Disclaimer: I don't own Death Note.
Credit: Original idea by Yami Yugi Alexander the 4th.
Chapter 21
No Sleep
"You really hate me, don't you?" I pouted.
"No, what makes you think that?" L replied, not looking up from his laptop.
"You wouldn't let me talk to Yagami-kun, you wouldn't let me go to the hospital to see Yagami-san and I'm only aloud to leave the hotel room when you don't know I'm gone." I whined.
"I want to keep you safe, there's a small chance that Yagami-kun is Kira."
"You think I'm a liability, don't you...?" I sighed.
"I don't know what you mean."
"I'm not aloud to go anywhere because we have the same last name and if I mess up people can track you down, selfish." I complained.
"It's true that you could get us both killed if you spend too much time outside but that's not why I won't let you leave." he admitted.
I waited for a reason but none was offered.
"Why won't you let me leave, then?" I finally asked.
"You're my daughter and I want to protect you." he stated.
"Right, I'll believe you when you decide to look at me while saying sappy stuff like that." I mumbled.
He glanced up from his laptop as I left the room.
- - - - - - - - - - - -
Yagami-san was an important part of the task force, so when he was hospitalized it was a serious blow to the rest of the team, Matsuda was always asking L how he was and constantly trying to get days off for the others.
Of course L didn't take to the idea, but he did allow the team to leave early for the next few days.
That made it harder on those of us who didn't have another home to stay at, like me...
L had tried to make up for the lack of nightly help by working through the night without stopping, and I had tried to help out of the kindness of my heart... for the past six days, I hadn't slept.
Insomnia must be hereditary because L never slept and I always thought that I didn't need to either, but after almost a week of no rest...
I'm so tired.
L was talking with the task force about Naomi Misora, an ex-FBI agent who was engaged to Raye Penber and had gone missing a few days after his death.
Apparently no leads on her vanishing act had been found.
It was upsetting that she hadn't been tracked down yet because Kira was obviously to blame, but whatever he had written in the notebook was, no doubt, an unsolvable mystery.
Depressing.
I yawned again into L's left ear, I was leaning against his shoulder, trying to listen to the meeting and sleep at the same time. It wasn't too hard to figure out the sleeping part but my bony pillow wouldn't stop shifting whenever I made a noise.
The task force members had given up staring and Mello and Matt, who had decided to watch me attempt sleep in the middle of an important meeting, had gotten bored of their snickering.
In my defense, it was night and I was really tired.
"Ryuzaki!" My eyes were closed but it was still pretty easy to guess who was entering the room.
"What is it?" L asked, Watari crossed to the back of the chair and a second later the T.V. turned on.
"Sakura T.V. quick... you have to see this!" Watari insisted as he found the right channel.
I opened my eyes to watch, but even I knew that Sakura T.V. was an unreliable station.
On the screen was a man in a nice suit, behind him was a table and a screen that read 'A Message from Kira Four Terrifying Videos' and of course four videos were on the table.
The man was explaining that the station was being held hostage by Kira and they had to air the tapes or they would be killed.
"Held hostage by Kira?"
"What's going on here?"
"The first tape announced the time and date of death for Seiichi and Seiji Machiba, who were arrested the other day. Exactly as predicted, these two men died yesterday at seven P.M. of heart attacks." the man continued.
So why hadn't they gone to the police after realizing that those men could die? Not like that would help but still... what a sleazy station.
"The envelope we received contained instructions from Kira telling us to air this, the second video, at exactly 5:59 P.M. today. We have not viewed this video ourselves, but Kira's instructions state that it foretells yet another death and contains a message to people all over the world." He handed the tape to a woman who walked off screen, that was probably just for show, a copy of the tape was most likely being played.
"This has to be another one of their fake stories, right...?" Ukita asked.
"No way..." Matsuda replied "not even Sakura would go this far..."
"The time is 5:59 P.M. you are now going to see Kira's video."
The screen changed from the man in the suit to a white background surrounding the word KIRA in a gothic font that seemed extremely familiar. It would have been the same as L's but it was written by hand and was really messy.
"I am Kira." a dubbed voice announced, as if the lettering wasn't enough.
I glanced at L, he was watching quietly.
"If this video is aired exactly at 5:59 P.M. on April 18th... it is now 5:59 and 38, 39, 40 seconds... please switch channels to Taiyo T.V. the news anchor, Mr. Kazuhiko Hibima will die of a heart attack at precisely six P.M."
"Change the channel." L ordered, it was changed.
A dead man was lying of the desk between two shocked women.
"Switch back to Sakura. Watari, bring another T.V. set here... no, two T.V. sets."
"Done."
"Mr. Hibima has consistently referred to Kira as 'evil' in his news reports. This was his punishment. But one demonstration alone does not serve as absolute proof. I will present you with another. My next target is a commentator who has also condemned me repeatedly. He is scheduled to be appearing live on the air at this time..."
"Ryuzaki..." Matsuda was cut off.
"Go to channel 24!" L stopped his sentence.
Another dead man was surrounded by staff.
"They said Kira would be sending a message to people all over the world..." L realized "We have to make them stop this broadcast or something terrible is going to happen!"
"I'll get Sakura T.V.'s phone number!" Matsuda dove for the phone.
"I trust you now believe that I really am Kira."
"It's hopeless... every single number I've tried in the entire station's busy..."
"My friend who works there has his cell phone turned off!"
"Dammit! Then I'm going out there to make them stop it myself!" Ukita shouted, leaving the room in a rush.
"Ukita!" Matsuda tried to stop him but he was gone before the word was finished.
"Please listen to me carefully. I do not want to kill innocent people."
"I hate evil and love justice. I do not consider the police my enemies by my allies in my fight against evil." I quoted, L looked at me, biting his thumb.
"My aim is to rid the word of evil– and create a just society. If all of you will join me in this mission, it can be easily accomplished."
"This was in the files, wasn't it?" L asked.
"Yeah, word for word."
"So what happens to Ukita-san?"
Ukita dies in front of the station! "Aizawa-san, call ukita and tell him to hide his face when he approaches the station!" I ordered.
L saw the problem, but I wasn't sure.
Aizawa dialed and waited as the phone rang... and rang. "He's not answering!"
"No..." I whispered, but L heard me.
"What happens?" he asked, firmly.
"Ukita-san dies at the main entrance!" I shouted.
"Ukita!" Aizawa was almost at the door by the time Mello and Matt jumped on him.
Matt blocked the door and Mello tried to pull him back to the T.V. sets.
"Let me go!" he struggled "I have to save Ukita!"
"Aizawa-san, Ukita is at least two minutes ahead of you, you wouldn't get there in time to stop him and if you follow his lead, you'll share his fate." L stated, he seemed calm but he was shaking in his seat.
Matt blocked the door with his whole body, leaning his weight against it, Mello wouldn't let go of Aizawa's arm.
"I can't just sit here!" Aizawa shouted "He's my best friend..." he almost looked on the verge of tears.
"I'm sorry, but their's nothing we can do..." L looked back to the screen showing the front of Sakura T.V. there was a man trying to gain entry, but the guard wouldn't open the doors. The man pulled out a gun...
Ukita still had years left to live, but it's documented that he died today, and when he collapsed it was obvious that the books were right.
"Fake names didn't help, Ryuzaki!" Aizawa shouted, wrenching his arm away from Mello but walking back towards the rest of us "Kira must already know our names!"
"It's possible, but if that were the case, it would have made more sense for him to kill off the entire task force before making a more like this." L replied.
But that must mean...
I shot off the arm of L's chair before I really thought about what I was doing, Matt had relaxed in front of the door and I ran towards him. Kira had my eyes.
"Destiny!" L actually shouted, leaving his seat and grabbing onto my arm to stop me.
"Let go! He's got my eyes!" I tried to fight him but he was way too strong for me to escape properly.
"If that's true, he'll kill you when you get there, just like Ukita-san, I won't let that happen." L stated, looking me right in the eye with a firm expression.
"Dad... thank you..." I almost whispered, I gave up on leaving and wrapped my arms around L in a hug, he really did want to protect me...
He didn't reply to my thanks, he simply placed a hand on my back in an awkward but comforting embrace. I snuggled into him, almost crying at the thought of having a father who cared about me.
It hadn't really sunk in that L was my dad until that moment.
"Ryuzaki, What do we do?" Aizawa seemed calmer now, almost reassured by the unusual display.
L didn't release me but his hand moved to my lower back as he turned back to the rest of the team. Mello gave me a small smirk from his place by the door. I ignored it.
"That depends, Destiny, what happens next?" L asked.
I checked the clock. "Uhm... an armored van should crash through the front entrance to the station in two minutes." I recalled.
"What? And armored van? Who's driving?" Matsuda asked.
"I'm not sure, but they're on our side." I promised.
We watched the T.V. with silent breaths until, two minutes later, a police van came crashing through the front door. L thought of a plan and took action immediately.
"Aizawa-san, please call Deputy Chief Kitamura's cell phone, if he picks up hand the phone to me." L requested.
Aizawa dialed.
A police car pulled up in front of the station, I bit my lip as L took the phone from Aizawa.
"This is L." he stated. "I have a request. There will be more officers driven to act on their own after seeing this broadcast. Unless strictly coordinated action is taken, we'll have a major tragedy on our hands."
A moment later both officers who had gotten out of their car were killed.
"Yes... that's right. They should never show their faces..." L finished explaining a few moments later.
Watari's cell phone rang and he checked the caller ID. "It's Yagami-san." He stated.
"Yes. Thank you, Kitamura-san... no, wait. Please stay on the line." L turned to Watari and had him call Yagami back. "Yagami-san, it's me. So it was you in that armored van."
Why didn't I guess that? I took L's hand off my back but didn't let go of it.
L told Yagami to come out the front of the building in five minutes, so obviously he was in the building.
I would have preferred meeting the second Kira to sitting back and waiting at the hotel, but L's display of fatherly love was enough to keep me here, it had been completely unexpected.
This has to be the second Kira, of course because Raito was the first and he seemed too smart to pull something like this, at least before he killed L and the task force. The records did show that there were two Kiras, three if you counted the Kira they caught a few months into the case that turned out to be a pawn.
We watched from the hotel room as van after van of masked police men showed up at the scene and began to form a human shield around the main entrance to the station, the abandoned camera was blocked off and after two minutes of men arriving we couldn't see the door at all.
Yagami would be safe if the second Kira was using the news cameras to watch the building. Ten minutes after the five minutes we had waited for backup, Yagami came limping through the front door of th hotel room, supported by Watari and holding a Sakura T.V. bag full of video tapes and papers.
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Author's Note: Oops, late again, but this is almost eight pages long, that helps, right? Thanks for reading and thanks for the reviews!