Chapter 8: The Lines Converge
Apart from being his strongest lead to determining what remained of Naomi Misora, Light Yagami was also a Kira suspect. That was before C.C. personally met him at the Ashford Opening Ceremony and confirmed the absence of a Geass.
That put Lelouch back at Square One… What did he know of Kira's Geass so far?
Their Geass-abusing murderer needed a name and a face, and he could select the time of death. And according to Naomi's own deduction (and what she told C.C.) based on the death of Raye Penber and the other IBI agents, Kira could control how their victims died. It was one of the ways Kira evaded detection. If they wanted their crimes to go unnoticed, they would commit murder through means other than a heart attack. Lelouch was already aware that if he left Kira alone long enough, they would eventually reveal themself. A mass murderer who deliberately leaves an untraceable calling card was not content to stay a vigilante in the shadows forever. Kira had the desire to be known — to be recognized as a higher being who had the authority to pass judgment.
Lelouch hated to admit that he knew that feeling all too well. He sought it out as Zero and he reveled in it as an Emperor.
But leaving Kira untouched for long only signified the worst outcomes in the long run. Perhaps Lelouch would have felt a shred more lenient if the killings had confined themselves to just convicted criminals. But the number of murders now included suspects in criminal investigations (innocent civilians, legally speaking) and the innocent lives of men and women from various law enforcement agencies.
Besides, this gradual yet consistent elimination of people that Kira considered blights in the world was nothing more than a means to a grander end.
Slightly put off, Lelouch closed the latest email he'd received from one of his closest connections to the IBI. So far, trying to wrangle the information he needed was proving difficult. Lelouch had always believed that the answer was among the persons of interest that the IBI agents were investigating before they were driven to their graves in Japan.
In particular, he was most interested in who Raye Penber was tailing. One would think Raye Penber would disclose his assignments to his fiancée, but apparently he didn't. If he did, Naomi would have told C.C. already.
That was the quickest way to pinpoint the location and uncover the identity of his and C.C.'s target. If he ever got his hands on those names, they didn't even need to pull so many strings. He could always go through the process of elimination and have C.C. trail all of his suspects and let her sense if they had the Power of the King they were looking for.
Unfortunately, there was no such luck in that department for now… His informant in the IBI was still busy trying to schmooze his way into the good graces of one of the officers-in-charge.
Lelouch's other quicker option was L…
He had a line to the detective. It was simply a matter of reaching out under the guise of additional information to give — the hunt for additional and weighty information that had C.C. posing as a student in Ashford. That was also a delicate plan that hinged on his and C.C.'s utmost secrecy.
But then again… Was he really worried about Matsumoto's and Kitamura's obsession over L's true identity and what they would do if they found out about his and C.C.'s background activity?
No… No, he wasn't worried at all.
Finding L and getting their hands on any of his identifications was a fruitless endeavor to begin with and he'd known that from the start. He only agreed to Kitamura's deal for the sake of getting his hands on insider information within the NPA in the hopes that it would lead them to their Geass killer. It was an objective that he'd already achieved after investigating Naomi's disappearance and after receiving a direct line to L.
The better question was: Did the NPA still serve him a purpose?
Perhaps the time to cut ties was nearer than he thought. He had gotten what he wanted and as callous as it was to think that his men at the NPA were of no use to him anymore, it was sadly the truth. Besides, this frivolous hunt for L's identity would only end in dire consequences, and he'd rather not have that.
=OoOoO=
What started as a chance encounter in a parking lot in her attempt to get an exceptional student into the Student Council turned into days, eventually bleeding into weeks, of unwanted familiarity. If he looked into it, he was inclined to believe that she was stalking him, but on the other side of the coin, she was perhaps just another one of his persistent admirers.
She'd struck up conversations with him in the University library more than once, somehow ran into him just as she was leaving one of the academic buildings, sat close to him in each class they shared, and now this…
Weren't they prohibited from bringing any type of food to class, never mind eating it outright every time the professor so much as turned his back on them to focus on his multimedia presentation?
As much as Light wanted to ignore her, it was impossible to. He eyed and silently judged the way she stuffed junk food in her face.
Noticing the way he was staring at her with disapproval, Cera shrugged and pushed the open pizza box towards him across the bench — almost like an offering.
"If you want one, you can just say so instead of stare." Cera mumbled as she nibbled on the crust.
Light was certain anyone close to their row could smell the greasiness and the layers and layers of cheese layered on top of the pie. If anyone else disapproved, they didn't show it. They were busy either listening to their teacher, taking notes, or doodling. Light simply humored the brazen dark-haired woman with a scowl.
He'd lost count of the times she'd pulled this same stunt ever since the first day of class.
University life had been everything he anticipated and more. It wasn't any less busy than his high school years, but the class schedules did give him the flexibility he longed for. And just as Ryuga Hideki — L(?) — professed during that freshman opening ceremony, Light did see the strange-looking student around campus more than he would like to admit. They were often in the same classes together and Ryuga always made a point of striking up insightful conversations with Light. At the very least, the stimulating exchange did wonders to relieve him of the boredom brought about by droll and trivial conversations that the rest of his peers were prone to having.
And there was another matter…
The matter of one student named Cera Grey. Ever since that random run-in at one of the University's parking lots weeks and weeks ago, he never took her up on her offer to join the Student Council. Piling a heavy extra curricular activity on top of his already busy plate was off the table. At the moment, he had the ideal setup in place — a perfect time and place to carry out the real work and the best coverup he could ask for. There was no room for error in it. All that considered, the past fortnight was almost a blur.
But there was another thing, and that was that Cera made a point to pester him at every turn. He knew what she was doing. It was obvious by now that it was a ploy to capture his attention and hopefully keep it, but little did she know, her persistence only earned her Light's ire, scorn, and severe determination to ignore her very existence.
It wasn't like it was anything new. Women fawned over him for one reason or another. Why were they like this? And Cera, especially, was such a nuisance… Her antics ranged from ridiculous to violating. She often ate pizza during classes and ignored their professor's or his own gripes more than a handful of times. She appeared to not give a shit about anyone else. She never took notes. Instead, she'd assigned herself the unfortunate role of Light Yagami's tormentor. If he were any other person, he would have reported her for bullying.
Then again, perhaps that wasn't a bad idea — if only because it would get her off of his back and off of his case.
Why couldn't she mind her own business?
Ryuk with all his strange ways and mannerisms thought this was hilarious and he took to teasing Light about it every chance he got.
Stupid shinigami…
Still, in spite of her many flaws, Light could give credit where credit was due. In class, Cera always answered intriguing questions with the ease of someone who seemed to have a wealth of experience and knowledge of how the world worked. She wasn't a star student by any means, but he'd witnessed her thought processes in action and begrudgingly, Light found that a tad impressive.
"I'm partnering up with you, Light Yagami." Cera resolutely declared after the professor finished relaying the instructions for their class's latest project. "We may begin our discussions tomorrow evening or whatever time of day you would prefer."
"If that is what you prefer, then it's all right with me." Light agreed with a pleasant voice, pretending to be oblivious to Kiyomi Takada's judgmental stares, three seats forward.
He was in the midst of pursuing Takada for the sake of keeping up appearances and maybe this assignment with Cera would throw a wrench in the plans, but that was fine. It wasn't like he was without options. If Takada said 'no' in the end, there was always another.
As soon as their professor dismissed the class for the day, Cera did not stick around to wait — not that Light expected her to.
"What time would you be free tomorrow?" Cera piped up again, sidling up closer to his side of the table as she parked herself on top of it and finished off the last slice of pizza.
"My last class ends at 3:30." He replied, ignoring the way she hastily threw the empty pizza box to the side for the school janitor to take care of.
"All right then." Cera huffed and blew a stray strand of dark hair away from her eyes. "University Student Council at 3:45 or something. You know where it is, don't you?"
"Of course."
=OoOoO=
C.C. had played many roles throughout her life. She wouldn't say that she had a favorite, but perhaps being a student had always been high on the list of her highly favored roles. There was something so mundane and carefree about pretending to attend school, when really, she was only around to serve Lelouch's purposes. He was busy distracting his own taskforce, leading them around in circles as the search for L's true identity continued, while she kept a keen eye on Ashford University's new golden boy, Light Yagami — waiting for the opportune moment to ask her questions without raising his hackles and immediately tattling to his father.
To say that it reminded her of how Lelouch used to act in class was a bit of an understatement. She knew the boy liked to pretend he didn't notice her, but she didn't miss the way those brown eyes flitted to her once in a while during three of their shared classes as she subtly tried to eat her pizza. Annoyance would briefly flash across his face before he schooled his expression back into composure once again. She'd pestered him several times in a class or two for homework and he had gladly ignored her. She resisted the urge to smirk because it was such a classic response.
As determined as Light Yagami was to pretend that she didn't exist, it was perhaps one of the few pursuits where he would have to admit defeat soon. Unfortunately for him, C.C. was just as skilled at grabbing someone's attention — as much as she was an expert at disappearing to places and staying hidden when she didn't want to be found.
And so day three of working on that class project together in the laxest time of day for the University Student Council saw both Light and C.C. working studiously on an academic venture that held very little weight against the grand scheme of things.
Lucky for Light, she was in a good mood today and was more than okay with humoring him. To be fair, the boy did have great ideas for the assignment and she would be a fool to ignore his ingenious input.
"Light, how invested are you in the Kira investigation?"
The hand that had been busily jotting down notes ground to a halt. Briefly startled by the abruptness of her inquiry, he looked up from the textbook he'd been skimming through and fixed her with a perplexed look. "Where did that come from?"
C.C. waved a hand nonchalantly as if her question was nothing more than about the weather outside. Light was still staring at her and she didn't move from her spot — cheek resting against her palm, elbows propped up on the smooth wooden surface of the table.
"It's just a random question."
Intelligent brown eyes narrowed at her — her weeks of constant pestering and grating on his nerves manifesting in the way he regarded her with suspicion and irritation. "I don't think you'd ask that without a good reason. What's this about?"
"I could tell you I'm interested in the case myself and I want someone to discuss it with. It's a very interesting sequence of events. Criminals die from heart attacks every day." She offered nonchalantly, but never missed the way his eyes narrowed with suspicion at her word choice.
Light resumed jotting down notes. "That is true. But honestly, Cera, you've never given me a reason to confide in you. I don't know why you assumed I would."
"And here I thought we were friends."
"You're pushing it." He muttered under his breath.
"You didn't answer my first question."
C.C. found his displeasure intriguing. The boy did not have a Geass (and as far as supernatural murders were concerned, he was innocent), so was his attitude related to the fact that his father was in-charge of the investigation? How much did he know?
Light sighed and caved. "Yes, I do have an interest in the Kira case. Though, I imagine anyone following the news would be too. You're right, it's an intriguing puzzle."
"The method of the murder is what I'm most eager to uncover." She sighed loudly and tilted her head back over the back of her chair so that her long dark hair brushed the tacky orange carpeting. "Sadly, I can't work on it. Apparently the NPA keeps a tight lid on the case and the investigators who have been working with L since January are the only ones allowed to stay or go."
That got his full attention. "What do you mean to say?"
If he saw the almost manic grin that stretched across her face, he didn't comment. "I am part of a private investigative bureau that came to Japan for a missing person's case and my presence in this school isn't as entirely innocent as you think."
She peeked at Light to see his face. He was strangely calm — a poker face that was too composed and well-practiced. It reminded her of how Lelouch would react to incriminating or unexpected news.
C.C. didn't wait for him to ask questions. "Remember when I first approached you at the opening ceremony? It was nothing more than a ruse. I'm not affiliated with the NPA, but my client has hired me to investigate their family member's disappearance." With a huff, she sat up straight and pointed a casual finger at him as she continued to lie, "—And you're the only lead to our MIA individual."
The annoyance was back.
"So you've been lying to me all this time."
"Of course I did. It was for the investigation." C.C. drawled, tone completely blasé while she kept a close eye on his reactions. "You would understand, wouldn't you?"
She knew of his inclination to spout righteous words and wondered if he would resort to such an argument with her. But instead of anger, resentment, or snapping at her, Light's countenance shifted to one of open friendliness and he laughed a little under his breath. Abandoning the pen on top of the textbook pages, he angled his body towards her — an indication of his full attention.
"You know, you could have just told me. I would have been glad to help."
No, he would have freaked out and ratted them out to the NPA and her and Lelouch's plans would be for nothing… But C.C. kept that thought to herself. It was interesting to see how fast his mood shifted from apathetic to intrigued at the mention of her affiliations.
"Good. Then you can help me now. Naomi Misora. Do you remember her?" When all she received was a blank stare from one curious student, C.C. fished her phone out and thumbed through her gallery for the image files she needed to show him. "We have visual evidence that shows you conversing with her on January 1st, at 1:30PM."
Light was confused. "Naomi Misora? You're right, I was at the NPA on January 1st to deliver a change of clothes for my father, if I recall correctly. But I'm sorry… Naomi Misora? You might have mistaken her for someone else? She told me her name was Shoko Maki."
Taking her phone back, C.C. scrolled through several more pictures and stopped at a portrait of Naomi, showing it to Light once again to receive his confirmation. Naomi would give a stranger her alias if asked for her name. She wasn't naïve to the dangers of what had been her predicament.
"Was she not the woman you spoke to?"
"Yes, you're right. But… I don't understand."
"For whatever reason, she felt the need to use an alias. Regardless, her name is Naomi Misora and we have footage of the two of you speaking to each other outside of the NPA building. Do you recall the exact time and place where you two parted?"
"I can't remember." Light shook his head. "As for the street, it was at Yagicho. We parted ways at the traffic light. I was under the impression that she was heading home. How long has she been missing?"
"Several months now. What were you two conversing about?" C.C. drawled, nonchalantly playing some bizarre form of catch with her phone passing from one hand to the next.
"It was pretty boring stuff. Just the weather and what the NPA could be up to according to the news. She sounded like she really wanted to speak with someone when I arrived at the lobby."
"The Kira case?"
"Yeah… It's all the news reporters would talk about. Kind of hard to avoid it sometimes."
"I understand. Well, thank you for that, Light."
C.C. pretended to ignore the weight of his stare as she returned to their homework. If something was really bothering him, she knew him well enough now to know that he wouldn't let it slide.
"Why did you wait until now to confront me about this?"
"That's classified information." C.C. piped up smugly.
"But if I offered you my help in your investigation…" He trailed off.
C.C. cocked an eyebrow, the corner of her lips tugged upwards to convey her amusement. "And what makes you think I need your help?"
"Right." He wasn't fazed — only shaking his head and returning her condescension with a dose of his own, scowling with disapproval as he did. "Maybe you do if you've been working on this case since January. And why did you wait so long to confront your only lead?"
"I have my reasons. None of which I'd expect you to understand."
"I would dare you to try me, but something tells me a woman like you won't fold so easily."
"A woman like me. What is a woman like me, Light Yagami?"
"You're playing hard to get."
"Or maybe I just enjoy seeing your reactions."
"For your investigation?"
"In part. But for my own entertainment as well."
"Was the information satisfactory?"
"Yes… Unless you've purposely withheld information from me."
"What would it benefit me to give you false answers? You'll likely find the truth and then suspect me of a crime I never committed."
"Speaking from experience?" She teased. "So you're saying, if it benefits you, you would have no qualms leading me astray."
"I didn't even think about it like that." He was the picture of innocence, wasn't he?
C.C. sighed loudly and changed the subject. "But I suppose your interest is to be expected."
She caught Light side-eyeing her, but nevertheless, his reply was nothing short of pleasant. "Why do you think I'm taking up Criminology?"
"Touché… You and I both."
=OoOoO=
"You know, Light. I didn't think this little game between you and L could get more interesting, but I'm very happy to be proven wrong." Ryuk chuckled as he stepped further into the darkness of Light's childhood bedroom.
"Well, I'm glad to see you're enjoying yourself." Light commented drily.
If he had eyelids, Ryuk would have squinted. "Was that sarcasm?"
Light did not bother humoring him, losing himself in his own thoughts instead.
If Cera was truly insignificant, Ryuk would not have mentioned her or pointed her out at all from the moment they met. Light was well aware that Ryuk withheld plenty of information from him and kept secrets on purpose, both to adhere to whatever rules the shinigami realm had in place and for the sake of his own enjoyment. The death god made it perfectly clear that he was a spectator throughout all this, and though he may have assisted Kira once or twice, Light always knew that it took bribery and other creative means to make the shinigami give up useful information.
So for the past few weeks, he'd always tried to subtly convince Ryuk to answer his questions about Cera, in addition to his own investigations himself. But now that she revealed that she was working for an investigative bureau — likely a private one, finding out what made her so special in Ryuk's eyes was even more dire now than it was before.
Although, he wasn't too worried about this unknown investigation bureau poking around at a cold case anyway. Naomi was dead and her body was cloistered away in an unknown location. Light, himself, didn't know where she was.
"What is it about Cera that makes her so interesting to you, Ryuk? You almost always sound like you fancy her."
It was a rhetorical question. He wasn't expecting an answer, so he was a little surprised that Ryuk humored him. Ever the whimsical death god.
With a raspy chuckle, Ryuk stepped closer and towered over him with unblinking yellow eyes. "She's had an interesting life. And it'll get more interesting in the days to come. No one should have been allowed to walk the human world for that long."
What the hell was Ryuk talking about?
But then again, Light already knew that receiving a proper answer was slim, never mind practically nonexistent. He really couldn't count on Ryuk. Giving up on the death god's infuriating grin full of sharp yellowing teeth, Light opened his laptop and began with the most basic of searches once again — this time with the goal to find which bureau she worked for: Cera Grey alongside any criminal case attributed to her in any news article. There had to be something. The woman was likely using an alias and if he was lucky, perhaps he could find bits and parts of her identity on the internet that he could piece together and find out who exactly she was.
News article after news article flooded the search results, none of which yielded promising results. Expanding his search past localized results brought him as far as Europia and select regions of the world — notably Britannia. Still nothing as far as criminal cases or investigative bureaus went.
He hacked back into his father's computer as well — just to be thorough.
Cera was investigating the disappearance of Naomi Misora — a Japanese woman with dual citizenship. She was in contact with the NPA. (How else would she have gotten access to security footage from the Police Agency in Tokyo?) And since Naomi was connected to Raye Penber as well (the very same Raye Penber who died at Light's own masterful manipulation), that would compel Cera to check in with the International Bureau and the Kira task force. Any thorough investigator would do so to cover all their bases when it came to securing a lead.
If, by chance, she somehow spoke to his father, then the man would have had to include that in his daily reports.
Light went as far back as the day he'd met her during the Opening Ceremony at Ashford.
Disappointed, he found none…
Was Cera involved in the Kira case? It would make sense if she did, honestly, especially if L linked Naomi's disappearance to Kira. But the latter thought was close to impossible. He'd made sure to clean up after his work. He left no traces… Light Yagami was thorough. As far as everyone could see, Naomi's death was by suicide and directly related to the loss of her partner.
So would it be safe to just let Cera Grey be?
No… Ryuk had a lot to say about her for a reason. She also chose to build some form of connection to Light before she confronted him with her questions, and there had to be a reason behind that — because otherwise, waiting to collect evidence and valuable information was just stupid. She could have asked him outright and he still wouldn't have a choice but to cooperate, because that was what innocent individuals did. They would appear shocked, but they would answer a law enforcer's summons and questions regardless.
So why did she wait this long? Why would her private bureau ask her to masquerade as a student in Light's university first?
She pestered him for weeks. She established familiarity with him first. She did it in such a way that it allowed her to spring her questions casually.
She was calculating every step of that interaction…
It was all to put him at ease… But for what purpose?
Did she know about his father? Was she aware that his father was involved in the Kira case? Was she drawing a connection between his appearance with Naomi Misora that day and with the Kira investigation?
Was she wary of sparking a drastic reaction out of him?
What was it?
Light sat up straighter and stopped fiddling with one of the pens on his desk.
For all these reasons and assumptions, it was far safer to assume the worst case: that Cera had a line to someone in the Kira task force — or worse, Cera was working with L.
He needed to operate under that assumption in the name of caution. After all, there was no such thing as being too careful or being too thorough.
"Are you sure you don't have a crush?" Ryuk's irksome teasing interrupted his deliberation.
Light was willing to say that it could be the other way around, but that was taking it too far. "If that's what it would take to divulge her secrets, I would pursue her."
"Mr. Popular." Ryuk chuckled, lounging on Light's bed after he took an apple for himself from one of the night stands. "Your life would be so much easier if you made that eye deal. It's still open, ya know?"
Light chose to ignore the slight tinge of sarcasm and condescension in Ryuk's mirthful and hissing cackle.
The shinigami was not helpful at all…
In any case, he had to tread more carefully around the university. Could he afford to dip his feet in two investigations? His priority was still L. The smug detective needed to die for Kira to thrive. But he would be a fool to leave Cera Grey's meddling alone. Unbeknownst to Cera herself, Kira had everything to do with Naomi's disappearance, but she didn't know that and she didn't need that information. Light needed her close to keep an eye on her progress — or lack thereof — and point her in the wrong direction as much as possible, until the Naomi Misora case was a dead end, just as it should be.
Well, for the sake of the completion of his goals in the long run, Light couldn't see why he couldn't do it.
He was more than able to.
=OoOoO=
After skipping University classes today, he'd resigned himself to another day with the rest of the task force. Matsuda and Mogi were tasked with being at the NPA headquarters today, leaving L with the ever-present Watari, Chief Yagami, Aizawa, and Ukita.
L was secretly grateful that they were quiet but efficient. He didn't think he had the patience to put up with Matsuda's energy today. Picking at the chocolate cake in front of him with the dessert fork, L willingly drowned himself in his own thoughts.
With the identity of Kira all but confirmed with solid evidence, L had taken the time out of his busy days, masquerading as a college student and leading the Kira investigation, to dig deeper into the enigmatic detective who'd delivered the decisive piece of information he needed to close in on Kira's elusive identity. Although, he wasn't so much as interested in seeing Marion Lamperouge's face as he was intent on deciphering the other investigator's true assignment.
Marion and Cera fed him the lie that they were working on finding Naomi Misora. And although his task force's peers in the NPA did confirm the formal existence of the investigation to find Raye Penber's missing fiancée, L thought it odd that the team assigned to that case refused to cooperate with the Kira task force openly. That and they denied any other consulting detective's involvement as well.
He could speculate that Marion and Cera were operating independently of any investigation bureau, but that was unlikely, considering Marion was a renowned detective in his own right. But the fact that they had a personal interest in the case threw his initial presumption off. Marion said so himself, that Cera maintained a friendship with Naomi, so she could be doing this out of the goodness of her own heart.
L smirked and shifted in his seat, abandoning the half-eaten piece of chocolate cake on his plate.
Would he even dare to put a wager on that? To believe in the kindness and concern that other individuals held toward others?
Well, he didn't know Marion or Cera personally, so it was a possibility…
But why come to him with that particular piece of information then?
If it was purely personal (if they truly did this just to honor Naomi Misora's wishes before her disappearance) and out of concern for Naomi, wouldn't Marion and Cera just find her, report the information, and be content with that?
Even that train of thought led to nowhere…
Marion was interested in the Kira case, that much was certain. In fact, L would daresay Marion would be investigating the string of heart-attack-induced murders too, especially because of its connection to their supposed primary case: finding a missing Naomi. Furthermore, the other detective did express an interest to work with him, albeit in the form of an estranged informant. He had several questions — all of which led to more inquiries and speculations.
What would Marion want in return if L ever considered bringing him one fold closer to the Kira investigation? Why did Marion Lamperouge reach out to Deneuve in the first place? If Marion progressed to finding Kira under the presumption that Naomi Misora was murdered by him, what did Lamperouge know now? Did Marion suspect Light Yagami as well?
But even if he didn't suspect Light and only thought of him as a lead (just as he'd presented to L during that call), wouldn't it make sense for Lamperouge to follow up on that lead?
"Mr. Yagami," L spoke up suddenly. The rustling of paper and the click-clacking of noisy keyboard keys came to an abrupt halt as L's exclamation startled the other men in the room. "Has your son suspected that he was kept under surveillance?"
Soichiro's eyes were wide and he blinked once or twice before stammering out, "N-No. My family was completely unaware of our activity."
L picked at the slice of chocolate cake he'd abandoned now and muttered, "Does Light confide in you?"
"Not as much as when he was younger, but I like to believe he wouldn't hesitate to come to me if something bothered him."
"I see."
L let the rest of the taskforce members that were present stew in confusion. Whether they chose to stress themselves out over his line of questioning was their problem. Besides, he'd only asked because if Marion or Cera ever approached Light to ask him questions — just as any field detective was wont to do, then that would certainly be confusing for Light. Or throw him off…
But then again, during that opening ceremony, the boy didn't even flinch. He was calm and collected and expressed nothing but adoration for L's remarkable deductive abilities and concern towards being deemed a Kira suspect. (Even if L did know that Light was Kira).
So Marion could have already approached Light to ask questions about Naomi or he didn't do it yet, the need for information remained the same. What if he could use Marion and Cera's interference in the case as bait? To draw Light's attention… But that would ultimately defeat the purpose of L's initial confrontation with Light Yagami.
It wasn't difficult to see that Light Yagami was aware of the NPA's movements. Light did not shy away from forming a connection with L either — the boy was only all too happy to have conversations with him at Ashford whenever they had the chance. Just as L wanted to gain Light's trust to get him to give up his method of killing, Light probably wanted to get close to L just to eliminate him.
He couldn't let Marion's investigative questions ruin that — ruin the chances of L getting past Light's composed façade to get his hands on solid evidence. Even if L and Marion weren't working together, who was to say that Light wouldn't come to that conclusion once Marion or Cera came into the picture to snoop around and ask their questions with no regard for secrecy? Marion's involvement could very well compel Light to retreat and rethink his strategy, and L would lose the fast-track train he'd been on for the last few weeks.
To Light, everyone appeared as a threat.
Well, this was quite interesting… Perhaps the only choice L was left with now was to speak to Marion and bring him on board. At the very least, they could align strategies that would let them both get what they want out of this.
Still, L couldn't quite shake away the sneaking suspicion that this eventual plan of action of his was what Marion probably wanted all along too…
=OoOoO=
"Greetings. I'd like a moment of your time. Please reply to this message with a time and date, so I can reach out to you as soon as possible.
~L."
A/N: All their thought processes are more than half of the plot… I'm not sorry xD This is setup for the eventual meetings and more clashing later.
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