"All these years, and things are finally about to get interesting on Earth again, huh? Sorry to interrupt, miss, but you've got something of mine..."
The nightmare is over. Has been for five years. Kira is dead, and everyone knows it. A new god raises hell against the world, the international terrorist organization, PROXY. They take credit for the death of Kira, and bombing the Kira Task Force headquarters, and leaving Yagami Light in a coma he will probably never wake from. They don’t talk about what they did to L, but the videos leaked onto the dark web speak for themselves.
The world has moved on, but not everyone has. L is troubled by more than just lingering pain. His reputation as the world’s greatest detective is tarnished. Most of the former Task Force officers refuse to acknowledge him. Criminals he’d thought were dealt with keep resurfacing, sensing weakness, craving revenge. And he’ll never get that justice he promised after all. Light’s memory haunts him worse than any ghost - the memory of a man he may have, may have, seen as more than a murder suspect.
He goes by Hikaru now.
It’s been five years and Briar Gillespie is doing okay. She’s all grown up and in the big city of Tokyo, like she always knew she would. Her missionary parents long returned to America, she’s made a nice little life for herself. She works, she bakes, she feeds strays, she is happy. But in the back of her mind she hasn’t forgotten the only god she’s ever truly believed in, and her wish for a peaceful world shattered once again by painful reality.
It takes just one person to change the path of fate. And when a Death Note shoots into her life like a bullet from a gun, Briar makes her decision.
FAQ:
What is this AU?
This is what happens when I have too much time on my hands and a lot of friends to bounce ideas off of.
No but really - this AU is about an ex Kira cultist who gets her hands on a Death Note and decides to become an Angel for her dead god. Except Kira isn’t technically dead, and L and the police are not the only problems she needs to worry about. Meanwhile, L returns to Japan on the hunt for a serial killer he once believed put away for good. What’s gonna happen when L and Briar meet? Let’s find out together!
Who are you?
I'm Coffee! Or Jason if you like that better. As of writing I'm 31 years old, and I've been doing this since I was at least 13. You are in good hands, I promise, I mostly know what I'm doing. I live in the USA on the East Coast, more in the south than the north, and within driving distance of the beach. Unfortunately for me, I like the beach better in theory than in practice. What I do like are cats - I'd love to see yours!
What can I expect from this blog?
Pretty much what you'd get from any fandom blog I guess. Headcanons, reblogs of fanart or memes or character analysis, that kind of stuff, all sfw. My created content will always be centered on this au, of course.
What’s your stance on shipping?
I have a fondness for Lawlight so that will pop up now and then, mostly in the past tense since Light is, uh, kinda in a coma right now. I don’t have anything in mind for other ships - doesn’t mean they won’t show up, I just don’t have ideas for any.
Any trigger warnings I should know about?
Transphobia [L is trans]
Anti foreigner attitudes
Torture
General 'period typical' bigotry and attitudes in general
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death note AU where everything is the same, except for the fact that Light is a really fucking good baker and instead of gaslighting everyone into thinking he's not Kira, he just bribes L with desserts and varying degrees of success
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Oh my god the question at the center of death note isn’t “how do we make the world a better place” it’s “if a cop’s son had the power of a god, would that be fucked up or what”
#death note doesn’t have a point other than ‘watch how quickly this one guy decides to be the worst person ever’#and that is because we are all actually looking at it from the perspective of ryuk#we are his shinigami buddies and he’s telling us about this totally bonkers time he had on earth#ryuk: yeah i gave this guy a death note and he immediately became a megalomaniacal serial killer#ryuk: i didn’t even have to suggest it like that was his FIRST thought it was great (via @andsotheuniverseended)
Burai: Death Note/Creepypasta AU [see blog for more information]
1.9K words
CW: description of scars, past injuries, major character death/injury, L needs a hug
Prologue
Ao3 mirror coming soon
2011, a late winter night. Two people head to their temporary homes. One, the adult daughter of long-gone American missionaries. The other, the man once known as the world’s greatest detective. One can only think of friends she doesn’t have. One can only think of the friend stolen from him. They don’t know each other, but their lives are connected by a trail of blood, and a black notebook from another world.
Tonight, it seemed spring would never come. The wind pushed between the buildings and swayed the bare branches of scattered trees. Tokyo lights burned in the darkness, blacking out the stars. He exhaled, watched his breath crawl up the air and disappear, and pulled the mask back over his mouth and nose.
L sat on a bench outside the airport. Cars drove by, he kept himself busy by identifying the models now and then. His feet hurt. Keeping them on the ground felt unnatural even after he tried to get used to it. And the cold sunk into his shoes. The scars ached.
He checked his phone again. A smartphone, brand new, fresh from America, with a simple black case. Unremarkable. He hadn’t changed it from the twelve hour clock yet. The time read 9:54 pm.
L closed his eyes, and willed himself to not watch the damn video again.
A car honked. L jerked alert. By the curb, Touta Matsuda waved.
Burai: Death Note/Creepypasta AU [see blog for more information]
1.9K words
CW: description of scars, past injuries, major character death/injury, L needs a hug
Prologue
Ao3 mirror coming soon
2011, a late winter night. Two people head to their temporary homes. One, the adult daughter of long-gone American missionaries. The other, the man once known as the world’s greatest detective. One can only think of friends she doesn’t have. One can only think of the friend stolen from him. They don’t know each other, but their lives are connected by a trail of blood, and a black notebook from another world.
Tonight, it seemed spring would never come. The wind pushed between the buildings and swayed the bare branches of scattered trees. Tokyo lights burned in the darkness, blacking out the stars. He exhaled, watched his breath crawl up the air and disappear, and pulled the mask back over his mouth and nose.
L sat on a bench outside the airport. Cars drove by, he kept himself busy by identifying the models now and then. His feet hurt. Keeping them on the ground felt unnatural even after he tried to get used to it. And the cold sunk into his shoes. The scars ached.
He checked his phone again. A smartphone, brand new, fresh from America, with a simple black case. Unremarkable. He hadn't changed it from the twelve hour clock yet. The time read 9:54 pm.
L closed his eyes, and willed himself to not watch the damn video again.
A car honked. L jerked alert. By the curb, Touta Matsuda waved.
"Good evening, Hikaru.”
No one called him Ryuzaki anymore. His request.
Inside the car, small talk. The city lights shone through the windows as they navigated the familiar city streets.
"How was your flight?" Matsuda said.
In the presence of the detective, L allowed his eyes to close for a moment. If anything went wrong, he would not have to deal with it alone.
"No different from any of the other ones I've been on," L said. "Perhaps more quiet than others."
"That's good!" Matsuda said. "Nothing worse than being trapped on a noisy plane, right?"
He opened his eyes. In the reflection in the window, L saw himself smile.
"Yeah," he said.
"Is your leg okay?" Matsuda continued. The streets turned and twisted, on and on. "I heard they gave you some new painkillers."
"They work better than the last ones," L said. He propped one leg on his knee.
"Even at the lower dosage?"
"They don't fog my thinking. That's what matters."
It took work to remove the shoe. L grit his teeth. The knee he'd propped up on throbbed with fresh pain, and he ignored it. With a yank, the shoe came off. The sock beneath it slipped, exposing the end of a scar. One of dozens, jagged as broken glass and deep as one of his fingernails.
Matsuda cringed.
"It still hurts? Even after all this time?"
L pulled up the sock. Matsuda turned to look back at the street, paler than before. Ignoring the detective, L closed his eyes again. His thumbs rubbed circles on the soles of his feet.
"It will always hurt," he said. "But it will never hurt as much as failure."
The car rolled on, the inside lighting, darkening, as they passed beneath the streetlights. His hair was falling free of its ponytail, long strands brushing his forehead, his cheeks.
They stopped at a red light. He didn't want to ask this. He did anyway.
"Has there been any news?"
Matsuda looked at the steering wheel. He closed his eyes for a moment longer, and shook his head.
Something in L hurt deeper than any gunshot.
"Not even any reports of seeing him anymore," Matsuda said. "It's like he never existed at all."
L leaned back into the car seat. Out of everything that happened, Yagami Light would always be his deepest regret.
He did not have a home. Not in Japan, at least. Everything he needed to survive could be carried in a backpack and suitcase. The hotels he chose were clean, forgettable places. Places no one would look at him twice. Places that were harder to hide in, and wait for him to return.
The first thing he did was make sure of that fact.
The second was texting Watari.
I'm safe. Picked up just before 10. I'll call in the morning. Tell them I miss them already.
He set the phone down, and vowed to not pick it up until dawn.
L had his routines like anyone else. They'd been shaken to pieces after getting shot, but nothing kept him down too long. He was L, after all.
Shoes off. Jacket off. Hair down. Shower. Soaking his feet in a medicine bath, putting them in special socks to ease the pain of being on them for hours. Night medication, taken with water and a small meal. Lay in bed, laptop beside him, rest.
Maybe he'd sleep. Maybe he wouldn't. It didn't matter either way. He would see those brown eyes in his head no matter what he did. That moment of pure terror on Light’s face the instant before the life left it, burned forever in L’s memory.
When his body accepted it, L sat up, and pulled his laptop in front of him. 1:12am, the clock read. He’d told himself to not rewatch the video earlier. Now, though, he could focus. He could think.
The screen lit up the dark room, filling it with an almost holy glow. L opened his email, clicked the link to the private Youtube video.
For all that happened, L was still the world’s greatest detective.
PROXY understood that like no one else did.
Naïve of her to think things would be different in Tokyo. It didn't matter where she ran or what she was trying to escape, she'd always be herself, her greatest enemy.
Briar fell into the patterns of adulthood. Do your job, ride the train, make the bento, buy the vending machine drinks, take off your shoes in the house, play the radio, ignore the strangers on the street. She could adapt to anything, she told herself. 23 years old, the future beckoning with sunshine and smiles, but it felt like she was being guided towards a pit.
It would be easier if she had some friends. People she could genuinely trust. Too bad those were hard to come by. As much as she loved Japan, it didn't always love her back.
Tokyo breathed. It inhaled and exhaled with every person that came and went inside it. Shibuya, tonight, seemed as alive as all the people inside it. Every mind focused on a goal, to shop, to eat, to meet, to catch the train.
It was easy to disappear.
By the time she stepped off the subway, the darkness settled over the streets. Electric lights led the way down, down, down, towards the cheap apartment she called home. A cat watched her through a window, and Briar turned away, blinking away the sight that made her heart ache.
Step by aching step, she guided herself home. Empty streets with shining lights, and there was no one to stop her from taking her time. If there were monsters in the dark, she’d yet been bothered by one. Her parents spoke of devils pretending to be local spirits, but she had proof it was humans you should be afraid of.
Behind her, something clicked.
Briar hesitated.
Click, click, click.
Rhythmic, steady, growing louder.
Click, click, click.
Like footsteps on tile floors, not the pavement beneath her feet.
Click, click, click.
She turned around.
“Hello?”
But of course, she was alone.
A shadow passed between a building, stretched tall by the light. The clicking did not stop. Briar waited, breath frozen in her chest, listening, listening, as the clicking softened, faded, and eventually, stopped.
She shuddered, gripping herself, and forced herself to turn away.
“Hey! Wait up!”
A human voice, speaking English. Briar turned, but the tension dropped from her shoulders as her eyes landed on the figure.
Joy, she thought as the man rushed towards her, a tourist.
She didn’t recognize who he was cosplaying as, but it was probably only a Yahoo search away. Hair as dark as her own, covered by a red baseball cap. Blue eyes with dark circles below them. Face mask, black. Boots and pants with loops and a vest over a white hoodie - but it was the mask that her eyes returned to, and the kanji written on it: Kill.
You have to be a tourist to wear something like that in public, she thought.
The man’s eyes smiled at her as he spoke.
“You speak English?”
Briar said, “Yeah.”
“Oh, thank god!” He rubbed his hands, with their fingerless gloves, together, as if warming them. “Look, can you help me? I'm looking for a friend's place - he said he'd meet me in Shinjuku but he didn't show up - but I can't tell where anything is."
"Um..." Briar shifted in her spot, one hand holding her other wrist in front of her. This was not a safe idea. But her mouth said, "Do you have it written down somewhere?"
The man (how old was he?) reached into the pocket of his vest, and pulled out a folded piece of paper.
"Here."
She unfolded the paper, scanning it once, twice. The man's eyes stared into her. Briar's lips turned down. In the back of her mind, she heard it again, click click click.
"It's not that far away," Briar said. She offered the paper back. "I can take you there."
His eyes brightened.
"Thank you!" He said. "You're very nice, to help me and my friend!"
He didn't stop talking the whole way there. Every step he took bounced, his long black hair swaying with his movements.
"So how long have you lived in Japan? You're not visiting too, like me, are you? I heard that Japan can be closed off to outsiders but everyone has been so nice-"
Yeah, they're nice, Briar thought, people will tolerate anything if you spend money.
"I really want to make a lot of friends here in Japan," he said. "Like, my friend said he'd introduce me to a lot of new people. And there's this one guy he told me about? He said he's really cool, and people know all about him? And I just, I have to meet him. I just have to! His name is - it starts with the letter E, I think-"
Please don't want to be my friend when this is done, Briar thought. I'm already so tired from…
Her thoughts slowed down. Her head tilted up. Briar stopped walking, and the man did, too.
"Is something wrong?" He asked.
She didn't answer that.
"Can I look at that paper again?" She said.
The address written on it was correct. It matched the one written ahead of them. But looking between it and the building before her… Her eyebrows furrowed. What was going on?
"Is this it?" The man said.
Briar looked at the building, the boarded up windows, the caution tape, the condemned sign in front of it, then back to the man.
"Well, this is the place written on the paper…"
"You're amazing!" The man threw out his arms like he was going to hug her. "Thank you! My friend is going to be so happy to see me!"
He snatched the paper from her hand and ran towards the building. "Bye! Thank you so much! I'll see you around!"
"You don't even know my name!" She called, but there was no point. The door to the complex opened, and closed, and she just watched.
A chill breeze ruffled her hair, and Briar pulled her jacket tighter around herself.
Should I call someone? She thought. It's late, and there's no way anyone lives in there, right? That man could get into trouble…
Muffled within the cocoon of the complex, released only by the broken windows, a man screamed.
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Redesigning Laughing Jack a bit for this au, here are some thoughts
His new design is a mix of traditional LJ and Ryuk - you should read the prologue for context
The party hat nose has got to go. It doesn't look good on a clown, and it doesn't look good here. His nose is more like Ryuk's
Eyes. Same color as Ryuk's and the only color on his whole body
The heart earring stays but it may have a crack in it now.
Clothes are a mix between the two's standard outfits. Feathered shoulders, black and white color schemes... It's weird how similar they can be - I almost wonder if LJ was inspired by and/or is a ripoff?
Wings are still a thing
Height stays. He may actually be taller
I admit this is one of the weird parts of this au. People may not like how they've effectively been combined. However, I ask you to trust me. I (mostly) know what I'm doing
I will probably have to look at some full body art of the two to fully decide on things. If you have opinions or suggestions, lemme know, ask box is open
The real question I’m trying to figure out is, where the hell is Misa? She’s gotta still be alive in this au, right? And presumably still without her DN related memories...
[How’s my L? Send me an ask/reblog this post/leave a comment and tell me your thoughts. For more information on him, see this headcanon post]
Tonight, it seemed spring would never come. The wind pushed between the buildings and swayed the bare branches of scattered trees. Tokyo lights burned in the darkness, blacking out the stars. He exhaled, watched his breath crawl up the air and disappear, and pulled the mask back over his mouth and nose.
L sat on a bench outside the airport. Cars drove by, he kept himself busy by identifying the models now and then. His feet hurt. Keeping them on the ground felt unnatural even after he tried to get used to it. And the cold sunk into his shoes. The scars ached.
He checked his phone again. A smartphone, brand new, fresh from America, with a simple black case. Unremarkable. He hadn't changed it from the twelve hour clock yet. The time read 9:54 pm.
L closed his eyes, and willed himself to not watch the damn video again.
Anya is live and ready to show you everything. Watch her strip, dance, and perform exclusive shows just for you. Interact in real-time and make your fantasies come true.
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Free to watch • No registration required • HD streaming
