A/N: Second day of my internship...my hands went numb from the AC. And spent a mind numbing 4 1/2 hours of dredging through the most poorly organized website and writing up an audit. I've barely made a dent. I have a feeling I know where my next few days are going to be focused. Anywho~ I started dabbling with another Death Note story idea. This will prolly be a short story unless I decide to continue with it, but I blame my recent splurge into Black Butler and Blue Exorcist for the concept. To give a hint, Light's a cat demon, a minor subspecies of succubus, and he became Kira when he picked up a shinigami notebook. The story begins four years later when L catches him at long last and has a plan to keep the demon from wrecking more terror on the mortal plane. It's a humor / romance concept and prolly going to be rated M. 'Cause, reasons.
Shoutout to KalikoKat123, snickermoon814, LadyTeldra, m.z. and UnsightlyDreams for reviewing.
UnsightlyDreams: This chapter should shed some "light" into why L is still pursuing Kira. And his reasoning is a bit warped itself. He is an assassin, yes, but his kills are generally legally backed and seen as a death penalty instead of murder. He doesn't like to kill and would rather not do so. But now, he is in a moral and personal dilemma. In a way, he isn't quite sure why he's still fighting, he just knows that the world is falling down and he desperately wants to save the one he loves from himself. As for Watari, he was always in the background, there, helping and constant. Everything flies out of hand with him gone, even if his death was a quiet one.
And why does FF keep eating my formatting? Grr.
Fool's Gambit
By Catsitta
20.
"Why am I doing this?"
L gazed up at the moonless sky, drinking in what were possibly his last minutes of life. Kira was within this building. He'd done the research and knew that while the logical next step would be surveillance, this was the quickest way to ending things. He shivered. The Oligarchy betrayed him. Kira wanted any opposition dead. And here we was, stuck in the middle, a now renegade assassin acting on his morals alone.
It would be so easy to give this case up. When HQ collapsed, he gave up a perfect chance to disappear with Light in tow. Part of him fantasized about a happy ending, where he was completely wrong about the first Kira's identity and the person he loved would come to adore him with the same intensity. But this was no fairy tale, and even if it was, he wasn't the hero. Letters didn't get the girl, nor slay the dragon. They died forgotten in the haze of battle, their glory ignored by the champions history favored.
He would be forgotten easily in this crumbling world. Before he left, the least he could do was give it a chance to survive. While Kira's intent was good, it was childish and vain. The criminals and the corrupt had to die. What happened when the true evil was purged and only the fearful remained. A world ruled by Kira would be no kinder than one beneath the Oligarchy.
"Just two remain," he murmured as his thoughts traveled to that of the failing government. Part of him prayed that Light, be he Kira or not, never discovered those last two names. His psyche was a delicate thing, no matter how strong he acted. Such a shock could easily throw Light into a dangerous state of mind.
Deciding that he was dawdling, L shoved wandering thoughts aside and pushed onwards. Beneath his clothes were his weapons of choice. Some were meant to immobilize, others were crafted to kill. Depending on how he found Mikami would determine which method he chose. L truly did have questions he needed to ask and this was possibly his last chance to discover how Kira killed before he met his end.
He slipped a small contraption given to him by Wedy. It was the latest-and-greatest in breaking-and-entering tech. L had climbed his share of buildings. This one just happened to be a touch taller than usual. He wasn't sure whether he was pleased or irritated with the habitual nature of this workaholic criminal defense attorney. The late hours made him easy to find and isolate, but...
L sighed.
It was time to start climbing.
.
Delete. Delete! DELETE!
So many unworthy lives cluttering his God's perfect world. He had to rid this filth from the planet. He had to please his beloved. If God was pleased, perhaps he would reward him with a visit. Yes, that would be the ultimate reward, to bathe in the presence of a living divine.
Delete.
His hand was aching from writing, but Mikami refused to cease. He would obey his God. Kira's will was his command. If God wished him to write names until his hands bled, then he would comply with a heart brimming with joy.
He paused just briefly, just long enough to put away a folder and pull a new one from his desk. He laid out the neatly printed lines of names and matching photographs, their crimes emblazoned at the side. None of these worthless creatures deserved to live. He hated defending them from true justice. He despised those that profited from the guilty getting free. Mikami's eyes slid to the small television in the corner of his office. He jotted down the name of an influential politician who he knew was extorting money.
A slip of a smile flicked onto his lips and he continued to delete the impure from the earth. It was soothing, the sound of a pen scratching against paper. He relished in it. Just a few more pages and he would finish for the night, his duty done until the rise of dawn.
Delete.
Delete.
Del-
Mikami choked, pen clattering to the floor. He trembled, shock winning over pain. What...what was happening to him? No. NO!
"Despite what Kira believes, he is not having a heart attack."
Dark eyes fall to his chest, where his fingers were clutching at the fine silk suit. He pulled the digits away to reveal blood. Splattered on the flawless black-and-white of the Death Note was his blood.
He attempted to stand.
A hand clasped on his shoulder and forced him to keep sitting.
"My name is L," said his attacker. Mikami shuddered. "And I have a few questions."
.
"I-I won't b-betray God."
L shook his head, "Murder is a sin in God's eyes, if I do correctly recall."
Mikami began to laugh, quietly at first, but then in desperate cackles.
"You fool! My God is cleansing this world of evil. He is brining forth a new dawn. I am but his humble servant, an outstretched hand. Kira will never die. He cannot."
"Who is he?"
"He is God!"
L growled. This was going nowhere. This third Kira was a sycophant, a bloody pawn who brandished Kira's power with swift skill.
"How does Kira kill?"
"Oh? T-the infamous L doesn't k-know everything?"
He grabbed the killer and pulled him to his feet, staring him in the eye. Mikami grinned ruthlessly. "Oh my. That was a m-mistake. A fatal mistake!" He shoved L away and dropped to the floor, grabbing his pen. "I shall kill you for God, L Law-"
Mikami gripped his chest, still on his knees.
"N-no. God! I'm...I...I'm doing this f-for you."
Those eyes went glassy as he struggled to stand, but his heart was failing. L grabbed the man, praying that he was bleeding out and not having a heart attack. He could mend the wound he made. It did not strike any vital organs.
"G-god!"
He reached for the note book laid open on the table. The ends of bloody finger tips touched the stark paper, staining it further crimson.
Then he felt limp.
Dead.
L felt his anger burn hot.
Only one person knew about his pursuit of Mikami. One. And here he held the dead body of the suspect. The betrayal stung. No, it ached beyond explanation. This was the proof. The cold, bloodied proof. L laid the madman down.
"Light will be the death of me," he murmured, not for the first time, turning to investigate the scene. He was the world's best detective. It was time to prove it. L picked up the bloodied note book and flipped through the pages. There had to be thousands of names written in Mikami's neat hand. But that wasn't what he was looking for. "Where is it?" He kept turning pages. So many names. After a minute, he spied Misa's bubbly script. But he never found what he sought. Not a single name written in Light's handwriting.
Which meant only two things.
This note book was somehow related to Kira's power.
And there was at least one more on this Earth.
He snapped the book shut and stepped over Mikami's body. As he studied the wall, plotting his escape between scattered thoughts, something touched his shoulder.
He glanced up.
Then paled.
For the first time in memory, L let out a scream.
tbc
A/N: (Hm. And the climax approaches as this tale enters the third arc. Ten more chapters to go, my lovelies. Please keep reviewing! Y'all keep me on track.)