Author's Note: I would like to extend my thanks to PiScEs-BlOsSoM69, Syrupdrip, and Sharnii Brooke for reviewing again. I'm fortunate to have such reviewers like you. I appreciate you giving my story a real chance and not letting it sit and rot in the dirt. (throws confetti) Whee! Thanks so much!
Disclaimer: I do not own Death Note. Death Note belongs to Tsugumi Ohba and Takashi Obata.
Disclaimer 2: The idea of the Life Script belongs to me. Please do not steal. Thank you. Any Original characters, Keegan Phelps (no relation to Michael Phelps), belong to me. Thanks
During the rest of the afternoon, Keegan emailed her journalism professor about choosing a different topic. All of the recent news reports of Kira clouding the internet caused her to change her entire research paper. While she sat at her computer desk, she watched Ryuk snoop around her room out of the corner of her eye. His exploration, so far, had excluded the drawers by her nightstand. He learned the lingerie of human females was a touchy subject.
Currently, he'd made a mess and left everything out of place (as Keegan had come to find out was a standard norm with the Shinigami). He was well aware he was annoying her, and she could swear he was taking satisfaction in it.
Crouched by her chair, spindly fingers went through a small makeup bag with sheep on. "Let's see what we've got here…" Ryuk mumbled, pulling out a few foundations and eyeliner. "Ooh…let's see, mascara, eye shadow, and lip-gloss." This drew him to the conclusion that when humans put this stuff on their faces it meant they were trying to attract others of their kind. "Keegan, you have a boyfriend?" He pulled out each product and dangled it in front of his face to observe. He turned his head in her direction, a stupid grin split across his angular face. His jagged teeth clicked together, anticipating her answer.
A bored glance traveled in his direction and Keegan shook her head, reaching to take the bag from him. "No, Ryuk. I'm not in any relationship right now. I was with a guy, once, but we broke up on mutual terms." Her explanation was short, to the point. "I mean, he was a nice guy but it wasn't going to work out. Whatever you're trying to prove, you'll find I'm not fazed with your snooping. All right?" She scrolled through various websites on previous news reports. Her eyes skimmed the articles on recent salmonella outbreaks.
Not satisfied with her answer, he pressed on, scooting closer to her desk. "Why'd ya break up with him if he was a good guy?" His fingers thrummed against the fabric of the little pouch before he glimpsed a framed photo of Keegan with her parents when she was a little girl. "Hmm…" Picking it up, he tilted it this way and that before he used it to obstruct her vision of the computer. "These your uh…what do you call 'em…parents?"
"Yeah, that's mom and dad," A hint of annoyance laced her tone as she grasped the photo from his hands to set back in its place. "And my ex-boyfriend was moving out of the country. He had a scholarship to a university in Ireland. We keep in touch through email from time to time, but Joe's has more to worry about than me and I have more important things to do than be with him. He has a scholarship in architecture and I'm studying journalism, working on my English major, and looking into foreign languages. I want to work for NSA one day. It pays well and I get to travel." She dismissively waved off the rest of the topic when she saw him pick up the picture of her parents again. Shaking her head, she went back to typing her paper.
Ryuk turned the framed image this way and that as he tried to find the similarities between Keegan and her parents. The woman in the picture had red hair, like the girl. The man, taller than the woman, had dark hair and freckles and a pair of glasses sat on his face. Most of her facial traits came from her father, soft cheekbones, smaller nose, and freckles.
He observed there were no other humans in the household except Keegan and her aunt. "What happened to them?" The picture was put in front of her again and he waved it about carelessly. "Why aren't you living with them if you're going to school?" His head turned to look at her expression, a soft red glow came from his eyes. He was attempting to read her life span again. Maybe if she wasn't holding the notebook there would be a change.
What the hell is with this kid? It hasn't changed at all. It was the same last night too. He thought to himself.
Having enough of his prying, Keegan stopped typing on her keyboard and snatched the photo from him, giving an exasperated sigh. "Seriously, Ryuk. I'm trying to work on this research paper. I've already changed the topic once. Can you give me a break here?" She roughly handed the frame back to him and averted her gaze from the image. "Put this back, please."
Taking the frame from her hands, he set the picture down but pointed to her parents. He was curious, twisting his body this way and that while tapping the picture. It was almost comical and cringe-worthy to watch him contort. "Come onnnn…What happened to the rest of your family? Estranged? Nasty separation? Murdered?"
That's what drove Misa to use the Death Note left behind by Gelus. He could feel his guts churn (if he had any) as he remembered what happened to Rem.
"Boy, you don't give up do you? Are you sure that you left Light and it wasn't the other way around?" Giving a dry chuckle, Keegan pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed. She didn't get why he thought her absent parents were a big deal. People disappeared from your lives all the time and sometimes they never came back.
Her gaze strayed to the frame again, a brief memory of that day flitted through her mind and she shook her head, shrugging. "They died in a car crash. I was 9. We were on our way home just from the grocery store. A road rage driver sideswiped the vehicle on our right coming from another intersection. Another vehicle broadsided us because he ran the red light. Mom died instantly." She turned back to her laptop, trying to wipe the incident from her mind "Dad wasn't so lucky."
He made a face and loomed over her, "Well, for a human it's a little bizarre you're not all emotional about it. Normal humans do that sort of thing." He skeptically glanced at the photo and then at the back of her head. Something wasn't right. "Why no tears? You got some leaky stuff in ya, don't ya?"
She scoffed and turned back from her computer again. "Look, Ryuk, road rage incidents happen a lot in America. They're awful, people get hurt, and sometimes they die from them. I don't know if it's the same way anywhere else in the world, but aggressive drivers are everywhere." Her hands folded on her lap and she played with the fabric of her knit sweater. "I guess the thought people close to me dying doesn't bother me anymore. It's almost impossible to cheat death when in the end we know we're all gonna die someday."
She spun her chair back to her computer and continued typing, her tone was somewhat strained. A hint of anger was in her voice. "It's also ridiculous that someone thinks killing all bad people, for the good of the world, will somehow "fix" a series of broken humanity. It unsettles me, Ryuk." Her gaze strayed to the notebook and she picked it up. "I can stop death with this book. Tyranny and violence isn't always the answer." She ran her fingers over the cover but she avoided looking at the picture of her family. "I can make the pain of others disappear."
Ryuk floated beside her, gangly arms hanging in front of him. He found her reasoning a bit off from the norm. She said that now, but how soon until the notebook got to her. "Can you?"
She sighed and shook her head in response to his question. If only it were true. Deep down, Keegan knew that wasn't realistically possible or wise. "No, I mean…not permanently, everyone has to die at some point. I know that the notebook can't give you immortality, but I can reverse their death. Even if it's so they can live a little longer. Premature deaths are always messed up anyways."
He had to admit, the kid had a point. Jeez, who'd have thought he'd ever meet a human that was so drastically different than Light. "You're right there. What's funny about us, the shinigamis, is that we don't even know who made the Life Script or why. It must have been important at some point in time, but the thing became a myth. Nobody believed it except the oldies." Ryuk poked at the notebook in Keegan's hand. "I mean, we can use it, but none of us would. We're death gods, we take life. We don't give it back."
It made sense. "That's true. I, mean, I see the logic there. Death comes for us all in the end." She pondered aloud, opening the notebook. "I guess I'll have to test it out and see how it really works. Where's the best place I can try it out Ryuk?" She looked over at the Shinigami, finding him rooting through her closet. With his attention draw away she watched a few shoes fly out of her closer. Her nose crinkled in agitation and she kicked at the back of his leg. "ARE YOU EVEN LISTENING YOU CREEPING SON OF A BITCH?!" She snarled.
Ryuk poked his head out from between the pairs of jeans on hangers when her foot grazed his. "Hm? No. Sorry. I wasn't. What'd you say?"
Rising from her chair, she pointed for him to exit the closet. "I asked…where's the best place I can try out The Life Script? I'm thinking of a hospital. That's a good place to start." The suggestion seemed safe enough to her.
Relctantly, Ryuk opted against further snooping and floated back in front of her. "You wanna go use that thing at a hospital? Excuse me if I'm a little curious. It hasn't been used yet and you want to go to a place where it might not even work. Wouldn't a recent murder victim prove a better experiment?" Turning, he saw her glaring at the pile of shoes on the floor and he messily shoved them back in the closet.
With a roll of her eyes, she gestured for him to follow her. "It's too cliché." Keegan shook her head and grabbed her shoulder bag.
"And a hospital isn't? The Shinigami argued, teeth gnashing together in annoyance.
She reached up a hand to pat his shoulder and she smirked at him. "Come on, Ryuk. We're going to the hospital." Slipping the Life Script into her bag, she turned to leave her room.
She was a woman on a mission that was for sure. There was no way he was missing out on all of this fun. "Huh? Hey! Wait up!" Transparently, he slipped through the wood of her door, hovering next to her down the stairs. He stared at her bag before back up at her again. "So, you're serious about testing this thing out then?"
A soft smile touched the corners of Keegan's lips as she glanced at the shinigami. "Duh, Ryuk. Let's just say I've got a good reason to do it."
"Paging Doctor Von Nordeck. Paging Doctor Von Nordeck." The old loudspeaker overhead sounded off its outdated system. St. Agnes' waiting room was crowded with patients, as usual, and each one had a list of illness, injury, or some medical emergency. While making his rounds through the halls, the young, quirky doctor spotted Keegan signing in at the visitor's desk immediately.
A small smile touched his freckled face as he approached her, medical chart in hand and white doctor's coat clean and slightly ruffled from his disheveled state. As the youngest doctor at St. Agnes it came with a lot of responsibilities. Despite his youth, he was one of the best and brightest they had and as a result it meant many nights on call, with little social life.
"Hey." Oliver greeted, giving Keegan a sort of half-hug while double checking his chart in the other hand. "Long time no see." There were dark circles under his usually bright hazel eyes, and he had a slight slouch to his normally straight, lanky, posture. Pulling away, he ran a hand through short, dark brown hair and nodded in the direction of the nearby hallway.
"Yeah, wouldn't you know, one of the geekiest guys in high school turns into the best doctor our town has to offer? How has Johns Hopkins not taken you in yet?" Smiling at him, Keegan nodded in the direction of the children's ward just down the hall. "Seriously, all the kids love you here and you take good care of everyone." Behind her, she could feel a mixture of hot and cold air. Ryuk was breathing on the back of her neck and making obvious faces at the friendly doctor in front of them.
"Well," Oliver suddenly became slightly flushed and a little nervous. "They uh…actually want to talk to me next week. So…we'll…we'll have to see." Again, the loudspeaker went off overhead and a nurse was standing off to the side looking a little impatient. "Look," He leaned in a little closer to Keegan and glanced at the waiting patients. "I'd love to talk some more sometime, but I've…I've gotta go." He cleared his throat and offered the redhead another small smile before hurrying off to finish his rounds.
After Doctor Von Nordeck was gone, Keegan swatted at the air behind her. The smile on her face faded as she glared at Ryuk behind her. "Stop that!" She hissed, watching the nurse at the front desk help a few people signing in. Everyone else in the waiting room seemed to be preoccupied with paperwork. God, insurance was a bitch these days.
When she was sure no one was paying attention to her she ducked down the previous hallway visited by Oliver. "Come on." She whispered to Ryuk, slipping into the terminally ill ward in pediatrics. Most of the children were sleeping, either in a drug-induced haze, or just simply tired from their treatments. Carefully, Keegan closed the door behind her as quietly as she possible. Taking the Life Script from her bag, she crept around the hospital room, looking over each child with care. Making sure to skim over each of their medical charts, she found the majority were in stable condition.
It was hard to choose which one of these children she'd test the notebook on. Pursing her lips in contemplation, Keegan came across one little girl slumbering in the corner. Like most children in chemotherapy, the girl's hair had gone from the treatments and she wore a pink bunny hat on her head. Ryuk was mostly quiet throughout the red head's careful selection. The last thing he needed was to interrupt the girl in a rather tense moment.
Reaching forward, Keegan picked up the girl's chart and read over the results. Cameron Simpkins suffered from a rare bone cancer. On top of that, she was also fighting off another round against leukemia. "Shit. She's not going to make it at this rate. I mean, how much money can her family shell out for these treatments?" Her voice was soft as she gazed back up at the little girl in her bed, cuddling her stuffed toy. Gaze falling back to the notebook, Keegan took it in hand and opened it.
"You're not serious." The shinigami scoffed, floating in front of her. "What? Do you got a soft spot for kids or something?" He seemed skeptical with her rash decision. "What's one little kid gonna do? Is it gonna make a difference?"
"Children are the future. I quite frankly would like to keep it that way." Her gaze hardened at Ryuk before she glanced down at the name on the chart, setting it down on end of the bed.
"Listen, let's talk about this." Ryuk's held up his hands in an attempt to reason with Keegan. "We don't even know if it'll even work. Why not start with an adult first? Maybe it'll be better." The persistence of him changing her mind was irritating.
She didn't hesitate to cut him off from deterring her. She smacked his hands out of the way. "Look, my grandmother died of cancer, and when she passed away she suffered. I'm not about to watch this little girl to go through the same thing." She gripped her pen in one hand and the Life Script in the other. "Maybe…the notebook won't work, but I have to try. I can at least feel better knowing I did something. Not many children, as young as her usually make it through chemo without pain. I can't think of this poor kid going through that." Ryuk opened his mouth to speak again, but she held up a finger.
"No, Ryuk." Opening the notebook to the first blank page, she placed her pen against the paper and glanced back up at the little girl. "Cameron…Simpkins." She murmured to herself. The ink from the pen immediately became a glittering white on the black paper as she wrote.
Ryuk's attempts to convince her ceased once Keegan began writing, there was no stopping her. He didn't understand why she did it, but to use The Life Script for the first time on a child didn't meet his expectations. "Time of Life…" The shinigami muttered, nudging her shoulder. "You have to write the time in the notebook…"
Keegan looked at the little girl again and wrote "approximately 5:30 pm", when she would begin to start feeling the affects of the Script take place. Cancer didn't kill fast, so she gave a longer amount of time needed than she had originally thought. Putting the notebook back in her bag, she took a deep, shaky, breath and turned to leave the ward. "Now we wait."
"Wait for what?" Ryuk gaped after her as she headed towards the door. "You know, I don't even know if that works right? We established that." He gestured back to the sleeping child. "Come on Keegan, do you think it will really take effect? Look, I'm a shinigami, I know our Death Notes work but that thing…" He stopped when she gave him a leveled look.
He was still standing in front of little Cameron's bed but he kept quiet when he saw the little girl stir. "You were so confident in it working before Ryuk. Why are you so skeptical now?" Her whisper was a little irate, having enough of his skepticism for one day.
He loomed over her, straightening up to his full height, giving the redhead a good idea of the height difference between them. Yeah, as if that was supposed to threaten her. "Well, I've never used it. So that's why." He hissed in her ear. "So don't be a smart ass. You're pressing my buttons today, human." His sharp teeth gnashed at her, hoping to scare her a little bit.
"I didn't know death gods had such little patience. What's the matter Ryuk?" She stepped towards him, with her hands on her hips. There was a little bit of defiance in her tone. "Is it because I'm not like Kira?" She shifted her footing, keeping her head straight and her eyes on him.
Ryuk was quiet for a moment. The reality of this situation was simply that: Keegan wasn't Light. Despite the fact he knew this; the sheer difference in their characters surprised him. She wasn't bored with life, she was…passionate about it. "I can expect what he does, but you're an enigma."
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw one of the little beds shift and it was probably time for them to leave. If they were any louder than necessary, they'd wake the children. "Come on, let's get out of here."
"Breaking News from Downtown Jefferton, we have just received report of nothing short of a miracle. We go now live to Kelsey Jillons at scene. Kelsey?"
Keegan's head perked up from her laptop at the sound of the local t.v anchor on screen. In the kitchen, Ryuk was rooting around the fridge for any apples, seeing as how his "human" had yet to go shopping. "I'm Kelsey Jillons here at St. Agnes hospital where doctors are baffled by the sudden, if not uplifting, curing of a young patient." Placing her computer to the side, her eyes widened and she fumbled for the t.v remote.
"It seemed like an average evening here at St. Agnes hospital. Patients are genuinely taken care of here, but today has been nothing short of a miracle." The redhead checked her wrist watch, eyes widening at the sight. Her mouth parted open in shock. "Doctors are still scratching their heads at how this could have happened, and several tests determined no traces of the cancers"
"Oh my god…" Keegan whispered, staring at the notebook and then turned her gaze back to the t.v. "Oh my god, get in here!"
"What?" The Shinigami found the apple packs in the fridge and crunched on them savagely as he turned to see his companion staring at the television screen. Leaning into her frame of vision, he tilted his head to the side at the little girl on camera. "Huh. Guess it worked…" He blinked rapidly in surprise and swallowed his mouthful of apples. "Hey, there's the kid. They're interviewing her." Ryuk pointed out with a chuckle.
Little Cameron Simpkins had colour restored to her face. A small smile touched the corners of her mouth. She was still wearing her blue bunny hat, but her hair would grow back in time. "I woke up and I didn't feel sick anymore. I dunno what happened…but…I think there was an angel when I was sleeping. She was talking to another angel. I think they were fighting about something." The little girl went on to explain how Doctor Von Nordeck had been kind to her and the camera panned on Oliver's face. He seemed shocked from the whole revelation
Picking up the remote, she turned the t.v off, exhaling a breath she didn't know she was holding in. "He's gonna be famous and he's not gonna know how." Giving a dry chuckle, she ran a hand over her face. "Oh my god…he's gonna call me up sometime this week to go on about the story." She fiddled with the settings on the remote before turning it to the game channel. She turned on her Playstation to start Ratchet and Clank: Up Your Arsenal.
"So, it worked. You got lucky." Ryuk muttered, crouching on the sofa next to her. He was fiddling with the extra controller.
"Yeah? Well, I'll be even luckier if Kira gets my message tonight. It'll sometime late, by American standards. If I can, I mean, I don't know how I'm gonna live stream it right to the Task Force or whatever." She'd have to find a way, especially with the use of her laptop. "I need to open a link and fast." She was going to need some covert skills to get her into the Task Force Logs. Her fingers pressed the buttons on the controller to further her progress.
"So what are you gonna do?" Ryuk snickered. "I mean, too bad I can't relay the message to Light for you." He grinned, tilting his head to the side at her. She wouldn't do that to him. What good would it do her?
She stopped playing the game and turned her head in his direction. Keegan perked up at his snide remark. "Oh?" Brows raised, she narrowed her eyes at him. "Ohh, yes you can." She grinned. "It's like I said, if you don't, it's no apples for you, at all." How was she going to send a message to Kira? What kind of statement was she going to make? She needed a front first and then a display of power.
She paused the game and stood up from the couch. "I've got it!" Clapping her hands together, Keegan gave a little hop before she ran upstairs to her room.
While she was gone, Ryuk leapt into the spot she was sitting and preceded to continue where she left off in Ratchet and Clank. He maneuvered the furry little protagonist around with his robot buddy strapped to his back and shot down a few aliens, getting a little rush from the gameplay. Oh! How entertaining.
Moments later, Keegan returned with her laptop and her video camera. Hooking up the computer, she slid a blank, black, disc into the CD drive. She set the audio up on her camera while leaving the cap on the device. Ryuk paused the game to look over at the girl crouched in front of the coffee table with curiosity. "Hey, what are you doing?"
"Getting ready to record my message," Pointing to the computer, she rose to her feet and gave a light tug on the back of his collar. "And you will deliver it Mr. Yagami." She directed in a firm tone. "Understand? If not, you can forget the apple orchard and our deal."
The shinigami eyed her with mild contempt and frustration. His spindly fingers clenched and unclenched at his side. Damn her. "…All right. You better have something good waiting for me when I get back though." A growl of disdain rumbled from his throat and he crouched beside her to watch Keegan at work.
Feeling his hot breath on her neck, she reached a hand up to push him away for a moment. "Look, I'll make you something nice when you get back. I cross my heart." Eying him for a moment, she seemed humored by his frustration. Then, with a click of a button she began recording.
"To Whom It May Concern, I am here to offer a challenge to the "Self Proclaimed", God of the New World: Kira. I am unknown to you and vice versa you to me. Let me get to the point: We're going to play a game, it's a fun one and I think you'll like it. It's called: Life versus Death. You and I will go head to head in a challenge to oust each other to the world and your closest associates. Think of this as a wild goose chase, it's all good and fun until one of us cracks under the pressure. Eh?"
"I, Kuro, offer a once in a life time chance for Kira to prove himself as a "God" and accept my call. I, "The Giver of Life", will stop you. Should you deny this request, you abilities to kill shall be intercepted by my power. Your attempts to kill criminals or anybody else shall be null and void once I intervene. I can promise you…that I, Kuro, will no longer tolerate your disruption of balance in this world. Your tyranny will come to an end.
"Wherever you take life, I'll give it back. I will not stoop to your level so you can revel in it. I will not let you complete your "new world." You have 48 hours to respond. Until then, I bid you farewell."
For two hours Keegan carefully edited and distorted recording on the computer. She finished by burning the audio file onto the disk. With a few simple clicks, she included a background to her message. Photoshop was a godsend. She utilized itto easily create a backwards K that was white with a black background. Cautiously, she placed latex gloves over her fingers and picked the disk from the drive and afterwards sealed it in an envelope with a the same "K" symbol on it in neat cursive. Holding the package out to Ryuk, she nodded to him. "Here. Now, remember what I told you. Deliver this to Mr. Yagami and you'll have something nice when you come home. How does fresh, baked, apple pie sound?"
Whatever apple pie was, the idea was definitely appealing. His mouth twisted upwards into a jagged smile. Ryuk's fingers stretched out greedily towards the envelope before he grabbed it from her hands. "All right, all right, but you better make it good, girl. I've never had apple pie before." He grumbled before disappearing from sight.
The office was quiet that morning with a darkened meeting room before the arrival of the Task Force members. Matsuda or Aizawa were usually up the earliest to start work immediately from what Ryuk's observation. He still didn't want to risk being seen by any of them that had already touched the Deathnote. Keegan had some kind of apple dish awaiting him back at her place, so he had no intentions of screwing up. Finding the mailbox right away, he hovered in front of it before placing the sealed envelope within the compartment. Now, all that could be done was play the waiting game.
Right on schedule, Matsuda arrived first to the office with Aizawa not far behind him along with Light and the others. Upon going through routine check-ins, a large white envelope was discovered with a Backwards K monogram in black ink.
"Hey…" Aizawa peered into the mailbox cautiously. "…What's this?" Carefully he took out the package and held it up. At the bottom of the envelope a small sticky note was attached to it that simply said: "Play with me."
Dark eyes narrowed at the envelope presented and the backwards K caused his brow to furrow in suspicion. What kind of joke was this?
"Aizawa?" Light Yagami stared at the object curiously in the other's hand before it was handed to him.
"I…don't know. It was in the mailbox this morning. You know, I don't take insides jokes to seriously and if the SPK is messing with us-"
"Near would have contacted us by now." Light cut him off and took the envelope. Holding up the black disk in his hands, he turned it over just in case it was some kind of trick. "What's that?" He nodded to the sticky note that Aizawa held.
"It was on the back of the envelope." Making a face, Light took the yellow piece of paper and glanced at the back of it. "Play with me, huh?" He muttered and popped the disc into the main computer while the others stood behind him. A mechanical voice came through the speakers preaching its message of challenge.
So…Kuro wishes to defeat Kira? Well then, let's see what exactly this "Giver of Life" is capable of.
Author's Note: Sorry to leave it off on whose thoughts you were experiences. You'll have to find out for yourself. Hopefully you all enjoyed the cliffhanger. I feel like I rushed this chapter a little bit but I really was excited to put it up just because my story seems to be progressing so well. Hopefully you will understand. Thanks.