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“You know, Ryuga, it’s been nice having you around campus,” said Light, following L out of the classroom, where they had mutually derailed a class discussion with philosophy (and thinly-veiled, ‘are you Kira’ theoreticals)—leaving teacher and peers alike standing wordlessly in their dust. It had taken a few minutes for the professor to even think of a response to their brilliant and high-minded deductive foray.
“Oh, I agree,” said L. “It’s refreshing to engage in such intelligent conversion.”
Light laughed. “Hah, well back at you.”
Although L’s face didn’t change, Light could tell he was smiling.
“Well, I should get back to headquarters,” said L, “but I’d like to give you my number first, if that’s alright with you.”
“Your number?”
“Yes. It’s my personal cell. No one else on the task force has it, so, please save it in confidence.”
“Wh—your personal cell? Why? If I’m still a suspect, I should be the last person you’d give that to.”
There it was again. That minute smile.
“Consider it a hotline directly to me. I figure if you ever want to confess… there should be as few hoops as possible,” L said seriously, before brightening his tone with a cheerful, “you know?”
Oh, so that’s it, huh? “Right.”
“But please, don’t feel as if you can’t use it otherwise. We are friends, after all. If you ever have thoughts on the investigation or want to go out for sweets,” he added, “it’s open to you. I rarely sleep, so feel free to call anytime.”
“Uh… go out for sweets?”
L ignored the echo. “But if you spam me, I will block you. — Not that I expect that to be an issue. Anyway, I have a pen but I have nothing to write on. Do you have any paper, Light?”
“Paper?” He knows full well I forgot to bring my notebook to class with me today. Doesn’t he remember that?
All I have is a scrap of the Death Note in my wallet. I can’t give him that!
Wait, does he know about it? Does he suspect that Kira kills by writing names?
Does he know that the pen is my weapon?!
No, there’s no way. Calm down—he’s probably messing with you. Just breathe and tell him you don’t have anything to write on.
“Sorry, Ryuga, I don’t have any paper. I forgot my notebook, remember?”
“Ooh, right.” L nodded. “Well, in that case,” he grabbed Light’s hand.
“What are you—?”
L uncapped his pen— the jerk, that’s not a pen, it’s a Sharpie! This’ll take forever to wash off, what is he thinking? —scribbling digits across Light’s palm.
The students walking by probably think he’s asking me out! Is he really writing his number on me, like I’m some woman he met at a bar?
“Annnnd done,” said L, capping his Sharpie with a click. “See you,” he said, turning away with a wave.
Light stared at his hand in resolute annoyance. After a second he looked up, further disgruntled by a realization. “Ryuga,” he said flatly.
“Yes?” said L, pausing halfway down the hall.
“You could have just typed that into my phone, you know.”
From behind, Light could see L tilt his head. “Hmm... that’s true,” he mused, continuing on his way.
Light scowled. He thought of it already. Damn it, he did this on purpose!
[Two Weeks Later.]
Light stared at the ceiling, watching the familiar shadows of his room, their soft edges seeping through the dark. It was 2:00am, according to the watch on his nightstand, but his mind wouldn’t shut off, still reeling and calculating a million little details.
One thing was for sure—that copycat was trouble. Mentioning the notebooks in a public message? He still couldn’t get over the idiocy.
Light turned over, tugging on his quilt. For once, it would almost be nice if he had someone to talk to. Not about the copycat, necessarily. But about anything. A conversation could be pretty helpful right about now—anything to get him out of his own head, seeing as sleeping refused to be an option.
“You seem restless,” said Ryuk.
Light glowered in his direction.
When I thought a conversation would be helpful, I didn’t mean with him .
“You doing alright? You’ve checked your watch about seven times in the last five minutes. Unless you’re awake on purpose . Don’t tell me someone important is scheduled to die right now.”
“It’s not that,” Light sighed. “I can’t sleep.”
“Too bad. All that stuff with the copycat is really getting to you, isn’t it?” said Ryuk, intrigued.
“Don’t worry about it. Let’s just say, I have some Kira-related stress,” Light said, coolly. “We can leave it at that.”
“Heh. So it is about the copycat.”
Light scowled.
“You know the way this is going,” Ryuk continued, “this is gonna eat at you all night.”
“Look, I appreciate your concern, but—”
“Oh, I’m not concerned. I was just thinking, if you’re gonna be awake anyway, maybe you could actually do something. I’m getting restless watching you toss around so much.”
Geez .
He does have a point, though.
“Fine,” said Light, “I was already thinking I’d like to get out. Maybe find someone else to talk to.”
“Good luck with that,” scoffed Ryuk. “No one else will be awake at this hour.”
“Well… there is one person I can think of,” Light considered, picking up his phone. Ryuk drifted next to him to watch over his shoulder.
Light opened up his contacts, scrolling until he saw the entry for Ryuzaki. His finger hovered over the button for a moment before dialing. “Heh! Wow, ” said Ryuk. Light ignored him.
The phone rang twice. There was a rustling sound from across the line, then a quietly surprised, “hello?”
“...hi, Ryuzaki. It’s Light.”
“Hello, Light,” said L.
For a moment, neither of them spoke.
“I don’t suppose you’re calling to confess?”
Light chuckled. “No, I’m not.”
“I see. What’s on your mind then, is something troubling you? It’s late.”
“Well—I didn’t necessarily mean to discuss this, but I guess after all the new developments today, I couldn’t sleep.”
“...I know what you mean,” said L, ruefully, “even if I wanted to sleep, I doubt I could right now.”
Another pause.
“You know what, I shouldn’t have bothered you. I don’t know what I was thinking.”
“Sweets.”
“What?”
“You were thinking about sweets, am I right? If you weren’t calling to confess or talk specifically about the case, I can only assume you were sleep-deprived enough to want to meet up for sweets. And the offer still stands,” said L. He pondered out loud: “What 24-hour places are nice… mmm, I know an ice cream shop in Shibuya, we could go there.”
Am I seriously trying to hang out with Ryuzaki right now? What’s wrong with me?
“Really, Ryuzaki. Like I said, I don’t know what I was thinking. I’ll let you get back to whatever you were doing.”
“I was going over the evidence.”
“Exactly. I distracted you from—”
“Buuut I was just thinking I could use an ice cream break. Your timing was good.” L’s tone softened. “If a troubled friend calls about dessert, I take that very seriously. It doesn’t matter why you called, it matters that you did. I’ll meet you at the train station in half an hour, okay?”
“I guess so… see you then.” Light hung up.
Why am I not more annoyed about this?
Do I actually want to see him?
Quietly, Light got dressed. Zoning out Ryuk’s commentary, he put on his watch and slid a hoodie over his head, before sneaking downstairs.
He put on his shoes, slipped out the door and locked it behind him with the barest click. In the warm air, he made his way down the road, watching the unfamiliar, late-night shadows stretching through the dark.
When Light got off the train at the Shibuya station, L was waiting for him. His shirt was even more crumpled than usual (if that was possible), the circles under his eyes a little bit darker—signs of a long night, Light supposed. Perhaps L had been telling the truth—he did need a break.
“It’s good to see you, Light,” said L, almost chipper.
“Good to see you too, Ryuzaki. So, where were we going again?”
The place they were going was a comfortable dessert shop, which specialized in ice cream sundaes.
“I’ll have a cup of chocolate ice cream,” Light told the clerk.
“That’s all?” asked L, deeply concerned. “They have a lot of nice toppings, you know. Most places don’t have this much variety.”
“Uh, well okay. I guess I’ll have some of the coconut topping, too,” Light added.
L looked depressed on Light’s behalf.
When the clerk turned to L, he brightened back up. “I’ll take a banana split,” he said. “One scoop of strawberry, one matcha, and one vanilla, and ahhh,” he perused the toppings behind the glass. “Walnuts, chocolate shavings, whipped cream… actually, why not put a little bit of everything. We’re here, after all. Oh, and do you have strawberries by any chance? Yes, a few of those. Thank you.” Light listened in disbelief.
After collecting their orders, they made their way to a booth at the back of the shop. Light slid onto one bench, as L crawled onto the other, pulling his knees up to his chest.
As time ticked by, they talked about this and that—some of L’s previous cases (with very loose detail), some of Light’s old hobbies, some of their shared classes—Light found himself pleasantly distracted from his worries. And at least part of that was likely due to the company. Though being overtired and a bit sugar high probably helped too (they were already on their second order—a milkshake L bought and reeled Light into tasting—despite Ryuk’s chuckling over the two straws).
Regardless of any circumstantial contentment Light may be feeling, he still couldn’t believe he was out here with Ryuzaki at 3:30am.
“Soooo, since I shared my milkshake with you, you’ll let me have some of your next order, right?”
“Next order? Ryuzaki,” Light laughed, “I’ll be lucky if I don’t get sick as it is.”
“Oh,” said L, glumly. “Alright then.”
To Light’s irritation, L was definitely sulking.
It wasn’t a good look on him.
“Fine,” he said. “Pick whatever you want off the menu, I probably won’t have much of it anyway.”
True to his word, when the order came, Light slid the dessert across the table to L after only one bite. “There you go. Enjoy it.”
“You know,” Ryuk piped up. “He probably finds it pretty suspicious that you’re taking so much time out of your day—er, night—to hang around with him. I’ll bet he figures you’re here to fish for information or something. You’re still his prime suspect, after all.”
Light gave Ryuk a side-eye.
No, Ryuk. Why do you think I haven’t left already? It’s not simply about the social interaction, Light mused to himself. I’ve thought it through, and I realized what an opportunity I’ve stumbled into here. If anything, this little excursion probably makes me look more innocent.
After all, why would Kira try to spend extra time with someone who’s investigating him, especially when there’s a copycat out there who’s already leaking information? As far as L is concerned, if Kira already has up-to-date knowledge about the investigation, an extra interaction like this would not only be unnecessary but also a potential liability. Considering that I can’t risk any more details slipping or being uncovered, distance would seemingly be my best option at this time. The mere fact that I’m here, after calling him up so candidly, will only reinforce the idea that L and I are friends, winning his trust just a little bit more.
L swallowed the last bit of his fudge sundae, staring down into his bowl as if it were a depressing chasm.
“What’s on your mind, Ryuzaki?”
He probably wants more ice cream. Honestly, how can he eat all that?
“Hmm? Ah. I was just thinking… at this point in the investigation, with the second Kira out there, the real Kira has everything to lose.”
So we’re back on Kira again, huh?
“...seems like. I guess we can only hope.”
L nodded. “At a time like this I might expect Kira to do something bold—maybe out of panic or self-preservation—or at the very least try to take extra measures to throw me off his trail.”
“What kind of measures?”
“If we’re assuming Kira is in contact with me and feeling desperate—I imagine the best way to do that and remain subtle about it would be to quietly build our friendship.”
Light stared. “...what?”
“That call I received from you tonight seemed surprisingly genuine. Even so, I have to take into account that if you are Kira, this is the exact kind of move you might make to divert suspicion—in turn making me suspect you more . On the surface, seeking me out would be a bad idea, but Kira is both tricky and ridiculously self-assured, so he would expect me to bank on that fact; thus giving him all the more reason to reach out…”
Are you kidding? He’s already reached that conclusion?!
Light composed himself.
“Look, I know there’s nothing I can say to convince you that I’m not Kira,” said Light, “but you were right about the call being genuine. I don’t know why, but,” Light shrugged, “I wanted to see you. I’m sorry if that makes me look more guilty, but it's the truth.”
There it was again—that tiny smile.
Tired, almost regretful, but there.
“You know, Light, I honestly do hope you aren’t Kira,” said L, brow raised slightly as if surprised at himself, “to be truthful, I actually think I could fall for you.”
L lifted his bowl, staring once again into the chasm he seemed to picture there. But instead of saying anything else grand—he leaned down, and began to lick it.
This time around, it seemed, he had been thinking about ice cream.
Distracted by L’s revelation, Light barely noticed.
“You could… fall for me?” he repeated, slowly.
“Woah-ah!” said Ryuk. “Didn’t see that one coming.”
L continued lapping at his bowl, enthusiastically. “Yes, but—mmmm—” he replied, still licking, “don’t expect that to get you any free passes, m’okay?”
Light tried to ignore a couple of nearby diners, who were watching Ryuzaki with mortification.
Unfortunately, they’d been here a little too long for Light to pretend he didn’t know the guy.
That aside—
Did L really like him, or have the potential to like him, in that way? Moreover, the way he said it so casually like that, as if it would be no big surprise after the way Light called him up…
Does L think this is a date? Or the suggestion of one?
Does he think I’m trying to seduce him?
Wait… does L think I’m gay?
No, that’s not the most concerning or disorienting thing about it, Light decided, drawn back into the moment as L smacked his lips. Does L really think I would date someone who acts like this in public? The hotel is one thing, but here?
L seemed to read Light’s mind. Or, part of it, anyway. “By the way,” he added, “I’m not implying anything about you in all of this. I’m simply stating the facts. You are quite charming, you know.”
“People seem to think so,” Light agreed. “Well, I can’t say I blame you, then. But as long as I’m a suspect in your investigation, we should probably try to keep things professional.”
“Professional, yes,” L nodded, licking the last bit of chocolate sauce off the edge of his bowl. “I couldn’t agree more.”