Ch. 6 - Hafta'a/Surprise

When he wasn't doing work on the Kira case, L spent his time watching the news coverage of the Harvey Chase school shooting. There really wasn't anything new or different about it compared to the coverage of other incidents.

Discussions of what would turn a young man into a killer: was it drugs, the Internet, lack of mental healthcare access…and of course, Kira, who had been oddly silent on the whole thing. Well, until just a few moments ago.

An American pastor and political pundit, who had been praising the shooter, had died. Gunshot. It had seemingly come out of nowhere. It could have been Kira - but it was too subtle. No note. No grand display. Even though it took place in broad daylight - with about half a dozen cameras…

L shook his head and chewed on his thumb. If Esther Cohen, the so-called 'Miracle Girl,' had done it - she would need to be monitored. Unless they could find the shooter, Esther would be suspect number one. But the authorities wouldn't even look at her - and putting out the information that there may be another person with Kira's abilities would send her into hiding.

And as much as he didn't mind that Pastor James Charleston wouldn't be spreading his lies everywhere, he was still an innocent victim. Now Esther Cohen had to be brought to justice alongside Light Yagami. After all, if Esther was guilty of Charleston's murder, how many other deaths was she responsible for?

Was she a threat?

He would have to test that. And for that, he would need Light's assistance.

…

This…was not according to plan. Light couldn't believe he had missed it! How could he let L get the upper hand?! L suspected one of the survivors of having a Death Note and killing the gunman, as well as some inane American religious leader.

"Light-kun, if you could keep this a secret for the moment that would be appreciated. I am not ready for the rest of the Task Force to know. I want to be absolutely sure that these killings were done purposely, by the same person, and aren't just coincidences."

"Of course, Ryuzaki."

Shit. Shit. Shit. Now he had to find a way to determine if the person actually had a Death Note and contact them before L did. That was not going to be easy…not without going to America himself.

"Hyuk," Ryuk laughed. "Another Death Note user! I'll say I wasn't expecting that."

Of course, Ryuk wasn't going to be of any use…

"Perhaps we could broadcast a message from Kira denouncing the shooter and spread it to the world. We need to ensure that we won't have any copycat incidents, and an announcement from L would be suspicious and it might cause her to panic. From what you've told me she's only killed one innocent person. I don't think she's as large of a threat as Kira."

"You may be right, Light-kun. But remember Kira started small as well. She may become more like Kira. We can't have two of them in the world."

"The question is - also- is Kira aware of this? And have they already made contact?"

He had to put suspicion off himself. But of course, Kira would know - even though he didn't. But if he thought Kira didn't know - that would cast suspicion on him…Fuck, he thought. How could he not know? How had he missed it?!

It might be easier just to kill the little bitch before she got him exposed. But of course, if she died - L would immediately suspect him. After all, he was the only other person aware of L's suspicions.

It would be better for him, for Kira, if he just ignored her until L was gone. But that - was not an option right now. Esther - Light figured - would be given a large amount of leniency, considering who she killed. And she would give up the secrets of the Death Note for a plea deal.

And he'd be screwed.

So his only option was clear: Kira would need to join forces with Esther.

Maybe he could make her do the eye deal, he thought, and have her get rid of L. If her shinigami was anything like Ryuk, he wouldn't have to worry about him at all. Then he could get rid of her.

And there was no rule saying he couldn't have two notebooks.

So maybe this wasn't the plan he had in mind at first but he could certainly work with this.

He grinned to himself.

"I don't think they have made contact. Kira is very proud and childish. If he gained a follower who shared his power, he would make sure we knew."

Light had no choice but to agree with that assessment.

"I think she must have killed before the school shooting. She wouldn't have manipulated him if she didn't know it would work. There's someone else out there who is dead because of her."

If it were anything like how he reacted, she would have killed somebody in her hometown - or on the news, where she could monitor the results. L wouldn't have his room bugged anymore - so he should be able to do a little bit of research without suspicion.

"We should research together, Light-kun, when we aren't working on the Kira case."

…

Esther sat on the cold tile of her bathroom floor, head over the toilet.

She had thought that maybe, it would be easier. But no. Unsurprisingly, Zellogi was not very sympathetic.

"Man - you're really something, aren't you? You've had the notebook, for what a month and a half? You've only killed three people and you're still puking your guts out. It's kind of pathetic."

Esther wiped her mouth with her sleeve. "Have you ever met another human before? Most of us…aren't comfortable killing others. Kira is an outlier."

"Is he though? You got the notebook and you killed a person you didn't like. Are you any different?"

"Yes."

"But the man you killed today, he was just saying things you didn't like. Did he do anything wrong?"

She bit her lip."Shut up."

He smirked, with that lipless mouth. "Whatever makes you feel better. What you choose to do with the Death Note is your choice."

"Not really. I'll die if I don't use it. You'll kill me."

"And you chose your life over those of others."

"Since when are you a moral philosopher?" She lay down, feeling the hard cool tile against her head. "What do you know?"

He chuckled, amused. "Probably more than you think. I've been around a while. I've seen how, under the correct circumstances, any human will kill another."

Esther turned to her side and brought her knees to her chest. She couldn't argue with that. She knew killing James Charleston was wrong, stupid even, and she felt guilty. But every time that man opened his damn mouth…it put her in danger.

It wasn't such a bad thing that he was gone. All the people she had…she had killed the world was better off without. And the only people who would argue against that…weren't the type of people she wouldn't want to associate with anyway.

"You shinigami can't understand. You can't die!"

"Oh…why would you think that?"

….

As she lay awake in her bed, later that night, trying to comprehend the idea that yes, gods can die - Esther began to think about her own mortality.

In the back of her mind, she knew that one day she would die. And even after the shooting - the idea of dying seemed so distant and unreal. She had seen death, and even now she couldn't wrap her head around the idea that one day, she wouldn't be here anymore.

She wasn't scared of death. Scared of the pain she might face while dying, yes. But the idea that one day, she just…wouldn't be here anymore and never be able to eat ice cream, read a book, watch a movie ever again made her sad, more than anything.

Keith would never get to experience any of those things again. And one day, the grass would overtake a crumbling tombstone. The name would be worn away by the years. The only sign that he had existed would be a small pile of stones, left by those who wanted to make sure he was always remembered. And most people would not know what they meant.

And one day it would happen to her.

Heaven or Hell. Afterlife or none. Or something else entirely - it didn't really matter in the end, she thought. Every human, every living thing, even shinigami, and other gods or angels or whatever they wanted to be called - would die…There's nothing she could do to stop death. Only cause it.

Was she playing G-d?

But Zellogi did say she had saved some people when she killed Kyle. But who had she saved by killing James Charleston? It had been purely petty. Out of anger. She couldn't handle this…Stuck with having this responsibility for the rest of her life. But she couldn't live with herself if she gave it away.

Zellogi might just give it to someone willing to play Kira the Second. And she certainly couldn't allow another dude with a God-complex have one of these things. The Death Notes were dangerous.

But - it had saved people. Not Keith. But maybe Becca, her best friend. Her teachers. Her other classmates…like Bradon Kahn, who had been hiding in the classroom two doors down from the bathroom and wasn't exactly her classmate. He was two grades above her..but her had a beautiful pair of hazel eyes…He had dreams of being on Broadway. And wouldn't that be a shame if he never made it?

If he made it now, it would partially be because of her.

Maybe if she just used the Death Note like she had with Kyle and never again like she had done earlier that day, everything would be okay.

And she would one day be able to face G-d and defend her actions. And protect her people. And other innocents.

She'd never be able to kill someone with her bare hands. But with the notebook, she could make sure that nobody lost their child to some white supremacist shooter ever again. Yes. That would be worth it.

And hopefully, that day wouldn't come for a long time.

The next morning she awoke to several news alerts on her phone.