章 17: CHAPTER 17: Cliff
More days passed since the Yotsuba-Matsuda fiasco and more phone calls from the worried and perplexed Rokko and Takada were received. L and Light were missing out on quite a few lessons, after all, they said. "It's not that you'll have a hard time catching up, but still—
"We really miss you here, Lawliette…" Takada finally admitted with a sigh. A small smile found its way to L's pale face.
"I'd like to come back soon, too." She smiled, knowing they probably thought she was still in England. "I'm pretty sure I will."
"Really?"
"Hai." She said and looked at the paperwork in front of her and Light. He rewarding time with them would, hopefully, come soon... but she had to do what she had to do. "I have to go now…"
"Aw… Ok. Just come back here soon!" Then there was a pause, and Rokko took the line. "Light's still missing too." Light flinched at that, since he could still hear despite the phone's loudspeaker turned off. "Are you sure he's not there with you?"
She looked at the chain and he just smirked. "No."
"His girlfriend's brooding over here."
And the two stared. Lawliette had no idea about this and she found herself staring at Light. His eyes were wide, then, completely flabbergasted with the fact. But he was more surprised that he forgot all about it. Furthermore… perhaps more importantly, why did he ask her out? He barely even liked her as an acquaintance.
"Whatever." Rokko said after the awkward silence. "Haha. See you soon!"
"Ah." She said and put down the phone, before passively returning her attention to the screen.
Light on the other hand stared and tried to think of words to say. Lawliette wasn't even looking at him…
"L—"
But she cut him off with her raising her hand and that determined focus on her eye. "The Yotsuba group meeting is starting."
He frowned but decided to watch in the end. If he pushed on this issue, L would probably dislike him for it. He vowed to explain everything later—especially after he figured out why he asked Takada out in the first place.
Damn it.
In any case, they watched the footages as if it was an HD movie thanks to Weddy successfully installing all those bugs and cameras. And it was unbelievable how emotionless these people were as they discussed the killings. And one thing became obvious…
Kira became one of their assassins.
She firmly stopped them from thinking they could catch the 7 now. They were not certain that Kira was one of the seven. If he wasn't, they would all just die meaninglessly. She needed to find out who the Kira this time was exactly.
But more importantly, she needed that notebook—and she needed it destroyed.
She was busy thinking of the notebook and the necessary precautions if ever they get their hands on it, when—
"Lawliette, may I borrow your phone?" Light asked, pertaining to the one L uses for detective work. He called Namikawa Reiji—the good-looking person who seemed to be leading the discussions most of the time. All they really wanted was just Kira, Light said clearly, and he along with the other five will get pardon for their crimes if he were to assist him.
And so, they got him as a spy.
She blinked at stared at Light, impressed. Why hadn't she thought of that?
He smirked at her proudly and for a moment there she thought of him wanting a kiss for a reward but shook it away. She almost muttered a compliment about Light succeeding her in case she perished but of course she didn't mean it. After all, she absolutely could not die until that notebook was destroyed. That meant, Light would never be able to succeed her, even when he was fully qualified to do so.
Well, unless she succeeded in destroying the note and she died due to some other reasons. In that case, she would love it if Light took her place. Mello and Near were too young and deserved more care-free teenage lives.
In any case she looked at him and realized how close she was to reaching her goals. She mentally swore that Light and Misa would never turn into monsters again.
But he could not know any of that—at least not yet, so she held her tongue. "I'm impressed that you thought of that before me." Was all she said, and he smiled proudly.
"You were daydreaming, of course I would." He said and a slightly more serious expression invaded his face as if he was about to say something he had wanted to say before. L knew it was about Takada, but Light didn't know that she wasn't mad at him at all. Knowing the type of person the original Kira was…, she understood full-well why he did what he did.
"So… Lawliette. About earlier…"
"Don't worry about it." she said and to her surprise, he frowned deeply. Did she say anything wrong? She thought he'd be relieved…
"You don't care?"
Oh.
"How were you going to explain it then?"
"Well, I—" He paused. He felt like an idiot, speaking before he thought about it. But instead of shaking her head, Lawliette smiled (well, somewhat) and he felt it was to… encourage him? Why?
"Don't worry about it." She said and his eyes widened. Why did he feel that she knew so many things that he could only wonder about like a fool?
And his confusion seemed to show on his usually apathetic face. Once again, L showed him that pretty expression very few people get to see.
"Trust me." She said and turned back to her computer, seemingly unaware of his supposedly piercing stare. Light, regardless of the uncertainties—something he despised, found his stance relaxing a bit afterwards. Honestly? How could he not?
He would, for the first time since he passed his naivety as a child, have a leap of faith.
And with her…, it wasn't even a challenge.
…
Later that day, the group gathered in the living room with serious yet anticipating expressions pasted on their faces. They were about to make another move, and it was a big one.
The revival of Erald Coil.
Erald Coil was the 2nd best detective in the world, second only to L, and had been 'fighting' for the number one spot (albeit never succeeding) for more than half-a-decade now. Almost everyone knew of him, but to everyone's surprise… it was actually played by L. Or BB, to be precise.
"I thought you only entered this field not long ago?" Matsuda asked and for a moment L looked at the ceiling, pondering if she should tell them. In the end, she did.
"I had a predecessor, the one I imitated—Ryuzaki." She vaguely recalled BB mentioning (or rather, succumbing to her questions) about a detective being hired to eliminate him. A week later, he told her the person was already 'eliminated' and he was the one holding the identity now. "He was the one who collected all the resources we could use now."
"Oh." Matsuda and the others then looked at each other in amazement. "Can we know what happened to him?"
She stared at him and he flinched. "..i-if you don't mind…"
Lawliette stared at him and smiled, making everyone flinch. A certain possessive boy had his eyes twitching as well. He realized though that she wasn't smiling at Matsuda, but rather she entered a warm reverie he could only imagine of.
For some reason, that disconcerted him more.
"He disappeared…" She paused. "Erald Coil did as well." She paused again, before finally pressing several buttons on her keyboards every second. "The world thinks he's just on hiatus—and now, we'll bring him back to life." L then looked at Aiber and he nodded in understanding.
"So how should I play?"
"Just be yourself." She said and he smirked, showing his big white teeth.
"Perfect."
…
Aiber inform the group about Misa and her connection with L, that she was being accused of the 2nd Kira, as part of the plot. Soon an interview was arranged and they asked Misa to act, which was obviously not an easy task. But, the blonde stated that if Light was going to love her more than she would do it. It was a statement though, not a condition.
Lawliette though couldn't help but feel worried. It was so obvious that she was holding something back. The way she stared at her was full of sadness now. And they were simply not so comfortable around each other anymore.
Well that was until, before she left, she pointed at her, eyes full of determination.
"Light will love me more, you'll see!"
And they left, just like that.
...
Misa Misa got herself hyped up for the interview, recalling her motivation. She genuinely loved Light—it was love at first sight that time she saw him in Aoba. As she was questioned before, she didn't remember why she was there in the first place all dressed up like an introverted nerd who was fond of ghost stories.
But… She paused and frowned, her energy instantaneously getting sucked out. Really though, she always had anything if she put her mind to it…
The problem now was she had fallen for Lawliette, too—her honestly, quirkiness, and basically everything else. After her parents' deaths, she never felt so comfortable with another human being before… and it pained her to see them together, but oddly… not as miserable as she imagined she'd be.
But would she give up her deep love for Light? Of course not. Lawliette was just another hurdle for the perfect and true love. The difference from her situation and those soap operas she loved was that her own feelings about her rival were a hindrance.
But she did not want to destroy her friendship with Lawliette, even when she was unsure of what the other thought of her—a good heroine would never do that, right? Those were also her thoughts before she threw tantrums—Lawliette would never throw tantrums, why would she?
"We're here, Misa-Misa!!" She flinched and looked at a hyperactive constantly-smiling Mogi, her new manager who was scolded earlier for his lack of energy. Obviously that wasn't the case anymore, but still—she hoped he didn't startle her so much when she was in such a reverie.
"A-Ah." Was all she said quickly composing herself and entered the building with Mogi energetically (and awkwardly) trailing behind her. An agent met with them and after Mogi's very loud (and embarrassing) yell of 'good luck', she was led to a room with 6 interviewers along with Aiber.
The interview was, well, fairly normal minus that atmosphere her womanly senses made out to be… desire. But in the middle of the interview one cell phone rang and someone with the name of Higuchi excused himself to answer the important call. She, too, excused herself taking advantage of the opportunity to breathe.
The restroom trip started out normally with her looking at her lovely self in the mirror and fixing the make-up that needed to be fixed. But then… after what felt like her touching a small piece of paper, she whipped her head to her hand. But then she felt the hair on her body rise and a shrill cold air passed her skin. She whipped her head back to the mirror, and—
Her heart rose all the way up her neck that second, and she forgot to breathe.
It was a big… she had no idea. She didn't have the coherency to even think of what it was!
Only one word came to mind: Monster.
And when her brain finally absorbed the dangers, her eyes widened and her reflexes made her gesture for a loud scream.
But the monster's hand covered her mouth and it spoke. "Calm down, Misa."
She wanted to cry, and she could tell her knees were about to buckle. How was she supposed to calm down? But more importantly, how did it know her name?
"It is I, Rem. You forgot about me when you let go of your ownership of the notebook." It said with monotonously, albeit she could oddly sense that it was genuinely trying to calm her down.
Notebook? What notebook?
"You are the second Kira and Light is Kira."
Well, that certainly made her calm down.
...
"I will not forgive you if Kiyomi doesn't." Lawliette said as she sipped her tea, with Light gaping at her worriedly. They were currently listening to the conversations in the room, via the bug on Aiber, and nothing seemed to be out-of-place. Just the usual dirty business chatter and they found themselves having a conversation of their own.
What could he do? It still bothered him: why she was not worried at all. Or what she even thought about his asking Takada out. And will she forgive him? Her suitor?
He had to ask, one way or another. And now he got his answer, and he did not expect it at all.
"Lawli—"
She looked at him with that trademark stare of hers, looking dead serious. "So you better come up with a decent apology."
And Light could only nod.
...
During the course of the investigation, Light felt disturbed at the striking similarities of the thought patterns that he and Kira had. But he shook his head and stared at Lawliette. Somehow he felt thankful to her in believing in him. Actually, he felt thankful to the heavens she wasn't completely against him, even when he was the only suspect.
And he could also feel she was holding back, and it was not just her feelings for him. But he always managed to push away the urge of asking her. He knew his limits, and how troublesome it was for her.
They watched the interview again and soon amiable handshakes were made by Mogi and the interviewers. They were moving forward, and Misa was hired.
Light again looked at Lawliette.
Misa, for some reason, was deeply in-love with him, and was in a friendship with Lawliette. He frowned. Knowing Lawliette, she might as well choose friendship over love— truly level-headed people do, and Lawliette was definitely one of them. He just had to remember the first time he was dumped all those weeks ago to be sure of it.
"What?"
"You know I don't have feelings for Misa, right?" He whispered, making sure no one else in the room (Matsuda and his father, specifically) could hear. Lawliette stared at him and nodded.
"But she has feelings for me, and you are her fr—"
"Can we talk about this after the case?" She cut him off and ate some cake, his eyes twitched but then he saw that miniscule blush perhaps only observant people like him could see. "You are being very irrational."
He smiled. "Love usually does that, even to geniuses like us."
"So we shouldn't discuss during such an important case, yes?"
"Hmn." He shrugged. "Just wanted to make sure you wouldn't dump me (again) just because she likes me, too."
"You sound like a lady-killer, Light." And something told him that Lawliette believed that he, indeed, was a lady-killer. "Moving on… what do you think of the interviewers?"
"I say Higuchi are the most probable to be Kira." Lawliette nodded in agreement, soon the other two joined them and asked why they thought so. They explained their reasoning, and it was ended by the Chief nodding in agreement as well but it was followed eventually by a sigh.
"But we need to halt the killings."
"Yes, we should." Lawliette said and her and Light's eyes met. Light smiled, obviously motivated.
"Leave that to me."
…
They managed to delay the killings for 2 weeks thanks to Aiber and Namikawa Reiji (that guy was impressive, almost as good as him and Lawliette) during one of their conferences, via the threat of "L" closing in.
But what was thoroughly unexpected was Misa going missing… and coming back to them later that night, after much panic from everyone else (even Lawliette—she started muttering words as if she was a mother to a missing blonde) and making them listen to a surprising recording before they could even start nagging her.
They had no idea how she did it, with her saying it was due to her inescapable charm. Everyone believed her, except him sensing something off. Maybe Lawliette did, too, but that look of relief on her face told him she probably didn't even notice.
"Great, Misa!" His father exclaimed excitedly, "We now have enough evidence. We should—"
"Wait." That was Lawliette and they all stared at her. Suddenly, after showing him that adorable face of relief, she looked serious and calculating. (This was one of the times he would muse he would never understand women. This one, anyway). "We shouldn't move yet."
He wondered what she was thinking.
"Remember that we still don't have the method of killing. Not to mention the 'power' could be passed down." He coincidentally saw Misa flinch at this. His eyes narrowed.
"We should figure it out first." She said and a few moments of silence passed by as she thought about the plans. She looked at Weddy (who just arrived there without them noticing, again). "Did you do it?"
"50%."
"Whose?"
"I started with Higuchi. It was difficult, that guy's house—"
"Good." L said. "We only need Higuchi's after all, so basically you're almost done."
"I guess that's a relief. That guy Higuchi's house was a pain in the ass."
"What is it about?" Light asked and L looked at them as everyone pretty much wondered what the two women were talking about.
"We bugged and set hidden cameras on his house and cars." Weddy explained and nonchalantly put her hand to her hip. L nodded and looked as comprehensive as always.
"All we need is a new plan to make him show his method to us."
Lawliette remained silent again, albeit she wasn't quite thinking of that plan—as everyone else thought she was doing. She was thinking of making sure that the notebook was there for her to get—and only her to get. She found herself looking at Misa and Light alternatively, and then to everyone else.
She absolutely could not let anyone—especially Light—touch that notebook.
Never again
…
That night, Light woke up from his slumber when he accidentally stirred and had the chain hit him. Just the chain though, so he sat up when as soon as he realized that fact. He frowned at the realization that she could escape from the handcuffs whenever she felt like it.
He let out a deep breath and looked around for her. Eventually, he found her, just standing in the balcony deep in thought.
To most she looked like her usual self—monotonous and apathetic, but he could see—after watching her closely for so long—the plethora of emotions she was undergoing through. How Light wanted to know what was going on inside her head…
"Hey."
She flinched but got her composure quickly. But it was much slower than usual and so he realized that she was in a very deep level of thinking. He gulped but immediately caught back his calm and walked closer.
"You were awake?"
"…just now."
"Are you lying?"
"Maybe."
She looked at him and just closed her eyes after sitting on the wooden chair, telling him she was going to sleep and he should do the same. "I'm giving you a night off to sleep without the chains. Good night, Light."
Light sighed and sat on the other chair. He calmly placed his elbow on the circular table and let his face rest on his palm, and stared. "I doubt you'll be able to sleep with so much in your mind."
She didn't answer and instead pretended to sleep, perhaps he would get the message and leave her alone. But Light was stubborn, he hated to lose, and he just happened to care for this oddball very much. He sat up and chained her back to him.
She opened her eyes and stared. Light, on the other hand, only smiled. "You'd get a cold here. The head detective can't be sick."
She stared at him again, thinking of a good comeback, but she was too tired to try harder. He held out his hand, which she reluctantly took. She just stood up with his guidance and held his hand until they got back to their couch.
L thought they would just be where they were before he woke up. But she realized that after she sat, that he held her leg and neck and made her lie down on the sofa. And her head nested itself on his leg. "This time I'll let my lap be your pillow."
"For the nth time, Light, I'm more comfortable sleeping in Sei—"
"But you don't need so much brain power while sleeping. Rest."
"You realize you're a suspect." She said with that usual deadpan expression of hers. "And that I shouldn't let my guard down with you."
"Are you letting your guard down?"
"No."
"Then there shouldn't be a problem, now would there."
"Under normal circumstances, you're very suspicious."
"Hmn." He said as his hand crept its way to her head, massaging it. Her eyes widened for a moment, but slowly they relaxed.
Her eyelids fluttered. "…you're good at this." She said, and Light chuckled. Slowly, and with resistance, her eyes started shutting down… until she saw a relaxing curtain of black.
That was the most comfortable sleep she had in years.
週次パワーステータス
-- 推薦
ランキング 
-- 推薦
チケット