A Year of Jubilee [The Death Note Fanfic]

Chapter 4

"Excuse me—Miss Amachi. May I interrupt you there for a moment?" said the tinny voice.

Jubilee went silent, knowing what was coming next.

"Did you just say you were pronounced dead at the scene?"

"Yes."

A pause.

"And yet, here you are."

"Here I am," she agreed tiredly.

She had skipped most of the beginning of the story, particularly the part about stealing—she didn't need the cops of Japan on her case about that as well—and had cut right to the part regarding the accident.

There was another pause of inevitable scrutiny.

"If I may backtrack for a moment, Miss Amachi. Why did you bother to finish college after the death of both your parents? You said that after graduation you were working in..."

"Selling things online." She felt self-conscious in the brief silence that ensued, then added, somewhat defensively, "It's a thing."

"Hardly a 'thing' you need a degree for." Was that a tinge of contempt in the tinny voice, or just the cold effect of the artificial voice filter? Jubilee couldn't be sure. "So why bother getting one?"

Part of the answer to that question was that attending college gave her an "in" to certain demographics, and frat boys and drunken college students were some of the easiest people to steal from. Loans had already been taken out to pay for her third and final year, so she figured she might as well take advantage of them and bite the bullet when it came to scrounging up enough to pay off the debt. Jubilee decided to tell the other half of the answer though.

"It's what would've made my parents happy."

"I see." It was difficult to tell whether the voice sounded void of feeling because of the robotic voice filter, or because of the man behind it. "Why not at least take a leave of absence while you were grieving?"

She shrugged. The action made her shoulders ache. "Where would I have gone? My parents were both only children. My grandparents had passed away when I was still a kid. I had no family to stay with. No money to travel. Not to be melodramatic or anything, but I probably would have killed myself if I didn't have school to distract me and keep me busy." That and being a klepto.

There was a long silence. Jubilee imagined that the person at the other end of the line was mulling over her story and measuring out which parts were believable.

"Please," resumed the voice after a full minute, "Continue where you left off."

~*~*~

"Dear God," breathed the civilian who was gaping at Jubilee's lifeless body. "She was so young."

The other paramedics began to lift the stretcher into the ambulance.

"Wait!" called the man. "May I pray for her?"

The first paramedic eyed him incredulously. "She's dead, man. Ain't nothing left to pray for."

"I'm a pastor," the man explained. "Please. I'd like to pray for...for her family. For her passing on."

The paramedic looked at the man skeptically for a moment longer, then shrugged and waved for his colleagues to wait. "If you insist," he said. "Can't see how it'll help, but don't s'pose it'll hurt, either."

"Thank you," said the pastor.

He made his way over to the stretcher. The other medics had set it back down on the ground. Kneeling, he took in the body that was before him. The girl's face was streaked with blood which oozed from a large head wound on the forehead, and her neck lolled at an awkward angle. She must have died on impact. Her cheeks had already taken on a deathly pallor. He felt a stab of compassion pierce his heart. Did she have a family? Surely, if this was his own daughter, such an event would have utterly broken him. Bowing his head, he clasped his hands together and closed his eyes.