.

Kagome, Kagome

Kagome, kagome,

Kago no naka no tori wa,

Itsu itsu deyaru?

Yoake no ban ni,

Tsuru to kame ga subetta.

Who is behind you now?

L's eyes could barely stay open. The pounding in his head continued relentlessly. This wasn't good. He needed to sleep. Without it, he couldn't focus. Without it, his emotions and thinking were a mess. What were two sleepless nights when you only had five days left to live? At least Light was receiving some morphine-induced sleep.

"Before you chained yourself to me, I just assumed you never slept," Light had told him before.

"Why?" L had asked.

"Well, under your eyes..."

L had shifted on top of the bed covers.

"I've always had dark circles under them. I have a photograph of my father… he also had them. So, I assume they're genetic. Although all the screen time probably makes it worse..."

He had never talked to anyone about his parents before. Not even a fleeting fact like that.

"You only saw him… in a photograph?"

"Both of my parents," L said quietly. "They passed away when I was three. I barely remember them."

Swallowing, Light hesitated. The quietness of the bedroom seemed more fitting at this moment than his voice, so he murmured, "I'm sorry."

It was the first time that L had never felt alone. And it just so happened that the person who didn't make him feel alone was also his main Kira suspect. He couldn't allow himself to expose any vulnerability, and yet he did. Had he already given up?

"I believe…" L whispered, "Kira killed their murderer three months ago… But I didn't feel anything. I feel like I should have felt something."

He knew that he couldn't kill Light. Therefore, he couldn't arrest him. He could only try and forgive him in the time that he had left to suffer his defeat. L always did what he wanted. That was, after all, the main reason why he was a detective. He wanted to bring people to justice, and so he did. Only this time, he didn't want to. Someone else would need to finish what he couldn't. Until then…

He frowned. Perhaps he had gotten tired of lying. Perhaps he was tired of hiding. Perhaps Light Yagami was going to devour him, and maybe he already was, because he was the same kind of person as L. When you start lying because you don't trust anyone, you become one of the monsters that you despise. It happens slowly, but L wasn't sure if he felt human anymore. Cold calculations, logic, smoke and mirrors, aliases, and a single letter "L" had become a comfort. A prison. A safe house.

"I think…" Light had said, "it's hard to feel anything when you're caught in the middle of so much chaos. Sometimes, our feelings just get buried under the weight of it all…"

Feelings? They were something L had decided to shut off a long time ago. It was easier that way. It was always better. Better than thinking about all the people that you'd lost. Some of them, you were indirectly or teetering on directly responsible for.

"Is that why you became a detective?" Light had asked him quietly.

"I don't know…" L muttered. "Why did you want to join the police force?"

Light had turned on his side so that he could look at L more closely.

Perhaps to check if L was alright.

Perhaps to analyze him. Gain his trust. Lie to him.

"I want to protect people," he said. "Just like my father. I've watched him spend every day of his life doing that. Even at home, he rarely takes a break. The more criminals I can apprehend, the more people I would be keeping safe. Everyone deserves to live in a safe world."

Kira even sounds more noble than you, L brushed the voice away.

"It takes more than just one person to change the world," L reminded him. L reminded Kira.

"Isn't that why we're working together?" Light had reminded him in return.

Light stirred now in the bed, and L glanced over from his laptop. The heart monitor was steady, and three drips were connected to him to keep him stable.

Morphine not only helped you sleep, but it also made your judgment lapse. L had been startled yesterday, but remembering that after the fact had put Light's words into perspective. It could have been completely unintentional that he had told L he had fallen for him. It might not have even been accurate. It might have been a joke that came out too serious. It could have been more manipulation.

Aren't you ignoring the obvious?

L shuffled on the chair.

These thoughts weren't welcome when there were more serious things to discuss and think about. Things that would decide the fate of the task force. Of himself. Of the world.

Kira was a person just like him. And he would do anything to get his way.

But why would Kira try to kill himself or risk his life when he had the perfect opportunity to take L's? Both weren't logical. The most sound conclusion since yesterday's event was that Light was not Kira. Kira, or someone acting as Kira, had controlled the person that had tried to kill him. Could it be an elaborate ploy to gain L's trust? Possible. But what was the point in gaining L's trust when Kira clearly had the chance to murder him and dispose of L completely? That knife could have plunged into L's body instead had Kira manipulated the events more carefully.

If Light isn't Kira… Head swirling, L reached for the charging cable on the table. Even the world's greatest detective couldn't avoid a notification of 'Battery: 10%. If your laptop isn't plugged into a power source soon, it will shut down.' He plugged it into the socket in the wall.

Either way, he'd known for a while that he wouldn't survive the Kira case. The new broadcast had only given him a countdown in real time, a new convenience for him to plan his final days.

Can't you just catch Kira sooner?

And where is he?

Closer than you think.

L itched at his sleeve.

"Don't tell anyone else that Light survived," L had instructed both Soichiro and Watari. "Except for the three of us, everyone else must believe that he died."

Soichiro's mouth had opened on the other end of the phone line. "But… Sachiko…?"

"Even his mother," L told him. "The hospital reports have been changed, and the doctors taking care of Light have been paid off. Not a murmur that he is alive. Understood?"

"Ryuzaki, unless my wife herself is a suspect, then there is no reason to -"

"-Thank you for your cooperation."

The line went dead.

With shaking hands, Soichiro stared at his cell phone. The call had ended.

"If Light isn't Kira," L had explained to him later, "then it's better if the real Kira thinks that he's dead. After all, why would Kira kill a dead person? If you want to save your son, then this gives him, and perhaps only him, a chance to survive whatever Kira chooses to do next. He needs to disappear. And, because of this, we have an advantage. An invisible piece that we can move across the board."

"You're doing this… to keep him safe…"

"Yes."

"Does this mean you no longer suspect him?"

"I want to prepare for every possibility."

Sachiko had almost drowned in tears on the living room floor. Soichiro had never heard such a painful sound escape her lips as he heard that evening. He held her. His face was twisted with his own guilt. He never liked to lie, and this was the cruelest lie that he could have ever given his wife. If she found out the truth later, that Light had survived, he didn't know if she would ever forgive him.

A coffee shop near Shibuya Station, the one on the corner of Shibuya and Inokashira. L had found it. He'd reviewed the surveillance footage of the night that Aiko had made contact with someone who claimed that they were close to Kira. The footage was grainy, but he was able to make some sort of profile.

A man. With a slightly rugged demeanor. A scarf and a coat. Dark hair and glasses that glare in the footage. He was careful not to show his face and had the hood of his coat drawn up. He was seated at a small table at the back of the cafe. He seemed relaxed but hadn't interacted with any other customers. He had occasionally glanced around the cafe. When he and Aiko met, their exchange had been brief. 6.43 minutes, to be exact. Aiko had left, and she had been clutching something that looked like an A4 folder under her arm. By the time she appeared in the footage at Shibuya station, it looked like she had folded it over, then passed it to Takashi Akiyama. She boarded the last train to Shinjuku via the JR Yamanote Line at 12:35 am.

L tried to enhance the image of the man that Aiko had met with, but it seemed that he knew exactly how to avoid being identified by a CCTV camera. Frustrated, L snapped the laptop shut and asked Watari to find every available footage of this man—public and private—and trace back every single one of his footsteps.

He decided not to bother Light with the details until he woke up again. Light slowly opened his eyes.

"I need to work."

"You need to rest."

"You can't. Rest."

"Give me a computer."

"No," L said it firmly. Maybe too firmly. "Kira doesn't know you survived. I'd like to keep it that way. I don't want you to do anything."

Light stared at him. "What are you saying?"

"I'm saying pretend to be dead and recover."

Light opened his mouth, then closed it. It was hard to think with pain medication clouding his mind. He tried to grasp onto logical thought. He started removing the drips. Pain would return, but at least his mind would be clear. Feeling L's hand grip his arm, he hesitated.

"Let go of me."

"Light, calm down."

"How many days have passed?"

"Since the broadcast? Two."

"There are five more, and you expect me to just sit here?"

"Lie there. That's exactly what you'll do."

If Light had more energy, he would have grabbed L's shirt and shoved him. "I'm not just going to sit here and wait for Kira to murder everyone."

"Lie." L repeated, as if that was a key point. "I don't think I need to tell you that you could reopen the wound if you move, or your lung could collapse. You also have internal bleeding. The fluids in your arm are regulating your blood pressure."

After fixing the drips, L stared hard at him. "With the exception of Watari and Soichiro Yagami, no one else knows you survived. Unless you also want to defy your father and destroy all of his work, and all the work we've done so far to catch Kira, I suggest you listen."

"Only Watari and my father know?" Light repeated, alarm kicking in.

"Yes."

"You mean they're the only ones who know from the task force?"

"I mean they are the only ones who know," L repeated, his tone steely. "If Kira thinks he's already killed you, he won't try to kill you again. Everyone else is mourning you. So if you die now, you'll never get the chance to punch me for it or tell them you're still alive."

Staring at him, Light breathed, "My family...?"

"Yes," L confirmed the unfinished question. My family thinks I'm dead too?

Closing his eyes, Light took in a shaky, unsteady breath. His eyes barely wanted to move, but he forced them open again after some time, after he felt L move to the bed beside him. L propped his laptop up on his knees, at an angle that Light could see while lying down.

Being next to each other on the bed had become so normal, but the closeness still brought its own conflicts. If he tried to grasp at something real, would he be able to hold onto it? If he could, would he see it in full color, or would it turn into grey ash betrayal in his hands, falling through his fingers?

L's shoulder was soon the resting place for Light's head. His auburn hair was a mess, his lips dry and slightly cracked, and L hesitated.

"That means you still have to be alive too," Light said quietly. "For when I get angry at you about this."

Expression wavering between a smile and a frown, L moved some of his hair aside. "Can you see?"

"Yeah..."

Crawling all over his skin and shadowing every one of Light's moves was doubt. Light Yagami might still be Kira. L had believed it for so long, the evidence so meticulously leading to him that it was almost impossible to dismiss. The thought of Light as Kira had become ingrained in every atom of him.

L leaned back slightly, his dark eyes scrutinizing Light. "There's also something else I've been meaning to ask you about Misa Amane." He hesitated. "Why did you start dating her?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Light sighed. "We just have so much in common."

"Meaning?"

"Ryuzaki, it's a joke."

"Hm."

Frowning, L opened the file he'd created to track what had been happening since Kira's countdown. It contained a mix of voice and text notes, drawings, dates, and snippets of evidence. Perhaps if he were more organized, he could make reports, but such things were usually a waste of time and effort and an insult to human intellect.

"Misa was more like a stalker who wouldn't leave me alone," Light admitted slowly. "It was getting awkward, and she kept showing up everywhere. At first, I thought if I agreed to date her, she might lose interest eventually. Maybe if I was a bad boyfriend, she'd get bored and move on."

"But that didn't happen," L noted.

"No," Light admitted, frustration evident in his voice. "It only got worse. She became more obsessed, more clingy. It wasn't the first time a girl was obsessed with me, but Misa was different. It was weird, even by usual standards."

"Weird how?"

"She was relentless. Her devotion was almost... fanatical. No matter how distant I tried to be, she just latched on tighter," Light explained, his brow furrowing as he remembered. "It was like nothing I did could push her away."

L considered this. "And you never suspected she might be connected to Kira in some way?"

"Why would I have even considered that? I had no idea she might be involved in something bigger."

"Yet her actions and proximity to you can't be ignored," L said thoughtfully. "If she was manipulated by Kira, it would explain her erratic behavior and unwavering devotion."

"That's a disturbing thought," Light murmured. "To think someone could be used so easily..."

Light's expression became troubled, and silence fell between them. His eyes drooped, the exhaustion and medication trying to pull him back towards sleep. Light refused. L watched him for a moment, then turned his attention back to his laptop, the glow of the screen reflecting in his dark eyes.

"You're also the one who told me to stay close to her," Light reminded him after a while. "Maybe what I did before wasn't the right choice. But I have no interest in her."

Being human came with a heaviness. A heaviness that could sometimes crush you. That heaviness had the power to destroy you in moments or years.

"If we only have five days, I'm just going to say it plainly," Light told him. "You're the person I'm interested in. If I weren't a guy... or your main Kira suspect, I probably would have told you that before. Before," wincing slightly, Light tried to shift, "you chained yourself to me. Although... you wouldn't have chained yourself to me if I weren't your suspect. I couldn't exactly tell you, after all, you'd feel uncomfortable sharing such close space with me. So, I didn't say anything. Even I started to doubt if I wasn't Kira. I couldn't jeopardize the whole investigation for something so irrelevant to the case. If I was Kira, I deserved to be brought to justice. If I wasn't... I'm not... I mean," Biting down, Light struggled with his thoughts. L knew he probably wanted to pull the morphine out again, so his gaze flicked back to Light to make sure he wasn't getting any ideas. Their gazes met.

L hesitated, his mind racing. "It's… conflicting," he admitted quietly. "I've spent so long believing you're Kira that it's difficult to even consider that you're not."

Light's eyes searched L's face, a flicker of confusion crossing his features. "You still think I'm Kira?"

"I don't know," L confessed, his voice barely a whisper. "I want to believe you're not. But…"

"But what?"

"But it's hard to ignore the evidence. The way you've acted, the things you've said... it all fits."

There was a moment of heavy silence. "Do you think you'll ever be able to trust me?" he asked softly.

"I don't know,"

"Then after we catch Kira," Light swallowed, "and if both of us are still alive, you really will keep yourself chained to me, huh?"

L let out a breath of amusement. Barely.

If we're both still alive. Light had just risked his own life to save his, and L still couldn't believe that he wasn't Kira? L knew his own stubborness was deep, but even he had to admit it wasn't logical. More than that, Light had also been burying what L hadn't wanted to admit the whole time. The moment L had met Light Yagami, was the moment that he also knew that he would lose.

But before he could respond, his phone buzzed on the bedside table. Glancing at it, he saw a new message from Watari.

Another broadcast.

L's eyes widened as he read the message. The TV mounted on the wall flickered to life. His finger hovered over the 'Power on' button on the remote, and the familiar darkened logo of Kira's broadcast appeared on the screen in the corner of the windowless room.

The screen displayed a shadowy figure shrouded in darkness, with only a distorted voice emanating from the speaker.

"Good evening," the voice echoed coldly through the room. "I am Kira, and I am here to deliver a message. As you all know, the world is plagued by crime and corruption. Justice has become a farce, manipulated by those in power."

L's pulse quickened.

"Tonight, I am making a statement," the person claiming to be Kira continued. "Now that the previous Kira is gone, I want to tell you that it is not merely enough to end lives. I am here to disrupt the very foundation of your...so-called justice system. You have placed witnesses and informants on pedestals, believing they are untouchable. I will show you the fragility of your system."

The broadcast cut to a live feed of a courtroom. The camera zoomed in on a terrified witness sitting on the stand, their face pale and eyes wide with fear. The witness glanced around nervously, clearly sensing the danger.

The person's voice resumed, tinged with a menacing edge. "This is the price of defiance. If you dare to challenge me, if you dare to believe that you are safe, remember this moment. You are not."

The screen cut to a close-up of the witness, who was visibly trembling. A piece of paper was held up to the camera, on which was scrawled a message:

"Kira sees all. You still have 5 days."

The screen went black, and the broadcast ended with a flicker.

L's mind raced. Kira's message was clear: he wasn't just killing anymore—he was actively sabotaging the justice system, targeting witnesses to create chaos and fear. This new strategy was a direct challenge to the integrity of the legal system and a blatant display of power.

"Now that the previous Kira is gone."

Everyone thinks Light Yagami is dead.

L's face went pale. He glanced back at Light. Confusion was etched onto every part of Light's face. He had already made the connection too. Of course he had.

"Ryuzaki - ! L, I'm not - !"

L slid off the bed. He didn't look at Light, and he disconnected the laptop cable from the wall.

As he was at the door, he felt a weak hand on his shoulder, and he jerked back.

"Light Yagami, do not come near me," he warned.

Clutching at his side, Light felt the pain surging through him. It didn't matter. What mattered more was that L paid attention to him right now.

The drips lay on the floor somewhere behind him. One of them had ripped out of his arm. But he held L and forced him to look at him. His grip was weak, strong, urgent.

"I think it's someone on the task force," Light told him. "I knew you wouldn't believe me. That's why I didn't tell you before. I think I've been set up. From the start, someone's made me look like a suspect. Someone with inside information. Someone who knew me before. Someone who knew I'd fit the profile perfectly." He yelled desperately. "You're right, everything matches up. Even I'm not going to admit that it doesn't. But I am not Kira!"

L shook him off.

'Check Yagami', L messaged to Watari as he left the room.