Title: Enemy of the State
Author: hyperRme
Summary: The Shinigami are a notorious gang who kill criminals in the most mysterious ways. L is determined to take them down even if it means going undercover as a member and unintentionally falling in love with their leader.
Genre: Romance/Drama
Rated: Mature
Pairing: L X Raito
Disclaimer: Death Note belongs to Tsugumi Obha and Takeshi Obata. I am neither one.
Warnings: Guy on guy romance, rape, death, kidnappings, etc.
Now we're getting into the plot! So exciting!
The Bird and the Worm – The Used
All alone he turns to stone
while holding his breath half to death
Terrified of whats inside
to save his life he crawls
like a worm from a bird
crawls like a worm from a bird
The boy was shaking. He could barely put the cigarette in his mouth without missing and burning his lips. He took a long, deep inhale of smoke and let it all out with a loud, choking cough. He jumped as car honked its horn somewhere off in the distance. He fumbled with the sleeve of his dirty white and black striped shirt and shuffled his feet. Glancing around cautiously, the young teen finally left his small niche next to a stoop. Immediately, he was bombarded with people from all sides, pushing and shoving at him. He dropped his cigarette in fright. There was a scream.
Teru finally stopped talking to join Light in watching the scene across the street. A small boy stomped on the ground and shook his hands through his hair, crying. The cigarette fell to the ground and the boy's father quickly stomped it out. "Who dropped this?" he yelled. "Who dropped the fucking cigarette on my son?"
The crowd was in an uproar. "Show yourself!"
"How could you do this?"
"He's just a kid!"
Light saw the young redheaded teen sneak away. Narrowing his eyes, he followed. "Eh?" Teru asked. "Light! Where are you going?"
The boy was faster than Light had predicted. It was more impressive now that he can clearly see a limp in his left leg. He crossed the street and disappeared into a throng of bodies. Cursing, Light sped up, forcibly pushing past the crowd. Teru was literally on his heels. He knocked a bag of groceries out of an old man's hands and Teru stopped to help him out. People were cursing but he didn't care; he had finally found that red headed boy.
The boy was slowing down and Light broke into a sprint. He clamped his hand down on his shoulder and shoved him into an alleyway and up against a wall. The red head cried out. "I saw you do it," Light hissed dangerously. "I saw you drop that cigarette on that boy. Why did you do it?"
"Please, it was an accident!" he cried. "Let me go!"
One hand on the Death Note and the other on the boy's throat, "Too bad I don't believe you."
"Let me explain!" the boy's voice cracked under a thick sob. Light didn't want to; he had clearly seen the boy drop the cigarette but then he remembered how nervous and broken he had been before. He sighed and released his grip on the boy's throat.
"Fine."
The boy wiped the tears from his green eyes. "M-my parents were murdered last night. At least, I believe it was murder. I woke up in the middle of the night to find my house on fire. I-I tried to find my parents but I couldn't get to their door because a burning shelf had fallen in front of the door. I couldn't breathe so I ran out. I used my neighbor's phone to call the fire department but by the time they got there… the house had collapsed. My parents were… they were still inside."
"Why do you say it was murder?" Light asked.
"There was gasoline traces on the house. They think someone poured gasoline on with the intent of murder."
"Why would anyone want to kill your parents?"
The boy glanced down at his feet. Light followed his eyes. Up close, his clothes were a mess. One leg of his pants were burned off and the other side had holes in them, his shirt was darkened by the smoke, and he could see his gray socks through the holes in his black converse shoes. His skin was ashy grey and ugly blisters were on his calves and hands. "They were lawyers. My dad just lost one of his cases and I'm guessing maybe the family wasn't too happy. … I really don't know. That's the only reason I can possibly think of.
"I'm terribly sorry."
"Do you believe me now?" the boy asked.
Light nodded, "I'm Light, by the way."
"Matt," he grinned, putting his hand out.
Light sat by himself at a coffee shop. He sipped at his black coffee, careful not to burn his tongue. The girls three tables over were giggling as they pointed at him but he ignored them and stared out the window. He never realized how bare the trees were getting until now. The ground looked like someone just upchucked red and orange Gatorade with chunks of pineapple. He frowned, it was disgusting looking. How those five years old could jump in it, he'll never know.
He looked down at his watch; it was one in the afternoon. Surely, Beyond Birthday would be up by now. He pulled out the slip of paper Kiyomi had given him. The handwriting was very sloppy and it was either the fours looked like nines or the nines looked like fours. He couldn't tell. Deciding to stick with nines, he punched the numbers in and held the phone to his ear. As he waited for the criminal to pick him, he heard the girls complain, "He's probably calling his girlfriend. I bet she's not prettier than me!"
The phone was picked up on the third dial, "I am guessing I am speaking to Kira?" His voice was low and quiet.
"That would be correct," Light answered softly, secretly watching the girls.
"I was wondering when you'd call me. I gave the anchor lady my number two days ago."
"I'm a busy man."
"Yes of course, thirty-two deaths last night and sixty-seven the previous. Now let us talk about my employment."
"This isn't an employment. It is more of a membership. A membership that is very hard to get. I will put you through a test first to see if you're worthy and capable of being a follower."
"Hmm, I see. I would expect no less than Japan's greatest threat."
"I am no threat but to those who have done wrong," Light snapped.
"Yes, yes, of course. You do know, Kira, that I have committed crimes in the past?"
"I do know that. I have read up on your crimes in the past. However, I am willing to look past your murders for your information on L."
"Oh yes, wise and powerful Kira, please spare me for my deeds," he laughed sarcastically.
Light frowned, "I don't like your mocking. I don't need you."
"Ah, but that's where you are wrong, Kira," this guy sound way too smug. "You do need me. You need my information because without it you won't win. Let's face it; L is a very smart man. He knows detective work better than you know Japanese. If he takes you down, just think of all the people who will be upset. All those people who have had things stolen, who have been raped, who has had loved ones killed or kidnapped."
Light growled under his breath. He was going to kill this man. Whether it be an accident out of anger or with the Death Note once L was out of the picture, he swore that this man will be dead by his hands. "I could take L on without you."
"Sure you could. But do you know when L sleeps? What information he has a habit of skipping over? What his personality is like? How he responds to news?"
"And you do?"
"Of course, I do. Now do you want my information or not?"
After a brief silence, Light sighed, "What is it you require for your information?"
He could practically see the smile on Beyond Birthday's face, "Cake. And lots of it."
Light knew Teru wasn't a fan of a new member joining. He had hissed at every new member, including Matt. He was acting putout and needy. He tried to crawl into his bed more times in two days than Light could remember him doing in two weeks. In order to keep his sanity, he sent him out on spy missions that would take up his entire night. He would never tell him that half of those missions were fake but he figured what he didn't know couldn't hurt him.
He arrived at the wall again. Light glanced around at the people, watching them talk in hushed tones and writing vigorously. He didn't want to admit that he had been looking for the mysterious black haired man but he couldn't ignore the disappointment he felt when he wasn't there. He looked like he would have had a good story to tell him. Light enjoyed listening to people's stories. Some people would call it eavesdropping but Light didn't. They were praying to Kira, after all.
In the time span of thirty minutes, he's heard two stories on robberies, one on a con artist, three on murder, and one heart breaking tale of animal abusers stealing and killing a young boy's dog. After that last one, Light decided to call it quits. But he had no desire to return to the house. Teru should be waking up from last night's mission, and no doubtfully either very horny or very clingy. Misa's manager had her grandmother's ninety-first birthday so Misa had no interviews or photo shoots today. Takada was on her break and Raye was probably cooking or sitting around watching the wallpaper peel in the kitchen. Matt, the only one he could stand for more than a few minutes, had some errands to run and was probably not home yet.
He decided to take a walk around the town. The town was small but busy, especially now that midterms are over. Students packed the arcade, the diner, the clothing store, and the small pub. Light decided to take his chances and walk into his favorite café. The café was small and quiet. It smelt like roasting coffee beans and frosting. Not many students came here because they preferred the more expensive and popular Starbucks a short walk down the street. The coffee at this café was cheap and creamy and at Starbucks, their coffee tasted like crap but no one got plain coffee there. They bought their frozen coffee drinks and their hot sugar and caramel laced coffee.
There were six other people in the café; a student on her laptop with chunky headphones on her head, a young couple laughing, three girls eating scones and cupcakes, and an older teacher who looked uncomfortable surrounded by all these students. The cashier flashed a smile at him. "What can I get for you?" he asked.
"A medium black coffee."
The cashier nodded and pushed a button on the cash register. "Is that all?" he asked, writing down his order on a white and blue cup.
"He'll also have a blue berry muffin."
Light turned around to see Matt grinning at him. "Man, I'm starving! Good thing I found you here, I just realized I left my wallet at home!"
The cashier looked hesitant to add the muffin but Light gave him a nod. "That'll be $3.25." He gave him exact change and he was told to sit and they'll call him when his order was ready.
Matt followed Light to a corner in the back. "Fancy seeing you here, Light. Didn't know you were a small cute café kind of person."
Light shrugged, "Their coffee is good and cheap. I can't argue with that."
"Nah, I guess you can't. You should have seen the game store today, it was jam packed with students. I couldn't find the game I wanted. I have never been so disappointed in my life!"
"I thought you said you didn't have your wallet," Light said, his eyes narrow.
"I did say that, didn't I?" he laughed. He reached into his wallet and pulled out an old wallet with singe marks on the corners. "I was just really hoping you'd buy me something."
Light rolled his eyes, "You're insufferable, you know that?"
"But you love me for it," Matt winked.
The cashier called out their order. Matt picked them up and handed Light his coffee. "I don't know how you can drink it black. Sounds bitter."
Light shrugged, "You smoke and cigarettes are bitter. I don't see much of a difference."
Matt ignored him and took a bit of his blueberry muffin, "Damn these things are good! I'll have to get another one."
"I'm not paying for it."
"Aw, Light, you're no fun!" He took another large bit and wiped the crumbs from his chin. "So when's this new guy coming?"
"In two days. He said he had some unfinished business to attend to before he could move in with us."
"Where's he staying at? We don't have any more rooms open, unless he likes the couch or sharing with someone. Dude, no way is he staying with me. Nu-uh. He can stay with Raye. The guy'll probably beat him up though. Raye's such a push over. Although, we don't need any more inner group battles. It's bad enough Misa and Kiyomi have to share a room. Those two primadonnas are terrible together."
"I've got it all under control," Light replied, taking a sip of his coffee.
"I'm not surprised. You've always got something up your sleeve."
Light gestured to his lips and Matt brushed the crumbs off of his face. "I'm just hoping it'll work they way I want."
"Oh? Is this plan a little risky? You don't seem like the kind who would take a daring chance."
"I do take chances," Light growled.
"Yeah, but only if you're one hundred percent of the outcome," Matt said. "You just said that you hope it works out your way. Obviously, you're not one hundred percent sure."
"It'll either turn out the way I want it or it won't. But even if it doesn't, I'll make it work. I'm going to need your help."
Matt perked up with a grin. "Yeah? For the main plan or for the backup plan?"
"The main one."
"Even better. What do you need me to do?"
"Do you have security cameras lying around your room?"
"Yeah, of course," Matt looked insulted that he even had to ask.
"Do you have everything you'll need to set them up?" Matt nodded. "Let's go outside. I'll tell you while we walk."
Light didn't tell Matt his entire plan although he wouldn't be too surprised if the man had it all figured out. He didn't say anything about it but he gave Light worried looks once in a while as if silently asking him if he was really going through with this. He had called Beyond Birthday the day before, telling him to meet at the hotel on Main Street at midnight.
"Light-sama? When are you going to meet with him?" Misa asked for the twenty-third time that week.
"We'll be leaving in an hour."
"We?"
Light nodded, "Yes, Misa. I told you before that all of us will be going."
"But why?"
"You'll find out when we get there."
Light left before they did. He told Teru to bring them to Kira's Wall at midnight. He entered the hotel a little before eleven fifty. The hotel was clean and spotless. It was mostly used for parents while visiting their child at school so it wouldn't be too odd if Light would enter. He also didn't know Beyond Birthday's age but he figured that any age wouldn't look too suspicious in here. The lady at the front desk recognized him and smiled.
He smiled back and climbed up the stairs to level three. The hallway was quiet except for the hum of the air vent. He stopped at room 340 and pushed his card key in. Seeing the green light, Light opened his door and expected the unexpected.
There, stood by the open window that showed the small town, was a skinny man dressed in a white shirt and blue jeans. He had wild black hair and a slummed posture. He turned around and faced Light. His skin was pale and under his dark eyes were large black rings. He had a crooked smile. "So, Kira often visits his wall?"
This was the man from the other night. "How else am I supposed to know who my people want punished?" His voice sounded breathy. He cleared his throat and held out his hand. "I am Kira but I would rather you call me Light."
"I am Beyond Birthday but I would rather you call me Ryuuzaki," he said, taking his hand. "I hope you don't mind, Light-kun, but I went through your computer." He jerked to his thumb to the computer on the table.
"No trouble at all. In fact, I wanted you to look at the computer," he said, walking toward the table. Ryuuzaki followed closely behind. He pulled up the security cameras that were connected to the police station and the bakery. They looked in the alleyway of Kira's Wall. "See those five people down there? Those are my Shinigami. I will be joining them down there shortly. While I'm there, I want you to watch them closely. One of them is a spy. I want you to kill him or her."
Man! I hate that opening! That stupid flashback with Matt is so terrible. It wasn't originally that scene. That scene wasn't going to come much, much, much, much, much, later in the series so it really wasn't planned out all that well. Matt's entire background isn't very planned out, now that I think about it. But the scene I originally had is very important and it would lose its value if I played it too early in the story so it's moved back... like twenty chapters.
Anyway, woah plot twist! Someone is dying all ready! :D I'm excited.
Has anyone seen Yugioh the Abridged Series? If you haven't, you're not a real anime fan. If you have, holy shit it's amazing, isn't it? I've been listening to Leather Pants for the past few days. It totally got me into Thiefshipping. Sadly, I can't find any really awesome fanfics on them…