(Untitled)

[kirabepraised]

[ It's been a tough few months for Light; his physical degeneration into shinigami has eclipsed the entire right side of his body, but it is the effects of the memory loss that occur with the changeover, as his humanity disintegrates, that has had a far more profound effect,

Having ventured out of his room, he no longer remembers his friends or

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[refractings]

[Light has seen things in his doubles that have unsettled him, scared him, shaken his confidence in his own mind, but until now, nothing has made him freeze, horrified, almost in mid-stride. He stares, wide-eyed, aware that he's being unforgivably rude but unable to do anything else.

There's no way, he tells himself. Something else must have happened to him. I won't be -- that.

He's been gaping for several seconds now, and should probably say something...]

... Uh, hello.

[That was articulate.]

[kirabepraised]

If you're going to mention my face, I'm well aware of it.

[ Calmly runs a blackened claw through his hair. ]

[refractings]

I wasn't-- [Light shakes his head, quickly, to clear it.] No. I apologize. [He hesitates, briefly.] Forgive me, but... are you ill? Is there anything I can do? [Seeing a version of himself so obviously deformed is making Light acutely uncomfortable, but behind that are the beginnings of... pity?]

[kirabepraised]

That depends.

[ Smoothly, he turned to arch a leathery, black brow. ]

Can you take away my sins so easily?

[refractings]

[Ah. The pity grows, as does the horror. There are so many endpoints, all of them uniquely terrible.

And he called it a sin.]

I'm afraid not. Is... [Lost for words, he nods at the right side of his double's body.] Is that their end result, then?

[kirabepraised]

It would seem so. But the good news is I can't die of a heart-attack anymore.

[ Hands in his pockets, he inclines his head conspiringly. ]

They just hurt like hell. Small price to pay for being a mass murderer, wouldn't you say?

[ Snorts softly. ]

A bad joke. I can't remember, so it's as if I never did the things I've had explained to me. Can you?

[refractings]

[Light smiles at the joke, but it's bitter, devoid of any real humor.]

Can I remember? No, although I'm given to understand that if I hadn't been brought here, I would have regained my memories eventually.

[He is surprised to feel a sense of kinship with this alternate, stronger than he's experienced with the others. Both of them Kira, neither of them with any memory of it.

Then he frowns, as the implications of the phrase "heart-attack" fully register. He had thought, in the Mansion...] --has someone tried to kill you?

[kirabepraised]

I wrote down my own name, having no knowledge of the reality of the Death Note's effects. I had a heart-attack but didn't die, likely because I'm neither human, as the rule states I must be, and also because I'm already dead.

[ He isn't being duplicitous or shady, merely wanting to know what happened to the other man to cause amnesia. His nature has been streamlined back to its roots, as honest as the very young high school student he had once been. ]

Why did you forget?

[refractings]

Not... human. [It's believable enough, given the state of the man's body. Light had always suspected that Kira aspired to shed his humanity. Now it looks like he might get his wish. Do all Kiras meet with this fate, sooner or later?

But it seems tactless to continue harping on it, so Light swallows his fear and his curiosity, turning instead to the question of his memory. He answers slowly -- he doesn't himself fully understand the information he's offering.] From what I can tell, I purposefully gave up my memories, with the intention of regaining them at a later date. It seems to be the standard course of action for those of us who are faced with that situation.

[kirabepraised]

I wouldn't know anything about memory loss, other than my own. Perhaps your actions correspond with the rules in the notebook, in order to work around their clauses and remain in power as Kira.

[refractings]

I'm sure they do. [A small, sardonic smile.]

While we're on the topic, the notebook you used -- do you still have it with you? [Light will admit to himself that he's curious about the nature of Death Notes, but he's also concerned. A Note in the Mansion, within the reach of his doubles and the more psychotic of the other residents, is an unsettling thought.]

[kirabepraised]

It's mine, as a shinigami.

[ And he's not going to let just anyone lay hands on it now. ]

All the others are lost to me; this one is new.