AN: FLASHBACK(S)! Sweet, this chapter is actually a decent length...
Also, any and all random parallels were made on purpose.
January 31, 2010
1:00 PM
...Well.
Of all the things that Mido could have predicted would happen, this was definitely not one of them.
For three days, Kira had disappeared. Occasionally there was a day or so where criminals weren't killed, but never two. Three days in a row meant something was going on, and Mido was very concerned about it.
So he'd done the rational thing and--for the first time in several years--visited the NPA office to talk to Soichiro Yagami.
When he got to the front desk, though...
Yagami was dead, and had been for some time. The receptionist had been willing to tell him that much after looking in the NPA database and finding Mido as a former employee, and the doctor really didn't feel the need to learn any other details. He'd been just about to leave the building, still without an answer about Kira, when one of his former colleagues waved him down for a cup of coffee in his office.
"So, do you have any idea what's going on with Kira?" Mido had asked.
"Eh." His friend shrugged and took a large sip from a styrofoam cup. "It looks like maybe he's gone, but it's hard to say for certain."
Mido just nodded.
"Shame," the friend continued, "his last victim was a genius guy who worked here."
"Really?"
"Yeah. Finished at the top of his class at To-Oh and everything. His dad died a few months back, so his own death has been a real shock to everyone here."
"...That's a shame." Mido looked at his shoes because he couldn't think of much to say. His dad, eh? "Purely out of curiosity, what was his name?"
"Um... Yagami? Yeah, Light Yagami."
Mido's head snapped up.
He knew that Soichiro Yagami was definitely dead; there was absolutely nothing that Mido could do to change that.
He also knew and realized that he owed Yagami a great debt. Throughout his younger life, the doctor had continuously found himself staring at the ceiling each night asking why the hell he wasn't dead. He should have died several years ago, really, if certain forces hadn't intervened... It made him question what he was supposed to do in his life. But all romanticism aside, Yagami had fixed that: Mido had figured out his purpose because of the proposal that had been offered to him so many years prior.
And lastly, after talking with his colleague a bit longer, Mido was quite confident that Light Yagami should not have died--it seemed that everyone close to him had absolutely adored the man, and as the precise last victim of Kira everyone mourned him. After all, he'd only wanted justice served.
But for that, he'd paid with his life.
"I know that his family is probably planning on cremating him," Mido slowly allowed, "but... could I use his body? For research on the Kira case?"
To those that knew him, it didn't take a genius to deduce what the doctor was planning to do.
...
...
February 14, 2011
8:26 AM
Light couldn't believe that he was actually alive.
It was a bit of a jarring experience, dying and then waking up in an underground hospital, of all places. He hadn't known what would happen after death, but he felt really lucky at the moment.
"And your name is...?" asked a man in a white lab coat.
Light remained silent. If he'd learned anything from living in a Kira-fearing world, it was never give out your name.
Seeing the look on his face, the man began to laugh. "Good! You're smart enough not to fall for that, at least."
Wait... This guy had been testing him?
It reminded Light of L.
The man had a bemused expression on his face. "Tell you what," he said, "I'll tell you my name if you tell me yours."
Light raised an eyebrow. "Oh... 'kay..."
The man extended his hand. "Doctor Takeshi Mido."
"Well..." Hesitantly Light took his hand. "Light."
"Yagami, right?"
Light sat straight up and almost bolted out of the place.
"Whoa! Jeez, you won't be able to walk for at least two weeks!" Gently the doctor eased Light back into the hospital bed. "Okay, I admit I cheated a little: I knew your name when I got your body."
My body? "...Huh? What are you talking about?"
Doctor Takeshi Mido's face held a thoughtful expression. "I'll... tell you in a minute." He shook his head and changed the subject. "Do you want something to eat? Drink?"
"Um... Yeah..." Light really needed something to wake him up. "...Tea, please. With extra sugar."
Light couldn't help but notice that Mido made a strange face at that.
February 28, 2011
5:37 PM
He still couldn't believe it.
Not only had Light woken up after dying, but he'd ended up in the old investigation building! The whole situation was getting to be beyond strange now.
Mido had gone out that afternoon to do something, his assistant was busy with the supplies man, and his secretary was moping around until the doctor got back (If Light were to guess, there was some romantic feelings involved, but anyway...). Point was, he had gotten really bored just lying there, so he'd attempted walking for the heck of it. And then, lo and behold, he'd discovered that he knew the password to the door by the stairwell!
He got an incredibly creepy sense of dejá vú standing in the old investigation headquarters. He kept glancing down at his wrist expecting to find himself attached to L by the handcuffs--
"LIGHT!"
Mido was running up the stairs so quickly he nearly missed Light standing in plain sight in the center of the ground floor. In his eyes was a scared gleam Light had never seen before.
"Oh, thank God! Light, you won't believe this, but Kira's back!"
Light didn't believe it.
No, that wasn't it: he refused to believe it. No matter what that--that... that PRICK Near had told him on the day he'd died, Light knew he wasn't Kira.
Yet somehow...
He hadn't particularly noticed at first, because he seemed to avoid searching for certain things in his head, but now there was no point in denying it: there were some glaringly obvious gaps in his memories. It wasn't too bad, but once he tried to think beyond his high school graduation, sometimes he simply couldn't remember.
Especially the day he'd died.
He believed with every fiber of his being that he'd been framed as Kira. It explained why Near had accused him, it explained why the whole investigation team had last looked at him with hatred in their eyes, and it explained why Matsuda had tried to kill him on the spot.
At least, he sure as hell hoped he'd been framed.
It was the only explanation he could handle to comprehend.
May 28, 2011
6:20 PM
Light absolutely could NOT understand how it had come down to this!
He didn't know the man's name, but it was apparent that Misa had been stupid enough to let a psychopath live in her apartment!
Light didn't love her--hell, he didn't even like her--but after his death, for her to start LIVING with this guy? He knew her at least, and he wasn't going to let her throw her life away!
With completely noble intentions, he "borrowed" a Beretta he knew Mido kept in a desk drawer, took several thousand yen, and ran outside to hail a taxi.
6:35 PM
Light couldn't believe the sick bastard lying at his feet.
He'd shown up at Misa's apartment not sure what he was going to find, but a drunk man that kept on trying to hit him with a frying pan... It wasn't exactly what he'd expected.
Which led to a rather nasty confrontation on Misa's bedroom's floor.
With Mido's gun pointed at him (even though Light had taken the bullets out), the man refused to listen to Light's questions about Misa and instead kept believing he was being robbed. "Please! You want money? I got jewelry! In the bottom desk drawer! Or just cash?"
Light narrowed his eyes. "Shut up, you stupid man! I just want to know where Misa is!"
He hiccupped, as if to demonstrate that he was a helpless drunk. "Oooh! I know! Someone like you could do okay with a notebook that kills people, right?"
Light put the gun to the man's forehead. "Really," he said sarcastically.
"That one on top of the dresser! I swear to God it kills people!"
That was the breaking point: Light had had more than enough of this guy. He reached for the notebook the man had mentioned. "You idiot! I'll show you how to kill someone using a--"
Light... didn't believe his luck.
The Death Note and all of it's memories belonged to him again.
"Hello, Ryuk," he said smoothly to the newly visible shinigami in the doorway. "I would have brought you an apple, but I didn't have the slightest idea I'd see you again."
For once, Ryuk seemed completely speechless. "Um... Light... I, uh, kinda killed you last year...?"
Light shrugged it off. "I'll explain later." His cold gaze returned to the man on the floor. "But first."
The man's eyes were wide as Light walked over to him.
"Now," Light said as he loaded the gun, "we can do this one of two ways. Either you tell me your full name or I put a bullet through your skull."
The man didn't even hesitate. "M-Mamoru Miyano! My name is Mamoru Miyano!"
Well, he might be stupid, but at least he knows what he's dealing with.
With a few swift pen-strokes, the man named Mamoru Miyano was as good as dead. "And... where is Misa Amane?"
"She's dead, I swear! She died a few months ago on Febuary fourtee--" Miyano was cut off as the Death Note took effect.
"Shame," Light murmured. "I might have had another use for her... Come on, Ryuk," he said as he walked calmly out the door, careful to not step on the dead body. "Let's find you an apple."
6:49 PM
Several blocks away from the apartment, Light stopped in his tracks.
"Um... You okay?" Ryuk asked. Clearly the shinigami was still a bit unnerved that Light was really alive.
Light pulled out the notebook and wrote down nine English letters. Ryuk actually cracked a smile when he realized what Light was doing.
Nate River.
"To answer your question, Ryuk," Light responded with a half-crazy grin on his face, "I've never felt more alive."
AN: Epic explanation is epic! And totally cannon to the rest of this story too.
You see why I wanted to write the whole thing out before posting it yet? (And heck--I just realized I didn't make any mention of Light's injuries from being shot and all... meh, whatever. Mido fixed him up somewhere along the line.)
If you love it, hate it, are lost, etc, the solution is always to review!