Xiana: Thanks for all the reviews! This is story number 7, Tears. I think it's pretty good… It might seem out of character, well, a bit for Raito I guess, but you have to understand that a non-Kira Raito is more easily angered and he's been putting up with a lot from L for a looooooooooong time. There you have it.
To DeathNote Fan (an anonymous reviewer): Thank you for the many reviews! It's good to know that someone out there reads more than one chapter! (Technically, I suppose it's fine if you random eavesdropping on a private conversation people read only one at a time.) You are sooooo right about the 4th chapter, because it was definitely OOC. I liked your metaphor for that… XD Anyway, yeah, I was wondering if people were going to think that 5 was a crazy AU thing! XD And now I'm updating like you told me to. Thanks again!
7. Tears
There was only so much that a person could take, and L felt certain that Raito was nearing a breaking point. Soon he would confess to being Kira, and the case could finally be resolved, as it should have been so long ago. If L had been left to his own methods –methods which worked, he might add– Raito would have been caught and jailed long ago. Actually, the frustration of not being able to do anything to Raito had led L to come up with some new forms of tor- … interrogation. His favorite was one he had codenamed "Death by Chocolate Cream Cake," in which the subject was fed nothing but chocolate cream cake until he revealed all his secrets. He liked it because he thought that if anyone in the world had a chance of surviving it, it would be him. (Or Mello, but Mello wasn't here right now, was he?) Also, Raito had almost zero tolerance for sweets, and so would succumb almost instantaneously. The thought of Raito, chained to the dungeon wall and allowed nothing but cake almost made Ryuuzaki want to laugh evilly. No, more than evilly. Diabolically. But he didn't think that he could pull it off. It was a good thing that Raito was the villain in this story, because Ryuuzaki didn't think that he had the necessary qualities to be a good bad guy.
Oh, did he say the dungeon wall? He meant a dungeon wall, of course. It wasn't like his building had a hidden dungeon, conveniently located directly beneath his and Raito's room and connected by a secret silent elevator. That was simply absurd.
Ryuuzaki coughed. Yes, Raito-kun was showing signs of pressure, and it wouldn't be long before he broke down. He stole a glimpse at the industrious boy sitting beside him. His clothes were slightly wrinkled, as he never would have allowed them to be pre-investigation. A few strands of hair were out of place, and he appeared to have dark circles, vaguely reminiscent of Ryuuzaki's, under his eyes. It wouldn't be long now.
The only problem, of course, was that for now, Raito was completely innocent. Ryuuzaki was convinced that he had been Kira, but had lost his memory somehow, and no longer knew that he was Kira. This knowledge had not been enough to stop L from constantly needling him, accusing him of being Kira in the hopes that he might regain his memory or at the very least come up with some memory that they could not use in the current case. But Raito had not slipped up or revealed anything of use. His memories were well and truly gone.
L had come to this conclusion a few nights ago, with up to 99.9 percent accuracy. Still, he could not stop himself from baiting and taunting Raito all the time. The remaining .1 percent was the cause of it. It was the cause of all Raito's problems. Hopefully Raito wouldn't hit him too hard, when he finally snapped. Maybe he would just start pummeling his back, which would be a nice massage. Raito was a naturally gifted masseuse, though his talents only really showed when he was severely angered. L wondered how Raito would react if he told him that.
"You know, Raito-kun, when you get mad and hit me, it usually feels good. I'm not masochistic or anything, I just think that you have a very soothing rhythm and it relieves my stress. Thank you."
"Shut up, shut up, SHUT UP! I hate you, Ryuuzaki! Why do you always act like this? You're always making fun of me with those stupid blank eyes and your seemingly innocent comments! Well, I'm not Kira! I'M NOT KIRA, DAMMIT!"
Oh. So that was the straw that had broken the camel's back, to use the cliché. "I didn't accuse you of being Kira. I was just-"
"-trying to prove I was!"
"-trying to compliment you. I was-" Whatever L was going to say next was eternally postponed by a solid punch to the nose, followed by a jab to the ribs. Abandoning his "once-is-once" policy, L simply sat there, letting Raito hit him again and again and again. Eventually, Matsuda ran in and dragged Raito off.
"Yagami-kun! Control yourself!" Matsuda admonished. L took advantage of the lull in the assault to lick a bruised cheek. It tasted raw, like blood.
"C-control myself? You think it's that easy? Let's see you attached to L day and night, constantly suspected of being Kira and asked questions that prove, no matter how you answer them, that you are Kira, and we'll see how long it takes before you snap! I'm doing all I can to help the investigation, but no matter what I do, even if I brought you every single Kira ever to walk the face of the earth, you will never, never stop suspecting me!"
L gestured to Matsuda. "You can leave. I have everything under control." Matsuda hesitated, but eventually walked away. "Now, Raito, I don't actually think that you are Kira right now. If you never become Kira again, then you will be fine, because I have no proof that you are or were Kira, only a set of suspicious circumstances seemingly directed at you. However, if you do become Kira again, I will hunt you down, and I will punish you for your wrongdoings, because justice will always prevail. I believe that you were Kira once, and I believe that you have the potential to become Kira again. But you don't believe this, and thus we are at an impasse. If you consider it from my perspective, I'm sure that you will understand my actions. However, I must also consider your point of view, from which my actions seem cruel and manipulative, unethical to your innocent state of being."
Raito nodded with his head to the floor. In a subdued voice, he said, "Yes, I understand your reasoning, Ryuuzaki. I apologize for acting the way I did."
"Yes. I apologize as well, Raito-kun. Are you feeling all right?"
"I-I'm completely fine." Telltale drops of liquid landed on the floor with a soft splash.
"Raito-kun, you're crying, I do believe."
"Yes. Yes I am. I would like to tell you that it is because I am angry at you, but we would both know that that would be a lie." It was surprising how Raito never allowed himself to speak anything less than the truth in his conversations with L. It showed just how much he actually respected the other man. "I feel that it comes down more to disappointment, both in myself and in you."
"I don't usually say things like this, Raito-kun, but if you really want to hit me some more, I wouldn't mind," L offered. Raito smiled.
"No thanks, I have had enough of that. Should we get back to work?" The question hung in the air, but neither made a move, both trying to analyze the other's feelings or motives, or perhaps just enjoying a moment of friendship, though that seemed unlikely.
Eventually L spoke again. "To think that a simple comment would be able to drive you to tears…"
"You know damn well that it was not one comment. It was a succession of comments, each more innocently provocative than the last. I am sure that you would never presume that I am weak." Raito stared at L belligerently.
"I see." L looked back with his usual emotionless stare and thought for a moment. "I suppose that, in that case, I'm just good at making you angry."
"…I suppose that's fair enough. Surely, someone has to be."
"Well, I'm glad it's me, then." He began pondering again. "But, you know, I don't think that I would mind comforting you instead. A shoulder to cry on and what not? It might be poetic almost. 'The aggressor, seeing that he has overstepped his boundaries, takes his victim into his arms, finding forgiveness from his uncouth actions in the way that he is so blindly, so helplessly clung to, and so he brushes away a fallen tear from that face, and swears an unfaithful troth never again to cause harm.'"
"That didn't seem terribly poetic, Ryuuzaki."
"I don't suppose that you liked Shakespeare much in school, did you?"
"I can't see how that applies, but no. I preferred novels to poetry, and I always have. Why, though?"
"Because I feel that someone who cannot appreciate poetry like mine would also be unable to appreciate the work of a similar master of the art."
"That was no sonnet, only prose. It had no meter and didn't include any of the poetic devices Shakespeare was so famous for. There is no comparison."
"You presume to say that his was the only true form of poetry?"
"Presumptuous? This from the one comparing himself to the greatest poet and playwright of all time?"
"Well, you seem to have cheered up, at least. I suppose that means that we really should get back to work now." L turned and began to walk back to the computers. Raito began to follow him, but L stopped suddenly and turned back to him thoughtfully before kicking him in the face. Raito fell to the floor.
"What was that for?"
"Well, once is once, you know."
Xiana: Well, that's the 7th one. It might be a while before I put the next one up, because I need to edit it. Yeah, don't forget to review, and… yeah.
Next: Skyscraper
