Ahh, this is so late; I'm sorry! I was at an anime convention all day today, and I just barely got back…so go easy on me with this one, please! I should really keep this for tomorrow and edit a bit more thoroughly (because this chapters is clunky, I know it's clunky, but no matter how many times I run through it I can't seem to get it under control) but I have no self-control, so here it is!
Thanks for the support!
Chapter 21: The Knight of Swords
The Knight of Swords: signifies the commencing of a new project or phase.
"I'm going to start with an easy question, Miss Amane. Are you the second Kira?"
As expected, there was no response. Misa simply stared at the table before her, entire form limp beneath the ropes binding her to the chair.
L tried again. "Misa, I know that you are the second Kira. I have more than enough evidence to convict you here and now. But if you give me a confession, show some sign of remorse, then I swear to you that I will be able to keep you off death row."
She still didn't seem convinced. Her head shook slightly back and forth, but there was no sign that she intended to give a verbal response.
"Let me spell this out for you," L said, leaning forward in an attempt to intimidate his suspect further. "This is very serious. You were found at the exact location the second Kira claimed she'd be—and while that could be written off as circumstantial, the fact remains that ten of my officers dropped dead of heart attacks mere moments after attempting to arrest you. And of course, we can't forget the lovely fact that the those officers were threatening you just before they died."
Misa shook her head again, harder this time.
"Your silence is doing you no favors, Amane. All I see is someone giving in to the urge to deny the truth that will eventually lead to their conviction."
The girl remained silent, clearly knowing that it was smarter to hold her tongue.
"Misa, this won't end well if you won't confess. Like I mentioned, I already have a plethora of evidence against you. It's circumstantial, yes—but circumstantial or not, it will be enough to have you convicted. At this point, the Japanese government is so desperate to terminate Kira that they'll eat up anything I tell them and beg for more. If I say you're Kira, they'll listen—and without that confession, I can't make the case that you feel remorse for your actions." He was playing a dangerous game, threatening Misa with death while her shinigami was presumably in the room. His mask would protect him, but for how long?
"I'm not Kira," Misa said dully, as if she herself knew it was pointless to deny it. She'd messed up, despite her obvious intelligence, and now she was backed into a corner. "And even if I am, there's not enough evidence to convict me."
"And I'm telling you that there is. If what I've already given you isn't enough, then all you have to do is wait until the report comes back from forensics on those tapes you sent in to Sakura TV."
"I didn't send in the tapes."
"But you did. And once the report comes back, I'll be able to match the carpet fibers and fragments of human hair found in the adhesive used to seal the envelopes with materials collected from your apartment, as well as that of the friend who helped you make the tapes." L felt a spike of smugness as Misa's eyes widened in alarm. Reading the story in the Death Note again has really paid off. If I hadn't read it, then I wouldn't have known to put top priority on that forensics report. It could have taken a few days longer to come back, and that would be a few precious days knocked off my remaining time. My scheduled death is only a few months away, after all. L said, "Surely you realize you're cornered."
"Who was that person?" Misa asked, clearly attempting to redirect the conversation.
"I assume you mean Light, but that's not important right now. What is important is that you tell me the truth."
Misa's jaw visibly clenched. "I'm already telling you the truth."
"Fine, then. I'll give you another chance to tell me the truth. How is it that you kill?" He knew, of course, that Misa used the Death Note to commit her murders. Again, it was merely for the sake of formality that he asked. If he had it on tape, there was no way anyone could deny that Misa was the second Kira.
"I've already told you that I don't kill!"
She kept spouting denial after denial. She sounded like Light—but with far inferior intelligence, of course. Fine, then. Let's go for the shock tactic. "I know about your shinigami and your Death Note, Amane. I know how the notebook works, and I know that you have a one of your own that you've been using to kill people."
"W-what? You have—" she cut herself off abruptly. "Shinigami? Death Note? What are those things?"
"You know exactly what I'm talking about. And if you care about preserving your own life in the slightest, then you'll tell me where you've hidden your Death Note. I know you didn't have it on you in Aoyama, so it must be either hidden in your apartment or somewhere else entirely."
"I don't understand—"
"There's really no use in denying it. If you won't give me an exact location, I'll simply send a team of officers to your apartment and have it torn apart. You see, the instant I learned your name I did a bit of research on you. What's funny is that there is no written record of you entering Japan. According to the airline database, you never left America. And yet, here you are. You've even gotten yourself an apartment quite close to To-Oh University under a false identity that I managed to trace back to you. That's a bit suspicious, don't you think? Someone mysteriously arrives in Japan and just so happens to be present when ten people—all of whom were threatening that someone—are killed via heart attack."
Misa remained silent, most likely because she couldn't argue against such obvious evidence.
L, deciding to take a different approach now that Misa was cornered, took a small step back as to allow his suspect room to breathe. He needed to come off as truthful and genuine if he wanted Misa to believe him. "Misa," he said softly, wincing for the hundredth time at the familiarity of using her first name. "Like I said, things aren't looking good for you. If I were to send you to court right now with just the information I've acquired, I could have you sentenced to death. But I don't want to do that. It's clear to me that you don't deserve to die, not even after what you've done." He fought to keep a straight face, thinking, yeah right, she deserves death more than anyone. "I'm going to offer you the same thing I've offered the other Kira. If you confess, I'll make sure you get fair punishment rather than death. You won't be mistreated, I assure you." Well, she wouldn't be mistreated so long as L's plan to gain a confession worked. If she still refused to confess, then he had no qualms about harming her. He'd simply have to find a way around her shinigami.
Misa suddenly seemed quite interested in L's words—but not for the reason he would have thought. "Kira?" she asked, sounding almost stunned. "You have him?"
Ah, of course…she's taken with Kira, even if she hasn't been brought to the obsessive levels displayed in the notebook's tale. It makes sense that she'd want him to be safe. Perhaps I can hold his captivity over her. If I need to, I can force Misa to watch me 'kill' Light the same way I killed Takada. That will break her for sure. "Ah, forgive me for not telling you. Yes, I have the original Kira in custody. In fact, he's been under my care for quite some time now. That's how I know about your method of killing, you understand."
"Is he okay?" Misa asked, visibly worried. "What have you done to him?"
L waved a hand noncommittally. "Nothing he can't handle, I assure you. Tell me, Misa, do you admire Kira?"
"Of course I do," she responded quietly. "I've never denied it. Kira killed the people that murdered my parents, how could I not admire him?"
Funny. If I told her that I was Kira—or at least, one of them—she'd join me without a second thought. But Light, the person I actually want to join me, doesn't even show the slightest sign of agreeing to work with me. Not until he 'trusts' me, that is. "And you would work with him if given the chance?"
"Without even a moment of doubt."
Perfect. Well, she's told me enough to make me certain that she's the second Kira—not that I didn't already know that. And I was telling the truth when I said the courts would sentence her to death based only on the evidence I've already collected. If I want to keep her alive and keep Rem happy, though, I'll need that confession….hmm… Well, in any case, I should at least try to squeeze the notebook's location out of her before I cart her off to prison. Once I have her Death Note, I can decide where to go from there.
There were several options, really. He could send her to jail after revealing her as Kira to the public, keep her identity a secret, kill her himself…the possibilities went on and on. But before he could do any of that, he had to get his hands on that notebook, and he had to deal with that shinigami. It was especially crucial for L to get his hands on the Death Note, for if he couldn't find the notebook, then it would most likely be found by another human wherever Misa had hidden it. And if that happened, then he'd have yet another Kira on his hands. He could not let that happen.
"I want to see Kira," Misa said, interrupting L's thoughts.
L almost laughed. "You're crazy if you think I'm bring the second Kira to the original. Although, if you really want to see him, then you telling me where you've hidden the notebook may facilitate that coming to pass."
The model's nose wrinkled as she protested, "I told you, I don't know what notebook you're talking about."
"If you want to see Kira, you'll tell me where your Death Note is."
"I won't!"
"You seem to be forgetting that Kira is in my custody. Would you prefer that I torture him in front of you in order to gain your notebook's location? I know how much you admire him, wouldn't you hate to cause him pain?" An ingenuous threat, but an effective one nonetheless. The fearful expression on Misa's face was almost comical as L's words reached her.
"You can't torture people!" she burst out. "That's against the law, even for a police officer!"
I had this exact conversation with Light, L recalled with vague amusement. But in any case, this is obviously an act. She has the shinigami eyes, according to the notebook. She can see my name—or rather, she saw my name in the café, in all likelihood. "I am not a police officer. As you well know, I am someone with far more power."
"What the hell are you talking about?" she snapped cattily. "If you're not a police officer then why are you holding me here. What authority do you have?"
L waited to see some glimmer of nervousness, the slightest hint of worry that would give Misa's words away as nothing more than a façade, a lie to trick L into thinking she didn't have the eyes, that she couldn't see his true identity. But all he saw was striking sincerity and a wealth of confused frustration. Misa wasn't acting. And that could mean only one thing.
"You don't have the eyes," he realized aloud. "You never accepted the shinigami eyes." It was just another discrepancy in the story. Something L had changed had led to Misa rejecting the eyes. He winced, wondering how drastically he may have altered the future.
Misa gave no response.
"Very well," L said somewhat shakily, stepping back. "If you have nothing else to say to me, I'll be leaving."
Still, there was no response.
L warned, "I'm going to send a team of officers to your apartment to search for the Death Note as soon as I leave. If you tell me where it is before that, then I can make your life here much easier."
Voice low and dangerous, she said, "I have no intention of telling you anything."
L's eyes narrowed. "So be it."
†††
Shortly after his conversation with Misa, L returned to the investigation room. He knew he should go to Light, speak to him for the first time after the incident—but he was determined to put that off for as long as possible. And so he went to the investigation room, and he explained the situation to the task force. He told them everything he could, making sure they knew that they had the second Kira in custody, and that they were only waiting for a bit more information before officially declaring her identity as the second Kira.
"Great," Matsuda groaned when he heard the news. "So what now? We don't have anything on the suspect!"
"We still have the right to detain her so long as we have probable cause," Soichiro asserted. "In that time, we should work to find some form of evidence."
"By doing what?" Aizawa asked drearily. "We'll need a search warrant to go through Amane's apartment, and by the time we get it we'll have expended all the time we can legally hold her without solid evidence."
L felt the eyes of the task force turn to him, clearly waiting for his input. "Well," he began slowly, "you're definitely right about being unable to get a search warrant in time. Even if I call in a favor, it'll still take several days—and by then, Misa will have to be released. So, then, we'll just have to search her apartment without getting a warrant." He'd already ordered his men to search the apartment, but the task force didn't need to know that.
Soichiro's response was swift and stone cold. "That's not happening. We could lose our jobs over something like that."
So you'll risk your lives but not your jobs, L thought, vaguely irritated. "Gentlemen, we have an opportunity here. If we really have captured the second Kira, then finding evidence is crucial—even if it means breaking the law."
"No," Soichiro insisted. "We will not break the law to catch a criminal. That is not what the NPA does."
Are you blind? If you just sit back and let Misa get away, we will have lost our only definite lead! Besides, it doesn't matter what you say—I've already sent my men to search that apartment. He forced his expression to say neutral, fighting back his frustration. But then, before he could make his next attempt to persuade the task force to go along with him, Mogi spoke up.
"I think you're all ignoring the big picture."
There was immediate silence as the task force turned its attention to its quietest member. Mogi rarely spoke in the investigation room, but when he did it was nearly impossible to look away.
He went on, "You need to listen to Ryuzaki. If we don't take extensive measures to find evidence against the second Kira, she's going to walk free. Do you want more people to die? Because you're acting like you care more about keeping your jobs than stopping a bloodthirsty murderer."
At least there's one sane person here. "My thoughts exactly, Mogi. Members of the task force, I realize that you're concerned about breaking the law, but this is for the greater good. And as a compromise, I can send my own officers to conduct the search. If anyone ever finds out that we conducted a search without a warrant, I can claim that you never knew about it. You won't lose your jobs." It's what I've already done, after all. It won't require any additional effort.
"So now we're breaking the law and lying about it," Soichiro muttered, arms crossed defiantly.
"If this catches one of the Kiras, then we should do it," Mogi insisted. He turned his gaze on Aizawa, who sat beside him. "Isn't that the logical move?"
Aizawa, clearly uncomfortable, fidgeted in his seat. Torn between the opinions of his boss and his best friend, he appeared almost unable to speak. "Well…if you want the truth, then I think we should go along with Ryuzaki's plan. I know it's not right to break the law to catch a criminal, but it's our only option if we want to have a chance to save Kira's future victims."
And just like a lost lamb, Matsuda scrambled after the herd. "Yeah, totally! I mean, if we can stop Kira, we should go for it! Right, chief?"
Soichiro's jaw clenched. "Becoming a criminal to catch a criminal is wrong." He glared at L accusingly. "Is that not true?"
Soichiro was testing him. L could tell. "Of course," he responded unflinchingly, unwilling to let Soichiro rattle him. "It doesn't matter the cause, breaking the law is wrong. But in this case, the alternative is far worse. What we are doing is weighing two evils—searching a house without a warrant, or allowing thousands of people to die in the future."
The chief's glare increased in intensity, but he knew that he was both outvoted and beaten. He turned back to his computer screen, giving a short, precise nod. He offered no verbal agreement.
L waited only a moment longer before carrying on. "Well then, I suppose I'll contact my officers and—"
"No."
Soichiro's outburst was short and clipped, and entirely unexpected. "Chief Yagami, I thought you were in agreement—"
He interrupted him again. "I have agreed to go ahead with your plan. However, if this is going to happen, then the task force will be the ones conducting the search. You may bring in your officers to facilitate the proceedings, but we will be present. You've forced us to stay at headquarters too many times already."
How bothersome. I'll be forced to deal with their presence while looking for the Death Note. How can I hide its existence? Or perhaps this is the time when I should reveal it as Kira's weapon. I could use Misa as a sacrifice by condemning her as Kira and having her executed. That would take care of her legally and without a fuss. After that, all I'd have to do is get a confession from Light, and I'd be home free. Yes, that was it—that was the route he should take. He wasn't thrilled to bring the task force along with him, but it was necessary to keep them happy until they were no longer needed. "Very well. We will conduct our search upon arrival to headquarters tomorrow. Be prepared for what you may find."
†††
That night, after the task force left for home, L returned to Light. It wasn't a reunion he was especially looking forward to, which was why he'd put it off for well over twenty-four hours. He knew that Light had been shaken by the occurrence in Aoyama. The ten people, all killed by Kira, had had a surprisingly powerful effect on the teen. It was a risky move, L knew. I can only hope that I haven't overplayed my hand, given away my identity too soon. Light already suspected that I was L, and that L was Kira—but I fear that my actions may have cemented his suspicions. Either way, I don't suppose it matters. Soon he will know who I am, and I will know who he is. I will gain a confession, and I will confess in return.
L's plan, since Misa's capture, had all fallen into place. In fact, it had fallen into place so easily that he strongly suspected an unforeseen complication arising and throwing him off track. But if nothing arose, then his plan began with searching for Misa's Death Note. He suspected that she'd hidden it somewhere outside her apartment for security reasons, but if he could find it without having to extract its location from her forcefully it would make his plan much easier. If he couldn't find the notebook, then he would do the same thing to Misa that he'd done to Light. He would set Misa up in the detention cell, place a monitor in front of her, and force her to watch as L pumped Light's cell full of knockout gas (although, of course, Misa would believe that it was toxic gas instead). The idea was that upon seeing Kira—whose identity L would have long since revealed to Misa—about to be killed, she would admit the location of the notebook and confess to her being Kira. After that, L would retrieve the notebook and keep it for himself, finding a way to get rid of Misa's shinigami in the process. Then, using Misa's confession as evidence, he would send her to court and have her sentenced to death—but she would never reach death row. Mere hours after she was sentenced, L planned to kill her himself. He could take no chances with the second Kira; she had to be eliminated. Soon after that, he would gain a confession from Light. That was the one part of his plan that wasn't fully formed, other than the matter of how he would kill Misa's shinigami. He knew that he would get a confession, it was just a matter of how long it would take after Misa's death. He hoped to strengthen his relationship with Light over the weeks that followed so that when the time came, it would take only a gentle nudge to send the teen over the edge. If he couldn't manage it, he'd have to restructure his plan around Light's lack of cooperation—but hopefully it wouldn't come to that. After Light's eventual confession, L planned to take him away to an "undisclosed location" for "psychological treatment"—or at least, that was what he'd tell everyone that asked. He would, of course, manipulate the courts into giving him possession of the original Kira so that the task force—specifically Light's father—couldn't protest. Once they were safely out of the way, L would force the NPA to disband the task force. In their parting moments, L would assure the task force that he would work endlessly until all traces of Kira were eliminated from the world. But with no task force to monitor his progress, he would never have to fulfill that promise. He could live his life as Kira, Light by his side, under the pretense of trying to catch Kira.
Funny…he thought wearily. All this trouble because of Light and his family. Light won't confess, and Soichiro won't let me do anything without opposing me at every turn. I wouldn't have to concoct this insane plan if Soichiro would just disappear and Light would just confess.
L found himself standing outside Light's room, having spent the entire journey deeply lost in thought. Great, he thought forlornly. Now I'm probably going to be yelled at by the person I'm trying to save. My relationship with Light was just beginning to brighten, too. The detective took in a deep breath, steeling himself. Then he reached out and punched in the code to open the door.
For a long moment, there was nothing but silence. L could see Light, sitting cross-legged on the bed with his back to the door. The teen obviously knew he was there, if the slight tensing of his form had anything to say about it, but he didn't turn. L was distinctly aware that something between them had changed—something silent, something unspoken, something that no words could express. The entire room felt darker, heavier.
"You know," Light said in a low tone, "you've laid out a dangerous game, L."
L ignored the jab at his true identity. "Have I?"
"Yes, I believe you have." Light kept his back firmly to his tormentor. "Everything that's happened to me over the past month…everything you've said to me…everything you've done…it's all been a collection of pieces. Of course, I figured that out a long time ago—that what you were doing was throwing me tiny bits and pieces of information. But what I didn't realize was that you'd already set up the board on which the pieces would be played."
He knows. He's put it all together, just as I feared.
Light paused, waiting for L to respond. But when the only response he was given was the sound of the door closing, he went on without hesitation. "I've already shared my suspicious about what you've done. I've already shared my suspicious about your intentions, your identity, your morals. Of course, I have no way of proving it. To offer any form of evidence regarding what you're truly doing would be to hint that I know of how Kira kills—and if I acknowledge such a thing, then that makes me Kira. After all, how could I know the details of your killings unless I'd come into prior contact with it?"
Oh? Interesting…you've practically just said that you know about the Death Note. What's with the change in attitude?
A humorless laugh accompanied Light's next words. "But let's just pretend for a moment that I do know about your method of killing. Let's pretend that you're not recording this, and that I can admit to anything without you dragging me away to my doom. If we entertain the thought that I know what it is that you're doing to kill people, that I know how it works, that I've seen it before, then suddenly all of this—" Light waved a hand to the surrounding world, gesturing to his surroundings in their entirety. "—makes a hell of a lot more sense. I can present a logical explanation for everything that's happened thus far. I can prove without a shadow of a doubt that you are not only L, but Kira as well. But at the same time, I can't prove it—because all of the evidence hinges on my knowledge of Kira's methods of killing. And again, if I know about those methods, then I'm Kira." He raised his hands in a helpless gesture. "You've really got me pinned down, L. Actually, it's not just me—it's the entire task force. You've manipulated them all, given them just enough information to keep them thinking that they can actually solve the case. And what's more, you've carefully constructed your case so that the only person who has the intellectual capacity to unravel your plan and prove your true intentions—i.e. me—is unable to do anything to stop you. To repeat the obvious, if I try to stop you using the evidence I've collected, then it'll just make a stronger case for me being Kira. And because I'm unable to do anything to stop you, you can do anything you like. You can orchestrate the death of ten innocent people. You can capture Misa and torture her without anyone interfering—other than a certain shinigami, of course. You can get away with murder and claim it's for the greater good."
L struggled to retain his composure. Foolish Light, it is for the greater good! I am manipulating everyone to save the world from you! "Surely you realize that by saying this at all you're giving me more evidence to use against you. What you've told me paves the way for your conviction. I must know, Light—why would you say such a thing now, after so much resistance?"
"Don't get ahead of yourself," Light snorted. "I haven't confessed anything to you, nor do I intend to. Nothing I've said here can be used against me." And even though it wasn't exactly true, he looked so convinced that L almost started to believe him.
"But why…?"
Light's shoulders slumped, and if he'd been facing L, the detective was sure that his expression would be one of exhaustion. "To put it simply, now that I see just how manipulative you've been, I don't think it matters what I say or what I do. It doesn't matter if I never confess—you'll manipulate the task force and the outside world into believing that I'm Kira. It's funny, really. This whole time you've made me believe that my confession is imperative, that it's crucial to your plan. And yet now I see that it's not true. When you get tired of waiting, if I haven't confessed, I'm sure that you'll find a way to prove me guilty. So in the end, it doesn't really matter what I do."
"You're wrong," L blurted out without thinking.
"Really? Because so far, I've seen nothing to disprove my theory."
And even though he'd just denied it, L knew that it was true. You're right, Light…I value a confession from you above all else—but it's not the only way I can have you convicted. If the time came, and you hadn't confessed…I would have the power to make sure you stayed with me. Even if I didn't want to use it.
"Well…" L began, slowly making his way towards the bed, "maybe you haven't seen any evidence because you haven't been paying attention." It sounded pathetic, even to his ears.
Light made a strange sound, somewhere between laughter and a dry choking noise. "I know you killed those people, L. After all this bullshit about only killing the people who deserve it, and Kira being evil, and the concept of 'the greater good' being a myth, and then you do something like this. It's very out of character, you know."
L inched even closer, crawling up onto the bed beside Light. He pulled himself forward until he was crouching directly beside him. He felt the momentary urge to drape one of his arms around his friend's shoulders in a display of comfort, but he doubted Light would appreciate the gesture. Even after that kiss, which now seemed like weeks ago, they weren't on friendly terms. Not after what L had done. "Are you upset?"
Light shrugged, seeming unsurprised at L's indirect admission of guilt. "I was. I think I still am."
"Those people didn't die for nothing, you know. Their death led to the capture of the second Kira."
"They were innocent," Light responded quietly, his gaze firmly fixed on the wall before him. "Innocent people should never be sacrificed, not even for someone's twisted definition of the greater good."
That doesn't sound like Kira. That sounds like…well, it sounds like Light. I keep waiting for him to show some sign of a vicious nature, but it never happens. It's like the version of Light in the story of the Death Note and this version are completely different. But no, I can't let him fool me—he has the potential to become evil, no matter how nice he seems now. I have to stay on my guard. But the thoughts were half-hearted at best, and L found himself believing more than ever that Light's heart remained clean of evil intentions. Perhaps I'm wrong. Perhaps, just this once, I've judged someone incorrectly.
"I'm tired," Light admitted after a moment, breaking the hollow silence.
L shot him a sideways glance, but the teen refused to meet his gaze. "Tired?" he echoed. "You had all day to sleep."
"That's not what I meant." Light shifted, fingers curling and uncurling rhythmically. "I'm tired of this game we've been playing."
And L had to agree. It was clear at this point that Light knew who he was, and L was certain he knew who Light was. It would be so much easier if they could just admit it to each other and be done with it. Admittedly, there wasn't much else L could do—other than convicting the second Kira—before he hit a wall due to Light's lack of cooperation.
"Look, L…I think we can agree that we've both hit a wall. I know who you are. You know who I am. But neither of us are going to admit it, because the instant we do, it can be used as evidence against us."
"Used as evidence against you," L corrected. "You're the one under suspicion here, not me."
"Do you honestly think my father wouldn't jump at the opportunity to accuse you of being Kira?" Light scoffed. "He hates you for what you've done to me—and he doesn't even know what you've done to me."
"It hasn't been so bad here, has it?" L asked, though he already knew the answer. He'd manipulated Light ruthlessly, interrogated him without end, made him believe his friend was dead…the list went on.
"It could be worse."
"Really?" It hadn't been the answer L was expecting. He'd been expecting something along the lines of, my time here has been indescribably horrific, or I'd rather have my eyes jabbed out with hot needles than remain here for a moment longer. But instead, Light's tone was almost wistful. "How do you figure?"
"Well…" he smiled lightly. "You could be an idiot, for one. What would I do without someone intelligent to talk to?"
L's fingers twitched as the urge to reach out to his companion intensified. Light sounded so vulnerable, so weak—it made his well-hidden sadistic side purr with anticipation. "Yes," he agreed in a slightly strained tone, "I've found myself thinking the same thing." His fingertips inched across the sheets subtly, stretching outwards. He reached out, hand brushing against Light's knee, half expecting the teen to jerk away. But much to his satisfaction, he didn't so much as twitch.
"Are we done playing games?" Light asked dully. "I'm tired, L."
"We can't be done until you give me a straight confession," L reminded him, wincing at just how cold he sounded. He didn't want to antagonize Light further—or if he did, he was very good at hiding it—but he needed a confession if he wanted to get Soichiro off his back.
Light shifted suddenly, glancing to him momentarily. He seemed to be making an effort to avoid L's gaze, as if looking directly at him would immediately entrance him. "Tell me, L—you want a confession so that you can send me to court and be given authority to do what you want with me, correct? You want a confession so you can force my father to believe that I'm Kira, and so that he won't come after me once you've whisked me away."
"Yes, that is correct."
"Is that the only reason?"
"Yes, Light, it is. I admit that I have the power to take you away from this place without a confession, but your father will never leave it alone. He'll keep coming after me, keep trying to get you back—and knowing him, he'll find a way to make my life incredibly difficult until I give you back. This way I can kill two birds with one stone. I can get rid of your father's interference and I can have you." Even L was uncomfortable with how enthralled he sounded at the idea. Light, on the other hand, seemed completely unfazed.
"If that's all, then…there's another way."
L's head snapped up. "What?"
Now Light did turn to look at him, though he still appeared slightly guarded. "I can just say that I want to go with you."
For a long moment L was confused. "What?" he repeated. "How does that solve anything? Your father will still be after me, and—"
"No, L. He won't be after you because I will have personally told him that I want to go with you."
"But…no, that doesn't change anything. Your father will believe that I've threatened you into claiming that you want to stay with me."
"Not if you let me talk to him without your supervision. If I can have a few minutes alone with my father in an unmonitored place, I'm sure that I can convince him I'm telling the truth."
L hesitated. "Will…will it really be that easy?"
"It will."
Light's plan wouldn't work, L thought—there were too many loopholes, too many things left undiscussed.
"Then explain it to me," Light said, and L realized that he'd spoken aloud.
What do I say? 'Hey, Light, let me just whisk you away from everything you've ever known and teach you how to kill people correctly.' That hardly seems like the right thing to say. "I'll have to teach you," he started uncertainly, second-guessing his words more and more with every passing second. "I'll have to show you how to rid the world of criminals the right way."
"I have never killed an innocent person," Light whispered, and L commended him on his phrasing—if anyone were to look over the tapes in an attempt to find evidence against him, his words would sound completely innocent. But L knew the meaning behind them.
"If you remain without a mentor," L warned, "you will. I've seen it."
"You've read it," Light corrected—and L was struck with the realization that Light was the one who had the first half of the story.
L gave a brief nod, his calm expression a sharp contrast to the chaotic thoughts swirling beneath the surface. "You could say that."
Light turned away, eyes locking back onto the wall, his brief confrontational moment over. He, like L, appeared calm—but the whirring gears of his mind were visibly turning just beneath the surface. "So what do we do now?"
"Well…" L inched subtly closer. "You could start by telling me you want to stay."
The teen shot him a slightly irritated look, immediately looking like his normal self. "Who said I wanted to stay?"
"You did," L shot back, a small smile fighting its way to the surface. "Don't even try to pretend you were lying."
"Hmph."
L took it as confirmation. "So, now that we've figured that out, would you like to confess?"
Ah, there was that flame of anger L was so associated with. "You don't need a confession from me. It's safer this way, anyways—after all, if I confessed to being Kira, then you would have ample ammunition to have me executed. This way, it's easier for both of us. I don't have to admit to anything, and you can't have me executed. But, on the other hand, if you wanted to confess…"
"Now, Light," L chastised, "surely you can't expect me to give you a confession if you won't give me one in return." No…I'm fully wiling to tell Light my true identity, but first he has to show me that he isn't deceiving me by doing this. L bit back a chuckle, realizing that similar to Light, he was withholding the admission of his identity until he knew he could trust his companion. We make quite the pair, he thought wistfully. Or, we would make quite the pair…
"One more thing," Light requested, breaking L from his thoughts. "I get to work in the investigation room."
"No." The response was so fast that it seemed almost pre-programed—and it was. L had been expecting Light to begin pushing to work in the investigation room for several days now, and it was no surprise that he was asking now that they were on better terms. "I know what happens after you begin to work in the investigation room, and I can't allow that to happen."
Light's eyes flashed with curiosity before he replied, "What happens?"
L fixed him with his hardest stare. "It's better that you don't know." He was fairly certain that telling his would-be killer (even if it was only be extension) that he was going to kill him (again, only be extension) was a bad idea.
Light sighed deeply, imploring, "Look…don't you think it'll be a bit suspicious if I just show up one day and claim that I want to keep working with you? It'll look like Stockholm Syndrome. Hell, this entire thing reeks of Stockholm Syndrome no matter how you look at it. But if you let me out, let me work with you, give me a bit of freedom, then it'll look like I made the decision myself."
"If I give you freedom, then you'll start killing," L protested immediately, shaking his head. "I can't have that happen. You need time to learn, to understand—"
"Shut it, L. The fact is, if you want to get my father off your back, you're going to have to either get a confession—which, again, is not happening—or you'll need me to make a convincing argument for me going with you. And in order to make that argument, I'll need you to let me out of this place. I'm sick of being confined, in any case. I think I'm about to go stir crazy."
"I could always torture a confession out of you," L suggested, knowing full well that while that may have been a viable option in the beginning, he'd long since fallen past the point at which he would have been able to do such a thing. Light seemed to know it as well.
"If you were going to torture me—at least, physically—you would have done it by now. You wouldn't have spent so many days holding me here, doing nothing, if you planned to just torture the information out of me."
The detective gave a small shrug. "Worth a shot."
"It might have worked if you'd told me that in the beginning, before I got to know you."
Before you got to know me… L scoffed at the thought, but he knew that it was true. Light did know him, at least in part. In fact, he probably knew him better than anyone else. He even knew him better than Watari—after all, the inventor had been kept at arm's length for almost L's entire life, and was only allowed to supervise the external factors of each case. He'd never been allowed more than small glimpses into L's mind. Not like Light, who had somehow managed to crack the detective's head open and sift through the contents in a matter of weeks.
"You should turn the cameras off," Light requested.
L was silent for a long moment before responding. "Yes," he murmured, "I believe I should. And…just to be safe, I'll have to delete this conversation. What we are about to speak of…it's…"
"Not for all ears," Light supplied helpfully.
L dipped his head briefly. "Excuse me for a moment. I will take the necessary precautions."
†††
So, the gig is up, Light thought with vague amusement, watching as the door swung closed behind L. Looks like I was right all along—Ryuzaki is L. And if L's reaction is anything to go off of, then he's definitely Kira. The teen ran a hand through his hair in a frazzled manner, mind whirring at top speed as he attempted to process what had just happened. All logical thought seemed scrambled; he felt almost overwhelmed. So…what now? It's not like the barriers between us have become any less clouded. Yes, we've danced around our identities, but what are the terms of our relationship now? Are we still supposed to act like enemies, or are we something more? Friends? Allies? He's kissed me, so does that make us…?
In any case, Light supposed that the next step would be comparing notes regarding the Kira Case. It was obvious that L had the other half of the story, which explained quite a bit. It made sense now, why L had been so adamant about him being Kira. The Death Note wouldn't have mentioned any names directly, but there must have been enough information to identify Light with a certain degree of assuredness. That must be what he needed to arrange the task force for, he realized. It's puzzled me since the beginning that he even bothered to gather agents that are so clearly below his level, but if he needed them in order to figure out their relation to Kira, then it makes much more sense. But what doesn't make sense is why he hasn't just tortured a confession out of me. He kept threatening, kept showing me flashes of the horrors he could put me through…but he never went through with it. He just seemed to soften with time, so much so that he…he kissed me.
And now he was back to thinking about the kiss—the event that had happened several days past, and the event that Light had buried in the depths of his mind purely out of confusion. It shouldn't have been so confusing, he thought—he felt a deep series of ties binding him to L, ties that ran beneath the emotionless surface and into the guarded soul. He knew he was attracted to him, knew that it went the opposite way as well. But after the kiss, L had just…stopped. He hadn't made a move since, and although there had been light touches and lingering glances shared between them (both things that seemed especially prominent in the conversation they'd just had) L hadn't started anything, and Light hadn't had the courage to take control. Much to his irritation, this infatuation he had with his captor seemed to have taken hold of his confidence and twisted it into insecurity. If we're going to work together, then perhaps I can build up the courage, he suggested silently. Perhaps I can rebuild what's left of my pride, what's left of my confidence. Perhaps I can make this work.
But then again, what would working with L entail? The detective had been using the Death Note to kill innocent people, he'd been using it like Kira in the story of the notebook. And yet L had promised to show Light how to use the notebook the right way, as if killing innocents was right. L…just what have you been doing this whole time? What is it you think you can teach me? Because the way I see it, I should be the one teaching you—teaching you not to kill.
The door creaked back open, and Light's gaze was drawn to it. The teen found himself feeling rather alarmed as he realized that he didn't know what he should do next. Should he reveal everything to L right off the bat? He reminded himself that he didn't know if he could fully trust L just yet, and resolved to be cautious, at least until he knew L's plan for the second Kira and just what he intended to teach him.
"Back so soon?" he asked, putting on a façade of carelessness.
L shrugged, dragging the door closed behind him as he entered. "The cameras are off," he reported. "Now, Light, I think it's time we had a little talk."
The teen began to dip his head in agreement, when something caught his eye. He froze in place, barely keeping his jaw from dropping. No…it can't be…so soon? Is this another attempt to shock me into admitting something? But no, I've already indirectly confessed, so what could he be after?
"You seem surprised," L murmured, seeming acutely aware of how Light's eyes were glued to the object clenched in his left hand.
"I, ah…wasn't expecting you to…" Light trailed off, mouth suddenly feeling dry.
L moved closer with large, bold steps, and the teen found himself slightly frightened even though he knew—or at least strongly suspected—that the detective had no intention of harming him. "Like I said," he asserted, "we have a few things to talk about."
Then he snapped his arm out suddenly, the object flying from his fingers in Light's direction, and the teen reached out to catch it without thinking. He held it gingerly, as if he suspected it to bite him, as he opened the front cover to the first page. Then he looked up at L, who was suddenly standing much closer than before.
"The cameras are really off?" Light whispered, eyes locking onto the notebook in his hands. "And you're really trusting me to hold this?"
"You don't exactly have a pen," L pointed out.
"Blood will work just as well," Light reminded him, voice increasingly shaky. "All I'd have to do is knock you out and use my teeth to draw blood…"
The detective's smirk was immediate and unexpected. "I like the way you think, but…" he leaned even closer, and Light was uncomfortably aware of their proximity. "The fact that you're telling me that makes me certain that you won't try it. And besides, you wouldn't be able to knock me out if you tried. I know I don't look it, but I'm much stronger than you."
"Hey, that's not—!"
L cut him off with a low hum of irritation. "You have the book. Are you going to read it or not?"
"I'm reading it, I'm reading it!" the teen huffed, holding the notebook up before him exaggeratedly. It was then that it hit him—just what he was holding, just what it meant. What greater sign of trust was there than this? What could L have done to better prove that he trusted him, at least to a certain degree? What could he have done save for placing in Light's hands the only evidence that existed of his treachery?
Light gingerly pinched the first page between his thumb and index finger, examining it closely.
November 23, 2003—Kira finds the Death Note.
And with those words, and the ones that soon followed, Light began to connect the pieces of the puzzle.
I really couldn't seem to get this chapter right, no matter what I did to it. Hmm…I'm a little irritated that something was just missing that I couldn't capture, but I'm still relatively happy with the end result. That last conversation between L and Light was amazingly fun to write. In any case, though, I hope you enjoyed!