By the way, in case some of you have missed my hints before, I will state this outright now – the themes of this story will follow the manga more closely, and we only have a few more chapters left. Please, please don't get angry with me – the plot will continue, and I'm not one to leave things on a sour note. Major spoilers alert!
Disclaimer: Death Note is not mine. This pains me.
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Mind Games
Chapter Eleven: Silent Revelation
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Soon I know you'll see,
You're just like me.
Don't scream anymore my love, 'cause all I want is you
I can't save your life,
Though nothing I bleed for is more tormenting.
I'm losing my mind and you just stand there and stare as my world divides.
"Ryuuzaki?"
None of the three moved. It was as if they had been frozen in time, locked in their respective positions. A torrent of thoughts flooded Raito's mind; most of them along the lines of oh shit, and, if possible, less polite variations of this most eloquent expression.
Watari's eyes had widened as far as was physically possible, causing the elderly man to look as if he were trying to imitate his spidery employer. Raito desperately ran a systems-check to see if the scene was as incriminating as he feared it might be. Let's see…L was still lost in the folds of Raito's embrace, pulled protectively to the megalomaniac's chest and apparently still unable, or unwilling, to divest himself from Raito's clutches. Now that light had flooded into the darkened room, Raito was able to observe that yes, he had been correct in guessing earlier that he had practically pulled L into his lap. The detective's spindly joints were curled up, arms folded about his own torso and pinned between himself and Raito. His knees were drawn up into a foetal position, cuddled in close to the source of heat and uncertain comfort that was the other youth. Raito felt his face burning, and he could see a similar discomfited look on Ryuuzaki's face as well. Had L been trapped there in that fashion, or had he shifted into that position of his own free will?
Watari obviously thought the former, if the panic-stricken facial expression was anything to go by.
"Ryuuzaki!" he exclaimed urgently again, rushing over to his employer's side, immaculate tailored suit flapping. The turn of speed on the old fossil was completely unexpected, and Raito could only stare in disbelief, unable to move.
"What happened here?" demanded the elderly man, ignoring the lack of response on the behalf of his employer. Leaning over the entangled two, Watari's fingers moved with surprising deftness over the chain links, unkinking and unwinding their restrictive setting. Within seconds, Raito felt the tightness that was firmly pinning his arms around the detective; other than his own consciousness, that is; slacken. He dropped his arms reluctantly and began to massage his wrist theatrically, as if relieved for the interruption. Did L want to keep this under wraps? More likely than not, he assumed, quietly bitter in his own mind. Damn Watari…What had he just missed out on?
L groaned softly, now freed of the cumbersome binding across his back and limbs. He craned over his ankle, surveying it with a look of morbid fascination, pale fingers probing the swollen joint experimentally. "I do believe that this is sprained, Watari. Would you mind seeing to it?" He glanced up at his horrified associate, catching the old man's eye with a look that Raito couldn't quite see. Raito did note, however, that L had not actually answered Watari's question. What did that mean? These questions were infuriating to no small degree! He was a genius, for crying out loud!
Thankfully enough, he was spared from viciously pondering that thought for very long, as Raito swiftly found himself the subject of a particularly malicious stare, radiating from the elderly gentleman in front of him. It appeared that the thin lens of Watari's glasses separating Raito and the older man's eyes was all that was preventing him from being glared to death. He thinks that I did that to him? "This wasn't my fault!" Raito blurted out indignantly. "It was an accident that Ryuuzaki got hurt!" Oh very smooth Raito. Would you like a 'guilty' stamp for your forehead too?
L started, staring first up at Watari in confusion and then turning to Raito, eyes blank as though woken from a dream, but with a peculiar glimmer. Was that a furtive look he was showing? Either way, Raito wasn't sure what to expect by way of 'support' from Ryuuzaki. Coughing slightly, L broke into a monotone. "Raito-kun did not inflict this injury on me. Directly, at any rate," he conceded.
Instantly Watari's attention reaffixed itself on his employer. "Will you tell me what happened, Ryuuzaki?" There was a note of pleading in the old man's voice. "I entered this room to find a most, ah- unusual sight. I would be exceedingly grateful for an explanation, rather than jumping to my own conclusions." Watari's face was taut with apprehension, eyes bloodshot and strained. Perhaps he truly was worried about Ryuuzaki, and didn't just have a list of issues with Raito.
That, however, did not particularly help Raito at the moment, since he was currently causing said worrying about Ryuuzaki, and therefore was highest on the old man's hit list.
Placing one finger on the outside of his mouth, L proceeded to stare up at the ceiling and maintain a most petulant silence. Said stony silence was now proceeding to simultaneously infuriate Raito. Honestly! He himself could have come up with a convincing lie within seconds, had he been offered the chance to answer the interrogation! He could have cleaned up this whole scenario with a perfectly logical and believable excuse; so why wasn't L trying the same? The lanky youth wasn't even looking at the older man, and Raito could have sworn that he was wearing an expression of profound annoyance. Was L annoyed that they had been interrupted, or that he was being questioned?
Well, Raito certainly was. But that was besides point.
"What happened, Watari, was something that can be explained easily enough by the fact that the room was suddenly plunged into darkness, and the chain, cumbersome enough in daylight, proved even more detrimental in complete blackness." L's tone was icy and patient, as if he were speaking to a petulant child. There was no expression in his face, and he looked up at his assistant as if he had been interrupted in the middle of something of vital importance. Raito could almost feel himself shrinking, and he wasn't even the one being spoken to, for crying out loud. And Watari didn't even have the whole god-complex thing.
Surprisingly, Watari didn't look very convinced. For a moment, Raito thought that he was going to challenge L's answer, but respect for, or possibly fear of his employer seemed to be winning over his contempt for the other youth. Watari opened and shut his mouth, blinking furiously. Raito watched in silent contemplation. The older man hesitated, reopening his mouth and delicately phrasing his next words with obvious caution. "But Ryuuzaki, you've always had brilliant eyesight, even in the dark. What happened this time to change that?" Ah. The stealthy tactic. Not that L wouldn't notice it straight away and take offence.
"As I said, the chain happened." L stared levelly at the older man, voice calm and if anything, slightly bored. Raito was impressed. "My attempt to reach the ventilation shaft in order to escape was thwarted by it, and resulted in my incurring an injury to my ankle. Yagami-kun took the brunt of my fall, hence the situation you witnessed." His eyes then widened a fraction, as if suddenly struck by a new idea. "What did you think had happened?"
Raito watched, fascinated, as the tables were promptly turned on the elderly gentleman, still standing to attention at his employer's side. He had to give Watari credit; the older man didn't even flinch, though he was certain that that was the first thing that he wanted to do. A vein was pulsing on the man's forehead, and a small trickle of sweat had begun to trail down his forehead. Was he going to break? Would Watari be the first person, including Raito and L, to actually admit what was going on between the two? Raito watched with a surprising amount of anxiety, as Watari expelled a sigh, lidded eyes reproachful behind his spectacles. "It's not important, Ryuuzaki. Let's see to your ankle. Can you stand on it?" A safe move: change the subject. And more to the point, why had he, Raito, been nervous? He never felt nervous. How irritating…
L glanced thoughtfully at the wounded limb, scuffing his foot on the ground experimentally. "Perhaps. It is quite painful, but movement does not appear to be compromised as of yet. In a few minutes it shall be too swollen to do anything much however. We should probably move quickly." Raito quietly applauded Ryuuzaki's clinical observations. He'd have done the same thing, except maybe with a few more theatrical winces of pain for good measure, just to please the audience, or at least not positively terrify them with his lack of human emotion. It seemed that L wasn't so worried about that.
"Here." Raito rose easily to his feet, no longer encumbered by the shortened chain. He extended one hand to the prone L, beckoning generously. "I'll pull you up," he stated the obvious for Watari's benefit, so that he wouldn't misunderstand. Maybe. He didn't know Watari very well. Maybe he would anyway. Who knew what Watari was thinking? Raito was more interested in L's psyche than his assistant's. "It's the least I can do for dropping you." He let a faintest trace of a smile grace his lips in a cold imitation of friendliness.
L stared pensively at the proffered hand, dark eyes flickering to Raito's and holding his gaze for a second. Raito blinked. Shouldn't I have done that? What was L thinking now? His internal dilemma was averted however, when L then seized his hand, throwing his pathetic weight against Raito's only slightly more substantial body mass. Watari stooped instantly, catching his employer's elbow and steadying him as he swayed, pulled upwards by the main suspect in the Kira investigation. Raito itched somehow beneath his skin. I could have done that myself, thank you very much! He batted the thought away, teeth gritting with suppressed annoyance. Not here. Not now. Ryuuzaki shot his assistant a grateful glance, ignoring Raito, and tested his weight on his swollen foot, biting his lip reflexively.
"Not good. We'll have to go slowly." Raito still hadn't let go of his hand, and since Watari hadn't released L's elbow either, he saw no reason to do so. In fact, he took this as a sign to tighten his grip, repositioning himself at L's side to flank him supportively. Let L read that however he wanted to. Ryuuzaki glanced up at the silent youth curiously, but appeared to dismiss this, and instead took a step forwards.
Both Watari and Raito were pulled earthwards as the detective promptly fell over.
"Ah. It would appear that my ankle sufficiently swollen already." L stated the fact blandly, sprawled on the carpet and apparently completely unfazed by this state of affairs. "Could I possibly trouble one of you for a lift?" His limbs were organised in a tangle that made him look even more spidery than usual.
Watari's heavy brow furrowed as he stared helplessly at his employer. The older man was crouched on one knee and wincing noticeably. He'd obviously jarred something on the way down, thought Raito, with no small degree of sadistic satisfaction. He could have sworn that he heard a gasp of pain on the way down; noticing it even in his own shock at being treated to a close-up of the carpet. "I'm afraid that I can't carry you to the medical room, Ryuuzaki. My back's troubling me at the worst possible time." Watari admitted this through a clenched jaw, glaring accusingly at Raito. Hm. Apparently he still refused to accept L's stunted version of the truth, and also perhaps the fact that Raito was persisting in existing. Or maybe he saw the grin that Raito was busy hiding expertly. Or maybe he blamed Raito for somehow causing the fall that caused his spine to go click. Not that Raito could care less about that at this moment. He now had a different problem to consider.
"You… want me to pick you up?" Didn't you learn from the last effort that that kind of behaviour doesn't end very well? A cold sweat had broken out down Raito's back; he could feel it trickling in a snaking river between his vertebrae, sending a chill down his spine, and forcing him to suppress a shudder, lest it be misinterpreted. Oh gods… why now? Why with Watari around?
"Is there a problem?" L eyed Raito from where he was still seated in a most uncoordinated, yet unaffected fashion on the floor. "Were you also hurt by my earlier fall?" There was something mocking, rebuking in his eyes. A challenge? It almost looked like it. What was L thinking?
Was it just his paranoia kicking in, or did it look like L had faked that little trip?
Silently, he was a little surprised that the detective was taking full responsibility for the accident, or even pretending to. After all, it hadn't been the detective who'd suffered an unexpected bout of impure thoughts and had fallen over as a result of said dodgy ideas. "No, I'm not hurt. Just give me one moment, then I'll give you a lift." Why oh why must my sanity be tried so? He flung the question to whatever stray deity might answer, but didn't fancy hearing what Ryuuk might have to say on the subject. Shinigami weren't well known for their advice on, dare he say it, 'romantic' matters. Good grief; he really just thought that, didn't he? There must really be something wrong with him…
With a pseudo apologetic glance to Watari for good measure, Raito knelt gingerly beside L on the floor and hesitated. "How shall we do this?" Shut up, stupid brain. Nasty shivers were tickling his limbs, crawling down his spine and accumulating in a most distressing fashion in an area that certainly did not have any place in the current company!
L's brows furrowed slightly. "Any way that doesn't put pressure on my ankle will be fine. I can't have my feet on the ground, since it is most painful at the moment." To Raito's shock, the spindly youth reached out and wrapped his arms about his neck like a child expecting to be carried. Startlingly warm skin brushed against the back of his neck as L spread his fingers, linking them together and nestling them into the crook of Raito's vertebrae. He could feel the rest of that unusual warmth through the frail fabric of Ryuuzaki's shirt; feel the slight weight pulling him temptingly downwards. His thoughts were trailing away despite his furious internal screams for order. Watari made a low noise in his throat, and L's eyes snapped onto Raito's own, just as Raito snapped a leash onto his delighted imagination. "Hurry and lift. I'd like to get downstairs before my ankle is the size of a party balloon."
Way to kill a moment. Well, technically the best way to kill a moment was to add Watari to it, and since that had already been done, Raito couldn't really blame L for nailing the lid on the moment's coffin. "Alright, alright," he grumbled dramatically, easily adopting a suitable character profile to fit the scenario. "No need to whinge. I was just trying to figure out the best way to do this. Tell me if I hurt you." His brain, however, was on its own little vacation into the unspeakable. He decided not to follow it, since it probably wouldn't be safe to do so in the current situation. Or maybe any situation.
"I'm surprised that it could take someone with your IQ such a long time to figure out that problem," nipped L. Raito only glared in response. Of all the nerve! Thankfully though, Watari seemed to visibly relax at that. After all, there couldn't possibly be anything illicit going on between two people who fought with each other, could there?
Well, not in the real world. Some novels would beg to differ.
Knees bending, Raito held his breath and his tongue as he hoisted the detective into the air, precariously holding him bridal-style. He tried not to think about the implications of what he was doing, let alone where his arms were. Was he blushing? He could have sworn that all of the blood in his body had suddenly rushed to his head. Namely to fill it with thoughts that were certainly not appropriate at the moment. L clung to him instinctively, seemingly completely at ease. Raito's heart seemed to stop in his throat, head swimming. What idiocy is this that I'm under? I'm carrying my greatest rival! I should be looking for the nearest set of stairs to drop-kick him down!
"This way, Yagami-kun," chipped in Watari, stepping forwards. His eyes were still dark with suspicion and had not left Raito since the moment L had dictated his need for a lift. "Follow me, and quickly." Ryuuzaki's health was obviously in the old man's best interests. Not to mention something else to do with Ryuuzaki. Raito gritted his teeth, but flashed Watari his best and falsest smile. "Lead on, please."
L, Raito was about to find, was not the easiest person to carry in history. As he shuffled swiftly down the dimly lit corridors, currently running on the back-up generators' power, he became acutely aware of the fact that the detective was made up mostly of joints. Joints that he had apparently filed to sharp points in his spare time in between snacks and accusations.
"Are you made entirely of elbows?" hissed Raito in Ryuuzaki's ear, wincing after the detective accidentally(?) jabbed him in the solar plexus with something bony and sharp. It wasn't even as if the detective was moving, for crying out loud! Even sitting there, perfectly stoic and staring at the ceiling he was able to inflict harm on the sociopath. It was most unjust, and yet oddly appropriate. Was L doing this on purpose?
"Not entirely, Raito-kun," replied L calmly, still staring up at the ceiling. "I have the requisite number of elbows for a human being, which is, I believe, a total of two. How many elbows do you have?"
"Oh very funny," muttered Raito. Ryuuzaki's feet, one of which was busy swelling and looking pained, the other of which was waving in the air as if conducting a tune that only the detective could hear, vaguely distracted him. "What are you doing with your foot?" he hissed, quietly so that Watari couldn't hear him.
"Amusing myself," replied L dryly. "For reasons that I cannot begin to fathom, staring at the ceiling is not the most interesting pastime in the world. Nor are you the most comfortable form of transport."
Oh how charming. "Can't you just sit there and think quietly?" Raito sped up a little as Watari shot him an annoyed glance over his shoulder, appearing to think that they were falling behind just to spite him. "I thought that you liked to sit and think to amuse yourself. And besides, it's not as if I wanted to do this." Well… that was vaguely true at least.
"I do," answered L quietly. He then directed his attention away from the ceiling at last, and fixed Raito with his most patronising stare. "What would you like me to think of?"
Ack! Nasty thoughts! Raito swallowed hurriedly. "That's your choice entirely!"
"Do you want me to think about anything in particular?" Ryuuzaki's expressionless black eyes were locked onto Raito's own pupils, even as they squirmed to be free of his gaze. "Raito-kun, you're flushed in the face and a sweat has broken out on your forehead. Tell me the truth. What do you want me to think about? I'm not going to ask you again." Curse that little… snide, conniving, conspiring…detective!
"I…" Raito hesitated, voice lowering even though it was already straining on the edge of hearing. "I want you to think about what you want, Ryuuzaki. What you want from… yourself. From yourself, and from myself." He added the last sentence so quietly he wasn't even sure that the detective had heard. Lip-read, perhaps, but not heard. However, there was only understanding in L's stark eyes.
"Ah, but Raito-kun," replied L just as quietly, "you want me to think about something that I have already spent many hours musing over."
"And do you have an answer that you would like to share with me?" Raito could hardly dare to breathe now. His arms were trembling, and he tugged the detective closer to himself to hide it, disguised as a jolt to hoist Ryuuzaki into a more comfortable position. He could feel every bone, every muscle of the lithe detective. The wrinkles in his jeans, the creases of his shirt all melded and fitted to his own garments. Those thick, soft strands of unkempt black hair were tickling his arms, even through the thin sleeves of Raito's shirt. It was as if his entire awareness had somehow intensified, electrified in anticipation. His brain was in two exact halves; both of which were screaming at him; though for very different reasons.
How had this control been forged? When had he lost so much control of his own emotions that he allowed them to dictate his mind as never before? What the hell was he doing? I can't rule the world as Kira like this!
The thought hit his stomach like a ton of lead.
"I have an answer, Raito-kun," replied L with perfect calmness. His eyes were staring without seeing, yet Raito felt as if he were examining some core of his own self. Was this what it felt like to… care for someone truly? Ye gods… why now? Why him? And why, in the name of all things holy; Ryuuzaki? Was this the same thing that L was experiencing? "But I cannot give you that answer here, in this place, and in this company."
It was like a bucket of cold water being emptied over Raito's head. Watari. The headquarters. The team. His father. They were all here, and they were all oblivious. Even if they weren't oblivious, Raito could hardly expect support from those sides. After all, what did some youth's fancies have to do with the Kira case?
A lot more than they knew.
"This way, Yagami-kun," called Watari stiffly, puncturing the turbulence of Raito's thoughts. He had come to a halt outside a non-descript office, distinguishable only by the small red cross that decorated its door. Raito tore his eyes away from L's imperceptible pupils, nodded and hurried to catch up, pushing the thoughts of L's words to one side.
"Raito?" A new voice?
Oh brilliant. How utterly lovely. Raito could feel what blood had rushed to his face with embarrassment flood away with a new brand of horror.
Yagami Souchiro stood illuminated at the end of the hallway, having apparently stepped out of the main investigation room for a breath of air at just the right moment to catch his son carrying a world famous detective like a very angular and sarcastic parcel. Raito's mind raced with a new brand of urgency. Possible smooth lies slipped from his mind to his mouth, only to be quailed by the realisation that Watari and L both had their own versions to add to this story. Hm. Having people other than himself to worry about was very inconvenient. Ah well. Nothing ventured was nothing gained.
"Hello, father," replied Raito calmly. Or at least he seemed calm to the untrained eye. In other words, only L could possibly notice that he was feeling a little strained. Mind, that was probably more so due to the fact that the detective could literally feel Raito's heart rate start to pick up with narrowly suppressed anxiety.
Yagami Souchiro stared first at his son and then at L, blinking in astonishment. He then turned to Watari with an almost pleading look. Raito cursed internally. Not good! He broke into the conversation, "This may look a little odd, but there's a good explanation, I assure you." Though perhaps a more abridged one than the actual truth.
Watari deigned Raito with a profoundly unimpressed look and then shook his head, eyes returning to those of Raito's father. Souchiro now looked positively alarmed. One hand clutched a mug of tea so tightly that his knuckles stretched white beneath his skin. "I'd like to hear that explanation now, Raito. And you too, Ryuuzaki. What has happened here?" He spoke slowly, deliberately, and with a modicum of control that made Raito proud.
"Pain," answered L slowly, still staring up at the ceiling and tapping his foot in that intensely aggravating fashion. "It was entirely Raito-kun's fault. I shouldn't ask him to do things that he just can't manage."
Raito was so busy controlling his spluttering that he couldn't stop his mind from running off to go and play in the gutters. Not the kind of 'explanation' that his father needed! "We were trapped in one of the spare rooms," Raito hastily added. "Ryuuzaki asked me to boost him into an air-vent when the power cut out, but I dropped him by accident."
"Now my ankle is rendered useless," supplemented L, seemingly deciding to be useful for a moment to Raito. "And I hold your son to be entirely responsible."
Oh. This could get expensive.
"That's a little unfair, Ryuuzaki," reasoned Raito, frowning down at the detective still nonchalantly draped in his arms. "It was your idea in the first place." And I'll drop you, you cretin.
"Arguing about it isn't going to help," cut in Watari. He gestured towards L's profoundly swollen ankle, to which the detective blinked, as if just remembering that he was in some mild degree of pain. "We need to treat your injury, Ryuuzaki. Deciding who is to blame for it can be an activity for afterwards." He then levelled his stare at Raito, who then experienced a feeling as if someone had just dropped a couple of ice-cubes down the back of his shirt. Creepy old man…
"Right," Souchiro seemed to regain some form of calm in order to replicate Watari in staring accusingly at Raito. "Well, Raito. Since it was predominantly your fault that Ryuuzaki was hurt, you should make sure that he gets the medical attention that he needs. Even if Ryuuzaki said something to upset you, it's no excuse to actually cause physical harm."
"It was an accident, I told you!" Raito didn't even need to feign the stereotypical youth outrage. "I didn't do this on purpose!"
Souchiro frowned, peering over the edge of his glasses at his son. Raito felt oddly exposed, and as guilty as if he had blood on his hands or no clothing. Ack! What the hell was with his brain today?! With a sigh, the older Yagami seemed to give up. "If that's what you say, Raito, I'll believe you. If you want to talk to me about anything though," he looked up with an odd, almost accusing look in his eyes, "I'll be here. You can tell me anything, son." A furtive expression. What was his father thinking? Oh gods… not another one! And he was offering to 'talk' to Raito about this?! And just what kind of talk was that going to be? Please… don't let his father be reading too deeply, yet accurately into the situation! The kind of 'talk' that might result would be too horrible to contemplate.
"Come along Raito," L nudged the stricken megalomaniac with his heel, as if spurring on a spooked horse. "The room's right there. Hurry up, would you?"
Shaking himself back into life and away from the nightmare that was the idea of his father telling him about a different 'birds and the bees', Raito glared down at the detective and marched into the medical room without a word. Watari trailed after them, and set about pulling out a collection of gauze, bandage tape and snap-freeze icepacks. Dumping Ryuuzaki unceremoniously onto the padded concrete shelf that supposedly doubled as a bed, Raito stared ominously at the wall and tried to ignore the proceedings. Great. A suspicious father and miscellaneous old man against him, not to mention L's barbed mentality.
It was no wonder he questioned his sanity. Between the three of them and his own corrupted brain, it was being torn to shreds like a steak in a pack of wolves.
A good forty minutes later, Raito was back where he had started: in front of a pile of paper and mind wandering. Computers hummed, the water-cooler buzzed and L chomped noisily through a steaming bowl of sticky toffee pudding. The sweet aroma of the dessert filled Raito's nostrils, making his stomach growl with jealousy. He steadfastly ignored it, instead trailing his eyes from Ryuuzaki's computer, to his own pile of paper in distraction. Those emails that Ryuuzaki had sent off still hadn't received any replies. Technically he needed those replies in order to proceed in any kind of useful activity. So, for now he was effectively killing time with boredom.
It was not, all in all, how he enjoyed killing time. He could think of plenty of other, more interesting ways in which he could be doing the same thing.
The flash of white bandage around L's sore ankle caught his eye briefly. He considered it. Watari must have wrapped a kilometre's worth of gauze about the limb, glaring all the while at Raito as he did so, as if personally holding him responsible. How rude could you get? L had been a very good patient, and hadn't even batted an eye when the swollen ankle was prodded and teased into position and an icepack slapped over the top. He had, however, made a point to Watari that he expected his dessert to be ready and waiting for him by the time he made it back to the main investigation quarters.
The look on Watari's face had been priceless, Raito mused cheerfully. It was something akin to fear that flashed to the older man's eyes at the look on Ryuuzaki's haggard face. Maybe something like this had happened before. Raito suppressed a chuckle at the thought of L threatening to go on a violent rampage if he wasn't pacified with a bowl of sweet pudding. Or maybe that was just how he coped with pain; by thinking of the sweets to come afterwards.
He may never know, thought Raito with a pang. Not unless Ryuuzaki opened up and revealed what he was actually thinking.
Come to think of it though, wasn't it a little unfair of Raito to demand that L say what he thought, when Raito himself was divided?
Okay, it was time to come clean. Just what was he thinking after all? Now seemed as good a time as any to decide. Did he really like Ryuuzaki, as in… 'like' Ryuuzaki? Or was he just hormonal, emotionally unstable and reactionary? What did he like about Ryuuzaki?
Well, he wasn't exactly conventional, that was for sure. He had a wonderfully sharp mind that could keep even Raito guessing. He'd never come across anyone else who had ever challenged his intelligence, or interpreted his personality so accurately. Ryuuzaki was annoying, quirky, and downright arrogant at times. He hated to lose, almost as much as Raito himself did.
So was that it? He liked Ryuuzaki because he had found an equal?
Would that alone be enough?