AN:3/ I own nothing! Besides Kaguya, I mean.
Kaguya: RYUK! Put me down *Lots of crashes* You PERVERT!
Ryuk: Hyuk, hyuk, hyuk!
He has the laugh of a serial killer. POTATO CHIPS. On with the show!
"Aw, come on, Kaguya. Talk to me. It's boring here without conversation." Ryuk prodded her with a curved claw. She pulled the covers over her head and tried to shut him out. How could he? She'd become fond of him during the time they'd spent together, almost thought of him as a friend. And he was using her, that's why he was so eager for her to use the Note! Honestly, she felt like a complete idiot. The shinigami was just part of the rest of them, the ones who only saw that she wasn't standard order.
"Go away, fish-face." Her voice was muffled by the thick comforter. "I hate you."
"Do you want an apple?" Ryuk simply couldn't comprehend what he'd done wrong. Sure, he'd picked the girl because people were afraid of her, but that wasn't anything to get mad over. At least, not in his mind. "They gave us a whole bag full just now." He rambled on, hoping to engage her. He wasn't used to this. She loved to talk, always going on and on about one thing or another and randomly switching topics without warning. The silence was wearying. "The Shinigami realm should get room service, wouldn't that be great? I could just imagine calling up a human butler and ordering apple-flavored everything and it's there in thirty minutes or else he forfeits half his lifespan!"
"That's the thing, Ryuk!" She shouted, throwing off the blanket. "That's all you do is think about killing! Have you ever thought that maybe that's why shinigamis are so miserable? It's no way to live, but you throw death around like a cheap hooker. Maybe if your kind put half an effort into something other than taking lives and playing God, then you guys would have fun. The shinigami realm may be crumbling, but who says you can't save it? You all are too interested in death to care about the life around you. In order to appreciate death, one has to love life." She panted heavily, her rant wore her out and the rush of emotions had left her drained and numb. She fell back onto her pillow.
Ryuk pulled back the covers. "I do love life." He protested fervently.
Her face was blotchy and wet from crying. "Prove it, then."
"I will." His claws grasped her face, making her look at him. They were inches apart and she could feel his breath on her face. "But I'm a shinigami and I have to hold my own. There's nothing I can promise because I'm not on any human's side. All I can tell you is that you won't be killed. Even that's pushing the limit, but I have to admit I've taken a certain liking to you, girl and that's worth a bit of risk. You're better than Light ever was, not sure why, but you are. We're gonna win this and when we find out who it is, then you'll get to say checkmate."
She sniffled a little. "Is it sad that that's probably the sweetest thing that anyone's ever said to me?" She hiccuped and her shoulders shook a bit. "You have a strange way of apologizing, Ryuk, but I forgive you anyway." Kaguya smiled weakly at him and he grinned back. "Fish-face, what the hell am I going to do with you!"
"Well, you could start by telling me what a hooker is." He dead-panned.
"Uhh..."
He threw his head back and cackled. "Aw, just kiddin'."
She smiled and turned on her boombox. It had been a gift from a certain pink-haired individual on her birthday about three years ago. Since then, the thing was her default relaxation technique. She popped in a CD she favored and it automatically went to the song that she'd last played. The waltz-like music wafted through the air and Twist's teasing voice as he taunted Beethoven made her heart swell as always. "Do me a favor Ryuk." She asked, pausing the music for a moment. "Come down here, I want to show you something."
As soon as his feet touched the floor, she came up close and dragged one of his hands to her shoulder and the other to her waist. "What the hell?" He exclaimed, a strange grin plastered on his face. "Are you coming on to me, girl?"
She snorted."As if, fish-face," She rewound the song and pressed play. "I'm teaching you how to dance. Now, follow my lead." They whorled in circles to match the weaving beat. The good point about teaching a shinigami a waltz was the fact that foot-squashing wasn't really a big concern. However, those teeth were unnerving at that proximity.
"So what's with the impromptu ballet lessons?" He inquired as he spun her out.
She laughed quietly as the music changed to Mephistopheles' chanting monologue. "Nothing. This album just always makes me want to get up and move." Now that he'd gotten the hang of it, he was actually very good. Must have had something to do with all of those acrobatic stretches and gymnastics he could do in midair, she mused. He was, damn it all, more graceful than those ultralong limbs would imply. "Besides, this is a waltz, not ballet. There's much more jumping and tippy-toe dancing in ballet. I'd probably break my ankle if I attempted something like that."
"Why? Weak ankles?" He teased gently as the next song's opening notes played. It was Vienna, one of her absolute favorites (except Requiem The Fifth).
"I happen to have quite sturdy ankles, thank you very much, sir." She replied indignantly. "It's just that I'm a bit untrained for all of that. Ballet is hard work."
"So is waltzing." He told her, moaning in an exhaggerated fashion. "I feel weak. Quick, fetch me an apple! My soul will die if you don't!"
He twisted himself up like a pretzel, his arm forming a near-complete knot with his left leg and his back curved like Quasimodo. Rolling her eyes, she bent over to fulfill his needy request. Almost immediately, she straightened up and faced him. "You just touched my bum!" She accused.
"I might have." He confessed with a smirk. "Whatchya gonna do about it?"
"You pervert, here's your apple." She purposely threw it at his head. The boombox was unplugged and she sat down to work on her studies. Things were more or less normal. Which isn't exactly what someone would expect when one is involved in a police investigation. No one really needed her, she supposed, not until L had done whatever he'd mysteriously alluded to earlier.
Kaguya wasn't exactly sure rather her life was compromised at the moment or not. There was no way to tell if this second generation Kira was as ruthless as his predecessor. Although, similarities might have been drawn between the two. The previous Kira had been working off of an illusion of a perfect world without crime or sin while this one most likely imagined one without pain, hardship, and suffering. While the intentions were noble, the road to hell was paved with good intentions...or was it the skulls of unbaptized babies? Maybe that last bit was Dante's Inferno speaking.
In any case, she was going to be under lots of surveillence, but there was an upside. She put away her books now that she was done with homework and brought out a pair of nylon hose. At least house arrest gave her a chance to work on personalizing her new wardrobe. She brought out scissors, thread, a needle, and fabric glue. Ryuk watched with fascination as she ripped, frayed, and embroidered her way through two pairs of new jeans and a shirt.
The finished products were adorned heavily with black lace trim or faux fur, ribbons, badges, and fashionable rips everywhere. "I wish I had my iron." She mumbled around a hatpin as she glued a few seedbeads to the front of her shirt. "Sure, I was allowed scissors, needles and needle-nosed pliers, but I wasn't allowed to bring my ironing board and iron.." She paused for a second. "Hold the phone." She spit out the hatpin and grabbed for her hairstraightener. The poor thing never did get to see much use, but now she grinned gleefully as she cut out an iron-on decal from her considerable stash. She clamped the fabric between the ceramic hotplates. "I am a fashion genius!" She declared proudly.
Not even thirty minutes later, she grunted and bemoaned her situation as she attempted to fit a pair of nylons over her head. "I don't think they're supposed to go on that way." Ryuk snickered from his lounging position on her pillows.
"I know they're not supposed to. That's why I cut a hole in the crotch for my head!" She struggled with the tangled mess, one arm in and one arm out of the mangled hosary. "If I could just pull this little rolled up piece right here down." She fought against the nylon in vain. "Ryuk, help?"
"Should I cut it off?"
"No!" She said horrified. "I paid 600 yen for these! All I need you to do is pull them down so I can figure out where I need to cut the holes for my fingers." She pointed to a black roll at the top of her chest. "Just kind of pull that down a little and then hold out the other leg so I can wiggle my arm through."
"I have a feeling that you might have had an easier time if you'd taken your shirt off." He informed her after she had done the necessary modifications. "It wouldn't be as if I'd see anything new. In the shinigami world, we watch human porn all of the time-"
"Stop. Just be quiet." She began to turn a little green. "I don't want to know what kind of boredom would lead a shinigami towards watching humans doing carnal acts."
He grinned, seating himself crosslegged on the floor beside her workspace. "Boredom's not always what drives us to being voyeurs."
"Oh, God, I am not having this conversation." She groaned and accidentally stabbed her lip with the hatpin.
"Forbidden apples are always the sweetest." He quipped, crunching an apple core to emphasize his point. "The Shinigami King decreed that sex with humans is forbidden, as is Shinigami sex, but what he doesn't know won't kill him. There's been plenty of cases-"
"Ryuk, please, stop."
He ignored her and continued. "And usually, if we love a human and try to save them by writing in the Death Note, then we perish."
She sighed and turned around. "What is your point with telling me that?"
He stared at her and at first she thought he might finally be without a witty retort, but then he was so close. "Your lip is bleeding." He swiped his thumb over her bottom lip and it came away spotted with red.
"Your fault." She muttered. "You distracted me, I had a pin in my mouth."
"I do have a habit of distracting you, don't I?" Ryuk winked in he must have thought was a rogue-ish way and effectively ruined the moment.
She pushed him back and went to work again. "Oh, be quiet. Make yourself useful and hand me the craft glue."
Near had never been surprised in his short life. Even when he was a small child he'd been able to predict people's actions and use them like pawns. Although, his flawless record of manipulation and predictability would crash and burn before the new arrival had been there a whole night.
And he would certainly not forget when she came crashing through the door with the shinigami's taloned hand superglued to her cheek, his left wing stuck determinedly to her right shoulder, and their hair gummed irrevocably together. "Please, help." Pleaded the Kaguya half. "This genius decided to experiment with my craft glue."
"How did you-" He peered closely at their strange situation, as if they were frozen while playing the game of Twister. Left hand blue, Death Note green... "Never mind, Watari.."
"Yes, si-" The older man fell silent. "Oh were you two doing?"
"If you can believe it, making a skirt." Huffed Kaguya with annoyance. "Now please free me."
Nearly an hour and a half later, Kaguya was still snapping at Ryuk. "My hair looks like a spasmatic weasel on crack cut it." She held out the uneven strands that Watari had been forced to sheer off. "Plus, now I'm going to have to re-dye it because that glue was stuck to all of the streaks. Do you know how much hair dye costs?"
"In case you haven't noticed, girl, I'm not in much better shape." One half of his spikey hair had been reduced to a quarter of its length. "I look like one of your friends gave me a haircut."
"There is NOTHING wrong with mohawks." She argued loudly. "You could've gotten it worse, your wings might've had to be clipped." He yelped, clutching his freed wing. "Well, it was your own dumbness."
"I'm not dumb." He shot back.
"You're right, you're special." She replied sweetly. Watari and Near exchanged glances as they watched the bantering pair leave for their own room once again.
"Perhaps," Near said as he glumly knocked down the castle of blocks he'd made to represent Kaguya. "I should find those two a babysitter."