--Planting Seeds--
They were an hour late for the morning meeting that should have started at seven sharp, but really had been allocated to the timeslot of eightish.
No one had said anything about the tardiness, except for Matsuda (always Matsuda), who laughed at their inability to get to a room on time that was right outside their bedroom door.
The meeting commenced at 8:23 and ended at 9. It had mainly revolved around Miss Wedy's surveillance of the Lourdes Cathedral and Mr. Aiber's evaluation of the familiars that came in and out of the church.
L had said both Aiber and Wedy would be given more time to scope that area out before any action from their side would be taken. But he had also made it clear that if given the chance to cut corners, despite the risk involved, he would speed up the reconnaissance so he could meet with Mr. Ignatius sooner. He estimated that in three days he would be paying Mr. Ignatius a visit. There was general surprise from the investigation team, but everyone knew how determined L was, so there was only a minimum amount of protest, most of it coming from Yagami-san.
Then L delegated out tasks. The team of Yagami-san and Mogi were to meet up with the contact, and through him, arrange a conference between L and Mr. Ignatius. The group of Aizawa and Matsuda were to remain at the hotel and keep watch through surveillance cameras the Lourdes pilgrimage grounds. They were also given the task of keeping in contact with Mr. Aiber and recording the information that he passed onto them.
L had left him for last, as to be expected. But instead of turning around and telling him the specifics of what his job would entail, L had walked off towards his right-hand man, dragging him along in the process.
"Did you bring the things I asked for? I'd like to get started right away."
Watari suddenly proffered a simple, black duffle bag.
"Good. Can you please hand that over to Raito-kun," L instructed and did that annoying thing where he would walk off without giving the third party any explanations as to what was going on.
Raito took the bag graciously. "What's in this?" he asked, as the chain between them finally ran short and he was pulled forward.
L sat at a desk, set apart from the rest of the investigation team and conveniently stocked with cakes, a tea tray, and his laptop. "Whatever Raito-kun fancies," he replied, as he pulled his feet up on his chair and reached over for a fork.
Raito settled the bag on the desk. By the weight and shape, he could guess there were books inside, but one could never tell with L.
"Something better not jump out at me," he joked -- but not really. He opened the bag, looked inside the dark interior and reached in to pull out a massive book. He rested it on the desk and began flipping through it clinically. "So…" he began pensively, "when were you planning on telling me that you'd chosen me to be your proxy?" Raito asked, continuing to flip through the pages and skim through text.
"Raito-kun is sharp."
There was only one reason why L would give him the Bible: he wanted him to be prepared to speak to Mr. Ignatius.
"You're making fun of me if you think I wouldn't have picked it up from this. Or do you give Bibles to everyone you come across?"
"Not just a Bible." L pointed towards the bag, and Raito reaching for it, pulled out two more books from the pile inside. He opened one with a simple brown-leather binding, the elegant cursive handwriting he found inside distracting him from the actual content as he flipped through the pages, his eyes taking in the smooth, Edwardian lettering before they converged upon what he suspected was a…cake-stain.
Raito was brought back to reality by that simple, stupid cake-stain as he remembered exactly who he was dealing with here. L might have beautiful handwriting, but he had terrible eating habits. He continued to flip through the book, reading here and there, and recognizing names that any avid news-watcher would be familiar with, even if they were a couple of years back. He was somewhat surprised to find that the thing he currently held in his hands was a journal of L's cases…A recount, categorized by the types of serial killer that he had put away over the past years. But it wasn't only that, it included many other cases. They went into the hundreds, cases that L couldn't have possibly worked on, but were most likely used as comparisons to the ones in his resume.
"I don't understand." This book, it held so many insights into L's logic. It could even be used to date the detective. He could timeline L's career, and from that, estimate his age by tracing the earliest cases…
"Is Raito-kun displeased?" L asked and pointed towards the bag again. "There's more, so when you're finished browsing through that one, you can help yourself to the others."
Something was definitely not connecting here. L was such a secretive person and to lend out something so personal…what was he thinking?
"I haven't written down anything for Kira at the moment since this case is still on-going, but what section do you think I would place him in?" L asked.
"Well…" Raito said, composing himself, "you would place him as organized missionary. However, since he's unlike any serial killer in record, and actually qualifies more for the term of serial mass-murderer, I'm not sure…" Raito said, trailing off when he found the section he'd been looking for.
Why were there so many quotes from the Bible here?
"You wouldn't believe how many serial killers enjoy using biblical allusions in their MO to justify their –"
"Wait," Raito interrupted, "we both listened to those taped-discussions between Mr. Ignatius and the contact, and I remember you clearly stating that he was not the second kira. I agree with that assessment."
"Yes, I have made it clear that I do not believe he is the original second kira -- but there is a potential for him to become a fourth, one like Higuichi. The original Kira is a missionary killer. He mainly focuses on those who he deems 'unfit' for society, and because of this, the current perception of kira in the religious community has been split into one of reverence and one of abject horror. For those who are pro-kira, they see him as 'divine punishment,' and because of his example, if given the chance, if given the ability to carry out his sentencing with his own weapon, many would follow in his lead. In technical terms it's called the 'copycat effect' but in laymen's terms it's called annoying."
Raito agreed whole-heartedly about the annoying part, for it had nearly cost him this case when Misa had suddenly walked into the spotlight. But she had proven herself to be very useful to him, so in times of need, he was now more open to recruiting help. With his freedom of movement cut off, he would need someone to move around for him, but with Misa in Japan he would have to recruit someone here.
He'd already taken into account what L had said. He knew the extremists were small in respects to Kira at the current moment, but in an environment where any god was the central focus, that number would double -- no triple. After all, religion in general had spiked up subsequent to Kira's arrival. It was almost sickening how many had taken up the mantle of religion to try and redeem themselves from past sins.
And out of all the religions, Catholicism had seen the most converts, as the Sacrament of Penance was a very convenient way of resolving sins. Within Lourdes, it would not be difficult to find one person who believed in Kira's philosophy, who saw Kira not as some kind of plague on humanity, but as a God.
Father Ignatius would have people around him. He would have told others of his plight, despite the Seal of Confessional that could get him excommunicated for doing as such. However, many would overlook the discretion in church law, as the deathnote was far too important to bother with trivialities. There would be many who would want Father Ignatius to keep the deathnote for the church, to do Kira's bidding and receive absolute immunity from his judgment. One of these zealots would be open to the idea of coming in contact with Kira, of receiving divine mandates right from his mouth alone.
Raito would find one of these easily influenced souls and use them to secure that deathnote for himself.
"If we do have a kira-supporter on our hands, then the signs will be easier to spot if I had another person there to back up my theories. I need Raito-kun to become very familiar with my train of thought on these matters, and to do this, he will have to do some reading."
Tapping his finger on the book-cover, Raito turned to the detective. "I feel like your mistaking his devoutness for fanaticism. I'm not saying I won't go along with your plan, but I just think he's a simple man."
"It could be – no I am being overly paranoid, but I get the feeling from his discussion with the contact that he's testing me." L passed a thumb over his bottom lip, looking lost in thought as his eyes stared off at nothing in particular. "It makes me feel uneasy," he confessed.
"He did quote the 'Book of Job' and 'Daniel in the Lion's Den'…but I think in concerns to 'L' he just wants you to have faith that nothing will happen to you in a church." Raito smiled outwardly, but inside it was a different matter. He would have absolutely no qualms about killing L in a church. He might not be a religious person, but as far as divine punishment went, it didn't get much better than that.
"So I am supposed to walk in there and pick faith over Kevlar, and hope the bullet aimed at me doesn't destroy my internal organs too much?" L stared at him, eyes boring a hole into his head as he waited for an answer.
"Don't bite my head off," Raito replied.
"Well maybe now you can see why I would make a poor conversation partner for Mr. Ignatius. My cynicism might show, and I would hate to put such vital evidence in jeopardy because I could not hide some nasty comments."
It was a reasonable excuse. Raito knew L was professional enough where he could easily set his feelings aside and do whatever it took to get what he wanted. He was shrewd enough and too intelligent to make such mistakes, so the reasoning behind L wanting to use him as a proxy was weak. Although, if it was the mortal danger involved, the fact that he would be the one mainly put in jeopardy made this scenario more believable.
"Plus Raito-kun is very charming, so there should be no problem for him to secure a favorable opinion with Mr. Ignatius, and you've shown me on more than one occasion that you can act my part."
That's right, inflate his ego. L was good at buttering him up when he wanted something -- although it was true.
"He's going to instantly suspect that I'm a proxy. Why don't you get someone who fits the part better?" L had made up his mind that he would be the one to play the role of his substitute, so there was no danger of that role being taken away if he debated some with the detective.
"He will suspect, but between you and me, anyone would choose you as L. You will still have to convince Mr. Ignatius, but I foresee no problems there. The good thing about Raito-kun is that he's an exceptionally fast learner and will adapt to any situation I put him in -- Also to bring someone in at such a late hour in our preparations would be a very big inconvenience to me."
"I suppose" Raito fake-sighed.
"With that photographic memory of yours, this should be easy," L patted the seat next to him with his foot, "But if Raito-kun needs a tutor, I'll be more than happy to help…for the simple price of calling me sempai."
"…"
Raito, looking down at the offered seat with a smirk, leaned back against the desk and did not make a move towards the chair. He looked down at his watch. "You were serious for fifteen whole minutes."
L patted the seat with his foot again. "Raito-kun shouldn't scorn my advances so easily. It hurts my feelings."
Raito chuckled. "Whatever happened to all that professionalism of two minutes ago? If I remember correctly, this morning you told me that work and play would be two very separate things. We would have to…what was it --'conduct ourselves in a manner befitting head detectives when in the presence of others.'"
"Well that was before Raito-kun gave me head, so I'd think my previous statement would have automatically been made void," L said, reminding him of this morning's events and the exact reason why they were an hour late.
"Careful, you could get yourself in trouble if you keep talking like that," Raito teased and sat on the desk, "And anyway, I have a lot of reading to catch up on -- sempai." He smiled at L, but it was very different from the usual kind expression. It was sharper, but still playful enough where it would get his intentions across to the person next to him. L seemed to like the expression by the fascinated look on his face and Raito winked at him. "You know," he started up nicely, "if you were trying to spare anyone's feelings" -- and then that sweetness quickly changed into reprimanding, "you should have thought of me and given me this information as soon as it dawned on you that I would be your proxy. Now I'll have to pull an all-nighter because of your procrastination."
L sat there like a lump on the side of the road and then deduced with his great detective skills, "there will be no sex for me tonight, will there?"
Raito stared at him and murmured tiredly, "no shit, Sherlock."
L bit his thumb and added with a thoughtful expression, "But I don't mind it when Raito-kun plays hard to get."
Raito pushed himself up from the desk and sat down in the offered chair. "Since you see it that way, I'll be playing hard to get for the amount of time it takes me to finish all this." He made a sweeping motion to the books stacked up on the table.
"Good thing you know how to speed read," L said, while he reached into his back pocket and pulled out a thin book. The detective opened it, turned to a page bookmarked by a folded edge, and then abruptly closed it and turned back towards him. He glimpsed over at Raito's reading material, like he was comparing them to his own, and then said, "Good luck, Raito-kun," a goofy-ass thumbs-up following that encouragement, and Raito had promptly felt a compelling urge to punch him in the head.
L had then proceeded to turn back to his reading and completely zone him out.
Raito curiously stared after the detective for a few minutes, wondering all the while if L had ever been dropped on his head as a baby.
It would explain a few things.
That theory of dropped-L-baby was still holding strong when L came back from the land of complete zone-out four hours later, Raito deep in concentration, and began to sip his tea loudly right next to his ear.
"You do this on purpose, don't you?" Raito asked nonchalantly, biting on the end of a pencil and turning a page without looking up to acknowledge L.
"I'm checking up on your progress. It's frightening how much focus Raito-kun has. He doesn't even look up when I make faces at him."
Raito tapped the pencil against the desk, still not raising his eyes from the book. "It's baffling how much smarter you sound when I read your notes than when we talk in person. I'd love to have a conversation with that L," he teased.
One side of L's mouth twitched up. "Raito-kun wants a smart boyfriend."
Raito halted in the middle of the sentence he was reading and finally looked up.
He found the detective deep in thought when he got him in his sights, but that immersed expression quickly vanished as L put a finger comically up in the air and said, "E equals mc --"
Thankfully, his father and Mogi had come through the door before L could finish what Raito deemed a very bad pick-up line in the making.
Leaning to the side, L whispered to him, "Raito-kun looks relieved."
"You'd be relieved too if you got hit with a pick-up line like that." Raito smiled at his father as he approached them, but the smile was really intended for the funny bastard next to him.
"I was shot down before I could even finish, but justice will prevail," L said out of nowhere and very loudly.
"Hi dad," Raito said louder, so it would drown out L's declaration, "How did the meeting go?"
His father gave him a tired smile, not necessarily a bad sign, as these days that expression was the only thing his father could summon in his presence. "Everything went fine. The contact says he will pass on the information, but has assured us that it will not matter, as the Father will accept your coming at any time."
L nodded his head in satisfaction. "That's good to know, and if he says we are welcome anytime, then I shall move the day up one." Then L turned to him, "that will give you less time to prepare Raito-kun, but I'm sure you will be able to handle it."
"Handle what, Ryuuzaki?" Yagami-san asked suddenly.
Raito and L looked away from each other and turned their eyes on the older man. Yagami-san moved towards his son, and Raito opened his mouth to explain the situation, but unfortunately, L beat him to it.
"Raito-kun will be serving the function of my proxy when I visit Mr. Ignatius," L told him in a flat voice. Raito glanced over at his father, and by the expression on his face, he instantly wished that L had used more tact in communicating that bit of news.
L looked over at him for agreement, but stopped when he caught the intense stare that Raito's father was giving him, a single 'eh' escaping the detective as Yagami-san started up.
"But you said -- you said you would not need a proxy. And now my son is --!"
Matsuda and Aizawa had also crowded around the desk, their questioning eyes set upon L and their expressions a mixture of 'Oh, Ryuuzaki did it now' and 'Dumbass, you angered the gun-proficient chief.'
L stared back levelly at everyone before pointedly ignoring the peanut gallery and turning towards the chief. "I can assure you Yagami-san I will take good care of your son. I will not put him through any unnecessary danger."
That was obviously a lie, as L could not promise such conditions when he had no control of the situation in the first place. Nonetheless, Raito would back L up in his argument, as he could not have his father upsetting his plans as well.
Standing up from his chair, he moved towards the older man. "Dad, I understand the risk involved, but I was the one who volunteered." He knew how tenacious his father was, so if this answer would placate him, then he would give it. L looked pleased that he had taken over the handling of his father, as it would definitely save him the trouble. "We need that murder-notebook dad. It's the only way I can prove my innocence, so please let me do this," he pleaded.
"Then can't I take my son's place?" Yagami-san appealed to L, stubbornly sidestepping Raito. "L must look like someone with experience. Father Ignatius will not believe that such a young boy could--"
L shook his head, looking slightly irritated. "No, Yagami-san. I'm sorry, but the fact is, Raito-kun will be my proxy. He is the only one capable of it, so I will ask you to please not interfere." L did not like to repeat himself. It was something he detested. He understood Yagami-san's concern for his son, but he would not allow anyone to come between his plans.
Raito, sensing the current bad blood between his father and L, placed a comforting hand on his father's shoulder. "Please, dad, I'll be okay. I trust Ryuuzaki," he said earnestly, white staring his father in the eyes.
The older man seemed to waver under the sincere-looking gaze Raito had trapped him with. L felt semi-sorry for Yagami-san, as he knew exactly how it felt to try and go against that puppy-dog look that Raito could summon at will. Thankfully, it was on his side this time around.
Yagami-san bowed his head in defeat, his hands shaking at his sides and the frown lines around his mouth apparent, as he tried to contain his emotions.
L thought he should make a concession on his part, so he offered up another assurance. "I promise you that nothing will happen to your son." Again, nothing but an empty promise, but it was the only thing that would get Raito's father off his back.
"I leave him in your care then," Yagami-san said tersely, and you could tell the man did not really mean those words as he hurried out of the room, his anger carrying him swiftly out the door and quietly down the hallway.
The rest of the task force scattered at the grumpy look on L's face. Aizawa didn't look like he cared too much to be quiet about his opinions as he passed by L and mumbled (loudly), "stupid ass could learn some delicacy."
"I like you too, Aizawa-san," L replied and gave him thumbs up. However, with L so irritable, the thumbs up could easily be substituted for another finger that was just one digit over. Aizawa could sense the mockery there and he ignored L with an "I hope you fall out of your chair --"
"Enough," Raito said quietly. He calmly took a seat next to L and gave him an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry about my dad."
"I understand Yagami-san's concern, but at the present, that concern is problematic. I have no need for it. I hope he will forgive my insensitivity for the time being and see the bigger picture."
"He'll calm down after he gets some time alone. I would have liked to go to him, but as you can see," Raito raised the chain between them to explain the reason he had stayed put, "I can't do that with you attached to me."
"Raito-kun's father doesn't like me very much right now." L tilted his head and rested it on his raised knees, and for some reason, that gesture reminded Raito of a mime making a sad face.
"Do you even care? He'd like you a whole lot less for other reasons." Raito glanced back at the remainder of the task force and was satisfied with the distance between them.
"Ah, since I'm sleeping with his son," L replied bluntly, "No I imagine he wouldn't be too thrilled about that idea. There would be a more than likely chance that if your father did find out about our little arrangement, he'd get to me way before Kira ever could." L paused and rested a hand on his shoulder. "If that happens, Raito-kun, I leave the investigation to you."
"You have a morbid sense of humor," Raito commented.
"Who says I'm joking. If your father knew what I did to you last night, he'd find some way to push me off the nearest balcony -- and I can assure you, I'd be dead before I even hit the ground." L put his hands together in a diagram of pavement and dead-L-after-angry-father-gets-to-him. "The things I do for Raito-kun's love," the detective sighed.
L was exaggerating for his amusement -- but his father was very much an unreasonable person when it came to his children. He had promised to kill his own son and commit suicide because he could not bear the thought of him as Kira. His father was willing to give his life for him, and if enraged enough, Raito was not sure what he would do to L.
"Well if you want to stay alive then I suggest you be a bit more discreet about certain things," Raito teased, wanting to ease into another subject that would lessen the tension in the room.
"I'm good at keeping secrets," L assured, quickly taking to the bait with no stubborn clinging remarks to their previous conversation. L enjoyed the banter between them, so Raito would give him that escape for the time being.
"But you don't care about marks," Raito said, getting to his point. He was keeping an eye on the investigation team, and so when he pulled down the neck of his shirt, he did so knowing full well that no one was paying attention. "You gave me hickeys." He fixed his shirt back in place and gave L a pointed look.
"What about the ones on your shoulder?" L inquired, like it was show-and-tell and Raito would actually pull his shirt back and show him those too.
"Does it matter?" Raito said exasperated. "I was considerate enough to not leave any marks on you this morning. The least you could do was show me the same courtesy. We are in a tight situation here."
"I understand Raito-kun's predicament, but it should be fine to give him a hickey (or two) if it's below his collar line, unless Raito-kun wants to wear a halter top."
The brunette narrowed his eyes. L was such a jackass when he wanted to be. "Well if you feel that way about it, next time I'll give you a huge hickey on your throat. I hope you like turtlenecks, Ryuuzaki."
They were both beyond childish when one of them had to threaten the other with hickeys.
"I'll put a bandid over it and say I cut myself shaving," L said, choosing to pull something out of his ass rather than his brain, sugar melted as that was.
"You don't have anything to shave." If L used that excuse, everyone, including himself would burst out laughing. He did not find many things funny in his life, but L somehow always proved him wrong with his stupid antics.
"Then I'll say I fell on a vacuum -- it works itself out somehow. I think you shouldn't jump to drastic measures and take the hickey privileges away just because you can't come up with a good excuse like me," he lectured.
Marks were problematic, but if L was going to be so stubborn, he would work around it.
Raito prodded L in shoulder. "I'm not taking them away, I'm just telling you not to leave marks so close to my neckline." The hand next to L's shoulder lowered, nudging down the raised knee closest to him, so that leg was now under the table.
"So where would Raito-kun like me to give him hickeys?" L proposed innocently.
Raito smirked and his hand traced the seam of a pocket on L's jeans. "Does it even need to be said out loud?" He followed that line towards the inside of L's leg, as the detective fixed his eyes on that traveling hand.
"Then that wouldn't constituent as a hickey anymore," L threw out, too preoccupied with watching the hand on his lap to add more on the subject.
"I guess you're right." A finger slipped up the front of L's zipper, only to run slowly back down again. Raito saw one of L's hands twitch on the table before he began to lower his other leg to the ground so it could join its counterpart.
"I don't think I need that forty percent right now." L leaned back in his chair, both legs on the ground, and Raito tossed a look behind them.
His heart was beating faster than it should have, but he guessed it was because they were messing around with the others still in the room. Not the brightest of ideas, he understood, but it was strangely…fun.
"What about the other sixty percent?" Raito asked, punctuating his sentence by rubbing his entire palm against L's groin.
Instantly, one of L's knees jerked up violently and connected with the underside of the table. The loud thump quickly followed by the shattering of expensive china made all the men across the room immediately look up.
"Hey, are you guys okay?" Matsuda, walking over to the desk in concern, was met with the sight of Raito picking up glassware and L face down on the table with his knees tightly drawn up to his chest.
"My hand slipped," the detective explained, while still face down on the table.
"Oh -- okay." Matsuda was about to bend down and help Raito with the clean up, but L's muffled voice stopped him.
"Leave it. I'll tell Watari to attend to that later."
Matsuda looked to Raito, as if taking cue, but the brunette only smiled politely and sat back down in his chair. He watched Matsuda walk back to his station before turning towards L. "I didn't think you would practically knock over the table."
"My knee really hurts," L responded and still hadn't looked up, like his forehead was glued to the table. "The pain is pretty effective at getting rid of an erection though. I'll have to remember that in the future."
Unsympathetic to L's plight, Raito turned back to his book. "You learn something new everyday. Good for you." He took one last look at L, still face down on the table (most likely from the pain) and laughed to himself, making sure in the process that L heard him.
"My other leg is undamaged, Raito-kun. I can still kick you with it."
A/n: A few readers asked me what the rest of L's "E equals mc2" pick-up line was. I never explained the whole idea behind my choice for this line because I think it's very corny (like L). But a reader by the name AisCrim said it was okay to post it, so I trust her judgment on this. So here goes:
L feels that Raito would like a "smart boyfriend," so he quotes from Einstein, a person that is considered a genius to show Raito that he can be smart too. Though he does this in an extremely goofy way in order to come off as cute. It backfires as you can see, since Raito fears there will be more. The "E equals mc2" is the whole pickup line -- sorry if it seemed like there was more to it -- but there's a reference to Raito's (Light's) name within the formula, so it's like a personalized pick-up line. E equals energy, m equals mass, and c equals speed of light in a vacuum. In science, c originates either from constant or celerity – meaning speed – but within the context of this particular formula I see it as representing light too. I also stuck with this one because the letters can represent the names of two other people that I think are important to Raito's development. E can stand for "Eru," which is the way the Japanese would pronounce L's name and M stands for Misa, and as I've said before c represents light. Also, the exponent of 2 is only being applied to the c in this formula and Raito definitely has two sides to him. It's also funny how L is on one side of the formula and Raito and Misa are on the other. But maybe that's just me because my attempts to be funny are lame-o. I seriously think if I ever write a threesome with these characters, I will use this as the symbol for that. But hey, if you're not into that kind of threesome action, then we could probably substitute Mikami in for Misa and call it a day. Either way, I'm fine.
1. Missionary -- either grouped in organized or disorganized, is a type of serial killer that believes their acts are justified on the basis that they are getting rid of a certain type of person (often prostitutes or members of a certain ethnicity), and thus doing society a favor. I classified Raito into this category because he kills a certain group (criminals) indiscriminately and believes he is doing society a favor. Missionary killers differ from other types of serial killers in that their motive is generally non-sexual. Gary Ridgway, Aileen Wuornos and arguably Jack the Ripper fit into this category.
2. Copycat Effect -- refers to the tendency of sensational publicity about violent murders or suicides to result in more of the same through imitation.
3. Sacrament of Penance -- the confession.
4. Book of Job -- the Devil makes a bet with God that Job, a very righteous man, will curse his name if he took everything away from him. In short, the moral of this story is to have faith.
5. Kevlar -- Material in bulletproof vests.