Vendetta 7
"Light? Light, are you okay?" Matsuda's voice finally filtered into Light's consciousness. He had been concentrating solely on the Kira part of him, and how he could control it now that he had welcomed him back. Strangely enough he felt very calm and relaxed; now that he was no longer fighting it. Before he had run to it, trying to hide himself; this time it wasn't the case. He wanted to still be himself…but also more than himself. That part of him would allow him to do whatever he had to without regret; and that's what he wanted. He could control anything else, Kira was part of him, he wasn't Kira, he was in ultimate control. He opened his eyes, but didn't turn around.
"No, I'm not okay," he answered, "You're telling me I have to turn over that little boy, who's been through enough already, to the father who has not only abandoned him, but put his life into danger and then planned to sell him off. That's not going to happen, Matsuda." He said
"I know how you feel but legally we don't have a leg to stand on." Light suddenly sighed heavily and finally turned to face his partner.
"You're right, we don't. At least not yet; I'll find something. For right now, tell them Aki isn't ready for the exchange, and I'll need to find a safe place. It can't be done here, I don't trust his father to not be followed and lead them here."
Matsuda nodded. "Alright I'll tell the Director that you have everything under control and will set up the exchange when it's best for Aki," he reached over and grabbed Light's arm. "I know how you feel about him Light, but…" Light pulled his arm back surprising Matsuda.
"You have no idea," he said quietly and Matsuda nodded slowly.
"You're right, I don't, not really, but I can imagine. Look, I'm going to say good bye to L and Aki and I'll head back over to headquarters. It was suggested that you not come in until this is over, for your own safety." Light nodded.
"That's fine, thank you, Matsuda," he said. The detective nodded, then headed down the hall to find L and the little boy. Light watched him go down the hall, his eyes narrowed as he disappeared from view. He was a fool if he thought he was going to just hand Aki over to his father simply because he didn't have a legal recourse. He smiled as he ran a hand through his hair, they didn't know who they were dealing with, there was always another way.
"Light! Ryuzaki showed me a room that he said I could have if I wanted to. It's really big, and he said I could keep the robot that I was playing with at your house too!" Light turned at the sound of the boy's voice and watched as he ran to him telling him his news.
"That's good Aki, that will give you something to do for a while," he said with a wide smile as the boy reached for his hand, "I'm not sure how long we'll be here, but I want you to be happy while you are."
"Since every room has cameras, we can keep an eye on him at all times," L was saying as he and Matsuda came back into the room, "He'll be perfectly safe here and he'll remain here until we decide it's safe for him to be elsewhere; which I can't imagine happening before we break this ring."
"I understand that L, of course, but like I told Light, if he wants him back there's nothing we can really do except hand him over and keep them safe." L looked over at Light and was slightly startled by the intensity of the glare he was giving Matsuda. "Well nothing's going to be decided today, so why don't you report back while Light and I talk about this." He suggested and Matsuda nodded.
"Yea, I'll do that, see you guys later," he smiled at Aki, "See you later Aki, have fun!" the boy grinned and waved at him as he went out of the door. L walked over to Light as Aki began to "fly" his robot as he ran through the room.
"I know you're angry Light, but that isn't going to help anything. We have to prove that his father intends to continue with his plan to sell Aki in order to keep the exchange from happening and keep Aki away from him." He said quietly and Light nodded turning away from him and watching Aki.
"That's exactly what I plan to do, keep Aki far away from him," he looked at L. "I trust you to find the proof…you have feelers everywhere." L nodded.
"I'm sure I can find a source,,," he began.
"And I'm trusting you to work as much into your gray area as necessary on this one. I don't need to know what you're doing, but I'm behind whatever you decide. And if you can't find sufficient evidence…" L's eyes narrowed slightly.
"You know I don't do anything unless I have sufficient evidence Light. I'll do whatever I have to in order to get it, but I won't move unless I have it."
"Then you have to make sure we have it. I won't let him take Aki," he told him, "He has an aunt, I'm sure she would be better for him." L nodded.
"I'll have Watari get in touch with her and see if she's willing," he said and gazed at Light
"Are you alright?" he asked moving closer and taking his hand, "I know you have strong feelings for Aki, and I promise I'll do everything I can…but we may not be able to prevent the exchange from happening for very long without evidence against him." L caught his breath when Light's eyes moved to stare at him. There was a harshness there he recognized but refused to believe.
"I won't allow that to happen,' Light said quietly, "he'd be on his way to God knows where almost immediately." L nodded his agreement.
"I believe you're right about that," he moved closer to Light, staring into his eyes, "I will do everything possible to get the proof we need to keep that from happening. Are you okay?" Light nodded and smiled at him.
"I'm fine, I'm angry but I'm fine. I hope you do find something, but Aki's not going with him whether you do or not." He turned away from him and focused on Aki bouncing around the room. "You must be hungry, Aki." He said to him. The boy stopped making robot noises and stopped running.
"Yea, what can I have?"
"Anything you want," Light answered going over to him. L watched Light walk to the boy and stooped down to talk to him face to face. Something was wrong and he couldn't quite put his finger on it. He brought his thumb to his mouth and rubbed it back and forth across his bottom lip as he thought. He was obviously upset about being forced to give the boy back to his father, but it was more than that. There was something in his demeanor that was off, something…he grabbed his phone.
"Watari…I'm going to bring Aki down to you for a few minutes. He's hungry and I think it would probably be a good idea to order food through one of our contacts here. He can tell you what he wants and I need to speak to Light privately."
He hung up and walked over to the two still talking. "Light..I'm going to take Aki down to Watari, he'll order food for all of us in a safe manner and Aki can tell him exactly what he wants. I'll be right back," he said, his eyes very clearly saying not to move. Light nodded standing back up, his mind working on exactly what he was going to say when L returned; obviously he suspected something.
L took Aki's hand and led him to the elevator. "I'm going to take you to Watari's office. He has a lot of computer equipment and screens, maybe he'll find something fun to look at," he explained. The boy nodded.
"When will Papa come to get me?" he asked as they left the elevator.
"Don't worry about that right now Aki, just worry about what you want to eat." L said with a small smile. The boy nodded then stopped walking, looking up at L.
"Is he mad at me because of Mama?" he asked, "Was it my fault? Is that why he hasn't come yet?" his eyes filling with tears as he asked. L shook his head.
"Absolutely not, Aki. What happened to your mother has nothing to do with you, you are completely innocent in that. Your father certainly is not upset with you…the police are trying to keep him safe like we are with you. This will all be over soon, Aki." He squeezed the boy's hand and gave him a reassuring smile. The boy smiled back and nodded, wiping the tears from his eyes, then wrapped his arms around L's legs in a hug. L reached down and gently stroked the boy's hair, then quickly pulled his hand away; he couldn't allow himself to lose focus.
"Let's go see Watari," he said moving out of the hug. Aki nodded and reached for his hand as he smiled up at him. L smiled again, taking his hand, and walked him to Watari's office.
Light stared out of one of the windows and decided there was no way he could lie to L, he would just have to make his reasoning be sound. He was in complete control; he was only using what he needed from Kira, letting the rest stay subdued. He felt as if he were playing a mental game with himself and he wondered briefly if it was taking a toll on his sense of reality if not his actual sanity. He shook his head; he was handling it just fine and it wouldn't last for long, just as soon as he'd taken care of Aki's father. He turned as he heard L come back into the room.
L stared at him for a few moments, wondering exactly how to handle this; Kira didn't like being attacked head on, it would make him unstable. Everything inside him wanted to scream at him, ask him what the hell was he thinking…but that wouldn't work, he'd only become more combative. But at the same time he wanted to know for sure that it had happened
before he lost his mind over it. He would simply tread carefully.
"Light, what have you done?" L asked softly as he walked towards him, "Please tell me that I'm wrong."
Light smiled at him and brought a hand to L's face, gently caressing it.
"What do you think I've done?" he asked as L moved his hand from his face.
"You've let Kira in, haven't you? Please don't lie to me, I can see the difference." Light sighed and nodded.
"Yes, I let him in…but only partially. I'm in complete control." He answered. L tried not to get angry, his hands clenching at his sides. He looked away and ran a hand thru his hair.
"I see. You must realize how dangerous this is," he said walking to one of the desks and sitting down. He drew his knees up to his chest, hugging them tightly.
"It isn't dangerous L, I'm in control. I just needed the clarity of thought that Kira gives me without those pesky morals getting in the way," he laughed, the sound irritating L deeply and he sighed.
"Then I guess I must find the proof I need to put Aki's father in jail before you kill him, as I am sure that will be your plan now that you've allowed this to happen." He stood up and reached for his laptop. "I guess I need to get to work." He began to walk out of the room when Light grabbed his arm.
"That's all you're going to say? No accusations, no recriminations? Nothing about how wrong I am?" L shook his head and pulled his arm back.
'There's no point is there, Light? You already made the decision, despite knowing what it could do to you, to us. I'll just have to live with it until this is over…if I live that long now that you are Kira. And then I'll deal with it my way." He turned away from him only to be pulled back into Light's arms.
"L…nothing has changed. I just had to do this…I have to save Aki. I love you, L, please don't walk away from me like this." L pulled out of his arms.
"I have work to do," he said quietly, "Before you destroy everything Light and I have, Kira. I trust you will give me sufficient time to find what I need before you act." He then walked away, moving quickly to the elevator. The moment he was inside and the doors were closed he slid to the floor, wrapping his arms around himself, and began to cry.
Light watched him go in surprise which quickly turned to anger. "Fine, turn your back on me, but you better work quickly.' He walked back to the window. "I'm not going to wait for very long."