Authoress Note: WOW! Did you see how those reviews shot up people! The quota was originally 25. Now we're almost at 50! 50 my peepers! 50! Give yourselves a hand! Thanks so much! Whoohoo!
All right my fellow reviewers: Line up time. The usual suspects first:
Sahxyel: As usual, a great reviewer. I'm glad I have a loyal reviewer like you to point out the flaws for me. I again wanted to apologize for the major fiasco of chapter 12 and greatly appreciated your direction towards things that were either cut out or wrong with it. Let's give a big hand to my grammar and chapter fixer-upper! (clap clap clap). Thanks!
Syrupdrip: Yet another loyal reviewer. Probably one of my very first reviewers I can remember beginning the career for continuing my story. Thanks so much for helping the story get so many reviews on it. Also, the scene with Aunt Carol was priceless. Can you imagine coming into your house and looking up at a moving mop on the ceiling and almost crap your pants because you think you're on drugs or something? I know I would. Haha! Thanks!
Michi-nin: Let's give a hand to someone who loves the 80s! Whoot! Also the fact that she found out an interesting fact: Apparently in a music video Madonna filmed she was practically, almost, cosplaying as Mello. Hopefully we can get the link to the music video in the reviews for this chapter. I definitely wanna see it! Thanks for that interesting fact!
Sharnii Brooke: Thanks for just the fact that you love Keegan's name. I think that's the first comment I've gotten on her name actually being 'gorgeous'. Wow! Thanks so much!
PiScEs-BlOsSoM69: I'll never tell you when surprises are coming. They just do. ;) Muahaha. Thanks.
KakIru-luver: Don't we all love it when Ryuk's being protective? I sure do. It's probably weird that I have this strange fascination with him. Oh well. Maybe that's just me. (shrug). Thanks!
Whispers in the night: Yush, yush. Indeed. I think everybody here knows that 'Kira' means 'killer', but in the Japanese language Kira has several different meanings: Light and white. ^^
Thanks for wonderful support of this story guys! Enjoy chapter 14!
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.
--
Rule #12: If the name of a resurrected person is all ready written within the Life Script, a user trying to kill the same resurrected person may experience strange symptoms of the Death Note they are using begin to happen. Symptoms include ink bleeding from the pages from the name of the resurrected person just written down, rejection of the writing utensil or material substance used to write down said name, the writing utensil being mysteriously destroyed in the process, and crackling red sparks from the name written down.
Ryuk glanced at the Life Script sitting on the kitchen table while Keegan was feeding Lucil in the living room, trying to keep her cat as far away from Ryuk as possible. The shinigami picked up the notebook when he saw some obvious signs of the book glowing again. He opened the front cover to find another new rule. "Hey, Keegan."
She looked up from petting her cat when Ryuk called her. "Forget it Ryuk, there's no way I'm coming into the kitchen to leave my cat alone in here so you can just disappear in there and reappear in here to torture him."
Ryuk held up the Life Script in the window. "You might wanna rethink that because there's another new rule."
Keegan got up from the couch in skeptical curiosity before she took the notebook from him to open it and read the new rule. "Oh. Wow. There is a new rule. That's different. I think that the book's actually alive every time a new rule appears."
"Who knows, now where's that cat of yours?" Ryuk asked, twiddling his spindly hands together before Keegan smacked them apart with the Life Script. "Ouch!"
Lucil hissed from the living room.
"You stay away from my cat. You wanna risk another breakfast without apples?" She warned.
"No…" Ryuk mumbled, not pleased about this morning. "Not really."
Keegan handed Ryuk an unmarked envelope. "Then please deliver this to the Task Force for me please. When you get back you can try that other brand of apple juice I bought for you. But afterwards we have to leave for the library."
Ryuk snatched the envelope from her. "We're actually leaving the house today? Wow. Keegan's leaving the rabbit hole for once."
She pointed at the door so he'd go all ready. "We'll discuss that reason later. For now, go on UPS man. Deliver my message."
"I have a feeling that the cat's on this disk huh?" He asked.
Keegan looked at the floor with a chuckle, kind of feeling like a dork for admitting it. "Yeah. I had to. Lucil's the perfect mascot. He's got the look. Vicious and cute at the same time. One-eyed and snaggletoothed."
Ryuk waved the envelope at her. "And what if I get caught?"
"They can't see you."
"Light can. If he looks at the cameras."
"Here's a thought Ryuk, if you get caught on purpose. I'm gonna make you regret ever doing a stupid thing like that."
"Oh?" The shinigami cocked his head to the side while spinning the envelope on his fingertips. "How so?"
"You squeal on me and the apple orchard deal is off."
Ryuk dropped the envelope and scrambled to pick it back up. "All right, all right. All right. I'm sorry. Sheesh. Take a joke."
"That didn't sound like a joke to me."
--
While passing by the mailbox at this time, Matsuda caught sight of yet another envelope. "Kuro's still sending disks? But he just live-streamed to us yesterday. Oh well…Light's not here to see it. I'd better get Aizawa and the others to take a look at it anyways."
45 minutes later he had popped the disk into the laptop and the rest of the Task Force was watching as the background was now white with a ragged looking little black cat sitting there eating a bowl of wet catfood. After the cat had finished, his face lifted up to reveal the one-eyed black cat staring at the screen and cocking his head to the side.
"What's this supposed to be Matsuda? Some kind of joke?"
"What you are viewing right now is my personal mascot here greeting you and passing on my message and how I work."
The cat got a little closer to the screen. Before he hissed at it. Ryuk had most likely provoked Lucil at this point in the filming of the dear little cat.
"By the time Kira and the Task Force see this today, I will have resurrected five criminals that were killed in just the last five days that had passed this week.
Until then, Kuro-Neko and I bid you farewell."
Lucil meowed at the screen before getting in real close to cover the screen in the dark of his little nose before the video ended.
"What?!" Matsuda exclaimed with Aizawa chomping down onto the butt of his cigarette.
"Say what?!"
"Wait! He brought the recent criminals that were killed this week back to life? We've got to give Light a call on this! He's gonna go nuts!" Matsuda grabbed his cell phone before Aizawa snatched it suddenly.
"Wait…let's not. Let's wait until the news comes on then-"
Too late. It all ready had and the news reports were falling in as the recent criminals were seen in different positions being taken to local hospitals to check their physical health to make sure that they were indeed alive and well.
"Oh no…Light's going to be furious."
Aizawa held out Matsuda's phone to him. "Here…you make the call."
"Oh no, not me. I can't! I don't feel like having him scream in my ear. He's been so grouchy lately. He sure is working hard in his father's and Ryuzaki's memories to figure out who Kira is. I think that he's been losing a lot of sleep over this."
"I know…with the rate that Kira's killing now, it's almost like he's not at all." Aizawa murmured. "It's so strange…and it's so great at the same time. I wonder how N of the SPK feels about this?"
--
Near had complete the puzzle and was now watching the big computer screen as the clip of Kuro's 'mascot' had come in. "Wow. That's certainly coincidental."
"Sir, do you think that the stream we sent to Kuro will reach him?" Gevanni asked curiously as Miss Lidner was running through files again with other members of the SPK at the many other computers.
Near moved the black cat chess piece forward towards his own chess piece that resembled himself. "I think that I'd like to meet with this Kuro in person if we find out if he or she responds to the stream. That way we'd have an easier time luring Kira out into the open. I'm sure that's exactly what Kuro's plan seems to be. It resonates a child's game of 'hide and seek', 'cat and rat', 'mongoose and snake', and the humorous 'ninja vs pirate' gameplay. Kuro acts as both the hider, the cat, the mongoose, and the ninja at the same time. Hiding from Kira in order to have him seek him out, playing as the cat to pounce upon the rat, fighting as the mongoose in order to counteract the venom of the snake, and sneak in like a ninja to cut Kira where it hurts the most."
"Which means?" Gevanni asked with his brow cocked in unsure nature.
"Kuro will respond to us. I know Kuro will." Near looked up at the meowing Lucil on the screen. "Hm. Kuro's got a nice cat."
"Indeed sir." Gevanni mumbled.
--
"If you are receiving this, I am in good hopes that you'll respond quickly. The infamous Kuro: I'm pleased to make your acquaintance. I'm N with the SPK force. That's Special Provisions for Kira. I'm hoping that I am not disturbing you by sending you this message."
Keegan stared at the laptop screen as she sat on the second floor level with Ryuk sitting next to hear to watch the white screen with the black 'N' on it. "Oh yeah, that group. Light's been trying to keep them off his case too. He's not as bothered by them as he is by you though. You smart little girl." He was mocking her again while sipping on the apple juice carton of juicy juice brand. This brand tasted much more like the apple she liked and he was smacking his lips noisily.
"Stop that." Keegan whispered.
"Nobody can hear me but you." Ryuk chuckled.
"Still, that's rude and you're being gross." She turned her attention back to the screen.
"We've recently had interest in you, Kuro. As an ally of course. We too are trying to catch Kira."
"This true?" She asked Ryuk.
"Every bit of it. No lie there. This isn't Light you're hearing from Keegan. You're hearing from the head of the SPK himself."
"Calls himself N?"
"N, yeah. Near's his alias." Ryuk drank the carton dry and sat it next to Keegan on the table. "More?"
Keegan reached into her purse and produced another cartoon of juice while watching the stream with one of her headphone ear buds in her right ear.
"I do hope that you will consider helping us in our quest to catch Kira and punish him for the murders he has committed. You don't have to join us if you don't want to but I think it would be in our best interest if we did meet in person. Just to get an idea of who we would be recruiting to help us out. I'd greatly appreciate a response from you. Until then you're free to continue your miracle working and further frustrating Kira in his vendetta for world 'justice'."
The stream ended and Keegan put her headphones away. Ryuk was watching Keegan's face change expression from surprise to concern. "…I don't know what to do." She murmured.
Ryuk stopped drinking the apple juice. "What? Are you serious? Keegan, you've never not known what to do. Up until now. Why have you stopped cold?"
Keegan didn't know what to do at this point. Someone else knew she was working miracles too? "Ahh…Shoot. What should I say? I mean, if these guys are willing to catch Mr. Yagami in the act then…oh. What do I do?"
She looked unsure, confused, kind of under a little pressure. He'd never seen Keegan look like that before. She looked like she hadn't studied for a test or something and was in a rush to make a decision. Ryuk suddenly made the decision for her. "Never take candy from strangers." He informed with some good advice.
Keegan frowned and glanced at the computer screen. "…You're right. It's a no then." She turned the laptop off before getting silent. "…Wow Ryuk. Thanks. That was…uh…nice of you." She put the laptop in her Coach purse and slung it over her shoulder.
Ryuk casually drank the carton of apple juice down before he deposited it into the trashcan next to the table with the other discarded carton. "Yeah, well…don't get into a jam like that again. I might choose to not bail you out next time."
Keegan started her walk down the old staircase towards the front door. The library was pretty much empty. "I called Joe back while you were gone."
"Oh?" Ryuk asked.
"Yeah, told him to stop trying to get back together with me. So in response to that he bought me a set of crappy 80s horror movies. He left them on the doorstep and must have run off."
Ryuk looked at her funny. "What idiot does that?"
"I don't know, idiots like Joe. I thought I'd watch some of them just to laugh at the crappy CGI effects and horrible mixing of the fake blood. Wanna watch it with me?"
"…Is this mothering addiction going to your head?" Ryuk asked, rather confused.
"Nope. Never felt more normal in my life."
--
He was washing the wound on his hand after having it bandaged for a few days. Light didn't expect to be hit so hard in the face when he looked up to see the faces of the five criminals recently killed. It wasn't until he got the call from Aizawa that he had nothing to say really except: "We have to contact Kuro to enlist him in our crusade again Kira. Then we'll have an ally." 'That way when I see your face Kuro…I can finally kill you.'
"We need to set up a stream to Kuro as soon as possible." And he hung up. Of course after Light had hung up, he ripped the Death Note out from the silverware drawer and took a pencil to the notebook, trying to desperately rewrite the names back down in it all at once. When he was sure they were going to stay, his eyes became dark and his grin wide.
The satisfaction didn't last long before the Death Note all of the sudden started bleeding ink all over the floor and the words crackled rapidly like firecrackers. The pencil itself suddenly broke and the pieces burst into flames. Light smothered the fire from the pencil and stood looking horrified at the notebook. "A book…that even denies Death from happening again…" He was staring hard at the Death Note before he bit on his lip.
"AAAHH!!!! KURO! WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME?!!!"
--
"Here." Keegan set a bowl of apples in front of Ryuk while she had a box of pizza in front of her to go with the movie. Ryuk was noisily attacking the bowl of apples as she switched the movie on.
"You're being a little too nice to me lately, girl. What's the matter with you? You fall and hit your head in the shower?" Ryuk asked.
Keegan shrugged. "Let's just say tonight's movie night and you earned it because you helped me today. You seemed to be the nice one today here." She switched on 'Night of the Creeps' and hit play on her Playstation. Keegan felt that DVD players were too complicated to use because the buttons hardly worked for her. It was easier to use the Playstation as the DVD player instead.
"Hey, that was a one time thing only. You had no idea what you were going to do. So you looked a little confused, I nudged you in the right direction, and it's all good." Ryuk was strongly defending himself at this point.
Keegan cocked a brow at him with her mouth filled with pizza crust and cheese. "Uh-huh." She said with her mouth full. "I see."
"It's the truth."
"You love it don't you?" Keegan asked.
"Shinigamis aren't capable of love." Ryuk chomped noisily on his apples.
"Everybody has emotions Ryuk. I'm sure you shinigamis do too." She justified.
"So what is it you think I love besides apples?" He asked, rather rudely.
"Hanging out around here, you love the fact that somebody actually takes care of you." Keegan chuckled. "It's obvious. Light must have been a poor pet owner."
"I'm not your pet!" Ryuk snapped.
"No, no. But you are my friend."
Ryuk gave her a kind of awkward silence and bit into another apple. "Uh-huh. Yeah. Yeah. We're friends. Sure, sure." He said, not really caring.
Keegan frowned. "…You don't have friends do you Ryuk?"
More awkward silence. He chewed noisily on his apples. "…Why do you care? You're prying into my personal life now."
"You did the same to me. It's only just that I do the same to you."
There was more awkward silence. "I'm not really likable. Not even likable to my own kind. So what's the big deal? Everybody's gotta hate somebody."
Keegan paused the movie. "Hate is such a strong word Ryuk."
"I know, exactly why I use it."
"But you're not a hateful creature, it's just the way your kind is. You're just racially profiling yourself now." Keegan shook her head. "TJ does the same thing, at least he has good humor about it."
"He's South American."
"He's Latino and he loves it." Keegan pointed out to him.
"Well, do you think shinigamis like being what they are?" Ryuk hissed.
"Not everybody likes who they are Ryuk. Sometimes I don't like who I am."
"Because your parents are dead?"
"That's not even relevant to the subject." Keegan snarled.
"All right then Keegan, when is the last time that you cried over them?" Ryuk said in retaliation.
Keegan went silent. "You know, if you're going to be like that you can watch the movie by yourself." She picked up her box of pizza and left the room to go upstairs. "Don't follow me either or you won't get any apples for a week!" She yelled down to him.
He heard the slam of her bedroom door before Ryuk's golden eyes stared at the bowl of apples in front of him, not really wanting to touch them anymore for tonight. "…Well Keegan. I guess that answers my question: Obviously…it's been a while since you last cried. Period."
--
Authoress Note: Ooh…Does Ryuk have a little soft spot for Keegan? Dun, dun, dun! Hope you all enjoyed! Thanks!