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Page 4: Ressurection/Redemption

Oka took the Notebook out of the suitcase and gazed at it. So plain... so unthreatening. And yet... it invaded her thoughts. She went downstairs to the TV room. The other kids were in classes or outside. She looked over. A camera had its mechanical gaze locked on her. No good. She needed a place to really revive Kira's faith. Her eyes closed and she thought.

Over the next four days, several things happened. Linda and Oka became recognized members of Wammy's House again; they were happy to see their friends still around. Second, Oka went and bought a small TV, which they had wired to digital cable in their bedroom. And a few days after...

"L." The screen flickered.

"What is it, Commander Rester?" a low, quiet voice responded.

"Please turn on the five o'clock news on NHN."

L was silent. One of the many blank monitors in the dark room flicked on with a push of the remote.

"Police are baffled after several wanted murderers died while being taken into custody..."

L turned up the volume, rolling over onto his side on the cold floor.

"They are saying the victims suddenly held their chests and fell to the ground. It was a spontaneous cardiac arrest. Since the criminals were drug dealers, there are many likely reasons for the incident, however, another criminal shown a day ago who was heavily armed and holding a politician hostage died similarily. Some are already saying it is the lost deity Kira--"

L turned the monitor off and pressed the intercom button. "Rester. Please inform me of all criminals who die in this manner in the next week. I'm calculating the likeliness of this being a coincidence and I must maintain it is only a one percent probabality..."

"Understood." The voice paused. "Near, it could just be a coincidence after al--"

L twirled a lock of white hair around his finger. "Inform me of all who die in this way in the next week."

"Alright. Rester out."

A smile crept across L's face. After three years... he felt a familiar anxiety rise in himself.

"The lost deity Kira..."

Ryuuk watched the two. They were enjoying this, and they were only doing it out of courtesy. If only Light could see. He'd be right proud of these girls, hyuk.

Oka rocked back and forth on the end of her bed. It was illogical to lose sleep over dangerous criminals, so she had been able to sleep somewhat decently. What kept her awake was an urge to judge more. Ryuuk had told of killing with disease and accidents, and Oka had become obsessed with stretching the limits of the Death Note's power. Linda was her helper, in essence. Linda didn't think she could do the actual writing. Her emotions were strong, being an artist, and she'd cry more than she would feel righteous. She didn't feel bad helping Oka, and she found Ryuuk quite entertaining as well. "...and then there's Shidou..." Oka caught bits of their heated conversation. "You guys sure are neat though," Linda said cheerfully, "So you can't die I guess?" Ryuk munched an apple happily. Light never talked to him as much as Linda did. He laughed and said "Nope. The only way to kill a Shinigami is make them save a human's life. That's what Rem told me." Oka looked over her shoulder at Ryuuk. "What happened to Rem? You mentioned her before."

The Shinigami paused and thought for a sec. Gosh, it'd really been a while, hadn't it. "Hyuk! She's dead now. Kira got her to kill L to save his girlfriend Misa's life." The two stared. "Misa Amane?? That bimbo actress?!" Now Ryuuk was amused. "Yup. She got a Death Note from Rem and Misa used it to find Light with the eyes. Hyuk, is she still around?" The two looked at each other. "Er... she killed herself a few years ago... I think the media said something about her carreeer being ruined and her boyfriend dying in an accident." Ryuk put his hand on his chin. "Not surprising, hyuk. She loved Kira. The two were going to get married." Linda stared, raising an eyebrow. "How in the world did Kira manage to run things so smoothly with a girlfrind like Misa Amane. That's so weird."

Within the next few days, Oka had begun to reach the divine psychological level. She no longer lost sleep, (in fact she started sleeping better) she felt no emotions rise up while writing in the notebook, and she was not visibly nervous in any situation. However, her L-skills were making her into a shell; her personality was beginning to change, ever more slightly .No one noticed, however, but people were focused on something far more urgent.

The Lord Kira had returned, in full vengeful force.

L watched the numerous monitors. Proclamations of Kira; Kira's return; fear rising. This time, he had to make sure Kira did not gain momentum. This new killer had a Notebook, which meant a Shinigami was involved.

"Playing God. Kira is just a killer, and the world will never be his. Justice belongs to the people, not to you." he flew a toy space alien through the air, crashing a metal robot with 'N' written on it into the alien. The alien toy broke apart.

"For Mello, and Lawliet, and even Mikami... for all the lives Kira has destroyed, I will stop you. And if I can't then evil will be victorious, and the world will fall apart, beneath you. This will be the end of Kira."

And so... it had begun.

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Linda stepped back, observing her masterpiece. Ryuuk laughed. "Hyuk! Looks just like the real thing." Her painting of the Shinigami Realm was expressive and almost made the Realm prettier than it really was. If Ryuuk had felt like being talkative he would have pointed this out, but Oka asked for their attention at that moment.

"I've found out something interesting about Near." Ryuuk blinked. "You mean the guy who became L?" She nodded. "He's already on our trail. Well... Kira's trail so to speak." She held up a newspaper article with that omnipotent 'L' splashed across the headline.

"L picks up where he left off three years ago in the battle against what people have unanimously decided is Lord Kira's return.

L sent in a statement to the police, which said only one thing. "I am involved. This case will be deal with swiftly." The Police acknowledge now that L died some years previous, and that the world has been following the orders of a new L, no doubt highly trained. Can we trust this new detective? Only time will tell, as the world braces itself for the second coming of Lord Kira."

Oka shrugged. "The rest of the article discusses Kira's ideals and what happened three years ago. As if there's anyone that doesn't know. They just want to scare people." Linda looked at her nervously. "Kira is scary."

Oka narrowed her eyes suddenly. "I'm not scary, Lin."

Linda flinched. "You aren't Kira!"

Oka sighed. "Fine. I will become different from Kira. Will that make you stop freaking out? I have a good idea."

Linda and Oka would not speak to one another after that night. Not for a long, long time.

The next day, Linda was in her regular state, dreaming of worlds she had only visited in her paintings. Oka yawned, walking out to get something to eat. She never saw the armed SWAT men waiting outside the door. She never saw anything. She was blindfolded and captured. No one said a word. Roger didn't even flinch as he walked by. Kids had been arrested at Wammy's House plenty of times, usually for embezzling or hacking into highly classified computer programs. Why didn't these kids use their smarts for something useful, like making his toaster work properly again, or solving cancer? He'd never understand the minds of children. Let alone genius children.

Oka was quiet as they blindfolded her. "We have reason to believe you are Akira, the new Kira who revealed his identity during a slew of killings last night."

Oka did nothing.

"You will come with us. We are going to see L."

Oka inhaled. Exhaled. Calm. Keep calm.

"Good girl."

She felt herself sliding into a car fitted with chilled leather. It was a cop car.

Had L finally caught Kira?