Inseparable

"I WAS AT a really low point at the time okay? I'm in a much better place now. Just remember that," Misa's voice crackled from the speakers of Watari's laptop. The sound carried a tinny quality, as though the model was talking into cupped hands. Light tapped at the volume button in an effort to amplify her, and repositioned the Apple mac upon his knees. To his right L sat with one hand on the steering wheel, his sneaker-clad feet balanced lightly upon the pedals. The pair had stationed themselves in a quiet side road around the corner from the restaurant in order to listen in on the exchange.

"I knew having her pause there would make the moment more emotive," L critiqued, lifting his hand from the wheel to reach into his bag of M&Ms. Light barely managed to suppress his sigh.

"So you're a director as well now?"

"...I kind of fell for the hero who had brought me justice," Misa continued. L mouthed along with her lines, sitting back in his seat with a satisfied smile.

"I could actually be her number one fan," he breathed. And, with that, he tossed a blue M&M, threw his head back and caught the candy in his mouth. Light glanced sideways reproachfully, his exasperation even more pronounced when L held out the bag towards him.

"Here."

"Really, don't worry about it…"

Then, as Hatori responded, both men sat bolt upright. Light clicked furiously at the volume button.

"Why can't you use a Windows laptop like everyone else?" he hissed. L stared ahead through the windscreen placidly.

"I suppose I have the same taste as Shinigami when it comes to tech."

Despite himself, Light stifled a snort of laughter.

"...I wish I was as easy to fall for as Kira… I'm still not even sure why a girl like you wants to see a loser like me."

"Guess that's all he's got to say on that," Light commented, twisting around to face L. "It sounds like this guy knows he's in over his head. I'll bet he's feeling pressure from some of the others at Yotsuba. Higuchi especially." L studied a red M&M enclosed between his thumb and forefinger with extreme care.

"Yes, Hatori may be stupid, but even he knows that he's in something that he can't get out of." L's voice was muffled as he chewed the candy. "It makes sense for him to be cagey. We'll have to get Misa to continue seeing him in order to extract more information." The detective was quiet for a moment, before regarding Light sobrely.

"Sorry, Light. I appreciate this part of the investigation must be difficult for you, considering…" A faint frown line creased Light's brow, before the student shook his head.

"Oh no! Like I said, it's completely one-sided on her part."

"Even so…"

"Hey, isn't that your manager?"

Both of the young men tensed in unspoken dread. There came a rustle through the speakers, followed by a succession of animated voices.

"Mr Matsui?"

"Misa Misa!"

"What is he doing?" Light gasped, "he could blow the whole operation!" The pair leaned forward as though trying to catch each and every word. It was as Matsuda not so artfully brought the conversation back to the subject of pickles that L's eyes hardened into granite.

"Matsuda… you idiot."

"We need to do something, Ryuzaki!" Light pleaded urgently, "Hatori's already suspicious and if no one turns up to meet Matsuda…" He gripped onto the neck rest of his seat as he looked frantically around the interior of the car. Then, Light's eyes brightened as they came to rest on the two jackets laid upon the car's back seats.

That could work… besides, what choice do we have?

"Let's grab those and go."

x-x-x

Back in the restaurant, Matsuda sat with his back hunched and hands pressed to his lap. To his left Misa had returned to her menu, although it was clear from the movement of her eyes that she was not reading a word of it. Hatori was leaning with one elbow upon the table, his drink in his hand, considering Matsuda with interest.

"So, Mr Matsui," he continued, prompting Matsuda to lapse once more into nervous laughter. "Something happened on the day you visited Yotsuba. We were alerted about an imposter in the building who was behaving strangely. When we checked our CCTV, it was already wiped somehow. You don't remember seeing anything do you?"

"N-no, I don't…heh heh..." Tiny beads of perspiration were breaking out across Matsuda's forehead.

"See, I thought… you just seem like someone who's really switched on, you know?" Hatori nodded approvingly, despite the fact that Matsuda was now gripping the sides of his head in a feeble attempt at a brace position. "I can tell you're no idiot. I'm sure you would have noticed something on your way to the boardroom."

"Uh, yeah." Matsuda's eyes stood out in panic. "I mean, n-no! I didn't see anything, I swear, but I would have said something if I did. Yeah. Totally!"

"Yo, Matsui!"

All heads turned round to the source of the voice. L and Light were walking towards the table, each with a jacket slung over his arm.

"Oh, so these are your friends, huh?" Hatori asked. Catching Misa's smile of recognition, he added - "why don't you both pull up a chair here and join us?" As the two young men came to a stop, Light shoved a hand in his pocket and smiled casually around at the group.

"Sounds fun, but we can't stay. Apparently there's no seats left for the four o'clock showing, Matsui. We're gonna have to head off to the movie theatre now if we want to make the earlier one. Should we... get going?" Light glanced at Matsuda and adjusted his coat in an impatient manner.

"You don't have to worry about that-" Hatori withdrew his wallet and began to rummage through it, "I've got a platinum pass for gallery seats at The Complex. It's one benefit of working for Yotsuba." He slid the card across the table. "Take down that number and when you go in later, they'll seat you wherever you like!"

"That's... great," Light muttered in feigned politeness. "Working for Yotsuba sure must have a lot of added perks, huh?" Reluctantly, he removed his phone from his pocket and snapped a photograph of the card.

"Yeah, I run the marketing department. I'm Arayoshi Hatori, but call me Yoshi," Hatori continued, "it's great to meet Misa's friends!" He glanced round at the model eagerly; her smile had become rather fixed.

"Yay… fun."

Light looked to L whose face had set in resignation. Glowering, the detective sank into the only vacant seat with both feet planted uncharacteristically upon the floor. Light lifted a chair from the next table with his spare hand and placed it beside him, taking care to fold his jacket over the chain which bound them both.

"I'm Hideki Ryuga," L stated the name bluntly, "this is-" He looked to his left in silent deliberation. "Light." The latter made a small noise of protest.

"Wow, epic names. Are you guys actors from Misa's agency?"

"Yeah, I know Light from work!" Misa had suddenly reanimated. "He's a model too, of course you'd believe it!" She beamed over the table at him in pride then, her focus moving to L, Misa's expression faltered. "Hideki isn't."

L self-consciously lifted a hand to his face, touching at the darkened circles beneath his eyes.

"Oh, so Light is single, good-looking and friends with Misa…" Hatori stared down at the table in dejection. "Good to know."

"No, really you don't have to worry about me and Light!" Misa cried, making a flustered motion with her hands. "He's never been interested in me that way. He's… he's actually gay!"

Light's mouth fell open, his eyes widened in shock. The student uttered a short gasp, as if choking on the very air itself.

"M-Misa…!"

"Oh, don't worry, I get it. I'm totally fine with… erm… that." Hatori waved a dismissive hand towards Light, who was frozen in horror. The businessman turned instead to L who appeared quite listless in comparison.

"So, is this your boyfriend?"

Light forced a strangled laugh. His eyes darted from Misa, to Matsuda, Hatori and, finally, L. Then he gave a small, half-shake of his head, eyes closed in mortification.

"Yes that's correct," L spoke, his head snapping round to Hatori. "I'm a lucky guy." The detective feigned a smile and draped his unshackled arm around Light's shoulders, leaving his forearm resting against the student's neck. Light, meanwhile, was visibly reliving all of his adolescent, high school nudity nightmares in one sitting.

"We met in college after a particularly charged game of tennis. I played Light pretty hard but he was the one who finished on top." The skin along Light's neck burned.

"Yeah. ...you could say we've literally been inseparable ever since," the student finished stiffly.

"Eee!" Matsuda erupted, his hands clenched upon the tabletop. "God, I love that story. I tell it all the time!"

"It looks like we've got ourselves a double date then." Hatori stood, visibly more relaxed. "I'm gonna go to the bar to get us a round of drinks! Don't go anywhere." He strode away towards the back of the restaurant, the heads of his new companions following his progress. As soon as the businessman was out of earshot, L relinquished his grip on Light and rounded on Matsuda.

"How could you be so stupid as to charge in here like that?" he seethed.

"I- I heard pickles!" Matsuda cried. "Blame Misa!"

"Well, what about you? You told Hatori my real name!" Light snarled down at his lap, an angry flush mottling his cheeks. "...and for all we know he could be Kira!"

"I'm sorry, Light. I just couldn't think on the spot," L returned dryly.

"And why did you have to… to say that?" Light lifted his head to glare at Misa, sweeping a hand at L without looking at him.

"I'm sorry!" Misa whined, "I- I just thought Hatori would get suspicious otherwise. There's just so much obvious chemistry!"

"What?" Light started. "What are you talking about?"

"Come on, we totally stand out as a couple!" Misa explained, brandishing her menu, "I had to lie to cover it up so that Hatori wouldn't lose interest in me. I guess you're going to ask me to keep seeing him, right?"

"Right," Light managed shortly.

"It was a great cover!" Matsuda chimed in as Light stared down at the table. "And it means I can be the fifth wheel for a change, instead of the fourth."

"You mean third, silly," Misa corrected him brightly.

"Here we go," announced Hatori, who had returned with a tray of rum punch buckets. L quickly replaced his arm around Light's shoulders. The latter heaved a pained sigh and, reaching up, took L's hand in his own.

"You know, the company is having a launch party this Saturday to promote our new mailing service," Hatori continued cheerfully. "You guys should all come along."

"You've been so generous, the least we can do is make an appearance," L replied. "Of course I'm interested in getting to know all of Misa's new work friends..." The detective gave Light a significant nod at this, before raising his glass in the air and pretending to toast with the others.

"To Misa's new gig!" Matsuda cried. Hatori knocked back his drink, leaving Light, Misa and Matsuda to splutter on their beverages in shared disgust.

x-x-x

Once all had made their ostensibly separate departures from the restaurant, the team reconvened at headquarters. It was early evening by the time Matsuda and Misa had passed through the lobby doors and into the building's central room. L and Light were back in their usual office chairs. Matsuda wheeled a third behind them and busied himself distributing cardboard containers from a grease-soaked paper bag.

"I got take-out!" the detective called cheerfully. "It's my way of apologising for causing trouble-"

"Twice now," interrupted L flatly as he removed the lid of a carton containing a thick slice of chocolate mousse cake. Matsuda reached up to the back of his head.

"Oh please Ryuzaki, don't kick me off the investigation! I- I want to catch Kira more than anything!"

L embedded a plastic fork into the cake's sponge so that it stood upright. He sat back, contemplating the utensil in deep melancholy.

"I know, but you mustn't act so rashly. We… we all need to learn to value our lives." His body seemed to sag a little.

"Remember what happened to Ukita."

Matsuda gave a small "oh" of comprehension. Light lowered the container of dumplings that he had been considering. He attempted to catch the detective's eye but L was staring resolutely down at the desk; his expression inscrutable beneath a mop of untamed hair.

"If anything were to happen to you too…"

When he eventually spoke, Matsuda's voice was thin and feeble. "I didn't think... I'm sorry..."

"What for this time, Matsuda?" rumbled a deep reply.

"Dad!" Light called, giving up on the dumplings altogether. Soichiro Yagami strode into the lobby wearing a rain-soaked overcoat and a frown. Mogi emerged behind him, pulling the doors securely closed after them both.

"Ryuzaki, we have an update. Also, Aizawa is on his way back with some new information."

No sooner had the men disentangled themselves from their wet coats and pulled over more office chairs, than Aizawa had indeed returned. With all of the detectives gathered, L commenced his debrief on the undercover lunch date, only omitting his brief, sham relationship with Light. Following a few exasperated scowls at Matsuda's expense, their attention then swiftly passed to Aizawa who began to recount the conversation he had overheard that very night.

"I was tailing Higuchi as he left the office this evening. He stopped to make one phone call - to Takahashi. It was a death threat, no doubt about it."

"What exactly did he say?" L asked seriously, lifting the profiterole from the top of his cake slice and inserting the whole choux pastry into his mouth.

"I heard him say that he knew what Takahashi was up to and that if he had any sense, he would stop." Aizawa paused, frowning to himself. "Then he made the threat which I have, verbatim, as "Takahashi, I think you will die tomorrow.""

"Sus," Mogi breathed.

"It certainly seems that there is a split emerging within the Yotsuba Group," Soichiro explained heavily, "this evening, Mogi and I observed a secret meeting between Hatori, Takahashi, Shimura and Mido."

"Chief, that's great! Spill the tea!" Matsuda cried, flinging out an arm and sending several noodles flying across the room.

"We don't have time for tea, Matsuda!"

"Never mind that, Chief," Mogi continued, casually lifting a dumpling from Light's uneaten meal, "here's what happened. From the restaurant, I followed Hatori to Mido's place where they met with the others. Now, obviously we couldn't go in and hear everything that was said, but they all looked pretty worried about something."

"We were considering the possibility that they might be making a stand against some of the stronger characters in the group. Now, given the phone call that Aizawa overheard, it seems even more likely." Soirchiro surveyed each of the faces before him gravely. "Outside, I overheard Shimura and Takahashi confirming that they would "give it a week." It's unclear what they were referring to but, should one of those four men be Kira, it's possible that they may be planning to kill the others."

"No way!" Matsuda gasped from where he was scooping noodles back into his cardboard container, "those messy b-"

"I think that's unlikely," L spoke finally. He swivelled his chair around to face the former police detectives. "At this point, it's hard to tell what these men are planning. The fact that they're acting as a group of four suggests that they have reason to be afraid. However, they're still willing to break away from the larger group, meaning that they are taking a risk to disassociate themselves from these killings…"

"That makes sense given what a liability this Kira is. I mean, killing the CEO of M&M World with a blimp?" Light sighed in exasperation. "What is he, stupid? All he has to do is follow the Original Kira's example if he wants to carry out these murders efficiently…"

As he turned away, L looked pointedly at Chief Yagami, his eyebrows raised in satisfaction.

x-x-x

That night, Light collapsed into bed, expecting his exhausted body to willfully surrender to sleep. His mind, however, was plagued by a bizarre reel of inexplicable images.

Far away in a realm beyond conscious thought, Light stood beneath a bough of cherry blossoms, watching the pale petals blow delicately across Toho's campus. One snapshot slid forward to the next; a ghastly, clownish face appeared before him, grinning maliciously with green, bulging eyes. A third slide snapped forward, replacing the former image with that of a thinner, paler individual. Beneath a head of dark, untidy hair, two sunken eyes searched into his own. Then a small, indecipherable smile formed upon the face.

Light groaned in his sleep, twisting his head from side to side. With great effort, he peeled open one bleary eye to find the very same face hovering above him.

"Argh!" Light screamed, flinging his arms over his head. L remained standing, his fist raised to the headboard of Light's bed.

"I did knock," L replied softly, demonstrating this very action for him. "You see, I wasn't sure whether you were awake or not."

"Can you tell now?" Light snapped savagely. The student lifted himself into a sitting position, rubbing tiredly at his face. He removed a hand to glance at his watch, then swore under his breath.

"It's a little after four," L confirmed with visible indifference. "You were talking in your sleep again." Light's hand dropped heavily onto the bedclothes.

"Well… what did I say?"

"'Damn it, he got me!'" L recited brusquely. "You seemed rather adamant about it too." Light stretched his arms upwards, uttered a sound halfway between a yawn and a scowl, then shrugged.

"It was just a dream. They don't always have to have deeper meanings, you know."

Unconvinced, L sank down onto the edge of Light's bed, drawing his knees up to his chin. Light made an involuntary motion, then reached for the covers to pull them more tightly around himself.

"...something's bothering me," the detective announced finally.

"I know the feeling," Light returned, eyeing the hunched figure with weariness.

"We put ourselves in unnecessary danger today, all because the team is short-handed," L continued, his tone bitter with resentment. "Hatori could be Kira. He could even wield the power to kill without a name. Our aliases could have been useless against him."

"I didn't even get an alias, remember?" Light snapped, "besides, if that were true, we'd be dead already. All the evidence so far suggests that this Kira needs a name and a face to kill. The four of us are still alive and, honestly, Hatori didn't seem all that suspicious of us."

"Perhaps…"

Light waited for more, but the detective declined to speak further. The student shifted uncomfortably, considering how best to remove the obstruction from his bed. Having weighed up the risk of being physically attacked against losing another night's sleep, Light began to lift his foot, aiming at the small of L's back.

"When we attend the launch party, we'll need to be even more careful," L spoke at last. Light hesitated, his leg still suspended.

"What are you talking about? Are we really going to do that when we know how dangerous it could be?"

"This Kira is bound to slip up at some point. We need to keep observing these men at any cost," L spoke in his quietly resigned tone. "We'll need Misa's help too."

"Ryuzaki…!" Light lowered his leg, wincing as a sudden muscle cramp took hold.

"I know you said it doesn't bother you, but it's understandable that you would feel uneasy about all of this." L peered at Light through the shafts of silver which filtered through the room's vertical blinds. "Clearly, today affected you."

"In what way?" Light replied quickly.

"Well, you've been quieter than usual. You aren't sleeping well. You barely ate at dinner despite having nothing but cake offered to you for weeks now."

"I wasn't all that hungry," Light lied. "Look, can we just go to bed?" He cringed suddenly.

"What? I didn't mean- I mean, I'm going to bed. You go to - chair. Then we can talk about this in three hours when I actually have to get up."

With that, Light turned onto his side and, exhaling slowly, closed his eyes. He dimly wondered for a moment whether L would remain crouched on his bed, but then there came the quiet release of springs as the detective stood and crossed slowly back to the armchair.