The rest of the night progressed smoothly for D. She went in her room and slept for exactly 2 and a half hour. She groaned loudly and rolled on the other side. She blinked in confusion when she noticed the crouched man.
"Why are you here, L? Don't you have a Shinigami to interrogate?" L's head titled to the side and he blinked.
"When did you touch the notebook, exactly? I didn't see you around it since we brought it" She raised an eyebrow.
He was sitting in the armchair, exactly like a father who wanted to scold his daughter. His face was blank but she could see his lips curving into a scowl. His forehead was tense, which meant he was serious and thoughtful. His form was crouched, which wasn't surprising at all. However, his hands were gripping the armchair tightly.
"Are you suspecting me again?" He shook his head and sighed.
He was tired and annoyed. The case was finally taking a tool on the young detective.
"What exactly did you find out?" She leaned her head on one of her hands and stared intensely at him.
"The notebook holds Kira's power. Once a name is written in it that person dies. It can be from a heart attack or something different. It's up to the notebook's possessor. There are a set of rules that have to be obeyed or else the possessor dies. However, there is something else" She waited for him to continue. "There's a deal you can do with the Shinigami. All I know is that it gives you the possibility to see the name of someone else" He stopped talking and focused his eyes on D.
"That's quite accurate" He narrowed his eyes. "Do you want my opinion?"
"No. I want to know if you knew about this notebook beforehand" She blinked. She wasn't able to tell him anything. She decided to answer him in the only way she could.
"That shouldn't concern you at the moment" It was a vague answer. She was avoiding straight and precise answers.
"That shinigami hides something" She blinked innocently.
"Maybe. Shinigami aren't supposed to be smart. They simply are" L's eyes narrowed suddenly. He jumped off his seat and walked closer to the bed. He was done with her vague opinions.
"What do you know about Shinigami, D?" She started to laugh in his face. His detective pride didn't take it nicely. But, more than anything, he realized that he didn't know her anymore.
The person who was in front of him was evil. She was an ignorant woman who didn't care who died and who lived. She was marching around, watching with superiority a handful of people, fighting for justice. She was nothing more and nothing less; it felt like she was there with the role of an executioner.
"You never listened to me when I told you why I am friends with B. Maybe if you were paying attention then, now you would have been able to resolve the Kira case" Her mood changed quickly. She glared at L. "Doomed souls will never have peace. Shinigami are doomed souls. Wherever they go, they bring death. Maybe you should look closer to your own team"
"I already know Light is Kira. The sudden change in his behavior is my last proof. However, I cannot state he is Kira without material evidence. That Shinigami is not helpful"
"Maybe not for you" L's eyes narrowed. "Do you know, L? The only way you can kill a Shinigami is by making them fall in love" L was taken aback by the new piece of information; she took advantage of his distractive state and pushed him backwards. He fell on his back on the armchair. She leaned over him and stared at him.
"Whose side are you on, D?" She bit her lip.
"Give me one reason why I should be on yours"
L started to talk but D's attention had been caught by something above his head. She furrowed her eyes in concentration and realized that she had no time left. Something was shifting over his head. She started to breath heavily and she returned on the bed.
"That's not good" She mumbled.
Suddenly, her mind started to swirl with old memories; about B, about A, about her life in general. She had been given the opportunity to live again and become what she always craved. Now, that she accomplished so much, what was left for her to do? She had no power to influence Light because she wasn't allowed to tell him anything. L was the only person she had left; the only person who knew her since childhood; he was her anchor to human world. If he was going to die, then who was going to replace him as her anchor?
She sighed deeply and closed her eyes tightly. When she opened her green orbs she noticed the intrigued expression on L's face. She chuckled and patted the place beside her.
"You want answers. But L, these answers aren't necessarily needed" L stared at her confusedly. She was talking bullshit and she knew that.
"What are you hiding, D?" She licked her lips and concentrated hard on what she was going to do. She had to choose in a matter of a few minutes. She had the chance to share the truth with him.
"You're going to die" His eyes hardened.
"I am very aware of that possibility, yes"
He wasn't fully contemplating that possibility. He chose to keep it in the back of his mind, just in case.
"A long time ago, you heard me and B talk about a woman from a book, do you remember?"He could vaguely remember something so petty. "Her name was Kaira Brooke. She was-"
"A British serial murderer. She had a certain style to kill, making an art out of her victims. She was getting inspiration from dark poetry" She nodded.
"Yes. But no book tells the real story. Kaira Brooke was a stubborn woman who craved for a place in the society. She wanted to become a detective and she even applied for a post at the Scotland Yard. They refused because she was a woman"
"Of course. The mindset of the Victorian era was very specific about the woman's role in the society" She nodded again.
Maybe it was an obvious statement in the 21st century, but in the 1880's it was only a source of rebellion. Women had potential for manly jobs as well.
"She was disappointed. But what really pushed Kaira to murder was her family. Kaira's eyes were different, L. They were red, just like B's. She was pale and her long black hair didn't help her image at all. Her parents called her a demon. Her fiancé wasn't a nice man either. He tried to use Kaira for money and even tried to rape her. She killed him and she killed her parents. She knew she was doomed so she ran. She ran and hid until she realized she was strong enough to take law in her own hands"
"You said her eyes were red and gave a glint of Hell" She nodded.
L's mind started to process the information quickly. B's eyes were red. He killed three innocent people yet D was very comfortable around him. Back then, she insinuated that their deaths weren't coincidental; that their time was up anyway. Higuchi's eyes changed after he made the deal with Rem.
"Only Shinigami have red eyes, L. The eyes allow you to see the name and lifespan of a person" His eyes widened. "Kaira was able to see exactly when someone was going to die; just like B" The information was a lot and L's mind was getting fuzzy.
"That's the deal. But what do you give in exchange?" She titled her head to the side and raised five fingers.
"Half of your lifespan. That can mean 5 years, 10 years or maybe one month. It depends on your original lifespan"
"Then, if you take the deal after you gave up your notebook" She nodded. She knew where he wanted to get with that.
"You give half of your remaining lifespan" L furrowed his eyebrow in concentration and started to bite his finger. "Anyway, Kaira didn't kill the people who were going to die soon. She killed rotten people; the ones whom weren't going to be caught by the police. She tried to make the world a better place. She didn't have a Death Note so she didn't have such immense power in her hands. But she tried, L. She tried to make the world a safer place for children, for innocent and poor"
"She killed with her own bare hands more than 50 people. That is not a way to protect the world" She shrugged. That didn't matter at that time.
"You don't know how it was back then. You didn't experience life like she did" L sighed. She was a person who didn't accept other people's opinion, no matter what. "She got caught and sent to prison. In books they don't mention what happened while she was behind bars. But I know the truth. She worked alongside Scotland Yard as an anonymous detective. She saved and caught as many criminals as she killed. That's why she ended up becoming a Shinigami" The story took a different turn than L imagined.
"There has to be a balance between the good and bad you have done in your life. Kaira's place wasn't decided so she ended up in the Shinigami Realm. Surprisingly, she became quite passionate about her new job" D chuckled and rubbed her forehead. "One day, she met a Shinigami who had a different perspective over humans. He found them fun. Somehow, he encouraged her to make a deal with the Shinigami Lord. She got a second chance at life, L"
"Was that Rem?" She shook her head. "Does that mean there is a possibility to find more than one notebook in the world?" She nodded.
That meant Rem was lying. Either that or she was avoiding some aspects of the Death Note.
"Kaira reincarnated into a little innocent baby girl. Unfortunately, she was born with Kaira's intelligence. For such a young girl, she had the brain of a 25 years old woman. She lost her parents when she was very young, in the ocean. They were on their late honeymoon when the cruise ship sunk. Her relatives loved her until they decided she was too smart for her own good. They gave her up for adoption. That's how she became D" L's eyes widened.
"You" She nodded and licked her lips.
She looked pretty calm but truthfully, she was nervous and her palms were sweating. She told him her life story. She broke the rules in a blink of an eye.
L was staring at her intensely. He wasn't moving and didn't look like he was breathing either. Whatever he was feeling, he hid it.
"You were right. I didn't touch the notebook. But I don't need to. I can see other Shinigami without touching the notebook"
"Did Light have a Shinigami around him the whole time?" She rubbed her chin.
"Yes, until he forfeited" L hummed and nodded.
"What about my lifespan?" Suddenly, D's eyes softened and she started to fidget.
"It's decreasing; very fast. That's why I decided to tell you the truth. I wanted you to know that my intelligence and experience as a detective are nothing but old skills. As 22 years old D, I am nothing but an ordinary girl"
"Why didn't you tell me earlier? The case would have been over by now" She bit her lip.
"Because that's not how you work. Besides, I had my own rules to obey. The truth cost me my life"
L was ready to leave. He found more than what he was looking for. He wasn't sure if she was telling the truth or not, though. She was a manipulative woman and she knew how to lie. However, her nervous state seemed genuine. If she told him the truth, everything she had ever done had been granted to Kaira's inheritance. On the other side, if she was telling the truth, he was going to die really soon.
The whole way to the basement, he thought about his death. Before he entered, he shook the bad thoughts out of his mind.
