Code Light Chapter 2:What's in a Name?

Lelouch Lamperouge. Light pondered over the name. He had been ordered not to speak or write the name, but apparently he could think it perfectly well. However, he wished to test the ability of Lelouch's power.
"Violet-eyes." Light declared to his empty room. He sat stunned for a second. A fluke, due to the fact that Violet-eyes had been internalized as his label? He tried again.
"Violet-eyes." Indeed it seemed that Lelouch's order held integrity. But that meant this was not just an order, but a physically manifested compulsion. Once more, full name this time.
"Violet-eyes Lamperouge." Hold on, he could speak his last name! Perhaps the semantics of name only referred to the first name. Perhaps his last name was false? No that couldn't be it, Lamperouge was used on all school documents, meaning it was his official name. Or was someone higher up concealing his identity? Discovering these things would be difficult, too many variables. He opened up his backpack and removed a sheet of paper and attempted to write. The first word turned into an utter mess, but Lamperouge turned out fine. Then he attempted writing one letter at a time. He completed the whole name with triumph, until he looked at it again. 'The Couch' Lamperouge. Apparently the command completely overrode his thought process. Feeling uncharacteristically frustrated, Light placed his notebook back in his bag when he remembered. He picked out the Death Note and placed it on the table. It was silly, writing someone's name couldn't just kill them. But could it? Light's thinking and ability to speak had just been rewritten by the mere words of a person. At this point he really wished he could write Lelouch's name in the note. However, the notebook never said anything about it being either the full name or even the legal name. Light thought a second before writing in the notebook. If it was real, it would hold great power and surely people would be after him if he were to cull the entire world of evil, he could not learn all of their names and faces instantly. However if it did work, then no one would notice a single student disappearing and it certainly couldn't be traced back to him. Lelouch would do as a test subject. He hoped semantics worked in his favor and wrote in the Death Note as he called Lelouch. Violet-eyes Lamperouge. Luckily Lelouch picked up.

"Hello Ashford Academy student council, this is Lelouch." He sounded calm and there was a shower running in the background.

"Hey, this is Light. I was calling to see what it would take to join the student council. It would be good for my resume, me being an Eleven and all." 40 seconds, Light thought looking at his watch. Just delay him a few more seconds.
"Oh, uh, you should talk to Milly Ashford, she's the president." 40 seconds had passed. Nothing. But there did seem to be a sudden tension in his voice, as if this call had thrown a monkey wrench into some plan.
"Well, I guess I'll let you go then, Violet-eyes Lamperouge." Light smashed his phone shut and nearly screamed. How had he messed that last bit up so badly, he'd nearly made a full assessment when he said Violet-eyes Lamperouge! With Lelouch's intelligence he would likely be able to divine all of the limitations that Light himself had just discovered. Compounding that was the nickname Violet-eyes. Light felt incredibly stupid and embarrassed. His battle with Lelouch would not be an easy one.

Lelouch hurriedly handed Kallen the phone. Why had Light called him? The oversight in his command... nothing! The order should have left him without need to contact him. Lelouch would have admitted that Light just happened to call about the student council, if he had not said Violet-eyes Lamperouge at the end. Most likely he had tried to say 'Lelouch' but unable to say that defaulted to Violet-eyes. However Light being able to say Lamperouge was even more disconcerting. Did Light know it was a false name and if so did he discover that he was royalty? Or did it just so happen that it was the power itself that recognized that Lamperouge wasn't his true last name. But the compulsion should have avoided the incident entirely, but Light had managed to circumvent the order. The only way he could have done that was if he had been prepared and there was no time when Light could have seen the effects other than the Shinjuku ghetto incident... and when he questioned Kallen! Lelouch's theory made sense now. If Light had been nearby, he was sure that it would be a few steps of logic for Light to conclude a good deal of his powers' abilities. But if he heard the conversation Kallen could become a liability. He glanced over for a second, but Kallen was still occupied with his prerecorded message. If Light knew what he could do he could reveal him to Kallen, ruining his current plan. However that certainly was difficult for Light, who obviously couldn't even say his name. Satisfied with his musings on the Light situation for now, he pretended to be paying attention

"Cease fire?" He asked her

Light mused about what he should do next. Another subject was needed, one he could actually write the name of. Turning on the TV, he flipped through the channels.

"Honorary Brittanian Suzaku Kururugi is suspected of killing Prince Clovis." Light opened the Death Note then paused. Even if it might not work, it was likely that this Kururugi was innocent and merely a scapegoat for the Brittanians. He tried to change the channel, but every channel aired the same thing. Turning off the television and opening his computer, he searched the internet for live broadcasts. Luckily he found one airing the recapture of an escaped convict. Donovan Haliburton, Light wrote. Convicted of numerous killings of civilians and accused for the deaths of several political figureheads. And after 40 seconds, he died. Certainly, he had a weapon against Lelouch, but how to utilize it. After thinking it over Light put those thoughts behind him. A small personal grudge was nothing to the power he wielded now. First he would eliminate the criminals of this world. Then the God of Justice would turn his eye to Lelouch Lamperouge.

Lelouch was becoming worried. The media reported hundreds of criminals were dying every day, every single one of them from heart attacks. There was something strange about this, it seemed incredibly planned. This would prove troubling as his alias Zero had much power grounded in theatrics and attention grabbing. If he was written off as some side-show, it would certainly be easier to defeat the incompetent commanders but bringing the rest of Japan to his cause would be that much more difficult. Perhaps he could get someone to investigate the case. After quickly searching he sent a message to the world's second best detective.

Eraldo Coil - Find L.

"That's why I call him Violet-eyes." Shirley chuckled, and Light laughed along with her. It was child's play to get into the student council, now it would be much easier to investigate Lelouch. Explaining why he never actually called him by his real name was a more elaborate story.

"So," he started "How long have you known Violet-eyes?" He tried easing into the conversation. Interrogating Shirley about Lelouch wouldn't go well.

"Oh, well I've known him since freshman year but..." She drifted off a little.

"Do you hang out a lot? You seem to know a bit about him."

"Not as much as I'd like to." Shirley muttered softly, before stammering "I mean, uh, yes, since we're on the student council there's a lot to be done together!" Shirley grew red in the face and a bit flustered when she saw Light smiling.

"Seems like there might be a bit more between you two than..." Light was getting somewhere now. If the feelings were reciprocated perhaps she could be used as leverage.

"No there's not!" Her face now turned a brilliant shade of red and Light let out a real laugh. "Stop laughing at me!"

"Hey, what's going on in here?" Lelouch entered the room "Oh. Light." he stated flatly. Light decided to play the odds.

"Shirley and I were just talking about how how she feels about..." Shirley shrieked and clapped her hand over his mouth. Lelouch seemed rather baffled at this turn of events.

"We were just talking about how I feel about Kira!" She flubbed an excuse.

"And who is Kira?" Lelouch asked

"Oh come now, Violet." Shirley snickered. That was good, forget what just happened girl. "You must have been watching the news. Kira is the alias given to the one that's supposedly killing all the criminals in the world" Lelouch frowned at light before speaking.

"Actually, no. This Kira fellow seems to be nothing but a mass murderer, killing all he deems unfit. I've been looking at more local news, like Zero. They say he's attempting to free Japan. He's a lot more newsworthy if you ask me."

Light looked at Lelouch, who looked back at him. The suspicion of each other was nearly tangible. Lelouch could not compel him to reveal his identity anymore, however he could not just write Lelouch in his Death Note. There was no such thing as a perfect crime and Light would not forsake justice on the rest of the world for Lelouch, who may or may not be Zero. But Light Yagami was destined to be God of the new world, no human, no matter the tricks would be allowed to best him.

"Is something wrong?" Shirley asked, as the two both looked to her.

"Oh no, nothing! Nothing at all!" They both smiled gently. Lelouch took the lead in their tango of lies.

"We're just a little tense because I'm planning to let Light play chess for me."

"Lulu! You know you shouldn't gamble with those sorts of people! It's dangerous!" So, Lelouch gambled on chess games with dangerous people. A bit of a thrill-seeker possibly, or was it something to pass the time. Anyhow it was his turn.

"Honestly, I've never been one for chess. Lelouch is really into it though, so I guess I'm giving it a shot." Nothing he just said was actually false. Lelouch apparently did like chess and dragged him into playing the game. Light never liked it because although chess may be known as the quintessential strategy game, it was not real. The rules of life were neither fair nor constrained. Defeat would come easily to all who believed that to be the case.

"Please Light, try to keep Lelouch away from dangerous things like that." Shirley pleaded. Light just gave a knowing smile.

"I'll do my best."