Gods and Monsters [Sequel to Ethereal] L x Reader • Death Note ✔️

Chapter 16 | cast a lure

The only way you'd be able to get this guy is if you had some kind of hook to catch onto. Right now all you knew is that he was in Osaka, and how you were in Osaka too. Without some kind of hint as to who this mystery Osakan could be, you'd have absolutely no way of catching Kira.

A stunt like Lind L Tailor was out of the question, because Kira would know it's a trick from the events of the previous Kira. And you couldn't pull a Misa and send a message either, because this Kira would see that as more of a person worshipping than a threat, and leave it be. So you needed to come up with something this Kira could fall for, something that could get you a potential hook.

L being L, had a few ideas. Now he had the upper hand being a kami and knowing what a death note was, as well as previous experience with a Kira.

"Listen up boys... and ambiguously gendered one"he began, standing before the successors.

They sat around the table, the taskforce HQ still a bit of a mess from organising but almost complete.

"A stunt like the second Kira or Lind L Tailor is out of the question. But there is one thing that may work, I can't say for sure he'll bite since this Kira seems to be very, very meticulous but it's worth a shot" L continued.

"You name it, we got it. What's the sitch?" Matt replied.

"We need to get this Kira thinking we're on his side, lure him into a false sense of trust. If he thinks we want in on his worship, then he'll take a step closer to us and we can use that to figure out who he is. So we need to get a message across that we want to help him"

You listened intently, sitting off to the side and messing with your mirror while he talked to the successors. L told you he'd handle the Kira stuff, and you handle the magic stuff. That you were doing, you were trying to think of ways to track the location of the death note and keep all the mortals involved in the case as safe as possible.

Last time you'd tracked the death note using your mirror kind of like a metal detector. And you could try that again once you had a more specific location where the book would be. Osaka was big, you couldn't fly over the whole place and book-detect it. It'd take you months to get every nook and cranny.

"First option is a mass email and text message. Have every number in Osaka receive it, frame it like an advertisement for a church dedicated to Kira. Some people will ignore it, some will miss it if they have their email settings set to divert it into spam but some will reply to it. Anyone that does is worth looking into. It's casting a wide net but it'll eliminate large amounts of the population" L replied.

"What about those who have the email sent to spam?" Mello asked.

"That's why we send it as a text message too. You have to manually report the message as junk unless you block the number. And of course, no one will have the number blocked because it's brand new. So everyone in Osaka will receive the message and from that we can tell who is actively interested in Kira"

You saw what L was trying to do here, it was slowly but surely weeding through thousands of people. A massive chunk would immediately be ruled out as those who see the message and ignore or delete it clearly aren't engaging with Kira. Those who reply to it, or view the link are showing they're actively involved in being on Kira's side.

"So make a false website dedicated to Kira and have the link embedded with an IP tracker. Anyone who clicks it will have their information sent right to us, which will give us a massive list of potential suspects we can sift through. And it'll be easy to tell who on that list is just someone who finds the Kira case interesting and who is actively supporting Kira" L explained.

"That's a tech job, leave it to me" Matt replied.

"I'd be nice if there was a more efficient way, but the original Kira already exhausted those methods..." Near sighed.

It definitely wasn't as clean and quick as Lind L Tailor was but it was all you could really do to get the results you needed.

"Alright we can handle that easy, count on us L" Mello said.

"I know I can count in you three, make me proud" L smiled.

The three were quick to get to work, logging into their computers and chatting amongst themselves deciding who'd tackle what task. L wandered over to you, sitting beside you on the couch.

"Any ideas?" He asked.

"Not particularly... although I do wonder if those dreams little Morpheus is having mean anything..." you pondered.

"I do find them rather convenient... but you can't be too sure with the developing powers of a godling"

"Well, Hypnos will inform us if anything comes if it anyway. As for spells and such, I can't do a tracking spell without actually touching the object to track so can't find the death note that way... and until we have a smaller area I can't to the mirror detector trick like last time. I'm kind of stuck on ways we could get the book with magic, I think we'll have to stick to finding a suspect and searching them..."

That was frustrating, it'd take a while to achieve that. But magic had its limits. Even the gods got tired, even the gods could die if they were hit in a very particular way. Not all magic was boundless. I mean, look at your missing foot. Ambrosia could head a wound but not regrow a limb.

You could track the death note, but you had to touch it first.

"What about protection for the successors?" L asked.

"I'm afraid Zagreus' death defiance boon is all that can be done. Annoying it can only be used once but it is a solid wall of protection. As for ways to make them immortal? I'm still looking into that. But L, as much as I wish we could have our kids forever with us... they are the ones who have the final decision. If they wish to die of natural causes and reincarnate that's their choice" you explained.

L sighed. He knew that all too well, he understood that if one of them wanted to live a normal mortal life he couldn't change that as much as he loved them and wanted to keep them by his side forever.

"I know... I just want them to stay with us, be family you know? But if they decide otherwise... I'll let them have that" He replied.

You wrapped an arm around him, kissing his cheek and giving him a squeeze.

"You're a good dad L, letting your kids have their own say in their lives. Even if it'd hurt to let them go, if that's what they want then all you can do is support them"

L looked over at the trio, all crowded around Matt's computer chatting amongst each other about their task at hand. He hadn't asked them yet, because he didn't even know if it was possible outside the way he became a deity. In truth, he wasn't sure what they'd pick. Most people would think anyone would pick immortality over death. But some are comfortable with living a full life and then leaving it behind.

And Mello, Matt and Near all have a very unique experience and view on life and death since they were babysat by gods as kids, were raised in an orphanage by a detective who later became a god and knew death himself personally. They all knew that after death came either reincarnation or retirement to the underworld after staying in MU for a bit waiting for processing.

So what option they'd pick if given the chance was a mystery to L. And whatever they picked, he had to accept that. He just hoped they ended up making the right decision for them.