Chapter Twenty-Seven
Account
"It has not been in the pursuit of pleasure that I have periled life and reputation and reason. It has been the desperate attempt to escape from torturing memories, from a sense of insupportable loneliness and a dread of some strange impending doom." – Edgar Allen Poe
Mello was a field agent above all else; she was not meant to be cooped up.
She hated research, but she loved planning. It was quite the dilemma. Matt was better at details, while Mello excelled at the big picture, such as coming up with tactics and then executing them with confidence and precision. Even ideas that were 'just crazy enough to work' could wind up a masterpiece in the hands of someone who knew how to follow through.
As thrilled as Mello had originally been to be called onto the case to work with L, she found that endless hours of staring at a screen in the dark was boring her to death. Mello, unlike either Near or Matt, thrived on human interaction and did her best work when she had another person to wile, manipulate or otherwise consort with. Naomi was an interesting woman, and while Mello had enjoyed her conversations with the former FBI agent, she wasn't around all of the time- she didn't live in the building and didn't stay up late unless there was a reason to. She'd figured out that Naomi was dating someone as well, which meant she had a life outside of work too.
Even L wasn't in the work room as much as Mello had hoped he'd be. He kept disappearing to some unknown part of the building at night to continue working alone, usually after Yagami had already retired to bed on another floor.
Ugh, Yagami. Hewasn't even an option, when it came to conversation. He was intelligent, that much Mello could tell, but he was an uptight prick with no evident personality to speak of. He was boring as hell, and even if he wasn't, Mello had no interest in someone L himself had thought could be Kira. Enough so that he had been confined to a cell for a month. What the fuck was someone like that even still doing here? The undercover operation happening later on that day was going to be a flop, Mello could just feelit.
L, Yagami, and Misora were all out of the picture. That left two other task force members to associate with before she lost her mind to cold plastic screens, and Matt was –
Well. Matt was fucking awesome, and that was sort of part of the problem.
Mello still had a hard time looking him in the eye for too long, and that was pretty discouraging. Matt was easy-going, straightforward and funny, and Mello had always felt comfortable in his presence. He had never given a fuck about Mello's gender, and always did his best to switch pronouns when asked. If she couldn't talk to her best friend in the whole fucking world without feeling an odd mix of guilt and hurt, then who the hell could she talk to?
Fortunately or not, there was an obvious answer to that question, and he was sitting on the floor, stacking matches as if they were Lincoln Logs.
It was early afternoon, and L still had not emerged from his quarters to join them, which was irritating. Now that she was here, working with L, being useful and brilliant, the bastard couldn't manage to pay her a little attention after almost a decade of indifference.
The camera in the coffee shop was already up and running, one of the larger computer monitors showing a live stream of the morning rush. It was just playing in the background, as Yagami wasn't set to meet Mikami there for another couple of hours. Matt was coding, tightening up an algorithm he was working on that would hopefully help narrow down Kira conspirators and benefactors. No doubt a celebrity like Ryuga Hideki had more than his fair share of cash, but it was finite; he'd need donors, rich idiots who supported his cause.
No doubt in exchange for immunity for their white collar trespasses, Mello sneered in her head, resting her chin on her fist and souring. That's always how it goes. You can't kill everyone that's done illegal or corrupt things for their fortune, can you? Where will you compromise? You aren't as virtuous as you let on. You'll slip up, and when you do, we'll be there to exploit it.
The traffic on Astrea's site had picked up over the last few days, and while Naomi was the one monitoring the comments, Mello found herself playing around on there as well, writing her own little essays on the forums to spark debates and inspire some of the leaders of the Anti-Kira movement to speak up. Sometimes she'd even pretend to be a pro-Kira mole, spouting nonsense just to incite a textual riot. It was unfortunate, however, that a great deal of the Anti-Kira bloggers were just as much sycophants of Astrea as Pro-Kira idiots were followers of Hideki.
Bitches, all of them.
From a few feet to her left there came a deep sigh as Matt stretched, his fingers twitching in that telltale fashion. Mello knew it well. She glanced his way, already knowing what was going to come next.
"I'm gonna go take a smoke break," Matt announced as he stood up, then stretched out his stiff back. He'd only made it a few steps when a quiet voice rose from behind a matchstick tower.
"Matt," Near spoke clearly, seriously, though his hesitation was clearer than Mello was used to hearing from the boy. Was he especially uncertain about what he was going to say, or had Mello simply honed her observation skills since the last time she'd tried to gauge Near on anything? Or maybe I'm just overreacting and there was nothing there at all. I'm bored enough for that to be reasonable.
"Near," Matt said in return, copying his austere tone, though he grinned as he did so.
"I was hoping to discuss something with you privately," Near replied as he stacked another match carefully, peaking Mello's interest. "Perhaps when you get back."
"Huh? Oh, yeah, sure. You got it," Matt saluted and started over to the elevator.
Once the doors were shut behind him, Mello spun around in her chair, planting her bare feet on the ground and then leaning forward until her elbows were on her knees. This brought her down closer to Near's level, watching the shift of the silvery curls in small fingers. Near's face was partially obscured behind the wall of matches.
Mello, above all, hated being ignored. Near always had a deliberate apathy to his presence, which had infuriated her as a child and now still grated on her nerves.
A flash of grey eyes met hers, then they were gone again, concentrating on the next delicate stack.
"I would appreciate it if I could be allowed to finish the tower, before Mello knocks it down."
The voice was detached, as usual, but Mello happened to know that destroying the tower before Near grew bored of it was a sure fire way to irritate the little brat. Picking on Near had always lightened her mood. It almost felt too comfortable, too much like old times, when she'd step on Near's toys or tip over a domino before he'd managed to set the rest of them in place. It had really been the only way to get a rise out of the boy, even if it was just a furrowed brow and a huff. Which was more than anyone else had managed, aside from Matt perhaps, who had pulled a little smile from the younger boy on occasion.
At some point in her youth, Mello had taken to calling Near an 'android' as an insult. While she wasn't entirely convinced that wasn't the case just yet, there was information that seemed to hint at the contrary. Not much, mind, but enough to make Mello question her perception of him. Near was not untouchable, that much was clear, but he was still incomprehensible for the moment (and smug, no matter how Mello tried to intimidate him).
"We'll see about the tower," Mello drawled, "As for that 'private conversation' - you aren't very subtle, Near."
"And Mello is purposefully vague in an attempt to throw me off guard by making me feel ignorant," Near muttered airily, gently setting a match into place. "If we're stating the obvious."
"Ha ha," Mello rolled her eyes and steered the conversation away from the purposeful antagonism, even if she really, really wanted to take the bait. She raised her head and rolled her chair closer to Near's tower, mostly to get a better view of his face. "Don't think I don't know what that was about."
She didn't know, at least not with any certainty. Her one suspicion was a bit of a long shot, but considering what she knew of Near, there was nowhere else for her mind to jump.
"I don't presume Mello knows anything."
Mello showed her teeth at the words, watching Near's soft face stare back at her blandly.
"You little –" Her temper flared but she forced it down quickly, gnawing her molars for a moment before calming herself. He's doing it on purpose. Trying to rile you so that you'll change the subject. That means he's…uncomfortable? I can work with that. "No, no, no, that's not going to work."
"I'm afraid I don't know what Mello means," said Near casually, moving down further behind the match wall.
Near was running, in his way, so that meant that Mello was onto him. Good, almost too easy.
"I mean that you're going to ask Matt to join you for your heat," Mello told him bluntly, deciding to let the shock fluster him (even if a flustered Near generally meant a twitch of the eyebrow at most). Most normal people would have blushed or balked or frowned, but Near did none of those things. Instead, he was quiet and entirely unreactive – almost too still, for several seconds – before reaching for another match as if entirely unaffected.
"Mello's assumption is entirely baseless."
"Yeah, but you didn't deny it," she smirked, "Four times a year, right? Knowing you, it's probably the fourth month, fourth week. Unless you've changed it up. But you don't like to do that sort of thing."
"I didn't realized Mello kept such an intensive log of my cycle."
Was that a hint of annoyance I detected? Alright, maybe this will be fun.
"I'm observant. Kind of a thing I have," Mello tapped the side of her head sardonically. "Besides, you took my best friend away from me on multiple occasions, so it was pretty easy familiarize myself without too much effort."
If that's his goal, why is he asking now, almost two full months ahead of time? Does he really think Omegas can't make their own decisions on who to fuck when they're in heat –? Honestly, what a crock.
Near hesitated for a long moment, then gave a small sigh. "Matt was assisting me through my heats before he and Mello were involved romantically. Before you had even presented. I didn't steal him."
"As if you could," Mello replied flippantly, not overly fond of the thought of Matt's relationship – if one could really call it that – with her rival. "I'm just giving you a fair warning – you shouldn't ask him."
Has he not said anything to you? I thought you two were on better terms nowadays than he is with me. It's only been a year since he told me and ended our – fuck, no, let's not veer into that territory. Let's not go there, because thinking about how you didn't notice your own fucking Alpha boyfriend wasn't into sex is just too fucked up. Perhaps he hasn't shared it with anyone else.
"Didn't he tell you?" Mello pried, when her caution was met with silence.
"…Tell me what?"
"That he doesn't do that sort of thing anymore. He doesn't like it. He's not -" Matt doesn't want me. Maybe he never did. Maybe I was pushing him into it every time, fuck, what if – "…He just doesn't do sex, even during Heat."
"Oh, that." Near said, shrugging a shoulder and opening up a new box of matches. "Yes, Matt informed me of his sexuality, or lack thereof. Not long after he told Mello, I believe."
Mello's lip curled, rolling her chair closer. "Then you should know better."
"Mello is the one that should know better," Near murmured without inflection. "Matt's assistance during my Heats has always been just that. Assistance."
"Wait – what?" Mello spat, standing up from her chair so quickly that it rolled back several feet with the force of the motion. Is he trying to tell me that he and Matt spent those heats together without fucking? I mean, it happens, but they both led me to believe otherwise! "That's idiotic! You expect me to believe that?"
"I don't expect anything from Mello." Near gave her another brief flash of grey eyes from beneath the curl of his pale fringe. He tapped his chin with a match as if deciding where to put the first one in relation to the other tall stacks. "However, that is the truth."
"If that's the case, why wouldn't he tell me?" Mello insisted, moving closer as her mind spun through her own interactions with Matt before they'd started dating. How much her competitive streak with Near had been exacerbated by resentment and jealousy.
"Likely to prevent a violation of my privacy."
"By saying he didn't fuck you?"
It seemed completely absurd, and not just because Matt was hot as hell and the best person anyone had the good fortune to know. She'd left Near mostly alone in their early years, with occasional exceptions, quietly despising him for his priggish attitude while respecting him reluctantly for his scores, but somewhere around Christmas, not long after Mello's fourteenth birthday, Near had presented as Omega.
It hadn't seemed fair. It hadn't even seemed fitting, and even now Mello had a hard time imagining there were times when Near felt as beautiful and wanton and free as Mello did when her heat came along.
Presentation had its own unique connotations within Whammy's culture– most people hoped to present, because being a Beta was boring and statistically meant the possibility of lower intelligence. Outside of that, the increased sense of smell was an asset that was difficult to compete with. There was also the factor that most of the teenagers there did end up presenting at some point or another, because Alpha and Omega parents were more likely to have an unwanted pregnancy and give the child away.
Being a Beta was being an outcast. It was bad enough being runner up – no doubt that was how B had felt, no wonder he'd gone bat shit – and so she'd been horribly jealous of Near's early presentation at the time. Mello had to spend the next two and a half years thinking she'd be stuck as a Beta.
She'd run through the halls screaming with joy when her first heat came, banging on doors and making sure that every person present was well aware that Mello was, in fact, Omega. Most of the kids had taken bets on what she would present as, if at all, because her nature tended to hint at Alpha.
"No, I don't think so," Near had predicted way back when, putting his allowance down in the betting pool, surprising quite a few kids with his participation. "Mello will most likely present as Omega."
He probably bought a shit load of toys with his winnings on that one, a snarky voice in Mello's head told her, looking down at the matches and crossing her arms over her chest. She peered down her nose at Near expectantly, tapping her foot as a way of expressing impatience and also reminding him of the impending threat to his tower.
"We agreed that everything that happened in my bedroom was to stay there," Near explained after a moment, shifting his bad leg a bit. "Speaking of it in any context would have been betraying that confidence."
"He was helping you long before he realized that he was asexual or whatever," Mello contradicted, because if the little bastard was lying to her, so help her – "So why wouldn't he have fucked you?"
"I was twelve."
"Oh, shut up, you weren't always twelve. He was disappearing to 'assist' with your heats until we got together – you would have been like, sixteen." Mello only gave himself a beat. "Are you asexual too?"
Near was silent for a moment, raising his gaze to match Mello's briefly, then looking away.
"No."
He offered no elaboration and Mello released a sharp, irritated breath. That's actually a bit surprising. The idea of Near having an active sexuality is – well. Weird. Although the idea of him and Matt having a history bugged me for years, I never actually pictured what it might look like. It'd be a like fucking a wall, wouldn't it? Sometimes it seems like I'm talking to one.
"Okay," Mello huffed, "so humor me."
Near tilted his head as if to consider it, before apparently deciding he liked the progress that he was making on his matchstick wall. "We had settled on arrangement at the time, which did not include sex. He was not interested in me sexually; it should be obvious why at this point."
"Yeah," Mello scoffed, shifting the arms over her chest. "Join the fucking club."
The corner of Near's mouth flickered up into a smirk. "Is something still a club when its members consist of everyone?"
"Not a very elite one, no," Mello found herself sniggering in agreement, which was eerie enough in and of itself. To laugh because of a joke that Near was responsible for. She cut herself off abruptly when she realized it. "Whatever. So you're set on asking him to help you then."
"Yes," Near set a match down carefully. "Mello is the one who broke up with Matt, so surely Mello has no objections?"
"I didn't – " Mello started to defend herself, but thinking back on when Matt had told her about his disinterest in sex, it wasn't really clear who had ended it.
But it had felt over, and Mello had left that night for Russia, because how the hell was she supposed to look at Matt when she knew she had no chance? Worse than that, she'd forced her own active libido onto him. Every heat, every time outside of heat, had Matt felt disgusted? Had he technically been unwilling even? There had certainly been times when Matt had been more interested in his video game, or sleep, or just holding her, when she'd pushed.
He'd been taking suppressants for years, pretty much since Near had invented a formula, but she'd always thought it was because he didn't like the distraction. Or even because he didn't like smelling other Omegas. The truth was much too difficult.
Yes, Mello supposed it had been her that broke it off, though the terms had never been explicitly stated. They'd tried to be friends since coming to Japan, but things still ended up awkward from time to time. When it wasn't, it was only because they'd managed to busy themselves enough to forget.
"Whether I broke it off or not, and even if he just assists," Mello started slowly, "…I'm not going to say that I like it."
"Is this where Mello tells me to 'go fuck myself'?"
Mello stared, her mouth twitching at the nonchalant double entendre. She transformed her gaze quickly into a glare and forced her mouth into a scowl, irritated with herself. Since when has the little brat been this amusing? To be fair, we haven't actually had a conversation for any length of time before. I'm trying to be intimidating here. Am I just weak because my heat is coming up?
"Good one," Mello admitted, raising her brows. Near's hand stilled in the air, a match poised in between his thumb and index finger. "I mean, yeah, figuratively I guess you can go fuck yourself, but literally? Do what you want."
Near paused, set the match into place, then nodded. "I will."
The words had barely left his mouth when the elevator dinged, and Matt returned looking looser than before and smelling of smoke. Mello had learned to miss the smell of smoke, and after her talk with Near she couldn't help but resent the scent. Her olfaction was extremely sensitive without the use of suppressants, and considering she was days away from her heat, it latched onto the familiar aroma almost too quickly.
Easing away from Near's tower when Matt shot her a disapproving look, Mello cast another glance back at Near. For a few seconds, she was struck by the realization that their conversation had been relatively peaceful, though they each offered their own array of aggressive wording. It had certainly alleviated her boredom for the time being and put her in a better mood; not only had she secured valuable information and caught Near off guard with her line of questioning, she had also successfully recharged enough to get back to work. Maybe she could resume some of her Beyond research; if L wasn't going to join them until the last possible minute, she didn't feel guilty about it.
"What the fuck – guys, were you even paying attention to this?" Matt suddenly declared from the computer station, causing Near to lift his head and Mello to spin sharply toward the screen.
Up on the screen was their view of the coffee shop, and the prosecutor was already seated at a booth a few meters away from the one they had wired for espionage.
"Mikami's already there!"
"It's like an hour and a half until Yagami's supposed to meet him," Mello protested, rushing forward to zoom in, as if not entirely convinced it was Mikami at all. "Yagami was going to get there half an hour early to secure the booth – he got the waitress there to reserve it so no one else could usurp it, but now…"
"That isn't the booth that was rigged," Near sighed.
"No shit, Sherlock," Mello muttered gruffly, rubbing her temples. "Fuck, it's not like Yagami can just ask him to move to another booth. This is a crap fest."
"The camera still has a pretty good view of the booth though – that's something." Matt offered optimistically as they regarded Mikami, who had brought his laptop and appeared to be working while he waited.
"Yeah, but where Mikami's sitting, we'll get the back of Yagami's head," Mello insisted, planting a knee in the seat of her computer chair and rolling closer to the screen sitting backwards. "He'll block most of our view of Mikami."
"He knows where the camera is," Matt waved a hand flippantly. "He'll shift over."
"Maybe," Mello said, standing up again and straightening her shirt. "I'll go find L. If Yagami hasn't left yet, we might have time to put a wire on him to fix this."
In the end, Mello did find L and was informed that Yagami had already gone off to his apartment for some reason or another. There was no use, and Mello was quietly simmering throughout the entire interaction.
The good news – if she could even call it that –was that it was just about the most boring undercover operation that Mello had ever been part of. Yagami came early, but only by fifteen minutes, and only after Matt had texted him that Mikami beat them to the punch. Even if it was inadvertently, which they weren't certain about. Mikami was, L had said, an anal individual who was never late to anything, so him being over an hour early to a meeting was not entirely out of character.
There was a moment when Mikami seemed to lean forward, as though to touch the officer, but he was only sliding over what appeared to be a case file. Yagami's posture tensed (did he think he was going to be touched too? Mello had noticed he wasn't overly fond of unwarranted contact) and Mello thought something interesting was about to go down, but…
Nothing.
L worried at his thumbnail, the clicking sound of teeth on hard protein starting to grate on Mello's nerves, though she didn't dare say anything about it. Yagami's posture relaxed after a minute and, in another five, the meeting was over. Mikami packed away his files and laptop, Yagami finished his coffee, and then they shook hands and parted ways. Even with just the visuals to go on, it was clearly an uneventful affair.
"What a fucking bore," Mello groaned, slouching in her seat. What a waste of time and worry. I knew this whole thing was going to be a bust. "We got all worked up over diddly fucking squat."
"I've told you, nothing happened - it was boring. I kept waiting for him to bring up something other than his next hearing. Apparently the only reason he wanted to have the meeting in person was to give his condolences about my father."
"It's still rather suspicious," L muttered behind him, as Light toed his shoes off by the door.
"That he arrived early?" Light raised his eyebrow, pulling his tie lose and stretching his arms above his head. "I thought so too. I was on my guard, but he didn't even bring Kira up."
It was a waste of energy, but there's nothing to be done for it. Light exhaled heavily then looked over his shoulder, noticing that L hadn't straightened up just yet, even though they were alone together.
After returning to headquarters, the work day had passed on like any other, though Mello seemed particularly irritated with the happenings of the day. Light was frustrated about it as well, as it had seemed to be the only real lead they'd gotten in ages. While Ryuga Hideki was out there letting his reputation speak for itself and likely campaigning behind the scenes, the days were passing them by.
They'd started contacting government agencies around the world like planned, and Astrea was going as well as to be expected, but it still felt like they weren't getting anywhere. Teru had been a glimmer of hope for a path inside the walls of the Kira fortress, but it had ended up being nothing more than a business meeting between colleagues.
Light drew his fingers through his own hair and turned, leaning against the bedframe and watching L stand awkwardly a few yards away. His hands were shoved deep into his pockets and he wasn't even looking in Light's direction.
"What is wrong with –"
L quickly pulled a hand out of his pocket and held up a finger to quiet him. Light was irked, and followed his line of sight to the clock by the bed, which glowed with the time in bright green.
11:59
Is that what this is about? How childish can you get?
"You know I wasn't actually born until eleven in the morning." Light rolled his eyes, and L gave a long suffering sigh and pulled his eyes away, just as the minute turned over.
"Happy Birthday, Light," L drew his other hand from the depths of his jeans and started to close the gap between them, lamenting, "Though, you rather spoiled the effect I was going for."
"That was definitely my goal," Light told him coolly, but let L approach him and lean in to give him a kiss.
He half expected L to retort in some way or another, but L gave him a gentle and relatively short kiss on the mouth rather than being snarky right back at him. The kiss didn't beckon deeper, just idled there with their lips barely brushing until L retreated and nodded his head toward the closet.
"You have presents."
Light raised his eyebrows, gaze flickering to what he knew to be an enormous walk-in closet. There was very little in it, of course, because L refused to have taste in clothes.
"More than one?" He inquired, brushing a dark stray hair off of L's shoulder and then slipping away, toward the door that his gifts were hiding behind.
"…Yes."
The hesitation made Light pause with his hand on the door, looking back over his shoulder at L, who was still hunched suspiciously. Light's eyes narrowed.
"More than two?"
"I may have gone overboard," L confessed, scratching his left ankle with the toes on his right foot. "Fair warning."
"Is it a fair warning if I had to drag it out of you?" Light muttered, clicking his tongue and pulling the door open, and leaning in to flip the light switch on.
He stared at the contents of the closet, then turned to face L again, blinking several times. He drew a breath and glanced back at the gifts once more before releasing the air in a huff.
"You bought all of this?"
"Clearly."
"This is too much," Light put his hand out in the direction of the closet. "All of - this is ridiculous."
"I'm aware of that," L agreed, looking up at the ceiling and scratching the back of his head. "Yesterday I became increasingly aware of the fact that I had no idea what to buy you for your birthday, so I had to do some research."
"You didn't have to get me anything – " Light began to insist.
"That's inconsequential now," L shrugged emphatically, shoving his hands once again into his pockets. What, are you getting self-conscious about this overindulgence now? "I went onto a variety of websites designed specifically for the purpose of helping people in my position, and I found a great deal of suggestions, but I still wasn't able to narrow it down –"
"So you bought everything."
"Not everything," L argued, then went quiet for a long second. "But…yes, quite a bit. You can sort through the items as you like and anything you don't want you can set aside."
It was the most obtuse thing Light had heard in his entire life, and so he wasn't sure why his mouth hurt from trying not to smile. He turned back toward the closet and stepped inside, taking inventory of the array of merchandise.
The newest Xbox along with a myriad of games, a crisp leather wallet, an iPad, an aftershave and cologne that –Light noticed – were also scent blockers. To the left, there were several suits hanging up, in navy blue, grey, charcoal, and black. Most of them were expensive for the average layman but practical, certainly the kind he could wear to work. Then there were two at the back, one light grey and modern, and the other pitch black, sleek and classic. It was only when he checked the label that he realized how expensive they must have been.
On one of the shelves, there were two boxes, and Light picked them up, turning toward the doorway where L was now standing
"…Was all this really necessary?" he inquired, raising his brows even as his fingers brush over the smooth, luxury fabric.
"I don't often have the opportunity to spend money, and choosing gifts is not my forte." L shrugged, looking up at the ceiling. "Watari has now taken the privilege away from me because of my irresponsibility, so don't expect this on your next birthday."
My next birthday. The idea coiled around his ribs and tightened there, the notion that this could last until then, and perhaps the next, and the next, and the -
"Chocolate," Light prompted, cutting off his own thoughts because that was not a train of thought he needed to ride right now. Not when just this much felt like asphyxiation, this meaningless, saccharine show of wealth. He held out the rather large box of assorted chocolate (which was, thankfully, not heart-shaped).
"I worked very hard to arrange all of this. That's my reward," L explained to him unabashedly.
Light scoffed, set that box down and picked up a significantly smaller one. It looked distinctly like a jewelry box, and if L had actually bought him diamonds or something equally useless and arbitrary, he was going to be too peeved to enjoy the rest of the night.
"–Keys?" Light said, holding up two sleek matching car keys on a ring with a key remote.
"As I said," L mumbled. "I may have gone overboard."
"You didn't."
"I did."
"…We definitely have to return that," Light told him, but couldn't completely smother the grin that stretched at his lips. "I want to drive it at least once though."
L's eyes brightened and his own mouth curled into one of his little smiles. This isn't flattering. You just threw money at me, you idiot, why did you think this would please me? – Why the hell is it working? Don't smile at me like that, asshole.
"I'd be disappointed otherwise," L told him, leaning against the doorframe. "I didn't expect you to keep it, though you are certainly welcome to."
Light set the keys back in the box, and placed it on the shelf as he approached L.
"I don't need a car. Especially not a luxury car; some people spend their money on sensible things."
"Light-kun also does not need a suit that is more expensive than most used, practical cars either, but I don't see him complaining about that – " L had the gall to say, provoking him. Light grabbed the front of his shirt and kissed him, rather than hear the idiot taunt him.
L's hands slipped around his waist as Light pulled away, looking L in the eye.
"I haven't played video games in years, by the way."
"Is that so?" L tilted his head. "When Wedy broke into your home, she found evidence to the contrary –"
"Fine, but rarely," Light growled, glowering. "Will you stop using information that you obtained illegally against me?"
L's brow furrowed. "Obviously not."
"You are so terrible at this," Light sighed, but kissed L again anyway, tugging him closer by the collar of his shirt yet again.
"I won't disagree with you," murmured L against his mouth, and tilted his head to deepen the kiss, drawing Light in and taking his bottom lip between his teeth. One of his hands moved up from Light's hips, over his shoulder and then down his arm, fingers curling around his wrist gently.
The teeth made his breath hitch, and the thumb starting to knead against the inside of his wrist -
"Ow," Light recoiled with a hiss, yanking his wrist away from L and looking at the origin of the twinge."What the hell – ?"
L's mouth twisted into a frown and he moved closer to look at Light's wrist. "What is that?"
There was a tiny, barely noticeable line of red on his wrist. It was a sliver of a cut, maybe half an inch long, and it would have meant nothing to him if it weren't for the location.
"It looks like a paper cut," Light mused, looking it over. It was too thin to be anything else.
"On your wrist? That's an odd place to get a paper cut."
Light nodded slowly, and admitted, "I don't know when I would have gotten it."
Moving his dark eyes up from the cut, L narrowed his eyes at him. "You don't know."
"…No, I don't," Light repeated, realizing as he said it how improbable it sounded. I'm extremely conscious of myself and my surroundings at all times, and besides, it's the skin directly above my scent glad. Could I really have gotten this cut without noticing? It's not even a likely place for an accidental paper cut – what is going on?
"I had your wrist in my hand this morning just like I did a second ago, and there was nothing there," L informed him, his voice dropping into a more clinical tone, putting his proverbial detective cap on. "So you had to have received it today."
"That makes sense, but –" Light shook his head, stepping past L so that they weren't having this conversation in a closet, of all places. "Alright, perhaps the meeting with Mikami? That's really the only time I handled paper today, when he passed me his files. But I don't remember –"
Light stopped a few feet away, holding his own wrist in the opposite hand as if it did not belong to him.
"Light?"
"I don't remember getting this cut, L," Light turned around to face him, feeling as though the floor had turned soft and unstable under his feet. "I don't remember."
"I see." L let out a quiet breath, and "I thought that might be the case. You would have noticed, I'm certain of it. The placement of this cut is suspicious enough, considering it's particularly sensitive and one of the places I touch you most."
"They –" They were in my brain. We've known for a while that they must have this kind of power, but for them to hack into my head like this. How can they do it? Mikami reached into my head and took away moments of my life, where are they, where - ? "They took away my memories somehow. Just like with Misa. How did they –"
"Light," L was in front of him then, and Light didn't remember seeing the steps he'd taken to get there. He realized that his voice must not have made him seem all there. He was angry, but more than anything, he was horrified that his mind – the most precious part of himself – had been tampered with. "Light, we must focus. Wondering how they managed it doesn't help us here. What we know is that something was revealed to you, and then they took the memory of that information away."
"So they must have known there were wires somehow – him arriving early to secure a different booth was on purpose," Light said, swallowing and doing what he could to get back in the game. My own memory has betrayed me. "Whether or not he knows that I was in on it, he must have figured you knew about the meeting."
"You must have deliberately given yourself this paper cut in this particular place because you knew I would touch you here eventually." L's fingers brushed over his wrist again and Light didn't move away, but neither did the detective pursue a firmer touch there.
"To bring attention to the fact I couldn't remember the events surrounding it." So Mikami must have explained to me what was going to happen. I left a clue for myself, because there was nothing else I could do.
"Yes, but it's all speculation if we try to examine it further than that," L murmured, taking the opposite unmarred wrist in hand instead and rubbing soothing circles with his thumb until Light felt as though a breeze of calm had washed over him. Light allowed it, and let his head fall forward to rest his cheek on L's shoulder until the world became solid again.
"At least we know that today's operation wasn't completely useless."
"That's true," L agreed quietly, not sounding relieved. "We know that Mikami has Kira's power to take away memories, and that whatever they shared with you was important enough to make sure you could tell no one."
"But," The smooth circular motions against his wrist were proving much too effective. Light breathed comfortably into the fabric of L's shirt, his voice taking on a drowsy quality. "I found a way to tell you."
"Yes," L pressed his mouth to Light's shoulder in turn. "Yes, you did."
A/N: Okay, so we got some more information about Mello, Near and Matt and how all that's working out. We had the Light/Teru confrontation, which I got around actually showing you, for obvious mystery reasons. ;) And then we got some cute stuff between L and Light, even if it was interrupted a little by plot things. The image of him on a computer clicking 'buy' for everything that seemed like a good idea at the time on pure impulse was just...right, to me. He panicked a bit, because he's a loser. But it worked for him.
I really wanted the Asexual character to be someone that people wouldn't assume was Asexual. Matt is funny and functional and laid back - he's not the stereotypical 'cold, unfeeling ace' that a lot of people go for. I was pretty nervous/excited about revealing that.
Also...I really don't know how long this story will be. I'm going to guess about 50 chapters in all. I'm not going to rush anything though - there are specific developments I want to happen with the characters that are just as important to me as the plot.
Thank you again for all your support and patience. I'd love to know if you had any lines that stuck out to you in particular, favorite moments, dialogue, etc.
-Nilah
