Chapter 61

"Miheal, write all the members of your mafia crew onto the Death Note," I commanded as Mello glanced at me with a blank face before using his wrist to grab onto the paper and started scribbling down the names.

I nodded silently before leaning back exhausted on the couch as the minutes passed, causally ordering for my leg to be bandaged up again because the blood had seeped through the cloth, painting it red. My members worked smoothly before touching the rotten parts on my flesh as I yelped.

"Alyona, this was a quick bandage, you need to remove the bullet, can we begin the procedure right now?" one of my members asked me as I nodded.

"But like, do you have a numbing drug or something- YOWCH!"

Chia held me down with a snicker as my face paled, feeling the wound that healed up rip open as my members pulled out tweezers from somewhere and yanked my flesh out brutally like they were trying to dig into my meat.

It hurts!

It hurts!

I screamed as the rest of my members faced me with cold expressions, continuing to work on it as I lurched forwards in hysteria, Chia pushing me back down with a grin. Despite all my complaining, I was doing my best to keep my leg from kicking the person pulling out the bullet in the face. Although my leg continued to bulge and spasm, other members were holding me down like I was some kind of prisoner.

Sweat appeared on my forehead as I held it in, trying hard not to scream bloody murder in their faces to throw off their concentration. I fell limp after they finally jerked the bullet out, a couple of members ushered in and started to wrap my wound, applying some kind of medication as the blood trickled down my pants like leakage of some pipe.

"Congratulations for bearing your first bullet wound," Chia grinned mischievously with a wink as I glared at her.

"You people did it on purpose!" I stabbed my fingers at them as smiles all morphed on their faces. It was probably by this moment that I noticed they were celebrating our victory.

Although most interrogation members had no idea what the Death Note was, seeing me release the prisoner and act all casual in my own base meant that something had happened positively outside and that there was no need to worry about war anymore. I sighed before facepalming myself before staring at Mello who was scribbling the names of his own members furiously with his wrecked body.

"Chia, after he finishes, make sure he gets the care he needs," I murmured and looked at the young boy before tossing my eyes away from him. "He has been through a lot."

Most definitely because I also had use for him.

A buzz rang out of the interrogation room as Chia rushed over to the desk, picking up the phone before answering. It was Henrik, and he had just arrived in time to see most of the enemies collapse from heart attacks. Chia briefly explained the situation before she handed the phone to me with a beam.

"Papa, I'll leave the bodies to you then."

"My dear daughter, you have no idea how happy I was to see the scene. I will take care of the rest," he affirmed before mentioning that Anthony was lingering outside of the first floor of my base, waiting for me.

"Right, I'll take care of Anthony," I nodded before hanging up and passing the phone to Chia.

"Make sure everyone is bandaged properly, treat the injured and report to me after you finish," I eyed her as she nodded in response. My eyes once again turned to Mello before limping out to the door, blood painting the fresh bandages again.

Damn, I really needed to visit Japan after this.

"Anthony, are you okay?" I asked gently as he sat down on the couch of the meeting room, staring at my face with a smug smirk.

"Of course, I've killed way more people than you have today," he pointed to my leg before shifting his attention towards me. "You're the one who's hurt, are you okay?"

I shrugged.

"Not something I can't heal from," I sighed before turning to look Anthony in the eyes. "Anthony, as my fiance, I think it's time for you to know about-"

Anthony held up his hand in silence.

"Look Alyona," he sighed a bit before ruffling his own hair with an impish grin. "I know how the mafia works better than you."

"Even if I am loyal to you, your father would not appreciate the fact that you reveal your group's largest secret to me," his jet eyes searched mine with a small smile. "Leave that after you've joined my family."

My face heated up at his comment.

Damn, this boy was blunt.

"Then you should at least know-"

"I can do most of the guessing, that way you'll be able to tell Henrik that you didn't tell me anything," Anthony grinned flamboyantly before pressing his hands together before leaning forwards.

"You have Kira's power, don't you?"

I nodded with a slight laugh as Anthony's eyes widened.

"Damn," he whistled before leaning back onto the couch. "But you aren't Kira."

I nodded again, answering his questions.

"Let me guess again," Anthony's lips pursed into a tight smile before announcing his words slowly. "The man who you are trying to kill but also is your first love...is Kira."

Flushing a bit from his blunt words, I gave him a soft sigh.

"It's not really a wise thing, knowing that we are both after each other's throats," I answered as Anthony's eyebrows knitted into deep conflict.

"Then you have to kill him," he paused and stared at me with the downturn of his lips. "Or else your whole group dies."

This time, I was silent.

"Alyona," Anthony called me without scowling at me. I raised my eyes as he morphed his lips into a strange straight line.

"I don't care if you hate me, but if you're not the one who ends him," Anthony paused before gripping his hands together. "-I will."

My eyes widened before fluttering close, drawing a long sigh before I nodded slowly.

"I'll be the one to kill him," I said.

"Good," he smiled with pride before reaching out and rubbing his thumb over the engraved lily. "Because that's the woman who I chose as my wife."

I watched the lily, Light's marks had disappeared almost completely on my skin, only leaving a bit of a scratch left. It was a signal that I had to move on, and that I could only choose one side in the end.

I felt dread fill my blood like lead before I swallowed it down.

...No matter how painful it was.

The incident was cleaned up like someone had erased all the evidence of blood and warshed on a canvas. Although most of the blood had sunk into the ground, creating the dirt to become a deeper colour of brown, the bodies were removed and Henrik's men along with Anthony's worked together to rebuild the major damage caused by the enemies.

None of Anthony's men questioned how the opposition suddenly all spasmed mid-battle and collapsed with a heart attack. Their lips were tightly sealed like how Anthony ordered them to do, focusing only on clearing the mess the war left. Apparently, the bodies were moved to another area in America where Henrik had a body disposed of similar to an oven for burning the bodies.

Henrik was also quite polite about it, him making an actual apology letter to the public for the noise and commotion to the press. Though there were no damages that were caused to the other communities because my base was located deep inside the forest, Henrik made sure to pay a hefty amount to all the areas that would have been affected.

It must have been the Japanese culture rubbing off of Henrik. Of course, Henrik used a fake name and the less important fake members got from my web information to pass on the compensation money, but his actions caused quite the comparison between the American gangs and Japanese gangs.

Apparently, the same commotion happened with the American mafia, yet instead of it being deep in the forest, it happened mid-street in the busiest hour. They fled and said nothing about it. Unlike Henrik who was quite generous in maintaining his facade of being the perfect boss to recruit more members, the American gangs had started to size up on Henrik for his actions.

Well, Henrik probably had no trouble dealing with them because of that smug grin on his face.

"Tsubame," I said softly into the phone as I heard a muffled hum in the end. "Long time no talk."

"...Yeah."

"Seriously? Yeah? That's all you can say when I sent you that limited edition gaming console and almost went through life and death just to stay alive for you?"

I heard her scoff before mumbling out a 'thank you.'

"But honestly, you were the one that probably was chasing for death," I could feel her accurate pinpoint with an eye roll before sighing again.

"I'm sorry for ignoring you, I needed time to process Isame's death," she said quietly before I chuckled at her polite tone. "Are you okay?"

"I'm okay," I reassured her as she hummed quietly in the end. "I wanted to come back to Japan at least for a visit, but apparently my injuries will take longer to heal."

My eyes drifted over to my own leg that was strapped with a huge cast. I probably couldn't walk for the next month or so.

"How are you?"

"I've decided to graduate early this year."

"Oh? Which school do you have your sights set on?"

"To-Oh."

"What major?"

I heard a muffle at the end of her line as she called to her dad that was downstairs and apparently asking for her help.

"Probably electronics, I still have to take over the shop," Tsubame said bluntly before adding on. "Are you almost finished with your degree?"

"Ah," I tapped my forehead at my own stupidity. "That's right, the new semester starts next week."

"Are you serious?" Tsubame asked in disbelief. "You have the President of Harvard under your control?"

"Should I give you a round of applause for nailing that?" I teased with a chuckle.

The line was silent for a minute before she hesitatingly tried to ask something, but said 'never mind' instead.

"Tsubame, if you want to be transferred to Harvard I can do that for you," I directly answered her most possible question.

"No," I heard her pucker her lips with a crispy tone. "If I want to get into that school, I'll do it with my own skill. I just wanted to know if it was possible for you to admit another student. Won't the regular students get suspicious of your movements?"

"No, not really. After all, there are thousands of Harvard students there. You can't expect them to notice one small thing about a single student." I shrugged before pausing just for a second.

"Look, Tsubame, I don't blame you if you're feeling guilty about ignoring me and then getting curious about if Harvard is willing to extend another invitation to a student. I understand that you might feel thick-faced, but even if you tried applying and got in, there's no way your parents are able to pay for the tuition."

"We have enough money," she answered almost indifferently. If I didn't know her better, I would have thought she really didn't mind me outright calling her poor.

"I know you made a whopping amount from me," I laughed before shaking my head. "But even so, you only have one chance in picking your university."

I added on.

"Stop being stubborn, TsuTsu. Take advantage of me, I even want to make up for not treating you right as a friend."

"...You know what you're doing, right?"

"Of course," I replied calmly. "But you do know that Harvard is famous for their law, not electronics, right?"

"Not much of a difference if I was going to To-oh either. You're aware that To-Oh is only famous for their criminal studies, don't you?"

I wrinkled my nose before agreeing.

"Then I assume that you're taking my gracious offer to Harvard, then?" I felt a twinkle in my eyes before Tsubame chuckled half-heartedly.

"If the villain wants me so much in the same school as her, very well."

"Aw, come on, TsuTsu, haven't you gotten bored of that name already?" I rolled my eyes before talking more about her arrival. We went over some basic things like when she was graduating, what should she prepare and how she should break the news to her parents.

It was surprising to know that she was graduating the next week.

"Mello," I greeted as he instantly snarled at me, flashing me the middle finger before I ordered him to sit down. In contrast to his curses, his body moved as I told him to.

"Well, then," I stared before flickering my gaze to his head, seeing that Chia had ordered him a wig to cover up his baldness. Bruises and medical binds were wrapped over all his fingers as he crossed them over his arms, continuing to curse my ultimate death.

"Mello, shut up and listen to me."

Like someone had sipped his mouth he instantly slammed his lips tightly together, although his gaze was still as venomous as ever.

"Alright, now you will only listen and answer accordingly to what I am about to ask you. No curse words, distractions, or anything else," I twisted my lips into an evil grin before leaning comfortably on my couch, leg shifting inside the whole cast.

"Welcome to my mafia group, Mello," I gestured before continuing. "Now, tell me the name of Near."

"I don't know," Mello gritted out almost politely without any curse words at all.

"You don't know his real name?" I raised an eyebrow before calling Chia in to pour us some coffee. Chia instantly arrived and placed two mugs in front of us as I gestured to him to go ahead and drink the coffee to his will. He only eyed it with disgust before I asked Chia to get him some hot chocolate.

This time, he picked up the cup and sniffed it suspiciously.

"Our names were wiped from our birth records and fabled up the moment we got picked up," Mello growled before dunking the whole drink down his throat, only to regret it instantly as his face heated up from the temperature of the hot chocolate. I shrugged, eyeing him funnily before going on.

No name for Near, huh? Seems like I'll have to find out myself later on.

"Fine, other than the name of Near, give me all the information you have on the orphanage."

Mello proceeded to tell me as I directed.

The orphanage was called Wammy's house and was established by Quillsh Wammy, who had changed his name to Watari. It was only one of the several orphanages founded and was a training facility for gifted children. Apparently what happened was that instead of taking orphans, Watari searched for gifted children through England, where the house was located.

If they were gifted but had parents, then Watari would search for ways to buy them or have something happen to the parents and forcefully turn the children into orphans. I snorted at the information, thinking that the famous detective and despite all his glory for justice, his roots were ever in the path of light in the first place.

After the successful finding of L, Wammy's house began to produce a successor for L.

"I see," I said simply before calling Chia over. "Mello, specify the exact location of Wammy's house."

He told her as Chia nodded, jolting it down after I told her to call Henrik. I silenced Mello while the phone rang to Henrik's line.

"Winchester, England?" Henrik questioned before humming thoughtfully. "No wonder I could not locate it in America. It was hiding in the United Kingdom..."

I saw rage and fear reign on Mello's face as the corners of his mouth twisted and untwisted, as if wanting to stop our conversation.

"Can you get rid of it, papa?" I asked as Henrik gave an absolute positive reply. "Also, apparently Wammy's House is only one of the several orphanages."

"I'll find any leads and get rid of them all," Henrik confirmed before I hung up the phone, turning to Mello's conflicted dark face with a sly smile.

"So Mello, tell me about Near's guardian."

His face contorted into something very ugly before he answered my question.

"His name is Roger Ruvie, and he is a close friend to Watari," Mello's eyes became helpless the more he answered my questions, finally accepting the fact that he could not disobey me.

"And is that his real name?" I took a sip of my Matcha coffee before Mello shook his head hesitantly.

"I do not know."

I pursed up my lips before nodding slowly, running the facts through my head. Wammy's house was as good as dead now that Mello had revealed its location. There will be no more successor to L or Near afterwards and this was something I had to keep away from Light.

Henrik would work on the problem with the other orphanages and that only leaves one last thing to do before Light's death. That was to kill off this Roger guy and Near. After that, it was my victory.

Light's brown locks flashed through my face again before I frowned, shaking it away with my other concerns.

"Chia," I ordered as she stepped closer towards me, flickering her purple ponytail behind her. "Get 3 pages of the Death Note and package them up in a ziplock bag. Make sure you have no fingerprints on it and get me a phone that will not be traced to my location."

It was a few hours later before Chia came back with a phone and handed it to me, reporting the casualties that my base had suffered.

"Thanks," I nodded before taking the phone from her hands. "Tell my members to focus on relaxing and healing. Three days later, we will rebuild the first and second floor of the base."

"Also," I added before Chia stepped out of the room. "Tell Adriano to continue recruiting our manpower. How many have we lost?"

"Exactly 3000, Alyona," Chia answered before I nodded gravely.

"Tell Adriano to expand our manpower at least 5 times of that," I gestured to the Death Note. "He has the supplies."

Chia gave me a 'yes, boss!' Before exiting the room.

"Now," I turned my gaze to Mello who had received my instructions in the last few hours.

"It's your turn."

"...Hello?"

"Near, it's me."

"You're supposed to be dead."

A vein pulsed up on Mello's forehead before he snarled back endless curses on how he wasn't dead yet so that he could prove to be the true successor of L. I rolled my eyes at the conversation, carefully listening to Near's quiet yet calm approach towards Mello's words.

"Did you get my contact from Wammy's House?" Near instantly questioned before replying to his own question positively. In fact, it was true. Just a couple of minutes ago, I had Mello call Wammy's House to find the location and phone number of Roger Ruvie. Through Roger, Mello had come in contact with Near.

"Listen, Near," Mello barked out into the telephone as his wig shifted with his passionate actions. "I have a couple of Death Note pages from the transaction."

Near's end went silent.

"You're not in good shape," was all the small genius could conclude before Mello snarled out aggressively. It was a completely logical guess since his arch-rival suddenly changed his whole demeanour and wanted to support Near.

"Brat, I'm just doing this because I can't use the pages right now," Mello said according to the script I had written just for him. "Send me a suitable address, I'll ship them to you."

I heard Near call Roger at the end of the line before he told Mello the address of a certain postal box office. I smirked, understanding that Near was skeptical of giving his real address to Mello. But though, it seemed as if Near was dependent on Roger.

The moment Near finished giving the address, Mello hung up without even bidding the boy farewell. I nodded, clapping at Mello's pervasiveness before taking the phone away from his clenched hands.

"Bit-" His mouth instantly clamped shut from his attempt to curse at me.

"Well then, Mello," I eyed him with a smug smirk before waving dismissively at him. "Heal your hands. I'll tell you what to do after a few days."

What Near needed was something that could prove the 13-day rule to be fake, and with the notes that I sent him, Near would be one step closer in cornering Light.

Honestly, I had nothing for Mello to do except being a pawn for later on in my plans, but for now, I might as well let him enjoy whatever he could. Leaning further into the couch, my hands fluttered into my pockets and touched the gold pendant that Light had given to me.

Taking it out, I rubbed the apple design fondly and thought of Light. Instinctively, a smile appeared on my face as I remembered his intense gaze when he called me his sister in his bedroom when Ryuk asked me what I had seen in Light. I was honest at the time, saying that it was his mind that attracted me to him, but now that I had deemed my emotions to be real, I knew that there was more about him that I liked.

I liked how he could tell what I was thinking and I liked how we were always on the same wavelength. I loved how he said he would kill Misa for my sake and how his sneaky hand squeezes would come to me whenever he thought I needed him.

I loved how he was worried for me and needed me in his life.

He saw me as a person. A partner. Someone that could rule with him.

Clutching the pendant tightly, I felt a wave of sourness enter the nose of my bridge as I blinked away any potential tears.

I had fallen for Light.

That person who became a psychopath in another timeline.

But the person I had fallen for was not the rash Light.

It was the Light that needed me.

I felt my eyes burn before I held the necklace closer to my chest, the chain slipped out of my fingers as it touched my lap, reminding me of Light's touch.

I'm so sorry.

I whimpered out before suddenly sobbing. Tears rolled down my eyes as I clutched the pendant tightly.

Was I still able to kill him?