A/N: Cleaned this one up a bunch, so I'm a lot happier with it.
Long ass chapter title is long.
- DW
Chapter Ten - Schemes, Gods of Death and Coffee
Death,
She embraces us in her cold grip,
When we take our final breath.
Death,
He holds our hand,
When we say goodbye to those we love.
Death,
She gives the gift of peace,
When we can no longer stand the pain.
Death,
He greets us peacefully,
As a friend.
Death holds many forms,
And fills many roles.
It's up to us to interpret Death.
Ten days later …
Last little while has been busy. In the past few days, in my opinion, we have covered a lot of ground. We watched over the Kitamura and Yagami houses, and found absolutely nothing suspicious.
'I have concluded that the surveillance footage gathered reveals … nothing,' L had said.
He suspects that Light Yagami, son of Mr. Yagami, is Kira. I did not participate in the surveillance of that house to come to any real conclusions, much to my disappointment. If I had been able to see a live taping of Light, I could find out if he was an owner of a Death Note.
I was so close!
And yet, there is still that little issue of evidence. Without evidence, Kira cannot be convicted. From what L has described to me in one of our more private conversations, Light seems a little too perfect. He is constantly studying, has top grades, is very organized and never gets into trouble. That he is a little too perfect.
In all honesty, I agree with L, but, I need to see for myself.
I heard from Mr. Yagami that Light is going to be attending the To-Oh entrance exams. I'll be there too, so that works out nicely. I want to talk to Light, see for myself what kind of a person he is. It's one thing to hear from the detective, it's another thing to judge for myself.
Light seems like an OCD kind of guy. He seems confident in his own judgment and skills. He would fit Kira's profile nicely.
Still … evidence.
I'm walking back home from a nearby bus stop. I've tried to take a variety of different transportation methods to meet with the Task Force and L. Last night was just a night where it was only the two of us, discussing our opinions and having heated arguments over the subject. Both of us have found them very productive and interesting at the very least. The more time I spend around the detective, the more I find that we are very similar.
Scary similar.
So it's roughly seven in the morning, and I'm walking home from the bus stop. Then I will spend the day studying for the entrance exams. Today is the 13th, and the exams are four days away, on the 17th.
I'm not nervous at all.
I rummage through my pockets and draw out my keys, then open the door. Wait, why are the lights on? I thought Yae usually rolled out of bed later than this. I close the door behind me and shrug off my jacket.
"Kurai?" my insides shrivel up as my aunt turns the corner.
"Erm … Hello," I say awkwardly.
"Where have you been? We've been worried sick!" she half-shouts at me. She's wearing what looks like an apron and holding a wooden spoon. I have a bad feeling that I am in a huge amount of shit.
"Worried?" I grunt, hanging up the coat in the closet.
"We had no idea where you were!"
"I'm not a child!" I snap back, mood ruined instantly. I was feeling good actually, and then she had to treat me like I was nine years old.
"But-"
"Enough," my Uncle growls, coming down the stairs. He looks rather tired, and is wearing sweatpants and an undershirt. I fight the urge to scrunch up my nose in disgust. "Where were you, and don't lie."
What's to stop me from lying? "A friend's place," I say.
"Makoto or that other girl?" my Aunt asks, and I shake my head.
"You haven't met him."
"Is it that Ryuzaki guy?" I hear Yae ask, she comes out of the kitchen with a bowl of cereal in her hand and a spoon in the other. Is everyone awake?!
"Maybe," I shrug.
"Who's he?" my Aunt puts her hands on her hips.
"I don't have to tell you about everyone I spend time with or where," I growl.
"Well you are living under my roof, so you will follow my rules. I want to meet him," my Uncle growls back. I open and close my mouth like a fish gasping for air, before I scowl.
He is not going to like this.
I know that they're just worried about me, but this was going to be hella embarrassing.
I rush down the stairs, pulling on a sweater and limbs feeling shaky.
The bastard, he laughed at me. I should really get out of here, but with all the stuff going on … I mean, they offered me a place to stay if I'm in school, and Yae is just working for a year before she goes off to college. A good deal, but it certainly has its drawbacks right now, and because of this I managed to get an actual laugh out of the detective.
No, he didn't think I was joking.
However, I thought he was going to come in a day or two, but instead he arrived today. He is prompt, I'll give him that. He looks away from the wall that he was examining and gives me a small smile. All I can do it stand there and stare slack-jawed, which I know is not polite.
He looks different though! I don't know what the hell he did to himself, but he actually looks almost like a normal person. He only has a slight slouch, nowhere near as pronounced as before. I can't see the circles under his eyes (or should I call them Panda eyes?), and his hair is slightly neater. He is wearing the same jeans, and a pair of battered tennis shoes. His hands are shoved deep into the pockets of a white winter jacket.
"Hello Kurai," he says, voice still a monotone though.
"Hello," I say back after a momentary pause. Yae walks past me on her way upstairs, and nudges me with a mischievous smirk on her face. I send her a death glare over my shoulder. He looks around at the interior and even takes his hand out of his pocket to tap a vase my Aunt has on a credenza with his thin fingers. I jump the last three steps and send him an apologetic smile that says 'Let's get this over with'.
We head into the kitchen, where my Uncle is sitting at the table, reading a book. That happens to be his 'spot'. He looks up from what he's reading and looks at the person standing behind me.
"Ah, you must be Ryuzaki then," he says, folding the corner of the page and closing the book. He gets up and walks over to L, and shakes his hand.
"Rue Ryuzaki, nice to meet you," he replies, returning the gesture.
They make small talk, and I wait patiently until they are done. L told him that he was a classmate of mine, and was going to take the exams for To-Oh as well. His cover story worked well enough for my Uncle, and he managed to pull it off without looking like the oddball that he really is. Lying really is the answer! All those parents that said lying never solved anything are wrong in this moment. My Aunt and Uncle don't need to know the truth. In fact, their ignorance is the very thing protecting them.
And it protects the world for that matter.
They finish their unnecessarily drawn out conversation, and then my scruffy friend asks me a question I never thought I would hear him say, ever.
"Want to go get some coffee?"
It takes me a few seconds to realize what he means: Let's get out of this place; these people are getting on my nerves. Of course, my immediate reaction, all the while in my head and in the span of a few moments, is something along the lines of: Who are you and what have you done with him? But, really … this is L we're talking about – the Sherlock Holmes of the century.
"Sure … just let me get my jacket," I say hesitantly, and then go do just that. We're out of there before they can even say 'bye'.
We walk down the street side by side. I'm still a little confused, but that's not a surprising reaction. I find it odd that I may have just domesticated a big, important, world-changing investigation. It's a little on the awkward side, and while I'm right in the middle of it even I can tell how strange the situation is sometimes.
Oh, this is a game, but it is a game worth playing.
"That went well," Ryuzaki finally declares, speaking as himself this time and not the cover-up he invented so quickly.
"I guess. Thanks for covering for me," I say with a slight humorous edge in my voice. Even I have to admit that the entire situation was downright hilarious. He faintly smiles in return when I playfully nudge him with my elbow.
"No problem. I can't let a great detective like you go just because of stubborn guardians."
"So if I suddenly wanted to back out of the case you wouldn't let me?" I raise my eyebrows with a smirk.
"…"
Let's just leave that question in alarmingly large, and still growing, pile of unanswered questions, shall we?
"Anyway, you wanted to talk about something?" I ask him.
"It's about the upcoming entrance exams to To-Oh," he says after a moment, not even bothering to look at me. Usually, he'll look me in the eye when speaking. This is concerning.
"What about them?"
"I will be attending them, in an effort to get closer to Light."
Oh, so that's what's been bothering him!
Hold on.
"What, you can't be serious!" I shout at him. Fortunately for the both of us, there are no people in the immediate area to stare at us. I think I hear him mutter something along the lines of 'I knew you would react like that' under his breath before answering me.
"I am serious, very serious in fact. I believe Light is Kira, and in order to further evaluate his personality and the possibility that he could be Kira, I wish to get closer to him and test him."
"I can do that though! I'm going to his University anyway!" I cry.
"And why would he trust you enough to reveal anything to you? If you told him that you were on the investigation, it could pose further problems for us. Your name is within his reach. You would be put in danger." His tone has become sharp and quick, but me being the stubborn person that I am, continue to defy him. He's not my boss.
"I could go undercover!" I protest.
"Yes, maybe, but he still wouldn't trust you. In fact, he may devise a way to kill you."
I grow low in my throat, narrowing my gaze in his direction. He meets it with the same intensity. I know very well that Kira will attempt to kill me. "At least listen to my plan before you make any decisions," he says.
"… Fine, alright. Be my guest," I grudgingly agree.
Apparently the plan is for L to attend the entrance exams using one of the many aliases and positions that he holds, and subsequently enter the collage. He predicted that Light would get a perfect score, so L plans to match this.
When the Ceremony starting the year finally rolls around in April, things will get really interesting. During the Ceremony itself, L will confront Light, and reveal that he is L. I protested as soon as I heard this, but I became silent as I heard his reasons.
He will go under the alias Rue Ryuzaki, which is not his real name. He had wanted to use a name of somebody famous, so that if in the unlikely situation of that Idol dying they could arrest Light for being Kira immediately. Thanks to my cousin, who knows him by the name 'Rue Ryuzaki' now, things could get complicated once again if evidence were to clash.
So no ridiculous alias for him.
Still, Rue Ryuzaki is definitely not his real name, and will serve its intended purpose for protecting his identity. Hell, he doesn't have an 'r' in his name at all.
In the meantime, if Light were Kira, he would hesitate to kill L because he would know that the detective wouldn't just hand out his real name. Points to the supposed genius Light! Also, he might doubt that Ryuzaki was the real L, and if it wasn't an alias, and that man died Light would be convicted as Kira.
L was in the perfect position to gain the advantage and defend his territory. He's closed a box around Kira. The only problem was that he has to show his face, and that will give Kira half of what he needs. He would only need someone with the eyes to kill L. Someone like me.
L doesn't know that.
After the Ceremony, some point shortly after, L wants to give Light a test on his deductive reasoning abilities. It seems like Light has waited too long and played his game a little too cautiously. He might as well have picked up the 'skip a turn' card.
"Would you mind if I gave you the same test?" L asks of me as we approach a small little coffee shop. I can smell it from out here.
"No, not at all," I reply, and we go in. I'm in better spirits than before, but my mind is working non-stop, formulating plans and alternate-plans. My gut agrees with L on this one. I desperately want to believe that Light is Kira and that the search is over. At the same time the thought terrifies me.
We find a nice secluded corner where nobody can eavesdrop on us, have our orders taken, and then delivered. I ordered a regular coffee, but L had to go all the way to order the most sugary thing he could and a pastry. I noticed his fetish for sugar a while ago. It's kind of weird, in an insufferably adorable way.
"As you know, Kira committed experiments before the FBI agents were killed. In the time that I received the first suicide note until now, I have received several others." He hands me three photographs – one is familiar, the other two aren't.
"And how come you haven't shown me the other notes?" I frown, earning a small smile from him. His eyes glint with something that passes too quickly for me to identify.
He didn't say that these are the only notes.
"Are these it?" I ask.
He grins wider at me. "No, here," and he hands me one last photograph.
That's better.
L do you know
Gods of Death
Love apples
Have red hands
These are in the order that he gave them to me. An excited tingle passes up and down my spine. Oh, I love this. If I keep them in that order they spell out a plausible message:
L, do you know Gods of Death [who] love apples have red hands.
Yet … something doesn't seem right. L gave me three to begin with. If I take out the fourth note and keep them in that order …
L, do you know Gods of Death love apples?
That seems better. The second one seems to fit Kira's profile better. He likes to mock and taunt us: tell us that he's better than us. The first one just seems … like a cover up.
"This is sure to mess Light up, regardless of being Kira or not."
"What makes you say that?" L asks a little too innocently. I can tell he's smiling on the inside.
"This fourth note is a fake," I reply and set down all four notes on the table.
"Why on earth would you think that?" His smile is visible now.
"Well, firstly, you never gave me the four notes to begin with – only three. Now why would that be? Knowing you it's to mess with Kira when he's presented with this problem. If there really were only three notes, he probably wouldn't even consider a fourth note, and you would count on it!
'Another thing, there are two messages to be interpreted: one with all four and the other with three. The one with four doesn't seem right to me, while the one with three seems to match his personality better.
'In conclusion I think that Kira sent the first three notes, and you faked the fourth in order to make the test more interesting."
"It's truly amazing how far your deductive reasoning skills have come. You are correct, and I am impressed," L says, grinning at me. His thumb is pressed to his lip and other arm crossed over his knees as he sits in his odd manner. Another quirk I noticed: he has some sort of oral fixation.
"Thank you." I have my own quirks, so I am in no position to judge.
Wait a moment. Gods of Death …
I knew it! I fucking knew it! I was right! Kira uses a Death Note! Ten points for Red!
Vile doesn't like apples … maybe Kira's Shinigami does? So it's a personal preference?
"Kurai, how would you try to determine that a person is Kira or not?" L asks me suddenly.
"I would try to get him to say something that was classified. And that test is one way to do it!" I tap the notes with my index finger three times in a quick succession, leaning over the table on my elbow.
"Yes."
"Brilliant!"
"Kurai … Red … can you promise me that you will not try to take matters into your hands when dealing with Light?"
For once he is completely and utterly deathly serious. I sit back down, straightening my back and studying him with guarded eyes. My smile slides off my face as I mull it over. I cannot agree, I find in the end, and I'm not even taking into account that I own a Death Note too. "I'm sorry Ryuzaki, but no promises. If it makes you feel better, I'll try."
He frowns, obviously not pleased. Unfortunately for him, he can't order me around like the other members of the task force. I'm also far too stubborn. Even if he were to get down on his knees and beg me, I wouldn't be able to give my word to him.
I'm just not the kind of person to sit on the sidelines. Thank god Ryuzaki realizes this.
"Very well," he says quietly, almost broken.
We finish our coffee in silence. He pays for us (such a gentleman) and excuses himself, leaving me behind alone in the coffee shop.