Death Note Fan Fiction ❯ Rules ❯ Chapter 16 ( Chapter 17 )

Rules

 

Chapter 16

 

He stood in whiteness and waited. Why had no one arrived to take him to his room? He had expected someone to be here. Surely they didn't think he could find his way back on his own.

 

Then, he felt a presence behind him.

 

Welcome back.

 

xXx

 

Rich was waiting for them outside the room when they arrived. In a quiet voice, he told them all that had happened the previous night and all that the doctors had discovered, which was very little.

 

"They assured me you can all go in at once if you're quiet," he told them. The lines of worry on his face made him look old and tired. "He's not good. I thought I should warn you."

 

Light let the others go in first. Annie went straight to Julie who was sitting in a chair by the window. Mark walked up to the end of the bed and just stood there, looking at Elijah with a blank face. Ethan stood by Mark for a few minutes and then wandered over to the machines that they had hooked up to the young man. Light stood just inside the doorway and watched them all.

 

Elijah lay there as if sleeping. He had an IV in his arm and multiple wires attached to his chest and head. Light had expected a respirator as well, but the unconscious man's nose and mouth were open to the air, free of plastic. It eased the pain a bit, to be able to see his entire face and the peaceful expression on it. Unable to look too long at any one thing, Light's eyes wandered over the other young man's face, his bare chest -- still thin but no longer so much so that his ribs protruded -- and the outline of his legs beneath the blanket -- perfectly straight, a vicious reminder of the state of the person who owned them.

 

A sudden, sharp cry from Ethan snagged Light's attention and focused it on the junior. He had gone very pale and had covered the lower half of his face with his hand. As Light moved towards him, he sank swiftly to the floor, placing his head between his knees and breathing deeply as if trying to keep from passing out or vomiting. Concerned, Light asked him if he was all right, but Ethan just shook his head and pointed up at the machine before them. Light looked up and saw a long, flat line. Elijah's EEG.

 

Shocked, he turned and stared at the figure on the bed. Elijah was breathing on his own; his heart monitor beeped steadily. Then why was his EEG flat? It should have been a wave of some kind, even with him in a coma. It was as if his mind had …

 

Gone. His mind was gone. The body remained, self-functional and normal, but that brilliant mind had simply disappeared. No wonder Ethan felt sick. Light had half a mind to join him on the floor.

 

Instead, he walked away from the machines and found a chair.

 

xXx

 

I must say your performance was quite impressive.

 

"Thank you."

 

I had faith in you the entire time.

 

"Of course you did."

 

I did. I have fifty-thousand fewer souls to monitor because of you."

 

He rolled his eyes. "You bet on me?"

 

It was a small bet.

 

"Right."

 

xXx

 

Light drew the chair up next to Elijah's prone form and sat down. For a few minutes, he just sat there and looked at the pale face. The freckles that dotted his nose. The messy red-blond hair that insisted on falling into his eyes. The circles under those eyes that had lightened thanks to Julie's care but had not completely disappeared. He looked at Elijah's face and took it all in.

 

And then he began to talk quietly in Japanese.

 

All around the room, Elijah's family and friends fell silent. Light had never spoken his native tongue in their presence before. The strange words caught their attention, and something in the way Light spoke them eased their worry just a little. They sat still and listened, as if waiting for a magic spell to take effect.

 

"Why? Why, you damn idiot? Why didn't you tell me you had so little time left?"

 

xXx

 

He crossed his arms, annoyed by the small talk. "Why did you bring me here?" he demanded. "Why aren't you sending me back to my room?"

 

You are the first to make it an entire year. You deserve a reward.

 

"What kind of reward?" He wanted to feel hope, but he knew better than to allow it just yet.

 

Another year.

 

"I refuse."

 

Why?

 

"Send me down for another year just to yank me back again at the end of it? No thank you. My family has endured enough without making them go through it twice."

 

Amusement rolled over him in waves. The owner of the voice -- a being he had never actually seen -- was laughing.

 

I thought that would be your answer. As such, I have a different reward in mind, although it is not so much a reward as a mission. We will send you back for another year. If you cannot accomplish your mission in that time, you will be brought back, but if you can, you will become Elijah McCormick. Permanently.

 

Now for a deal like that, he'd allow himself a little hope.  "What is the mission?"

 

Kill Kira.

 

xXx

 

"I know you couldn't have told me directly, but you could have said something. You could have warned me somehow. It's clichéd, but I feel like I didn't get the chance to say good-bye to you. It hurts, 'Lij. It hurts more than I thought it would."

 

He turned his head a bit and looked down the bed at a pale hand with long fingers. Fingers that had never built a sandcastle or played a piano. Fingers with short, bitten-down nails since their owner had never learned to keep them out of his mouth. Fingers that lay there and wouldn't move.

 

"Rich told us that you said something right before you went comatose. About how if you could, you would. You meant that you'd try to come back, didn't you? You'd try to talk them into letting you come back and live out this life. Well, I don't know what kind of beings you're dealing with, but if they're anything like Shinigami, I wish you luck because you're going to need it." He smiled a little at his joke, but without the other to smile back, it faded quickly. "Try really hard, okay? If anyone can talk circles around someone and find the loopholes that will let him get his way, you can. If I believe nothing else, I believe that."

 

xXx

 

"I absolutely refuse! I won't hurt Light!"

 

More amusement. It made him wish there were some sort of body in front of him that he could punch. How dare they even think of offering such a deal? Of dangling in front of him exactly what he wanted, what he had been hoping for for months, only to inform him that to get it, he'd have to take the life of the man he cared for as deeply as for a brother.

 

He didn't care if they were technically "angels". Just let one be brave enough to materialize in front of him. He would, as Mark would say, kick its ass.

 

That passion of yours is astounding. You keep it locked away until you feel it is necessary, but when you let it out, its strength is overwhelming. This, combined with your intellect, is why I am certain you will succeed. I must up the count to a hundred thousand this time.

 

He ground his teeth in fury and frustration. "You aren't listening to me! I said I won't do it!"

 

A gentle but still sharp burst of spiritual power silenced his voice and grabbed his attention. It was a similar feeling to being slapped upside the head. The presence had moved closer, its voice just behind his right ear.

 

No, you are the one not listening. I didn't say you are to kill Light Yagami. I said you are to kill Kira.

 

His frustration melted into surprise as realization gripped him. This time when amusement bombarded him, he barely noticed it.

 

xXx

 

"I have to admit, the fact that you're in a coma and not just dead is reassuring. It makes me think there's a chance you'll come back to us. But don't take too long, okay? Your family needs you, and … I guess … I need you, too. You're the greatest friend I've ever had, even with the problems between us. When I think of going through the rest of my life and never talking to you again, it hurts. It hurts a lot. So, do your best and come back to us, okay? Come back to your Mom and Dad. And to me."

 

Light sat back in the chair and rested his head in one hand. He had run out of words. Even if he had wanted to continue, his mind refused to craft anything more. His hands were shaking slightly at the feeling of uselessness that had crept into him. He could do nothing but sit. Nothing but wait. All decisions and actions had been taken from him.

 

Everything lay in L's hands now.

 

xXx

 

"What are the rules?"

 

The same as before.

 

"No." He crossed his arms again and frowned. "No, I won't agree to that."

 

He felt the other's confusion and a bit of exasperation. Now that the shock and excitement had passed, he knew that he held the majority of the power in this negotiation process. They wanted Kira gone; he knew that very well. The question was how badly they wanted him gone. How far he could push.

 

Then what is your counterproposal?

 

"If I'm to kill Kira without killing Light, then essentially I'm to convince him to give up the Death Notes himself. To destroy them with his own hands. It's quite obvious that as soon as I start my arguments, everything that we've built so far in terms of friendship and trust will begin to shake and possibly crumble. If I'm forced to evade and ignore his questions, it will only make it worse. In order to succeed at this at all, I'll need to have his full trust."

 

Meaning?

 

"Meaning I want to be able to talk to Light about everything. Nothing hidden. All rules gone. I'll keep them with everyone else, but if Light is expected to give up Kira, he deserves to know the answers to his questions. All of them."

 

There was silence for several minutes. He had the vague feeling that the one he had been speaking with had briefly turned away to confer with others. This was the crucial moment. If they refused to agree to this, then he would be forced to give up all hope of ever returning. He would not go back without at least a possibility of staying for good, and they would not offer him another deal, not after he had refused this one.

 

A rush of spiritual strength signified the voice's return. Even though he could see nothing but white, he lifted his head in anticipation.

 

Are these your only terms?

 

"Yes."

 

Done.

 

His world crashed to black.

 

xXx

 

Gently, Light massaged his temple. He was so tired and felt rather drained from opening his heart like that. He was certain no one had understood him, but it still took a lot out of him to admit those things, even to himself. He sighed and leaned back in the chair.

 

On their own, his eyes wandered over Elijah's face. He really was very pale. And so still. Like a life-sized doll instead of a person with a life and a soul. Light's heart ached when he thought about it. It really was too cruel. He leaned forward a bit, resting his elbows on his knees, and let his hands fall on the bed next to Elijah's.

 

Long fingers twitched.

 

Light blinked. Had he really just seen that? No. It had been a trick of his eyes. His imagination showing him what he wanted to see.

 

They twitched again.

 

Light suddenly stopped breathing.  He hadn't imagined it that time.  He knew he hadn't! Hope surging in his chest, Light spun around and looked for the EEG machine. The line on the read-out had curved. A wave. He nearly choked from the joy rushing through him.

 

Delighted tears already beginning to form, he turned back to the bed just in time to see bleary blue eyes open. They moved back and forth a bit until they found and focused on his face.

 

"Elijah?" Light whispered, daring to believe.

 

Pale lips curled upwards into a smile before forming into words spoken by a tired but very happy voice:

 

"Ohayou, Raito-kun."

 

To be continued