Death Note - J (Discontinued)

○ Chapter 29 ○ - Love Hurts... Alot

~"I'll uncover Kira's identity if it's the last thing I do! ...So kill me, if you can."~

It's all back to square one, only with a difference. We have a new piece of evidence that will surly solve this case once and foreall. A notebook. That same notebook Higuchi was carrying around when he desperately tried to kill Matsuda. The same notebook Kira once had. Back in the investigation headquarters as always, I sit in my usual spot, biting my lip, anticipating this o-so-important conversation Ryuuzaki wants to have. Oh yes, let's not forget to mention that the demon-looking monster called a Shinigami is casually staying here with us as well.

It stands over at the coffee table in the center of the room, back where the glass stairs are. The sound of papers being flipped catches my attention; someone's holding the notebook. "On the front page..." Aizawa's voice starts. "'How to use it.'" He clears his throat.

"The name of the person written in here shall die. After writing the person's name, the cause of death should be written within the next 40 seconds. If the cause of death is not specified, the person will simply die of a heart attack. After writing the cause of death, details of the death should be written within the next 6 minutes and 40 seconds..."

Heart attacks. Details on the death... does that also include the time of their death? I get an ah-ha moment. Everything makes so much more sense...

"And on the back here," Aizawa continues. "there're two more rules. If this notebook is destroyed in any means, all people who have touched the notebook... will... die."

I turn my seat over to them with a questioning look that asks if what was just said all true. "Die?" I repeat.

"Die." He confirms. Something's wrong with me: I'm not frightened about the thought of death at all. Shouldn't I be fearing for my life? Or should I at least be wanting to ensure that the notebook will never get destroyed? But I'm not... not at all...

"Waah~!" Matsuda cries, grabbing the sides of his head. "I shouldn't have touched the notebook just to see what the Shinigami looked like!"

"Then you'd have no idea what was going on." Yagami scolds. "Unless you would have rather been behind everyone else."

"N-No! I want to be on equal terms with everyone, yes!" he attempts to reassure.

"And the last rule: If a person writes a name in the Death Note, they must write another name within 13 days. If they fail do to so, they will die." A heavy feeling pulls on my heart, dragging it down, making it sink into my stomach.

"Wait, that means Light-kun and Misa-Misa are cleared!" Matsuda cheers. "They were contained for over fifty days!!"

"That's right," Aizawa agrees. "They have to be cleared by now. Chief, isn't that great news?"

I turn my seat back around to face the desk and rest my face in my hands, still hearing the rule bounce around in my head. I've gone hollow from the rule that was read aloud not even ten seconds ago. Ten seconds? No, that can't be right. Hasn't it been a few hours already...? Maybe that's how I'm processing it, like I'm in a dream. Hours of make-believe condensed into a few seconds within reality. Reality is painful.

A depressing thought slowly sinks deep into my mind; I feel a chill in my stomach, making it turn. Those words shattered a big part of me; I feel like I was just pushed over the edge of a cliff and I can litterally feel the sensation of falling. The sudden shock of it is powerful enough that I almost grasp for the armrests of my seat as if I'll stop falling if I do so. Once I come back to the real world, I can take it the crushing realization: Light is innocent. We were wrong. He's not Kira. Everything was a... waste.