"Aren't you afraid you're going to burst into flames, Light?" Ryuk says, hovering behind as Light walks up the path to the church.
"Aren't you?" Light shoots back.
Ryuk laughs as Light tries the handle and pushes open the heavy wooden door. He steps over the threshold and turns to Ryuk, raising his eyebrows and spreading his arms to show how not on fire he is. He inclines his head to the shinigami, who is lingering just outside. "Afraid?" he says.
"Nah," Ryuk says, twisting his body to fit through the doorway.
As Light checks his watch, Ryuk looks around at the crucifixes and candles. "I gotta admire the style of this place. Some of this stuff wouldn't look outta place in the shinigami realm," he says.
"Hmm, really?" Light says, but his mind is elsewhere.
Light walks down the central aisle and takes a seat on one of the pews. He puts his hands together as if in prayer, and waits.
A few moments pass, then a priest takes a seat beside him. "Something troubling you, my son?" he says, touching Light's shoulder.
"Yes, there is actually," Light says, recoiling slightly at the man's touch and dropping his hands to his lap. "I expect by now you will have heard of Kira."
The priest stares straight ahead. "Indeed I have. What a foolish person they are. Only God may judge the sins of the mortal."
Ryuk laughs as he floats towards the front of the church, looking around.
"Mm," Light says, trying to keep a straight face as Ryuk has found the communion wafers and appears to be weighing up whether they are edible.
"There's something I've heard about Kira. He made a deal with a shinigami for the power to kill those who have committed crimes and gone unpunished. And as a result, when Kira dies, his soul can no longer go to heaven or hell," Light says.
Ryuk tosses a communion wafer in the air and catches it in his mouth. Light pretends to cough to hide a laugh. "Do you think that's true?" he asks.
"Well, my child, a murderer such as Kira would certainly never make it into heaven. It is in the book of…" Light struggles to concentrate on the priest's words because Ryuk is making choking sounds and grasping at his throat. It seems the wafers are not edible after all.
Light covers his mouth with his hand and composes himself. "But what if he repented? Prayed for mercy before he died? Does God not grant forgiveness to those who ask for it?"
The priest folds his hands over the back of the pew in front. He is staring, unseeing, straight at Ryuk. "Perhaps in ordinary circumstances, but I don't believe even God could find it in his infinite benevolence to forgive such a heinous mass murderer."
"Actually I don't care what you think," Light says. "You won't be around much longer. And if there is a hell, that's where you're headed."
The priest's eyes widen. "What?" he says. "H-how do you know so much about Kira anyway?"
Light smirks darkly. "I think you've already guessed. I am Kira."
"But- but I- I haven't done anything wrong!" the priest exclaims, beads of sweat forming on his forehead.
"Tell that to all those children whose lives you ruined."
"No! Those were false accusations!"
"All of them? Everyone knows you paid off that judge."
"I didn't!"
Light smiles humourlessly. "I'll give them time to find your body and report your death. Let that crooked judge sweat a little. Then Kira will pass judgement on him too."
The priest's eyes have glazed over. Light checks his watch. The priest stands and goes to find a piece of paper and a pen, then sits back down on the pew in front of Light. Light watches as he writes a confession and leaves it on top of a Bible.
Ryuk has now finished with his exploring and returned to Light's side. He sprawls out on the pew beside him and they both watch as the priest slowly makes his way up the aisle to the altar. The priest takes a goblet, raises it in the air reverently, then puts it down and fills it with communion wine. Then he raises it again, makes the sign of the cross with his other hand, and tips the goblet of wine over himself. A flood of red liquid cascades over his head and soaks his robes.
Ryuk laughs. "Oh Light, don't you think this is a bit tacky?"
"Not at all," Light says, standing up as the priest knocks a candle to the floor. The flame ignites the end of his robes and starts to spread and dance upwards. "Kira must send out a clear message, after all."
The flames rise higher and the priest starts to scream. Backlit by the raging fire, Light walks out of the church with Ryuk. The crackling of the flames and the screams of the priest grow louder. They don't look back.