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Chapter 8

L

Seconds seemed like minutes and minutes in turn seemed like hours for him. He tried his best to keep himself calm, to keep himself focused on the matter at hand, but even he was human. He wasn't perfect. He couldn't stop himself from shivering slightly, nor could he stop himself from turning his right hand into a fist. The very same hand he had used to write the name of his now deceased girlfriend and the bus driver. His breathing also became a bit more accelerated, but nothing that none of them would notice, or at least he hoped.

Light walked slowly, slower than he intended, towards the nearest unoccupied couch, before managing to sit down. He wasn’t sure how much longer his legs would allow him to keep on standing. Still, he ignored everyone else in that room, everybody, except the man he was sure he had killed a few hours ago. His eyes locked onto those of L’s for a moment, while L just stared for a bit before grabbing a nearby cup of coffee and drinking a bit.

“This coffee is marvelous Mrs. Yagami, if only I were allowed to bring you back to headquarters with us so you could serve it to us when ever we were to need a little boost.” L spoke as he took another sip of from the cup, completely ignoring the younger man who had to use all of his inner strength to control himself from strangling the detective.

‘He’s... ignoring me... Damn him!’ Light thought to himself as he closed his eyes for a moment, reopening the quickly. ‘I must calm down, something’s not right here. He looks just like Rue, same style, same clothes... even that same way of sitting... But, he’s different.’

As Light looked on, studying the man before him, L just took his time as he finished drinking his coffee. Soichiro tried his best to keep calm, but found it easier when he saw that his son was apparently acting normally. Sayu just stared at the weird man that seemed to work alongside her father, both awed and a bit disgusted at his “habits”, while Sachiko just looked on. L finished his coffee, licking his lips in the process, before turning to face Light once again.

“No then Light-kun, part of the reason I’m actually here is so that I could have a few words with you.” Light stiffened as L spoke, sensing both similarities and differences in the way he spoke compared to how Rue spoke.

This man spoke calmly, emotionlessly, almost to the point you couldn’t even tell what his true intentions were. The other, however, almost always spoke in a form of sarcasm, expertly blended in with mock politeness that one would have trouble telling it apart. The two, however, shared the same type of vocabulary, as well as many facial traits as they spoke.

‘This is no coincidence. They can’t be the same person. No matter how good a person can act, this is just way too much.’ Light shifted in his seat, an action not unnoticed by L. ‘I had my suspicions that Rue could have survived that little crash, since the other woman, Shoko, was surely close by, but still... Are they twins... no, they’re not identical. But one of them could be disguising themselves slightly, but... what would the point of that be, either you're in disguise or not, he’s not that stupid.’

‘What are you thinking about Light? You seem... troubled.’ L thought as he kept on staring at the younger man, hardly even blinking. ‘I wonder, what have you been up to Beyond...’

“Light-kun?” L’s monotone voice brought Light’s attention back to the matter at hand. Light just lifted his sight, meeting L’s in the process, while L continued to speak. “What’s wrong? You look like you’ve seen a ghost...”

‘Now he’s mocking me...’ Light just inwardly sighed, opting to shift in his seat yet again. “Oh, I’m sorry about that.” Light spoke up, his voice back to its usual and calm manor. Even L had to admit he hadn’t expected Light to speak so casually so suddenly. “It’s just that I’ve had a bit of a long and tiring day, I’m just a little out of it. I apologize for it... So then, what was it you wanted to speak with me about?”

‘Quite a little b*****d, aren’t you...’ L just looked on, seeing that this was going to take a little bit more time than what he had wanted. Still, part of him felt slightly... interested in this new development. “I believe you’ve heard of the Kira case, correct? I’m here about that.”

“Kira? Of course, who hasn’t.” Light spoke up, smiling slightly. “It’s rather common, Mr... ehm, Mr...”

“My name’s Hideki Ryuga, but since I’m here on police business, you can refer to me as Ryuzaki.” L gave a small smile while Light cringed on the inside. Still, he refused to show it.

"Right, Ryuzaki. Still, I don’t see how I can be much help. While I have helped the police with petty crimes and minor cases, this is a little bit, beyond my limits...” Light spoke, carefully studying the older man without it being too obvious. ‘What are you playing at here...’

‘Nice choice of words...’ L thought, particularly at his choice of using the word ‘beyond’. Still, he was ninety percent sure it had been coincidental, just another one of fate’s occasional jokes. Even so, he couldn’t help but grin. “On the contrary, I believe you may be more help than what you think. Call it instinct or whatever, I honestly believe you’ll be one of the ones there the moment we capture Kira.”

At this moment, Sachiko stiffened, upon hearing what she though she had heard. Moving slightly to intervene in the conversation and to try to stop this "Ryuzaki" from involving her son in such a case was stopped by Soichiro, who placed an arm on her shoulders, shacking his head. Sayu just blinked, a bit confused on just what was that was going on.

“Listen, I’d be honored to be able to contribute my part into helping catch Kira, since I really don’t approve of what he’s doing, but even so...”

“The more people that contribute, the better it is... that’s they way things are.” It was L’s turn to shift in his seat, while Light just looked on. “Carelessly, justice will prevail in the end, all we must do is prevent as many deaths as possible before then.”

‘I agree... justice will prevail, my justice.’ Light shifted his eyes to meet those of his father’s who seemed to be rather focused on him. His mother and sister, however, seemed more focused on the other man, much to the ignorance of said man. “A bit philosophical if I do say so myself, but I agree. Like I said, I’d be ho-”

A ringing noise interrupted Light, as he soon figured the cause of the ring. L took out his cell phone, holding onto it in a rather peculiar manor, another thing that reminded him of Rue, before answering it. “Hello.”

Despite trying his best to overhear the conversation, all that Light managed to hear from the other line were inaudible gibberish. He wasn’t given much opportunity thought, as L hung up the phone as soon as he had picked it up. “It seems like my ride is here.” L spoke up as he lifted himself from his crouched down position, stepping of the couch, and onto the floor. Turning his attention to Soichiro, L spoke. “You may stay here for tonight Mr. Yagami, but I expect you back at headquarters by tomorrow before noon.”

“Understood.” Was Soichiro’s sole reply as L gave a small farewell to the other members of the family and walked out of the house. It didn’t take Light long to lift himself of as well and follow L outside.

“Ryuzaki.”

“Yes.” L spoke as he turned around, having on foot on the interior of his limousine already. “Is something on your mind Light-kun?”

“Not really, it’s just...” Light stopped briefly, as his mind raced. “I’ve met someone who reminds me of you, particularly in the choice of wardrobe.”

‘Smart...’ L thought as the younger boy spoke, nodding slightly. ‘You probably have it figured that I know you met up with B previously, so you tell me about it so that you don’t seem to be purposely hiding it. Not bad...’

“You must be referring to Rue Ryuzaki, correct.” L hoped to see some sort of reaction from the other man, but said man gave none. He had to give him credit for it.

“Yeah, that’s the guy. I met up with him a few days ago after I brought my dad some lunch he had called for. For a minute, I mistook you for him.” Light now waited for an answer, some sort of clue on who was who. If L was pondering the question, he gave no emotion.

“I suppose its easy to mistake the two of us, but I assure you were not the same. As a matter of fact, I haven’t seen him in a while. We’ve been... busy.”

“I guess that’s... understandable.”

With no more words spoken, L made his way into the limousine and closed the door, leaving Light there to ponder the current situation. Before the limousine began to move the window where L had been seated slowly opened up, as the man in question shifted his head to look at the younger man. "By the way... I'm L."

As the window closed and the limousine slowly drove away, Light could feel the grin of L's face as he just looked on. For lack of a better response, Light had chosen to remain quiet, while pondering whether this guy was the real L or not.

“Now that was interesting, bet you didn’t expect that, did you Light?” Ryuk spoke as hovered next to Light, while Light just narrowed his eyes. Looking with the corner of his eye, seeing that no members of his family were currently within hearing range, he spoke to his Shinigami companion.

“L... and Rue Ryuzaki as well... There not the same person then, nor are they related. I was almost fooled...” Ryuk just looked on as Light gave a small smile. “You figured that out so quickly, not bad.”

‘Actually Ryuk... I was uncertain. But you aren’t, are you. You saw both their names with your Shinigami Eyes, so you now they’re neither the same nor related. Really Ryuk, you’re like a child sometimes, so easy to get information out of.’ Light turned and began to walk back into his home, as the Shinigami behind him followed. ‘I need to start getting my act together. These two might be troublesome. Still... I’ve got a few tricks left that might just work...’

-

‘So... you made your move already, eh?’

Beyond looked on from a bit afar, his back rested against a light pole than brightened the otherwise dark and gloomy area. Having arrived at the scene just a few minutes ago, he hadn’t been able to get a good view on just who it was Light Yagami had been speaking to, since said person had already entered the limousine by the time Beyond could take a close enough look. Still, he knew deep down L had made his move, since if by this time L hadn’t begun to suspect Light as Kira, then Beyond saw no point in this rivalry. Still, he had to admit he felt a tad annoyed by the fact L had calmly drove away from Light during his first meeting with him as opposed to running away laughing like a maniac with Naomi in tow. ‘Yeah... I’ve got more style...’

“That person...” Beyond shifted his gaze to meet Naomi’s, who was busy looking towards the Yagami household. “Could it have been...?”

As she stopped and turned to face Beyond, he could feel her questioning gaze practically asking if she was right. “I’m pretty sure it was. L has his own methods of doing things, so I’m not surprised. Still, this means we better move a bit more. We don’t want L catching Kira before we do, now do we?”

“I suppose not.” She spoke as she smiled. As she did, Beyond’s eyes shifted from her face to above her head, where her name floated above her head, with quite a few Shinigami numbers slowly changing below it. He couldn’t understand why, but he felt so attracted to those numbers. He wanted, no, had to see in what way they ended. How will Naomi Misora die? he didn’t know. He wanted to know, wanted to be there when she did. But, he wanted it to be when those numbers ran out, not because some god-complex killer got her first. He’d make sure of that.

“Rue? Is something... wro-”

“Oh no. Don’t mind me.” He interrupted, the least he had to explain his thoughts to her the better. Shifting his body weight from on side to the other, thereby changing his hunch from one side to another as well, Beyond turned his gaze back at the Yagami household. “I was just thinking about the miracles of life...”

“I find that hard to belief.” Naomi spoke up, before turning away. “Anyways, perhaps it is best we leave from here, don’t you think so?”

“True, that b*****d does seem to have a spider-like sense to anyone who’s spying on him. Don’t really understand why though...” As both Beyond and Naomi began to walk away, Naomi waited until they were a few blocks away to stop. Having stopped next to a latest electronics store, televisions out on display through the window. Said television sets were showing the latest news, something about Kira no doubt. Beyond simply gave her a questioning look. “We really need to figure out where it is we’re going to stay at. I don’t have much money on me, and every other one of my possessions are probably under L’s care.”

“That does pose a problem.” Beyond spoke as he placed his thumb on his mouth, while Naomi just looked on. She narrowed her eyes as he pondered the situation, knowing fully well that Beyond had already thought of a solution before she even asked. If he was stalling in answering it meant that whatever it was he thought of wasn’t going to please her. “We’re not stealing anything.”

“Close... but not what I was thinking. Though, I admit it did cross my mind... more than once...” He spoke as he turned towards her, a slight smirk visible on his features. Naomi felt a shiver run down her spine; she knew that look. “Rue, what are-”

“You do have parents here in Japan, don’t you?”

She blinked. Twice. Did Beyond really expect her, Naomi Misora, ex agent who worked under so many cases, even one under L himself, who’s parent had been so happy and proud of her when she had spoke of her engagement to Raye, to simply barge in asking for a room. Most notably, to bring another man who wasn’t her recently deceased fiancé, a freak of a man no less, alongside her and ask for him to stay there as well. No way in hell!

“There’s no way in hell I’m doing that.” She spoke firmly, crossing her hands across her chest and narrowing her eyes. Beyond had to admit she did have a certain “charm” to her when she got pissed, he liked it.

“Don’t be like that. We’ll tell them I’m your current partner in a case, which is somewhat true. Heck, L even gave us the badges.” He spoke as he took his out, waving it across he face. “Either that or tell them we’ve been ******** around. That way the won’t start imagining things since we already confessed.”

Her eyes narrowed further as her fist clenched, Beyond just simply took a step back for precaution. Waving his hands a bit, Beyond sighed. “You could never take a joke. I still stand by the “we’re partners” thing. Besides, no way in hell you’d fall for a guy like me, right?”

The way he had said that sounded like a mix of mockery, fake pity and a slight flirtatious tone; all the more reason for Naomi to clench her fist tighter. “Isn’t there anything else we can do, surely you have thought of something else.”

“I told you already, but you said no stealing. Either that or sleeping outside. Or we could get a single motel room, they are cheap. You do have some money right? To tell you in advanced, I won’t sleep on the floor, bad back and all...”

“We’ll go to my parents and I’ll ask for some money there, despite how much I dislike the idea. I’ll use the money I have left to get ourselves a cab, since it is a bit far from here.”

“That works.”

“Right...”

Before either could move, the television sets showed a special news bulleting. As the logo of Sakura TV flashed across the screen, said screen shifted to show another logo, apparently hand drawn, while a voice began to play in the background. Both Beyond’s and Naomi’s eyes widened, as neither could barely speak.

“Is that...?”

“The hell!”

-

As L walked back into the meeting room where the remainder of his team, excluding Soichiro, where supposed to be at, he could help but smile. ‘Light-kun, you really are an interesting person. I can think of no one else to fit the part of Kira better than you. This is getting very-’

He stopped mid thought as both he and Watari entered the room, where his team were all fixated upon the television screen. Before L had even enough time to speak, Ukita turned to face him, while the others just keep looking. “Ryuzaki...”

Said man’s eyes widened, as he saw just what was airing, his fist clenching slightly.

“That’s...”

-

The word “KIRA” flashed across the screen, written in Cloister Black font no less, mirroring and mocking L’s signature “L”. In a voice that also matched L’s own disguised one, “Kira” began to speak. “Greetings, I am Kira.”

While Ryuk’s laughter filled the air, only a smile adorned Light’s features...


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Now, who could that be...?