It took twenty minutes for Ryuga to appear. He shambled across the street and slowly ventured into the alleyway. Taro shrank back in his hiding place, trying to spy without being seen. What would Ryuga do?

Looking down from his vantage point on the rooftop, Taro watched Ryuga come to a halt. He sort of milled about for a few moments, hands in his pockets, shoulders hunched so it looked like he was inspecting his feet instead of paying attention to his surroundings. Scuffing the ground with his ratty old shoes, he wandered closer to the wall and out of Taro's line of sight. Curious, Taro craned his neck and peered over the edge of the rooftop, only to see Ryuga looking straight up at him. As their eyes met, Ryuga gave Taro a demented grin and a cheery wave.

Alarmed, Taro scrambled away from the edge of the roof. Ryuga didn't seem intent on harming him, but there was no longer any shadow of a doubt that Taro was being followed. Ryuga must think of him as an idiot by now.

Feeling rather stupid, Taro decided to go down to the alleyway and face his stalker head-on. He was rapidly discovering that the braver you acted, the braver you felt. He headed down the rickety fire escape only to find that Ryuga had disappeared, and in the spot where he'd been standing was the belt.

Obviously, Ryuga wanted Taro to keep the belt so he could easily be tracked. Why Ryuga was following him Taro wasn't sure, but he didn't like it. It seemed like Watari may have sent Ryuga to keep an eye on him, but Taro could no longer trust Watari on principle, let alone to keep him safe. It all came down to the fact that Taro was alone in this; he could only rely on himself, and he needed to take control of the situation. He had to get home, preferably without anybody knowing his whereabouts.

Picking up the belt, Taro glanced around for a suitable diversion. There: a small delivery truck parked at the back of the alleyway with the driver's side window rolled down. Making a swift circle of the truck, Taro tried the door: it opened easily. Stashing the belt underneath the driver's seat, Taro spotted a few stray coins and hesitated for only a moment before snatching them up. There was just enough money for a bus fare. It looked as though his luck were changing.

It was well after midnight by the time Taro reached home. There were barely any lights on in the neighbourhood: only a real night owl would be awake at this time of night, or perhaps a very diligent student. The windows of Taro's own house were dark, although his mother had left the porch light on as always. It felt odd to be sneaking around in his own yard at night. He knew where the spare key was hidden so he didn't have to break in, but he was supposed to be in protective custody. If his mother found him in the house at night, things would get very complicated, very fast.

Creeping around the side of the house, he realised that if a neighbour happened to look out their window at the moment, they would probably think he was a burglar. He quickly found the key and let himself in through the back door. The house was dark and entirely, eerily silent.

Everything was completely familiar to him: he had lived here all his life, but now in the darkness, he felt terribly alien. He knew how to open every door without it squeaking, but he'd never needed to before.

Nearby street lamps cast several squares of yellow light onto the floor of the living room. The piano was shut up, it's black and white keys hidden from view. Feeling his way around the cold edge of it, Taro lifted the lid and reached down into empty space. The death note was gone.

"Looking for this?"

Starting, Taro dropping the piano lid painfully onto his fingers. "Ah-ow! Ryuk!" Gasping like a fish, he tried to keep his voice down to a whisper.

"Hi there. Long time no see."

"What are you doing here?" Taro whispered urgently, sticking his crushed fingertips into his mouth.

"What am I doing here? You're the one who's sneaking around," the shinigami said, his dry voice seeming awfully loud in the silence.

Taro stared at the object in Ryuk's clawlike hands. "I need that."

"What for? I thought you weren't going to use the death note. What's the point in having it if you don't use it?"

"I need it," Taro repeated.

"Really?"

"Yes!"

"Heh heh. You might want to keep your voice down, eh?"

Taro huffed. "Will you please just give me the death note?"

Ryuk's grin widened in the dim light. "Tell you what, Taro. I'll give you the death note if you tell me who you're planning to kill."

Taro paused. He hadn't really considered who he was going to kill. In fact, he'd been doing his best to avoid all thoughts about killing, but that didn't change the fact that the death note was his best hope of survival.

"So that's how it is," Ryuk remarked, with a mild chuckle.

"What?"

"You're losing it."

"No, I won't let - uh…" Taro began to argue, but trailed off.

"You're losing your mind."

"How do you know?" Taro retorted, annoyed. "Why are you here, anyway? I thought you weren't going to follow me anymore."

"Humans who use the death note often lose their minds, but you're a really interesting case."

"What do you mean?"

Ryuk regarded the boy with an amused stare. "You're the first human I've heard of who doesn't use their death note. Maybe."

Taro stared, stony-faced. Did Ryuk know about Detective Takagi? He was getting sidetracked. "I need that death note."

"Heh, heh, heh. You've changed, Taro. You're not thinking as clearly as you used to."

"What?" Taro was taken aback. "They know who I am. If I don't do something, they're going to say that I'm Kira!"

A small noise came from upstairs, like the sound of a small object falling to the floor. Taro immediately realised that he had been talking rather louder than he should have.

"If you use the death note, then you really will be Kira," said Ryuk.

Taro didn't reply for a long time: he was listening hard for any sign that his mother was waking up.

There was a sudden loud crunching sound: Taro looked up to see Ryuk biting into an apple.

"Shh! Keep it down!"

"Mhmm – shorry," Ryuk replied, chomping and swallowing with apparent relish. "You know, I'm surprised you haven't figured it out."

"Figured what out?" Taro asked irritably, thinking that he currently had far too many things to be figuring out already without Ryuk adding to them.

"You could solve this whole problem by giving up ownership of the death note to me."

A frown crossed Taro's face. "No, I couldn't. I'd lose my memories."

"Exactly."

"What do you mean, exactly? How will I protect myself if I can't even remember anything?"

"Heh, heh, heh. You sound guilty, Taro." The boy's eyes widened as Ryuk casually flicked through the death note, stopping at the page Taro had filled with Takagi's name. "Shame Kira got to him first. Things could have been really interesting."

"Y-you mean, Kira killed Takagi?" Taro frowned. "Then… I really am innocent? But how?"

Ryuk shrugged. "The human's name only needs to be written once."

"So I guess it means that Kira must have written it before I did."

Taro thought fast. L had accused Taro of killing Takagi, but without even knowing how Kira could kill, L couldn't be sure of anything. If the death note went back to the shinigami realm now, there would never be any evidence. Taro's own behaviour would change drastically, but so what? Kira couldn't pin anything on a genuine amnesiac.

"I'll do it. I'll give it up," he said.

Ryuk chuckled. "Nice knowin' ya."

"Wait! Not yet!" Taro cried, but it was too late.