Raising the Stakes [Kunuru]

[Kunuru]

With a smirk, Kunuru backed up a bit, though his smirk grew as she spoke about the catch. He chuckled lightly as he looked up at the ceiling. "It's so interesting to you and you ask about the price like you're not interested? I'd be hard pressed to offer you such a great ability even with a price, so you should be grateful." Kunuru slowly wandered away from her as he spoke, laughing quietly under his breath. "The price however is simple, and completely painless. All you must do is offer one half of your remaining life to me." He paused for a moment to give her just enough time to realize he wasn't kidding, before he continued to speak, "Then you'll be able to see all human names and lifespans just as I do, with that knowledge I'll teach you the secret to identifying who owns a Death Note." He chuckled a bit as he leaned back, "But if you're so worried about dying early, you'd better not run into Kira. If he can kill with just a face, it means he probably made the deal, and will know you have a Death Note just by seeing you."

There was the trick Kunuru decided to utilize. If Claw took the eyes, she risked dying young, but if she didn't take them, she risked being killed by Kira. Either way was a risk for Claw, but not taking the eyes had no negative effect for Kunuru. Again, Kunuru made this game impossible for himself to lose, but the wrong decision could have Claw dead young. This was an unfair choice, but he didn't care enough to push the issue. If she wanted, then he'd give her the eyes, otherwise he would simply wait until she was desperate for a name before dropping the idea once more. This was the advantage of not being heard or seen by other mortals, he could simply talk to her without anyone knowing a word he was saying, except the person he spoke to and any nearby shinigami (which in itself didn't matter). Kunuru was not going to let her win so easily, instead he would make it so he couldn't lose, but she could.

[Claw]

“It’s not that I’m not interested. I’m just not stupid.” Claw mumbled as Kunuru continued talking about the eyes. She seemed to not be paying attention, but she was taking in every word. “And you aren’t hard pressed into anything. You said yourself shinigami don’t need to explain the rules, and I bet these deals aren’t any different.” She smirked at him. “And I’m so sorry for not being grateful, oh giving Kunu-suke.” When he began to speak of the ‘catch’, Claw fell silent. She’d expected something like this…a trade for a shinigami’s power wouldn’t come without a high price tag. But when he bargained for half of her life, she felt slightly ill. Her eyes closed briefly as she thought over her options.

She could take the eyes and lose what little time she could have, or lose them and be at risk to any other users with the eyes. Claw didn’t want to think about the consequences to either choice, but they began to run through her in thoughts no longer than a second each. How could she catch Kira if her life was cut short? What if, even after the trade, Kira still found her first and killed her? What if she had a long life to spare? What if she didn’t? Then the last idea passed into her head and stuck. Either way, I’m still going to die. It wouldn’t really matter if she caught Kira or not, long life or short, because the shinigami would kill her anyway. Her eyes returned to the room and she glanced at Kunuru, a small smile barley visible on her face.

“Kunu-suke…you strike me as the kind who doesn’t care one way or another,” Claw’s smile widened, “So I doubt it will matter to you if I make this…gamble.” She stepped closer to Kunuru, not really caring how he towered over her. “I’ll make the trade.”

(OC: Dun dun dun duuuuuun…)

[Kunuru]

The trade was accepted, and no sooner did the words leave her mouth did the trade become finalized. Little had she known that by simply accepting it verbally, she was already granted with the eyes. To confirm however, Kunuru grinned and spoke, "Your eyes then, can see the names of humans, and their lifespans. Also as I promised, the trick to knowing if someone has a shinigami." Kunuru chuckled as he looked down at her, not wavering as he watched her life span suddenly cut in half. "When you see someone who's life span doesn't show up, they have a Death Note. Only shinigami can see the life span of those with a Death Note." Kunuru smiled as he leaned back a bit, "And if you don't believe me, look in a mirror. The numbers would make no sense any other way, but you'll know what they mean."

Although he claimed the trade was complete, there was no pain nor change in sight. She wouldn't feel different, and Kunuru's appearance wouldn't change at all. Instead though, her eyes were indeed imbued with the sight of a shinigami. Kunuru won the gamble as he had hoped, and the game was starting to lean in his favor. There was a glee that couldn't be explained, an uncaring being shouldn't care, but when he's winning at something even Kunuru has a reason to be happy. This was the sickening attitude of the shinigami, but it was all he had to worry about, winning. Kunuru waited then, walking to the window and looking out with a smile, not concerned at the thought that no one could see him even if they glanced up at him.

[Claw]

Claw blinked. When Kunuru began to speak, she didn’t understand it at all. It was over? That was it? No fire and brimstone ritual and tears of blood like in the movies? Her gaze went from the shinigami to her hands, a blank stare compared to her usually glaring, and she couldn’t see any difference. What a jip. She looked around the room, expecting nothing to have changed in her vision, and froze as her face became clear in the reflection of the window glass. Nothing seemed to have changed about her…nothing except for the words floating ideally above her head. [glow=red,2,300]Claudia Jetsu[/glow] That was her name, or was now that she was Kirimi Ami or Claw. As Kunuru had said, she could see the letters sit there like a strange hair accessory, but she couldn’t see any numbers. She had the eyes and a notebook so she couldn’t see her own lifespan, or any other user’s. Her mouth shaped into a surprised ‘O’ shape and she returned her attention to the newspaper. Sure enough, the name of the kidnapper was clearly visible over his picture. She stared at the figures over his head. They looked like a mess of gobligook or alphabet soup with numbers. [glow=red,2,300]12, 5, 4, 85, 9… [/glow] Not a single number made any sense.

She flipped to the first page of the Death Note. “These are pretty useful, Kunu-suke. I’d thank you, but don’t think you care.” Claw reached for her pencil and began writing don the name she saw directly under Shi Kumi’s. She paused on the last letter hesitantly and wrote down ‘suicide’ after his name. “I wonder…” she thought out loud, closing the book without a second thought. She glanced up at Kunuru, who was at the window, and yelped. “What are you doing?! Get away from there!” Claw ran up to push him, went straight through him this time, and landed on the floor. She glared up at him, her eyes wide with anger and fear. “What if someone sees--” Her train of thought was cut short. Riyu would be home soon. SHIT!! How the hell could she explain the gigantic death god floating in her room? He wouldn’t pass for a friend from school, much less human. The issue posed seemed far more important than checking on her soon-to-be-dead victim.

[Kunuru]

Kunuru suddenly began to laugh, he realized her thought pattern. How simple humans were to make such accusations. "I've been here many times before now. This is about my fifth time. You never once complained about it before, but then you hadn't touched the Death Note before then either." Kunuru didn't admit to his invisibility, but he did make a clue toward it. Kunuru made it possible that he was invisible to others, but he didn't confirm it. "And for the record, you're right. I don't care if you thank me." He grinned and turned to face her, his head cocking to one side. "So, you mentioned this Kira person a couple of times now. Who is he?" Kunuru became curious, but he was not asking for anything unusual. It seemed he'd taken an interest in finding information on the Kira, when in reality his true interest lied in the other Shinigami.

With a moment of clarity, Kunuru took to walk over, noting to himself the name of the person written in the Death Note, and looking at the paper to find it was a criminal. "He was the murderer right? Who is he killing?" Kunuru was honestly not sure of what he was talking about, but he did stumble on to a hypocrisy. Claw, who claimed Kira to be a horrible person for murdering, had used the Death Note to kill a criminal, in the same manner as Kira. Kunuru turned to look at her, his head tilted to one side. This wasn't the first time Kunuru could sense a fun situation with Claw, that was why he enjoyed this type of game so much. She was the perfect person to give a note, this was turning out much more fun than Kunuru first expected.

[Claw]

As Claw looked up at her shinigami, her eyes widened to the size of dinner plates. If he'd been here time and time again, why hadn't she noticed him? He was pretty...hard to miss. Dazed and irritated, the young human glared up at the death god. "You've been following me, have you? I feel violated..." she mumbled to herself, figuring something out. "So...you're invisible to other humans? Or is it just to people who don't own Death Notes?" The teenage girl brushed off her knees as she stood up again, trying to regain her composure.

The mention of Kira set her blood to boiling again.

"Kira is a coward who hides behind this...power," she stepped back to the table and picked up the Death Note, shaking it slightly, "Using it to kill bad guys and innocents who he believes are against him. He's a worthless piece of shit who thinks calling himself 'God' will make him one." Red eyes glinted with the deep, deep loathing that lurked within Claudia. "He's more an Anti-Christ than a God. He'll kill anyone in his way..."

Claw failed to see her own hypocrisy.