CHAPTER SEVEN

Confrontations

Elaine saw him walking home as she entered his neighbourhood. His eyes were down but they were far from timid looking. The falling sunset created almost a halo above his brown hair. There was Light Yagami, walking as if he was the President. Walking like someone who had complete control over his life. Watching him from far was incredibly intimidating, and she had to remind herself that he was the same person she had laughed and talked with only several nights ago.

Maybe it was the news of her departure, but Elaine found it hard to be the clever girl people had known. Pulling an unconvincing smile on her face, she cupped her mouth and called out his name. "Hey, Light!" Despite her volume, there was tiredness in her tone. Several people turned but Light only stepped on his tracks slowly. His eyes widen a fraction when he saw her, and for a moment that mask of an expression slipped.

As they grew closer, it was harder for her to fake the cheeriness. Her lips twitched and she tried to smile but it was a failed attempt. "Guess what?" The smile pulled at her lips and she didn't seem happy yet still happy for him. "L asked you to join the Kira investigation." He blinked.

All along he had been trying to find a way to get involved in the investigation – but he never thought they would actually approach him. Now he would have access to all the classified information about the case, which meant that he could learn more about this other Kira…and he needed to figure out what this impostor was all about before someone else on the Task Force would beat him to it.

"You're kidding."

Her smile almost looked genuine. "I'm not," she grabbed his hand, "come." Her hastiness didn't go unnoticed as she dragged him into her car. She didn't say anything at all as she turned the engine on. He inspected the car before turning his eyes back on her. They didn't speak, but the way Emiko was staring so directly ahead of her was too loud for him to ignore.

"Hey, are you all right?" he asked hesitantly and for a while, she didn't answer. Then she sighed. She knew that L was dead serious when he said he planned to ship her back to England as if she was mere property. "I'm leaving," she said and her voice was sad but she was still smiling. She didn't look at him, only out the windshield and onto the road. Leaving? His caramel coloured eyes brightened with alert, and went missed by her.

"What?" he said too quickly. He blinked as if he was surprised with his reaction. "Why?" he asked again, slower this time, more measured.

"My VISA expired," she lied. His eyes narrowed, catching the lie immediately but he wasn't perturbed by it. He was curious, sure, about what she was hiding but he didn't press her on it. He dropped the topic and the remainder of the car ride to a hotel was passed in silence. She maintained that look of frustration the entire time, and Light simply looked everywhere else but at the girl.

"So this is where my father is working?" Light asked once they walked into the hotel. Emiko nodded, leading the way up to the elevator. When they arrive in front of the apartment, he spoke up again. "You know," he said as he turned around, smiling at her with one fist to the door to knock, "I'm pretty sure L is behind this door. Maybe you can catch a glimpse before you leave."

She laughed despite herself, the tone coming out hoarse and rough. "I don't know –"

"Oh come on," he turned the door handle when he heard his father called him to come in, "why not?" But when the Task Force and Ryuzaki appeared, he turned around and Emi's expression didn't change. She only looked darkly amused. "So you're L," she commented dryly. The corners of the dark haired man's mouth pulled up in a smile as if they were in a horribly written scene.

"Now Light," he addressed the brown haired boy, "I don't quite remembering requesting a plus one."

"You're right," he laughed in an embarrassed tone but didn't seem at all apologetic. He enjoyed playing a clueless university student, it made his cover seem more realistic...less like Kira. "I should have –"

"No, it's fine. Emiko, was it? Why don't you wait outside," L suggested, the hint of a smile still clear on his face. Even though Light was right in front of them, she glared at him. L blinked, surprised at her hostility. "Or," he backtracked, "maybe you can join us. After all, you have been a quite dedicated and intelligent asset so far…"

"I can't," she smiled sweetly at him, "I'm being deported. Like a criminal."

The air became heavy. The Task Force stared, and Light stopped.

It was only L who reacted. "Shame." He forgot completely about Light's presence but knew he had to give him some attention. Seeming bothered, he turned back to him and held out his hand. "Thank you, Light, for coming." L's eyes flickered back to the dark haired girl behind him. Her gray eyes narrowed into a glare and since Light was faced away from her, Elaine made a face at her partner before flitting back outside to see Watari.

With the door closed behind her, she entered the other room where an elderly but far more than capable man sat in front of a computer. "You're not actually sending me back, are you?" she asked the older man nervously.

The old man's eyes crinkled, smiling warmly as he stood up and went over to a cart. "Of course not, it's not up to me."

She sighed, relieved – but he continued. "Now that's not to say that Ryuzaki won't take it upon himself to do so." At that, she groaned and he gave her a grandfatherly smile as he pushed the trolley towards her. "Tea?" She stopped complaining and took a deep breath. "Sure," she said glumly, "it's been a while, hasn't it?"

They sat on the table, and she honestly did love talking to Watari in her native tongue. It made everything slip away from her: the fact that they were in Japan, about Kira, about all these dying people. But their bubble burst as a video arrived and Watari wasn't the friendly grandfather anymore but instead, he was…Alfred Pennyworth.

"That's from the second Kira, I assume?" She frowned. Although the investigation was going on the other room, L made an honest effort to keep her updated with all they were doing. The video was streaming the same time it had in the other room. Elaine watched it carefully, frozen. This was…was too strange.

"…Please tell me who I can meet you without the police knowing, you'll think of something. And when we meet, we can confirm our identities by showing our Shinigami to each other."

And screaming erupted from the other room. Elaine shot up. "Emiko, stay!" Watari exclaimed, as if she was a dog. But that nervousness returned and they both knew that if she ran into that room, she would expose her identity. Her hands tightened around the edge of the table. It didn't matter how angry she was at L – when he was distressed, she wanted nothing more than to barge in and comfort him. She heard rustling, further chatter - but could not decipher it.

"Perhaps you should accompany the younger Mister Yagami home," Watari said slowly after a moment, knowing that she needed a break. Watari had seen her grow up, after all. She had always been happy but thrived in action and company. Elaine wasn't like L, she couldn't work constantly and he could see the strains breaking through her. Her eyes were almost twitching, her hands shaking. She nodded but the nervousness from the pit of her stomach didn't disappear.

And later that night when they were finally done, Light's brown eyes widened when he saw the girl there still waiting for him. "It's my job," she simply shrugged but the anxiety ate away at her – and it was apparent. "Are you still thinking about the deportation?" he asked once they were far enough away from the hotel.

She blinked and looked at him, momentarily confused. "Hm? Oh. A bit."

"You didn't seem very impressed about meeting L," he commented with a hint of a smirk on his face. She still seemed side-tracked so he stopped walking and touched her shoulders. Suddenly her eyes sharpened and she looked at his hand before back up at Light.

"You must be pretty depressed about the whole thing to not even get excited about that," he continued, remembering how bright her eyes were when she told him she wanted to meet L all those weeks ago. She shrugged slowly and seemed very young and vulnerable right then and there that he figured, why not? She could become a valuable person under his control later in the future, once L was defeated. She was someone he could potentially see still in the picture…someone he still wanted in the picture. "Do you need a distraction?"

"Do I ever," she sighed. He could imagine her being the distraction from the life of a God he would surely be living. He could pretend to be normal with her, she could help him pull a cover of a normal couple...in love...

And so he kissed her.

xxx-xx-xxx

"Watari has finished packing up your bags, Ellie, and you should –" L stopped. His eyes narrowed. "Something happened."

Elaine appeared in front of him, looking nervous – something growing to be too common. But she didn't say anything as he crossed the distance between them and slipped her arms around him.

He was, to say the least, not expecting that. "Elaine," he said slowly, "what are you doing." The surprise in his voice was dead clear but he didn't touch her, his arms raised as if claiming he had nothing to do with her sudden embrace. But God help her if three years of never being apart for more than several hours and twelve years of history before that didn't entitle her to a hug, she didn't know what would. "I don't want to go," she whispered against his chest, "and you can't make me."

"Oh?" he challenged and she pulled back to look at him.

"I'm going to prove that Light is Kira," she stated. Her ash coloured eyes were bright and wide. She could not accept it if he wasn't…she didn't want to accept the fact that she had manipulated a boy that was completely innocent. If Light wasn't Kira, then she was simply a bad person…and she couldn't admit to that. She didn't want to be that. "And I'm not going to leave until –"

"There's only a five percent -"

"Lawliet." He was silenced. There was steel beneath the same coloured eyes and he sighed, fingering his unruly black hair. She could be such a…

"I. Am. Not. Property." She had that same challenging look in her frantic eyes. "You cannot ship me out because we may be going up against two Kiras. I'm going to help you solve this case. Understood?""

He had never been treated like a child before, and it didn't surprise him that it would be Elaine to scold him. He looked down. "Understood," he muttered, not looking at her, resisting the urge to roll his eyes.

She relaxed a bit, as if a great weight had been lifted off her shoulder. "Do you want to get rid of me that badly?"

"Yes." He was ever blunt. She rolled her eyes exasperatedly and poked his chest while her face was lit with her first genuine smile in a while. He didn't remember how or when those smiles became so rare – weren't they always present in the years before? He was fairly sure that she had smiled all the time for the past years and if there was one thing he didn't like about this case – aside from it being some sort of magical murderer – was that it was taking away this girl's glow.

"Well too bad," she insisted, "you're stuck with me."

Guess who just finished their exams? :) And guess who also failed them all :(

Here it is, a longer chapter! A longer...mildly eventful one too. Hope you enjoyed. Reviews would be lovely :)