February 18th, 2004

Ryuzaki is in town. Matsuda, Dad, and I are going to pay him a visit.

I haven't decided whether or not I'm going to punch him in the face.

Light put his pencil down and sighed. He ran a hand through his hair, then, as if realizing what he had just done, smoothed it down again quickly.

"Light." Light turned. His father stood in his doorway, with Matsuda behind him. "Are you ready?"

Light nodded, tucking his journal inside his jacket pocket. "Where are we meeting?"

"Another hotel."

Matsuda smiled at Light as they followed Soichiro into a plain black car. "How have you been, Light? I haven't seen you in a while."

Light raised an eyebrow and smiled wryly. "You mean, aside from my sister being hospitalized by poison meant for me and the rise of a copy-cat serial killer with a supernatural power to kill by writing someone's name, when the original serial killer stalked me for months and killed in my name?"

Matsuda blinked, processing this. "Uh... yeah, I guess. Aside from that."

"Aside from that, I suppose I've been okay. How about you, Matsuda?"

"You can call me Touta, Light," Matsuda said absently, then lowered his voice. "They really don't like that your dad and me won't tell them anything. They're threatening to suspend us both if we don't fess up soon."

Light frowned. "We'll just have to catch this Kira as soon as possible, then."

Matsuda nodded, determined.

The drive to the hotel was fairly short. Light's father went in first, going up to the top floor alone. Light and Matsuda followed ten minutes later. Watari opened the door for them.

"Please leave your cell phones on the table by the door," L said in lieu of a greeting. Light studied the man as he obeyed the request.

He looked tired. Granted, he had looked tired before, too, but this seemed to be a different kind of tired. His face was as unreadable as usual, though, so Light couldn't place the difference.

"Nice to see you again, Eh- uh, Ryuzaki," Matsuda said, smiling politely.

L frowned and shrugged. "I considered it a defeat that I was forced to show my face to any of you in the first place. The fact that I have to do so a second time, to deal with a second Kira, is troublesome."

Matsuda didn't seem to know what to say to this, so he just nodded.

"Ryuzaki," Soichiro said seriously, "What exactly can we do, this time? We have no hope of drawing Kira out with the media, like before. This Kira would know exactly what we were trying to pull."

"That's unnecessary," L murmured. "This Kira is definitely from Japan. And, if Light's information is accurate, may be closer than we think."

"Light?" Soichiro looked hurt that Light hadn't confided in him.

Light shook his head and explained the situation briefly. Soichiro and Matsuda nodded in understanding. "So Kira was there on that night?"

"It is about a 50% chance," L said slowly.

Light frowned. "Only fifty? I thought..."

"I looked into the case," L said, perching on an armchair and dropping sugar into his tea. "The man who was stalking Amane Misa had a criminal record. He had a history of stalking a few other people, and a few cases of assault. He could very well have been killed because of those charges, and the fact that Ms. Amane was in danger is simply coincidence. Then there is still the very slight chance that the man simply died of a heart attack from the stress of the situation, however unlikely it may seem."

Light pinched the bridge of his nose. "So fifty is generous."

"Most likely," L agreed. "But not useless. It is better than nothing. Unfortunately, we no longer have the luxury of the support of the world governments, and none of you can give up your day jobs to tail Misa Amane. Even if you did, I would be hesitant to let you do so, especially if this new Kira has shinigami eyes. I will arrange to have Miss Amane and others with grievances against the stalker investigated, but it may take a few days, due to the complications with the governments. Until then, please be on the look-out for anything else of interest to the investigation." L paused. "I am sorry that this is putting stress on your professional interactions, but please do not reveal any information about the Kira case."

"Of course not."

L nodded. "That is all for today, then. I will be in touch with you—unless any of you have anything else?"

Soichiro and Matsuda shook their heads and made their way out of the hotel suite. Soichiro paused by the door. "Light?"

"Go on ahead," Light said easily, walking closer to L. "I need to talk to Ryuzaki. In private."

Soichiro hesitated, but L nodded, so he relented and closed the door. Watari was nowhere to be seen. Light sighed.

"Stand up, please," he requested wearily.

L frowned, but did so. "What?-"

Light punched him.

L's face jerked to the side and he staggered a little to remain on his feet. Light shook his hand a little to try to rid it of some of the pain, watching L's reaction.

L straightened to his full height, back making an ominous popping noise as his spine straightened and he wiped the back of his mouth with his hand. His dark eyes shone with an unknown emotion as he looked at Light, raising an eyebrow.

Light raised his own eyebrow, challenging.

L dropped suddenly into an odd backwards hand-stand, one leg flying up and colliding suddenly with Light's face. Light staggered for only a moment before L's other leg tripped him, knocking him completely off his feet. He grabbed onto the leg as it brought him to the ground, throwing off L's center of gravity and bringing him crashing to the ground as well. They struggled on the ground for several minutes, each getting quite a few good punches and kicks in.

Light could taste blood in his mouth as he demanded, "Tell me why, you fucking bastard!"

L's elbow dug into his side and he grunted, but did not let up. "I can't."

"Won't." Light spat, raising his hand for another punch. "You promised!"

L winced, even though Light hadn't hit him yet. "You sound like a child."

"You act like one!" Light accused, fist still held high. "Give me one good reason why you broke your word, and don't give me any bullshit about protecting me!"

L snarled in irritation and sat up abruptly. For a bizarre moment, Light closed his eyes, anticipating a head butt, but he received instead-

A kiss.

It wasn't at all like the kiss Misa had stolen from him on Valentine's day. It wasn't soft, and it didn't taste like strawberries, and it made him feel all the way down to his toes... Or maybe that was just the bruises blooming all over his body. L's lips were sloppy on his, rough, and angry, and when had L's hands found his arms? Why couldn't Light move?

L pulled back abruptly, but did not pull away. He gave Light the hard, open stare that always unnerved him, but for once the little emotion that played across his face was honest.

"Because I knew," L murmured, voice shifting back to an unaffected monotone, "that once I did that, I'd never want to leave you alone."