Hello all, sorry about how long it took to update:( Finals and a recent death in the family left me with some pretty serious writers block, I even considered discontinuing this story, but I hate it when other writers do that, and I've still got a few plot bunnies that won't let go. Thanks so much for your patience, and I hope you enjoy.
It was raining again.
It had been raining on and off for the past week or so, and L wasn't sure how he felt about that. Although considering he almost never went outside if he could help it, it wasn't really a big deal. Still, he would have liked to stop by the patio coffee shop down the block; they were having a special on those amazing strawberry-puff things he liked so much. Luckily, Watari had stocked up on sweets the other day, otherwise his current surveillance-induced headache would have been even worse.
It hadn't been as difficult as he'd at first assumed to convince Chief Yagami of the necessity of surveillance. Which had been a pleasant surprise. It had certainly streamlined the investigation of the man's son much better than he'd initially hoped. But now, sitting in yet another darkened room in the Taeto Hotel, staring at the many TV screens, L's formerly good mood was waning in light of the almost overwhelming normality that was Light Yagami's life.
The young man in question came home at nearly the exact same time, every day. He went to his room, started studying almost immediately and then ate dinner with his family. Afterwards he watched TV, read or did some other recreational activity, and spoke to friends on occasion. He was the perfect model of a normal (albeit ludicrously intelligent) teenage boy.
Which, in retrospect, was why L believed he had the highest possibility of all their current suspects to be Kira. Light was simply too innocent to believe.
Still, there were definitely some cracks in his façade. If it was a façade. No matter how average Light appeared at first glance, L didn't peg him as the type to look at lingerie magazines in his spare time. And the image of Light sitting on his bed while placidly thumbing through the brightly colored pages of the latest Sakura Girls gave the impression of someone going through the motions of what a 'normal' 17-18 year old did, rather than someone enjoying themselves.
Judging by Chief Yagami's reddening face, he hadn't picked up on the same thing. However considering how highly the man thought of his son, it was understandable. No matter how slight it may be, any doubt about his son was stress the Chief really didn't need.
"I can't believe my son is looking at those magazines." He said, making his discomfort clear in every syllable. L shrugged, tapping the tip of his thumb against his bottom lip and tugging it to the side in thought.
"It's normal for a 17 year old. But it seems contrived… The only reason he didn't want anyone in his room is because he had these magazines? That's what he wants us to think…"
The chief shot him an indignant look out of the corner of his eye. "Hey! That's my son you're talking about. Are you honestly telling me you suspect him?"
L bit the tip of his thumb pensively, never taking his eyes off of the figure on the screen. "I do suspect him. That's why I placed wiretaps and surveillance cameras in your house and the deputy director's house."
The Chief shifted uncomfortably, but didn't respond. Yagami cared deeply about his son, but he was a reasonable man, and he knew the stakes. L found him one of the easiest people to work with that he'd met in a long time, something that was proving to be invaluable.
The rest of the task force had been useful as well, almost surprisingly so, in fact. Aizawa was on surveillance on one of the lower floors, and Mogi was out attempting to find witnesses to Raye Penber's death. Leaving Matsuda and Ukita back at HQ with L and the Chief. They had been going through old footage for almost six hours now without success, and even L could tell the strain was beginning to get to them.
Finally, Matsuda piped up from his place at the back of the room. "Ryuzaki, I know that you think there's a chance Light could be Kira, but what good is it going through all this old footage? It doesn't even relate to the Chief's family, and it feels like we've been sorting through it for days!"
Ukita snorted, "We have, we've just been in this room so long it seems like one long day."
L ignored them, slipping back into the recesses of his mind and letting Chief Yagami's response fade into background noise. Despite everything he'd said to the contrary, he understood the team's skepticism when it came to Light's possible guilt. The possibility of Light being Kira was, at best, a bit under 3% at this point. Still, he couldn't shake the feeling that there were too many coincidences occurring around the boy, to be dismissive of any theories at this point. Now, if he would just stop acting so mind-numbingly normal, L might have been more open to following up on other leads, but as it was…
No one was this perfect, not even people like Light.
Suddenly, he was jerked out of his musings by Watari's hand on his shoulder.
"Ryuzaki, do you and Superintendent Yagami intend to stay on surveillance through the night? If so, would you like me to bring coffee?"
L blinked, nodding his head- as much to clear it as to give an affirmative answer. "Hm? -Oh. Yes.
Thank you Watari, please bring some for the others as well."
"Oh, Ryuzaki, I don't really like-" Matsuda began, before Ukita slapped him on the back cutting him off with a good-natured laugh.
"Shut up Matsuda, if it's gonna be another long night we might as well."
Watari gave them a sharp nod and turned to leave. The task force grudgingly returned, to the so far unvaried task of observation. L eventually resorted to balancing a strawberry on his fingertips in a bid to stay focused, which garnered some odd looks from the rest of the task force. They didn't comment though, which made sense, considering he'd caught Matsuda attempting his trademark deductive sitting position the other day, with predictably amusing results.
Things just seemed to be getting more and more frustrating as time wore on. While the facts of the case didn't seem to be getting any clearer since the first discovery of Kira's presence in Kanto, L couldn't shake the feeling he was maddeningly close to… something. Penber's death a few days prior, followed by the deaths of every single FBI agent called to Japan, had given them something to go on.
Although he had no clue which direction he should go. He had the information, but no way to use it. It was like trying to do a complex puzzle with all the edge pieces missing; there was no way to frame the information they had.
L was missing a crucial component, and the manner in which the investigation had been going, had done nothing to fix that fact.
L was snapped from his thoughts for a second time that evening, by the sound of his alias being called by Chief Yagami. He was looking at L with an expression that suggested he was unsure whether or not to shake the young detective. "Ryuzaki, my wife will probably have Sayu call Light down to dinner any minute now, we should probably switch to camera three."
He was right, of course. L nodded absent-mindedly. "Yes. And I-"
Suddenly, movement on the monitors captured his attention. On screen, the window to Light's bedroom slid smoothly open and a slender figure clambered through, brushing dirt off her front. L got the distinct impression Light hadn't been expecting a visitor, judging by how badly he jumped at her entry, quickly stowing the magazine out of sight.
The visitor in question was a dark-haired girl. Small, slight, and seemingly around Light's own age, wearing a hoodie and faded jeans. Something glinted at her throat, probably a necklace or chain. L felt a sudden, intense sense of recognition at her entry, and mentally ran back over the past few days, trying to think of where he might have seen her.
Light's slightly distorted voice came over the speakers, carrying with it an air of surprise and... irritation? No… that didn't seem right…
"Eri? It's almost dinnertime, what are you doing here so late?"
The girl in question shot Light a look of mock offense, reaching up to tug at the dark fringe of hair that fell into her pale eyes. "Light, I'm surprised at you! When I picked you as my study-buddy for the To-Oh entrance exams, I assumed you were as committed to it as I was."
There it was again; the strange sense of déjà-vu, this time when she touched her hair. L glanced over at Chief Yagami, who was observing the scene as though he wasn't sure whether or not to disapprove.
"I take it you didn't know this was going on?" He said slowly.
The chief blinked in momentary confusion, "Going on?"
L gestured vaguely to the screen, "Whatever this is. Study dates, I suppose."
Mr. Yagami frowned, rubbing his temple thoughtfully. "No, though it does explain how that side of the house gets so dirty. I would prefer it if she simply used the front door."
"Is there a reason she wouldn't? Or rather, doesn't?"
The man shifted uncomfortably in his seat, the pained expression on his face making him appear more like a man on a witness stand, then a collected officer of the law. "Eri and I- Well, our relationship has never been the smoothest. I worked with her father some years ago, on a sting operation that went bad, I don't think she's ever forgiven me for the result. I imagine all this sneaking around is an attempt to avoid me." He sighed heavily, shoulders slumping with the exhausted acceptance of a man who'd replayed this particular story far too many times in his mind. "I suppose I can't really blame her."
L nearly missed the last half of Chief Yagami's explanation, as something clicked into place at the word 'father'. An image flashed across his mind's eye: a dark-haired man with a careworn face, filed under deceased and put aside when it failed to provide the breakthrough he'd been hoping for. 'Hiro Yamazaki, killed by the Hansuda Gang in a violent hit, along with his wife, survived by one daughter…'
Well, if nothing else, it had certainly made the identification process of his newest variable easier.
Excepting her eyes, Eriko 'Eri' Yamazaki was the image of her father, and the more exotic aspects of her appearance could be attributed to her French mother.
It took L several minutes to realize he was staring again, clued in by the uneasy look on Chief Yagami's face.
"I knew I'd seen her somewhere before." L mumbled, more to himself than to anyone else.
The Chief's eyebrows shot up in surprise, which was a fairly common reaction. Most people assumed he didn't see anyone, at least, not in person.
"You've met?"
L shrugged, snatching up another strawberry and turning it over in his fingers before raising the sweet red fruit to his lips and taking an exploratory bite. "Mmm, in passing. We met about a week or so ago when Watari locked me out in an attempt to make me 'get some sun'. She'd run off and gotten lost."
The Chief smiled wanly. "That certainly sounds like her."
L leaned forward in his seat, and tilted his head to better see the images on screen, trying to get a read on the two people displayed thereon. Eri had managed to convince Light to help her study, and the both of them were now seated on the floor with their backs against Light's bed frame. They shared a textbook between them. To the casual observer, the scene simply oozed comfortable familiarity, but on closer inspection there was a tension about Light's shoulders, and a smile that corrupted it- made it almost two-dimensional. Eri either didn't notice, or was deliberately ignoring the signs, but he couldn't be sure…
"Mr. Yagami, do you think she'll stay for dinner?"
The Chief started at the question, then nodded slowly. "Probably, Sachiko always liked her, and even if she tries to leave she'll likely be guilt tripped into staying."
L smiled slightly. "Good. Then I think we should air our message on the news directly after dinner. When your family usually watches TV."
Luckily, it seemed they wouldn't have to wait long. After dinner (which Eri was indeed guilt tripped into attending) Sayu turned on the TV, and when the broadcast interrupted the misty-eyed romance she'd been watching all members of the household's attention were immediately drawn to it. Their reactions were varied, but almost all were of genuine surprise.
"1,500 investigators?! Wow, the police really aren't messing around here anymore, huh?" Eri's voice crackled over the speakers, the distortion making it sound shrill.
Sayu nodded excitedly, "Yeah! Dad must be getting really serious about catching Kira."
In contrast to the girls, Light seemed less impressed. "The ICPO sure is stupid."
Eri frowned, shooting him a confused look. "Huh?"
Light shrugged, "I mean there's no point in making this announcement. If they're going to send all these people here to investigate, shouldn't they keep it a secret? Even the FBI agents who were secretly investigating were killed by Kira; why would this be any different? If you ask me, this is nothing more than a desperate attempt to shock Kira, in the hopes that he'll reveal himself somehow. And quite frankly, I wouldn't be surprised if Kira sees right through this."
Eri scoffed at her friend, "Of course because the great genius Light Yagami, is soooo much smarter than fully trained police officers-" she started, but then she paused, reaching up to tug at her bangs. "Although… You may be onto something. This is pretty much the same trick L pulled last time, with that Lind L. Tailor guy. And considering how smart Kira has been so far, he probably wouldn't fall for the same trick twice. But, I dunno… it seems almost like L's testing the waters, trying to get a read on just how Kira thinks. If you ask me, that's pretty smart. It probably won't work, but still, smart."
L could have sworn there was a brief flash of displeasure across Light's face at that, but it could have been a trick of the light.
It wasn't a full confession. In fact, nothing that occurred that evening was even minutely incriminating. Definitely not enough to warrant further surveillance. But L couldn't shake the feeling that it would be a very big coincidence, for this girl to keep turning out to be connected to, or encountering almost every person connected with the Kira case. And he'd never been one to put much stock in coincidences. Light Yagami on his own was currently their prime suspect, but with the inclusion of the mysterious Ms. Yamazaki, Light fit the bill even more. Which in turn motivated L to move forward with his investigation of the ambitious young man.
He hadn't previously considered the possibility that Kira could be working with others, or even that he could in fact be multiple people, but with trail in danger of going cold, L felt willing to consider any possibility. Of course, this meant that the investigation was going to have to change its strategy, seeing as the surveillance tactic seemed all but played out.
Appearing exactly when needed, as he always seemed to do, Watari stepped into the room carrying a tray of coffee and chocolate-dipped biscuits, just as L grabbed the last of the strawberries. He set down the tray and turned to return to his usual post, before L reached out and lightly grasped his sleeve. Watari paused and bent at the waist to put himself more on the same level with the young detective's position on the couch.
"Yes Ryuzaki?"
"Watari, I'll need your assistance in getting together the proper paperwork, to take the To-Oh entrance exam." L said turning his shadowed eyes on Chief Yagami, restraining a slight smile at the confusion on the man's face. "Superintendent Yagami, your son will be taking the exam on Monday, correct?"
"I- Yes."
L nodded, setting his thumb against his lower lip in contemplation. "Good... Then we have almost five days to prepare."
Watari straightened and gave him a sharp nod. "That should be plenty of time to put things in order."
L waited until his mentor had left the room before glancing back at the Chief, who was making a valiant effort to hold back the torrent of questions clearly brewing behind his eyes. Finally, after several minutes of near silence interrupted only by the rhythmic sound of L adding an absurd amount of sugar to his already sweetened coffee, it seemed he could bare it no longer.
"Ryuzaki- I'm not sure I understand exactly what your plan is…"
L shrugged, snatching up a biscuit and putting the whole thing in his mouth at once, chewing thoughtfully before answering. "I'd have thought that would be obvious. Surveillance isn't getting results, and Light is still our best lead. And now, we have the additional mystery of Ms. Yamazaki's involvement in the Kira case. Soon, they'll be spending a good portion of their time at To-Oh, so it's only logical that the person most suited to the task do the same."
The Chief's eyebrows shot up, "Eri? What does she have to do with any of this?"
L reached out and raised his refilled coffee cup, staring down at his own pale face reflected in the liquid's dark, steaming surface. "Maybe nothing. Maybe everything. But that's what we have to find out."
It had taken a lot of prodding on Eri's part, to get Light to help her study enough to feel comfortable taking the To-Oh entrance exams. But all in all, Eri felt pretty confident, as she sat down a few seats to the right of her friend in the testing room. There were more students than she'd expected, but since most of them looked just as or a lot more nervous than her, she probably didn't need to feel intimidated.
Light, of course, looked utterly at home in this setting, and had arrived with only three minutes to spare. He projected an aura of calm over the entire room that even seemed to sooth some of the 'near hyperventilating' applicants around him. Eri found herself wishing she had half his confidence; she'd never have to worry about test anxiety again.
Light caught her eye and gave her an encouraging smile, which Eri managed to return weakly, before turning her attention to the front of the room. The scowling examiner at the front glared out at the sea of faces for what felt like an eternity before reaching under the desk and passing out the exams, fixing each student with a look that said 'just try to turn it over early, I dare you'. Eri kept her hands beneath the table the entire time, just in case he got the wrong impression.
They weren't even a minute into the exam before something went wrong. Eri had barely finished the second question when the instructor's jarring voice barked sharply from the front of the room, making a few students jump.
"You there! Student number 162! Sit properly in your seat!"
'Sit properly? What does that even mean?' As discreetly as possible Eri, strained her neck to look behind her, without being overly obvious, and was greeted with a substantial shock. She hadn't thought about him since the chance encounter a week or so ago, but he wasn't the kind of person you'd forget.
Hideki Ryuga was seated a few places behind Light, perched on the edge of his seat and pointedly ignoring the instructor. His unmistakably shadowed eyes were instead fixed on Light, burning through his skull as if attempting to see whatever lay within.
I hope everyone liked it, and sorry again about the long-ass wait:\ Henceforth, there will be a lot more interaction with Eri and L, so for those of you who were wondering when i'd get to the point, it's finally happening. As always, please review, and special thanks to my wonderful new beta delahwly!
greenprisoner: Thank you for asking such a great question! If anything is unclear, I always want to clarify for my readers if something comes of as confusing. I guess the best answer is that Eri probably wouldn't have given it up if the person with the other Note was anyone but Light. What Eri fears most is death, and even since she got the Death Note the idea of someone else having one has terrified her because if she figured out how to protect herself from the Note, who's to say someone else couldn't figure out how to negate that? When she finds out it's Light, those fears are realized because Light is smarter than her and definitely capable for doing so. In addition, their closeness almost guarantees he'll find out she has it. Eri doesn't want to stop Light or bring him to justice, she wants to stay out of it as much as possible for her own safety, in her mind, ignorance would keep her safe until the endgame. What she didn't account for, was her behavior without the note. Remember, she's never met that Eri, so she has no idea what that Eri might do.
Theta-McBride: Thanks:)
WildfireDreams: Thanks! I hope I don't disappoint.
Tziphora: Thanks again for reviewing, it makes me feel all warm and fuzzy:) The necklace does seem to be good luck even without its power's eh? But we'll have to see how long that holds out...