The Last Enemy

By: PhoenixJustice

Disclaimer: Death Note is owned by Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata. I only own this story and make no profit from this. Except much L/Light loving pleasure which I enjoy, which OTHERS enjoy, and which I love to write about. XD

Warning: M for sexual content, slash, language, violence, etc

Pairing: L/Light, (secondary pairings to be decided, if at all)

Setting: Up to episode 25 of the anime, with spoilers of the anime and manga.

Summary: Light's master plan to kill L is shot down by one person's foolish decision and the result leaves Light and Kira at odds within Light.

A/N: I need all the info on BB (Beyond Birthday) that I can get, and no it's not for this story, lol. Some pics/fanart of Beyond Birthday would be much appreciated too. I can't find 'Another Note' anywhere, and I want to buy it soooooooooo bad too. So if you have some info and pics of him and stuff, I would very much appreciate it. If I get enough info and pics from one person, I might be tempted to do a one-shot or something for them, maybe...

Dedicated to: everworld2662, for being a very great friend to me (I love A Month of Stolen Time). To Serria, for the same thing, and inspiring me to be able to write my own L/Light fics after reading her own awesome ones. And to amenochikara for doing chaineddn and giving us L/Light fans translated doujinshi to read. Plus she loves Kiro AND L/Light, so who COULDN'T like her? 333

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Part Three-

It Begins

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

It was only one hour ago

It was all so different then

Nothing yet has really sunk in

Looks like it always did

-Grieve, Peter Gabriel

Day One

It was there like a sickness in the back of his mind. He could feel it. Kira. It felt strange to call it that, much less think of it as a different being than his own, but although it was part of him in a way, it wasn't him. That part of himself reveled in the deaths of so many people, that part which was willing to sacrifice the lives of innocent F.B.I agents who had been just doing their job and didn't seem to be onto him anytime soon. That part of him was dark and malevolent, it was evil. A part of him that was no longer him, a part which he knew was just biding his, its, time until he could free himself again.

Light could never let that happen.

Regardless of his sudden change, Light knew that confessing to L that he didn't want to kill anymore, would be a death sentence. And trying to explain Kira as a secondary being within his body--L would probably just see it as a ruse to protect himself.

Which meant that something had to change L's mind drastically within thirteen days; thirteen days-- since he could not stop L from calling many minutes earlier, nearly an hour, and would be using a prisoner to test out the Death Note-- and it would all be over for him. So he had to work his hardest to change L's mind, one way or the other, for he could not kill L even if he did know his name. It was wrong and he couldn't--

He just barely holds back a shiver when the voice of Kira suddenly speaks out, Look at you, Light; weak and pathetic! Would you rather keep him alive than yourself? Ourself? I will do it for you, if you won't--you cannot hold me back forever, no matter how much of a genius you are. I am fueled by the darker things and the Death Note; your will shall only last so long and the moment you break, I will see that eccentric man dead, by my own hands if needed!

That voice made the sickness in him grow deeper; it was similar to his voice, though deeper and slightly more husky; the differences made him feel only marginally better. You'll do no such thing! My will is stronger than you think, and I will find a way--on my own--to convince L of my innocence; you are the evil one, not I. How many things have you done in my name, in my body?...Nevermind, I don't want to hear you. But you hear this; I will see you cast out and eradicated for good, if it is the last thing I do!

He could feel Kira grinning inside and had to touch a hand to his face to make sure that Kira hadn't made him smile on the outside--small facial expressions and such was something he seemed to be able to do even now--and he hadn't.

"Light-kun? You've been quiet for fifty-six and a half minutes now and you have been just staring at your screen." L said, blandly.

He closes his eyes briefly, pushing mentally on the black spot in his mind, that he knew was the representation of Kira, to keep him, it, at bay and opens his eyes, turning to look at L who was looking at him as he always did; wide fathomless black eyes that did not easily clue someone into what the mind behind them was thinking. A thumb rested between his lips and Light vaguely wondered (not for the first time) if the thumb thing, and L's other mannerisms were a form of a coping mechanism, not just the increase in his thinking, as L had said to him a long while back.

It seemed the more genius a person was, the more...fragile...they were in some ways that regular people were not. And L was in a league nearly by himself (only Light could stake claim to the same place as L), and he had been alone, or nearly so, for so long. Having only Watari, and that wasn't always 24/7 either, for company must have been such a bother to L. While Watari had been a formidable older gentleman in his own right, having to have been quite smart to be able to deal with L on such a regular basis, he was not on the same level as he or L and L must have been quite starved for company before Light came around.

...Then again, Light was the same; he had been so very bored before. Before L came around, before Fate decided to be a cruel mistress and let him be the one to gaze upon the Death Note and to pick it up. But if he hadn't...then it was very likely that he would never have met L under any circumstance and that was a thought that was quite horrid to him. L had made him feel alive in the first time in a long while, maybe even truly so for the first time ever; everything had always come easy to Light and he suffered under the weight of his genius; no one had come even close to his level, he had had no one to talk to that would truly understand what he was trying to get across, he had been stuck in a rut and thought that he would feel that way always. But then a innocent looking Notebook had some into his sites...and in exchange for an enlarged ego and megalomanism, which was now its own entity, Kira, he had gained the value of an almost friendship with an eccentric man whose presence he had come to value more than he realized, Kira now separate from him or not.

He...he hesitated to say anything about the feeling, unsure of just what it was as he had never felt anything quite like it before; all the girls he had went with, all the so-called friends he had had...it wasn't the same. It didn't speak of lust on its own, of love on its own, or even friendship on its own...he wasn't sure what it was. It didn't speak of anger or vengeance, or anything of that sort either...he didn't know.

He blinks and takes in L's glance once more, a look which had never waivered the whole time Light had been pondering. It was unnerving sometimes, that look, and he had to keep himself from swallowing audibly.

"Just...just thinking, Ryuuzaki," said Light, softly. "I mean...I know that what the end result will be with your criminal and my innocence--and Misa's as well--will be proven without doubt. I know you have trouble letting go of your opinion because you have no other suspects, but that's also because you focused so strongly on me and Misa and didn't allow yourself room to suspect other people. No matter how many times I've proclaimed my innocence, no matter how much I've proven myself by helping with the Yotsuba situation, or evidence proving my innocence beyond doubt...you cannot let go; it's not in your nature, I know, because even with a 0.1 percent of doubt still left in your mind, you will keep at it until it is either 100 percent or 0 percent, with absolute certainty. So I don't mind you doing this test...other than you sacrificing a life, two lives, just to prove a point you think you have...because I know that I am innocent and will be proven so. I am not Kira."

The latter he could say with certainty at least, the other part...well, even with Kira being separate, even if Kira had done those things...it had been his body, his hand which had delivered out that justice, so he could not call himself innocent. He had seen too many things, had done too many things, warped by the Death Note and the entity Kira which was slowly enveloping him with each kill; his hands were stained and even if he hadn't been the one...he was far from innocent.

L blinks slowly as he looks at him. "I want Light-kun to be proven innocent too, beyond any doubt. It's why I am doing this; either I get absolute proof that you are Kira and I can seek out the justice then, or you will be proven innocent beyond doubt and I can let Light-kun go," he said, almost mournfully. He glances aside. "I've...missed our conversations that we had while hunting down the Third Kira and the Yotsuba group."

Yes, those had been nothing short of amazing. "Me too," Light said. "I also miss playing tennis against you; you're the best opponent I've ever had." Even if the match had been played so L could try and figure out Light Yagami in a closer setting, it had still been the best match he could remember playing.

L smiles slightly, still not quite looking at Light, not seeming to be looking at anything in particular, perhaps reminising? "Yes...if Light-kun gets his freedom like he says he will, then we must certainly play again." A beeping sound from the screen in front of him causes him to turn around. "But that will have to wait for now." He types on a few buttons and a voice speaks suddenly from the other line.

"Ryuuzaki? Is everything all right? We lost contact for a few minutes and we got worried. Where is Watari?" Light couldn't place the voice; he had never heard it before, but it seemed to be from an older gentleman and he heard the accent that spoke of being from, or having lived in for a long time, England.

"Watari is dead," said L, getting straight to the point. "Suffice to say it had something to do with the Kira case, not necessarily by Kira himself but by an...associate...of Kira's. For the time being, I would like you to be the go-between for me, the new Watari, until a time may present itself that I find another method to use."

"Of course. What about the--"

L interrupts him, leaving Light wondering what the man had been going to say that was so important that L felt the need to interrupt him, "It's fine, continue to do what you have been doing. There is little that you must do as Watari right now; I have a few people here who can take over many of the smaller details. You should be contacted by someone in--" He glances at the clock on the wall. "Two and a half minutes to patch them through to me, since they cannot, and I will not allow them, to contact me directly. Inform me when they call and let them through."

"All right, Ryuuzaki." The man hangs up and L switches the call off, turning back to Light again. "Not long to wait now."

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Two and a half minutes was not a long amount of time, except in this case as he knew that when the two and a half minutes were up, a criminal would have used a page of the Death Note and someone would be dead, leaving Light with only thirteen days in which to change L's mind or something else of the same caliber, as the rule would prove false and he would be uncovered.

He couldn't stand the waiting, so he stands, mumbles, "I'll be right back.", and walks off, needing some fresh air.

L watches Light leave, seeing the anxiousness in the younger man's eyes that he could not hide. It just seemed to add to Light's guilt, which both made L feel better and worse simultaniously. Part of him wanted to follow Light, like Light had done when he was on the rooftop (for it was obvious that was where Light was going).

A sudden beep takes him out of his thoughts and he turns to his computer, pushing a few buttons.

"They've just contacted me, Ryuuzaki." Ah, Roger. Roger Ruvie1 that was, the man who was in charge of Wammy's House, the orphanage which L had lived in for a long while and where children were, at that very moment, working their way up to try and take the position of L...though L didn't deign to tell them that he had no intention of naming a successor, whether that be Near, Mello, Matt or any of the other Wammy's House children. In fact, the only person who was best equipped at the time to become the next L, was also the one who he was almost completely sure was Kira.

"All right, patch them through." He said. He waited impatiently as the call gets patched into his system; he notices the detectives crowding around him; they wanted to hear the news as well.

"It's all over, L." The man, Frank Albert, a top F.B.I agent. "Giuseppi killed the other criminal you asked us to use. Worked exactly as you said it would; wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen the goddamn thing with my own eyes. Is there anything else that needs to be done?"

He pushes the button for the microphone to speak into, "No, nothing extra is necessary. Just watch over Giuseppi like I asked and call back immediately if something comes up before the thirteen days are over. I will call you myself right before the thirteen day mark is up."

"All right. Then I'll be getting back to work." Said Frank. "Till then."

He hangs up and it was silent on L's end; no one spoke or even looked at one another. He could feel the disapproval from the detectives, Yagami-san especially. He didn't need their criticism, and it would be ignored, though he couldn't say that it didn't hurt him slightly. He wasn't a damned robot, he felt feelings the same as everyone else. He just couldn't allow most of them in, or to get to him, but he felt things too.

He stands up, ignoring the sudden startled exclamation from Matsuda and walks past them without a word, following the way Light did, ready to follow Light like Light did with him.

Only thirteen days left...he would have to make the most of them before the truth would finally be revealed.

Thirteen days...

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

1-- Roger Ruvie is the person who runs Wammy's House for Quillish Wammy (Watari) and later on in the series, he becomes the second Watari to Near, the second L.

A/N: I'm loving writing this. L and Light are so lovely, that is all. And L/Light is even lovelier. XD

Oh, and if you're wondering about Misa, she'll be back in the story soon. She has stuff she still has to do and she doesn't know the result of what she has done (writing in the Death Note when Rem also did) and neither does anyone else, Light included. Poor Light, what's he going to do? XD Well, of course --I-- know what's going to happen, so I'm not as bothered by it, lol. Well, I sort of know what's going to happen, I pretty much don't have anything planned out, but that's how I want it, because it seems to turn out better when I just let it flow out. I mean I DO have plans for this and plot ideas and all, I'm just seeing where the story is going and all and I'm enjoying the ride.

And like I said in the A/N at the top; if you all have any info on Beyond Birthday and some fanart/pics of him, that would be much appreciated. Though like I also said, it's not for this fic. But it would be very appreciated just the same. Beyond Birthday is a messed up individual isn't he? I must have been channelling his craziness into Mikami in Redeemer, lol.

I hope that you enjoyed this chapter! (I know I'm enjoying the hell out of writing this story!) Next chapter should be up soon; I seem to be writing chapters for this a lot quicker than my previous fics (not that I'm complaining! XD)

And we haven't seen the last of Kira either...

Let me know what you thought of the chapter! Feedback is always welcome and appreciated. :D

--PhoenixJustice