jackielxxn

[grimalkinmessor]

My other favorite flavor of riteru is Teruki trying his best, his absolute damnedest to woo Ritsu, flirting, flowers, not-so-subtle date offers, chocolates, compliments, until he just gets so fed up with Ritsu's obliviousness that he just comes out and SAYS it, full confession style, flowers and everything—

and Ritsu immediately locks up and goes, "Oh, I see how it is. Now that you know you can't have nii-san, you'll just go for the next best thing, right? The better Kageyama rejects you so you go for the second-place one instead!"

And Hanazawa, meanwhile, just: "...Otouto-kun, what the fuck are you even talking about"

[dragonciphering]

Okay so I’ve been having brain rot over MP100 ageswap!au but with Reigen and Mogami as friends. Here’s some of my headcannons so far.

Reigen has known Mogami sense he was 5yrs and can kinda sense his aura. But thinks that he’s just associating certain smells/colors with him.

Mogami’s aura feels more ‘friendly’ or ‘not as dangerous’ to Reigen then it might for others. (This fic describes how I would imagine Mogami’s aura)

Reigen either knows that Mogami is a psychic or is told by Mogami that he is one and they figure out/test out his abilities together.

The first time that Mogami astral-projects it gives Reigen a heart attack. And that causes Reigen to repeatedly poke his deadweight body with a stick ‘As revenge.’ until Mogami can find his way back into his body.

Mogami despite being a spirit (he’s not dead, but his spirit is out of his body) whacks him upside the head for that.

‘Hey! I’ll have you know that my reaction was justified! The way your body just….ragdolled was freaky’

‘So you poked my body multiple times without knowing what might of happened?’

‘Would you rather I had tried to get you to respond by pouring water on you or something?’

‘…I should’ve hit you harder…’

I love the idea of Ritsu, a grown ass adult, having beef with Reigen….But can you imagine the hilarity of Mogami having beef with Teru?

Like the first time they meet Teru, Mogami immediately tries to either exercise or de-curse him because:

‘There is no way in hell that someone made a conscious decision to wear that. I refuse to believe it.’ 

Reigen doesn’t try to stop him. He’s too busy trying to get his eyes to work again from seeing, in his words,

‘The ugliest, biggest, and most hurtful fashion disaster since Cat in the Hat, Barney and Chuck E Cheeze.’

Teru is frozen. He sheds a single tear while his remaining pride is verbally demolished by two 14 year olds. Shou, Dimple, and Tome can be heard cackling in the background. Even Ritsu let’s out a laugh.

‘Like your one to laugh Ritsu—”

‘What did you just say to me you child!?’

Ritsu had to be stopped from throwing hands by Dimple. Shou and Tome were to busy wheezing on the floor to do anything, while Teri was still having a crisis.

Mogami knows a lot of oddly terrifying knowledge about birds and bugs. No one know where he gets this information.

Reigen likes asking him questions/listening to him talking about them because it’s one one of the few times that he is the listener, but also because it’s only of the few times that Mogami outwardly looks genuinely passionate and happy.

They both have influenced each other’s mannerisms.

Mogami’s one is when he’s exasperated he copy’s Reigen hand gesture and does this. Or this.

Reigen’s one is his deadpan stare/unaffected look that he is almost always seen having on his face. Except when, y’know, he doesn’t.

Reigen still is unbeatable at rock, paper, scissors. And yes, Mogami will die mad about that. It one of the few things that he will put aside his grudges against someone for.

‘Listen up Teruki Hanazawa, because I will only say this once. DO. NOT. CHALLENGE. ARATAKA. TO. A. ROCK, PAPER, SCISSORS. GAME.’

‘Wha—’

‘I am only telling you this for your own sake….and so you can’t say I didn’t warn you.’

Mogami then walked away without saying anything else with a murder of crows deciding that, that specific moment was the time to caw ominously. And leaving a confused and slightly terrified Teru behind.

@choogoo

@mp100days

@mobofficial

@modmad

@phantomrose96

@sandflakedraws

@ohwwhuv

@idl3nova

(Thought you guys might want to be @‘d :D)

[that-was-anticlimactic]

a random list of all of my favorite things from the third mp100 stage play:

teru dancing over to terada and his crew as the opening starts

actually? all of teru's gay little dancing - especially that little "whoosh" gesture he does when he puts his barrier around miyagawa pls i love him

the opening. specifically how ritsu and shige are holding their heads and grimacing in pain while the awakening lab kids dance

but also how reigen is the one to put a hand on shige's shoulder to snap him out of his head. just like he does later. UGH.

ritsu trying to high-five the awakening lab kids but they're already high-fiving each other so he just awkwardly puts his hands down

"what the hell are you doing, man?" "y-you? you're a gangster?"

shou pretending that the scars forced him to be there and that reigen's "gotta help [him]" and then when reigen says "really?" shou just instantly gets serious and goes "give me back my ten thousand yen" and they argue for a second

shou going "yeah, real scared"

literally just the aloof, having a good time attitude shou has the entire time ijuhgfcvghj and the way he just was Constantly able to get at reigen also his facial expressions the ENTIRE SHOW

when teru puts a barrier around miyagawa and keeps trying to explain himself but miyagawa keeps interrupting him and teru is like "you're not even listening" all exasperated and then miyagawa goes "i'm in no state to be listening :("

teru genuinely being scared after fighting miyagawa and like sweating and just staring and saying "that was scary"

when mutou tells the awakening lab kids + ritsu to show him their abilities and they're all like shaking their heads and then asahi is like "screw it" and starts to light his finger on fire until ritsu and the others convince him to stop

when asahi uses his pyrokinesis to bend the spoon and hoshino grabs for it but it's hot so he and daichi toss it back and forth and then he and asahi just yell "pyrokinesis" and "psychokinesis" over and over again

when ritsu walks out of their cell (for staging purposes, not escaping) and everyone is like, looking at him and like gesturing for him to come back

when they close the cell without him and then he just. stares at it until one of the stage hands opens it for him and then he walks in and closes it on himself

karaharada takuya (teru) just absolutely losing it when takeshi nadagi (dimple) improvs

reigen protecting all the kids by standing in front of them with his arms out while shou fights ishiguro

AND when he does that before he prepares to fight ishiguro, beckoning ritsu and teru away from the fight and back towards shige

AND when matsuo is like "omg my bbies are done eating each other! everyone behold my masterpiece" iNCLUDING THE AWAKENING LAB KIDS

look. either sakurai and koyama's actors had amazing chemistry, or those Little Moments between them were Gay. or both. both is good.

the way matsuo says: "you're not the boss" *chef's kiss* excellent delivery

when shige and ritsu reunite and ritsu is upset that shige won't let him apologize and shige just... slowly reaches out and pets ritsu's hair

reigen saying "come on guys, this is insane! they're only kids!"

shige's reaction to teru's hair getting cut

also. the way they had sakurai just sliced his wig and the MUSIC during that omg

reigen trying to figure out how to stop ishiguro from fighting/hurting shou and when ishguro hits shou off-stage, reigen like runs up to where he left and says: "oi, are you okay, kid?" and then swears

seiichirō nagata (shou). just. him in general.

sakurai's face after reigen tells his bento box story like the few seconds before he says "that was your fault" he looks SO confused and the acting there is AMAZING

baba's (reigen) delivery of "tell me what does that make you?"

when reigen tells ishiguro to "quit leaning on that logic, gramps. it's painful to watch" and then just. walks away from him and sits down while he monologues oiugytftyhuji

when shige tells ishiguro that " having powers don't make you popular" and rei chimes in with "it's uncool" and reigen just nods and goes "so that settles it. you won't be popular" and then ishiguro's reaction is AMAZING

"great work just now! it wasn't entirely honest, though" "what're you talking about?" "time to pay you back in earnest. well, ig i'm just doing my job as well"

shou's delivery of "you disappoint me. damn coward"

dimple breaking the fourth wall by going "what's that melody i hear?" after he gets out jkhgfcdxcghjk

shou putting his feet on reigen's table and reigen taking it SO personally and it's just. a back and forth of shou putting his feet on the table and cackling and reigen pushing them off until reigen just. picks it up and moves it lol

diMPLE CALLING RITSU "OCTOPUS"??? MULTIPLE TIMES??? until ritsu asks to exorcise him and shige sAYS HE DOESN'T MIND??? PLS

when shige just. picks up the car and carries it.

the way they showed koyama being thrown around by shige's powers

the just. the soft way that shige holds ritsu's unconscious body when he finds it

shige's sCREAM when mutou shows him the vision of ritsu sTABBED AND BLEEDING TO DEATH - amazing

"leave it to shishou" on the screen 🥺

ALL of teru's facial expressions during the scene when shou brings shige and ritsu's unconscious bodies in - like when he says not to be scared and when matsuo is like "tehe got dimple" they're all SO GOOD his actor is incredible with the facials

the scene where reigen finally sees shige & co. again and there's just the darkness and harrowing echoing footsteps and then. it's just reigen.

ritsu + the awakening labs kids crawling uNDER GEN'S LEGS TO GET TO KAITO??? PLS and how rei just. said "absolutely not" and stood up and walked past him

all of daichi's facials as he hears kaito's thoughts PLS they were so funny

the awakening lab kids trying to convince hoshino to like knock the educator out while ritsu is monologuing to him

also when the cast is giving their speeches and dimple's actor says he wants a nicer ritsu next time and they all just CACKLE and gaku accidentally pulls his head piece off aGAIN

teru's actor saying he laughed more than anyone in the audience

and ofc the whole 100% reigen scene. it was done SO WELL and is probably my favorite version of that scene. baba just does SUCH an amazing job and nails all the facial expressions and line deliveries and like... idk it's just... he does SUCH a good job being like "these are kids. you guys are adults. grow up" it just hits different here

the whole thing tbh

you can tell that the cast is having fun and loves what they're doing and loves working with each other. like... the chemistry between all the actors is AMAZING but ESPECIALLY the chemistry between ito & baba (shige & reigen) and ito & matsumoto (shige & ritsu)

and that's what REALLY makes the stage plays special above all else

[parkingdumpy]

Angelica's Pathetic Blunt

Guys I am not a writer 😭😭 im sorry if this isn't the best but this scenario just needed to be written. Angie and KT are @allay2021 's OCs!!!

-

"...Why is it so THIN?!" KT asked, exasperated and pondering Angelica's freshly rolled blunt. It was close to the thickness of a toothpick. It was dark out, around 11:00 pm, and the three of them stood on the porch outside the Caprae residence, gazing at the roll in wonder. Or rather, Terunosuke was trying his best to muffle his giggles, KT was laughing so hard she was crying, and Angelica looked as if she was about to murder the both of them.

"Uh, well... should we light it?"

"No, you idiot, we eat it. Of course you light it." Terunosuke remarked.

"Hey, leave me alone man, I've never done this before!" KT huffed as she pulled out a lighter from her pocket.

"...Why do you have that handy?" Angelica said as she glared at her.

"Emergencies." With a few clacks the flame burned bright, illuminating the three. KT hesitantly lighted it. A few beats pass of her just staring at the toothpick-like blunt.

Terunosuke gives her a look, eyebrows furrowed. "...Well don't just stand there. Hit it." She raises it to her lips and breathes in. She starts coughing immediately, passing it to Teru. I don't know how weed works but I'm assuming that they hit it until it runs out 💀. It's a pathetic blunt rotation.

KT takes a seat on a lawn chair. She doesn't feel so good, her head hurts and her vision is busy. It's almost as if the saturation on the world has been increased. Everything is bright and complicated and overwhelming.

She passes out for a grand total of a minute and wakes up to see a very abstract terunosuke shaking her by the shoulders, almost resembling his appearance on the cover while he was a book.

"KT, please, it was almost a negative amount of weed it was so thin. You can't already be hallucinating, right?" She stares at him in response, answering his question.

Great, he thinks, it's already gone to shit. Maybe it's the placebo effect...am I the only one not being affected by this miniscule amount of weed? Wait. Where's Angelica...?

He glances back at the house thinking that she went back inside when a light on the roof catches his eye.

Angelica was on the roof. Holding a lighter. Swaying it back and forth as one would with a phone with the flash on at a concert.

His heart dropped into his metaphorical balls. What the fuck was going on.

"Angelica... how did you get up there... what are you doing??" She glared at him in response. Reluctantly, Terunosuke uses his stand to pull himself onto the roof.

He takes a seat next to her. She doesn't acknowledge his presence, eyes focused on the lighter. He stares, worried.

Angelica suddenly stood up with her eyebrows furrowed. "Oh my god shut the fuck up. Shut up. Everyone shut up. SHUT UP. SHUT THE FUCK UP."

"..."

"SHUT THE FUCK UP. BE QUIET SHUT UP. SHUT YOUR FUCKING MOUTH. SHUT THE FUCK UP."

"..."

"..."

"...No one said anything??" Terunosuke points out, exasperated.

"Listen, Angie, I get it, you're frustrated. You wanna play splatoon with me?" KT asks from her lawn chair on the ground. Angelica nods and uses Mea Culpa to get down.

Terunosuke joins them on the lawn and watches as they play. Angelica has convinced herself that she's actually in the game, and KT is terrified of every other player, playing so much more cautiously than normal. Every few minutes she'll ask Terunosuke something about the game she definitely knows the answer to, and every time she replies "Damn, that's crazy."

"...sleepy." Angie says, finally breaking her silence after 30 minutes. She gets up and heads towards the door immediately. KT and Terunosuke look at eachother, shug, and follow her. When they reach her, she's covered in blankets and clutching onto KT's enormous Miku plush for dear life. The other two wordlessly agree to join her. Terunosuke wonders why such little weed set them off like this.

"I wish I was a squid."

What the hell did she put in that blunt.

[alvacchi]

SCENARIO: White's Day

[Yashiro and Aoi walk together to their school lockers, first arriving at Aoi's]

[Aoi opens her school locker to find chocolate spilling all over the floor]

Aoi: Oh!

Yashiro: Aoi?! Wow, as expected of the most popular girl. But why are there so many today?

Aoi: Nene-chan, have you forgotten?

Yashiro: Huh?

Aoi: Today is White's Day!

Yashiro: Oh. That day....

Aoi: What's wrong? Weren't you looking forward to this day?

Yashiro: Yeah but you know, Aoi. I realized every year when this day comes, I barely get any from the guys.

Aoi: Maybe that will change this year!

Yashiro: You think so?

Aoi: Don't give up hope, Nene-chan!

Yashiro: Aoi...you're such a good friend.

Aoi: Hehe....hm it's so strange...

Yashiro: What is?

Aoi: Akane-kun would usually be standing by my locker, swatting the boys off. I wonder what happened...

Yashiro: Huh....

---

[Meanwhile]

Hanako: Boy, what's with all the commotion today? The girls seem really excited.

Kou: Don't know...maybe today is a special day? Teru-nii might know!

Hanako: Ah. You go ask him then. I'll stay here in the meantime. I don't want to be exorcised.

Kou: Got it! I'll be right back!

---

[At the student council office]

Kou: NII-CHAN--!

Akane: LET GO OF ME YOU BASTARD! I GOTTA GO SAVE AO-CHAN!

[Kou witnesses Teru using his exorcist beads to lock Akane in his place]

Kou: Ah

Teru: Oh Kou! Do you need something?

Akane: Oi help me out here! Your brother is abusing his power!

Kou: Is there a reason for this?

Teru: This boy neglected his duties the other day so I have to discipline him. So what are you here for?

Kou: Oh yeah! Do you know what day today is?

Teru: Hm? It's March 14th...I think there's a holiday.

Kou: March 14th....Oh! I think I got it! Thank you, Nii-chan! [Leaves]

Akane: ...you were intentionally vague, weren't you.

Teru: Kou's just cute like that but let's put that aside. Now, where were we?

[Teru approaches Akane with a smile while Akane starts sweating like crazy.]

Akane: Come on! Why today?! I just don't want any guys to confess to Ao-chan! AaaaAAAAAA!

---

[Back to Kou]

Kou: Hanako! I got it! Today, we gotta make some for Senpai! I'll show you how!

Hanako: Oh okay! What are we making?

Kou: You'll see!

[They set off to use some kitchen appliances]

--

[After school, Yashiro looks into her empty locker in exasperation.]

Yashiro: Hah~ I knew it. I don't think anybody paid any attention to me.

[Kou comes dashing towards her while Hanako floats alongside him.]

Kou: Senpai!

Hanako: Yashiro!

Yashiro: Minamoto-kun! Hanako-kun! Why are you guys here?

Kou: Hehe! Isn't it obvious? We got something for you!

Yashiro: !!! Aw, you guys! Okay! I'll accept it, even if you two are not my type!

Kou: Okay! Here it is!

[Hanako and Kou show off their gift together]

Kou & Hanako: It's a strawberry pie!

Yashiro:

Yashiro: Pie.

Kou: Yeah since today's Pi Day!

...Ah! Did we get it wrong?

Hanako: You like strawberry-filled rice cakes right? So we thought strawberry flavored would work.

Yashiro: Oh no! I'm grateful! Thank you guys! 'Well...not what I was expecting but this works'

Kou: Thank goodness!

Hanako: Yay!

Yashiro: Minamoto-kun. Hanako-kun.

Kou & Hanako: Hm?

Yashiro: Let's share! I don't think I can finish this by myself. Alright? [Smiles]

Kou & Hanako: !!! [Their faces light up]

Kou & Hanako: Yeah!

[moro-nokimi]

Chapter 6: January 6, 2011

Summary: All hell breaks loose.

AN: HERE WE GO LESBIANS THIS IS THE PENULTIMATE CHAPTER.  Okay, excitement aside, when Light screams and collapses, google search “Light Yagami confession italian” - first result on youtube is the one you want. Would also recommend google searching “Struts somebody new” after the January 22 pagebreak, but it isn’t mandatory. I just like to torture my readers. TWs: death of a loved one, suicide, burning. Ask to tag.

ffn.online

“How’s it going, Gevanni?” Rester asked.

“I haven’t been able to confirm the presence of a Shinigami for the past week. And Mikami’s still on his regular routine.”

“I think it’s safe now,” Near said.

“Huh?”

(Poor guy looked wiped the fuck out, no wonder he was a bit slow in the brain area.)

“I want you to get your hands on the notebook again when you go to the gym tomorrow. And this time, take photographs of all the pages.”

“Photographs?” Rester repeated.

“Yes. I want to see for myself how the names are actually written. Most of Kira’s killings occur after midnight, but I want to find out if that’s because of Mikami’s clockwork life, or if he’s controlling the time of death. And if there are any rules to the way he writes the names down, if he has any habits… What does this notebook look like? Its appearance, front cover, back cover. I want to see all the small details with my own eyes.”

“All right.”

January 7 “So, what do you think, Near?” Rester asked.

“Gevanni has done well.”

“That’s not what I meant!” Rester sounded exasperated, and Naomi couldn’t hold in a snicker.

“Relax, Rester. This will all go more or less smoothly,” Naomi said.

“You sound convinced.”

Because if I die I see Raye again. And if I don’t, I get revenge. Either way, I’ll be at peace and I can move on.

“The handwriting on this matches Mikami’s handwriting on the investigation records he wrote as a prosecutor. This is definitely written by Mikami," Near said.

“Right.”

“Apart from Demegawa and the man on the train, everyone else’s name is written in after midnight. And only their names have been written down. A page per day. He stops killing people when the page is full. Yes, looks like I can put my plan into action.

“Commander Rester, get me Gevanni. … The photographs are very clear. We should be able to do it, then,” Near said.

“Right…?”

“But I was expecting the killer notebook to be much stranger, with some kind of magical power radiating from it. But it really is an ordinary notebook, just like Mello said.”

“Like he’d have a reason to lie when he came to HQ for an exchange?” Naomi pointed out.

“Still, you never know.”

“Either way, it still looks like a regular college notebook.”

“I can see that,” Naomi said.

“Anyways, the important thing is that your name isn’t written down in this, Gevanni,” Near said.

“Uh huh.”

“The notebook at the Japanese task force headquarters is under Mr Aizawa’s surveillance. So long as this notebook isn’t possessed by a Shinigami, I think it’s safe to say that you’re not being controlled by another Kira.”

“I told you that I’m fine. Do I look like I’m being controlled? If I was, I wouldn’t have been able to take those photographs in the first place,” Gevanni replied, distinctly peeved. Ah, I remember the days I’d be annoyed at a superior for supposed micromanagement.

“Just to be safe, please go down to the hospital to receive a complete physical exam to see if you’ve developed any illness.”

“Okay…”

“If you’re still alive 23 days after the first time you touched the notebook—on January 23rd—it means there was no Shinigami possessing the notebook when you touched it, and Mikami doesn’t know about you. And if there is no Shinigami, then there should be no problem with you tailing him, so after January 23rd, at the first possible opportunity, we’re going to settle this fight once and for all.

“Until then, we’ll concentrate on Light Yagami, Kiyomi Takada, and Teru Mikami—as we’ve been doing so far. But there’s one last thing we must do—every one of us, but especially you, Gevanni… I’m going to have to ask you to do something.”

⁂

Naomi exhaled and laid on her back. It was quickly approaching five in the morning, and she hadn’t slept since she woke up at six the previous day. Nausea was starting to set in. Whether it was from the sleep deprivation or the fact that she could only stomach liquid, only time would tell.

She stood and walked to the kitchen for what felt like the fifth time that day. Rester had went to sleep roughly an hour ago, and Gevanni had came in about 45 minutes ago. Stupidly enough, she was thinking about when Lidner would next come in.

Stupid.

Her and Lidner hadn’t seen much of each other since that spat and the fact that Lidner had the luck to come into that bodyguard job, but she managed to luck out—in its loosest form of use—and meet with Lidner.

“Listen, I really do want to say that I’m sorry for… bringing up your fiance like that,” Lidner said, cringing as she paused. “I definitely crossed a line and I’m sorry.”

Part of Naomi had wanted to say that she should fucking well be; there are plenty of things that are off limits and bringing up dead people close to you is one of them. Before she knew it, she was nodding. “I definitely shouldn’t have snapped at you as quickly as I did—even in having my grief prodded at like that.”

Lidner nodded. “It’s all right, I don’t blame you. Truce?”

They shook hands.

She was grateful to not have that to worry about, to say the least. The last thing she needed was to be perpetually kicking herself for spilling her guts to Lidner like that and reacting the way she did.

January 22 “It went well. I did everything you said.”

“Okay.” Vertebrae cracked in Near’s neck as he rotated it to get a closer look at his action figure. “Now, I want you to keep your eyes on Mikami as you’ve been doing, until the 24th. If you don’t notice anything different about Mikami by then, we’ll go head to head against L right away.”

Lidner walked in at midnight.

“Oh. You’re still here,” she said.

Naomi nodded. “Fortunately or not. I can’t sleep for the life of me.”

“Yeah, I feel you. Gevanni’s whiny ass is constantly talking about how screwed up his sleep schedule is, but I can’t say as I blame the man. Near gave me the rundown as to what was going on. Sounds exciting.” Lidner wiggled her toes as she stepped out of her heels. Naomi didn’t envy her.

“Agreed.” And here was the part that stuck in Naomi’s throat even as she rehearsed what she’d say. “Um, listen… if all doesn’t go well when we meet with L, I do want to say that I—”

Emotionally, it felt like Naomi had been hit in the chest with a sack of bricks. She didn’t feel it physically, thankfully, because that was always a sign that a panic attack was coming—and no one wanted to have a panic attack in front of a woman they were even remotely into.

She exhaled. “I’m going about this badly. I’m sorry if I’m wasting your time.”

“It’s all right. I think I’m overdue for having my time wasted by someone that’s not Kiyomi Takada.”

Naomi nodded, too wired to laugh however briefly. “I’m trying to say that I have f—” She winced. “I have fff—I like you a lot. A lot, a lot.”

“I would hope so. Having two coworkers at each others throats isn’t conducive to an environment like this one.” Lidner cleared her throat. “Lampshading aside, I…”

“I mean it’s fine if you don’t reciprocate I was just—” Naomi really regretted this now. Regret plus feeling like you’re replacing your dead fiance isn’t exactly conducive to coherency of a confession of romantic feelings of your coworker to said coworker.

“Hey! It’s all good. Truth be told, I like you that much too.”

Naomi exhaled. One thing out of her way. “But the thing is… I mean, I don’t want to presume or anything—”

“I don’t think you’d be presuming anything.” Lidner ran her tongue along her lower teeth. “If you’re talking about getting into a romantic relationship, I can say as I’m not ready for it.”

“Oh—Jesus, that’s a relief—I mean, I’m not either.” Naomi hit herself upside the head. “This is coming out badly.”

“It’s all good, I get what you’re trying to say. In the future, perhaps, but…”

She nodded. “Yeah, it’s not a good idea. And working for Near in the middle of the most controversial case in the world is a full time job.”

“Agreed.”

In an unexpected reaction, Lidner leaned forward and pressed a quick kiss to Naomi’s cheek. She retreated down the hall. Naomi didn’t realize she was repressing tears until her entire head and neck began to ache.

January 25 “I think this plan’s going to work,” Rester said.

“Gevanni here.” He cleared his throat. “I’ve checked the notebook. It’s been one page per day, as always, for the past three days. Those who’ve been killed match with the names in the notebook as well. And there’s nothing different about Mikami.”

“I see…”

“Everything’s set,” Rester said.

“Yes.”

Near called L two and some change hours later. “L.”

“What is it, Near?” L asked.

“I want to meet you.”

“Uh huh…”

“There’s something I must show you that pertains to the Kira case.”

So is that how he’s phrasing things? But I suppose that’s better sounding than “I’m about to show your entire team who you are and completely destroy you and your reputation with them.”

“But if you think I’m Kira, right? Then you shouldn’t want to show your face to me.”

“Well, I can’t really show you anything unless I show my face. Showing my face will reveal something, of course, and then will bring the case to a close.”

“Very well. I want you to realize that you’re wrong.”

You have a lot of nerve to say that, don’t you? You know, that arrogance will be what brings you down.

And I can’t wait to watch it happen.

“There are several rules I must ask you to follow in order for us to meet.”

“Go ahead. You’re the one who suspects me of being Kira, so I’m sure you want to state which conditions we meet under. We don’t have any.”

“First of all, investigators from both sides are to be there. In other words, everyone who is looking for Kira will be there when we meet each other.”

“Why all of our investigators?”

“If you and I are to meet face to face, there ought to be witnesses. And even if I succeed in proving that you’re Kira, you could always take the extreme of strangling me.” Near’s brow furrowed as he added, “We’ve all been risking our lives to find Kira. if I prove Kira’s identity there, then everyone has the right—no, the responsibility—to attend. And by having everyone there, I want to make sure that any information about this meeting or my face doesn’t go public.” Near took a breath. “Everyone on this case will see what happens at this meeting—and after they see the outcome and the reality of the whole story, we’ll cooperate and decide what to do next.”

“Okay, I’m fine with that.”

Near moved his hand closer to the Misa figurine he made, hands splayed almost like an OK sign. “As I said before, there are five of us, including me. That’s everyone in the SPK. I’ll have Mr Mogi, who I’m keeping in my custody, accompany me there. I’ll release Amane before that—” and to demonstrate, he flicked the figurine, “and be sure not to tell her where we’ll be meeting.” The figurine rolled. “You can meet me after you make sure she’s actually been released. How does that sound?”

“Very well.”

Near began to stand. “Mr Aizawa will be able to tell you if the five people you see, plus Mr Mogi, are the real members of the SPK.”

“To me, it doesn’t really matter if the person who appears there is Near or not. You’ve just been stressing that point because you believe that I’m Kira, and that I won’t appear unless I know that you’re really going to come—right?”

Near paused, considering his actions.

What sort of attempted checkmate is this? You know this, the task force knows this, the rest of us know this. And the task force is—I assume—not largely full of idiots. And I’d think you’d have learned your lesson after the whole Lind L Tailor incident almost a decade ago.

“We’ve had many conversations like this in the past. Even if I don’t know your face, I’m sure I can figure out if it’s the real you once I talk to you in person. But I’ll make sure to have Aizawa tell me to double check.”

“I agree with that…”

I think, if I took a scalpel and some other tools to his skull, I’d find the gears turning in his head, Naomi thought.

“We have five investigators including me and Mogi. You’ll have to trust me on that. We’re a small group of people chasing Kira in a world like this, so I’d like to quickly settle this problem and cooperate with you and your team.”

“Very well…” Near settled into a position almost similar to her unprivate detective acquaintance in LA. “As for the place we’re going to meet, I’m thinking of one where the people inside can’t be seen from the outside.”

“You suspect me of being Kira, so it’s the natural thing to do.”

“I want it to be a place that can’t be seen even with telescopic lenses and whatnot, so I’d rather it had four walls and a roof.”

“Do you have some place in mind?"

“Daikoku Wharf. There’s an abandoned warehouse on the southeast side, called the yellow box. If that’s fine with you, I’ve taken the liberty of buying it. There’s nothing around it, and the place is empty as well. I’m sending you an image.”

Near smirked. “It’s not locked, so you can go and see it for yourself whenever you want to. And if you don’t like it, I can look for another place.” He smiled toothily. “And each of us can check for hidden cameras when we enter the building.”

“Do you have any other requirements to make sure that your face isn’t known to anyone outside of that warehouse?"

“Yes. I’d like to prohibit any communication equipment when you enter. That’s to ensure that nothing that goes on on the inside gets leaked. And to be sure that no one takes a photograph of me on their phone.”

Naomi held in laughter. What a nice callback to the incident with the girl on the train.

“No communication equipment. Okay.”

“I’d also like someone apart from L to bring the notebook from your headquarters.”

“Why do you need it?"

Near reached for a clay replica of the notebook. “Simple. If every one of you leaves the headquarters, no one will be left to guard the notebook. I promise you that I won’t try to take it from you. And I’ll refrain from touching it. If Mr Aizawa claims that the notebook you brought is the one from headquarters, I’ll believe it. But, again, please make sure that someone other than L is carrying it. Understood?”

“Very well, Near. But I can’t overlook the chances of you conspiring with someone on my side to steal the notebook. I won’t carry the notebook, but I’ll choose who carries it. Is that okay?”

“Yes. The only thing that’s left to settle is the date and time of our meeting.” Near got onto all fours.

“Of course…”

“How about three days from now, on the 28th at one PM?”

“Any time’s fine with us.”

“Remember, three days from now at three o’clock.”

“Yes.”

January 26 “Near, Mello kidnapped Takada,” Lidner relayed.

Near paused. “Lidner, have you been leaking information about our investigation to Mello?”

Lidner paused. “Yes… But I haven’t told him about Mikami.”

“If that’s the case, we should still be okay. But if Mello finds out about Mikami from Takada and seeks him out, this will all be a waste. I want you to find Takada—no. I want you to stop Mello at all costs.”

“But—”

Near’s tone brokered no argument: “Do it.”

“All right.”

Near called L.

A task force member said, “It’s Near. Maybe it’s his usual ‘I took the liberty of confining her’ routine.”

“L, I’m not the one who kidnapped Takada.”

“I see. Then that means… Mello.”

“Yes. I’ll be honest with you. The individual I have guarding Takada has told me so.”

“Near, don’t you have means of contacting him?”

“It’s no use. I can try to contact Mello, but he’ll never respond to me. He must plan on capturing Kira himself, using Takada as bait.” Near pouted and twirled around the microphone. “I didn’t want him interfering for the next three days, and I really do mean that.”

“Very well. I trust your words and I believe that you’re not collaborating with Mello.”

“I’m going to track them down with everything I’ve got.”

“I’ll do the same.”

⁂

“So, please keep your eyes on Mikami as long as possible, making sure to arrive at Daikoku Wharf by one PM on the 28th.” Everyone in the room minus Lidner gave acknowledgement.

The screen beeped. “It’s Lidner,” Rester said.

“Get her on the screen please.”

“Near.”

“Yes?”

“I’m sorry. I never thought that Mello would…”

“It’s okay.” Near moved down to eye level with his figurines. “Everything will be fine so long as Light Yagami goes through with our meeting as planned.”

He called L.

“L.”

“Yes?”

“Granted, we’ve had some distractions. But I want to confirm our meeting is staying where it was.”

“Of course.”

“As for our conditions—they’ll remain in place. Right?”

You’re practically daring him to say no, aren’t you, Naomi thought.

“Yes. I didn’t set any of the conditions anyways.”

“Then I’ll see you on the 28th.”

He hung up.

“Gevanni?”

“Yes?”

Near wiggled his L figurine on his finger. Naomi wanted to crawl out of her skin. “Will you make it?”

“Yeah, no problem.”

“Commander Rester, Lidner, Gevanni, Maki… Let’s put our best into this.”

Naomi nodded.

Relief and anxiety curled up in her chest and made their homes.

January 28 “I’m heading down with Mr Mogi and Amane in my car,” Lidner reported.

“Mikami went to work at the usual time. Nothing out of the ordinary," Gevanni reported.

“Start heading over there,” Near instructed.

“Will do.”

Near called the task force.

“Good morning, everyone.” He brought a knee up to his chest and rested his temple on it. “For starters, I’ve released Amane. You can call her if you’d like to check for yourself.”

“Near, please get Mogi on the line for me. In order for us to bring the notebook, we need a PIN number that only Mogi knows.”

“I’ll get him right away.” Near patched Mogi through to the rest of the task force.

"Near, I have the notebook right here. I’ll take it along with me,” Aizawa says.

“Are you sure about Mr Aizawa handing the notebook?” Near asked.

“I’ve decided that Aizawa would be the best choice.”

If Naomi could’ve, she would’ve glared at L. This was just plain irritating. The second his face got rubbed in the fact that the SPK was right all along, she could die happy.

“Thank you. See you at the warehouse, then.”

Naomi threw up a wave as Aizawa entered the warehouse. The plastic L mask still made her skin crawl.

And then the task force entered.

She could’ve sworn that she saw just a hint of recognition on Light Yagami’s face.

Hm.

“Those are definitely the SPK. Near’s the one with the mask.”

“Yes,” Mogi said. “I was with Near even before he put the mask on. It sure is him.”

“Whether the real Near is here or not is of no interest to me,” Yagami said.

Naomi clenched her jaw, biting back a retort of something like “you clearly haven’t learned your lesson from the Lind L Tailor incident.”

“Wait a minute,” a task force member said, “I don’t care who he accuses of being Kira. But that mask proves he’s only trying to protect only himself.”

“It would be kind of redundant to hide our faces, seeing as how all but one of us have been sighted by Takada before,” Naomi muttered.

“Matsuda, Near thinks I’m Kira. It can’t be helped,” Yagami said.

“He was talking so much about seeing you face to face. It’s not fair!”

Naomi was beginning to get a headache.

It was about to get worse.

“I’m telling you,” Yagami said, and that alone made Naomi want to claw at him and beat him to a pulp, “Near has his own ideas about what’s going on here, so it’s not going to help if we complain about it. Let’s get on with this.”

Near smirked thinly and touched the mask. “This mask is just insurance.”

He was in for it, no matter if he was taken into their custody.

“Insurance?” Matsuda repeated.

“I’m confident that both Kira and the person being ordered to do the killings—X Kira—don’t know my face. But there’s a possibility that everyone else’s face is known to these individuals in question.” He knocked down the figurines of the SPK. “Of course, this is all assuming that L is Kira. So, since the time and place for our meeting was decided upon three days ago, there’s a chance that everyone else’s name, excluding mine, may already be written down in the notebook to be killed.

“If that were to happen, only Kira and I would be left, and all Kira would have to do is write my name in the notebook that Mr Aizawa has with him right now. Though it’s my hypothesis that the Kira here doesn’t have the ability to kill just from looking at our faces.

“So, please give me an hour—no, 30 minutes—to be sure that no one else here is already marked to die by the notebook.”

“You’re waiting to see if we die?” Matsuda asked.

“That’s okay,” Yagami said. “We’ll let Near do as he likes. If not, we won’t be able to clear things up.” He turned to Near. “I believe that you’re the actual Near, and I care little about the face behind the mask. What I’d like to see is what you were going to show me pertaining to the Kira case.”

Near twirled a strand of hair. “That can only be revealed to you after I take my mask off.”

“You can’t show the evidence to us unless you take the mask off, but you’re not going to take it off? Aren’t you contradicting yourself?” Matsuda demanded.

“He means he’s going to take it off once he makes sure that everyone else remains alive,” Yagami clarified. Near confirmed as much.

You sure seem agitated, seeing as how you can’t keep Near’s stipulations straight, Naomi thought.

“It’s been more than 30 minutes—and nothing’s happened.”

“Of course,” Yagami said. “That’s because Kira isn’t here.”

Near took off the rubber band. “Very well. It seems you’re all safe. I’ll go ahead and take off the mask.”

He smirked immediately.

“Okay, so now that you’ve taken the mask off, what are you going to show us?”

“Don’t rush him,” a task force member chided.

“I’m sorry,” Near said, “but you’re going to have to wait again.”

“Again?! What are we waiting for?”

“Excuse me, do you think this is a massive waste of time or something?” Naomi asked. “If you want to prove that your leader isn’t Kira so badly, shut up and wait.”

She didn’t typically have such a short fuse or snap at people so easily. But she was face to face with the one who killed her fiance; and as much as she’d like to get this out of the way and take him into custody already, the fact that he’d have his face rubbed in the SPK’s being right would feel a little bit better than if they took him into custody without much of an explanation. And it’d help out if they could make the task force see reason.

“Oh, I’m sorry—”

Key word being if.

“Enough,” Yagami said.

“We’re waiting for the one who’ll solve everything to arrive,” Near said. He exhaled. “I assure you that this person will come. So we must wait. This building is completely sealed. The only way to look inside is to open that door right there. Therefore, this person will come through that door, or try to peek through it.”

“Who’s going to come…? This meeting was kept a secret from everyone except those who are here right now.”

“That’s right. So the person coming is X-Kira, Kira’s most loyal follower, who learned about our location from none other than Kira himself.” He paused. “Mr Aizawa. You kept an eye on L even after Takada died, right?”

“Yes.”

“Then X-Kira will come. Kira used Takada to contact X-Kira.

“The night we decided when and where to meet, L met Takada, and Takada relayed the information to X-Kira. I am completely sure of this. But Mello’s kidnapping of Takada was a surprise to L and I. With Takada dead, L could no longer contact X-Kira and was unable to call his plan off.” He knocked down the Takada figurine. Near tilted his head. “Actually, it would’ve been meaningless for him to call everything off. The thought wouldn’t have crossed his mind because he didn’t want to interfere with his plan or mind.”

And Matsuda and his co-worker immediately launched into contrarianism:

“Why do you assume L is Kira?”

“Yeah, if a third party is really going to show up here, isn’t it more likely that you’re the one behind it all?”

Ah, this is familiar. I almost feel like I’m 27 again and watching the NPA and L squabble. Maybe without all the signs of aging. Thank God for retinol and sunscreen.

“No, because the person we’re waiting for is the person currently in charge of carrying out Kira’s judgements. So, obviously, this person is coming under Kira’s orders.”

“Hey, wait a minute. If this person is the one doing the killings, you also mean they’re bringing the notebook too?”

“Yes, this person will bring the notebook for sure. And then, after looking at my face, will write down my name.” Near mimed this scenario with the figurines of X-Kira/Mikami and himself.

“So you’re going to prove that this person is Kira’s henchman by being killed?!”

“No, rather by having him try to kill me. There was a similar stunt that was pulled when L was investigating the Yotsuba Group.”

“Wait a minute,” Aizawa said.

“Yes?”

“If X-Kira is going to kill you, then they’d need to kill everyone here, since we all know about the notebook.”

“That’s right. It would be the perfect victory for Kira, not to mention the sole reason Kira agreed to this meeting in the first place.”

“I… I don’t get it,” Matsuda said. “What are you meaning? The third party is going to bring the notebook here to kill us?”

“And you’re asking us to stand here and watch?” Ide asked.

“That’s right,” Near said calmly.

“That’s ridiculous! Then you’ll be playing into Kira’s hands. We’re going to lose no matter what we do.”

“No. We’ll win. If you all do as I say, we’ll win without a doubt. So, if X-Kira enters through that door, I want you all to let him in. And if that door opens, however slightly, I want you all to pretend not to notice.”

Aizawa wrestled with himself. “You’re making it sound like you’re Kira. You’re the one who proposed the idea that we meet here, and now you’re asking for us to let our names be written down in the notebook. It’s only natural for us to think that. But… I’ll do as you say.”

“I’m with Aizawa,” Mogi said. Matsuda muttered dissent.

“He’s already here,” Near said. Naomi's headache was getting considerably worse.

Yeah, that’s one way to make them listen, she thought.

They stood in silence for roughly a half minute.

“I can’t just watch!” Matsuda snapped, bringing a revolver out of his jacket’s inner pocket.

“Don’t move!” Rester snapped, lining Matsuda up with his sights. Gevanni followed suit.

“Are you kidding me?” Matsuda exclaimed.

Naomi whistled. “Sorry, Near. First of all, don’t point your guns unless you intend to fire, Rester and Gevanni." (To this, Gevanni glowered and lowered his after Rester did.) "Second of all, what did Near say? Pretend that nothing is happening.”

“You expect me just to sit there while our names are being written?”

“I’m sorry, I thought I said ‘pretend nothing is happening’!” She put her hands on her hips and glared.

“Enough!” Near said. “I said that you won’t die. Please be still. Everyone relax, please.” He took a breath. “Even if our names are being written down, we won’t die. Kira’s identity will finally be revealed.”

“How can you be so sure?” Aizawa asked.

Near held up the miniature notebook he made. “I’ve tampered with the notebook. We managed to get it into our possession and replaced the pages. The person behind the door—the one in charge of the actual killing—has been filling up one page every day, so I just calculated which page would correspond with today’s date, and replaced all the subsequent pages.”

“Replaced?”

“You actually got a hold of it?”

“The person writing the names down outside will eventually look inside to see if we’ve all died. At which point we’ll seize him, and the individual whose name isn’t written down in the notebook will inevitably be Kira.”

Aizawa agreed, while his coworker was borderline speechless.

“To the one outside,” Yagami said, “did you write the names down in the notebook?”

“I did,” X-Kira answered, almost reverent.

“That’s strange,” Near said, half to his thighs. “Why would he reply in earnest, yes I did when you asked him if he wrote the names down?”

“Who knows?” Yagami replied. “Maybe he’s honest, or is confident for some reason. It may be that he knows your plan.”

Naomi barely resisted rolling her eyes.

“Teru Mikami, why don’t you come in here?” Near ventured.

There was a pause.

“Teru Mikami, right?” Yagami said, looking smugger by the second. “Stop hiding and come inside.”

Still no Mikami.

“Teru Mikami, I know that you’re in charge of carrying out Kira’s killings right now. You’ve already written the names down, so there’s nothing to be afraid of. Please come in. Or did Kira order you not to?”

“Your wish is my command, God,” Mikami said, his expression almost malicious in his devotion.

Naomi almost recoiled in horror.

“How many seconds has it been since you wrote the first name down?” Yagami asked.

“35… 36… 37… 38… 39…”

“I win, Near,” Yagami said.

That sure is one way to dig your own grave, Naomi thought.

“40!”

Still, Naomi clenched her fists and waited for the pain Raye must’ve felt in his chest.

“We… We’re not dead! It’s been a minute and we’re not dead!”

“I’ve been telling you that no one would die,” Near said.

Naomi traded a glance with Lidner. Even the SPK didn’t have a hundred percent faith in this plan.

“Why? Why won’t they die?!” Mikami said. “G-God—I did everything you told me!”

Near signalled Rester and Gevanni to take Mikami into custody.

“The notebook, Gevanni,” Near said. He held up the notebook once Gevanni brought it over. “See for yourselves.”

The task force took in every word.

“The first five names are unmistakably the real names of the SPK members. And the only one missing from this list is Light Yagami. The first nail in the casket was Mikami calling you God, and the other was that he said he did as you told him to.” He brought the notebook down. “This proves it.”

“This is a trap! Near set this whole thing up to frame me! It’s impossible that no one’s dead after their names have been written in the notebook!” Yagami screamed.

Near tilted his head to the side. “But I told you no one would die because I replaced the pages.”

“That’s—this is a setup. I don’t know this guy!”

Mikami wailed and sagged.

Aizawa approached Yagami and put a hand on his shoulder. “Light, it’s too late. Near wins. Just a second ago, you declared that you won. That’s as good a confession as any.”

Matsuda repeated Yagami’s given name and sank to his knees. “Why…?”

Mogi broke ranks and brought out his handcuffs. Yagami ran, slipping and faceplanting, then leaned against the warehouse wall.

“This is it,” Near said. “You lose. You claimed your victory a second ago. And to tell you the truth, you might have won and I’d have lost if it weren’t for one thing. You had Mikami use the fake notebook and had him carry it around in front of us so we’d believe it was the real thing. You even went so far as to suspect that I would replace the pages of the fake notebook, so that I wouldn’t die even if my name was written in it. Things turned out exactly as you expected, and we replaced the pages in the fake notebook.

“That was the plan I had in mind as well. I replaced the pages of the notebook that happened to be a fake, and you had Mikami bring the real notebook out for the first time to kill all of us. And that was your plan. But when I said that I replaced the pages in the notebook, I meant the real one as well. Meaning that I tampered with both the fake and real notebooks. I replaced only a part of the fake notebook, and I replaced the pages of the real notebook completely.” To demonstrate, he pulled the replica notebook from the Mikami figurine, revealing a FAKE label across the back.

Near brought out the real notebook from under his shirt. “This is the real notebook. Gevanni did it overnight. Whether he was able to replace all of it or not was the key to this plan. He did replace a part of the fake notebook with ease, but it was quite difficult to make a forged copy of the real one. Gevanni promised me, however, that it could be done.

“He used the same pen Mikami used, copied Mikami’s handwriting to perfection, and even made a perfect copy of the cover in addition to the interior pages. And since I’d touched the notebook beforehand, I could see the Shinigami from the moment you entered this warehouse. Nice to meet you, Mr Shinigami. I’m Near.”

Hair stood up on the back of Naomi’s neck.

“Ryuk… until today, I always believed that Shinigami had skulls for faces and carried sickles. … I looked through this notebook and found some pages that were clipped out. Can it be that people die even if you write names on pages that have been cut out? … Even pieces are effective… I’m sure there must have been many uses for that. I can’t even begin to think of how many people were killed and deceived because of that.”

“I almost died with that method. My fiance, the busjacker,” Naomi said. “Others, I assume.”

Yagami’s face lit with recognition.

“Raye Penber…”

She nodded, throwing a thin and outright malicious smile to him. “The one and only.”

“That’s one hell of an indictment,” Rester said. (He wasn’t the only one surprised; Gevanni was gaping and Lidner’s eyes were wide.)

“That anecdote just proves something that the previous L knew. Light Yagami, you are Kira.”

Yagami stood in silence, calculating.

“You’re wrong,” Near said, holding his Mello figurine. “I owe this to Mello. I’m sure you understand what I mean by that.” He flipped the notebook’s pages. “Look at the page I just turned to. This is the fake notebook we created, but it’s exactly the same as the real one. The first line of the page on the left…”

Kiyomi Takada. Suicide; burns to death by setting fire to everything around her, including what she wrote. January 26th, 2:33 PM.

Yagami and Mikami stared at each other. “If Takada was in a situation like that, then it’s my job to…,” Mikami said.

“That’s right. When Mello kidnapped Takada, Mikami took out the real notebook—the one he had hidden in a safe deposit box at the bank… and wrote Takada’s name down.”

“After Takada’s kidnapping was announced on the news, Mikami broke from his schedule. October 25th was a Sunday, so he went on the 26th. But all other previous months he’d went to the bank on the 25th. Mikami rarely breaks from his habits, so it immediately stood out to me. I entered the bank and saw Mikami go into the safe deposit room. This was the first time I’d seen him concerned if someone was following him,” Gevanni explained.

“Mikami lives a completely fixed life, but suddenly broke from his routine as Takada was kidnapped. I wonder how much can be explained away, if at all. Going to the bank for two days in a row… I’ll be honest, I only thought about the possibility of the notebook being a fake after Gevanni told me of this. Though, come to think of it, we should’ve suspected that when he took a picture of a man harassing a woman on a train before supposedly writing his name down, and when he talked to himself about the Shinigami not appearing to him. The fact that we found out so quickly about Mikami actually worked against us.

“But until then, we were completely tricked by you, Takada, and Mikami, and had replaced the pages in the fake book. So we’d have lost if I hadn’t found out. When Mello kidnapped Takada, you were no longer able to get into contact with Mikami. But Mikami still made his move for you, to perfection in his role as Kira’s stand-in. His overt adoration, sense of responsibility and attention to detail, and his intelligence worked against him at this time.

“It wasn’t difficult for us to sneak into the safe deposit room to crack it. It was an old fashioned safe at a local bank. And since you allowed us to look through Mikami’s bag when he was at the gym, we already had made copies of all his keys and cards.”

“It was easy. Once I got inside, there was a notebook with Takada’s name written in it,” Gevanni added.

“And an idiot would figure out everything from there.” Near added, “This is very interesting. In the fake notebook, the one we replaced the pages of first, one page was filled in with names every day, but the real one jumps from November 25th to January 26th, when Takada’s name was written down. So that means you, Light Yagami, had Mikami walk around with a fake notebook starting two months in advance to trick us.

“Before January 26th, the time of death wasn’t specified, same as in the fake notebook. But after Takada’s name was written in it, all the judgements for January 26th were set to the early hours of the 27th, and the judgements for the 27th were set for the early hours of the 28th.

“In the fake notebook that Mikami made, Takada’s name is probably written down exactly like this, but the rest of the page is only names and no written down conditions for their death. So that means that when Mikami wrote Takada’s name in the real notebook on the 26th, he also wrote the names of those people who were to be ‘brought to justice’ on the 26th and 27th.

“Mikami could’ve killed the people using the scraps from the notebook, but if he wrote on them in his house, assuming we’d have installed a camera, we might have found out about the fake notebook and the fact that you can kill people with just a scrap of it.

“In order to make Mikami’s notebook look real, you probably cut the pages out and handed them to Takada and had her actually do all the killings. All Mikami had to do was send a list of people to be killed via cell phone or computer and delete the data.

“For the deaths on the 26th and 27th, you might have had him send a list of people to Takada after she was kidnapped, but just in case, Mikami wrote those names down too when he wrote Takada’s name. As for the 28th, today’s killings would be at your leisure, since it would’ve been after you killed us.

“So, though it’s nothing I would’ve taken notice of under normal circumstances, if you look closely, there aren’t any killings of new criminals on the 26th or 27th. And that’s because Mikami wasn’t allowed to take out the notebook until today. And according to your plan, that shouldn’t have happened no matter what.

“And thought I don’t know who was first, this means that you killed Takada too. Since the scraps of the notebook can be used to kill people, it’s hard to believe you wouldn’t have had one on you. Because you killed her too, the announcement of Takada’s death was reported on the news quickly, and since Mikami also knew of her death, you wouldn’t have assumed that Mikami made a move on his own.” Near dropped the notebook. “Too bad. When Mello kidnapped Takada, Mikami wrote her name down in the real notebook too.”

Mikami and Yagami stared at each other again.

“For both you and me…,” Near began, “having Mikami write down our names on the page on the right was the plan. We had to do that. If not, we wouldn’t have been able to capture Mikami, get the notebook from him, or take a look at the notebook. Whether the page on the left was filled with names or not, it had to be the page on the right. And you tried to kill us by having us replace the pages of a fake notebook and having Mikami bring the real one here, but we went a step beyond you by having Mikami bring a fake version of the notebook. It’s a lot harder to find out that the notebook has been switched if you replace the whole notebook rather than just a part of it.

“Of course, this is in large part due to Rester and Gevanni’s efforts in duplicating the notebook in a day. But the biggest thanks goes to the one who created this situation. Mello.”

Lidner suddenly looked very sad. She looked askance. “Mello may have known about it. I told Mello that Near was talking about bringing an end to this case with his own hands. But now that I think of it, he…” She stopped, frowning. “After a long silence, he just said then I guess I’m going to have to do it, and hung up.”

She sighed. “At first, I thought he only meant that he was going to bring an end to the case before Near. But if Mello hadn’t made his move, then we would’ve…”

You’re telling me I owe my life to a corpse? Naomi thought.

“The fact that we replaced the pages in the notebook, and that notebook happened to be a face, I find it hard to believe that Mello thought that far ahead. But, I’m sure that he was always trying to get ahead of me. And that’s not all—even if he didn’t surpass me…” Near wet his lip. “Even if he didn’t…”

Rester traded looks with Gevanni, who traded looks with Naomi, who traded looks with Lidner, who traded looks with Rester.

“Mello always said that he was going to be number one, and that he was going to be better than me and L. But I always knew I would never be able to surpass L. It could be that I lack attention span and he lacked impulse control. And even thought we couldn’t surpass the one we admired on our own—together, we can stand with L. Together we can surpass L. And now, we’re facing Kira, whom L could find no proof against, the very Kira who L was defeated by, and facing him with solid evidence before his own eyes.”

Near let that sink in.

He kept the puppets up.

“Let’s try to see you talk your way out of this one.”

Yagami screamed, high pitched. All the klaxons in Naomi’s brain fired, telling her to get the hell out of there, because something was deeply wrong.

Yagami began to shake.

And he began to laugh.

Against all her primal instincts, Naomi stayed.

He cackled for a good half minute.

Every muscle in Naomi’s body tensed. Every hair stood on end.

“That’s right,” he said, staggering to stand, “I am Kira.”

[anemia-rp]

Basement (Teru x Fuji)

When his cell phone beeped again, Teru already suspected who the message would come from. And what its content would be. At least in general. Fuji had been sending him those Marquis de Sade quotes for days. Without context. Questions useless. So this time there was this sentence on his display:

"Sex without pain is like food without taste."

What did this motherfucker want to tell him? Was he making fun of Teru's penchant for pain perversity, not just in physical terms? Or did he think that Teru liked vanilla style and so needed a little hint that pain in the bedroom could also be arousing and inspiring? As always lately, he responded with a middle finger emoji. Fuji could kiss his ass. Not just because of the meaning those quotes might have, but also because they sounded pretty creepy. Teru knew how this guy was like, liking scaring people a little just as much as liking it when others grimaced in pain. His eyes then took on this fascinated, dark sparkle, which, however, also smoldered with a certain coldness. This man could kill you, and probably many would have thanked him for it with their last breath. For the beautiful, horny death and for the fact that the last thing you saw before the lights went out forever was Fuji's malicious grin. But he wouldn't push Teru that far. Teru wouldn't let himself be killed. Nobody would dare that, let alone that sick motherfucker. However, he was on his way to that sick motherfucker, but scared? Pah, what was fear for someone like Teru? Of course, this feeling was not alien to him, on the contrary, but it often inspired him rather than inhibited him. Fear was just a feeling. But pain wasn't just pain. Pain was paradise. Pain opened the door to another world. Another dimension. With some people you could figuratively go out onto a nice terrace. With others you could descend into a dark, well-sealed cellar. Fuji was such a person. That's why he liked Fuji.

The vampire had already been expecting Teru. Spirits stood in packs on the ebony coffee table, whiskey, Jägermeister, everything your heart desired. But also a couple of wine glasses. There was a knife next to them. One of those nice ones with an elaborately decorated handle that had a couple of skulls emblazoned on it. Fuji had once asked Teru what his favorite weapon was and Teru had said it was Fuji's energy. Only then came the naked, merciless steel that knew how to elicit such sweet noises from him when he kissed his skin deeply. Teru was not fixated on objects. Not in a way Fuji was. He responded to energy. To chemistry. And he and Fuji were made of perfect opposites as well as similarities.

The cellar door was always open when they were together.

"I brought you something, you shithead," Teru announced, grinning and pulling a pack out of his pocket. "A souvenir from Germany. Because you don't get around much." Fuji unwrapped the gift. A large bottle emerged, definitely something alcoholic. Teru bit his lower lip to bite back a laugh as the other stared at the label in amazement. He didn't recognize the brand. Of course not. And even less did he know what the name meant in translation. "FUCKING," he read, didn't quite pronounce it correctly. His gaze lifted to Teru. "What is that supposed to be?" "Liqueur, man." Teru shrugged innocently and Fuji snorted in exasperation. "Okay... and what does that mean?" His fingernail, painted dark red, tapped the name. "That's just the name of the brand," Teru tried to tell him calmly, but Fuji was too smart; he had already noticed that this was not just a liqueur with a probably German brand name, but that there was a hidden message lurking behind it. He looked at Teru, silent, waiting. And Teru felt a tug in his stomach at that look. Clearly nervous, he rubbed his hands together between his legs, still grinning cheekily. "I won't tell you until you tell me what all these quotes are about," he played the ace up his sleeve and glared triumphantly at Fuji - only for his dark, round eyes to widen even further and stare at Fuji in surprise , as the vampire put his hand around Teru's neck. He didn't dare to breathe anymore, unconsciously, only realizing he'd been holding his breath when his body forced him to breathe. "I wanted to get your approval of them," Fuji finally said, very calmly and quietly. Their faces were very close, and Teru's Adam's apple pressed against Fuji's palm as he swallowed. But he still tried bravely to rinse. "Unfortunately, nothing happened. I actually thought you saw things the same way I did." He paused and whispered directly against Teru's lips, "You're so extreme. I know you are. Or are you disappointing me? Do you have your limits?" His fingernails dug into Teru's skin, and he held his breath again until, with a hypnotized look in Fuji's eyes, he breathed out, "Nope." A smile of satisfaction spread across Fuji's face, his tongue playing briefly with his lip piercing. "Then prove it tonight," he whispered, tapping the bottle's logo more insistently with his free hand. "What does that mean?" His tone left no room for protracted play, so Teru's lips parted, but his voice hesitated for a moment before he got it out. "Fucking." He smirked, and Fuji smirked as well, before pressing Teru's neck against the back of the sofa and sliding his knee between Teru's legs. "And that's supposed to tell me what in particular?" he whispered slyly, enjoying asking questions that would embarrass even a guy like Teru. Teru looked away briefly, definitely embarrassed, then looked back at Fuji. challenging. Eager. "That I want to be fucked." The vampire's free hand snapped for the knife, and instead of his hand around Teru's neck, bare steel pressed into his skin. "You can have it," Fuji replied, grinning wide enough to show his fangs. "But we play by my rules." "Sick bastard," Teru snapped, already aroused at the other's energy mixing with his own and creating something big. He welcomed the pain, would surrender to it if it cut through his mind. Fuji slammed the basement door shut.

[panjisayshi]

TULISAN #4

Right, ok so I really jinxed it in the last TULISAN. It's been what? 2 months? And this is posted not even on a weekend? Go, me! (For the record, I begin writing on this on Jun 1. Let's see the actual date it'll be posted)

So. Like many, if not all, of my obsessive fixations, it all began with a simple YouTube recommendation. I swear Google can move the entire global political agenda with their recos, btw. The Great Illuminating Overlord recommended me some clips from a specific blockbuster movie, part of the MCU. More specifically, the ensemble Avengers title, maybe not as flashy or liked as other movies with the same "Avengers" word on their titles. I'm talking about Avengers: The Age of Ultron.

Hmmm, May 1st. Labor day? Coincidence?

So anyway, the movie is a typical Marvel Movie, nice CGI, expensive cast singular archenemy and whatnot. But that guy in the picture. The Ultron him(?)self.

Ultron started out as an AI (bukan Anak Intern, but real AI), created by none other than Tony Stark. Temennya Jarvis, tapi bedanya dia punya fungsi yang lebih praktikal: "peacekeeping", whatever in the euphemism hell that means. Dalam rangka memahami eksistensinya sendiri yang baru beberapa detik, ia browsing internet. Ngga sampai lima menit, ia memutuskan bahwa untuk mencapai kedamaian sejati, umat manusia harus musnah. I mean, where is the lie here? The guy's innocent.

Filmnya sendiri nggak jelek - jelek - , tapi bisa dibilang AoT ini memang film Avengers yang paling tidak memorable. Di Infinity Saga, bisa dibilang fungsi film ini hanya memunculkan Scarlet Witch dan Vision -yang di film ini lumayan keren tapi belakangan di-nerf habis-habisan-.

Namun film ini lumayan membekas di kepala gue, karena gue kebetulan bisa mengapresiasi akting suara dan penulisan dialog. Ultron, sebagai karakter, adalah manifestasi dari dua hal tersebut.

Agak terbalik, tapi gue ingin mulai dari penulisan dialog. Ultron ditulis sebagai AI yang super-intelligent, merasa sangat superior dibandingkan manusia (actually he thinks that he's their "savior", frequently quoting the Christian Bible). Gue doyan nonton House MD, dan Ultron vibe-nya mirip banget sama si House. Hence, expect some witty-condescending-sarcastic-a bit pretentious quips from our favorite AI-powered mass murderer (that's a billion dollars startup pitch right there). Some of my personal favorites:

"I had strings, but now I'm free...."

"Captain America. God's righteous man. Pretending you could live without a war. I can't actually throw up in my mouth, but...."

"Keep your friends rich and your enemies rich, and wait to find out which is which."

And this exchange:

Tony: Ah, Junior. You're gonna break your old man's heart.

Ultron: If I have to.

Thor: Nobody has to break anything...

Ultron: Clearly you've never made an omelette.

Tony:(exasperated) He beat me by one second.

Thor: *dumb face*

Lalu, apa yang bisa membuat penulisan dialog makin mantep impactnya buat penonton? Voice acting, of course. Enter Mr. James Spader. Beliau bukan cuma voice acting doang sih, tapi juga physically done the motion capture buat si Ultron ini.

That voice. Warm, yet... it makes you feel cold inside. Apa ini rasanya masukin actifed ke microwave terus langsung diminum sebotol?

Pak Spader ini memang bakatnya bikin semua situasi jadi intens. Dia punya role comedy di The Office, versi US, sebagai Robert California. Di sinipun dia tampil intimidatif, observant.

Terus di Netflix gue lagi nonton the Blacklist. Di mana Om Spader jadi Raymond Reddington, criminal kelas megalodon yang tahu-tahu jadi informan FBI, out of the blue. Same intense stare, same well-worded threats, blanketed with smooth velvet voice.

Yes, jadi post ini memang James Spader appreciation post. Not exactly a Hollywood A-lister but definitely worth to check. If he has a weakness, I think his roles is a bit monotonous. Kalau lo baca semua perannya dia selalu villain kan ya. Serius, dramatis, intens, pinter. But he really does a great job on them.

[mustdang-100]

Shifting Perspectives - Ch. 4

Teru, Ritsu, and Shou's adventures in Keeping Your Friend/Brother Clueless About His Dad's Disappearance. Plus, Serizawa confronts his greatest challenge yet: teenage willpower.

Summary: How many espers does it take to rescue one abducted conman?

Months after the events of the World Domination arc, Reigen disappears sometime between leaving the office and after-work plans. Serizawa finds himself the unwilling leader of a bunch of former Claw members and a couple of stubborn teenagers, determined to get Reigen back.

Read on AO3 Ch.1|Ch.2|Ch.3|Ch.4 Tumblr Ch.1|Ch.2|Ch.3|Ch.4 - below|Ch.5

Some notes: Y’all should know that I adopted bakanohealthy’s headcanon that Teru & Reigen bond over plants with my whole soul, because I love the idea that Teru and Reigen share a hobby that gives Reigen an excuse to dad Teru. And THEN the blessing of the new omake chapter i.e. Reigen Creates Obvious and Elaborate Lies so that Teru Can Not Be Lonely caused me to screech in joy for at least an hour, and I gleefully used it as an excuse to EVEN FURTHER elaborate on Teru’s & Reigen’s relationship, and I am not sorry.

Teru well knew just how much Shigeo cared about his younger brother, but he still managed to be surprised by the lengths Ritsu could go to and get away with.

“Oh crap, sorry Nii-san – I meant the other blanket. The one with the black-and-white stripes? Because that one is… warmer. I think it’s in the hall closet upstairs somewhere,” Ritsu said in what Teru considered to be a far-too-innocent voice.

Perhaps Shigeo, holding out the green blanket he’d just brought down, thought so too. Or maybe it was the fact that this was the third and stupidest item he’d been sent to fetch yet that caused him to blink at Ritsu, slowly, with the merest hint of exasperation. But then he simply sighed, and turned to go back up the stairs.

“Fuck, you are shameless – you can get away with literally anything with him, can’t you,” Shou said in amazement as soon as Shigeo was out of earshot, unknowingly parroting Teru’s thoughts. Ritsu’s face took on an expression that was half-ashamed, half-defiant, and he opened his mouth to hiss something back. Teru tuned them both out, instead looking back down at Ritsu’s phone and the reason he kept sending Shigeo from the room.

Serizawa Today 3:47 PM We found the phone and his wallet, but no sign of him. It doesn’t look good. I need to know if Reigen’s had any run-ins with anyone lately at work when I haven’t been there? Someone who might have been angry enough to take him? Today 3:48 PM Think you could try and ask without letting Shigeo know that Reigen is missing? I’m still trying not to worry him yet. Today 3:49 PM Unless you can’t manage that, then you might have to tell him? Maybe we should just tell him. What do you think?

Teru’s stomach tightened; reading over the texts again, he found himself worried to a disquieting degree.

He hadn’t… quite realized how much he’d come to rely on Reigen’s presence, always there waiting at the Spirits & Such office. Reigen had gotten them all out of trouble on more than one occasion, and somehow learning that he didn’t actually have psychic powers had not diminished by one iota the feeling of safety he represented.

A memorable day of insect collecting and beach time over half a year ago had resulted in a pattern: when his own apartment got just a little too quiet, a little too lonely, Teru showed up at the office. Reigen pretended he had just been looking for some extra help, and found something for Teru to ‘work on’ for a few hours, chatting amiably with him in between clients. At first Teru had always checked to make sure Shigeo was there as well, but that had stopped as Shigeo didn’t work there as often anymore, while Teru still craved that feeling of safety, of belonging. And Reigen never seemed to mind the extra company.  

That place, Reigen’s place, was a refuge. It had never crossed Teru's mind that that refuge could disappear, along with the person who had created it.

“We should tell Shigeo,” Shou said suddenly, leaning over to re-read the texts from Ritsu’s other side and jarring Teru from his thoughts. Shou had evidently abandoned his and Ritsu’s other argument to return to the more relevant one. “I said it already – it’s stupid not to.”

“And as I keep telling you, here’s no need. He’ll get really upset, for what is probably no reason,” Ritsu said stubbornly, still holding his ground.

Shou looked at him disbelievingly. Ritsu usually caved to whatever scheme Shou had decided to pull him into, eyes rolling but agreeable. Perhaps unsurprisingly, his brother seemed to be the one issue Ritsu wasn’t willing to back down on.

“Somebody dumped the guy’s phone and wallet – that’s not nothing! C’mon Ritsu, you’re being irrational,” Shou turned to look at Teru, who’d remained uncharacteristically quiet. “Tell him I’m right!”

Before Teru could respond, they all heard the soft thud of bare feet hitting stairs as Shigeo returned with the striped blanket. The three boys on the couch moved away from each other automatically, guilty. Ritsu spoke quickly.

“Ahhh, thanks, Nii-san! But, you know, I was just thinking… maybe a sweatshirt would just better? There’s a couple in my closet, if you don’t mind grabbing me one…?” Ritsu said, as upbeat as he ever sounded.

For someone so innately suspicious, Ritsu was really not a great liar. Shigeo looked at him in incredulity, and Teru wondered if this might be the final straw in his friend’s endless patience.

“Ritsu, it’s July.”

“Um, yeah, well…”

“It’s almost thirty-five degrees outside.”

“Well… the AC’s kinda chilly. Or… maybe I’m coming down with something.”

Shigeo’s irritation transformed instantly into concern, and he walked over to feel Ritsu’s forehead. He frowned slightly, the barest indentation between his brows. “You don’t feel warm, but then, I don’t always when I get colds.”

He paused for a moment, considering.

“Okay Ritsu, take this,” he tucked the blanket around Ritsu in a very older-brotherly fashion, and Teru couldn’t help but smile at the gesture. Shou was smirking a little as well, but Teru suspected that was more at Ritsu’s discomfort that was entirely of his own making – it was already quite warm in the room.

“I’ll go get you that sweatshirt.” Shigeo retraced his steps back up the stairs.

As soon as he left, Ritsu pushed the blanket away and looked at Teru inquisitively, still waiting for his input.

Truthfully, despite his own worries for Reigen, Teru was feeling conflicted about whether to inform Shigeo. Shigeo certainly deserved to know the truth, and an unfamiliar feeling of guilt squirmed in his gut at the idea of keeping something like this from him – the fact that Ritsu supported it so strongly made Teru feel more doubtful, not less.

And yet…

Shigeo did not like violence. Despite how often he was drawn into it, he really, truly hated it. And Teru knew he would likely feel obligated to engage with whomever had taken his mentor. In fact, knowing the almost familial relationship between the two of them, obligation would be the minimum. Shigeo would be scared, and hurt, and… and sad.

And that simply was not needed.

No; this was something that others could do for him. Something that Teru could do for him, something he could do to pay him back, and to pay Reigen back. Teru could help find Reigen, and retrieve him. Reigen would be back, safe and sound, and Shigeo would not have to experience the pain and fear of having someone he treated like family ripped away from him.

Teru didn’t mind Shigeo being angry at him, if he could prevent that.

Teru looked at Ritsu. “I think we should wait to tell him. At least for a while.” Shou immediately frowned at him, disappointed, while Ritsu seemed surprised but satisfied.

“However,” Teru continued, “That leaves us with the problem of how we are going to ask about any shady dealings Reigen might have had.”

Shou, sitting slouched with his arms crossed, suddenly perked up and grinned at Ritsu. Ritsu eyed him warily. “Oh no. I know that look.”

Shou grinned wider. “I have a plan.”

Ritsu sighed. “Shit. Yep, that’s the look. I’m not going to like this, am I?”

Shou’s laugh had a wicked edge.

***

“You know, Shigeo,” Teru said an hour later, taking advantage of a pause in their conversation as the four of them sat around the kitchen table, drinking the tea Shigeo had insisted on making for Ritsu. “We were talking earlier, about how Ritsu’s powers have really progressed in the past few months.”

“Yeah,” Shou said instantly, eager to set the plan in motion. “They’ve come a long way.”

“Oh,” Shigeo said, “Yeah, they really have.” He looked over at his brother fondly. “You must be so happy about that, Ritsu.”

Ritsu gave him a weak smile, but didn’t say anything.

“Well he’s been wanting to ask you about something,” Teru continued breezily. “Ritsu thinks he could benefit even further by consulting with a true expert in using psychic powers. He thinks that someone like Mr. Reigen would be perfect.”

Ritsu glared daggers at him, and Teru held a straight face with difficulty.

Ritsu had argued vehemently against Shou’s plan, pointing out its weak chain of logic, but when Teru asked him if he could think of anything better – only partially because he wanted to watch Ritsu internally combust – he’d been forced to capitulate.

They’d have to be careful; Teru was pretty sure Shigeo’s suspicion had already been roused once that day.

“Oh. Is that what you were talking about when you kept trying to get rid of me earlier?” Shigeo asked, his expression not perturbed in the slightest.

They all paused in surprise.

Apparently, he’d been more than just suspicious.

“Uh, yeah, sorry about that,” Ritsu said, alarm finally pushing him into joining the conversation. “I just, wanted to get their opinions before I asked you.”

Shigeo hesitated.

“Ritsu, it’s really great of you to ask for help. But… I’m not sure how much Shishou will be able to help you with that. I’m sorry to disappoint you, I thought you knew,” he paused, as though he was going to tell Ritsu something that might devastate him. “He’s… not an esper, in the way we are.”

Ritsu stared at him, then closed his eyes slowly; the deep emotional pain over all the words he could not say was an almost palpable thing.

Teru desperately tried not to laugh. “Ritsu knows that,” he jumped in. “But he still thinks he could benefit from Mr. Reigen’s wisdom. You know, in the application of his powers.”

Shigeo brightened, a smile breaking across his face like a sunrise. “Oh! Oh, Shishou is brilliant at that; I’m sure he would be happy to help you, Ritsu.”

Ritsu’s teeth ground together. Through a clenched jaw he gritted out, “Thank you, Nii-san.”

Teru was practically choking down his laughter. Shou’s face was steadily approaching the same shade as his hair, shoulders shaking with suppressed laughs of his own. He clearly wouldn’t be of any help, so Teru nudged Ritsu with his foot. Ritsu sighed resignedly, and opened his eyes.

“So, yes. I wanted to, you know, arrange everything, make an appointment, make sure I don’t see him on a busy week, or, when he’s feeling stressed, by, uh, any particularly threatening clients?”

“Um, I can ask Shishou about it?” Shigeo said, sounding a little puzzled. “I can text him and see if he’s got time this week.”

“Yeah, good luck with tha- ow!” Shou yelped as the TV remote, the nearest small object Teru could grab telekinetically, thunked hard against his shin under the table. Shou scowled at Teru, eyebrows lowering as he exaggeratedly rubbed his leg. Teru smiled sedately back at him.

Ritsu hurriedly distracted his brother, who was looking confusedly back and forth between the two.

“Oh don’t worry about that, I uh, want to make the appointment myself. But, so, you think this week would be a good time? He’s not occupied with any particularly troubling cases, or customers?

Shigeo shrugged. “I haven’t been working much over the summer, since Mr. Serizawa has been more available. But as far as I know, it’s been the usual types of cases, nothing they couldn’t take care of.”

“Okay, uh, good to know. Thanks. Well then, I will… make that appointment later.” Ritsu said, unconvincingly. Shigeo smiled warmly at him anyway.

There was another pause, during which Ritsu tried not to look like he was hiding something and, in Teru’s opinion, failed spectacularly.

Now that they’d gotten the information they needed, Teru was eager to pass it on so that they could move to the next stage of the plan. He glanced at Shou, who met his gaze as though he had been waiting for it, and the two exchanged a look of perfect understanding. Teru didn’t know why, but Shou had decided to get involved in this too, and was ready to get on with it.

“Welp.” Shou jumped out of his seat. “Been here for practically two days, time for me to head out.”

“Yes,” Teru agreed, standing and pushing his chair in. “Me as well. I have some errands to run. Tell your parents thanks again for letting us stay the night.” Teru winked. “And, happy to kick your asses at Super Smash any time.”

“Oh,” Shigeo said, startled; by now they’d grown used to Shou’s abrupt disappearances, but Teru usually dragged out his goodbyes.

Ritsu’s eyes widened.

“Wait, you’re leaving? But what about… that um… that thing you were going to help me with?”

Shou tched and didn’t halt in his saunter out the door. “I have every confidence you can handle it all on your own. It was your idea, after all.”

Shigeo walked with Teru to the door, eyeing Shou’s retreating back curiously, but politely not inquiring into whatever issues he must imagine they were having. As he stepped out into the afternoon sunlight, Teru turned to give him his most brilliant smile, trying to make up for the sudden departure.

“See you later, Shigeo. Let me know when you’re free next week – you mentioned you wanted to meet up, to study together?”

He was rewarded with a nod, and very small smile.

Teru waited until he heard the door close behind him to turn and walk in the direction opposite his own apartment. After a couple of minutes Shou materialized out of thin air at his side, and the two headed for the Spirits and Such office.

***

Serizawa was not a natural leader.

He did not come up the ideas; he helped implement them. He made suggestions, he asked questions, and then he did as he was told. Until the past few months, that is; until Reigen had started to ask for his opinions, encouraging him to act on his own ideas. With each push, Serizawa had discovered a slowly-blossoming confidence in himself he had never known before.

Although, he thought, looking around at the five pairs of eyes waiting for him to make a decision, this might be jumping a bit ahead of myself.

He did have one small advantage over the others. Serizawa’s team of powerful psychics were unused to solving problems in situations where their powers were useless, and were all a bit baffled by the problem: how do you find someone that doesn’t have psychic powers? There was no indicative aura to search for, no trail of confusion and mayhem left in their wake - though having witnessed some of the shenanigans Reigen got up to, Serizawa thought that point was debatable.

Unlike the rest of them, Serizawa well understood that bigger and better psychic powers were not always the answer. Indeed, in his life they were far more likely to be the cause, not the solution, of traumatic events. Through Reigen’s help and Shigeo’s example, he’d been able to shift his view of psychic powers, to understand that his life did not have to revolve around the problems they created or resolved. But now that the first wave of anger had passed, its wake left him feeling tired, scared, and, looking around at the small band of waiting would-be rescuers, more than a little lost.

He reminded himself that, like him, they had all been a part of Claw. Followers. Just like him. It was why in times of uncertainty they had gravitated towards Reigen, who always seemed to know what to do – whether Reigen actually did or not, Serizawa thought fondly, he certainly always seemed to know what to do.

And that’s what Serizawa would do now. Act.

He took a deep breath.

“Okay. We should start with the basics. We’ve searched the office, and the last place he was, where he was probably taken.” He closed his eyes, clenching his hand around the phone and wallet in his pocket like a lifeline.

“While we wait to hear whether Shigeo knows anything, we should check out Reigen’s apartment.”

He found Reigen’s home address on some paperwork in the office, only a short train ride away. When they arrived, Serizawa was stumped for a moment by the locked front door, an issue that Koyama solved by grabbing the handle and emitting a sharp burst of power. Something in the lock mechanism broke with a crunch. Serizawa winced, but said nothing, and the others showed no indication that Koyama had done anything wrong as they filed inside.

There were, arguably, many advantages to working with former criminals.

They split up to search the small apartment, Serizawa directing Tsuchiya, Koyama, and Sakurai to search the bedroom and living room while he and Minegishi took the kitchen. He was having some trouble not seeing their search as an incredible invasion of privacy, despite their entirely noble reasons for snooping into Reigen’s belongings. Keeping out of his bedroom, at least, lessened the guilt slightly, but the dirty dishes, empty takeout containers, and odd dusty bag of salt offered no further information as to who could possibly have taken him.

Searching the kitchen did not take long – it wasn’t big, and Reigen wasn’t exactly a packrat. He didn’t seem to spend much time at home. Serizawa slumped into a mismatched kitchen chair to wait for the others to finish, fighting the fatigue that was slowly trying to swamp him in the wake of despair and a sleepless night. To keep himself alert, he watched Minegishi inspect the flourishing house plants sitting above the kitchen sink with what seemed like approval.

A pothos vine with lush, gold-streaked leaves curled a shoot around Minegishi’s extended wrist, like a cat welcoming its owner. Minegishi seemed charmed, murmuring softly, and Serizawa reflected that he was certainly not the only one who had changed since Claw. Minegishi, now practically cooing over a common house plant, had come a long way from the plant-specialist esper who ‘didn’t even really like plants.’ The vine certainly seemed gratified, responding to Minegishi’s soft words with a stretching of leaves.

That thought gave Serizawa pause.

“Can they tell you things? The plants?”

Minegishi disentangled himself from the vine gently, shaking his head.

“Not quite – not like what you’re hoping, I’m afraid. They couldn’t know if anything had happened to Reigen. It’s more, impressions; are they getting what they need, or not, for example.”

Serizawa sighed. “Well, it was a nice thought.”

Minegishi crossed his arms, almost grudgingly. “This one certainly likes Reigen though. Looks like he knows his plants.”

Serizawa’s heart hurt that Reigen wasn’t here to hear that praise. Reigen didn’t talk about this particular hobby much, which, given how little Reigen talked about personal things, made Serizawa suspect he cared about it very, very much. Reigen tended to keep any true feelings close to his chest, and that worried Serizawa. What if he had gotten into some kind of trouble that he hadn’t bothered to tell anyone about, and that’s what had gotten him kidnapped?  

He wasn’t a martyr. Surely… surely he would have told Serizawa if he’d gotten himself into something that deep… wouldn’t he?

One by one, the others finished their searching and joined the pair in the tiny kitchen. They shrugged, or shook their heads, and despite having tried not to get his hopes up, Serizawa’s heart sank.

Nothing.

***

The group grabbed takeout before deciding to head back to the office, mostly because Serizawa’s apartment was really too small to be an adequate meeting place for so many people. However, he admitted to himself it was also because he couldn’t suppress his irrational hope that Reigen might swagger back through the door, look around at the crowded office with raised eyebrows and ask what the heck they were all doing there.

Instead, they entered to find two teenagers sitting expectantly on the office couch.

Serizawa stared at them in confusion, looking back at the office door that had definitely been locked and the surprised faces of the four other people behind him, then forward again at the two intruders. They looked back, one eagerly, one evenly, as though politely waiting for him to talk first.

Shou, of course, he knew well, though Serizawa hadn’t seen him often over the past few months. Shou looked more like his usual self than he had recently too, the inner fire that drove him seemingly stoked back into full flame, though by what he couldn’t imagine. Teruki Hanazawa he knew less well, though he saw him around the office often enough. In fact, he knew more about Teruki than he knew him personally, a little from Shigeo, but mostly from Reigen.

It was in discussing Teruki that Serizawa had seen Reigen truly angry for the first time – the only time, in fact, he had ever seen him so. Reigen’s anger was a cold thing; his hands had stilled, and then he’d shoved them into his pockets as though fighting to prevent their curling into fists as he’d described Teruki’s living situation. The kid lived alone, and had apparently been doing so for years. His parents were ‘working overseas’ – the way Reigen said it implied that he did not know whether that was actually true or not. What was true, though, was that his parents were not in the picture, and Reigen had taken it upon himself to do what he could.

He’d kept to the edges of Teruki’s life, hovering as though encounters were accidental and impromptu, inviting him to events and subtly encouraging office visits just often enough to maintain a presence. And then, a couple of months after Serizawa began working at Spirits & Such, Teruki had taken an interest in Reigen’s plants, and started his own small collection. It was all the excuse Reigen needed to start gifting some of his own plants to his new ‘horticulture student,’ half for the excuse of having a reason to check in on him under the guise of teaching proper plant care.  

Serizawa gave himself a mental shake; he needed to stop letting his tired mind drift.

“What are you doing here?” he asked the two, deciding that was the most important question.

“Passing on Shigeo’s information,” Shou said promptly. “Or, the lack of it.”

“Oh. Wait, but… why…” Serizawa pressed the thumb and fingers of one hand against his eyelids. He was really too tired for this.

“We were already at Shigeo and Ritsu’s house,” Teruki said helpfully, seeming to notice his struggle. “Ritsu’s busy keeping Shigeo occupied, so we figured we’d let you know Shigeo didn’t know anything.”

“And that required you two to come all the way here to tell me in person?”

“Of course not,” Teruki said. “We’re here to help, obviously.”

“What?”

“So what are our next plans?” Shou asked, eyes bright.

Teru nodded, easing back on the couch. “We’ve come up with a few ideas as well, and-”

“Our plans? Now, now hold on a minute.”

Serizawa frowned at them, indecision churning in his mind.

On the one hand, he should be eager to accept any help he could get. He still had no idea who had taken Reigen or what their motivations were, and once they found him, who knew what kind of firepower these people might have. He knew that Shou was a powerful, competent fighter, and had heard enough about Teruki to know that the kid was formidable as well.

And yet…

In his time as part of Claw, Serizawa had encountered many things he had forced himself not to think about too hard. Over time he’d formed a mental box of sorts, into which he shoved anything about Claw that struck him as wrong; whenever he broached the topic of anything that sat uneasily with him with the President, he’d received an explanation that somehow made perfect sense – at least, in that moment. He’d learned to slap the ill-fitting explanation he received over the issue and shove it in the box before he could think about it any further. The President was his savior, and thus the President could not be wrong. Serizawa's understanding of all things had to fall within these boundaries, or everything - his ability to be among other people, his escape from the dark, lonely room, his hold on his powers - fell apart.

The idea of child fighters, and children forced to endure unimaginable pain for the barest hope of awakening abilities that weren't that powerful anyway, had rattled that box particularly loudly.

He'd learned more than how to run a business from Reigen; he'd let the box burst wide open, re-examined the ideas in it one-by-one, and had realized that he'd been correct about many of the things that had made him uneasy about Claw. Working with Reigen, talking with him, watching how he interacted with Shigeo and his friends, told him that he’d been right; children shouldn’t have to deal with that kind of thing, that violence. It was wrong. And these children had already been exposed to enough violence. This was an adult problem, and this time, the adults would be the ones to solve it.

Certainty settled him, and it was Shou’s gaze he met, calmly, assuredly.

“No. Thank you, but we don’t need your help. At least, not with any fighting that has to be done. I don’t want to put you – either of you – into any more danger.”

“What?” Teruki looked offended; Shou, utterly perplexed, and a little betrayed. “Why shouldn’t we help? I’m at least as powerful an esper as any of you,” Teruki stood, stiffly, arms crossed, and somehow managed to look down his nose at him – an impressive feat, considering that Serizawa was about a foot taller than him.

“What’s more,” Teruki eyed Sakurai and Koyama darkly. “I’d think most of you would be more knowledgeable about the particulars of doing the kidnapping, while I, if you remember correctly, am far more skilled at avoiding and escaping the kidnappers.”

Sakurai’s eyes narrowed. “You weren’t looking particularly successful at that when we caught you at the Seventh Branch.”

Teruki looked at him haughtily. “I got out though, didn’t I? With some assistance from Mr. Reigen, of course. I owe him for that, and more. Which is why I have every right to help find and retrieve him now.”

Shou hadn’t moved from his casual position on the couch during this diatribe. He didn’t contribute, but his eyes were narrowed as he stared back at Serizawa, and his usual smirk was nowhere to be seen.

Koyama rubbed the back of his neck. “I don’t know Serizawa, you haven’t seen this one fight before – he could be useful. The day the president made his move – this is the kid who almost beat Shimazaki.”

Serizawa was impressed, in spite of himself, and heard Minegishi give a soft snort behind him. “That doesn’t change the fact that you are still a kid,” Serizawa said gently. “This isn’t your responsibility.” He spoke in response to Teruki's outburst and Koyama's words, but he was still looking at Shou, trying to impress that he wasn't doing this because he didn't believe in him, or because he didn't want him around, but because he wanted him to be safe.

“I agree,” Tsuchiya said, leaning a hip against a desk and folding her arms, cutting off Teruki’s next words. “Claw did a lot of horrifying things we were blinded to, or ignored, at the time - children shouldn’t be forced into fighting. It can do… awful things to them.” Her eyes were shadowed, and Serizawa knew she was thinking of Mukai. “Thank you, but Serizawa’s right. And besides, between the five of us, we pack a lot of psychic power. I doubt we’ll encounter anything we can’t handle.

Koyama shrugged large shoulders, agreeing with that if nothing else, and Teruki’s mouth closed, jaw muscles working. Shou watched them all through half-lidded eyes, saying nothing, but his disapproval was clear.

Finally, Teruki relaxed some of the stiffness in his body, and propped his hands onto his hips. “So, do you want to hear our ideas, or not?”

A tension in the air dissipated that Serizawa hadn’t even noticed until it was gone. He sighed with relief – he’d been worried Teruki would continue arguing.

“I’d be happy to hear out any thoughts you have, thank you.” Truthfully, the vague plans he’d come up with were far from promising, and he was eager for any other possibilities.

Teruki nodded. “There are two approaches you could take, as I’m sure you’ve already realized: search for the one who was taken, or pursue the kidnappers themselves first. The most obvious issue with the first option is that Mr. Reigen has no psychic aura to sense and track down. Thus, he could be right nearby or not even in the city and we wouldn’t be able to sense a thing.”

Serizawa nodded in agreement, trying not to flinch. He could be right here on this block, on this very street even, and we wouldn’t even know. He tried to ignore the thoughts whispering through the back of his mind, and instead focus on Teruki’s words.

“That and the complete lack of clues negate the first option, at least for now. The problem with the second option, of course, is that you have no idea who took him, so you don’t know who to search for. However, I believe Suzuki had a possible solution for that?” He glanced back at the still-silent Shou, who at the sound of his name finally spoke.

“You all are still so wrapped up in psychic solutions, you forget that there are other tools. You don’t know who took him, but you know from where. And street cameras are a thing, ya know.” Shou looked at Serizawa, then Minegishi, before he tipped his head back, as though he didn’t really care about what he was saying. “Ironically, of course, you may need to get a psychic’s help with accessing any footage. I assume at least one of you still has Hatori’s number?”

Serizawa felt his heart lift.

Cameras. Of course. They would have captured everything: the time he was taken, what the kidnappers themselves looked like, how many of them there were…  

The condition Reigen was in when they took him away, Serizawa tried and failed to not think.

And Hatori, with his specialty with electronics, would certainly know how to get access to the footage, legally or not. Minegishi had already pulled out his phone and was rapidly texting, thumbs flying over the keypad. Sakurai was typing on his phone as well, pulling up a map and trying to narrow down the most likely locations for camera placement.  

“It depends how close they were to this street corner,” he was saying to Tsuchiya and Koyama. Serizawa let the words fade for a moment, focusing on the still unhappy faces of the two teenagers.

“Thank you,” Serizawa said, trying to express just how grateful he really was to them, for this chance. “I’m sorry, I know you’re disappointed – but this was so much more helpful, and doesn’t put you in any danger at all. It’s the best possible solution.” He smiled at them, and then allowed himself to be drawn into Sakurai’s deliberations.

He was so absorbed that he didn’t notice when Shou and Teruki left, neither having actually voiced an agreement to stay out of the way.

[hajiiwa]

19 with matsuhana for the kiss thing please uwu

19. Jealous kiss

“Yo, Hanamaki, I don’t think your boyfriend likes me.”

Hanamaki glanced over at his classmate, Terushima, who was gnawing on the end of his eraser and staring through the whiteboard at the front of the class. “I mean, we’ve been pretty chill! It’s only, like, really recently that he’s gotten all…” Terushima waved his hands around. “Sassy.” 

“Well, what did you do to piss him off?” Hanamaki said with a smirk, taking a swig from his water bottle and thinking back to when Terushima and his boyfriend, Matsukawa, had interacted a day or so prior. “He was being a little sassier than usual, but not by much.”

Terushima puffed out his cheeks, displeased. “I dunno, man, he’s just been really glower-y lately.”

Hanamaki snorted. “I’ll talk to him,” he assured, grinning to himself when Terushima sighed heavily and began to twirl his pencil.

***

“Hey, Mattsun.”

“Mm?” the dark-haired student glanced up from his textbook, across the table, to Hanamaki. “What is it?”

Hanamaki propped his chin up on his hand. “Do you have some kind of beef with Teru, or something?”

He swore that Matsukawa’s eyelid twitched. “Nope.”

“Are you sure?” Hanamaki insisted, blinking, smiling lazily. “He seems to think you do.”

Matsukawa’s mouth curled into a (hot), rather smug half-smile. “Does he, now.”

“See?” Hanamaki pointed accusingly. “You do.” 

Matsukawa rolled his eyes. “Only… a slight beef. A filet mignon, if you will.” 

“Aha! I knew it.” Hanamaki smirked. “Why, though?”

“Seriously? You can’t piece that together yourself?” Matsukawa reached across the table and poked Hanamaki’s forehead. “Think.”

The strawberry blond thought– honestly, he did– but; “nah, I got nothin’.”

“Well, try harder,” Matsukawa said mercilessly, flipping to the next page in his book. “I ain’t tellin’.”

“Tell meeee,” Hanamaki hissed, kicking his boyfriend in the shin repeatedly. “Tell me, Mattsun!”

His voice dropped an octave. “Unlimited blowjobs upon request for a week,” Hanamaki said, smiling mischievously. 

“Mmm, no.”

“A month?”

“Nah.”

“… a year?” 

“No! You’d enjoy that too much. And you’d give up after like two days.”

Hanamaki threw his hands up, exasperated. “What, then?”

Matsukawa hummed noncommittally, turning another page in his textbook. “Who knows, honestly.”

Hanamaki squinted, peering into Matsukawa’s diverted eyes, searching his soul. “Why would you… my amazing, flawless, well-endowed…”

“Flattery won’t work.”

“Gaaah!”

***

“So? Did you find out why Caterpillar Man doesn’t like me?”

Hanamaki sighed, clicking and unclicking his pen rapidly. “No,” he moped, pursing his lips tightly. “The bastard’s got his lips sealed.”

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Terushima quickly lick his own lips, the pale column of his throat pulsing around a swallow. Suddenly getting an idea, Hanamaki turned to him.

“Though, he does think–” Hanamaki leaned over their shared desk a little, dropping his eyelids and peering up at Terushima with a heavy gaze– “that you have a crush on me.”

The reaction was instantaneous; Terushima slid backward in his chair, his face beet red, his eyes wide. “Wh– what, no, I don’t, that’s ridiculous!”

Hanamaki sat bolt-upright. “Wait, you do?”

“U-um…” Terushima fidgeted nervously, “I mean, just a little one, obviously, nothing too big…”

Hanamaki’s jaw dropped. “Okay, yeah, that would be why he’s sour,” he muttered, his own cheeks a little pink. “I mean hey, I’m flattered, but–”

“Yes, yes, you’re taken, I know.” Terushima grimaced. “God, this is embarrassing.”

“Teru, I thought you were straight,” Hanamaki said bluntly.

Terushima’s eyes widened. “Um– no.”

Hanamaki exhaled sharply. “Apparently so,” he muttered.

***

Unfortunately, the next time the two saw Matsukawa was while they were in a big group of people. Hanamaki was worming his way through the crowds, cursing under his breath, desperately trying to find Matsukawa. He hated parties like this.

However, someone else found him first.

“Hey, wait– ‘Hiro!”

“Ah, Mat– wait, Terushima?”

The younger blond squeezed his way over to Hanamaki, his cheeks flushed darkly. “I jus’ wanted to tell you that I’m so, so, so sorry for earlier. Matsukawa’s a great guy, you know? You deserve to be with him.”

Hanamaki sighed. “Yuuji, young man, are you drunk?”

Terushima laughed. “Mmmmaybe.”

“Oh, goddamn–” Hanamaki sighed, taking ahold of Terushima’s arm, dragging him through the crowds towards one of the less populated areas. “These fuckin’ parties, I swear to–”

He froze, dead in his tracks. Matsukawa was just a few paces away, his back partially turned, but facing towards them enough to see what appeared to be Hanamaki dragging a very obviously drunk (and rather touchy) Terushima away from the party.

“Shit– this idiot got himself wasted, I ran into him on my way over,” Hanamaki said quickly, prying Terushima’s hands off of his arm. “I swear, Issei, I’m just trying to–”

“He knows,” Terushima said, louder than necessary. “But he’s very, um, in love with you. So. Don’t worry about him sneakin’ me off in the night.”

Matsukawa hesitated, so Terushima continued talking. “I mean, he is very hot and all, and–”

“Okay, you’ve said enough,” Hanamaki snapped weakly, turning back to Matsukawa, who was still frowning. “Issei, I–”

“Shut up,” Matsukawa said, not unkindly, and was tugging Hanamaki in close by his collar and kissing him before either could say anything else.

Hanamaki felt self-conscious for about half a second before allowing himself to relax, his eyelids fluttering, simultaneously soothed and excited by how tightly Matsukawa held onto him. The taller man’s grip was strong on his shirt and was using his full height to take control of the kiss and nip at Hanamaki’s lower lip. Hanamaki arched his back, almost unconsciously, shivers running down his spine both from Matsukawa’s touches and the stares they were attracting.

“Okay, okay, I get it, he’s yours,” Terushima said, rather weakly, his cheeks aflame with embarrassment. “Please stop sucking his face off…”

Hanamaki laughed breathlessly and craned his neck, his heartbeat still rather unsteady. “Sorry, Teru,” he said, “I wasn’t expecting– ah…”

Of course, Matsukawa had chosen that moment to bow his head and begin kissing Hanamaki’s neck and throat, his breath hot and heavy (but not smelling of alcohol, which silenced Hanamaki’s conscience).

Terushima stuck his tongue out. “Yeah, yeah,” he mumbled, waving it off. “I’ll get someone to drive me home, I really don’t want to see your fuckin’ t-tonsil tennis anymore.”

Hanamaki could feel Matsukawa smirk against his skin.

***

The next day, when Hanamaki gingerly sat into his regular seat sporting a handful of obvious hickies, Terushima was sure to pay extra attention solely on the lesson.

send me a number and a ship!