C H A P T E R T E N
Inches Away
"You're late, ma'am", claimed Watari, eyes sprinkle in sheer amusement as he watched the two geniuses walked in into the investigation room without much shame.
L simply huffs at his statement; eyes bore dull in pure disinterest. "Yes. Light-kun and I was caught in an unnecessary tangle. It was an unnecessary circumstance. We were running late by then, so we decided to not care and indulge ourselves anyway", she looked a him, "I ensure you that this will not be happening again".
"When she said 'we', she meant only her", chuckles Light, not noticing his input wasn't appreciated by the two foreigners, yet didn't care.
"Well, it doesn't really matter now, does it? After all, you just only had a full 8 hours sleep, ma'am", stated Watari, glancing momentarily at his expensive golden watch, "8 hours and 43 minutes to be precise, but I understood the need to rest your fatigue. May I suggest brunch to start off your day? Perhaps I should fetch you one of those cranberries pie you're starting to be fond of".
"That'd be nice, Watari, thank you", sighed L, almost in relief as she took a seat, her hands once again activated at its utmost productivity as she begins to shuffle through files after files. Light only watched in sheer amusement before he responds, "A cup of coffee and a side toast would suffice, Watari. No creamer or anything. I like my coffee black", he paused, "And, uh... is it possible to have runny eggs alongside with the toast? It tastes better".
Watari simply nodded, taking notes on their order. "Certainly. I'll prepare those at once".
As the old man left the room, Light realised that L has been staring at him, almost completely revolted; her temple scrunched as her lips pursed in great disgust, as if she had just witnessed something bizarre or straight up vomit-provoking. He smirked, "What?".
"You", she pointed, "are menace".
Oh, she has no idea.
Light simply laughs, "Thanks... I guess?".
Not knowing how to respond to that (without making herself looked like an asshole) she decided to resume on task at hand, not bothering how the chains between them would jiggle at every small movement. The cold sensation clamped on her wrist was uncomfortable; she could feel the coldness running through her body, and it was very uncomfortable. However, L sucked it up, knowing that complaining wouldn't end well on her part, and continue working.
It wasn't until Light's phone ring, gaining attention of everyone. They watched as Light took out his phone, answering his call, completely ignoring the fact that L is leering near him.
"Hello?".
The other end clicked, before hearing a loud shriek.
"LIGHHTTTTTTT!!!".
Oh, good God.
Misa was aesthetic when Ryuzaki has allows her to go on dates with Light; she was beyond happy when it has stated that, although their dating site is to be situated only in the headquarters, Misa was allowed to go on dates with her Light for at least once a week (if Light was really up to it, though).
What she didn't expect was the hag to come and tag along.
"Man...", she sighed, eyes glaring daggers at the woman, who happens to be the only one eating their cake (it is theirs, Misa insisted. Although she's not a big fan of sweet, whatever presents during their special moment belongs to them) without much care in the world. "This got to be the lamest date I've ever been on...".
And that was true; it has been a complete 45 minutes of their supposingly 'alone time', and all they've done so far was barely cracking a few conversations here and there. It was a very tight atmosphere, and Misa doesn't like that one bit.
'It's Ryuzaki's fault', she pressed, growing angry. 'It's always that woman's fault'.
"No, no", L spoke, waving her hand, "Please just pretend that I'm not even here. I said what I said that I won't be stopping you from showing any affection towards each other", she claims, "Unless it's becoming rather worrisome or suspicious, of course. Otherwise, feel free to smother".
"You— ".
"By the way, is there any chance you're going to eat that piece of cake?", she asked, pointing at the single slice of strawberry shortcake before her, completely untouched. Misa has planned to feed that to Light— like, ya' know, what a normal couple would do during those romantic dates— but now that it has somehow caught the eyes of the perverted detective, Misa couldn't help but to find said cake revolting. She squirmed on her seat, pouting, "Cake makes you fat, I'm not going to eat any".
"Actually... I found out that you don't gain any weight as long as you burn those calories using your head".
That woman—!
"Hmph! Now you're calling me stupid?!", asked Misa, completely offended, before smirking, "Fine then! You can keep the cake, as long as you leave me and Light alone!".
Just as she was about to believe that she had somehow exploited the entire situation and found a loophole towards L's insatiable obsession towards sweets, L simply said, "We have cameras here. I can keep watching the both of you from that".
Misa grumbles, trying her best to maintain a polite smile (as L is one of her fans) although she was extremely annoyed, "Okay... so we'll just close off the curtains and turn off the lights!".
"We have infrared cameras too...".
"Your pervert!", screeched Misa, "Would you just stop it with your creepy hobbies?!".
L simply shrugged as she hops onto the table, taking the cake without her consent, "You can call me whatever you liked, but last chance for cake!".
While the two are bickering (Misa more so than L), Light couldn't help but to watch the detective's sagged posture; she has been less than thrill while going down to the investigation room, hasn't scream at Matsuda for his silly mistakes, and didn't even give a second thought when almost a good half of the Task Force members were slacking rather than doing actual work— although the two factors didn't bug Light as much, what really concerns him is how L didn't even care how she was running hours late, as the woman possessed such a strict tardiness policy.
What's happening? Has she begun to lose sight on the case?
Light narrowed his eyes as the woman munches in her (formerly Misa's) cake, silently grumbling.
"What's wrong with you?", he asked, arms crossed and all, "I thought moving here would help you catch Kira— but since we're here, you don't seem at all motivated to me".
And that's genuinely not a good sign to have.
Light has seen, on multiple occasions, how detectives tend to pull the plug and freeze the case once it has truly baffled them— it was when every plausible possibility was met with a dead end, and by seeing the progress so far, Light could hardly argue; he's assuming Rem's next person was having a hard time settling in with the Death Note, which could be the only sole explanation as of why they're lacking evidence.
Light is aware that if L really did pull the plug, although it went against her every principal, then there's no stopping her; he's aware of the detective's sense of justice (it does rival his, after all), but sheer determination could only do so much on over-whelming sense of depression. Light is aware that if there's nothing to pique her interest soon, she might as well leave.
Light doesn't wish for his beloved to part from him so soon.
Not... motivated...?", she mimicked, playing with her cake, "You're right... I'm actually depressed...".
Well, that's not good either.
"Depressed? What for?", he asked, sounding his concern (and also confusion).
"Well...", she slurred, "At first, when I started the case, I was so sure that the both of you are Kira", she claims, biting on her fork, "But now that the both of you just, spontaneously lose memories together suspiciously simultaneously, there has not been but one interesting thing that happened".
She murmured past her fork, "I have never been wrong in a case before, but now I begin to doubt that...".
Light pursed his lips, angry. His eyes darken at the declaration, hating the loathsome anger— it was an act, of course. L is bluntly confessing that she wanted them to be Kira, and people who were wrongly convicted usually shows hostility and anger since they were blamed for somebody's else crime— but at that point of time, for some reason, he found the lack of favour of L showing towards his craft was unforgivable.
"Ryuzaki...".
And with that, Light punched the woman.
The Task Force stood in utter speechless as the two broke down into a fight, throwing kicks and punches towards each other, destroying the room altogether.
It was a sight to see— they had a suppressing suspicion that L would throw hands with a man to re-assert dominance (especially since one of the things that annoys her most is when people doubt her career just because she was a woman, who happens to be centring around men most of the time) but what really caught them off guard was the fact that Light was willing to reciprocate that feeling (although he was the one who initiates it).
Not once in their life has they ever thought that a man, seemingly calm and collected, would lose his cool to a woman.
"Holy shit...", murmured Aizawa, clasping his hands over his mouth in shock. While he got a bone to pick with the asshole detective, he had never thought of actually beating her physically. He does possess a level of respect towards her— and to see her being punched around by some kid (who he happens to thought of as a nephew) was downright unsettling.
Correction— it was downright bizarre.
"We... we have to stop them!", cried Matsuda, "At this point, they'll beat each other to death!".
It was a bit of a stretch. A bit of an exaggeration even— but an understandable one nevertheless. With how ruthless they are towards each other, it wouldn't shock them one bit if, hypothetically, one of them slip into coma, or never even left the room.
It is such a gruesome thought, but remain a plausible outcome.
However, nothing could ever prepare them on what were to happen next.
Before they could blink, Light threw L like a ragdoll onto the floor, pinning her down. He almost immediately wrapped his hands around her neck, crushing it. They watched as she struggles against him, trying to push Light's crushing weight off as her body jerk to the threat, but to no avail— she was fighting a losing battle, as they watched her face starting to go blue.
"Shi— ", Matsuda cussed, sprinting towards the elevator as soon as he saw L's movements begins to grow limp. Right now, she latches onto Light's shirt, gripping onto it, as if begging him to stop. It was a sign of distress, as her body muscle even begins to relax. If they were to let Light continue it even a second longer, it could be fatal.
With barely logical thoughts mustered in that exact pressuring occasion, acting on instinct, Matsuda tackles Light's body onto the floor, watching him trashes for a short moment before going silent. He watched as the other members of the team rushes over to L as she bends down and coughed, sucking back the air she had lost. She weaves and sigh, her breathing became erratic. It was when Watari came over that she begins to panic.
"Shh, calm now, dear", whispered Watari soothingly as he held her, hands gently patting her back while the other hold her hand, "Breathe. Stay with me, alright? Follow my voice".
They watched as the detective whom they all recognise as practically invincible, limps and leans against what they assumed as her butler; weak. Her breathing came off as shallow for a moment, accompanied by wheezing and a few coughs, before starting to go back to normal. They all watched as Watari took off the cuffs that has her bound to Light before slipping an arm under her knees and neck, lifting her up.
"I will attend to Ryuzaki's injury", said Watari rather calmly, though they didn't miss the sharp gleam of hate-filled eyes being directed towards Light, "Please do keep an eye Yagami here in the meantime. I'm afraid that he's a threat to Ryuzaki, and therefore, must be contained at all times".
"If there were any crucial report regarding of the case, simply put it on my desk. Better yet, leave a message", requested Watari, before slightly bending to bow down, "Until then, gentlemen. Take care".
No one was able to utter a thing as they watched the two ominous figure disappears when the distance between them expanded, eventually hearing the all-too familiar 'bing'.
Watari was livid.
It was thanks to his basic understanding of medical skill that he was able to maintain the oxygen level within L's body and managed to get her to breathe regularly again— had Light pressed down onto her breathing pipe anymore longer, it could lead to sending her to the hospital as she needs proper treatment from actual medical experts, which could turn ugly if they knew that her identification card and passport used to get here was forged and far from the real ones.
It was pure luck that L has managed to survive against all odds.
Right now, she was lying down on her bed, bandages wrapped around her neck. He noticed that there were bruises while treating it, and a father could not be anymore angrier with knowing that.
"You might have trouble swallowing for the next few weeks, my dear", said Watari, not knowing if L was conscious enough to hear him, or make sense of his words. "I'll have to feed you by means of soft food, so no candies until then".
Watari brushed off a single strand of hair from her face, smiling softly, yet sad.
"I am so sorry that I wasn't there to protect you, my child".
AUTHOR'S NOTE:
Writing this physically hurts y'all.
Anyhow, I was conflicted about Watari showing L some fatherly love. While I do love their fanon dynamics, I have mixed feelings with the canon ones though / Writing this father-daughter dynamic might bring a loophole to what I had planned for them in the future, but I'll try my best to overcome it :)
I would also like to greatly apologise for the lack of productivity. I'm sitting for a big exam this year, so it will affect my posting schedule (I rarely post anything here anyway). I am also sorry that this chapter might came off a bit wonky. has a funny way of glitching.
Hope y'all enjoy the re-write version of this fic, because the next chapters and so on will be entirely new! Thank you for your support!