I'm sorry to those I told that the chapter would be up in a few days. Stupid real-life intruding!

Revelation

The line went dead in Light's ear, and he closed his phone slowly and deliberately. The silence in his head and in the apartment was absolute, lending the whole situation an air of unusual solemnity.

He did it.

He had finally asked for help. The phone found its way onto his unmade bed, somehow, and his bare feet carried him to the closet in the hall where his suitcase was stored. Back into the bedroom with it, and he mechanically began opening drawers in his dresser and taking down suits from his closet, meticulously packing them into it to maximize the space he had. One suitcase and his briefcase should be enough. His clothes and his laptop would suffice, since Ryuzaki wasn't likely to require his textbooks or other reading materials.

Before he could stop to really think about what he was doing, he gathered up the clothes along with his toothbrush, comb, shampoo, and the like. It wouldn't do to start contemplating leaving the country and find that he had changed his mind. Not now, not when he had finally made the choice to start changing things.

The cold in his apartment hardly registered despite the fact that he was still wandering around in only his nightshirt. He had closed and locked the suitcase and headed into the kitchen to make coffee when the phone's trill sounded. He answered before he could start dreading speaking on the phone, not surprised to find the number was blocked. It took a moment to remember what he was even supposed to say when answering the phone, so all that came out was a lame-sounding "Hello?" Somehow pathetic English was still better than a falsely perky 'moshi moshi?'

"Light-kun! I have your flight information." Ryuzaki had ignored Light's English and continued in Japanese. It was somehow better to hear the other man's strange voice rather than his own wearing Ryuzaki's skin in his dreams.

"Ryuzaki, wait." Something had just occurred to him, surprisingly, for it should have been the first thing he thought of. "What do I need to tell my boss? About--"

"Nothing. I've already spoken to him." Light blinked in surprise.

"Oh."

"He believes you are being borrowed to work on a case for my boss. It's taken care of. Have you flown anywhere yet?"

"No." It was mildly confusing now to deal with Ryuzaki's disjointed conversation, since he was a year out of practice and his wits had been ground dull against the NPA's mindless workload. His mind was still sleep-fogged without caffeine as well.

"I was able to get you a direct flight from Tokyo to Heathrow, so at least you won't have any stops. You'll just need to have your passport and go through customs when you get here, then look for Watari in the main baggage claim area. He'll be in a dark suit with a fedora, not the butler outfit you last saw him in. If you don't see him, call the number he gave you on a pay phone."

"Alright." Was he really doing this? Really leaving the country to work with people who were little more than strangers to him?

He shut down that train of thought before it could make him start doubting.

Heh. Train.

He could hear another man's voice faintly in the background, and it might have been Watari's, but he couldn't make out the words.

"What have you told your family?" Ryuzaki surprised him with another off-the-wall inquiry.

"Nothing," Light said before the question really registered.

"Watari would like you to be sure to tie up loose ends with them without being too specific, mainly so we aren't suspected of kidnapping you." Light felt a half-smile form at the thought and he pulled out a pad of paper and a pen.

"I'll tell them something. What's my flight information?"

"It departs at 2:15, rather 1415, flight #2459 from Gate A6. It's a 13 hour and 45 minute flight, you get dinner and breakfast, and you'll land here at 1900 that same day."

"And..." Light paused, not wanting to sound rude as he wrote the numbers down. "I'm sorry I didn't ask earlier, but... the ticket--"

"Don't, Light-kun. We're hiring you, at least for the next year, so we'll pay for anything related to your training." Light felt his face color slightly at the thought that he might have insulted him, but a ticket like that could well be half a million yen or more. He had plenty of money in savings, mainly because he hadn't been spending any of it on anything other than bills, but a ticket to London that same day? It must have cost a fortune.

Speaking of pay, was Ryuzaki implying he would be earning a paycheck during this training because he was 'hired'? The thought hadn't even crossed his mind. He thought room and board would be his only compensation; though his lack of concern for even finding out the arrangements would have alarmed him in years past, now he brushed it off.

"Should I bring anything in particular?"

"Only what you want for yourself."

"Alright. I'll see you later today, then." There didn't seem to be any more to say now that things were decided.

"Yes, today." The line was silent for a moment, but Light had the feeling there was more to the conversation and didn't hang up just yet. Ryuzaki's voice sounded different when he asked after a time, "Light-kun?"

"Yes?" He waited, but again, no sound was forthcoming for several moments.

"Bye." The line went dead abruptly. He looked at it, puzzled, before putting it in his briefcase. Ryuzaki had no concept of socially acceptable behavior, still. Hopefully his frank disregard for social norms would be refreshing rather than merely abrasive in the future.

A few minutes later the sound of his coffeepot gurgling to life mingled with the rich smell of coffee. He stood in the kitchen, staring half-seeing out the small window over the sink as he waiting for his breakfast to finish brewing. It was still quite dark outside with wintry dawn hours away, but he was too awake to go back to sleep. Fingers curled around the chilly lip of the sink as he contemplated what to do until he could get to the airport.

He could shower after this and get dressed, then go see his parents. He owed them an explanation, if nothing else, for missing his birthday with them.

Some way to celebrate his birthday, setting out on an international journey to go train for something that he hadn't even asked for details about. It was a thousand times better than staying here, though, so in a way, this was the most significant thing he had done in years.

One cup of steaming coffee and a long shower later, he had dressed in what he hoped was comfortable traveling clothes, his briefcase and suitcase waiting by the door. So few things, but without his books, he didn't really have anything in his apartment. It had stayed so empty, merely becoming a place to exist between shifts at work. He would ask his parents to have someone pack up his things for him since there was so little to store.

It was only about 6 AM, but he picked up the phone he hadn't handled so frequently in months and dialed his father's number, wanting to get this part of his trip over with as he knelt before the refrigerator. He pulled out the food that would spoil and tossed it in the trash while listening to the phone ring. He had already stopped feeling attached to this place, ready to say goodbye to it all.

"Son?" his father was wide awake, which made sense, since he would be leaving for work in less than an hour.

"Father, I need to speak with you. Could I come home?"

"O-of course. Do you need me to come get you?"

"I'll take a taxi. I'll be home soon."

"Alright, son. Just... be careful."

"I'll see you later." Light disconnected and called Information before he could change his mind, asking for a taxi service and arranging to get picked up. He was in no mood to deal with buses and the trains would be starting to get packed with students and other commuters already. With any luck, maybe the United Kingdom would be less crowded.

It occurred to him that he hadn't even contemplated where he was going. He had guessed that Ryuzaki had an English background given how he spoke the language, but flying to Heathrow had confirmed the location, unless there were further stops along the way that he wasn't telling Light about.

Shrugging slightly, he decided that it really didn't matter as he buttoned a khaki-colored coat over his thinner clothes, shouldered his bags, and headed downstairs after closing and locking the door to his old life behind him.

Soichiro kept checking out the window in the kitchen for a glimpse of Light coming. It was only a feeling, but he had ignored his gut instincts for too long when dealing with his son, and something was telling him that whatever Light was coming for was significant. After all, when was the last time Light had come home of his own volition? Probably months ago, when he had come home for Sayu's birthday. He smiled sardonically, thinking that if his family had more birthdays they would see more of each other.

Sachiko had caught on to his tension and was fluttering about the kitchen, as lost as himself as to why Light was coming home in the morning. She had put together a small breakfast for him out of the leftovers since they both doubted he had eaten anything. Sayu was probably still asleep since she had been up late studying for an exam that day, and Soichiro wondered if it was worth waking her for, but ultimately decided to wait for Light to arrive.

Finally, a taxi stopped outside their house, and to his surprise, Light dragged out his laptop bag and a suitcase before paying the driver. Was he moving back in? Surely not, for his son never did something so impetuous no matter how much Soichiro might have wanted that.

He slipped on his regular shoes to go outside and help Light in case he had more to carry, but when he opened the door, Light was already there, his hand raised to knock. He paused before running the hand through his hair and glancing to the side.

"Can I come in?"

"Y-yes, come in, son. Have you had breakfast?" Of all the things he could ask, this was the least important, but it was so much easier to take care of basic needs than actually ask what was going on. It was instinctual to avoid the messy emotional issues and take care of the survival ones. He picked up the suitcase waiting by Light's side and carried it in before Light could take it.

"Not yet," his son stepped inside, not yet removing his coat or shoes. He seemed incredibly uncomfortable, but his voice betrayed nothing. "Can we talk?"

"Sure. Do you-- where do you want to--?" Soichiro wasn't prepared for this, and it probably showed in how awkward he sounded. His palms were getting sweaty as well. He might be a cop, willing to handle a gun to defend strangers and face down criminals, but he was ill-equipped for even a simple conversation with his genius son.

"Why don't you two go in the living room?" Sachiko took over, stepping from her place unnoticed behind him. "I'll bring you something to eat, Light. Coffee?"

"Please," he said immediately.

"Do you want just your father, or should I wake Sayu?" Soichiro looked over at her gratefully.

"Go ahead and wake her. I have a lot to say and I only want to say it once." Light only sounded tired, not willing to waste words. Sachiko patted his arm just for a moment before stepping away. Light glanced overlong at his arm before Soichiro held out a hand for his coat, waking him out of his reverie.

"This probably isn't the time to say it, but happy birthday, Light." A flicker of mixed bemusement and disbelief passed across his face, and Soichiro wondered again how his son had become such a stranger. Nothing about him looked familiar anymore; his smile was hollow and his eyes were dead, non-reactive.

"Thanks, Dad." He left his shoes by the door and followed Soichiro into the living room. Not liking the quiet, but knowing Light wouldn't want to explain himself more than once, he turned on the television to cover up the silence, watching the familiar news scroll by as they waited for Sayu and Sachiko.

Sachiko brought a smaller breakfast than the rest of them had eaten, since she too had seen how little Light ate, and they waited again in that awkward silence until Sayu came downstairs. She was still rubbing the sleep out of her eyes, but she was wearing something other than her night clothes. There was something in her other hand, half-hidden behind her loose overshirt.

"Good morning, brother!" she greeted exuberantly in defiance of her just-woken state, stifling a yawn as she moved to the chair that Light was sitting in. "Happy twenty-fourth birthday," she lilted as she set the box in his lap now that he was done eating his meager breakfast.

"Thanks," Light replied, sounding as awkward as they all felt at the oddness.

"You can open it later. I just wanted to give it to you now," she assured him as she curled up in her favorite papasan. "What's going on?"

"Um," Light said, taking a sip of his coffee. "I should have asked this first, but can you have my things at the apartment packed up and put into storage?" This was vaguely directed at where Soichiro and Sachiko were sitting on the sofa, his eyes not really looking in their direction.

Sachiko started to ask something as she leaned forward, but Soichiro interrupted, "We can, or we can just put them back in your room here."

"Where are you going?" Sayu asked, her face drawn now with concern.

"I'll tell you, but first I needed to know if my things will be taken care of. I can pay for it. I need to have the lease canceled at my apartment too, since the office won't open for a few hours." Light wasn't looking at any of them, his gaze somewhere to the side of the now-muted television.

"I'll take care of it." Soichiro said decisively, trying to ignore the rising tension he could feel at the strangeness of this situation. "You don't have to pay."

Light nodded, and when he spoke again, his voice was inflectionless, as though he was reciting a speech. "Please don't interrupt me after this. I have a lot to say, and I need to get it out all at once or I won't be able to say it at all." Like pausing a movie, he could see his wife and daughter still, barely breathing, much like himself as he felt that knot of tension solidify into a near-painful cramp. Light rubbed at the longer hair lying on the back of his neck for a moment, but when he looked up, his demeanor changed completely. His eyes were intense, unblinking and fixed on Sachiko.

"Mother, years ago you said I might have a problem, and you were right. I do have depression; I've had it for years. I kept thinking it would get better when I graduated, went to college, or started work, but nothing made it easier to live with. After my graduation ceremony, I felt hopeless about the future because nothing was there anymore to distract me from it." He took a breath, his words coming out in a seeming breathless rush yet sounding nearly rehearsed as he recited it like a story about someone else.

"I never met Ryuzaki before that day, and he and his friend found me after I got sick and took me back to their hotel until they could contact you in the morning. Two weeks later, you know, Mother, that I went out and got drunk. I didn't know how to yet, but I knew that night that I wanted to kill myself. Not now, Mother, please." His voice grew more strained on the last when a gasp wrung itself out of Sachiko's throat.

Soichiro didn't look, but he could hear whispered words that sounded like "my baby" before she covered her mouth with her hand. He could see Sayu's stricken look from the corner of his eye, but he blindly patted Sachiko's arm, unable to look away from the still completely detached look on his son's face. That knot of tension had burst, leaving him unable to do anything but sit and listen to this sick confession, any words he might have said somewhere far away as he sat there, powerless.

"Ryuzaki found me again that day. I'm sure he was looking for me that time, but he said he wanted to interview me for a job." Soichiro blinked, but the thought he had skittered away, chased away by his son's continuing dispassionate words. "We met for dinner the next day to talk about it, and not only did he know that I was suicidal, but he proved that my argument was flawed and I wouldn't go through with it. I turned the job down anyway because I didn't want his help. Right after that, I started at the NPA."

Interview? What is significant about that word?

"I'm sure you've noticed things have not gotten better in the last year, but Ryuzaki's assistant left me with his number in case I changed my mind, and this morning, I called Watari to--"

"Watari? His name was Watari?!" He saw Sachiko jump at his interjection, but Light merely looked bored and slightly annoyed at being interrupted, his eyes focusing on him instead of his mother.

"That was the name he gave me. Do you know him?"

"No, I think it just sounded familiar," which was a complete lie. "Please go on, Light, I'm sorry."

"As I was saying, I just called Watari and said I wanted the job after all. Ryuzaki said for me to get to Tokyo International at noon, and I have a flight out this afternoon. I'll be gone for a year, it seems." He stopped, looking back at his coffee, seemingly finished speaking.

Silence reigned for a few moments while they digested the news.

"I thought I should let you know why I wasn't going to make dinner this evening, and not to worry." Light's dismissive listlessness was back.

Like bursting a bubble, their frozen forms broke.

"Not to worry?" Sachiko mimicked in a much higher, strangled voice. "Light, why-- couldn't you have told us before it came to this?"

"There was nothing you could have done." There was no cruelty in his voice, only that weariness that pervaded his actions and showed in his sparing use of words. Light wasn't trying to hurt her, but he wasn't going to spare her feelings either.

Sachiko's hands wrung each other in her lap, and Soichiro knew her inability to fix the problem frustrated her, not to mention probably scared her since Light had been so miserable for so long. That had changed, since he had confessed this all to them, right? The fact that he had asked for help meant that things were going to change, so he didn't have to worry about Light dying by his own hand anymore... right?

Changing gears, he decided to find out if his growing suspicions were true.

"So, Light, you said that you had never met Ryuzaki before your graduation, a few days before he interviewed you?" Light shook his head as Sachiko looked at him questioningly for asking about something so trivial.

"No, he was a complete stranger."

"And Ryuzaki had someone with him named Watari?" Light nodded, his eyes still dull with disinterest. He searched back in his memory to when they had picked him up after he had been out all night. "Was Ryuzaki the boy we saw in the hotel with you? Dark hair and eyes, with no shoes?" Another nod.

"Do you know either of them? He said he heard about me from things you said at work, but you didn't recognize him."

"I think he worked there for a few days, but it's not important. He never said what the job was?"

"I still don't know, exactly, but I'm willing to try something new."

L had lied to him. He was certain of it.

Light flinched when Sayu appeared next to him, her hand resting on his arm. Neither of them had noticed her slipping out of her seat, but she surprised them all by saying nothing and just squeezing into Light's chair with him. She lay her head on his shoulder and just sat there, her eyes not meeting any of theirs. Light swallowed and looked uncomfortable, but he didn't push her away.

Soichiro took advantage of his distraction to review the evidence he had, the facts scrolling before his mind's eye. The timing was too perfect regarding L's own inquiry about being able to test Light, and Light's subsequent interview with a stranger a few days later. L had said that he would have no time to question him, but he wondered if he only lied because Light had said no and to keep him and Light from figuring out his identity if Light described his interviewer. The name Watari was too coincidental, and though Watari had been with Light, he had not come downstairs or given them a number with which to contact him when Light was in the hotel. Additionally, was someone as young and unkempt as Ryuzaki not only affluent enough for a room at one of the best hotels in Tokyo, but so unconcerned with his appearance that he would wander around such a place looking like that? He said he had heard about Light from work? Easily done, if he was listening on a computer.

It all made sense now. It was honestly shocking that the great, internationally famous detective L was someone so young, but it would make sense then for him to conceal his appearance, for who would take him seriously? He needed a much more imposing spokesman, like Watari, to be his face.

He smiled a little to himself and squeezed his wife's hand. Light turned his head to listen to something Sayu was saying, so he risked a glance at Sachiko to let her know things would be alright. If Light was going to train with the world's greatest detective, he would definitely get out of this slump and find something far more interesting to do with his life. It made him proud, and also made him more willing to let Light go despite the frightening suddenness of it all. She looked back at him a little unsurely, but ultimately trusting him.

After that, Soichiro called in to work to say that he would be in later that day since he had family matters to attend to. They did some preliminary arrangements for Light's things to be taken care of, for they would have to separate his few possessions from what had already been furnished in the apartment. Light didn't look or act any different than he had the day before, except for not making so many references to being tired, but he could be persuaded to talk sometimes, which was already an improvement.

Sayu hugged Light fiercely before she left for her exam, and Soichiro knew that if she hadn't had an important test that day, she would have happily ditched her classes. As it was, he saw the tears she wiped away as she left.

The morning was surreal. They were letting go of a formerly suicidal, still-depressed son and letting him go to a foreign country with almost no warning. Light was an adult and able to make his own decisions, but if Soichiro stopped to think about it, it was still alarming. His only consolation was who it was that was hiring him. Surely L could be no fool.

He brushed aside Light's protests that he could get a taxi to the airport, and he and Sachiko loaded his meager belongings into the car and took him there, unwilling to let go of him any sooner than they must. He knew Light had never flown, but he would never have guessed as Light checked in and made all of his preparations. When questioned, Light admitted that the ticket had been bought for him, but he wouldn't let Soichiro see it to know where Light was going. Having worked in the intelligence field for years, Soichiro could understand the need for keeping some information from him, especially if it involved L.

When they stood near the entrance to the gates, ready to let Light truly go out into the world and out from under any shelter they could offer him as his parents, he pulled Light aside. Light had looked more than a little lost all morning since none of them were often physically affectionate with each other, especially him. Part of Light seemed too aloof, too untouchable for something like that, but his news as well as his sudden departure, on his birthday no less, had made the closeness much more important.

Even now, he seemed to be slowly working his sleeve out of Soichiro's grasp, so he let go of Light before he could get too uncomfortable. What he was going to do was probably wrong, but he couldn't help but think L deserved it for lying to him, a worried father with a very beloved son.

"Light, what I'm going to tell you is probably classified, and you can't ever tell anyone else unless he gives you leave to do so." Light stopped looking at the ground and met his gaze, recognizing the gravity of the situation.

Soichiro leaned in, unwilling to even give a random passerby access to the information.

"I thought you should know who you'll be working with. The one who's going to train you, this 'Ryuzaki'... Ryuzaki is L, Light."

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A/N - No face-to-face interaction between our favorite genii in this chapter, but good things come to those who wait (supposedly).

Sorry, DreyaCira, that this posted while you were gone, but thanks for listening last week, and thank you, recipe for insanity, for reminding me to be a writer and not lose this opportunity, amongst other things. You two have been wonderful for me. Sorry, sappy moment!

Thanks to everyone who took the time to answer the questions last chapter! You really blew me away with the feedback, and I think I still haven't responded to everyone. You were a great help, critique, and encouragement to keep writing. If I have more questions, I'll ask them later! Thanks for reading!