(Reason for delay: eye surgery left me blind and in pain for a while.)
Platinum Light
Japan's brightest student wants to end it all into the nothingness of death. Unbeknownst to him, where death is, there exists life and second chances...
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Disclaimers: If you wish to read Platinum End, please support the official release. Please be wary some scenes are not for kids, so teens and up are advised to read.
Rating: Teen. Violence and mentions of violence. Language is not a worry.
Length: 3500 words.
Notes: How do you feel about headcanons? They really begin in this chapter. Also, let's switch from mystery to thriller and suspense. By the way, I think this series brings out the worst in me. I've had thoughts like, Stop sittin' there crying and murder! among other things.
(Answering comments cuz I keep forgetting:
1. I like callin' him Bakahashi Mirai, like another Shinji Ikari, but he's alright, I guess. I find it difficult to read series where the main character hates the scenario he's in instead of embracing it, ergo this. Concept is pretty cool, though.
2. Awesome username. Two: Light will face off against L and the 13 Candidates. I will do my best to make it thrilling like the original series.
3. It's not that the police are believing the stories, it's more like suspicion. Criminals are suddenly dying + a game of Godhood? It seems implausible, but it won't hurt to investigate both crimes. I doubt INTERPOL would care about Japan's new fad, though; they're the top dogs in the police world.)
Volume I: Light
Chapter IV
Advance
Humans will do anything for power, anything for greed. Heck, entire nations were found under the prospect of gold and riches. So why should he ever hesitate to reach untold wealth and success? Because then, then he will never, ever be faced with poverty again. No longer would he have to be cautious about money and settle for the cheapest piece of crap due to his lack of wealth. He could dictate others on how to spend their money! Let them suffer as he once did.
Then he heard the rumors. But "heard" is an understatement. He never liked to listen to others below him, for their words held no weight or meaning. What a homeless man proclaimed on the street meant nothing. What a mother said wistfully about her children meant nothing. Yet as he rode on the bus to work, car totaled from a stupid accident, he heard two girls whispering about "Godhood."
First he thought they were religious fanatics and his lip curled in disgust. Bits and pieces of their hushed conversation entered his ears. He concluded that somehow this sort of "Godhood" could be claimed - that was the rumor, at least. He waited and waited for them to reveal the how but soon the girls got off way before his stop. With cold sweat making his back damp, he decided to pursue them. He put on his hat and played on his phone, straining to hear the girls. In the distance, their school stood. Time was running out. Maybe he should just back down - he could not. He was enthralled by the prospect of Godhood.
He saw how cheap their school was built. The earth around the building had fractures, be it from old concrete or earthquakes. He was offended by stepping on the grounds of such a wreck and stopped the girls. He lied to them about knowing that their parents were dirt poor (their faces turned white). He offered them money...on the off chance they gave him information.
The girls were reckless. They grabbed the money after checking no one was around and explained that their classmate told them anyone can achieve Godhood - if they survived a suicide.
At his job, he felt repulsed by the idea of killing himself and failing to do so and for falling for a stupid rumor as well, made by poor girls. Even so, his hands itched and burned, his mind roamed, if the suicide didn't work out, there would be no harm done, right? Needing to calm his mind begging for answers, he called an ambulance and stared at the bathroom mirror. Pill bottles lined the sink like he had an addiction problem. Well, he certainly had a problem, to be swallowing pills while his co-workers ate...If the hospital was 15 minutes away while this quantity of pills could cause death in 7 minutes, he waited until 10 minutes passed, poured a wide array of pills in his hand, and gulped to wet his dry throat.
The pills were cold and slipped in his grip with their smooth surfaces. He hoped he wouldn't be put on suicide watch or anything god-awful as that. A part of him remained livid at the suspicion this thing was a lie made by some angsty teen.
"If I die, least I don't gotta see beggars anymore. Don't gotta see my stupid co-workers. Don't gotta see...myself anymore." Before his confidence could falter, he swallowed the pills, choking, shivering at the cold tablets crawling down his throat. His heart rate shot up. The edges of his vision started to go black. What had he done to himself?
"This is not your time to die just yet," called a voice, deep and sending trembles down the man's spine. "I understand you better than yourself. You haven't had problems with living in a long time."
He looked up and saw something that had to be a hallucination. Between his gagging and his shivering, something resembling a male with encompassing wings - pointed and white like canine teeth, having a dark green aura surrounding its contour - radiated above him. Looked like mold gone wrong. Everything about its presence felt amiss.
"This suicide is a fake suicide. I am not required to save you...were it not for my talent." The being's eyes were bottle green and looked sickening. "I'll keep you alive only if you accept my offer.
"Yes, you'll participate in the Candidacy, Kyousuke. I want you to win most of all," the thing smiled.
I never should've killed myself. Never should've...
He's been locked up, limbs and neck completely immobile despite him insisting he never got wings. He would have escaped now. All Higuchi listens to are his guardian angel's delusions or the questions a warped voice demands him answer.
. . .Platinum Light. . .
The audience watches the performer with a mix of disbelief and fear. The performer bows deep and grandeur, trench coat slightly billowing in the small breeze, and he smiles wickedly. He flicks his wrist, beaming at the trick up his sleeve.
"Someone has been killing all the criminals," the preformer says, smile stretched too wide. "I wonder who that could be? What's his name?...Kira? How stupid of you all! What kind of name is that? It will be forgotten to history!"
The audience seems terrified, sensing the fine hold the man has on his sanity.
"And so? What do you think I am? I can control your minds with a gesture. What else can he do? you wonder."
The performer meets the eyes of one audience member. The member's eyes are full of guilt, just as it should be with sinners.
"What else can I do?" He pays no attention to the answers he receives. He spreads open his fist. Beyond the audience's eyes is a glowing shape remnant of the three-dimensional kite polygon. It is transparent. It glows white. It hovers just above his fingertips.
Eyes locked on his target, he wills the arrow to go
- the boy's eyes see a sparkle...before his body goes completely numb. He falls, no one attempting to catch him - ah, they back away - and it does not hurt. Nothing hurts besides the fact he's dying. It was going to be his 18th birthday tomorrow, and still...
The audience shrieks. The ones who did not see what happened start screaming and straining to see the scene. Multiple people have their phones on and recording.
"He died! He died!"
"That's one elaborate joke, what the heck?"
"There's no heartbeat! Oh no..."
"I posses the same ability. Whoever this wannabe God is, I will not yield to you!" thunders the man, above the crowd. "Tell your friends, tell the world, I am Mikami Teru. I am God and I will deliver due justice!"
"This guy is completely nuts...!"
"Call the police! Call anybody!"
"I'd rather be led by Kira than you, jerk!"
"You are not aware that just last night, that a teenaged boy, now dead, killed a person in an attempt at robbery! My justice is quick and immediate! Do you dare depend on someone's whose judgment is late? You prefer men to be trapped in cells while I can deliver divine punishment immediately? Do you?"
A new form of terror seizes the audience. What can you do when the insane start to make sense?
Fulfilling his purpose, he extends his wings covered in a purple gossamer and launches into the sky as light.
Who is this person? Are they trying to make me seem weak? Make me seem like I'm not the God of this world? I won't allow it. I will visit every Japanese citizen and show them my supreme justice! I will destroy you, red omega. Or shall I say "Kira?"
. . .Platinum Light. . .
White arrow. He has the white arrow. His angel must be -
"L, regarding the recent video, what do think of it? The police are beginning to suspect Mikami Teru is not Kira, nor is Higuchi Kyousuke."
Watari's voice momentarily startles L. "I suspected the same. Though Mikami appears to be able to kill in an unusual way: instantaneous death. Same as Kira. Either they do work together and his performances are red herrings, or Kira and Mikami share a similar power," he rattles off, glad to share his thoughts with another human.
"I see. And regarding the police? They want to know without doubt Kira lives in Japan."
"I know. I've been thinking."
"Any thoughts, if you mind me asking?"
"I have a few. Nothing much to put into words."
Mikami's little stunts has gotten his mind whirring. All L needs is to lure him out in a place no one else besides a native could know. Unfortunately, Japan isn't tiny. There are many places to check and secure. What if Kira misses L's stunt? No, that cannot be a possibility. He has to be like Mikami, attention-grabbing. If the crazy man could summon a mass of hundreds, L would have to summon a few thousand. And with that, an idea is born.
. . .Platinum Light. . .
Things are becoming complicated, the high school senior thinks, walking up the steps to his home and slipping inside. His mother and sister greet him from the kitchen. He waves back, seeing Fény drifting in the hallway.
In his room, the angel blurts out, "Ever heard a thing called K-drama?"
"Korean drama? Is that what Sayu's watching? Good grief." He powers on his computer, ready to search for more criminal locations.
"At first I was offput by all the melodrama," Fény continues, uncaring if he listens, "yet my emotions were prey to the drama. I could not stop my heart from aching. It was impressive, I will admit. I very much disliked not being in control, but for something to affect me like that is a notable feat."
"And how about the way I make you feel?" the boy responds, half listening.
"You are my human. Of course your actions affect me very much. As I said, I wouldn't be much of a guardian angel if I hated protecting you."
"It's invigorating how the police struggle to figure out the culprit," he hums. "I haven't felt this alive in so long. I'm being myself. I'm not evil like those men, I'm myself. And the world will become a better place for it, Fény."
"Ah," she smiles, "it makes me happy to see you are living again."
"If I were captured, no bonds can hold my powers. I'll escape and resume my efforts. Even if it's only 999 days, I will make an impact."
"Mm-hmm," she agrees, missing the hidden tone under his words.
"Fény," he calls, his brown eyes as dark as midnight, "would you do anything for me?"
"If that is what it takes for you to become God," the angel says carelessly.
"Would you kill someone if I told you to?"
He waits in silence for his angel to respond. She seems tired of topics that do not provoke immediate interest. She combs through her hair and responds, "Yes."
"Would you kill Mikami for me?"
"Oh, that. No. Angels are not allowed to interfere that directly in the Candidacy."
Disappointment feels bitter. "Understandable."
"You could be eliminated. I wouldn't want that. Did I upset you that much? You are not usually this oblivious."
"Oblivious?" he sputters.
"There is a massive flying contraption outside, more ominous than airplanes and other flying metals."
The senior rushes to the window and gazes up.
He sees red like the color of Fény's eyes. It is massive. It hovers above his neighborhood in silence, tethered to a building off in the distance with a cord withstanding high wind speeds. It is a gigantic blimp with a white capital omega plastered on its body, the amount of surface area taken up magnifying its importance.
Red Omega is just outside his doorstep.
"Fény, hide! What if he sees you from here?" the boy whispers harshly. Fény ducks away from the window with a sour look. The boy returns his attention to the blimp, scanning it for any kind of movement.
"I have returned, the almighty omega now in the sky. I have brought with me news. Thanks to my previous broadcast, seven challengers have attempted to find and kill me. As I am still alive, it is easy to understand what happened to the others challengers. They never knew what killed them. Never knew who I truly was. But as that leaves us with approximately five more Candidates, let's hasten this game to my Godhood, shall we?"
Once again on his screen is the same white background with the same character in the center.
"Seven Candidates dead? Fény, can you tell?"
The angel's lips are small. Her eyes are focused in another world. "That can't be right. It hasn't been long since the start. Surely we can't be down to five..."
She doesn't know either. How can he react to this, without all the pieces of information? What if Red Omega lies? What if all 13 Candidates have not been located yet? Obviously whoever has the most information is the most powerful person. L, you bastard, I know it's you! What are you playing at?
"Within the blimp that covers Tokyo, Japan, I have 7 criminals onboard, each armed with either wings, arrows, or both. Each of these 7 criminals will be released to cause havoc on the public. I will not stop until the remaining Candidates force their weak wills to face me."
"Oh my," Fény whispers. "He knows the secret. You are free to steal powers of other Candidates once they die. Their power is yours until you give it up or die."
The senior gazes at the television, pale.
"You may not know this. Killing the criminals will only return the power back to me. I will find more criminals and release more. Are you aware of the time limit that a human can have your powers before returning to yourself? 99 days."
"99 days?"
The senior watches his puzzled angel with interest. "Is he wrong?"
"Rules have never interested me much. I prefer following whatever I like most. I can't remember if his words are true." She hesitates, wanting to add more but remains silent.
"So come on and face me. I know of three Candidates already. Higuchi is in custody, the careless fool. But he knows he can escape with his wings. And Mikami, do you want to fight me? Show me your strength? What of the infamous Kira, who despises criminals? Surely you'll kill me now. But as you watch your screens dumbfoundedly, I will release the criminals starting now."
The screen changes to doors located somewhere in Japan - certainly not on that blimp - and one person exits. Halos, like angels, cannot be seen by non-Candidates. However angels can be seen by other Candidates. Halos have selective visibility, but Candidates can see halos as well.
The senior sees a golden halo hovering around the criminal's neck: the halo for wings. Wings alone cannot cause damage. But a criminal armed in dangerous weapons can cause fatalities being faster than human speed and matter itself.
He launches into the sky. The senior's gut twists knowing some criminal is now free to murder people for 99 days or death.
No...
"Undoubtedly clever," Fény comments, not entirety positive or negative. "Should you act upon this?"
Another criminal comes through and the senior knows this person. Haruga Shinsuke is on his hit list for shooting random crowds of people who provoked his pet peeves. On his wrist are two halos: red arrows to manipulate and white arrows to kill whenever he wishes. Instead of flying off in bravado, Haruga steps away with a cocky smile.
No. No.
"Do you still not try and fight back? Useless. What if I had an innocent, then? I'll give them a power they can't begin to understand. I will red arrow my criminals to kill this innocent. Will you act then?"
The innocent that steps through the doors has a halo around his neck the color of waterfalls. He walks with a hunched back and dirty clothes. His hair is wild and unkempt.
"Shall I give this man a name? Would a name give you nightmares of how you Candidates did nothing while he dies for you? Who is truly the worst person here? This man is known to many as L Lawliet, the great detective."
L stares at the camera that watches his person with empty eyes, dark shadows pronouncing the lines of the exhaustion on his otherwise youthful face. A surgical mask hides the lower part of his face.
"Wow!" Fény holds her cheeks. "I am impressed Red Omega has captured your enemy! He seems far more productive than you. Unless...do you have flying machines as well?"
"That can't be L." The senior's fists tremble. He's losing his control and his confidence. Knowing everything is supposed to be his thing. Intelligence defines him as a person. Intelligence cannot solve a situation such as this where there is little to no information to work with. "That - That has to be a proxy or a stand-in! Red Omega is L! That is a phoney!"
"Yes, yes, your evidence-less assumption. What if he isn't L? That is still an innocent that will die. If you consider L to be only a statistic, what is the use of saving one person while millions die daily? It is all right if you chose nothing. This person means little to you."
One innocent shouldn't matter -
It isn't about the innocents, it's about the boy's growing need for a sense of control and dominance. He feels weak. Helpless. He doesn't want to feel this way. He doesn't want to not know anything. His plans are slipping through the cracks.
"Human? H-Human? Ah, - " A voice the sound of bells calls his name and he awakens.
Red wings shine as red as the blimp outside. The boy dashes to the sky, quickly reaching lightspeed to become a formless blur of color. He aims for the tether keeping the blimp still. The velocity of near lightspeed shreds the fiber. But it won't do to just release the blimp. He searches across Japan to find Red Omega's hiding place: a lonely island building in the middle of nowhere. "L" is surrounded by three more criminals who are prepared to murder him under the effects of the red arrow. Without hesitation, the boy kills the criminals and leaves "L" to survive. He is an innocent. There would be no use in killing a face he knows nothing about. The boy quickly flees to his room before cameras can catch his appearance.
Meanwhile L saw the white sparkles even under a blazing sun. The criminals around him collapse, dead. He is not.
I see...
The camera before him turns off. L immediately turns on his microphone.
"Gentlemen of the police station, I have no reason to doubt our Kira resides in Japan. Thanks to the scare of the man hiding behind omega, Kira definitely operates in Japan. There can be no doubt. Our broadcast was shot in one place, in complete Japanese, and our location found within ten minutes of broadcasting. We will immediately consider establishing our headquarters in Japan."
. . .Platinum Light. . .
Things were supposed to be so much better in Japan. Ever since he was in high school, he wished for a Japanese family of his own. He worked for his dream and it came true. It was like a fairytale.
But now, now some kind of serial killer resides in his homeland. He refuses to leave Japan and this case. He is an enforcer of the law, no matter if the world thinks it is above it. He refuses to let this case, and by extension, the world, down.
Soichiro Yagami is the Police Chief of the Kira Investigation Task Force. Working beside L (who dabbled into the rumors of Godhood too much for his liking) and police forces from all over the world, he is confident Kira will be caught soon.
Tonight, he rests for the first time in two weeks. He makes it home, wiped out, and finds himself at the dinner table. His wife looks loving and patient. His daughter is enthusiastic. His son looks after his education and father proudly.
"How's school going, Light? Still studying to become a police officer?"
His son smiles into the cup of tea. "Actually ever since Kira happened, I'm really interested in becoming a detective. Rumor has it L is working with you all. Naturally he or she takes the most difficult and unusual cases."
"Ah. I think you'd make an excellent detective, son. I believe in you."
"Thank you. As corny as this sounds, I already feel satisfied with everyone believing in me."
His daughter teases her brother. His wife scolds her playfully. Soichiro, in all his delight and carelessness, fails to see his son's sly look to an divine angel that hovers above the table, silently watching.
Chapter End