Sometimes, when I'm writing, I get the feeling that I'm doing something akin to using a Death Note myself: I hold a certain power over those I'm writing about and, little by little, I seal their fate – no matter how pleasant or unpleasant it is.
Sorry to be a little melodramatic, but that's how it feels. I'd like to know if other writers out there have similar experiences because, contrary to what Light is probably feeling in my fic right now, I think it's nice to have somebody else in the same boat every once in a while.
Enough with me. Let's get on with the story.
DISCLAIMER: Death Note, be it the manga, anime, films, spin-off book (…) or merchandise, is not mine. Not legally, at least.
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Chapter Eight: Lies
Several hours later, after Misa had finished putting on her make up, decided what to wear and – eventually – eaten her breakfast, Light urged her out of the door before she could distract herself with something else.
They began their walk to L's current base.
Misa pouted silently for almost the entire journey. Light was a little taken aback by this, as he had grown used to her constant incessant chatter over the past twelve hours or so. He even began to worry that she had become angry with him.
"Misa… You seem a little… upset. Is it anything I've done?" he asked.
She sighed, and placed her hands firmly on her hips. "… When we see him, Misa is going to give L a piece of her mind! Making poor Light do work and messing up our day…"
Light smiled. Typical old Misa. "It isn't his fault. Something must have just come up. You have to understand that other people don't always do what you want them to."
"I know," she said dejectedly. "But… I just wish they didn't."
Light laughed at this. "Doesn't everybody? I'm sure the world would be a much happier place if everyone did what you wanted them to. It's human nature."
"Uh-huh." A smile crept slowly across Misa's lips, and her arm linked with his. "I'm glad Light understands!"
After a short while longer, they reached the hotel and took the elevator to the fifth floor. As they drew closer to room number 162, the door opened. They were greeted by Watari, and ushered inside. Not far inside, L sat hunched over a laptop in his usual peculiar fashion.
"Light-kun," he said, not raising his eyes from the screen. "I see you have brought Misa-san with you."
"It would be hard for me not to, L," Light replied, raising his arm and jangling the chain of the handcuffs.
"Oh," said L. He didn't sound exactly surprised. "Was this a conscious decision between the two of you, to attach yourself to one another like this? It seems rather an extreme length to go to." His fingers gingerly tapped the keys of his laptop as he paused. Then, he added, "And, Light-kun – please refrain from calling me 'L' again. I believed that I already told you to refer to me as 'Takeshi' for the duration of this case. For safety's sake."
"Fine… Takeshi," Light grimaced a little. He was not fond of calling L by his current pseudonym, yet he wasn't quite sure why. It merely made him a little uncomfortable. "You said you had something to discuss with me."
"That's correct. I did have a few things I wished to discuss with you…" L cast a cold glance in Misa's direction. "I also stated that I preferably wished to discuss these matters alone. I'm afraid that your current… situation… doesn't seem to allow that, though."
"Well, Misa could always take the handcuffs off," Light said, vainly hoping that this might work. "After all, if this is important information, I guess it would be in everyone's best interests…"
Misa opened her mouth to speak.
"I don't think that's entirely necessary, Light-kun. What I wanted to discuss with you was more personal than anything actually pertaining to the case. If you and Misa-san are comfortable with this, I imagine our discussions can go ahead."
Misa nodded. Light sighed.
"First, however, you stated in your message to me that you too had something you wished to talk about with me," said L. "As you sent your message before I sent mine, I think you should go first."
Simultaneously, Light and L cast sideways glances at Misa.
Quickly, Light adopted a suitably shocked expression. "Message? I didn't send you any messages, Takeshi."
L turned away from his laptop to face the pair. His hand withdrew into one of his jeans pockets, and flipped out a mobile phone. "Really? That certainly is strange, Light-kun. If what you're saying is true, then it leaves me no option but to believe that somebody else has been using your mobile phone. That's very irresponsible of you, Light-kun."
"That's not true!" said Misa, finally springing into action in defence of her boyfriend. "Don't be mean to Light! Misa's Light is careful – he had his phone with him all the time. Maybe… maybe it was just somebody else sending you a message."
L scowled at her. "I highly doubt that, Misa-san. Only a select group of people have my mobile number, and…" he clicked a few buttons on his phone, and handed it over to Misa, "… can you confirm that the number from which this message was sent is Light-kun's?"
"… I don't know Light's number: I gave him one of my phones to talk to me on." Despite this, she still inspected the screen intently. "Can Misa borrow this for a minute?" she beamed.
"Certainly," said L, vaguely smiling back. "There is no other information that you can access, so please feel free to copy Light-kun's personal mobile number for your own use. I'm sure, as he is willing to be chained to you, that he has no problem with this. Right, Light-kun?"
Light forced himself to nod. For his plan to work, sacrifices like this had to be made…
"The mystery of who exactly sent this message still stands, however," L mused, "if both Light-kun's and Misa-san's statements are true. I suppose the only possible way for this to have occurred without Light-kun sending me the message himself," his gaze came to rest firmly on Light at this point, "is that someone is using his phone as a relay by which to contact me. Though I can't quite imagine someone putting in so much effort, this does present us with a very serious breach of security…" he reached out an arm, and snatched his phone from Misa's grip. "Light-kun, would you mind if I were to confiscate your phone for a while? I would like to analyse it, as a safety precaution."
Damn that L. "I guess that's okay… But that would mean that no one other than Misa will be able to contact me," Light glanced down at his wrist, "and I'm pretty sure I won't be getting a call from her any time soon. At least not a long-distance one."
"If you were to give me your other phone number, I would be able to divert all calls made from the one I am confiscating to the one which you are holding," L added helpfully. "Would that be okay?"
Light was beginning to see that there was little chance of L being anything other than a hindrance in this situation. Submitting to this and giving L his mobile phone was a pretty big risk, and gave L a perfect chance to moderate what phone calls actually reached him. This put him almost completely in the hands of L and… Misa. However, not submitting to this would be admitting that he had sent the message, which would also put him in a difficult predicament…
He sighed, and plucked his mobile from his pocket. "Fine."
"Thank you for being so cooperative, Light-kun," L swiped it from his hand. "Now, as you said that you were not the one who sent me the message, and therefore didn't actually state that you needed to discuss anything with me… may I say what I was going to tell you?"
"Okay."
"That is, the personal information I would rather have told you alone."
"Yes."
"Thank you," said L. "I would like to warn you about something I noticed about Misa-san."
"Me!?" Misa squeaked. "You can't talk about me! I'm here!"
"Would you rather we talk about you behind your back, Misa-san?"
She opened her mouth, and shut it again. Her arms folded as she gave L a venomous glare. "No… but Light wouldn't talk about me behind my back anyway. Light isn't MEAN like you."
"Then it's settled," said L, apparently ignoring Misa's remark. "Light-kun, there is something you should know about Misa-san."
Light, who had been almost as stunned as Misa had been, composed himself. "And what is that?"
"Well, only a few days ago, she came to me and began asking me all manner of questions – mainly concerning the surveillance and pursuit of individuals. She also seemed very eager to talk about you, but as this is Misa-san, I didn't find this particularly of note." L turned to Misa at this point. "Did I miss anything out?"
"You weren't supposed to tell Light…" she mumbled, a little nervously.
"Oh, I remember," said L, ignoring her once again. "She was also interested in methods of mobile detainment, and so I supplied her with a set of handcuffs… the handcuffs, or so it appears, that you two are wearing… for her to examine. In hindsight, perhaps that was a little ill-advised… As you are both here now, in the manner that you are, the conversation seems to make more sense: obviously, Misa had planned to pursue you and... capture you. I would not have given her anything if I had only known what her plans might have been."
Light glowered. Liar. You, L, are a liar. Even a pre-schooler could work out Misa's plan from that – you're the world's greatest detective, for crying out loud. You knew exactly what her plan was, and you decided it would be fun to help her out. You wanted to see what I would do.
Eventually, he said, "I see."
"I am sorry to see that our meeting has been a waste of time," L said, returning to his laptop. "However, thank you for bringing the matter of your phone to light, Light-kun. You may leave after you have given me your other number. I imagine you and Misa-san have other things you wish to do today, so I won't keep you any longer."
"… Okay, Takeshi," Light murmured expressionlessly, handing his other phone to L and watching as the pale detective deftly transferred the number to the other mobile in his possession. L handed the phone back to him. "We'll be leaving then. We wouldn't want to get in your way either. As ever, don't hesitate to call if you have anything you want me to do concerning the case."
"I won't."
"Good," said Light. "Let's go, Misa."
As the pair reached the door, L called from his chair. "By the way, Light-kun – I noticed your eye seemed a little puffy. Maybe you should see about that."
"Goodbye, Takeshi."
Light and Misa left the hotel.
Light kept his fists firmly clenched.
"… Um… Light?"
"What is it, Misa?" he snapped.
"You aren't… mad at me, are you?" she mumbled. "For planning this, or for chaining myself to you… are you?"
Light stopped. He stared firmly at the ground.
"No, Misa. I'm not mad with you for chaining yourself to me. In fact, I'm not mad with you at all. Quite the reverse," he said, smiling at nothing in particular.
"Really?" Misa said hopefully.
"Yes. I'm very, very happy that you decided you wanted to be with me. I'm happy that we can be together all the time. I'm happy that you had the courage to go through with this." Light felt the inevitable impact as Misa threw her arms around him. "In fact, I'm so happy, I think…"
"What's up, Light?" Misa said, her face buried in his chest. "What are you thinking?"
"I was thinking about how lonely and miserable L seems," Light grinned to himself just out of Misa's point of view. "And I was thinking how he pesters me all the time. I was also thinking how happy I am with someone like you around me."
Misa gasped. "OOOH!! MISA KNOWS WHAT TO DO!!" she squealed.
"Whatever are you thinking, Misa?" Light's smile broadened as she pulled away from him.
"Misa will get L a girlfriend!! Then he won't be so weird and annoy you all the time!!"
This way, Misa will put all her efforts into getting back at L a girlfriend… whilst I can get L back by Misa pairing him up with one of her equally vacuous friends. This also gives me enough time to figure out a foolproof way of getting these handcuffs off… Everything's going as planned…
"That…" he said, "… is a brilliant idea. Now why don't we go and do something a little more fun?"
"Misa knows what we can do! Come with me!"
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Author's Note: I swear, writing this is beyond fun. I am loving this.
This chapter seems to take the story in a new direction. Still Light and Misa chained together, but now there's a bit more of a purpose behind it. I hope everyone likes where this is going…
My only qualm with this chapter is the fact that it seems a little rushed on re-reading. Then again, this is another one of those parts that I had a lot to fit into. Never mind.
Thanks to the readers once again. You're all awesome. I'm still accepting suggestions for what can happen in the story, and anyone is free to review – in fact, I wholeheartedly support anyone with constructive criticism or observations about my fic.
Please, stay tuned.
