CHAPTER FOUR

A Push

For several days, Elaine hauled herself up in her room for what she claimed was independent research but the Task Force and L included all knew that she was just there, sleeping and moping. She felt genuinely bad from her little argument with not only her best but only friend. But being an eighteen-year old female, she couldn't be the first to cave in.

It wasn't until L left for To-Oh that she stepped out of the room. The officers seemed surprise to see her all messy-haired and back in the boxer shorts and short sleeve shirt ensemble but she ignored it and they were all too busy to think more than a fleeting moment's thought on it. They were all messes themselves, after all, unshaven and rugged in crinkled shirts and pants. Their jackets were thrown over the couch, and cups of coffee littered around the space they had. She ran her fingers through her hair and yawned before sitting in front of Soichiro. Her eyes flickered up towards the man worriedly. He looked stressed out more than the rest, she noticed. "Are you all right?" she asked. "Maybe you should take a break."

He exhaled noisily. "Ryuzaki is out there investigating my son as we speak." He closed his eyes and rubbed his temples. "To even think that Light is responsible for murdering dozens –"

"But we're not –"

"I know," he said brusquely, "but yet Ryuzaki is only taking leaps like this towards Light and that shows that he believes my son is Kira over all the others that we are currently investigating." He looked up at the young girl in front of him agitatedly, desperate for a new perspective. "Tell me, Emiko, what do you think?"

Should she tell him the truth? She sighed and scratched her head habitually. This was a full grown man, and she shouldn't worry about hurting his feelings. "To be honest, Light is more likely to be Kira than everyone else I'm looking into. There's just something…curious about your son."

Soichiro closed his eyes. He had been working day in and out doing what – helping them prove that his own flesh and blood was behind all these murders. Both L and his counterpart seemed to reach the same conclusion and the more time he spent holed up in this dark apartment, the more he felt as if his head was going to explode.

"You're wrong," he said lowly. Then he shot up immediately – and he felt it, like an overwhelming pressure against his chest. He felt something grow, inch by inch and consuming a part of his body. His hands flew over his heart, his fingers digging in despite the fact that it felt like someone was already squeezing his heart and then his arms began tingling.

"Mister Yagami?" She stood up worriedly.

He was frozen, his hands tight around the arm chair. A side of him went numb and his chest felt constricted but he managed to pant an accusation before he collapsed into her.

He felt a pulse.

Something was wrong. "It's, It's Kir –"

Her eyes were wild, alarmed. What? Then, she was shouting. "Watari - help!"

xxx-xx-xxx

Elaine waited outside the hospital room, holding the jacket tight to her. She looked like a mess and she felt incredibly guilty. Even though the doctors claimed the heart attack was due to stress, she felt like she was the one who truly pushed Soichiro to this point. Her hands shook and she was biting on her nails nervously waiting for L to arrive. But when he did, he and Light rushed past her and into the room without even sparing her a glance.

God, she felt terrible.

And when the nurse looked at her and told her visiting hours were over, she wanted nothing more than to follow her friend out, get into the car and curl up in a ball next to L. But for the second time, he couldn't look at her or else Light may know her true role in the entire case. She watched as Light and he talked but she didn't intrude. Right now, she felt more worried about Soichiro than furthering her investigation.

It wasn't until the car left that she approached Light. "I'm sorry about your father," she said and her voice was small and quiet. He looked down at her and she seemed genuinely worried. Things were going exactly the way he wanted to and now, he was without a doubt that she wasn't one of L's tool. Strangely enough, he was in a good mood. Everything was going as planned.

"It's not your fault, Emi," he said kindly, touching her shoulder. "The doctor said it was stress related."

"I know, but…"

"But?"

She sighed. "Nothing." She ran her fingers through her hair nervously and looked around. Then her pale eyes flickered up to the boy in front of her, the one with a stoic expression, with the honey brown hair and same coloured eyes. "I'll walk you home," Light offered once he stared down at this girl with nothing but a jacket around her. Ryuk cackled behind him.

"Thank you," her voice was soft, "I'd like that." They turned and began walking, neither of them saying anything yet ever so casually, she slipped an arm through his. He inhaled sharply at her touch and he was well aware of the heat that radiated from her but decided to say nothing. Whether it was out of politeness or his own bewilderment, for once – Light did not know.

Ryuk laughed louder.

xxx-xx-xxx

L didn't knock on her door as he entered and she groaned, pulling the blanket over her. He moved to her side and stood there, waiting until she couldn't ignore him any longer. "You are acting so strange," he said with a frown. He picked up an abandoned fork and stabbed it through a strawberry on a plate that lay by the side of her bed, chewing it thoughtfully before continuing. "It's not because of Soichiro, is it? He's recovering well."

"I don't like this case," she said abruptly, sitting up. "I don't like working with the father of who we think is the culprit. I want to go back to America – England, France, whatever – and find the bad guy who is clearly the bad guy and bring him to jail."

"Are you saying Kira may not be the bad guy?" he echoed out of clarification, his eyes on the fruit in front of him as he moved the fork around with a bored expression. She groaned again and buried her face back into the pillow.

"You see? Too complicated. Can't we just leave?"

"You know very well that I can't just quit," he muttered. After all, since when did he ever fail? And this case with Kira felt oddly personal and there was no way he was going to lose a person like Kira. L had always been competitive with a dreadful determination to never be on the losing side, but this was something more. He had already put too much in the line and he wasn't going to let that go to a waste just because his partner felt too closely connected to the unsub.

He glanced around at her messy room, at the uneaten tray of food. If he didn't know Elaine better, he would suspect her of being depressed: the lack of interest in things she usually enjoyed (e.g. eating sweets) and the increased amounts of sleep were fairly common indications. "You've been sleeping a lot."

"And you don't sleep."

"I've never slept."

"It still doesn't lessen the point," she sighed and got up. Her hair fell over her shoulders as she crossed her legs, sitting up and facing him. He sat – or rather stepped on the bed and crouched – in front of her. "But I haven't been starving myself of nutrients," he countered.

"Right, because you eat so healthy." She retorted. Her odd behaviour hadn't last too long, but the fact that she was inactive was completely out of character. The Elaine he had known for so long was always eager to do something, to find something groundbreaking, to chase and tackle down the criminal, to be there in court and proudly declare what she knew. She wasn't someone who wanted to drop everything, who wanted to stay in a desk behind a mountain of papers in a dark room lit solely by the light from a computer. That was him. Maybe she just needed a little push. He stared at her.

"If you eat, I'll sleep," he murmured, his thumb against his lips as he watched her reaction carefully.

Her eyes widened. "…Seriously?"

"Sure," he stood up, overshadowing her and slipped his hands into his pockets. She had to crane her neck to look up at him, but his black eyes were wandering and he scratched his wild, bed head hair. "I think it's a fair deal."

She didn't look like she believed him but she reached over to the bedside and took the crepe that Watari had left for. It was a peanut butter and banana crepe – one of her favourites – and it didn't take her too long to finish the whole thing. Five quick bites and a lick of her finger, she was already patting excitedly down on the bed beside her. The familiar excitement that shined in her eyes didn't go unnoticed. "Sleep. Now."

It was his turn to stare. His tone was apathetic. "You do realize that we're still conducting the investigation outside…right?"

She didn't seem bothered, only more excited. For the past years, she had never seen L lie down in bed before and the prospect of that brought back a glow in her that had been dimmed since the guilt of Soichiro's heart attack. He sighed when he realized that she was too determined to give up now. Awkwardly, he sat…and then straightened out his legs…and then rolled to his side. She watched his body move with a giggly excitement. He stretched for her benefit and groaned slightly. "I'm not very comfortable, Ellie."

She laughed and snuggled under the covers next to him. She didn't feel awkward at the proximity at all and thought the entire thing was a milestone. "Just close your eyes," she said with a little smile but his insomniac-dark-as-night eyes didn't stop peering at her. For a while, they just stare at each other, waiting for the other to give up…but both were much too stubborn for that.

It was L who gave up first. "This isn't working out," he declared and swung his legs over the bed and got up. He was back to his odd, arched back stance as he waited at the door. "Now are you coming out?" he asked his hands in his pockets.

She laughed as she ran her fingers through her hair and stopped her hand on her neck, breathing out loudly. She looked better – tired, but better – as she breathed in deeply. She allowed herself to stare at the odd detective a bit longer than usual. He was caring, she realized, and dedicated. She was used to his devotion going towards solving cases but this was a different type of keenness. "Actually," she said slowly, her ash coloured eyes never leaving his, "I think I am going to pay Light Yagami a little visit."

The idea of L lying on a bed was just too tempting to not throw that in. Still, it played out fine in my head...but whether or not it's just an impossibility, do tell!

Thanks you, lovelies, for reading. Update in several days :)