Slow Coming Insanity
L sat in the room with the task force members. Never had he been with so many people, yet felt so lonely. His mind was trying to focus on the Kira case, but he couldn't. It was truly impossible. The pain he was feeling made it impossible.
"Everyone, you may take the rest of the day off." L stated. The reaction from the task force was total shock.
"Ryuzaki, are you serious?! WOO HOO!!" Matsuda. Who else? Gasp
"Ryuzaki, are you sure? Is there a dead end in the case? What's going on?!" Chief Yagami demanded answers from L who was merely in a daze.
"Chief Yagami, there is no simple explanation. I just need everyone to leave. I can't think right now." An unusual statement from L. He was always thinking about something. Picking apart what seemed like the obvious and turning it into a complex, almost nonsensical idea.
"See you tomorrow Ryuzaki." Aizawa said as he and Mogi left the room. Light was the only one left in the room and he refused to leave without an explanation. He was way more stubborn than his father.
"What's bothering you, Ryuzaki? This is unlike you to let people go home. Usually, you make us stay as late as possible."
"Light. I honestly don't know what's wrong. I can't focus, so please, as I asked before, leave." L was beyond frustrated at Light's persistence. 'Why won't you leave? Do I have to kick you? Or shall I call Miss Amane?' His thoughts merely sat in his head, and he couldn't get them to leave, much like Light.
"Fine, if you insist, I will leave you alone. Are you sure you're all right?" L wondered where this sudden concern for his well being came from. '12'
"Just leave."
"See you tomorrow." Light knew something was wrong with him. Kira was pushing him to the edge. Exactly as he planned.
Finally, L was alone with his thoughts. He couldn't help but feel like a failure. He couldn't even focus for a minute on the Kira case, not that he's not focused on Kira, though. Kira was haunting him, tormenting him, and was out to get him. L was sure of it. 'Maybe I need to leave the building, just for a little while.' He felt like he had A.D.D. He called Watari.
"Watari, I'm going to go on a walk to a café. I need to clear my head."
"All right Ryuzaki."
The sun was going down, night was fast approaching. He just now realized how long he was sitting in the room, trying to think things through. Very few people were walking the streets at this hour. The café was also quite deserted. L sat at the table in the corner, farthest from all of the other people in the small coffee shop. He didn't need the constant interruption of other people when he just needed to think. That seemed impossible when a very loud, high-pitched voice heard. 'Misa! Shit. I'm never going to focus with that annoyance.'
Misa and Light had decided to come to this small coffee shop to get a quick cup of coffee, then they would go to their homes. Light turned his head to find a place to sit that is far away from possible Misa fans.
"Damnit. The corner table is occupied." Light didn't pay much attention to who was sitting in that table. Misa did, though.
"Oh my God! It's Ryuzaki!" Misa piped up. Light turned to see the man sitting awkwardly in the corner table. He looked troubled, and he appeared to be in his own world. Before Light could say anything, Misa had run over to the table.
"Hi Ryuzaki!! What's up?" L looked up and stared at her with a look of utter annoyance.
"Oh. Hello." L tried to make it appear as if he was busy, but he didn't bring his laptop, so he was stuck with her.
"Can we sit here?" Misa pointed to Light, who remained in the line, looking very frustrated. L took notice of the look.
"Actually, I was about to leave, so just take the table." He abruptly left, not even saying a 'goodbye' to Misa and not saying a single word to Light. Light saw the distress that L had when he and Misa had walked in. 'Exactly as planned.'
The streets were very dark as L walked all alone back to headquarters. The eerie silence was unnerving to him. He didn't feel alone, and he knew that it was happening again. He turned his head to see a shadow many shades darker than the unlit city streets he was walking on. 'Why is this thing following me? Better yet what is it?' He was still experiencing the nightmares from his last experience with the mysterious shadow. L began to run away from this frightening thing. The shadow moved just as fast as he did.
"Go away! Are you a shinigami?! Answer me!" His screams were useless as the thing overtook him. It sucked bits of his soul out of him. L managed to get back to his feet and continue running. The building was only a block away. 'I hope I make it.' The thing kept feeding off of him until he reached the building. He entered the building and noticed the thing pass the building, continuing on it's path. He was utterly exhausted and resorted to passing out in the hallway.
-- 3 a.m. --
L awoke in the same spot he collapsed in. His nightmares had scared him out of his sleep. He was in a pool of sweat on the cold, firm floor. Tears streamed down his face against his will as he rose to his feet and moved to his room. He sat down on the bed and held on to his shaking legs. 'Why me? What's going on? What does this thing want with me?' His fear flowed through his body causing him to act like a normal person, not like the unemotional person he was. He felt himself fading away, about to cross the line of insanity. He could barely take this feeling. His heart pounded rapidly, feeling as if it would explode from his chest at any moment. 'Was this Kira?' He felt extremely vulnerable. 'Am I going to die?' He couldn't shake this terrified feeling that he had. 'Are you watching my every move? Waiting for me to crack so I can be your prey. I beg of you, please don't hurt me? What did I do to deserve this?' His silent cries did nothing, he was still alone in his room, wondering what the future had in store for him.
--Light's room, same time—
Light knew releasing that creature was a good thing to do. L would be begging Kira to kill him now. L wouldn't even consider Light a suspect anymore, it would be the creature that Light let loose. Maybe L would even consider Kira to be supernatural. He would think that this was one of Kira's more brutal methods of killing people. Kira tried to kill L once, maybe he finally found the real L. 'I bet this is driving Ryuzaki insane. Good. Only I know how to fend this thing off too. I didn't think sending this thing after L would work out so beautifully. Exactly as planned.'