That miserable Yamashita couldn't answer all the questions on the spot. When he replied to one, another journalist would come to shove the microphone into his face. I even asked Matsuda if this tactic would truly benefit ending the trial sooner. He didn't respond. But in his gaze, I saw a certainty, a self-confidence.
At one point, one of the reporters began pulling on Yamashita's collar after noticing he wasn't that willing to get all the questions answered. The judge finally pushed him with such force he tripped off the podium. He wasn't discouraged though, but kept trying! Since no one seemed keen to answer nor did the defendant or the rest of the jurors, it was our turn to receive the questions.
"What do you know about Kira?"
"If you had come sooner, you would have gotten the answers you're searching for," answered. Aizawa then pulled me slightly to get closer to the microphone and camera. But just as he was about to speak, the judge's irritated voice was heard.
"That's enough! You're insufferable! Just shut up!"
The whole hall fell silent upon hearing him. The silence was so deadly if a pin had dropped, it would have sounded.
"You have discomposed me, not to mention you're irritating and uncooperative. Have I ever asked for paparazzi to come to my court?! I think not, to be clear. You disobeyed the orders, as you're seemingly immature! Anyway... That's a wrap! We'll just pretend the trial went smoothly! Take the accused and throw him in prison for twenty-five years!'
Then he sat in a chair monologuing: "It would have been better if I had become a stripper like I wanted to since childhood..."
"Wait a minute," someone in the audience said. "What sentence will you give him besides imprisonment?"
I took the floor and raised my hand. "Mr Yamashita, you don't need to bother thinking. I just had an idea. Although we didn't this detail, this young man was more or less a sexist. As you remember, the other day actress Amane Misa came to testify falsely. He had a relationship with this girl, but not because he truly loved her, but to have a cover, so that we would think: "How could a serial killer have a relationship? What girl would ever love him?" Not only that, but she didn't respect the psychological trauma she went through when her parents were murdered, and took advantage of that to let her cling to him for the reason I just mentioned! Thus, I believe before prison, a good punishment is needed, but not necessarily violent."
"Ooh, am scared now!" he mocked. "What are you gonna do? Put a feather on my feet to tickle me, like the tortures in ancient Rome?"
"Well... I'll leave it as a surprise. Don't leave yet, everyone! I'll be back!"
I came out of the court and scanned the road with my gaze, but couldn't find a beauty shop, or even a pharmacy. I didn't even know where such things were sold. Luckily, there was a beauty shop about five to six kilometres away. I don't think am a sadist. Speaking of which, I get frustrated when I see someone suffering in one way or another. However, this specific punishment was the most appropriate because it didn't directly harm the victim's body, nor did it cause death. Certainly pain. But if you're used to stuff like this, it doesn't hurt that much. Maybe I'm indeed a sadist after all, but only minimally. It's not like am Hitler, right?
When I returned to the court, I asked the security guards to lay his body down and tie him up tight. In the meantime, the journalists' cameras were still capturing the moment. Everyone stared at me with wonder and a little trepidation as to what my actions were about. I reassured them.
"Don't worry. The process is simple. I'm not going to torture him like it was used in the Middle Ages. It's barbaric, to say the least. I don't know how it's done, and so I'll find out along with y'all, but I suppose it's no difficult. I've seen ladies who studied cosmetology do it with ease, so it must be possible for anyone."
I showed them the bought wax as well as the roll of material needed.
"As told before, this man's a sexist. He hasn't experienced what women go through to be beautiful during summertime, or when they were taught hair on a woman is dirt and a disgusting existence, with the few exceptions that don't bother with the leg hair. In my opinion, these are the luckiest women, as they don't feel dirty. Anyway... He'll have the pleasure of waxing his calves today, and if he feels like it, wax on the bikini area too. Let's see how long it lasts."
As his feet were tied up to the floor with ropes, he didn't seem frightened. Which makes sense. What's so scary about a wax and a piece of paper? I cut a piece of the roll and applied the wax to his right leg with a tongue depressor. At first, he didn't seem stressed as the wax felt hot. Little did he know! After making sure the paper stuck to the bottom of the leg, I pulled it mightily. He let out a faint moan of pain.
"Come on, it's nothing! As soon as you get out of prison you'll be a demand among women! I personally like hairless men. They've got sex appeal."
"Is that so? Ah!" he exclaimed as soon as I pulled the paper again.
"You've got quite a lot I see... How am I going to get both legs together? It'll sure take three hours!"
"Is that what you women do every summer?"
"Not only in summer. Some do it during wintertime too, even if the hair isn't visible."
In the end, I told him the most bloodthirsty killer shouldn't act like that for simple hair removal, so I challenged him not to make any sounds. Only in this way would it be proven he's masculine! At least that's what I thought to knock on his dignity.
Matsuda couldn't restrain his facial expression. It was clear he was about to burst out laughing and tried hard. The rest of the group was looking as if this move of mine wasn't expected.
I could hear him growling softly. He probably would never have done waxing, as the sounds were quite a lot. So, I tried not to pay attention and concentrate on my work.
"I think I told you not to make any sounds because that's how you look like a woman. Don't you want to prove you're a masculine man?"
"Uh..."
"I see, you aren't so touchy about this. But keep that even I, who have started it since last year, didn't make such a fuss! You can at least stand it up to the knee?"
He didn't answer. I assumed he could still bear it.
Eventually, he could only stand it on the first leg. So, I respected his wish, and when asked him if he would wax again for his personal hygiene, he raised his palm as a sign to leave him alone. We were discussing the whole scene with the cops on the way back to the secret base and laughed. Not because we were rejoicing in Light's suffering, but because the whole situation was so surreal it can't even be made into a movie.
Naturally, I had to go home at some point. I've been away for a long time and wanted to come back. But first I had to say goodbye to everyone. To my partners, who allowed me to take on the role of a policewoman for a while. Although truth be told, I couldn't have done it without this magic marker. This miraculous marker doesn't just draw drawings, but turns them into real ones! Perhaps my childhood dream of joining the police force will come true in the end!
Once we got to the secret base, Mogi and Aizawa took a taxi back home. I decided not to tell them I was about to leave. L will do it for me. Maybe they'll miss me. Maybe not. But at the end of the day, I'm just a kid. What can a child do? Simply acting like one. But at least I contributed to the research in my way. Even if they didn't understand it.
At one point, when L wasn't in the computer room, I sat down and wrote a message on a piece of paper. Just like he had written to me at that time.
«Dear L,
Thank you all from the bottom of my heart for letting me join the team even for a little while. You know, I've wanted to be a policewoman since childhood. I seem to be hooked on these mystery films with Agatha Christie and Hercule Poirot's style. In reality, things aren't so tragic after all. I would rather call them funny. Just like now with the Kira case.
I'm writing this message message to tell you I'll return home. Don't worry, I won't tell anyone in my family I got into something dangerous. They're not going to believe me anyway.
It's been a pleasure to meet you! I hope we meet again sometime. Good luck in your next cases! You're the coolest detective I've ever met! Your mind is truly a sharp one!
I'll see you again,
Marina»
And left it on the table. I waited a while until his silhouette was shown to be coming from the kitchen. I had hid under the table and waited for him to get into the right position so that I could get up and hide behind him. He read it.
I then hid behind his back and startled him by going "boo".
"Did you think I was going to leave?" I giggled.
"Won't you?"
"No, I was thinking of moving with you. You fool, I've got a house just like everyone!" I teased and gave him a small punch.
"I am the one who has the right to call others "stupid" or "fools". You violated my code!"
"Alright, whatever you say. But you're quite touchy and easy to tease. Where's the calm L? Where's the L who doesn't give a crap about anything?"
He figured out I was teasing him because he smiled and reciprocated it.
"He was busy, so he went to the nearby store to buy some supplies. I am his counterpart who has replaced him. I'm not L, but an alien." he replied in a serious tone as always.
I laughed my heart out. He didn't but kept smiling. It's doubtful if he ever laughed in his life. Then I squeezed him. He returned the hug.
"Let's not lose contact, shall we? Make a phone call. To know at least you're alive and Kira didn't kill you!"
"Now that he's been imprisoned his murderous tendencies will eventually fade. So stay calm. I'm not going to die anytime soon."
I took my duffel bag and slung it over my shoulders.
"We'll see each other again, L! Say bye to the rest of the team by me!"
"I will. Have a nice year left."
With a nod, I greeted him as walked towards the exit of the building. As soon as I went out into the yard and made sure no one was looking, took out the marker off my bag and wrote on a piece of sticky paper:
«June 2016, Greece, Athens, Chalandri»
And this big circle turning into a hole appeared. I dove inside of it while watching the timelines go forward at breakneck speed. I thought of writing "Crete" instead of "Athens" since my sister had gone on vacation to Chania. But we usually stay for a few days with our parents in Crete, so they would have returned by now.
And suddenly I appeared in my room. It seemed as if my trip was yesterday, while I was away for two months. However, I looked at the wall calendar to see if my trip really lasted two months. It was July, 2nd 2016. How weird... Was there a calculating mistake with the marker or something? But I left on the June 25th. I put my luggage aside and went out of my room to investigate the area for a little bit.
"Mom? Dad? Helen?" I called them.
Helen then jumped out of a corner and greeted me with a hug.
"Marina, it's you! The real Marina! Welcome back!"
"Thank you, Helen... I'm so glad I'm back. I missed all of you. Where's Mom and Dad?"
"They went to a place nearby. Didn't give any more details. I realized you were the real one, as your replacement has started to fade for a few hours. Like it's a television that goes neige. I got worried for a while, but luckily you came! I thought you'd be stuck there forever!" she replied and I smiled at her.
"Tell me how it was! Your first police adventure!" she chirped.
"Just a moment, Helen, I've got a question: I stayed two months in the past, according to the wall calendar. But now I found out I was only absent for a week. Why's that?"
"That's another feature of the marker. A marker time traveler loses track of time and thinks two months have passed, when it might be, say, a week. Or the opposite. Thinking a week has passed, but the absence from the date of his departure is two months. Or even years."
"I see..."
"Well, spill the tea! How did the case end? What does L look like? How were the others? What kind of criminal is Kira anyway?"
"Have the questions one by one! I can't answer all of them! Be patient! I'll tell you everything."
And that's how my story ends. I don't need to say anything else. It all started so oddly exciting and ended just as strange and at the same time optimistic. People can coexist together, in the end. Provided of course, they'll hide their brutal nature in order to be accepted by society. But sometimes it's not always easy, that's why crime cases occur. But that doesn't mean they deserve the death penalty. After all, any person you give a position of power, even a magical one, goes mad. Therefore, we should be away from divine objects. The farther the better. That's what I learned from my experience. An experience which not only gave me the opportunity to join a police force at the tender age of fourteen but also made my heart thumping for real!
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The end
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As you might have noticed from the title, this is the recut version, which means the template text had descriptions I didn't like when looked at it again, or had chapters which didn't really have a huge impact on the story, and even grammatical errors. Minimal of course The original text had a total of 40 chapters. But most of them were... Let's say filler. From one point on, the story was not about the Kira case, but about completely unrelated things. I really don't know why this thing happens with writers! xD
It's chaotic as you can see for yourself, but I believe if you don't mess around while creating art, even for a little, you're going to view it as a professional obligation. And this applies to every form of art. As strange as it may sound, I've grown emotionally attached to Marina, so I want to give her and her sister more adventures. In the sequel maybe. I love the rest of the characters too, even if they aren't mine. In fact, I had made a related post on Tumblr saying I have written so many times my headcanons for the various DN heroes and heroines, that even though they're not my own creation, I sometimes feel like... They're my "children" Let's put it that way. :")
I know I'm not the most reliable writer, as I can leave a fanfic for over 3 months without a chapter (Higurashi for example) but that's mostly either because I don't have a fixed schedule, or because I'm just bored. In general, I think it is extremely difficult to be a writer in the 21st century because times have changed. Everything runs at a dizzying speed, we have daily obligations, internal conflicts with ourselves, etc, etc... So... With what enthusiasm will you go and have fun with your hobby, even if you love it with all your heart? So I think it's completely normal for any artist. In case you're in the same situation as me, I totally get you, we're in the same boat... I'm still trying to realize the fact that I'm not a teen anymore. (almost 21) So... Maybe I'm a little too old to write fanfiction.
Whatever! I'm still gonna write more though! ;)