Welcome to Quindecim (A Death Note and Death Parade Crossover)

The Four Rules of Arbiters

"I stopped trying to figure him out a while ago," replied Ginti moving his attention to Nona.

"I just don't understand what that woman could have possibly done to him," Nona said. 

"I don't think she did anything to him," Ginti said. "She was strange and I do think she is the reason for the change, but Decim was always a weirdo. Maybe she just sparked something in him." 

Nona opened her mouth to answer but a loud shout interrupted her. 

"What?!" said the brown haired man after standing up. Ginti realized that they knew about their deaths now. Decim only watched in silence as the two men started talking again, any friendliness from before, gone. 

The brown haired man which Ginti guessed was the bad guy jumped to attack the other one, but was quickly stopped by Decim's strings. Him and the pale man exchanged a few words before he released the other guy and the three of them began walking towards the elevators. 

"Come on," Nona said to him and they exited the backroom. As Decim was returning, Ginti and Nona said down on the bar stools. Decim walked behind the counter and spoke. 

"How can I be of your service?" he asked. 

"Just get me a beer," he said and Decim nodded. He glanced at Nona awaiting her answer. 

"A coffee would be nice," she replied and Decim got to work. A few minutes later, Decim placed in front of them their orders. He then took a glass for himself, poured a drink and sat down in front of them. 

"What brings you here?" he finally asked. 

"We just wanted to see how you would handle the case," Nona said and Ginti glanced at her. 

"You keep saying that this was a difficult case, but everything seemed to go smoothly to me."

"Well, yes, but those two were interesting. After that black haired one came here, five years ago, I was ordered to put him to sleep for some reason. And the other guy... remember that in the last few years we had a raise in the number of criminals we had?" Nona asked and Ginti nodded. 

"Well he was the one responsible for all those deaths," Ginti furrowed his brows in confusion. "The two of them had the same circumstances about their deaths so they were judged together." 

Ginti still didn't understand all of it but it was enough to tell that this case was not like any other. He turned to Decim asking the question that he wanted to ask all evening. 

"Why didn't you complicate the game?" Ginti asked. Decim put down his drink silently.

"Over the course of my relatively short career as an Arbiter here, I have learned that the complication of the game does more harm than good. It brings out the worst in people, taunting them to do things that they wouldn't normally do," he replied. "Someone taught me not to look at everyone the same way. When judging I found it best to look at every little aspect surrounding an action made by the one I'm judging so I can compare the intentions and the outcome."

Ginti gaped at him, not expecting that answer.

"So that woman told you not to use it and you just blindly followed what she said? What does she know anyway?" he asked. 

"Of course not," Decim replied. "I also took my own thoughts and feelings into consideration."

"Your feelings?" Ginti asked and snorted. "Now, I've seen it all. I'm leaving. You coming, Nona?"

Nona who stayed silent throughout the exchange nodded and stood up to follow him. 

"So what did you think?" Ginti asked her. "He spoke about feelings."

"Yes, I know. I was the one who implemented feelings in him, Ginti," she replied. 

"You did? Why?" Ginti asked confused. 

"Oculus' orders. Speaking of which, I have to tell him of the results. We'll talk later," she said as she stepped in a different elevator leaving Ginti to return to his own floor. 

They did not talk later, as promised, but the next day a notice came from the Information Bureau telling them of a new rule that Arbiters have to respect. 

1. Arbiters cannot quit making judgments, for that is the reason why they exist.

2. Arbiters cannot experience death, for that would bring them too close to being human.

3. Arbiters cannot feel emotion, for they are dummies.

4. Arbiters may not work hand in hand with life, for that will ruin them.

As Ginti read over it, he couldn't help but wonder what would happen to Decim after he broke two of the four rules of arbiters. His partner from the 15th floor, however, slipped away from his thoughts as he suddenly felt memories appear at the back of his mind. He sighed. It was time to get the job done.