A Year of Jubilee [The Death Note Fanfic]

Chapter 22

"I lost my temper," Jubilee confessed sulkily.

She was seated beside Watari at a computer in the upstairs security room, staring at footage of employees entering and exiting the Yotsuba Corporation building. The older man had graciously offered her a chair and a pot of coffee when she entered, making no mention of the incident downstairs other than to offer pulling up public security footage of Yotsuba for her. She had gratefully accepted all three of these things without any further comment. At the moment, she was glaring at the repetitive cycle of spirits and humans—the latter of whom were mostly dusted with smoggy-colored residue, something she was used to seeing in businessmen—walking in and out of the building, and lamenting the fact that it all looked the same to her. Nothing stood out.

Part of the problem was that there were far too many people and she didn't know what she was looking for. As such, it was entirely possible that she was missing subtle clues left and right. For all she knew, one of the smoggy colored businessmen could have been Kira and she wouldn't have noticed amongst all the foot traffic. There wasn't even anything among the vague forms of angels and demons milling around that stood out to her.

If L were here, he would be able to tell her what to look for. That is, if she had the guts to apologize and ask for his help, rather than give him the cold shoulder.

"It happens to the best of us, my dear," said Watari placidly.

Jubilee reflected upon this statement moodily. "But I let someone else's anger feed off of my own. That wasn't fair to Ryuzaki, despite what he did."

Hellenos appeared on the other side of her. She inclined her head slightly his way in acknowledgment and in apology. Sorry I lost sight of you for a minute there, she thought to him sadly.

It's as the old man says. It happens. The angel seated himself gracefully next to her. What matters now is that you see it. He began to intone a familiar adage that he had repeated to her often over the years. Like creates like. Love creates more love, and—

Jubilee let out a loud, despondent sigh. "Hate creates more hate," she finished glumly.

"A keen insight, my dear," agreed Watari, nodding. "A vicious cycle that this world seems to be enslaved by. But do not be so hard on yourself. You are aware of it, at least...which means that you are already well on your way to stopping that cycle." He smiled at her.

Jubilee didn't feel comforted. She began telling Watari about the red and black cloud that had appeared over Aizawa before attaching itself to her.

"And the stupidest thing about it all," she finished, waving her hands for emphasis, "Is that it isn't the first time I've seen this. I've seen this kind of thing go on for years. I mean, even right here—" She rewound the footage playing on her screen and gestured at the people shuffling in and out of Yotsuba. "This guy, see?" She pointed at one man exiting the building. "He's got this, kind of—smog-colored gunk, hovering around him, with some lighter colors mixed in underneath it. But then this other dude—" She pointed at another man opposite the first, walking towards the entrance. "The cloud over him is pure black. Now watch."

The second man glanced down at his cell phone as he hurried towards the building, causing him to collide with the first. Briefcases fell and portfolios blew open, papers flying everywhere. The second man began shouting at the first.

Jubilee pointed at the air between them. "Now the black cloud is detaching from this guy, and latching onto the first guy, mixing in with the smog-colored gunk."

The first man look bewildered at first, before an offended look overcame his features and he began yelling back, and then shook his fist dangerously close to the other man's face.