Yami No Matsuei Fan Fiction / Death Note Fan Fiction ❯ Then came an angel ❯ Shinigami ( Chapter 3 )

Chapter 3

 

By Sapadu

 

"Tat-su-mi!" Watari sang as he entered the room. Tatsumi groaned inwardly, then turned to see exactly what it was that the resident mad scientist wanted.

 

"If this is about funding again, Watari-san, I remain firm about my position." He said, flatly. Watari stopped short, before recomposing himself.

 

"Aw, and here I thought you'd be happy to hear this news..." He whined. Tatsumi raised an eyebrow, before he adjusted his glasses with a gleam that said 'It had better be important.' Watari, not being stupid, caught this, and went on.

 

"Tsuzuki and Bon told you who they met yesterday on the job, right?" Watari started off with, which only earned him another glare, "As I was the one put in charge of tracking him, since our good friend the doctor has been so talented at hiding himself, I found out something this morning- just a few hours after Tsuzuki and Bon returned to the office, Muraki died."

 

Tatsumi's head snapped up with a note of shock.

 

"Died? But how?" The shadow master demanded. Watari smirked.

 

"That's the best part- he died of a heart attack!" He reported. Tatsumi blinked, genuinely taken off guard, before he regained his composure.

 

"I'm tempted to make the obligatory crack that you need to have a heart before you can have an attack, but..." He mused, adjusting his glasses again, while Watari snickered and then asked.

 

"So... is your mood somewhat better now, Shadow King?" He asked, playfully. Tatsumi shot Watari another glare.

 

"Whatever you want now, the answer is no." He said, reverting back to his crabby mood.

 

Watari slouched out of the room.

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"Of all ways that he finally died... I never thought this would be it..." Hisoka finally admitted- Tsuzuki hadn't heard a word out of his partner since Watari had come in with the news. It was relieving to finally hear something.

 

"I know- it seems like something too easy to die by..." Tsuzuki agreed, before Hisoka shook his head.

 

"That's not what I meant... it seems like he hasn't suffered enough..." The Kurosaki said, with a vindictive glare being sent towards the desk, as though it was responsible for all that had come to pass, "Muraki... Tsuzuki, think of all that he's DONE... he was responsible for what happened to Maria Wong, the victims on the Queen Camilla, Kyoto..." Hisoka didn't say it, but Tsuzuki knew that the two people Hisoka was thinking about in particular were Tsuzuki and Tsubaki.

 

Tsuzuki didn't say anything, though... Mostly because he'd expected... suspicion, maybe, from Hisoka- saying that Muraki couldn't have died, because he just wasn't like that, or something like that- but this kind of bloodthirsty mentality, saying that Muraki's death should have been something... more painful and torture-like... it didn't seem like him.

 

"And, besides... something about this case... if Muraki was involved, it wouldn't be stopped by something as simple as him dying- there's something else going on that we don't know about." Hisoka stood up and took his jacket with him, "We're going, Tsuzuki."

 

Tsuzuki clumsily got to his feet, calling after his partner,

 

"What, not even asking what my opinion about this is?" To which Hisoka replied, snappishly,

 

"No, because I don't care." Tsuzuki paused in getting his trench coat on, before Samantha, who was sitting at a desk being forced to fill out some paperwork helpfully added,

 

"At least he's being honest."

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"I forgot that I was assigned babysitting duty on you two..." Samantha grumbled, stomping along after Tsuzuki and Hisoka, who were both looking upset about something.

 

"People are continuing to die, and their names aren't in the kiseki- we have to continue the investigation." Hisoka replied, snappishly. Samantha kicked a stone with her toe.

 

"Well, why do I have to be here?" She demanded, using 'Ore' this time to let them know how annoyed she was.

 

"Because Tatsumi wants to be sure that we're doing our job and he can't send the Gushoshin to do the watching."Tsuzuki explained, a bit more patiently, though the words were unspoken about how Tatsumi was really worried. Samantha wrinkled her nose, then replied, with a sneer.

 

"Sorry, but I'm not into that sort of thing."

 

Hisoka stumbled as he choked, going red, while Tsuzuki just looked very uncomfortable at that. Before either of them could say anything, however, there was a scream from up ahead. All three of them took off, finding another body just around the corner, and nobody seemed to be around.

 

"There isn't even a crowd yet- the killer still has to be nearby..." Tsuzuki muttered, looking around. It was pretty useless as the wind picked up, sending random trash flying everywhere. Samantha took a sheet of paper in the face, before she suddenly passed it to Tsuzuki and Hisoka.

 

"Touch this- hurry!" She shouted, throwing it in Tsuzuki's face, before it blew away, grazing Hisoka on the shoulder as it fluttered past. Hisoka sent her a glare.

 

"What the hell are you doing?" He demanded, before Samantha pointed upwards at something, and on instinct, they followed her gaze.

 

Overhead, they could see a large creature, one that looked almost like what Japanese myths told Oni to look like. There were oni-like horns coming out of it's head, and it's limbs were long, but bulky. Coming out of it's back were a series of limbs which looked like muscular, bat-like wings, except there was no flesh between them, but from the way they were moving, it was obviously in flight.

 

The creature glanced at them, before the gaping jaw's corners turned up in what was an unmistakable leer, flying away before they could move.

 

"Wha- what was that..." Hisoka muttered, looking quite shocked, while Tsuzuki stared after it, stunned. Samantha was scowling, before she said.

 

"We need to take this back to the office."

 

As Samantha turned to head back, Tsuzuki frowned at her back, before grabbing her arm at the elbow.

 

"Just now... what was that?" He demanded, as Samantha seemed to know something that she wasn't saying. Samantha glanced back, her purple eyes meeting Tsuzuki's as she replied, slowly.

 

"A shinigami."

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"I'm not surprised you didn't know this, Tsuzuki-san- you rarely show interest in other areas of JuuOhChou, let alone other levels of Enmachou and the other sections of the Afterworld." Tatsumi muttered, looking perplexed at what had been brought to his attention.

 

"Demo, why now- and what does it have to do with us?" Tsuzuki asked, frowning at this new information. Watari came in with a white board and marker, and quickly drew a rough illustration.

 

"Essentially, this is how it goes- there are different levels of the world up here, and for each, a different kind of shinigami. For example..." Watari drew a house on a level labeled 'Soul Society', "The place closest to Chijou is where souls generally go after being judged. Sometimes it differs, if they've committed crimes that send them to Hell, or if other circumstances change it, but that's essentially the base version of Heaven. Their shinigamis are the ones who retrieve souls when they die. However, if something happens where the soul cannot be found to be sent on for some reason, or if it is supposedly sent on, but does not arrive in Soul Society, then we're called in for the job.

 

"So, somewhere in the middle of the other levels is JuuOhChou- you know enough about that, so, to explain about what you three must have seen just now, that was one of the shinigami from the topmost level.

 

"The best way to describe it is that they are the true gods that reign over death- they are the ones responsible for when people die. Essentially, they kill people, by a means which no other kind of shinigami has the means of. I'm not sure what it is, but I do know that it gives them the ability to kill without even having to come in contact with the person- they rarely leave their own level, except for some strange cases- and all they need is a person's name, face, and when they die, the person's remaining lifespan goes to the shinigami." Watari explained, drawing a skull and crossbones at the top level.

 

"Death Note." Samantha interrupted. Watari made a confused noise, as did Tatsumi, both looking back at their newest addition, who had her arms behind her back, as though they were tied, and was leaning against the wall.

 

"The means by which they kill people is called a Death Note, Watari-san. They write down the person's name, and think about their face, so that people who have the same name don't die along with that one. The names written down in the collective Death Notes is what becomes the Kiseki, and that's also why we're called in when a person's name goes down, but they don't die." She said, in a distant voice. Tatsumi was nodding.

 

"And if this was the creature Muraki was associating with, then that also explains why he had such intimate knowledge of Enmachou... those shinigami have a tendency to know virtually everything, even if other levels don't know about them." He mused, before turning to Watari, "Speaking of which, how do you know about these levels?" Watari grinned and shrugged.

 

"Unlike others in the department, I wasn't recruited right off the bat- I spent a few years in the Rukongai of Soul Society before Kachou heard about my unique ability with drawings and came to offer me if I could take an empty position in Kyoto. So, I looked up the rest of the stuff in the library- except virtually nobody else, not even the Gushoshin, knows about a lot of the details." Watari explained. Tatsumi nodded, then turned back to the two investigating the case.

 

"In any case, we can figure out, roughly, what Muraki was doing with this. He most likely struck a kind of bargain with the shinigami- who knows how long ago- to gain information about Enmachou, and this whole event was the final payback..." Tatsumi concluded, before Hisoka put in.

 

"But we still don't understand why the people weren't appearing in the Kiseki- or, for that matter, what the shinigami would have benefited with."

 

Tsuzuki turned to look at Samantha, who raised her eyebrows at him.

 

"Since you're the only person we know who seems to know anything about this, Samantha-san, we have to ask you. Is there any kind of rule about the Death Note which would prevent the name from going in the Kiseki where the shinigami owning a Death Note would still receive lifespan?" He asked, with a grave expression. Samantha briefly held an expression of indigence at the interrogation, but relented.

 

"...Probably... the best explanation I can think up is that the shinigami would write down the name and Muraki would kill the person before the time came- when a person's name is written, it takes anywhere from forty seconds, to twenty-nine days, as that's the time period within which a person can be specified to die. Death Notes can allow their owners to control the method and time of death. Under those circumstances, because the person didn't die as the Death Note was written, the name wouldn't be added to the Kiseki, but the shinigami would gain the lifespan." She said, her face blank. Everyone considered this, and agreed.

 

"With that in consideration, we might not be able to stop these circumstances, especially if the shinigami is continuing to kill without Muraki as a partner to do his dirty work." Tsuzuki muttered, biting onto his knuckle. Watari gave his diagram of the levels a glance, then added a few more skulls to the top, to break the silence.

 

"Are you saying that there's no way to kill the shinigami with the Death Note?" Hisoka demanded of his partner, who shrugged, before Samantha put in.

 

"There is a way, but not one which we have control over- if a shinigami writes a name in the Death Note to kill a person in order to extend the lifespan of another person, the shinigami dies. Furthermore, it has to be out of affection for that person whose life is being extended." She explained, before going on, "But... if the shinigami is killing these humans without using the Death Note, we can take this to the king- it's an offense punishable by death for the shinigami to kill without the Death Note."

 

Tatsumi adjusted his glasses, before announcing,

 

"I will check the Kiseki for additional appearing names- in the meantime, Tsuzki-san, Kurosaki-kun, you will return to Chijou and find the shinigami." Tatsumi instructed, and as the two rose to leave, he suddenly turned around, "Matte- Phastine-san, I would like you to go with them, as you seem to know more about the shinigami than our entire department combined, with just one more thing."

 

Samantha stood to attention, much like a soldier, as Tatsumi continued.

 

"I wish to know how you came to learn all that you know about the shinigami and their method of killing."

 

Samantha didn't seem to be too surprised by this request, nor did she seem too pleased at having to answer it.

 

"This is not the first time I have met one of those shinigami. That is how I know." She responded. Tatsumi fixed her with a dissatisfied look, but the loud tick of the clock made him glance up, and permit her to leave with the other two, while he and Watari went off to their own duties.

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"When we find it, what are we supposed to do?" Hisoka asked, "If mortal means don't work on killing a shinigami and we can't get a hold of his Death Note or name to write in..." Before Samantha interrupted.

 

"The Death Note doesn't work either."

 

Hisoka paused, before turning and glaring at her.

 

"When were you going to tell us this?"

 

Samantha at least had the good grace to look embarrassed.

 

"...Oops...?" She guessed. Hisoka snarled.

 

"OOPS? What do you mean 'OOPS'?" He shouted, as Samantha recoiled and held her hands up like a shield.

 

"Now, now..." She mumbled, with a nervous smile, "We can still deal with this.... We just need some bait..."

 

Tsuzuki crossed his arms and gave her a sharp, mistrusting glance.

 

"Such as..." He asked. Samantha chuckled for a moment, before she replied.

 

"Well... like human food- chocolate, bananas, peaches, apples..." And as Tsuzuki started towards a nearby market, Samantha started to shout, "HEY, WAIT, DON'T LISTEN TO ME- I DON'T KNOW WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT!"

 

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"My apples... my beautiful, juicy apples..." Samantha sniffed several moments later as they stood on top of a building with a bag of the fruit, all of which had been denied to her. Hisoka glared at her.

 

"You don't need them- you'll live, somehow." He scolded, deliberately using the word 'Live' to make her flinch. Within just a few moments, Tsuzuki spotted the shinigami coming at them, at which point he fished a yellow apple out of the bag and threw it up in the air where it caught the light just enough that the shinigami came zipping over and snatched it out of midair with his mouth.

 

Samantha wrinkled her nose and shouted at him.

 

"Oh, sure, make a show out of it- what are you: a fucking pet dolphin? Have you no shame? SHOW-OFF! ATTENTION-WHORE!" She shouted after the shinigami who landed on a telephone pole and then swooped back, looking for another apple.

 

The other two shinigami gave Samantha a puzzled look, before Hisoka turned to his partner and asked,

 

"What's SHE getting so upset for?" Tsuzuki shrugged. It was precisely because they were so confused that they were very shocked when Samantha jumped into the air and kicked the shinigami with such force that sent him reeling, in a way that would have been comical if it weren't for the fact that it was quite disturbing how furious Samantha was.

 

"...I thought mortal means can't harm these shinigami..." Tsuzuki muttered, staring after Samantha's vicious display. Hisoka shrugged.

 

"...It doesn't harm them... but I guess it still affects them in some way..."

 

It also kept the shinigami busy enough until, somewhere in the distance, the two saw a shadow appear, announcing, not only Tatsumi's arrival, but also the fact that he was royally pissed off.

 

Immediately, the two rushed over, to witness up close what looked to be a very messy execution.

 

"Names have not been appearing in the Kiseki- meaning that the shinigami is killing them with methods other than his Death Note. Apparently, when this happens, a shinigami is subjected to torture before the execution, and the appropriate method is that his ability to withstand mortal injury is taken away." Tatsumi informed them, the shadows settling as he saw how effectively Samantha seemed to be dealing with the situation. Both Hisoka and Tsuzuki glanced at Tatsumi's non-reactive response to Samantha's behavior.

 

"...So... why are you just letting HER take care of this?" Hisoka asked, making a vague gesture at Samantha, who seemed more interested in beating the shinigami about the head and screaming American obscenities at him instead of actually destroying him.

 

"I still need a clear idea of Phastine-san's abilities. This should be a good test of that." Tatsumi explained as Samantha hastily placed down a circle of ofuda and created a barrier. Everyone's chance of seeing what Samantha planned on doing, however, was shot down as the ofuda also seemed to create a wall of illusion that made that small space that she'd created either disappear, or blend in with the surroundings.

 

Before anyone could say a word, all of them took off and landed at the exact spot, seeing a kind of box form where the wall was so that they couldn't see or hear what was occurring inside the kekkai Samantha had set up. It was gone, however, in a moment, and revealed Samantha on top of the carcass of the body, whose head seemed to have exploded and a hole was punched through his chest. Samantha didn't seem to care, as she was busy digging into the creature's stomach, before, with a triumphant 'Ah-HA!' she pulled out one of the apples which they'd used as bait and sat down to eat it, with a kind of defiant manner. Tsuzuki and Hisoka both flinched as she made a face, but finally swallowed, and how her tongue seemed to be regenerating from being dissolved when she opened her mouth again.

 

Tatsumi pushed his glasses up his nose.

 

"Well, then- I shall report this to the chief. The three of you, clean up the mess."

 

Tatsumi disappeared, leaving the partners rather at a loss of what to do.

 

A/N: Good god- this was the worst chapter to edit, I kid you not.

 

No, Light and Ryuk will NOT be showing up, except as being mentioned on T.V. As Kira.