Chapter 6: Circle

Taro Kagami sat absently on his bed, propped against the wall with a stack of pillows and reading a book. He didn't even flinch as Ryuk stepped through his wall and settled into a corner. Not taking his eyes off the book, he tossed an apple in the Shinigami's direction, listening as Ryuk ate it noisily.

"Where were you?" he asked, turning the page.

Ryuk chomped down the last of his apple. "I had to talk to someone."

"You can do that? I thought you had to stay with me."

"I can leave for short periods. Unless you want me to hang around all the time." Ryuk grinned, as Taro finally looked up, setting the book aside.

"No, that's fine." The thirteen-year-old stretched, before asking, "So who did you have to talk to? Another Shinigami?"

Ryuk chuckled. "Actually, those two guys who you ran into earlier. Where you dropped all your stuff."

Taro's eyes widened. "You told me no one could see you! How could you talk to them?!"

"You didn't read the rules carefully enough. They can see me if they touch the notebook. And they handed it back to you, didn't they?" snickered Ryuk, looking all too happy at the shock on the boy's face.

"Why didn't you warn me?!" Taro howled. He pulled out the Death Note, looking at it warily. "Now they can see you, if I run into them again…" He rolled his eyes. "The original Kira and Uncle Teru never had this much trouble. Sure, Uncle Teru and Kira both died before I was born, but still! I've barely had this thing a week, and already things could be messed up! Kira kept the police on the run for six years!"

Ryuk only continued to grin. He had chosen this boy, Teru Mikami's nephew, to take the notebook, and it was looking to be a hell of a ride. The boy apparently admired what Kira had tried to do, and for that, would gladly carry on his uncle's legacy.

Taro tucked the Death Note back into his bag, fumbling on the nightstand for his cell phone. "I'll have to call Emi. She and the others will need to be told, just in case. Who are those guys, Ryuk?"

"Well…" Ryuk's eyes gleamed wickedly. "The brunet is the reincarnation of the original Kira." He snickered as Taro dropped the phone, whipping around to stare in shock at the death god. "And the other is the reincarnation of L. I don't know why they got reincarnated. Someone must have liked them, in Heaven or Mu. Not many people like them, murderers and such, get reincarnated. Light Yagami was a killer, but L did some pretty bad things in his methods too."

"Now I really have to call Emi." Taro said breathlessly. "Kira and L, and I ran into them? Unbelievable."

"Well, they didn't remember anything. They do now, since I unlocked their memories." Ryuk pointed out.

Taro dialed the phone quickly. "Emi? Are you there?" He listened for a moment, then said, "I have news. Ryuk told me something very interesting…"

xXx

Emi Tachikawa listened in silence as Taro explained the situation to her. She reclined into the pillows of her sofa, eyes wide as he wove the tale of what had happened. Baka! Idiotic Shinigami! Keeping the current L from learning what they were up to was one thing, but an L from the past as well… They had to keep a low profile, and with two brilliant detectives potentially ready to come after them… If Ryuk hadn't been so stupid as to unlock their memories… But the original Kira would be a valuable asset, if they could find him.

"Keep a lookout for them, Taro. If you see them again, try to find out their names." Emi closed the phone with a click, turning to the Shinigami watching her curiously. "Well, Shidoh, Ryuk's gone and done something stupid. I assume the rule stands that Shinigami can't reveal the names of other humans to us?"

Shidoh made a motion akin to a nod. "We aren't allowed to tell information like that." He was distinctly more at ease with Emi than the last person who had gotten hold of his notebook. That Mello kid had been scary. "The rules are very specific."

Emi sighed. "Unfortunately, Taro got the book with all the rules written out. The rest of us just have the basics. The next time he's here, I want to look at the rules for Shinigami again. There must be something we can use. If anything, maybe we can find a way to learn their names without the Shinigami eyes. None of us really want to give up half our life, except for Drevan. But he's in America right now, so he's almost useless in that respect." Out of the people in their little group, Drevan Ricter had been the only one to trade for the Shinigami eyes, agreeing to be their sight. But urgent business had called him home to America for the week, and he was out of touch at the moment. "Surely this threat is the most minor we could face."

Shidoh nodded again, choosing not to comment. Emi flopped back into the couch, sighing. "Taro said he'd try to get in touch with Drevan, regardless. I guess I'm left to call Himeko and Teil. Mizuki is staying with Himeko, if I remember correctly." The remaining three members of their group, Himeko Inoue, Mizuki Kobayashi, and Teil Miura, lived in various places around Tokyo. It wasn't hard to get together on a regular basis, but calling a meeting would take far too long. Even if phones were tappable and traceable, it was a risk they had to take. Teil's house was near the outskirts of Tokyo, and he had to travel the farthest to reach them. Mizuki and Himeko shared an apartment near Tokyo Tower, and thankfully only required only one phone call to inform both. Emi sighed again, pulling out her phone. "Well, here we go…"

xXx

Teil glanced up as his phone rang. He answered with a curt greeting. "Konnichiwa. What do you want, Emi?" He listened to her speak, then smiled wickedly. "That's interesting. I'll be in touch. Arigato, Emi-san." He hung up, glancing at the American-Indian-like Shinigami who had drifted over to see what was happening. "Good news, Zellogi. Things are about to get entertaining."

The Shinigami smirked. "Good."

xXx

Himeko and Mizuki were lounging around their two-bedroom apartment, not really doing anything. Mizuki was trying to perfect a new style for drawing people, and Himeko was going through charts of data. Mizuki wanted to be a graphics designer, so any practice she could fit in was welcome. Himeko, on the other hand, was a rising entrepreneur, and was busy working on the plans to open a bakery/restaurant.

The phone rang, and Himeko looked up.

"Mizu, throw me the phone!" she called. Mizuki sighed, picking up the cordless phone from its charger and lobbing it across the room. Himeko caught it, pressing 'talk' and asking hurriedly, "Konnichiwa? Himeko speaking."

"Meko-san, it's me, Emi."

"Oh. Emi-san, I was waiting for a very important phone call from a financial backer. They want to help me with the funds for my restaurant."

"I've got much more important news. Taro ran into the reincarnations of the original L and the First Kira. You two need to know this information, incase we need to form a plan to take care of them. Make sure you tell Mizu-san, as well as your Shinigami." Emi said. Himeko frowned.

"The First Kira? We could use his help, after all." she pointed out.

Emi sighed. "We don't know how he may have changed after being reincarnated. And being under L's influence also could have changed him. We'll be keeping an eye out, until we can find their names."

"Hai. Hontou niarigato, Emi-san. I'll tell Mizu."

Emi replied, "Hai. Talk to you soon." She hung up, and Himeko turned to Mizuki, quickly explaining everything Emi had told her.

"But we don't need the First Kira if he's different." Mizuki said. "A different one won't do us any good. We need the original."

"Hai, because that's what we were trying to do." Himeko smiled. "Kano isan wo fukkou sasenasai. Shisha kara Kira-shu wo tsure kaeri nasai. At least in the figurative sense, through us." Revive his legacy. Bring the Killer-lord back from the dead. She looked around. "Where are Gukku and Deridovely?" The two Shinigami were nowhere to be seen.

"Probably gambling somewhere." Mizuki laughed. "We'll tell them later."

The entire group was essentially informed, then, with the exception of Drevan in America. But he would be back in three days, and then, when they found L and Kira, they could learn their names easily. Emi, Teil, Mizuki, Himeko, and Taro could spend that time planning for all circumstances, and be prepared to act on anything that might happen.

An L who wasn't L stood no chance.

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How to Read 13 is very helpful, yes it is. All of those Shinigami are actual ones from canon. Yay me. And Taro is that little kid from the pilot thingy in the back. His name sounded too much like Mikami's not to play with.

I like Teil. I had the hardest time with his name. It's essentially the end of "Lawliet", backwards. Without the law, because he's a bad-guy, yes? (I'm such a geek.)

So now we have villains! I really am starting to like this story. If anyone cares, there is a song called "Galileo" by the Indigo Girls that really fits this nicely. I have up to chapter nine planned out so far, so all is going well. And for anyone who reads "From Letters to Loss", I really need to do the next chapter of it right, so it may be awhile.

Love and hugs!
Li