April 4th, 2031
The Owner
The Owner stirred in their sleep at the sounds of the alarm clock going off. They reach over and shut it up. They sit up in bed and stretch. They realized they'd been drooling in their sleep and wiped the salvia away. They looked over their shoulder and saw the Borrower snoring soundly before lifting their head slowly in their direction.
"Time to get up."
The Owner cooked breakfast for their companion while they were in the shower. While they waited, they seated themselves and took slow sips of coffee, and ate at their egg on rice like it was their last meal alive. Once the Borrower was out of the shower, the Owner hopped in and finished in ten minutes. They brought their clothes in the bathroom with them and once they finished, they changed into their work clothes.
I used to have a black-and-white point of view of justice. Anybody who broke the law was evil and deserved to get tossed in jail. Aunt Kiyomi and I both shared this view but my father, who often visited the courthouse on a regular, took me one day when I was ten to show me what guilty and innocent people actually looked like.
The Owner's picked up their suitcase, making sure that there were several notes of the Death Note packed inside. Before they left, they put the Death Note in the hollowed-out bible before calling someone to put the bible in a storage locker at the airport.
There was a guilty man who wanted to serve time because he felt regret for armed robbery and there was an innocent man who didn't want to go to jail for stealing food to feed his dying child. These two criminals made me realize that maybe there is something more to criminals and that we should focus on helping these people rather than toss them behind bars.
The Owner flashbacked to their time as a child, eating with their mother, father, and Aunt Kiyomi Takada.
I tried to tell Aunt Kiyomi this eye-opening experience but she said that criminals like to gain sympathy. When she got the news she was chosen as Kira's spokesperson, I tried talking her out of it but she refused. Then, she passed away in a fire, burned to death.
Since they had plenty of time to spare, the Owner allowed the Borrower to take the car to drive to work. The Owner didn't mind the walk; in fact, they preferred walking to the subway to get to work. They double-checked their watch and made sure that they stuck to their walking schedule.
For the longest time, I hated Kira for what happened to my aunt but after working a long period of time in the courtroom, I moved up the ranks into my own courtroom. It was vastly different; there was no jury to come to a vote on whether someone was guilty or not, only a single judge to make the choices. It was then when I saw the truth: When there are people who are judging to see whether someone is guilty or innocent, they put on a facade. When there is one person to judge them, they put on a bigger facade.
They made it to Shinjuku Station and when they spotted a camera, they took out a mask and wrapped it around the bottom half of their face, leaving only their eyes and hair exposed. They got on the Yamanote Line, taking the outer route.
They beg and plead like pathetic dogs or even take pleasure in their sentence but either away, they are guilty beyond all doubt. Everyone that has been sentenced to a trial in my courtroom is despicable. Murders, rapists, child molesters, things you can never get away with by giving a morally questionable reason like surviving or doing things out of desperation. It made me realize that Aunt Kiyomi and Kira were right: Criminals are scumbags who deserve to die. All criminals were evil.
The Shinigami following suit chuckled in the Owner's ear. "You're sitting in the same seat I used to sit in when I was a human."
The Owner said nothing but their eyes spotted a trio of boys surrounding a young girl in the seat across. The boys were yanking at the girl's backpack and hitting her across the head with closed fists. The Owner glared and immediately stood up. They marched to the group of boys and put a hand on the closest boy's shoulder.
"Leave this young girl alone," they hissed, "Or you'll all be in trouble."
The boys dropped the girl's backpack and ran off. The Owner picked up the girl's backpack and handed it back to her.
"Thank you," the girl said.
"I hate bullies," the Owner said, "I wasn't a victim but I saw many victims. I hated it when people would not intervene. I do not want you to suffer the same fate."
"You were the only person to step up, thank you."
It warms the Owner's heart that they made someone's day.
The Shinigami laughed. "Good work."
The Owner took their seat and sat in silence as the train reached its destination.
I prayed for Kira to kill all those criminals. I prayed for him to deliver justice to the truly evil people.
The train came to a stop and the Owner got off, taking their suitcase with them.
Years later, after my Aunt Kiyomi passed away by burning to death, I would continue to serve in that courtroom and throw away evildoers to die before Kira would return from the grave several years later.
The Owner climbed up the steps leading into a courthouse. They checked to make sure their hair was groomed before walking through the doors. They checked their watch and noted that they had twenty minutes before the first trial starts.
The Owner's personal assistant came to their side. "The camera crew is here," she said.
"Bench or jury?" they asked.
"Bench."
The Owner tugged on their tie. "Looks like I get to have fun."
"In case you forgot..." she handed a file to them, "It's the Tashi case."
"Arata Tashi is being convicted with serial murder."
The Owner put on a robe, secured their mask around their face, and waited outside a door.
I was a supporter of Kira until I picked up the Death Note several months after Kira returned. When I picked up the Death Note and discovered the truth about Aunty Kiyomi, I became disheartened. My obasan, a sweet and beautiful woman that I grew up with, was corrupted and used as a pawn by Kira to kill some albino midget named Nate River. All obasan was doing was spreading Kira's words and Kira turned her into a murder before making her commit suicide by burning her. Only a monster would do something like this.
The Owner's hair and eyes turned purple.
Anybody who believes that Kira is justice is borderline evil and susceptible to Kira's corruption. With my Death Note power, I will kill Kira for corrupting my aunt and corrupting the minds of innocent people. But first, showing the world that Kira isn't someone worth dying for will do.
"All rise for Judge Minato Natsuki."
The Owner walked through the door, where there stood a crowd rising before them.
April 16th, 2031
Church X of Kira
"It is such an honor to finally meet you, Lord Kira," Murasaki said, keeping her eyes forward and on the Shinigami before her.
"Cherish this," Kira's warm breath hissed against her ear, "Very few people get to meet me, let alone hear my voice." Kira reached around and touched Murasaki's abdomen. "How far along are you?"
"Almost five months." She put her hands on Kira's roaming hand. "Keiri's Shinigami told me he doesn't kill pregnant women but he won't hesitate to kill my husband and son."
"He can't kill pregnant women; Kira's power cannot kill women who are three weeks pregnant." Kira reached his other hand around Murasaki's waist and grasps her hands. "Even so, I don't like killing babies or pregnant women. Had the church massacre went as planned, everyone here would've died without you. I speculate that because the Kira power can't kill you, Keiri decided to blackmail you into following his orders. I believe that he plans on killing you as soon as you deliver."
Murasaki gasped.
Kira whispered into her ear, "However, I can save you and your unborn child. Not only do you have a chance to save yourself, your unborn baby, your son, and your husband, but you have the rare privilege of helping Kira himself."
Murasaki's tensed shoulders relaxed. "It is a privilege, Lord Kira."
"How long have you been going to Church X of Kira?"
"Since I was a child."
"Do you believe in Kira's cause to die for it?"
"I do." She squeezed her eyes shut and bit her lower lip. "That's why Keiri targeted me in the first place."
"It's wrong for people to be killed just for their beliefs."
"What about Lind L. Tailor?"
"Lind L. Tailor, regardless of whether or not he was bait, believing that Kira was evil was not what got him killed. What got him killed was posing as a police detective who would stop at nothing to arrest Kira. Kira does not kill people without a reason. Committing a crime or getting in his way are valid reasons but never for opposing his views."
"The sad news is that there are people who believe that Keiri is the answer. They completely disregard that Keiri is actively murdering innocent people, forcing them to commit suicide. People refuse to admit that Keiri is worse than Kira. Earlier this morning, on my way here, I stopped at a pastry shop; there was a group of people arguing in the corner. Half of the group said that Keiri was a necessary evil in stopping Kira while the other half argued that Kira was a saint compared to Keiri." Murasaki paused. "Not only is there a war between Kira and Keiri, but there is also going to be a war. A war of beliefs, a war to see which mass murderer is more tolerable."
Kira removed his hands from Murasaki's stomach. "This cannot go on; Keiri wants to bring down Kira and slander his name. I will not allow this. I will find Keiri and I will not only kill him but humiliate him. You are the only one who can help me."
Murasaki's eyes widened but she didn't take her gaze off the Shinigami. "What do you mean?"
"That notebook you just dropped is the power Kira uses to kill people. If you write a human's name in it while thinking of their face then that person will die. Additionally, if you touch the notebook, you can see a god of death, who will follow you until you die. Given as to how you were given personal instructions by the Shinigami belonging to Keiri, you are already aware that Shinigami exist."
"Yes."
"Unless you were made the owner of the notebook, which I doubt, then you are the only human on this planet besides Keiri who can see his Shinigami. This is why you're the only one who can help me in my crusade."
Murasaki's looked down before looking down at the notebook. "And until I give birth, I am protected from the power of the notebook."
"And I promise not to kill you; you will be rewarded handsomely for all your work." He stepped away. "Kneel."
Murasaki obeyed.
"Keep your head down."
Murasaki looked down.
Kira stepped around Murasaki and stood before the young woman.
"Do not look up."
Murasaki focused on Kira's shoes, a pair of sneakers.
Kira put a hand on Murasaki's head and rubbed his fingers through her long brown hair.
"My disciple," Kira whispered, "Await my orders. For now, finish your business here. The Shinigami before you is named Gilth. You are not the owner of the notebook so he will not be following you, however, he will be visible to you. He will be the go-to between us."
She interlocks her fingers together. "Yes, Lord Kira."
She watched a hand pick up the notebook.
"Goodbye, Murasaki Kagami."
She watched the pair of sneakers depart from her sight and listened to the sounds of footsteps departing. She kept her head down until she heard the door close and she listened to the sounds of silence as she was left alone in the church.
She looked up and saw the Shinigami Kira dubbed 'Gilth' disappeared into thin air. She focused her attention on the cross on the wall before her and prayed.
"Thank you, Kira-sama."
The Borrower
The Borrower rubbed the sleep out of their eyes from this morning as they composed themselves. They licked their hand and ran it through their brown hair as they looked at themselves in a handheld mirror.
They had limited time because the rioting downtown was escalating by the second.
They made a quick phone call.
"Minato," they said, "This should be when your court sessions end. How're things going?"
"Fine," Minato answered.
The Borrower watched themselves talk on the phone in the mirror.
"Anybody innocent?"
"Status quo."
The Borrower shook their head in disappointment. "Keep searching, bench trials do have good people at some point or another."
"They're all despicable, regardless of who it is and that is a fact."
"If you still believe that the that's your plan. Either way, we need to plan what we're having for dinner tonight."
Minato chuckled. "Of course; I haven't forgotten."
The Borrower smiled. "Good."
"Good."
A woman wearing a headset appeared in the reflection of the Borrower's mirror.
"Five minutes," the headset woman reminded, "We're on a tight schedule."
The Borrower regarded the headset woman with a sideglance in the mirror before nodding.
"Where are you right now?" Minato asked.
"Downtown. There's a protest going on, Kira worshippers vs. Keiri rioters. Most of the Keiri rioters are crazy, delusional civilians. I speculate that most of them are rioting out of fear rather than the belief that Keiri is good. The Kira worshippers are making their stand, saying that the citizens of the Kanto region should work to help Kira. They're not resorting to violence."
"Be careful, Kira worshippers are borderline evil and can snap at any moment."
"They're all wearing masks as a precaution against Keiri's power."
The Borrower looked over to the riot happening in the middle of the street. Kira worshippers were identifiable by their white cloaks and black facemasks. The Keiri rioters weren't wearing any distinct clothing and were just a sea of random civilians seemingly mushed into one large entity.
"I doubt Keiri will target them."
"Hopefully."
The Borrower could practically feel Minato smirking through the phone.
"Anyway, work starts in less than five minutes and I don't want to take up too much of your time."
"I understand. Goodbye, little brother."
They hung up.
They followed the headset woman to the back of the van, which was loaded with camera equipment. The Borrower put their mirror down on the van's floor before stepping ten feet away from the vehicle.
The camera crew set up the equipment and angled the cameras so the Borrower was standing in front of the protest. Once the cameras were set up, they turned to the TVs in the back of the van and turned them on before switching to a live camera feed of two news anchors talking in a studio.
The headset lady handed the Borrower a mic and a headpiece. She put in her earpiece and listened to the sounds of men talking. The voices in the headpiece were from two men talking live from a news studio seen on the van's televisions.
"As you know," headset woman began again, "We are recording our news footage to prevent another public massacre."
"Understood."
"This footage will be airing in an hour."
The Borrower waited for their cue as the news anchors in the studios were discussing current events. The Borrower watched the television screens with anticipation.
"And let's go live to our news anchor, Sora Hajima, on the location of the Kira vs. Keiri riot."
The camera's light went red.
"Sora, tell us what's going on."
The Borrower took in a deep breath of air before saying: "A relentless riot spreads throughout the streets without any signs of slowing down."
With Iris
Iris stayed behind with Masi while Knight and Gilth went out to Church X of Kira. She was sitting on his couch, sipping from a cup of tea while watching the news. The reporter from the arena, Sora Hajima, was back on.
"A relentless riot spreads throughout the streets without any signs of slowing down." The cameras followed Sora as she backpedaled towards the crowd of Keiri rioters. "Never in my four years on the show have I seen such a riot. And I thought America really loved rioting."
The camera zoomed in on a Keiri rioter punching a Kira worshipper in the face. The worshipper fell to the ground with rioters pouring on him. A police cruiser came by and fired off a few warning shots. The worshippers shoved the rioters off the fallen worshipper and formed a protective circle around him.
The police had to come in with riot shields to break the rioters apart but the cameras kept focused on the downed worshipper.
"As you can see, the hot topic about Keiri has taken a toll on some people," Sora reported, "Rioters supporting Keiri are striking Kira worshippers and from what I've seen so far, the Kira Worshippers have been passive so far and not treated the Keiri rioters with hostility, aside from the one that punched the worshipper in the face."
The screen switched back to the news anchors in the studio.
"Makes you think," one of the anchors said, "This is certainly unprecedented: Protesting and rioting over mass murderers? What has this world come to?"
The screen switched back to Sora.
"We're going to maintain a safe distance until the police can contain the violence."
Iris turns off the TV and twirls her fingers in her hair.
This is unique; a debate on who is a better mass murderer. Keiri's plan was to turn people against Kira and he single-handedly created an army of supporters who turned against the Kira worshippers. Keiri is not someone to underestimate and it's going to take more than just killing him.
"This is getting interesting," Masi spoke as she took a spoonful of her strawberry sundae. "Keiri's plan to throw dirt on Kira is working so far. Kira supporters have to hide not only from Keiri but from Keiri rioters as well. I gotta say, Keiri is definitely changing the rules of engagement up."
Iris said nothing.
"Penny for your thoughts?"
Iris held a finger up, silently ordering silence.
"The Faceless Keiri, Shinigami Eyes Keiri, is someone who worked at the Saitama Super Arena. The Nameless Keiri is someone who was watching from gaff. Aside from that, what else can I butcher's at?" Her British accent returned.
"You could always trade for the eyes; I'm fine either way, considering that I've had my lifespan extended dozens of times, even as a human."
"True but what's the point? Trying to narrow down the list with such limited information is going to be extremely difficult. I'm going to have to find another way to narrow down the list. Or I can wait to hear out Knight's plan."
She heard the sound of the front door unlocking and she jumped to her feet after setting her cup of tea on the coffee table.
Knight walked through with Gilth limping behind him.
"How did it go?"
"Too easy," Knight chuckled, "She just rolled over and accepted it. At this rate, I can make any Kira supporter my pawn."
"And about Murasaki still being alive?"
"My theory was correct: She's pregnant. The Death Note can't kill pregnant women."
Iris sighed and put a hand over her heart. "That's a relief."
Remembering Iris's crush on him, he took advantage of the opportunity before him. "Hey, Iris, I've been thinking: Since the Death Note can't kill pregnant women, maybe I should get you pregnant, Iris."
Iris's face went bright red.
"WHAT?! BUT WE ARE ONLY SEVENTEEN, JUST STARTED COLLEGE, TOO MUCH ON OUR PLATE, AND WE-"
"So you don't want protection?"
Iris ran off into a bedroom and locked herself in.
Knight and Masi laughed.
Gilth stared at the two with a blank expression on his face.
When Knight was little, he was a happy-go-lucky kid making jokes. Now that his mother is back, that part of his personality is returning.
After a few minutes, Knight managed to convince Iris to come out of the bedroom. He escorted her back to the couch where he paced around the room with his hands in his pockets.
"But in all seriousness, with Murasaki on our side and her safety guaranteed, it is time for us to act."
Iris, still flustered from the banter earlier, looked at the ground as she said, "There's been some rioting downtown."
"I heard. Kira worshippers vs Keiri rioters. It looks like it is all going part as Keiri planned. If this continues, then all Kira supporters will be targeted. There will be violence until Keiri makes it look like Kira is a worthless savior. Those Keiri rioters are his unintentional minions. Though, I do speculate that there is going to be a three-way war."
"Let me guess: Kira worshippers vs. Keiri rioters vs. Anti-Kira protesters?"
"Yep."
"When I was fighting L," Gilth began, "It was all about staying one step ahead of the world's greatest detective. It was about finding the other's real name and even when L died, the battle shifted to his heirs. When it came to Mello, I had to fight to get the notebook back. When it was with Near, it was practically a repeat of my battle with L."
"And with the notebook passed onto me, my rogues' gallery has been Break and his two associates and the two Keiris. With Break, it was evading a great detective while with the Keiris, evading their attempts to downgrade my reputation."
Iris finally mustered up the courage to look at Knight but when their eyes met, her face slightly blushed. "I don't know how to narrow down the list of suspects. I know that there are two Keiris at least but the Death Note is an untraceable weapon, practically impossible to find the source."
"We could pull a Lind L. Tailor move," Masi suggested.
"What point would that prove?" Gilth asked, "Lind L. Tailor was used to draw out Kira's location, even so, the list of suspects was everybody in the Kanto region. It took the FBI and Raye Penber specifically to narrow down the list."
"Knight," Iris spoke up, "I just realized something: Shinigami can see each other. Why are we bothering to use Murasaki Kagami if we can have Gilth and Masi identify the Shinigami?"
Knight looked at her. "Because Murasaki Kagami is the only person who can see Keiri's Shinigami without having a Shinigami of her own attached. Whenever we go out in public, we have to be cautious of the Faceless Keiri's Shinigami eyes and we have to make sure Gilth and Masi aren't spotted and traced back to us. Murasaki Kagami does not have a god of death attached to her, is not the owner of a notebook, can't be killed by the notebook, and does not stand out in terms of having a lifespan visible. The Keiris would focus on those with absent lifespans, not those with visible lifespans."
Iris nodded. "I get it, she's basically our third eye."
"She's our eye in the sky. Besides, our Shinigami have to stay within 14km of their attached humans, Murasaki Kagami has the luxury of going anywhere."
Iris twirled her finger in her hair. "So we figure out a way to use Murasaki Kagami against Keiri. I can't think of anything."
Knight sighed and crossed his arms over his chest.
Plan, he thought, I need to come up with a plan to draw out Keiri. But how? How am I going to use Murasaki to figure out who Keiri is?
He licks his lower lips and sits down on the couch.
Plan, plan, come on, Knight, think of a plan.
His eyes widened with a gasp. He jumps to his feet with a smile on his face. "I've figured it out; I have a plan to draw out Keiri."
Iris looked at him and rose to her feet. "Tell it to me."
Knight leaned in and whispered in her ear.
"We'll use L's name."
When you write multiple names in the Death Note and then write down even one cause of death within 40 human seconds from writing the first victim's name, the cause will take effect for all the written names.
Also, after writing the cause of death, even if the situation of death is written within 6 minutes and 40 seconds in the human world, the situation will only occur to the victims whom it is possible. For those where the situation is not possible, only the cause of death will occur.
AN: What do you guys think of The Owner, now that you know their real name and their motives? Don't worry, I promise that the Borrower's backstory will be revealed later.