Disclaimer: I don't own Death Note, or anything else that might be referenced. I do own Ebony.
Chapter Thirty-five Recap: Ebony Style
"Again with the guns? People are still too trigger happy!" I shouted annoyed as I turned the safety off of my gun, changing the clip at the same time as I pointed the black weapon toward a small white human who was crouched and surrounded by many toys all in reaction to the greeting we received. This caused a chain reaction, I mean why wouldn't it? Ten more people pulled and held a gun toward Matt and me as we kept our focus on Near, fingers resting on the trigger. Everyone in the room stood in silence, my gaze darted from person to person, reading each of their expressions. Everyone was emotionless as I somehow became the villain in this instance. My head was angled down, a slight frown on my face.
My gaze was drawn to Near as he stopped twirling his hair around his finger. My expression softened slightly. Taking a deep breath, I raised my head and lowered my hand slightly. "Sorry Near," I said toward the little guy. He didn't react to my words as I focused on the other people in the room. "Seriously people, are we really going to do this? Why don't you think for a second, instead of listening to your trigger finger? If we get shot, we shoot Near, and then what? You're out three more geniuses. Do you know who is going to have to save the world? A blonde with permanent PMS who, last I heard is in the Mafia. Do we really want that? I don't, and if this keeps up, I won't have to anyways." My voice was dripping in sarcasm. I growled in frustration, shaking my head as I ran my hand through my hair. Six years of Kira's reign and people still relied on this barbaric weapon.
"Ebony, hand your gun to Matt. We'll have Rester and Lidner keep their guns pointed at you and Matt so that the members of my organization feel in control, they won't shoot without my order. I'd like to play a game, like we used to," Near said holding the white king up as he. He looked over his shoulder slightly, just enough for me to see his eyes. His expression gave nothing away. His gray eyes bore into mine, the expression matching up with one that I was more than familiar with. He was up to something. I blinked, and then turned my head slightly to look at Matt out of the corner of my eye, fighting the urge to lower my hand to relive old emotions.
The gamer slightly nodded and reached under his raised hand for my gun. I slowly used my other hand to grab the gun by the barrel to hand it to him, both of us watching as the other suited people in the room slowly lower their hands. After feeling the weight of the gun lifted from my hands, I took a step to my right, and rolled my shoulders back, pulling the backpack straps higher on my shoulders as everyone but a blonde woman, and a blonde male put their weapons away. Their expressions remained hardened as I took slow calculated steps around Near and the game board, standing opposite of him in front of the onyx pieces.
Before sitting, I scanned the blue tinted room. A wall of monitors made up the back wall, and no real light source was seen. Sure if I looked up I could see lights, but they weren't on. What was on those screens was beyond me. I couldn't see any content, but I was also trying to hide the fact I was trying to look at them. The corners of my mouth were tugged down slightly, it was just like how the main room in L's base was. Yes the set-up was different, it was more open, but at the same time it had a timeless, secluded feel to it. If Near wanted to evoke old memories, this was the best way to do it.
I shook my head, I couldn't afford falling into a memory right now that was out of the question. Right now I was making an impression on the SPK. I know my first impression on Task Force wasn't the greatest, but I was 14 at the time. I was supposedly a mature woman, or at least up until this point I appeared to be that, even though I implied Mello was a girl. Oh well, he'll get over it. He always does. Mainly because I always manage to mess something else up, but that's beside the point, the point is soon this will be dust under the rug. Wait no; the point was that I was trying not to screw this up.
I finally crouched on the floor L style and looked at the game board, Near had decided to move a knight as his first move. Bold move for the little guy, or anyone for that matter; either way, the message was received. I bowed my head slightly as I moved a pawn on the other side of the board. He wanted me to beat him at this game, to prove I was intelligent, why? Wait… He hid the fact I was L's successor for a few months, that's the only real logical explanation at this point. He didn't tell him them that I was who I was. I mean granted, I don't act like it, and this game could prove to be a fluke, unless he himself has played a game with everyone. Then, the game that sat in front of me was going to be enough to prove that I was actually someone whose word could be valued in this setting.
"Ebony, would you mind telling what you know about the case?" Near questioned not looking up from the board. After jumping at the sudden question, I furrowed my brow. Stop being a cryptic little sheep, he knew that I was a part of it. Regardless, I felt the shocked expressions behind me. I was pretty sure they were more shocked on how seemingly blunt Near was being. They made it painstakingly clear they know I have the notebook, thus making me a part of the case, but they don't know how deep my ties were. I looked toward Matt without turning my eyes and say him with a similar expression to mine, but a lot more obvious.
Matt's eyes were wide behind his goggles, his hair fell around the lenses, making this expression all the more adorable. Well, to me that is. Anyways, the cigarette that the gamer had in his lips was now hanging loosely in his mouth. He met my gaze and slowly his face melted into an emotionless mask matching my own. He nodded once, the same stiff nod I gave Near just a second before. He adjusted the gasp he had on the guns and winked, letting a small smirk spread across his face for a brief second. I returned it as I responded to his nod.
I sighed and placed a piece on the game board. Keeping my head angled down, I looked up at the albino kid. "Near, I might consider it if you rephrased your question. I know all there is to know, but the information that you want me to give out requires me to tell everything I know and I can't do that," I said adopting a monotone. "Mainly because, in interest of the case I have every right to withhold my views and information, in order for this case to be solved, and the legacy of L to continue, then you have to be –to some extent –ignorant, you all have to be ignorant." I smirked as Near narrowed his eyes. "If I tell it from my personal account, I'll end up leaving out details that L had record of. Isn't his word more valuable than any other at this point?"
"What do you mean?" asked one of the FBI agents surrounding us, watching intently to the chess match. I looked at him, short blonde hair, hand outstretched toward Matt's head. Light blue eyes dug into mine with a light of confusion evident within them. Slowly lifting my head, so he could see my expression, I met his eyes and softened my gaze, blinking a few times before pressing my lips together.
"I mean that L is dead. He has...had more experience in this sort of thing than anyone here. This made him a target, as well as anyone he associated with by choice, meaning me." I paused and pressed my lips together. "Things happened since his death, things I don't want to repeat at this time, but everyone here needs to know the case that everyone knows, the case L knows. That's the important part here.
"I knew L, and I can say with certainty that Near alone cannot succeed L. My reason is best explained in companion with the explanation of the Kira case thus far, it gives me credibility as well. Kill two birds with one stone if you will. If you give him the opportunity to rephrase his question, I'll explain. Or better yet ask him yourself. Ask him who L chose as his successor." Everyone turned toward the albino as he looked up from the board, his eyes wide. I smiled maliciously and planned out the next couple of moves as Near picked a piece of hair and twirled it around his finger as the blonde male asked Near what I meant, seeing how at this point all of my clarifications were more cryptic.
"Ebony, please tell us your personal account of the Kira case, focusing on you accompanying L," Near requested completely disregarding his team. I nodded and paused, in case he wanted to add anything. "Please start when you got to Japan, I am aware on how you got there." I nodded and smirked smart move. His wording suggested we knew each other for a while. I leaned back and hugged my knees.
"Let's see, when I got there the 26-ish FBI agents had been dead for about a week. Task Force and I met L in person on the same day. We talked about what we knew, and at that point we came to the conclusion that Kira was a student simply based on the times of his killings," I paused and looked at the board. "Personally, given the brutality of the kills I thought Kira was a male. You don't see girls skipping around at ease after killing people. Males typically aren't as dynamic in emotion as well. That being said, I don't think he was guilt-free, he was just better at pushing it away and moving on doing whatever it was he was trying to do. Later, after reading on his victims, I came to the conclusion that he was justifying his kills. I guess once I figured this out, it's when I had a legitimate reason to hate him.
"Back to the actual case that matters –not saying profiling isn't important it's just well having facts are a lot more important, not to mention they're easier to use because no one can argue with them. We reviewed the tapes of the agent's deaths, recordings from the people that saw them die in the case cameras weren't present for the death's recording. Raye Penber was singled out. A mysterious envelope was seen in his possession and then it disappeared. Then as he died he strained to look into the train car he had just rid around the entire circuit of and see the face of his killer. And then with further investigations, Penber was found following the Yagami and Kitamura families.
"From there, we became the creepy guy from 2B, minus the holes in the walls. Seriously, why do guys do that? It's creepy and there are a lot more ways to be a creeper that doesn't involve turning walls and floors into swiss cheese. Take us for example, we had cameras everywhere, and I do mean everywhere. We –meaning L and I –focused on Light Yagami. For starters, he fit the profile, high school student, extremely intelligent, access to confidential files, arrogant asshole. Alright, the last one was a slight exaggeration, but you get the idea. The Kitamura family had a daughter, which was kind of cool for them, no suspicion. She seemed harmless according to our surveillance anyways, and by that time L agreed with my assessment that Kira was male. Back to Light, he acted, odd. Not 'odd' as in strange, but 'odd' as in it looked like he knew we were watching."
I sighed and leaned back, running a hand through my hair I replayed some of the surveillance in my head, noticing something I had noticed before when I was retyping the information for my collection and Near's information. A part of me couldn't believe I hadn't noticed this information before, or why I ignored it when I had time to look back on it. I was supposed to know this case inside and out, and I was even failing at that. What was L thinking when he chose me? I think he was cake-deprived. "Light had arrived at the house on the first day of surveillance, and then left to buy a magazine. I saw him buy it, but didn't get a good look at it, more focused on not getting brought down by 'the man.' Long story. Anyways, once I returned to HQ, I saw the magazine, it was the Japanese equivalent to 'Playboy' only they kept the swimsuits on. Being a teenaged boy, I'd think ya know he was going to be a teenaged boy and well ya know stick his hands down his pants. Nope, he laid on his bed thinking 'meh' probably. I didn't think anything of it at the time, I was still getting used to Japan, and I was being punished and I was more focused on an escape plan. 'The man' got to me.
"Later that night after I figured out my escape plan wasn't going to happen, I did notice how even though he had a computer, and a TV he didn't turn them on when he studied like a maniac. From the time he got home until he went to bed he studied. Sure text books had information, but as a teenager myself at the time I'd also be using the magical place called the 'internet.' It was obsessive, and before you even start with the culture differences, with his grades, and yes we went there, the amount of studying he was doing, it seemed off. Like I understood, know the material, but he was completely focused through it, too focused. I just felt weird to the observer. Even the most dedicated student, from my own studies, takes a break every now and then, and this student was obsessed with being ranked first, so I think this was a good comparison. Now I would mention his weird chip eating habits, but it's better if I reenact it. In the end, both L and I suspected Light." I paused and pushed my bottom lip out a little, waiting knowing someone was going to have something to say. Near probably shared some of this information, I would have.
"If you both suspected Light, then why did you let him go? You had him captured," asked the blonde female who was pointing a gun at me. I turned and looked at her, blinking a few times as she studied my blank expression. I sighed and fixed my gaze onto the white king, my top lip slightly turning up in disgust.
She was right, we had him within our fingers and we let him out, and now L is dead. I had influence in this investigation, why didn't I say anything? Right, I had a heart then, I listened to the rules to some extent. Now I could care less. Now I wish I could go back and change my decision, and yell at my past self that what I was seeing was a ruse.
"It wasn't my call," I almost growled as I clenched my fists. The room was almost silent, only the drone of the computers was heard. "You make it sound like we willingly let him out. You couldn't be farther from the truth, but at the time there was no reason for us to keep him there, and we were still being bound by the law. And you are making me skip over the fact I had an apple that mysteriously vanished, thanks a lot. Something owes me an apple, and it better cough it up.
"Anyways back to the topic at hand, we were working with the police still at the time. When Light Yagami and Misa Amane went into secluded observation L and I were both positive they were the first and second Kira. Within a week of confinement, they both lost their memories. I was in charge of interrogation, and there was nothing more to interrogate from them on. I was completely lost, we both were. I didn't know what to do next. I had a way out though, something that can't be said now. L. L was my mentor, and he allowed me to take over the interrogations because I had proved myself capable, and I guess he wanted to see me work without his influence. If I had continued taking over the case, I don't know where we would be, and I was pretty pissed off about not getting what I was sent out to get. If anything I was going to get a confession, but the method I would've used would have made it something we couldn't have used in court. I had to give the case back to L, it was the mature thing to do." I frowned as I recalled what he had written about me in his personal notes. It was touching, and unexpected of him.
Ebony requested to take over the interrogations of the Kira suspects. From my prior knowledge and observations of what she has done over the past few years, I had assumed that she was going to be a nuisance and a distraction to everyone involved throughout this case. She has proven me wrong through periods of brilliance, but still this request caught me off guard. Though she has an interesting way of explaining things, and she handles herself more like a small immature child than anything else, I was understandably a little apprehensive.
In contrast to that, I couldn't discount what I had witnessed when Ebony interacted with Misa Amane, she managed to get information out of her. Despite the fact, the information we were already aware of and was no use to us, it was more than we had gotten previously. With that said, this was also a chance more so than ever to see what Ebony was really thinking, how she worked and if she was actually qualified to be my successor.
To be honest, that is the simplest explanation as to why I brought her to Japan to begin with, Watari suggested it once she took the laptop from Mello's room. She translated the document and came up with her own conclusions as to who was committing the murders, which they classified as such to begin with. Having seen her work with my guiding hand has been interesting. Now, this is her ultimate test, to see how she handles herself without me.
I have no real anxieties aimed at whether or not she will get results; Ebony has already proven herself. She is a strong-willed individual, but she is a little too idealistic. Within time she will harden and realize that not everyone can be saved, or that some people deserve the punishments they receive. Right now, she is tasked with proving to Task Force that she is in fact supposed to be L when I am gone.
"Ebony," Near said causing me to jump and look at him with wide eyes, my heart pounding in my chest. "It's your turn. I suggest you take it." I looked down at the board no questions as to why I had zoned out. I moved a rook and muttered the word "check."
I ran my hand through my hair and scratched my cheek, pausing. I had been crying? I looked at my hand and saw the glisten of tears caused by the monitors around me. Quickly rubbing the rest off of my face, I hugged my knees closer to my chest and cleared my throat, my voice felt a little weak when I muttered that word earlier.
"Within a month after I had given up, Misa and Light were let out of their cells, both of them in there for approximately 50 days. We just didn't let them out, no we gave them the 'ultimate test.' We had Soichiro Yagami take them out to a field alone and put an unloaded gun to his own son's head and shoot. The reasoning was simple, if either one of them was Kira at that time, Yagami would be dead. That didn't happen now did it?
"At this point I was a little pissed off. All of that work, the late nights I had taken. Everything I had done was to prove that Light Yagami was Kira and Misa Amane was Kira B was wasted!" I clenched my fists as my voice rose with every few words. "I-I couldn't handle that I was wrong, I might've been a slacker prior to my experience in Japan, but I was never wrong about things I have stayed up late pondering upon. There were some days I didn't sleep at all! There was an entire week in July I only got about four hours of sleep in! All of that time, work wasted. Needless to say, being the childish person I am I held nothing back toward Light. I made sure that he knew that I hated him."
Near at this time was looking at me straight in the eye. My voice at this point was dripping in venom. If Near didn't know how touchy this topic was, he was figuring it out now. I have previously told him some touchy topics to him in the past, needing an opinion unbiased by emotion. The fact that my anger, an emotion I don't like expressing –it leaves a bad taste in my mouth –was being expressed, meant that I was hiding something, or I felt so angry, I couldn't hold in my own anger. Both of which were true in this case.
"There was another thing I wasn't too happy about. Another Kira came, enforcing the feeling that Kira simply couldn't be defeated. Giving everyone a sense of hopelessness is what it did. Though I was taking a vacation from the main case due to a fight I had with L, I was still dedicated to it. I had gone off of my own and investigated the phenomenon of 'Shinigami' or Gods of Death. It had been mentioned before; early on in the investigation Kira send L the message 'L, did you know gods of death love apples?" and later the second Kira send a message to Kira saying they were going to show each other shinigamis.
"Everything I had were just theories that had no weight to them besides the loose ends that kept popping up finally were tied down in a way that made sense should those beings exist. When we caught Kira C my hunches were confirmed, details were way off, nut they're real. My god, those things are ugly, things of nightmares. I can't describe what this one looked like, words don't do it justice. To be honest, I can't imagine how Kira deals with living with them. I do have sketches, however those are among the things I have promised myself I was going to withhold from you guys…sorry.
"What I can tell you is this; Rem was her name. According to her, whoever touches a Death Note will see the Shinigami attached to it. Rem wasn't Kira's Shinigami however, she 'belonged' to Kira B. Why? Rem didn't like apples. 'L did you know? Gods of Death love apples. How would Kira know that unless his Shinigami liked apples? Sure he could have made it up, but that's more of a 'me' move. The profile we had constructed suggested that Kira was childish in terms of he couldn't stand losing, but not as much as to make up stories like that.
"Anyways, we were then working on gathering proof to prove that the two rules written in the back of the Death Note we had recovered were real, or weren't. At this point if those rules were fake, was more favorable. By proving these rules false validated our suspicion whether or not Light and Misa were truly Kira.
"We didn't get that far though, L died November 5th, 2007 by a heart attack." I paused again and bit my lip, closing my eyes and shaking my head. Still after 4 years it was hard to talk about. I was past the point of tears, but I became L's copy. Analytic and completely monotone, I looked at the board and watched as Near moved his king out of the way from my rook.
"Are you alright?" Matt asked his voice serious, his voice stern and hardened. I nodded and didn't even look at him, keeping my eyes forward. I knew he saw it, but he also understood that I wasn't in danger of being a giant pile of feels.
"This is where I stop explaining much. What I said in regards to investigating in the case is the bare minimum. And everything that I found after this is extremely important for the case however in order for my plan to work, as I plan it to, like I said I can't reveal everything I know." My hair fell in my eyes as I explained this.
"What?" exclaimed a few agents at once in outrage at my explanation. Didn't we just go over this? Seriously I feel like a broken record stuck on repeat. I really didn't want to explain this again, but something in my gut told me I was going to have to.
"Do you want to kill Kira or not?" demanded the blonde female cocking her gun and took a step forward, the barrel of the gun mere inches from my forehead. My eyes widened as a sweat broke out on my forehead. I leaned back, almost knocking pieces down on the board, the game almost forgotten. My heart pounded in my chest as I instinctively raised my hand up as if that could save me. My breaths were coming out in gasps, where was the peace here?
As cheesy as it sounds, my life flashed before my eyes. My parents dying, living in an orphanage from the time I was 5 until 11, moving to England and meeting Matt, Mello, and Near, the entire Kira case, L dying, and then BB dying. My promises on how I was going to catch Kira for L and Watari, and how Kira was going to be, a promise to Beyond resonated in my head. I couldn't give up on those promises because of some gun. The only one who was going to kill me was going to Light, if he was lucky.
With resolve, I stood up slowly and looked at the blonde with calm eyes, forcing the expression onto my face. "Listen to me," I said calmly yet sternly looking at the blonde. "I am L's chosen successor. I want Kira dead! I made a promise to L and Watari that I'd stop Kira. I later promised Beyond Birthday that I'd make Kira die a slow excruciating death. You have to trust me!
"I don't want to be L's successor, but I am still here to get my revenge on that damn bastard! In order for L to remain alive, he needs a successor. I plan on retiring after the Kira case, and as the new L it is my responsibility to make sure the best man," I paused and looked at Near for a second, "or men get the job. In order for me to do that Near and the other guy I know have to work together. The last time I heard the other guy hates Near. What I am going to do is the quickest most efficient way to get them both working together. I am holding information back for this reason.
"So if this is enough to warrant death, keeping information at the present to ensure a safer brighter future then shoot me! Shoot me right now dammit!" I closed my eyes and held my arms out. "Think of the fucking children! If I tell you everything I know then the legacy of L dies. L can't die. If L dies Kira wins. End. Of. Story." I stood there and took a deep breath.
I heard a small click, the safety. I exhaled and let my shoulders fall, realizing that I was tense. Opening my eyes I looked at the female who looked unsure of what to do. I walked toward her and gently took the gun out of her hands and put it on a computer table.
Looking over my shoulder, I called out one move. It was pointless to sit back down and finish the game. "Near, Queen to D5, checkmate, black wins." The room was silent as Near smiled and nodded once. He turned to the other gun wielder. Matt had put a gun down when I had disarmed the woman. In sync, the other blonde and Matt both put their guns down.
"Would there be a circumstance in which you would tell us everything?" asked Gevanni as I leaned against the desk and crossed my arms. Tilting my head to the side I paused in thought.
"Once Princess Blondie agrees to work with us and Near and him can agree on who Kira is, regardless of what proof they have to support it I will give up all the information I know. There are other circumstances, but those are best described as a case-by-case basis. All I need is evidence and Kira can be executed like the murderer he is," I replied calmly. "The catch is, I have to be convinced that they aren't just guessing and it can't be an agreement just to get the information from me." He nodded satisfied with my answer.
"So, if you aren't going to be giving us information, what will you two be doing?" came another question from another member of the SPK. I nodded, it was a fair question, and I really didn't have an answer that would sound like it would immediately benefit them.
"Well," I started , "I will clear up any questions that has to do with things that happened prior to L's death. Anything I have worked on or uncovered will remain between Matt and I. Other than that, I will be using you to further my own investigation. The more I can uncover at this point, the closer we'll be by the time you guys catch up."
Near continued to twirl his hair and looked at the ground in thought. He was thinking about something. There was a detail he was going over, it was written plainly on his face. I snuck a look at Matt and dipped my head toward the albino. The gamer smirked, it was like old times. I was tempted to poke him like I used to. I missed moments like those, when we were carefree. Everything now was just so laced with death.
I pushed off of the desk and sat with my legs like a "w" next to him. I wasn't surprised when he didn't respond in the slightest, or that the agents in the room were watching me with extreme curiosity. Taking pieces of Near's hair, I braided it. I then arranged some scattered toys in an army formation all looking like they were going to attack the white kid.
"Go forth my plastic army attack Near so he will ask the damn question that is taxing his mind," I announced childishly as he jumped slightly and looked at what I had done, wide-eyed. I chuckled as he glared at me. A few stifled laughs passed through the room as I let my chuckles cover them up. "Sorry, it was just too easy. What's on your mind though, you completely zoned out. That is something I do little buddy, normally you are too observant for that."
"You were in Japan for 11 months. You must've gotten close to them. Why haven't you gone back?" Near questioned. I froze and blinked at him. He hit a nerve with that one question and now everyone in the room knew it. Well, Matt already did but that's beside the point. Seeing how this was a nerve, meant that I was also going to reveal just how many secrets I have on this case. Sighing, I bowed my head and bit the inside of my lip.
"That's…that's something delicate at the moment Near. You haven't talked to Task Force, that's painfully obvious. If you had talked to them what just happened here wouldn't have happened. If you had talked to them, you wouldn't have even dared to bring me here. The gun show that just happened was caused by my own stupidity. Once you do talk to them, bring me up casually –if you can –and then you will get your answer as to why I stayed here in America." I was getting tired of talking, all of this interrogation on me, and I still didn't know their names, aside from Gevanni, but I hadn't looked in my head either. "My turn, what's everyone's names?"
"Really Eb? We hacked into the pentagon before we came here. You didn't bother looking for anyone else? Or you're head database of these people?" Matt asked narrowing his eyes. I shrugged and laid back on the floor, looking up at the ceiling. I commented on my laziness. "Yeah, I expected that much."
So it turns out the blonde woman was Halle Lidner, the male was Anthony Rester. There were a few others but they hadn't really stood out to me at all. They were more like wall flowers. Putting my hand in the air I pointed to the ceiling saying it was a pleasure to meet them all. I got no response, that's never a good sign.
Aside from the fact it was painfully obvious that these were alias' due to the hesitation before saying their supposed names. The feeling of distrust was also obvious. There was a stare and a nod that passed through the room also sparked my paranoia. They were planning something without Near's authorization, and I wasn't going to like it.
So, I'm back in time for the holidays! Don't know how long this will last. If all else fails the next time you will see me again around New Year's maybe? I dunno. There won't be another Christmas special (seriously I have been posting this for over a year?) this year because I don't have time. It wouldn't be the same without L.
Also, I feel as if I should apologize, I meant to get this out in November, and that didn't happen at all. I'll try to make it up to you guys somehow. But until then I'm sorry for the longer-than-expected-wait.
All things aside, I have no Haitus news..other than Holy cow! Even though I haven't had time to edit, or write, or anything writing related, you guys still read this. I don't know what to say? Wow! Thanks you guys.
Also, thank-you for reading, reviewing, favoriting, and following.