Disclaimer: I do not own Death Note nor any of the characters contained therein.

Summary: By touching the other Death Note, L is able to see Ryuk – and he has a proposal for him. What else will change? Post-Higuchi; slight AU; rated T to be safe. Spoilers through the end of the series.

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Turn of the 8th Day

Chapter 8: Tangent

Repercussions

It seemed like it would be a long ride down. Watari watched them in the elevator. L's face was its usual unreadable mask, and Light looked as suspicious of L as ever, but something seemed different. Though neither of them spoke, Light continually glanced over at L and then away, fidgeting with the shoes in his hand and shifting his weight on his uncustomarily bare feet. L, for his part, was utterly still and seemed more distant than usual. And then there was the small matter of their being sopping wet.

He'd been able to see them via cameras in the uppermost hallway and the wide staircase that led down from the pool to the gym, but there were no bugs there. Watari knew that L was aware of this, but wondered if they should have placed some there after all. Seems a moot point now, sadly, Watari thought, watching the mismatched pair descend. I do hope L is not becoming depressed again. Though he likely knew him better than any other living person, Watari still found the black-haired lad he'd helped to raise to be something of a mystery.

The elevator doors opened onto main HQ, and the two young men stepped free, trailing rainwater behind them. Watari watched as Mogi turned to greet them.

"We just received a – what . . . happened to you?" Mogi looked incredulous.

L opened his mouth to speak, but Light cut him off. "We were on the roof. What's going on?"

Mogi seemed to blink at the lack of an explanation, but before he could respond, Watari spoke over the intercom. "Chief Yagami is on his way up. I'd like to wait for his arrival before explaining. Perhaps Ryuzaki and Light would like to change into dry clothes in the meantime?"

Light craned his neck around, eyes settling on where two neat stacks of clothing had been placed with towels on a couch not far from the Death Note. Light put his free hand on his hip. "Wait – where is Rem?"

"Not here, apparently." L's voice sounded lackadaisical. Watari watched the exchange with interest as L wandered over toward the clothing.

"How can you be so nonchalant about it? If the shinigami's gone missing, that seems like a pretty big deal to me!" Light huffed.

"She can't have gone far." L stated placidly, not looking in Light's direction.

"Yeah, Light, don't worry about it." Mogi spoke up. "Like Rem said when you asked her, she has to stay close to the Death Note."

"Is that what she said. Fascinating." L sounded anything but fascinated.

Watari noticed that Light's free hand was a fist now, his jaw clenching. Abruptly, Light's face slackened into shock. "What are you doing?"

"Hm?" L's wet shirt muffled his voice as he pulled it over his head. "I'm changing my clothes, why?" L seemed mildly confused but unconcerned. "Misa is no longer here, so I needn't worry about offending –"

"It's rude!" Light's tone was sharper than usual. Though they were in different rooms, Watari's and Mogi's eyebrows raised as one.

L looked over his bare shoulder, eye half-lidded. "If you have such delicate sensibilities, then go change elsewhere. I wish to feel more comfortable, but I do not want to delay Watari's explanation further by being absent when your father arrives."

Light's face was flushed and Watari wondered if another fight was in the offing. "Fine." Light spoke through clenched teeth, marching toward L. Throwing his wet shoes at L's feet, Light grabbed the pile of clothing that had been left for him. "I'll be in the bathroom," Light said gruffly, then mumbling as he exited, "like a civilized person."

Mogi turned to face his desk again as L finished changing. Watari thought that L looked calm, even relaxed. The shinigami's departure had not been part of any plan of which he was aware, but it seemed to have had some results in regard to keeping Light off-balance. Watari hoped, not for the first time, that L's risky decision-making did not backfire on him.

After a few minutes of silence, broken only by the shuffling of papers and clothing, the ding of the elevator brought a welcome reprieve. L looked up from where he'd left his wet garments, rubbing his hair with a towel, and nodded at Soichiro as he entered HQ. "Welcome back, Mr. Yagami. I believe Watari has something important to share with us."

"Uh, aren't we going to wait for –"

"Hey! Don't start without me." Light interrupted Mogi, shirt still untucked as he re-entered the room. "Hi Dad," he said in a lower voice.

"Hello Light. Where are your shoes?" Soichiro's brow developed its customary furrow.

"Oh, they got wet so I took them off. Don't ask." Light dropped his wet clothes on the floor next to his shoes.

"We are assembled, Watari. Please begin." L stepped into his usual chair.

"What about –"

"Matsuda is apparently still procuring lunch." L interrupted Soichiro.

"Ah. Alright." Soichiro seemed ready to listen now.

"A short time ago, I received an unusual text message from Aizawa." Watari began. "In addition to it being unusual for him to use the text feature at all, the message itself seems to be coded. I was unable to reach him after receiving his text. I will bring the message up on the central screen so that you may see it for yourselves."

Watari hit 'enter' and the text message he'd saved on his phone appeared onscreen:

ST LUKES HOSP 1038AM

3M-BLK2003S K85-J99

They stared at it for several seconds, until Soichiro said "St. Luke's is the same hospital that Higuchi was in after his accident!" Looking around at the roomful of eyes now on him, Soichiro hastened to explain. "Namikawa told me that Higuchi had been in a bad car accident a number of years ago. Apparently a nurse there made some kind of connection with him – I haven't been able to find out the nurse's name yet, but I was planning to go there and interview her."

"Hm." L seemed to be trying to stare the onscreen message into submission.

"I don't see what that has to do with anything, Dad." Light's tone was disparaging for someone speaking to his own father, in Watari's opinion. "It sounds like it happened before Kira came along."

"That may be true, Light – this might have no bearing on the case, or it might be the thing to break it. We can't afford to miss any detail, not when it could solve the case for good."

"Indeed. Well said, Mr. Yagami." L's eyes were still glued to the screen. "I'm not sure that this is truly code, though, Watari, at least not in the conventional sense."

"Oh?" Watari smiled to himself. "What is your interpretation, Ryuzaki?"

"Hm, well, the first part is just a reference to one of the hospitals Aizawa was scheduled to visit with . . ." L pressed a finger to his temple as though it might finish the sentence for him.

"Ide." Mogi and Soichiro spoke in unison.

"Yes. Ide. And perhaps the time reference is to when they arrived there, or when they departed. The other numbers . . ."

"Maybe a building code? Followed by a car's license plate." Light seemed focused on the screen as well.

"Mmm, possibly. Although the first alphanumeric code might actually be a way of referring to the vehicle as well – as in three men, in a black 2003 model sedan . . . followed by the license plate number." L's head tilted slightly and he began typing rapidly.

"Did he activate his belt?"

"No, he did not, Chief Yagami." Watari answered.

"I believe we should proceed as if they are in danger, even if they are not. Can you determine a location, Watari?" L placed both hands on his knees.

"I can tell you the location of the belt, but not whether Aizawa is still in it."

"It's a start. Please bring up the map on my screen." L leaned forward, waiting as Watari worked. A moment later, a close-in map of Japan appeared on L's monitor with one red dot on it. "Is that . . . in a warehouse district?"

"Yes – I know where that is." Soichiro nearly growled.

"Excellent – can you and Mogi get there quickly?" L asked.

"Of course. Let's go, Mogi."

"Hmm – the license plate number is not listed . . ." L said, flipping back to the search he'd started. "This could mean it's a fake."

"Or it's not a license plate number . . ." Light mumbled almost to himself.

"Take all precautions when you approach this location, both of you." L seemed to ignore Light completely.

Mogi clasped his stomach as he rose to join Soichiro by the elevator, and Watari remembered that Matsuda had not yet returned with lunch. "Help yourself to anything in the kitchen before you go, gentlemen." Watari said.

"There's no time – Aizawa and Ide could be in real trouble!" Soichiro said brusquely, heedless of Mogi's distress as he pressed the button to head down.

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Excursion's End

"Ugh, I can't believe it's still raining. Why won't it stop?"

"Well, it has to stop sometime, Misa-Misa." Matsuda was trying to be the gentleman, holding both the umbrella and the large bag of sandwiches, but he was having trouble keeping pace with Misa. How she could walk so fast in those platform shoes he had no idea.

"I'm sure the next store will have umbrellas, Matsu." Misa twinkled up at him. "I'm so glad you stayed to have lunch with me – you're so sweet!"

"Um, no problem Misa-Misa – it was my pleasure, ha ha!" Matsuda had managed to eat without choking despite some of the things Misa had said to him and the number of times her fans had interrupted them, but he was still working on controlling his blushing. He tried not to dwell on the fact that he'd taken much more time to pick up lunch for the team than he'd planned, and he hoped that everyone back at HQ wasn't mad at him.

A bus zoomed by them as they approached the corner and splashed them both, thoroughly soaking Matsuda's pants since he was closer to the street.

"Hey! You stupid bus driver! Watch where you're going!" Misa yelled indignantly.

Matsuda was glad he'd been holding the bag of sandwiches high, and that it was plastic. It'd be just my luck if I had to go back and buy more, he thought. "Are you OK, Misa?"

"He got Misa's shoes wet, but you really got splashed." Misa bent down and moved closer to him, hand raised as though she was about to try and brush Matsuda's pants off, and he nearly fell down. "Oh, it's hopeless. C'mon Matsu, let's just get inside." Misa dragged Matsuda by the arm into the shop they'd been headed toward.

Bright lights assaulted Matsuda's eyes, and he bent to close the umbrella before looking around. "Wha— Misa, I don't think they have umbrellas in here . . ." Girlish clothing surrounded him, much of it in gaudy colors. "I'll just head back without this," Matsuda said, handing Misa the umbrella, "I'm already wet now anyway."

"No way! Misa wouldn't do that to you, Matsu. And hey, the umbrellas are right over here!" Misa slipped between clothing racks to a spot near a display case and held up a bubblegum pink one with yellow and blue smilie face flowers.

"Um . . ." Matsuda looked like he was tasting something sour. "Tell you what, Misa, I'll buy you that one, and I'll just hold onto this one."

"Aww – you would look so cute with this one!" Misa pouted, ignoring Ryuk, who was cackling above her near the ceiling. "It's OK, Matsu, Misa has money – I'll buy one here, and you can go back with Mogi's. I bet everyone's pretty hungry by now, and I don't want my sweet Light to miss lunch!"

Matsuda blinked. "Are . . . are you sure, Misa?"

"Of course I am! Misa could shop all day in here . . ." Misa trailed off, looking toward a rack of lacy underthings.

"OK then – take care, Misa-Misa! It was good to see you again." Matsuda waved and turned toward the shop door.

"You too, Matsu!" Misa ran back to Matsuda, impulsively kissing him on the cheek. "Say hi to everyone for Misa!" She twirled and flounced away, pretending not to notice Matsuda's bright red cheeks. Maybe he'll tell Light I kissed him and Light'll get jealous, Misa thought, or at least maybe he'll miss me more. Misa began rifling through filmy clothing, cooing over the things she liked and ignoring the sighs and grumbling coming from the ceiling.

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Impact

Stay still, just stay still. Blood trickled down the side of Ide's face as he lay on the concrete trying not to move but needing to listen. He hoped his text had gotten through to the Task Force. He'd taken a chance that the last call Aizawa had made on his phone had been to them. After the crash, Aizawa's cell had landed on Ide's side of the car, and he'd snatched it up on impulse. The men holding Aizawa at gunpoint were too far away for him to hear clearly, but he was determined to keep trying.

"And you expect me to just believe you?" Aizawa's voice was just loud enough for Ide to hear, even though he was faced away from him. Ide wondered if Aizawa was speaking loudly on purpose, just in case he was conscious and listening. If only the phone had held enough of a charge for him to make a call. Ide tried not to shift his prone form. The one text I sent is just gonna have to do, he thought.

There were three of them. Aizawa had noticed first that they were being followed, and he'd done his best to lose them, driving all over Tokyo – not fun, even on non-rainy days – and ended up in one of the warehouse districts. Aizawa had decided that if he couldn't lose their pursuers, he'd force a confrontation. Things had not gone exactly as planned when they'd found their way blocked by a parked truck and the car following them had plowed into theirs, pinning their car. Luckily, the airbags had worked. Unluckily, the three men had been able to draw their guns before Aizawa and Ide could extricate themselves.

Getting hit on the head had sucked, but Ide was glad that being knocked to the floor had allowed him to get a message out – at least they seemed to think he'd been knocked out, so they'd paid less attention to him. He just wasn't sure how he could help now. Are these guys connected to Kira somehow? Ide wondered. The three men appeared to be well-trained, and they'd honed in on them from the time they'd left St. Luke's, at least according to Aizawa's estimation. Kira-related or not, Ide felt the timing of this was a little too good to be true. Too bad to be true, more like, he thought.

"If you want our cooperation, you're going to have to do better than that." Aizawa's hands were still in the air, which Ide could see by peering back and up under his arm. Ide could not see the tall man to whom Aizawa was speaking from his angle, but he could see the two men flanking him. One was apparently Japanese, but the other seemed European. He knew that the tall man was blonde, but he hadn't gotten a good look at his face.

"Well, what do you think we're trying to do?" Aizawa was starting to sound desperate. Ide suspected that he was trying to buy them time so that they might be found by someone, but that he might be losing the struggle to stall. Ide strained harder, focusing, trying to hear the tall man.

"Yeah, of course I did! But that doesn't mean I'm working with – hey!" Aizawa exclaimed as he was cut short by the tall man pushing past him. Ide had just enough time to realize he'd been noticed, but not enough time to react before he found himself lifted by the collar.

"Nice of you to join us. Now tell me everything you just heard." The tall blond man pierced Ide with an icy glare from his blue eyes. Ide could no longer see Aizawa – this man took up most of his field of vision - and found himself wishing he was still talking to the pretty blonde nurse instead.

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Passing

Matsuda felt like he'd stepped in every single puddle on his way back to HQ, but he told himself it didn't matter since he was already wet from the waist down. I can change once I get there, he thought, sprinting to cross another street before the light turned. Maybe this whole 'getting lunch for ourselves' thing was a bad idea . . . but then again, is it any better to just expect Watari to do everything? Matsuda decided that the inconvenience was worth it, since Watari must have important things to do too.

Racing up the steps to the entrance, Matsuda got to the door, and waved, lowering his umbrella, until he heard the click. He entered the lobby and nearly fell down in his rush, the slick marble shining up at him. Steadying himself, he closed the umbrella and moved over to the panel where he pressed his palm and then presented his eye to the scanning device. He then pressed the elevator button.

"Oh man!" Matsuda slapped his forehead, realizing that he'd pressed the down button by mistake, so he pressed the up button, hoping his error wouldn't slow things any further. He shook water from his legs as he waited.

A chime rang out as the elevator reached his level – heading down. Matsuda sighed as the doors opened, only to find himself facing "Chief! Mogi!" They seemed as surprised to see him as he was to see them. "Where are you going?"

"Aizawa and Ide are in trouble, Matsuda – we're on our way to help them." Soichiro said.

"Oh no! Good thing I got back in time, then." Matsuda stepped into the elevator with them. "We can eat on the way." Matsuda reached into the sandwich bag as the doors enclosed them and handed Mogi one of the bigger paper-wrapped sandwiches. Mogi seemed to hold it as though it was a holy artifact.

"Thank you." Mogi whispered.

"Here Chief, I got extras in case you guys got back." Matsuda handed Soichiro a sandwich as well, not noticing the man's dubious expression.

"Matsuda . . . I think you should stay here."

"What? But if Aizawa's in trouble, I want to help!" Matsuda felt hurt by Soichiro's suggestion. "I'm better in the field anyway, you know that. I'm sure Ryuzaki –"

"Matsuda! Please – Ryuzaki asked Mogi to go with me. He may need you for something else. Depending on what we find when we get there, he may need to send you to a different location. The only thing we know for sure right now is where Aizawa's belt is. We have to take this one step at a time." Soichiro explained.

Matsuda tried to keep his disappointment hidden but knew it must still be obvious when both of the other men had trouble meeting his eye. "I guess. Sorry Chief."

The elevator doors opened on the parking level, and Soichiro and Mogi hurried out. Mogi was already 1/3 of the way through his steak sub.

"We'll be in touch as soon as we know anything!" Soichiro called behind him

"Mph rmph." Mogi made a futile attempt to speak with his mouth full, and then settled for a wave.

Matsuda waved back as the elevator doors closed. After a moment, he remembered to press the floor button for HQ. "Ryuzaki won't need me for anything. Nobody needs me for anything," he mumbled. Watching water drip from his cuffs, Matsuda tried to shake off the gloom – he knew that feeling sorry for himself wasn't going to help Aizawa, or Ide, or anyone for that matter. Plus, I've got the sandwiches, so at least they'll need me for that, Matsuda thought.

The doors opened again on the empty lobby, grey curtains of rain still visible outside, and though he knew the elevator had stopped because he had pressed both buttons, Matsuda suddenly felt as if he was riding upward with a ghost, and he shivered, finally aware that he was cold.

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Author's Note: Aww, poor Matsu. And yes, I'm getting tired of the rain too, now. *hands everyone a towel* I changed the summary slightly, so hopefully that makes more sense.

You know, I always assumed Death Note was set in Tokyo – I could have sworn that it said so in the manga, but maybe it was only implied. They named real regions and provinces, I know that much. Regardless, for the purposes of my fanfic, they ARE in Tokyo – an alternate Tokyo that includes some things that exist in the real Tokyo and some things that don't (To-Oh University? Totally in Tokyo), just to be clear. ;-)