CHAPTER 29 - RESPONSIBILITY

L opened the door to his cabinet to find the old Wizard sitting in his chair. He stood up the moment he saw L: "Thank God you are alright, I was worried that…'' Watari started and frowned when he saw the boy immediately headed to his backpack and started packing: "...what are you doing, L?"

"I need to leave. I have a lead to follow." L said, his voice cold and calculated. Watari immediately knew something had happened. L hardly ever used this tone towards him.

"L, be reasonable. Come, sit down and tell me everything."

"I don't have time, Watari. I need to leave as fast as possible." L put some emergency supplies into his backpack and bottles with Watari's healing potion followed. It was a small bag but spelled with Expansion charm. L threw a few more things inside before he heard his mentor saying: "L, my boy… you know you can't leave without telling me what happened."

Yeah, sure I know… L told himself, but he didn't know where to start. No matter how much he was trying to think about the case, he was full of emotions from the meeting. And he knew this was going to be a shock for Watari as much as it was for L. It was going to hurt him as much as it hurt L. He took a deep breath before turning to face the man:

"It was A. The note. He is alive."

Pure shock showed on the old man's face: "A? You mean Alec?"

L nodded: "Yes. It seems that he faked his death. I don't know why… yet. But he has connections to some secret Wizarding society which knows a lot about our investigation. These people send him to me with information because he is one of the few people out of Hogwarts who know what I look like."

Watari frowned and rubbed his mustache: "Alright… I see why it got your attention..." he started, deciding not to comment on the fact that A was alive. He needed time to think about that: "... did Alec tell you anything about those people?"

L nodded. There was no reason not to tell Watari. He was the only person he could trust, after all: "They are supposed to be The Animagi league."

Watari frowned deeply. He walked on this earth for over a hundred years and he never heard about them before. But that's what secret societies were about. And Watari was not an Animagus.

"And the information?" the old man asked.

L told him exactly what A said to him and watched as Watari sat back in the chair. It looked like he was falling under the weight of the new information. The old man was silent for a moment, thinking, before saying:

"L… there is no way we can verify this information. You know that. Unless the Wizard is in the Animagus register the lead can not be proven right."

"Unless, the League has a register on their own."

"That's why you need to go? Alec set up a meeting for you?"

L nodded.

Watari shook his head again: "L… This is a bad idea. The lead is inviting, something Alec knows you would follow and he can not be trusted! What if he's connected to Kira?"

"One more reason to go…" L said and smirked at Watari. But the old man was not amused by his irresponsible behaviour. He only gave L a stern look.

The younger one rolled his eyes: "Oh come on, Watari, we can gain more than we can lose."

Watari shook his head, stood up and came to L, placing hand on his shoulder: "We can lose you…"

L looked into the blue eyes of his mentor. Watari was the only person in the world who truly cared about him and he felt his fatherly love on every step of his life. But he was also the person who raised him to solve cases and deal with dark sorcerers.

L mirrored the old man's gesture and put hand on his shoulder: "I am coming back, Watari. You won't get rid of me that easily."

The old man shook his head and took L's face to his hands: "You are still so reckless, stupid, stupid alpha."

L laughed. He actually laughed out loud at this and felt much calmer on the instant. He looked down at his feet and the old man finally let go of him. He realized he would not be able to stop L anyway. When this young alpha settled his mind on something, there was no way to change it.

"Three days. You'll be back in three days. If not, I will inform the task force about the details and I will lead the rescue operation."

"I wouldn't expect anything else from you." L chuckled. He knew that even when Watari never heard about the Animagi league before, the old man had enough contacts to find them, now that he knew about their existence. And besides… if something happened to L, Watari would know immediately. L's wand would return back to its original owner and that would mean L was dead. But L was not planning to die on this mission. He still had some tasks to finish here at Hogwarts. Which reminded him:

"Watari, earlier, I know you wanted to talk about Yagami's points… I guess it probably started some rumors but he really deserved those points. The boy is the best of them. And if I cut those points, it would be a great injustice."

Watari only nodded but didn't say a thing. He spent the last two hours worrying about his son and he didn't want to scold him when he was about to leave again. It was better when L didn't know what Light did. For now. It would only distract him more and God knew that Alec's reappearance must have been tough enough for him.

"What is it?" L suddenly asked when he saw Watari's expression: "Is the situation really so bad?"

Watari started massaging the bridge of his nose. He realized he was silent for too long and the boy was too observant for his own good. There was no way he was going to leave it now.

"Tell me… did something happen? Is Light alright?!" L suddenly blurted and his heart clenched. He wasn't exactly welcoming to the boy earlier. He sent him flying out the tower but he should have landed softly. L would never forgive himself if the boy ended up injured.

Watari nodded and sat back down on the chair: "Yes, yes. Light is alright… he's… alright."

L frowned. Something must have happened because Watari normally didn't stutter: "Then what is it?"

Watari took a deep breath. He had to tell him after all: "There was an accident earlier in the afternoon. In the entrance hall, by the hourglasses."

L's eyes widened in horror and he quickly sat opposite Watari: "Tell me…"

There was a moment of silence, when the old man thought of words to describe the situation. Then he spoke and watched L's reaction: "The students did not take Light's evaluation well and they started calling him names. As I expected, they seem to think you two are lovers."

L rolled his eyes. He expected something like that. It would make sense that Light would come to scream at him because of that.

"But the thing is…" Watari continued and L looked at him again: "... in reaction to that... Light let the hourglasses explode."

"WHAT?!"

"Probably not on purpose." Watari continued calmly and watched L's puzzled expression.

"He used his wand against his schoolmates?!"

The old man shook his head: "No L, he didn't. From the point of view of the others it looked like the hourglasses bursted from the inside by themselves but…"

"But it was probably a strong wizarding reaction caused by accumulated anger…" L finished the sentence and closed his eyes. This wasn't good. This was actually pretty bad. He just told Light that his true power comes from his inner omega and the boy managed to unleash it because he was angry and afraid. If the boy will understand it the wrong way, it might lead to a disaster.

Watari's eyebrow raised into his forehead: "You saw him doing something like this before?"

L nodded and was constantly running his thumb on his lips, while thinking: "Yes… but back then he was not aware of it himself. He is now. But he can't control it yet."

Watari frowned: "That's a very dangerous development. If he has so much power he can't control he might be…"

"He is not dangerous, Watari." L stated calmly, knowing exactly what the old man wanted to say. "He is just alone and extremely blocked in his second gender. But we are working on it…" L explained and he suddenly felt guilty that he kicked Light out of the cabinet. No matter how stupid the boy acted, he was probably just seeking reassurance and L coudln't see it. It made him wonder how many times he didn't see A or B seeking his help.

But Light is not my pack… he is not my… L thought before he heard Watari speaking again: "L… Roger will have to take some procurations and…"

"Does Roger know? Does he know it was Light?" L cut him off without really thinking what he was doing. His instincts yelled at him to protect the omega.

"I didn't tell him yet…"

L abruptly stood up and started pacing the room, while thinking. Yes, Light was not his pack. Not really. But it felt like he was. And the boy was bold enough to ask him for help a few times already. He openly relied on L. Unlike Alec or Beyond he wanted his help.

L turned to Watari: "Then don't. Tell him it was my fault. Or tell him the hourglasses just were not able to hold the amount of gems."

Watari chuckled: "L, that's ridiculous. Those hourglasses were built for that purpose…"

L just waved him off and started pacing again while running his thumb on his lower lip: "Then make it look like they weren't… I am sure you can manage."

"L, what are you…?" Watari wanted to ask and a theory was fastly forming in his head. But L was quick to explain himself:

"Light is having these reactions when he is scared and angry. If you will question him about it he will start doubting his own power and he will be scared of himself. At that moment, he might be truly dangerous."

Watari frowned deeply. He understood what L meant: "What do you want me to do?"

"Make it look like an accident. Or my fault, I don't care. I can handle it. We just need to stabilize the boy until I get back. He just started opening himself a little and I don't want to see him coming back to his shell." L explained. He knew what happened was his fault anyway. He didn't regret giving all the points to Light, but this was not the outcome he would see coming. And he couldn't deal with it right away. The case had higher priority.

"L… I admit I wanted you to take responsibility for this but I didn't mean that you will take it off Light completely…" Watari started but L cut him off:

"You also took responsibility for my actions in the past and I've done worse than a broken hourglasses."

Watari shook his head: "That was different, L. You were mistreated and misled and Light…"

"And Light wasn't? You want to tell me that his life hasn't changed at all at the moment he presented as an omega?"

L had a hard time believing that Watari didn't agree right away. He himself vouched for L at many opportunities. So what was wrong about L vouching for Light?

"But Light has his family to help him." Watari opposed it. He understood L's reasoning, but Light was not his responsibility. At least not to this length.

"As much as I respect his father, Watari, I doubt he could understand what it means to have such a great amount of power. Neither, what it means to be an omega..."

The old man raised an eyebrow: "And you do?"

"Watari!" L snapped at him. He was getting frustrated: "It was you who asked me to help him! You wanted me to give him a chance and I did! Now I am asking you to trust my opinion! Is it that hard?!"

No. It wasn't hard. Watari understood what the boy was doing. And in his place he would probably do the same but… L was also partly responsible for the whole situation. And he needed to understand that, before they would sweep it all under the carpet.

"I am sorry L, but I need to say this: If you knew he was unstable with his power, you shouldn't have given him the points! You should have known he would take it badly!"

L laughed ironically: "Oh… is that what happened?! Really?! Wasnt it just a few stupid teenagers completelly changing the situation and chasing Light to the corner?!"

"L! This is a school! You can't act in favor of one!" Watari raised his voice at him.

"I FUCKING CAN! AND I WILL! If they mistreat him and act like it was all his fault!" L yelled and then hard silence spreaded between them.

Watari knew he stirred up the horns' nest. L was not only referring to Light, but to himself. To what happened to him as a child. And if L felt Light was in a similar situation, Watari could only support L, to support Light. The method wasn't… exactly to his liking, but he also knew, if they weren't in a time pressure, L would go and clean up his mess.

"I am sorry, Watari… it's not your fault. I shouldn't have yelled at you…" L started and averted his eyes. He didn't know what was wrong with him. He was not normally getting emotional but the pressure of this day was getting to him.

"It's alright, my boy… I understand." The old man said calmly.

L looked up at his mentor: "Does it mean I can count on you? Will you keep this between us?"

Watari let out a long sigh: "I can come up with some cover version. But I can't promise everyone will believe it."

L nodded and offered a thankful smile: "That's enough for now. Thank you, Watari."

Watari nodded back at him and tried to give him as much support as possible. But he was not happy about the situation. He couldn't get rid of the feeling that L was much deeper in all this than he was letting out. That he was fighting for Light for slightly different reasons.

"But L… you can't fight his demons for him, what will he do in the future? When you are not around?"

The old man expected a frown or a concerned look at the mention of them apart, but he didn't get any. L reacted immediately and waved him off: "I still have 8 months of a school year to deal with it so don't worry… we just need to keep him occupied now. He can't start doubting his power while I am gone. I need him to start working with his second gender, not to block it out even more." L said and sat down at his desk. He started writing something.

Watari raised an eyebrow and went to look over the boy's shoulder. L was writing a letter to Light. He was obviously under the impression there was nothing personal that Watari couldn't read but the way L wrote the first paragraph was very sensitive and a little too familiar for a relationship between a teacher and a student. But it was the second paragraph that made the old man frown.

"L… are you sure about this?"

The younger man nodded, finished writing and started wrapping the latter.

"Yes. It will help him to stay occupied and it might be an opportunity for the younger omegas." He said and gave the latter to Watari. But the old man was hesitating: "L, this is a privilege. You are practically rewarding him for doing the wrong thing…"

"It was not his fault…" L said, half whispering "... you know that Watari."

The old man took the letter and shook his head in disbelief. It was unlike L to fight for someone so close to him. He saw him fighting for strangers, he was risking his life for the whole wizarding world. But to show his trust openly towards someone who was this close to him was… new.

"And everyone who was ever in our skin should know this is not a privilege…" L added with a chuckle.

"That's not how the students will see it… they will see you favoriting him again."

L shook his head and took on his back pack while saying: "I don't care. It will help Light and it will help the youngsters. We can deal with the rest when I come back. And anyway, he can refuse."

Now it was Watari's turn to chuckle: "I think you know he won't refuse."

L shrugged: "The boy is constantly surprising me so… I am not sure about anything anymore."

Watari only shook his head. He could only hope L knew what he was doing.

"I really have to go now. I am meeting with Alec's contact soon."

"Alright. Go and be careful." Watari said and he practically resignated. There was no reason to argue about this anymore. Especially not, when L was leaving and needed to focus. He could only hope that L will be able to let the boy out of his mind while on mission. Because L couldn't afford any distractions. It might cost him life.

"I am always." The younger said and headed to the door. Then suddenly, he stopped and turned around: "Watari… please keep an eye on him for me. He is much more fragile than he lets out."

Funny fact to end with:

Chapters 1-10 of this story covered circa 1,5 month of the story.

Chapters 11-17 of this story covered circa 1,5 week of the story.

Chapters 18-29 of this story covered circa 1,5 days of the story.

The whole story should cover more than a damn school year.

Now you probably got a picture… about how much this story got out of my hands. :D :D :D Hahaha… I have something to do for next 10 years! :D :D :D

But don't worry, the story will speed up now… at least a little. :P

Love, J.