Chapter 3: A New World
L's fork stabbed viciously into the slab of tiramisu on the plate before him. He was cold, jumpy, and seriously doubting his own sanity. The cake, for once, was not aiding his cognitive abilities even remotely.
He was sitting in the corner of a rather classy patisserie, no doubt looking the paragon of disreputability in his dark, scruffy coat, sleeves too short, exhibiting baggy white cuffs of his long-sleeved t-shirt underneath, one cuff stained with something which he hoped was coffee. The dark cap pushed over his shock of hair didn't do much to recommend him, either. If he had to put a description to himself, which he was understandably reluctant to do, he would say he looked like the exact type of criminal element he was about to meet with.
Yes, that was the source of his extreme discomfort within the warm, pleasant cafe. He was waiting to meet a fugitive. Knowing Yagami, which he didn't, he hardly expected the man to show up wild-eyed and twitching, still clad in his orange prison dungarees, but it was hardly his usual style, meeting in an open area with a wanted man, unless he was the one holding the handcuffs delicately between thumb and forefinger with a team of goons – co-workers, sorry – to back him up. Still, he was rather hoping that, despite evidence to the contrary, a leopard would be able to change his spots. He was very much hoping that he was not responsible for setting loose a murderer. Or at least not one whose homicidal tendencies were likely to resurface with a vengeance the moment he was sprung.
It had been so easy, that was the disconcerting thing. It had hardly felt like a crime. Just last night, he had achieved what should have been an incredibly difficult feat, and had even felt able to add his own twist to the event, playing a message only Yagami, who would know exactly what was going on, would be able to understand. Ingenious, if he did say so himself. Thus his current position, waiting for Yagami to join him for coffee barely a few miles from the prison, had come about. And his jumpiness was understandable, since there was a finite chance that somebody else in the godforsaken dump had enough brain cells to work out the hints he had weaved into the random, disjointed phrases he had strung together and broadcast across the compound the night before. A paper-trail led indirectly to this very shop, and L was 83% certain that Yagami would have been the first to pick up the clues, thus erasing the trail for any latecomers. He was perfectly safe, the more so for being so close to the lion's den, but he was nevertheless uncharacteristically tense. And now was not the time to be second-guessing himself. He almost wished that Yagami's intelligence would disappoint him, that he wouldn't be able to follow L's clues to this place. Then he could write off the entire foolhardy deal and simply recapture the man as if nothing had happened between them.
"A black coffee, please, and a raspberry Danish," a deep, honeyed voice ordered from across the room. L's head jerked up as if a puppeteer had just pulled his strings. So much for that hope. The voice was unmistakeable. As was the hair. The perfectly groomed hair, which he had not so much as covered. What arrogance. He had no fear whatsoever about being captured. L wanted to curse him for a fool, but even he was almost taken in by the warmth, the confidence exuding from the young man, the paragon of innocence and charm. Instead of faulting his lack of caution, he almost found himself admiring the potency of his act; nobody would consider for one second that here stood a criminal escaped from death row. And a part of L felt excited that the man's intellect had guided him here, and that a worthy adversary or partner was now nonchalantly approaching his table.
"Is this seat taken?" the young man mocked, cool eyes dancing, a smirk just barely ghosting his thin face as he drew to a halt in front of L's secluded table. L gestured, a little brusquely, for him to sit. He did so, elegantly smoothing his crisp white shirt over his dark jeans and crossing those long, slender legs of his, the picture of relaxation.
"Don't you want to hear how I did it?" he boy asked, eyes still glittering with amusement as L continued prodding his dessert, not speaking to his companion.
"I want to know how you did many things, Yagami-kun," L said darkly. "Last night is not one of them. It hardly matters, really."
"How dull," Light pretended to pout, perfect lips pressed together briefly before he laughed softly. "I was hoping somebody could appreciate my work. The police surely won't."
"I do not generally commend criminal activity," L said stiffly. Light laughed again. Snickered might be more apt, actually.
"You must be hating yourself right now, then," he taunted. His expression made L want to hit him. He didn't like being made fun of, especially by the person he had just sold his soul for. But he supposed he had walked into that one; his mental skills had grown thick with cobwebs over the past years. He would have to work hard to make sure that he maintained the upper hand at all times.
"I didn't do it for you," he said in a monotone. Light's smirk grew more pronounced.
"Oh, I know," he said gleefully. "You did it because you couldn't help yourself. I was more than you could resist."
"You think a lot of yourself, Yagami-kun," L said, letting his disgust colour his voice just a little. "Did it occur to you that I still hold a lot of the cards?" It was time to wipe the smirk from his flawless lips.
"Only the ones I don't want," Light dismissed carelessly. "I could disappear tonight and not even you could find me again, Detective-san."
Instead of getting under L's skin as it was clearly meant to, this comment made L's lips curl into a small grin of victory.
"Detective-san?" he asked smugly. "The great genius criminal does not even know my name? How many cards do you really think you hold?"
But Light was still smiling, too.
"All the good ones," he rejoined. "I hold all the answers you so desperately want. I hold the danger and the excitement you crave. I hold the key to your future, Detective-san. I know you, I don't need to know your name. And I know you're far too curious about me to let me melt out of sight, so you will happily adhere to my few minor requests."
"Then perhaps both of us hold some power over the other," L acknowledged, not bothering to lie to the man about how deeply curious he was about his past; Yagami already knew beyond a shadow of doubt. "But you have nothing to blackmail me with. Even if I do choose to divulge my name, it will do you no good. I am not afraid of consequences, Yagami-kun. The question is, are you ready to die?"
L thought Light's eyes might have widened just a fraction at his words. Perhaps he had not been counting on L's absolute lack of concern about being implicated in his escape. Of course, L was bluffing a little, not eager to be caught breaking the law, but he was a good actor, and any psychological advantages he could establish over Light at this stage would be extremely useful. They both held a gun to each other's throats, but Light didn't need to know that L's still had the safety on.
"Oh?" Light asked lightly, voice only slightly guarded. L pushed his advantage.
"Yagami-kun has nothing to threaten me with," L went on. "What would you do, tell my colleagues I helped you? They would not believe you, because there is proof, if I choose to divulge it, that we met for the first time just a few days ago, not nearly enough time for anyone to assist in an escape attempt, from their perspective, at least. Secondly, I doubt they would perceive a motive for me to help you when I hold the highest record for criminal capture in the entire NPA. I am far too good at my job to be under suspicion, and you, Light-kun, are notorious for being manipulative, a confidence-trickster, even.
"Therefore you hold little power over me, as of now, and if I choose to extend our relationship, I daresay the cards will be changing hands somewhat too rapidly for this to be a further issue. And if by any chance you were able to incriminate me, I still have nothing to lose, since I have nothing. You are an amusement, nothing more, to me, do not forget it. That is all you hold over me. My curiosity is the only thing keeping you alive.
"And if you chose to kill me, if you could, which I doubt, you would have severed your greatest chance of redemption. And I really do not think you will have failed to consider the possibility that I have left a contingency plan in the event of your treachery which will have you back on death row before you can blink."
"Well, I don't plan on either of us going down just yet," Light replied casually, masking his surprise at L's speech effortlessly. "There's still plenty to be done before that happens."
"Such as?" L enquired, beginning to work through his dessert instead of merely abusing it. Having said his piece and seen its effect, he was willing to discuss the potential benefits of his actions.
"Well, I rather like the idea of sending the police into a bit of a panic," Light mused. "I believe I have already laid a pretty effective groundwork, but I would like your input."
"I refuse to commit crimes to the detriment of the police force," L said flatly. "The police may be useless, but they stand for justice. To discredit them would be counterproductive, and to break the law would be to encourage anarchy."
"You misunderstand," Light contradicted, amused. "I don't want anarchy. I don't want a collapse of justice. Quite the contrary. I just want to show the police how ineffective they are against criminals by creating a superior organisation."
"Go on," L invited tonelessly as Light paused to watch the effect of his words. He was favouring the young man with the look which always made colleagues and criminals alike shift in their seats, wide eyes trained intensely upon the sepia ones in front of him. It did not discomfit his companion in the slightest. Light grinned widely.
"Well, we can discuss that a little later," Light dismissed, casually refusing to let L lead the conversation. "We have the rest of our lives, after all, to establish an effective partnership. When I said I wished to send the police into a panic, I meant in the much more immediate sense, the groundwork being, of course, my astounding escape."
"Causing a sensation out of your escape will only make your face more notorious," L argued with equal dismissiveness. "It is foolish and narcissistic. You would be much wiser to make it seem as if you have left the country, or better still, fake your own death."
"I was fairly certain that your intellect was of a high level when we met," Light said thoughtfully, "but you seem to be jumping to a lot of conclusions tonight, Detective-san. Incidentally, can I have a name? A false one will suffice, I just wish for something to call you by."
"Ryuuzaki," L bit out, thinking of the first name which popped into his head. It was a name nobody close to him used, and therefore perfect. If he had used Aizawa, for example, it would have been distracting to him, as the image conjured each time he heard it would be of the big-haired detective.
"Well, Ryuuzaki," Light replied, enunciating the name mockingly, "I have already arranged matters so that it seems as if I am on my way to Osaka, and I should conveniently die in a car accident being chased by half the Japanese police in around twenty minutes. I don't doubt that you will receive a call from your station at some point during the course of the evening. My details are already released I presume?"
"To all stations, yes, to the general public, luckily not," L replied briefly. "Or you would have had far more difficulty in sauntering in here."
"I learned quite a bit about confidence trickery during my career, as you kindly observed," Light demurred. "Appear innocent and people will believe you to be so. The girl at the counter won't in a million years suspect my true identity even if the police come in and ask her if anyone of my description came in."
"You seem very sure of yourself," L said suspiciously, believing the arrogant youth not at all. "You have a memorable face, Yagami-kun."
"And all she will remember is that a handsome, charming, well-dressed gentleman came in for a coffee," Light said confidently. "If they asked her anything, she would automatically try to remember anyone suspicious. She is far more likely to remember you, Ryuuzaki, than me." L scowled; the man was probably right, and it was an unpleasant feeling. An area in which he was greatly lacking, he knew, was his people skills. Yagami Light seemed to possess all the things in which he was deficient. It made it difficult for L to warm to him, but it made him more fascinating by the second.
"How do you trust your plan will succeed?" demanded L, unwilling to be sidetracked by his deductions from the matter at hand. "The police are not entirely stupid. When they find that the body is not yours, they will realise they have been tricked."
"They will catch sight of my face before the crash, and with positive identification and a corpse, there will be no need for DNA identification," Light explained. "I paid an acquaintance of mine to stage a chase for a considerable reward, and his appearance has been altered to resemble me well enough to fit the description being given; we were very similar to begin with. He will be driving a car taken from the area directly around the prison, and he will be picked up by routine traffic police for speeding, at which point he will initiate a chase, allowing them to catch his face beforehand. The police will put together the stolen car and the description and think it is me, and when the car crashes, they will assume I am dead."
"This associate of yours is willing to die for you?" L asked, looking faintly disturbed. He was certainly not dealing with a fool, but he was not dealing with a nice person, either. This man was filth through and through if he could so ruthlessly use his companions as pawns. L would have to be doubly on his guard.
"Oh yes," Light replied dismissively. "Quite a few people are willing to die for Kira, and even more for Yagami Light. But I will not allow him to die. He is a highly skilled associate of mine, and very adept at such stunts. The corpse belongs to whichever poor sap had vaguely the same build as me and could be nabbed from inside a coffin without his absence being noticed. My associate will lose the cops, put the body in the driver's seat and initiate an undetectable automatic explosive before leaving the immediate area. The police will see the explosion and get to the area, by which time Yagami Light will be dead."
"It has too many variables," was all L said. He noticed that Light had not once used the word 'friend' in referring to the man who was working for him. He was staying alive out of convenience, not out of compassion.
"But it has been planned down to a T," Light replied nonchalantly. "It won't go wrong. I trust my man to do it well."
"Who is your man?" L asked, although he doubted he would receive a straight answer. "Another criminal? Anyone I might know?"
"A criminal? I suppose so," Light shrugged. "He doesn't live completely within the law, anyway. But he's a good man. One of the best."
"You confuse me, Yagami-kun," L replied, although he was not nearly as perplexed as he was making out. "If you have so many friends willing to help you, why did you need my assistance?"
"I didn't, really," Light shrugged. "I was going to have Matt – the car man, but don't get excited, it's just a pseudonym – get me out, since he's an ace hacker, too. But I thought you fit the profile I was looking for, and I don't have a man on the inside. It was a test, and you passed. Congratulations."
Light was mocking him. L disliked the man more and more with each passing moment, but with each passing moment he became more and more intriguing. He gave the impression of having a vast network of sources and associates, and of being completely in control of them. How had he managed to run such a diverse network from inside the highest security prison in Japan? And how had he managed to execute not only a flawless escape, but also a carefully planned follow-up? And how, L added to himself, had he procured good clothes and at least petty cash less than twenty-four hours after escaping, and turned up well groomed and spotless only miles from the prison? Not to mention he had managed to pass L's own tests with seemingly very little effort. There was something exceptional about him, no doubt.
"If you think I'm going to work for you," he shot at the smirking man, adamant to straighten out this misconception as soon as he could, "your own intelligence is significantly less than you appear to think it."
"Jumping to conclusions again," Light mocked, unscathed by L's venomous words. "I rather wish to work with you. As I suggested, a partnership. Most of my associates are useful, in their own ways, and they are mostly good men, and some of them I even consider friends. But none of them share completely my ideals, my vision for justice. But when you, Ryuuzaki, came into my prison cell and executed pure justice without mercy and without personal gain, I recognised another person who thinks that this world is rotten. And I recognised somebody with an intelligence far superior to that of the common stock. I want not another worker, but a partner. I believe you have a lot you could offer me. And I know I have a lot to offer you.
"What do you say? Do you want to help me build a new world?"