Chapter 5:

"Secrets And Lies"

They spend an hour in the Jacuzzi. Light and Cross spoke about an array of subjects, even Kira—albeit taboo for Light. But he mainly stayed on the sociological stance of the serial killer and how Kira's brand of justice was making the world a safer place. But Light opposed Kira and hoped the police caught him, and made sure that nothing was said about the Kira Task Force, or other related subjects.

Misa mainly listened to the boys banter back-and-forth, and drank her Mai Tai, when Benjamin Lakes brought their drinks. Cross had a Mai Tai, as well.

Light tried a Banana Daiquiri when offered. Despite the rum, he enjoyed it. He was nineteen, so he was old enough to drink. He didn't normally drink, because he knew alcohol dimmed the senses, but he was on vacation, and he felt more relaxed then he had ever had been since the Kira Case began, so he decided to let loose a little.

After their time spent in the Jacuzzi, Light and Misa returned to their cabin, and Light felt the rum in the Banana Daiquiri starting to take hold. Misa was used to drinking, so her two Mai Tai's hadn't affected her in the slightest.

Light sat on the bed and felt a little tipsy, but he wanted to change out of his swim wear.

Misa noticed him swaying. "Light, it looks like you can't handle your alcohol. Cross has invited us to dinner tonight in the Dining Room, so you better feel better soon."

"Easy for you to say, Misa." Light hiccuped. He held up his left hand with index finger, and said, "I've had alcohol before, but not to this extent. Demetre and I used to steal sips from his father's liquor cabinet just to see what each brand tasted like. But this is the first time I've had a full drink." Light momentarily stared at his raised hand. "I didn't taste the rum, only the banana."

"That's the point," Misa said sympathetically, as she lightly clutched Light's hand. "I'll ask Cross's friend Ben Lakes to bring us come coffee to sober you up. In the meantime, you need to get out of those wet clothes. You're making the bed wet."

Light smiled drunkenly. "Oh, yeah…" He fell back onto the bed with his arms spread eagle. "This is such a comfortable bed. Come join me, Misa. Come to bed with me." Light looked at her, and she looked dumbfounded. "What's the matter?"

Misa shook her head. "Not like this, Light. You'll regret it. You're really are a bad drunk. I can't believe one drink did this to you. I wonder how much rum was in your drink, anyway." She put on a silk, pink, flowery robe she had brought with her, and then said, "Stay here, Light. I'll go and get you come coffee. I don't like seeing you in this way. And you might reveal some secrets you're not supposed to tell…"

Light said something like "Okee dokee", then leaned back on the bed, as Misa left.

When Misa returned with Ben Lakes, Light was not on the bed where Misa last left him. He was vomiting into the toilet.

Lakes apologized for Light's drink. The amount of rum was consistent with the Banana Daiquiri mix, but since Light was not a drinker, obviously Light couldn't handle it.

Lakes helped Light back to the bed to sit down.

After Misa had explained the situation when she went to get him, Lakes had gathered a few things that fell into the realm of both drunkenness and sea-sickness. Lakes gave Light a sea-sickness pill to help with the feeling of swaying from the alcohol and a small bottle of liquid that tasted like coffee. It tasted bitter to Light, but it was enough to spark some awareness.

After a few minutes, Light began to collect his thoughts. He put his hands to his face abashed. He felt ashamed he had got drunk. It was both an embarrassment for himself and for Misa. They had only been on Cross's yacht for a couple of hours and this had happened.

"Will you be all right, Yagami?" Lakes asked. "I'll inform Cameron to cancel dinner."

Light raised his face from his hands, shaking his head, producing a small smile. "No, I'll be fine. I feel much better now. Thank you. Please don't cancel dinner on my account. I'll take a cold shower and Misa and I will join Cameron Cross in the Dining Room as planned. He invited us. I'm so sorry this happened."

"It wasn't your fault," Lakes said, standing to his full height. "It was mine."

Light was feeling a lot better now and he stood up straight. "I think I'll have that cold shower now to wake myself up fully." He smiled at Lakes. "Thank you for your help."

"No problem, Yagami," Lakes said. "I'll take my leave now. There's a lot to do before dinner." More thank-you's, and then Ben Lakes left.

Light walked to the bathroom.

"Would you like any help, Light?" Misa said playfully. "I can wash your back."

Light disregarded her attempt at sexual playfulness and entered the bathroom alone, shutting the door. He stood in the bathroom and looked into the mirror. His hair was all ruffled, but he didn't really care because he was about to wake-up with a cold shower.

But then he had a sudden thought, his facilities returning like a lightning bolt.

He opened the door. Miss was in the process of undressing, the top half of her yellow, string bikini was undone and was on the floor, but she managed to quickly cover herself up with her arms. Half-naked, she turned to him. Light stopped short of what he about to say. Then he cleared his throat, and said, "Misa, be honest with me. Tell me your personal opinion of Cameron Cross?"

Misa kept her hands over her chest. "Well, he's smart, handsome, and a bit of a womanizer. But that's just my personal opinion. But he is respectful. Why?"

Light paused. "I'm wondering if Cross has some alternative motive for inviting you here? I'm still curious why he invited me. It doesn't make sense. He could have just lied and asked you to his yacht and claimed it as a business expense since he's backing some of your films."

"Oh, come on, Light. Don't be jealous. When he would visit the sets of my movies, he would ask about you. Everyone knows you're my boyfriend. I talk about you all the time." Misa decided to cover herself with her pink robe. "I showed him a picture of you once, and he made some innocent remark about your good looks—that I had a cute boyfriend. Light. No one else will capture my heart but you."

"I saw him eying you. Just be careful, Misa."

"Don't be so paranoid, Light. He's a perfect gentleman. Now, go have that shower. I need to start getting dressed for dinner. And I hope you brought something nice to wear."

Light slinked back into the bathroom. All he had brought was causal wear.

Cameron Cross cranked his head from side-to-side as he stood in front of a tall, full standing mirror, in his private cabin. Naked, he wiped his body down with a towel. He just had a shower. He smirked, and recalled his and Light Yagami's discussion about the sociological efforts of Kira in the world. Obviously Yagami was playing dumb.

Cross flexed in the mirror, taunting his muscular frame. He wasn't hefty, but he was in excellent shape, and he had a body that made all the girls he met melt.

Well, he had to look the way he did. He was the oldest son of a family with wealth and prestige. It was too bad his younger brother refused to get involved in the business. Nevertheless, in years to come, everything will be handled down to him, Cameron, and he saw the future as bright.

He was not alone in his cabin.

Benjamin Lakes was also there, laying on his bed, comfortably, with his arms under his head, looking at himself in the ceiling mirror. This cabin had seen a lot of action.

Lakes had completed a series of tasks after he left their guests to Cross, then Cross began as dutiful host to Yagami and Amane, and after Cross's dip in the Jacuzzi, Lakes joined his friend in Cross's cabin, and they discussed a few things about their guests. And Lakes informed Cross of Yagami's recent bout with drunkenness. It wasn't by accident Light reacted the way he did with a double dose of rum in his Banana Daiquiri.

"You should've seen Yagami, it was hilarious!" Lakes said with a chuckle.

"It doesn't matter if you get him drunk, he's nothing to us without his full memories intact," Cameron replied, flexing his abs. He turned to Lakes, grabbing a towel to cover his waste. "And that nipple ring of his, it's a surveillance device. But whoever put it on him obviously didn't know the meaning behind which side it should be on. Nevertheless, it's a moot point."

"Light Yagami is naive. He's not like what I envisioned he would be like from what we were told. He's like a completely different person with a masked personality. And there's no way he can fake it." Lakes sat up. "That Amane is a hot one. I wouldn't mind giving her a once-over."

"Keep your dick in your pants, Ben," Cameron said, as he began to get dressed in a black, loose casual shirt, and pants, with lofters, no socks. Nothing fancy. He adjusted any wrinkles out. Then chose a gold watch from a collection of jewelry in an open box. "I invited Misa Amane under the lies of forwarding her career. Yagami is our real target."

Lakes turned serious. "The Savant Society wants him under wraps," he said, planting his feet on the floor. "Light Yagami, whatever mental state he's in presently, is still managing to destabilize the very organizational nature of which we are a part of. Well, you—not me. It's your father who is on the Society's Council, I'm just a lowly cog in the system." Lakes snorted a laugh. "I don't have one of these…" He reached under a pillow and brought out a Death Note. "But I do appreciate you including me in your fun."

(**The Savant Society was first introduced in my Novel: "The Draycott Factor")

"Put that away, you idiot," Cross ordered, as Lakes flipped through its pages. Several names had been written within. It belonged to Cameron, given to him by his father, and with it came a Shinigami. But at present, there were more than six Death Notes active in the world, so whoever wrote in their Death Note needed permission from the Savant Society first, or an important "kill" might be cancelled, as only six Death Notes could be used at any one time.

Lakes chuckled. "Some of these names are well known people, Cam," he said.

Cameron plucked the Death Note from Lakes hands, almost giving him a paper cut. "My father approved their deaths, so our company could get prime contracts. The council would never approve of these kills, so I was approved to make them in secret. And I've also used the notebook for a few personal things." He laughed short.

"So, how should we handle, Yagami and Amane?" Lakes said, as Cross put the notebook in a desk drawer, and locked it with a key. "Even though they've lost their memories, they're still a threat."

Cross re-inserted the golden cross ear-ring in his left lobe that he enjoyed wearing. "Yagami, the persona of Kira within him, has established him as a murdering psychopath. Currently, with his memories of Kira forgotten, because he relinquished his Death Note, he is just a naive son of a policeman. And we've been ordered to observe him and report back to the council."

"But what if he gets his memories back?"

Cross froze in place. "I'll gauge more about his personality at dinner this evening. The Council hates all his hideous killing and they want it to stop. If his memories somehow return, the Society wants me to 'talk' with him and entice him to join us. That way he'll be under our thumb. If he touches a Death Note, even though he's not the owner, as long as doesn't let go, his memories will remain. Perhaps a brief return of Kira can be arranged." Cross gave a brief glance at his locked desk drawer. "But under strict supervision by us!"

"I'm curious why Yagami would relinquish his Death Note in the first place?"

Cross looked over at Lakes. "Most likely because L was getting too close. He'll want the power back at some point and Yagami probably put in safeguards to have someone else be Kira in his place until he could resume the role. Kira has continued to kill, but it's not Yagami or Amane doing it. The Society knows the Kira Task Force is residing in a high-rise 'commercial' building in the Kanto Region. If Yagami's father is working for L, then it only goes to stand, Light Yagami is associated with them, and his attempts to mask what he knows when we had our conversion in the Jacuzzi was overtly obvious."

"So what do you want to do?"

Cross smiled devilishly. "Let's have a little with Yagami and Amane, if you know what I mean?"

Lakes smirked. "Oh yes, and everything is ready. I had to do some major clean-up after your use of the room earlier. It smells like bleach at the moment, but it'll air-out. I dumped your last playmate overboard. She has no ties, no family, so no one will miss her."

"Good. And for God's sake, change out of that uniform. This isn't a cruise ship. And find out more about this incident involving Yagami with a serial killer. It may prove interesting."

Cameron opened up a secret panel in his quarters and inside was surveillance equipment and monitors. He switched on a monitor, and it showed Light Yagami and Misa Amane in their cabin. Cameras had a full view of them, both in the sleeping area and in the bathroom.

Lakes went to leave, when a strange vortex suddenly opened up in a fall wall, and a female entity walked through. Her skin was all a dark brown with stripes of brighter grey, she had dark, pools of jet back eyes, and long flowing, red hair. She was almost completely nude, but her breasts were covered behind a thin veil of black cloth, and her lower region, hidden behind another small veil of similar covering. She also had thin vine-like tentacles wrapped around her.

She was Cross's Shinigami and she also masked herself as the yacht's maid Valerie. She looked nothing like her human counterpart. Some Shinigami had the ability to become human when it suited them, it helped mask themselves when they entered the Human World to target their victims, killing them, to increase their lifespan.

Lakes was closest to her. He looked her up and down, almost lustfully. "Hello, Minx," he said. "Now what brings you here? Still, I always so enjoy those lovely legs of yours. What I wouldn't give to spread them wide and—"

Minx backslapped Lakes across the face. The impact sent him staggering back and on to the bed.

She said, "You're an idiot! Your orders were that Light Yagami was not to be harmed. That prank you pulled could have jeopardized things. If he had gotten really sick, we would to have had to return him to shore for medical attention."

"Ow! I fixed it!" Lakes said, rubbing his face. "He's fine now."

Cross said, "The double-rum drink, you mean? I agree." He looked at Lakes disapprovingly. "Yagami could have become very ill. Some people just can't hold their liquor."

"I've already secretly doused him with a sprinkle of my pheromones when we met in the vestibule just before he joined you in the Jacuzzi," Minx said. "With more enticing, I could bring him under my control if the need arises, like any man. The Savant Society will have their catch." Minx looked at the surveillance monitors. Yagami had left Amane and entered the bathroom. "Now leave us!" she told Lakes.

Lakes got up, and quickly left without a word.

Alone, Minx sauntered over to Cross and then cupped a hand to his face. He smiled daringly. He knew what was about to happen. And with a kiss, human and Shinigami embraced.

Cross's clothes were ripped off him like they were tissue paper and they fell to the bed.

Outside, Lakes briefly listened at Cross's cabin door. He could only imagine what he was hearing, the depravity of his friend having sex with a god of death. And it had not been the first time. It was Minx who choose Cameron to be the owner of her Death Note. And with Lakes keen sense, it was obvious to anyone that Minx had a more than passing interest in Cameron.

It would appear Dinner was going to late.

To be continued…