Sorry for being so slow on the updates! Tech week for my play got in the way and totally messed with my schedule. This was originally part of chapter three, but it was verging on ridiculously long, so I made it into an interlude, I hope you enjoy.

Shinigami Uller always liked the rain.

Sure, it was as transient and insubstantial to him as anything else in the human world, but it brought up his few pleasant memories. For example, it was raining the day he met her.

It seemed fitting that it would be raining the day he lost her too.

Eriko had assured him they would see each other again soon, brushing off his concerns on the basis of believing that L and Light were both 'far too smart for their own good' and one was sure to take the other down before too long. Uller hadn't felt nearly so sure.

But more then that, he wondered who it was that would wake up tomorrow with her face. Eriko had possessed the Death Note for almost eight years, and it had shaped her personality as much as any other experiences she may have had. Uller realized that he had no idea who she would be without it, or what she would do, but he didn't think she had realized it yet. The Eriko Yamazaki who possessed the Note was manipulative, calculating, and selfish, but she was a certainty, and that had made him comfortable. Losing that certainty… made things difficult.

Uller shook his head, dislodging the raindrops that had gathered on the brim of his hat. There wasn't time to ponder the millions of things that could go wrong with Eriko's 'Plan'; he had to make sure she would be safe.

Upon having that thought, he lept from the top of the office building he'd been perched against and took off into the rainswept night, his single, bedraggled wing accusing him to lurch to-and-fro like a drunken raven. Even as his meager pace, it didn't take him long to locate the Yagami house among the countless buildings of Kanto; he'd been there plenty of times with Eriko, and it was easy to find his way by memory. Upon reaching the house, he passed through one of the upper walls and into Light Yagami's bedroom, causing the other otherworldly inhabitant of the room to jump in surprise.

"Wha?!- Oh, hey Uller, long time no see. You really shouldn't sneak up on people like that though, you might give someone a heart attack *hyuk hyuk*." Ryuk chuckled at his own joke, recovering from the scare Uller had given him and rising to float a few inches off the ground in an effort to make himself the same height as the taller shinigami.

"Quiet Ryuk!" Uller growled lowly, "Do not wake him."

Ryuk scratched his head with a long, clawed finger, "Huh? Oh, you mean Light? Don't worry, he hardly gets any sleep these days so when he's out, he's REALLY out." His ever present harlequin grin stretched wider, "What happened to you anyway? Have you really been following that girl around for the past eight years? 'Cause that sounds really boring…"

He produced and apple seemingly out of nowhere and shoved it, core and all, into his gaping mouth. Uller almost couldn't believe he'd forgotten how much he disliked Ryuk, but despite his feelings about the other shinigami, he pressed on, orange eye narrowing in annoyance.

"You want to know why I'm here?"

Ryuk swallowed and shrugged. "Yeah, a little, but I figured you'd tell me no matter what so why waste time asking when I could be eating apples? Now either tell me why you're here or leave 'cause you're starting to freak me out."

"I need you to promise me something." Uller said flatly.

Ryuk burst out laughing at that, causing Uller to cast a tense glance over to the bed, but Light merely groaned and shifted slightly in his sleep. "You can't be serious. What could you possibly want from me? And more importantly, why should I care?"

Uller felt his patience snap. His hand snaked out and caught Ryuk in a vice-like grip around his throat, abruptly cutting off his gravely chuckles. His eyes widened in shock as the patchwork shinigami leaned in close and fixed him with a furious glare.

"As of now, Eriko has relinquished ownership of the Death Note. You will promise me not to reveal any knowledge of her involvement or my presence to Light Yagami, or I will not hesitate to kill him and you. That is why I am here, Ryuk. Do you understand?"

Ryuk phased out of Uller's grasp and reappeared a few feet away, rubbing his neck and glaring at him, "Fine! I get it I get it don't tell on the human you've been stalking for the past eight years, Sheesh! " He shot Uller a look of confusion (at least, he thought that was what it was, it was hard to tell with Ryuk sometimes). "You were always boring, Uller but you never used to be so weird. Did you catch some weird human thing hanging around that girl for so long?"

"Don't try to understand my motivations Ryuk. I dont try to comprehend yours."

"Fine" He replied, mouth stretching into a sharp grin, "I wasnt planning on telling him anyway, its much more fun to watch him get mad when he figures things out on his own. Now, was there anything else you wanted to growl at me about? Or are you done?"

"No."

"Good because-" Before Ryuk could say another word, Uller had phased through the wall and back out into the night. As he did, Ryuk grabbed another apple and floated casually over to the window, chewing thoughtfully as he watched the dark shape fly off into the rain, lurching as it did.

"So THATS where he's been," Ryuk chuckled, eyes shining yellow-red in the darkened room. "Heh, this is going to be sooo interesting…"

He can be kind of a jerk but I like Uller, he really does just wanna help:) and as for Ryuk... well, who DOESN'T love him.