DS
Disclaimer: What disclaimer? How? Who are you? Where am I???
Chibi Raito: Lovely acting.
Me: Oh, I know.
Chibi Misa: Umm… Raito-kun? I have a question.
Chibi Raito: What else is new?
Chibi Misa: Aren't you a bit out of character?
Me: Nonsense! He's perfectly fine. He's '"I'm so Cute and Cuddly" Teenage Raito Who's Still Working out the Mysteries of the Universe,' not '"I'm so Badass Because I Know Everything" Adult Raito who Loves To Kill Shit for the Fun of It.'
Chibi Raito: I'm not cute and cuddly!
Chibi L: I bet you would squeak if I hugged you.
Chibi Raito: Stay away. Besides, you can't even hug me yet.
Chibi L: Damn.
Chibi Misa: -shifty eyes-
Chibi Raito: Oh, no you don't.
Chibi Misa: … -experimental hug-
Chibi Raito: -squeaks-
Chibi L: HAH!
Chibi Raito: -swears profusely to reinforce his manliness before moping in the corner-
Me: Err… right. Chapter ten, girls (and boys? 8D)!
Chibi Misa: Read, review, and relax!
D S 10
"I was just making room for you to sit if you wanted to! I wasn't asking you to sleep with me!"
L rolled his eyes skyward and blew a resentful puff of air at his bangs. How did he know this was going to happen? How did he know the first words Raito would say once he got out of the house?
Because he knew Raito too well. That was why.
Though, L got the idea that Raito's words were coming from his ego, not his heart. That was a comforting notion in itself. With that thought, L calmly resigned himself to listen to Raito's ramblings about how much he did not love him.
"I can't believe you were actually lying there either! You never sleep. You were just doing that to make fun of me, weren't you?" mumble, grumble, grouse.
It was true. L had made himself comfortable on the bed, careful to melt through the sheets so as not to leave an imprint for the cameras to focus on. He wanted to fall asleep, as foreign as that sounded, but at the same time, sleep was foreboding territory. Anything could happen to Raito while L was asleep.
Yet, shinigami hadn't been making themselves appear lately. Raito's life was strangely devoid of Ryuk. It was an entirely welcome empty space, but one that made L suspicious. Were the shinigami regrouping? Were they planning something? At first glance, Ryuk didn't seem capable of thinking, much less planning.
However, if what he said about Mello's not-so-accidental death was to be believed, there were other shinigami with more sinister minds than his own.
Hmm…
L found it strange that, amidst all of this thinking, Raito had stopped talking. He expected the flustered mortal to at least continue grumbling to himself. Yet, Raito was incredibly quiet, almost to the point that he could be considered brooding.
Apart from L's apparently uninvited stay in Raito's bed, he had nothing to brood about. He'd been practically begged to attend each college he'd applied to. Raito, however, had his heart set on To-Oh University. L didn't know why he applied for all the other colleges. It was a given that he'd get admitted to any one he wanted.
To-Oh would be informed that they'd received Raito Yagami.
And he'd have to make a speech. L wasn't worried about that. When Raito pleased, he had a way with words.
Currently, however, he was on his way to Halle's office. His visits had been increased lately, a decision made by his father.
Now Raito had a very busy schedule, as he'd loudly informed no one in particular that morning. Or perhaps Raito was directly letting him know, seeing as how L was his 'imaginary friend' and all. He supposed it was a play for the cameras to watch.
Oh, L was going to have such fun with those cameras once Raito thawed out.
Speaking, in a sort, of being watched, L was beginning to notice an odd presence lingering just beyond the range of his vision.
That stalker.
He informed Raito about it. "You're being followed."
Raito loudly announced that yes, he knew that the entire time. This took L by surprise and he blinked the shock off. Under normal circumstances, Raito would simply incline his head nonchalantly and keep walking. The sudden outburst was odd.
Once again, L had to assume that Raito was running his own show. It was only natural for a schizophrenic to talk to himself when he thought no one else was around. It was a good plan. He decided not to correct Raito's actions.
The slightly rigid manner in which Raito walked, feet flexed, elbows locked and all, suggested to L that the brunette wasn't feeling his best about being stalked. The mini-death chewed thoughtfully on his thumb. He'd been the one to initiate such fear in Raito, after all. He probably shouldn't have mentioned anything about collaborative shinigami the other day.
Then Raito wouldn't be so uptight.
L sighed and scratched his scalp. The damage was done, and there was no undoing it. The most he could do would be to keep an eye on Raito at all times.
Raito took the bus this time in favor of a less-enclosed environment.
Two blocks later, his stalker crept onto the very same bus.
Raito had nothing to worry about, though. If the subway fiasco was helped along by shinigami, Raito couldn't die of whatever they'd been planning. Or so L assumed…
Bored of thinking to himself, L thought to Raito. "I don't suppose he could kill you by whatever means he may have tried last time, but there are many ways to kill someone in a bus…"
"Thank you, Ryuzaki," Raito sarcastically mumbled more to the bus than to himself.
Ah… so Raito did want the man to hear him. So L had been right all along.
"You want him to hear you?" L clarified with an intrigued thumb in his teeth.
Raito's eyes narrowed and widened unevenly, then he ambiguously replied, "Wouldn't it be rather odd otherwise?"
Yes. Yes it would be. Raito's schizophrenia entitled him to speak to his fictional companion all hours of the day. To an outsider, it would seem strange to see a grown man talking to himself in public. It would be far stranger, however, if he did not. Raito's best course of action, as L was sure Raito knew, was to be quieter in crowds with the express purpose of seeming secretive, but to talk all the time anyway.
Nothing noteworthy took place on the bus ride to Raito's appointment. The stalker, still wearing his glossy sunglasses and starchy overcoat, merely sat in the corner and observed. When Raito arrived, he yawned and stepped off the bus as if nothing was bothering him.
L noted the odd look the stalker was giving him.
"I think he noticed you talking to yourself," L pointed out with a finger in the air. Raito merely smiled, closed his eyes, and mumbled, "Good."
L followed him quietly into Halle's psychiatric center. The stalker did not. The mini-death found this fact not only to be odd, but also evidence that he and Halle were in this together. The stalker and the psychiatrist were a team. Perhaps this was the 'Gevanni' she'd been talking with on the phone.
Interesting…
Having walked through the building a short way, Raito turned sharply and knocked on the frosted door which paid homage to the Great Succubus, HALLE LIDNER. Though the mortal dealt with her on a daily basis and showed not a smidgeon of desire, L still worried that one day, he might change his mind.
A singsong, "Come in," was heard through the glass. L slunk into Halle's lair as if it were that of a dragon. Raito merely waltzed in, obviously content with himself, and fell leisurely onto the sofa.
Halle chose then to rise out of her chair in all of her glittering, foully effeminate glory. She beamed at Raito, a look L knew to be practiced and jaded, and greeted him with a friendly, "And how are we today?"
L humored his nonsensical side and replied that he was tired. Raito cast him an odd, tilt-of-the-head look and said, "I'm fine. Ryuzaki's tired."
"Mmhmm…" Halle mumbled as if she were checking something off of her subconscious checklist. "How have relations been between you two?"
L recognized this as an opportunity to patch up the fact that neither of them had talked last night. Doubtless, the blonde's cameras would find it strange for him to remain silent while he was alone.
Raito noticed this as well. He cast a knowing look at his invisible friend before mentioning, "We got into a fight yesterday. He stayed outside the entire night."
Ah, so Raito was hinting at his strange behavior concerning the door… No doubt the cameras were scrutinizing that detail as well. If the cameras had a dilemma concerning his behavior, a simple, offhanded remark such as that could render it useless.
"I see…" Halle mused, "Has it been resolved?"
"For the most part," Raito sighed, "We still have a few issues to address before that happens."
The blonde hummed thoughtfully to herself. "Are these 'issues' of yours going to be described in greater detail?"
"I'd rather not," Raito declined disdainfully. "I'll handle them myself."
"Alright then," Halle drawled, lazing back in her seat in an effort to look as casual as possible. She examined her nails and asked, "I'll just make small talk then. Perhaps we'll hit an important subject along the way. How was your day yesterday?"
----
"How was your day yesterday?"
Like Raito wanted to tell her. What a polite way to rephrase, 'What happened yesterday that started your fight with Ryuzaki?' As much as Kira hated his personal life to be spied upon, telling lies wasn't an option. Halle knew very well what went on yesterday. Raito had no doubt that she had spies all over or was a spy herself. She was testing him for truth.
Raito mentally rolled his eyes and sighed. He'd best tell the story with the voice of a secretive teenager. The section of his tale which included, 'I got a boyfriend!' wasn't exactly a snippet to be boastful of.
"You have to keep secrets, don't you?" Raito crossed his arms and growled in a huff of feigned indignation. Halle nodded affirmatively. Letting his arms drop to his sides, spine slide into the cushions of the sofa, and eyes drift to the side reluctantly, Raito began his Oscar-winning 'I'm just a normal, sexually confused teenage boy' act.
"Well… I've been seeing this… guy around lately. We've met a couple of times. He's a little older than I am-"
Ryuzaki scoffed over his shoulder as if he were dating a dinosaur-
"-but he and I have a lot in common," Raito continued his prepared speech in selective ignorance of the mini-death's disapproval.
Halle's bright eyes narrowed impishly and her face lit up as if she knew where Raito was headed.
"Yesterday he e-mailed me. And now…" here Raito broke for an embarrassed sigh. "You can't tell my dad about this."
"My lips are sealed," Halle reassured with a glossy fingernail to her lower lip.
Raito made a show of tapping his fingertips against the arm of the sofa. "No matter what I tell you?"
"I promise I won't tell your father anything you don't want me to tell him. You even have it on paper. Signed. Happy now?" Halle egged.
Raito stewed in his role of reluctance for a few more seconds. Finally, he grudgingly admitted, "Now we're… together."
Halle grinned smugly as if she knew the whole time. Raito, feeling more vulnerable than he'd envisioned, half expected her to crack a joke about his uncharacteristic dislike of her when they'd first met.
It was… weird. Raito never expected to feel this edgy after he said it. Because he wasn't gay! He really wasn't! He couldn't be! It wasn't possible! Raito wasn't gay. He wasn't a pansy, a poofda, or a fairy. None.
He was Kira, goddammit!
But… he hated Halle, who was only as physically attractive as women got, he dated only for popularity purposes, he was dating a guy, and…
Nope.
Bottom line: he was by no means introducing Ryuzaki into this.
No.
He didn't like Ryuzaki. After listing off all the reasons he couldn't like him, there was no way in whatever universe that Raito could… love… Ryuzaki. No. He wasn't even human!
Wondering why the hell he'd thought so extensively about his sexuality, Raito smashed his train of thought and sulked in his seat.
He glared analytically at Halle, who was off in her own world, it seemed. Raito knew that look on her face. Eyes rolled up slightly, chin resting on the backs of her hands, hunched over, half-smirk twisting her glossy, pink lips…
She was thinking too much.
Far too much.
"Did your fight with Ryuzaki start anytime after this?" she inquired all-too-knowingly.
Oh, that filthy little bitch.
"Yes," Raito stated in a tone of voice that would have hinted to anyone else that he was through with the subject. Halle noted his tone of voice, but cast it aside and dug deeper. "Raito-kun, if I may say so…"
No, you may NOT!
"I believe I may have found your reasons for creating this 'Ryuzaki' of yours…" she inferred, tapping a fingernail against her chin.
Raito knew what was coming and he didn't like it at all. He, himself, had been bringing it up and doubting it all morning. The reason he invited Ryuzaki to sit beside him stemmed only from the desire of order and peace. Not the desire of anything else.
Despite Raito's burning urge to leap out of his seat and yell "No!" at the top of his lungs,he remained quiet and passive. The only sign of the anguish boiling inside of his head would be the glowing, infernal glare he was casting Halle's way.
Seeing she would get neither rejection nor acceptance of her silent plea to continue, Halle did so anyway. "Tell me about your love life, Raito-kun."
"And why would you want to know about that?" Raito growled, gritting his teeth the entire time.
Halle sighed. "I've confirmed that Ryuzaki wasn't meant to be your friend. Your frequent arguments prove that much. Nor is he someone to denounce your ideas, strangely enough. He doesn't argue enough for that to happen. He is neither your friend nor your enemy. But I think…"
Oh God, here we go.
"…that your mind created him purely out of romantic frustration."
The temptation was too hard to resist. Raito lolled his head back into the couch cushion, dug his fingernails into his eyelids, and yelled "That's not it!"
And, judging by the knowing laugh coming from Halle's direction, she very much believed that yes, that was it.
It wasn't!
Really!
God, Raito was even arguing with himself like he had made Ryuzaki up. Hah! He was going insane… Absolutely insane…
Because he knew he wasn't making this shit up. He'd proven it. Ryuzaki ate real food! Ryuzaki felt like ice! Regardless of the many symptoms of schizophrenia he was experiencing, Raito had proof that the mini-death was real.
Now Raito was second-guessing himself. He was going insane, wasn't he?
"Are you alright?" the accursed mini-catastrophe asked, popping out of no place in particular and blinking at Raito with those huge panda-eyes.
"I used to date tons of women in high school!" Raito growled, rowing the air with his arms and ignoring Ryuzaki completely.
"But you don't anymore?" Halle inquired nosily.
"Well, no, but-" Raito heaved himself upright and hissed, "That's not the point."
"It is the point," insisted Halle. "Did you date all those girls because you loved them?"
"I liked a few," Raito defended menacingly.
Halle sighed in amusement. "But you never fell in love with a single one, did you?"
"No," Raito stated.
"So you made yourself an imaginary boyfriend," Halle inferred dangerously.
"Are you mocking me?" Raito roared, fists shaking at his sides.
"No," Halle denied simply. Raito thought she'd add more, but alas, she reclined in her seat and made no attempt to further the matter. Forced into a corner, Raito sulked and wondered at his next move. As much as he loved having the last laugh, furthering an argument like this one would only demean his image. It would make him seem desperate.
Offhandedly, he glared at Ryuzaki. The mini-death appeared to take no interest, let alone offense to the conversation. Why would he take offense? If Raito 'made him up' with the express purpose of having someone to love, Ryuzaki would be thrilled.
"I don't know why I made him up," Raito eventually deadpanned, hoping that Halle would take her assumption back. Raito wanted to forget about it as soon as possible.
"Most people don't understand why they make things up," Halle offered solemnly, "Most people believe their thoughts are meaningless. Do you believe your thoughts are meaningless, Raito-kun, because you don't know what some of them mean?"
"No," Raito denied after a moment of thought. True, he didn't think much about why Ryuzaki was there. Ryuzaki wasn't his making, though, so any thinking at all on the subject was useless. The mini-death existed simply because a higher power, higher than Kira, wanted him to.
"What transpired in that fight of yours?" Halle inquired suddenly.
Raito shot her an analytical glare. "Insults," he stated, eyeing her up and down with suspicion.
"Thank you for the detail," she replied in a wry manner.
Raito growled and hung his head with frustration. Would this woman never quit? He didn't understand why she needed to know the exact details. Irritated in this absence of knowledge, Raito bit, "Why do you have to know?"
Halle sighed and swept a wisp of blonde hair behind her ear. "Everything has a reason. I think that Ryuzaki has some hidden meaning to you. Perhaps if I were to know about this fight, I could confirm or deny my opinion."
"We argued, he walked off," Raito hissed irately. "Are you satisfied?"
"Did this happen as a direct result of you dating someone?" Halle fished.
The brunette scratched at the leather of the couch. Of course he had to tell the truth. "Yes."
Halle snorted softly as if her suspicions had just been proven. She closed her eyes thoughtfully and pulled at the corner of her lips. "I must say, this isn't what I expected."
Raito eyed her warily. "You were expecting something?"
"Ryuzaki fits into no single profile. He isn't your friend, he isn't your enemy, and he loves you, but you don't love him."
Raito raised his eyebrows and wondered how she could've come up with that last part.
"He doesn't seem malicious and, judging by what you've told me, he doesn't tell you what to do." Raito saw a look blink through Halle's eyes that he'd never seen before: Confusion. She continued with her nail to her lips. "From what I gather, you aren't paranoid like a schizophrenic. You aren't depressed like a schizophrenic. There is no history of schizophrenia or any other mental abnormality in your family. Despite the height of the fever your father says caused this, you suffer no other apparent mental damage."
Ookaaayyyy… she was talking more to herself now.
"I don't believe it!" She muttered, "Nothing fits!"
Nothing fit into what? Raito was more than aware of the tension that had quite suddenly wafted into the room. Ryuzaki was too. He was perched on the top of the couch, toes curled around the leather, eyes scanning left and right. So the mini-death was apprehensive about an 'unfortunate incident' occurring, was he? Seemed like it. Though Raito doubted that shinigami would take advantage of a psychiatrist to accomplish their goals.
As hard as he thought, Raito couldn't visualize a rampaging, psychotic, angry Halle Lidner. Naughty, perhaps. Eyes gleaming, body glistening with sweat, breasts peeking out of her suit…
Dammit.
Nothing.
Maybe Raito was gay after all.
Suddenly, she looked him straight in the eye and asked, "You are the Raito Yagami who survived Kira's attack, are you not?"
"Uh, yeah," Raito admitted, having nothing else to say.
Halle looked away, having the most frustrated of gleams in her eye. "Perhaps…" she sighed after a long, irritated pause, "This is a direct result of surviving. I don't understand how. Then again, nothing involving Kira makes sense."
Now Raito was almost certain she worked with A and W. Why else would she be babbling about Kira?
"Yesterday, when we left, she spoke with a man called Gevanni on the phone," Ryuzaki suddenly announced from his perch on the couch. "She kept mentioning things about their 'group.' Judging from her sighs and such, I could tell that 'Gevanni' was trying to reassure her. I don't think she was a member of A and W's crew from the beginning. Rather, I think her 'Gevanni' offered her a job interrogating you."
Raito glanced questioningly at the Root of All Evil on the sofa. What was he getting at? Was he suggesting… that she was intentionally blowing her cover? Halle didn't trust Gevanni, possibly a lifelong friend, as much as she trusted her potentially psychotic patient? It didn't add up.
There were many factors that didn't add up. It would take her at least a few more days until she reached an agreement with herself to trust Raito. Adding to that, there was probably surveillance in this room if Halle was affiliated with A and W. Working with them, she'd be well aware of the surveillance. She'd never disclose her frustration beneath the scrutiny of her superiors.
But… if what Ryuzaki said was to be believed, she was having her doubts. Perhaps the two of them, Lidner and Gevanni, had decided on a strategy, utilizing her distrust, in order for Raito to reveal himself somehow. Hmm… Interesting.
She was trying to lure him into the bog with her crocodile tears.
She was a smart woman.
But not smarter than Kira.
----
L didn't know what to make of Halle.
The meeting had ended with a simple "Don't tell anyone I said this." And that was that. No further discussion was made. Raito simply asked her if he should be worried. She simply answered that he shouldn't worry: Halle would do the worrying. And then they'd parted with a simple promise of silence.
Wrong.
Nothing ended simply.
L didn't like it.
It was clear by the crystalline look of stormy thoughtfulness on Kira's face that he didn't appreciate the situation either. He was troubled, thinking and figuring silently.
Time passed, L realized, and Raito was getting quicker on his feet. He was getting smarter. He was learning from what few mistakes he made. He trusted no one and nothing. He was considering his problems in a dimension L hadn't seen him consider before.
It almost made L sad to think that Raito wouldn't be needing his help much.
Regardless of this sudden crestfallen wave, L couldn't help noticing that Raito was headed in the wrong direction. L informed him of this immediately.
"Home is that way," the mini-death mentioned, one hand attached to his lips and the other pointed at the horizon.
"I know," Raito replied, singsong.
L wondered.
"Why are we not headed that way?" he asked.
"Simple," Raito stated, as if unphased by the massive importance of the events that had only just transpired, "I have a date."
L melted into the sidewalk. "You're not joking, I take it?" he grumbled miserably.
"No."
And for all Raito's submissiveness yesterday, L had been under the impression that he cared. What a bastard. "You don't really love him, do you?" the moping mini-death lamented.
It took Raito longer than usual to reply. When he did, "No." was what he said.
L was half overjoyed and half infuriated. "Why do mortals date people they don't love? You most of all," he grumbled, regarding the conversation Raito and Halle had about the brunette's love life.
Raito glared at him. "Are you still sore about that?"
"Shouldn't I be?" L groused, folding his arms to his chest and hunching over selfishly.
Raito made a breathy 'Guh' noise with his tongue on the roof of his mouth before shaking his head. L accepted that to be the extent of his answer. He was mildly surprised when the brunette turned his head and furrowed his eyebrows. "Do you honestly love me that much?"
"Yes," L muttered, figuring any attempt at friendly denial would be futile.
Raito sighed and dug his hands into his coat pockets. The mini-death dared a peek at the mortal's eyes. He could tell by their dimension and shadow that Raito was deeply thinking about something.
Could it be..?
No.
L couldn't afford to get his hopes up. Raito was and forever would be a cold, heartless, manipulative human being.
To avoid the grips of depression, L set his mind to something else. That stalker was following them again. The mini-death couldn't understand how a human could sit still for hours while his target vanished into a psychiatric center. Then again, he was being paid for it.
"He's following you again," L mentioned. Raito cast him a look over his shoulder before peeking furtively further behind. By the slight narrowing of those impassive amber eyes, L could tell Raito had identified his stalker.
He turned back around and muttered something about how much of a hindrance his sudden pursuit was causing. L perked up at the opportunity to make Raito happier. "Should I get his name for you?"
Raito's eyes widened for a second and he cast the mini-death a stupefied glare. L grinned around the thumbnail between his teeth and announced, "I'll find a way to get it for you if you wish. He has to have an ID on him somewhere if he's from the NPA."
Then again, he probably wasn't from the NPA. He didn't look the least bit Japanese, save for the dark hair. He was taller and more angular. More European. All the more reason for him to have an ID, L's optimistic side insisted. If he was a foreigner investigating in Japan, he'd have to have proof that he was allowed to do so.
"I don't know," Raito growled apprehensively.
L blinked. "Why not?"
"Chances are, he's not the only investigator," Raito reasoned under his breath.
True, true. If A and W were behind this, they'd have their pool of suspects. If Raito killed only the one who was investigating him, things could get ugly.
"I could get his name for you anyway," L remarked, still wanting to be helpful. Raito leered at him in a way that suggested he knew exactly why L wanted to be helpful. In the interest of pushing Raito's indecision, the mini-death added, "This way, if you ever want him to do something for you, say…" he thought a moment, "Give away information, perhaps?"
Raito's eyes sparkled for a split second, letting L know that he was interested.
L gladly continued ranting about the possibilities, regardless of whether Raito had considered them already or not. "With his name and a closer look at his face, you could force him to secretively slip names and pictures of all his coworkers to you. If he doesn't know their names already, you could force him to ask his Commander-in-Chief to send information to him concerning these unknown people. Before he died, you could collect it, kill everyone, and be on your way. It's a simple strategy, really."
Raito walked more slowly than usual, eyes to the sidewalk. Was he actually considering L's help? Wonderful!
"It… is a good strategy," The brunette muttered, "but I think I'll wait until later. I need to make myself inconspicuous. If he dies just as he starts investigating me, the NPA will be hot on my tail in no time."
Hmm… true. "For future reference, then," L insisted, tapping his fingers together.
Raito then asked the mini-death his second Obvious Question Du Jour. "Do you really want to help me that badly?"
"Yes," answered L.
Raito rolled his eyes and huffed.
Well, this was odd, for lack of a more fitting phrase. Normally, the Great Kira would jump at the chance to get a leg up on his opponents, regardless of timing. Currently, however, he seemed reluctant to accept L's help. The mini-death understood Raito's need to be independent, but this was ridiculous.
The mortal took note of L's blank, pointed glare.
He sighed, "Fine," and then he came up with another excuse to refuse L's help.
That bastard.
"Even if I do have his name right now, I can't do much with it. I don't have a face to remember him by."
L blinked long and slow. "For being Kira," he deadpanned, "you aren't full of enthusiasm right now."
If the brunette was utterly crushed at the sound of L's comments, he didn't show it. Ah, well, the mini-death knew better.
Raito was flailing in his mind.
L rolled his eyes. "Sit down on that bench, Raito-kun" he demanded. Raito shot him a dangerous look and asked, "Why?"
L cast a furtive glance at his surroundings. He and Raito had walked, along with their persistent stalker, into a sort of green area. A not-park. There was grass, there were benches, and by one of the benches, there was a grove of trees and bushes.
"If you were to sit on that bench and rest a moment," L hinted, "Your phone could easily slip out of your pocket."
Raito cast him a one eye open, one eye squinting glare of incomprehension. L chewed thoughtfully on his thumb. "Your phone does have a camera, yes?"
Raito nodded.
"Good!" L chirped gleefully and clapped his hands together, "If your phone falls out of your pocket, I can grab it and hide in those bushes over there. When he walks by, I can get a good shot of his face."
Much to the mini-death's displeasure, Raito scoffed at the idea. "The screen on the front will glow. He'll see it! Even if he doesn't see the screen, my phone makes an annoying imitation of a camera click. He'll hear that for sure.
"I'll cover the screen with mud then!" L groused, "And I'll turn the volume down too."
"You could get mud in the camera lens and then your picture will be ruined," the mortal argued, "Plus, even if you did manage to take a picture, how would you get the camera back to me without being noticed?"
Damn! Raito had a point…
Well… L would think of something! He had to!
"Are you about to head around that corner?" L asked, irately pointing to a bend in the sidewalk. The brunette snorted, "Yeah. Why?"
"I'll take a detour through those buildings there," the mini-death gestured to a gap between the back of one office building and the next. "I can zip through the alley and meet you on the other side before he rounds the corner."
The mini-death watched in anxiety as Raito grappled with his proposal. He could tell that the mortal was trying desperately to come up with another puzzler for L to solve. Alas, he found none and conceded to L's plan. "Fine," he growled, "but if you get caught, I'm toast."
"I understand that," L lamented miserably, "and that is why I won't get caught."
Raito sashayed over to the bench and flopped into it like the tired, carefree teenager he was supposed to be. His phone magically fell out of his pocket, helped in part by his meticulous leaning in one direction and a careless swipe of the hand. L snatched it up and dragged across Raito's shadow. He withdrew into the bushes and flipped the phone open.
What he saw only served to add to the panic in the atmosphere.
There were so many buttons!
Wasn't technology supposed to make things less complicated?
He angrily smudged a glob of mud across the screen on the shell of the phone, careful to locate the camera lens beforehand. Then, he set to work on finding the means by which the volume was changed. The mini-death muted the phone completely and navigated to the control that he assumed led to the camera.
The screen bubbled to life with the view from the mud-free camera lens.
Perfect.
He took an experimental picture with the camera, testing for noise.
None.
"Raito-kun! It works!" L cheered, praising his cellular phone skills. The mortal gave him the classic 'I'm Raito and I don't care' dip of the head before stretching his legs and continuing his walk. The stalker did likewise, adding a grumbled, incoherent statement of irrelevancy for good measure.
As he neared the camera, L focused on his face. Closer… closer… closer…
Ah! And he'd taken off those blasted sunglasses! What luck! It was probably an effort to look less conspicuous.
Of course, with the infamous Luck of the Psychopomp, the camera was probably full of photos.
…
L clicked the 'exit' shortcut with one button and found that, no, the camera wasn't full. There were no pictures in his phone.
Good. L returned the screen to the camera once again and aimed the lens at Raito's stalker's face. Closer… closer… and… there! L clicked the 'enter' button and the camera froze for a second, displaying the fruits of L's labor. The mini-death stared in awe at his handiwork. It was a perfect portrait. Good color, centered, L could see the length of his hair, the color of his eyes, the tone of his skin, and the form of his face.
It was all there.
As soon as the unwitting stalker's back was turned, L booked it for the alley. He raced across the not-park's lawn, zipped into the gap between the office buildings, dashed into the alley, passed a rusting dumpster, and pounced onto the other side of the sidewalk. Noting the amount of bystanders who would undoubtedly find a floating phone unusual, L slid it slowly along the pavement. Lucky for Raito, his phone was concrete-colored.
Speak of the devil, and he came sauntering around the corner without a care in the world. Wordlessly, he swept the phone up off the ground and went about scraping the mud off of it.
"It worked," L beamed, "I saved your picture. It's perfect."
"Thank God," Raito grumbled under his breath, looking profoundly relieved.
"I want you to see it," the mini-death mentioned. Raito sighed at him before flipping his dirty cell-phone open and examining the picture. In the glow of the electric screen, L could see Raito's calculating eyes grow wider and wider.
Raito finally smiled and chuckled, "This is really good."
The mini-death turned to putty on the spot. What he wouldn't do for more praise like that. Instead of expressing his excitement, however, he simply remarked, "I know."
Slowly and surely, Raito's eyes were changing. It wasn't a change that L liked. It was the sort of transformation eyes went through when their owner was thinking far too much. What was that gleam L saw? It didn't sparkle like excitement or insanity.
Fear, perhaps?
"What's wrong?" L grumbled, mood suddenly in the gutter.
"This picture…" Raito gulped, "I have to get rid of it."
"Pardon?" the mini-death hissed, thumping his foot against the exterior of a building. Get rid of it? After L went through all that trouble to capture it?
Raito sighed and shut his phone. "If I keep it there and someone from the police force finds it…"
The sentence went unfinished.
L chewed dejectedly on his thumb. This was a problem. Raito would have to keep close surveillance on his phone from now on. That, and he'd have to kill this guy as soon as possible.
Once again, quite annoyingly, L had created more problems than he solved. In an effort to reverse his own apprehension, the mini-death suggested, "Maybe you can just remember his face?"
"I'll sleep it off," Raito growled, "Besides, I'll need to remember it for about a month."
Contrary to only a second ago, however, Raito looked calm and passive as he slipped his phone back into his pocket. The mini-death wondered with vague interest if his mortal love-interest had thought up a plan already. Odds were, he was in the midst of thinking, but wanted to look confident about doing it.
L was still interested, though, and asked him what he was smiling about.
"There's my date," Raito remarked proudly. L straightened sharply and surveyed the crowd for any sign of his arch-nemesis. Teru was nowhere to be seen.
"Kidding," Raito smirked. The mini-death sulked and rolled his eyes. "You cycle through moods quickly, don't you?"
"Can't look too troubled now, can I?" Raito asked reasonably, casting L a sidelong leer.
The mini-death thought a moment, then shrugged his shoulders and nodded. "I suppose, but I hope you're thinking as much as I hope you're thinking."
"That made no sense," remarked Raito.
"So it didn't," L sighed, crestfallen. "I'd like you to be thinking about what your next move is, Raito-kun. You haven't killed anyone since the day before yesterday."
Raito sighed, out of his confident funk again.
Ah, the long list that was Raito's 'To Think About' agenda. L supposed he felt a little sympathy for the mortal, given his current state of mental occupancy. His pat-on-the-back was countered strongly by the slap-in-the-face that was his dislike for Raito's dating protocol.
"I'm supposed to meet him in that restaurant over there," Raito suddenly pointed out, gesturing to a neon sign. Wasn't neon normally shut off during this time of day?
Huh.
L not-so-secretly dreaded the next two or more hours.
----
As Raito waltzed through the door of the restaurant, he noted two things.
First off, Ryuzaki's crush on him wasn't going to go away. The mini-death practically pitched over in a dead faint whenever Raito mentioned dating someone else. As much as Raito wanted to tell him off, he couldn't.
At least he told himself that he wanted to tell Ryuzaki off.
…
Deep water he was treading. Sure he was on a date with a guy, but he wasn't gay. He wasn't! Really! Even if Halle appealed to no part of him in particular, men didn't either.
But…
Argh!
Raito was going to think too much about it and he wasn't going to be able to sleep!
Suddenly, he felt a soft pinch on the small of his back. Eyes widening, he spun around in the foyer of the restaurant and glared. There was Ryuzaki, tilting his head innocently and gnawing on his thumb.
"There was a wrinkle in your jacket, Raito-kun."
Raito turned back around, calmly, as if he hadn't flipped out at an invisible man. Speaking of whom, since when did he care about wrinkles in Raito's clothes? Ryuzaki could've been politely making sure that the brunette looked his best on his date, but it was unlikely. Raito knew Ryuzaki for his ulterior motives.
Senses acute to the attention he'd drawn to himself, Raito straightened his jacket and continued walking.
"Can I help you, sir?" A waiter with baggy eyes and droopy hair asked. The brunette glanced down at him before replying, "Uh, yeah. I'm looking for A Mikami Teru. Is he here?"
The muddled little midget's eyes glazed over in thought. "Ah, yes," he said, "Tall? Dark hair?"
"Yep," Raito affirmed curtly.
"Right this way, sir."
Raito weaved through the mass of tables, tailing his guide closely. He wondered vaguely if his stalker was going to follow him into the restaurant. He'd be terribly conspicuous if he did.
The munchkin man skittered around a cluster of tables on his stubby little legs. He then stood, straight and stout like a garden gnome, and announced, "Your guest is here, sir."
Raito peered into the nearest booth, aware that his guide was no longer addressing him. Looking every bit as regal and sophisticated as a kirin, Mikami lounged in his seat and tapped at the corner of his glasses. "Ah! Raito-kun," he smiled, then addressed the waiter, "Thank you for finding him for me. I was afraid he walked out on me."
Raito grinned as sheepishly as he saw fit. "Am I that late?" he asked, scratching his scalp in mock-embarrassment. The short, tired-looking man then deemed it safe to leave. Paying close attention to his exit, Raito laughed nervously and eased himself into a spot on the opposite side of the booth.
Ryuzaki muttered something about his acting before miserably oozing into the floor.
"Two minutes late," Teru scolded halfheartedly.
Raito gave him the eye. Two minutes? Two minutes?
"Relax," Teru chuckled, still tapping on his glasses, "Not everything I say is serious."
"It's not?" Raito asked in clear mock astonishment.
Funny. He'd been in Ryuzaki's presence so long, it seemed as if nothing was 'not serious.' Speaking of whom, where was he? Vanished! Again! Raito didn't want him to vanish! Was he still mad then? Had Raito's I'm-so-sorry-come-sleep-with-me trick not worked?
Not good.
He went into autopilot to speak with Teru about lunch. Truly, his mind was elsewhere with Ryuzaki. Raito couldn't stand how much he cared, and yet, he couldn't stop thinking about how downtrodden Ryuzaki looked.
Last night and today.
Maybe Raito needed to stop being so defensive…
Teru was waving his hands in front of Raito's eyes. The brunette snapped back into reality. "What?" He asked, blinking several times for good measure.
"You're out of it today," Tall Dark and Geeky warned, "Is something wrong?"
"No," Raito smiled, "Just feeling tired."
Mikami, however, read him like an open book. It went without saying that Raito didn't like to be read like an open anything. "Still fighting with your friend?" the dark-haired man asked.
"Something like that," Raito sighed, "I thought we were doing better this morning, but it was probably my imagination." Suddenly, Raito slapped the surface of the table with his palms and said, "I don't know why I'm bothering you about this. We're on a date."
Truthfully, he had no idea why he was so concerned, much less sharing this concern with another human being. He had no idea why Teru was so interested either. He'd get his answer in a few seconds.
"No, no," Teru placated with his hands in the air, "Do go on. I'd like to help if I may."
"All things considered," Raito monotoned past his inner surprise, "I think our situation is beyond help."
"Nothing's beyond help," Teru reasoned.
Raito eyed him. Mikami was an optimist… Scary. Better yet, he was optimistic about the relationship between his boyfriend and his boyfriend's secret love interest.
Secret love interest.
The very syllables lurking in that sentence fragment ate at Raito's subconscious. It was one-sided, wasn't it? Raito's motives for trying to get Ryuzaki back in the house were purely selfish, weren't they?
He was so sure earlier that day. Raito knew that the only reason he wanted Ryuzaki in the house was because he hated it when a friend was mad at him. But… Raito sighed and pulled at the hair on one side of his head.
Nothing like swirling emotions to muddle one's mind.
"Maybe I should've waited a while."
Raito's attention snapped back into reality to notice Teru's borderline sheepish smile. Ah, shit. There Raito went, spoiling good dates… "Actually, I think some good curry would take my mind off of a few things," he mentioned with the purpose of lightening the atmosphere.
It did the trick and soon, the two of them were conversing about which food to order first.
----
L took note of the restaurant's high ceiling, large windows, creamy yellow paint color, and bright lighting. The booths were open and airy and the interior was decorated sparsely and sophisticatedly. It wasn't a particularly romantic restaurant by his standards, and that was good.
He assumed Raito would be needing (a shudder) alone time with L's arch-nemesis. L didn't enjoy the amount of attention Raito was giving Mikami, un-boyfriend or not. The mini-death was better company than that lanky, four-eyed mortal any day! L was flirting with desperation, and desperation wasn't a frequent affair. Desperation and L belonged in their own separate sentences.
Raito had an odd and annoying means of drawing out the worst in L. He ignored him. L hated being ignored. How could any human possibly be so self-concerned?
How could any human not be?
Time and time again, L lectured himself. If there was anything to be learned from Near's tragedy, it was that a human would always defy a psychopomp in favor of himself.
And, when given the choice, would choose any human over a psychopomp.
End of story.
Therein lay the dilemma. L knew all of these things. He knew how self-obsessed Raito was.
He knew, and he couldn't accept.
Raito was maddeningly beautiful. His hair gleamed like a wheat field beneath a red sun. His eyes were gems, cut so that every edge sparkled in the sunlight. He was tall, thin, athletic, intelligent… Raito was perfect!
In the knowledge of that perfection, he could have anything he wanted. Though his list of wants was fickle, L had a sinking feeling that he wouldn't be on it for however brief a time.
The notion dampened L's day.
Hence, there he was, making intimate friends with yet another wedge of cheesecake. Eating made him feel much better about himself. A piece of cake wasn't prejudiced against his race, lack of eyebrows, panda-circles, or monkey feet. A piece of cake couldn't shout at him or reject him. A piece of cake was simply delicious. That was all.
Now, it would be a lie to say that L was not in love with cake. He just happened to be more in love with Raito.
Through the hustle and bustle that was the kitchen, L heard footsteps drawing near. Probably another chef. L downed the last of his cheesecake and floated away from the fridge.
He peered at the intruder. L had been right. The man waddled over to the fridge in his powder-white apron and popcorn-puffed hat. Humming to himself, he daintily opened the refrigerator with the intention of withdrawing something.
A pause.
His peppered eyebrows shot up in uneven angles and he hummed in an entirely different manner.
L bit his thumb. He'd eaten one two many pieces of cheesecake, hadn't he?
He miserably oozed out of the room, an overturned dessert trolley the victim of his mood, and stalked over to where he was certain Raito and Mikami would be snogging their lips off. He rounded the corner, floated over to the middle of the room and found…
That nothing was going on.
…
Raito and Mikami were talking. Chatting, if you would. Raito was smiling, but L recognized it as a characteristic, mildly glad smile. It wasn't a 'best friends forever!' smile. It wasn't an 'I love you soooo much!' smile.
Just a smile.
L was slightly comforted in that notion. The two of them were close, but not too close.
Raito barely noticed L. He glanced over once in a while, but that was it.
L settled into the booth across the isle and observed the antics of the two humans with a critical eye. Teru told a joke. Raito chuckled. Raito flung a chunk of tofu at Teru's hair. Teru spit lemonade at him through a straw. Raito bragged about his tennis trophies. Teru bragged about his chess skills.
He envied Mikami, being able to speak so openly with Raito and having the bravery to fool around with him. L could converse with Raito, but by the mortal's cold and indifferent demeanor, L could deduce that everything he said was incredibly boring. He could joke around with Raito, but he'd make an idiot out of either the mortal or himself in doing so.
A sigh.
As abruptly as it began, Raito's date ended. He and Mikami said their very lengthy good-byes. Mikami offered to pay Raito's bills and drive him home among other things, all of which Raito politely refused. It was uneventful, but it was a first date. Being first entitled it to be mild.
Not that L was complaining.
A kiss between Raito and Teru could wait another two-thousand years as far as he was concerned. He stalked the brunette out the glass restaurant doors and sulked as he waved goodbye to Teru.
Then, quite suddenly, Raito was walking home.
"Did you enjoy your date?" L asked halfheartedly, dragging his toes on the sidewalk. He was more absorbed in the grooves of the pavement than Raito's eyes, but he could feel the mortal turning and staring at him nonetheless.
"It was nice," Raito said nondescriptly.
'It was nice' could mean a variety of things. Wanting to know in what way the outing was 'nice,' L remarked, "That's very descriptive of you. Knowing you as well as I do, I'd say 'nice' could mean anything. You could go on a trip to the dentist's and say it was nice."
"It was…" Raito thought a moment. This caused L to arch a non-eyebrow and glance up. "It was normal. Not great, not bad. The food was good. The conversation was interesting. That's it," Raito deadpanned, "But Teru's a nice guy."
"I'm a nice guy," L mumbled incoherently.
"What was that?" Raito growled.
"I said I thought you weren't gay," L monotoned with his arms crossed selfishly over his chest.
"I'm not," Raito reasoned with his shoulders shrugged.
L blinked slowly. He'd never understand the way Raito's romantic mind worked. He eyed Raito up and down. On the outside, his face was the incarnation of tranquility. He aloofly waltzed down the sidewalk, Queen of Tokyo that he was, and carried himself with the general attitude of a know-it-all. The corners of his lips were slightly upturned in a knowing smile, his eyes were closed, and his face was tilted upward.
But something wasn't quite right. Raito was more hesitant than usual. Nothing he said to L in the past five minutes had been willingly and strategically announced.
He was thinking about something, and it wasn't what L expected him to be thinking about. The mini-death assumed Raito's mind to be full of Teru-this and Teru-that. This was not so. Apparent by the airy length of time it took him to form a half-intelligent answer about his date, Raito's mind was elsewhere.
Where?
In the interest of finding the source of Raito's turmoil in a roundabout way, L backtracked to their earlier conversation and ventured, "If you aren't gay, then why are you dating men?"
Raito took a longer step than he usually did. His foot hovered in midair before stumbling down in an awkward, un-mechanical, un-Raito manner. Ah… So Raito was thinking about his sexuality then?
And having a hard time with it?
This was new.
"I don't like guys," Raito denied, "Have you seen the porn magazines hidden in my room?"
"Yes," L remarked, "and if I remember correctly, you enjoyed looking at the only one with men in it."
"That was a charade!" Raito hissed under his breath.
"Yes, yes," L rolled his eyes.
"I'm a 'girl' kind of guy. There are just… certain men I like more than women." Raito was grumbling now, as if he didn't want anyone to hear him.
A girl kind of guy, eh? Context and a good knowledge of Raito's character were the only assets L had to translate that statement correctly."Certain men?" L asked, dreading what Raito might say.
"Well, yes," the brunette hesitated, "And I've realized that maybe…" here, he dropped off and gritted his teeth. Poor Raito. L recognized this as one of his futile attempts to squelch his emotions and appear as professional as possible. He was having trouble wrestling a subconscious something into submission.
L knew how frustrated Raito became when he couldn't control himself.
"Maybe?" L growled, wanting Raito to stop acting like a girl.
The mini-death suddenly became aware of two amber laser-beams burning holes in his side. "Maybe I like some guys more than others," Raito spat.
Oh really? Well L was fed up with his 'I like him more than I like you' excuses. How L wished he was the person Raito liked more…
And yet…
Raito had failed to specify which guys he liked more than others.
…
…No.
L wasn't going there. He knew Raito too well. If he had meant what L hoped he meant, well… Mikami must've slipped something strong enough to kill an elephant into his food.
Needing closure, L ventured anxiously, "Some guys?"
"Definitely not you," Raito deadpanned scathingly. That comment should have felt icier than it did. Somehow, Raito was lacking the bite he usually had.
And that was how the cookie crumbled. Raito began and ended the more eventful half of his day with a statement from his ego, and not his heart. L crossed his fingers and stared at the ground.
Hopeful, wary, and anxious, if L hadn't been looking at the ground and had instead been admiring the reflective surface of the skyscraper next to him, he would have noticed a pale shadow flicker across the glass.
----
Me: OMG! BIRTHDAI!
Chibi Misa: And to celebrate, we're all BOLDED!
Chibi L: -kazoos-
Chibi Raito: -still moping in the corner-
Me: Cake for you reviewers? Any kind you like? So long as it's got a candle on it because BURNING THINGS IS HALF THE FUN.
Chibi Misa: OMG YES.
Me: And a happy birthday to Danielle Anderson too! If you see her lurking in the reviews, glomp her and smother her with cake and pudding. This chapter's for her!
Chibi L: -giggles and pitches over in a sugar-induced seizure-
Chibi Misa: omfg wao. :O
Me: In the real world, I'm still wishing for an electric guitar, a Serbo-Croatian dictionary, and the ability to read minds. My single wish of you is…
Chibi Misa: Review!
Me: Yep! Review! Gimme' a nice, informative, fluffy present for my birthday (or a flame, because FLAMES WILL BE USED TO COOK MY FOOD), and I'll love you forever. A writer always wants to know when her works are appreciated!
Chibi Misa: So come on! Wish Danielle and Swirl a happy birthday! Review, review, review!