CHAPTER 38:
"Truth & Lies"

TWO DAYS LATER…

"Yes, Mom, I'm fine..." Light spoke to his mother on his cell phone. "Dad and I, we just, uh, decided to stay a little longer on our new sabbatical training. He's teaching me a lot of valuable things and how to mentally prepare to be a police officer."

Oh boy…that sounded really fake, he thought. And not like me at all.

It was a huge lie and he knew it. His mother would never accept it. He had told her two months ago that he and his father were going on a training sabbatical to hone himself, like they did when Light was younger. And like a warrior did when they trained in the mountains in some of those unrealistic samurai movies. But telling his mother the truth was out of the question.

He looked at his father who nodded for him to continue to lie.

Light hated to lie to his mother about anything, especially where he had been these last two months. Ryuzaki and the rest of the Kira Task Force were listening in on his conversion and Light felt like he was some playwright lair putting on a show for an audience.

A white lie, the term is called, he thought. A lie told to another person to ease their mind and protect them.

How could he tell his mother and sister that he was L's prime suspect, that he was suspected of being Kira? The accusation was sickening enough. And it was something his mother didn't need to know. Even though he knew he was innocent.

And yet, even he had some doubts. But he was the one telling the lie, so he knew the truth.

His feelings mirrored Kira's. Certain people deserved to die for their sinister actions. But he could never murder anyone and put his future career as a cop in jeopardy. How could be a cop, protect someone, if he couldn't fire a weapon? He had been at the firing range, but he knew he needed a lot of practise. Would he be prepared to kill?

So many people had died at Kira's hands. Even police officers and FBI agents. He couldn't even conceive the mentality of Kira to commit such horrendous atrocities. And yet, it did stop the criminals from re-offending when they had served their time. Kira's actions prevented major criminals from harming anyone else. It was a permanent solution to a long time problem plaguing the justice system.

Even with a split-personality he knew he could never be Kira and he had to control any wild conjecture and self-incrimination. He had to be steadfast and focus on catching Kira. And he had to absolutely clear his name.

"Light?" his mother's voice came over the receiver. "Are you there?"

Light startled momentarily. He had to stop over-analyzing and daydreaming.

"Y-yes, Mom," he stuttered a response. "Sorry to worry you. Dad and I should be back soon. I was able to make this call with my cell because I found a clearing, but it looks like we'll loose reception soon."

Another bold face lie, not a white lie. He was getting good at it. He felt like throwing up.

In the past, he, Demmy, and his father, went for annual sabbaticals for a month. It ended a little more than two years ago. During the trip, they did all sorts of things, and they called it a "Man's Vacation", because it was only "the boys" who went. His mother and Sayu stayed home.

Hiking and survival training were the main themes. They lived off the land, snared their own meals, caught fish in a near-by stream, built campfires, navigated by the stars, and many other things. Including—but they kept it to themselves—target practise. It was something fun and educational. And his father was very knowledgeable in such matters, passing down what he learnt from his own father.

And Demetre was a good shot. He never missed a target.

"But Demetre didn't join us this year," Light said. "He declined."

"I know," his mother replied. "He was worried about you when he hadn't see you in school. He came to see us a few days ago, wondering where you had gone. And Light, don't be too shocked. Dana Chika was with him. They seem to be together."

Light gasped. L had mentioned Demmy had a mysterious female companion with him when seen. There was no way L would have known it was Dana, her name scratched out of every entry Light ever wrote in his dairy about her. And no way what she looked like.

He knew he had yelled at Misa for bringing up the term 'Shining Light', because this is what Dana used to call him. But he knew he was still in love with Dana. Yet now, to find out that she was with Demmy after five long years. She had left without a trace.

He looked to his father and his father waved him to continue. He knew how Light felt about her and how sad he was when she left him.

He was just a mix of emotions right now, all the wonderful times he had spent with Dana came flooding back. It almost gave him a headache.

"Dana? Did she say where she's been the last five years? Why is she with Demmy?"

"She didn't explain much," his mother continued. "I'm sorry, Light. I know much you liked Dana. And when she just disappeared, we were heart-broken…"

Light frowned. "Yes," he said stolidly, a sudden mental barrier went up in his mind. His way to stay strong.

Demmy? Dana's with him now? She chose him over me? She always liked him best. Not like I didn't see them looking at each other, giving each other passing glances in middle school. I was a fool, I knew something was between them but I choose to ignore it. He flirted with her and she did the same under the guise of friendship. It all makes sense now.

"Did they say anything else?" There was a hint of bitterness in his voice now.

"They only asked where you were," his mother said, she was starting to sound concerned. "Is everything all right, Light?"

He had to assure her things were well, while the opposite. Now he felt angry. "Yes, Mom, and don't worry about us. We'll be home soon."

"You're missing so much school, sweetheart. I know you're very smart, Light, but you'll fall behind, and will have to repeat your first year in university. Not a very good thing to do especially when you recited the Welcome Speech at the Entrance Ceremony. Are you sure you want to do this now? I thought you were eager to join the NPA?"

"I'm still young, Mom. There's lots of time," he said assuredly, but he wasn't sure himself right now, and not with his current situation.

"You're not my little boy anymore. You're all grown up. You can make your own decisions now."

Light frowned, he felt ashamed deceiving her. His mother was such a trusting woman and he felt lying to her was just wrong. But…

"I'll always be your little boy, Mom, and nothing will change that. I love you."

"I love you, too, Light. See you soon."

"Bye, Mom," he said.

He ended the call, closed up his phone, but then clutched it tightly in his hand. He shut his eyes, and wished what he just found out was some kind of nightmare he could wake from. Anger swelled inside him. Dana had betrayed him and with his best friend Demetre.

His father stood by his side and put a hand on his shoulder. Light screamed silently inside his head and then composed himself. He looked up at his father. A flood of negative and hateful emotions filled his mind, but Light tried not to show it.

He cleared his throat, gave his father a thin, but fake smile, and then looked at the others.

And immediately noticed L had a weird look on his face. He was crouched on a chair in his unusual manner in the epicentre of the Kira Task Force, his head tilted slightly, with a finger partially on his mouth.

"What's with that look, Ryuzaki?" Light said angrily. "Do you find pleasure in my pain?"

"On the contrary, Light," L said. "It's the first time I've seen genuine emotion from you, not contrived for an audience."

"And what does that mean?" Anger seethed in Light's voice. The last thing he wanted was to be interrogated about his emotions. "I have to find Dana, speak to her and ask her why she left me, and why she's now with Demmy!"

"We'll get to that," L said. "I actually see real emotion from you. I'm curious about it. First despair for lying to your mother and now anger in learning about your ex-girlfriend. You are a fascinating person."

"So? Why should that shock you?"

"You're definitely not exhibiting what I'd call sociopathic behaviour or a Kira persona. You're expressing genuine emotion as a teenager. Unless this is all an act again?"

Light clenched his teeth, then he launched himself at L. He couldn't stand it anymore, he needed to hit something. Maybe now he could finish what he started when he punched Ryuzaki in the other room. He reached out, fingers bent as claws for the detective's throat. Matsuda had to subdue him, locking him under the arms, holding him in place.

"Light, settle down!" the Task Force member said. "He was paying you a compliment." Light struggled, but to no avail.

Matsuda was pretty strong. "He knows you're not Kira, right?"

"Unfortunately there's still a small percentage that Light is Kira," L corrected the young detective.

Light felt a fire in him. He wanted to catch Kira, but at the moment, all he wanted was to punch Ryuzaki for the insult. Coupled that with the image of Dana and Demetre in each other's arms. He felt like hitting something.

It was enough to wish him harm upon his best friend, even write Demmy's name in a thread on Kira's Underground website for Kira to act!

To be continued...