Chapter Text
“Thank you, all of you, for meeting today,” said Light into his headset. “This has been a very productive discussion. I trust that these changes you will be implementing on your side will prevent such an issue from ever happening again.”
He flashed a perfectly professional politician’s smile at the computer screen.
“Th-thank you, Kira, for taking the time, I know you are very bus--”
Light abruptly ended the conference call, interrupting the obnoxious simpering of the President of the United States. His charming facade dropped and he groaned in irritation. His arms fell to his side and he leaned back in his leather office chair, staring at the ceiling. Fucking idiot thinks that some flattery will make me forget about how he’s incompetently mishandled this entire situation. Pathetic. Maybe it’s time to replace him.
Light had been on and off of calls all day with various combinations of world leaders. A group of terrorists who boldly called themselves “The Nameless” had successfully uploaded encrypting malware to Kira’s global database – the all-knowing system that stored the names, faces, criminal record, work history, religious affiliation, and more, for every citizen in a nation that was under Kira’s control (which was not all of them, not yet). Fortunately, Kira’s database engineers would be able to restore the systems to a fairly recent backup, but this process would take days. But Light was fairly sure that taking down the database wasn’t their real objective. They’d probably installed a backdoor for them to exploit the system for some future, unknown goal. He had his Information Security team working around the clock to locate anything suspicious, anything that hadn’t been there before. He intended to do some digging himself tomorrow.
More pressingly, Light wanted to learn how the hell it had happened. So far, his forensic analysts had traced the breach back to poor security enforcement in the US branch, which is why he had just had a passive aggressive conference call with the US Department of Cybersecurity, along with the President.
Ryuk reminded Light of his presence with a cackle, “Ohhohoh! Things are getting interesting again! It’s about time. You know, I’ve been pretty bored lately.”
Light glared at the shinigami, but then smiled despite himself, “Hmm. I have to admit I agree with you. It’s fun to have a competent enemy again.” His smile dropped. “Then again, the way they got in didn’t really require that much competence,” he added with an irritated roll of his eyes.
“Uhhh yeahhh… What happened again?” Ryuk inquired with a head tilt.
Light rubbed the bridge of his nose. “It’s actually infuriating how simple it was for them. Some intern working for the US state department used the same password to access his work computer as he used for every one of his personal accounts! It was only a matter of time before one of those services got breached, and then, well, one of the terrorists socially engineered their way into the physical office space to get onto the internal network. At that point, they just logged onto that intern’s computer remotely and then...”
Light continued talking for a couple of minutes but Ryuk zoned out.
Eventually Light waved his hand in front of Ryuk’s face, saying “Hey? Are you still listening?”
Ryuk stared at him blankly. “...What? Huh? I didn’t understand any of that.”
Light laughed, “Right, I guess a thousand-year-old shinigami would have a bit of trouble getting his head around computers. Don’t worry about it.”
Ryuk was about to reply snarkily I’m way older than that, but Light continued monologueing.
“But anyway, the main reason I’m pissed is because there were so many ways this could have been mitigated. The US government broke nearly a dozen of my policies for information security surrounding the centralized global database. And then when we’d identified where the vulnerability came from, I tried to get in contact with the US President and he was, what, golfing? Ugh! Moron.”
“….So what’cha gonna do?” Ryuk inquired, munching on an apple.
Light fiddled with a pen on his desk for a moment, thinking. Currently, at the forefront of his mind was just how exhausted he was. He’d been woken up at 3am by the issue and it was now late in the evening.
He needed a break.
On stressful days like this, Light felt very fortunate to have…. him. A man perfectly suited to his needs: Fiercely loyal, hardworking, determined, intelligent, perceptive, attractive…
...And unquestioningly subservient.
Light reminisced fondly on the day when he met Teru Mikami at the Yellow Box warehouse. After coming down from the high of absolute victory, laughing wildly as the bodies fell around him, he had glanced downwards and finally noticed the man, lying prostrate and trembling. When he acknowledged Mikami’s presence and thanked him for a job well done, the man had practically burst into tears, frantic praises of Kami, glorious, perfect Kami, falling from his lips.
That night, Light had gone home with him and tested his loyalty – with more than satisfactory results. His fervent words rang in Light’s mind even today: “I would do anything for you Kami-sama, even end my own life if you willed it. I’m nothing but your servant. My mind, body, and soul belong to you, and I am grateful. ”
It did not take long for Light to begin calling him by his given name, Teru.
Over the years, Mikami certainly had proven his worth many times over. Part of the reason why Light had selected him was due to his expertise as an lawyer, which he knew was something he would need. When they were solidifying power across the globe, Teru had pored over legal and government documents and helped Light determine the path of least resistance to grab power in every major nation. He’d never really envisioned himself simply taking over the world by force. He wanted to be a legitimate absolute leader. And so he went about it slowly and methodically, revealing his face only after he had already established himself as an omnipresent governing force from the shadows.
It had been an arduous journey for sure, but the fruits of their efforts were so sweet. Light swiveled his chair around away from the massive desk and stood up, walking towards the glass wall that overlooked the glittering Tokyo skyline. There were tens of millions of people in this one city alone who were all eternally grateful to Kira-sama, who had saved them from a lifetime of fear and uncertainty and put them on their path to paradise. Now that he ruled over the world with absolute power, his job responsibilities expanded beyond simply killing criminals and other undesirables. He wanted to make a perfect world, and the world was rotting in so many ways beyond just crime. So, he’d forced every government under his power to provide for all of the basic needs of their citizens. In a world of boundless surplus and greed, all it took was the threat of killing a few thousand powerful people to solve social blights like poverty, homelessness, hunger, and illiteracy. After fully taking power, he had killed a few disobedient world leaders here and there, and it brought him great pleasure to do so -- but there hadn't been a need for some time. His next project for bettering the world was to mandate the shift towards renewable energy. Fossil fuels were just so tacky.
And so, after putting humanity onto a better path with his unwavering, inviolable will, what had Kira become to the people? A god, a king, an emperor, a dictator? Regardless of how exactly each person viewed him, he had dominion over this world and that is what mattered. He thought briefly about the last time he had made a public appearance to speak to his people in person. He thought about the distracting rush of power that he always felt when thousands of voices were crying out his given name Kira-sama… Lord Kira… Our savior… Thank you… We need you…
He felt a pleasant tingling in his pants.
Yes, it was definitely time to go see his angel.
Light wandered through the home that he and Teru shared – it was a beautiful, but not unnecessarily large, house on the outskirts of the city. His worshipers had lovingly built it exactly to his specifications, from the layout down to the décor of each room. All free of charge, of course. Gods were above currency. He checked a few rooms where Mikami typically spent his time after hours. The kitchen, preparing dinner for his kami? No. His office, eliminating sinners? No. In the library, studying the obscure laws of the nations Light hadn’t conquered yet? No.
In the marble hallway leading away from the library, Light heard the sound of piano. Ah, so that’s what you’re up to.
Light quietly entered the parlor. His angel hadn’t heard him yet and so he stood and watched.
Of all the uses that Light was pleased to find in Teru, this was the one that was the least expected. It turned out that his mother had sent him to piano lessons beginning when he was a very young child. After decades of practice, he was on the level of a professional concert pianist.
It was rare that Light got to hear Teru play. The man was adorably self-conscious. Of course, he would play if asked; he would never ever say no to God. But the one time Light had asked him to play for him, he was mildly disappointed by the results. He could tell that his soul wasn’t in it fully. It was like he wasn’t really feeling the music, but rather just putting on a performance – a performance that he was obviously nervous about. It was a bit uncomfortable. Light never asked again, preferring to sneak shows when he could in secret.
Therefore, he did not interrupt. He sighed and savored the moment, letting the beautiful melody wash over him. He stared at the heavenly sight of his beloved, lost in the joy of music. Teru’s elegant fingers danced across the keys, making that which took 30 years of regimented practice look effortless. His eyes shone with a serene focus. As the music swelled, there was a resplendent moment in which Teru closed his eyes and leaned back such that his arms were outstretched fully, seeming to pour his entire being into a powerful series of chords.
That part of Light’s brain that would never turn off told him that he should be working right now. But watching Teru made it feel like he had nothing to worry about. The stresses of the day melted away and his body relaxed.
The final harmonies echoed and the music faded away.
Teru closed his eyes and sighed with a calm smile. He turned around, preparing to stand up, when he saw his god in the room.
“Kami-sama!” he gasped, hastily throwing himself to the floor in a kneeling position. “I’m so sorry! Have you been waiting on me? Oh god forgive me, I should have been more aware of your needs...” he pressed his head to the floor.
Light smirked and chuckled. He felt his stomach tense pleasantly with the thrill of seeing the man submit to him so fully. Somehow, after all of these years, Teru’s constant desperation to serve and please him never got old. Light walked over towards the prostrate man.
“Shh, it’s ok. You’ve done nothing wrong, absolutely nothing. You’re my perfect angel, remember? Please, get up,” Light said softly, reassuringly, enjoying the immediate effect that his sweet nothings had on him.
Mikami rose such that he was sitting on his knees, but didn’t stand. His eyes shone with adulation and he clasped his hands together in prayer.
Light laughed at this. The man literally would not even stand when alone with Light, unless he was explicitly told to. Whenever they were in public together, of course Mikami maintained a cool and confident poise. In fact, he had a rather dominant air about him when dealing with other people. But when the two were alone…? He was completely different; he could barely keep himself together. And Light loved it.
Light extended a hand and ran it through Mikami’s long, silky black hair. It had gotten even longer than when they first met, because Light liked it that way. The older man closed his eyes and leaned into Light’s hand, nuzzling it. He sighed shakily.
“Thank you Kami-sama, thank you, I don’t deserve your kindness...” he muttered. And then his eyes snapped open. “Ah..! How may I serve you, my god?” he said suddenly, as if he had forgotten his purpose.
Light’s hand traveled down Teru’s face, stroking his cheek lightly. He sighed, allowing the stress of the day to show in his face.
Concern leapt to Teru’s ever-observant eyes. “What’s wrong? Please tell me how I can help.”
“It’s alright. I’ve just had a very difficult day. I’ll tell you about it tomorrow; it doesn’t directly concern you,” Light replied softly.
“Oh no. Was it something those filthy masked heretics did?”
Light smiled. He wished the entire world viewed The Nameless in the way Mikami did. “Yes, it was them. But it’s ok. The matter is handled for now.”
He sighed and traced Mikami’s bottom lip with his thumb. “But I admit I am stressed. And so I would like you to… help me relax. Do you think you can do that for me?”
His quiet, delicate voice was like velvet tickling Mikami’s ears. The older man shuddered out a sigh. “Anything for you.”
“Go to the master bathroom and prepare a bath for me. And I want you out of your clothes,” Light instructed in a sensual whisper.
Mikami blushed slightly, and then a mildly confused expression crossed his face. “Pardon me my lord, but would you like me to remove my clothing here or did you mean in the bathroom?”
Light grinned and laughed. He had meant in the bathroom, but what the hell, why not. “Go ahead and strip for me here, Teru,” he said with a smirk.
“Yes, God.” Still on his knees, Mikami began unbuttoning his black collared shirt.
“You can stand up now,” Light chuckled. He then turned around and left the room, not bothering to watch Mikami finish removing his clothes, since he knew he’d see him naked in a moment anyway. And he did so enjoy the concerned little noise that Teru made when he turned around and left him to strip alone. Although no one else lived in this home, Teru was very easily embarrassed, and walking about naked by himself would surely make him blush…
Light walked into the wine cellar to pick out something for the evening. He chose a French cabernet sauvignon and grabbed a glass and a corkscrew. He really didn’t drink very often and never in excess; but he’d had a long day, and sometimes, self care looks like a glass of wine served to you by your naked, devoted servant in a hot bath.
He headed up the large staircase to the 2nd floor where their bedroom was, and placed his fingerprint on the scanner next to the large double doors, causing them to unlock with a click. He pushed the door open to enter the room. The door to the bathroom was ajar and he could hear the water running.