*Light's POV*
Fingers traced my injuries gingerly, our bodies huddled close for warmth in the cool winter morning. Bodies ached and bruised from fears and pleasures. Kisses traded in heated rushes.
We had never managed to find sleep, but I didn't mind. The relief of being here with L was enough to have me rested. The feelings pooled in his dark eyes were enough to keep me going for the rest of my life.
And the night had consisted of passion, apologies and explanations of the explosive days before, of more about Anna and her crew, the condition of the other task force members, about my family, making sure I was ok, and about Ryuk and the death note.
Anna had met her lover, Hiriko, in 2008 in Laos. Anna was a hired assassin and then began bank robbing for a high. Hiriko attended all of the bank robberies as a hostage as well. It was a Bonnie and Clyde story. The police had the plane they were on brought back to the airport and there was a shootout on the plane, killing both of them. No one else was injured, thankfully.
Matsuda was praised for having done something right, but I had never seen him as a bad cop. He was just over excited and wanted to help more than he could. So his answer was no surprise to me. He didn't overthink anything, like he always did. He just did what he thought was right and was willing to risk his life to get it done, saving me in the process.
And Aizawa was able to get everyone else out of the building before the explosives went off. And though he gave doctors a scare, he was alive and slowly healing. And Watari said that no one knew that L had helped with the case in anyway, shape, or form.
I had left Japan sooner than I had planned, but my family, though sad, seemed to understand my want to go back. Though while still in Japan, my mother wouldn't let me out of her sight and blamed herself for me being stuck in the robbery. She also thought that I would need massive amounts of therapy, and though this wasn't the worst thing that had ever happened to me, I was already going. I might as well make my mother not feel like she was a horrible person for unknowingly asking me to do a chore.
My father was happy I was safe, but didn't put much more emotion into that. I knew he was relieved though.
As for my sister... When I wasn't wrapped in my mom's arms, Sayu wouldn't leave me alone. She cried most of the first night I was back and fell asleep in my bed. And the next two nights that I was there, she did the same. Stayed with me in my room, talking deep into the night until she fell asleep in my bed. I didn't mind. I just slept on the floor. It was nice to know I was cared for.
Ryuk and the death note hadn't been seen since. L had had Watari search all the wreckage and evidence for the death note that I had been offered, but it had disappeared into thin air. Either a shinigami had grabbed it for the owner, or someone else had walked off with it.
And Ryuk had said that a fan had given the death note to me to help. That meant that someone knew who I was. Someone knew I was Kira. And that someone could use that against me. At least now we had a way to make contact if desperate.
But for some reason, I only cared about what was here in front of me, right now. Fingers still traced my healing scratches and my new cuts and bruises. Burns lined both of my wrists red from the duct tape and I still had a slight ringing in my ears if there was ever a loud sound, due to the damage done by the explosives.
"I'm sorry," came from my lips again. Dark painted eyes returned to my face worriedly.
"You keep saying that," L muttered softly, his fingers now tracing a cut on my cheek. "You don't need to."
My arms pulled his bare body closer to mine so I could kiss him once more. "I shouldn't have said what I said." I brushed his black hair from his face, but it didn't help much. The long black hair fell back into his eyes, causing me to smile. "You should cut your hair." L gave me a shrug.
"Are we just going to ignore what happened?" L questioned. Why was he trying to ruin this morning already? I didn't want to deal with this at the moment.
"Why are you insisting on working right now? Can't we just..." I inhaled deeply and sighed. "I don't want to think about cases yet. I just want to stay here with you."
"Light, until we find the new Kira, your life is in danger. Every moment we waste is another moment that your name can be written in that death note. I won't have that happen. We've been through too much shit as it is."
It was unlike L to swear. Light had noted that L found it showed poor vocabulary. But L had changed so much since we had moved here. And who could blame him? And it wasn't like he was wrong. The last few days had been full of so much shit. And I didn't want to dive back into the shit.
But now I had a job to do. I had to go to work every day while L worked on cases. But... Maybe he could join me. It wouldn't be hard to bring him in as a PI or consultant. Maybe I could talk to Adam about letting L see crime sights of difficult cases. L deserved to be let out more.
"Alright." I exhaled sharply. "I'm going to grab a shower. Would you like to join me?"
L's eyes danced around the room for a moment before he gave a nod and we left for the bathroom. L was in and out quickly, leaving me to the warm water. The feel of the heat was relaxing, but eventually the water began to run cold and I left the bathroom.
I entered the bedroom and grabbed some clothes to wear, looking over L. He sat on the end of the bed in his odd position that I still didn't understand. He had a thumb to his lips, and was staring intently at his computer. I finished dressing and went to sit beside him.
"What is it?" I questioned, moving closer to him to see what he was looking at. His email sat open with only a single unopened email. The email address was a bunch of letters and numbers that didn't make any sense. And the letterhead simply said: OPEN ME, in all capital letters. "It's just junk mail, isn't it? Block it."
"I don't get junk mail. I have programs that remove all spam, junk, and sketchy emails. This one couldn't come to my inbox unless it was forced through," L explained to me, his eyes not leaving the screen. "Someone had to know this email address, had to know what programs I have, and had to hack through my programs, that I designed, to send me this email."
"Are you going to open it?"
"I have all of my anti-virus programs running, and they don't see anything, but I don't trust it. It could destroy my whole system. And I am connected to the task force headquarters at all time. If something happens to this laptop, then that whole system could go down."
"Then, can you use a different computer? I have a laptop."
"That also has cases on it," L reminded, moving the mouse to hover over the email. I looked over the address again, but there was nothing I could make of it. It was just random. I watched as L clicked the box beside the email and blocked it. There. It was over. But a tenseness filled the room again with held breathes at a ding. And there, in the inbox was the same email.
OPEN ME
It was taunting and made me want to open it myself. There was something in this email that someone wanted L to see. There was something that someone was trying to say. And I wanted to know what they were trying to say.
Again, L blocked the email, and immediately it returned.
OPEN ME
And what else was there to do? L took a deep breath and glanced at me before he clicked open the email. In the email was a link. That was it. Just a single link to who knew what. I could see L's fingers hesitate, but he eventually clicked on the link.
A video opened up in another tab, the webpage again just random letters and numbers. There was no specific site. The video was black and there was a bit of music that picked up. The tone of the sounds set me on edge until there was a guitar and lyrics.
"Write them down," L instructed. I raced to his desk and snatched up some random paper and a pen, scribbling down the words. L had several programs up over the dark video and was typing away, most likely trying to figure out where the video had come from.
I can see it in your eyes
And I can't figure out why I'm the one that you despise
Wondering what we've become
Can't help but think that this is a facade
Let's rewrite a script
Where you and I can be alone
But at the sound of his typing coming to a stop, I glanced up from my writing. The video was no longer black. There was a red filter over the picture of a woman. She was tied to a chair with barbed wire, and was blindfolded and her arms were bruised and swollen. They looked like they had dislocated or possibly broken.
"Keep writing," L ordered, his typing now continuing. "If this is real, we have a time limit and we need to reach her."
Could you delete me? Would it be easy?
Will you put me in my grave?
Will you erase me? Or could you face me?
Will I haunt your every save?
I tried to make you happy and I tried to make you mine
Would you delete me? Would it be easy?
Or can you decode, decode every line?
I glanced back up from my writing. Through the red filter, I could make out tears streaming down her cheeks before she started yelling... screaming for help. For someone. For the pain to stop. And the screaming made it almost impossible to hear any more of the song.
And at the bottom of the screen several numbers popped up and began to dance with the static that was beginning to come over the video. It was difficult to make it out, but as I continued scribbling, I could see L typing out the numbers.
35° 59' 25.01" N,
139° 04' 35.00" E
Latitude and longitude. It was a location.
Are we here just by mistake?
'Cause I can't help but feel that you and I have been misplaced
That didn't help. My eyes wandered over the location that was pulled up. It was just the coordinates of a city in Japan. Nothing specific. If that woman really was there, then there was no way we could find her. And there was no way to know if the video was even a live feed.
I know they changed my mind
And where I'm from
And who I am inside
There was a growl beside me from L, who was still typing away, his programs moving across the computer screen faster than I had ever seen them. I wasn't sure what he was doing, but he was frustrated. He couldn't find anything. That was the same expression he wore whenever he knew that I had just killed someone, but he couldn't prove it.
Do you believe in God?
Or will you write the script and become one?
The screams were making my stomach squirm. I wasn't sure if L had dealt with something like this before, but if he had, I wasn't sure how he was able to keep it all together. It was odd how weak my stomach had gotten since I stopped using the death note. Seeing dead bodies didn't bother me, but the torture that lead up to it, that I liked to add for fun, made me sick.
It looked as though L had contacted dispatch in some way. Maybe he had messaged Watari and had him call it in, because now there was a gps up on his screen. Or maybe he was possibly tracking the video.
Would you be missed if they found your body, left for dead?
Won't you just get out of my head?
Welcome to my own world where it's just us now
We're only pieces in this wretched game
The tint of the video had changed. Now it was a slight blue, but gave way for us to see more of what was in the background. There was graffiti on the walls of whatever building this woman was in. And she was in just her bra and underwear, blood dripping from wherever the barbed wire had come in contact with.
I'm in your head now, we're left for dead now
You can't reset and fix your life
Now you'll be living with your decisions
It's who we are inside
"I can't find it," L grumbled, one of his hands going to his damp hair and taking a fustful. "I can't trace anything. The cops have no idea what they're looking for."
I looked back over the video. On the ground one could make out the light of a window, but it was blocked off in an odd angle by something.
"She could be near a tall building. And if it's 8:30 here, it's 5:30 there. The sun is setting. She's facing West. Thay has to narrow it down, right? Even just a little bit. And there's gang symbols on the walls." I felt like I wasn't helping in the slightest, but maybe it would be just enough. "That symbol is the Yamaguchi-gumi."
I tried to make them disappear, it appears I did just fine
Would you delete me? Would it be easy?
Or can you decode, decode every line?
L went back to typing and I returned to writing, my hands trembling with adrenaline.
I can't delete you, you know I'd miss you
I can't put you in your grave
So just erase me, go on and waste me
I'll disappear from every save
If this is all a game, well then I know it isn't mine
So just delete me, let's make it easy
Perhaps I'll find you in another life
The song came to an end and i could only watch as the video became filled with more static. There was a very loud scream and the video glitched before returning to the scene.
Slowly rocking back and forth in an invisible wind was the hanged body of the young woman, barbed wire tightly strung around her neck, a necklace of thorns and crimson.
My breath caught in my lungs. We had been too late already. This video had been filmed earlier. My the look of her purple hands, she hadn't been dead too horribly long.
L's face was one that I had never seen before. It was utterly and completely blank, as if the life had been drained from it as well.
He took a deep breath and lowered his head onto his knees, his hands taking his hair.
"Find out the name of that song," he ordered in a broken voice.
There was a beep and L slowly raised his head. I looked back to the computer screen that had turned an inky black. In white lettering appeared the words, I Am Kira, before the screen returned to its former black.
L reached out towards the keyboard, but his hand stopped as the screen turned a bright blue and more white text appeared in the corner.
Delete Me
And it came again.
Delete me
And faster and faster.
"No," L said, snatching the laptop up. "No, no, no!" He began hitting different buttons, but nothing made the recurring word disappear. "Light, call Watari."
I moved to the night stand and snatched up my phone. I called the number and put it lb speaker.
"Hello?" came Watari's curious voice.
"Dump all the files!" L ordered in a rushed tone, while he continued to press buttons to no avail. "I have them all backed up, dump them all!"
"Of course." There was a moment's pause. "I can't access anything. It just says delete me."
"Fuck, fuck, fuck," L hissed.
The party had been the only other time I had felt this incredibly useless before. There wasn't anything I could do to help.
"You have to hit the switch, Watari. Shut down and wipe the whole system."
There was another second pause before L's computer screen fell completely black and still before turning on and beginning the set up the way any new computer would. L sighed deeply and lowered his head onto his knees again.
"Watari, can you keep an eye out on the police in Chichibu. There might possibly be a body that they find. Young woman, late twenties. Wearing matching set of under clothing. Blonde hair. She will be hanged in an abandoned building with graffiti on the walls."
"I will let you know if we find her."
"Kira is claiming the death. Please add it to the profile that the task force is building." Before Watari could say anything, L took the phone from me and hung up. He tossed my phone back at me and and I watched as his nails dug into his legs before he returned his hands to his computer. "Let's see the damage," he grumbled, filling out all the information on the laptop. "In my desk is a flash drive with my last backup. Please get it for me."
I would do anything to help at the moment. Anything to make him feel like he hadn't just failed. Anything to ease the terrible burden of worry. Anything at all. I got to my feet and went to his desk to find the zip drive. The room was tight. The air was so brittle, it could snap. And yet it was somehow dripping for so much anxiety that neither of us needed right now.
I passed him the small stick that he wanted and he immediately entered it into his computer. I opened my mouth to speak, but he held up his hand to silence me. "If you want to help, find me that song. Otherwise, please don't speak. I need to do something that is going to require my utmost attention."
I just gave a slight nod and went to the desk where my laptop was. I didn't use it much. Only for homework and now for holding information on cases, but most of it I kept in my head. I didn't have thousands of cases that I had worked. I didn't need records of them at the moment.
I searched the lyrics and found a song from a youtuber named Natewantstobattle, that sang a lot anime covers. I gave L the information and in a matter of moments, he had a list of all of the youtuber's subscribers.
"Research them," he ordered. "I'm emailing you the list. This is our best bet. If they were stupid enough to use a song from someone they follow, then maybe we can catch them."
"Sure," I replied, biting my lip. I felt so out of place right now. I could tell that he didn't want me around, that he was only giving me this work so that I wasn't left out. He could have done this work much faster than me. "L?"
"What?" his voice was tight and annoyed.
"Nevermind. It's nothing. Sorry." I lowered my head and turned back to my laptop to open the email he had sent me.
There was a loud exhale and the room's straightjacket feeling loosened slightly. "I'm sorry. What is it?"
"You said you couldn't find it. Was it the girl or the email?"
There was a silence between us for a moment. "The email," was finally my answer. "I don't want you to think badly of me, but there was less than a 0.6% chance that she was still alive. I put the police on her location, but that was the best that I could do. I had to trace the video and the email. There was no point in trying to worry over something that was so small of a matter."
"A life is no sm-"
"Is no small matter," L interrupted me, causing me to turn in the desk chair to face him. His eyes wandered over my face calculatingly. His thumb had gone to his lips in concentration and I felt like I was under the lens of a microscope. "You've really changed," he muttered in such a small whisper, I almost didn't catch it. But as quickly as it had left his lips, he had returned to his work. "Please find me all of the of people who have ever once lived in Japan or close to it. The location on the video was in Japan, that is our best bet. Also, can you please find me a list of missing people that have been reported on the Honshu island?"
I nodded and turned back to my computer, unsure of how to take his previous statement. Was my changing good? I couldn't tell from his tone. I wanted to take it as good, but I honestly wasn't sure. That had been the whole point of us moving out here, right? It was so that I could change.
The next little while was silent as I did the jobs that he had asked of me. I passed him the two lists that I had printed off, and he caught my hand. He pulled me down and placed a kiss to my lips.
"I'm sorry I was so harsh," L muttered, giving my hand a squeeze. "Please forgive me. Thank you for doing this for me."
"Of course." I took a seat beside him on the edge of the bed again. "Did you find anything?"
"Whoever it was is clever. I can not trace anything. I couldn't trace the email, the video, or the virus."
"Do you at least know what the virus did?" I questioned, looking over his computer. He had several programs up, but I didn't recognize an of them. They must have been his own. I knew he liked to dabbled in computer programing and had made our chat program, but I had no idea that he had his own anti virus programs and his own search engines.
"It was in the middle of making a copy of my system. I am positive that this person wasn't able to get my whole system though. And there is a slight probability that my files may be corrupted on their end. I think it just depends on how good of a system they had. Other than that, I'm not sure what else to do. The most I can do is send the information to Watari and monitor the email address to see if I can get a hit on it."
L gave another sad sigh. "Delete me..." he whispered. "Is that a call for help? Or is it a taunt?"