I had a busy month. I apologize for the delay. And hopefully this isn't too bad. My real plot will start in a couple chapters and then the storyline will finally pick up.
I'm almost going to do outakes for the past chapters, simply because this story is too serious! So the next one will be that, and you can skip over it if you want.
I'll most likely have another actual chapter up in a week or two. Sorry.
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Through Your Eyes, I See Your Soul - Chapter 2
There was a difference between being sure of something and proving it was fact.
Unfortunately for L, many things in this case toed that line.
It had already been verified that the killer was in Shinjuku, the limitations of needing knowledge of the victim's name and face, and that there was somehow a leak in the ICP. The investigation team was small, only five, and L had studied the familial ties and links the members had, looking for someone with the correct profile - if not to carry out the killings, but to believe in it enough to have a hand in it.
And one did stand out, to L.
A brilliant law-school bound student, dutiful and upright, friendly and courteous. To L, this brilliant son of the chief investigator was his main suspect. When questioned, L would explain how the student fit the profile: young enough to be childish, intelligent enough to be clever about it. And as the newest data suggested, the killer was still a student. But that wasn't really why L had profiled him.
Crouched in his computer chair, he clicked a link on the student's file. Why he profiled the student had to do with L's instinct, and he was confident enough from past experience to put faith in that. The student's school picture loaded, and L bit his thumb distractedly. His instinct and the name that came to mind whenever he looked at a picture of the student, as if remembering an old friend. L's eyes widened to take in all the details of the student's face before letting his lips curl upwards.
"Hello. Kira."
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L was definitely not seeing shadows. Not when he was on his computer, not when he was eating sweets, not when he was reviewing data. He had stopped sleeping altogether now, upping his sugar intake to compensate for both his high intellect and lack of sleep.
He couldn't apply it to logic anymore - they were no longer shadows from lamps or dressers that shifted to something else. They seeped up from the floor now, sprouting their tentacle-like antennae, and crept along with their sporadic movements; searching for something they never seemed to find.
Against all reason, L couldn't help but wonder what these delusions were searching for.
For, of course, that's all they were. There was nothing else in this strewn reality that could account for what he saw, now more and more, every day. He obviously was unbalanced; from a third party stand-point it made perfect sense with his background and occupation. He was human, and bound to human limitations. Bound to fracture, at a point.
Because those definitely could not, in any way, be real.
L wondered how many times he would tell himself this, as a living shadow walked past him. He set his teacup down slowly. Time to change hotels again.
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The cameras were both a simple solution to a complicated problem and a stroke of genius from his fractured mind. He had begun to think the leak was a horrendous problem, and if only he could send some of those shadows to the investigation team's places of residences, to search and watch and investigate for him.
The cameras and microphones were the next best thing.
He called in a couple of favors for professionals to set them up without anyone the wiser. They reported back with schedules and habits, and he retired to his private, and so far "un-shadowed" rooms, the remote to a line of TVs in hand.
L's sense of time vanished within that dark room, eyes widened so his large pupils could take in every detail that went on.
Most interesting, he thought, was while all others were completely uncensored in what they did behind closed doors, Light - for this auburn-haired student's name was indeed Light, as contrary as that was, being he was the supposed scion of darkness and blood... L digressed. It was interesting because the others would do precisely what one would do privately. And Light would do completely nothing. He would go to school, study, eat, sometimes watch the news, and sleep. Clockwork. Robotic. Perfect. And what L saw was someone being very, very careful.
More uncounted time. All the TVs now held different angles of Light's room. One saw his focused eyes, another his determined face, another his steady hands as they flowed across the paper, another his head bent over his law book, still another was watching his bed. L found this one particularly interesting lately, since Light had taken to lying flat on his back and staring up, directly at the hidden camera with his intense gaze.
The first time Light's reddish brown eyes stared straight at L's acting eye, L had to admit he was startled. But no one was there to bear witness to the great detective's small show of emotion. He had gasped, pale lips parting slightly, dark eyes widening before relaxing to half-mast. It was if the Angel of Death had stared into his soul. A handsome prince with the eyes of a devil looked at him, without seeing him, with a ghost of a smirk on his perfect face. It was… unsettling.
Now L waited for those moments. They made him laugh. Well. They made him amused. There was no explanation at all for it, but it was obvious the boy knew that at least one camera was there. And yet he did nothing about it. He just waited patiently.
L's mouth twitched upwards. This boy was so interesting. Even though in a game of patience, L would be crowned the victor. But he didn't have time to play.
In the countless days he had stayed closed off from the investigation team, his suspect had done nothing to incriminate himself. At least in his own home. Very well then.
He made a call to order all the cameras removed, and then switched lines to have false transcripts made up. If the interesting boy didn't do anything at home, perhaps his school would be a better hunting ground.
So immersed in his tasks L didn't notice the newest shadow jerking around behind his chair. It stared at the consoles. The images resembled its master but didn't feel like the master. Seeing nothing else, it went to shuffle through the wall.
L's hand reached for the remote and clicked the television off just in time for the reflection of the shadow's glowing eyes to catch in the dark screen. He stared, seemingly indifferent, then slowly picked up the phone and dialed a third time for new hotel accommodations.