I know it's a couple days late. The last two days have been crazy busy. But here it is! This is a sort of two-part section. Enjoy.
Chapter XXII: Unclosing, part 1
Mihael Keehl
There were no sounds to be heard from the other side of the bedroom door. I knew that she wanted privacy, but it was a little disconcerting that the door was shut and locked, and there was nothing. No crying, no shuffling, not a thing.
I planted myself on the couch in the living room. It looked like it was barely used. I didn't feel like I belonged there. This was her world, and it had been L's, too. Not mine. But somehow, she blended into mine perfectly.
Will we ever, end up together? No, I think not.
There were a lot of things that I was questioning. But the most prevalent of those was what to do about this woman, here, with me, with a group of filthy criminals. The obvious path would be to get her home safe, but given her involvement with Kira, it probably would not be safe at all. The only thing that would let me rest easy was keeping her close to me. Not just for her safety, but for my own selfish reasons.
There were only a handful of people I gave two shits about in this world. One of which was Roger, simply because he was the only one who didn't seem to think I was an angry delinquent. No, he thought I was an angry genius. I guess I cared about L on some level. He treated me as a friend. I was the only person in that house besides Watari who ever saw him face to face as L. I had an idea of why he approached me. It was the only other person I cared about.
I never wanted to care about her. I wanted to hate girls. But unfortunately for me, she was not a girl. She was a woman. And for some god damn reason, she had to take a liking to me. She never treated me like a child. I was a friend, and somehow a protector. As time passed by, I grew to care about her more and on a level that at that time I was not willing to admit. Who falls for their mentor's lady? Not a good person.
A good person would not have looked at her like I did. A good person would not have secretly fantasized about their friend's girlfriend. A good person would not have mauled said deceased friend's girlfriend like an animal. But I am not a good person.
The moment was dreadfully awkward. She stood there and offered me a "hug". I don't fucking hug. She knew that. But it was partly my fault. I had gone and said that I cared. And if that wasn't shameful enough, what I did next was truly scandalous.
I remember leaning in very close. I had no idea what I was doing, but I just remember slowly getting closer and stopping just millimeters from her face. She was staring at me, like she knew. Like she wanted it. She certainly wasn't saying no. Her hot, frantic panting against my face was driving me crazy. So I broke. I grabbed her neck with my hand, and captured her lips. I believe I stopped breathing in that moment. I had thought about it many, many times, but the real thing was a million times better. I went too far. I knew I would. A good person wouldn't have done what I did.
I pushed her against the wall, and just started rubbing myself against her. I never wanted to have someone so much, but I didn't get the chance. Not until the next night. I had been an asshole to her all day, but I was feeling confused, and ashamed. I wanted her to not want me, so I wouldn't have a chance to lose control again. But she always came back. Even when I made her cry. I never felt such a sick feeling of guilt in my core. I knew that I had to say it. I had to admit it to myself, and to her, and just say it. I told her that I loved her. I felt lighter suddenly. Like a deep, dark secret was now hers to bear as well.
Good people don't do what I did next. Only selfish people. But that's what I am, deep down, selfish. I laid her down on the bed under me. I knew what I wanted to do. I could have had sex with any girl I wanted, but I didn't want them. None of them were interesting to me. None of them inspired me like she did. None of them could ever paint the vivid pictures she put in my head. I had gotten a taste, and I needed more. Her pale, soft skin was just too inviting. While it was happening, I could only hear music in my head. Like the soft, melodic laughter of a harp, in combination with abounding white noise. The words that I had admitted to myself and to her now echoed in my head, like a constant a chorus.
I love her. I love her. I love her.
It's never to be become, for I am not the one.
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Morgan Blackthorne
I opened the door, feeling drowsy. I walked out into the living room, to find Mihael where I had left him, sitting on the couch. His eyes were poised in concentration. My mind was still fuzzy and sleepy, but what happened next thrust it back into reality.
The door of the apartment blast open, and Matsuda fell on to his knees, panting, and frantic. I heard the dim sounds of police sirens gradually growing louder behind him.
"Oh god," he panted, practically in tears. "I-I'm so sorry."
"What?" I said. My stomach dropped with a pit of bad feeling.
"This...this was a set up..." He gasped. "Near...he's coming for you...he's very angry. He wants your head. Oh god...I'm in so much trouble...they're going to kill me for tipping you off!"
"You?" I practically screamed. "What are we supposed to do?!"
"Run!" he screamed, his hands on his head, grasping at his hair.
"She's pregnant, you idiot!" Mihael screamed at him. "I swear to god, I'm going to kill you!"
He grasped his head harder, and broke into desperate sobs. He reached into the pocket of his jacket, and dropped a ring of keys onto the floor.
"Take my car," he shuddered. "It's around on the other side of this building. You can't go home. They'll find you."
I reached down and picked up the keys. Mihael leaped up and firmly, but not violently grabbed my arm in a sort of protective display.
"Thank you," I said.
He grasped the carpet of the floor and shook with more violent sobs. Mihael and I flew down the stairs of the building, and ran around the side of the building. Using the car's horn, we located Matsuda's maroon Honda. Mihael started out of the engine and tore out of the parking lot.
"Where are we going?" I asked, eying the mirrors for police cars.
"Airport," he said. "We have to leave England. And we can't go to Japan or the States."
"Slim pickings," I remarked.
"Thank god for L's inheritance," he said.
He parked the car in the long term parking lot. He kept his hand around my wrist as we walked towards the building with haste. As we entered the busy airport, we inspected the flights that were leaving almost immediately. Most of those went to the States. But there was on that caught my eye.
"Bucharest," I said.
"Romania?" he asked. "What language do they speak there?"
"Romanian," I snickered.
"Shit," he said. "There are a lot of languages that I can speak, but that's not one of them."
"Let's not worry about it right now," I said. "Let's go."
As we bought our tickets for the plane, the woman at the check in counter eyed us suspiciously, seeing as we had no bags or carry-ons. She still let us on the plane, however, and after a three and half hour flight, we landed in Bucharest. Mihael got us a rental car; a very nice, black Jaguar. However, the recent expenses concerned me.
"Couldn't Near track us by our bank activity?" I asked, as I fastened my seatbelt.
"Nope," he smiled. "I put all of our money in Swiss bank accounts."
"Oh," I said quietly.
"Are you okay?" he asked.
"We're on the run now," I started. "And our baby is due in just a few months. I won't be able to move much. We have to be hidden, completely."
"Of course," he said. "I have it taken care of. I could practically shit money."
I snickered, and said, "I have some money from my family, and from when I used to work."
"You used to work?"
"Yeah, asshole," I said teasingly. "I didn't just sit on my ass all through college. I worked for a fashion designer. Natthia Lunivina. Really talented. I was her assistant. But I quit."
He raised his eyebrow, and said, "It sounded like a great fucking job. I know you love that fashion shit. Why did you quit?"
My eyes fall to the floor, and I bit my lip softly.
"He asked me to."
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The Romanian sunlight filtered through the white curtain and glazed my face. My hand reached out instinctively for the pillow next to me. My palm didn't land on soft blonde hair, but rather, a sheet of paper. I picked it up, and focused my eyes on the handwriting scrawled on the hotel stationary.
I had to go run some errands. I'll be back soon, hopefully before you wake up. Don't go down to the breakfast bar, just order in. Don't leave the room for any reason, it's still not safe. I can't risk you being sighted. Don't answer the door for anyone besides the room service guy. Not even the maid. Be safe, love.
I checked the clock. It was a quarter after twelve. He certainly wasn't back. Just be patient, I told myself. He knew what he was doing. Trying to calm my racing thoughts, I grabbed the phone on the end table next to me and dialed the front desk, and requested two muffins and a basket of fruit. I bit my lip, still wondering what could happen to him...
Ryuk
I watched the girl from the corner of the plain white room. She was a divine specimen on humanity. I could see why Raito, Near, and the blonde guy coveted her. She was like a Venus fly trap; attracting the unknowing insects with her brilliant colors, and then consuming them completely. Well, that wasn't entirely true. She coveted one of them, probably consumed with the ridiculous human emotion called love. What a waste. She could fill that seemingly insatiable desire for physical comfort with any little insect. She could be the perfect succubus. With dark, drowning eyes that spewed poetry, and long slender legs that bent like shiny spider legs. Simply divine.
She had something that I needed, something I had to hand over to an old friend. I could just rip it from her neck, write her name down, and be done with it. Or, go with the more brutal route, that wouldn't reward me with life, but more with thrill and pleasure. I could just wrap my fingers around her slender neck, and just snap her spine. It was amazing that such a beautiful predator could be so fragile. But perhaps that was part of her allure. I couldn't destroy such a perfect hunter. Not now. A creature like that deserved a death as poetic as her existence.
I watched her pick up the shining, cerise apple, flay the smooth surface, and take a delicate bite that ended with a wet crack of the severing of the moist white meat. My tongue danced wildly at the thought of the red fruit. I smiled at the approach of the incoming visitor. I laughed to myself as she flinched with the knocking at the door. Slowly, she approached it, like prey, suspicious yet so unknowing. She peeked through the peep hole, and then softly bit her lip. Slowly she opened the door to Matsuda, her next victim. I had never seen a hunt in person. I smiled and watched it unfold.
"Morgan," he panted, out of breath.
"Matsuda," she said, confused. She let him in and shut the door behind him.
"They got him," he said frantically. "The SPK. They captured Mello. I don't know what they're going to do to him, but I know where they're taking him."
She started to breathe frantically, looking frightened. He took her by the shoulders and led her over to the bed.
"You need to sit down," he said. "Just breathe. We'll figure something out."
"We?" she asked.
"Yeah," he said. "Me, and the rest of the task force are going against Near, to help you. Not just for you. But to show Near that he can't force us to do something we morally object to. Not one of us, after learning the whole story, thought you were a bad person."
He sat down next to her, watching her, observing her frenetic hyperventilating. Her heaving chest was working a mile a minute.
"Hey," he coaxed. "Take it easy. Let's just calm down now."
Slowly she brought her shoulders down and got control of her hyperventilating.
"I'm sorry, I just..." she whispered.
"It's fine, just chill."
I began to see the words that were refulging out of her eyes. She tried to resist her nature, but I knew she couldn't. The thoughts had already entered her mind, and she was considering it. It was all too tempting. And her prey was not fairing so well either.
"Whatever happened with Sayu?" she asked.
"We were engaged. It never worked out," he sighed. "At least, not right now. She's so busy with University, but it's her last year..."
"Yeah," she nodded. "College is hectic. I remember...where did Near take Mello?"
"The SPK is holding him in a maximum security facility just outside of town. That little asshole is probably going to send his little friends after me, but I don't give a shit anymore."
"With him, that's the best policy," she agreed.
"There have been whispers...and I have to ask you," he said cautiously. "Did you sleep with Near, on the day we busted Raito?"
She bit her lip shamefully and nodded. "He can be persuasive when he wants to be."
"How did Mello take it?" he asked. He was staring intensely at her.
I could see the guilt washing over her face.
"Not well," she said quietly. "It almost destroyed us. It really hasn't been the same since. That's mostly my fault. I just have so much guilt. It's not something I can take back. It happened. It's on my conscience, forever."
"Did he ever really forgive you?" he asked.
"Yes," she said, and pounded the mattress lightly with her fist. "That's what driving me insane. I deserve to suffer. I just wish he would punish me like I deserve."
"It sounds like you're taking care of that yourself." I smiled as he placed his hand lightly on her knee. "I'm just...shocked that you went that far."
"He said he loved me," she said. "And for one second, I sort of believed it."
"He lied to you, Morgan," his voice was filled with austerity.
"I know," she breathed. Tiny beads of dew formed at her eyelashes. "Sometimes...I just...lose control. Sometimes I just need someone to touch me, and I just want to feel wanted." A tiny drop fell from her lash onto her cheek.
She gasped with a tiny sob, and said softly, "When it's happening...it just feels like..."
"Like a dream," he finished. His eyes were sparkling, drinking up her poetry. And I knew it was time.
Morgan Blackthorne
He kissed me. It was soft, warm. Passionate. It felt like a dream within a dream. My breathing was for once, even. I needed to wake up. I couldn't. I felt too deeply asleep to move. I was still, just taking it all in. But I was jolted awake with the soft plop of an apple landing in my lap. I broke the kiss, and almost screamed. How could I? How could I have done this again? After I had just talked about it. I leaped from the bed and sprinted to the bathroom, holding the apple. Ideas of what it was were racing through my head. As I closed the door, I slid to the floor. I gazed at it, and then realized...I dropped the apple to the floor and began to breathe heavily, trying to control it. Shinigami.
I felt a flick of something light on my hand and turned my head. I screamed at the sight of two huge eyeballs. A large, long-fingered hand grasped my mouth, muffling the screams of terror. Ryuk chuckled, and then pressed his weight against me to keep me from moving.
"Poor little huntress, can't escape the big bad death god," he hissed into my ear. I was confused...why was he calling me a huntress?
"I might want to get in on this physical pleasure deal," he said. I knew what he was implying, given my situation. I screamed and fought harder, but it was no use.
"Don't worry little girl," he laughed in my ear. "It was a little joke. Maybe not? Who knows?"
I started to kick the walls, in hopes of attracting attention. It worked.
"Morgan?" Matsuda said through the walls. "Are you screaming? What's going on in there?"
I attempted to scream "shinigami," but my voice was completely muffled. I started giving up. I began to realize that my fear was only getting a rise out of him.
"Well, there's a smart girl," he growled in my ear. "Screaming is so undignified. A brilliant little creature shouldn't succumb so...brutally." He lifted his hand from my face.
"What do you want, Ryuk?" I said as calmly as I could.
"Well," he said, as he reached for the apple. He still had me pinned down. "I was hoping to see some sins of the flesh. But that's not going to happen."
"...you saw that?" I said quietly.
"Yep," he said, taking a huge bite out of the apple. "It was going to be quite steamy, I could tell. But I noticed one little detail. Matsuda's about to die."
"What?!" I yelled.
"Don't make me cover your mouth again," he said. "Here, have a bite." He held the apple to my lips. I sank my teeth in and took a small bite.
"Feel better?" he said. I chewed quickly and swallowed.
"No," I said. "I have to save him. I can't let him die."
"Silly, silly, silly girl," he laughed. "You have to let nature take its course."
"Matsuda doesn't look like he's about to drop dead by any natural causes!" I yelled. He pressed his hand over my mouth again.
"Shhh," he hissed. "I meant human nature. You can't stop death. And don't think about going to fetch him from Muu."
"Why not?" I said through his hand.
"It's not safe there," he said. "Your last little escapade attracted some unfriendly attention. When you went to see your old little boyfriend."
I stared at the ceiling, recounting my experience in my old apartment...but now was not the time.
"I need you to do something for me," I said softly. "You're probably the last person I should ever count on to do this, but you're the only one. I need you to take the necklace to Mello. I know I'm risking everything. I know there's a good chance that you'll take it to whoever you're working for. But if there's any hope of protecting him, I want to use it."
"No worries," he said. "I'll do this for you. I kind of need you to win."
"What?" I asked.
"You'll find out soon enough."
I lay still as his massive hands touched my neck. The cold, bony flesh elicited shudders, squirms, and slight moans.
"Oh, we have a squirmer?" he chuckled. He unclasped the necklace. The cold metal brushed my skin lightly as it came off. He touched my shoulders lightly. Fear was growing inside me, but I didn't protest. He ran his long fingers down my chest, my stomach and down to my knees. I moaned weakly in fear. He smiled.
"You'll find out soon enough," he whispered. And then, got up off of me, and dissipated through the wall.