Chapter 11
Disclaimer: The Maiden of Autumn owns nothing.
Thank you to all the readers and reviewers- please, continue to enjoy the story.
Light's nose wrinkled as he slowly gained consciousness, feeling an irritating prickling sensation brush over his face and across his legs.
Slitting an eye open irritably, his bleary gaze eventually cleared to show a pair of large yellow eyes not two inches from his face. Light could see the differentiating shades of yellow streaking out from the iris, and from this close, he could see small green flecks around the pupil that would catch the light and reflect it, making the yellow eyes seem as if they glowed when it was dark.
L.
He squeezed his eyes shut, sighing in annoyance. He was so very comfortable, and didn't want to get up…
A small whine from his side and the feel of a nose nudging his face made him shoot up in shock, however, as memories of yesterday came flooding back to Light in a barrage of images. A flash of guilt streaked through him as he remembered how annoyed he had been with L a few moments before- he had no right to be angry at L, not after all he had done for Light.
And then, his next thought: L had almost died yesterday- he was alright, right?
Frantically, heart pounding, Light snapped his head over to the side, amber eyes locking onto L.
He was lying on his side, looking up at Light almost confusedly, head cocked to the side. His black tail thumped once as an acknowledgement to Light before he set his head down, regarding Light from under his lashes and with his ears pricked up.
He was still covered in bandages, but Light calmed at seeing that no blood had soaked through them. That was good, then. And that L was alive… that was a definite relief. It had been such a close thing yesterday…his heart clenched at remembering L barely hanging on in the car, his eyes fluttering and body limp as Light carried him to the infirmary.
But… he was fine now. No need to worry. They had gotten the blueprints, L was here and alright now, and they could get to work on producing the chip and getting L's mind back to normal. And then, when L's intelligence had been restored, they could work on reversing the physiological changes.
Right, then.
Light was broken from his thoughts by the tip of L's nose nudging his shoulder, huffing as his tail thumped on the bed. He rolled his eyes, knowing that L most likely wanted to get up and had to go to the bathroom. But as hurt as the wolfish detective was, he'd most likely need help…
"Right, right," he sighed, shaking his head. Reluctantly, Light sat up, rolling his shoulders and suppressing a groan as the action stretched out his stiff muscles. All that Light had gone through in the past few days- the emotional stress, and the physical stress of fighting with L- had taken their toll on his body. The marks on his chest had yet to heal, and he even winced as rolling his shoulders agitated them, sending a burning ache through the still healing skin.
"Fuck," Light cursed, grumbling as he swung his legs over the side. He flicked the bedcovers away as he did so, though he secretly longed for the warmth and comfort as he was forced to leave the bed.
But L came first, and so Light made his way to the other side of the bed, where L was watching him, eagerness shining in his eyes. "Just hold on," Light mumbled, going to his closet and grabbing a shirt and a pair of slacks, slipping them hastily on before he turned back to L.
He paused for a moment to examine L, raising an eyebrow as he did so. Looks like bed-head didn't just apply to the hair on the top of head. From where he was standing, he could see that the black strip of fur tracing along L's spine stood up and spiked off to the side in random places, or simply lied flattened. L's black tail was much in the same condition, poofing out at random places instead of lying mostly smooth. Funnily enough, L's hair was the neatest out of the three- well, as neat as L's flyaway hair ever got. It didn't look much different than normal.
Still, it was kind of… cute, in a way, with L's fur ruffled and spiked in wayward directions, lying in a swath of blankets on their bed.
The only thing ruining the picture are those blasted bandages, Light thought, noting the strips of white fabric running all along L's body. The reminder of what had happened to cause this soured Light's mood and he felt, not for the first time, a stab of guilt, feeling as if he was to blame for L's incapacitated state.
Shaking his head, Light saw some bandages on the nightstand out of the corner of his eye- no doubt a concerned Watari had left them there before leaving after dropping L off last night. Light knew that L most likely had to go to the bathroom, but he needed his bandages changed first, before he did anything else.
"Alright," Light sighed, raking a hand through his hair as he walked to the edge of the bed. "Let me see…" Reaching out, he was about to tug on one of the white wrappings, but cursed and quickly withdrew his hand as L's yellow eyes narrowed, his eagerness shifting to a self-protectiveness and he snapped at Light's outstretched appendage.
"L!" Light snapped, clenching the hand that had almost been bitten in front of him, cradling it protectively as he glared at L.
The detective only glared back, shifting into a more protective crouch and hiding his wounds from Light. He bared his teeth, glowering at Light balefully.
Protective behavior, Light thought.
Wounded animals were very protective of themselves when hurt, as they feared showing weakness and potential pain from exposing their wounds.
It was just one of L's natural, instinctive responses, yet Light couldn't check L's bandages and replace them if L was acting like this. And it was completely unacceptable for L to be behaving like this, especially towards himself, whom he knew L regarded as his alpha. It was a bad habit for L to start, not to mention that it was a bad form of insubordination on L's part.
"L, stop this," Light growled, reaching out again slowly. This time around, he made sure to keep a wary eye on L, who was regarding his hand with a dangerous glint in his yellow eyes. When Light's hand got within a foot of L's body, L predictably snapped at it once more- but Light was ready for it this time around.
He took advantage of L's momentary distractedness to reach his other hand around in a quick movement to grab L's the back of L's neck, his fingers tangling in the coarse fur starting at the base of L's neck.
Yanking L's head up, he forced the detective to meet his eyes, narrowing them into annoyed slits. "Don't bite at me," Light growled, seriously annoyed. L held his eyes for a few moments, shock and an instinctive fear flitting across L's face, before he dropped his eyes and swiveled his ears back in a submissive display, whining softly.
"Good." Light let L go, watching as the detective shifted farther away from Light, though he uncurled himself slightly. Shaking his head, Light grabbed up the bandages and crawled onto the bed, kneeling next to L and shooting him an irritated growl. "Trying to bite my hand like that… Jesus, L."
L only snorted, watching Light warily as he unrolled a few fresh bandages and set them off to the side. He then turned back to L, reaching out to start unwrapping the bandages, keeping his eyes locked with L and silently daring him to try something again. L seemed to understand that Light wouldn't tolerate any more behavioral problems, though, and flattened his ears, turning his head away with a grimace.
Assured that L wouldn't try anything again, Light gently untied the bandages around L's torso, tugging them off and setting them off to the side before turning back to examine them-
And froze in shock, letting out a soft curse.
They… were healed.
There were no open wounds, no blood- only raised pink lines where the slashes used to be.
Raising a trembling hand, Light ghosted his fingers over the lines left behind by the experiment, L letting his displeasure be shown in the soft growl that rumbled from his chest. Light failed to notice this in his state of incredulously, though, as he stared wide-eyed at L's exposed body.
This… this was impossible. There was no way Beyond could have altered L's anatomy, his very DNA this much!
Genetically mutating L's anatomy to give him wolfish appendages, senses and reflexes as well as changing his brain patterns to think like a wolf was one thing.
But… in order to do something like this, Beyond would have had to alter every single cell of DNA in L's body, not just the cells that dealt with his motor controls and physical appearance. To do this, beyond would have had to alter L's metabolism, the way his platelets, red blood cells, and white blood cells worked, as well as the speed at which his skin repaired itself.
This was… it was something that had been considered, worked for, and eventually given up on. There was just no way that modern scientists knew to do something of this magnitude.
Speed up the repair of muscle tissue and skin tissue, yes. That was possible, through use of ointments, vitamins, and certain types of therapy. But not at this rate, and for the body to do it by itself without any sort of outside interference from solutions or creams or any sort of human influence…
Light shifted backwards, slowly crawling off the bed and rising to his feet, pulling out his phone and punching in Watari's number, never taking his eyes off of L, who stayed on the bed, a displeased look on his face.
Watari picked up on the first ring; he always did, unless something was wrong.
"Light? Is there something-"
"I need you to get here now, Watari." Light's voice was calm but urgent; he desperately needed the elder man to see this, but it was not a rush.
Watari was silent for a moment, processing Light's voice and words, before he responded. "Two minutes, Light."
"Thank you." Light then disconnected the call, replacing the phone back into the pocket of his slacks.
He didn't have to wait very long before his door opened and Watari stepped in, a worried frown marring his features. "Light? What's wrong?"
Light pointed at L. "That's what's wrong. Look," Light said, indicating the already healed scars; in the short time Light had looked away, the pink tinged had lessened even more, a silvery, faded tinge starting to bloom in the middle of the raised skin.
Watari's eyes narrowed as he stepped closer, L's head rising to regard him with a level stare.
L calmly lay still while Watari came closer, reaching out to poke at the scars that by all rights, should not be there. "I don't know what to say," Watari admitted, leaning closer to get a better look. "This is… what Beyond has accomplished goes beyond the realm of things thought possible. It's not bad, just…"
"Unnatural," Light finished, scrubbing his hand over his face and resisting the urge to laugh hysterically.
Things had gone from fucked up- with L's transformation- to fucked up and downright freakish.
"Unnatural," Watari agreed, and they both stared as slowly, the pink faded from L's skin and left the scars faded and silvery, as if they were years old instead of a single day.
A month later…
Black ears perked up as he slunk forwards on silent, clawed feet. Yellow eyes were open wide and shining with sadistic excitement as he neared his target.
The prey was within easy jumping distance now, and yellow eyes glittered as they locked onto the prey. Crouching down on his haunches, he crawled forwards a few more feet, breath hitching and muscles tense as he readied himself, about to pounce-
"No, L."
L froze as his alpha whirled to glare at him. Over time, he had learned the meaning of that odd human noise- it was a negative, used to communicate that he should not be doing whatever it was that he was doing.
And in this case, it was playing that was frowned upon by his alpha.
Eyes narrowing in irritation, he let out a haughty huff, stood up and slunk away, obeying his alpha unhappily. Swiveling his ears around, L listened to the sound of his other pack mates doing whatever it was that humans did- odd creatures, they were.
They did not hunt, they didn't take naps in the warm sunshine, nor did they feel the urge to play and roughhouse in order to reaffirm the familial bonds of the pack and to hone their reflexes and senses. Neither did they have any sort of warm fur-covering, aside from the patches on their heads, or flesh-tearers on their paws.
He glanced down at his own paw, shuddering as he did so.
Whenever L thought of that, he thought of the hostile wolf that he had dueled with that long time before.
His lip curled as he dropped to the ground, curling up into a lazy circle and yawning, before he settled down and curled his lip at the thought of the hostile wolf. He had been a lone male, a solitary alpha, and while L knew that they had been invading his territory without permission, they were the larger, strong pack and the hostile wolf should have backed down.
But he must have had the disease that drove their kind to madness- for he had not backed down but had immediately went straight for his alpha, recognizing him as the leader of their party, intent on killing him and no doubt taking over.
L let out a little growl that drew the attention of his other packmates as he remembered that encounter with a mixture of hate, anger, smugness and pain.
He had defended his alpha- it was what he did, as a show of his loyalty. And he had won, the thought of which made L grin wolfishly as he laid his head down on the floor, resting his chin on his paws and letting out a small huff of a laugh.
The hostile wolf had been wrong to challenge him- and now he was dead because of his foolishness. L made a small, smug sound in the back of his throat. He had proved himself superior and defended his pack by engaging the hostile wolf. It would not have done to let his alpha fight while he simply stood back- his protective instincts would not allow that, nor would his pride or concern for the well-being of his family. If his alpha was incapacitated, how would he lead?
L was lower in rank; he was not so important as his alpha, and so it would not matter if he was harmed as much as if his alpha had been hurt.
Though L knew that his alpha had not been pleased with his actions. He had smelt and sensed anger radiating off his alpha, and L suspected it was both at him for daring to engage the hostile wolf when it was the alpha's right to do it and prove himself worthy of defending the pack, and also at the hostile wolf for daring to attack them.
Though… L shifted to his other side, an ear twitching in contemplation as he yawned to clear his thoughts and prevent himself from drifting off… he was proud of himself for defeating the wolf that had dared threaten them… it had been a horrendous fight, one that had left him with painful wounds.
L still winced when he thought about them, even though they were fully healed by now, and had been for quite some time. And he was still subconsciously protective of the areas that had been hurt, just because the memory of the way the hostile wolf's claws had ripped through his skin and muscle, digging deep into his body and lodging there.
And the pain!
Oh, it had hurt so badly…
L let out a small whine at the memory, making his alpha pause in whatever it was he was doing and look over at him. Oops- he hadn't meant to draw attention.
He let out a yawn and licked his lips to show that it was alright- nothing was wrong, and his alpha held his eyes for a moment before lifting his shoulders L had come to learn was a dismissive measure and turned back to whatever it was he had been doing before L accidentally drew his attention.
And then, L set his head back down, his train of thought broken, and so he decided to simply observe until he fell asleep- for he felt the tiredness creeping up in his brain. There was nothing better to do, so he thought that if he did go to sleep, it would be alright.
L sneakily watched his alpha through half-lidded eyes, flicking an ear in contemplation as he studied the human's form lazily.
Humans were odd creatures- and his alpha was no exception to that rule.
How any creature could balance on two legs was beyond him, yet his alpha managed it- and quite gracefully, too. Though he was sort of loud with those paw-coverings, L decided as his eyes flicked down to the black things covering his alpha's paws.
They sort of smelled good, though- they had a prey-like scent to them, and L had been a bit confused when his alpha had taken them off and L had sniffed at them, discovering this. It made him want to chew on them, just to see if they did taste like food, but had backed off after his alpha had growled at him, asserting his dominance and clearly telling him to back off of his property.
His alpha was looking at something that held L's interest in no way whatsoever, his alpha's patriarch looked to be dozing, his head resting on his paw as he sat at one of the great wooden things that the members of his pack always seemed to be at, and the rest of his pack looked preoccupied as well.
His tail swished back and forth in a lazy wagging motion as he tilted his head to the side, resting his head upon his paws. What had happened to nap and play times? He understood "work" was important to the members of his pack- work to humans was important as the hunt was to those of his kind, but surely, his packmates had time to play and nap and eat and everything else that was fun and relaxing?
Surely, this "work" that consisted of staring at the same spot for long periods of time and sitting in hat uncomfortable-looking position humans forced themselves into was not all humans did? Though L wasn't sure- in all the time he had been a part of this pack, it seemed like they hardly did anything else. L was always the one to initiate play, sleep, and various other things.
Rolling his eyes, he tilted his head to the side to run a paw over it, feeling an itch in his ear before he settled back down. His eyes flitted over the forms of his packmates, feeling a rising irritation well in his chest and brain, causing his eye to twitch.
He was bored, L admitted, his tail thumping once in irritation as he yawned. There was nothing to do…
A burst of sound that L knew indicated a human's amusement drew his attrition, and L's head snapped up, eyes drifting over to see one of his packmates throwing his head back to let the sound issue from his throat.
It was coming from the human that he had first met as part of the pack- the human that always had a sense of happiness and contentment radiating off him- L could smell it. He seemed to be one of the more good-natured humans, and never seemed averse to playing.
L's tail thumped a few times and a small smile came over his face, tongue coming to loll out the slightest bit at the thought.
His alpha might not want to indulge in playing- he tossed an unseen glare in the direction of his alpha, bent over his work, brows furrowed in concentration- but perhaps another packmate would…
Getting up stealthily, L stretched his muscles out, limbering them before he slunk over closer, a small spark of excitement lighting his eyes as they locked upon the unfortunate soul he had chosen as his playmate.
"Whoa!"
Light jumped, startled by the sudden outburst from Matsuda and the sound of a stack of papers and other desktop paraphernalia being knocked off the desk, falling to the ground.
"What the hell-?!" Light started incredulously, whirling around and fearing to see what had happened. But he stopped as he took note of the situation, and then pressed his hand against his temple, shaking his head. "Not again…"
For L and Matsuda were rolling around on the floor, wrestling and making the rest of the team scatter off, to prevent getting knocked over as the two men tussled. L's eyes were narrowed in focus, and while his teeth were bared in a frightening snarl, he made no attempt to snap at Matsuda, only nipping at his skin in gentle, mock-bites. Growls and snarls constantly issued from his chest as he tried to roll Matsuda over and pin him, but there was a playful, happy light in his eyes that belied his true intentions to simply have a good, fun romp.
Matsuda was laughing as he attempted to knee L off of him, throwing his weight to the side in an effort to throw the wolfish man off of him. He brought his arms up to his neck, chuckling as he warded off L's playful attempts to nip at him. Stretching his neck up, Matsuda bit at L's ear gently, making L yip and roll away, shaking himself off.
Matsuda laughed at L, making him let out a good-natured growl before grinning wolfily at Matsuda and jumped on him once more, making both men roll a few times as their play resumed.
It wasn't until a good ten minutes later, the action came to a stop and Matsuda flopped onto his side, panting, while L lay on his stomach, letting out a wide yawn that showcased his ivory-colored fangs. "Man," Matsuda panted, looking to L who was grinning in a wolfish, smug way, "I'm pooped."
L let out a hoarse little series of cough-huffs at Mastuda's words and tone, a sound that Light had come to learn was L's wolfish way of laughing. It was a funny sound, on that had Soichiro's eyebrows raising and Light smirking upon hearing it.
Matsuda glanced back at L incredulously, never having heard L laugh in his wolfish way before joining in with his own series of chuckles. "That was fun, though. Tired me right out…" He looked to Light with a desolate expression before laying his head back. "Do I have to go back to work?"
Light thought a moment, before shaking his head. He wasn't a harsh taskmaster, and with Matsuda as tired as he was, he'd most likely not be getting anything else done today. "No, we've met our weekly quota for cases. I don't think a slack day will hurt anyone."
If it had been a year ago and they were desperately trying to locate L while working on the Kira case, Light would have never allowed it. But now, with no pressing cases, the microchip's completion on a halt until they got what they needed, and L safe and sound here, there was no reason to push work.
"Thank God," Matsuda breathed, smiling, before he blinked and tilted his head up in surprise as he felt a weight settle onto his chest.
L had shifted over to Matsuda, curling up with his tail resting comfortably across his knees, resting his head on Matsuda's chest. He heaved a sigh as he tightened the ball his body had curled into, yawning hugely before licking his lips and settling once more, ears drooping lazily to the side and backwards limply.
"Hey- I can't get up!" Matsuda said, throwing a panicked glance to Light. He shifted slightly in a futile attempt to wiggle away, but L only snuggled closer, making a displeased sound in the back of his throat.
Light couldn't help the smile that curled his lips upwards and crinkled the skin around his eyes. He knew exactly what was going on, and it amused him. "Don't worry, Matsuda- wolves often curl up with one another after playing for short, rejuvenating naps. He'll probably move and go do something else in another half an hour or so," Light told him, turning back to flipping through his papers.
His eyes scanned over the papers Watari had given him detailing the progress on the microchip and the obtaining of the materials he needed, ignoring Mastuda's sudden, despairing protests. He had seen something that made his brows furrow, and he reached out to run a finger over the typed words, tapping it as he thought.
I've made contact with the man needed to get the alloy from. He refused to speak to me after I told him I was calling for L. He said that if I worked for L, I could tell him that you needed to call him yourself- in other words, he will only speak to you, not someone who works under you. The number is written below; I suggest you call him at the soonest possible time. The alloy is all that we need to complete the microchip, and the sooner we get it, the sooner we can get L's mind fixed.
Light frowned as he read this, thinking. Watari was right- they had painstakingly crafted the hard, black plastic exterior of the microchip and the miniscule circuitboard that was needed to redirect L's thought patterns, changing them from wolf-like to human. All that was needed was the thin steel alloy. It would run from the circuitboard in the chip to L's brain, connecting the two and re-routing the electrical nerve impulses of L's brain, running them through the circuit to change them into the pattern directed by the chip.
The steel alloy was the single most important part- and the last thing they needed before the chip was completed and ready to be inserted into L's brain.
He made a mental note to call the number as soon as possible, memorizing it. He flicked through the other papers, noting the progress they had made that was summed up in Watari's evaluations. The process of making the microchip was a delicate process, and Watari was more knowledgeable in the process of creating it than Light.
If Light had his way, he'd simply let Watari take care of the whole thing, but the elderly man's hands were not as steady and graceful as they used to be, and his eyesight was not as clear as it was in his younger years either. And working with such small tools and materials, both things were needed. SO Light did the material work of actually putting the chip together while Watari expertly guided and directed him. Matsuda had even been called in to help sometimes, to hold things and hand tools off to Light when there was an extremely delicate task to be done.
"You know, I'm kinda thirsty now…" Mastuda suddenly said from his position on the floor. Light tilted his head back to the pair, seeing L sleeping happily next to Matsuda, twitching and huffing every now and then. Matsuda had shifted to put his arms behind his head, and now that he was comfortable, it didn't seem that he minded L sleeping half on him.
"It's your own fault, idiot," Aizawa said irritably, as he bent and starting to retrieve the scattered papers from the floor, deeming it safe now that Matsuda and L were done. "You could have stopped him, but you indulged him in his stupid little game instead. And now look- there's a mess everywhere!"
"What's wrong with you?" Matsuda asked, making Aizawa blink in shock as the younger man sat up, giving Aizawa a confused, irritable look. Light and the rest of the team were taken aback as well, not used to Matsuda being so outspokenly defensive. Even L's eyes opened, disturbed by Matsuda's sudden movement.
He rolled his eyes over to stare at Matsuda, his ears fully forwards and pricked in interest at the upset tone on Matsuda's voice, and sensing the discord between his two "packmates".
"Look, I know you don't like L, but it's not his fault he's like this. If he was still human in his mind, then yeah, it'd be weird. But L's not human- he's an animal in his mind, and to him, it'd probably be weirder if we didn't go along with his whims. And I don't mind- it's actually kinda fun, being able to play around like this," Matsuda added, leaning back and scowling at the stunned Aizawa.
Suddenly, L let out a little groaning noise in the back of his throat, lying his head back down with a huff, as if bored with the whole proceedings.
"I agree with Mastuda," Mogi suddenly said, surprising everyone, as the man rarely spoke. "It's not hurting anything to go along with him, and if it keeps him happy and his claws and fangs away from us, who are we to stop it? It's not for much longer, anyways."
"Mogi's right, Aizawa," Light cut in, a bit distracted as he went through the progress report on the microchip, making a list of what they still had to do. It wasn't much, yet there were still important, vital things needing to be completed.
"Light?"
He raised his head at Aizawa's incredulous voice, his eyes flitting over to a contentedly resting L, and then back to Aizawa. "I've said it before, back when I first brought L up here. If you're not comfortable with him, you're free to work somewhere else. I refuse to lock L up or hinder his actions just because they're not normal. You need to stop being so negative about this and come to terms with the changes in L if you want to continue working here." He fixed Aizawa with a level, stern glare. "Understand?"
"I- yes." Aizawa nodded, setting the papers onto the desk. "I understand. I only ask that L not disrupt work here anymore. it's distracting and can be frustrating to keep being interrupted like this."
"That's a reasonable request," Light allowed, willing to compromise. "L can stay here, while we work, but if he starts getting to disruptive in his playful tendencies, I'll have Matsuda take him somewhere else, or I'll go with him. Does that sound alright with everyone?"
Everyone nodded, and Light, pleased with the compromise, turned back to his papers. 'Good. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a report to finish going over, and then a phone call to make."
"Hello?"
The voice on the other end of the phone was male, and hoarse and scratchy.
Light cleared his throat before he spoke, the voice-scrambler that was built into the phone making his voice distorted and L-like. "This is L."
"Hm. I thought you might be calling. I only talk to those who are in charge, never their underlings."
He raised an eyebrow at that- haughty son-of-a-bitch. "I was told that you are one of those who make steel alloy…?"
"Yeah, that's right. You got the code?"
"Yes. 908CV54."
"Alright. Guess you're the real thing. Right. What do you need? Like, what shape do you need the alloy to be in, and how much?"
Light repressed the urge to let out a sigh of relief- the code had worked, and now, he just had to get his hands on that alloy and everything would be set to go from there. He leaned back in his chair, staring at the ceiling as he replied. "It's for a microchip- a very small one. I don't need very much, just about-"
"Four centimeters long, 1/8 of a centimeter in diameter?"
The man cut him off, and Light frowned, not caring so much at the rudeness, but that the man seemed to know exactly what he needed. It was peculiar, and after being L for a while, he had come to dislike anything that was odd or off. "…Yes. How did you know?"
"Eh, about a year or so ago, I got another order for a length of alloy that was for a microchip. Same dimensions that I just listed. Funny, too- the person that ordered it used the same code you gave me. No unusual, though, for different people to use the same codes- there's about 5 that I respond to, and people give them to others all the time- or rip them out of their throats, don't really care which as long as they pay for the alloy at the end of the day."
Choking back a gasp, Light sat straight up, his eyes wide as realization hit him. "The person who used the code to order this wire a year ago… was that person's name Beyond Birthday, by any chance?"
"Beyond Birthday? Nah, don't know anyone with that kinda name- though I have to say, if someone did call here with that name, I'd have remembered it. Beyond Birthday… what sorta fucked-up parents name their kid that weird-ass name?"
Light relaxed at the man's words, though his brows furrowed as he thought. If it wasn't Beyond Birthday… who else would be making a microchip? "Not Beyond Birthday…? Then, who was it?" Light asked, wanting answers.
"Some chick, I think. Sounded like a woman, anyways. Didn't give a name, just said to refer to her as anonymous and that she'd be sending an associate to pick it up. Sure enough, next day, bloke comes and picks it up, pays in cash. Very suspicious, but I don't ask questions."
Could Beyond Birthday have disguised his voice to sound like a woman to make sure no one knew it was him? It was certainly possible- if Beyond was clever enough to turn L into what he was today, for Christsakes, he was intelligent enough to build a voice-scrambler like L- and now Light- used.
It was the only thing Light could think of.
"What did this associate look like?"
If it could give him a lead… if he could find the associate this man spoke of, perhaps it would help him to find out what was going on.
"Like any other Japanese man in this country. Short black hair, dark eyes, 5 feet, 8 inches- really nondescript sort of guy. Like, you'd see him once on the street and forget about him. Normal, nothing really remarkable about him. You done asking questions?"
Associate… Light's brows furrowed as he thought.
Watari had mentioned once that Beyond Birthday was a master of disguises. With the right makeup and materials, he could have changed his appearance to look like a totally different person, or paid someone to pick up the alloy he used to create the microchip.
Anything was possible with the psychopath, anything plausible, and it frustrated Light to know that he couldn't know exactly what Beyond Birthday had done. Of course, he could go ask the psychopath himself- and he made a mental note to do that later.
Not that it really mattered what means Beyond had used to get the alloy.
"Yes," Light said, realizing he had drifted away and the man was waiting for his reply. Oops.
"Right. I'll tell you the amount when you come to pick it up. Come to the supermarket off of 5th and 4th street downtown tomorrow at 5 in the afternoon- my deliverer'll be sitting on the bench outside, dressed in a black sweatshirt and holding a box. He'll tell you how much it is and give the order to you when you pay."
And then, the line disconnected and Light was left alone.
"Hey! Moikiro!" Misa waved as she spotted the slim, tall figure of her friend in the café of the local mall, signaling her over. They had agreed to meet here today so that Moikiro could give Misa her birthday present before leaving the country. Misa's friend had told her she was leaving to study law in America, but had wanted to give Misa her birthday present before she left, as she wouldn't be able to be there for the actual event, which was in a few days.
Moikiro smiled at her as she made her way to Misa's tale, setting a pink bag down next to her seat as she slid into her chair. "Hello, Misa," she greeted. "I'm afraid I don't have long- my plane is to leave here in a few hours and I have to go get checked in to the terminal. But here's your present," she said with a grin, picking up the bag and setting it onto the table.
"Yes!" Misa said happily, reaching out for it, only to draw her hand back as Moikiro slapped her wrist. "What was that for?" Misa pouted.
"You can only open it when you're in private," Moikiro told her, a stern glint in her eyes.
Misa grinned at that, fingering the tissue that was spilling out of the bag. "Oh, is it something naughty?"
Moikiro laughed, getting up as she did so and picking up her purse. "You'll have to see for yourself," Moikiro said, winking as she pushed her chair in. "I have to go, though. Catch you later!"
"Bye-bye!" Misa said, waving as she eyed her bag happily. Moikiro had promised her that her present would be a big surprise…
Laughing happily to herself, she picked it up and left the mall, heading back to her own apartment, where she set her purse down on the table and made her way into the living room. Sitting down cross-legged on the couch, she ripped the tissue paper away from the bag eagerly, tossing it off to the side as she reached in, to pull out a plastic bag with something in it.
"Hm?" Misa hummed, brows knitting as she turned the bag over. It was a black notebook set inside a Ziploc bag. "I wonder what the big surprise about this is…"
Shrugging, Misa opened the bag, turning it over so that the notebook fell onto the couch.
She set the bag aside, reached to pick up the notebook-
And began screaming as her fingertips touched the cover.
