoubtedly...
Lonely. So very lonely.
Despite himself, he kneeled down a little, offering a small supportive smile as the other mumbled what sounded like a broken version of his name, and gave the other's shoulder a small squeeze. "There's nothing to be afraid of."
Additionally, which he hadn't noticed clearer ever before, he felt a small flutter of relief as the other's shudders subsided and the tenseness in the detective's shoulders loosened, even if only to a slight degree.
Moreover, at that moment he realized that, if he didn't watch out…
He would loose this battle – and the reason for his fear of that realization was that he wasn't even sure himself if that was a bad thing.
AAAAAAAAAAND that's that xD hahaha.
Points for this chapter:
The names of the angel orders are pretty lame – I know. But please bear with me xD
Raito is a bit OOC here – I know. But hey, we need to have SOME OOC-ness in both of them to get this story going, in my opinion. Even so, L DID have a couple of years to figure these things out, while Raito ignored the small facts L tries to show him because he was so firm to believe in what he thought was right – and so he overlooked these small simple facts. As soon as he has gotten himself back on track, though – I promise he'll give L some challenge too
War between the tenshi and the shinigami – cliché? I don't know, I just brought up the idea to get some tension – will Raito risk his own live to continue his goal? And will a real war come along and what will happen then? I don't know xD We'll just have to see what my faithful reviewers think – ne?
Karaunophobia is one of four names for fright of thunder/lightning
Until next time then!
Keyhala
