Worshipers

Taro and Lucca manage to runaway with the death notes and hides among a cult of Kira worshipers.

            A week earlier, Taro and Lucca arrived in Tokyo late at night. Lucca doesn’t know who to look for and Taro doesn’t see anyone he recognizes. As they make their way to the baggage claim Lucca can feel someone following them; at first thinking it was someone on their flight but even when they get lost and take a potty break-he lurks. The man has his face concealed by sunglasses and a hoodie and walks closely behind them switching between groups of travelers. Taro is aware of their stalker and keeps him in sight as they make it to their destination. Time goes by and they still haven’t seen their bag; more and more people leave the area and the stalker gets closer and closer.

            Sani and Carter stand outside the baggage claim area next to a limo; Carter is on the phone with his wife while Sani looks at the exit waiting for the boys to come out. Twenty minutes pass since their flight landed and Sani heads inside wondering where they are. At the conveyer belt they see the boys arguing with a man who’s trying to take their suitcase. Everyone else has left the area; Sani told Near it would be a bad idea for them to fly in so late at night. Sani rushes over to confront the man and hears what they are arguing about,

“What is a death note?” Taro denies knowing about it existence.

“I know you have it with you! I saw you take it from that woman in Brazil.” The man tugs at the suitcase but Taro and Lucca’s grip is tight.

“You have us confused with someone else!” Lucca jams the suitcase into his crotch area and the man falls back and his hood falls down but doesn’t let go.

“You kids shouldn’t possess such a thing…you’re too immature to understand its power!” He shoves the suitcase back at him and Taro with much more force sending them flying backwards. Letting go of the suitcase the man cradles it.

“Give us back our things before you become a victim of this power.” Lucca fiddles with a paper clipping from the death note he keeps in his pant pocket. Even with the man having his eyes covered enough of his face is exposed to see the man’s name and lifespan.

“Leave those boys alone!” Carter walks in the airport to see Sani kick the man from behind to the ground; she learned L’s capoeira style of fighting too. He falls in agony dropping the suitcase and placing his hand on his spine.

“What the hell? Who are you?” She grabs him by the collar,

“Don’t mess with my children a*****e.” She punches him and he is knocked out instantly.

“I’m going to have to call you back, dear.” Carter knows that man will have a couple bruises showing up soon.

 “Are you two, okay?” She holds out her hands to them offering to help them get up. Taro slaps it away as Lucca lets go of the paper in his pocket.

“We’re fine.” Taro wipes off his clothes and grabs the suitcase.

“Are you sure? He looks like he’s seen a ghost.” Lucca stares at Sani, at her face and name. Her name he recognizes but her face he does not. Taro shakes him out of it as Carter calls a bus for the man and the airport security gives them the okay to leave. He grabs their luggage and takes it to the limo while Sani and the boys follow. When Sani opens the door Taro and Lucca see a man sitting on the opposite end, not on the seat but on the floor.

 He smiles at the boys; he hasn’t seen Taro since he was three and is curious about the boy with the shinigami eyes. None say a word as they make their way to headquarters besides Carter who continues his conversation with his wife on the phone. At headquarters, Yamamoto shows the boys to their room and they immediately fall asleep when their heads hit the pillows. Sani comes into their room and watches Taro sleep for a while; she strokes his head as he smiles in his sleep. She looks at Lucca whose face she has seen before.

            In the morning, Taro wakes up to see that Lucca is sitting on his bed playing computer games on a laptop Yamamoto lent him. An arm lies across his arm and he can feel hair touching that shoulder. Taro turns around to see his mother sleeping next to him and slides away from her as she gets out of bed. He throws his pillow at her to wake her up so she can leave. She opens her eyes, yawns and begins to stretch out.

“Get out of our room!” He demands. She sits up and puts her hair behind her ears.

“Taro, I haven’t seen you or heard your voice in months.”

“And?”

“Why have you been acting so distant lately? Are you mad at me for moving you to Mantua? Are you mad that I’m working far away?”

“I’m just mad at you-nothing more and nothing less.”

“You have to be mad at me for a reason, what did I do, Taro?” He takes a deep breath; both Lucca and Sani can feel his irritability.

“You know what you did, if I have to tell you…then my hate for you is justifiable.” He walks out the room with his towel and heads to the bathroom, slamming the door behind him. Sani think to herself what it could be, but then again it can be cumulative.  She turns to Lucca,

“You’re his friend, has he told you what’s bothering him?” He scoffs and closes the laptop.

“You’re his mother, you should know. All I know is that he’s lucky to have a parent that still alive.” Sani sits on the end of Lucca’s bed

“What happened to yours?”

“They were murdered and I got stuck with a sad excuse of a human-my aunt who only made my life a living hell.”

“I’m sorry to hear that…your story reminds me of a man I once knew. His wife turned ex was brutally murdered and he was accused of killing her, but he didn’t. Kira didn’t see that and killed him. He had a young son who I left with his aunt and uncle in Milan. I always wonder what happened to that boy.” Someone knocks on the door and asks if Sani is in the room. She leaves the room to see that Near needs help with making breakfast since he doesn’t trust Yamamoto and Carter left to meet with his family who is in the city. Lucca opens the laptop and on the screen is the case of Micca Abandonato from 2012. He finally has a face to the name, Sani Wammy.

            A few days later, Near, Yamamoto, Carter and Sani learn about the connection between the people with the death notes from Juliana Guisy. Initially, the owners didn’t want to work with each other until the syndicates revealed their locations to each other. Knowing each of their goals, they decided to work together to keep the world in a constant state of paranoia to weed out the people they truly couldn’t reform. They targeted animal, food and environmental abusers so they can try to save and maybe even reverse the damage they have done to have something to survive off of when “The Time” comes. This time is soon when Korea will make their big move. Human populations will be greatly reduced and whatever is left on the earth will be their means of survival.

“We will start over from the very beginning, before governments and countries, before religion and walled cities. We will regulate the human population to keep us and Earth alive longer. If God can’t do it- then we will.” Juliana proudly states.

“Creating a perfect world with people only a few deem to be worthy…sounds like a recipe for disaster. I hope you manage to kill them all before World War III begins.” Yamamoto feels.

“War does not give two damns or a f**k about the person you are-anyone in the line of fire will die! Do you really think you will make it out alive to see ‘The New World’?” Sani says to bring Juliana to reality.

“Time does not give two dams or a f**k about humans-it will continue on with or without us. Anything you do now will not change the path our world is heading down unless you can stop North Korea. Tell me, what is their plan?” L asks with his most serious face to date.

            Suddenly, they receive an alert from Mogi about his team closing in on another death note owner. Carter and Yamamoto search for any information on the man by scanning a picture of his face through a special database. Taro receives a text message from Kiara; it is the face of the man with the death note. Stephan told her that Lucca has the shinigami eyes. He calls Lucca over to get his name.

“Ismael King.” Lucca tells him and Taro texts Kiara the name. Not long after, Mogi confirms that they have the death note. Sani is baffled, wondering how they found out his real name before Yamamoto or Carter told them.

“Lucca Pope or whatever his name is has the eyes, Sani. He was born with them.” Ryuk tells her as she trembles with fear from him not warning her of his presence. Sani thinks about Micca Abandonato who also had the eyes and who had a son who she left in Milan with his aunt and uncle; a boy who would be Taro’s age now. She remembers him telling her his son’s name, Popei Abandonato…Lucca Pope.

“Whatever his name is…what name do you see, Ryuk? Popei Abandonato?”

“Close…Lucca Popei Abandonato.”

            Sani is glad to see that he is turning out fine despite who is raising him. She is also glad that Taro and him are friends and hopes to make Lucca another one of her un-biological sons feeling responsible for him since she couldn’t save his father. She looks on as Near talks to Lucca about his power and his and Taro’s intentions with the death note they received. They lie of course saying that they wanted to burn it before Belphagor informed them of the other death notes. Near knows they are lying but doesn’t let it show. He only hopes that when the time comes, they will hand over the death notes without any problems.

            A couple days later, Near receives the death notes Stephan sent him with Mogi being their escort. He stores them in a safe in a room right next to the boys room. He makes Sani, Taro and Lucca enter in a three digit code only known to them to lock the safe; the safe can only be open if all three of them put the codes in the right order. Should someone try to steal them, they only have one chance before the room is locked down and sleeping gas fills it. Lucca does not see this as a problem since they know six of the nine digits. That night they enter the room and brainstorm the numbers Sani could have chosen. They think of birthdays and holidays, anniversaries, anything and everything. Taro picks the numbers: 4-7-8 for Kira, a supposedly lucky number, and an upright infinity while Lucca picked the number: 6-6-6. Taro studies the numbers from all angles and finally feels he knows the numbers she chose. He keys in the code: 1-2-3-4-7-8-6-6-6.He closes his eyes and hold his breath anticipating the alarm to sound and the gas to invade their air, but the safe dings and the door pops open.

“1-2-3?”

“Yes, they are letters if you look at them from different orientations; 1-an upside down L, 2-a sideways fancy N and 3-a sideways lowercase m. L for well L, N for Near and M for Mello or Matt. She’s too predictable.” Taro explains.

“Or she was just really lazy with picking numbers.” Lucca laughs and grabs the notebooks and puts them in his backpack. “You ready? We need to be as far away from here as we can and find people who will help us get the last death note before they do.”

“Right, let’s go. I heard that there is a big following of Kira in Tokyo since it all started here.”

          They make their way out of the city towards Mt. Fuji. When morning comes, they stop to get food and camping supplies. As they are shopping they overhear a man talking to a family about the candlelight visual tonight on Mt. Fuji for Kira. He hands them a flyer giving them the location and time on the back. Lucca gets a flyer from the man.

“Looks like we are going here tonight; we just need to lay low today.”

“We need to make sure Near won’t find us at this ceremony either. I’m sure he’d know we would go.”

            That night, in the distance they can see little lights moving up the mountainside, many little lights that move in a single file line. A huge gathering of Kira worshipers have come to pray for his protection. They all wear black cloaks and carry a single candle. Lucca and Taro feel safe among the crowd knowing that even Near would find it hard to find them, especially with everyone being hardly visible.

In the crowd there are people of all ages and nationalities who have come to Japan just for this one night; babies are held by their mothers, children walk closely beside their parents, the elderly are escorted by a younger adult while young couples hold each other close. Lucca never imagined that a mass of this size would be allowed to gather without the police being present, but then again even some officers are participating. Taro and Lucca make their way to the front as they see the single file line forming into a circle and leave a path down the middle open. Moments later, a single person walks down the middle of the aisle wearing a white cloak and carrying one candle.

Her light shines like a star and it is the brightest. The boys can see that it is a woman. She approaches a man who stands in the middle of the circle who takes her candle. The crowd is silent except the few babies that are upset. The man speaks,

“Let us pray together my sisters and brothers.” Everyone lowers their heads and close their eyes.

“Kira, our savior we have gathered here tonight like we do every year for our prayers to be heard. For years we thought you had left us as the world began to decay again, but now we see you were waiting-waiting to see who would stay loyal and faithful to you. Judgment day is coming and we only pray that you protect us from the path of destruction. We will forever be the light that shines for the world you want to see and strive to make mankind the model citizens I know we can be. Kira, our savior, bless our children with a brighter future; show them the right way to live and be kind when the day comes to die.

“Long shall ye reign, our savior.” The woman finishes with.

“Long shall ye reign!” The crowd shouts back. One by one the followers hand the reverend their candle and he blesses them. When Lucca gets close enough he can see the man’s name, Solomon Divine and the woman’s name, Sarah Divine. He blesses them and they head down the mountain to the feast.

            As they make their way down the mountain, some other children start conversations with them. Three of them are older while one is closer to their age.

“So where are you all from?” The young girl with the bright pink hair asks them. Her name is Serenity Seung.

“I’m from Zambia, that’s in Africa.” The teenage girl with the pigtails says. Her name is Lumuka Maidstone.

“We are from Mantua, that’s in Italy.” Taro replies for the both of them.

“I’m from Athens in Greece.” The teenage boy tells them. His name is Dion Nikias.

“Live right here in Tokyo, but I am German.” The other teenage boy with the black and red hair informs. His name is Axel Friedrich.

“My mom and I live in Korea, South Korea but my father is from North.” Serenity reveals. Lucca smiles at the thought of having a means of getting to Korea. He hangs around her during the rest of their walk and manages to sit with her and her mother at the feast. With their food on plates and no clear tables to sit at, the followers sit in circles around camp fires. At their camp fire the reverend and his wife sit with them.

“It brings me joy to see so many young faces.” Reverend Solomon tells them.

“I am glad to see this many people believe in Kira and his mission.” Serenity’s mother, Sun Seung is surprised to see so many people.

“Yes, even with Kira’s disappearance for seven years the gathering has grown every year. Our savior, Kira must hve decided that there was enough of us who truly want a world of good to continue his plan from years ago.”

“Or they are just scared of the lingering threat of war and the death that comes with it.” Lucca says out loud.

“And what do you know about Kira and his mercy, son?” Sarah asks.

“Hmph, he has none.” Lucca gets up and walks away as Taro follows him. Serenity goes to find the boys intrigued about their knowledge of Kira.

“What if I told you, I know Kira?” Lucca says to her.

“I would do whatever I can to help him.” She smiles.

“Good, because he needs your assistance; Taro is Kira. Your savior chose him to carry out his will but there are those who stand in our way. We need to get to North Korea, can you help us with that?” He shows her the death notes with all the names they have written; she already knows what it is.

“Yes, I will help you two before things get out of hand. I’ll tell my mom to get extra plane tickets.” She kisses them both on their cheek and hurries to tell her mother.

            The next day, they are on their way to North Korea with Serenity and her mother who have fallen asleep in their seats across the aisle. Lucca takes out the death note Belphagor gave Taro.

“Belphagor chose us to rule this world in life and death. We need to eliminate all who know of the death notes and where they are. None shall know about us.” Lucca writes down names;

“Kido Namikawa death by car accident, Reverend Solomon Divine tormented to death by his wife, Sarah Divine.”

             The man who tried to steal their luggage when they arrived to Tokyo is hit by a bus when he runs a red light. Sarah nails her husband through the hands, feet and stomach to a wooden cross on the mountain side facing the ocean. She gathers wood and places it around his feet before setting him on fire- burning him alive. Shortly after, she dies of a heart attack since her name was also written in the death note with no instructions given to how she will die.

“Femi Lekan death by drowning, Akira Hitomu death by suicide, Gabriella Lopez death by electrocution,”

            The African fisherman ties a barrel to his legs and rolls into the water; the weight of the barrel keeps him submerged and he drowns. The Japanese immigrant who owns the noodle shop stabs himself in the neck with the butcher knife while cutting up meat for a customer. The Brazilian woman who runs a beauty salon throws all her electrical equipment on the floor. She electrocutes herself when she breaks the fish tank in her shop flooding the floor where all her hair dryers, flat irons, TV and radio sit.

“Phillip Moinsseau, Kimi Kahlo,”

            At the round table, P and Kimi Kahlo fall out of their seats head first to the ground moments after the other. Kiara rushes over to them and confirms that they are dead from heart attacks. Everyone looks around the room to see who is next. They hear a screams down the hall.

“Alejandro Rivera, Juliana Guisy, Ismael King,”

             Near and Sani rush to the room they are holding the ex-owners in. Opening the door, each of them lay dead on the floor with eyes open having suffered from heart attacks. Ryuk can see all their lifespans fluctuating with each death not knowing if they are being lengthen or shortened because they won’t settle on a number.

“Ryuk, stop them! Please! Write down their names!” Kiara pleads. He is reminded of Light when he asked him to do the same thing; asking Ryuk to kill those trying to arrest him when Near beat him at his own game. Light killed Takada and Mikami had already been apprehended while Misa had no memories of being the second Kira so she was not there they day Light died; no one was there to kill for him anymore. Like then he refuses.

“I can’t do that.”

“Then let me, give me your death note.”

“A human must never write in a shinigami’s personal death note. If you did I would die.” His eyes are bright red having unintentional excitement for all the deaths going on but deep down he is mad at the king for allowing Belphagor to stay in the human world for this long. He knows the King didn’t give him the whole story when he sent him here-something is preventing him from just killing Belphagor and Ryuk is determined to figure it out.

“Halle Bullock, Anthony Carter, Hideki Ide, Kanzo Mogi, Shou Yamamoto,”

            Halle and Anthony fall onto each other as they hold their chests gasping for air in agony. Aizawa catches Ide before he hits the ground as Mogi falls on top of him. Kiara pulls Mogi’s lifeless body off Aizawa. Matsuda sees Yamamoto fall over next to Near. Near is pissed, he never anticipated Taro to kill his agents and he underestimated how dangerous he and Lucca are. He waits for a heart attack to end his life like the L before him-failing to defeat Kira like the L before him.

Sani holds onto Near and Kiara as Aizawa, Matsuda and Stephan cry over the bodies of their best friends, their comrades- their family. Minutes pass and they are still alive.

“That’s it for now, Lucca. I still don’t know what to do with the rest.”

“I understand you wanting to keep your family alive, but why keep Aizawa and Matsuda alive?”

“They have young children. I am sensitive to that.” Taro takes the death note from him and puts it back in his bag.

“I guess I’ll let you decide how you want to kill your family. I already killed my aunt and her boyfriend weeks ago along with all the b******s on my mother’s side of the family…I’m the only one left. Don’t get empathetic on me now; this world deserves no empathy or sympathy, Taro.” He curls up in his seat and goes to sleep feeling highly accomplished. Taro cries himself to sleep, feeling trapped in an endless cycle of deceit and death. Taro tells himself that after they get the last death note he will kill Lucca and hopes he will be forgiven for what he has done- for what he started and now has to finish.

“I have to kill him, Belphagor. It’s either him or my family and the fate of mankind. I have to fix this for I am the only Kira left. My father wanted a world of peace where people don’t have to fear unnatural deaths and unnecessary violence. He wanted people to live lives that not only better themselves but those around them. Lucca just wants to kill and disposes of human lives without remorse. He toys with people’s lives. He is evil and evil must be…deleted.”

            As Near and the rest decide they are safe, they move the bodies to the living room and cover their bodies in blankets until they know what they should do with the bodies. Aizawa and Matsuda call Shou’s, Mogi’s and Ide’s family while Sani contacts Carter’s family and Wammy House telling Rodger to start digging some more plots for fallen family members. Stephan calls Halle’s parents and siblings. Kiara holds onto Near tightly as he tries to figure out what to do next. With no death notes it is extremely hard confiscate one when they don’t have the treat of having one unless Ryuk wants to use his. They don’t know where the boys are but they shouldn’t be too hard to find. Near intends on not losing anyone else so he has to be more careful and more strategic when confronting Taro and Lucca.

            A call comes in to headquarters. Hesitant to answer, Near does anyways. On the screen a Korean man appears; another contact from Wammy’s House.

“Chung-Ho Bae, what information have you gathered in Korea?”         

“Not good news at all. North Korea just sent a threat to the United States and its allies saying they will unleash a level four virus- highly deadly. Not only is this man planning on using this virus to kill millions he is also targeting anyone who has a disease or may be a carrier. Many of those with Ebola, Malaria, TB, HIV and AIDS and even those with mental disabilities have been killed already.”