DS
Disclaimer: If only you knew how painful it is for me to write disclaimers.
Chibi Misa: Like, hi!
Me: Yes! Hello again from your pal Swirly! Thank you all for your wonderful reviews and support! I love every last stinkin' one of you!
Chibi L: -waves victory sign-
Chibi Raito: SNOOOOORRREEE…
Chibi Misa: Oh my.
Chibi L: Kira snores? Mmmm…
Me: Ah… hah… yes, well, enjoy another chapter! Is he really snoring?
Chibi L: I think so.
Me: x:
Chibi L: Interesting…
Chibi Misa: Regardless of whether or not this is the shortest introduction in DS, enjoy the rest of the show! Read, review, and relax!
D S 4
He didn't know what to do.
Never before had it been a problem, but this human had a way of creating problems, didn't he? Troublesome.
Regardless, L looked down on the still, defenseless form of Raito Yagami, who had passed out five minutes ago on his bed, and had no idea what to do.
"Whoops," said Ryuk stupidly, "You think you should've stopped him sooner?"
"Yes," mused L worriedly, chewing in the end of his thumb. He should have stopped him. It was Raito's own fault that he had passed out, but L could have done something to prevent it.
"So what're you gonna' do about him?" the shinigami asked while munching on another apple.
"I am not sure," L said, blinking twice for good measure. Raito told him of the frailties of mankind. They were surprisingly defenseless against the cold. The sun had set a while ago, so the temperature would drop substantially within the next few minutes. What was more, Raito had to breathe. L assumed he couldn't do that very well with his head in a pillow. All in all, it added up to the fact that Raito would not last long if he was left the way he was.
L had to do something about it.
His argument with Raito Yagami had passed, and it would likely surface again. Presently, though, L had more important issues to deal with.
He pulled the blankets back toward the end of the bed, having to pull them out from under Raito at the same time. He then grabbed a handful of cloth and heaved it in Raito's direction.
Hauling all that fabric made L doubt, once again, the overall usefulness of blankets. He didn't understand how a person could feel comfortable under all that cotton, polyester, and rayon.
It made L's toes itch.
"What are you doing?" munched Ryuk interestedly.
"Covering him up," explained L as he pushed against Raito's blanket-cushioned side to roll him on his back. Ryuk nodded as if it understood.
L knew perfectly well that it didn't.
Nevertheless, he bit his lip and shoved Raito's body over with all of his might. L winced as one of Raito's arms shot out at a weird angle to accommodate the sudden change in position. L gave one final shove and Raito's back hit the mattress with a thud.
L sighed and fell over in the comforter. "You could've helped," he informed Ryuk with an angry huff.
"You didn't ask," it said pointedly. L gave it the eye, then rolled over onto his other side, facing Raito.
Raito's head was lolled peacefully and lazily to the side. His delicate, dark eyelashes dusted his rosy cheeks and his pink lips twitched every now and then. L watched the rhythmic rising and falling of his chest and thought that he must be the most comfortable human in the world.
He cocked his head and listened to the sound of the air breezing in and out of Raito's lungs. He found himself relaxed somewhat. It was calming.
Slow and deep.
All those nights when Raito's eyes drifted shut and his breath evened out, L took it upon himself to sit and admire the misery in Raito's soul.
When he was awake, he was a god. He was a raging inferno of misguided justice. As long as he kept his eyes open, Raito ruled his realm with an iron fist and a heart of stone. He sealed himself inside his own fortress and saw to it that no unwanted emotion got through.
He was a killer.
Cold and calculating.
When he was asleep, he was Raito Yagami.
A dozing Raito lacked the consciousness to raise emotional barriers. A snoozing Raito cared not a button for the sins of the living. A dormant Raito didn't waste his energy furrowing his brow and glowering at those who opposed him. A slumbering Raito couldn't lift a finger against his enemies.
Raito Yagami was not invincible.
He was vulnerable, conquerable, warm, and alive.
A human being.
The real Raito.
The real Kira.
The Great Death's arm twitched. He breathed a deep sigh and tilted his head back, unknowingly baring his soft, pale neck. L gazed and took the moment to consider what it would feel like to slice straight through and feel Raito's hot, wet, red life bubbling through his fingertips.
How easy it would be.
Then, his mind dimly re-registered that there was someone in the room other than himself and Raito. He rolled his eyes skyward and caught a glimpse of the vulture-like apparition lurking in the corner. "You've been awfully quiet," mentioned L.
"I didn't want to interrupt," Ryuk explained.
"Hm," snorted L.
He leered over at the shinigami. "Why are you still here?" he asked it.
Ryuk looked over at him with those drowned fish-eyes. "No reason really. It's much better down here I think," he hummed with a scratch of the head. "The apples are better."
"I see," said L detachedly. He propped himself up on one elbow and watched as Raito breathed yet another deep sigh. "I have no objections to your being here," he said softly, not taking his eyes off of the brunette boy, "but I doubt that Raito-kun needs two invisible people-ah… things watching him while he sleeps."
The shinigami scratched its head, then finished its last apple.
Ryuk seemed to get the hint. It hovered there a moment more, looked over somewhere, and then looked back. "I guess I'll leave then," it said. Without another word, it simply walked through the wall and disappeared.
This made L very happy.
Just then, he was jerked back into reality by a very alarming sound.
His head whipped over to see that Raito's eyes were clenched shut and his mouth was contorted in pain. L shot up out of his spot on the bed sheets.
That bastard shinigami!
What had it done?
L scurried over to Raito's side and assessed the damage.
The brunette's arm was twisted painfully behind his back.
L breathed a huge sigh of relief.
Nothing serious.
Raito was working frantically in his sleep to undo the knot he found himself in. Raito's arm shook spasmodically and L lay back down on his elbows and watched. He wanted to help, but he figured Raito could do it by himself. Sure enough, through countless fits of squirming and shaking, the Yagami freed his arm. He blissfully 'hmmned,' to himself and subconsciously tucked his arm against his side.
L smiled.
He was beginning to understand why Near found his Kira so fascinating.
"You're very interesting," L told him.
"Hhnnnuuuuuhhhhhhh…" said Raito.
"Yes," L agreed.
He left Raito to his own devices and went in search of a cookie. L padded down the stairs and into the kitchen, where he found a plate full of frosted thumbprint cookies, each with a juicy, red cherry on the top.
L rubbed his palms together in anticipation and snatched one up. He was overjoyed to find that they were just as delicious as they looked.
A perfect combination of doughy, sugary sweet, and fruity, juicy goodness.
Yum.
He popped another one into his mouth. A few minutes later and he sent another to check and see that the first one was alright.
L sat back against the counter and watched the clock tick on the wall. It was quite boring down here. Perhaps he should go back up into Raito's room. Things were much more exciting up there.
He downed a glass of milk, and then his mind set to wondering why the first and second cookies had not reported back.
So he sent a third one to check up on the both of them, a fourth to aid in the rescue effort, a fifth for extra brute strength, and a sixth for moral support.
After that was over, L decided to go back upstairs. Cookies were only fun for so long. He didn't want them singing to him again either. He huffed melancholically to the kitchen before drifting through the ceiling, through the polished floorboards, and into Raito's room.
The brunette in question was still asleep. His injured arm was flung over his forehead, palm up, and his other arm was resting over his chest. L perched at the foot of the bed as Raito sighed again and sleep-stretched. L grinned a little. Raito's eyes were flicking around underneath their lids. He was dreaming about something again.
One time, he had a dream about nothing happening when he snapped his fingers. The time before that, he had a dream about getting caught by the police. The time before that, he had a dream about a television show he had been watching between news briefings.
Last time, he had a dream about losing to L in a game of chess.
L's ego feasted on that one.
Raito's foot seized up once, then shuddered, and after that he groaned to himself and half-rolled onto his side. He started making very strange noises in his sleep. He sighed, huffed, grumbled, and groaned. Raito rolled completely over on his other side, crushing his arm again and yelping in pain.
L found it quite strange that he wasn't waking up.
Raito had pried his arm free again, yet he was still curled up in pain and making those awful noises. His breath was coming abnormally fast and his skin was glistening with sweat.
L tilted his head and blinked several times to clear his head. Perhaps Raito was having a nightmare. By the looks of things, it was much worse than the other dreams he normally had. L contemplated waking him up. Nightmares could be nasty.
Raito's hurt arm was underneath his body again, but something was different. It was shaking, like Raito was trying to push himself up on it.
Something in L's mind clicked.
Oh, fuck.
Raito started coughing and wheezing and thrashing around on his bed. L leapt off in a panic. "Raito-san?" he called frantically, hoping that the suffering teen would answer.
"Ryu-" gasp, "-zaki…"
"What is it?"
"Help-" cough, "-me…"
Holy fuck.
Raito was having a heart attack.
Now, because he was panicking, L's mind was not working properly. L hadn't figured out how to deal with strenuous situations properly because he had never been in one. This was a problem.
Raito was counting on him to do something.
L wanted to help Raito in the most immediate way he could, so he reached out.
And his hand went straight through Raito's chest.
Raito screamed.
Shit!
L whipped his hand back and Raito crumpled over in agony. He had no time to think about what he had done. He needed to do something.
Now.
"Raito-kun! Raito-kun, are you alright?" L's hearing picked up two sets of feet thundering closer. Soon, they were joined by a third pair of slightly smaller feet.
Ah.
Raito's yelling must've woken them up.
His father burst through the door, denting the wall behind it with the doorknob. "Raito!" he exclaimed as he saw his son writhing around in his sheets, coughing and gulping air like a fish out of water.
His mother screeched and ran back downstairs, intercepting Sayu on her way.
"Dad," Raito coughed. Soichiro jumped onto the bed with an energy L had never seen in an old man like him. As he paced back and forth, L heard him repetitively telling Raito to breathe.
A heart attack.
Kira was going to die from a fucking heart attack.
L heard Sachiko yelling at the emergency service operator through the phone. Then she yelled at Sayu to get back into her room. Raito's sister was starting to cry. L heard her bawling and thundering across the floor.
In the mean time, Raito's father had acquired an inhuman amount of energy. He had placed an arm beneath his coughing, squirming son's shoulders, one beneath his knees, and then hoisted him off of his bed and was carrying him hurriedly down the steps.
"They've sent an ambulance!" Sachiko screeched, "It'll be here in a few minutes!"
L grabbed a hold of the railing on the side of the stairs and threw himself over it, landing with a rather undesirable clomp on the floor. He didn't care. Everyone was too busy to notice anyway.
"Mom! Mom! What's wrong with Raito?" Sayu raced into the room in her pink pajamas and whined.
Sachiko offered a brief explanation and the horror shown clearly on Sayu's face. Tears welled up in her eyes and she started wailing in the high pitched, lamenting wail one heard when a little girl's favorite dog got run over by a car.
As the ambulance came keening down the street, L was given time to think. Raito had a heart attack.
Kira had a heart attack.
…Why?
Men his age did not have heart attacks. Raito was a perfectly healthy human being. He was physically fit and sharp as a tack. It didn't make sense.
Unless…
That shinigami.
That fucking shinigami.
L was going to kill it.
L knew there was something going on. He knew that there was more to Ryuk than boredom. He would never trust a shinigami again, and he never should have in the first place. Not even in the slightest.
L saw the Death Note in Ryuk's pocket.
He must've written Raito's name in it straight after he left. L hopped into the rather hectic ambulance after the EMTs carted Raito in. He then proceeded to yell over the sounds of the siren, the medical team, and Raito's father to tell him exactly what he thought was going on.
The second he told him that it was the shinigami's fault, Raito howled and made an extremely dramatic gesture with his arms. Seconds later, he had a gaggle of gobbling medical specialists and one frazzled father boring down on him like a flock of vultures.
It took quite a bit of batting around to get them off.
L sighed.
This was the start of a very long day.
----
Raito couldn't remember what happened.
It was too painful.
He had a knack for forgetting things he didn't want to remember. Frankly, he was thankful for it. Combined with the horrible twisting in his chest, he remembered a sensation of ice shooting through his body when he was still in his room. Raito wondered what it was. Well, whatever it was, it had been powerful enough to make him scream.
Other than that, he was sore all over and he felt like he'd been kicked by a horse.
He could only imagine what it would feel like once he was off the painkillers.
His mother had left the room with Sayu about one hour prior and Soichiro stayed behind. He was currently sitting in a chair that he pulled over earlier to Raito's bedside. Raito really wanted to get his dad out of the room so he could talk to Ryuzaki.
The psychopomp in question was perched in a blue-cushioned wicker chair in another corner of the room, chewing the skin off of his thumb.
"Are you sure?" Soichiro asked, brow furrowed.
"Yes, dad. I'll be fine."
He really wanted his dad to leave, but Soichiro persisted in staying in his chair and being generally stubborn. This greatly angered the Great Kira, but he was powerless to do anything about it.
Which was terrifically uncool.
"It was that… that…"
"That what?" groaned Raito.
"I don't know Raito," Soichiro sighed, slouched, and dug the heels of his palms into his eyes. "It's because I'm on this investigation," he breathed, "Whatever is killing all these people must know about me. So they used you to get to me!"
Oh.
…
Genius!
Raito sat straight up in bed, causing his father to jump several feet. Through the dizziness and fuzziness wafting over his mind, Raito had an epiphany. Yes! This was perfect! He had a heart attack, a grisly event in itself, which Raito's father assumed was caused by the perpetrator of these murders.
Only a dumbass would give himself a heart attack.
Oh, this was perfect.
"What's wrong?" Soichiro yowled.
"You think that's what did it?" Raito asked, deceptively astonished.
"Yes," said Soichiro, easing back in his chair and breathing a relieved sigh.
Raito kept the façade up. "I can't believe it," he said. True, he couldn't believe it. He couldn't believe his luck.
Soichiro sighed, "I can, and I'm not about to let it happen again." Raito interpreted this as his resolution to stay with his son until he was absolutely certain that nothing would happen to him.
Which would be for about a week, Raito estimated.
Fuck.
He glanced over at Ryuzaki, who was bemusedly un-weaving the chair, and decided that there were too many things he needed to know. He had to get his dad out of the room, dammit!
"Listen, dad," Raito sighed hazily, "You need to go home and get some sleep. I'll be fine."
Soichiro hesitated.
Raito groaned.
"I'll be fine, dad, I really will. I need you to solve this case for me, okay?"
That should have gotten him out of the room.
It did.
Soichiro sighed, glancing forlornly at Raito through his glasses. He smiled a fatherly smile and ran a hand through Raito's hair. "You're right," he said, "The sooner we find out why and how this is happening, the less danger you're in."
"Yeah," Raito agreed all in the name of pushing his father out of the room faster.
"I'll tell the nurse to take good care of you."
Raito was in the mood to flash a sparkly smile, wave his hands frantically in front of his face and say 'noooooo, that's okay,' really loud. He didn't though. He merely discouraged his father by saying that he didn't want to trouble the staff any more than he had to.
Soichiro gave up after a while and said his farewells to his son.
This made his son very happy.
As soon as Raito was sure his father was safely out of range, he snapped his head over to Ryuzaki and said, "I am Kira."
"Yes," agreed Ryuzaki.
"God of Death."
"Yes."
"The unconquerable, invincible, undaunted, and unchallenged."
"You forgot incorrigible."
"Very funny."
"I think so too."
"Back to the point. Am I or am I not a god?"
"In a sense," Ryuzaki said stealthily.
"That tells me nothing," admonished Raito.
"You aren't invincible, Raito," Ryuzaki pointed out, curling his toes reflexively around the seat of the chair. He chewed on his thumb and stared at Raito through those raccoon eyes of his. "Though I should have told you this when we met," he mused thoughtfully.
"You think?" Raito spat.
"Yes," said the mini-death.
"Jesus Christ," Raito swore.
"How do you know him?" Ryuzaki asked with genuine interest. It was at this time that Raito concluded that he was going nowhere on a rocket sled. He stopped talking altogether and regrouped his thoughts. It was very difficult, as they seemed to like floating away from him in his sedated state.
"I had a heart attack," Raito said severely.
"Yes," concurred Ryuzaki with a matching severity.
"Why?" he asked.
Ryuzaki breathed a very deep sigh, rolled his eyes, and pouted. Raito assumed this to be the mini-death's way of preparing for long discussions. "Raito-san," he began carefully, "I told you that shinigami kill people, did I not?"
"You did."
"I haven't told you why or how, have I?"
"I don't think so."
"Good. I think I should." He took a deep breath, "Shinigami, quite frankly, survive by killing people. Their eyes can see the exact lifespan of a human. The date of their death, if you will. Were a shinigami to kill a human who had fifty years left to live, that shinigami would gain fifty years onto its own lifespan."
He glanced at Raito to make sure he was listening.
And Raito was.
"Continue," he said.
"You know," said Ryuzaki with a thumb to his teeth, "It has just occurred to me that you probably will not remember any of this clearly when your painkillers wear off."
Looking for excuses, eh?
"I'll try my best," Raito said in a warning tone.
Ryuzaki got the memo. He eyed Raito a moment longer before deciding that it wouldn't do him any good to resist Raito's demands.
"I suppose you're wondering how these shinigami kill people."
"Yes," said Raito.
"Well, they have notebooks," said Ryuzaki.
Raito eyed him suspiciously.
The mini-death blinked at him. "They merely have to write the person's name in the notebook and describe the way they die, and it will be done." He thought a moment, "On second thought, they have to have the victim's face in mind as they write the name so humans of a similar name are not affected."
Raito was unhappy at how familiar this method of killing was to his own.
"I believe that a shinigami, probably the one following you, gave you this heart attack," Ryuzaki concluded.
Raito hung his head.
So these things could kill people by just writing their name in a book? Raito began to wonder in mild horror how many other heart attacks he was going to have.
But then…
How come he wasn't dead yet?
"You said that shinigami have only to write my name and describe how I die and 'it will be done,' am I right?" asked Raito urgently.
"You are correct."
"Then why am I still alive?"
Ryuzaki crouched even more in his chair and squished his thumb to his lips. "I do not know, Raito-san," he got up and paced about the room. "Perhaps I am an unknown variable. I am not supposed to exist in the human world, and therefore I am not affiliated with it. The Death Note of a shinigami deals strictly with the human realm."
Due to the drugs in his system, most of this dialogue was going over his head. He had a very faint, insignificant idea of what this was all about.
"Alright," was what Raito said.
Ryuzaki looked at him funny. "You need sleep," he observed.
"Not before I get this straight."
"You may be up all night."
"Not funny."
"No?'
"No."
"I thought it was funny."
"You're getting off the subject again."
"Again?"
"Yes."
Ryuzaki shoved his hands in his pockets and scratched one leg with the other foot. Raito regarded him for a split second before attacking him with another question.
"So, does this mean that I'll get more heart attacks in the future?"
The mini-death tilted his head and crooned approvingly to himself.
"No," he said.
Raito goggled, and then his brain kicked in. No? What did that mean? What was Ryuzaki getting at? He decided to ask.
"You can no longer die of a heart attack, Raito-san," Ryuzaki explained with a sly grin. "One of the perks of my following you, I suppose."
Raito stared.
"You see," began Ryuzaki, "If a Death Note fails, the cause of death written for the individual that was meant to die will never happen again. In short, I suppose that means that you can no longer have a heart attack, and that you can stand outside in the rain for hours and never run a temperature."
Raito stared.
"You will never die of a heart attack or a high fever."
Raito stared.
"Margaret Thatcher naked on a cold day."
"What?"
"I thought that would get your attention."
"You've been watching Austin Powers movies."
"Yes."
Raito needed time to ponder this new information. If the cause of death failed, it would never happen to him again. So… if he continued dodging death like this, did that mean that he'd become…
Immortal?
"Does this mean that I'll become immortal?" he asked pointedly.
Ryuzaki offered him a sly, secretive sliver of a smile.
"Time is fatal, Raito-san."
Raito wondered what it meant. Ryuzaki was definitely the secretive type, wasn't he? Raito was forced to, however reluctantly, assume that the answer to his question was no.
He wondered.
He wondered how the last Kira died…
And he was brought back to the reason that he had fallen unconscious yesterday. It was funny how fast his thoughts flew when he was drugged. Perhaps it was due to his lack of concentration.
"About that other Kira," Raito said offhandedly.
And Ryuzaki tripped over his own toes and fell into the wall.
----
"I refuse to talk to you about that, Raito-san, so stop asking," L said once he had righted himself again.
Raito snickered at him and asked him if he walked much. L glanced disinterestedly over at him and tactfully ignored the insult.
"Tell me," persisted Raito.
"No," abstained Ryuzaki.
Raito sighed and sunk into the hospital bed, as was his right. L supposed he could be angry all he wanted as long as he was satisfied. He refused to talk about the other Kira. It wasn't because it was traumatic, nor was it embarrassing. L just didn't feel like talking. And when L didn't feel like talking, L didn't talk.
"You should sleep, Raito-san."
Raito sighed and massaged circles into his eyes with the tips of his fingers. "Stop changing the subject, please," he said tiredly.
L felt some sympathy for Raito.
"He had no eyebrows," L pointed out to put the brunette slightly out of his misery.
Raito removed his fingers from his eyelids and quirked an eyebrow at him. "You don't have any eyebrows either, Ryuzaki," he pointed out.
L reached a hand up to his eyebrows and found that Raito was right. "You're very good," he complemented the Yagami's observation.
"Yeah, I know," Raito said hastily, "That doesn't tell me a fucking thing, Ryuzaki. I want to know everything you know."
That last statement in itself was enough to inflate L's ego a foot or two. Nevertheless, he stubbornly refused to provide Raito with any answers. He continued denying him until Raito gave it a rest.
The Yagami rolled over on his side. He turned his back on L and fell completely silent. L began to wonder whether or not he had done the right thing. Then again, Raito was very crafty. This was all part of his scheme to make L take pity on him.
It was somewhat similar to the cause of his passing out earlier that night.
L sincerely hoped he wasn't going to go through with that again.
"You're not going to pass out again, are you?" he asked warily.
Raito turned over and looked at him. "Maybe I will," he said stubbornly. L nodded, then informed him that it wouldn't be a good idea. Raito asked why. "Those things attached to you," L pointed out.
Raito looked at his arms, then at his heart monitor.
"Fuck," he said, "You're right."
Of course he was.
He was L.
"See?" he said triumphantly, itching his leg with his foot.
"Fuck," cursed Raito, tossing something at the wall. The object hit its mark with a brittle smack before clattering and rolling on the floor. "A pen," Ryuzaki concluded thoughtfully.
Raito exhaled a sharp breath through his nose, shoved his nails into his eyes once more, and turned over. L blinked over at him.
Kira was angry.
Anger raised blood pressure if he remembered correctly. If his predictions were correct, a nurse would come shooting through the doorway right about…
"Yagami-kun! Yagami-kun!" what looked like a handkerchief on a drawstring flew into the room.
Raito let out a surprised noise and made a face at the newcomer. "What?" he asked in a menacing way.
The way a drunk with a pack of illegal fireworks is menacing.
L snorted.
"Are you alright?"
"Yeah, why?" Raito asked as if he were intoxicated.
The nurse eyed him suspiciously, fluffed up the pillows on his bed, saw to it that Raito was as comfortable as possible, and then left the room yelling about extra surveillance over room such-and-such.
"You really must be more careful, Raito-san," L pointed out with a thumb in his mouth.
"Yeah? Shut up," warned Raito as he sandwiched his head between two pillows and worried the edges of his blankets with his fists. L wondered at his behavior. It was very un-Raito to act in this way.
Or perhaps it was un-Kira.
Yes.
Raito was drunk on sedatives. He couldn't think the way he wanted to. In actuality, this was what Kira was. Prone to fits of anger and selfish behavior. Stubborn and lonely.
A child.
L slid his thumb along his teeth.
Just another human.
He watched as the mound of blankets and pillows fluffed itself up, rolled over, and then stayed utterly prostrate, save for the occasional rise and sigh. L assumed that Raito was asleep again.
How droll.
----
When Raito woke up, he had a massive headache. Of course, he had no idea how it got there, but it was there all the same.
He immediately decided that he would accuse Ryuzaki.
"What did you do?" he growled angrily at the shadow playing with the table lamp on the other side of the room. Ryuzaki looked over at him, quite displeased by the tone of Raito's voice.
"Did I do something?" he asked monotonously.
"That's what I'm asking you."
"No, you're telling me that I did something wrong." Ryuzaki pointed out as he tapped his fingers against the wall, "There is a difference, Raito-san."
"Quiet, you."
"No."
Raito's nerves were frayed beyond repair, and this was not helping. If anything, Ryuzaki was only making his condition worse.
Yes.
All Ryuzaki's fault.
He knew he wasn't getting anywhere with this pointless conversation. He never got anywhere with Ryuzaki. The idiot stubbornly refused to provide him with the information he asked, no matter what the subject.
He huffed to himself, crossed his arms over his chest, and slammed his back into the pillows. Raito came to the realization that he was pouting like a five year old.
And he didn't care.
Odd.
Despite Ryuzaki's annoying refusal to answer any of the questions he may have had, Raito tried viciously to think of another one. He needed information. Answers. His memories of his heart-attack were becoming slightly clearer. He sifted through them, trying not to wince, and then he found one that was remarkably interesting.
"Ryuzaki," he began slowly, observing the mini-death in the corner of the room, "before my dad came up the stairs, I felt something really… cold."
Ryuzaki froze up. Ah… something else he probably wasn't going to tell him. Well, Raito could try. "What was it?" he asked, not particularly expecting an answer. Yet, to his surprise, delight, and alarm, he got one.
"That was me," Ryuzaki mentioned somewhat tentatively.
"That's a bit hazy," Raito muttered, not knowing what Ryuzaki was trying to say.
"Well," the mini-death thought for a moment, "I can't exactly touch humans. I'm just a mass of cold air, I suppose."
Raito's eye twitched. "That would go under the list, and it's a very big list, Ryuzaki, of things that you should have told me when you met me."
"Ah. Sorry," the psychopomp scratched a hand through his dark, shaggy hair. "I suppose I should have. I forgot."
Raito shook his head.
Ryuzaki curled up in the wicker chair and started pulling at the weaving. "You see," he said bemusedly, "it's a sort of barrier between your world and mine. I can't harm a human, and it is impossible for them to harm me back. It's a good system." Ryuzaki paused, crossing his panda eyes and twiddling his toes, "At least it was until a few hours ago. Now I have my doubts."
Raito snorted knowingly at him. "So you do care," he said in the most mockingly wistful and dreamy voice he could muster.
The mini-death gave him a peculiar look. "Yes," he said.
Raito drew one eyebrow down and the other shot straight for his hairline. That wasn't supposed to be the answer. The panda-man was supposed to flounder for words, puff out his proverbial feathers, sulk, and deny it for the rest of the day.
Raito had to remind himself not to be surprised next time.
Better yet, he resolved that he wouldn't ever try to make a comment like that again. It would save him a lot of pain and confusion.
He decided to alleviate his pain with another question. "So how do you pick up pens and eat cookies if you're a mass of cold air?"
"The law only applies to contact with a living being, I think."
"So inanimate objects are just fine?"
"If by 'just fine' you mean I can throw them around, then yes."
"Ah," said Raito with a hand to his chin. Interesting. So when he heard his acquaintances talking about walking through a 'cold spot' somewhere in a dark alley, this was it? Possibly. Raito took it into consideration.
"So while we're at it," Raito mocked, "is there anything else that you should have told me? Anything you would like to tell me?"
Ryuzaki seemed to recognize the edge in his voice. He made a show of pacing about the room, slouched over, and playing with a piece of his hair that he held in his fingertips. "I'll inform you if anything comes up, Raito-san."
Raito knew full well that he wouldn't.
"Try coming up with something in, oh… say… now." Raito growled warningly.
Ryuzaki tilted his head to the side, stared at him through those massive holes-for-eyes, and made a peculiar crooning sound from his nose. Raito glared at him, fixing him in place. "Hm," hummed the mini-death.
"You'll beat me if I tell you."
Raito blinked.
Wasn't that the understatement.
If Ryuzaki had been intentionally keeping something from him, Raito would give him hell. Worse, if Ryuzaki had forgotten something, that meant he was just plain stupid. Brainless even. He had yet to see the mini-death do something productive. If he had forgotten, Raito would personally find a way to bash his head in.
Hang on…
"If you can make contact with inanimate objects, how come I didn't hit you when I swung that curtain rod at you?"
Ryuzaki looked at him as if he'd been expecting the question. God! Another thing he knew, but wouldn't tell unless Raito asked. He'd have to introduce Ryuzaki to the game of Twenty Questions.
"You can't attack me. I don't know all the details-" Raito knew that he did, "but if you come at me with ill intentions, wielding a curtain rod or whatnot, I become intangible to that object. It's very complicated."
Like hell, thought Raito.
Ryuzaki knew everything there was to know on the subject. Raito could see it in his eyes. Little shit just wouldn't tell him. Raito wanted to murder him. Maybe he could with these Kira powers of his. However, if Ryuzaki really was the reason that Raito wasn't dying, he might do better with him hanging around. Maybe he'd just beat him to death.
Hmmm…
Speaking of beating…
"Ryuzaki, you mentioned something about me beating you up." Raito mentioned as he examined his nails, "What was it?"
"I said something?" asked Ryuzaki in a singsong voice as he became suddenly interested in the ceiling. Raito took this as a sign that he was headed in the right direction.
"You have two choices, Ryuzaki," reasoned Raito, "You can tell me, or you can't. If you do, I can't beat you. However," and here he paused for dramatic emphasis, "If you don't tell me, I will find a way."
"Ah," said Ryuzaki with an intelligent nod of the head, "I see. In that case," here he broke into a thoughtful silence, likely contemplating what to say or whether to say it at all. "There is something else."
Raito quirked an eyebrow.
"It pertains to your snapping."
Now Ryuzaki had him hooked.
"You see," said the mini-death, "You can… do things to people before they die." Raito didn't even let him finish his thoughts before he said, "Oh you sick sonofabitch." Ryuzaki gave him a look.
"You can control your victims," he said dryly.
"Ah," sighed Raito thoughtfully, "And exactly how do I do this?"
"Well, before you snap your fingers, you need to imagine something happening. It can be vague or detailed, however you prefer. It will happen all the same. Just try not to be too vague."
Raito's eye twitched.
"For example, if you imagined your victim's name and face, then imagined him jumping off of a building and dying, it would happen."
Raito closed his eyes and breathed deeply, imagining a wall between himself and Ryuzaki, that he could not punch through, and relaxed.
Slightly.
"So you're telling me now what you could have told me weeks ago?" he asked, trying to keep his voice level and free of stress. Failing, he might add.
"I told you you'd beat me," Ryuzaki reprimanded, chewing on his finger and blinking his big, hollow eyes. Raito sighed. "I wish."
"Hah," said Ryuzaki.
Dislike for the secretive psychopomp aside, Raito turned his attention elsewhere.
As vague or detailed as he wanted, eh? So… If Raito imagined a criminal strangling himself with a two foot snip of red ribbon at nine-o-clock on a Tuesday morning, it would be done?
The Great Death smiled to himself.
This ought to put the spice back into life.
----
Me: Another chapter. Plus, did anyone else besides me just find out that coughing and writhing around on the floor during a heart attack can lessen your chances of dying?
Chibi Misa: Wheeeee!
Chibi Raito: Damn you, putting me through this!
Me: Aw, you know you like it.
Chibi Raito: Having a fucking heart attack?
Chibi L: Well, it wasn't technically a fucking heart attack, but…
Chibi Raito: Stay away.
Chibi L: -whistles-
Chibi Misa: Er… yeah. For all of you who bother to read the author's notes, Swirly loves you! Even those of you who don't read the author's notes, cuz' what do they matter anyway?
Me: Right.
Chibi Misa: Cooookies!
Chibi L: Where?
Me: Review! I like to know whether or not I'm doing a good job! Cookies for those of you who keep up my self esteem and for those of you whose opinions tempt me to sway in my story line!
Chibi Misa: Yay! Review for cookies!
Chibi L: Where?
Chibi Misa: Review, review, review!