Summary: Raito finds that Near, in a lot of ways, is a lot like L. Then again, he is a lot different from L too. Eventual RaitoNear, MelloNear…some hints of LRaito
Warning: Character death.Some yaoi. May change rating in further chapters. :D Spoilers. Dialogue from vol. 8 reworded.
Disclaimer: I do not own Near…I mean Death Note. SCREW YOU OHBA MAN. Story is mine. :)
So is Betsy, but she's dead.
Note: Sorry for the wait…even thought it wasn't that much of a wait, so never mind. XP
S w e e t R e v e n g e
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Airplane pilot Kyle Block never, in his whole entire life, imagined something like this to happen.
He had a good life; a pleasant childhood to remember, served in the army for a little while, and had a well-paying job to support his wife of thirty-six years, his two children, and grandchildren.
Life-changing experiences, he never had. But he didn't really care, since he was content with what he obtained and accomplished.
However, he had not anticipated anything like death threats and kidnappings in his years to occur.
It had been a busy week for Kyle Block at the airport, and he knew the days got busier within the week. So it had been a huge relief to come home, knowing that hecould relax with his wife.
The last thing he wanted to see was his living room trashed as if a thief had came in.
Worried, the first thing that he yelled out for was his wife. He knew she was usually upstairs, cleaning the rooms or doing laundry; so immediately, he dropped his jacket and hat on the floor and rushed upstairs, calling her name.
He got even more worried by the second when he didn't get a reply. The sound of the washing machine, he thought, must be drowning out my yells. She's probably hiding too, poor Betsy…
The first room he checked was the laundry room, but she wasn't in there, even though the machines were still running. Noticing the neatly folded clothes that had been placed on the dryer, he concluded that his wife had already been in the room.
So where is she? He frantically thought.
"Betsy!" He called out again. Racing to the bedrooms, he was disappointed that his wife was still absent, yet relieved since most of the bedrooms seemed to be intact.
Still, there was one room he hadn't checked.
His vision, for a moment, swirled around him. Dizzy, he held onto the wall.
Perhaps the stress was getting to him. Perhaps he was paranoid…
Was it thieves or kidnappers? What happened here?
Nearing at the door, he leaned on the wall to catch his breath. It's okay, he told himself. Nothing bad happened to her.
Slowly, he turned the brass doorknob and pushed the door in, waiting for something to jump out. But taking in the sight of their bedroom, he gasped and fully flung the door open, an incredulous scene before his eyes. His ears began gradually throbbing, and a slight ringing pulsed in his head.
He wanted to yell.
He wanted to call 911.
He wanted the nightmare to end.
But all he could do was just stand there, eyes wide in shock at the scene before him.
There was his old and fragile wife lying limp on the floor, a gunshot to her bloodied forehead. Crimson blood was splattered in her grey-streaked hair and on the once-beige carpet. Her eyes looked worried and in pain, but lifeless as they were still half-open, staring off into the ceiling.
And there was a note on her body.
Even though still traumatized, he grudgingly picked up the note, thankfully not covered in blood.
This is what happens when you don't obey the Mafia's commands, and the same thing will happen to your family if you don't follow them.
And if you dare tell anyone again about this…we will kill you and your family.
He was agape in fear and disbelief.
It…it wasn't a joke…
Hands shaking, the man slowly let the note slip from his fingers.
--
Did that man with my father hijack the plane? Damn it, where are they going now?
This was not going as he had planned. Distraught with decisions, Raito need to come up with an alternative idea.
It's basically now useless that I came here in L.A. I can't contact other police agencies around the world as L since I just arrived.
There was a beep coming from another laptop, and Raito snapped his head behind him. It was a message from Aizawa. He hurried over to it and clicked on the screen.
The deputy director and the man who got on with him are sitting in seats 44-G and 44-H. Thankfully, I'm sitting at 37-B where I can get a good look at them,the message read. They still haven't moved yet.
Raito immediately typed a reply back.
Matsuda said the plane is moving off course. Did the man with the deputy director hijack the plane? They are probably going to drop him off somewhere. Take a look around without removing sight of the two, he typed. Hitting the enter button, he waited patiently for a reply.
This is crazy! How did the kidnappers manage to hijack the plane?
Another message came from Aizawa.
They are both in their seats. So, if the man didn't hijack the plane, I assume other people must've done it. Nothing bad happened to the plane yet, as far as I can see.
Other people? Raito pondered. Does that mean there are other people working with the kidnappers on the plane?
Not sure of his theories, he hacked into the airport's system and scanned through the airplane crews of scheduled flights to L.A.
Let see…today's the thirteenth…
Typing rapidly, he went through the list of the crewmembers. He checked every person's history and personal résumé's, but none seemed to show any sign of criminal charges. A cool bead of sweat slowly trickled down his neck.
There weren't any changes either…
Looking up the people on sub-director Yagami's flight, he found no replacements in the crew. The pilot and co-pilot didn't seem suspicious at all either.
Raito was seething with rage and his temper threatened to melt the calm demeanor he had put on to remain unaffected despite the turmoil happening. He lacked options, and all were not very good. No matter what he did, the kidnappers seemed to get the better hand.
"Light," Misa said, her voice concerned. She had arrived in Raito's hotel about twenty minutes after he had. After all, he needed her help, and she was willing to do so.
Sitting up from the couch, she stepped toward Raito. "Are you okay? You don't look well…"
That stupid little…if it doesn't look like I'm well, then I must not be!
"Misa," spoke Raito through gritted teeth. His patience was running low. "Do what I told you to do. Be stricter about killing the criminals in Japan now. You know how they are trying to find information about Kira."
Confused, Misa still hesitantly nodded. "Um, okay. But who else is—"
"Misa! Just do as I tell you to!" the brunet commanded, a drop of saliva spraying out of his mouth.
Gods, just look at what this is doing to me…
The blonde flinched at the volume of his voice, never before experiencing her beloved so furious before.
"O-okay…" She sighed but complied with his orders, understanding the fact he was extremely stressed under all the pressure of his job. Even she felt a bit of stress herself. Her eyes felt awfully tired and dry from looking at computer screens all the time.
Poor Raito…he's in even more pain, pretending to be Kira and L at the same time. It must be extremely hard to keep people lagging around him without any knowledge of him as Kira
Her obedience calmed him a bit, but it did nothing to soothe the chaos in his mind.
Damn, I have no choice but to…
--
Ah, Near said to himself. L has called once again…
"N, I'm pretty sure you're aware of the state the director is in. Please send note to the airline, police, and the army not to get involved yet," L's scrambled voice spoke to Near from SPK Director Mason's cell phone.
Near, if he were any other person, would have huffed in annoyance. To him, the second L was merely a hindrance rather than a help to catching Kira.
His pale hand that held a dart in the air continued spinning the toy with his fingers.
"That's not such a tactful move L," he heard Rester mutter. In his mind, Near agreed, but only partially.
After all, imitators were not the same compared to the original. So, it wasn't surprising to see the second L grovel to the ground for assistance.
He wasn't sure what the other L was up to, but even though Near did not want to ally with the Japanese police force, they had some useful information he wanted to know.
Maybe it was better staying on their good side just this once.
"Very well, L. I'll also calculate where the plane might land, and I'll keep watch on it with a satellite camera," Near said. He examined the dart he had, finding the parallel lines on it very interesting.
"Is there anything else you would like me to do?"
There was a long pause on the other end of the line, and for a moment, Mason quietly asked if L had hung up.
"Yes. Please look up the two pilots controlling the plane and the man Zakk Irius. His name is spelled Z-A-K-K I-R-I-U-S. He's the man who is with Yagami," L said.
Near wondered how he got to the man's name so quickly.
"Alright. I'll see what I can do," he finalized. He waved his hand, notifying to end the call.
Near swiveled the chair around and gave Rester an expectant look. "Well, Rester, you heard him."
The blond man nodded and began to work.
--
Sayu Yagami was scared to death. So scared by the thought of being killed after she had been kidnapped to a place thousands of miles away from home. She didn't even try screaming in the hideout, or wherever she was, because it would've been futile anyway. With the place filled with top criminals and her as the victim…
Yeah right. As if someone was going to help her. She did not even know the reason why she was kidnapped in the first place.
A rough hand seized her bounded arm, dragging her up harshly from the cold hard ground. Gasping behind her muffled mouth, her eyes scrunched in fear behind the blindfold toward an alcohol-smelling person, who she assumed was five times larger than she was.
"Ge' up, girl. Your daddy's goin' na get you," he said in slurring English with his deep and scratchy voice, a language she did not excel as well in as her brother did. But a hasty pull was enough to tell her to stand up, although she could not get up without balancing herself first. Pushing her legs up, the sudden rush of blood flow pooled to her legs and her head got a little woozy.
"Mmphmg!" She muffled under the gag as she lost balanced and stumbled back onto the floor, her dark vision swirling. Even so, the annoyed man jerked her fragile body up.
"Stupid girl!"
She did not know where she was currently or where he was dragging her. The sides of her face were sticky with sweat, and it felt like as if a second layer of nasty muck was developing on her neck. Her mind urged her to go take a dip in water, but the thought of the kidnappers allowing her to do just that was too much to ask for.
They would probably just shoot her anyways.
Too afraid to even speak, Sayu grudgingly followed the man, trying to keep up with the quick pacing. Her footsteps were timid and lagged a bit behind in contrast with the other's large and forceful ones. The surroundings around her changed, Sayu noticed, as the steps she took got somewhat louder and echoed around her.
The eerie reverberations that rang around her was causing her to perspirate nervously even more, especially when her covered eyes found pitch black darkness surrounding her. At least, in the other room where she had been held hostage, the lights lit in there shone a bit through the translucent fold.
Another yank had almost sent her flying forward if it hadn't been for two large hands immediately grabbing her tied arms from falling. A throaty gasp behind the gag was muffled.
"Damn it, clumsy bitch! Don't limp behind!"
Holding back a cry of despair from the man's abrasive manner, tears of grief and dread formed on her eyes. Her bruised arm was snatched and pulled on once again, and she squeezed her eyes shut angrily at the emotional and physical pain she felt. The wetness from her tears seeped out from the corners of her eyes.
Okaa-san…mom…
She missed her mother. She missed her home, her family, her friends…
It was all Kira's fault.
Kira was the one who made her father stressed from work and always kept him away from home, occupying his time with the family.
Kira was the one who also made her brother stressed, not to mentioned being framed to being him, and kept her brother away from the family too.
Kira was the one who killed the bad and the good. He killed whoever was in his way or simply did not agree with his view of the world.
Kira…killer…
Who he was, she hated him. Kira ruined her life. She would not forgive him.
Her hatred for Kira temporarily replaced the fear she had contained earlier, but reality came rushing back to her as a forceful shove behind her back sent her sprawling on the cold concrete, landing on her right shoulder.
"Nngh!" she cried when the hard ground collided with her bony shoulders.
Fingers snagged into her hair and the knot of the gag, jerking her upper body upward. Her head pulsed rapidly along with her heartbeats, but as her mind calmed down, she made real of what the man was actually doing.
The cloth loosened around her head, thankfully, and she spat the cloth out of her mouth. A certain dry spot of her mouth yearned for water. Then the blindfold came off next, and she immediately took in the sight of her surroundings.
It was still dark, but there was a dim lighting to it above her. There were dusty and dirty large concrete walls and in front of her were revolving glass doors. There was a hole in the middle of two perpendicular glass doors, and a rectangular hole in the middle of the other two.
Sayu stared in bewildered awe at the device. "Nani…"
"Keh, it's not the time to cry out to your nonny, or mommy," the man sneered, shoving her toward the doors. She walked forward, but before she did, she turned her head around to see the man who had brought her to the tunnel-like place. Perhaps if she caught a glimpse of him, when the police questioned her…
All hope dissipated as the man had had on full-covered mask.
And he was holding a cell phone.
The glass door she had enter in started to slowly move behind her, and she backed away from the rotating door. She was in between a door with the circle hole and a rectangle hole.
"Yagami Sayu," a scrambled voice around her said in Japanese. She looked up to the dark ceilings, searching for a speaker, but none found. "Your father sent a message to give to you: 'I'm on my way, so don't worry. I promise to rescue you. Do you have your watch? What time is it?'"
Relief washed over her trepidation. Otou-san…
"We will allow for you to answer him."
The brunette blinked a couple of times, decisive about her careful words.
"G-gomen otou-san." Her parched throat croaked apologetically at her first words, but she did not mind. Even as scared and worried as she was for her father, she was happy to indirectly speak with her father. "This is all my fault. My watch says it's 2:42 A.M. in Japan."
"Your message has been sent to your father, Sayu Yagami. Please wait for him."
The last words the kidnapper spoke left Sayu uneasy and squirming.
Oh Dad! Sayu pleaded in her mind. Placing her dizzy head against the wall, she closed her eyes, tired from insomiac activity the past three days. Please hurry!
--
"N, can you send a helicopter?" Raito asked into the headset. Looking at the pictures of his dad N had sent Raito to his laptop, he closely examined the surroundings around him. It was a flat and sandy plain, but that's all he could see from the satellite's bird's-eye-view images.
The question of how his father was going to make the trade suddenly popped into his mind.
How was he going to make the exchange if there wasn't a single person in sight around a two-mile radius?
What if the kidnappers don't keep their promise and quickly pulls a trick during the exchange?
"Yes, I'll send McEnroe with the helicopter," N said.
Realizing that it would be a good thing if the vice director knew about the helicopter, Raito dialed Yagami's cell phone. The director picked up after three rings.
"Yagami here." His father stated calmly.
"It's L," said Raito. "We have sent a helicopter controlled by an FBI agent, John McEnroe, like what the kidnappers said to do. Right now, your daughter's life and yours are top priority here, and I do not mind if the notebook gets into their hands."
Behind him, Ryuk chuckled.
"Spoken like a true son and detective, eh, Raito?" The shinigami sarcastically grinned.
He did not reply, for as he was deeply intent on the laptop screen in front of him.
"Well," N said from the phone Raito was still on. "An underground passageway? How very interesting…"
No! Raito thought as a mechanical door opened up from beneath the sand in the desert. They're using an underground route to exchange the notebook in! So they knew we were tracking them with a satellite…
The mouth that was agape open closed in a displeased way.
Now we can't follow their movements.
"L, are you really going to have them obtain the notebook?" N asked. It was obvious that he or she was definitely trying to get Raito, or the second L in this case, purposely mad.
"Do you have any plans?"
To be honest, Raito really did not have any back up options. He did, but it would definitely deduct the amount of suspects leading to be Kira, and Raito was sure he was one of the suspects that would remain if he somehow was forced to kill his sister and father.
It was not a win-win situation.
He thought about the idea of having the director not exchange the notebook for his daughter, and in return, his daughter would get killed, but the director would not. However, it was far too late to act upon that choice.
"L, are you there? Do you have any backup plans?"
"N-no," Raito replied between his sigh. Well, he thought, if the director and his daughter were to survive in there, then it was likely that the kidnapper would then escape with the notebook. "But if the kidnappers do come out underground, we could track their movements on radar when they try to escape."
"Yes, we could see where the escaper leaves to. There might be a chance that the one with the notebook will run to headquarters. But, there's a possibility that that is not going to occur," N stated. "Not to mention also that we'll somehow have to reopen the vault if the deputy director and his daughter does not exit back out."
At those words, Raito clenched his fists, imagining the result of the deaths.
"Even if the person with the notebook does not exit out, we still have to keep an eye out for any sign of people coming out from underground," he reminded. "And what will we do if the kidnappers do happen to kill the deputy director and his daughter?"
"Well," N contemplated. "Then I guess we will have to give our condolences to the family and severely punish the kidnappers."
Even if the voice was scrambled, Raito could imagine N's tone to be rather apathetic, and that angered him.
They should do more than punish the kidnappers for taking the notebook away! I'll have Misa search for their names and kill most of them!
"Ah, we have found another helicopter located exactly five hundred meters from the site," N added. "Hm…no one appears to be in it. Must be the kidnapper's escape plan."
Raito nodded. "Yes, it must be. Keep your eyes on it, N."
What could be going on down there? The kidnappers better not kill them…
"Hey, look! They made it!" exclaimed Ryuk, surprised. Raito was relieved to see the door reopen and watched as his sister and father walked up the stairs from underground.
Sayu…Dad…
"N, when Yagami and his daughter move two miles away, send your agents in," he ordered. Then, at least two hundred meters away, another door from the ground made way for another person with a mask on to run up the stairs.
"Ah, that means they've definitely exchanged the notebooks without seemingly harming the other two…"
Raito was frantic about capturing the criminal, but he held that inside.
"Track where the kidnapper's helicopter lands. He might try to drop the notebook or hand it to someone in mid-air. Make sure to not lose sight of him."
"Easy for you to say," N said in a sulking way. "I will see what I can—"
N paused in mid-sentence, and lured into Raito's curiousity more.
"What? What is it?"
"Hm. I can not believe we did not catch that earlier," N said dissappointedly. Whether it was directed to himself or Raito, it did not matter as Raito widened his eyes at the missile on his laptop's screen.
"It appears the missile is about to be launched exactly half a mile from where the culprit exited, and seven hundred meters from where Mr. Yagami entered. Sadly, the missile appears to be untraceable."
Raito's gaze froze in disbelief at the sight of the missile.
Did they put the notebook on a missile? No way! There is no way that N could not have spotted the missile! That is ludicrous! Unless he is purposely trying to devise us from—
Realization came to him in an instant.
Of course!
"N, tell me the truth…are you really not connected to the kidnappers in any way?"
There was a silence. Raito assumed it was because N was caught, or he was appalled by the accusation.
"…Why do you ask that?"
"Well," Raito hesitantly started. Did I manage to find out his initial plans? "It's only reasonable for me to assume that since the U.S. found out Japan held possession of the notebook and wanted to acquire it by arranging a plan…"
"Wrong," N bluntly interrupted. "True, while we do want to know about the notebook and Kira, we are not involved with the kidnappers in any way." What sounded like a small sigh came from him. "Unfortunately, the only way we can prove that to you is to capture the kidnappers."
As Raito was about to reply, he then noticed the missile taking off…
…into the direction of the helicopter.
Raito widened his eyes as he realized the missile was heading towards…
"NO!" Raito exclaimed.
But it was already too late as the helicopter in which his father and sister had boarded onto exploded in flames and pieces flew in random places.
"Otou-san!" He shrieked at the laptop screen, ignoring two fragile hands that had settled onto Raito's shoulders.
"R-raito-kun..."
The brunet snapped his head angrily at the blonde, his eyes vicious and his face snarling.
"Don't touch me!"
Somewhere on the other side of the country, a boy called Near had stopped twirling his hair in shock and widened his eyes at the smoky debri falling to the ground while others around him also watched in horror as John McEnroe died that day from a missile crash.
But Near couldn't help notice the desperate cries coming from the second L.
TBC.
Wah. This chapter sucked ass. And sorry for the long update…I was, er…busy. At the Fireplace. Chatting.
I know. Shame on me. And I didn't even beta this nor revise it. So excuse the pitiful, pitiful mistakes I have made!
Now I need to go take a shower.
P.S. Reviews appreciated. :) Cuz I'm a review whore. Yargh.
P. S. S. Thanks to Death Note Fan for telling me of an incomplete sentence! -slaps myself-