December 20th, 2003

L settled down in his armchair to watch the proceedings from his laptop, absently plopping sugar cubes into his tea. He had placed a camera withing the frame of Misora's sunglasses so that he could watch Light Yagami's reactions personally. While L did think that Misora was a good agent, he did not trust her deduction skills for a case like this. He wanted to watch this himself.

"Light Yagami?" Misora asked, and the boy stopped on the sidewalk, stiffening and brushing his hand against his pocket. The movement looked like it was an unconscious gesture, but it probably denoted that he was carrying something there—a valuable possession, or a weapon. 43% chance it was a weapon.

Light Yagami responded with his face only partially turned, not enough to read his lips, and he was too far away from Misora for his voice to be picked up, but she responded, "I'd like you to come with me, please."

The boy froze, eyes traveling to Misora's hip. She'd exposed her gun, then. The cogs in the boy's head seemed to be working quickly, and L surveyed his appearance. He was neat, meticulously so, but looked tired. His clothes looked ever-so-slightly loose, as if he had lost weight recently. Despite that, he was a very handsome young man. He had all of the charm and charisma that was characteristic of greatest manipulators, and that made him dangerous.

"Are you with the police?" He finally asked, bright brown eyes sliding side to side. Looking for an escape, or witnesses. There were none.

"Sort of."

"Then, if you don't mind, I'd like to see some identification." Yagami started backing up. Misora followed at the same pace.

"It's in my car. If you'd like to come with me..."

"No, that's all right." The boy smiled disarmingly and put his hands in his pockets, then took out his cell phone. "I'll just call my father and see if he knows anything about this."

"Don't let him do that, Misora," L said quickly. Naomi drew her gun and leveled it at the boy's cell phone before he could so much as open it.

"Drop it, Yagami."

"What is all of this about?"

"Go ahead and tell him that he is a suspect," L murmured into the microphone.

"You are a suspect in the Kira investigation. Further resistance will only increase the likelihood that you are Kira or are working with Kira."

Light looked genuinely surprised by this, but L wasn't willing to dismiss his suspicions based on that. He was likely to be an exceptional actor. "If I'm suspected in the Kira investigation, I don't understand why you would stop me from calling my father. He's involved with the investigation, he should know about this."

"This is above your father."

"...L? Do you have proof that you're working for him?"

Very suspicious, aren't you, Light Yagami? L thought.Most Japanese citizens were quite cooperative with the police as a part of their culture. As the son of the Chief of police, it should be even more likely that Light would be cooperative... unless, of course, he was guilty.

"I'm not required to prove anything to you, Yagami. You're the suspect."

L frowned. He hadn't had much choice in using Misora as his field agent—he couldn't borrow anyone from Japan right now, he couldn't go out personally, and he couldn't let Watari take this on alone, either. He liked Misora, trusted her abilities, but he had never seen her reactions to intense grief... It was too late now. He would simply have to hope that her FBI training won out and things turned out for the best.

Light stiffened at the comment, as well. "Then I'm afraid I will have to resist. For all I know, you've been leaving rotten apples in my room."

L stared at his computer screen. Had he read his lips correctly? What was that, code? Or was Light Yagami mentally unsound? He spoke the words like an accusation.

Misora ignored the words. "I will shoot, Light Yagami."

"Don't shoot unless absolutely necessary," L commented mildly. "If you must, use the silencer."

"And you will alert the entire neighborhood with the gunshot. Not to mention that you want me alive for questioning. I could very well still escape you."

Misora screwed the silencer on the gun and Yagami eyed it with distaste. "I hear that it's very hard to run when both feet have bullets in them."

Yagami returned his phone to his pocket with a defeated sigh. "All right, fine. I'll go with you."

"Take his bag and the contents of his pockets before you restrain him," L ordered. Naomi obeyed, taking care of the tasks with stark efficiency and guiding the student to the car where Watari was waiting.

"Is it safe to assume that you won't answer any questions posed to you?" The boy was close enough now that his smooth voice drifted through the microphone. L found himself hoping that the boy wasn't guilty—he was interesting.

"Very safe. It's also safe to assume that anything you say can and will be used against you."

"Of course."

While the three were in transit, L arranged the headphones and computer to record the coming conversation and to scramble everything spoken into his microphone, then worked on his forgotten cake while he waited. He wouldn't be able to enjoy it after they arrived.

Knock. Knock. Pause. Knock. Knock.

L bounded to his feet and opened the door quickly while replacing his mask. Naomi Misora guided Light through first and Watari followed. L locked the door behind him and gestured for Naomi to settle Light in the chair opposite his and put the headphones on.

L hopped into his own chair lightly and spoke into the microphone. "Light Yagami."

The boy jumped a little, then took a shaky breath. "L, I presume."

"Yes. You understand that you are here under suspicion of being or working with the serial murderer known as Kira?"

A nod. "That's why I didn't resist arrest any more than I did."

"You were rather reluctant to go with my field agent. And then there was the comment about rotten apples. Was that code?"

Light twitched, and L felt a twinge of amusement. Like father, like son, I suppose. "No, it was not code. If I'm being investigated, you're not doing a very good job if you don't already know that I'm being stalked."

L switched off the microphone. He had not been expecting that. Now, to find out if he was telling the truth.

"What, you actually believe that?" Misora asked skeptically. L ignored her, flying through the National Police Agency's database. He switched the microphone back on.

"This has not been reported to the National Police Agency."

"Yes, well," That was anger on his face. Suppressed anger, but anger nonetheless. Was he angry that his lie wasn't working out, or angry at the stalking? It was impossible to tell. It would be easier if L could read his whole face and not just the bottom half, but he had limited resources in Japan now that he was working behind the backs of the police force. "It's probably filed as a break-in. December 9th. A rotten apple was left behind."

Ah. Found it. The file was pretty bare, though—hardly more than Light had already told him. "The question still remains why the stalking hasn't been reported properly."

Ooh, scary face. L really hoped he wasn't guilty now. "First of all, we don't know who it is. Second, there's not much the police can do. They certainly can't spare someone to tail me all the time, when so far all that's happened are letters and a few break-ins. And, personally, I think everyone in my family would like to get a few good punches in before we hand the bastard over to the proper authorities."

"Vigilante justice is the basis of Kira's crime."

The boy stiffened even further now, like a steel rod had been placed in his back. "He was in my room while I was sleeping. I think I'm showing an amazing amount of restraint by limiting myself to wanting to break his face."

L turned off the microphone again, thinking. The emotion was genuine. L really didn't think Light was lying. He doubted that someone as refined as Light Yagami would ever use such a crude phrase as 'break his face' unless he meant it in the most literal sense. "Miss Misora, your fiance's notes did say that he originally thought that the man who turned out to be Kira was following Light Yagami?"

"...Yes," she said, reluctantly, and L switched the microphone on once again.

"Listen to me, Light Yagami. I need you to tell me all that you can about this stalker. Have you ever seen him?"

Light grimaced. "You have my school bag, right? There should be an unlabeled marble notebook in there that documents everything so far. You'll have to excuse the cursing, I hadn't really intended for anyone else to read it."

L switched off the microphone again and rifled through the school bag that Misora handed to him, withdrawing the notebook between his thumb and forefinger. He flipped it open, dark eyes scanning the neat little words on the page quickly, blinking and memorizing each page in seconds before flipping to the next one.

Light shifted uneasily in the chair, looking highly uncomfortable. L ignored this, but Misora watched him, looking unimpressed. "If you're going to leave me in the dark, can you at least play some music through the headphones or something? I'll go crazy if I'm just sitting here, blind and deaf."

L did not glance away from the journal, but murmured, "Please play some music for him, Miss Misora."

She moved to obey immediately, but said quietly, "He's a suspect; so what if he sweats a little?"

"What if he's innocent?" L said this in the tone of someone ending a conversation, and proceeded to focus his entire attention on the journal. If this wasn't a hoax...

Naomi Misora made a noise of skepticism, pulling up an internet browser and pecking at the computer for a few seconds before clicking in a satisfied manner and sitting back in her seat, watching Light closely.

It took a few seconds for the lyrics to start, but when they did, Light went rigid in his seat. His jaw clenched, teeth creaking audibly before he spat, "Ha fucking ha. Really funny, L. Really fucking funny."

L glanced up at his suspect and raised an eyebrow, but the action was hidden by his mask.

"Violent reaction," Misora mused.

Light twitched once, twice in the chair, like he was trying to rid his ears of a highly unpleasant sound- like nails on a chalkboard. What on earth was Misora playing?

"I'm fluent in English, L, I know what this song's about, and it's not funny."

"Miss Misora, what exactly are you playing for him?" L questioned suspiciously. He had a very bad feeling about this. Should have waited to get another agent. She's not psychologically ready for this, not so soon, not so close to this case.

"I'm testing to see if he's telling the truth."

"L! God damn it!" The boy shouted. His voice cracked, and he started struggling to remove the large headphones, but unable to use his hands.

"That doesn't answer my question, Misora." L stood, crossing the room quickly to try to get a look at the computer.

Misora brought up the microphone software and switched the connection back on, saying shortly, "Light Yagami, stop trying to dislodge the headphones or we'll be forced to restrain you."

The boy didn't seem to hear. He gasped and struggled harder, managing to dislodge one side of the headphones. The other side held true, however, and it was driving him into a panic. He was very pale, and breathing far too quickly.

"Misora? What's wrong, what are you playing through the headphones?" L snatched the laptop from Misora, searching through various windows to find the one that was playing whatever was making the teenager behave this way. Finally he found it, and cursed, looking up at the boy who was still writhing in the chair and gasping for air. "He's having a panic attack. Watari!-"

Watari had, thankfully, noticed the situation, and quickly administered a sedative before Light hurt himself. His struggling stopped abruptly and he slumped in the chair, breath evening out.

There was a moment in the hotel suite where no one moved, no one spoke. Then,

"I see I have made a grave mistake in allowing you to assist in this investigation, Naomi Misora. You are not mentally prepared. Please give me your gun."

Misora stood. "No! That bastard killed Raye, I'm not going to let him get away-"

"Your need for someone to blame has traumatized someone who is looking more and more innocent ever minute," L pointed out, creeping forward slowly. "You are not rational. Please give me your gun."

Naomi moved to draw it. "I won't let you-"

L was too quick for her. In a moment, his highly trained figures pressed against a pressure point. She stared blankly for a moment, then pitched forward. L caught her gently, then lowered her into one of the chairs.

"Watari."

"Yes, L."

"Please arrange for Naomi Misora to be delivered to her family. She is suffering greatly in her grief at the tragic death of her fiance, and has begun to create highly realistic fantasies in order to try to actualize a strong desire for revenge on Kira."

"Yes, L. And Light Yagami?"

"...Yagami will remain here. He still owes some explanations..." L hesitated. "And, I suppose I owe him an apology."