Scroll 13 { Hot N' Cold }

"The guy's probably a lunatic."

"I find that hard to believe. If Kira was really a 'lunatic', as you call him, he would have been caught by now. On the contrary, I think he would most likely be a genius of some sort."

"Even so, to handle such a heavy burden of having majority of the world hunting him down, trying to bring him to the death sentence? Genius or not, he's still human and would probably be losing half of his mind right now."

"There are many types of people in this world, maybe far more than you can imagine."

"Are you implying that I'm narrow-minded?"

"I didn't say that."

"Well, it sounded like you were."

"Please, Hope-san. It would be better if you don't come to such rash decisions all the time."

"I don't make rash decisions!" I growled slightly, shooting a heated glare at the detective beside me. "If anything, you're the rash idiot."

This time, it was his turn to narrow his eyebrows, looking somewhat offended.

"I refused to be referred to as an idiot." he pouted, irritation rising in his normally calm voice. It was almost childish-sounding.

"What's wrong? Did I hit a weak spot?" I taunted, darkly amused. An uncharacteristically sadistic sneer appeared on my face. I couldn't stop myself from spitting out the words.

"L, BA-KA." I strained each syllable, trying to sound as insulting as I could.


WHAM.


He suddenly swung his leg and it immediately came into contact with my arm as I blocked the blow from my face.

"What the hell was that for!" I snarled, infuriated. I had lost the last of my cool. I didn't wait for an answer as I twisted his leg, flinging the boy over my shoulder. He fell onto the ground with a painful thud. I was about to turn around when he grabbed hold of my left ankle and dragged me to the ground, causing me to trip forward, landing onto my stomach.

Before we knew it, we were both launched into a physical battle, each trying to cause the other as much pain as possible.

In the midst of all of the flying kicks and frantic punches, the door swung open and two bewildered assistants scrambled in hastily.

"L/LADY HOPE!"

The voices blared loudly and we both paused. I had a hand clenched onto the collar of L's white shirt and another holding on tightly onto his wrist, while he had me pinned onto the hotel floor, a hand just beside my head, supporting most of his body weight as he tried to free his other hand out of my vice grip. We both glared, the same spiteful look scorning at each other.

Watari went over to our intertwined bodies - well, stormed over - and hauled L off of me. I pushed and sat myself up slowly, the scowl still attached to my face.

"We leave you two alone for a few minutes and here you are, getting at each other's necks!" the man in black scolded harshly. "It's already been five days, why can't you two just get along?"

"Me? Get along with that thing?" I hissed hatefully, giving L a look of complete menace. "Maybe when hell freezes over."

"My feelings are similar." L glared daggers at me. "Getting along with such a difficult person is proven to be impossible."

Watari sighed heavily and slapped a hand to his masked forehead.

"What made you two fight, anyway?" Feather piped up curiously.

"I was just stating my opinion on what kind of person Kira was when he accused me of being rash!"

"You accused me of being an idiot. Besides, you do tend to be rash from time to time."

"Well, you tend to be an idiot from time to time too!"

The mindless quarrel was revived again and soon more insults were thrown here and there, the two other presences in the room soon forgotten.

".... Gee, I'm sorry I asked." Feather mumbled regretfully to herself.

Watari twitched impatiently behind his mask.

"Alright you two! STOP!" He suddenly boomed.

We both hushed down at his sudden outburst.

"Honestly, I will not stand for you two to have such petty arguments any longer! You're acting like little children! I expected better from two perfectly well-mannered adults!" The masked man reprimanded like an angry mother. He had to be truly fed-up to lose his temper like that.

"You two have to get along one way or another! No, you two will get along somehow!" he declared. He slumped his shoulders and rubbed the side of his head to calm himself down.

"Now. Apologize."

L was now sitting on the floor, his legs pulled up in his unusual sitting position. He put his thumb to his lips in a thoughtful manner and his expression was clearly agitated from getting lectured.

"Fine," he begun hesitantly. "I will try harder to get along with Hope-san. I apologize for my rude behavior, Hope-san." he said sincerely.

I made a wry face and stood up.

"I don't want to accept an apology from an idio--"

Feather probed my side with her elbow, stopping me from completing my sentence. I rolled my eyes and slipped my emotionless expression back on.

"Fine. I accept your apology, L-san. And I suppose I'm sorry too."

'Sorry for ever thinking that working with you was ever a good idea.' I thought distastefully on the inside.

"That's better." Watari nodded in satisfaction.

Feather smiled weakly at us. "Lady Hope and L-san are so fussy, always getting into fights. Just like a cat and a dog." she commented with a soft giggle.

I looked at her, not entertained. "I do not appreciate being compared with an animal, Feather."

"You're right. I'm sorry." She apologized, but with a silly grin on her face.

I switched my attention over to the unusually quiet detective. He seemed to already get over everything that had just happened before and was busily typing away on his laptop.

"It's almost time." He said in a low voice. He looked over to Watari and said, "Can you fetch the TV, please?"

Watari came back a few seconds later, a small TV in his hands. He placed it next to his laptop and handed him a remote.

My interest peeked slightly and I went over to sit next to L. As much as I disliked being anywhere near him at the moment, I was interested in as to what was going to happen and wanted to get a clear view.

The screen lit up just as a news reporting on TV was speaking.

"Sorry to interrupt our normal programming. A live international broadcast from the ICPO, interpol, will now begin. So, here it is."

The convict known as Lind L. Tailor appeared on screen and my interest rose even more.

"I am the one person who controls the entire planet's police force; Lind L. Tailor." He started off. Then, closed his eyes and bowed his head in a serious manner. "Alias, L."

"Hm." I made an amused sound, propping my chin onto the back of my hand.

I gazed at the man on the screen, the name plate on his desk reflected clearly in my eyes.

He looked back up at the camera and went back to speaking. "To the murderer who's targeting criminal after criminal: This is unforgivable. The worst crime in history. Consequently, I will catch the ringleader of these crimes, referred to vulgarly as 'Kira'."

"Kira. I can imagine what you're thinking, to do something like this. But what you're doing is.... EVIL."

Lind-san smiled in a twisted manner that somehow brought a smirk to my face.

'Interesting... very interesting.' I cackled softly in my mind.

It was written well.

If this script was written to provoke a individual who had the intention of being a 'savior', someone who purely thinks that he is doing good through his actions, like Kira, it was definitely going to work.

Then, something happened to make me widen my eyes in surprise.

...What?

The man on the TV suddenly begun to groan in immense pain, clutching onto the place where his heart was. He slumped forward, and fell over onto the desk, remaining motionless. Dead.

Was this... was this really happening?

Lind L. Tailor had just died right in front of our eyes from a heart attack.

I jerked my head to look at L. He had his eyes widened in surprise too, taking in what had just happened.

All the doubts... All possibility of this... disaster being a mere 'coincidence' had once and for all been dismissed.


Kira was real. And he had just murdered Lind L. Tailor.


Two men dragged the dead body away from the chair just as L tapped a button on his keyboard.

The letter 'L' I had seen before during the meeting appeared on TV and I stared at it blankly.

"I don't believe it." L spoke into his microphone, fighting to sound calm. His voice echoed from the TV in a morbid, distorted form.

This was it. The start of the 'direct confrontation'.

"I thought it might be so, so I tested it but..." He stopped.

"Kira. You can kill people without ever laying a finger on them? ... I couldn't believe it until I saw it with my own eyes.... Listen, Kira. If you're really responsible for the death of Lind L. Tailor on TV, know that he was actually a man who was scheduled to be executed at this time today. He was not me. A criminal chose capture was top secret and was not reported on the television or the internet. It seems like even you don't have information about criminals like that one."

"But I, L, definitely exist."

My eyes were no longer on the television screen. They were now reverted onto L, the light of his computer eerily glowing onto his already pale complexion. I watched him quietly without uttering a word.

"Well, then. Try killing me."

My jaw tightened as he said those words.

What was wrong with him? Was he crazy? Did he have a death wish?

"Well, what's wrong?" L spoke, his tone getting louder. I could detect the twisted excitement rising in his voice. "Hurry up and try it!! Hurry up and try to kill me!"

I crossed my arms and unconsciously dug my nails into my skin. The sounds of the Shadows in the room, dancing about eagerly seemed to be ten times louder than ever, buzzing nosily in my ear. They shared his feelings of anxiety.

I stared at his face, engrossed.

Why was he so excited?

"Kill me! Kill me!" He coaxed, mockingly. "Try to kill me!"

Amidst the sound of the Shadows, my heartbeat pounded like a drum as I waited for something to happen, eyes never wavering away from L. I didn't blink once. The adrenaline flowing through my veins was almost heart-stopping.

This was insanity. What if Kira really did have that kind of power?

But.. for the same, unknown, twisted reason...


I was excited too.


"What's wrong? Can't you?" L asked in a teasing tone. A mischievous glint sparked in his deep black eyes as he stared, full of thrill, at his laptop.

We all waited with bated breath. Nothing happened.

He started to calm down and I did so too, soon after.

"It would seem that for some reason, he can't kill me. So there are people who can't be killed."

He confirmed, sounding accomplished.

"Thanks for the hint. In exchange, I'll tell you this. I had them announced that this was being broadcast worldwide, but this was only broadcast in Kantou, Japan. I was planning on going region by region, showing this at different times, but there is no longer any need for that. You are currently in Kantou. It was a small case, so the police missed it, but the first victim in the string of crimes was Shinjuku the street slasher. Among the felons who have been dying of heart attacks, the street slasher's crime was incongruously light. Plus, the crime was only reported in Japan. That's all I needed to figure out that you're in Japan and that the first victim was a test of your power."

He grabbed the microphone and brought it closer to his lips to sound even clearer than before.

"I concentrated on Kantou which was the highest population. And lucky me, you were there. I didn't honestly think my speculations would be true this far. Kira, it might not be long until I send you to your execution. Kira, I am very interested in knowing by means you are committing these murders But I'll know that once I catch you. Until we meet again, Kira."

L tapped the same button on his laptop once more and the 'L' on the TV went blank, replaced with a fuzzed-out screen.

He let go of the microphone and I finally broke out of my trance. He leaned back slightly and I smirked.

"Kira. No matter what, I will find you and do away with you!" He announced, still looking at his laptop screen. He was serious.

He closed his eyelids slowly.

"For I am... Justice."

Justice.

Is that what he thought of himself..?

This man...

for the first time, I realized there was a whole other side of him. What a strong sense of justice and commitment he has, hidden within. This was definitely interesting.

I curled the fingers under my chin in intent.

I stared at L from the corner of my eye and couldn't help but wonder how he'll fair under God's Judgment. Because in reality... only God has the final say in what is true justice.

And I will aid in delivering God's message to the world.

I will be Justice.


xXx


As war has been declared from three separate individuals with three completely different views of true justice, the battle between right and wrong will finally begin.

The one question has been raised.

The one answer will be written.

The final judgment awaits it's verdict.

Who is the true justice?