7.
"My mom loves you." Light said, as they walked off into the darkness, L was hunched over, hands in his pockets as usual. "She's a sweet woman." He said simply. As they continued on in silence, L took this time to compile his thoughts on how the night had turned out. Light has still made no obvious effort to learn my name… he thought. Despite the physicality, that hadn't even seemed to have come up at all…
He looked over to his friend, who was looking ahead of them, and wondered if this game was all for naught. Whether it was two-sided, or one… they both seemed to be getting something out of it… and that something was very obviously not information.
Yes, L's plan was reliant on time, but he had assumed Light would've made some sort of move by now… but no. Yes, in L's mind Light had undoubtedly been Kira at some point in time… but maybe those memories had long ago faded away. In fact, he had seen the change in Light's features as he had watched them fade away…
"Light…" he started, "Yeah, Ryuzaki?" the slightly taller man replied, his extra height only due to his perfect posture. "Would you like to stay over again tonight?" he asked, and he could immediately sense the surprise on Light's face. Light scratched the back of his head, "Yeah… of course."
As they got to headquarters, L immediately informed Watari of their guest, and continued on as he led Light down that same, now familiar corridor. He pressed his thumb against the sensor, and allowed Light to enter before him. L walked over to the mattress that lay in the corner of the room, and sat cross-legged upon it. He closed his eyes for a second, as Light joined him, and as soon as the other man sat down with him, he opened them, and for the first time, was the one to initiate the kiss.
Light's hair once again brushed against his own face, tickling his forehead, and he was once again taken aback by the softness of the other mans lips. Despite Light not being ready to part just yet, L ripped apart from him, and instead, extended his hand.
"I want to start over." He said simply, and Light took his hand.
"I'm L… L Lawliet."
Immediately, Light took his hand back, practically jumping off the mattress, "Why… why would you tell me that?" he asked, and L merely shrugged. "I find that at this point there's no use hiding it."
Light tries his best to ignore Ryuk's laughter, as he felt overwhelmed by L… no, by Lawliet's confession.
"I don't think I've ever truly introduced myself to anyone…" he said, bringing his thumb to his lips, as Light continued to look at him in awe. There was no plan for this, Light had never imagined this scenario within his wildest dreams. Despite how long and hard he had been chasing it, with it in his grasp he felt lost…
Light cleared his throat, and came up with a plan.
He furrowed his eyebrows, "So this is why you invited me…" he asked, "What are you expecting?" he extended his arm "A 'Hello Lawliet, I'm Kira?"
"No." He said softly
"I actually feel like I've been too narrow-minded… take this as my apology."
Again, Light didn't know how to react. "Plus… as I'll be dead in a few days, I thought someone might as well know."
"L…" light said softly, rejoining the other man on the bed. "Can you please stop saying that…"
He closed his eyes, as L reached up to cup his face once more, but this time he did not kiss him. Instead, he leaned back, and allowed Light's head to fall onto his chest, finally allowing the two to have a good night's rest.
[…]
As Light woke up, he saw L sitting in the middle of the room, eyes fixed on the computer. Light smiled softly, and rubbed his tired eyes, for a moment… he had forgotten about everything. Seeing L there as he woke up, felt so right that he never wanted to remember, in fact.
But then… there was Ryuk. And everything flooded back, despite the fact that he hadn't used the book in weeks now, he was still Kira. That truth would always remain.
"Good morning, Light." He then heard, as L turned back to look at him, "Oh… Good morning Ryuzaki." He said with a smile.
"What are you doing?"
L shrugged, "just watching the cameras inside of Yatsuba… I do that from time to time, but the remaining six don't seem to interact with each other much anymore…"
"I think that was the most fun I've ever had." Light said, surprised at the honesty that came with it. L looked up at him, and smiled lightly, "me too."
It was then that an idea popped into Light's head… a horrible, convoluted plan that he tried to shake out of his mind moments after its conception. "It'd be so easy…" he thought, "to kill L inside headquarters."
There are cameras everywhere… so my involvement would be ruled out. It could be written down as some sort of technical error… he was always on a computer… or diabetic shock, maybe even choking…God know's he shoves those candies in his mouth way too…
He shook his head again. No. Surely he told someone that he was going to reveal himself to me- in fact, he wouldn't be surprised if L had been speaking to Watari as he slept.
As long as he was Kira… there'd be a part of him that wanted L dead. He drummed his fingers over the face of his watch as he thought about what to do next. What if… he were to forfeit the notebook once again.
Misa had already forfeited hers, so there would be no connection whatsoever to Light any longer. Light rested his head upon the pillow once again as he tried to think this through as deeply as possible.
Of course then, L wouldn't die and I'd be trapped as a suspect for a crime I don't remember committing…
L walked back towards the bed, and lay right beside Light, not touching him, or anything like that… but instead, just sharing the silence as he too contemplated his next steps.
"Lawliet's a nice name." Light said finally, "It's unique…."
"Like yours?" L added, to which Light smiled, and turned his head to face the other man's "Yeah." Light draped his arm around L, and L stiffened slightly. "You always do that…" Light said quietly, a slight hitch in L's breath led Light to believe that he was forcing back a laugh.
"I'm not completely used to it yet." He said, but as Light began to snake his arm away, L grabbed it. "That doesn't mean I don't like it…"
[…]
"Ryuzaki… what's wrong?" Watari asked, as the dark haired man slunk his way into Watari's office. "Ryuzaki?" He repeated, as L leaned against the door frame.
"I have a problem." He said softly, and Watari walked over to the younger man, "What is it?" Watari inquired gently, watching as L's hair swung over his face as he lowered his head. "What if… what if L were to…to love Kira?" he asked, and Watari wrapped his arm around him.
"You're speaking of you and Light?" he questioned, and L nodded. "I was led to believe that Mr. Yagami had lost his memory of that-"
L shook his head, "No.. It's still there. Everything's still there…" Watari sighed, "How can you trust the boy then?" he asked, as L dropped to the floor, crouching atop his feet. Watari sunk down with him, albeit a lot slower.
L laughed quietly to himself "I told him my name."
"Ryuzaki…" Watari scolded, fear evident in his voice, "I'm still alive aren't I?"
"He might think that it's just part of a plan…"
L shook his head, "No… no, if it is truly Kira then he'd kill me no matter what. He's smart enough to fake the rest later."
"And if our convict doesn't die?" Watari asked, to which L's smile began to fade, "Then we'll have enough reason to arrest him." He said simply, "Nothing I can do about that."
"And that's how you believe it will play out?" Watari asked, to which L nodded. "I don't see any other way, really."
He looked up at Watari, "I've thought about this a lot…" the old man laughed, "Isn't that true for everything you do?" he asked, L smiled. "In a couple days, I will be dead, or Light Yagami will be arrested." Watari squeezed his shoulder
"I no longer know which one I fear more…."