InuYasha Fan Fiction / Death Note Fan Fiction ❯ Taboo ❯ Setting the Stage ( Chapter 1 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
Taboo
Chapter 1
Setting the Stage

-

"How many people do you think are praying to 'god' now?"

Light rolled his eyes and shot Ryuk a glare. "Would you shut up? I'm working."

"No."

The glare intensified. "Ry-u-k," he growled, eyes narrowing.

"Yeah, yeah..." Ryuk muttered, waving a dismissive hand. "Hey, gotta apple?" he asked, mostly to change the subject.

Light sighed and motioned toward his closet, where he kept a bag of them in a small fridge in the corner. At Ryuk's strangled cry of victory, he scowled at the sometimes annoying shinigami. Today more than usual, apparently. "Now will you shut up?"

Mouth half full, Ryuk replied, "I gueff..."

"Idiot."

He was prevented from commenting further when a line from the news anchor on the TV caught his attention. "... fell to his death earlier this afternoon. We'll take you to Takaki Takashi at the scene."

They showed a middle aged man in khaki pants and a grey hoody, wearing square framed glasses. His black and grey ponytail flapped in the early-autum breeze as he paused briefly before speaking. "Thanks, Hawaki-san," he said into the mic. "Earlier today, 25 year old *Shizune Hojo was pushed from his tenth-floor office. Witnesses claim to have seen this woman fleeing the scene." At the corner of the screen, it showed a shocked-looking girl's photograph, obviously taken from a security camera. "As of now, no one has been able to identify her..."

"Whaddya thinkin', LIght?" Ryuk asked, eyeing the television set.

Light hummed noncommitally and looked back down at the Death Note. "I think... I'm going over to Ryuga's house..."

-

"I think you're going to die."

Kagome jumped about a foot into the air before spinning around to stare at the two men sitting in one of the pues outside the confession box of St. Francis' Catholic Church. "What?" she asked after a moment's stunned silence, voice barely audible at what she was sure she couldn't have heard.

The man closest to her, wearing a long-sleeved white shirt and jeans, grinned slightly. "Kira," he clarified, saying the name on everyone's lips. "I think he might kill you."

Kagome gaped at him, hand resting on the door to the confessional. "Are... are you crazy?" she finally asked, looking from him to the obvious butler at his side.

"Possibly. But you know what they say about great minds," was the cheeky reply, accompanied by a rather unnerving grin.

"Are you gonna kill me?" she asked bluntly, uncertain about this entire confrontation.

He grinned again and shook his head. "Nah. I'm a detective. My job is to catch the guy who's going to kill you." He leaned forward on his toes suddenly, legs bent and knees pressed against his chest. "Want to help?" he asked, wobbling slightly, though his butler reached out to steady him.

She blinked. "Um... help?"

He nodded eagerly. "Un. Help me catch Kira. You're the perfect bait, and if you live, I'll make Hojo-kun's murder disappear."

Kagome sighed and rolled her eyes, feeling a tic begin in her temple. "Look, I don't need your help. I have connections if I wanted that, and I'm not really worried about KIra, either." She slid the confessional door closed. "And as for being bait... it wouldn't work anyway." She gave the priest a polite bow, inclined her head to the detective, and left.

L watched her go, bemused. "Was it something I said?" he asked the man sitting beside him.

-

"It is imperative that I talk to Ryuzaki," Light said through gritted teeth, frowning at the servant before him.

"I'm sorry, Yagami-sama. Ryuzaki-sama instructed that no one is to enter the manor for another hour," she murmured apologetically.

He huffed and refrained from fisting his hands. "Is that bastard screwing with me?"

Her eyes widened. "Yagami-sama!" she gasped in affront.

"It's alright, Mue-san," L's voice wafted down the hall as he walked into view, grinning slightly. "I'm back."

"You were gone?" Light asked, temper cooling quickly now that he had his way.

"Sweet run," L chirped sweetly.

"Another words, you were screwing with me," Light deduced, sighing.

Rather than answer, L held up a grocery store bag. "Twinky?" he offered, almost hopefully.

Light shook his head, getting himself back on track. "No. We have more important things to worry about. Like that news broadcast an hour ago. Did you see it?"

L pulled a Twinky from the bag and headed back into the house, obviously expecting Light to follow, which he did. "... No..." he murmured thoughtfully. "But I was in the building when it happened, so I assume it was about Hojo-kun's murder..."

Light blinked, then narrowed his eyes, two questions surfacing in his mind. He asked the more obvious, determining to figure out the other on his own later. "You knew the victim?" he queried.

L shrugged and bit into the creme-filled cake in his hand. "Not well... He was just a business contact," he replied airily, as if his mind was on something else entirely.

"Information on Kira?" Light asked, feigning eagerness. Knowing L, it was more likely to be-

"Twinkies," L corrected, smirking in amusement. Of course it was a lie, but he wouldn't tell Light that. It was much too fun to make the younger male scowl like that. "His murderer was also his girlfriend, actually. Higurashi Kagome, though only you and I know that..."

Light barely held back - another - scowl, realizing how neatly that trap had been set. For some reason, L was protecting Higurashi-san, but also using her as bait for Light. And since only Light and L himself knew her name (currently), he'd have to bide his time and wait for the word to get out before he could punish her.

"She said the oddest thing," L went on, pulling Light from his thoughts.

"Uh... You talked to her?" Light asked, stepping into the taskforce room. He was slightly surprised to see that they were alone, until he remembered L saying something about a day off. "When?"

L nodded absently, getting comfortable on a couch before breaking out another Twinky. "Yes... She said-" He paused to tear open the package with his teeth. "-That she wasn't worried about Kira, and that using her as bait wouldn't work..."

This was a bit surprising, causing Light to quirk a brow at the detective. "Did she say why?"

At this, L sighed and shook his head regretfully. "No... I wasn't very interesting, apparently..." He frowned. "She left..."

Before Light could form a response, the servant that had answered the door interrupted them. "Ryuga-sama? You have a visitor."

-

Well! There's the first chapter! I hope you like it; R&R. Don't just fave/alert people!

*Shizune Hojo: It's Hojo from the series. I just made up a last name for him.

Honorifics:
-san: This is the most common honorific and is equivalent to Mr., Miss, Ms., or Mrs. It is the all-purpose honorific and can be used in any situation where politeness is required.
-sama: This is one level higher than '-san' and is used to confer great respect.
-kun: This suffix is used at the end of boys' names to express familiarity or endearment. It is also sometimes used by men among friends, or when adressing someone younger or of a lower station.
-[blank]: (meaning no honorific) This is usually forgotten in these lists, but it is perhaps the most significant difference between Japanese and English. The lack of honorific means that the speaker has permission to address the person in a very intimate way. Usually, only family, spouses, or very close friends have this kind of permission. Known as yobisute, it can be gratifying when someone who has earned the intimacy starts to call one by one's name without an honorific. But when that intimacy hasn't been earned, it can be very insulting.