Well, here you go, everyone! Chapter 4 ready to serve! Please excuse possible syntactical errors – I'm revising and improving anything I can! Thanks to everyone who reviewed – your reviews are the first thing I check when I wake up each morning! Wow! This story is getting more hits than any of my YGO stories when they were three chapters long.
School has finally ended (for GOOD, this time), life is looking up and fanfics are calling for attention!!!
I really hope you enjoy this chapter – I did when I was writing it. I liked it better than I liked the last one. Chapter three, in my opinion, was interesting but a bit tedious. I think this one is more exciting. The horror continues – not as intense as last time, but it's still here!
On with the chappie!
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Hell Verbal
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"…We've already established this, Yagami-san. It is crucial that we obtain all documents that outline trading activities of the Yotsuba group's proxies in Europe between July 2002 and…"
"Yes, yes. I know that, Ryuuzaki! What I have yet to understand is why. Why do we have to monitor Yotsuba's interactions in the west? The people who Kira is killing are located in Japan, right?"
Raito hadn't been listening to the conversation so far, occupied as he was with memorizing names and medical records of Yotsuba employees. But when he heard a deep, not-so-concealed sigh come from his left, he was finally distracted enough to pull his eyes away from the screen.
Ryuuzaki's usual expressionless mask appeared rather strained, and his efforts to crack the biscuit he was holding were a tad too zealous. Raito had sat next to Ryuuzaki in front of the computers long enough to be able to detect and interpret these subtle signs before the storm. Ryuuzaki was getting aggravated. Well no wonder: they had to explain things ten thousand times in order for the others to understand.
By now, having been handcuffed to Ryuuzaki for an inordinate amount of time, Raito had realized that it was in his best interests to keep Ryuuzaki relatively pleased at all times. Not that Ryuuzaki ever got angry, bad-tempered or more annoying per se. But it was preferable to be tied to a Ryuuzaki who was susceptible to different opinions than to a Ryuuzaki who was extremely likely to resort to 'percentages'.
At times it became painfully obvious that, despite his meticulous efforts to speak in the Japanese unobtrusive, Ryuuzaki had never worked in a team before. He seemed rather used to ordering people around without having his motives questioned. Therefore, whenever anyone opposed him and he was forced to explain, Raito's chances of being Kira suddenly started shooting through the roof.
"Dad. It's just as Ryuuzaki says: we must track every single trading interaction between Yotsuba and other companies, regardless of what kind of companies they are. We might find a clue that can help us identify Kira's motives and narrow down the suspects. What if we find out Kira's a gaijin, working to promote the Yotsuba proxy in Germany, or something?"
A keen light of realization dawned in the Chief's eyes, and he nodded at Ryuuzaki and Raito's direction. "Ah…of course…" he muttered. As Raito turned and watched his enlightened father slowly walk away, he caught a small movement on the edge of his vision. He refocused on Ryuuzaki, who had just turned around and was staring at Raito too, with his big bug-black eyes.
"Thank you, Raito-kun. I daresay I couldn't have explained it better, myself." He said, not without a tinge of barely-traceable irony. Ryuuzaki's stare wasn't exactly a normal expression. It was the face of intense curiosity people usually have when watching reality shows. That was what real life was, for Ryuuzaki: an Agatha Cristie novel, waiting to be solved. "In fact, you read my mind with alarming accuracy."
Small, familiar bells began ringing in Raito's head. Apparently, he hadn't come to the rescue as quickly as he'd thought. Seems like Ryuuzaki had already gotten rather bitchy. Raito's hopes of attaining a private shower before dinner were crumbling to dust.
"Ryuuzaki?" Raito asked, feigning naivety. Fake politeness is a game for two.
"It seems Raito-kun's perceptive speed and reflexes are slightly better than mine…in fact…"
Another colossal lie. This one was up to par with 'because Raito-kun is my first friend' and 'I think that Raito-kun should be the one to take over the investigation if I die'. Raito was smart enough to have understood the rules of the interrogation game, by now. In the first stage, Ryuuzaki always begins by posing blatantly untruthful statements, with a painfully honest face. Raito had soon realized that the purpose of this tact was to uncover Kiraesque reactions to ambition, flattery, dishonesty and manipulation. As such, Raito's usual way of countering this is by feigning naivety, since it's the easiest and less offensive route. The second stage then follows, where Ryuuzaki begins to make implications about how his own abilities – and consequently, Raito's abilities – are an impressive match to Kira's. That is the point when the assault cannot be ignored.
"What are you trying to say, Ryuuzaki?" Raito did not bother to suppress the slightly frustrated tone of his voice. Ryuuzaki was probably doing this because he wanted to vent his annoyance, not because of any serious reason, Raito thought while trying to calm down. But even so, he could not stop the irritation from growing – when had he gotten so easy to anger? "Accusing me of being Kira, again?"
"Not once did I mention Kira in the last few minutes, Yagami-kun." The detective said, as he shoved the biscuit in his mouth, chewing rather rudely and spraying the air with crumbs, right in Raito's face.
Not that Raito hadn't seen that coming. But what was the point of trying to stick up for himself, anyway? It was indicated clearly by Ryuuzaki's sudden use of his surname that Ryuuzaki was being grumpy, and an obstinate diabetic to boot.
"I'm not Kira, Ryuuzaki." Raito recited the familiar mantra. He couldn't wait until he proved his innocence and shoved it in this detective's face. The glory of that day! He'd see Ryuuzaki's annoying black pupils constrict in defeat when he'd realize he'd misjudged Raito all along. "How many times do you want me to say it? I'm. Not. Kira."
Since Raito had gotten rather frustrated, teeth bared and eyes glowering at his hunched nemesis, Ryuuzaki obviously saw it fit to defuse the tension. Third stage of the game.
"Please do not misunderstand my intentions, Raito-kun" Ryuuzaki said with the usual toneless voice. His pale face looked significantly more amiable than it had in the beginning of the conversation. Raito realized, disgustedly, that his little display of annoyance had probably raised his chances of being Kira another 1.2 per cent, which was why Ryuuzaki appeared to be cheering up.
Jesus, this wasn't about Raito being Kira at all. This was about Ryuuzaki, wanting to be right. At this rate, they'd just be going around in circles of mind-games until Ryuuzaki could prove that Raito was Kira – which he wasn't. Only then would Ryuuzaki be content, and under no other circumstances. He wanted Raito to be Kira.
"I also wish that Raito-kun is not Kira."
Back to first stage, then.
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"AAAHHHH!!!"
At first, he was startled to hear his own voice. When he'd started screaming, he hadn't really expected any voice to come out. His throat felt scratchy, hoarse and terrible, and his lungs were in pain. The only thing that kept him trying to breathe was his effervescent and constantly growing hatred. Hatred for the one who'd dared to reduce him to this mess.
But he didn't have much time to ponder all this, seeing as he was lying down on what looked like a wooden floor. By now, he didn't know if he should be glad that the hands hadn't appeared or not. Sure, on the one hand the never-ending cycle of torture had ended. But, in retrospect, faced with the completely unfamiliar surroundings and knowing the kinds of evils that were awaiting him in this place – wherever it was – the whole repetition of torture had given him a sense of security. At least when perched on the building, he knew what would eventually happen. Now, thrown in a different space, who knows what kind of new torture device was in store for him?
Not that he could actually see where he was. It felt as though he were lying prostrate on rough floorboards…but you could never be sure, where you were in this place…The last concrete thing he could remember was that he was spiraling toward the ground, trying to discern…
Yes, that's right! He'd seen, hadn't he?! He'd seen Ryuuzaki up there for sure. And then, he distinctly remembered that the Hands hadn't appeared in their allotted time. Instead of the Hands, the ground had turned cavernous black, like an abyss waiting to swallow him whole.
And he had fallen in there, right? In the blackness…he hadn't really been thinking much at the time, focused as he was on discerning Ryuuzaki's figure…but…but still…
"Urgh…" once again, he noticed how strange it felt to finally hear his own voice vibrating through his chest. He shook his head and tried to pull himself upwards on his elbows, lying prostrate as he was. This newfound control over his limbs was a bit overwhelming, and he was living in constant fear of having it taken away again.
Such frantic thoughts gave him all the ammunition he needed to persevere, so he gathered his strength, tried to consolidate his breathing pattern, and heaved upwards. It felt rather strange, he had to admit. Not only because he was finally able to move his own body…Besides that fact, it seemed as though …something was not exactly…
Why was he feeling so strange? Had something horrible happened to him that he didn't want to know about? Why did everything feel so occult? Dread overcame all his thoughts and froze his blood. Opening his eyes, he fought to focus and see what was wrong. No use, the light was blinding him. He'd have to wait it out, at least until his irises were ready to adjust again.
Sighing, and still amazed that he was free to do so, Raito lay back down, trying not to think about why his body felt so unaccustomed to moving. It was probably because he hadn't had the chance to actually move it for a long, long time, he reassured himself.
Instead he busied himself fantasizing about the violent techniques he'd recently witnessed and how they could be applied on Ryuuzaki. The malice he was beginning to feel was overpowering all other sentiments. He renewed all his vows to escape this torture chamber and take revenge. He'd crush Ryuuzaki with his own hands. He'd sink his nails in Ryuuzaki's huge black eyes and squeeze them in. …He'd grab some scissors, cut a batch of his own auburn hair, and then…
It took some time, but it was neither days nor hours this time. A few minutes passed, and then Raito realized he could clearly discern his surroundings. It was a rather non-descript room, he noted, which was very dark and had plaster falling off the dark blue walls. Raito didn't have time to turn around and observe the room better, however, since he was rather preoccupied; this time with the discomfort in his eyes.
His field of vision seemed…different? Not exactly narrower than usual…it was rather as though someone had grabbed his eyelids and was holding them pinned in some strange angle. Raito could see clearly, all right…but his range of vision had been slightly…altered? The same stood for the rest of his face, and especially his legs. It felt as though he'd just undergone plastic surgery, not that he knew what that felt like. He just supposed it would not be a pleasant feeling…
Panic and fear had become permanent residents in his psychological profile these days. Therefore, it was no surprise when they hit him again with new force. What was wrong this time – did he even want to know? With conscious effort, he tried to drag his hands to his face, and look at his palms. He was half expecting to see a batch of black hair resting in his right palm – since he'd never really been able to see his hand without it recently - but what he actually saw was probably worse.
"Wha-?" he started, and realized that his voice sounded just as uncomfortable, scratchy and overly deep as before. It's just that this time, with a dry sense of terror, he realized why.
The hand in front of him wasn't holding any slimy black strands. There was just one problem: it wasn't his hand.
He was too slow to process it at first. Then it all came to him simultaneously. He started trembling, pulling the skin of one palm with the other, trying to see if this was all some bad joke, or if he was simply hallucinating. When he'd wished for the Hands to stop tearing him apart for a new skin, he hadn't meant it literally!
"What the…what the heck is going on…?" he kept muttering, in his extremely unfamiliar, deep voice. He bit his – strangely full – bottom lip in anxiety and tried to remind himself not to speak aloud. Even the walls have ears in this place. Besides, it felt very unsettling to hear his own voice, under the circumstances.
Back to the task at hand. By now he had completely forgotten about the state of his surroundings and was only focused on his body. He observed his hands and realized that the fingers were longer and paler than he remembered. By now, he hadn't calmed down enough in order to logically recognize what he was seeing, or else he'd surely have figured it out.
But the only thing he could think of was that these clothes weren't his, and that he wasn't wearing his dirty blue suit anymore. Instead, he could see the pearl whiteness of a loose shirt covering his torso and faded green denim covering his legs.
It took a few moments, naturally. Even when you can recognize something, it is difficult to incorporate it with your own body. Raito felt his – narrower than usual – chest start heaving, gradually, as he began to realize what was happening.. As he raised his hands to his face, he was temporarily startled by how long and white they looked. He buried his fingers in his hair – not fine chestnut silk anymore, but rough and unkempt – and made a fist, plucking out some hairs in the process. As he brought them in front of his eyes for inspection, his worst fears were confirmed. Their colour, obnoxious and stark against the pale skin of his hands, was ebony black. A kind of hair he knew only to well.
"No!" he gasped, and the detached, clinical part of his brain was rather appreciative of the irony: now he could finally make Ryuuzaki say or do whatever he wanted.
I can't believe you!
How very typical that Ryuuzaki would do this to him. Just when he'd finally been thinking of how he was going to kill Ryuuzaki with his own hands, Ryuuzaki had gone and made that technically impossible, unless Raito wanted to commit suicide.
"Damn it!" he cursed, and hated the way his voice sounded completely unlike himself, and completely unlike Ryuuzaki as well, because Ryuuzaki never talked with as much emphasis as Raito. The intense voice now sounded utterly foreign. Even though it was obviously produced by Ryuuzaki's vocal chords, it sounded nothing like Ryuuzaki. Whenever speaking in normal Japanese, Ryuuzaki would talk in a very distinctive way – as though he didn't know the function of correct punctuation. Not even Near; only Ryuuzaki could do that aggravating thing, where he'd adhere sentences together and make inappropriate pauses. Therefore, it would be impossible for Raito to fool anyone: he sounded , and probably acted, nothing like Ryuuzaki, despite having the same body.
He balled his fists on his white shirt and started gritting his teeth, hating every minute of it. The thing he hated the most was right in front of him, right in front of him, unbearably close, and he could do nothing to harm it! …'Why couldn't the Hands attack me when I had Ryuuzaki's body?' he mentally asked, with cynical tremor.
Soon, he felt an annoyance in his back. Instinctively, it seems, his shoulders hunched forward and his spine bent, making him feel at ease instantly. So Raito's suppositions had been correct. Ryuuzaki had indeed acquired a hump from constantly sitting in horrible posture. Seeing as Raito didn't like the implications of this stance, he straightened his back once again, but the annoyance became so intense that he could not help hunching back. He started cursing in his head, wishing-
"I see you've settled down nicely."
This habit of being caught unawares had been following him for the last few moments of his life. Apparently – and most unfortunately – it extended to the afterlife as well.
"Who are-" he swirled around within seconds. Well at least he intended to. But the lack of coordination in his foreign limbs was a fatal setback to his usually excellent reflexes. His thoughts were filled with thoughts of Ryuuzaki and how he could acquire his revenge. Therefore, he was all the more startled when the new voice sounded.
He turned around before he could think about what he was expecting to see. Only when he came face to face with his own body, the body of Yagami Raito, did he realize that that had not been it.
He floundered for a few moments, trying not to let his emotions show on his face. But this was a seriously difficult task, seeing as he was not yet in full control of Ryuuzaki's apparently twitchy facial muscles. Besides that, he was rather unaccustomed to talking to his own body. Not to mention that he was already having enough trouble seeing the world through another person's vision - in Ryuuzaki-vision, everything seemed more vertically stretched than normal.
"You…I…" the only plausible explanation then presented itself, and Raito latched onto it "Ryuuzaki?" he asked, eyeing the other with what he hoped was suspicion. It would make sense, in Ryuuzaki's obviously sadistic scheme, if they had switched bodies. Obviously, if he was in Ryuuzaki's body, then Ryuuzaki would have to be in his.
"Yes…you'd probably be lucky if I were." The other answered sardonically, and Raito felt taken aback, but took care not to show it. He hoped he was doing a manageable impression of Ryuuzaki's natural expressionless mask. In contrast to his stony exterior, he could feel his heart beating wildly in his chest, since he'd noticed that the Yagami Raito impersonator had red, glowing eyes. Raito tried not to let himself flinch at the sight of the hated blue suit, which now carried more than a few unpleasant memories.
"So you're not." He asked, and it was more in the form of a statement than a question. He wasn't in control of this situation, so he was unwilling to be aggressive. In his mind, he was ninety-nine percent sure that this scheme was another one of Ryuuzaki's constructions. He'd wait and see, however, since it was not yet verified that the impersonator was indeed Ryuuzaki.
"Let's not be too hasty" he heard his own voice saying, and had trouble recognizing it, in the way all people can't recognize their own voice when hearing it from an outsider's perspective. "Please have a seat." The Yagami with the glowing red eyes instructed, and pointed to something on the side.
Raito finally had time to peruse the surroundings, noticing that the room was completely empty, save for a relatively large table with two chairs. A single white light bulb was hovering over the tabletop, obviously attached to the ceiling, There were no doors and no windows in this room, and Raito didn't know if he preferred this claustrophobia from falling off a Tokyo building in open air. The atmosphere in here felt just as ominous as it had out there. The only difference was that there was another soul in here with him, and that Raito was now in control of his body – if having Ryuuzaki's body could be treated as collateral damage.
There was one more thing in the room, Raito noted pensively. It was the thing that had been making the repetitive ticking sound this whole time. A double clock, like those used in chess games, was set on the table. Was this some new type of torture style, Raito wondered, as various possible scenarios ran through his head.
Would he be forced to kill himself while in Ryuuzaki's body? With pleasure, he almost thought, as a sadistic chill ran through his hunched spine. He felt the black hair on his nape stand on end, and couldn't help the smirk that overcame his – Ryuuzaki – features. He raised his hand and ran it through his now thick ebony hair – their rough texture uncomfortably familiar in his hand.
Soon, Ryuuzaki.
He thought to himself as he shuffled to sit on a chair.
I'll kill you very soon.
He watched the Yagami Raito clone shuffle to the chair on the opposite side of the table. Meanwhile, when Raito felt a subtle annoyance, he shuffled around on the chair. He immediately realized what was happening, but he refused to give into it. He would never stoop as low as to put his feet on the chair. Even though Ryuuzaki's body was practically aching with the need to curl the knees up, Raito refused to acquiesce. He'd make Ryuuzaki sit like a normal person, just out of spite.
But now he had more important matters to attend to: there was a red-eyed, obviously sinister version of himself grinning at him from the other side of the table. The steady ticking sound of the clock was becoming amplified by the silence of the room, sounding like an ominous countdown.
Raito had been sure until now that his new opponent was definitely Ryuuzaki in disguise. However, the unadulterated threatening expression that he was faced with could not have possibly been devised by a man as expressionless and unimaginative as Ryuuzaki, Raito cynically thought. Now he didn't know which scenario could be worse: that this man was Ryuuzaki or that he was something…else.
He thought it would be prudent to make the first breach, trying to establish some sort of control gradient of the situation. He wasn't exactly sure what he should be trying to do or if he should be pretending to be the real Ryuuzaki, so he decided to avoid the issue altogether for the time being.
"So where is this place?" he asked, with his novel, thick voice. He saw his own face from the opposite side of the table, red glowing eyes and thin auburn eyebrows, smirking at him mockingly.
"It is a room."
So this is how it's going to be. Raito thought, feeling his insides clench. There was a dull ache in the back of his mind as he tried to focus, like a nag on his concentration. Preoccupied as he was, and trying to reflect carefully on a prudent course of action, Raito was entirely unaware of it when he pulled his denim-clad knees upwards and fastened them against his chest. When he realized what he had done, he made a grimace of frustration and lowered his legs again, reviving the nuisance of before.
Damn it. It's not a joke. I can't think straight, now.
He could see his own face smirking derisively from the other side of the table, and admitted, with more than a little pride, that the expression was truly all it was intended to be. Nevertheless, focusing back to the problem, he decided on a straightforward approach.
"Who are you?" he asked, finally sounding a bit more like L, since it was a short sentence which could be uttered with little variation from person to person.
"I'm Yagami Raito, detective. Who are you?"
'Detective'? First of all, I never talk like that. And neither does Ryuuzaki. Raito thought, narrowing his eyes as a reflex. He noted how practiced the suspicious movement felt on Ryuuzaki's face, and vaguely remembered all those times he'd seen Ryuuzaki's black, fathomless eyes narrowing at him. It was happening again, although in a more twisted way.
He called me 'detective' on purpose…is this a pun that he thinks I'm Ryuuzaki? Or perhaps it's a hint that I'm supposed to act like Ryuuzaki? Unable to reach a decision, Raito decided to promote the game and test his opponent's knowledge.
"Indeed you must be him," He said, feeling strange about talking to himself in the second person, especially when he was aware he was speaking with Ryuuzaki's voice. "Or else you'd never know my true profession."
His own narrow eyes were glinting back at him with feral red derisiveness. Then, his opponent's face contorted in a grimace of amusement and Raito felt vaguely unsettled when the other started laughing, somewhat hysterically.
"Hahahaha! You are indeed extremely amusing! Haha!"
Raito could feel his temper rising. It was only when he was distracted enough to grit his teeth that he realized that he'd unconsciously pulled his knees up again, in his effort to think more clearly. Oh, for the love of-
"I wanted to test your reaction." The one with the demonic eyes said, and Raito forgot all thoughts of his posture, for the time being "Indeed you did not disappoint." the clone raised his hand and cracked his knuckles, then ran his palm through soft auburn hair. Raito gritted his teeth harder than before, long white fingers clutching his knees involuntarily. He hoped that none of his infuriated thoughts were showing on his face.
"But seriously, you're very intelligent. You were fast to catch up to the rhythm."
Raito didn't have much to say by means of an answer, since his impersonator's satanic grin was not exactly amiable. It was threatening. The entire atmosphere of this room was threatening. He chose to keep quiet for a few moments, wary of the possible consequences of misbehaving.
"The time has come that we compete, in terms of intelligence." The adversary with his own body suddenly said, and Raito's attention snapped within milliseconds. What was this all about? Competition? Intelligence? Did this guy seriously think he could compete with a man like Raito in terms of intelligence? The idea was not very welcoming and at the same time extremely tantalizing. If he could defeat this imposter, then-
"The rules of the game go as follows: you are L, the great detective. I am Light Yagami, the primary suspect for being Kira."
Raito's thought patterns were being constantly interrupted by the income of new information. He settled for listening carefully and stifled the urge to ask 'Why should I be L?', realizing that he'd betray himself if he did – not to mention sound extremely juvnile. He was not entirely sure who and what his opponent was, after all…best to keep his cards close. Was this some new torture method, or had he truly escaped hell? Was this 'competition' his final test?
"Your goal is to interrogate me and prove that I am Kira within one hour." Raito's dark, scarlet-eyed clone said, as he pointed at the watch, which was ticking away on the table. "If you win, then you can remain for the next round." The clone perused his nails with what Raito recognized as one of his own personal standard mannerisms. "But if you lose…" he started, and Raito stifled the urge to gulp as he saw his own malicious smile from across the table "…well then I guess you'll see what happens."
Raito didn't need much coercion after that. He was sharp enough to understand a threat when he saw one. He'd thought he'd escaped the nightmare, but now he wasn't so sure anymore. His opponent appeared much more knowledgeable than he, at least on the terms in which the game was working. He'd feel much more confident if he'd been in his own body…
Is this your game, Ryuuzaki? What bad taste.
Fortunately, though, since he knew himself and his own actions best of all, this test should not be that difficult to pass. He'd act out L's part fairly easily, proving that Yagami Light was Kira within minutes, since he knew all the things that Ryuuzaki had never known.
The only problem was his ignorance about the nature of the 'next round'. In any case, he was being given a chance to fight for himself. This was better than nothing, was it not? Although he had a feeling that he wasn't exactly being offered a choice in the matter… rather being forced into it.
"Fair enough." He agreed, tightening his clutches on his blue-covered knees. " I agree. Let's see whose intelligence is superior." Raito said, and hated the fact that the positions couldn't be reversed, and he couldn't be himself instead of Ryuuzaki. But in any case, this effort should not be difficult for him.
"Very well." Raito's adversary, the devilish clone, said. "Your interrogation time is one hour. Do not forget that. We start…" he pointed at the watch with Raito's body's manicured nails. The analog pointers were just moving to display 'five o'clock'.
Five o'clock, Raito thought mirthlessly, The time we used to wake up every morning.
"…now!"
If it weren't for the terribly ironic reversal of roles and the underlying sense of doom and panic, Raito might have even been enjoying this. It seemed that, from the moment the interrogation began, his self-assured, satanic adversary was not so self-assured, when faced with Raito's superior knowledge.
"Cameras and microphones were installed in all rooms of your house, and your bedroom was under twenty-four hour surveillance for nine days. During that time, various criminals died from heart attacks." Raito was saying, in his best impression of L's mechanical, computerized voice. Truth be told, he was rather proud of his impersonation. If only he could talk with the same aberrant punctuation, then his mimic abilities would leave nothing else to be desired.
"If I was indeed put under surveillance, then it must have been proven that I am not guilty of any crime." the red-eyed clone rebutted, his voice now a complete imitation of Raito's real, sugar-coated, polite manner of speech.
"Do you deny that you carried midnight snacks in your bedroom?" Raito asked, feeling triumph over his opponent. There was no way that he could be defeated in his own game. He knew his own tricks by heart. He smirked imperceptibly, and the movement felt foreign on Ryuuzaki's face.
"No" the other acquiesced.
"You placed the pack of snacks in the only blind spot of the cameras. You had hidden a secret camera in the pack, along with pieces from the Death Note and a pen. You used this equipment to punish criminals during the nine days you were under surveillance."
"You have no proof to support these claims." the other said, but Raito could hear the anthems of victory already playing in his mind.
The struggle continued in that trend, until Raito had positively pulverized his opponent. Briefly, Raito had ended up cursing his own brilliance for hiding his tracks so well. In the end, in order to prove his own guilt, he had practically retold the whole story of how Near and Mello had eventually managed to capture him.
"Near and the SPK then solidly proved that you are indeed Kira." Raito finished his tirade just as the clock started ringing, signifying the end of the session. The relief that Raito felt was of gigantic proportions. It was over! The trial was over! He was free! He shook the black bangs away from his eyes in a few rapid movements. How could Ryuuzaki stand this retched hair?
However, he didn't have much time of rest and recreation. His anxiety was revived full-force when he noticed the lack of fear in his opponent. Not only was the other not peeved, but looked rather exultant instead, red eyes glowing and lips smiling.
"Congratulations." He uttered and stood up slowly. "You have defeated me. You are very intelligent and would make an excellent detective." The cheerful, slightly condescending voice said, and Raito was unsure about whether he should be happy or completely petrified: this flattery was unnatural to say the least.
"Thank you." he said non-committally. After an entire hour of talking incessantly, he had become accustomed to the scratch of Ryuuzaki's voice.
"You shall now pass to the second round." The other stated, and Raito could feel a chill run down his spine by the way his clone was smiling at him. Wouldn't his defeated opponent receive some form of punishment for losing, just as he had implied Raito would? But nothing of the sort seemed to be happening.
Finally, seeing as he felt awkward sitting down while the other was standing, Raito also chose to stand – as much as he could, in this retched body. Lowering his knees from his chest, he stood in the accustomed hunched position – not that he had much choice. Raito's only comfort was the knowledge that Ryuuzaki constantly felt unless he was hunched like Quasimodo.
"The second round..." Raito repeated, as though waiting for some explanation. But the other was reluctant to elaborate, apparently.
"Yes, the second round." He repeated, and Raito was drawn to the red eyes, which seemed to be grinning with a murderous intent of their own. Silence fell all around him, as the other's expression sunk in, and Raito realized that could not possibly hold a fortunate ending for him. Although he didn't know just how bad it was going to be. But there was little doubt in his mind now that this was not the conclusion he had hoped for.
Suddenly, he felt something horrible, like a cold slimy hand, grabbing the back of his black-haired neck. He turned around hoarsely, but before he had time to react, a sharp pain gripped his insides, and he could do nothing more.
"Argh!" he groaned, and fell to his knees on the floor, vaguely registering that his opponent had become a mere shadow on the edge of his vision. After that, the pain on his gut and heart intensified, and he started writhing on the floor, aware of his humiliation in the ears of a rival.
Liar! You said I won! He wanted to shout, but could not find the strength to do so. By now, it felt as though someone was gripping his hair in a steel grip, threatening to tear it out. The whole scenery brought back memories Raito would rather keep buried. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he was glad that he was going through this pain while in Ryuuzaki's body. Perhaps Ryuuzaki could feel it too, in a twisted sense.
Then, as suddenly as it had started, it stopped. Raito opened his eyes, dizzy from the onslaught of pain. He gripped his stomach, vaguely registering that his movements felt more natural now, and stumbled to the corner of the room, where he promptly threw up. To his utter disgust, the only thing that was coming out of his stomach and mouth were strings of black hair. Wincing, he tried not to think about it as he pulled the retched things out of his throat. Well, there was still some comfort to be found: at least now he was allowed to throw them up.
He was still coughing when he heard it, sudden and strong.
"Yagami-kun"
The voice of a monster. Product of a nightmare.
He sprung to life like a wild man, forgetting all about the black strings in his mouth. Standing up, he barely registered that he was wearing a blue suit before he turning around.
And it was there. It was there.
The monster.
"You." Raito said, without much ado. There was no time for pleasantries. Right at that moment, he could neither see nor think rationally. He didn't know how or why. The only thing he knew was that, somehow, he had gotten back in his own body and that, somehow, Ryuuzaki was right in front of him, with his black hair glowing blue in the light of the bulb and his pale face cast to shade.
I'll kill you! Was the only thing Raito could think of, reverberating like a séance in his brain. And by all means he would have made his thoughts a reality, if his frantic thoughts hadn't caught one little detail, at the last minute: Ryuuzaki's wide eyes weren't black. They were red. Glowing red.
What the…
Did he finally turn into a demon?
"Ryu…Ryuuzaki?" he ventured, hating the hesitance in his own voice. Damn this place for making him so unsure and powerless. Of course this was Ryuuzaki – that much was obvious. Now being in control of his own body once again, Raito could see everything even more clearly than before. The person in front of him was definitely Ryuuzaki. Then again, that's what people would have said about him a few moments ago…
But…but the expression…
"Yes, Yagami-kun." His opponent answered him, a grin stretching over his pale face. Ryuuzaki never grinned. Unless he'd caught sight of a big strawberry on a cake, or something.
This was…unnatural.
This couldn't be…
"What are…you…" Raito ventured, feeling his back grow stiff and his expression numb, as he watched the red eyes – wider than before – peruse him in a particularly bloodthirsty way.
"I am your opponent, Yagami-kun." The demon said, for it could only be a demon, and there was no explanation for it, unless Ryuuku was playing tricks again. Or, unless it really was Ryuuzaki, and he had really turned into a demon after Remu had killed him. But…
"This is the second round." Ryuuzaki confidently said, in a manner of speech that suggested he indeed was not Ryuuzaki. And Raito's fingers became clammy at this realization, his eyelids unresponsive. At least with Ryuuzaki, he knew who he was up against – what he was up against
"But let's not rush into things." The demon wasn't even trying to impersonate Ryuuzaki's speaking manner, as he had done with Raito's. His syntax and flow of speech was much too smooth to belong to Ryuuzaki. Then again, this really could be Ryuuzaki, doing it on purpose to confuse Raito. If that was the case, then he was succeeding.
"Please take a seat." Ryuuzaki motioned, and Raito noticed that he was being offered the chair of the 'suspect', not the 'detective'. He was now going to sit on the chair that the demon had occupied before. The tables were being turned, and there was absolutely nothing he could do to prevent it. Suddenly, the age-old reluctance of not wanting to be the suspect attacked Raito once again – what had he been thinking before, when he'd been wishing for this?
Now with new wariness, and a complete understanding of the competition not being a game, Raito slowly sat down. He glared straight at Ryuuzaki, daring him to move. Ryuuzaki's offensive leery grin and red eyes would not go away.
"We shall now see which one of us has superior intelligence. The rules of the game go as follows:" Ryuuzaki repeated the same words he had said before, making Raito all the more aware of their reversed positions. He remembered the easiness with which he had crushed 'Raito' when he was acting as 'L'. What was going to happen now? Could he retain his position just as easily, or was the demon…? He didn't even want to think about it.
"I am L, the great detective and you are Yagami Light, the primary suspect for being Kira." The familiar and yet so unfamiliar face drawled. Ryuuzaki's voice was being abused. Raito still felt the overpowering need to pummel Ryuuzaki, but knew he would not feel satisfied unless he was assured that it would be Ryuuzaki he was killing, not some demon.
"I shall interrogate you and attempt to prove you are Kira within an hour. Your goal is to withstand my accusations and prove you are innocent. If you can persevere, then you will pass to the third round…But if you are defeated…" the glow of red, combined with the strange stance of the body, appeared lethal "then you shall suffer the consequences."
'Suffer the consequences'? That's not what he said before…Raito was reluctant to think of what the consequences might be. It's all right. He'd be able to win this battle. After all, L had died before the whole fiasco with Near and Mello had taken place. L would therefore not know the most concrete evidence that he could use against Raito. Logically, Raito would be victorious. It would be hard, but he'd win for sure, in the end.
«Our time starts...» Ryuuzaki pointed at the ticking clock with one white long finger, and Raito noticed that the time read five o'clock again. The dread in his stomach returned, erasing all his previous thoughts of courage. It was as though their previous interrogation session – the one where he'd won – had never happened.
«Now!»
Raito opened his mouth to begin speaking, having already set up a plan in his mind. However, he was taken aback when Ryuuzaki started talking first, with a cool, relatively toneless voice, which could almost pass for the real thing.
"Cameras and microphones were installed in all the rooms in your house, and your bedroom was under twenty-four hour surveillance for nine days. During that time, various criminals died from heart attacks." Ryuuzaki said, and Raito froze. His breathing stilled. His heart must have also stopped, as his nerves became tauter with each of Ryuuzaki's following words.
"Do you deny that you carried midnight snacks to your bedroom?" Ryuuzaki asked him. Raito couldn't speak. The notion suddenly hit him… that…
He was losing precious time. He should just answer Ryuuzaki and be done with it. Perhaps it was a mere coincidence that Ryuuzaki's approach was so similar to what Raito's had been.
"No" Raito answered, feeling numb all over.
"You placed the pack of snacks in the only blind spot of the cameras. You had hidden a secret camera in the pack, along with pieces from the Death Note and a pen. You used this equipment to punish criminals during the nine days you were under surveillance."
Raito felt an alien feeling climb to the back of his throat and sting his eyes, as he realized what was going on. He looked at Ryuuzaki's face and saw the demon's expression: brilliant, glowing eyes the colour of blood were narrowed in mirth. Ryuuzaki's face had broken into an all-out malicious, derisive, deranged smile. The expression was so demented, so utterly wrong on that face; that it left Raito feeling crippled, utterly defeated already.
He finally understood the real rules of the game. The demon obviously knew it too, that Raito had just realized, if his ever-present smile was any indication.
"Well, Yagami-kun?" the grin, full of sharp canines, asked him. And he had nothing to say.
"You cheat! You're unfair! Ryuuzaki had never known - - ah! AHH!!" Raito began his protests, but never managed to finish. The moment he had started speaking, Ryuuzaki's face had become a sickly shade of green and his red eyes had started glowing stronger. Raito was paralyzed in fear as he watched his opponent's jaw stretch wider and wider, until it became disjoined from the rest of the head, making Ryuuzaki's face looked like something out of a horror novel. His green-coloured skin, red eyes and cavernous, long jaw were aimed right at Raito, who was trembling wildly by now. The suspect found, to his chagrin; that he was not allowed to close his eyes or move his head away. The façade of normalcy which had been prevalent before was dissipating within milliseconds now.
The demon didn't do anything, just stared. His smiles were all gone now and all that was left was the enormous long jaw and the eyes, like a parody balanced on shapely white shoulders.
Ryuuzaki stayed the same way for the entire session after that.
Fifty seven minutes later, Raito still had nothing to say, as the demon pulverized him, using his own words.
"Near and the SPK then solidly proved that you are indeed Kira." The demon concluded, in the same exact words Raito had used before. At that moment, Raito, with his head bent down and eyes staring at the edge of the table, heard the ring of the small clock. It sounded like the bells of a funeral.
«Well, Raito-kun.» the demon started, and Raito involuntarily looked up at the sudden use of his first name, immediately regretting it when he came face to face with the horrible sight. But when he tried to move again, as though bewitched, his eyes refused to obey him.
«It seems I am more intelligent than you, now.» the devil spoke, and as he talked the enormous jaw moved as well, making Raito's heart beat in unrestricted terror.
«So now you must suffer the consequences for your lack of intelligence.»
«No! Wait, I-» Raito started, but the moment he opened his mouth, to his absolute horror, he watched Ryuuzaki undergo a new metamorphosis – the red eyes became hollow black holes now, and the jaw stretched to form a black scream. Raito, strangely detached, realized with mild interest that his body had entered nervous paralysis.
«Suffer now...» the voice of the demon sounded, impossibly amplified in the small room. The rhythmic ticking of the clock had started to permeate Raito's thoughts. He turned to look at it, hoarsely, and saw the pointers moving counter-clockwise, heading back to 'five o'clock'.
That was all Raito managed to take note of before he felt something heavy grip his shoulders. For a moment, he thought that the demon would devour him and crush his head in the wide jaws. But what he felt instead was something heavy, like lead, bear down on him, immobilizing his limbs.
The effort to shout was fruitless, as he soon realized that his vocal chords were frozen. In fact, everything was frozen on his suit-covered body. He had lost control of everything once more. He was just dropped there – wherever 'there' was – eyes shut and unable to open, lungs struggling to breathe, screams trying to escape.
Why?
Why?If not Ryuuzaki, then who?
Fighting it. Fighting it with all his strength. For days and nights, it felt like he was dying and living again, dying and living. Fighting it still. Then, finally, a high-pitched sound, like a piercing shriek sounded all around him, and he felt a gust of air shoot painfully into his lungs, as though he were a corpse which was being reanimated.
And then his fingers, moving without his own volition, formed a clutch. He had grabbed something, but he knew it wasn't the ground. His heart was beating fast again. The panic was starting. He was dying.
He was dying.
He opened his eyes.
Toukyo.
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a/n: Ouch. Imagine being in his shoes. That's really gotta hurt!!! I hope everyone liked my Ryuuzaki and Raito interactions (not that there are any other characters around at this point, but anyway...)
Do you enjoy reading this? Please tell me what you think! I'm all ears – your comments really help!
