Hello one and all! I present the sequel to Breaking Through! If you haven't read Breaking Through and somehow stumbled across this then don't fret! You don't really have to read B.T. to get everything in this, though some parts may be a bit confusing. Anyway, let's get on with it, shall we…
And now for the Disclaimer with………Beyond Birthday! (The best character in the world!)
Beyond: Well, this is strange…
Me: B!!!!! I LOVE YOU! :D
Beyond: -hides knife behind his back- Do you now?
Me: YES :D
Beyond: Henh…Katelyn doesn't and will never own anything –pulls out knife-
Me: SHINY!
Beyond: Henh henh henh…
Also: Oujo ha Rippa please message me. It won't let me message you for some reason and I know you probably have a WTF face right now at this.
The night is smooth and cold in the bright lights of Japan. People rush home from their jobs that they are all too eager to escape from. The cars blaze by in a heap of flash and light, momentarily blinding the passing people with their petrifying headlights. Along the rows of buildings that crowd the city's sky stands a highly expensive, prestigious hotel.
And in this hotel a very strange scene is going on...
"I am L," Several men crowd the entrance to a suite of a hotel, each holding a dumbfounded expression on their faces. Shock could only swarm over them as the person in front of them scratched the back of his midnight hair. Their shock mixed in with slight disappointment as their image of a great, powerful detective smashes infinitely.
The great, powerful detective observes them cautiously. His near black orbs penetrate their skulls, his wild hair smells of inept, his baggy clothing hides his lean form that could be described as skin and bones, and all these insignificant things cause the five men to shudder involuntarily.
They could not silence the gasps that left their throats at the unusual sight of the man called L. 'This is him?' Yagami, the leader amongst the five Japanese men thought to himself with the question racing through his mind.
The same questioning thoughts went through the minds of the other four men as they gape at L with utter loss written across their faces. L only stares back, eyes unwary, analyzing their open expressions, dolefully doing so.
Yagami, shaking off the sudden doubt, decides pulling out his police badge would be one way to break the unsettling silence that had fallen upon them, "I'm Yagami of the NPA," his badge shines slightly under the warm hotel lights.
The other men promptly follow suit, "Uh Matsuda," A rather befuddled man next to the chief says, mumbling in doing so. "Aziawa," The next man says, showing distrust in his eyes for L. "Mogi," The man farthest in the back says earnestly. "Ukita," Finally, the last man is revealed, a look of humor flashes in L's eyes for second.
"I'm very sorry we're late. Currently the five of us are-"
"Bang!" L cuts Yagami off with a simple finger pointed at them in the shape of a gun. They all awkwardly stare at him, silently questioning his sanity as he stands their hunched over having just fired a fake finger gun at them.
"What the hell was that?" Aziawa asks, patience and calmness were not keys in his speech. In fact, his patience is slowly dimming as each new, weird surprise unfolds to him every other second.
While they question his ability to remain somewhat normal, L question their stupidly, which shines brighter than the light bulbs above their heads, "If I were Kira you'd be dead, Mr. Sorichio Yagami, chief of the NPA" L states boredly as if it were obvious to everyone. Their astonishment is proof enough to L that they had no idea they were at risk.
"L, try not to scare them so much, otherwise they might leave." A voice says quietly from a striped couch deeper into the room. The NPA officers jump slightly at this noise, they believed L was the only one present in the room.
"Oh! Sorry sir! We didn't see you there," Matsuda, gaining his voice and bravely, speaks to the unknown person. His satisfaction with finally being able to not stumble over his words doesn't last for long because the voice soon reveals itself.
"I'm a girl, Mr. Matsuda," The girl reveals herself. She pulls off her dark hood that shadowed her face, letting her mass of black hair explode in every direction. Her eyes, which happen to be covered in dark brown contacts, gleam annoyance at Matsuda, who under her fearsome gaze, pales frightfully.
The others, quickly forgetting Matsuda's idiocy, are taken aback by her rough appearance. Dark circles cloud her eyelids much like L's, giving her the impression of a forever sleepiness. Her frame appears small and weak, fragile as if you could break her with a touch. The oversized hoodie and tight jeans contrast each other and as she stands up they take in her height and age.
"L, if you don't mind me asking, what is a child doing here?!" Yagami couldn't help but shout. A display of wonder and amazement spread across the other men at the fact that L found it suitable to keep a strange, little girl in an unpredictable place of danger.
"I'm fifteen you know," She says as if it didn't matter, sending a slight glare Yagami's way.
"You are still quite young, too young to be working on such a gruesome case," Yagami's disapproving eyes remind Kiko of Roger, except Roger's were quite more flustered and had more of a temper. Of course, she had actually done something that time.
What did age matter?
As Kiko is about to speak up and defend her years, L ruefully cuts her off, "It just so happens she is not working on the case. Though she is able to test high on difficult tests, it is all based on a photographic memory, something that would not benefit this case. When it comes to quick thinking she is not so fast. So-"
"I'm not stupid you know," She rolls her eyes at the detective's blunt behavior. Even after having gotten used to his informal, cruel honestly, it still got on her nerves. Working under someone so cautious for himself but could care less about others feelings drag on her like a wearisome sleep.
Ignoring the interruption, L continues, "So, she is working on another case for me to expand her abilities."
The other men remain doubtful, shaking their heads in disapproval, "But isn't it unsafe to keep her here in such a...dangerous environment?" Aziawa asks for the group. Each of them let their wide eyes continue to scan the odd pair, especially the child who happens to harden her gaze even more.
"It's not as if we go flaunting around telling people who we are, Mr. Aziawa." L remarks with a cool voice.
This is the point where Kiko begins to tune out L's babbling about names and faces, a theory she's heard many times before. L found it continually amusing to rub in the fact that he was taking on a truly difficult challenge this time, but of course, this one happened to be more risk. So evidently, her focus is on the sinking anger in her chest from the prospect of things.
She did not want L to take the case, not at all.
Flashback
L removes his finger from the speaker button. A snide smirk could almost be seen cowering at the corners of his cheeks. Having finally challenged Kira directly would finally jumpstart the grueling war that's been working up to this point.
Things were about to change drastically.
"You're an idiot, you know," Out of the secluded dark corner came Kiko, wearing an incensed expression. She approaches the crouched detective with much air around her, stomping her feet as she went almost like an exasperated child.
"You are still worried?" L asks monotonously, letting his fingers snatch up a pearly wrapped lollipop, "Haven't I told you the percentage of me failing is very low?" His fingers undress the lollipop with much ease before he slips his prize into the cavern of his mouth.
Kiko glowers heavily, "That's not the point L!" She snatches the detective's sucker from out of his mouth -a deed most regrettable- and throws it across the room where it hits the wall with a crack and broke unwillingly apart. Watari would, yet again, have to clean up after her and L's little squabbles.
"That was unnecessary," L looks sadly at the destroyed sucker, feeling remorse at such a sad waste, "You are much too emotional on this case, Kiko. It is not your case to fear for, it's mine and therefore you are to no longer destroy my food over it." L digs out another lollipop from his pocket, smiling slightly with eager anticipation.
"Does it honestly look like I care about your stupid candy? I'm worried for your life!"
"I will be fine."
She persists, "No you won't-"
"That is enough, Kiko, L. Please refrain from throwing anymore objects than necessary." Watari, having heard the argument from the other side of the hotel suite, steps in with kind, good-natured voice, but in such a way that silence the two of them immediately.
But they both knew L had won the round...
End of Flashback
Kiko's P.O.V
I can't help but sigh despondently at the thought of L and I fighting over such a costly thing. L's life is worth so much more than some petty case, even if Kira had killed millions and is going to kill even more. It just seems like too much of a risk to take on such a brutally difficult case.
L sees this as a war, a competition between himself and the mass-killer Kira, though I have no doubt this "Kira" sees it as the same way, a battle between good verses evil, a fight to the death. However, they both believe they are in the right.
I want Kira dead, but I don't want L's life to be the price...
Drifting back into reality, I hear L's voice, "Please turn off all cell phones, handhelds, and any other communication devices and leave them on the table right there," L gestures to the checkered table before slouching into the lounging room. I follow without much care and plop myself onto one of the cream chairs.
Over the rustling of electronics being turned off, I hear the man with the strange hair say, "What? Do you think we're going to be using our cell phones during this meeting to leak information?" His annoyance is clear and I can already tell his distaste for L's odd habits.
The leader of their small group quickly calms the other down, "It's alright, just do what he says." He's already exasperated and he hasn't even sat down. Working with L will prove very wearisome on them; it certainly was on me, but I've somehow grown accustomed to it, even to the point where I like the tiresome feeling that falls upon me after solving a minor case L confronts me with.
Or maybe it's just become a tendency.
"I realize he's been cautious from the very beginning, but I still can't tell if he trusts us or not," Matsuda, I believe that's his name, says with much question in his tone. What an idiot. This is L we're talking about; of course he's going to use caution through every step of the process. It's what you have to do to survive the game.
"No, I just find them distracting. I can't stand it when people's cell phones are ringing when I'm trying to talk," A mental slap in the face is what I receive for thinking L had a logical reason for no cell phones. Then again, this is L we're talking about.
Either he is logical to the point of percentages or he's outrageous in anything and everything he does.
It's usually the latter.
L situates himself into his fetal position on one of the chairs. As he adjusts his legs under his torso he says, "Let me start by saying nobody takes notes on anything that's said in these meetings. That means when we leave headquarters any information we need is committed to memory. Please make yourself comfortable."
The group of men only continue to be shocked as they take the strange sight of L crouching over in his chair, which is a strange sight indeed, but one they must grow used to. Each man lingers for a moment before abiding on and taking a seat on the couches and chairs. Due to lack of chairs, Aziawa is left standing gawkily by my chair.
"Kiko, please leave." L sprouts out. I only gape accordingly at such a rude command that came as unexpectedly as a storm comes in the luxurious heat of summer. Ignoring the dark orbs of his, I continue to sit in my seat, claiming it mine and not the man's.
"Kiko..." His warning tone arises, regarding me with no pity as I look at him with dejected eyes, a card I was able to play often on him before he figured out my game. The other men fall for it to my advantage.
"L, if she's working for you then why must she go?" A befuddled Matsuda asks, scratching his head like a dumbfounded child, which he most likely is at heart. A feeling of pride swells up as I see I am still able to play with people's emotions because of my diminutive size, something I was never able to do while I was at Whammy's.
Of course, L doesn't fall for my sly plan, "Kiko is not apart of this case. She's heard everything about the case before and thus her presence here is invalid for our use. Besides," He turns to me with slanted eyes, "Kiko still needs to work on the case I assigned to her."
Giving up the already lost fight, I abide to L's demands and leave the chair to Aziawa. I stalk away resentfully to the open kitchen where I can still watch if I hide skillfully behind my open laptop. Watari smiles as I plop down on a revolving stool, shoving food my way, trying to get me to eat.
He always says I'm so fragile.
I overlook the plate full of steaming food and take center on L's explanation of his plan on luring Kira out. From an outsider's view is plan seems perfectly flawless and would no doubt succeed in anyway imaginable, but there are still ways it could go wrong.
L knows this; he swims in it with his own pride and refuses to change this course of action. There is no other way but this. There is no way to bring down Kira without taking a risk. I am beginning to grow sick of hearing these same lines over and over directed at me.
It's the same thing he said when he told me these naive men would be joining us.
Flashback
The sun blinds the room with bright rays as the curtains remain open. People look like tiny little dots beneath the glass, moving around, bumping into one another; it was hard to tell who was who. The sun floats over ahead, hanging by some invisible force among the blue sea of sky.
It is a ruthlessly boring day.
L is going over file after file after file, studying each murder to see if Kira has slipped up somewhere down the line. His eyes would scan each document with brief intensity before moving onto the next like a schedule. As the documents pile up on the table and L's chance of finding a mistake growing slimmer, my eyes begin to droop out of sleepiness.
As I attempt to stifle a yawn, caused by yet another long, dreary night, L murmurs from behind his wall of documents, "You should rest, Kiko." His voice sounds the same as usual as if not affected by the countless nights we spent awake, examining and looking for clues in these thousands of papers.
The number of coffee cups on the table beside him grow in number as the case files do, signaling he was on full energy with caffeine bursting through his veins. Silently wishing I could drink as much sugar as he could, I wave off his suggestion with a hand and rest my chin under my other palm.
"Also, I am going to form a taskforce with the NPA officers, so that we may have extra aid. They shall be coming here later..." I could see L's ominous eyes stare directly at me from over the stacks of papers. Of course then it finally clicks: help?
With a sudden grip of reality, I leap from my seat and onto my feet and gape notoriously at the watchful detective, "Help? Here? I thought you said you weren't going to reveal your face to anyone. Ever." I feel myself begin to glare at the intrepid detective and his stupidly daring actions, "When was this decided?"
"When I was talking to the officers earlier."
I could only gawk mutely at L, wondering vaguely if I should throw a pillow at him to bring his senses back. Dismissing the idea that was beginning to look very promising, I instead push his papers aside so I could see him clearly.
And down they went, each important sheet of paper that L spent crucial time reading tumbles to the floor in a heap of words and notes. As they plunge down to the ground, L's eyes follow without much distaste or emotion. Instead, he simply continues to read the sheets that were left beside him on the couch, knowing well enough that I expected a better answer.
L, finally taking notice that I had not lost my composure, says listlessly, "If you must know, I've been thinking over this for a while. It is the simple solution to the workload upon us, even if they are a quite dull. Having only you as a helping pair of hands is becoming damaging on your health." His eyes return to the line he left off of, ogling it with much concentration.
"I can still help," I protest, though the yawn that escaped my throat did nothing to encourage my fight.
"Even if you could help, you are supposed to be solving minor cases under Eraldo Coil and Deneuve, you know this. We must make sure that they are still noticed publicly as to not comprise the fact that L, Eraldo Coil, and Deneuve are all one person," He reaches over and grasps one of his sugar-filled coffee cups with the tips of slim fingers, "Furthermore, I assigned you the Mafia cases for a reason: to keep you away from this case." With his eyebrows raised, he sips his coffee slowly.
I groan inwardly. The mafia cases were going nowhere for me. Every reknown, tarnished criminal are hiding their names and faces with all their willpower. If it is hard to get a simple name, then how am I to uncover their whole agenda, especially when there is a three-way war between the Italians, the Americans, and the Russian?.
I rather do the Kira case.
"I gave that case to you to expand your thinking range. You must learn to think out of text books and memory but of current events and reality. Your quick decision making skills need to be set higher than they are now." L had said this before; echoing it now only fuels my irritation for my inept.
"But why not hire Aiber or Wedy? Why are you recruiting these...these...idiots?" I ask jadedly.
L ignores me and continues to work heedlessly with a smirk pushing the edges of his lips up slightly.
Jerk.
End of Flashback
The sound of a marker squeaking on a table brings my attention back to L. He was informing the Japanese men of all the information he and I were able to coin up through the pounds of documents, hours of brainstorming, and of course the video tapes we watched of a few criminals dying.
A name and a face is all Kira needs.
And of course the FBI agents.
When we caught word of the Americans distress over the alarming faith of their 12 agents in Japan, L miraculously saw that it was only a decoy to the real target amongst them, something I would never had caught on, and knew that Kira was being threatened by one of the agents.
The men gasp as L explains this to them, showing them a diagram on the table to bring a vivid image to their heads. His tone is strictly informative, telling them all the tiny little details, and of course, the plan of lying to Kira to lure him or her out -L assumes Kira is a guy, but I'm still believing there is no official way of knowing for sure until we have apprehended Kira and are able to take off the mask of his identity.
I admit his plan is quite clever and the chances of it affecting Kira somehow is lofty, but what will L do once Kira is out in the open? Will he rush after him, divulge his face, ignore the warnings? Will he succeed in capturing Kira or will all this be apart of Kira's plan...
But L will win...he has to...
"I suspect Kira had to be one of the people being investigated between the 14th and the 19h of December. In fact, I have no doubt," The men's gasps mix in with the scratching noise of L's marker. L brings out files from under the table and continues on, "These are files provided by the FBI and they contain additional information you might find useful. For obvious reasons you aren't permitted to take these out of this room, but-"
"Amazing! There might only be five of us, but with this much information we'll be able to cover a lot of ground!" Oh dear, the biggest idiot of them all, Matsuda, interrupts L, something no one can do. It's simply not permitted. A scowl crosses over the detective's face as they continue talking.
"We'll spilt into two teams; one team traces the FBI agents, the other looks at the heart attack victims." Aziawa sweeps up the interruption and extends it gradually.
They go on with their excited talk until L cuts in, "So, does anyone have any questions?" The look on his face is pure pleasure. His annoyance is unambiguous and makes his glare even more priceless.
"Actually, I have one question Ryuzaki," All eyes turned to the chief as he speaks up and I notice the name change briefly, realizing quickly that we are already using L's other alias. How he came up with the pseudonym is beyond me, but it possibly came from a previous case…a case I was not a part of.
"By us coming here does this mean you have already lost? By showing us your face are you admitting defeat?" The room immediately becomes tense with such an outlandish question and L's eyes light up at the odd occurrence of it. I cannot help but feel discomfort acknowledging the fact that L may be losing.
After a succinct pause, L's bites his thumb with thought and looks up to the ceiling, "That's right…by showing my face here I have lost the battle," L speaks casually, but then his eyes become fierce with a newfound fire, "But I will not lost the war. I've never risked my life on any case before. Kira will be brought down," And with a wide grin he says, "And Justice will prevail."
All the men begin to agree excitedly and with great enthusiasm over L's courageous words. L's bright smile melts into his stoic face with ease as his eyes flicker over and scan me with question. I only return his gaze with a nervous smile.
Though I wonder…if Justice will prevail…
Or if he's just lying.
A few hours later…
The childlike men disappear after L's examination of each of them to prove Kira isn't among us. L remains by the window, staring out to the dazzling city lights below. He looks lost in his own percentages and blaring thoughts.
I feel the need to go over to the witty detective, ask him questions, encourage his theories of Kira, but I am frozen in my spot on the kitchen stool. Not moving an inch, I've lingered where I am since L spoke words of integrity, but the want to go to the flimsy man is stronger than ever even when his intimidation is impending off his form.
"Were you lying?" I say quietly, hoping he could hear me.
"What do you mean?" He turns to face me, his bent back curves up in inquiry. I sit up straighter as I am being analyzed by those dark, hiding eyes.
Feeling poise, I speak louder, "L, how are you going to bring down Kira with mere justice? What if you are forced down to his level? Will you take heartless actions against him?" I hide my face with the sleeve of my jacket, pretending to wipe my eyes when really blinding his view of my face.
"Kiko…" I peek from above my sleeve and see his eyes study me feverously, "Kira will be brought down by whatever means necessary," He goes to the couch and settles himself on it, "Kira is a dangerous violent criminal who will do anything to see his vision created. We will have to take drastic measures against such a person."
I exhale softly, having known the answer before he said it brings me no hurt or fear, but leaves a bitter mark anyway. I remove myself from the stool with a great deal of soreness –sitting in the same position for hours proves that it becomes very uncomfortable after a while. I walk towards my room solemnly, passing L as he drops more sugar into his coffee.
"However…" His voice stops me in my tracks, "I will never sink as low as him. Murder is murder no matter for any reason," He sips his drink gingerly as I stand in my place, stunned by such an answer. His reassurance gives me some console as I persist my way to the soft sheets that lie on my bed.
But an arbitrary question comes to mind and I suddenly ask without much thought, "L, where did you come up with the alias 'Ryuzaki'?" I watch as he stiffens coldly, lowering his cup from his lips but does not speak. Confused by his sudden aloofness, I utter, "L, are you going to answ-"
"It is not for you to know."
I am taken aback by his reply. He looks at me from the side and his eyes hold something I have never quite met before... anger. Never has he directly rejected a question like that, usually he'll twist it into a question of his own… Why can't I know?
Throwing the question from my mind, I go to my room, shut the door behind me, and let my body fall to the silk sheets that loll on the bed. My eyes droop with dreariness as the alias flickers back and forth in my mind…
Ryuzaki…
Holy crap I did it -.- How did you like it? Love or hate, TELL ME! And your reward with be my famous virtual muffins!!! I'll be doing updates as fast as possible…but life is utterly busy o.o Also the genre will frequently change lol XD
-On a side note- All the kiddies who read B.T. from beginning to end will get the inside joke with the disclaimer character of this chapter XD