Yes, I really am updating this again. I don't know if updates will be fast, but I definitely want to finish this story, so I'll do my best. I've also done my best to replicate the style of the previous material, but as anyone reading will know it's been a long time since I last wrote anything Human Stains related. Nonetheless, hope you enjoy Playing the Game pt.2!

The Human Stains

Act Four: Playing the Game: pt.2

'So, this is where you wanted to take me?'

'Yes, Yukino.'

Kira stared at the small bookshop that Hikigaya Hachiman, her boyfriend, had brought her too. Her boyfriend. No matter how many times she mobilised her considerable intellect to the task of making sense of those two words, and their plain absurdity, she couldn't deny that this seemed the most ridiculous thing that had happened to her in the past weeks. Even more absurd than the discovery of the Death Note, and the divine power that it had invested in her. Even more than her vision of a world untouched by sin and corruption, and the mere fact such a vision, with the Death Note clutched in her hands, could be chiselled, name by name, into being. A boyfriend? A boyfriend who could well be the one person with the capability of bringing that vision crashing to the ground?

She giggled, sticking diligently to the saccharine image of a teenage girl in love that, on their date so far, had been her standard. "Hachiman… I suppose I should have expected such a place would be the kind you treasured, but… you've managed to charm me all the same."

Of course the boy that she had found himself trapped in a psychological tug of war with, the ramifications of which would shape the collective morality of thousands, would be an avid reader; loners, the people that high-schools so often spat out, always found their way to that solace eventually. Kira could attest to that herself. Escapist fictions were to life what sugars were to a bitter cup of coffee, and in the cafe where they had been flirting so blatantly, Hachiman had been drinking MAXX Coffee, probably the most sickeningly sweet drink there was. But loneliness didn't just foster a love of reading- it fostered cynicism. It fostered intellect, and knowledge of humans beyond a person's years. Could this be what spurred H into action? Was this loneliness, the kind that fashioned Yukinoshita Yukino into Kira, the same kind that fashioned Hikigaya Hachiman into H?

It was becoming more and more tempting for her that Hachiman was H. The whole day, thus far, had been tempting. The date. The green tea she had drank. The cake they had shared, and the subtext-filled glances and the subtle body contact, the brushing of fingers over the table, that despite being slight were so physically loaded as to be close to sensual. Logically, that had to be H's plan- to seduce her into the calm that would allow him to pin something on her, if indeed that was what he was scheming. But it was still possible that this was just Hikigaya Hachiman trying to impress his beautiful new girlfriend. That the subtext in their glances was different for him, and the electricity flooding between them was coming from two, different sources. His more innocent, her's more of that misguided, fiery passion. H could still be Yuigahama Yui or Hayama Hayato, and so Kira could not allow that seduction to take hold fully-

Suddenly, Hachiman reached round, curling his fingers around her waist and pulling her closer. Her breath hitched, partly intentionally, partly not, and she thought that his did too. While walking over to the bookstore they had been unnaturally close to each other too, drawing looks from several in the street as a result. The sensation of his firm fingers against her white dress, against the hip beneath it, would be enough to send a mortal crazy. Thankfully she, Kira, the God of a brave new world, was unburdened by such trappings. Mostly.

My, Hachiman… if you are H, I'd almost think you'd been with a woman before.

'Yukino… Like I said, this place is very special to me. I've spent whole days here before, just enjoying the peace and quiet… It's not exactly Disneyland, but I love it all the same. And… I wanted to share it with you, above anyone else.'

'D- don't worry, Hachiman! I love it too. You can probably tell that these kind of places appeal to me just as much you. I…' She laughed, maintaining her "lovestruck" breathlessness. 'We'll have to start keeping score of all our similarities, won't we Hachiman?'

'Don't you worry either, Yukino. I've been keeping score this whole time.'

As have I, H. You can be sure of it.

The bookstore had an easy, relaxed charm, with the wooden shelves and floorboards that she could see through the outside window. She could definitely imagine Hikigaya Hachiman, and maybe even H, spending hours perusing books and light novels in this bookstore if only to escape, just for awhile, from the pressures that social interactions inevitably wielded. They stepped inside the bookshop today, though, with a very different intention, far from relaxing- to outwit, and to dominate the other. Kira wished to give voice to the anger of a world that usually stayed in passive deference to those that abused it. H wanted that silence to persist, and for that she could never forgive his sins. Their games and dates and manipulations may have been entertaining or pleasurable or however she was to describe it, but Kira could not lose sight of her aim for a moment. H will die a miserable, lonely death. But she would take this visit to a bookstore, and whatever H had in store for her, as it came.

I'll look through his eyes and see what he sees,

And then improvise until I can learn what puts him at ease,

Hachiman had gone into his date with Kira prepared. I definitely had a plan, he tells himself, cursing. I had steps, and schemes to catch her out, and ways to get out of danger if things went wrong. But any plan could give the impression of being flawless beforehand, only to fall flat on its face in practice. Hachiman saw that he had failed to legislate for the one factor most dangerous to him: Kira herself. Too often he was thinking only about the power she had usurped. The Death Note. Its strengths and weaknesses, and ways to avoid the sad fate it threatened him with at the most minor of errors. He wasn't thinking about the hold over people that Kira already possessed. As soon as she sat down, adorned in that frustratingly distracting dress, with her red lips as chastening to his peace of mind as alcohol was to a drunkard, those preparations had crumbled to ash. Hachiman could read people just fine, but put an attractive woman in front of him, and consistently he'd proven himself a clueless fool.

But it was not Hikigaya Hachiman leading Kira into the bookstore that, once upon a time, he had frequented. It was H, and H knew the kind of game that Kira wanted played. If she intends to play dirty, then I'll play dirty too.

He winced a little at his choice of word, even in his head. I've said something like that to her already, back in the cafe... he thought. Is she really unaffected by this… this disgusting flirting? How can she be?

She's probably laughing at how badly I'm handling this date. She's probably wondering how on Earth someone this incompetent could be H… although hopefully, that will play to my advantage. Either way, she wants me thinking more about her body than the task at hand.

Shrinking from the truth that Kira was succeeding admirably in that aim, H concentrated in showing her the bookshelves. They were stood in a very back room of the shop, out of earshot of the shopkeeper and able to hear the footsteps of anyone coming towards them. All the time, he remained pressingly aware of the feeling of Kira's slender frame, so close to his own as to feel like they were the same person. He was taller than Kira, but look down and all he could see was an endless stream of black hair, the captivating smell of the floral shampoo she used, and the fake earnestness of her gaze. H himself had instigated a fair amount of the contact, of the flirting, desperate to keep apace with her, to add fuel to the fire of their game. But he had a limit. He needed to get into her apartment. He needed to get to the Death Note. There was only so much use that flirting had in that objective.

For getting into the apartment… H already had another plan. Perhaps this one wouldn't flicker into nothing like the last.

'Look here,' Hachiman said, picking out a familiar book from the shelf. 'I don't usually like plays, especially not English ones, but this… I picked this up purely because the cover caught my eye, and I've had a bit of a fascination with it ever since.'

He couldn't enact that plan now and, as usual with Kira, would need more than a little luck for it come off anyway. In the hope that H could keep up the veneer of a carefully planned date, instead of a carefully planned interrogation, he only pulled out the play in the hope it would sustain the conversation. Now, he realised his unintentional choice couldn't have been more appropriate.

Kira, still pressed up against him, his hands still on her waist, tilted her head when seeing the title. 'Dr Faustus, by Marlowe? Should I be impressed, Hachiman? I'm aware of the story, but I've not read it…'

'You should. I strongly suggest it,' H replied, opening the book to one page in particular. '… I wonder how many people relate to Faustus' actions, deep down? In selling his soul to the devil… You know the kind of crap our fellow classmates would say: "of course not, what he's doing is morally wrong...".'

Kira's eyes were glinting again. "People never admit to having sympathies with actions that are generally considered "wrong", as if "wrong" can even be defined. About Faustus' actions, I'm right in saying that in exchange for his soul, he's given the power to do whatever he wants?'

'Yes. 24 years of whatever pleasure he could possibly conceive.'

'… Yes. Our classmates, or anyone for that matter, would never admit that those 24 years could just as likely have been a time that changed people's lives for the better. In the same hands of someone greater than Faustus, I suppose. Someone who could dream bigger, and without arrogance, or selfishness. They could change the world in 24 years, and then be taken away, to heaven or hell, safe in the knowledge that one soul was a meagre price for the redemption of a billion.'

H had to hold himself back. This was undoubtedly the same voice, the same reasoning, that he had debated with over the Service Club's email system. If he could recall her method of debate so clearly, then it was logical that Kira would be able to recall his own. The way he responded could not be the same, though in some ways he longed they could pit their wits against each other like that once more. Their last exchange of rhetoric had been exhilarating in a way H would not dare admit to himself.

So, still keeping his hand tight on her waist, H shrugged. 'In all honesty, I don't think I was as interested in the moral implications. More in what it told about human nature in general. People like Faustus will disregard any of their "morality" just for a shot at self-gratification. In the end, he doesn't even use those 24 years wisely. He wastes it- all that power, gone without its potential ever fulfilled.'

Whether she saw through the thin cover-up, H wasn't certain, but she clearly thought it a good enough chance to try and disrupt him. She shifted until she was facing H head on instead of standing beside him, forced his fingers to interlock with her own, and looked deep into his eyes like she could pluck the world of black-and-white justice in her visions from somewhere inside his gaze.

'Hachiman, I'm… I'm really glad that we can have these kind of discussions. I'm really glad that… that we felt that attraction to each other, even from afar. Even when all I could do about it was watch you walking to a lesson in a school corridor. For so much of my life, I just assumed that there was no one else, that there could be no else in my life, who saw things filtered to the same perception as mine. Someone that… that I could have something genuine with.'

Hachiman's pretended to smile fondly at her. He pretended that lifting her hands to his lips and kissing them, transfixed, was the genuine that Kira spoke of. But her perverse use of that word, genuine, angered him beyond measure. Genuine? Don't make me laugh. It was as if Kira had already anticipated how important such a relationship would be to him; how a genuine connection, ugly but true, was worth more to him than any ideal of justice or any game of wit. It was as if she knew the fury it would stir inside him that someone, Kira or otherwise, would label this kind of hollow deception real.

These kind of lies… even if they were founded on the basis of something exciting or real… can never be genuine. I know that, Kira. And so do you.

H loathed to feel this animalistic rush of blood, of desire, when he kissed her hands again and she, in turn, insisted on that girlish giggle. He loathed it.

'You feel it too then, Hachiman? That this… this thing between us… could be something perfect.'

'… Yes.' His response wasn't curt, but if she pressed him any further, it might have been. And, sensing the unwillingness, Kira did exactly that.

'I… there are more things that I want to say to you, Hachiman, but… I think I might find it more reassuring if you were to try and say them yourself? Please, try and tell me how you feel… then, I might have a chance of articulating them in my own time.'

H found that he could not. Say a word and she would be able to discern the complicated jumble of revulsion and the very opposite of that in his voice. But, thinking on his feet, he saw a way of getting around it; of maintaining the boyfriend facade, of holding back the conflict in his chest and mind, and perhaps of satisfying the voice in his head, whispering that lips like Kira's deserved his attention sooner rather than later.

Closing his eyes, he leaned in and gave in to the urge. If his eyes were closed while kissing her, then he didn't have to think too hard about the hundreds Kira had murdered. Surprise rippled from deep inside her chest as their lips touched, rushing up and passing between them like water released into a canal. But the importance that she not be outstripped in their chess match, that he had not get too many moves ahead, outweighed her surprise. Suddenly, the contact between their lips deepened, and H felt something within him growling, a hunger only vaguely satiated, as an adolescent fantasy of a first kiss with the most beautiful girl in school was fulfilled. Fulfilled, that is, in the form of crude joke.

The kiss continued longer than H could comprehend. Far longer. At some point, there was a clicking sensation in his brain, and he was deadened to the blend of confusion, arousal, hatred and self-hatred that burst forth every time he felt the tug of her lips. Of the sensation of her breath on his cheek as they broke apart before re-joining. All he could feel was a woman who, in spite of the danger, or maybe because of the danger, his body willed him furiously to make his own. Instinctively, his hands reached further round Kira's waist, onto the small of her back, feeling the indents of her supple figure and then pulling her into his chest. A short, feminine moan gushed out, only to be cut off when they kissed again, gratuitously now, ravenously.

'H- Hachiman…' she rasped. H.

'Yukino…' he murmured. Kira.

I'll walk in their shoes as long as it takes,

Till deep in my bones I'm sure they are one and the same,

As the me who is playing the game,

His phone buzzed. Hachiman's eyes open snapped open in an instant, no longer dulled by the devilish intoxication of Kira's making, and alive to morality and sense and thought. Had he not seen this happen in every dime-a-dozen romantic comedy? The lovers, caught up in the intensity of their first kiss, finally broken apart by some best-friend trope character calling at the wrong moment. The lovers.

What the fuck am I doing?

He glanced down, seeing the porcelain-like face of Kira still held so closely to his own. She herself glanced up, and her eyes… on numerous occasions he had tricked himself into thinking that her eyes, once a cold shade of ice blue, had turned the reddish colour of blood. Each time, he had designated it to a trick of the light, but he couldn't deny it now. They glistened like stained rubies, and her lips, still parted from the kiss but now evolving into a self-satisfied smirk, tormented his conscience. Hachiman? Is it H or Hachiman doing this? Treating the people this psychopathic bitch has killed as if they mean nothing-

'Are… are you going to get that, Hachiman?'

For once grateful to Kira for giving him the chance for a breather, H apologised quietly and removed his phone from his pocket.

'I- I think I'll go outside to take this, Yukino. I need to get some fresh air anyway.'

Her smirk deepened. 'Delaying already? Don't tell me you're already of, uh…' She curled her lips around the word, 'Energy.'

Hachiman had more self-control this time. The way she leaned against the bookshelf, her toned thighs exposed from the way her dress had rode up her legs as he'd held her, the creases in the white fabric made at his finger's behest, and the smudges of make-up around her lips… they may have begged him to close the distance and continue as if the phone were not still buzzing, but he resisted. Uttering another half-hearted apology, he turned his back and walked back around into the main room of the shop, ignoring his anger until he was stood outside in the street, panting.

It was only then, when he was outside the circumference of Kira's spell, that H could breathe in, remember who he was and his purpose, and answer the phone. God help me. If Kira doesn't send me to hell with the Death Note, I'll end up there on my own.

It was an unnamed caller, so he fully expected it to be Komachi, calling from a friend's phone that she had lost her own or something along those lines. The call was only a timely excuse for him to regather his thoughts. 'Komachi, I don't have time to-'

'No. I'm calling about your WiFi?'

H froze. Yuigahama?! What is she thinking, calling me at a time like this? Their scheme in the classroom, allowing him to get closer to Kira with the whole of Class 2F as their witness, had ensured that any contact between himself and the other half of the "H" persona became impossible. Being the serial killer's new boyfriend, he would be under the closest suspicion, and so couldn't afford to have any evidence of a connection with Yuigahama. They had specifically agreed not to call or text each other, having deleted their contact details, unless absolutely necessary. If that necessity revealed itself, the had agreed their identification would be to say they were "calling about their Wifi".

H glanced towards the door of the bookstore, checking to ensure that Kira was not in earshot. 'Yuigahama, this is really not the time. You knew that the date was today-'

'I know, I- I'm sorry Hikki. S- she's not there, is she?'

'No. You're lucky I went outside before taking the call…' He sighed. 'Just… just make it quick. It will seem suspicious if I leave her for too long.'

'O- of course, it's just… I knew that your date was today and I… I was so worried about you. You said not to, but I couldn't help myself-'

'Wait. You're not following us, are you-'

'No. Not anymore. I was going to, but all I did was s- sit in one of the places opposite to the cafe where you and Kira were. I made sure you wouldn't be able to see me. You don't need to worry-'

'I don't need to worry?!' He all but hissed into the phone. 'How could I not, Yuigahama? You're putting both of our lives on the line-'

'Hikki! Please ju- just try to listen to me! I didn't follow once you left. I knew it was too dangerous. It's just that I saw someone else who did.'

H's felt a shot of panic rush through his body, sharp like a jolt of electricity. 'Someone following us? Who was it?'

'It was her sister. Yu- Yukinoshita Haruno. The one you saw her talking with in the cafe.'

Her sister? Unsure what to make of this information, H checked at the door of the bookshop again, before shifting his gaze to those around them in the street, paranoid. There was no sign of the second Yukinoshita sister, at least not visibly. If Yuigahama had seen her following them, then she could have been waiting in a cafe nearby, similar to what his partner had done herself. I know Kira and her sister have a complicated relationship- their argument in the cafe was evidence enough of that- but to be following her like this? I got the impression that Kira and her mother didn't get along, and it seemed to be Haruno's job to keep their mother informed about what was happening Kira's life, but… just what kind of family is this?

H shook his head. There was little point pondering over this when it was far more important that he return to Kira's side. She would be getting all the more suspicious the longer that he remained outside, and Haruno, as intimidating as she evidently was, could not take his life at the stroke of a pen. Besides, it's likely that, if Haruno does choose to confront us, Kira will try to deal with her on her own.

'Okay… thank you, Yuigahama-san, but promise you won't try anything else-'

'I promise, Hikki. In a way, it was lucky I did…'

'… I need to get back in there-'

'Hikki- how is it going?'

H thought about his embrace with Kira just minutes previously, about the taste and the smell of her which still lingered, and sighed, angry at himself. '… It's going fine, Yuigahama-san. You don't need to worry.'

'B- but Hikki, wh-'

He hung up. Hearing her voice, the voice of a person he might have called a friend in the right circumstances, was painful when compared with the rampant tension that wracked his nerves when he spoke with Kira. Setting aside his doubts, and the knowledge that Kira seemed to have more control of the situation than he, H forced himself to head back into the bookstore.

What does he do,

Late at night when the world is sleeping?

Does he see pixels not dreams?

Kira was certain that she had never been so out of breath in her life. Once Hachiman had left the room, taking the heady blaze he had induced in her with him, she almost found herself coughing, as if she had inhaled smoke from a fire. He had reached inside her lungs, smothering her rationality, stripping her bare of thoughts and manipulations until she was not Kira, the God nor the visionary, and instead just the girl whose mouth he was making love to in the back of a bookshop. It was so naked and human, so far removed from her ideals of late, that Kira found she could do nothing to dispel the trembling weakness in her knees or the wish that he come straight back inside and pin her against the shelf all over again.

She licked her lips, grinning a little, as she pulled the white dress back down to just above her knees. I'd thought this date of his would be entertaining, but I could never imagine Hachiman, or H, would be willing to take things this far… Going up against someone who was willing to gamble and then gamble again, to go all in whenever they saw fit, had reserved more pleasures than she had expected, but the palpable turning of the cogs in his brain gave her far more of a thrill than the base thrill offered by any physical encounter. It may have satisfied Yukinoshita Yukino wholly, but Kira… I know full-well that only someone like H could make me feel this. Someone who fulfilled both ends of that equation.

Keep it up and I may even feel bad about killing you, H.

Of course, she was getting ahead of herself. If anything, Kira knew that she was naively glorifying H in her mind, when in truth the fact that a teenage boy was willing to make out with someone as beautiful as her was confirmation of absolutely nothing- except perhaps the fickle lust of the opposite sex. Not that she needed any confirmation of that; she saw it in the voyeuristic gaze of every boy whose eyes roved to her legs at Sobu High. H's identity was still concealed to her, and what with Hayama's intelligence not being too inferior to her own, in reality they were still at an impasse.

On the other hand, neither of them had backed down on either side of that aforementioned equation, and clearly, they were both terrible losers. Kira could not predict how the date was going to go, or how their game would conclude. Not in the result: make no mistake, her victory was assured. But the route to that victory could be anything.

Kira considered where she should try and push the conversation next. Back in the cafe, we had touched on each other's family… if he were H, then that could have been an attempt to find something also about my family to manipulate, in the same way that, somehow, they had found out about my past connection with Hayama. Finding out about Hachiman's family could be helpful to me as well. Unless Hayama had just been exploiting his own knowledge-

Her musings were cut short by the sound of the door to the bookshop opening again. The grin re-appeared on her face as Hachiman appeared again, his hair ruffled and his shirt half-untucked. She was forced to censor it back to the nervous, endeared smile that would have been unusual even for Yukinoshita Yukino.

'… H- hello again, Hachiman.'

He raised his eyebrows, at the same time looking her up and down. 'Hey again? That's rather timid, isn't it? You were just asking me if I'd run out of energy.'

Kira flushed, and not all for show. 'Did I? My, I… I suppose people really do go a bit crazy around the person they like…'

'You don't have to tell me.'

Kira sighed, resting her head against the shelf and laying her hand over her heart. 'We… we aren't going too quickly, are we? I always thought I would be more cautious about such matters. How are we to know this is…' She closed her eyes, as if in yearning. '… How are we to know this is what I hope it will be?'

Hikigaya Hachiman did not disappoint her, shifting into the role of a gentlemanly boyfriend with ease, and closing the distance between them once more. 'There is no way to know. We can only try to make that hope a reality.'

Now, she opened her eyes, savouring the return of the intimacy, and the intensity of it. '… Please, Hachiman. Try to do that with me.'

'I will.'

Seeing no reason why it would hurt, and several reasons why she would enjoy it, Kira reached up and stole another kiss from his lips. A short butterfly kiss, quickly made and quickly ended, tantalising enough to bring back the stormy desire in Hachiman's eyes which had previously ignited her own.

He bit his lips, perhaps considering whether he should touch or embrace her again. Kira dared him to do it, wanted him to do it. She practically invited him with the flash-fire redness of her cheeks and the sharp intakes of her breath. This time, however, it seemed Hachiman chose not to be a victim of his instincts.

'I…' He leaned forward; Kira thought for a second he was going to return the kiss after all, but in place of that his hand rested on another book, pulling it out from behind her head. 'I haven't thought about this book for awhile. One of my favourites…'

Kira cursed internally, unable to tell whether it was out of frustration that he had not risen to the challenge, or frustration that in this moment he might find a book more interesting than her. 'Oh really? Which is it?'

They spent the next half on hour so progressing down the shelves, and then moving to the next, briefly discussing a title that one of them liked and then finding the next. If they had both read the same one, the discussion lasted a little longer, but despite their common interest in literature, an unspoken lust lay conspicuously amongst everything they said, and didn't say. More than once, Kira was sure that Hachiman's hands brushed against the side of her dress, staying there a heartbeat longer than was appropriate. Kira did nothing to discourage him, and could not imagine herself resisting him if he decided to do anything more.

At the same, heavy rain started to pound down from the Chiba sky, rattling loudly and clearly on the roof of the building. Kira had checked the weather before setting out, seeing that it had indeed been forecasted to rain at this point in the day. Finishing on the bookshelves and gravitating back towards the entrance of the shop, it suddenly occurred to Kira that this might be an issue she wasn't able to legislate for-

'Look at this,' Hachiman said disapprovingly, staring out the droplets crashing onto the shop windows like bullets. 'I don't like the idea of going out in that.'

'No. Perhaps we should stay a while longer-'

'I think we've overstayed our welcome, Yukino… I guess we just make a run for it?'

'You wouldn't happen to have anything else planned…?'

'Not especially. Mostly I wanted to show you this place, and since it's getting later… we could call it a day, if you wanted?'

Call it a day? Don't think you'll get off so lightly, Hachiman.

'Oh, couldn't we just spend a little more time together? A little rain won't hurt.'

Hachiman scratched his head. 'Well, I could come back to your apartment for a bit, if you'll have me? I'm right in saying your place is closer from here, isn't it?'

Kira stayed silent for a moment, calculating. Her painted smile remained fixedly in place, but it could well be that she had just made a very avoidable error of judgement. If Hachiman were H, then he had wriggled himself into a strong position- her own words opened up the possibility of her bringing him back to her apartment, in such a way that made it seem as if Kira herself were the one inviting him. No matter how intriguing their date had been, with all its twists and turns, Kira did not want a possible candidate for H anywhere near her apartment. Anywhere near the Death Note. Was it worth putting such things at risk purely to match Hachiman in their contest of who could be the most presumptuous?

Although being Hachiman's boyfriend (if they were to put labels on their counterfeit relationship), she wouldn't be able to delay him coming to her apartment for very long. And what was the danger of him being there, not only if he wasn't truly H, but if they he had no inkling of the Death Note and how she performed her judgemetns? If she was correct in assuming that H did not know of the Death Note's existence- for how could he?- then would it really do much harm to allow him into her apartment?

In the unlikely event that he did come back to Kira's place aware of her method of killing, then he would find the Death Note well protected.

'… Alright, Hachiman. Again, I find myself worried that we're moving too fast here, but alright. You may come back with me… I trust you. And… at the risk of repetition… I- I really like you.'

It was almost as if the rest of her words, as soon as the affirmation that he could come to her apartment had passed her lips, were irrelevant. His face shifted, ever so briefly, before evolving into a suitably happy smile.

'Thank you, Yukino. We'd better get going through this rain, shouldn't we?'

They stepped out of the bookshop, muttering a half-hearted thank you to the shopkeeper, and suddenly rain was drenching them from head to toe. They laughed giddily, playing their parts, and she begun leading him in the direction of her apartment, but Kira was once again struggling with the sense that she had taken a potentially fatal misstep without even realising it. There is so little chance this could affect me… Hachiman would have to not only be H, but to have somehow deduced that a weapon like the Death Note could be in my possession. No. H has been a quick-witted adversary, but that would be outside his capability.

Hard to be true,

Always right,

All that promise keeping,

Harder I'm sure than it seems,

H could scarcely believe it had been so easy. I thought us trying to outdo each other would come in handy, but I never imagined she would be this headstrong. Implying that he did not know about the Death Note during their debate over email had proven more helpful than he thought. Running through the rain, his hand in Kira's, it occurred to H that she would be unlikely to sacrifice ground like this to him again. This could well be his only chance to prise the Death Note from her grasp.

In the end, this will be your hamartia, won't it? Arrogance is so often what crowns the end, Kira.

And if you insist on giving me this chance… then I'll do everything in my power to take it.