I don't own either twilight or death note.
Thank you so much to everyone that has reviewed so far! It makes me really happy. So now you'll get to see what L was looking for in Light's room. Because this is a tiny bit of a step backwards to...
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...Earlier that day
L knew that the best way to get information on vampires, Kira or otherwise, was to speak directly with the head of the Volturi.
L had never seen the vampire leader. They lived in seclusion in Italy, surrounded by their carefully chosen followers. It was a definite long shot that L would get an audience with him or her, and it could be dangerous to try. Vampires often did not take kindly to his species. But it was worth taking a chance on. So early morning he was on a plane heading to the Tuscany region of Italy. He would have liked to have gotten some sleep the night before, but Light's appearance in his room had thrown him off a bit.
Not that he had helped matters, admittedly.
L walked the old streets of Volterra, heading for the Volturi mansion. He felt very 'at home' here. Part of it may have had to do with the ancient instincts in his blood, identifying with the history of the city. Volterra had existed since the stone age, and it had survived the rebellions of the Etruscans, Romans, Florentines and finally the Italians. There was something in the air here that just felt a little wilder than Forks Washington.
The Volturi mansion was surprisingly modern. It didn't fit with the rest of the town, but if an austere effect was intended, the vampires had been successful. It was quite an intimidating structure.
He just walked up and rang the bell.
A mechanically disguised voice came over an intercom. "We just donated, voted, and converted so you can leave."
"I came to speak with the Volturi leader about vampire matters."
There was a pause.
"You're not one of us, so unless you have a good reason for coming here you're going to be assumed an assassin and you'll not get as far as the gate."
This person didn't fool around. L took a deep breath.
"I'm L, the detective, and there are a few things I would like to ask you."
After another short silence, the voice spoke again. "The twins will show you in."
The door opened then, and a tall blonde woman and slightly taller dark haired man took hold of him. L allowed himself to be led.
"He's letting you meet him," the woman said. "But you're not safe yet. Don't upset him or you'll be seeing Gevanni and me again under much different circumstances."
"He kind of reminds me of the one that got away." Gevanni said. "What was his name Halle? Mikami?"
The woman nodded in affirmation. "This one's younger though." She seemed about to say more but left it at that.
It was an awkward elevator ride.
When they brought him to a door, L entered cautiously. The darkened room was lit by the glow of a wall of monitors. Wrapping around the room was a model of Rome, apparently made out of…toothpicks? But where was-
"So you are L." A rather androgynous voice called out. L turned his gaze upward to meet the black eyes of a small white figure levitating near the ceiling. It drifted down like a falling leaf, sitting cross legged in midair as easily if resting on the ground.
"Yes." If L had any picture in his mind of what the vampire leader would look like, he hadn't been expecting a twelve year old albino.
"You can call me Near." He held out a hand for L to shake. L took it. Near began lazily somersaulting in the air, traveling across the room to an unfinished part of the city model. He stopped there, upside down, and began stacking. "I apologize for nearly killing you. I have to protect myself at all costs."
"I can sympathize." L assured him.
"That is why I agreed to see you," Near said. "I have great respect for the detective L. How interesting that you would turn out to be so young. We are the same age. In body of course. My vampire age is over three thousand years."
L's heart thumped. There was just something about being in the presence of something so ancient…that was talking and somersaulting around.
"I would like you to tell me why you took the risk to come here." Near was continuing to drift upside down, seemingly unconcerned that his loose white shirt was bunched up by his neck.
"I'm here for two reasons Near. I would first like to ask you if with your ancient knowledge, you know anything about the Kira killings that you would be willing to divulge. The second reason is that there have been vampire killings near my town, and I was hoping you could tell me something that would help me catch them."
"Very nice," Near complimented him. "I expected you to lie, but you have been truthful. Because of that, I will help you."
L was relieved but a bit disturbed. "How do you know that is the truth?"
"I can read every thought you ever had, up to the point I touched you. It is one of my most useful abilities. I already knew what you were here for, but I wanted to know what you would say." Near smiled a little smile. "It is very good for you that you did not lie to me L Lawliet."
L felt violated to an extreme degree. Having his mind open for the picking went against every fiber of his being. But unfortunately this was necessary for the cases.
"One of your abilities? You have others?"
"Of course. The leader of the Volturi is not a figurehead position. I am quite powerful."
Suddenly L felt his shirt being ripped over his head by some unseen force. It flew into Near's waiting hand.
"I can do that, for example," Near continued in a monotone.
"Ah, that is…very interesting."
"I agree."
The bleached out figure drifted forward to hand L his shirt, peering at him with those soulless eyes as he did so. "Don't mind me. I just need to get a good look at you so I can make a doll of you."
"..."
"Can other vampires read minds?" L figured since Near had already agreed to help him with what he had come for, he might as well get as much useful vampire information as possible.
"Only one other that I know of so far. Although he can read a person's current thoughts rather than their past ones, and doesn't need to touch them to do it." Near drifted toward a drawer beneath the monitors. He pulled out a few dolls and lay them on the desk.
Curious, L tried to get a closer look.
"I did not give you permission to approach me," Near snapped.
L stopped.
Near picked up one of the dolls. It had reddish brown hair and a demented expression on its face.
That couldn't possibly be…?
"Light Yagami Cullen. He interests me. I wanted him to join the Volturi, but he refused. I will get him eventually though." Near sounded certain of this. L could easily imagine him collecting skilled vampires the way he collected these dolls. But he had more pressing matters to address now.
"Light can read my mind?" L tried to remember if Light had ever given any sign of this, and he couldn't think of a single thing. Either Near was wrong, or Light was a much better actor than L had given him credit for.
But he had come to his room-
"He most likely can't read your mind," Near informed him. "Even I had trouble squeezing in. You are very intelligent, and that makes your defenses stronger. I would be very surprised if he had that ability. And I," Near picked up a doll of himself, perfect down to the buttons on the shirt. "…am not often surprised."
L actually found himself reassured.
"What do you know about Kira?"
"I know a lot about them. When you live for as long as I have, you see many things. But I will tell you only one thing. Kira uses a notebook to kill."
"How?"
"I said one thing. That was it."
L tried to hide his frustration. This was incredibly interesting, but he wasn't sure it was incredibly useful. It didn't put him any closer to Kira's identity. He'd still have to search Light's room for it…just in case.
"And the vampire killers?"
Near frowned. "It really is bad of me to tell a werewolf this. But I am annoyed with the three of them. They foolishly left my Gard." He paused. "I am about to tell you a secret vampire weakness, and if you use this knowledge in any way other than to catch these three I will make sure you are killed by the twins. That is not a pleasant death."
"I understand."
"I'm sure you do. The thing you can use to draw them to you is…" Near began spinning incredibly fast in midair, as if to build suspense. After a few dizzying moments, he stopped dead.
"…baseball."
"Pardon?"
"Baseball is a vampire weakness. We can't resist it. If you can get a vampire baseball game going, they will come. As long as they are within fifty miles."
L's mind was thoroughly blown. Vampires were an incredibly odd bunch.
"Is there anything else you'll tell me?"
"Is there anything you'd like to do for me?"
Suddenly an image of an upside down, exposed Near was planted in L's mind, and L felt quite sure he hadn't thought of it on his own.
"No."
"Well then that is all. Tell Light that I send my love to him." He pressed the Light and Near doll together in a suggestive position.
L gaped at him.
"That was a joke." Near deadpanned.
"I see."
"You may go now."
"Thank you for your help."
"Don't thank me yet." Near picked up a pale dark haired doll with red spattered clothes. He made it cartwheel across the desk.
L let himself out.
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Well searching Light's room hadn't gone how he'd expected.
Or had it?
He decided that biology class was as good a time as any to bring up the game.
"I thought we could all do something after school today." L said casually, addressing Light and Misa. "I was thinking something with sports."
"I know!" Misa exclaimed. "The two of you can MUD WRESTLE TOPLESS!"
The rest of the class turned to look at the three of them.
"Whoa." Matsuda squeaked.
"Don't mind her," L addressed the students. "The mud gets to her sometimes. There is quite a lot of it around here."
"Ewww! Mud! No way." Light's face twisted in disgust.
L smiled when he realized it was exactly like the face Near's Light doll was making. "As intriguing as that idea is, I was thinking something more team oriented. Like baseball." L waited for the reaction.
Light fell off the lab stool in a dramatic fashion, but he righted himself quickly.
"Baseball?"
"But we don't have to do that…" L went on.
"No," Light interrupted. "We're doing it Ryuuzaki. That's the best idea I've ever heard."
This was astounding. Near had been telling the truth.
"My idea was better." Misa pouted.
"Perhaps another time Misa, when Light is heavily medicated. But for baseball we can invite Takada and Matsuda. And Light can invite Mikami and Sayu." L said.
Matsuda scrambled desperately over the lab counter to join the trio.
"I'd love to come! And Takada would too, I'm sure. She's on the softball team. She'd be good at it."
"It's settled then."
Three Hours Later
As Light waited at the town baseball field, he tried to puzzle out why he was reacting so strongly to the idea of this. There was nothing really that…exciting about it. He'd always preferred soccer and tennis. But Mikami and Sayu had been thrilled at the idea as well, so it wasn't just him. It must be a vampire thing. Which could only mean…L has something up that loose white sleeve of his.
But then he saw L approaching, and his suspicious thoughts were forgotten.
L was wearing a red Washington Nationals short sleeved jersey, and had somehow managed to cram a matching cap over his wild hair. He still wore the same old jeans however. Some things never changed.
But wouldn't it be something if he wore those tight pants and those socks…wait WHAT? He had a baseball fetish now?
And he thought sparkling was the most retarded vampire side affect he'd have to deal with.
"Ryuuzaki, your arms are…uncovered."
L walked up to him. "Well I do have a Constitutional right to bare them."
The vampire rolled his eyes. "Don't even try to make jokes. You stole that from the movie 'Stick It'.
"Stick it where?"
"Uhh…"
"Never mind that Light. We haven't time. Before everyone gets here I need to warn you about something."
Light gave up. "…Okay."
"If everything goes just as planned, the vampires we've been looking for are going to show up here today. I know that there are going to be civilians present, but I figure with three vampires, the element of surprise, and…me, we should be okay. We will trick them into thinking they're going to visit with you and your family. When in reality, we will bring them back to my house and lock them in the dungeon. At which point we can begin the interrogation."
"In the dungeon?" Light said blankly.
"Don't play dumb now. You have to be on your game." L flicked him in the forehead.
"Are we going to kill them?"
"It might be necessary," L said gravely. "It depends on whether they cooperate."
"The Volturi are going to come down on our asses!" Light moaned like a drama queen.
"No Light. I have Near's permission to handle this."
"Wait…NEAR?! That little fucker?!"
"Who is a what?" asked Misa, as she crawled out from underneath the dugout bench.
"That is my pet name for you Misa." Light said.
"Aw, Light I like it." She chirped.
"We're heeeereee!" Matsuda shouted, as he and Takada arrived together. Mikami and Sayu were also heading their way.
After everyone that didn't know each other were introduced, they prepared to pick teams.
"I want to be a captain." Light said immediately. "Dibs."
"Ryuuzaki should be the other one since this was his idea." Matsuda contributed.
"Fine." L agreed.
"There's an extra person," Takada pointed out. "Whoever picks first automatically will get four people instead of three."
"Misa can be the cheerleader!" The blonde exclaimed.
"There are no cheerleaders for-
"Just let her," Sayu interrupted. "She's one hot cheerleader."
"She's available," Light whispered to his sister. "We still need to decide who picks first."
"How about, whoever guesses closest to the number I'm thinking of gets to pick first." Mikami suggested, sharing a knowing look with Light. "I'm thinking of a number between 1 and 10 million."
"22,191." Light said, after pretending to think about it for a moment.
L considered. Light probably hadn't guessed the exact number, because that would have been too suspicious. But it was probably very close. Light would expect L to guess higher, since the range of numbers was so large…so the actual number had to be lower.
"22,190." He guessed.
Light blinked.
"Oh Light was closer," Mikami said hastily. "Too bad for the kid whose name I don't remember."
Light laughed, and patted L on the back. "Better luck next time Ryuuzaki."
Mikami gasped. Had God just touched this Ryuuzaki person? He never touched people!
And now this skinny kid was smiling at God. It was a knowing smile too.
What a slut.
Mikami had been concerned about the blonde one, but at least she was clear about competing for Light. This one was being a sneaky little bastard about it.
Mikami realized God could be listening to his thoughts, but he seemed to be preoccupied with mentally undressing the dark haired teen. The vampire physician may not have been the mind reader, but he could read this pretty clearly. The kid was wearing baseball paraphernalia for God's sake.
Now that's just playing dirty…
"I pick Mikami." Light said.
"HA!" Mikami shouted, and leapt to God's side, where he belonged. When no one else was looking, he caught Ryuuzaki's attention. He pointed to his own eyes and then back at him, in an 'I'm watching you' gesture.
The boy just raised an eyebrow. "I pick Sayu."
"Oh good, I get a break from those two wacks," the brunette laughed.
"Takada," Light chose.
"Well I guess you're with us Matsuda," L commented.
"Phew! You guys seem nicer." He smiled.
L began the instructions. "Sayu should cover the outfield, since she's the fastest of the three of us. Matsuda can cover first. I'll pitch."
They looked over to see Light standing at the plate, twirling the bat in a complicated maneuver.
"Looks like you're pitching to me Ryuuzaki!" He called out.
"I'm glad you've finally accepted it Light!" L called back, watching in amusement as Light dropped the bat.
"Oh-ho!" Matsuda giggled, and he and L fist bumped.
"You. Will. Die." Mikami muttered.
And the game began.
The teams were surprisingly pretty even. L and Takada were equal pitchers. He could throw harder, but she had some tricky moves. Light and Sayu were both great in the outfield, but Sayu was the best hitter. She didn't strike out once.
And one time, when Mikami bunted the ball about 500 feet into the air, Matsuda ran around crazily, fell over six times, got bit by a dog, lost his pants, and still caught it.
"Owwwwout!" He winced, simultaneously elated and in pain.
Misa began a cheer. "Defense defense get that ball! Mat-su-da's trying not to fall!" She did a split.
"Not bad." Sayu complimented her.
L was up at bat next. Takada threw a curve ball, but L hit it solidly into the woods. He began to run as Light sped after it.
"That's gotta be a homerun right?" asked Misa.
Mikami considered it. "God is very fast." He said solemnly.
Seeing how close Light was, L thought he could risk going for third.
"Throw it home!" Mikami was shouting.
But Light made a quick decision. He sprinted full out, almost becoming a blur. Just as L began sliding for the base, they crashed into each other. They fell in a tangle of limbs.
"Ah," L gasped from underneath the other boy. "That hurt."
"You're out."
"I am not. My foot is on the base." He tapped his bare toes on the canvas square.
"I tagged you first."
"You did not. I am safe."
Misa started cheering. "Yay for Light, he's our man, he knocks them down like no one can!" She was balancing as Sayu held her up with one hand.
"They disagree," Light smiled, baring his fangs. "You haven't been safe since the moment you met me." They were angled so the others couldn't see, and he licked at the shell of L's ear as he pulled him to his feet. "I'm tired of trying to stay away from you," he whispered desperately.
"You knocked my hat off," L said in response. "…the one time I wear one. And I will not discuss sexual activities with you after that."
"You know you're just mad because you're so ou-
At that moment a shot rang out.
Everyone quickly turned to see three figures emerging from the woods. From left to right, black hair, red hair, and blonde. The black clad blonde blew on the smoking gun he held in his hand, and grinned.
"Hey bitches. We're joining your game."
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Well then! I have a 103 degree fever as I write this...so go easy on me. I'm dying. :)