B: Ha? Why delete it? Psh, it's good to know I've spread annoyance, ahaha~ Aw, I try to respond to all the reviews I can, so... ovo
You know, not many people felt that sorry for Sophia that I know of, so it's interesting to hear you actually got upset over it. I know the effects on BB himself are pretty terrible though... And they'll get worse. Aha.
Ah? I update every Wednesday, or at least I try to. Sometimes I update late, so I guess in some places it wouldn't be Wednesday? I don't know. But yeah, Wednesday is my update day, Wednesday and Thursday if it's a double update~ Ah, and it'll be a double this week, too~ In any case...I will do my best not to forget to update, then... ^^; Ahaha...
Oh, don't worry, I haven't been getting any hate. Earlier on I got some rational critique, but that was about it. ^^ I appreciate you care about that though. It's terrible that some good things have been taken down because of that... *sigh*
Ah, no matter! I like long reviews~
(Gosh...you flatter me... Really... ;v; Thank you...)
Serialkiller567: Psh, no problem. Ahh, I'm glad you like the original better~ Wahh, I feel special... I appreciate you still read, then...
PS - Ooh, those are good ideas. I'll add them to my collection of ideas for final story names.
Amy: Ahh, I love surprises~~
Whoo, I actually have more time to edit~~
A double update this week, as I have reached 200 reviews for this story! Thank you all so much for the reviews! I know I say this every time, but I really do appreciate it...
In any case, enjoy today's (short) chapter~
I awoke with a wheeze. My breath rasped, and I coughed. Well, that kept me up. I opened my eyes blearily, my senses dull and my thoughts still confused. Light could help me stay conscious, but he couldn't help me think; not with the drug still weakening the Bond. I took a deep breath, sat up, and looked around. "Am I in a basement?" I asked blankly, looking around at the dark, dull, grey, windowless walls that surrounded me. "Classy." I was currently on a mattress against the wall with a thin blanket folded beside me and a small pillow where my head had been when I was lying down. There was a wooden chair waiting near the wall. Perhaps they'd interrogate me. My eyes scanned the room, searching for any cameras. There's one…, I thought, eyeing a camera. Two… three… four… five. Five surveillance cameras. I'd better have some sort of privacy.
"You're awake," came Mello's voice on the speaker, and I grinned.
"Why, yes, I am."
"Do you know why you're here?"
"Well," I said, "you kidnapped me. Probably because you think I'm Kira, even though I'm not…."
"That's right. And don't think we believe you; we know you're working for Kira."
"But I'm not!" I cried. "Look, I get that the facts are against me, but I'm not!"
"You can protest all you want; we'll get it out of you however we have to."
"Interrogation, then?" I asked him with a frown. "Maybe even torture? How low of you. Interrogate all you want; go ahead. You won't get anything out of me because I have nothing to give."
"Even if you won't tell us anything, the fact that you, as Kira, have been kidnapped will affect the main Kira."
"But I'm not connected to Kira!"
"We'll see about that," he responded, and there was a little click. I pursed my lips.
After sitting there for a few seconds, I leaned back against the bare wall and sighed. "I wonder how long I'll be stuck here," I remarked.
Light was taken back to his apartment by Gevanni, and was allowed to grab some things to make himself more at home at SPK headquarters. He'd have to stay there for awhile after all. He was to be watched closely in order to ensure he didn't do anything remotely Kira-like. And this, Near said, couldn't be illegal because Light had agreed to it. And he had; he had even sworn that until Near was absolutely sure he wasn't Kira and wouldn't become Kira, he wouldn't go home. Light wouldn't have to go to work, and he would even be able to help in the Kira case.
I thought that how all this was going was almost like he was playing his own game against his alter ego, and that amused me. This in turn inevitably amused him too, if more slight than my own amusement. At least he smiled. And I liked making him smile. …Well… I liked making people smile.
Meanwhile, Sam and L were in their newest hotel room, both of them looking to the computer screen as the speakers beeped. Roger was actually in the room as well: he and the Bonded pair were discussing how L was balancing out the Sinful Murder Cases along with the Kira case. Roger was convinced he couldn't do both at once, and L and Sam were convinced that he was doing just fine. In any case, L headed over to the computer and clicked the button that activated the microphone, then tapped a few buttons to complete the connection. An N appeared on the screen.
"Near," greeted L. Roger wandered closer to better hear the conversation, while Sam just sat on the bed and closed her eyes, listening and still technically watching. …Just through L's eyes.
"L," Near responded. "I have contacted you to inform you that Natalie has been kidnapped."
Sam's eyes opened immediately, and she stood, heading over to look over L's shoulder, even though she knew there wasn't much to look at anyway.
"Mello is, of course, the culprit, according to Light…. Considering the mind sync, he can be considered a witness. Also, I am keeping Light in my own custody. He has agreed to be kept on close watch. I do believe we're getting somewhere, L."
"Good," L said. "Mello's method does not necessarily please me… but at least we're getting somewhere."
"And how are you doing on the other case you're working on?" Near asked. The question seemed to hold some weight. It was as though Near was really saying, "You haven't done much on the Kira case, have you? I'm assuming you did something productive?"
"We're doing wonderfully. The case will soon be over," L replied calmly.
"That's very good. Hopefully, the Kira case will be taken care of soon as well."
"Yes," L agreed. "Goodbye." And he disconnected.
There was a pause. "Whelp," Sam said eventually, "there goes Natalie."
Roger gave her a look.
Somewhere else, in front of a surveillance screen, Matt was lounging lazily and glancing at the image of me in the basement every so often.
"You know, that went pretty quickly," Sierra remarked. She was sitting in the chair beside Matt, with Mello leaning on the table with his hand face-down and a chocolate bar in his mouth. He was staring at the screen and smirking.
"It went well," Mello added. "We're doing well. This is perfect."
"I got to use chloroform," Matt said contentedly. "Therefore, I'm satisfied."
"Well, you might get to use it again tonight," Mello told him, and Matt turned his head to look at him.
"What for?"
"We're moving her to the chair. And if she wakes up, you can use it on her again."
Matt shrugged. "Cool. Whatever you say."
"Well, I'm just happy 'cause we didn't reach the final stage yet," Sierra said, rubbing her right arm with her left hand.
"But it'll happen soon," Mello frowned.
"Yep," Matt agreed, holding an unlit cigarette in his mouth as he reached for his lighter. "Not much longer now, and I'll be officially out of the loop."
"Well, no…" said Sierra with her brow furrowed, "…just…."
"Just not in touch like you two," he chuckled. "It's fine. Just weird."
Mello's gaze had shifted to the black cover of the Death Note. And that's exactly what it was: jet black, no silver lettering on it to indicate what it was. It was only a black notebook. It didn't even have the rules on the inside. Mello had asked Sierra about that before, but she had only shrugged. She didn't know either. It was a beautiful thing, though…. Funny how a thing with such power had been taken for Sierra's sketchbook multiple times. He and Matt had seen the thing, sure, but back then it only seemed like a sketchbook. Now it was so much more.
I'll get the information I need with this. If I'm missing something, Near will catch it just like I did for him last time. And we'll win. I'll make sure Kira gets the death penalty…. He glanced at Sierra. Or maybe just lifetime imprisonment, for Sierra's sake, considering her aunt's one of them. And it doesn't matter that Sierra was killing too, at one point. She's not Kira now, and no one has to know she was at all. And with the Death Note… no one can get in my way after this. He gazed intently at the Note again, snapping off a piece of chocolate with his teeth. And I'll win. I'll take her with me. We'll be at the top. We'll finally be at the top.
We'll be number one.
Anna came back to SPK headquarters the next morning, ready to work again, especially now that I had been kidnapped. She strode into the building with purpose, and waited impatiently as the elevator brought her up to the second floor. Her foot made a rhythmic tap-tap-tapping sound as she tapped it on the elevator floor. Eventually, though, the elevator door opened with a ding, and she stepped out and headed down the small but wide hallway and into the room that was main headquarters. Everyone but Near looked to her as she entered the room. Gevanni half-smiled.
"Welcome back," he greeted.
Anna was surprised to find that Light was also in headquarters. He was smiling at her. "Light?" she asked, walking over to him. "What are you doing here?"
"I'm here to help," he smiled. "I want to help catch Kira, too, and Near wants to keep an eye on me."
"Oh," she said blankly. "That makes sense. You won't be doing much here, though. Near doesn't get much done."
Halle frowned at her, but Light laughed. "I can assure you he's working hard, and he is getting things accomplished."
"Yes…," Near agreed. "In fact, there was something particularly interesting I was going to carry out today."
"Really?" Anna asked hopefully. "Does it… does it have to do with getting Aunt Natalie back?"
"Not necessarily," Near responded, and Anna was slightly disappointed. Oh well, at least they were doing something. "We will be putting Mikami on the news; making him a wanted man, if you will. The police will be after him, he will appear in the papers, and it will be suddenly much harder for Mikami to stay hidden with everyone on the lookout for him." Especially, he added in thought, when we have the other two Kiras in custody where they can't help him.
Anna frowned slightly.
"We will charge him with murder…. We won't mention he was in step with Kira; otherwise, I fear people may protect him."
"Makes sense," Gevanni said with a nod, and Rester also nodded his head in agreement.
Wow, we actually are doing something, thought Anna. She didn't feel quite excited, but this meant, at least, that they were getting somewhere.
She found Light beside her. "We'll get Aunt Natalie back," he assured her with a smile. "Alright?"
Anna smiled back. "Okay."
Fun Fact: Neither Original Natalie nor Tainted Natalie can really represent me anymore. I've changed too much, I guess? Even by the time I was writing these parts, I had a bit of trouble finding how Original Natalie acted, and had to go back to the first story to try and get it right. So really it's like I'm writing in the point of view of a completely different person.
Aw, Mello has undergone a change. Instead of saying 'I'll be number one,' he says, 'We'll be number one.' Wondrous.
Ahh, and double update tomorrow~~
Review? For Mello's development! Yeahh...