Arrival


After a detour to a café where he stocked up on sweets and coffee, L returned to his suite and downloaded the footage from the tiny camera Aiber had worn.

Well, that was strange. Aiber had said there wasn't much to see, but the file was thirty-one minutes long. That was plenty of time to discuss plans when they weren't likely to make small talk.

L crouched in the corner of his sofa and took the top macaron off his colorful little stack. Aiber had started the camera right outside Light's room because the first thing L saw was Light looking up at him with well-concealed surprise. L had asked Aiber to put the camera close to his face so Light would seemingly look into the camera lens. Seeing a person's eyes was important for interrogation, and the video was clear enough that he could make out the subtleties of Light's expression.

He took a bite out of the sweet, wrapped an arm around his legs, and turned up the volume.

Four minutes later, the macaron had disintegrated in his mouth, unchewed.

Light gave the camera lens an ugly smirk before he buried the camera under his blankets. Light had looked directly at L, as much as he was able, before he kept L from hearing any more of that conversation.

L reflexively swallowed the macaron slush but couldn't take another bite.

Twenty-six minutes of darkness and silence followed.

Twenty.

Six.

Minutes.

Nothing changed on high speed. The last thirty seconds of the file were Light handing the camera back to Aiber. The view shifted wildly as Aiber wrapped up the cord. His fingers muted the audio occasionally when they covered the microphone, but Light was saying something inaudible and Aiber chuckled before he shut the camera off.

Light had gotten L's trusted agent to have a private conversation with him and leave L out of it. He wasn't sure if Light had won Aiber over or if Aiber was conspiring against him considering the man's own behavior.

L spun the remaining half of the macaron in his fingers. It had grown sticky and warm with his body heat but had all the appeal of old gum.

"See how Lucian reacts to not being the closest person to you."

Aiber's words made L click back near the beginning of the file. He had memorized all that they had said, but he wanted to see it again. It wasn't the words but the body language that told the real story.

There.

"We're aware," Aiber had said when he interrupted Light's explanation.

Light had worn a mildly annoyed expression up to that point, but at Aiber's words, his face went blank. His face itself remained impassive, then he swallowed. The cords in his neck stood out; he had to be grinding his teeth.

L had never seen Light do anything like that before. L might have called it "anger" because Light got control of his expression for his and Aiber's next exchange, but then Aiber asserted that he and L were partners.

Light's eyes widened in offense, as if Aiber had insulted him, then his eyelids lowered in a deliberate fashion. Light smiled faintly.

"I don't need to convince you of anything. You're just an underling," Light said with unmistakable superiority.

Even though Light was ostensibly maneuvering to get control of the conversation, his true feelings showed. It was jealousy: Light pulled rank on Aiber to put him in his place when it was L that angered him. Doing Watari's work would put Light above anyone else who worked for L, so Light defended his position even when doing so made him go against L's wishes.

L had lost credibility with Light by using Aiber, just as he predicted. Even when L tried to ensure he would not harm Light further by taking action, every tool he used turned into a double-edged sword.

However, Light dominated the conversation after that; he caught Aiber off-guard and then savaged L himself for his mistrustfulness. L's actions had also brought out a frightening but promising new side of Light. Light had gone from that temperamental, impulsive creature that had thrown L into a quandary earlier today… to this.

Ambivalent was not a strong enough word for his feelings about Light right now.

The macaron fell from his fingers, forgotten. L hiccupped and clapped a hand over his mouth to silence it. The first laugh was barely a chuckle. He couldn't draw any air to do more than that. One soundless, breathless laugh followed another until he could finally gasp air into his lungs.

Anyone walking down the hallway would think L was having an attack.

L came back to himself minutes later, the knees of his jeans damp with tears. Sweat ran down his temples, his stomach ached horribly, and his throat was raw. He had not so much laughed as howled. He wiped the tears off on his sleeve, but neither they nor the little bubbles of dying laughter stopped.

Climbing off the sofa, he bent and swiped his macaron off the carpet. Standing back up made him lightheaded, so he finished the cookie while the black stars faded from his vision.

L had told Light to challenge him. L might have gleaned nothing new from the words, but Light's behavior was proof enough.

L managed to smooth that smile off his face with the rest of the sick mirth and draw a breath without a hiccup. Time to get started.


What would Mr. Wammy have packed him?

L envisioned the bag he had opened in Singapore during his last trip away with the older man. Shirts and jeans L packed himself, but somehow shampoo and underwear and other nonsense always made it into his travel bags as well. There was a toothbrush and toothpaste (children's bubble gum flavor), chargers for his laptop and multiple mobiles (always needed but always forgotten), deodorant (never used), a comb (ha), and the microphone with its voice scrambler for any teleconferences with local police. Anything else Mr. Wammy carried in his own luggage.

L wished that just once he had paid attention to what Mr. Wammy took himself.

He shook his head to clear it before heading into his bedroom. He shucked off the tear-wet jeans and tossed them in the direction of the hamper Mr. Wammy always emptied then froze.

He turned toward the hamper and stared at it for a long, long minute.

Surely he could figure out how to do laundry later.

Maybe much later when no one would see him in the laundry room in the basement. He would just… take his laptop and do more planning down there. There was still one pair of jeans in his closet, so he pulled those on, unearthed his travel bag from where it had gotten buried underneath other dirty laundry, and started packing.


Matt was chewing on a straw and studying his 3DS screen when L finally appeared on the footpath to the armory. Behind L, the sun crept toward the horizon and bathed the yard in warm orange light. Around the side of the house, younger children scrambled over the playground or kicked a football in the yard before dinner. After the weeks of spring rain and slush, it was hard to fault them for making the racket.

"You said you needed me down here right away," Matt said, closing the device and pocketing it.

"I ran into a problem," L said with customary vagueness.

Matt sniffed. "Is that perfume?"

"Detergent," L said crossly.

L lifted a hand to place it on the panel Matt and Wedy had so recently installed. His sleeves were damp to the middle of his forearms and had a bluish cast.

Matt stifled a laugh as he put his palm on the other access panel and moved his goggles out of the way. This was Wedy's idea: require palm and retinal scans on both sides simultaneously. That should trip up anyone working alone, other than an octopus, of course. If someone tried to dismantle or rewire the panels, he would encounter more violent problems, but this was a good first step as a deterrent.

The locks disengaged, so L slipped inside. Matt was pleased that it worked when L hadn't been around earlier to test it. Wedy had left to meet Aiber's wife before L got back, so he'd have to text her that all was well.

"I'll stay out here," Matt said. "I'm not sure that the changes we made won't lock you inside, so keep it open until Wedy and I can test that tomorrow."

Matt leaned back against the cooling brick wall while he waited. He had no reason to be in the armory; it was just handguns, Mr. Wammy and Roger's scary rifle collection, ammunition, cleaning areas, and other stuff the children shouldn't be able to access. Matt liked practicing shooting well enough given his video games, but he disliked the cleaning that came with actual weapons despite excelling at it compared to his peers.

He pulled his phone out while L opened and closed lockers. A flash of light at the house's front gate made him look up, but it was just a taxi passing by.

"Why don't you move all this off-site?" Matt asked around the straw as he popped his phone open to start texting. "If this will only be a school, they probably won't keep it around."

"Do you know where to store all this?" L asked, his voice muffled. He clanged a locker shut louder than before.

Matt made a noncommittal noise while he typed.

"I couldn't delay anything to take care of this too. Barring access was easier," L said, surprising Matt with an actual explanation.

"He's not seriously coming back here, is he?" Matt asked.

He'd seen Light's state pretty clearly. Light implied he couldn't feed himself, so even if that infection wasn't as dangerous as it could have been, it was still a bad idea for him to come here.

"That's up to him," L said. Apparently he was done being transparent.

He heard a woman's voice, but it was probably the teacher minding the kids around the corner. Then there was a weird sliding, grinding noise inside the armory as if a chain was being dragged over a metal table. Goosebumps rose on Matt's arms. He eyed the armory door, but nothing untoward emerged.

He was playing way too much Resident Evil: Revelations right now.

"You gonna say what you want me for tomorrow?" Matt asked with a shiver. He slid the phone closed and reached for his 3DS. He needed to put Ocarina of Time back in.

"Hacking the security and cameras at the hospital," L said more clearly. He stepped around the door and pushed it closed with one hand. He'd shoved his wet sleeves up to his elbows and had something or somethings cradled against his chest. "If it's all CCTV, you need to be there in person."

The locks whined and clanged home, locking out anyone other than the two of them and Roger again. L jerked on the door handle and seemed satisfied that it didn't budge a millimeter.

"Do I need a disguise?" Matt said with a grin.

"Not if you can do it from outdoors, but a uniform from a utility company might be a good idea," L said. He looked down to rearrange the items in his arms.

"Sweet!" Matt replied. He had some coveralls from an old Halloween costume. He might be able to make them look like the real thing if he washed off the fake dirt and blood.

There was a sound from the direction of the walkway, almost like someone coughed or laughed. Matt leaned around L to squint against the reddening sun. Was someone there?

"O-hisashi buri desu, Ryuzaki-san," came a woman's voice.

L jerked upright like he'd been zapped, blocking Matt's ability to see beyond him. A look of unexpected terror flashed across L's features before it disappeared like it had never been there. L thrust what he was carrying into Matt's arms, and Matt oofed with the weight of it.

"O-hisashi buri desu ne," L said through his teeth as he turned in place, clearly trying to hide the sight of the items.

Was that Japanese? Matt spared a glance for the bundle in his arms. The handgun in its holster he expected, but the other thing was hard to keep hold of. His eyes darted from his arms to L to… was that Near? And—

Holy crap!

Something slithered from his boneless grip and clattered to the ground followed by what sounded like a thousand feet of chain. Matt could have counted every link as it struck the cement in that crushing silence if his brain hadn't short-circuited.

What is there a— Why a girl?! Who—?

The blood climbed to his face so quickly that all ability to assemble sentences fled.

Long dark hair pulled over one shoulder, a pink cowl-neck shirt and navy jacket, slim jeans tucked in gray suede short boots. So familiar with the almond-shaped brown eyes and annoyed half-smile but way too pretty and stylish to be from Wammy House. Not one of L's and too young to be an investor so maybe a journalist?

When he managed to look away from her, Near's altered appearance finally registered, and he almost choked.

Holy shit! This is Light's sister?!

Sayu had been looking at L, but now her gaze was trained on the offensively loud objects at Matt's feet. He followed suit.

Handcuffs and a whole lot of chain piled in front his boots.

Matt was going to kill L.

The dead-eyed look L gave him in return confirmed that he had similar homicidal desires.

"I tried to get your attention," Near said in rapid-fire Russian. Matt was pretty sure that was what he said, but Near was trying to hide his smile behind his hand in addition to speaking too quickly for Matt. "You were closing the door."

Before any of them could react to a show of amusement from Near, of all people, he spoke quick Japanese to Sayu then added in English for Matt's benefit, "Matt, this is Sayu Yagami."

Sayu gave him a real smile and bowed slightly with her hands in front of her. "Pleased to meet you," she said in devastatingly charming English.

Matt was going to die because none of the blood had made its way out of his face. He unlocked his jaw and barely kept the straw from tumbling out of his mouth too. He gripped the gun and let it fall to his side, out of sight, before pulling the straw out of his mouth.

"Nice to finally meet you," he said somehow.

"Thank you for taking care of my brother," she said then added something incomprehensible in Japanese with a sheepish glance at Near. That made L finally speak. He stayed in the same language and exchanged words with Near as well. Sayu responded hesitantly but L made a dismissive motion.

Fuck. Matt was going to have to learn Japanese after all.

L spared a moment for Matt. "Lock that in your lab. I'll get it later," he whispered before turning back to Sayu.

He gestured for her to follow him, so she said bye to Near and left with L. They talked as they walked to the front door. L pointed at a bag or backpack that had been left on the steps before it, and when she nodded, he shouldered it for her.

Since when did L have manners? Was the sun imploding?

"What is that?" Near asked, jerking Matt back to reality.

His brain finally made connections again, and he remembered how to speak and where he was. It was a pity he was just standing in the yard with a gun and some questionable supplies, and Near was the only one there now.

"Hell if I know," Matt grumbled. "L wanted them and then left them for me to take care of."

He clipped the holster onto his belt with one hand, so he could gather the handcuffs and miles of chain. He carried the mortifying things across the yard to his lab.

"He is getting Sayu a room," Near explained. "He asked if she wanted Light's, but she did not like that idea."

Neither Sayu nor L were visible anymore, so Matt asked, "How much does she know?"

"She does not know Light's alias or why he is here." Near twirled his hair around his finger. "She knows why he is hospitalized. I think his family feared it for some time."

Matt swore. He hadn't known, but would Light have told him before things went to hell? Light had been congenial yet mostly closemouthed about himself, manically driven about his work, unwilling or unable to set boundaries with L, and… good company. How could Matt have guessed Light was also suicidal?

Maybe someday he'd get to ask Light more about it.

"Did you see any more of his family? How was your day in Japan?" Matt asked once they got inside the lab.

While he and Near caught up, he pried up one of the tiles and hid the gun and other items under the floor. L could have fun searching for them later tonight.

Jerk.


Roger gave L the key to a vacant room in Light's hall, so he led his now-silent companion toward the main stairs. The solid thunk of Sayu's heeled boots on hardwood was the only sound she made. She looked around but made no attempt at conversation when they were in the ground floor's common areas. Students crowded the halls as they left their rooms or came in from outdoors before dinner, which might explain her silence.

He had warned Roger this morning that another outsider was coming, so the students and staff had been briefed. They had done it so often for investors and other visitors since Mr. Wammy's… passing that it should be second nature.

They made it up the stairs into the less-traveled areas before Sayu finally spoke.

"So… 'Light's friend from school'?" Sayu asked, repeating L's lie from over a year ago. Gone was the friendly young woman that she had been outside; now she sounded cross.

"Light-kun and I were acquainted, just not from school," L started, bending the truth as he had with Light in the beginning.

Although given that Light knew his real name, he wondered how long his identity had been a mystery. Had Light's snide comments about L's name hinted at his knowledge back when they started training?

"Niichan told us about you. You don't have to explain. I'm used to the half-information with Light and Dad, so spare me any more lies, please," Sayu said curtly.

L swallowed what he had been about to say. What had Light told them about him?

"Should I still call you Ryuzaki-san?" she asked in a more normal tone of voice.

"Yes. I could use your help," he said rather than trying to explain himself anymore. His shoulders rounded with sudden weariness.

"My help?" Sayu repeated.

"Light-kun needs a bag, but I don't know what to bring for him," L said.

Sayu looked confused, but he handed her a key and her own travel bag when he stopped before one of the doors.

"You can use this room tonight. His room is next door; the door will be open," he said, trying to put his words into an order that didn't then sound like an order. He wasn't sure he had succeeded based on her expression.

"Is it too late to see niichan today?" she asked, gripping the key in her fist.

L nodded. "Our next opportunity is tomorrow morning, but it won't be conducive to conversation," L said. He looked at the floor and rubbed at the back of his neck. "I will do what I can to get you some time with him."

When she said nothing, he glanced back up at her. Her eyebrows were peaked and her lips compressed.

"Thank you, Ryuzaki-san," she said quietly. "I'm sorry. I wasn't being fair to you."

L just inclined his head toward her before turning on his heel to go to the room next door. While she disappeared into her room, he used his master key to open Light's door.

It felt even more like opening a tomb when chilly air sighed out and washed over his feet. The stale air still hinted at sandalwood, at least in his imagination. He flicked on the lights and adjusted the heat upward to banish that empty feeling. Matt had been the one to discover Light's absence, but no one other than L had been in here since that rotten day, leaving everything undisturbed. Before Sayu could see, he swiped Light's final note off the nightstand along with the abandoned bank cards and pocketed them all.

The camera he had set atop the dresser caught his eye next. It had been a gift to Light from Sayu. Would she be insulted if she saw it still unopened? Would L be doing anyone any favors if he hid it?

He couldn't decide, so he used his keys to slit the tabs then set the now-opened box in Light's closet.

Light had started filling a suitcase before he ran away, so L could start with that. He poked through the neatly-folded contents, trying to piece together Light's thought processes at the end. Had Light planned to pack up and leave Wammy House but changed his mind halfway through packing? Had he just wanted to confuse them, thus delaying their search until they noticed the note?

L's fingers found a plain white t-shirt under the button-down shirts. His cold, damp sleeves reeked of flowers and irritated him enough that he slipped into the bathroom and traded his shirt for Light's. After all he'd done, surely he could borrow a tee for an evening. It fit a lot closer than he liked and left his arms exposed, but it was better than wearing evidence of his inept laundry skills.

Sayu knocked on the doorframe just as he tossed his wadded-up shirt in the sink. She had left off her jacket and pulled her hair back into a ponytail.

"You said the bag is for my brother?" she asked when she took a step into the room. "Does he need new things?"

"Traveling tomorrow is one option, but he has nothing with him and may need to stay as well," he said. He didn't want her to think that someone from Wammy House was taking care of Light during his stay, as was more common in Japan, and only needed to refresh his supplies.

Sayu walked to where L had been standing earlier, her heels quieter against the carpet in front of Light's bed. She fingered one of the silky-soft shirts that lay inside Light's suitcase. Without letting go of it, she scanned the room again.

"This is as bare as his apartment was," Sayu murmured as if she didn't expect L to hear, so he said nothing. "Did he leave it like this?" she asked.

"Yes," L said simply when she didn't ask anything further.

He slid open a dresser drawer. In the hopes of figuring out how everything had gone so wrong, he had searched the entire room back when he thought Light was dead, but now he had good reason to go through it. Surely he should put some socks or something in that suitcase.

Sayu smoothed the creases out of the shirt she had touched, and she straightened out the ones L had mussed a few minutes ago.

"He has enough shirts for a short trip." She pushed her bangs out of her eyes and saw L standing there with socks in his hands. "Go ahead and put those in. I need to find some more trousers." She turned her face away from him to go look in the closet.

They worked mostly in silence after that. Sayu thought of plenty of things he hadn't considered: shoes, a jacket, the items out of his bathroom, and even a towel and washcloth. L packed the laptop Matt had given Light rather than Light's old one. He left the spare keys for the Mercedes; someone could sell the thing some other day.

"Did he say anything before he…?" Sayu gestured to imply the words she wouldn't say after she closed and zipped the suitcase shut.

L considered the note burning a hole in his pocket, but he strongly doubted the contents would be any consolation to her.

"No," L said. "He said it was a rushed decision." L had gotten that from the doctor's notes, and it could have been a lie, but that lie might be helpful.

"He said that? So he'll talk about it?"

"Yes. He's doing better than he was," L said.

Light was far from well, but L had seen some terrifying yet incredible things today. He just couldn't tell her that. He would have to explain too much else for what he saw to make sense to her.

Sayu crossed her arms over her chest and stared down at the carpet.

"Can I be honest, Ryuzaki-san?" Before L could say anything, she continued, "I don't know what I'm doing here. I know he won't be happy that I came, but I couldn't just… stay. Not if he…"

She trailed off. L didn't try to look at her face given the sound of her voice, but this was the sister of someone that L had harmed greatly, whether intentionally or not. What would Mr. Wammy have told him to do? The older man had advised him for most of his life even though L had been ungracious about much of the instruction.

"Have you had dinner?" L asked.

She looked up at him, confused by the non sequitur, and shook her head.

"Is it dinnertime? I feel like Nasanyu-san and I just had breakfast in Switzerland," she said.

L tried to decipher that so he didn't give her a name Near hadn't used. Near must have given her part of the false name on his passport: Nathaniel Wells.

"The staff is serving dinner, so I can show you the way or ask Nathaniel to do so," he said. "The town center isn't far, so you can go there instead, but eat dinner. Sleep. Tomorrow morning I'll know how you can help further."

"There's more?"

"I will think of something," he said.

Her hollow-eyed stare faded to something more neutral.

"Let's do dinner, then," she said.

Let's? L hadn't meant to offer to go with her, especially since he didn't want to eat anything except the cheesecake he had bought with the macarons. He opened his mouth to correct her, but… Mr. Wammy was glaring at him in his memories.

Ah, well. L could always get dessert if they ate in Winchester itself, and he had plenty of time to make arrangements if he avoided sleeping tonight. Then the cheesecake would be useful and not just a treat.

"We can go into town for food rather than eating here," he said. He knew just the place that served food but did much better with desserts.

For once in the last few miserable days, L must have done something right if her soft smile was any indication.

Was that the right response, Mr. Wammy?

He hoped so.

Sayu picked Light's suitcase off the bed and set it next to the door with the laptop bag that L had packed. She took the tie out of her hair and finger-combed it out while L locked the door behind them. He should probably take Mr. Wammy's car again; he loathed driving his own, especially with anyone else in it.

"Nathaniel should come too," Sayu said blithely as she went to collect her jacket and purse.

L came to a halt and stared after her.

"Should we ask Matt as well? Would he want to join us?" Sayu called around the corner.

Never mind. I made a big mistake.


A/N – Poor L. He has been so beaten up in the last few chapters. Someone give him a hug again!

And I'm so sorry. I have literally titled every chapter since 51 "Heist" only to have to change it after writing it because I got carried away writing new scenes that I loved. The next chapter is called freaking "Heist," I swear!