Death Note Fan Fiction ❯ Rules ❯ Chapter 9 ( Chapter 10 )

Rules

 

Chapter 9

 

Light found him at the fourth church he tried. He was wearing a blue sweatshirt with the hood pulled up over his head, but no one could mistake that signature slump. Light strode down the aisle, past pew after empty pew, and stopped next to the one where the other sat. He rested one hand on the polished wood and the other on his hip in a gesture of annoyance.

 

"What do you think you're doing?"

 

Those blue eyes he had come to know so well turned to him. They held no surprise whatsoever.

 

"Praying?" Elijah suggested, clearly not believing it entirely himself.

 

"That's not what I mean, and you know it," Light snapped. "Your mother is half dead with worry over you. And she's not the only one. Go home already."

 

At the front of the church, a couple of parishioners who were helping set up for an evening service looked over at the two young men. Elijah noted their gazes and stood up. He quickly pushed past Light and began walking up the aisle.

 

"Come on," he called over his shoulder. "I have the feeling you're going to start yelling at me, and we shouldn't do that here."

 

Begrudgingly, Light followed as Elijah led him out of the church, across the parking lot, and towards the school at the other end of the property. The older man paused for a moment, considering options, and then walked over to the small playground next to the school. He sat down in one of the swings, wrapped each hand around rusted metal rings, and began to rock back and forth, toes dragging in the dirt.

 

He smiled slightly. "It's been a while since I've been in one of these," he commented to himself. Then, he lifted his eyes to Light and declared, "You may now commence with the yelling."

 

Light huffed at the implication that he would lose his temper so quickly. True, he was angry -- at Elijah for running away and at himself for actually looking for him -- but that didn't give the skinny freak the right to make comments. He decided to glare at the other for a few minutes to express his dissatisfaction, but as he did, he slowly realized something. Elijah was sitting in the swing, actually sitting in it with his thighs at a 90 degree angle to his body and the rest of his legs dangling down to the ground. He looked almost normal except that, for the quiet young man, normality gave him an air of extreme vulnerability. It completely drained Light of all his anger.

 

Blue eyes looked at him, waiting.

 

"Why did you leave?" Light asked quietly.

 

"You know why."

 

"No, I don't really. I know this started with the psychological profile of Kira, but I don't understand why you didn't fight me back or just cave in and admit defeat to me. I expected you to do at least one of those. But you didn't. You turned tail and ran, leaving a fantastic family behind to worry and grieve over you." Elijah turned his head away, and Light lowered his gaze to the ground. He felt so tired. Swallowing a sigh, he moved to sit next to Elijah on the second swing. "I just don't understand," he admitted. "I don't understand it at all."

 

The silence stretched between them for several minutes. Light had no real idea how to break it even if he had wanted to do so. Then, Elijah moved. Slowly, he turned in a clockwise circle, crisscrossing the old chains across each other again and again. When the stress on the metal made it impossible for him to turn any farther, he tipped his head back and looked at the darkening sky. The sun had very nearly set, and a few stars were beginning to peek out of the purplish haze.

 

"Isn't it interesting," Elijah said distractedly, "how things like astronomy work? With a few exceptions as to specific stars and such, that is the same sky that mankind has looked at for thousands of years. Now, of course, we know how the planets move, how gravity works, all the laws and rules of the universe, but back then, ancient man only knew how beautiful the sky looked. Yet, even in mankind's ignorance, the planets and stars still followed the laws of science, and those laws have always been there, waiting to be discovered, long before man had dreamed of looking for them."

 

Light ran a hand tiredly through his hair. "What in the world are you babbling about?"

 

Elijah tilted his head slightly, letting the edges of his eyes gaze at Light. "Don't you think it's interesting?"

 

"Not particularly."

 

"You don't?" All of a sudden, Elijah turned most of his body to face Light, and his eyes lit up with a spark of significance. "You don't think it's amazing that rules like that existed, that the heavenly bodies followed those rules, even though mankind knew nothing about them?"

 

Light blinked. Rules. Laws. Restrictions. Good god, he had been a fool.

 

"Ryuzaki," he breathed in comprehension, "you can't say the words I want to hear because you're not allowed to say them."

 

Elijah smiled. And then, as if to emphasize it even more, he lifted his feet and let the swing go. It spun him around and around in fast circles, taking him past his point of origin and slightly counterclockwise before turning back in the other direction. Light watched him, watched the child-like pleasure of the action, and felt all the answers clicking into place in his head.

 

Of course there were rules. If someone who had died came back down to Earth and started talking on and on about Heaven and second chances, there would be absolute chaos. Whatever powers ran that end of the spiritual universe probably only gave this opportunity to a select few. Light grinned over at Elijah who was trying to get his head to stop spinning. He had to admit, L was a perfect choice for this.

 

"Let me see if I can figure this out," Light said, smiling as he noticed the other's dizzy eyes attempting to focus on him. "I'm guessing you're not allowed to say anything about who you used to be or what you used to do. That's why you refused to admit to being L even when I was seconds away from throttling you. And you're probably not allowed to get involved in the Kira case in any way which is why you bolted instead of trying to use this profile thing to snare me. Am I right?"

 

Elijah was still smiling, but at his question, the smile turned slightly sad. "What?" Light asked, incredulous. "You're not even allowed to tell me if I'm right? Geez, why did you agree to this in the first place?"

 

The older man shrugged and began winding up his swing again. As he did, Light mused, "I still don't understand the infinite lifespan though. A protection against me, maybe? Although, really, it's a fantastic coincidence that we both ended up here." He looked up just as the swing stopped spinning for the second time. Elijah almost immediately began winding it up again. "Why do you keep doing that?" Light demanded.

 

The other stopped briefly and turned wild eyes to him. "Because right now I can see two of you, and I want to know how many I can get before I pass out."

 

Light laughed at the bright and utterly immature grin on Elijah's face. "You're going to pass out all right. That or throw up."

 

"Unlikely," Elijah answered as his third spin began. "I haven't eaten anything today."

 

Light's hand shot out and stopped the swing before it could start its counterclockwise twist. The sudden stop nearly threw Elijah from his seat, but Light supported him with his other hand before he could fall. "Ryuzaki," the younger man said, suddenly serious, "go home."

 

Elijah's head had fallen forward from the momentum, and his bangs completely covered his eyes, hiding them from Light's searching gaze. At Light's order, he froze for several heartbeats, finally breaking the silence with a soft, "Can I?"

 

"Yes," Light answered truthfully. "You can. I'll stop. I understand now, and I'll stop. I won't be able to stop the Kira profile, but I'll defend your right to stay away." A small grin worked its way into his lips. "We'll be on the same side for once. Who would have thought it?"

 

Elijah grinned slightly as well. "Indeed."

 

"So," Light ventured, using one finger to push up a few of those bangs so that he could see the other's eyes, "friends?"

 

Elijah's grin slipped a little, and he sat up straighter, causing Light to pull back a bit. He seemed to be considering something, and after a moment, he replied, "Not enemies."

 

Not friends, but also not enemies. Light shrugged. "Well, it's a start. Now, shall we get you home?"

 

The other shook his head carefully. "Not yet. I need to wait for the world to stop revolving first."

 

Light leaned back on his swing and laughed. "I would just like to point out that your current predicament is entirely your own fault."

 

"I am aware of that. I never intimated that it was anything else."

 

"All right then."

 

Light leaned back a bit in his swing and let it rock forward and back. Now this felt like a victory, oddly enough. He had been the one to admit exhaustion and all but beg for an end to the fighting, yet now that they had a resolution, he felt extremely happy, as if he had won anyway. He had satisfactory answers to most of his questions, and he would be able to have L in his life while still building his new world. It was as ideal of a situation as he believed he could get.

 

"Light?"

 

The addressed brunet turned his head. "Yeah?"

 

"I've been thinking," the blond replied, not looking at him. "About Kira."

 

Light's swing stopped as his muscles froze. "Are you sure you should be?" he ventured, letting all his worry crash into his voice.

 

Elijah smiled a little in response. "Don't worry. It's not much. It's just …" He paused and looked up at the sky which had darkened completely by now. "Kira has been killing for a while now, hasn't he?"

 

"Yes." Unsure of where this was going, Light brought all of his senses back online and focused on the man beside him.

 

"Do you think he'll ever stop?"

 

Ah, so that's what this is about. "I doubt it," Light answered, pretending right along with Elijah that Kira was not sitting right there. "As long as people commit crimes, Kira will punish them. That's what I think."

 

"I see." Elijah kicked with his feet and made the swing move a little. "You know," he commented quietly, "no one I know supports Kira. Except you."

 

Light blinked. "What?"

 

"Julie and Rich. Ethan, Mark, and Annie. They're all against Kira." The blond rested his head against one of the metal chains in thought. "Well, to be fair, Mark supported him for a while, but the killings have gone on so long that now he's had second thoughts. I didn't ask," he clarified, glancing briefly in Light's direction. "I overheard them talking at one point."

 

Light nodded and stayed silent. Elijah must have had a reason for saying this, and he waited patiently for it. Sure enough, a few moments later, the older man continued, "I was just wondering what Kira's friends think of him. If he has any real friends at all."

 

And there it was. Light got the point immediately. Elijah was telling him that he would never truly be Light's friend as long as the younger man was still Kira. It made sense. L's new life and experiences had changed him quite a bit, had made him more open and more social, but some things would never change, no matter how much Light wished they would. He swallowed a small sigh. An incomplete victory is still a victory. Remember that, Light.

 

Pushing aside his disappointment for now, Light got to his feet and stretched out his back a bit. When he had finished, he turned and said, "Come on, Ryuzaki. Let's get you back."

 

"All right," the other answered as he also stood. "But Light," the blue eyes rose to his face, "I should tell you that, regardless of what I used to be called prior to April, my name is now Elijah McCormick."

 

That made Light smile. Yes, he had changed a lot. "I thought you told Julie that was most definitely not your name," he teased.

 

Elijah dropped his eyes and actually blushed a bit. "Well, that was almost two months ago," he defended himself. "I've changed my mind."

 

"I'm glad," Light told him, and he was. A sudden thought occurred to him. This evening, L had finally died, but in his place, Elijah had risen. His smile grew. Softly, he said, "Let's go."

 

As they started walking, Light asked, "Can I call Ethan and let him know we're on our way? Like I said, a lot of people have been running around all day looking for you."

 

Elijah shrugged, but Light could see the light blush still on his cheeks. "Sure. I don't mind."

 

Feeling the best he had in a long time, Light dug out his phone, flipped it open, and punched in the numbers. As he lifted it to his ear, he grinned at his companion.

 

"Ethan? It's Light. I found him, and we're coming home."