• Chapter Seventeen

    Otaku

    Huh? I swear my brain refused to process that for a while. Caught… Kira? But, but Light Yagami was Kira!!! Had they caught him?!?!? Ecstasy swept over me. That would mean that L was safe, right? And practically everyone else in the world!! Kira would be put to justice, penalized to the death sentence, just like the vicious criminal he is!! As dark as that last thought was, it made me smile.

    The halls seemed to fly by as L dragged me along, running at full pace. I was panting and choking for a breath and we had just gotten started; no, I’m not the best runner. One time, my dad signed me up for a month-long running club (yeah. A month.), assuming I’d be good because I have really long legs. All you did was dress up in shorts and a t-shirt and go out in the freezing cold September air to run. Just. Run. For maybe an hour or two, with a couple of breaks in between. It was the worst two days of my life.

    But, even with me slowing us down, L got us to the waiting helicopter in two minutes flat. L wasted no time climbing up into the helicopter, Light trailing behind him. (he must have gotten the same call. But… wait a second? … Okay, so maybe it WASN’T Light they had caught… ? dang.) Hattie stopped short once she saw the helicopter.

    “Wait,” she said. “We’re riding THAT?!” L turned briefly and nodded. “NO!!!” Hattie cried desperately. “You can’t make me!!!” With this, she dropped on the ground, crossing her legs and folding her arms defiantly. There was no one going to get her into that helicopter. I, on the other hand, was hunched over, clutching my aching sides, taking deep, heaving breaths. If the call hadn’t been so urgent, I would have continued on like that for maybe another two or three minutes. I think that’s a record.

    L stopped and stared at the two of us, Hattie still planted on the ground, me sucking in as much air as I could hold.

    “Why don’t you want to ride a helicopter?” he asked. Hattie stared at him.

    “A small, confided space? Up really high in the air? No. Noooooo,” she cried, inching a bit farther away from the helicopter. L hesitated, putting on a defeated expression, before responding.

    “Maybe you’re right, Hattie,” he said. Hattie looked up.

    “Huh?”

    “I said maybe you’re right. This could be too dangerous for you,” Although I expected her to go storming into the helicopter to prove her strength, Hattie simply shrugged.

    “Then I’m going back inside,” she said, pleased. L nodded solemnly, looking a bit disappointed that his plan had backfired.

    Finally, I managed to gather my breath and followed Light to the helicopter. I stood at the bottom, Light seeming to go as slowly as possible up the ladder. I grabbed his pant leg and pulled, feeling like making a fuss and annoying Light (always fun!! :3).

    “You’re going too slow, Light!! Get off!!”

    “No! You wait your turn!” he replied, trying to shake me off, which only made me more persistent.

    “Get off!!!!”

    “No!!!!”

    “Um, hey, guys, we have to-“

    “GET OFF!!!”

    “NO!!!!”

    “Hey!! Light, Otaku!!!!”

    “Ladies first!!”

    “Do you even COUNT as a lady!?”

    “Oh, and you do?!”

    “LIGHT AND OTAKU!!!!!” The screaming suddenly got our attention. Shocked at the sudden raise of voice, we turned to L. He sighed warily.

    “Light, let Otaku go first,” he ordered firmly.

    “Wha-bu-“

    “Light. Ladies first,” Grumbling about unfairness and probably a few curses just for me under his breath, Light climbed reluctantly off the ladder. I began up the rungs, then turned to give him a smug, smart smile over my shoulder. Light harrumphed me, giving me the evil eye. Oh, how appropriate! Quickly, I scaled the metal rungs and threw myself in the backseat. I was incredibly tempted to lean over and push the ladder down before Light could get on (or even better; while Light IS on!!!), but held back for fear of getting yelled at. We have evil dudes to be hauling off to federal prison, there’s not enough time for a prank like that! But don’t worry… it’s time will come.

    Light (dang him. Why didn’t I take that seat when I could!!) sat up front next to L (who was still grumbling a bit about how living with Light and I was like separating two fighting cats), both of them already wearing one of those weird headphones you see in movies, with the mouthpiece. They were totally immersed in getting the helicopter ready to fly.

    I, myself, was totally unprepared for liftoff, and I received no warnings. Had I ever told you that I’ve only ridden in an airplane (to memory) twice? Well, I’ve only ridden an airplane twice. The helicopter was nothing like the airplane, as I’d expected it to be. First off, it was cramped. In the back seat, I was practically an Otaku sandwich between the walls on either side of me, which only added to the nausea of the whole experience. I’m not afraid of heights, but I was stuck in a small, confined space with Light Yagami. There was nausea. Second, the liftoff was like someone pressing a ten-ton weight on all my internal organs and expecting me to stand up. Even after we had been in the air for a while, the pressing feeling in my stomach didn’t leave. In the airplane, you feel a bit of pressing, pushing you back onto the seat, but not so much that you want to puke. Well, the helicopter succeeded in making me want to puke.

    I leaned in, not bothering to buckle the seatbelt that would have constricted me to the back of seat, to see what was going on in the front seat. L was steering and flipping switches and pressing pedals all while giving someone directions rapidly through the mouthpiece. Light was staring in shock at L’s frantic, hurried motions.

    “I didn’t know you could pilot a helicopter, Ryuuzaki!” he cried admirably. L looked up, no sarcasm in his voice, speaking completely serious, “I can’t,” This brought me to attention. I froze, my eyes wide in an almost comical expression, and slunk slowly back to my seat, buckling the seatbelt and praying that we didn’t all die.

    Luckily (or maybe UNluckily, I should say. But, between Light returning to his position as Kira and plotting to kill L, or us all dying in a fiery explosion trapped within the mangled remains, the burning carcass, of a fallen helicopter, I would pick. . . Wait, both choices suck!!!) we made it to the ground in one piece. I knew L could do it the whole time, really!! I had faith!!

    The scene before us was utter chaos, complete pandemonium. Police cars circled a single, rather beat-up, car, spotlighting the whole area with the white headlights. And out of the car was pulled one of the ugliest dudes I have ever seen. ‘That poor man must break mirrors in the morning!’ I thought to myself, laughing. Quickly, Chief Yagami (I barely recognized him through the face mask!!) wrapped something around Higuchi’s eyes and I realized that THIS was the Kira they were talking about!! This hideous malformation had the Death Note, AND the Shinigami eyes, to boot!!

    “Whoa!!” I cried, feeling better about leaning forward now that we were on solid ground. “I thought the previous Kira had SOME self respect! Why would he choose someone as hideous as THAT guy to replace him?!?!” I began laughing, hard, despite the dire circumstances.

    “I really don’t think that Kira chooses his successors based on beauty, Otaku,” L contradicted me playfully.

    “Well you can tell THAT by just LOOKING at that dude!! But, I mean, wouldn’t he try to make sure the next Kira WASN’T an eye-sore?” This almost got L, of all people, laughing! I was vastly pleased with myself. Then, Yagami dragged a black book away from Higuchi. I almost felt my heart stop in fear. Oh, oh no!! No!!! I slunk back into my seat, eyes wide in fear, horror. He couldn’t bring that, that THING HERE!!!! But, despite my unspoken wishes, Yagami brought it to the helicopter. My heart seemed to freeze inside my chest as L reached down and took it from him. Pinching it between two fingers, he held the murder thing to his face before lowering it and staring, emotionless, at Rem. The world was muted. I knew was going on, but I seemed to block out any hearing I had. If only my eyes blacked out, too. I wanted to scream to L, ‘DON’T GIVE TO IT HIM!!!! DON’T GIVE IT TO LIGHT!!!!’ but of all things, my voice was completely and utterly gone. It was almost in slow motion as L passed it to Light. I watched the book as the tip grazed Light’s fingers. He was holding it now, and then he froze. It was his scream that drew my senses back, and much too late I screamed; “Don’t give it to LIGHT!!!!!” The book was already in his hands, his eyes wider than I had ever seen them, his jaw agape. He was screaming, I realized, as the piercing shriek finally reached my ears. L quickly ripped the book from Light’s ridged fingers.

    “I-I understand that seeing that thing could be frightening, but…” L trailed off, shocked, as Light turned and glared at him through new, eviler eyes.

    “Yeah,” Light agreed a bit too late. “Yeah, I was just shocked. It’s… frightening,” L nodded slowly, studying Light’s face. Now wanting to avoid Light’s poisonous stare (not that I blame him… uggg), L looked down and began flipping through the Death Note. ‘No!!!’ I thought again, but now too scared to scream. Gal, this wasn’t going well. ‘No, now this gives him time to kill Higuchi!!!!’ and just a minute (… 40 seconds …?) after I thought it, Higuchi clutched at his heart and fell down dead as a doorknob, a scene that took maybe 10 seconds flat. I stared in blank horror. No, this REALLY wasn’t going well. REALLY.

    Chaos broke out around the dead man, people screaming, a few trying to hoist up the body and force life back into him so they could finally just convict SOMEBODY. But, Higuchi was dead, and when you’re dead, that usually means you aren’t coming back anytime soon, no matter how much CPR you get or how many times you get slapped in the face. It works sometimes, but that’s a miracle. Miracles (luckily) don’t usually happen to the bad guys.

    Flustered, afraid, and still just hanging around outside the window, Chief Yagami took Matsuda’s line of stating the obvious; “He’s dead!” (I almost rolled my eyes at this point.) Suddenly, out of the corner of my eye, I noticed two people I hadn’t seen in the manga for a while; Aizawa and Ide. Grr…. I moistened my lips, glaring at both of them. Those two had left simply because THEY DIDN’T LIKE L!!! What were they doing crawling back here now?!?!! Both Aizawa and Ide met Chief Yagami underneath L’s window, and (was I really surprised?) L greeted them as though he’d been expecting them back, but THANKED THEM!! Ide was talking with L, but I noticed Aizawa’s eyes slip past him and towards the back seat, towards me. His brown eyes widened considerably upon seeing me. I grinned smugly at him and waggled my fingers through the tinted glass as the helicopter rose again. Aizawa, his eyes never leaving our window, grabbed Ide and pointed him towards the retreating helicopter. I watched Ide scan the skies, with no luck, for me in the back of the helicopter. He broke away from Aizawa, shaking his head. I couldn’t hear what they were saying, but I could tell Aizawa didn’t like it. Ha ha!! Score one for Otaku!! I’d certainly like to see Aizawa when we were introduced.

    The helicopter landed (against all odds here, L really CANNOT pilot a helicopter!!!), taking its place behind the Task Force Building. Light and I clamored out as fast as we could, trying not to puke.

    “Oh…” I groaned. “I shouldn’t have gone! L, you lose helicopter privileges!!!” I joked playfully, arms clutched around my turning stomach. When I realized that no one was laughing, I straightened up to see what was drawing their attention.

    L stepped slowly out of the helicopter and stood next to me. Light, clutching the Death Note, stood yards away. In silence, we stood and glared at each other, L and I against Light. Light had changed a lot-that much was incredibly obvious. Suddenly, a massive lightening bolt shot across the sky, lighting up the darkness like day, for only a second, before it was gone, replaced by the roaring echo of thunder and the instant pound of rain. The sharp, piercing drops smacked my skin, biting into my cheeks and soaking through my clothes. The rain was so cold it was almost painful. I wanted to reach up to brush my hair from my eyes, so wet and matted to my face, but my cold fingers remained at my sides. Light and L made no move to leave, so I stood there and shivered in the rain, still glaring in disgust at Light. Suddenly, realization hit him, and Light jumped, yelping and struggling to cover his sopping, half-ruined Death Note. This seemed to snap L out of it, too, and he turned to me.

    “Oh, Otaku,” he cried, his voice revealing surprise. “You’re cold!” What was it ‘State-The-Obvious Day?’ But, after he had wrapped his arms around me to warm me, running his hands along my arms and walking me back inside, I couldn’t care less if he told me it was RAINING and sounded surprised. He could state the obvious as much as he liked as long as he continued to hold me like this. Of course, though, once we got inside, L let me go. Disappointed, I rubbed my arms in an effort to stay warm.

    “*dramatic sigh* It’s still really cold in here,” I said, not-so-subtly. L, clueless to my hints, just said he would go turn the thermostat up and left. Gal, what is it with guys and being INCREDIBLY clueless?!?!

    “It was a nice try, Miss,” Watari told me with a knowing smile as he handed me a warm towel to dry off. I smiled back at him and wrapped the towel around myself.

    “He’ll get it eventually,” I said, laughing, and walked off to my room to change into dry clothes. Passing hallway after hallway towards our bedroom, I would be dry before I got there!!! I thought happily. And then I saw Light. Happiness gone.

    “Hello Otaku, L’s little girlfriend,” he sneered at me. I had the urge to stick my tongue out, but I held myself back.

    “Hello Kira, world’s most self-centered murderer,” I spat right back at him. Light smiled smugly. He glanced up at the cameras stationed in the corners of the rooms and looked back at me and mouthed ‘They’ll never catch me.’ And then he turned and left. I balled my hands into fists and literally hopped up and down with anger. It must have been quite a sight, but there was no one there to see. Even the room with the TV’s was unoccupied (We’ve really gotta give a name to that thing… the… Investigation … Room? Maybe?), so Light could have said that out loud and STILL no one would hear. I reached down and picked up my towel but realized I no longer needed it. It was warm in here. So L really DID turn up the thermostat? That was almost funny.

    * * * ( eL’s POV)

    “So…. Um… would she like Harry Potter?”

    “Owns all those,”

    “House of Night Series?”

    “Owns all those,”

    “Inkheart?”

    “Owns all those,”

    “Are there any books OTAKU DOES NOT OWN?!?!” L cried in desperation. I stopped and thought for a second, then turned back to L.

    “Probably not,” I said, laughing.

    “And, besides,” L added, “How do YOU know what books she owns and books she doesn’t?” Warily, I turned to him and raised my eyebrows.

    “In her bedroom, Otaku has five full shelves of books. In another room, she has nine, and needs even more shelves, now. Trust me when I say, I know,” L was silent.

    “… Fourteen shelves of books?” he repeated, astonished. I nodded.

    “Well, if I’m going to get her a book, what other types of genres does she like?”

    “I’ve told you! Vampire stories, love stories, the Death Note books, that kind of stuff!” And L left and hopeless and clueless has he had been when he came.

    * * * (still eL’s POV, but a few hours later. Everybody is back at the Task Force Building, just not Aizawa or Ide yet.)

    I pulled L aside, grabbing his elbow and yanking him from the Investigation Room full of excited detectives and into the kitchen. He stumbled out behind me, and I reached over and shut the door, glancing around to make sure we were alone. We were. I was content; I knew absolutely no one could be watching us. The kitchen was the only room in the Task Force Building that wasn’t bugged with cameras and speech recorders.

    L pulled his arm away from me and opened his mouth to say something when I began; “I want to tell Light my real name,” I said quickly, then stood, waiting for his response. At first, none came. He just stood there, staring at me and looking a bit shocked.

    “Er… what?”

    “I want to tell Light my real name,” I repeated, slower. “I could tell that he’s changed now that he has the Death Note… I am sure he’s Kira, but I need him to know my name,” I tried to explain. L blinked.

    “… Before I find you to be COMPLETELY insane, tell me your theory,” he said carefully.

    “Well… since I’m from, from a different world, I think maybe the Death Note won’t have any effect on us. Or, at least, not the same effect,” I struggled to force L to understand. His eyes studied my face, searching for any sign of insanity. He finally looked away thoughtfully and brought his thumb nail to his mouth, then looked up.

    “What drew you to this conclusion?” he asked. Uh oh… I didn’t know how to respond. Truth was, the voice had told me this… I trusted this voice, she helped me. She told me that the Death Note wouldn’t kill us. I just wanted to be sure. So, really, I had no proof to back this up.

    “Er… um…” I faltered. L shook his head.

    “No. I will not allow you to place your life on the line,” he said sternly.

    “Why not? That’s what YOU’RE doing, isn’t it?” I cried desperately.

    “It is a fact you are human and mortal and the Death Note will work the same as a gun would, or a knife. There would be no reason for it NOT to kill you!” He fought back. I shuddered. The words ‘human’ and ‘mortal’ affected me differently today than they would have a year ago, or a month, or a week… L stopped, then started up again, sounding weaker.

    “What I’m doing is different. I will be giving up a lot if I lose this war… even more now that I have met you two (behind his eyes, I could see that by ‘you two’ he meant Otaku) … I understand that, and I have completely resigned myself to this life. I understand the sacrifices I would be making… The life I would have, the things I would miss out on, the people that might be hurt if I lose…” L trailed off quietly. I remained silent and let him finish in his melancholy, hopeless tone. “But I don’t want you to have to give up all that. If any sacrifices have to be made, let ME make them. Don’t risk your life like this,” he whispered. I closed my eyes. I understood also, what I would be giving up. And I was completely prepared, if I DID die… L might not approve, he may beg me on his hands and knees, but my mind was made up. By the end of the day, I might be dead.