True Elision Chapter 10: Jigoku Ekusutorutedo, a death note fanfic

Top of Form

Bottom of Form

Top of Form

Bottom of Form

Ohhh! Things are getting seeeerious! We're almost there, guys!

In the end, I decided I'd post the chapter today, despite my better judgment. If I let it drag on for a few more days, I know I'd get more reviews. But on the other hand I don't want to be greedy, and I really want to know what people think about this latest chapter as well! The next chapter is coming next week! Be prepared!!

I know this situation is confusing, but I promise all your questions about L's sudden appearance etc. etc. will be answered!!!!

Hope I hear from you! I hope this chaprter is full of surprises!

Hell Extorted

'To be or not to be, that is the question;

Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer

The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,

Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,

And by opposing end them.'

- Shakespeare's "Hamlet", Act III

A muscle clenched in Raito's jaw, as he ascended the final step of the staircase. After the earthquake, the building was falling apart. Raito looked at the metallic banisters of the stairs he had just climbed, noticing that one was almost completely dislodged, barely supported by a few precarious screws. The paint was peeling off the walls, the floor was littered by pieces of brick and cement, and all of L's precious security cameras had either been shattered or turned in awkward angles.

The auburn haired man remembered how difficult it had been to enter the building: basically, he' d been forced to side step various yellow ribbons – placed by the police in a perimeter around the building entrance – and climb his way through the wrecked doors. Even though Raito had been extremely disturbed by the fact that there seemed to be no other humans present in this world except himself, when he'd realized he'd have to force his way into a half-wrecked building, he was glad that no one was around to observe him.

Now, Raito carefully made his way through the dark corridor in the tenth floor of the building. He was steadily heading towards Misa's room, which was located two floors above him. The night had fallen outside, and all the objects around him were changing colour, wearing their nocturnal apparel. Even though nothing conspicuous had happened so far, there was a kind of dark sentience exhibited by the surroundings, which kept Raito alert.

'That's all'

Raito stopped in his tracks immediately, assaulted by the sudden thought. A few moments passed, during which he just stood there, not moving. But, unfortunately, once the memory had assailed him, it was very hard to dismiss. Unconsciously, he sunk to his knees, falling forward and letting his palms hit the ground. Then he held completely still, trying to shake it off.

But the image of Sai's serpentine face had grown in proportion inside his mind, accompanied by the revitalization of a pain Raito would rather keep forgotten. He forced himself to stand back up, and keep his head as high as it had always been.

'It was all a lie…it didn't really happen.' Once again, he repeated in his mind what he had already thought at least a hundred times. However, even though he was now sure that his rape – or any other of the rapes he'd witnessed – was a complete and unabashed lie, the pain felt completely real. The impact of the experience was still utterly solid. And even though he'd never even met a man named Sai in the real world, or ever been so pathetically disgraced in his whole life…it still hurt now. And the fact that he now knew it had never happened hurt even more.

But this time, it wasn't only his pride as a man that had been insulted. Something else…something else…after what had been done to him, something had been installed in Raito's psyche, which hadn't been there before. And even though he could not pinpoint what it was…he was afraid of it. Because even though his ideas about justice were now clearer than they'd ever been, his sentiments about himself were in conflict.

Naturally, he newfound knowledge of the true repercussions of a rape could only be followed by the augmentation of his guilt, since he was now completely aware of what he'd done to Sayu, and how she had felt. Even though it was technically all a lie, and even if he'd technically never touched a hair from her head in the real world…still, his subconscious mind had treated every occurrence as real. The guilt he now felt was real…the hatred for Sai, the damage to his pride…everything was real. Perhaps the most real of all was his complete isolation.

'Is all this trouble…really worth it?', he wondered. Perhaps it would have been best if he'd just died and been submerged to calm oblivion, after all. On the one hand, it was crippling to think of complete inexistence, but on the other hand, faced with all this peril incorporated with survival, perhaps it might actually have been best to die, and be done with it. He was done with the mortal world, anyway. There was no way he could now make himself remembered now. And at least in the silence of the absolute death, that Ryuuku had promised him, he would never have to deal with all this turmoil again.

He shuddered to think what kind of impact this prolonged hallucination had had on him, if he now felt prepared and unafraid to face the absolute Lethe that he had so shunned during his life. Even though he was finally finding the values and ideals he had searched for in order to become a Godly judge, after finding them, he might actually be losing his sense of self in the process.

In fact, from the moment his ideas about justice and the nature of a judge started changing, he'd felt a part of him dying. Why was death so different than life, if he were forced to fight constantly – be it himself or some external factor? In the end, life and death may be two aspects of the very same thing, he thought, and hated himself for being reduced to this kind of philosophical nonsense, which he had sworn never to think about.

But it was now a fact that even if he wanted to die, he couldn't. He was now blocked in a state of suspended death, neither completely dead nor completely alive, and was forced to tread forward and face all his fears if he wanted to escape – escape either toward death or life, since at this point it didn't really matter. This was why he had to find Misa, he reminded himself. Ironically, that idiotic, one-dimensional girl was now his only string of hope. In this abyss of panic, somehow, Raito had been forced to find a purpose. And if meeting that woman was his purpose, and facing whatever evil scheme she had in store for him, then so be it. After all, he could either face her or remain in this empty world – empty of innocents, empty of criminals – for what was probably all eternity.

'Misa'

What did the puppets symbolize? he asked himself once again, as he reached the eleventh staircase, which led to the twelfth floor. After everything he'd seen and learned, after having been forced to endure hours within another person's body and feel what it was like to be in other peoples' position…even though he didn't want to admit it to himself, he had a fleeting thought about why Misa may be…haunting him. And unfortunately, that fleeting thought was accompanied by a substantial amount of guilt.

Since Raito was using the emergency staircase to climb upstairs and the building was rather tall to begin with, he wiped the sweat of his brow with the back of his hand. Once he'd reached the twelfth floor, just a small distance away from Misa's room, he found a nasty surprise: the door with the huge number 'twelve' was trashed, twisted in ugly angles – he should have expected something would go wrong at the last minute. There was absolutely no way he'd be able to pry it open with his bare hands, or find a way to go through it without chopping himself to little pieces.

Muttering a swearword, he turned around. He stood on the top of the stairs for a few moments, trying to think of a solution. He couldn't think of any tool – not even a crowbar – he could use to pass through this door. And then it hit him: there was another way up, through the elevator shaft. It might just be crazy enough to work, Raito thought, since this entire place was insane.

The more time passed, the longer and darker the shadows became, and Raito started feeling a decidedly strange sensation as he stood there, watching the shadows of the stairs and balustrades form strange shapes on the ground. Galvanized to action, Raito lunged forward, running down the stairs. He felt as though his time was almost over, as though something would come lurking out of the dark, eager to take him back to the avenging Hands, his worst nightmare.

Keeping himself silent and focused, he lost no time descending to the eleventh floor. When the door with the number 'eleven' refused to open, he took a step backwards and shot a well-aimed kick, making it recoil with a few clanging sounds.

A memory then attacked his mind and he stopped moving for a few moments, placing his hands on his knees and panting, trying to shake the image of Sai's rough palms away. But the image of Sai's hands soon twisted into his own hands, as they were grabbing Sayu's thighs. He gritted his teeth, and berated himself for indulging in this kind of thought when he was obviously in a hurry. But he couldn't help it. The inverse law of the human brain resurfaced, and the more Raito instructed himself not to think about something, the more his brain insisted on picturing it.

Fortunately, it didn't take long for him to snap out of it, since he was distracted by a loud clattering noise. He froze immediately, forgetting all other thoughts and focusing on the thrashing, which seemed to originate from the very bowels of the building. Much more hoarse than he cared to admit, he charged through the door he'd just kicked open.

All floors of the HQ building were nearly identical, with the only difference that some seemed to have more partitions and smaller rooms. Other than that, all floors were blessed with an equal number of surveillance cameras – courtesy of Ryuuzaki – and microphones. However, all of this hyper technological equipment was now completely useless, seeing as it had been rendered powerless after the earthquake.

Raito ran through the floor, trying to ignore the crashing and groaning sounds that seemed to be echoing from the very walls around him. Every time he blinked and reopened his eyes, for a few split seconds, it seemed as though there was blood splashed all over the walls and ceiling. Then, everything seemed to become normal again. But Raito wondered if, perhaps, the bloodstained image he saw in those moments was the real building under the visual façade.

'There!' he thought, catching sight of the elevator. Now the only thing he had to do was find a vent, which would lead him to the inside of the elevator shaft. Thankfully, Raito had lived in this building for a long time, so he had no trouble finding the aforementioned vent. The problem arose when he realized he had no screwdriver or any other tool to pry the hatch open. Cursing his lack of planning and realizing that the fear was starting to cloud his judgment, he hurried to the storage room of the eleventh floor, hoping to find some sort of tool.

He passed through offices and desks littered with papers, finally reaching a slimy-looking door and opening it. The first thing he saw was the red light and obnoxious lens of a surveillance camera, which seemed to be working perfectly fine. The retched thing was stuck on the upper corner of the room and Raito, as though by natural reflex, covered his face with his hand in order not to be seen. Even though he knew that the surveillance system was down, he still felt unexplainably wary of that red blinking light. As though it was the small mole that had suddenly grown on Ryuuzaki's face, to taunt Raito's ignorance.

In any case, Raito forced himself to focus, throwing a few materials – a broom, a hammer, an electrical hoover –out of the way in search for a crowbar or a screwdriver. When he saw a flashlight, he made an appreciative sound. Now if it only had batteries, it would be perfe…yes! It did have batteries. Raito placed it in his pocket for safekeeping.

Then he paused, coming face to face with a 3-foot, completely innocent-looking chainsaw, which was placed in a remote corner of the room. He turned away from it immediately, petrified for no reason. He started shuffling around more quickly. Soon enough, he got hold of a few different screwdrivers. He considered taking the chainsaw along, as a weapon, but the mere thought chilled him. He didn't even know how to use one after all.

Hearing the crashing sounds coming from downstairs, he wondered if perhaps he should take the saw along after all, in order to prevent someone else from using it against him, but quickly dismissed the thought. Running out of the storage room, he headed straight for the vent. But just as he was sprinting, he caught sight of something and stopped. Framed in a red, fire-emergency case was a small axe. Of course! How did he not think of it before?

Wasting no time, he drew a fist and punched through the glass of the emergency box with all his strength, pulverizing the plastic and taking hold of the weapon. Naturally, if anyone saw him walking around holding an axe they would think him a complete maniac, but Raito supposed that after having considered towing a chainsaw, he shouldn't worry about that.

With the axe in one hand and the screwdrivers in the other, he ran to the vent. Immediately, he reached in his pocket and opened his flashlight, checking the edges of the vent. Selecting the appropriate tool, he started prying the iron vent open, cursing Ryuuzaki's constant vigilance the whole time. Of course they didn't have normal, easy-to-open vents, like normal people! They always had to be extra-safe and ultra-careful! Normally, Raito wouldn't care as much…but when he heard the threatening sounds coming closer, he cursed Ryuuzaki for all he was worth.

Finally, the vent was released, and Raito climbed through. This was the hard part: how to climb upwards in the elevator shaft. Perhaps the most worrying thing was that he couldn't catch sight of the elevator anywhere, and he didn't like the idea of starting to climb, only to later find out that the elevator was descending.

He detected a relatively climbable pole on the opposite side of the shaft, and decided he had to catch hold of it to climb to the twelfth floor. But in order to do that, he first had to perform some less-than-secure acrobatics across the shaft. Hitching the axe on the belt of his jeans and the screwdrivers behind his ear, he leaned forward carefully, with his hand stretched towards the metallic ropes of the elevator. As he looked at the black abyss beneath him, a small voice in his mind asked him if he was really sure about this, but he shushed it quickly, knowing from experience that he would never succeed if he let doubt overcome him.

Trying to function only with the logical, desensitized part of his brain, he narrowed his eyes and, after he was completely sure the elevator would no suddenly appear, made the leap.

"Argh!" he yelped, as he held himself tight on the steel string of the elevator, dangling precariously and trying not to look downwards. But the screwdrivers he'd hitched behind his ear slipped away, and started falling. Raito followed their movement with his eyes, watching them fall into the black depth. He waited to hear a clang, which would signify that they had made contact with the ground, but no such noise ever came.

Instead, another kind of noise echoed. It was the telltale groan of steel sliding against steel, and Raito suddenly felt the metallic string move beneath his hands.

'Oh no!' he managed to think, realizing that the elevator was moving, and that he'd find himself falling very soon unless he jumped immediately.

"UH!" the sound of his lonely shout reflected against the walls of the shaft as he jumped. He hadn't really calculated his motions, and he owed his survival more to his good fortune than his own ability. Now he found himself on the iron pole, which was adhered to the wall of the vertical corridor. The elevator was still in motion, and, judging from the movements of the metallic strings, it was probably somewhere over Raito's head, moving downwards.

Cursing his self-prophecy, Raito looked upwards, and dread encircled his heart as he saw, sure enough, an iron platform rapidly approaching him. In the best-case scenario it would send him down to the bottomless abyss, in the worst it would it would pulverize him. Working on automatic pilot, his body lunged and started climbing – his only chance was to reach the top of the ladder and the small crevice on the wall before the elevator reached him. He turned off the more intelligent part of his mind and climbed the pole, not having enough time to be afraid enough of what was happening to him.

The ascension seemed to last for an eternity, when in truth it was only a few seconds. A split moment before Raito's heel was pulled in the crevice along with the rest of his body, the elevator passed by him. Raito held onto the iron bars of the vent next to him on the crevice – the vent of the twelfth floor – as the breath was knocked out of him.

When the panic was over, and Raito had a chance to reassemble himself, he realized that he now had no screwdrivers with which to open the vent. Fruitlessly, he pushed against it, but, predictably, his strength was not capable of dislodging it. Thinking quickly, Raito reached to his back and plucked the axe from his belt.

It took four hits on the bottom edges of the vent. Then, Raito used his whole torso to push forward, and before he knew it, the stubborn hinges had been released and he found himself rolling forward, landing on the cold marble floor of the twelfth level.

Letting himself pant for a few moments, he was jarred back to action when he heard a loud thud, like the sound of a train being derailed, echo around him. It was coming closer – whatever 'it' was. Thankfully, the fact that he'd encountered all these problems only verified his suspicions that this was indeed the place he was meant to be. Now he needed to find Misa, before whatever threat was out there managed to find him.

Pulling his flashlight out of his pocket and switching it open, he started carefully walking towards Misa's door. He hadn't expected the twelfth floor to be so…normal. Perhaps he had subconsciously expected some big disgusting change to have been made around here. However, everything was set in place – no raging fires, no carnage, no Hands. Instead, he could only see a bleak atmosphere, as though the air was not translucent, but grey in colour. It felt like the calm before the storm, the kind of muted, photographic visual stillness, which can only be deciphered as unnatural.

The next time Raito blinked, for a few moments, he thought he saw the entire floors, walls and offices around him covered with red handprints. He shuddered, unwilling to think about whose Hands may have made those prints. Instead, when his vision returned to normal again, he rushed down the corridor towards Misa's room, expecting to find the door locked.

He was in for a surprise when he saw the door was not only unlocked, but ajar.

However, in all the time he'd spent in here, he didn't ever remember that door being made of wood.

But now, instead of the sterilized plastic, there only luscious oak wood. And beyond it, sparkling from inside the room, Raito could see a soft warm light – like candlelight in the complete darkness.

He blinked again, and, for a few seconds, saw the door covered with bloody handprints, and the dark shape of a woman hovering in front of it. Gasping, he took a step backwards, but before he could register exactly what had frightened him, the image had disappeared and his vision readjusted. This thing with the blinking was becoming a distraction.

He fastened himself against the wall next to the door, trying to look inside the room before he entered it. He was now gripping the axe with both hands, keeping his eyes wide and trying not to blink too much. The fading candlelight was reflected in his eyes, which, in their narrowed state, seemed to glow. The tempestuous sounds coming from the lower floors seemed to have dulled in his ears, and he wondered if it was possible he had dreamt them up all along. Finally, heaving a great breath and reassuring himself, once more, that he was forced to do this if he wanted to resolve his torturous existence, he lunged forward.

The wooden door gave a horrible creak as it burst open, and the hair on the back of Raito's neck stood on end. As the door slipped open he was briefly blinded by a flash of light, and his surprised fingers became slack around the axe.

When he opened his eyes a few seconds later, the weapon dropped from his hands completely.

Dolls. Countless of them, stretching upwards, as far as the eye could see. But they weren't just normal dolls – they were puppets, marionettes. Miniatures of real people. There! That was Raito's mother and father! And lo! Wasn't that the clerk Sayu had worked with in her part time job? There was one shaped like that creature, Sai…and of course, let's not forget, the unmistakable black hair and white shirt. It was staring silently at Raito with its black eyes, a mockery of the real thing. Slowly, Raito bent down and picked up his axe, which he'd previously dropped in surprise, clenching it in his hand as he looked around.

And they were all watching him, with their red, glowing eyes, scrutinizing his every move. Trying to look upwards, he couldn't even discern a ceiling. The four walls were covered by shelves, which were in turn filled with dolls. There were a few wooden stairs hanging on the upper shelves – overall, it was the exact representation of a huge, old-fashioned library, except that it was filled with dolls instead of books. There were hundreds – no, thousands – of red eyes looking at him, fixed on his every move. Raito felt as though he'd stepped in a belfry full of dolls, not a room.

His heart started beating faster as he stood there, terror slowly seeping in his skin like the poison of a snake. Because in the middle of the room, sure enough, was a…a black, human shaped…thing.

Raito did not dare make any sudden movements, just kept watching. The person was sitting in the middle of the room with their legs crossed, and there was a huge, black, silk …sheet…pulled over them. As though Raito were being invited to pull it away and reveal what lay beneath. He noticed the narrow shoulders and pneumatic figure, and realized who it must be…

Scattered on the floor around the black figure were a distinctive few dolls, as though the figure had just been playing with them. Raito's blood chilled when he saw the marionette of a man with brown hair and hazel eyes – himself.

All those offensive stares of the puppets, combined with the unmoving black lump on the floor, made him feel threatened, so, unconsciously, he kept moving backwards. Eventually, he felt an obstacle behind him. Turning around hoarsely, he came to belatedly realize that the door he'd just walked through had disappear, turning into solid wall. He was now completely trapped in this dollhouse!!

In order to battle the upcoming claustrophobia, Raito tried to reason with himself, knowing that whatever he had to do would have to take place in this room. So without losing time, he decided to make use of the things available to him. He turned around again to check the dolls, and, frantically, started darting his eyes around the room, unconsciously searching for some means of escape.

But instead of non-existent escape routes, he managed to observe the more obscure parts of the room: the gaudy colours of the silk curtains screamed at his senses, and he observed the tall, red candles settled around the sides of the room, like the solid pillars of an ancient Greek temple, or the orange sticks of a shrine, each with a wish written on it. The candle closest to Raito had something etched on it, with the reverent calligraphy of a Samurai's name on his katana sword: 'Long live our Killer Lord', the wish said, and for some reason, seeing the red colour and smelling the heavy incense, Raito felt sick in his stomach.

Well, if he wanted to see this situation through to the end, if he wanted to find his answers…then he had to do what he was so obviously being invited to do. Taking a few unstable steps, he approached the figure in the middle of the room. He carefully secured the axe between the back of his belt and trousers and then, slowly, started leaning forward over the figure.

His fingers carried an ominous sense as they stretched over the black fabric with ritualistic slowness. He saw his hand's shadow reflected on the black silk by the candlelight. Then, steeling himself for what he may see, he narrowed his eyes fiercely and pulled the sheet away.

Staggering backwards a few steps, his eyes became wide with surprise and let the black cloth drop from his lax fingers.

"Mi…" he started, and felt the very sinews of his heart start dilating in pure panic "Mi…sa…"

It was a corpse.

A living, breathing corpse.

And it was looking at him.

"Raito…" a voice whispered, but it wasn't a human voice. The…creature…was buried in a dress of black frills and laces, adorned with Misa's silver accessories and red roses. But on the rotten skin of the skeletal monster, the clothing looked less like the provocative ensemble it was supposed to be and more like the black gossamer gown of a dowager wraith. He could have sworn that, as he saw it beneath the silk sheet, he'd thought by the outline of the body that it was a woman, not a…a…"You've come to play with me…"

The thing leaned forward, stretching its hand toward him, as though trying to touch him.

Raito looked around hoarsely, searching for an exit, an escape. But there was no door, no windows, nothing. Only himself, an inordinate amount of dolls and corpse, which was trying to embrace him.

"…Misa-Misa waited so long for you…" the voice rung again, and Raito felt his skin curdle. He dropped his axe yet again as he was pressed against the wall, and the thing started closing in on him, with the woolly yellow fuzz on its head and the cracked red paint on its rotten lips. "But you never came."

Raito's heart started hammering as he felt a horrible rotten nail graze his arm. eE turned his head away in revulsion, refusing to accept what was happening. But the minute he expressed his disgust, he heard a small noise, like the sound of sand trickling, and the horrible touch retreated from his body.

He opened his eyes immediately, intent on seeing what on earth had just happened. But the only thing he saw was a cloud of dust, swirling like a hurricane in front of his eyes. Infinitely relieved, but at the same time unexplainably perturbed, he looked around raucously.

With his body trembling unconsciously, Raito wondered if it was possible he'd just dreamed up everything that had just happened. Just as he was staring around, he took a better look at the place the corpse had been sitting. Now that the dark figure had finally left, there was a black stain, like a huge burn, on the floor in the middle of the room.

And then, finally, just as the breathy sighs of the air around him started to die down and he thought it was all over, Raito thought he saw a person, like a new grey shadow, standing in the middle of the room over the black stain on the floor, where the corpse had previously been resting. His breath caught in his throat, as he spotted the axe still lying on the floor – there was no way he could reach it without passing by the dark figure.

He didn't get the chance to ponder any further, however. As the dust settled down over the objects in the room, his surroundings were all covered by a sheen thick grey colour, as though it wasn't dust that had fallen, but ashes.

Raito thought he could smell the scent of something burning, just like the few times his mother had failed in her cooking endeavors at home. But this was not home, and the smell of fire was cause for alarm. He started observing the porcelain marionettes around, which had been covered completely by dust. However, even the dust could not hide their glowing red eyes. Even the doll that was shaped like himself was looking at him with a frown.

Now, as their bodies were completely covered in a blanket of dust, their eyes looked even more piercing. Suddenly, a movement in the corner of his eye drew Raito's attention, and he brought his eyes back to the ground to focus on the shadow.

He bit back a yelp as he realized that it was not a dark shadow any more. It had materialized into something…else.

"We've been expecting you." The demon said, with its red eyes.

Raito held completely still. He didn't know what he'd been expecting to see, but this was not it. All along, he'd been preparing himself to meet Misa's platinum sparkling curls and rouge covered cheeks. Of course, he'd supposed that Misa would also be in the form of a demon…but still, he had expected to meet her, in some form or other. But now, not only had he not met Misa…the demon standing in front of him was very familiar, and Raito had met him before.

The demon that looked like himself.

"It took you quite a long time to get here." The satanic Raito, dressed in a bloodied blue suit, said. His eyes were just as scarlet as Raito had remembered, and his diabolic face was etched in a permanent expression of sardonic derision.

Raito couldn't help himself from speaking, even though he knew he should prevent himself from rushing into things, at least in front of this particular monster. However, after everything that had happened, after he'd been repeatedly murdered and raped, he supposed that he wasn't afraid of speaking openly to this particular demon any more.

"…What about Misa…?" Raito asked, rolling his hands into fists on his sides. He'd thought this huge ordeal had been Misa's doing all along…at least that's what all the puppets signified….so what was happening now?

"What about her?" the demon echoed. Raito waited a few moments, expecting to hear something more, but it soon became clear that the demon was not willing to disclose any more information.

As they stared each other down, Raito was unable to stop his eyes from slipping to the axe again, wishing with all his might that he could take hold of it and chop the demon's smirking head into two halves, even if it did look exactly like his own. However, no sooner had he internally expressed the thought than he heard the demon speak again.

"Go ahead." He mocked, stretching his hands on his sides, as though to indicate a stance of complete surrender "By all means, give it your best shot."

Raito glared at him, narrowing his eyes. Even though he didn't appreciate being mocked, he could recognize a rhetorical statement when he saw one. And judging by the way the demon had spoken, it was most probable that he believed could not be harmed by something as plebeian as an axe. Raito berated himself for having even thought about it.

Remembering what had happened the last time he'd talked to this demon, he decided it would be best if he did not deviate from the unspoken rules of the game. He didn't want to see what kind of twisted deformations the demon would undergo if Raito even attempted to hit him with the weapon. So he decided to stay put, after all.

That did not mean that he would also forfeit his right to ask questions, however. He felt like he deserved it. Obviously, he wouldn't get any answers about Misa's involvement in this entire hellish nightmare. Perhaps if he tried to ask something else…

"So if not Misa…why you again?" Raito asked, leaving a few easily comprehensible elements out of his question and taking a small step to the right, attempting to keep as much distance between him and the red-eyed monster as possible. "Why after all this time?" After all, by the time these adventures were finally over, Raito's sense of time had been completely defiled. He felt like it had been entire months since he'd last seen this demon.

"…After all this time, you say?" the demon started, letting a low chuckle that made the fuzzy hair on Raito's forearms stand on end. "But I never left in the first place."

Raito suddenly heard a small, far-off, repetitive sound. Like the ticking of a clock. He took a reflexive step forward, raising his head and moving it around, testing to see where the familiar, horrible sound was coming from. The demon released another chuckle and Raito turned to glare at him, understanding what was going on. This devil was playing with him, Raito realized, and a muscle pumped in his jaw.

Slowly, as the demon laughed and Raito glared, the ticking sound started fading away.

Raito considered asking something new – or even start cursing this demon – but he never got the chance.

"Nevertheless, despite your tardiness, the time has come for us to compete, in terms of manipulation." The demon stated with an air of finality, and the blood seeping in Raito's lungs became as cold as ice. He stopped breathing, focused only on listening.

Another…competition, then? But what did a 'competition of manipulation' mean? This was…so sudden! He wasn't prepared to undergo another interrogation session. He wasn't prepared to…be thrown to the Hands again!

"…'manipulation'?" he echoed, as though asking for more information. But when he saw the demon's eyes flash red in hostility, he shut his jaw with a click, and decided not to ask any more questions.

"The rules" The demon continued, and a feeling of deja-vu overcame Raito, as he stood there in the ash-covered room, beneath the watchful eyes of so many small demons. "go as follows."

Raito braced himself, summoning all his powers of discipline to focus only on the demon's words, trying to forget about his confusion, about Misa…about everything.

"You and I will start climbing the tower via the ladders." The demon pointed at the wooden ladders on the sides of the doll-library. "You will climb the left ladder and I will climb the right one." He pointed at the two available ladders at either side of the room. "You must manage to overcome each obstacle you meet as you climb, and you must reach the top of this tower before me. You have three attempts to defeat me."

It seemed straightforward enough. However, Raito had had enough experience with this horrible place to understand that things rarely were as simple as they seemed and that when something appeared to be too simple to be true, it most probably was. The thing that worried him the most were the 'obstacles' the demon had fleetingly mentioned. So, risking the possible punishment, he dared to ask the question.

"What kind of obstacles will I encounter?" he asked.

The evil grin on the devil's face grew to enormous proportions "Obstacles that you will have to manipulate."

'Manipulate'? What did he mean by that word? Raito decided to ask another question now that he seemingly had the chance, before it was too late.

"What happens if I lose?" he asked, not realizing that his hands and jaw were clenching on their own volition. The devil smirked with a hostile, cold glance.

"If you lose…then you fall." He answered.

Raito just stood there, with his fingers fisting and loosening nervously. He didn't fully understand what the demon meant by saying 'fall'. Fall down the ladder…or fall to something much, much worse…? For example…the Hands?

And if Raito did fall to the Hands…would he have to start everything all over again? Would he have to relive the whole nightmarish struggle?

That mere thought alone was enough to propel Raito with the kind of unstoppable motive envied by many. This time, Raito had completely made up his mind about the kind of willpower he would commit to this competition, whatever it was. 'I absolutely have to win this…or else I'll end up…!!'

In any case, a 'competition of manipulation', just like a 'competition of intelligence' was not too foreign for him. He'd been trying and learning how to manipulate people for all his life. Surely one more time would not hurt.

"This is your first attempt. You have two hours to defeat me." The demon said, and moved toward the ladder on the right side of the library. Raito, taking his queue, moved to the left side. Suddenly, a deafening sound of a bell was heard, and Raito felt the very ground shake beneath his feet. For a split second, he thought he was experiencing another earthquake.

But just as he looked down at the floor, the vibrations stopped. Amazed, he realized that the floor was not the ash-covered carpet anymore: it was the face of a gigantic, square analogical clock, with Latin signs to indicate the numbers. The pointers of the clock were poised over the numbers for 'five o'clock', and they seemed frozen in place.

Raito turned at the demon with a strident glance, furious upon seeing the demon already looking at him with a pronounced smirk.

Then, after a few seconds of staring at each other, the devil finally spoke, catching Raito unprepared:

"Your time starts…now!" A deafening beating sound started echoing all around them, and Raito realized that the gigantic clock beneath their feet had started counting and its pointers moving.

Not losing a second, Raito pounced on the wooden ladder, hoisting himself upwards. He kept climbing determinedly, but the ladder was narrow and he could not move too fast. Apart from that, the multitude of marionettes on the shelves around him were all staring at him as he passed by them. He tried to keep his eyes off them.

Fighting his urge to look backwards and check how his opponent was doing – or look downwards to check the clock and lose his balance – Raito gritted his teeth and kept climbing.

By the time he reached one hundred steps over the ground, his arms and legs had gotten stiff. He stopped for a few seconds to catch his breath, closing his eyes and panting.

When he opened his eyes again, there was a doll hovering directly above him.

He was so surprised that he almost let go of the ladder, barely managing to hold on. However, he yelped uncontrollably and steadied himself on the wooden steps, looking at the invader.

He tried to move upwards, out of the way, but it was as though he were being repelled by some unearthly force from bypassing the marionette. So this was the obstacle that the demon had been talking about…And so, Raito paused and took a better look at his foe. It was the marionette of a black-haired man in a coat, but Raito couldn't really recognize the real person it represented, if any.

Then, finally, as Raito kept looking at it intently… its horrid facial features started changing shape in front of his very eyes. And slowly, it wasn't just the face that was changing…it was…transforming!

The porcelain skin turned into real carbon based compounds, and the clothing stretched to human proportions. Before Raito had realized what was happening…the marionette had turned into a real man, a real man with red eyes, who was sitting on the steps of the ladder above Raito.

It only took a few moments for Raito to recognize him, and his dark blue coat.

"Raye Penber." Raito spoke, and saw the marionette-turned-man give a small, nearly indiscernible nod. At least Raito knew that he had identified the obstacle correctly. Now he didn't know how to convince Penber to disappear again.

"Move out of my way" Raito decided to follow the direct approach, aware that each second he wasted talking to Penber meant that he was losing time from winning the race. However, Penber did not budge.

"I'm sorry, but I can't let you do what you're planning to do." Penber's voice rung solidly, and Raito was surprised to hear it: he hadn't believed that an ex-mannequin could talk.

This whole scenery served as proof for his theory that these marionettes had always been alive!

"Please, move!" Raito urged, unable to help himself make his voice more demanding and less humble. He turned around to see were the demon was located, and almost let out a tortured yell as he saw that the demon was move than fifteen steps above him, and still climbing. "Move! I have to win!…Move or I'll…I'll throw you off! "

"You can't be serious…I can't simply let you try and immobilize a thug on your own." Penber answered solidly, apparently not even considering Raito's dire situation.

Raito refrained from shouting obscenities, since he realized that this opponent was obviously not responsive enough to intimidation tactics. He looked away, trying to calm himself and think logically.

The title of this competition was 'manipulation', he reasoned. Therefore…he obviously needed to find a way to manipulate his obstacles – like Penber – to move out of the way and let him continue climbing upwards.

'Very well' Raito thought, still trying to convince himself he was perfectly in control. He thought about the urgent way Penber had spoken, and also about the marionette's strange words… 'The way to manipulate a person is to strike their weaknesses…Penber now obviously thinks that we're on the bus together…I also have to act like we're on the bus and convince him to move.'

Looking at Penber with new conviction, Raito gritted his teeth and narrowed his eyes. He suddenly felt a chilly wind pass through him, coming out of nowhere, and again he was so surprised he almost let go of the ladder. Cursing his luck and this hellish 'competition', he turned his attention towards Penber once again. A new manipulation tactic was in order.

"I know it's dangerous…" Raito started, wearing his best nervous mask and looking around, as though anxious about attacking the thug on the bus "So I hope that you'll help me!

"That's what I told you! Just stay back and I'll take care of it!" Penber answered.

Just as he'd calculated, Raito saw the tight muscles on Penber's face relax. Raito internally congratulated himself. This was indeed the best way to progress. Now if only he could convince the other…

"All right! Then I'll just take my girlfriend and duck downwards, and you'll pounce on the thug at…" Raito looked downwards, looking at the humungous clock on the floor and seeing the indication of the time "…at a quarter past five?"

A light of determination dawned in Penber's expression, and he looked at Raito with completely focused eyes. He nodded solidly and then he looked the clock on the floor, and his eyes widened in innocent surprise.

"Yes! It's time!"

This was a piece of cake, Raito thought. Pretending had always come naturally to him. When he saw Penber jumping upwards, obviously trying to pounce on an imaginary thug, he mentally congratulated himself for his abilities of swift adaptation. The moment Penber stood up completely, right in front of Raito's eyes, he transformed back into a marionette and moved to the side to stop blocking Raito's way.

Without losing any more time, Raito literally lunged upwards the moment the path was finally cleared. He kept climbing steadily, ignoring the growing ache in his legs – he had to make up for all the lost time. By now he was perspiring madly, and he could feel the sticky sensation of sweat on his back and on his forehead. He ignored everything, however, and kept his determination intact: just one swift flash of memory of the Hands, and he was propelled forward in his struggle.

Losing count of how many steps he'd climbed in total, he could surmise that he shouldn't even dare look downwards, no matter how much he wanted to check the clock and see how much time had passed. If he turned to look, he'd probably become nauseous or crippled by fear, and lose his determination – damn the demon for placing the clock in the one place that Raito didn't want to look: down!

It was the same problem with the fact that the demon was situated on the ladder directly behind Raito, and if Raito wanted to check the status of his opponent, he'd have to look downwards and backwards – a motion that was simply neither manageable nor advisable at this height.

He could only hope that his climbing pace was faster than that of the demon and that he'd now surpassed the opponent – when he'd briefly seen the demon climbing before, he'd noticed the devil had kept a relatively slow pace. If Raito accelerated his effort even more, then-

Eager to move faster, he didn't pay attention to his steps. The moment he realized he was slipping, he couldn't help but release a blood-curdling howl. Thankfully, his reflexes were fast enough to respond to the danger, and he grabbed the edges – not the steps – of the ladder immediately. The friction on his palms was horrible as he slid a few feet downwards, but he eventually managed to settle his feet on the ladder again and steady himself.

He held still only for a few moments to catch his breath. However the moment he stopped moving, he saw a puppet from one of the selves nearby float out of its sitting position and hover upwards, coming to rest directly over Raito. This puppet was easily recognizable before it even transformed, but that didn't stop Raito from watching the transformation with an amazed face.

"Takada…" he released a breathy mutter, and watched her as she appeared sitting on the steps of the ladder above him, with her short hair and haughty look. She nodded her head slightly, barely lowering her snobbishly raised nose.

It was amazing how her arrogant face amused him, even now. She really did believe that she was a femme fatale, if such a thing even existed. For Raito, it surely did not – no woman was ever good enough to be fatal, and certainly not this one. After he'd re-evaluated all the actions of his past life, he felt a bit guilty for frying her alive when she'd technically been innocent. However…she had been a liability, and…

It was a fact that it would be harder to manipulate this woman than it had been with Penber, since she was generally much more demanding. However, despite appearances, Raito knew that Takeda's weakness was not – like with Misa – her love for Yagami Raito.

It was her love for fame, and her ambition.

Oh this was just too easy.

"Takada," he started immediately, putting on his most charming, romance-stricken face, the one he'd used to convince her that he was the man of her dreams. "I was thinking about you all this time. I couldn't get you out of my mind."

"Mm…" she didn't look very convinced, but it seemed as though she was enjoying the lavishing of attention nonetheless.

"All this time I've been thinking" Raito started, shaking his head to pretend he was feeing dejected "about all the dreams we'd made…" he let the statement hang unfinished, internally congratulating himself for being such a capable actor. "Was everything between us just a lie to you?" Actually, he almost started guffawing at his own dejected expression.

"…No…I thought everything was a lie to you." She answered with a mildly stiff expression, indication that her pride had been hurt by him.

Thankfully, this marionette-Takada didn't seem to have any recollection of the way Raito had eventually killed her. She blinked her red eyes, not very compliant or responsive to his wooing. Raito realized that, perhaps he should try a different approach in order to manipulate her quickly. Was he being excessive with the lovey-dovey words? Perhaps he should withhold the romance and focus on feeding her egoism instead.

"Of course not!" he said loudly, and with heavy inflection "How could it? You're the most strong-willed, decisive, and capable woman I've ever known" he continued, remembering the unfortunate few times that he'd been obliged to sleep with her, for reasons of credibility. He keenly remembered, with an inner dark spark, that no matter how much she wanted to keep a strong, 'powerful' woman profile on the outside, in the end she'd always melt like putty in his arms. Entirely pathetic…woman are such weak-willed creatures, especially when it comes to men, he thought in mild disgust.

"From the moment I met you…I always knew that I wanted a woman like you by my side…You're the only one who can understand my cause…" He enforced his voice with the characteristic melodramatic baritone that had always appealed to women of her kind.

His disgust only intensified as he saw her expression softening at the onslaught of compliments. Just a few honey-covered words and she was already getting weak at the knees! All he had to do with women is just make them believe that a smart, good-looking man like Raito was in desperate need of them, and they were flattered enough to do anything! Most of them had such pathetic self-confidences anyway, so if was extremely easy to convince them they were special and needed. Now she only needed a little nudge toward the right direction, and…

"Your…cause?" she asked, furrowing her eyebrows slightly "What cause?"

"I need your help." He concluded, with a tremendously serious voice "You're the only one logical enough to understand what I have to do…I trust you not to tell anyone this secret…"

"What is it?" she asked, her interest obviously piqued.

He decided that, in order to convince her, he'd eventually have to mention Kira. He could only hope that she at least remembered the existence of Kira. In order to avoid any uncomfortable or lengthy conversations – he had a race to win, after all – he resolved not to reveal his identity.

"I know you support Kira." He said, in one quick and solid statement. He watched her eyes grow to the size of saucers in surprise. "And I support him too. So I thought that someone should try to raise his popularity with the public…" he said, seeing that her interest was focused on him "And then I knew I had to contact you immediately, a famous reporter…I trust you…" he repeated, in a more emotional tone.

See blinked, narrowing her eyes at him "How do you know I support Kira?" she asked, and he internally groaned. If only he could end this conversation quickly and continue climbing. The deafening ticking sound of the clock was becoming more and more frantic in his ears with every passing moment. Nevertheless, he kept his calm and continued talking to her, deciding to conjure some lies to bring the denouement of this conversation closer.

"Because I saw you in a festival for Kira supporters." He stated, solidly. Naturally, no such thing had happened. He could only hope that the marionette-woman would bypass and accept the-.

"Lie." She said slowly, and Raito stopped breathing, watching her.

"You cheat!"

She barked suddenly, shooting upwards in a standing position, with her hands crossed over her chest. Her voice suddenly seemed amplified by a legion of other, monstrous voices. The sound of the ticking clock stopped, and Raito cursed himself a hundred times over, in his mind. Why couldn't he have thought more carefully?! However, as he saw her eyes flashing ruby and her face becoming horribly deformed; he completely forgot how to think, becoming paralyzed by fear.

Within seconds, the wooden steps of the ladder that he was holding started becoming warmer and warmer beneath his palms. Startled, he looked at his hands and the ladder, only to realize belatedly that it was not wooden anymore, but completely metal. And it was heating up more and more with every passing second. Until finally, the metal under his fingers started scorching with an orange colour, to the extent that he was forced to reflexively let go.

"NOOO!!" he shouted helplessly, as he lost his grip on the ladder and started falling downwards. The last thing he saw as he fell was Takada's glaring face. For a moment, as he was spiraling downwards, he thought he might be dropped to a hundred thousand angry Hands…he thought he saw red handprints everywhere.

Then he hit the ground, and all he knew was blackness.

The next time he opened his eyes, his head immediately started pounding, as though he'd just had the worst hangover of his entire life. Groaning, he sat up, only to come face to face with a library – a tower – filled to the brim with dolls, stretching as far upwards as the eye could see.

Immediately, he remembered what had happened – how he had failed the contest and fallen - and he twisted around wildly, searching for his opponent, the demon.

He wasn't disappointed. Only a few feet away, leaning against the ladder on the right side of the room, the demon stood inspecting his nails. When Raito looked at him, the devil made a show of noticing Raito was awake.

"Oh, you've come back to it, have you?" the demon who had borrowed Raito's face said, as he narrowed his eyes in cruel, sadistic mirth. "It's nice to see you so rejuvenated." He mocked, probably knowing perfectly well that Raito felt like the complete opposite. In fact, the tiredness of before hadn't gone away – it was as though he had just climbed two hundred wooden steps.

Raito lost no time in standing up, trying to shake the dizziness away. Then he stared at his opponent again, glaring but not saying anything. After all, he'd gone through much worse than this.

The demon snorted, as though having heard Raito's spiteful thoughts. He then kicked himself off the wall and ambled forward, standing in front of Raito's wary eyes, in the middle of a belfry full of watchful dolls.

"That's one lost try, Yagami Raito" the devil said, shaking his head and making disappointed noises "You have two more to go." He stated, raising his hand to indicate two fingers, in order to accentuate his point.

Raito didn't speak, just clenched his jaw. He still felt exhausted from before, and not at all prepared to try climbing again. He looked upwards, not able to discern how many steps he had to climb before he'd reach the top of the tower.

Was there even a point to all this?

"You have two hours to defeat me, and reach the top of the tower before me. This is your second attempt." The devil's voice rang and Raito was jarred back to the present. He realized that the demon was eager to restart the game as soon as possible, even though Raito was obviously exhausted.

Truth be told, he wasn't actually surprised at still being alive after having taken such a fall: he was surprised that he hadn't been thrown to the Hands. Obviously, after taking the demon's words into consideration, Raito had two more attempts at trying to win this little 'competition'. If he did not succeed…would he be thrown to the Hands then?

Raito steeled himself. No matter how tired his body may currently be, the thought of that extreme, unbelievable pain was enough to destroy any kind of doubt, or fatigue.

He approached the wooden ladder – now completely wooden and not at all comprised out of burning metal – and stood in front of it, internally cursing it. He didn't try to grab it before the demon gave the signal, lest he be called a cheater again. So he stood there patiently, as the ground started shaking beneath him and the gigantic clock appeared under his feet.

"Your time begins…now!" the demon shouted, and it was as though a gunshot sliced the air along with his rough voice.

Once again, Raito lost no time. He grabbed the edges of the ladder immediately, intent on climbing incessantly.

Judging on what had happened before; the puppets only slipped out of their shelves and came to block his way when he stopped ascending. In other words, the puppets would only become his obstacles when he'd stop climbing – even if he stopped for a second to catch a breath.

Therefore, what he had to do was obvious: not stop moving. He had to think of this as continuous aerobic exercise – like training or jogging. However, since he was a human who had weaknesses, it would be physically impossible to conduct such exercise without resting a few times. Therefore, he would be forced to pay attention to the puppets in the shelves, to see which people they represented.

If he spotted a person who could be easily persuaded or manipulated – like Penber – then Raito could afford to stop and catch a breath. But if he saw someone troublesome, who would need a long time to be convinced, like Takada, then he'd try to keep going and not stop.

Therefore, after he'd climbed the first one hundred steps or so, Raito spotted Penber's marionette in the shelves. Eager to rest a bit, he stopped moving, expecting to see Penber's doll float forward and come to stand on top of him.

However, he was doomed to be tragically disappointed.

Penber's doll didn't move a single bit; it was a doll a few shelves down, shaped like the infamous Misora Naomi, who came forward out of the dark recesses of the library. Raito gritted his teeth, resisting the urge to bury his face in his hands and yank at his hair. He should have realized that it wasn't necessary the same puppet would appear every time he stopped in the same vicinity!

And the problem that had now risen was that, even though Penber was relatively easy to manipulate…Misora was the exact opposite: suspicious, wary and quick-witted – one of the few women Raito considered an actual foe. Raito would have to spend a long time convincing her to move away.

Misora's doll then appeared over him, soon turning into the real woman, complete with red eyes, leather jacket and wraith-like black hair. Raito decided not to employ the same method he had used with Takada and to gather more information before he started trying to persuade her.

"Can I please pass, Miss…?" Raito spoke, knowing the answer would be negative but trying to make her acknowledge his presence. He tried to calm himself and not think at all about his opponent, or the passing time.

"I really think I should stay right here." Misora answered Raito's polite plea for her to move. "I'll wait to meet the chief of police in my own time."

Raito realized that these marionettes did not carry the same memories as the people they really represented: it was as though they remembered only bits and pieces of real life. Misora, for example, obviously believed she was in the police station, waiting to tell chief Yagami about the questionable death of her fiancé. Just as the Penber marionette had believed he was in the bus, with Raito, trying to prevent the hijacking.

Raito realized that he would have to repeat the entire conversation he'd had with Misora back then, in order to make her trust him. The only difference was that now he had no identification to show her. He'd have to convince her he was the chief's son all on his own.

"Then I'm sure I can help you. I came to the station to see chief Yagami as well." he said with fake joviality, and watched her interest focus on him "I'm the chief's son, Yagami Raito."

Misora's eyes seemed calculating as the weighed Raito up and down "Nice to meet you, I'm…"

Raito noticed that she used the same alias she had used when he'd met her in real life. However, he couldn't care less about her real name right now. All he wanted was to persuade her to move away and stop blocking him. He decided he should manipulate the fact that she believed she was in the police station, waiting to see chief Yagami – just as he had manipulated Penber's belief that he was in the bus. Even though Raito was very careful not to utter any kind of lie – lest he be called a 'cheater' again, he supposed that it would not be considered a lie if he used the right words.

"Since I'm son to the chief of police, I'm sure he'll see you in his office if I ask him." He said, nodding his head in affirmation. She looked at him very carefully, and then spoke again.

"I'm thankful for your help, but I'm sure I can wait for him on my own."

Yes… Raito had remembered her very well. Extremely stubborn and cautious woman…but a woman nonetheless, who could be moved by gentle words.

"Are you sure you don't need any help…you look like you're really cold…" he commented, wearing his 'charmingly polite' mask. Unfortunately, that tactic didn't seem to work on Misora, so he quickly amended his ways "I understand why you wouldn't trust a complete stranger, and unfortunately I'm not holding any ID…" he started, supposing that the best lie is a lie with fifty percent honesty "…but I can prove to you that I am the chief's son. Ask me something that only the inner police members would know…about an investigation, for example!"

"Investigation?" she echoed, narrowing her eyes.

"Yes. " he answered, hoping that the conversation would soon end "My father, who is working on several cases, tells me about them at home, even though he technically shouldn't…but he tells me because I help him with the investigation. I'm part of an inner group of people, who are involved in the case."

Well that wasn't exactly a lie, but it wasn't the truth either. In any case, he wasn't trying to necessarily be overly careful, credible or serious with what he was saying, as long as it was enough to make her move aside.

Misora seemed interested enough to continue the conversation "Inner force?"

"Yes" Raito answered, aware that he'd have to stop talking to her soon if he wanted to win this race "If you'll just let me pass by, I'll go ask the receptionist to show you my ID, and prove to you my involvement in the case." After a small pause, he spoke again "You have nothing to lose…."

He waited for her to start shouting "liar!" and "cheater!" at him, but nothing of the sort actually happened.

"Very well…" Misora answered with wary, suspicious eyes, and stood up quietly. She moved away, and, in a whisk of air, she was a marionette again. Raito lost no time, starting to climb frantically to catch up with his opponent, who was definitely ahead of him by now.

As he climbed, he kept thinking: perhaps it was only considered a lie if it referred to the past of the marionette-person, not the future. When he'd lied to Takada before, he'd exploited the fact that he was talking to a marionette to assume she would have no memory of the real world…but he'd very wrong.

However, when he'd lied to both Penber and Misora, he hadn't been called a cheater, because he'd simply pretended to be located in the same place and time they were. With Takada, he hadn't sat to think exactly what to say, which was why he had failed.

As he climbed, in the midst of his tiredness, he spotted Takada's doll. Not realizing it, he started climbing faster in an effort to escape the possibility that he have to face it all over again. All the dolls around him…did they represent the people he'd met during his lifetime?

He climbed and climbed, the tenuous effort straining the muscles in all his limbs – and in some other places that he hadn't even realized he had had muscles. However, all the fatigue in the world slipped away when he remembered the Hands, and the kind of pain that was in store for him if he didn't manage to win this preposterous race.

He kept looking upwards, checking the dolls around and realizing that he couldn't recognize half of them. Suddenly, he saw a puppet with white hair and white clothes. Again, unconsciously, he strained himself to climb faster despite his overtiredness. He wasn't yet crazy enough to risk being interrogated by Near's doll.

Until finally, finally, when he must have climbed, in total, more than five hundred steps vertically from the ground, he looked upwards and saw a small, sparkling sliver of whiteness, not only rows and endless rows of shelves.

He was reaching the top!

Gaining newfound conviction, and now reassured that, since he hadn't stopped more than once in his whole effort, he must have surely beaten the demon, he strained himself for once last time, fighting to keep moving.

It hurt…it hurt like hell itself. But it was nothing compared to what would happen to him if he failed. That's what he kept repeating in his mind, and he took the courage he needed to continue.

Finally, he reached the last hundred steps. He could now actually see the roof of the tower: a great, white dome-like surface. He didn't know what he would do once he'd manage to reach the top, but he got dizzy even thinking about climbing all these steps back down. Suddenly, however, unable to help it anymore, he felt his legs weakening, unable to take the strain any longer, no matter how he urged them.

It was completely involuntary, but he had no choice.

It was humanly and physically impossible…at some point, no matter how much he motivated himself for the contrary…his feet paused, freezing on their own volition. He pushed and pushed for them to move, but they wouldn't obey him, seizing their need to rest.

'Oh no' his brain thought in a growing panic, just as he released an extremely relieved sigh. Even though his body loved the fact that he'd stopped moving, his brain hated it. He heaved a shaky breath, aware that there would be a puppet dispatched over him very soon. He didn't know which puppet, however, and could only hope it would be an easy one. Letting himself sigh deeply to prepare himself, he finally turned to look upwards.

'FUCK!!' a voice in his brain immediately shouted as he recognized the puppet that was floating overhead. Wonderful. This was exactly what he didn't need when he was in a hurry: the only person in the entire world that it was simply impossible for Raito to manipulate.

"Ryuuzaki."

And he thought Near was bad. Now he spat the name as though it was a vile abomination, a curse. He turned his eyes away as he watched the porcelain face and small hands of the puppet morph into the complex bone structure and long limbs of a grown human male. He didn't need to see the transformation take place in front of his eyes, when he was already panicking about what he would be forced to compete against.

'I'm going to lose, I'm going to lose, I'm going to have to climb all over again' Raito started thinking, and tears of frustration were almost jerked from his eyes, as he saw the creature in front of him open its red eyes.

Raito clenched his jaw, however. Doubt never did anyone much good – that much he'd learned. Stopping the fatalistic thoughts that had gripped his mind, he started trying to think quickly on a different trail: how to make L move, in the least possible amount of time.

The objective was to manipulate Ryuuzaki…not to convince or prove his innocence to Ryuuzaki. The objective was to distract him, divert his attention enough to let Raito pass. And Raito had to find a way to do it…quickly. There was just one problem…Raito had no idea what Ryuuzaki's weakness was…if there were any.

But Raito did know one thing: the first and most basic rule about trying to convince Ryuuzaki to do anything. Never let Ryuuzaki realize that you want to do something badly, or else he'll never let you do it unless he knows why you want it. Raito had to find a legitimate reason about why he would really want to move forward and make Ryuuzaki move…but under no circumstances should he make himself look suspiciously desperate, or L would start interrogating him mercilessly.

"Raito-kun." The voice rung again, and it almost made Raito's skin crawl by the sheer familiarity of it. He did not want to look at a demonic Ryuuzaki's face while Raito was as frustrated, exhausted, and utterly filthy as he currently was.

'Think!' Raito internally berated himself. He was the person who'd spent so much time with Ryuuzaki! If there was anyone who could fathom a way to distract the other…Raito was the only one who could possibly fathom it.

He stared at Ryuuzaki carefully. There was no way to tell which scene out of Raito's real life this was representing, as there had been with Penber and Misora. With Ryuuzaki, it was impossible to say: he'd seen L so many times in his real life that he couldn't understand at first glance what information about Kira Ryuuzaki already knew. It was probably best not to say anything about the Kira case to L, because talking about Kira would be a surefire way to keep Ryuuzaki's interest sparked. And what Raito wanted was the exact opposite: to dismiss L's interest, to make the detective focus on something completely other than Raito, and-

"You seem quiet, Raito-kun. Something the matter?" Ryuuzaki's voice rung again, completely calm and toneless. Raito turned his eyes upwards, staring at L's blank face and red eyes. No blackness, no spark of thought…nothing. Just a demon.

As they stared at each other – more of a glare in Raito's case – Raito involuntarily focused on something: Ryuuzaki's sitting arrangement. Not that it was anything new, of course…but Raito suddenly remembered something Ryuuzaki had said to him long ago: Ryuuzaki's mental capacity dropped forty percent if he didn't sit in that position…Raito also remembered that he had experienced problems when in Ryuuzaki's body.

It was impossible to make Ryuuzaki sit differently under the circumstances – the man was as thick-headed as a mule, and he new his shortcomings very well so he would never stop sitting with his knees curled. Even so…this was a weakness that could be exploited. What other such physical-originated particularities about Ryuuzaki did Raito know?

Countless…biting of nails, watching computers, eating swe-

Eating sweets! Perhaps it was simplistic enough to work, Raito thought, as he carefully stared at L's still face. Now all he needed was a reliable reason for wanting Ryuuzaki to move…but he had that already.

"Ryuuzaki…" he started, trying to keep his tone of voice completely plausible. First he had to understand if this 'scene' was taking place during the period L and Raito had been handcuffed. "I need to go to the bathroom…" Thankfully, no one could call him a cheater, since this white lie could be said under any circumstances. But, hopefully, Ryuuzaki's response would help show Raito if this scene was taking place in the HQ building or not.

"You just went a few minutes ago, Raito-kun…" L answered without batting an eyelash.

Bingo! If L was saying things like this, then it implied Raito and Ryuuzaki lived together long enough for Ryuuzaki to know when Raito went to the bathroom. This, in turn, implied that the scene was taking place during the 'handcuffed' period of Raito's life.

Raito thought carefully about his next answer. Obviously, the demon assumed that this was the period with the handcuffs, when L and Raito had been staying in the Headquarters. So Raito moved his hands a bit, shuffling on the ladder as he spoke. "I know…but I really need to go again after all…something about lunch got to me, probably…"

"Can't it wait, Raito-kun? This project needs our complete attention…"

Raito let Ryuuzaki finish his sentence, knowing that L hated to be interrupted when he spoke – L liked the sound of his own voice too much for his own good. Overall, Ryuuzaki didn't seem to budge by Raito's words. Finally, feeling the irony of the entire thing, Raito dived for the finishing hit – the hit below the belt. He could only hope that this was rash enough to work.

"My bad, but I really need to go…Besides, we'll pass by the kitchen too…maybe pick up some strawberry shortcake?" a small pause Raito asked, straining to remember the sweets that were almost always in the Headquarters, so that he wouldn't be called a 'liar'. Also, he was extremely cautious not to make himself sound too eager, lest Ryuuzaki immediately suspect something. He spoke slowly, but not too slowly. Indifferently, but not too indifferently

He waited patiently. Nothing seemed to change in Ryuuzaki's expression and Raito realized that his scheme wasn't working. Ryuuzaki wasn't responsive enou-

"…I see." The detective's voice echoed, and Raito froze. "Well in that case we can spare a few moments…" and just like that, Ryuuzaki's long thighs unfolded and he stood up, stepping away from the ladder, his face still a complete mask of expressionless lethargy. Raito watched the man transform back into a motionless puppet and recede back to the shelves.

Raito was left with his jaw open.

It took a few seconds for him to remember he had to continue climbing, with his muscles screaming in protest all over again. He internally conducted the dance of victory, unable to believe that the person who was theoretically the most difficult to bypass turned out to be one of the painless ones. Unbelievable.

Perhaps it had something to do with the fact that Raito had lived with L for a long time – long enough to understand that, even though he was extremely stubborn in matters of work, he was also human. And like all humans, he too had some… minor inconsistencies.

Raito climbed persistently, letting his hands clench on the wooden ladder. There was a small, fleeing sense of humour after his last discussion with L. Raito shook his head in exasperation as he thought that the way to manipulate the world's Greatest Detective, despite appearances, was neither to defeat him in chess, nor to outsmart him about Kira – these things would only aggravate him. Whereas if someone offered him shortcake…things seemed to change.

However, this small smug grin on his face evaporated, as he reached the last twenty steps, at which point he almost started crying from desperation. He was so close that he could feel his blood sing. It was unbelievable. Raito pushed himself harder and harder, drunk with the idea of victory, eager to relieve himself at last.

Finally, he touched the last step.

But no sooner did he lay his fingers on it that he saw something from the side, a small shape, float forward.

Belatedly, he realized that he had forgotten to pay attention to the marionettes around him, and he hadn't been careful enough. However, it was inevitable that he'd stop moving when he reached the top of the stairs and had nowhere to go. Stopping was just…inevitable, at this point! This was plain cheating!

Raito simply contented himself with the fact that the demon must be very far behind him, and that he'd managed to gain a substantial advantage, since his last conversation with Ryuuzaki had been relatively short and uneventful. Now he simply had to manipulate this last marionette, whatever it was, and persuade it to move out of his way, and he'd win the race. The exhilaration was almost too much to bear.

Raito waited patiently, to see which lucky puppet would come and talk to him. He didn't dare twist around in his position, lest he look downwards. Because he knew, by the distant vagueness of the ticking sounds, that if he now turned to look at the clock-like floor from this height, the huge clock would have the size of a wrist watch. And if he actually saw it, he was – in Ryuuzaki's wording – more than seventy-four percent sure that he would faint and fall.

His attention was diverted when he saw the puppet moving overhead. When he actually managed to take a look at it, he was so startled that he almost yelped. He restrained himself, however, because if he did he would lose his balance, and his muscles wouldn't be able to take the strain.

"Misa..."

The puppet materialized above him, and indeed, there she was, finally. In her long, lacy black gown, adorned by diamond earrings and a silver tiara shining on the golden crown of her head. And despite her inferior height, she now looked more regal and tall than Raito had ever known her to be. But her expression, was different from the one Raito had always remembered – there was now no playful, mischievous spin in those crooked lips – only a clownish, frozen smile.

But he had to admit that the way that her cherry red lips were stuck in a permanent smile was more that a little…inappropriate. It made him feel wary of his words. It felt as though she were mocking him. Even so, it was amazing that her eyes were not at all red or demonic, like those of the other satanic marionettes: her eyes still retained the sparkling baby blue colour that Raito had always remembered.

Raito was amazed by this development: he couldn't seriously be expected to view manipulating her as a challenge, could he? Unbelievable. The last puppet was the easiest of all.

Which was worrying in itself. There was always a secret clause, with these things, and nothing was ever as easy as it looked at first glance. Perhaps he should be worried that something like this happened…what was the catch?

"Misa" he started again, looking at her stubborn, constant smile. She didn't show any sign of response. Somehow, the hairs on the back of Raito's neck stood on end.

"Misa…listen to me." He repeated, just for good measure, and employed the most alluring stare he could manage, under the circumstances "If you love me, then …please…move aside."

But she didn't look at all moved, still just staring stubbornly at him.

He watched her as she turned her eyes toward his hands, then back toward his face, as though assessing him. Finally, he decided that he should try a different route.

"Misa…move aside…or else I'll fall and die. And you don't want that, do you?"

As he looked at that expression, that smile that seemed almost as though it had been painted there, it reminded him of something. It wasn't exactly a happy expression…or even a tortured one. It was a face of pure, muted desperation.

Raito had seen it once more, he thought, that clownish joker smile. He'd seen it on his father's face, when he'd realized he had no choice but to rape his own daughter.

Misa made a sudden movement forward, and for a split second, Raito thought she'd attack him, or pry his hands away from the ladder, or curse him for never having loved her. He thought she'd shout that he was lying, that there was no love, that there was nothing.

However, no sooner had he thought anything of the sort than he felt her hand, small and delicate, grab his wrist and pull upwards, hoisting him.

Bells of simultaneous panicked alarm and blind glee started singing in Raito's brain as he felt some kind of rough wind envelop his body. As he held the Misa-marionette's hand, he came closer and closer to the white ceiling of the dome above him – she was hoisting him up! As his body was ushered upwards, he inevitably looked downward and realized just how far from the ground he was. Holding on to the demonized puppet for dear life, and not understanding why this was happening, he felt his shoe touch the white dome above him.

The moment that his leg came in contact with the plaster of the ceiling, he felt a pleasant sensation, as though he was sinking his limbs in seawater. And just as he was watching his foot, he saw it actually sinking in the white ceiling, as though the dome was made out of some kind of liquid substance, which was sucking Raito upwards.

However, before Raito could manage to sink his other foot and stabilize himself, he heard some sudden horrible breaking sound and immediately looked down, alarmed.

He gasped as he saw Misa with a thin, horrible crack slicing over her face. As though the woman's skin was made of porcelain – as though she were a human puppet. Raito's panic and fear amalgamated as he saw the one side of her porcelain face literally peeling off. He realized that his weight had obviously been too heavy for her to support. Immediately, he let go of her hand, now letting both his legs sink in the white surface of the ceiling above him.

However, it was too late. The moment he let go of her hand, it broke with a horrible cracking sound. "Misa!" he shouted, unable to help himself, as he saw her – a human made out of fragile porcelain, collapse downwards. In the meantime, the white surface of the ceiling was sucking him in like quicksand, and he could do nothing to stop it, as he was now buried in it from the waist downwards.

The last sight he caught of Misa was a bewildered face as it fell downwards. Raito didn't manage to see it hit the ground and break into a million pieces, since he had sunk in the white quicksand by then.

As his eyes became filled with white light, the last thing he saw was the Raito-shaped demon, which was climbing the ladder on the right side of the tower capriciously, without even shedding a glance at the falling woman, who didn't even scream as she spiraled down.

He gasped, feeling as though his entire body was strung as tight as a violin chord. Sitting up immediately, and feeling every single part of his body hurt, he brought his hand over his gasping mouth. His eyes were wide and hoarse, his breath coming in shallow, ragged wheezes.

What had just happened?

Misa had just…and the race…? Had he won? And the Hands…? He'd been sucked through the ceiling..!? What was going on? Where was he now?

He tried to shake the image of her desperate eyes, those eyes filled to the brim with need, from his mind. There was nothing he could have done, he reminded himself. She wasn't even a real human, anyway. And it wasn't his fault if she'd wanted to…

Idiot, he thought, with a frown. …except her, who would sacrifice their own lifespan for someone who doesn't love them?

But somehow, even in his own mind, the thought felt cheap.

Trying to ignore the knot in his throat, Raito inspected the new environment and froze in barely restrained anxiety. It looked as though he was located in the center of a room…room…

He'd seen this horrible place before. No windows, no doors…The last time he'd seen it there had been a table with a clock inside it. Just by being in here again, he almost felt the terror building up all over again – it was a place too closely associated with the Hands. At some point, he thought he'd lost the competition of manipulation and that he was back to being interrogated by a demon-Ryuuzaki. But when he finally got his act together long enough to see what was around him, he started calming down a bit.

There was no table. There was no clock…there was no overhead light bulb. Everything was fine…he wasn't going to relive the interrogation…

Now there were only four mirrors, one on each wall.

Obviously, since there was no exit or other significant object, Raito would have to do something with these mirrors – this much was clear. However, he didn't know to what extent he was ready to even walk after what he'd just been through, let alone keep exploring. However, he quickly remembered that the demon had warned him…what if Raito had not won the race after all? What if this was just another part of the competition…what if-?

Perhaps one of these mirrors would give him the answers.

So he walked to the closest mirror, on the left side of the room. Careful not to touch the glass surface or the ornate brass edges, Raito slowly leaned forwards, furrowing his eyebrows as he looked at his reflection. Everything seemed completely normal at first, which was perhaps the most worrying thing of all. But just he was focused looking at himself, the image in front of him started swirling, changing colours. Alarmed, he took a step backwards and immediately the swirling colours stabilized again. Now he could only see his reflection.

But Raito had already fallen victim to the universal rule of morbid curiosity, so he approached the mirror once more. He tried to reason with himself that there was nothing else he could do anyway: obviously, his discoveries would have to be associated with these mirrors. So he moved towards the glass surface again, this time staying firmly in place as he saw his reflection changing and the colours swirling.

Before he knew it, the image in front of him looked completely different from before – it was like a window, not a mirror. Feeling as though he were watching television, Raito leaned forward, squinting to discern the shadowy shapes of the image.

He saw some human-shaped shadows, and then, suddenly, heard screams coming from the mirror in front of him. His blood chilled at the familiar hue of those hoarse cries and he squinted, moving his head a bit, in order to see more clearly.

"Ahh!!"

"Fa…ther!!"

Raito froze as he witnessed the scene. There was Souichirou, with a completely tortured expression, bent over Sayu's writhing body. And a few feet away, a bleeding Raito was gurgling on the floor, unable to stop it from happening.

As a reflex, Raito immediately moved backwards, pushing himself away from the horrible sight. The moment he moved away, the image in the mirror swirled again in a whirlpool of colour, and Raito's reflection appeared again. As though nothing had ever happened.

Raito just stood there, looking at his own blanched face with unblinking eyes. He didn't really know which was worse: the fact that he'd seen it happen all over again – like a nightmare he'd been trying to forget – or that he'd just seen how pathetic he'd truly looked as he'd shouted for his father to stop.

Raito shook his head hoarsely to escape his trance, looking at the mirror as though it was a spawn of hell. And then, he looked around the room. There were three more mirrors in here. Did he have to check all three of them? He had a very bad premonition about what he would see behind them.

However, he reminded himself he had no choice. He moved toward the second mirror. After he spent a few moments looking at his reflection, the colours started changing again, and the image in the mirror became distorted. Immediately, new screams welcomed Raito's ears. This time they were much deeper and hoarser than before – they didn't belong to a female.

Realizing what he was witnessing, on the one hand he didn't wish to see the horrible sight, but on the other there was a kind of masochistic curiosity to observe the scene from a third-person point of view.

Predictably, he saw himself screaming – the most pathetic sight Raito had ever seen in his entire life, even more pathetic that Sayu. And above him, monstrous, Sai was grinning. Disgusting, vile creature. He was smiling at Raito's obvious pai-

Raito pulled back, fighting to breathe clearly. Not allowing himself to think anything except for the fact that he had two more mirrors to go, he moved toward the third one. When he reached it, he already knew what he'd see behind it.

And yet he didn't shy away – he looked carefully.

Truth be told, he wanted to see Ryuuzaki's face and ascertain what kind of expression Ryuuzaki had had whilst he'd seen Raito raping the girl.

So Raito leaned toward the mirror, soon entering a world of screams. It was Sayu's high-pitched voice again, and Raito looked at himself. He admitted, with pure disgust, that his face was neither as pained as Souichirou's nor as sadistic as Sai's: it was something in between. The only difference with Sai was that Raito's actions had carried a sense of frantic desperation, whereas Sai had taken his time, with fluid motions.

Raito's eyes fell on Ryuuzaki. Ryuuzaki, who was sitting on the floor cradling his fractured ribs. His face, unbelievably, was etched in an expression of disbelief – mild surprise – and his eyes were fixed on Raito expression. Raito felt the shame overcome him, for no particular reason, as he realized that Ryuuzaki – even in a hallucination – had actually seen him make such a perverted expression.

Raito pulled back from the mirror, staggering a bit. He turned around and closed his eyes, knowing that the image would disappear very quickly – a nightmare, a hallucination that had never happened. And yet, he'd experienced these things so intensely that it seemed absolutely cruel to realize that they were just lies…just…nightmares. These nightmares had changed everything. Can a dream…do that?

Misa had provoked this, Raito thought. It had been her puppets that had been following him all along. There must be some kind of statement, some kind of hidden symbol that he was missing. There must be an answer to this ongoing, extremely long riddle, just as there had been a way to escape the Hands and a way to beat the demon in the interrogation.

Now seeing all his nightmarish memories of rapes collected in one space, Raito realized that, obviously, these nightmares were small parts of a bigger, greater, overall riddle. The riddle that had started with the marionettes.

Only one mirror left now, and he didn't know what he would see behind this one. His course had now become quite clear, if it wasn't already: he had to follow the clues that had been left for him, and decipher the hidden messages. And seeing the image through this last mirror was the last step. He walked steadily, with a fabricated subterfuge of calmness, which was designed to conceal an ocean of tumultuous emotions.

Approaching the fourth, and final, mirror, he leaned toward it carefully. He could feel the eyes of at least a hundred marionettes bore in the back of his head, but he ignored it, focusing instead on the swirling images in front of his eyes. What would the mirror show him now?

And then, the image stabilized, and Raito finally got a good look at what he was being shown. Basically, the only thing he could see was an empty room, which he recognized immediately: it was his old room – the room in his parents' old house, with his old bed and old desk; the room where he'd first met Ryuuku and where everything had started.

He squinted as he tried to discern the details in the image. He could barely see that the digital clock on his desk was indicating that it was six o'clock. And seeing as the image was dark, Raito supposed that it was six o'clock in the evening, not the morning.

And then, suddenly, something changed in the picture. The door to his room opened and in walked two people: Raito immediately recognized himself, and, of course, Misa, in her gothic outfit and platinum hair. Then, after the door was closed, two specters came in the room through the walls: Ryuuku and Reemu.

Ryuuku, Raito thought with hatred, but steeled himself as he watched. Then, suddenly, he heard his own voice speak:

'I've told you so many times not to come here. Don't you know how dangerous it is? What if someone saw you?' the Raito in the image said with barely restrained fury, looking at Misa as though she was a vile bug stuck on the edge of his shoe.

'Misa knows this already!' Misa answered, as always using the third person to refer to herself 'But Misa wanted to see Raito so much, she thought she'd die if she didn't come!!'

The Raito in the mirror seemed utterly aggravated 'If you're not careful enough, then they'll arrest me. And then you'll never see me again!'

Misa was absolutely distressed, and Reemu seemed perturbed at her anxiousness 'Waaaaa! No way! Misa doesn't want that!!'

'But it will happen.' Raito insisted, taking Misa's shoulders in his hands. As always, Misa seemed to melt the moment she felt his touch. Her features softened, and she smiled. 'That's why we have to be so careful…Right?' He smiled back at her, with his most charming smile.

Raito, who was observing the scene, realized that this must be a scene from his real life. It seemed to have been drawn directly from his past.

But this scene did not include any rapes…why was he watching it in this mirror?

As he watched Misa's love struck face, he was tempted to think, once again, that Misa had always been stupid and easy to manipulate. However, just as he was lost in his thoughts, he was startled by something in the image. The Raito in the mirror, who Misa was looking at with such reverence, suddenly started…glowing.

Raito, who was watching the mirror, narrowed his eyes immediately, unable to believe what he was seeing. The Raito in the image had literally started shining, as though every inch of his skin exhibited a warm ethereal glow. The light looked rather…attractive, not to mention strange. It flattered Raito's face.

But Raito was confused about why he was seeing this. He had never really glowed like that in reality…what the deuce was going on?

'That's why you must do exactly as I tell you. You promised me, remember?' Raito asked Misa, and his voice sounded…melodious. As though some kind of…heavenly creature was speaking. 'You must help me get rid of L…L must die. Only then will we be able to create a New World, a beautiful place without crime where we'll be able to live happily." Somehow, the angelic voice did not coincide with the words.

Raito watched the image more closely, realizing that he was obviously missing something here. And then he noticed that, as the Raito on screen was holding Misa's shoulders, the girl looked positively…enchanted. As though, in her eyes, she could also see this…glow. Could she see it too?

So, in her eyes…Raito was glowing? What on earth…?

And then Raito took a step closer to her, looking at her with all the smug charm and extreme self-confidence necessary to woo a female. Seeing Raito's glowing face approach her with such an expression, the woman looked positively ready to faint.

'Yes…yes, Raito! I...I understand!' the girl said loudly, obviously unable to help herself anymore, as she flung her arms across Raito's shoulders. Seeing her embrace him, Raito reciprocated, albeit with a completely satanic grin on his face, which she couldn't see. The expression seemed unfitting of the ethereal glow that surrounded his body.

Raito's blood chilled as he carefully observed that grin…it was exactly like the grin he'd seen on Sai's face, while Sai had been…

As Raito watched the mirror, he noticed the Shinigami looking at Misa and Raito as they embraced. Ryuuku had his usual smile on his face, looking extremely interested in the proceedings. But Reemu…Reemu…of course, Reemu, who'd fallen in love with Misa, was upset upon seeing Raito manipulate and take advantage of the girl.

Manipulate…

'Manipulate.'

Like a puppet.

He was now frozen in place, feeling dread overcome every fibre of his being. The image swirled and the scene was extinguished from Raito's vision. It seemed strange to look at his clear reflection again, especially when he'd been watching the scene so intensely before.

Rape.

The act of harassing one's body…or…something worse? But manipulation is not the same as rape…rape involves violence and forcing someone to do something they don't want to do. Manipulation is different: it's about convincing the other person that they want to do something and then using their weaknesses to one's advantage.

Sai had raped Raito…and even though Raito was still standing now, even if it hadn't been real…it now felt as though some part of him had been permanently robbed… his pride. Raito had been raped not just because someone had…had… It was primarily his inside that was humiliated: he felt raped in his very being. What the hell was happening?

Raito bent his head forward, closing his eyes and letting the balls of his hands knead the edges of the mirror in front of him. Then, after a few seconds, he started laughing. It started with a small chuckle at first, rumbling from the depths of his insides. And then it grew louder, and louder, and louder…until it became an ugly mask over his face. His shoulders shook as he started guffawing, and his torso was doubling over. His eyes were squeezed shut, and he fisted his hands, hitting the brass edges of the mirror violently.

Well at least, he had solved this riddle of the marionettes.

He had…solved it.

He should have known all along, from the moment he saw her puppets. He should have understood at once, upon seeing the clock that was always trying, but failing, to reach six o'clock…he should have seen it in the marionette's livid smile, in the vengeful, rabid red eyes.

Revenge.

And finally, he should have seen it in the way that even as a marionette, in a world comprised of evil, he'd manipulated her and she'd been gullible and weak enough to let him. He'd used her 'love' – regardless of how stupid he thought it was – against her. He'd taken advantage of the way he'd always been 'glowing' in Misa's eyes, and, he'd manipulated this need of hers. And he'd robbed her of her pride.

But she had never had any! And that's what angered him the most: why was it his fault if she'd been stupid all along?! It wasn't his fault if she loved him and he didn't love her. He didn't possess the ability to stop her from loving him, not the ability to force himself to love her! Why was she avenging him…for having manipulated her? Or for never having loved her?

Slowly, he started calming down. His breath was coming in rough pants now, as the smile on his face started transforming, the edges of his mouth twisting downwards and his facial muscles contracting, as though pulled downwards by some alien force. There was a thick knot in his throat, and he suddenly found that he couldn't speak, swallow or even breathe clearly.

And if that wasn't enough, there was something heavy in his chest, as though his heart was being dragged down by some invisible, iron cannonball. He'd never experienced this feeling in his life. Even though nothing physical was being done to him, it felt as though his entire body was in pain – as though his very blood was in pain!

How ironic, but now, after seeing everything, he understood what the demonic place was trying to show him. He'd thought he'd raped Sayu in a hallucination when, in fact, he'd raped Misa all along, in the real world.

"Misa…" he said in little more than a whisper, and his voice was carried in the air like a whisk of snowflakes.

First she'd killed others for Raito…then she'd been forced to kill herself by doing the eyeball trade for Raito…but wait! No one had forced her! She'd been weak-willed all along…! She'd never been discontent to do these things, and she'd never been violated: the very beauty of manipulation was that it never made anyone feel violated.

And even though he still thought that the problem had been her open weakness and willingness to trust…he didn't know if he was even more disgusted by his own preparedness to exploit her stupidity.

'Just like Sai'

He remembered his face as he'd been hugging her and asking her to do his bidding: it was undeniable. He couldn't refuse it any longer. When he'd been talking to Misa his face had looked exactly as Sai's filthy face had looked when he'd been raping Raito: just plain malicious. Not at all idealistic.

Raito allowed his shoulders to shake as he wrapped his hands over his chest. Was he remorseful…? No. Why would he be? He didn't believe it was his fault, and it didn't feel as though he'd raped her…he had never caused her harm. On the contrary, in the end, Misa had had everything she'd wanted: she'd been Raito's girlfriend, Raito's woman, and Kira's trusted devotee. She hadn't even realized…that she was being manipulated.

Everything he'd done he'd done for the New World. But still, that didn't alleviate the fact that his face had looked as malicious as any criminal's at that time, and he could not deny it. Misa might have been stupid and weak…but what about him? Even worse than Misa, since he'd been smarter than her and, instead of manipulating her harmlessly. He caused her to make sacrifices for him.

But even so…even though he now understood what the marionette's had been trying to show him – the concept of 'manipulation' – he still could not accept that what he'd done to Misa was pure rape. True, he'd manipulated her…and in the three rapes he had experienced, there was always someone being manipulated. Even Sai, the criminal, who'd been controlled by his malice.

But what kind of universe-?

Suddenly, he heard a sound, like the hollow creak of a wooden door, even though there was no door in the close vicinity. He opened his eyes again, trying to stop squeezing them, and the first thing he saw in front of him was the mirror he'd just been looking at. But instead of seeing his reflection, he saw that the glass surface had turned to stone. Those memories, that rape…he would never see it again. Bu still, even though they weren't real…

He turned around slowly. A part of him knew what he would see. He could feel it from the demonic shift in the air.

"Congratulations" the demon shaped like Raito, with red piercing eyes said. He was grinning. Grinning at Raito's obvious distress. Grinning at the fact that he knew…he knew everything. "You've won the competition at the second try! You're very good at manipulation."

But Raito didn't speak, just kept looking at the other's feet. For the first time in his turbulent existence, he wondered whether or not the talent to manipulate people was more of a curse or a gift. Until finally, he saw the other raise his hand, holding something. Raito looked upwards, distracted by the movement, and could not help himself from gasping.

The demon had fisted his hand in a batch of blonde hair, and he was holding a small, broken marionette, with baby blue eyes and an insistent smile.

"Oh yes" the demon started "I found this on the way up." He waved the small puppet around by the hair, with a completely careless face. Raito winced openly when seeing the devil's face. It was the exact same grin…the exact same face…

'That's all'

"Stop…" Raito muttered in a whisper, turning to look away. Injustice…after everything he'd seen…injustice just drove him mad. Upon hearing his voice, the demon ceased the movement immediately. Then he turned to look at the doll's face, as though curious to see what Raito was so upset about.

"What?" he asked, in a completely flat voice "She likes it, right? If you love me…" the demon started, looking at the marionette and then at Raito, with a completely twisted smile. A smile that Raito had seen in the mirror when he'd seen himself holding Misa… The demon shrugged, and with a single movement, grabbed the doll's head in his other fist. Raito's eyes widened, realizing what was about to happen.

"Wai-!" he shouted with an outstretched hand and lunged toward the demon, but it was too late. The devil squeezed his hand, pulverizing what remained of the already broken porcelain head. Then he flung it forward, letting it drop in front of Raito's feet.

Raito looked first at the doll and then at the demon, with a stare that was half spiteful and half amazed. And then, as if on queue, right in front of Raito's eyes, the demon started glowing.

Raito's eyes widened and he looked down at the broken marionette. The marionette's blue eye, with terrorizing preciseness, was fixed on the demon. Raito turned his head to the enemy again, watching as his entire satanic figure was encased in a shine of heavenly light. Even Raito himself felt weak at the knees by the sheer majestic beauty of the creature in front of him.

Was this…was this the way that Misa viewed this…this…demon, who'd just actually killed her?

Was this…the thing that Raito could never understand? The thing that had always been beyond Raito's conception..?

Was this the thing that people call…'love'? Did that thing…even exist in the world? So what is 'love'? In Raito's eyes, it still looked just like a great weakness. Respecting someone to the extent that you would put their fate over your own, without expecting anything in return…that was just plain gullibility. Love had kept Misa from clearly seeing the demon for what he is – even though he is a devil, her love twisted her judgment and made her think of him as an angel. This is weakness, not nobility!

But, as Raito stared at the glow exhibited by the demon's body, he was amazed by the fact that, even though he knew this creature was vile and satanic – produced by a completely hellish world – it was still capable of such beauty when glowing with the adoring glance of 'love'. Was this 'love' concept really so powerful, that it had the power to change a person's entire mind?

Raito just couldn't understand…! It was impossible for him to understand, as he watched the broken pieces of the marionette's crooked smile sitting on the ground. At first, that smile had seemed demonic, vengeful to him. Now it screamed of desperation, paranoia…weakness.

Love was supposed to be heart-warming and hopeful for those who experienced it, but, for Misa, her 'love' had led her to be manipulated and harmed. Raito could understand that it was his exploitation of her that made him seem like Sai… but still, what he'd done to Mia was not the same as rape. Or was it? He couldn't understand clearly!

This concept of 'love' was the source of his confusion, since that's where it all started and ended: it wasn't his fault or her fault that she'd loved him, and it wasn't up to him to make her stop. And if it wasn't his responsibility to relieve her of this weakness…then whose responsibility was it? 'What kind of force guided this…'love' concept, that all humans were subject to?' Raito wondered.

Raito bent down, picking up a few broken pieces of porcelain from the ground and looking at them questioningly, as though waiting for some answers. As though expecting them to tell him exactly what the deuce had processed this woman to…to love him, when he most obviously had never cared about her.

When he felt the glowing light around him intensify, he looked upwards, and realized the demon had approached him.

"This competition is over. Yagami Raito is a superior manipulator: better even then myself." The demon said, and Raito left the pieces on the floor, turning his hands into fists. With every passing moment, the weight in his chest kept becoming heavier and heavier…even though he was certain that what he'd done to Misa was not rape – it was an admittedly cruel exploitation of her weaknesses – he could not accept that it had been in his power to stop her emotional exploitation.

It's true that he could have drawn the line at his manipulation, and not exploited her with the same malicious intent that Sai had exploited him…but on the other had, he was confused about her 'love'. The weight in his chest was growing heavier, and he had a fleeting feeling, as though guided by some spiritual force, that there was a sense of tragedy in this situation, but he couldn't understand why, or how.

It hadn't been his fault if she loved him and he couldn't love her. But, if this force of 'love' – which seemed more cruel than benign – was powerful enough to make her weak against another's ministrations, Raito wondered if it was the fault of this entire universe, which guides people to experience intense emotions, but doesn't guarantee their reciprocation. In the end…had it really been his fault?

Was he guilty for her plight – or for anything except enjoying taking advantage of her? What is the ultimate truth about crime and victimization, and was Raito supposed to feel responsible for the fact that…he'd never been able to love her? Was this another aspect of a criminal, or…was Misa another kind of victim?

Suddenly, Raito's eyes were filled by a blinding white light. He covered his face with his hands and flinched. When the flash was over, he opened his eyes again, letting them adjust to the new lighting plot. The mirrors around him seemed to have disappeared, and there was a door-shaped, glowing gap in one of the walls.

Raito stared at the demon, and then at the shining exit. The demon grinned derisively, and then spoke with all the sarcastic scorn his voice could manage.

"Don't worry. You're ready" the demon nodded, making each of his words drip with venomous indifference that could only be granted to an insect "Soon, this will be over."

Raito raised his eyes immediately, staring at the other. This was the first time…the first time that…that a demon, someone other than Raito himself…had talked about this…place.

…or was the Raito-shaped demon a representation of himself? Raito didn't even know.

"What?" Raito croaked, feeling the blackness in his heart intensify still, as though, despite his overall confusion about whether he felt guilty or not, this overwhelming sense of tragedy was growing inside him.

The demon snorted, looking at the other as though he were a vile, pitiful bug.

"Through that door…" the demon pointed toward the light, and said nothing more. And then, in a flash of blackness, he disappeared right in front of Raito's eyes, leaving Raito alone in the small room, with only the broken doll and the blinding sunlight for company.

Raito looked at the floor. His eyes found the smile again – that painful, shattered smile.

Had he truly 'raped' her? Had he 'raped' all the people he'd manipulated? No, because he'd always made them feel self-assured about what they were doing - he'd never violated them….and yet, he was confused about Misa's final, pitiful ending. Had he been at fault for that?

Instead of him, weren't the spiritual forces to blame – the forces that had forced her to love a man, who would manipulate her and never be able to love her back? And where was Raito's responsibility – Raito's guilt – in all of this?

Did he feel like he would be better off dead? Not now. Not when he needed more answers. Not when he needed to find out why this felt so tragic, and who was at fault for the shortcomings of 'love'?

Raito looked up, at the door sparkling in front of him, with all its glowing light. Beyond it, he would find salvation. Beyond it…this torture could finally end…and the answers would finally come.

He looked down, meeting the broken eye of the marionette, which was staring up at him quietly, as though waiting for his next move – waiting to hear his next command, so that she could fulfill it. Like a lapdog, waiting to be thrown a bone…And what had he done? He'd thrown bones. That's what he should feel guilty about – manipulating her to the extent that he made her literally kill herself.

But if her love was unfulfilled, or if he'd really 'raped' her because of using this love against her…he wasn't sure that he was guilty about that. Overall, more than anything, he was confused.

He closed his eyes, blinking. When he opened them again, for a few short seconds, he thought he saw bloody handprints all over the walls of the small room and the black shadow of a ghost standing against the light of the door.

Then, after a few seconds, his vision adjusted again, and everything came back to normal. Except that it seemed a bit more liquid than usual. Soon, the weight in his chest started choking him. Again, he lost control over his facial muscles, which started dragging the edges of his mouth downward. He quickly realized what was happening, and so he walking forward quickly, on shaking legs.

Well then, if he had to walk through the door, he'd walk through the door. There was only one way to solve this shrewd manner of torture…and he would end it.

And not only would he end it, but he would get more answers. He would understand the true nature of victims, of criminals and of the universe itself, which controlled and provoked the feelings of 'love' and 'hate'. And only after he saw and understood everything…only then would he finally and indisputably…deem himself guilty or not.

a/n: hu…rts…every…thing…hurts…I'm too old for writing stuff over thirty pages…Excuse me while I go submerge myself in my bathtub…I'm filthy after nine hours of writing. I should totally get paid for this! It's like a full time job…

…hope I didn't make him OOC at the end…

ugh…hurts…pain…headache…

…tell me if he's OOC and I'll change it again…I tried to keep everything in check!

horrible stomachache…uggghh…

I'm doing this for your reviews you know! So please, don't make me come over there and whack you with my smelly t-shirt (which I've been wearing for the last nine hours) for not reviewing at all and ignoring meeee!

Tell me how you liked it! I hope my hard work is paying off and people enjoy reading this! I know there's not much romance yet, but the whole char development is pretty hard to do, guys!

In the next chapter:

DA-DA-DUM! Raito finishes the Trial of Souls!

Raito x Ryuuzaki forever!! WAHHHHHH! I can't wait to finally write it!!!

WAHHHHHH!!!!!

Ok, I know, I know. I'm shutting up now.

Bye!

Return to Top