Strawberry Heartbreak

Part 1

L knelt in the clouds, furiously digging through the white fluff. He knew he could reach Earth if he kept it up, he knew from glimpses he had seen on breezy days that Earth was below him; that Kira was down there with the helpless world.

“It’s not every day that you see someone as discontented as you are with heaven,” said a voice behind him. L turned around and frowned at the Shinigami-looking being with flesh like bubble bath foam.

“Who are you?” L asked.

“I’m a Judge. Judges are the caretakers of the departed. It’s our job to send souls to heaven or hell, among other duties such as keeping you comfortable.” The Judge’s blue eyes blinked at him gently. “You don’t have to stay in this part of Heaven. It’s a vast place with many settings. Wouldn’t you like to see your old home, the one you destroyed as a child? You could find your family.”

“My family wouldn’t want to see me.”

“What about your friends? Near and Mello have asked about you.”

L felt a lump in his throat, “They’re here? Oh God, I didn’t know they had died. I apologize for my rudeness for being unhappy here, but I can’t just relax while the world is raped of its freedom.”

The eggshell-toned creature laid a hand on L’s shoulder. “I see it really has come to this.”

“Come to what?”

“There is a gift we give to a select few who deserve it, a gift for those who are dissatisfied here. It’s designed so that souls can be happier when they die the second time and will enjoy heaven when they are returned there. If you choose, I can have you sent back.”

“You mean reincarnation?”

“This is different, actually. You’re returned to the age that you were when you died, and you retain the memories of heaven and your previous life. You’ll simply look different so that no one recognizes you. I suppose lightening your hair and giving you a freckle or two would suffice. How’s that sound?”

L looked at his bare feet, “That sounds like a plan.”

“Fantastic! There’s just one rule you need to obey. You cannot interfere with the circumstances of your old life. This means for you, no detective work and absolutely no meddling in the affairs of Kira.”

“That makes no sense, Judge. How is a person supposed to find contentment by returning if they can’t complete unfinished business? That rule defeats the purpose.”

The Judge looked stumped. “I guess it doesn’t make sense, but it’s necessary. If people discovered someone came back to life, there’d be a global panic. People would go mad, and surely tear you apart with questions and publicity. You’d probably be murdered by religious fanatics.”

L shuddered. “I see. I agree with that.”

The Judge looked delighted. “I’m so glad! Oh, just so you know, we’ll kill you if you break the rule.”

L nibbled at his fingernail, “A heart attack, I assume?”

“Actually, Shinigami specialize in heart attacks and Judges specialize in suffocation. You’ll have an asthma attack whenever you get close to breaking the rule, and it will be fatal if the rule is completely broken.

L nodded. “I accept your invitation.”

Meanwhile…

Why is it so hard to do something as simple as being content? I ask myself this every day now, as my life deteriorates in my increasing success. I am Kira, I am god, and I am miserable. As time separates me from my greatest threat, I miss him more each day.

Light leaned back in his seat, enjoying the rare moment of silence as the limo drove through Tokyo. He was glad to be out of the meeting, away from the servants of Kira. There were now nine subordinates who, through the years, discovered their own Death Notes and came forward to submit to the law of the original Kira, whose identity remained unknown. It was easy to play the role of the communicator, the simple messenger who gave word from his God to the followers. It was a safe place to be.

From the startling number of Death Notes discovered on Earth, Light wondered if the Shinigami world was playing a role on behalf of his mission. Conversely he worried that the real Gods of Death had a plan above his comprehension, a mission of their own to strike him down. Such thoughts were necessary to preserve safety. A thing Light had learned is that one could never worry too much.

He glanced out the window at the buildings passing by when something in a store window caught his eye. His heart jumped into his throat and he cried out to the limousine driver.

“Rotari, pull over quickly!”

Rotari slammed on the break and pulled over to the side of the road where Light quickly opened the door and climbed out. A robust man stepped from the limo’s passenger seat and began to follow Light.

Light turned to his body guard, “I’ll be fine, Sako. Stay here.”

“Mr. Yagami, Sir, it’s dangerous.”

“Insolents!” yelled Light in an irritated outburst. Without another word, Sako stepped back into the limo.

Light walked to the front of a Tea and Pastry Shop and stared through the glass at a sight he hadn’t seen in nearly a decade. At a two seated table sat a young man wearing a hat, whose back was thoroughly hunched. With his shoes disregarded on the floor, his feet were perched on the edge of his chair with his toes wrapped around the rim. The boy held open a newspaper, dangling it from a single corner as he sipped at a cup of tea.

Light whispered a single letter under his breath and burst into the pastry shop, marching over to the boy and pulling off his hat.

Light gaped at the boy, surprised to see that it was not who he had thought. There was an unnerving resemblance; an identically curved face, lips, and the wide, charismatic eyes Light had remembered so well. There were, however, obvious traits that vindicated him, chocolate-brown hair instead of black and a light dusting of freckles over his cheeks. Light was about to apologize and return the hat when the boy spoke out.

“Sorry, do I know you?”

Light raised an eyebrow. One had to be living in a third world country not to know who he was. People around the shop had turned away nervously or left all together, even the baker looked worried. Those words alone were enough to incriminate the boy.

“Who do you think I am? I’m Light Yagami, Lord Kira’s spokesman! What’s your name?”

“M-my name? It’s uh…”

“It’s what? State your name, now. Have you forgotten?”

By now the bakery was empty of all but the baker who had retreated to the back room.

“I have… amnesia sometimes, from an old head injury. I apologize,” said the boy, “M-my name is… Li.” The boy stood, his back remaining in a partial hunch and his toes pointed together. Light couldn’t take any more of the enormous coincidence. He grabbed the boy’s upper arm and began to drag him to the door.

“Please, I can’t leave! I work here and my break’s almost up.”

Light scoffed and dragged him out the door. They paced quickly to the limo where Light shoved him in the back and shut the door behind them. “I know you’re one of those L supporters. Let me tell you, he’s long dead! You’re breaking the holy law, behaving this, and it’s my duty to take you in for questioning. You’re a wannabe-L predecessor, aren’t you?”

L opened his mouth to speak but instead gasped for breath. He fell to the limo floor, choking in a fit of asthma. Tears came to his eyes as his lungs were deprived of air.

I didn’t break the rule, L thought, Yagami was the one who barged over to me! I didn’t start anything! It’s not my fault.

His trachea suddenly relaxed and air flooded into his burning lungs. He looked up and was startled to see Yagami holding his shoulders and bearing a look of complete dismay. The dismay was quickly replaced with embarrassment and indifference as he once again grabbed L’s arm and pulled him to his seat.

L kept his eyes on the other, studying what time had done to him. He hadn’t changed his hair in all the years, but his taste in clothing certainly had become expensive. Light’s face was severe with adulthood, his sharp jaw held a stern mouth that went well with the piercing glare. L felt self-conscious under the man’s gaze, realizing suddenly that he was an inferior by ten years. He felt his cheeks heat up with embarrassment.

“I see you’re pretty lame if you can’t handle a simple question without scaring yourself into an asthma attack. I can’t have you dying in the interrogation room, so I suppose it would be better to question you in a comfortable setting.”

L wanted to object to being called ‘lame’ but it was better that Yagami found him different than L’s true self. The further from himself he was the less likely Yagami would want to kill him… again. He shrugged and stared out the window.

“I’d prefer someplace close; I’d like to get back to work some time today.”

Yagami laughed, “I couldn’t imagine L working at a pastry shop even with his full dental set of sweet teeth.”

L scowled at his reflection in the window, “That makes sense then, since I’m not L.” L spotted a familiar restaurant he had been to before and pointed to it. “Could we go there?”

The restaurant was bright with colors, a lavender bar on one end and a cluster of couches at the back. The couches were set in pairs of yellow and orange facing one another, with a glass coffee table in the center. L chose a set of couches and settled himself comfortably on a yellow couch as Light awkwardly sat on the orange.

“You certainly know how to pick a place,” said Light as he glanced around the restaurant in its rainbow, paper-lantern glory, “This looks like a lounge for teenagers.”

I forgot how much of an adult you’ve become, L thought, smiling to himself.

“The desserts here are wonderful.”

Light rolled his eyes. “So Li, tell me about your connection to L. You obviously have one.”

“I have no connection to L, nor do I understand why you think I work for him.”

“I didn’t say I thought you worked for him, I said there was a connection.”

“Do we look alike? Perhaps we act alike? Being the spokesperson for Kira, I’m sure you know what happened to him, where he is and all. I’d love to hear that story.”

Light smiled at the attempt at diverting his attention. “Nice try, Li, but everyone knows L was killed in the incident on sixteenth.”

L tapped his head, “Amnesia, remember? I had an injury.”

Light nodded exasperatedly, “The police department was bombed more than three years ago by a mob of Kira supporters. That’s where the remaining task force and L were situated, and since then, none of them have been seen.”

“Interesting story,” said L as he pondered over the contradiction. He wondered how people believed him alive for seven years after his death. Could someone have been impersonating him? Another question he had was at what point had Yagami publicly announced his uniting with Kira? How, and what were the circumstances?

A young lady came and took their orders for drinks, Light insisting that they both order something alcoholic. The girl had looked at L with a sceptical eye, but under the circumstance of serving Kira’s own, no one would be requiring ID. Light had suggested a spiked, strawberry smoothie for L, considering it was the sweetest drink besides pure juice.

“I don’t usually drink,” said L as he sipped the last of the third glass through a silly straw.

Light smiled at the plastered boy who was having trouble staying upright. He was sure that now he would pry something from this Li’s lips as the alcohol made him enthusiastically social.

“So how about this, Li, I’ll ask a question and if you answer it, you can ask me a question.”

Light’s stomach unconsciously turned with butterflies at the boy’s playful smile, his dark eyes brightening at the thought of a kind of ‘game’.

“Ask away,” he said to Light.

“Alright, my first question is, when did you first go to Wammy’s foster home?”

“When I was six, I…” L’s eyes widened and he looked at the other, terrified. He touched his throat but it didn’t constrict.

Light smiled, “Looks like that’s the connection. You met him there.”

L sighed to himself, thinking how terribly close that was. The drinks were handicapping him, and any more could be fatal either from Kira or from godforsaken asthma.

“Now,” said Light, “Ask me a question.”

L let his gaze meet with Kira’s, “How long do I have before you kill me?”

Light’s stomach turned from butterflies to bats at the boy’s fearful expression. He had been so consumed in finding out anything about his old rival that he hadn’t considered the circumstance of Li. Obviously anyone being questioned in this situation would fear the worst.

L stood suddenly, his shoulders slumped more than usual, his mind swirling with blurred thoughts, “I swear to you, I have no intention of interfering with Kira. I beg you to let me live my life and I promise you’ll never see me again. Goodbye, Light-kun.”

L stumbled slightly as he went to the door, not looking behind him. Light stared at the door where he had left, the words of an intoxicated boy lingering in his mind.

Light-kun?

Tbc…

Author’s Death Note: After DN Vol. 10, everything is my own design. I’m using artistic license regarding Shinigami and Judges. I don’t care about inaccuracies nor should you feel obligated to inform me. Thanks for reading and don’t forget to review!