Part II
deceit
The sting of fluorescent beaming between the sliver of his eyelids revealed a world of white that clashed heavily with the twilight of morphine. L's temple cringed, his black eyes shunning the demanding light that imposed on a world of darkness. He was not sure where he was, or under what conditions he was there for. Nothing was clear, but he was too sedated for it to matter.
"Ryu kun lives!" Exclaimed a distant voice, who L deciphered immediately as Misa Amane. Among the voices were those belonging to Matsuda, who was told to suppress his chirping by the gruff vocals of Chief Yagami.
"Misa …" Everyone seemed to fall intent when L, straining with hours of reserved vocals, addressed the second Kira through a whisper.
Onyx twins would reveal themselves again, lidded heavily with a rare exhaustion. The gothic lolita was quick to make the space between them absent. Thickly lashed blue gems shining into hazed black.
"Nurse Misa will tend to any and all of Ryuzaki's needs! After all, it would have been me in that filthy bandage on my shoulder and unsightly hospital gown!"
"At least I'm not in this condition in vain," L would whisper, teeth gritting against the burst of Misa's suddenly unwelcome flamboyance. "I suppose."
As for Light? The shackles had yet to be removed due to Aizawa's insistence on the unconscious L's behalf. He had been forced behind a curtain during the process of men in masks prodding for the bullet through the bubbling scarlet fountain of Ryuzaki's exposed wound. All the while, the investigation team dwelled outside with heavy hearts, weighed by a thickly layered cloud of anxiety. A cloud that stretched in a polluted black cirrus smog over Light's head, too.
L was no enemy of his. Then why would he prefer him dead? Why were these violent thoughts propelling in his mind?
"Ryuzaki, ah …" Matsuda had begun the structure of his sentence awkwardly and coy as usual, informing L immediately of the speaker. "After the attacker shot at you, he broke away. However, he was found outside of the alleyway, dead. Apparently, he'd shot himself."
"… Kira?"
"After I relinquish ownership of the death note, I need you to do something for me, Ryuk."
It was murky beneath the current of branches that laced the moonlight - a place unoccupied by civilization. Not even Light himself was completely assured that he would be able to scour his way through the labyrinth of tree limbs. But with both Shinigami present, and with the ability to levitate, Light was at ease to be reliant on them. They were for his use, after all.
"Another favor?" That jester-like grin taunted Kira from above. Both Death Gods loomed like demons, each intent on Light's direction. As though he, himself, was Satan.
"I promise you excitement with this next trick, Ryuk," Kira assured him, mirroring his demented grin. "You're going to be pretty bored while I'm no longer owner. You might want to hear this."
"I'm listening. Out with it, already."
"As for you, Rem," Kira acknowledged the serpentine-like Shinigami with that blazing pair of amber eyes she had grown to both fear and respect. "The sooner you drop your notebook, the better. I'd get a start on it now."
Was this her cue to leave? Something Light wished to discuss in private with his own Shinigami? Suffice it to say, Rem was reluctant but compliant.
"I will help you as much as I can if it means keeping Misa safe. Please remember my conditions." And Rem became star dust in the pitch indigo-black sky.
"You're not going to tell me something too vulgar for a lady's ears, are you? Hyuk."
Light offered up the remaining notebook before it fell to its temporary resting place on the dirt patch, spawning a cloud of earth particles. "Since the notebook will be in your ownership again, I'll need you to write something down for me. But according to the rules, it has to be within 23 days of the specific date and time that I've already written down. You'll find it as the last thing I've written.
"It wont be in effect since this specific death needs to take place four months from now. I need to be sure that both Misa and I are going to be out of incarceration first. The specific date will be exactly 144 days from today, at 11:54 AM.
"After I agreed to let Misa assist me as the second Kira, I told her I would need a schedule of important dates concerning her career. Photo shoots, interviews, etcetera. Anything media oriented that might be useful later on. She's planning to have a photo shoot on that date at one o'clock. She wasn't specific about the location, so I figure the more time we have, the better.
"I wrote a note to myself in my own organizer, prompting me to go to Misa's photo shoot with her. Without my memories, I might disregard joining her at all, but I can't do that. I need to be there to be sure L joins us, too, and he'll more than likely join his top two suspects. As long as he's there, this plan can be put into fruition …"
"Planning on using another way to kill L? Pretty bold, Light." But then again, that's what made it so enjoyable.
"I must be rubbing off on you," smirked Kira, who seemed all too smug about his plan.
"… Don't flatter yourself."
It had been twenty-four hours before even the police themselves were permitted to allow L out of the hospital. Of course, the weakened detective had insisted he return to work at the first given opportunity. After all, he still refused to uncuff Light, despite a persistently non existent consciousness. This also required another detective to remain watchful of the situation. Light would sleep that night in a chair at L's bedside, struggling ungracefully with the troublesome nodding of an unsupported head. L, ironically, had no trouble at all finding sleep.
After their arrival home, Misa set up a place at the couch for L to rest between work. She would often fluff his pillow at her own will, receiving very sincere Misa you don't have to's which she would reply to with an even more vigorous pillow fluff. Then he would sigh and wait until she had finished, unused to the attention and awkward with it. It was then, not the warmth of the pillow that would drown him into sleep, but the warmth of her intent.
And, indeed, Light had noticed the change in her behavior, as well. As a Kira suspect alone(to his knowledge), it provoked only curiosity and relief. Misa would lavish in the surveying glances she would receive from Light when she fed L strawberries, which the very opposite pair had reached an agreement about. Misa insisted he eat them because as a fruit, they were healthy. Ryuzaki was quick to embrace the idea because of their tart, sugary taste.
Could Light be jealous? Or was he, within his subconscious, intimidated?
"Thank you."
The model had finally murmured the words in an airy brush against the bridge of the pain-medication induced detective's temple while sleep crept over him for good that night. Light had fallen asleep on the opposite couch long moments before, shackled arm slightly extended.
"It is the priority of a detective. I vow to save as many lives as it's in my power to save, and if that means risking my own life - …"
"Wah! I thought you were asleep!" Misa overlapped the profound words of the weak detective with a shrill cry, and both looked over as Light struggled between sleep and waking by stretching out onto his backside. But he settled again, assuring both that Misa had not woken him. A tint of pink that painted her cheeks had yet to falter, however. "Tell me next time, you sneak!"
"It comes equipped with the profession," L assured her through a whisper, the rare spark in his eye registered assurance he was teasing.
"Can't you ever talk like a normal person?" A theatrical sigh came from the model, who countered her irritation by securing Ryuzaki's blankets.
Too securely, in fact, for it was the ruffled strands of onyx and raccoon eyes that peered over the blanket's surface, the remainder of his face concealed. She covered my mouth on purpose … "You're welcome, beautiful Misa Amane."
"… What?!"
Zzz.
"Aw, that's not fair!"
"This guy isn't a criminal, but some sacrifices have to be made for the construction of a new world."
"And to save your rear end, hyuk-hyuk."
"Saving my rear end is saving the ideals of Kira," defended Light quietly, who continued with his explanation as though no interruption had taken place. "Taiki Yamoto is a guy who owns the pawn shop I checked out. He has access to guns, so it shouldn't be a problem.
"He's going to trail Misa was the intent of killing her. He will aim a loaded gun at her, and shoot. My type of logic wouldn't send me in front of a bullet for another person. I would attempt to get Misa out of the way. But L would more than likely be the type to protect the innocent, even at the expense of his own life. He's obligated to. Not to mention, as a suspect, L would want to keep Misa alive at all costs.
"It'd be a shame not to give Kira a punishment worthy of his actions, right?"
"So what if L doesn't take the bullet?"
"That's probably pretty obvious, Ryuk," Light belittled through a tone of irritability. "So long as you don't tell Rem you were responsible for the whole ordeal, she's not going to punish me, either. There's a 23-day rule, and I don't have a death note. Besides, Misa's famous, but not too famous. It'd make sense some guy whose seen her modeling in magazines thinks she's attractive, and attacks her after spotting her on the street.
"Anyway, Ryuk," Light had turned, now a silhouette rebelling against the moon. "This plan is fault-proof. L will die, or I will protect Misa. I'll need her for the eyes in case she doesn't. And L … He'll need her to prove he's right."
… tbc.
Thank you all very much for your supportive comments.
