Please note this chapter contains antisemitic and anti-Asian slurs.

The system was broken, Esther thought as she poured over news article after blog post after YouTube video, scrolling through the internet sprawled out on her bed. Her eyes felt square and her head was beginning to ache.

She wasn't really sure what she was looking for - a sign, maybe? A clue? Something that would lead her to the identity of those motherfuckers who didn't seem to want to leave her and her family alone.

"You can always make the deal for the eyes," Zellogi said, peeking over her shoulder.

"That's not going to help me if I don't know what they look like."

"Just sayin'. It could be helpful."

"You actually doing something helpful would be a first."

She glanced back at the screen. There was just so much going on everywhere. Where was she supposed to start?

What good was Kira if he didn't care about what his followers did? Some preached peace. Many, though, preached violence - taking the law into their own hands. They went after much the same kind of people Kira did: murderers, rapists, the occasional terrorist…But there were always innocents, those who were mistaken for somebody else or who were targeted because they were different and were used as scapegoats.

But they never went after politicians. Nor did Kira. Never the people who were actually making the rules. And nobody was actually doing anything to help the victims of these crimes. Or protecting them before things happened.

Yet people were literally worshiping the ground he walked on, creating churches surrounding him. Some Japanese pop idol had basically given up their career to join one of his cults and became a high-ranking leader.

She still sang, but her songs seemed to all be praises of Kira, full of thinly veiled metaphors that made it seem like the idol's obsession was more than what it seemed. Esther didn't even need subtitles to understand just how…sexual the songs sounded.

Esther didn't get it. But that wasn't something to focus on right now. It wouldn't help her outsmart Kira to focus on the regular or celebrity worshippers.

Now the terrorists, the zealots, the racists…those were the people she was worried about. Particularly the hate groups like the KKK who hadn't made their allegiances clear. Kira wouldn't kill somebody who was openly supportive of him…even the most disgusting, lowest of the low.

Kira needed them.

He needed his followers.

Without them, he was nothing.

So…why hadn't she killed them? Why hadn't she taken care of Kira's hypocritical followers?

Clearly, they deserved it. She'd be doing the world a favor. She'd be doing her family a favor considering everything that had happened. Of course, Kira would then get the credit…

Esther shook the thought from her head. She wasn't Kira. She couldn't stoop to his level.

She didn't want people to think he was some bastion of justice. She wouldn't give him more praise than he deserved. But she didn't want the attention on her.

What am I going to do? She thought. Kira is…

A chat window popped up on one of her social media pages. It was…Keith?

Meet me at Dupont Circle Station in DC tomorrow. 11:45.

Her fingers hovered over the keyboard. Maybe it was a mistake? His mom or dad had accidentally logged into his profile and was trying to reach out to someone else. But no.

It looked like the message was dated from before the incident. Could she have forgotten about it somehow? Some kind of glitch? A ghost from the past.

No.

That would be silly.

"Zellogi…there aren't such things as ghosts, right?"

"Not far as I know."

"How sure are you of that?"

He shrugged, "Thought I wasn't helpful."

Esther huffed. Dammit.

Esther began to type. "Tomorrow is the first night of Passover. Not sure if I can make it."

She waited and waited for the three little dots to appear that indicated a response. Five minutes. Ten minutes. Twenty. And nothing.

Either it was a weird bug or glitch or it was Kira, who apparently was some kind of computer hacking extraordinaire. Was there anything this guy couldn't do? It was like he had an entire army at his disposal, willing to do whatever he said.

Esther then had to remind herself that Kira had thousands if not millions of loyal followers - some of whom would definitely die for him. And if he really needed to…he could just make somebody else do it for him.

If she didn't show up tomorrow, what would he do? Even worse, what did he have planned if she did show up?

"Oooh, what'cha gonna do? Are you gonna go?"

"Yeah…Don't really have a choice, do I?"

She needed to be one step ahead of him. In some way, she needed to be sure she came away with more information about him than he knew she had. She was going to have to get creative with the Death Note.

She just needed a name or two.

And if they were meeting in D.C. there were definitely a few people she wouldn't feel so guilty about sacrificing.

She immediately clicked out of the browser and opened a new one.

Esther chewed her lip as she glanced at her phone again. There should be nothing out of place about a teenager on the Metro heading into D.C. Even on a school day. And there was nothing out of place about her.

She had dressed up a bit for the occasion - a floral purple top, tan capris, and a pair of gray booties…Nothing fancy. It wasn't her appearance that she was concerned about or what people might think. It was the fact the car was empty except for her.

It was a bit odd - even for the time of day…But she tried not to let it bother her too much. It gave her time and space to think. She didn't know what Kira's plan was - he had to have something planned for her. But as long as she could get him to that cafe…she'd be safe.

She'd have everything she'd need.

And even then Becca was aware of where she was headed and they had a plan in case things went awry. Her dad had to travel to the state police headquarters, so she didn't need to worry about him. Her cousins, aunt, and uncle were leaving to visit extended family for Passover - so nobody was going to ask her too many questions about where she had been all day.

She glanced down at her phone - 1 hour 23 minutes.

Plenty of time.

She sighed. "Zellogi…Just checking…"

"I ain't gonna tell you if I see Kira. That's something you gotta do. Unless…"

"Not making the deal."

"Then have fun playing Guess Who."

There weren't many options to entertain herself on the ride. Cell reception sucked in the tunnels, so watching videos or scrolling through social media was out of the question. All she could do was sit and think.

Or talk with Zellogi.

Esther wondered if Kira could be on this train. Following her. Or controlling someone to keep an eye on her. What if he just sent someone as his proxy to meet with her? What then? It would throw a wrench in her plans - she hadn't thought about that factor too much last night.

She'd been too panicked.

Her entire plan today hinged on Kira showing up in the flesh.

"'Scuse me," a man said and started to slip into the seat next to her.

"Uh…there are plenty of other seats…" she said, glancing at the otherwise empty train car.

He nudged her bag and Esther pulled it onto her lap. The man glanced at her, a bit too long.

She kept her eyes down and focused on her phone, as a shiver ran down her spine. She adjusted her shirt so that it better covered her chest.

I should have bought a sweater, she thought and looked back at her phone - keeping an eye on the alarm she had set. 1 hour 15 minutes.

The man glanced at her again, and Esther caught a glimpse of him; his head was completely shaved, and he smelled of tobacco and alcohol which made her stomach turn.

Where do I know you from?" he said, his voice gruff. "You look familiar."

Esther didn't answer, she focused on her phone pretending she didn't hear him.

"Hey, I asked you a question," he said, grabbing at her shoulder.

She tried to shrug his hand off. "P-please leave me alone."

"You on TV or something like that? I swear I know you."

There was a reason she had been avoiding going out since then. Even though the paparazzi and reporters had quickly left her alone once other stories with more willing subjects started to pop up, she had not been able to avoid recognition completely.

That had to have been why the bakery kept getting targeted. They had briefly shown her name and face on the news…The connection wasn't hard to make. But why did this have to happen now?

"I think you have me mistaken for someone else," she said. "Sorry…"

She was about to put her attention back on her phone when he grabbed her wrist. Esther was about to yank it away when she saw some familiar symbols on his knuckles. Symbols she couldn't quite place.

The guy glanced around, and then inched slightly closer, squeezing her wrist. He looked her up and down, examining her. Esther felt her face flushed red with embarrassment. His grip was strong and she couldn't wrench her hand free. Tears began welling in the corner of her eyes.

"Y-you're hurting me."

He finally let go. Esther tried to scramble over his legs and into the aisle so she could get off and wait for the next train, but he grabbed her again.

"You aren't going anywhere," he growled. "You're that little…kike…from…"

"You want an autograph or something?" The words came out of her mouth before she could stop them. She had to remember she had the upper hand in these situations. She had the Death Note with her.

If she could get him just to…touch it, then maybe…no. She didn't know his name. It wouldn't work at all like it had during the shooting.

"Don't joke with me. Kyle was a friend. He was loyal to the cause. There is no reason he would have killed himself before eradicating you. So you must have had something to do with his death…"

"What could I have done?"

"You Jews control the banks and the media…wouldn't surprise me if you bribed the police to say it was suicide."

"My life was in danger. I did what I had to do."

Did she just say that out loud? In public? Thank goodness the train was almost empty…Zellogi was laughing…she could feel her chest tightening and…No. She couldn't panic now.

"So you did kill him!"

"The world is better off without him. And the world would be better off without you."

"How'd you do it?"

Esther wanted to use the Death Note. Desperately. To feel the coolness of a pen in her hand as her hand glided across the cream-colored page of the Death Note. To feel the satisfaction of him falling on the ground dead.

"Oooh - little girl's got what? A knife? Some pepper spray? That ain't gonna do shit."

Esther felt herself reaching into her bag. It was right there. Right in her hand.

The train began to slow as it pulled into a station. Not her stop. But the one before it. If she got off here, she'd be a little late meeting Kira - but she'd probably be able to lose this guy and then deal with him later.

Dupont Circle was always busy and if Kira was already there…well maybe, maybe he would help her out. After all, if this dude figured out how she killed Kyle, he'd tell everyone. And Kira couldn't risk the secret getting out.

She felt a brief moment of disgust, but that went away when the doors opened and revealed a young man, maybe 18 or 19 years old wearing a tan blazer jacket. He didn't immediately strike Esther as the physical type. But maybe, just having another person onboard would help.

The man released his grip on her wrist.

Esther breathed a sigh of relief and looked at her phone. 1 hour. She still had time… The young man was staring at her and the man, who stood up.

"What are you looking at?"

"Nothing. Nothing," he said with a slight accent that Esther couldn't place in the moment.

"Excuse me," she said, trying to slip by the two. "This is my stop…I really gotta go."

She felt bad about leaving this new guy alone with a neo-Nazi but she couldn't stay on this train a moment longer.

As she tried to leave, she tripped over the boy's feet, leaving her on her stomach, just inches away from the closing doors.

Fuck.

She was stuck. Stuck on this train until the next stop.

"Oh…sorry, sorry," the boy said and started to help her up. "Are you okay?"

"Help," she said, her voice weak.

"Is he bothering you?" the boy asked her. "Is he a pervert?"

Esther nodded. Pervert was close enough. She just needed to get off the train, but having somebody else in the space was a close second best.

The boy wedged himself between her and the man. "You need to stop bothering this girl."

"Or what, chink?"

Esther scrambled to a seat on the other side of the aisle. It wasn't that far apart, but at least she could breathe now.

The boy took a step forward. "Please stop bothering her."

The man grinned and threw a punch. The boy ducked.

"I don't want to have to fight you," the boy said, seemingly twiddling with his watch. "But you need to leave her alone."

The man scoffed. "I'll do what I want. This is America. Not fucking commie China."

"I'm Japanese."

"Same thing."

"Oh no," the boy said, "Not at all. I can go into that. But I doubt you'll listen. Come on, Esther. Let's go."

His voice was more confident now. Clear. Crisp. Strong. But how did he know her name?

He grabbed her hand with one hand and handed her her bag with the other. Something scratched against her hand.

Suddenly, Esther was aware of another presence in the train car. A ghastly, ghostly-white, wonky-eyed, winged something. And suddenly, it was like she had been transported back to the night she met Zellogi.

Instinctively, she squeezed the boy's, no, Kira's hand trying not to make eye contact with him, his shinigami, or the crazed man who looked as though he were ready to kill them both. She was useless in this situation.

Kira squeezed her hand back, pressing the scrap of paper deeper into her palm. He flashed her a smile, that she supposed was meant to be reassuring and calm, but instead sent a shiver down her spine. There was nothing kind about the smile, there was no gentleness in his eyes.

But better to be stuck with Kira who maybe didn't want her dead than the person who definitely did. She gripped his hand tightly as the train pulled into the station. As the doors opened, Esther was relieved to find the station was busy…

The man glared but didn't pursue them as she and Kira left the train.

"So where would you like to go? Pick any place you want. My treat."

Esther glanced back, trying to see if the man was following, too distracted to think about what was happening.

"Don't worry about him…Now, this is my first time in D.C. so lead the way."

His voice was so gentle and reassuring. It was surprising. She hadn't thought about what he might actually sound like. She had to remind herself it was an act. But even then how could he be so nonchalant, like this guy wasn't a threat? Wasn't he aware of how large of an issue guns were in the states? The guy was probably armed.

She glanced over her shoulder again trying to see if the guy was following them. she could feel his eyes on her, boring through her body.

"Esther. Stop that. I have everything under control."

Those words scared her more than the guy had.

What exactly did Kira have planned for him?

What did Kira have planned for her?

And her plans were more or less out the window with this guy stalking her. Even if she did have time to get to the cafe. She couldn't have this dude following her.

Kira's shinigami gave a hyuk. His voice was deeper than Zellogi's, and raspy like a smoker's. Zellogi hadn't said much. She wished he would say something.

"Um…so your…friend…"

"I'll introduce you properly soon. You're such a nervous wreck! Stop worrying. Tell me about the place you want to go!"

Why did he have to act like this?

"It's a cafe. It specializes in teas. It's got some good food too. I don't get to go too often…"

"So it's a real treat," he replied smiling. He glanced at his watch and then quickly glanced behind him. Esther couldn't help but follow his gaze. The man was still following them. A squeeze, tight, from Kira, turned her attention back in front of her.

They stepped onto the escalator. She always hated the ones in the metro stations. Most of them were too tall and too steep, and even though they were protected on both sides, she had an irrational fear of falling.

"Scared?"

"Blame my grandmother. To get me and my cousins to stop playing around, she'd tell us that little kids who fooled around would get eaten up by the elevator."

He laughed. "And you believed that?"

"I was five."

"Well, there's nothing to worry about. We made it," he said as they stepped off. "Now, let's go."

Her hand felt hot and sweaty. Kira's grip was tight and the scrap of paper was irritating. With her free hand, she checked her phone. Just under an hour left. Still plenty of time

Good.

That was good.

Still plenty of time.

"You got an appointment or something?" Kira asked.

"No…Just…" she glanced behind them.

The guy was definitely still following them. She desperately wished she had bought something to defend herself with. She should have bought something other than the Death Note. Like pepper spray or a pocket knife or anything sharp.

A squeeze from Kira prompted her to turn back around.

"Is that the place?" he asked, pointing to a stone building, with a fluttering banner and a line of people out the door.

"Yeah…that's it."

If the guy followed them in - they'd be trapped…Sure, there'd be little he could do with witnesses but at that point - he may not care. Not to mention…it would ruin her plans if this guy brought too much attention to himself….

"Come on," Kira said. He lowered his voice to just above a whisper, "You don't need to see what happens next." He jerked her towards the storefront, but she froze and turned around.

Just in time to see the stalker suddenly fall to the ground like a sack of potatoes. Too quick to be a heart attack. Kira tried again to direct her towards the restaurant but when she wouldn't move - he groaned.

Kira let go of her hand and started to bend down, checking for a pulse. "Somebody call 911!"

Esther instinctively reached for her phone, but Kira glanced at her and mouthed the words "Not you." From the corner of her eye, she saw several other people pull out phones and dialing.

None of them knew what this man had just put her through…She wished she could tell them to stop - to let him die, that he didn't deserve all these resources. But, who would believe her?

A woman pushed her way through the crowd - "I'm a doctor…I'm a doctor. I got this."

The doctor shooed Kira away and began doing CPR. As sirens wailed in the distance, Esther froze watching as the doctor futilely tried to continue pumping on the man's chest, counting the beats in a whisper.

Kira put a hand on Esther's shoulder. "Why don't we go inside? This isn't something you need to see. And there's nothing either of us can do now."

Slowly, silently, Esther nodded wondering how long it would take for them to realize the man's death sentence had already been written. How long would it take for them to uncover his identity and realize that maybe…he wasn't worth saving in the end.

And they'd determine that maybe it was karma. Maybe it was a coincidence. Or maybe it was Kira. But no matter what it was, she hoped they'd see it like she did…as some kind of justice.

And that they'd see her plans the same way.

She glanced at her phone for the time. She still had 45 minutes. Plenty of time to get her food and tea, so she could watch her own plan unfold.

Thank you for being so patient with waiting for this next chapter! More stuff came up in my life - and I went through like five drafts of this chapter before I got it right...I'm a 'plantser' as you may have guessed and while I know where I want this story to go, I don't always know how I'm going to get there.

In light of what has happened in Israel and Palestine, I want to make something clear: the Israeli government is not representative of all Jews and what the IDF is doing to the citizens of Gaza is reprehensible. I condemn Hamas for the mass killings of innocents and call for the release of the hostages.

Antisemitism in the comments will not be tolerated: this includes "Jews control the media" comments, anything indicating that Jews are solely responsible for the massacres in Gaza, anything praising Nazis/Hitler...etc. Islamaphobia will likewise not be tolerated.

I say this because this story deals with antisemitism and Judaism.

Please listen to Jewish and Palestinian voices during this time. Thank you