IMPORTANT UPDATE: Short version is, well as you might have guessed. I'm discontinuing this series and just releasing the last (unedited) chapters out of respect for readers. Then, I will release a new unedited version that at least has an ending for my own closure.
Long version: Here goes, I started this story more than 12 years ago, still unemployed and frustrated with the job search with all the rejections and false hopes, and I wanted a release from that along with the dissatisfaction with the ending of Death note (still couldn't accept it, but admittedly I don't think I can do a better job). It took me six months to get a job so during that time I was writing my heart out to distract myself from waiting.
Anyway, with work and life happening in my 20s, I could only do so much and do my best to update as much as possible. I developed a love-hate relationship with this story where I would sometimes forget it and come a year after I would feel guilt and write again.
It came to a point where I have to re-read everything before I can get a good grasp on what I wrote years ago. It was not fun, but I still am proud of the things that I wrote back then, and I genuinely want to finish the story. Well, there came a point where I got stuck with what I want to do plot wise, and am no longer happy with what was happening. I mean sure I can continue it and push through but it was taking a long time and I was no longer happy forcing myself to do the long process and then forgetting what I was supposed to do when I remember to continue it again.
WELL, come 2020, and I am stuck at home again with nothing to do, and I come across this unfinished work that I ignored for 3 years or something. I no longer know how to continue but the guilt of not finishing it still haunts me. So by November (Nanowrimo) I thought to just re-write the whole thing to the best of my memory and edit a few plot points here and there, actually edit a lot of plot points haha. I made it a Nanowrimo project to just sit down for 30 days and finish the whole thing, no matter how bad it turned out, no matter how many grammatical errors it has (English is my second language).
Thinking about it, ending wise, the original story would have taken that direction too, but it was the middle part that I no longer have interest in writing. I'm happy to say that I finally finished the story despite it being rewritten, and I am going to post it soon. In order to avoid it having the same fate as the original, I will post the entire thing with minimal edits, one chapter a day for the coming days, and when I feel like editing I will get back to it and update, or not.
I hope that it won't upset the readers too much. Truthfully, I am doing this more for myself than anything else. I don't regret writing any stories I have written so far, and am proud of having the effort to do so. I just want to give an ending to this so that I can find closure, for my own satisfaction, and move on. I am sorry once again for taking a very long time to this story, and I hope you Months Due
Chapter 20
Long Distance Relationship
"Hey L, L! Are you even listening?", demanded the annoyed voice on the telephone. "I knew it! You were sleeping weren't you?"
"Raito-kun is incorrect, as always," was the detective's lazy reply. "I keep on mentioning to him that unbelievable or not, I am actually working."
"But it's two in the morning!"
"I need to remind Raito-kun that the time zone here is different, on the other hand, isn't it about time that you go to bed yourself?" L retorted. The silence that followed cued L that he is approaching victory. "You know that it is bad for the baby for you to sleep so late, Raito-kun."
A sigh.
"Fine. I'm going to bed", came Raito's defeated reply. "You could have just told me that you weren't interested in talking to me."
"I will not say such a thing, Raito-kun. I am genuinely concerned about you." L was very aware that he is lying through his teeth at that point. "Good night, Raito-kun"
"Good-"
He cut the connection off before he could hear the entire sentence. This time, it was his turn to sigh.
It has been two weeks since he left Raito, the Whammy Institution for the States, where the new Kira case is secretly setup by his former team mates from the Japanese force. Well, at least some of them.
L did not want to admit it, but the clear underfunding of this new case really has something to do with his last stunt on the previous case that had involved him with the teen. Of course, it was expected more or less, seeing that for the entirety of his career, this case is definitely the longest, hardest, overly executed but still inconclusive case he has closed so far. Clearly the higher ups were not amazed, and did not want to hear the same mistakes the second time around. In fact, they weren't expecting a second time around.
The disappointment laced in this whole arrangement seemed unfair to L, since, truth be told, he was the one person who believed that this case was officially closed, seeing that he had to secretly deal with a Shinigami and seal the killer's memory, not to mention being with the same ex-killer for good measure, he didn't really expect such a thing to happen again, with a new Kira. But then it did, and now he has to deal with it. That, along with Matsuda, Chief Yagami and some other dispensable others in the background. He of all the people here was the one who wanted to solve this case once and for all, and this time, no part three.
But then things weren't really going his way and honestly, he is one setback away from giving up. he had long accepted that this chosen career of his inevitably demanded longer working hours and mountain loads of stress, but he didn't expect it to be this much. Not to mention, that this whole ordeal is taking a toll on his love life, and that's another level of stress altogether.
For once in his life, L found himself choosing his personal life over his preciously kept and revered career and reputation in the detective business. He would rather spend his time whiling away with his newly acquired spouse, but he found himself not even having the freedom to choose anymore. Thus, the sigh.
"L, are you alright?" Matsuda asked warily as he held out the files for his report.
"I'm fantastic as always, Matsuda." he warded. "Now, about the report I asked..."
"It's all here, L. L-looks like you were right in your earlier hypothesis" Matsuda said nervously. "We've locked down our investigation to only three suspects."
L looked calm as always, as he had already predicted this much in the case.
"Good, and the names are?"
"Erm...Uhh...well we have, Kiyomi Takada, an alumni of Tokyo University currently pursuing further studies in UCLA, Mikami Teru, who also got around the states a year and a half ago, and Misa Amane, who has a film collaboration in Hollywood"
L examined the files and tossed it back to the desk.
"Excellent work Matsuda, now," he ushered the young police detective to the desk. "Can you please arrange for the surveillance of the three suspects? And also please take a closer investigation on Miss Amane"
Matsuda fumbled for a while for reasons unknown, perhaps due to awe, and straightened up after a while.
"Right away, L!" as he clumsily took back the files from the desk.
That leaves L free again to take a closer attention to his chocolate sundae, or Raito. But for now, he better take care of his already melting sundae.
"You look like you're taking it easy" suddenly came a voice that L did not really expect to hear for a while.
"What are you doing here, Ryuuk?"
"Relax." the Shinigami answered. "It's been a long time since I've interacted with humans. I just wanted to see how things are going around here."
L clenched his fists
"As you can see, things aren't doing great at the moment. What did you really come here for, Shinigami-san?"
"Hahaha. You act so much like Raito. The truth is, I've come to give you quite a proposal. You see, the death gods really want to solve this whole fiasco the shortest possible time, at least quicker than the Kira case back then, and they told me to do something about it."
L just stared at him.
"So, I'm here to make a deal with you."
L tilted his head a bit. Seeing this as an invitation to continue, Ryuuk went on.
"You can have this one extra death note of mine. This was the one used by Light."
Ryuuk showed the notebook to L, but did not give it to him just yet.
"I suppose there is a catch to this offer?"
"Oh, you're just as interesting as Light as expected. Well, in exchange for the notebook, you have to actually use it to kill the one who started all this mess. I want you to kill the second Kira."
L was silent for a while.
"This is an interesting offer" he started.
"Of course it is. That's why I want you to take it."
"What's more interesting is the action made by the Shinigami this time. When it was Raito involved, he was subject to this rather embarrassing situation, but nonetheless resulted to sparing his life. But now, there is no other option?"
"Well, we are still giving you the choice on whether to accept this or not." Ryuuk pointed out. "Still, the Shinigami really want this problem fixed because it is causing such a disorder in our realm."
"What do you mean by that, Shinigami-san?"
"Oh, alright. You see, the truth is, this whole problem was started by a rebellious Shinigami, who went against all the rules saved this girl from death, resulting to losing his own life. That would have been fine and all, but then a friend of that Shinigami gave the notebook to that same girl. That is how this whole thing started" Ryuuk explained. "Because now, this girl's life span is extended abundantly, and can only now be killed by a death note."
"That is quite the problem, Ryuuk."
"And now she starts killing people, immune from all of the effects of the death note. From what I've heard she already struck a deal with this Shinigami to have the Shinigami eyes."
L looked at him with a blank expression. It made Ryuuk uncomfortable.
"Shinigami eyes...well, it's something that can be acquired by users of the death note. That gives them the ability to kill by just seeing the face of the person. But that deal will cost the user half of his life span. In the girl's case, it was just nothing." Ryuuk continued. "And now she has all the power, but no control whatsoever to the consequences of his crimes. This is something that the Shinigami feels that they should deal with immediately."
"You seem pretty much involved with the Shinigami and human world"
"Well, I have to, since I was the one who started it all, if all of this turns for the worse, it's my life on the line."
"What do you mean by that?"
"It means...well, the life span that should be taken away from that person will be the lifespan taken away from me as well"
"I can see why you want me to write her name on the death note" L replied. "But then what would happen to me if I use it?"
"I have no clue. But then they have this saying that people who use the death note are bound to have miserable lives."
"You could pass for a salesman, Shinigami-san" L said sarcastically.
"So what do you say? This will end the whole investigation very quickly."
L took a moment to assess the situation.
"I do appreciate the offer you are willing to give me, Shinigami-san. And without all the consequences I would be tempted to just quickly get this over and done with." L replied. "But then I want a long and happy life with Raito-kun, and I don't want to risk it getting destroyed by becoming a user of the death note. That was something that i am trying to prevent the boy from ever happening again."
Ryuuk laughed a little bit
"Just so you know, the elder Shinigami is really keen on resolving the case and is willing to do all it takes to make it so." Ryuuk half-threateningly reminded, but its effectiveness was lost due to L's gradually increasing bad mood. "Erm, I mean…"
"I would very much like to talk to this Shinigami elder if that is the case, Ryuuk-san" L said in a calm but forceful tone, enough to make the poor Shinigami shiver in fear. This was, of course, the first time he heard his name addressed in a while in the human world.
"W-well, I'll tell him then", he said in a nervous, uncharacteristic voice. "I'm leaving then"
L watched the Shinigami as he escaped back to the open window, and flew in a hurry, as if he was carrying a plague. The knock on the door shifted his attention for a while, but it definitely did not help to change his mood.
"Come in", he asked irritated.
Matsuda came in hesitantly, letting out a soft squeak as he realized the aura L was having.
"U-um, well, I just gave the report and they are actually considering it…."
"Did you present the proposal as I told you to?"
"Well, we already requested it like you instructed..."
"And?"
L felt that he should not have expected a decent answer given Matsuda's disappointed face, but he asked anyway.
"Well, we did say your hypothesis to the management but they don't seem convinced. They felt that this whole thing was like shooting for the moon or something." the man nervously admitted.
L proceeded to ignore the awkward sounding man.
"Ah, but the chief's already on to it, don't worry. He's gone to the higher ups to overwrite the decision. It's only a matter of..."
"Don't bother, Matsuda", came a weary voice that was approaching them. "It appears that apart from our team, no one wants to believe L's statement and has denied our requests."
L kept silent for a while.
"I'm sorry L." the young officer stammered he stood there waiting for a response from the young detective.
Finally, L reacted.
"I guess this is to be expected. I am grateful for your efforts, Matsuda-san."
The air seemed to lighten up after that, but then L knew that he had to find a way to move this case ahead.
"If things go on like this, I have no choice but to direct the team independently from now on", L continued. "No, I think that it should have been understood from the beginning that we are going to solve this case even without the help of any form of help from the NPA"
"So, you're saying..."
"Being able to solve a number of cases I have eventually amassed a considerable amount of fortune that is only being spent in the favor of Watari's orphanage." L explained. "I will allocate a few of the funds for this investigation to work out properly."
Matsuda lightened upon hearing this.
"However, this would also mean that we have limited funds. I need to employ only a handful from the team from now on. Not to mention that we have to solve this case with utmost haste."
Matsuda braced himself as L continued to think about the situation.
"Call Yagami-san. I would like to make a request from him"
Raito didn't want to admit it, but over the course of two weeks, he seemed to have developed a rather awkward relationship with the telephone. It was really silly off course, that's why he didn't want to admit it, but then again the signs pointing to it explains a lot. His day would mostly center on it as he stared at it practically every morning and tracing all details of it before he went to bed, hoping that it would ring. The rest of the day involved him pushing random keys on the phone and hanging up before any unfortunate person on the other side of the line could answer, or him forming theories on what might L's number be.
It's not as if he needed to do that. The detective never did disclose his number to him, saying that it was for security purposes, and it was heavily secured anyway that it would be a bother for Raito to go through all that complicated process, but L made it clear before he went away that he would call on a specific time during the day, and he would do it with regularity. So far, the detective away from home never missed a single day in his schedule. Maybe Watari has something to do with it.
But then, he underestimated the boy's imagination and his more than 20 hours of nothing to do at every waking day of his life. By the first week of L's absence, Raito had managed to contact a very bewildered detective whose first words were. "What did you do!?" But he didn't care. He was happy to have outsmarted the detective yet again or perhaps because he heard the other's voice again, but he wouldn't actually admit it to him. Since then, L asked Matt to just install a private direct line for Raito that would hopefully abate the boy's urges to challenge security.
It's also not as if he had nothing else to do, in fact he had plenty, as L had anticipated his potential to get bored easily, he tasked him to help Roger with the overall management of the institution, with the hope that in a fw year's time, he would be able to succeed the older from his duties and give the man a much needed retirement. But then it did not take a while for Raito to get bored from the mechanical and procedural tasks he was asked to perform.
Anyway, he missed L. he would not say it all aloud but the signs point out to him that he really misses L a lot.
That, and he was bored.
Although he appreciated the normal, quiet, organized life, he was really not into chores, and despite the casual conversations with Roger, he had a problem.
He had a perfect memory that helped him master all the procedures and tasks quite easily. In fact, by this time, he already knew every kid who lives in Whammy, including their age and personal background. That was the easy part. What he didn't anticipate was that despite his perfect English skills, there is still a huge language barrier between him and most of the kids. He didn't notice this with L around because the detective unconsciously or not was repeating what he said to the kids. He didn't even notice it when talking to Matt or Mello because apparently, they knew enough Japanese to understand what he was saying.
The harsh reality greeted him when Roger tasked him to take care of a group of kids. It took about a minute for him to realize that the children could barely understand him. That, and tone of the older boys flat out laughed at him for his silly 'accent'. Mello, after stopping him from practically murdering the boy admitted that he indeed has a heavy Jaapnes accent, but Watari told everyone to be tolerant about it nd be respectful to him at all times. That was a shock for Raito.
After that whole event Roger did not assign him to any kids and instead gave him more house chores. Thus, sentencing him to a very dull, repetitive life in Whammy's house. It's not like he gave up on the matter anyway, because as soon as he found out, he asked Matt and Mello to be his private language tutor so that he would be able to communicate effectively in no time.
That was when this other problem started.
About a few days ago, L called Mello and Matt to help in his case. While he couldn't understand how L could have chosen those two over himself, the more pressing matter is that he would lose his two private tutors and confidants soon. Thinking about it gives him a massive headache, and it really doesn't help that he keeps having dizzy spells in the morning, just when he is in the middle of his errands.
He knew that despite his objections, the two would still insist on leaving, seeing that it was a good chance to prove to L that they are ready to inherit his place, Raito knew them too much at this point that it became annoying. The only thing he can do at this point is to be patient and hopefully, L would be able to solve the case with their help. The sooner, the better.
"I know it's hard", Mello said as he tried to cheer him up. "But think of it this way: the sooner we go there and help L, the sooner he can go home. Besides, we can be your personal spies. We can check how L is doing for you."
Raito was still moping for the whole day and even Matt's setting up of his computer to be able to video chat with L did not help his mood. Finally, Mello could not take it any longer.
"Look, if you want, we can set you up for a new language teacher"
"I have no interest in learning at this point" Raito said dully.
"Even if the teacher was also the one who taught L himself? You never know, maybe you can ask personal questions about L from him."
This suddenly perked up the teen's interest.
"Go on."
Mello smiled.
"It is a pleasure to help the successors of L himself, much more to teach them personally"
A tall, blonde Frenchman flashed a seductive smile at Raito as he offered his hand. Raito blushed.
"Raito, I would like you to meet Aiber." Mello said proudly.
"N-nice to meet you", Raito murmured as he shook his hand.
"Mello, will he be my student? He's speaking perfectly in my opinion." He flashed a smile. Raito blushed some more.
"Careful, Aiber. He's someone special to L. You want to keep being in his payroll, don't you?" Mello warned, but a bit jokingly. The older man was shocked for a bit, but quickly smiled again.
"Ah, but I couldn't! I owe L my life, and I would rather have my face intact for a long while, don't you think?" he reassured
Raito was deep red when Aiber took his hand and kissed it.
"U-um…well…yoroshiku…oh…Pleasure to meet you" Raito said nervously.
"Snap out of it, Raito" Matt said in half amusement. "And you better be careful, too. Aiber is a pretty talented con man."
"Oh, but I don't think I would ever fool such a pretty face!" Aiber interjected. "I am at your service, my dear angel."
"Aiber, you do know that L has access to the security cameras in this house, don't you?" Matt said in a more serious tone.
The older man stopped flirting.
"So yeah, Raito, he will be your teacher until we get back. Don't worry, Matt installed a few more security cameras for your protection" Mello continued. "Aiber, you better behave."
"But of course" Aiber said in a reassuring voice.
"No funny business, okay?" Matt added to Aiber. "Now, if you excuse us."
Matt and Mello took Raito to a private room.
"Look, he is a handful, but he really is a good teacher. He knows more languages than all of us put together. Well, except for L." Mello said seriously to Raito. "Just don't get carried away with his flirting."
"There aren't any more cameras here, are there?" Raito said in alarm. The last time he checked, every inch of his room was covered.
"Oh, I just told that to scare him off." Matt said. "But if you need help, you can just call us. I added both our private lines here." He handed Raito the phone. "Alright?"
"You'll update me on what is happening to L, will you?" Raito asked.
"Yeah, every day if you want."
Raito hugged both of them which put the two off guard for a moment.
"Don't worry. It's gonna be like we're still here" Mello said as he opened the door to leave. "Take care of yourself, okay?"
Raito nodded. By noon, a private unmarked car was waiting for them at the gate. They waved briskly at the other children as they left. Raito felt lonely again.
"Don't worry about it too much" said a familiar voice from behind. Raito realized that the older man was leaning on him from behind. He immediately stepped away.
"Now, now. You don't have to be so timid, Raito. I mean no harm. Besides" he showed his ring finger. " I'm married with kids of my own."
Raito looked at it carefully, then looked at the man again.
"I'm sorry if we got off on a bad start." He continued when he felt he gained the boy's trust. "But I really am glad that I'll be able to teach you."
He offered his hand once again to Raito. The boy quickly shook it.
"Great." Aiber smiled as he patted the boy on the shoulder. "I'm sure we'll have a great time."
"What do you mean by that?" Raito asked suspiciously.
"Nothing, really. I'm just happy." He started laughing as he led the nervous teen back to the door.
In a much more distant land, a certain detective suddenly got an inexplicable chill.
CHAPTER END