Death Note
AU! Everything from the middle of Chapter 53 and up Did Not Happen (Like That)
Spoilers through chapter 56.
Part 3 of Road Not Taken
By now, Raito was quite used to handcuffs. He'd read somewhere that extended periods of time spent in handcuffs caused nerve damage in the wrist and fingers; he was undoubtedly going to be experiencing the results of that sometime in the near future.
Right now, though, he sat at a table in the Kira Investigation headquarters Ryuuzaki had had built, the Death Note - stapled closed - in his hands. Ryuuzaki and his father sat across from him, his father obviously trying to look stern and closed off, but instead looking merely miserable, and Ryuuzaki... Ryuuzaki was almost unreadable. He looked more tired than ever. Somewhere behind Raito, Matsuda, Mogi, and Aizawa sat in on the questioning. He could only imagine their faces.
"So you're telling us that the God of Death - Rem, you say her name is - must stay with Higuchi?" Ryuuzaki's fingers twitched, then found a sugar cube and slowly began to crumble it into the cup in front of him. "And that unless Higuchi dies, you must remain in contact to that notebook to keep your memories as Kira."
Raito nodded. His father flinched.
"And that the two rules written in the back of that notebook are false, a red herring you had a reaper - not Rem, but one called Ryuuku - write, in anticipation of using your long imprisonment as evidence that you could not possibly have been Kira, and to keep us from destroying the notebook out of hand." Ryuuzaki's voice, too, was tired.
"Yes. Raito-kun shouldn't be Kira... but if he were, I would be in turmoil. Because Raito-kun in the first friend I've ever had!"
When he was Kira, Raito had thought that Ryuuzaki had said that merely to manipulate him. During the period when his memories were gone, Raito had come to realize that Ryuuzaki respected and liked him, despite his constant suspicion. Perhaps that was why his refusal to change his mind had made Raito so angry. Now, he knew that Ryuuzaki had meant it all along.
"Yes. I knew that without my memories, I would was to help you find Kira. When that happened, I knew I would end up touching the Note, and temporarily regain my memories." He held out his bound wrists. "Take my wristwatch off, please?"
Ryuuzaki nodded to Raito's father, who leaned forward and removed the watch he had given to his son. "What is special about the watch?" His voice remained coolly neutral as he raised his tea and sipped it.
"Pull on the time setting knob four times with less than a second's pause between," Raito instructed. His father hesitated, glancing at L.
"Please do it," L instructed.
A moment later, the hidden section of the watch slid outwards, and the scrap of paper inside fluttered to the table.
"That's from this Note." Raito looked down at the table in front of him. "By the time we found the new Kira, and the Note, we would surely have known his name and face. I would have killed him using the paper, and then the Note would be mine again, and my memories permanently returned. Then I would tell Misa - who would have been cleared by the same rule as I - where I buried the second Note."
"What did you want her to do with the Note?" Though the question was asked, Raito knew that L knew the answer already. He looked up, met hard, tired eyes with his own.
"Kill the one called Ryuuzaki."
"As I expected. She knows my name, then?"
"Probably. The Gods of Death can trade their eyes to the human who holds their Note; with the Eyes, they can see a person's name in their face. The trade costs half of the human's remaining lifespan. I never felt the trade to be worth it. However, Misa did - and at the university, just before she was arrested, she saw your face." Raito half-smiled. "If you hadn't stolen her phone, you'd have been dead before they got the handcuffs on her. I was calling her to ask her what your name was, and then I personally was going to write your name in my book."
"Of course." Ryuuzaki looked away, teacup still held in the air where his mouth had been a moment before. "I cannot believe how many times I have come close to death in this investigation," he murmured. A moment longer, and he turned back and sipped his tea. "So what went wrong with your plan?"
Raito tilted his head. "Nothing," he said simply. "It worked."
"It obviously didn't," Yagami Souichirou said, the first words he had actually spoken since he'd been informed of Raito's confession of guilt. "Why not?"
Ryuuzaki held up a hand. "No," he said. "It worked. He got his hands on the note. There was no flaw in his plan." From over the teacup, his eyes were irisless blanks. "The flaw was in Raito."
Raito nodded to Ryuuzaki as his father blinked. "Exactly. When I felt the memories returning... when I felt what I had felt as Kira... when I remembered all those I killed..." He swallowed convulsively. "I'd just spent weeks believing that these were murders. I'd come to regard Ryuuzaki as a friend, despite his suspicion. I... didn't want to go back. That was why I asked Ryuuzaki to do something that would surprise me; it broke the memories of Kira."
Ryuuzaki lifted his eyebrows. "I'm glad I succeeded, Raito-kun, since failing would have meant my death."
"You did an excellent job of it. I'm still confused why you chose the method you did." Raito's mouth crooked. "Sorry about throwing up, after. It was... all the people I suddenly remembered killing. Not even all of them crimi-" he cut himself short. "All the people I had killed," he repeated, without the addendum. "Not you."
Behind him he heard whispering. Matsuda-san was saying something to one of the others.
"My pride is pleased to know it. I am, after all, an immature sore loser," Ryuuzaki said, hunching further over his knees. "Like Raito-kun."
Raito nodded. "...Yes."
"And like Kira."
Another nod. "Yes."
"One moment." L leaned forward and poured his cup full again. "Are you thirsty, Yagami-kun? I am afraid we cannot remove your handcuffs, but I'm sure one of us could hold a cup for you while you drink."
"No, thank you. I'm fine."
Ryuuzaki smiled. "Indeed." A sugar cube splashed into his tea, followed by another. "In that case, allow me to free your hands so you can drink on your own, on the provision that you will not try to open the Note."
From behind, Raito heard Aizawa's voice. "Ryuuzaki, you just said..."
L raised one hand. "I know what I said. I also know that Raito-kun will keep his word, if he gives it. He - is not Kira. There is no denying that he was, but that is not who he is now. And we shouldn't make him go thirsty."
Raito carefully kept his expression neutral. "Then I give my word to not attempt to open the Death Note, or to use the scrap on the table," he said. His father's startled glance down at where the scrap lay, near to Raito's hands nearly made him lose the balanced calm in his face.
"Very good." Ryuuzaki's eyes crinkled at the corners, a hint of warmth in them for the first time since the helicopter, and he set down his teacup. "I much prefer dealing with Raito-kun than Kira, by the way." He stood on his chair and leaned forward over the table, fishing around in his pockets. "Key, key, key... ahha." His long fingers quickly unlocked and removed the handcuffs, then poured a cup of tea for Raito before he settled back onto his chair.
"Thank you," Raito murmured, rubbing his wrists as well as he could without letting go of the Note. After a moment, he reached for his tea.
"So. The question is, what do we do with Raito-kun and Misa-san." Ryuuzaki wrapped his hands around his knees and tilted his head back, looking thoughtful. "Obviously, the Notes must be destroyed. But if we destroy the Notes, neither will have their memories. If they do not have their memories, punishing them is nothing more than a pointless gesture."
Raito's father stood abruptly. "Ryuuzaki - some time ago, you told me to wait to resign until after my son was confirmed as Kira."
"So I did." Ryuuzaki's head tilted to one side and further back to see Yagami Souichirou's face.
"I would like to do so now, please. This is a discussion I cannot and should not be part of. My opinion is compromised." Eyes closed, Raito's father bowed sharply to Ryuuzaki. "I'm sure you can understand."
"Better than you may know," Ryuuzaki said, eyes narrowing faintly against the lights glaring down on his face. "Very well. I will write a letter of recommendation to whomever you like, and apprise them of your immense dedication and usefulness. I believe you will find that your career is not on the rocks it might have been, having your son discovered to have been Kira."
"Thank you." With another stiff bow, Raito's father turned and left the room. He did not meet his son's eyes.
"I'd wondered how long before he did that," Ryuuzaki commented to the air, then addressed the three behind Raito. "If one of you three would like to join me at the table as the leader of the police in the investigation...? Ah, Aizawa-san, of course."
The creaking of a chair and footsteps indicated Aizawa standing, walking past Raito to the chair just abandoned by the elder Yagami. He hesitated a moment, then lowered himself into it.
"Where were we...?" Ryuuzaki twisted his arm behind his back and scratched between his shoulder blades. "Ah, yes, what to do with Raito-kun and Misa-san."
"There is no question," Aizawa said firmly. "They must be tried. The judge will have to make the decision on their punishment. That is not for us."
"Ah, is that so?" Ryuuzaki blinked down into his teacup. "I think you will find that the national leaders - especially those of Japan, who will not want it well-known that Kira was the son of one of their top police officers - desire this to be taken care of quietly. And there are other complications."
"Eh?" Aizawa blinked.
"Misa-san's behavior changed after her interview. Normally, Misa-san would have insisted loudly on being allowed to help Raito-kun, rather than agreeing to cancel the plan, and going behind our backs. Not only that, but she got the Yotsuba Kira on the first try - not impossible, but improbable. And how did she convince him she was the second Kira, anyways?" Ryuuzaki's chin rested on his knees for a moment. "If it were not for the fact that if she had somehow regained her memories - which requires access to her notebook, according to Raito - I would likely be dead, I would almost think that she was aware of her and Raito-kun's identities."
Raito frowned. "It shouldn't be possible. I was the last owner of that Note, so even if it was somehow found and made its way back to her, in order to regain her memories permanently, I would need to be dead."
"I think we should determine second Note is still where you put it, Raito-kun," Ryuuzaki instructed. "If it is, we should let Misa-san touch it, and question her. Will we have your co-operation in this? She will not say anything unless you are all right with it."
Raito held up his hands. "Ryuuzaki..." He looked down and sighed. "At this point, it would do me no good to begin resisting the investigation, even if I desired to. Yes, I'll help."
"Thank you, Raito-kun. I'm afraid I cannot promise any sort of leniency, but I'm sure you knew that." Ryuuzaki reached for the handcuffs. "I think that Aizawa-san, Mogi-san, and I should be sufficient guard for this. Matsuda-san, would you please go and keep Misa-san company? Do not let her know that we have obtained Raito-kun's confession, or that he has confirmed her as the second Kira. In fact, unless unavoidable, say nothing about the investigation. Talk to her about... oh, her career as a model; that should be adequate distraction."
Raito finished off his tea and stood, allowing Ryuuzaki to handcuff them together once again, carefully tucking the Death Note under his shirt to remain in contact with his skin. "Ah... could we pick up some apples on the way?"
Ryuuzaki blinked at him slowly. "Apples?"
"Please."
"Eh, why not? Reapers eat only..."
"Thank you."
The clearing was undisturbed. Ryuuzaki watched carefully as Raito counted steps and then knelt to move dirt aside with a small trowel. When he unearthed a wrapped box, Ryuuzaki moved to kneel beside him.
"I think it's still in there, Ryuuzaki," Raito reported, working on the wrappings. The top of the box lifted to reveal a black notebook, much like the one hidden under Raito's shirt, but with the writing on the front in some strange, alien characters.
L hmmed. "Take it out of the box if you would, Yagami-kun?"
Raito nodded silently and lifted the notebook free.
There was no accompanying surge of memories. Inside his cage, Kira stirred, but that was all. Raito stood and looked around. "Any time now..." He fished an apple out of his pocket.
"Ohho!" Ryuuku's voice came from above, and Raito looked up. "L caught you, huh?"
The apple arced upwards. "Actually, I gave up."
In midair over a branch, the apple stopped, and then began to disappear, large bites being taken out of it.
Ryuuzaki watched, fascinated. "Raito-kun, could you introduce me to your friend? Hearing only one side of a conversation could get rather strange after a time."
Raito reached over with the Death Note and tapped Ryuuzaki gently on the head. "Ryuuku, this is Ryuuzaki. Ryuuzaki, Ryuuku. The reaper who eats apples."
