Shinigamis are real, but you already knew that.
Enfer
| I have my own matches and sulphur, and I'll make my own hell |
IX
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"Deushi-san." Nao freezes. "Fancy meeting you here of all places." Slowly, very slowly, she turns around, blank eyes staring at the man, clad in a black suit, who's just called her out in the middle of the street.
"Higuchi-san." There are very few moments where Nao feels it; the fear. Not because of the man per se, but because it seems so unlikely that she would run into him here and now. "It's nice to see you again." And so soon – three days prior, she hadn't even known the man.
Higuchi Kyosuke, Vice President of Technology at Yotsuba, smiles at her. No, it's more like a smirk. The first time she meets him, in the middle of the Yotsuba Group's lobby, Nao finds that there is nothing pleasant about that man. Even here, in the middle of the busy Tokyo street, he seems awfully wicked.
"Did you just finish school? Hatori mentioned that you were still a student." She's on her way to the Task Force Headquarters, you know, the one where they plot to catch Kira (when L isn't bored or depressed). Not like she'll tell him that.
"Yes, I'm meeting a friend, but she's running late." The lie comes out effortlessly and Nao can almost convince herself that it's the truth, that the chill that runs down her spine is because of the cold October wind.
Perhaps she should explain how she lends herself in this situation.
It starts when Light, who is too smart for his own good, finds a pattern with recent Kira related murders (she won't point out the fact that the one most invested in this case happens to be Kira himself). Prominent Japanese businessmen have been dropping like flies, the Yotsuba Group's stock prices have risen and if someone can link Kira to that, it's definitely Light.
Finally, because that means that the detective has something else to do then finds new ways to make her crazy. To be honest, she doesn't care if Kira is a chicken right now, she'd just glad that L's attention is on someone other than her.
What Nao doesn't factor in is this – no one in the Task Force can have a plausible reason to infiltrate the Yotsuba Group. No one except her. So, her father happens to be the one who designed the building. So, he also happens to be good friends with the President of the organisation. Her father has many friends in very high places just like any other important man in this world.
But with Aizawa gone from the team and with L's restless behaviour and Light's angel-like smiles, Nao finds that saying no is just not an option. It's painfully easy for her to arrange a meeting with one of the Vice Presidents and show up in a tight pencil skirt, claiming that her friend, read here Misa Amane, is an upcoming model and that she would very much like to be the new face of the company.
And of course, Nao being the good friend that she is, with her father's ties, would try and use her influence to make it happen – it's a simple plan and it seems to work just fine because no one would suspect her of all people to be tied to the Kira catching Task Force. L seems very pleased with himself and Light tells her that he'll protect her any way he can.
"Ah. Well, if you're not doing anything right now, would you like to accompany me to lunch?" What she doesn't expect is him, Higuchi Kyosuke, Vice President of Technology Development, and the fact that she seems to have caught his attention.
She wants to say no. She wants to say that her friend will be there soon, that she can't right now. But Higuchi doesn't seem like the type of man to accept 'no' for an answer. That, plus the fact that the Yotsuba Group seems to be tied with Kira and that Nao enjoys not dying from a heart attack – she can only nod her head.
"Sure." There are very few moments where Nao's head screams danger, but this is one of them. "Let me just call my friend and say that I'll meet her later." He nods his head.
"Of course." His voice wants to be pleasant, but everything about him is forceful. Nao whips out her phone and presses the third number on speed dial.
"Ha, Misa-chan." From the other side of the line, she hears Light's voice pauses from his mid greeting. "I was just on my way to meet you, but I ran into someone from the Yotsuba Group." She fakes cheerfulness. "Yes, what a coincidence." Is it really? She doesn't think Higuchi followed her, but you never know. "Anyways, he asked me to have lunch with him, so I'll be a little late. Maybe an hour or two." She hears whispers in her ear. "Yes, I'll try to promote you. Don't worry." She fakes an eye roll, is fully aware of the eyes on her. "I'll see you later, ja." If she doesn't mysteriously die first.
"Your friend seems very enthusiastic." Higuchi says with a smirk. "You should know that we agreed to have her from an interview." She blinks as he extends his arm to her. It feels like walking around with the devil.
"Oh, I'm glad. Thank you." Maybe she should reconsider her career choice, maybe she should become an actress. Nao's never had to lie so much in her life. It seems Kira really does bring out the worst in people.
Higuchi guides her to an fancy restaurant down the street. For all her troubles, at least she gets free food. It almost makes her forget that she's dining with the devil. Oh, it's been so long since she's eaten duck.
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Nao needs to stop spending so much time with mass murderers. Higuchi Kyosuke isn't so bad, not on the surface anyways. She makes it through lunch without collapsing because of a sudden heart attack.
"Nao-chan. I was worried, we all were." Light crowds her the moment she enters the Task Force Headquarters, followed closely by Matsuda and Chief Yagami. She blinks at them.
"Oh, well, I'm fine." To be honest, not much happened. As promised, Higuchi bought her lunch and asked her random questions about school and her father. Maybe that's why she's such an easy pawn, maybe it's because not much can phase her. She answers the businessman's question in her usual fashion. No one could ever suspect her.
"What happened?" She smiles at Soichiro Yagami. It's sad that he's more concerned for her than her own father. No, that's not it. Her father just knows better than to be concerned, knows her better than anyone in this world.
"I had duck – the expensive kind." Stunned eyes stare back at her. She wants to roll her eyes. Her afternoons are spent hanging around a Task Force who is operated by the narcissistic detective. It's a little late for concern. "And Higuchi-san made me promise to go out with him some other time." Not promised, but she figures the man will wrestle it out of her somehow.
"Woah, Nao-chan." Matsuda looks at her with wide eyes. "You managed to infiltrate the Yotsuba Group without arousing any suspicions. Amazing!" But wasn't that the whole point? Isn't that why she dressed in a very tight, extremely uncomfortable skirt and went straight into the lion's den?
"Well, Nao-san is very gifted." She rolls her eyes. L is sitting at his desk, looking over papers, not bothered at all than she's just spent the last two hours with one of his suspects. "I didn't expect any less from her."
"They've agreed to have an interview for Misa-chan, by the way. Her agent will get a call soon about scheduling a meeting." She looks at Matsuda who nods his head. As far as anyone is concerned, Matsuda is Misa's manager.
The shock wears off eventually. People stop crowding her and she's free to let herself drop on one of the couches, her bag dropping to the floor. She hears noises around her, shoes on linoleum floors and chairs sliding, she wonders if there's cake around somewhere, knowing Watari; there is.
"That was reckless behaviour, Nao-san." She blinks at the detective who takes the seat in the arm chair next to where she is. She rolls on her side, looks at the piece of cake he's just pushes on her side of the coffee table and the fork stabbed in it. "Perhaps, Nao-san can be a little more careful next time." She shrugs her shoulders.
"You were the one who sent me to the Yotsuba Group." So, it's really not her problem if it backfires, if the results are not what he intended. He keeps putting her in dangerous situations, what does he expect?
"Yes, for you to promote Misa Amane. Not to have lunch with the person who is most likely Kira." He nods his head, black eyes wide and almost innocent. "I cannot protect the queen if she decides to move on her own." Ah. They're back to the chess metaphors now. God, she really hates that game.
"I didn't it. The king should just accept the consequences of his actions. It's because of his move that the queen ended up where she did." Yes, because without him, she would have never found her way in the Yotsuba building, would never have been introduced to Higuchi Kyosuke, wouldn't have recognized him on the street.
Actually, when Nao analyzes the situation, she finds that it all leads back to him. She's never had any interest in the Kira case, would have been perfectly fine never thinking about it. If she'd never found that cellphone, if she'd never picked it up, if she'd just followed her first idea and left it there – none of this would have happened.
But maybe this is the universe punishing her for passive outlook on life. If she'd said no from the start, if she'd put her feet down and made herself clear… just thinking about it gives her headache. No, she's already dug her grave, now she can only lie in it and placing the blame on someone else than herself will only anger her, dull her senses.
"Nao-san?" She looks up at the detective, sits up and reaches for the fork in the piece of cake. Actions have consequences or, in her case, the lack of actions has consequences. Nao is lazy at times, passive even, some people have called her cold, her father says she can be manipulative.
And she doesn't want change, won't change, especially not because of mass murderers who can kill with a name and a face and narcissistic detectives who play her like she's just pawn. Her attitude has served her well for the last twenty years and she'll make it out of this with that same one.
"Vanilla?" She says, swallowing the first bite of cake. The detective blinks at her and then nods.
"Yes, Watari said you were fond of it." And, because Nao is her usual self, she accepts that answer and continues to eat the cake, not at all bothered by the fact that there's a twenty-four-year-old detective hunched over the arm chair, staring right back at her.
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Misa Amane rubs her eyes.
"Are you okay, Misa-chan?" The blonde nods her head, blinks away what looks to be pain and sends Nao a cheerful smile.
"My eyes feel a little itchy, maybe it's the new mascara." Nao takes a sip of her coffee and nods. "Misa-Misa tried this new brand, but it's not so good. I wanted to look extra pretty for my interview with the Yotsuba Group today."
"You're always pretty, Misa-chan. You'll dazzle them." The Second Kira suspect beams at her. There doesn't seem to be anything wrong with her eyes, just a little redness in the inner corner. Nao takes another sip of coffee.
"Ne Nao-chan. Will you come with me and Matsu to the interview?" And she looks so hopefully happy that Nao can't really think of a reason to say no. Besides, she's the one who made the whole thing possible in the first place.
"If you want me there, I'll come."
"Nao-chan!" The blonde throws her arms around her, singsongs her name. "You know, I never had girlfriends before, most of the girls are jealous of Misa-Misa. But you and I are best friends." Her eyes widen. "We can be sisters, ne?" She holds up her pinky, sending Nao a dazzling smile.
For a moment, Nao pauses, placing the teacup down on the table gently.
"That sounds nice, Misa-chan. I've never had a sister." And with that, Nao holds up her finger and crosses her heart, hopes to die. Misa claps her hands while giggling like a child.
"Nao-chan is the best. Oh, I'll go redo my makeup. The itching is making me crazy." And with that, the blonde run towards the bathroom and Nao can only stare at the disappearing blonde. She reaches for the cup again, takes a sip.
Uh, she didn't expect it to work this fast.
Five hours later, Nao is seated in a chair in the Yotsuba Marketing department, enjoying yet another cup of coffee while Matsuda tries and fails to play it cool with businessmen in suits. Misa is her usual self, making grown men fall over themselves with her cute smile and cheerful voice.
"Deushi-san." Higuchi Kyosuke sits next to her, a bit too close if you ask her. She smiles. "I hoped I would see you here today." Of course, you did. But she doesn't say that. Instead, her eyelashes flutter.
"Well, Misa-chan is almost like my sister. I'm here to support her." She steals a glance towards the blonde, who looks so much at ease with the attention on her. "I think your friends like her." Which pauses the question, why isn't he over there with them? Nao understands that most men would choose Misa Amane before her, actually loves that fact.
"Yes, well she is very beautiful." He tries to be suave. "But I'm more interested in you." Well, obviously, but the question is why? It's not that Nao doesn't understand her appeal. She knows that she's pretty. But Misa is beautiful and cheerful and actually loves the attention, not Nao.
"Oh?" She smiles, plays it calm and cool.
"If you're not busy after, I'd be happy to take you out." She's about to say no. "Your friend and her manager can come. We can even celebrate. She's pretty much guaranteed the job." From the corner of her eyes, Nao catches Hatori Arayoshi flirting with Misa. Nao's pretty sure he's married with children.
"Okay, sure." Misa will love that, won't she?
Of course, she does. Misa jumps up and down as Matsuda stutters on his words. Nao ends up in Higuchi's car, Matsuda and Misa trailing after them in another one.
"Deushi-san, what do you think of Kira?" People just love to ask her that question, don't they? But Nao's had enough practice that she could answer the question in her sleep.
"Honestly? I wonder how he does it, you know the heart attacks." She catches Higuchi's smirk. "But besides that, I don't think about it too much. People die every day and I'm not going to cry for criminals." That seems like the right answer.
"You want to know how Kira kills, Deushi-san?" She nods, even if she really doesn't. "Could you reach for my bag?" Uh? She finds the leather briefcase not too far from her, reaches inside.
Her cellphone rings at the exact moment and she wiggles it out of her jeans' pocket.
"Nao-chan!" Matsuda's voice is frantic. "Nao-chan, Misa-Misa just collapsed! She said something about her eyes and just fainted, I have to take her to hospital." But Nao barely hears his voice, she can't concentrate.
Because, in the backseat of the car, when she steals a look in the mirror, she realizes there is something sitting behind her seat, hunched over and curiously looking at her. The content of the briefcase spills over her, the tiny black book lending in her lap.
Silver letters spell out Death Note.
a/n : Cue cliffhanger! Two updates in two days? What, what is happening? Nao has touched the Death Note, Misa collapsed, L is acting like he cares, shit is about to hit the fan. I'm happy people like this story! For once, I'll let you decided, should L live or die? The decision is yours. Let me know! And drop a review, those are always nice. Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed!