The main room at task force headquarters was deathly silent, even though it was filled with more people than it had been for many months. Everyone on the team was gathered there, barring Misa, who could be seen over surveillance on the large monitor, so it was practically as though she were there too. In addition, Aizawa was back.
And there was the demon.
Rem, she had called herself. She hadn't said much else, other than explaining that she would come along to keep an eye on the notebook. Everyone had been shocked to hear her speak, and even more so to see her follow them. She had ridden back to headquarters in a car with Mogi and Aiber. Jubilee couldn't begin to imagine what that experience must have been like.
At the moment she was sitting back at her desk, silent like the rest of them. She was still reeling from the shock of everything she had seen and felt, and hadn't said a word since emptying the contents of her stomach back at the scene of Higuchi's death. On one side of her stood Hellenos, a faint and quiet shimmer that kept wavering in and out of her sight; and on her other side, L and Light sat at their respective spots along the desk.
Light was typing away diligently at his computer, continuing to cross reference names. Jubilee clenched her teeth as she felt the dark, ominous haze continue to hover over him like a storm cloud. She wanted to scream, to get up and shake him and somehow bring him back to his senses, back to the Light that she had known. But she held her tongue. What could she do or say that wouldn't immediately incriminate him? Was she willing or ready to do that to him, to someone who had been her friend?
In any case, L was sure to bring it up sooner or later. Jubilee nervously waited for the moment that he would. For the time being the detective simply stared off into space, lost in thought, drinking a coffee and distractedly stacking his discarded containers of creamer into a wobbly tower. Apparently this was the kind of thing that he did when he was stressed.
Everyone else was gathered around the large table towards the back of the room, the surface of which was littered with notes, graphs, and photos from the investigation. Rem stood a little ways off , watching them and making everyone feel uneasy. Aizawa stood at the head of the table, the black notebook open in his hands. On the front cover were the words, Death Note, etched in white.
"Rules for use," Aizawl read aloud from off of the inside cover. "The human whose name is written in this notebook—" He sucked in a breath at what he saw, before continuing, "Shall die."
There was a beat of silence as everyone processed this pronouncement. Even after all the evidence that had been stated and given—and, for Jubilee, all the glimpses she had seen through dreams and visions—it was still difficult to grasp the notion that this simple black book was truly how Kira killed.
Aizawa continued reading, slowly, "This note will not take effect unless the writer has the person's face in their mind when writing his or her name. Therefore, people sharing the same name will not be affected. If the cause of death is written within forty seconds of writing the person's name, it will happen. 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 in the next six minutes and forty seconds." Aizawa paused for a moment, then flipped to the back cover. "Additionally, on the back cover, it says…If you make this note unusable by tearing it up or burning it—all the humans who have touched the notebook until then will die."
Matsuda gave a startled cry at this. "What? Is that true, Aizawa?"
Aizawa failed to give Matsuda the usual glare he would've shot him at being interrupted. "Yeah," he said grimly. "That's what's written."
"Oh man." Matsuda put a hand to his head, overwhelmed with remorse. "Maybe I shouldn't have let my curiosity get the better of me. I touched the notebook just so I could see the shinigami too."
"If you hadn't," spoke up Soichiro, "Then you would've been the only one who didn't know what was going on in the case. Is that what you would've wanted?"
"Well, no," muttered Matsuda. "Of course not."
Rem wordlessly watched this exchange between the humans, her big yellow eyes and narrow pupils large and vacant. In a way her eyes looked dead, and yet, somehow, they were strangely attentive. Jubilee watched the demon watching the humans. Sweat formed on her brow, and she unclasped her hands to grip her knees, trying to keep her emotions under control. She glanced up towards Hellenos. The angel was starting to appear slightly more solid to her now, but he didn't look down at her, nor at the demon. His face was serious and he stared off into the distance, like a watch guard above a rampart.
Aizawa had continued speaking again. "There's one last sentence," he said, then read, "If any person who has written in this notebook fails to consecutively write in it at least once every thirteen days, then the user…" Here Aizawa stopped, his brows knitting together. "Then the user…dies."
Everyone was still at this revelation. Next to Jubilee, L froze in his tower building, eyes wide.
Matsuda broke the silence. What?" he exclaimed. "That means…that means that Light and Misa-Misa are completely cleared!"
"Yeah, now that you mention it," said Aizawa, "Light and Amane were detained for more than fifty days, and are still under surveillance. They wouldn't be alive if either of them were Kira."
Matsuda turned to Soichiro, a big smile on his face. "What great news! Aren't you glad, Chief?"
"Yes," said Soichiro simply, though for once, he smiled.
Jubilee had stopped breathing. This couldn't be right.
L's quiet voice broke through the moment. "Rem, was it?" he said softly from where he sat, his back turned to the proceedings.
In the quiet that followed, Jubilee could have heard a pin drop. No one had addressed the demon once since they had gotten there.
L continued, "That's your name, isn't it? The white-colored thing over there."
Jubilee blanched and Matsuda gasped, looking appalled. "Ryuzaki!" cried the other man. "That's—that's a bit rude, don't you think?" He glanced nervously at the shinigami towering over him and stammered, "That is, referring to him by his skin color. I mean…if—ah, if he's a he? Um, please excuse me, Shinigami, I don't mean to be—to be rude, or politically incorrect, or anything…"
Rem cut Matsuda off. "What do you want?" she said, addressing L. Her voice was deep.
L still didn't turn around. "There are other notebooks in the human world—aren't there?"
There was a beat. Jubilee held her breath.
"Who knows?" said the pale demon at last. "There may be. There may not be."
Almost too late, Jubilee realized that she needed to be paying extra attention. She stuck her hand out, grasping for Hellenos. Her hand went right through him but in her haste she didn't care. Dad, help me see, she thought.
Slowly, the blank air around the demon started to form into a thick, heavy darkness. Jubilee heard dim moans coming from it and felt a dense, sickening sensation. She paled. Not that much, she thought quickly. Just enough to know if…
Before she had finished the thought, the air around the demon cleared, leaving behind only a thick, dark line over its head. It was straight…but wobbling.
Jubilee's brow furrowed. The demon had given a vague answer that was technically true. But she was hiding something.
"If there were other notebooks," L insisted, "Would all of their rules be the same?"
Jubilee hadn't even thought of that possibility. This man didn't miss a trick.
Rem's eyes narrowed almost imperceptibly, but she said calmly, "Yes, they are all the same." This time, the line over her head snapped in two, and she continued, "There are many notebooks in the shinigami realm, as nearly every shinigami possesses at least one…but the rules are the same for all of them. Even the ones that come into the possession of humans." The line remained broken.
Jubilee exhaled a shuddering breath and withdrew her hand out of Hellenos. The air around the demon reverted back to blankness, much to her dismay. But she shouldn't have been surprised…she'd always known that angelic and demonic beings weren't readable in the same way that humans were.
You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.
Of course not, said Hellenos. We're not made up of the same stuff. If we were—He patted his side—You would have surely squeezed my spleen to death just now.
She raised an eyebrow at him. You have a spleen?
No. Which is precisely my point.
Jubilee was tempted to be frustrated with his lightheartedness in the midst of such grim circumstances. But, truth be told, she was thankful for it.
You know, the angel went on, That was the first time you've ever reached out to me in order to see more clearly. Learned something about leaning on others, did we now?
The memory of L's hand in hers flitted through her mind, and she flushed slightly.
You could just as well have used him just now instead of me.
She gave him a look. I couldn't very well launch myself across the desk and just start touching him, could I? she thought. Besides, you were closer.
The angel grinned broadly. Now that would have been a sight to see.
Jubilee flushed redder and turned away from him with a slight sniff, just as Aizawa was marching up behind L.
"Ryuzaki," Aizawa began gruffly. "Light and Amane are cleared. They shouldn't be under surveillance anymore."
"That's right!" joined in Matsuda excitedly. "It's all crystal clear now!"
Is it? though Jubilee with a pang. How very blind they all were as humans, even when they thought they knew everything.
You are getting very wise, Jubilee Jenkins, quipped Hellenos. That was almost fortune cookie worthy.
What do you know about fortune cookies? she thought irritably. And how can you be so flippant right now? This case is starting to go way south. Nervously she waited for L's rebuttal of the others' demands, which would undoubtedly call on her to give a testimony.
Hellenos sobered ever so slightly, and said, It is in dark times that a light heart is the most necessary.
This only made Jubilee feel worse. What dark times were ahead of them? To her left she noticed L, the gray haze around him darkening into a shadow that dimmed his usual light.
"I suppose that you are right," he said at last, slowly and softly. The line over his head wobbled and cracked, but didn't entirely break. He continued to mechanically stack a final creamer container to the top of his tower, then suddenly stopped. The haze around him remained a stagnant gray, no lights or colors resurfacing from underneath it. He set the creamer container back down on the desk, his tower unfinished. "I understand," he continued stoically, voice void of any emotion. "Please accept my apologies for all the trouble." Again the line over his head wobbled but only cracked.
Jubilee stared at him and at the line. What? Wasn't he going to—
"Thank goodness," breathed Soichiro in relief, walking up to his son and putting a hand on his shoulder.
Light had risen to meet his father with a warm smile. "Yeah," he agreed. "But we still can't say that we've solved the case." He turned to L then. "Would it be alright for me to continue investigating with you—" He lifted his arm, the handcuffs rattling. "—Without these on?"
Jubilee waited for L to recant his statement, to stand up and declare to everyone that Light was Kira and the jig was up. But L didn't look at her, or at Light. He simply stared ahead at his computer. "Yes," was all he said. His tone was still emotionless, but to Jubilee, it sounded almost sad, somehow.
She looked between him and Light, who was smiling amiably at the detective. Around the younger man, shadows swirled and darkened, hundreds of knives writhing in his body as if they were searching for his soul. And they were, she suddenly realized...because this man was a liar and a murderer who had gotten what he wanted, and his next target was the man she was in love with.
"Wait a second," she said, getting up.
Everyone turned to stare at her.
She stood to face Light, who gave her a curious but polite look.
"Light," she began. Her voice shook, and she didn't know if it was in fear or in anger. "I know that you're Kira."
The room was still at her pronouncement. Over Light, the shadows darkened even more, though on his face he wore a benign and confused expression.
"Miss Julie," began Matsuda nervously, "Didn't you hear what Aizawa read just now? There's no way that Light or Misa could be Kira, or they'd both be—"
"That rule doesn't apply to him." She pointed a trembling finger over at Rem. "That shinigami is lying. And you," She swung her finger over to Light. "Are also lying. I can see it."
There was another long, tense pause. Jubilee waited anxiously for L to say something smart to back her up, but there was only silence. The detective barely looked at her, still hunched over in his seat. There were still no colors or lights coming from him.
It was Light who finally broke the silence with an awkward chuckle. "Julie," he said, stepping forward. "I know you feel frustrated and overwhelmed with everything that just happened. We all are." He reached out for her shoulder. "Why don't you just get some rest and—"
"No!" she cried, swatting his hand away, suddenly frantic. "Light, I can see it! The haze, the darkness, everything that was there on you when you were the first Kira. Everything except for the shinigami that was following you back then. You have your memories back, don't you? I—I don't know why you're doing what you're doing, Light, but..." Her voice was shaking with tears and frustration. "But you need to stop. This isn't you! The Light that I know wouldn't—wouldn't kill people. Please, just...I'm sorry..." She put her hands to her face, suddenly overwhelmed. She was in over her head here, and there was no help coming from L. "I'm sorry to do this to you...to accuse you, because—because you're my friend, Light! I don't want to do this, but...but you can't do this either."
She trailed off into an awkward and uncomfortable silence. Light just gazed at her, looking hurt and confused.
Aizawa stepped forward. "Julie," he said sternly. "Light was never the first Kira. That's clear now. Just look at the evidence."
"I am looking at evidence!" she cried, turning on the man. "Just because you can't see it, doesn't mean it isn't there!" She stared at Aizawa with wide eyes. "You can see the shinigami now, just like I can," she said softly. "You know that I'm not crazy. So why do you still not believe me?"
Aizawa's brow furrowed for a moment as though in irritation, before he smoothed it and said to her, slowly and patiently like she was a child, "The notebook clearly says that anyone who writes in the notebook and doesn't keep writing for thirteen days, will—"
"I know what it says!" Jubilee exploded. "It's a lie. Or it only applies to that particular notebook, I don't know. All I know, is that those two—" She pointed at Light and the shinigami. "Are lying! I know you wouldn't believe me before, because you couldn't see what I could see—but now you do!" She jabbed her finger towards Rem once more. "You can see the evidence! You can see her, just like I can see her! So you know that I'm not making all this up, and that what I see is—"
"How does she know it's a 'her'?" whispered Matsuda quietly to Soichiro, who ignored him and stepped forward to join in the conversation.
"Miss Julie," said the former chief. "We didn't believe you before about shinigamis existing, and we turned out to be wrong. I apologize for that. You are right...now we see the evidence with our own eyes. But we have to take into account all the evidence that we see and hear...and that includes the rules written inside the notebook. Until we see any further proof, there is no reason to keep my son in chains for any longer than he already has been."
Jubilee deflated. She suddenly realized that she was fighting a losing battle. So, this was why L hadn't even tried. She turned to him then. He was looking at her, from underneath his mop of black hair. Though his expression remained unreadable, she thought she could hear, in a distant corner of her mind, the voice of a thought tinged with remorse and defeat.
I'm sorry, Miss Amachi.
She closed her eyes. He had known. He had known that no one would believe supernatural evidence without having any physical evidence to back it up.
From another corner of her mind, she heard the voice of another thought, this time gleeful and triumphant.
I've won.
Jubilee clenched her fists and glared at the person who the thought had come from. Light.
Not if I can help it, she vowed to herself.
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"Oh, Light!" cried Misa, throwing herself into the brown-haired man's arms. "I'll miss you…be sure to send me text messages everyday, okay?"
Light said nothing, but obligingly held the girl close as he let his bangs fall into his face, hiding his eyes. He took note of the task force members standing a few feet to his left who had come to see Misa off. Julie Amachi was among them. L was nowhere to be seen.
The freak was probably still back at his desk, brooding and sulking, because he knew that Light had now won.
A loud and mournful sniff from Matsuda interrupted Light's thoughts. "After all this time," cried the other man, wiping at his eyes with his sleeve, "We're saying goodbye to Misa-Misa!"
Aizawa rolled his eyes and grabbed the other man by the shoulder. "Knock it off," he huffed in exasperation as he began to pull Matsuda back towards the stairs. "Come on, let's give them some privacy."
"Goodbye, Misa-Misa!" cried Matsuda as he was dragged away. Soichiro and Mogi turned to follow them.
Only Julie lingered, awkwardly shifting on her feet like she wanted to say something. She kept glancing to her right, as though looking for direction from someone.
Light pointedly pulled Misa closer and buried his face between her neck and shoulder, much to the blonde's delight, who only hugged him tighter. They looked for all the world like a couple madly in love and saying a tearful farewell. Misa didn't seem to even notice the other girl.
Julie shifted awkwardly again. "Goodbye, Misa," she whispered at last, in a voice that sounded sad and defeated, and finally turned to go. Misa didn't seem to have heard her.
As soon as he was sure that she was out of earshot, Light whispered into Misa's hair. "Misa…I'm going to tell you about a special place." His back was turned to the surveillance cameras, and he knew that there was no way anyone would be able to see his face or his lips move from this angle. He continued, "I want you to dig up something from there, but make sure that no one is watching."
The blonde jolted in his arms. She buried her face into his chest and whispered, delightedly, "You have your memories back! Rem told me about—"
"Shh." He placed a firm hand on her head, as though in a loving gesture. "Don't speak. Just listen."
Misa nodded into his chest, bouncing on her toes with excitement.
He brought his lips to her ear again, as though to kiss her there. "I'll tell you where you need to go in just a minute. When you get there, you'll find some instructions that I want you to follow…but, I want you to add something to them."
Here Misa spoke up again. "Add something? You mean, write them into the instructions?"
Light's hand tightened slightly over her head, but he said, gently, "No. Hush. The instructions will be about a certain someone. But I want you to apply those instructions not only to that person, but to one other person as well."
Misa opened her mouth to ask another question, then shut it and waited.
"That other person," Light continued, voice just barely above a whisper, "Is Julie Amachi."