Fear is The Enemy
By: .Cute
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

Disclaimer: Okay guys. I have some good news. School is back in my life and that means...Credit Recovery! Which means I can get to a computer without my Death Note hating parent looming over me like a hawk. Yay! So that means that I'll be able to update a little faster. Yay again! So anywho, when we last saw Light and L, they seemed pretty happy. Funny how easily happiness can turn sour. ^_~ I do not own Death Note. Though I wish I did. That would be nice. Some OOCness on everyone's part but you know, love does that to you! ^_^ Enjoy!

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When Aziz woke up the next morning at around ten in the morning, he looked outside his bedroom window and let out a relaxed sigh. After a quick shower, he debated on what outfit he should wear. He wanted to look good for L. He also wanted a look that would complement his death. After finally picking out a stylish outfit of tight black jeans and a tight long sleeved black shirt, Aziz went to his kitchen to make himself breakfast. There Ryuk was enjoying an apple. He gave the Shinigami a bright smile. "Good morning Ryuk!"

Not bothering to see if the Death God would answer him, Aziz went straight to his babies, who were sitting on the counter where he'd left them. "And good morning to you guys as well!" Aziz carefully grabbed the silver case with the medical needle inside and held it to his chest lovingly. "Today's the day my love," he cooed to the case. "Today, I die and you finally get to help me get L. My prize." Aziz laughed and spun around in a circle with the case in his hands. "I'm so excited!" Ryuk merely watched the crazy man in silence. After a few moments, Aziz stopped swirling and placed the case back on the counter.

Then, he danced over to the refrigerator, opened it and pulled out the first sugary item his hands could find: a single slice of peanut butter chocolate cake. Aziz let out a small sound of pleasure and after he had grabbed a fork, dug into the cake with a smile. Why bother about his health when he was going to die anyways? As he ate, Ryuk decided to speak. "How come you're so sure that you're going to die today? Why not tomorrow or the day after that?" Aziz held up a finger to ask for a moment while he finished his cake. Ryuk waited.

Aziz swallowed, then gave the Shinigami a smile. "I know I'm going to die today because after I get L, I'm going to take my own life." Ryuk chuckled. "With the drugs?" Aziz shook his head. "Oh no. My babies hurt too much and they don't want to hurt me." Aziz placed his dirty dish into the sink, along with his fork. "No, I have another baby that I have to bring along." Ryuk jagged smile was almost as frightening as Aziz's. "Really? And what's that?"

Aziz's smile grew as he quickly rushed over to a cabinet in the kitchen like an eager child and started giggling softly as he pulled out 9-mm pistol. "Here it is," Aziz proclaimed proudly as he showed it to Ryuk. "This baby will take my life, I'm sure of it." Ryuk chuckled again and grabbed another apple from the counter. "So, where are we headed?" Aziz grabbed his waist length black coat and carefully hid his needle, his drugs and his gun within it's inside pockets. "The Coffee Break my dear Shinigami. I have a date with a little lady and her boss."

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Light and L had agreed that it would be best to keep their relationship a secret from the rest of the Investigation Team. Aizawa was already suspicious enough and L didn't want to give the man a reason to get angry at him for becoming too close with Light. If L knew Aizawa at all, he knew that the man wouldn't take the news of his new relationship with Light well. And there was the matter of Light's father. Though Light assured him that his father would understand, both L and Light knew that they couldn't tell him. At least, not yet. Not during the Kira Case.

No, they would keep it secret. "For now," Light had said with force. L smiled softly at the memory. He didn't understand why, but the fact that Light did not want their relationship to be secret made his somewhat happy. As his Team worked silently around him, L couldn't help but glance over to where Light was sitting as he typed away at his computer keyboard. He knew he shouldn't look, Aizawa or Soichiro might notice, but he did anyway. He honestly couldn't help himself. Light was currently running through the files of the twelve "Aziz" in the Shinjuku area, trying to find one who had easy access to the Coffee Break. As he searched through the files, L watched him as he studied Light's features.

Sharp auburn eyes danced across the papers that were being held in place by two slender yet still masculine hands and L felt his heart flutter. He'd noticed Light's physical attraction before of course, but he'd never actually studied them before. Now, he noticed the way Light's caramel colored hair seemed to frame his face perfectly. He noticed how innocent Light's eyes seemed, though they were still able to maintain their intelligence. And as he continued to study Light, he started to study himself. What he saw didn't exactly please him.

L had never before cared about his appearance. He didn't care about the cloths he wore or if he looked good in the eyes of other people. He was too busy to worry about things such as fashion. But now, thanks to newly found feelings, L was starting to have second thoughts about his appearance. Looking down at himself, L couldn't help but wonder how Light could find him even remotely attractive. It didn't make much sense. Though he didn't know much about relationships, he knew that physical attraction was somewhat important. He also knew that Light cared about how he looked. He enjoyed looking good. Reason would state then that Light would want a partner with similar taste. It was only logical that Light would want an attractive partner.

But L wasn't attractive. He was pale and skinny. His hair wasn't brushed, his cloths were wrinkled slightly, he never wore shoes or socks. L frowned and he turned back to his computer, his stomach turning uncomfortably. What could Light possibly see in him that would cause him to fall in love with him? Working on his papers, Light glanced over to where L sat. He was surprised to find the man frowning deeply at his computer. Curious, Light set his papers down and swiveled his chair towards the detective. L noticed and quickly started typing at his keyboard, a faint pink color reaching his face. Light noticed this but didn't bring it up.

Instead, he asked softly, so no one could overhear, "Is something wrong?" L glanced at Light briefly before turning back to his computer. "Why would Raito-kun think that something is wrong?" Light couldn't frown so instead, he gave L a small smile. "You were frowning at your computer." L shook his head and turned away from his computer for a moment to grab the small bowl of chocolate-covered strawberries Watari had brought him. "Nothing is wrong Raito-kun. You must have been seeing things." As he popped a strawberry into his mouth, Light felt his smile start to fade. L was hiding something from him. And that meant something was indeed wrong. But why would L hide something from him? It didn't make much sense to Light.

So, after a quick glance around the room to make sure that no one was looking, Light reached out and grabbed L's hand. L felt his face start to heat up and he looked to Light, frowning. "Raito-kun," he mumbled in a warning tone. Light ignored it and kept his grip on L's hand firm. "L, somethings wrong. I can tell. Why won't you tell me?" L too glanced around the room before he turned back to Light. (A/N: Wow. They're acting like two high school lovers during class. Huh. Is that bad?) "Raito-kun may seem to think that this is the appropriate place for such actions but I do not. Raito-kun fails to notice that we are in the middle of Headquarters."

L shook his head again and pulled his hand out of Light's grasp. Light didn't feel hurt by L's action. Instead, he felt even more motivated to find out what was wrong with him. But he had to admit that, even though he wanted to know what was troubling L, they were in the middle of Headquarters. It was a wonder no one noticed them holding hands. He supposed that it would have to wait. Light couldn't help but sigh softly and was surprised when L gave him a soft smile. "Rest assure Raito-kun. Actions such as the one you displayed will be appropriate in a later time." Light felt his lips turn upward into his own soft smile, though inside he was frowning. He wasn't giving up. "But L..." "Ryusaki!"

Both men jumped slightly, as if caught doing something bad and turned to see Socihiro walking briskly towards them, Aizawa not far behind. Light moved away from L slightly as L asked, "Yes Yagami-san?" Socihiro held out a cell phone to L. "Someone from the Coffee Break has phoned in with information about Aziz." Immediately, L grabbed the phone from Socihiro's hand and put it on speaker phone. "Yes this is Sato Suzuki from the Kira Investigation. I understand that you have some information for us?" Light noticed with some amusement that L had changed his voice. "Umm, yeah. Hi." 'It's the girl from the counter,' Light thought and he moved in closer to L in order to hear better. "My name Chiyo and I work at the Coffee Break. Umm, today two guys came in looking for another guy named Aziz, right?"

L nodded though he knew that the girl couldn't see. "Yes that is correct." Now, Matsuda had joined the group, all four men crowding around the phone. "Okay, yeah, so my boss told me to start asking for the customers names because it's, like, important or something and so I did. Well, around eight this morning, some weird looking guy came in and while he was ordering I asked him is name. He said his name was Aziz and I like totally almost couldn't believe it." Light mentally sighed at the girl's tone of voice. She sounded a lot like Misa. L noticed it too but he didn't say anything. "Can you give us a description of the man who came in Miss Chiyo?" The girl's tone of voice suddenly went playful and coy. "Well, I might be able to describe him to that cute guy who came in the other day." Everyone, including L, turned to Light. Light blinked then sighed softly, his head down. Matsuda gave Socihiro a questioning look. "Can she do that?"

L turned back to the phone. "That can be arranged Miss Chiyo." Light's head snapped back up and he gave L a look of confusion. 'What?!' The employee let out a soft giggle. "Yay. Okay, I'm working today so he can just come over whenever he wants to." L nodded again, his face void of any emotions. "He'll be there in a few minutes Miss Chiyo." "Really? That soon? Okay, I'll have to get ready now. Tell him I'll see him then. Bye!" Then she hung up. L hung up as well but gave the phone to Light instead of Socihiro. "Here. It can't be traced. You should take it with you." Light didn't take the phone from L's hands. "Who said I was going?" Matsuda tried to cheer the young man up. "Come on Light. It won't be that hard. All you have to do is use your charm to get the girl to tell us what this Aziz guy looks like, it's that simple."

Light shook his head. "I can't." He looked directly into L's eyes. 'I can't leave you alone. The other Team members don't know about your phobia.' L stared back at Light for a moment before he sighed softly and pushed the phone into his hand, glaring at him softly. "Raito-kun, this is important. I know you don't like playing women but it needs to be done." His eyes spoke for himself. 'I will be fine. Just...hurry back soon.' Finally, Light nodded in defeat. "Alright. I'll do it." L nodded while Matsuda let out a cheer. "Go Light!"

LineLineLineLineLine-(It's a flash forward cause I need to get this chapter out! Hooray!)

Light stood outside the Coffee Break for a moment before he let out a defeated sigh. "Let's just get this over with." He had to make this fast because every minute he was here was another minute he wasn't with L. So, bracing himself, Light put on his most charming smile and entered the shop. Oddly enough, there was only one customer. A old woman sat near the far right corner of the shop. Light smiled at her and she smiled back. Then, he walked up to the counter and up the the manager of the shop who was running the cash register. Light smiled brightly at the man. "Hello. I'm here to see a Miss Chiyo. I'm from the Kira Investigation Hot line." The manager nodded and smiled at Light.

Light couldn't help but feel a little uneasy at the smile. It was a little bit creepy. "Ah. You must be Mr. Suzuki." Not bothering to correct the man with his original fake name, Light nodded. "Yes. Do you know where Miss Chiyo is?" The manager motioned towards a door with a sign that read "Employees only". "Yes, she's right in there having her break. Follow me." Light followed the manager as they crossed across the kitchen to the door. Something was bugging him though. He frowned. Something...wasn't right, but he couldn't put his finger on it. Light shook his head slightly as the manager opened the door with a key. He was probably just worried about L being alone with only his father, Aizawa and Matsuda for company. He hoped that this meeting could go on quickly. Finally, the manager opened the door and, still smiling, motioned for Light to go inside. Light could see inside the room already and it didn't look out of the ordinary. It looked like a simple break station.

He could also see the employee, Chiyo, sitting at a table placed in the middle of the room so Light advanced inside. He'd only taken a few steps in when he was suddenly grabbed from behind, his arms pinned to his sides. Light let out a yelp of surprised and started to struggle against the person behind him. The employee sitting at the table jumped up as well, but instead of helping Light, she grabbed onto his shirt and pushed him to his knees, something he knew she could never do with the person behind him aiding her. Light let out a scream, but he knew that it was no good. He could see that the door was already closed. "What the Hell?!"

With a jerk, Light tried to get a better view of his attacker but the only things he could make out was short black hair and two cold blue eyes. "My, my," his attacker whispered. "Such language." Light's entire body froze up at his attacker's words and he felt his heart stop. 'No...' "Kira..." Aziz Hiraoka laughed softly from behind Light. "Yes Light Yagami. I'm Kira. And guess what else?" Light let out a sudden cry of pain as a needle was thrust into his lower leg. "You're going to listen to me, my puppet." Light could feel whatever Kira was pumping into him start to flow through his veins. "No!" "Yes! You're going to listen to me even if I have to kill you!" Light's vision started to dim. He started to grow weak. "Don't worry Light. This won't kill you. I'll save that for later. Good night, Dustin." Light closed his eyes. His last thoughts were of L and what would happen to him now.

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A/N: (gasps) Cliff-hangers are fun! ^_^ So how did you guys like it? Was it good? Was it bad? Was it pie? Can a writing be as good as pie? Tell me in your reviews! Chapter Twenty-Three coming soon! Bye!