1.
Despite his initial plan to clue the task force in, he had decided against it. He had transported the note overseas, and if the timing had gone according to plan, then there was no turning back now. Watari's life had been too valuable to throw away and while his death wasn't certain… its possibility was simply too much for L to bear. If the 13 day rule was a fact, then the convict shall be dead in less than two weeks from now.
It was just a matter of time until-
"Hey, Ryuzaki, has the shinigami disappeared?" Light's question forced the whole task force to begin looking around the room. L kept his head down, facing his computer. "Certainly seems that way, doesn't it…" his voice was low, and his tone lacked concern.
"Well, where's the note then?" the elder Yagami inquired, "I gave it to Watari for safe keeping." L replied. This, was not entirely a lie of course. The prisoner was only writing in the note once, and when that was over and done with it was to be shipped back, he'd only need to hide its whereabouts for one day. The room went silent, as he figured many of the men in the room had taken his word as fact. Light on the other hand… well, let's just say L didn't even have to turn around to know what kind of expression was surely plastered on the teen's face.
That look, was one of apprehension, as he questioned within himself whether or not to inquire about the note any further. Thankfully, his father had asked the last question without him having too, but surely the more questions he were to ask, the more likely that the heat would return to him. He had foreseen something like this happening… he knew the type of man that L was, and he was sure that the death note would be used by someone in the near future. To ensure that his memories were kept, he had taken the note from Misa, again…rendering her eyes useless. Although this fact tied up Misa's connection to the case, it also made it impossible to find out L's real name. And… since Misa was no longer in danger, Rem, who also was MIA, had no reason whatsoever to help Light.. Despite this though, Light also had a plan.
Ryuzaki turned around, and his gaze briefly met with Light's as an almost identical smile was planted on both of their faces. Light walked towards L, and took a seat next to him, as had become customary, despite the obvious tension. "Is it safe to leave Watari alone with Rem?" he asked, to which L dismissed quickly, "She had been in the room with us all this time, Light…"
He smiled once again, "Or do you need the book for something?"
Light furrowed his brows, and turned on his own laptop. Of course, he didn't have much work to do himself, and he was sure L knew that, but he had to justify his presence in some way. L was up to something, and if Light's intuition was correct- he only had thirteen days to figure out what it was.
"Ha, of course not!" Light finally replied, a bright smile lacing his face, "Say, Ryuzaki.." "Yes?" L replied, "Misa and I are going out tonight, actually feels kind of weird now that it's just the two of us, would you like to come?"
Finally, his gaze left the computer, "I'm sure Misa wouldn't be too keen on that."
Light let out a small laugh, "She'll understand! I've told her how hard you've been working since the whole Yatsuba thing…"
Light's hope for L to comply stretched well beyond a friendly gesture. L had told him weeks ago, that he had been his only friend, and despite how cold, and distant L tried to seem, Light was able to sense the loneliness that had befallen the other man. While in his state of amnesia, Light had genuinely befriended L… the two worked together, for once, on a common goal. Surely this intensified L's need for Light's friendship. Surely… this was something that could be taken advantage of. Surely…..
"If you guys don't mind, I could go for some food." Light worked hard to keep his face from contorting into that now familiar ominous smile, and instead forced his features into something resembling a genuine one. "That's fantastic, Ryuzaki!" L's gaze returned to the computer screen, and light's focused on his own. "This is perfect." he thought,
"I have thirteen days to get L close enough to me, that he'll let me in on where the death note is… and who has it."
Initially, Light was going to cancel on Misa, and pretend that she stood him up. Although an enticing option, Light reasoned that L would never go for such a ploy. He would become suspicious, and the whole plan would fall to pieces. No- he instead had to get Misa to leave early, he could tell her to… Light shook his head, now that she no longer possessed any memory of meeting, or knowing Kira, she wouldn't understand why. She would already be upset enough at L's presence, after all...
Light sighed, and leaned back in his chair out of frustration. It was then, that an idea popped into his head- "If we arrived early",- he reasoned "it would work the same. I was supposed to meet Misa at 6, it's nearing 5 now and if we left soon I could get a good hour of his time." Light used his earlier frustration to mock sleepiness, and got L's attention. "Is it alright if we leave in ten?" Light asked, L looked at his computer a second before nodding. "I don't see why not."
Light began to shut things off as he waited for his dark haired companion. L lowered from his usual stance, and slunk out of the chair, ending in a slumped over position as he stood. "So where are we going?" he asked, reaching his hands into his pockets, "To that cafe, downtown." Light replied cheerfully, "I thought their brownies were pretty good." He continued, to which L nodded in reply.
It took about 10 minutes for them to reach the cafe, and, as Light had planned, they had a good forty minutes to spare before Misa would be arriving. Light sat across from the other man in a booth at the back of the cafe. L had been here before, and though he didn't much care for the thoughts of others, felt more relaxed in isolation… especially to sit the way he did.
"So how does that help your reasoning?" Light asked, hoping to spark a friendly conversation "Well, my body's more relaxed this way, so my brain only has itself to focus on, I've often worried about blood clots forming in my knees… but the way I see it, I'll be dead soon anyway, so it doesn't matter…" Light gulped
"Ryuzaki… what do you mean by that?" Light could feel his heart begin to palpitate, is it possible that L had already clued into his plan? Did he mention it in an attempt to ward off Light once again, or is it just a coincidence, a vague statement to create doubt where there is none? I mean.. We've only been here for a few minutes, Light thought, there's no way L could even know that we were early… maybe he simply found my invitation suspicious to begin with?
"Oh… nothing." L replied, "a couple things have just been bothering me lately." For the entire duration of that sentence, L focused directly on Light. His black eyes zeroing in until Light had no choice but to stare back.
"I've noticed." Light lied, "That's part of the reason I invited you out."
"Oh?" L smiled, but not at his concern, more so at the fact that it had gone noticed at all. "How did you figure that out?" he questioned, but thankfully for Light- the waitress arrived right at that moment. L continued to stare at the boy across from his as they ordered, as if he was waiting eagerly for his response. The waitress left, on her way to get two fudge brownies, a chocolate milkshake, and a honey-lemon tea, for Misa.
"What?" Light asked L, referring to the unsettling smile he'd been shooting him. "You never finished your story. How can you tell I'm feeling down?"
"Why does it matter?" Light asked, and L shrugged, "consider this a test." He replied, and Light furrowed his eyebrows. He couldn't believe how much L knew about him… he knew that Light would never back down to a challenge, no matter how petty. Light cleared his throat. "It's the sweets actually." He said calmly, not actually having any idea if his consumption of them had in fact changed at all "You're eating more, and more… it's reminiscent of cartoon females indulging in ice cream, actually."
L nodded, his smile gone.
"I see." He said simply, not indicating to Light whether or not he passed or failed. Without the praise though, Light fought hard to make sure that he had won. "Also… it's well, it's a little less noticeable…" he began "but sometimes when you think… your tongue peeks out of your mouth. I'm not sure if it's a subconscious thing… but I hadn't seen you do that before this week… it seems to only happen when you're really thinking about something… so I figured that something had obviously been on your mind."
L's eyes lit up, "very good." He said, and continued to stare intently at Light.
"You know, you confuse me, Light." He continued, after a brief moment of triumphant silence on the other mans part, "how so?" Light asked, "Every time I feel confident in the fact that you're Kira… you go and surprise me."
Light's eyes widened, "You still think I'm Kira?" he exclaimed, anger began to well up in his body, as this turn of events allowed a seed of doubt to penetrate into his plan. "Well after what you just said… I'd say it's back down to about 50 percent. Either way, we'll know soon."
Light opened his mouth to speak, but was interrupted by the shrill sound of Misa's voice, as his and L's names echoed throughout the cafe. In fact, her voice was all that Light could hear for the rest of the night… that, and the nagging voice inside his head, repeating L's words over and over, and over
"Either way, we'll know soon."