Disclaimer: Again. I still do not own Death Note. Don't sue me, I need the money for Starbucks.
. . .
When I woke up, I remembered the entire event with a vivid certainty.
It wasn't the kind of confused waking up, where you don't know where you are or even who you are, the kind that most people go through after a traumatic event. I knew who I was (My name is Seraphine). I knew what had happened to me (I was almost beaten to death). The only thing I didn't know was where I was, for it certainly wasn't the apartment.
The entire room was adorned in creme colored wallpaper, plastic paintings hanging on the walls. Across the bed (Which I was laying in) was a wooden countertop with a large television set on it. To the left of me was a large curtain, tiny trickles of sunlight leaking out from under it. The whole room had an aesthetic quality to it, too put together, too clean to be a room that people actually lived in.
I sat up, intending to go explore it but instantly fell back when a crushing pain shot up from my chest, "Fuck," I mumbled, grabbing onto the sheets in pain.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you," A soft, monotonous voice came, L, "You have a broken rib. Sitting up is going to be… difficult for a while,"
"Great…" I mumbled, momentarily forgetting that I was mad at him for completely ignoring me for weeks. I suddenly noticed that I was in different clothes. When L had found me I was in a bloodied plain T-Shirt and sweat pants, now I was in a loose floral dress that hung down to my knees "Who changed me?"
L emerged from the darkness, walking over to the foot of the bed, "Light. We didn't have any hospital gowns so we had Matsuda run down and buy the loosest dress that he could find. Unfortunately, he bought the biggest maternity dress that he could find. Once your ribs are healed enough, we'll be able to get you in normal clothes again," He was talking nonchalantly, like nothing had changed between us. Like he hadn't ignored me for weeks, like I hadn't admitted to having feelings for him and something about that... that... raw dismissal resparked the anger inside of me and had me more pissed off than I had been before.
"Yeah, well, I feel fine," I said, crossing my arms and tipping my head back so that I could stare straight up at the ceiling and not at him, "I could probably go back home today actually,"
That seemed to be really funny to him for he chuckled immediately after I said it, "I don't think so, Seraphine. You can't even get up,"
"Yes, I can," I said, quickly sitting up. I immediately winced. Ren had really done a number on me. I hissed and looked at L, who was watching me carefully, "See?" I asked through clenched teeth.
"Seraphine," He began, gently putting a hand on my shoulder and pushing me down, "Lay down. Please,"
"No," I answered, sitting back up again. I bit my lip, forcing a smile onto my face, "I am fine," I swung my feet over the side of my bed, "See? I'm totally recovered,"
"Seraphine, please don't-"
He was cut off as I stood up to the side of the bed. I actually managed to stay standing for a second before the pain took over and I went toppling down. L caught me, arms around my waist and gently laid me down on the bed before any damage could be done.
Damn it. He was right. I wasn't fine.
"Maybe you were right," I mumbled, wincing and laying back.
"I always am," He said lowly.
"Well you made your point," I snapped, "I can't walk. I am confined to this bed in God knows where-"
"The task force headquarters,"
"-In the task force headquarters. You're going to skulk off and avoid me somewhere and I am going to be bored and stuck here. I get it, I've gotten it for several weeks. You helped me out, now you can get back to rejecting me," I let all my feelings pour out, all of the pent up hurt and anger and raw betrayal was present in everything, in the way I crossed my arms and kept my gaze on the ceiling, in my voice, in the words I had chosen with intent to hurt him. It was a raw confession of exactly how angry and how utterly hurt I was.
There was silence, the only sound in the room being my rasped breaths, before L spoke, "I understand that you're angry but…" I braced myself for another rejection, for a this is strictly professional or a this isn't going to work out but was met with, "I don't plan on avoiding you anymore,"
My head snapped towards him, "What?"
But L didn't offer any more on the subject, instead he just stood up and crossed over to the curtain, making no move to open it, "From now on, you'll be living here, in Task Force Headquarters. It's safer than the apartment. Continued enrollment in To-Oh is to be determined by you. This will be your room. For security purposes, I would like to request that you please keep your place of residency a secret for now-"
"Wait wait wait," I was angrier now than I was before. He had ignored me for weeks and now he was bossing me around again? Hell no, "What gives you the right to just tell me what to do? Maybe I liked our apartment, maybe I…" I trailed off when L turned around and faced me, unable to continue. His wide pupils held a look of pure longing, so much so that it took my breath away. I immediately shut up and watched him as he backed away a few steps.
"Seraphine…" He breathed, "I'm not letting something like that happen to you again. Please just stay here, here where it's safe," He spoke so gently, so delicately in his professional voice that I forgot my opposition instantly.
"Okay…" I agreed, "I'll stay,"
"Thank you," L replied, "I'll be just in the other room. The Task Force is expecting me. Watari will be here in my place, feel free to call for me anytime you want," He headed for the door, which looked like it had at least five locks on it. Right before he left, L paused before mumbling, "And Seraphine?"
"Yes?"
"I am very glad that you're alive,"
With that last, cryptic comment, L opened the door and disappeared behind it, leaving me with a giddy hope.
. . .
It was only when L was absolutely sure that Watari was with Seraphine that he pulled out his research on the second Kira. The detective had a lot to think about... But for now he would only focus on the second Kira especially since it received such an important update.
The Task Force has received samples from the envelopes that the tapes were sent in. Hair follicles, skin samples, fingerprints, everything that L needed had just been sent in and all of those things pointed to one person - Misa Amane.
Conveniently enough, Misa had been recently spotted with Light by one of L's spies around the time that L began to suspect that the first and second Kira had made contact. All things considered, all of this just made L all the more certain that Light was Kira. It also completely cleared Seraphine's name (There was no way she could have somehow met Misa and had enough time to script a Second Kira tape without L or one of his spies noticing) but he wouldn't release her just yet. He needed her for something...
"Chief Yagami..." L said as he examined the evidence, "If I die in the next few days, Light is Kira,"
Chief Yagami, accompanied by the rest of the Task Force, was startled by this, gasping and rising, "What did you just say?!"
"Yeah!" Matsuda commented, "What do you mean?"
L continued nonchalantly, "If anything happens to me in the next few days, I've asked Watari to make himself available to you,"
"Ryuuzaki!" Chief Yagami asked, "A few days ago you said that he was almost cleared and now he's Kira? What do you think of my son?"
"The truth is..." L began, lifting the samples and inspecting them, "I don't know what to think anymore. I've never been in a situation like this. If Kira and the Second Kira are working together, things aren't looking very well for me. Given the situation, I'm not thinking very clearly and could be wrong... Maybe I consider him a suspect simply because we don't have anyone else but still if I do happen to be killed soon please assume that your son is Kira,"
If he was to die in a few days, L had ensured that a few things would happen. Firstly, that Watari would take over the investigation and secondly, that Seraphine would start resurrecting Kira's victims to irritate Kira.
I have no choice but to make a sneak attack... The detective thought to himself, picking a strawberry off a piece of cake and eating it, This is all a wager now.
. . .
I stared at Watari, who had taken up residence in the armchair at the door. Against the chair was a rifle, loaded and ready to go. I thought it was a little ridiculous, of course, but Watari made no move to get rid of it. It was "L's orders" apparently. I had no idea why L was freaking out so much. Ren wasn't coming back, that was the only thing keeping me calm.
"So," I tried to make conversation for the umpteenth time, "How are-"
"Miss Johnson-"
"Sera," I said, not necessarily because Miss Johnson made me feel a little out of place
but also because I wasn't entirely comfortable being "Seraphine Yagami-Johnson". Johnson was my father's last name... A father who I solely associate with selling me into slavery and while I loved Aunt Sachiko, Uncle Sochiro, Sayu, and Light, I wasn't part of their family. I didn't deserve the 'Yagami' either. The tiny thread that connected me to that family was my mother, whom I had only one memory of. It didn't feel fair. I didn't feel like I fit into either family. I was more than happy just being "Seraphine" or "Sera" for the rest of my life.
"Miss Sera," Watari corrected, "Are you feeling alright? Do you need more painkillers? Some water? Are you hungry?"
Accepting that I wasn't going to get him to talk to me, I sighed and said, "Please turn on the television. I would but I can't get up," It was better than staring at the ceiling for another few hours.
"Of course," Watari crossed over to the television and surprised me when he added, "You should be pleased to hear that I, too, am a necromancer, Miss Sera,"
My ears perked up. Another necromancer? I hadn't heard of that. For so long I had thought that I was the only one, I hadn't even considered there being another person like me out there. To be totally honest, I couldn't exactly pinpoint if it was a comforting thought or not, "What?"
"I assume the television no longer interests you," Watari said, standing up straight at the foot of the bed, "I am a necromancer. I have been since I was eleven,"
I raised an eyebrow and shifted a little, wincing, "How? What happened to make you a necromancer?"
"Well, I was almost killed," He said stoically, as if it no longer bothered him. I supposed it made sense, reliving a near death experience enough times dulled you to the fact that it was near death, to the fact that it almost claimed your existence, "I was skiing and I had an unfortunate accident. I almost flatlined twice, ever since then I've been able to see the departed. Necromancer is the closest I could find to giving a name to it, although I've never tried to resurrect anyone,"
That was interesting... Did necromancy emerge after a near death experience? Now that I had someone to ask, I had so many questions that I had ignored for so many years, "Do you know anyone else? Who can see the ghosts? Do you know anyone that has resurrected people?"
"I know of two individuals like us. Only one had successfully reanimated a corpse. He gave me the instructions on how to do so but I have never dared to try it,"
"Wow..." Watari's confession deserved such a bigger word but wow was all I could muster. For years I had wondered whether I was all alone in this or not, whether I could even see ghosts or if I was just imagining it all, if my abilities were just a product of PTSD but now that I knew that it wasn't, now that I knew that I could see ghosts, real ghosts ... It blew my mind, "That's amazing. Which ones do you see? Have you seen Layla or Diana-"
"I'm afraid that I no longer see them?"
"What?"
"I have researched necromancy for most of my life," Watari began, standing stiffly, "There is not much true information available but I found this..." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a clear vial with some sort of seeds in it, "These are the seeds of the Velvet Plant, also known as Gynura Aurantiaca, they seem to quell necromantic abilities. I started taking them decades ago when I became hypersensitive to spirits. I take one everyday,"
I stared at the seeds wondering why on earth Watari would want to suppress his abilities. I was eternally thankful for mine. I'd rather know what exactly went bump in the night than wonder.
Before I could say anything, two knocks came at the door, "That's my cue to leave," Watari said, tucking the seeds back into his pocket, "Now I must leave. Ryuuga will be in here soon. Goodbye Miss Sera,"
With that, he bowed out of the room. I started staring at the beige ceiling again, taking everything in. I wasn't alone... Part of me was comforted by the thought while the other part was scared. Maybe I liked being the only to see ghosts, maybe I liked exclusively having the ability. It made me feel special and now that I wasn't special, now that I knew that there were other people that could see ghosts... It filled me with a strange disappointment.
It was a selfish thought and I quickly berated myself. This was a good thing. I had been wondering about this for years and now I knew. There were other people like me out there, I am not alone.
. . .
Light was extremely frustrated with Misa.
God, for such a clever girl she was so stupid.
What made it so hard for her to accept that they couldn't talk on the phone? He had told her from the start, this wasn't a real relationship.
"What about this?" Misa asked, pulling out a phone upon hearing that Light couldn't call her from his, "Take one of my phones! I ended up with three but I don't really need all of them,"
"If we use this..." Light had to admit she had been quick on her feet about it, "I think we'll be safe,"
"That's great! Now I can hear your voice and text you too!" Misa jumped. Light could feel himself getting more and more agitated. Anytime he thought she had done something right, he just went right back to thinking that she was one of the dumbest people alive again.
"I'll keep this one turned off," Light said, "I'll be the only one making the calls,"
"Huh?" Misa said, totally deflated, "But when will you call me?"
"Tomorrow," Light said, "That will be the day that we most likely execute L,"
Light had finally gotten Rem to agree to killing L for the sake of Misa's happiness and he couldn't be any happier. Finally, after all this time, he was winning. Kira was winning, the new world was winning. He couldn't wait to finally have L off of his back, nothing would make him happier.
But of course, Light had a back up plan.
He wasn't one to put all of his trust in one single thing, no, he had two plans and either way, each one had the same end point: The death of L.
Light's back up plan came in the form of his only cousin: Sera.
It was so obvious that she had feelings for L. It was evident in the way she smiled whenever Light (or anyone else) mentioned it. Anytime she saw L coming her way, she would begin to fix her hair and pat down her outfit, checking for any mishaps. She was infatuated and Light knew that even Misa could figure that out. What's more was that L liked her too. He paid special attention to Sera, always watching her when she was nearby, constantly trying to push her away. L had feelings for Sera too and that was perfect.
Through those feelings, Light had a more long term plan for L's destruction: Marriage
Of course, he wouldn't actually wait for L to propose, that would never happen by itself but Light knew that L had deep feelings for Sera and if her life was in danger by Kira and required a name change* that L would volunteer marriage with a gentle push from Light's direction. Of course, Light would have to make sure that L was the only marriageable one around but after that it was only a matter of Light getting to Sera's new records before they were destroyed or before annulment.
It was a flaky plan, Light knew, but it was a plan. Of course, he'd only have to use it in case Rem failed but Light had faith that Rem wouldn't. Besides, even if Rem did, everything was going to work out in Light's favor. Even God was on his side and God had proved that again and again, mostly recently by manifesting a romance between L and Sera, by giving L emotions for Light to manipulate.
He just had to make sure that Misa stayed infatuated with him and that L stayed infatuated with Sera.
. . .
* I was talking with one of my friends who is super into Death Note (Owns every manga, dvd, cosplay, book etc...) and she said that one of the only ways to legitimately change a name was to get married. She also helped me concoct Light's plan.
I know that Light's plan might sound a little stupid but trust me it evolves.
It's also going to get very cutesy between L and Sera for a little while, which I think you guys may like.
I'm sorry if this isn't very quality. I just wanted to update before the weekend bc tbh I don't know exactly what my schedule is like this weekend. I'm shopping with friends tomorrow and out with my boyfriend on Saturday but Sunday and Monday I don't really know what I'm doing or if I'll have time to update so I wanted to put this out here before Friday just in case, it's 3,000 + words and like seven pages long in google docs and everything!
You may think that things are calm now... But the shit has yet to hit the fan. You guys will know when the shit hits the fan and I expect a lot of death threats when the shit hits the fan bc oh does it hit the fan.
Review please? I'll update as soon as possible. I just don't know when that is (yet).
