*beep beep*
"Ryuzaki, we have a reply from the second Kira." Watari's voice comes through the computer as the 'W' symbol flashes on the screen.
"What?"
"Really?" Matsuda squeals.
"WOW LET'S WATCH IT!" I cry, jumping on top of L and crushing his lungs.
L groans in pain and shoves me off his chest. "Freya," he whines pathetically, "please stop damaging my internal organs..."
"Or what?" I smirk.
"Or I will kick you," he says indifferently. "And possibly die."
oH!
"I'll be bringing over the items and tapes that we received," Watari tells us as we crowd around the laptop. "In the meantime, I'll send you a copy of the video so you can hear it on your end."
I steal L's armchair and he is heartbroken.
He looks so upset and hopeless.
I reluctantly let him have his chair back.
uGh.
"L why can't I get a turn in the armchair!" I plead, hugging him from behind and trying not to accidentally strangle him with the force of my embrace.
"No," he splutters, swatting me away like a pesky fly.
"Kira, thank you for the reply. Please do not worry, I will follow orders and do as you say."
"WOAH!" Matsuda leans forwards.
"It worked..." Yagami gasps.
"I really want to meet you... I don't think you have the eyes, but you don't have to worry, I would never target you."
Light gasps and a bead of sweat rolls down his cheek as he glances over at me nervously.
I shoot him the most devious and knowing creepy grin I could muster, which probably makes him wet his pants.
"That's a promise."
"What's this 'having the eyes' supposed to mean...?" Aizawa speaks in confusion. "Is it a code?"
"Yeah..." Matsuda agrees, also puzzled.
"Please tell me how I can meet you without the police knowing, you'll think of something. And when we meet, we can confirm our identities by showing our shinigami to each other."
L is kinda hyperventilating.
I think he needs help...
He gasps sharply.
Aizawa and Matsuda yell simultaneously, "Shinigami!?"
Ryuk pokes out from behind them.
There's suspense in the air for a moment, before L cries out and topples his chair onto the floor.
Oh dear, panic attack.
Aizawa and Matsuda are unfortunate enough to be standing behind him, and they back away in shock at his outburst.
"Hey, L, it's alright," I ruffle his hair soothingly as he breathes rapidly out of panic.
Light just glares at him, not even batting an eyelash.
Godly prune.
We will never be friends.
I mentally cross his name of my 'potential friends' list.
"Ryuzaki, are you alright?" Aizawa asks hesitantly, concerned and rather put out.
"I thought... I thought that shinigami..." L stammers, his eyes wide in disbelief.
Yeah, they are very much part of this world.
"Umm, don't worry about the shinigami, I won't let them kill you this time," I say to him quietly, still stroking his matted hair.
"WHAAAAT?" L cries, his eyes going slightly glassy and unfocused as he jerks in my arms like Mello when he has a fit.
Whoopsie.
My fault.
I think I just accidentally traumatised him for life.
"You're making it worse!" Light scolds me. "What did you say to him?" he questions sounding a little too curious, which makes my blood boil.
I hug the terrified and mentally exhausted detective tighter and glare at Kira. "Shut up, Imagay."
"What... did you just call me?"
I stick my tongue out.
Light mentally adds me to his 'to kill' list.
"Of course they don't exist," Aizawa scoffs as if denying the existence of gods of death makes him superior somehow.
Prunes.
All prunes.
Everyone is a prune.
"Yes that's right Ryuzaki, listen to yourself! Of course shinigami don't exist." Light folds his arms in that godly way of his.
Near looks thoughtful. "Well..."
Mello cuts him off. "Is he alright?" he asks, referring to L.
I shrug, "Probably," and turn L's head to see that he's stopped hyperventilating.
Good.
"Sorry L, try to calm down..." I tell him warily.
L glances at Aizawa uncertainly. "You're probably right... but I remember that Kira had those prisoners write something suggesting the interference of shinigami..."
Near has had enough of being ignored, he drops his toys and sits in front of L. "Based on the fact that both Kira's have mentioned shinigami, isn't that proof enough of their existence?" he questions in monotone. "It's unlikely that they could have met already, or that they can communicate, otherwise this Kira would have requested that you show your face so he can kill you. Instead, he hasn't proven himself useful in the slightest to the original. With this evidence and the fact that the killings are obviously supernatural, we can assume that shinigami are real."
He's right.
That's the thing with Near, he's good at making correct assumptions even if they seem completely unreasonable.
Mello folds his arms and says nothing, scowling slightly.
Naomi frowns. "It's extremely unnerving to think that 'gods of death' could be on Kira's side..."
"Let's leave it as a possibility, for now," I suggest.
Light speaks up with an air of urgency, "I think this Kira is acting on his own, he's only interested in meeting the original."
The group nods, and Light continues after folding his arms. "The word 'shinigami' could very well some reference to their killing power. Saying: 'we can confirm our identities by showing our shinigami to each other' probably means that they would confirm their identities by somehow demonstrating their abilities to kill."
"Yes... that must be it." L sits up, his face not as drained of colour as before.
"No," Near interrupts, "if you are Kira, that would be suspicious. I don't believe a word that comes out of your mouth," he says blatantly.
Yagami looks nothing short of appalled. "Whatdoyoumeanyoudon'tbelieveawordthatcomesoutofmygodlysonsmouthheisgodlyandrighteousyoulittlesnowflakeyouknownothing!"
I smiled gratefully at the small boy. "If 'shinigami' was a reference to their killing power, as Light suggested, then why didn't the second Kira just say: 'we will confirm our identities by demonstrating our ability to kill'? It just doesn't make sense."
Light scowls furiously.
So does Mello.
He probably feels like he's in Near's shadow again.
I try to get him to come over but he just stands there glaring at Near.
L rubs his forehead. "I don't... I don't know what it could mean, let's leave it at that."
Near frowns a little, but resumes playing with his toy cars and trying to get them to hit Mello's feet.
【L】
"Lola?"
"hM?" I lean on my elbows so that I'm not lying flat on my face anymore.
L crouches down in front of me. "All that about shinigami... it's true, isn't it?"
"Yes..." I hesitate. "Shinigami are a massive part of the case..."
"You said they'd kill me."
wEll.
"Not if I beat them up!" I kneel and take up a boxing stance.
L frowns. "Lola..."
"Hm?"
"Please tell me about the shinigami."
I would love to, but I'm not sure that's such a good idea.
"I can't tell you anything... you've got to think that they aren't real," I explain vaguely.
"Why is that necessary? I already know about Damian."
I take a moment to think things through.
I can't tell L about the death note, that's too much information.
Caution must be taken to ensure everything goes as the plot dictates.
It's probably fine to tell him about the shinigami following the Kira's around, and eventually about Rem when it comes to getting her out of the way.
"Ok!" I cross my legs so that our eyes are level. "The shinigami follow around all of the people with Kira's power."
L's eyes go wide. "They do? Why? Will they kill us if we try to catch Kira?" he bombards me with questions.
"No, well, one of them might..." I make a face, "but mostly they just observe and watch over the power because it originally belonged to them and they have to follow these special rules."
"Why did the shinigami give up their power?"
I shrug."They just got bored."
L seems to panic. "But... there's a second Kira, that means another shinigami has followed the example of the first! What if more Kira's begin to appear?"
"Nah, that doesn't happen."
He seems sceptical.
"Don't you believe me?"
"No, I do believe you," L frowns again, "but..."
"I've already spoken to one of them, he promised to do something for me in exchange for apples. That should be enough to save you and Watari."
"Apples?"
I nod. "Yes, apples."
L looks like he's in severe mental pain. "You've bargained for my life with apples?"
"He really likes apples..."
"I don't feel too great..." L looks queasy.
I place my hands on his shoulders. "Hey, I've said this before; everything's gonna be fine, I have it under control."
L stares back at me. "I know that, but I don't like not being able to do anything. I feel useless."
"YOU ARE NOT USELESS! I need you... for motivation!" I tell him very seriously.
"And love," L adds.
"Yeah, and... wait, what?" I blink.
L frowns. "If you don't want the love I'll just keep it," he says sourly.
"No! I want it all!" I throw my arms around him.
"Alright then." L holds me against his chest.
"Aww... I just love you, you're adorable..."
"Really? I didn't know I was all of these things; funny, adorable... a pillow..." he says airily.
"Well, yeah. You're comfy."
------------------------------------------------------------------
Lola didn't mean to traumatise L, she's just stupid.
I'm putting a lot more of Near and Mello's characters into this version because I realised that they had a lot more to offer this story.
--------------------------------------------------------
- Mwua