Note: You can also find my work on Archive of Our Own at TheFeyRa.
Also, just to reiterate, when Rui is speaking, or when either Watari or L are speaking to her, they're using English. When Watari, L, and the task force members are speaking to one another, they're using Japanese. On the rare instances that Rui uses Japanese (usually simple sentences), I will indicate it with an asterisk and footnote.
Chapter 9: Second Kira
April 24, 2004; 07 00
Rui set down Ryuzaki's slice of strawberry shortcake, along with a clean fork and a pot of tea. She was about to go check on the brewing coffee when Ryuzaki's long fingers caught her wrist, startling her. Her gaze fell to them, their pale slimness belying their strength, and then slid up the length of his arm to his onyx orbs. Wrinkling her brows, she tilted her head at him in silent question.
He had the audacity to suddenly stain her fingers with an ink stamp, then press her fingers to his napkin. "What. Are you doing?" she queried, through narrowed eyes.
"Sampling a woman's fingers," he returned dully, comparing the size of her fingerprints to a sample he held between his thumb and pointer finger. Oh. Ohh. Misa's fingerprints. Duh. Misa was a very small woman, wasn't she? Her fingerprints would probably be even smaller. Still…
She wiped her stained fingers on Ryuzaki's shirt sleeve and stalked off indignantly. Maybe she shouldn't have done it, but then again he shouldn't have dirtied her fingers without asking.
April 24, 2004; 11 31
Ryuzaki sure knew how to command a room, even if he was a rude and creepy professional gaslighter, she mused, reluctantly admiring the way he explained his entire reasoning to the task force on his theory of there being a Second Kira. The bugger had changed his shirt after her little stunt, which, she reminded herself, was merely retaliation for HIS little stunt. Hey, she was twenty-one now. She didn't have to act too much like an adult.
"Chief Yagami," Ryuzaki called, drawing the investigator's attention. "Is it possible to ask your son to help us whenever he can?"
The task force members glanced at one another, intrigued at the prospect. Yagami Sr. himself had other concerns. "Does that mean my son is free of suspicion?"
Yagami Sr. must have earned Ryuzaki's respect with what he had done at Sakura TV, for Ryuzaki hesitated, but eventually told him the truth. Or at least, he never told Yagami Sr. a direct lie. "No… not yet," he replied. "but your son's profiling ability is very promising… and… I think that your son will be very helpful in capturing the Second Kira."
Truth be told, Rui was pretty impressed at Yagami Sr.'s character, too. He bore with stoicism the idea that his own son, the light of his life, could be Kira, and didn't attempt to protect him from L at all. His sense of duty was truly admirable. No wonder he was made Chief. No wonder people like Matsuda adored him.
Ryuzaki then proposed that Light not be told of the existence of a Second Kira, claiming that if Light truly was Kira, he would let the Second Kira kill L.
"So, if my son does not suspect a Second Kira, doesn't he become more suspicious?" Yagami Sr. asked, a little worried.
"No, the chance that he won't is smaller than 5%, but… Even if he doesn't, I'll still ask him to help us investigate the Second Kira," Ryuzaki replied smoothly.
"Also, Watari, please stay outside and speak to me using the comm link. You will be the mirage of L," Ryuzaki continued. Well, Rui would just have to pick up L's caretaking. L and Watari had already agreed to the idea of Rui wearing surgical masks around the task force.
"So then, if Raito-kun agrees, tell him to come here right away," L requested.
April 24, 2004; 13 00
Rui opened the door for Matsuda and Light, smiling behind her black mask. Fiction really did not do justice to the nuances of Light's physical appeal. It wasn't just the perfect honey-coloured skin, glossy auburn hair and almond-shaped caramel eyes that made the man. There was a pleasing regularity and universality to his features, each one harmoniously balanced just perfectly among the rest. Light had very attractively average features that inspired a sense of familiarity and trust from the beholder of his looks, kind of boy-next-door in appeal, and yet his poise would allow him to stand out even in a line of supermodels. On top of that, there was an interesting versatility to his beauty that made it very easy for the beholder to project their own preferences onto him. It was almost as if his features could not decide how they wanted to present themselves, so that at one time he could appear more masculine, then more feminine, at the same time being cute, then hot, depending on what quality the other person chose to see in him. Rui, though she could not ever condone Misa's obsession with him, now understood it better.
In contrast to Light, the draw of Ryuzaki's strange, high-contrast features made itself known only with time, even though he could never be called 'handsome'. Ryuzaki was very good at giving the impression of ugliness, exaggerating the unsettling uniqueness of his features through the cagey way he acted and formed his facial expressions. Next to Light, Ryuzaki almost looked like an alien. People reflexively recoiled from the first impression he gave off and looked no further, and she suspected Ryuzaki would rather have it that way.
From across the room, the detective must've felt her gaze, and his dark, intense gaze soon shifted to meet hers. She looked away. Is he extraordinarily sensitive to people looking at him or something?
They all waited as Light watched all the videos. He seemed bothered by their silence but soldiered on like a champ. Ryuk was generally making a pest of himself, flitting about here and there, sticking his head into cupboards. He'd even asked her if she had an extra cup of coffee for him! It took all she had to not respond.
"So, did you find anything?" Ryuzaki asked innocently, his thumb on his lips. This guy! Rui thought with fond exasperation. Ryuzaki always looks suspicious. You always know when he's up to something, you just don't know what. Even if you predict what he's going to do, you can't predict when he's going to do it. He makes it so obvious that the personality he displays is an act, so that you can never tell what Ryuzaki's true personality is. This is in contrast to Light, who pretends to be innocent behind his polished social veneer (and mostly succeeds. Everyone loves him.). L probably gets on Light's nerves a lot more than they show in canon.
The gaslighting continued even as Light directly confronted him, "Ryuuga, no, Ryuzaki, if you already knew then why were you testing me?"
"I wasn't testing you," Ryuzaki had the cheek to say. "I was the only one who thought about a second kira, so I needed Raito to come to the same conclusion without any hints from me. So you've already been a great help."
April 24, 2004; 15 00
"Ryuzaki, is that good enough? I wrote it as if I were Kira," Light asked agreeably, passing the draft to the aforementioned detective as Ryuk continued to snicker behind him.
"…It's not bad, but if you don't remove the 'it is fine with me to kill L' part…" Ryuzaki began, then looked directly at Light. "I'll die." Light must've already gotten tired of L's shenanigans. That was funny.
"I was just kidding. You can remove it," Light replied with faux innocence, his hands behind his head in a relaxed position.
"Aihara-san, the draft is done," Ryuzaki said, passing Aizawa the paper. "Please take care of the rest."
April 24, 2004; 22 08
"EEP!" Startling awake, Rui backed away, pulling the covers up to her chin in defense. She scowled when she saw the detective's very awake owlish eyes staring at her and turned over, determined to ignore him.
"Ryuzaki," Rui moaned irritably as the detective insistently poked at her cheek in the dark. She tried to swat him away, but he still had the advantage of being more awake. "What do you want? I'd be more polite but some of us are only human and require sleep."
"Let's shed some light on our subject," Ryuzaki quipped, rather pleased with himself. That was lame, but she found her lips pulling up a little, just at the corners. Him waking her up must've been his way of getting back at her for dirtying his shirt. Resigned, she poured him a cup of tea.
"I'm sure you heard the conversation between Light, his father and myself at the hospital," he began. "What did you think of the way he spoke about and to his father?"
"That was certainly the actions and role of a devoted son to his beloved father," Rui replied. "And still… very First Kira."
At his frown, she elaborated, "Light is your counterpart in many ways, it's true, but his upbringing needs to be considered. Look at Yagami Sr. Sacrifice in the name of responsibility is his calling card, just look at the way he stopped Sakura TV with no heed for his own health. Or the way he works long hours away from his family."
"You are saying that sacrifice is a part of Raito-kun's MO as well," Ryuzaki reiterated, his thumb tracing his lips as he weighed her words. "Sacrifice… sacrifice… it's not completely a God complex… He sees the killing of FBI agents as a sacrifice he needs to make? Hmmm…"
"What I'm trying to say is," she ventured tentatively. "To him, it's also a game between you two, but more than that, he cherishes the vision of the world he has even more. There will come a time when just playing the game will no longer suffice and he'll sacrifice his own ego for the sake of his ideal." She swallowed. That was how L had died. *
Holding his gaze steadily, she did her best to convey the seriousness of her next statement. "There is no one else like you. Not in this world, neither in mine. Not now, and certainly not in the future. Not even Near and Mello could replace you," she stated emphatically.
Ryuzaki tilted his head curiously at her. "Are you perturbed at the prospect of my death?" he murmured lowly, moving into her personal space to stare into her face rather creepily. Great, now even her subconscious was afraid of him, since her heart started racing automatically. She needed to break the tension, stat.
"Indeed, my life is NOTHING without you! For where thou art, there is the world itself, And where thou art not, DESOLATION!**" she declared, windmilling her arms in dramatic emphasis to keep him away while he looked on, unimpressed.
*Reference: articles/32/Death_Not/articles/32/Death_Note. I had to do a lot of research in the process of writing this story, and I need to give credit where it's due. This is one of the more interesting resources I found. Even if you don't believe in astrology, the character analyses are pretty rad.
**Shakespeare's Henry VI Part 2 – Act 3, Scene 2. No, I do not read Shakespeare, but I wanted something appropriately melodramatic and cringey like the NERD Rae is.
AN: I am trying to mix heavier and lighter elements of the story together so that it doesn't end up too much of a downer to read. If the headcanon on L's past is right, then relationships for L are almost impossible and it's no wonder he ended up dying alone in canon. That's sad to think about.