ANOTHER SIDE, ANOTHER STORY
Chapter Eleven
Reasons
"Why don't you just kill him?" Zando asked as Steven sat down on his bed, Death Note in hand.
"Isn't that obvious?" Steven asked.
"Uh…No?" Zando muttered dumbly.
Steven sighed. "Well for one thing I don't want the Death Note to get into anyone else's hands. I mean, yeah, I could make him bury it in a place that I know about and then just kill him off so that I don't have to worry about someone else finding it until I do but you already told me a while ago that if the person with the Death Note dies then their Shinigami takes the Death Note back, right? Which would mean the Hunter would end up getting it from Andrew once he died and since the Hunter is always with him and since the Death Note doesn't affect Death Gods then it would be pointless to kill Andrew right now. If anything it would make matters worse because the Hunter could just give the Death Note to somebody else that he saw fit to have it and the cycle would just continue."
"Wow." Zando muttered. "I guess I just don't think that hard about this stuff."
"Good thing I'm here then to catch you up." Steven smirked. "Though I'm still mad at you for not telling me earlier about the Death God eye trade thing."
"Huh?" Zando blinked. "You are?"
"Yeah." Steven frowned. "I understand that you forgot but this morning you remembered and still didn't tell me."
"Well that would have been helping you directly." Zando shrugged. "I didn't want to help you unless I had to."
"Even if you had told me this morning it would still be helping you." Steven muttered darkly. "Though I suppose I couldn't have predicted that Katlynn would have the eyes unless I had some kind of suspicion over her already. I did think it was weird that Andrew came out at lunch today for no apparent reason and how Katlynn was giving me an odd look when I was leaving…"
"Yeah, the Hunter was with you the whole time." Zando smirked. "I was watching it."
"And then it told you somehow that it could see you watching us." Steven frowned. "I don't understand that part."
"Hunter Shinigami have abilities passed on to them granted by the Death King to give them an advantage against their prey."
"And weapons aren't enough? Jeez." Steven leaned back onto his bed and stared up at the ceiling. "So the Hunter can sense when someone is looking at him, then? That must be it…"
"I forgot that it could do something like that." Zando admitted.
"You're not a very reliable Shinigami, are you?" Steven muttered grouchily.
Zando looked saddened by this and dropped his head. Steven looked at him out of the corner of his eye for a second before rolling over and grabbing the Death Note. "But at the same time, if it weren't for you, I'd be dead right now."
"Huh?" Zando looked up.
"Andrew must've realized all of this by now and knows that if he killed me, you'd just take my Death Note and disappear and his plans would be ruined." Steven explained. "It's the same situation that I'm in right now. Which is why the first to get their hands on each other's Death Note will win this."
"But how are you going to do that?" Zando asked.
Steven stared down at the Death Note for a few seconds in silence before looking up at Zando with a smile on his face and the Shinigami couldn't help but feel a little impressed. Steven must've already come up with some plan.
"I have no idea." Steven grinned.
"What?!" Zando exclaimed, not expecting this answer.
"Calm down." Steven laughed. "I'll think of something by tomorrow. You have to understand, all of this information has come pretty fast and I got a lot on my mind right now. But I guarantee I'll have a plan to divulge you with."
Steven stood up and walked toward his door leaving the Death God to sit there with a disappointed and confused expression on his face.
"Don't worry, Zando." Steven said, resting his hand on the door. "You won't die, I can't let that happen because then I'll die. But at least—" He turned and looked at the Shinigami with a smirk. "—I'm fulfilling my promise."
"What promise?" Zando asked.
"To keep things interesting for you." And with that, Steven turned and left his bedroom. "I'm going to take a bath." He said, closing the bathroom door behind him while Zando looked down at the Death Note on the bed with a blank expression.
Andrew sat back down on Katlynn's bed, resting his elbows on his knees and glaring down at the carpet.
"What are you going to do?" Katlynn asked softly, resting her chin on his shoulder.
"We're not dead yet." Andrew muttered. "Which means Steven has at least realized that if he killed me then Ryoku would just take my Death Note and give it to someone else. Or maybe he thinks you would take it and use it out of revenge and kill him. But that would be stupid because he could just kill you too."
Katlynn frowned slightly and Andrew got the feeling that Katlynn didn't believe Steven would be capable of doing something like that to them. Andrew frowned and looked at her. "Katlynn, you can't trust him. I've been telling you that from the beginning."
Katlynn shifted her eyes uncomfortably and he hugged her but there was an evil look in his eye as he did so. "I can't risk going to lunch with you guys very often which means you need to keep and eye out for him."
"But he knows that I have the eyes by now, right?" Katlynn muttered.
"Probably." Andrew sighed. "But he wouldn't dare say something in front of Zito or Jacob unless he's completely retarded."
"I don't know what I'll do." Katlynn muttered. "What I'll say…I'm not a good actor…"
"You'll be fine. If you do exactly what I tell you to do." Andrew said. "Besides, Ryoku will be with you during lunch hours to correct you if you make any mistakes."
"How is he gonna follow me?" Katlynn asked frightfully. She didn't seem to like the idea of the Hunter following her around all day.
"Just keep a page of the Death Note in your back pack with you and he'll be able to leave my side and stay by yours." Andrew told her. "Don't worry. I'll be doing all of the main stuff. I got a feeling he'll want to talk to me alone tomorrow."
"Why?" Katlynn said, taken aback.
"Because he already acted by making his Death God find out about me today." Andrew said. "This tells me that he's impatient and likes to get things done quickly and will probably do another risky move tomorrow. But I'll be ready. He's not a threat."
"Do you…really think that he killed all those people?" Katlynn asked quietly.
"Yeah." Andrew nodded. "It all makes sense if he did. The Mexican students on the first day were probably just his practice targets."
"Really?" Katlynn looked shocked.
"Same with the rest of the students…except for Heather." Andrew sighed.
Katlynn frowned. "I still can't…believe you did that."
"I did what was needed to be done." Andrew said and for the first time he directed his anger toward his lover. "How was I supposed to know if this thing was real?"
"You could have just waited for me to show up." Ryoku muttered.
"Well…" Andrew sighed and looked away from them all. "I'm also…impatient."
Silence filled Katlynn's bedroom for the first time that evening.
Katlynn looked like a wounded animal and was crouched upon her bed holding her arms across her chest and looking down at the sheets with a frown. Andrew stood up and walked past the Hunter to grab his clothes and put them on.
"Your parents will be home soon." He muttered.
"Like they'll care…" Katlynn said softly, looking up at her boyfriend. "Andrew…Why do you have to kill Steven? Why do you have to have his Death Note so badly?"
"Don't be stupid." Andrew said just like before, not looking at her and not giving an explanation.
"Why do you hate him?" Katlynn gritted her teeth, unsure if speaking to him like this was a good decision.
"He hated me first." Andrew replied casually.
"You don't know that."
"Catheryne told me so."
Katlynn frowned. "Oh, of course she did…"
Andrew glared at her from over his shoulder. Him and Catheryne Baker had gone out not too long ago. In fact, he'd dated Baker twice, same with Katlynn, actually. He was still friends with her, but Katlynn had always resented her immaturely. Even Andrew thought so.
"Don't do that." Andrew snapped.
"Do what?"
"Act like you're sad. You have no reason to be sad so stop it."
Andrew turned and left the room leaving Katlynn alone on the bed. Ryoku the Hunter remained where he was for a second or two before following Andrew out of the room. He didn't have a look of emotion on his face and even if he did it would be impossible to tell with the strange mask and all the strange of hair.
"Was that a human fight I just witnessed?" Ryoku asked.
"No." Andrew muttered, sitting down at the computer in a different room as if it were his own. "She's just being emotional right now."
Ryoku was silent for a few seconds, staring down at Andrew as if studying him. "You know." The Hunter began. "It seems to me like you have no consideration for anyone and only see people for what you want them to be. And if they act out of line then you get mad. Such as Katlynn or this Steven guy."
Andrew glared at the Shinigami. "Oh yeah?"
"Yeah." Ryoku said. "Don't worry; I won't judge you for it. I am a Shinigami and have no opinion to be based on any subject. I do, however, study humans and their interactions so that I can further my knowledge of them. It makes them that much more interesting creatures. It also lets me enjoy watching things happen such as this conflict between you and this other Death Note boy."
"Shut up." Andrew snapped. "You don't know me at all. You come here two days ago and expect me to believe that you're some wise old Death God who can see who I really am that quickly?"
"Yes, I do." Ryoku said, still staring at Andrew with a blank expression. "You're a very peculiar boy compared to others. And I can see you wanting to respond with anger but your responses are quite inadequate…You need more time to think about things than other people and your sense of right and wrong are clouded by personal trauma."
"Didn't I tell you to shut up?" Andrew grumbled.
"You're only further proving my point." Ryoku said and Andrew glared even harder at the computer screen.
"Alright, so what if you do think you know everything about me?" Andrew said, forcing himself to stay calm. "How does that help me at all?"
"I never said I'm here to help you." Ryoku said. "I'm only here to capture Zando or, if I have to, kill him. And if helping to defeat this Steven boy does that then I will do what you think I need to but I personally have no interest in helping you. The only reason I'm here was because some other Shinigami was careless enough to leave their Death Note lying around for you to find. And I'm also here to collect that from you and return it to its owner once you die."
"I know all that." Andrew muttered. "Leave me alone, I got to take care of something." He turned and grabbed the remote control for the television behind him. "I won't let Steven make the first move this time."
Steven sat in the bathtub, allowing the steam to rise up around him as the water soaked his flesh. It was comfortable, more so then he'd ever expected out of taking a bath. He hadn't taken one in so long and today was a good day to have one. It was relaxing and for a few minutes his mind was clear of thought,
Alright. Recount everything that happened. Images of Andrew and Katlynn and the mysterious figure of the Hunter in which he had not yet seen all floated to mind first. Andrew was the other user. Katlynn was his accomplice and had the ability to see anyone's name and life span except for his own. So far, Andrew had only killed one person which meant Steven still didn't know of his true goals as to why he was using the Death Note and why he wanted Steve's so badly.
Now what needed to happen? Zando had to stay alive. That was the first thing that came to mind. He couldn't risk having Zando come to school anymore. But Andrew knew where Steven lived. He could be on his way to his house right now with the Hunter by his side to take out Zando and Steven at the same time. But they weren't which meant they must've not thought of that, or because Andrew must think there's something stopping him from doing that.
But what was stopping him? The only reasonable explanation would be that Andrew must've forgotten. Plus, it was a greatly risky move because Andrew didn't know who Steven was with right now. Andrew wouldn't want to make himself look suspicious to anyone. So that plan was out the window.
But then what would Andrew be thinking? Would he possibly try to pull something at school? By now he would realize that Steven would never bring Zando to school with him again. So he would be thinking of some other way. The Hunter would be with him or Katlynn at all times…
And then it hit him. Andrew might actually try and get him alone and speak with him. Maybe Andrew actually wanted to work together with him. No, that's not Andrew. What's more likely would be that he would pretend to be buddies only to get closer to him and have a better chance at taking the Death Note. But something like that was also risky. Andrew would know that it would raise Steven's suspicions and make him trust him even less. But what if Andrew was actually underestimating Steven right now and didn't consider him much of a threat? Something like that definitely seemed like a more Andrew thing to do. But underestimating someone when dealing with a Death Note was a big mistake.
It was true, Steven didn't think Andrew was incredibly smart or anything which was probably why he felt so confident in winning this game with him. But he had to think of everything before making his move. He couldn't let one mistake get through or else Andrew might take advantage of that and use it again him. Andrew might or might not realize that. It all came down to who made the first mistake.
And so Steven sat in the bath tub for an hour thinking of different plans and trying to think of things that Andrew would do and different ways he could counter them with his own plans. And then finally a thought occurred to him. What if Andrew was simply not going to do anything and wait for Steven to make the first move? It was plausible that he would do something like that. Perhaps he'd try and turn his friends against him and make Steven feel cornered somehow. But Andrew was a horrible liar. If he tried to lie his way into making Steven alone without his friends he would fail. So if he were to try something like that then he would more likely observe Steven's behavior closely and use it against him somehow whenever he could.
Steven imagined more blunt ways of getting the Death Note. Corning Andrew somewhere alone and getting in a fight with him, stealing the Death Note, and killing him right then and there but the risk in that was greater than anything else. Someone could walk in, or maybe the Hunter itself had the power to kill humans without a Death Note. No, that wasn't possible. If it could then all it would have to do was kill Steven, hold his Death Note hostage and wait for Zando to appear to come get it. And Steven didn't carry his Death Note with him to school anymore anyway so Andrew and the Hunter wouldn't risk a plan like that either. Besides, Steven was confident that he could take out Andrew in a brawl if he had to.
And then there was Katlynn. He saw her every day at lunch. By now she would know that he knew her secret and since she was Andrew's accomplice in this she would probably be acting under his orders. But Katlynn was weak. If he could get her alone and say something unexpected to her and then she wouldn't know what to do and he may even be able to use this to lead Andrew into a trap and force him to make a mistake. And at once, Steven started thinking of ways he could do this.
And finally, the bath ended and Steven emerged, drying himself off and walking back into his room with a confident grin on his face.
"Tell me you thought of something." Zando said as Steven got changed.
"I thought of a lot of things." Steven muttered.
"Care to share?" Zando asked hopefully.
"No." Steven said and the Shinigami looked taken aback. "Consider this revenge for not telling me about the eye deal earlier." Steven smirked. "All you need to know is that you have to stay within this house no matter what. If I don't come home do not come looking for me."
"Alright." Zando frowned. "You're cruel."
Steven smiled. "Hey, you could've told me about the eye deal and we could have avoided all of—"
"Steven!!!" Amanda shouted and both of them turned around to face the doorway where his sister stood looking shocked about something.
"What?" Steven asked with a frown.
"George Bush, he's dead!" Amanda shouted. "The President's dead!"
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