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Dreaming of Death Note Chapter 16: Fickle Things

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Author's Note: Here we go, this is a scene that I had planned for a long time...

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Meanwhile...

Upon leaving L's vehicle, Shikako headed into the house, announcing her arrival. There was an extra pair of shoes in the entryway. They were small adult sized, stylish and black, and shiny like dress shoes. She had never seen them before. She switched out her shoes for house slippers at the genkan and headed into the family room.

Finding Sayu in the living room, she was met with an unfamiliar sight. A beautiful blonde girl in a lacy black gothic dress was sitting on the couch, munching on a cracker. Sayu was sitting beside her, holding a pair of teacups, one of which she handed to the girl.

Shikako stepped into the room, about to ask who this person was, when a viciously cold chill rand down her back. She met the girl's eyes, and froze.

They were red. Glowing red.

Not a sharingan, but something. Something else. Sayu didn't seem to even notice.

"There you are, Michiko!" Sayu said in an overly loud voice as the girl paused in her chewing to stare at the new arrival. "Come and meet my new friend! Her name is Misa!"

Misa swallowed, smiled, and gave a half bow in her seat, carefully cradling the teacup in her hand.

"Nice to meet you, Michiko Yagami! I'm Misa Amane! Yuko told me all about you, you know." she said in a very prim and proper type of voice.

"She's a star, like Yuko! They were in a movie together! Isn't that awesome!" Sayu said, bouncing in her seat. Michiko wondered if Sayu even knew anything had happened to their father yet.

"Nice to meet you, Misa. Sorry, but Sayu, I need to talk to you..." Michiko said, calling her sister over with an beckoning wave.

Sayu looked up with suddenly sad eyes. She didn't move from her seat. "Oh, I know. Mom told me. Dad had a heart attack. Then, Misa said he died." She no longer looked like she was even feeling anything with how her eyes had gone dull and flat, and her voice was once again devoid of emotion, like she had been for a while after her friends had died, when she wasn't yelling at the world around her. It was a complete turn around from the excited expression she'd just been sporting.

'She had known? Then why was she just sounding ...happy?'

"He didn't die! He's not going to die. He's taken special medicine. It won't happen." She reassured her sister, having just come from the hospital after seeing him still alive and stable, "And how... do you know...?" She looked at the red eyed girl again, and saw her eyes had faded from glowing to merely red in color. Odd.

"If he didn't die, then he will. I'm sorry." Misa said, bowing once more but this time it was apologetically, "I wrote his name in my Death Note. I didn't realize you were related to Kira, or I never would have... I'm terribly sorry!"

"Related to... Kira? So you think that, too?" Sayu grit her teeth at her sister's words but covered it by smirking at her.

Misa continued, "From what Yuko said, it sounded like you were against Kira, so I was misunderstanding things. I can't fix what I've done, Rem said we can't do that. I'm sorry... about Yuko, too. I killed her."

Sayu gave a little gasp, spinning in her seat to face Misa, "You did? That sucks."

"I know. I'm sorry! It was something I did really fast when I was angry." Misa apologized again. Sayu gave her a concerned glance, but nodded as if agreeing finally. She set her tea down on the table. 'Why is Sayu ok with this?'

Shikako's blood had gone cold when she heard that, "You killed my friend?"

Misa meekly nodded. Shikako's killing intent slammed into the others in the room and made them gasp. She hadn't unleashed anything like that in this world before, and it took her a moment to reign it in. The two girls on the couch looked up in surprise, breathing rapidly. Sayu had fallen back against the sofa's arm. "What... was that?" Misa asked.

Sayu groaned, then sat back up. There was a shuffling noise behind Shikako, when she reached forward and grabbed Misa's shoulder, clutching her tightly, "How did you kill Yuko?"

The girl's words came quickly, her voice pained, "I had my Death Note on me at the time, and I just got so mad when she talked about Kira..." Misa looked at her hands, covered in see-through, black silk laced fingerless gloves. She raised her mascara rimmed red eyes back to Shikako and blinked back tears.

'Death Note...' Shikako wondered, 'Where have I heard that before?' Could it have been something from a past life, something important relating to this world? She couldn't quite tell. She released the girl's shoulders, mostly because if she gripped her any tighter she'd have to pop them back into place.

"And who is Rem?" Shikako asked, stepping back once. Her shadow snapped silently at the leg of the coffee table like a whip as she set her foot down. The coldness in the room crept closer, making her shiver and goosebumps raised on her arms. Something was happening. Misa shook her head in the negative, looking over Shikako's shoulder, eyes watering. She was probably in pain from the bruise that would be forming on her shoulder.

"Misa, Michiko didn't know." Sayu stated in a whisper, shaking her head in her sister's direction, hands upraised as if to settle her down, as if they would attack one another.

Misa let out a small 'Oh!' sound and covered her mouth, hiding a horrified expression. "I messed up, again." she said, her voice small.

"No. It's ok. It's about time anyway. I was planning on it, after all. Michiko, you're right, there's something you need to know..." Sayu started. She turned to look at her sister, folding her hands in her lap. "It's about a notebook called a Death Note."

Shikako pursed her lips, as if the words tasted bad, "Death Note?"

"You need to touch it!" Sayu said. "That way, you'll know. You'll be able to see Rem!"

"Rem, who is this Rem?" Shikako asked as she looked from her sister to the blonde stranger seated on the couch. Sayu picked up a book from the couch beside her, it had been sitting unobtrusively on the cushion between them.

"Rem is a Shinigami." Misa said. "Touch my Death Note and you'll be able to see her."

Sayu held the book up for Michiko to touch. It had strange white writing in letters she couldn't recognize across the cover.

With a careful grip, Michiko's hand wrapped around the cover of the thin black book, and Sayu let it go.

That's when it hit her. With a gasp, she said, "It was..."

Something in her mind, akin to a vibrant red light, flashed before her eyes. The same red that was in Misa's eyes. Then she remembered. How could she have forgotten? All of this time! Panic filled her mind. She should not have forgotten this!

Michiko headed out on her bike, as fast as she could. She was racing the clock, but she knew she could get there in time. She finally made it to Light's school just as the bell was ringing. She was on her way to pick up the workplace uniform next, for that new job she'd only just signed up for, so was passing by his school. She'd volunteered to deliver it, when her mother mentioned Light's mistake that morning in forgetting his lunch.

She chained her bike up outside. As she headed into the school building, she looked up seeing the overhead clock was reading noon, and waited until his class had finished and filtered out of the room. Light stepped out, putting a notebook away in his bag. "Sis! What are you doing here?"

She held up the bento by a green and white striped cloth wrapped around it, "You forgot your lunch!"

"Oh! Thank you! I can't believe I didn't even realize that." Light looked surprised, then glanced at his bag, finally noticing something was missing. He took the lunch with his free hand, saying, "Wow, you really packed it heavy this time."

"Growing boys need good food, right? Working hard? Study much?" Michiko smirked, smacking him on the arm as he watched a passing girl who was staring at him strangely. The girl looked like Light had stabbed her in the back, with how she was glaring daggers his way. "Hey, I'm over here." Michiko stated, going so far as to wave a hand in front of his face. Light readily looked back to his sister.

"Sorry, that was an acquaintance of mine. She keeps asking me to go on a date with her, though I've turned her down since I don't want to date until I get into the University at last. I think she thinks you're my girlfriend, though. That's kinda... awkward." Light winced when Michiko gave him a wide smile, showing way too much teeth. He suddenly got a bad feeling, and was proven right with her narrowing eyes.

"Oh, now, we can't have that, little bro!" Michiko waved down the hallway at the girl, who was standing off to the side with her arms crossed, observing their interactions. Light almost dropped his lunchbox when Michiko brashly smacked him on the back and pushed him forward, shouting, "HEY! You!" She rudely pointed at the girl, who gave her a deer-in-the-headlights look, "Yeah, you! Have lunch with my little brother, I packed plenty!"

"SIS!" Light jumped as she forcefully pushed him forward. "Oh. My. God. I'm sorry!" he said to the girl, "My sister is insane." he apologized. She shoved him down the hall, but he tried to dig his heels in and his indoor school shoes did nothing to slow their approach, sliding him across the smooth floor instead, until he was face to face with the blushing girl, inches from her nose.

"I also packed him a huge lunch, so there's plenty for two!" Michiko said to the girl from around Light's shoulder.

"Hehe. That's fine," the girl said, suddenly happy at this revelation. Light's face was turning red. The girl might have been too close to him to see that, though.

A black haired, droopy-eyed boy down the hallway whistled, speaking up, "If he won't share with her, I'll eat some! You a good cook?"

That got the whole hallway to chuckle at the couple as the girl took Light's arm and led him down a staircase towards the cafeteria. He turned back to his sister with a pleading look, but she just smiled and waved him away. The guy that called to her watched her walk away, wistfully sighing in her direction, "Was worth a shot," she heard him mutter to the guffaws of his classmates.

Michiko grinned then headed outside, having successfully messed with her brother that day. (Revenge was probably going to come to her later in the petty form of her favorite bra on the top of a flagpole somewhere, but she could always buy a new one and deny, deny, deny. Just as he would deny the petty prank. She never should have taught him the fine art of pranking.)

On her way back to her bike, a sparkle from above caught her eye. A shimmer of light, as something reflecting the sunlight fell from the sky.

Curious, she headed to the middle of the open courtyard to inspect the fallen object.

Standing over the smooth black square in the grass, she realized it was a book. She picked it up, and read the cover, "Death Note?" She opened it, reading, "The human whose name is written in this note shall die. Huh. That's different."

She stared up through the glare of the noonday sun and inspected the empty sky, then watched the open courtyard around her. There was no one else here, and nothing else that could have deposited this strange book in this place. She could have sworn she'd seen it falling from the clouds. No, there was no disputing it, she had seen it.

There were no names written in the book, yet.

She wouldn't put it past this world for something like this to be real. She'd been waiting for the next strange thing. With the fact that she could use chakra, and her previous encounters with a local psychic... anything was up for grabs as a possibility. She wondered if this might be related to her not being able to get seals to work in this world. A book, that responds to the user? Was it chakra based, a fuinjutsu of some sort? Had she found the answer she was seeking?

Curiosity winning out, she gave the area one last once over then shoved it in her bag and headed on her way. She would analyze it later.

She didn't get a chance to. Her sister had found it in her bag after she got home, inviting herself into her sister's things because she was wanting to borrow a pencil sharpener after her pencil had broken. "What's this?"

"Oh... that." Michiko put down the bowl she was holding. She'd been tossing the salad for that night's dinner, as her sister was sitting at the table across from her, working on her math homework. She shrugged, "It's just a book that fell from the sky today." She said in a joking voice.

"A what? Cool!"

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"You really shouldn't be playing with things like that!" Michiko admonished as she and Sayu headed into her bedroom, tossing the Death Note on her computer desk. She had taken it from her sister's hands as they walked upstairs, having caught her little sister holding it when Michiko got home from her new job the next day. She'd left it hidden in her room, but Sayu was pretty good at finding things that should have stayed hidden, so she'd had to hide her diary quite well, though the girl hadn't yet found it. She probably should have put the Death Note with it, come to think of it. Otherwise she would have to think up better hiding places for her things.

Her little sister was always giving out the impression that she just doesn't pay attention, doesn't care, or isn't as intelligent as her siblings, acting just like her air-headed friends, but she was pretty smart, too. It was in her genes, and only a direct comparison between her and her siblings made her seem more average, that and her obvious youth made for an unfair comparison. It seemed that the girl was going the same route Shikamaru once had, and was intentionally getting average grades, probably not wanting to compete with expectations her parents might have had of her. They were constantly having to harp on her to get her homework done.

Michiko had taped the book to the back of her standing mirror, but Sayu had snuck in and taken it, then brought it over to her bedroom and shared it with her friends, Kimiko and Midori. "Honestly, what if it was real? You could have gotten yourself- or your friends- killed."

Sayu snorted, chuckling, "Wow, are you paranoid, or what? It's not real. It's a joke book. Obviously. You act like 'magic' is real. And you're the one that swears there's no such thing as the Easter bunny and Santa Clause! Midori just wrote that stuff as a joke, because that's what it's for. It's got a million rules written out in it, and they're all so complicated and stupid, no one would believe-"

Michiko cut her off, "I don't care, I haven't read all of those, yet. But, you know what? I'm just going to burn it. Then there will be no problem." She stared her sister down.

'And if that book had anything to do with this world's story line, then that will put an end to that.'

"You can't burn it!" Sayu protested, looking toward the book in horror. This was the first time she'd ever heard her bookworm, knowledge-obsessed older sister say 'Burn' and 'Book' in the same sentence without referencing how much of a shame it would be to lose knowledge like that.

"Yes, I can. It's mine, and I will." Michiko stated with an air of finality. She turned to her closet, "And actually, I have a few other things that need burned. It's really time to empty out this closet."

"Uh, hello! Strange book falls out of the sky, where there's no sky scrapers to speak of, and no flying vehicles overhead, not even a drone! You think that's a random chance? I think it came from an angel!" Sayu joked, fingering the edge of the paper of the Death Note, flipping through the pages from bottom to top as she wistfully examined it.

Now it was Michiko's turn to snort in laughter, "You're being silly. Why would an angel give a human a book that kills people, anyways?"

"Angels have bloody swords." This quiet and contemplative comment made Michiko pause. Just what was her sister into lately? That didn't sound normal. She tossed an old paint stained shirt that was hanging in the back of her closet into what she'd now dubbed 'the burn pile' at Sayu's feet near the desk. That old shirt had been in there for three years too long, at this point.

Sayu sat on the computer chair and spun in place, watching her sister rifle through her closet and toss things in the 'burn pile'. She occasionally got rid of things that didn't fit anymore and had been worn ragged with all her obsessive exercises, usually biking and running. A pair of jeans with friction holes worn on the inside of the legs from running in them every morning followed the shirt into the pile. Sayu thought they could have been cut into shorts, but didn't comment. "Just let it go, sis. I'm cleaning out the room and getting rid of some things. Some of this stuff is going in the burn pile, and that book is going too."

"Whatever." Sayu groaned. Michiko grabbed her old jean jacket that had been hanging in the closet and emptied out the pockets, finding some loose change which she tossed on her bed.

Michiko grabbed her duffel bag and pulled out her new clothes, setting them carefully on the bed. She pulled out the jacket for her pizza delivery job and held it up for inspection, "Hey, I want to get a new jacket. Why do you get one and I don't? Though... yours is kinda gaudy. I don't want anything ugly like that!" Sayu squinted at the orange and black thing in her sister's hands.

"Well, I needed to get a new jacket, too, so at least this new job provided one. I dunno though, it looks... I'll generously say 'cute,' to me. I've been meaning to replace this old thing, so I guess now is a good time. It's looking a bit ragged." Michiko tossed her old jean jacket on top of the burn pile next to her computer desk. Sayu looked down at it curiously.

While her sister was busy laying out her outfit with the funny looking orange and black jacket for the next day, Sayu grabbed the tossed garment from the trash pile and held it up before her, folded neatly in half. She cleared her throat to get her sister's attention, "Is this mine now, then, can I keep it? You don't want it anymore, right? You were wanting to just get rid of it! I'll take it, if you want to relinquish ownership of it."

"That's a weird way of saying it. But... sure, I don't want it anymore, so I'll pass it on to you. I didn't know you were interested in my hand-me-downs, you're always going on about getting the new clothes from the more expensive department stores!" She gave her sister a speculative look, running her words through her head again. It had sounded very strange, a very formal way of wording it. Her eyes roamed across the bedroom, then landed on the desk. The surface of the desk was empty.

"Thanks, sis!" Sayu hopped up from the chair and fled the room, heading for her own bedroom before Michiko could say anything more.

Michiko surveyed the room and realized something was missing. She just couldn't remember what.

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The Shinigami looked up at her, when she entered the room, "Thanks for waiting out of sight, Ryuk!"

Ryuk snickered, having listened in, "So that's what you wanted me to wait here for, human. Heh. Tricksy."

"You heard her, Ryuk. She owned the book but she doesn't want it anymore. She's giving it to me. She's relinquished the right to it, and handed over ownership." Sayu said, unfolding the cloth of the coat so that the Shinigami could see the Death Note nestled inside it.

"Heheh. Humans. SO interesting!" Ryuk knew Michiko had already forgotten everything she knew about the Death Note as ownership passed hands- from Michiko to Sayu.

"So, Ryuk, now that that's done... I need to know so I can fix this- how do I undo the Death Note so my friends don't die? Now that you're here, I know it's real, so I need to know right now! You're my Shinigami now, so you have to tell me!" Sayu stared up at the leather clad Shinigami expectantly.

"Huh?" Ryuk blinked at the teenage girl stupidly, "You want to erase their names from the Death Note so they don't die?"

She nodded in appreciation that he was following what she said, "That's right! Now, how do I do it?"

"Sorry, Kid." He said with a wicked, dark grin. "They're dead. Once a name is written in my Death Note, there's no taking it back"

Sayu's face fell from smiling to blank. She couldn't process it. She clutched the notebook in her hands. They began to tremble. "You... you're kidding. That's not a funny joke, Ryuk."

The Shinigami laughed. "Humans! Hahah! I knew this would be entertaining!"

While folding some of her clothes as she cleaned out her closet, Michiko paused mid-motion. She felt like she'd forgotten something again, but she just wasn't certain what. With a shrug, she figured it would come back to her eventually. She had some clothes to get rid of.

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"It was... me." Shikako gasped, "I first picked up the Death Note." She stared at the black book in her hands, her mind superimposing the memory of the English language letters to the words "Death Note" over the strange white writing seen on this one. She had first held a different book. That meant there were two of them. Two books, two Kiras. Just like Dan said, this was proof of a second one.

"Yep! Then you gave it to me!" Sayu giggled. She grabbed another cheese covered cracker and bit into it while staring at her sister in an amused fashion. She talked with her mouth full, "Though you didn't know you did that, did you? I got you, there!"

Michiko shook her head abruptly, her hair smacking into her face as she did so, "I didn't... I don't remember giving it to you! I was going to burn it!"

"Ok, that's cuz I hid it in that jacket you gave me. I thought it was cool but you said you were going to burn it, so I stole it from you, and tricked you into giving it to me." Sayu smirked, sticking her tongue out at her sister. "You should have read it all! You didn't know the rules. You were going to waste an opportunity. The rules written inside said you'd forget it if you gave up ownership. So did the Shinigami that came with the book. I happened to see him before you did, cuz he came to the house where the book was while you were at work, so when I realized that meant the book was real, I made him hide from you. He thought that was a very fun trick to play on you."

"You... You were the one who killed Midori and Kimiko." She stared at her sister, everything clicked into place. 'I was right. Oh, no. I was right. It wasn't Light all along, was it? But Sayu...'

Her sister grimaced, "They wrote that themselves. That was an accident. I thought it was a joke. That was why I wanted to take the book from you, since it was funny. I showed it to Midori, and she came up with something that would be impossible to happen, and wrote it in the book!" Sayu said, "We joked about it but decided it would never happen. Then I forgot about the book... Until the Shinigami appeared after that. By then it was too late, it couldn't be fixed, he told me. There was nothing I could do, so they died, and I realized it really was real."

Shikako asked, "What did you girls write in it exactly?"

"All she wrote was that someone would shoot her and Kimiko, sometime in the next month, then die when something hit him on the head. It was some guy that had been dating her mom before, and she hated him because he hit her, all the time! She was going to add me into it too, just for shits and giggles, but I took the book from her and told her to stop. She didn't write about when, or where, or what would happen specifically. It all just came together like that.

"When she died... I couldn't deal with it for a while. But then I thought- I thought I could make a difference! Light said that the world would be better off without people like him, like that guy that shot them! He was a nasty person to begin with; Light was right. So, I decided to get rid of them. All of them." The venom in Sayu's voice was not like that of a child. "Dad was always away, working, to stop the bad guys, but I had the magic book that could stop them for good! I could actually do it! So I decided to make the world safe for once."

"By scaring into submission every person on the planet and killing the ones you disagree with? That's not any way towards world peace, and I'm getting really tired of this as an excuse. That's just terrorism."

"No it isn't. I reshaped the world. People aren't afraid to be themselves now, and criminals don't live for long. They just disappear!" Sayu's fists shook, "They don't go around killing cops and kids and, and... They don't do it anymore! I'm not the only one who thinks that!" Sayu stood and glared at her sister, "Everyone does!"

"You know what you're doing, right? It's not any better than all of those criminals combined, Sayu." She mentally sighed when her sister vehemently shook her head in the negative. "All things considered, I suppose you thought it was the best thing to do, right?"

Sayu looked absolutely happy when she heard her sister say that, "It is!" She even bounced on the balls of her feet, her hair bobbing up into her face. She wasn't hearing the sarcastic tone, or registering the disappointed expression on her face, if she believed that Shikako was being supportive of her choice to become an international terrorist.

Misa looked between them curiously, focusing on Shikako, "So, you had the note first. Is that why you're a bit blurry to me? I mean, I can see your name and all, but I can't quite make out all your features properly. It's like you're wearing a shadow over your face!" Misa said, blinking at Michiko while the red in her eyes grew in intensity.

'See your name? She can see my name? Those red eyes, they have a power to identify people by name on sight. But what does she man by wearing a shadow?'

"It was your Death Note, but Sayu took it and you forgot, so it was no longer your Death Note... and now you remember it! So that means you'll remember Sayu's Shinigami? That doesn't explain why you're blurry to me, though." Misa pondered aloud.

"I'm sorry, I don't understand why I would be blurry to anyone. Amane, perhaps you need glasses?" she suggested dryly.

"Oh, no, she hasn't touched the Death Note we had here to begin with again, so she won't be able to see Ryuk. She's never seen him before, either!" Sayu shook her head at Misa.

'Ryuk, the other Shinigami...'

A voice behind Shikako agreed, "That is how it works." Shikako spun in place, and saw a giant humanoid creature, with what appeared to be bones for skin. An odd coldness was radiating from the being, which Shikako had gotten so used to that she honestly hadn't noticed since walking into the cool room. She had a bandage wrapped over one eye, and lanky purple hair. The Shinigami, Rem.

Michiko politely bowed to the tall, white being, taking this in stride. Strange talking creatures? She was used to that, "Well, hello, you must be Rem."

Rem nodded in return, in place of a bow. Shikako noticed the creatures lanky arms were so long they reached down past her knees when standing up, and bobbed when she moved.

The creature grinned, "You must touch the other book once more to be able to see the other Shinigami. The Death Note you are holding now is Misa's. Since I had it before Misa, it allows her to see me. Anyone who touches it sees only me, though if they touched a Death Note previously, it revives their memories of it upon touching one again. That is what happened to you just now."

Shikako processed that, and wondered how it had managed to influence her so strongly. It must have been like an infinite tsukuyomi, to have that kind of strength to reverse or suppress memories. "So I can't see the other Shinigami yet?"

Rem confirmed, "The other Shinigami is invisible and a human cannot hear or see him until the owner of his Death Note lets that human touch the Death Note. From then on, they will be able to recognize that Shinigami. If they gain and then lose ownership of that Death Note, however, they lose the ability to interact with him or recognize him at all, and lose all memories associated with that Death Note."

"Mm, but there's a way to remember!" Sayu chimed in.

The Shinigami agreed, "The only time they would retain memories of the Death Notes upon losing ownership of one is if they possess a second Death Note. Even I, a Shinigami, do not know all the rules associated with the Death Notes. But those are basic ones."

'Well, that's helpful. They're quite happy to share. Sayu knows I mean her no harm, of course.' Shikako thought, 'Misa, on the other hand... So she's the second Kira. Well, mystery solved. Now what do I do about it?'

Shikako gave her a long blink, then said, "So I forgot because Sayu took my note, and tricked me into giving up ownership of it; I lost my memories of it. Then Sayu kept it, showed it off and played with it, and got her friends killed... and Sayu... became Kira? Why, Sayu? I never would have expected such a thing from you. In hindsight, I should have noticed something was wrong, but that's just the problem. I already knew something was wrong, and attributed your behavior to that problem. Huh. If it was you all along, then that explains why the Investigation Team's files were accessed from our home- and the school schedule matching up to the killing times- L was right, it was a student. Because it was you!"

'But no... the killings started before her friends died. Agent Sora was there, after all. He gave them a ride home that day. He was in Japan trying to find Kira for L. If she decided to become Kira at that point then... something isn't adding up!' Shikako thought, 'So that means that Sayu is taking credit? For who? That doesn't get Light off the hook, then. It also doesn't get me any closer to figuring out just what happened here. Sayu, what are you thinking?'

"Are you mad that I took your notebook?" Sayu asked, not really sounding too concerned. She actually sounded proud. Taunting, even.

"Livid. Positively livid. You're grounded forever." Michiko deadpanned as she glared at Misa, already planning their way out of it. She knew it wouldn't be that simple. The shadows at her feet waved in agitation. She would have to fix this before L caught wind of it, or at least control what L hears. The Shinigami watched the floor, fascinated at the swirl of energy playing there, mouth parting slowly.

"You can't ground me!" Sayu screeched, not catching on. She threw a cracker on the table and it shattered in half as it hit, then flew through the air and vanished into Rem's leg. It passed right through the Shinigami, then reappeared on the other side as if nothing had impeded the motion as it struck the floor, which made Shikako stare at the wavering space just in front of the creature's leg. She had just seen space distort itself, as the cracker flew through the Shinigami. Now that, that was different. Did that mean she couldn't touch the creature?

Sayu frowned at her sister, hands balled into fists. Turning back to the girl, Shikako realized she was not used to confronting her sibling like this, the girl didn't usually act like such a misbehaving, immature teen. She was always so good-natured, if irritating on occasion. Or she just kept to herself most of the time. Her personality seemed to have shifted, in the time that she'd acquired the Death Note and begun using it, but Shikako had not seen the reason why. She had attributed it to a great personal loss, and a need to withdraw and recover. It just hadn't been apparent, or obvious, through all the clouds of doubt and suspicion around everyone else. And who would think to look for it?

"Wanna bet, munchkin? You've been going around killing people and I've been taking the heat for it. Not to mention the suspicion on Light! Do you know how much of a mess I have to clean up now?" Misa giggled at Michiko's angered tone. Shikako clutched the notebook in her hands as she sized up the petite blonde before her. If only she could use her hammerspace right about now! "Oh, and don't think you're getting off easy, Amane. If what you said was true, then you tried to kill my dad and really did kill Yuko! You're in it even worse. You, I can shift the blame to, and give to L-"

"If you do anything at all to Misa, I will kill you myself." Rem threatened. The room went silent. All eyes were on the white creature. The Shinigami continued, "If any of your actions lead to the death of Misa, you will die next. You and all of your family. If I can't kill you myself, I will kill everyone you hold dear." Sayu gasped and fell back on the couch, staring at the creature, whose temperature had dropped even further, making the air feel frosty.

"But Rem, that means that you would..." Misa trailed off. She breathed through her nostrils slowly, lips closed tight, looking up at the Shinigami with tears in her red eyes.

"I know. I am aware of this. I choose to do so regardless. For you, Misa, I will." Rem eyed the other humans in the room, her wide mouth hanging open, exposing the sharpened fangs. Her purple hair that hung over her yellow slit eye, the other covered with a wrapped bandage, drooped down into Shikako's face as she stooped down to stare in to the shadowy girl's own eyes, looking deep through the veil of darkness surrounding her.

Rem towered over Michiko, gazing into the shadowy mass that was the girl's inquisitive face, giving her no indication that she couldn't really see her distinct features. Just the map of skin that was hidden by darkness, like a veil. It was enough to see the outline of her features, true, but enough to mask it as well. Like saying that this soul is out of your reach. Not for you to consume. Not a product of this world, untouchable. Rem didn't believe that to be true. She wanted a closer look.

"If I try, I can see you. If I look closely enough. It's like looking into another world," Rem stated with satisfaction. With that thought in mind, things began to become clear, once the Shinigami adjusted her sight she knew where to look, not just how to look at this human. "Your true name does appear to me. That was not what I expected, strange little human. I do have the ability to kill you." She reached forward with her excessively long arms and brushed a lock of Shikako's own hair out of her face to get a better view. 'Well, that answers that question, on whether I can touch her or not.'

"You're really a Shinigami, then." Shikako stated the obvious, reasoning something out loud for confirmation.

"Yes." Rem breathed a frozen, rancid breath in Michiko's face. It made her eyes water. She kept her mouth closed so she wouldn't taste it, but the smell was like death on the air. She didn't back away.

"And this notebook, the Death Note, is your tool? You use it as your weapon to kill with?" she queried, studying the yellow slit eyes, something that was familiar to her, like Ino's, but full of malice.

Rem nodded in response. "It is my only tool, and yes, I use it as this 'Kira' you say, does. For killing humans." Rem confirmed, looking back at Sayu. She stood up to her full height, almost touching the ceiling. She was closer to a human height when she was slumped or crouched, and at her full height the bone-shaped mass of her back aligned straight with a creak. It was odd that Shikako could hear her move now, whereas before she touched the book, there was no sound from this creature, no hint of its existence except... She still couldn't sense it, other than a strange coldness radiating through the room.

'This creature, this Shinigami, is the source of the chills I've been getting. All of this time.. which means there has been another one here...'

"So you can only kill with the Death Note?" Shikako asked, flipping through the pages and reading all of the names listed there. So many names. How many of them were the Shinigami's doing and how many were Misa's? The handwriting all looked the same.

"We Shinigami are only allowed to use the Death Note to kill humans. We are punished severely, the ultimate punishment of our kind, if we do so otherwise. That is why we only kill with the Death Note. By doing so, we extend our own lives." Rem said. "I would willingly kill you in any way to save Misa. Do not forget that." Rem harshly intoned as she backed away from Shikako slowly, looking like a snake made of bone as her head and arms bobbed with every backward step. It reminded Shikako of Orochimaru's white snake form, for a second.

"But you didn't tell her what you told me!" Misa exclaimed, clapping her hands. She elaborated on her own, though the Shinigami opened her mouth to shush her, "Shinigami can die by killing humans! They just have to... fall in love first!" Misa said, gleefully giggling, despite Rem's annoyed expression. "Isn't that romantic? If a Shinigami dies for you, then you gain their life, like I did! A Shinigami saved my life, killing my attacker with his Death Note, which saved me when I was supposed to die. I got his life in exchange."

"Wow, and so Rem is willing to do that for you? That is romantic!" Sayu sighed appreciatively, seemingly forgetting the death threat on her own head. Michiko pinched the bridge of her nose, feeling a headache coming on. It might have been the Shinigami's breath that caused it, though. There was nothing really romantic about it, honestly. It was just someone wanting to protect someone else. All in a day's work, but then again, the human girl had become a precious person to the Shinigamis, hadn't she? She supposed some might view that as romantic.

"Misa, you shouldn't let this human keep your Death Note." Rem suggested, watching Shikako carefully. Shikako froze. She was not letting anyone else touch this note book, now that she knew exactly what it was. She didn't know if she would lose her memories by letting go of it, either. There was one way to test it though, but she would have to be alone to do it... it would also be a good precaution against losing it, or forgetting it entirely. Or she could just ask. They'd been pretty forthcoming with information so far.

Misa reached suddenly with her right hand to take the notebook from Shikako's hands, deciding her next action for her. Shikako vanished in a swirl of leaves. The two girls and the Shinigami were left staring at the fall of crinkled yellow autumn leaves as they landed gently to float on the tea in the teacup on the table. Rem's visible eye widened in surprise. This was not a normal human, at all.

"Oh My God, that's so cool!" Sayu yelled, falling to drape herself over the arm of the couch, thinking that her sister might have hidden behind it, she tried to look around the room, but saw nothing. Misa blinked stupidly, dropping her then empty tea cup on the couch as her left hand lost her grip on it.

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Author's Note: Some comments I got were very thought provoking, because it brought up things I hadn't considered, so thanks again for that, I appreciate it!

This kind of fic has a lot to do with the revealing of the information to those characters that are searching for it, and how you go about that changes the reader's opinion on the story, so it's impossible to do everyone's expectations justice. (Honestly knew that wouldn't be possible, as I notice people were expecting things that I just... was not writing. Because you expect to expect them, as if nothing changed from canon. I couldn't respond to all the reviews or I'd have been giving things away, sorry!)

I've been leaving a lot of subtle read-between-the-lines type clues, practicing foreshadowing with this story. Underneath the underneath, ya know. There's always more to what you see. If I left it in there was good reason for it. (Now I want to know how many of you saw it coming. Was my foreshadowing too blatant or am I not adding enough of it...? Thank you!)

It might take a while to get another chapter posted, as I seem to be working on multiple stories now. I didn't intend to start new ones, but hey, life happens.

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