The End of the Line
(A/N: I'm so sorry for disappearing. I thought about abandoning this story, but then I also really wanted to get it all down. I'm definitely finishing it this weekend, and it'll all be up before March. Please review and tell me what you think, because as always, your feedback will be greatly appreciated.)
L stood and sat on the sofa across from Raito, bringing his legs up against his chest. Raito suddenly began to second guess himself. He had checked the detective over for bugs and found none. Ryuuku had disappeared from the room, which did him no good. As the silence dragged on, Raito began to think that there was a good chance that L wanted to be found and taken to the investigation building. Was he too rash to treat him the way he did? If the detective had cameras still, and remained there as silently persistent as he did, it meant that whatever footage the cameras got was not broadcasted. Raito thought how he could turn the situation back so that if reviewed, the hypothetical footage would not be enough to use as evidence against him.
That was, of course, if he allowed L to leave the building alive, a matter that he hadn't completely settled on.
Raito climbed up from his seat and leaned over L. The detective, as unfazed as ever, stared back.
"I can assure you, Raito-kun, that I carry no bugs of any kind. I am not wearing cameras in my eyes."
"Ryuuzaki," Raito began to protest, immediately drawing away. He did not trust L, and did not allow himself to relax.
"Raito-kun, please. If you don't believe me, don't say anything to pretend you don't know what I'm talking about." He silenced Raito's start of protest with a look. "I will tell you how you killed as Kira. I will explain to you why you are him."
Raito stood angrily. "You're insane, Ryuuzaki."
"Sit down."
"I don't know what happened to you or where you disappeared off to, but something caused you to crack."
"Sit down."
Raito stood still. "You've caused the team a lot of anxiety," he said quietly. "Do you know how much—"
L stood. He and Raito both understood the situation between them alone. It had always been about proving to the world that Raito was Kira when they both knew L was right. And now, Raito was playing up possibly—albeit nonexistent—cameras that Ryuuzaki carried.
"There is a second reaper in the world…"
"Who told you to say that? Dammit where have you been, Ryuuzaki? What the hell happened...?"
"…You carry his Death Note."
Raito glared. "That cell phone. Sending a blank message every thirty minutes… Who are you contacting? Whose side are you on now?"
"Bullshit, Raito. I told you I have no cameras, so you might as well stop trying to make me out to be insane."
Raito turned and headed for the work desks. "I'm going to call the team," he declared. "You are insane." L couldn't have all the evidence he needs to convict me, Raito thought, or he wouldn't be here.
L blocked Raito. "You write on scraps of paper and people die."
L wasn't quite sure why he was there, baiting Kira. He had all the evidence he needed… Why did he choose to put justice on hold? Yagami Raito could be on his way to jail if he chose.
"That's enough!" Raito took L roughly the shoulders and shoved him aside.
"I know where you keep the Death Note also."
Raito froze. He couldn't bring himself to contradict the threat.
"You thought you could relax, being in charge of the investigation."
L took a gamble, and turned towards the private quarters as if on his way to uncover the Death Note. The next moment, he was grabbed from behind and thrown against the wall.
"You're still saying things like…"
L threw his fist into Raito's face. He fell back, nursing what felt like a dislocated shoulder.
"You're losing your cool, Raito-kin," L said, smiling, as Raito staggered back upright. "I suppose I should mention that although there are no cameras on me, there are some placed all over this floor, including this room." Raito's eyes grew wide. "Also, my earlier footage, don't forget, has your face looking at mine through the window of a subway train. You shouldn't have acted so surprised at my being alive."
"What…" Raito's mind failed to bring up an escape route that he could take.
"You've been unlike yourself in these past few days that I've watched you. You've always appeared to think too intensely… it hasn't caused you to make mistakes before now. But to go so long without a break… you're going crazy, Raito-kun."
Raito knew it. L knew it—a feeling that rose above the heated pain of his shoulder and the intensity of their moment. It was the end of the line. L new what was past that line, and he knew Raito would very soon come to the same conclusions he had when faced with mortality He knew Raito would realize changes, and be faced with the prospect of revenge. Death makes one think of his self, his personal and lonely stature, and increases his desire for selfish things.
Raito's face changed as he glared at L. Flashes of a gun to his own head his finger on the trigger, exploded in his mind. His hands closed on L's shirt, and he dragged the detective onto the floor where he directed a series of furious attacks to an entirely submissive body.
L lost consciousness before long, and Raito, blood splattered and dazed, stood and moved jerkily to his desk. He pulled open the first drawer and grabbed his gun, bringing it to his head.