Sacrifice

Near and Kiara search the Red Light District of Sydney, Australia to find a death note. Sani remembers time spent with her daughter and the Wammy House boys during a winter break years ago.

2004-Wammy House: Winchester, England. The children of Wammy House are receiving personalized education from experts in the fields in which each of the children’s talents shine. Some children are highly artistic, some have brains that are prone to absorb math and the sciences, while others focus on business and law. Many of the older residents of the first generation of L successors have become mentor, tutors and like older siblings to the next generation.  Avon and Bran were that to Mello and Near. Not surprisingly, they picked up on some of their habits; Avon who loves eating chocolate and who can be very emotional and Bran who generally keeps to himself and likes to play with figurines from Gundam Wing and Transformers. After Avon committed suicide and Bran went M.I.A. earlier this year, Near -who is ten- and Mello-who is 12- are left without mentors.

            For Sani, it is winter break when she returns to Wammy House to check in with everyone. Kiara-who is four- is the first one to greet her mother as she walks in the door. She scoops Kiara into her arms and they give each other Eskimo kisses. Roger is leading the children outside for recess as he passes by them. Of the three, Matt’s-who’s 11- face lights up with a big smile and he shakes Mello by the shoulders causing him to turn around to see her. Matt drags Mello with him to greet Sani. Near hears those two causing a commotion and turns around to see Sani as well. He walks over to her too. She hugs the boys individually and tells them to head outside with the rest while she sends some time with Kiara. After Roger is done escorting the children outside, he joins Sani in Kiara’s room.

“How’s everything, Rodger? Has Kiara been being a good girl?”

“Of course she has. She is very…headstrong. She’s very demanding I guess you can say.”

“She knows what she wants, just like her father and I.”

“I cannot contest that truth.”

“Have you heard from L?”

“Not in a while. Watari said he is working on four cases simultaneously so he is pretty busy. How is school going for you?”

“Stressful. I’m only half way through undergrad and it feels like too much. Things will get better though, but how I wish I had L’s brain right now.”

“You can always come home. There is plenty of work to do here since Avon and Bran are gone now. Mello and Near need you now more than ever. Kiara is four too and has started real school. I’m sure you can teach a class here even without a degree.”

“I thought only experts were allowed to teach here. I will be one someday soon I’m planning and by that time I can teach them when they are of a more mature age. Mello and Near and Kiara will be fine with how things will stay until I finish school.”

“Yeah, I had a feeling you’d say that. Can’t tell Watari I didn't try.”

Sani laughs, “Not as much.”  Sani joins Kiara on the floor and plays with her. She is building a house for her dolls; most of it is constructed but she needs help with the interior design.

            The kids easily get bored the next day; it’s a foggy day in Winchester and Roger doesn’t want them playing outside where he couldn’t see them. Near plays with his toys, Mello reads a book and Matt play videogames while Kiara tries to work on a puzzle of a church with a cemetery. Her focus doesn’t last long and soon she throws the puzzle pieces around the room and the boys do nothing to stop her. Sani decides to take Kiara, Mello, Near and Matt on a walk through the streets, trying to find something to do. They pass by a museum they have gone to too many times, a bakery packed with people stoking up on holiday treats and fresh bread, and a playground that was abandoned by all but the snow that covers  it. They continue walking until they come to a bridge over a waterway. Some people are ice fishing on the river while others are ice skating or playing hockey.

“Let’s do that!” Mello demands knowing that Near has two left feet and hates athletics.

“Be careful on the thin ice!” She yells to them as Mello and Matt jump down the snowy slope. Near rather stay on the snow-cleared bridge than sit on ice. Sani takes Kiara with her to the riverbank and another child offers her an extra sled her family has. Seeing that he can sit and still enjoy time with Sani, Near joins them on the sled. Sani pulls the sled while Near holds onto Kiara. Mello and Matt joined in the hockey game showing their competitive sides when it comes to games. Mello and Matt decided to take on the other six boys rather than being put on different teams. They manage to hold their own with three people trying to blockade them.

            As Sani pulls Near and Kiara along the riverbank, she looks around at the scenery while Kiara talks Near’s ears off. Sani feel like she hasn’t been here before or at least in a long time. Winchester and the places she visited frequently as a child are already becoming foreign places in distance memories. She heads back to where Mello and Matt are playing hockey to see them jumping up and down in their victory dance. Kiara rolls down the hill, picks up some snow, slides across the ice to throw it at them. All the kids join in the snowball fight, even Near who smiles for the first time since Sani arrived. While they play, Sani takes a short walk down the riverside. The fog is trying to subside as the sun peaks from behind the clouds causing small pools of light to brighten the snow in spots. Not far from where the kids are, she looks down the street and views the church-her favorite church from the backside.

In the distance she can see a figure looking at it from the side. Something compels her to walk towards the figure. As she gets close enough to see who it is, it is someone she recognizes-L. He looks at the bell tower of the church. A beam of light perfectly illuminates his face; eye closed he bathes in the sunlight on a cold winter-foggy day.

“Do you hear them, L?” In that beam of light they chime.”

“No, they are frozen in time, scared to move, scared to sway from their norm-the hobby that has become a duty. They wait for the command, the use of the skills they a molded for-the next death to dong for.” Sani takes L’s hand and rest her head on his shoulder. Saying nothing they stare at the church together sitting on the snowy street no one drives down.

             “Who could comprehend the man who had lived his life, and had to live confronting all the lives ended prematurely, the tears of the grief stricken survivors, the devaluing of life as a daily reality. How was it possible to measure the pain of such a man? Was it a strain so heavy that L's back curved under all its weight? Was it an agony so terrible as to leave the indelible dark circles around his eyes? Was it a feeling so bitter that every bite he took needed to be coated in sugar? The chronically rounded shoulders, the inevitable dark circles, the eccentric tastes---L suppressed the pain of being a champion of justice, but the evidence of the pain was molded into his very body."- L: Change the World

            Sani wakes up to find L is gone or rather that he was not there to begin with. A phantom who comes and gone out of her life. She lies in the snow and makes a snow angel on the side of the church. In the distance, she hears the kids calling to her. She sits up to see them running towards her. They laugh as she is covered in snow from head to foot, but then notice the snow angel. Kiara falls beside her mother and makes one too. The boys decide to build a snowman to accompany their angels. Sani gets up and picks up Kiara as they look at the boy’s creation, smiling she suggests they head home. As they walk home the fog rapidly disperses and suddenly the sun was shining everywhere as the evening sun gave a great orange glow to the snow and a bit of warmth to the cold wind that blows the shimmering snow around.

            When they get home, they strip off all their clothes besides their underwear and throw them into the washing machine. They take hot showers to warm their bodies back up and get into their winter themed pajamas. Matt has ones with videogame characters on it dressed in Christmas clothes, Mello has one with candy on it while Near’s has snowflakes and Kiara has mistletoes. Somehow they all manage to fit in her queen sized bed that night. She can see that they are tired from their outdoor activities; Kiara keeps nodding off but tries to stay awake with the boys. Deciding not to bore them with a story, she decides to sing them a song to make their dreams tonight good ones. She sings to them as if they are much younger than they are, but despite their age they still enjoy it.

“Somewhere over the rainbow, way up high, there's a land that I've heard of once in a lullaby.” She strokes Kiara’s head as Kiara mumbles the next verse.

“Somewhere over the rainbow, skies are blue and the dreams that you dare to dream really do come true.” She sucks on her thumb and closes her eyes.

“That’s right, Kiara.”

“Someday I'll wish upon a star and wake up where the clouds are far behind me.” Matt tries to sings but just says it instead.

 “Where troubles melt like lemon drops, high above the chimney tops, that's where you'll find me. Somewhere over the rainbow, blue birds fly.” She hugs the boys and Kiara closer indicating that they are blue birds. “Birds fly over the rainbow, why then, oh why can't I?” She continues to hum the song until they fall asleep.

 “If happy little bluebirds fly beyond the rainbow, why, oh why can't I?” L finishes the song from the hallway as he drifts to sleep in his iconic sitting position. He doesn’t sleep for long though and is gone by morning after kissing both Sani and Kiara on the forehead.

            In the years following, Kiara became closer and closer with Matt, Mello and Near. Mello and Matt become especially attached to Sani and Matt even develops a crush on Kiara after seeing no hope in having a relationship with her mom. Kiara is turned off by Matt liking her mom more but she also wonders why boys tend to have an Oedipus complex and did he have a big one. After L died, he made it his job for her not to have another lover in her life telling her that her daughter’s and sons’ love are enough. For a while she stayed single, but eventually she started to date again.

 

 

            Kiara paces around the hotel room, fiddling with a locket on her chest. Inside it is the only picture she took with her father when she was six. She opens and closes it repeatedly as she studies L’s notes on the recent killings in Australia. Unlike the others, there seems to be less of a pattern. She feels like they are more coincidences than anything. Ryuk floats upside down while eating a juicy red apple; very loudly he smacks his lips and bites into it allowing Kiara to hear ever crunch which is driving Kiara crazy.

“Ryuk, I am trying to concentrate. Don’t make me take away all the apples in his hotel room!” She scolds him as if he was a human and a child, both of which he is far from.

“So demanding; you’re like Light, not afraid of telling a shinigami what to do.”

“Don’t ever compare me to that monster!”

“And yet you did it again; very bold of you.” Kiara gives him a death glare and tenses up her face.

“Have you concluded anything yet, Kiara?” Near asks.

“All I am getting is that someone is playing with human lives randomly. The murders may be connected, deaths may have been manipulated, but it seems that this owner doesn’t have a vendetta. Most of the murders are centered in a red light district know for much gambling, prostitution and criminal activity.”

“Let us begin our search there then.” He puts on a plain white t-shirt and plaid-blue pajamas pants. Kiara shakes her head in disappointment seeing that he will never but on normal clothes even when he is four years shy of thirty years old.

            Being night time they choose the perfect time to do a stakeout of the red light district when activity is extremely high. They walk through the streets of Sydney with the backdrop of the opera house in the distance. Men whistle at Kiara who isn’t wearing anything too revealing; a simple yellow shirt that ties around the neck with a white jacket over it to hide the laced back and white Bermuda shorts. Near follows closely behind her but not too closely so people won’t think they are together.

            Kiara spots a prostitute talking to herself as she looks around in the crowd. Not seeming suspicious at first because she is probably just looking her net customer, but suspicion grows as she pulls out a thin black note book with white writing on the cover and heads into a nearby hotel. Kiara decides to follow her. The prostitute takes the elevator to the sixth floor and heads into the normally feared room, 666. Kiara breaks into the room next to it and luckily no one is using the room. She listens through the wall.

“What do you mean my death note doesn’t work?”

“When I tried to use it the other day it just stopped working. I wrote down a pimp’s name and he didn’t die and he took all the money I won at the casino too.” She says with her hands folded while pouting.

“I don’t understand why it would stop working. I can still kill humans with mine though, so I guess I’ll do the killing for you until I can figure out what happened.”

            Kiara knows exactly what happened, the death note the prostitute has was working before Ryuk returned to the human world. With his return he reactivated the first death note to be bought into the human world causing the prostitute’s to become inactive. That’s the conclusion Kiara comes up with anyways.

“So annoying but I guess you can kill him for me so I can get back my money. I need that money if I want to bribe The States and Canada for resources. Australia will become a world power and won’t be viewed as a weak country with the threat of World War III.”

“Out of all the countries on this planet I’d say Australia is the most innocent. Your people deserve to live though this war. Maybe live in a world with us shinigami-here on earth.”

“You’d like that wouldn’t you.” She walks over to him and rests her head on his chest”. For a shinigami, Zellogi you don’t look that scary. You’re not all bones either.” The prostitute says as she runs her pointer finger in a circle around his chest. He touches her lower back with his non-hook hand.

“Your skin is really soft. I like soft things. Everything in the shinigami realm is so hard.”

“Oh, you like soft things. I have something even softer you can touch.” She lifts up her leg up the side of his body where his hook hand is. She walks sultry to the bed in the hotel room and gestures him to come and get her. He lies next to her thinking she wants him to sleep with her in the literal sense. She laughs and rolls her eyes as she climb on top of him.

“Touch me anywhere, I’m soft all over.” She tells him as she unhooks her bra, tosses it to the floor and rubs her body on his. Zellogi doesn’t know what to do, but he likes how she feels.

            Zellogi is a shinigami that is rank 5 of 13 making him one of the higher ranked ones. He likes soft things but hates humidity, so he enjoys the dry heat of Australia. He has killed many humans and has little empathy for them, but he does have a soft spot for this prostitute. He is one of the more intelligent ones, but right now his mind is compromised by his desire to feel soft things. He knows shinigami can’t reproduce with humans so he doesn’t fear getting her pregnant, but he does know that shinigami have never engaged in sexual activity before. Seeing little harm, he gives in. As he gets on top of her and thrusts his hips he fails to notice that his extended tail bone is impaling her through her back. When he finally notices, she is already dead from blood loss.

“Shinigami are not permitted to have sex with each other or humans. And what’s worse, he killed the human in the process.” Ryuk says to Kiara from behind as he appears out of nowhere. She jumps up and would have hit Ryuk’s face if he hadn’t allowed her to phase through him.

“Geesh, Ryuk, don’t scare me like that!”

“There you go again.” She rolls her eyes and breaks down the door to retrieve the death notes. A pile of sand covers the woman’s body that’s wrapped in blankets. The death notes stick out of the pile of sand. Kiara takes both and meets up with Near who is gambling with some local thugs. She pulls him away from the game he was about to win and loses the money he had put in the pot-only twenty bucks. She gives Near the death notes and tells him that it is the inactive one. L calls the rest of his team to inform them that the ones in Egypt, Brazil and North Korea are real and for them to take every precaution possible-necessary or not. Kiara and Near head back to Japan to deal with the criminal Mogi and Yamamoto brought back from Mexico. He orders Sani to return to Japan from Brazil to watch over the prisoner with him and Kiara while sending Yamamoto to North Kores with Halle to join Ide and Aizawa. Matsuda waits in Brazil for Stephan’s arrival.

 

            January 25^th, 2013: a month after Christmas, three days before Light is to be discovered as being Kira, three days before his death. Sani and Kiara put away the groceries they just bought from the market. Late night grocery shopping is always the less stressful option to avoid dealing with crazy housewives fighting over food that is on sale-of course that means that they essential get the leftovers. Kiara turns on the TV to have some noise in the eerily quiet house. Kiara is fond of her new home though, it’s a Spanish villa styled house in the middle of Japan having a beautiful garden surrounding the house and a balcony facing the backyard that overlooks a giant fountain; a backyard equipped with a pool to swim in, chairs to lunge in, a minibar to drink at and chess table to stimulate the brain while outdoors.

            While Sani is watching TV and Kiara is in the shower, the doorbell rings. Expecting someone else to be at the door she is surprised to see Mello and Matt. Mello’s face is hidden in shadow due to the hood covering most of his face, while Matt has his sunglasses on, eyes glued to a portable videogame.

“Near was right. He told me that you’d probably pay me a visit soon. What are you up to now?” She opens the door and gestures them to come inside. Matt sits on the couch trying to finish his videogame. Mello pulls down his hood exposing the huge scar on his face.

‘What happened to you, Mello?”

“When I left Wammy House, I joined the Mafia in California determined to catch Kira before Near does. With their help I was able to steal the death note in the Japanese Task Force’s possession only to have it taken back by your uncle, Soichiro Yagami. I wish he hadn’t threatened my life and put his life on the line. Somehow he knew my name…those eyes maybe.” He takes a bite of his chocolate bar and talks with it sticking out of his mouth.

“After one of the mafia men shot him, I knew I couldn’t save him. To escape I blew up our hideout and left empty handed but with a scar filled face. I’m sorry for your uncle, Sani. I never anticipated him to retaliate. I’m sorry for Sayu too; I heard she wasn’t doing too well mentally.”

“It’s not your fault, Mello. I’m sure Light manipulated the situation. Don’t blame yourself for his death. As for Sayu, she will recover but I don’t know how long it will take.”

“That makes me feel somewhat better, but that’s not why we came here to talk to you. Matt and I wanted to say goodbye.” Matt’s hands stop moving but the videogame keeps going on without him.

“Goodbye? I don’t understand.”

“We already informed Halle about our plan. The whole case can be resolved if a name is written in the Death Note.” Matt starts with. Kiara come down the stairs recognizing their voices.

“Yes, we plan on kidnapping Kiyomi Takada to force Kira and the second Kira to act in order to reveal the location of the real death note. This way, Gevanni can tamper with it, Near can confront Kira and bring him to justice. L won’t die in vain.” Kiara grips her locket tightly as she holds back her anger, her sadness, her frustration. Matt walks over to her and hugs her firmly.

“No more…I don’t want anyone else to die.” Kiara buries her head into Matt’s chest, hugging him back tightly causing his shirt to become wet from tears.

“Live action fight to the death is a perfect way to go in my book.” He tells Kiara and Sani as he comforts Kiara by rubbing her back.

“Matt, who are you kidding, you know you won’t fight. When they catch you, you’ll just surrender.”

“Hey, you have to choose your battle wisely if you want to live another day.” Sani pulls Mello into her chest. He refuses to cry accepting his fate knowing he will sacrifice his inferiority complex, his unwillingness to work with Near and his life to bring an end to Kira’s terror. Sani insists that they stay the night, eat a good meal, take a warm shower and get a good night’s sleep in the home of their family. Her house has five bedrooms, so they can all sleep in their own beds if they so choose but Matt and Mello sleep in Kiara’s room.

            Sani is still waiting for one more visitor, so she stays downstairs. She turns off most of the lights and lights some candles and the fireplace. She plays Clair De Lune on the piano in her living room and sings words to it she heard from one of Matt’s videogames called Rain. She plays and sings loud enough knowing that Kiara, Mello and Matt are listening upstairs, singing them to sleep like the good old days.

“Been wandering ‘round…lost in this night. Like a stranger I walk alone through a cold and empty world; where the rain whispers to my heart and the moon light shows me the way." Ironically it starts raining outside, but it is gentle. A weird warming of weather in late January. 

"Scared to move, fade away, sinking to find a light that once was mine. Where raindrops fall, where moonlight knows they are guiding me to your place." The moon is full tonight and it shines though the window on the other side of the room.

"I’ll always be by your side; you bring joy to this night. Take my hand now we’ll find a path. When the rain stops we know there’ll be a rainbow. Where raindrops fall…fall.” Tears runs down her face onto the piano as she uses it as a crutch.

            The next day, Matt and Mello carry out their plan. Matt launches a smoke bomb from his car to make her security panic. Halle escorts Kiyomi Takada to a motorcycle telling her she need to get away fast. Mello is the motorcycle driver and kidnaps her while Matt draws her security team away from them. Mello manages to steal a delivery truck and drives it to an abandoned-ruined church with Kiyomi in the back. As expected Light orders her to kill Mello and he dies of a heart attack.

When he confirms with her that he is dead, Light uses a torn piece of the Death Note to kill Kiyomi by suicide. When Light and the rest of the task force arrive to their location, the truck and church were consumed in flames, burning the torn piece of death note paper Kiyomi used to kill Mello-Mihael Keehl. Unknown to Light, Teru Mikami thought he couldn’t act, strayed away from him obsessive routine and went to his safety deposit box to kill Kiyomi too; revealing the location of the real death note. As for Matt, his death was more painful and prolonged than a heart attack. When Kiyomi’s security team surrounded him he stepped out of his car believing that they would take him in for questioning, but he was wrong. With his hands up they shoot him without mercy. He falls onto his car and slides down it into a pool of his own blood. Using his last breath to smoke his cigarette one last time, it falls on his bloodstained coat and it catches fire.

Everyone watches as he burnt to death on live TV- reinforcing to the public that Kira’s will is absolute and those that challenge him will pay with their life. She buried her mother, buried her fiancé, buried her uncle, buried her grandfather and now she buries two of her sons-both coffins full of ashes.