DS
Disclaimer: Guess who Death Note doesn't belong to! Guess right, and win a prize!
Me: Hmmkay. So. Here's the deal this month. I got asked by somebody relatively famous to illustrate a web comic that might get turned into a movie if it's good enough. So if I don't update for two months or something, that's why. I'm trying really hard to be on time, though, so you can bet I'll post sometime near my one month deadlines.
Chibi L: Now that this month's poor excuse is over, welcome to another chapter of Death and His Shadow.
Chibi Misa: Wherein I make another star-studded appearance! Yay!
Chibi Matt: Action! Romance! Horror! Will they make it out of the Vietnamese jungle alive? Will Elizabeth Swan choose Will or Captain Jack? DoesSnape finally kill Dumbledore? Johnny Depp, Catharine Zeta Jones, and Chuck Norris star in this week's installment of Death and His Shadow: The Revenge!
Chibi Raito: …Yes. That.
Chibi Misa: Please notice the glowing, red, EXIT signs to the left or right of the auditorium. These exits are to be used in the event of an emergency! Please turn off all cell phones and enjoy the show! Read, review, and relax!
D S 21
Everyone in HQ stared at Raito with varying degrees of shock, confusion, and disbelief. This was only natural, considering the short, simple sentence they were almost certain they heard coming from Raito's lips.
Matsuda, ever inquisitive, was the first to break the silence.
"What?" he squeaked.
"I said, 'I think the second Kira is stalking me,'" growled Raito.
"And what brings you to this conclusion?" Wedy asked calmly.
Raito sighed violently to himself. He had been cornered by the personification of evil, he hadn't slept, it was three-o-clock in the morning, and he had held this exact same conversation eight times before. He didn't need Wedy's skepticism right now.
"She called me," said Raito.
"And what was so special about this phone call?"
"She knew my name, she knew my number, she called herself 'Lucifer,' and she described herself as the waitress who took my order at the maid café."
Wedy rolled her eyes behind her glittering sunglasses. "She could've looked in the phone book if you left a check with your name on it."
"And she threatened to kill you all," Raito deadpanned.
Silence.
Good.
"This is true," enforced Ryuzaki in a grim, grievous rasp.
Aiber literally stepped in. He slipped between Raito and Wedy, interrupting their staring contest, and asked, "If this was such an important matter, why did you wait so long to contact us?"
"Because I was worried that you'd think I was Kira," Raito sighed.
"Whatever gave you that idea?" Wedy asked in a voice laced with sarcasm.
Of course. She just had to mock him, didn't she? Women, women, women. Raito would never get enough of them, no matter how hard he tried.
So, in the interest of being equally difficult, Raito said, "Figure it out."
"Goodness gracious," Aiber suddenly exclaimed with a bounce on his toes, "I feel like I've been thrown into a den of lions!"
"Actually, you stepped into it," Ryuzaki pointed out.
"True," Aiber conceded with a comical shrug of the shoulders, "but I'd rather keep this investigation professional, not turn it into a mud-wrestling brawl fest. So if neither of you can be civil," he eyed Wedy in particular, "I'm afraid I might have to kick you all out for an hour or two."
Wedy crossed her arms frostily across her chest and leaned back against the wall.
Raito quelled his tempestuous anger.
Quite satisfied with himself, Aiber squared his shoulders and slapped his classic, lopsided grin onto his face once again. "So, Yagami-kun, please tell me what's worrying you so. I promise to hold you in high and innocent regard unless significant evidence points to the contrary. Now splurge."
Incidentally, this did nothing for Raito's mood.
"Well, the second Kira's schedule said that yesterday, she'd leave a love note for a celebrity at the Note Blue. Matsuda and I went to the Note Blue-"
"And did she leave you a love note?" Aiber interrupted with a quirk of the eyebrow.
"…Of a sort," Raito supposed.
"What sort?"
"She kept winking at me," and she called him 'Master,' but Raito assumed that was just protocol at a maid café… Right? "She also called me later, somehow knowing my name and my number, and asked me if I wanted to go on a date to the Tokyo Tower."
Gevanni and the CIA, Halle and the NPA, and A and W themselves fell uncharacteristically still.
"Today," Raito added for dramatic effect.
Ryuzaki cast him a translucent, sidelong glance that clearly said, are you sure you wanted to say all of that?
Of course. If Raito wanted to gain their trust, he would get nowhere by withholding observations from the investigation team. It was possible that he was digging his own grave, but if the team turned on him, nothing was keeping him from shoving them in and burying them alive.
"You are fulfilling the tasks stated in the schedule," Aiber mused calmly. He aimed a smoldering, intelligent eye at Raito and crooned, "Are you certain you've never met this girl before?"
"I'm sure," said Raito.
"Mmmm…" the blonde man mumbled thoughtfully as he completed one pace between Raito and Wedy. He stopped and stroked the bristles on his chin for a moment or two. "In any case, it has become clear to me that this 'Lucifer' of yours is the second Kira, but the question is: are you the first?"
Raito didn't let the accusation bother him. He kept calm and still. Laconically and in the most militaristically clipped of tones, Raito stated, "I am not Kira."
"Fair enough," shrugged Aiber. He smiled dubiously and raised his hands into the air like a bamboozled cartoon character. "I can't prove that you are, you can't prove that you aren't… Vicious, isn't it, this 'investigation' business?"
"Are you saying that you still suspect me?" Raito asked, feigning gloomy surprise.
"It's difficult not to, especially when you fit so perfectly into the second Kira's plans. I'm a suspicious man, Yagami-kun," Aiber smiled placidly, "You must forgive my rudeness."
Raito crossed his arms and grunted. "And I thought you were on my side."
"You're not on our side?" Aiber asked, dramatically shocked onto one foot.
"You know what I meant," Raito grumbled.
"Oh, Yagami-kun, Yagami-kun," Aiber sighed lightheartedly, "It's difficult to gain my trust, remember?"
Raito chose to smile hopefully. "Well, you must have some trust in me to keep me on the investigation team, right?"
Aiber erupted in resounding barks of laughter. He slapped Raito heartily on the back and leaned on him like an old drinking buddy. "Keep your enemies close, eh, Yagami-kun?"
Raito chuckled faux-nervously with him.
Oh, he was keeping them close, all right.
"So what should I do?" he asked once Aiber was done shoving him around.
"About the second Kira? Well, you should definitely meet with her. Lord knows what she'd do to you if you didn't," Aiber replied. "I'll send Gevanni with you to keep you company."
"Who will send Gevanni?" Wedy scoffed.
"Oh, my mistake. You will, my dear," beamed Aiber.
Wedy squared her shoulders menacingly and shot her colleague a glare that could fry kittens on contact. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think I've ever allowed you to order me around."
"Never," agreed the grinning man.
Wedy defiantly flicked her bangs out of her face. "Gevanni is going nowhere."
"Good, good," remarked Aiber as if he'd gotten his way after all. "Halle, my dear! I trust you wouldn't mind tailing our beloved suspect in Gevanni's place?"
Beloved suspect, my foot.
Halle sighed. Her haystack hair and baggy eyes suggested that the emergency meeting hadn't come at a convenient time. Nevertheless, she answered with a punctual and resolute, "I'd be glad to help, sir."
"Ah! Good. Now then, what shall we do? Shall we have you follow discreetly after our two lovely suspects, or shall we make a ruckus the likes of which Tokyo has never seen?"
Raito really hated the way Aiber suddenly exploded into a fit of obvious accusation. At the very least, he could've been discreet about it. If he heard the word 'suspect' being substituted for his name ever again, he was going to kill someone.
"Sadly, my forte isn't stealth," Halle interrupted factually.
"Ah, a ruckus it is, then," the blonde man decided before turning his attention to Wedy. "I had hoped you would agree to send Gevanni. He's very good at going unseen."
"Of course," scoffed Wedy.
Aiber beseeched her with glittering eyes.
"No," said Wedy.
"Damn," said Aiber.
Raito almost felt insulted.
It was an act.
He'd gotten the notion before, but his suspicions grew stronger than ever after watching this debacle of a dispute. They weren't angry at one another. They weren't disagreeing on anything.
They had both reached the agreement that Gevanni wouldn't tail Raito, and they were fine with it. They had simultaneously decided, through some undetectable form of implication, that they were going to agree on something and then throw a fit about it.
Why?
Were they trying to distract Raito?
No team of ace detectives could possibly argue so much and maintain their legendary status, so they must've been planning something under the pretense of a debate.
…They were going to send Gevanni as well.
Yes, that was it. They intended to fool Raito. They wanted him to think he was being observed by only one person (the female of the two, making him more likely to underestimate her abilities), when he was being scrutinized by Gevanni as well.
Good Lord.
That was simple.
Now Raito had only to discover what Aiber meant by the word 'ruckus.'
----
So that was what Aiber meant by the word 'ruckus.'
Honestly, L didn't like it.
No matter how many legions of armored, helmeted, faceless riot police Aiber and Wedy sent in, they could never hope to defeat Misa. It was a fact of life. No number of mere human beings could possibly apprehend a deity.
…Right?
And yet, it was odd for such a powerful being to offer assistance to an enemy. If Raito was her enemy, and indeed he was, Misa was better off killing him.
Perhaps she couldn't kill him. Maybe there was a rule written in some dingy, nondescript volume at the bottom of His Divine Basement that prevented Misa from killing Kira.
But she had a shinigami with her. If Misa couldn't kill Raito, the shinigami would.
Then why on earth wasn't he dead yet? L twisted his fingers around his sleeves. This train of thought was giving him nothing but a headache. Misa had Raito and L both ensnared in a web of confusion. She forced Raito into Aiber and Wedy's merciless claws and both her motives and her abilities remained unclear.
L kept his wits about him, however. In the next half hour, Raito would be surrounded by evil, and he would learn from it. He always learned from it. Raito would swagger through Minato-ku like he owned it, sweep Misa off her feet, and then…
Then what?
Raito had a choice to make. Either he was on Misa's side or he was on A and W's side. Normally, this wouldn't be a difficult decision for him to make. This time was different, however. Raito would display his allegiances publicly, either opposing the world's most powerful detectives or the universe's most common and present evil.
He did not know the extent of A and W's power, and neither did he understand Misa's. He did not know the detectives' intentions, and Misa's remained a mystery. His only advantage was that he was familiar enough with A and W to predict their reactions to his actions. If Raito allowed them to capture Misa, they would still suspect him. If Raito joined up with Misa, however, they would condemn him.
Cue the riot police.
The situation was a setup. A and W certainly wanted to capture Misa, but it wasn't their primary goal. They wished to corner Kira and force him to take a side. In the case that Raito defended Misa from the encroaching mob, Halle and Gevanni (for L had decided that Gevanni was most definitely observing the altercation in secret) would evaluate the means by which Kira killed his victims.
But only if they could.
A and W had undoubtedly concluded that Kira needed a face and a name to kill. In Raito's case, he needed only a face, but A and W did not afford him that luxury. Capture be damned, they weren't allowing Kira to kill any more innocent people. In all actuality, though, allowing facemasks and full body armor was probably the only way the detectives could get the police to cooperate. In conclusion, Raito could not kill the riot police, and neither could Misa's shinigami.
Cue Halle Lidner.
A and W needed only one observer, and that observer was Gevanni. He would be safely hidden, completely invulnerable and undetectable for the time being. Halle, however, was a sitting duck in more ways than one. Firstly, A and W had so vehemently pounded into Raito's mind that Halle would be watching. Secondly, she would probably be visible. Halle would lead the mob to the tower and personally announce that Misa was being arrested.
If Halle died, Misa was the second Kira indeed.
But how could A and W kill two birds with one stone? How could they condemn Raito in the same evening?
Cue Gevanni.
A and W's recent argument was not an attempt to keep Gevanni's company a secret. It was an ingeniously disguised trick to disclose it to Raito. A and W were trying to trick Raito into thinking that they didn't want him to know that Gevanni was following him.
Gevanni would be poorly disguised under a visored helmet, much like the ones worn by the police mob. Since A and W had so sneakily disclosed Gevanni's participation in the event, Raito would recognize him instantly, aided by the clothes the CIA man wore or by his voice. Gevanni would slap a blindfold and a pair of handcuffs on Misa. Perhaps he would even threaten to execute her on the spot.
The true Kira would fly into action.
Gevanni would suffer a sudden, instantaneous heart attack. A and W would assume that Misa's eyes never once fell on his face. Who killed Gevanni, then?
Raito.
The second Kira could kill with only a face, so why not the original? Gevanni's identity had been kept under lock and key for the duration of his stay in Tokyo. He never left headquarters, except under multiple layers of disguise, and his true name was unknown to anyone but himself.
Raito had seen his face too many times, and Misa had never seen it at all.
Gevanni was dead.
Raito was Kira.
The case was closed.
L had an immense amount of confidence invested in Raito, however. Raito had a mind to think with, and he was well-versed in its use. The brunette would play his part in the drama that ensued, and he would emerge victorious with a regal bow and a standing ovation from his audience. He would slip straight through A and W's traps. He always did.
The proverbial fox always outsmarted his pursuers. Such was the way of the world, wasn't it?
L reclined somewhat stiffly in his office chair and spun himself in circles. Since A and W refused to allow his participation in Raito's crusade and simply because Misa hadn't invited him along anyway, L festered in Aiber's office like a gloomy rash of mildew. The ever-exuberant blonde man who owned the office disliked L's sullen mood, and he bounced through the door several times per hour in order to convince the ex-mini-death that he was not alone in his anxiety.
And yet L was alone.
So very alone.
He had brought this solitude upon himself, of course, because there was no way in hell or any other realm that L was allowing Raito to leap into danger without dragging Matt with him. In spite of multiple protests on Matt's part, L eventually persuaded the mini-death to shadow Raito by brandishing the pointy end of a threat. If Matt did not accompany Kira, Kira would die, and Kira's closet full of Kira's video games would vanish as well.
Where was he?
Ah yes.
Being alone.
So very alone.
----
Matt continued to console Raito for the duration of his quest to the Tokyo Tower. The brunette mini-death seemed intent on proving to Raito that he was not alone.
And yet he was alone.
So very alone.
To say that Raito was alone was not to say that he was helpless, however. Being Kira was a solitary and demanding job, and Raito knew how to take care of himself.
Drearily, he glanced over his shoulder. In five seconds, he located Halle. She followed at the respectable distance of one city block. She could take her time. She knew where Raito was headed.
Meanwhile, Matt chattered to himself about how much he didn't want to appear in front of Her Unholiness. Raito didn't see a problem. Matt was a mini-death, and therefore invisible to anyone's eyes but Kira's.
Then again, Misa was not human.
Whatever.
Raito was really past caring at this point.
He was galloping off into the sunset of his life. Raito got the feeling that his time was at an end. Even if it wasn't, it would get much, much more complicated from there on out. Two overwhelming forces were about to collide, only one of which would walk away intact.
Raito put his money on A and W.
Why?
Because Misa couldn't kill him.
That was why.
Raito had done some intense thinking about Misa's power and her sphere of influence before coming to the startling conclusion that both were infinitesimally small. Misa wasn't letting Raito live because she felt like it. She wasn't snuggling up to him because she wanted to play around with him. She didn't befriend him because she wanted to.
She did it because she had to.
Raito had been led to believe that he was the bane of Misa and her shinigami. They tried so vehemently to kill him during the first, awkward days of his Kira-dom, but then the attempts on his life simply vanished. The shinigamis' initial killing intent proved to Raito that Misa really wanted him dead.
But he wasn't dead!
For some mind-boggling reason that Raito couldn't possibly understand, Misa could not kill him. She and her shinigami possessed no weapons in their great, divine arsenal that could touch him.
Raito knew this, and yet he could not understand.
Before, the shinigami were plotting to assassinate him. A tense silence ensued after that, in which no attempts were made on his life at all. Now, Misa had developed a sudden crush on him. She wanted to get close to Raito, but why?
Did she want to kill him by other means than a death note?
Did she honestly have a crush on him?
…Was she trying to gain his favor…
…so that he wouldn't…
…kill her instead?
…
Oh.
Oh boy.
But Raito couldn't kill her, could he? As much as he hated to admit it, he was only human. Misa was… Misa. She was Queen Lucy. She was the Fallen Angel, Lilith, and the serpent in the Tree of Knowledge. Raito couldn't kill her. He couldn't possibly have that much power.
And yet he needed only a face to kill.
…Perhaps Kira's true strength wasn't the speed with which he could kill.
Perhaps the Shinigami weren't burdened with two conditions, a face and a name, for the sake of being specific. Perhaps Misa set these limits to preserve her own life. Evil went by many names, after all, as 'Queen Lucy' explained. She called herself Misa, but she had no name.
Perhaps this was Ryuzaki's power, too. Before he became human, he was inhuman. He had never been born. He just existed. No higher power gave him a name to respond to, so, like Misa, he invented one.
Now he was human.
He had a name.
Raito had been led to believe that this name was 'Ryuzaki,' but perhaps the ex-mini-death had another special one picked out.
Maybe he didn't get to choose it.
Could Raito have killed Ryuzaki?
…Could he kill Matt?
…Well, if Misa couldn't kill Raito, then he had no more need for a supernatural bodyguard. Matt was the perfect test subject.
Raito carefully eyed the brunette mini-death. Matt hovered erratically beside him, muttering something about cigarettes and remaining blissfully unaware that he was being scrutinized so carefully.
In killing Matt, Raito had nothing to fear. Matt had been dead once, and here he was. Sure, Matt might resent Raito for killing him, but…
No.
Raito wasn't killing Matt. All of the sudden, it didn't seem right.
Raito rounded his last corner for a straight shot at Foot Town. Misa would probably be on the first floor.
Speak of the Devil, and Raito's phone rang. He slid it out of his coat pocket. Raito had one new text message, and guess who it was from.
I see you, Raito-chan!
Misa.
Raito quirked an eyebrow. Either shinigami eyes had amazing vision, or she had a pair of binoculars.
…And she was high up.
Immediately, Raito texted her back.
Where are you?
Two seconds after he sent his message, Misa replied.
Up in the observatory, silly!
Which one? Raito asked.
The first one!
…Wonderful. Absolutely wonderful. Raito commended her. From the main observatory, she could pick off any adversaries she saw. If Misa was able to see Raito from this distance, she could kill anything.
Also, she would never be able to escape.
It was a win-win situation for a two-faced double-agent like Raito Yagami.
He couldn't look too overjoyed, though. Halle was watching and so was Misa. Raito needed to keep a straight face until he was well in the shadow of the Tokyo Tower's Foot Town. He would wait until he was out of Misa's line of vision, and then he would frantically contact Aiber and Wedy because now Misa was incredibly difficult to get to.
Once the two observatories of Tokyo Tower vanished from his view, Raito tapped his belt buckle twice. His phone rang immediately.
"Is something wrong, Yagami-kun?" Wedy hissed with her sharp, icy blizzard of a voice.
"She's in the main observatory," Raito growled. "This is a trap."
"Relax, Yagami-kun. How is it a trap?" she sighed boredly.
"You won't be able to apprehend her with the blitzkrieg of riot police you're sending in," Raito reasoned in faux-frustration.
"There is a plan B, Yagami-kun," Wedy remarked. "Aiber and I are prepared for any situation. Do not underestimate our intelligence, if you please."
Oh, that woman made his blood boil…
"May I speak with Aiber?" Raito tacked on a "please?" as an afterthought.
He heard the creaking of her eyes as they rolled in their sockets. "Of course," she deadpanned. "Please hold."
"I don't have time to-"
"Heeeeeeelllllo?"
"Thank God it's you," Raito droned.
"Is it?" Aiber's refreshingly manly voice reflected. "Well, how about that?"
"She put me on hold," Raito grumbled resentfully.
"Oh, you poor baby," said Aiber.
"Listen, Misa is all the way up in-"
"Yes, yes, so I heard."
"So you what?"
"I heard."
"Then Wedy is…?"
"Two office chairs away." Aiber's voice then took on a faded, echoing quality as he leaned away from the phone and called, "Hello, darling!" into the room.
He really did.
Raito couldn't make this shit up.
Chuckling, Aiber returned his attention to the phone. "What else can I help you with?"
Raito chose that particular moment to have the most spectacular mental breakdown of his life.
"I just… I don't…" Raito stage-fought with his words. He heaved a shaky sigh and ran his free hand through his hair for good effect. "What… where's… I need to talk to my dad."
"Your father is biting his nails to shreds next door. Why interrupt him?"
"I think I'm going to die."
Aiber's voice softened into a more mature, paternal rumble. "Really, now?"
"Yes. I'm going to be a hundred feet up with a serial killer and nowhere to run to. I wish I didn't have to do this by myself, but…" Raito breathed a quivering sigh, "…I have to. I need to."
Aiber's voice smiled through the speaker. "Well, Raito-kun, I'm a detective, not a cheerleader. I won't give you a pep-talk unless I believe you have a one hundred percent chance of success, and I don't. You may very well die, but it is my duty to keep that from happening for as long as I can. I always do my job well. Right, Yagami-kun?"
"You're useless," Raito sighed appreciatively.
"Right, Yagami-kun?" If Aiber's voice had an elbow, it would be nudging him persuasively in the side.
Raito sighed and lightened his voice a little. "Right."
"Ah, Yagami-kun! I have yet to meet anyone who agrees with me as much as you do." Aiber sang jovially. "Please, do not worry. As Wedy said, we always have a plan of action. Contact the second Kira and we'll do the rest."
"Yes, sir."
"Oh, there you go, agreeing with me again. You're such a delightful person, you know?"
"Yes, sir."
"What a yes-man you are."
"Yes, sir."
"Will there be anything else, Yagami-kun?"
"…Aiber," Raito sighed, gripped in the sudden, cold throes of inspiration. Perhaps he was wrong and Misa could kill him. Maybe Aiber was actually planning to accidentally assassinate him and get it over with. The possibility was small and Raito didn't care too much about it, but he continued, "If I do die, please let Ryuga-kun go." He waited for any reaction from Aiber. When Raito was rewarded with only a patient, poignant silence, he elaborated. "I got him into this mess. If it weren't for me, he'd…"
"He'd still be sleeping in libraries, blissfully unaware of the catastrophe surrounding him?"
"Something like that."
"Oh, Yagami-kun, you make me sound like a slave trader. Your friend isn't in captivity. I haven't arrested him."
"I want you to leave him alone," Raito clarified.
"Ah. Now that is a different matter. Nevertheless, I will honor your wishes. If you die, I release Ryuga-kun from my slimy clutches, no strings attached. He will be able to depart this building and the industry of investigation altogether."
"You won't hold any grudges against him for being… associated with a suspect?"
"No."
Raito breathed a sigh of true relief. "All right."
"Good. Now that that's settled, onward, Yagami-kun!"
"Onward," Raito agreed weakly. He hung up and lingered like a ghost at the titanic base of the Tokyo Tower.
"Well," Matt puffed beside him, "Let's get this over with."
Raito paused and hesitated. Ryuzaki would dislike him immensely for it later, but he felt confident enough to send Matt packing. He was pulled under by the riptide of his curiosity. Raito was overcome with a sick, twisted inquisitiveness that was so powerful, it made him feel madly invincible. He needed to discover whether his hunch was right or not.
Raito had just enough nerve and insane courage to test her.
Raito could kill with only a face, and Misa couldn't kill him, but…
She could get Ryuzaki. Raito knew that she would use Ryuzaki to manipulate him. By sending Matt back to Ryuzaki, Raito gave his ex-mini-death a chance.
His ex-mini-death.
Raito would not allow Misa to delve into her bag of dirty tricks.
"Matt," Raito directly addressed the mini-death.
Matt tilted his head and studied Raito through his thick-rimmed glasses. "What?"
"Get back to Ryuzaki," demanded Raito.
"Back to L?" Matt gawped. An overjoyed, relieved grin flowered across his lips and he rocked onto his toes. "You'd let me leave? Seriously?"
"Go ahead."
Ryuzaki needed him more than Raito did.
"Aww, sweet!" Matt punched the air. "I owe you one, man. Thanks!"
"Just make sure nothing happens to him," Raito deadpanned.
Matt's eyebrows rose. He made no objection, though. Raito watched as the mini-death filed his veiled threat away in the more important section of his brain before nodding quietly to himself. "Will do," he announced. "See ya."
With that, Matt literally vanished into thin air.
----
When Aiber popped into L's gloomy lair for the fourteenth time that day and announced that he had good news, L wouldn't believe him, and L would be right to do so. "If Yagami-kun dies, we harbor no grudge against you and allow you to go wherever you like!"
A lie.
A good lie, but a lie. An untruth to keep Raito's mind at ease. L didn't mind, really, about being 'set free.'
He minded Raito's suspicion that he was going to die. Raito was most certainly not going to die.
"Raito is going to die?" L asked out of suspicion.
"One would hope not," mused Aiber from his spot in the doorframe, "But in the case that he does, he has made one final request, which I have granted, and that is for you to be left alone."
L would've responded snidely, but Aiber's introspective silence suggested that he had more to say.
"You know, I wanted to investigate you as well," Aiber shattered the peace. He paced into the room as if his mind was heavy with thought. "I've suspected Yagami-kun from the moment his father mentioned him to me. Oh, he was always so proud of his son's ability to think and perform well without study or practice. Yagami-kun had an innate genius about him, his father said."
Aiber perched on his desk like a ponderous falcon and observed L through his intelligent, raptor eyes. "I believe you possess that same innate genius. You are the Yin to Yagami-kun's Yang. You are quiet, thoughtful, and you prefer to observe the things around you, while Raito is a proud man of action."
L narrowed his eyes slightly. Where was Aiber planning to drag him with this nonsensical ego-bolstering? He could find no shadow of malice in Aiber's eyes, but a strange, unidentifiable, eerie fire. L watched closely as the blonde man lounged on his desk like a fat cat on a divan. He was so perfectly composed and confident, that L felt his own confidence gravitate away from him and become swallowed up in Aiber's self-assured orbit.
The blonde man took a moment to withdraw into the confines of his mind and reminisce. His smile broadened softly and he coiled a wisp of hair around his finger. "Hmm," he hummed, "Polar opposites can make the best partners, don't you think, Ryuga-kun? You and Yagami-kun remind me of Wedy and I. You collaborate effortlessly, you're the closest of companions, and above all, you can understand each other."
Aiber's eyes narrowed suddenly.
"But there comes a point when I grow tired of being equal with Wedy. Sometimes I wish I were alone at the top."
L tensed in his chair. He felt a claustrophobic glacier crystallize in his chest. Something about Aiber was changing.
No, he wasn't changing. He was discarding the layers of his comfortable, human disguise one by one, allowing L to adjust to the ugly monster he truly was.
"It is a pleasant loneliness, being so high up that no one can touch you," Aiber said with a nostalgic smile. "No one to bicker or disagree with you, no one to get in the way of your plans, no one to obstruct the wonderful view of all of the people you've surpassed… Ha. Competition. There is only competition between Wedy and me now. We allowed our camaraderie to go on so long, that we got sick of ourselves. The only thing that can release us from this Chinese handcuff is…" Aiber's smile twisted into a mockingly serene grin and he rested his chin in the palm of his hand. "…Well, you already know that."
Death.
L seized up at the sudden, diabolical reflection in Aiber's eye. The blonde man grinned like a wolf.
"Wouldn't it be nice if he died?"
L took a breath and held it, because he knew he wasn't getting another one for a while. Aiber was… what was he suggesting? Was he trying to persuade L to kill Raito? Why? How? Did he think L was Kira?
"Think of how easy you'd have it." Aiber spoke in waves of his fingers and arcs of his arms. "I'd let you off the hook, suspicions be damned. You would have no more intellectual competition. No one to argue with, no one to question your authority… Ah, wouldn't it be refreshing, Ryuzaki Lawliet-kun?"
Ryuzaki…
…Lawliet…
…kun?
Ryuzaki. Ryuzaki. Ryuzaki, Ryuzaki, Ryuzaki, Ryuzaki Ryuzaki RyuzakiRyuzakiRyuzakiryuzakiryuzaki-
Aiber's grin twisted into a toothy sneer and his eyebrows dropped low on his forehead. The blonde man hopped off of his desk with the grace and killing intent of a cheetah. As the mighty predator descended on L, his diabolical eye glowed again and L realized too late the futility of his actions.
"My name is Hideki Ryuga," L deadpanned.
That eye…
It couldn't be…
Aiber smirked.
"That's not what I see."
----
"Oh Raito-kun! Raito-kun!" Misa bounced joyfully. "I'm so glad you could make it!"
Misa's outward appearance calmed Raito somewhat. He refused to believe that something so cute and small could be so powerful. This reinforced his suspicion that Misa actually wasn't so powerful.
He knew what Ryuzaki would say. He'd call Raito overconfident and self-righteous. He would insist that Raito was wrong, and Raito could understand that. Ryuzaki worried about him.
Frankly, Raito worried more about Ryuzaki.
He tried to clear the worry from his mind as he stood with a demon behind the giant glass windows of the observatory. Misa wrapped her arms affectionately around his and hung at his side like a wet feather boa.
"Isn't it so romantic, Raito-kun? Don't you love watching the sunset?"
Not anymore.
"Yes, Misa. It's beautiful," Raito lied.
Misa sighed delightedly to herself and nudged her white shinigami in the side as if no one else was watching. "See? Isn't Raito-kun the perfect man, Rem?"
Raito studied Rem from the corner of his eye. He could tell by her dark, lilting voice that she was a woman, and he didn't quite know how to deal with that.
Like most women, she was an enigma to Raito.
Everything about Rem was frosty and clammy. She dismissed his presence with a cold shoulder and an eye he could never meet. Her hair glimmered like a bleached sea anemone and she reminded Raito of a predatory fish. She had the scales, spines, teeth, eyes, and temper of a poisonous, slimy coelacanth.
Raito did not like her.
"Misa, it is not wise to associate with such a despicable human being," Rem replied.
Raito brushed her insult from his shoulder like a fallen crumb of plaster. Behind that slur was a warning, and in that warning was fear. Rem disliked Raito almost as much as Raito disliked her, and that dislike sprang from concern for her master.
"Rem!" Misa puffed her cheek out and jabbed her knuckles into her hips. "Why do you have to be so mean to my Raito-waito-chan?"
"Misa," Raito interrupted with a soft, apologetic smile, "People are watching. You don't want that, do you? I mean, I'd rather feel alone, just you and me."
Misa's pigtails whipped through the air as she whirled around in a sparkly cyclone. "You mean it, Raito-kun?"
"Yes, I do," Raito smiled.
Misa squealed with joy. With a sudden, fiery determination, she turned to him with her hands balled into fists. "We should go to the special observatory! Then there won't be so many people and the sunset will be so beautiful!"
"Yes, let's," Raito concurred with his polite smile still in place. He'd have to buy another elevator ticket, but escaping the crowd was worth it. He and Misa, followed closely by Rem, bought their tickets and traveled to the highest observatory in the Tokyo Tower. Raito was surprised by how empty the little, round room was beyond the elevator doors.
The small room was unusually empty for this time of day, and Raito would soon learn that Misa desired to keep it that way. Cutely, she addressed Rem. "Rem-chaaan! Could you please empty the room for Raito and me?"
Raito swore he saw a ravenous flare light up her face. Rem silently obeyed. She took out her death note, scribbled something down, and all six people filed into the elevator at the same time.
Marvelous.
Morbidly, Raito wondered how they'd all die.
"The elevator will malfunction for thirty minutes," Rem informed them.
Half an hour alone with Misa.
Oh boy.
"Oh, Raito-kun," Misa charged into his thoughts with a boisterous, feminine sigh, "I'm so glad we can finally spend some time together!"
Finally? Raito had only been 'dating' her for a day, but perhaps Misa had been dating him for much longer.
After her outburst, Misa seized Raito in the affectionate ring of her arms. She kept unusually quiet, but in an entirely innocent, delighted sort of way. During Misa's display of burning love, Rem seemed to occupy half of the room. Her frigid, stiff presence seeped through Raito's skin and chilled him into half-gratitude for Misa's body heat. Raito found it difficult to believe that such violently clashing personalities could exist in peace with one another.
For five minutes, Misa clung to him in moonstruck awe. Raito disliked the amount of progress he wasn't making, so he cautiously broke the silence.
"Misa, did you really bring me here just to watch the sunset?"
Misa's eyes suddenly shot open and she stretched her neck against Raito's chest. She pouted at him like a five-year-old. "You don't want to watch the sunset, Raito-kun?"
"No, no, I'd love to watch it with you, it's just…"
Well?
Was he going to tell her about A and W's plan? If he told her, he'd gain her favor. While Raito still suspected Misa of being less powerful than he, perhaps she had some other tricks up her sleeve. Making an ally of her at the last minute wasn't going to raise A and W's suspicion that he was Kira. They wouldn't know. If he didn't tell her, he'd hurl himself onto Misa's bad side and consequentially drag Ryuzaki with him. Raito could care less if he was on Misa's bad side, but he would not endanger Ryuzaki's life.
Ever.
This decision to keep Ryuzaki out of Misa's mind sparked another argument in Raito's head. Would he dare Misa to kill him as he had planned on doing?
No.
Doing so would be a challenge to her authority. She would retaliate by making an example of Ryuzaki.
Raito would stay on her good side. With that decision, he spilled Aiber and Wedy's metaphorical beans all over the carpet.
"A and W are coming to kill you," Raito warned.
Rem suddenly squared her shoulders and lunged. Her cold, clammy claws latched around Raito's neck. A wave of panic struck Raito as she dragged him backward, but he calmed the rapid beating of his heart and swallowed his dismay around Rem's crushing fingers.
Misa refused to let go of Raito's arm. She glared at the white shinigami. "Rem! Put Raito-kun down!" she complained, punctuating her words with angry stomps of her thick heels.
"He has betrayed you, Misa!" Rem objected, curling her fingertips into Raito's skin. "No Kira deserves to be trusted. If he is telling the truth, I will kill him myself."
Raito made the best 'help me' face he could manage.
Moved by his agony, Misa beseeched Rem to release her beloved mortal. "Rem! If he was a traitor, he wouldn't have told us! He would've just let them kill me instead!"
Raito waited in crowded, asphyxiated silence as Rem contemplated her words. With a hateful growl, the female shinigami suddenly shoved him to the floor. As Raito coughed to clear the tightness in his throat, Rem stalked off to brood at a different window.
Misa thrust herself at Raito with such vigorous affection that Raito suddenly wished he was back in Rem's less oppressive grip. "Oh, Raito-kun," she bawled, "Are you all right? Did Rem hurt you?"
"I'm fine," Raito croaked and attempted to push himself out of his kneel.
"Misa, if he is telling the truth, what shall we do?" Rem asked gravely as she stared into the Tokyo skyline.
Misa smiled as if all was right and good in the world. She tilted her head cutely and squeaked, "Well, we'll just go back home."
…Go back home?
"What do you mean?" Raito asked urgently.
"Back to hell, silly!" Misa gave him a fond noogie.
She could go back? Just like that? Raito nearly slapped his forehead in frustration. Of course she could. She came to Earth of her own volition, and she could leave it just as easily.
"So you can leave?" Raito asked in earnest relief.
"Yep. It's easy," Misa grinned.
Raito sighed, faking the deepest amount of happiness he'd ever faked. "That's good," he smiled softly. "You'll make it out alive, at least."
Misa's glowing smile shrank into a concerned, wilting bow. "What do you mean 'at least?'"
Bingo.
"It… it's nothing, Misa. They'll be here soon. Just go."
"… Are they after you, too, Raito-kun?" Misa gasped. Big, glittering, wet diamonds welled up in the corners of her eyes.
Raito smiled sadly. "It's okay, Misa."
"Raito-kun!" Misa shrieked and threw her arms around his shoulders. She sobbed and shook her head against his chest. "Nu-uh, Raito-kun! It's not okay! Those stupid detectives can't take my Raito-kun!"
"Misa…"
"I can take you with me," Misa announced suddenly. She raised her glittering eyes and rested her forehead against Raito's. Triumphantly, she smiled. "We can go to hell together!"
Great.
Raito widened his eyes in astonishment. "But Misa… can you do that?"
"Duh!" she flicked a lock of hair snobbishly over her shoulder.
"Then… you would…"
"Yay! Raito-kun gets to go home with Misa-Misa!" the blonde devil rejoiced.
Raito faked his overwhelming excitement. He smiled ecstatically with Misa and pulled her into a tight hug. "Thank you, Misa, but…"
Misa pulled away and frowned. "But what?"
Raito couldn't leave Ryuzaki behind.
How to put it, how to put it… If Raito begged to take Ryuzaki along, would Misa get suspicious? If Ryuk had been filling her in on Raito's personal life, then she would already know the depth of Raito's care for Ryuzaki.
Would Raito endanger Ryuzaki at the very mention of his name? Maybe it was better if he left the ex-mini-death in the care of A and W…
No.
Absolutely not.
Leaving Ryuzaki with Aiber and Wedy was like leaving a lamb in a lion's den. If Raito and Misa magically disappeared, A and W would have no one left to blame but Ryuzaki. They had two courses of action. Either they could pin Raito's 'Kira' label on Ryuzaki instead, or they could hold him hostage until their original suspect showed up again.
Raito trusted Matt to take care of Ryuzaki, but against A and W and their army of riot police, special agents, and investigators, each having at least one gun in their arsenal, he stood no chance. He couldn't take the chance. Ryuzaki was much too important to him.
Raito loved him.
He would not leave him.
"Misa," Raito sighed and gazed sincerely into her wide, sparkling eyes. "I… I know I shouldn't ask, and I don't want to put you through more trouble than I've already done, but I have to ask. There is a friend of mine back at A and W's headquarters, and he's being investigated, too. It's all my fault. If I leave him…" Raito pulled Misa into a warm hug. "A and W will kill him. I don't want to lose my friend. It would make me very sad."
"But Raito-kun will be with Misa!" Misa crooned. "Doesn't that make you happy enough?"
Oh boy.
"Yes, it makes me very happy, Misa, but I wouldn't be able to live the rest of my life knowing that I abandoned someone." That ought to strike her feminine 'commitment' side. "I don't want my guilt getting in the way of our happiness."
Misa ogled him mistrustfully.
Rem announced that she saw a large number of flashing lights flooding the farther streets. Raito knew he had very little time to convince Misa, so he pulled his ace out of his sleeve. He knew that no less-than-holy being like Misa would cast his words aside.
"Please, Misa. I'll be forever in your debt."
The demon in Misa's eyes bore its twisted smile.
Debt.
Misa wanted it. For what, Raito didn't know. Did she want him to kill someone for her? Did she want to use his debt to buy her life further down the line? Again, Raito didn't know, but her cheery, excited, "Okay!" was all he needed to hear.
As Misa crushed him in another adoring embrace, Raito's accomplishments soothed the burning in his soul. He knew not what awaited him outside his own world, but he was willing to brave it if Misa stuck to her promise. At the mercy of Ryuzaki's critical eye and the sharp end of his wit, the inferno had no chance.
Raito and Ryuzaki were going to hell, and they were going together.
----
Chibi Misa: YEY!
Chibi Raito: YEY!
Chibi L: -still at crazy!Aiber's mercy- NO!
Chibi Matt: Where am I?
Me: You've arrived at the end of a particularly epic chapter of Death and His Shadow, and you survived! Hallelujah for you! Kudos and Snickers and cyber cookies for you!
Chibi L: We do enjoy your feedback. Please let us know how epic you would like your next chapter to be, and inform us of how epic or un-epic you think we're doing so far.
Chibi Misa: How's our driving? Call 1-800-I HEART U. Or simply review, because that's easier and you're all lazy.
Chibi Matt: What's wrong with being lazy?
Me: Nothing, if you review.
Chibi Misa: EHMIGAWD REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW!