Chapter 4: Heresy
L read through Matsuda's report with equal parts irritation and intrigue. The young detective was thorough, but spent too much time on his own conjectures rather than simply relaying the facts. Had Light really been on a romantic outing with a girl? That wasn't the Light Yagami he knew. Matsuda would be the type to read too much into such an encounter though, especially given it's a celebrity. It's entirely possible that the meeting was platonic in nature and he simply projected onto it.
L took a sip of his drink, tea today. Could I be overthinking things? Light Yagami is a young male and this girl is a model. Romantic or not, a meeting between them is well within reason if he is innocent. If he is Kira though, he wouldn't waste time on a girl, not the Kira I know. Could she be the second Kira? Not likely, if they could contact each other without leaving a trace to arrange this meeting, they would've had no reason to risk meeting. Could it be a distraction, just an innocent girl used to confuse me?
There was a buzzing sound. L casually reached down and plucked his phone with two fingers, not bothering to look away from the screen. It was Watari, as expected. "Ryuzaki, the task-force is assembled and waiting for you. "
"Thank you." Well Light, it's clear that I've been passive for too long. Let's see if your counterpart is ready for us to take the offensive. He stood up and moved towards the door separating his room from the rest of the suite. And if you really somehow aren't Kira, it's time to see how good of a detective you'll make.
When L entered the room, the other task-force members were standing in a semicircle. Matsuda stood silent at one end, opposite Light. It was good he was taking his assignment seriously, though L was sure Light had noticed the tail.
"Now, I am sure you're all wondering why I called this meeting." L paced around, watching Light out of the corner of his eye as he spoke. "The fact is I have made an error." Was that satisfaction Light? No, he's too composed to slip that easily. "I had thought the best tactic would be to watch and wait for Kira, or his copycat, to slip up in some way. This has clearly proved fruitless. Luckily, I have been able to prepare a new strategy, one that is a bit more active."
L sat down and gazed at the laptop monitor for a moment before continuing. "All of our greatest breaks in this case so far have been thanks to Kira's childish nature and fragile ego." Does it anger you to hear that Light? His eyes remained glued to the boy in the reflection of his screen. "Therefor it follows that the best way to gain ground is to provoke Kira once more."
The elder Yagami immediately spoke up. "But Ryuzaki, didn't you yourself say that provoking Kira would be dangerous and likely cause him to kill more in response?"
"Yes that is a very real danger, however I have taken multiple precautions to limit the possibility of that result. If Kira does in fact choose to retaliate, I believe it will be limited to his normal victim pool."
"You can set up the broadcast, and already have I'd guess, what do you need us for?" Light received surprised looks from the detectives around him.
L cut into a piece of cake. "You are correct Light. I do not precisely need help from any of you, but there are roles you can play which would greatly increase the chance of success." L took a bite of the strawberry cake and chewed it thoughtfully for a moment.
"My plan is to broadcast a message and impersonate Kira." As expected, everyone in the room, even the younger Yagami, was surprised by that.
L held up one hand, fork still dangling between his fingers. "We will air a message from Kira directed at his copycat. It will say something along the lines of: 'I know you exist. I appreciate your support, but I demand you follow my orders and code. If you agree to these conditions, stop your killings until you can contact me.' Both Kiras are certain to take notice of this and, if all goes well, they will slip up in some way in their reactions."
Soichiro took advantage of L's pause for breath. "With all due respect Ryuzaki, you're the only one of us who believes in this second Kira. Besides, why would anyone believe this is an actual message from Kira and not just another hoax?"
"To address your second question, we will be providing proof." L clicked a few times on the computer and brought up an image of a middle-aged man's face. "Over the last few days I have arranged for a trial to be televised at 18:00 this Wednesday. I have arranged it so this man, a con man that goes by the name Aiber, will play the role of an accused murderer. In our broadcast, we will name a time of death for him, and at that time he will fake a heart attack."
L stared at Light's reflection in the picture. Light, I'm sure you'll be able to piece together his real name from the information I left in his files. I wonder if you'll take the bait. L made sure not to mention the fact that Aiber would be under close medical observation in the intervening days. If Aiber dies before the trial, there will be no doubt left.
"Then, to answer your other statement, this experiment will yield valuable information no matter the outcome." L raised one hand and help up three fingers. "There are three possibilities." He lowered two dramatically. "The first is that you are correct and there is only one Kira. In that case, he will obviously see through our scheme instantly. Of course, the Kira I know would have a hard time resisting such a chance to taunt us in some way. Ideally it would be through a similar broadcast or other physical message, giving us the physical proof needed to start building a case when the time comes." Unless it is Light, in which case I doubt he'll risk delivering a response while monitored.
The second finger rose again. "The second option is that there are two Kiras, but they have not yet contacted each other. If that is the case, then the first and second Kiras will both at least suspect the video might be from the other. One or both will try to find some way to respond, if only to make sure the other doesn't send more messages, ideally letting us catch both in the same net."
L held up his third finger while grabbing a doughnut from the nearby tray with his other hand. "Then there is the last, and by far most dangerous, possibility. If there are two Kiras and they are in contact already, they will immediately know the video is a ploy on our part. The response here is harder to predict as it will largely depend on the nature of the second Kira. So far he has bean careful and consistent, to the point where there is no certainty whether he exists or not."
L carefully licked frosting off his fingers as he spoke. "Such a person would likely refrain from sending a message. Still, Kira isn't the type to accept orders from another. Ideally this could drive a wedge between them, but I doubt it. I'd say the most likely response would be for them to stay completely silent, especially if they don't know we suspect a second Kira."
"If the goal is to anger Kira like you said, wouldn't it be easier to fake the death of an innocent? You have said yourself that he sees himself as being on the side of justice, and it wouldn't require the trial to be set up." Aizawa interjected, somewhat softer than he normally spoke.
L opened his mouth to respond, but Light stole the words. "No. It would definitely anger Kira more, but if a second Kira is out there it could inspire them to loosen their own code to extend to innocents as well."
"Precisely." He turned back to gaze at the younger Yagami. "Light, you already seem to have grasped my plan quite well. That is why I'd like you to play the part of Kira on the tape." Was that really such a surprise Light?
"I thought you or Watari would've wanted to record it yourselves." The show of discomfort Light made felt slightly too obvious.
"Both me and Watari have communicated with the police and public before in the past. Even with voice filters, there's a chance of some quirk of our delivery being noticed, especially since neither of us are native Japanese speakers; this is Kira we're trying to trick after all." L climbed from the chair and approached the boy. "I can understand you being uncomfortable with such a role given my suspicions of you, but I can assure you that played no factor in making this decision." I wonder Light, can you read lies as well as you tell them?
The teenager made a perfect show of a young man making a difficult decision. Always so perfect, L thought bitterly. "I'll do it."
"Excellent, we can start working on the script immediately. Please come up with some excuse for your absence from home for the next few days, I would like-"
"Ryuzaki wait, you said you had roles for us in this too." Matsuda interjected. Sometimes his desire to be useful was beneficial, and sometimes it was annoying. L wasn't certain which it was this time.
"Ah yes. Well, I won't dance around this, I'd like to hold your cover identities hostage." L made sure to keep talking before they could start interrupting him. "If this message were from Kira, he would use hostages to make sure we didn't intercept or interrupt it. Hardened criminals don't make very good hostages, so the only other option would be the team investigating him. That would in turn deter the second Kira from taking his own, likely innocent, hostages if he responds."
"Why not just use completely fabricated names and claim they are part of the task-force?" Ukita asked.
Light spoke up first. "Kira is almost certainly investigating the task-force and the police in general. He would likely see through any newly fabricated names, but your aliases have been in use for some time." Once again, exactly what I would've said Light.
"In addition, I had Watari set up backgrounds for your false identities, though I took the liberty of removing all attached pictures as soon as the unnamed victims began to appear. The risk should be minimal, but still I will not force any of you to endanger your lives this way." As expected, all the detectives quickly volunteered themselves. Soichiro also immediately forbade Light from ever agreeing to any kind of similar risk should it come up in the investigation.
"Now, as I was saying Light, you will need to make up some excuse for your absence over the next few days as-"
"You still suspect that I am Kira and want to keep an eye on me."
"Yes." L replied without hesitation. "Don't worry, I will be making use of your help. Otherwise I'd have found a more believable pretense."
Light sighed, another painfully perfect expression. "I hope you'll trust me eventually." The young man took his phone and walked to the other room. L moved to listen to the conversation.
He called multiple people, giving excuses for a multiple day absence, usually citing school work of some kind. L paid attention to all of them, but it was the last call that caught his interest. "Misa, something came up with my father's health and I'll be busy for a few days. I usually keep my schedule planned out a week in advance, so I'll make sure to find time to see you again as soon as possible." There were some muffled words in response. "I'll give him your best wishes. Don't worry, I'm certain you can handle the report on your own."
"I have faith in you Misa."
Author's Note:
Ironically this had the opposite problem of the last two chapters. Whereas it was hard to write dialogue for Misa and Light because there were rather few important things that they could communicate subtly, here there are simply so many things L could think and say that I had to cut a lot of it due to it ending up feeling like repetitious exposition (which I do hope I avoided while still explaining the plan sufficiently).