[ Drabble requested by @gameswillbeplayed . Medieval AU/Arranged marriage/Fantasy ]
"His Majesty has come to the wrong room, perhaps."
A sharp scent of incent welcomed Light, embosoming him in opulent fumes that caressed his eyelids and led his golden heels to rest upon a set of oriental-patterned pillows. His shallow breath echoed through the velvety vault of stars, where a solitary opalescent figure lurked unnoticed.
Light sprawled across the cushions, considering for a moment to doze away in kaleidoscopic dreams in the Room of Justice.
Complex engravings of an electric blue Scorpio fighting a rainbow Pisces emerged from a red cup adorned the center of the floor â an admonishment for future generations.
"I am marrying Amane, tomorrow." Light stared up at the floating figure above, drinking in the unreadable expression of the ghost of King L. "An arranged marriage our families deci..."
"A scheme in Kira's dreams," L concluded, biting on the nail of his right thumb. Even if ghosts made no sound, Light remembered how torturing it was when the man was alive. "First, the kingdom. Then, the progeny."
"Sulking doesn't suit the incredible deeds of our dear defunct King, L," Light smirked, eyes red as vivid as the color painting the cup. "Or are you envious as you never savored the pleasure of marriage?"
"Above all the women in the reign, I wonder why you chose her, His Majesty."
In response to L's observation, the center of the floor trembled. The engraving crumbled down, surrendering to an obscure wave of bubbles emerging from the core of Earth. Even the vault screamed in silence, and stars hid away their light, letting a corpse ascend from the putrid ocean.
It was the dead body of L as the ghost could shockingly tell â wrapped in candid clothing and wearing such a lucent skin hard to tell it was dead.
But before the ghost could even process his shock, the vision molded into the petite frame of a woman with long blond hair.
Amane Misa.
"My Light!" She squealed in a high-pitched tone as the dark bubbles retracted while she happily hopped toward her soon-to-be husband. "I know where you were hiding! Nervous about tomorrow?" She sat on the pillows beside Light, Â who let her crawl in his arms as soon as he opened them.
"Nervous? How could I be?" He smiled his fakest smile, the vanilla scent of the future bride canceling the leftovers of the incense. "Fate chose us to be united in one body, soon. Our family's decision was for the best."
L watched the couple with the same expression he wore on his last breath â the culmination of victory.
No one could enter the Room of Justice aside from Light and L. The vault of stars would immediately neglect the entrance to those whose skins weren't the elected ones. But the woman just crossed the line wearing his dead identity.
Amane Misa was a shapeshifter, so... She probably had a role in the conspiracy against him, that saw him dying in the embrace of Kira and proclaiming Light as the new King.
"Even if you don't love me now, my love would be enough for us." Misa said, unable to see the translucent form descending from the vault to look closely at the couple. "My body will always be yours and will carry your heirs, my Kira, my Light."
The new King's eyes narrowed to slit as his gaze wandered from L to Misa, smirking. The last finishing touch of his plans would be complete as soon as Misa became the new Queen.
Then, softly kissing the girl's lips he whispered, "I will give you the life of your dreams, Amane, my Queen.".
"Long live the King." L murmured with bemused skepticism before disappearing into tiny stars. Ready to witness the legendary deeds of Kira from the AfterLife and his fights against those who will soon come to hinder his path. "Kira."
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đ >:) it's aggressive AND flirty. Light probably got too mouthy and B decided to test out his Kira powers
"There it is, what you areâ a jellyfish."
The candles give far less illumination than the meanest of electrical light bulbs, yet Light didn't object when Beyond insisted on creating the right atmosphere. By the flickering yellow, the room is dark, the shapes of the furniture discernible, but the colors so muted that they are almost grey.
"A menace floating around with a beautiful sail, traveling and snagging food⌠Yet, their anatomy causes their death sometimes, blowing them ashore."
Light is perfectly aware of Beyond's figure looming quietly, a wild predator ready for the hunt, but he won't be the proclaimed prey.
He isn't and he won't be scared of him.
"I can already see you pitifully dying under the scorching suâ"
Words die down in his throat as his back is pressed violently against the window with stranger fingers grasping viciously around his throat. His mouth falls open, a strangled scream leaving his body as he wheezes desperately â any attempt is blocked firmly by Beyond's grip, which tightens and tightens to such an extent he can easily break Light's neck.
"I think you need a demonstration of your scientific speculations, Yagami."
Head quickly spinning because of the lack of air, all Light can feel is Beyond's hot breath against his face. His profile is only orange lines that fuse with the dark of the room and eyes that never looked so big and red â and ready to kill.
"NâŚ..oâŚ"
Beyond sneers at the pathetic attempt from his victim to claw at his hand, nails scratching at the skin like a cat would make a nest over new furniture. Pitiful and tremendously boring. Deep down, he hoped Light could do more than rattle and flail while the eternal life of a wannabe God was soon to be reduced to dust.
"What? I can't hear you." But Beyond doesn't like to end things quickly â he wants to taste every second of the ruthless hunting, banqueting with other people's dread, drown in the pleasant quivering of flesh under his blows, dismember slowly but relentlessly until any part of the victim won't be only his⌠"So? I am impatiently waiting for God speaking! Oh please, God, give me a sign!"
'If only I could write his nameâŚ'
Light is still struggling to free himself from Beyond's grip, tears prickling at the corner of his eyes in a heart-wrenching attempt at forcing air down his throat. Distantly his thoughts wander to the hidden piece of the Death Note in his watch and the temptation to use his last strength to write the sociopath's name while the other is on one of his silly theatrical performances.
Deep down, Light knows he won't. First of all, he isn't sure the man's name is truly Beyond Birthday. Last but not least, Beyond would be delighted to have his name written in blood⌠And in case the Death Note did not affect him, he would finally find out how Kira kills.
( There's also another reason but Light refuses to hear it. )
So he can only fight back.
( It's ridiculous to think he did the same with L. )
Several events follow within seconds â the apparent dying prey kicking the predator in the guts with all his strength, the apparent winning predator suffering the blow and losing balance for the smallest span of time, enough to let the grip weaken and the prey gasping loudly and loudly for air⌠And their bodies collide with the floor, limbs intertwining with violent intentions.
Light's knees give up first under the extreme effort of staying vigilant and focused, an unwanted but inevitable move during that death game. Beyond collapses right on top of him, his hand stuck to his throat as if his dear life depended on it. "Just like a jellyfish, neh Yegami?" He barks out, delighted by the fingers now blocking him from snapping that tender neck in half. He bathes in Light's ferocious will of life sparkling in his eyes, breathes in the heavy panting, and trembles in excitement against the squirming body under his weight. This is why he loves hunting. It's never the same. Every prey is different and fights him differently, and Kira is no less.
'Oh gimme more gimme more gimme more'
"YouâŚrâŚ.disgustâŚing"
Each strangled syllable jiggles a different shade of hatred under Beyond's thumb caressing Light's carotid. He lets the other man take a few more breaths, an illusion of being finally in control of the squabble about who's the true beached jellyfish among them.
Probably both â they will keep floating to hate and fuck with each other until they dry out in the scorching sun. Though, Beyond is sure Light Yagami will die first.
(He tried and failed already once. )
Watery yellow flares flicker within Light's vision as he feels Beyond's grip relaxing. The first intakes of air sting his lungs, but he keeps taking deep breaths to subside the roaring heartbeat against his ribcage. Fighting a predator in its natural habitat and making it out alive is a great victory, though it's a hard way down to winning the war.
Especially if the predator decides to claim something in return despite the defeat.
The tenacious grip is back as soon as harsh lips close around his. The kiss lasts a few seconds, it's more bites and teeth clawing aggressively than any demonstration of soft affection. Then, as quickly as it started, Beyond breaks the kiss and releases the grip, letting Light pant on the floor like a poor jellyfish gasping for water.
Light Yagamiâs cameo in Death Parade and the definition of Mu
I donât know if someone already made a similar post, but I thought it was nice to share some information about Lightâs cameo in Death Parade. If you havenât watched Death Parade, thereâs a little spoiler of what happens in episode 11, but I didnât go that much into details!
In Death Parade universe, deceased humans play a game set up by the Arbiters in order to be judged. The Arbiter can send the dead souls to either the Void or to be Reincarnated. The Void is depicted as a place of eternal nothingness; in episode 11 Ginti describes it as âA graveyard for souls. Your mind is all that remains. Terror, regret, despair. Itâs the sensation of falling forever while embracing all your negative feelings.â. We consider so the Void as Mu, the same place everyone and Death Note users as Light go after they die. In Death Note we never had a precise description of what Mu is and I always found curious it was still referred as a place. In Zen Buddhism, Mu âis the answer given to an improperly phrased question that does not merit an answerâ, so we can assume deads donât go anywhere because thereâs nowhere for them to go. Mu, in Death Paradeâs definition, happens so to be more like a condition revolving around the abstract concepts of something we cannot weigh as feelings. I think itâs even more stressed by the fact the deceased humansâ bodies turn into lifeless mannequins as they are pushed down into the Void, as if stripped of the last concept of physical dimension -their bodies.
Who watched the serie already knows it, but in episode 11 thereâs a cameo of Light Yagami.
A character named Mayu is given the option of condemning a stranger in the Void to retrieve Haradaâs soul, her lover. The stranger is Light and Mayu doesnât ask for any information about him, so she doesnât know what Light did and, most importantly, that given his position he cannot be reincarnated.
Definitely it looks like a tricky question but Mayuâs answer is rather interesting -no spoiler here, but I assure you Death Parade is a very good show.
I find rather hilarious the idea of Light waiting for his judgment, which cannot be changed⌠When souls arrive in the Death Parade universe, their memories are erased and only by playing they recollect pieces of their past life and how they died⌠It would be rather interesting to see Light recollecting memories of who he had been while leading the game with the hope to be sent to reincarnation⌠Unaware Death made fun of him twice.
It's within human nature to get attached to things that are not even alive - and we think it's wrong and devious, all considered true values shouldn't be influenced by the material world. But whether it's right or wrong, we should give up on judgment. Does the possession of a certain object bring us joy? Does its loss make you feel vulnerable, if not completely exposed to other people's judgment?
(Well, Light wouldn't certainly want to lose the Death Note and he wouldn't even imagine how just a simple black notebook made him feel so happy and alive.)
Last but not least, scientific studies have shown that possessing material needs and goods increases the biochemical substance in our brain called dopamine, which is a neurotransmitter and chemical receptor in our brain, responsible for emotions such as sadness, happiness, and anger. So, again, and given his own experience, Light wouldn't ever judge someone's attachment to a lifeless object.
But... there are exceptions.
âWhat are you doing?â
It's early in the morning when Light enters the bathroom for his skincare routine. You can't be taken as a serious God of the New World with microscopic teenage pimples and the skin color of a zombie after all.
He's not even surprised to find the bathroom already occupied by his roommate, he had given up on any common sense of privacy when Beyond started living in his apartment. And he's not even surprised to see the black polish nail and various makeup items scattered all over the sink, a sight that inevitably makes his brows furrowing in annoyance.
âCareful, careful of your crow's feet, baby God! It looks like a hoard of chicken ran all over your face!â Smudged black-rimmed eyes snicker at the exasperated reflection of Light in the mirror. Beyond goes on to brush his wild hair with what looks like a hairpin, ignoring Light's first question. Light really hopes he's still sleepy because it's absurd and surreal to see someone brushing their hair with a little hairpin that of course can't be a proper substitute for a comb.
âWhat are you doing?â He asks again, leaning closer just to reach for his skin toner and the moisturizer in the cabinet. As his arm lowers with the prized products in hand, the hairpin is inches away Light's eyes and Beyond's pointy nose is almost digging in his chin with a mysterious and dangerous aura.
âWhat the hell, Beyond?!â
Living with a sociopath murderer surely sharpens one's survival instincts and Light should somehow be grateful for that, though a more appreciated gift would be avoiding any futile shock at 8 in the morning with just four hours of sleep left behind and have five minutes alone in the damn bathroom. But oh no, Beyond Birthday doesn't look like sharing the same thought.
 A little scuffle occurs next, ending up with the noisy clattering of metallic bottles hitting the floor and black petals of polish nail blossoming in the sink while Light and Beyond's arms are tangled in a sort of deadly embrace; Light's fingers are painfully stretched in the effort to keep away the murderous weapon, shinning in faux innocence in the grasp of Beyond's claws.
âSo rude of you, Yagami. I wanted to introduce you Ophelia.â Beyond shrugged in a rather melodramatic way, kissing the tip of the hairpin as he steps back. Light can finally take a breath when Beyond's whatever-new-weapon stops threatening his eyes and he raises a brow, perplexed. âOphelia?â Then his glance turns from the hairpin to Beyond's pout several times before letting out a sigh. âIt's a hairpin. And why were you using it to brush your hair?â Light's aware it's futile to keep up a conversation with a freak murderer, but Beyond's such a drama queen and he would complain despite all Light's effort to ignore him. So better let him speak and be done with whatever new idiocy the man came up with.
âIt's not a simple hairpin! Don't insult her!â
Beyond's high-pitched yell pierces the wall of Light's patience, dangerously crumbling under his need to strangle the man once for all. What a pity the Death Note doesn't work with a half Shinigami...
âI'm stating facts.â
âBecause you can't recognize a true genius. But...â The hairpin waltzes in the air, too close to Light's eyes again and the teen huffs in frustration, stepping back while applying the cream onto his face. âOphelia is wonderful! I would be lost without her!â Beyond seems to be ignoring Light's horrified expression as he pirouettes on himself, bare feet kicking the makeup bottles everywhere nonchalantly and kissing the hairpin with the devotion of a true lover. âShe's so good at cleaning knives! You should see it yourself how shiny they are now!â
âBeyond, really, do you-â
âAnd she's the ultimate toothbrush! I can give you a demonstration right away!â
âNO, THANKS.â
 Light exits the bathroom minutes later, followed by Beyond's mocking singing âYou don't know love 'til it tears up your heart... And cuts it and leeeeaaaaves you with scars! You're still feeeeeling... You don't know love~â.
Ryuk snickers observing the psychopath singing and holding the hairpin like a microphone, somehow fascinated by human brilliance. âNeh Light-o.â He calls for the teen, twisting his body enough to get a glimpse of Light preparing his school bag. âWould that thing be helpful to scratch my feathers? I'm a little itchy right here...â
Light simply shakes his head and gets out as quickly as he can.
 Why am I surrounded by idiots?
 The apartment is too quiet when Light gets back home in the late afternoon. The roller shutters are closed and each room is wrapped in a comfortable dark blanket, any sound engulfed in a quiet bubble where you can lie down and rest for hours in a dreamless state. Light steps in on tiptoes carefully, it's the quiet before the storm he tells himself because his sixth sense knows something is off - yes, but what? Even Ryuk seems strangely alert, eyes gleaming with curiosity in the direction of the soft yellow light coming from the bathroom.
Light follows behind, but he stops in the middle of the corridor when a low whine echoes through the walls.Â
"O pale Ophelia! beautiful as snow! Yes child, you died, carried off by a river! It was the winds descending from the great mountains of Norway That spoke to you in low voices of better freedom."
Beyond's dramatic play is on stage, a black figure curled over the bathtub with trembling hands in his messy hair to enforce the desperation shaking his body and candles glowing in the darkness of the room.
Light inhales and exhales one, two, three times before he announces his presence with a slight tapping of fingers against the door. "What the hell is happening here?" His eyes squint to catch a sight of what is in the bathtub. The candles enlighten the frame of something small floating on the water, a paper boat perhaps?
Without even waiting for an answer, Light switches on the light, breaking the soothing magic of the darkness and the candles.Â
"You monster! You ruined the funeral!"Â
Beyond turns to yell at Light, black streams of makeup running down his cheeks. Light can't tell if he cried for real or if it's just for the theatrical scene. It doesn't matter anyway.Â
"What are you talking about?!"
There's effectively a paper boat floating on the water and the residuals of⌠Ophelia the hairpin, yes, is lying inside. So...
"She died!"
The truth hits and sinks in with all the desperation of a broken heart, though Light isn't touched by the little show -most likely he wonders why he felt so benevolent to give Beyond a home, to accept his help, who cares if the Death Note can't kill him, there are always other methods⌠Ah, he really regrets his past choice now.
Ryuk pats on Beyond's shoulder as his tall figure looms over the bathtub to get a look at the broken hairpin. Too bad, he won't ever know if that thing is useful to scratch his feathers.
"My condolence. I can⌠uh⌠share an apple with you if ya want."
"Thanks, Ryuk."
Light stands in front of the tub, rubbing the bridge of his nose. Maybe, just maybe, if he closes his eyes for a while, everything will disappear. Beyond, the candles, Ryuk, the petals of rose drowning in the water, the paper boat, and that damn hairpin.
"Beyond."
"Yeah?"
"End this farce quickly, please."
"You heartless little piece of shit, you-"Â
"Now."
Beyond sniffs loudly and mutters something unintelligible between gritted teeth before turning towards the dead hairpin. His eyes soften and are filled with pure love while he removes the drain stopper, letting the water running down along with the paper boat and the petals. The motion causes the paper to mash into the water, forming a conglomerate that inevitably blocks the drain. The broken pieces of the hairpin stick into the tube, as if clinging desperately to a life it's never had.Â
"My queen! Evil till the end!"Â
Beyond claps his hands with tears of joy running down his cheeks, while Light lets out an exasperated sigh and decides to leave the bathroom before his hands accidentally slip to strangle the sociopath murderer.Â
"You have five minutes to clean this damn mess or I will throw away all your damn books."
It was a bad idea to give the man all those Shakespeare's books to read⌠A God should have foreseen the possible consequence of his choices.
Imagine an AU where Light Yagami and Izaya Orihara meet. Izaya getting interested in the sudden spark of the Kira case while yakuza men he works for mysteriously die for heart attack. Thanks to his extended net of information he reaches out to Light, suspecting he is Kira and unaware Kira himself is looking for the most infamous informant of Shinjuku. I imagine this happening while Light needs for someone who may be an asset for his plans, someone he can easily kill when the time comes. And he has heard a lot of Izaya, how he even manipulated Mikado to set a Dollars meetup, so why not searching for him - after being extremely sure he has found the name and face of the right man.
After they meet, I bet Light would feel the urge to kill Izaya right away - he's too arrogant and sarcastic, makes a lot fun of him, of Kira ("There's a lot of monsters like Shizu-chan on the loose and you tell me he's not even on the list? Kira-kun should revise his plans if he wants my help.") and shows himself as a far more dangerous man than expected. But in the end they reach a sort of agreement. It would be interesting to see these two trying to manipulate each others pft and I bet Izaya would even become Ryuk's best friend, definitely enjoying the Shinigami's company and prying to get more information about the Shinigami's realm (Izaya, don't plan to become a Shinigami, please).
Light would find Izaya extremely odd, still hates him but has to rely on him at least for a while since he is a rather useful source of information. I can picture Namie patting a shocked Light when Izaya is on about one of his monologue ending with the chessboard on fire and Izaya laughing at it. But then Light picks up the bad habit as well when he's rather frustrated and Namie has to deal with two children - three if counting Ryuk lol. Poor woman.
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Despite its many extravagant fashion subcultures, Japan is a rather conservative society when it comes to fashion. Specifically, japanese school rules force children to dye their hair black so they fit in with their classmates, because of the fear of the chapatsu (čśéŤŞ: tea color) hair trending amongst Japanese high school and university students in the early 1990s. The act of dying hair was considered extremely rebellious and a racial inferiority complex. Reason why it was first associated with criminality and punished with expulsion if the student refused to dye their hair back to black.
As a result of a viral video campaign and a fast-growing petition, considered also the fact there are japanese people having natural brown hair, actually the 57% of public schools require a âNatural Hair Certificationâ, which confirms the natural colour of the student's hair.
I know anime and manga creators generally don't follow the strict fashion rules (I often think their creativity is another way to go against them) and in Death Note there are japanese characters with brown hair, but I find the choice of Light's hair colour as a detail that completes the image of an outstanding handsome genius. It also doesn't stop me from thinking how fun it would be if he was forced to provide this ânatural hair certificationâ until middle school -as if explaining how to read properly his name every time wasn't hilarious enough pffft- and the choice of the high school wasn't dictated only by the mere need of a good preparatory school before university, but even by the absence of rules regarding hair colour â I haven't found specifics about private schools, so take it as just me pondering about things and researching futile things haha.
Kaizen ( ćšĺ ) means âchange for betterâ and it refers to any improvement, one-time or continuous, large or small, in the same sense as the English word "improvement". Basically itâs the art of anticipating mistakes and stopping them before they happen.
Kodawari ( ćă ) is the uncompromising and relentless pursuit of perfection. In the meaning of being fixated on something, it happens when a very high standard is set, so your actions are driven by the mere desire to accomplish said goal and any kind of compromise is intolerable.
Contrary to shallow interpretation, kodawari isnât meant to be labeled as mental disorder or as ridiculous obstinacy. Itâs believed to be cherished and appreciated it as an action able to maintain quality in this life. Some people are willing, if not destined, to devote their lives to single-minded pursuit of an ideal, so that the rest of the world can enjoy a better average standard.