A/N: I would like to thank all the reviews/alerts/favourites so far. :) I found this chapter the most difficult to write. Enjoy! x
Susanoo's Stratagem - 10
After writing the cause of death, details of the death should be written in the next 6 minutes and 40 seconds.
He loves me. He loves me not. He loves me. He loves me not. Hikari mutilated flower after flower going through the same phrases in her head, multiple times. Petals were falling in front of her feet and it was as if she were creating a path that anyone could follow. Does he really love me? Or was he just saying it.
"Are you nervous?" Ankh asked, looking at the trail of petals behind them. He wondered what had gotten her to start picking the petals from the flowers.
"A bit," Hikari was silent as they made their way to the park. "Raito told me he loves me."
"Good thing I wasn't with you." The shinigami scoffed. "Do you think he only said it to get you to side with him?"
"Does that matter Ankh?" She stopped walking for a few seconds, letting the flower stalks fall to the ground in a heap. "I already made my decision before he told me."
She was glad that there were no children in the park because they would still be in school. It meant that whatever L wanted to talk to her about was going to happen with no interruptions. This suited Hikari just fine. She saw him on one of the benches at the corner of the park, or it would've been a corner, if parks had them. The bench was off to the side so if anyone did come through, they wouldn't be disturbed. He was holding onto some brown paper bags and it made her wonder what were inside them.
"It pleases me that you came." L held up the paper bags. "I brought cakes and cookies."
She sat down beside him, watching as he opened each bag. Ankh's mouth salivated when he saw two cookies in one of the bags. L had bought the same kind of cake that she ate the two other times they had been at a bakery together. Hikari smiled slightly at the sweet gesture, but then thought it was a bit creepy for him to remember. Maybe it was just a weird genius thing? He handed her a piece and started licking off the icing of his sweet dessert.
'This would be our third date Hikari." His lips upturned into a small smile before he licked off more icing.
"We're not dating L." She rolled her eyes at him.
"Raito made you sad the other day…" L paused to face her. "You could at least pretend for a tiny while."
Her eyes widen, but not in the surprise that he would've seen. Ever since her and Raito's first argument, she had honestly forgotten about the cameras and microphones still set up in her house, whenever she was at home. Hikari thought back to her previous room routines, thinking of anything incriminating she could've done. Nothing came to her mind. She remembered crying a lot, cursing Raito to hell, showering, changing clothes more showering and changing. A blush started appearing on her cheeks.
"How many cameras did you put in the house?" Hikari didn't want to know the answer but asked anyway.
L purposely waiting until he had finished his mouthful, a thumb made its way to his lips. "Enough so that there wouldn't be any blind spots." He thought it best not to say the exact amount, she would definitely freak out and it was something he didn't want to happen.
"How long have you been watching them?" She really didn't want to know this answer.
"All the cameras were on 24 hour surveillance. The watching was split between all task force members but only I watched the footage when you were home." The pale skin of his face was covered in a pink-tinged blush. "You have nothing to be ashamed of Hikari. There is a saying of good things coming in small packages. I think you fit that description quite well."
Hikari moved her cake out of the way as she let her head fall to touch the wooden surface of the bench. "Don't ever tell me you are not a pervert, because I now have proof." She was mortified but glad that none of the other task force members would've seen her. "Are the cameras still in the house?"
"No, I had them taken out."
She lifted her head after hearing that. "Really? Why?"
L thought for a while before replying. "I don't know… the Kira investigation hasn't been moving forward since they have been put in. I've gotten the cameras in the Yagami residence taken out as well."
"So the investigation has been going slow?"
"Yes." He contemplated letting her know any more information. "My suspicions lead to either Raito or you being Kira. There isn't any hard evidence to confirm this, so the investigation hasn't been progressing."
"I may have something that could help you." The gloom in his eyes disappeared and interest took its place. "I… I am Kira."
L started choking on his cake and Hikari reached over to pat his back until he was breathing normally again. "Why would you admit that? Are you feeling okay?"
"L you are an intelligent guy, people call you a genius." She finished off her cake with ease and spoke as if they were talking about the weather. "You would've figured out the truth, I am just helping you out."
"What is Raito's part in all of this?" At the new information he received, L's head was buzzing with questions. He can arrest her later, right now he wanted to know more and Hikari seemed willing to give him what he wanted.
"He is innocent." Hikari met his gaze head on, but he couldn't quite believe her words.
He moved onto his cookie, giving the other one to her. "I think it would be safe to leave the idea of Raito being your partner-in-crime open. How are you able to kill with just a face and name?"
"There is a notebook called a Death Note. You write down the name of a person and picture their face in your mind." She was going to also mention about the shinigami eyes but thought against it because there could've been some criminals who hadn't been killed. Due to the media spelling their names wrong or some may have had aliases.
"Can I see this Death Note?" L held out his hand expectantly.
Hikari shook her head at him. "The Death Note is buried right now but…" She started searching through her bag. "I do have a piece from it. The effects are the same as any page from the notebook." She found the torn piece she was looking for and placed it in L's open hand.
As soon as the paper touched his skin, the shadow of Ankh was revealed to him and he looked up and wailed. Still holding onto the piece of the Death Note, his arms were in the air and he fell off the bench. It didn't help that in his crouched position, he had little balance to begin with. His owl-like eyes were even wider and if he had trouble sleeping before, there was no way he would be able to sleep now.
Ankh looked down at the detective. "He can see me now?" The shinigami didn't wait for a reply, already knowing the truth, and grabbed the uneaten cookie, shoving it in his mouth.
L looked back at the piece of paper in his hand and noticed that there was writing on it. Silently his eyes skimmed over each line, embedding it to his memory. If it were possible, his eyes would've widened even more. Still being on the ground he gazed up at Hikari and blinked a few times. "Why are you crying?"
"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." Even with the shinigami eyes, her tears were making her sight all blurry and she couldn't see him properly, only a smudge with dark hair. "Please know that I didn't want to do it."
"Kira won…" He made his way over to her and wiped away the tears that were streaming down her face. "But you're not Kira."
L dropped the paper onto her lap. It could've been by choice or because he had no control over his body's functions. He didn't speak after those last words and just looked at her with his dark eyes. Hikari couldn't take it anymore and looked away. She knew what was about to happen and scrunched up the piece of the Death Note that was on her lap. Her eyes were squeezed shut, she was a coward. L fell onto the grass and stayed motionless. It was lucky for them that no one had entered the park and there was no one to witness his death.
Hikari couldn't feel anything. Not the rain that started to fall. Or the way Ankh tried to get her to move under some cover. All she could see were his eyes. L's dark owl-like eyes were staring at her as if seeing into her soul. She would argue that there was no soul to be found, not after the crime she just committed. You are a killer Hikari, you are the real Kira. Slowly she opened the crinkled paper and read the same words he had read minutes earlier.
Hikari tried to ignore Ankh as he laughed. She had just put her phone back in her bag and thought she heard someone calling out her name. Looking behind her, she saw Teru running out of the tall building he worked in. She didn't want to start running but she tried to walk as fast as possible to the train, away from him. He ended up catching her and pulled her in-between two buildings. It took a few minutes for him to collect himself and calm his breathing before speaking again.
"Hikari, L won't stop until he catches Kira."
"Tell me something I don't know!" She shouted, glad they were away from any onlookers. "There has to be another way…"
"There is." Teru said, when he saw her look up at him with hopeful eyes, he continued. "You have to kill Kira instead."
Hikari turned away from him. "I can't do that." She knew that action was more impossible than killing L.
"Take out a piece of the Death Note and do it now."
She took her time. Kneeling on the ground and searching through her bag for a specific piece of paper. It was still the full size of a normal page, so to waste more time she slowly tore it, enough so she would be able to write a lengthy paragraph on it. Everything needed to be planned to make sure no one got caught. If she were to do this, it would have to be done correctly. Hikari was surprised that Teru wasn't tapping his foot at the amount of time she was taking. Didn't he want to get back to work?
He watched her go through her bag again, probably looking for a pen or pencil to use. His fingers lingered on the pen in his pocket. He would've offered it to her but somehow knew she was purposely taking her time. Obviously this was something she didn't want to do. Even though she hadn't agreed to get him to help her with the Kira business, he felt obliged to. Not only to keep Kira safe, but also for Hikari's safety.
"Just give me a few minutes to think about what to do. I can't just kill him wherever he is now."
Teru didn't question her, if she was agreeing to do this, it was all that mattered. Silently he watched how her eyes narrowed, staring at the ground. The gears were turning inside her brain. Hikari would make a good criminal prosecutor, he was sure of it, he just needed her to accept the proposition he gave her.
"Okay, I've got it." Using the wall of the building behind her, Hikari scribbled onto the piece of paper at a speedy rate. She didn't have long until it would be too late.
4th April 2007 – L Lawliet: Heart attack. At 12:30 pm he will give an order
for the cameras and microphones to be removed from both Kira suspects'
houses. At 12:58 pm he will ring up his prime female Kira suspect and ask
her to meet him in a secluded area of his choice. He will make sure no one
follows him when he makes his way to the secluded area. After he hears her
confess, he will ask her questions until touching a piece of the Death Note.
After seeing the shinigami, he will read the note and die 40 seconds later.
Hikari put the piece of the Death Note inside her bag and took out her phone, dialling Raito's number. She only had to wait for it to ring once before he picked up. She figured he decided to skip class as well.
"Hikari, when you said you would call me, I didn-"
"L is dead."
All humans, without exception, will eventually die. Once dead, they can never come back to life.
A/N: Please put your torches and pitchforks away! :/ I want everyone to know that this had been planned before I even started writing the first chapter. I had seriously considered changing the storyline because of all the support Hikari was getting but made the decision that the story wouldn't be able to properly move forward without L's death. Also some more sad news, the next chapter is the last chapter for SS. I do have ideas/plans for a sequel, yay or nay? There is no poll but reviews count as votes! :D
The last two sentences are from the thirteenth manga: How to Read and belongs to Tsugumi Ohba.