June 2; 13 00
There hadn't been much time for Rui to get Ryuzaki something sweet by the time they had gotten back. It was weird. Rui had smiled in anticipation at the thought of picking out desserts from Bancroft's teashop to bring back for Ryuzaki, but Watari had smiled strangely, and said, "You've done a good job as Ryuzaki's caretaker thus far." It was an innocuous statement that nevertheless, made her uncomfortable and put her off her original intention. Hence, the Prosciutto e Melone, ordered via the hotel's room service. Thank goodness she had remembered how exceptionally sweet the melon had to be in this dish.
"Ryuzaki, I'd like you to take me off the task force," Yagami Sr. said determinedly, to everyone's surprise, except maybe Ryuzaki's. Rui had been half-expecting things to go differently. "My son is now under suspicion… I have no right to be here. When we were discussing what to do with Light's sudden confess- what Light said, I was the only one allowing personal feelings to get in the way."
"Yeah, personal feelings shouldn't be involved…" Ryuzaki mumbled, non-committal, as he stole a look at the Chief out of the corner of his eye, the majority of his attention still ostensibly on examining the melon, but probably still on Light, who was sitting quietly in the chair beside him, expression grave and head tilted downwards.
"A…and, if he… If my son really is Kira… I don't know what kind of actions I may take…" Yagami Sr. continued, carefully not looking at Light as Ryuzaki remained unreadable.
"I agree that it may be wise to impose a degree of separation from the case due to a conflict of interest." Rui barely snorted. That was the understatement of the year there. "However…" Ryuzaki speared a piece of melon, examining it. "No matter what happens…" He finally ate the melon, "Please don't resign from the police."
"Ryuzaki," Yagami Sr. replied incredulously, "My son is seriously suspected of being Kira. Just for that alone, I should resign… That's how the police are…"
"Light, what do you think?" Ryuzaki asked, savoring his fruit.
"I'm sorry, dad…" the suspect in question spoke up for the first time that day. "Because of me… If you resign… Mom and Sayu…"
Rui saw the moment recognition flashed across Yagami Sr.'s face. He hadn't thought at all about them, then. Really, men could be so one-track-minded. "You're right… Sachiko… Sayu… But… I…"
The rest of the task force men were just as dismayed. "Boss…"
Ryuzaki finally spoke up. "I think… a reasonable compromise could be to house the Chief in a separate room, with all necessary amenities for comfortable daily use, and keep him updated on the case remotely. Aizawa-" The man in question looked up, his gaze sharpened with renewed hope. "You will be in charge of the key."
Ryuzaki resumed picking at the ham on the melon. "Until a time when myself and all of you agree that it is appropriate to release the Chief, he shall remain in a separate room by himself. All of you are welcome to suggest further improvements to the situation, as it is not our intention to treat him as a suspect. But please clear any changes with me, first."
It was certainly a reasonable suggestion, and Rui could see them nod unanimously. This had gone so well, much better than in canon. Rui congratulated herself on her decision to tell Ryuzaki about what she knew. Though, knowing him, he would, of course, be installing surveillance in Yagami Sr.'s room, too. She peeked at Yagami Sr., whose head was still down.
"Thank you… Ryuzaki…"
June 3; 03 00
"Where's Light?" Rui asked, in an effort to break the odd tension between them. Ryuzaki was waiting outside her bathroom, and he'd invited her to one of the hotel's private lounges. 'A word, please,' were his exact words.
There was an odd look on his usually-blank face as he stared directly at her from under his non-existent brows, chewing delicately at his right thumb with his other hand resting on his knee in his customary crouch. The warm, dim glow of the chandelier overhead made his face appear more fair than ghostly, flattering the sharpness of his features, though even it couldn't help the darkened circles around his enormous eyes. Evidently, Light wasn't the only one who couldn't sleep well in the presence of an enemy (not that most people could). Or perhaps it was the knowledge that powerful, otherworldly foes could be drifting about around them, undetected, ready to report their every move to one who could easily kill them without compunction. Or do so themselves with impersonal glee. Rui was glad that she could assuage him of that possibility here, at least. Last she checked, Ryuk was flitting about restlessly above Light.
"Watari is watching him for now," Ryuzaki responded politely. Rui squinted at him, shifting about due to the awkwardness that came with appearing in pajamas in public, but then she got it.
"So, today was an interesting one," Rui began conversationally, deciding to spare him the effort. "After I delivered breakfast to everyone, I was invited to breakfast at a café run by an old British gentleman, Mr. Bancroft. Watari certainly is a charming fellow, isn't he? He seems like a seasoned traveler, too, and he mentioned something about Paris and about finding a black-haired babe there. He didn't say much else, though," she hastily added at the end, seeing Ryuzaki's fingers tighten on his left knee and him bite hard on his thumb. So, it was true, then, that L was born and abandoned somewhere in Paris. But it wasn't as if Watari had revealed all that much, had he? It wasn't as if Rui was going to up and go to France to search for his public records. Moreover, with their influence and wealth, they would surely have scrubbed away all records of L's existence. Was it, then, that Watari had been acting independently, that upset Ryuzaki so?
"What concerns you, Ryuzaki?" Rui asked him, gently.
His thumb slipped from his lips. He seemed to have many things to say, so many that they clogged up his throat, rendering him silent.
"There's a lot that we fans don't understand about our mutual acquaintance," Rui quipped, changing tack. "We only know that he apparently has many connections in the business world, has founded many orphanages around the world, and has a gifted program in the one you came from, which is managed by one with the initials R.R. Much of his motivations for setting up this program, for following you, remain unclear."
It was then that Ryuzaki's mouth opened, slowly, before he appeared to make up his mind firmly. "Our mutual acquaintance, as I understand it, has an atypical way of viewing the world. It is why we have worked together smoothly thus far…"
"But he cannot be taken at face value?" Rui hazarded a guess and saw him blink in assent. Well, she already knew that but… if even Ryuzaki was saying things like that…
"What does he want with me?" Rui demanded, furrowing her brow. "Was he the one who wanted me to work here?"
Shit. Half-buried suspicions, hovering just at the tip of her tongue, precipitated her impulsive outburst, and it caused Ryuzaki to clam up again as he stared at his wriggling toes. Rui gritted her teeth in frustration. She'd always thought of L as the one sitting smugly in the middle of his web of power and influence, like some overgrown spider, with everyone else at his beck and call, including Watari. Why, for Heaven's sake, did it seem like Watari had some sort of influence over L? Vulnerable was not a word she had ever thought could be applied to the man.
Watari wasn't a prideful man. His willingly serving L attested to that. Surely he could not want for money, if the scale of their expenses, made with the carelessness of the truly wealthy, was any indication. Watari didn't seem like a sentimental person either. Was it the excitement that came with being at the periphery of high-stakes cases? Rui felt like there were better ways to fulfill that, such as becoming a secret agent or law enforcer.
She sighed. "Would you suggest that I refuse any such invitations in the future?" He could at least tell her if she was in trouble.
Ryuzaki chewed at his thumb before he finally replied. "I do not see any reason to." He got up, making it clear that the conversation was over, and slipped on his beat-up trainers.
"Does-does Watari know about this conversation?" Rui stood up too.
His thumb went back up to rest on his bottom lip. "I don't see any reason to hide it from him." Read: don't deny it if he asks, but don't actively tell him about it.
"Goodnight, Ryuzaki," Rui called as he reached the door, not expecting a response.
"… Have a good rest, Rui." His voice was soft.
June 5, 2004; 13 00
The killings had ceased by the third day of Light being handcuffed to Ryuzaki. Just to piss Light off and hopefully get him to slip up, Ryuzaki had requested that she switch their usual fruit to apples at breakfast. Seeing his craving and not being able to assuage it really drove Ryuk batty, and he began bouncing off the walls and ceiling in frustration, wailing loudly at it being unfair that they got apples, he didn't and they didn't even like them. Rui didn't know how Light was able to keep a straight face at this. Well, at least she was watching them at a comfortable distance behind the surveillance camera.
"Some new criminals have been shown on the news," Ryuzaki addressed Light conversationally. "But none have been killed since you were put in confinement."
Light looked downcast. "So… then I really am Kira?"
"It's only been three days, Light-kun," Ryuzaki said, with fake reassurance. "It may be a coincidence."
"Ryuzaki, what about Misa?" Light continued. "Has she revealed anything that would help in the investigation?"
"Light-kun, you and Misa are currently our strongest suspects. I cannot reveal that kind of information to you," Ryuzaki replied with finality, slurping his tea.
"You sure are strict," Light lamented. "I'm doing this to help figure out the truth too, you know?"
"Yes," Ryuzaki mused, glancing over at Light from the corner of his eye. "It is surely important that the truth is uncovered. It wouldn't be up to me, of course, but it is likely that the person found to be Kira will get the death penalty, or at least life in prison." To his credit, Light's reaction was more subdued than it could have been.
"R-Ryuzaki!" The task force evidently did not like the consequences of their work to be stated so baldly. During this waiting period, everyone wasn't doing much, just sitting around and monitoring crime and death rates.
The detective in question began to stack apple-shaped gummies. "What? It's true, isn't it?" He blinked, resting his thumb on his lip. "Well, that's something to worry about once we catch him. No point thinking about it now."
Ryuk was staring holes into the gummies. Rui could see the cogs turning in his brain, weighing up the risks and rewards of stealing them.
"Do you miss your father, Light?" Ryuzaki continued conversationally. He then pressed one of the buttons in front of him, and the feed from Yagami Sr.'s room appeared on screen. Light tensed up.
"I just have to get through it… Even if there's nothing that can be done…" he muttered. Rui noticed that this was in response to Ryuk's complaint that he needed an apple so much that even the fake apple sweets were beginning to seem tempting.
As in canon, Yagami Sr. sat still, though this time, in a plush armchair, looking like he'd done a hack job shaving and combing his hair. He didn't look as terrible as he did in the original series, but the lines of worry now seemed permanently etched on his already-worn face.
"Yagami-san," Ryuzaki spoke into the microphone.
Immediately, the ennui that suffused the man in question was replaced with agitation as he sprang up, facing the camera. "What happened? Good news? Bad news?!"
"…No… Try to relax… Nothing will be accomplished by stressing yourself out," Ryuzaki said, as soothingly as someone like him could manage (which just sounded like a monotone). "This could take a very long time. Perhaps you should go home and take a rest?"
"IMPOSSIBLE!" Yagami Sr. boomed. "There is no chance I could relax right now. No matter what the results, I'm not leaving without my son!"
Ryuzaki's gaze never left Light's face. "…I understand."
June 7, 2004; 14 00
The days that followed were much the same, with everyone watching something or other – Ryuzaki watching Light, Light watching Ryuk, the task force watching the news and the Chief, and Rui watching them all. As usual, Ryuzaki was making faintly taunting statements towards Light, and Ryuk was throwing himself about the room. Thankfully, he had currently paused, torso down, legs in the air, beside Light.
"Light-kun, it's only been a week now. Are you all right?"
"Yeah, I probably look really bad right now," Light agreed, ruefully, running a hand through his mussed hair. "But this pride… I'll have to… Get rid of it."
Rui and Ryuk perked up at the same time, and she pressed the button on her belt, causing Ryuzaki's phone to vibrate in his pocket. "Okey dokey!" Ryuk said cheerily, springing up and walking into the wall. "Later!"
Rui could see the very instant Light's memories of the Death Note left him. The dull resignation in his eyes vanished, and what was left was idealistic, puppy-like, and reminded Rui so much of her younger brother. He sprang up.
"Ryuzaki, it's true that I came here with the claim that I might have been Kira, but that cannot be it! I can think clearly now, and something was wrong with me then! Do you really think that Kira could do such things without being conscious of them?!"
Everyone present looked at him with shock, and he slowly turned around, meeting each person's eyes until he reached Ryuzaki, who was gazing back at him squarely, his lips pressed tightly together.
"Please believe me!" Light cried, desperately trying to convince anyone, everyone, with his eyes. "I don't know what kind of power Kira has, but he definitely exists and has committed these acts by his own free will! I have no consciousness of such acts, so I can't be Kira!"
"…The killings stopped immediately after you were confined," Ryuzaki pointed out carefully.
"Ryuzaki, listen carefully… I swear I'm not lying… I'm not Kira! I must have been framed. Let me help you investigate!" Light beseeched, focusing on Ryuzaki.
"What's going on?" Aizawa murmured confusedly to Matsuda. "This isn't like Light at all… He's taking back what he said earlier and not making any sense…"
Matsuda frowned. "Maybe the week of being watched has gotten to him? And seeing his own father so worried because of him surely…"
"Light, now that the killings have stopped, there's no way we can release you… Even I know that…" That last sentence was said just as beseechingly.
"Well, no matter what you say, it is beginning to look like this case will be resolved with you, Yagami Light, as Kira," Aizawa stepped in, covering for Matsuda's hesitation. "In fact, we should probably see about moving you into proper confinement facilities."
"In accordance with what was agreed previously," Ryuzaki cut in, "we should watch him for a suitably long period of time, on the scale of months, at the very least, to confirm Kira's identity. It would be best not to change anything to avoid introducing new variables into this situation."
Light visibly wilted, rubbing at his eyes with the heel of his palms. "I'm not Kira… You'll see…"
Rui chewed nervously at her thumb. She was glad that Ryuzaki appeared more inclined to work with the task force as a team, and that he was actively changing things, but she didn't see how watching Light, as opposed to confining him, would change the effect that suspicion would soon fall off him once Rem passed the Note onto Yotsuba.