The Raven and The Emerald

Chapter 6: Eyes and Tests

Light's POV:

"So the price for receiving the eyes of a Shinigami is no more than half of my remaining lifespan? That's it right?"

"Yes. Well then, do we have a deal or not?" Ryuk asked.

"Ryuk. This deal is... out of the question. Let's get this straight. I plan to create an ideal new world free from evil and all criminals. And I intend to reign as a god in that world for a very long time. I might consider the deal if it lengthened my life, but not if I die sooner than I figured. You of all people should know I wouldn't take this deal."

"Yeah," Ryuk admitted, "but I still felt I should tell you the deal existed just in case. Anyway, I've done my part, I don't need you complaining I didn't tell you this earlier on."

"This is what you call telling me early on. Don't you think you're a little late? I don't see why you couldn't have told me this when we met, or better yet, you could have simply included it in the instructions for the Death Note."

"Uh, good point."

'He's not the slightest bit daunted by the fact that I'm a Shinigami. He doesn't suck up to me, and he seems to have no problem giving me a hard time.' Ryuk looked outside and saw the man that had been following Light, turn and disappear behind a corner, meanwhile Light flopped onto his bed with his arms behind his head.

"Well, you sure there's nothing else you want to tell me ahead of time? Shinigami?"

"No. Nothing else. Eh, probably."

"Really? That's too bad."

"Really? What do you mean?"

"You know Ryuk, I might have considered the deal if you'd offered me wings instead of eyes. To have wings and fly at will through the skies... it's godlike, isn't it? It's a dream human beings have had since antiquity."

"...If you sprouted wings and started flying around, people would notice you... the cops would catch you just for that..."

"I was just joking, Ryuk. Anyways, if I keep cutting deals on eyes and wings and stuff, the next thing I know, I'd be a real Shinigami myself. That would be pretty interesting too."

"Don't worry, Light. Even without doing that... you're already a fine Shinigami. The Shinigami realm is slowly rotting. We lead meaningless and empty lives, and the only reason we still take human lives is that we're afraid to die ourselves. The truth of the matter is that we no longer even know why we exist. In fact, I doubt there's any reason for our existence at all. What I'm saying is, compared to that, you're becoming a much more impressive Shinigami."

"... Well, from what you said, I seem to be working a lot harder than most Shinigami these days. But don't lump me together with you guys. I don't want to be compared to a Shinigami. I'm using the Death Note as a human being, for human beings... !" Light jumped up and went over to his desk, flipping through the notebook and opening up the computer.

"I've got it... I've just figured it out!"

"Hmm?"

"How to find out the guy's name. The one who was tailing me today along with Seiya-kun." He looked over to the clock after a few seconds, then started twirling his pencil around his fingers.

"It's 5:20... tomorrow's Saturday..."

'I have plenty of time.' He thought, smiling.

"What're you going to do?" Ryuk asked.

"'After writing the cause of death, details of the death should be written in the next six minutes and 40 seconds,' right? First, I need to test how far I can go with the 'details of the death'... using the stock of criminals I kept for times like this." Light pointed to his screen with his pencil.