Hey guys! Sorry for the long update. I had to re-watch Death Note to get me into the groove of writing this fanfic again. Anyway, I'm picking a scene from episode 24 and changing it around slightly. Hope you like, and don't be afraid to let me know what you think!
The sky was muggy and buzzing with endless raining bullets, not the best kind of weather to enjoy the day off. With nothing to entertain his thoughts at home, Light decided to visit headquarters, curiosity getting the better of him as always. He had to see how things are progressing and more importantly, what L had been up to. With a quick snatch of a cab, he'd made it to the task force within fifteen minutes. His shoes sputter into puddles and before making it to the entrance of his second home.
Ahh—there.
Finally.
Light makes shelter under its rigid awnings, the glass sliding doors sense his footsteps and glide open for the slightly soaked visitor. He composes himself entirely as the shining student that everyone knows and sees.
The building is ghastly quiet. It'd always been too quiet here, as it'd only ever been occupied by a select few. That is—until Misa visited. The floor panels resound with each step like an echo. His copper eyes pierce through the glass from above. The sky remains a stagnant ocean of grey, he could almost feel the chill from inside these walls.
Ryuzaki needed to get the thermostat fixed, honestly. What a cheapskate.
He could feel his memory slipping.
Misa.
Where are you?
"Light—" Chief Yagami bounces his head up from a glaring computer screen to the sight of his son. "Always the hard worker. Go home and let your mother and sister know you're alive," he says with a chastising voice, but the way he smiled made him proud to be his father.
"Really?" Light unfurls his beige pea-coat and lays it to rest on his chair and he gives his dad a quick reprimanding glare, "baking cakes and watching dramas?"
"Alright. You get a pass from me—if Ryuzaki says it's alright." His father sips from the plastic sip-hole of his sizzling coffee. "Can you at least let your mother know I'm alive too? Maybe ask her to make rice dumplings and I'll come on by to—"
"Got it." Light casually rears the requests to the back of his head, hoping the messy matte of black hair would greet his sights soon.
Matsuda's piercing voice interrupts Light in his plight for rest, which is then followed by a loud smack on the shoulder and an arm-coil around poor Light's neck, bringing their heads unbearably close. "Light wants to spend more time with L. Isn't that right Light?"
"Oh, this again? You're being ridiculous." Light rears his neck out of the chokehold with a low hiss at the back of his throat, "don't be a ridiculous person, Matsuda."
"Ah Light come on—" He snickers and his face contorts into something shrewd, of something who'd thought of a joke too clever for the genius himself. "Lighten up light."
"How did you know? I'm a sucker for tasteless puns."
Matsuda thought he was best-friend material because of their 'slight age gap.' Matsuda smiles and scratches his shaggy black mane.
Think again.
For a way to get the pest to mind his own business, Light scours his mind. "Matsuda, would you mind grabbing me tea? A cublet of sugar please? I can feel the caffeine withdrawal symptoms already." With the fakest smile plastered on his face, the chest-nut haired investigator bares it.
"You got it. Chief you want anything?"
"I'm handled already. Thank you, Matsuda." The chief absentmindedly responds with his eyes glued to the screen. The brightness from the computer screen shines in his lenses like a strobe of light.
As Matsuda finally makes his way out, Light settles in a swivel chair next to his father with a drawn-out exhale.
"Looks like it's going to be another long day." Aizawa reiterates with a sigh, caressing his temple. Light had almost forgot he was here. He appears to be reading a newspaper with a fervent grip and brows heavily furrowed.
"Oh—I thought you were on vacation, Aizawa." Light manages an innocent voice.
"It wasn't a vacation but—whatever." His hands crinkle into the newspaper much more noticeably. Something made Light think that he hated him more than he hated Ryuzaki.
You don't realize how unimportant you are, do you?
Aizawa?
Light let's the back of his head hang past the swivel's backrest and closes his eyes. He remembers vaguely what existed in the afterlife. A Shinigami once mentioned something about heaven and hell, or lack thereof? Was there a purgatory or a state of existence between the two? An alternate existence?
He hadn't been such a spiritualist before but the thought of the God itself compelled him wildly.
The thing is…he couldn't remember the Shinigami's name.
Or why the idea of God was so appealing.
"Hey your girlfriend's here, Light." He could hear the deep rumble of Aizawa's voice, followed by a crinkling thump of a newspaper against a countertop.
Looking for a blonde woman in one of the many splays of surveillance footages, Light finds her standing at the entrance with an umbrella overhead. Maintaining a composure similar to his behavior a few weeks ago, he flusters, "hey! She's not my girlfriend."
"Right. You know better than to keep a woman waiting."
He nods, and makes way for his would-be savior. If he could call her that.
Light thanks Misa for the excuse to leave Aizawa, even for a few minutes. Light reaches the front entrance with full intent on having his memories revitalized. He deserved it. If Misa arrived any later than she had, he was sure he'd become a man with a naïve heart and naïve mind once again.
...
Coincidentally, as Light leaves, L enters.
Surely it would have gone dark?
Not exactly.
His hands are tucked in pockets and he looks for the missing grade-A student who always seemed to be in his sights.
"Where's Yagami?" L murmurs with a nonchalant gaze around the headquarters.
"Here and also not here," Aizawa mentions as he rummaged through police record files.
The chief scoffs at this joke, he had enough of them for one day. "He's meeting with Miss Amane outside. Is there something wrong Ryuzaki?"
"Nothing really." The hunched detective assumes his position on an open couch, with a soft served cone on hand. Watari always knew how to satisfy his sweet tooth even in simple flavors like vanilla, he'd have to thank him later. "It appears he has a date with our shining star."
The screen showed the two chatting about and that's all it was. A motion-picture. He couldn't hear them. But something in him is stirring—something unsettling. He wishes he could hear their conversation and went as far as to wishing that Light's coat was tapped. Or Misa at least.
"Mister Yagami, I don't want to be a nuisance to you—but can I ask you something?"
"Sure, anything." He abruptly stands and tenses up, Ryuzaki being this particularly direct could mean he could be asked to do something out of the ordinary. He's ready for it. But if it meant doing something behind his sons back, well he wasn't so sure then.
There is a silent, scrutinizing pause that L does.
"What is it Ryuzaki?" The chief feels his heart being strung tightly as he stares at him from aside. He seems to be inspecting his son down through the surveillance, without a notion of blinking or breaking attention.
"Why do you think these two only meet at certain times of the day? Light spends his free time helping me. Surely he could be doing other things with the love of his life?"
"Miss Amane has a busy schedule, it's really not my place to judge how they do things."
"Do they ever interact outside of this building?"
Then something hit the chief.
Not this again.
"I'm not going to tail my son, if that's what you're asking!" He clenches his fist, something in his voice cracks, "the thought of investigating my own son again!"
"I'm not asking you to do anything to your son. Mister Yagami, I'm asking you to tell me if they ever see each other outside of these premises." His voice is composed and consoling, compared to the chief.
The exchange between L and Chief Yagami seems to have caught Aizawa's attention. "I could help, Ryuzaki. I'm always up to the job."
"Thank you, Aizawa." L sighs and licks at his soft serve. Some of it had already dripped onto this fingers and the couch.
"Forgive me for this Ryuzaki, but why are you reaching so far to convict my own son?" The chief bids desperately, after a few more moments of silence.
"I suppose it's because I have nothing else." The endless abyss of black in his eyes are resolute and licks at the vanilla again before continuing, "do you know of something called intuition, Mister Yagami?"
"Of course."
"Well this intuition tells me I'm seeing something else. Do you know how misleading images can be?"
"How is misleading if it's staring you in the face?"
"That is when you must look deeper, Mister Yagami. There is something deeper going on between these two—"
"Ryuzaki, can we please end this? It's just a date."
"Yes. You're right." Ruzaki gives an approving nod to both Aizawa and the chief, "thank you for giving me your time. Go on with your usual tasks."
The taut feeling in Chief Yagami's chest does not lighten, it remains there for quite a while. After all, in Ryuzaki's eyes, not only Misa but Light is a suspect to consider even if they'd been proved innocent. He and Aizawa return to their computer screens.
As L continues his surveillance, his eyes widen because for a second there, he was sure he'd seen something.
They embrace. L watches Light closely. Almost. From this angle, it almost looks like he's whispering something in her ear, like it even mattered.
Death…note?
He mouths it experimentally.
The surveillance flickers slightly and a raw layer of static waves over it, then resumes its footage of the couple. The sheen from the footage glazes over his dark eyes. Tired and needing sleep, nevertheless, they are always watching and searching for answers.
"Light…I know you're hiding something." L whispers into the crevice of his thumbnail, biting on it slightly.
