~At To-oh University tennis courts & Anarchy's P.O.V. ~
L, Light, and I were presently arriving at the university's tennis courts. I wasn't going to be playing, but L and Light were. I had my doubts about doing this since Light was in fact Kira, though still I went along with what L wanted. Light was getting his racquet as I stood next to L waiting.
"I have to admit, I was surprised, Ryuga." Light said as he stood up straight to talk to L. "I never thought you'd ask to play tennis as a way to get to know each other." I simply stared at Light. It felt as though there was something with him but I couldn't quite figure out what it was. It felt big though, or at least somewhat powerful compared to humans. I ignored the feeling as L spoke.
"Is it a problem for you?" He hummed emotionlessly.
"Not at all; but when you first asked me to play, did you know how good I was?" He questioned while flaunting his talents. I scoffed a bit at his antics.
"Yes, I'll be fine though." L told him as we walked towards an unused court. "It's been a while but at one time I was actually the British Junior Champion." I strayed behind a bit to study Light. I saw his eye flicker at L. Probably pondering if asking about this nationality would reveal his identity or not.
"Ryuga, were you raised in the U.K.?" He inferred.
"I lived in England for about 5 years when I was younger," L's voice rung. I'm a bit surprised to see him telling that information to Kira. I smiled at the memories of us at Wammy's. "But save your breathe, nothing in that story would reveal L's true identity, I promise you." I shot a confused glance at L. Actually his identity could be revealed from that. I didn't expect him to go out and tell Light that it was true but still.
"Well since it's our first match why don't we just play a single set; first one to six?" L interrogated as they reached a court. I stood behind a fence on the side to avoid being hit. If I were to get hit, any part of my disguise could be removed and my identity revealed prematurely.
"That's fine by me." Light confirmed. I sat on a step as I watched L bounce the ball before serving. It went fast and was deadly accurate by hitting just before the out line. I smiled at that action while applauding in my head.
"15-love." L scored as Light stood up in amazement.
"Whoa, Ryuga, you sure don't mess around." Light said as he went to get the ball.
"He who strikes first wins." L quoted as he glanced over at me. That was true. L was never one for stalling what could be done instantly. I wonder if that would be the same if he ever had sex with someone. I stared at L, trying to create a scenario where that would happen. Since L has no relations with any women really, I used myself in that. I was continuously staring at L as the scene played out in my mind. I felt my face become hot again as one thing led to the next. Right before the actually deed was going to be carried out I was brought out of that fantasy when a ball hit the chains of the fence again. I gasped in realization that there was dozens of people gathered around to watch this match. I stood up and worked my way to the fence and watched L closer. I didn't know what the score was at or who was winning, but one thing was for sure, they were going at this game intensely. My hands gripped the metal as I watched. My eyes widened as I saw L miss the ball. Light has just scored another point.
"That's 4 games all! Light Yagami to serve!" A male said from up in a referee chair. I looked at him and around to see that there were also line judges.
"An umpire and a line judge? How long was I thinking?" I questioned to myself as the game continued. No words were spoken between the two opponents. I started thinking about the case. L couldn't possibly profile Light just based on the match itself. Light can't trust that L is really the famous detective; so because of that, Light probably wants someone like his father to confirm that he is really L. In which case, we would have to go to head-quarters and I would have to make my existence known to him. They'll probably go somewhere after the match is over to discuss such matters. My grip tightened on the fence as I saw Light run up to the front of his court half. My breath hitched in my throat as he slammed the ball down before L could hit it.
"Game and set; won by Light Yagami, 6 games to 4!" The umpire called out. L had lost.
"Ryuga." I whispered as he made his way back over to their things. He waited for me to catch up with him before returning to join Light.
The three of us were now walking around on campus as L and Light continued to talk.
"As I expected, you beat me." L admitted in defeat. So he had planned to lose that match? I looked up at L before back at the ground while silently walking.
"It's been a while since I've had to play that hard!" Light said tiredly. I saw him look at L through my peripheral vision. "I'm feeling kind of thirsty, plus there's something I wanted to ask you, you wanna go somewhere for a drink?" Light offered as he carried his tennis bag on his shoulder.
"You humored me with the tennis match; the least I could do is answer some of your questions." L agreed. "But before this conversation goes any further, there's something I must tell you."
"What's that?"
"I suspect that you, Light Yagami, are in fact Kira. Now, if you still want to ask me something then please go ahead." L and I continued to pace forward even as Light had stopped. A few steps ahead we finally halted and looked back.
"You think I'm Kira?" Light laughed. Was he mocking us? I tightened my grip on my bag strap as I tried to contain myself.
"Well when I say I suspect you, it's only a 1% possibility." L told him, liar. It's a much higher possibility; it's a 100% possibility. "That aside, I don't mind telling you that once I'm sure you aren't Kira, and I can verify your deductive skills are as strong as I think they are, I'd like for nothing more than to have you work with me on this investigation." And with that L turned on his heel and started to walk away again. I too turned to follow him, making sure to stay close while Light was around. Light stayed silent and had also begun to walk once again. I wonder what he's thinking.
"This coffee shop is one of my favorites in the area, and if we sit here there's no chance of anyone over hearing us." Light shared as he sat across from L and I. We were now at some coffee shop that Light had introduced to us. I was sitting on the inside seat of a booth while L was on the outside. Light sat across from us in the middle of his seat.
"Thanks for showing me this place; I can see why you like it." L thanked.
"Not to mention we're so out of the way here no one's gonna give you a hard time about the way you sit."
"I don't sit like this because I want to; I have to sit like this." L said with a thumb to his lips as usual. I sat cross-legged as usual and looked between L and Light as each of them spoke. "You see if I were to sit normally, my deductive skills would immediately be reduced by roughly 40%. So, what was it you wanted to ask me?" I took a sip from my coffee; it was vanilla as I usually drank it.
"Right, I'm sure most of that can wait until you're convinced that I'm not Kira." Light said while picking up his own cup of coffee and taking a sip of it. "Although, I am curious, who is she?" He questioned while gesturing towards me. I looked up confused by the fact that he was just now asking about me. I opened my mouth to speak before I was cut off by L.
"Her name is Alice. She's my personal assistant." L told him quickly. I looked up to see his eyes never leaving Light.
"It's nice to meet you." I spoke softly as my hands rested around my warm cup.
"Please, the pleasure is mine. I won't intrude anymore for who she is right now so let's talk about whatever you want to." He said while looking at L. I was a bit relieved that L answered for me.
"You're under no obligation to do this but, would you mind submitting yourself to a test of your deductive reasoning skills?" L inquired curiously. I observed him closely since I was also curious of his skills.
"Sure why not, sounds like fun." Light agreed as I dug out the pictures from my bag. Rather than having L carry them, I thought that it'd be more convenient for him if I carried everything. I handed him three photos before he put them on the table for Light.
"Alright then, we can begin by taking a look at these." He paused as Light looked down at them for a moment. "Photographs of 3 notes written by prison inmates while under Kira's control prior to their deaths; none of this information has ever been made public. You can take as long as you want to look them over, please let me know what you think." L instructed as we both watched his movements and facial expression. He grabbed each of the photos and looked over them carefully.
"Very interesting," He admitted while looking up for a second. After a few moments of silence he finally spoke. "It would be quite amazing to learn that not only could Kira kill others but could also control his victims actions. I think Kira wrote these, and it seems he's encoded a message for you as well, almost as if he's mocking you." He laid the pictures back on the table. "If you line these notes up side-by-side and take a look at the first letter of every line it reveals a message. Rearranging it like this gives you: 'L do you know, Gods of Death love apples?' But there are obvious print numbers on the back of all these photographs; arrange it in that order we get: 'L do you know, love apples Gods of Death.' That doesn't sound right; and based on that it's hard to believe that Kira would've wanted you to read it this way." Light explained in depth while looking up at L for a response.
"That's incorrect." L told him bluntly. Light looked utterly confused. I smiled a bit at this since it was expected. I pulled out another photo before handing it to L. "The thing is there were actually 4 photographs." He set the last photo on the table with the others. "When we add this one it reads: 'L do you know, Gods of Death who love apples have red hands?'."
"But seeing as I only had 3 photographs to work with my deduction was perfect!" Light objected. I figured that he hates being wrong about something.
"No it wasn't. The truth is there were 4 of them, if you'd figured that out it would've been perfect. Even though you knew the message was incomplete, you decided that there were only 3 notes; you never even considered that there might be a fourth. What do you make of that?"
"Well you got me there, I didn't think of that." Light admitted while taking another sip of his drink. "In any case, the likelihood that this message will lead you to Kira is not very great. Besides, we all know Gods of Death don't exist." I smirked inwardly as this statement. I would have to ask him if he believes in God sometime in the future.
"If you were me faced with someone who might be Kira, how would you go about establishing that person's innocence or guilt, you need to be absolutely sure?"
"I would probably try to make him say something that was never made public in any way, something that only Kira could know, kind of like what you were doing just now." Light responded immediately. Does Light really think he can persuade us into thinking he's innocent?
"Truly amazing; what's incredible is that I've asked countless detectives that same question, and it took most of them minutes to even come with an answer. But you, you immediately thought of a scenario in which Kira is speaking directly to the investigator; I'm impressed. You'll make a fine detective, Light."
"But it's a bit of a double-edged sword," Light chuckled softly. "The more impressive my answers the more of a suspect I become."
"Yes, it's about 3% now." L simply stated as if it weren't a big deal. "However, it's made me that much more determined to work with you on this investigation. You see, I'm in a position where even if you are Kira it would still be to my benefit to have you working along side us. Do you know why I'd say that?" L tested him. It wasn't that hard of a question; most people would get the idea of why he'd say that.
"If I cooperate with you, there's a chance I could help the investigation to move forward and if I'm Kira I might reveal myself. In other words, whether I'm Kira or not, you stand a gain either way. It's a very smart move on your part. But I think you might be getting the wrong idea, it's true that I do have an interest in the Kira case and yes detective work is a hobby of mine, but I know that I'm not Kira and I certainly don't want to be killed by him. Besides, what proof have you been able to give me that you yourself aren't Kira? I mean it hardly seems fair for just one of us to be investigated, don't you say? At this point, neither of us can prove that we're not Kira. However, if you are in fact L I don't think it'd be that hard for you to prove it to me. I think I'd be convinced if say, my father, or someone else of the Task Force Headquarters would confirm your identity. If you can't do that them I'm afraid I just won't be able to help you." Light lengthily explained. I inwardly sighed, he talked too much. I clenched my hands into fists in anger. How dare he accuse L of being Kira! If I could I would punch him square in the face for doing such a thing.
"I don't remember saying you couldn't meet anyone from Task Force Headquarters to verify my identity. I'm currently working along side your father as well as several other senior detectives from the N.P.A. Now if I understand you correctly and take you to Task Force Headquarters you'll help us with the investigation, am I safe in making this assumption?" L caught Light with that one. We were waiting for an answer before a cell phone ringing cut us off. "Excuse me." L said as he reached for his phone.
"Oh, there goes mine." L held the cellular device up between us as I leaned in to listen to the other end.
"Yes?" L answered.
"Ryuzaki, Angel, I have some bad news." Watari started off before our eyes widened in shock.
"Light it's your..." L started in alarm before Light's eyes widened as well.
"My father, he had a heart attack..." Light trailed off in a panicked yet calm state. My hands trembled in fear and confusion. But...Light is Kira, so why did Soichiro have a heart attack?!