L looked at the other beside him, who was sitting on a slightly-mouldy chair he'd managed to find in the must-infested kitchen of the apartment. Being chained to Light now meant that he had to be within closer range, and he supposed a little company wasn't so bad either, regardless of said company being a serial killer of questionable homicidal status. When you were L, you couldn't really afford to be choosy with your friends.

It had been a good few hours now since he'd had to lead the other down to the public toilet down the road, preventing about two separate escape attempts in the process. The sky outside was finally beginning to lighten.

"Interesting," L said. "This article thinks that you're a harbinger of evil sent to bring the world to ruin."

"I can't read French, so I suppose I'll just take your word for it."

It was about a kitten born with two tails, but who needed to know that?

Surveying a different screen close to his side, L noticed something interesting all of a sudden and turned to focus his attention on it. It was displaying the Japanese occult board he'd frequented when Kira's location had been confirmed.

I am Kira.

It was a topic made by a user whose IP L didn't recognise; certainly not Light's. Blatantly attention-grabbing topic title aside, L found himself interested and decided to have a look.

[KIRA]
Posted 03/10/23

10/25, 10/26. 10/27.

The proof will appear.

The post was indeed very short, with a huge burst of responses either disbelieving, panicking or worshiping. L did a quick check of other countries' boards, and could not find the same post on them.
Placing a hand to his mouth, he leaned in and looked closer at the screen. October 25th. That would be tomorrow.

"What are you so focused on now? L." That tone of resentment in the other's voice was becoming awfully endearing.

L changed the webpage. "Something intriguing," he replied, "that I may want to look into if anything happens."

Light raised an eyebrow, but seemed to decide not to press on the matter for now.
In fact, he was beginning to look rather tired again, despite the short nap earlier. L had long since noticed the beginnings of dark circles under his eyes and signs of tiredness and stress – Light hid it well around others, so it was natural L would act as irritating as possible in order to disrupt that mask - back when he'd been observing him at school. It wasn't such a stretch to think that Light didn't sleep too well thanks to all the mental exertion. This was somebody killing upwards of hundreds of people a week, and considering just six had been a stretch for him at one point, who knew how much he had been pushing himself by the time he worked his way up to that number?

"Kira-kun is sleepy," L decided to point out.

The other raised his drooping eyelids and perked up almost immediately. "Of course n-" He was cut off by his own yawn, and L grinned in amusement.

"Do I need to carry him to his sleeping bag?"

"No, but you do need to shut up."

"Perhaps I would take Kira-kun seriously if he looked a little less like a grumpy kitten right now."

"Perhaps Kira-kun would be willing to fall asleep in the same room as you if you looked a little less like a freaky basement dweller." However hard he was trying to fight it, however, Light's eyes were closing again of their own accord, and his head soon flopped down on the desk next to the keyboard.

This is certainly ideal, L thought to himself as he got up from his chair to carefully pick up the other, who now looked like a less grumpy kitten, and carry him to the corner of the room. Now I'll get a chance to test out my new theory.

He placed the already-fast-asleep Light down on the sleeping bag and then unlocked his own cuff, attaching it again to the radiator. Before getting back up, L caught a glimpse of the other's sleeping face, already surrounded by a very attractive puddle of drool, and couldn't help but grin.

But I guess I'd better let him sleep for a while first. God knows how much he needs it.

Light woke sometime later, unable to recall the last time he'd felt properly rested like this. He was soon shivering in the cold air, however, cursing to find himself placed on the sleeping bag and chained again to the radiator. The room was almost pitch black, and he could hardly see his own hands in front of him – though the silver glinting of the chain-link was easy to pick out. It was clear, then, that he'd been asleep for a long time, since he'd nodded off early in the morning...

He could hear unfamiliar voices behind the thin walls, a rustling at the door.

"I'll go in first," Light heard from one of them.

A few minutes later, Light heard the door forced open. In the darkness, he could only just make out the figure of somebody walking inside. Backing even closer into his corner, he tensed, hoping that he'd be hidden in the dark and wouldn't be noticed. If things came to the worst, would he be able to kill this stranger and defend himself?

Light saw a flash of steel and stilled himself, holding his breath. That person was right in front of him. Surely he could...

"There's someone here. Don't worry, I'll do it."

He could hear footsteps nearing the corner.

Light closed his eyes, trying as hard as possible to focus, but nothing was happening. He couldn't feel a thing.

A cold blade pressed against his throat.

He tried again, straining, knowing that if he could just feel that familiar burning, he'd be able to make the other drop dead in a second -

The knife lowered, and his assailant pulled away. Confused, Light turned to look up at the man.

The stranger pulled his hood down. "Happy birthday, Kira-kun."

Light couldn't see the other's face properly, but that voice was unmistakable. "L!" He yelled. "You -"

"I know it's a bit early but I thought I'd surprise you." L stared into space oddly for a second, nibbling his thumb thoughtfully. "I'm lying. It's actuallymy birthday soon, but there isn't anybody to surprise me, even though I'm such a kind and generous person."

Light glowered. "What the hell was that about? You're trying to take poetic revenge and make me have a heart attack or something? Oh wait, I suppose it's already been thoroughly established that you get a good kick out of torturing me anyway, so there's that."

L crouched down in front of him, and Light could tell even in the darkness that he'd put his usual 'observation' face on. "So it's like I thought."

"What is?"

"Kira-kun has lost his psychic ability for the time being," said L, beginning to unravel the thickly wrapped scarf from around his neck. "You aren't displaying any signs of headaches or any other sort of pain from mental exertion like your earlier subsequent attempts to kill me. That means that you can't even access the power inside your head. Is that correct?"

Light remained still, and the other took the opportunity to unlink the cuff from the radiator and place it on his own wrist again after he'd taken his coat off.

He didn't know what to think about this idea of actually communicating with L, of placing a certain level of trust in him in order to cooperate for now.
But perhaps if he did it, he could get the other to lower his guard. Regardless of anything, Light was powerless at the moment, and unsure of whether his ability would ever come back. If he managed to escape, they wouldn't be able to prove he was Kira, at the very least. For now, figuring out how to do that was the priority.

"It seems so," Light decided to reply.

L got up, heading for the desk, which meant Light was forced to get himself up and follow.
There was a hum as L turned on his monitors, a white glow soon bathing the room and illuminating him. After that ordeal, Light was almost glad to see his face, to verify that it was really Ryuzaki there and not some random robber.

"And whether that is indeed the complete story coming from you, Kira-kun, is up to me to now contemplate," L mused as he sat down in his chair and opened up a box of cake he'd just got.

Sighing, Light sat down in the chair opposite. "What do you even do, aside from sit there and browse Kira articles? You don't exactly need five screens for that, Ryuzaki."

"It's research, Kira-kun. I need to know what's going on outside here in regards to Kira case news, of course. Normally, I would be looking for paranormal cases that catch my attention, but obviously, I'm rather focused on this one at the moment."

"Ah yes, only very important, relevant information. Like that matcha Swiss roll baking recipe you have up on that one there?"

"We all have hobbies, Kira-kun. Some happen to be more savoury than others." said L with an accusing glance.

Light scowled at that, not in the mood for any of this after that bullshit he was just put through.

Unfortunately, the fact that the two of them were now linked by a chain was more of an afterthought that occurred to him once he'd already punched Ryuzaki again and sent him flying off his chair.

"Kira-kun is ungrateful."

Light hissed, not looking the other in the eye as long white hands placed a plaster over a particularly-nasty swelling on his face from the aftermath of their fight.

"I go out of my way to go and get him some plasters out of the kindness of my heart, lest I point out who started that whole fight, and he decides to repay me with the silent treatment."

Light winced as L stuck on another plaster over a particularly sore spot. "I'm not."

"You were."

"Maybe it's just because you seem to have no concept of personal space, Ryuzaki."

"Oh, so it's not the Hello Kitties?"

L suppressed the urge to grin as Light's face flushed red.

"It is most certainly not the Hello Kitties."

L admired the cute patterned plasters that now adorned the other's face with a small smile, as well as the grumpy expression underneath them. "Well, I'm glad to know that's the case, because I was worried it might have been."

Light grumbled under his breath.

L's own face was covered in bruises too, and he'd halfheartedly stuck a plaster or two on it, but aside from cleaning up a bloody nose before going out to buy – er... acquire them in the first place, he hadn't really bothered. It didn't really seem to hurt much, anyway.
Light was now staring rather intently at one of the monitors on the desk, and L turned to see what he was so fixated on. It was a page where many recent news articles were displayed.

Kira's reappearance? More mysterious deaths!

Three people dead claim Kira was watching, dropping down together! Kira sends a message?

"The Second Kira," L mused to himself as he read the titles, instantly thinking back to that post he saw on the occult board yesterday.

"You know something about this?" Light asked, turning to him. "It's what you were interested in yesterday, wasn't it?"

L nodded at him, opening one of the articles and reading it. Three people, criminals from different corners of the globe who had constantly evaded capture, but who were not known to have been affiliated, had mysteriously appeared together in the middle of a square, where they all stood in a line, screaming that Kira was watching them before collapsing and dying at the same time.
L suspected without a doubt that Light was currently weighing up whether to risk attempting to escape and find this new Kira. What Light didn't know, however, was that this person had used that name intentionally, not calling themselves a Second Kira, but Kira.
While IP evidence had been scrambled, the fact that the Second Kira had posted only on a Japanese Kira site suggested that their location could also be Japan. If true, it was entirely possible that the two would be able to meet.

He suddenly remembered M-ko, the girl who had claimed people died when she thought of them long before the Kira case was known to the public, and her desire to 'meet' Kira herself. It was true that he'd denounced M-ko as deluded, but this second Kira had shown the proof of their power clear as day...

It was the only lead L currently had, and he was prepared to follow it. He would wait for tomorrow, the second date that the post mentioned, and see what pattern would unfold.

But... whether to reveal about this situation to Light or not? The other would undoubtedly want to find this second Kira just as much as L did, and perhaps L could use that to his advantage, convincing him to combine their efforts...
He would just have to make sure that under any circumstances, the two Kiras would never form an alliance. Well, L had already succeeded in pissing off one mass-murderer to an inhuman extent, so surely he could manage it, right?

"Light-kun," L said, knowing the use of the other's real name would make him more cooperative, "I'll show you what I saw. You might find it interesting too."