Fast Forward:: Death Note/Inuyasha Crossover
Because I'm a total idiot, I spent what little muse I had on a follow-up to Rewind.
Title: Fast Forward
Fandoms: Death Note/ Inuyasha
Rating: Any Age-ish
Summary: Kagome knows that whatever doesn't kill you will only try harder next time.
A Note About Spoilers/Timeline: Set five years after the events of Rewind. With some more of my awesomely bad math, that makes Kagome 31, L around 29 or 30, and Light still a complete bastard.
Author's Plea: Disjointed and lazy. I don't like this one, but it won't leave me alone. Enjoy if you can.
Edited 3/12/08
Fast Forward
astarvingwriter
Standard Disclaimer Applies x2
*
"Higurashi-san."
She held a finger to indicate both her annoyance at being interrupted and her insistence that she get at least one more minute of staring at the spreadsheet formula. She hoped if she stared at it long enough the answer to why the formula wasn't working would jump out at her. Unfortunately, spreadsheet formulas were a bit too close to mathematics for her to grasp intuitively. By the time her co-worker nervously cleared his throat for the third time, she was ready to give in and delete the entire thing.
"Yes, Nakamura-san?" she said as politely as she could as she finally acknowledged her coworker.
"You have a visitor, Higurashi-san."
Kagome frowned. She didn't usually get visitors. Her intensive study in college had prevented friendships from forming and her brother was far too busy with finals to spare her a thought. As well, she didn't think she'd ever seen Nakamura so nervous. The assistant was wringing his hands together nonstop and had even developed a twitch in his left cheek.
"What visitor?" she asked.
He didn't verbally reply, but his eyes shot to a darkened corner of the office only slightly visible through the cubicle maze and hidden partially by a ficus tree. Looking for all the world as if the strange corner had been designed especially for him was a man in a trench coat and wide brimmed hat.
"Oh," she said dispassionately. Sticking her pencil on her ear and smoothing her skirt, she slowly rose and advanced upon the watching man.
"Watari-san," she greeted coolly.
"Higurashi-san," he responded in kind. "There is a matter of some importance which my associate wishes to speak with you about."
"There is nothing so important that I would wish to speak with your associate."
"He is insistent that he speak with you."
"I have work to do."
"I am sure your superior would understand if your report on the economic conditions of the Edo district beginning in 1995 is late due to your much needed assistance on an important police matter."
Her frown became very pronounced and was bordering on a full out glare. It seemed like the strange detective was still keeping a close eye on her. She couldn't say she hadn't expected it, but she certainly didn't appreciate it.
"Fine," she said with strained civility. "But you go explain it to my supervisor while I pack up."
Watari merely nodded and headed back into the cubicle maze in the direction of her supervisor's extra-large cube. She couldn't say she wasn't impressed by his unerring accuracy, though it did make her nervous.
With a worried sigh, she began to save her work on the company's shared drive and shut down her computer. She had a feeling she wouldn't be returning to it anytime soon.
*
She looked different. Tired, less vibrant. Office work didn't seem to be agreeing with her personality, but that didn't surprise him. Very few people flourished in the cubicle maze, and those that did were usually hiding something.
Of course he knew she was also hiding quite a few things, more than even Kira's identity.
The suspicion draping her every action was apparent, but when she finally met his eyes, he could see the defeat sink in.
"He's doing it again, isn't he?" she sighed, though he still wasn't sure if she was referring to Yagami-kun or another as-yet-unidentified Kira.
He didn't respond. He knew she would talk sooner or later. Whether her words would be what he wanted to hear was a different matter entirely.
*
She wanted to believe it wasn't her fault, but she knew better. If she had kept an eye on him like she'd intended she might have noticed his duplicity sooner.
As it was, his actions had been unchecked for far longer than they should have and the only one to blame was herself. And Yagami Light, of course. She may not have prevented him from killing people, but he certainly was guilty of murder several times over.
The dark hotel room seemed to mimic her mood. She hated that she was stuck there, facing this failure, and speaking to this strange man that she thought she might know better than she knew her own co-workers. However, it was against her nature to pretend she could forget about her connection to both the detective and the hidden criminal, and though she refused to be used as an instrument for either of them, she knew she had to do something.
"I can't tell you anything, Ryuzaki-san. Surely you understand that."
"Kira is killing again," L said blankly.
"I don't know that for a fact."
"I can prove it."
"I don't know that the circumstances are the same."
The detective simply stared at her while taking a bite of his donut.
"You are interesting, Higurashi-san."
She sighed again.
"I really wish all of you would stop saying that. You make it seem like an insult."
The detective merely continued to stare before she growled in frustration and stalked out of the hotel.
*
"Did you plant the device?"
"Yes."
"Keep a close watch on her. Even if she doesn't lead us to Kira, she'll be targeted. Clues could become apparent."
"You intend to use Higurashi-san as bait."
"She has made herself bait. I am simply ensuring her effort isn't wasted."
*
Kagome hadn't thought of where she was going, but she ended up at the police station regardless of any intent. Despite knowing she'd been followed and was still being watched, she begged to see either detective Yagami. Surprisingly, it was the elder Yagami that came down to the lobby to speak with her.
"You must be Higurashi-san," the respected man said by way of greeting.
"Thank you for agreeing to speak with me, Detective Yagami."
"You swayed the front desk officers. That is not a terribly easy task. Obviously you are someone to be listened to."
"It isn't me at all, but the information I have. You headed the special investigative task force that was assigned to track down Kira five years ago, did you not?"
The man's features seemed to tighten, but he otherwise remained cool. Kagome was beginning to understand exactly where Light inherited his personality from, though in him the determined official persona had taken a very different route.
"I was until the suspicious killings stopped. Once L called off his investigation it seemed pointless to continue our own."
"L has restarted his investigation. He believes Kira has resumed his killings."
She said it with as little inflection as possible, watching the man carefully for his reaction. They had been slowly walking the length of the lobby towards the visitor benches, but the older man halted mid-step.
"Kira is back?"
"L believes so."
"And how are you connected to L?"
"He… requested my assistance. However, we are in disagreement over whether the police should be included in the investigation again."
"He isn't interested in our assistance?"
"He is suspicious of someone within your ranks."
She felt a slight twinge of pity for him as he stopped in his tracks yet again. He probably hadn't been this caught off guard since the original Kira case.
And it was only going to get worse.
*
Light watched his father speak with the woman through a direct feed into the office's security system. There wasn't sound as he hadn't wanted to risk augmenting the systems already in place, but it was obvious from the woman's lip movements as well as his father's tense body language that they were speaking of L and Kira.
But then, he'd already known that would happen. After all, there weren't many other reasons that would cause Higurashi Kagome to seek out a Yagami at police headquarters.
She was interfering. She was interfering again, and if he let it go on for much longer, she'd only cause him trouble. It'd taken five years before the plan he'd put in motion once he'd realized the woman's determination paid out in his lost memories of the Death Note. He refused to wait anymore.
It was time to show her exactly what he was capable of. If she was smart, she'd back off once she witnessed his power. If not... well, he had several back up plans to make her death look like a terrible accident.
*
He woke up in pain. His heart hurt, which wasn't uncommon for him but certainly still unwelcome. But unlike most times, this pain wasn't stopping. It was only getting worse.
As he attempted to fight through the pain much as he had the previous year during the family's 'big scare', he noticed that his hand was acting without his permission. It was scrambling for the scrap of paper and runny pen on the nightstand. He tried to stop it, but the hand was insistent. It quickly scribbled something on the paper while the pain in his heart increased.
Memory spurred on by the oddity of the entire situation came at him with such sudden force that he almost didn't feel the pain of his constricting heart. He remembered an odd warning from his granddaughter. She always was getting into trouble, that one, but he always made it a point to take her odd requests seriously.
It looked like this would be the last such request he would be able to fulfill, and he would be damned if he didn't complete his assigned task. His hand had gone limp once it finished whatever it had been forced to write, and it took much effort to make it write one last thing.
As his vision faded, he only hoped it was enough. And legible. With a smile at his last joking thought, he gave in to the pain and let the darkness overtake him.
*
She was tired when she finally returned to her apartment. There were several messages on her answering machine, but she begged off checking them until she took a shower. Being pulled out of her comfortable, if boring, office job and back into the seedy underbelly of crime and murder made her feel dirty. She'd become incredibly fond of hot water since she first explored the Feudal Era and had to do without. Now it took very little encouragement for her to seek refuge in the warm running water she'd become so dependent on.
Her phone was ringing when she finally emerged from the washroom, and it was with a sigh that she finally picked it up.
"Kagome! We need you to come home right away!"
"Mother?"
"It's... it's your grandfather. He's... he had a heart attack, Kagome."
She collapsed onto her little futon/couch as the news sunk in. Her mother kept speaking, but she heard very little of it.
He was old, she told herself. He'd had a heart attack before, so it shouldn't come as any surprise that he'd been victim to another.
So why was it that a voice in the back of her head told her the timing was crucial. Why did she sense the work of a boy pretending to be a god?
"He must have woken up while it was happening because there was this weird little scribble on a piece of paper beside his bed. Something about wanting an apple to give the reaper --"
"Was there anything else, mother? Did he write anything else at all?"
"Well, there was a really messy scribble at the bottom..."
"What did it look like? Please, mother, this is important."
"It looked like it said 'now', though I have no idea why he would have written that. It was probably already on the piece of paper before he wrote the other part."
"No. No, I don't think that's it at all."
"Please come home now, Kagome. I... we need you. Your brother is distraught. We all are. Please."
"I can't right now, mother. There's something I have to do right now. I'll be home as soon as I get this settled, okay?"
"But Kagome!--"
"Mother, I need you to listen to me right now. I need you to do everything I tell you, exactly as I tell you. It's really important."
Despite hearing her mother's hesitance, she laid out her plan slowly but with determination. It had to be done correctly or it wouldn't work. Otherwise, none of them would be safe.
"Please, mom. You've trusted me so much before. Trust me now."
"But Kagome!--"
She limply hung up the phone even though her mother was still speaking. She knew her mother would follow her directions despite her worry.
There was nothing for it. They'd forgive her later, after she'd dealt with her grandfather's attacker.
For now, she had a false deity to destroy. Again. And this time she'd have no pity.
*
"Watari."
"Yes, L?"
"Higurashi-san's grandfather died last night."
"Hm. She will be grief stricken then. She will possibly not be of use for some time."
"No. She will be angry. She will be angry and vengeful and she will make mistakes."
"How so?"
"Kira killed her grandfather. He made sure she knew it was him. And now she's going to find him. Watch her carefully. She may do something stupid."
*
Light liked having his own apartment. It was small, yes, but then he didn't require much space. He spent most of his time at his office or at his home computer. The rest was just ruffles, and sometimes a hassle to clean. Still, cleanliness was next to godliness and he was going to be as godly as he possibly could.
The small apartment had another benefit: it was a very private place. Only his direct co-workers and his family knew how to find him, and he preferred to keep it that way. Thus it was a great surprise to open his door to find the Higurashi woman looking about ready to commit murder.
She entered his apartment without waiting for his consent, nodded a welcome to Ryuk, who was giggling softly in the corner, and waited until he had locked the door before slapping Light hard across the face.
"You had no right."
"I do not know what you mean, Higurashi-san," he responded placidly while tenderly rubbing his cheek.
"You know exactly what I mean. I told you before to leave the godliness to the actual gods. I gave you a second chance to redeem your soul. Does it mean so little to you that you had to immediately seek to dirty it again?"
Ryuk was laughing deeply in the corner, and yet it made the accusatory glare she was leveling at him all the more intense. If he didn't know better, he would think that Ryuk was on the woman's side.
"This is the life that was chosen for me, Higurashi-san. This is my destiny and I shall make it my own."
"This is no destiny. You don't even know what destiny is. Don't speak as if you know such things, Light-kun."
"And how do you know of such things, Kagome-chan?"
"I know because I've seen. You don't deserve to know any more about me."
She was glaring at him but had yet to make another hostile move, and Light counted that as an advantage. However, there were still too many disadvantages and he was still contemplating his next move when he noticed her eyes had taken on a strange and abnormal glow. He'd always imagined gaining Shinigami Eyes to look similarly but had never seen it in action to know such. It did succeed in making him a bit uncomfortable.
"You'll kill them all if I don't leave you be, won't you? You'll probably kill them all anyways, just to make sure. You have no mercy. He was right. You are no sort of human being."
"Does L still suspect me then?"
"He will do more than suspect once I'm finished with you."
Without another word she slapped him again before throwing off the lock and throwing open the door. She was gone before his cheek even had time to begin reddening from the second slap. With a hardened expression, he shut and locked the door before heading to his work desk so that he could plot her death. It wasn't until he pulled out the Death Note that he realized Ryuk was gone.
*
"He's not fit to live," she said angrily as she wove her way through the crowded sidewalk. A few pedestrians looked at her askance, but she ignored them.
"Miko, he's convinced otherwise."
"You were going to end him eventually anyway. Why not now?"
"This is still interesting."
"I'm really getting to hate that word."
"You're interesting, too."
"Don't say that. I'm sick of being interesting. I'm sick of being involved in this. My grandfather was attacked just because I felt like talking to a passing shinigami one day."
"Nah. That's not it at all."
*
"She isn't being very careful at all."
"No. She's not."
"What is your recommendation?"
"Keep recording. We need to document this thoroughly. Her death will give us the evidence we need."
*
"He won't kill any more people, Ryuk. I'll make sure of that." Her knuckles were white from the force of her fury.
"Ya sound like him, Miko." His statement was between compliment and insult, but she instantly took offense.
"Don't you dare say that! I am nothing like him!"
"How are ya going to stop him this time? Will ya keep watching him and keep erasing his memories of the Death Note? Will ya keep cleaning his messes? Eh?" The shinigami tilted his head enough so that his dangling earing rested against his shoulder. She wondered idly, in the back of her mind, if the entire world tilted when he did or if he was tilting his head because the entire world was tilting.
"I've tried that before. I've tried pity. I've tried second chances. I'd hoped... well, it doesn't matter now." She hated that regret marked her tone.
"So what will you do, Miko?"
The thought struck her soundly, making her feet stick to the pavement before she was quite ready to stop. Kagome ended up in a crumple of skinned hands and knees but waved off the hands offering assistance. Instead, she ignored everyone except the one being who was invisible to everyone.
"How else do you fight a false god than with real godliness, Ryuk? Could you think of worse punishment than for a false god to see exactly how little power he holds?"
*
The pen scratched precisely on the sacred paper. When he had finished, he looked on his work with glee.
Now it was only a matter of time.
*
He'd been expecting her. That didn't mean he was fond of the determined look about her.
"Higurashi-san."
"L."
She paused and seemed to decide she wouldn't live long enough to regret her words. He was more than ninety percent sure she was right.
"Your man has been following me. I found a bug in my jacket. No doubt you've heard almost everything I've said lately. No doubt you know where I've been lately. No doubt you've known the killer I foolishly protected."
He blinked.
"No doubt at all."
The response didn't phase her a single bit. Instead, he watched as she pulled a scrap of paper from her pocket and smoothed it on his table.
"Then get him. Get him to this location. I'll do the rest."
*
He was going to witness the woman's death. It wasn't something he had been expecting, but he was going to use it to his advantage.
L had requested that both Detective Yagamis to meet him at an almost quaint hospital. Though unsure as to the exact nature of the conversation that was sure to occur, especially considering the questionable location, Light was confident enough in his ability to keep at least three steps ahead of L.
The Higurashi woman's presence had thrown him for a moment. She'd entered the room only after the three detectives had been speaking their theories and concerns for half an hour - only an hour until her scheduled death. She'd bowed a proper greeting to his father, but L received only a cursory nod while Light himself received no attention. He frowned speculatively, wondering what she could possibly be up to. He wondered if she would have time to play out her hand before she died.
He doubted she did.
*
Kagome wanted to sigh. She'd been sitting quietly for a quarter of an hour, waiting with false patience before the time came to come clean. The way Light kept glancing surreptitiously at his watch made her assume he had her death planned soon. It wasn't a comforting thought.
"Detective Yagami, Ryuzaki-san, please forgive my interruption. I believe it is time now to show you why I invited you for this meeting. Detective Yagami, it is my hope that you will understand and forgive me for what I am about to do."
The three men merely looked at her with various expressions of interest. The older Yagami looked perturbed. She cringed. It plagued her that the man was going to suffer such for his son's deeds. She couldn't imagine the pain he'd feel.
Still, it would only hurt more the longer she waited. It would only hurt more people the longer she delayed. Clearing all misgivings from her mind, Kagome pulled an apple from her purse and proceeded to destroy a false New World.
*
His first impression of death was that it was rather loud. A continual, loud crunching sound seemed to echo deafeningly in space. He was afraid he was going to be forever haunted forever by the sound when it was suddenly overwhelmed by more noise. It took him an indefinable time to figure out that the second noise was actually a voice.
But why would there be disembodied voices in Death?
And why would they be talking about apples?
"I haven't had an apple in ages. These are actually very good." A familiar feminine voice. His granddaughter.
"I told you, miko. Very juicy." A strange, rough voice. He didn't particularly like the sound of it.
"Not enough calories." Another stranger, though at least this one didn't sound like a dock worker.
"Hmph. Compared to what you usually eat, of course not." His granddaughter again. She seemed amused.
They were quiet for awhile, only the sound of steady crunching from three different mouths alerting him to their continued existence. As they crunched, he took stock of his own self. The fact that he could hear his granddaughter told him that the inky blackness he felt lost in was not Death. Instead, the disjointed and floating feeling was probably the mixed result of an overly strained heart and untold amounts of medical treatment.
"You faked your grandfather's death." The more proper stranger intoned. There might have been a question in his words.
"Yup," his granddaughter replied. "Well, not so much faked as made the situation sound much worse than the reality. It wasn't my favorite plan, but it certainly worked. Light was convinced enough of his own superiority that he was unable to accept such a failure. I mean, the ability to kill people is awe inspiring and all, even if it is nuts. But the power to keep someone alive? I don't think he ever realized how much more power is in life than death. Real godliness, even that being worked through someone simple like me, truly is amazing.”
She was smiling. Even without seeing her, he knew she was smiling openly and honestly for the first time in a long while. It made him wish he could open his eyes to witness the event.
"But," she continued, "you did excellent baiting him like that. He would never have started that ranting confession if you hadn't given him that last little push."
The stranger she had been speaking to, whoever he was, didn't reply. Instead, the rough toned stranger chuckled deeply and asked for another apple. For another untold lapse of time, all that he could hear was crunching.
"Do you think Detective Yagami will be okay?"
His granddaughter's voice seemed distraught.
"No."
He could hear her sniffle. It made him push harder at the darkness pressing down on him.
"But he will survive."
She sniffled again, and he fought harder.
"I wanted to spare him the pain, but that jerk son of his just wouldn't stop killing people." She was mumbling, but he could still hear her words even if they didn't seem to make any sense.
"He probably will not survive prison." For such a pointed statement, the stranger seemed to say it with very little inflection.
"I don't imagine the criminals will be very happy he's among them, no. Ryuk?" She almost seemed to be pleading for someone else's mercy.
"He's no longer interesting, miko. I might get bored and kill him." The rough voice seemed almost amused at the thought. It made him want to shiver.
"But," she said hesitantly. "I don't think it would do justice to all those he's killed if he just died immediately. And... Maybe a little introspection will clean his soul."
There was a deep silence this time. He absently thought they must have finished the apples as no crunching disturbed the quiet. It was almost quiet enough to lure him away from the increasingly brightening world and back into the scarily welcoming darkness.
"You should be dead."
"I should have been dead tons of times by now." He could hear the sad smile in his granddaughter's response and wondered if she was thinking of her youth in the Feudal Era. "I should have died years ago, before I ever made it passed twenty, let alone thirty. People don't usually live long in my line of work."
"You work in a budget office."
"Shows what you know."
The mood was brightening quickly despite the poor subject matter. It was comfortable, a lot more comfortable than he probably had any right to be. He'd probably start to feel the pain later.
For now, the mood was brighter, his granddaughter's spirit seemed to fill the room with an uplifting light, and he was feeling a restful sleep come upon him. He let it. He knew he'd still be alive when he woke up.
*
"He's sleeping now," L said after staring at the man lying on the hospital bed.
"I know," the Higurashi woman responded. In all reality, she was only a little over a year older than him. However, in ways he did not care to examine, she seemed much older. He wondered if perhaps mikos prematurely aged.
"Ryuk is gone," the woman stated tiredly. Though she looked much better than when he first re-met her a few days before, it was easy to see she was completely exhausted.
"I know," he stated. Though he couldn't see the shinigami without the Death Note's assistance, he could somehow feel the creature now that he knew it existed.
Ryuk's absence was much easier to discern than what to do with the exhausted woman sitting across from him. She wasn't a detective. She wasn't even detective material. But she did have certain skills that were bound to prove valuable in the future.
"I'd prefer if I never saw you again," the woman said blandly, almost as if reading his intentions.
"I know," he responded with a small grin.
"I'm cursed, aren't I?" she murmured.
"No," he responded as he brought his thumbnail to his teeth. "You're interesting."
**
Title: Fast Forward
Fandoms: Death Note/ Inuyasha
Rating: Any Age-ish
Summary: Kagome knows that whatever doesn't kill you will only try harder next time.
A Note About Spoilers/Timeline: Set five years after the events of Rewind. With some more of my awesomely bad math, that makes Kagome 31, L around 29 or 30, and Light still a complete bastard.
Author's Plea: Disjointed and lazy. I don't like this one, but it won't leave me alone. Enjoy if you can.
Edited 3/12/08
Fast Forward
astarvingwriter
Standard Disclaimer Applies x2
*
"Higurashi-san."
She held a finger to indicate both her annoyance at being interrupted and her insistence that she get at least one more minute of staring at the spreadsheet formula. She hoped if she stared at it long enough the answer to why the formula wasn't working would jump out at her. Unfortunately, spreadsheet formulas were a bit too close to mathematics for her to grasp intuitively. By the time her co-worker nervously cleared his throat for the third time, she was ready to give in and delete the entire thing.
"Yes, Nakamura-san?" she said as politely as she could as she finally acknowledged her coworker.
"You have a visitor, Higurashi-san."
Kagome frowned. She didn't usually get visitors. Her intensive study in college had prevented friendships from forming and her brother was far too busy with finals to spare her a thought. As well, she didn't think she'd ever seen Nakamura so nervous. The assistant was wringing his hands together nonstop and had even developed a twitch in his left cheek.
"What visitor?" she asked.
He didn't verbally reply, but his eyes shot to a darkened corner of the office only slightly visible through the cubicle maze and hidden partially by a ficus tree. Looking for all the world as if the strange corner had been designed especially for him was a man in a trench coat and wide brimmed hat.
"Oh," she said dispassionately. Sticking her pencil on her ear and smoothing her skirt, she slowly rose and advanced upon the watching man.
"Watari-san," she greeted coolly.
"Higurashi-san," he responded in kind. "There is a matter of some importance which my associate wishes to speak with you about."
"There is nothing so important that I would wish to speak with your associate."
"He is insistent that he speak with you."
"I have work to do."
"I am sure your superior would understand if your report on the economic conditions of the Edo district beginning in 1995 is late due to your much needed assistance on an important police matter."
Her frown became very pronounced and was bordering on a full out glare. It seemed like the strange detective was still keeping a close eye on her. She couldn't say she hadn't expected it, but she certainly didn't appreciate it.
"Fine," she said with strained civility. "But you go explain it to my supervisor while I pack up."
Watari merely nodded and headed back into the cubicle maze in the direction of her supervisor's extra-large cube. She couldn't say she wasn't impressed by his unerring accuracy, though it did make her nervous.
With a worried sigh, she began to save her work on the company's shared drive and shut down her computer. She had a feeling she wouldn't be returning to it anytime soon.
*
She looked different. Tired, less vibrant. Office work didn't seem to be agreeing with her personality, but that didn't surprise him. Very few people flourished in the cubicle maze, and those that did were usually hiding something.
Of course he knew she was also hiding quite a few things, more than even Kira's identity.
The suspicion draping her every action was apparent, but when she finally met his eyes, he could see the defeat sink in.
"He's doing it again, isn't he?" she sighed, though he still wasn't sure if she was referring to Yagami-kun or another as-yet-unidentified Kira.
He didn't respond. He knew she would talk sooner or later. Whether her words would be what he wanted to hear was a different matter entirely.
*
She wanted to believe it wasn't her fault, but she knew better. If she had kept an eye on him like she'd intended she might have noticed his duplicity sooner.
As it was, his actions had been unchecked for far longer than they should have and the only one to blame was herself. And Yagami Light, of course. She may not have prevented him from killing people, but he certainly was guilty of murder several times over.
The dark hotel room seemed to mimic her mood. She hated that she was stuck there, facing this failure, and speaking to this strange man that she thought she might know better than she knew her own co-workers. However, it was against her nature to pretend she could forget about her connection to both the detective and the hidden criminal, and though she refused to be used as an instrument for either of them, she knew she had to do something.
"I can't tell you anything, Ryuzaki-san. Surely you understand that."
"Kira is killing again," L said blankly.
"I don't know that for a fact."
"I can prove it."
"I don't know that the circumstances are the same."
The detective simply stared at her while taking a bite of his donut.
"You are interesting, Higurashi-san."
She sighed again.
"I really wish all of you would stop saying that. You make it seem like an insult."
The detective merely continued to stare before she growled in frustration and stalked out of the hotel.
*
"Did you plant the device?"
"Yes."
"Keep a close watch on her. Even if she doesn't lead us to Kira, she'll be targeted. Clues could become apparent."
"You intend to use Higurashi-san as bait."
"She has made herself bait. I am simply ensuring her effort isn't wasted."
*
Kagome hadn't thought of where she was going, but she ended up at the police station regardless of any intent. Despite knowing she'd been followed and was still being watched, she begged to see either detective Yagami. Surprisingly, it was the elder Yagami that came down to the lobby to speak with her.
"You must be Higurashi-san," the respected man said by way of greeting.
"Thank you for agreeing to speak with me, Detective Yagami."
"You swayed the front desk officers. That is not a terribly easy task. Obviously you are someone to be listened to."
"It isn't me at all, but the information I have. You headed the special investigative task force that was assigned to track down Kira five years ago, did you not?"
The man's features seemed to tighten, but he otherwise remained cool. Kagome was beginning to understand exactly where Light inherited his personality from, though in him the determined official persona had taken a very different route.
"I was until the suspicious killings stopped. Once L called off his investigation it seemed pointless to continue our own."
"L has restarted his investigation. He believes Kira has resumed his killings."
She said it with as little inflection as possible, watching the man carefully for his reaction. They had been slowly walking the length of the lobby towards the visitor benches, but the older man halted mid-step.
"Kira is back?"
"L believes so."
"And how are you connected to L?"
"He… requested my assistance. However, we are in disagreement over whether the police should be included in the investigation again."
"He isn't interested in our assistance?"
"He is suspicious of someone within your ranks."
She felt a slight twinge of pity for him as he stopped in his tracks yet again. He probably hadn't been this caught off guard since the original Kira case.
And it was only going to get worse.
*
Light watched his father speak with the woman through a direct feed into the office's security system. There wasn't sound as he hadn't wanted to risk augmenting the systems already in place, but it was obvious from the woman's lip movements as well as his father's tense body language that they were speaking of L and Kira.
But then, he'd already known that would happen. After all, there weren't many other reasons that would cause Higurashi Kagome to seek out a Yagami at police headquarters.
She was interfering. She was interfering again, and if he let it go on for much longer, she'd only cause him trouble. It'd taken five years before the plan he'd put in motion once he'd realized the woman's determination paid out in his lost memories of the Death Note. He refused to wait anymore.
It was time to show her exactly what he was capable of. If she was smart, she'd back off once she witnessed his power. If not... well, he had several back up plans to make her death look like a terrible accident.
*
He woke up in pain. His heart hurt, which wasn't uncommon for him but certainly still unwelcome. But unlike most times, this pain wasn't stopping. It was only getting worse.
As he attempted to fight through the pain much as he had the previous year during the family's 'big scare', he noticed that his hand was acting without his permission. It was scrambling for the scrap of paper and runny pen on the nightstand. He tried to stop it, but the hand was insistent. It quickly scribbled something on the paper while the pain in his heart increased.
Memory spurred on by the oddity of the entire situation came at him with such sudden force that he almost didn't feel the pain of his constricting heart. He remembered an odd warning from his granddaughter. She always was getting into trouble, that one, but he always made it a point to take her odd requests seriously.
It looked like this would be the last such request he would be able to fulfill, and he would be damned if he didn't complete his assigned task. His hand had gone limp once it finished whatever it had been forced to write, and it took much effort to make it write one last thing.
As his vision faded, he only hoped it was enough. And legible. With a smile at his last joking thought, he gave in to the pain and let the darkness overtake him.
*
She was tired when she finally returned to her apartment. There were several messages on her answering machine, but she begged off checking them until she took a shower. Being pulled out of her comfortable, if boring, office job and back into the seedy underbelly of crime and murder made her feel dirty. She'd become incredibly fond of hot water since she first explored the Feudal Era and had to do without. Now it took very little encouragement for her to seek refuge in the warm running water she'd become so dependent on.
Her phone was ringing when she finally emerged from the washroom, and it was with a sigh that she finally picked it up.
"Kagome! We need you to come home right away!"
"Mother?"
"It's... it's your grandfather. He's... he had a heart attack, Kagome."
She collapsed onto her little futon/couch as the news sunk in. Her mother kept speaking, but she heard very little of it.
He was old, she told herself. He'd had a heart attack before, so it shouldn't come as any surprise that he'd been victim to another.
So why was it that a voice in the back of her head told her the timing was crucial. Why did she sense the work of a boy pretending to be a god?
"He must have woken up while it was happening because there was this weird little scribble on a piece of paper beside his bed. Something about wanting an apple to give the reaper --"
"Was there anything else, mother? Did he write anything else at all?"
"Well, there was a really messy scribble at the bottom..."
"What did it look like? Please, mother, this is important."
"It looked like it said 'now', though I have no idea why he would have written that. It was probably already on the piece of paper before he wrote the other part."
"No. No, I don't think that's it at all."
"Please come home now, Kagome. I... we need you. Your brother is distraught. We all are. Please."
"I can't right now, mother. There's something I have to do right now. I'll be home as soon as I get this settled, okay?"
"But Kagome!--"
"Mother, I need you to listen to me right now. I need you to do everything I tell you, exactly as I tell you. It's really important."
Despite hearing her mother's hesitance, she laid out her plan slowly but with determination. It had to be done correctly or it wouldn't work. Otherwise, none of them would be safe.
"Please, mom. You've trusted me so much before. Trust me now."
"But Kagome!--"
She limply hung up the phone even though her mother was still speaking. She knew her mother would follow her directions despite her worry.
There was nothing for it. They'd forgive her later, after she'd dealt with her grandfather's attacker.
For now, she had a false deity to destroy. Again. And this time she'd have no pity.
*
"Watari."
"Yes, L?"
"Higurashi-san's grandfather died last night."
"Hm. She will be grief stricken then. She will possibly not be of use for some time."
"No. She will be angry. She will be angry and vengeful and she will make mistakes."
"How so?"
"Kira killed her grandfather. He made sure she knew it was him. And now she's going to find him. Watch her carefully. She may do something stupid."
*
Light liked having his own apartment. It was small, yes, but then he didn't require much space. He spent most of his time at his office or at his home computer. The rest was just ruffles, and sometimes a hassle to clean. Still, cleanliness was next to godliness and he was going to be as godly as he possibly could.
The small apartment had another benefit: it was a very private place. Only his direct co-workers and his family knew how to find him, and he preferred to keep it that way. Thus it was a great surprise to open his door to find the Higurashi woman looking about ready to commit murder.
She entered his apartment without waiting for his consent, nodded a welcome to Ryuk, who was giggling softly in the corner, and waited until he had locked the door before slapping Light hard across the face.
"You had no right."
"I do not know what you mean, Higurashi-san," he responded placidly while tenderly rubbing his cheek.
"You know exactly what I mean. I told you before to leave the godliness to the actual gods. I gave you a second chance to redeem your soul. Does it mean so little to you that you had to immediately seek to dirty it again?"
Ryuk was laughing deeply in the corner, and yet it made the accusatory glare she was leveling at him all the more intense. If he didn't know better, he would think that Ryuk was on the woman's side.
"This is the life that was chosen for me, Higurashi-san. This is my destiny and I shall make it my own."
"This is no destiny. You don't even know what destiny is. Don't speak as if you know such things, Light-kun."
"And how do you know of such things, Kagome-chan?"
"I know because I've seen. You don't deserve to know any more about me."
She was glaring at him but had yet to make another hostile move, and Light counted that as an advantage. However, there were still too many disadvantages and he was still contemplating his next move when he noticed her eyes had taken on a strange and abnormal glow. He'd always imagined gaining Shinigami Eyes to look similarly but had never seen it in action to know such. It did succeed in making him a bit uncomfortable.
"You'll kill them all if I don't leave you be, won't you? You'll probably kill them all anyways, just to make sure. You have no mercy. He was right. You are no sort of human being."
"Does L still suspect me then?"
"He will do more than suspect once I'm finished with you."
Without another word she slapped him again before throwing off the lock and throwing open the door. She was gone before his cheek even had time to begin reddening from the second slap. With a hardened expression, he shut and locked the door before heading to his work desk so that he could plot her death. It wasn't until he pulled out the Death Note that he realized Ryuk was gone.
*
"He's not fit to live," she said angrily as she wove her way through the crowded sidewalk. A few pedestrians looked at her askance, but she ignored them.
"Miko, he's convinced otherwise."
"You were going to end him eventually anyway. Why not now?"
"This is still interesting."
"I'm really getting to hate that word."
"You're interesting, too."
"Don't say that. I'm sick of being interesting. I'm sick of being involved in this. My grandfather was attacked just because I felt like talking to a passing shinigami one day."
"Nah. That's not it at all."
*
"She isn't being very careful at all."
"No. She's not."
"What is your recommendation?"
"Keep recording. We need to document this thoroughly. Her death will give us the evidence we need."
*
"He won't kill any more people, Ryuk. I'll make sure of that." Her knuckles were white from the force of her fury.
"Ya sound like him, Miko." His statement was between compliment and insult, but she instantly took offense.
"Don't you dare say that! I am nothing like him!"
"How are ya going to stop him this time? Will ya keep watching him and keep erasing his memories of the Death Note? Will ya keep cleaning his messes? Eh?" The shinigami tilted his head enough so that his dangling earing rested against his shoulder. She wondered idly, in the back of her mind, if the entire world tilted when he did or if he was tilting his head because the entire world was tilting.
"I've tried that before. I've tried pity. I've tried second chances. I'd hoped... well, it doesn't matter now." She hated that regret marked her tone.
"So what will you do, Miko?"
The thought struck her soundly, making her feet stick to the pavement before she was quite ready to stop. Kagome ended up in a crumple of skinned hands and knees but waved off the hands offering assistance. Instead, she ignored everyone except the one being who was invisible to everyone.
"How else do you fight a false god than with real godliness, Ryuk? Could you think of worse punishment than for a false god to see exactly how little power he holds?"
*
The pen scratched precisely on the sacred paper. When he had finished, he looked on his work with glee.
Now it was only a matter of time.
*
He'd been expecting her. That didn't mean he was fond of the determined look about her.
"Higurashi-san."
"L."
She paused and seemed to decide she wouldn't live long enough to regret her words. He was more than ninety percent sure she was right.
"Your man has been following me. I found a bug in my jacket. No doubt you've heard almost everything I've said lately. No doubt you know where I've been lately. No doubt you've known the killer I foolishly protected."
He blinked.
"No doubt at all."
The response didn't phase her a single bit. Instead, he watched as she pulled a scrap of paper from her pocket and smoothed it on his table.
"Then get him. Get him to this location. I'll do the rest."
*
He was going to witness the woman's death. It wasn't something he had been expecting, but he was going to use it to his advantage.
L had requested that both Detective Yagamis to meet him at an almost quaint hospital. Though unsure as to the exact nature of the conversation that was sure to occur, especially considering the questionable location, Light was confident enough in his ability to keep at least three steps ahead of L.
The Higurashi woman's presence had thrown him for a moment. She'd entered the room only after the three detectives had been speaking their theories and concerns for half an hour - only an hour until her scheduled death. She'd bowed a proper greeting to his father, but L received only a cursory nod while Light himself received no attention. He frowned speculatively, wondering what she could possibly be up to. He wondered if she would have time to play out her hand before she died.
He doubted she did.
*
Kagome wanted to sigh. She'd been sitting quietly for a quarter of an hour, waiting with false patience before the time came to come clean. The way Light kept glancing surreptitiously at his watch made her assume he had her death planned soon. It wasn't a comforting thought.
"Detective Yagami, Ryuzaki-san, please forgive my interruption. I believe it is time now to show you why I invited you for this meeting. Detective Yagami, it is my hope that you will understand and forgive me for what I am about to do."
The three men merely looked at her with various expressions of interest. The older Yagami looked perturbed. She cringed. It plagued her that the man was going to suffer such for his son's deeds. She couldn't imagine the pain he'd feel.
Still, it would only hurt more the longer she waited. It would only hurt more people the longer she delayed. Clearing all misgivings from her mind, Kagome pulled an apple from her purse and proceeded to destroy a false New World.
*
His first impression of death was that it was rather loud. A continual, loud crunching sound seemed to echo deafeningly in space. He was afraid he was going to be forever haunted forever by the sound when it was suddenly overwhelmed by more noise. It took him an indefinable time to figure out that the second noise was actually a voice.
But why would there be disembodied voices in Death?
And why would they be talking about apples?
"I haven't had an apple in ages. These are actually very good." A familiar feminine voice. His granddaughter.
"I told you, miko. Very juicy." A strange, rough voice. He didn't particularly like the sound of it.
"Not enough calories." Another stranger, though at least this one didn't sound like a dock worker.
"Hmph. Compared to what you usually eat, of course not." His granddaughter again. She seemed amused.
They were quiet for awhile, only the sound of steady crunching from three different mouths alerting him to their continued existence. As they crunched, he took stock of his own self. The fact that he could hear his granddaughter told him that the inky blackness he felt lost in was not Death. Instead, the disjointed and floating feeling was probably the mixed result of an overly strained heart and untold amounts of medical treatment.
"You faked your grandfather's death." The more proper stranger intoned. There might have been a question in his words.
"Yup," his granddaughter replied. "Well, not so much faked as made the situation sound much worse than the reality. It wasn't my favorite plan, but it certainly worked. Light was convinced enough of his own superiority that he was unable to accept such a failure. I mean, the ability to kill people is awe inspiring and all, even if it is nuts. But the power to keep someone alive? I don't think he ever realized how much more power is in life than death. Real godliness, even that being worked through someone simple like me, truly is amazing.”
She was smiling. Even without seeing her, he knew she was smiling openly and honestly for the first time in a long while. It made him wish he could open his eyes to witness the event.
"But," she continued, "you did excellent baiting him like that. He would never have started that ranting confession if you hadn't given him that last little push."
The stranger she had been speaking to, whoever he was, didn't reply. Instead, the rough toned stranger chuckled deeply and asked for another apple. For another untold lapse of time, all that he could hear was crunching.
"Do you think Detective Yagami will be okay?"
His granddaughter's voice seemed distraught.
"No."
He could hear her sniffle. It made him push harder at the darkness pressing down on him.
"But he will survive."
She sniffled again, and he fought harder.
"I wanted to spare him the pain, but that jerk son of his just wouldn't stop killing people." She was mumbling, but he could still hear her words even if they didn't seem to make any sense.
"He probably will not survive prison." For such a pointed statement, the stranger seemed to say it with very little inflection.
"I don't imagine the criminals will be very happy he's among them, no. Ryuk?" She almost seemed to be pleading for someone else's mercy.
"He's no longer interesting, miko. I might get bored and kill him." The rough voice seemed almost amused at the thought. It made him want to shiver.
"But," she said hesitantly. "I don't think it would do justice to all those he's killed if he just died immediately. And... Maybe a little introspection will clean his soul."
There was a deep silence this time. He absently thought they must have finished the apples as no crunching disturbed the quiet. It was almost quiet enough to lure him away from the increasingly brightening world and back into the scarily welcoming darkness.
"You should be dead."
"I should have been dead tons of times by now." He could hear the sad smile in his granddaughter's response and wondered if she was thinking of her youth in the Feudal Era. "I should have died years ago, before I ever made it passed twenty, let alone thirty. People don't usually live long in my line of work."
"You work in a budget office."
"Shows what you know."
The mood was brightening quickly despite the poor subject matter. It was comfortable, a lot more comfortable than he probably had any right to be. He'd probably start to feel the pain later.
For now, the mood was brighter, his granddaughter's spirit seemed to fill the room with an uplifting light, and he was feeling a restful sleep come upon him. He let it. He knew he'd still be alive when he woke up.
*
"He's sleeping now," L said after staring at the man lying on the hospital bed.
"I know," the Higurashi woman responded. In all reality, she was only a little over a year older than him. However, in ways he did not care to examine, she seemed much older. He wondered if perhaps mikos prematurely aged.
"Ryuk is gone," the woman stated tiredly. Though she looked much better than when he first re-met her a few days before, it was easy to see she was completely exhausted.
"I know," he stated. Though he couldn't see the shinigami without the Death Note's assistance, he could somehow feel the creature now that he knew it existed.
Ryuk's absence was much easier to discern than what to do with the exhausted woman sitting across from him. She wasn't a detective. She wasn't even detective material. But she did have certain skills that were bound to prove valuable in the future.
"I'd prefer if I never saw you again," the woman said blandly, almost as if reading his intentions.
"I know," he responded with a small grin.
"I'm cursed, aren't I?" she murmured.
"No," he responded as he brought his thumbnail to his teeth. "You're interesting."
**