Two meetings, one confrontation.
This has to be like my worst chapter to date. Sorry, I guess I'm terrible writing L's POV.
English is not my first language, so feel free to point out any mistakes.
"Don't you think we should tell the Task Force about this before proceeding?" Naomi doubtfully asked.
"They are going to try to stop me, and I have no patience for that" L replied, and after a beat "I trust I have your entire cooperation right?"
"Of course, but what would be your excuse to them about you not being present in the next reunion? "
"They will be entertained with dead leads and some of my own early theories about the Kira case. In fact right now they are reading about a newly-created product, only available in the black market: a psycotropic drug which effects are so powerful for the nervous system that most of its victims end up suffering heart attacks just 2 minutes after consuming it"
"Wow. Which drug is that?"
L sipped a bit of his extremely candied tea. "None, it doesn't exist. I wrote that report about a fictious drug to keep them busy for the time being"
Naomi shook her head with mirth "Ah-ha"
"Now let's review our current plan"
After L had obtained the new evidence (meager as it would be) against Sayu and Light Yagami, he decided to keep it as a secret for the Task Force, at least until he had already made contact with Sayu and Light, because at that point it would be no backpedaling. Nonetheless he confided in Naomi about his new discoveries. She agreed with him, even if she was a bit wary about going behind the backs of her colleagues. But she was in L's side, first and foremost. L knew he had made a good decision recruiting her.
At the beginning Naomi thought about putting surveillance cameras and bugs in the Yagami household again. But L quickly dismissed the idea.
"It's probably that we missed something, anything, in those tapes" she had said
"I'm 98% sure that that we didn't" Even after they took out the surveillance equipment, L himself reviewed those tapes, precisely in the (unlikely) case they actually missed something. There was nothing suspicious. Absolutely nothing.
So instead of putting surveillance cameras, L* hacked both Sayu and Light Yagami's cellphones, to spy on their conversations and find a moment in which to corner them
However that wasn't a problem for L. To-Oh's Entrance Ceremony was going to take place in April 2th, and L was going to be there, as Hideki Ryuga, the genius who obtained perfect scores in the entrance exams, alongside Light Yagami of course. That point was more important that it seemed, because Light Yagami was the top scorer student in all Japan, so a bright student would have a easier time blending into her social circle. He was going to present himself as L too.
Naomi was very worried, she thought that such a move was too risky, but he wasn't having none of it. He was going to keep and eye in his likeliest suspect, in a way that she wouldn't be able to touch him.
Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer.
That same April 2th, Sayu Yagami agreed on a date with a boy of her class, in Yorokobi, a small coffe shop in Shibuya. With her cellphone hacked, L, posing as Sayu, sent a message to Sayu's date, telling him that she was not gonna make it. Buy the coffe shop was easy (ah, the advantages of being a billionaire detective) Naomi was going to present herself as L, and do an extensive interrogation on Sayu, in order to corrobate her guilt or her innocence. L was 98% that Sayu Yagami wasn't Kira*, his gut told him so. But he needed to be sure and he trusted Naomi to do that job.
It was strange, L realized, to walk towards an university, like a regular person. L had never set foot in a formal educational institution before. He learned his first letters autodidactically, and after that he was homeschooled for all his formative years.
He was in the farthest seat he could find, and watched Light Yagami thanks to a pair of binoculars he brought with him. He ignored the students around him, giving him shocked looks.
His alias produced quite a fuss in the ceremony, confusing him with Hideki Ryuga the Pop Star. Exactly what he was aiming for. Kira needed a name and a face to kill, and Light could guess that "Hideki Ryuga" was nothing but an alias, so if Light really was the culprit, she wouldn't try anything out of the risk of killing the real Hideki Ryuga. L didn't want to die, but if after this gamble he died, he instructed Watari and Misora to assume that Light was Kira
He looked at Light Yagami while she was giving her speech. He took notes in her facial features. Smooth chin, small ears, high cheekbones and a button nose. Her brown hair was pulled in an Osuberakashi loose ponytail, and her eyes were bright amber, like the gemstone. Well, not like the gemstone actually, more like a burning, caramel amber...
L already had a script. He was going to present himself as L. The perfect insurance to defend and attack. But instead of that, he stayed quiet, burning a hole in her suspect's head, like waiting for the perfect moment to open his mouth.
"Why are you watching me so much?"
Apparently he wasn't being subtle in his staring too. L blinked and spat some shallow words. Then Light extended her hand to him, presenting herself as Light Yagami (they already knew each other's names, but according to her, a proper greeting was more sociable acceptable) and instead of using that opportunity to present himself as L, he choked his rehearsed words and presented himself as Hideki Ryuga.
Why? Why? He was supposed to tell her about him being L, but everytime he tried, his words just didn't come out his mouth. He had never revealed himself to someone, even less a suspect, like this.
They spent the rest of the boring ceremony in silence, with L pondering about his actions. Starting a conversation with her and tell her that he was L seemed absurd at that point. And to be honest, he really didn't want it too.
The ceremony didn't end soon enough, in L's opinion. He practically jumped out of his seat, getting outside to impatiently wait for Watari. Light Yagami came out after, she chatted with some people, and when she turned her head they spotted each other. She smiled at him and started to get closer to him, probably to say goodbye. L pocketed his clammy hands inside his faded jeans
Just when she was almost in front of him, Watari's Rolls Royce Phantom V parked in front of them, opening the door for him. Light eyes widened a bit, probably surprised at this display of unexpected wealth. The thought made him feel a bit smug for some reason.
"Well, see you in campus" he awkwardly said, the smugness didn't last long
"Yeah take care" and she did another respectful bow. He tried to return her courtesy, but he only ended doing a very strange curved position, a mockery of a proper bow. Light's mouth twisted in an odd smile.
Both were being oblivious to the comments of the peanut gallery.
"Man, rich and top of the class?"
"Feel your pain dude. Where is the justice?" That comment was pretty ironic, seeing to exactly whom it was directed.
"Gosh, and have you looked at the other freshman representative. What the hell is she doing here when she could make all the money of the world as a supermodel?"
L's whole body relaxed in the comfort of his limousine. It had been way to long since he was around so many people. There was the Task Force, but they were a pretty small group who were aware of his identity, and his relationship with them was strictly business. L was an great liar and a good actor, but there was no way to hide the discomfort from himself.
"So, how was it?" Watari started conversationally from the wheel.
L didn't inmediately answer. His eyes were watching Light Yagami's dimishing figure from the rear glass. And an idea came to his mind.
" Miss Yagami is a very smart woman with a strong sense of justice. I believe that she is Kira, but even if she isn't, she could assist us with the investigation. And I think I can get close to her to achive either goal" And that was the truth. He definitely could work with this.
This was good. Better than his original plan even. Revealing himself as L was a good strategy, but Light always would be with her shields up, careful to never slip around him. But as plain Hideki Ryuga, her trustworthy, intellectual friend who may or may not be a Kira supporter, she could be more laidback and let her guard down.
And it would be at that moment, when L would attack.
Sayu had a bad habit of laughing during stressful situations. Right now she sounded like a hyena, feeling shitless scared and totally stupid but she couldn't stop.
Naomi didn't take offense at that. She knew that Sayu's laugh wasn't because she was making fun of her, more like an abrupt reflex produced by nerves. She was pointing a gun to her knee after all, a lot of people would react in the exact same way.
To be fair, she also didn't have the energy to take offense, busy trying to cram her bile down her throat. Pointing a gun at Sayu was bringing memories, memories of that 13-years-old drug dealer, the one she wasn't able to shoot all these years ago. He was 13, but he looked 10. The gun he was holding was bigger than hers. He was...He was so young...
"Keep it together Misora. Don't waste brain cells over stupid things from the past"
When Sayu finally controlled her laughter, the reality of her situations dropped back to her like a bag of rocks. She was being holding hostage (despite the face she was in a public place, with a bunch of strangers purposely ignoring her, and a wacko presenting herself as L.
The wacko was armed too.
"You must be joking"
Naomi smiled. She was ready to face incredulity. " Don't you believe me?"
"No"
"Why"
And that was actually a very good question. There was no reason why this woman couldn't be L, but come on, she really expected her to just believe her?
"The real L would never present in public"
"Are you sure?" Naomi replied cheekily
" And certainly L would never present to a common high schooler as myself" Sayu kept going.
" Normally that would be true, but when that common high schooler is a Kira suspect, exceptions are made"
What?"
Sayu chuckled again, but this time her laugh, although shaky, was more controlled and mocking " Me, Kira?" Are you serious?"
" My percentage of suspicions towards you is quite low, but yes you are under suspicion of being Kira" Naomi was enjoying a bit the situation too. She was trying to simulate L' speech manners, (including his weird custom of spouting percentages) and it was very entertaining.
" You aren't L. L is the best detective of the world. L would never thought something so ridiculous as me being Kira"
"If you really aren't Kira, I think you wouldn't be opposed to me doing some questions to you, to assure myself that you really aren't Kira. Well I don't think you have a choice anyway" she said redirecting her eyes to the gun still pointing to Sayu's knee. The girl was getting too comfy, and Naomi needed to remind her who was in charge here.
The girl swallowed and nodded, remembering that she just laughed at a woman whose gun was pointing at her. Not the smartest thing, she let herself go with the woman (L?) being so nice and mild-mannered with her. Sayu's eyes widened when she saw the blonde woman who had winked to her, getting a small device out her purse, and tying her fingers with cables connected to that thing.
"My bad. I forgot to tell you that all questions are going to be under a lie detector"
Naomi proceeded to ask a serie of specific questions*, formulated by L himself, answers included. Sayu responded them favorably. So, just as L and Naomi suspected, she wasn't Kira. But Naomi wasn't going to let her know that.
"So did I pass? I mean I passed to test of not being Kira?" Sayu stuttered nervously. After that interrogatory, Sayu was almost sure that the woman in front of her was really L.
"More or less, but you're still under my eye" Naomi looked her straight at the eyes. Time to put the big boys' gloves on. "Sayu Yagami, you and your sister were involved in the uncovering of a secret FBI investigation"
"What are you talking about?"
"You and your sister accused a man of being stalking you two. Isn't true?"
"Yes?"
"Well, that man you accussed was one of the FBi agents assigned to said secret investigation, one that involved the Kira case. He was in charge of spying your family, since the FBI was investigating the families of high ranking NPA officers, since the FBI suspects that Kira has connections to the Japanese Police"
"I didn't...I didn't know that"
"Really?" Nasomi asked skeptically, even if she was sure that Sayu was telling the true. Her body language told her so. Naomi had made enough interrogations to know that.
"Yes"
"And your sister did?"
Sayu licked her lips nervously, remembering that day, she and her sister in the Police station, how she left earlier than Light, because Light telling her that she need to go home because Mom surely was worried, and when Light and Dad finally came home together, and Sayu asked them about the "stalker" Light responded that he was going to be apprended quite soon. Light didn't appear any different, Dad was very shifty-eyed, but she thought that was just his worry produced by a stranger stalking his daughters. She didn't think more of that.
"I don't know"
"Tell me, how did you noticed that that man was stalking you?"
" I saw him outside the gates of my school. I thought he was a father of something. When I came home, my sister had a pciture of him..."
"Wait, you sister had a picture of R..the agent?" Nami's heart almost stopped at her amateur slip, thankkully Sayu seemed too unsettled to notice it.
"Yes... then I told her that I had seen him before, in my school. Then Light blanched and told me that that man was a stalker. The next morning we both went to the Police station"
"And when did she see the agent?"
"In a busjacking, in fact she told Dad that she suspected that he was involved in it because Dad said that the NPA hadn't no information about busjackings"
Naomi drank her mocha. Nothing that Sayu was telling her was new. Apparently Light Yagami didn't ommit anything to the NPA. Nothing was new, except the fact that Light was the first one to notice Ryae following them. In fact, Sayu seemed to not having thought a thing about him until Light told her so. That itself didn't prove anything, just that Light was a very, very observant girl. But explained L's focus on her.
But now they had a little more evidence
"Sayu, where were you past Saturday?"
" I went to To-Ho studios with my sister and a friends of hers"
"How long where you with them?"
"Until past noon. My mother told me that I needed to came back earlier, that I needed to give Light space with her friends. I came back to home I stayed there all day"
"And when did your sister came back to home?"
"Almost 11:00 PM, I think"
Naomi smiled. The results of the autopsy performed in Ryotaro Sakajo* (that was the name of Misa' stalker, his body was indentified by his daughter) showed that his death occurred at around 9PM of that Saturday. The distance between Odaiba and the Yagami's home in Musashi Kosugo was like two hours by car. Based in that time interval, it was highly possible that the unidentified girl in the grainy video from the security cameras in the street was Light.
"And she was with Misa?"
"I don't...know"
"Well, I think you should watch this" Naomi told her, passing her laptop to her. The screen was replaying the video from the security cameras in Odaiba, showing the unidentified girl (probably Light) facing off Misa' stalker, and then she and Misa chatted for a bit before a bus whisked them off.
"That was Misa-Misa" Sayu stated calmly, but her face was pale.
"Yes, that man there was a stalker who intended to kill Misa"
"And she is okay?" Sayu asked worriedly.
"She is. As you can see, the cameras were too far way to get a clear view of anyone except Misa Amane, but given our findings and your testimony, my team and I have reasons to think that the girl in this video was your sister Light Yagami"
"Uh, looks a bit like her...I guess" Sayu muttered dumbly.
Naomi sighed, this was it. The moment of truth.
"And the man who dropped to the floor in the video? He is dead. By heart attack"
Sayu stared blankly at her, until the meaning of her words finally hit her. Her body got still at the insinuation. Accusing her was bad enough. They also suspected that...
They believed that her sister, of all people, was Kira.
Beyond wasn't expecting any visits today. In fact, most days he wasn't expecting one. Most of his social interactions involved L, the very few times he dignified himself to grant him with his non glorious presence, Watari, who sometimes came to give him some luxury items and look at him with a bit of pity and repulsion in his eyes (as he needed the pity of a man who basically picked orphans to treat them as his experiments) and his handler, a buff man around 2 mts with enormous muscles and a full sized Glock 17 on his pants...
When he heard the door of his cell open, he was sure it was either his handler or Watari, since L was busy with cases about extremist, heart-attack based vigilantes. So he was surprised with the person in front of him, to whom he hadn't seen in a very long time. In fact, it was been so long, that it took him a minute to fully recall her. The stilletos, the moisty and creamy lipstick, not a hair out of place. It had been a long time, but her face hardly changed.
"K*, I'm speechless. What are you doing here? And how did you find me?"
"The only people who know about this prison is L, Watari, Roger, the two employees L keeps here, and the first generation. And at this point, the only ones left of that generation are you, me, and L... Well, maybe Z is around somewhere..."
Beyond grinned sadistically, showing his yellow teeth covered with strawberry jam. K shuddered in disgust.
"Not a social visit right?"
"You really are the second best detective. Or wait, more like the fifth, since L is both Eraldo Coil and Deneuve too. And A was always a step beyond you right?" she snidely replied.
He had forgotten how bitchy Kujo was. He entertained the fantasy of strangling her neck, to see her stuck-up exterior transform into a blubbering mess. He smirked. What a pleasant image.
" You certainly enjoy insulting me. Besides that, what else do you want to do?"
"I have a proposition to you"
Beyond raised an eyebrow "Which is it?"
K, as usual, went straight to the point "I can get you out of this place"
Beyond wanted to laugh "You really think you can do that? Wait a sec, why are you speaking about something like that here?" he said looking at the cameras in the cell, filming every move, every word of his.
"Don't worry, I already took care of that" she grinned cryptically looking at the cameras too "I'm more interested in your answer"
Beyond rolled his eyes " What do you think my answer will be? Of course I accept. Are we leaving now?" he said eyeing at the closed door
Kujo denied with the head "I'm afraid not. I have business to attend. But I would be breaking you out of here in a few months. You have my word"
"Sure" Beyond sarcastically agreed. But despite himself, he couldn't help but feel the rush at the idea of finally be free. "But I never thought you, of all people, would be willing to stab L in the back. Whatever you want to do must be extremely important to you. So what's the catch?"
Refreshingly enough, K didn't try to hide the fact that she wasn't breaking him out of prison out of the goodness of her heart " I need you to help me with something"
"Help you in what?"
"In finding Kira. Catching Kira. Before L does"
*No idea if L is a hacker or not in canon, but hey, he learned to fly a helicopter out of the fucking nowhere. So yeah.
*Many of you probably wonder why L (well, Naomi actually) confronts Sayu if L doesn't really suspect Sayu. In the manga, while L was confronting Light, Mogi confronted Kitamura's daughter, claiming to be L. Since Sayu ratted Raye out and was with her sister the day Misa's stalker died, L has more reasons to suspect Sayu than Kitamura's daughter in canon (he probably only did it to appease the Task Force) He not believing her to be Kira is something of a gut instint. He relies in a lot of those in canon (to be fair with him though, his instints are usually right)
*When L met the Task Force for the first time, L did a series of questions (off screen) to assure that none of them were Kira. The questions Naomi asked Sayu were a modified version of those questions. I wanted to write the interrogatory... but I don't have the intelligence to create those questions...
*In the manga/anime Misa's stalker has no name, but in DN live-action movies he is given the name of Ryotaro Sakajo.
*K/Kimiko Kujo doesn't exist in DN manga/anime, she is a character created for DN live-action movies too. A former alumni from Wammy's and a bio terrorist obsessed with cleansing the world, a lot like Poison Ivy from the Batman Mythos
And if someone someone didn't get why L chickened out of telling Light that he is L, it's due to a combination between being fascinated by her, and not being accustomed to telling anyone about his real identity. Also it was a cop out to get L to not reveal himself to Light, by narrative purposes... It's not love...yet